I need to figure out a way how to thank Howl's Owls for correcting my grammar mistakes! Trust me, you don't want to beta read my chapters, they're sloppy as it is!

I'm running out of ideas on what to put on my Author's Notes!


"Now, then, ta-ta young gentlemen!" She concluded while returning to her high-pitched voice. Both Nen and Shikamaru gradually stood up, looked at each other, and nodded.

"Thanks for the information." Nen spoke tenderly with a cracked voice. I realized that Nen and Shikamaru were leaving, so stood up as well.

"By the way..." She began, I turned around to see what she was going to say, startled, "What's your name?"

The question was directed at me. Why would she like to know my name?

"I'm Sironar Hugeato, at your service!" Attempting to sound lively, I motioned both of my hands in an upwards slant on my forehead.

"You can count on me!" I exclaimed afterwards, she looked at me cheery-eyed, possibly commending me for my enthusiasm.

"Good luck Sironar." She then winked at me and strolled to the nearest cabinet.

I was the last one to exit, softly closing the door behind us, but I heard something from what appeared to be Bosen Bodo's voice... It was faint, so I decided to press my ears against the walls for a higher volume. Nen and Shikamaru continued walking.

"So they're from the Leaf..."

"I doubt Arisuun will have a difficult time." I placed my hands on the walls to get a better grip.

"Sironar, what are you doing?" I was startled by the loud voice of Shikamaru near me.

"Oh! N-Nothing!" I instantaneously replied without even thinking of the words to use. I forced a smile, trying to move indicate that we should move on. I hope I haven't alerted Bosen Bodo into thinking I was prying on her... Although she had managed to get me curious; who was this guy that she referenced to, Arisuun?

I was reluctant to leave, I was almost determined Bosen Bodo was up to something and I wanted to find out but Shikamaru stated that we didn't have time to be fooling around and said we had to head for the docks immediately. I crossed my arms while walking out of the large center building and into the humid village, trying to seem like I was thinking about something. Something is going on, and I know it! I slightly groaned because I wasn't able to figure out a way to solve this problem. There MUST me more to this mission to what Bosen Bodo said! But before I could continue ranting with myself we arrived at the docks.

The harbor was fairly large when comparing it to the village. It was busy, crawling with seamen, merchants and poorly equipped swordsmen. The crowd was a mixture of gray, white, black, and tan with matching hair colors. We stuck out like sore thumbs, my black and gold Hugeato clan clothing served as an attention grabber for anybody in need of a distraction. We shifted our way toward the main shop of the harbor, gently pushing through the mass of villagers and the resisting the burden of a child's scream next to your once-deaf ear.

We made our entrance inside the shop. The walls were littered with fishing supplies and merchant's goods. There was barely any flooring to walk on; the ground was overloaded with oversized crates and barrels. Some of the barrels containing liquids I don't even wanna know. I sat restlessly and cool upon an empty lone crate near the counter at the end of the large L-shaped building. Behind the counter was an old man in sailor's clothing that slept against a stack of crates. The elderly man snored loudly which disturbed my ears to a degree that makes me want to unsheathe my Javelin of Light and Darkness and-

"Uhmm, sir...?" Nen lightly asked, interrupting my chain of thoughts and attempting to wake the old man up. The man still slept unchanged.

"How do you expect to wake someone loudly snoring like him with that little call?" I snickered.

"Did you expect me to wake up from that?"

"Ack!" How'd he know I was here?

"So you were awake." Nen didn't even sound frightened.

"Are you the owne-" The old man regained full consciousness and turned his head to me, cutting Nen off.

" 'Ey! You! With the navy blue hair!" Navy blue? Is he talking to me? My hair is shadow blue!

"You think I didn't hear you when ya came in?"

"H-How should I know?"

"Okay-okay! I'm sorry!" I quickly added to my last statement, hoping to settle the small dispute. He had a good look at my untied bandanna before returning to Nen.

"Yes, owner and proprietor. Now let me get back to catching my z's." He sounded in a rush to be uncomfortable lying against hard wood.

"We just wanted to ask you some questions." Shikamaru mentioned with a carefree attitude.

"What questions are there to ask? Business is terrible; we're losing ships like there's no tomorrow, and we're rapidly losing stock!" The old man started, coughing in between his speech. He almost appeared to be blending in with the crates because of the notably dim light and his dark-colored clothing. His white imperial mustache was easily detectable though...

"Can you tell us a little bit more?" Nen carefully approached the counter somewhat curious. I still sat cross-armed on top of a small stack of crates.

"That's all I can do right about now," The old man thought for a moment before continuing, "Rogue ninja have been spotted raiding our exports of turpentine and other goods. All ships that we've sent the past week have never come back nor had word of surviving sailors arrived." The owner was forced to clear his throat, cursing under his breath as he's done so.

"Most of our best guardsmen have been lost, presumably dead."

"Worst, due to a trade agreement we have with a country to the east of the Water country, we risk war if we fail in our duty to safely transport turpentine to them. Now with our best warriors dead, expect me runnin' far far away." He sounded a bit angry at himself. A seagull glided by a tiny open window, squawking about the heat. Wait... How do I know this?

"Now, whaddya came for?" He asked a question for himself, specifically looking at me. I furrowed my eyebrows; does he have a grudge against me?

"Bosen Bodo sent us searching for you here; she wants us to help you." Nen still has that cracked voice.

"Bosen, eh? What does she know about our economy?" He crossed his arms, "Never mind, I shouldn't doubt ninja, even if they are sent by Bosen." Especially ninja that are able to kick your butt if you stare at 'em for too long...

"I guess I'll tell you more of what I know. But, then that's it really, can't do much else to help you folks." He began to adjust to his current position, closing his eyes while talking.

"According to initial sights, there are more than one rogue attacking our ships, some say they're a group of two, and others say they're a group of three."

"We have no clue why they're attacking us, or why they want turpentine or extract." He paused, "Most likely they want to ruin our economy and force us to be annexed back to the Water country." What does annex mean?

"You three are ninja; perhaps you can board a ship and protect them from the rogues? You three can serve as spies." Sounds good to me...

"Just to be safe," He declared, "the ship won't have any goods onboard, and you'll be hiding inside." He then opened his eyes, and corrected his posture.

"We'll use a ship as lure for them to think that they've got jackpot." He opened a door behind a large heap of containers and barrels and instantly the intense light blinded me. He gestured us to follow him, "Follow." He would say.

We were quick to hop over the counter and trailed in his footsteps. I had to cover my eyes because I was used to the darkness and the light kept surrounding me growing by the second. We heard the faint noises of the crowd from before as we noticed a quite large but empty private harbor in front of us. We roamed around the port. Out of the many available lots, only three ships were left. I think there would have been room for seven more.

"She's quite the beaut."


Who do you think Arisuun is...?

Has anyone else noticed that I update my chapters during strategic times?