'A full moon is the perfect night for stealth,' the old teacher from the Kumo academy always seemed to surface in her memory even long after she had already learned his lessons, 'because your enemies will think their vision better, but they only see what the moonlight illuminates. The shadows, in fact, become easier to hide in because of the contrast of light.' On this night, conditions were ideal for more than simple sneaking.
Hiding in an alley near the docks, they silently assessed the situation. The villagers had been cleverer than she had originally given them credit. They strategically spread the fire to non-important buildings in order to create a smoke screen to hide their evacuation into the countryside. Moreover the attack's early strike against the town's power generator had cost them the city's power grid and street lights. Still, the situation was complicated by the four ships unloading a great amount of soldiers.
"Those three boats are interceptors, built for speed and only carry around twenty soldiers each in addition to another thirty crewmen. But that fourth boat is a transport and easily brought three hundred soldiers." Kiba ran his hand down the side of his face while focusing his vision in the darkness. "What I wouldn't give to have Hinata's eyesight." He grumbled half angrily.
"Save it Kiba." In nervous habit, she checked the sword in the scabbard on her back. "We can get closer to find out which is the commander's boat. I imagine he's still busy with organizing the unloading of all those troops."
"Akamaru, I want you to scout the transport on the end of the docks." With a pat on the back of the dog's head, Kiba sent the ninken off first. "Karui, you take the two interceptors on the far side of the docks. I'll take the closet interceptor and help Akamaru scout the Transport when finished. Meet back here in twenty minutes."
Ducking past cargo crates, and moving with the shadows of night was natural. In her youth she always found it odd when other children mentioned they were afraid of the dark. Night and shadows are not dangerous in themselves, but what moves in the night is another matter; and none own the dark like a shinobi at work.
The majority of the soldiers had already gone into town to secure it, leaving a skeleton detail of sailors and marine guards to keep watch. Avoiding their gaze and boarding the first ship was simple. Quiet hands and soft sandals made for a fast and silent climb up the wooden hull. Now on deck the new problem surfaced - how to breach the Captain's quarters?
The room was easy enough to locate, as it was built on the same level as the main deck of the ship. Peeking inside a window she saw a well-groomed and aged captain sitting at the desk, rubbing his eyes and reading by the light of two matching candles. His rank was obvious from the insignia on his uniform, but his quiet demeanor spoke more of his professionalism and discipline. Keeping far enough back from the glass window to stay out of sight, a plan came to mind.
'He's obviously tired; I can use that to my advantage.' With a small piece of wire in her kit she picked the internal lock on the window and opened it a hair crack. Targeting one of the candles, she used a minor wind jutsu and snuffed out the light in his cabin. As he stumbled around in the dark, attempting to relight one of the candles and then close the window, it was easy enough to sneak in through the door and hide in the shadowed corner of the room.
Fighting off sleep, The Captain set the candle down on his desk before lying down on his bed and closing his eyes. Making her move, she made the most of what little time she might have. Navigation charts, supplies, rations, morale reports of the marines, a disciplinary issue regarding fights between the sailors and the soldiers, nothing too exciting. And then a letter from 'General Tsudo' caught her eye. Opening the official envelope, being quiet while rustling the pages she read
To all Captains of the Eastern "Crow" Fleet.
Be it known that our mission is to sail for Rakuen Port at Shinsei Island. Once there we will shell the western districts of the city before landing soldiers to secure the town. The Port has been declared rebellious by the Water Daimyo for failure to comply with the Historical Artifacts and Hazardous Relics Bureau's ruling and its refusal to pay taxes. We intend to arrive no later than the evening of the 18th of Uzuki.
'So you attacked the town for failure to pay taxes and register with a random government bureau? That hardly seems to be the right response.' What bugged her more was that the west side of town was the tourist district; the attacks had not focused on the older parts of town at all.
Outside the nights watch circled the deck with a lantern on a pole. Waiting for him to pass, she slipped out of the ship and made her way to the second ship. The captain's quarters were empty, but the paperwork looked to be locked away in a roll top writing desk, which was quite agreeable to her lock picks. This captain was obviously far more organized, as each drawer in the desk had specific types of paperwork as well as personal copies of each letter that had been sent.
The recent letters were messages between ship captains. Apparently this Captain was named Basho and he was against the expedition and while he would transport the marines, he would not order his gunners to fire on the town. But the letter was dated five days ago. Rubbing a layer of accumulated dust from an unseen area, Karui estimated that around five days worth of dust had built up. 'I wonder if he was executed.' She thought sadly.
A letter from eight days ago explained his concern in greater detail. Apparently General Tsudo was working with a rather mysterious person who was on board the troop transport. No details were given about this person, or the strange company he kept. All that was explained is that they represented the Daimyo's interests in the operation. 'If the Water Daimyo really is behind this, then we could be in big trouble.' Her thoughts turned to the team of Kiri Nin and could not help but speculate what their presence meant.
Finishing her investigation, she went to the rendezvous point before Kiba and Akamaru got there. It was not long before the sound and smell of wet dog filled her nostrils. Kiba motioned for them to take cover in an unwatched warehouse nearby where they could speak more freely.
"What did you find?" Kiba asked.
"Not much. A few letters between the ships captains, a lot of concern about the real nature of their mission is. I also suspect that one of the captains is either dead or locked in a brig for questioning orders."
"He's held captive on the transport. I didn't want to fight the guard, but I was able to find out he was the captain of one of the other ships."
"How involved do you think the Water Daimyo is?"
"I'm unsure in all honesty." As Kiba finished the ground seemed to lurch. An inhuman sound filled the air of terrifying frequency and Kiba raised his hands to his ears in pain as Akamaru passed out from it.
"Kiba, what's wrong?" Another incredible quake shook the ground accompanied with a tremendous crack. More noise joined the din as a bright flash caught the corner of Karui's eye from the south. Two of the interceptor ships exploded in flames and sank almost immediately. The last ship rocked as though hit by something and rolled onto its side, smashing the dock. The final ship, the transport was also caught fire, but as quickly as the flames spread they dissipated.
Behind her Kiba fell to the ground and joined Akamaru in unconsciousness. "Kiba, wake up! Are you alright?"
"Now what have we here?" A hit to the back of her head sent her falling causing her head to hit a crate on its way down.
Before unconsciousness took her she thought, 'Too fast, didn't… even have time to… draw my sword.'