Day One

Issei had gone to the Konoha administration building to discuss the possibility of Ninshiki doing independent, contracted work for the village for monetary rewards and to build a reputation. The village official who he spoke to was more than happy to oblige such a request, insisting that she would find them a mission to do in no time, within the day even. He had made sure to push the fact that he was an explorer, world-traveler, and shinobi, and thus his skillset was versatile. She told him to wait in her office while she talked to a few people, so he waited there patiently, his legs and arms crossed. He had chosen not to wear his Kirigakure headband, just because it seemed counterproductive; had he worn it, he would have given the impression that he was doing work for Kiri rather than for his group, which wasn't all that bad, but it wasn't his intention. He felt uncomfortable, his muscles confined by a restrictive, white, button-up shirt that was buttoned up to his neck so tightly that it was almost like being in a chokehold. Just as he started to feel like he was about to burst, the woman came back, her hair flowing behind her as she returned to her seat and handed him a document. "Here is your mission description. This was an existing expedition that is set to sail today at noon, but we added you to the crew, and have appointed you as the navigational expert. You are also the only trained ninja on the ship, so you're in charge of keeping everyone alive. Map out the target area as best you can, and return to us with the map and a description of what you found for your reward."

"Very well. Thank you for your assistance, miss." Issei stood up and left, but as soon as he was outside of her office, he unbuttoned the top button of his shirt and let out a sigh. The mission document said the ship was on the southern port of Konoha, and the area that they were trying to map was southwest of Hi no Kuni. Previous expeditions had been sent, but for whatever reason, they hadn't returned, and so part of the mission was figuring out what had happened to them. He was ready to get to work, but since he was likely going to be on the ship for a couple of days, he went back to his room first and packed a bag for the trip. In the center of the village, he bought food and supplies for himself, and then he made it to the dock by 11:45 am. The sun had already come out and was baking the docs with all of its energy, and as miserable as this was, Issei reminded himself that once he was out on the ocean, the winds would be much cooler. Besides, he needed a tan. The ship was a black, wooden vessel, with some kind of feminine fixture on the front. A crew of three other people would be joining him: Atsuro, the appointed captain who would be steering the ship, and a pair of sisters, the names of which Issei didn't bother learning. He and Atsuro were the only two who would be in control of the ship, and so they were the only ones who would be in constant communication with one another. They set sail on time, and Issei watched Konoha fade further and further into the distance as they went off into the ocean blue.

Day Two

Issei had slept through most of the first day on the waters, just by the simple fact alone that his help was not needed since they were still close to the village towards the beginning of the journey. The next morning, Issei woke to find one of the two sisters standing at the ship's wheel, looking out ahead. They were in open waters, with no land anywhere in sight. He sighed, approaching the woman and asking her to remind him of her name. "Emi."[/b] He nodded, and expected her to ask for his name, but she ignored him, not even turning in his direction. He didn't take this personally, though, instead facing the ocean as well. He reached down into his Ninshiki robe and opened the compartment on his belt to reveal a compass; according to it, they were heading west, and comparing this to the map that he had on hand and what looked to be a mountain range in the distance, they were coming up on the area that was uncharted. He waited nervously, as if something would happen as soon as they passed into the blank part of the map, but nothing happened. Just regular water, blue and infinitely deep, slapping the sides of the ship in waves. They bobbed into the unknown without any problem...yet.

Emi returned to the inside of the ship to rest, and so Issei's turn to steer was next. He stood there, turning the wheel slightly to the right, but he was bored before long. That was, until, something caused the ship to jerk violently. A loud scratching noise came from underneath. Something didn't seem right, and that was not a normal thing. He turned and went to the left side of the ship, peering over to look into the water. It was shallower, here, meaning that there was something solid beneath. Ahead of them were large outcroppings of rock, likely unsafe for the ship. Issei decided to take matters into his own hands, and he ran down into the ship to get Atsuro. "Atsuro, you take control of the ship. I'm going overboard to explore by myself." And so Issei went, jumping straight off of the ship without a care in the world. He landed on his feet, using the supernatural walking technique to maintain his balance, and he started running toward the rocks. Some were tall and stuck far out of the water, and others were completely hidden by the waves, and thus 10 times more dangerous for ships passing through. After he surveyed all of the rocks and scribbled a rough estimate of their locations onto the map, and returned to the ship, and carefully navigated the area without running into any of them.

Night was falling quickly, so Issei left it to Atsuro to circle the area an additional time, carefully following the map he made.

Day Three

A loud explosion startled Issei awake, and he immediately came out and looked to see what was happening. The rest of the crew had discovered underwater mines scattered across the eastern edge of the uncharted waters, and one had thrown a rock to trigger an explosion. They were just far enough away that the explosion didn't cause any damage, so it was a controlled blast, which relieved Issei. He turned to the three. "Don't steer the ship or move. How many mines are left?"

"Five more. Evenly spaced and strategically placed. There's no way around them with a ship of this size, we either hit the rocks or we hit the mines. Alternatively, we can go around in a huge circle, but we're already running out of time and supplies, so we need to get back to Konoha soon."

"I'll take care of it." Issei brought his hands together to form hand seals, using the fire clone jutsu to make five clones of himself. The five Issei clones split up, each activating his body heat perception sensory technique as they dived into the water. The mines gave off just enough heat to be detectible, and all they needed to do was to punch them to set them off, so they each did so. In the process, the explosions obviously dissipated them, but that was no problem for Issei, who waited on the ship patiently. Blast after blast went off, nearly deafening the crew by the time it was all over, but their path was cleared and they were ready to return to the village. Issei took note of the chains that had been attached to the mines to hold them in place, and how far deep they went into the water, adding all of it to his map. With that final adjustment, the map was completed, and they were ready to return to Konoha. "Well, consider these waters charted. Let's return home, shall we?" The journey back to the village felt much shorter, since the winds were working with the sails to blow the ship the way they wanted. They arrived back at the southern ports by 9 pm, and Issei returned to the administration building with the map and the rest of the crew to claim his reward. Though he did have a passion for traveling and discovering new things, cartography and sailing weren't necessarily his favorites, he'd discovered. Being the founder of Ninshiki was not exactly the same as being co-captain of a boat out in the middle of the sea, and if anything, he was more likely to take to the skies, in the future.


[ Mission Complete, Exit Thread ]