Hidden Oasis [Holiday Mission/Open to 3]

Spoiler:

Fu was standing outside the Desert Rose. Near the hotel was a bulletin board. The days passed as her trip to the village hidden in the Sand was beginning to feel like a permanent one. The sun was at its highest point in the sky and was beating down on the village with no remorse for the living. Fu had grown more accustomed to the climate since arriving and her clothing had adapted appropriately. She was currently wearing short black leggings that went halfway down her thigh. Fu was also sporting a loose-tan shirt that was cut off at her belly button. Around her waist were her ninja weapon pouches that contained various possessions.
 
Fu whistled to herself while standing underneath the shade cast by the hotel. Her eyes darted around- looking for something to entertain her. She had been standing out here for almost an hour now and only a few people had walked by. Fu’s eyes glanced over occasionally at the bulletin before finally caving in and walking over to it.
 
Her redish-orange eyes glanced over the bulletin board from left to right, taking in anything of note. Such information was a good way to better understand the community she found herself in. Overall- the board was bland. There were somethings she found of note that were a little different from the village she was from- ads for odd and suspicious work. One flyer said had a blurb that said, “no questions asked.” As one of the requirements. It was honestly rather exciting. Sunagakure was beginning to be a place that Fu would travel back to in the future- hopefully next time she wouldn’t be on official business.
 
As her eyes scanned the board- her eyes were drawn towards a rather colorful flyer that she did not notice prior which she found strange. Fu got closer to the flyer- which boasted holiday colors of green and red. At the top of the flyer there was large font lettering that said “ATTENTION!”. Besides that- the rest of the wording was much smaller and very hard to read. Fu squinted her eyes and got as close to the flyer as possible so she could make out the fine print.
 
“Looking for a Holiday adventure? Then look no further! It is said that there is a magical place hidden within the Land of Iron and we want your help finding it! Locate the Oasis and you will be compensated handsomely. Interested? We know you are! Touch the paper and you will be magically transported to the starting area! Good Luck and Happy Holidays!”
 
Fu was perplexed. Was she seeing things? She knew she was bored, but this just seemed a little strange. “Well, here goes nothing.” Fu reached her right hand out towards the colorful paper and upon touching it- was sucked into some sort of vortex and teleported to another location- Fu could of swore she heard the sound of jingle bells whilst this action took place.
 

To her surprise- she was no longer in Sunagakure- or so she thought? The first thing she noticed was how cold it was. Her surroundings were no longer a desert, but a chilly frozen landscape. Fu looked down- she was no longer wearing her summer attire- but was dressed in winter gear- clothing she had not seen before. She was wearing a festive sweater and sweatpants along with a green and red checkered cloak that wrapped around her body, providing an extra layer of warmth. Fu swiveled her head from side to side to ascertain what was going on. Around her was nothing but snow and evergreen trees, except for a wooden sign that stuck out of the ground straight up as if it had been recently planted. On the wooden sign was an arrow that pointed in a specific direction with the word “START” painted on in the color red.
 
Fu looked down to find a letter in her hand that was the same color as the flyer she had found on the bulletin board outside her hotel. She opened it up and pulled out a letter from the “Hollykage” informing her that she had been recruiter to assist him with several holiday activities- and that others would be joining her.
 
“How much did I drink last night…” Fu thought to herself- trying to determine if this was a dream of not. She pinched herself to no avail. If this was a dream- it looked like she wasn’t going to be waking up anytime soon. Fu figured she’d go along with it- it was more entertaining that sitting around the Hotel all day waiting for Wan.
 
“Looks like I will wait here until someone else shows up.” Fu thought to herself- hoping they would not take long to arrive.


WC: 800

Akabayashi was sleeping in his bed, it was one of the best sleeps he'd gotten recently. The kind with no tossing and turning and no noise could wake you up. It was here that he began to dream. This dream was much more vivid and detailed than any normal dream. For some reason he found himself in a room with a giant tree decorated with ornaments and flashing with multi-colored lights. The place was odd to say the least and a sign indicated this was the living room of someone called the hollykage.

There were no people in sight and something about the place exuded merry and wonder. There was a smell of nutmeg and gingerbread in the air, like fresh baked cookies. As the Nova walked he came across a sign which read:

“Looking for a Holiday adventure? Then look no further! It is said that there is a magical place hidden within the Land of Iron and we want your help finding it! Locate the Oasis and you will be compensated handsomely. Interested? We know you are! Touch the paper and you will be magically transported to the starting area! Good Luck and Happy Holidays!”

The Terumi had to wonder even if even in his lucid dreaming he could be pulled into a trap, but something drew his hand in and left worry in the wind. Time and space warped until he was transported to a snowy hell barefoot and in pajamas. Strangely, the man's plague doctor mask was attached to his hip like in his normal attire.

Rubbing his shoulders and breathing deeply for warmth he would march forward. The area was rugged and covered in a thick blanket of snow. With each new step the man would lose a foot of height, to the frozen tundra as his feet sank. Each step also drilling in that this was no mere dream as the biting cold would wake anyone from a sound sleep. "I have to take notes on this bullshit." Little did he know any notes taken would be lost like a dream when he woke up. 

Finally, he would stumble across another person. As she was the first person he'd seen during his dream she had to be important. "Hello." He would say approaching the person and doing his best to resist shivering. "I'm Akabayashi Terumi do you know anything about an oasis, I was sleeping then touched a paper?"
WC: 401

Kita opened the door to his apartment exhausted. It had been a long mission in an even longer day, and Kita was feeling beat. He reached down and ripped off his shoes, tossing them to the side. Kita went about his nightly routine as quickly as possible, just wanting the go to sleep for the night. Kita showered, threw on some extra warm pajamas, and looked for whatever he could find in his refrigerator. As Kita threw open the door and looked, there wasn't much to find. Kita sighed. It didn't look like he would be having any sort of traditional dinner tonight. Kita reached in and got out a glass bottle of eggnog and a singular cookie from a plate full of a batch that his mother had made for him the last time she visited. Kita closed the fridge and opened the cap of the drink, chugging it as he made his way to his futon. "I'll just eat this and then go to sleep." Kita went into his room and closed the door before setting the drink to the side of his pillow. Kita put the cookie between his teeth and held it there as he made his way between the covers, promising to clean the bed of crumbs tomorrow. As he rested his head on his pillow however, Kita felt a strange crinkling, almost like paper.

Kita was puzzled. He sat up and turned around, looking at the crumpled pillow that his head was just laying on. Kita reached down and grabbed it, flipping it over. Kita didn't notice it at first, but before he set the pillow back down, he noticed a note attached to the back of the pillow. Kita filled it over, observing the note that had been taped to the other side. The text was tiny, and written in ink, so Kita had to squint closely to read what it said. "Looking for a Holiday adventure? Then look no further! It is said that there is a magical place hidden within the Land of Iron and we want your help finding it! Locate the Oasis and you will be compensated handsomely. Interested? We know you are! Touch the paper and you will be magically transported to the starting area! Good Luck and Happy Holidays!" Kita blinked. Did he read that right? Kita had a vague memory about a dream involving the Land of Iron, but didn't recall much more than that. Kita wondered how this paper had even gotten onto his pillow. He squinted, and reached to grab the paper and take it off. As his fingers grabbed hold of the corners of the paper however, his perception began to change and warp. Kita had just a moment to reach over and grab for something, his fingers snagging his drink, before everything faded.

For a moment, the entire world turned black, before returning in an explosion of color, and a bite of cold wind. Kita fell from a few feet into the air into a bank of frigid snow with a thump. Kita's head whipped around, looking for anything that could explain what had just happened to him. He saw nothing but miles of snow in this deserted, frozen wasteland. However, there was one spot of color. In the distance, Kita saw two figures standing beside some kind of pole. Kita quickly scrabbled to his feet, kicking up snow and debris as he did, rushing to the two figures. As he travelled across the frigid landscape, Kita thanked the lucky stars that he had chosen to wear his warm pajamas. Anything thinner and Kita would have frozen to death. Moments later, Kita arrived near the two strangers. For a moment, he was self conscious about his appearance. The wind that blew in this landscape had whipped his black hair into a frenzy, bringing it in all sorts of crazy directions. Additionally, Kita's warm pajamas were a a two piece set of fuzzy brown pants and a fuzzy long sleeved shirt with a reindeer, some animal that his mother told him lived in another village, on the front. Not to mention the fact that Kita had a rather large looking chocolate chip cookie in one hand, and a half drunk bottle of nutmeg in the other. He only thanked his lucky stars that he was wearing normal slippers this time. However, his doubts disappeared when he saw that the other two individuals were similarly dressed. Kita walked the rest of the distance towards them and smiled, the grin not reaching his gray eyes. "Hello! I'm glad I met someone so quickly? Where on earth am I? I was just relaxing in my bed when I got teleported out here!"

Total Word Count - 786

A void and formless world, a dark space in the time of travel. A figure travel through space and time in beam of Illuminating light in several kilometres. The hyuuga would land in a strange world of unknown. The ground beneath his feet would erupt into dust cloud as the beam of light hit the ground . The dust cloud would cover the presence of the boy, and for some seconds he was hidden. Once the cloud of dust dispersed into the air, his presence would be revealed. The lone figure stood still like a pillar of wood, observing his surroundings. His eyes would run to and fro the area for a few seconds before he activated his byakugan. Once he had his byakugan activated, he could see the entire radius of 100 meters away from him. The dojutsu was renowned for its perfect vision. The hyuuga’s memory seems all but lost, he would remember neither his past nor know his future , all he knows about would be the present moment, the hollykage did a good job on that. The young hyuuga also need no one to tell him what to do, he knew what his mission was, the hollykage did a good job on that one too. He immediately knew he was to find a hidden grove. Somewhere deep within the land of Iron is said to be a mysterious grove. This eden appears to be an oasis in the snow with fresh water and stunning beautiful animals. He has to walk through the forests in the land of iron and find this hidden grove.

WC: 265

Fu waited patiently for the first person to arrive- her posture almost as perfect as the upright wooden sign next to her- although she did not appear uptight, but elegant in the way she waited- if that was even such a thing. It was not long before someone else came along. The male had set course for her location from the moment he noticed her, which was a relief because she did not want to proceed through this holiday experience alone.
 
He approached her and introduced himself while appearing to be half asleep and freezing. Fu was used to the different seasons of her village and the snow did not bother her too much- maybe this person was from Sunagakure? she thought to herself. She couldn’t help but laugh given the fact she had just spent some time in Suna and it took her a while to become adjusted to the desert climate, so to  go from one extreme to the next must have been a real shock.
 
The man simply offered a hello, a name, and then got straight to the point. He was clearly more interested in accomplishing the task than enjoying the journey. Fu on the other hand, was content. She reached into the weapon pouch that was hidden beneath her cloak which adjusted with her movements and produced a flask with a reindeer on it. She did not have it with her before she got here, but she sure was happy she had it now. She took a swig from the festive flask before offering it up to Akabayashi. The dark colored contents made its way down her throat causing providing a warm feeling that pulsated throughout her body and made the experience just a tad bit better.
 
“My name’s Fu!” she would say to him, “I’m a top-notch monster hunter from the Hidden leaf.”- she exaggerated, but what would he know? Fu believed in speaking things into existence and her positive, bubbly personality and talkative nature made it easy for her to do. He asked her about the oasis mentioned on the flyer and that he touched a piece of paper and somehow ended up here. Fu felt relieved that she was not the only one that had happened to. “Same here. I touched an odd-looking flyer and the next thing you know; I’m here dressed up like some sort of holiday elf.” She would say- hoping to induce some sort of laughter.
 
Moments later another individual would arrive in a similar festive outfit. He would praise the fact that he had run into them so quickly and confirmed that he had experienced the same anomaly. “I’m Fu- that’s Akabayashi” Fu would say, speaking on behalf of the man she had just yet to save him the trouble of doing so. “Not sure where we are, but it seems we all ended up here the same way in search of some magical place. Not sure what kind of Oasis could be hidden in this ice box.”
 
There they were- 3 random people brought together by some wacko in search of an “Oasis” hidden amongst one of the coldest and baren places she had ever been. Moments later a beam of light would touch erupt and produce another gentleman. Was he another person sent on the same mission? This person wasn’t as friendly as the others and appeared to prefer to work alone which wasn’t very Holiday like. He got his wits about him and proceeded to head coincidentally in the same direction that the sign they were all standing next to was pointed.
 
Fu was fixated on him- he appeared to know what he was doing as his movements were conducted with what appeared to be thoughtful intention. Fu was a hunter and knew when something when a predator had found their pray. “Well, I’m not sure who that guy is, but he seems to know where he’s going so I’m going to follow him!”
 
Without saying another word, Fu would turn and begin a sprint towards the mysterious fellow, who unknownst to Fu, was the only person here who truly knew where they were going. She quickly caught up with him but did not make it a point to introduce herself. There was about a 5-meter distance between the two and she matched his pace so she did not fall behind or catch up to him and disturb him.
 
Wc: 736
Twc: 1,536

Akabayashi would take the flask as she offered it. He wasn't one to turn down in a drink especially when offered, by a lady. He would let the smell pass through his nose prior to putting the flask to his lips. He was smelling for poison, yet found none. The liquid inside made him feel warm compared to the frosty nightmare from moments ago. 

He would wait for Fu to finish her introduction, before passing back her flask. "Hmm, a monster hunter from the Hidden Leaf, I'm a rogue ninja hunter from the Hidden Star." Was this a mission for hunters? Maybe the two's skills were brought together for a purpose. 

The assumption that only two people had been dragged to this place was immediately proven false as another person introduced themselves. After Fu had introduced both of them and spoke her knowledge of the situation the Terumi would chime in, with a quick wave to the new recruit. "If I am to believe the paper I read it said I would be taken to the Land of Iron." 

Within moments a familiar face would arrive in the area and not address the group. Fu would be the first to act on the Hyuuga's advanced sight. "A wise choice Sakuragi has a good sense of direction, even if he lacks social skills." The Terumi would say loudly enough for Sakuragi to hear, he assumed the Hyuuga merely hadn't noticed the group that had formed and was overtaken by his unfamiliar surroundings. He would approach Sakuragi along with Fu and Kita if he decided to come. "This one is Sakuragi also from the Hidden Star." He would tell the two, they already knew his name from him yelling it, but a proper introduction was important.
WC: 294

Kita breathed a sigh of relief as the two people in front of him accepted his presence without question. For a moment, Kita considered what would have happened if these people hadn't experienced the same strange occurrence that he had. They probably would have thought that Kita was crazy, and left him out in the snow. Thankfully however, that hadn't happened. Kita observed his newfound companions a bit closer. They both seemed to be nice enough people. However, something about their movements and posture led Kita to believe that they were shinobi. The person calling herself Fu introduced Kita to the two of them, and he put out another big grin. "It's nice to meet you two! My name is Kita Hajime, I'm a shinobi from the Hidden Mist."

Fu and Akabayashi were just finishing discussing the purpose of the group on this mission with Kita when the trio noticed a fourth person walking with sure steps in the direction that a nearby sign pointed. Kita watched him with slight curiosity as Fu announced that she would be following him. Akabayashi spoke up as well, announcing that he was a Hyuuga from the village Hidden in the Stars. Sakuragi was his name apparently. Kita was pretty sure that by this point it was safe to assume that these four were all ninja. Kita looked ahead once again at the silent Hyuuga, marching steadily onwards towards whatever strange fate awaited the group, the sound of crunching snow barely heard over the howling wind of the night. Kita took a bite out of the cookie in his hand, and a swig of the eggnog. Kita winced. It probably wasn't a good idea to drink a cold beverage in this weather. "He's a Hyuuga huh? I've actually met a couple members of that clan. It's his eyes that give him those tracking abilities, right? I think that it's called the Byakugan?" Kita shrugged, and began to follow after the Hyuuga. If he was anything like the Hyuuga back home, he could get him wherever he needed to go.

It was a while of trudging through the snow before the group made any sort of headway or visible progress. Kita walked silently along with the group, watching the Hyuuga lead them onwards through the piles of snow. The wind and snow blowing into Kita's face blinded and froze him, and snow fell into the most minuscule of cracks within Kita's clothing, the snowflakes dissolving into water that clung to the inside of his pajamas. Kita shivered, and brought his hands together into a frigid clone seal, and summoned a shadow clone to one side of himself (Shadow Clone). The clone popped into existence beside Kita, and gave a salute. "What do you need boss?" Kita looked at the clone in the eye, setting his drink and cookie down in the snow for a moment, placing the glass bottle first, and the cookie balanced on the drink to prevent it from getting too wet. "I'm cold. I need another layer." Kita brought his hands together into the dog seal, and the clone erupted into smoke once again, being revealed as a new winter coat (Transformation Technique). Kita grabbed the coat out of the air, putting it on snugly around himself. It was warm, and kept the snow outside. Kita picked up his food off the ground, and smiled apologetically at his new companions. "Sorry about that. I was a bit cold in just pajamas. That, and I didn't want you to think I was entirely useless on this mission. I can use jutsu if we need. Water jutsu, chakra storage, very basic medical ninjutsu, I have a bit. I would normally say proficiency with weapons as well, but I don't happen to have any right now." Kita scratched the back of the head. It sounded a bit arrogant now that he had set it aloud. Kita looked forward, watching as the Hyuuga slowly brought the ninja group out of the barren wasteland, and to the edge of a forest of pine trees. Kita wondered for a moment if they were going the right way, but disregarded those thoughts, trusting the judgement of the Hyuuga. "At least we're not staring at a bland, boring, white landscape anymore."

Jutsu Used-

Kita AP= 1025/1055


[Shadow Clone - 30 AP]

-Kita used Shadow Clone Jutsu and split his AP into two pools]

Kita AP= 508/528


[Transformation Technique - 5 AP]


Clone AP= 512/527


Word Count - 711

Total Word Count - 1497

The hyuuga knew he had to get the hidden grove in time, he knew a challenge lies ahead for him.  Time was not on his side, so he would even increase his movement.  Few meters ahead of the hyuuga was a door entrance with no door. The other side of the door would lead to where the hidden grove is, but only those who pass the challenge can enter through the . The door which would lead to the hidden grove has one test, a test of how much you know yourself. The hyuuga knew this beforehand as the Hollykage had done a good job of registering everything into his memory. The hyuuga would begin to approach the door. The world in the portal of the door begin to shine on him,  a hidden grove hidden within a snow field. His current would soon be transformed into a world of snow. The ground would be made a field of ice, snow would fall but the young boy in search of the hidden Oasis would not freeze . The hyuuga would continue approaching the doorless entrance. He has to face the challenge that lies ahead if he would enter through. It was time to see if he truly knew himself.


TWC: 472

To no surprise- Fu’s instincts were correct. The stranger was apparently of the Hyuuga clan and possessed a dojutsu that could see through things, a rather useful tool for their task. Fu had only knew as much because the Hyuuga were originally from Konohagakure. Fu wondered how he ended up all the way in Hoshigakure. Kita, the Mist shinobi, had summoned a clone only to be transformed into a coat which wasn’t a bad idea. Fu kept note of this incase he had tried anything funny later. Fu had found herself with a rogue ninja and a current ninja from Hoshigakure and a singular shinobi from kirigakure. Such a strange occurrence- she must have truly been dreaming.
 
Fu skipped along behind the Hyuuga, taking another swig of her merry drink. The reindeer on her flask mirrored that of the Mist shinobi’s sweater- how ironic. Fu offered the flask to Akabayashi once more as such things were more enjoyable when shared with someone else. “So Akabayashi” Fu would begin, clearly not worried about not being able to accomplish the Hollykage’s task when they had a Byakugan on their side. “What’s Hoshigakure like?” Fu had never been, and she was more than interested to know. “You too Kita, what’s Kiri like? You must tell me.”
 
Fu followed the Hyuuga wherever he went as long as it seemed reasonable. She made sure to keep her distance as he did not seem like he wanted to be bothered. She hoped that the trip would not take them too long, but she hoped that it would last long enough for her to extract some information from her teammates about their home villages.
 
Finally, the group would make it to some sort of doorway, that ironically, did not posses a door, but some strange shimmering light. If her companions decided to offer up information on their homes- she would listen before proceeding through the doorway. “Well friends- not sure what is on the other side, but if I don’t see you again it was nice meeting you all!” Fu would offer up- before stepping through the passageway.
 
Fu would step through the doorway and a shimmer of light would be produced causing her to fade momentarily before reappearing in a beautiful place with running water and various beautiful animals. If the others had found their way, they would appear in the same place, in their hands would be a letter congratulating them on their journey. The letter would say if opened:
 
“Congratulations for completing your Holiday Mission! Your reward is taking with you anything note worthy from this Oasis back to where you are originally from, but don’t be greedy! I hope you learning more about your comrades or yourselves! Happy Holidays!”
 
Upon reading the entire letter- Fu would shimmer once more and return to where she had came with barely an ounce of memory of what happened, but next to her were two presents containing strange materials she had never seen before.

Wc: 498
Twc: 2,034

Exit

Claim:
1x Chameleon Scales
1x Rabbit Fur
1,500 towards Shadow Clone (1.5k/1.5k)
534 towards Wind Wall (B-Rank, 400 WC Previous) = (934/1.5K)
40 Bonus AP

It seemed even without Akabayashi using Sakuragi's clan name the ninja from Kiri had figured it out. Had to be how the kid's eyes looked he had read that they mostly had gray pupil -less eyes. Something that stood out from normal people and when their byakugan was in effect their veins around the eyes would bulge. An effect of straining the eye, one had to wonder if the byakugan eventually lost its vision like the sharingan.
 
The Terumi would answer Kita as he asked his questions about the Hyuuga. "Yes, his ophthalmic veins and arteries are strained to deliver new blood and remove old blood from his eyes. If you could see his face, you would see what I mean. Though at this point I'm not one hundred percent sure that is Sakuragi, he's usually full of questions and talkative. This phantom driving us forward may just be a similar looking guide or perhaps he believes us the phantom's here to lead him astray. Thus, causing him to ignore us." The Nova would shrug and continue to follow. 

When Akabayashi saw the Kiri ninja raise his hands he thought and here comes the party, but he would remain calm. The kid merely used the clone seal to summon a single shadow clone before turning it into a coat. "That's a really good idea." He would say as they continued to walk, his wet pajamas starting to freeze in the frigid air. "I can heal us of injury and place seals." He would add once Kita had finished, it was good to know what they could use amongst them not only against an attacker but in case things between the group went south. 

Fu would take another drink and pass it to the eldest of them once more. "Thank you." He would state taking another swig from the ladies flask. "Just what I needed to warm up." The man would add once more returning the container to its owner. "Hoshi is a good place to learn our library is used to spread knowledge to the ninja there. Though the citizen's are a little weary of the ninja and the ninja of the citizen's there is usually a lot of infighting which is why I usually like to travel." He would say waiting for Kita to answer about Kiri, once finished he would ask a question of his own. "Kita what are your elite ninja called I forgot the name of them, the Leaf have Anbu, Hoshi Nova, etc?"

When they got to the doorway in the middle of the icy mountains Fu would say her goodbyes. "Likewise, it was good meeting you both." He would say as Fu disappeared in a flash of light similar to how Akabayshi had arrived. "Guess, I will go next." The man would say a quick wave to Kita before a familiar flash took over the man's essence and pulled him to the hidden oasis filled with beautiful animals.

In the man's hand a bag of ryo would form and he could hear a man's voice like a faint sinister whisper. "Have you been naughty or nice?" With this the Terumi would wake in his bed with a start the money spilling over his floor. Yet, the ninja had no clue how the money got there or why he woke up."
WC: 553
TWC: 1,248
Claiming: 3,000 ryo, 30AP Shadow Clone 1248/1500
Exit