Beast from the Depths:

Kr..krak..en? The hell was that? Rin struggled to read the alien symbols on the sheet of paper he'd been given. Rin wasn't too literate, especially when it came to reading and writing. He could speak his native tongue perfectly, better than most linguists could speak in their mother tongue. But this foreign language was an ever so alien concept to Rin. He had learned the basics of reading and writing, but he still preferred to speak. What better way to spread information than word of mouth, right?

Somehow, Rin had gotten himself roped into another crazy adventure. This time he was to hunt some damn sea beast that dwelled in the depths of the ocean. He probably should of mentioned that he was terrified of open water, but after they waved some numbers in his face, he just couldn't resist. Rin stared blankly at the large fishing vessel and it's crew that had been oh so generously donated to him for the suicide mission and exhaled. He tugged on the shoulder holster that held Hiramekarei, his oddly shaped sword. It'd come in handy when fighting a bigass fish, Rin had no doubt about that. He sighed and grabbed the hind legs of the Bovine carcass and hoisted it over his shoulder.

"H'oi!” the teenager called out. He was greeted by some idle chatter of the fishermen on board. A few of them came down the gangplank and helped him carry the heavy corpse up onto the deck. It earned him his fair share of strange looks.. or maybe it was just the bandaged, flounder shaped blade that rested on his back. "Where's the Cap'n? I wanna get this over with.” Rin asked. He was directed towards the Quartermaster's cabin and nodded, then headed off.

The boy opened the door to the cabin and greeted to occupants. The Captain, Navigator, Quartermaster, and Second Hand were all standing around a large map and plotting the course. Why these brave souls had volunteered was beyond Rin, maybe they wanted a cut of the reward. But hey, it was enough money to go around. That was if they lived anyway.

"We ready to get this big hulk'a wood movin'?” the boy asked again, the smallest hint of unease in his voice. A wave had hit the boat and rocked it slightly, which seemed to be just enough to make the land-loving shinobi a little green around the gills. The crew and him shared a few laughs and went over some finer details of the trip, most of which Rin forgot immediately. He was lead back out onto the deck as they began to make the preparations for departure.

"A'right ye lazies! Get off'a yer asses and get 'dis ship ready to move! We settin' out! Got ah'selves a sea beast to catch!” the Captain enthusiastically proclaimed. His tone coupled with that pirate accent was more than enough to motivate his crew to get to work. Anchors were hoisted, sails were open, and in moments they were off. Unfortunately, so was Rin's lunch. They hadn't even gotten ten feet into open water before he was hanging off the side of the boat, desperately trying to keep his last meal in, but failing quite miserably. It was a great start to the day so far.

Half an hour... an hour... ten minutes... Time seemed to be a lost concept on Rin. They could have been sailing for days, and hell, they damn may well have been. Rin could only remember his broken reflection in the scattered water inbetween fits of losing his lunch. He was adaptive by nature, however, and slowly his sea sickness began to fade. They were only a short while away from where the supposed “Kraken” had last been spotted. The wreckage of a previous voyage stained the water. Splintered wood, torn fabric sails, and the faintest smell of blood stung in Rin's nose. It was such a familiar smell. No matter how much he was around it, the memories of that night flooded his mind. He didn't bother to try and shake them from his thoughts, they'd just spread further like wildfire.

He held his head in his hand as he glanced off the side of the boat. His eyes had become quite cloudy in thought as images flooded his eyesight. Rin didn't even acknowledge his sea sickness now, it had been supressed in his stomach for a much different sick feeling.

“Oi! Rin boy! We're almost ther'!” the Captain yelled from the highest deck. Rin snapped out of his trance immediately and glanced over to the Captain, who then pointed to the actual wreckage of the vessel that had made the voyage before them. Rin's eyes narrowed and he raised a hand up to the Captain. "Slow us down and bring us to a stop.” Rin said. Even as a shinobi on their vessel, he seemed to hold some level of authority. They were smart, Rin presumed that they didn't want to see what exactly that sword on his back could do.

"Alright Cap'n, get your crew out of here.” Rin said as he brought a kunai from his belt and slicd open the gut of the cow carcass. "..'Whot're ye doin wit'dat?” the Captain asked as he descended from the highest deck and watched Rin hoist the corpse over the side of the boat. "Usin' it as bait?”

"..Yeah, sort'a. Usin' at the bait for the bait. Y'know, can't catch a big fish 'til you use a smaller fish first, right?” Rin said with a chuckle as he raised himself up onto the railing and stood atop the wooden pole. "Like I said, it'd be best to get you and 'yer crew out'a here before this thing shows up. Can't imagine it's gonna go down without a fight.”

Just then, something boomed from underneath the water. It shook the ship, forcing Rin to steady himself and further motivating the crew to get their asses in gear. The lifeboats were lowered into the water and the crew loaded up. Everybody, save for the Captain himself, departed to a safer distance. "Lookin' for a cut of the reward huh?” Rin asked as he watched the bearded Captain load up a classic harpoon gun.

"Nae lad, just lookin' fer a good foight.” he said as he took a swig of rum. Another boom sounded from under the boat. Rin knew what was coming next. A massive tentacle rose from the water, then another, and then another. Six in total had risen from the depths underneath their humble vessel and blocked out the sun that had just briefly peeked out from behind the cloudy sky.

"Damn! Look'it the size of that thing!” Rin said, a small smirk appearing on his face. He could already feel the adrenaline taking hold. His hand shook violently, whether from fear or eagerness he couldn't tell. It didn't matter to him. "Well, there's your fight Cap'n. Hope you're ready!” Rin said as a hearty chuckle followed.

The boy grasped one of the two handles of his sword and pulled it from the holster on his back. The tentacles wrapped around the boat, but it wasn't quite enough to pull the bouyant vessel down. "'Das my girl! Ain't gonna get pulled down by no lightweight!” the Captain exclaimed as he fired his harpoon into one of the tentacles. The metal penetrated the slimey skin with ease, but it didn't just end there. The Captain grasped the rope that connected the harpoon to the gun and held it in his teeth, or at least the few he had remaining. To Rin's surprise, the old-legged Geezer formed a sequence of hand seals and, from his mouth, a monsterous flame erupted along the length of rope. It consumed the tentacle, resulting in the beast below shrieking in what the two could only assume was pain.

"Alright, my turn!” Rin yelled as he leapt back up onto the railing. He held the sword in front of him and wobbled once, the water having turned quite rough as the Kraken thrashed around beneath. Just wait a second... It has to surface. Rin said. Just like clockwork, the head of the Kraken broke the surface. "There we go!” Rin yelled as he leapt from the railing. The bandages around his blade were violently torn off as a massive hammer made from glowing yellow chakra eruptd from the two holes at the tip. Rin slammed the head of the hammer straight into the eye of the Kraken and sent it barreling across the water, it's grip torn from the boat. It sustained some damage, but at least he'd gotten it away.

"Cap'n! Rin yelled as he landed on the surface of the water, sword in hand. "Get the crew back on board and avoid the fight!”

He earned some inaudible nonsense from the Captain who grew more and more intoxicated with each swig of rum. He even looked a bit disappointed as he finished the jug. "Fokkin' rum's always gone..”

Chakra ?/150:

Good. The crew had been rounded up and weren't left on some floating raft in the middle of the ocean. They had begun to sail in the opposite direction, hopefully stopping at some point. It sure would make haulin' this giant thing's ass back to Shippuugakure a pain if they had left him there.

Oh, that's right, he was fighting the Kraken. He turned his attention back to where he'd hit the beast, only to find a tentacle inches away from his face. The slimey extremity felt like a moving brick wall as it collided with him at full force. Luckily his grip on the sword was 'til death, he needed something to keep him sane. After all, he was standing on open water. He'd of pissed himself if the adrenaline hadn't been occupying his attention.

Rin skid violently across the surface of the water, fountains of the cloudy fluid following after him. He placed both hands upon the handles and slammed his sword into the water, with the widest part facing him, and slowed his tumbling to a stop.

"That really fuckin' hurt.” he grunted. He worked his way back to his feet and regained his balance on the water, his clothing now drenched. Rin had seriously pissed the glorified squid off, it seemed, as it charged at him again. Rin quickly brought his hands together as it swung another tentacle at him. A cloud of puffy white smoke consumed his body, which the tentacle promptly tore through with ease. As it cleared, Rin was nowhere to be seen, and the beast had clearly been confused.

Rin had actually just used the poor, clueless creature's momentum against him. Using the tentacle, Rin had launched himself severeal hundred feet into the air. He hoisted his blade above his head and used the time it took to begin falling to charge more chakra into the metal. He grunted, already feeling the fatigue of using his blade so recklessly. One eye closed as Rin felt his energy slowly leave him, but he had more than enough left to finish the thing off. The chakra was released through the ventilation system and a massive sword of chakra was formed. It totaled three meters in length and a meter wide, yet it was quite thin. He fell toward the thrashing beast from above, and in a few quiet, precise slashes, five of the beast's exposed tentacles were cut free from the body of the beast. The large tendrils fell into the water with a large splash. It seemed they were actually fairly bouyant, as none of them had sunk.

Just before he fell back onto the surface of the water, one final slash down the middle of the Kraken was all the more it took for the beast to fall. It's blood erupted from the gashes and flooded the waters. The fountain of crimson liquid splattered against Rin as well, much to his annoyance. The damaged vessel made it's way around to Rin and helped him secure it to the boat. He spent the rest of the trip back to Shippuugakure bandaging his sword up. It really was a pain in the ass to have to do this every time he finished using the sword.

Chakra 145(?)/150: