A Late Arrival

The Mysterious Duo known as nothing because nobody knew them really. Having received orders to hang back and stay hidden in the land of water the immortal would do so, vanishing into the large shadows cast by various shacks along the path they walked. Soon now the man was all alone normally he wouldn't do something like this but he find the opportunity too good to pass up. Kamina of course couldn't simply be himself in major villages like this one so he donned a disguise. The mans face wasn't like its usual self by instead looked older and withered this may have been the cause of the large beard he was now sporting. The beard itself was black as the night and stretched 4 inches past his chin and even went up and connected to a mustache which was not quite as thick but trimmed enough to not be a nuisance. From now on he was no longer Kamina Shurajo former Suna Anbu but instead he donned the name Shiro Redfox a foreign traveling Physician looking for work. Which was partly true for the most part. Now he just need make it to the village and start establishing contacts and his work would begin.

It seems Erwin didn’t have to venture to the Land of Wind after all, he was mistaken with what Ōsharu meant when he tasked Erwin with escorting a former Sunagakure medic named Shiro to the Kage’s office within Kirigakure. Originally Erwin had thought that he would be meeting with this Shiro on the outskirts of Suna, which lead to him preparing for a long hazardous journey through the Howling Desert, but once Erwin was able to finish looking over the mission details in private without being interrupted he realized the meeting location was actually within the Land of Water. He counted himself lucky that he wouldn’t be escorting a high value target through foreign lands and unsecure ports, but just because causing an international “accident” was less likely didn’t mean he should expect the journey to be any less dangerous. The Land of Water wasn’t exactly “pristine”, it had more than it’s fair share of criminal activity, but Erwin hoped that as time went on he’d be able to “rein in the leash” so to speak.

Due to the secrecy of this assignment Erwin chose to forego anything that could potentially identify him as a Kirigakure shinobi, leaving behind his inscribed eyepatch, Jounin vest, officer’s jacket, and white trenchcoat. Instead he was wearing a black form fitting t-shirt tucked into a pair of black slacks, which in turn were tucked into a pair of black combat boots and held up by a brown leather suspender/belt combination, and a simple brown leather eyepatch. Erwin was still armed to the teeth of course, with a five piece kunai holster attached to each strap of his suspender at abdomen level, two pouches on his belt, another five piece kunai holster on his left thigh, and lastly his two blades; his Sabre Mark #6 hanging from his left waist and his Samurai Officer’s Wakizashi hanging from his right. His general appearance gave off a “privateer” vibe, and an experienced one at that, causing most people to simply avoid Erwin as he made his way to this supposed meeting location from Kirigakure.

It was a little before sunset as Erwin neared a small border community barely even worth considering a town, the designated meeting location was just outside this community on the night of the next full moon, that being tonight. As per usual Erwin was running early, he wanted to scope out the area beforehand, first from a distance while skirting the community’s border while within a small forest to the south, then a quick sweep from within the community’s outskirts after the sun had set so he could use the darkness of a partially overcast night to his advantage. Unless there was a master sensor in the area it was highly unlikely that anyone would have spotted Erwin, he stuck to the shadows and moved in utter silence, but you never know what sort of highly skilled individuals one might happen across in seemingly harmless areas such as this. Nothing out of the ordinary, a few farmers heading to a small pub and a couple ruffians running about. As it neared the designated meeting time Erwin eyed the location from a distance, returning to the cover of the southern forest. He’d wait for a few moments to see if anyone had followed him before moving to the meeting location itself, a small secluded clearing on the eastern edge of the forest just out of sight of the town, where Erwin would wait cautiously for this Shiro to arrive while keeping his senses sharp for anything suspicious.

[Word Count: 592]

((OOC: I’m coming from here in case you’re wondering, although 3 days later. Not sure if Seto has mentioned anything since I talked to you last but I’m hoping this is fine. This community I mention doesn’t need to be where you arrived from, or anywhere near it for that matter, just something along the path to Kiri.))

(sorry for the late post

While walking around the tiny little shanty town he was currently waiting in was one of his now favorite experiences ever he couldn't help but be thrilled when that time came to an end. At the time he had been pacing between two shacks waiting for his supposed escort to arrive and take him to Kiri. While Kamina had only been waiting for about 20 minutes or so he took the time to examine every little detail possible. Most of the inhabitants of the shanty town were covered in ragged or torn clothing and there were no 'real' houses as far as the eye could see. Due to the nature of the area they were in Kamina was able to spot his escort almost immediately. The man who came to get him wore an eye patch and carried multiple swords on his person which was more than enough to make him sand out amongst the dispersed crowd. Of course Kamina had expected this man to have already surveyed the surrounding as well, many years leading the ANBU in Suna gave him a little insight as to how experienced ninja usually act. In fact Kamina would put money on the fact that the man circled the area at least twice before coming up to the meeting point. Hell, he himself would of circled at least 5 or 6 times while muttering to himself out loud just to maintain the demeanor of a mentally ill person. The man obviously did not recognize him as he stopped short and waited, no doubt for 'Shirou' to approach him, so that's what he did. Slowly the cloaked figure made his way over to the Mr. Eyepatch. Now that they were close to talk rather privately Kamina would begin to speak.

"My name is Shirou, I've been expecting you sir. If you don't mind I'd like to get to Kiri as soon as possible so I can trouble somebody for some hot food and a soft bed, lets get a move on shall we?"

As the time for the designated meet approached Erwin took note of a particular cloaked individual that appeared to be watching the meeting location just as he was as he approached the location, as far as he could tell the cloaked figure matched the known height range of Shiro but he needed more to go on than that. It could also be someone poised to ambush them, although they weren’t exactly doing a good job of hiding, so Erwin kept himself poised for combat just in case. Erwin waited for this cloaked individual to make the first move, if he was Shiro then he would likely approach him now that Erwin was by the meeting location, which he did. ”My name is Shirou, I’ve been expecting you sir. If you don’t mind I’d like to get to Kiri as soon as possible so I can trouble somebody for some hot food and a soft bed, lets get a move on shall we?” The man introduced himself as so but Erwin couldn’t be one-hundred percent sure that this man was indeed Shiro Redfox, at least until he confirmed his identity.

”We’ll be on our way shortly, but first, are there any sights you’d like to see?” Erwin asked the cloaked man in a friendly tone, putting minute emphasis on his question. If someone were listening in it would sound like Erwin was simply Shiro’s hired guide to the country, which he kinda was just under a different more official payroll. The question itself was the first half of a designated pass phrase to confirm Shiro’s identity, anyone that was impersonating the man wouldn’t know that the answer was “Just the new casino.”, at least if they didn’t personally pry the information from him or steal it from the document Erwin had. Of course there wasn't actually a new casino, but as long as Shiro provided the correct response Erwin would set out for Kirigakure, leading the potential defector to the Mizukage’s Office under the cover of night. As long as there weren't any issues along the way the two of them would make good time, arriving at the Kirigakure gates within a couple hours.

[Potential Exit]

[Word Count: 319]
[Total: 911]