Time to hit the books (IO/NK, Kot, Sanae, Tamaki)

Mission: Do You Wanna Build a Chunin? Part III

Proof of Part 2 Completed (and by extension, part 1): Here

The battle was over, and Kotetsu had passed the second stage. So had Sanae and Tamaki, which was a good thing. It meant that they could work together still as equals. He had spent a day or so in the hospital to make sure that any damage he had received during the second part of the Chuunin exam was fully healed so that he would not suffer complications further down the road. Now it was time to work on part three of the exams. He found out what the mission entailed when he got home from the hospital. A letter had been left on the table for him, from the Hogokage's office. It was the details of the current stage of the Chuunin exams and read as follows:

"Kotetsu, congratulations on completing the second round of the Chuunin selection examinations. We look forward to seeing how you, Sanae, and Tamaki progress. The details for your final examination are included in this letter; An integral part of being a Hoshigakure ninja is realizing that shinobi do not exist alone. There are other Ninja Villages out there and if they are not our allies, they are our enemies. Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to pick any of the current or former shinobi villages and conduct thorough research on them. If the village is active, compile a report of their imports and experts, their forces and venture an intelligent guess as to their defense systems. Suggest ways in which Hoshigakure can form diplomatic ties with this nation. If the village is destroyed, outline the reasons it was destroyed and what it contributed to the ninja world while it was active. Outline possible security measures/scenarios of how the village could have saved itself from destruction."

'That's quite the detailed report...' Kotetsu thought to himself. 'Good thing I won't be doing this alone...' He went back to reading the rest of the letter; "You can choose to research this nation by either travelling to the village/ruins in question or simply look up stuff and guesstimate by spending hours in Hoshigakure's extensive libraries. At the end of the mission however, all your findings should be compiled in a report to be sent to the Hogokage. Upon review of the report and mission, it will be decided if you are worthy of becoming a Chuunin of the City Blessed by the Stars. We look forward to reading your report." Kotetsu sat there for a minute while he reread the letter a second time, to make sure he had read it correctly. 'Thank goodness we have that library...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he pulled out some paper of his own and wrote a pair of letters to Sanae and Tamaki. They both said the same thing, albeit with their respective name;

"Sanae/Tamaki (Based on whomever is reading), when you have time, I'd like to meet up with you to discuss the last stage of the Chuunin Selection Exams. It would appear we need to compile a report on a village of our choosing. It can be an active village or a village in ruins. We have the option to either visit said village in person, or use any information we can acquire in the library. I will be in the library researching different villages in the meantime, so we can decide which village we want to make our report on." Kotetsu then signed his name at the bottom. With the letters finished, Kotetsu would collect his things and make his way to the post office to have the letters delivered as soon as possible. Once he had handed the letters off, he made his way directly to the library. There was a lot of work to be done, and Kotetsu wanted to get a head start on it.

The Library never ceased to amaze him in terms of how staggeringly huge it was. 'I could  get lost in here for days, and not even notice...' He thought to himself as he wandered his way around various sections. He eventually went to one of the librarians to ask about sections specific to other villages; reports, censuses, village history, any and all information about other villages would  be useful at this time, since the Hogokage would likely want the report to be as detailed as they could possibly make it. Kotetsu would be as thorough as he possibly could in providing as much information as they could find. The Librarian advised him that there were a total of four active villages, and nine villages that were but now lay in ruins. 'We definitely have our work cut out for us...' Kotetsu thought to himself. 'I guess it's time to hit the books...' As he grabbed a book on one of the villages and sat down to start researching.

WC: 801

Sanae had gone into the Hospital. Mainly to quickly get her leg looked after and the few bums healed that she had to endure through the exam. But she stayed because something else had happened. Her father who had been on a mission for the day had been turned into the hospital and so she spent her night not going home but staying in said hospital. Donating some of her blood and waiting for the surgery to end and the result. She sighed at the sight of her father bandaged a lot and close to death. In the morning when they said he had stabilized she could bring herself to at least go home. There she ate something and checked her mail. She as well had been informed about the task concerning the next topic of her endeavour to become Chuuin was, to do research and write a paper on it. Well good thing that this could be carried out here in Hoshis library. She could not have brought herself to leave her father in this state of affairs right now. If anything was to happen to him while she was not around she would not forgive herself because of that. So while she was walking through the house to calm down she read the letter and tried to wrap her head around it.

As she had decided on what to do now she took a shower combed her hair and got into fresh clothes. Did some work around the house while in the kitchen she made some sandwiches wand cut vegetables to eat while she would spend her following hours in the library of Hoshi reading. Some scrambled eggs and bacon as well and then she made her way to the door. At the door someone else approached her. Another delivery that came for her by a post man, another letter for her. This time from Kotetsu who as it seemed had also already got his letter and instructions how this would play out so he wanted them to meet up and discuss about this topic together. Good idea indeed and as this letter had been send today she would deduct from this that he as well had been planning on visiting the hall of wisdom Hoshi had build so well she would take the letter and put t in her bag. Afterwards she would pack some water and then after a quick walk through the garden she closed the gate and then was on her way.

While she was walking she would think about which Village she should propose. Well there were some villages that had crumbled to the ground but it was kind of boring to stand before ruins and then say, if they had a more of this or less of that they would have it so much easier than they had it when they were grid into the ground. But she had already met shinobi of a different village. Kumogakure it had been and Sakana had even spent some time with her teaching her the ability to engulf her kunai in chakra to make it even stronger. Unknowingly she had also met another one on two occasions. Once in a music store and then eat at a restaurant that he cooked in for a moment and she had seen off the Jounin Komon Hyuuga at the gates with a bunch of Genin. She thought about it, why were they here in the first place? Maybe there were already debates going on if they would join forces, if so maybe there was stuff to read on that and how and why? Well as it seemed she had found her village to maybe throw into the debate.

So as she had entered the library she looked around. It was an amazing view to see all those books around. It had something magical about it. The smell of dust and paper engulfed her. Now she was looking around for Kotetsu and Tamaki because it would be easier to first talk and then go search. So as she walked into the shelves and shelves of books she held her eyes open and then hasted towards Kotetsu whom she spotted. "Koetetsu-san!" , she would call out to him then covering her mouth scared getting shushed by the lady at the entrance. She quickly bowed to her and then ran to meet Kotetsu catching him inside a hug if he did not evade. "I am glad to see you all out and about", she smiled at him and then took a step back. "I hope you don't mind if I would prefer staying here and do research in the library because my father is currently hospitalized and I need to watch over him, he is kind of in life threatening health condition", she said with a certain bitterness to her voice. Maybe this was the price to pay? Someone had to pay for a good fortune?

WC: 824

Upon completion, the second third of the chuunin exams being a few days ago, Tamai found himself pouring over the letter he had received regarding the third and final component to the chuunin exams.
They could either leave the village and visit a nearby ninja village or go to the library and write a report.
Seemed simple enough.
Tamaki was no worse for wear and was injured only by the last concussive attack of the round.
His head felt heavy and pounded from the force of hitting the ground.
He didn't feel up to the task of reading through a number of books but he persevered for Sanae and Kotetsu who would be no doubt waiting for him in the archives.
Tamaki took the long way through Haven city to his destination, absorbing the light breezes and sunlight he knew would be no advantage within the library.
As he passed a vendors he bought three great big apples to share with his cohorts, they were firm and bright red.
The vendor said he was nearly sold out on account of how crunchy and delicious they were.
Needing no extra haggling he handed over a little ryo and left with the green grocer's bag of apples.
Walking the distance he began to whistle a low trilling to pass the time.
The villagers were living their god fearing lives and Tamaki was just passing by, rubbing the back of his head absent minded of the pain flowing through his cranium.
He threw up his breakfast in a nearby bush which caused him to believe he had concussion.
Tamaki would have to move slowly if he were going to make it to the library alive.
Passing the gates of the village he noticed their adornments beginning to look tawdry in the paling light of the morning.
An ordinary door protecting all that which is most sacred to the town folk of Hoshigakure, it seemed a little daunting that it should be so beautiful a sight.
Tamaki passed it without much thought as had become his chore, resigning only to mentor his wellness and the forthcoming installation of various tid bits of information regarding the great ninja villages.
Based on what the village already knew of them we must compile an anthology as a group to give a distinct detailing of those villages that had fallen and risen.

Upon arriving at the library he was greeted with the grandeur of riches that lie within.
The nobility had spared no expense in the refurbishments and it had a distinct taste to it, the flavor was an exotic spice refined through the senses.
First it indulged your nasal capacities' with a comfortable amount of dust that wofted through the air.
It was the smell of a good book, one that had been unopened for years and had been on the shelf for many more.
Second, was the rainbow of spines that eclipsed the vision, worn, torn, some new; all interesting.
The scrolls lining the walls were elegant in their concept and design and wore ornate detailing on their sides, confiding in the reader the topic of the particular text.
Tamaki walked through the entrance like he had found his home, he let his hands tussle the different cloths of the bookmarks sticking out.
Before long he was mesmerized and had forgotten quite why he had come in the first place as he had found a deep solace residing within himself this day.
He dwelt through the aisles in a distant haze as he brought himself to find both Sanae and Kotetsu, his dream usurped by these peasant foreigners to these lands of knowledge.
"Hello."
He said dumbly as if just waking from a stupor, his speech slow and quiet.
Not for lack of reasoning but more so to contend with his pounding head ache he had begun to forget about the sharp pain he felt and now it had come back into focus.
"How is everyone feeling after part two?"
Snapping more out of his stupor he began to sharpen and focus, no longer content with just looking at the books; he childishly wanted to put his hands on them, he wanted to unsettle the dust and get this report over with.
He assessed Kotetsu hadn't been to badly injured and Sanae had recuperated from her injuries that left Tamaki feeling better for the moment.
Tamaki shuffled closer to a chair and sat down noting that the cushions were comfortable as he swung his legs around he asked a question,
"So what village did you two have in mind for the report?"
His black cloak was too heavy to wear after the events of the chuunin exams so he was wearing a t-shirt and jeans.
He wouldn't rely purely on what he knew to get him through this stage of the exams as much had happened in the last ten years let alone the last three hundred.
Scratching at his ash white hair he also noticed that it was not well ventilated in this building and the windows were high near the roof.

WC: 847

Proof of Progression:

Yesterday had been an eventful day for Shouhei at the hospital he was working at for the moment. First there had been a handful of genin ranked ninjas came by to be treated – and seeing as they weren’t that badly hurt Shouhei were made to treat most of them – then a severe case of an elder ninja who have had an accident on a mission. So bad in fact that all Shouhei was allowed to do was to make sure everyone at the operation table had anything they needed, or supply the main medical ninja with chakra to replenish his reserves.

As he weren’t too involved with the latter event, his thoughts went more to the latter as he lied in bed yesterday evening pondering. The ones that stood out the most were a girl a little younger than he called Sanae, and a boy way too young to be a ninja called Kotetsu. It didn’t take long to treat them, but the girl had her father to attend to – and Shouhei was a bit surprised about who her father is – and the nurses found Kotetsu a bit cute so he should stay a bit longer.

The next morning, while eventful was a lot less stressing than the day before. He went to the hospital like normal, but then a thing of note happened. That was that one someone had left a package for one of the genins who had stayed at the hospital at the hospital, and they didn’t really have anything for Shouhei to do. Meaning, they might as well send him there to deliver it to them and give him the rest of his day off. Shouhei’s response to that was: “Of course, Doctor Ikeda. I’ll take it to them.” And he expressed it with a jolly tone. In his mind it was nice not having to clean tools and be constantly be exposed to cleaning alcohol. A thought struck him at first before he moved on however. “Where can I find them though?” To which doctor Ikeda couldn’t answer, but he suggested for Shouhei to the mission office and be informed of their current location or home address from said office.

The mission office was helpful enough, and Shouhei was even hooked onto the mission the three other genins were to perform. Although he hadn’t really asked for that, but orders were orders and he didn’t mind finally be able to do his last task before he could be promoted. It was sad it had taken him so long, but at least working at the hospital could justify it some without a proper explanation.

He arrived maybe fifteen minutes after all the others had arrived, given them some time to talk and mingle. However, it was not like he came unannounced for one of the librarians had handed a note from the mission office five minutes before that he would join them in their research. When he arrived, Shouhei was wearing average ninja clothing in muted green and desert beige colors. He was also fully decked out with equipment, but most of it was put into scrolls or his sealing gloves, and a neutral brown parcel under his arm. His orange hair was wild as always, and his ginger face looked full of energy as he came over to the other’s table.

Placing the parcel on the table he noted in a hushed voice. “I was told one of you forgot this at the hospital, but the staff did not know whom.” He crossed his arms. “I’m Shouhei of the Sato clan. It is nice to meet you guys.”

Notes wrote:One of you decide what is in the package

Word Count: 607.

‘This is going to be tougher than I thought…’ Kotetsu thought to himself as he scanned the shelves after reading through what he had grabbed so far. ‘There seems to be little to know information on Tengakure at all…’ Tengakure was Kotetsu’s primary choice for villages. Primarily because of it’s location compared to the other Hidden villages, and the fact that there were rumours about its technological prowess. Other than that, there was very little information to be had. It was slightly disheartening, but it just meant that Kotetsu would likely have to visit the village himself one day. ‘Perhaps after I make Chuunin…’ He thought to himself as he moved on to the next village. There were several other ruined villages and Kotetsu had hoped that there would be at least some information to be had, considering the size of the library. In short order, none of the others seemed to have anything of use that he could tell. ‘Takigakure, Yukigakure, Funkagakure, Tatsumakigakure, Amegakure, Iwagakure, Sunagakure, even the original Kirigakure…Next to nothing on any of them…’ Unless he was missing something, there was little to no useable information on any of the villages that were no more. That would mean that the trio would likely need to research one of the villages that are currently active. ‘So either Konohagakure, Kirigakure, or Kumogakure…’ Kotetsu mused, since they couldn’t very well do a report on Hoshi. He had just put away the books he had originally grabbed and was about to look into information on Kumogakure, since they were the closest active village to Hoshi, when he heard a familiar voice call out to him. 

Sanae had arrived, and after being shushed by the lady at the front desk, she ran over and gave him a hug, which he definitely did not evade and returned in kind. “It’s good to see you as well, Sanae.” He said to the older kunoichi. “I’m perfectly content remaining here and working from research in the library, I don’t think it would be smart for us to leave the village right now anyways.” Kotetsu say, without realising she had said right away. He then looked over at Sanae with concern. “Is he going to be alright? I hope it wasn’t something too serious.” ‘I hope she’s okay…’ He thought to himself. He liked Sanae, and thought of her as a friend. ‘I would be upset if one of my parents got hurt…’ His thoughts were interrupted by what would appear to be the last member of their group appearing.

Tamaki looked like he had managed to come out of the fight unscathed which was a good thing. Kotetsu had not wanted to harm him during the fight, but he had probably used a little too much power in his last attack that had sent the other two flying. Tamaki had said hello and asked how they were doing. “Hello Tamaki, I’m doing well thank you. Much better after my night in the hospital. The doctors said I made a full recovery. I’ll need to make sure I’m better prepared to deal with paper bombs in the future.” He said with a small laugh, and a sidelong glance at Sanae. It would seem that Tamaki wanted to get down to business as well, which suited Kotetsu fine. The sooner that they could get the report finalised and sent to the Hogokage, the sooner they could be given a final assessment. Kotetsu had sighed softly before going over what he had looked into so far. “I’d wanted to file a report on Tengakure, but it does not seem that the library has much on the subject of any of the ruined villages at this time. I feel it would be best if we did a report on one of the villages that are currently active. I was just about to start looking for information on Kumogakure, since they are the closest village to ours, when Sanae walked in. You were not much after her, so I had not gotten any further into the research aspect at this time. I would have no objections if we made Kumogakure the subject of our report though, because of the fact that it is currently active and that it is the closest active village to Hoshigakure.”

While he waited for the others to respond, another individual was making their way towards them, he looked somewhat familiar. It was a boy, early to mid teens. His skin tone almost seemed to match his hair, which was surprising since he had orange hair. He was wearing beige and green clothing, and he had several scrolls in various visible locations on his body, marking him to be a shinobi of some kind. He held a parcel under one arm, which he set down on the table the trio was sitting around. The boy had introduced himself as Shouhei Sato, and that one of them had apparently forgotten that parcel when they being treated. “That’s right, you were assisting us at the hospital.” He said to the boy. “I am Kotetsu, it’s nice to meet you, however I do not believe that parcel is mine.” He turned back to the other two and said, if you would like to proceed with Kumogakure as the subject, I’ll start gathering up some of the scrolls and books I noticed while looking for other villages.” He would stand up, and wait for the others to reply.

WC: 908
TWC: 1709

She cleared her throat a little from the big clutching thing that was covering it. Was he going to be okay? No one new, but so far it seemed at least that he would live. Another short squeeze and then she would let go of Kotetsu saying: "Well they say he is going to survive, but his body has taken damage where they don't know if they can repair it." Because the physiologies seemed different with them and repairing scattered bones was no big deal true, but what if those bones where mixed with the owner's chakra and their chakra when embedded into the bones would rather disrupt any regeneration then heal it. Normally it could be easier to just have him do it, but as it was he could not because there were no hands left. It turned her gut to think about it just now so she would then turn to see Tamaki coming at them. She was kind of glad to see that he had made it here although he seemed a bit insecure on his feet and had his face always been that pale? Maybe it was just her imagination but as he came closer she would also hug him carefully whispering: "Good to see you." So she would not get to his head.

After that she looked at a clock face palming a little as she had almost forgotten to take her medicine, which she took out of her bag and quickly dry swallowed. That was not the most optimal way, but it was the quicker one. Still she could feel the pills slowly running down her throat like a sore they were persistent like they wanted to scold her for not drinking water afterwards. Then she looked at her two companions and heard what Kotetsu said about his research for Tenga and how he then changed to Kumo. Slowly she nodded at this: "I do suppose this place should at least hold some information about Kumo since we only recently had visitors from there. Back then one of their Genin taught me how to infuse Chakra on stuff that was pretty nice and at the gates I could see them off. Pretty amazing they had a chuunin with them that turned Jounin over his stay in this... village", she had gotten slower while talking and even made a soft pause while something came to her mind about this thing she just said. He had visited their village and turned Jounin? Did that maybe mean he was here to spy? She narrowed her eyes down and shook her head a little. Well it must have been that way. What a shame to be honest.

So back to where she was: "I am not sure but if so many Kumo Shnobi would enter here, we do at least have no grudge against them I guess? So maybe there is a high chance that we will find something useful for us? Maybe we can find a map to point out a route or something", she shrugged a little and then there came someone else to their table. A young man that was kind of familiar looking while she thought about it a memory sparked inside her mind. Hadn't he been working in the hospital as she had been treated and he had been inside the surgery room? Yes and the small paper he had brought with him, as she looked at it she would recognize it. "Oh that is mine I was to bring it to the missions office", she bowed to him slowly as thanking gesture and then took the paper. "Thank you this has helped me a lot and I think we are happy for every bit of help this place is huge."

She took a look around the shelved area and then again at her colleagues. "I will get a map and see if I can find something out about the climate and seasonal changes", she said walking off and then looked at very different books walking along side the shelves reading book backs. While she did she pulled out books once in a while. Climate zones, seasonal changes and reading about the roads through the mountains that tend to get blocked easily and which not. It was no easy terrain going through mountains but maybe for a more steady going business there could be made a tunnel for easier travel and maybe a saver as well? But she was planning ahead of time. After a while she had also found a book with maps of the world. Hoshi being the best detailed for sure but hope said she would at least find some major roads and maybe some details about mountain heights and maybe rivers? At least this would be helpful to plotting a route to do some friendly business. Slowly she would walk back to the table and on her side she would open the map starting to study it carefully.

WC: 829
TWC: 1653

Being warmly embraced by Sanae was more than enough to right him on his feet as her body pressed against Tamaki's it elicited a brief moment when he actually smiled.
He reacquired the three apples and threw one to each of the shinobi, hoping their reflexes and a "Head's up" would suffice.
They were bright red and firm; best darn apples he could find, but he himself didn't have much of an appetite after losing his breakfast.
Even the new guy got an apple.
Tamaki had lost track of time and Sanae and Kotetsu had already begun working, he shuffled over to the section labeled villages and began to search for references to Kumogakure.
He soon found a scroll entitled "The Village Hidden In The Clouds. "
Taking the scroll to a table he undid the clasp and rolled it out to see it's contents.
It was written in a language that Tamaki couldn't follow but it was heavily illustrated with clouds and thunder bolts.
Nothing definitive but definitely a good read as he began to grasp legibility, it was written in fifteen year old hand writing; not pretty, but legible once attained.
Tamaki finished reading it and put it back on the wall before looming over Sanae's shoulder trying to decipher what it was she was reading about.

Rumours of it's true location were woven through out the mountains and many roads led to nowhere.
Flicking through the articles on the shelf beside Sanae he found nothing of interest before sitting back down, this had turned out to be a bigger drag than he thought it would.
"Need any help finding a path to Kumogakure Sanae?"
He leaned in closer and peered at the pages she was currently scanning, the book itself was well presented but dense.
Getting an impression was not going to be easy if all the books were that thick, Tamaki often wondered if he could get the book to 'tell' him what he needed to know because it was once a tree.
But alas that magical power evaded him, he could not absorb information any faster than the ordinary shinobi.

WC: 354

Shouhei found himself in an awkward situation and with an apple in hand.  Well for as long as he allowed it, for as soon as he had thanked the white haired guy, he ate it in a few bites. He did after all have a literal large mouth and not just one for banter. As for the awkward situation, it would appear that none of them had heard he had been signed on to this little project of theirs. They worked along very vigilant he had to admit, but he couldn’t just keep standing there and be awkward. At least it gave him a second or two to hear which area they were researching.

He took out a chair from the table and sat down. “So before anyone ask. I was told at the mission office to assist you mates with your report.” He tried not to talk too audible even though some of the mates had already started to look through the shelves. He rested his head on his fist and let an elbow support him against the table. “I have been too busy working at the hospital to travel out to the shadow country and make my own report.”

Around the time when Sanae folded open a map on the table he noted. “You know, if you guys want first person reports, you should look for writing from Arashi Tekiatsu and Kyousuke Snow. Both have travelled there on some kind of mission.” Shouhei was probably the only one who had been around when that mission took place, so he figured it useful to bring up. “I don’t know what the mission was about though. It was probably classified seeing as they were both of higher rank than me.”

Scratching his chin with his free hand he suggested the following. "Maybe we should get an interview with either of them if we find no writing?"

Notes wrote:Word Count: 316.

Kotetsu sighed with relief. "Well that's good news at least. I'm sure they will be able to fix everything" he says to Sanae, trying to sound optimistic for her sake. He of course had very little medical knowledge, so he couldn't offer anything other than some words of support. The subject changed quickly after Tamaki arrived. He had tossed an apple to Sanae and himself, which he caught. "Thank you Tamaki, I did have a small breakfast, but I was in a rush to get over here that I really did not eat properly. This will help tide me over for now." He said with a smile and a laugh, hanging his head in contrition when the librarian shushed him.

They moved right into the details of their report from there. Kotetsu had left a copy of the mission details on the middle of table for all of them to read. "Based on the information we were given here, it would be a fairly general report." Kotetsu said to the other three shinobi, taking Shouhei's comment about joining them in stride. "It would seem that we do not really to focus on a particular area of the village. That's good, because the more we can come up with in terms of different aspects of the village to research, the more competent we can appear to be to the Hogokage. To that end, we can focus on a couple different areas using the information we have here in the library, the rest we would have to draw logical conclusions based on the information we have collected. Those conclusions would essentially provide our opinions on how our village should behave towards Kumogakure." Kotetsu grabs a piece of paper and writes out a small list, what would appear to be general subjects; Local geography, population, village layout, and known political stances. Kotetsu had left blank space under each heading. "For sub-categories that we can use to expand on the general subjects that we should cover in the report." He says by way of explanation. "Since Sanae is looking over the maps, she can write up the section about local geography. That should also include potential natural resources in the area as that could be a reason we would trade with Kumo.  We could also outline areas that would make for good trade routes." He paused as he wrote down the sub-categories as they came to mind. "Tamaki, since you're looking at the geography as well, perhaps you can look into any information about the village's actual layout. I know I've heard something about a swamp of body parts on the edge of the village. We don't need to go into detail about possible defenses, but we could recommend locations in Kumo to visit that might inspire innovation here in Hoshigakure."

After taking a moment to ponder on what Shouhei said, Kotetsu shook his head. "It's possible, but I don't believe we would have the access to mission reports on any of the Hoshi-nin that have been to Kumo. We can probably look up the more common information, like the current Raikage, and other well-known members of Kumogakure. We likely won't be able to find out their capabilities as shinobi, but if you want to handle that aspect of the report, population and well-known members of Kumo, you could try asking the librarian about what access would be needed for that..." Kotetsu sounded a little dubious as the words left his mouth, but nothing ventured nothing gained. After making a few more notes on his paper, Kotetsu spoke up again. "I'll see what I can find on Kumogakure's political stances, any imports or exports they are well known for, their stance on missing nin and any laws they have that are different from other villages." 'There should definitely be at least some information to work with...' Kotetsu thought to himself  as he got up and went searching for the documents he required. There likely wouldn't be much information for him to work with, but he'd give it his best shot in order to impress the Hogokage. He wanted to be a Chuunin, and show that he was strong like his parents.
 
When it came to current political alliances, Kumo had only one ally from what Kotetsu could tell, which was Hoshigakure. However the document was from a little while ago, so it could be out of date. Kotetsu brought the scroll back to the group's table to use as a reference, as there could likely be other information further in that he had not yet read. 'I wonder if the librarian would know more about this...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he read further into the scroll, hoping to find more information about any potential alliances that Kumogakure had with other active villages.

WC: 799
TWC: 2508

She caught the apple Tamaki had thrown at her and while she was taking notes on a paper beside then map she would once in a while bite into it as Tamaki would look over her shoulder. She turned her head slightly and looked at him. He did not seem that healthy to her so she gently ran a hand by his cheek and looked back to the map. "Apparently it is not that difficult just a long and sometimes dangerous way here through Earth Country that fortunately has no Shinobi anymore so they won't really get offended when we pass through their country even with protected escorts", she pointed out the shape of the land on the map and then her finger trailed along the mountains of the Lightning Country to stop at one major street: "This path might be the most likely to be open all year or at least able to get cleared properly and where Kumo is. I am afraid the actual pinpoint is not here just an area where it is thought to be", she circled her finger around the spot and sighed a little while she thought about it what this meant for their research it would not be that easy but still she would note the route she would advise to take when having to transport goods to Kumo. One she was marking as ideal and about two as possible spare route if the optimal was blocked and beside that the note of a tunnel maybe.

As Shouhei said something about a mission of Kyosuke and someone else she shook her head: "I am with Kotetsu on this one we might not be able to see those. From my work at the gates I know that one Kumo visitor has still not left, but this only comes to me now unfortunately. On the other side asking him would feel like we make him betray his village all the while we only do a report on the average stuff", she mumbled and looked at Shouhei and blinked again. Did she introduce herself to him or has he been introducing himself? She thought back and nodded he had said his name upon turning up, of the Sato Clan he had said. Well this sparked absolutely nothing in her mind but well she was not so knowledgeable about clans because like she had known from her family and how her father was dealing with things. He did not like her talking about her clan too much. But back to the topic at hand Kotetsu had started talking again and was kind of separating the work among them.

The words he spoke sunk into her mind slowly unfolding before her and she slowly nodded as he noted to her what he wanted her to do. Good thing that she was already half way on it while opening another book that was about resources or more like possible resources. Then she paused and looked at Kotetsu as he said something about the swamp of body parts. A small frown of disgust was upon her face as he said something about a swamp of body parts. She shook her head a little. Why would someone have something like that even close to their home? Weren't there any children around to be bothered? Well yes there were she had seen them but was this some kind of sick tactic maybe to dull them? Who knew what was behind this, she was only happy that Hoshi was such a friendly place so full of light and life. It was nice living here and enjoying life as it is amongst friends. She smiled a little dozing off but calling herself back to the reality. Back to work.

She noted stuff on the sidelines. Mountains meant stone, not the sandstone they had here in the desert. Then there was swamp obviously and well forests so wood could be supplied. Especially their black forest with those unusually marked trees. Black with veins of white surly something that could be the foundation of interesting furniture. Still she was turning back to the mountains and their possible traits again. Maybe they even produced charcoal or mined coal. She turned some pages, there seemed to be mines in the mountains but what was pulled out of them a mystery. She would not let the thought of them maybe having iron and other ors hidden in their mountains. Then her eyes trailed back to the landscape. Since it was not as barren as Hoshis they could have animals or crops more efficient than they could this was maybe something worth mentioning? Her not pad had turned into one hellish mess when she looked at it. It was time for her to do it again properly by starting to copy the part of the map to the paper as accurate as she could. The next one contained the different routes she would advise to take. One even included the ride on a river though Earth Country territory because why not if it flew in the right direction. At the end she would make the not that if continuous passing would be the case a tunnel through the mountains could ensure a quicker and safer path.
Then about the resources starting at the mountains and their possible treasures those marked that were confirmed to be found. The forest and his strange but surly beautiful wood and then there was something she had not talked about. The ocean not only a huge supply on food but maybe they had places that filtered salt? Got into the report and then she finished that apple leaning back.

WC: 944
TWC: 2597