Patrol (Sakaiza)

Mission Specs:

Nobu slips on his gear, ties up his headband and begins to head out into the warm Suna air outside of the shade of the Akari family home. The sun was high, making it a particularly warm day. Running back inside, Nobu grabs a bottle of water and heads out. He planned on doing something today, he just wasn't sure what it was yet. He walks by several stores, the thoughts of spending some of his hard earned ryo on a delicious meal flood his head. Instread of caving to the temptation, instead Nobu walks a different route. The scent of the cooking foood was still thick in the air, but as Nobu moved farther and farther away, it slowly dissipated. His stomach started to grumble, clearly upset at this course of action and reminding him that he didn't grab anything to eat earlier when he was home. 

What should Nobu do today? The question was ringing in his head over and over. It was always a good time for training, but then again he hadn't been in the mood to train today. Something was just telling him to take it easy for the day, but then again he still wanted to be productive. "I know, maybe a mission. That last one was rather simple, just helping some kids. Maybe another will be just as easy." Finally figuring out his next move, Nobu casually makes his way to the mission boards. He didn't really feel like breaking a sweat today. The heat alone could make a fellow pass out if not properly hydrated, and so Nobu swigs a big gulp of his water bottle.

The mission boards were rather bleak today. Not a whole lot of missions available, but one in particular caught Nobu's attention. A patrol mission, likely something low impact and simple. It was also paying a decent one thousand ryo for what might have just been walking around the village gates and chatting up a friend. Speaking of friends, maybe Sakaiza or Giichi would like to join me. It would be a simple enough task to go to each of their houses and check if they would like to participate, so Nobu does just that after pulling the mission paper off of the board.

Time to round up Team Seven! Making his way first to Giichi Aburame's house, Nobu finds that Giichi was out doing some work for the family, something to do with collecting certain bugs or such. Nobu didn't sweat the details and moved on to the next house, the house of Sakaiza Hyuuga. Now Nobu knew that Sakaiza did a lot of training, so he could only hope the busy Genin was home. Knocking on the door, Nobu introduces himself and asks his mother if Sakaiza is home and would like to complete a mission.

If Sakaiza comes to the door instead, Nobu will also ask for something small to eat before showing Sakaiza the mission posting he had. 

WC: 495

Sakaiza had a crazy night.

He had spent the whole time training and in the process, exhausted his body. So by the time he had gotten home last night, it seemed as if he had blacked out. When he would awake, there would be a knock upon his door. His eyes began to slowly creep open. His hands were sprawled out in front of him. They laid flat upon the surface as Sakaiza's eyes began to pan from the left to the right. As they did, Sakaiza began to put together what had happened. The sight of sand and clay in front of him and underneath him along with a cloth rug rolled out to the right of him was evidence enough to reveal that Sakaiza had gotten home then passed out on the floor. Sighing, he forced his way up to his feet. Body still sore, head pounding. As he rose, he twisted his torso one way cracking several bones upon his spine. He did the same for the opposite direct to crack the remainder. He let out a large yawn, possibly loud enough for Nobu to hear him through the front on door and stretched his hands out towards his ceiling. Once this was done, Sakaiza walked to the front door and opened it up. Who could be at his house this morning? Sakaiza had no clue. He only hoped that it would be one of his comrades who he hadn't seen in several days.

While the door pulled back, Nobu stood in the threshold.

"Nobu, my man! Boy am I glad to see you!" he tried to say excitedly but the fatigue his body felt prevented him from being too energetic. "Come in man, sit down!" Sakaiza welcomed his friend in. It seemed as if Nobu was hungry as he had asked Sakaiza for a small breakfast.

Sakaiza's house was nothing special. It was small, yet cozy, well at least to Sakaiza. His family definitely was not wealthy and if anything, was barely above middle class. 


"Yeah I'm pretty hungry too. We can either eat something small here or grab a bite to eat, my treat" Sakaiza offered while walking deeper into his house. "I just woke up, so let me brush my teeth and get dressed really. Feel free to look around our kitchen to see what we have!"

Sakaiza had been in just his training shorts and undershirt, from his attire Nobu could likely guess that Sakaiza had been grinding last night. He went to his bathroom and began to brush his teeth and wash his face. Hopefully the morning ritual would wake him up. 

(WC 440)

Seeing Sakaiza in just his training attire and the look of fatigue plastered all over his face had made it quite clear that he had been doing some rather intense training the day before. He must be quite far along with his training now. “I wonder how strong he has gotten…” Thinking to his own training, he didn’t remember feeling quite as exhausted from it. Maybe he wasn’t training as hard as Sakaiza was…. Well, him being tired worked out well for Nobu as the patrol mission seemed to be fairly simple and shouldn't require too much effort anyway.
                             
"Yeah, you go ahead and get ready. I'll just find a small snack if you don't mind." Nobu says loud enough for Sakaiza to hear him from in the bathroom. Looking around, Nobu spots what looks like it might be a desert of some sort in the fridge. He eyes it up and down before his better judgement kicked in. It was far too early for sweets, and that was likely being saved for something special. Looking around, he spots some orange juice. "How did he manage to get orange juice? All Raizuko has is water and lizard meat...." Taking a glass from the cupboard, Nobu pours a tall glass of delicious orange juice and begins gulping it down rather quickly. It was delicious, and reminded Nobu of better times. 
 
Waiting for Sakaiza, Nobu sat down and began to reread over the job posting. "This is going to be easy ryo Sakaiza!" He says. Once he leaves the bathroom Nobu would hand him the paper. "We just have to walk around the gates and be on the lookout for anybody who looks suspicious. Mostly it'll just be getting paid to hang out and catch up. What say you?" Nobu seemed rather excited to head out and do something, though he wasn't sure why. "And I'll take you up on that food offer! What'd you have in mind?"

Nobu’s mind immediately thinks back to the food, his stomach doing a horrid gurgling sound now. It clearly was upset that Nobu hadn’t eaten yet, and so he was ready to eat nearly anything. “Whatever it is, we will have to stop and grab it on the way. Maybe something that we can take with us to the mission, perhaps?”


 WC: 386

(Sorry for the long wait, I've been traveling from Virginia Beach to Alabama in the last two days lol)

Sakaiza took short time to get ready. He had quickly brushed his teeth, brushed his hair and returned to his room. From there, he rummaged through his clothes to find some clean attire for him to drape himself in. After several minutes of tossing clothes around, he finally found an unstained, clean smelling pair. He slid the shirt upon his head and put his arms through both sleeves. He slid his pants on in the process and picked his headband up. Looking in the mirror, he saw his cursed Hyuuga mark upon his forehead. Something he had grown accustomed to. It seemed like he realized why he needed it and how it helped his clan. Shaking off these thoughts, he tied his headband upon his forehead securely and exited his room.

Realizing that Nobu had signed the team up for a patrol mission, something that Sakaiza had just done. "Awh man, I did one of those missions yesterday. They just used me for my Byakugan and we stood on the walls just looking at stuff all day. Hopefully this one is better though!" he said trying to have some confidence in the mission. 

"But hey, if the food is my treat, you have to pick! We can take it to go though, I'm sure this mission won't require too much of us."

He let Nobu know that he was agreeing to whatever he decided, but simultaneously waited for Nobu to decide. 

(WC: 241, sorry for the short post. I'm exhausted lol)

The thoughts of barbeque pork kabobs make Nobu’s mouth begin to water. They were delicious, the meat cooked with delicious bits of onion and peppers. If Sakaiza was going to let Nobu choose, this was going to be his choice for sure.
“How about we stop by the Barbeque Pork stand? They have these delicious kabobs that you absolutely must try.” Nobu has a wide grin as he speaks, clearly happy to enjoy both the meal and the company.
 
Heading out they stop at the stand, grab a few kabobs (letting Sakaiza pay of course), and then head towards the gates. They make their way to the guards post. The view was quite beautiful, gazing out to the seemingly endless desert sands. Nobu was slowly growing to truly love the Sand Village more and more each day. Looking down at the people travelling back and forth between the village and other lands, everything just seemed at peace. Most of the traffic was the shinobi of the sand traveling to and from missions most likely. A few peddlers would come and go, trying to gain entry to peddle their wares to the citizens of the sand village. This made memories flood into his mind of his parents and how they travelled area to area selling wares. Good times indeed, though looking over to his friend Sakaiza he realized that the path he had been down wasn’t all bad. He was now a shinobi of the Sand, he had good friends, and he has gained purpose and clarity.
 
Watching ever so carefully as folks pass, it quickly grows tiresome. “So Sakaiza, what have you been up to? Training obviously.” Nobu lets out a laugh. Sakaiza was more than able to multitask by watching the gates and talking with Nobu. That Byakugan of his was something amazing indeed, a talent that would prove most useful later in their careers if they continue to team up like this. “Did you see the sign ups for the Jounin exams?”


WC:334


(OoC: Since you already did this mission, I don't think you can do it again or reduce the WC for me. No worries though as you could still RP with me, and if you aren't claiming stuff for the mission, you could probably still get stats and/or train jutsu)

Barbeque pork kabobs. Something that Sakaiza hadn't had in seemingly years. He could remember their juicy, succulent flavor upon biting into it. It would essentially fall off the skewer and melt in his mouth. The only thing that could make them better was when they were served with his favorite ramen from Ram's topped with chopped pork. Just the thought of this combination sent chills down Sakaiza's neck, traveling all the way down to the base of his spine. Yeah, he was proud of Nobu's decision. He was proud he had a friend with such good taste in food.

"Wait where is this at? I haven't had a good barbeque pork kabob in forever!"

Nobu led the way, taking Sakaiza towards the market. They approached the stand and each got several of the kabobs. Sakaiza paid for their meals voluntarily and then they began to start off for the village gates. The kabobs were delicious, evident by the lack of conversation the two had while walking. Both of the young shinobi were too busy enjoying their food to start up a conversation. It seemed that they had been eating for awhile, since they had made their way to the village gates and begun the mission in the entire process. 

"Yeah, it seems like all I do is train these days. But I can never learn enough, ya know?" he reflected on Nobu's question with a laugh. He was slightly upset by the fact that he always had more to learn, but at the same time he enjoyed the challenge. He would not stop training himself, "How's your's been going?"

Pausing long enough for Nobu to respond, he would in turn fire out a question of his own. "Yeah I heard about the jounin exams. I signed up actually, but I don't think that I'll get it. Maybe I'll become a chunin....did you sign up?


The mission was quite slow, just normal traffic coming in and out of the village. He wondered if the mission would show any reminders from his other night where he defended Sunagakure's cemetery from the attackers. He wondered if he should share his encounter and the death of the shinobi with Nobu. But at the same time, he would wait for the opportunity to present itself for him to reveal that information. In the meantime, he kept his eyes pealed for any suspicious activity. 

(WC: 398)

Nobu listened to his friend speak, saying that there was always more to learn and to master. The endless training of the shinobi. Even once you have mastered your body and chakra, you were always learning ways to better yourself, better your techniques, and better protect those that you cared for. This was the life of a shinobi, but this was not a bad thing at all. No, Nobu was happy to take on the challenge. He wanted nothing more than to be the best, and so he would have to train himself even more than most.
 
“My training? I guess you could say that it has gone well for the most part. I’ve learned a couple of new techniques. Nothing fancy, but some Taijutsu moves that I feel will increase my flow and momentum in combat.” Nobu wipes some sweat from his brow and gazes out to the desert sands, reminding of a more recent training exercise he had done that he had almost forgotten about. “Oh, and remember when Giichi was talking about having some Sake with us? Well, I ended up getting a bit…. Drunk the other day. I had intended on doing some survival training in the desert, hoping to get stronger without the cushion of the village to fall on. Well, I packed up some things and one of the bottles of what I had thought to be medicine was actually Sake. So I was wandering around through the desert drunk, but I can seemingly hold my own while inebriated so that’s good. Nothing bad really happened, at least that I remember.” Nobu spouts this all out rather quickly and lets out a laugh. He felt shame of the situation at first, but looking back on it now it was actually a tad funny.
 
So, Sakaiza had also signed up for the exams. Well, that was good. If they both had the opportunity to go, that would be nice. “Yeah, I signed up. I figured that it would be a good way to test how far along I’ve come.” Nobu turns to Sakaiza with a big goofy smile, “It’ll be nice to have a friendly face there if we end up going. Just know that I won’t go east on you just because we’re pals.” Nobu knew that if they had to face off it would be a great match and neither would give an inch.


“I mean, we will probably face off at some point. We are obviously the best of the best. We’ll take these Jounin exams by the horns and win it all!” Nobu originally had his own doubts about whether or not it was a good idea to face off against shinobi of higher rank, but he didn’t want Sakaiza to feel that way and so he put on quite the bravado.
 
Looking down at the travelers again, Nobu notices an odd person. They look much like a foreigner, as they were garbed in odd looking clothes for compared to those of Suna. It wasn’t only the clothing though. Something about the way they carried themselves caused Nobu to begin to wonder. They wore a heavy cloak, much like Nobu had, instead of a dark grey this one was pitch black, the man’s face hidden. Nobu quickly taps Sakaiza, telling him of the suspicious man.
 

Sakaiza wouldn’t see anything though, despite his Byakugan. The image of the man was merely in Nobu’s head, likely the machinations of Nobu’s inner tormentor. 


WC:579

Sakaiza reflected on his friend's training status. He told Sakaiza that he got a lot quicker, stronger and overall flowed better in combat. Additionally, he would be able to use different and more jutsu now. It was excellent. Sakaiza smiled, for he knew that the next time that the two met on the sparring grounds, it wouldn't be as one sided. Also, he smiled because he knew Sunaga Seven was improving. The team had two experienced taijutsu fighters who would likely be able to overwhelm opponents with their speed, power, strength and in Sakaiza's case, chakra. He felt confident in any missions that they would undertake, but this mission was not one of them. It was so slow and boring, but Sakaiza had learned the importance of it from the last time he was assigned a patrol mission. There were always threats to the village, but not all of them were obvious. Therefore after tough security was important. 

Listening to Nobu's comment about getting drunk for the first time tickled Sakaiza. He laughed because he knew how opposed Nobu had been when Giichi initially offered them a drink, but now it seemed the tides had turned. Maybe Nobu would offer Giichi a drink. Regardless, his comrade seemed to turn it into a technique, like a style of fighting. Sakaiza had only heard rumors of such a style, it was the drunken fist, obviously named from being inebriated and fighting still. 

"I'm sure that'll come in handy the next time you're in a bar." Sakaiza joked. 

Now with the conversation focused on the jounin exams, Sakaiza smiled again. "Perfect, we'll definitely end up as jounin from it! I mean, it's us!" confidently boasted Sakaiza. "And go easy on me? Remember what happened the last time we sparred?" Sakaiza let out with a nervous laugh, hoping that it wasn't too soon for a joke. He still wondered if Nobu made any progress mastering that bijuu of his, and if so, Sakaiza wanted to see it in action. 

Later on, something strange happened. Nobu seemed to be warning Sakaiza about an approaching person. He whispered something along the lines of his cloak looking foreign and it seemed to bother Nobu. But when Sakaiza would search for the person, there was no one to be found. In fact, there was no one even at the gates besides him and Nobu. It had been empty for quite some time now.

"You feel alright, bud? Why don't you get some water or something, it's just you and me here...."


(WC: 423)

Nobu laughs at Sakaiza when he talks about their last encounter. He indeed had the upper hand last time, his abilities quite impressive. Nobu had grown a good bit in skill as well, and so Sakaiza was actually someone he had hoped to test himself against. Their skills are exactly why Nobu had felt they would do well in the exams. Sakaiza had the intricate and efficient style of Gentle Fist all but mastered, and Nobu, well Nobu knew how to crush bones with his strikes if need be. Much less visually appealing, but just as effective Nobu would think. “Yeah, this rank up is already ours, the other competitors just don’t know it yet!” Nobu would smile and refocus on the watch.
 
Now Nobu knew what he saw, or at least he had thought he did. It knew that this woud be an unpleasant sight, and Nobu seemingly doesn’t know that it is all playing out in his head. The man in the black cloak was the cause of much pain to Nobu, and just the sight of his caused the boy to start to get angry. An angry scowl shoots to the face of Nobu, him all but ready to jump over and dash to confront the man. Just as he was about to go, Sakaiza seemed to snap Nobu out of it, his saying that it was just them there. Nobu knew what he had just seen, and so he looks at Sakaiza like he had been crazy. “How can you not see him? He’s right- ” Looking back, the man had vanished into thin air.
 
Maybe the heat was getting to him. Nobu downed a gulp of water and pressed the cold bottle to his forehead. Why was Nobu seeing that man? Nobu knew him to have been killed a long time ago. Was he just going crazy? No, it had to just be the heat as Sakaiza had suggested.
 
Just as Nobu was wondering how long it was going to take for the next patrol shift to get there, to shinobi came and relieved them. “Good timing. I just think I need to get out of the heat for a bit. Sakaiza, thanks for the lunch and keeping me company. If you weren’t here I would have been bored out of my mind.” Heading back into the village, Nobu inform him of one last thing. “If you need any… No that is not what I mean. If you would want any assistance on any missions, feel free to drop by and ask. I'm also up for training before those exams!” Smiling, Nobu heads in to the village and makes his way to the Akari house. He doesn’t walk at a particularly fast pace in case Sakaiza wanted to chat any more as they traveled.
 

(WC: 461)
Exit unless Sakaiza wanted to do anything else
Total WC: 2255
Claiming Mission Rewards
1000 ryo and 3 AP

Sakaiza was confident in that he and his teammate would end up as advanced shinobi, however he had one question in mind. What if the two were to spar against each other in the final rounds? Who would win? And what would happen to the loser? It was possible that both could become jounin, one could and the other wouldn't or both would fail. But Sakaiza did not see the last situation happening realistically, the two were quite skilled and hard workers, hopefully the kazekage would recognize this. Both Sakaiza and Nobu were deserving shinobi, but so were the other shinobi that would participate. So Sakaiza and Nobu would just have to beat them out.

But something seemed wrong with Nobu, he had to have been losing it. There was no one in front of the two genin, but Nobu swore there was. Then Nobu seemed to snap back into reality, for he cut himself off and seemed shocked by the truth of what happened. Just as Sakaiza was beginning to open his mouth to comment on Nobu's strangeness, two shinobi came and seemed to be the relieving squad. 

Sakaiza and Nobu left the post and began walking back to the village. After hearing Nobu's offer, Sakaiza smiled at his friend and let out, "Yeah. I'd like that. Actually, do you think you could teach me some taijutsu involving kicks? All of my attacks seem to be strikes with my fists and palms, although I do know the Leaf Hurricane."


(WC: 250; Also claiming 1000 Ryo and 3 AP from mission completion)