Before the Main Event! [Open]

[Tatsuo]

With the rest of Team 11 running off and doing whatever kids did in a strange village, Tatsuo took sometime to himself. While he normally appreciated the country and less urban areas of the world, there definitely was a certain beauty that came with cities. The architectural design, all of the commerce, something even Tatsuo could appreciate. However all this walking around led to a grumbling stomach and it wasn't long before Tatsuo found himself at the feet of a small sushi place.

In order to cull the hunger in his stomach, he made his way into the small hole in the wall. A small bar, a few men and women drinking Saki, a few tables of people scattered around. Some dressed in casual clothes, other business suits, and then there was Tatsuo rocking a t-shirt and sweatpants. The only reason they even let him in was because wearing a headband showing his allegiance to Leaf. Deciding to skip the table he went straight to the bar where he ordered a crab roll and people watched as he waited.

There were a few conversations going on around him, mostly mundane, work problems, how busy they were because of the tournament, typical stuff. However there was something that caught his attention. Two men in shushed voices spoke about a shipment coming in real late. Normally he wouldn't worry too much, but something just seemed off about them. One of the men was barely five feet tall and the other was average height but had a cold look in his eyes. One Tatsuo had seen a few time in ninja throughout the world, but never one that brought much confidence about their dealings.

As his food arrived, he idly took bites while trying his best to listen to what they were saying. He was too far to get all of it but the occasional, "They'll never expect it.." or "Two weeks is a pretty long time without.." The tidbits he could hear continued to grow his suspicion. He even went as far as ignoring his food to listen, placing his chin in his hand as he rested it up with his elbow. Trying to seem like he was staring off into space.

 

[Uka]

After a good few minutes of consideration and a glass of water later she had finally managed to come to a conclusion. Yes, a concrete answer to the question that had been bugging her. Saya had no idea how she had ended up in this establishment. Absolutely no clue at all. Nagato had suggested that she go out for a bit. Enjoy herself and see the tournament. It was going to mess with her work, but it did seem like a sound idea at the time, so that part she understood fully. No problems there. How she had ended up in this pub was beyond her though.

To say that she looked out of place would be an understatement, but she was glad that she wasn't wearing her work attire. That would have caused even more people to stare at her than at present. Surely not what she wanted. The young woman let out a quiet huff, resting her chin onto her crossed arms on the bar,as somebody made their way over to the bar and took a seat next to her. ' Here we go again. Saya thought, fully expecting him to chat her up, but that didn't happen. She turned her head slightly to the side and away from the man as she remained in the same position. This allowed her to zone out, half-listening to the conversations happening around her.

The woman would glance around non-chalantly as if she was just looking around to room in order to gauge from which direction a specific conversation was happening. Unlike shinobi she didn't have superhuman hearing, so it was much more difficult for her to do such things. Her eyes would fall on the rather blatant konoha representative to her right as she did so. She looked him up and down, realising he was likely focusing on the same thing or possibly just completely zoning out.



"Safe to assume your interests are aligned your curiosity, konoha-san?"<i></i> Saya would raise her head from her arms as she turned to address the rather casually-dressed man. Hopefully he would understand what she meant. Wait why had she done so? Maybe originating from konoha herself still made her think of him as an ally? Oh well. Too late for those thoughts now. What was done was done.

All in all her curiosity was likely getting the better of her in this case as well. With some luck curiosity would not kill the cat in this case, but would instead work in her favour, but one never knew up until the end.

 

[Atsushi Nakamura]

Ao had spent his first few days in the city meeting with his benefactor and training in preparation for his upcoming fight. Ao had been so busy he hadn't been able to explore this new land, nor take a drink. The "Dry" situation was only compounded when Ao was informed that for some reason Hiritomi had forbade Ao or any of the other mercenaries to have any alcohol or other 'fun' substances in their rooms. This was something that Ao had voiced his opinion on at every opportunity, but unfortunately Hiritomi had the money which meant he got to make the decisions.

Of course, Hiritomi wasn't a shinobi, and neither were his men. Ao had told his entourage that he was going to retire to his room for the rest of the day, in order to mentally prepare himself for the tournament. Once back in the privacy of his room Ao created a clone of himself using the same metallic substance he used to create his bombs, and proceeded to sneak out.

He had then wandered through the town in search of a bar. Ao asked several passersby about local watering holes, but all of the recommendations he received were to upscale bars. Ao was not someone most people would consider "Upscale", so he decided to pass. Finally, after waking up a drunkard who had decided to crash in a dimly lit alleyway, Ao got the intel he wanted. The mercenary practically sprinted to the bar he was so excited. When he arrived, Ao burst through the door and loudly exclaimed "Fucking finally!" before quickly making his way to the bar. Once there Ao made eye contact with the bartender, and tossed a decently sized pouch of yen on the bar in front of young woman. He then reached across and grabbed a bottle of clear liquor and, what he hoped was, a clean glass that was upside down on a towel along with other shot glasses.

'You let me keep this bottle, I'll let you keep that pouch of yen. Deal?<i></i>" As he pulled the bottle and glass back towards himself Ao glanced around at his surroundings. To his left was a man in a very casual, but admittedly comfortable looking outfit, as well as a Konohagakure headband. Beside him was a dark haired woman who looked a little out of place in such an establishment. Ao did not notice a headband on her. Both of these individuals had a pretty serious look on their faces'. To Ao's right were the remainder of the bar's patrons, seated at different tables, all of whom were speaking at various volumes. Ao looked back at the two people beside him and figured that these two were his best shot at an interesting conversation for the evening.

Ao took a seat beside the Konoha shinobi, poured himself a shot and downed it, then poured another. While this was happening Ao heard the woman whisper something to the Leaf shinobi, but couldn't make out what she was saying, nor did he really care. He then turned in his seat to face the and two playfully raised his eyebrows, smiled, and shook his newly acquired bottle of liquor before asking:

"Anyone care for some shots?<i></i>"

 

[Midori Futotta]

Despite being here to see the biggest tournament of all the land, Maru was also here to collect the latest gossip within the this city. Of course, the only thing he actually found interesting was that there were many different people here excited to see a fight, nothing of too much importance for the exception of some toxic spill happening in one of the cities, in which maru visited and began stealing from there for the simple reason because he could. Although he held the title of being an ANBU In Training, he didn't act how a ANBU should act.

Maru looked at a bar, perhaps he could see what kind of entertainment that the bar had for him. Maru stepped in, twisting his her to look left then look right before stepping in. Of course, the boy looked incredibly young to be walking into a bar. Wearing his usual attire of a white dress shirt with the collar sticking up, gray waistcoat and a long blue coat that he leaves open and whose sleeves are rolled up below the elbow, he wore purplish red wrist bands. He seemed to look like a normal teen for the exception his actions, he almost seemed to be artificial. Like he was something that looked and moved like a human but he wasn't one.

Taking his seat, MARU sat down to begin watching his surroundings. His marble like eyes shifted from left, then right, left then right. The bar had usually groups of people talking to one another raging from two or three. Maru was acutely aware of how many people were in the bar. Overhearing a woman say konoha he instantly thought someone found him already, but there was another leaf shinobi within the bar, so Maru decided to see how the man would get out of being caught. Maru smirked and leaned in, thinking he was going to see some action, he leaned his head on his ball jointed hand to wait."Let's hope our friend here can explain himself before Sassy gets violent."

 

[Tatsuo]

For the most part, Tatsuo had been so focused on the conversation of the two suspicious men in the corner that he ignored most of the things going around him. It wasn't until Saya questioned him, he snapped out of his trance. He had done his best to seem inconspicuous but he must've stared for too long. His cheeks grew red despite his quick denial. "Huh?" he flashed a grin in a, albeit, weak attempt to seem like he wasn't listening. Reaching for his own glass of water he took a sip and shrugged his shoulders, his attention now divided between the girl and the duo of potential criminals. "Yeah, I suppose." he said low, owning up to his spying. "I've just heard tidbits here and there, some that make me a bit uncomfortable." There was no point in lying now, the woman looked out of place here anyways. It was easy to tell she wasn't just a civilian.

Once again Tatsuo's attention was pulled from the two men when Ao arrived, asking if either of them were interested in a drink. Tatsuo raised both of his hands and waved them a bit, offering a smile to him. "Sorry not really in a drinking mood." He originally came here to get something to eat, but somethings took priority over food. "Can you hear them?" he whispered low enough for Saya and Ao to hear, but low enough to be hidden among the normal chit-chat inside the bar. I think this shipment will be the biggest one yet, with the tournament going on, we've got a lot more cus-- Tatsuo grimaced as some dumb ass on the other side of the bar laughed just a bit too loud. There wasn't much he could do to hear them with all this ruckus going on, but he couldn't be too obvious about it.

Considering Tatsuo's focus on the two men in the corner, he was oblivious to Maru taking a seat in the bar. He bit the bottom of his lip as he furrowed his brows and rested his chin in his hands. Trying to hear whatever snippets he could. All the while side eyeing Ao and Saya. Maybe they knew something he didn't, after all he was a foreigner here in Tea.

 

[Uka]

Saya couldn't help but roll her eyes at his reaction. It had been more than obvious what he was doing and it was far too late to play it off as something else at this point. Maybe she had overestimated the training that this Konohan had recieved? They trained that a lot better when she was last there, especially if members of her clan were anything to go by. They weren't, but she didn't really know better. His blushing totally didn't help the situation, prompting a light sigh from the young female. She would continue staring at him for a few more moments until he finally relented and answered. At least he wasn't thick. "Doesn't surpise me. Low-lifes like that."<i></i> Saya would trail off turning away from Tatsuo and glanced forwards, listning in and trying to hear something else.

No matter how you looked at it there was far too much chatter to really pick anything up in specific. Far, far yoo much. She couldn't even hear the voices of the two men anymore. Somebody half-shouting profanities wasn't helping either, the same somebody who ended up sitting next to them. Funnily enough these things always seemed to happen when you were trying to do something at least semi-important. Saya couldn't help but let out another quiet sigh, closing her eyes as she pinched the bridge of her nose with her left hand. "I don't drink. "<i></i> She would finally respond, glancing over to the man with a light smile before growing quiet once more.

She would lean forwards, crossing her hands ontop of the counter once more before resting her chin on top of them. It really was impossible to hear anything that they were saying at all. "No. It's too noisy."<i></i> The Senju would respond quietly. Such were the limits of a normal human.

 

[Atsushi Nakamura]

Neither of the two individuals who were present at the bar when Ao arrived seemed interested in his offer for a drink. The woman seemed almost irritated that Ao had even offered. He shrugged and poured himself another shot. "Your loss.<i></i>" Ao replied. The Leaf shinobi and the woman beside him seemed to be interested in a conversation being held by some of the other patrons across the room, Ao decided to not turn in the direction of those men, but let his right arm drop down to his side and hang there. Tiny droplets of liquid metal began to drip from his fingertips. Once they landed they began to congeal and turn into tiny ant-like constructs until five tiny metal ants sat at the foot of Ao's chair. He activated them without having to use a handsign, a perk of him being a Jinchuuriki, and sent them on their way. His goal was to have theses constructs attach themselves to the shady individuals on the other side of the bar. Any explosion Ao would create with these ants on their own would be too small to do any damage, but they would allow Ao to better track them were they to leave the bar.

Ao brought his right hand back up to pour himself another shot, and leaned his head slightly towards the Leaf shinobi. "My hearing isn't that great, but I excel in other manner of espionage... <i></i>" Ao whispered before taking his freshly poured shot. Ao let out a loud and moan as he stretched both of his arms high above his head, he then signaled the bartender to come over. "Barkeep, I'd like to buy everyone in the bar a round in celebration of the upcoming tournament<i></i>" He exclaimed loudly. Ao hoped that this would keep the other patrons attention on him, and not on the floor where his metallic ants were nearly to the table where his targets were seated. He then turned his body towards those who were seated nearest to him.

"Unless one of you has super hearing it will be hard to make out their conversation. We could follow them after they leave the bar if you want... I happen to be quite good at tracking<i></i>" Ao spoke again in a hushed tone while pouring yet another shot.

He wasn't sure what these guys wanted with the patrons on the other end, but whatever it was promised to be more interesting than just sitting in his room or drinking alone at a hole in the wall bar.

 

[Midori Futotta]

Strange, he was hoping that the man who seemingly was caught spying to be deny what he had been doing. But it looked like he outright admitted to what he was doing as if he was merely curious. Clearly wasn't too good at what he had been doing, Maru’s glass eyes turned towards the woman to see how the situation would unfold. Disappointing. He wouldn't be able to see a bar fight after all, what a shame but he couldn't complain too much because he looked over at the person who sat next to the man who had been watching some suspicious characters around.

"Hmm” the young ANBU in training thought, perhaps if he were to stick around here than he'll be able to find something to bring back to HQ. It'll be a perfect safety net considering that he just burnt down a building in this country… and looted… and attempted to murder another leaf shinobi. Needless to say he was pretty much working under the gun right now. Maru's glassy eyes looked over at the suspicious characters who sat, then began to allow his eyes to unfocused for a moment to perform his Snapshot Justu. A technique only known in the ANBU for surveillance, recording everything that Maru sees and hears through genjutsu. He heard amongst the yelling and cursing about some shipment during the tournament. He wasn't really sure if he should watch the suspicious looking men, or the man who sat by the leafie that didn't look too trustworthy.

[Snapshot Used!]
[My bad for the wait]

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo nodded to Ao, who seemed to have a plan. "Sounds like a good idea." Tatsuo himself stood up as he glanced down to the metallic ants travelling towards them. "You coming?" he asked the Senju before looking over to Ao. They seemed to have quite a party going on, the three of them should be able to handle some random thugs, but who knew just how deep this rabbit hole went.

Nonchalantly as possible, Tatsuo made his way to the exit of the bar. Following the patrons with a good bit of distance between them. He waited a moment to see whether the other two would come along. Tatsuo wasn't really sure how much use the girl would be, but at this point she was involved in it all. The other shinobi was the one with the ants, so he could only pray he could track them. After listening to them for so long and getting a good understanding of their natural energy signature, no matter how feint, he wasn't going to have a hard time keeping his eyes on them but any back up was appreciated.

[Sorry for the short post, once we figure out whose doing what we can delve into the fun stuff]

 

[Uka]

Saya would reach into one of her belt pouches, taking out a few coins and placing them on the counter as she stood up. "I have nothing better to do." She would respond with a very light smile before it quickly disappeared. "I will be taking my leave for now."<i></i> The Senju would add before making her way out.

They had their supposed tracker and she would be useless in that regard either way. It just plain wasn't ehr thing at all. Their little group was... a strange mix. An unknown factor with tracking abilities in the form of a rather peculiar creation, a leaf shinobi and a civilian. It would be interesting to see how it went from there. She would make her way over to one of the nearby stalls on the main street, browing the wares as she waited for the others to trickle out from the establishment and give her a heading.

[It seems this topic is prone to a lack of free time hahaha]