M~

[Kleee]

So after a narrow escape from the bandits after making a run for it at the docks, the team had ended up under the care of the Mizukage of Kiragakrue himself, Zabuza. After receiving a generous training session and some well-needed pointers for both combat and surviving in general, the three genin were finally one step closer to returning to Yuki…. Well, sort of. I mean it was great to learn something, but would it really help them get off of this island and somehow make it back to their homeland? That would all be decided during their next daring plan.

Toya stood with his back against a pile of stacked wooden crates near the docks, peeking around the corner of the stored goods. He briefly lifted the flap of his ripped shirt blindfold thingy until he could get a glimpse of where exactly the bandits and their ship were located. Luckily, it seemed that many of the bandits were still somewhere in the island village searching for their escaped prisoners, because only a few of the thugs were left wandering around the ship and the dock. Maybe they really could pull this off… but after glancing back at his teammates, his confidence dropped a notch or two.

After pulling his head back and completely concealing himself behind the crates again, he lowered his blindfold to cover his eyes once again. He figured it would be fine to reveal them again after they had actually defeated the sentries and stepped foot on the actual boat, but until then he would be flying blind. Well, fighting blind anyway. After taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Toya faced his teammates who were also crouched behind the crate pile and spoke softly enough to avoid any outside observers hearing them.

”Alright, so it looks like there are only a handful of the guys hanging around here, and we have the element of surprise on our side. Most of the bandits here look bored, and they probably assume we are somewhere on the island fleeing from their allies. So as long as we can incapacitate the guys here before the others return here, we should be able to take off with the boat without too much trouble…”

Toya took a second deep breath and let it out slowly. Why was he so nervous? He could easily fight off a few common bandits after the hell training his father had forced him through. And since the bandits would not be ambushing them his time, there was no way he would get hit by a sneak attack. Then could he actually be worrying about whether… Kei and Ryou would be fine? No way, that was impossible. Those two were only annoying hindrances to his shinobi career, so there was no reason for him to care if they made it through this or not. Then maybe he was worrying because he had a worse chance of surviving without more allies? Yeah, that must be it.

"Okay Kei, you are going to be making the first move. There seems to be two guys on the docks guarding the path to the ship, so you need to either knock them out cold or try to knock them into the water. Ryou, I need you to ignore those guys and run straight to the ship and try to get on. The sound of your steps will help me follow you onto the boat, and then I can take off this blindfold and help you with the group on the ship. I don’t think we will have a problem with them once I can use my eyes. Any objections or questions?"

At this point, the only thing Toya really wanted at the moment was a kunai. Damn, it would have been smart to ask Zabuza for some sort of weapon while they had been training. Oh well, there plan would have to work as it currently stood. The rest would rely on their teamwork and fighting abilities… oh boy.

[Kleee]

Ever since Kei had learned that she and he team had been dumped off by themselves on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere, she'd only wanted to return home to Yuki. Now, finally, her chance was sitting only a few feet away from her... in the form of the very boat that had brought her to the island in the first place.

If Kei had her way, she would have rushed in and beaten the bandits before they even knew what hit them, but unfortunately Toya had other plans. They had to do that stupid 'gauging the enemy' thing Zabuza had taught them first, before they would even get to see any action. She probably would have ignored Toya's plans under most other circumstances (after all, since when was he the leader here?), but if the Mizukage, said so, this was probably the way to go.

And so Kei found herself standing by the docks, huddled with her teammates behind a rather conveniently-placed stack of crates as she listened to Toya explain his plan. Zabuza had left them after their brief training session not too long ago, he had his Mizukage-ly duties to attend to after all. The three genin were on their own. Still, Kei was confident that they had learned enough to handle this.

They would make those bandits pay.

”Alright, so it looks like there are only a handful of the guys hanging around here, and we have the element of surprise on our side," Toya began, facing his teammates. "Most of the bandits here look bored, and they probably assume we are somewhere on the island fleeing from their allies. So as long as we can incapacitate the guys here before the others return here, we should be able to take off with the boat without too much trouble… Okay Kei, you are going to be making the first move. There seems to be two guys on the docks guarding the path to the ship, so you need to either knock them out cold or try to knock them into the water. Ryou, I need you to ignore those guys and run straight to the ship and try to get on. The sound of your steps will help me follow you onto the boat, and then I can take off this blindfold and help you with the group on the ship. I don’t think we will have a problem with them once I can use my eyes. Any objections or questions?"

"...So we can start now?" Kei responded eagerly, not missing a beat. She barely even waited for a response before turning and darting past the crates, straight for the boat where the bandits waited. It was payback time!

It was somewhere around the moment the nearest bandit shouted "Hey look, it's that colorful kid!" and lunged at her, it occured to Kei that she was still unarmed. Well, that was fine, she'd probably figure something out. That training session with the Mizukage certainly hadn't been for nothing. After all, she'd won the contest! By accident, but still. What was it Zabuza had said to her...? Something about being aware of her own skill and using what she had? Right, well, at the moment she had no weapon, so she should probably be careful. Kei ducked the first time he swung at her, grinning. He might have been much bigger and stronger than her, but she was smaller and faster. Looked like that training session had paid off after all, Kei decided, easily avoiding his blows. This time, her victory would be no accident.

But it seemed the bandit wasn't one to go down easily. With all her dodging and weaving, Kei had been attempting to lead him closer to the edge of the water and send him swimming just like last time, but he'd caught on quickly. "Like I'd fall for that a second time," he shouted angrily, stopping just short of the water's edge. "Time to come up with a new trick, kid!"

Kei grimaced. He was right, she needed to do something about this, and fast. Any moment now, the bandits on the boat would be coming to help him out, and she'd be done for. Hopefully Ryou and Toya would be working on that about now... but already, the second guard bandit was rushing towards them. Crap.

Kei whirled around to face the oncoming bandit and prepared to defend herself, but she was in a bad position here and she knew it. Trapped between two bandits... this was not g--Wait a minute. Just as the second bandit, now only inches from Kei's face, pulled back his fist for a punch, an idea came to her. Directly behind her, the first bandit seemed to have come to the same realization.

"No wait, don't--"

But he was too late.

Kei ducked.

There was a the unmistakable sound of a fist connecting with flesh, followed by a loud splash!, and the docks were showered by thousands of little water droplets as a body crashed into the water.

"Wow, you guys are even dumber than I thought!"

Kei straightened up, grinning. Behind her, the second bandit was staring at the water in confusion. "I... I... dammit!" Before him, Bandit #1 was spluttering and splashing about uselessly in the water. "Sorry man!"

Kei decided to take advantage of #2's confusion and embarrassment to skip around behind him and shove him over the edge and tumbling into the ocean as well.

"Next time, try watching where your teammates are before you start punching things," she taunted, sticking her tongue out at the two flailing bandits. "Otherwise you'll both end up swimming!" Leaving the two to struggle around by themselves, Kei darted off in the direction of the boat. Speaking of teammates, she hoped Ryou and Toya were doing okay...

[Kleee]

Ryou crouched behind a stack of mismatched crates, watching the accursed boat slowly rock back and forth on the dock, rubbing his aching head. Damnit, hadn't Zabuza said he wasn't going to hurt then? It was just a bloody training excersize! There were many ways in which Zabuza could have deflected his attack without giving him a concussion, but noooo. By the time Ryou had woken up, Zabuza had apparently left them, all without giving them any weapons, or even any food for survival. As if this wasn't irritating enough, Kei and Toya had made decisions without him - decisions about making a getaway; in the same boat that was probably full of the bastard bandits that had brought them here in the first place. Naturally, Ryou had his protests, but since god forsaken Haha Island didn't even have a post office, it looked like making contact with his father to organize a rescue party was out of the question. The boat indeed appeared to be the only way out.

”Alright, so it looks like there are only a handful of the guys hanging around here, and we have the element of surprise on our side," Toya suddenly started talking, Ryou turned to look at him, frowning.

"...Still, there's more of them than there are of us. Not to mention they're alot bigger than we are. And surprise doesn't exactly last very long," he said matter-of-factly, standing up taller and folding his arms, "Can't we wait 'till they fall asleep?"

"Most of the bandits here look bored, and they probably assume we are somewhere on the island fleeing from their allies." Toya continued, completely ignoring him "So as long as we can incapacitate the guys here before the others return here, we should be able to take off with the boat without too much trouble… Okay Kei, you are going to be making the first move. There seems to be two guys on the docks guarding the path to the ship, so you need to either knock them out cold or try to knock them into the water." Ryou rolled his eyes, knowing Kei, she'd probably trip over her own feet and somehow end up landing in the water herself. "Ryou, I need you to ignore those guys and run straight to the ship and try to get on. The sound of your steps will help me follow you onto the boat, and then I can take off this blindfold and help you with the group on the ship. I don’t think we will have a problem with them once I can use my eyes. Any objections or questions?"

Ryou turned quickly to face Toya, and spat rather loudly, causing drops of spit to land on Toya's face.

"Of course I have objections! You're basically asking me to do a Kei-esque run onto that ship just so that you can follow me?! Why don't you just try getting there yourself. See if I care! Or why don't you take off that bandana and just act do it the normal way; knowing the intelligence level of these bandits, they probably won't even know about your Kekke Genkai. Why're you so paranoid anyway? Well regardless, I'm not moving until the amount of bandits on that boat is halved, and knowing Kei, I'm going to just stand here forever!"

Ryou folded his arms again, turning away and watching Kei make a break for it out of the corner of his eye, just waiting for her to get brutally owned very quickly.

"Hey look, it's that colorful kid!"

A smirk played on Ryou's face. Yep, she had been spotted already. So much for element of surprise. Turning to watch the battle more closely, he watched as a small battle began to ensue between Kei and one of the bandits, surprised that Kei indeed did manage to hold her own for more than five seconds. Well, she looked confident enough, but not for long, for a second bandit came hurtling at Kei shortly after. She may have been able to dodge the blows of one opponent, but against two of them, her chances were much slimmer. The second bandit's fist was out, ready to strike, and there he was coming closer, ready to punch poor defenseless Kei...

Splash!

Surprisingly, Ryou found that the blinding blob that was Kei was somehow still on board the ship. He gazed down at the water; a much larger blob, the bandit that Kei had originally been fighting had been taken the hit from his own comrade, and had been sent flying overboard.

"Fluke!" Ryou muttered under breath. Nevertheless, he was impressed that dumb Kei had actually managed to come up with something like that. But still, Kei had the other bandit to deal with. She wasn't going to get lucky twice.

Splash!

Or maybe she was. Suddenly a second large blob was floating in the water, flailing around for somebody to help him get out. It appeared that Kei had decided to take advantage of the guy's disorientation and had used the moment to throw him overboard just like his teammate...

"Is it just me, or did Kei suddenly sprout a brain?" Ryou asked Toya, watching in disbelief as Kei taunted the bandits triumphantly. Not only had she managed to take out two of the bandits on her own, she had also eliminated more than half of the bandits, or so it appeared. Now that Ryou thought about, if he was ever going to make a move, then now would be the time when it would bear the least resemblence to a suicide run. He couldn't wait for Kei to attract more attention...

"Well here I go," Ryou sighed, darting around the crates and making a run towards the boat, following in Kei's footsteps. He had almost made it to the boat when the voices of the two bandits that Kei had just taken care of filled his ears.

"...Hey, it's the rich kid! That must mean the tough one ain't far behind. Might want to warn the others, or we'll be outnumbered,"

"Right, I'm on it!"

Ryou turned on his heel to face them. The two guys were still flailing in the water, neither of them seemed to know how to swim, but one of them had some sort of electrical thingy tied around his wrist. Some kind of communication device? Well, if the other bandits had prior warning of Kei and Toya coming, then their chances of winning would be reduced. Hmmm...

Crouching down until he was level with the dock floor, Ryou made some quick handsigns before lowering one of his hands into the water, smirking at the bandits.

"...I wouldn't do that if I were you. If you say one more thing or even make a move, I'm going to electrocute you both. Nothing too strong, but water's an excellent conductor. Chances are you'll lose conciousness; and then you'll drown. Wouldn't want that now, would we?"

Well, it seemed to work, considering the bandits looked rather petrified, but now he'd have to wait here for a while. Hopefully he had come far enough for Toya to move though...

[Kleee]

Toya’s plans had been silently and readily accepted by Kei, but Ryou responded with one of his lovely anger rants, and even topped it off by spewing some of his saliva on Toya’s cheek. Rather than matching his teammate’s anger and jeopardizing their best and possibly only chance of getting off this rock, Toya simply ignored every word and listened to the sound of Kei’s footsteps steadily making their way towards the bandits guarding the boat’s entrance.

"Hey look, it's that colorful kid!"

A large part of his plan’s success depended on that “colorful kid”, so hopefully the bandits wouldn’t be able to stop Kei so easily. Their sole female teammate did not exactly fall into the stereotypical image of a weak and indecisive female, but her gender would still hinder her when it came to brute strength. Luckily, Kei’s only job was to somehow get the bandits into the water, and hopefully a combination of reflexes and tricky movements would accomplish that.

The sound of two splashing noises and Ryou whispering "Fluke!" was enough to alert Toya to what had happened. So far so good…

"Is it just me, or did Kei suddenly sprout a brain?"

Toya’s anger moved another notch closer to snapping. “Are you like trying to completely destroy our team or what? Kei’s not a genius, but at least she knows when to shut up and do what needs to be done. I’ll give you a good beating for your comments about my heritage and my teammate later. Now hurry up and run to the boat.”

Ryou seemed to finally take a hint and began his approach towards the boat. The two bandits in the water seemed to be conversing with each other about warning the rest of their allies about the attack, and apparently Ryou felt that he needed to stop them. As far as Toya’s ears could tell, his teammate had abruptly stopped running and knelt down by the water. Maybe he was going to use some type of electric jutsu to disable the bandits, but now wasn’t the time to do that. How the hell was Toya supposed to make his way onto the boat and] finish the remaining bandits by himself?

Muttering some angry words under his breath, Toya quickly ripped off his makeshift blindfold and stuck it into his pocket as he leapt onto the boat, now that its exact position was visible to him. He took a few steps forward, simultaneously making hand seals as he glanced around at the three bandits lingering on the ship’s deck. He then took a deep breath and raised his fingers to his mouth.

Fuuton: Bakusai Reppu! After concentrating wind natured chakra into his chest, Toya expelled it from his mouth, and an invisible sphere of powerful wind soared towards two bandits who were standing a little too close to the edge of the ship for their own good. The sphere plowed right into one of the thug’s back, ripping apart his shirt and tearing at his skin before the force eventually knocked him clear into the water. Luckily for him, he would only be left with a few nasty cuts since he had been pushed away quickly. His unfortunate companion also took a trip right into the ocean, but he was spared from the shredding force of the technique since he had been standing further away from where the wind sphere had impacted.

Two down, one poor victim left to go. Shaking his head in an attempt to clear his mind of the ‘hunter mentality’ that seemed to automatically command his actions whenever he entered combat, Toya stepped towards the last bandit who had quickly taken notice of his attacker after hearing all the noise his first attack had caused. The clearly larger adult male charged at the genin, but Toya was well trained in the art of fighting a larger opponent. He stepped forward, ducking under the man’s fist, and thrust his palm in an upward motion. The strike connected with the bandit’s jaw, making a cracking noise as the force of the blow sent the man sprawling backwards.

Most people would have been surprised by the bandit’s suddenly blood-curdling screams, but Toya knew full well what was happening. He had intentionally aimed at a point on his target’s body where one of the glowing red fate lines rested. The poor guy was probably feeling like a kunai had been jabbed up through his jaw area, but the pain would go away in a minute or two. They would need to keep one of these guys with them if they wanted to get this vessel moving.

“Kei! Ryou! Hurry up and get in here! We’re getting out of here now!”

After shouting at the top of his lungs to ensure his teammates would hear him, Toya closed his eyes and sighed as a slightly dizzy feeling nearly overwhelmed him. Using the Fatesplitter’s Vision as a young or inexperienced shinobi usually resulted in headaches, nausea, and a variety of other symptoms. Hopefully this dizzy spell would leave as quickly as it had come. All Toya cared about now was getting the ship moving before any of the other bandits returned and found out what had happened. They were nearly out of this place for good, so he couldn't give up on his team now… and besides, he still needed enough energy to give Ryou his beatings later.

[Kleee]

Fortunately for Kei, it looked like her teammates didn't need much help; they were doing fine on their own.

...Er, scratch that. Teammate.

Toya seemed to be fighting on the boat alone, while Ryou was off somewhere doing his own thing. She should've known. Still, it seemed like he was okay by himself, for by the time Kei had come close enough to see what was happening, the boat was already nearly empty of bandits. Suddenly, there was a loud shout of pain coming from one of the bandits; Kei winced and took that to mean Toya had been victorious.

“Kei! Ryou! Hurry up and get in here! We’re getting out of here now!”

She didn't need to be told twice. It was only moments before Kei had run to the end of the dock and jumped into the boat; hopefully Ryou was close behind her, because she didn't intend to stay here on this island a moment longer than she had to. Now that she looked, it seemed Ryou had been busy by the waterside, keeping an eye on Kei's bandits. Okay, so maybe he had been doing something after all. But still, it hadn't been part of the plan... Oh well, plans were boring anyways. And besides, Kei had something else on her mind at the moment.

"Whoa... it's so big!"

Now that Kei was no longer in immediate danger (nevermind the fact that there were probably hordes of angry bandits gathering on the docks right about now... although hopefully Toya and his captive had managed to get the boat moving so they wouldn't have to worry about them by now.), she finally had a chance to examine the ship that had brought her here. In actuality the boat's size wasn't really all that impressive; but Kei, never having so much as laid eyes on a boat until today, didn't seem to care much. She had much more important matters to attend to, after all.

"Hmm... every boat needs a name, right?" Kei wondered out loud, pacing across the length of the deck. She certainly didn't care about whatever those smelly bandits had named it, this was her boat now. And her new awesome boat was going to need an equally awesome name. Obviously, there was only one option to go with here.

"Okay guys... I hereby dub this vessel the SS Cake!" Kei announced triumphantly. She let that sink in for a moment, standing there with her hands on her hips, when suddenly, another thought came to her. "...Actually, speaking of cake..." ...hadn't the bandits taken hers? Kei turned and darted off in the direction of a pile of boxes and crates, opening and examining the contents of each one.

No luck.

Kei sighed, disappointed. It seemed as though the bandits had already removed all their possessions from the boat and sold them. The cake was missing as well. Fortunately, Kei happened to come across something almost as valuable as cake while she was rooting through the crates.

"Guys look, I found a map!"

She waved it in the air to prove her point, and then rushed over to where her teammates were standing, trying her best not to trip as she did so. Now that the ship was moving, it had gradually begun to rock back and forth with the motion of the waves... Kei grimaced. Not only was it difficult to walk properly, but she couldn't quite get over the unsettling feeling of not quite being on solid ground. Yes, she definitely wanted to get back to land as soon as possible...something told her this feeling was only going to get worse as time passed. Hopefully this map would help her do that.

"If we use this, we can get back to Yuki faster, right Toya?" Somehow, it seemed like a better idea to direct her question towards Toya; Ryou probably didn't even know how to read a map, let alone use one to steer a boat. Not that Kei did either, but... "...Toya?" Now that she actually looked at her teammate, he didn't look so good, Kei realized.

"...Are you okay?"

[Kleee]

Thankfully, Ryou had given Toya enough distance to be able to reach the boat, or so it seemed, for Toya did run past shortly after Ryou had come to a halt. Toya didn't look entirely happy, what with the mutterings he was giving in dark undertones - but at least he didn't seem to find the need to lecture Ryou about his stupid life story once again as he sprinted off onto the deck of the boat and ripped the bandage off his face - something that any sensible person would have done ages ago. Still, at least he didn't resemble a headless chicken anymore.

As Toya dissapeared beyond the walls of the ship, Ryou turned back to the bandits he had kept captive, crossing his legs comfortably on the the dock, hand still held in the water.

"I've got some questions to ask you, if you don't mind. You know what I'll do to you if you don't answer anyway," he said, giving them a small sneer, "...So first question. Is this here boat fit enough to take us back to Yukigakure? When was the last time you guys got it checked out?"

There was a pause as the bandits probably deliberated between lying and telling the truth.

"Well?"

"U-um," said the first of the bandits, trembling due to a mixture of coldness and fear, "...Yeah, we had it checked j-just before we attacked you lot. There's no chance of it getting damaged too easily..."

Ryou nodded as the man trailed off, feeling slightly less bitter now.

"Good. Question two; do you guys have a map or something we can use to navigate our way back? I highly doubt either of the other stooges know world geography very well,"

"T-there's a map on the boat, in the crates somewhere,"

Ryou nodded again. Well, maybe this plan wasn't as bad as he had thought. Now there was only one thing left to clear up...

"...And lastly, what on earth did you guys do with my possessio-"

“Kei! Ryou! Hurry up and get in here! We’re getting out of here now!”

Toya's voice filled the air, silencing the bandits who for a moment looked like they were actually going to talk. Ryou could also hear Kei's hammering footsteps as she dashed past him, making her way to the boat, as the sound of an engine suddenly engulfed all other sounds.

Ryou cursed; if he didn't get up and make a break for it now, then he would be left behind. Making sure to splash a large amount of water in the bandits faces, he stood up quickly, following Kei's lead onto the boat.

"Whoa... it's so big!"

Coming to a slow as he stepped onto the deck, Ryou looked around, confirming Kei's statement. Even if it wasn't that grand in all reality, the whole thing did look much bigger without the fat bandits taking up every inch of the ship. They were all gone now (Toya had evidently dealt with them all), except for one which somebody had evidently decided to keep captive, he was lying on the floor towards the end of the ship, trembling in what looked like incredible pain. Ryou turned away, not giving him a second glance and turning back to face his teammates.

"Hmm... every boat needs a name, right?"

Kei seemed to have other things on her mind. Funnily enough, she actually looked like she was thinking about something for once.

"Okay guys... I hereby dub this vessel the SS Cake!"

Ryou smacked his hand against his forhead.

"Are you retarded?! Ships are usually named after famous kings or queens or places or kages or even daimyou~" he yelled, "Not cake!"

Ryou was being rather loud but Kei wasn't even listening to him.

"...Actually, speaking of cake..."

Kei turned around, moving towards a large bunch of stacked crates. Oh yeah, now that he thought about it, if the bandits still had their posessions, then they would probably be in those crates along with the map the bandits had told him about. Forgetting about Kei's stupid name choices, he watched eagerly as his teammate searched the boxes for some sign of their former lives, but no luck. All she managed to pull out was the map.

"Guys look, I found a map!" Kei declared stupidly. Ryou couldn't care about the map; his worries lied somewhere else entirely.

"Bastards! They obviously sold our stuff!"

Kei was saying something to Toya in the background, but Ryou was taking no heed. Hands balled up into fists, he began storming down to the end of the ship where the final bandit lay.

"Argh!" he shouted, delivering a sharp yet painful kick to the bandit's side, which he succeeded with yet another kick, followed by another.

"Take that and that and that and that AND THAT!" Ryou continued kicking the whimpering bandit, "How dare you sell my things!"

[Kleee]

Still feeling lightheaded from the use of his bloodline, Toya had placed his hand against another conveniently placed pile of storage crates on the ship to keep his balance. A light headache was now starting to come over him, to go along with the dizzy feeling. Toya had only used his abilities a handful of times in his entire life due to the secretive nature of his clan, which was why the side effects were lasting this long. The more experience he gained using these eyes, the adverse consequences would be less severe and leave him more quickly.

"Whoa... it's so big!"

Good, Kei had boarded the ship, which meant that Ryou would probably not be too far behind. Then again, the boy had apparently wasted most of his time babysitting bandits who had already been defeated, so it would be a miracle if he had gotten the hint and decided to finally enter the ship.

"Hmm... every boat needs a name, right?"

Toya nodded slowly, but did not speak. He wanted to make sure he regained his strength and his senses before doing anything else.

"Okay guys... I hereby dub this vessel the SS Cake!"

"Are you retarded?! Ships are usually named after famous kings or queens or places or kages or even daimyou! Not cake!"

Screw his headache, Toya was going to talk anyway, and he didn’t mind matching Ryou’s raised voice. “Just lay off already, Ryou. We did all the work capturing this boat, so let her give it a name if she wants to. It’s not going to kill you to ride in a ship named after a dessert.”

Fortunately for all of them, Kei either did not hear Ryou’s words, or she was just ignoring him. She seemed to be rifling around the storage crates scattered around the ship in search of something.

"Guys look, I found a map!"

Now that was something worth finding. It was probably the only thing stored on this boat that would help them figure out how to return to their village, though sea charts were infamous for being incredibly difficult to read. Maybe their newly captured bandit friend would know how to navigate…

"If we use this, we can get back to Yuki faster, right Toya?"

Toya had switched from using just his hand as a support and was now leaning his back against the stack of crates. Dealing with Ryou’s screams and rants certainly hadn’t helped his condition, and he felt like he would pass out at any second.

"...Toya? ...Are you okay?"

As if coming out of a trance, Kei’s voice finally snapped him back to reality. Pushing away from the crates, Toya stood up straight and tried to simply focus on anything other than his headache.

“Yeah, I’m fine… good work finding the map. Don’t worry about anything that idiot says about you, because you’ve done way more than he has on this mission. We’ll be back in Yuki in no time at this rate.”

Toya took a deep breath and was starting to feel a lot less lightheaded when a certain someone started losing it again.

"Bastards! They obviously sold our stuff!"

Glaring over in Ryou’s direction, Toya quickly walked past Kei and watched as their teammate began unleashing a barrage of kicks against their helpless prisoner while spouting off something about his precious stuff. Now Toya certainly did not have any respect for these bandits, but attacking any defenseless target was not honorable or beneficial in any way.

Bringing his left fist backwards, he sent a strong punch flying forward and let it connect with the back of Ryou’s head. The force would probably be enough to send the boy toppling forward and leave him with a nasty bump on his head, but it would most likely not knock him unconscious.

“For the last time Ryou, get over yourself! We ALL lost some valuable stuff to these guys, but we can’t do anything about that now! A shinobi’s goal is to adapt to their current situation and continue pressing on towards the completion of their mission. Kei and I are doing everything we can to get us back in Yuki safely, because our lives are a lot more important than any material possessions. Now either help us get this ship moving, or get the hell off of it!”

To put it simply, Toya was done playing the cooperative teammate when it came to Ryou. He wanted to get back home and do it without hearing Ryou speak another word, not that it would be possible for that to happen. Without waiting for Ryou to reply or protest, Toya crouched down next to the captive bandit and stared him in the eye with his black gaze, which would even intimidate those who knew about this bloodline.

“Now get up and help us get this ship moving before we decide to dump you overboard with your buddies.”

Though still in control of his anger and actions, Toya wanted to see results or he was going to really lose it. Hopefully this bandit would be smart enough to cooperate before anything worse happened to him…

[Kleee]

"Yeah, I’m fine… good work finding the map. Don’t worry about anything that idiot says about you, because you’ve done way more than he has on this mission. We’ll be back in Yuki in no time at this rate."

Kei had to smirk at that. Well, at least someone had noticed. She almost hoped Ryou had heard. "No problem!" Pfft, as if I care what Ryou thinks, she added mentally. As for the part about returning to Yuki soon... Well, Kei could only hope that would turn out to be true.

"Bastards! They obviously sold our stuff!"

Kei looked up at Ryou as he shouted in frustration, suddenly reminded of the team's situation. After she'd discovered that map, she'd almost forgotten all about those cakestealing bandits. Ryou's angry shouts reminded her of another fact as well... one of those dirty cakestealers was still here on their boat. And Ryou was apparently having a wonderful time enacting his revenge on the helpless man.

"Take that and that and that and that AND THAT!"

Coward.

"Hey!" Kei turned, starting in the direction of Ryou and the bandit. "If you wanted to get back at the bandits for stealing our stuff, you already had your chance, and you blew it! Don't just attack him now that he's down, that's--"

BAM.

"For the last time Ryou, get over yourself!"

Kei blinked in surprise and looked from Ryou, who was now on the ground, stunned, to Toya, who was glaring down at him.

"We ALL lost some valuable stuff to these guys, but we can’t do anything about that now! A shinobi’s goal is to adapt to their current situation and continue pressing on towards the completion of their mission. Kei and I are doing everything we can to get us back in Yuki safely, because our lives are a lot more important than any material possessions. Now either help us get this ship moving, or get the hell off of it!”

Kei winced, suddenly feeling rather glad she hadn't been caught on the receiving end of that rage... Toya was scary when he was angry.

Ryou probably deserved it though. Still, an uneasy silence hung over the group in the wake of Toya's angry words. Toya himself, however, seemed relatively unphased. He simply crouched down next to the bandit, looking him straight in the eye.

“Now get up and help us get this ship moving before we decide to dump you overboard with your buddies.”

It seemed the bandit had learned from Ryou's example; he didn't want to be the next one getting a faceful of 'Toyarage'. The man would cooperate for now. He had no choice but to help the three genin start the boat. Still, once he had successfully demonstrated to Toya how to properly shoot wind chakra into the sails in order to steer, he was promptly thrown overboard anyways. It wasn't like they wanted to be stuck with him for the rest of the trip or anything anyways, Kei thought, leaning over the side of the now-moving ship as she glanced back to watch the disgruntled bandit flail and splash his way back to Haha Island. They already had Ryou, after all. He was more than enough dead weight for Kei and Toya to drag around by themselves anyways.

Now that the boat was finally moving, Haha Island starting to fade behind them, growing smaller and smaller in the distance as Kei looked on. A slight breeze had started up, providing the three genin with a much-needed respite from the heat of this new and unfamiliar climate. Things were finally looking up, Kei realized, smiling. They'd be home in Yuki again in no time. Now, if only her teammates would stop fighting all the time... Unexpectedly, the wind suddenly kicked up.

Kei's smile faded as her precious map was suddenly torn from her grasp.

"No--wait!" She lunged for the paper, but to no avail. "Don't go, map! Nononono--" Kei was reaching as far as she could, now leaning precariously over the ship's edge, but the map continued to dance just out of her reach.

"Crap, no!"

Kei made one final, desperate grasp for the map, almost falling overboard in the process, but it was too late. Her map was gone, drifting away into the distance along with Haha Island, the bandits, and her cake.

...So much for getting back to Yuki in no time.

[Kleee]

By the time Ryou had gotten to his twentieth or so kick, he was rather beginning to enjoy his stress relief. He knew that booting the poor bandit to oblivion wasn't going to accomplish anything, but it was fun taking out mental pain on somebody else nonetheless. He probably would have gone on doing it forever too, if his good for nothing teammates hadn't continued to go on with their wonderful ways of finding fault in every single thing Ryou ever did.

"Hey!" Kei suddenly called. Ryou didn't even look at her, now kicking the bandit all the harder, "If you wanted to get back at the bandits for stealing our stuff, you already had your chance, and you blew it! Don't just attack him now that he's down, that's--"

"That's nice. One of you guys was the one who put him in this position in the first pla-"

BAM.

"OW!"

A very familiar throbbing pain suddenly filled Ryou's head as he took Toya's punch full on. He stammered forwards, tripping over the body of the bandit and and landing on the ground with a loud thud.

"For the last time Ryou, get over yourself!"

Dusting his clothes, Ryou spun around on the spot to face Toya, only to find himself looking into the same terrifying glare Toya had given him when he had taken the mickey out of Toya's blindness...

"We ALL lost some valuable stuff to these guys, but we can’t do anything about that now! A shinobi’s goal is to adapt to their current situation and continue pressing on towards the completion of their mission. Kei and I are doing everything we can to get us back in Yuki safely, because our lives are a lot more important than any material possessions. Now either help us get this ship moving, or get the hell off of it!”

It turned out even Ryou's ego wasn't a match for Toya's tactics.

"...Hey! You... can't talk! You were one who stabbed him or whatever I didn't do anything what how can you lecture give it a rest what's what that face!..."


As per his natural instinct, Ryou came up with tons of comebacks to every single thing Toya said in his head, but he found quite a bit of difficulty getting all of it out this time - all that came out was a bunch of mismatched murmurs soft enough so that Toya couldn't actually hear them. He shot a glance at Kei, even she looked slightly troubled by Toya. Seriously, what was with this guy - so calm one second and so frightening the next. Maybe there was a reason why people feared this guy's clan so much. Well in any case, Ryou wasn't stupid enough to stand up to a guy who looked like he was going to murder him; he'd just get Toya back later.

“Now get up and help us get this ship moving before we decide to dump you overboard with your buddies.”

For a second there, Ryou had thought that Toya was talking to him, but it turned out he was speaking to the bandit. Naturally Ryou's first thought was to call Toya a hypocrite for chastising Ryou and then threatening to throw the bandit overboard, but for once in his life he actually resisted. Taking Toya's preoccupation as a chance to make a getaway, Ryou stood up swiftly and made his way to where Kei was standing instead, and leaned against the edge of the boat as the bandit helped Toya get the boat started... before being chucked off the boat by the Toya himself. Ryou gave Haha Island - the place where his treasured possessions now undoubtebly rested - a final glance before turning around to watch the sea as the boat began to gently rock as a nice breeze ruffled his hair. Ryou didn't want to admit it, but the breeze was actually somewhat nice, calming almost.

"No--wait!"

Kei's voice suddenly filled the air, suddenly detracting Ryou from his very brief state of tranquil, he looked around to see Kei reaching out, trying to catch onto a piece of paper - their map - which had just been seized out of her grasp by a particularly strong gust of wind.

"Don't go, map! Nononono--"

Ryou jumped too, trying to grab the map as well, but the wind had picked an unfortunate time to pick up yet again, dragging the map too far out of their reach.

"Crap, no!"

As Kei's final attempt to retrieve the map failed, Ryou gave up too, folding his arms and looking at Kei in utter disbelief. How could she just let their map go like that? It was just a piece of paper! Even in strong wind, she should have been able to keep holding on to it, considering how important it was.

"Now look at what you've done!" he yelled as soon as Kei had regained her form, "How're we supposed to get ba-"

And then quite suddenly, Ryou saw Toya out of the corner of his eye, and then just as suddenly, he fell silent.

[Kleee]

For the first time since the team had encountered the group of bandits, one of them had actually proven himself useful by giving Toya the idea to use his own wind to power the ship’s large sails. And for about the sixth or seventh time, one of these bandits was tossed into the freezing ocean of salt water surrounding the island. Well Toya hadn’t actually felt the water temperature for himself, but growing up in a snow village, he just assumed the water was cold.

And with all the bandits overboard or still trapped in the island, Toya continued to release a steady stream of wind directly up into the SS Cake’s main sail to keep them at a nice speed without completely draining him of his chakra too quickly. Things seemed to only be looking up for the team of returning Yuki genin until a sudden commotion caught Toya’s attention. He turned his head and immediately saw Ryou and Kei yelling about something. But what really stood out to him was the fact that Kei’s hands lacked a certain item that was vital to their return trip…

"Now look at what you've done! How're we supposed to get ba-"

It seemed that Ryou had been on the verge of reprimanding Kei for losing the map when the boy noticed his other teammate had been staring at him with his dark eyes. Ironically, Toya had not even meant to glare or give him a harsh glance, but that was the curse of his clan’s eyes. No matter what he was doing, those eyes would always make him seem intimidating and frightening. Even if there weren’t people who still hunted the Shiki clan, Toya would probably still hesitate to freely expose his eyes to the world. He would rather just be like everyone else and blend in with the crowd. Hopefully he would be able to find some dark-lenses glasses wherever they ended up landing next.

“Alright, even without the map, we will just have to do the best we can. Maybe Kei can remember the general direction that we need to head in. Even if we don’t land in exactly the right spot, we can always ask the nearest town for directions and continue from there. We’ll still make it back to Yuki in no time.”

Kei did claim that she remembered the proper direction, so Toya simply had to alter the course of his wind and steer the boat towards the right location. Even with all of their minor setbacks, there was no way they would end up in a rougher and more remote location than that stupid island, right? If only poor Toya knew just exactly where they were going to end up and how many stops they would be making before they would finally end up back in their home village…

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