The Shinobis of Wave Country
Chapter One: The Journey Begins! Meet the Wave Country Shinobis!

The small island residents of Wave Country thought hopefully to the successful journey of the master bridge builder Tazuna who was the last hope of restablishing the economic stability on the island. The livelihood of the country belonged to the shipping industry that a shipping mogul Gatou had seized from the people and punished any person who opposed his control. The first and last person to have openly questioned his control was a humble fisherman and local hero named Kaiza. Gatou in response had killed Kaiza in public. Now, the only hope for the city was the completion of the bridge that could not have progressed any farther without help from the outside.
At the northern shore line, Tazuna eased his backpack on the wooden boat. The owner dug his paddle into the dirt and set off to the shores of the Lighting Country as a decoy vessel voyaged from the west directly to Fire Country where ninjas were to be hired to ensure the safe condition to finish the bridge. Fast paced footsteps approached the shore. Tazuna's hand trembled the bottle tapping at his lips and splashed alcohol on his medium length white beard. "Wait!" A group of voice gasped as loud as they could. As the three emerged from the mist, Tazuna steadied his hands and took a long gulp. "Go away," he said. "Don't kid yourselves, if you weren't going to help Kaiza, what good would you have done me?"

Atalanta, Theseus, and Ulysses, in that order, rushed into the cold water and entered the boat repeating: "Don't leave! We're coming with you!"

Atalanta, the swiftness runner of the much, spoke her mind with a rage; "if you wanted to hire ninjas bring us along for protection instead of leaving us with the decoy boat. Do you realize how far we had to run?" She removed her bow and adjusted her boar fur forehead protector.

"You were the one who suggested the decoy," Tazuna replied.

"Ordinary ninja's have the skill to deceive the enemy, but only the great ninja's of Wave Country can deceive themselves." Theseus nodded.

In the world, ninjas came from hidden villages. The hidden villages were in the five great shinobi countries: Earth, Fire, Lighting, Water and Wind Country. Recently the Sound Country also had a shinobi village, and Atalanta, Theseus, and Ulysses proclaimed ninjas existed in Wave Country as they were the proof.

"How could you be ninjas?" he said relaxed his elbow on the steering rod of the boat.

"Rule 793: a ninja does not reveal his secrets." Theseus said. "Rule 793 sub-selection A: a ninja does not reveal other ninja's secrets."

"Wait," Atalanta said, "how could we, ninjas, know other ninja's secrets unless they break rule 793?"

"Isn't Rule 793: a ninja doesn't make information up?" Theseus asked.

"To be in the ordainment of the new idiot of the universe, how lucky of me." Atalanta sulked and stuck out her tongue.

"Are we almost there?" Ulysses asked in a gloomy voice. Everyone on the boat stared at him. "What, I don't like long trips."

On the shore of Lighting Country, a light rain was pouring down from the thin gray clouds that were setting forth. Ulysses rubbed his gloves together, and pushed some wavy brown hair into his eyes then his forehead protector over his eyes. "Are you ready to leave?" he calmly asked as he faced away from the boat with his arms out and knees bent. Frustrated with this act, Theseus pushed Ulysses out of the way calling him an "ass" and placing his barefoot on the boat he set it on its way to the Wave Country.

"I can't believe I allowed these kids to come along with me," Tazuna muttered under his straw hat. Atalanta nearby ignored the comment like it did not implied her but other two. Stocking an arrow into a bow, she tested the tension in the string and suddenly released an arrow that flew well over the head of ninja of Lighting Country. Ulysses put his gloves together that were then covered by his dark blue sleeves that flared out from the elbows.

"Judging by your forehead protectors, you would be ninja's from Wave Country if they had them." He said undistorted under a square clay plate with a large Lighting Country symbol covering his face. "I would be cautious if people from there could aim a bow or use jutsus."

"Falling Branch Technique!" Ulysses called out the name of the jutsu he was using. The ninja turned around feeling something brush along the back of his neck. Looking down, he saw a branch on the ground. He remembered his comment about Atalanta's aim; she hadn't missed at all. The aim of the arrow was to hit a tree branch and distract his attention. As he turned around back to his opponents, Theseus punched him in his gut. A flash of light emitted. What was left from the hit was a log and he stared at his fist then looked at his peers. "I was saving that my signature 'Wooden Conversion Punch' for one of you two; consider yourselves lucky."

Theseus flipped up the log with his feet and intercepted five shurikens coming at him. "Idiot," the ninja sitting on a branch of a tree said, "I used the body replacement technique, all ninjas can do it." He flipped his face guard up and squint his eyes. In inspecting them he smiled and laugh lines appeared in his young face. "I apologize, my instructor has ordered my squad to be careful of suspicious ninjas. Observing your talents, there is little doubt in my mind that none of you are ninjas." Atalanta caught up to Theseus to hold him back.

Rays of sunlight shot out from the clouds and Ulysses looked at the shadow of a bur oak tree that stood ahead of him. He put his sandals on his hands, did a hand stand and walked around with ease. "Bur is my favourite oak tree." He said approaching it. Ulysses fell forward into a roll out of his sandels and threw two senbons at the tree. The shadow of the tree caught Theseus' and Atalanta's eyes as it declined into the tree, and Ulysses had his focus on the tree where two hands appeared out of the shadow and caught the needles. "But bur oak trees don't cast shadows which are not in the directions of the sun's path."

The rest of the body of an adult Lighting Country shinobi appeared with the hands. "You have the eyes of a ninja, Ulysses," the ninja said discarding the needles. She wore long black rubber gloves up to her elbows and underneath were bandaids that crossed up the arm. A few jingles came from her iba. The elongated loop as long as her forearm held metal strips. A filment inside the loop brigthen and hummed. "You may call me, Harthor, and here is one of my pupil, Thoth."

"My name is Tazuna," announced his sullen voice. He lifted his jug with extended his index finger towards the three contraband ninjas. "The filthy one with no shoes is called Theseus, and the overly violent one is Atalanta. That idiot, Ulysses, has been named, but is forgettable, you should know. I've come to hire ninja's for protection as I finished my country's bridge."

"The hidden village of Ligthing has suspended its business of hiring out ninjas until an investigation is made into the vanishing of three Genins." Harthor said. "We can't help you."

"Scary," Ulysses remarked.

Atalanta disliked set backs, and had never dealt with backing up plans. She held her head down her bow over her shoulders. They were turned down do to circumstances that they could not have predicted, and now she had to ask herself: "How are we going to travel to the next country with a limited amount of money?" She remembered the decay of her hometown from the lost of jobs. Her friends had made scarastic remarks when she had revealed her intentions to help. She would not have them discourage her. Her family back home disapproved of her plan to assert herself into the solution of the country's problem. "I can't fail!"

A sphere of darkness scrolled into the bench and surround itself in thunder that condensed until it went into a boy who had his head and kneeled down. A visor over his eyes had the typical forehead protector fo the hidden village of Lighting. His long face rose and slowly took in the surroundings twisting his head for different assemblage points for his ears and nose as if relying on them more than his half closed eyes. "I can feel new and vigorous enegry fields." Seth slowly said swaying his head to pointless directions. His body tremored under his long black robe lined with white hedges. "I feel purpose in them. Are we to help them? Hurt them? I've got a two sided coin."

Seth looked directly at his instructor. "Can you put that foolish thing away? It's a dishonour to all ninjas that you were able to become a genin based on flipping a coin."

"What?!?" Theseus shouted. "Your team's weirdo became a genin because he flipped a coin."

"What do you mean by her team's weirdo?" Ulysses pondered.

"Currently, it's better than deciding to call myself a ninja." Seth said and allowed a coin to roll over his knuckles onto a position to flick it with his thumb. "If it comes up the eye, I will help you. On the flip side, the pig will mean your death. Chaos is my ninpo."

The coin recoiled from his hand. Theseus clapped his hands together and closed his eyes. "Random fortune jutsu!"

Atalanta turned to Ulysses and shrugged her shoulders. "I'll give it 50/50."