Dive!;

[Chae]

Chae smiled at Suzumi's and Taiga's interest in his story and gladly answered the question from the latter.

"Nope, didn't even manage to steal a glance. Literally right after I killed the Tsuchikage and turned my attention to her bodyguard, strange wood-like tentacles reached up out of tha' ground and tried to snatch me up.

With all that, I played it safe and got outta' dodge. As for strength? Bah, she was descent I guess, her body guard was a bitch to deal with though, that I will admit."

Laughing boisterously, the time for storytelling seemed to have ended with Suzumi's rather sudden suggestion. Taking charge, she suggested that the three momentarily split up to accomplish three individual goals. Chae, personally, hadn't been opposed to the idea, so long as the three remained within earshot with their lack of communication.

"Sounds like a plan to me, Just try and stay within earshot, Mizu no kuni has been known to be unpredictable at times. Situations like these make me wanna buy a electronic headset."

He stroked his chin in a sagely manner once he paused.

"Know what, I think I'll actually buy one of'em and some regular supplies to go along with it."

Once spoken, Chae lifted himself up off of the ground as he continued to set up camp for the night (presuming Taiga and Suzumi tended to their own delegated task). Assembling all the tools and equipment that Suzumi removed from her overly large pack, the tents had been the very first things that were set up.

[Taiga Hozuki]

"Sounds good."

Taiga would say as the group went about the plan Suzumi had suggested. Striding off into the pitch black away from the amber flames that shown exquisitely while his eyes flickered, adjusting to the night scene before him. He would be sure not to wander too far from where Chae could hear him in case something happened. 'Buying some radios would be good for when we need to break apart...' The boy mused as he stalked the forest upon all fours, moving silently through the night as his nose scanned the soft ground for scents of wildlife.

A few minutes would pass by as Taiga crawled his way through the thick vegetation of the forest, palms dirtied and various twigs and moss stuck to his face and hair. His nose wrinkled, indicating he had found something and from the smell of it, he knew it'd taste good over their fireplace. He licked his lips in satisfaction as he sprung into motion. His body was but a blur against the night's curtain, he speed picked up while he moved left and right, jumping over small obstacles he broke the thick of the forest, bursting into an open spot.

"Dinner!"

The boy yelled wildly to his prey; however, the small deer he'd track had no time to react as its head turned towards the airborne predator. Lunging himself at it, he'd make contact, thrashing his body they'd roll along the ground, Taiga's teeth sinking into its neck whilst he palmed a kunai and dug it into the side of the deer's stomach. It writhed in pain and fear, shaking vigorously until Taiga's jaws snapped robbing it of life. The young Inuzuka truly looked like an animal during the scuffle.

Opening his mouth, the boy let loose the deer's neck before standing up, covered in mud, grass, blood and other earthly like decoratives. His little nature trip had taken him roughly twenty minutes or so and during his hunt he'd forgotten to stick close by. Scratching his head he'd sigh before taking some rope he had and tying the kill's legs together. Scoping it up he holstered it over his back, set to make his way back to camp.

Though it was a little heavy for him, Taiga managed to return from the spot he left, wandering in the light would hit his defiled body.

"I come with meat, hope you guys can cook this thing!"

Taiga exclaimed cheerfully. Tossing the deer's body close to the fire he fell back on his butt and let his back hit the dirt while stretching. He was already dirty so no need to hold himself back he thought. He recalled often coming back in a similar manner when he hunted or even played roughly with his sister and his dad would tell him he had the look of someone who'd be born in the wild. A half laugh would leave his lips before he leaned up, looking for Suzumi.

"Suzu, wheres the lake at. I'd like to wash off?"

[Suzumi]

As Suzumi and Taiga left, she offered a bit of provocation for Chae. “Oh I'm sure if you scream loud enough me and Taiga can come save you.” She turned to Taiga, more serious this time. “If you are not back in half an hour I'm going to tear this forest down looking for you. I trust Chae'll do the same for either of us.” She then split from Taiga, going towards the lake just a half mile away.

Upon arriving, Suzumi studied the nearby area for any possible danger. Satisfied, she stripped. Bunching her clothes up under a fallen branch on the shore, Suzumi dove into the water with nothing but her rapier in hand. While it was a bit unwieldy, it gave her a much longer reach. Despite the formal weapon, what Suzumi was indulging in was as far from civilized as possible. She was giving in to the shark.

The lake was large, stretching a quarter mile wide and at least three times as long. Suzumi felt her gills flare as they took over. Life was everywhere under the water. Schools of small fish roamed from rock structure to rock structure with patient predators in tow, crabs shifted in the sand, and none of them were aware that they were officially under the domain of the shark. Her lithe body moved in long, beautiful strokes as she closed the gap on a school of fish. They quickly caught on to their predicament, scattering. Suzumi picked off a smaller group that headed towards the shore. While she was not faster in a straight race, she was the ultimate predator. A blend of ferocity and intelligence, Suzumi was a master of both land and sea. Whether it was that intellect or simply killer instincts, she managed to trap the group between the shoreline and herself. Without wavering, she lunged her blade forward, skewering one of the many that darted to the side. She slipped the fish from her blade, shoving it in her mouth. It squirmed and she bit into it, breaking its back and killing it. As blood trickled down her throat, the beast fully awakened.

Suzumi's inner rage was satisfied just in the thirty minute allotment before she returned to camp. Fully clothed and with a string of half a dozen moderately sized fish, she seemed rather happy. By the time Taiga came back, he'd find Suzumi talking Chae's ear off about all the tricks she knew about cooking fish. As she spoke, she demonstrated, several fillets of fish already steaming hot. When Taiga dropped off his kill she rushed to it with a grin. Her finger dug into the bite wound as she examined it. “Nice!” With a nod of approval, she gave Taiga a thumbs up before pointing off to the distance. “Lake should be a minute or two that direction. Hurry back, dinner is almost ready!”

She turned back to Chae, unconsciously sucking the blood from her fingers as she continued to cook. “So I never asked...how old are you?”

[Chae]

Of the three separate task, setting up camp, which Suzumi had partially done just before story-time, effortlessly registered as the easiest. While he hadn't mind swapping task and hunting for food, he figured that there couldn't be better canidates for hunting game other than the very two animalistic family members. Besides, he lacked those fancy heightened senses that made hunting game infinitely less stressful and tedious. That in mind, Chae managed to plop back up against the aforementioned three and get a few minutes of well deserved shut-eye.

Unfortunately, his moment of rest had been interrupted by the return of both Suzumi and Taiga, both of which managed to catch enough game to last them a night, maybe even two. The two seemed excited and satisfied with the findings, hell, they had every right to be considering how starving the two seemed to be. While was still considered to be moderately young, Taiga and Suzumi were younger, which only meant that they need nutrients and protein more than Chae did.

Smiling at Suzumi's verbal and visual demonstration of filleting fish, his brows raised up in surprise as she inquired about his age. The leading finger of his right hand reached up and rubbed just beneath his nose as he laughed aloud.

"Hehe, I'm actually surprised it took you this long to ask. But I'm only 23. I know that's too old for a genin, but hey, being lazy is one of the things I do best, or did best. Can't to it now since Akira will be on my ass extra hard now.

What about you two?"

[Taiga Hozuki]

Focused eyes watched Suzumi as she approached where Taiga and his kill were at. He responded to her with a toothy grin as well as his own thumbs-up. Rolling to his side Taiga pushed himself up before Taking off to go clean himself up in the lake, he grabbed some spare pants and a towel that Suzumi had in her bag of random stuff.

Stopping, he was quite interested to hear how old Chae was so he listened in. Laughing Taiga slapped Chae on the back while walking off.

"Yep, the days of couch potato yoon are over. Akira`sensei will work you especially hard! "

Taiga was honestly glad Chae would be putting forth more effort, he was a gifted warrior and it wouldn't be long until people recognized that greatness within him. Chae was only overlooked because of his rank and lazy ways, but with Suzumi and himself pulling the reigns he had no choice but to straighten up and embrace it.

"I'll be twelve in August."

Speaking he'd wait for Suzumi to answer before running off to clean himself up. After she answered he'd smile before bolting through the forest. It didn't take much time for the young boy to reach the lake. Getting undressed he looked up at the moon for a second than started running towards the blue water.

Jumping into the water naked he fully submerged himself, ridding his body of the dirt that clung to it. Emerging to the surface he flung his hair back, running his fingers through it he then cleaned his clothes by putting them in the water. It was a quick process and Taiga would already be back at the camp site, damp clothing slung over his left shoulder. Only wearing ankle length pants, his chest was bare, the small scar left from Hutora was still visible upon his pale frame.

"I'm ready to eat!"

[Suzumi]

With the meat sizzling on a pan, Suzumi laughed at Chae's remarks. “Ya know, I always thought rank was important. Seeing you fight, I realize it isn't everything.” She pinched a bit of meat off of the fish, sampling it. “I mean, you've accomplished more stuff that just about anyone not already a Kage themselves.” She then addressed Taiga. “See, even age doesn't matter. I'm sixteen and my accomplishments are on par with Taiga's. Who else do you know managed to specialize so early?”

Taiga left with a nod from Suzumi as she continued speaking. “So we are three Genin. Not very intimidating on paper.” Greedily her fingers moved back from the fish to her mouth. “But let's say these guys...These archers, that is...Let's say they don't wanna come with us. And I mean really don't wanna come with us.” She shrugged. “I'm not scared, is all.”

While perhaps her confidence was a bit misplaced, it was truly how she felt. With leaving Kirigakure being such a rare thing for the girl, she was surprised with just how little she was worried. At that moment she had not even considered someone or something seeing their campfire. Taiga came back, as Suzumi knew he would, and dinner would start. After a day of traveling and with an abundance of food, dinner would last for most of the night. Suzumi continuously went back to prepare more, eating it bit by bit, and the conversation never stopped, either. The Mizukage's expectations of unity were completely forgotten. Instead of bonding because of a command, they bonded because they had begun to enjoy being with one another. They were on a mission at heart, but it felt like little more than a camping trip to Suzumi.

Eventually fire and laughter faded together and Suzumi found herself rubbing her eyes on the way to the tent. A ridiculous six inches of blankets lined the floors with pillows lining the whole interior. Happy with her “exceptional and efficient” packing job, she fell gracefully through the tent door. Bundling up in a bunch of blankets and taking up far too much room, Suzumi quickly fell asleep. As her eyes closed on her team, her mind opened up to them. A faint smile lingered as Chae and Taiga ran around in her dreams.

[Chae]

"Yeah, I never really found any importance in rank, I always followed trust and loyalty over that."

Chae expressed in response to Suzumi, before greeting Taiga as he returned more than ready to dig into their dinner. Taking his share of the collected food, Chae dug in and felt quite satisfied with the portions. As the night went on they exchanged stories and laughter, bonding over a campfire. Before long, Suzumi's fagtigue seemed to set, evident by the rubbing her eyes and her retreat into one the tents.

"Get some rest Taiga, I'll stay up a bit longer just to keep watch and make sure nothing is going on."

Believe it or not, through out his travels, Chae learned and adapted to living in the wilderness, know when and how to sleep and even how long. Nevertheless, he decided to watch over the younger of the three during the night.

Don't rest, Chae got his rest, but just enough where he'd be satisfied during the day.

[Taiga Hozuki]

With no more worries for the night Taiga indulged in the delicious food prepared by Suzumi. Boisterous chatter and laughter filled the fireplace as the trio got to know one another better and better. This went on into the night until finally Suzumi was the first to found, rubbing her eyes. Taiga found a yawn escaping his lips as he watched Suzumi head for the single tent. He stood up, scratching his belly, it was obvious fatigue had settled in on the younger of the three.

Taiga looked towards Chae who already surmised such and offered to stay up and watch. He must have felt obligated to do so as the elder of their cell, but Taiga would not object.

"Thank You...."

Weary, the young lad turned around, waving to Chae he opened the tent to find Suzumi fast asleep. Making room he took the middle of the makeshift bed, taking some blankets too wrap himself up in. Taiga was sure to leave Chae some room in case he got too tired though he didn't think Chae would be turning in anytime soon. Half laughing to himself at the thought he then found himself looking at Suzumi's sleeping face for a few seconds wondering what she was dreaming of.

"Sleep well Suzu..."

Whispering those words to her, Taiga closed his eyes and found himself wandering the realm of dreams, thinking back on just how three days ago they were but strangers. So much had happened it felt so surreal. It was like a dream, yet the boy knew it wasn't. The bond created was too strong... too real to be dreamt. He found comfort in this and soon was loss in his thoughts.

Dreaming of the future... with them

[Suzumi]

The sun pierced through the tent, shining directly in Suzumi's eyes. Moaning, she sat up. Seeing the other two still sleeping, she quietly left the tent. Between the fog, trees, and hour of morning, it was still relatively dark. Not even embers remained on their campfire, and most of the food was gone. Still, there was enough parceled away for Suzumi to heat over a small fire. Anticipating another few hours of travel, she downed canteen after canteen of water in preparation. Deciding they should eat the rest of their food and try to arrive at the tavern of interest for a late lunch, Suzumi worked at the food for nearly half an hour.

By then the sun had come up further, bringing light into the world and ridding the grass of its dew. With the sun's added heat and the fire, Suzumi began to sweat. Prompting her to drink more water, Suzumi knew that the first drop of sweat was only the beginning of a long day. Still, she had slept well (perhaps at the expense of the others, as she did tend to get a little greedy with the blankets) and was excited to get moving again. If the smell of food did not wake the other two up, her excited cheer would certainly alarm them. “Wake up! We gotta eat and get movin'!”

[Chae]

As the moon retreated and the sun raised high above the northern mountains, Chae bathed in its remarkably warm rays as he'd lay up against the three, sleep. One leg bent into his chest and the other fully extended, his head simply hung down aimlessly. During his solo ventures, Chae's own life demanded that he learned to sleep ridiculously light, so much so that even while getting a fair amount of rest, the faintest of noises would trigger his awakening from slumber. Upon hearing Suzumi's movements as she prepared herself for the morning, Chae came to, eyes opening slowly to the sight of Suzumi chugging down drink after drink.

"Someone got thirsty through the night? hehe."

Yawning as Suzumi spent her time preparing what little food they had left, Chae looked toward tent concerned about Taiga, wonder whether or not he'd been up just then. Unable to tell, he figured that so long as he'd been ok, it hadn't really mattered. Just as the food finished cooking, Suzumi suggested that they eat and then move out, but, as Chae thought, an even better idea rushed into the frameworks of his mind.

"What if we skip all that and eat while covering some ground to these archers, they can't be too far off now. Whaddya think Taiga?"

Looking and speaking to Taiga (presuming he'd be awake), wished to gain either his approval or disapproval. Being fine with either outcome, it simply seemed more ideal to eat, move, and talk all at once.

[Taiga Hozuki]

Taiga was sound asleep.

Suzumi's action would not awake the slumbering child from his dreams, until after some time, she decided to actively wake him up. Groggy, he sat up rubbing his weary eyes, he blinked several times before acknowledging both Suzumi and Chae with a yawn. His nose wafted around at the scent of hot food awaiting him and a subtle rumble came from the pit of his stomach. Assaulted by their words he was confused at first, his mind still trapped between fantasy and reality. Another yawn, followed by staring into the bright morning sun would fully awake Taiga.

"Eating and moving sounds fine. We never know if those archers might leave or something..."

Speaking, Taiga got dressed while stuffing food in his mouth. He was ready to move on if they had so decided to.

[Suzumi]

Suzumi shrugged. “I suppose you could eat on the move...there is a matter of the camp, though.” She turned to their tent. “You guys eat real quick, I'll handle this stuff.” Taking the poor bag, Suzumi packed their bedding tightly, made possible by the strength of the Hoshigaki blood. The others would help her take down the tent, and in half an hour they were off. Suzumi continued to check the map, though not as frequently as the day before. Since she had seen the map so many times, this did not create any problems...

...until a few hours later. Suzumi looked at the map while moving for a few minutes before coming to a complete stop. After studying the map intensely a while longer she gave up. “I'm lost,” she admitted with a shrug. She pointed at the map. “I think we got turned a bit here. We should be within an hour of the tavern, but I have no clue in which direction.” She looked around as if she could figure it out that easily, jumping when the bushes nearby rustled.

Rapier first, Suzumi approached the bush. As she got closer, she saw drops of blood trailing on the ground. Not asking her teammates what they wanted to do, she ran after the trail. A minute later she found a deer laying on the ground with three arrows in its side. She got closer, touching the deer. It was still alive, but just barely.

“Step away from that, would you kindly miss?” Suzumi jumped, rapier up, as a man emerged from behind a tree. Already with an arrow notched, he walked up slowly.

“Is this yours?” Suzumi backed away from the deer as she asked, never looking away from the man.

“No, it's mine,” a third voice rung out. Also with an arrow ready, another man seemed to come from the trees themselves as he walked towards Suzumi. “Now step away, please.”

“I'm not here for the deer. I think I'm here for you.” The poor wording quickly set the men off. Clearly taking her words as a threat, the men moved closer. Suzumi began to sweat.

[Chae]

Hearing out Suzumi's request, Chae sat comfortably against he aforementioned tree as he finished consuming his share of the leftover food. Content with the serving, he chuckled and patted his stomach before burping and showing his appreciation for Suzumi's cooking's. Before long, she -surprisingly- managed to repack the bag from which their camp set up came from and move out.

"Welp, looks like its time to get back to work Taiga."

Walking past Taiga and patting his shoulder, Chae trailed only a handful of meters to Suzumi's south-east, forming a moving triangle within the trio. Silent for the most part, their hours of travel seemingly flew by in an instant when, finally, Suzumi seemed to have caught wind of a clue of some sort, one of which that turned out to be useful in their search. Once again, lacking the animalistic characteristics that his teammates weilded, Chae himself hadn't noticed the trail of blood soon after Suzumi who, with her shark like senses would have undoubtedly picked up the scent.

Jackpot.

The trail led to a wounded deer who'd been injured quite severely via arrow's to the body. A saddened look sprawled across Chae's face as he noticed the downed dear in its moments of suffering.

"Least your suffering won't be in vain."

Un-phased by the sudden arrival of the bow & arrow Totting men. Listening in to their words, Chae's right hand popped and crackled with basic raiton chakra, letting the men know just what they had been in for.

"Settle down, now, we're only here to inquire about offering your services to the Mizukage. So put those toys down if you don't mind."

Following up behind Suzumi's words, Chae laid out their intentions on the table, but how the men would react had been left entirely unknown.

[Taiga Hozuki]

In tandem with Chae, both Taiga and his sister consumed their breakfast while Suzumi packed up. Not too long after Taiga had finished putting on all his gear when Chae approached him from behind, signaling it was time to hop back on the job. Nodding, Taiga smiled and Shirohime barked. And so the trio were off again, gliding amongst the treetops in a triangle formation. Not too terribly long into they're travels, Suzumi had noticed the blood trail along the same time as Taiga himself did. The group detoured off their path and begin following Suzu.

The crimson decor that painted the greenery soon lead to a dead deer, stricken with a arrow. Abruptly they were interrupted by a group of men who each wielded bows. No doubt within Taiga's mind rested about who they were, he was confident they had stumbled upon that of which they sought. Shirohime let a low, humming like growl escape her muzzle. In response Taiga would place his hand on her head, shooshing her silent for the moment. While he did that, the eldest of the three-Chae laid out the reason they came all the way out him for the Archers to hear.

"It'd be in your interests as well if you think about it. Funding, a habitual place of residence, ect..."

Taiga would exclaim as he interjected. He had no idea if the Archers would even consider it, but they seemed unsure and began whispering amongst themselves. Though quite sure he'd be able to easily overhear them, he opted to not ease drop and simply let them divulge the decision they'd reach. the hushed words ceased soon and one of the men turned towards the three, his brows furrowed while his fingers played with the hairs of his beard.

"So... our talents are needed by the Mizukage himself? If we were to agree, what would happen and what should we look forward to thats enticing?"

Taiga was unsure how to answer, but for now he'd leave the diplomatic part to the older two of his squad. He merely stood back, watching with his soot colored eyes, awaiting for either Chae or Suzumi to answer they're question. Hopefully everything was gonna play out easy, if not he didn't know if Chae or Suzumi planned on going home empty handed; however, he was ready for either direction the mission might take.

For better or worse...

[Suzumi]

The two strangers considered each other for a moment, and then Chae. Nodding to one another, they lowered their bows. Suzumi raised a hand slightly to Chae, wanting him to disperse his chakra in a more non-threatening manner. The first man sucked his teeth.

“ After all, we got a good thing going for us. Bringing back this sack of meat to that tavern means quite a bit of coin. We have a deal worked out that has been working nicely.”

Suzumi stepped forward, an idea already formed in her head. After her disastrous way of handling the last mission, this was her chance for redemption. She put her rapier back in its scabbard, allowing herself to appear much more casual. “Well if you said no the deal might not be so nice anymore,” she said with a hint of poison in her words.

Silence. The men looked to each other again. “Yeah, we thought so.” He whistled. Somehow, Suzumi had not noticed the three men that had managed to sneak into the trees above them. Each had their own target, arrows locked into position. “If we are so reputed, I guess if you can't have us you don't want anyone else to.”

Suzumi did not show her fear. Instead she smiled. “You saw what my friend did a moment ago, right? With the lightning? You see, he is from Kirigakure. And that's his thing. Lightning, that is. Wanna know what my thing is?” She raised an eyebrow and held out her arms in a shrug. “Speed.” She paused. “Now if one of those arrows gets released, you'd better hope it gets to us before I get to you.”

The man laughed, but it was a laugh of acknowledgment, not of mocking. “Alright then. So if we do say no...we're dead?”

“Not instantly,” Suzumi said, lowering her hands. “It'll be slow. We won't kill you. You'll just starve to death.”

“And how's that?”

“Do you know what happens when an ultimate predator enters an ecosystem?” She considered one of the men in the trees. “Assuming the lesser predator does not become prey, it starves. It cannot compete with the superior creature.” She turned back to the speaker, clicking her teeth together a few times. “What do you know of that is a greater predator than a shark?”

"You'd kill everything in this damned forest to make sure we had nothing left." The man waved at the on-edge archers. They gave him a questioning look before putting down their bows and returning to the ground. “We never said no. We were just speaking hypothetically is all. Give us a moment.” They gathered, talking to each other. Suzumi paid them no mind, turning and smiling at Chae. She turned back when the men spread out and approached. “We can discuss details on the way back. We assume this isn't binding or anything...So we'll try it out.”

“I'm glad.”

“Thing is...,” he sucked his teeth again. “It'll have to wait until tomorrow seeing as we don't have any camping equipment. Since we won't be making it there in one day and don't wanna be sleeping out in the open, we'll spend a day at the inn before heading back.”

Suzumi approached him, patting him on the shoulder and smiling.

“Don't worry, I've got you covered.”

The group made its way back over the next three days, taking longer due to traveling at the pace of their guests. Suzumi never once complained, providing the extra tent and clothing for the group while seeming to enjoy her first camping experience.

[exit]