The day was cold, though the temperature didn't seem to affect him whatsoever, due to the inherent nature of his kekkei genkai. He'd have to wait a few more minutes, knowing Isamu would show up here soon, expecting him to take no longer than a few minutes after their scheduled time. It'd be their first mission taken together, since he had never taken Isamu, or the other members of his squad on a mission. In fact, this would be the first he'd do so. Dressed in his combative outfit, one that he felt would be suitable for today, he began to loosen up his arms. He didn't expect too much to come of today, but seeing as how it'd be an infiltration, Yuudai knew he'd have to expect combat at any given moment, though the real issue was with his partner, he didn't know how much Isamu had changed since the last time he saw him, and that time he was severely disappointed in his lack of drive, hopefully that has been changed.

Waiting the gates of Kirigakure no Sato, Yuudai had his back to the village, knowing he'd be aware of Isamu once he was within his presence, knowing that it would be of no harm to him not to worry about anything. This would also be his first time out there in the field for quiet some time, and he chose not to bringing Suichi along for today's task. While the creature certainly did provide enough talent to aid in this quest, Yuudai knew that it was best to just take Isamu today, as Suichi wasn't the best at being sneaky; which he'd expect a change in behavior eventually. There was nothing he really he could do now, except for waiting for Isamu's arrival. He was weary about his rustiness out there, but seeing as he attempted to keep on his feet for quiet some time, he didn't need to worry about too much, and it was Isamu who he was more worried about; it was in his nature. It would be a nice change of pace for him, not having to worry about his clan and actually perform duties that benefited the betterment of Kirigakure no Sato.

While it had been a few days since he had seen Isamu, who brought along a person known as Tetsuya, Yuudai had sent a message to his former student, informing him of the mission he signed the both of them up for. It was an A-ranked mission, dealing with a sunken city, though there was expected to be air bubbles, so they could continue to with the mission without having to worry about the lack of oxygen. His katana may be useless in areas full of completely water, but if he was able to find a location, which allowed him to use his bukijutsu, he'd be able to defend himself, which he kind of expected to happen due to the rank of the mission, but sometimes things don't exactly as expected, so maybe the would get off completely scot-free.

---

The chilly weather was bothering Isamu a bit, it was a normal thing in Kumo but that didn't make it any less annoying. It was near freezing...so on his list of assignments for the day, he only had one. It was some sort of mission with Yuudai to recover some lost artifacts. A recently new task...the Kiri mission board had receive a hefty influx of new missions with the new Mizukage, some of which still hadn't been completed since her inauguration. This was one of those tasks. Yuudai had suggested they go on it together, seeing as they both needed the Ryo, so here Isamu was, walking to the village gates, ready to go with his flak jacket and Kuremachisu by his side. Granted, the little bird couldn't do much, but she was definitely a pleasant traveling companion.

The artifacts that were being sought were deep underwater in a sunken city from many centuries ago, adding to the overall allure of the task. They could find some extremely rare stuff down there, but the hard part would be getting there and also not destroying anything by accident. It was a sunken city full of ancient treasures, so it probably wasn't in the best shape, most likely, they would arrive to find no more than ruins. No matter how he viewed it, though, Isamu only grew more excited by the minute, and he hummed. Kuremachisu chimed in, chirping with the tune as they walked and eventually arrived at the gate. Yuudai was standing there, waiting for them patiently, and Isamu greeted him with a smile. "Hey, Yuudai-sensei." he said as he took a scarf out from his back pocket and wrapped it around his neck. Kuremachisu quit fluttering around and finally landed on his shoulder, snuggling herself into the scarf and giving Yuudai a quiet stare.

"Okay, so are you ready to go, Yuudai-sensei?" Isamu asked with his usual cheery tone. He was about to start walking when he stopped and turned to the purple-haired Jounin again. "and I've got a question...how are we going to get to this underwater city, anyways?" it was an honest question. The most obvious answer was Supernatural Walking Practice, but he meant it more as "how are we going to go so far underwater without the pressure killing us?"

---

Word Count: 395/2,500

There was clearly an issue with the mission that he and Isamu would have to deal with, but it wasn't anything too extraordinary, as he felt he could come up with something on the spot to advance in the mission. When Isamu arrived, he gave him a slight now with an added "Hello." He had attempted to gain more knowledge of the mission prior to informing Isamu of what they were going to set out to accomplish. "How are we going to get to this underwater city, anyways?" That was the exact question floating through his mind as he thought of all the potential possibilities that would take them further down the water without having to deal with the water pressure. There were various things that he thought of, but he doubted anything would be substantial enough to deal with both of them descending downward. He believed if he found a way for himself, it would also be simple for Isamu to do the same, or possibly even follow him. The bird however, was a completely different problem. Suichi would have been able to help, being able to withstand more pressure than humans, and the bird, but he also wanted to know he could be able to handle himself. "That, could pose a bit of trouble. But it's nothing that is impossible to solve the mystery of. Besides, I think we'll both be able to come up with something."

Looking towards the white-haired former student of his, Yuudai had a feeling he would be able to think of something creative. Otherwise, he could just freeze some of the water, or even push away water with a Fuuton jutsu, though it entirely depended upon how deep the ruins actually were. He hoped, that it wouldn't take too long. Looking out in the general direction of the coordinates of the ruins, Yuudai felt they may as well get moving, knowing that it'd be a ways off before they would even reach the ruins and have to begin the descent downwards. Motioning for Isamu, and his companion, to follow, Yuudai  took off at a speed which he knew Isamu would be able to keep up with, without having to strain or push himself.

---

"That, could pose a bit of trouble. But it's nothing that is impossible to solve the mystery of. Besides, I think we'll both be able to come up with something." Yuudai replied with a curious look. Isamu gave him a curious look of his own, then looked out to the wilderness of Kirigakure that stood in front of them. The Aisu gave a quick hand motion and took off sprinting. Isamu never really ran to his objectives in a mission. He was always laid back and just walked there, as running would only tire him out. But then, he realized he couldn't just tell Yuudai to stop, the guy was yards ahead of him already. He took off after him, and Kuremachisu fell off of his shoulder before she caught herself and bolted after him, her wings flapping at full speed. The cold air whipping against his skin at this point had little to no effect; it was generally warming, running at such a speed. His body's natural processes and energy use were increasing his temperature slowly, until he could hardly feel the cold any longer. It was nice, the sun was shining down at various parts, and the scenery around them was gorgeous. The only problem was the distance; they probably wouldn't arrive there for a while, as the coast was far from here.

The Maeda shinobi started to wonder how Ayakashi had even heard of the sunken city. It must have been ancient; Isamu had never heard of it, in all of his years within Kirigakure. Maybe there was some sort of history on it in the Kage's libraries. Isamu's childish mind was being a bit dreamy, and he expected to find gold, gems, and relics...but the Mizukage couldn't have wanted the place scouted out just for all of that, unless the city was massive, and there was enough monetary value in it to sustain the village well. No, it must have been an ancient technology, or a scroll or document, or a powerful weapon. That would make more sense...this thought still intrigued him though, and he wanted a cool weapon for himself! He didn't even know how to use weapons, but that wouldn't stop him. It probably wasn't in the task to take things of your own, though, so he decided against it. Finally, he stopped thinking so much and looked up to find a branch directly in his path, and he dodged it narrowly. Crap, I almost got impaled...I need to pay more attention.

Yuudai still had a speed advantage over Isamu, meaning that at this rate, the purple-haired shinobi was pretty far ahead. He was no more than a spec on Isamu's vision, but still, that was enough to follow, so Isamu wasn't worried. He hopped through tree branches and skid across the grass as he moved, splashing the dew all over with every landing step and every jump. Kuremachisu seemed to keep up fairly well, too, as she was hovering under and over tree branches with relative ease. He realized that he had never been on a mission with Yuudai-sensei before, and this A-Rank was their first. Even more exciting! Agh, it was all just too great. He loved being a ninja again; it was a good feeling; a feeling of purpose and worth, like he was doing something that meant something to everyone in a way. Ninja were there to protect their village, and provide for it, and by doing so, he received more accomplishment than anything he had ever done as a simple medic.

Eventually, they neared the coast, as its waves crashed down against the sandy shores. The sun was now completely blotted out by the clouds, and a thin mist had occupied the area. Still, Isamu didn't feel the slightest bit cold, and he wiped the sweat from his brow while he removed his scarf. Shoving the accessory back into his pocket, he turned to face Yuudai. Kuremachisu appeared from the nearby cluster of greenery, and she landed on his head. He gave her a glance of acknowledgement before saying aloud, "So, now what? How're we supposed to find where it is under the water?" he assumed it wasn't anywhere near the coast, probably a mile or two into the ocean, so they would need to walk for a while. He was sure that Yuudai had some sort of map, or something. While he waited for his sensei to respond, he started to think of ways to get underwater safely and survive the abyssal pressure. He did have that new bubble ninjutsu! That could easily act as a buffer between himself and the pressure, as well as a way to keep breathing while he was down there. The best part was that Yuudai would fit in it too, but he wasn't too worried about it, Yuudai probably had some sort of plan of his own. He sat down carefully in the sand, still looking up to his sensei expectantly.

---

Word Count: 1,247/2,500

His pacing through the forest wasn't quiet as used to the speed he was once able to go at, seeing as how he didn't have any practical way of applying such methods on a periodic basis over the past five years, but he also had a minor adventure, and rigorous training to make up for it. There was nothing truly lost, just the exhilaration, the feeling of being free, not being tied down to certain spot - his duties - for a long period of time. He was human; he had his own preferences, and having to be situated indoors for lengthy periods of time certainly was not at the top of his list of things he'd enjoy doing, then again, it would barely even fit in that category. Almost, he had forgotten about Isamu, but knowing that he'd taken this as a two man mission, he felt he had to treat it as such, so his pacing was slower than he would usually take it.

It wasn't so much eagerness to get out there and accomplish the mission, but rather to get himself prepared for the tasks ahead. Some liked to get to the location at a leisurely pace, some liked to get there far ahead of their scheduled time. Yuudai, however, preferred to get there at a pace that allowed him to be aware of his surroundings without tiring himself out, thus it resulted for his current pace. The wind that blew against his face felt familiar, his ponytail trailing slightly behind him reminded him of the spar he had where he couldn't exactly stay in one spot without being attacked. The familiar feeling of pushing himself further ahead with both legs brought him back to the days he was practicing his speed when he was still a naive little child. It was refreshing to be back where he wanted to be. To be a shinobi, even if it meant doing tasks that would burden him, to protect Kirigakure no Sato. He remembered the outsides of the village as it was just yesterday he had been out there, when in fact it may have just been maybe a few weeks or so. He visited the one location he seemed to favour above all else, the Forgotten Well, something that seemed to hold significant value to him; of all the locations outside of the village borders. Inside the borders, there were quiet a few places he retreated to when Yuudai felt too overloaded with his workload.

The mission he had chosen wasn't the most detailed, but it was expected. He believed the mission he and Isamu took; or rather he decided to take, would be for the betterment of Kirigakure, and for himself and Isamu as well. The payment was an additional bonus that was nice to know about. Solstice, his cousin, the Mizukage, had discovered the coordinates to the remains of the Village Hidden in the Sky, and he and Isamu were mainly assigned anything of note that could possess value to their home village. It was an odd note, having a village in the sky, but there were certainly benefits and hindrances to having a village located in such a place.

The ocean. It was nearing. The crashing of waves, the sounds of gulls that were once faint and far away began to become clear. It's been a while. It had, he couldn't recall the last time he had ventured out this far, to see the ocean and whatever else was out here. It may have been his days as a kid, with his mother, going this far out to see the ocean. It brought a faint, rare, genuine smile to his face. The last time he seemed to have the same expression had been, possibly, three years ago when he began to accept Suichi in his life. Other than that, his emotions always remained the same, not that it bothered him.

Sand. They, or rather he, was nearing the edge of Mizu no Kuni's landmass. Coming to a complete halt, glad that the sun's rays were still blocked out by the masses of clouds lingering in the sky, Yuudai looked out in to the ocean, having a general idea of the exact coordinates that they were set out to go to. They didn't need to be exact, as it'd be fairly easy to spot the ruins of a fallen village. Turning to Isamu, who had just questioned how'd the descend downward, he turned to face him, giving him a genuine smile, though faint. Even after the five year absence, he still remained somewhat the same. "How about I let you deal with that? I'd like to see what you can come up with." He was speaking honestly. It had been a while since he had seen Isamu when their occupation was involved, and he certainly wanted to see what he could come up with over the time period that he had to improve himself.

---

"How about I let you deal with that? I'd like to see what you can come up with." Oh? Isamu was really expecting some sort of badass S-Rank jutsu that could get them to the bottom of the ocean in no time with little to no problems along the way...and now that task was in his own hands. As he thought earlier, he could use that bubble ninjutsu. That was about all that could fit the both of them and still be maintained as they descended. It was decided, the course of action was descent via bubble! Isamu looked over to Yuudai with a bright gleam in his eyes as he said, "There was a bit of a quaint idea I had, but it's our best course of action in this situation. I have a bubble ninjutsu that I use to form a bubble around myself and burst it to keep away close-range combatants, but I think it would do for this." He gestured for Yuudai to come over so he could activate the technique.

Isamu made his way to the water, stepping out onto it for a moment while he gathered chakra to start the technique. The waves beneath his feet churned as they passed by his feet and crashed into the sand. A bit of focus and chakra control, and a thin bubble formed around him. Kuremachisu chirped in curious surprise as it grew to about three meters in height, diameter, and circumference, a perfect sphere around Isamu's body. There was plenty of room within, so he grabbed Yuudai's arm and pulled him in, so that they were both secure within the floating mass. Now, this would be the tricky part; he'd have to change the pressure of the air within the bubble and the density of the bubble itself so that it could sink...the volume of the bubble being so large made this a difficult task, but precision and careful shape manipulation could fix all of this. He made a Bird hand seal, and the bubble's surface began to ripple. He changed hand seals from Bird to Ram; the bubble stabilized, and slowly began to sink under the surface of the waves.

From here, everything in the ocean could be seen. Though from the outside the water was a deep and murky blue, revealing nothing but an abyss, within the water the view was much nicer. The water was still dark, but lucid enough to see plenty of fish and other marine life. Crabs scurried across nearby rocks; clownfish and tuna and a little squid all swam by at once, corral reefs closer to the shore hid away shellfish and shrimp, as well as other, smaller fish. Isamu hadn't seen anything like it in years. After staring in awe at his surroundings, he finally looked down to the depths of the sea, from the bottom of the bubble. Large sharks were swimming down there, along with angler fish, tubeworms, and who knows what else...he turned to Yuudai, who stood in the bubble casually. "So where is the sunken city? I don't see it anywhere down here."

---

Word Count: 1,779/2,500

235/250:

The beginning of the descent was like visiting a new country, all the sights and sounds you were used to hearing changed completely; though going underwater was completely different than remaining above land. Endless blue, that's what one could easily describe the ocean as. The peace creatures of the ocean began to swim away from the foreign object that was entering their waters. Carniverious fish paid no need to their entrance, but remained far too away of the presence of the bubble. Looking downward, Yuudai was unable to spot the ruins, but he did expect it to be deeper than initially thought; it was an entire village that was sunk in the ocean. "So where is the sunken city? I don't see it anywhere down here." So, Isamu was also thinking along the same lines as him, but since they dove down near the correct coordinates, it would only be a matter of moments before they would see the fallen ruins. I think it'll be just a little lower. The city hadn't fallen too far away from Kirigakure's coast line." It was difficult measuring how deep down they had descended so far, but that was not the issue at the moment, but rather finding the sunken sky city was.

After minute or so of answering Isamu, the traces of the Village Hidden in the Sky began to come in to view, pretty much right below them. Examing the remains, there wasn't anything too fancy about the once thriving village, the structures had no significant features except for their above average height compared to the other villages. "That building, the one in the center, is the one we should probably check first. I think it may have been an administrative building for the village. Land us there, and I don't think we'll have to worry about oxygen too much, the Mizukage said there will be pockets of air, though I don't think there will be too many." He knew Isamu would take his direction; he thought his former student had borderline hero-worship for himself, but he doubted it was still around.

---

They went lower into the depths of the ocean, as Yuudai commented, "I think it'll be just a little lower. The city hadn't fallen too far away from Kirigakure's coast line." Isamu thought about that for a moment as he noticed a mass cluster of buildings nearby, and he navigated the bubble towards them. The closer they grew, the larger the city became in sight, and soon, they were dwarfed by how massive it was. Isamu loved the architecture; it held a hint of sophisticated beauty paired with its colossal structures and such. The shinobi looked back to his superior with a smile. "That building, the one in the center, is the one we should probably check first. I think it may have been an administrative building for the village. Land us there, and I don't think we'll have to worry about oxygen too much, the Mizukage said there will be pockets of air, though I don't think there will be too many."

Isamu listened to Yuudai carefully, and then looked at the aforementioned administrative building. It was a large tower, almost a castle-esque structure, that was covered in debris and fallen rocks. He navigated the bubble over towards it, and the front door was blocked out by debris. Just as he made a hand seal to blow the debris out of the way, a quake shook the ocean floor. "What the hell was..." he said to himself, when another larger one shook. Suddenly, a massive black tentacle burst from behind the debris, and it lead to an entire massive squad creature. The thing wrapped itself around the building, and set its eyes on Yuudai and Isamu. Isamu moved the bubble into the admin building, which seemed to be devoid of water and mostly full of air, before popping the bubble and moving the debris back into place before the water from outside flooded in. He then turned to Yuudai, who was looking just as surprised as he was. "It probably wasn't a good idea to come inside of the building that THAT was on...but I didn't have much of a choice. Okay, we need to scout this place out and find what we need to..."

The squid let out a shriek that rang through Isamu's ears. "and we need to get out of here before that squid kills us."

---

Word Count: 2,180/2,500

Well, that certainly was an unexpected occurrence. This certainly would hamper the mission, but they did have a warning that there may be a monster of sorts that could potentially attack them from the mission description they had received. While the administration building would provide the most use to them, it also seemed to be the most endangered location from this..... beast. It would be best to grab whatever they could and quickly make an exist, but knowing what lurked outside of the building, they had to be quick and would probably have to subdue the beast before they could make an exit. Taking in a short breath, knowing that it'd be impossible to stay here for more than a few minutes, Yuudai nodded towards Isamu, "We need to quickly search. Find whatever that could be of use and then we'll have to leave as quick as we came in. But, we may need to deal with what is out there before we can leave." With his sudden rush of words, Yuudai began to walk further in to the building, trying to find a specific room that could hold invaluable information.

He was looking for a library, or at least whatever would remain of it. Maybe even the offices to the the head of the village. Something that could potentially hold an item that would benefit Kirigakure no Sato. Opening a door, which immediately fell of its hinges and landed on what remained of the floor, Yuudai entered the room, quickly glancing around. The first thing that caught his eye was the desk, nearing the opposite end of the room. It seemed to remain in perfect condition, excluding the factors that would come with being in such an environment. It was barely touched from the collision, something he found completely odd. Quickly walking up to the desk, he quickly open a drawer, shuffling and opening all the possible scrolls that laid within it. Grabbing one that he saw, which contained a few Fuuton jutsus, none that he'd seen before, he quickly threw it in his pocket and exited the room, making his way back to where he and Isamu entered, knowing that he'd meet back up in this exact location.

---

"We need to quickly search. Find whatever that could be of use and then we'll have to leave as quick as we came in. But, we may need to deal with what is out there before we can leave." Isamu nodded, and immediately went off to in the other direction. Yuudai had headed somewhere east, so Isamu went west, down into some sort of chamber. It was empty and decrepit, full of crabs and spiders, but he noticed a trapdoor on the ground, locked shut by a chain. He yanked on the chain, breaking it from the door, and swung it open, to reveal a flooded basement of sorts. He was sure there had to be something down there. He dived into the flooded area, swimming down to the bottom. It was pitch-dark down there, and he could hardly see anything, but one thing definitely caught his eye. It was some sort of device that was casting a faint light on the area; if not for that, it would be completely dark down here. He picked it up and pocketed it, and also grabbed a few cool-looking swords down there, before resurfacing.

Isamu ran out and greeted Yuudai again, holding all of his loot. "Okay, so if we go out of the front entrance, there's little chance of us surviving, so we should go through there." he said as he pointed up to a broken space in the ceiling that made an artificial waterfall that was flooding into a different corridor. He ran up the stairs to get closer, and Yuudai followed, until they were near the top, and at the edge of the pouring water. He recreated the bubble and they began to float up. The squid looked at them as they were leaving, and its eyes flared with anger. It launched on of its tentacles at the bubble in its fury, an attack that would surely be fatal if it landed. Isamu moved through the surface of the bubble carefully, so that he didn't pop it, before blasting a missile of wind at the tentacle, which stopped it on impact. He swam back to the bubble, moved back into it and they finally spend the last 10 minutes of their journey floating to the surface.

By the time they made it to the shore, they were both soaked from head to toe, and Isamu untied his ponytail, shoving the hair tie into his pocket along with all of the treasures and things that he found. "Mission success!" he said happily. He suddenly realized that Kuremachisu had come underwater with him, and wondered where she had gone....surely she couldn't have drowned!? Relief washed over him as she popped her head out of the pocket of his pants, and then he turned to face Yuudai as she fluttered out and hovered nearby the two.

---

Word Count: 2,661/2,500
Mission Complete

He definitely expected more out of, whatever it was, down there below the administration building, but obviously Isamu was able to keep it fended off, through the use of a fuuton technique of sorts. Here he thought he'd have to deal with the creature, but he was severely mistaken, and proud of the quick thinking. They were underwater, so their combat in a physical form was severely hampered, along with their speed, so picking a shot, like Isamu had done, would be beneficial to the both of them, even if Yuudai had to do nothing. Once on the surface, in the clear, Yuudai turned to Isamu and gave him a small pat on the back. "Quick thinking, though it wasn't much of a battle we needed to deal with, just avoid. Still, good job. Now, lets get these things to the Mizukage." Withdrawing the scroll from his pocket, a sign that he had found something as well, was all he did before he picked a few things that Isamu was carrying and began to stalk off, towards the village.

---