GET TO THE SHIP!!! [Training | Travel To Kaminari no Kuni]

Age : 31 Posts : 1836

Training | Special Characteristic | Physical | Advanced Stealth

Spoiler:

The day was coming to an end; the Sun was just about to fully drop below the horizon; twilight was on its way. Shadows were everywhere, and visibility range was dropping to the point of requiring the artificial lighting. The masked visage of Masquerade briefly appeared from around a corner, but then vanished behind it almost immediately. At that very moment, a group of three men walked past the structure behind which the Nukenin was secluded. The lead figure was wearing the standard uniform of a Kirigakure shinobi, the other two of the local security forces. Once they had passed, Masquerade clicked his tongue in annoyance and moved from his current hiding spot to another, making sure to stay within the shadows. He eventually emerged out of an alleyway, and glanced around quickly prior to heading to his left. He kept his head bowed and avoided making eye contact with anyone, moving quickly enough to avoid wasting time, yet not so rapidly as to attract attention to himself. Standing out amongst the crowed was the last thing he wanted right now. This was evident by the fact that the Jinchuuriki surreptitiously ducked into another dark alley as he saw another patrol coming his way. Once the coast was clear, he stepped out and resumed his course.

With the recent political strife that had developed between the Shinobi Villages, specific measures had been taken in certain areas of Mizu no Kuni to prevent any unwanted “complications” from arising. As an example, a number harbors were now being patrolled by local security personal, as well as a few ninja; no doubt as a precautionary measure in case “the enemy” decided to attack by sea. Who exactly the “enemy” was supposed to be was apparently not dwelled upon much, but the fact remained that it was getting riskier for people like Masquerade to be seen in public. He did not have that much information on why there was so much tension between the villages all of a sudden (at least, such openly-displayed tension), but the situation was causing problems for him. Short story even shorter, Masquerade needed to get out of Mizu no Kuni before he was caught by the patrols, an occurrence that seemed more likely the longer he remained here. Of course, the escape could not be pulled off without the required caution. The current patrols were making it much harder for Masquerade to actually leave the island country, mostly because identity checks were more thorough now than they had been previously. Needless to say, a criminal like Masquerade could not just board a ship without getting caught, which was why he had to resort to more risky means; namely, stowing away on a ship.

That objective would have been far easier to accomplish if there were not so many guards patrolling the streets of the port city, but Masquerade had not expected to have the luxury of an effortless escape. As such, to avoid being recognized as a Nukenin, the blonde was sticking to the shadows, using his training as a shinobi to keep himself out of sight. It was after several tense minutes and a handful of close calls that Masquerade could be found kneeling behind a stack of crates, carefully surveying the area ahead. He had reached the dock, and could see the numerous assortments of ships and boats here. A few were preparing for departure, and whether they were carrying cargo or passengers did not stop the guards from performing their security checks. From behind his cover, Masquerade swept his gaze over the ships. His sights settled on a nearby wooden craft that he believed would suit his needs. The patrols were walking away from the vessel, which meant that their inspection had concluded and the ship was ready for departure. That ship would be the best choice for Masquerade, then. He would not have to worry about being caught by any of patrols once he got onto the ship.

Shooting a quick glance at the darkening surroundings, the rogue ninja then dashed out from behind the crates and towards the ship. His footsteps were light and swift, creating very little sound as he hurried over the gravel ground. The dock was hardly empty, as a multitude of people were strolling here and there as they went about their business. The advantage was that the time of the day, coupled with the fact that the dock was a bit stingy with its lightings, meant that Masquerade did not have to worry too much about being spotted; especially since he had had the foresight to don a dark-colored cloak over his own white coat, so as to better blend in with the shadows. Add to this the fact that the Nukenin had plenty of cover to utilize (it was a loading dock, after all, and thus had plenty of objects present in the form of crates, boxes, barrels, etc.), and it was no surprise that Masquerade was soon standing at the edge of the dock, directly in the shadow of the large cargo ship. With another cautious glance at his surroundings, Masquerade then lifted off the ground with the aid of his wings. With complete silence, he rose up to the ship’s deck, and gently landed on the wooden surface. He was onboard.

The ordeal was not over yet, however. No sooner had Masquerade’s boots touched the floor when he was required to move quickly across the deck to the mast in the center, which he quickly scaled up onto until he determined himself to be high enough. While hanging from a vertical length of rope wrapped around the mast, the boy’s focus would then shift down to the lone sailor stepping out onto the deck. A large wooden crate could be seen in the sailor’s heavily-tattooed arms; the object was clearly very heavy, as the man’s slow pace and grunts of exertion would indicate. As the sailor lumped along the deck, Masquerade dropped down behind him as quietly as he could. Aside from a faint creak from the wooden floorboards, the Nukenin’s landing made no other noise. However, that single sound seemed enough to cause the sailor to halt. He turned around to look back, but saw nothing. As the seaman had turned around, the shinobi had already shifted his position to keep himself behind the man. Since the boy was in his blind spot, the sailor was unable to see the former maneuver around the latter. Unbeknownst to the older male, the blonde youth quickly lifted a hatch on the floor, and slipped under it and below deck.

Masquerade found himself in what he presumed was a small storage room, judging from the piles of containers around him. He couldn’t see them completely, given that the light entering through the portholes was not enough to fully illuminate the room; what little he could see, however, was enough to give him a vague idea of where he was. A satisfied smirk formed on his lips. He could wait here until the ship reached its destination, or made its next stop. With that, the boy settled himself into a corner of the room, and began to wait for the ship to set sail. Where exactly it was going, he admittedly did not know. However, anywhere was better than an island country where one faced the rapidly increasing probability of being captured. Little did he know that the ship was on its way to Kaminari no Kuni, but even if he did, he would still have thought it a better place to be than Mizu no Kuni.

The cargo ship departed not long afterwards, and Masquerade was quite pleased with himself for managing to sneak aboard without anyone noticing. In the manner that events were transpiring, he would probably be able to relax until the ship came to a stop. Unfortunately, he would think this too soon, for a few minutes after the ship’s departure, the room Masquerade was hiding in was no longer unoccupied. Two men entered the room, and setting up a make-shift table in the center of the room with several candles illuminating their “workspace”, they began to play cards. Masquerade had surmised that the sailors were here either to keep an eye on the cargo or simply to slack off (the presence of what were clearly bottles of alcoholic beverages could imply at the latter). Whatever the case, their presence turned out to be a minor inconvenience for Masquerade, as the size of the room meant that he now had limited space to move without being seen. He was not going to injure or knock them out just for his own convenience, so he resolved himself to waiting in the cramped space between.

That was the plan, until the ship hit a particularly nasty wave, causing a tremor to run through the frame of the vessel. Not only did this cause a few boxes to fall on top of Masquerade’s head, but one of the bottles the men had brought with them ended up rolling into the corner Masquerade was in. As the glass container came to a halt at the seated Nukenin’s feet, he grimaced at the occurrence. A moment later, he would mentally hiss as he heard one of the sailors rise to his feet and approach the corner where Masquerade was hidden in search of the bottle. While Masquerade was obscured from sight thanks to surrounding storage containers, he would be spotted if someone came in this direction. Since he was more or less cornered in a, well, corner, Masquerade had only one option left to fall back on. The only option he felt was sensible, that is.

When the sailor reached the corner where the bottle had rolled into and pushed aside the boxes to allow himself to grab hold of it, he was unaware of Masquerade’s presence directly above him. The Nukenin was currently hanging upside down from the ceiling, both pairs of hands and feet pressing against the surface as he used his chakra to cling to the surface. With the shadows now obscuring him from view, Masquerade kept himself completely silent as the sailor picked up the bottle and returned to his table. However, the Jinchuuriki did not return to his previous hiding spot, as the corner was now pretty much exposed from the sailors’ position, due to all the crates and boxes having been moved aside to reach the bottle. Sadly for Masquerade, there was no other place he could hide where the sailors would not be able to see him. Literally, the only remaining hiding spot was directly above their heads. Therefore, he would have to stay up here, like a fly on the wall, until the ship reached its destination.

Masquerade grimaced in the darkness. It was going to be a long trip.

Word Count: 1808/600

[Exit to Kaminari no Kuni]