Ask to Join Naruto: One's Nindo

[Grand Master Koop]

Seeing the attackers make use of their smokescreen despite his efforts to stop it, Shura quickly weaved a set of hand signs. "They still got to use that smoke bomb, whoever is attacking us are not amateurs that's for sure." He mumbled before taking in a deep breath. "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" A great amount of wind released from Shura's mouth, blowing away the smoke that threatened his team's vision.

Following up, the Hyuga quickly leaped towards the projectiles revealed from their smoky cover. The young man moved to grab two of the flying Kunais, shoving them aside by crossing his arms across his body after taking hold of them to kill their momentum. Shura then landed back onto the deck, knives in hand a awaiting the attacker to make their move.

 

[DarkHydraT]

October 25th, Kusagakure

A month has passed since the Chunin Exams and with the passage of time came a new mission. A diplomatic mission between Iwa and Hasa to decide what Hasa owed Iwa in return for Onoki speaking out once during the Chunin Exam. Keito, Tomiko and Mori were sent to Kusa along with other Iwa representatives, and were warned that Hasa would more than likely be hostile and untrusting. Whilst all three genin participated in the Chunin Exams and were no pushover, this meeting was of vital importance and there was no room for error.

The climate in Kusa was less arid than in Iwa, which made traveling less exhausting for the trio. Not that it really mattered too much, as the mission was more important to focus on than the weather. Mori looked up at the sun, estimating what time it was. "At this pace, we arrive before sundown. How's everyone holding up? Everyone still remember their role?" The Utamara was by no means a natural leader, but it didn't hurt to check up on his allies. After all, they had to make a good first impression.

 

[Godjacob]

September 25th (Chunin Exams, Konoha)
​

Azumi of course expected her words would fall on deaf ears, more annoyingly Tomiko seemed almost inspired by the questions asked of her as much as anything. She prepared to strike her again with the spikes along the soggy ground, but Tomiko seemed to have a trick up her sleeve.

And that trick had been an earth cracking rumble. Once that tore through the ground towards Azumi as the Ame Genin quickly hopped to the side as the shockwave tore up the ground in a nice straight line and even blasted into the wall where Azumi had stood which caused it to collapse as dust and debris kicked up in the arena.

Azumi had intended to open up her umbrella to glide a distance to the side. Intended being the key word as before she could open it up a sudden wire with a wight tied to the end of it that wrapped around Azumi’s hand; binding it to the handle of her umbrella as she was tugged and pulled towards Tomiko.

Tomiko had prepared this little reel as Azumi focused on the destructive flash of her Quake Strike, and her goal has been to pull Azumi close to her and give her a good ole shot with her gauntlet-covered fist to the face.

Azumi’s eyes widened as she was tugged to the kunoichi and her head just shifted to the side to avoid being smashed between the eyes, Azumi then tried to kick Tomiko’s gut which knocked her back a step as she managed to cut the wire with her kunai and then tossed it at Tomiko.

Clang!​

Tomiko naturally deflected this but it was more a distraction as Azumi swung her umbrella which Tomiko just managed to duck to avoid. Tomiko then tried to get inside to fire a shot to the gut but Azumi pulled the umbrella back and raised it for a guard as wind was knocked away at the point of impact as both kunoichi locked eyes with equal intensity.

Azumi took a swing with her umbrella, as she pushed off Tomiko’s punch and decided if this kunoichi wanted to battle her, she’d happily display her skills in bukijutsu. Her aim was to land a blow right to the side of her head.

Tomiko’s eyes shot open at the swing, and she jumped back to avoid the swing before it could take her head off, however, upon her landing she already readied her legs and bounced forward as she tried to swing an uppercut directed for her jaw.

A blow which Azumi managed to duck as she took a swing at Tomiko’s legs with her umbrella, only for Tomiko to leap behind her as this dazzling display of combat seemed to get some fans going. Not that either kunoichi noticed.

---------

October 25th (Diplomat Mission, Kusa)
​

Tomiko had had enough time to reflect on the exams to be focused and back on mission mode. It was a nice change of pace to leave Iwa she figured and well, this would be an interesting mission for sure. And by "interesting" of course it had to be something dull like negotiating some owed arrangement from this nation of Hasa to them on a neutral sight. Their role had been more of a support one, they were to tag with some actual diplomats for this meeting which caused Tomiko to internally groan as not only had the job been a more passive talky talk one, but they had not even been the main members of it.

Course, it made sense not to leave negotiations at the hands of younger ninja, but still.

"Eh Kusa has some nice weather going for it. So I've been okay. Just this is sooo dull!" Tomiko complained, she was of course a kunoichi of action and hoped her first major mission back into the grind would've been something more exciting. Still, she seemed to be able to keep her complaints to herself largely, least the travel had been enough to help take her mind off the tedious nature of this.

 

[EnviousWorm]

October 25th. Land of Grass.
Ugokasenai Keito, Iwagakure Genin
​

All the days were beginning to blend together, like some sort of disgusting pre-workout mixture you force down your gullet to play at self-improvement; on the outside, Keito could flash a smile and speak optimistically, or at least drop a quip and keep the mood light. On the inside, he winced with uncertainty. Playing at self-improvement, Keito just wanted to dump the proverbial blender in the trash and wander off into the wilderness.

His wound had healed, and so had his self-confidence. But much as he tried to focus on his duty as a shinobi, Keito's mind was in the dirt with his worms, and in the clouds with the birds all at the same time.

"At this pace, we arrive before sundown. How's everyone holding up? Everyone still remember their role?" Mori asked, a few paces ahead of Keito and Tomiko both.

"Eh Kusa has some nice weather going for it. So I've been okay. Just this is sooo dull!" Tomiko complained, just about ready to pick a fight with any shady sucker who wandered in their path.

As Keito was about to add his voice to the choir, a loud laugh bellowed out, echoing across a wide open plain as clearly as though they were trapped in a cave. Sabu Mogura - jonin of the Hidden Stone - had a warm, infectious laughter that crackled like thunder and hit as hard as his massive warhammer. A short, stocky mole of a man, Sabu was possibly the shortest of the four — even though he was near as old as the other three combined; but his glimmering obsidian warhammer was a massive, impressive piece of weaponry. Again bigger than Sabu himself (and the three other shinobi), the jonin wielded the ungainly, blunt instrument as though it were a pen in his hand. The beautiful, obsidian hammer was part of the reason he was known as "Sabu of the Black Stone".

"Dull is good, Little Tom," Sabu cackled, stroking at his bushy, brown beard with his free hand, twirling his hammer like a baton with the other. "Dull means peace, or, at the very least, our enemies are making a grave mistake."

"Which is?" Keito asked the obvious question, wondering if he knew his sensei's answer.

"They think our guard is down," Sabu said simply. "Enjoy the dull moments — but don't let them make you dull."

"Shame you didn't get that lesson years ago, Mori," Keito said, his voice slightly raised so the head of their pack could hear better, unable to contain a snide smirk. "I think we lost hope for you back at the Academy, bud."

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Go suck some rocks, Keito." Mori said, turning his head somewhat so that Keito could hear him well. "I had to make a choice between smart and boring like you or funny and charming. I'd hate to step onto your niche." There was no real hostility behind his words, as it was merely playful banter. Besides, Mori knew that Keito could beat him up if he wanted to, so he had no real desire to provoke him.

"Come on, Tsuch. This is also part of the life of a ninja and maybe you can practice some diplomacy skills. We both know you can't always let your fists do the talking. Imagine trying to buy something and you just start punching the store owner. That would be considered assault." The mole genin said, flashing a grin at Tomiko.

 

[Godjacob]

September 25th (Chunin Exams, Konoha)
​

Indeed, the Taijutsu display seemed to pump up members of the crowd, in spite of her senbon that had stuck in her body on top of other cuts and wounds Tomiko pushed through the pain as each punch had the same fire behind it as she tried to strike at Azumi. In turn, Azumi worked to deflect and perry strikes with her weapon, using its range to keep Tomiko at a safe distance while she tried to strike with some thrusts using the exposed bladed tip that a shift of her handle exposed. Tomiko course worked to avoid these strikes and sparks flew off her gauntlets when she failed to dodge in time as momentum seemed to swing depending on who pushed with their strikes as both women glanced upon each other with a fire in their eyes. A fire that, much as Tomiko seemed to push earlier, seemed to suggest this bout had been about more than merely showing their skills in the hopes to ascend to the next level. In a way, this battle had been one of polar opposites, two people who lived in different worlds.

One who was the top of her class.​

Image cutes to a young Azumi, on the academy grounds of Ame who effortlessly hits every target without fail. Her eyes have a cold intensity to them as she effortlessly subdues her sparring partner, and when it came to ninjutsu exercises such as the clone technique were child’s play to her.

Versus one who struggled as the butt of the joke.​

The young Tomiko’s own efforts to land kunai on targets veer wild and miss horribly, one nearly hitting a teacher as most of the class laugh at her misfortune. A young Keito seemed to pin Tomiko down in their spar with zero effort and her efforts at making a clone were…. a bit inflated as a sickly and bloated Tomiko caused her to rub the back of her head in sheepish shame as a young Mori does his flawlessly.

So, it had made sense that neither could really relate to the other, that they had this internal desire to best the other. But there had been more to it than merely that as spite of these different backgrounds, they were kindred spirits at their cores. Driven to be the best they could be and push forward no matter what obstacles had been presented in front of them.

A young Ame jogs along the outskirts of her village, the rain pours hard but she has a look of pure focus. This is further displayed as she practices with her umbrella in the early hours of the morning and it seems to the late hours of night as sweat drips off her forehead but still, she works to perfect her strikes.

Likewise, a young Tomiko works on some push ups by a junkyard as she shifts to one handed ones determined to make each one count. She also worked on her punches striking at various targets and even tried to study for her exams much to her eternal frustration. Still, she refused to give up that much had been clear.

This this undying passion, this drive to succeed had fueled both kunoichi and it led to a bit of an explosive moment. As they battled, Tomiko used her leg to kick the umbrella down as the blade broke off and flung behind Azumi as Tomiko attempted to get inside Azumi’s range to land a strike to the face. Azumi in turn had stepped back to gain distance, but her foot stumbled as a piece of the earth that Tomiko had earlier broken to pieces with a quake. Damn her! Azumi had no time to adjust as she simply jerked her body to the side best, she could which exposed her left shoulder to a clear shot from Tomiko’s gauntlet coated fist.

“Agh!” Azumi cried out as it seemed to pop her shoulder, but the kunoichi had not been prepared to take the shot without answer, as even as her body shot back at the point of impact, she had swung her umbrella with her dominant arm and slammed the edge of it to Tomiko’s exposed side as she lacked the time to dodge this unexpected counter strike in time.

“Gaag!” Tomiko coughed out, blood shot as the reinforced rod of the umbrella added a potent blunt strike to the blow and Tomiko had been knocked to her side, much as Azumi was knocked back from the punch as both kunoichi tumbled along the ground from the devastating blows and both seemed to be down.

And yet, both still stirred all the same, Tomiko panted a bit as she worked to wipe the blood from her chin, and Azumi sat up as she worked to pop! force her left shoulder back into place. While this battle had taken its toll on Tomiko, she still worked her way to her feet, and Azumi despite having nearly lost an arm just now also stood as she used her umbrella for support and neither seemed willing to give.

They’d fit till only one was left standing.

October 25th (Diplomat Mission, Kusa)​

Tomiko glanced at their sensei, and the little affectionate nickname "Tom" he seemed to like to refer to her as, which she had taken no issue with though as she listened to him explain the importance of these dull moments which caused Tomiko to frown a bit as she had no real argument against it even if she was one that looked for excitement.

"Y-yeah yeah Sabu-Sensei, I understand. Still for a first job after the high of the Exams this just...seemed like an extreme contrast." Tomiko said with a somewhat sheepish smile though she nodded a bit to his general point. Indeed, while this seemed to be a more peaceful job of just securing an owed deal with these ninja of Hasa they had come in cool as if they believed they had their guard down they'd be in for a surprise. Fit their sensei's style to a T in that respect.

Course when Keito sounded off on Mori Tomiko had let out a reflexive chuckle. "S-sorry Mori that was a good line." Tomiko said quickly in apology. Though Mori answered back with a tease of his own that had made the kunoichi scoff.

"H-hey just cause I said this was a bit of a dull contrast didn't mean I couldn't learn from it. I know this diplomacy stuff is important to my path as a Tsuchikage. I just hope you guys can help give us a good impression to our Hasa neighbors." Tomiko replied back with a light elbow to Mori.

 

[EnviousWorm]

October 25th. Land of Grass.
Ugokasenai Keito, Iwagakure Genin
​

Ignoring Mori's innocuous jibe with a quick, sharp, playfully hurt inhale, Keito fell silent while his teammates traded words. Reflexively, the slender genin's hand slid down his side to the hilt of his sakabatou, sheathed in a shining, white wood. Part of him wondered when he'd earn the blade at his hip, slipped through a simple rope belt tied around his waist.

"There's one of 'em I think you'll get along with, Tsuch," Keito said, recalling what little he'd found out about 'Hasa' from back during the exams. "I think she might like picking fights more than you. You'll either get along great, or you'll knock the crap out of each other. Fifty-fifty, I think."

"Now, now," the jonin leader said with a reprimanding tone. "when did you become the fire-starter, Keito?"

"I'm just saying," the genin shrugged, looking over at Tomiko. "I don't know how you could be trawling for a fight, or some action or whatever. After the exams? Hell, I'm set for a while. And Mori only has so many shirts."

 

[kyuukestu]

Land of Mushrooms, Hidden Grass | (Oct 26, 1234)

Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan

True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​

Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing​

Sagisō toyed with a sword in hand as she walked through the streets, it was dark blue and had three blades in a trident formation; each blade was clearly segmented and at the core of each blade was a metallic thread—probably wrought from chakra metal of some kind. The Garian Sword had been among the virago’s recent harvests over the last month. Though not a swordswoman, Sagisō had lobbied for the blade to fall into her possession. Sure, it meant that she’d give up on some future harvests that her sister’s brought in, but the Skillful Star saw potential in the weapon.

The Garian Sword didn’t need swordplay, rather than the chain sword it appeared to be, it was more of a puppet blade that could be controlled through chakra. It was a curious thing, but Sagisō found it oddly fitting.

Sagisō holstered the blade at her waist and hoisted her other package, a brown paper bag heavy with intel. Delicious secrets from the Land of Stone that she’d managed to easily pilfer from a nearby shop.

Although overtly this was a meeting between potential allies, Sagisō was not blind to the reality of the situation. They’d been told as much by their elders. The Stone wasn’t exactly renowned for its sparkling diplomatic reputation and commitment to the chivalric principles; it would be remiss of them to expect anything other than scheming and betrayal from their counterparts.

Even so, there was a modicum of good faith and lip service that still needed to be paid to affect an, if not enjoyable, then at least mutually beneficial relationship.

Simply put, they were still Hasa’s enemies, they just happened to be enemies whose objectives aligned with their own. This meeting would be an initial exchange between the two parties, and it would likely set the precedent for their future interactions.

With that knowledge in mind, the Stars had been diligent students, soaking up what knowledge they could about the Stone; and that was the true reason for the Skillful Star’s espionage. The first step to defeating one's enemies was to understand them. The intel she’d gathered was of the highest importance and Sagisō could already imagine the looks of shock on her sisters’ faces when she revealed it.

They had claimed it was nearly impossible to obtain. Claimed that even a Jonin would struggle to grasp more than scraps. But she’d done it anyway through a combination of grit, wit, and sheer force of personality!

Triumphantly, Sagisō burst through the doors of the Inn they inhabited. She ate up the envious looks of the other patrons, their eyes greedily following the sway of her paper bag. They knew what it was, she could see it in their eyes and on their dry lips. Shinobi more capable than she had died trying to accomplish what she had.

Smugly, the Skillful Star shuffled up the stairs and to room 108, the room they’d booked for the night. She pushed open the doors and went straight to the table, laying her bounty down with aplomb.

“Dig in!”

 

[Hecotoro]

October 25th, Asahi.

The Hasa jinchiruki wiped the drop of sweat forming on her forehead. She had never faced such a tough opponents. She tried to control her breathing, trying to keep calm as she thought of the situation presented in front of her. Had all her training gone to waste? Was she about to meet her doom in such a location? She gulped and fought the urge to use her special eyes, they wouldn't forgive her if she did such thing, but she couldn't think of any other way out!

“Dig in!”

Saved by the bell! Asahi tossed her cards on the floor and raised her hands while slowly shaking her head. "Too bad, time's up. I guess this game doesn't count."

Kas hissed as she tossed her set of cards towards the center of the room. "Really?! You knew we had you beat, I had a good set of cards and so did Karui." The ninja cat jumped to her feet and shook her little paw towards Sagiso. "Tell her she has to admit defeat, there was no reason to cancel the game!"

Asahi, ignoring the raging cat, rushed towards the bag her sister had arrived with. "Oh! What are these? They look delicious! Yumyum!" She pulled out the small white soft round piece of food, expecting it by putting it up to her nose. "Smells great also!" Without waiting for anyone's opinion or comment, she took a big bite out of it, feeling her mouth with it. "Ish sho shweet!"

Kas rolled her eyes and peeked into the paper bag. "Got anything smaller? Not looking to ruin my weight." She passed the bag to the medical ninja and directed her attention to Sagiso. "What are we doing? I'm tired of playing cards with these two, please tell me we're moving out finally."

 

[=Nightshade=]

“It’s just a game, Kas,” Karui said with a laugh. “We can beat her at it again any time.” With a quick motion, she gathered her cards into one stack with a snap and began to retrieve Asahi’s scattered hand. When most of the cards were in a slightly messy pile in a corner of the table, Karui licked her lips and leaned forward over the bag. She could smell the toasted sugar and doughy sweetness wafting off it from this distance. There was nothing the medical nin appreciated more than foreign delicacies— especially those of the dessert variety.

Karui reached into the package after Asahi snatched one for herself, pulling out a slightly-less-than-palm-sized white square, corners rounded. The outside dough was soft and squishy, and it left a light coating of flour on her fingers when she shifted her grip. She had never seen such a thing before, nor tasted— mmm, such a unique flavor. The texture was similar to dango, but was filled with something a little crispy. Karui looked up at her sister with sparkling eyes. “What is this?” she asked, tone of voice betraying her excitement. “It’s fantastic.”

 

[Godjacob]

September 25th (Chunin Exams, Konoha)
​

“Nggg, careless.” Azumi mused, as she seemed to critique herself for her one misstep in this match that caused her arm incredible pain. However, she had managed to pop her arm as she seemed to swing it, it was weak but least she had use of it. Azumi noted the broken off blade of her umbrella and scooped it up as she cast a glare at Tomiko.

That blow should’ve shattered her rips and yet, she found a way to keep standing. Azumi knew she needed to go bigger for this next offensive if she wished to keep this girl down, and around an area of soggy ground and with a fresh canteen belt she popped open the lids and hand signs began to flush; as she bit her lip to push through the pain of her left shoulder best she could. Before she cast her jutsu, she tossed her umbrella with her good arm high into the air as it opened up and a fresh round of senbon fired in an angled 360 outside her protective circle with the aim to strike Tomiko.

Course, this was just a distraction as Azumi focused on her real offensive.

“Water Style: Aqua Union Spike Jutsu!”​

Water had shot from her canteens on the belt as well as the ones that lingered on the ground, and several aqua spikes seemed to merge together and formed a larger one that had taken aim at Tomiko as Azumi launched it forward with the goal to drive it right through the kunoichi, if she refused to quit she’d tear her in two if she had too!

-----​

Tomiko groaned as she clutched her side that the umbrella strike, she coughed out a bit as more blood dripped while she tried to suck it in. Oh yeah, probably a broken bone or two at the minimum but she had no time to dwell on that. She wiped her chin again as she saw Azumi pop her shoulder in as if she was some sort of terminator and prepared hand signs.

“Come on you baby, suck it up…” Tomiko cursed at herself, forcing her arms up as she began to answer with hand signs of her own. She prepared a more defensive measure, especially when senbon had began to shoo towards her direction as she slammed her hands down and soon a wall of dirt, mud and rock formed ahead of her.

“Earth Style: Mud Wall Jutsu!”​

The wall worked as the senbon managed to harmlessly stick to the wall but Tomiko knew Azumi had prepared something else. And she had little time and lack of knowledge of just what she’d send at her, so made what preparations she could behind the wall.

-----
CRASH!!!​

While Azumi’s senbon had been ineffectual, they seemed to serve their purpose as Tomiko raised a defense against them and thus blocked her view and the large aqua spike sailed as it easily slashed and smashed through the wall as the impact caused rock, mud and smoke to fly as well as what seemed to be some blood…

October 25th (Diplomat Mission, Kusa)
​

"Oh? Trying to play match maker Keito? I thought you were supposed to be the responsible one on the team~" Tomiko mused back with a cheeky grin as it seemed even their sensei called him out on being a bit of a provoking presence when he had made that remark to her. Course he then had to make that damn shirt comment as that flashback played in her head and she glanced aside with her arms behind her head.

"Oh bite me that was an accident. And hey, sue me for liking competition. I saw how amazing our peers were in the other nations, and now I strive to get even stronger to meet this competition. Besides, I'd figure you'd welcome seeing that Rain girl again~" Tomiko mused back, if Keito was gonna be cheeky well she had been more than willing to fight fire with fire.

 

[kyuukestu]

Land of Mushrooms, Hidden Grass | (Oct 26, 1234)

Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan

True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​

Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing​

“Rock Mochi,” Sagisō picked out one of the confectionaries as she replied. “S’ppose to be a specialty of the Land of Earth.”

The mochi cake Sagisō picked was a dusty brown and looked and felt like gritty sand. The exterior was firm, a bit hard even, but the mochi-cake compressed with just a slight squeeze, leaving finger-shaped depressions on its sugary shell.

Delicious as it was, the rock mochi disappeared in two crisp crunches and Sagisō licked the remnant from her fingers.

Breakfast wrapped up swiftly, and the stars set off under the Wu Meihui’s leadership. The Knowledge star was the real face of the hasian delegation and was in-charge of the current expedition. The group arrived at the meeting grounds, a large park, and made themselves comfortable. Now, they simply awaited their counterpart from the Stone.

 

[EnviousWorm]

October 25th. Kusagakure.
Ugokasenai Keito, Iwagakure Genin
​

"Who?" Keito asked Tomiko, playfully coy, very much sounding like an owl caught in a heavy rain, sinking under the weight of his own feathers.

"Shhh." Sabu pursed his thin lips ever-so-slightly, the silencing sound he made more like compressed air being released from its tank. In a half-instant, the trio's leader was yards ahead of Mori and Tomiko, now trailing just behind a trio of Iwa ANBU also assigned to the small - yet nevertheless important - convoy.

While Sabu Mogura convened with the masked elite, Keito sped up just enough to catch Mori and Tomiko, now just a quarter-step behind them, his long legs bending in low, slouching motions.

"I wonder if it's worth it," he mused, his voice low. "meeting with these people. The Tsuchikage out-and-about isn't just some...thing that happens all the time."

He had only met one of the three Hasa shinobi at the Chunin Exams in Konoha, and very briefly at that. And to him, it seemed the Stone had about as much info on Hasa as he did. But whatever it was they knew — it had to be some serious shit.

In fact, Onoki "the Fence Sitter" had quite climbed down from his fence, it seemed. At least for the time being. But though those accompanying Onoki on the mission were well aware of the full scope of Iwa's intentions, the Stone had - of course - postured itself in a different light. Before the Stone's meeting with Hasa, already pre-determined in location well ahead of time, the Third Tsuchikage was set to meet with the Kusakage to stage some diplomatic discussions of their own.

Keito could have sworn he heard something about "open border policies" being tossed around, or the phrase "dedicated relief effort", but the meeting itself was not part of his group's mission. Instead, they came to a halt for the night, while the Third and his escorts - Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi - as well as a pair of ANBU met the Kusakage and envoy inside the village. Negotiations were swift, though seemed to have gone to-plan, or reasonably well. Not long after dinner, Onoki, Kurotsuchi, Akatsuchi and the two ANBU returned safely, and set up camp.

"I guess Old-noki agreed to camp outside of the village for tonight, as an act of good faith," Keito suggested. "Maybe he didn't want to come across as...taking advantage of Kusa's hospitalty. Maybe the Kusakage requested it. How could the Tsuchikage say no?"

"For having an active imagination, yours is rather tame, Keito." Sabu chided the lanky ninja. Though the jonin leader of the group, his heart more often aligned with Tomiko's — on the front line of some fight rather than perched in the back trying to move the pieces.

 

[kyuukestu]

Land of Mushrooms, Hidden Grass | (Oct 26, 1234)

Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan

True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​

Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing​

Until the delegation from the Stone arrived, the stars were free to wander and loiter...well, they were about as free as one could be while watching for suspicious movements in one's surroundings. It wouldn’t do to be surrounded by a larger force, so the first thing they’d been warned to keep an eye on was a suspiciously large number of shinobi approaching the park. This went doubly so if those shinobi appeared to have earth release, which was a common nature in the land of earth.

The second thing they were to watch out for was a suspiciously large number of people moving away from the park. Isolating them would likely be one of the first steps taken by potential enemies before they launched a devastating attack of some kind or filled the park with poison.

Failing either occurrence, the five tigers who had accompanied them would be circling the park, widening the perimeter, and increasing their detection range. Failing even that, they’d have no other choice but to fight their way out of the grass, but hopefully it didn’t come to that.

As someone who hadn’t been blessed with sensory capabilities, Sagisō found herself without any explicit task. While Asahi could contribute to task one by scanning the crowds with her byakugan and Karui could contribute to task two through her sensory skills, Sagisō had to find other ways of making herself useful.

After some thought, the Skillful Star found a seat by a fountain and committed herself to some light training. If things went south, she at the least didn’t want to be a burden.

There were three techniques Sagisō had been working on over the last several days to weeks: Water Forme, Water Petal, and Sticky Fog. Tentative names for techniques that helped her remember the concepts behind each.

Among the three, Water Petal was the newest and had been conceptualized shortly after their escapades in the land of moon. A kunoichi of the wandering ninja clan had been fond of using a flower petal-based genjutsu. While at first one would be led to believe the drifting petals that surrounded them were razor-sharp, the truth was that the kunoichi concealed herself amidst the petals and struck with deadly accuracy. Water Petal was based upon that first misconception—razor-sharp flower petals dancing in the wind.

Sagisō had started with simple tweaks to her Water shuriken technique, molding her chakra to adjust the shape of each shuriken. It had taken a bit of practice but rounding the shape of her shuriken until they looked like flowers had not been difficult. She had accomplished it in a matter of days. Nay, shape transformation had been the easiest part of developing her new technique.

The truly hard part was mastering its movements. Shuriken were shaped like shuriken for a reason, they cut through the air to reach their targets. Flowers? Not so much. The new flower-shaped shuriken acted like...well, flowers! Their petals caught wind, causing them to twist, turn, and float erratically. Needless to say, the flower-shuriken had a huge problem with accuracy. The question was obvious, but its solution was less so...

Plucking a handful of leaves from a nearby bush, Sagisō held them up to the sky. She allowed a sudden gust to rip the leaves from her hand and send them dancing through the sky, each leave twisting and turning, floating unpredictably.

Sagisō observed them carefully.

How was she going to harness and replicate that kind of movement?

The Skillful Star chewed on her lip and lost herself to thought and experimentation. She repeated her demonstration several times with leaves of varying shapes and sizes, sometimes even flowers or blades of grass. Every time the wind swept them away, Sagisō's eyes would follow, filled with focused curiousity.

As time marched on, her observations grew, and her questions multiplied. The road of innovation was long and fraught with queries, but as Sagisō was learning, answers often came slowly.

 

[DarkHydraT]

Diplomat Mission, October 25th

Mori feigned being hurt, clutching his chest dramatically. "No, I see how it is. Oh, to be betrayed by my friends! Fare thee well, cruel world!" The boy acted as if he fainted, before laughing it off and walking next to Tomiko, attempting to punch her shoulder. "And that's going to be our Tsuchikage, I am trembling in my boots." Whilst there was no real bite in his words, he did keep a little distance between him and Tomiko. You never knew when Tomiko decided she had enough and started to punch her problems, after all.

Turning to Keito with ears turning slightly red, Mori spoke out. "I packed more than enough shirts, you can never be too prepared! That and my mom was insisting that I would dress warmly......". Kicking a pebble, the boy's head dropped. He knew he wasn't the coolest out of the three of them, but he could atleast maintain a little dignity.

As Keito and Tomiko decided to exchange barbs, Mori kept quiet and decided to observe. He did not have to get involved with that, it would just draw too much unwanted attention, especially after his stunt at the exams.

As the team had finished dinner, Mori was inspecting his wakizashi whilst Keito talked to their sensei. It was draped in tar-drenched cloth, the remains of his shirt that hopefully wouldn't have to be used. He didn't have the strength of Tomiko or the genius of Keito, so he decided to find his own way in fighting instead of being a weak copy of his friends. He'd use whatever he had at his disposal and work with it, getting in and out of range to inflict wounds, burns or try and poison his opponent. Thankfully his dad was willing to get him some of the venom that the large lizards in the arid areas of Earth Country used to hunt, it was some nasty stuff that prevented the blood from clotting and was bound to have some effect.

"Top of the class and still as dense as a rock, tragic." The boy quipped as he tightened the cloth wraps.

 

[Godjacob]

September 25th (Chunin Exams, Konoha)
​

Blood flew as the point of impact produced a cloud as mud and rocks were torn apart by the large aqua spike, and yet there had been no body. As Tomiko herself had been airborne! In truth the kunoichi ran up the back of her own wall and jumped aiming to sail over ot and tried to drop down to Azumi.

Tried was the important word here, as the spike struck through the mud wall mid climb and while Tomiko had managed to avoid the worst the spike had cut through the right side of her hip and leg which led to the blood that had flown and made Tomiko’s jump more of an awkward tumble upward. Still as she descended down, she decided to take advantage of the spoke as her foot landed on the “body” of it and she sprung off it and propelled herself forward, as she aimed to sail to Azumi and deliver a closed-fist punch right to her face!

-----​

It had not taken Azumi long to notice where Tomiko had gone, as her spike landed a glancing shot which cut into the kunoichi but had not stabbed through her. No matter, even as Azumi felt her left arm go numb on her she seemed unconcerned, the second she touched down she’d simple guide the spike back to impale Tomiko from behind.

However, Tomiko seemed to introduce a wildcard to this idea.

The moment she touched down, it was not on the ground as Azumi guessed but along the middle of her spike, as its rounded water surface was used as a platform and shot to her with a fist reared back as she charged for one more attempt to knock her head off! Azumi’s eyes widened slightly as between the speed Tomiko shot herself to her at to the dull pain in her left arm, she lacked the time to dodge as she seemed to be a sitting duck!

Woosh!

…

STAB!!!​

Blood dripped as Tomiko’s momentum came to a dead stop, and that momentum worked to twist the broken blade of the umbrella Azumi revealed in hand right into the gut of the Iwa-kunoichi. Azumi seemed to have it prepared as Tomiko looked with a pained shock as her blood stained the blade and she coughed a bit more of it while Azumi glared at her foe; blood on her own hand as she held the other end of the blade tight and had even given it another twist deeper in the wound.

“Always rushing right at me. Too predicable for your own good…this match is mine.”

October 25th (Diplomat Mission, Kusa)
​

Tomiko had been prepared to pile it on when Keito tried to play dumb, but Mori seemed to jump in as he let out an overdramatic reply to her teases and even moved to elbow her shoulder which caused her to chuckle.

"Aw glad to see you have such faith in me. I truly feel the support." Tomiko had said with an eyeroll.

Their sensei worked to shush their lips before he advanced ahead to speak with the ANBU assigned to their little convoy. Naturally, Tomiko advanced ahead to close the gap as Keito worked to catch up to her and Mori as he seemed to question if all this had been worth it.

"Well, look at it this way. Lord Tsuchikage is a bit of a grouch on his best days. I seriously doubt he'd venture his way here if he didn't honestly expect to get something worth it in return. Man's been around long enough to have seen the creation of the nations so I tend to trust when he makes the rare decision to do something like this." Tomiko answered back to Keito.

Soon camp was being set up, seemed they were gonna rest outside the Village for the night. Tomiko had no complaints given one aspect she enjoyed of being a ninja was the chance to travel and she loved to camp so she simply had gotten herself comfortable by the fire. Keito seemed to guess his own reasons for this decision but all Tomiko offered was a shrug to it.

"I am sure they have their reasons, nothing we can do about it now. Just gotta relax a bit and see what tomorrow brings." Tomiko mused to her friends as she worked to get comfortable in this foreign land but her mind lingered on what was to be expected with this Hasa group as in spite of her stance of this kind of thing being "boring" she hoped to leave a good example for herself.

October 26th (Diplomat Mission, Kusa)
​

The sun shinned bright as it peaked over the horizon, Tomiko had already been up among the Genin group as she had been working on some punches; striking the open air with strikes in various combos before she transitioned to some one armed pushups. Even on a job she had not been one to take a break from her workout routines.

Some of the older ninja in camp had been up, including their sensei which Tomiko wondered if the man had ever slept but that was beside the point. Once she finished her pushups she moved to the heart of camp as she decided to check to see if she needed to give Mori or Keito a little wake up call of her own.

 

[EnviousWorm]

October 26th. Kusagakure.
Ugokasenai Keito, Iwagakure Genin
​

Iwagakure set out to move in the morning with the Third Tsuchikage leading what seemed to be a smaller group. The two sets of ANBU trios along with them had instead changed into civilian dress and spread out around the park perimeter -- one trio took a low-ground approach, looking to keep the paths into (and out of) the park designated for the meeting clear. The second trio found higher ground, on the third story of an adjacent apartment building. Their goal was to make sure that not only was the meeting undisturbed by outside spectators, but that Hasa didn't try anything funky themselves.

With those ANBU "gone" for the foreseeable future, that made the young trio (and their jonin leader) the delegation escort, marching directly alongside the Tsuchikage, Onoki, as well as his handlers, Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi.

A timid breeze passed through the air as they made their way quickly through the Kusagakure gates, moving slow as the wind, meandering almost like happy-go-lucky tourists might. But they made sure to meander right on over to the park, on time for what the trio could only assume was a very important mission for their nation.

Arriving just ahead of their village's leadership, Keito, Tomiko and Mori stepped into the park. They weren't key negotiators at this deal, but they were there to act as a set of eyes directly on the ground. Maybe that was part of why Sensei Sabu had been so keen to shove a lesson their way about always paying attention -- not that it had been the first time they'd heard it.

Being at the slight disadvantage of having weaker knowledge of their potential collaborators, few in the Iwa group were quite sure of what to look out for. Doing his part, Keito looked around, his eyes glancing around the park for some sort of signal; he found a familiar face in a crowd -- little had they spoken, hers was a difficult face to forget. He nudged Tomiko in the side with his elbow.

"There's the one I know," he said, his voice barely above a whisper as he called his teammates to attention. Though he spoke low, Keito didn't try to avoid her own gaze, were she to notice, as he'd assumed, "I guess it's time to get this thing started."

He took several steps forward, toward the fountain, trying to maintain a casual - if still guarded - presence.

Onoki took the movement as a signal of sorts, himself taking the efforts to walk to the shade of a tree within line of sight of the fountain, followed by Akatsuchi; Sabu and Kurotsuchi moved about as well, taking the time to pretend to enjoy the pleasantries of the park, without losing sight of the Tsuchikage.

 

[Godjacob]

September 25 (Chunin Exams, Konoha)
​

Tomiko gasped a bit as blood seemed to stain the broken blade Azumi had thrust into her. Her face seemed to shift gradually to a more sickening pale as the blood had left her body; not only from this new wound, but an accumulation of the cutes, stabs and various blows she had taken at the hands of the Ame-Genin. Tomiko's vison seemed to darken as the twist to the blade caused her to groan and she honestly failed to hear what Azumi had said to her. Tomiko's legs wobbled as they lost strength and she seemed to begin to slump as it seemed she was about to fade on her foe...

"Well, seems you three are eager ones. Try to breath a bit it is just the first meeting."
​

Sabu had gathered the Genin trio assigned to him by the training fields of Iwagakure, he figured some nice open air would've made the experience preferable to some classroom. First impressions seemed to be one, the class ace Keito, seemed indifferent about this whole thing. Another Mori seemed to have a natural confidence to him though whether it extended to arrogance remained to be seen. And the lowest ranked graduate of the class, Tomiko, seemed to be bouncing with nerves and excitement as she seemed to be a chaotic ball of energy. The team was structured to him to be "balanced" as the top of the class Keito and the above average Mori worked to try and "cancel" out the fact Tomiko had finished that proverbial dead last. Course, how those grades reflected in practice had yet to be seen.

"Alright, let's begin this simply: I want to know more about you. Who are you? What are your likes & dislikes? What dream fuels your path to this point?" Sabu asked as the trio listened to each word before his eyes traced upon Keito. "Let's begin with the class prodigy.

Keito seemed to scoff a bit at that term but would answer as he was called upon. "Keito Ugokasenai. I like reading, wandering the village and the surrounding area, and playing chess or shogi: outside, but in the shade. I don't like working myself to death, taking a nap when the sun is up and waking to the moon in my eye, and overly energetic people." Keito explained, and as if he sensed a response his eyes shifted to Tomiko before she had a chance to say a word. "You're not all bad though."

"How flattering." Tomiko said with a roll of the eyes.

"Far as a "dream" goes well, my father wants me to carry on the family name, help the clan return to what it once was. I guess that'd mean I have to meet a girl who likes me and well that seems out of the question. Mostly, I just want to be strong enough and wise enough to choose my own path, and be able to stand up for my choices." Keito said as Sabu seemed to soak in the answers. Seemed the summary of him being a talented individual with some questionable work ethic had been sound before his gaze shifted over to Mori.

"Alright, you go now." Sabu prodded along as Mori had had his arms behind his head and seemed rather relaxed as he began to outline his response.

"Mori. Mori Utamara. Suppose I am just a casual guy, I like when things are peaceful and enjoy serving the Tsuchikage course what really is a passion of mine is dango. It has quite the taste." Mori said almost as if he tried to sound "cool" to the group before he added on. "My dislikes are whatever might be a threat to the village and people who think they are hot stuff but are more bark than bite." Mori said as Tomiko had to restrain herself from making a "try a mirror" comment. The name Utamara had been familiar to Sabu as both of them had been respectable ninja in their own right. A legacy child it seemed.

"Suppose my dream is just to be a strong Jonin that can help protect our nation." Mori expressed, a seemingly safe choice for one who desired to be a ninja but internally Mori had not been sure what beyond that he wished to be. So he figured this was good enough.

"Good, good. Alright the bubbly one in the middle." Sabu said as he pointed to Tomiko who seemed to almost be impatient to share and this had become apparent when she had began to speak.

"My name is Tomiko Usagi! Let's see I always enjoy some nice warm bread, my parents make the best in the village, and I love some good adventure! Far as dislikes I tend to only really dislike snobs and people who think they are better than everyone else. Always gets my blood boiling." Tomiko said as Mori now had rolled his eyes in response as he figured that was a shot at him. Tomiko stood on her feet with pride and raised her hand in the air as she had made a "number 1" sign.

"My dream is to become a future Tsuchikage! To rise to the very top of our village and show everyone what I am all about!" Tomiko said as she smiled with a degree of pride.

Pride that had been wounded when Mori had began to audibly laugh aloud. ​

"You are still on that!? Even after you passed out of pure pity you actually think you can become Tsuchikage? You have a better chance of actually winning a spar against me." Mori said as that image seemed to make him lose it as Tomiko twitched and glared at her teammates as Keito seemed to just pass a shrug. Unconvinced as well but had been a bit more restrained on his expression of it.

"Oh you want a piece of me right now!? When I become Tsuchikage I am gonna make sure you eat those words!"

BAM!​

...however, Tomiko's body jerked as her head slammed against Azumi's! The Ame Geunin had stumbled back a step as the impact of Tomiko's headband on her forehead opened a cut as blood dripped and she seemed to growl. Seriously? She was still trying to win even with her own blade sticking out of her gut? There had been a desire to win and then there was this suicidal...

However, as Azumi glared at Tomiko she noticed something. Something the proctor had picked up on already as Tomiko's eyes had just no life to them. They seemed to be distant, almost devoid of color as the realization that she had been losing conscious even as she struck her painted a picutre of her body more fighting on instinct than anything else.

Tomiko's wounded body stumbled forward in what could only generously be called a "charge" as she raised a weak fist and tried to punch at Azumi. Azumi's temper from the headbutt faded as she casually dodged the blow, even with her left arm unresponsive it had been apparent this contest was settled.

Still, Tomiko on this auto pilot tried to land one sluggish punch after another, each one missed more wildly than the last as it had been pure unconscious determination that pushed her on. As if if she managed to get one punch she'd be able to win, so her body kept trying and trying and trying...

Thud
​

...but all the spirit in the world yielded as her will only could carry her body so far. She collapsed on her side as she falls fully unconscious and blood drips beside her as she had been alive, but barley and if she had not gotten treatment soon that would be in doubt as the proctor had more than seen enough and glanced over to the Ame Genin.

"The winner of the match: Azumi Noriko."

October 26th (Diplomat Mission, Kusa)
​

The group entered the gates of Kusagakure and of course Tomiko had to marvel at the sights as well it had not been a while since she entered another nation and the travel aspect of being a ninja had its appeal to one who had spent most of her life in the slums of Iwagakure. Her wide grin had not been what one expected of a ninja on a job like this but as she scanned around she could not help herself.

Course, the elbow from Keito seemed to snap her focus as he pointed out a figure ahead of them.

"Ah, the fighting enthusiast." Tomiko mused with a whisper as she spotted the same figure Keito pointed out, but none the less got in position as she assumed a relaxed guard of her own.

 

[kyuukestu]

Land of Mushrooms, Hidden Grass | (Oct 26, 1234)

Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan

True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​

Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing​

Twinkling eyes and flickering thoughts followed the journey of a sole leaf, a leafy boat amidst a roaring ocean of winds; its journey had been charted from the moment it had left Sagisō had, but the shadow of the dancing leaf flittered past the park’s newest arrivals and for the first time since she’d started, Sagisō focus broke. Stone shinobi.

Sagisō turned to face them and then made to stand, but after a moment’s indecision, she instead remained seated. Her eyes openly swept over the approaching Stone shinobi: observing, inspecting, judging. After she had eyed up the trio, her gaze settled on the only face she recognized. “We meet again Keito, care to introduce your friends?”

 

[EnviousWorm]

October 26th. Kusagakure.
Ugokasenai Keito, Iwagakure Genin
​

Somehow he felt as though he were walking straight out onto a loaded minefield. Amidst what might prove to be a vital set of negotiations, he was meant to make nice, with strangers he'd have needed a bingo book profile to pick out of a crowd? Being friendly with strangers wasn't necessarily a problem, but it felt foisted upon him enough that he at least worried it was some sort of test. All the adults seemed to love secret tests.

Having disturbed the Hasa girl in the middle of her quiet contemplation, the girl with two names stopped herself from standing in salutations — maybe equally concerned as Keito about how to go about their shared end of the negotiations; that said, Sagiso did greet the Iwa genin with a bit more warmth this time around, as an acquaintance might greet another as they meet in town or sitting down to dinner. A formality most like, but it still beat the probing coldness of their first, brief encounter.

On queue, Keito flashed a brief, sideways smile towards the Hasa kunoichi, stepping aside with a quick - self-mocking almost - flourish of his right arm as he motioned to his two teammates. As he did, he wondered which name of hers he'd give. And as he wondered that, his eyes darted around for a brief moment, wondering if he could catch a glimpse of some prying eyes looking in at them.

"Tomiko Usagi and Mori Utamara, of the Stone," he said, using his right hand to jut out a lazy thumb to each of his comrades as he said their names, before motioning toward Sagiso with the same hand, palm out. "Tomiko, Mori — meet Roulan, nature watching extraordinaire."

 

[Godjacob]

September 25th (Chunin Exams, Konoha)
​

Medics had quickly been called and Tomiko was given a stretcher as the unconscious kunoichi was taken to get her wounds treated as they rushed before the risk to her life had grown. Azumi in turn even with her own wounds and a limp arm had more than enough capacity to get herself checked up. Though as she walked she noted the stretcher as Tomiko was taken away and seemed to have a conflicted look on her face.

Such spirit. A shame she has it wasted on a nation cruel as hers.

With that Azumi also moved to go get medically treated, as she had to get her body ready for the next round.

October 26th (Diplomat Mission, Kusa) ​

Tomiko glanced between the Hasa girl who spotted Keito and Keito himself as he seemed to have a lot on the mind based on his body and facial reactions. Perhaps he had been worried of how to formerly present their group to the Hasa guests, maybe they had a deeper history and had some flustered thoughts over it. Tomiko had no way to know but once he introduced them to the Hasa neighbors Tomiko had offered a quick bow of respect as she smiled at them.

"A pleasure. A nature lover? Sounds like quite the hobby~" Tomiko said as she was introduced to this "Roulan" as she worked to come off a friendly as well she had no reason to bare ill will with her and figured it would help as talks between them would soon begin.

 

[Hecotoro]

October 26th, Asahi.

With a loud yawn, the young girl stepped out from behind a few trees, her right hand rubbing her right eye while her hair, usually held up, was spread out and messy. She had been asked to watch the perimeter with her eyes, but because of all the traveling and the heavy meal she had, she fell into a quick nap, behind said trees. Of course, she wasn't about to admit that, if anyone asked, she was just resting her eyes. That excuse always worked, since nobody else knew what having a Byakugan was really like.

"Are these the ones from the Rock village? They don't look very rocky." She directed herself towards her sister, like if the ones present couldn't hear her. "Do you think they have rock candy though? Can you ask them?" She gave the Stone Shinobi a quick glance and back to her sister. "Do they play black jack or go fish?"

 

[kyuukestu]

Land of Mushrooms, Hidden Grass | (Oct 26, 1234)

Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan

True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​

Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing​

Sagisō smiled. Fine, she’d play nice.

The Skillful Star rose to her feet and offered an acknowledging nod. Nature lover was...oddly fitting. She let it pass.

“You’d be surprised to see how much you can learn if you’d only stop and look.”

She declined to comment further, no reason to spill her new technique to people who could become her enemies in a matter of words. The situation was volatile...but as always that seemed to fly right over Asahi’s head. Sagisō rolled her eyes.

“It’s part of our custom to present gifts when meeting new friends,” Sagisō lied as easily as she breathed. “Here, we’ve even brought you something.” From seemingly nowhere, Sagisō produced a waterskin and presented it. “We’d be most offended if you refused our hospitality.”

The waterskin was filled with kumis, freshly made and fermented. It was something of an acquired taste, but it was much like yogurt in both taste and texture.

She threw an open glance at Asahi and then directed her attention back to the Stone trio. “We’d prefer rock candy as your gift of hospitality.” Then after a moment, she also added. “There’s a candy store around the corner.”

 

[DarkHydraT]

October 26, Kusagakure

Mori had stayed silent as Keito seemed to have met an old friend among the Hasa representatives. As Tomiko introduced herself, he got a preview of this Roulan's attitude. Entitled was the first word that came to mind, with how she practically demanded they'd buy her and her friends rock candy. Still, he knew better than to cause a scene in a foreign nation. Stepping forward, Mori bowed to show respect, even if Roulan was going to be an issue later. He just knew she'd get on his nerves.

"A pleasure meeting you. We appreciate your gift, I shall make sure you will get your gift of hospitality soon." A simple response, and one that made his wallet shrink. Then again, he definitely couldn't let Tomiko pay and as the last to speak up, he might as well carry the burden of losing money. Accepting the waterskin, the boy took a sip of the kumis.

It was....an odd taste. A little sour, as if he was drinking very thin yoghurt, yet a refreshing aftertaste. If he had to compare it to something, it would have to be milk that was not quite spoiled, yet tasted off. If the milk at home tasted like this, he'd throw it away, but he really couldn't do that in front of the people who gave them this gift. Offering the waterskin to his friends, the boy spoke up.

"Interesting drink, is it native to your country? I can't recall ever seeing something similar to it in Iwa." Aside from actual yoghurt, but Mori didn't have enough brain damage yet to say that. "Now, you said there was a candy store nearby?"

 

[Godjacob]

October 26th (Diplomat Mission, Kusa)
​

Tomiko had never been one to make assumptions about people, her policy had been to take people on first impressions in situations like this and use time to decide how true to their character they had been. Course, in her profession this was complicated as deception and lying had been encouraged so she was trained to always look beneath the surface.

This caused her to question just how genuine this "nice" and "warm" welcome it was from Roulan as she had gotten the sense she tried to fake it convincingly but decided not to enquire about it.

"Oh wow uh thanks!" Tomiko said before their comment of what they wanted, which pointed them to a rock candy stand and caused Tomiko to feel the fatigue on her wallet. What money she had made on jobs was usually used on her community or to help her parents bakery so she had little to nothing. Made all the worse when Mori spoke up and seemed to imply he'd pay for it as she had a guilty look on her face.

Still, she figured she'd least contribute something to this as she pulled out what seemed to be a perfectly wrapped and preserved loaf of bread as she offered it to the Hasa kunoichi.

"Perhaps you can accept this as an added token. My parents make the most wonderful bread back in our village, and I think you would enjoy it." Tomiko offered as she seemed to beam with pride over her parent's work.

 

[kyuukestu]

Land of Mushrooms, Hidden Grass | (Oct 26, 1234)

Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan

True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​

Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing​

Sagisō eyed the fresh loaf of bread with measured neutrality. Then she simply gestured towards Asahi. It was plenty evident from their interaction that their gift would probably find itself in Asahi’s stomach one way or another, so it was the budding jinchuriki who’s approval they really needed. If she declined the bread well...that’s just how the cookie crumbled.

With Tomiko’s gift awaited judgment, Sagisō figured she’d answer Mori’s questions.

“We don’t have a native country; the drink was from a...family member.” A slight frown darkened the skillful star’s expression, but it vanished moments later. “If you head down that road,” she pointed, “you’ll reach it in a minute or so.”

 

[EnviousWorm]

October 26th. Kusagakure.
Ugokasenai Keito, Iwagakure Genin
​

Something felt off about Sagiso's whole deal at the moment, but he couldn't also help but note that it could also just be because of their initial meeting. And, again to note, his sample size was so low. To boot, the new girl - with milk-white eyes like the Hyuga kunoichi he'd met during the chunin exams - seemed to land on the complete opposite end of the spectrum as well. Brimming with a bold confidence, though compared to Sagiso's calculated cold version, her's was brash and off-the-wall.

Sagiso was clever though; bait as it could be, to refuse the gift at all could be grounds for Hasa to break off the meeting entirely. Still, Keito hadn't expected Mori to be the one to reach out and take the bait. He figured Tomiko would, to be friendly, or that he might have to, because of course that'd happen to him.

'You've really fallen into the role of playing heel here, eh, Mori?' Keito watched with a smug grin as his friend didn't even skip a beat, from offering to pay for a gift of some candy, to taking the waterskin full of unknown liquid and taking a good swig of whatever was inside. Hell, he didn't even seem to flinch when he drank it; to be honest, Keito couldn't tell if it was false nerve, or if the drink was actually alright.

Sadly, as Mori handed the drink off to either of the two other Stone genin, Keito noticed Tomiko instead digging through a bag in order to offer a present of her own. The grin drained from his face quickly, and with a stowed sigh, Keito grabbed the waterskin and took a drink. Not quite a fan of, say, heavy dairy products, he refrained from taking a generous swig, instead handing the waterskin back to Sagiso with a somewhat displeased look on his face.

"Yeah tell that family member of yours they got some great stuff there," he said, lying about as easily as he breathed after Azumi had stabbed him in the stomach. Then he nodded in the direction of the candy store. "C'mon, Memento Mori -- you're buying, you lead the way."

 

[DemonicHoneyBun]

Land of Fire:
Kaito woke up and checked his clock before he stood up and made himself breakfast for himself and his cat, Mochi, he brushed his teeth and quickly washed his face. He got dressed and placed Mochi on his head, he closed his front door and made his way towards his usual fishing spot to meet his sensei, Master Jiraiya, who promised to teach him a new technique after Kaito got back from the Land of Moon.

Kaito looked around but didn't see Jiraiya anywhere and thought he might have forgotten where they planned to meet up, But then he heard a familiar voice behind him coming from the tree's.

"Good seems like you didn't sleep in this time, Kaito." Jiraiya said while smiling at his student.

"What took you so long Jiraiya Sensei you said to meet up here at this exact time, did you forget or something?" Kaito said as he pouted in frustration.

"Sorry about that it seems i got a little to caught up in my research and lost track of time." Jiraiya said while a small blush on his face appears as he smiles.

"Pervy Toad, Strikes again." Kaito says as he sighs.

"Well anyway we might as well start your training let's do it somewhere else, since this is your favorite spot to fish, we don't wanna destroy the place." Jiraiya says as he walks off, while Kaito follows close behind.

 

[Hecotoro]

October 26th, Asahi.

"Oh that looks good." Asahi, without thinking twice, took the bread and bit off a big chunk of it. "Oh this is really good! Here try some Buttercup." She passed the loaf of bread to her sister, with her right cheek stuffed "Did you know that some rock candy have flavor while some others don't? Some people just color it while some make sure that they actually have candy that represent the color they have. My favorite is the purple one, but I would recommend the red one and blue."

She began walking towards the direction of the candy shop that had been mentioned. She figured if she was gonna get some from free, might as well make sure they get the good kind. Besides, it wasn't far away and she knew her sisters would watch her back no matter what. So, with all the confidence in the world, she kept walking on her way, talking away like if she had known these people her whole life.

"If you're new to the rock candy business, I would recommend getting one of each and then deciding which one you want to buy multiple off." She placed her hands behind her head. "If you're too scared to make a decision though I can choose for you."

 

[Godjacob]

October 26th (Diplomat Mission, Kusa) ​

Tomiko watched as this ally of Roulan, either another member of Hasa or perhaps even this special "subject" that had been the main subject for these talks between their people seemed to move about with a carefree attitude. Course, the thing Tomiko had noted above all else was she had given a rather enthusiastic endorsement of her bread which had been enough to cause the Iwa kunoichi to beam with a bit of visible pride.

"Why thank you. Believe me just a sample of what my folks can produce~" Tomiko said with a grin as she seemed to take a liking to this girl, not simply because she had given a flattering review of her family's home-made bread but because she seemed to have a natural almost bubbly energy to her. A carefree individual who seemed to just be naturally positive which Tomiko resonated with.

Either way as the topics shifted to those candy rocks the group had began to move over to the establishment, and hey she was not gonna pass so she had kept close to Keito and Mori as they tailed them with a smile of her own.

 

[Retro Master]

Kiro had to give Yua credit for her prediction. She had somehow thrown her kunai by the time he even pulled his own one out. In that case, the best him and his clone could do to stop the kunai and stop whatever advance the two Yua had planned was by canceling the kunai out. He did this by aiming his kunai to deflect her own in order to knock the explosions off target. The reason this would work in his favor was due to the resulting explosion that would create smoke around them once he triggered the tag. All they had to do was avoid the explosions once they occurred, which wasn’t that hard due to the deflections and his own backward movement.

Of course, there was still the chain lightning technique he followed up with. If avoiding his chain lightning jutsu was as simple as jumping up to dodge, it would be useless. So, when Yua jumped up, the lightning just trailed after her at a speed faster than her own movement. After all, lightning was anything but slow. In fact, her ability to dodge was even more hampered by the poison spit jutsu she follows up with. For started, she would’ve essentially stranded herself midair for that brief moment, giving the lightning ample opportunity to catch her. Secondly, it seemed like the poison that she spit out was made out of her own body fluids as the lightning that was already upon her ended up chaining onto the chunks that came out of her mouth first.

On one hand, using a projectile jutsu that contained water was a good way to counter the chain lightning, as it caused the electricity to lose its focus and spread out. Although, Kiro did doubt she would’ve known that strategy. On the other hand, the lightning was already too close to Yua for it to not reach them directly. The only things stoping the lightning was essentially the rapid pace she was spitting the poison out her mouth. Everytime it was about to latch onto her, it would chain onto the next chunk first, and then the next, continuously. It would go on like that until she stopped spitting. Basically, Yua would be struck as soon as she released her jutsu. Of course, the lightning still wasn’t stopping the poison spit, but it made the poisonous chunks a lot more easier to avoid.

However, even though it was essentially a guaranteed hit if things went accordingly, there was a big negative. The chakra cost. Keeping up a continuously firing jutsu obviously meant there was also a continuous chakra drain. That was the case with the chain lightning. It should be the case for poison spit as well. The longer they used their respective jutsu, the more chakra it would cost. Another thing to note was that they both had clones that could also use chakra. Yet, the chakra reserves still came from the user. It really depended how much chakra the user had put into a clone. If the user wanted to be risky, they could give the clone a ton of their chakra. An example would be how Kiro used his clone against his previous opponent. He had given it at least half his own chakra reserves. That wasn’t the case here.

Rather than continuously using the chain lightning, the other Kiro dropped down instead. He used the cover of the smoke of the explosion to obscure his movements. While Yua continued to freely fire poison after him, Kiro would make his way down the wall and then seemed to bolt across the field towards the other Yua. With his speed, it should only take him a few seconds to do so, even if did look back once or twice. While the other Yua was focused on the Kiro still using the lightning chain that followed her down, he would aim to strike her at the back of the neck. If it was the clone, it should pop. If it was the real Yua, she would either be knocked out or flinch for a second or two. Of course, there was still the concern of being poisoned by coming into contact with a body of hers, so Kiro would cover that striking arm in a layer of chakra to see if it would help.

 

[jade421]

Somehow in the midst of all of this the explosions had become the least important aspect of things. To the point where even as Kiro seemed to adjust his kunai throw to knock hers off target as the booms rocked under them and yet that had not been something Yua seemed concerned over given it still led more to Kiro’s side of their divide. No, what had been something that had proven to be a stubborn irritation to the ninja’s side was that electric “chain” that seemed to follow her no matter where she had gone. If Yua had not known better, she’d presume this guy had been a member of that magnet clan of her own village.
This is rather annoying…

The moment it had become clear the electric stream had focused on her still, even as she jumped, her poison shots had fired as the poison clumps aimed to just try and provide a block to the electricity; something to stall as she planned to land and jump to the arena to keep distance between herself and the current. This was helped in a sense that the chain seemed to lose life which immediately noted Yua as something seemed to dash within the smoke as she guessed Kiro made a break to try and aid the other as Yua seemed to shift a single hand sign before she worked to jump down to the arena itself.
All with a sly smile on her face.

The other Yua had been locked with the other Kiro on their end of the wall, this one’s stream seemed to be more committed as her poison shots worked to provide a block between her and the current as the aim was to land on her feet and circle around to the source of it. Course this Yua seemed to have their focus divided as she seemed to ready a staff as she fired another shot and prepared to move back, but her body seemed to freeze for a second. And within another moment, Kiro’s blow struck the back of Yua’s neck! And just as the electric tip of his fingers struck “Yua”, “Yua” seemed to burst as poison splatted all around it and right onto Kiro!

The real Yua had noticed the loss in focus of the chain and guessed Kiro had made a move, so she had a hand sign prepared that “destabilized” her clone, as normally when a clone had been hit, they would either burst to thin air or break into a puddle of whatever material had been used to create them. However, the poison of Yua’s clan was unique in it of itself given she had the capacity to shift it into either a solid, liquid or gas depending on the technique and while she had been no master yet she had known how to alter her poison clone so that it became somewhat of a walking bomb; the poison in her had been shifted so that on contact and when it burst, it would burst outward rather than crumble to the ground, a method that had come with the cost of the clone freeze a bit in place in response to the sign which explained that delay of its movement. Yua had waited for this chance of her clone to get close to one of her targets, the fact that it had been likely the preferred one was a bonus.
Now she had a chance to spring this little trap~

 

[DarkHydraT]

October 26th, Kusagakure

Mori held back a sigh as Keito brought up his nickname. Normally he'd jab back, but he had an image to uphold and throwing around jabs at a time like this was just needlessly dumb and risky. "Alright, follow me then." The Iwa-nin said as he made his way to the candy store. "Do you all want rock candy or do you have some other desires?" The boy looked over his shoulder, letting his gaze move from Roulan to the girl who seemed almost oblivious to the political tenseness of the situation, and at last to his own allies. He figured at least Keito would try and mooch off his wallet.

 

[DemonicHoneyBun]

Jiraya and Kaito make it to a lake area a few meters away from a Konoha, after they make it, Jiraya takes a look around and spots a few boulders in the area.

"Hey, Master Jiraya, what type of jutsu are you gonna teach me today? Will it let me explode anything just by looking at it? Summon a army of toads? I'm so excited I can't contain myself!" Kaito began hopping up and down excitedly.

"No, I don't know any type of jutsu like those, but I do know one that is gonna help you a lot in the long run." As Jiraya finished speaking, what looked to be a ball of chakra began forming in his hand that began to grow to the size of his palm, he then trusted his hand into one of the nearby boulders and it exploded into pieces.

Kaito's jaw dropped in surprise and shock, Jiraya turned to him and smiled before speaking.

"That jutsu is called the rasengan, do you think your up to learn it? Jiraya said as he waited for an answer.

Kaito looked stunned for a few minutes before taking a deep breath before speaking.

"Hell Yeah! BRING IT ON!"

 

[kyuukestu]

Land of Mushrooms, Hidden Grass | (Oct 26, 1234)

Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan

True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​

Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing​

“Two portions should be enough.” Although Karui hadn’t opted to reveal herself, Sagisō knew she’d never hear the end of it if they stuffed their faces without her. Despite her thin appearance, the third virago was a gluttonous thing, and she stuffed her face more than Asahi did.

Before long the group arrived at the candy store, where assorted rows of sweets and confectionaries lay just behind glass displays.

"You can have more if you want," she said, preempting a question from Asahi. "I'll pay for it, just remember to get two shares."

 

[Hecotoro]

October 26th, Asahi.

"You always know how to make me happy." Asahi wiped a fake tear from her eye before setting them on the candy selection in front of her.

She tapped her fingertips against her chin as she meditated over the selection she was going to make. It wasn't something as simple as your combat weapon or your fighting style, not this was much more complicated than that. In face, she could make life or death decisions a lot more easier than choosing the proper rock candy flavor she were to get for free. After a few moments of thinking it over, she finally came to a satisfying conclusion.

"I want all the colors." Was her short and proud answer.

 

[Godjacob]

October 26th (Diplomat Mission, Kusa) ​

Tomiko had to chuckle as the two shared her family's bread and she seemed to enjoy the fact they liked it, course, fair was fair and she figured she'd ought to try some of the rock candy as they stepped inside the store and she pondered her options.

"Uh what flavors or "colors" do you recommend?" Tomiko asked Sagiso, as she figured some suggestions from one who offered this treat to them. She figured they had to have some views on what worked to butter up those taste buds as she scanned the store curiously.

 

[kyuukestu]

Land of Mushrooms, Hidden Grass | (Oct 26, 1234)

Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan

True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​

Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing​

Sagisō was briefly stunned when the Iwa kunoichi—Tomiko, she remembered—asked for her recommendation of flavored candy. Alas, the Skillful star was no such sommelier of flavors and despite her overt complaints her only objective in seeking out confectionaries was to feed it to her sisters. As gluttonous as they were, her sisters tended to eat anything put before them and so Sagisō had never had a reason to learn the flavors, much less which colors were associated with each.

“You got the wrong girl,” she threw a small gesture and a smile towards Asahi, who was busily fogging up the store’s glass. “If you want recommendations ask her.”

 

[EnviousWorm]

October 26th. Kusagakure.
Ugokasenai Keito, Iwagakure Genin
​

While he wasn't particularly interested in rock candy, knowing he had Mori on the hook for the bill made Keito sprout a mischievous grin. Might as well take a queue from the girl who stood as the sole reason they were in the candy shop in the first place. The Iwa genin held up two fingers, almost like he were flashing a peace sign.

"Uh, yeah, make that two of all the colors." he said to the shop-worker with a stone-faced seriousness.

Of course, he had no intention of eating nearly that much rock candy. That much of anything, really. He'd pay it back later, he figured, but he wanted to see Mori sweat a bit. If anything, he could pawn off his leftover candy for a bit of extra goodwill with the Hasa girl who seemed to be only one interested in the stuff to begin with.

 

[kyuukestu]

Land of Mushrooms, Hidden Grass | (Oct 26, 1234)

Titled Name: Yan Xia Roulan

True Name: Sagisō Ajisai​

Rank 36 — Heavenly Skillful Star | Yan Qing​

With the others focused on sweets and how best to bang out their bucks, Sagisō took the opportunity to tackle something she was actually interested in. She orbited Keito with a few steps, a pointed look on her face. “How were the chūnin exams, had fun?” She didn’t wait up for a response, her question was rhetorical; more a polite opener, than anything else. “It’s a shame we didn’t get the chance to fight...I'd like to remedy that.”