Repair The Bridge [Oshizame]

Misison Details:

The morning mist was thick, dense enough so that it made it hard to see more than a few meters in front of himself. But even with the reduced visibility Russo could tell the damage to the bridge was extensive. Splintered wood rested beneath his feet, and there was no sign of the other end behind the thick curtain of mist. An audible groan would escape him as he realized this was going to be a long day. Placing his hands in his pockets he'd walk to the edge of the bridge before looking down to the water beneath him. It was a decent 10 meter drop to the water beneath him, one he didn't intend to take if he didn't have too.

He could find no discernible reason for the damage, even the wreckage that had fallen from the bridge had long since been washed away by the tides. Perhaps it was an usually large and strong wave, or maybe rotting wood that had finally seen it's last day. Not like it mattered either way, the boys objective was still the same. Connect the two severed ends so that men could cross it again, a look to his left would reveal a large pile of wooden planks placed their specifically for the task. The only problem was going to be the support beams, but he had an idea for that as well, he was just going to need an extra set of hands.

Luckily a gennin was on their way to provide exactly that, so he'd remain leaning against the railing of the bridge, patiently awaiting their arrival. Not like he minded it anyways, the mist was cool against his skin, and the day was warm, all in all nice weather to wait in.

WC: 295

As per usual, Oshizame Hoshigaki rose with the asscrack of dawn- a habit deeply ingrained by the blacksmith. He rolled out of bed, wearing naught but a pair of sweatpants, stretching wide enough that he felt small pops in his spine. He had a mission today with one of the older members of the village- he'd never met the man before, but hopefully he wouldn't be too put off by the blue skin and gills. He slid on some thick black pants and a white tank top- he'd need mobility to work on the bridge, and besides, there'd be no use for heavy armor if it gave him heat stroke. Sliding on a pair of navy ninja sandals and his headband, the shark man left a small house towards the coast that doubled as a forge. The smelter and forge itself had been extinguished for a few days- he'd been pretty busy running some missions, so he hadn't really had any time to work his craft. Today, however, he was supposed to be repairing a bridge- a fair bit different from what he usually worked with, but at least the tools he was using were somewhat familiar. He walked with purpose to his destination, a thick blanketing mist obscuring his sight.

When he arrived, the first thing he noticed was the mess. A large pile of planks sat haphazardly to the side, a toolbox and a small bag of nails and screws balanced on top. The bridge was a goddamn disaster from a generous point of view- splinters and jagged edges wide enough to spear a man, dropping off around ten meters into a vortex of water below. He whistled. "Damn," it was then that he noticed the man standing at the bridge's connection to the land. "Heard you needed help?" Oshizame asked, baritone voice carrying through the thick mist. "I'm not that good as a carpenter, but I know my way around a hammer and heavy lifting. Let me see what I can do." he spoke. A small tilt of his head found the shark man grinning. "I'm Oshizame, by the way. Don't think I've met you before, though."

WC: 360
Total WC: 360

Oshizame was definitely not normal looking. Blue skin, jagged teeth and gills to match, he was more shark than man. "The names Rutsu, and we definitely haven't met. I would have remembered a face like that" before turning to the man to offer him a handshake. Whether the boy accepted or not, Rutsu would then begin to walk towards the edge of the bridge stopping in front of the splintered edges "Still, glad to have you here. You look plenty strong enough for the labor"

If the pair wanted to make any progress on the bridge it was obvious that they were going to have to clear the damaged planks from either side, so that they could attach the new ones. The side close to them was an easy fix, which could be executed with a single hand sign. Forming the tiger seal a stream of water would shoot out of the boys mouth before he angled it to make a clean cut along the many shattered planks, so that their damaged ends would be severed from the bridge and sent falling into the ocean beneath them.

A satisfied grin would form on the boys face as he looked at the broken bridge, which could now be easily mistaken for a fully functional dock, no signs of damage to be seen. But he knew that the other side was still splintered, albeit hidden behind a thick curtain of mist. "Well that's one side down. We can clean up the other when it gets closer" the senju would say already beggining to form another series of handseals. Upon their completion for a few seconds it would look as if they had done nothing, the tree trunks taking several seconds to breach past the surface of the water.

But in time four massive trunks would grow level with the bridge until they stopped, their tops perfectly flat stumps as if they had been cut by a lumberjack with an axe, which was an intentional modification by the jutsu's caster. Two of the trunks were on the right side of the bridge, and the other two on the left, each placed as a pair. and intended to be support beams, for the new section of bridge so that they had something to connect their planks too.

"So what the hell's up with the gills and teeth anyways? Is that some kind of clan thing" He'd ask in a genuinely curious manner as he made his way over to the pile of planks. He'd never seen a man like that, and he'd never had anything close to a social filter.


WC: 734

Oshizame accepted the handshake with a toothy smile, not offended at all by his remark. It was true, after all- he wasn't exactly a face you could look over in the crowd. He would walk beside the man to the edge of the bridge, stopping a few feet behind the break. He thought about what tool to use- a saw, maybe? before Rutsu would use a water jutsu the shark was unfamiliar with. Nonetheless, it seemed to be incredibly effective- the wood was cut clean. But when he formed a few more hand seals, sprouting trees from the water, Oshizame knew something was up.

"You're not one of them..." he thought back. What was the clan again...? "Hyuuga, are you?" to be completely honest, he never cared much for clan politics or whatever it meant for him- worse came to worse and he was wrong, he'd simply get corrected and move on. When his gills and teeth were brought up, he gave a thumbs up before turning back to the planks, finding a few of adequate length before easily hoisting them over his shoulder. "Yeah," the genin answered, laying them down carefully so they'd rest on both the start of the bridge and the logs the man had summoned from the water. "It's a bloodline. Hoshigaki." after making sure the planks were in correct position, he'd hoist over the toolbox and bags of various nuts, bolts, and screws and place them down next to him. "This'd be a hell of a lot easier with a blueprint," he muttered to himself. Blue hands opened the bag, and he eyed the metal pieces for a few seconds before snorting and closing them. "Whoever crafted these has no clue in hell what they're doing. No way they'd hold in a storm. Do you think you can use that tree shit to connect the planks to the land? I can hold em in place, if that makes it easier." he paused, looking up to the man from his spot on the ground. "Or does it only work with living plants?"

A pause. "You know, if you had any earth jutsu, those might help as well. Root these bastards into the ground." he scratched his neck. "If you don't have any, though, I suppose I can run back to my place. I definitely have some stuff lying around that'll work out better than what we were given here."

WC: 403
Total WC: 763

The boy's handshake was firm, which was to be expected. Kirigakure was not known for its weak shinobi after all. Oshizame seemed to work well too, instinctively following him when he moved, with no need for him to guesture to do so. The boy seemed to be analyzing the area for an idea of how to handle the debree before Rutsu acted, and seemed ok with the result of those actions. But it wasn't until Rutsu sprouted the trees through the surface of the water that the Hoshigaki would decide to speak, asking if he was a Hyuuga. "You mean like that old mizukage? No I dont think I am." He'd say with a laugh before realizing what he'd just done. With a somewhat amused reaction he'd guesture to the poles he'd just created. Oh! you mean those? That's a Senju thing I'm told."

It wasn't long after that, that the shark boy would confirm what he'd already suspected. The blue skin the teeth and the jaws were some kind of bloodline, apparently belonging to the Hoshigaki Clan. Rutsu would simply nod at the confirmation before the boy began to analyze their tools. It quickly became apparent that Oshizame came from some kind of smithing background as he critiqued the make of the tools in a manner that almost seemed to be offended that someone would dare to create subpar tools. Then he proposed the idea to extend the planks into the land, which would have been a novel idea, had he not just used and released the technique. Because he had however, it would be a while before he could use a technique of that power again. "Afraid I can't at the moment, It'll be a few minutes before I can do something like that again." He'd say as he gazed into the mist.

Connecting this bridge to land was looking like it was becoming a more and more troublesome task by the minute. The second Idea with the earth jutsu was no good either, the only earth jutsu he knew was earth wall, and that handn't the range required for such a task. A temporary fix that would buy him the time he needed to regain the strength for his prvious technique did come to mind though. "No need to run home just yet, I think I've got an idea" He'd say as he found 2 of the larger planks in the pile and lined them up with stumps he'd created out in the ocean, placing one end of each plank on the center of each stump, and the other on their end of the bridge.

"Grab a hammer you're gonna need it kid" He'd say as 10 massive wooden spikes began to form from his body. He'd take special care not to hit the kid with them, not wanting to impale a genin if he didn't have too before he pulled each of them from his body and put all but two of them in a pile near the edge of the bridge. Taking his own hammer he'd begin to drive one of the two still in his hand into the end of one of the two planks that was connected to the bridge. "These should be strong enough to hold through a storm, you work on the other side" He'd say as he finished the last stroke of his hammer to wedge the wooden pike into a support beam beneath the bridge, and then began to walk across the beam to his in order to secure the other side with his last spike. Rigourously completing the same process on the opposite side of the plank.

WC: 1350