Nayoko Nozara took a huge inhale as he stood on the bow of the ship that moved across the ocean toward the Land of Water. The sea air was blowing gently through his hair, and the taste of salt from the water was fresh on his tongue. The smile on his face was spread from one ear to the other. He had to admit, more than anything else, the young Hattori was excited. The build up to the trip had been long and stressful, with Nayoko as well as his travelling companion preparing all of their affairs before they left their home.

The hardest part for Nayoko had definitely been parting with his family. His sister was excited for him, and would not cease her teasing about travelling with the woman who had kissed him on the cheek, but she also had said that she would miss him before hugging him goodbye. His father had also been very supportive. He helped him pack all of his supplies and even gave him some extra ryo for the stops that the two ninja would have to make along the way. It killed Nayoko a little bit inside knowing that everything he had told his father was a lie. As far as his family knew, Nayoko and Shimada were going on a trip as a diplomatic exchange for the ongoing Kiri-Konoha Ninja Exchange Program, and they would be gone for a short while in order to accomplish their tasks. He knew that it was wrong, and he knew that he really should be telling him the truth, especially since what they were going to be doing was probably very dangerous. But he could not allow his father to be worrying the entire time that he was gone. Furthermore, if he even mentioned that it had something to do with his mother, then his sister would have forced her way into the trip as well. I can’t put them all in danger. I need to protect them.

Despite all of this, the young Hattori was still extremely excited for whatever the Land of Water held for him and Shimada. He had heard rumours that this place was a far more violent one than Konohagakure no Sato, but Nayoko was sure that he could handle it, especially after his recent mission with the Sword Saint of Konoha, Mitsuo Sarutobi.

Eventually, he glanced over to see his friend and travelling companion, Hattori Shimada, standing on the deck with him. Just seeing her made him smile even more. The way her hair danced in the wind and how the sunlight reflected off of the water and into her ruby red eyes, anyone would admit that she was beautiful. “So Hattori-chan, it’s finally happening! We’re off to Kirigakure no Sato! I wonder what sort of adventures await us on the other side of this watery expanse.” He placed his hand on his chest, and bowed low in a joking gesture. “But no matter what we may face over in that foreign land, I promise that I will keep you safe!” He couldn’t help but begin to chuckle as he stood back up from his bow.

He then stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder before continuing in a soft tone. “Seriously though, thank you again so much for coming with me, and for waiting for me on top of that! It means the world to me to know that I’ll have a friend by my side for all of this mess.” He meant every word, even the joking parts. He would not let any harm come to the woman before him. I’m not sure if I could live with myself if I did…

[Exit Thread]

WC:624
Travel Complete!! (600/600)

It was finally happening. The trip spent weeks preparing for - gathering enough to pack and ryo to spend - had commenced; Shimada's friendly travel companion at her side and the sea rolling against the ship's bow. Sea spray, bearing with it the scent of brine and unfamiliar musk, splashing into her pallid face. Pale, however, more than usual. The woman's skin had taken on a ghostly sheen as soon as they had departed from mainland and proceeded towards the Land of Water, and failed to regress into normal pallor with due time. Every crash of sea water against the boat rocking her stomach with the impact. Though she stood, faintly shaking in her quiet nausea, beside Nayoko without a word of her condition, the tug of her thin lips downwards was a sign of distress; no doubt something he would pick up on, of course.

The Hattori lowered her gaze from the sea and focused on the deck below her in an attempt to keep what little she had consumed down. It would not make due to vomit in front of someone, more less her friend, and she pushed back the bile rising in her throat. Filling her mind with a torrent of thoughts in order to block out the pounding of her heart hammering against her rib cage.

She pondered on the affairs she had taken care of before leaving. Details that included visiting her aunt in the hospital to bid a soft 'goodbye' and her uncle's gravestone to lay a bouquet of dandelions down. Replace the withered with the freshly cut. Other than that, it had been a very slow time for her punctuated by the mundane routine of life and too many insomniac nights; one such even goading her into taking a night shift for patrol duty a while back. When she could not sleep, plagued by restless nightmares that vanished upon waking, the Hattori worked. Training or missions mostly; idling about an empty home rare. But it seemed like a lifetime ago, odd enough. The rocking of the ship reminding her she was now progressing towards the destination she had offered to travel to. An offer to help a man she had barely known.

At the thought of him, Shimada glanced to where he stood near, and saw he had been staring. Brown hair rumpled from the wind, carelessly messy against the dark eyes she met without hesitation. He had a fair face, strong jawed and organized, and the young woman felt an urge to tease him. Catch him up with something witty, but the nausea came rolling back with steely vengeance, and she abandoned the idea in favor for a faint sigh. It would have to wait, the bloody haired woman instead focusing attention back onto Nayoko. The way his lips moved to form words softened by the whistling of wind. “So Hattori-chan, it’s finally happening! We’re off to Kirigakure no Sato! I wonder what sort of adventures await us on the other side of this watery expanse.” The male placed a hand over his chest, bowing low in a mocking gesture she wanted to almost chuckle at. Almost. “But no matter what we may face over in that foreign land, I promise that I will keep you safe!” His boyish laughter rose out, clear as the sky, and Shimada let a passive smile lift her placid expression upwards.

'Oh, the charmer...'

The phrase echoed against her skull as she chewed on the correct words to say, something she could produce without the threat of vomiting hanging over her head. Clearing her throat, stomach tightening ever slightly at the crashing of a wave, Shimada awarded him a faint itching laugh and peered up at him. Her voice kept low in partial discomfort at the seasickness she did not know she possessed. "Nozara-kun, always the gentleman! Pledging to keep the lady safe from distress, why, I'd think you were after my heart." A playful smirk caught her off guard, gentle on her lips, and she curtsied to match his mock action. Forgetting for but a moment the nausea. "No, but I, too, am pleased to finally begin this journey. No doubt we will have many stories to bring back to Konoha by the time we are finished up in Kiri. As for your promise, I warn you." She pressed a pale hand to her stomach and frowned; a mere twitch of her lips. "This lady already is in distress, but not quite something you can rescue her from."

Shimada murmured softly, arching her head to stare up at him as he suddenly approached. A warm hand slipping onto her shoulder, and Nayoko's gentle voice hitting her from a mile away. Melting away the tenseness in the kunoichi's posture with his genuine words. “Seriously though, thank you again so much for coming with me, and for waiting for me on top of that! It means the world to me to know that I’ll have a friend by my side for all of this mess.” Swallowing hard a tightening throat, the Hattori stared in a manner of dulled surprise at him; the meaning of the message piercing through her chest. The sincerity and appreciation he must have felt.

And she had a hand in it.

The woman merely nodded once and pushed away the surprise of his confession in her head. A smirk curling at her thin lips. In a way, she appreciated him for even uttering those words, but she was not going to admit it so openly. Subtlety always seemed in short call, and she chuckled out her thoughts behind a bout of nausea. Narrow eyebrows furrowed together in minor discomfort. "What a flatterer you are, Nozara-kun, so I'll accept your words generously. It's not everyday someone tells you that, and... I appreciate it. You always seem to know what to say, and not to leave you out, I will admit it is a pleasure to travel by your side. That way, you have someone watching your back as well." Shimada produced him a weak smile, attempting to be genuine this time in her expression, but failing as her stomach suddenly clenched up and sent bile up the back of her throat. Scowling, the Hattori managed out a frail sound. "If you will excuse me for a moment..." The few words the only thing she could say before Shimada was turning away from her travel companion and making a break for the other side of the ship. Just in time to throw up in the absence of his presence.

Hanging her head over the side, tears prickling the back of her eyes, she sighed. Exhausted of will.

'This is going to be a long trip...'