Zetsume had been enjoying the festivals of fun that were to be had at Takigakure. The two, Repede and Zetsume, had just recently arrived to the village for the chuunin exams. At first he was unsure if he would go to such an event, but he knew that he could not miss out on what could be a once in a life time opportunity. Currently in the part that the two were in many stands full of games for what seemed to be miles were set up for tourists and common civilians. It was not uncommon for the host village of the exams to go out of their way to try and gain what ryo they could from the tourists. Many people were throwing away hard earned cash just to try and win something that they could have bought for less. Though something was mesmerizing by how much fun these people were having, all laughing and joking about. Many couples, children, and even the elderly were partaking in such activities.  For a ninja as himself the games would be far to easy, though to the common civilians they were struggling even on the simplest of games. Point in case, Zetsume had just finished eating what was told to him as a pretzel, when he noticed a couple attempting at a game where they must throw tiny needles at balloons to try and pop them. You pay and are given five needles. The more you pop the better the rewards. It was lined up from one to five. At the bottom of the rewards was a tiny bear while at the top was a giant stuffed teddy bear. Obviously anyone would want the giant one but one would have to pop all the balloons. While watching the couples, he could not but to help and laugh as the male attempted over and over to get it. Eventually the woman got tired of watching and egged him to move on. Zetsume had almost lost interest, though he noticed that an elderly man dressed in fine clothing with a cane and a tiny pig tailed blonde girl at his side. She was holding his hand tightly while she would look at everything. Though once she saw the size of the bear, she could not resist to beg him to get it for her. From Zetsume's stand point it looked like the grandfather spoiled the child a bit. His weary eyes looked up and noticed the game. He looked as though he could hardly even lift the needle let alone pop the balloon. Zetsume decided to step in, throwing money onto the table. From the looks of it, Zetsume rudely interrupted them, though he was going to win her the bear. The owner of the stand explained the rules and handed him his five needles. Effortlessly he threw them all and achieved the bear. He had little use for it, a grown man with a teddy bear this size was rather creepy. Zetsume smiled before handing her the bear as she squealed with delight. The old man thanked him as did the child before skipping along. A part within his soul felt better, even if it was just one small act of kindness. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he decided to see what else was within this village.

He had been carelessly walking around with Repede when a man bumped into him. The guy quickly apologized as did Zetsume and was about to walk in the other direction but stopped to ask Zetsume something.

"Have you ever been on a boat before. Been out to the open sea and embraced it for what it is worth?"

"No, why do you ask?", Zetsume replied quickly as if to seem annoyed by the man who not only invaded his personal space, but was now asking ridiculous questions.

"We have this great deal at my company where you can rent one of our fine boats for the day. It will cost you some ryo, but it is much cheaper than the common price that is going on. You would be a fool to miss it."

Zetsume felt like he was in the middle of a scam but when the man told him the price he could not help but to laugh. From the sound of the price, he  could rent the boat one day every day for a year and still not even worry about ryo.

"From this ridiculous price it must be a shitty boat, can I see it first? From the sounds of it, more than likely it is a canoe."

The man assured him that the boat was in fine condition and was a ship of top quality, but Zetsume still wanted to make sure. The man motioned for them to follow and he did. When the three made it to the beach where the boat was Zetsume could not help but to stand in awe at it. The boat was not only massive in size but elegant in style with the mermaid on the front posing in a rather erotic pose. It had two giant poles which connected the sails. On top of one of  those poles was what looked to be a lookout spot. Zetsume could get a great view from up there at the city and the ocean. It looked like a two story boat with many boxes on the sides to where cannons would go out. Surely there were not any but then again maybe there were. Zetsume asked but the man said that they were taken out for safety regulations. He could understand, seeing as the exams were being held here surely they would go to great extent to make sure people were safe. The boat was a gorgeous brown that must have justh ad a finishing touch recently as it almost shinned in the bright sun.

Zetsume had his heart settled and was going to obtain this boat. After paying the ryo he asked the man if there would be any crew that would help him use the boat. The man laughed and said that he had no available workers at the time other than one man who was in the hospital sick. Zetsume cursed his luck that he knew nothing about sailing, he knew nothing of the ocean. The man bid him farewell before scurrying off with the small cash that Zetsume had provided him. It felt odd that he never told him his name, nor his company. Then again maybe he was late for something. Surely the man would be back for a boat of this magnitude. Zetsume would have to look around the beach for any partakers in his voyage soon to come. He could only hope he could find some people to help him, Zetsume called his dog to his side and began to walk down the beach barefoot looking for people to help.

WC:1152

Rippa had come to this festival in an eager haste to possibly find ways to further his own skills. Konoha was just too dangerous a place to be at the moment. And truth be told he had begun to miss being surrounded by people. With the possibility of assassins aiming to take his life mingled throughout konoha itself he had taken to the woods. But such a place like Takigare was not overly populated by such people he thought to himself. An place like that was unlikely to already have people looking for him. If he got there first he would have time to survey the area and make plans should someone come after him. So in the dead of night he had snuck onto a merchants vessel dressed in dark shinobi gear with a backpack in the lands north of Konoha that was bound for the Takigare port. He was doing so as an unknown passenger but he doubted the crew would argue if he was caught. Still he spent the ride on a ledge on the ship behind the captains cabin. It was near impossible to access with out some supreme physical conditioning but it was just wide enough to lay down on his side. The lifted edge just high enough for him to sleep without rolling off.

Still as soon as they were docking into the port he was already awake and well rested. His blue eyes looked over the land itself with surprise. It was much larger then he had imagined. But then again it was a nation. Perhaps too small to be considered one of the great nations and alarmingly close to Iwagakure and Konoha. He would need to be quick before his enemies decided to set up camp there. He would find the most advantageous place along the coast. For now though he needed to get off the docking merchants ship before too many people were free handed enough to notice his departure. He tightened his back pack on his shoulders and Quietly jumped. His hand grabbing the nearby anchor hovering next to the ship before using it to swing himself to the far edge of the dock itself. The dock was raised above the water which suited him fine. Instead of landing on the dock itself though he had aimed so he had to catch the edge with his hands. The hard wood barely a good enough grip to catch himself on. Still he managed well enough and found footholds within the structure holding the docks themselves up. From there he simply navigated through the construct of the underside of the dock until dry land was under him. Then he simply hopped down.

Now that he was inland it was time to look more normal and less ninja it seemed. He stripped out of his Ninja gear setting the outfit on the rocks before dressing in the clothes from the back pack. The black jeans with the leather belt. Then the socks and boots. His black tank top and his silver angel wings necklace. And His black fingerless gloves. Lastly was his red coat. Knee length with the Konoha headband stitched into the left shoulder. He sighed as he felt normal again before he ran his hands through his white hair in case the ninja gear had left his hair messed up. Lastly he pulled a scroll out of the back pack and shoved it into his right coat pocket and checked his ryo purse. It should be heavy enough to get him started he thought to himself. Still he put that in his left coat pocket and pushed his ninja gear into the backpack before hiding it behind the rocks. For the moment he wished he had finished his bukijutsu training before coming here but perhaps he would learn more with someone in the area. But that could come later after he found a good camp ground. In order to do so he would need to either walk or find a boat. Though a boat would probably be faster.

He quietly walked out from under the docks and stretched out. His shoulders and back along with his neck and knuckles all popping as he did so. It would of been more comfortable to walk there but secrecy had been his chosen weapon for the occasion. Still Rippa began to walk towards the festival. His sky blue eyes taking in everything as he went. Though he was attracting more attention then he liked. A konoha shinobi was new to the area. And Rippa did not appear to be weak. His body was surprisingly well built. His muscles pressed against his tank top and his shoulders were wide enough to look powerful. All in all an obviously physically capable man. His body toned to high levels. Barely any fat content on him. He had grown into an impressive man over the last few months. From a lanky thin genin to a powerful and well built special jounin. Sadly his impressive bodily improvements were lost on him with his mind always focused elsewhere. But even for such a strong individual his aura seemed to be incredibly mixed. It felt warm to be near him like walking into a family photo. It was nice to be near him. But something else was in his aura. Like the dripping sounds of an endless bloodbath. Blood was so strong in his aura that those that could sense it would feel like they were drowning in it. Blood was his very nature.

Still Rippa spent very little time walking through the festival. He was avoiding it so as not to think of his late father. He didn't want to look at the families there being together. He didn't want to remember the pain of losing his loved ones. Truth be told he had not really dealt with any of it. His uncle being his only family left. And if anything that hurt even more. As his uncle was likely the one trying to kill him. And for power and influence of all things. He didn't even want to be head of his family branch. But it was his inheritance. And so it was his responsibility. Still he paused as he realized he had been lost in thought. He was on the beach again. And looking over the ships there. Had he really gone on autopilot for a moment? Even though his goal was realized and now he just needed a boat willing to take him up the coast for sight seeing he felt that was too dangerous. If anything he needed to keep his guard up. Still it was then he noticed another individual approaching his position indirectly. He appeared to have something on his mind but Rippa also noticed a small dog with him. Something about the pup felt too trained though. It wasn't really acting like your average dog. It seemed too regal for that. And its intense look suggested that the man approaching and his companion were likely shinobi as well. But he likely was just being paranoid. Either way he moved so as not to be in their direct path and watched while pretending to look past them along the beach. Wondering what would happen if they interacted for some reason. Either way his guard was up. He trusted no one he didn't recognize and even then barely trusted that group.

1241/4000 Bukijutsu C-B