Fandom Naruto: In the Shadow of the Broken Moon ~ IC

[Ganryu]

Squad Kazuo
BriiAngelic Hanarei IG42

Kaito stood for a minute as the three took off, twirling his mustache, and seeming to just... freeze for a moment. A second later, he began to run after them, his movements mimicking Emiko's brisk and hurried pace, keeping step between her for several moments before smiling. His gait changed, becoming far more 'formal' of a run, speeding past her, and matching as a shadow of Kanon ahead. He kept it up, landing on the same branches she did, in the same footsteps, before shaking his shoulders. His gait changed once more, becoming more wild and fierce, overtaking Kanon's with a weird smile on his face that did not seem to be his. A moment later, he fell into another gait, much more refined and elegant, each foot step heavy and like a gunshot from eachstep, firing down from his calf to ankle, propelling himself. This one was his true one. A few times, he tapped Kanon on the back of the shoulder, before matching her steps again.​

"Pssst. Where we going. I'm preeeeetty sure Madam Iwamoto's is to the left. No, no, the ooooother left."

Kaito smiled, having way too much, even with his movements being a little... girly for the ANBU commander.

He rubbed his mustache.

"You know... honestly, the three of you are pretty fast, other than the naggy one, I'd say you two are faster than the average chunnin she's not too far behind. I'll mostly be observing, so much of this mystery will be up to you. We believe there are missing orphans, and something shady is going on. Demonstrate and story tell to draw attention, then one of you will sneak around to find out. I have a slightly... different reason to be there. "

He shrugged, and happily came in 2nd as the trickster ticks were addressed. Kaito's playfulness ended as they were beckoned in by the caretaker, going silently as he merely glanced about. They were led into the tree, into a spirally pathway in the wood, with windows of glass grown into the tree, and many branching paths into various rooms. Sleeping quarters, filled with tiny beds, and various paintings on the wall, stars, fields of wheat, and occassionally a sickle over a few beds. The beds themselves were each customized, many scribbles over the sides of beds, and a few shurikens like stars over the beds attached to the ceiling by wire. They passed a cafeteria, with an old lady mixing a soup. She instantly locked eyes with the group, looking cold, before softening into a smile.

A locked room with a 'Director's Office' on it. And finally, the caretaker, Tsubasa, motioned them into a library, where dozens of small kids stared and excitedly sat down. She curtsied.

"Thank you for coming today! It's always an honor to have ninja give up part of their schedule to demonstrate to the kids. They always look forward to your tales and 'awesome jutsu'."

Kaito smiled. "So, who's the punching bag, and who wants to show something awesome to the kids and tell stories?" His eyes flickered to the hallway, with the third question. And who wants to snoop?

The kids all cheered.

"Ninja! Ninja! Ninja!"

"I wanna see an esplooosion!"

"I wanna see a giant doggy!"

"No, tigger!"

"Wait, no, that! I wanna see an orange kitty!"

"An esploding tiggy!"

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Squad Taisei
Natsume Uchiha
Natsume couldn't quite resist raising an eyebrow at Taisei when he announced he was coming along with her. "Do you normally buy your cigarettes on the black market Sensei?" Natsume asked innocently. I wonder what's in them that that's necessary? Natsume added silently. Before either question could be answered though Taisei unfurled a scroll and taught them all an extremely basic seal. Or tried to, Nariko seemed to be struggling with it. Natsume had never really gotten much of a handle on fuuinjutsu, it was probably her worst of the major skills, but the Nakamura girl almost looked like she was trying to be bad at it on purpose.

"You could just bring a bag or something if its going to be a problem," Natsume said, in a tone that wasn't trying to be unkind but probably sounded like it was anyway. "It's wine so we won't actually need to seal it to keep it fresh. Natsume had gotten the technique down in one, but that was just from using her sharingan to copy it, she didn't necessarily understand the mechanics of it all all that much better than Nariko. Natsume had tried a few times with her last squad to try and explain things she had picked up with her sharingan and it had mostly been an intensely frustrating experience for everyone involved. Natsume had found she'd only been able to talk about those techniques in the vaguest possible terms and her teammates had gotten frustrated and assumed she was holding out on them.

"Anyway I was going to go home and change into something less conspicuous," Natsume said, gesturing vaguely at her stereotypically shinobi-esqu atttire. "So Sensei I'll meet you somewhere beforehand? We can come up with an angle for this Buta cho person,"

Noam Merciless Medic InsaneAsylum

 

[The Regal Rper]

Eiichi | ANBU Training Room | Squad Uzumaki

Contact was made, and it was painful.

Eiichi found himself recalling the first time he'd started his training, back in Rain, back when he was seven. The first time he'd begun sparring was with his cousins. Wild Tai, as he'd been nicknamed, for his unorthodox approach to Taijutsu, and his senior by four years, had not spared him at seven. They had began the spar in the early morning and it hadn't lasted more than twelve seconds before he was on the ground, in agony.

The air that left his lungs, felt like the roundhouse kick Tai had delivered when he had thought he had gotten the better hand on him by throwing dust into his eyes.

Though not done at its full force, it hurt, left him winded- but unlike then- he had experience now.

As the chained landed, Eiichi's hands came down and slapped on a two tags at different spot. Glitter bombs, ones with enough kick to not just bedazzle but throw enough confetti to cause an absolute dizzying effect if he activated on time.

Sent flying backwards at the same moment that Kiyoshi had destroyed the water ball attack Kasane had sent his way. While a mist formed and provided cover, Eiichi quickly caught himself with a flip and landed alongside his sole shadow clone. Instantly, The smoke shadow clone moved after Kasane under the cover of the mist while Eiichi himself followed along the opposite direction as his Shadow Clone took the first chance to strike not from the back but from above.

Coming from above to deliver a hard left air strike to attempt to knock Kasane off the ground, aiming for her head- while the real Eiichi threw shuriken from the right side just outside the cover of the mist. He hadn't entirely heard what Kiyoshi or Ryuuji were planning, but if he could keep Kasane focused on him- maybe it'd give them enough time to act out the plan given the hand signs he'd noticed Ryuuji was forming.

Come on you two, hurry up!, because at this point he was really just flailing here.

Mentions: N/A

Interactions: SomeRandomCanuck BriiAngelic IG42 Phayne

 

[KageYuuki]

Ren Ogumo

Squad Miyu​

Ren sighed, feeling the tug of web on her fingers as the spiders spread out about their tasks and wildlife disturbed her sensing webs. A large downside to these techniques was how they quite literally tied her hands up. It was times like these that she envied the extra limbs of her spiders. An envy she never really voiced out loud. And given her new captain . . . one that never will be voiced.

From the radio, Miyu's voice sounded in everyone's earpiece. "Target is on the move, back towards the river. I'm not like this though, that shadow technique he's using isn't in any of his records. And Shikahide's being far too clumsy for a Jonin candidate. Something's wrong here, we're missing info. Nothing is more dangerous to an ANBU operative than bad info. Even if that info is 'your target's an idiot.'"

She frowned in her hiding spot. What Miyu had said lined up with what she had seen during her own attempted observations. But the captain sounded concerned, and that left the newly minted ANBU on edge as well. They needed more info. Not only for the sake of their current assignment, but to also better fill out his bingo book entry. They were supposed to let him escape, after all.

Even if Ren now had doubts on whether or not they were actually going to obey those particular orders.

Feeling one of her tethers snap, Ren pulsed her chakra along the webbing, sending out silent commands. Thick web strung up in his path, another trip wire. When the shadow would go to undo it as it had for Ton’s wire, a pair of small spiders were to fall and perch on the panicked rogue. Maybe a closer look would provide some kind of insight into the situation.

Ganryu Orikanyo Noam

 

[Orikanyo]

Ton Yamada
Squad Miyu


​

"...off to the races..." Ton began utilizing Shadow Clone Technique, creating five clones he would utilize his position to come from the forest ahead of the man, three masked clones rushing ahead. He himself would, whistling high, begin attempting to ensnare this fellow in Hell viewing Technique as the clones rushed him.

One of the clones however began with Double False Surroundings to repeat the earlier technique, a hell within a hell.

The fifth clone laid caltrops along the path heading forwards, before joining the three up ahead.

Ton'sburst of activity was harsh on his system, he stayed still for now to recover from the burst of useage...

The young man eyed the situation however, examinations did not require energy usage. The shadow... So well known in the family this man was part of, was.. erratic... his actions showed he didn't know of the wire, he stumbled upon their removal, but the shadow.. dislodged them regardless... Perhaps it was working on it's own..? Perhaps he was possessed or something was wrong.

Perhaps the third party at play currently was fucking with him...? That flower from before was concerning... But this fellow.. His wildness did not leave room for assurance he was going tobe a simple case...

Plans always never survive first contact with the enemy.. he would need to keep his sensei in mind... Alongside his own allies if they are to survive this...

"Yumi... If you would please.." he spoke softly, knowing she may not hear him... But.. Well.. he had hopes she would begin her barrage.

@ team Miyu squad

 

[Noam]

Team Miyu​

Yumi didn't get to see the fireball of Ton's genjutsu, or whatever invisible traps Ren had set up. But she did see Shikahide burst out of the forest like a bat out of hell, almost tripping over his own feet in his haste to get away from the imaginary fire. His shadow trailed behind him like a smear of ink, unnaturally long and black.

Miyu-sensei was right. He was way clumsier than any jonin she'd ever seen. Was he exhausted from being chased across all of Fire Country by ANBU? Or was there something else going on? What if he was faking being exhausted, hoping to get caught, just like they were hoping to let him go?

Yumi drew her bow and fired. It was a warning shot, because they were hoping to let Shikahide get away with the seal. She aimed for his right foot, hoping to hurt him and, if she was lucky, pin him in place to make Miyu-sensei's life easier.

Orikanyo KageYuuki Ganryu

 

[BriiAngelic]

• Kanon Ametsuchi || Squad Kazuo

• 
  
  
  
  Interacting With:
  Rokuro ( IG42 ), Emi ( Hanarei ) Kazuo ( Orikanyo ) Kaito ( Ganryu )
  

  ~ Orphanage ~
  ~ Squad Kazuo ~
  
  Between Heaven and Earth || Kanon's CS File
  
  "But pots are boring."
  
  She had little clue how her squads minds worked and it turned out today was not the day she would find out. She at least appreciated her commander trying tio help her stay on course but even that wasn’t enough to keep the winning lead.
  
  "You'll have to be a little quicker than that to shake me."
  
  AHH. She internally screamed at the lost as she pouted to the other. She’d need to work on that. Speed was this kunoichi’s better weapons so she couldn’t be getting outclassed in it. The compliments to the team being above average for speed were nice but that wasn’t enough if she wanted to make up for the utter defeat in the chunin exams.
  
  “Demonstrate and story tell to draw attention, then one of you will sneak around to find out. I have a slightly... different reason to be there.”
  
  One of them should take the stealth route huh? She had turned to the others ready to ask who should take point on the thing before she saw the others quickly integrating themselves with the children. Well now that decided it now didn’t it?
  
  She took a quick few strides back hoping to go unnoticed as she slipped back into an alley. She took out a kunai and pressed into her palm cutting the layer of skin enough to force the sticky blood out. With a few quick signs she placed a palm down onto the floor as she summoned one of her mouse summons to the scene. A mouse with grey fur appeared below. She whispered to the mouse as she brought them down to the ground.
  
  “Heya Nezuha. I’ma need your help here. Got a stealth mission”
  
  With that she began to make the transformation jutsu signs. With her skill she could never quite manage something small enough to be unnoticed but if there was something that was plentiful in Konoha it was cats. It was still uncomfortable at her level to hold the transformation of something so much smaller, but it was far less troublesome than trying to be wholly invisible. If she got caught… well hopefully the worst she would get was shooed away.
  
  She gave it a few moments, letting Nezuha slip in first before she took back to the front of the orphanage. She gave a quick swish of the tail that she was certain Kaito and Kazuo would catch at least before making a duck into the orphanage.
  
  

 

[Ganryu]

Squad Miyu
KageYuuki Orikanyo Noam​

Shikahide panted as he continued to clamber forward, looking more like a wild animal than an elite ninja. As another fireball appeared, he began several handsigns.

"Did I piss off Kagu-tsuchi or something!? Who's throwing meteors!? Those bastards better not have lied to me about upping my strength!!!"

Holding the final handsign, behind him, the shadow of a tree began to rise up in black siloutte in the same shape of the tree to try and block the illusory fireball.

Shadow Hiden: Shadow Incarnate

Shikahide crouched behind it, waiting for impact, curling up in a ball. A moment later, he realized there was no heat, however. He cursed. "Are you kidding me!? Genjutsu!?"

Three clones of Ton appeared, with Shikahide snarling. "Hold them off, Inochi. Rip that butterfly's wings off, whatever. Give me time." He turned to the forest, still snarling. "WHOEVER YOU ARE! GET OUT HERE!"

As the Ton's approached his shadow, well, shadow boxed. Whenever one would get close, the shadow lunged forward with a punch at their own shadows. Upon a hit, anyone watching would see the clones head snap back as an invisible foe punches them straight to the face, the impact of a fist outlined across their face.

Shikahide ground his teeth, and began handsigns anew. A pressure began to shake the air, pressing down like a landslide around everyone. The air became distorted and grainy, pixelating around them with pitch black splotches that shifted and moved randomly. All around them, shadows increased in opacity, turning pitch black, reaching out in a wide radius. From the ground, purple fumes began to rise as the earth itself shook.

On the radio, Miyu's voice broke in, static interupting much of it, and crinkling even in the words that were audible. "Are you fu...-g kidding... me...? Nearly as... chakra as Kasane! And ... is a fu... monster...!"

As the chakra exerted itself, Shikahide winced. Ripping could be heard, and wounds began to stretch down his body, ripping down his skin past his coat, blood dripping as they wounds opened. Beneath him, the shadow panicked, lunging forward as something flew towards him like an arrow. Mostly, because it was an arrow. It missed as the projectile embedded itself in both his foot, and the shadow's. The shadow curled a fist and ranted inaudibly on the ground. It, however, was too angry to notice the spiders making their way onto his shoulders.

Beneath everyone, the shadows suddenly became loose. They would feel a sinking feeling, before the ground gave way if they weren't quick to move, and would find themselves losing any footing, and threatening to drag anything in that couldn't find a purchase to stand on. Anyone caught would find themselves suddenly falling in darkness. Above anyone caught, light shone in through shadows like a doorway above that was getting farther and farther away, blackness in every other direction as they fell. All around the area, shrubbery, mushrooms, animals, all began to disappears into trees' shadows, the road around them becoming vacant of all cover that wasn't trees.

Shadow Hiden: Forest of the Underworld

Shikahide panted where he knelt, literally pinned to the ground thanks to Yumi, and looked down at his blood soaked shirt and jacket. Grunting he grabbed it, and flung it into the distance, the bloody clothing also falling into a shadow. A chiseled and scarred body was shown, wounds and signs of recent surgery across his entire torso, stitches coming undone with deep gashes, and gauze and ointments across his body.

Over his stomach, a seal stood.



Miyu could be seen in the distance hoisting herself up on a webbed tether from her fingers, looking like some sort of spider woman... doing whatever a spider woman does, swiveling her head around as she checked the aftermath of the technique, looking for Ton, Ren and Yumi.

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Hisa Hyuga

It had only taken a couple laps around the Senju compound for Hisa to have a good idea of where the wine cellar was located.

However, she hadn’t actually found it. Her byakugan could only see so far past the compound’s walls, and she wasn’t keen on risking her neck in there alone. Ever since the head of the Hyuga Clan was killed, every clan’s compound security had more than doubled.

Fortunately, it seemed no one expected an old lady slowly pacing around the compound to be much of a threat. When no one was looking, she could activate her byakugan. When they were, she’d release it, and keep up her old lady act.

Despite the transformation, her eyes were still pearly white. So unfortunately she had to play the role of an old Hyuga woman. The acting was easy enough. She’d put on an act more than a few times to get out of training when she was younger. Whether it was pretending to be sick, injured, or downright dumb in order to avoid those long grueling hours of training her father had once demanded of her.

That was all in the past now though, Hisa thought to herself. She stopped and gazed up at the sky. Maybe in another lifetime she could’ve been the daughter he wanted.

“Afternoon ma’am! Are you looking for something?”.

The voice approaching from behind Hisa nearly made her gasp. She slowly turned, holding her hands in her sleeves behind her back.

Before her stood a man with a chuunin vest. The Senju symbol was on a cloth wrapped around her right bicep. Upon seeing Hisa’s eyes, his eyebrows rose for a moment.

“Sorry to bother you, I’ve just seen you pass by a couple times now, so I though I-“

Hisa interrupted him by breaking into a brief coughing fit.

Hisa replied with a ragged voice, “Ah, I’m looking for a place to sit… my legs are just so tired… I could have sworn there was a bench just around the corner.”

The Senju looked nervous for a moment but held out one of his hands regardless. “Why of course! Follow me, I’ll be sure to get you some water once we’re in too.”

Internally, Hisa was cheering. This idiot was really letting her in just like that! Were people usually this easy to fool? She couldn’t celebrate yet though, she couldn’t blow her cover. This was a great opportunity…

 

[IG42]

Squad Kazou
"Bwah! Geroff!" Caught off guard by Emi's chastisement Rokuro struggled against the hand holding him down. "Dog? Puppy? Whaddya talking about?" Shoving her hand off he shook out his hair though it looked just as chaotic as before. "Last dog I met was way too big to a puppy, but it did jump on me, had to run a lot before he tired out and dropped flat." He didn't think any of that was too scary as a story.

Looking around he didn't see Kanon anywhere and sighed assuming she had stolen the snooping role when he wasn't looking and left him alone with Emi. "Who'd ever want to explode Tigger? He's the only one after all!" Running through a short sequence of hand seals a patch of bare dirt stirred and sprouted a column of earth that shaped itself into a copy of Rokuro. "On the other hand there's plenty of me, I can explode him right now if you want!" Digging in his pouch he pulled out a set of his old wooden practice kunai. "Orrrr you could try messing him up yourselves? Let's see your aim, the best spots to target are the sides of the neck, the upper thigh or right between the ribs on the left side." Holding them out he pointed out a few areas that would on an actual target make for the most debilitating bleeds.

Hanarei Orikanyo Ganryu BriiAngelic

 

[Phayne]

~Squad Kasane~
Mentions: SomeRandomCanuck IG42 The Regal Rper

Kiyoshi wasted no time in waiting to see if his Kunai would strike true with their target; his eyes looking beyond the spray of water and directly at the scene taking place before him. Observant by nature he. watched and waited, hoping for another opening to present itself for him, though that didn't seem likely unless he took the initiative himself. Eiichi despite his numerical advantage with the clones did not appear to me making much progress against their vastly more experienced squad leader, the blonde haired firecracker of a partner being the only one thus far to fully engage Kasane.

Glancing back at Ryuji, Kiyoshi silently hoped that their blue haired compatriot would not attempt a surprise attack out in the open again. Kasane was no fool and she had already displayed how willing she was to spoil any potential plan they had.

"I'm going in" muttered the red head, returning his focus ahead to the fight, hands dancing away as a new series of hand signs were formed. 'Sound Release: Silent Requiem' he mumbled to himself as he suddenly burst forward; his hands reaching into his back satchel as 3 more kunai were pulled; all of which were accompanied by an explosive tag. Soundless in his actions, the red haired would be completely inaudible to all those around him and unless their eyes were focused upon him, they'd find it nigh on impossible to track his movement by sound alone.

Watching Eiichi continue to draw Kasane's attention by fighting in tandem with his smoke clone, Kiyoshi would continue to circle around behind them, intentionally putting himself in Eiichi's line of sight hoping that the blonde haired youth would see the explosive tags in hand and get the gist of what Kiyoshi was intending to do. The momentary delay was to also ensure that he had enshrouded the kunai with his Sound Release Requiem technique, essentially allowing them to fly through the air and explode without creating a sound.

Hoping that Eiichi had noticed him, Kiyoshi would begin to throw the kunai and tags towards their direction; the first thrown at an angle that would cause it to explode to the right of where they were, the 2nd to explode a second or two later from the left whilst the 3rd was straight for where Kasane stood.

Best case scenario, the first two tags would cause the rope she stood on to break, leaving her to free fall into his 3rd kunai. Otherwise they would still hopefully provide a surprising distraction that would cause Kasane to falter ever so slightly.

​

 

[Orikanyo]

Ton Yamada
Squad Miyu

​

Fuck, hes spent, the guy is going haywire, his burst did nothing but force this guy to flip the switch and now hes god damn exposed!

And... Shit those shadows don't look good...

Swallow your fatigue and grit your teeth up the tree now!!!

The shadow clone next to him helped him up the branches before it leapt up it'self, the shadow clone having its own supply of chakra from its forming. Ton continued to climb up, hand on the ear piece.

"Sensei, this goes beyond bad intelligence.

The symbol on his stomache, It looks like a seal, circular, with a spiral within a starburst of eight branches. Four above four below. I spent myself attempting to force him back.

I have a clone with me, if you have options to slay him it is better sooner than later.

The money mentioned in the mission is not here if he tossed away his coat. It is even possible it is already gone... Unless its hideable up his..."

He paused to breath heavily for a second.

"...Low chakra... We need a plan."

The second Ton sent forward to attack slipped through as the first ton was smacked in the face. This Ton grasped his sword, instead aiming for the man himself if he could reach, he would attempt a verticale drawing slash, aiming for the left shoulder to cut, possibly off, the arm. Anything to reduce the ninjutsu around...

Ganryu KageYuuki Noam

 

[IG42]

Squad Kasane
Watching Kiyoshi blow her half-baked attack into a burst of spray Kasane nodded approvingly before abruptly sneezing. "Hmm someone talking about me behind my back?" Casually rubbing her nose a chain whipped upward to cleave the clone in half as it approached and with her free hand caught the real Eiichi's shuriken on her fingers. "Keep up the hard work Eiichi-kun!" She urged him on with a thumbs up and a perky smile, he was keeping up a pretty dogged attack all by himself after all.

Sensing that Eiichi was finally getting some help she turned to where Kiyoshi was approaching, her eyes widened slightly when she saw the kunai already in flight, while her senses were sharp enough to follow their chakra signatures the soundless projectiles were a little unexpected. With a flick of the wrist she threw the shuriken she'd borrowed from Eiichi deflecting two kunai away from their intended targets, the last detonated against the rope sending the pieces falling away from each other. "Oh that's quite neat but I did warn you about targeting the rope." Falling towards a pole she kicked off it with a burst of steam from her legs launching towards Kiyoshi, hooking one of her chains over another rope she swung in front of the boy she grabbing at his arm intending to throw him towards Eiichi.

Swinging to a new perch she sat on the rope and waved to the boys. "New spot same rule kids!" Having two of them involved made the exercise a bit more interesting.

Phayne The Regal Rper SomeRandomCanuck

 

[Hanarei]

Squad Kazuo

Emiko Senju
​

Emi glanced over at Rokuro as he seemed completely oblivious to what she was trying to do. The girl glaring at him as he spoke up risking exposing the whole story she told as being made up. Her expression softened a little as he did seem to bring up some incident. Not exactly as pitched but it did fit. A bit of a relief given her attempt to deflect him risking hurting the kids feelings. The girl staring forward with a soft smile on her lips trying to be warm to the orphans not wanting to come off unpleasant. She was mostly concerned for them after all. The comment about her being 'naggy' did still linger in her mind. It was hard for her not to give a death glare at who was effectively their leader from that comment before.

Her expression seemed to soften more as she noticed how Rokuro seemed to play much more to the kids tastes. Emiko feeling a little bit of relief finding some odd charm about him. She was worried when he mentioned the explosives though he did seem to shift the topic over offering practice kunai. Where did he get those from, did he just carry them around with him? She shrugged off the idea smiling as she find some enjoyment out of it. Truthfully the idea of telling children vital spots was a little bit... sketchy... though it wasn't as if they didn't need to learn such things if they did take the plunge to become Shinobi one day themselves.

"Very good. Remember, a good shinobi doesn't start off as a natural! It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to become like Roku here! Hey! Careful now where you aim that, a shinobi only points there weapon at the enemy, not their friends! You can still poke each other's eyes out with them!" She spoke as she seemed to catch sight of children taking the kunai pointing them at each other. The short girl moving over as to provide support to Rokuro seeing him having taken the steps to put together the little demonstration and give the kids something to play around with.



IG42 BriiAngelic Orikanyo Ganryu

 

[Merciless Medic]

Nariko Nakamura
Team Taisei
​

Location: ANBU, Library | Mood: Excited | Interactions: Hisa Hyuga ( InsaneAsylum ), Natsume Uchiha ( AtlannianSpy ), Taisei Hyuga ( Noam ), Kazuo Senju ( Orikanyo ) | Mentions: N/A | Collab: Ganryu ​

Nariko chuckled at Natsume's question about the cigarettes. But as they were trying to figure out the seal itself, Nariko had more troubles with it. Groaning, she decided to give up after trying it only a few times because she realized she just wasn't getting anywhere. Natsume's tone didn't sit well with Nariko, but her reasoning was sound, so she just nodded silently. A bag would be helpful, but she should honestly try to find a way to make this seal thing work. Hoping to find some enlightenment in fuuinjutsu and needing to go find the Senju contact, she got up. "Well, I'm going to find our contact now. You two have fun with that cig merchant."

Stretching, Nariko left the library. However, things started to pull at her mind as she made her way through the ANBU complex... What was here? Kaito did say that they should snoop around. A little wouldn't hurt. Looking around and putting on her mask, she decided to let her curiosity get the best of her.

Spoiler: The Snooping Commences

Nariko made her way through the compound. It was like a maze. There was just so much stone, no windows whatsoever. It gave a near claustrophobic feel. Nariko still had no idea where this building was situated, but she knew it was at least underground as far as she knew. Doors that led to more corridors or other rooms, Nariko wasn't sure where she was going or if she'd find her way out. However, that's when she discovered vents. Hopping in one (and doing her best not to have her staff scrape the ceiling of the vent constantly), she crawled around. The floor of the vent felt nearly worn, as if other ANBU members had used this before. Traffic must be booming on really busy days then. She wondered how often it was for them to stumble upon each other here.

After some aimless wandering, she finally found something noteworthy.

A bit of light broke into the vents. Not artificial either, the feeling of the sun shining against Nariko’s skin. Below her, a grate opened into a large office, with no visible door anywhere in it. To one side, bright sunlight lit the entire place up, the office staring out of the ‘eye’ of the fourth Hokage on the monument, ANBU having at least a bit of humor. On a mahogany desk below, a plaque read ‘Kaito Chosokabe’. No paperwork was visible on the desk, however, and the room was in meticulous order. More strange than any that, however, was a line of masks across the walls, lined in rows, from the floor to the ceiling, hanging on hook after hook. Porcelain ANBU masks, each and every one.

Nariko, upon landing on the floor of this disembodied room from the rest of the compound, looked on at all the masks with a furrowed brow. Why all these masks? Were these ones he’s stolen, taken after a kill, or did he just… Have a collection? Why would a leader want this many masks? Surely one or even two was enough, right?

She looked out towards where the light was coming from, seeing Konoha in such a beautiful view. Nariko had to admit, she was a bit jealous of Kaito’s amazing view. She wondered where they were that had a hole in the wall or of some cliff-

No, surely they weren’t in the head of a Hokage, were they? The joke made her chuckle, her eyes laying on the immaculate desk before going back to the masks. Taking off her own and putting it on her belt, she decided to pick one at random. She decided to grab one and, just to see what it was like wearing something of the ANBU leader’s, put it on. Much to her surprise, it held far more than what she bargained for.

---

As Nariko put on the mask, a butterfly-like mask with curled ears and a proboscis, the room began to spin, and suddenly, she found herself on the ground. A torrent of rain fell so hard in the area that raindrops bounced off of rock, leaving a spray a few inches off the ground. Nariko felt strangely heavy, and her vision was blurry. She seemed to be spectating her own body.

Above her, a younger Kaito could be seen, a simple carp mask, though his mustache gave him away, holding her body.

Her trembling hand would reach up, handing a blood soaked scroll before her hand fell. A slight pinch could be felt across her body, though it was strange, distant, as if it was supposed to be much worse than what was being conveyed. A voice sounded, not Nariko's, but she could feel it in her throat.

"S-sorry Kaito. I got most of them... but... one ... got me from... behind... Could you... finish up here...?"

Kaito shook his head. "Someone else can finish up here. I don't even finish my own missions, I'm not about to finish your mess, Mae. We'll get you to Ayame, she'll patch you up. The Nakamura can hold the Hidden Cloud off for a few more, you at least got most of the bodyguards for their Jinchuriki."

The throat started again. "I lost control of my insects. They're already starting to feast on me... Fate of all Aburame... Hehehe. At least you don't have to call a cleaner here. We were never supposed to be here after all..."

A hand poked him on the cheek, before it literally disintegrated, a strange feeling. "Scroll has their Jinchuriki's formula seal. We can use that to strengthen Kokuō.” The rest of the hand began to disintegrate, bone showing in the air, before it too began to disappear with several sickening crunches echoing. “Finish off the Jinchuriki’s guard and … him too. S-sorry.... to make more work for you .. I know you like to be la...zy-"

Everything went still, the body completely unable to move. before a final image of Kaito reaching down, and grabbing the mask could be seen, pulling off the same butterfly mask off of her head.

Nariko would then find herself back in the office, still wearing the butterfly mask.

---

Nariko, stunned, stood in place. Frozen. She saw the wall of masks and she shakily pulled off the mask and inspected it. It was… A memory? All that was? Her brows furrowed. Aburame Mae… Ayame… And talk of Kokuō. Something about how the Nakamura clan held off the Hidden Cloud… That was a long time ago. At least before she was born, or maybe as a child. She checked out her hand, seeing it was still there, and the rest of her body wasn’t wet, nor was she hurt. Her eyes stung as she fought off tears, but she decided to think about more pressing matters than Kaito holding a dying comrade in his arms. Who did they need to finish off? Kokuō sounded somewhat familiar. Wasn’t that one of the Tailed Beasts? Maybe. She didn’t know or remember. She held her head and groaned, before shaking her head and putting the mask back in its place. Looking around the room, she made sure Kaito wasn’t just sitting in a corner before she continued.

She picked out another, thinking about the carp mask but picking something else, her curiosity wanting to know about Kaito now and what he had gone through. Maybe she can learn of other missions and other such things she shouldn’t know about but was likely given the go-ahead to do so anyway if she didn’t get caught. She was then reminded that there was likely a way for Kaito to get into this room without having to shimmy through the vents and she gulped. She was going to make this quick. Maybe a couple more. She put the next one on.

---

Immediately, the room changed, becoming darker, and hazier. Smoke filled the area around a small table. In front of Nariko, she could see a handful of poker cards. However, around her, she could see about seven other figures all wearing ANBU masks, and... various amounts of clothes. Nariko could feel a smile on her body as the body threw down the hand, a flush, and half the table cursed. Next to her, a zipper could be heard, and a pair of pants fell on the table.

The masks never came off, but over the next few minutes, Nariko would suddenly learn the importance of breaking out of a genjutsu...

---

Nariko’s eyes behind the mask widened, or what it would have looked like if she weren’t locked in place. She really didn’t want to be caught looking at that, for anything that is holy. She tried shutting her eyes, but she couldn’t. How did she break out of a genjutsu again??? She didn’t remember how, and the last time she tried doing so, she just beat someone’s genjutsu clones until she got tired and they pitied her enough to let her go. Why did he have this as a memory???

She knew that it was a memory at least. She thought about the office she was in and focused her senses on that instead. Maybe she can use her senses for this. She was standing, not sitting. She was a woman, first off, and not a man. Did that even work? No? She can feel a grin that wasn’t her own stretching across the face that wasn’t hers as the hand in her gaze was another flush. No, no, no, she can’t watch that! She focused on the light that warmed her skin. Finally however, she fell on her bum, the mask being flung off her face as her shaky hand had grabbed it. Weird. She didn’t know she was moving her arm until now. Blinking a few times, she hastily put the mask back in its rightful place and let out a huge sigh. Let’s not look into any masks she didn’t recognize this time. After a bit of skimming, she found the carp mask from that one memory. Sighing, she put it on, wondering what the Nakamura clan was doing before Kaito saw the Aburame girl.

---

Once more, it was raining, with the smell of iron in the air as red washed down the rocky path, lightning flashing in the distance. The streams passed over several bodies, impaled with various blades, a few crucified against boulders. Many held ninja headbands with the symbol for the Hidden Cloud on them, while others had the clan symbol for ‘Nakamura’ across their clothes. This body reached forward, and twirled a mustache as it staggered, a bit of blood running off of it. He suddenly tensed as he looked down, and saw a few pockets still fighting.

A cloud nin ran towards a Nakamura Nariko would recognize quite well, with platinum hair and skillful blade, her mother: Akari Nakamura. The counter seemed far too slow, with the Cloud ninja’s cleaver going straight through Akari, blood and gore spewing into the rain… only for the body to begin to dissolve. Behind him, Akari appeared, midstrike, replicating the blow to similar effect. This time, however, no illusion dissolved. She flicked her blade to the side, blood flinging off of it, before she flickered, disappearing several times as Cloud ninja would disappear, picked off one by one, a ringing sound echoing, and a white flash, which, while not inhumanly fast, appeared and disappeared like lightning, simply fading from existence every few strokes.

The silver ghost’s gaze turned back towards the cliffside, resting on the body with the memory. It was a cold, vicious look, unlike anything Nariko was used to with her gentle mother. A heavy aura fell, and the sheer danger of it made the man grasp his chest. She flickered again, and a blade could be felt at the man’s back, poking against it.

Kaito’s voice rang out.

“Akari. Lovely bladework as always, why, you put those with natural Nakamura blood to shame. Though strange to find you with them again. Perhaps there’s one of them that makes your heart go ‘doki-doki’?”

“I’m not going to dignify that with a response. I’m a recognized clan member. Now, ANBU, what are you doing here, skulking around? It’s stranger that we should find you after being ambushed by the Hidden Cloud. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about it, would you?”

“Officially, no.”

The blade pressed more against Kaito’s back. “Unofficially, we were vaguely aware of both parties in the pass, yes. And that their Jinchuriki was nearby. We thought we’d lend a helping hand.”

The prick of a blade drew blood, but Kaito didn’t budge, however. “And there was one other note of business, we wish to invite your clan to the Leaf. Lord Gou was most insistent on it. He would have come himself, but his eyesight has been bothering him as of late. Whoops, I wasn’t supposed to say that last bit out loud.”

Finally, Akari responded. “So, you sold us out to the Cloud so you could assassinate their Jinchuuriki, and now that I caught you, you’re making up a lie about the Hokage to save your own skin?”

Kaito shrugged. “More or less.”

An awkward few moments passed by with the blade still poking in his skin, and neither side moving. Finally, the blade dropped, with Akari beginning to walk off. Kaito bowed politely, but with the memory, Nariko could feel his heart nearly beating out of his chest. He did call out after Akari. “Think about it. The offer is serious. The Cloud will be back, and probably angrier than ever. Why, they might even think you were the ones who killed their Jinch. We would love to have you.”

“I’m not interested in dealing with shadows, or liars. We’ll deal with the Cloud as we always have. Though after this, we might be less interested in working with the Leaf.”

Kaito leaned forward, against a rock. “Then, how do you feel about mysteries…? The previous clan head was mysteriously killed recently, wasn’t he? Why the clan is so eager for you to take over, even being an outsider. And there’s conflicting reports. Some say the trespasser had Explosion Release, others say he was Senju with Wood release, some say Lava Release. You think it was Lava Release, don’t you? That’s why you’re picking fights with the Hidden Cloud.”

Silence stood between the two for several moments. Then, Akari disappeared in a flicker of light. Kaito’s eyes narrowed, and for a moment, all the rain seemed to stop, time itself standing still. A moment later, the rain resumed, and he drew a shortsword, and held it up to cover his back, before a flash of sparks exploded outward, Akari reappearing midstrike. She flickered and disappeared several times from all directions, Kaito barely able to block each one as a question was heard.

“What do you know?”

Kaito barely managed to dodge out the way, and throw down a smokebomb. His voice rang out “Not a lot, but come to the Leaf if you want to know the rest!”

The memory faded with Kaito throwing down a dozen more smokebombs as a sharp sword rang through the air chasing him.

---

As the fight faded, Nariko was left staring, stunned, at the wall of masks. What…? Did she just…? This must have been so long ago before the Nakamura clan had joined forces with Konoha officially. If that were the case, it was before Nariko was born. She numbly took off the mask and stared at its face, her eyes boring through the white porcelain look. “What… Mother…? You said you’d be transparent with me…” Her hands gripped the mask and she gritted her teeth. The fear she felt from how she stared at her-no, him. The fact that even Kaito, the ANBU’s leader, was affected made her wonder how good Kaito even is or maybe how powerful Akari was. Plus, they knew each other, even if vaguely. Maybe this was long ago that Kaito wasn’t the leader, but she doubted this. He talked like one, even if he was being a little troll. It was true that Akari was past her prime and she wasn’t from the Nakamura clan proper, but she was far stronger than what Nariko would have liked.

Watching her mother in her prime, when she was known more so for her brutality than her wit and diplomacy pushed a wedge between herself and her own mother. Her mother told her she’d learn her secrets, but she failed to become a chunin. Yet, Kaito found untapped potential in her and put her here. Why didn’t her mother do that? Why did she wait? Did she not think her own daughter was worthy of the training she promised she’d give? And having to hear her mother’s talk over dinner how much she despised the ANBU but telling her family to work with the “lesser of two evils”.... What ‘evil’ did she mean? What was ‘lesser’ to her? Her ideals were confusing.

Nariko winced and held her head with the palm of a hand, squeezing her eyes shut as her mind was having a hard time wrapping around the prospect of her mother being anything more than what she was shown and taught.

If the ANBU were liars, then her mother was no better.

Setting the carp mask back in its place, she looked back out of the eye looking over the village as she leaned against the wall. She could see her house from here, but it felt like a blight. She already disliked her mother, only liking her for the way she made the regimen for her taijutsu-inclined daughter. But now, Nariko didn’t know. She’d have to have a word with her. And maybe Kaito.

To hell if he knew about this excursion into his office. Scrawling a note and leaving the family clan’s symbol of a five-petaled flower, she left it on his desk. “We need to talk.”

Feeling her lips curl in disgust and disdain, she shook her head and jumped back into the vent, crawling the way she came and popping out where she came from, taking the long way as she found the exit out of the subterranean compound.

---

After that hell of a time, Nariko decided to just do what she was supposed to do. Taking off her robe, she folded it around her mask and put it in her pack she brought with. With her staff in its sheath on her harness, in her regular clothes, (and her mind trying to piece together what she had seen back there), she set off. She left the ANBU hideout, marveling at the huge tree and the view of Konoha atop the Hokage Monument, hoping Kaito wasn't nearby, and made her way to the shop where she figured Kazuo would be. He owned it, right? That should be easy.

Upon arriving, she looked around for him, even entering the building. Descriptions were he was tall and liked to cook. If that were the case, he was easy to find. "Kazuo-san? I would like some help."

 

[Noam]

Squad Taisei

The air in Buta-cho, Taisei thought, always smelled of casual neglect. Trash several days old overflowed from public bins and drifted through the streets. Rainwater and leaf mold sat stagnant in clogged drains. And everywhere the smell of mildew, from the ancient ramshackle buildings and the dying trees. This part of the village received little in the way of regular repairs, save for those that the residents made themselves. Houses as old as the Shodai stood alongside modern constructions of cinderblock and tin. There were food stalls and izakaya and pawn shops and a strip club ambitiously named ‘The Emperor’s Palace.’


And there was Mana’s house. It looked like all the other houses—narrow and patchwork, with a crooked TV antennae extending towards the sky. Taisei used a transformation technique to give himself the appearance of an older man with salt-and-pepper hair, dark eyes, and Kaito’s mustache. “Mana knows me,” he explained to Natsume. “And she’s not going to believe that I gave up the shinobi way of life to smuggle wine. You might be alright, provided that you don’t care about coming here again.”


Leaving her to decide, he knocked on the door.

The woman who answered was about thirty-five, and very beautiful in the way that a well-made knife was also beautiful. Or maybe a colorful viper, Taisei thought. Or a particularly lovely venomous spider.

She was dangerous, was the point.

“I’m not buying any magazines,” she said.

“I’m not selling magazines,” Taisei said. “But somebody told me you appreciate fine wine. And that, I’m in the business of selling.”

“And you’re in the business of airing out your business in public, too.” She rolled her eyes. “Come in, we’ll talk. And you, pipsqueak.” She waved at Natsume. “You might as well follow.”

Merciless Medic InsaneAsylum AtlannianSpy

 

[Ganryu]

Squad Kazuo

Hanarei IG42 BriiAngelic​

At the 'messing him up yourselves', several of the boys cheered, jumping up and down. A few of the girls looked nervous, though the roles were reversed on a few of the orphans. Two boys were quick to grab the kunai, and listening to the instructions. They turned on eachother, before Tsubasa heard Emi's comment, and immediately dived in with a 'no-no-no, not on eachother', and pointed them at the obviously fake Rokuro for them to charge at and scream a battle cry at it. One of them tripped on his shoelaces, and faceplanted, before beginning to cry on the ground. The other boy excitedly continued hacking at the dirt clone, though, not with any real power in it.

At Emi's rebuke, one of the girls, with extremely pretty and unnatural prism eyes tugged at her pouch. Her eyes shone in a variety of colors like crystal. She smiled with a grin missing her front tooth, whistling as she did. "Come on! Do stuffs. I need to see a kunoi.. kun... girl ninja do stuffs too! I'm impressionable Miss Tsubasa says! What you doos to with a kunai?" She pointed to herself with a self satisfied grin that said in no way shape or form did she understand what that word 'impressionable ' meant.

As the excitement in the room grew, the temperature seemed to drop, one of the boys jumping up and down faster and faster despite the cold. He ran up to Rokuro, and grabbed his glove, pulling at it as frost started to climb up it. "How'd you make the mudman? Can I do a mud man? When'd you first make one? Was you a kid like me? What's coolest thing you've done? Hey, hey, does mud man have to use the restroom? "

Tsubasa shivered, but seemed used to it as she made her way to a small girl in the corner, who was curled up in a ball. "Come on, Ai-Ai. Don't you want to have fun with everybody else."

"Don't wanna..." As she sat, her skin seemed to shift unnaturally, with Ai-ai wincing. Bones seemed to dislocate, a few of them poking out of her skin, before receding back in. One of the other girls pointed and squealed an 'Ew!', before Tsubasa threw a book at her, trying to move the curled up orphan.

In the midst of the pandemonium, an quiet 'tap-tap-tap-tap' could be heard, the kids quieting as they turned to the entrance. An old lady, the same one who had been in the cafeteria walked with a cane and an eyepatch. She had a gnarled, scarred face, but beautifully embroided clothing, hiding most of her body under bedazzled threads, weaving in and around her body in a great designs, looking more like a loom than a person. The kids stopped their excitement, suddenly everyone of them standing at attention and saluting as she walked in, slowly making her way in. Tsubasa bowed.

"Madam Iwamoto! The kids seem to be having fun, we'll be a bit if that's alright."

She waved her off. "Yes, yes. Lunch will be served soon after. Meanwhile... Ai-ai, why don't you come with me...? We have those medical exams... We wouldn't want to miss them, would we?"

The curled up boy grembled, her eyes going wide as the old lady reached down to pick her up, struggling with the cane in one hand, and girl craddled in the other.

The room was quiet once more, the kids hesitant for a few minutes, before one of the braver boys charged the clone of Rokuro once more. Slowly, energy started to return to the group.

-----------------

Outside, Kanon would see Madam Iwamoto leave the cafeteria for several moments, before returning carrying a trembling child, stopping infront of the 'directors' office', struggling to pull out a key and unlock it. An elevator could be seen, an old fashioned cage elevator, with vines above it that acted as ropes and pullies for it. Kanon would see Madam Iwamoto make a snake handsign and the elevator started to pull itself downwards, as if the wood and vines creating it were coming alive.

 

[SomeRandomCanuck]

Squad Kasane
Ryūji Ganbā
Interactions: The Regal Rper Phayne IG42
​

Glancing to his side while finishing up his hand signs Ryuji saw Kasane’s spray of water flying towards him. “Shit!” Ryuji instinctively reacted to the attack, despite Kiyoshi easily protecting him Ryuji had for too long been surrounded by incompetent teammates giving him jerk reactions to attacks, the resulting action broke his concentration and the flow of chakra clogged up. Ryuji brought his hand up to cough as a small amount of blood was visible.

“Damn… my bad Kiyoshi!” he told the redhead before wiping the blood off his mouth. With his teammate stating his intention to join their fellow comrade Ryuji merely chuckled and replied “Well you go get them Tiger, I need to do something quick.”

He reached into a small scroll on his belt before opening it and with a few quick hand signs, while his teammates distracted Kasane, Ryuji brought out some chakra ink from the scroll and a paintbrush. He casually ripped his shirt off before dipping his fingers in the paint, channeling chakra, and using hand signs started to draw fuinjutsu symbols across his body.

This was to make the next part of Ryuji’s backup plan work, granted this was a plan made on the fly with no idea how it would work out in the worst scenario. Still upon finishing the seals upon his body using the Chakra flow technique he grabbed the small coin in his pocket, then yelled to his two compatriots “GUYS BLOCK HER VISION ANYWAY YOU CAN!” grabbed four kunais and a shuriken from his belt pouch.

He then held the coin in his hand, channeling his chakra precisely to the coin and the shuriken before making hand signs relating to the yin nature, “Yin Release: Fool’s Touch!” he said as he threw the four kunais around Kasane’s body, hoping to keep her in place while he launched the coin straight at her. “Yo Eiichi, Kiyoshi! Make sure that coin hits her!” he yelled as he place a bomb tag on the shuriken and threw it, aiming behind her incase the coin misses, in Ryuji’s mind he could use the explosion to in essence propel the coin back towards her incase it missed.

“Oh Lady Luck please tell me I timed it right…” he muttered to himself, sweat starting to get into his eyes as the seals and extreme concentration on the connection to the coin drained his energy. If he messed up the timing or throw even by a bit there was a chance he could accidentally hit his teammates. “Welp never blame a guy for gambling…” he told himself as he wiped the sweat off his brow.

 

[BriiAngelic]

• Kanon Ametsuchi || Squad Kazuo

• 
  
  
  
  Interacting With:
  Rokuro ( IG42 ), Emi ( Hanarei ) Kazuo ( Orikanyo ) Kaito ( Ganryu )
  

  ~ Orphanage ~
  ~ Squad Kazuo ~
  
  A New King Rises || Kanon's CS File
  
  
  The search through the halls was doing her little good. She wondered briefly how these children were disappearing when the orphanage should by all means have caretakers preventing this. This screamed of an inside job. Anything else should have been rightfully caught by the village proper by now and not needed any Anbu to complete the job.
  
  She was almost upset when she spotted strange behavior backing up her theory. There was no reason this crone, which judging from the information was likely one Madam Iwamoto herself, should be headed to the director's office instead of to a hospital or nurse on the premises with the injuries the child had. Yet her suspicions weren’t enough to make a move just yet.
  
  She could only hope the girl would hold up until they got real threads to go off. Sad as it may be, if it was neglect alone then it was outside of their jurisdiction for the mission and they would have bigger problems to deal with at the moment. She lowered her feline body into a pouncing stance waiting to see what the woman would do next. Nezuha being smaller and less noticeable was able to get far closer to the duo.
  
  The two stepped into an elevator before Madam Iwamoto made a snake handsign allowing the wood and vines to come alive moving the cage downwards. Strange had just become suspicious. Red flags began appearing in her mind. She wasn’t sure how she’d contact the others once she was in but her paws had her moving before her brain could back it up as she pounced onto the roof of the cage.
  
  Shit, this was going to be a problem. Sure she could sneak and keep up with the woman but all that meant nothing if she was flying solo. She’d forgotten it was unlikely either of her new teammates was sensorily adept like Deki was, nor had she had the easy back and forth she’d developed with Takahiro. Still, she had no time for regrets. She clawed at the vines and anything she could reach before the elevator fully descended attempting to leave a trail.
  
  At least she had Nezuha at her side.
  
  Besides how dangerous could one old crone be?
  
  

 

[Orikanyo]

Kazuo Senju

​

A man in a wheelchair strolled around the store, he seemed to be humming to himself he seemed to be wrapping up some cleaning. He had some cuts on his right arm and seemed to be happy with himself. Today had been a difficult day, so many chores to comeplete, so little time. So little time to explain away everything he needed to.. Lyn's disappearance for a time was troublesome to explain, but he managed to get around it.

Kids, you know?

Always getting into trouble...

He didn't need to explain anything to her, she slept through the whole thing... Heavy sleeper, even admist combat...

Explosions couldn't wake her up, and even death himself would have to wait for her to awake.

But right now, the girl was bright eyed and bushy tailed, siting behind the counter awaiting the customers.



"Ohayo!!" The friendly face called from the counter, green haired and blue eyed the sweet girl who was small but roughly Nariko's age wove at her. "Welcome!

Let me onow if theres anything you need-

Oh! You need dad?

Dad!

DAD!!

You have a visitor!" The calls from the young lady caught his attention, causing him to roll over. He seemed to be wheelchair bound, missing one leg.

"Well hello there, Ms... Nakamura! Ho w may I help you?"

Merciless Medic

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Squad Taisei
Natsume Uchiha

Before arriving in Buta-cho Natsume had gone home to change. Unbeknownst to most people Natsume had, over the years, cultivated a small wardrobe of non descript civilian clothes from thrift shops and the like so that she could walk around town without being marked as an Uchiha. Today Natsume had gone with some faded jeans and an exorbitantly baggy t-shirt-canvas jacket combo that dwarfed her frame. With her hair tucked up under a cap and a little bit of makeup to harden her features it was hard to tell if Natsume was even male or female let alone who she might be related to.

Even deliberately slumming it, Natsume still felt overdressed for this part of the city though. Why do they even let it get this bad? Natsume wondered, flicking her eyes around without moving her head so that she could take in the slums without seeming to stare at anyone. The village could surely spare the funds to patch this place up and find decent work for most of these people if they really wanted to, wasn't it a security risk to have this many people in the village disaffected and desperate? They'd likely be far more susceptible to bribes and the like from outsiders.

Then again we're exploiting that same tendency right now Natsume thought to herself as she followed along behind Taisei. So maybe the benefits outweigh the risks? It does seem handy to have criminal contacts so close at hand. Natsume tucked away that thought for later as she followed Taisei and Mana into the woman's house, she was on the clock now.

Taisei hadn't exactly gone into detail about how this should play out, but Natsume had a rough idea that her role would be to play the cocky, junior partner and run her mouth a little bit, seeding the negotiations with details Mana "wasn't supposed to know" so that she could propagate that information to whoever the snake like woman inevitably sold them down the river to. A character like that would probably bristle a bit at the "pipsqueak" label, Natsume decided.

"I'm tall enough to get the job you done," Natsume said, shooting for something between thuggish indignation and teenage petulance, then addressing Taisei "Is this lady even gonna be good for the price? This is some seriously premium stuff we're trying to sell,"

Noam

 

[IG42]

Team Kazuo
Feeling the growing chill suddenly centre on his hand Rokuro looked down at the frost spiderwebbing it's way over his hand with fascination. "Ooh that's neat." Removing his hand from the child's grasp he squatted down. "Well to make that mudman I take a load of my chakra and shove it into the ground then make use it to shape the dirt into mudman and the chakra makes him move." He gestured to where the clone was jogging about to give it's attackers a moving target. "I make mudman because my chakra is naturally earthy." Holding up his hand he shook some of the frost off of it and ignored his shivering. "Yours looks pretty chill so maybe you could make an iceman instead! My first mudman was a few years ago when I was still a little bigger than you but that one fell apart all by himself pretty quick and no he doesn't poop." Leaving the penultimate question till last he began winding up for a big story. "Well there was this time I was on the way back from a mission with my team and we saw some bandits after people, so I rushed in and cut their-." He stopped abruptly and frowned thoughtfully, was a story about cutting up a bunch of bandits and draining the one that tasted best dry on the list of things he shouldn't tell them? Maybe he should ask Emi first.

Fortunately he was saved from being asked to finish the story by the arrival of a cyclops who seemed to scare the kids more than pack of bijuu. Watching her carry off a trembling girl for 'medical exams' he itched to find an excuse to follow her and snoop but Kanon had already called dibs on that role and more importantly the cyclops might have meant the examination was with a dentist if everyone was so scared and Rokuro didn't want to go anywhere near one of those chairs if he could avoid it.

"Aaanyway you want to come try the kunai? I got an idea for another game we can play with mudman!" Stepping into the middle of the playground he gave a sharp whistle, having grabbed everyone's attention he drew a line in the dirt with his foot and the clone ran over to the edge of the area. "Alright ticks! How about we check your throwing? Come stand behind the line and try to hit the mudman." Getting up against a wall the clone struck a pose daring them to attack. "Remember the vital points I told you about, that'll really take down his hit points."

Ganryu BriiAngelic Hanarei Orikanyo

 

[Hanarei]

Squad Kazuo

Emiko Senju
​

Emiko felt al little tug on her pouch. Her eyes shifting over curiously to see the little girl beside her. A certain fasination befalling her seeing her rather unique eyes as the partially toothless smile made the girl feel hard pressed to gush at just how cute she was as she spoke. Clearly catching onto the fact she didn't quite know what she was saying. She really wanted to give the girl such a big hug. She kept her composure as she leaned down looking at the girl with a warm smile. She couldn't just ignore her when she was being so cute.

"Ku-no-i-chi." She spoke slowly in syllables for the girl. Emiko twirling a kunai she had slipped out of the pouch while she had the girl slightly distracted spinning it in her hand. It was completely showing off and not something she was that fond of, but for such a young girl it made sense to give such a little show allowing her to see a little how dexterous she could be. Far from her specialty she had to admit but for someone inexperienced it was likely enough to at least awe the girl.

"Being a kunoichi isn't about showing off... or even just about charging in and using their kunai to take down the scary mud Roku. A kunoichi is a girl who find her own talents. Sure it might start off with a simple Kunai..." She spoke showing the metal tool off. Emi throwing it down so it sticks to the ground as she began to do a few hand signs. The girl leaning down touching the ground as the very dirty itself shifted, The kunai sinking in a bit more as the earth shifted mud like in structure as it took shape in a much more humble in size though far more detailed work of art compared to Rokoru. The Kunai acting as what was one piece in in a large puzzle of mud petals. A mud flower resembling the shape of a water lily down to the little tendrils near the center being shaped out with the claw like dirt so finely crafted in detail.

"... but in the end its up to a kunoichi to turn it into something more. Don't ever feel like you need to match up with the boys in everything. While they are busy doing the flashy and showing off, you can come up with your own skill, something that will make you a unique kunoichi that no one else has." She spoke as she touched the ground once more as the mud suddenly settled, the kunai propping itself back straight up once more as she pulled it up. A sketch of the flower she had just created in three dimensions being etched lightly into the ground in a bit more simplistic top down view left on the ground as she pulled the kunai out, slipping it back away.

"Oh... and I suppose it also can pretty neat you show your friends too... once you put enough work in to show them what you came up with." She spoke with a wink to the girl.

"What is the name of my future fellow kunoichi?" Emiko asked warmly though as warm as her expression might e it couldn't stop the shiver that suddenly ran through her body. The cold air suddenly creeping over her. It was a bit... unsettling... and strange. Her eyes shifting to Tsubasa as she seemed to react to it though not being that fazed. Emiko blinking at the seeming mundane reaction to it. It had left her to see the other girl cowering away as she couldn't help but feel bad for her as she watched Tsubasa go to try and encourage the girl seeing her strange reaction. More worry filling her as he parted her lips to speak though biting her tongue. No, Kanon had opted to go and gather information. It was best for her to focus on the children.

It became much harder with Madam Iwamoto appearance. Her eyes glancing about noticing the children's reactions suddenly changing. The look of fright on that poor girl's face making her gut feel as if something was wrong. The woman seemed harmless, but the children's reactions... it built some suspicion in Emiko's head. At the very least she had a chilling effect on the children... quite literally with how cold it seemed to get. Emiko gently patted the bright eyed girl's head looking at her.

"Go over there by Roku there and you can try throwing a Kunai." She spoke with a warm smile at the girl as he shuffled over heading to Tsubasa. While she was meant to be on children entertainment duty the chilling air and the uneasy she had felt before had bothered her too much to let alone. She felt she had to learn a little bit more.

"Does it usually get so cold here that often? Oh! That's right, sorry I wanted to ask as well, that lady... Madam Iwamoto... you called her right? She's the kind woman who created this orphanage isn't she? Can you tell me a little about her?" She asked with a warm smile on her face looking quite curiously at her. It couldn't hurt to be a little nosy and pry for a bit more information while Rokuro kept the kids a bit busy.

IG42 BriiAngelic Orikanyo Ganryu

 

[The Regal Rper]

Eiichi | ANBU HQ | Squad Uzumaki

Kiyoshi had come in just in the nick of time, Eiichi was seriously starting to think it might be better to pull back than keep getting walloped like this. He'd sensed the Sound Shinobi's presence more than he'd been able to hear him, and with his attention focused more on their squad leader, it was more about keeping her attention focused on him so that when Kiyoshi did hurl those explosive tagged kunai, it'd have the effect they hoped it would--

And of course not he grimaced.

It was too good to be true that the attack would pan out so easily. When Kasane threw Kiyoshi back, Eiichi merely reached out and grabbed Kiyoshi by the wrist, pulling him with a swinging motion on the heels of his feet to use the momentum to pull his squad-mate in a maneuver that brought them both to the ground on their feet.

"New spot same rule kids!"

The blonde's scowl deepened. They were getting nowhere with this so far. With his Smoke Clone nearby Eiichi considered his options. Charging her was out. Double-teaming her like he and Kiyoshi had just now was out. Just what--

“GUYS BLOCK HER VISION ANYWAY YOU CAN!”​

He didn't even think to question it. He had no idea what Ryuji had planned, but improvising like this was something he had learned to excel at.

The two Eiichi's looked at each other, and then together they both charged towards Kasane's new position. The clone took formation behind the real as both Eiichi charged forward. It's clear she has sensory technique at her advantage if she was able to pick up on Kiyoshi's kunai then the only way I can fake her out is to mess wit her senses.

A simple weaving of the rat sign, and both Eiichi threw smoke bombs that exploded three feet below them. While the smoke bombs rose and covered a short distance, a split second after both of the blonde's disappeared into the smoke a new smokescreen emerged from the fading one- thick, grey, and smelling of burnt wood. The duo breathed out a torrent of the thick smokey substance in a manner that it soon not only shrouded them but it rose up to begin covering the upper atmosphere around Kasane in the same way the smoke of a burning building rose to the ceiling and hung over the atmosphere like looming dark clouds. While both Eiichi created a large layer of smoke using the Smokescreen Technique of their clan, only one of them, the original stopped to activate the Genjutsu, focusing it on Kasane since there was no doubt she would have had to have inhaled some of the smoke at this point by now for the genjutsu to take effect.

If it had any effect at all, the undulating smoke in front of her would shift as if a person was moving around inside it. Eiichi concentrated, unsure what she would even see but hoping whatever it was would be enough to allow for Kiyoshi to take the opportunity to rush in for Ryuji's plan to have some kind of effect.

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[Ganryu]

Squad Kazou​

"Ku... no ...i ... chi? " She said uncertainly. "Kunoicho, cha.. chi. Kunoichi!" She stamped happily in place and giggled, flashing her gaps in her teeth at the success. She then gasped at the knife work, her little lips forming a small 'o' as she mouthed a 'wow'... Her crystal eyes flashed the image back intently as her iris's widened. Emi at least go one fan from showing off, though, like the rest of the children, she scattered at Madam Iwamoto, hiding behind Emi. She whispered into her pouch "Name's Tama", though... she was naturally bad at whispering.

The ice kekkei genkai child similarly waited on Rokuro's every word. " Coool! Wait. What's chakra? I wanna make a snow man!" He tried putting hands together like he had seen Rokuro having done, though, his hands failed to make any actual handsigns. Still, he did manage to flare chakra, and blast the room with hoarfrost blow over the room, white flecks over the toys, and a few books. Tsuabasa sighed. "Matsuri! We asked you to stop doing that!"

After the departing of Madam Iwamoto, Tsubasa shuffled over, rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry about that. These kids are special. The Madam has an eye for kids tossed aside with great clans. A lot of times, some of the great clans can be a bit... brutal about orphans. But the Madam always gives them a place here! It's just their natures can be a bit... much sometimes. I don't know how she does it, some of these kids don't even look it. Like, we had a red haired Hyuga once. Can you believe it? The scandal. No wonder the Hyuga didn't want to take him. But we found him a happy home in the end.

I'm sure some of the higher ups would have a fit about some of them though. Like little Matsuri here. He's a joy." She reached down to ruffle his hair, frost falling out his hair like dandruff, and Tsubasa's hand coming back slightly red with frostbite. "But he's got to be from the Yuki clan. I don't know how they made their way to the Leaf, but he deserves happy life.

Madam Iwamoto's a stern mistress, and she's not... the best with kids, but she started this place, so that's got to count for something. And she hired even me, so I tend to be the caretaker while she finds them families. She's got a great success rate too."

Meanwhile, the kids lines up to throw kunai. Kaito seemed to watch them with great interest from the corner, his hands folded, and his eyes leering over each one, like a man might look over different fish in the market, choosing the freshest one. He eventually unfolded his hands, and knelt down next to a few of them, helping them flick their wrists, and whispering advice into their ears. At one pouting, he picked him up, and rocked him back and forth. He flashed a strange smile to Rokuro.

"I do think this is a good idea." He said, nodding his head. Then he cocked his head. "My, my, miss Tsubasa, is that a rat in the hallways? Why, we can't have that. Rokuro, would you mind helping the orphanage out real quick? Find it's nest if you would. I believe I can take over the scary 'mudman' role. I make funny noises when hit."

While that was occurring, another tug came Emi's pouch, and another 'whisper'. "Pssst. Hey. Lady. I'm being abopted. You're a nice person. I can tells. Wanna see pictures?"

------------------------------

Below, as Kanon clawed at the vines, the cage shook for a moment, and the old woman bawked. "Bah, stupid Senju DNA. How do they do it?" Unseen, she did another handsign, and the entire elevator shook, more vines grabbing hold of the elevator, and increasing it's descent. It began to pass under a large root system, to a hollowed out cavern, with the massive tree itself as a roof over them, Kanon able to see a large science lab. Needles, medicines, books, iron slabs with restraints filled the place. A shifting crackling was heard, popping joints and moving muscles. Ai-Ai whimpered, and a 'tsk' was given.

"Don't worry child. I know the kekkei genkai of the Kaguya is particularly... uncomfortable when young."

Another whimper came.

"Shhh, shh... the Madam will make it all better. You come from a special clan... a rare clan. You're special Ai-Ai. Come with me, we'll get it a bit more stablized... Reactivation of such a recessive gene is particularly difficult work."

She started carrying the small girl towards a table. Her skin literally crawled, the pops turning to cracks, and healing themselves just as fast as her body disjointed and healed itself again and again.