[IC] NARUTO: Road to Ninja [ARC 3] Buy it now and get a second punt free!

[AlteredTundra]

Before Arc 2.5
Jaakuna Sawada, Sundance

The Night Back In Kohona - Konoha Hospital - Examination Room

---

After the mission was over, Jaakuna didn’t even bother going home first. Instead, he went to the hospital to get himself checked out. With the residual injuries he sustained on the Jashinists mission and the ones he gained from the Fighting Ring mission, Jaakuna felt that it would be wise for him to at least get some things fixed. He knew that he further injured his ribs in his fights and he felt several bruises all over his body as well as several mildly severe cuts around his body. Specifically, however, Jaakuna had bad cuts around his ankles.

And so that’s what Jaakuna did.

When he checked himself into the hospital, he was looked at almost immediately. Of course, his insurance covered everything and he really didn’t have to pay all that much. It was a generous discount since his clan is not only tidy with the director of the hospital, but Jaakuna’s mother, Chrome Sawada, used to be a Medic-Nin and one of the best. As such, it should only make sense that her son doesn’t have to pay much when he needs to get checked up on.

As Jaakuna arrived in one of the examination rooms, he had been instructed to lay down on the elevated table in the room by one of the lower-ranking nurses.

“The doctor will be in shortly to do a full examination.” The male assistant said, his voice calm and gentle, almost like a woman’s. He had feminine features. Jaakuna looked at him as he couldn’t help but think of Paneru. He smiled softly as the assistant left the room closing the door behind him.

As Jaakuna was left to his lonesome for a few minutes, he just laid chest first on the table/bed in the room, thinking about The Bandaged Man and what he did to him. Even though e was angry as fuck about it, he was also deeply curious about one thing. “Why did he surrender when he knew he had me beat? What was the point in it? Is there something I’m missing?”

“Seems like you’re lost in thought.” A female voice spoke.

Jaakuna turned around. “What the--” Jaakuna said, stopping mid-sentence as his eyes came to the sight of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her long orange hair paired with the most beautiful set of purple eyes was only the first of many things made him keep an almost creepy glance on her. Even though she had a nurse’s uniform on, she wore it well. In Jaakuna’s mind, she could wear a trash bag and it would still look hot on her.

The woman smiled at Jaakuna as she proceeded to walk closer to him, pulling up a chair. She had a clipboard in hand. She sat there staring at her clipboard going over it. All the while she was doing that, Jaakuna hadn’t broke contact with her. She knew that too and she smiled at the thought. She pretended to do stuff on her clipboard to see how long Jaakuna would stare at her.

About a solid three minutes, the nurse laughed. “So, why don’t you tell me your name?” She said. Jaakuna said nothing. “Or if you prefer to stare at my tits all night, then allow me to help you out a bit.” She said , setting her clipboard on the counter to the left of her. She got on the bed with Jaakuna, her uniform slowly coming undone, revealing her bust.

“Whoa-whoa-whoa! Slow down there..” Jaakuna backed away to the head of the bed, but the Nurse started to slowly approach him on all fours. Jaakuna’s face just got redder and redder, but a certain part of him rose up like the sun every morning. Just as Jaakuna thought that things were going to get steamy, the nurse stopped as she was just a few inches from Jaakuna’s face. She started laughing as she got off the bed, buttoned up her uniform and taking a seat back in her chair.

“W-what just happened?” Jaakuna was confused as fuck.

“Man, I can’t believe that Chrome’s son is really just some big pervert.” She said as her laughing died down.

“You know my mom?” Jaakuna blinked.

She nodded .

“Wait, my mom once spoke of someone like you.” Jaakuna said as he had such a thoughtful expression on his face. “YES! I know. You’re Hikari Makami.”

“Bingo!” Hikari smiled.

“You and my mom were in the same class growing up…but wait, if that’s true, then that means…” Jaakuna just realized it. “I ALMOST FUCKED AN OLD LADY!!!!” Jaakuna laid back into his bed as he came to the realization that Hikari was Chrome’s flirtatious childhood friend.

While Jaakuna realized that, Hikari had an amused and intrigued look on her face. “An old lady huh? That’s funny since just a few minutes ago, you had even intention of doing me right here in this bed. Have I be working at the moment, you might have gotten lucky.” She said. Jaakuna simply looked at her, but not in the same way that he did a minute ago. “In any case, let’s get started shall we.” she said standing up, and going to Jaakuna‘s bed.. “Remove your jacket please.”

Jaakuna took it off and Hikari saw all of the cuts and bruises on his body. She made some sounds but she said nothing. She felt his back to see which spots were tender. She inspected his front side first. She saw all of the bruises and cuts and burns on his body. “To think that a boy at your age was able to continue a long journey even after getting all of these injuries..” She was astonished at his stamina. Or was it strong willpower/ Whatever it was, Hikari was amazed that this boy in front of her was still conscious after all of that. “You have second-degree burns and possibly aggravated your rib injury again. There’s also a lot of bad bruising.” She said as she jotted the notes down on her keyboard. “Turn over on your stomach so I can see your back.” She ordered.

Even though he groaned in pain, Jaakuna turned over as he lay on his stomach.

Coming up from the view of her clipboard, Hikari looked at Jaakuna’s back and instantly she saw the marking. Her eyes widened at the sight of it, but she wouldn’t say anything, not just yet, anyway. Instead, she felt around his back, finding which spots were tender and which weren’t. For the most part, his back wasn’t all that back aside from the symbol that was burned into his skin. It obviously stood out from Jaakuna's other, natural-looking tattoos. “Your back isn’t as bad the other parts of your body.” She said.

After she jotted that down on her clipboard, Hikari began immediate treatment as she flowed her chakra onto Jaakuna’s body, healing any remaining flesh wounds that were still on his body. Over the course of five minutes, the bruises and physical signs of burning were gone form his body. As a result, Jaakuna felt a lot better. Even on his upper-back where The Bandaged Man had carved something on his body, it didn’t hurt.

“That should do it.” She said as she got up and Jaakuna did the same.

“Well this has certainly been an adventure.” That was one way of putting it. “Hope to not see you anytime soon. “Jaakuna said as he was about to leave.

"Say Jaakuna.."
“Hmm?”
“Why do you have the symbol of the Daten-shi Killer on your upper-back?”

Jaakuna turned around as quickly as he heard Hikari mention the Daten-shi Killer. “What do you mean? “He asked

“That symbol on your back is the one of the famed Daten-shi Killer who went on a killing spree nine years ago.” She said.

“And you know this for a fact.” Jaakuna was starting to get worried, but above all else, he was confused.

She nodded. “It’s not every day you see one, burned into someone’s back. So, yes I’m sure. “ She confirmed it for him.

“I see.” Jaakuna said walking closer to Hikari, “you have to promise me that you won’t tell my mother. It’ll only worry her.”

“I can’t. I’m bound by doctor-patient confidentiality. Even if I could, I wouldn’t.” She smiled and assured him that she wouldn't spill the beans about the mark on his back.

“Thank you. “ He said as he turned to walk out of the room.

“Just be careful Jaakuna. I don’t know if the Daten-shi Killer gave that to you or not, but if he’s back in Konoha and gave that symbol to you, then I would be cautious. There’s no telling what could happen if you see this man again.”

“I do.” Jaakuna looked back at her. “He’ll die by my hands.” The tone might have said a lot, but it was the look in Jaakuna’s emerald eyes that spoke more volumes than a thousand speakers on maximum.

Now he knew the identity of the man who did this to him. Or at least, he knew what the man was known as. It was a start. What made it even better for Jaakuna was what Hikari told him about the Daten-shi Killer and how he might come for Sundance. It might sound like a death wish to most, but Jaakuna wanted that man to die, so if he were to fish Jaakuna out, then that would make his job even easier.

---

Before he went home, Jaakuna decided to take a nightly stroll, but in Downtown of all places. It was dark and Jaakuna was in the worst part of town. This part of the village was filled with murderers and rapists and worst of all, the Yakuza. Jaakuna didn’t choose this place, however. He was just aimlessly wandering around and he was in Downtown.

As he turned a corner that was near some Yakuza-populated spots, Jaakuna didn’t notice until it was too late, but he had bumped into a Yakuza member. Or at least someone that looked the part. The guy was in a fancy suit and he had all the makings of someone that fit the bill of a Yakuza member. This man had a slightly tall frame, slick black hair, and a suit of black and gold.

“Watch where you’re going.” Jaakuna said.

“Um, excuse me, but you bumped into me.” The man said

“Whatever.” Jaakuna kept on walking .

The man that he bumped into followed Jaakuna as he would turn down an alleyway. Jaakuna wasn’t paying attention cause he didn’t sense the guy come from behind him with a knife in hand. The man went in for a straight thrust. At the last minute, Jaakuna ducked which caused the man to stumble forward. In the next second, Jaakuna did a capoeira kick to the man’s shoulder, breaking it in the process. The man cried out in pain. Jaakuna lunged forward into the air, bringing his knee in the windpipe of the man, which effectively rendered the man unconscious due to the lack of air flowing in his body.

When that was finished, Jaakuna was about to walk out of the alleyway, but that was when he saw a cop who had just seen Jaakuna assault the Yakuza-looking man. “Shit.” Jaakuna said, “I don’t suppose you could look the other way this one time?" Jaakuna tried to charm his way out.

“HANDS UP!” The cop yelled. Jaakuna did as he commanded and just like that Jaakuna was being hauled out to jail.

"Didn't think so."

---

Arc 2.5

---

“I hope you learned your lesson, Mr. Sawada.” A detective said as he shook Jaakuna’s hand.
“Yeah. I’ll never trust a cop’s word again.” Jaakuna said.
“What was that?”
“Huh?"
“Just get out of here before I change my mind.”
“See ya Francis~”

Hands in his pocket, Jaakuna left the police station. He had been there for two days. They kept him there cause they thought what that one cop had caught him doing was anything other what it looked like and what it looked like was self-defense, but the rookie cop that saw Jaakuna thought he attacked the man first. It was a good thing that after a bit of sleep that the man said he overreacted to Jaakuna bumping into him and said the thing was all a big misunderstanding. Still, that didn’t stop the cops from keeping Jaakuna for two days. It was two more than what he would had preferred. Whatever. Jaakuna shrugged it off as he started to head home.

[Raijinslayer]

Akio Tendou

Aoi's little surprise almost caused Akio to choke on her noodles, and once she had recovered from the shock, she could feel the weight of people's gaze on them. She instinctual reached for her hood with the intention of hiding in it, but stopped herself half way. She had promised herself that she'd keep the hood off for as long as she and Aoi were hanging out today, so she wasn't going to give in just because a dozen or so people were staring at her(no matter how much she really wanted to).

Once she had gotten over that, she turned her attention to Aoi . . . . and immediately felt very under-dressed for the occasion. Was I supposed to dress up for this? Maybe it's just Aoi's weirdness, but then again . . . she's even wearing make-up, and I'm just sitting here looking terrible and homely by comparison. Akio did her best to keep how she felt from reaching her face, and thus, looked convincingly happy, if a bit nervous, to anyone who looked at her. "Not at all, and I guess I'm feeling okay. That last mission gave me some stuff to think about, ya know."

Akio's mind drifted slightly as she contemplated Kusaru's words and her strange ally, Gian. The more she thought about them, the less she wanted to meet either of them again. Gian gave her the creeps and Kusaru was just too much. Her beauty, her power, her charisma, everything about her was just too overwhelming. Just thinking about her sent shivers down Akio's spine, though she didn't know if it was out of fear . . . or awe. "Anyway, how have you been, anything interesting going on?"

@Savato

[Renny]

D A I K I.

---

A nice warmth touched the side of his face, a dim light grew brighter as a feeling drug him out his nap. Slowly, he blinked the sleep away; till finally his golden eyes opened and a yawn escaped from his mouth. He sat up from the gnarly root he had laid his head and looked off towards the compound's gate. The metal doors had been wide opened. From the side of Naito Shrine, the main path of the compound was straight ahead.

His brows pulled closer together. It wasn't unnatural for the doors to be open during clear days, but something was off. Whatever it was, the feeling prodded at the back of his head incessantly. He stared off at playful kids and busy adults. Nobi, a male villager, was watching his kids with a keen eye. Much like the rest of the adults.

The feeling remained but he chose to ignore it. Whatever it was, it wouldn't escape the notice of all the Naito clan. This much, he was sure.

He turned his head to stand up but his eyes fell onto a woman that he hadn't noticed before. Though he couldn't figure out how; she was... gorgeous, and in that moment, had Daiki stunned like a fool. Looking up at her for several seconds, he finally managed to say.

Who are you?

She still stared, only acknowledging his question with a smirk. “You'll do.” Her voice was smoky, an alluring maturity that rebuked her young age.

Daiki raised his brow. “Huh?”

Her smirk turned into a smile as she pointed towards the Naito Shrine directly behind her. A place of peaceful respite where you delve into the spiritual and perhaps … just perhaps find solace. “The Naito Shrine. You pray for the fallen of your clan here right?”

Standing up, Daiki looked beyond the branches of pink petals and at the top of the decrepit building. Though the inside was up-kept, the elders decided to let the remains look rickety and old. Something about tradition or 'nother. A soft hmp came from him. “I guess. Its sorta used for more than that.” He looked at the side of the building. “But I rarely go in there myself—More importantly, who let you in?”

“Your grandfather,” she stated matter-of-factly. She pulled her hand from a book she was holding and stuck it out towards him. “Avaron Mori. It's nice to me isn't it?”

Daiki eye'd her with caution. He was unsure why but she made him very uneasy. The sound of her voice, the choice of her words; they were very peculiar to him. It was like the sun had blurred out logic, cause he reached up knowingly and shook her hand.

“Daiki Naito.”

They stood in silence for a few moments, staring awkwardly at each other until it was broken.

“Mori-sama!” called the head-priest. The aged man jogged around the corner with his apprentice in tow—a scrawny and bald boy around Daiki's age. The boy stayed a measured foot behind the head-priest at all times. The stern eyes of the priest lowered to Daiki. “You're looking swell these days, Daiki-sama.”

Daiki nodded with a courteous smile before grabbing his bag. He gave Avaron another glance. It looked like she was there on business, which made her odd appearance all the more acceptable. However, he had his own duties to fulfill as well, no time to linger. Girls were the last thing on his list at the moment. He started down the path back to his home when her voice grew loud.

“Can't wait to see you again.”

He turned partly to see her standing beneath the tree he had slept under. The head-priest was heading back around the corner while the apprentice stood beside her with perfect stillness. She lifted a hand to wave bye to him. Daiki knew that he probably wouldn't see her again, he hardly ever visited the Naito Shrine.

“Doubt you will,” he barked back before returning to the dirt path towards.

Hours later and Daiki had thrown on a navy v-neck, some jeans, and his flak jacket. He was headed to the Archives in Naruto City. The idea was to find some information about Kusaru or Gian. Something that could prepare him for their next encounter. It was guaranteed to happen; they had said so themselves. It was better to be prepared.

Strolling down the busy streets with his hands in his pockets, he eye'd the metropolis with a recognized irritation. While he didn't necessarily mind it all, the noise was actually very disturbing to him.

“Maybe while I'm there I can find something on Rejio too.”

[j8cob]

Tsukiko Umene, Honeybadger

Before Arc 2.5

After clearing the forest of potential threats within a mile radius, Tsukiko had returned to the camping area. While the kids were organizing to sleep in tents or such on the ground, Tsukiko instead remained in the trees. Before she was found as a child she had often slept in trees when she couldn't reach the cabin before nightfall. It had been ingrained into her mind that sleeping on the ground was a deathtrap, and even to this day she has yet to sleep on even the floor of her own home. Sitting on the branch with her back resting against the trunk, Tsukiko watched over the campground with a harsh gaze. Like an alpha wolf watching over its pack.

It wasn't long before Tsukiko noticed that Ayame and Fujitora began to sneak away. Those fuckers, she thought to herself, looking in the direction they were heading through the trees. They could've stayed here on guard and I could've made the delivery. With a grunt of displeasure, Tsukiko leaned slightly and spit on the ground below her. Whatever. Her gaze turned to her feet, further along the branch. With two quick motions she kicked her boots off and onto the ground, leaving her grey socks exposed. Much better. She placed her hands behind her head and leaned back against the tree again. She didn't close her eyes, as she didn't intend to sleep. At least not until the Choko siblings returned.

---

The next day had came without any issues through the night. Ayame and Fujitora had returned late in the night, confirming they succeeded at the delivery. Tsukiko finally slept after their return, figuring their arrival was good sign that there were no immediate threats in the vicinity. She didn't sleep too much, as she was also one of the first up with the sun. The kids were initially confused but Ayame explained the situation and Fujitora ordered them to head back to Konoha. The mission pay wasn't much, but it got the groceries that Tsukiko had been in need of.

---

Arc 2.5

"Fuckin' really?" Tsukiko was sitting at the table in her apartment's tiny kitchen/dining room combo, wearing only a bathrobe. Her hair was wrapped upward in a towel, indicating she had just showered. Before her was an empty bowl and a box of cereal in her hand. Only it seemed the box of cereal was empty too. In a brief fit of anger Tsukiko tossed the empty box across the kitchen, where it bounced harmlessly off the wall near the front door. "I forgot to buy more cereal." She stood up and let out a sigh, leaving the bowl on the table as she walked away. The woman slipped out of the bathrobe and towel as she walked to her room, getting dressed in surprisingly lazy clothes.

While most would be used to seeing Tsukiko in her combat wear, she was instead wearing jeans and a simple white t-shirt. Over that she put on a grey hoodie with the Leaf symbol emblazoned across the chest and replaced her usual boots with worn, white sneakers. Her weapons remained hanging on the wall above her bed as Tsukiko exited the apartment. The complex's hallway was devoid of neighbors, something Tsukiko was thankful for. While it was always fun instigating the local hoodlums and gangsters, she felt particularly lazy today. All she wanted was to make it to the market without being bothered. Get some cereal, get some more milk just in case. I have popcorn and stuff already... So yeah, just two things. The plan to take advantage of a free day and relax at home was already falling apart, but hopefully it could be recovered with swift action and some kind of sugary breakfast.

---

Shin Maru, Topaz

Before Arc 2.5

The whole mission didn't go quite to plan, in the end. In the middle of the night, Ayame and Fujitora had finished the objective, leaving the kids to figure it all out the next morning. This was fine with Shin, because he wasn't in the best condition and it meant there would be less travelling, work, and potential combat to go through. Now he just got to go straight home. Or rather: straight to the hospital. He and Jaakuna had both been roughed up on their mission, notably more so than any of the other chuunin that day, and both checked in to get some kind of treatments.

The doctors and medical-nin were surprised when they examined Shin. The fact he was alive was impressive, blind luck having no small part in it. While his injuries were mostly healed by the professionals, as Paneru only mildly treated the wounds, the pain still existed and his chest was continuously sore following that mission.

---

Arc 2.5

Shin stepped out of the hospital's front doors, cracking his neck as he walked along. Already waiting for him was his uncle, Jugo. Despite being younger than his brother, Shin's father, Jugo appeared older. He was significantly balding, having a large portion of the top of his head missing black hair, and his face seemed more rugged and mature. Many would mistake Jugo for being the elder brother for this reason. "Didn't expect you to be waiting here for me," Shin greeted, clasping his right hand with his uncle's in a manly fashion. "They let you out the looney bin for the day or did you escape again?" The joke brought out uproarious laughter from his uncle.

"Aye, I escaped by the skin of me teeth this mornin'," he went along. His voice was deep, and a clear indicator of a smoking habit. "I heard rumors, Shin, that you were almost killed on a mission." Shin smirked and began to chuckle, but before he could explain his uncle continued. "I heard that you were beat by a woman in an underground fighting tournament." The color drained from Shin's face in embarrassment, prompting more obnoxious laughter from his uncle.

"How did you hear about that? That should be classified information," Shin inquired, his voice lower in volume now. "I din't go to no officials, if that's what yer askin'. I ain't a cop or shinobi, I get info from the source." Shin pouted slightly as Jugo continued to snicker to himself. "I was told that she tricked ya into making out and she put snakes inside ya." "Well..." "Kaito would have a fit if he were to hear about that. T'was pretty dumb of ya, Shin." "Yeah... Please don't tell dad?" "Maybe. I won't tell him if he doesn't ask me, how bout that?"

[Akashi Mayhiro]

Takeshi Ruzuzaki

With Yamato: The young master's house

---

Tension

Takeshi followed Yamato back to his house, he was surprised by how calm this dude was, it was actually a blessing that he hadn't called him names of said that we would kill him. Was Yamato under some genjutsu? Did his mum yell at him? All these though were running in his mind as he followed him all the way back to his place. Takeshi raised a eyebrow when seeing his place "Nice cool place you have here, Yamato." As the entered to front yard. Yamato took out his flak jacket and threw it away.

“What do you want, shithead? Wanna try and abduct Rei once more, with your Jashin friends? I should kill you for it.”

Well....so much for being nice. Takeshi smiled to himself before putting on a serious face. "Yamato, That's the reason i've come to you: To talk about the Jashin. You said you wanted to wipe out the religion by yourself, did you not?" Taking of his coat and shoes he stretched his arms and leg. "The reason i'm telling you...well that really doesn't concern you: But i will tell you one thing."

"Don't try to take them on your own, if you do: you'll give your family something to cry about."

"The main purpose is just killing...but you and both know that no one kill for the sake of killing...yet i have no idea what is the plan."

Standing in front of a metal dummy, he started dishing out fast left kicks to the midsection of the dummy before jumping into the air, performing a corkscrew roundhouse kick to the head, but stopping mere millimeters before he made contact. "Their hierarchy hasn't changed since i left that religion: but if it has, then it surely hasn't changed a lot since." Takeshi grabbed the dummy's head as he kneed it right in the face, letting wobble for a bit.

"From what i now, there are plenty of scrubs that even you can take care of, but from there it get's hard: For each squad comes a Minor, the person that is in charge of the squad." Takeshi puffed a bit "Then there is the Major or captain of that squad, there is not reason on how that works: it's just based on power levels." The green haired ninja placed a hand on the dummy to stop it from rocking back and forth. He faced the young master now "But that's just the tip of the religion."

"What was just a small religion became as mass gathering that....damn well could rival the size of the hidden leaf back when the 7th hokage was alive." Keeping his distance so he wouldn't piss of Yamato he took a step back. "Where was i now....right."

"Well the Majors are captain, they answer to Commanders, when i was there, they had about 6 commander in that religion and one of them...had the same power of the Akatsuki member Hidan." As Ruzuzaki talked he could see him getting more pissed of by the second, he couldn't tell if it was because of the religion or him....or both. Shaking his head he reached into his pocket and pulled out a rather long scroll and threw it to him "Like i said..my deadbeat dad was a member....a Minor at least before they...or more realistically speaking: i killed him. I didn't touch his shit until now...what's in there is the intel you need, it may be outdated and such...but it should provide you enough information you need."

"One other thing....remember what i said about going along and making your family miserable? Do you want to know why?" Takeshi yellow eye bored into Yamato's "Even if you get past the Minor, Major and Commanders...there is no way in hell you can get past:"

"Jaakuna kami no 12 deshi"

"Behind the 12...you can get to meet the one who kept the forsaken Religion alive." Takeshi looked dead serious. "And maybe...you can even met her" Without hesitation he did a 180 spin and kick the metal dummy's head clean off, the head rolling on the grass before it stopped. "If you want to know why your sister was really kidnapped, then she would now all about it, though it going to be hard getting answers of her though."

"That's all the know about the Jashin, Yamato. Did you want me to cover anything else?" he looked back once more at him "I have plenty of things to do today...after all...this is be the last time."

"Oh, nice sweatshirt, never thought you were a fan."

[Savato]

Aoi Don Maquia

---

Finally, the three identical meals Aoi had ordered earlier arrived, three sets of plate incoming by the hands of what appeared to be a new waiter in the restaurant. Aoi would carefully move the few utensils on the table to ease the young man's work and have a row of plates covered in sushi. There weren't that many in each plate, but they seemed refined and high quality, the type very few middle class chuunin like Aoi could wish to afford. Luckily, her employee discount and the simple fact that Yamato's mother got along with the performer softened the blow just enough to make it possible like any average meal around. A glass of orange juice came with it, something she didn't order but habits made it so that it was almost automatic for Mika to slip in the drink for the young girl.

Aoi listened attentively to Akio's response, the small chitchat was somewhat enjoyable considering she barely got to see Akio at all these days, so it felt fresh in some way. It beat talking to Yamato, buzzkill he was, and that Samurai kid just felt a bit strange with his overly optimistic way to engage with people. Not that Aoi could actually make an educated assumption out of it. The girl grabbed her chop sticks and started eating a few of the sushi, one large bite at a time. She nodded at Akio's first statement since her mouth was full, she at least had the decency to keep some civilized manners when out with people. However as the Tendou girl hit the need to return the clown's question, Aoi turned her head, capturing a glimpse of Yamato's gaze toward her. Acknowledging the grumpy boy, she couldn't help but notice he was talking to a girl, and later Takeshi. The latter wasn't too important here, but the former pulled a few red flags.

"Yeah I'm great, erm, cleaned my house 'n' all but erm... Is that Yamato's girlfriend?"

She asked while looking at the couple walking out, prompting the younger girl to pull out her cell phone and text something Akio couldn't see as she was sitting opposite of her. It took Aoi a good one minute of focus and silence before she'd manage to crack it.

nyse gurl!!!!!! ur gf????? (^3^)

Aoi

She then showed the text to Akio as she sent it, a little grin of strange excitement on her face. She got all gleeful when she had this idea running in her head, as if she had heard massive gossip about Yamato's case. Of course, she'd stuff her face in sync of all that. Aoi was a slim girl, not at all muscular like her friend sitting in front of her, but she had a mighty appetite. She did move a lot during the day and had a hard time staying put, so there was this explanation. But many still questioned where the tons of food she ate earlier went.

"Heehee, speaking of couples, how's it going with them boys? Got one now or do you like one of them? Or maybe..."

She paused to consume the last sushi of her second plate. Of course Akio could serve herself, and Aoi gestured her permission to eat whatever Akio wanted. After all, she was paying since she suggested the place. Upon swallowing her delicious treat, she'd finish.

"... You've never had one? Hee hee hee~"

She approached her head a little closer to Akio's, her expression drooling with curiosity at this point. Who could blame her, it was a pretty juicy subject to tackle, especially when getting to know a fellow classmate. That and she kind of teased all her female friends about their boyfriend situations so she couldn't resist. At least she did genuinely appear interested in knowing about her new found friend.

---

High Stakes in Naruto City

After barely two days to recover, things around Konoha were taking a turn for the worst. At least for the concerned Shinobi it was. For die hard cinema enthusiasts and various fandoms, it was quite the opportunity to get a golden signature from a specific someone. In Naruto City, Konoha's mighty financial district, was held the 40th film festival of Konoha. Various personalities were present there, including world-famous actors and directors who came to watch their works and sign autographs for their fans. Such a chaotic event would indeed require a lot of man power, but Shinobi were generally not needed in a personal level during such crowded encounters as there was the building's enhance security already. However the need to insure the safety of such elites would go beyond the festival, and usually stretched to the vacation they often took for a day or two in the town they were likely foreign to.

Tsukiko Umene, Daiki Naito, Takeshi Ruzuzaki and Jaakuna Sawada were carefully picked by an anonymous entity to take part in the protection of one of those personalities. Of course, such a missions would be approved as a plain C rank by the Hokage's office, but the stakes were much large than that. Was there a true threat? No, not that they could pinpoint. However, it was the particular client that made things all the more tricky. Miyaka Shuyo, a young actress that made her debut when she was in her early teens and is now in her early twenties. Magazines and Ads are littered with her face and physique, becoming one of the Ninja world's icons for beauty and youth. Her green eyes being the most praised physical trait by her fans and even casual watchers alike. Needless to say, she was an elite within the elites.

Each member cited would receive a text:

You have been selected to participate in top priority mission. The pay will be of considerable size if successful. Waiting point is behind the great Tenzu Hall, in front of the back exit. Currently the film festival is taking place there. Your client will give you all the details. Good luck.

Fujitora

And as such, they had their orders, plain and simple. No fuss, no muss. It was a direct order from the Jonin commander after all, and he didn't question the selection process. All he did was check if they were available at that time, which earned his confirmation.

[Partisan]

Yamato Minamoru, “Young Master”

---

Yamato listened intently to Takeshi's rambling, about the Jashinists, the hierarchy, it didn't seem all that important for actually finding out relevant things. Until he gave Yamato the scroll, that is. Yamato caught the scroll with 1 hand, before opening it and taking a look at what it said. It had pretty detailed info, but Yamato didn't really care. Never the less, he did care about killing those fucks for what they did. He'd probably end up taking a detailed look at the scroll, then tossing it to either Tsukiko or Fujitora. They seemed to be the best ones to hand it off to, since Fujitora could instruct the jonin to act on it, or Tsukiko because she would be able to sniff out exactly what was in the scroll. Also, ever since their little fights, Yamato wanted to shove more workload into her face. Anything to spite her..

He seemed pretty uninterested until Takeshi told him he couldn't get past something called Jaakuna kami no 12 deshi, at which point Yamato rolled up the scroll and pointed at Takeshi with his free hand. “I'll kill everyone I have to kill to destroy the fucks that abducted my sister. Don't question me!” he said with a rowdy voice, seemingly ready to kick Takeshi's ass over something so simple. He would keep his face in an angry expression, staring at Takeshi as he randomly kicked off the head of his practice dummy. “RAH! Idiot! Get the fuck out of my backyard and leave me the fuck alone!” He quickly stepped forward a few times and raised his fist above his head, on the right side, preparing to swing at Takeshi. But at that moment.. beep beep. Yamato got distracted for a moment, clenching his teeth while he stared Takeshi in the eyes, before lowering his fist and turning around, walking to his glass sliding doors. Through them, he could see Rei sitting inside, looking at the television at some program about that lame film event that was happening.

He turned around again and faced Takeshi, taking the phone from his flak jacket before pressing the button on the top right, lighting up the screen before the message that Aoi sent him popped up. nyse gurl!!!!!! ur gf????? (^3^) Yamato looked at the screen for a moment, wondering if Aoi really was dimwitted, dumb, or just trying really hard to be annoying. Yamato would have blocked her ages ago if it wasn't for work.. that said, it was known weeks ago that Yamato was engaged already at the young age of 16, so her question was kind of stupid. He replied, in a short manner since he didn't want to waste time on this obnoxious shithead.

No. It's my fiancé. Leave me alone and talk to that.. girl.

Yamato

The last bit sounded a bit rude in regards to Akio, but Yamato didn't even know her name so he didn't feel any reason to be nice about her. After that he'd look at Takeshi a moment before yelling at him, too. “What are you still doing here? Get the fuck out!” As soon as Takeshi cleared out, however, Yamato would put on his flak jacket again and pick up the scroll he had gotten from him, pocketing it quickly before headed out. He knew exactly who to give this to.

Jumping over the rooftops of Downtown, headed for Tsukiko's house. He only really knew where that was due to the fact that she lived close to the Mighty Naruto, so he had seen her walk by a few times. As soon as he was nearby, he landed on a rooftop, standing straight up and looking at her door. He was about to head down there to knock on it, but she was leaving the house as it seemed. Not wanting to interrupt her just yet, he decided to follow her. Strangely enough she was wearing merely a white shirt and some jeans, as well as sneakers. Not the traditional Tsukiko outfit, but.. oh well. Yamato would follow her along the rooftops, realizing fully well that Tsukiko must realize he's there. She was a shinobi, and not a bad one either (although, that depended on whom you asked.) so she had to have sensed him at least. When she'd reach the supermarket, Yamato would finally come down, jumping down in front of her, before standing up straight again and looking at Tsukiko.

“Yo, Tsukiko-chan.” he'd open, looking serious as ever. He would put one hand in his flak jacket's pocket, the other at his side. He'd look her up and down for a few moments, looking at her apparel, before finally commenting what Tsukiko must've imagined he'd say. “That's.. nice clothes.. you look like a school-mom, guess that's what you're going for..” Well, it wasn't ugly, but Yamato wasn't one to care much for the appearance of it, more so just how unpractical those clothes must be. Anyway..

“I've got a present for you.” he'd say in a cool fashion, leaving Tsukiko to wonder just what exactly he meant with this, or what this 'present' entailed. Yamato would block the way to the supermarket, too, so unless she wanted to brutally move the boy aside and force his rage to protrude again, she'd have to listen or walk away without cereal and milk. “Here, have this.” Following his words, he took the scroll from his flak jackets' pocket and tossed it up, and then caught it, similar to what Tsukiko had done during their mission. Except now Yamato would catch it, and toss it up again with a slight arc so that it would head to Tsukiko. After saddling her up with the job to figure out who to give that too, Yamato would shrug at her clothes once more and turn around, walking away before jumping off onto the rooftops and heading back to his house. “School-mom looking bitch..” he mouthed to himself, satisfied with this little revenge for attempting to stop him during the fight with Kusaru.

[Akashi Mayhiro]

Takeshi Ruzuzaki

With Yamato: The young master's house

---

“I'll kill everyone I have to kill to destroy the fucks that abducted my sister. Don't question me!” Takeshi frowned, but it was natural for something like Yamato who had endless pride, in fact: he envied the young master for having that pride. Smirking to himself he grinned at Yamato.

"Right...anyways: it's up to you how you take this." It was when he kicked the head of the dummy Yamato snapped and was ready to pumbble him. "Alright then, let's have a bit of a spar, shall we?" Dropping low to the ground he got ready to counter what the young master was going to do to him. But then:

*BEEP BEEP* Two phones at the exact same moment ended the little showdown before it even began, standing up while seeing Yamato walk back into the house he fished out his phone and saw the message.

>You have been selected to participate in top priority mission. The pay will be of considerable size if successful. Waiting point is behind the great Tenzu Hall, in front of the back exit. Currently the film festival is taking place there. Your client will give you all the details. Good luck.

-Fujitora

“What are you still doing here? Get the fuck out!” Takeshi flipped him off while kicking another head of a dummy before he picked up his coat and shoes while heading back to the hidden leaf village. "Why am i chosen for some mission? I'm pretty sure that I told Choko-taicho I was going to take a leave of absence.." pondering the reason why, Takeshi slowly make his way towards where Fujitora had directed him to go, then he realised.

"Isn't some kind of film festival going on or something?" furrowing his brows he looked around. Sure enough the place was littered with movies posters and colourful decorations, it was like Aoi had did all this or something along the lines of that.... "Well...better make sure I get there and do this mission...the money could come in handy.....I wonder how Yang is doing..."

Takeshi was swimming in his own though, completely oblivious to the surrounding around him, he accidently shoulder bumped someone. “Watch where you going, dumbass.” The voice was half feminine and yet half boyish. Takeshi was pulled out of his train of thoughts as he turn around to face her. Sensing Takeshi was staring at him. The woman sighed before she too turned to face him, her fair blonde hair followed her moments as her ponytail swayed. “What? Got a problem with me!?” The gap between him and the woman was closed very quickly as her aura towered over Takeshi. “Come on! Out with it!”

“Jeez lady!” drone Takeshi “I didn't mean to bump into you, but I’m sorry if I hurt your girlish feel-“ the said girl easily picked him up with one hand by his shirt as her amber eyes stared into his.

“What? I didn’t hear you over your little bitching!” mocking him she cupped her hand to her ear “Care to repeat that?” Takeshi grunted as he struggled to get out of her hold, it was futile as the blonde haired girl had an iron grip on him. Gritting his teeth he showed his frustration as he gripped her wrist.

“Do you fucking mind not touching me? For a bitch like you, you're taking it really far!” Green sparks flared out of his left eye. The Girl tilted her head in confusion before throwing her head back and laughing, letting him go in the process “What the-!?”

“Damn kid, you’ve got spunk!” she wiped a tear from her eyes as she chuckled, trying to hold back another laughter as she wiped the imaginary dust of his back and shoulders- very hard “I'm just joking with you!” she grinned “Actually I'm just looking for some fun to have, just return from a mission and the old farts want me to relax for a while!” throwing her left arm around his neck she brought him close to her, their faces making contact. “Wanna come with Onee-sama? She’s feeling lonely today~” she pouted.

‘This girl….’ Pushing her back Takeshi fixed himself before sending a quick glare to her. But that glare with quickly turn into a look of surprise. Then turning to the face of seeing a naked lady for the first time. Takeshi quickly covered his nose as blood leaked out. While she wasn't naked, she was damn well near to being naked.

“I-uh-" Takeshi stuttered. Nearly 70% of her skin was being shown: Chest, stomach and even her legs. It wasn’t even decently cover. It was showing off! The girl snapped her fingers at him to gain his attention once more.

“So what’s it going to be?” stepping over to him “You wanna have some fun?”

“Well….shit the mission!” using that genuine excuse, Takeshi stepped back before breaking out into a run. “Sorry! Maybe next time!”

The fair skinned woman sighed as he saw Takeshi make a run for it “Was it something about me?” She called out while throwing her arms in the air “Whatever, I'll just have some fun by myself then.” Saying that her upper body drooped as he dark cloud formed over her ‘Why do they all run?’ turning around she staggered forward for a bit before shaking the cloud of and laughing “Bah! Who needs people like that!?” she yelled while pointing into the sky “The Gypsy doesn't take shit from anyone!”

As the people looked at her (Mostly because of her clothing) with confused faces as she continued laughing while walked off to god knows where.

---

The Great Tenzu Hall

Takeshi sighed as he slumped at the meeting point "The fuck was with that girl? Is she an exhibitionist?" shaking his head he stood up "Whatever, let's get this mission started."

[Renny]

D A I K I.

---

A peal ringing echoed from within his pocket as he walked. He gripped his hand around his phone and pulled it out at the corner of busy street. Bands of civilian walked without thoughts as they headed to their various destinations. Daiki glanced them once, surveying all their bored and rather dead expressions. He shook his head before opening the message from commander.

You have been selected to participate in top priority mission. The pay will be of considerable size if successful. Waiting point is behind the great Tenzu Hall, in front of the back exit. Currently the film festival is taking place there. Your client will give you all the details. Good luck.

Fujitora

Frustration rolled within him. All that stood between him in the Archives were a black-top of white marks and yellow lines. Not much at all really but … a ninja's duty came before everything else. He replied quickly to assure him of his participation.

Mission accepted.

Daiki

Daiki was the first to arrive, he was happy that he wore his flak jacket for once. Only reason being that he knew he'd need shinobi clearance to get to the more, classified files of the Archives; his ID had been inside his pocket. Now he wait, leaned up against the opposite wall of the back exit, his arms folded across his chest. The uproar of the festival's preparation could be heard clearly.

I'll just head to the Archives after this mission is over. I think they do nightly visits for active ninjas. Damn! I was so close. Now my days off are wasted. He bit the knuckle of his thumb, keeping his eyes on the door as he did. When Takeshi arrived, he glanced at the green-haired ninja with the same indifference he managed with the others.

Daiki hadn't been openly friendly with others and neither have they with him. So it was only to be expected.

[Raijinslayer]

Akio Tendou

Akio turned around to see that Yamato was in fact going on what appeared to be a date with some girl she'd never seen before. She didn't know what shocked her more: that anyone would want to be with such a jackass or that he would get with anyone. It was a curious scene, but since Akio gave zero fucks about anything Yamato did in his off time, she merely shrugged and chose not to comment on it.

When Aoi showed her the text she was sending, Akio chuckled a bit.

"He's probably going to tell you to fuck off or something, if he even bothers to open it." Akio went back to eating her ramen, feeling a bit more relaxed than before. She had just finished the noodles and was in the middle ofndrinkung the broth(health consequences be dammed, that was the best part), when the clown girl suddenly started asking about her love life. It seemed to be a bit of an out of the blue question, and again caused her to choke a bit on her meal. If this keeps up, I might from all of her 'surprises'.

Once she had recovered, she took a moment to think about it. "Can't say I like anyone in particular, never been the crushing type and I've been too focused on my training to give boys much thought. My br-, I mean, someone I knew told me that I should focus on my career before I try and get into any relationships. I was really young, so I didn't understand what he meant until I became a genin." Akio's expression had taken on a slightly disheartened look as she spoke, but she quickly shook it off and gave Aoi a small grin. She didn't want to spoil the day by thinking about him right now, or the hell that was trying to live on a Genin's wage by herself."Who knows, I might not even be into guys, it's just something I've never really thought about, ya know."

After her declaration, Akio decided to take up Aoi's wordless offer by taking one of her pieces of Sushi, popping it in her mouth with a satiafied moan of delight. It had been awhile since she had eaten anything that wasn't ramen, as money had been tight until her recent promotion. Now that she was a chunin, she could probably started to spend more freely after a few more missions, plus she now had complete access to her family funds, so she could survive any surprise financial problems for a while if such things occured.

"So, do you like anybody?" She felt the need to again rebound the question, partially because she was curious, partially because she couldn.t come up with another topic. Still, Akio was ferling rather good about herself so far, the nervousness from earlier seeming to have slipped away. She was enjoying talking to someone her own age for a change and was able to relax and open up a bit more. She was sure that Aoi's wacky personality had something to do with it, as it was hard not to feel at ease around her. "Is there anyone who makes your harlequin heart race?"

@Savato

[Savato]

Aoi Don Maquia

---

Aoi was giving her fair share of giggles as they discussed Yamato's position toward girls, which of course made her wonder just how such a guy could get a pretty girl like that. She remembered that he spoke of marriage once or twice, but that concept was somewhat foreign to her, at least when it involved families and influences. The pondered the idea that pretty much anybody could get with someone with what she had just seen happening before her eyes. The reply to her text would only strengthen the belief she had made herself; she checked on her phone as quick as it started to vibrate so she could acknowledge the new hot news she'd later circulate via her peers.

She only checked it, but didn't actually read it. She'd multitask the reading of the text message with frequent glances toward Akio's direction as she responded to Aoi's invasive questions. The truth was that it took her quite some time to read and understand the sentence and she'd only get it after Akio had sent back the question as Aoi, leaving the older girl with a lingering silence, almost lasting a minute. Upon fully understanding and hesitating whether she should reply or not, she showed the text to Akio before finally deciding that he would be too much of a bore anyway to talk with while she had her much more interesting guest.

"So uh, what was the question, oh yeah! Boys! Hmmm... Boyfriends came and went I guess, right now my heart only beats for my fans~"

She'd reply with an arrogant grin that could only be translated into general silliness. She did hold the opinions of her followers to great value, something performers lacked a lot these days, but then again she could very well end up like most with the influence of greed. Finishing the remaining sushi, she'd go on to continue in answering her friend.

"But seriously, like, right now they're all either buzz-kill clan guys all proud about themselves or plain old dudes trying to be neutral in everything. Get me? They're kinda boring... Even when they fight over their clan's pride, arrrhhhh!"

Her expression went from her usual upbeat and cheerful to a pretty saddened and melancholic one. However one could easily see the forced side of it, as if she purposely did it to illustrate her lack of motivation regarding men. Before she'd say anything else, she'd dig into her back pocket to extract a few pieces of green paper. It would only be when she smacked the mass onto the table that Akio would see that it'd be money, enough to cover both their meals.

"Anyway! I wanna show you something in Naruto City, consider it part of the date!"

She stood up and quickly snagged Akio's wrist so she could tug on the taller girl's arm, trying to get her to move her behind and quickly head to where the clown wished to go. She wasn't doing it in a forceful way, her strength was no where near important enough to impose her will like that, but she seemed really eager to drag the Tendou out to explore.

Once they'd be out, it'd be a couple of blocks by foot for them to reach the destination Aoi seemed so excited to reach. By the time they'd be outside, Aoi would let go of Akio's wrist.

"Try to guess where we're going~ If you guess right, I'll give you a fancy present!"

She added a couple of mysteries to get Akio's mind pumping in anticipation and curiosity, something she tried hard to reach since she'd be a sucker for keeping up a good show. For a few seconds, she thought of Akio's previous words, the ones she had to drown out a bit due to the text. How could she not know if she's into boys? Aoi find this very strange, and thus very interesting for the curious clown.

[Masaki Haruna]

Memoirs

Zeno Hakarasu, the 13th Hokage

---

He had written the letters needed for his report, the 13th Hokage got what he wanted; he can now spend time with his daughter. It's only once in a while that the Hokage gets to spend time with his family, his wife and daughter are with him in the office, Zeno is not alone, he is surrounded with the comfort and love of his dearest loved ones. Zeno smiled after his long term peace keeping works, as easy as it sounds, it isn't. Being a Hokage means you have to put others before yourself and before you get the time to have intimate moments with your family and friends and Zeno understood the balance of what weighed more, now he have the time.

Zeno is fortunate that he didn't have to summon a single shadow clone to keep everything in check; his loyal subjects can attest to that and do the works, the latest report received and reopened case from the Leaf Police Force was about the Jashin incident weeks ago. A report which the finest cop on the village, Mari Uchiha had been dwelling on, this will be a mission solely for Jounin only; that said, he left the mission details on his office. Standing on his own monument, the 13th Hokage face; Zeno got a good look on the village. Gazing upon it like every parent does with his children, it is nostalgic yet its meaning is deep when one thinks forward and onward of what future does his beloved country, family, and friends await. No matter the era, there is always conflict but... When people get hurt, they learn to hate… when people hurt others, they become hated and racked with guilt. But knowing that pain allows people to be kind. Pain allows people to grow… and how you grow is up to you.

Zeno's daughter
Zeno's wife
She panted following her father all the way up to the Hokage monument, like every other kid who sees the unfair of what their parent does, she fault her father and slap him nonstop as Zeno blocks it. "OHH!! Come on dad! That's unfair, why do you have to use the 1st Gate of the eight gates? You're such a show off. Even a kid like me know well that you can outrun me without using the gates." She continuously frowns about of what her father did while Zeno's laughing at her dismayed cute little daughter.

"Hahaha. I am your father alright. I always show you the most awesome things you can feel at awe; having jutsus is not just about fighting you know. It's also about design and joy." After the frowning stopped, he pats his daughter's head. But his daughter doesn't understand a single thing he says.

Then his wife said. "Darling, our lovely Yuina is still young~ of course she won't understand a thing." His wife serves orange juice and taiyaki to them and have a meal along with them.

"HMPH! Mama is right! I don't understand your weird speeches and metaphors!" She nods to what her mom just said.

"Yuina. You can't cast your net when there aren't any fish." He said to his daughter, hoping that she'll get the message.

That one quote struck her, "Whatever means, we aren't in an ocean full of fishes." The Hakarasu family laugh together. A quick silence for a while, Zeno summons his guitar. "Sing with me!" Zeno sings

"Leaves from the vine
Falling so slow
Like fragile, tiny shells
Drifting in the foam

Little soldier boy
Come marching home
Brave soldier boy
Comes marching....HOME!" The Hakarasu family had a good laugh. "Oh come on dad! your singing sucks! Even the likes of Ayame-sama can sing better than you!" Her daughter halfheartedly teases. "Yuina! Don't be mean, your father is just stressed and--." Zeno puts his fingers on his wife's lips to silence her gently. Their daughter started having a blank face. "PAPA! MAMA! That's so dirty!" Their daughter said and they laughed about it, the little things a family does. To Yuina, it's like reading a romantic novel. "Don't worry, I'll sing better next time and I promise you both, you'll be at the front seat. Can we sing again?" And they all sing.

"Leaves from the vine
Falling so slow
Like fragile, tiny shells
Drift....

---

Present Day

Flash forward to the material world, present to where reality is. "......Brave soldier boy
Comes marching....home..." His wife and daughter weren't with him and tone of his voice is monotonous and sorrows are felt through it. All this time, Zeno's version of spending time with his family were going into the Hokage monument and singing songs to which in this very place is the very memory of where he last spent his time with his family. He held his tears back as no tears were flowing. Words cannot describe the loneliness Zeno had. "We'll talk about the next chuunin exams next time. So many youngsters growing up to be a shinobi and Yuina would had as well. Life is short but we make the most out of it."

He chakra jumps out of the monument and afterwards, he takes his cellphone and calls on Shin. "Boy. I need you to escort Sentou, Rin Reikan, and Fubuki to my office. It's about the mission, you're included too."

---

Birds of a feather Part 1

Fubuki and Sentou

Fubuki vs Sentou!

---

"Nothing much. I guess that's how you beat Naomi back at the final round of the Chuunin Exams. You are a tricky fighter as ever, Sentou. Had it been me, your tricks would have turned out futile." She expressed herself coldly to the Uchiha girl yet it's her way of showing her emotion of commending someone. Fubuki points out Sentou's way of fighting, it is dirty and that's something considering that she doesn't even have the sharingan.

Sentou is irritated and puzzled, she smirked at the prodigy. "Well. A kunoichi is decisive than her male counterpart. Isn't that the way of the ninja where a bag of dirty tricks are applied?" The tone of Sentou's voice sounds offending, sarcastic, and joyful all the same time. What she have said to Fubuki brought some nostalgia. Fubuki closes her eyes for a second and open it again after sighing. "That phone trick of yours. Prolonging the battle for an hour while watching and analyzing an opponent's movements combined with your shadow clone's experience and analysis of the footage sure is a pain in the ass." She said frankly.

Out of pride, Sentou launches a Chidori Gungnir from below her feet, right where Fubuki's standing. As the gigantic lance erupted, Fubuki evades it. Sentou launched more but Fubuki cuts it with her sword.

"Chidori: Raihanma!" Sentou throws a couple of lightning hammers to Fubuki, she cuts the lightning with her sword by disarming it. Fubuki disarms and evades more of what Sentou throws, she is moving gradually in a fast speed. Sentou moves a distance, "Katon: Bakufu Ranbu!" Swirling blast waves of flames blasted on Fubuki's direction.

"Suiton: Daikōdan no Jutsu !" Fighting water to fire, Fubuki's jutsu extinguishes Sentou's fire and eats its chakra, the water shark grew slightly bigger than its original form. Sentou jumps as she barely evaded the jusu which set her off balance, wet in the water.

Sentou thought; "I will have to divert her attention to land a hit." She takes out a scroll and spams lightning infused coins only to get parried by Fubuki's sword, then a smokebomb is thrown. Fubuki keeps her guard on and stay alert.

Then Sentou comes out with a kunai, they clash together, delivering each other receiving blows of kicks and punches, Fubuki cuts Sentou in half but it was a shadow clone. Sentou attacks from the top with a chidori sword and clashes from there, followed by another smokebomb. Fubuki continues to remain on guard but Sentou caught her off guard and stabbed her but it's a substitution, Fubuki reappears and engages Sentou on taijutsu and seems to have the upper hand and kicked Sentou right in the gut sending her a distance from the water.

"Admit your defeat. Your tricks won't work." She said confidently "I won't!" . However, the real Sentou is hiding behind the rocks, watching and analyzing Fubuki's movements through her phone and with that she believes, she have the upper hand. Suddenly Fubuki uses scarlet mist perception and hunts down every clone of Sentou disabling their link with the phone, Sentou's "CCTV Strategy" failed as the link was severed. She got pissed and uses chidori which breaks the rocks and the clone Sentou who is cornered also uses chidori attacking from both sides. The chidori is a successful hit but it was a water clone of Fubuki that Sentou hit, Fubuki emerges from the water, giving Sentou a reverse backhand from her sheathed sword which offs her last clone and then Sentou got stuck in the water prison.

"You were saying?" The aftermath of their battle ends with Fubuki being the victor, she may jumped and evaded all over the place but she technically stayed in the same position whereas Sentou was moving everywhere and received the most damage. Sentou was angry of her loss. "Oh come on! I didn't even stripped yet! I would have won, hmph!" She makes an argument and Fubuki counters it. "Put on your clothes. You were in your underwear this whole time." Stating that fact and further humiliating Sentou. She lets go of her. "Let's go, Hentai Princess. We don't want to keep Shin waiting." She coldly teases Sentou.

Winner: Fubuki!

Afterwards they make their destination to where Shin is.

[Raijinslayer]

Akio Tendou

Akio's eyebrow twitched a bit as she noticed that Aoi was using her phone while she was talking, only half paying attention to what she was saying. To say that it irked her was a bit of understatement, as that was one of her bigger pet peeves, though this was her first time experiencing it first hand. Her annoyance only got larger as she saw the reply, a short sentence that pretty much answered the question and managed to radiate Yamato's trademarked brand of dickishness, even if he was nicer about it than Akio had expected.

However, she kept her cool for now, not wanting to drive off her new friend by getting cross with her about such a small detail. Focusing back on Aoi, she found her answer to be what one would generally expect from such a popular and flamboyant person. She couldn't help but nod in agreemen to Aoi's assesment of their piers, at least from what she had observed of them, and giggled at the exaggerated look of melancholy on her face as she spoke.

"Yeah, from what I've seen, the only interesting guy here is Shin, and that's only because he's a top-class pervert and it'd probably be fun to take advantage of that to pull pranks on him." Akio though back to her more active days when she used to try and pull all sorts of pranks on both the people of Konoha and her family. It had been awhile since then, and she could think of a few people in desperate need of some good old fashion pranking. One green-haired asshoke in particular came to mind.

However, before she could ponder it methods of making Yamato's life a little more interesting, Aoi once again through her off her focus, partly because of her smacking the money on the table, mostly due to her calling what they were doing a 'date'. As Akio let herself be dragged around by the nimble little clown girl, her mind was a whirlwind of confusion, nerves, and slight panic over the phrase. She doesn't mean a date-date does she? I thought this was just too friends hanging out. She hasn't done or said anything to give this a romantic feeling . . . I think. No, this is just me jumping to conclusions, just calm down and don't get ahead of yourself. Take today one step at a time.

Aoi's voice brought Akio out of her head as they made their way down the street to their destination, asking her to guess their destination. From what little she actually knew about Aoi, she could hazard what she thought was a pretty solid guess on where they were going.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say either the Don Maquia theater for a performance/tour or the nearby park? If it ain't either of those, I got nothing."

@Savato

[AlteredTundra]

Jaakuna Sawada, Sundance Kid

---

“I should probably go home now. Mom is probably worried as fuck about me, let alone Aisha.”

If there was anything that Jaakuna wanted to do at this very moment, that would be to go home and lay in his bed. However, before he could do that, he knew he would have to explain to his mother where he had been for the past couple of days. The last time she saw him and him her, it was briefly when he got back from his mission. After that, his mother scolded him for getting injured yet again and made him go check himself into the hospital.

Jaakuna had taken a shortcut to go home. He was going through Minato City. It was the fastest and fortunately for him, the most direct route. However, just as Jaakuna would be less than ten miles away from his home, he felt a buzz from within his pocket. He reached in and he received a new text message.

You have been selected to participate in top priority mission. The pay will be of considerable size if successful. Waiting point is behind the great Tenzu Hall, in front of the back exit. Currently the film festival is taking place there. Your client will give you all the details. Good luck.

Fujitora

“The fuck? “ Jaakuna sighed in annoyance. He didn’t want to feel the wrath of his mother even more, but a mission was calling his name. “I’ll just have hear it from her when I get back.” Jaakuna shrugged as he texted Fujitora back.

This was sudden, but whatever. I’m on my way. >.>

Jaakuna

As he changed his direction and went towards the Tenzu Hall, Jaakuna realized he was still ways away from Tenzu Hall. So, he decided that he would make great distance by using the rooftops as means to gain great distance in almost half the time. It worked too as Jaakuna soon found himself in the sight of Tenzu Hall. He both saw and heard all of the yelling and cheering from the Film Festival. Oh how I wish I could go there. Sounds and looks like fun. Plus, hot actresses. Jaakuna sighed as he jumped down the building and avoided sight from all of the multiple people enjoying the festival.

When he went towards the back entrance of the hall, Jaakuna saw two people waiting. One was of green hair and the other of red. “Eyy, Daiki, Keshi!” Jaakuna said waving to his comrads for the mission. “Seems like you two got the same text, huh?” Jaakuna said as he stood near Daiki. “I was hoping to at least get some relaxation before my next mission. I just got out of jail for Christ’s sake.” And there went Jaakuna’s mouth revealing what he should have kept a secret. Oh well.

---

Rin Reikan, Ice Minx; Hana Reikan, Ice Flower

---

“AGAIN!” Hana shouted.
“But mom, this is the tenth time already.” Rin said, complaining.
“DO IT!” Hana’s voice roared with such authority and demand that it shook Rin down to her core.
“Fine,” Rin said angrily, but she did not protest anymore.

As she started weaving hand seals, Rin’s chakra became visible as this was the training exercise that her mother had did with her for the past two days and every other week before that. Her chakra wasn’t as strong as her siblings, but there was it was obvious to anyone that Rin’s chakra was indeed strong for a genin. It had the shade of icy-blue and bits of the air were being chilled to the ground and snowflakes were being formed around Rin’s radius.

“Now do it, Rin!” Hana demanded.

“HERE I GO!” Rin shouted, her chakra suddenly surrounding the snowflakes that had formed around her. The white snowflakes now had a light blue aura of chakra surrounding them. “Ice Release: Snowflake Storm!” Rin shouted, as the chakra surrounding her exploded and the Snowflakes were starting to rapidly spin like wind blades. Rin held them there until the chakra sharpened them.

“SHOOT!” Hana shouted as she stood across from Rin.

Rin heeded what her mother said as she prepared to shoot the snowflakes. She extended both arms outward. Ideally, the snowflakes would go forward. However, something went terribly wrong. Instead of them going forward, all of the snowflakes went all over the back patio striking the trees, some landing in the water, and one even got dug shallowly into Rin’s shoulder. “FUCK!” Rin cursed.

Hana shook her head. “You didn’t focus, did you?” She asked Rin.

“I did too!” She insisted.

“Obviously not enough.” She shook her head again and walked up to Rin, “My dear daughter, you’ll never get stronger if you don’t discipline yourself.”

“I told you that I couldn’t do it. This technique is a high B-rank. I’m not able to do it.” Rin said.

“With that attitude, you’re right.” She said, “your brothers were able to master this technique in five weeks when they were your age and you’ve been at this for almost a full year.” Hana looked at her daughter with a bit of disappointment, but overshadowed by sadness for her daughter.

“Why don’t you or dad get it through your thick head! I’m not like Rex or Yukino. I’m not going to be like them.”

“ENOUGH!” Hana’s voice silenced young Rin, “you are the first female Reikan in three generations to have our Bloodline Trait. Your oldest sister Kagetsu doesn’t have it, nor does your second oldest sister, Yukina. There‘s a lot riding on you, Rin. I‘m pulling for you and your father--”

“My father what? He’s pulling for me too? Don’t make me laugh, Mother. You know he hoped that I was never born. He hates me.” Rin said, but was met with a slap by her mother.

“Don’t you ever say that, you hear me? You know nothing what Luscious feels for you, nothing at all.” Hana said as she walked off, leaving Rin to think about what she just said.

Rin held her cheek, it having a red handprint from Hana. She just watched as her mother went back inside the house. Rin didn’t know what her mother meant by that. All of her life, her father had been nothing but cruel and mean to her. Every chance he got, he would make her feel like she wasn’t worth anything, least of all to him. She always saw that he favored Rex and Yukino. He even treated Kagetsu better than he did Rin. He only showed her affection when Rin did something good, like when she came back from her mission two days ago. He just gave her a few words of approval, but even that wasn’t much. It was for that reason alone that had Rin so confused about what her mother said and she wanted to know what she meant by that.

“She's wrong. I know how father feels about me." Rin said lowly. It was as if she had to reassure herself, as if there was doubt in her mind. She didn't realize it yet, but she didn't know how wrong she had it.

[Savato]

Aoi Don Maquia

---

The two were finally entering the financial district of Konoha, the large skyscrapers depicting the massiveness of the leaf's progress in two centuries of peace. There were many businesses open at this time of the day and the streets were littered with people and vehicles of all sorts. It was generally safe to walk around here with an abundance of surveillance and armed security shinobi patrolling the area, it was no wonder that such a crowded place would paradoxically be one of the safest places in the city. Aoi didn't like this place too much, it made her feel a bit sick with the pollution and all the noise during rush hours, but she only came when events she was really fond of occurred (or for a job).

Akio referenced the Don Maquia theater Aoi herself hasn't gone to in a while, which sparked some ideas in her head. Of course, because she hadn't thought of it, the answer was evidently not it, but she did have an large influx of ideas all of a sudden. Raising her index finger up in the air for dramatic effect, she'd turn around to point it right toward Akio's nose. The tip of Aoi's nail barely poking the tip of Akio's nose.

"Nope! The play is only during the evening~ But that's a great idea! Maybe we could catch the show tonight! Whatcha think?~"

She asked, omitting the fact that she didn't tell Akio as to what they were heading for as of yet. Aoi didn't stop either when she poked her friend's nose, but kept walking in a form of side hop, as silly as it seemed, and didn't mind keeping it up. The more they progressed, the more there would be people condensed into different spots, even on the roads, jamming traffic in the process. They'd quickly catch a glimpse of the Great Tenzu Hall, a typical looking modern building, with large, glass walls at the entrance and a couple of fountains to greet visitors. There'd be lines of people sticking out of the building, though they seemed to be waiting for different thing.

"Heehee, there we go, the Film Festival! I wanna get a couple of things signed by Hayazaki Miyao~"

She'd state as she got closer and closer to the line, and as such, got closer to the masses all eager to get an autograph from their favorite actors and directors. But before Aoi would proceed any further, she'd go into a full halt and turn to face her friend. She finally remembered something Akio had told her beforehand, back at the tent they shared.

"Oh! Can't believe I forgot... Are you okay with this or do you wanna do something else? It's okay if you don't feel well~"

Indeed, she had remembered Akio's lack of ease in such crowded places, and she nearly put her friend in a pretty bad position by not thinking of her. At least the clown's mind was geared to care about others' feelings in order to make herself feel at ease. The little performer beamed at her friend, in hopes to at least cheer her up in a probably highly uncomfortable position for her. At the same time she elaborated a crazy plan on how she could get an autograph without having to deal with these lines. If there was one thing Aoi hated a whole lot, it was endless lines of people streaming for yards upon yards.

---

The Princess

The endless uproar coming from behind the large back door of the massive building was indiscriminate toward the three Chuunin summoned to handle this mission with the utmost care. After five minutes of wait, the three boys would still be waiting for their client, and no signs of her approaching was in the horizon. But eventually, the sound of locks being turned rattled the door before them as it slowly opened to reveal the petite figure known as Miyaka Shuyo. Her green eyes, as always, almost glowed as she gazed at the three individuals she was going to have watching over her during this day. There were two well dressed men behind her, insuring that the protection team of shinobi had indeed arrived.

The young girl, barely looking adult, slowly walked down the small set of step to have her ballet flat shoes touch the dirty concrete of the ally behind the building. She was wearing a typical white dress with only a beige handbag over her left shoulder. A moment of silence occurred as she fixated every single one of them for exactly 17 seconds. There was one missing, a Jonin, a character she wanted more than the rest, especially for what she had planned for her little team. Nonetheless she kept an upbeat and warming smile along with her cute, flawless face to add to the commodity of being able to see such a celebrity up close.

First she looked at Daiki, approaching him and presenting her hand to shake his. She didn't get rid of that warming smile, even if behind it she could hide whatever she wanted. She was the decade's actress after all, it wasn't hard for her to cheat keen observers.

"Hello Mister Naito! Your codename shall be... Red! Isn't that great? We're going to have special codenames, like in those action films."

'Cold eyes and red head, hah as expected of a soulless ginger, the stereotype is confirmed. Fucking loser, I'm pretty sure his clan is just as typical as they say.'

She'd then walk over to Takeshi, presenting her hand as well.

"Mister Hanami! Enchanted. You'll be green, like my hair! Isn't that just so cool that we have the same hair?!"

'Ugh, degenerate parasite. Holy fuck I thought it was a joke when I saw his file but this fucking loser seems to fit the profile. Man I'm lucky this year.'

And finally, she presented Jaakuna with the same greeting as the rest.

"Mister Sawada! It's a pleasure to finally meet a Sawada! Haha! You'll be Yellow, is that good?"

She could barely hold out her eye from twitching when he saw this guy, however, but she managed nonetheless. This time, she needed to hold her breath of her a second to appear inconspicuous as possible.

'Oh. My. God. Is he for fucking real? I thought social fuck ups like this only existed on TV, some stupid teenage girl flick in a movie I'd never associate with. Tattoos at 16? Fucking body exposed for kids to see? NAIL POLISH? What the fuck is this stereotype? Oh God, I've hit jackpot today.'

Miyaka was finally accustomed to her team and now she had to introduce herself. Back up just a little, she bowed to the men, holding the edges of her dress as she did so. Her lady-like salutation would last a couple of seconds before she'd talk again.

"So I'm Miyaka Shuyo! I'm so happy you guys came to help me!" she'd say with both her hands set on her torso to accentuate the care she had for their presence right now. "You can call me Phia during this run, that way nosy people won't swarm you guys. By the way, isn't there supposed to be a woman named Tsukiko around with you all? Your commander assured me she'd be here."

'Damn fucking right, where's my big titted Psycho-bitch? Without an enabler like that, it'll get salty too quick and this'll suck so fucking much. Fucking Hell.'

She looked around the place, hoping to spot the Jonin hidden in a corner. She also expected her current team to have an answer to all this and possibly find Tsukiko for her.

"But it's okay! For now, Green, can you grab my bag please? You'd be a sweetheart! Red, can I sit on your right shoulder, I've been standing up all morning and I didn't sleep much last night, so is that okay? We're headed to Dan Avenue a block away!"

She asked the two men, leaving Jaakuna to possibly find Tsukiko in case she wouldn't be around yet. Deep inside, she was maliciously grinning. She had found the perfect team to mess around with, all the while hiding her dishonest nature for the meantime.

[Crimmy]

Electricity bills ... check. Water ... check. Land tax ... check. Registration fee ... check.

The green-haired chunin scribbled down the last of his payments down into his record book, clicking closed his blue ballpoint with a satisfying tick. All the taxes levied upon him had been successfully been paid, though at the cost of leaving his funds dangerously low, if his ledger was any indication. That period of hospitalisation and rest had been a scourge on his budget, as the lack of mission payments meant that he was working off a minimal amount of money for a decent amount of time, incapable of performing his duties properly and earning more. Still, he had bought his groceries earlier in the week; there wasn't much else he could spend on anyway.

He leaned back into his chair, stretching his arms out to release the built-up tension. It was probably time to deliver his report for his last mission to the Tower. Pulling himself to his feet, Haruka moved to exit his apartment, opening up his window and climbing up onto the rooftop of the complex. It was a common sight to see ninja travel around Konohagakure in such a manner, especially as it was far quicker and convenient than the standard ground travel. There was no need to descend to the earth when all he needed to do was run across the roofs in the general direction of the Hokage Tower.

Its central location was truly convenient.

With a final leap over a chimney in his path, the nineteen year old landed on the Tower, entering through one of the windows that those working inside kept open in case people preferred not to use the doors. It made it far easier for him to get to the mission floor, where ninja of all ages and ranks were swarming about, checking their assignments and in general just planning with their teams on what exactly to do.

"Ueno my man, it's been a long time!"



Haruka's eyes flickered over the source of the noise. Sitting at the mission desk and waving over to him was a girl with long black hair and a rather elaborate brooch. He recognised her immediately, noting the permanent grin plastered onto her face and glowing red eyes. It'd been a few months since they had interacted, but he found himself falling into the usual routine that existed between him and his old genin team.

"Yata," he replied, greeting his former teammate by name as he crossed the floor to the mission desk. "How have you been?"

The girl (special jonin now, if the new flak jacket was any sign) jammed a thumbs-up into his face. "Same old, same old. Setting things on fire, painting trees and flirting with your lil' bro."

What?!

A barely restrained laugh escaped his old teammate. "Man, I'm just joking. I prefer older types, remember? Those rugged, muscular dads ... mmmmmm."

"I'm not particularly keen on hearing about your taste in potential romantic interests again," said Haruka flatly, handing over his mission reports. "The overly gaudy and prosaic speeches from our youth were enough."

"Ah, I've missed having my own personal killjoy," she sighed, shaking her head in a joking manner as she quickly ran her eyes over the report before filing it for further perusal later. "By the way Ueno, a mission came in recently that might be right up your alley. Interested?"

The green-haired chunin shrugged. "I am open to it."

She seemed to brighten considerably, immediately grabbing a nearby manila folder and pushing it into his hands. Haruka didn't know if she was glad to be rid of it, or if there was some other motive behind the overly excited movements his old friend was making. It immediately had him on guard. One could never be too careful around Yata when she was showing signs of being very happy.

"So here's the deal," she said cheerily, leaning her head in closer and lowering her tone to a mock-whisper. "One of the ministers down at the Capital, a bigwig noble, has been receiving assassination threats recently. And by bigwig I mean he's real big. Like, super old money, member of the Honourable Daimyo's inner circle. He's worried for the safety of him and his family, so he's sent this mission down to us."

His curiosity was piqued. A bodyguard mission in the Capital? That was definitely something he was interested in.

"Anyway," she continued, "the mission's looking for three chunin and a genin. If you wanna take it, it's up to you to assemble a team. Don't fail though, this guy's a pretty strong supporter of Konohagakure."

That was a pressure he probably hadn't needed.

"Why me then?" asked the green-haired chunin. "I would expect a mission like this to have been assigned to someone of greater skill than me."

Yata chuckled. "Man you still humble as ever. You'll be fine, and besides, ain't your sis' dream to be part of the entire Capital thing? You doing this will be great for her chances."

Haruka nodded, accepting the folder with quiet thanks. It was good to be reassured by a friend, and there was logic in how he could influence his sibling's own career for the better. Still, it meant that there was no way he was allowed to fail.

"Understood," he said, thinking of who exactly he would recruit for the team. "Thank you, Yata."

"No worries man. I got your back."

He was fortunate to have such support. With one last smile, the green-haired chunin walked away from the mission desk, heading out into the village to search for his team candidates. Two more chunin and a genin. Who would be fitting for the duty? Aoi? No, she was personable but not exactly someone fitting around nobles. Jaakuna? Was he even available for a mission?

Yamato? The trade connections could be useful. Maybe he could bring along the Uzumaki as well; there was prestige in the name and it would make a better impression on their charges. And there was ... Kakiyama, was it? Haruka had not worked with the other ninja much, but a generalist was always good to bring along.

Selections made, he set off further into the village in search of them.

[FallenTrinity]

'Well, I made it here earlier than expected.' He concluded as he approached the historical gates of Konaha. He was a tall man, standing around 6 feet but with the build of a honed ninja, well not as quite. He was still young but he made sure to take care of his body. His white hair lifted naturally with the wind and his blade slightly moving with the breeze on his side. His "mist camo" as he liked to call it swished slightly as he made his way to the gate guard stand. His back and shoulders ached slightly from the long travel so he decided to stop and slide the gear he brought off of him and stretch a bit. Gin was always a man of preparation but he tended to exceed the necessities in the supplies he needed.

'Ok so the trip was supposed to take about 4-5 days but that would be with a full team. Alone should've taken less time which it DID so then why did I bring a weeks worth of food? Eh...No big deal, I'll just see if someone wants the extra supplies just in case.' He thought he studied the bag.

He rested a hand on the butt of his blade and gripped it slightly before relaxing his hands once again. It was his first time in the Village hidden in the Leaves and he did not want to startle any of the leaf's shinobi, not like they would care really. There were some strong ninja in this village just like there was 200 years ago and compared to those ninja in the past that were "threats" he was nothing more than a gnat compared to them. Gin made his way to the guard stand to sign in.

[j8cob]

Shin Maru, Topaz

Before Shin could converse with his uncle much longer the cellphone in his pocket began to ring. "One sec," he told Jugo before pulling it out and answering without looking. "Hello?" Apparently the Hokage himself was calling Shin. How he got the number wasn't the question, but rather why would the Hokage be calling personally? Evidently it was important, because he wanted Shin to gather Sentou and Fubuki, as well as a genin named Rin Reikan, and bring everyone to the Hokage's office for a mission briefing. "You got it, sir," Shin affirmed, allowing Zeno to end the call since he was the boss.

After putting his phone away he looked to his uncle. "That was Zeno himself," Shin explained. "Zeno? Who's that?" "The Hokage." "Oh, it must be important then. You should run along and do whatever he told you." Shin stopped and faced his uncle, crossing his arms over his chest. "You aren't gonna rat me out, right?" "Sure, whatevah. Now go and play ninja. I'll just try to scam some rich idiots in the business district for the next couple o' hours."

After waving goodbye to his crazy uncle, Shin scaled a nearby building and began jumping from rooftop to rooftop. The shinobi way of getting around Konoha, far faster than walking, running, or even driving. First he decided to look for Sentou and Fubuki, but neither were at their homes. I suppose they could be on their way to the Hokage's office, if he called me he probably also called the others. I'll check for the Reikan girl quick-like and head over to the Hokage myself. After traversing the city all the way to the outskirts, Shin came to a stop at the doors of the Reikan mansion. All these other clans have tons of money and cool properties, Shin reflected, holding his fist just in front of the door. All my clan does is kill bad guys and get next to nothing in return. But humility is a good thing. We're respected still, even without boatloads of money. Though I wonder... maybe Uncle Jugo isn't so crazy for selling diamonds... After clearing the thought by shaking his head, Shin gave the door several hard knocks. "Hey! I'm looking for Rin Reikan! Is she home!?"

---

Tsukiko Umene, Honeybadger

Before the woman could enter the grocery store, someone familiar and unwelcome jumped down in front of her. A look of surprise first took Tsukiko's face, followed quickly by annoyance. Why is this kid bothering me on my free time? Does he want his ass ki- His comment on her wardrobe confused her, prompting her to look down and see what she was wearing. Sure, she wasn't in her usual shinobi clothes and lacked her weapons. Do I really look like a school mom? I don't look that old, do I? After shaking the thought away, her look of irritation returned.

"The hell is this?" Tsukiko questioned after he tossed her the scroll, which her instincts had prompted her to catch. "If you couldn't tell by looking, I'm off duty right now." Yamato was less inclined to stay and talk to her, almost immediately turning away and jumping to the rooftop. "You little shit! I should break your fucking legs for this!" Yelling at him was relatively futile, but the venting was healthier as far as Tsukiko was concerned. And the strange looks she got for the display didn't bother her either, so nothing lost. After weighing the scroll in her hand briefly, Tsukiko let out a sigh and continued into the grocery store.

It wasn't until after she left, carrying a paper bag with two gallons of milk, a box of cereal, and the scroll Yamato gave her did she receive the text from Fujitora. Tsukiko didn't like her phone, particularly. She only carried it because Fujitora had demanded in the past she keep it on her at all times for ease of communication. Before he bought her a phone it had been difficult to get a hold of her, at least according to Fujitora. And Ayame. And Zeno. And Tsukiko's own family. With a sigh of irritation, Tsukiko shifted the bag to one arm to take her phone out and read the text. "Pay better be fuckin' good..." she grumbled to herself, now jogging back to her apartment rather than walking at the casual pace.

Several minutes and a wardrobe change later, Tsukiko was in her shinobi gear with both her spear and sword upon her back. She also notably had more makeup on than usual now, probably due to Yamato's rude remarks. It was a brief trip for Tsukiko to cross town to the Great Tenzu Hall. She was running slightly late as she had to go home and prepare rather than go straight there. As such she was the last to arrive, landing outside the back entrance just in time to see some famous-looking young woman bossing around the three chuunin. Considering she was some kind of actress, it made sense that Tsukiko felt she looked familiar. Still she couldn't quite think of what movie she would've seen Miyaka in. "Alright, alright," Tsukiko grumbled, announcing her presence. "Honeybadger's here. Now what're the mission details? Am I just gonna be brutalizing your clingy fans or what?" Her tone and attitude were notably devoid of courtesy and respect. After all, Tsukiko was the older woman. And she was generally a bitch as it was. "What do you need a whole cell for, girl?"

[Raijinslayer]

Akio Tendou

Akio nodded in agreement with Aoi's suggestion, confident she'd be able to enjoy the show even if it was going to be full of people . . . as long as they were in the front seats so that she didn't have to see the crowd. Speaking of, Akio was noticing more and more people crowding the streets, even a few in the roads. The greater number of people made her instinctively walk a bit closer to Aoi, and then she saw what she'd quickly presume to be the reason for all of this, The Great Tenzu Hall. Akio felt her stomach contort into knots as a sneaking suspicion enter her mind. Oh god, please tell me this isn't where we're heading, please, please, please let me be wrong on this.

Sadly, however, that hope was dashed by Aoi's eager exclamation of the Film Festival, and while she hid it behind a slightly weakened smile, Akio was cursing every god she knew about, and even a few she just made up, in her mind a million times over. The crowds were getting really large, and she knew that going into this place was going to be a fucking nightmare. So when Aoi offered up the chance to just skip the whole thing and go somewhere else, her first instinct was to grab the clown girl and high tail it out of there. But she controlled the impulse, took a few calming breaths, then moved forward past Aoi towards the building, a somewhat strained smile on her face as she took the clown girl's hand in her own.

"I'll be fine," she said rather unconvincingly as a cold sweat had broken out over her face, and she'd taken to nervously licking her lips, her eyes flicking all over the place. " . . . okay, I'll last long enough for you to get your autograph at least. So, lets put your plan into action so we can get in there, yeah. Just promise me that after this we'll go to the park in Smalltown, okay?" Akio didn't want to be a burden and have Aoi possibly miss her chance of getting an autograph, plus she was going to have to deal with this fear sooner or later. She always trained by pushing her self to her limits and past them, this was no different . . . at least, that was what she was telling herself a million times in her head as she kept glancing at the all of the people around her. The closer they got to the crowds, the less leading Akio became, and the more she seemed to cling to Aoi. But she kept on a brave face through all of it, hopefully making her friend feel a bit better about the whole thing.

@Savato

[Savato]

Aoi Don Maquia

---

Aoi smiled in delight upon hearing Akio's consent to coming in the large convention taking place despite her admitted fears of big populations. She could only notice Akio getting closer and closer to the clown, to the point where they were practically rubbing against each other, then again with the mass of people concentrated in one point, it'd be impossible not to squeeze into one place. However Aoi could clearly see the distress in Akio's eyes, and in spite of her agreement to get through this, looked more and more uneasy being around here. The harlequin's hand slowly caressed the taller girl's, signaling that she was about to grab a hold of her. This was to reassure her with some affectionate contact but to also prevent them from separating as Aoi started to bulldoze through the masses in order to find a clean opening.

"Stay close Akio! I'm trying to find a weakness in this antagonizing wall of doom!"

She dramatically said to perhaps cheer up her friend who'd be having a really bad time with all these people heating up the place. It was hard to actually find a viable hack through these lines as they were already packed and barely patient enough to wait like anyone else. If they were to cut through, it'd ruin all their chances to get it. But if they actually waited in line, Akio would probably burst from the agonizing idea of sticking around here any longer than they should. Aoi's rusty gears worked tenfold as she tried to figure out just how they could get in without any trouble. And suddenly, illumination.

A mass of goo crept out of her free hand and quickly turned into a carbon copy of the clown. It was a mucus clone, or a Mucus Replica as she'd call them. It would appear unnoticeable within the crowd, making it all the more easy to get around. The clone would manage through the crowd just enough to get out of the main circle before using the transformation qualities of the goo on it in order to take the shame of Miyaka Shuyo who would coincidentally be at the hands of her colleagues right about now. Aoi would inhale a large quantity of air before screaming.

"MIYAKA SHUYO IS SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS AT THE FISH FOUNTAIN!!!! Stick close to me~"

Right after she screamed, she requested Akio to remain close, and that would be because of the mindless populace turning their heads toward the fountain in question, almost in sync, before most of them would rush the actress in hopes of having an autograph from her. Aoi knew very well that it was near impossible to get an autograph from that woman without some special access considering she had the habit of leaving quite early for whatever reason. A line leading to Hayazaki's stand had greatly reduced to the point where Aoi would simply sprint while pulling Akio along with her. She was quick enough to be about nine people away from having her autograph. She squeaked in excitement and turned to face Akio.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAA!!!! He's so cool! I love his movies so much! Oh have you seen his last one erm... Mu's Floating Boat?!"

Aoi was indeed in complete fascination for this director, to the point where she drooled just a little from speaking of the movie she mentioned. Though that'd to be expected from a girl with mucus powers. Though as Akio would finish, something in Aoi's mind troubled her all of a sudden, something she didn't understand too well. If Akio were to send her back a question, she'd answer it, but only with her question being answered first.

"Say... Why are you so scared of people? You're a pretty cool ninja, kicking butt and a pretty girl too! So why so scared of people? I persoally feel safer in crowds~"