>>4028698
The ANBU agent seems to be at a loss for what to say in his defense, so his only defense for himself can be silence.

“Now then,” you continue, turning to face Shikamaru. “You can release her.”

With a deep breath Shikamaru does so. “Man, that was getting tiresome.”

“So… does that mean I’m free to leave?” Kagerō wonders suspiciously. “Just like that?”

Yeah, no, not quite,” you admit. “I’ll run it past Asuma-sensei outside, and we’ll need to arrange a way to keep tabs on you and your clan for a little while.”

Kagerō bristles at the notion. “You’ll understand if my clansmen don’t like that idea.”

>Then Amegakure will do the checking-in, not one of the ‘great’ villages.
>It could even be once every six months or something. Nothing intrusive.
>We could put the burden on you to contact us instead, maybe?
>I’m sure there can be some other alternative arrangement?
>Other?

>>4028699
>>We could put the burden on you to contact us instead, maybe?

>>4028699
>Then Amegakure will do the checking-in, not one of the ‘great’ villages.

>>4028699
>Once a quarter maybe?
>If not I’m sure there can be some other alternative arrangement if that seems much?
>Either way you will need an escort for first meting with the clan and the establishing official deal/agreement with them. Would not want them to think this is maliciously forced upon them or think you decide for them all. Resentful people do stupid things.

>>4028699
>Then Amegakure will do the checking-in, not one of the ‘great’ villages.

>>4028699
>Then Amegakure will do the checking-in, not one of the ‘great’ villages.

>>4028699
>Then Amegakure will do the checking-in, not one of the ‘great’ villages.

>>4028699
>>Then Amegakure will do the checking-in, not one of the ‘great’ villages.

Is "yeah, no" our catch phrase now?

>>4029342
Yeah, no, yeah

>>4029342
Yeah, no. It's been our catchphrase the whole time.

>>4029342
Congratulations Naori, you're a cali girl now.

>>4028699
>>Then Amegakure will do the checking-in, not one of the ‘great’ villages.

>>4029760
Considering where King is from, it's no big surprise.

>>4029760
>>4029780
Also because the dialect Naori would have been raised with doesn't translate well into English.

>>4029931
What dialect would that be?

>>4029956
a very old fashioned japanese dialect spoken like those in noble districts and red light districts. Like how a prostitute or a courtesan speaks.

So what would the 'yeah, no' thing be in Japanese?

>>4028699
“Would I be right in thinking that it’s the ‘great’ villages that get you and your clan jumpy?” you muse.

After a moment, Kagerō nods in agreement. “It’s the same way with a lot of mercenary clans like the Fūma.”

“Then would it be more amenable if Amegakure were to be the ones to check in on your clan?”

Kagerō considers your proposed solution, and eventually has to shrug. “You’d have to ask my clansmen that question.”

“Any idea how they’d respond?”

“Last I spoke with any of them, they’d refuse. After they hear what happened to Arashi and the others, who knows?”

“I think we were hoping you would,” Shikamaru sighs, rubbing the back of his neck.

“It’s been years,” Kagerō admits. “In acknowledgement of your permission, I’d be willing to bring you to speak with the others of my clan.”

Then she gestures to Shikamaru. “You and your team as well.”

Finally she turns to the Suna ANBU. “Not him.”

“Understandable,” you sigh. “You heard the lady. I suggest you make your report and get going. The team from Konoha will verify my own reports, Suna will have the full details of our arrangement in a few days.”

You signal for Shikamaru to bring in his sensei, and gesture for the ANBU to leave.

“Your village had better make good on your talk,” he grumbles.

You don’t even dignify him with a rebuttal.

“I take it things went well here?” Asuma-sensei muses, fiddling with an unlit cigarette.

>They did, yes. Shikamaru can fill you in on the details while we travel.
>I’ll make a full report on what I learned. For now I need to borrow you and your team.
>I’m going to make some further arrangements. I’ll return to Konoha to file my report later.
>Other?

>>4030340
>>I’ll make a full report on what I learned. For now I need to borrow you and your team.

>>4030340
>>I’m going to make some further arrangements. I’ll return to Konoha to file my report later.

>>4030340
>>I’m going to make some further arrangements. I’ll return to Konoha to file my report later.

>>4030340
>I’m going to make some further arrangements. I’ll return to Konoha to file my report later.

>>4030340
>>I’ll make a full report on what I learned. For now I need to borrow you and your team.

>>4030340
>I’ll make a full report on what I learned. For now I need to borrow you and your team.

>>4030340
>I’m going to make some further arrangements. I’ll return to Konoha to file my report later.

>>4030340
>I’m going to make some further arrangements. I’ll return to Konoha to file my report later.

>>4030340
>>They did, yes. Shikamaru can fill you in on the details while we travel.

>>4030340
>1d6, high roll
>taking four dropping the worst

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4032378

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4032378

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4032378

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4032378
HOLY FUCK. GODDAMMIT DICE. YOU WHORE.

>>4032388
>>4032384
>>4032382
>>4032380
>>4032380
Ha rd no then

>>4032378
“I’d say so,” you agree. “There are some further arrangements I’ll need to see to, but I’ll be sure to return to Konoha to make a full report as soon as I’ve finished.”

“What arrangements?” Asuma-sensei frowns as he finally gets around to lighting his cigarette. “The Fifth will want to know.”

“Reuniting Fūma Kagerō with her clan, and arranging to keep tabs on them after they leave the Land of Sound,” you explain.

Asuma cocks his head. “Huh? You mean that Fūma clan, or another Fūma clan?”

“Seems like there are two,” you shrug. “Maybe yours is a branch?”

Kagerō shakes her head. “There’s no relationship that any of us know.”

“Alright then, there are two clans that share a name. Spelled differently I’d assume?”

“That’s correct.”

“It’s not like Sarutobi or anything with more syllables,” Asuma-sensei decides. “So I guess it was bound to be the case. There are only so many two-syllable combinations that sound any good after all.”

“Anyway, I’ll let Lady Fifth know to expect your report,” he concludes. “Come on, let’s go home.”

Two of his genin watch you suspiciously as they depart, while Shikamaru gives you a slight nod as he passes.
>1/2

>>4032403
With little trouble, Kagerō navigates you to a nearby village where you find who you’re looking for on the outskirts… when they stop to try and take your money.

A giant of a man takes the lead, hefting an equally massive sword and slamming it into the pathway between you and Kagerō to force you into evading. It’s when you’re mid-leap that the archers target you, hoping to hit you while you’re in the air and unable to push off anything.

“Nice try!”

You draw Umekiri to cut one of the arrows out of the air, the motion giving you enough momentum to kick a second arrow and deflect it before unsealing a shuriken to intercept a third arrow. Finally you complete your movement, landing against the side of a tree trunk and sticking there using chakra flowing through the soles of your feet.

“Hanzaki!” Kagerō raises her voice, having gone to similar measures in order to avoid getting shot full of arrows. “Don’t tell me you forgot my face already. It hasn’t been that long.”

“I have a short memory when it comes to traitors!” the attacker barks, throwing his sword with a nice spin on it towards Kagerō who manages to duck under it so that it lodges instead into a tree behind her.

Instead of pushing the advantage against her attacker Kagerō is forced to draw snap an arrow she snagged out of the air, using its broad head like a makeshift kunai to defend herself with from the continuing volley of arrows. Meanwhile Hanzaki takes the time to wrench his sword free using wires attached to its hilt, and readies to attack again.

You cut down another volley of arrows aimed at yourself, trying to make your way towards the bandit leader and Kagerō, when a girl’s voice interrupts.

“Knock it off, Hanzaki!”

An orange-haired girl in a dark cap and a purple-grey vest has joined the mess, but on whose side you can’t quite say just yet. So instead of committing yourself even further you stand ready, eyes darting from one concealed shinobi archer to the next.

You’re massively outnumbered here, and most definitely surrounded, but if you really had to you could probably manage a breakthrough.

“Is that you, Kagerō?” the newcomer asks.

The pale girl nods curtly. “You look well, Sasame-kun.”

“What’s going on here?” Sasame demands. “Why are you here all of a sudden, and who is that?”

>Introduce yourself, and ask about the rude greeting.
>Say nothing just yet, remain on guard.
>De-escalate by sheathing Umekiri first.
>Other?

>>4032459
>De-escalate by sheathing Umekiri first

>>4032459
>De-escalate by sheathing Umekiri first.

>>4032459
>Say nothing just yet, remain on guard.
>De-escalate by sheathing Umekiri first.

>>4032459
>>Say nothing just yet, remain on guard.
>>De-escalate by sheathing Umekiri first.
bow slowly, at least to show we are ready to talk
and aren't a threat

>>4032459
>Say nothing just yet, remain on guard.
>De-escalate by sheathing Umekiri first.

>>4032459
>>De-escalate by sheathing Umekiri first.

>>4032459
>Say nothing just yet, remain on guard.
>De-escalate by sheathing Umekiri first.

>>4032459
Instead of speaking, you make your intentions known by your actions. You perform a cursory flick with Umekiri’s blade, then return her most of the way to her sheath. Just in case you stop her with your left thumb, the nail meeting her guard to keep her loose in the sheath’s throat and ready to be drawn at a moment’s notice. Your right hand waits there as well, fingertips resting lightly against the hilt.

“Things with Orochimaru have changed dramatically,” Kagerō muses quietly.

“Did Arashi-san send you here?” Sasame asks anxiously.

After an awkward moment, Kagerō shakes her head. “Sasame-kun… Arashi-san is dead.”

Sasame’s eyes widen. “You’re kidding, right? That’s… that has to be a joke. Right, Kagerō-san?”

“I’m afraid not,” Kagerō insists. “Orochimaru left us to defend his base of operations… and Arashi fought to the death. He killed Jigumo and Kamikiri using a technique Orochimaru taught him. Kotohime didn’t make it either.”

“That isn’t funny!” Sasame counters, slowly raising her voice. “Hey, Rain girl… tell me she’s lying...”

“Something tells me the Fūma Arashi you knew was a very different man to the one who died,” you sigh sadly. “But regardless… it’s just as Kagerō-han said.”

The truth of Kagerō’s news doesn’t hit like a load of bricks… more like sand slowly piling atop the survivors of the Fūma clan, until the effects of its weight are obvious from looking at them. The strength goes out of Sasame’s knees, and all around you bows are lowered. Even the brash leader of the clan, the one who charged on you without warning and with his sword held high, seems at a loss for words.

“I fully intended to spend my life the same way,” Kagerō admits. “I even used the Mayfly technique, which should have killed me. But instead of dying I was given a second chance, and I came back because I intend to spend my life again: this time for my clan.”

“And what makes you think we’d just accept you back?” Hanzaki challenges her.

“I don’t,” Kagerō admits. “I expect to have to earn it.”

“And how do you think you’re gonna do that?”

“First, by telling you everything about what happened with Orochimaru,” she tells him bluntly. “Second, by warning you that the clan should be moved out of this nation.”

“And here I thought you were trying to get us to LIKE you again!” Hanzaki shouts angrily. “What do you mean, move the clan?”

“It has nothing to do with you or me,” Kagerō explains, shrinking somewhat under the social pressure. “It’s this place… the whole Land of Sound is nothing more than an open-air laboratory to Orochimaru and his people. No one is safe here, especially not unaligned shinobi like the Fūma.”

“And if it weren’t for you, Arashi, and the rest...”
>1/2

>>4034529
“Then you’d still be in this position,” you observe calmly. “After all, Orochimaru was the one who approached your clan, correct?”

Hanzaki falls silent, fuming at having been corrected, but instead Sasame raises her head. “Yes. You’re right.”

“Then someone in his organization certainly remembers you exist,” you continue. “The best way to avoid being used or eliminated is to leave.”

“That’s the conclusion I reached,” Kagerō agrees solemnly. “We’ve outstayed our welcome here. Best to move on while we can.”

“Where?” Sasame asks nervously. “Where could we possibly go?”

“The Land of Hot Water,” Kagerō suggests. “They’ve been reducing their shinobi force size lately, so we could probably find good work there if we stay below Yūgakure’s notice.”

“Her plan checks out,” you offer your own assessment.

“We’ll consider it,” Hanzaki replies.

“Also we’ll need to check in on you,” you add. “Or more specifically, on Kagerō.”

“What!? Why!?”

“Because she’s a former subordinate of Orochimaru’s,” you sigh wearily. “Sunagakure and Konohagakure would insist after the war they fought.”

“I think I can understand that,” Sasame agrees. “Really… I think we’ve all doubted Orochimaru this whole time, so you’d think we’d all be able to understand.”

>I need to head back to my own land through Konoha, file a report with the Hokage.
>I can accompany you as far as the border, if you’d like.
>We should work out a schedule for maintaining contact up-front.
>Other?

>>4034547
>>I can accompany you as far as the border, if you’d like.
>>We should work out a schedule for maintaining contact up-front.

>>4034547
>We should work out a schedule for maintaining contact up-front.

>>4034547
>>We should work out a schedule for maintaining contact up-front.

>>4034547
>I can accompany you as far as the border, if you’d like.
>We should work out a schedule for maintaining contact up-front.

>>4034547
>I can accompany you as far as the border, if you’d like.
>We should work out a schedule for maintaining contact up-front.

>>4034547
You’re quick to suggest a schedule for checking in on the Fūma clan on a regular basis, at least for the immediate future. They’re to send you a message as soon as they settle, ideally in a village near the border with the Land of Fire. They’ll continue sending messages on a weekly basis after that for the first six months, then on a monthly basis for the next six months after that. If they fail to do so, policing efforts by the forces of Yūgakure will check their village, and if that is unsuccessful in resolving any potential issues an investigation by Konoha’s regular forces is to follow. Once per month, for the next twelve months or until such time as Orochimaru is captured or killed, a team from Konoha will also expect to actually see Kagerō as well.

All things considered it’s far from the most onerous set of measures you could come up with. The Fūma are less than thrilled about the arrangements, though between the girl named Sasame and Kagerō they’re able to convince their clan of the necessity of the measures, if not actually bring them around to a point where they agree that they’re surprisingly easy requirements given the situation.

Konohagakure is busy when you arrive there, and you end up filing your report to Tsunade’s assistant Shizune… who seems to be beside herself with the workload. Even most of the genin who you met when you were here for the chūnin exams are busy with missions, trying their best to absorb the impact of the losses you’d wager.

>1d6, high roll
>taking the first three

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4034769

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4034769

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4034769

>>4034769
You get a few pieces of mail over the next few weeks of busywork missions. One from Fū practically begged you for new stories, and several at the regular intervals from the Fūma clan. The latter of course helps you in satisfying the former, though you’re careful never to mention Orochimaru or anyone else involved by name. A second arrived from Kurotsuchi of Iwagakure, mostly an exchange of pleasantry and small-time news from your respective villages. The border war there has apparently settled down once more, which is good news.

A letter also arrives from, of all people, Ryūzetsu of Kusagakure, asking how you are. Your reply is more carefully written than even your letter to Fū was, though you’re careful to be civil. Another surprise is getting a rather short letter from Nara Shikamaru, the one whose Shadow Bind technique you made use of when interrogating Kagerō: apparently your restraint made a positive impression with the young man, enough so that he thought to drop you a line.

One rainy afternoon, a messenger ninja from the border guard finds you sitting on a veranda in the shrine’s grounds, simply enjoying a cup of tea and appreciating the ginkgo starting to turn colors and the blooms of chrysanthemum and spider lily distributed throughout the gardens.

“Raishō Naori?”

“That’s me,” you acknowledge.

“Someone appeared at the border, apparently looking for you.”

That’s odd.

>Who is it? Don’t tell me you didn’t bother to ask for a name.
>Send them to me under escort. That shouldn’t be a problem, should it?
>I’ll come to the border with you, meet this person myself.
>Other?

>>4034976
>Send them to me under escort. That shouldn’t be a problem, should it?

>>4034976
>>I’ll come to the border with you, meet this person myself.

>>4034976
>>Who is it? Don’t tell me you didn’t bother to ask for a name.

>>4034976
>Who is it? Don’t tell me you didn’t bother to ask for a name.

>>4034976
>Who is it? Don’t tell me you didn’t bother to ask for a name

>>4034976
>>Who is it? Don’t tell me you didn’t bother to ask for a name.

>>4034976
>Who is it? Don’t tell me you didn’t bother to ask for a name

>>4034976
>Who is it? Don’t tell me you didn’t bother to ask for a name.

>>4034976
>Who is it? Don’t tell me you didn’t bother to ask for a name.
>I’ll come to the border with you, meet this person myself.

File: 38018220_p0.jpg (114 KB, 633x460)

114 KB JPG

>>4034976
“Do you have a name?” you ask, rolling your eyes dramatically. Seriously, the nerve of these guys sometimes.

The messenger shrugs. “I think it was Temari?”

...

A few minutes later you find yourself crossing the bridge towards the check point with a pair of parasols, neither of which bearing any hidden weapons. One of these you soon hand to a very soggy Temari, who looks quite a bit like a cat who’s just been given a bath.

“Thanks,” she grumbles. “I’d have brought one myself if I knew they’d keep me standing out in the rain waiting for you.”

“Come on, let’s get you inside,” you insist, before turning to the guard on duty. “I’ll take responsibility for her.”

“You’ll sign for it?” he asks.

You quickly sign the register, and take possession of Temari’s signature giant fan, sealing it into your palm with a few quick gestures. Then you lead her across the bridge and towards one of the cafes and restaurants which greet both visitors to Amegakure and guards trying to get warm and dry during their breaks.

“In here,” you gesture. “All these places are popular among the border guards, this one’s been pretty nice when I came before.”

Once inside you navigate her around the hearth in the middle of the room, carefully preventing her from looking towards Itachi and his partner who you realized too late were already having tea here, and seat her facing away from their table.

“What’s all this about?” she asks you.

“Classmate of mine,” you mumble. “Real asshole, if he saw your headband there’d be a fight for sure.”

“Normally I’d be game,” Temari admits as Itach and his shark-faced partner calmly head for the exit behind her back. “But today, it’s probably best not to.”

“I’ll be straight with you,” she continues. “I’m here to ask you a favor.”

“Yeah, no, last I checked this thing worked the other way around with us,” you remind her.

“Then I’ll have to owe you two!” Temari insists in what you’d call a ‘stage yell’. “Listen, I need your help with something important, and it can’t be done as a normal mission, and it also can’t be done by the Leaf. Are you going to listen or not?”

“I’m listening,” you admit with a sigh. “It’s just that from what I’m hearing this is going to mean trouble.”
>1/2

>>4036443
“It’s about my village’s ANBU,” she explains. “The elders are sending Gaara on a joint mission with a team from Konoha, but Baki-sensei got warning that some of our ANBU are going to take the opportunity to assassinate him.”

“They’re acting without orders?” you ask skeptically.

Temari nods curtly. “They think he’s still a threat to our village and want him gone.”

“And so you want me to do… what, exactly?” you ask.

She hands you a scroll, inside which is a full write-up of a persona… either based on someone who actually exists, or a fake. “There’s also a mask sealed in there.”

“So you want me to pose as a Suna ANBU?” you realize. “That’s the plan? I tag along and interfere with their assassination?”

“That’s why we can’t have it be a regular mission, and I can’t take this to Konoha,” Temari explains. “Naori-san, you’re literally the only person from one of the smaller villages I can trust with this. Once it’s said and done it’ll go on record, and I can assure you it’ll come with Sunagakure’s official gratitude.”

“Assuming it goes our way,” you point out.

>I’ll take the mission. But remember, you owe me… TWICE now.
>I’ll need to run it by my sensei. One doesn’t just sneak out of Amegakure.
>I can’t take on a mission like that, but I can suggest one or two people who might.
>Other?

>>4036449
>>I’ll need to run it by my sensei. One doesn’t just sneak out of Amegakure.

>>4036449
>>I’ll take the mission.
for the same reasoning as to why we didn't kill gaara during the konoha crush.

>>4036449
>>I’ll need to run it by my sensei. One doesn’t just sneak out of Amegakure.

>>4036449
> Assuming we don't need to leave immediately, I’ll need to run it by my sensei. One doesn’t just sneak out of Amegakure.

>>4036449
>I’ll need to run it by my sensei. One doesn’t just sneak out of Amegakure.

>>4036449
>>I’ll need to run it by my sensei. One doesn’t just sneak out of Amegakure.

>>4036449
>>4036449
>I’ll need to run it by my sensei. One doesn’t just sneak out of Amegakure.

>>4036449
>I’ll need to run it by my sensei. One doesn’t just sneak out of Amegakure.

>>4036449
“I’ll need to run it past my sensei of course,” you admit. “In the mean time I’ll treat you to tea and cakes.”

“This is a pressing kinda thing,” Temari insists quietly. “You know, like time-sensitive?”

“And no one just sneaks out of Amegakure that easily,” you reply candidly. “Not even me.”

As Temari munches dejectedly on some dango that came with your tea, you leave for the bathroom where you sense the presence of some familiar chakra. Inside you find that there’s a high, narrow window that’s been left open for ventilation, and that a certain someone is waiting up under the eaves just outside and to the left of the window.

“You know this girl?” Itachi asks you brusquely.

“Snooping outside a women’s toilet isn’t a good look,” you reply. “What do you want?”

“What did she want?”

“She wants me to help her brother Gaara,” you tell him. “He’s likely to be attacked by Sunagakure’s own ANBU on his next mission.”

“And she wants you to infiltrate as an ANBU?” Itachi guesses. “So you agreed?”

“I want to run it by Tenshi-sensei first,” you reply sternly. “You know my hand’s not as free as yours might be.”

There’s a brief pause. “Konan-san just left the village this morning. Were she here, she’d tell you to go.”

“You know my sense’s true name?”

“It took a while for her to trust me with it, but yes.”

“Then you’ll let the guards know?” you ask.

“I will.”

You sigh, making it a point to run the sink briefly to make anyone outside the bathroom who might walk in think you’ve been using the room for its intended purpose. “Then I’ll agree. After allowing time to conceivably have asked the question, of course.”

There’s no response… Itachi has just left.

“… I wonder if all the Uchiha are weirdos?”
>1/2

>>4036628
Once you go out to rejoin Temari, you begin to give her your cover story.

“I took a moment to send a messenger summons,” you lie as you sit down. “We should have an answer later this evening. Until then you’re free to stay in a room near the bridge, or you can come with me to the shrine and the head priest will give you the room next to mine.”

“You live at a shrine?”

“Orphans have to live somewhere,” you shrug. “It’s nothing fancy, but the head priest knew my mother. They do right by me there.”

You help set up the room for her, and invite her to dinner with the small cadre of priests who all live at the shrine. The meal is taken this time in the northeast corner of the residence, walls slid away in two directions to put the rain falling on the autumn flowers and the ginkgo leaves outside as the light dims. Eventually, after the steamed tofu, vegetables, and sauces are gone from the table, the walls are shut against the increasingly cold breeze outside.

“I think I hate this,” Temari admits, gesturing to the sounds outside the window in the room she’ll be sleeping in while she’s here. “Just can’t get used to it. How do you do it?”

“I was born here,” you shrug. “For me it’s normal as breathing, same as you’re used to how dry it is in the desert.”

“Yeah, but I still hate how it plays hell with your hair,” Temari admits. “That’s one thing I like about it here.”

>Try to strike up some ‘girl talk’ with Temari. It’s not something you get to do very often.
>Ask Temari how things have been in her village. You’d assume she was up for promotion?
>Your mother taught you how to entertain a guest. Try putting that knowledge to use.
>Other?

>>4036695
>Try to strike up some ‘girl talk’ with Temari. It’s not something you get to do very often.

>>4036695
Girls talk and a bit of snooping about promotions

>>4036695
>>Ask Temari how things have been in her village. You’d assume she was up for promotion?

>>4036695
>>Try to strike up some ‘girl talk’ with Temari. It’s not something you get to do very often.
Yes.. hair play, it's hell. I also do the nails.

>>4036695
>Try to strike up some ‘girl talk’ with Temari. It’s not something you get to do very often.
Time to brag about how good we look while pretending to complain.

>>4036695
>>Try to strike up some ‘girl talk’ with Temari. It’s not something you get to do very often.

>>4036695
>>Try to strike up some ‘girl talk’ with Temari. It’s not something you get to do very often.

>>4036695
>Your mother taught you how to entertain a guest. Try putting that knowledge to use.

>>4036695
>Your mother taught you how to entertain a guest. Try putting that knowledge to use.

>>4036695
>>Try to strike up some ‘girl talk’ with Temari. It’s not something you get to do very often.
>>Ask Temari how things have been in her village. You’d assume she was up for promotion?
>>Your mother taught you how to entertain a guest. Try putting that knowledge to use.
all of them?

>>4036695
>>Your mother taught you how to entertain a guest. Try putting that knowledge to use.

>>4036695
>Your mother taught you how to entertain a guest. Try putting that knowledge to use.

>>4036695
>>Try to strike up some ‘girl talk’ with Temari. It’s not something you get to do very often.

>>4036695
Settling in a little, you remove Umekiri from her sheath and then from her hilt as well. Temari watches with interest as you meticulously clean the old oil from her blade, wipe her clean, then carefully apply fresh clove oil to her.

“You put a lot of effort into that,” Temari observes, a note of appreciation in her tone. “It must mean a lot to you.”

“My mother gave it to my father, just before I was born,” you explain. “It’s belonged in my clan for generations.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“A kunoichi should have an appreciation for beauty,” you declare, slowly reassembling your sword. “Ours is an ephemeral kind of artistry, which can only clearly be seen in adversity.”

“I agree, it just doesn’t mean we can’t look pretty too,” Temari shrugs. “It’s sad though when a kunoichi stops at that. Like that pinkie girl from the exams.”

“Yeah, no, she just doesn’t have any ambition,” you offer succinctly. “Maybe if she found a real reason to improve she’d be more than just a cute name and a serviceable haircut.”

“Y’know,” Temari muses, “I can’t say I thought too much of the girls in Konoha. Except maybe that dango girl… she had a whole thing going with the qipao top. Not my sorta thing, but at least it was a thing.”

“The guys were pretty disappointing too,” you shrug. “I mean don’t get me wrong, Sasuke’s pretty cute. He’s just… disappointing as a person.”

“Really now?” Temari asks. “I never really got a good feel for what he was like, so I’ll take your word for it. You sure none of them stood out at all?”

“One of them’s not awful,” you admit. “Shikamaru, that shadow-boy… a bit lazy, but once he gets around to doing something it seems he does it well most of the time.”

“Hm,” Temari muses. “So you’ve got the looks, the personality, and the skills to be the ‘popular girl’ of your village. There… a guy ‘in your life’?”

“What do you mean.”

“Oh come on,” Temari smirks. “You know what I mean. So?”

>You'd be surprised, actually.
>There kind of was, but he’s gone now.
>I’m open-minded about it, and not particularly committed.
>Other?

>>4036965
>You'd be surprised, actually.
We´re not supposed to know about Itachi, he´s a missing nin technically. Right?

>>4036965
No, No most of my male contemporaries around home are still at the "Dick measure to assert dominance" stage of life. There are a couple of guys around here easy on the eyes, but just looking good isn't enough. the only guy I'd have considered was on the same mission that cost me my eye, he didn't make it.

So I am perfectly happy to wait on people's brains to catch up with the rest of them first. If their brains catch up with them. Some of the guys make Naruto look Sane and Sasuke look approachable.

>>4036965
>You'd be surprised, actually.

>>4036965
>No, No most of my male contemporaries around home are still at the "Dick measure to assert dominance" stage of life. There are a couple of guys around here easy on the eyes, but just looking good isn't enough. the only guy I'd have considered was on the same mission that cost me my eye, he didn't make it.
>So I am perfectly happy to wait on people's brains to catch up with the rest of them first. If their brains catch up with them. Some of the guys make Naruto look Sane and Sasuke look approachable.

A mouth full but this.

>>4036965
>You'd be surprised, actually.
>Most boys are still too immature for my taste.
Less of a mouthful, and not bringing up dead teammates during casual conversation.

>>4036965
>>4037089
Yeah this is fine.

>>4036965
Supporting >>4037089

>>4036965
“You’d be surprised, actually,” you chuckle. “See, plenty of guys our age look good. But I feel like I take after my mom a bit too much… I’m picky.”

“Picky how?”

“I wanna find a guy who’s actually… you know,” you gesture vaguely. “Not a total idiot.”

“So you wanna find someone... 'mature',” Temari summarizes.

“If you wanna put it that way.”

“Well good luck with that,” Temari shrugs. “You’re gonna have to wait a while I think for the boys to catch up.”

“I’d make a joke about being a lesbian,” you sigh, setting Umekiri aside in her sheath. “But what girls did you meet in Konoha that weren’t just as bad… actually, come to think of it, Ayame’s not bad.”

“Ayame?”

“The girl at the ramen shop,” you clarify. “Very down-to-earth. If I was gonna go for a girl I could do worse.”

“Must be a nice change of pace,” Temari admits. “Hanging around with shinobi all the time probably skews our perception of the world in ways we don’t even consider.”

“It is pretty nice,” you admit. “So, any boys back in Sunagakure I should keep my eyes open for?”

Temari actually laughs out loud. “No, not at all. Most guys back home are way too dour… no fun at all. Anyway, the only three I ever spend any time with are Baki-sensei and my brothers.”

>So, what’re your brothers actually like? You know, in real life.
>So Gaara… you really want me to save his life? You were terrified of him once.
>So what do you think of our allies in the Leaf village?
>Other?

>>4037182
>>So, what’re your brothers actually like? You know, in real life.
leading into
>So Gaara… you really want me to save his life? You were terrified of him once.

>>4037182
>>So, what’re your brothers actually like? You know, in real life.
>>So Gaara… you really want me to save his life? You were terrified of him once.

>>4037182
>>So, what’re your brothers actually like? You know, in real life.

>>4037182
>So, what’re your brothers actually like? You know, in real life.

>>4037182
>So, what’re your brothers actually like? You know, in real life.
>So what do you think of our allies in the Leaf village?

>>4037182
>>4037188
this

>>4037182
>>So, what’re your brothers actually like? You know, in real life.
>So what do you think of our allies in the Leaf village?

>>4037182
>>So Gaara… you really want me to save his life? You were terrified of him once.

>>4037182
>Maybe I should keep my eyes on you
Flirt

>>4037182
>So Gaara… you really want me to save his life? You were terrified of him once.

So are we gonna preempt Hiashi’s plan for a God-child if we conceive one with Itachi?

>>4038138
>Neji, the timetable has shortened
>Initiate Operation Wingman

>>4037182
“So what’re your brothers actually like?” you ask Temari out of plain curiosity. “I mean, not in ninja terms.”

“That’s a tough one,” Temari bites her lip in contemplation. “Kankuro is… stubborn. And his only real hobby is working on his puppets. Gaara doesn’t have any hobbies or friends, and for years we never really spoke. So I don’t actually know much about him.”

“But you’re adamant you want me to help save him?” you press gently.

She nods. “It’s less like I’m basing it off anything he’s said or done before. I just… kinda want to see him change.”

“You never really gave up on him, did you?”

“No, and for everything Kankuro would have said a few months ago… I don’t think he ever did either.”

“I’m sorry,” you heave a discontented sigh. “I was trying to go for girl talk, but I really don’t have any idea what I’m doing anymore.”

Temari snorts with laughter. “Yeah, neither do I! I haven’t had a ‘normal’ friend since I was a little girl.”

“Because of your father?”

She nods. “And later because of Gaara. People were either too scared of me to get close or two dumb to know any better.”

You shake your head. “Would you just look at the two of us...”

Temari shrugs. "So anyway, to answer your question I don't think any of us exist in 'real life', so your guess is as good as mine."
>1/2

>>4038853
The next morning you awaken a little earlier than usual, taking the time to work through some basic kata with Umekiri before placing her into a nondescript gray lacquer sheath that could belong to any ANBU in any nation in the world.

“Good news?” Temari eventually asks you.

You nod curtly. “I have permission to go.”

“Great, I’ll give you the rest of the details!”
>1d6, high roll
>Taking for and dropping the worst

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4038870
pls no 1 pls no 1 pls no 1 pls no 1 pls no 1

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4038870

>>4038874
well, fuck you too dice

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4038870

>>4038874
Fate says otherwise.

>>4038874
Congrats, it’s a 1

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4038870


>>4038874
fail

File: bad crop.jpg (373 KB, 1428x1397)

373 KB JPG

>>4038138
>>4038423
Shall I post it?

File: d6787181c65c5e6bb3a3fcc9b(...).jpg (20 KB, 400x400)

20 KB JPG

>>4038870
So that’s how you find yourself dressed as a Sunagakure ANBU, in a forest somewhere in the Land of Rivers. Good intentions may not have paved a literal road to Hell on this occasion, but they certainly did lead somewhere unexpected this time. In fact there’s a whole gaggle of men… well, mostly men… standing around in this part of the forest all wearing Sunagakure’s typical armor and theatrical masks. Of course none of them have any reason to doubt you… you’re wearing the same uncomfortable getup, bandages, mask, and all. Yours is, perhaps not unintentionally, based on the Karasu Tengu masks which bear a beak-like face and fierce eyes.

“I am Kara,” you address your ‘peers’ as you arrive. “I… hope I have not kept anyone waiting.”

“Not at all,” the man you presume to be the commander assures you. “We understand that our comrades may need to take varied paths to reach this point. We will begin shortly.”

At what seems to be the appointed time, noon, the ANBU commander addresses you.

“We will split into two teams. The first team will ensure that the team from Konohagakure does not interfere with the operation.”

He then lists the members of this team as himself, along with eleven other ANBU yourself not among them. That must mean you’ll be sorted into the team going after Gaara. Good. That simplifies matters.

“The rest of you will accompany the puppet team to ambush Lord Gaara,” the commander declares. “Using the puppets we’ve smuggled in with the puppeteers accompanying him, we will incapacitate his sand shield and strike without mercy.”

“You have your orders, now disperse.”

Following the second team, you quickly pick up traces of Gaara and his subordinates, carefully managing your chakra and moving downwind. These ANBU may have fairly rudimentary skills in tracking and espionage, but they’re the same solid methods shinobi have used for centuries to detect while evading detection. And they’re damn good at it.

They meet up with the Konoha team… which happens to be team Kakashi? Oh man, those poor bastards in team one are so screwed. Like no chance in hell.

After the two target teams converse briefly, your team follows Gaara’s into the forest as they move around what looks like a defensible hilltop, moving the opposite direction from team Kakashi.

>Turn on the ANBU as early as possible so that Gaara can counterattack when they’re confused.
>Hold off until the ANBU use their puppet trick, wait until they’re focused on Gaara.
>Wait and see what happens with Team Kakashi. You want the full strategic picture this time.
>Other?

>>4039847
>Hold off until the ANBU use their puppet trick, wait until they’re focused on Gaara.

>>4039847
>>Hold off until the ANBU use their puppet trick, wait until they’re focused on Gaara.

>>4039847
>hold off until

>>4039847
>>Hold off until the ANBU use their puppet trick, wait until they’re focused on Gaara.

>>4039847
>>Hold off until the ANBU use their puppet trick, wait until they’re focused on Gaara.

>>4039847
>1d6, DC 10
>taking the first three

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4040017

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4040017
>>4040019
well that is a promising start

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4040017

>>4039847
>Hold off until the ANBU use their puppet trick, wait until they’re focused on Gaara.
Kakashi is one of the best shinobi when reading and reacting to variables, so we should wait until the perfect time to strike so the enemy has little time to counterattack

>>4039847
As you close in on Gaara and his subordinates, the ANBU around you begin to ready kunai and shuriken. You do the same, drawing two handfuls of shuriken and pushing forward with your arms crossed over your chest and ready to unleash the barrage.

Without any verbal confirmation the two men you’ve identified as the “puppeteers” throw their kunai, and the ANBU join you in unleashing a wave of iron towards Gaara’s back. Unsurprisingly his sand shield is at the ready, knocking all of the weapons out of the air and leaving them totally ineffective. You could’ve told anyone that would be the probable outcome of such a tactic, but you realize it does force him to use his sand.

The ANBU are quick to encircle their prey, attacking again to force Gaara to draw his sand closer.

“He fell for it!”

From the packs on the backs of his two subordinates two small puppets emerge and begin winding chakra threads around the sand shell, tightening it with each pass. His subordinates fall back under a vicious glare from Gaara… did he just deliberately run them off, knowing that the ANBU had them outnumbered and outclassed?

“Puppet Water Release: Mystic Rain Dance!”

The two puppets twist their wrists to reveal pipes, like bamboo fountains, which blast Gaara’s sand with dense, chakra-laden water as they circle.

Well, it’s only a matter of time now. Better get ready.

You start by removing the bulky shoulder guards on your borrowed flak jacket.

One of the nearby ANBU spares you a glance. “What are you doing?”

“Getting ready,” you explain cryptically. “Heavy shoulder armor reduces range of motion, making it harder to swing a sword properly.”

“Getting ready?” the ANBU repeats, obviously confused. “What for?”

“… this.”

The genjutsu afterimage you left disappears at the same second your first drawing cut slashes through the flak jacket of the first puppeteer. His muscles are lax, his mind and body unprepared for the attack. His partner barely has time to realize what just happened before your blade cuts through his chakra threads and a handful of poisoned paper shuriken pepper his exposed arms and unarmored legs.

After taking several paces away the anaesthetic in his leg muscles begins to show an effect, and causes him to slip off a tree branch and plunge to the forest floor.
>1/2

>>4040476
>“Getting ready”

Naori is the fucking best

>>4040476
About the same time, almost is if it had been choreographed beforehand, Uzumaki Naruto comes shouting out of the treetops in all his multitudes. Because of that only the three closest ANBU to you manage to mount a defense against your assault.

Two flank you, one with his sword drawn and the other with kunai… so his sword is just for show? You don’t mind if you do.

Using a flicker of genjutsu matched with your lower-end use of the Shunshin technique, you engage the first two shinobi. Parry the sword, turn the second one’s flank, and kick him in the back. He tumbles from the tree branch you’ve been fighting atop, suddenly unbalanced by an unforeseen blow, but the sword that had been on his back stays in your hand. His fall effectively ‘draws’ it for you, allowing you to parry the third ANBU’s sword strike.

For just a moment, you’re keenly aware that Gaara seems to have recognized you.

Meanwhile the Naruto clones are swamping the remaining ANBU, tying them up pretty effectively while the two shinobi from before have also returned, swinging literal tree branches to try and face down the ANBU attacking Gaara.

>Cut the branch out from beneath you, and use genjutsu so that it comes as a surprise.
>Hold off the two ANBU engaging you with Kengen-ryū. The battle is shifting in your favor already.
>Needs more explosions.
>Fall back to join up with Gaara.
>Other?

>>4040513
>Needs more explosions.
We never get to use our explosions.

>>4040513
>Needs more explosions.

>>4040513
>Use Kengen-ryu to mimic swordstrikes against them to force them to defend, then cut the treebranch.

>>4040513
>>Needs more explosions.

>>4040513
>Needs more explosions.
>Mix the paper seals with Rasenagans

>>4040513
>Needs more explosions.

>>4040513
>>Needs more explosions.

>>4040513
>Cut the branch out from beneath you, and use genjutsu so that it comes as a surprise.
I must be having trouble visualizing, because I don't know what it is that needs more explosions.

>>4040513
>>Needs more explosions.

>>4040513
>Needs more explosions.

>>4040513
>1d6, DC 9
>Summing the first three

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4041826

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4041826

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4041826

>>4041826
You decide that this sort of melee is a perfect opportunity to pass “explosions” off as a subtle and refined technique, and so when you have the chance you unseal a handful of exploding paper shuriken and throw them past your immediate opponents. They miss of course, shuriken rarely hit their targets unless you’re actively helping refine their trajectories to account for target evasion. But between their speed, enhanced by their sudden appearance thanks to Raikō Kenka, you’re able to pass them off as a failed attack before directing them to curve towards the ANBU who are fighting Gaara’s hapless subordinates.

The explosions that scatter the ANBU around them and throw their immediate opponents off their footing look like random chance, the ebb and flow of the battlefield at work, but you know better. You’re damn well aware that two outmatched chūnin with tree branches and shaking knees can’t stand up to a half dozen ANBU on their own. It’d be stupid to think otherwise. But on the surface it at least appears that their blind charge succeeded.

“Who the hell are you!?” the sword-wielding ANBU in front of you demands as you parry and redirect his attack yet again with Umekiri, even as you hold his teammate at bay with the ‘borrowed’ tantō in your left hand, always two steps ahead, always ready with a kick or a harrying cut.

“Who knows?” you reply cheerfully, ducking under a sweeping stroke of his sword and swiftly stepping in. Umekiri’s pommel slams into his solar plexus before the tantō bites into the back of his knee, dropping him as you turn and finish him with a kick to the jawline that sends him crashing to the forest floor.

The third ANBU comes at you behind a hail of shuriken which you parry and evade, before throwing Umekiri at him. He parries that blade out of the air… only to find the tantō hiding in its shadow. He leans and turns to evade, only to find you looking down on him from where you’ve retrieved Umekiri from midair. With a turning cut you sever his throat, before tumbling into the landing and coming up on your feet on the same thick branch where Gaara now stands.

“You have done enough,” Gaara insists in a soft growl… which doesn’t seem angry or sinister at all. More like this is just his normal tone. “Though I understand why you opted for decisive action, more than enough blood has been shed already… Raishō Naori-san.”

As he speaks, Gaara compresses a handful of wet sand into a small sphere.

Then he releases it, like a shot released from a sling, to pelt the remaining ANBU even as Naruto’s clones have them bogged down. Each blow lands with hammering strength, clearly punching the ANBU’s flak vests in with their force and in many cases lifting Gaara’s victims clean off their feet before slamming them into something.

“Nonlethal,” you muse, “but still, that’s gotta hurt.”
>1/2

>>4041888
You perform a cleaning flick, blood rolling off Umekiri’s well-oiled blade like water off a duck’s back, before you reverse your grip and carefully slide her back into the scabbard.

“Well,” you muse, turning towards Gaara, “that settles...”

Your line’s delivery is interrupted by a fist colliding with the side of your face, shattering the fake ANBU mask and nearly knocking you off your feet.

Uzumaki Naruto stands, arm outstretched and fist still set against your cheek, looking increasingly like he ASSUMED that was going to send you bouncing off the nearest tree trunk like a red-haired pinball.

“Well,” you sigh dramatically, not bothering to straighten your posture at all or respond to Naruto’s punch, “Temari was going to declassify this once it was over anyway. So I guess I’ll allow it.”

Gaara raises his eyebrow. “That’s good, seeing as it already happened.”

You frown back at him. “That’s a lot of sass coming from the damsel in distress.”

“Wait, you’re...”

“Raishō Naori, from Amegakure,” Kakashi-sensei finishes Naruto’s thought. “How interesting to find you here, dressed like a Sunagakure ANBU.”

“Care to explain?” Sasuke ‘asks’… in reality ‘demands’… drawing a kunai and twirling it briefly by its looped tang.

“Please wait,” Gaara insists, still in that same growling tone of voice. “Am I right in thinking that my sister sent you to infiltrate the ANBU sent here to kill me?”

“That’s right,” you nod, pulling the bandages off from around your head to rearrange your hair into a wrapped ‘dango’ style. “Provided the mask, flak jacket, and the cover story. To them I’m ‘Kara’, another ANBU who volunteered for this mission.”

“Well then, that’s good to hear,” Kakashi-sensei grins behind his mask.

“I’ve caused you all a lot of trouble. I apologize.”

“Nonsense, Gaara,” Kakashi assures him. “It’s not a big deal… and at least now these conspirators have been flushed out into the open. That’s as much a step forward as the mission itself was intended to be.”
>2/3

>>4041911
“Stop,” Gaara insists as he notices Naruto about to pry a mask off one of the unconscious ANBU.

“Why not?” Naruto wonders aloud. “Weren’t they just trying to kill us all a moment ago?”

“Even so, they’re still my people even if they can’t accept me,” Gaara muses. “Compromising their identities would only complicate matters for everyone involved, so please leave them be.”

“Forgive me if I’m a little surprised,” you reply, feeling the faintest hints of a smile tugging at your lips. “But that’s a remarkably mature way to look at it… or is it so stunningly naive it only appears to be mature?”

Gaara turns to face you. “Perhaps it’s naive, yes. But if they’re dead then they won’t be accepting my existence either, so then wouldn’t them remaining alive be preferable?”

“There you go again,” you chuckle. “I still can’t quite tell.”

“Likewise,” Gaara counters. “I can’t quite tell if you are kind-hearted or heartless. You kill expertly without hesitation, but also without prejudice. And you’re equally quick to protect others, like you did with my subordinates before, or to spare lives when taking them is not justified to your mind.”

“It’s puzzling.”

>In combat one should strive discern their opponent’s intentions, then mirror it in kind. Those men intended to kill me… but an unconscious, defeated opponent has no intentions.
>All things being equal killing is best avoided, but sometimes in context it’s the least-bad option available to me.
>I have neither overwhelming power nor training for nonlethal combat, so once I’m swept up into the ebb and flow of battle it’s either kill or die.
>Other?

>>4041925
>>In combat one should strive discern their opponent’s intentions, then mirror it in kind. Those men intended to kill me… but an unconscious, defeated opponent has no intentions.
i really like this way of looking at it

>>4041925
>In combat one should strive discern their opponent’s intentions, then mirror it in kind. Those men intended to kill me… but an unconscious, defeated opponent has no intentions.
Golden rule.

>>4041925
>>In combat one should strive discern their opponent’s intentions, then mirror it in kind. Those men intended to kill me… but an unconscious, defeated opponent has no intentions.

>>4041925
>>I have neither overwhelming power nor training for nonlethal combat, so once I’m swept up into the ebb and flow of battle it’s either kill or die.

>>4041925
>In combat one should strive discern their opponent’s intentions, then mirror it in kind. Those men intended to kill me… but an unconscious, defeated opponent has no intentions.
>Show Mercy when you can but not at your expense or the expense of what your are doing. These men and women have given me no inclination to give them any.

>>4041925
>In combat one should strive discern their opponent’s intentions, then mirror it in kind. Those men intended to kill me… but an unconscious, defeated opponent has no intentions.

>>4041925
>In combat one should strive to discern their opponent’s intentions, then mirror it in kind. Those men intended to kill me… but an unconscious, defeated opponent has no intentions.

>>4041925
>In combat one should strive discern their opponent’s intentions, then mirror it in kind. Those men intended to kill me… but an unconscious, defeated opponent has no intentions.

>>4041925
“It’s actually pretty simple,” you shrug. “In battle one should always strive to discern their opponents’ intentions not only to counter them, but also to appropriately mirror the level of force being used… which isn’t to say one should go out of the way to meet lethal force in kind, of course.”

“I see,” Gaara nods softly. “Thank you for clarifying.”

“Whaddya mean, ‘clarifying’!?” Naruto protests. “You said it was simple, but it doesn’t seem simple to me!”

“The decision whether to take a life is never simple,” Kakashi-sensei observes keenly. “But by keeping a rule of thumb in mind, you can at least make sure that you’re making decisions like that consistently.”

“It’s no guarantee of course,” you admit. “But for framing the decision, determining whether they’d kill you if you let them is a place to start determining what is and isn’t acceptable.”

“But aren’t there things you shouldn’t need to think about?” Sakura demands.

You roll your eyes. “Of course. Which is why those situations already fit into what I said.”

“Unconscious or incapacitated enemies have no intentions towards you,” Gaara growls softly. “And surrendered enemies have no intention of fighting. Even if you had to think about it, the rule Naori-san stated would lead to the same conclusion as a sense of mercy would.”

“It’s not meant for the best case scenario,” Kakashi summarizes, “but to find a simple guiding ideal that would apply Naori-kun’s ‘nobler instincts’ in practical worst-case scenarios. It’s the kind of consideration you’d expect from jōnin and kage-level shinobi.”

“I mean, that’s a little bit of an overstatement,” you mumble. “Anyway, I should let you get to your mission.”

“You’re not coming with us?” Naruto asks.

You shake your head. “I was sent here to make sure you and Gaara can both get to your mission objective… my role in this sidestory is over.”

“Thank you,” Gaara inclines his head slightly to you. “Next time we meet, I hope it can be under more civil circumstances.”

>I hope so as well, Gaara. Safe travels.
>I get the impression we'll always be meeting on the battlefield.
>I COULD report to Sunagakure this time...
>Other?

>>4042569
>>I hope so as well, Gaara.
but
>I get the impression we'll always be meeting on the battlefield.
>ninja seem to seldom have normal lives.

>>4042569
>>I hope so as well, Gaara. Safe travels.

>>4042569
>>I hope so as well, Gaara. Safe travels.

>>4042569
>>I hope so as well, Gaara. Safe travels.

>>4042569
>>I hope so as well, Gaara. Safe travels.

>>4042569
>I hope so as well, Gaara. Safe travels.

>>4042569
>>I COULD report to Sunagakure this time...

>>4042569
>>I hope so as well, Gaara. Safe travels.

>>4042569
>>I hope so as well, Gaara. Safe travels.

>>4042569
>I hope so as well, Gaara. Safe travels.

I wonder when/if pedo-snek is gonna go after sauske.

>>4043600
We're probably on his list as well.

>>4042569
>I hope so as well, Gaara. Safe travels.

>>4042569
“I hope so as well, Gaara,” you offer a smile, patting him on the shoulder as you pass. “Safe travels.”

You return to Amegakure where you find a debriefing waiting for you. It’s honestly not anything too significant… Konan-sensei merely wants to know that you succeeded in the primary objective, as well as what sort of opposition you ran up against from the Sunagakure ANBU. She also seems to take some interest in the team that Konohagakure chose to send on the cooperative mission, so you give her your honest opinions.

Sasuke is too skilled to still be a genin, but far too impulsive and full of himself to be a chūnin, at least by your reckoning. He’s a guy who doesn’t recognize the simple fact that acknowledging your own shortcomings is the first step in overcoming them. Naruto on the other hand has nothing in the way of natural skills, but he has high stamina and seems to be a natural at the multi shadow clone technique. He just lacks the taijutsu skills to make use of it. Kakashi-sensei is pretty much an ideal shinobi: fast, powerful, and insightful.

Sakura was just kind of there. You guess she’s what you’d call ‘book-smart’, but you’d also guess that she’s the type who’d find herself out of her depth, get all upset and emotional, resolve to improve herself to do better next time, but by the time the ‘next time’ arrives she’d have never gotten around to actually bettering herself in any meaningful way.

That seems to satisfy Konan-sensei’s curiosity, so you’re left to your own devices for a while. Those scrolls and books on nature releases that Konan-sensei had you read during your final year at the Academy help you pass the time when Team Ibuki and Team Ajisai are both busy with missions.
>1d6, high roll
>sum of the first three

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4043823

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4043823

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4043823

>>4043823
>11 (Hard)
>writing

>>4043823
You’ve heard it described before: Lightning release is supposed to feel like ‘a tingle’… but nobody ever describes how to do it, or precisely how to recognize that ‘tingle’ is the right one when you feel it. It’s stupidly vague. A little easier to grasp is Water release, which is meant to ‘crash and flow’. That much you can train for using one of the standard taijutsu exercises of “pushing hands”.

From a rooted stance you train to move with and redirect force of an opponent who is trying to push against you… Konan-sensei arranges a new opponent every day from the Academy, or else from the regular forces. Gradually, you begin to realize that the control of Water release is like the martial concept of fā jin, the perfectly-timed release of force between one person and the opponent.

You don’t get a chance to put any of that new knowledge to the test however, before Konan-sensei calls you to a meeting on the twenty-second of September.

You can tell that she has something important on her mind just from the look on her face.

“We’ve been fortunate,” she informs you. “After your mission into the Land of Sound, the Akatsuki had spies position themselves on that southern border. Those spies have reported four jōnin-level shinobi crossing into the Land of Fire, consistent with the ‘Sound Four’ your prisoner described.”

“Direct subordinates of Orochimaru’s,” you realize. “She wasn’t kidding… but what are they doing, then?”

“Your reports indicated that Orochimaru’s arms were damaged in some way,” Konan-sensei continues. “It stands to reason that he requires… shall we say ‘raw material’ from his former homeland.”

“And what do you expect me to do?” you press, honestly confused at the situation.

Konan-sensei extends her hand to you… in it is an ornately-folded origami flower, like the one she wears in her own hair. “Cross into the Land of Fire and prepare to intercept the Sound Four, and take that flower with you. It will carry my signal that the Leaf have requested help… whatever the Oto-nin want is not your concern. But if possible, you are to capture one under the guise of assisting the Leaf.”

>Summon Nyoka, rely on her to reach the designated area, then prepare the field with traps and paper butterflies.
>Summon Nyoka, unsummon her when you reach the area, then re-summon her to observe from the air.
>Go on foot to save chakra as much as possible, though it may mean you’ll arrive ‘late’ and have to chase the Sound Four.
>Other?

>>4043861
>Summon Nyoka, rely on her to reach the designated area, then prepare the field with traps and paper butterflies.

>>4043861
>>Summon Nyoka, rely on her to reach the designated area, then prepare the field with traps and paper butterflies.

>>4043861
>>Summon Nyoka, rely on her to reach the designated area, then prepare the field with traps and paper butterflies.

>>4043861
>Summon Nyoka, rely on her to reach the designated area, then prepare the field with traps and paper butterflies.

>>4043861
>summon nyoka, Unsummen her
Could nyoka hide herself in a cloud and observe, then we would have both traps and a lookout

>>4043861
>>Summon Nyoka, rely on her to reach the designated area, then prepare the field with traps and paper butterflies.

>>4043891
That IS an option, though she'd have little easy way to communicate without giving your position away.

In that case Isoka would make the better lookout.

>>4043916
>>4043861
in that case i vote for isoka summoned as a smart forward lookout

add to my vote at >>4043891

>>4043922
Seconded

We're good, but four jounin is fairly hefty. We need to stack the deck.

>>4043665
>An Uzumaki that has a Sharingan, AND it would piss off Akatsuki
>Orochimaru: I_can_only_be_so_erect.jpg

>>4043861
>1d6, best three of the first four

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4044041

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4044041

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4044041
Here we go!

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4044041

>>4044041
Okay, give me a second round of rolls... cause that was a particularly high result. Something may happen now, somewhat ahead of schedule.

>1d6, DC 11
>taking the first three

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4044065

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4044065
maybe?

>>4044071
apparently not

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4044065

>>4044065
>9: Failed
>SP: 6/6
Spend 2 SP to pass?
>Yes
>No

>>4044086
>y

The timetable has changed.

>>4044086
>Yes

>>4044086
>>Yes

>>4044086
YES
One mystery box please.

>>4044086
Your plan takes multiple steps, the first of which is to summon Nyoka into the rain.

“Sorry, I’ve been working on nature transformations but I’m afraid I need your help for a less… ‘dignified’ purpose.”

“You need me to carry you,” Nyoka guesses correctly.

“You’re not wrong.”

“I can do that,” Nyoka sighs, lowering herself and spreading her wings for you to climb atop her back.

It’s not exactly a smooth ride, but importantly it’s fast. Once you’re out of the rain you can make some small talk with her, mostly catching up on what’s happened since the last time you summoned her. She’s pleased to know that you’re starting to get a general idea how to manipulate Water and Lightning, though you can’t yet say honestly that you can produce those elements in any meaningful volume.

After arriving in the target area that evening, you part with Nyoka and release dozens of fluttering origami butterflies which cover a massive area to the south of you. It should give you a good sense of when the Sound Four are coming in your direction, and should do so well before they reach the Valley of the End near the northern border of the Land of Fire.

For the next step, you need help from Isoka and a mirror.

“What’s going on, Naori?” Isoka chirps excitedly. “Enemies to fight? Targets to track? Items to steal?”

“I need you to hold this hand mirror,” you tell her.

She stares at you. “Well that’s less exciting than I’d hoped.”

You shrug. “You should say that after you see what I plan to do.”

…

"Excuse me!?"
>1/3

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>>4044114
“How can you DO that to yourself?”

“It’s easy with the genjutsu in place,” you assure Isoka, having gently pried your left eye out of its socket. “I don’t even feel the pain. Lift the mirror, I need more light.”

Isoka flaps her wings frantically to keep in position, reflecting a little bit of morning sunlight onto what you’re working on.

“There we go,” you muse, noticing the small sealing tag plastered onto the inside of the socket and carefully removing it. “Now for the next part.”

You draw the new seal in script with your own blood, covering your face and running down your body, before taking the next hour or so to carefully replace the eyeball and apply your beginner’s level medical ninjutsu to close up the little scratches and slits your work has left.

Then you apply the seal, the lines of blood retracting in a spiralling pattern into your eye.

“There,” you declare. “Let me see that mirror.”

“Gross,” Isoka protests, dropping the mirror into your hand. “Call me again when you’ve decided to act like a normal person again, my time’s up.”

“Isoka?”

“Hm?”

“Thank you,” you bow your head politely. “You’ve been a great help and a valuable assistant.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re welcome.”

Isoka disappears in a puff of smoke as you get a look at your handiwork. The eye looks little different from before, but the real test will be what happens next. You close that eye.

“Unseal!” you declare, making the seal of confrontation with your left hand and opening the eye again.

Your vision seems like it’s tinted slightly red on that side of your field of view, and it takes a moment to get them focused. Closing your right eye allows you to refocus like never before… you can easily see ants crawling up in a wiggling line up the trunk of a tree a hundred meters away. Looking in the mirror, you see that your left eye is now a slightly deeper shade of red than your right, and is decorated with a three-tomoe design.
>2/3

>>4044116
New Mechanic: “Eye Strain” (ES)
>You may take a point of Eye Strain to use any dōjutsu ability you know
>ES is removed naturally at a rate of 1 ES per 2 updates
>This cannot be accelerated by any means
>When you are at maximum ES you cannot use any dōjutsu abilities
>When the counter reaches (0T) your Eye Strain has been cleared

Current Status
>SP: 4/6
>ES: 0/2 (0T)

You use your sensory technique, combining it with your newly-awoken Sharingan for the first time, testing the limits of this eye since it was plucked from the head of its previous owner…

… yeah, maybe best not to dwell on that.
>1d6, high roll
>best three of the first four

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4044121

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4044121

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4044121

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4044121

>>4044121
>SP: 4/6
>ES 1/2 (2T)

This new power… it’s incredible!

So this is the famed Sharingan once wielded by the Uchiha clan, who became legendary in the shinobi world. It’s no wonder that it was praised so highly, and remains so sought-after even after the clan’s demise.

Not only can you see the surroundings of your paper butterflies, you can even sense chakra over a wider area around them. It’s absolutely beyond anything you could have thought possible: perhaps that’s what it’s like to possess a kekkei genkai? To have a completely different conception of the possible?

You direct your butterflies to adjust for the increase in detection range, and doing so gives you a clearer picture of the battlefield as it develops before you.

The Sound Four have defeated a team of chūnin or jōnin… it’s difficult to tell what constitutes one or the other based on chakra strength alone… and are progressing towards your location. With them is a fifth source of chakra… dark, heavy, and wildly oscillating between immensely powerful and non-existent. Like its owner is dying and coming back to life repeatedly somehow, though just putting those words together in your head makes it seem even stupider.

They’re being chased now by a team of genin or chūnin, seven in total… among which is Uzumaki Naruto. You can see how this is going to play out: the Sound Four will be caught up in fairly short order, and assuming they all survive the initial encounter the chasing team and the Sound Four will likely start to split up.

On the one hand that means the Sound Four will be losing battle strength as they progress, making it easier in theory for the remaining members of the chase team to press the slight advantage of numbers. On the other hand, the chase team members will likely be faced with fewer choices as they progress, leading to the possibility of worse matchups.

>Remain where you are, ambush the remaining Sound Four as they reach you.
>Intercept the Sound Four. At very least you can help the chase team close the distance.
>Lay some traps then meet up with the chase team so they know what they have to work with.
>Other?

>>4044140
>>Intercept the Sound Four. At very least you can help the chase team close the distance.

>>4044140
>>Lay some traps then meet up with the chase team so they know what they have to work with.

>>4044140
>>Remain where you are, ambush the remaining Sound Four as they reach you.

>>4044140
>>Lay some traps then meet up with the chase team so they know what they have to work with.

>>4044140
>>Intercept the Sound Four. At very least you can help the chase team close the distance.

>>4044140
>Lay some traps then meet up with the chase team so they know what they have to work with.

>>4044140
>>Intercept the Sound Four. At very least you can help the chase team close the distance.

>>4044140
>Intercept the Sound Four. At very least you can help the chase team close the distance.

>>4044140
>The Sound Four have defeated a team of chūnin or jōnin… it’s difficult to tell what constitutes one or the other based on chakra strength alone… and are progressing towards your location. With them is a fifth source of chakra… dark, heavy, and wildly oscillating between immensely powerful and non-existent. Like its owner is dying and coming back to life repeatedly somehow, though just putting those words together in your head makes it seem even stupider.

>fifth source of chakra
DAMMIT SASUKE

>>4044140
>Intercept the Sound Four. At very least you can help the chase team close the distance.
>prioritize kidnapping the fifth chakra source.

>>4044140
>1d4, taking the third roll only

Rolled 1 (1d4)

>>4044329

Rolled 3 (1d4)

>>4044329

Rolled 3 (1d4)

>>4044329

>>4044329
You want to charge straight in and intercept… but you’re aware of the orders Konan-sensei gave you not to act until you get her signal. So you take the time to set traps and reposition your butterflies to prepare for the moment you’re allowed to intercede.

Two fighters break off from the rest, one clearly outclassing the other.

Two more fighters break off, seeming more equal. One a long-distance fighter, the other forced onto the defensive.

Three more fighters break off around the time the first fight concludes with the weaker chakra having briefly grown immense before finishing off the stronger, then fading itself.

No… this third fight isn’t one on two: it’s two on two. Two of them seemed so closely matched that they were impossible to tell apart.

Then you finally get the message: the flower you were given by Konan-sensei turns from white to green, indicating that you have permission to make your move.

By then, another chakra is moving in as well… a very strong, capable shinobi.
>1d6, DC 10
>best of three

>SP: 4/6
>ES: 1/2 (1T)

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4044350

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4044350

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4044350

>>4044350
>5: Failure
>Insufficient SP

>Dubs
>SP: 6/6
Writing.

File: __tayuya_naruto_and_1_mor(...).png (1.96 MB, 1074x1517)

1.96 MB PNG

>>4044374
You don’t manage to stop what’s happening… you can’t help but think it’s partly because you resealed your eye in preparation for being seen by Konoha shinobi.

A black-haired boy in a green onesie and Shikamaru are with Naruto when you arrive, having just tracked down a girl with red hair and an outfit typical of Otogakure. The girl has been carrying a large barrel… no. Not a barrel, but a traditional wooden coffin designed to inter the body sitting upright with their knees tucked in. The strange, dark chakra you noticed at a distance is inside that coffin, and the coffin is for the moment in the Konoha ninjas’ possession.

That changes in an instant when a newcomer drops from above, kicks the coffin away from them, and with a swift leap snags it out of the air. He lands on a tree limb a good distance away.

“Crap,” you mutter. “Thought I had him there...”

“You were taking too long, Tayuya,” Kimimaro declares, glaring not at the Konoha-nin but at the remaining member of the Sound Four.

“Kimimaro...” Tayuya mutters mutinously. “What’s the big idea… isn’t your body already...”

“It’s not the muscles which move me now,” Kimimaro declares, “but the will. The feeling of experiencing even a taste of Orochimaru-sama’s dream.”

“Sorry Naruto,” Shikamaru mutters in the mean time. “It’s my miscalculation… I had no idea there’d be another one.”

“You are...” the black-haired boy stares at you. “Naori-kun, from Amegakure?”

“I was called away from my own mission to come here,” you lie. “After our village received a message from Lady Fifth.”

“I’m not surprised to see you alive,” Kimimaro addresses you now. “I would fight you, but it seems again that the mission dictates I flee the scene instead. A pity.”

You raise a hand to bar Naruto from attacking him that very moment.

“Wait. That one’s strong… we can’t attack them without a plan.”

“There’s no need for you...” Tayuya tries to argue. “I can still...”

“The other three?”

Tayuya falls silent at Kimimaro’s unspoken accusation.

“I’ll leave these to you,” Kimimaro orders Tayuya, clearly treating her as a subordinate… or maybe something less than a subordinate. “Remember, the only reason I’m letting you live is because you still have a mission to complete.”

As abruptly as he arrived, Kimimaro disappears into the forest.
>1/2

>>4044393
“Any idea what we’re facing?” Shikamaru asks you as Tayuya starts to psyche herself back up.

You shake your head. “I think Kimimaro uses his bones as weapons.”

“Not immediately helpful,” Shikamaru sighs. “We need to keep after him, so I’ll hold up this chick. Just get past her, I’ll do what I can to draw her attention.”

“We should take one or the other alive,” you reply, sparing him a glance, “so do what you can.”

>I’ll help you. Two two-on-one battles makes more sense.
>Rock Lee, you stay here. Capture Tayuya and catch up with us.
>We’ll probably need to face Kimimaro three on one, so good luck Shikamaru.
>Other?

>>4044398
>>I’ll help you. Two two-on-one battles makes more sense.

>>4044398
>>I’ll help you. Two two-on-one battles makes more sense.

>>4044398
Also,
>SP: 6/6
>ES: 1/2 (1T)
Forgot that's going to be an additional entry after each vote called.

>>4044398
>>I’ll help you. Two two-on-one battles makes more sense.
Helping Shikamaru first makes more sense. We need one of the remaining two sound ninjas alive for capture and we all know Kimimaro is already on deaths door.

>>4044415
since we and shikamaru are the storngest the chances are we can take one girl and, with nyokas help, catch up to kimimaro if necessary
*in character justification, after the consideration that shikamaru is the best partner for capturing one of them*

>>4044398
>I’ll help you. Two two-on-one battles makes more sense.

Kimimaro is a dead man walking so he's not the one getting captured. Shikamaru couldn't beat her in canon and survived thanks to the arrival of Temari, which killed Tayuya so no capture there. And lastly, Lee's good but Tayuya's build is kind of a bad match for him, with the actually effective genjutsus that don't rely on eye hax and the dokis that eat spiritual energy. It's best if two people tackle her, whether it's Naori or Naruto. And I don't think Naruto will agree to stay behind.

>>4044398
>I’ll help you. Two two-on-one battles makes more sense.

>>4044398
>>I’ll help you. Two two-on-one battles makes more sense.

Kimimaro literally just said he's dying in front of us and we need one alive so...

>>4044398
>I’ll help you. Two two-on-one battles makes more sense.

>>4044579
yeah, not a good idea to try and capture the guy who's only alive by sheer force of will and loyalty to his master.

>>4044398
>>I’ll help you. Two two-on-one battles makes more sense.

>>4044579
Good point. We're not here to rescue Sasuke. Though that would be a pleasant bonus.

Also, unrelated, but can we consider a eyepatch or something? Being able to bust out a Sharingan without blowing the secret would be really solid. Maybe one that we can see through for maximum utility?

>>4045455
On second thought, let me amend my wording here. Our mission is to take a captive and should be the priority because that's our job. But we also really need to save Sasuke, because Itachi will be super disappointed in us if we let his beloved ototo run off to the pedo-snake.

>>4045455
The Sharingan can't see through physical barriers.

>>4045455
You do realize that not only Naori put an on switch, she also put an off switch

Beside, it would be even more suspicious to Konoha that she suddenly wears eyepatch now

>>4046235
the sudden eyepatch can be explained as a combat wound, the eye was rejected in the end, something along those lines
there would be suspicion but nothing concrete, although Sasuke should know what is up

in the end its hypothetical, with the seal its not an issue

>>4044398
>1d6, DC 10
>taking the first three

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4046319

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4046319

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4046319

>>4046322
>>4046329
>>4046334
well, that worked out perfectly

>>4046340
I aim to please.

>>4046319
Shikamaru’s brilliant plan turns out to make a screaming, headlong attack.

But instead of attacking, Naruto and Rock Lee use each other to push against, moving around Tayuya while you and Shikamaru physically prevent Tayuya from simply going straight after them. Naruto of course can’t help but taunt Tayuya as he makes his escape.

“Shit!” Tayuya curses angrily, drawing a flute from out of her clothing. “Guess that means I can’t waste time with you trash… I’ve gotta catch those other two squirts before Kimimaro finds out.”
>DC 10

“Naori,” Shikamaru addresses you. “We’ll need to work together… so you just do you for now, got it?”

You guess that means Shikamaru doesn’t know you well enough to coordinate with you meaningfully, so he’ll first have to observe your movements. And with the summoning technique Tayuya opens with, you also guess he’ll have plenty chance to do just that.

“My dōki will settle this,” Tayuya declares as she puts her flute to her lips. “I’ll play it for you… the melody of death.”

The sounds the flute makes… it’s clearly not an ordinary performance, that’s for sure. The sound carries too well, fills your head as though it were being played right next to you despite the distance. In response, the three vaguely humanoid, blindfolded hulks of muscle and nail Tayuya summoned begin to move.

“Scatter!” you tell Shikamaru.

He nearly gets crushed twice in as many seconds, and you’re forced to evade a series of clawed swipes by one of the three monsters. The attacks are swift and relentless, but thanks to your footwork do little more than chew up the forest around you. But they do also start to push you away from Tayuya, opening up distance between you.

“Shikigami no Mai: Jigokuchō.”

You scatter more black origami butterflies, searching for Tayuya even as you continue to evade her summons.

“This is going nowhere...” Shikamaru protests.

“Found her!” you declare.

“Go!” Shikamaru shouts back. “I’ll follow you!”
>1/2

>>4046363
When you run Tayuya down her whole body seems to be covered in tattooed lines, and she’s definitely not happy to see you.

“How the hell...” she begins, before shaking her head. “Nevermind. It doesn’t matter.”

She begins playing again, this time a different tune. This one begins to distort your sense of balance and warps the world around you: an auditory genjutsu? Easy enough to counter by biting the inside of your cheek.

“Got you!” you shout, tackling Shikamaru out of the way of an oncoming assault by one of the summoned monsters. “Genjutsu release!”

You use a jolt of your chakra to disrupt the effects of the genjutsu on Shikamaru, who quickly loops a wire around your wrist. At the end of that wire is a string of flash bombs.

“Use this!” he insists. “Go!”

Weaving your way past the summons, even using one as a springboard, you charge Tayuya. Then, at the last second, you toss the flash bombs free behind you so that Shikamaru can set them off.

Tayuya loses sight of you for just a moment, before raising her flute to block your sword.

She doesn’t move after that.

“What the hell?” she grunts, clearly straining as she tries to move.

“Shadow Possession successful,” Shikamaru grins, having used the flash bombs to extend all the shadows in the area and wind his ninjutsu to your shadow, from which point it takes no effort to trap Tayuya while you were in melee.

“Now then,” you think about your options carefully.

>Try to knock her out.
>Use the interrogation genjutsu right here.
>Use the Sharingan to interrogate her while no one else can see.
>Use genjutsu with Umekiri to disguise your Sharingan, then use the Sharingan to enhance your interrogation.
>Other?

>SP: 6/6
>ES: 0/2 (0T)

>>4046368
>>Use the Sharingan to interrogate her while no one else can see.