Private/Closed Naruto AU: Roleplay

[OmnipotentOnion]

"Oh hey, this is pretty good!"

Senji's eyes had lit up upon tasting the sliced fish cake in spicy broth, sitting in a cup on the palm of his hand. "Could've had it a little spicier though." He had been enjoying the festival so far; although it had just begun, the food sold by vendors lining the streets had not failed to impress him thus far. Granted, eating too much might not be wise for the upcoming tournament in which Senji would be participating, but he was determined to make sure he had a time well-spent at such an event, and what better way than to sample the food being sold around the area?

Several hours prior...

Senji woke up early in the morning to begin his routine. Taking deep breaths, he stretched for several minutes before doing his regular workout regimen. 5 reps of 20 knuckle push-ups, 20 sit-ups, and 20 pull-ups, concluded with 10 minutes of both the plank and handstand. Once his routine was complete, he washed up and changed into his outfit for the day. The Holiday Festival had finally come, and Senji was quite excited to enjoy the event and compete. His attire consisted of his usual Konohagakure headband, along with a black tunic with crimson swirl patterns down the torso and left sleeve (matching his haori), black trousers, and black sandals. Senji's Daisho was sheathed on his sides, the longer blade on his left, and the shorter on his right. Once he was prepared, he quickly ran a hand through his hair and left his home, making his way toward the site of the Festival.

 

[Retro Master]

“What’s up?”

As Kiro finished up the last of his drills, he returned a greeting to the FBS master who had just appeared. Taiyo and his sister, Susei, had stayed over at the manor for the night after the entertaining hunt so it wasn’t a surprise to see him show up here for some morning training. Specifically, he wanted to work on his fire jutsu and Kiro did have some ways to help. Only issue was the rule that had gotten Sagisō locked up a few weeks ago during their fight.

“I don’t really mind but we’d have to go outside. The Hyūga have a rule where we can’t use ninjutsu here in the training halls. I believe the training grounds should still be available so we could go there before the festival starts.”

The festival would be starting off with the cooking competition between Sagisō and Shura soon. It was an event he planned to be a part of. At the very least, Kiro should be able to get some good food from them. Hopefully. In any case, it was probably best they get going now and Kiro motioned for Taiyo to follow him outside. He also took this time to question the FBS master on another important matter.

“Have you gotten used to those arms? More specifically, when it comes to chakra control, I presume there was a level of difficulty shifting to those arms at first. Strangely, they do seem to work well with your FBS technique. I am interested in how that works.”

Kiro ended there as he had let his intrigue get ahead of himself. He did wonder how exactly FBS worked and it was something that could probably help with understanding how much assistance Taiyo needed. Clearly, Taiyo was already exceptional when it came to raw output. Some fine tuning wouldn’t hurt.

 

[SageNeb]

Raiku woke up from his bed and stretched as the light of the sun hit his face through his room's window. He got up and prepared his room, then went to his house's dining room. He sat patiently as his mother prepared him breakfast and then when his dad came the family enjoyed their meal together. Raiku then went on to do his normal morning routine when it doesn't include training and changed into his clothing he was going to wear for the festival which was a short, red kimono. He also brought along a scroll with his sword and normal clothes.

After Raiku's whole family got ready they went to the Village Center since that's where the festival would start. The family grabbed some cosmetics they liked just to shop and be in the festive spirit and were happy just being around each other. Raiku's parents said they would like to take the opportunity of the festival as a way to have a date, obviously not those exact words but the young Uchiha understood their message.

Raiku got hungry again despite having eaten breakfast not that long ago and went to go get something to eat. As he looked around the vendors he decided to eat some fish cake and after purchasing one he noticed someone else had also just tried one. He quickly ate the snack and brushed off the crumbs that were left on his mouth.

"You're right, this is pretty good," Raiku said as a response to the previous buyer's remark. He observed the person quickly, taking note of the Konoha headband and the two blades on the person's waist. The Leaf-ninja seemed to have been a couple years older than him, yet he still was similar to the Uchiha. After all it was just another person enjoying the festival.

"Say, are you going to participate in this festival's tournament later today?" Raiku asked, trying to start a conversation.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

“Hm?” Turning around upon hearing an unfamiliar voice from behind him, Senji quickly polished off his last piece of fish cake before answering the stranger’s question. “Well, of course; I’m the one who’s gonna win,” he answered with a wink. Although he maintained a playful demeanor following his confident remark, the teen scanned the kid standing before him. He seemed a little bit younger, but he made sure not to look condescending so as not to underestimate what could potentially be a challenging opponent. “Name’s Senji. Senji Yoshida. I’m assuming you’ll be fighting in the tournament as well?” I do hope he’s stronger than me if he is; it’s no fun fighting opponents weaker than you. Having never declined a sparring challenge regardless of the difficulty, Senji found the most enjoyment out of fighting those much stronger than him due to the thrill of the match. Once he had finished introducing himself and asking his question, he quickly drained the cup in his hand, which was full of spicy broth. He then threw the cup away and wiped his mouth while he waited for Raiku to answer.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Mmmmm...”

Kou was snoring soundly in his bed. He had gotten a nice long sleep, as he wasn’t used to sleeping in a bed before, not a proper bed anyway. He would have been completely fine sleeping in for most of the day, except fate had different plans. A lone feather came down from seemingly the top of his bed, landing on his nose. He breathed in before sneezing loudly.

“Kou, are you up?”

Kou began to stir, rubbing his eyes. He yawned audibly, stretching his arms out. “Yeah I’m up.”

Suddenly, a small rodent scurried across the floor. The black blur climbed up the bed, scuttering toward Kou’s sleeping spot it seemed to hold something in it’s mouth. Upon closer inspection, it was a branch of grapes, holding 3 individual grapes on it. It held it up to Kou.

“Oh? You found breakfast! Thanks bro!” Kou thanked, taking a grape off the branch.

The rat nodded, crawling across the bed to get to sakura. Holding it up to her, it gestured her to take one off herself.



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


Zzz......

Zzz......

Zzz...?

Zaku blinked wide awake. Wha? Was all of that just a Dream? I’m still in hands of the leaf? Tch! Where am I? This ain’t a hospital!

Zaku grit his teeth, standing up in his ‘prison’. He banged on the door increasingly aggressively. His fist slamming onto the wood.

“Hey! What’s the big idea?! What? I so pretty you thought youd keep me around? I got places to be!”



.......



Wake up.

Wake up Michi.

Wake Up
Wake Up.
Wake Up.
Wake Up.
Wake Up.
WAKE UP!

Reaver was brought to wake by the demonic chattering of his own voice. His vision was blurred and red. His guts felt as if he had swallowed a dozen knives, and his head was pounding heavily. He felt sick. Horribly. The deep black bags latched to his eyes as he turned over to face Azumi, his entire demeanor seeming like a shaking zombie.

“Alive.”

 

[SageNeb]

Raiku had a playful grin on his face as the ninja said that he was going to win the tournament.

"Ohohoh? You think you've got what it takes to beat me and the other 14 participants? Not gonna lie, you sound you think you're a hot shot. Maybe someone needs to take you down a peg or two."

The Uchiha wasn't being serious obviously, just a little banter. However he did think it would be interesting if he fought Senji, which Raiku just learned was the opponent Leaf-nin's name.

"My name's Raiku Uchiha, the name of the real victor of the tournament. Though I'm sure if we did fight you might not lose too horribly," he replied.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Upon hearing Raiku's introduction, Senji raised an eyebrow as a smirk slowly crept onto his face. He's a rather confident one himself, eh? I do wonder what it'll be like if we fight.

"Is that so? Well, it seems we're both on our high horse today; I guess we'll see who's better than the other in this tournament, hm?"

Although rather amused by the exchange between the two, Senji formally stuck out a hand for Raiku to shake after his own retort, a friendly smile on his face.

"It's nice to meet you, Raiku."

After shaking his hand, Senji looked around at the food vendors and different buildings that stood around the festival area. "It's quite a nice festival this year. The food never ceases to amaze, all the events are sure to entertain; it's gonna be a great day. What do you think?" As he spoke, he casually rested a hand on the hilt of his longer daisho blade, continuing to admire his surroundings.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

The Nadeshiko kunoichi snickered, amused with the ruckus Zaku seemed to be stirring up within the Inuzuka Clan. She was sorely tempted to take a peek beyond the Clan's walls with her Byakugan but ultimately decided against it. The few orders she'd been given were clear, and one of them was don't antagonize the other clans. While she didn't care much for the Clans of Konohagakure, seeing no further than their illustrious reputations, or lack thereof, she wouldn't cause unnecessary trouble for her mother...if she could help it.

 

[Nukas]

Amari woke up bright and early in the morning and started her morning meditation, where she couldn't help but think about the night prior. While a little awkward being with people she didn't know at first, was ultimately very relaxing. It was far different from meditation, but she didn't mind so much. Amari put on her outfit she had picked out for the winter festival the day prior, wrapped her Nadeshiko headband around her right arm, grabbed her new tool bag with Sagiso's present, and headed out, excited to see the winter festival. What she wasn't so excited about, as she learned when she got down there, was the crowd. Amari felt like she would be suffocated by all the people who were excited to see the extravaganza the Hyuga had put on. It was indeed a sight to behold, but she just wished there weren't so many people who wanted to behold it. She knew that the crowd was probably the smallest it was going to be all day, seeing as it was still pretty early in the morning, but even a small crowd was a bad crowd. She shuffled over to one of the food vendors to get some food for breakfast when she overheard some konoha-nin talking about the tournament that was to occur later in the afternoon. She just laughed when she heard them both say that they were going to win. "Good luck with that when my sister and I are competing." She meant to say that to herself, but she realized as she said it it was most likely just loud enough to where the two konoha-nin could hear.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

"Good luck with that when my sister and I are competing."

A new voice had entered the conversation, and Senji turned to face the source of said voice. It came from a girl who looked like she had been laughing for a brief moment, and the teen assumed it was due to the confident remarks of him and Raiku. Though the comment was faint, Senji had been able to pick it up, and he fired a playful retort.

"Ah; you too, it seems. Well, good luck to you and your sister in the tournament, but don't be too sad if you lose," he said with a grin.

After letting out a soft chuckle from his response, he offered his hand to the girl as well for her to shake before introducing himself.

"I'm Senji Yoshida. Nice to meet you."

 

[SageNeb]

Raiku shook his hand and was about to respond but then was interrupted by a background snicker and someone saying a thought out loud from someone nearby about the two Leaf-nin. He got a little annoyed at this but then Senji proceeded to handle the situation well. The Uchiha turned to face the newcomer and immediately noticed the kunoichi’s headband.

What’s a Nadeshiko doing in our village?

Raiku thought back to when he first met someone from that village, though it wasn’t really a pleasant interaction. He noticed her use of the word sister and got a little confused. He then decided to take a guess.

“Is your sister, by any chance, the Byakugan user Sagisō? Or maybe it’s just a normal biological sibling... Oh I seemed to have been lost in thought. I’m Raiku Uchiha, a fellow competitor in the tournament. Strange I just met two new people and they’re both participating in it... in any case I intend to win like both of you but I wish you luck.”

 

[Nukas]

Amari looked at the pair as they responded to her small quip about them. One seemed to offer a calm and diplomatic hand while the other was more curious. Amari was hesitant to take up Senji's offer of a handshake as she was with most people. The two seemed friendly enough after her rude introduction so she took up the offer. "I'm the 13th Solitary Star, Amari Kanezane. And yes I was referring to Sagisō. I assume this means the two of you have met?"

She inspected the duo more closely. Being from a community of 108, she found it strange that the two had never met before despite being from the same village. She guessed this had to do with the immense size of the village, but it was still a foreign concept to her. She seemed to remember one of them on the mission where she met up with Sagisō, and she believed he was wearing the Uchiha symbol at the time. He was mostly silent then, and she was more focused on the Uchiha that wasn't native to the village.

 

[SageNeb]

“Yes, we’ve met, don't really know much about her though. I guess I’ve never really cared? Though saying that kinda feels bad... well anyways. Interesting title you got there, Solitary Star. Do all Nadeshiko have star names? Or are you special? Hmm very interesting title indeed. May I ask how you received it?”

Raiku didn’t learn about the Nadeshiko during his academy days and he always thought Social Studies was interesting so he wanted to know more about this person. Although he doesn’t really open up to outsiders that well... except for her, he didn’t have to talk about himself but rather someone else. Of course if Amari found it offensive he’d apologize, he does know his manners after all but Raiku wanted to learn what was so special about this ‘Sisterhood.’

 

[Godjacob]

"By what threshold?" Azumi asked simply as it appeared Reaver as she crouched down beside him as he seemed to have bloodshot eyes and his body seemed to be in a state of constant shaking and he seemed paled.

One thing had been made clear. They needed a medical ninja to add to the core.

Irregardless, Azumi had to work with what she had. Much as Reaver had been an irritation and near insobordinate, he was of Ame and a teammate here so she needed him. She reached into her bag and pulled out a rag she added warm water to as she placed on his head. And then pulled out what seemed to be a bottle she passed to him.

"Here, will help deal with the shaking." Azumi advised to Reaver.

----------
"Ah he awakens!"

The attendant had naturally been startled when the Oto prisoner began to mouth off around pound in his room, though within a flash the Inuzuka Head appeared behind Zaku with her own wolf companion in toe. With a cheeky grin she had her arms folded over her chest as she seemed unconcerned with Zaku on the attack on the room.

"Now now, I know you are a bit of a feisty one but I am sure we can be civil about all this. Much as I would love to try and discipline you so soon I am a believer in the benefit of the doubt. I am sure you can work to verbalize your complaints at your stay here~" Hisao said with a wink to the young Oto-nin.

"Though, I think we should first keep this conversation from getting explosive. So why don't you sit down and listen..." Hisao said as she made a subtle sign mark which caused a seal that had been subtly placed along the base of the neck and where the neck met the shoulders. One of a few "precaution" measures the Leaf agreed upon with the young ninja as it would send a wave of chakra through his spine through the nerves as it would work their way up to the brain.

A paralysis pulse would be shot through said nerves and work to try and immobilize Zaku. Which aimed to cut him off from movement and disrupt his ability to focus or channel chakra.

-----​

"I take it you came on a request to visit the Oto-prisoner?"

An Inuzuka guars appeared before Sagiso as he presumed the young kunoichi had those intents; in truth it had been wondered if Hina would send someone to peak on the other Oto-prisoner that she had not had tamed in her compound as he bluntly asked even as the sounds of commotion were clear.

"If you desire this, you may want to wait a moment. It appears he has finally woken up and is quite cheery." The Inuzuka guard said, with a touch of sarcasm to his tone.

----------
Sakura heard Kou as he seemed to be awake which was fine enough. But then she heard the mention of "brother" and something about breakfast which confused the kunoichi.

Sakura opened up the door...as she saw the rat with a branch and some berries it had brought into her room as she stared with slightly widened eyes. The confusion turned to slight annoyance as she sighed and glanced at the pair.

"You know Kou, if you wanted breakfast for you and your...brother, you could have just asked?" Sakura explained as if it had been the most obvious thing in the world. Granted, a branch in her room was in truth the most tame thing she could have asked for unless she made some questionable discovers at a presumed later time.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

At the appearance of the Inuzuka guard, Sagisō raised an eyebrow. At his explanation that she would need to wait further to see Zaku, her lips curled into a slight scowl. She shook her head slowly and waved the guard off.

"Then I'll be back later."

The cooking competition would start at any minute, and she wanted as much time as possible to prepare her dish. With that in mind, Sagisō turned away and walked off into the rousing throng of joyful citizens. She pushed her way through the group of people but made a quick stop at an accessory store, where she picked up a small box containing an item she'd custom ordered from the day before. A present for a certain someone, one of the few she'd prepared for today. With the gift collected, she stored it one of the seals lining her arms.

She would be roasting her venison for the cooking competition and decided it would be wise to set up her roasting spit and work area before the competition began in full.

 

[Nukas]

Hearing the kid say that he just flat out didn't care about Amari's sister was quite surprising, although he didn't seem to mean anything by it. The Konoha-nin then asked about her title, one she happened to be quite proud of. "Ah yes, my title. As you suspected, all kunoichi of Nadeshiko have their own star title. They are inherited wand earned through certain rights. Sagiso, my sister that you so elegantly pointed out you care not for, is known as the 36th skillful star. We also have our own nickname, courtesy name, and star name if you are interested. Now I feel like I must ask a little about the Uchiha as well since you are so interested in ours." While she didn't care much for the Uchiha and wasn't all that interested in learning about them, She did think it might be helpful to know something about what could be her future opponent.

 

[SageNeb]

"The Uchiha are a pretty popular and influential clan. Their presence is pretty well known to the public and besides clan secrets you can find out a lot about us and our history from books or from citizens in the Leaf. You can also go to our section of the village if you wanna talk to more Uchiha. In any case, although I would like to know more about your rather elusive village but I think it'd be kinda rude if we went to have our own conversation and didn't include Senji as he's right in front of us," Raiku said, taking note of the fellow Leaf-ninja who might or might not have been listening to the two.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Senji had indeed been listening, and he shrugged before giving a dismissive wave. “Oh, by all means, carry on; I don’t have any qualms with just listening.”

There was no sarcasm in his response; he was completely fine with simply listening to the conversation, and as he listened, he quietly bought another cup of fish cake and broth, asking for it to be extra spicy. Once his food was done, he silently ate, trying not to disrupt the conversation between Amari and Raiku.

As he listened, Senji thought to himself, scanning the new girl occasionally.

Nadeshiko, huh? That’s cool; I wonder what it’ll be like if we face off in the tournament. As always, the teen couldn’t help but immediately bring up the topic of sparring against Amari, as he usually did with any new acquaintance.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Reaver eyed the rag Azumi handed to him. He was always one to be solitary and care for himself. His first instinct was to fight it, to tell Azumi that’s warriors had no need of this lowly assistance. But for some reason, his you he was held back. He said nothing as she applied to bottle, only a low growling sound heard, which was better than vocal aggravation or the normal death threats.

As she gestured toward the bottle, he eyed it and back at her. His sharp eyes shot through Azumi’s, like a wounded Bear. He a nasally hiss he crossed his arms.

“Do what you must!” He spoke in his deep Reaver voice


......


Zaku was taken aback by the sudden appearance of the inzuka head along with her canine companion. Zaku seemed to have expected more than what he received with his intruder, cocking a brow and giving a snicker.

“Lock underage kids in your room often?” He said whimsically.

As if on cue, a zapping, pulsing sensation coursed through his body. His body felt like it was in cement, his veins like an boa constrictor, ceasing his muscles in place. He grunted, his hands getting tight and his back getting stiff. He snarled at her, half out of his face muscles restricting and the other half out of spite. What is this...?!


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


Kou turned his head at Sakura, confused by what she meant. “What? Don’t you scavenge for food? Don’t tell me you buy food EVERY day??”

He seemed in disbelief, meanwhile his brother didn’t seem to care. It just held the branch closer to Sakura this time and squeaked louder and more impatiently

 

[sSoul]

Taiyo
“Have you gotten used to those arms?

As Taiyo heard that question, he let himself ruminate on it intensly. Due to the sheer amount of intense events that had occurred, he never had the proper time to process the effects of his accident. The FBS master soon began to regret loosing his arms, even if he did gain new abilities from it. Regardless, Taiyo had to answer Kiro's question.

"Yeah...it was a little diffucult, but I think I'm fine with the arms now," An incharacteristic sense of uncertainty was in the Leaf-nin's voice, so he tried to shake it off so Kiro wouldn't think anything was wrong with him.

"Well the thing is, FBS is actually derivative from a technique my granddad developed," Taiyo felt kinda weird that he was casuslly explaining this, but it was nessesary for him to know, "My granddad used to gather a lot of chakra within himself and then would release it from a singular limb whenever needed. If I were to do that now, it would result in something like a fire punch or a fire kick. I just took thst concept and instead of releasing it all at once, I evenly distribute that gathered chakra throughout my body," There was a bit more that Taiyo could say, but he felt that it would've been best to write all of it down in the form of a thesis of sorts.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

After leaving the clan grounds, the first thing Shura did was make his way towards the Village Center where the first event of the festival, the cook off, was taking place. As he walked with his hands in his pockets, he looked around at the bustling streets of his home village, the Hyuga let out a sigh of relief. “Seems like the festival is a hit so far.” He said to himself.

The village center was, as he expected, filled with all sorts of stalls and people all enjoying the festival. Shura walked onto the the stage where the cook off would take place, taking out a piece of cloth from his pockets and using it like a bandanna he tied his hair back. He put on the apron that was at his station and began making sure all his equipment were ready. Shura glanced aside towards where Sagiso would be making her dish and sighed. “Why did you have to mouth off that much Shiho.” He mumbled.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

As Shura arrived at the cooking venue, Sagisō was putting the finishes touches on her roasting spit. The pristine set of equipment had been lit with a small flame, slowly warmed the utensils in preparation for their usage. The deer meat had been brought to the contestants, exposed to the open air while a set of attendants approached each chef. The attendants were there to take a list of all the seasonings and ingredients the chefs could want.

Sagisō for her own dish requested Lemons, Limes, Animal Fats, Rosemary, Flour, Juniper Berries, and Buttermilk, among other ingredients. She had a good idea of what she planned to do and she watched the Master Judge as he began his final countdown. There were only 15 seconds till the competition begun...

Chakra began to permeate her body as the Nadeshiko kunoichi prepared to bolt into action. There were only 10 seconds left now.

She felt the familiar tingle of chakra in her eyes and the expanding veins along her face. The Byakugan activated. There were 5 seconds left...4...3...2...1...Start!

 

[Nukas]

"I'm happy to hear you have no problems listening, but I would actually like to know a little more about you as well. I don't think I've heard of the Yoshida clan. Would you mind telling me a little more about it?" Just then she overheard that the cooking competition was about to begin and if memory served, Sagiso just happened to be competing in that. "If you two boys don't mind, I would like to take this conversation over to the cooking competition so I can watch my sister at work."

 

[Grand Master Koop]

As the start of the competition drew close, Shura brought out a few more ingredient, a home made spice blend and a few wild berries. He asked the attendant to bring him the rest of his needed ingredients then laid everything down on his station as he prepared for the start of the cook off.

As soon as the staring signal was rung, Shura quickly got to mixing the flour, bread crumbs and his spice blend together. Following that, he laid the venison on a cutting board and began the process of tenderizing it by beating it with a spiked mallet.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Upon hearing Amari’s suggestion, Senji nodded in approval. “That’s a good idea; I’m rather curious about how that competition will go myself.”

As the trio began to make their way toward the site in which the cooking competition would be held, he explained his heritage, making sure to keep his description concise without any tangents or deviations.

“The clan I belong to is quite simple in belief; although we are nothing short of wholehearted when it comes to defending our village against intruders, we tend to be more peaceful in terms of foreign relations, and as a result, we are rather opposed to—though we are required to do so—attacking any other villages, merely responding to any instigated assault. I myself am the same, but simply put, I like fighting. The thrill always gets to me, especially if it’s against someone as strong as or stronger than me. I hope that description suffices.”

There was no falsity in his words; there was nothing more in the world that he enjoyed more than fighting against competent opponents, and while he was fully committed to defending his hometown, a portion of his motive to fight was for his own enjoyment, a selfishness he could confidently admit he had.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Senji begun to speak about his small but humble clan, the discussion continued. Suddenly, as the conversation was going to go further, there was a bump next to Senji, and between the talkers. A figure, Small in stature had made himself appear, seemingly from nowhere and without a sound.

The small figure had roses cheeks, a black cloak with several diamond patterns, and deep set eyes. He was two feet tall and appeared to have an almost unnatural smile about him. He looked straight, not even seeming to make eye contact with them despite bumping

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

Rushing over to her table Sagisō prepared a large bowl of buttermilk and immediately left the venison to soak. She looked over at Shura and saw he was already tenderizing his meat. He'd prepared well it seemed, and his preparations seemed much the same as her own, but with fewer steps. First, Sagisō planned to soak the meat in buttermilk to remove any blood that still remained. The meat had been brought it yesterday, so it was still fairly fresh.

While the meat soaked, Sagisō moved to prepare her seasonings. Several bowls were spread over her table holding Juniper berries, rosemary, and full, succulent lemons. One such bowl was in her hand and she was vigorously crushing something inside it into a light, tan powder. First, she would prepare the flour, and the rubs for her meat while the deer meat soaked.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

After the tenderizing step, Shura moved to making up a fresh batch of egg batter. He began heating up a pan of oil alongside another pot on the stove. Taking the tenderized meat, Shura covered it with a layer of flour before soaking it in the egg batter then running it through his flour, bread crumbs and spice blend, covering it in the crusty mixture. With the meat prepared for the frying, Shura waited until the oil was nice and hot then put the venison inside. A sizzling sound filled the air as the oil bubbled after coming in contact with the meat.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

Taking a step back, Sagisō admired her work. The Juniper berries had been crushed, and the lemons freshly squeezed, then she added the cup of citrus to the mix of pulped berries. The strong flavors of citrus were common picks to drown out the terrible taste of the game, she'd learned that from the butchers around Konoha, and had studied as well as she could before this contest.

Moving over to her meat, she pulled it from the buttermilk, leaving behind a murky mess of blood and buttermilk. She swiftly transferred the slab of meat to a cutting board and then her eyes narrowed and her chakra flared to life. Currents of wind circulated her hands, and with several precise knife-hand strikes, she sliced the meat into thin, more manageable cuts. With that done she began trimming away the fat and silverskin from the meat, knowing they tasted rather terrible. It was only after this that she began to tenderize the meat, but instead of a tool, she used her hands, coating them in wind chakra as she gave the meat a firm pounding while also airing it out.

Generally, game meat was to left for up to two weeks before cooking to allow it to dry out and become more palatable, so she strove to compensate as much as she could for the 2 weeks the meat would've aerating spent with her chakra. It wasn't perfect but was the best she could think of in such a short timeframe.

Next, with precise cuts into the meat, she began to replace the venison fat with the animal fats she'd requested. After sealing the cuts, she threw the slabs of meat into her rosemary rub, coating each of the thin stakes carefully with herbs. After that was done, she moved onto the flour. She used plain flour, as it would form a crispy outside once the animal fats inside the venison began to melt and soak into the flour. After cooking. the outside would be nice and juicy, with a zesty tang from the citrus mix she'd use to mask the strong gamey taste. Of course, she didn't want it to be too zesty, and that's where her secret glaze came in. The tanned powder she'd crushed earlier would be the sweet honey-like glaze she'd gently brush over the meat to bring everything to perfection...but that would come later.

Now, she would have a brief respite as she waited. She let the meat sit and naturally rise to room temperate as that would allow the meat to cook evenly. Once that was done, Sagisō pierced the slabs of meat at set them to begin roasting over the flames. Her chakra began to burn at a steady and precise rate and beads of sweat began to form at her brow as she began to meticulously control the flame via its supply of oxygen.

Each slab of meat was about two inches thick, thin enough for the fats and seasonings to permeate throughout the steak. At the flour began to crisp and harden into a crunchy skin, Sagisō moistened the slabs with butter, ensuring the outside stayed nice and wet so the entire steak would cook evenly. It would be all too tragic is the flame cooked the outside but left the center of the meat undercooked.

Carefully, at a rate of one turn every 3-4 minutes, Sagisō slow roasted the meat, alternately moistening it with butter and when necessary reapplying seasoning. She paid careful attention to every section of the meat, making adjustments as needed with the aid of her Byakugan. Via the all-seeing eye she would be able to tell perfectly when the center of the meat had been properly cooked, and only then would she take it off the fire.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Once the meat was fried to a perfect golden texture, Shura pulled out the meat from the frying pan using a pincer and set it back down on the cutting board. He put an upside down bowl over it to prevent its heat from escaping all the while heating the venison further. Shura moves into the other pot that was on the stove. He removed the lid to reveal a venison stock that he was going to use as the base for his sauce.

Meanwhile back in the sewing room within the Hyuga compounds, laid two sets of clothes and a note on top of them. The note read:

Hey, so you guys took a long time to get here and if you’re reading this note it means I probably went ahead to the festival already. These are your finished clothes, right one is Kiro’s and left one is Taiyo’s. Don’t make a girl wait too long next time alright?
~Shiho

 

[Nukas]

The young Yoshida seemed to be quite proud of his clan. She certainly doubted the fact that his entire clan is against going to attack other nations, but she decided not to press the subject too much. She started to become entranced by the smell of the venison mixed with the berries that Sagiso was so brilliantly cooking, but she snapped herself out of it in order to get more info about her two new acquaintances and possible future opponents.

"Well I'm not entirely sure how strong you are, but I hope to bring out some of that thrill in you today if we face off against one another. I hear the Uchiha are incredibly strong, but besides those eyes of yours, I don't know a lot more. I've heard a bit from Kiro, but I'd also like to hear the side of a natural-born Uchiha instead of a prisoner."

Just then, what seemed to be a small child came over and bumped into Senji and the just... stared. He didn't seem to say a word or apologize for bumping into the nin. Amari was not the best with children, but she felt like she should say something to the kid. "Umm hey, little one. Are you lost or something? Why don't you go and see if your parents are somewhere in that crowd over... that way?" She pointed in a general direction, mostly hoping for the kid to leave them alone.

 

[kyuukestu]

Sagisō

As the meat slowly completely its cycles, the flames cooked each steak down to the core. Once they were done, Sagisō slipped them off the roasting spit and onto a set of heated plates. The plates themselves had already been slightly decorated, the herbal rub of rosemary had been sprinkled along the porcelain surface creating a thin bed of herbs that would soak up the fat and grease of the meat sitting on it.

The think cut slices of meat her laid carefully onto each plate where the grease and fats began to leak into the herbs, which greedily absorbed it. This ensured the meat wasn't too greasy when it was served. As the slabs of meat steamed on their plates, Sagisō reached for her glaze and dipping a brush into the small basin began to lather the meats with a think layer of the tanned brown powder. As soon as she'd covered all the meats with her glazing powder, she covered them with platters and put them back over the fire. She allowed the contained heat within the plates to truly solidify the powder into a sweet and delectable glaze over the meat.

When that had been finished, the removed the plates from the fire, and once again turning to her mush of Juniper berries, she scoped out small amounts and used them to crown her steaks. This allowed the Juniper mush to act as a fruity jam that complimented the already succulent steak, and it also provided flavors that were...not meat. She didn't want to overwhelm the judges with purely meat after all, so the jam would go a long way in keeping their tastebuds tantalized.

Thinking off adding just a touch more to her dish, the Nadeshiko kunoichi began to slice up potatoes. She sprinkled cubes of potatoes around the cuts of steak, and then covered them once more, ensuring to seal the lids down tight. Lowering the flame on her roast, she once again put the plates above the fire. To finish off her dish, she would allow the low heat to steam broil the potatoes, and with the venison alongside them, they would soak up the succulent juices of the steak, leaving nothing to waste.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

The small child looking figure didn’t say a word. Instead, it slowly turned it’s Head toward Amari, it’s expression unchanging. It’s thoughts and intentions were unreadable, as well as why it was here. It stared into Amari’s eyes with it’s deep set ones for an uncomfortable long time.

It didn’t make a movement toward the crowd that’s amari gestured toward, not even bothered to look that direction. One thing was for sure, it wasn’t moving away...

 

[SageNeb]

Raiku followed along listening to Senji describe his clan and intrigued by their rather pacifistic approach to things regarding foreign relations. Though he did enjoy the fact they shared the same sentiment about defending the village.

Even though that should be pretty normal of a clan, I guess.

As the trio headed towards the cooking competition which Raiku could smell already he noticed a small figure bumping into Senji. He hoped the child listened to Amari but instead it just stared at the Nadeshiko. Raiku was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable because of this child but then figured it probably didn't know where its parents were.

"Uhh, we should probably take it to one of the festival's supervisors... maybe they would be able to find its parents."

 

[Godjacob]

Something must be wrong. His ego hasn't denied my offers to aid him yet...

Azumi made that mental note as Reaver gave her the green light to do what she needed to do, and with such a concession Reaver moved the bottle by Reaver's lips as she advised them to open it as her aim had been for Reaver to down the medication which aimed to treat whatever caused this shaking and the redness in his eyes. Azumi aimed to have him down the shot as she kept the warm rag over his face and considered her options if Reaver proved unable to move on his own power.

----------
"Oh, this? Consider it just a means to help remind you why you should behave~" Hisao said with a wink oh too pleased to see the seal work its magic as Zaku now lied in a heap on the ground.

"Let's just say we have ways to keep you in line if you go off the rails. Though if you behave yourself it won't come to this, though if you really want to rest our patience feel free to try and blast away. Though remember....this is the compromise agreement to dealing with you for now. It can and will worsen if you continue to be difficult at your stay here. But there need not be pain so long as you behave yourself of course." Hisao said with a warm smile as she gave the vague outline to Zaku as she kept the hold on the seal strong. "Does that satisfy your curiosity?"

----------
"As a matter of fact, yes. Usually I help get groceries for my folks if they don't get it but that is how it usually works. And really, I was more than ready to offer it to you while you were a guest here." Sakura explained to Kou as she glanced down at the "brother" who offered her the branch with berries as she sheepishly picked it up.

"U-uh, t-thanks. I appreciate the gesture..." Sakura said, as it had been a bit awkward given she was of the type to find rats usually gross but she remained polite given the bond it had with Kou and vice versa.

----------
Well, the festival had began. And for better or for worse Tayuya had to prepare herself for the concert that was to come. Now her presumed worry of being made to look ridiculous for this festival had proven to be only a little exaggerated.

Still, white, green and red were far from her preferred colors. Her hair stood in support of one of them so she figured she could cheat with that color and all she needed was another color. For that she decides to drape on a dark green t-shirt to slip over herself. As Tayuya got dressed another figure was head in the hall which caught the Oto-girl's attention.

A young man who seemed to be matched in some red & white with a festive hat to boot, emerged from his own quarters as Zino walked through whose presence alone had given Tayuya a moment to pause.

...who the fuck was that? I've been in this place for months yet never saw this guy. What do they breed through mitosis or some shit?

Tayuya decided to be more direct with her curosity as she turned to him with an eyebrow raised. "So....you another of the Hyuga I take it?" Tayuya asked as Zino paused and glanced back the Hyuga's way as he thought of how to answer. Guess she wasn't present when he had his little "discussion" with Lady Hina and given that this girl had not been the most social and he'd been rather reclusive lately it had not been a shock that she had not met him yet. Casually, he shrugged at her.

"Guess you could say that" Zino replied, which only confused the Oto-nin. Had he tried to be sassy with her? Tayuya had little chance to think it over as Zino began to walk out and the latter followed; purely because she needed to get to the festival and to see if she could get this guy to clarify.

 

[kyuukestu]

Baiyan

Although she gave no indication of it, the Sword Star was indeed awake. She was still in the same position she'd fallen asleep in, seated cross-legged with her back propped up and her cheek resting on the coolness of her sword sheath. She had been mentally reviewing their escapades the day before and found most things to be within acceptable boundaries. Azumi, or rather Sayuri, had yet to do anything she greatly disagreed with. If things continue this way, she figured she'd have no reason not to remain on this little team. It certainly provided a chance for her to meet a number of interesting opponents. Honed through battle, that was the way a Nadeshiko preferred to hone her skills, and speaking of Nadeshiko...she would need to return soon.

Shifting slightly to focus more on Azumi and Reaver, she thought to inform them of her brief departure once they'd finished their interaction.

Furījia

The other Clan Heads won't arrive for now; take your time to enjoy the festival. It'll be good for you to show your face around the festival, it'll show that we, as the organizers, are actively involved instead of taking a hands-off approach.

Those were the words her mother had given her before summarily shooing her off. With nothing pressing to do at the moment, the Hyūga heiress found herself idly traversing the festival. She knew the cooking competition was ongoing, and she also knew that both Sagisō and Shura were participants, due to their on-going competition. If nothing else, she figured she'd go support her sister and Shura as they competed.

As she neared the cooking venue she noticed a small group of familiar shinobi. The sister of her sister, the Nadeshiko kunoichi who'd taken a bath with her yesterday, as well as Raiku, and...someone she didn't recognize. Since they were the only two people at the festival Furījia actually knew, she decided to walk over.

"Umm...Good day, I hope you're all enjoying the festival?"

She had instinctively began with a stutter, but then remember she technically did have a job to due, she tried her best to gauge their thoughts on the festival.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Before he could respond to Amari, Senji felt a small figure brush against his side, and he turned to see what looked like a child monotonously walking alongside him and the other two. Did he just get here? Hearing the people next to him comment on the boy's unexpected presence, he noted the kid's silence, and the boy seemed to simply look straight ahead while walking. After watching him turn to stare at Amari for an unnerving long duration of time, Senji decided to heed the comments of his new friends, placing a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Hey, are you lost? Do you need help finding your parents?" As he asked the child about his parents' whereabouts, he heard yet another voice from behind him, and Senji turned around to see a girl, who had been asking about their experience in the festival so far.

"Uh.. yeah; it's been great. Sorry, we were actually just now looking for a festival facilitator nearby; this boy suddenly came up to us, and we don't know where his parents might be. He hasn't said anything yet, either."

As Senji explained the situation to the new-newcomer, he occasionally turned to check whether or not the child he mentioned was still there. Sure enough, he was still at the teen's side, continuing to stare at Amari with a monotone expression for a reason still unknown to him.

 

[kyuukestu]

Furījia

"Is he lost?"

Shifting to get a better look at the young...clown? Her eyebrows scrunched together at Bobo's odd appearance. Although they had a face-painting attraction, certainly no one would've been so cruel as to decorate a child so...creepily. As their eyes briefly connected, the Hyūga heiress stared into the blank abyss of the neutrality that was Bobo's expression.

This child, she concluded, had been mentally scarred. Some sort of child abuser, perhaps? In any case, whoever the parents of this child were, perhaps they needed to have a talk with the Uchiha Police Force. And speaking of parents...

"Don't worry, if any of his relatives are in the area, I'll be able to find them."

The heiress found confidence in this act, which should've been no trouble. She would simply look at the child's chakra, and then scan the immediate area with her Byakugan, she'd be able to pick out his closest relative through the similarities in their chakra signature. Forming a hand-seal to focus her chakra, she activated her dojutsu, and attempted to take a glimpse of Bobo's chakra network.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

He shot a glare to azumi, but made no vocal snap. To open his lips meant to take off his mask. That’s something he didn’t do. But considering what was as stake inside of his body and how he hasn’t tested withdrawal effects...

He grunted, pressing two buttons on either side of his mask. A thick orange fluid appeared to stop rushing between the tubes, the coloration fading to a grey color. A small spurt of orange mist came up as he removed the attachement for his mask the proper way rather than it being forcefully torn off in battle.

Reaver twitched, reluctantly opening his mouth. His gums appeared to be slightly discolored, some blue noticeable, as if chakra was draining from it. It was also worth noting he had two extra canines on either side, crudely sharpened to appear more menacing. He kept twitching and squirming, as if he was extremely uncomfortable in this vulnerable state without his Reaver voice to fall back on either.


.......


Zaku, his tounge being practically unusable due to the constriction effect, just shot a glare at the wild woman. Was that sarcasm or is she ACTUALLY thinking I can talk here? Cursing in his head, a steady stream of air released from his implants, nothing harmful due to being cut off from chakra, but enough to show he was in an extremely agitated state and wasn’t able to respond with words.



........

“That’s...crazy...!” Kou said not believing what he heard. “You must be loaded!”

The sound had it’s own places to grow food on site, so there was no actually currency, outside the use of bribing for items of value, so this was pretty new to him. Especially with her offering to pay for ramen yesterday, he couldn’t believe it!

“Which is funny...I always thought rich people were snobs just waiting to be pick-pocketed. N-not that I know anything about that...haha...!”

His brother crossed his furry little arms, peering at Sakura. He didn’t take his eyes off the grape, almost as if the grape was a test of some kind.

......




As senji came to put a bond on the child’s shoulder to give him some of his kind advice, the boy seemed to do a frighteningly fast head turn without moving any other portion of his body, it’s eyes looking to the hand and then straight into Senji’s eyes. Suddenly...his body raised up three feet into the air, appearing to stand on nothing. His head closed in in one quick movement, and a loud, Shrieking voice scraped from it’s throat.

“BO!!!”

Upon the scan of his chakra network, there was something quite...bizzare. He lit up like a Christmas tree, his cloak seeming to glow brighter than the rest of him, almost as if it were built to block prying eyes. Curiously, each individual diamond on his vest were glowing with separate chakra signatures. The oddest detail of all...was that his veins seemed all over the place. His innards were blurred, but his chakra network highlighted only the portions where they flowed. Since only the head and neck were able to be seen due to his clothing, one would seen several dense bundles of chakra in odd places...extra possible veins and arteries, and what appeared to be a glowing signature from his core head...a brain? His beret on his head obscured the rest of the detail.

 

[Retro Master]

Being able to easily distribute chakra from all parts of one’s body along with changing the chakra nature was no easy feat. Kiro knew that first hand due to his own lightning armor. Of course, being able to evenly distribute chakra was just the first step in chakra control. When it came to the high cost of fire, it was essential to know how to effectively use and spend the chakra. A good way to practice would be through some chakra control exercises. Something which Kiro planned to incorporate in his assistance. Before that, however, as they stepped outside into the cold, Kiro was quickly reminded of something they both should’ve grabbed earlier as a maid rushed by in festive clothing.

“Oh! We should probably get our clothes from Shiho first.”

...

Arriving at the sewing room, Taiyo and Kiro would find their clothes which had been sewed by Shiho. On top of their clothes rested a note handwritten by the girl. According to the note, it seemed they had kept her waiting for a bit too long and she had left to the festival. To be fair, Kiro expected to get some type of notification that they were done but he should’ve probably checked in earlier.

Looking at the clothes now, Kiro’s included a red jacket with a white collar and white also on the ends of the sleeves. When the jacket was zipped up, there were two white cotton balls on the front of it. However, since Kiro preferred to keep his jacket open, the cotton balls would be hanging off the right. Along with the forest green cargo pants, Shiho had also made him a hat. It had a white rim, red till the middle, and green from the middle to the top with a white cotton ball on the top. A Santa Claus hat of sorts.

“Am I supposed to wear that? Well, whatever. I’m going to try on these clothes real quick. Then I guess we can head to the cooking competition.”

Kiro told Taiyo this, expecting him to also want to try out his new festive clothing. There also happened to be a maid in the room, probably spying on him since he was still a prisoner. That didn’t bother him though and he just grabbed his clothes before asking if there was a fitting room nearby for them to use.