[X] Go to the docks
The stories of the sea you have heard from kaasan and Yua-obaasan make it sound unreal, like something that shouldn't exist, something far greater than the river you knew. But the glimpse you got of it peeking up over the horizon over the intimidating size of Ranboku-shi makes it seem real, that there really is an immense body of water, formidable and undrinkable, that stretches past the horizon a hundred times. That people really travel over it with gargantuan vessels larger than houses, with sails spread wider than the sun. You could see glimpses of them on the horizon, back then, mere brown specks topped with white resting near the vast stretch of washed-out blue behind them.
You want to know what the ocean is like. Yua-obaasan said it was dangerous, that waves ten times the size of men billowed across it. Kaasan said she grew up across the ocean, and that she crossed it to come to Water Country, and that the ocean was beautiful, and that she missed it.
Ranboku-shi's myriad of buildings blurred past you as you move through its streets. As you went deeper into its depths, the buildings got louder and more colorful, with signs you can't read popping up over what felt like every building, and crowds of people getting more and more dense until you couldn't hear your own thoughts over the clamor of footsteps and voices.
You push the world out of focus until you can't hear them and you can only hear your footsteps and the beat of your heart as you slip past the hordes of people, holding to the edges of the road, pushing yourself to keep moving faster.
You zone back in to a soft hand pressing down on your shoulder. A dark skinned woman with blond hair, dressed in a wealthy shirt decorated with floral patterns, and a long skirt looks down at you.
"I said, are you okay? Do you need help, child?" she says, her eyebrows furrowed and a sad look in her eyes. You shrug her hand off of your shoulder and shake your head no, and keep running towards the docks.
The first thing you notice as you get closer to the docks is the smell of salt and fish. It's pungent and heavy, settling over the roads with a deliberate weight. You pass by merchants and tradesmen shouting from over the stalls about their prices and their fish, with stalls cram packed with produce. There are somehow even more people here than earlier, at least forty people crammed into the road.
Then the docks are in sight, and all your thoughts leave your head, because you see the ocean behind it. Roiling waves dance in the distance, a symphony of blue. The rhythmic crash of waves as they slam into the beach beneath the wooden docks, the salty brine in the air. You find yourself climbing over a fence and clambering onto the docks before you know it, peering down at the ocean over the edge of the docks.
You dip one hand into the ocean and scoop up a handful of seawater, and stick it into your mouth. It tastes nasty, far too strong and salty, far stronger than anything you've ever had before. You spit out the water into the ocean, trying to get the taste off of your tongue. It doesn't work, but you keep on trying.
Wiping your wet hand on your pants, you decide that that experiment was a failure. Don't drink the ocean.
The ocean was gorgeous nonetheless. The sun reflecting off of it created shimmers of white that rose and fell with the waves, that were clear as day without any mist suffocating it with blank whiteness.
You inspected the ships next. They were vast, wooden things, that were submerged halfway into the waves, that stretched as tall as the tallest tree you saw on your journey here. Some of them had colorful, flashy flags fluttering half-heartedly in the wind at the top of the masts. Other flags were completely white and washed-out.
You picked out one ship that was larger than any other, completely painted over in block red and white, even under the water, where barnacles encrusted it's hull, and stretching twice as far as the dock itself did. It's attached to the dock only by a row of massive ropes and complex knots that reach from the dock all the way up to the deck of the ship, a dozen or so feet above you.
The gargantuan ship is mysterious. Why do ships need to be so massive in the first place? What could possibly take up this much space? You clamber up the ropes, your hands chafing against their surface, but by suspending yourself across three separate ropes, you manage to climb all the way onto the deck.
You take a moment to catch your breath, and then look around the deck. The most prominent feature of the deck are the masts, as thick around as trees yet never tapering. There's a set of cabins, sitting strategically at the back of the deck, and a gaping opening in front of them, a set of stairs that leads into the depths of the ship.
You jiggle the door handle of one of the cabins. It's locked, and so are the others.
Footsteps interrupt your inspection of the deck and someone bursts forth from the staircase. It's a man with short, straight black hair, a pair of glasses resting crookedly on his nose, and a chubby face that makes him look young, dressed in a ratty blue kimono and a straw farmer's hat. He's carrying a slim bag over one shoulder that he holds gently. He takes one look at you and laughs easily.
"Oh, it was just a child. Sorry about this, but I don't want you taking the fall for me!" He grabs you with one arm, carrying you pressed against his body like the bag he has slung over his other shoulder. You wriggle in his grasp, disgruntled with his treatment of you, but you stop moving as he leaps off the deck and runs down the ropes with practiced ease, his other hand keeping his straw hat on his head. He keeps running down the docks with you in his grasp when two figures burst from the ship you were just on in similar fashion.
"Those shinobi really aren't happy with me now," he laughs, his feet hitting the ground at a breakneck pace. One of the shinobi, still sprinting after you, releases a spray of kunai that nearly clips your carrier.
"I need a distraction to get away from them," he says, thinking aloud. "Can't make hand seals while carrying the child, can't get weapons while carrying the child, hmmm…" he trails off.
He jerks suddenly as he shoves an ordinary dock worker out of the way with enough force to send him staggering, almost knocking him off the edge, another spray of kunai coming close enough to graze him.
"Well, I'll come back for you. Don't worry! I won't let anything bad, well, worse than this happen," he says, quiet enough that you have to strain to hear him. Then he moves you to his other hand and throws you bodily off the docks like a football, and you make a solid airtime before your sudden physical introduction to the ocean. The splash of water you make is large enough to briefly hide the man's figure.
The water stings against your eyes, and you keep your mouth screwed close from drinking any more of the sea water. You've never swum before, outside of paddling in the shallows of the river, and it shows. You struggle to swim upwards, your arms flailing more than propelling you with any proper form. Your lungs burn as you nearly reach the surface, the sun gleaming through the salty water.
A hand catches you on the wrist and pulls you up out of the water. It's one of the shinobi who was chasing the man, a Kiri hitae-ate tied around her neck, a look of contempt draped across her features, standing on top of the rolling ocean waves.
"Hey brat," she says. "You know anything about that man who threw you?" Her point is punctuated by her drawing a kunai.
You shake your head no. What if she knows, will she know? The Uzumaki all have red hair, you have red hair.
"You sure?" she drawls, her kunai inching towards your throat.
You try to get her to drop you, wiggling your wrist and clawing at her grip on you. You shake your head no more emphatically.
She sighs. "Just say words brat, I don't want to make it a thing to kill a baby barely off of her mother's teat."
The words come up dry in your throat but you force them out. "No," you choke.
She looks at you like a barnacle. "That wasn't that hard, was it." She releases your wrist and you plop back into the salty waves. "Wait up, Souta!" she hollers as she bounds off of the ocean waves and towards her companion.
You flounder alone in the ocean waves for what feels like ages before you figure out how to kick your legs to get propulsion. In that time, you tasted more salt than you'd ever liked to imagine. Even then, you struggled against the ocean waves, your limbs starting to feel heavy from a long day of walking and struggling against the ocean waves. Even when you got close to the beach, the wooden docks, supported above sea level and spanning the vast majority of the beach, got in the way. Your arms weren't long enough to grab onto it, but it got in the way of simply swimming onto the beach.
When you were pulled out of the ocean this time, you took it with slightly less complaint than the previous time. It helped that you were set down immediately this time.
"Alright, kid. Funayoi said it was you he threw into the ocean, that ungrateful brat, so he said we should at least give you something for your troubles." You give your rescuer a look, your hair stiff with salt and your clothes heavy with absorbed water. At least you made sure to hold onto your knife and the pouch that Kaeru gave you.
Your rescuer is a dark skinned woman with overly long black hair that spills all over her shape. She wears black on black with a bit more black, with a thick, bulky vest riddled with pockets. She reeks of gunpowder and cigarettes.
"Yeah, yeah. It got the shinobi off his back though, so don't cry me a river."
She starts walking down the docks with her hands buried in her pockets. "What, you follow or not? Funayoi'll have to find you himself if you run away now."
You fall in line and follow her. She leads you to another ship, over half a mile down the docks. It's not even half the size of the ship you ventured upon earlier, but it's still quite large. The sail is only a blank white, boat unpainted and frankly wooden. It's tied down with only a single, larged, corded knot, but a rope ladder has been conveniently drooped down it's side.
Atop the ship, you're greeted by a small crowd, Funayoi hiding within. A purple haired woman wearing tarnished black samurai armor with her hands on her hips stands at its front. Dark eyebags shadow her eyes and her face is twisted into a wry smile, a scar cutting across its right side.
"Sorry about my ol' quartermaster Funayoii here chucking you into the ocean like a rat. Apparently some bastard among us hasn't learnt his manners yet, treating a young lady like that."
"Language!" Funayoi hisses from his place in the crowd.
"Yeah yeah, she really is a kid," the woman muses. "How old are you? Four? Three?" You nod when she says three.
"Damn, really? Most three year olds I've known of woulda been too busy crying to walk back to look me in the face. But whatever. I'm the captain of these idiots, Captain Oui. Funayoii insisted that we make up the trouble to you," she says, rolling her eyes, as a couple of people in the crowd jeer at him. "So I'll do you a favor. Any one favor kid, but it can't be ridiculous. I'm not moving the moon for you, or make you a princess or anything stupid. I'll even stick around in this shitty city for longer than we planned."
Your rescuer coughs behind you.
"You can leave now, Taihou. Go back to making out with your cannon," Oui says, rolling her eyes. Your rescuer skips out from behind you and runs below deck.
"What's your answer, kid?"
[ ] Transport: Oui and her crew will take you away from the Water Country and away from Kirigakure. They might get into trouble on the way, but it would be a small price to escape to Lightning Country or Wave Country.
[ ] Training: Funayoi is capable of getting away from two shinobi chasing him at once. His captain, Oui, must be stronger than him, and she has two sheathed swords at her side. If she trains you, you could be strong too.
[ ] Recruitment: You want to join Oui's crew. It'll get you out on the beautiful ocean, away from Kirigakure, and you could learn from them as well. You'll probably be turned down for your age, but the offer will remain until you get older.
