Dark Water

"A lakeside resort in the Tea Country has been experiencing strange weather fluctuations, with odd mist appearing at night over the like. Several people have disappeared and rumours are spreading the lake is cursed. Fearing the loss of tourism the town council have clubbed together to hire Nins to investigate and if possible end these strange happenings before business dries up. Rumours of strange patterns in the water that might be water techniques abound and Nin may be involved."

Tousen was alittle frustrated. There was literally no way he could read the menu of the Tea shop. Not a single sense he had, out of the freaking eight that he had dominion over could read letters. He was after all blind, and the only conceivable solution to his problem would be to rub at the paper like a mad man in hopes that the letters of the ink would heat at different rates and thus make them 'visible' to a certain degree. But he was in a resort, so they had to at least have tea. When the waiter came by and questioned for his order, he simply asked for some tea with a sigh; too proud to have the man rattle off a list of whatever was on the laminated paper menu that he was given.

He was sitting at a wooden chair on the wooden deck of a the somewhat luxurious lakefront resort. It was a nice night. The subtle breeze over the cool air of the lake created a nice temperate picture for all of those who could... view the world through a series of temperature read outs. The sun was setting slowly and he was going to have to take note of any sorts of reported 'strange mists'. Being dependent on much more then sight, and a sensory ninja as well, he had a great advantage in these sorts of situations. Worst case scenario, there would be other shinobi involved in the disappearances and he would have to take action to restore peace. It wouldn't necessarily be as easy seeing as though he was in a civilianized area and the population of the vacationers were the more wealthy and rich among individuals, There were even three Feudal Lords staying in the extensive hotspring hotel that also lined the lake (according to information gathered from the desk clerk). If damage was done to any person or structure, he would most likely be the one responsible for it.

But for now, as the waiter set the tea next to him, all he could do was enjoy the warmth in contrast to the cool breeze and be patient...

~Nearly 2 hours later~

He watched...

It was interesting that a sort of fog was developing. It wasn't by any means suspicious but rather a natural event as the warmth of the water, heated by the sun and the hot springs near by, began giving off to the air which was cooler. The result was small amount of moisture raising into the air as a fog. The fog sat upon the water itself and didn't even move up the coast at all. If anything it was just another beautiful display of nature carved from the geological shape of the area. Was this all they spoke of as a mysterious mist?

Tousen had long sense finished any amount of tea that he was drinking, had payed the man antiquate enough that he had himself a nice tip and after the closing of the lake front tea shop he had convinced them to let him wait on the wooden patio and lock up; that he was on official business. After showing the proper identification that had no reason to deny him his request. It was a good thing that he was patient because otherwise he would hate the current situation he was in. Not everyone was made for scouting; especially without coffee and donuts on hand. It was a stake out between Tousen and the lake... and not often did a lake do much of anything. He in many ways wished he still had tea in which to entertain his senses with. It was a very particular kind that seemingly tasted worse when sugar was added. It was something of opinion, not saying that it tasted bad in the first place.

In any case, Tousen sat very still, taking in everything around him, including information of people. As the temperature dropped from the lack of sun and heat, the buildings cooled and the faint glimmer of bodies within them were present. At 98.6 degrees, the human body stood out against the majority of natural things. If there was any shinobi activity, it would be known; especially if it was using the fog and mist as a source of cover. One thing that he did take note of was the water itself. The water in volume was quite massive, as the lake was deep. It would be possible for something to be under the warm water and him to not notice it right away with his termo-optics. It was something he kept in mind as for the first time in two hours he moved, turning his feet to prop them up on the table, leaning back in his wooden chair so that they balance on the back two feet.

All of a sudden and without warning a spark from under the water. He had an electromagnetic sense as well, which gave him the ability to sense the fields of around him and how they interacted with each other, but this was something different. It seemed as thought here was a large electrical presence under the water that had appeared. Like an engine, it pulsed and slowly after, the large object made its appearance as a heat generating thing. It had seemingly come out of no where, but what could do something like that? Have no heat one second and then build heat quickly? It was characteristic of some living things however; as one moved about, they would gain heat as a result of an increase in metabolism to provide energy for the body. Most 'cold blooded' animals had a way in which to do this to keep themselves from getting too cold, and the engine like effect was probably a way of sparking a stationary metabolic effect.

Tousen then observed the object becoming more clear; it was obviously rising to the surface of the water, but what was it? As it became more clear, to himself, the fog that danced about the surface of the water grew in size and began to creep into the air around it and up the coast. This wasn't at all natural but there was no flux in chakra that would make one think that a jutsu anywhere had been form. At that thought, he noticed that the thing in the water DID have chakra of its own, but it wasn't until it made it to the surface that Tousen could completely see the nature of what was causing the fog to expand...

Tousen came to a stand as he watched, ready to take action if need be. If there was a culprit, this would most likely be it.

It was a... giant tad poll like beast. Not at all a frog but not a tad pole, but rather in between; slowly becoming a frog. Its size was ridiculous however, as he had never seen anything like this in its own environment without anything else around. It was a land locked lake and as far as he knew had been so for quite some time so where did this beast come from? In any case, the mist wasn't any cause of jutsu, but rather the nature of the beast itself. It was cold blooded and thus used its own energy source to heat itself during the evening. This then heated the water of the lake and cause the fog to expand as the water gave off heat to the cool air. It was then dragged into the rest of the small town by the breeze thus creating an illusion of creeping mist.

But such a creature was in a stage of transition and would of course have to hunt for its food. He would more then likely assume that the disappearances were a direct result of this things activities, and they would all be hidden under the veil of the rolling fog. It was inconvenient but he would have to confront the giant adolescent animal. There was no way outside of killing the thing to take care of it. Rather, he wouldn't kill it, but simply neutralize and trap it for now and let the people of the village see it first hand. It was a giant target after all and there was no action that he wouldn't be able to foresee. With this in mind, he moved quickly; Flashstepping from where he stood to the coast....

The beast stopped at the edge of the water, his eyes rolling about as if randomly before stopping at Tousen and blinking a few times, almost as if considering the same thing he was "What's to happen next?"

But the confrontational pause didn't last too long, as the mouth of the beast slowly opened. Within the mouth primed the tongue that seemed to creep back into his mouth like a spring. It was almost as if the beast didn't recognize the fact that Tousen could see him; or rather didn't assume it. This obviously wasn't a thing of any relative intelligence... it wouldn't be too hard once he had caught the thing in a few of his genjutsu to finish it off, but it a battle was a battle, and he had to be ready no matter what.

The monsters tongue shot outward toward him. It was much faster then he would have recognized. Infact, any ninja that hadn't seen it coming would easily be caught by the tongue itself, He body flickered only his legs in a nifty little dodge, bringing himself under the tongue as it extended into the ground behind him about 10meters. Before his lastest opponent could retract his tongue, he pulled his blade from his right, turning it in his hand to the reverse slide and cutting upward upon the bottom side of the tongue. The beast's tongue shot back into its mouth, almost with recoil as it cried out loud. Confused, its first instinct was obviously anger as it lashed out against him by lunging his body in a force hop of sorts. Its undeveloped legs made it something of a headbutt attempt. Having pulled his blade it was officially in 'D' ranked mode.

Tousen jumped into the air himself, releasing his blade to its 'C' ranked form just before landing upon the smooth head of the beast. It was slippery to his surprise, but he steadied himself by using the water walking technique to adhere himself to the head of the beast. But the question now was; what sense did the beast most use? Usually his opponent would make it obvious what they relied upon, but if it hunted in the mist it didnt necessarily need to use sight now did it?

He decided to use the technique 'Numb', placing the illusion upon the beast so that he now lacked the ability to feel. It was more then effective as in its confusion the beast seemed to slip and fall on itself, stumbling to the side before rolling on its back; forcing him to jump from the beast and to the ground as he watched it stumble about as if it were drunk. The inability to feel meant that it had no bearing on where it was standing or how it was moving. The beast was unable to think logically, or at least intelligently and thus was so disoriented that it could do nothing but flop about the muddy coast and moan an echoing cry of despair. It would seem to Tousen that it was effectively neutralized...

After another ten minutes of restraining the thing, he was able to accurately capture the beast within a thick rope from a nearby dock, and left the squirming monster to wriggle in vain. It was actually something of a sad site, but it was better then having to kill it in the first place... To keep the technique active would mean Tousen would have to stay up all night... it was going to be a long one.

~The next morning~

Tousen presented the beast, still struggling in its rope like binds, to the Tea Country council. He explained everything to them, from the beasts temperament, to how he generated the fog and the disappearances of the individuals. It was unfortunate to think that the people had been eaten by the beast, but it was only natural. It was a growing 'beast' and it was hungry. Its only environment was the Tea country residence and thus it had to eat SOMETHING. It just so happens that the few civilians were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

They were over joyed to see that the rumors of a haunted lake could be put to rest. They start making announcements immediately to report that it wasn't a haunted lake but rather a lake monster. Many people were angered and demanded that the beast be killed on the spot for taking the lives of innocent people. Tousen interrupted them. He said that their judgement was theres alone to cast, but ask for them to do so after he had departed.

They offered him a free stay for his trouble, however Tousen said that doing his job was enough, and thanked them anyway. Having completed his mission, Tousen departed later that afternoon after resting with the thanks of Tea Country.

-Mission Complete-