Beast Collection: Part 1 [Whirlpool / Mission / Private]

Spoiler:

The ferry ride over seemed long and unsettling. Nasamea's anticipation had been building and as each second past she grew restless. She had began to pace across on deck, only stopping occasionally to peer out at the sea for any obvious identification of land approaching. When there was only open sea all around her nerves only increased. Was she afraid of being over open water? She wasn't sure herself but either way she couldn't control her self from fidgeting. It was like a bad habit halfway through the ride. Although this all seemed like a lack of progression though, it did give her and Mitsu enough time to plan out how they were going to take down the massive crocodile. Nasamea imagined a crocodile the size of a building but maybe to their luck it won't be so large. Until they arrived though it was hard to say what the actual size may be.

When the boat finally docked and the few early bird passengers began to unload, Nasamea felt she had stepped into a new world. The culture found in this land was obviously different than it had been in Konoha. Not to mention there weren't any skyscrapers anywhere. These buildings were no doubt industrial but just weren't as large. She loved it. Taking a whiff of the air only encouraged her affair with the land as she took in the scent of sea breeze and overall cleanliness.

"It's amazing here, so lively compared to Konoha," she finally said, "it makes Konoha look like the land of damned compared to this place."

She then smiled at him as though the bright sun above them had taken over her face, "come on. We have a croc to catch."

She pushed him a bit as though taunting him to race before she started to run. She slid past people with some grace, obviously making this a game, and would soon fade into the crowd had Mitsu not tried to keep up. It was all in good fun and the best part it would speed up the mission. Nasamea could see the large forests just past the buildings and she believed it would be there they would find a body of water of some sort with the crocodiles in it. Surely she could just ask but then that may make them look suspicious. She had a feeling the map may be more promising than her just asking tourists.

Had Mitsu got left behind, she would slow down for him. She was already cutting her pace due to the consideration of him being slower than her. But not to slow to where he may easily catch up. In a way this was like training their agility while speeding up the mission.

The boat ride was indeed long and boring. Mitsu's anticipation and rambunctiousness had been growing every moment longer that they needed to stay on board. Like Nasa, he was constantly looking for signs of land. Luckily, this was a rather nice ferry and it had a small breakfast buffet on the lower deck. There were a few other people, actually a good number of people. It surprised him that there were so many people on the ferry this early in the morning. He happily ate the food from the buffet, getting his fill. He thoroughly enjoyed the bacon that was out. It was just the right consistency for him too. Mitsu did manage to find entertainment though. There was a small group of attractive young women around his age group that took an interest in his looks. He started flirting with all of them a small bit, even performing a few tricks with his bone jutsu, making a little trinket for each of them. Mitsu just always had that kind of charm with all of the non-ninja women. Although most of the kunoichi that he met were either too old of just not into him and blew him off most of the time. But he kept trying still, always effervescent with the ladies.

He got carried away with the flirting and almost didn't notice that they were close to the land. He suddenly got excited and whatnot from almost arriving. He thanked the young women for their time and audience, saying that he was always willing to please a pretty face. He quickly met up with Nasa and started along. She seemed to be in a playful mood, and the meal he ate got him full of energy. He could keep up with her at the pace she was moving, and he did. He made his way to the rooftops even and got a better view of her. He would continue to follow her until she had stopped.

Mitsu stayed within range rather well. This only had her speed up a bit faster but for the most part she kept her pace. They didn't come here to simply waste all their energy in a game of chase after all, they were here to catch a crocodile. Nasamea began to wander just how much energy this vile creature may reap from them before the finished. Hopefully they had enough to get back to he ferry. Once they were on board again they could simply rest for that hour or so the ride took. Then they would be on the road once more.

Rather than looking to far ahead, Nasamea's attention returned to the path before her. The festive buildings and glorious smell of ramen which had once surrounded her took a turn and dove back into the way the world used to be. Miles of forest seemed to lie all around them and it had become a ache in Nasamea's heart to not see any lakes or streams in the distance. There had to be at least one with a crocodile in it. With the worry that the mission may become a waste she started to grow a bit more unsettled. The playfulness which had once been etched into her face faded into a distant and dull expression. She wasn't worrying THAT much but the slightness of her nerves was obvious none the less.

For the most part the two would remain quiet on the journey through the lands. Since this place was foreign, the risk of anything occurring was rather high, and considering there was probably nobody around for miles the chances of them never being seen again made this place a danger zone. On the bright side, at least the forests were sunny and full of various forms of wildlife. There was numerous that Nasa had never even seen before. Konoha's title became official: Land of the Damned. The slogan being "Where the Lost Souls reside". This place was wonderful! She knew where she wanted to vacation now.

With her mind lost in the forest she nearly missed the face they were about to approach sunken land ahead filled with a rather large amount of water. It was nothing compared to the ocean but still rather large. This caused Nasamea to glide to a sudden halt. Had Mitsu not been paying close attention then he would probably run into her. Seeing this possibly occurring, Nasamea winced and braced herself for the sudden fall. It was either he run into her or not realize the large river ahead. What if there was a Crocodile waiting on the bank? Okay, now she preferred the first of him just stopping himself before smashing into her.

'Note to self, pay more attention when your life could be in danger of something eating you,' she thought quickly. If a mind reader was listening to her head they would hear her yelling the words instead.

Beyond the sunken land a snarling beast resided, waiting to devour all whom made the mistake of falling in.

Mitsu easily followed Nasa into the forest. He was using the trees to go faster, keeping up very easily. The newer species of animals intrigued him, and he let up his pace slightly so that he may pay attention to them. He noticed how they were different, and how they were similar to those of Konoha. He noticed which ones were new, and which ones that were in Konoha were not here in Whirlpool. The scent of the air was also different to him. As were the feel of the leaves and strength of the wood. The forest area was very large and everything was so vivid. The green color bored Mitsu easily, but the different shapes, sizes, and forms kept his attention. Mitsu almost lost track of Nasa, and had to move down to ground level to find her again.

Mitsu was lucky he kept a good distance behind Nasa, if he didn't, he would have run into her for sure, plummeting the both of them off the cliff. Mitsu stopped in time and then walked over to Nasa, placing his hand lightly on her shoulder to let her know it was safe. He then looked over the edge and looked down. It was very deep, and he could see the target they needed to capture at the bottom. "Since I really don't want to get eaten of dismembered, lets make a form of attack and plan it here and now."

She heard Mitsu's footsteps mostly fade and prepared for something to hit her. These feeling was short lived though when a warm hand touched her shoulder. This caused her nerves to prickle and her hair to stand up a bit before she made eye contact with him. She looked like she had seen a ghost. Realizing the embarrassing expression she may have though she blinked and snuffed it out. Her startled one shifted to that of a concerned grin; making it seem as though she had simply put a mask on or taken the other off. A quick change of personality was in order as well. All playfulness was shoved into oblivion as a serious nature took over her mind. She was ready for this and apparently so was he.

"We should have did this on the ferry. But I suppose now it's better that we waited since we know what the beast looks like."

She turned her attention to the bank below. The land broke off and fell about ten meters to the bank below. There it was smooth moist sand that took the appearance of icing spread across a cake. Some sea shells lined the shore, making it appear rather casual in its presentation. What set the display off though was the massive croc which rested on top. Half of its body was on the bank where as the rest was still in the water. Already the two ninja could see its open mouth. It was ready for the foolish animal to walk up to and try to drink; giving it the perfect range to snap its jaw and devour the creature alive. The thing was large enough that it could consume one of them in a single gulp without much effort. Nasamea shuddered. If only she could use her damned beast form. The light bulb switched on above her.

Her attention swiftly changed from the croc to Mitsu as face molded to that of complete seriousness, "I have an idea."

With a straight forward tone hiding away a light sound of excitement, Nasamea's wheels were definitely turning. They needed something that could help them catch the croc without necessarily injuring it or killing it. Sure, maybe one blind eye was okay but if it couldn't walk it would be useless. Killing it was jsut out of the question and would amount to them wasting time finding a new one.

"Water is its means of quick mobility. Its halfway out of the bank and surely hungry considering its mouth is open. Even if its not, and just sun bathing, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't want to be messed with and would chase anything that pissed it off. We need to draw it out of the water though and find a way to knock it unconscious without getting to close. The harder part will be flipping it over but we can figure that out once its knocked out."

Her gears continued to turn as she took off her cloak and threw it over her shoulder. She then began to dig into her pouch, the sound of clanking tools and wire lightly sounding off through the air as she did. Out from that black abyss then rose a single kunai. A smile crossed her face as though she were a genius. How could such a simple tiny tool distract a large beast? She then turned it around and stuck her tongue out. Strapped to the scratched up dark gray metal was a exploding tag; a pre-loaded kunai. She always carried at least ten of these on her considering whenever she fought she tended to use them as a means of surprising the target.

She raised the kunai for him to grab then started digging through her tool pouch again. Next she pulled out some wire attached to a kunai and grabbed her cloak. She got on her knees and laid the cloak on the ground, dirtying her pants and the black cloak, before she set the tool aside. She felt it was better to build a mental picture of what she meant before actually carrying out her plan. She wanted Mitsu's ideas on everything too; in case he thought of something better than this on the spot strategy.

"I was thinking of tying this kunai," she said, tapping the kunai attached to the wire she had laid down, "to my cloak. It's scent could trick the beast into thinking it's a human. I'm sure a croc that big wouldn't be afraid of a human and think of it more as dinner. But anyway, my plan was that we throw the exploding tag maybe two meters away from its head to startle it then throw the cloak down towards the bank. This could catch the crocs attention and draw it towards the cloak. Thus pulling it out of the water and making it open to attacks! Whichever one of us had the wire though would have to be careful not to hold on to it if the croc were to grab the cloak. I pray we don't let my cloak get devoured but tough times call for desperate measures I suppose."

She looked a little sad at the fact she may lose her cloak but she knew she could just get a new one when they got back home. Had it rained or snowed though she might be sorry. Luckily she had katon chakra to dry her off and keep her warm though.

"Next would come time for someone to assault the beast. Since I have just fire jutsu and weapons to throw I thought maybe this could be where you could come in. I'm not sure what all you can do with your bones but maybe you could use them as a means of pissing it off more without hurting it necessarily. Or maybe you could hit it hard enough to knock it out since your bones can be as hard as steel. I'm still sketchy on the later part of this plan. Do you have any better ideas?"

Mitsu took the kunai from Nasa and noticed the explosive tag on it. The sound of metal clinking together along with other items making noise filled the air, as did the sound of nature and water. Nasa tossed off her cloak as as she spoke, Mitsu listening to every word intensely. When she mentioned using a kunai with wire, Mitsu knew this is what he could do to participate. "I volunteer to be the one to control the wire. I've been trained with wire manipulation, but since you are probably stronger than me, throwing it would be better if you did that part, while I am the one who quite literally pulls the strings. As for your cloak, no need to worry. We can use mine, as I have a spare in my bag somewhere. We don't really want to harm it, so an explosion might be a bad idea. Then again...I have an idea. we will lure it to the cliffside, then use a few kunai with explosive tags to blow up the cliff side, the rocks should knock it out. If we place the kunai in the right places, they shouldn't get too big. Does that sound like a plan to you?"

The thought of someone having a new plan made her feel at ease. She tended to over complicate situations even though she was working hard not to on this one. Mitsu seemed to have a decent plan though that made sense. By stabbing a few kunai into the cliff said and carrying out the original part of her plan the crocodile could still be lured and even have a chance of being knocked out; or more pissed off. These kunai though, if placed close together, could create smaller rocks and a landslide which would cause the croc to slide down while being bonked on the head. This meant they may have to worry about it getting head damage but as long as it didn't kill the beast and made it crazier; who wouldn't want it in the Forest of Death? The infuriated thing could be scarred for life and may even chase any humans it saw. Sounded like the perfect thing for the forest. Wait, was it ironic that the Forest of Death was in a place she now referred to as the Land of the Damned? She was getting off track.

"Sounds like a plan to me. We'll use your cloak instead," she said before offering her hand so that he could give her his cloak. "I'll fasten it on. If we lose it and need another we can use mine next. In the meantime you put your kunai where you think they belong since its your plan and I'll prepare this and give it to you. Esh Mitsu, seems like there isn't much for me to do here," she said before chuckling some. "I'm getting showed up by a Genin," she said jokingly.

Once he gave her his cloak she would fix it immediately and take her position beside the place he picked for this all to happen. The croc was in sight not to far away and apparently still resting. It closed its mouth once and opened it again as though it was simply taking outrageously long yawns. As soon as they were both ready he could give her the signal and she would throw the kunai while he tossed the cloak over. From there the raging beast would hopefully be awakened and start its quest to kill.

Mitsu handed her the cloak and she got to work straight away. "I suggest we still use an explosive kunai, a good distance away, just to wake it up. Then throw the kunai. Ill need to climb the cliff a bit to get them in the right place." Mitsu went through her bag to grab about 3 more explosive kunai. "I hope you don't mind, I only carry five with me, and we will need about five." Mitsu then got to the cliff and focused chakra to stick to it. He looked at the wall and strategically placed the five kunai he had into the wall. By the time he was finished, Nasa was ready for him. He would miss the black cloak if it got destroyed, but he knew this was just another reason to keep a spare at almost all times. He nodded to her as he took the cloak and wire. He also held up one explosive kunai. "As soon as you see the explosion go off, throw the kunai. That much is important because we may not get his attention if our timing is bad. And don't worry, I'm just a bright kid is all, I read a lot of books." He chuckled after his last statement then got serious. He had a look on his face as if it was bearing the question if she was ready. Even without a sign of assurance, Mitsu would throw the kunai three seconds later. The kunai threw through the air and once it was close enough to the crock, he detonated it. The sound easily awoke the beast, and now it was up to Nasa to get this part right.

While Mitsu started to get to work, Nasamea was doing so as well with the kunai, wire, and cloak. First she threw hers over her shoulder and then grasped Mitsu's. She laid it out as though she were trying to trace it on the ground and picked up the kunai. The silver tool would soon be slipped through the top back part of the cloak in a way that it would stay attached without sliding around. She would tie a sleeve once she hooked it up as well.

After setting the cloak up and providing enough wire for him to pull and the croc to notice; Nasamea handed the cloak to him and waited for the signal. It came to her in the form of an explosion from the tagged kunai. The sand flew everywhere when the tag exploded. This most likely caused shards to fly into the croc's eyes or at least into its mouth. With the large monster suddenly startled its natural enraged temperament kicked in. It was now ready to kill. No sooner had the explosion occurred and the croc was startled though, Nasamea threw the kunai attached to wire down. It sailed threw the air, creating a light swoosh sound from the air passing against the metal, and lodged itself into the sand. Seeing this, the croc seemed to turn its head towards it before it let out a hiss.

Taking an extra precaution, Nasamea took one more explosive kunai from her pouch and waited for the croc. The cloak would now hand for dear life below the wall but it was up to Mitsu to shake the wire, which would cause the cloak to dance, and lure the croc in.

"Shake it and gets its attention," she whispered quickly. No sooner did she say this she then threw yet another explosive kunai at the croc. This one sounded a bit different in the sound it made compared to the original. The croc snarled when the kunai hit the sand roughly two meters before it and a meter to its left. The sand exploded once more as though there were an underground mine; enraging the croc all the more. Now it was up to Mitsu. Had he shook the wire, and cloak, the pissed off reptile would hopefully notice it and begins its chase. Once it started to somewhat climb the steep wall, Mitsu could then activate the kunai and cause them to explode. This would then finish off the plan.

Nasamea prepared to scroll in her pouch, which was marked "Crocodile", as she waited.

The kunai exploded and the beast reacted accordingly. Nasa threw the kunai on time and so Mitsu took advantage of the wire and pulled the kunai out of the sand. "I know what I'm doing, don't worry." Mitsi wiggled the wire and caused sudden movement with the cloak, simply jittering back and forth. This caught the crocodile's attention and so It was soon bounding after it. Mitsu reeled as fast as he possibly could, the beast on the cloak's tail. Lucky for them, the cloak had a heavy scent of Mitsu on it, so it would keep the thing's attention for some time, as it thought it was a meal.

Soon Mitsu had it lured the crock to the cliff wall and he activated the tags on the cliff side. The explosions went off, and rocks of multiple sizes broke off and tumbled off the cliff, knocking others loose from the wall, causing more to fall as well. Luckily there was not enough height for the rocks to reach a deadly speed, and the beast's hard skull and skin would help prevent damage. Soon enough, the crocodile was buried within a huge number of rocks of all sizes. He noticed the monster was immobile, but awake and would be able to move soon. He looked at the cliff and simply stomped down. The vibration was enough to cause a rock to fall down and hit it on the head, knocking it out. "See? I told you I knew what I was doing!" Finally they were finished with this task and all he had to do was wait for Nasa to seal the beast in the scroll and they would move on. He would follow her down and flip it over with his dance of seeding fern, but protruding the spikes slowly. By now, the things was laying on its back.

The explosion caused the ground beneath their feet to groan and shudder; causing Nasamea to grip the grass like a cat in fear. She wasn't entirely scared but this was her animal instinct kicking in. When the rocks tumbled a large amount of dust rose up from the cliff like a geyser before gravity took over. The shards fell back down and in turn began to greet new neighbors as they moved to new territories. Nasamea practically ripped the grass out but soon she let go and looked at her hands. Green stains now marked them as though she had attacked someone with oddly colored blood. Seeing as how wiping them on the grass wouldn't help so she figured she would dunk them into the water below. Then again, what if another Croc was waiting?

Seeing the potential problem she whipped the natural markings against her black cloak and peered over the edge of the cliff. The once great beast was now sleeping peacefully. It had taken the blast like a trooper and survived. The thing was sure lucky to have its own sort of armor and size; otherwise it would be done for. What if that were Nasa in beast form? Could she have survived that? These thoughts unsettled her, she simply didn't wish to try.

"Lets hurry up and seal it then get out of here before anyone notices. Surely a ferry should be running by noon so we can make it back in time as planned. Well done here Mitsu but I call dibs on the next once," she said with a teasing grin.

With a simple calculation and a leap, Nasamea was able to land on the smooth sand with some experience. She was surely noticing how much she been growing since her genin years and felt as lively as ever. Maybe it was all due to their surroundings but who knew. Nasamea withdrew the scroll from her grasp and opened it. The directions had told her to place the scroll on the monsters belly so this was what she had done. Seeing how the blast cracked the ground and extended outward, the beast had managed to land on its back which made thing easier. It was definitely an interesting plan at that.

The moment the scroll touched the beast both it and the scroll began to glow a faint blue. Nasamea's eyes widened a bit as the beast began to grow smaller. It seemed as though it were made of light now. As soon as it had turned though the magnificent display had vanished into the scroll. Nasamea closed it and held it up to Mitsu with a grin, "got it!"

She placed the scroll back into her pouch as she walked over to him, "come on lets go. We should make it to the Rice Country by nightfall."

This of course all depended on the damn ferry.