Dive!;

[Chae]

name; Lining The Walls
rank; b
description; Our archers are some of the best the worlds ever seen, combined with our explosive prowess, we have a real one-two combo. Though with the chance of war going up immensely we can take nothing for granted. My scouts say there’s a team of archers who hunt frequently in the forests near our village. I want you to find these non-ninjas and convince them to join our village and fire the bow under our flag.
reward; 300 experience, 5,000 ryo
minimum shinobi; one
mission status; interminable

Although the experience still remained somewhat new and foreign, Chae slowly began to grow fond of his team, especially after the morality boost he personally felt after their first successful mission as a trio. They were on fire to speak, and as a result, Chae couldn't help but to have jumped at the opportunity for a mission. He loved doing his job, he loved getting paid, and best of all, he loved just how easier missions became when extra help is factored in.

"I could definitely get used to this ."

He said aloud yet to himself, looking up into the clouded sky with a bright smile as if the sun had been shining every so brightly. The scroll which contained information on the delegated task was unraveled gently once seized by Ju's hands. Walking (just slow enough for his partner to catch up) down an empty, misty road, he held the scroll out in front of him laterally, reading over the provided data for a second time. Sake strapped to his hilt, Chae -thus far- actually went without taking a single swig of his so called medicine.

"Just gotta find a couple of archers? Pah, this'll be a piece of cake, it'll give us time to rest as well. These two better thank me for being so generous haha!"

[Taiga Hozuki]

Life was good.

With the success of the trios first real mission Taiga felt even more close to both Suzumi and Chae, not to mention his sisters growing affection for the two. They'd soon become a family as the Mizukage said when he first assembled them and Taiga was starting to believe it. Smiling while they walked, the group was on yet another mission; however this one wasn't as serious and didn't call for them to be as uptight.

"Hahaha, yeah I know Chae. Piece of cake for us three, right?"

The eldest of the three would had found Taiga perched atop his shoulders, small legs dangling in front of him whilst he spoke. It had quite the view from his large shoulders Taiga thought as he look out into the black distance like that of a watchmen. Shiorhime barked loudly into the night at her brother telling him something that the others could not understand.

"Amazing.... ya think I'll grow this tall?"

Inquiring in a much more childish tone, he looked down at Suzumi, her blonde hair shimmered under the ivory light and her light-pale blue skin glistened. She was quite attractive. Taiga could not help but notice after spending majority of the day with her. He'd finally gotten the time to overlook her with inclusive eyes . Chae's light-hearted nature was welcoming and it was like a fire that one could draw warmth from.

He certainly had a good side to his rowdy, reckless behavior. Overall, Taiga had come to like the two. Enough to call friends, but maybe witin the near future they'd be more to him. Nonetheless they were important friends he trusted more than anything. That was a quality earned, not given. Swaying atop Chae's broad shoulders Taiga would yawn lowly while speaking at the same time.

"So.... we should discuss more things about our team now. Its less tense now hehe..."

[Suzumi]

Seeing Taiga ahead of her, Suzumi ran to arrive at the same time. Her mood seemed much lighter than before, her shark-like teeth turning into a smile. She laughed as Taiga hopped onto Chae's shoulders. “Yeah, this should be fun! I brought a few things, too.” To say a few things was certainly an understatement. As Taiga turned to Suzumi, he'd see a bigger backpack than he'd likely ever seen. Over a hundred pounds of camping material was spread out across several bags, all piled on Suzumi's back. Making her seem twice as large, these bags contained ridiculous amounts of bedding, clothing, a tent, matches, canteens, even pots. “The scroll said something about this one lasting a few days, and I've never been camping before!”

As Taiga mentioned how tense the last mission was, the blue in Suzumi's cheeks was turned red. She had not been proud of the way she had acted, and had Chae not been there she would have undoubtedly failed. “Yeah...discuss the team, yeah...” She kicked the dirt as she walked, eyes down. She sighed at herself before picking her head back up. The mission posed to be a long one, and Suzumi had promised herself to not be a burden both physically and emotionally. “I think I want to master Hachimontonkou. I've got the first gate down easily, but never really tried to go further. I was kind of afraid of what might happen to me...But now I'm a little less worried about that.” She smiled up at Taiga. While he was much younger than the others, Suzumi often forgot the gap in age. She could not imagine how much older Chae felt compared to the Inuzuka, though.

[Chae]

Taken by surprise, Chae looked up at his shoulder immediately after a heavy pressure weighed him down, but not too much. Taiga?! He laughed the moment he saw him, realizing just how big their difference in size had been.

"Yeeeah no doubt, you could easily become as tall as me, just gotta take your medicine and eat yer vegies!"

Laughing boisterously, he felt taiga momentarily turn as he spoke to the recently arrived Suzumi, proposing that they finally were willing to discuss the dynamics of their team considering that their previous mission required their utmost attention. Nodding in agreement, Chae merely continued to walk while listening to Suzumi go on about mastering the forbidden art of Hachimontonkou with hidden interest.

"The celestial gates yield very devastating result but it also puts a strain on yer' body, haha, but I guess thats why we lucked up with you huh Taiga?!"

He paused to gauge Taiga's reaction.

"Just be careful though, it isn't something to play with unless you plan on taking it by the horns. As for me, I'll just continue expanding on my knowledge of raiton and hope to one day learn Raiton no Yoroi."

Knowing that if he actually obtained Raiton no Yoroi, he'd easily register as one of the fastest living ninja, as well as the most durable. With that, his attentoned eased back over to Taiga.

""What do you plan on goin' focusing on Taiga?

[Taiga Hozuki]

Taiga couldn't help but smile looking down at Suzumi who was now appearing much more relaxed and cheerful. He had to restrain himself for gawking at the giant bag upon her back. She was so strong he mused. Honestly the boy was ready to grow up, to be much stronger, faster, and older. He didn't want to be the burden of this team, so he planned on working much harder. He'd imp[rove and be useful to both Chae and Suzumi.

"You both seem to know exactly what you wanna do..."

He exclaimed while scratching his head. Suzumi wanted master gates, which was something Taiga could honestly see her achieving. Chae only wanted to become more proficient in raiton. But what was it Taiga wanted to achieve? Did he want to continue supporting these two for as long as he could? Augment their skills with his own by provuding synergy? There were so many ways, so many different possibilities for the boy. He was overwhelmed by those choices.

Taiga rocked back and forth before finally answering.

"To be frank Im not sure... I want to strengthened you guys with my abilities. I want to be useful to the way your used to operating. I plan to devote myself to medical ninjutsu first and foremost, though kagura would really help in situations I don't have a scent to work with."

The boy paused momentarily.

"I suppose what Im getting at is that I'll make you two stronger, thats my goal!"

A wide grin touched his lips as he looked at both Suzumi and Chae. He'd decided that he'd become their strength, both him and Shirohime. That was his role on the team the Mizukage put together. His skills were more supplementary than anything else, which helped open up and fortify others. That was the conclusion Taiga came to with the help of his two friends.

"If any of you need help during your training you know you can count on me, and of course my sister as well." Earnestly speaking he grinned before placing his hands on chae's head and leaning down.

[Suzumi]

“Yeah, gates are risky, but not when you've got Kirigakure's soon to be best medic on your team!” Again Suzumi smiled to Taiga. Having someone as powerful as Chae on the team was nice, but the sheer utility Taiga brought to the team was unmatched by the older Genin or herself. “Raiton no Yoroi...that's quite a goal. If you managed that, then maybe you could actually keep up with me,” she said through a grin. Being outmatched by someone brought out a certain competitive spark that she found new and exciting.

Taiga's indecisiveness was endearing. He truly was the youngest. Suzumi was starting to become too specialized to look elsewhere for power, and Chae was even further down the road. Taiga was still a spark plug, waiting to be fit in somewhere. “Well Chae's goal was pretty impressive...But if your goal is to make me stronger then that is gonna be downright easy.” Again she grinned. “But I suppose I could use all the help I can get.”

Despite the heavy pack, Suzumi effortlessly jumped up to the branches of a tree above them. Her hand dug into her bag, yanking out a piece of paper along with a large blanket. The blanket unfolded as it fell onto the tree branch. “Oh, crap!” She scooped it up and jammed it back in her bag. “That was close, I only have like twelve of those things!” Suzumi unfolded the paper before her, staring at it. “I got a map with a little mark of the last place these archers were seen. Some tavern a ways away. Taiga if you want a ride on someone that won't topple over, you better hurry, 'cause I'm excited to get going!” She'd hesitate a moment before taking off, jumping from branch to branch while talking to no one in particular about how excited she was to go camping.

[Chae]

Quickly noting Taiga's indecisiveness in terms of his own specialization, Chae could relate - easily. In his younger years he recalled being unable to decide what to do and what suited him as a kid enlisted in Kirigakure's uncontested military. Before long, he motioned towards the desire to make not only Suzumi, but Chae stronger as well, a goal that he personally respected as a man and shinobi.

"If we've got someone like you watching over our backs while making us stronger, I've gotta say we are some lucky S.O.B's."

Once spoken, Suzumi's voices stepped in and expressed a more friendly and competitive tone as she teased that Chae could finally catch her were he to obtain one of the more powerful raiton based techniques. Refusing to waste anymore time, Suzumi took the lead and sought refuge within the loyal mist filled forestry that was Mizu no kuni.

Looking towards Suzumi once Chae followed suit, she whipped out her map with a location specifically marked as the last known location of the archers. That relieved him, the mere fact that the mission itself provided the whereabouts of the very men they sought after. To Chae, it just made their just just that much easier.

"Least we don't have to go into this long winded search, so all we gotta' do is get to these guys and convince them to work for our village. How hard can it be!?"

He exclaimed while continuing to trail about 4 meters behind Suzumi. Although Chae expected to not run into any hostiles during the mission, he still expected for Taiga's senses to remain sharp for any and all approaching enemies.

[Taiga Hozuki]

The atmosphere the trio had going was refreshing. It'd been a long time since Taiga could talk so freely to others. Since his father died in the last war the only one the young boy would interact with was his sister. It was a nice change of pace for him. Taiga couldn't help but grin when Chae spoke, he had this air about him that mad someone want to let loose. He was a free-spirited man who enjoyed life. Taiga could respect that. Gazing down from his perch Taiga noticed Suzumi almost dropping a few things out of her giant pack, he almost leap down to assist her, but she easily managed to catch them.

Inside, Taiga was happy Suzumi was starting to open up to them two. She seemed much more easy going and less tense.It was a welcome change from her very serious disposition. She could be very scary at times, but she was to the core naturally sweet. The boys ears perked, he for a moment thought he had heard Suzumi wrong. She offered him a ride on her back, but she already had such a large bag he thought. He could hear his sister snickering at the thought of a girl carrying him although he was a man. Ignoring her, he used Chae's shoulder to flip himself over and atop Suzumi's pack.

"I'll take that offer Suzu`tan. Im still a little spent from using a lot of my chakra to heal that lady and you."

Legs crossed he simply sat indian style as she began to take off into the trees. With the wind in his hair Taiga closed his eyes. He wasn't honestly all that spent, but just a little shy of having Suzumi haul him. The faint tint of pink that tickled his cheeks was hidden away by the shadows of the branches that hung in the upper canopy. Speckles of ivory would sometimes hit Suzumi's face at the perfect angle, just enough for her pale, blue skin tint to shine. Caught up in staring at her, he almost didn't hear Chae's words.

"Pretty much. I did a mission similar to this, except it involved thugs...."

Saying that he'd notice Shirohime's jealous look as she fell behind, her jumps in tandem with Chae's. He softly giggled before turning back forward. "I could get use to being carried around by you two!" Giving a toothy grin as he teased them Taiga simple held his chin up, gazing at the few stars he could see through the canopy.

[Suzumi]

With Taiga's added weight, Suzumi actually began to feel a little strain. Still, it was small and welcomed. Peering down at her map occasionally, she led the way with a quick pace. “Yeah, this map has the last place they were seen, but that was a few days ago. We'll have to ask around for em. Pretty sure I have another piece of paper somewhere in my bag that is supposed to have physical descriptions.”

While Chae stayed aware for the sake of enemies, Suzumi was only aware of her surroundings. She seemed to truly enjoy being in the woods, often smiling. They spoke, but Suzumi was mostly wrapped up in the nature around them. Suzumi checked the map frequently as the sun dropped to the horizon, trying to remember as much of it as she could. Once things got dark, she continued for another half hour before slowing to a stop.

“We're only a few hours out, but I can hardly read the map anymore and I'm hungry.” She hopped down from the tree. “I say we make camp!” While her voice was pleasant, it also brooked no argument. She rustled off her backpack slowly, letting Taiga jump up before swinging it to the ground. Instantly she got to work, opening up the contents like a kid on Christmas.

The sheer amount that she had managed to pack was alarming. Two great bundles of tents came out, several feet of stacked blankets, nearly a dozen pillows, three pots, a couple of pans, enough matches to light half of Mizu no Kuni ablaze, two ladles, a spatula, four bowls, six plates, a hammock, three spirals of notebook paper, a few pens and pencils, three boxes of colored pencils, and a stack of six cups. Then she started to unload clothing. Pulling them out in three separate stacks, two of them clearly not meant for Suzumi. “I brought some for you guys in case you forgot!” She seemed oblivious to the fact that there was enough clothing for each of them that someone with good hygiene could last a week. Still she pulled stuff out of her bags. Towels, what looked like shower curtain, two tarps, a box with a dozen bars of soap in it, four candles, a nonoperational clock, an empty picture frame, hand clothes, a lamp, and to top it all off was an assortment of half a dozen dog toys.

“So yeah, I dunno if I told you guys, but this is my first time sleeping outside of Kirigakure! It's exciting!” Suzumi tapped her closed lips with a finger as she mulled over the things she had spread out. “Hm, looks like I forgot the food.”

[Chae]

Seconds of travel turned into minutes which naturally collected into several hours, yet, they had only reached the middle-point of their journey. As with all days, the time for the sun to rest and the moon to make its rise soon began, evident by the dulled sunlight as it's source gradually sunk down into the norther mountains. Cementing the idea that it grew rather late, Suzumi mentioned towards herself being unable to read the map wish such low light, as well as her hunger, which Chae began to feel the moment she brought it to his attention.

"Yeah, I can agree to that, it's really late no doubt, and if you truly can't see the map then there is no point in trying to push ourself."

Chae stated as he followed suit in tandem with Suzumi's own descent. While dark, the visibility of the general area hadn't been too harsh, in fact, as long as the trio properly adjust their eyes, seeing through the night would've been easy. Leaving Suzumi to her fun, Chae merely sat against a tree roughly two meters away while she unpacked her bag with tenacity.

Yawning, a brow raised in surprise at the remarkable amount of contents and supplies that Suzumi -somehow- stuffed into her pack. From tents, blankets and pots, she seemed to -quite literally- have everything they needed to survive out in the wilderness, at least long enough for them to make their trip and return. Although her packing was excessive, he could have helped but softly chuckle upon mentioning that she never spent a day outside of Kirigakure's walls.

"It ain't all its cracked up to be, back when I was sent to kill the Tsuchikage, I camped out for days just to make it to their country. Not all its cracked up to be, not at night at least. But that may just be my paranoia talkin' haha!"

[Taiga Hozuki]

The groups travels soon ended after what felt like a short time to Taiga. Deciding to stop for the night and simply continue onward during dawn, the trio started setting up camp in an open spot where the ground was flat. Taiga stood wide-eyed , staring at Suzumi who's over sized bag contained all sorts of random thing. She seemed earnestly happy for the chance to camp out in the wild despite the fact it was with two other guys, one of them being much older, but at the least Taiga's sister was there to even out the gender ratio.

"No food eh? Guess if everyone's really hungry I could go grab something from the wilds?"

Speaking, Taiga noticed Shirohime curl around the sparkling fire he'd just made. Seemed like she was turning in for tonight. Rubbing her back gently his palm would move up to her head and finally behind her ears before he'd kiss the top of her head, whispering good night to her. Taiga looked towards Chae, baffled by his words he took a step towards the older man.

"Did you actually kill the Tsuchikage?"

The young boy inquired with genuine interest, eyes bright from the glare of the amber shards that fluttered aimlessly. He was sure Chae had many more tales up his sleeve ready to be told by the camp side and he was more than interested in what Chae would say. It'd been awhile since Taiga had such a close figure head to look up to. Someone he could aspire to be like. Chae was really strong Taiga thought if he really did accomplish something as monumental as killing the Tsuchikage. It was a story he wanted to hear.

[Suzumi]

Seemingly unphased by their lack of food, Suzumi grinned at Taiga. “I saw a lake a while back. Maybe a little contest is in order?” She began to set up a tent, staking several poles into the ground after lacing them through the fabric. She stopped when Chae brought up his experience camping. I heard that right? Tsuchikage? Taiga asked before she had a chance. She stepped away from the tent and towards Chae, her smile finally missing. “Yeah...”

Who the hell is this guy? So far Chae had managed to outshine Suzumi at every turn like a flashbulb to a candle. The possibility of him having killed the Tsuchikage turned that flashbulb into a flood light. Suzumi had not even killed a man before, a fact that made her lose sleep. While she was turning over at night worried about having the guts to take a life, Chae was crossing the entire continent to assassinate one of the most powerful figures in history. How nonchalantly he said it was as mind boggling as what he actually said. How many people had Chae killed? How did he kill them? Did their deaths stick with him? Did he enjoy it?

“Yeah, dinner can wait. Talk.” Suzumi pulled a folding lawn chair from a bag, unfolding and sitting in it while staring blankly at Chae.

[Chae]

The two seemed to have dropped all that they were doing in order to listening to Chae's aforementioned journey to Tsuchi no Kuni. While he hadn't expected to go into details, after involuntarily catching their attention at the campfire, he knew that he'd have ruined the mood had he put it off. With that, he continued.

"Yeah, I did, not sure which one it was but she was a cute one. It'd been a while ago actually, long before Akira returned home. During that time my other cousin, the Mizukage before Akira, sent me and an Aburame out together to assassinate her."

Silence prevailed as he paused to gather his words.

"I lost a friend that day - Aburame, Takumi. Died at the hands of the tsuchikage and what looked like her body guard who had strangely been a ninja from Kumogakure.

Alone, I took the two on, and struggled, however, I managed to take her before dealing with the guard. In fact, I never dealt with him haha! Almost right after some random Mokuton totting ninja attempted to capture me, but, before he could, a well placed body flicker launched me off a cliff.

Managing to land on the mountain's belly, I made my way to its base and continued home."

[Taiga Hozuki]

With Suzumi expressing her interest in Chae Yoon's exploits involving the Tsuchikage, Taiga would stand up while Suzumi set up the chair. Spinning around her he'd lean forward on the back of it arms atop each other he'd listen while Chae spoke, explaining what actually happened. Not only did he manage to kill her with her bodyguard, he'd also escaped from someone else who had interfered. Though he lost a good friend in that battle Taiga was still amazed.

"Amazing!!!"

Taiga could only imagine what else Chae had done, been, seen. He seemed to have spent a lot of his times on the front lines, traveling. He was truly a seasoned veteran Taiga thought while on the balls of heels from Chae's inspiring story. Taiga hoped too that one day he'd have his name known throughout the great nations. He'd be respected for the work he do and if anything the two people before him would help him achieve that. Taiga smiled as he let himself be engrossed in the notion.

"Did you get a glimpse at the mokuton user headband? Was the Tsuchikage strong?"

So many questions filled the young boys head and not able to contain them, they easily spilled from his lips quickly. He wanted to know every detail possible. While he spoke his tummy let out a bellowing sound that reverberated throughout the forest, causing him to stiffen as he'd look down at Suzumi."Hehehe... guess I'm starvin'." Taiga exclaimed jokingly as he scratched the back of his head. That was probably the sign that he should start getting some food for them to eat, but he didn't move from his spot. Not yet.

[Suzumi]

Suzumi listened to Chae's story with interest and awe. Suzumi had been placed on a team with someone who killed a Kage. No matter how she looked at it, that meant that the Mizukage expected similar accomplishments from her. “Some Genin.” She stood. “Sorry to hear about your friend.” Suzumi hoped that Chae could go a long time without losing another friend. Particularly Taiga, a voice said in the back of her head. Chae had experienced life and Suzumi had managed to convince herself falsely that she had no fear of death. Taiga, on the other hand, was far too young to die. Suzumi often dreamed of dashing in front of either of her teammates to take a blow, dying in the process. Whether that would transfer to reality or not would hopefully never be seen.

The map was drawn out again, but this time Suzumi was looking for the lake they passed. Always at home in the water, she frequently enjoyed trying to stab fish underwater. The speed of the fish combined with the difficulty to swing a blade underwater made for a satisfying challenge. Suzumi looked up and surveyed the area all around them, considering it carefully. “The area doesn't seem to be too dangerous. We could split up. I'd go back to that lake to try to get a fish, Taiga can try to hunt something else down in the woods, and Chae can continue setting up camp.” She tossed a bag of tent poles to Chae. “Just set up the one tent. The second is a backup.” She had no reservation about sleeping with them two. Once you skinny dipped into a well of blood together, sleeping a foot apart really was not that significant. No borders...borders break teams, her memory of the Mizukage reminded her.

“What do you guys say?”

SPOILER: Click to show

If you'd like to do a random encounter as we hunt I think it would fit nicely. While I'm concerned about the posting rate of GMs, to have one thread move along at a little slower clip wouldn't hurt my motivation to post since we are looking at starting another thread. I'll let you guys decide.