mission:

He panted as he sat on the ground. "I can't believe it. That suspicious old bastard." The old thief had seriously made a treasure map that lead to another map to delude any searchers. Fukai wasn't sure if his heart rate was up due to the recent fall or due to the anticipation of this adventure. He held the dimly lit lamp up to the dried parchment. Yes, these windy passages definitely looked like the Underground Tunnels. It looks like he was going on a wild goose chase through those. With an exasperated sigh, he picked himself up and tucked away the map. Picking up the lamp with his scarf, he started climbing up the rubble that had fallen down with him. He stretched out the fabric in front of him with chakra and peered into the darkness ahead. The cave in had happened a few metres up, the rock fall creating an unstable ramp. Stretching the other end of his scarf out, he furled it around a rock above and supported himself as he traversed up the rubble. He crawled up on his hands and knees until he reached the top. He was all dusty from the commotion so he wiped himself down as he walked towards the light. The window to the outside grew larger as he approached, the flash of day taking over from the dankness as he stepped out. Fukai's stomach rumbled. He was feeling quite hungry, he decided to stop in at a takeaway while he decided his next move.

30 mins later he was sitting on a stool in one of the fast food joints on the edge of the city. The large male sighed as he looked into his bowl of soup. Every sip was energising him and pushing his lethargy out of his system. He held up the map to take another gander. The twisting tunnels troubled him, the X was deep into the cave this time, hopefully there weren't too many surprises left after his last adventure. The old man behind the stall came up and poked his nose in. "Ooh It looks like you've got a map of those old tunnels there" Fukai shook the map and moved it away from the man, a little miffed at his rudeness. "You know, I used to go through those tunnels when I was younger. Here, have this map." The old man had pulled out an old chart from the back of the stall.
"Well thank you mister, I have to say, I didn't expect an old explorer to be holed up in here.
The man laughed. "That sounds like you are implying that this is a bad way to live. It may not exiting but it is fulfilling."
Fukai pondered his words as he thanked the man for the food and left. He strode in the direction of the tunnels with a new motivation, his fire had been stoked from that energising soup.

The tunnels were ahead of him, a few entrances started from a stone stairwell leading into them. "Well, here goes nothing." He started down them, pep and all. He still carried his lamp, he held it as he stepped back into darkness. Waiting for his eyes to adjust took a few minutes. He would have to be careful this time, he had been lucky to escape from the accident with not too much difficulty. To get stranded in a place like this could lead to his death. After a while, he could start making out the shapes of the rock around him with the dim lamp light. Fukai got the chills again. Somewhere, deep in this maze of tunnels was the bounty of the artifacts, left behind by a deceased thief. Fukai had to admire the old man, it would have taken another level of skill to remain uncaught as a thief in a ninja village. He had probably had some form of shinobi background, as one does not simply walk the streets of Iwagakure no Sato unnoticed. It was the type of skill that the genin did not posses, he was more of the up front type who preferred to bop nubs in the face.

After checking the map one last time, the young man carefully made his way along the tunnel. His steps echoed out and around the passage, rock silhouettes danced by the lamp light flicker. He checked the map every few minutes, trying to judge how far he had come. After about thirty minutes and a few bends in the passage, he came to a fork in the tunnels. Peering down at the parchment, he found where he was. "Hmm, so if I am here.. then I need to go down this way". He took the left most passage and continued on. He was becoming increasingly uncertain on this little outing. Another half an hour and another fork, this time a three way. He looked down, confused. Fukai didn't remember seeing any three way forks on the map... Looking down, he couldn't find where he was. His breathing started to increase. He started pacing. Panic set in as well as hyperventilation. He had never been too good at closed in spaces, and the thought of being lost down here scared the hell out of him.

He continued to freak out for a few minutes and then remembered that he had the charts that the ex explorer turned cook had given him. Quickly pulling them out and rustling through them, he searched for the crossroads for four passages frantically. Purple eyes shifting around the paper, straining in the dim light. "There!" Fukai had spotted where he must be on the map and cross referenced it with the treasure map. A big sigh of relief spread down the stone corridor. It seems that a new tunnel had been made since the time that this map had been created. In fact, the big X was just in this very intersection. The genin hurried over to the cave wall and rolled over the large rock. Sitting there on the ground was another chest. Inside was yet another map.

[1027]
mission complete