File: 62421048_p0.png (851 KB, 1000x1000)

851 KB PNG

>>3890313
You sit down across from Fū, this strange girl who threw herself in through your window, and start up a completely unexpected game of go. It doesn’t take long to start seeing her grow frustrated at the way the board state evolves, and you can tell why: if she’s more used to playing shogi she probably isn’t used to thinking at the strategic level.

“You know why they call go the game of generals, right?” you ask.

Fū shakes her head as she plays her next piece. “No idea. Why?”

“Because the board state is so much harder to manage than shogi,” you explain, pointing to a crowded corner of the board. “Look here. Who do you think is winning, based just on this one section of the board?”

“Hmmm...” she mutters, leaning in to really scrutinize the board. “I’d say it looks pretty close?”

“So it’d surprise you to know that I’m handily winning” you ask.

She leans back. “Wait, you are?”

You nod sagely, pointing out several other areas which you control almost uncontended. “Like an actual ‘war’, it’s possible to make short-term tactical gains but still lose in the grand scheme.”

“I see,” Fū replies, imitating your nod. “That’s hard. You must be some kinda strategic genius or something!”

“I’m just used to it,” you shrug. “We both have room for growth.”

“Sooo...” Harusame begins, somewhat awkwardly. “Why are you… I dunno… here, I guess?”

“Shibuki never lets me meet any of our foreign guests,” she replies morosely, a huge swing in tone as she hugs her knees. “I wanna know about stuff!”

>I can tell you a few stories about my missions so far, though I’m just a genin.
>Why wouldn’t you be allowed to meet any foreigners?
>So that’s why you seem so sheltered… it’s nice to be so innocent, but kind of dangerous, you know?
>Other?

>>3890328
>>I can tell you a few stories about my missions so far, though I’m just a genin.

>>3890328
>>So that’s why you seem so sheltered… it’s nice to be so innocent, but kind of dangerous, you know?

>>3890328
>I can tell you a few stories about my missions so far, though I’m just a genin.

>>3890328
>Why wouldn’t you be allowed to meet any foreigners?
>I can tell you a few stories about my missions so far, though I’m just a genin.

>>3890328
Where's our little ninja shark? Also our white bony waifu?

>>3890328
>I can tell you a few stories about my missions so far, though I’m just a genin.
>Tell Fuu about the land of Samurai and the Land of Iron.
>Ham up the story telling.

>>3890328
>So that’s why you seem so sheltered… it’s nice to be so innocent, but kind of dangerous, you know?
>I can tell you a few stories about my missions so far, though I’m just a genin.

>>3890328
It’s honestly kind of refreshing to meet someone like this, especially coming as you do from a village with a reputation for unfriendliness. It’s also not what you were led to expect based on your initial ‘welcome’ to Takigakure, so you decide to just go with it for the time being.

“I can tell you a little about the other lands,” you offer. “You know about the Land of Iron?”

“The Land of Iron?” Fū repeats, eagerly sitting up and leaning over the kotatsu. “Isn’t that the samurai nation?”

It’s like you’re talking to a puppy, the way she wriggles in excitement like that. A green-haired puppy wearing a headband.

“Sit back down and I’ll tell you about the time I went there,” you tell her.

You skip over the finer points of what you and Okisuke discussed during your training session, and you also choose not to reveal any details about your Yin chakra flow technique. But that said, or rather unsaid, Fū listens with rapt attention the whole time.

“I wanna go there!” she insists loudly when you’re finished. “It sounds really cool, the way it snows all the time, and the samurai sound super interesting! What, not even doing ninjutsu and everything?”

“They get by,” you shrug. “Okisuke was definitely no slouch.”

“Hey, do you hear something?” Harusame asks rather abruptly.
>1d6, DC 10 (Moderate-Hard)
>taking the first three

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>3890393

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>3890393

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>3890393

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>3890393

>>3890393
You do hear something, now that she mentions it.

“Whatcha doing?” Fū asks as you get to your feet and quickly unchain the door.

“Acting on a hunch,” you explain, before opening the door just in time for another Takigakure shinobi to come falling awkwardly through.

“Yōrō?” Fū asks in surprise, suddenly on her feet as well. “Don’t tell me I’ve been caught already!? Aw man, how lame!”

“Whatever,” you shrug, returning to your seat at the kotatsu. “You could have just knocked you know instead of trying to beat our door down.”

“Fū?” a young, meek-looking man with long brown hair asks with an obvious frown.

“Shibuki!” Fū replies nervously. “Hey there, you’re up late!”

“You shouldn’t be here!” a second shinobi insists, stepping in as well. That makes two… the one with spiky brown hair is getting up off the floor, and the wavy-haired one standing behind this ‘Shibuki’.

“Kegon,” Shibuki insists quietly, gesturing for the shinobi to let him do the talking instead. “Fū, you know why you’re not supposed to be bothering outsiders like this.”

“She wasn’t being a bother,” you insist calmly. “We were just playing a game of go and talking.”

“She was telling me about the Land of Iron!” Fū explains, a trace of that excitement returning. “I never get to hear about stuff like that!”

The two shinobi seem less than impressed, and Shibuki’s shoulders hunch as his frustration gets the better of him.

“Come on, Fū,” he insists. “You’ve caused enough problems for everyone tonight already.”

>Like I said, it was no problem. Go easy on the girl.
>She sounds cooped up. I don’t know what your reasons are, but seclusion isn’t healthy.
>Just keep out of it. Clearly there’s something going on here.
>Other?

>>3890443
>She sounds cooped up. I don’t know what your reasons are, but seclusion isn’t healthy.
>Like I said, it was no problem. Go easy on the girl.

>>3890443
>Like I said, it was no problem. Go easy on the girl.
>She sounds cooped up. I don’t know what your reasons are, but seclusion isn’t healthy.

>>3890443
>Like I said, it was no problem. Go easy on the girl.
>She sounds cooped up. I don’t know what your reasons are, but seclusion isn’t healthy.

>>3890443
>>She sounds cooped up. I don’t know what your reasons are, but seclusion isn’t healthy.

>>3890443
>Like I said, it was no problem. Go easy on the girl.
>She sounds cooped up. I don’t know what your reasons are, but seclusion isn’t healthy.

>>3890443
>Like I said, it was no problem. Go easy on the girl.
>She sounds cooped up. I don’t know what your reasons are, but seclusion isn’t healthy.

>>3890443
>>Like I said, it was no problem. Go easy on the girl.
>>She sounds cooped up. I don’t know what your reasons are, but seclusion isn’t healthy.

>>3890443
>1d6 (DC 13: V.Hard)
>first three

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>3890464

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>3890464

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>3890464

File: 49134675_p0.jpg (56 KB, 233x259)

56 KB JPG

>>3890464
“Like I said, it was no problem!” you insist. “Yeah, so she came in through our window unannounced, but if I was that cooped up I’d be desperate too!”

“Nobody asked...” the mop-headed Takigakure ninja begins, only for Shibuki to cut him off again.

“Cooped up?” he repeats.

You nod. “Look, I know it’s none of my business. But can’t you at least find a way for her to hear some stories from the outside world? Like… come on. Totally secluding her can’t be good long-term.”

Fū nods along emphatically the whole time.

Shibuki watches her with a frown, then eventually caves. “Fine. I think we can arrange something?”

“Yahoo!” Fū shouts, leaping into the air. “Awesome! Thanks so much, Shibuki! Naori!”

Then she rounds on you, grabbing your hands in hers and getting way closer into your personal space than most normal people would. But as you’ve started to gather, Fū isn’t exactly ‘normal people’.

“When you get back, promise me you’ll tell me all about whatever super-important ninja mission you’re on, okay?”

“I… whatever parts I can, sure?” you offer. “It’s just an escort mission in the Land of Hot Water...”

“Hot Water!?” Fū exclaims. “Aw, maaan! I wanna go there so bad, they have like all of the baths there! Baths for days, baths for days!”

“For days?” you repeat blankly.

Fū’s expression suddenly turns serious. “Literally. Days.”

Then it’s gone again. “So do some scouting and tell me which one’s good, alright?”

“Yeah, maybe some day,” Shibuki sighs. “But right now don’t we have someplace to be going?”

“Home?” Fū asks dejectedly.

Shibuki nods slowly. “Home. You. Now.”

“Oh, alright...” Fū admits ultimate defeat. “Bye, new friends. See you again some time soon, okay”
>1/2

>>3890502
Arashi and Harusame have spent the last several minutes staring blankly at the whole spectacle as it unfolded, until Arashi finally comments.

“I’m pretty sure a small typhoon made of mint-chocolate ice cream and puppies just blew through our flat. What did you just see?”

“I don’t know,” Harusame admits, shuffling off to her room. “But I know I don’t have enough energy for it.”
>1d100
>best of three

Rolled 43 (1d100)

>>3890510

Rolled 62 (1d100)

>>3890510

Rolled 23 (1d100)

>>3890510

Rolled 80 (1d100)

>>3890510

>>3890510
… yeah, it doesn’t really make much sense to you either. But you can’t say you dislike it either. Fū strikes you as such a sweet, innocent girl… like what you’d imagine having an energetic little sister would be like. It’s nice that someone like that exists out there, and the warm fuzzies help you have a good night’s sleep in spite of your unfamiliar surroundings.

The next morning you’re led out of Takigakure early, before dawn, and are escorted once more in silence as far as the border with the Land of Fire.

“Report here at the border crossing when you’re returning,” your guide orders you. “Do not try to cross unescorted.”

“Well, that was less pleasant,” you grumble. “Now, to cross south of the Land of Sound...”

There are three paths open to you: you could skirt right along the border, across the Valley of the End. You could also take a route deeper into the Land of Fire that would take longer and increase the chances of running into Konoha-nin, but decreases the chance of meeting any Sound ninja.

The third option is to cut north along the border with the Land of Sound and towards the Land of Snow, then catch a ferry to the north of the Land of Hot Water, bypassing both the Land of Sound and the Land of Fire entirely.

>Catch the ferry, approach Yugakure from the North
>Cross the Valley of the End. Just get it over with.
>Dip a bit further into Konoha. You’re not at war with them.
>Other?

>>3890532
>>Dip a bit further into Konoha. You’re not at war with them.

>>3890532
>Cross the Valley of the End. Just get it over with.

>>3890532
>Dip a bit further into Konoha. You’re not at war with them.

>>3890532
>>Cross the Valley of the End. Just get it over with.

>>3890532
>Cross the Valley of the End. Just get it over with.

>>3890532
>go the konoha route

>>3890532
>Dip a bit further into Konoha. You’re not at war with them.

>>3890532
>>3890532
>>Dip a bit further into Konoha. You’re not at war with them.

>>3890532
>1d4, taking the second roll only

Rolled 2 (1d4)

>>3890566

Rolled 2 (1d4)

>>3890566

>>3890570
>>3890576
We can never escape the power of 2.

>>3890566
>1d6, DC 9 (Moderate)
>taking three

Rolled 2 (1d4)

>>3890566

Rolled 4 (1d4)

>>3890566

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>3890582

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>3890582

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>3890582
oops, ignore those 2

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>3890582

>>3890582
>2SP to pass
Spend the SP? You'll have 4/6 remaining.
>Yes
>No

>>3890600
>>Yes

>>3890600
yupp

>>3890600
>yes

>>3890600
>>Yes
Being ambushed unawares would suck.

>>3890600
No

>>3890600
Almost entirely by chance, you find yourself practicing your sensing technique around the time you and the twins break for lunch, only to find that you’re not out in this forest alone.

Amid the tall trees you sense five chakras, all downwind from you, and you call attention to it.

“It could be a team from Konoha sent to track us,” Harusame realizes. “Good.”

“Four of them feel about like the two of you,” you clarify, “or weaker. But one’s much stronger than that. Probably a jōnin.”

“So a rookie team?” Arashi asks.

“That’d be my guess.”

“We should meet them head on,” Arashi declares, pounding his fist into his hand menacingly.

>Not part of our mission. We’ll keep this course and speed, if they follow that’s their business.
>We’ll hold our position for now, but we shouldn’t engage.
>We could move towards them, slowly. Try to make contact and explain ourselves.
>Other?

>>3890628
>SP: 4/6

>>3890628
>Not part of our mission. We’ll keep this course and speed, if they follow that’s their business.

Five, huh? Wonder who that is.

>>3890628
>>Not part of our mission. We’ll keep this course and speed, if they follow that’s their business.

>>3890628
>Not part of our mission. We’ll keep this course and speed, if they follow that’s their business.

>>3890628
>Not part of our mission. We’ll keep this course and speed, if they follow that’s their business.

>>3890628
>>Not part of our mission. We’ll keep this course and speed, if they follow that’s their business.

>>3890628
>Not part of our mission. We’ll keep this course and speed, if they follow that’s their business.
>"We're on a time crunch Arashi, getting tied up in a skirmish is something we do NOT want."

>>3890628
>>Not part of our mission. We’ll keep this course and speed, if they follow that’s their business.

>>3890628
>Not part of our mission. We’ll keep this course and speed, if they follow that’s their business.

>>3890628
>Not part of our mission. We’ll keep this course and speed, if they follow that’s their business.

>>3890628
“Not a part of our mission,” you counter. “If they want to follow us for a while that’s their business, but we have more important things to consider than what the Leaf ninja are wasting their time on.”

“Alright,” Arashi grumbles, sensing a missed opportunity.

“Some other time, bro,” Harusame consoles her brother.

Sure enough, your Konoha tails stop following you after it becomes clear that you’re just heading for the border, and they turn back towards Konohagakure. You cross the border without incident, and enter a land of rolling hills and rivers. This is the Land of Hot Water, and most of these rivers hold true to that name. Many of them are visibly steaming along their little courses, and there are no shortage of villages each of which has some sort of onsen or outdoor bath to its name.

Finally, amid a stretch of cliffs and rushing rivers of heated mineral water, you find the large gate to Yugakure proper. Many shinobi villages have springs like these, but this is more like a hot springs town that happens to also have a little ninja village built in. Kind of like the ninja business is a side job for them. Many of the Yugakure shinobi are easily visible, but it’s clear they’re not ready for a fight. Some of them aren’t even visibly armed.

“This is weird,” Harusame observes as you head for the rendezvous point. The building looks to be an office of some sort, which men and women wearing the headband of Yugakure enter and exit at a fairly regular pace.

Inside you meet with a man in a flak jacket who gives you the full orders: you’re to escort a palanquin with a VIP inside across the Land of Frost, to the border of the Land of Lightning where a team from Kumogakure will take over. The shinobi of Shimogakure aren’t expected to be a problem, but there are apparently some civilian thugs who might try to cause some trouble on the road.

You’re quickly introduced to the palanquin team: a group of four burly-looking men with no weapons or equipment other than their backpacks. And without much further to do, you’re sent on your way.

“Formation Dai-Fu,” you order, “I’ll take point.”

Your teammates fall back and take up positions spaced equidistantly around the palanquin, while you lead some distance out in front. Thanks to the slow speed of the palanquin team you’re able to move while using your sensing technique…
>1d100, best of three

Rolled 23 (1d100)

>>3890727

Rolled 21 (1d100)

>>3890727

Rolled 48 (1d100)

>>3890727
incoming trainwreck

>>3890727
… but don’t make much headway at all in terms of developing it further. Frustrating, but not altogether unsurprising. After all, it’s just one afternoon worth of practice.

By the time you settle in for the evening, you’re left to decide something quite important: how to maintain security at night.

>Sleep in shifts.
>Don’t sleep.
>Sleep in shifts, but also lay tags and wires as remote sensors.
>Other?

>>3890755
>>Sleep in shifts, but also lay tags and wires as remote sensors.
better save than sorry and the palequin guys would appreciate it

>>3890755
>>Sleep in shifts, but also lay tags and wires as remote sensors.
There is no such thing as overkill when it comes to security.

>>3890755
>>Sleep in shifts, but also lay tags and wires as remote sensors.

>>3890755
Has our client made any moves outside of the palanquin? Also what's it look like, I'm getting shady vibes from this.

>>3890755
>Sleep in shifts, but also lay tags and wires as remote sensors.

>>3890755
You decide that since the palanquin is small, but elaborately carved and painted, and the person inside is apparently so important that all you've seen of them is one hand extended to accept the food that his bearers prepared for him to eat without leaving the confines of the palanquin itself, a little extra security is called for.

"Hey Arashi, you got some spare wire?"

"Yeah," he nods, fishing it out of his pouch. "What are you thinking, boss-lady?"

"Hmph," Harusame snorts loudly as she cooks their food over a little campfire.
>1d6, DC 11 (Hard)
>taking three
>SP: 4/6

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>3890796

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>3890796

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>3890796

>>3890796
You quickly unseal some slips of blank paper that you’ve kept in your tool pouch as reserves, and tie the wire around them in little bunches at regular intervals.

“Kunai,” you insist next, and both Harusame and Arashi hand over a few kunai to add to the few that you carry just in case. These you use as stakes, running the wire through the drifted holes that serve as pommels and sticking their points in the ground. Thankfully the tree cover has given way to thick grasses and much smaller trees that grow in stands, mostly beech and larch whose branches couldn’t support the weight of a shinobi. This means that anyone who tries to approach your camp will have to contend with the line of wires.

“I can sense the papers,” you explain, “like little receivers. So if anyone trips this line I’ll know about it. Just a little extra precaution.”

“Neat trick,” Harusame admits, passing her brother a bowl of broth. “Your sensei teach you that?”

You nod curtly. “I’m still third rate as a sensor though, so we can’t rely too heavily on it.”

“You two take the dusk shift,” you decide. “Wake me up and I’ll take the dawn shift.”

With that settled you take what feels like a short nap, before being gently shaken awake some time later. It’s grown darker, and the moon has sunk low in the sky.

“You’re up,” Harusame whispers. “Wake us if anything happens.”

>1d100, best of four

Rolled 68 (1d100)

>>3890854

Rolled 58 (1d100)

>>3890854

Rolled 59 (1d100)

>>3890854

Rolled 28 (1d100)

>>3890854

Rolled 87 (1d100)

>>3890854

Rolled 52 (1d100)

>>3890854

>>3890854
It’s around dawn that someone literally steps on your wire.

You’re quick to awaken your teammates, warning them of the impending danger that you’ve taken a moment to sense out.

“A group, seven or eight,” you warn them. “Aiming for a dawn attack, at the end of our last watch.”

Harusame draws her two fūma shuriken, and Arashi picks up his staff.

>Formation Hi: Spread out and encircle them before they can attack.
>Formation Sha: The two of you stay here, I’ll flank them.
>Feign sleep. See what they do, then attack at the last second.
>Other?

>>3890872
>>Formation Sha: The two of you stay here, I’ll flank them.

>>3890872
>>Formation Hi: Spread out and encircle them before they can attack.

>>3890872
>Formation Sha: The two of you stay here, I’ll flank them.

>>3890872
>Formation Sha: The two of you stay here, I’ll flank them.

>>3890872
>Formation Hi: Spread out and encircle them before they can attack.
>put sensing papers over the doors and windows of the palanquin so we can feel if anyone tries to get in or out

>>3890872
>1d6, DC 9 (Moderate)
>taking three

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>3890955
watch my six

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>3890955

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>3890955
Hoping for a 5+ save

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>3890955

>>3890955
>Success
>SP: 5/6
Writing

File: Naori_Hachigami-Anken.png (7 KB, 370x355)

7 KB PNG

>>3890955
“Formation Sha,” you determine. “Hold this perimeter, and I’ll outflank them.”

“Right!” Arashi whisper-shouts.

Harusame merely nods resolutely before you take off into the pre-dawn dim.

You can see them in the tall grass, moving towards the stand of trees where the palanquin-bearers set down for the night. Their formation isn’t even close to orderly, and they’re not trying to move silently like shinobi would.

Using the Raikō Kenka technique you produce a handful of Hachigami-Anken, paper shuriken with medical-grade anesthetic sealed inside them. These you throw at the crowd of intruders, watching with some satisfaction as they slice into arms and legs before disappearing into the darkness.

“It’s their guards!” one of the attackers shouts. “Shinobi!”

“This is it!” another man declares. “For Lord Jashin, slaughter them all!”

>Use genjutsu to confuse their assault, sending them in the wrong direction.
>Get in close with your sword, thin their ranks so that the Twins can finish them.
>Bombard them with exploding paper shuriken. Several should be unable to dodge.
>Other?

>>3890990
>>Use genjutsu to confuse their assault, sending them in the wrong direction.

>>3890990
>>Use genjutsu to confuse their assault, sending them in the wrong direction.
Can we combo this with our sword?

>>3890990
>>Use genjutsu to confuse their assault, sending them in the wrong direction.

>>3890999
Of course. Genjutsu gives you more time to sword under better circumstances.

>>3890997
>1d100
>best of three

Rolled 95 (1d100)

>>3891031
whelp, this is it, we will fail

>>3891033
... or not
the dice gods want to fuck with us, news at eleven

>>3891031

Rolled 73 (1d100)

>>3891031

Rolled 47 (1d100)

>>3891031

>>3891031
“Hey!” you bellow a challenge. “Your enemy is over here!”

You leap into battle, quickly drawing Umekiri-maru and running yin chakra through its blade. The nearest attacker rips open his shirt to reveal a string of explosive tags as he charges you. “For the glory of Jashin!”

His charge is cut short however as he sees not one but three blades, for an instant, one of which slices through his ribs right at the level of the tags before he can set them off.

You swiftly make a series of seals with your left hand as you sidestep an attack, from what looks like a metal hoe, before slashing that man’s arms off.

“Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings.”

The area around the group of attackers now becomes subject to your genjutsu, subtly shifting their perception of it to serve your ends. That also opens them up to attack by your teammates.

“Water Release: Water Clone!”

“Ninja Art: Kage Hiken no Mai!”

The water clone of course is what Arashi told you his specialty was, and the ‘Dance of the Flying Shadow Blades’ must be the name for Harusame’s technique. There’s little time to appreciate the spectacle before the remaining attackers turn on you.

“You will die for the glory of Ja-”

The woman has trouble finishing her shout with Umekiri’s blade stuck through the back of her throat, and the other two chase an afterimage well out of range before blowing themselves up to save you the time.

By the time the sun comes up, the mystery attackers have all been dispatched.

>Search the bodies for some indication as to what the hell just happened.
>Get the palanquin moving now, and get back in the Manji formation around it.
>Demand to know from your escort-ees what they know about this.
>Other?

>>3891070
>>Search the bodies for some indication as to what the hell just happened.

>>3891070
>>Search the bodies for some indication as to what the hell just happened.
those weren't just thugs, that was an assassination attempt

>>3891070
>>Search the bodies for some indication as to what the hell just happened.
More intel is always good, and having more than just our escort-ees perspective is better.

>>3891070
>>Search the bodies for some indication as to what the hell just happened.

>>3891070
>Search the bodies for some indication as to what the hell just happened.
Information on the enemy that can't be obtained from allies is important.

>>3891070
You take some time to search several bodies… at least, the ones that aren’t exploded. Their weapons are a mix of farming tools and ninja weapons including kunai and short swords, though only two wear any sort of emblems: both from Yugakure. The one thing that ties them all together are the necklaces: silver circles inscribed with equilateral triangles, on thin silver chains.

From the corpse of the woman whose mouth you thrust Umekiri through, you recover one of those necklaces before urging the palanquin-bearers to hurry up.

“We need to make the border of Shimogakure by the ‘dinner hour’,” you insist, “giving us sufficient time to get away from the border and make camp before nightfall.”

“You concerned about the creeps that attacked us or the weather in the Land of Frost?” Harusame asks you.

“Yes,” you reply grimly.

You set camp that night around a fire, with sufficient wood to keep it burning all night. This time you cluster closer together within the defensive line, sharing the warmth with the palanquin-bearers: the ‘Land of Frost’ is infamous for its frosty nights, the combination of its altitude, its latitude, and the weather rolling down from the northern ocean. If you don’t take some precautions, sheltering near the fire under a coat you unsealed for the occasion, you’d be in serious danger of frostbite.

By morning, you’re feeling somewhat surprised at the lack of any danger through the night. By evening you’ve reached the border with the Land of Lightning to meet with two Kumogakure shinobi.

“Hey, you made it!” one of them, a paler-skinned man with blonde hair grins. “Nice job!”

“Don’t give us that crap,” Harusame hisses.

“Now, now, it was all in the mission,” the man shrugs. “You can head back at any time.”

The litter-bearers start to turn around, but Arashi gets in their way.

“I don’t get it,” he frowns. “What’s this about turning around? I thought we were supposed to hand off this VIP to you?”

“Wait a minute,” the darker shinobi of the two frowns. “They… didn’t tell you, did they? Man, that’s cold.”
>1/2

>>3891117
“Explain it thoroughly!” Arashi complains loudly.

“We were bait the whole time,” you declare, grip tightening into a fist with nothing to punch. “I don’t know why I’m surprised, they didn’t tell us about the death cult suicide bombers either.”

“Death cult suicide bombers?” the second Kumogakure shinobi repeats, before shaking his head. “Goin’ on about ‘Jashin’?”

“Exactly,” you nod.

“Man, you must’ve had a time of it,” he scratches the back of his shaved head. “Sorry ‘bout that, but that’s the way the Hot Water daimyō wanted to play it… a team from Kumo was the ‘main team’. I’m surprised they didn’t tell you all this from the start.”

“Kinda makes you wonder about allying with them, doesn’t it?” the paler shinobi muses. “Not like it’s our call, but Lord Raikage’s not gonna like it.”

“Damn right, and he shouldn’t!” the second man agrees loudly. “Anyway, sorry for the nasty surprise, you three. No hard feelings?”

>Of course. You weren’t the ones who screwed us, nor was your village.
>Slightly hard feelings, but I’ll get over it personally.
>I wasn’t a fan of Kumogakure to begin with, so no real harm done.
>Other?

>>3891144
>>Slightly hard feelings, but I’ll get over it personally.
>Other?
This is just something to get used to as a ninja. Trickery is par for the course.

>>3891144
>>Slightly hard feelings, but I’ll get over it personally.

>>3891144
>>Slightly hard feelings, but I’ll get over it personally.

>>3891152
>>3891144
this right here

>>3891144
>Slightly hard feelings, but I’ll get over it personally.

>>3891144
>>Slightly hard feelings, but I’ll get over it personally.

>>3891144
“Yeah, no, you personally?” you muse. “Not at all. Your village? Maybe a little. But Yugakure and I aren’t exactly on speaking terms right now.”

“That’s fair.”

Your return trip is completely tame compared to the outward journey, and you soon find yourself recounting your story to a visibly dismayed Fū.

“Why would they do something like that?” she demands. “What did you ever do to them?”

“Nothing,” Harusame sighs as she heads off to bed. “That’s just how things go sometimes.”

“It sucks, but she’s right,” you agree. “Shinobi use deception all the time, and so do villages.”

“I wouldn’t if I were in charge of a village!” Fū declares, crossing her arms and pouting. “You wouldn’t either, right Nakkun?”

Nakkun… that turn of phrase is nostalgic… not entirely pleasant, but you can’t bring yourself to correct her.

>I probably would.
>I probably wouldn’t.
>I would, but not for pointless, stupid reasons like Yugakure just did.
>Other?

>>3891223
>>I would, but not for pointless, stupid reasons like Yugakure just did.

>>3891223
>I probably wouldn’t. *wink*
>That is to say I would, but not for pointless, stupid reasons like Yugakure just did.
Naori does use genjutsus, after all.

>>3891223
>>I would, but not for pointless, stupid reasons like Yugakure just did.

>>3891223
>Nakku
Right in the goddamn feels

>>3891223
>>I would, but not for pointless, stupid reasons like Yugakure just did.

>>3891223
>>I probably would.

>>3891223
>>I would, but not for pointless, stupid reasons like Yugakure just did.

>>3891223
“I probably would,” you admit rather frankly. “But I would never do it for no good reason, like Yugakure just did. Not to people who were supposed to be friends or allies.”

After a few seconds of silence, Fū nods in agreement. “Guess that’s why I’m not a village leader, huh?”

You shake your head. “I like that you can speak with such conviction about things like that. We need more like you.”

“Thanks,” Fū nods. “Say, Nakkun?”

“Yeah?”

“We’re friends, right?”

>Of course.
>Well on our way.
>I don’t know if we can be.
>Other?

>>3891282
>Of course.

>>3891282
>>Of course.
Pinky promise!

>>3891282
>>Of course.

>>3891282
>>Well on our way.

>>3891282
>>Of course.

File: 61339684_p0.jpg (235 KB, 1000x700)

235 KB JPG

>>3891282
“Of course,” you reply with a calm smile.

Fū holds out her pinkie. “Promise?”

After a moment, you wrap your pinkie around hers. “Promise.”
>1/2

>>3891325
If anything happened to Fu I'd kill everyone in this thread and them myself!

>>3891325
“So that’s about the size of it,” you tell Ajisai over tea and dumplings, somewhere around two weeks later. “The next day Tenshi-sensei called us all in.”

“I’m jealous,” she replies, sipping at her tea. “Our team needs more work.”

“So do the Ibuki twins and I,” you admit. “It’s a weird position to be in.”

“I’ll be cheering for you,” Ajisai smiles slightly.

“Good to know,” you match her smile, reaching behind her head and bumping foreheads lightly. “And when it’s your turn I’ll be doing the same.”

“But to think we’re still lying about Hanzō...” she muses a few minutes later.

You shake your head. “I guess Lord Pain thinks it works to our benefit for other nations to think we’re still at war.”

“That makes sense,” she agrees. “Makes us less of a threat.”

“Possibly,” you admit. “Anyway, see you when I get back.”

“Yeah,” Ajisai nods. “Or sooner, if I can get away for the finals.”

“Give it a shot,” you shrug. “But if you’re on a mission I’ll understand.”

The Chūnin exams: a series of tests intended for two purposes: to advertise for your village, and for the village to determine who among its genin are prepared to lead teams as Chūnin or ‘middle-ninja’. This time the exams are being held in Konohagakure, in the Land of Fire: one of the five Great Shinobi Nations.

>Head early and try to scope out the competition from Konoha.
>Head over with the rest of the Amegakure candidates.
>Other?

>>3891343
>Head early and try to scope out the competition from Konoha.

>>3891343
Head out early

>>3891343
>>Head early and try to scope out the competition from Konoha.

>>3891343
>Head early and try to scope out the competition from Konoha.
Recon time!

>>3891343
>Head early and try to scope out the competition from Konoha.

>>3891343
>>Head early and try to scope out the competition from Konoha.

>>3891343
>1d100, best of four

Rolled 19 (1d100)

>>3891387

Rolled 16 (1d100)

>>3891387

Rolled 82 (1d100)

>>3891387

Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>3891387

File: Konohagakure_-_Hidden_Lea(...).jpg (131 KB, 768x432)

131 KB JPG

>>3891387
Once you’re actually over the border into the Land of Fire, with actual justification to be there, the roads prove to be both safe and in excellent repair. The forest cover grows thick with giant oaks, and the weather grows warmer and drier. After a three-day journey you check in at a gate in a giant defensive wall, finding yourself in Konohagakure itself.

The skies are clear, the buildings large and orderly, and the whole village is overseen by four stone faces carved into a small mountain. If you had to guess you’d say it was some kind of volcanic remnant, worn down over the years to its hard stone core.

“I wonder if there are already other candidates arriving?” you muse as you walk the suburban streets.

Suddenly, you hear a commotion: like a fight’s broken out? Not only that, you hear a remarkably irritating voice…
>tbc

>>3891405
thanks for running boss

Propsal: Find lonely Konoha genin boy, flirt with him, get dirt on all his peers.

>>3891405
The scene you show up to investigate looks at first glance like all kinds of none of your business. So instead of getting involved, you elect to watch from some random person’s back yard where there’s a nice, comfortable tree to sit in well outside the proverbial ‘splash zone’.

Two Konoha genin are the source of the ruckus, with one being violently pink and the other, the loud one you heard from a mile away, is a blonde brat in what looks like the least subtle orange jumpsuit ever made by human hands. What, did he get that from a prison supply store or something?

There are also three smaller brats, not even old enough to be genin but probably on an informal ‘team’ of sorts based on their matching goofy goggles.

These have run up against two genin from Sunagakure, both of whom actually look like… well, something you might consider taking seriously.

One of them, a fairly tall girl with quad-tails and a simple wide-necked robe and sash ensemble, you’d probably compliment on her taste and try to strike up a conversation with under normal circumstances. She carries what looks like a large folding fan on her back, making her one of the wind-nature users Sunagakure is well-known for in Ame.

Her companion is a boy, about the same age, wearing what looks like black a black hooded onesie. You’d consider a grown guy wearing pajamas out and about to be a bit of a joke were he not obviously carrying a puppet on his back… and one of the three brats by his scarf with one hand. So this is one of Sunagakure’s puppeteers?

Using your sensing technique reveals a new level of complexity: in a nearby tree, there’s yet another genin watching the scene unfold just the same way you are, and a sixth approaching at a leisurely pace… the last one seems stronger than the rest.

“That’s it!” the blonde brat declares loudly, pointing a finger at the pajama-wearing puppeteer. “Drop him right now or I take you apart, ya know!”

“You’re an idiot!” the pink girl yells, getting the brat into a headlock and from the look of it preventing him from making a serious mistake.

The Suna genin cocks his fist back. “I don’t like runts and little brats who go around causing trouble...”

So he means to punch that little kid in the mouth? Who the hell does this guy think he is?

>Throw a coin at the pajama-boy’s forehead.
>Call out from the tree, make it clear EXACTLY what you think.
>Do nothing. Just watch how people react.
>Other?

>>3892719
>>Call out from the tree, make it clear EXACTLY what you think.
what's this?
A situation where we aren't the center of attention?
We must correct this post haste

>>3892719
>throw a coin

>>3892719
>Throw a coin at the pajama-boy’s forehead.

>>3892719
>>Throw a coin at the pajama-boy’s forehead.

This amuses me.
>Dance puppet boy, dance.

>>3892719
>>Throw a coin at the pajama-boy’s forehead

>>3892719
>>Throw a coin at the pajama-boy’s forehead.

>>3892719
>1d6, DC 7 (Easy)
>taking three

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>3892757

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>3892757

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>3892757

>>3892757
>Success
>SP: 6/6
Writing

>>3892757
You can’t simply sit here and do nothing, so you fish out a one ryo coin and flick it at the pajama-ninja. It nails him in the headband, while a small rounded stone hits him in the hand almost at the same time courtesy of the boy sitting in the other tree. You catch a clear view of him now: dark hair and dark eyes, catching a small stone in his hand as he notices you as well. You'd call him handsome, to be sure... but his expression makes him seem like the broody type.

“The hell?” the Sunagakure genin abruptly drops the brat, who promptly scurries to safety behind his friends, who are already hiding behind the two Konoha genin.

“You’re a long way from home,” the boy in the tree observes. His blonde partner watches the tree-boy with a smirk and a trace of a blush. “And you’re in our home, so why don’t you try playing nice?”

“This is why I hate brats,” the pajama-ninja grumbles before turning his attention to you. “And what’s your story?”

“I just don’t like watching guys who should know better beat up on little kids who don’t,” you explain. “What, is that hard to understand?”

The girl behind him shakes her head. “You’re outnumbered, Kankuro… this is why I keep telling you to use your head before you start running your mouth.”

“Not you too!” ‘Kankuro’ protests.

“Actually, I’m done here,” you shake your head. “It’s not my house, so teaching you manners isn’t my responsibility.”

“Well then,” Kankuro smirks, turning his attention back to the boy in the tree. “That simplifies things.”

He reaches for one of the bandages holding his puppet on his back…

"Fine by me," the tree boy agrees, crushing the stone he's been tossing in his fist.
>1d100, best of three

>>3892800
to clarify, since I'm a little off today, the girl partnered with Kankuro is blushing. Not Naruto.

Rolled 3 (1d100)

>>3892800

Rolled 18 (1d100)

>>3892800

Rolled 89 (1d100)

>>3892800

Rolled 6 (1d100)

>>3892800

Rolled 53 (1d100)

>>3892800

>>3892800
“That’s enough, Kankuro,” the sixth genin declares from the underside of a branch in the same tree the dark-haired boy is sitting in. “You’re embarrassing our village.”

“Oh… hey there, Gaara!” Kankuro greets the newcomer nervously. The tone really seems to have shifted the second this ‘Gaara’ spoke up. “I was just messing around with these guys.”

The dark-haired boy seems just as surprised by this sudden appearance as everyone else, though you certainly sensed his arrival. What surprises you is how silently he moved… he must have deliberately muffled the sound of his footsteps as he approached.

“You’re annoying me,” Gaara grumbles menacingly… now that he’s moved into the open you see a small boy, about the age of the Leaf genin, with red hair and pale skin. His eyes are heavily ringed, as though he’s a guy for whom exhaustion has long since become a lifestyle, and he bears a red tattoo on his forehead: the kanji for ‘love’. On his back is a heavy-looking gourd with a cork stopper.

“Okay, Gaara...” the blonde girl interrupts, just as nervous as Kankuro. “We’re coming with you, so there’s no need to get angry at us, okay?”

Gaara turns to face the Leaf ninja. “I apologize for Kankuro. But you should know that if you get in my way after this… I’ll kill you.”

You can tell he means that.

The atmosphere remains tense as the three Sand genin leave.

>Follow the Sand team.
>Head down and greet the Leaf team.
>Forget all of these guys. Go find something more interesting to do.
>Other?

>>3892838
>>Forget all of these guys. Go find something more interesting to do.

>>3892838
>>Forget all of these guys. Go find something more interesting to do.
Time to find something to eat. Like Ramen.

>>3892838
>Head down and greet the Leaf team.
>Ask what that was all about

>>3892838
>>Head down and greet the Leaf team.
ask them were a good restaurant is, other country, new food

>>3892838
>>Head down and greet the Leaf team.

>>3892838
>Head down and greet the Leaf team.
I concur with asking them where the good grub is. They are locals after all, so they should be adequate tour guides.

>>3892838
>>Head down and greet the Leaf team.
Good food is a must.

>>3892838
>Forget all of these guys. Go find something more interesting to do.

>>3892838
You jump down from the tree around the same time as the dark-haired boy… and now the genin and the brats are looking at you as if you’re the scary one here somehow.

“Th-thanks for that!” the pink haired girl speaks up. “I know my teammate here can be a knucklehead, so you saved us a lot of trouble.”

“At least Naruto tried to do something,” the dark-haired boy rolls his eyes dramatically.

The pink-haired girl seems crestfallen.

“So, who are you?” he turns his attention to you. “And why is an Amegakure ninja here anyway?”

“Raishō Naori,” you incline your head politely. “And I’m here ‘cause your village asked me to come.”

“Well, whatever,” he sighs.

“You said you’re grateful,” you turn to the pink-haired girl. “Awesome. You can show your gratitude by feeding me.”

“Okay, yeah,” the blonde brat nods. “Now that we can do!”

You quickly learn that the three genin are Sakura (the pink girl), Sasuke (dark and broody), and Naruto (the blonde idiot), and that the best ramen in the Leaf village is Ichiraku’s (apparently).

A steaming bowl of ramen in front of you, you try the dish out for the first time in years… and it’s actually pretty good.

The genin watch you as you slurp down the bowl.

>Order another bowl of something different.
>Restrain yourself for now, try striking up a conversation.
>Thank them for their thoughtfulness and go set up your accommodations for the night.
>Other?

>>3892880
>>Order another bowl of something different.

>>3892880
>>Order another bowl of something different.
ask for something typical of the country, we should be able to pay for it and if we are here no reason not to try local food

>>3892880
>Order another bowl of something different.

>>3892880
>Order another bowl of something different.

>>3892880
>Order another bowl of something different.

>>3892880
>>Order another bowl of something different.

>>3892880
>Order another bowl of something different.

>>3892880
>Order another bowl of something different.

>>3892880
“Keep ‘em coming, mister!” you demand, placing the empty bowl on the top of the counter for collection. “Something different this time.”

Your next bowl is something with mushrooms and tofu, and after that you down a bowl with pork and vegetables. Meanwhile the Konoha genin watch with morbid fascination, with two of them still being on the first bowl.

“That was good!” you declare cheerfully after your fourth bowl.

“I’ve never seen anyone put away ramen like that,” Sakura muses in surprise, “well, except Naruto.”

“Are you sure you two aren’t related or something?” Sasuke grumbles.

“Well, thanks for the meal,” you bow politely, before paying for half and walking away. “See you guys around some time!”

Not long after you take your leave, one of your own countrymen catches up with you.

“Raishō,” a gruff voice calls your attention as you walk, its owner quickly catching up with you.

“Shigure-han,” you greet the older genin politely. “You were looking for me?”

“Orders from the boss,” he informs you, quickly thrusting a trio of parasols on a leather strap into your hands. “You’re supposed to carry these. I assume you know how to use them?”

>I do, I just don’t like to. But if the ‘Boss’ says to carry them I’ll do it.
>Seal them. Get them out of the way.
>Seal two, but carry one. Ideally one with a shikomizue built in.
>Other?

>>3892914
>seal two, carry one
>then go shopping for clothes that match the umbrella

>>3892916
supporting

>>3892914
>>Seal two, but carry one. Ideally one with a shikomizue built in.

>>3892914
>Seal two, but carry one. Ideally one with a shikomizue built in.

>>3892914
>>Seal two, but carry one. Ideally one with a shikomizue built in.

>>3892914
>Seal two, but carry one. Ideally one with a shikomizue built in.

>>3892914
>seal two, carry one
>then go shopping for clothes that match the umbrella
it is time

>>3892914
wait why do we get parasols to carry from the 'boss'?

>>3892914
>>3892916
I like this. Supporting

>>3892914
This>>3892916

>>3892914
>Seal two, but carry one. Ideally one with a shikomizue built in.

>>3892914
>I do, I just don’t like to. But if the ‘Boss’ says to carry them I’ll do it.
>Hopefully one has a shikomizue built in.

>>3892914
“… why?” you ask bluntly.

“To match with the rest of our genin,” Shigure insists. “So carry them or we’ve got a problem, and we don’t wanna have a problem, right?”

You quickly seal two of them away, keeping just one out. It has a short blade in the base of the handle, which probably has all the durability of a toy but may come in handy at some point. You sling it over one shoulder.

“Well, good luck then,” you tell Shigure.

He merely flips you the bird in response and walks away. Which given his reputation as having been short-tempered even before the training accident that ruined his right eye isn’t a surprise. Now he’s short-tempered and generally combative in conversations even while controlling his temper.

The sun starts to go down on your first day in Konoha without much else happening. You tried to go shopping, but the styles around here for girls your age just don’t really mesh with what you typically buy for yourself. Maybe if you have some time between rounds in the exams you’ll find something then, but for the time being you check into a cheap hotel and fall asleep.
>1/2

>>3892956
When morning comes there’s a letter waiting for you in the front office of the hotel after you eat, and you read your instructions out of it. You’re to register and present yourself in a classroom near the Academy building by 3pm, when the first round of the examinations will start. As arranged from the start you won’t be expected to have any teammates present, simplifying the registration process somewhat.

>Head straight there, scope out the competition.
>Get a nice lunch then head over shortly before the exam begins.
>Go poke around the Academy grounds a little.
>Other?

>>3892961
>quickly grab some food from a street stall and eat it on the way to the exam

>>3892961
>Head straight there, scope out the competition.

>>3892961
>Head straight there, scope out the competition.

>>3892961
>>Head straight there, scope out the competition.

>>3892956
>Get a nice lunch then head over shortly before the exam begins.
Don't take exams on an empty stomach.
Maybe we can modify the umbrella to act as a sheath for our sword in the month between the second and third exam.

>>3892961
>>Go poke around the Academy grounds a little.
the second options sounds like we arrive around the same time as Team Seven

>>3892961
>go poke around the academy

>>3892961
You decide not to waste any time, and instead grab some quick food to seal into a scroll for lunch before heading straight for the building that the exams are going to be held in.

It’s unassuming, rather on the tall side, and you go in through the ground floor and work your way up.

>1d6, DC 8 (Easy-Moderate)
>taking three

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>3893009

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>3893009

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>3893009

>>3893009
… do they really think you’re that stupid?

It’s early, so you had expected to be practically alone in this building. But you find that two boys are waiting outside a classroom labelled 3 – 1. That’s the number you’re looking for, despite the fact that this is clearly only the second floor. And what’s more, the bandage over one of their noses looks awfully familiar.

“So you’re going to take the test?” the boy with the bandage over his nose smirks. “Man, you don’t look so tough. You look like you’re gonna be one of the ones that washes out. Am I right?”

His partner chuckles. “Yeah, she looks like a real loser to me! Get lost, just go home and save yourself the trouble, girly-girl.”

“Really?” you scoff. “Just get out of the way and I’ll overlook that last comment, jerk.”

“Heh, care to try and make us?” the first boy challenges you. “Come on, you think you’re good enough to make the cut? Then show me, you little girl!”

>Dispel the genjutsu and call them out on their awful disguises.
>Dispel the genjutsu subtly, but play their little game and fight.
>Other?

>>3893026
>Dispel the genjutsu and call them out on their awful disguises.

>>3893026
>Dispel the genjutsu subtly, but play their little game and fight.

>>3893026
>>Dispel the genjutsu and call them out on their awful disguises.

>>3893026
>Dispel the genjutsu and call them out on their awful disguises.

>>3893026
>>Dispel the genjutsu and call them out on their awful disguises.

>>3893026
>>Dispel the genjutsu and call them out on their awful disguises.
We're a single genin without a team. Being underestimated has its uses, but in our situation that's a thin line between baiting a trap and outright losing. Think I'm gonna go with a show of strength to put off any scrubs.

>>3893026
You covertly bite the inside of your lip, using the brief moment of pain to disrupt the genjutsu.

“If you’ll just...” you insist, only for bandage-nose to strike. You immediately square up, catching his fist in your right hand and pressing against his shoulder with your left palm. Then, as he’s pulled towards you, you spit the blood in his eye.

“Argh!” he shouts as you shift your weight and throw him over your shoulder. He crashes to the linoleum.

“Kotetsu, wasn’t it?” you ask, offering your hand. The disguised chūnin, who you finally remember from the bridge back in Amegakure, takes a moment before accepting.

“What gave it away?”

You gesture to the nose bandage. “You missed a spot.”

“Ah, gotcha,” he nods, swiping across the bridge of his nose with his fingertips and changing the disguise slightly. “Better?”

You nod curtly. “Better. Are we done here?”

“Yeah, I think so,” the other man chuckles with the voice of a teenaged boy. “Man, she kicked your ass Kotetsu.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbles, rubbing his backside briefly before dusting himself off. “Just go on up before any of the other candidates see this. Otherwise it’ll defeat the purpose.”

You offer a quick bow, then head upstairs to the exam room where you’re handed some paperwork to fill out and told to wait.

The room is largely empty, with only a few teams having shown up this early on. Among them are a few Konoha teams, including one in matching outfits with tan sashes and dark blue shorts. there’s also the Suna team from yesterday, who seem to not be talking to each other at all and instead sit in awkward silence. Then there’s a team from Otogakure, all wearing snake-patterned camouflage of some description. One, a man covered in bandages except for one eye and part of his cheek, is watching you carefully.

>Approach the Konoha team.
>Approach Gaara.
>Approach the blonde girl on Gaara’s team.
>Approach the Sound ninja.
>Just sit by yourself and watch.

>>3893071
>Just sit by yourself and watch.
One eye in particular.

>>3893071
>>Approach the Sound ninja.

>>3893071
>Approach the blonde girl on Gaara’s team.

>>3893076
>>Just sit by yourself and watch.
>>3893071
this
warn the other ame-nin of the suna-nin, especially the red haired dangerous kid

>>3893071
>Approach the Sound ninja.

>>3893071
>>Just sit by yourself and watch.
Bandage guy is suspicious, definitely in favor of keeping our eyes on him.

>>3893071
>Just sit by yourself and watch.

>>3893071
>Approach the blonde girl on Gaara’s team.

>>3893071
>>Just sit by yourself and watch.

>>3893071
>Just sit by yourself and watch.

>>3893071
>>Approach the blonde girl on Gaara’s team.

AND Keep an eye on the mummy, fucking 4chan this isn't spam.

>>3893071
>1d100, best of three

Rolled 58 (1d100)

>>3893110

Rolled 73 (1d100)

>>3893110

Rolled 99 (1d100)

>>3893110

>>3893116
Jesus christ, calm down Naori. It's only a test.

File: intrigued.gif (185 KB, 540x350)

185 KB GIF

>>3893116

>>3893110
You decide to keep an eye on the other teams… particularly those Oto-nin, including the one who’s done nothing but stare since you walked in the door. So you take a seat near the back of the room and launch into an experiment. Placing one fingertip against the ground you extend your sensory technique into the room, focusing on the paperwork in the hands of the various genin teams. This time, for some reason, you feel like you’re getting the hang of using the paper as a relay for the technique Tenshi-sensei taught you.

It feels like the Otogakure shinobi aren’t as strong as they seem… their chakra isn’t spectacular at all compared to their palpable presence. Could it be that they’re all oriented towards using specialized ninja tools? Whatever their trick is, it’s clear that the one in the bandages is the best of the three. He’s also keenly interested in the genin teams as they enter, but continues to return his attention to you and to Gaara once he loses interest in each new arrival.

As each team takes hold of their paperwork you get a better sense for their abilities.

By the end there are a few teams which stand out: four teams from Konohagakure, three of which are standing up in the back of the room chatting like they know each other. The Konoha team you noticed before is another standout, as is the Sunagakure team led by Gaara. Strangely enough, the trio of genin who Gaara’s team was scrapping with yesterday are among the first group. Of them Sakura is… present. Sasuke seems decently strong, but Naruto… Naruto has a lot of chakra but no skills to use it evidently.

Then there’s Shigure’s team, which is above average but surprisingly to you not really much of a threat by the feel of it, and a single chakra which seems unusually strong but is attached to a red-haired girl from Kusagakure who looks like she’d start crying if she got hit by a stiff breeze.

>Investigate the redheaded Grass girl.
>Ask the blonde on Gaara’s team if she’s noticed the Oto-nin.
>Go see what the Konoha rookies are up to.
>Other?

>>3893139
>>Investigate the redheaded Grass girl.
Because talking to the konoha 9 is just cliche. Temari is an acceptable outcome as well.

>>3893139
>>Ask the blonde on Gaara’s team if she’s noticed the Oto-nin.
i also wanna know how kankuro is gonna react to us getting close to them

>>3893139
>Investigate the redheaded Grass girl.

>>3893139
>>Ask the blonde on Gaara’s team if she’s noticed the Oto-nin.

>>3893139
>>Investigate the redheaded Grass girl.

>>3893139

>Investigate the redheaded Grass girl.

>>3893139
>Investigate the redheaded Grass girl.
Oh hello Karin. Do you happen to know our other Grass friend?
Temari is my second choice.

>>3893139
>>Investigate the redheaded Grass girl.

>>3893139
>>Ask the blonde on Gaara’s team if she’s noticed the Oto-nin.

>>3893139
>writing

>>3893139
You’re somewhat divided between warning that girl on Gaara’s team about the Sound weirdos and talking to that redhead you noticed, until you catch a look at the latter’s eyes. They’re red too… like yours. Or rather, the one of yours that is ‘yours’… the other one kinda looks more like Sasuke’s to be honest.

So you quietly and calmly approach the girl, who’s sitting away from her teammates, and sit down next to her.

“Hi there,” you greet her, earning a surprised yelp. “It’s okay, I’m friendly. I promise.”

“… hi,” the girl replies timidly, avoiding eye contact.

“I like your hair,” you compliment her, struggling to find a way to start the conversation.

“Um… thanks,” she replies, still avoiding eye contact.

You pause for a few moments, wondering about this whole situation. You don’t have to be a ninja to tell that something’s distinctly off. “Are you… okay? I could leave you alone if you want me to...”
>1d6, DC 11 (Hard)
>taking three

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>3893173

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>3893173
>the other one looks more like Sasuke's

King, you tease

>>3893175
Wrong format, friend.

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>3893173

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>3893173