Private/Closed Naruto AU: Roleplay

[SageNeb]

Raiku bowed along with Furijia and followed the Hokage to where the prisoners were being kept. Upon arrival he saw a dreadful scene with ANBU lying on the floor unconscious. Tsunade restored the consciousness of one of them and the person was able to mutter out that they had been ambushed. Tsunade had opened the door and Raiku activated his Sharingan, but the only chakra signatures there were of two other unconscious ANBU.

Tsk, what a joke. I knew this is what Orochimaru had come for... The Leaf's defenses are too weak. If all that had kept the prisoners safe were a few ANBU they should've been kept with the Hyuga. However Lady Tsunade seems to be furious by this too, so maybe there will be changes to our system. I can't believe Kiro has been taken..

Raiku scowled and turned away, leaving the area without even saying goodbye to anyone.

Should I report this to Lord Fugaku? No... He'll probably find out soon enough. It's not like the Clan Heads are going to be left in the dark after an attack on the village. I want to attack the Sound back... but we still need to find out where they are. I should get stronger so I could be sent to help...

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

After a bag of snacks hoisted in his shoulder and a pat from his mother, Kou dragged Zaku towards the sounds village. His arms wrapped around his Boss’s as he used them like backback straps, dragging Zaku’s shoes behind him. He was heavy...but dragging him a bit seemed to help with the weight.

“This is gonna be a long trip...”


...........
...........
...........


Friends and foes of varying sides had experienced great change in one way or another. Weather they were the catalyst of said change or had it cast unwillingly onto them, they would each play a vital role in what was to come. Solice in borrowed freedom, reinvigoration in the eyes of deceit, Darkness and light dueling for ownership of the sunrise.

No one knew what was to come. There was a unsettling aura casting the die that would reveal the future. One thing was certain however...

Some things don’t change.



Naruto RP: Arc V: The Final Exams



Knowledge of the next Chunnin exams were delayed, as the five nations had to decide who would host them next. Between mutual distrust following the recent attacks on the leaf and threats on the others, they couldn’t risk for any of them to get a home turf advantage in the event of a betrayal.

Instead, a minor village was selected, the rain village offering itself up to welcome the exams. The five nations agreed, however, this time there was something different. The rain had yet to form any allegiance to any nation or village, and it’s winning in the chunnin exams prior drew attention toward it. There were oppurtunists jumping at the chance to send representatives to go to the exams, quick to get the rain in their corner.

This set off a chain reaction, most nations and villages of standing would be fools to let this go to waste, each village would send a diplomat along with aides to open up talks with the rain village whilst the chunnin exams brought them together.

They weren’t fools however. This event seemed like one that could easily go sour if a certain snake were to crash it. So the sound ninja were banned from entering the exams due to their controversial nature, and the Samurai from the land of iron were contracted to make sure everyone had fair treatment and no attempts would be made on anyone’s life. There was going to be much higher security this year than most others. Eyes were shifting, everyone watching with baited breath to see just what would happen next...

 

[SageNeb]

Above Raiku were the gray skies which blocked out the light of dawn. Droplets of rain patted the black hood over his head as he stepped towards the gates of the Village Hidden in the Rain. With his inky black raiment, the Uchiha blended in with the rain and appeared as a shadowy figure to the guards. The rest of his apparel consisted of a dark, stormy shirt whose sleeves peaked beneath a thick, billowing cloak and matched with sleek black pants, the hems of which were tucked into pitch-black combat boots which laced up to his shins. As he got closer to the gates he appeared more visible to the guards stationed there.

He noticed the look on one guard's face seemed more annoyed at the Leaf Genin's appearance. Raiku looked at him closer and noticed the Rain headband and thought about Azumi. Her speech after winning the previous Exams was quite hostile towards the Five Great Shinobi Countries. He had never really thought about it too much except for feeling bad his nation did something to offend her to that degree. However he supposed that Azumi couldn't have been the only person from the Rain that shared her sentiment.

I wonder how she feels that her village is basically inviting the very countries she hate to come into her nation and fight once more...

Raiku brushed the thought off and went past the guards and into the village, deciding it was unlikely he would meet the kunoichi once more anyways. Most of the Rain village had only recently awoken so it was unsurprising that a lot of places were closed, but Raiku wasn't in the village for sightseeing anyways. He instead headed straight to where the Exams were being held and noticed he was among the first to arrive. After registering he sat down in a seat and began to finally let his mind relax for at least a little while from the constant thinking about the next Exams while he was on the journey to the Rain village.

Instead he decided to finally think about the place he was visiting more than just a place to continue his path as a ninja. Raiku noted that Amegakure was much less livelier than his home. The few people that he saw seemed quite impoverished and not exactly in the most stable situation of their lives. Still he heard rumors that the people of the Rain worshiped their leader as one that brought hope to the village so he assumed the current leader must've helped at least more than the previous one.

Still Raiku for the first time thought about the effects of the past Great Ninja war. For most of his life he had lived in a village whose citizens' livelihoods were not really affected from it. He lived a normal childhood and had all he could ask for. Yet there were countries that were actual battlegrounds and places where destruction was brought upon a nation, whether they were neutral or not. Of course something like that would affect the nation's people unlike the Leaf who had been completely clear of any battles fought in their village.

He thought about the effect Orochimaru's attack had and could barely imagine something like that happening for years on end. He started to understand Azumi's point of view, and her frustration that there had been nobody to help her village. Even more her frustration of the destruction brought upon by it. It was something which caused Raiku to hate the Sound and all of its people as enemies whose death must be brought upon.

What would happen if her dream came true... obviously she would be an enemy to me as well but unlike Orochimaru she's not evil and just another shinobi in this cruel world like me. Would I be able to kill her for it? Of course, but I definitely couldn't hate her for just being used by the current world order...

 

[kyuukestu]

Amegakure — Day of the Chūnin Exams (Hyūga)

The sky was gloomy: pregnant grey clouds had roiled about all morning, releasing their payloads in intermittent bursts. While such desultory weather was commonplace for citizens of the rain, Furījia drew a stark contrast between it and the weather back home. The skies in Konoha were peaceful and temperate: they were a perfect blue, like her favorite blueberry ice cream, and topped with lofty clouds, wind-whipped until they were soft and creamy. Furījia licked her lips and the sweetness of her pale, pink cherried lipstick took the edge off her sweet tooth.

Though she was still a child in many ways, fawning over her favorite sweets and letting her mind wander through, idle, jejune thoughts, the Hyūga heiress appeared a few chords more mature after three months. It wasn't just the gloss of her new lipstick or red lacquered nail-polish, nor was it the preening, aureate phoenix-pin that bound her hair. Individually, they were little more than ostentatious articles; but, when viewed in ensemble and apropos of her mother, the discerning eye could catch the shadow of the Hyūga Matriach in her form. To the casual bystander, the Mother-Daughter pair were simply wearing matching polish and accessories, unaware of the underlying meaning [1].

In the last three months, Furījia had spent an inordinate amount of time with her mother observing, analyzing, and learning. She had truly become her mother's assistant and protege; and, in doing so, had come to glimpse an understanding of the type of leader her mother was, and the ideals for which she stood...


~~~


It had all begun in a towering rage: vociferous and calamitous. Orochimaru's latest assault on the village had left them on the back foot; and, catching wind of sudden aggression sometime during her journey, her mother had returned to the village before the week was out. After a detailed briefing of the situation, including the loss of their sound prisoners and the complete stinting of their fete, her mother had gone on what Furījia could only describe as an unfettered rampage. That day, Hinagiku had leveled almost every single building on the Clan's grounds.

The display of unbridled rage was followed up with a chilling display of acumen. In quick succession, the Azure Dragon and Vermillion Bird faction leaders had been replaced. Hinagiku had elected Kō Hyūga as her successor, a young but prodigious Hyūga who, despite being only 18, was already a rival for Jonin [2], and had replaced Natsu with the Barrier Specialist, Iroha Hyūga. She had then declared the creation of a fifth faction, the central faction, symbolized by the Yellow Dragon and Qilin, and, its members were to be: Hinagiku, Furījia, Shura, Shiho, Natsu, Rakūsupā, and Zino.

The Qilin faction represented the crème de la crème of the Clan's younger generation to which the majority of the Clan's resources and providence would be upon; and, its members were personally trained by Hinagiku as well as the four faction heads. The faction was, in essence, a grooming program for the Clan's most promising. With that in mind, the Qilin faction also ran on very special rules. There were two ways to enter the Qilin: the first, was to pass an exceedingly stringent set of tests, and the second, was by defeating a member of the Qilin faction and taking their spot.

As the Clan reeled from the changes, Hinagiku had immediately set out into the village and, with some fanfare, had lowered her head to make a public apology to the citizens of the village. The Hyūga Clan especially had actively promoted the strength of the village with their festival and had assured the citizens in the strength of the village. Orochimaru's trampling of that notion, not even a full day later, had been a crisp, humiliating slap to the Clan's face.

The Hyūga Matriarch wasted no time converting the belly-full of anger she had into motivation. Her apology had been prompt and immediate, soothing any ire the citizens might have accrued. Her speech didn't end there; instead, she had also revealed her latest 'deconstruction' of the Clan, espousing the Hyūga's decision to share in the burden of the citizens. For as long as the citizens had no proper place to rest their heads, neither would the Hyūga. Finally, she had also declared the Hyūga's intent to start an insurance company. For a moderate monthly commission, the Clan would assume the cost of rebuilding homes and stores in the event of another incident of any sort.

The slew of decisions had been made with such swiftness and decisiveness that the members of the Hyūga Clan themselves could only mutely agree with their matriarch.

It was only after the fact that Hina had explained her actions to her daughter. With the peculiar timing of her departure and Orochimaru's attack, it was only natural that others might want to find fault with her, especially those in the Hyūga's council of elders who'd long had gripes with the way Hinagiku had done away with some of the Clan's old traditions. Her wild rampage was an act of not-so-subtle intimidation and, by presenting her actions to the citizens, gathering rapport and public support, she had soundly censored their opposition.

The Clan returned to their holdings in solemn procession. They gathered in the Grand Hall, one of the few structures left standing, and Hinagiku took her seat. The impromptu clan meeting lasted several hours and allowed the clan members to air their grievances and question the Matriarch's decisions. In the end, it was clear that Hinagiku was using the current turmoil to push the Clan through a round of nirvanic rebirth.

Regardless of her reasons and the logical, practical, or political motives behind them, Furījia had felt her mother's actions were a little too tyrannical. However, even she could not budge her mother's decision, and neither did she have the time for it. Her mother had announced a month's grace period for the members of the Qilin faction. For the first month, their seats were secure and they couldn't be challenged. Afterward, they could be challenged by anyone in their age-groups. They could not decline challenges, but neither could they be repeatedly challenged in quick succession. They could be challenged twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, barring injury or other special circumstances.

However, during that grace period, the clan had entered a period of aggressive hyperactivity. The Clan spent the next few weeks within the month dealing with intra-village affairs. They had liquified all their superfluous assets and the money had immediately gone towards the village. Particularly, they had paid attention to giving financial safety nets to small businesses and services which had been driven to near-bankruptcy by the repeated attacks. In return for this succor, the Hyūga had acquired partial shares in these businesses and collected a percentage of their revenue as reimbursement.

Furījia was a witness to the negotiations, her presence was apart of her mother's 'hands-on' approach to guidance. The people they'd approached had always seemed immensely grateful, but the prior discussions were always fierce: down to the last penny, the tenth of the percentage had been hotly contested. Her mother never walked away from the table at a loss and to Furījia, that seemed...wrong.

She had seen the rubble all those months ago, been under it, as the Chūnin exams arena had collapsed. She had watched weary mourners thereafter, stirring in the depths of their lamentations: lachrymal and distraught. Was it right to profit off these people?

The thought didn't sit right with her: it roiled in her stomach, scrambling the sense of unquestionable pride she'd once taken in her clan. Instead, she felt shame—if not outright disgust. Tremendously disturbed by this, she had confronted her mother about it. The conversation had been...enlightening.


~~~


"What do you think?" Her mother had begun, "Are we war profiteering?"

"Wha—? Hey! Don't flip-flop my question on me!"

Her initial confusion had only amused her mother, and as the younger looked askance at the older, the latter posed another question.

"Who decides where helping ends and profiteering begins?"

"Who...?"

"Yes, Who?"

At that, Furījia paused. The Leaf didn't have designated rules for welfare, nor any widely agreed-upon standard which could be applied. After some thought, the girl relatively responded.

"Well...everyone would answer differently."

"Then who's standard do we go with?"

"..."

Silence reigned as Furījia recognized this line of reasoning was a dead end.

"You're thinking too much, dear. You can't please everyone at every time with every action; but, you'll certainly please no one at no time with no action. Do you remember the first form of Xing Yi Quan? Ming Jin—Clear to see Jin. The Xing Yi Quan is not just a martial art, darling. It's a martial discipline. A way to train not just the body, but also the mind. You still haven't mastered the first form, right?"

Furījia's cheeks reddened as she docilely nodded.

"That's because you're thinking too much. Start simply. To master the first level of the Xing Yi Quan your form must be strong, precise, and clear. That's easily accomplished with due diligence. However, your intention must be the same: strong, clear, and unflinching. When you act, do so first and foremost on your own moral compass. You must give an account to yourself before you can give an account to others."

"So have confidence in your own judgment and wear your heart on your sleeve. Do it now, while the danger is smaller, the consequences less severe. Make your mistakes while those mistakes are less likely to kill you and then learn from them. Even if you poke a hole in the sky, I'll be there to patch it up."

The heiress was silent as her mother's words sunk in and, along with them, a sense of comfort. After a moment, she eeked out.

"S-so...what does that have to do with my original question?" Her cheeks burned brighter, not drawing the immediate connection between all her mother's words.

"Ahaha. It's simple: I know my intentions and they don't include extorting to people, so why should I care for the speculations of others? Those merchants are, naturally, free to go after they've paid us back and likewise, they can continue to benefit from our aid if they choose to do so; but, this is a charity meant to help those who temporarily can't help themselves. It is not a means to indulge indolence."

Furījia's lips pursed. She understood the rationale. The Hyūga certainly couldn't gift money to everyone that came begging, it would encourage dependency and eventually decadence. Her mother's actions were simply 'give & take', Yin & Yang: a simple law of nature. It was now that the heiress had come to realize that knowing a fact and accepting it as truth were two different things. She understood and believed in the principles at play—at least, she thought she did—but evidently that did not equate to immediate application.


~~~


The conversation with her mother had, if nothing else, given Furījia direction for her training.

In pursuit of Clear Jin, the heiress took to training with a different approach. She took her mother's advice and begun working on thinking less. She loosened up, getting in-tune with her 'inner nature': no over-complication, no stress, no worries. That wasn't to say she didn't still stress over her worries but rather, that she no longer allowed them to preoccupy her mind.

The first month passed in the blink of an eye. Days spent training with her mother as village and clan settled into a new normalcy. The second and third months had shown Furījia just how much the clan had settled into its new normal. With the 'grace period' expired, the heiress found herself fending off challenges on the daily. With the Qilin division put on a clear pedestal, its members had become walking targets to the rest of the clan, the centers of its highly competitive system. Exhausting couldn't even begin to describe it.

The pressure had almost been too much for the girl. In fact, during the second month, she had even cracked, her anxiety and foe besting her. It was the most horrific day of her life. She had failed. She had slinked back to her mother in hysterics but after searching the older woman's eyes, had failed to find the disappointment she had so convinced herself would be present. As it turned out, her failure was not the end of all things as she'd once thought.

After wetting her mother's lap with tears and other...unmentionables, Furījia had looked up to find Hinagiku enigmatically smiling down at her.

"So...when are you going to get your spot back?"

The heiress hadn't immediately responded to that. She hadn't even comprehended the question. Her expression had been one of utter bafflement until a tender pinch of her wet cheeks had broken her stupor.

That day a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. It was the most terrific day of her life.



~~~

Furījia still remembered the words her mother had spoken after, they had constantly echoed in her mind, a warm solace from the dark place from whence her anxieties came.

"Victory doesn't make you and defeat doesn't break you."

Her soft mutters were garbled as the rain began anew, prompting the small convoy to pull out of the rain and into the hotel they planned to stay in for the duration of the chūnin exams.

"Did you say something darling?"

'Eeeep', Furījia startled at her mother's sudden vocalization, her cheeks already flushing as her eyes darted for an excuse.

"U-um, I was just admiring the decorations. Did you see them? The paper lanterns and origami decorations. Do you think it's an Amegakure tradition? Oh! Maybe there's a festival going on! Do you think they have blue-berry ice cream?"

Awkwardness and embarrassment were swiftly replaced by wide-eyed wonder. This was the first time Furījia had visited another village, and the heiress was more than curious, something that was rather apparent by the way her eyes darted around, inspecting everything from the steely buildings, to pious passersby.

"Ahaha, yes, they were some rather interesting decorations but," Her mother paused, pulling her cheeks, "you should head over to the exam center first, I'll book us in."

"Yes, Mother."

The girl cupped her hands and bowed slightly, her actions professing obedience, but the underlying listlessness beneath betraying her barely-diminished intrigue. Eager to sate that curiosity, Furījia was quick to scamped off to the exam center. The registration process went by in a trice, the proctor spending a few moments to scan her headband, which she had redesigned into a silver side comb.

Now registered, Furījia looked around the examination room and noticed a gloomy-looking kid bearing the leaf ensign. It appeared they were the first people to arrive. A soft grin split the girl's lips as she skipped over and slide right into the seat across from the boy...girl...? It was hard to tell.

She considered talking to the person since they came from the same village, but they seemed rather intent on...brooding. He was probably an Uchiha. When 5 minutes had passed and nothing else had occurred, Furījia picked herself off and promptly departed the examination center. She stepped into the rain, her expression bright in contrast to the gloomy weather. Why stay cooped up in there?

"I've got a whole village to explore!"

Spoiler: Footnotes

Footnotes

[1] Red Nail Polish is a symbol of nobility in Ancient China and the phoenix symbolized feminine power and, most notably, the Empress. Furījia nail polish and especially the hair-pin are symbols, cementation, of her status as the designed heiress to the Hyūga Clan.

The hair-pin itself is golden and embedded with blue jewels. Each jewel is in-turn embossed with the Hyūga Clan's insignia.

[2] Kō Hyūga is a canon character. Age 20 and rank Jonin as of part II. Since this is two years earlier than Shippuden I've set him to 18 and left his strength a bit vaguer.
View attachment 833317

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

The trek to the examination center had been rather exhausting; well, to be honest, it had been filled with boredom that outweighed the weariness of the journey by the time Senji arrived. Having no one with whom he could converse to fill the deafening silence and nothing he could do to distract himself from the bland scenery around him (his fault for opting against the scenic route), Senji approached the front doors of the center, drained more mentally than physically.

Such a dull, long journey, however, had given the Genin ample time to reflect on events prior. The Sound attack on his Clan had taken him completely by surprise, and despite the minor damages done amidst all the chaos, the ordeal seemed to rub a stinging feeling of incompetency in Senji's face. Aside from the festival a while back, Senji hadn't done much to establish himself as a member of the Clan (truth be told, he still hadn't done much even during the festival), and having been so overwhelmed by the sudden assault from Orochimaru and the escape of all of their Sound prisoners, his status among fellow clanmates hadn't improved by much, provided it hadn't decreased.

Determined to serve his Clan to the best of his ability, Senji had taken the time between the attack and the Chunin Exams to increase the intensity of his training tenfold. As such, a main thought that occasionally occupied his mind during the walk to the examination center was the resolute intent to pass and prove himself.

Registration for the exam had progressed without a hitch, and just as he got ready to proceed to the holding area, wavy, jet-black hair ever so slightly brushed against the side of his face as a familiar, young girl with bright, cyan eyes skipped passed him, clearly in a chipper mood as she seemingly exclaimed something to herself. Another boy Senji hadn't been able to recognize as Raiku had been sitting in the holding area, clearly deep in angst thought, and something in his mind warned him against disrupting the "stranger".

Turning to follow the girl outside the center, Senji struggled to piece together the girl's identity. She looked familiar, most likely from the festival, and it had taken him a while to finally come to a conclusion before calling her name to get her attention and waving, all the while praying his premonition was correct. A small but friendly smile pulled at the corners of his lips as he greeted who he thought it was, his other hand shoved into his haori pocket.

"Uh, Furījia Hyuga, is it? I don't know whether or not you remember me, but I'm Senji Yoshida; we met for a short while during the festival, but we didn't talk much afterward... It's nice to see you again."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Many ninja flicked toward the open gray gates of the rain, if you could even call them gates. Approaching the exam halls, many ninjas of many different background stuck their necks out to gain a shiny new title. One of chunnin. So many ninjas...or as one would say...

“So many Xenos...”

Kai muttered under the cover of a densely packed patch of foliage. He had no need to rush to get involved with a thick crowd of animals. Last time he had Kiro here to pass the time and analyze the crowd...but THAT wasn’t possible now was it? It was all the fault of his father...perhaps it was glad he was off for a while.

Nothing he tried would get his book to discover any new pages. Blood, tears, nothing. He had the book with him just in case he was able to figure it out in his spare time. Knowing how long the break was when he was unconscious last time...he could need it.

“Tsuki should be here any time now as well...perhaps then I’d go inside.”


.......



“I see you’ve gotten quite acquainted to your new room.”

Orochimaru stood in the doorway, looking at his new arrival with a hungry gaze. Rittsu stood in the center of the room, the room that was previously Kin’s, as the Tōki dummy remained in the corner of the room. Orochimaru chuckled fondly over his new guest.

“You are looking more at home here, not so much as uneasy as you were those months ago. Heheh...Kabuto seems to admire that. He wants me to prioritize you over my precious Kiro. Tell me, Should he be saying that? Speak your mind.”

Orochimaru tested her, looking into her eyes with his sharp yellow ones.



.......


*shhhhhh.....kushhhhhhhhh...*

Reaver along with the rest of their group had made it back to the rain after a long journey. Reaver was quick to race to his home, hiding in a cloak he had picked up along the way to disguise himself. It didn’t take long for him to introduce the drug back into his system. It slowly got a hold on the small warrior. Reaver, today, donning his precious model pipe suit watched the ninja coming in, his eyes widening as if he was seeing a delicious meal. His breathing was heavy as the frame of his suit watched on from a broken hole in a building.

Supposedly, it wouldn’t look good for the rain for him to participate in the exams knowing his...intense habits. So it was with their best interests to keep him at bay for now. He would survive, even though he wouldn’t crush these genin. Azumi on the other hand...he laughed at the thought. Big nations in her village must be sending her in a rage...!

 

[kyuukestu]

"Um...it's nice to see you too!"

She didn't remember him in the slightest. Furījia laughed awkwardly, stealing glances at Senji's face while her eyes roamed the metallic city behind him. It wasn't her fault though. She'd been going through a lot at that time: she'd been overseeing parts of the festival and going through an internal crisis and then the village got attacked and...how was she supposed to remember a guy she met for a couple of seconds? Then—it occurred to her. "Oh...the Sharingan would be good for that!"

She off-handedly muttered, her mind, tainted with curiosity, swiftly leading her astray, "The Inuzuka would be good at that too...but would they recognize people by sight or...by scent? They don't actually sniff people's butts...do they?"

Furījia's brow knotted in disconcertment, question after question generated but without a single answer in sight. She would have to ask her mother.

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
It'd been a while since the FBS master had departed his home village of Konohagakure. After several grueling hours of walking, Taiyo could finally see the site of this year's Chunin Exams, Amegakure, on the horizon.

"Funny how they've chosen the home village of the previous winner as the site for the current exams," As the Leaf-nin chuckled, he couldn't help but feel a growing sense of nostalgia within himself. In a way, the Chunin exams was where everything started, the usage of FBS, the loss of his organic arms and gaining puppet arms all contributed massively to the way Taiyo went about his life.

"Wonder how things would've turned out if I hadn't used Flashing Burst Style when it wasn't fully stabilized..." Due to the nature of this topic, the fiery shinobi couldn't help being somewhat wistful. As he began the train of thought induced by the feelings of regret that he held, Taiyo remembered the words of his mother that was said before he departed for the exams.

"Taiyo...make sure you come home in one piece, okay. I don't want to see my boy hurt like he was 6 months ago,"

While her words gave the Leaf-nin a greater sense of guilt over his actions, they also allowed the Leaf-nin to steel his resolve in response.

"I've grown since that day, and now, I'm gonna come out on top in these exams..." With renewed determination, Taiyo continued his voyage to the exam gate to get himself registered. As he walked to the gate, he couldn't help but notice the dismal conditions that were present. So far, he had seen a decent amount of homeless people and violence on the streets.

Wish I could help them out...

Well, you've got places to be so that's not happening. Besides, donating a little bit of money or saving a victim won't fix their lives nor will it fix the fact that this place sucks.

I guess you're right, but do you have to be that harsh about it?

Don't blame me for stating the facts.

Once he reached the exam halls, the fiery shinobi wasted no time in getting registered for the exams. After the registration was completed, all that he had left to do was wait until the supervisors began the exams. Considering that he had nothing better to do, Taiyo looked for people he recognized to strike conversation with. The first person he noticed was Furījia, but there was someone else already trying to talk to her, causing him to look for someone else. Fortunately, the second person he noticed from his home village was none other than Raiku Uchiha, who seemed to be deep in thought. Still, the Leaf-nin decided to approach his friend to see if he could possibly engage in conversation with him.

"Hey Raiku," Taiyo opened with a friendly grin residing on his face, "Is now a good time to talk?"
Tsuki
At long last, it was time for the Chunin exams. Half of a year ago, Tsuki came as a spectator, but now the former pacifist was throwing her proverbial hat into the ring as a competitor for the title of Chunin. Despite Hama's training, the Yuki-nin trembled with every step as she made her way to the site of the exams. On her walk, she found herself enamored by the paper lanterns that were located around the streets of the village.

Well, I guess every place has it celebrations, the lanterns are just a little odd for a place like this...

Regardless, the Yuki-nin continued her voyage despite the somewhat distracting lanterns that were scattered around the village. Eventually, the icy kunoichi found herself at the entrance to her destination, where she noticed her friend Kai was also outside.

"Hey Kai," Although she was trying to be composed in front of her con, her tone betrayed her, "Could you help me get registered..? Please?" A part of Tsuki questioned why the Yuki Prince would choose to wait outside instead of getting himself registered, but she wasn't going to turn down the opportunity to have someone guide her.

This will be easier with Kai around. I hope I don't disappoint Hama-sensei, she'd give me a thorough lecture if I did...
Seiun
Unbeknownst to Seiun, more people than just him had intentions to go to Amegakure. However, the exam takers would have an easy time walking into the village, whereas the rogue shinobi would likely be killed on sight for returning to the village he once deserted. Despite the fact that his venture seemed like a suicide mission, the former Ame-nin was determined to return to the village hidden in the rain and reclaim his family's mansion. Thankfully, he had all the time in the world to plan thanks to the fact that most of the world would be laser-focused on the exams and the results that they would inevitably produce.

B.O.S.E.C, I need a way into the village that will ensure that I don't get caught or killed on sight. Do you have any ideas?

 

[SageNeb]

Raiku had been lost in thought and was brought back to reality when a person passed by him and sat nearby. He looked a bit closer and realized that the person in question had been Furijia, the young heiress to the Hyuga clan of the Leaf.

Kind of surprised that she's here already... maybe she would've been fashionably late or something... Should I say something? No, she'll probably find out who I am and talk to me... if she doesn't then that's fine, too.

A few minutes had gone by and the Leaf kunoichi left without saying a word and headed outside, presumably to explore.

I guess my new outfit made it hard to see who I was... that's good.

Soon a lot more people came in from different villages. One of the people coming in he noticed was Senji, an acquaintance from the festival. Raiku considered talking to him but he was already talking with Furijia.

I think they were together at one point but I don't know if they actually directly talked...

Soon came the person Raiku knew most out of all the examinees. Of course he out of everyone would be the one to finally speak to him. Raiku was fine being left to himself, but he was mostly paying attention to people's reactions to him out of curiosity. He supposed it would be rude to ignore his friend who had greeted him.

"Hello, Taiyo. Nice to see you made it here easily. I'm not really doing anything besides waiting around so I'd be fine with that."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Kai perked up upon his name being spoken. Turning around, he spotted Tsuki behind him, asking about if he could help register her. Blinking behind his mask, Kai knew he had to oblige...after all, what would he be if he didn’t help a mist ninja in need? There goes the plans of avoiding Xeno contact...

“Alright...I will help. Glad to see you’ve made it In time Tsuki.” Kai started standing up, about to walk In to the public. “Just take the Book of Xenos to heart. A Xeno will lie and will cheat, they will do anything in their power to manipulate us, don’t trust any of them you see.”

The situation greatly reflected how he and Kiro, two mist ninja bravely walked to the exam building. Kiro’s face flashed in his brain as he shook it, trying to keep his head in the game. Walking on the bridge and keeping tsuki close by his side, he made sure to distance himself from breathing in any Xeno air, fearing he may somehow get infected by it.


......


“͊̈́̉͋̀̓̃̈́B̃̒ͪͦͩ͊̂̚ǘt̑̃ͨ ̓ͧ̀̿ͨ̀ͤ͛yͫ̓oͨ̽̒͛͐̉̌ͭu̔ͬ́ͪͤ̒ͯ ̾̋̊ͩ̃n͂eͤ͋̈ͬ̋ͬ͋eͨ̈̈̆dͤ̇̚ ̂ͬ̎͊̈͒ͤo͛̉̌̈́͋n̈́ͦl̉͆y̋ͧͬ̇ ̋ͯ̇̽̔̚aͫͫ̅s̈́ͬ͛͊̌̓ͧ̉k̀́͊̋̔͆̾͆̉.͌̇͗ͨͩ”͗̋

B.O.S.E.C. Glitched back into existence, the A.I. Appearing in front of it’s host.

“̌ͭ̉Y̒̊o͌̐ͮu͐ͫ͗̀̆ͧ̊ͩ̉ ͬ̌ͤͤ̽͛ͦ͐s̿̊̏͐͒̈́ͯͪe̒ͨ̐͒̊̓̚eͩͧ̂ͪ̾̊,̇̅͛͆̒̔ ͯy͑ŏ̆̓ͦ̀̉̚ȕ̽̾͆ͫͧ̀̐ ̆ͣ͗̋m̈́͐̅a͂ͤ̃̃̏̿y̾ͭ̐̆͊ ͆ḧ̈́̒a͒ͣ̌̏v̿̆ͩͤ̈̇̌eͥͫ̆͊ ͣ̄͒̂̌͛͑̿h͗̒ͭͫ̍ͤ͂̇ẽ̓̄͒a̓ͨrͫ͌dͨͨ ̏̏͋̆oͥ̈́͒ͧ̽̄͌͛ͧḟ̒ͮ͗̽͆͛ͩͭ ͪ͂̑̋͑͋͌t͒̾ͤ͑̅̒hͨ̐̉ͯ̌ͪȋ̏̇̒́̃̔̾sͨͤ͒ͪ ̄ͨ͛̀̊̊ͧ̈j̓̍ͣͣͩͩuͣͬͮ̏̀ͧ̚s̎̄ͫ͊̑t̀̎ͬủ̎̾ͥ͗̄͐.͑ͤ͆ ̍ͫͬT͌ͫ̉̍͑ͤrͫ̄̄̃͛a̐͛ͣn͗̃͛̋͋ͣs̐̉ͬf͊̓ͮͫ͗ͥͯo̒̏ͩ͗̌̑͑ͨr̾͒̽͛ͤͫmͪ̈aͬ̍̏t͋̽̌̊͐̓ͮ̍̓ì͌ͦ͌̊oͨ̽̆͗̔́̓nͥ͆̇ ́ͨ̌J͌́͛ͩ̌u͆̾͑̿ͫ͋s̑ͤͨ̓ͯ̿̂t̾ͨͭ̀̈̚uͩ͒̈.̽̀ ̐̂͐͆Y̍́͋̆̐o͂́̎uͧͤͤ ͣ̐ͬͦͤ͋ͪ̽ͣsͫͨ̇̋̀͐ͥ̎hͪ̔̎ͥ̍ͬͧ̍ͮoͩ͋͑uͮ̓ͯͦ̀͋̚l̅̀̃̑̄͒ͨď͋͒̀ ͥͭb͒͐ͩ̈́eͦ̿ͮͣ ̅ͭ̔ͩͮͬ̍ͬ̚a͐bͪ̓͗l̈́̏eͥͣ͒̽̏̈́ ͛̅ͧ̃̐̅tͨ̏o̍ͤ ̑̍ͬͭ̚ḋ̅͒ͭiͮ̐͑ͨ̋s͑ͧ̑̚gͪu̾̓̀i͐͊ͤ̿͒͒̃ͦs̒̍̾ȅ͐̆ͥ̿̊ ͒ͩͮ̉ͭ̚y͆̋̎̏̍o̽̐ͭ͂̃̉͆̏u̒͆̀̾ͧ̊ͤr̐̉̀͗̇š̚e͆ͤl͗ͩͮͥͯͬf̆ ͗ͬ̋ä̅̅͂̓̚s̎̾ ̀ͪ̍̔͒̏͗̔a͋́ͤ̆̌n̒̅ͫ̽̅͊y͑̋͂̅͊oͮ̒n͛͒ͮe͗̈́̆͊̂̇͐͗̒ ̿͆ͬ͗ͬͭͬ͑ỷ̔̍͂o͛͗̑ͭͩͣ͊̌̉uͣͭͣͮ̽ ͯ͆͗̏̄ͯd̐ͭô̓̊ͭ̈́ ̐ͮ̌ͫ̔ͥ̔̊͆ćͩh͊́̆ͣ̐̆o̿̊́̄͌ͣ̂oͨ̓ͭsͯͨ̅e̅ͨ.̄ ͒͊́̆

The A.I. Suddenly changed into a yellow color, pretending it was ‘transformed’. It then flashed several dozen meters ahead, swaying it’s ‘hips’ or where the hips would be.


“W̃̆͆̓̎ͨ̓a̔͐̿́̓̐̋̚ĺͮͭͭͪͭͩkͮ̆ͮ̇̀̓̓ ͆͋p͑̀͋̈́ͥ̽aͦ̎̐ͪͭͦ̚s̒͒̈͌̉ͣt̀͐͂ ́ͬ͆̎̇͒̈̐tͪ͂̒ͮ̈́͗̃͛̎ĥͦ̔ͮ̉́͂̀eͬͭ͛ͩ ̅̓ͭ͗̽̎̽g̋̒̐͗ͨ̏̑̆uͭ̍̔̚ȁr̆͛̄̽̓ͮͭd̏ͥͫ͊̔ͫͪ͐ͮsͧ̊̓̎͌ͭ ͯͩͤ̄l̿̊ͣ́̾̉͒̄i̿͛͌̉̅͊͒kͥ̏͑ͨ̓̐e͑̉̃̉ͮ̿͒ ͆̽yͣͬ̔̃ͣ̈ͨͦó͐̌u̐ͫ̉ͧ̎͛̋̉ ͋̊̽̔ͪͦ̒̄Bͮ̎ͧ̑͊ͥ̓ͩeͤ̐̎ͧͣlͭ̐̍ͬ̉̾ͮͧó̒͋ń̄̒͗̈̔g̉̈́͆̑̄̓̽́ ͥ͋̈́͋ͥ̂̌̌̇hͥ͊͌̌ͦ͛̿̇e͊ͧ͑ͮ̃̏ͮr͒ͪ̓̈̈́̽eͧ͛̑ͪ̈́ͨ́̋̊”

Then he transformed into a large purple arrow, arching from the end of the bridge pointing all the way to where his house used to be.


“T͛ͩ͒h͛̈eͩ͑n̓ͮͪ̿̍ ͐͋̐w͆ͬ̒̇̋̍ͫë́̎͆̏ͩ m̂̿ǒͤͬ̚z͛̿̓y͛ͬͬ ̈́̃̀̑̋ͨ̂oͪ̍͆̓ͬ̍u͛ͨ̔r͑̿͂͆̾̐ͥ ͧ͊̌̓̚̚w̓ͨ́̓a͊̌̽̈́y̿̊́̾ ̋̿ͦ͑ͦ̓̃ŏ̿ͤͩ̐̌̄v̿̌͛ͬ̎͗̑e̊͒ͧ̽̏rͦ ͦͦ̊̇̂t̀̿̈ͩo̐ͭ̂̊ͭ̒ ̽͛̈́̓ͮͣ̂th̿ͨ͌̆̆̅̾a̎̆ͫ̂tͯ͑́̓͌͊ ̆ͥ̂ͣͪ̈̉p̄̌͊͐͛͂r̒ͥͫẽͨ̆ͮ͑̅͆c͆̄ͮ͒̓̚ȋō̆̀̄̒̚u̾ͤ̆̿ͮ͑s ̑̂͆̈́ͪͩmaͪͭ̍ͯ̏n͂ͨ̒̔͐̓̋sͣ͑̆̍̉i̊ͬo̿ͧ̌̈̍̉n͗ ̒̏ͦ͂oͫ̆fͧ̇ͧ̐ ̀͂̚y͌̔̈́̏͑̔͊o͒u͋r͐ͪͨ̈́s̄ͤ̏ͯ.ͨͬ̽͛̎̏ͫ”̂̒͐̓ͮ̚

He then glitched back to normal, appearing by Seiun’s front. His crescent smile seemed pleased by his display.

“̓̅ͯ͂͊I̎̈́ͧ͂t̊̓ͯ̌ͤ’̒̌̇͆̑ͩs̓͑ͩ̾ f̒̿̔̿oͮͥ̉̅ͥo̒̊̎̽̚lp͊̋r͊ͯͣõͩ̽ͨͦo̐ͯ̒̃͑͆f̃̊̆̒̑.̓̓̋”

Making rustic handsigns to show Seiun what the combination for transformation was, he awaited his master’s response.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Senji nodded, a smile still present on his face. Her sudden burst of voiced thought had taken him aback, and his confusion only grew at the mention of "sniffing butts", which he had barely been able to overhear. Shrugging to himself, the boy chuckled softly before waving to Furījia.

"Well, I'll leave you to whatever you were planning on doing and head back to the center. See ya around."

With that, Senji turned and made his way back to the building, both hands shoved into his pockets this time. He followed the sparse line of Genin back through the doors he had entered not too long ago. The holding area had been substantially more full as more applicants trickled in, and after finding a vacant seat not in too close proximity to others, he began to lean back and relax. After a brief scan of those around him, Senji noticed the boy—who conspicuously seemed to be trying to dress inconspicuously—conversing quietly with the Genin next to him.

Opting to keep to himself for now, Senji took his attention away from the applicants around him and closed his eyes, sinking into meditation and tuning out the noise filling his surroundings.

 

[kyuukestu]

Amegakure — Day of the Chunin Exams (Nadeshiko)

"So...this is Amegakure." Sagisō stepped through the gates of the Rain village, one of five viragos, excluding Baiyan, who'd made the trip. "It's so..."

"Gloomy?"

"Ugly?"

"...wet."

It was only to be expected of The Village Hidden in Rain, but the sheer overabundance of sky-water caused the girl to frown on account of her clothing.

"This is gonna get mud in my furs." She grumbled, her elder sisters giggling behind her as she led them forward.

The Skillful Star's latest wardrobe make-over was her wildest yet. She wore single-toothed geta slippers whose bindings wrapped over a set of sleek, black step-foot leggings: crafted from snakeskin and exposing the skin of her inner thighs. Her shins were covered with fur, slick with water, and revealing the slight bulk of something strapped to her legs. A sash encircled around her waist, laced into a bow on her left side with its streamers handing from her opposite side. Her stomach was bare, and at a glance, one would notice the unruly growth of inked-vines across her sides, which bloomed across her back, into an orchard of Orchids and Hydrangea. The frith crept beneath her clothing, appearing to cover her back, arms, and legs, the artwork vivid and exquisite, leaves and vines rustling and writhing, flowers in mid-bloom, as if alive, to the ripple of her muscles. The tattoos were partially concealed by the sarashi which tightly bound her chest and, slightly dampened by the rain, revealed dark, silken coils of her hair, which the girl had fashioned into a make-shift bra beneath the bandages. Another set of fur wrappings covered her forearms, strikingly similar to the wrappings around her legs, also slicked to the point of revealing a slight bulkiness beneath them. Slightly above the sarashi, dangling above the valley of her cleavage, was a necklace fitted with antler-fragments. The necklaces matched all-too-well with her boney hat; it fangs and feline features making it out to be some variant of sabertooth, and to the back of which was attached a large cloak of billowing white feathers. The way in which water sluiced off her feathery shawl suggested to the astute of mind, that the plumage came from a type of waterfowl, and the very familiar would identify them as egret feathers. Perhaps the only article the girl wore that hadn't changed was her skin-tight gloves, but closer inspection would reveal a faded silver star imprinted across its dorsal side.

The group split up as the ventured deeper into the village, Sagisō led Koki'o to the Chūnin Examination center, while the other two went to find lodgings. The Nadeshiko-raised Hyūga was only slightly surprised to find her sister dilly-dallying in front of the center and shot the latter a look that made her flush with embarrassment. However, Sagisō was more than pleased to note that Furījia was wearing a necklace that matched her own, the paired set had been Sagisō Christmas gift to the latter, and it held a special promise.

"You shouldn't wander around Jia-mei, the exams will start soon."

"Are you taking the exams too, Jiejie?"

Sagisō raised an eyebrow at her sister's question. The girl seemed to fidget around either nervously or excitedly, which made her chuckle.

"No, but I'll be watching you in the finals."

"Ah...Mmn!"

She tousled the younger girl's hair, then looked around the room and clicked her tongue, muttering almost inaudible.

"Azumi isn't here yet...? Tsk, though she would've been the first one..."

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
Thankfully, Raiku was open to converse with Taiyo, otherwise the FBS master would've been put in a less-than-ideal situation. Now came the task of selecting a conversation starter, but the Leaf-nin didn't need to ruminate for long to determine a good one.

"I see you've changed up your look, and I gotta say, I'm a fan," The fiery shinobi wasted no time in complimenting the Uchiha's update in appearance, mainly because it was the most noticable difference between this meeting and their last meeting. Unlike his friend, Taiyo made no such change to his outfit, or at least not one that deserved to be commented on. This was largely due to the fact that he found little value in clothing, which made him content with owning a collection of vastly similar outfits. Of course, one compliment wouldn't be enough to carry an entire conversation, so Taiyo decided to ask a question to progress the discussion.

"Did you do anything special to prepare for the exams?"
Tsuki
The Yuki-nin was greatly pleased when she heard that Kai was gladdened by her presence, finally being able to experience the joy of having someone look forward to arrival. As a cherry on top, Tsuki was able to receive assistance from Kai in getting registered with minimal protest. As the two were traversing to the exam hall, the icy kunoici noticed the amount of effort that her friend was taking in order distance himself from the Xenos. While it has always been one of Kai's more defining traits, it was only now that Tsuki began to feel a modicum of concern for the Yuki Prince's case of xenophobia.

It's almost as if he doesn't even want to breathe the same air as people that aren't from Kiri. Where did he get this behavior from..?
Seiun
Once again, B.O.S.E.C was quick to prove his usefulness to Seiun through the introduction of transformation jutsu. The rogue shinobi was vaguely familiar with the technique prior to this conversation, but he wasn't very familiar with the hand seals, with his only usage of it being within distant memory. Although the AI lacked the hands to make a one-to-one recreation of the handseals, Seiun was able to discern what seals B.O.S.E.C was attempting to imitate.

"Alright, here it goes," With no further hesitation, the former Ame-nin began his attempt at the jutsu. Fortunately, the handseals were simple, allowing Seiun to transform with ease. The appearance he took was that of a brown haired, green eyed, tan adolescent. His outfit changed to that of a white sweater with beige jeans. To complete his disguise, atop his forehead was a proctector bearing the symbol of a Kumo shinobi. Now that he was suitably equiped, Seiun could finally make his way back to his rightful home.

Let's see how this goes...

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Kai had made it toward the main examination building with a Tsuki. Quarters became tighter as more and more ninja seemed to have pooped up around it, socializing and scouting the competition. That’s when he noticed something, or rather someone.

Raiku, as well as that weird puppet ninja he met were both present here. Kai growled to himself inside his mask. Why did it always have to be him? Not wanting to interact with him, he dove behind a cover of people, getting to the sign up area inside, getting behind a few sand ninja as he waited in line.

“Tch...the spell is putrid...”


.....


“͑ͥ̀̒̇̈̇Ẽͮͥ̚x͊ͮ̍̏̃̄̉c̈͐̾ͦ̅ͥ̋͊eͯͥl̾̋ͬ̑ͣ̀ͣl̈́ͤ̋̈́e͆ͣ̇̌ͦͪ̈n̽̓t̅͋̀̉ ͯ̂́̇d̽͆iͣsͭ͆̅̄̚ġͩu͑̆ͧḯ̇ͯs̈͗ͩ̾̔eͫͪͦ̓͐ͦ ̽̉̇ͯͤ̚m̃͑ͬ̍͆̓ͬ̇̓a̓͆̿̃̒ͮs̽̅t̓̾̇̃ͩͣͪͭeͤ͋ͥr͛̃͆,ͥͨͩ ̽̀ͩͧ̾̉ͩ̚nͬ̉̽̒͑̿̔ͩö́͆ͧ͑̚w̄̉ͦ ̍ͮ̑̈̚t́̏ͮͣͦͭͭ̾h͒͛̅̔́̎̓͊̽i͋̋͛̉̚sͩͭͦ̉̽ͪ͐ͦ ͆n͑ͪͣͨ̀͐ȇ́̑ͮ̑ͫ̅x̂ͧͨͪͩ̈t͗͊̉̍ͮ ͫpͮ̒aͤ͗̿ͮͫ̐̎̂rͪ͊͊̆͐ͧͭť ̊s̎͑͂̈́̋͑hͦ̈́͊̽̌̃ͭ̋̽öͯ̓́͐ͦ̈́̀̊u͑͆ͥ́ͨ͊l̔ͧ̑͂̒ͩ͗d̓̈ ̎ͦ̏̈̌cͪͭͩ̃ͬͨ͌ō̿m̎̎e̿ͤ̄̓̊̄̂ͪ ̌̎̾ñ̾͌̎͌̈̓ͫaͬtͭ̒̽̋̊̌̈́̄͐u̎̑̂rͦͦ̉̓̔̄̚a̿̽̈ͧ̅̓l̒ͧ͑ͤ͊l͌̒̅̒͛ͬ̑̃y̾̌̓͊ ̉ͫtͦ̈̀̆͛͊öͧͪ̾̆̍͊ ̎͋̂͊ͦ͌ͮyͩ̋͆ͫ̋̍̆ͯȍ̓̉̒ͬ̓ͧ͛ùͭ̅.͌̊ͤ̂ͦ̆ ̓̓̀͒̈́̏̓͒Lͤͩ̅̄e̒̌ͯ̑ͭ̆ͬͥ̂ẗ́ͥ̋̍̐̍͌’ͨ͒ͦs̽͛̋ ̌̈́ͯͣ̈́̋d̆ͮͭ̄ͤ̀ǒ̅͐̇ ̄s͌ȍ͂ͫ̍m̿̽̈́̀̋e̿̚ ̂ͣ͂̂͗̏͊ͩd̾̔̆̈͑͂e̾ͤͬͭͪc̔̅e̔ͪ̆̇iͧ̂͌̚v̆̑̈́̄͐̿͂i̓͂́ͦ͛ͭn̽͗ͨ͛̎̍̃ͩ͊g̽̅͆͑̏̈!̈ͧ̋́͌ͣ̒”̾̽̅̾ͪ

B.O.S.E.C. Then glitched back into Seiun’s subconscious, watching though his eyes to see just how he would go about this.


....


“Bo.”

Suddenly, Senji was nudged by a rather peculiar figure sitting next to them. A runt of a boy...man? With a an almost doll like fancy with rosy cheeks and a stature that was not bigger than three feet tall. Dressed in a black trench coat that hat all sorts of diamond shaped colors in the interior of it whilst also donning a Beret.

This person’s Beady eyes stared at Senji intensely, not even as much as blinking.

 

[kyuukestu]

Amegakure — Day of the Chūnin Exams (Mist)

The weather was pleasant: clouds darkened the sky, the ground was sodden and everything in between was varying levels of wet. It was perfect. Without an umbrella or even so much as a cloak, she glided: her steps soundless, leaving the puddles below entirely undisturbed. She truly was a water fairy and her very presence seemed ephemeral; but, though she moved with languor, she had a clear purpose. She wasn't here to play ninja—she had a mission.

The waters around her shifted: each step absorbed a puddle and, each drop that fell on her skin sunk right to the bone. When she arrived at the Chūnin exams registration center, she was no longer. Stocky and well-built, the person who entered the exams Center was a young man whose headband was nowhere to be seen. He registered discretely, and then, seemingly at random, took a seat across from Taiyo and Raiku. He glanced upward, noticing their headbands.

"Oh, you're from Konoha, right?"

 

[Godjacob]

One would think there's be solitude in returning home, that there'd be peace after her months of travel across the land in her quest to cement her team's place with a successful job under her belt. However tenuous it had to get those desired results. An unexpected arrival back in Taki had timed well with her state as a familiar face she had not expected to see again greeted her while her they stayed for Reaver's recovery.

Spoiler: Azumi's Flashback

Azumi had been on the outskirts of the border town, mostly to clear her mind. Really since her talk with Baiyan she had felt much of her anger fade though her confliction remained no matter how she tried to work past it. One thing was clear she had to make a decision as it concerned how to approach Reaver from here forward. That previous convo with his him had gone...shockingly well, for their standards but she could not count on that to be the norm as is.

No she'd have to ensure compliance from here on out. And she would succeed, that much had been certain.

But as she walked along the outskirts of the town, a few figures in the distance caught her attention. She had half a mind to scatter and scout them, unsure if they had been tourist or something else. But as she passed a scan to them one figure seemed to catch her figure among the group which caused her to pause her action.

Was that, Sagiso?​

Azumi shook her head, now had not been the moment to dwindle on memories of mere months ago, this matter had consumed her focus. No, this was the matter of the arrivals to her village which caused whatever feeling of peace she might have had back home to be cast aside for feelings of paranoia and well ill content. Ever since it had been announced that Ame would host the Chunin Exams the village and its residents had been left a bit perplexed. It was the first time for as long as the exams recorded history could mention that a nation not part of the literal "Big 5" had paid host to the ceremony.

In most circumstances, one would feel honored to make history for such an honor but Ame had a rather grim history with the superpowers of the world paying their home a visit and well time may heal all wounds but not enough time had nearly passed for it to fully close. Still, much as Azumi had been loyal to her "god" much of Ame had been that and more and trusted his judgement on this matter. And while some in particular older residents held this feeling of tension on their throats they'd try to welcome these young visitors with hospitality expected of them by their divine ruler.

Azumi though, she had been a much harder voice to sway.

Azumi grit her teeth as she watched from her perched position on a nearby roof the would be Chunin as each entered with aspirations of ascentsion. Some faces had been familiar, others less so but that mattered little to her. The fact that these nations, after filling entire graveyards of their people in the name of their petty power struggles had been welcomed to her home with open arms like nothing happened made her sick to her stomach. To turn a blind eye to the injustices of their fathers and forefathers made her feel the dead had been insulted, but surely her beloved god had not such ill intent as that with this? There was that confliction that lingered on from the Reaver dilemma as she shook her head. She was an example, the Ame shinning star of her generation who represented success in the wake of the iron grip the great nations had in all other areas. She needed to be stronger than this and not sit and scowl like a disgruntled stalker.

Azumi would pass one look at the gate before she left, she had been requested to come to the opening ceremony at the exam hall. For what reason eluded her but she had a duty and soon enough began to hop roofs on her way over to the destination.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

"Bo."

At the startling sound of a voice right next to him, Senji whipped his head to find himself staring directly at a dwarfish man dressed in a rather flamboyant trench coat. The sudden appearance of the individual beside him had been more than enough to disconcert him, and after regaining his composure, Senji returned the stare with his own gaze, nodding in greeting.

"Uh... nice to meet you. I'm Senji."

'Bo..? Strange way to greet someone, isn't it?' the boy thought to himself, his mind swirling with confusion as to who this person was; he did look familiar, maybe a face from the festival a while back, but Senji still found it difficult to place a finger on his name. However, despite his brief episode of surprise, he quickly recovered and now met the intense look maintained by the boy before him, even outstretching his hand to shake.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Senji stretched out his hand to the figure, waiting for a shake...that never came. Instead, Bobo stared into Senji’s eyes, cocking his head ever so slightly to the left. The seemingly painted blush on their cheeks and never changing expression gave nothing away to what they could possibly be thinking.

Bobo appeared to be tapping his foot...on a floor that wasn’t there. He seemed to levitating inches over his chair seat, like he was a specter of some sort.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Continuing to stare at the individual before him, Senji blinked a couple of times, his arm extended, before retracting it after nearly thirty seconds of silence and giving a short nod.

"...Okay, then."

As he let his arm drop to his side, Senji's eyes wandered until they caught movement of the stout-looking boy's foot. It shook as if tapping against the floor a few inches below, and that was also when Senji saw the space between the boy and the seat. Ah. He's levitating. Giving Bobo one final nod, he returned his attention to the front, relaxing in his chair and closing his eyes once again.

 

[SageNeb]

Raiku gave a small smile to the compliment, though it would be hard to tell due to his mask. It wasn't anything that mattered to much to him but any compliment should be treated with gratitude in Raiku's opinion or else it would be disrespectful. As long as the compliment had good intentions behind it, of course. He gave a nod at Taiyo's question before answering him.

"Thank you, and yes I indeed have. In fact my current clothing is one of the preparations as it is supposed to make me harder to notice and for people to try to figure out my abilities. I suppose my biggest preparations was simply my training... I've learned some jutsu and gotten better at others which hopefully will make me better at completing the exams... How about you, Taiyo? What training have you done?"

 

[Godjacob]

Spoiler: Madoka's Flashback

Madoka had spent the months of preparations mostly by the border. She had kept up regular training, working on perfecting her wind style to not be so reliant on her puppets and add a dimension to her craft. In fact, she had began to experiment with working in her wind style through her puppets, as like all young puppet masters she began to see the only limit to what could be done with them lied in her own imagination.

But more importantly, she gained a peace of mind and greater clarity. It was the first time she had a prolonged period with someone her own age and it felt...nice, not to mention she gained much insight into this tension between her own people and Iwa and really caused her to think over what she wanted out of this ninja path. And really seeing this divide between her people and the nation one of her close friends caused her to perhaps consider a world where maybe they had a more well...a more tranquil existence with the other.

Peace between the lands seemed like a foolhardy goal, one Madoka would have dismissed a mere year ago. And yet the passion the likes of Tomiko had rubbed off on her..maybe chasing something impossible had merit to it nonsensical as it was. Perhaps it gave a goal to reach, something to strive for and be the best you could be regardless of it you could accomplish it someday.

Whatever would have come out of this, Madoka came away from it a stronger ninja...and now, perhaps one that had a drive to become even better.

Madoka soon arrived in the gloomy rain village, having dawned her usual attire though with one notable difference. Rather than one object in white tape wrapped onto her back, it seemed to form a cross instead as there had been more luggage to carry as it had been though it seemed to not hinder her pace as she walked past the gates. These exams offered her the platform to see just how far she had come from what she once was; coming close to the finals but hitting a roadblock in Zaku that had made her realize her gap between the elite of her generation.

Anything short of the Chunin Rank here had been deemed unacceptable now.

Madoka entered and out of the corner of her eye she barley made out a blur that seemed to buzz on a roof. She had no way to know just what or who that had been, if anything at all as she shrugged it off and headed towards the exam hall as she had no idea what to expect in the Land of the Rain but she felt prepared for anything that could happen.

Which given how the last exams back in the Land of Fire went, had said a lot.

----------

Spoiler: Sakura's Flashback

After the chaotic mess that had been the second Oto-invasion, to say the Leaf had been in a period of instability would have put that far too kindly than it deserved. But as has defined their village, the people found the strength to press on and move forward as the spirited rebuilding process aimed to mask the scars of destruction away. But no repair could shake the reality that enemies had the capacity to threaten them at will and the threat to their way of life was very real.

Sakura needed to do her part to help, to get strong as she could be. And the exams provided just the added motivation she needed to do just that. Naturally during the months she honed her growing talents in Genjutsu, having had personal sessions with Kakashi when he happened to be in the village. Her sensei's wisdom and Sharingan eye had been very helpful in these areas, to the point where she swallowed his well taste in literate during these sessions.

Naturally she worked to expand her own "Flora Release" as she had grown to call it; working to make more out of it than sharp projectiles, making a few combinations and discovering the power that had been there to build from by forging the petals together to make all sorts of inventive tools. And there had been ideas with this style that extended beyond attacks...

Sakura also, in spite of the...divided opinion about her, had great admiration for Lady Tsunade and sought her wisdom. Sakura had been a top academic from her class and already had experience with healing so the tutorials of healing came easy enough to her. It was a far cry from what the Sannin could do but it was an edge that could least help her if need be for the exams.

One thing regardless of what aspect of her training became clear was effort, Sakura had been driven to redeem her last performance in the exams and sought to claim that next level.

Sakura walked through the main gates, her pink hair flowed in the gloomy wind as she scanned the civilians around them. Some of them seemed nervous, others perhaps a bit too interested as she none the less walked through. If history class was anything than these people likely still held old wounds close to heart, so she just had to be on her best behavior.

As Sakura advanced to the scheduled exam hall, other faces familiar and new to the scene arrived as well. From the Clan heirs in Ino, Aki and Takato to the curious hybrid in Zino to simply aspiring nin of other nations the exams promised a field of quality competition; it would be far from easy for anyone to make claim to the title Chunin here.

 

[kyuukestu]

Amegakure — Day of the Chūnin Exams (Sunagakure)

Yasu swept the water from his shadowy feathers: slicking the droplets into the muddle below. He was a silent specter in the rain, trailing behind the forlorn figure of his friend, lost in thought, perhaps memories, as she plodded through the drizzle. She hadn't spoken a word, which wasn't that strange for the oft less-than-vocal puppeteer, but Yasu could sense the weight behind this silence. It held a certain gravitas; it pulled him along and he swept forward, a soft, firm pat attracted to the puppeteer's shoulder.

"Come on, let's get signed up."

 

[SageNeb]

A short girl with a Sand headband rode upon her camel into the Rain village which gave a rather interesting look. The rugged, gritty theme of the of the mount and its rider contrasted the metallic, industrial feel of Amegakure. Nonetheless Sema continued moving along quietly with a hood mostly for protecting her hair from the rain until she reached the gates. At that point the Suna kunoichi left her mount and did hand seals causing her summon to disappear. She continued along to the exam hall until she found two fellow Sand ninja. She dropped her neutral facial expression and replaced them a grin as she cheerfully walked in front of them and waved.

"Hiya there! Weren't you guys part of the mission to get the tailed beast a few months ago? We didn't really talk that much did back then, huh. You guys seem to know each other, I haven't met any other Sand ninja and am feeling a bit bored. Wanna talk before the exams start?"

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
The Leaf-nin was not only satisfied with Raiku's answer, it made him think higher of his friend for it. Of course, the Uchiha had turned the question back onto Taiyo, but before he could, he noticed a strange newcomer had taken a seat across from both of them to ask if they were from Konoha.

Strange question to ask, considering he could just get his answer if he looked hard enough.

Not wanting to spend too much time on answering this stranger's question in comparison to Raiku, the FBS master simply pointed at the symbol of his forehead and gave a little nod to communicate that he was from Konohagakure. After he did that, he turned to back to Raiku to give him the answer he asked for.

"That's pretty smart Raiku, kinda wish I thought of it myself," Taiyo chuckled as he once again complimented his friend's attire, this time for its practical combat application, "I did a good deal of training myself, mainly perfecting my signature jutsu, although I have added some new ones to my arsenal to diversify myself," In truth, Taiyo desired to be more specific with his friend, but the fact that a person of questionable character was watching, it would've be best for him to be concise but vague.
Tsuki
As Tsuki went to get in line for registration, she noticed how there seemed to be more shinobi around her and Kai, much to the evident discomfort of the latter. Unlike her peer, the Yuki-nin made no real effort to dodge the other shinobi. In fact, she even waved to a few of the shinobi she saw as she passed by, two of them being Taiyo and Raiku. Eventually, she had caught up to Kai's position in the line and got behind him.

Wonder how long this will take...

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Don’t fraternize with the Xenos...” Kai spat. “They are a bad influence.”

Begrudgingly getting himself and Tsuki signed up, he huffed, moving on toward the exam hall, carefully and discreetly washing off his seat with a flick of water he had in a canteen. He twitched as he took a seat, not exactly comfortable in this room, breathing all this air as the Xenos...it was almost insulting.

He did however wonder if the rumors of Hyo coming were correct. It would be nice for another mist ninja to be here. He didn’t know her that well, but maybe in time he would. He could use someone to distract from all of this sensory overload.

.......


Reaver ejected a tank out of his suit in his repair garage. The tank was mostly empty, holding a dark blue solution inside. The tank was tied into a series of tubes that flowed directly into injectors in his body. It was his drug capsule.

As he reached for a canister to fill it up, he hesitated. Standing in silence for a few seconds, he elected to grab a cup of water, pouring it into the capsule first to dilute the solution. After sufficiently diluted, he filled out the tank and placed it back into the slot, the drug reinvigorating him.

it may not have been the most efficient thing to do, but it did feel right somehow. As if something compelled him to do so. Growling as the drug fueled him back up, he stood, popping some bones in his neck.

“Ah, a Warrior’s Brew!” He remarked. “I need only finish the Reaver-06 and then I’d be Stronger than ever! HAHAHA!!!”

the new reaver suit he was referring was suspended in the air in his shop. Seemed like only the arms and legs were finished yet, the chassis frame currently on his work table. The same hands that he had used in his trip to take down Scrappa were firmly attached to the end of the new suit model. This new suit...it would surely be the beginning of a new Era!

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

The skillful star had been extremely attentive, scanning the crowd for interesting cases and familiar faces. The Nadeshiko squadron had arrived in the rain with an agenda and, in service of that, had come well-equipped with an array of gadgets, gifts, and other paraphernalia.

Sagisō licked her lips; her fingers traced the sealing-script embossed along her forearms. One of the items she was carrying was a bottle of『Worry-Free without a Care』, the Rat Star's Yellow Rank: ambrosiac spirits, brewed over the course of a week. The Wine was as potent as it was delicious; but, it's true worth lied in its effects on the body. A single dosage would loosen the body, inducing a state of lucid drunkenness that allowed a person to draw upon more chakra than their body would usually allow. In a short period of time, the body could only use up so much chakra so quickly. Sagisō didn't know how it was for others, but with her ability to expel chakra from all her chakra points at once, she could burn through up to 15% of her chakra reverses in an instant. A sip of『Worry-Free without a Care』had allowed her to push that limit into the 20s.

The skillful star pulled her saber-toothed helm over her face, glowing eyes peering through the boney sockets. She spotted another masked individual slinking through the crowd—Kai—diving behind Suna-branded passel and making every effort to...hide? Behind him was, rather shockingly, a girl. She seemed nice and demure; a good, well-meaning girl of right and proper upbringing.

"Oh, you can do better than that, hun...he is so below your paygrade."

With his insufferable personality, Sagisō had imagined the only people who could put up with Kai were members of his own family. Lo and behold, she had been wrong.

Though, as she gazed at the coupling couple, looking closer, Sagisō began to notice a few things just before they dipped out of view. The bottom edges of their clothes were caked with mud; unsurprising by itself as Amegakure was, so far, nothing short of one big, wet, mud-hole. However, it wasn't the mud itself that had caught Sagisō's attention, it was the things the mud had caked onto their clothes that had attracted her attention— leaves.

If it were in any other part of the world Sagisō wouldn't have batted an eye but in Amegakure? That was something else entirely. Amegakure was a city almost definitely by its eco(un)friendliness. Steel pipes channeled who-knows-what all throughout the village, which itself was a city of steel and gloom, without even a hint of greenery. Even outside the village, only the dark, dreary hues of mud and rock could be seen next to the large lake the village sat beside. There wasn't a forest, grove, or grassland for miles save for a single, out-of-place bush planted near the villages gates. Some failed attempt at re-forestation, surely.

It was strange enough that a single shinobi would be dithering within a bush but two of them?

Sagisō activated her Byakugan, her vision trailing after the duo as they entered the exam hall far ahead of time. She noticed the hitch in Kai's breathing: the occasional huff or puff as if breathing was some kind of labor. Whatever he had been doing, it appeared to have exhausted him. The girl didn't appear nearly as discomforted, but nonetheless, the Yuki Prince kept her close abreast, unnaturally so, and with such spiteful zeal. He appeared to chastise her for greetings made towards a pair of boys, slightly familiar, but whose names she couldn't put her lips on—nor did she really care to.

Was that...jealousy, possessiveness?

It was a hard read with Kai and, had she not known him better, Sagisō would've thought it was his hyperactive xenophobia at work. She dismissed that idea because he'd not been nearly as intense the last time they'd met. She quite clearly remembered he'd even been among the crowds watching the finals of the Chūnin exams.

Sagisō thought back to her own entrance into the village. Their squadron had passed Kai's bush on their way in and, while it certainly had been shaking in a preternaturally suspicious way, one which was certainly not just the wind and rain, Sagisō hadn't paid much attention to it. Had the girl been with him in there? Were they the cause of that curious shaking?

The expression on Sagisō's face slowly shifted as she pieced together the pieces of her puzzle. The couple had been lurking in the bushes, engaged in some unnamed activity, the conclusion of which was evidently more strenuous on the male than the female, and considering the way Kai jealously kept her away from other males...

The number of conclusions that could be drawn from this was woefully foe; but, surely even Kai was not so brazen?

On second thought, the boy had been brazen enough to sneak into the Hyūga Clan and then boldly threaten her. She wouldn't put it past him, maybe he truly thought he could get away with such acts in broad daylight.

Sagisō folder her arms and withdrew her gaze. The last thing she'd seen was the image of Kai dutifully cleaning his seat for purposes yet unknown. As the Byakugan deactivated Sagisō furrowed her brow, she had noted that the girl's chakra was similar to Kai's and she possessed the Ice Release kekkei genkai. In fact, her ice release seemed even purer than Kai's. That final notation seemed to fit everything in place. Sagisō was fully aware that some Clans would mandate such pairings to preserve their bloodline, and it only made sense that Kai, as their heir, would be subject to such intentional coupling, but...

"Whatever, and I was starting to think we were weird for using bushes to f—"

"Roulan! She's here, it's Azumi."

 

[Godjacob]

Spoiler: Kenji's Flashback

Kenji never forgot that flashy smirk on Aisha's face as they made their entrance in the mountain pass with Taji. In hindsight, Kenji likely should have taken that as a sign that he should approach this with caution or even seek out other training measures, but his decision to put trust in Aisha had won that day in spite of his instincts screaming something had been wrong.

Needless to say he needed to trust his instincts more.

First and foremost Aisha outlined this would be a survival trip in the mountains, with enough supplies packed to do them well for weeks and as Aisha put it "natural" options to enjoy if need be. Course, Kenji had to carry all of said supplies in a large oversized bag as part of this training, but the real pain came when Aisha requested he walked over to her and hold out his wrists.

"What some new fashion accessory or something?" Kenji said with a touch of sarcasm.

"Oh, something like that. Let's just say it's a good way to expand one's chakra reserves and bring it to the next level. Worked wonders for Sky & Luna to help hone their chakra learning." Aisha said with a toothy, almost foxy grin.

Kenji had an eyebrow raised at this, but before he had a chance to think it over Aisha performed a series of hand signs and produced what seemed to be a line of chakra that first formed cuffs around the wrists and then the ankles. Both of which Kenji struggled in as the top heavy backpack caused him to flop over on his side.

"Gah! T-the...the hell is...what did you do!?" Kenji cursed as he struggled but the cuffs seemed glued to his skin as he could not break free and seemed stuck in place. He struggled on the ground, the weight of the overstuffed backpack only added to the struggle as Aisha crouched down while Luna & Sky eyed it curiously.

"Oh just a little something I like to call Chakra Cuffs. These babies will help increase your chakra reserves, but in order to make use of that one needs to produce a constant conscious chakra flow in a cycle through the body if you want to move. Think of it as expanding your chakra muscles as the cuffs will cut off the core chakra you use and make you maximize what is left over to do even the most basic of actions. But as you do get used to it, the more the cuffs will loosen till it gets to a point you forget they are even on. And once you then manage to snap them off..." Aisha said as she shifted to a lecture mode though that had been cut off by Kenji's grumbles.

"Oh yeah that seems right, make me use chakra in a constant flow and cut me from under my legs at the same time. Yeah great help for this survival training of yours!" Kenji spat as he rolled about...something again made hard by the cuffs and the backpack on hand as Aisha rolled her eyes cuttin the straps of it and picking up the backpack with one hand as Kenji remained on the dirt.

"Hey, you told me before you desired only to get as strong as you can before the exams right? This will help, course, if you think these cuffs are too much and want to call it off we can put the training wheels on and find something more on your level for training." Aisha mused with only a touch of playfulness as Kenji eyed her with a glare. And before Taji even had a chance to offer a hand Kenji began to crawl on the ground bound by the cuffs with a grumble.

"I'll see you both are camp..." Kenji muttered, driven now by good ole spite. If AIsha thought he had no way to overcome this well he'd show her heck he'd show them all! Aisha masked a content grin as she carried the supplies and followed Kenji to their camp spot with Aisha, Luna & Taji in toe.

And so the weeks and months went. And the daily routine of food catching, water gathering and general day to day survival tied hand to hand with training with Kenji; which early on consisted of Luna or Sky in their man beast forms just pounding on Kenji as the cuffs proved to be a notable handicap. But in spite of it, to Kenji's credit he kept getting up ready for more...having learned how to "hop" on his bound feet to least help roll off the ground now.

And that had been a signs of things to come, as gradually, Kenji began to grow more and more used to it. His cycling began to find its consistent pattern with its limited chakra; to the point he was able to pull the cuffs further apart and get more movement of his ankles and wrists. To the point where Taijutsu spars became true spars and not just beat on a ragdoll, and soon he began to perry the blows of the clone wolves and progress was made.

But with more progress came greater struggles, as once Kenji had a capacity to he had been tasked with fetching all the supplies, and working on tree climbing as well as sessions with her where Aisha took it just another notch which even roasted his shirt at one point. Made even worse when she discovered a cave that had a mini waterfall where Aisha thought would be great if Kenji tried some chakra control meditation right under it.

"Mmmmmppfpfffff!!!"

Needless to say early on with the cuffs it resulted in near drowning experiences, though Aisha had been there to help fish him out. This only caused Kenji's irritation to grow. Oh if they ended up matching up the exams he intended to pay her back with interest, that was if he had survived long enough to make it there.

But, he pressed on. With a determination that even Aisha had not expected out of him, Kenji took each trial in stride and eventually as his cuffs further loosened and he found more of a peaceful flow to his body & chakra those previous experiences the spars with Aisha and the meditation under the waterfall became closer to second nature. One moment when Kenji countered a mid-air claw strike with a chain and slammed Aisha into the wall of the mountain had been enough to sell her as now the true crux of this training had come.

If Kenji had been one to become a Thunder Wolf, then he needed a partner of his own. And on a stormy night, Kenji stood face to face with the most infamous of them as the one-eyed wolf glared at him as man and beast locked eyes. Aisha watched with a nervous Taji but this was a matter they could not interfere in. Kenji needed to gain the wolf's support and form this contract on his own.

Lightning flashed, slamming the rocky floor between them, as both pounced on impulse...

As Kenji and Aisha arrived to the village gate, the latter seemed quite calm. His months of hell showed no ill effect now, and he seemed tranquil enough with Aisha and her companions as it were. To the untrained eye, seemed typical as can be though if one had the fortune of the Byakugan they would notice those cuffs had still been on Kenji, but he had gotten so loose in them by this point that they no longer had any noticeable limit to his movement.

Something Aisha had pride in, as she scanned the gates with a toothy smirk.

"So, my first crack at the exams. Should be fun, how do you feel?" Aisha asked Kenji as the latter merely had a sly smirk and walked forward as he glanced behind to his party.

"Well, you won't get the authentic exam expeirnece just standing here will you. Now come on, I'd hate to keep people waiting." Kenji said with a wink, as a show of confidence surged through him even without anything having been needed to be further said. Not perhaps the hot headed ego he had once in the old exams, or the poor man's cool guy he had characterized himself as.

But true confidence, a true belief he had what it took this time to make the most of his chance. This caused Aisha to smile, and she followed suit with her two wolves towards the exam sign up area.

Unknown to them, another Kumo aid had already been in the area. Rika, as the latter had tried to keep a low profile. She had one goal only through this, get that rank of Chunin and nothing else. So she'd avoid socializing if she had a chance to.

----------

Spoiler: Tomiko's Flashback

The ride through the desert had been fun, an experience that her crew would cherish forever more and one Tomiko herself would never forget, but with the Chunin Exams mere months away that had been her central focus. After her emotional roller caster during the exams ended in humiliating if not near crippling disappointment she had every incentive to give it 120% this time and make up for her personal letdown.

Not this time, this time she would show everyone what she had been all about. That Chunin title was hers for the taking and she aimed to seize it!

First and foremost, she had to improve on areas she was weak in. Her issue in the exams was that she was a tank that lacked ammo, being able to take a hit but not dish it out in kind. So Tomiko needed to upgrade her offense; the Terra Armor was a nice first step, offered a general guard and variety of hard hitting close range blows and with a bit of projectile spike experimentation among others she began to add dimensions to this little pet project of hers. A pet project that had taken a unique experiment when she began mixing it with her limited & experimental Gaia Release...

Course, during her training she had done more than just polish one new technique which in it of itself was an experiment, as she worked to expand her offense with new Earth Release techniques. Quakes, avalanches, spiked projectiles, boulder tosses whatever else she could think of as she wanted to put a hurting on the opponent not just be everyone's punching bag. But it was not just new moves, but also learning to play to her strength. With her seismic sense, and use of the Earth, she had no way to keep pace with the speedsters like Kiro...so why even try. Rather play the field to your benefit, something she picked up from Mori's mother as with the help of Ren she began to work on ways to alter the field so that she could best keep one in her line of attack or slow the enemy down rather than try to match speed as his speed made an ideal training partner. Even if they had their...spats.

"Tomiko, it's past midnight. Can't we call it?"

"Did we or did we not agree to keep going until I managed to tag you three times correct? And you were cool with that?"

"W-well yeah but..."

"BUT NOTHING! The night is young Ren now let's go I still plenty in the tank!"

"....I need to learn to not come off as literal to her..."

But Tomiko had not been one to push her friends harder than herself, as during her sessions with Ren and in truth for months on end Tomiko had dawned some new fashion pieces that worked to improve aspects of her physical side; a vest she wore over her body, and a pair of boots and leather gloves to compliment her signature gauntlets. All of which was weighted, which Tomiko had to admit had been a bit of a pain to get used to; not helped by a questionable decision to keep these on at all times. Even as she slept...

"Aw, another bright and shiny day. Time to kick ass and get some good work in waaaaa!"

Crash!

"Tomiko are you okay!?"

...which yeah, Tomiko perhaps had gone a little over the top in, but the results gradually paid off. As she got more used to the arrangement, she began to throw punches with closer & closer to usual speed, kicks with closer to the usual rate and soon enough the weighted items almost became second nature to the Iwa-Genin. And this would help not only make her strikes stronger, and allow her to carry a literal more weight on her shoulders, but improve her speed for greater evasion which all worked to make her a heavy with some jets if need be. She'd be no speedster, but she would not be left in the dust if it all worked well enough.

Woosh!

The streets of Amegakure were filled with aspiring hopefuls for the Chunin Exams, but a blur dashed past the entrance as one figure seemed to have an extra pep to their step.

Woosh!

From the streets to the local rooftops, an object moved fast as it could as it jumped from building to building and seemed to move with single minded purpose. Moving close and closer towards the Exam entry facility.

Woosh!

But rather than the main area, this blur raced up to the top of the building before it landed and stopped long enough to get a clear visual. This blur proved to be Tomiko, who flashed a sharp grin to herself as she stood tall on the entrant building and glanced down to those who have yet to enter and those who were arriving to the area in general as she placed her gloved hands on her hips and had taken a deep breath.

"ALRIGHT! Listen and listen well, cause it doesn't matter who you are or how many you are none of you are stopping me from becoming a Chunin! So get this through your heads I don't intend to anyone and if any of you got a problem with that you can take it up with me...Tomiko Usagi the next Tsuchikage!"

Tomiko gave a passionate speech, practically screaming to the heavens before she jumped down with a thud to the ground as she seemed quite pleased with herself as she brushed the tip of her nose with an index finger.

Kenji watched this unfold and chuckled to himself, while Aisha and Rika in the back looked on a bit more stupefied expressions. Something that had been shared by the likes of Ino & Aki while Takato merely had an annoyed scowl. Oh joy, miss personality from Iwa is here.

Sakura herself had a sweat drop as Madoka saw this with a smile, happy to see her friend had returned to the events, and as Azumi arrived in kind she just caught the tail end from an adjacent building and sighed out.

Oh great, most of that group is here...

 

[Fire Mana]

Aku made his way through the winding streets of Amegakure with a more-than-slightly-discontent scowl across his face. Despite trying his absolute hardest to use the towering metal buildings to avoid some of the rain, he was completely drenched by the time he had gotten half way to his destination, let alone all the way to the site of the exams.

"Some damn trip this has been... I probably look like a drowned rat."

It was the fiery Genin's first time this far from his village, and the change in climate had hit him harder than he was expecting. He knew from past travels that the cold air and soaked clothes that came with rain had been one of his least favorite experiences in life, but nothing could have prepared him for the constant downpour prevalent in the Hidden Rain. Although, now that he thought about it... the name probably should have, at the very least, warned him about it.

Still, he couldn't help but look forward to the remainder of his time in the Hidden Rain. It was the Chunin exams after all, and if there was any way for him to make up for the time he lost it would be passing these exams on his first try. He knew most Genin required multiple attempts to succeed and graduate to their next rank, but he needed this title now. He didn't have the time to waste retrying these exams every time they were open.

This building the participants are meeting in better be around the corner. If I don't get myself under a roof in the next few minutes I'm going to lose it.

As if Aku could materialize his own thoughts, he turned onto one final street before coming face-to-face with a metallic structure surrounded by young ninjas. He instantly quickened his pace, accidentally shoving aside a few people on his pilgrimage to the respite of a covered area. He hadn't stepped inside for even a second, however, before hearing the commotion forming outside the walls of the building. A girl clearly younger and more naive than him had stationed herself on the roof to make a rather confidant speech before dropping down to meet the eyes of her gathering crowd.

I... really hope they're not all this talkative.

 

[Godjacob]

"Aw that felt good..." Tomiko said with a cheeky grin to herself as she ignored any glares she had gotten from many who felt she spoke from the highest of horses though a familiar voice managed to catch her attention.

"I see you are still as reckless as ever eh~?"

Tomiko glanced and saw it had been Madoka who made that comment, her old friend from Suna had come up to her and with a gleam in her eyes Tomiko jumped onto her without warning. "MADOKA!? It's great to see you!"

"Waa!" Madoka said knocked on her back by the running hug. "H-hey it's good to see you too...c-can you get up I need to breath..."

Azumi had already worked her way inside through a side entrance, as she had been needed for a presumed token appearance with the proctor and hoped that she could avoid small talk till then. Team Ino seemed to enter the main entrance, Aisha hung with Taji as the two chat about the coming exam in their mix of nerves on Taji's part and eager excitement that had been on Aisha's. Zino entered inside casually, while Rika hung back as she'd rather wait for Kenji and his group to enter first before she would. As she hoped to avoid talk with anyone if she had capacity to, much as she longed for it.

Kenji in turn had been about to move in, when he caught a familiar sight of pink hair and with a small smile appeared behind her. "So, been a while eh pinkie?"

Sakura turned herself a little shocked Kenji had gotten behind her without notice, before she rolled her eyes and smiled back to him. "Hey, you know you can approach me normally and not try so hard to be dramatic about it, right?"

"Would that be any fun?" Kenji countered back as the two former exam allies seemed to begin to chat as Kenji still held Sakura in high respect for all she had done for him in the last exams; a debt he intended to pay back somehow someway this year.

 

[kyuukestu]

Hyōryugetsu

The young man frowned at the lackluster response of the Konoha shinobi. He'd been under the impression that Konoha was one of the milder and more respectable villages. Turns out their shinobi were pissants too. His countenance flattened, no longer making the effort to be amicable.

"Aren't you just social butterflies?"

Bubbles began to release from the man's skin, excess water which she shed and allowed to float up to the ceiling and burst upon contact with the roof. She had released her transformation, her figure returning to its original femininity. The smell of cape jasmine heralded her revelation, the scent slowly wafting through the room. She had just marked every single shinobi here. They would be hard-pressed to notice as her method wasn't chakra based and the omnipresent scent of cape jasmine would aid in concealing her means.

Hyō swept her hands through her hair, adjusting her marine ornaments.

"I'll see you two in the exams."

With that, the Hōzuki swaggered off and entered the exam-rooms proper.

Yasu

Yasu raised an eyebrow but didn't decline Sema's request. It was true they hadn't spoken much during the Jinchuriki retrieval mission, but he supposed it wouldn't be a bad idea to get to know her. The Chūnin exams could be brutal, he knew that first hand. It would only be to his benefit if he could ally with the other Suna-ninja present.

Unsure of they had been properly introduced, Yasu started.

"Well, I'm Yasu...who are—"

While the Suna ninja might've wanted to make friends, fate had other things in mind. With Tomiko's appearance, the feathered boy had snapped to attention.

"Tomiko..."

His election was more a whisper than the shout of joy he'd always imagined he might react with; but, as he watched Tomiko tackle Madoka to the ground, he couldn't help but feel the warm and fuzzies. It had been months since he'd last seen her. Would he get such an enthusiastic welcome as well..? Did she...still have his feather? and...what the hell was that smell, flowers?

Sagisō

Sagisō had noticed Azumi's discontentment. Entering from the side entrance and apparently trying to slink about unnoticed, it was more than apparent that her Ame-friend wanted to avoid small talk. It was understandable. Sagisō was well aware of Azumi's hatred of the great nations, and even without seeing her, Sagisō could imagine Azumi's displeasure. If the mark of a good friend was reading the mood and reacting appropriately, the Sagisō was not a good friend.

A grin split her lips as she barreled through the throng of shinobi, stepping on toes and brushing shoulders haphazardly.

"Azumi~~~~"

Without even waiting for acknowledgment, Sagisō brazenly invaded the moody Ame-nin's personal space, arms wrapping around her as she picked her up and took her for the joyful spin of reunion. Onlookers could've imagined the two were friends that hadn't seen each other for months. In truth, she'd seen Azumi just last week. Still, none of that was a dampener and Sagisō's enthusiasm and she very enthusiastically swung Azumi into a spin, almost brandishing the girl like a club to carve out a 5 ft bubble devoid of people.

If Azumi had been trying to avoid attention, then she'd just failed spectacularly~

Snickering to herself, Sagisō let her friend down and—

"Do you smell that?"

 

[Godjacob]

Oh kami no...

Azumi's prayer had been cut off as she heard the quite familiar voice of Sagiso, who picked her up before she had a chance to react and spun her around with practically childish glee as already her desire to lay low had backfired as she groaned lightly inside Sagiso's deceptively tight grip.

"S...s...sagiso...please...put me down..." Azumi replied back, with a hushed request as she tried to squirm out of the embrace as while she'd never be displeased with seeing one of the few she could call friend Sagiso always seemed to find a way to make their meetings awkward as can be.

----------
"Man it's been way too long since we've last seen each other, how have you been!? Oh what is that, a new cross shape puppet, or is it a second puppet or or or...!"

Needless to say Tomiko had been a bit excited to see her old friend from Suna back, to the point where she bombarded her with question after question and almost missed Madoka's request but Tomiko had managed to catch that as she had gotten off quickly and rubbed her head sheepishly.

"A-apologies there, I uh....perhaps got a bit too overzealous." Tomiko said in apology as Madoka dusted herself off but stood and offered a small smile to her friend.

"Oh no, I more or less should be expecting such a reaction by now. It's, it's good to see you again." Madoka said, truthfully as she glanced behind her and noticed Yasu who seemed to be in a conversation of his own before he glanced their way as she turned to Tomiko and stepped to the side.

"And I don't think I am the only one who'd say that." Madoka added, which made Tomiko raise an eyebrow before she noticed the familiar face of Yasu and stood with eyes slightly widened.

"Y...yasu." Tomiko said to herself, as she unconsciously brushed over her right ear, right where that feather Yasu had given her proudly remained ever since they parted. Tomiko wanted to approach her friend, but for whatever reason she found it a bit harder to go up and glomp him like she had Madoka. Tomiko dismissed it as just concern that she'd knock him down like Madoka earlier. Either way she felt the need to go and well say something to him as Tomiko advanced towards Yasu almost as if her body had been on auto pilot. Madoka watched the scene unfold as Tomiko worked over a sheepish greeting.

"Uh, h-hey Yasu. I hope you've been well."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Seeing Hyo enter the exam Hall, Kai felt a wave of ease overtake him, glad to see another human being in the building. He had begun to wonder if she was going to show up. Giving a gesture to her, he made his greeting brief and silent, a nod one ninja to another. At least now there are three mist ninja this go around, bigger than last time.


......


“BAIYAN! WHERE ARE YOU?!”

Calling out, Reaver shouted to locate their newest member. Had she gotten lost? She WAS blind after all, especially in a city she wasn’t used to. The living tank groaned as he looked down one alley and then another, clanking and banging with every step.

“Where the hell are you?”

 

[Mystic Zander]

12 days ago, several miles outside the Leaf Village...

Ichiko and Kido had begun their journey to the outskirts of the Land of Lightning the moment the Leaf seemed stable enough to leave behind.
While it hadn’t been the longest trip either Shinobi had ever taken, the weight of their desperation made each step seem to waste more and more time than the last.

“So...this globe you mentioned, wanna elaborate on it a bit more?”

Kido finally spoke up in an attempt to break the silence. It was clearly apparent that Ichiko was having a much harder time managing her emotions than he.

“...the Ikeda Blood Globe. It was made by our ancestors, the first blood users of the clan. When they made it, they infused it with the blood of each clan member, allowing them to track each members position along the globe. Now, it can track anyone who carries that same Ikeda blood. That’s how we’ll find them.”

Ichiko’s voice was like venom as she spoke. It was apparent that no amount of talking would break her concentration.
This worried Kido greatly.

“And how exactly do you plan to go about gaining access to this globe? If we just waltz right into the Land of Lightning, both of our clans could be after us within hours.”

“We’ll just have to lay low till we reach the Ikeda Mansion. Once we’re there...I’ve only got one choice, really. I’ll have to challenge the Ikeda Clan Head, Lord Shinku...”

———

8 days ago, on the farthest outskirts of the Land of Lightning...

Two large estates sat facing directly across from one another...only, they were separated by several thousand acres of lush green land.
This lovely little patch of paradise was tucked in the center of a cluster of massive rocky mountains. These mountains were incredibly tall, narrow and rich in metal deposits. Mixed with the violent electrical storms the Land of Lightning is known for, the tips of each mountain act as a lightning rod, causing violent electrical storms to constantly shield the easiest path of entry.

In short- a perfect place to call home.

The clans that had been residing in these estates spent the last hundred and thirty years fighting a bitter war over total control of the land.
At least...that’s how things started, but it was no longer about control of the land. The constant conflict had turned both clans for the worst. This was about dominating the other in mind and body. This war would only end when one clan was left standing.

Little did either clans know, that day was coming sooner than they expected...

Deep within the Ikeda Mansion, a young soldier adorned in basic maroon combat-wear burst through the double doors leading to Lord Shinku’s study. His breathing was labored and his body was drenched in sweat. The young warrior dropped to his knees, both to show respect and take some weight off his feet.

“L-lord Shinku! Three days ago, a scout squad identified two s-suspicious individuals entering the Land of Lightning’s border! Reports say...it might be Ichiko and K-Kido, sir...”

“Is that so?”

The harsh, low voice of Lord Shinku was sent ringing outwards from the back of the room, bellowing over the scared and exhausted warrior.

“Ichiko...?”

Muttered the quiet voice of an unknown female guard standing off to the side of the doorway.

“Three days? Why...am I just now hearing about this?”

Lord Shinku mused whilst slowly waltzing out from the shadows.
He was an older man, with long greying hair, cloaked in dark brown robes. A series of matching ruby-red jewels were adorned along his arms and neck, clattering together slightly as he walked.

“...w-well sir, I had been on prior assignment. I only received the intel a few hours ago. I’m sorry about the dela-“

Before the soldier could finished his sentence, a sudden crushing sensation overwhelmed him, causing his words to catch in his throat.
The young man’s veins bulged and his eyes watered as he grabbed at his head. He gradually began to shake, lightly at first...but soon after, rather violently.

“Lord Shinku, he’s had enough, sir!”

The female guard piped up once more, this time in a far louder and demanding tone.

“Shut your trap Sūkikyō, or you’ll be next!”

Lord Shinku snapped back towards his disobedient Commander, before returning his attention to the young Ikeda Warrior, who was now dangling several feet off the ground. The boy was still shaking violently, which was now accompanied by a trickle of blood oozing from both his nostrils.

“We can’t afford losing warriors right now! Let him go! Shinku!”

The newly revealed Sūkikyō interjected once more, casting a single hand sign as she did so. A moment later, the young warrior dropped to the floor in a heap, gasping for air while clinching his head.
Lord Shinku had clearly done a number on him, but he was alive.

“Ohoho? You defend him in direct violation of my orders?”

The bejeweled Clan Head locked eyes with Sūkikyō, instantly causing the girl to begin violently bouncing around the room.
Her body smashed into the walls, the floor, the ceiling, everywhere. Lord Shinku did this about three times for good measure, before sending the girl careening into the back wall where she remain pinned.

“....do you really wish to challenge me...little Kyō?”

Sūkikyō, now beaten and bloody, but still surpassingly responsive, lurched her head forward, her eyes locking with those of her tyrannical leader.

“No...Grandfather...of course not...”

————

5 days ago, deep within the mountainous terrain near the Nadeshiko Village...

CRASH~! BOOM~!

The sound of rocks tumbling and crashing every few seconds echoed throughout the canyon, causing the earth to shake lightly.
What was the source of all this noise? Katsuo. Two Katsuo’s to be precise.

Two clones sat atop the large mountain with a pile of heavy boulders lying behind them. Every couple seconds, one of the clones would shove a couple of the boulders off the steep hill.

“Do you really think we’re taking the steps necessary to defend ourselves against a threat such as Orochimaru?”

The first clone asked while shoving two massive boulders off the edge.

“It’s hard to say. The gap between us and that snake is pretty insane. We might as well be starting at zero.”

The second clone replied as he followed up the two massive boulders with a volley of melon-sized stones.

“I wouldn’t say that. Our Kekkei Genkai provides us with an inherent advantage over most. The gap may be immense, but if we focus our studies in the right direction, we could surpass our parents in the somewhat foreseeable future.”

The first cloned retorted whilst generating a weak stream of water from his mouth, causing the earth along the side of the mountain to soften and release and stones that had previously gotten stuck. This caused a rock-slide that carried numerous rocks down the side of the mountain.
A series of deafening booms occurred as the rocks smashed into the earth below.

“Let’s just hope surpassing Mom and Dad is enough...”

The first clone added, taking a step back to look at his handy-work.

“How ya doing down there?!”

The second clone shouted, peering over the ledge.
At the bottom of the mountain, the original Katsuo stood staring upwards at the cliff edge, dodging and parrying stones of various sizes, all the while his hands were tied behind his back.
The boy was beaten, tired, and most noticeably- naked. His body was covered in fresh cuts and welts, many of which were hidden by a shiny pale pink coating blood and sweat.

“I’m- huff- doing fine! How’s it going up there- huff, any ideas?!”

The original of the stormy-haired trio replied in a raspy voice, using the moment of brief interruption to catch his breath.

“Not really, to be honest! The gap is so immense that we can’t get much further than we’ve already planned! We’ll just have to work with what we’ve got and see where it takes us!”

As the Katsu-clones gave their answer, Katsuo let out a heavy sigh. No amount of preparation could guarantee anything in a battle such as this.

“Huff- huff- alright! That’s enough for now! Get down here and help me!”

Both clones immediately dropped from the ledge, landing on either side of Katsuo.
After one clone had untied Katsuo’s hands, both stood in front of their original, each with an arm extended.

“Good work today, boys.”

Katsuo mumbled while grasping both clones by the wrists, causing the two figures to ripple and dissolve into shimmering bubbles of water and chakra that were quickly drawn back into the Traveler-Nins palms.

“Muuuch better.”

With the small boost of energy provided by his clones, he felt significantly less winded than moments prior.
He’d come to realize training like this was more beneficial as it allowed him to brainstorm ideas while receiving assistance during his workout session.

“Okay. Let’s see if it’s gonna work this time...”

The young man let out a slow sigh, focusing his senses on the blood that coated his skin.
After locking onto its presence, Katsuo took control of the blood, quickly separating it from the excess water and impurities it had previously mixed with.
The excess liquid quickly slipped off of Katsuo’s body and trickle across the ground beneath him, leaving the remaining blood to scatter out along his body, quickly filling the numerous small cuts and scrapes along his skin, before instantly solidifying inside the damaged areas.

“Heheheh...not bad!”

The young Ikeda boy’s blood cauterization training had finally begun to show its payoff, as he used his abilities to significantly shorten the amount of time it would take for his wounds to heal.
After doing so, he quickly plucked his clothes from a nearby tree, unbinding them from a small brown rope they had been tied up in.
It had become apparent to Katsuo after a not so recent match with his traveling companions, Sagiso and Amari, that clothes were a luxury not always so easy to come by. He couldn’t afford to get this outfit destroyed, it was handmade for him, after all.

His undershirt was a heavy, sleeveless alligator hide that had been dyed a pale ocean-blue. It was supposedly good at stopping projectiles and basic edged weaponry. Said undershirt was barely visible however, as it was covered by a sleeveless, dark brown jacket made from a seal pelt. The collar of his jacket had a fuzzy, white fur-pelt carefully stitched into the seam.
His forearms and shins were adorned with new wraps that had been cut from a sharks hide, giving them an ocean-grey color. The rough, gritty texture was good at ripping and tearing skin it happened to snag.
His legs were covered with loose-fitting, breathable pants made of a thick white fur pelt that matched the collar of his jacket. The loose ends of either pant leg had been neatly tucked into the shark-skin wraps around his shins.
He wore hand-crafted wooden sandals that made a satisfying clacking noise with each step. In truth, this hadn’t been part of the outfit, he simply wore them because his father had shown him how to make a pair and he didn’t wanna go barefoot, as the Nadeshiko girls had suggested.
Lastly, the most surprising detail...or...lack of detail, was on Katsuo’s head. His hair had grown out about two to three inches and was wildly pushed back out of his face, as it was no longer held up by his headband. Instead, all three of his headbands were tied off on his left bicep.

It was quite apparent that the boys time in the Nadeshiko had left it’s mark on his appearance, but what one couldn’t perceive with their eyes was the change that had occurred to his perspective.
He’d spent the last few months submerging himself into the unexplored culture of the Nadeshiko, living by their customs, learning their history and even attending their ceremonies.

In short, Katsuo had been having the time of his life. Sure, some of the customs were a bit...strange, but it had been a learning experience nonetheless.
On top of all this, he’d even become friends with a few of the Nadeshiko girls.

Unfortunately, his visit with the Nadeshiko would likely come to a close soon, as he intended to set out for the Chunin Exams, eager to see what surprises he might come across this time around, even if he wouldn’t be the one fighting.

Upon returning to the Nadeshiko, Katsuo made quick work of gathering his belongings. He knew Sagiso intended to head out for the Exams, and he didn’t plan fall too far behind in terms of knowing what challenges may arise at such an event.

“Katsuo! Waaait! Wait for me!”

The young, pleading voice of Nadeshiko’s most recent maiden carried across the multitude of carved out cave-homes. Little eight year old Ume ran for the edge of Mount Liangshan, meeting Katsuo at the entrance to his home in a panic.

“I...huff...I heard you’re leaving. Is it true?”

Katsuo stared down at the worrisome little warrior with a sad smile. Ume was an orphan who had been rescued off the streets just about the same time he had arrived, and the pair bonded over being the ‘new kids’ in Nadeshiko.

“Yeaaah, I’m afraid so. But I’ll be back.”

Katsuo gave the younger girl a pat on the head, his smile now more reassuring.

“I’ve just...been in one place too long. I gotta get back out there, and checking out the Chunin Exams is a perfect excuse.”

Ume’s eyes grew misty as the tall, stormy haired boy explained that he really was leaving!

“B-but, no! You can’t just leave! How long are you gonna be gone?!”

The wild haired girl began furiously banging on Katsuo’s back as he turned away, overwhelmed with a feeling of betrayal and helplessness.

“Ume...you’re a member of the Nadeshiko now. If I’ve learned anything from my time here, it’s that you’ve gotta be strong if you wanna survive. I’ll be back, but I don’t know when. In the meantime, dry those tears...and work on getting stronger.”

Ume stared at Katsuo as he walked away, now more confused than ever.

“Get...stronger?”

———

1 day ago, just outside the Ikeda mansion...

Two guards patrolled the front entrance of the large mansion. One was tall and muscled with bright red hair and the other was shorter and leaner with a darker brownish-red hair. Each were equipped with a large vial of blood tied to their wastes.
In the distance, a figure in dark brown robes slowly passed through the entryway to the Ikeda garden.

“Stop right there! State your name, affiliation and business!”

The taller guard shouted while lowering into a crouched combat position.

“And explain how you managed to get in here in the first place!”

The shorter guard added in a slightly less assertive tone, uncorking the vial on his waste as he did so.

“I bring vital information regarding Ichiko Ikeda and her intentions...”

Both guards tensed up as the eerily calm voice of a woman replied, continuing her leisurely walk towards them.

“Oh yeah? And what might that be?”

The taller guard retorted, slowly inching his way closer to his partner.

“I’m warning you, s-stop! And answer the ques-hgh!”

With a single lightning fast hand-sign, the cloaked woman caused both guards heads to violently bounce off once another’s, causing them to collapse instantly.
The woman ripped her cloak away, revealing none other than Ichiko...what a surprise.
She looked down at the two unconscious guards with a regretful smirk.

“...she’s gonna knock you both out.”

And with that, the burgundy haired Jonin kicked the mansions doors in, causing a loud crash to echo through the large halls.

“Shinku! Get out here, now!”

The entirety of the Ikeda Clan was alerted of the very obvious intruder at the front entrance.

“Don’t you think the stealthy approach was pointless if you intended to knock the doors down anyways?”

The unexpected booming voice of Kido interjected from Ichiko’s left ear.

“Owwww, damn. I gotta turn the volume down on this thing. And shut up, I’m making him acknowledge my presence.”

Ichiko retorted while dialing the small knob on her earpiece down.
A few moments later, more than thirty clan members funneled out of the house in a wave, all eyes locking on Ichiko.

“...ah...Ichiko. I’d been expecting you, you traitorous scum! Kill her, now!”

The vile voice of Lord Shinku pierced through the murmuring crowd like a blade, causing the group of warriors to go rigid, before darting towards their target from every possible angle.

“Save your insults! I’m here to challenge you for the position of Clan Head!”

Everyone went still and silent in response to this declaration, causing the tension to grow with each second Lord Shinku took to respond.

“Haha...hahahaha! Do you really believe you’ve got the slightest right to challenge me for power over the Ikeda Clan? You’re a traitorous piece of trash. You’ve got no footing to stand on.”

As Lord Shinku reveled in the preposterous words of his former clan member, Ichiko pulled a large, aged book from the bag slung over her shoulder.
The book was faded grey with dingy orange pages and a scratched up red logo on the front that was reminiscent of a blood-drop.

“‘The Ways of the Ikeda’, given to every clan member at the age of twelve.

On the very last page it clearly states that any clan member who’s skills are notable enough to have received recognition from the Clan Head is eligible to challenge said Clan Head to a fight for total control. I’m Ichiko Ikeda of the Ikeda Noble Five and you must accept my challenge!”

Lord Shinku paced back and forth, nodding his head occasionally as Ichiko spoke, almost like that of a teacher judging their student.

“Yes...and no. While it’s true that any clan member who’s shown notable aptitude in combat is eligible to challenge me, you’re no longer a member of the Ikeda Noble Five...you’re a traitor. Besides, even if I were to ignore that oversight, you still forget that any challenger must also have one clan member of able mind and body present to vouch for the challenger.”

Lord Shinku looked around at his clan with a knowing grin, giving them a chance to interject.
Ichiko looked onward with a pleading gaze, knowing full well she’d need at least one person to back her up.
In truth, most of the clan members would give anything to remove Shinku from power, the only issue being...he’d kill them all.

“Well? Anyone gonna come forth and stand beside this traitorous vigilante...? No...?”

Silence. Not a single word left anyone’s lips. No one dare challenge the authority of Lord Shinku...well...almost no one.

“I vouch for Ichiko Ikeda!”

The vaguely familiar voice of Sūkikyō piped up as the armor-clad woman forced her way through the crowd.

“As the Commander of the Ikeda Noble Five, I officially reappoint you to your previous position and vouch for your right to challenge Lord Shinku. It’s good to see you, Chi...”

Ichiko was stunned to see none other than Sūkikyō, her childhood rival, willing to step up when everyone else was too afraid. The two hadn’t seen each other in years and yet...she was still willing to risk it all for her friend.

“Thank you, Kyō...”

Lord Shinku starred daggers at Sūkikyō for a moment, before allowing his anger to melt into a look of disappointment.

“Very well...I’ll accept your challenge, Ichiko. But after I kill you...”

The ruthless Clan Head glanced back at his granddaughter, a venomous rage behind his eyes.

“I’ll do that same to you, Sūkikyō...”

Sūkikyō gave her grandfather no mind, instead giving her long lost friend a confident nod, before ushering for the crowd to move back and make room.

“Forget the formalities...let’s test your blood control!”

Lord Shinku locked into Ichiko’s blood, while Ichiko did the same. Externally, it appeared nothing had really happened. Both combatants simply stood staring at one another, only...they were both shaking ever so slightly.
What no one but the Ikeda Clan could sense right now, was a bitter internal war for dominance, the pair attempting to attack each other’s body, while defending their own.
After several minutes of this gritty struggle, both Lord Shinku and Ichiko collapsed to the floor, blood pooling from their left and right nostrils respectively.

“Heheheh. What’s w-wrong, Shinku? Didn’t expect me to put up such a f-fight?”

Ichiko quipped while dragging herself to her knees.

“Her chakra control is just as good as his!”

One clan member murmured.

“We might actually finally be rid of Shinku.”

Another murmured back.

“I...commend you for your impeccable chakra control, it’s like none I’ve ever seen...but...”

Lord Shinku slowly arose to his feet, the various ruby-red gems scattered along his person separating and hovering in a circle around him.

“...I’ve got other means of handling pesky trash such yourself.”

Ichiko’s eyes widened as a flurry of no less than thirty small red orbs were sent rocketing towards her like a meteor storm.

“Water Style! Multi-Layered Bubble Dome Jutsu!”

With a single handsign, Ichiko generated a series of bubble domes overlapping one another.
Lord Shinku’s projectiles pelted Ichiko’s shield endlessly, occasionally popping a bubble, before continuing on to the next layer.

“What the hell’s going on?”

Kido piped up once more, catch the preoccupied Ichiko off guard.

“Huh? Oh. He’s using these crimson gems. It’s like another artifact, an old relic that’s past down to each clan head. The orbs were synthesized from an unknown material and are damn near indestructible. On top of that, they’re infused with Ikeda Blood, so he can control them freely.”

Ichiko thought back on the various history lessons her mother had given her as a child, finally thankful for those grueling two hour classes after normal schooling.

“If they’re infused with Ikeda Blood, shouldn’t you be able to control them as well?”

Kido questioned further.

“We’re evenly matched. I’d have to make physical contact with them to overpower his connection. And with the velocity he’s tossing them around at, that’s not an option.”

By the time she’d finished with her explanation, Ichiko was down to the last two layers of her bubble shield.

“Water Style! Severing Wave!”

Ichiko kneaded chakra in her stomach, before shooting a high-pressure beam of water directly at the earth beneath her, drilling a deep hole into the rocky ground.

“Transform!”

And just as the last bubble popped, Ichiko transformed into the teeniest, tiniest squid.

Sploosh~

Squid-chiko dropped into the small tunnel of water she’d previously created, safely out of Shinku’s line of fire.

“Gonna have to get in close. I can’t afford to touch those gems.”

After a few moments of silence, the ground beneath Lord Shinku rumbled, giving way into a geyser.

“Did you really think you’d hit me with that?”

Shinku taunted while effortlessly jumping to the side of the pressurized stream of water.

Poof~

“Not really, no.”

In a flash, Ichiko appeared right next to Shinku, pinning him between the geyser and her oncoming fist.

POW~

Ichiko’s fist rocketed into her opponents chin, taking him off his feet and directly into the geyser.
The moment her ruby-loving target was completely engulfed, she cast a single hand sign, suspending him in a ball of the geyser water.
At this point, Shinku’s orbs were already primed and ready to interfere, giving Ichiko minimal time to plan her next move.

“Uh...yeah, this works.”

BOOM~

With the minuscule time Ichiko had to prepare an attack...she opted to instead simply slam the temporarily trapped Shinku headfirst into the ground...hard.

“Is he...dead?”

Kido piped up, all too curious after listening to the deafening boom of a body against the earth.

“I don’t kn-“

Before Ichiko could finished her reply, Lord Shinku floated out of the crater with his arms extended over his head. It appeared as if he had been holding two of his orbs, which he likely used to slow down the impact. His face was scratched up a bit, but other than that, he looked fine.

“Again, I have to admit, that’s some pretty fearsome chakra control you’ve got there. A damn shame you had to go and fall in love with a Denki pig. You could’ve taken Sūkikyō’s role as Commander of the Ikeda Noble Five.”

As Lord Shinku taunted his challenger, he condensed all of his orbs down into a dense cluster, before launching them at Ichiko like a cannonball.

“Did you just call my husband...a pig?!”

And thus, Ichiko’s ember of rage was fueled into a blazing inferno.

“How DARE you! Kido is more of a man than you’ll ever be! Mountain Shifting Palm!”

With a single hand sign, Ichiko utilized the same technique demonstrated by Katsuo numerous times in the past. Only hers seemed far more concentrated, actually causing her palms to glow a faint white color.
As the orb hurdled towards Ichiko, she held both arms out straight, bracing her body as the beachball-sized projectile slammed into her body like a freight train.
In an instant, she and the orb were blasted several hundred meters away, into the side of a cliff face.
The crater soon caved in with a heavy rumble, sealing the newly formed entrance up almost the moment it was created.

“Ichiko...”

Sūkikyō stared on in suspense, hopeful that her old friend would burst forth from the crater and finish the fight...but she didn’t. The force behind the attack she’d sustained had been tremendous, and Sūkikyō was almost certain that Ichiko died on impact.

“Well...now that she’s finally taken care of, it’s time to deal with you, Sūkikyō.”

Lord Shinku eerily turned his gaze to his granddaughter, the venomous stare still imprinted in his eyes.

“Of all people...I should’ve known you were the most likely to betray me. You always were soft, girl.”

And with that, Lord Shinku commanded his orbs to shred Sūkikyō to pieces, officially solidifying his place as Clan Head. At least...that was the plan.

“What the hell?”

It had become painfully apparent that Sūkikyō was still alive. But why?

“Where the hell are my orbs?!”

Shinku’s head whipped back and forth sporadically, in desperate search of his primary means of self-defense.

“...lose something...?”

Ichiko’s winded voice came from atop the mountain she had previously been trapped inside, causing all eyes to lock on the rattled woman.
Her clothes were torn asunder, her hair was filled with dust and pebbles, but most importantly...the orb of gems hovered a few inches above her upward facing palm.

“She’s alive?! How?!”

Shinku stumbled backwards, bewildered by the sight in front of him. Someone had actually managed to overpower his connection to the gems.

Kido, listening in from an undisclosed location, couldnt help but crack a grin despite the serious nature of the situation.

“That’s my hot-head.”

In a flash, Ichiko cleared the gap between the two, now inches away from Shinku.

“You wanna know how?”

Ichiko replied quietly, sending one of the gems through Lord Shinku’s knee, causing the man’s leg to painful bend backwards, giving out underneath him.

“Gah! Damnit! How?! Tell me how you survived?!?”

Shinku roared in a mix of pain, anger and confusion as he grasped at his crippled limb.

“You’re so certain I pulled some trick. So certain I had some failsafe to keep me alive. When in reality, all I’ve done is train.”

The air went still for a moment, as if no one was really certain what to say next.

“Train...?”

Shinku squeaked, his gaze locked on the slowly spinning orb of death-gems, now in his enemies possession.

“Yes. All I’ve done since I ran away was train, every single day. Meanwhile, you sat in your chambers, giving orders from the sidelines. You may have ruled these people, but that was simply due to your immense chakra control. Now that they’ve found someone capable of matching your power...”

Another orb drilled into the skin right between Lord Shinku’s eyes, before popping out of the back of his head rather anticlimactically. The former Ikeda Clan Head crumbled over into a ball, finally dead.

“They’re no longer forced to remain under your control...”

———

Present day...

“Well...Kabuto is a smart boy, after all. I’d say he knows what he’s talking about.”

Rittsu replied casually, giving the snake a small wink as she did so.

“Perverted python...”

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Hehe...so then I do have the right Ikeda for the job then, giving your unique lineage my dear...” Orochimaru licked his lips, slowly pacing around the room. “We may have been assessing your abilities these past few months, but now is where commitment is truly tested...”

Orochimaru stopped pacing, turning around and lurching toward her, staring fiercely into her eyes like an apex predator glaring at their tasty meal.

“Do you believe in Demons?”

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
Seeing as his conversation with Raiku seemed to have come to a close, or rather neither of them had anything more to say to one another, Taiyo decided that now would be a good time to engage in conversation with the new arrival. Unfortunately for him, said new arrival, who turned out to be none other than Hyōryugetsu Hōzuki, was through with being ignored and promptly left for the exam halls. It took the FBS master a little bit of time to process what had transpired, but he felt a sharp pang of guilt once he processed what had happened.

Well then, that was a little rude...

To be fair, I did make her wait a very long time to be spoken too...

Well how were we supposed to know it was her?! If she showed up as her normal self, I would've happily talked to her!

Well I'm pretty sure a certain mask-wearing Xenophobe wouldn't take too kindly to seeing a Mist-nin talk to "filthy Xenos" such as Raiku and I.

Fair enough, I guess there's nothing to be done about it.

I do want to apologize for my rudeness somehow, but at a more convienient time..
Tsuki
"I respectfully disagree," There was a playful sort of smugness in her voice as she stated her opinion, "So far, just about every Xeno I've met has been pretty decent," Of course, Tsuki did acknowledge that there was a modicum of truth behind Kai's xenophobia. While there were many morally upstanding people that existed outside of Kirigakure, there were also people like Seiun, who couldn't be accurately described with the words "morally upstanding". Still, one bad experience with one person wouldn't be enough to make her global outlook take a complete 180 turn. Like Kai before her, the icy kunoici noticed Hyō's presence, but felt uncomfortable with doing something about it.

She did heal me once...but I feel like I barely know her, and it's probably not my place to talk to her anyway...

However, there wasn't much else to do besides attempt to initiate conversation with Kai, but she was woefully unskilled in the art of making small talk. With this information at play, Tsuki decided that it couldn't hurt to at least wave at the Hōzuki and hope that she noticed, which is exactly what the icy kunoichi ended up doing.
Seiun
Although the journey to Amegakure was quite uneventful, the rogue shinobi still found a way to make the trip eventful by taking the time to observe his surroundings closely. Due to the nature of his parents, Seiun didn't get out of the house very often in his youth, so it would truly be his first venture into the daily life of a village citizen. Thankfully, his transformation jutsu was good enough to allow him into the village, albeit he was there under the guise that he would be observing the Chunin exams. As he walked around, he noticed two key details about the village: the quality of life seemed to be incredibly low, and it was always raining.

"'Village Hidden in the Rain', huh? What happens when this place isn't raining? Maybe it should be called the Village Hidden in the Mud," Of course the rogue shinobi had bigger things to worry about, but that didn't stop him from cracking a joke to himself. The journey to the Yasei Residence was long and painful, with the only consolation to the process was that his destination was very easy to spot thanks to the size of the manor.

This is...really happening...how about that...

 

[SageNeb]

Raiku nodded remembering some of the stuff Taiyo worked on that he had shown, but obviously it wasn't like the Uchiha was watching the FBS user's progress every day. He had to spend tireless days perfecting the new jutsu he had picked up and stopped at nothing short of the bare minimum rest required to continue training. Unfortunately for a certain Mist ninja Raiku had mostly been paying attention to his friends since Raiku noticed that Taiyo had pointed to the Leaf headband and assumed that was enough of an answer for both of them. Instead the suspicious man transformed into a girl which Raiku vaguely remembers from the mission to capture the 8 Tails and leaves, clearly annoyed.

Oh well. Nothing I can do. Shouldn't have tried to butt into our conversation I guess. Speaking of which I suppose its coming to a close considering we already talked about the things we changed since we last met.

"Taiyo feel free to head over to her or walk around a bit. Of course if there's anything else you need I'd have no problem answering but I understand if you want some other company."

----------

Sema turned away from the small duo of Yasu and Madoka and looked at the newcomer who proclaimed quite loudly that she would become the next Tsuchikage. She stared blankly for a second and then burst into giggles.

Why would you say something like that so boldly? Well I don't think anyone cares but it's quite silly to make such an entrance when people are in here to advance just as you are.

To her surprise however the audacious girl came up to them, and was greeted by her fellow sand ninja. In fact she noticed that the three seemed to share a strong bond, especially from the tension between the girl and Yasu, even picking up at her showing a feather to the teenage boy.

Is that a gift from a friend or a lover? Well either way this is a strange predicament I'm in... I'm not that opposed to joining in to introducing myself but I don't wanna mess up this apparently emotional reunion.

Taking advantage of her small stature, Sema quietly left the scene making it seem as if she had just been passing by instead of actively trying to avoid the Iwa kunoichi.

I don't usually talk to people outside my village, but she seems like an ally. Which is weird considering the Hidden Stone is not exactly on good terms with the Sand village. Oh well, I don't know the situation so it'd be rude to intrude.

As she neared the registration hall more she noticed another person from her village who seemed much taller and older than her, but still not old enough to be an adult. He seemed to be pretty uncomfortable in the rain, which caused Sema to feel happy that she brought a hood to cover herself.

"Wow you seem like a pretty experienced person to be taking the Chunin exams. You're probably a very good ninja right? This place is quite different from the Land of Wind, much darker for one. Anyways my name's Sema, I'm also from Sunagakure. If you want we can register together."

I hope that didn't come out too strong... I get kind of flustered around older guys, but I guess it's not a big deal since I'm just introducing myself.

 

[kyuukestu]

Baiyan

The Sword Star—now Ruan Ling Leina—plodded through the streets of Amegakure. Her feet were bare, save for the mud stains clinging to her shins. She seemed to take great pleasure in wriggling her toes through the mush and the feeling of her hair and clothes sticky against her skin. She spun aimlessly but, all the same, she made dizzying pirouettes around passersby who only seemed to give her odd stares, the likes of which were lost on the blind dancer.

Her seven blades clattered to the cadence of motion, the Abyss Orchid at her side now surrounded by six accompanying short-swords, long-daggers really, who's hilts rang with the chime of broken chains. The sound was unique, but...off. Baiyan frowned and drew to a pensive pause.

She was still musing over it, the『Sword Chant』, the Sword Star's innate skill. She had the initial making of the ability, but it wasn't yet perfect. Combat ready, yes but her instinct told her it was still...incomplete. She had been trying to find that missing piece, to complete the puzzle, but the big picture still eluded her.

Today again, inspiration remained obscure, her thoughts slipping from her as her name echoed between the pitter-patter of raindrops.

Baiyan tracked her way towards Reaver, picking up his chakra half-way and breezing her way through the rest of the city, only stopping when she sensed that he was close enough to hear her.

"...yes?"

Sagisō

"And what if I didn't?"

Sagisō snickered, tongue in cheek as she teasingly quipped back. Nevertheless, she set down her squirming friend and took a few steps back.

"So...your home's kind of a dump, eh? A bit too...scrappy for my tastes. Couldn't you plant some trees or something?"

The skillful star curled her lips, clearly disdainful of Amegakure's architecture.

"Well, it's your home so I won't say anything bad about it."

Sagisō — Flashback: January

Days had passed since they set out from the Leaf and finally, after a few detours and a small, bar-brawling stint, the group, which had grown to four, arrived at the rendezvous point.

"Azumi...? What are you doing here—"

The presence of her wayward, rainy friend came as a surprise to Sagisō, but it was not unwanted. However, in spite of her wishes for touching reunion, the addition to their group, a heavily injured Tayuya, required her immediate attention.

"—nevermind, we'll talk after I take care of her."

Without another word, Sagisō rushed past Azumi and into the Inn to find a medic. It was a simple task to find the Efficacious Star after a quick sweep with her Byakugan and, after handing Tayuya over, Sagisō released a bated breath and shuffled back to the Inn's communal space.

 

[Fire Mana]

The sound of the raindrops on the industrial architecture of the Hidden Rain blocked out the words of much of the small talk around Aku as he explored the building for a quieter, more isolated area to quickly dry himself off. His hand had habitually been placed on the hilt of his katana as his eyes scanned in and out between the other shinobi. He was so preoccupied in his pursuit, in fact, that it took him an awkwardly long amount of time to realize the small girl speaking next to him had been addressing him to begin with. As soon as he realized this he quickly stammered out a response in an attempt not to appear rude.

"A-Ah, yeah... much darker here..."

It had been a surprisingly long time since Aku had spoken a simple greeting to someone around his age, let alone upheld a real conversation. The older boy let the silence hang in the air for a moment, waiting to see if the small Suna girl would leave or not. However, when it became apparent that she intended to actually speak with him, he acknowledged the rest of her opening statements.

"I, uh, don't actually think I'm any more experienced than anyone else here. I'm probably less experienced than a lot of them, actually. There were certain... circumstances... that held me back a bit."

He bit his tongue quickly before he could reveal any more about himself. He didn't want the others here to know who he was, or what he had done. Especially not others from the Hidden Sand. If word got out that he had been trying to progress as a shinobi, he could only imagine what the families of those kids would try to do to him.

"I'm sorry, but I really don't think you should involve yourself with me. I try to keep to myself, if you didn't notice. It would be better if you moved forward alone, or at least without me."

 

[Godjacob]

Azumi took a moment to catch her breath from the overly tight hug as she then made a couple quips at her home which caused Azumi to scowl; knowing what she had known of Sagiso to this point she tended to mix a half truth in her little punchlines which caused her to sigh as she glanced Sagiso's way.

"Not even five minutes and already pot shots at my home. Way to make yourself welcome..." Azumi said with a dry deadpan though she quickly shifted focus from that towards a question she had on the mind given Sagiso had come here.

"...though I am not as upset at this development, i have to ask why you came. Are you partaking in the exams? I figured someone of your clear skilled would have been promoted the first time." Azumi asked curiously.

----------
As Madoka watched Tomiko, well, attempt to go speak with Yasu she noticed a figure seemed to be looking curiously around as he zeroed in on her position. The puppet user had an eyebrow raised before she noticed the guy was that Leaf ninja; Taiyo who had been given new puppet arms of her service as she blinked curiously.

Oh him, I hope he hasn't broken his arms already. Hasn't even been a year yet...

 

[Nukas]

As Amari arrived at Amegakure, a slight smile could be seen on her face. Maybe it was due to the fact that she actually enjoyed the rainy atmosphere. She never saw rain as gloomy or sad, to her, rain helped the flowers grow. Maybe it sounded a bit silly, but she was taught stuff like that by her birth parents so long ago. She also could have been smiling because she wasn’t walking into Amegakure alone. She was accompanied by someone who she would have never thought she would open up to three months ago, one Katsuo Ikeda. Since the time that she almost accidentally killed Katsuo, the two had actually grown pretty close. Of course, this was only after she noticed that he had no interest in chasing Sagisō. She had met up with Katsuo shortly after he had set out of the village and he had offered to escort her. While she didn’t need him to escort her, she knew the company would be nice to have on the way.

Those two reasons on another day would make her smile on their own, but today something else was on her mind. The Chunin exams. Not long ago, her sister had participated in these exams and now Amari was doing the same. She had trained tirelessly since the succession ceremony since she was now the official Solitary Star of Nadeshiko. She wanted to prove she was worth the title, and she knew the Chunin exams would be a great way to show how far she'd come. She turned to her traveling companion, "So, I need to go get signed up, you coming?"

~~~~~~~~~

Flashback: January

Amari waited in the inn as Sagisō went to go find a medic for Tayuya. She wasn't sure what to think of the group that Baiyan had brought with her back to Nadeshiko. It was quite a few new faces for the Solitary star to take in all at once, first Katsuo, then the almost dead Tayuya, and now this girl who she remembered Sagisō had called Azumi. Maybe later she would talk to her and figure out what her deal was, but it was too much for her right now. As Sagisō returned to the communal area Amari asked, "So do you think she'll be ok?"