Two groups have finally unionized on the shores of the Land of Sound. With three days to spare, Team Kumo spent their days training under their honorable sensei while sending off a genin that was deemed useless and lacked shinobi skills to continue on. Making the necessary preparations, it wasn’t long before Fire Trio arrived as they had been warned about their arrival from a falcon named Horus.

---

The Fire Trio had rushed their arrival as much as they could, taking little breaks here and there as to not run up all their energy. Having spent no time for distractions, they arrived as a reasonable time as Sarada had announced their arrival beforehand. Many shinobi awaited for them, greeting them as they made their way to the port, particularly the two notesble Jonin leaders.

---

It was going to be a match into water as familiar faces seemed to be recognizable...

---

Team Kumo & Fire Trio have been pushed together into their thread for now until instructed to go back into their separate threads. The two groups are currently on the shore at the port.

The Fire Trio has finally arrived as they made their way to his group. With a slight bow out of respect, he pulled his mask down from his mouth. ”Lady Sarada. We have been expecting you. I assume your travels were well?” he asked politely as he extended his arm out, the falcon he was familiar with named Horus, hopped from his shoulder to his forearm. ”We received your message of your arrival,” he informed. ”We also received word from Lord Sasuke himself about your encounter with the Uchiha brothers. I am relieved to know you and your group are all right,” he added. ”Sakuya, Sozui. Make them some food. I’m sure they’re starved after a long journey from home,” he muttered to them as he pulled his mask back on his face.

Upon arriving at the shore, it was evident things were all ready to go and were fully prepared. The land of storm was ready for a naval battle upon the frozen cold oceans of the world. She scanned the area and she had been informed of the plan before their mission even began. She had nodded in acknowledgment as Fujii Sima, known as the White Botl Shinobi, paid his respects for her status and title. ”Our travels were fine, thank you,” she answered kindly as she noticed Horus. She gave out a slight whistle and Horus responded by hopping to her shoulder and nuzzled her with his head on her cheek. This made her smile a bit as Fujii informed her that he received her message and a message from Lord Sasuke. Her smile eventually vanished as Fujii went on.

”I see. Yes. We had an encounter with them, however it was a cause for concern as it appeared it wasn’t even them. I’m unsure what kind of power they wield, however they were able to send out clones much stronger than shadow clones, to scout our land. It was a win for us, but whatever they came there for, they completed because they were quick to run and mention that “these” bodies were to of no use for them anymore,” she explained further on the situation. ”I truly hope they aren’t using forbidden Justus. We’re all doomed if so,” she whispered under her breath.

Sakuya would bow in greeting as customary from Kumo when a student would greet a teacher, before giving an affirmative response to their sensei when told to prepare food for their guests. It was fortunate for them to be able to gather some fish before hand to prepare and cook, allowing the recently arriving team a nice, warm meal amidst the cold weather of the harbor.

Sakuya's spirits lifted when she spotted the members of Lady Salada's team - recognizing Nanami among them. She let out a smile and winked to her friend as she turned to finish up on what she was asked to do. There would be plenty of time to catch up later on.

Nanami stops just behind Sarada. She looked a little tired, but seemed no worse for wear. She looked up to See Fuji, Sakuya, and Sozui and bows "I am glad all of you are safe." Nanami body relaxes. She had a few minor strains she could feel in her body, and fatigue. She scanned the port. It was active like any port should be. She finds something to lean against and lets her muscles to relax. Nanami lets out a sigh of relief. It felt good just to lean against something. It was surprising to see Sakuya's team.

After taking a moment she walks over to Sakuya and Sozui "I'll help you cook if you would like my help?" She asked with a smile. Even though she was tired and sore. She still wanted to help "How has your mission gone so far? Or are we both at the first point for our respective missions?"Seeing Sakuya made her forget about how worn out she was from the run, and was a little eager to keep moving. She knew they would have a few days on the boat to recover and looked forward to it. For now she wanted to keep busy, and keep her mind focused..

Sima just rubbed the back his neck as Sarada expressed her concerns. ”Hmm. I wouldn’t worry about it. I am sure our Omo will handle things in regards to those two. Truthfully I hope they’re taking defense because of the uncertainty of their presence,” he chimed as he turned towards the port. ”So. I am sure you’re unaware of the situation here at the port,” he pointed out as he began pointing to various things. ”From afar, it is not known, however with your background, it would be easy to see that none of these ships are real except for the one we are assigned to. And the many bodies you see? All clones from the original crew,” he explained. His tone seemed to change suddenly. ”Several snow vessels were seen before we arrived. We manifested this plan to help us go through undetected while the illusions of the massive naval force pushed through. However we expect a battle regardless,” he explained.

[Private to Harusame Sakuya: Before the Fire Trio had arrived and made themselves known to the group with exchanges of greetings, Sima had explained to both Sakuya and Sozui that because of the history between the Fire Trio, they were forbidden to mention any details pertaining to their mission and who their targets were. It had been explained it was to keep things calm and to prevent interference from the Fire Trio.]

[Private to Kondo Sozui: Before the Fire Trio had arrived and made themselves known to the group with exchanges of greetings, Sima had explained to both Sakuya and Sozui that because of the history between the Fire Trio, they were forbidden to mention any details pertaining to their mission and who their targets were. It had been explained it was to keep things calm and to prevent interference from the Fire Trio.]

When they had arrived at the shores, they were greeted by the other team that was led by another jonin, Fujii Sima. He was also known by his name the White Bolt. Nori bowed respectively towards him and who appeared to be his squad. She remembered the girl just a little. She knew she was someone that Nanami was friends with. But Sozui...she didn't remember meeting him before, but she guessed now was as good a time as any to get to know these two. After all, they were going to be journeying together for a little while. Besides, it wasn't everyday that they got to interact a lot with other shinobi from different lands. Although she wished it could have been under better circumstances.

Once Sarada began to speak with Fujii-sama, Nori walked with Nanami over to greet both Sakuya and Sozui. "Hello. I'm Nori. I'm not too sure if you remember me, Sakuya, but we met back in Konohagakure. It's nice to see you again," she said to the raven haired girl before she looked over to Sozui. "This is our first time meeting. I am Nori. It's a pleasure to meet you." She bowed her head politely at him before she looked between the two. "If there's anything that we can do to help you in any way, please let us know. I know your team must have had quite a journey to get here as well. I do help prepare several meals at home, so I may know a thing or two that we could make if you need some assistance in making anything." She smiled.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:36, Tue 27 Feb 2018.

Giving a bow to Sarada, he followed Sakuya's example and began assisting with the preparation of the meal for the new arrivals to their camp who he noted were full of rather helpful people, which normally he wouldn't mind taking advantage of. Of course, these were hardly normal circumstances, and Sima had reminded them of how tiring the journey to get here was and that was only if the group had truly come straight from Konohaakure. Putting on a smile, he bowed to Nori, Nanami and their teammate as a show of respect.

"While it is gracious of the two of you to offer, I insist that you sit back and let us prepare the meal. The journey here can be quite draining, and we have already had time to rest up. Also, you are technically our guests, so it would be rather rude for us to have you wait upon yourselves." While he was not a true chef, traveling with Sakuya and Sima had allowed him to pick up enough about cooking that he was able to assist with the meal preparation without needing to be told what to exactly do the entire time.

"While normally I wouldn't mind you helping out, I think Sozui has a point here," Sakuya added as she finally put the fishes prepared on a grill to cook, "We're just standing by here, training while waiting for the mission to start as well. I hope you didn't encounter too much trouble on the way here, Nanami-chan!"

"Un, I remember, Nori," Sakuya nodded with a reserved smile, preferring not to recall the details of their fight back then, "It is good to know we will be working together this time around."

Nanami nodded and smiled "I understand, I would probably ask the same if our positions had been reversed.." She finds a seat nearbyand watches them cook. She could tell when she sat down how tired she actually was. Nanami found herself nodding off before she would lift her head back to the waking lands. She used the sizzle of the fish and the enticing smells as motivation to stay awake. Her body was like -"Yay we can rest, I mean sleep, I mean rest."- was kind of what Nanami's body was doing. She wouldn't sleep until they were on the ship. So she stood back upand used both hands lightly slapping her cheeks trying to keep from falling asleep "The run was a march, and we did run into a little trouble. But Sensei took care of it. Sensei is definitely strong." In her mind she knew her first goal, was to gain acceptance and be seen as a ninja in Sarada's eyes..

Nanami walked over and leaned against Nori using her almost like a crutch. It was clear from the run, she needed to train more on her endurance "Both of our missions will likely be dangerous, and you missed my concert, Sakuya. I know missions take precedence. I will have to put on another one when there is time, if not a private one.. I got Nori and Shiroma to do the final song of the concert with me. It was amazing!" Talking about the concert seemed to invigorate and instil energy back into Nanami.

In reply to Fujii Sima (msg # 6):

She had crossed her arms across her chest as Fujii explained the battle plan and the strategy they were going to use. ”Quite interesting. This has been well thought out. My only concern is that if a battle does happen, it won’t be long until they discover the decoy. Is everyone ready to defend the one ship to our survival?” she asked as she turned to Fujii. She knew her students had had a similar situation from their last mission however they had already made land; this time it would be while on the ship. Sarada would have to come up with a battle plan as she had two long range fighters and one close range that would likely be useless in this case. She remembered Nanami’s weird dragon summoning from before but it truly reminded her of the Susano’o. She knew Nanami didn’t have that kind of power to hold up something like that for very long considering she couldn’t even handle the two days run from here. Her head turned towards the group of five genin. She knew little of Fujii’s Genin however she was sure she could come up with a battle plan if it came down to it. She looked back at him. ”I’ll have to think of a formation before we set sail. We cannot risk sinking out in the middle of nowhere and I want to avoid casualties at all costs,” she expressed.

"Well, you aren't entirely wrong. The journey was a pretty long one. We haven't got a lot of rest these past couple of days. We took little breaks here and there to eat and wash up, but we haven't had a full night's rest since the night we left," Nori replied as she set her bag down on the floor and out of the way so no one would trip on it. "But it's not normally in our nature to just stand by and do nothing, so please let us help should you need it. I mean, you may have had a chance to rest up a little more than us, but I know your journey couldn't have been an easy one, either." She wasn't exactly sure how long they had been here waiting for them, but it was most likely an equally amount of a draining journey for them, too.

Nori's eyes turned to Sakuya when she responded to her greeting and gave her a small smile. Aside from being Nanami's friend, Sakuya did seem a little familiar to her. There was something about her, but what was it that she wasn't remembering. "I agree. I am glad that we are on the same side in this fight. I mean, it's not everyday that we get to actually converse with others from different lands, so despite the circumstances, it's nice to be able to do that," she said and turned her head to look at Shiroma. "I'm not sure if you met Shiroma yet, but our team found her on our mission to the Land of Snow. She has became a great ally and friend to us. She is actually our leader during this mission as it is pretty complicated why neither Nanami nor I didn't assume command. We are hoping to restore our places during and after this mission." She turned her head and looked down at Nanami as she saw her friend come over and lean against her. She knew the journey had been a long one and she looked completely exhausted. "Perhaps you should take a small rest before dinner, Nanami. Traveling here wasn't easy. I can wake you up when dinner is ready," she told her. "You need to conserve your energy."

Shiroma had run throughout the days coming here, her body was tired but her mind was still sharp as she dropped down next to her team along with the other one.  Her eyes flickered over the others there and raised an eyebrow slightly wondering why there was only two of them beside their Jonin. Not wanting to bring anything up that might be a sensitive subject she settled down on a group of boxes leaning back against one.  Her body ached slightly from the push of the last two days sighing softly. She had wished it hadn’t been needed but she was fairly certain that the main reason for the forced march had been their suspension.  She frowned slightly sighing and shaking her head slightly before letting her eyes drift close.   They opened again on pale ice blue as before they had been the deeper dark blue of her alter ego, both now awake she nodded in greeting to the other too Genin. “Nice to meet you both I’m Shiroma.” She let it go at that as she relaxed.

As she listened to the two offer to do all the cooking she sighed softly looking over toward their leaders arching a brow at their discussion wondering what the pair were talking over.  She had something of an idea but left it as just that, not doing anything to explore what might be going on.  Any information she got would be enough.  Realizing she had one thing she needed to know she hopped up and came over next to Sarada waiting for acknowledgement before she would inquire about the planned departure time and if she and the girls should take a little time and grab short naps or just wait till the ship.  After all if it was going to be twenty minutes it really wasn’t worth it but a couple hours could mean the difference between life and death.

In reply to Uchiha Sarada (msg # 11):

He looked at Sarada with interest as he considered her concerns about a pursuing battle at sea. ”Worry not, m’lady. I have that taken care of. Our medical kunoichi has a great defense for onboarding trespasses as do I. My long-distance little guy has quite the arsenal that could pack a punch in a pinch if it came down to it,” he explained. ”The seamen abroad are originally from Konoha so their long range can handle ongoing battles. And with your reputation and your group, it’ll add to our strengths,” he added as he patted her shoulder gently. ”We can do this. There’s a possibility it could fail, however we can handle this. You have your mission as I have mine. Failing to land within enemy territory isn’t an option here. If we fail now, it means we are not doing our jobs,” he muttered over as he looked at the shores again. If he had to guess, it was probably going on 5 in the afternoon; the sun would begin setting any minute now. ”You should rest up. Lord Sasuke would never forgive me if something happened to you,” he added and looked at her. He had to admit, just standing next to her made him feel small. She was beautiful like her mother and honorable like her father. He couldn’t imagine being the offspring of famous parents.

He blinked as he caught himself lost in his own thoughts. Wow...I haven’t thought about my parents in a long time. My own team barely knows a thing about me. Huh.. he thought over. His background was tragic and not one to kiss and tell, nobody knew of his origins or his past. He swallowed as he turned back to Sarada. ”Go rest. We’re setting sail once the sun is not visible anymore,” he urged and removed his hand from her shoulder.

He finally raised a brow as he noticed one of Sarada's genin had walked up to them, the conversation coming to an end at the perfect time. "I believe someone wants your attention," he joked and walked off to the port further, checking to make sure everything was in order and perfect before they left here.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:07, Thu 01 Mar 2018.

In reply to Yamada Nori (msg # 12):

Nanami shook her head with a smile "I kind of got a second wind, so to speak. It sucks at times, especially when I do want to rest. But I got used to it when I was training with Sakura-Sensei. I trained and worked with her and the other medical shinobi roughly twelve hours a day, and then spent six hours doing personal training.. That involved the fighting style using the chakra scalpel, and the dragons. As well as the homework and such I got from Sakura-Sensei." She spun in place waiting and wondering how good the food would be.

The teen looked over at both of the team's leaders. They seemed to be having a planning session. She hoped Sarada wouldn't doubt them "A ship battle could happen.. Me and shiroma could handle that. Explosive arrows and Ice arrows. A hull wouldn't last long against us." She was proud of how effective her arrow jutsu is..

She watched Shiroma head over to Sarada and Fuji "I am glad Shiroma is our team leader." Nanami looked back at Nori and smiles.

That tired look was gone as Nanami talked, watched, and waited for the food.

She nodded her head, listening carefully to Fujii's well thought plan for the potential battle that could take place within the next few hours. She had certainly hoped no trouble would come to their way, but life wasn't always that easy. "Your reputation proceeds you, Sima. A commander, a leader, and the infamous title of the white bolt shinobi," she pointed out as she looked over at him. "It certainly is going to be an honor fighting beside you if it comes down to it. I suppose I have nothing to worry about then if you truly believe you have everything taken care of," she replied back with a soft smile as he had patted her shoulder gently. She couldn't help but notice he had been staring at her for a brief moment, before he seemed to have gotten lost in thought.

Sima had been one of those legendary shinobi that people knew nothing about except his good deeds. He had been rumored to be rough around the edges with his students all the time. A mysterious sheet of paper, they called him, as he wasn't an open book that blurted out his history. Quite truthfully, she herself didn't know much about him except for his exploits and the minor participation in the previous wars. He seemed to be the kind of man that didn't gloat about his wars and partake in the activities that only mattered most.

Still...

She sighed softly to herself, before Sima had pointed out Shiroma's presence, which made her head turn slightly to the right as Shiroma waited quietly next to her. Turning her full attention to her, she opened her mouth,"Shiroma. I apologize for not seeing you before."

"Is there something you needed?" she asked curiously. She was sure she instructed them to rest and eat as Sima had instructed his students to feed them after their harsh travel here. She could be wrong, but it seemed important to Shiroma if she made her way here. Now that Sarada thought about it, Shiroma didn't mingle like the other two girls did. She believed that's why Sarada took a great liking to Shiroma the most. She was all business and leisure for a later hour.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 09:18, Thu 01 Mar 2018.

Nori listened to Nanami speak of her training with Lady Sakura and her gaily hours of training that she endured. “That sounds a bit like my training with Lee-sensei. We used to work hours at a time, but it was because of that that my stamina and my endurance built up. The run didn’t really bother me as much as I was used to being on my feet and running constantly. It was a little brutal, but it was worth it in the end,” she told her friend. “He was always on his feet and ready to train at first light. Even the simplest of things we did during the day, whether it was eating ramen at the ramen shop, going for a walk in the woods, or wading in the water to cool ourselves off, he was always so full of energy. It was a bit intense and sometimes it was a bit hard to keep up with him, but he it was because of him that I built up a lot of strength and improved myself both physically, mentally, and emotionally.”

Nori turned her head and looked over to their senses and Fujii-sama having their conversation a short distance away and there was no doubt that they were discussing the mission at length. She didn’t want to intrude or interrupt their conversation, so she turned her attention back to Nanami. “I guess we should be prepared for anything in times like this, but it’s also at times like this where we all have to play off each other’s strengths and improve our team dynamics.” She turned her head and looked over at Sakuya and Sozui. “I’m glad we are going to all be working together, though. I’m curious to see what you two are made of,” she said with a small smile. “We are going to make a good team.”
This message was last edited by the player at 09:39, Thu 01 Mar 2018.

In reply to Uchiha Sarada (msg # 16):

Shiroma bowed her head slightly to the two Jonin in respect. “Forgive me Sensei, Fujii-sama, I didn’t mean to intrude.” She turned her attention to Sarada and smiled slightly her bright pale ice eyes looking back with dignity and respect but not worry or fear. “Sensei I needed some more information, I know you told us to rest sensei but to properly advice the team I needed to know whether or not to tell them to go ahead and sleep or not.  Basically I need to know when we plan to be leaving on our next leg of the trip. If we only have less than an hour then sleep could hurt us in the long run if we have a couple hours it would be best to take advantage of it as much as we could.”  She paused for a moment and frowned slightly before she brought up something else. “I should also mention I found on the trip here that my unique mental status provided some interesting options.  If you would like I will write up a formal report about it for you to read or give you the basics I know now in a shortened version right now. Though I would like your permission to continue to experiment with it while in the field.”

She carefully listened intently to Shiroma’s concerns over the appropriate rest orders Sarada had barked at them not too long ago. It was more of a concern of time management. ”When I instructed you all to rest, I left it up to each of you individually how you go about that. We aren’t leaving until the sun is completely gone. Master Fujii plans to have the vessel depart once there is no light anymore. It’ll help in our favor for a stealth entry,” she explained. ”The sun should be setting completely within the next two hours. That’s probably enough time to at least nap at the most. You all will be able to sleep on board as well unless told otherwise. I told expect any of you to be able to have the energy like we do,” she explained.

The conversation had quickly turned as a brief moment of silence closed in on them. Then Shiroma spoke up. Truthfully Sarada seemed a bit lost as to the topic of an experiment was mentioned. It peeled her interest though as she looked at the young girl with interest. It was clear Shiroma and Inner Shiroma were in cahoots with one another and were observing something. ”I am not one to deny a person’s personal interest with the world or anything that helps them obtain knowledge. But before I can even form an opinion on this, I would like to know as least minor details of what you’re planning to do,” she commented.

Shiroma listened carefully to the information given about the travel plans and nodded slowly. “Thank you sensei I wasn’t planning on telling them what to do but rather wanted to know the plans so that as the leader I could give advice.”  She thought over the question put before her as to what she was planning on doing.

‘It’s a legitimate question.’

‘No really? Your think?’

‘Not helpful.’

‘Well what are we going to do?’

‘Not sure yet…I guess…’

The frost girl looked back up at Sarada and tilted her head. “Well simply put.  I found that while one of my…selves. Is sleeping the other one is able to maintain connection to the senses.  When we stopped at the valley after the battle I was able to let my body and one of my...personalities?” she shook her head and sighed. “I still need to figure out how to refer to myself.  But I was able to let all but one of the splits sleep my body woke refreshed and my minds got four hours of sleep each while still maintaining connection to the senses besides sight.  And again while traveling I was able to allow my selves switch off taking a few hours of rest while the other one controlled the body. It allowed me to maintain a rested level of mental focus over this entire trip. As for what I would like to do…well I would like to continue seeing what limits this has…what I can do with it honestly.”
This message was last edited by the player at 11:45, Thu 01 Mar 2018.

"Well for now, it would be best for your team to eat up and replenish your strength," Sakuya finally spoke up, serving grilled fish for their guests and collaborative teammates, "Nothing is better than resting properly after a satisfying meal, especially a cooked one when outdoors."

Sakuya made sure each of them received two pieces of fish each. It may be a lot for some, but if they were going through a lot of work, they will need all the nutrition they can receive from food.

In reply to Tsuna Shiroma (msg # 20):

Sarada had glanced to where the group was mingling around a grill. They had begun eating, which was one of the few ways to relax and prepare for the voyage ahead of them. She turned back to Shiroma as she just began explaining the weird discovery she had been toying with. As she went on, it was evident that Shiroma had her full attention. The whole ordeal was unique in her case and to know she was able to switch back and forth between herself and her inner self and feel completely refreshed, it almost sounded inhuman. To form an opinion on the matter, she had to remember the details she was just told seconds ago.

”I see,” she muttered as she crossed her arms across her stomach. ”My only concern is is that while it saves you energy upon your mental capabilities, it’s the physical body that worries me,” she replied. ”Your mind indeed has two souls within one body. While it makes your brain work much harder than per say someone with only one soul, your brain likely is going to be strained switching back and forth constantly. While you may feel fresher now since it’s newly being toyed and tested with, it could have its cons later on. I can imagine it’ll hit all at once as oppose to small increments here and there,” she explained softly. She couldn’t imagine having two souls in her. That she didn’t inherit from her mother.

”However this is just assuming. I can’t say what’s to happen. I just feel like it would put a lot of strain on one’s mind  eventually. However physically, your body is still but one. Damage to your body cannot be fixed with a switch of a mind. Remember that. Just because you feel exhausted and your other half doesn’t, doesn’t mean your body feels refreshed and brand new when switching with a fresh mind. Our bodies can only handle so much as we are human. The closest to “Gods” would honestly be Naruto himself and my father as they can fight forever it seems whereas many of us cannot,” she ranted on cans caught herself doing so.

She shook her head lightly. ”I apologize, I’m ranting now. Back to the topic. These are just my concerns is all. You’re free to continue your little experiment, however do it when we are not engaging in major confrontations unless you absulotely have to. We don’t know the drawbacks to your little discovery yet so I would hate for us to find out during a crucial time such as battle,” she finished as her arms uncrossed and placed them at her sides.