• A reminder: If you want to ask an RP thread creator if you can join their RP, do so in private - via conversation or profile messages - or via the thread's discussion thread, if one exists. Do NOT ask if you can join an RP on the RP thread itself! This leads to a lot of unnecessary OOC chatter and that's not what the RP boards are for.

    This is clearly stated in our RP forum rules. If you've not read them yet, do so BEFORE posting anything in the RP forums. They may be found here (for Pokémon Role Play) or here (for General Role Play). Remember that the Global Rules of Pokécharms also apply in addition to these rule sets.
  • Welcome back to Pokécharms! We've recently launched a new site and upgraded forums, so there may be a few teething issues as everything settles in. Please see our Relaunch FAQs for more information.

Ask to Join Naruto: One's Nindo

=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
Karui huffed in contentment as she finished tying off the ends of the string that held her messy braid together. She swayed in front of the mirror in the fitting room, swinging her limbs in simulated combat and observing with satisfaction how the long folds of fabric cloaked her movements in uncertainty. After her battle with Hisato, she had realized her speed wasn’t enough to keep her movements from being predicted, and had been self-searching for a solution. I need to get faster, stronger, able to break through more complex defenses… but until then, this should help my odds.

The girl had selected a shirt with long, loose sleeves that covered her hands, but had slits to her wrist so she could still draw weapons unencumbered, while keeping any hand signs hidden. Her feet remained bare besides new bandages wrapped around them as usual, but her legs were now clothed in loose-fitting pants, and a long cloak hung around her knees. The excess cloth certainly wouldn’t make Karui any more aerodynamic, but the slight decrease in speed would be more than made up for with the decrease in telegraphing it would provide. I have to train more anyway. I have to get stronger.

Karui slipped an assortment of kunai, shuriken, and paper bombs into her new weapons pouches as she exited the store. She glanced up at the sky, then back down at her shadow. She should still have a few minutes before she would have to rendezvous with the others… and there was a stand selling dango just a little ways down the road.
 
Last edited:
"Oh my cat! Meow." Asahi stood in a weapon shop, with Kas standing next to her.

"Um, that's a little too big for you isn't it?" Kas walked closer to the giant silver sword Asahi was ogling.

"No, it's perfect!" She said, followed by a fan girl scream. "I want it! Who needs chakrams when you have this bad boy?" She reached out to grab it, but stopped as the shop owner loudly cleared his throat.

"Excuse me, if you're not buying, no touching." He looked Asahi up and down. "And it looks like you ain't buying."

"Why wouldn't I buy it? Have you seen it?" Asahi pointed towards the weapon with an astonished look.

"Yes, I have, I own this shop."

Kas rubbed her temples. "Asahi, he thinks, and I don't blame him, you don't have money to buy it."

"Oh! Meow, thank you Kas, meow." Asahi reached into the pouch around her leg. "I have this much." She pulled out a small bag loaded with money.

The shop owners eyes grew with interest. "Oh well let's see how much you have and we can see if you can afford it!"

"No! Stop." Kas stood between Asahi and the man reached out for the money bag. "Megami, let me handle this, why don't you look for some kunai?"

"Okay Kas! Meow!" The young Hasa ninja skipped towards the other side of the shop, after tossing the money to her cat friend.

Kas looked up at the shop owner with a mean look, which was replied with the same action. "The sword, how much?"

"Too much." He replied.

"I doubt it. By the looks of it, nobody has ever wanted to buy it. So you're either selling it for a price it isn't worth or it's of low quality."

"How dare you! My swords are the finest around!"

"Then why does it have so much dust on it? The other weapons around it don't have as much, which means they sell pretty often."

"I just forgot to clean it."

"Uh-hu. That or nobody wants to buy it. So, here's what I'm gonna offer, 10,000 you throw in kunais and shiruken and some paper bombs."

"That's ridiculous! It's worth 15,000!"

"Take my offer or you'll have it accumulating dust for a really long time." A mischievous smirk appeared on Kas' face.

"Oh Kas! Can we get this?" Asahi called from the back.

"And include that." Kas looked at the shop owner one more time.

A few minutes later, Asahi found herself walking with a big silver sword hanging on her back, the point dragging along the ground. The ninja was wearing a black cat onesie while carrying some bags with clothes and weapons. To Asahi's side, Kas was walking with a pack of food on her back, looking proudly at her human friend.

"I'm back!" Asahi called out as she approached the meeting place with her sisters. "Kas is great at shopping, she found so many deals!"

Kas poked her teeth with one of her claws. "I just have an eye for these things. Cookies?" She turned around, offering the backpack on her back. "Freshly made and cheap too."
 
Azumi listened as Keito let his heart out to her, technically he simply explained why he came upon this fountain but it seemed as much as anything an excuse to release these sudden emotions his earlier smile had masked. Seemed that their battle had a greater effect on the Iwa Genin than merely the physical injuries, as it had got him thinking of the big picture stuff and how he struggled to wrestle with the cruel realities that often allowed development and prosperity to flourish. Azumi allowed Keito to just vent this stuff out as she had said nothing, knowing all too well the hardships and how something as simple as this fountain could be a sign of relief. Course Azumi had faced true hardships much as her people did, while Keito had merely felt guilty over said hardships but when she sighed she decided to say something all the same.

"That's just the way of the ninja. And if these thoughts trouble you so much, you should understand it will only get harder from here. The more asked of you, the more you are expected to sacrifice for your village no matter what that price may be." Azumi mused, not so much advice as more a resignation of their fate as ninja. And she even prepared to walk away on that note, sensing that Keito needed time on his own to reflect. And really why would she be concerned over his mental state given what he had put her through. Course this was just what she could suspect but regardless she stopped and felt she needed to say something, to least address the physical anguish.

"I say you should take this time to recover and let the scars of battle heal. What seems overbearing on the surface can be mitigated with time, you simply need to give yourself that chance and not dwell on every thought or lingering blow." Azumi said, though before she had a chance to leave on that note a few figures arrived as one seemed to call out Keito by name which caused Azumi to raise an eyebrow.

Oh joy, more of his friends...

----------
"Look I know how it looks but i am not that bad. I plan to rest up the rest of the time I am supposed to, then go out there and kick that Rain girl's butt. Not like if I don't heal this second I'll explore Moir." Tomiko mused as she seemed to get his concern and had understood well enough the importance of good rest. Though when he asked for details on her plan of attack against that aforementioned Rain girl Tomiko again rubbed her chin.

"Well I don't plan to just take the belts. I am gonna bash them, smash them and make them useless. If I can get to her scrolls and destroy those that would go an even better way." Tomiko said as she seemed to focus on disabling the source of her "free" water though when Mori outlined an offer about letting him use some of the tar Tomiko sighed but smiled at her friend. "I understand and respect the gesture, but the truth is I want to go out there with my own gear and own ability and see what happens. Winning if I used something of yours wouldn't feel right. So I'll have to decline on thar for now." Tomiko said as she had given an expected answer of pride as after all these exams had tested one's own ability and resources so it would feel wrong to borrow from a friend.
 

sSoul

Previously Swirled
Tsuki
As Tsuki ran behind her clone she heard the sound of something returning with high velocity. Not wanting to take any chances, she leapt to the side, biting the inside of her cheek once more as she added additional stress to her leg before continuing her approach. Holding the jutsu was becoming difficult, but the Yuki Princess knew that she could hold on for a moment longer. As the original narrowly avoided an additional stabbing from her opponent's kunai, the Suna kunoichi had avoided the water clone's punch while extending her foot to kick the clone in the stomach with the same kunai coming back for the clone. However, the water clone used her free hand to grab her opponent by the ankle and shifting herself to away from the trajectory of incoming projectile, avoiding the fate of bursting like a bubble.

I was waiting for an opportunity like this to come, but I didn't believe it would happen so soon...

Using the time that her clone had bought, Tsuki got within 5 meters(3.3feet) of her opponent and finally released the seals that she had woven by extending her hand towards her opponent's back. The jutsu was a favorite among water style users and one that Tsuki held confidence in: the Water Prison. After giving Yua a confident smirk, the clone extended her hand outward, allowing water to wash over Yua's body. Said water would eventually forming a dense orb around the poison user, imprisoning her.
 
Last edited:
Ugokasenai Keito, Iwa Genin
'That's just the way of the ninja.' Keito didn't often feel contempt overtake him, but for a brief moment, it did. He wanted to feel good, that for whatever reason he'd affected this Rain kunoichi positively enough that she spoke to him - not with reasonable contempt as he'd expected - with a distant fondness. Instead, his eyes flashed up to her - likely for the first time, even from when they fought - with anger.

If only Azumi realized how much she sounded like the Kage she had scolded. If someone like her hid behind, "that's just how it is.", then why shouldn't those who'd caused her harm? What was the Rain village and its pain, then? That's just the way of the ninja. Keito's stomach rumbled, uneasy. He felt like he'd come to some sort of revelation — why was it people were starting to look at him as though his head were on backwards?

By the time the new trio had made their way over to Azumi and Keito, the Iwa genin could well feel the wear and tear of the day on his body. He stood up from the place he had chosen to rest, now swarmed with activity. The young, wounded shinobi slung the sheathed sakabatou over his right shoulder, casually. His eyes took a moment to observe the new girl (another Leaf shinobi, who looked much like the one who'd shown him Ichiraku quite some time ago), though he betrayed little interest in her presence after that. She'd been the one he'd seen accosting Taiyo earlier. Keito's eyes moved to his Leaf acquaintance, and that boy only, a glimmer of frustration dancing around his irises.

"I'm well, Taiyo, just out and about, walking," he responded simply, resisting the urge to add, 'I'd be much better if people stopped asking me that stupid fucking question.' Instead, Keito said, "Good luck with your fight next round."
 

Land of Fire | Sora-ku (Sept 26 6:35 am, Day after the Exams)

Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan
True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​
Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing


‘Formulae technique referred to the formulaic kanji, script, or symbols used to guide chakra to produce specified effects.

Formulae or Scripts can be highly complex involving several, extensive supplementary characters such as the Fire Sealing Method[1] but can also be as simple as the five-seal barrier which uses a singular character—‘Forbidden’.

As a rule of thumb, stronger effects require more supporting scripts oriented around the main script; this principle can be illustrated by the difference in supporting script around smoke and explosive tags respectively—with the explosive, a far more potent script, requiring more supporting scripts.’

Sagisō reached into her ninja pouch and pulled out two tags, an explosive tag, and a smoke tag. She noted that while both tags centered around singular characters, ‘smoke’ and ‘explode’ respectively, there was a difference in the amount of script surrounding those characters. It was abundantly clear the explosive tag[3] had nearly twice the amount of supporting script as the smoke tag[4].

‘Although useful to judge the strength of a seal or script, this rule is not absolute. For example the legendary Uzumaki Clan's—'

"I'm back!" With a small frown, Sagisō closed her booklet. Her eyes widened as she noticed it was Asahi, not Karui, who was the first to arrive. A surprising development, but not an unwelcome one.

“Meg—What are you wear—actually, forget it.”

Between her ridiculous get-up and the massive thing on her back, Sagisō had too many questions.

“You don’t even know how to use a sword!”

Rolling her eyes, the Skillful star began to look out for Karui when suddenly, the wind kicked up, sweeping through the streets carrying a whisper to the Hasa trio—“Gather...”

Sagisō stiffened. “That was Meihui...”

Although the command was brief and simple, that alone spoke to the urgency of the situation. Sagisō knew that the Knowledge Star only utilized this technique when she wanted to broadcast messages without alerting bystanders.

Without wasting a moment Sagisō took off for the base where they’d spent the night.

Hidden Leaf – Day of the Exams (Sept 25)

During the height of the chunin exams several messenger hawks made their arrival, landing near various shinobi belonging to each of the great villages. Unbeknownst to all these messengers, each message contained the same content—the same mission. It wasn’t a rare mission, a mere escort mission, but the same couldn’t be said about the client. Emblazoned upon each letter was the royal crest of the Land of Moon.

The Land of Moon was a small nation far outside the purview of the continent’s great nations; a wealthy, but politically insignificant, place. It was such a middling land that had requested an escort. Usually, this would be a simple affair, any village would simply dispatch a somewhat experienced group on the cusp of Chunin to handle matters; but, as it so happened, the vast majority of such ninja were at the Chunin Exams. This created a unique problem; the land of the moon wasn’t important enough to warrant the attention of a seasoned Chunin or Jonin, especially given the potential duration of the mission which would tie them up for weeks at worse, but neither could an underqualified genin be sent lest they tarnish the village’s international reputation. As precarious as the decision was, the mission stations of the villages unanimously deferred the specifics of the decision to the their Kage.

The result was that in short succession the five Kage had been informed of the mission and independently made their decisions. Although it wouldn’t be possible to send out entire teams with such haste, there were a number of eligible shinobi who, for some reason or another, had not participated in the chunin exams or had already dropped out and were now eligible.

And so it was that a handful of shinobi, from different nations, had unknowingly been sent on the exact same mission.

Rendezvous with the Moon Prince in the Land of Hot water and then escort him, and his son, back to the Land of Moon.

[1] Fire Sealing Method
700



[2] Five-Tag Barrier
700



[3] Explosive Tag
700



[4] Smoke Tag
700


 
~Hisato the Fabulous Gato...~

Hisato followed furijia wondering who she would introduce the two to. Twists here. Turns there.

"I see, I see..." Hisato said pausing as he recognised the two ninjas, Furijia had gestured to.

Hisato looked over at Taiyo who seemed to know Kiro as well, "Huh... Small world, I guess" Hisato said commenting on the fact that Taiyo seemed to also know Keito.

"Hiya! Poetry dude, your a FuNnY gUy! Glad to see your doing better" Hisato said briefly. Hisato paused before asking if he was well. Since Taiyo had already asked.

Hisato held his thumb up excitedly, "Next round is gonna be great!" Hisato said giving Taiyo a friendly jab with his elbow.


~Lin Arasaka, but five days later...~

"Liiin? Liiin Arasaka...?" A rando ninja said.

"Liiin? Which Lin Arasaka...?" Lin Arasaka said.

"There's only one Lin Arasaka?" The rando ninja said slightly annoyed as she held out a scroll with the mission details. Lin reached out for the scroll, then reached past it, grabbing the rando's arm and shaking it.

"Jiggly indeed" Lin said before having her hand slapped away.

"The scroll, please?" Rando ninja said wanting to end the talk.

"You don't have to put up with this. Get rid of it! You can have a way better one, and I won't even charge ya much!" Lin said still gesturing to the rando ninja's arm. Though the ninja wasn't amused, and shoved the scroll in Lin's hand who stood there dumbfounded wondering why the ninja was being so rude to her. This behavior came out of nowhere and felt completely inappropriate and unacceptable.

Someone was paying Lin for a mission, and Lin needed money.

"Great! I'll get my stuff and we ca-... Bitch..." Lin turned away from the rando ninja to grab her bag, and paused as she realized the ninja had left without offering her a ride to the location. A little annoyed about having to go to some random location on foot, Lin would leave the chunin exams, and her sand ninjas. She liked her fellow shinobi, but she knew how these matches were gonna end. So she didn't ponder the thought too long. She did have respect for them for at least trying. A good run, Lin believed. Now it was time to travel.

Lin headed away from the leaf village. It would take a while to get there. She stood there at the city gates, ready to leave. She looked back at the village one last time before making her way out. She walked on the ground. No need to run in the trees. That was a stupid way to waste energy, what was she? A monkey. Running around in trees like that was gonna make her go faster. what was even the point of that shit? Walk on the ground like a flipping normal person, yeah? Just nonsense! Lin angrily kicked dirt into the air.

Lin had read her scroll of the mission details. "Moon prince. Huh... Moon prince... Is this guy prince of the moon or something? What kinda title is that? Lmao! Nobody can live on the moon..." Lin mumbled to herself. She would head down the road, and would continue heading that way until it got late in which case she would eventually need to set camp.
 

jade421

Previously Sarah316
As the clone caught the kick Yua did not waste a moment, as she quickly hopped off her free leg using an arm to help provide a boost and spun around as she aimed to kick the clone in the side of the head while it had been in mid adjust. The one thing she knew of clones at this level was they tended to be fragile, one clean shot was all she'd need to turn this one to a harmless puddle. So if she could connect with the kick, it should do just that but she also simply wished to turn herself and pull her leg away in the event her kick missed so least she would be facing the real Tsuki. With the momentum of her swing she tilted the string around her strings as she aimed to pull the kunai at an arc so they'd avoid striking into her with their own momentum. While Yua had been protected against her own clan's poison naturally being stabbed by flying knives was not a fate she'd been okay with.
"Alright now where is, oh no!"

The real Tsuki managed to slip around behind her and now with the girl but a couple feet from her she extended her palm out and water had began to come out, which threatened to encircle her! Yua had just attempted to land on her feet to face this new development so she twitched her fingers again and pulled the wire as she did the one thing she'd be able to. With her kunai having been already directed in an arc she pulled it in to have them close in on Tsuki as she aimed to strike the girl from the side with her goal to stab the poisoned blades either before or while Tsuki had been busy forming water around her. If Yua managed to kick the clone or least pull her leg to freedom, she'd also try to move if she was able to prevent Tsuki's water from surrounding her with the poisoned kunai.
"Can't let myself get stuck!"
 
Last edited:

=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
As Karui tore the last piece of dango from the stick using her teeth, a strong breeze blew through her newly braided hair, pulling a few strands free. With it came a familiar voice carrying a message whose existence said more than its contents. Karui discarded the bare stick that the dango had been on and broke into a run, releasing her wings without breaking stride and rising into the air. From above the buildings, the girl could see her sisters back at the meeting place, Sagiso already in motion. Karui dove back down, skimming just above the ground, and slowed to fall just behind Sagiso, touching down at the same speed as she had been flying. “I am here,” Karui informed Sagiso from behind. Asahi would be able to see that much, from slightly further back. “Apologies for my late arrival.”
 
Ayaka had been watching Kenji's match versus a Hidden Sand Ninja when a hawk on a random ninja's head, the Ninja looked around to find a hawk with a scroll. They plucked the scroll and sent the hawk on its way as they walked up to Ayaka.

"Ayaka Ushikai?"

"I'm here!"

"You have a mission in the Land of Hot Water, the prince is in need of bodyguards to get back to the Land of Moon, you have been selected to take part in this mission, you will receive more information when you get to the Land of Hot Water."

Ayaka stepped out for a moment. She stepped out to the fountain, using a little Chakra to move some water. She had a mission that only she can go on, and she made sure she had everything. After a good ten minutes, she had everything and was good to go. She headed out the door of Konoha I the direction of home, she takes off at a decent pace trying to find a good spot to camp.
 
Asahi stood still and looked up at the sky, something she did every time they received a new message, like if the person sending it was looking down on her. This of course distracted her from seeing her sister take off. Asahi snapped back to reality when she was sure there was no more of the message to listen to. With Kas jumping on her shoulder, the jinchuriki took off, her usual jolly expression replaced by a serious one. Was she finally going to get to do something fun? The exams had been okay, but having to wait made her itch for a bigger mission. Getting Kas had been just to easy if you asked her.

"You snooze you eat my dust!" Asahi called out as she used her wind to shoot herself past her sisters. Even when she tried to be serious, she couldn't help but be a little competitive with them.

It didn't take long for the Hasa girls to arrive at the meeting location. Asahi landing proudly before her sisters with a big grin, which quickly disappeared as she remembered she needed to be serious. Now that she was about to receive her mission, she felt a bit silly with her current outfit.
 
Kaito was making his way to the chunin exams when a hawk landed on his shoulder with a message attached to it. Kaito grabbed the scroll and began to read it, after he was finished reading a big grin came onto his face.

“And here I thought I wouldn’t get to see any action. This is gonna fun as Hell.”

Kaito rushed back to his house and began to pack his things and grabbed his fishing pole before heading out. He locked his door and began to walk towards the entrance of the leaf village. Kaito walked out side of konoha before looking back and smiling.

“I won’t fail this mission.”

The jinchuriki said in a soft tone as he began to jump from tree to tree in quick succession as he began to make his way towards the Land of Hot Water.

“If I keep up this speed then I should be able to make it there early.”
 

Land of Fire | Sora-ku | (Sept 26)
Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan
True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​
Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing

Like most buildings in Sora-Ku, the Hasian base was a decrepit old thing with more holes than windows and covered in more dust than paint. It was a smaller, ‘open-roofed’ building, four stories short but it had clearly been something more in a time long-forgotten.

From an adjacent building, Sagisō dropped in, landing almost soundlessly on the sun-bleached carpet of the fourth floor. With a silent nod, she acknowledged Karui, but she kept her focus on a rotting table placed in the center of the floor. She noticed that a few barrier tags had been placed around the room and her expression tightened.

The trio had evidently been the last to arrive and Sagisō led them over to sit on the crumbling walls. Now that all the Stars were in attendance, Meihui waved her fan, cloaking the room in a swirling dome of wind-chakra. She gazed around the room, raising an eye-brow at Asahi but declining to comment.

“Let’s cut straight to the point; we’ve got work to do and a lot of it.

“Over the last few months we’ve been sneaking around, keeping a low profile to avoid attention; however, with recent events being what they are, we won’t be able to do that any longer.

“Our stunt at the chunin exams has earned us, at best, one enemy and one ally, but realistically, we’ve kept one wolf at bay by inviting another into our midst. Only Lord Tsuchikage and whomever amongst his inner circle he deemed fit, should know about Asahil but while it is in his best interest to keep that information to himself that same information acts as leverage over us and I suspect he isn’t beyond giving up that advantage to force us into a difficult position. This is, unfortunately, best treated as an eventuality.

“He might hesitate now but who’s to say what the future holds? The time for slow accumulation has passed, from here on out we’ll have to be aggressive about our improvements.

“I’ve charted out a number of points of interest ranging from mercenary groups to medicinal herbs, the names of which are on this list, which as much information as was. available. Many of these items are merely rumors and whispers, they may not exist and—if they do—may be difficult to find. You’ll have to handle the additional info gathering yourselves.

“We’ll be splitting into smaller groups to cover as much area as possible; come up and collect a copy of the list, memorize two items you want to pursue, and depart immediately. In three months we’ll rendezvous in the Land of Rivers.”

With that, the Knowledge Star fell silent. Sagisō gazed around the room, taking in the surrounding solemnity. She reached over to give both Karui and Asahi reassuring squeezes, but it might’ve been more for herself than for them.

Steeling her nerves, she rose and went to look at the list:

  • Shinobi Ageha
  • Curry of Life
  • Nokizaru Group
  • Mandra Grass
  • Elixir Mud
  • Giant Mato
  • Heroes water
  • Wandering Ninja Clan
  • Hanasaki
  • Valley of Lies
  • Ruins of Uzushiogakure
  • Demon Desert
  • Sea Route of Silence
  • Energy Carrot
  • Yamanaka Clan
  • ...

The list when on and on, each item had a short description and an estimated danger rating. The rating was evidently there so they wouldn’t bite more than they could chew off.

Many of the items seemed rather mundane. The energy carrot was one such item, it was a simple medicinal herb rumored to have potent rejuvenating effects. Other items, such as the Curry of life, seemed to be downright fantastical—claiming to revive even those on the brink of death. If they could get their hands on that... A single glance at the curry’s danger rating dashed any such ideas for Sagisō. It was well beyond her capabilities.

Instead, she zeroed in on two mercenary groups: the Wandering Ninja Clan and the Nokizaru Group. They were more manageable targets.

As the barriers around the room dropped the Stars began to depart in groups. Sagisō returned to Asahi and Karui's side to discuss the missions she'd eyed, wanting to check with them first. After a quick affirmation, they were almost ready to go. The only problem was... intel.

"Now then, how are we going to find our targets...?"
 
Last edited:
Kas looked over Asahi's shoulder, eyeing the list Sagiso had gathered. During the meeting the cat had been quiet and focused on learning the faces of her new allies. Now being basically bonded to Asahi, she would probably get to spend more time with these woman and that meant she had to know who to seek for help in case it was needed. The coordination and obedience each member of Hasa showed, made Kas think that Asahi was actually dropped when she was a baby, until she saw her actually paying attention. Maybe she wasn't as dumb as she acted, maybe.

"I can get you intel." Kas spoke up after Sagiso. "Well, I know where to get intel, you will need to do the rest on your own. But, we can't go in looking like this." She gestured at Asahi's outfit. "If you want to be taken seriously, then looking like a giant cat isn't the right way to do so."

Asahi removed her hoodie and sighed loudly. "I know I know, meow."

The purple haired ninja ran off to the side of room, taking out clothes from the bags and changing into her new outfit. She had bought new under clothes, that covered her entire torso, up to her neck and down to her wrists. She replaced her shorts with black harem pants, which she thought looked really comfortable and they had incredibly deep pockets. She adjusted her weapons pouch to her lower back for easy access and kept the same red coat. Of course, she included her new giant sword around her back. Once she was done she dashed back to her team, struggling a bit to get used to the balance of the new weapon.

Kas nodded and shot Karui and Sagiso a smile. "Everything except the sword was my idea, you can thank me later. Alright, we'll lead the way." As if riding her trusty horse, Kas jumped on Asahi's back and tapped her on the back, which made Asahi dash forward.

After a day of traveling, Kas finally lead the team to a building in the middle the road. On the trip Asahi had fallen a few times due to the new weight on her, but she managed to get used to it while trying to keep up. Kas on the other hand had somehow managed to keep Asahi focused, stopping her from going of track because she saw some rabbits and another occasion when she saw some delicious, but suspicious looking berries. Upon arrival to their new destination, with a few man standing around, smoking and playing cards and ignoring the three Hasa girls who landed just in front of them.

"Alright, you three are up. I'll keep Asahi out of trouble." Kas said as she walked up the stone steps.

"I don't need a babysitter, meow." Asahi crossed her arms until her eyes wondered to the men playing cards. "Dibs on staying outside and keeping guard!" She raised her hand and ran over to the card players, who didn't seem to have any issues letting the girl join them. Kas sighed, feeling annoyed and ran after her human partner.
 
Last edited:

Land of Fire | Sora-ku (Sept 27 8:00 am, 2 Days after the Exams)
Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan
True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​
Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing

It only made sense that one of the best places to gather information on ninja was a facility that facilitated the hunting of said ninja. The Bounty Station in the land of fire was one such facility right in the middle of smack dab nowhere. There didn’t seem to be another building for miles, and in light of that, the bounty station was surprisingly populated.

The bounty station itself was divided into several section, one held a collection desk where people turned in bounties and another held a small tavern where a few mercenaries lounged about, sharing crass jokes over cups of sake. The Skillful Star curled her lips as she walked past the tavern. The smell of alcohol had her craving some herself, but not the horrendous swirl every shop tried to pawn off as a drink.

In addition to the former sections, the bounty station also acted as a gathering point for information brokers. This was the reason the Hasa kunoichi had come.

Sagisō glanced among the idle brokers and picked one at random, moving over to his table. With the heavy clatter of coins she placed a pouch on the table. The man looked up with a sleazy smile and reached for the bag—thunk!

The sound of steel piercing wood gave him pause, and the man had just enough time to admire his reflection in the blade before Sagisō pulled it back, twirling the weapon between her fingers.

“The Wandering Ninja Clan...” She pressed.

“Mmmm, who’s askin’?”

Sagisō’s eyes narrowed at his croaking voice and she tipped the coin-pouch, allowing several coins to spill onto the table.

“Alright lil’ missy...whad’ya wanna know?”

.....

The negotiations didn’t last long, because there wasn’t much information to had. The Wandering Ninja Clan was composed of three shinobi mercenaries who were partial to using poison. More specific than that the man couldn’t give so Sagisō moved on to her last question.

“Location?”

“Last that’s been seen of ‘em was in the Land of Moon. S’pposedly in service of their King.”

“What do you know about there?”

“We don’t get much news from that far, but the Moon Prince’s been travelin’ round for a few years now, spendin’ big all over. Hard to miss him, bought himself a travelin’ circus in the Land of Hot Water just last week.”

“Okay...thanks.”

Sagisō left a few more coins behind and headed outside. Calling for her team, she led them east. Next stop, Land of Hot Water.

Unbeknownst to the girls, they’d been flaunting their wealth a little too openly. Their age and apparent naivety painted them as easy targets and there were always people more than happy to take advantage of easy targets... As they departed the bounty station, a group of shinobi slunk after them. Alas, greed often led men to their demise.

The next morning the still-warm corpses of the shinobi could be found, nailed to trees by black-burnt arrows...

.....

Land of Hot Water | (Sept 30 5:30 am, 5 Days after the Exams)
Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan
True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​
Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing

The group made all haste to the land of water; not wanting to miss their target, they cut back on sleep so they could make their destination in just three days. It was unsurprisingly very easy to locate the Prince of the Land of Moon, his lavish, wasteful spending had turned what might’ve been a small detail of guards and ministers into an entire convoy plus traveling circus.

The three kunoichi from Hasa had subtle booked a room in an Inn opposite to the one the prince was staying in. They had decided to set up a stakeout at least until the Prince had departed. While not as renown as the five greats, there was a shinobi village within the land of hot water and clashing with them wouldn’t be ideal.

However, now that they’d located the Moon Prince, then next step was to form a plan of action.

“Should we...kidnap him?”
 
Asahi sat on the bed, munching on a cookie while looking at her sisters. She was not usually the type to pitch plans, but for some reason her brain was working on one. How could she possibly get close to a prince? Her mind meditated on the idea of what being a prince was like. It was until she finished her cookie that the idea came to her head.

"I know!" She raised her hand with a proud smirk. "Sagiso must become his girlfriend." She waited for the applause before she continued. "Think about it, a prince might have a lot of girls after him, BUT none of them are as pretty as we are. Of course, I'm way too pretty to fall for someone like him and Karui is too shy to play the role. The best option is for our pretty Sagiso to win his heart, get close to him, get us tickets to the circus and then mission complete!" She shrugged and gave Sagiso a challenging smirk. "Unless, you can't handle the pressure. Which I understand, not all of us are perfect."

Kas stood by, watching in shock at the plan Asahi had pitched. It was a really weird plan, but IF the prince fell for something like that, it would be easy to locate their target with the prince fully trusting one of them. "Earning the prince's trust is not bad, but maybe there are other ways?"
 

Land of Hot Water | (Sept 30 5:30 am, 5 Days after the Exams)
Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan
True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​
Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing

The group meeting was a fundamental action utilized by groups of all shapes and sizes. It provided even grounds for the exchange of individual ideas and ensured every member’s voice was heard because every member’s opinion was equally important.

Sagisō found out that the above was absolute bull shit.

“Why are you even here?”

Sagisō hit Asahi with a flat stare. Her suggestion might sound some kind of sensable but it assuredly wasn’t. First off, the Prince himself had a son who was around their age, even if they were to play girlfriend it definitely wouldn’t be the Prince they would target. Of course, Asahi hadn’t the presence of mind to think about that since her mind was obviously off elsewhere; the circus had jack shit to do with their mission! Obviously, she just wanted to play around.

Unperturbed by Asahi’s provocative smirk, Sagisō turned to address Kas.

“How would you like to become the new Killer Star? I can recommend you.”
 
Asahi looked offended as she turned to see Kas, while the cat rejected the offer. "Hey! You can't give away my star name!" She jumped up on her feet and crossed her arms. "Okay well maybe my idea was too perfect for you to understand. How about, we disguise ourselves as servants? I can handle serving food, Karui can baby sit and you can scrub floors." Asahi grabbed a cookie and bit a huge piece of it with ferocity. "Or circus clowns. I can make the jokes, because I'm the funniest, Karui the stunts and you can be the sad clown."
 

Land of Hot Water | (Sept 30 5:30 am, 5 Days after the Exams)
Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan
True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​
Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing

“What kind of stupi—” Sagisō paused mid-sentence, her brows furrowing. That...actually wasn’t a bad idea. It would not only allow them to tag along incognito, but it would put into practice the transformation skills they’d worked on for the chunin exams. All in all, it wasn't just not a bad idea, it was actually a pretty great idea.

“Huh, so miracles can happen. What do you think, Kogane?”
 
Kaito had arrived in the land of hot water and began looking for the moon prince. Even though he was tired from his travels and had almost no more energy he put his mission to find and escort the moon prince first.

“okay, might as well start looking for this kids. He shouldn’t be to hard to sp-.”

he immediately stopped talking once he saw a circus tent with guards near it. His jaw dropped as he thought about how stupid it was to buy a circus when your suppose to be getting escorted back to your homeland.

“How stupid is this prince!” Kaito yelled in pure shock.
 

=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
Karui stifled a snort of laughter at Asahi’s suggestion for Sagiso to attempt to seduce the prince. There was no way Sagiso’s patience (or lack thereof) would allow her to suck up to a spoiled rich kid and pretend to be in love. To Sagiso, Karui imagined the most romantic activity would be a violent sparring match and a hearty dinner. She doubted that would go over well with someone who seemed even less mature than Asahi.

Asahi’s secondary plan seemed far more viable, and Karui spoke her thoughts on it. “Certainly would be a more successful plan than Sagiso attempting to get into the prince’s good graces,” she quipped. “Clowns would garner us more attention, so if we want to remain inconspicuous, servants would be a better choice. However, judging by the prince’s recent… purchases… he would likely have more respect for an entertaining clown than for a servant. So if we were going to go down the seduction route…” Karui grinned at Sagiso cheekily, unable to resist the temptation.
 
Sept 30th, Land of Hot Water.

Ayaka had been moving for five days, practicing some of her Jutsu when she could, and eventually, arriving in the Land of Hot Water. She then started looking for the prince, reading the Scroll. The scroll said he'd be hard to miss, with a son and an entire circus. She then started her search, preparing for anything, moving Stealthily as she searched. Ayaka had been on the move throughout the city when she found an inn, but she was not sure if anyone else from her village had been going, but she saw a guy with a Konoha forehead protector. She naturally followed him and was gobsmacked with what was behind the inn. When the scroll said the Prince bought an entire circus, it was not kidding.

"Okay, might as well start looking for this kids, he shouldn't be hard to sp-!"

That was followed by...

"How stupid is this Prince!"

She then walked out of where she had been hiding and waited, responding with...

"Wait, what!?" Ayaka had similar shock, then she whispered, "When the scroll said that the Prince had bought a circus, it wasn't kidding."

Ayaka facepalmed too hard at the sight of the circus tent.

"Oww!" Ayaka winced.
 

Land of Hot Water | (Sept 30 5:30 am, 5 Days after the Exams)
Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan
True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​
Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing

Sagisō scowled. Did they think they could successfully tease her just by ganging up on her? An unhappy grumble remained unvocalized in her throat; she’d get back at them...

“We can mix things up, if we go undercover as different roles we’ll be able to cover more ground and it’ll be easier to blend in.”

To Sagisō it was already evident which roles would best suit her sisters and it also happened to the roles they wanted to play, for the clown-like Asahi... “Circus performer,” and for the more reserved Karui, “and Servant”.

“I’ve got an idea for my own disguise but I’ll need to sneak into the circus first. Megami, keep an eye out for anything that might help us complete the mission; Kogane, keep a tab on us your sensory skills. We’ll have to find an opportunity to meet up again later, but for now...let’s move.”

With the meeting adjourned, Sagisō made her way to the Inn’s lobby and then slowly merged into the trickle of early-morning traffic.
 
Asahi snickered at the idea of all of them dressing like clowns. She couldn't imagine Sagiso trying to be funny, so the idea made her grow more interest in the mission. She raised her hands in the air and let herself plop on the bed. Her wonderful ideas had finally been taken into consideration. She listened carefully to her sister's commands, circus performer? That was the best one! She sprung to her feat and got to work, leaving the Inn to go buy makeup.

It didn't take long for her to find a shop and with the help of the owner, Asahi got a hold of some great circus like make up. Finally, she could use her skills for something besides killing, which she didn't mind, but sometimes she wondered if she could try other things and this was her opportunity. Kas helped out also, using Asahi's cat onesie and using the make up to paint whiskers, a nose and cheeks on the ninja. Within about an hour she was ready with her new stage name, Big Kas.

"You couldn't think of anything better?" Kas said as she walked next to Asahi towards the circus.

"Big Kas is great! Meow!" Asahi tried to pretend she was purring.

"No it's not!" Kas sighed loudly. "Change it to something else!" She hissed loudly, but stopped when they reached the back side of the circus.

"And you are?" A young lady with dark blonde hair looked at the two "cats" in front of her, holding a notepad and a pencil.

"I am Super Kami Kas and this is Lil Kas." Asahi smiled and pointed at her cat friend.

Kas groaned and raised her right paw. "I am Lil Kas."

"Okay and why are you here?" The woman eyed the two individuals, more with curiosity than suspicion.

"We wanna join the circus! We can do flips and tricks and lots of flips in the air." Asahi waved her hands around as if that showed what kind of flips she could do. "My cartwheels are perfect!"

"Mhm. Okay, how are you with kids?"

"Great!"

"We need someone to hand out snacks and balloons during the performance and also hand out flyers, can you do that?"

"I am an expert at all of that! Question, can I do flips while doing all of that?"

"Sure I guess." She quickly wrote down the names given to her and some notes next to them, before tearing the page out and giving it to Asahi. "Follow the path around the caged animals, past the tamers and clowns, there's the boss's office, give him this."

The Hasa ninja took the note and skipped towards the location indicated. On the way she managed to pet an elephant, get a balloon from one of the clowns and bought some peanuts. She finally reached the said office, which was a small shed with a roof that seemed to fall down in any second.

"What do you want?" An overweight black bearded man sat on a small chair that only held his right butt cheek while he placed a thick cigar down on the ashtray in front of him. "Give me the paper, I got stuff to do."

To anyone, the man might give them the creeps or make them lose their lunch, but to Asahi, she saw her new boss and the superior authority. "Sir yes sir!" She said loudly before handing over the note with a big smile.

The man was taken back by the excitement the new recruit showed, which brought a chuckle out, that was quickly replaced by loud coughing. "I like yer energy! Take this flyers, you bring me customers and we'll give em a big show! How much you wanna be paid?"

"Paid?" Asahi was taken back by the question, she got money out of something so fun?! "I like cotton candy."

"Ha! You're a funny one. I'll give ya 100 a day, take it or leave it."

"I'll take it!" Asahi was confident in her negotiation skills, and it showed with the smirk on her face.

"Great! Now get out there and start working, we got a few hours before the show! The prince needs this place to be packed with people! The more people the better the show!" He waved his hand dismissing Asahi.

She took a quick bow and skipped out towards the streets, with a pile of flyers under her arm and giving them out to anyone she saw. "Best circus in the world, come and see it!" She yelled out, as she hopped from person to person offering the piece of paper.
 
After some time had passed after her defeat by the hands of Raiku during the first round of the Chunin Exams, Shiho finally regained her consciousness, finding herself laying on a bed in the arena's infirmary all alone. Still feeling the lingering impact of the last attack, the young Hyuga held her head as she sorted through her memories of the event. "So, I lost. Ah man, this really sucks." She said to herself. "My brother worked really hard to prepare me for this yet I still wasn't strong enough to even get past the first round." The girl let out a sigh.

As the Hyuga girl was left alone with her thoughts, a form suddenly appeared behind her without a sound. Seeing a shadow suddenly appear over her, Shiho snapped her head back and was met with a familiar figure. "Big bro! You're back from your mission?" She exclaimed. The person who that shadow belonged to was none other than Shura Hyuga, Shiho's older brother who she had been remembering advice from all throughout the Chunin Exam. Raising a hand at the sight of his sister's surprise, Shura gave the girl a small wave.

"Hey."

"When did you get back?" Asked the young lass, still perturbed by her brother's sudden unannounced appearance.

"Not too long ago actually, however I did get to see your match against that Uchiha kid." He replied.

"Oh, I see. Are you disappointed that I lost during the first round?" Shiho asked, sounding rather down.

Shura took a moment to ponder how to answer this question. "Hmm, not necessarily. I honestly didn't expect you to get this far so you have exceeded my expectations." After trying to sound more tactful with his response, he still ended up giving a brutally honest reply. His sister simply chuckled in response, knowing very well what kind of person her brother was.

"Anyways, I'm glad to see that you're finally fighting without overthinking things like you usually do. With some more training you'll grow stronger in no time." Shura claimed.

In response to what her brother had said, Shiho tilted her head in confusion. "Umm, thanks but... what are you talking about big bro?"

Hearing this, Shura looked back towards her with a raised eyebrow. "...During your fight, I saw you move with little to no hesitation so I assumed you finally got the hang of fighting without thinking."

Shiho searched her memory after hearing this claim made by her brother, she could not recall any instance where she simply shut her mind off and moved without thinking. "I really don't know what you're talking about."

However, she did remember something odd that was happening to her during the various stages of the exam. "Oh! This is probably unrelated but there were a few times where I think I blacked out and when I came back to I was in a different position than before, I have no recollection of what happened during that though. It felt really weird and disorienting."

Shura was left at a loss for words at his sister's cluelessness. "She still doesn't know?" He internalized.

Flashback: a year before the Chunin Exams


In the courtyard of the Hyuga Compound, Shura was sparring with Shiho. "You can go faster than that, stop overthinking and just move." He instructed. The young man was wielding a wooden sword, using it it parry the palm strikes his sister was attempting to throw at him.

"I'm trying, but I can't just move without first thinking about what I want to do." Shiho replied.

"You'll need to be quicker than that, I can feel hesitation in every step you make, if you were on a real battlefield chances are you'd be dead by now."

Hearing that, Shiho grit her teeth and let out an annoyed growl. "Yes I know that! Let me focu-"

"You let your guard down." Before the young girl got to finish her rant, Shura took the opening to close the distance between then and stabbed his blade towards Shiho's forehead.

In that instance, the girl's eyes appeared to have gone blank. With finesse, Shiho dropped into a roll, both avoiding the strike as well as reposition herself behind her brother. With a swift back kick, Shiho hit the back of Shura's knee, causing the man to stumble. "Ngh. Heh, now that's better." Shura complimented.

Following up, Shiho went in for a Palm Strike. However, Shura quickly dropped into a roll of his own, dodging out of the way. Not letting Shiho any time react, Shura quickly spun on his heels and dashed towards his sister. With his wooden sword, Shura sent three consecutive strikes out, hitting Shiho on the forehead, her abdomen and finally her legs; causing the girl to fall on her back. Shura now stood above his sister, pointing his blade at the downed girl. "Not bad, however you still need more practice." He declared.

Shiho on the other hand sat back up while holding her head, looking around confused. "Huh? What happened? I suddenly blacked out and now I'm sitting on the floor." She said out loud.

Hearing this, a wave of confusion swept over Shura's mind. "What is she saying?" He quickly began trying to make sense of what his sister had just said and came up with a theory. "Could it be that... Shiho get up, we're going for another few rounds. I need to confirm something."

The young Hyuga slowly stood up as her brother's order. "Umm, sure bro but what is this thing you need to confirm?" She asked.

"Its nothing you need to worry about right now. On your guard, here I come!"

"So, she still hasn't realized." Shura thought. Shiho possessed great fighting instinct which are unfortunately held back by her personality. Therefore, it appeared her body had adapted to that fact, creating a sort of automatic mode. A state where Shiho's mind turns off, allowing her instinct to take over and her body to fight at its maximum output without her overthinking getting in the way.

While Shura was deep within his thoughts, Shiho had climbed out of her bed and gotten dressed. "Well, no point in staying here. I'm going to go spectate the other matches in the exam, are you coming bro?" Letting out a breath, Shura stood up as well. "Actually, you got assigned on a mission." He pulled out a scroll from his pocket. "I ran into an official who was going to hand this to you but since I was already on my way here I convinced him to let me deliver the message and save some time. I believe some on-field experience is just what you need right now, I'll also be accompanying you on this mission." The young man explained. Shiho stood still for a few seconds, processing what she had been told before giving a very simple answer. "Ok let's go."
 
Last edited:

Land of Hot Water | (Sept 30 8:45 am, 5 Days after the Exams)
Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan
True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​
Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing

For the past few hours, Sagisō had been observing the circus tent. She’d seen, and curled her lips in disdain, as Asahi was hired as some kind of circus errand girl; she had also seen as two unknown shinobi—from the Leaf and Cloud—stopped to gawk at the circus. She might’ve dismissed them as mere passers-by but they wasted no time is yelling about the Prince and quickly identifying themselves as possible trouble.

Shifting her gaze away from them, Sagisō turned her attention back to the circus tent where animals and their handlers were milling in and out: a woolly mammoth, a small herd of zebra, a polar bear, chipmunks, a giraffe—the Prince had evidently wanted to take home the whole zoo. Sagisō narrowed her eyes as she spotted an opportunity, eyeing one of the handlers as he moved away from the tent to tend his animals.

Glancing once more at the gawking shinobi, Sagisō confirmed their positions and the direction of their attention; finally, she took action.

A few minutes later the animal handler returned to the tent, whistling a catchy toon as he led his animals back into the tent and into their respective enclosures. As the animals of the circus settled down, one of them gazed around curiously, their eyes sparkling with intelligence.
 
Mori had a resigned smile on his face and shook his head. "I figured as much, but it was worth a shot. I won't try to change your mind, because I just know that's a losing battle even in ideal circumstances. How do you plan on getting to her scrolls? From what I've heard, you're in for a strong match. If Keito can fall for her after getting his butt kicked, you better have a good plan. Perhaps you could try something like a dust cloud as cover, create a rock clone and use it as a distraction whilst you dig underground?"

"I don't want to know everything that you've got going on in that little head of yours, I want a surprise in your fight after all." The boy grinned at his friend before winking at Tomiko. "Oh, and by the way, don't worry about my shirt. It was old anyway, it was gonna tear some day with or without your help. Atleast I can say I destroyed it for a good cause, though it didn't truly matter at the end."
 
Michiru + Hikaru Tsuki, Princes of the Land of Moon
The Land of Hot Water; Sep. 30 (5 days after the Chunin Exams)

"A prince being thus obliged to know well how to act as a beast must imitate the fox and the lion, for the lion cannot protect himself from snares, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognise snares, and a lion to frighten wolves. Those that wish to be only lions do not understand this."
- Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince
The two shinobi (Ayaka and Kai) who had found themselves just outside of the Prince's tent could hear the upstart of sudden, violent emotion. Whereas the circus had previously been so loud that deciphering any one, distinctive voice or sound was incredibly difficult, this noise seemed to cut through and over the loudness of general circus fare. It sounded like the howling of a wolf, mixed with the slobbering wails of an infant well-past feeding time.

"IWOBERBACKRINOWORORORELSE!" almost impossible to tell what the man was actually shouting, Kai and Ayaka could notice the two guards in front of the tent sharing a displeased, flustered look.

"You two, over there!" one of the guards called to the two genin in front of the tent. "Are you the replacement guards Crown Prince Tsuki hired?"

"Does that mean we're free to go?" the other guard asked, a pleading look on his face.

The wails seemed to grow louder inside, and then inter-mixed with a series of loud crashing; glass shattering, wood splintering, fabric shredding, all spun together with sobs and shouts that seemed to carry sound with no words. As the disruption inside the tent grew, so did the uneasiness on the two guards' faces.

"He said we could go the moment our replacements got here," the first guard continued, already dropping his weapon and starting to remove his small smattering of slapped together pieces of armor. "He said he got some shinobi from the Land of wherever, that's gotta be you—"

"—ditching out already, are we?" a young boy poked his head out from the tent, his face red with embarrassment it seemed. Hikaru Tsuki, the son of the Crown Prince, had unimpressed brown eyes covered by round glasses, and brown hair parted in the middle that slicked back into a set of soft spikes. Though the outfit he wore was a simple, white robe, it looked...expensive, to put it lightly. "No matter. You fools are dismissed then! told father he should have hired ninja from the start, anyway. If they ditch out on a mission they have to kill themselves."

While the two guards stared at young Hikaru, dumbfounded, the young boy turned his attention to Ayaka and Kai. The redness left his face, even as the screaming and sobbing in the tent continued on ever-aggressively in the background.

"If you failed your mission to protect my father, you'd kill yourselves on the spot, right?" he asked, as if expecting a very obvious, unwavering yes, sir in response.
 
~Five days later! At the Hot Water village, Lin Arasaka...~

Lin had finally arrived at her destination. Unamused, but she arrived just as she was supposed to. The first thing she needed to do was speak to the Moon Prince. Hopefully a prince of the moon would be loaded with money. That would be very helpful in improving her workshop back at the sand village.

She would use her scroll to figure out where she needed to be. The sounds of the animals and all sorts of things made it obvious she was in the right place. Lin saw the Hikaru speaking with the two other ninjas.

She gave a slight bow, "This isn't a prank is it, cause I don't do pranks. Mhm. Sure. Gotcha" Lin said clicking her fingers. Joints bending in strange directions that normal fingers could not. She responded to his question quickly, not wanting to waste time on mundane questions.

"Lin Arasaka, of the sand!" Lin said after remembering to introduce herself. She gave a smug grin and gave a friendly wave at the two other ninjas.
 
Last edited:
Is this kid serious?

Kaito began to think to himself as he was still trying to figure out who the hell made that noise from earlier. He glanced at the boy for a few minutes before coming to somewhat of a conclusion.

Now if the kid is right here talking to us and his father didn’t come out, then that could only mean…

He stopped thinking for a moment before turning to the other two shinobi, one of which just arrived and the other one who facepalmed a little to hard and hurt herself. He turned to face the boy again and began to speak.

“Okay, before we continue our mission I have one question, is your father throwing a fit in there?”

He said as he pointed behind the boy and into the tent.
 

=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
Karui nodded in affirmation with Sagiso’s plan. If anyone was going to be able to pass as a servant, it would be her. While she wasn’t exactly the most entertaining con artist, she felt she could come up with a sufficient excuse to explain why she had been out.

Or she could just break in, and blend in with the rest of them once she was in.

No, even when she snuck in unnoticed, it would alert the guards to the presence of someone suspicious, and security would be made tighter. Karui sighed— it seemed there was no way to avoid interaction with the enemy beforehand. She’d have to be as innocuous as possible, which she could do— just appear less suspicious than others, and they would be the first to be scrutinized if something went awry.

She was overthinking and she knew it. Just rely on the facts, formulate a plan, and be prepared for it to go completely off the rails like usual. Karui took a deep breath, alone in the room, the others long gone to prepare to infiltrate. I should get moving too, she thought, and headed down, slipping between people in the crowded lobby until she reached the foyer. It was irritating to walk everywhere, unable to fly without catching unwanted attention, but she supposed she could deal with it.

Karui looked up at the prince’s inn’s entrance, appearing deep in thought. She wasn’t, she was just trying to blend in with the crowd and direct attention away from the small golden chakra wasps that were crawling out from her pant legs. There were five of them in total, and they entered the inn one at a time, at random intervals. Once inside, they were instructed to find groups of people and observe, to find what servants would wear. Karui turned away from the inn, briskly walking in a different direction, then stopped abruptly in a deserted alley. Certain she was alone, the girl released her antennae so she could connect with the wasps, and sense what they sensed.

She closed her eyes in focus— mentally switching from wasp to wasp was quite disorienting. Private performers… group of musicians… is that a fashion designer?! Then, Oh my god this guy hired a crocheting tutor, as a wasp passed by a middle-aged woman being interviewed by two men in dark colors, holding a flyer which she assumed was the woman’s advertisement judging by its text. Back on track, Karui. She switched again. There.

Several servants were setting a table, wearing suits with no ties. Most of them appeared to be about her age. That was good, and the clothing shouldn’t be too hard to emulate. Karui blinked, dissipating the wasps and the antennae at the same time. Next up, figure out how to get in.

A general store a block away caught Karui’s eye. She entered the shop and slipped into the bathroom in the back, taking advantage of the privacy to use a transformation jutsu, changing into the guise of a small, blond, blue-eyed girl, taking care to make sure her facial structure and height was different so no one could see any of her in her disguise. She transformed her clothes into the same garb the servants wore and inspected her look in the mirror. Satisfied, she exited the bathroom and began grabbing generic groceries from the shelves, then paid and left the store.

Karui’s plan was fairly simple; head to the kitchens with the excuse someone had sent her to get ingredients last-minute. From there, just blend in with the other servants, follow the crowd. She needed to avoid unwanted questions, though, so she purposely piled the groceries precariously and pretended her sense of balance wasn’t nearly as good as it was in actuality.

The girl awkwardly pried the door to the inn open with her foot, giving a convincing wobble so the groceries tilted alarmingly. The people in the lobby, whether they were guards or not, looked on in concern as Karui stumbled across the open space, heading to where she had mentally marked the kitchens when her wasps had been inside. She ignored any exclamations of surprise or curiosity, and pushed through the doors. Heads turned to look at her.

“I have the deliveries for chef… Mike?” Karui announced, panting heavily as she set the pile of groceries down on the counter. Mike was a name she’d overheard through one of her wasps’ link; she didn’t exactly know who she’d be referring to, but it was better than taking a swing in the dark.

A grumpy, burly man came out from behind a stove, chef’s hat askew and grease on his shirt. “Dammit, Tian, how many times do I have to tell you not to leave the pan— who the hell are you?”

Karui took a breath. Here goes nothing. “I’m Sen, sir,” she lied smoothly, as if it were a matter of fact. “Mike told me to buy some more ingredients, said you were running low…”

The burly man turned disbelievingly to a scrawny looking boy to his left. “Well, seems like ya finally did something right, Mikey. It’s about damn time.”

The boy’s eyes widened even further in surprise and confusion, but he didn’t refute the man’s praise.

“Alright everyone,” the thickset man barked, “back to work! Fen, or whatever your name is, why don’t you make yourself useful and wash some dishes or something.”

“Sir!” Karui exclaimed in the affirmative, snapping to attention before heading over to the pile of dirty dishes. I’m in.
 
Last edited:
5 Days After the Exams

A mission to escort a Prince back to the Land of Moon. That would be the mission Kiro was currently on as trekked into the Land of Hot Water. At least, that was what he planned to say if asked. His main priority was actually something else. The original mission had been a request to all the major villages supposedly. It made sense considering the immeasurable sum of money the noble seemed to have. He’d created a noticeable trail after purchasing a number of circuses during his time outside the Moon. What was he? Some sort of clown?

For now, Kiro had been the only one sent on this “escort” mission. Backup could be behind him, but Kiro just continued to work on the assumption he would have to complete this mission on his own. Another test of the Mist perhaps. At first glance, it seemed like an average escort mission. From what he knew, the Prince would be attempting to return to the Land of Moon soon. The details on the Prince and his children told Kiro that they wouldn’t necessarily be a threat themselves. However, it was likely the Prince would have some bodyguards to accompany him on the way back. Most likely, they were either hired mercenaries or shinobi from other villages. Considering it was a C rank, most likely the latter.

“Hm, I wonder if I’ll see anyone that would recognize me.”

Getting up from the log he was sitting on during his break, Kiro dusted off his pants before heading off. He was already inside the Land of Hot Water, so it wouldn’t be too long before he arrived at his destination. A circus. He’d just been at one about five days ago. That being the chūnin exams. It would be interesting if someone he saw there recognized him. Though, if it was someone from the same village, so they would probably be there to escort the Prince as well. It might be wise to just garner their trust, at first. As long as there wasn’t much outside interference, this mission should be relatively simple.

(OOC: First post after the Charms update!)
 
Ayaka had looked up when the young boy had said something as she figured it wasn't optional. She knew if something went wrong, it would be a long day or something like that day.

"Does that sound like your father?"

Ayaka had heard yelling from behind the young boy, Prince Tsuki, she doesn't know which one was yelling.

"If you don't mind, could you show us where we need to be, in a more specific area as such."

The Jinchuriki waited for an answer as she prepared her stuff for whatever she is about to do.
 
Land of Hot Water, 5 days later


"So those are the ones who listed this job huh." Standing a distance away from the entrance of the circus tent were the Hyuga duo. They had made it just in time to witness the insufferable whining of their employer. Shura looked on with a expressionless stare before letting out a deep sigh. "Spoiled brats are some of my least favored kind of employers." He expressed.

In contrast to her brother, Shiho's attention was more focused on all the various circus attractions laid out everywhere. The animals, the carts, the performers; every single one of these aspects made Shiho's eyes glow with glee. Though she soon noticed her brother's dismay and decided to attempt to cheer him up. "Oh come on big bro, it can't be that bad. Besides, were in a circus so don't you feel down alright?" She spoke cheeringly.

Shura glanced over at his sister then let out a chuckle. "Heh, alright let's go meet out employers. I think those people over there are also here for the job, we don't want to appear tardy by showing up later than others." With that, Shura began moving towards the tent with Shiho following beside him.
 
~Lin Arasaka...~

Lin watched the young boy with a blank unamused facial expression. The only childish tantrums Lin tolerated were her own. She continued to bend her fingers which made clicking sounds. The boy's lack of response to Lin's question seemed to further doubt the severity of the mission at hand. Though if the pay was real, it didn't matter if this was a prank or not.

Lin glanced over at Ayaka who was told to stay outside. Then looked at kai, whom they were both told to follow Hikaru.

"I guess he's talking about us, leaf boy" Lin said.

"Tsk tsk tsk" Lin went sarcastically shaking her head as Keito apologized for being late.
 
Kaito began to follow the prince inside the tent close behind Lin. Getting more curious about what the prince’s father looked like until he heard Lin call him Leaf boy.

Did she really just call me that? I guess I can’t really complain since we haven’t had anytime to introduce ourselves. I was still kinda expecting something a little more original though.

He stopped thinking to himself and looked back to see the newcomer who had arrived a bit later then the rest of them.

Someone from the stone? This getting really interesting now. I wonder if this is how most escort missions go when it revolves around someone of royalty?
 
Asahi cartwheeled towards a young couple and handed the flyer with a big smile, which stood out besides the heavy makeup on her face. She then skipped towards an old man walking by, who seemed scared at first by the giant cat girl, but then smiled and took the flyer with a promise he would go. Lastly, Asahi made her way to a group of boy that seemed a bit older than her.

"Come to the circus, the circus is great! We got peanuts, elephants and big cats, meow!" Asahi offered a flyer to the group.

"Do we look like five?" The tallest one of the group shot a mean eye towards the girl. "Circus are boring."

"Circus are not boring!" Asahi pressed her hand against her chest as if she had been greatly offended. "Circus are fun!"

"You gonna be there?" The guy took a step towards her as he grabbed the flyer. "Any more like you?"

"Pfffft, yeah of course." Asahi knew there were at least a few more clowns. "We're like the main show, probably, I think."

"Oh okay, that sounds fun." He turned towards his group and got a cheerful respond from them, until he turned back to Asahi and ripped the piece of paper into four pieces. "Yeah no. Go bother someone else."

She watched the pieces of the flyer float towards the ground as if her entire dreams had been shattered. But, she had to stay calm, it was in her role! "That's okay, if you change your mind, the circus will welcome you!" She replied with teary eyes and a smile in her face before cartwheeling away to the next group.

The tall boy let out a chuckled as he turned back to his group, swinging away at a bug that buzzed to close to him. The group shared a laugh, but it was interrupted by more bugs. The group began swatting away at them, only to realize a horde of wasps were all over their faces. They began running away from the area, but wherever they went, the wasps followed, buzzing loudly and deadly. The boys disappeared down the street, running and screaming for their lives while the rest of the town stared in confusion. Kas snickered and ran towards her partner.

"Time for a break partner, I need more of these anyways." Asahi looked at the remaining poster on her hand. "We could use a snack also." She petted Kas, who had just ran up on her shoulder. "Let's go, meow! You think my sisters will recognize me?"

The Hasa girl began skipping down the road, in direction of the circus tent. She took a sneak peek at her colorful new face, giving herself a smile, and kept going. Why can't ninjas dress like this always?
 
5 Days After the Chūnin Exams

“So, this is the place.”

Blending into the crowd by the circus owned by the Prince of the Moon was a particularly handsome young man that appeared to be no older than sixteen. His medium length hair was a cool shade of silver with fringes that were just enough to barely past his eyebrows. It was shorter beneath his ears and longer up top. Contrasting the color of his hair were iridescent blue-violet eyes, which constantly moved around as his glance subtly shifted from person to person. Anyone that passed him would just see a friendly closed smile that strained completed his charming face.

As for the rest of his look, the man wore a well-tailored, button down, short-sleeved shirt. Most of it was painted a dark navy blue besides the golden floral design above his heart and on the sleeves. With the shirt worn unbuttoned, the white shirt he wore underneath could be seen. Further down his well-toned body, he just wore the basic ninja pants, along with some scrolls and two weapons pouches on each side of his waist. It was mainly thanks to those items and white bandages over his wrists that indicated that there might be something more to him. Otherwise he just looked like the son of some high class family spending the day out here. The only thing missing now was probably a woman or two on each arm.

Of course, the point was to remain casual to the common folk and hard to be recognized immediately by other ninja. Pronouncing to everyone in the vicinity that he was a ninja there to protect the Prince would immediately be a failure after all. Only the Prince should know who was protecting him, which would prevent possible attackers from knowing who they needed to watch out for. Especially if they ended up being a higher rank than expected. This way they wouldn’t be too confident about attacking blindly. By looking older, it also made him seem more experienced as well.

The first thing he noticed while he ventured deeper into the caravan and towards the circus tent was just the amount of people in the area. For a team of bodyguards, this could be quite troublesome. For an assassin, or anyone else trying to go for the Prince, this was perfect. It was quite simple for him to blend in with the crowd and pretend to just be another passerby while gathering information. Like any visitor, the teenager looked around curiously.

Noticeably, he had also avoided touch anyone with his hands. The only things he did touch were the setups of a few vendors and some parked carriages that were nearby. When he did discreetly touch them, like when he was talking to a worker, a few sealing tags would seemingly appear before disappearing into whatever had been contacted. A simple jutsu he had learned to go along with his first nature release a few years back, but very effective. Whoever watched the later rounds of the recent chūnin exams would know.

“Hey, what are you doing over there?”

As expected, someone finally caught on. A worker from one of the stalls seemed have to have seen what he had done. Judging by their confusion, they probably didn’t know what exactly he was doing. They just seemed to be a regular civilian, so they were probably just questioning his suspicious behavior. Either way, that didn’t really matter to him. He was done with most of his setup anyway and just looked the man in the eye.

“Excuse me, can you tell me where the owner of the circus is?”

At first, the worker seemed on edge after hearing this question. First, the teen had acted suspiciously and now he was a asking about the location of the Prince. That was quite concerning and should be enough to let one of those bodyguards know to look out for him. At least, that was the idea the worker had before looking into the glimmering blue-violet eyes of the teenager.

“Prince Tsuki and his son would be in the main tent over that way.”

All of a sudden, all tension had suddenly been erased from the worker as he gave the teen directions. It was like he had completely forgotten about everything he just saw. Perhaps this was just due to the amount of charisma the teen had. Who knew what was hidden behind those contacts?

“Thank you.”

With that, the teen headed off towards the main tent. He would’ve found the Prince himself, but this way his job was made easier. Besides some clown flipping around, handing some people some flyers, nothing else really caught his attention. However, that would change when his eyes landed on someone that caught his full attention as he drew closer to the main tent. A girl. All of a sudden, talking to this girl he found rose up his list of priorities. But why? Well, this black-haired girl wasn’t just any girl. She was a Hyūga, wielder of the byakugan. Anyone who watched the chūnin exams should be able to recognize her. At least, if they watched it closely. As for the guy beside her, for all he knew, that could be her boyfriend. They seemed to be quite close from where he was standing. He did think they’d know better than to come looking for the Prince and essentially revealing to everyone they were there to protect him. Who knew who was watching? Well, it was a benefit for him that let him know who everyone was, at least.

He waited until they went inside before making his way towards the tent himself. They were also two other bodyguards who had come out as well. They didn’t seem to be all that strong, though, considering their chakra levels. At the front of the tent was also another girl, with a red yukata to match her hair. There was something else he saw in her that increased his interest in her as well. Maybe he could ask about that later.

Before he could go inside, however, he heard something fall with a thump. Did someone already get to the Prince before he did? Thankfully, another voice was asking if he was going to be okay. There was a young that spoke about setting up a patrol to keep watch and asking if more ninja were coming, so he took that as his queue to enter. He used his hand to push aside whatever was covering the entrance before heading inside.

“Yo. Looks like I came just in time.”
 
Last edited:
~Lin Arasak...~

Lin saw the man get up in his pathetic attempt. Lin couldn't help but believe some new improved legs would help greatly. He watched the man open more liquor. cause that's what this drunk son of a bitch needed, more booze. Lin watched him with a vacant expression hiding her disgust and confusion.

"Uuuuuughhh..." Lin muttered as he fell, but then the man let out a snore leaving Lin to believe he was perfectly fine.

"Does this happen often? Is he gonna need help up? Like..." Lin said confused contorting her fingers even faster causing them to make more clicking sounds.

Lin looked over and saw some fancy dressed silver hair boy. She squinted her eyes. Something about the boy felt off putting. Though that was probably due to the fact that he looked like a spoiled rich kid, playing ninja with Daddy's money or something. Though Lin didn't know that. Maybe he was a competent ninja. So Lin didn't put any more thought on it.
 
The land of moon is doomed.

Kaito said to himself as he looked at the man who could barely stand up in both irritation and confusion. He looked at Girl from the sand village to get a read on what she thought of the

This guy the worst person you could have lead a nation. He’s wailing like a baby, he’s drunk as hell and his son more mature then him. This guy is the definition of a man child.

Kai then faces Keito as he speaks and raises his hand frantically once he stops speaking.

“I’m not super good at scouting but I’m great at defending so leave that to me!”
 
Top