Time in the sun

Missions:

Portals and dimensions and being forcibly taken somewhere were a list of things that Crom had little knowledge or interaction with, yet here he was sitting at some beach in a t shirt and shorts as close to beachwear as he would be getting anytime soon. The sun bore down on his pale skin and while it was quite warm there was enough of a breeze off the ocean to keep him cool it probably helps he was always cold anyways. Now he needed to figure out what was going on, and how on earth did he get out of this place. Crom spent some time walking the beach noticing quite a lot of other people from various places only given away from the various headbands they wore. “At least it seems I am not the only one that was effected by this.” Crom thought to himself as he continued to search the beach, it was then when a small child grabbed onto his shirt and tugged on it, “Mister I need your help making a sandcastle the other kids have help. Can’t you help me?” The little guy asked Crom with tears in his eyes.

Crom’s first thought was to get away from the small child as children tended to be either the calmest things or the most insane but seeing the child left alone while others had what looked to be friends and family helping them Crom caved and nodded his head. They went to where the child had been building his castle or what Crom assumed was a castle as right now it was just a lump on piled sand with some shells around it. “Alright boss what kind of castle would you like?” Crom asked as he went into work mode. The boy stared at the lump of sand and begun to explain his idea of what kind of castle he wanted which was the typical showy multi-layered castle with the towers and walls. “Sounds doable.” Crom mentioned as he begun to make the base of the castle. Once the base was completed and solid Crom froze it to make sure it wouldn’t move anytime soon even with the sun above them. The two continued their Sand castle building all the way up to the sun started to dip in the sky but by the time it had now stood a large castle with frozen flags and towers that would last long enough for the little boy to enjoy his castle. “Alright boss how does that look for a castle?” Crom asked the kid who was way to busy in fantasy land playing with the newly built castle. Crom stuck around till some parents showed up and brought the child home thanking the young man for spending time with their kid and how they hardly got time off to do anything. Crom didn’t care to hear the excuses the parents had, it wasn’t his place to judge them or generally care so he simply accepted their thanks and made his way down the beach.
 
WC: 508

Seeming to be stuck here on this beach and having already interacted with at least coupe people that were here like a child to build a pretty fancy sandcastle if he thought so himself. Now with the night coming on most people were making their way from the beach to the surrounding area and it seemed that as Crom walked around he begun to hear some people complaining and arguing between each other. It was a man and woman and as Crom picked up the snippets of the conversation it seemed they were arguing about the view or something about a honeymoon not going as well as they thought. It seemed like a weird thing to complain about for a couple that must have recently gotten married. The beach itself was quite amazing, clear waters, white sand that didn’t hide a bunch of sharp broken shells and rocks. This place already better then any that Crom had read about or been too. Eventually the woman took off leaving the man behind looking shocked and confused about what to do.

“Hey boss, sorry this isn’t my place to enter or say anything about but since yall were yelling so loud I’m sure I’m not the only one that knows what’s going on.” Crom approached politely keeping his distance of the man, he didn’t want to deal with a potentially violent person. “If the problem is something that takes a compromise I would suggest doing it, ruining a relationship over something that can be solved with a bit of give and take will haunt you for the rest of your life.” He mentioned as he thought back to how his parents treated him, never giving any ground on any issues and ruling with an iron fist then basically tossing him out on his own once he graduated from the academy. The man looked annoyed and flustered that an obvious teenager was giving him advice on his issues, but he took a deep breath and nodded his head. “Yeah you’re right. This is dumb thanks kid.” The man said to Crom as he bolted after his wife, Crom stayed back and kept his distance but watched the couple talk in the distance and at first he thought that they wouldn’t make up from how the woman was acting but there was a visible change between the two and they embraced one another and walked away holding hands. Glad that he had helped even just a little bit Crom continued his search around the beach and the surrounding areas.

“It seems that there is a lot of issues going on around here. I still wonder how on earth I got here and Where the heck even here is.” He thought to himself as he continued his search it wasn’t till he found a nearby sign that read “Welcome to Mikadzuki Beach” that he even learned of the beach’s name. “Where the hell is this at?” Crom said out loud as he pondered the maps he had memorized from all the time spent inside.
 
WC: 509
TWC: 1017

Crom had spent quite some time looking for a way back to Hoshigakure from this beach he had been whisked away too. No one seemed to know what to do to get back or worse they just didn’t understand what he was talking about. It was like this place was in some alternate universe or something, though this train of thought was pushed away because of how absurd it sounded. Though the more he pushed it away the more other theories came to mind that spoke of multiverses and various worlds similar to there own that differ in slightly random ways but that was just that a theory not a fact. So again Crom didn’t pay it any mind but instead of outright denying it he simply filed it away for later introspection when he had figured out how to get back home. That was the biggest concern he had for now because he was quite frankly not having a good time being stuck here in a place he didn’t enjoy around tons of people that he didn’t know. Not that knowing who they were would have made him feel any better as he simply didn’t enjoy being around people, his prime environment was in his home with his books and blankets reading the newest thesis on chakra usage with a warm mug of honey tea.
 
Being outside, on a beach, in who fucking knows where, helping people he didn’t know for some reason was draining his social battery that was usually depleted anyways. The night was coming to an end from what Crom could tell though, people were grouping up together in what he assumed were families, friends and couples. They found places on the beach to sit and look out into the distance as if waiting for something and as time went on there was a murmur that started as a whisper and grew into an indistinct buzz. Crom caught a couple of the words and they spoke of fireworks and being late and what’s for dinner, though Crom was sure the last bit was just someone hungry but it seemed like there was suppose to be a firework display or show of some sorts that was behind schedule. Being a typical guy in this regard Crom quite enjoyed seeing things blow up and fireworks overall, so he was quite curious to see what was the issue with the show. So he did what he did best and listened in on everyone talking and picking up the information being spread around.

Now it took some time for Crom to locate the team that was handling the display but he did find them, near the dock just off to the side in the sand was a team of fully dressed people, seeming to argue with each other about something at their feet. The discussion being angerly whispered at each other was about the ruined fireworks it seemed. Upon getting to close to the group one turned to the young Shinobi and with a particularly rude tone, “What do you want? You aren’t apart of this so back up.” The man basically threw the words at Crom, which only made the Shinobi want to turn around and forgo helping the group but he honestly just wanted to see the explosions. “If the gunpowder isn’t ruined I can dry out the fuses so you can still use them and put on the show you guys were suppose to have done.” Crom said with some veiled annoyance. The man looked at him a bit surprised and was about to say something snobby by how his dumb face looked but another member of the group put his hand on the snobby one’s shoulder and shook his head. “If you can help we would appreciate it. We are all stressed so I apologize for this one’s behavior.”

Crom nodded his head accepting the apology and came closer to the group to get a better look at what the damage was for the fireworks, it did seem that his initial guess was spot on. The fuses for the fireworks had been drenched, if Crom had to wager another guess someone probably put them to close to the ocean and a wave came and got them. He stared at the one that had snapped at him after inspecting the goods and they quickly turned away basically cementing Crom’s guess.
“Ok So I can use some wind to dry out the fuses and once that is done there shouldn’t be any issues with the show going on as I stated earlier.” Crom explained as he started to cycle his chakra into a plain breeze onto the fuses speeding up the naturally occurring drying. It would take some time since it wasn’t some Jutsu or anything and the most plain and boring way to help out but it would get the job down and calm the people down on the beach too. After an extremely boring amount of time later the fuses were dried and ready to be used, Crom gestured to the fireworks for the group to take over and after another inspection to make sure nothing else was messed up and that they were in fact all set to go. There was a collective breath of relief released from the group, “Ok lets get this show going.” The presumed leader stated as they all took what they needed to set up the show in its entirety.
 
This took much less time then what it did for Crom to do his part but by now he was sitting at the designated safe area which was borderline not save at all but the other in the group promised he wouldn’t get burnt though if anything he could just freeze anything that got close he was just ready to see the show go on. With the launch of the first firework high into the air a collective “oooo, Ahhhh.” Was heard throughout the beach and everyone seemed to be enjoying it. Crom stared off into the star filled sky and let his mind wander as the explosions of various colors and designs filled the air. “Well I guess coming outside every once and awhile isn’t so bad.” Crom thought to himself as he enjoyed himself with the show.
 
WC: 1049
TWC: 2066

During this time of enjoying the firework show another group of beach goers were all gathering nearby the dock. Though it wasn’t for the show or to get a better look it seemed that there was something else going on. Another event perhaps and to say that Crom wasn’t at least curious as to what was going on would be a lie, so the pale Yuki arose from the sand and after brushing himself off he went over to see what was going on. There were people of all ages there though most seemed to be around Crom’s own age though he couldn’t tell if anyone was a Shinobi like he was, he kind of felt like everyone here was simply just regular civilians out on vacation and it was a strange feeling to be the only one of his kind at this place. Just another stray thought of slight negativity sliding its way into his mind, and just like all the rest Crom helped it slide its way right on out of his focus. Instead he brought his focus to the person everyone seemed to be paying attention too.
 
As he grew closer to the older woman speaking he could hear, “Alright you guys, you all know what time it is. Its time for the end of the day race to the other side of the beach. Of course anything goes that doesn’t harm others and the prize is of course a whooping 2000 ryo and bragging rights for the night.” She said with a smile and joy in her tone, Crom could tell this was probably a almost daily ritual ending to the fun everyone had here at the beach and it was kind of growing on him. He still didn’t like being around people but something about being close to a crowd of people that were full of adrenaline and happiness was hard to deny. So Crom took his place along the line that everyone had formed up on, his eyes eager on the older woman who held what looked to be a firework of some sort probably something that was like a flare that would let everyone know when to start. He could see off in the distance a flare shoot up into the air and with that the older woman began her countdown, “Ready? Set! GO!” She pulled the fuze shooting off the flare in her hand starting the race it took mere moments for a good portion of the competition to be tripping over each other as they pushed and played among themselves.
 
But by the time people had started to get a quarter of the way down the beach it was clear who were the people actually trying and those that were just in it for the fun. Crom was not someone known for his speed, he was to use to sitting around and thinking things out. So most people who saw him would assume he was someone who couldn’t run more then five steps before having to take a break, and that was where he always proved people wrong. Crom had trained himself to be extremely good at endurance runs and tasks that would force him to keep moving and going for long periods of time to build his stamina. He may not beat anyone in a short distance race or sprint but he wasn’t going to lose to anyone in one that took place over such a large area. He started out in the back of the group when the race started but slowly and surely he overtook those that were growing to tired or had spent themselves already thinking being faster would get them there that much quicker not realizing that the best thing you can have here was a solid pace and a mental state that didn’t let you slack on the pacing.

It was getting close to the end of the beach and Crom was able to see the finish line, by this time he was about in third place among those close to finishing though he could see his fellow runners dying out. One was a younger lady that looked like someone had shot her and she was struggling to get to the hospital with the look on her face and her body language, she wouldn’t last to the finish line at this pace. His other competitor was a older man who was holding a solid pace but seemed to be limping on his right leg, Crom wasn’t sure if he had twisted it while running through the sand of what happened there but he needed to capitalize on these issues his opponents were having. He gauged the distance from him the older man and the finish line and himself and the older man and once he was sure he would be fine with picking up his pace so that he could over take the two and be able to maintain a pace that they wouldn’t be able to overtake him with a sprint.

Crom pushed his body to the limit and sprinted the last bit of the beach, quickly he overtook the young lady and with a look of annoyance and defeat she fell back knowing she wasn’t going to catch up to Crom at the rate he was going, sadly the older man wasn’t such an easy target and noticing the Shinobi had picked up his pace begun to also move faster. If it hadn’t been for whatever injury the man had sustained from the start to now Crom would have lost first place to this guy and Crom knew that. So upon completing the race and being awarded his prize money and first place he went over to the older man and thanked him for the race and hoped he got his injury taken care of for the next days race. Crom actually thought about coming back and doing the race again if possible just for another chance against the guy. Though that wouldn’t be possible as whatever brought Crom here took it upon itself to put him back at where he was prior. So now he sat in his home disoriented and confused.

“What the hell was that about?” Crom said to no one in particular in his empty apartment.

WC: 1047
TWC: 3113

Approved