Recovery from the Sky City:

The sun seemed to rise earlier than most mornings as a young boy stretched tossing his blanket to the side. Rubbing his eyes a bit and yawning he looked around to find a note on the side. He was a bit relaxed having had a break from the war of Seven Bells. He took the letter with him and began to travel towards the village in search of something to do, having found the Mizukage to be alive made him really happy and the training he got from the legendary Star was also great even though he declined the offer to visit his clan's home.

Going to his usual eating place which was still being rebuilt, his spot was still there as he went to sit and ask for something special. The staff smiled and all greeted him as they made him noodles with special shrimp sauce. One new guy at the place made a joke. "Shrimp sauce for the little shrimp". The man was laughing until someone pointed out that the kid was an important ninja who fought in the seven bells war. The guy laughed it off then ran away, Ren was a bit out of it just chewing his food not really noticing what the guy was saying. Life could not get much better until he opened the letter and began reading.

The letter read, "Hi yuzu i know i said you could enjoy yourself with no missions for the week but i was busy and they set me up to do some joint mission with this girl i don't like so would you be a good little boy and just do the stupid mission with her, thanks and have fun, from Yuzuroku"
He sighed then turned over to begin reading the mission they had to go collect whatever they could find from the sky city and bring it back to Kirigakure to get paid. He would be working with Tenmei who sounded familiar as he wondered from where he heard that name. He sighed and read the details on how he would recognise her as it stated that she was female which he found stupid since the thing already said she was but he figured the people were slacking off in the missions headquarters again. She was about five foot five with silver gray eyes and coal black hair. Asside from the eyes the hair described a very large number of people but he figured he would meet her at the location.

He started heading out to the meeting site which would be a camp near the coast where they are suppose to take a boat to the islands and travel towards their mission goal. He walked around for a while people waving some kids running around some guys drinking and the occasional lady beating up her husband again which seemed to happen a lot. He finally reached the meeting site where he met with some medical staff who decided to give him a check up for no reason while he waits. He blushed a bit while looking slightly annoyed as he lifted his shirt so they could listen to his breathing and heart beat. They checked his blood pressure and seemed to enjoy putting a thermometer in his mouth asking him to go ahhh which he had to do three times which annoyed him. He wondered when his partner for this mission would arrive and when these medical shinobi would start leaving him alone. Ever since Seven Bells they had been bothering him a lot, but they made him feel better then so it would be rude to fight them now. The one medical jounin just looked at him for ten seconds then moved on. Seems everyone was coming to this camp site as a meeting point for their missions and the boat was already waiting for those who needed to reach the islands.

"Tenmei, where are you?"

Word Count = 655/2500

She finally arrived and took it that he was indeed Ren and replaced her partner for that mission as he stood there she looked familiar but he decided to ignore that for now and answered her question on heading out as he stood there. "Yes, i been ready for a while now Tenmei" He stretched a bit yawning as he walked a bit slowly towards the boat then looked back at her. "So you coming we still need to reach the islands first before we can begin our mission." He stood there waiting but there were several thoughts going through his mind as he looked at her.

The first thing he thought was that she looked really beautiful and rather scary. Her hair was too black he thought as it seemed so dark you could go blind from just thinking of it. She was not that tall but sadly for Ren everyone appeared tall when compared to him. He continued to observe her also looking down then up then looking away keeping the mental image in his head.
The second thing finally hit him as he thought back to the time he went into a bar... she had caused a stir then and it did not even occur that he caused a bigger stir by being too young to be there. As he thought back he could not remember too clearly but he thought maybe she was a heavy drinker so she could be a pirate shinobi. The things he had been learning recently had made his imagination a bit more active than it used to be. Then the third and final thing he thought about was their mission, they had to be underwater scavengers collecting as much junk whether it was useful or maybe useful they had to collect it. He wondered if they would be forced to sort all of it out later, which bothered him a lot as he thought on it long and hard. He then figured since there is no war they probably will not dump this on some scary lady and a kid. As he was walking nearly at the boat he turned to look back at Tenmei.

Word Count = 655 + 364 = 1019

"What is it? What's wrong?" were the words she used when he looked back the second time, he was not sure what she was trying to ask as he did not see anything wrong. He began to wonder if maybe she had been drinking but then remembered that some shinobi actually did their missions drunk. She then proceeded to ask if he forgot something and said they had to finish before it gets dark, which was when he assumed that she meant they should get going and he should stop wasting time looking back the whole time. He then got in the boat and finally spoke apologetically, "Sorry for wasting time was just trying to get to know you a bit since we doing a mission together, wonder why Yuzuroku did not want to do the mission with you. Maybe just cause you a girl so are you getting in the boat cause you been walking really slowly."

Her slow steps had given a sense of unease as if she was afraid of the boat, or perhaps the water but he figured both of those were stupid so she must have been scared of him so he placed his sword down to his side and raised his arms stretching to try and appear less threatening. He was smart but sometimes he misread things completely, however he was prepared for the mission and some the person who was going to get the boat going sighed and almost looked like he had tears in his eyes as he looked at Tenmei. He wiped his eyes so the young Ren would not see this and get scared. Meanwhile a medical shinobi walked passed Tenmei then whispered loud enough for her to hear. "If you need help i placed some sleeping pills in the back of the boat but only take one if you need to, take more and you might not wake up"

As the medical shinobi also got in it was time for the only lady to get in the boat. It looked like this was not a normal boat as it was a three bencher with Ren taking the front end as his seat the medical shinobi sat on the left side of the middle bench and the boat rider sat on the other side leaving tenmei to sit on the back end. There was some strange stuff under the boat as the captain of this mini boat barely big enough to take all of them made a few hand seals. This was when Ren looked back to Tenmei again. "Tenmei, we going to be late"

Word Count = 1019 + 436 = 1455
Chakra = 320/320

He felt a bit bad when she mentioned that what he was doing was rude and annoying. He did not reply to that feeling he might say something worse and would just look down to her feet. She was finally on the boat and gave a faint smile as she pulled a small wool blanket out of her bag and carefully got on the boat. She then placed her bag securely under the bench with her blanket laid down smoothly. She crossed her legs then waited when with a short start the boat began moving as they left the shallow waters and were now moving. He did not stare at her too much as he just was trying to think of a way to deal with the mission while on their way.

Tenmei began explaining why she had the wool rug and said that wool doesn't burn. That did not make too much sense, but then again he did not understand the type of burning she was talking about. His attention focused more on the mission and anything that may happen on their way to the site. She mentioned something about being stranded which made Ren look up he noticed sweat on both the Medic and boats current captain of sorts.

Finally she asked him something that really made him have to think for a bit as he heard "So... how did you get pulled in to doing this mission? Were you told at all of what we were to be collecting from.... from down there? Or why they would need higher ranks to get it as opposed to others?"

He took a deep sigh that was more a sign of him not enjoying the boat ride either, then finally replied. “ We need to collect materials, scrolls and anything useful from the wreckage of the fallen Sky City. I do not know why the city fell from the sky into the water but if it was floating. There must be some important scrolls or gear that might make flying possible for our village maybe. There will be a few air pockets in the sunken city, but i don't think we can get passed having to swim. There is also some reports of a monster down there so i think we should be prepared to take that thing out "

He looked down as the boat was now atleast half way then he spoke to answer the first question she asked on why he was doing this mission. " I did not want to do this mission, but Yuzuroku did not want to do this mission so she dumped it on me. I can not say no to the leader of my clan and i also need the money to pay for some new shoes. "

They would soon arrive at their destination it was just a matter of time, meanwhile something deep within the sunken city began to stir, awakening from its slumber as fish begin to swim frantically away from the location.

Word Count = 1455 + 511 = 1966/2500
Chakra = 320/320

"It's alright. I didn't want to do this mission either. So I guess.... that makes the two of us. It's a shame 'not wanting' to do it is not a good enough excuse for them"

This was the answer that she gave to him as they had now arrived where they would be getting off. She stood up first as he looked up to her, feeling somewhat sad that any friends he tries to make normally end up dead. It did not even occur to him that he was now staring blank at her, zoning out as he remembered one of the times he had spent on a boat.

***FlashBack***
"Ren, what is the matter?" the young boy looked up at the lady then said.
"Kitara-sensei, how is this suppose to prepare us to become shinobi?" he had oftened wondered about this due to the fact that most shinobi can just run on the water anyways. It was a question that got a laugh from some of the other academy students, while another student stood on the edge of the boat. He looked out observing the ocean with his red eyes that made the others envious. He then turned back to look at the young Ren troubling their sensei. Better term would be academy instructor or in this case she was just a glorified baby sitter. The students were laughing but in truth none of them knew why they were on a boat. Except for the Uchiha, the sensei and the few top students.

A deep sigh came from her mouth as she finally found it in her to begin the explanation. "Not everyone enjoys running on water, could you imagine having to run all the way from the village to one of the islands. Not only that but it wastes chakra and energy which is important in tough missions. The real reason we are here is to see that everyone knows how to swim." The mood of everyone on the boat went from laughter to panic. The screaming running around and noise making was annoying as the sensei had to use a suiton jutsu just to keep the boat from falling over. Now was the time they needed to stop worrying and going on like little children and she began to think she should have just had them go to train by the shallow pools.

"Can you guys stop making a noise, Ren is the youngest one here and his not scared one bit, right Ren." The others looked to Ren who had not moved at all as his eyes were open wide as if he was excited. The only one who knew the truth was his friend, the loud mouth Uchiha who told everyone to keep quiet. Uchiha Tora had realised that Ren was not excited but in fear. He knew Ren only feared a few things which he picked up on. He feared being alone and he feared dying. This must have been the fear of death which meant that Ren had no idea how to swim. Which was rather odd since his clan majored in using water, although he did remember that Ren always stayed in the shallow end whenever they went swimming together. Ren never actually swam and had never been in water deeper than his own height. Knowing he had to save face for his little friend he rubbed his head making him forget the problem. "Stop that, baka-tora"

They had gotten close ever since the day Tora first mistook him for a girl. The embarrassment still living with him till today. They also knew each others deepest secrets as they had lived and trained together many times. As the waves hit against the fairly decent boat, the instructor coughed a bit then finally said. " Enough playing around those who can not swim will come with me those who can swim must go underwater and fetch me something from the bottom. You may take this small air seal with you. " They understood and most of them chose to stand at the back, even those who knew how to swim while she smiled she looked on as Ren, Tora, Jusuke and Emma took the other side.

As Ren stood there with his friend Tora right next to him and Jusuke grinning as he stood showing off again. While Emma the only brave girl in Ren's current academy class were ready. Tora looked down at the water sighing while Ren unconsciously grabbed tight on to Tora's hand as Emma stared. "Are you two gay?". Tora had a shocked look on his face and turned deep red when he realised what was going on, but Ren on the other hand glared at her as she decided to drop it with a casual. "I don't really care if you are, I think its cute that Ren has a friend". He hardly noticed her but Emma joined the academy a day before Ren as she was avoiding others. She liked him and had wanted to become his friend, by the time she gained the courage to approach him Tora had met him. She was also a genius too but his being younger then her made her seem less of one. As they were done with all the games they jumped into the water, while Emma decided to push Ren in before diving. Tora in a slight panic realised Ren forgot his air seal and jumped in. He grabbed it and dove in swimming quickly as Ren who was lightweight was wearing rather heavy clothing that soaked in the water. He reached Ren who nearly drowned, but received a slap of the seal against his mouth. The air rushed into his lungs as he took a deep breath and looked around. He struggled to see with the salt getting in his eyes and used his clans Mist Eyes technique to see under the water.

He then got pulled around by Tora who had used some jutsu to create an air pocket so they could talk in secret. They discussed many things that day.

***Flashback End***

He awoke from his spacing out as he noticed Tenmei grab her sword. She was about to go in the water it seemed and she told him to hope there were no monsters and that they were here. She told him he was the better swimmer and that he needed to go first. Aside from members of the Hoshigaki clan he was actually a brilliant swimmer. He slowly removed most of his clothing only keeping on his shorts as he blushed for a bit then looked at her. She asked if there was anything else of importance before they go down there and the only thing he said to her was.
"Be careful"

He dove in only taking some scrolls in a bag with him as he entered the water he quickly began swimming to the bottom. He activated his mist eyes technique in order to look around better. The fishes were all over and he wondered whether Tenmei had chosen to follow him. When he entered the water the waves picked up and a storm seemed to approach. He had been looking around seeing only the beauty which was the sunken city of the Sky. He saw sections of the hallways, bits and pieces of rubble here and there. Some tiny air pockets all over as well as what looked like gold jewelry just laying there. If he had paid better attention he would have noticed what was about to happen. Bubbles rose up fast if Tenmei had chosen to follow him she would get to see the very thing which he could not.

A black object had gripped ren around his leg and was pulling him under fast. He needed help and it was unclear what actually grabbed hold of him, but it seems this mission would not be as easy has they had hoped it would be.

Word Count = 1966 + 1364 = 2500/2500
Excess = 830
Chakra = 295/320

A-Rank Kiri Shiryoku

Kiri Shiryoku:

Breathe in. Take a pause


Tenmei waited just long enough for the tail of white spray, to settle back on the unsteady water's surface and his slight form to fade further in to the murky waters, before looking back to the wary medics behind her.... one last time. They knew her concerns. The thoughts giving her a taste of the crushing pressure of below. The questions repeating over and over again like a blizzard in her mind....
Like: What if she didn't put her barrier up in time? What if the cold down further wasn't enough? What if the air pockets in the city were too stale to be breathable? What if she didn't make it back up in time and the abysmal water wrapped it's tendrils around her as it had done before and only let go when there was no more oxygen left to steal? What if she....
 
"Miss Sotsuji? Are you alright?"
Tenmei looked back down to the concerned expressions, gazing at the white knuckles around the hilt of the blade, the slight charring where her bare feet rested against the wood. The cheeks growing as pale as the silvery mist that cloaked their activities.
"Please don't worry, we will be ready for you when you resurface once the mission is complete. Everything will be fine"

Everything....will be fine.


Breathe out.  Be careful

With one final pat against her thigh to ensure that the pills were still secure and the sword strong at her side, she stepped to the edge of the boat, raised her hands to a point above her head....and dived straight in to the water, going down as far as she could before the liquid denisty started to force her back to the upper world.
She would get to work before that could happen. Because no sooner had she pierced the surface, the water around her started to bubble. It fizzed and hissed and no matter how much she tried to hold it in, the coolness disappeared in to jets of steam that disappeared above her in to the mist while the memories stayed close to her chest. But this time.... this time she was ready. She wasn't waiting for the hands to pull her away from the danger. Before gravity could shift out of her favour, Tenmei formed her hands in to a familiar seal and waited for the relief. And thank goodness it came soon.

No sooner had she concentrated the cooler chakra inside her, a wind picked up around her. An swirling mass of air that forced the water out in a perfect sphere around her. Leaving Tenmei with a globe of breathable oxygen and a better way to get through the water.
Though this would work well for a while, it had it's limits. All she had time for....all she needed was for the cutting wind barrier to hold it together until she got deep enough where the dropped temperature  was enough to combat the high temp that leeched out from under her skin. If she didn't reach that level though....then Tenmei could only hope the child at her back could think on his feet.

Speaking of which...

It didn't take long for her eyes to get used to the dull blue light of the under water world. And without the steam pouring from her skin she could take that extra minute to think and observe. And what a sight to be observing....
It was magnificent. The world in front of her. So peaceful...silent with gold chain stars hanging suspended through the darkening water.
But that was nothing compared to the array of ruin and rubble that protruded like a fallen monument from the bottom of the sea. This was where they were going. And from the looks of it: their information was correct. The arch way leading in to the fallen city lead to a strangely formed air bubble that could be breathable even now.

But if that was correct, that meant.......

Tenmei barely saw it coming. The long...dark, scaly tentacle wrapping about the young male's leg. Dragging him further down and away from where they needed to go. This time she didn't need a second. Tenmei pushed off the chain which held the anchor and shot through the water like a torrent, with the cutting effect of the barrier speeding her trip... and she had no intention of slowing down. Sword in hand and heading straight for the tentacle, Tenmei kept her trajectory until she was bare metre away...when she suddenly swung the blade forward, severing the meat clean off with the shield around her cleaning up what she missed. As soon as he was free, the special jounin darted back so her companion wouldn't be hurt by her defence and so she could see.

She saw it was hideous.

The form it had taken was something crossed between a kracken and a crab. An abomination of beasts crawling like a low bellied snake out between the crevices of an underwater canyon. They said it was a beast. A monster. They were not wrong.
Now out in the open they both would get a clear view of what they were up against. A disgustingly perfect glipse of the squirming, writhing mass with eight tentacles, reaching out to grab them again, and the two giant pincers dragging across the ground. The teeth in the center of it's body, the muscled edges of every reaching arm.
It would not be an easy fight.... but Tenmei wasn't expecting it to be.
So what if that thing was easily three times her size...or that under here she felt lethargic and anxious. It had been a long day and she was itching to dig Silver in to something that bleeds.

She wasn't the only one though. No sooner had these thoughts grabbed hold, two tentacles shot out to curve their way around her torso and legs, aiming to bind her like it had done the other... but Tenmei had other ideas. The moment it came close to the barrier, the flesh started peel from the tentacle in black clumps, distorting her vision but not so much that she didn't see what it was trying to do.
Blade held high, body tensed at the ready, she wasn't going to let it get close to hurting her like he had done back when this all started.

And while she was fighting her four long reaching tentacles, the remaining four started heading towards the younger boy.
The one Tenmei had sliced off had somehow reformed, pulling itself back together to repeat the same action as it had done before... but this time it knew better. While that one tentacle aimed to coil around his leg, the other made a spear point, heading straight for the jounin's side. Aiming to pierce him through and through so there would be no escape when the depths took him.

So with both shinobi under attack and oxygen running thinner as the precious seconds raced by, it was becoming as clear as the monster they faced. If they wanted to get the things from inside the ruins, they needed to defeat it first. And they were running out of time.

-----------
Words: 1226
Training total: 2010

Chakra 235/250:

As he was taken by surprise the shock sending some fear into him as he did not see the dark scaly tentacle that wrapped around hsi leg, as it dragged him down away from their destination. It did not take long though for Tenmei to getting into action as she pushed off the cahin that was held by the anchor and shot through the water and cut the tentacle off which had held him. He nearly panicked and quickly grabbed hold of his senses to keep in his precious oxygen which he could do for quite a long time given his training. He noticed she came to his aid, even though he may have not needed it knowing that she had his back made him feel better. He then took a look down at what had attacked him and it looked like a giant kraken crab hybrid mistake created by Io from the Seven Bells war.

He would not be able to deal with this as easily as he normally would and surrounded by water he would have to do something in order to get some time to breath, as he carefully counted that it had eight tentacles and about two pincers. His mist eyes enabled him to see this clearly as he realised this beast must have claimed the sunken city as its home.

He did not have too much time to think as he noticed two tentacles shot out towards Tenmei he wished to help her, but before he could properly react she was already safe with her barrier shredding the tentacles which seemed to regenerate, as he looked on and noticed four tentacles thrusting towards him. The one tentacle seemed to go for his leg in an attempt to coil around it again. He ignored that when he noticed a spear point one was aiming right for his side, as he thought about it quickly and chose to use his technique. He drew his sword and cut the tentacle coiling around his leg then create a pocket within the water as he slashed the piercing tentacle apart with his technique Mizukiri as he took a quick deep breath during the moments in which air was there. He did not let his guard down as he drew his other sword to defend against the remaining two tentacles that clashed at the same time with his sword disarming his left arm. He then swung his other blade to cut the tentacles at their ends only for all four tentacles to begin rebuilding themselves again. He realised as much fun as it would be to fight underwater like this they would need to get themselves to a foot hold in order to fight properly. He had faith in her abilities and began swimming towards her as the four tentacles regenerated and began following him as he swam full speed towards her. He had a plan but he needed to make sure she was safe before he could use it. He remembered her using some form of air barrier and decided he would be able to use that and put faith in her. He took a his moment and charged his Raiton and shot it through the water as it travelled shocking the entire beast and as long as Tenmei had a good defence or wind jutsu available she would avoid being paralyzed along with the beast.

This was just meant to keep the beast from moving anywhere and to help stop it from continously attacking as the four tentacles had reformed and charged at him. The electricity flowing the water looked spectacular and was really flashy in this situation but this was not the end of what he had planned. He planned to release his new Raiton jutsu to take out the monster as he charged up for his next jutsu.


Mission Word Count = 2500/2500
Training Excess = 830 + 641 = 1471
Chakra = 255/320

Mizukiri - A:

Raiton Jibashi:

The lightning of his technique struck the monster as it coursed through its entire body, the brilliant Tenmei using her skills managed to cut the tentacles that were going for her and cauterized them so they would not grow back. His Kiri Shiryoku's ability that allowed him to see perfectly underwater allowed him to hit his target right where he needed to. The creature wailed in intense pain as the electricity flowed through its large body. The burns were not clearly visible, but to him he could see their effects even as the beast attempted to start regenerating again.

Tenmei now took this time to head deeper and sheathed her sword as she drifted through the water floating past the creatures now unmoving limbs. The static still bursting off it at random as sparks could be seen in the water. Then Tenmei kicked back releasing what appeared to be a heat wave as it burnt in the eye socket of the poor beast. What others saw as a monster was more like nothing before the skilled shinobi.

As Tenmei managed to reach the sky city the beast was beginning to move again slowly. Tenmei had done what was needed in order for Ren to have a clear shot as he focused. He made contact with some ground that was linked to the monster. The crazy creature went crazy charging towards Ren with its entire body. He placed his palm on the ground as he released the technique electricity shot up at the beast, if it had not been paralyzed for the most part it may have been able to avoid it as lightning blasted up under the beast. The beasts body was elevated in the water as its tentacles spread out. As it rose up then the lightning spiked outwards like a christmas tree as the creature screamed its body scattered all across the water as blood was everywhere.

He then began swimming as he reached the next nearest air pocket roughly a few meters away from Tenmei's air pocket as he waved to her. The water was clearer down here due to the air pockets as he entered the air pocket he fell then used he stabbed his sword into a broken pillar to stop his fall. He then swung up and then say on his sword as he looked around. There was a bunch of jewels and some crystals as well. Some of the crystals were floating which meant they possessed some unknown ability. He proceded downwards and took the back pack with him that was meant to collect items. As he walked down the pillar with his supernatural walking practice he picked up some old pieces of paper with random writing, he packed in the floating crystal then took a deep breath and shouted out.

"Tenmei!! you okay over there!!!" the sound travelled and a strange half watered down voice could be heard in Tenmei's bubble. Had she found anything of value, as he looked around his air pocket not holding much else. He did find an old cushion and sat on it as well as collected a few books he also found lying around, he had stumbled on a portion of what was probably the library at one stage. He wondered whether there were any bookshelves by Tenmei's section. It would remain a mystery for now.

Mission Words = 2500/2500
Training Excess = 1471 + 564 = 2035
Chakra = 230/320

Suteki Shoten:

He did not want to waste anymore time on this mission as soon as he heard that Tenmei was okay he began making preparations. He sealed a larger item into his sealing scrolls then proceded to swim. He left a bottle with a message that floated to the surface informing them that he would go back on his own. In truth Ren did not like boats and while he loved water this was too much water for his liking, he had some salt in his hair and something smelled of fried calamari ooze. He finally was reaching his location as he finally reached a small island. He shook himself dry then proceded to perform a technique he almost never uses except to enter locations or leave them. After performing the ram seal he managed to reach the other end of the very small island where he met with the mission turn in. He may have reached here before or after Tenmei. Either way he handed his goods to the person who would then store it in the vault. He received confirmation of completing his mission then escorted the person to Kirigakure as they went by boat. He did not trust the guy but after an hour or so when they finally got there and reached the main village. The mission board confirmed he completed his mission and that was when he ditched them to go and spend his hard earned ryo.

Mission Words = 2500/2500
Training Excess = 2035 + 241 = 2276

Training Perception C2 to B = 700 + 700 = 1400
Training Endurance D1 to D3 = 400 + 450 = 850
Training Total = 2250

EXIT THREAD

MISSION COMPLETE!!!!!