Private/Closed Naruto AU: Roleplay

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Kai was pleased to see his newfound friend open the door, awaiting to go on whatever adventure they had today. Kai was about to respond to her when his mind went blank. I. I don’t know. I don’t know??? WHY DONT I KNOW WHAT TO DO?!? Kai growled at himself, ruffling his hair.

“To be frank, I’m new to this as well.” Kai sighed. “I’ve never had a ‘friend’ before so bear with me.”

Other thank kiro anyway. But why should I tell her my last friend basically got framed, kidnapped, banished, and nearly killed in the same day? No no that would just tell her to stay away from me. Surely I can come up with something!

“We could...eat? But thats not really ‘fun’ is it? Maybe walk...or...”

He rambled on awkwardly, looking at the surroundings for an idea, any idea of what to do. His eyes drifted from the snow covered walkways to the frosted doors. Wait...snow covered walkways? That’s it! He knelt down, making a snowball in his hands.

“...We could have a snowball fight!”





.........


“I mean...if that’s alright?” Kou responded sheepishly.

The rat watched Ino carefully in a defensive position between her and Kou. It didn’t seem to trust her quite yet.



.......

So she IS here. Heh, of course she’d be captured. But why hasn’t she escaped yet? Before Zaku could think too long on this, the door opened, two figures walked in, presumably inzuka clan members accompanied by their canine companions. That is when the clan head took her leave.

All of three seconds passed after she left before the guards offered The Oto-nin food. Zaku blinked. Are they seriously doing this old routine? Lame, it’s an overused trope. Zaku sighed at the prospect.

“Seriously guys you gotta work on your material.” Zaku complained smugly. “If your gonna taunt your prisoner, food is like the oldest trick in the book. Be more original. What else you got?”

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Mom, Dad, why did you two become ninja? Did you always want to become ninja or was it something that just happened? And did it turn out as you expected?"

The question came out of nowhere, and it caught Iwao and Kasumi off guard. They sat down in a nearby tea shop to warm up and were enjoying their orders, bamboo tea for Iwao and lavender tea for Kasumi and Mori. Iwao sighed and placed his tea down, his hands still holding the tea and soaking in the warmth. "I suppose you are around that age, huh? Well, allow an old man to share his story with you then. Your grandmother and grandfather used to run a book store and were civilians, so I didn't know much about the life of ninja. I loved to read, still do, and spent hours reading books like 'Jin and the Bamboo Shoot' or 'The little red academy girl'. I was intrigued by this so called academy and wanted to check it out for myself. There was a civillian school that my parents went to, but I wanted to visit the academy. When asked about why I wanted to go the academy, apparently I said that I wanted to be like the girl in my books My father told me that he'd ask the head of the academy if I could follow some lessons for one day, and it was allowed."

"I was sold as soon as I sat down in those hardwood benches and held a shuriken for the first time. Once I was in, I felt obliged to pass as I thought that my father did something unbelievable. Looking back on it as an adult, the academy really had nothing to lose and everything to gain, so I understand why I got enrolled. But it still was a kind gesture, and I stuck to the way of the ninja up to this points. Sure, at times it was hard, not what I expected and I began to question why I fought during the war. But as a ninja, your life is as unpredictible as anything. Y'see, ninja do not have a definition. At one moment we are interrogating other ninja, then we're rescuing cats out of trees and before you know it we're hired to protect some figure of power or to steal a scroll of some description.. And the world should have known what it was getting into when they made people like us." Iwao's eyes closed as he took a sip of his tea. The sweet and vegetal tasting liquid helped to soothe his nerves as he remembered red eyes with black tomoe, and he never was so happy to have some tea before he became too shaky. "As I said, the life of a ninja was not what I expected but I regret nothing. If I could start all over again whilst maintaining the experiences I experienced, I would do almost everything the exact same."

Kasumi wondered about the reason behind the question, but she could not find a reason to not answer the question. "I never really thought about that. Your grandmother and grandfather were ninja as well, so I guess I just sorta followed in their footsteps. I heard a lot of awe-inspiring stories about their missions and loved seeing their jutsu, I think that I got into the whole ninja life because of that. I also wanted to kick the butts of everyone who messed with me. And maybe I really wanted to be a so called 'hero' when I was young." She chuckled as she took a sip of her tea. "I knew that the job would be stressful and that there would be times of hardship, but I'd say that so far my life has done me no harm. After all, because of my job I met my husband because of that. So in a sense, you exist because we decided to become ninja." Kasumi looked at her son and ruffled his hair, which caused him to chuckle as he tried to fix his hair. "But Mori, why do you want to be and stay a ninja? Surely you don't think the same as you used to when you were small and cute."

Mori thought about what he wanted to answer for a moment, he didn't really expect that question. "Well, I still want to be strong and become a ninja that the Tsuchikage can trust. But I also want to be strong so I can help Tomiko reach her goal and protect the gang. I know she'd just reject my help if I said it outright, but she probably can do with some help. I've been thinking about possibly taking up the position of Tsuchikage myself, but maybe I could become an ambassador instead? I don't want to see more people suffer like dad." He answered truthfully, and he was surprised when his father gave him a pat on his head with watery eyes and a smile.

"You're a kind soul Mori, you really are. Although if you want to be a great ninja, you might need to transform yourself into a girl." Iwao's smile transformed into a grin as Mori's face stretched into a mortified expression.

"I have to do what?!"

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

Taji was walking around Kumo, taking in the scenery and watching her breath condensate in the low temperatures caused by the height and the season of winter. Her search for Kenji was not going anywhere, and she hadn't found Aisha either. "This is why you do recon and get to know your target, oh well." She curled her fingers into the rat seal and searched for Kenji's chakra signature, which she succeeded in along with Aisha's chakra signature. Going into the direction of her friends, she eventually found Kenji's house. Or atleast that's what she assumed since both Aisha and Kenji were here. Why Aisha was in the bedroom though, she didn't know. Then again, did she really want to know?

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Knocking three times on the door, she waited until someone opened. After all, it was only polite to knock and be invited inside. It was basic courtesy, really.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

Sagisō put her interaction with Shura on hold, opting to reply to Kiro's intrigued inquisition.

"Of course they're real! Why? Wanna touch em?"

Her voice thrummed with an added note of vibrancy as her long, slender, elfin ears fluttered invitingly. The elongated ears were her very own flesh & blood, the skin just as fleshy and pleasant to the touch as any other part of her. Creating these elf ears had taken a bit of work on her part, but they were well worth the attention and the slightly boosted her sense of hearing. Their extended cartilage along with their conical shape allowed her elf-styled ears to better capture and guide sound into her eardrums; an improvement she put to good use by catching even the softer words Kiro had spoken.

"Mmm, I wasn't going to stop you. Go ahead, have as much as you want."

The Nadeshiko kunoichi then left Kiro to his second meal. That also meant returning to her conversation with Shura, which she picked up as if she'd never dropped it to begin with. Her arched eyebrows, quirked lips, and flared elvish ears, were expressive responses to Shura's sudden —and might she add completely uncalled for— aggression. Chocolate really wasn't all that after all. Sagisō made her thoughts vocal when she pursed her lips and enunciated slowly.

"Tastes. Like. S-H-I-T!"

She didn't actually believe that though. Although she didn't like chocolate, she didn't hate it either. The Cocoa-based candy was something she ate rarely —and to only moderate enjoyment. However, after seeing Shura's animated reaction to her distaste, Sagisō was more than willing to add oil to the fire. Hopefully, she'd end up seeing something funny.

As she let her words sink in with the other Hyūga, Sagisō reached up and gently flicked her earrings. The soft smile that came to her lips was blent into the mischevious smirk that already hung there.

"Thanks."

However, before either Shura or Kiro could respond to her another person slunk right up and attracted her attention. Takato and his pet...kitten? had arrived on the scene, with a question whose answer was as mundane as it was profound. In fact, the Skillful Star was quite proud of her rapid advancements in the culinary arts!

"Actually, I've always been an amazing Chef! I just hadn't realized it."

Declaring as such, her voice suffused with smugness.

"Fighting and Cooking are actually the same things! Being good at one naturally means you'll be good at the other. They have the same steps after all."

Sagisō began her explanation, while she reached into her shawl and withdrew a stack of paper-slips, with neatly written notes jotted onto them.

"Do your research, prepare well, observe your opponent carefully, and the rest is chakra control! Do that and you can cook any dish as easily as you win any fight."

Presented with flawless logic and clear-cut logical associations, any sane person would recognize that one's skills in fighting could directly be translated into the kitchen. Sagisō had done the research, speaking with and taking notes from, the various butcheries in Konoha; she'd prepared the best ingredients for her dish; she'd used the visual prowess of the Byakugan to observe the progress of her dish and excellent flame control and handiwork in cutting and tenderizing her dish had been as a result of her martial training. In fact, the entire dish was a testament to her martial prowess.

"You need to spend more time at the training grounds Takato...though, what's with the cat?"

Offering genuine, heartfelt advice to her Nara friend, Sagisō finally brought up the curious cat that Takato toted.

 

[SageNeb]

"Umm, stuff to do in Konoha... Hmm, well we can get something to eat, but that'd be kinda weird since we just ate a sample. Frankly speaking, I don't really know why we would be exploring the village right now in the middle of the festival," Raiku said, though he felt a bit bad at the last part since it seemed kind of rude to say that in his opinion.

 

[Retro Master]

"Sure.”

Without much thought, Kiro accepted her welcoming invitation to touch the ears. There really wasn’t any reason for him not to accept. He hadn’t expected the ears to be real and was seriously intrigued by their creation. They looked so organic that Kiro had a hard time believing she wasn’t telling the truth. Of course, the only way to know for sure would be to feel them for himself.

As Kiro finished his second plate, he also noted Takato had come over with his pet and interacted with Sagisō as she finished calling Shura out on his shit. It had been awhile since he had seen the Nara member. Kiro briefly recalled sharing his suspicions about the Hyūga with him during the mission. Nothing much seemed to have come of that though. Recalling the meeting between Masa and Hinagiku, not even the village knew much of what had actually transpired. Perhaps those details would never see the light of day. In any case, there was no need for him to be concerned with that mess any longer.

“Hey Takato. Um. Nice cat.”

He greeted Takato first before turning to Sagisō. More specifically, her huge ears. Though Kiro did think they were kind of weird, he chose not to mention that part. He was more interested in how they were made. Something he would ask Sagisō as he made a hand gesture to her ears.

“So can I just touch them? How did you even make them?”

——————​

While the clan heads were busy greeting each other, they might’ve missed the subtle sounds of a walking stick tapping against the floor. They matched the slow tempo of lone footsteps which made their way to the roof-top. No other shadows stood beside him on this festive day. After all, he had only come as the head of the Shimura Clan. Standing on the rooftop now, a gust of wind blew as Danzo made his presence known.

“Rather interesting spot for a get together. Though, I’d expect nothing less of the Hyūga Head.”

Other than the spectacular view of his beautifully decorated village, this was also a great tactical choice. Looking over at the members currently gathered, there were a few still absent. This didn’t seem to be much of surprise to him. Instead, he just quietly voiced his thoughts to no one in particular.

“Seems like the Slug Princess has not arrived yet. Perhaps there are other matters she must attend to first.”

—————​

“Those matters are dealt with then I presume?”

Though Fugaku, Tsunade, Shizune, and Tonton were all dressed and ready to go, they were some of the last few remaining in the Hokage residence. They had been in the midst of discussing the trip Fugaku had sent Yashiro off on. He had taken the mission along with a few other Uchiha the day before. It was unlikely the band of Uchiha would return in time to celebrate the day’s festivities. Which was unfortunate. Even with the Hyūga hosting the festival, the Uchiha still had most of their members on duty, scattered around the village. Though most took pride in being the main security force of the village, there were some who would argue they deserved more than being the village’s pet.

He quickly brushed off that thought. Even now, Fugaku maintained a decent connection with each of the Hokage. Something which should symbolize a good relationship with the village. Fortunately, perhaps unfortunately, there was only one other person alive who knew of the sacrifices he had to make in order to get them here...

“Yes, I believe they’ll arrive back by tomorrow if things go well. In any case-“

Fugaku swiftly paused as there suddenly three gentle knocks on the door behind him. The room was quickly drowned with silence and a ghostly howl could from the outside of the Hokage residence. Perhaps it was the wind beckoning them to answer. No one spoke as they all turned their attention to the door.

“I thought you told the guards I won’t be meeting with any other visitors today?”

Tsunade whispered over to Shizune beside her. In her arms, Tonton was curved up into a ball, just slightly shivering. Shizune herself had been frozen in place and only mouthed a confirmation. Still standing in front of them was Fugaku. His eyes soon turned a dark shade of red as the three tomoe sharingan activated. With the eye of insight, he was able to see an ominous form of chakra on the other side of the door. One that emanated immense power that he distinctly remembered from long ago.

“Such chakra. It couldn’t be...”

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Hearing Sagsio’s audacity to call chocolate shit to his face, Shura stood motionless. His eyes were wider than normal but other than that, his face showed no visible emotion. “Oh, you really went there huh.” Shura’s voice sounded hoarse and quiet, barely louder than a whisper, but there was a lot of borderline murderous intent behind his words.

Luckily, before he could build up more anger, Zino’s question snapped him back into reality when the Uchiha Hyuga crossbreed asked whether he had any more samples. “Huh? Ah yeah, I have some more.” Shura turned back to his cooking station a d pulled down another plate. “Eat it with the brown sauce fist then use the purple one.” He instructed.

Noticing a familiar Nara make his appearance, Shura glanced over and saw his new cat. “Huh, didn’t know he had a cat, reminds me of the one I got down from the roof in the training halls a few months back.” Shura thought in reminiscence.

Following that, he glanced at Sagiso, more specifically her elf ears. He didn’t pay them much attention at first but Kiro’s growing interest has managed to peak the Hyuga’s curiosity.

 

[sSoul]

Tsuki
Noticing Kai ruffling his hair(a character tic that she found adorable), she paused and waited for his input. To her surprise, it seemed that having a friend was new for him too.

Odd...I assumed that being the heir of the Yuki would at least make someone willing to talk to you. Chances are he has a myriad of admirers from afar.

Kai mentioned the two of them getting something to eat together, and while that would be nice, he immediately came up with a better idea: a snowball fight.

"Sounds like fun!" Tsuki grabbed a small pile of snow and rolled it up into a ball for herself, "Should we allow each participant some time to gather ammunition?"

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

At Kiro's request, Sagisō's eyes flickered over to his fingers, carefully scrutinizing the slender digits and their state of cleanliness. Observing not a spec of dust, nor mote of grease on his fingers, the Nadeshiko kunoichi gave her assent, a slight nod in Kiro's direction.

"Go ahead, you can touch. Just don't get too touchy, people tend to get too excited when they get something from my body..."

An accusing glance was leveled in Shura's direction as Sagisō thought back to her long lustrous hair, and the shorn strands Shura had decided to keep for personal benefit. She turned her nose up at him in, snorting, before she followed up where she'd left off.

"It's just a transformation, a change this minor is hardly worth mentioning, but the effects are pretty good."

It was then that Sagisō furrowed her brows together, picking up the hostile intent that Shura had emitted in her direction. She turned to face the incoming danger, but whatever aggression Shura had been building quickly imploded at the inquiry made about his dish.

"Well...should've expected as much."

Muttering with disinterest, Sagisō shifted her gaze elsewhere scanning the crowd for something of interest.

 

[Nukas]

Amari thought Raiku's answer to be logical. After all, he lived in Konoha and got to experience the local festivities whenever he wanted. Why would he do something he could do at any time of the year when there was a festival that only occurs once a year. Amari, on the other hand, wanted to experience something unique to Konoha since she was only there for the day. "I suppose you're correct. I just don't know how long I'll be in the village, and I wanted to know what I could not live without trying here. I also kinda wanted to get away from the crowded festival for a while... I can just ask Furījia, Kiro or Senji if you want to stay here." There was no malintent in her words. She didn't want to drag Raiku anywhere he didn't want to go, but she was going to find that one thing she had to do in Konoha before her sister's concert started.

 

[Retro Master]

“Don’t worry.”

Kiro calmly reassured Sagisō as he moved his hand to examine only one of her ears. Specifically, his fingers softly caressed the edge of the extended cartilage at first. Then he moved his thumb a little more inwards, onto the expanded scapha. There was a little area for Kiro to move the thumb around, but all he did was give it a light rub before moving on. Finally, Kiro gently allowed his fingers to scale upwards. The ear grew increasingly narrow until he eventually reached the cool tip.

“Well, it’s a pretty good transformation. Still feels like an actual ear except longer.”

Bringing his focus back to her eye level, Kiro gave a short little analysis. The results really weren’t too surprising. He had expected the feeling to remain mostly the same. Only difference being the actual design of the ear. Sagisō mentioned a transformation and Kiro could only assume she had grown it somehow. Other than that, he wanted to go finish the rest of his plate before the next event. Speaking of which...

“By the way, how much time would I have before the concert?”

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

Sagisō suppressed the sudden urge to giggle —an urge caused by the way Kiro's fingers seemed to glide over the skin and fuzz of her ear— sending titillative tingles down her spine. She remained straight-faced while the Uchiha fondled her pointy elven extremities. As Kiro saw fit to return his attention to her eye level, lowering his gaze to meet her own, their pupils, unsurprisingly, met.

'Were his eyes always this dark?'

Trivial details aside, a part of her took the Uchiha's blatant initiation of eye contact as a slight challenge. Naturally, she unabashedly returned his stare. One which she maintained as she responded to his question.

"Oh? The concert..? About an hour or so. The events are spread out so that the villagers can enjoy each one for at least a little while. Why?"

 

[Retro Master]

Her magenta interlocking with his black was nothing new to Kiro. Those eyes of hers had been the first thing he found himself drawn to when they first met. Even now, they still looked just as alluring. His steady gaze stood firm as he acknowledged her response. Upon hearing the simple question attached to the end, Kiro saw no reason not to answer.

“I was just wondering how much time I had to continue that venison of yours. Also, I have something else I need to pick up before the tournament. An hour seems like enough time to do all that. Then I should get back in time to watch your second live performance.”

For a moment, Kiro briefly recalled the last time Sagisō had set her voice free over the village. He wouldn’t be too surprised if she had forgotten. Though Kiro could only remember a few of her timely lyrics, just the memory of the tune was enough. It served as a cold reminder of what he had forfeited that day. As Kiro lifted a hand to run it through his hair, the touch of the green hat above let him know that he still had something on his head. Quickly, Kiro brought his hand down and left those thoughts behind him.

“If it’s anything like last time, I figure you have another interesting piece chosen. Anyways, that’s all I really have in mind. How about you? Got anything to do for the next hour?”

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

"Sounds like fun!" Tsuki grabbed a small pile of snow and rolled it up into a ball for herself, "Should we allow each participant some time to gather ammunition?"

Kai thought for a quick second, looking at the snowball and then back to Tsuki. A sly smile began to stretch across his face.

“We are Yuki! We don’t need time to make ammunition!”

With that, Kai let the snowball fly toward tsuki, aiming to hit the young Yuki with a cold ball of snow

 

[Godjacob]

"Indeed, you are not dead. And as leader it is my duty to ensure within my power that this does not change. So suck it up, we're heading to that medic contact Baiyan knows." Azumi said matter of factly, as she seemed to have made the decision for Reaver as she produced a water clone and had it move by Reaver as she aimed to use it to give support and "guide" him on their journey before she turned to Baiyan.

"Pack whatever supplies you have. I desire to leave in ten minutes, we cannot waste time." Azumi said to Baiyan, and by extension Reaver as she worked to get her own supplies fully packed in her pouch as she seemed eager to leave as soon as possible.

----------

"Wow...it's really snowing!"
​

Naomi had bounced in her worn-out boots and an old jacket as she held her brother's hand with a weathered but not ineffective glove; as it seemed to be a shared fashion as Ren, Hoshi, Jirou, Mio & Miu all accompanied her as Ren led the figurative rat pack along the snowy streets of the slums as they headed over towards Tomiko's home. Tomiko had urged her crew to meet at her place for the present opening as each of them had their own pair of wrapped gifts that the twins dragged in a large sack. The sack continued gifts, what they could manage to round up among them to purchase which had not been a lot but there was some creativity and hopefully charm that sprinkled with the gifts. They hoped Tomiko would enjoy them, her folks as well...

...and naturally, Mori.

The group arrived at the humble home of their leader, as Hoshi banged on the doors as if they had been a set of drums. One smack to the head & earpull from Jirou later, they waited and before long Tomiko opened the door and the next the kids jumped onto her as she was buried into a pile while Ren looked on with a sweat drop.

"I see they are as excited as ever." Atsuko mused as she and Kuro looked on with smiles as Tomiko giggled a bit before she shooed them off and gestured for the open space inside.

"Come on, the morning has only just began!"

----------
Aisha had made her way to Kenji's bedroom, and it appeared that her companions had taken a liking to it as Luna & Sky jumped up on the large bed Kenji slept on as they rolled around a bit while they scanned the room ever curiously. Kenji had a deadpan expression on his face as he scanned the wolves. And I had just gotten those sheets washed to...

"Hum. Been okay for the most part. Mostly tried from last's night little stake out." Aisha admitted, as that topic snapped the Kumo-nin's attention towards her as he merely had a light nod. Aisha noted Kenji's expression as she instantly sensed that those events still had her friend a bit on edge; not that she blamed him, learning what happened to his teammate would have done that to most.

"Thinking of Rika?" Aisha asked, but before Kenji had a chance to respond...

Knock knock knock.
​

Kenji heard his door being knocked on as he moved downstaris while Aisha and Luna & Sky followed as Kenji opened up and saw Taji. "Oh uh hey Taji. Did you come by to say hi?"

----------
"Depends....your friend there isn't gonna try and bite my finger on the way is it?" Ino asked with only a slight scowl as she seemed to share the rat's distrust. Sakura felt a slight almost comedic tension in the air as the pink haired kunoichi sighed.

"Look, I know what you might think, but Kou's little uh...friend, is actually well trained. It won't be an issue." Sakura said as she tried to assure Ino who still had not been the most comfortable around rodents but she sighed. "Alright. Then in that case we can go when you are ready." The blonde hair kunoichi explained to present company.

----------
"Taunt? If I wanted to get fun out of that I'd go track down that Aburame woman. See what cracks I can get, you wouldn't be worth that effort." Tsume said bluntly as it seemed she cared not if Zaku perceived her invite as some sort of tease or not as she walked to the kitchen as her companion followed. Hana in turned had been about to follow her, though she eyed the young Zaku and seemed to almost have a playful grin to the younger man.

"So, are you normally this paranoid and a mood kill or is it just the flavor of the day?"

----------
"Right....I'll consider a trip next time I want to learn the secrets for how to properly season my next meal." Takato said with a deadpan, as he had seat dropped at the rather...passionate, explanation that Sagiso had gone into about the similarities between cooking and training as a ninja.

Sagiso proved to be an ever hard to pin personality the more exposure Takato had been given to her.

Though when the topic shifted to his furry companion, he sighed a bit as he stroked the back of its head. "Her name is Mittens. She's a festive gift my parents left me. I may or...may not, have used to want one when I was a kid, so they decided to act upon that hypothetical and I woke up with her on my chest." Takato explained to Sagiso, as Mittens let out a quiet meow; eyes wide as she tried to take this whole thing in. Takato then glanced over to the Uchiha, who seemed to be unsupervised but if Hina had been any indication she likely had plants in the crowd or scouting from above so he paid it no mind as he mentioned the cat. Mittens glanced over to the Uchiha and ever curious she seemed to extend her paws to him as if she tried to reach out to touch him which caused Takato to sigh.

Yeah, she is gonna be a handful.

"Thanks for the rec..." Zino said to shurt, as the Hyuga/Uchiha "hybrid" glanced over at Takato who seemed to bring a cat with him. Zino had not talked with Takato and only had second hand accounts on his history with the group but he focused instead on his sample of food.

Zino took his place, and he first covered the sample with brown sauce and then the purple sauce in the order before he used a fork to pull a piece as he took a bite of Shura's dish. The meat seemed a bit crunchy to the touch, and while he preferred softer meat he found that underneath the exterior and the crunch he had to admit added a "punch" to it. But Zino quickly discovered just why Shura had placed emphasis on the sauces...as those things had been what made his eyes widen. The first one, the brown sauce seemed to have this rich flavor to it though it come with a bitterness, which is where the purple sauce came in as it had a sweet taste that the bitter after taste of the brown sauce seemed to only highlight.

The flavor melted in his mouth as an audible humm escaped his lips as he had quickly gone for a second bite as he had been content to enjoy his sample. "This is good stuff, never took you for a cook." Zino said as he complemented Shura's dish.

 

[SageNeb]

Raiku took into account Amari's response and pondered on the matter for a moment. Finally he decided to turn to Senji."I'm fine with anything, and I can't really think of anywhere to go right now, so what do you wanna do Senji?" He figured since he couldn't figure out an activity his fellow Leaf ninja could help him out.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Senji gave an indifferent shrug as well. "I'm down for whatever you guys do; I don't really know a lot of people around here except for you guys, so if you're okay with it, I'd prefer to follow behind." Aside from.. eating, really, there really was very little Senji had done so far at the festival, and even despite his larger than average appetite, eating did get rather boring after a while. Hopefully his newfound company would be fine with him tagging along with them.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Kou felt a growing sense of excitement as well as an underlying sense of worry. He had high hopes for the festival, something that he wasn’t ever able to experience as a small child...well...smaller. He nodded his head at the two of them, eager to get the show on the road. Albeit his brother was still tense, resting on Kou’s shoulder, careful not to let it’s guard down.

“Okay...lets go!”


.........


The guards had turned to supposedly go eat, Zaku blowing off their jab, as he too didnt want to waste the effort. That is, until one of them turned around to speak from the doorway.

"So, are you normally this paranoid and a mood kill or is it just the flavor of the day?"

“Pshht, you don’t want to know my flavor baby.” Zaku chuckled in spite of his situation. “Have to say though, thought there would be a lot more torture involved. What? You greeners go soft?”

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

A benign smile, that revealed nothing. With that quirk of her lips, Sagisō brushed off Kiro's comment on her song. She wouldn't let slip even a peep about her intended song, but it would indeed be interesting. However, that wasn't a topic she wanted to discuss and given he'd immediately moved on from that topic, she assumed Kiro wouldn't press for an answer. Sagisō picked up on Kiro's following question, "Hmmm, I have a few things to pick up around the village."

Presents and the like which she'd arranged for earlier. It was a bit last-minute, as she'd only gone gift-hunting after learning the Winter festival was even a thing. It wasn't a festival they had in Nadeshiko, so it'd taken her some time to do her research. That being said though, she'd gotten gifts for every person she considered worth spending ryo on.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

It has come to my attention that this thread ALSO has multiple instances of unnecessary Youtube videos - something that escaped my attention until now as wading through 100+ pages of Magical Ninja Funventures™ to hunt down every single possible rule-break people might have stumbled into is not exactly feasible for one person and this thread did not exactly get reported often.

However, as I now received reports of such and as I've had to yell at other threads for this in the past - in the interest of fairness, I am also contractually obligated to yell at you too.

As a reminder: RP posts have no business containing Youtube videos. To reiterate on what I said last time someone asked me about this: RPs are meant to be collaborative stories. That means stories. Words. Being inspired by music is fine, but you should be able to communicate the feelings and atmosphere etc. to the other RPers through writing rather than rely on music or art or whatever that are not your own work, have no business being there, and clutter up posts in the RP forums something fierce. Let people actually interpret characters/scenes for themselves rather than spoon-feed them background details you siphoned off of entirely unrelated video games/anime/whatever forms of media, please. If something is absolutely critical, use the discussion threads and at the very least explain why you picked a particular song for the scene/character or why and what it inspired (Do something that invites discussion. Not "This is my theme song, insert random Megaman track here".) And keep it out of the actual RPs.

Unfortunately, going through the thread to remove every single instance of such is not exactly feasible for me (for aforementioned 100+ pages of Magical Ninja Funventures™ reasons), but you are all emphatically warned not to do it again.

 

[Retro Master]

Like Sagisō presumed, Kiro didn’t try to push the subject. It seemed her song choice was something she preferred to keep close to her chest until the performance. He’d just have to wait and see. As for his second question, Sagisō did choose to answer. Her response drew only a moment of thought from Kiro. His unwavering gaze had yet to falter as he settled on a simple follow up.

“Well, want to go together?”

As Kiro had stated earlier, there was something he needed to pick up in the village. Now would be as good a time as any to go collect the gift he requested the day prior. Plus, he had been wanting to just look around the festive village for awhile now. Having Sagisō as a navigator some company wouldn’t hurt.

 

[Nukas]

Amari looked at her two new acquaintances in shock. Neither of them knew of anything to do in Konoha, despite having lived here for a good part of their lives? She was quite shocked by this news, but she would make do with the two. "Well I guess I can't expect you two to have all the answers, you are just boys after all. Let me try and ask one more to join our party for something to do." She then walked over to the Hyuga heiress who had tried to join the group earlier before the demon started screeching like a banshee.

"Hey Furījia, any chance you'd like to come with me, Senji, and Raiku? We are trying to figure out what we should do while waiting for the concert to start. I'm sure as the Hyuga heiress, you must know all of the best places Konoha has to offer, and I want to know what I absolutely must do before I go back home." Amari hated that she had to ask someone else about what to do, but at least it was someone she knew somewhat. This would also give her a chance to get to know the sister of her sister a little better.

 

[sSoul]

Tsuki
Being on the receiving end of a snowball wasn't the most fun, but seeing as this was her first taste of hanging out with a friend, Tsuki was having the time of her life. However, the only attempt she made to convey her joy was a playful pout.

"No fair!" She exclaimed in an almost overly whiny voice, "Well I guess this is what I get for wanting to play fair..." In truth, there was malice in her voice, and while she was saying this, she had time to ball up another snowball. Now that she had planted her distraction, it was time to counterattack.

"Even though Yuki have no need to take time to prepare, it never hurts to have a plan!" Immediately after saying this, she tossed two snowballs aimed at his torso.
Taiyo
The Leaf-nin sighed at the situation that he now found himself in. Despite the cooking contest, this festival seemed to be rather boring.

"Hey Susei, do you wanna go do your own thing?" Taiyo turned to his little sister, who gave some thought to the proposition.

"I do," Susei began, the doubt in her voice palpable, "But what if I get lost?"

Good point, I don't want what happened in the mansion to happen again. I'm thankful that Mrs. Hinagiku was around to look after her, but she shouldn't be forced to look after someone else's kid.

After looking around for a bit, Taiyo set his sights on the beginnings of a stage of sorts. For what it was for, he had no idea, but it seemed serviceable for their purposes.

"If you ever get lost, just go to that place that looks like a stage of sorts," The older Akugami sibling pointed to the place he spotted initially. After getting Susei's nod for approval, he sent her away to do her own thing, now leaving him to do his thing.

Now, is trying to talk to Furījia a good idea..?

I don't think so, chances are she's probably doing something important.

Plus I kinda wanna hang out with other people right now.

Fortunately, Taiyo was able to spot Raiku, who seemed to be hanging out with another person he didn't know yet: he couldn't've asked for a more perfect scenario. So with newfound energy, the FBS master sauntered over to the Uchiha.

"Hey Raiku," Taiyo calmly began before turning Senji, "Hello, my name is Taiyo, I'm a friend of Raiku,"

Really? That's it?

Guess so...

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

At the odd request to go together, the skillful star skillfully raised a skillfully groomed eyebrow, clearly thrown off by Kiro's suggestion. The Mist-grown Uchiha was more often than not the type of keep to himself, being broody or...whatever it is that Uchiha's seemed to do in their free time. She'd noticed that all the Uchiha she'd met seemed to be some variant of anti-social, awkward or angsty —perhaps it was a family trait— kinda like Shura, but less stoic.

Sagisō pursed her lips, poised to pose the question on her mind, why?

But then it occurred to her —the Uchiha before her was, for lack of better words, directionally challenged. Given he'd gotten lost in the hallways at the Chunin exams, there was no way he could navigate the streets of an entire village by himself. Though, on second thought, he'd probably get lost even if he were good at directions. He hadn't exactly had time to explore the village during his tenure as a prisoner. In fact, Sagisō wouldn't have been surprised if this was Kiro's first time looking around the village. Though...she preferred to move under the first assumption.

Elven ears twitched as Sagisō tilted her head at a soft angle, a teasing smirk curled her lips upward.

"Sure, would you like me to hold your hand too, so you don't get lost?"

Furījia

The Hyūga heiress was standing as a per her status would dictate, she held her hands crossed slightly infront of her, pressed against her thighs in the image of a demure lady. Beads of sweat had begun to form on her brow, in part due to the weight of her kimono and her awkward attempts to blend into the background. When Amari called out to her, Furījia was more than happy to find something to do. She jumped in excitement, but she quickly composed herself afterward and played it off— "Umm...You could go on top of the Kage stone faces, it'd be a nice view, and from there you could see all the other important spots in the village."

 

[SageNeb]

Raiku thought for a second what Amari meant by saying "just boys" then realized it was an insult. He felt a bit offended but slid it off as a joke. Obviously nobody, not even he, was that socially inept that they would so casually throw an insult like that.

I guess they could also just be super arrogant, but I doubt Amari is like that.

He stopped as he realized he was thinking too much of the comment and brought himself back to the conversation. Amari asked Furijia what to do which Raiku thought was a bit of a coincidence since he was about to do the same then just wrote it off as something someone with common sense would do. Then Taiyo came along and introduced himself to Senji.

"Uh yeah. He's also a Leaf ninja, though that's pretty obvious by his headband, I guess," he said, then heard Furijia's response to the Nadeshiko.

"I guess me, Senji, Amari, and Furijia are heading over to the Kage stone heads to... I don't know look around or something. Oh yeah, this guy is Senji," Raiku said to Taiyo while pointing at his new acquaintance. "Wanna come along Taiyo?"

 

[DarkHydraT]

"You can't be serious dad, you transformed into a girl once?"

"Something wrong with that? No one suspects you to do something like that and you can get away with a lot of things. Play it as an ace up your sleeve, especially since you seem to be quite repulsed by the idea. Keep that up and no one will expect you to be transformed. Besides, I looked damn good as a girl."

Mori grimaced. "Thanks for the image dad, that will surely help me sleep at night."

Iwao grinned. "You're welcome, son."

Kasumi sighed and smacked both of them against the back of their heads. "Come on you two, we've got presents to deliver. You can bicker about the uses of the Transformation jutsu later." She could not surpress a smile though as both her son and husband groaned after the smack. "Do you two think you could drag your feet even more? Come on, we don't have all day. After all, we don't want to keep our new friends waiting, do we?"

The Utamara family left the tea shop behind them and made their way towards their home, ready to visit the slums and brighten up this day of cheer and peace for the Usagi family and the gang down there. Mori turned to his father and asked him a question, one that has been plaguing his mind for a while now. "Dad, Christmas is a celebration of peace and forgiveness right? Did you ever forgive the Uchiha that....y'know....fought you?" The boy quickly looked down, expecting to get yelled at for asking a question about a topic he considered to be taboo.

But the yelling never came, nor did a slap across his cheek. Instead, a warm hand grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it once. Iwao's eyes didn't look at anything in particular, as if he was afraid to show emotion to his son. "I never hated the Uchiha to begin with, so I could forgive them. I did not like the Uchiha, but I respected them. It took a while for me to forgive them since I had to get my own life back on the rails, but once I did I could forgive them. It might have been easier for me than for you, since I've spent a lot longer in the ninja business than you. I know that if I faced the Aburame instead of the Uchiha, I could very well have gotten PTSD that got triggered by dark green colors or the buzzing of bugs. It all depends on circumstance, although I have yet to forgive myself for doing one thing wrong. I tried to inform you about the skill and strength of the Uchiha, but from what I've heard from your stories of your time in Konoha, you hate them because of what I told you. I hope you can forgive me for that, and that you can accept the Uchiha for who they are. I know I am asking a lot of you, but atleast try to do it. And don't try to blame them for what happened to me, the sins of the father are not the sins of the son after all."

Accept the Uchiha? Mori was confused, why would he do that? He supposed that none of the Uchiha in Konoha treated him differently, but then again an Uchiha injured his friend and attacked him. Maybe he could forgive most of the Uchiha, but Kiro would be a different case. He looked at the face of his father and saw that his teeth were clenched, but after he blinked his jaw was relaxed. Did he just imagine it? Judging by the looks of his father, he did. His mom however was less easily convinced and slowed down her pace, grabbing Iwao's shoulder and squeezing it. "I'll try dad, but that is a problem for future me. We've got some children to make happy now." He smiled at his parents and was met with smiles of their own.

"You're right. I also took the liberty to get you that clay and gunpowder you asked for. No clue why you wanted them, but I think that I'll see soon enough." Iwao gave Mori two sealing scrolls, one filled with clay and the other with gunpowder.

Mori accepted the two scrolls with a grin as they arrived at their home, entering it for just a couple of seconds before a sack of presents got slung across Iwao's back and they made their way towards the slums.

"What do you think Mori, will they like the gifts?" Kasumi asked her son who shrugged at the question.

"Probably, they probably aren't used to gifts in the first place so they will most likely accept them."
----------

Taji stood upright, slight tension in her muscles as her head was raised as far as it could without looking arrogant. "Hello Kenji. I suppose so, but saying hi is not the reason behind my visit. I've thought about our discovery last night and I have some theories regarding it. May I come in? I've noticed that Aisha is here too, she should be able to help us." To an outsider, it would sound like they were discussing a new seal or a new team tactic. Taji knew better though, and she surely hoped that Kenji did too. To make sure, she whispered the following words in his ear. "I have concerns about the sealing, and I wanted to talk about it with someone who knows what I am talking about." Taking a step back, she raised her voice again. "Apologies, you had some remains of your breakfast on your face. Now, may I come in?"

 

[Retro Master]

Now it was his turn to raise an eyebrow as looked at an expression he once greatly despised. Was she trying to get a reaction out of him? Kiro knew what Sagisō was referring to with that egregious offer. The humiliating memory of being unable to find the entrance to the battlefield for the quarterfinals of the Chūnin exams briefly resurfaced. Just like back then, the skillful star seemed to find it amusing Kiro needed her assistance. Those mischievous eyes of hers were being rather presumptuous at the moment. No matter. Two can play that game.

“That’s quite generous of you. Here.”

Hiding behind a nonchalant expression, Kiro casually lifted his arm and held an open palm out to Sagisō.

“If you wanted to hold my hand, you could’ve just asked.”

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

The corners of her lips twitched, she was disappointed in the rise she'd gotten out of Kiro, or the lack thereof, but she even more displeased with how the tables had been flipped. However, backing down wasn't the style of the skillful star, the phrase had been torn from her dictionary a long time ago. Pressing onward, she reached out, linking her fingers with Kiro's. She could feel the coldness of his extremities, as she focused her senses and the small point of skin-to-skin contact.

She reversed the tilt of her head, now looking up at Kiro.

"P-u-n-i-s-h-m-e-n-t."

She attacked like lightning, her chakra flooding through her finger-tips and across her palms, delivering a painful shock to its quarry. It wasn't a crippling blow, but he'd definitely be feeling that one later. Satisfaction settled into a victorious smirk on her lips as she awaited Kiro's reaction to her surprise. That'd teach him to play games with her~

 

[Nukas]

Amari noticed Furījia's moment of excitement before going back to the image of the perfect heiress she was trying to be. Going to the top of the stone kage heads was a great idea, the view from up there must have been beautiful and Amari was sure it would get her away from the large crowds of the festival. Amari also noticed Furījia had said you could go, so she had to clear one thing up with the Hyuga.

"You are coming with us, right. It would be nice to have another girl in the group. I bet you could use a break from this place as much as I do as well." Amari wanted to spend some more time with Furījia and could see how excited she got when Amari asked her to come with them, so she wanted to make sure she knew that it was ok to come with them. Amari also heard the new guy, Taiyo, who wanted to join the group. There wasn't much to say about him, at least until Amari noticed wood where his arms were supposed to be. She would have to ask about that later, right now her focus was on Furījia.

 

[Retro Master]

His composed expression almost broke into a little grin as he felt the gentle touch of her fingers on his own. It was unexpected to see such a quick surrender from the Demon Princess herself. But like the saying went, if you play with fire, you get burned. Sagisō allowed him that false sense of victory for a brief moment before ferociously striking back.

“Fuck!”

He let out a sharp curse in shock before quickly pulling his arm away. Kiro glared at the triumphant look on her face before gritting his teeth as he tended to his damaged arm. She had managed to tase him with her own chakra. The damage wasn’t too significant but it might bother him later.

As for Sagisō, it was annoying that she resorted to such an attack. However, he wouldn’t fall so easily. A slight smirk grew on his own lips as he looked back at his opponent. She did deem his approach as a punishable offense after all. One could only wonder why.

“I suppose that was to be expected. Back an animal into the corner and they tend to bite back. That being said, couldn’t resist going for my hand now, could you?”

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

The wide grin that had plastered itself across her lips, was proof enough at how much she enjoyed bullying the Uchiha before her, but as soon as she noticed the glare in Kiro's eyes, she knew things weren't over. Her eyes shiftily darted around, observing everything around them as Kiro worked his way into a counter-attack.

===============​

Quite a few eyes had been drawn in as Kiro reacted quite audibly to her little zap. Sagisō immediately wiped the smug expression off her face, replacing it with one of distress and distraught. Playing up the act, she pulled her own hand back, as if hurt, holding it tight to her chest.

"A-an animal, how could you!?"

The crowd around them turned, seeing her pitiable appearance as well as the snarky smirk on Kiro's face they appeared to draw the most obvious conclusion. Murmurs built around them, as eyes of disdain and words of abuse were hurled towards Kiro.

"...What a jerk."

"I can't believe that guy."

"Disgusting..."

Within moments the crowd had rallied to the defense of the 'helpless' girl, and speaking of that helpless girl, beneath the shadows of her short bangs, she flashed Kiro the slightest of winks as she mouthed her victory. "Serves ya right, bitch."

Spoiler: Actual Reaction

Sagisō rolled her eyes at Kiro's comeback and snarked back at him.

"Oh please, you don't have to be such a wuss about it, I only touched you a little."

She withdrew her hand, letting it fall at her side as she sized up the extent of the damage she'd dealt. Quite satisfied with the way Kiro gingerly licked his wounds, she began to make her way into the village, clearly intending to start their shopping trip. As she passed Kiro she whispered in a voice only he could hear.

"Besides...I'm not the one who put on a skeevy little grin when they got to touch my fingers. Well, with your only affection coming from Kai, I can understand why you'd be that desperate for a girl's touch. "

The beginnings of a grin on his lips had not eluded her at the moment they'd touched, and she ruthlessly exposed him on the spot. Not waiting up for him, and with a very self-satisfied smirk on her lips and a hop in her step, she all but skipped her way through the village streets.

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
Taking notice of the Leaf headband that Raiku decided to point out, the FBS master gave Senji a warm grin. Sure, he'd do the same if Raiku had introduced him to a foreigner, but Taiyo found it easier to give a smile with maximum warmth to someone who lived in the same village as he did. When he heard the Uchiha offering a trip to the Kage stones, the Leaf-nin took a moment to consider what he was doing before answering.

"Nice to meet you, Senji. And I'd love to go with you guys," Taiyo paused, partially because of some looming doubt about a descision he made but moreso out of his concern of being inconsiderate, "That is, if the rest of you don't mind me tagging along..."

Susei can take care of herself....

Can she though..?

I hope so, that academy training better prove itself useful.
Susei
The little girl strolled through the festival crowd with comforted pride; she felt very proud of herself that she was able to earn enough of Taiyo's trust to be allowed to go on her own. Unbeknownst to her, she managed to catch the attention of an undesirable onlooker.

"I've got my sights on a target: she's a young girl, so you know how ripe she is for our purposes. I'll write back to you after I've gotten her secured," A strange man wrote on a piece a paper that he later rolled up and tied together with a small string. He then gave the rolled up message to a common bird that later began flying off to somewhere. Once the bird began to take flight, the man licked his lips before proceeding to follow Susei as discreetly as he could.

It must've taken the Hyuga a while to set up this whole thing. Clearly their effort was rewarded by how cool this festival is!

 

[Retro Master]

Kiro lightly snickered after hearing what Sagisō had to say. It was actually pretty funny. She’d gone straight for the neck and missed completely. The basis of her entire statement hinged on a false assumption. Yet, Kiro felt no need to clarify that to her. Knowing Sagisō well enough, her mind was already set and she could probably care less at this point.

“Whatever. I’ll get you back with this same hand somehow. Just wait.”

With that warning made, in a good-natured tone, as Kiro eventually joined up with Sagisō, they would begin their journey through the bustling streets of the village.

 

[Godjacob]

"Well then, let's go. Should make it before the concern begins." Ino said as she led Sakura and Kou out the door and had began to make their way over to the festival. At the entrance, Ino managed to get them all inside without hassle as they soon saw what seemed to be the tail end of some cooking contest. And a familiar face to Ino and even Sakura had been among those enjoying the samples which caused the Yamanaka to sigh.

"Why am I not shocked to find you by the cooking competition?" Ino asked with a deadpan as Akihiko turned and saw the trio.

"Ah Ino, I didn't think you'd be here. And I saw Takato over there to so guess you can say Team 10 is in the house." Akihiko said as Ino groaned at that line before his eyes turned to Sakura and instantly hearts crossed them.

"And the wonderful Haruno is here to! Oh Sakura my beloved I wish I could have known you were coming, here want some of my sample there is plenty to go around~" Akihiko said with over-dramatic flair as Sakura felt a sweat drop. It had been no secret that Akihiko had crushed on Sakura since the Academy Days and while the gestures had been sweet Sakura had made it clear she was not interested.

Not that that had deterred Akihiko, who displayed his sample to her as Sakura worked to wave it off. "I-I am flattered but I am not hungry. Thank you."

Akihiko then turned to the kid with the rat. "Uh, a friend of yours?"

-----------
"Oh dear, he thinks he is suave." Hana said to herself with an amused if not playful smirk as the smell of food drifted into their room. The smell of some breakfast, or would it have been lunch at this point? Hana had been unsure but either way she decided to answer his question anyway.

"So a masochist then? Well that depends on whether you show you are a good boy or not, for now there's no harm in letting you move about as you please. So long as you remain in the compound for the time being and don't cause trouble no skin off our necks. And we will be aware if you are not on compound grounds, I assure you that much~" Hana winked, as the "lax" security seemed to have a bit more to it than meets the eye. "Anyway got some food, sure you don't want any?"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

The snowball war had begun. As Kai broke the monotony with his initial strike, Tsuki tossed a counter attack: a pair of two snowballs. Kai carefully and swiftly dove into a roll, avoiding the first snowball, though the second one hit him in the leg. Landing behind the cover of a bench, he assessed the wound.

She actually hit me? She’s getting better at this! Kai...this is a game. Not a military engagement. I have to remember that. But regardless...let’s see how she handles this...!

“Yuki Style secret technique! Heavy Snowball!”

Now from behind the cover from the bench, he clumped together a heavy snowball, hurling it in the air. Using a little influence from his kekkei genkai, the snowball changed trajectory and home in on Tsuki.



...........


Kou followed the pair out of the House, nervously walking out into the streets. The entrance to the festival cave into view, and one of the guards at an establishment gave him the stink eye, as if he remembered him. He wouldn’t be surprised...he payed a ‘visit’ to quite a lot of people in his time here...

As they entered the festival, Kou was met with many of bright and beautiful imagery. Several people laughing and playing, the sweet smell of delicious food, venders of all shapes and sizes amongst many other things to do and explore. Even now there was a mime entertaining children and a cooking contest directly in view. A giddy smile came across his face. He wanted to try and do so much, but he didn’t know where to start.

He couldn’t hear Akihiro over his own mind going wild. He spun in place, taking in all that many took for granted. He looked down another street, mesmerized by the sights.

There was a puppet show on, little kids gathered around as on ‘stage’ was a little yellow haired puppet wearing a green vest, fighting a bigger orange puppet with nine tails. The kiddies seem to be laughing and cheering the yellow one on, Kou chuckling a bit to himself at the sight too.


..........


Now, Zaku was the stubborn type, but that didn’t mean suicidal. His stomach growled, weighing his options on the scenario. After all of five seconds of careful deliberation, Zaku got up from his bed, walking over to the door.

“Whatever, I’m getting food on my own terms ya hear? I’d quit that little voice your doing as well, I’m outta your league.”

Dropping that little bomb, he decided to walk down to where the food was...presumingly. Following his nose

 

[kyuukestu]

Furījia

The group was growing quite large. From its initial three, it had ballooned to five, with the addition of herself and Taiyo. The Hyūga heiress at first looked quite excited to have received the invitation, after all, it was infinitely better than standing here all-day however...she was still on the job. She couldn't ditch her duty just to go have fun even if she really wanted to. A conflicted expression emerged, as she waged a short-lived internal battle. After a moment, she prepared to reject but as she looked over the composition of the group: Raiku, Amari, Senji, and Taiyo...a thought came to mind.

Amari wasn't exactly a Konoha citizen, and Taiyo had a well-known streak for being reckless it wouldn't do any good for the festival if something were to happen to them, no? It was probably best that she tagged along to...supervise...yea, that was it. She wasn't ditching her job, she was supervising risk factors.

Rolling over her reasoning in her head again, until it sounded quite sound and infallible, she allowed her expression to lift once more. She moved over to join the group, floating over the ground in a few quiet steps.

"Ahem, Of course. It'd be my pleasure to join you."

Sagisō

Trotting down the street, the Nadeshiko kunoichi made her way to the business district of the village. Although most of the shops had been closed, their focus instead on the more profitable stalls that lined the village, a few were still open and quite fancily decorated for the season. It was at one of these shops that Sagiso took an abrupt turn, pushing apart the doors and stepping into a world of finely decorated jewelry and ornaments. Intricately designed chandeliers, delicately crafted bracelets, exquisitely polished jade necklaces...

The shelves were filled to capacity with what, at a glance, could be discerned as top-class goods. However, Sagiso paid no mind to them, instead she waltzed right up to the front desk and left her name at the receptionist. She'd already placed an order for her item, all that was left to do was pick it up, and pay for it. As the receptionist left to procure Sagiso's order, the girl decided to cut into the silence that had settled between herself and Kiro.

"So what are you picking up? Presents as well? Do you even have any friends in this village? Besides that other Uchiha kid."

 

[Retro Master]

Unlike Sagisō before him, Kiro did find himself attracted to the display of lavish items in the store. From the sparkling, unblemished, fine white diamond to the flawless, solid yellow gold, the jewelry definitely seemed to be luxuriant in nature. Of course, one could never be too certain of the authenticity. Still, it was only Sagisō’s questioning which allowed him to resist the allure of the jewelry and turn to answer her.

"Considering how I was basically robbed by the Hyūga, I can't buy anything even if I wanted to. Luckily, I was able to get my request for a special storage seal accepted by the Hokage herself.”

By robbery, Kiro referred to his mission earnings going to the Hyūga instead of himself. It was only through the generous aid of the Hokage’s aide, Shizune, that Kiro had gotten something. Apparently there was a village funded equipment shop the request had been sent to. Best part was everything would be virtually free.

“As for your other question, not any that I know about. I wouldn’t exactly call Raiku a friend either. We just eventually came to an understanding. That’s all.”

He answered rather bluntly, his cool and relaxed voice not changing in the slightest. Kiro honestly wondered why she would ask a question he believed to have an obvious answer. Sagisō should know him almost better than anyone by now. Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to question her on the subject.

“Do you think I should consider those who had a hand in imprisoning me here a friend?”

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

The Nadeshiko shrugged her shoulders.

"Would you rather be dead? Isn't that what you Mist shinobi are known for, relentlessly pursuing defectors unto death?"

The events that had occurred after Kiro's capture were by no means unknown to Sagisō. She'd heard all about the Yuki Clan's display, amongst other things, when she'd been filled in for the time period she'd been drop-dead drunk. Her splayed shoulders fell, her gaze falling from Kiro's body with disinterest. Despite her role in Kiro's capture and subsequent imprisonment, her actions hardly weighed on her conscience. Truth be told she'd never any intent to capture Kiro...the goal of her mission hadn't even been to capture him or even find him. She vividly remembered the punishment that infraction had caused.

As for Kiro's other words..?

"As an exiled ninja who, by right, should've been killed, consider your actions as payment of your...protection fee."

She let the final words fall out of her mouth slowly. Protection Fee sounded about right. Though it was hardly the actual reason Kiro hadn't received anything of monetary value. The specifics weren't something she was privy to, though she had her own guesses on the matter.

Listen to the extent to which Kiro had gone to copy the storage seals painted onto her forearms, Sagisō briefly wondered why he hadn't just asked one of the Hyūga maids. It was what she'd done, the whole process taking no longer than five minutes. A raised eyebrow was all the skepticism she showed, as she chose to remain silent on this topic. She didn't want to patronize him after all.

As the receptionist returned, she placed the palm-sized box in her hand onto the table along with a blank cheque. Presenting Sagisō with a pen, the receptionist prompted her to fill out the cheque, which the Nadeshiko did quite promptly. The deal was concluded with Sagisō's signature after she'd taken a quite peek at the goods with her Byakugan. Just like that, over a hundred thousand Ryo had vanished, but Sagisō seemed quite satisfied with her purchase.

"Alright, we're going to backtrack through the village square. Next stop —Inuzuka residence."

 

[Grand Master Koop]

“I cook occasionally.” Shura answered Zino’s question about his cooking skills. “I had to take care of my little sister after all.” He added.

Hearing some commotion, the Hyuga turned towards Kiro and Sagiso who appeared to be engaging in some childish back and forth trying to one up one another. He didn’t do more than cast them a single glance. “Whatever they think is fun I guess.” He mumbled as he took off his apron. With the cooking competition at reaching its end, there wasn’t any reason they needed to stick around. He pulled off the cloth holding his hair up then took a lollipop out of his pocket and put it into his mouth. “Well, I need to pick up a few things from the candy shop.” He said to himself as he walked off.

While walking through town, Shura noticed Kiro and Sagiso were also out looking around the market. Remembering the trick Sagiso pulled on Kiro’s arm, the Hyuga thought he might as well do the Uchiha a favor. While still in motion, he bit off all the candy from his lollipop stick before lining it up with Kiro’s arm. With a flick of his lips and a mouthful of breath, Shura sent the plastic stick towards the target, aiming at a precise pressure point to ease the numbness. He continued on like nothing happened after that act.

 

[kyuukestu]

Hinagiku

After exchanging cordial greetings with the various personages that had already turned up, Hinagiku relegated herself to the background, patiently waiting for another few minutes. With the indication of the Uchiha Head, or the Lady Hokage arriving anytime soon, Hina took it upon herself to make the time they spent waiting worthwhile. She cleared her throat to get their attention.

"While it would be remiss to discuss matters of village security in the absence of the Hokage, it's hardly the time for us to be dallying around."

She tapped her finger thoughtfully against the hardwood table.

"Earlier I had encountered a person— no, a thing, prowling the village. It hardly appeared human and even the Byakugan failed to glean anything. That being said..." As she lowered her voice, she shifted her focus to the Inuzuka and Aburame Heads. "It would be much safer to supplement the surveillance team with the senses of beast and bug."

Although that would serve to complement the village's defensive force, covering for what areas the Byakugan could not account for, Hinagiku proposed they go a step further. "For safe measure, perhaps a sweep of the village is in order. How many foreign chakra sources roam the village? I trust the Yamanaka are best suited for dealing with such a task?"

 

[Retro Master]

‘Was she drunk or something back then?’

That was the exact reasoning why he did not want to go back to the Mist! Why did she think he was forced to beg for his life in the first place? Perhaps he should’ve just died pridefully. Heck, he’d almost given up on surviving the exact moment he was captured. The bowl of delicious ramen Kiro had that day, at the wonderful Ichiraku Ramen, was supposed to be the last meal on this earth. His last good deed would’ve been donating that rabbit to people who actually needed it to live.

Not only did Kiro get stepped on but also to have the only thing he had left get squashed mercilessly. The pride he sacrificed shattered into a million tiny little pieces. All turned to dust. Even as he tried to pick up what was left, the cool wind still came to try carrying it all away. They all just watched. The Uchiha. The Hyūga. The Anbu. The entire Leaf. It must’ve been a really good show. Some quality entertainment. Hopefully they enjoyed it. He didn’t regret his choice to live that day and moved on with what little was left.

This wasn’t all to say Sagisō was wrong. She was absolutely correct. However, he was only grateful for their protection. That was it. Kiro recalled coming to terms with that right before stepping into through the gates to the Hyūga mansion. The protection fee did make sense… if that’s what it was. The way she brought the fee up actually led to Kiro to wonder if Sagisō really knew what she was talking about. Did she even know what she said? It occurred to him that perhaps Sagisō might not have all there. That would mean she wouldn’t exactly know the significance of that moment. Kiro decided to ask her to make sure.

“Um. The Inuzuka clan has those filthy beasts dogs, right? Anyways, if you don’t mind me asking, do you remember exactly what happened that night you performed?”

Just as Kiro asked that, he felt something sharp hit the pressure point of the same arm Sagisō had damaged earlier. He muttered a few curses as held the arm in some pain. Somebody thought it would be funny to shoot a popsicle stick at him. Now which Leaf clown could it be? Kiro crushed the stick with his foot as he looked for a suspect. That’s when his eyes settled on Sagisō. Could it have been her doing?

Spoiler: New Years Eve/4K Post Special: Uncensored Version

‘None of that answers the question?’

He did not know what Sagisō was going on about but it was almost laughable. Would he rather be dead? What type of ridiculousness?! Was he supposed to be grateful to those who “saved” him? The same ******* who bent over and sang to the high heavens for her when she called on them? Oh please. They were lucky Tayuya got up after Kai bitch slapped her into oblivion. Even if Kai didn’t slap Tayuya, he still would’ve gotten the opportunity to talk things over with the Sound konoichi. But no. What could go did go wrong and now he was supposed to be grateful for a situation they put him in?

The way her shoulders fell clearly showed Sagisō did not get the answer she wanted. How sad (). Poor little princess not getting her rightful entertainment. Excuse him for not being one of her seven singing bitches (). Those little holy angels of hers didn’t just sing that moment... they were preaching to the Sage of Six Paths himself. Some of them didn’t even need their majesty to ask and went on with their solo, with the enchanting chorus in the background. It was only respectful of him to embrace such divinity go straight into the pits of hell as they wished.

Unfortunately, that was only the lead up for the next question. She then had the nerve to question everything Kiro had sacrificed that day. Talking like he didn’t know what the Mist was about.

‘Was she drunk or something back then?’

That was the exact reasoning why he did not want to go back to the Mist! Why the fuck did she think he was forced to beg for his life in the first place? Perhaps he should’ve just died pridefully. Hell, he’d almost given up on surviving the exact moment he was captured. The bowl of delicious ramen Kiro had that day, at the wonderful Ichiraku Ramen, was supposed to be the last meal on this earth. His last good deed would’ve been donating that rabbit to people who actually needed it to live. Something he was sure this princess on her horse as high as the heavens would never understand. But like the saying goes, the higher you are, the harder you fall. Let him be cursed for that. Sage forbid none of her angels are there to swoop in and catch her.

Falling down might actually be good for her. Until then, she’d never, never understand losing what was most precious to her. Not only did Kiro get stepped on but also to have the only thing he had left get squashed mercilessly. The pride he sacrificed shattered into a million tiny little pieces. All turned to dust. Even as he tried to pick up what was left, the cool wind still came to try carrying it all away. They all just watched. The Uchiha. The Hyūga. The Anbu. The entire Leaf. It must’ve been a really good show. Some quality entertainment. Hopefully they enjoyed it. He didn’t regret his choice to live that day and moved on with what little was left.

This wasn’t all to say Sagisō was wrong. She was absolutely correct. However, he was only grateful for their protection. That was it. Kiro recalled coming to terms with that right before stepping into through the gates to the Hyūga mansion. The protection fee did make sense… if that’s what it was. The way she brought the fee up actually led to Kiro to wonder if Sagisō really knew what she was talking about. Did she even know what she said? It occurred to him that perhaps Sagisō might not have all there. That would mean she wouldn’t exactly know the significance of that moment. Kiro decided to ask her to make sure.

“Um. The Inuzuka clan has those filthy beasts dogs, right? Anyways, if you don’t mind me asking, do you remember exactly what happened that night you performed?”

Just as Kiro asked that, he felt something sharp hit the pressure point of the same arm Sagisō had damaged earlier. He muttered a few curses as he held the arm in some pain. Somebody thought it would be funny to shoot a popsicle stick at him. Which fucking Leaf clown could it be? Kiro crushed the stick with his foot as he looked for a suspect. That’s when his eyes settled on Sagisō. Could it have been her doing?

If it was Sagisō, then he couldn’t doubt the idea anymore. Kiro just gazed at her with a mixed expression of slight fear and suspicion.

‘No way. This demon can actually curse me.’