Dax sat and let his feet hang over he side of the dock. A piece of paper floated carelessly in the hands of Dax. Dax looked down at his feet and let the swing back and forth. The waves crashed and went inward back into the sea. The sight was something amazing. The sea breeze let the salt air blow strong. Dax looked back and forth of the dock to see various people walking by. Dax eyed each and every person trying to figure out if the one he was waiting for was a part of the crowd. Looking back at the paper that was resting in his hands, Dax located the name on the mission form. The name was Nana. Dax sat and looked up trying to figure out what the name could have meant and who the person could have looked like.

Dax first pictured a women that was tall and a little bit skinny with a kind smile and an amazing personality. In fact it could have been anyone. Then he thought that it could have been a male. The thought of a male would have been scary. He thought of a male with a girls name. The thought sent shivers down his spine. He could have been a cross dresser! A even colder chill hit his spine. He had to get his mind off the topic. But what could he possibly think of to do so! He wanted to meet the person that they were supposed to meet for the mission but what could he do. They had to meet the person together. Dax looked off to his side to look at his ninken. The small wolf pup was laying down on the ground with his head resting softly on his paws. His violet eyes darted back and forth as he watched the fish swimming around the dock.

The dog kept still until he heard some of the fishermen and sailors walk on the dock. When this occurred he sat up. His head darting from side to side. Dax smiled at his pup and rubbed his head. He knew Fubuki like the sea. It was something different from the cold snow from the mountains. But still it was quite boring just sitting here and waiting. He needed to move along! He wanted something to do! He needed someone to play with! HE did this mission because his sensei told him to! He only liked doing missions because it made him have something to do during his free time. They dont have that many group meetings and not to mention his Sensei was busy with his kids. It was rather sad actually. Him being all alone, but then out of no where he gets a message from his sensei to do a mission with this person. Dax looks around and tries to locate this person once again.

484/600:

Nana was running; as fast as possible, too. She knew she was late, but she had got her own message a little later than usual. Her fault, really, having taken off to go do more training without giving someone any idea as to where she was going. Of course, her twin always knew where she was, but he was off busy, too. Such a lovely pair of trouble makers they made. But, what was done was done, and she needed to concentrate on meeting up with this "Dax" she was supposed to be doing the mission with. She had no idea who it was, but would learn soon enough; as she was almost to the village docks, running as fast as she was capable of doing.

She had her headband around her hair, keeping her ashen brown hair back and out of her face as she ran. The outfit she chose for today was a short-sleeved black shirt made in much the same way as a hoodie with a black hood, with long netted sleeves beneath this. She was wearing baggy black shorts that go down slightly below her knees, the pants having several pockets going down the side of them. She had decided to wear her black open toed sandals. The most peculiar aspect about her is the full body tattoo she has had since graduating the academy, that closely resembles a seal, which when she got angry normally glowed, but for now was just jet black in color.

Her red colored gaze fell upon the male on the docks as she skidded to a stop nearby him. She rose an eyebrow in curiosity as she tilted her head a bit. "Are you Dax?"

Word Count: 285 / 600

Dax looked around as the sea continued to crash. Dax rested his head on his hands as they took up post on his knees. Nothing was really going on and it was quite boring. Fubuki was feeling the same way. The pup went from alert back to laying down on the dock. Nothing was truly going on in the dreary place they called a dock. Not to mention life was all around them except no one wanted to play. Well it couldnt be helped since all he could do was that mission. Which he had to wait for a person he didnt even know. Genin were popping out of no where now in the village. Dax let out a great sigh. All of these new people and he has yet to move up to Chuunin. The Chuunin exams werent even going to be around until another 5 years.

Dax sat and tapped his hands on the wooden path. All of these new people and this person had yet to show up! The nerve of some of these people! Dax didnt really care though. He shows up late to many things. Which got him scolded a couple of times but still. Dax just sat there and waited like he was told. He had to wait until he heard a voice. A voice from a girl. Then all of the sudden there was a voice. It was a feminine voice at that. What a coincidence that he would be thinking about a new person and then a someone would come up and talk to him! Dax quickly turned around at the sound of the voice. There behind him was a girl. The girl was taller than him and wore her headband around her hair. The outfit she chose for today was a short-sleeved black shirt made in much the same way as a hoodie with a black hood, with long netted sleeves beneath this. She was wearing baggy black shorts that go down slightly below her knees, the pants having several pockets going down the side of them. Dax look down at her feet and saw black open toed sandals. Then the most interesting thing was the tattoo that she had on her body. It had to go all over her body.

Another thing hit him. Her smell. She had a weird smell about herself. It wasnt like something from the outside like a forestry smell. But it also had the smell of the night sky. Something Dax liked to do when he was bored in his run down apartment. Dax turned around and looked at her and smiled. "Yes I'm Dax! You are?" Dax blinked all of the sudden then in a whimsical way he spurted out. "You smell funny! You smell like the night sky!" He giggled slightly and stood up and spinning around on his foot. Fubuki his little pup besides him jumped up and down and yipped. After they were done Dax began to move. Looking back at the girl he waved her over. "Lets go! We are going to be late!" He continued and trudged along.

1029/600

Nanalie blinked for a moment before an eyebrow rose along with her curiosity. Most couldn't guess that smell; not that well easily, and surely not until they knew of the clan from which she came. 'Interesting... Lets see here.', she thought to herself as she fully took in Dax's appearance; and the little furry companion he had with him. 'I wonder...', she added to herself as she moved to follow him.

She wasn't worried about the manual labor aspect of the job; that was going to be easy enough given how much she loved training; and loved pushing her body to limits she knew better than to try and reach. She was, however, now very curious about the person she was assigned to work with. Well, she knew she wasn't going to probably get an answer if she didn't ask the question that was floating around in her brain, "Are you an Inuzuka? I just ask because most people don't guess right off the bat what my scent matches up to.", her voice was soft, filled with curiosity as she asked, and her eyebrow rose again when she spoke her question out loud.

She glanced to the ship they were headed towards with her reddish gaze, noticing that the Captain waved at them to come aboard; the man was probably in a hurry to get this done so he could get back to work. She didn't blame him, wasted time was wasted money, after all. She waved back to the Captain, but continued to keep pace with Dax, her curiosity for the moment keeping her from rushing right on in to the hard work of moving all of those crates; or helping move them as it was. Joy!~

Word Count: 290
Total Count: 575 / 600

Dax looked back at the girl who kept herself at a safe distance. Dax could only just blink at her. She was definitely a weird but interesting one. All she did was sit back and observe him. He wondered why. Was it because of something that he said? Dax shrugged his shoulders slightly. It couldnt have been that because he didnt say anything wrong. The girl smelled like the night sky and he was right. There was no other way that he could be wrong. Besides why would he not want to know how she smells. That is the only way that he could possibly remember her. Without it she would just be another face in the crowd. She could be one by now if she didnt come any closer to him. It almost felt like he had his own personal stalker.

Then the woman spoke as he made his way up the steps to the ship to meet the captain. Before boarding, Dax looked at the woman and smiled. "Bingo! I am an Inuzuka!" He said with a giggle. Then he stopped smiling and blinked at the girl. "Not many people know your smell..." He turned his head to the side. "You smell seems obvious to me...Dont you think Fubuki?" He said looking down at his wolf pup. Fubuki who was walking next to Dax the whole time, stopped and looked back at the woman. He sniffed the air and then yipped in agreement. Dax smiled at the pup and then looked back at the girl. "That what I thought!" He giggled and jumped into the ship.

Dax continued his way to where the captain was waving at them. When Dax got closer, Dax was in awe. The man was huge! He had a scar on his cheek and was wearing some sort of tunic about himself. Not to mention he had a pouch around his waist. Dax smiled at the man and then spoke happily. "Hiyo! My name is Dax and this is Nana. We were assigned to work with you!" He said with a slight giggle. Little did Dax know he was about to have his ear drums bleed. "HELLO! I AM THE CAPTAIN OF THIS SHIP" The man roared like he was shouting over some strong wind. The first words were a shock and sent a shiver up Dax's spine. "I NEED YOU TO CARRY SOME CARGO FOR ME AND UNLOAD THE SHIP" The deafening roar was almost much for Dax's ears, but soon the man fell silent. All he did then was point to the boxes the rest of the crew began to move.

Dax blinked at the captain and then looked back at Nana. There was a slight twitch in his eye but in all he guessed they received their orders. Must not be a person to talk much. Dax assumed. So smiling at Nana and at Fubuki. Dax ran off down to where the cargo was and began carrying boxes.

1532/600

Nana grinned triumphantly, glad that she had guessed correctly. "Well, not everyone has that wonderful Inuzuka nose.", she said softly, with a gentle laugh.

She walked up to the Captain as well, following beside Dax by this point. She flinched slightly at the man's shouted directions; hoping and thankful when they were short and sweet. 'God, I don't think my eardrums are working anymore...', she thought to herself as she turned, looking in the direction that the Captain had pointed.

She didn't hesitate to go join the crew and begin helping in the pushing of a large pallet across the ship and down the ramp; where it was to be placed and stored on the dock until the next crew arrived to move it elsewhere. It was slightly nice to know that she wasn't going to have to help in that part of the transport.

As she headed back up the ramp, set on moving something else she took a pause long enough to count how many in all they were going to have to move; there were four left. And each one looked larger than the one that was just moved. "Well.. this will make for some good physical exercise and training.", she said brightly, grinning at the idea. Ah yes, nothing she loved more than a good bit of training.

Word Count: 223
Total Count: 798 / 600

Dax laughed at Nana for her statement. "Really....?" Dax said looking blankly off into space. "I didnt know that...I thought everyone had the same sense of smell..." He said laughing slightly. Dax ran over to a box and then squatted low to the floor. Slowly he began to raise the box up and off the ground. From there he began his movement to go off the ship. This was the tricky part. Each step would be harder and harder as they go along. The reason being is that there were ropes and many other things that could easily trip them up as they move along. Dax tried his best and made sure that he didnt trip. Not to mention that he had his lovely pup helping and cheering him along the way.

Dax smiled and laughed at his ninken as they walked down the path and set down yet another box. Dax wiped away the sweat that was slowly dripping from his brow. They were moving quickly along but it was going to take a couple of men to move the rest of the boxes. Dax looked over at Nana and smiled. "These last few might take a little bit longer to carry..." Dax looked back and then slowly a smile grew on his face. They needed just a couple more hands! He knew exactly what he needed to do! He was an Inuzuka after all! Dax looked over to his ninken and smiled. This was Fubuki's time to shine! Dax crouched low and went on all fours. Fubuki saw this and quickly ran over and jumped on his back. Dax slowly began to pull his chakra out and feed it to Fubuki. Soon when his Chakra enveloped the pup, a puff of smoke came out of no where.

When the puff of smoke cleared, where Fubuki stood, was a spitting image of Dax. This Dax was a little more animalistic put still he had thumbs and could carry things. "Man Beast Clone..." Dax said with a smile. Then looking over to his ninken/humanoid companion, Dax nodded. They both ran up the path and right up to a larger box. With one on each side they slowly lifted to box up and off the floor. Here they made their way off the ship and set down the box. It wasnt long but the new Dax disappeared into smoke again and transformed back into Fubuki. Dax bent down and pet the wolf pup. "Good Job..." He giggled slightly and looked at Nana and smiled. Dax then stood up and looked at the pile of boxes. It seems as though they were almost finished. Only a couple more. Dax stood there and smiled. What a good job they had all done!

WC: 2037/600

While Dax was moving one of the boxes Nana took to shoving the other off of the ship as well; with the help of one of the other crew members. When she came back up to the ship she paused, looking at the remaining boxes. "Well, if we each split up in to pairs then we can move these last few off fairly easy. This way we get done faster."

She pointed to the closet crate. "If you two," she pointed to two of the crew, "can take that one, that would be sweet." The two crew members she indicated moved over to the crate without hesitation.

She then nodded to another pair of the crew and then to the other close by crate. They too moved to it without hesitation, which made her smile slightly; most questioned her given the fact that she was twelve; to have her orders followed without question was rather nice for once.

"Now, if him and I," she pointed to the crew member next to her, "take this one, and you can grab that one with that guy" she pointed to the indicated guy and the crate she was speaking of as she spoke to Dax, "then we can finish up right fast!"

Without hesitation she moved over to her own crate with her fellow crew member. She watched as the first set she had paired up began to push theirs down the ramp, followed by the next pair. She began to push hers with the help of the crew member, across the deck of the ship, and then down the ramp to its proper storage space. 'Now we just need Dax's crate down and we'll be done and can turn in.', she thought to herself.

Word Count: 293
Total Count: 1,091 / 600

Dax swept the sweat off his brow and got up from the ground. They were almost finished! They only needed one more! Not to mention the last one was his to carry! Dax dusted off the sea salt that formed on his pants and began to move up the ramp onto the boat. There he was able to look and see the crate! Luckily for him it was not that large. But still.. Dax went over to feel the box. it was medium sized and made of some fine wood. Had a unique smell to it as well. Dax pushed on it slightly. It moved a little bit but not much. That meant it was a little bit heavy. So Dax got up and grabbed the crate. With a little bit of muscle and some groans the crate slowly began to rise.

Inch by inch. Little by little. Dax stood up on his feet with the crate in his hands. It was a lot heavier than he thought. But he didnt want to let the group down. Not to mention he didnt want to let Nana down after just meeting her. So Dax slowly put one foot in front of the other. Each step seemed to get harder and harder as the box seemed to get heavier and heavier. What could possibly be in this box that could make it this heavy!?! Dax felt the sweat bead down the side of his face. He could feel his legs wobble a little bit. He had to carry this crate all the way to the finish! Continuing with each cautious step, Dax made his way to the ramp. The step up was hardier than he thought with the weight of this crate. But it was nothing that he couldnt handle.

Dax finally made it all the way to the bottom. Where he could feel his feet firmly touch the bottom of the ramp. Dax smiled and then took the step down. But he misjudged the step. Slowly Dax could feel his weight falling forward. Dax tightened his grip on the crate as he felt it slipping from his hands. He knew if he didnt do something he was going to drop the crate! It was going to break! Dax tried his best to regain his balance by moving forward. This ended up having him move from on side of the dock to the other! He could really feel his weight shifting now. All he needed to do was stop his momentum and stand up. How was it that hard to do! It was because of the stupid crate! Dax kept stumbling along all the way until he had enough. Dax slammed his foot down into the ground and with a war cry deafening and loud, Dax came to a stop. Using that same cry to boost his power, Dax used his abs to its fullest to stand himself up into the air.

There Dax stood tall with the crate in his hands. Dax let out a sigh and then slowly made his way over to the storage area. Slowly he set the crate down and turned. He looked to see all the crew members faces. Letting out a nervous laugh, Dax smiled at the group. "Sorry for the scare...." He laughed again. Dax looked back at Nana and smiled. "We finished!" He spun around on his feet in pure joy. Fubuki even jumped around in excitement. Turning around to the Captain of the boat, Dax gave a deep bow. "Thank you for letting us work for you" Then he took a couple of steps back to not take the blast from his voice. Luckily the man did not speak. Then he turned to Nana. Giving her a smile, Dax bowed again, "It was fun working with you!" he rose up and smiled at her. "Cant wait to do another mission with you again!" Turning around, Dax waved good bye to everyone and ran off back to collect his earnings from the mission.

--Exit Thread--

MISSION COMPLETE!!!

2720/600

Nana had watched from the bottom of the ramp as Dax retrieved the last of the boxes. When he seemed to be having some trouble and a became a bit wobbly she braced herself; ready to either dive forward and grab him before he hit the water; or if she was too late for that to dive in after him to make sure he didn't drown. But, it seemed at the last minute he steadied himself and was fine. She exhaled the breath she didn't even know she had been holding as she watched Dax finish with the last of the boxes.

"Good thing, too. I'm starving.", she said with a soft laugh.

She turned to the crew and their Captain, giving a wave of goodbye with a shouted "Thanks" as she too took off, heading to go turn in so she could buy some ramen for a job well done, afterwards. All in all, that had been fun. She found herself hoping to get to work with Dax on another mission in the future, or at least maybe do some training, or even just hang out.

Word Count: 187
Total Count: 1,278 / 600

-Thread Exit, Mission Completed.-