Open His Molten Core

[Kimari Bōmu]

He was tired. Laying barely awake in his bed at 5 am he'd look up at his dusty roof, perhaps it could have used a good cleaning and some elbow grease. His mind had fallen absolutely flat so much had happened, all the dangerous life threatening missions he had partaken in. The loss of his human hands in exchange for... with a regretful frown he'd look at each of his metallic gloves, taking a deep breath before letting out a large heavy sigh. He wanted a break, a rest, just something that could take him away from his duties. He was barely a genin and yet the pressure was immense usually having no time for himself aside from when he would sleep and eat, the first day when he enrolled in the academy would cloud his mind. To think his world view was so skewed originally it was almost maddening, to be a shinobi means to be strong and ruthless... What a foolish ideology. He hadn't become a shinobi for the village, for the honour, no that meant next to nothing to him, it was for the people, the ones he cared and loved, if it wasn't for them who knows what dark future he could have walked upon.

Slowly using his arms to shift himself out of bed stumbling up he'd go to rub his eyes and a spark would be generated, that's what happens when you hit a rock against metal I suppose. Drowsily dragging his feet as he grabbed all of the letters he had carefully handwritten last night of off his small desk, stuffing them in to a carrier bag which he slung over his shoulder. Opening his door he'd take one last look at the room around him as he'd tiredly turn and move towards the kitchen grabbing his first pay check hastily making his way out the front door. 'I hope I could get some breakfast afterwards... I'm so hungry...' His stomach growling whilst he dashed around Konoha delivering each letter to everyone of his friend's houses, he'd waste no time making sure that each letter would be there hopefully before they would wake up. Letterbox, doorstep, no matter the way each one would be given to the rightful owner.... well... Except one.

Unbeknownst to the Kyoujouran he had unfortunately mixed a confession letter inside one of the letters, which was never meant to be shared with anyone, with a normal one, this could clearly be seen by the fact that it was addressed to two people. Finally managing to grab a bite at Pankesu's Pastry eating a delicious cinnamon bun as he'd grab a bento box full of delicious lunch, stuffing that in his bag where the letters once were. After swiftly chowing down his scrumptious breakfast he'd run like the wind in to the woods which surrounded the village. Finding a familiar clearing which memories and bonds were forged, this would be the meeting spot for whoever was available to arrive. It was last minute so he didn't expect everyone to show up, sure a few might have been busy on missions or just living there lives. But his little heart hoped for at least a few to arrive.

The contents of the large majority of each letters would read...

Spoiler: Letter

Dear friend!
You have been invited today to participate in a series of fun competitive games!
Please bring a lunch with you to eat and a drink we will be meeting at 1pm!
In a clearing which is about a 20 minute walk north east from the village!
Here we will be playing 3 games which will put the pedal to the mettle!
And for the winner lies a very special prize which will be awarded to the
highest scorer! Please do come, if you can, thank you.

Signed Keniwa.

And the content of the heartfelt note would read... well...​

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

"Gh!"

Keiyaku awoke with a start. He looked around him, cold sweat on his brow, until his eyes finally alighted on the sleeping Morutobu at the end of his bed. The boy let out a sigh of relief and awoke the Shiba pup who groggily, but willingly climbed into his lap to comfort him. He'd been having these odd dreams every since his last mission; he would be looking down a dark corridor, and an indistinct, blurry mass beyond the darkness would murmur something he could never make out. The Inuzuka's eyes turned to the window, grateful for the warm sunlight streaming onto his face as he gave a tired yawn. Deciding he'd better do something useful, he swung his legs out of bed and began his usual morning routine.

On his way out to start sweeping the front porch of the clan house, he noticed a letter laying there, addressed to him.

"Please let this be good news..."

He muttered to himself as he picked it up, nervous the thing might be some kind of summons to another ungodly mission, he slit it open and read haphazardly.

"Invited to....participate...games...lunch...1pm...20 mins...north-east of village.... signed..... Keniwa."

His eyes paused on the last two words. A strange feeling came over him; a mix of calm and caution. He hadn't seen Keni propery since that mission out to the remote village... Would the friendship between them still be the same... He felt guilty for essentially risking his friend's life for an errand. At the same time, Keni was one of the easiest people to talk to he knew. With all the mad stuff going on around him, he just needed that piece of mind right now.

⁂​

"Hey, Keni," called Keiyaku, sometime later, Morutobu walking eagerly with his pace. The surge of warmth he felt upon seeing the boy quickly turning to hot, bubbling guilt when he saw his arms. Was this because of the mission too? He had to restrain himself from saying anything. This definitely showed in his facial tension, accompanying the general palour of his complexion, like he'd been sleeping badly and perhaps not eating enough.

"I uh... I got your letter," said the Inuzuka, with a happy bark from Moru, Keiyaku clearly working hard to maintain his usual warm, positive demeanour, but doing so nonetheless, "what uh... did you have in mind for these games?"

 

[Ōtakemaru]

… A letter from Keniwa appeared at his door. Wait, was it about the incident back at the hot springs?! Somehow, Take assumed so while opening the letter, a nervous shiver travelling down his entire body before the real contents of the letter brought him some measure of relief. Keniwa… was inviting people to a series of fun games…

He was inviting… his friends. There was no way that Take could let this up – this meant that Keniwa regarded him as a friend, even after the dangerous things he’d thrown at him. Take felt indebted to Keniwa to such a high degree that he barely had the courage to look at the guy’s way, and yet… he called him his friend. It almost brought the young swordsman to tears – he couldn’t pass this opportunity up. He wanted to confirm their friendship!

But remembering the hot springs also made Take remember Aria, and he’d been visiting her quite often ever since he found out that she was… nearly out of commission. Distraught, pained by the very sight of her bedridden form and aching injuries, paranoid to near insanity at first, Take dedicated himself to her every need… even when she had none to delegate to him. As if he was just always there, always awaiting her call for help like a haunting ghost…

Aria had issues, definitely. She kept trying to instigate him to fight her, for training or for the passion of it, and she kept ignoring her very obvious injuries. Result? Well, she had also received a letter, and nothing was going to stop her from crawling over to Keniwa to participate in these games. Take feared for her health, so…

…

Upon arriving, Take had still worn his purple haori and black suit underneath, but this time – THIS TIME – his outfit also consisted of an Aria carried on his back via a modified ‘baby’ carry bag. She was facing forward for freedom’s sake, so she could experience what Take saw as well… but in doing so, every time she opened her mouth, her heartwarming voice stirred up a crimson drought on Take’s face. This was very apparent from his tomato-red face despite his calm, facial expression.

“Present…” he spoke up quietly. He had to sheathe all three swords on his left hip for Aria’s sake, but this would definitely make it very confusing as to which one he’d unsheathe during battle. Then again, he wouldn’t need them today… or would he?

[OOC: Aria is hanging on Take's back like a newly-wed piggyback-ride. Take that, Kiri]

 

[Shion]

"Nova! There is a letter!" A head popped out from the kitchen with a mouth full of cereal. "Ghmlf?"
"Eat the mouth empty first! I didn't teach you to eat with a mouth full!"
"Hmpf/.." That was all that left the young genin as he opened up the letter he had gotten. He started to read and slowly, the spoon started to drop more down until it was in the bowl. His father and brother were watching him and slowly Nova was turning to get redder and redder. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!" He shouted at the letter before his father took a turn to stand behind him, that was when he turned the page just around. "Well... That looks like fun... I hope you will enjoy it." The remark didn't get that much better with Nova. "I am going to my room!" He spoke as he quickly went upstairs and his brother asked what was going on. "He got a letter, all I could read was You have been invited today to participate in a series of fun competitive games! Please bring lunch with you to eat and a drink we will be meeting at 1pm!" They both thought of the same thing that they needed to make lunch for him and whoever was participating there.

Upstairs in the room, Nova went over the letter. It was the first letter he had ever gotten from anyone and the context also left him a little puzzled. He started to go to the bathroom and brush his teeth, he also looked for tiny fangs. Which left him a bit puzzled. 'I... wonder what he means... I honestly wonder what he means... But.. I know all to well about carrying burdens...' He thought as he eventually went back to his room and read it over a few times before folding the papers. "I know where I have to go..." he muttered and would around 12:30 to down the stairs to see his father and brother and a very dirty kitchen. "Ehh..."
" We prepared for you! So you don't have to!"
"That is very sweet guys, thank you."
"Will you be able to carry all this?"
"I will ask Lulu, so please don't worry." He spoke as he summoned Lulu and Lulu was glad to be of help to carry. "Thank you Lulu." he spoke and then started to walk towards the place where they were supposed to meet.

"Is there something bothering you..?" Lulu asked as she got closer to Nova in case he wanted to whisper. "Well... kinda..." He muttered and started to talk through the ways with his companion. "I see... But, we will talk later if you want. We are here now." As they approached he saw more than one person. He looked over to Keni and then back to Lulu. Why was he so confused at this point... What did he think..? What did he think? So many questions and stuff that he kind of forgot to greet them until Lulu gave him a nudge. "A- sorry..." He seemed out of it and greeted them all. "Nova, nice to meet you, for those who don't... know me. present for the games... and my family made food for a few people... But, probably too much." He said and would look at each one of them but kinda skipped Keni now. Lulu placed down the plastic bags filled with different food containers and poofed away in a puff of smoke after giving Nova a cheeky little wink.

'The rat...' Nova thought about his contract.

 

[Uzu]

Otami was up running around the village when everyone else was just waking up. Night time work had started to become more natural for the Wildling who spent most of her life awake when the moon was up; and the Boyin never turned down volunteers. Though, most of what she was tasked with was basic grunt work - laundry, keeping areas clean, and assisting bandaging wounds at best - but it gave her a chance to look deeper into the path she had chosen. While she was doing menial tasks, Otami used her innate sense of survival to pick up on what the nurses were saying through most of the night regarding their patients. About 90% of it went right over the teen’s head at first, but she began to pick up on the jargon pretty quickly. Having slept well past the morning, (the joys of not being assigned to a team), the blond would wake up around 2pm and slake her sudden appetite for everything medical related at the library. Most of it was still incredibly hard to grasp and she had been stuck on Advanced First Aid for a couple of days now. She refused to give up though, assuming incorrectly that even her father must of had some stumbling blocks along his way. Surely, she could do it too.

On this morning, the Wildling was moving towards the relaxing into getting ready for bed moment of her day when she found that letter sticking out of her box at the apartment complex. Gently pulling it out the teen looked over the contents a few times in trying to understand what was there. Reading was not Otami’s strong suit in any means, despite that being one of the only things about human society her mom insisted on during their time with the pack. Yet the handwriting was a little hard to read for her, either too fancy or too shaky she wasn’t sure which, and some of the words Otami just straight up didn’t know. Reaching into her backpack she pulled out a worn-out leather bound book full of different kinds of folios. It was her own personal diary, more or less, full of everything she had lived with by since about 6; it was also a reference guide on transfering Common to Wolf. Paging through she matched up drawings with words and suddenly became very happy to find it was Keni asking her to come out and play. Any bit of weariness from her little side-gig zipped right out. The feral girl leaped up to her upper apartment floor with chakra, almost kicked in the door, threw her backpack inside, shut the door again, and turned back into the direction she was tasked with heading towards.

About thirty feet away from the clearing Otami heard the sounds of other people and a knot hit her stomach. Her excited dog brain skipped the parts of the letter that said “we”, assuming it would be her vs Keni and no more than just them. The blond closed her eyes, breathed in deep trying to get some composure, and broke into the clearing calmly. Her blue eyes bounced between each person, recognizing Take and then finally Keni - everyone else was a stranger. Of course, walking past Take and his…bundle…the only thing that came to mind or lips as she passed by was,
“’Ey, you got re’ on yah,” before continuing to walk on by.

She trotted up to Keni, beaming brighter than the sun hanging in the sky before her eyes turned on the other boy and their…dog? She stopped about half way between Keni and Morutobu, eyeing the canine and Keiyaku as that distinct scent of an Inuzuka brushed across her scent. Immediately, she felt intimidated by the smell of a far more powerful wolf and took the first step back. The ground beneath that barefoot sank into it followed by the rest of Otami as she IERL’d out of there and moved towards Nova who was bringing in the food. The Wildling had of course brought nothing, so overly excited that Keni wanted to see her. The girl was trying her hardest to just believe that he was a kind-hearted rock-creature that had agreed not to hurt her; despite clearly being higher on the food chain

…but she would be lying to say her heart didn’t nearly escape it’s cavity upon realizing who had sent letter.

Otami’s head popped back up out of the ground where the fellow blond’s summon had laid down the food. The urge to ask Nova bluntly if she had brought food for everyone rose to the Wildling’s tongue, but the recent nights working at the Boyin repressed it. Bedside manners were quickly becoming reflex already,
“Hi! Am Otami! Food is for all? Famished, work much long. Night do a big stretch.”

Well, mostly reflex. She was still working on it.

 

[Ayeka]

Aria lay on her hospital bed in a simple tank top with a pair of short on that the hospital had given her to lounge in while the doctors tried to figure out what they were going to do for her in terms of attempting to restore her ability to be a ninja which wasn't looking to good really. However the young Senju was hardly resting peacefully as she was slowly going insane from boredom as she felt her muscles stiffening from not doing anything all day. Looking around for something to do Aria noticed a letter laying on her bedside table next to the pills of pain killers she was avoiding like the plague cause they were gross and bitter, Picking the letter up Aria opened it with some difficulty with her one heavily bandaged arm before going over the contents. Silence filled the room as Aria stared at the letter with a surprised expression as she slowly looked from the piece of paper down to her missing arm which didn't have a stump due to the arm being ripped from the shoulder before she glanced down at her missing leg giving the small stump that was her thigh a wiggle to make sure it was indeed missing before looking back at the letter. "Err Keni-chan I can't get up since they took my crutch away after I wandered off last week. How am I going to go to an activity day." Aria said mostly to herself in a deadpan tone before the door to her room opened.

As if sensing her question Take stepped into the room holding up a letter and what appeared to be a strap as Aria just stared at him. "Eh." Was her only response as Take walked towards her. After some talking, persuading and a half nelson later Take managed to get Aria strapped to his back as they stepped together into the congregation of students with a pouting Aria strapped to the young mans back. "I could have walked." Aria mumbled into the back of Take's neck as Nova and a wild girl she had never seen before pulled up.

[Aria arrives on her trusty stead]

 

[Pankesu Hayashi]

Hayashi wasn't having a very good day. He had woken up late, for the third time this week, in the rush to have the bakery prepared to be open for business he had burned a batch. And wouldn't you know it, that was just when his dad had popped in to check up on the shop. "What the bloody hell are you doing?!" He would exclaim, seeing the state that Hayashi was in, "I thought you would've learnt your lesson to be careful around this place after the last incident!" It was one of those silly arguments that wasn't actually about anything. Hayashi had been the main diving force behind this bakery's operation for the last 5 years of his life and both parties knew this. "You know that last time wasn't my fault! Anyway, its sorted now there is no problem!" Retorted Hayashi, His dad just shot him a disappointed look and wordlessly began to dig in and assist in the setting up of the bakery. However, the two did not work in harmony as Pankesu Senior left Hayashi to his own devices.

After a few hours and a 30 minute delay in the opening of the shop, much to the chagrin of the customers outside, the work was done and Hayashi began serving customers. But his father remained in the shop, just watching, his judging presence was one of the only things which could really aggravate Hayashi. Just as he was about to say something that would surely lead to another confrontation, who else would sprint into the shop but Keniwa! They had a quick conversation over the counter as Keni enjoyed a cinnamon roll, a brief respite from the weight of his fathers observation.

There was a clattering from outside as someone emptied their rubbish into a metal container, this of course, made Hayashi jump. Whilst his attention was taken from Keni, he seized the opportunity to place his payment on the counter and run off, as quickly as he had arrived. Words of apology echoing down the street, a baffled Hayashi was left looking at a a couple of coins, still spinning on the counter as well as a letter. An invitation to some games out of town, sounded to Hayashi like some good clean fun which was exactly what the doctor ordered. Turning to his dad and raising his hands in a mock surrender he admitted "You got me, I'm a bad shopkeeper, frankly im relieved you are here to pick up my slack" as he picked up his lunch which he had brought from home and swiftly left the building.

Arriving at the clearing, could recognise some familiar faces and others who he did not know but generally assumed they were all friends of Keniwa, like himself. With a respectful nod to the ones he knew and a quick introduction to those he didn't, he swiftly joined in on the general conversation of the group.

 

[Kimari Bōmu]

One by one a large majority of his friends would show up as his eyes would beam and sparkle in delight, the first being one of his closest friends Keiyaku alongside his trusty brother Moru. Though upon simply scanning him for a few seconds he could tell something was wrong even with his lack of social skills, he didn't look as bright and warm as usual. Usually the sight of him would have caused Keniwa to flush red yet today it was different. "H-hello Keiyaku." edging a bit closer to him with a worried look and a hand softly reaching out towards him he'd say "W-well. Today I wanted us to play some games just take our minds off of recent events. It has been a lot." Realising how stupid he was bringing up their most recent missions his eyes would begin to glance away from the Inuzuka as if perfectly timed Take and Aria would show up.

"Take and Aria! Welcome. Keiyaku and Moru are here too, lets have some fun today." With a grin which hid his worry for Keiyaku he'd smile at the two newcomers and wave happily. "Aria I hope you are... well feeling okay. I'm really sorry about the way things happened." It all happened so fast there was nothing he could do, yet it seemed like the chivalrous Otakemaru wouldn't let her deadly injuries keep her down, he'd given an appreciative nod to him. Since the two scrappy fighters had helped him out of that disgusting fleshy situation his sincere kindness had never let up. She didn't look so cheery either her face holding a small pout, 'It makes sense why the two of them aren't feeling too great. I'll try my hardest today.' It wasn't the greatest start but it was a start none the less! The goal was clear for him and he'd do anything to make it happen.

Not to long after as Keniwa begun to dig in to his bag to prepare for the games, the sharpshooter Nova would appear alongside her golden monkey contract Lulu, "Hello Nova!" Whilst he was usually quiet today he seemed quite generous and friendly towards everyone, seeing all the food that he'd brought a warm happy aura around the Kyoujouran would generate, alongside a sigh of relief. "Wow Nova! That's so kind! Thank you a lot!" 'Finally things are looking up. And so many have arrived!' It was a bumpy ride which finally was coming to a straight road and just on the horizon the sun was rising! Otami was here and she was looking just as bright as her hair, his heart's speed would rapidly increase something about the way she carried herself, as her hair flowed wildly in the breeze, would just light up his body. And their last meeting finally cemented their friendship despite the previous crack in both of their first impressions.

"H-hey Otami! It's good to se-" Sinking in to the ground caused him to slightly panic before witnessing the horror movie, her head popping out right next to all of the food. Which just caused his cheeks to blush a deep red starking a large contrast to his dark skin, alongside a cheeky giggle her antics were just a breath of fresh air. Hitting his forehead with a quick jab the flush of emotion was erased from his face in a flash as just as he was about to announce what they'd be doing. He could sense his oldest friend by the delicious aroma, "Hayashi!! You are here too!" He arrived quite normally and fell in line with everyone else as the Kyoujouran cast a minor earth jutsu causing a stump constructed of dirt to form. Swiftly jumping on top he would pound his chest in succession with clenched fists the rock texture clashing created a loud echoing tinker sound. Moments before taking a deep breath as he'd announce.

"Everyone! We can finally begin with the games! Okay, well, I talked to my mother about what she used to play as a little girl. And the first one that we will be playing and my personal favourite is capture the flag! Or... flags? I wasn't so sure so I made a lot of small flags and Nom helped to paint them red. So from what I understand each person has a flag. And uhm... there are two teams! So everyone will have a small flag strapped to their waist, and other people can steal the flags from the enemy team. The team with the most once the time runs out wins! Every player on that team will receive one point and the player who snags the most flags for that team receives 2 instead! Oh! And uhm Players can steal others back from the other team. But you have to keep all flags you have on the waist."

Looking around at the group around he'd begin to shift his eyes as he'd create two teams for the first game. "Keiyaku, Morutobu, Otakemaru and Aria! Since you guys are both pairs I think that will work. And then the rest of us me, Hayashi, Nova and Otami. We will be a team!" He'd smile putting on a brave face after his massive announcement, whereas in his mind he was completely flabbergasted how he managed to speak so much. He'd never even thought to that amount before in one go, let alone actually talk!

"So each team will have 5 minutes to go and hide once I say go. And then in the next 20 minutes we will hunt and hide and the team with the most by the end of the timer wins!" He'd pull out 7 flags before tossing them outwards to all of his friends, alongside reaching more down to grab 2 stop watches as well each timed to 5 minutes. Waiting for everyone to grab their flag and handing the other stopwatch to Take clicking it alongside his he would shout loudly. "Go!" Before leaping off of the stump and dashing straight forwards in to the wilderness with an energetic smile on his face.

[ OOC: Starting from my next post the first game will have begun, this will go on for three rounds of posts. (My next post being the first.) The rules how it work are pretty simple. If you want to steal a flag off of someone roll a d20. Those using ninjutsu to steal will use Nin accuracy, those using taijutsu to steal will use tai accuracy. Genjutsu can be added on to either attack for flavour depending on what the outcome of the roll is.

There will be a 72 hour timer to post your next post from each of mine, due to the large amount of players and to keep up the activity! There is no post order but please only post again once everyone else has! However on Saturdays and Sundays that timer won't be ticking! Enjoy your weekends! If you miss a post it's not game over for you!

Take, Keiyaku, Keni, Nova and Moru will get a +2 bonus to their taijutsu d20 rolls. (t!dice 1d20+2 in bot fun along with saying what you are doing and who you are attempting to snag the flag from) However. Anyone using Nin accuracy to get their flag will receive an extra +1 to their roll.

Otami, Aria and Hayashi will get a +2 bonus to their ninjutsu d20 rolls. Anyone using Tai accuracy to get their flag will receive an extra +1 to their roll. (t!dice 1d20+2 in bot fun along with saying what you are doing and who you are attempting to snag the flag from)

If you roll between 1-5 it will be a critical fail and the enemy will be able to take your flag for free instead of you taking theirs.
If you roll between 6-10 you miss the flag and don't lose yours.
If you roll between 10-15 you and your enemy roll another d20 with no modifier, if the attacker has the highest they get the flag, if the defender has the highest nothing happens.
If you roll between 16-20 you get the flag!

Please only roll up to ONCE per round. Anything not understood please PM me on discord! Let the games commence! Let's have some fun!]

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

Keiyaku's sickly visage was certainly a lot more noticeable up close. Usually the sight of Keni was a sure-fire way for him to feel better, more cheerful, but when he saw the Kyoujouran greet him, and watched the smile melt from his face, Keiyaku's effort to keep up his own smile all but fell apart, his face falling rather quickly. So... maybe Keniwa really did blame him for what happened after all...? When the Kyoujoran held out his hand, Keiyaku took a step forward and embraced him in the way he usually did, feeling a familiar, and most reassuring rush of warmth, colour returning quickly to his cheeks. Morutobu was happy to see Keni too, pressing himself against his leg in an almost cat-like fashion.

"Hey, that sounds really fun! I'm looking forward to it!"

But then, when Keni's eyes darted to the others beginning to arrive, the warmth had faded. Yeah... now he was certain Keni blamed him. When he turned to see the others, he wanted to say that the sight of Aria and Take would lift his spirits, but seeing Aria again, in her state, as he had when he'd visited her in the hospital, only added to his feeling of damning responsibility. He'd fallen into a kind of trance upon seeing Aria, staring vacantly into space and-

"Ow!"

Moru had bitten him on the leg; a habit he'd taken to whenever this came over his big brother; the pup was determined to keep him tethered to reality, metaphorically holding his hand to keep him going strong. He pretended to be annoyed, but privately, he appreciated this more than he could say.

"Hey, loony sage! You're looking a little better! How...h-how're you feeling?" He felt stupid asking it, but nonetheless hitched a smile back onto his face, trying to maintain the light atmosphere.

When Otami turned up, a girl he'd not so far met, Keiyaku made the first move, holding out a hand to greet her.

"Heya! How's it go-" he began, suddenly trailing off, his nostrils flairing. He seemed to become slightly rigid, something about his face becoming slightly less human and more... wolf-like. He edged slowly closer as the girl backed away, sniffing cautiously. The Inuzuka, defaulting to his feral instincts, let out a rumble from his throat, his fangs on display; to anyone else this would seem threatening, but to one who had been raised by canines, the language and its subtleties would be clearly understood; he was prompting Otami to introduce herself, encouraging her in a curious, almost affectionate way, like an elder brother might to a nervous younger sibling (regardless of the pair's actual ages).

It took Hayashi's arrival to break him out of this feral-mode. He blinked, looking up at the pâtissier. Now very much back in the realm of human communication, he hitched the same forced smile back on his face and clapped the boy heartily on the shoulder. Moru excitedly bounded up to him, pawing at his leg, wanting pets and scratches. Mostly, he seemed to be slightly drunk off the scent of freshly baked bread Hayashi seemed to carry with him.

"Hayashi, man, sorry again for the whole thing at your shop. I hope business has been alright since! I think Moru here might bite my fingers off if we don't come by for another bun soon."

Finally, both boy and dog turned their attention back on Keniwa as he began to explain the rules of the game and assigned them to teams. He and Moru went to stand by Ōtakemaru.

"Hey, I'm Keiyaku, and this is Moru," the Inuzuka said cheerfully, not recalling meeting Take before, but holding his hand out to shake... then slowly and awkwardly withdrawing it, realising he didn't have his hands free while carrying Aria.

 

[Ōtakemaru]

Take forgot to bring snacks with him… but Nova got it covered. Very considerate of the other Genin, but now Take owed him much. And Take’s embarrassed look on his face was swiftly exposed by Otami and her strange articulation, causing the swordsman’s entire body – spine and contour – to stiffen up as if trying to straighten his stance in response to shock.

Okay, Keniwa’s reaction to Aria’s… predicament as of right now, cosplaying as Take’s backpack, was warranted. Take knew little of Aria’s incident beyond what she had the patience to disclose to him, so he was confused as to why Keniwa… apologized. Keniwa didn’t have to apologize, even if it was just to be polite – Keniwa had helped Take out back at the bathhouse with the glob of flesh that he, apparently, had turned into for a temporary time, so Keniwa was by all means a hero.

Take gently poked Aria’s pouting cheek with a thumb in a poor attempt to cheer her up. “You’re still recovering, Aria. I’ll be your feet for now. Leave it to me… your hands are free to punch people, if you must,” he’d explain to her with a still monotone look on his reddened face. Hayashi’s arrival was welcomed warmly, too, but due to Keniwa’s wording, it felt as if Take had missed some sort of event… a source of context to the strange atmosphere.

Anyway, Keniwa did his best to blow said atmosphere away and exchange it with that of entertainment, and Take had no way of knowing when and what and how things were going. All he knew was that he, Aria, Keiyaku and Morutobu were put on a team, and that Keniwa had brought flags with them. Small, fancy flags, one of which Take tied to his waist and another to Aria’s. It was good to be on the same team as her and the Inuzuka-dog duo…

The stopwatch was handed to him quite hastily, already activated once Keniwa dropped it in the swordsman’s hands. He, Aria, Keiyaku and best boy Morutobu joined up, and Take did reach out his hand slowly… but only after Keiyaku had withdrawn his. Awkward. Very awkward. “I am… Take.”

… Okay, this was too awkward, and they had team things to do. Move on, move on!

“Aria… whose flag do we steal?” Depending on her answer, Take would move along with his group and hide, until the timer would ring. 5 minutes from now, and Take would target whoever Aria wanted to steal a flag from – using his speed and reflexes from his quickdrawing training in reverse to try and ‘snatch’ a flag before the victim could blink…

Only that proved easier said than done.

WC: 451 [MFT]
[OOC: Rolling against... Aria decides who's my target!]

 

[Uzu]

As the blond elf waited on Nova to share his bounty, she felt the scent of the Inuzuka change slightly. Turning her head to face Keiyaku, the rest of her body still underground, she watched the male preform a ritual that to everyone else probably looked angry and territorial - but to Otami, looked like home. Her body slid out of the ground, on her back, as she exposed her belly and gave a soft whine. It was a natural act of submission and introduction between wolves, her pupils damn near the size of saucer plates. Only the smell of whatever Nova brought out broke Otami from her feral trance enough to flip back over and sit patiently as she awaited the fellow blond’s treats. In the back of her mind though, she couldn’t stop thinking about the other wolf.

It had been ages since anyone showed the feral teen the same respect she wished other people understood. By scent alone the girl knew how much stronger he was but for him to mercifully show such a display of open arms in her own language was…breath taking. Otami’s face was a little red realizing she had shown complete submission too, without even thinking about it. She glanced up at Keni who was moving around getting everything in order, her heart skipping again at the sight of him as it had the other day. She looked away again and focused on food, clutching the invisible squeezing sensation in the center of her chest. These were emotions that had never once bubbled up for anyone. Love, sure. Affection happened all the time. But Keni, and now Kei, got respect and admiration. Not once had the wolf-child ever ‘looked up’ to anyone except those who lead the pack. Since entering human society she had only held respect for certain individuals because she was told to; the Kage, the Sennin, and whatever the hell a Jounin was supposed to be. The latter emotion, admiration, was non-existent. Just like her father, Tama, the feral girl held herself in very high regards. To usurp that emotion, to falter it in any way - Keni with his Rock Status and now Kei with his Familiarity - rocked her little world.

They didn’t have to know about it though!

When Keni tagged her to be partners on his team, she couldn’t help but feel a bit of a panic and a audible squeak came out when he said her name. Well at the very least, she tried to tell herself, at least she was on the team with the creature clearly higher on the food-chain. She stuffed the flag into the waist of her pants and moved near the group of people she would be playing flag tag with. Thankfully, their host shared the rules as Otami had no idea what to do beyond shoving half a flag into her pants. So it was to hunt and capture? The blond’s eyes shot over to Keiyaku again with her heart rapidly pounding. How she was supposed to escape that?!

Well she was on the Rock Team. Had to be a balance somewhere.

When Keni screamed “go”, she went. Left. Hard. Like a bolt of lightning the girl dug her feet into the ground and dashed; the ground all but pushing back to help propel her right out of the clearing. The rush of air, scents, and blurring images flew by Otami’s senses as she darted along the ground for a moment before hopping up into the trees. She zipped faster than animals could react, making sure that her presence was so quick and minuscule it expose her placement as she nestled deep into the canopy. Her heart was pounding and nose on stand-by as she simply waited. Otami just knew Keiyaku was hunting her, as there was no greater game than that spent with another wolf. So she waited, muted her presence as hard as possible, and bunched her legs ready to lunge the moment she saw him.

[Aiming for Keiyaku with Ninjutsu Acc! She will turn the ground against them with Gravel Shift~! The moment she touches the ground, the dirt beneath their feet will become hard to stand on! To which she will try to steal that flag!]
[Rolled a 17 +2 = 19!]

 

[Ayeka]

Aria stared straight at Keniwa as he asked how she was and then apologised to her immediately causing the girl to frown at him before she turned her head away with a hmph. Aria was genuinely angry at Keni for daring to apologise for such a great fight that may have ruined her body but gave her so much more as they danced on the precipe of life and death every step of the way and for such stimulation Aria would have fought that demon all over again and being apologised to for what happened in that battle was just an insult to a fellow warrior who had bled with you. So Aria just ignored Keni with her pouting face and looked at the others surrounding them. Aria recognised the bread boy and of course the new vessel Keiyaku but she didn't recognise the new boy however any interest in him ended when she saw a wild looking girl. Literally the girl seemed to ooze a wild animalistic sense that spoke to Aria and made her want to leap from Take's to challenge the girl but sadly she had been tied to her caretaker to well and instead settled for leaning forward to get a better look at the girl and inadvertently pressing her chest against the back of Take's neck.

The poke to her cheek brought Aria's attention back to Take who was offering to be her legs in exchange for her doing the punching. "Not a bad plan. Lets do this then!" As the game began Aria would lean forward and catch Take left hand with her right brining the hand up she would force Take to match her movements as she used Take's left hand to complete her own hand seals since she was missing her right. Thankfully her chakra network had healed to an extent so it wasn't too hard for Aria to cast a ninjutsu while she was piggybacked. "Water Style: Hidden Mist jutsu." As Aria spoke mist was exhaled on her very breath quickly encompassing take and herself before spreading out and covering the other teams. "Go for the wild girl in a counter attack." Was the quickly whispered direction from Aria that Take asked for as she relied on Take keen senses as a swordsmen to guide them within Aria's mist.

[Hidden Mist Jutsu used: D20 + 2 = 13]

 

[Shion]

She got really, really close to him all of a sudden and asked regards of the food. "Uhm.. Sure... You can have some too. I am Nova.." He said as he took out a smaller lunchbox kind of thing to use as a plate as he started to open up a few boxes to display what he had. There were a lot of things inside, veggies, meats, potatoes, little snacks all kinds. Even he was surprised by the amount of stuff in there... There was at least something for everyone in there probably.

When he got a compliment from Keni, Nova was quick to look away, pat the back of his head and eventually scratch the beginning of his neck. He was kind of unsure how to respond to him after all that... And all that time, what exactly...? "Y-yea..." He muttered eventually and gave him a quick side eye before opening up more food to see if anyone else would want something.

That was when things got weirder... As Keiyaku with the adorable puppy, which he hoped he was remembered by the pets and cuddles, he started to do something. He thickly swallowed and took a small step back as it seemed that the girl was responding to it all. Nova remained calm by just quietly watching what was going on... Despite the guy looking very threatening right now... There was something that he found familiar with the behavior of dogs... There... were fangs visible, that was for sure. But he didn't see the full gums in a threatening way as he had seen by that dog that was so scared it attacked people back in the day...

The girl had replied to the other one in a different manner, she went on her back and that was also when she kind of noticed her ears. ' THey... are like mine kinda..?' Subconsciously he started to touch his own ears which were also pointy. ' Would she know where they come from..?' he made a plan to ask that later.

"Everyone! We can finally begin with the games! Okay, well, I talked to my mother about what she used to play as a little girl. And the first one that we will be playing and my personal favorite is Capture the Flag! Or... flags? I wasn't so sure so I made a lot of small flags and Nom helped to paint them red. So from what I understand each person has a flag. And uhm... there are two teams! So everyone will have a small flag strapped to their waist, and other people can steal the flags from the enemy team. The team with the most once the time runs out wins! Every player on that team will receive one point and the player who snags the most flags for that team receives 2 instead! Oh! And uhm Players can steal others back from the other team. But you have to keep all flags you have on the waist."

This time... he was paying attention to what was being said unlike another time... Seemed he was teamed up with Otami... She was.. weird..? And then it was Hayashi, who he only just met... and... him... ' Shoot or not shoot...' he thought to himself as he would think what was best.. accidental shot to the foot? He had to go back home..? He decided it was best to try and see this out towards the end, despite what was happening around him. He tugged the flag at his pants. As soon as the signal was given... they had to be quick, before scattering out. He had to think quickly and seconds later he would try to snatch
tried to Take's flag before rushing back out.

Rolling dice!
[d20 : 3]
In the end, the result was: 3

3+2 = 5

 

[Pankesu Hayashi]

Everybody here had been brought through a mutual respect for Keniwa, it filled him with a sense of admiration for his friend. He really was doing just fine without any help, or so it seemed to Hayashi. He did make a mental note to ask about the strange metal gloves he was wearing but didnt really think too much of it. 'I guess its just some new fangled equipment they hand out at the academy nowadays'

He stepped towards Keiyaku who seemed to snap back to reality at his presence, "Hey, wasn't your fault what happened at the shop, Moru was just a bystander" he replied light heartedly before looking more seriously at the boy, "Anyway, I don't think that really matters anymore, I mean... you look like shit... all is forgiven." As he gave a sympathetic pat on the arm and Moru a scratch behind the ears.

Hayashi endeavoured to at least introduce himself to the people on his team. Waltzing over to Nova and Otami who were both enjoying a picnic, although Otami was enjoying the food on some greater level... as if it were a religious icon. He waved and began to introduce himself to the pair, "Hey, I'm Hayashi! Work at Pankesus Pastry down on Red Oak Street, and uhh... that's about it", trailing off at the end embarrassed at his lack of a life outside of work.

After the rules had been explained he though out loud "Okay, so grabbing flags, sounds simple enough" Said Hayashi thinking out loud as he picked up a flag and twirled it in his hand. Suddenly now, as he looked around, all eyes seemed to be staring right at his brand new flag, they all wanted it! And they would do anything to take it from him! Hayashi's thoughts raced as the spark of competitiveness inside of him ignited. He discreetly walked over to Moru before attempting to distract him with a small bit of bread and take his flag.

[d20 : 11 + 2 = 13]

 

[Ōtakemaru]

Take waited patiently for the stopwatch to initiate their hunt. 5 minutes to hide with Aria’s warm embrace covering his back, neck and dome. Those 5 minutes were bliss. His monotone face was beet-red, for he loved every second of it… and felt embarrassed by his chaotic feelings towards her. He’d felt like this ever since that day… maybe she seduced him with her form? Or maybe it was her passion for battle? Her sense of humor? Her enthusiastic, optimistic attitude? Her interest in him, her encouraging trust in him?

Thinking about it all made his heart flutter even more. He had to recollect himself, but he and Aria were in the shrubbery now – 5 minutes had passed by the ringing of the stopwatch, which Take quickly turned off so as to not give out his location.

Aria agreed with his plan and borrowed his right hand to weave handseals in unison. A thick mist erupted from her maw, surrounding their area as Take marched forward, his eyes shining bright red like those of a demon hunting down prey. He felt… oddly motivated. Aria was watching his every step, so in her presence… in her embrace… he’d kill the competition.

The first one who attempted to snatch a flag from him was Nova. At that point, Take’s face and arms were veiny with released power, and his eyes whitened in dead seriousness. Whether it was due to that or Aria’s mist, or both – likely both – he succeeded in not only preventing Nova from snatching his flag, but also repay the blonde boy in kind by running off with Nova’s own flag as a result. And just like that, he already had one enemy flag under his belt.

He found Otami, second. Take was no beast of the forest, but he was certainly not human either. The aura he exerted, even with sweet Aria hanging on his back, was that of an anomaly – an enigmatic force of nature that had no deal with the wild and its flora. Aria’s fog had coated his body, so it looked more like a speedy cloud was trying to tackle into Otami… but it passed right over her, allowing her to notice the absence of her flag.

Take kept leaping across the branches with Aria on his back, grateful for the misty cloak he’s wearing as a side-effect of her Hidden Mist Jutsu. Like a phantom shooting through the forest, he’d find Keniwa and proceed to almost tear the flag off his grasp. If Keniwa looked closely, then… within the mist that moved like thunder, Take acted almost beastly. Competitively. He was dominating the game… a sliver of that monster that his mother always wanted surfaced to the world, but not for her. For Aria.

[OOC : d20 = 16 + 2 = 18 (Targeting Otami's flag, Nova's flag is auto-obtained, Keniwa's flag is also auto-obtained! Take has 3 flags!!!)

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

The Inuzuka had to admit, he hadn't quite expected Otami's reaction; she lay on her back, belly presented to him in a show of playful submission. In the same way she could smell strength on him, he could likewise detect a certain innocence. She seemed happy, maybe a little taken aback as well. Then, she seemed to come back to herself, her attention moving to Nova who was bringing food along. It was an almost surreal experience; having such a 'conversation' in what was effectively his first language with someone outside of the Inuzuka clan was not something he expected to be greeted with today. Who was she? Was she raised in the wild? She had to have been.

When he spoke to Hayashi, he was slightly relieved to see he was welcoming towards him, explaining how Moru had certainly been on his best behaviour. He shot a glance towards the Shiba Inu who, after receiving his tribute of ear scritches, bounded off towards Nova, spinning around excitedly as he opened his lunchbox, trying to use some of his charm to tempt some food into his mouth.

"Ah, I'm glad to hea-"

"I mean... you look like shit... all is forgiven."

"Eh-?"

He just froze, a rather comical expression of surprise on his face at the comment as Hayashi sympathetically clapped him on the shoulder. Yikes, he didn't think he looked that bad. Feeling self-conscious, a ran his fingers through his hair to scruff it a bit, as if afraid of letting his hair get too tidy.

"Thanks, uh... for the head's up," he replied, forcing a smile; he wasn't mad at Hayashi or anything, but it struck him how his poor self-care was taking a toll on his health.

When they were paired up into their teams, Keiyaku gave a little growl, calling Moru to his side and went to stand with Ōtakemaru and Aria. Again, he tried not to look at the girl, his stomach lurching every time he did. At the same time, if Aria were to look at Keiyaku, she would see something stir behind his eyes, something of the wolf passing across his face. His head cocked up. Keni was explaining the rules. 5 minutes to hide, then capture one of the flags they'd been given. Simple enough. When Keni shouted 'GO', the Inuzuka duo barely had time to move before the clearing was bathed in a dense fog. He grinned.

"You bloody genius, Aria!"

Dropping to all fours alongside Moru so that he'd be harder to spot, he closed his eyes and allowed nothing more than his nose to guide him. Exchanging a few growls back and forth, boy and dog agreed to both split up, Moru clutching his flag in his mouth, Keiyaku, doing likewise.

Moru bounded away, sniffing along the ground through the mist, a familiar scent wafting by. Oh, it was glorious; freshly baked crusty bread. It must be Hayashi! Following the scent, he moved quietly, careful not to step on any twigs when..... It dangled before his eyes, warm and crunchy. Instantly, his mouth flopped open and out came the flag, dropping at the Pankesu's boy feet. Instantly, he knew something was wrong. No! What was he doing? This was no time to be thinking about bread! He bounded and jumped, determined to wrestle the flag back off Hayashi.

Meanwhile, Keiyaku had focused chakra into his toes and the palms of his hands, allowing his hands and feet to impact the ground in complete silence as he bounded about on all fours, hidden by the fog. No one could find him, he was certain... no one except for Otami perhaps... His aim was to search for the wolf girl; her scent was quite distinctive to him now but-

He felt something sink below him, his foot getting trapped in the ground as it appeared to give way slightly beneath him. He spun around in time to see Otami flying down at him from above and snatching the flag right out of his mouth. As he looked at her, he snarled, quite playfully, but with a pitch that would make a death-metal singer green with envy. Baring his fangs, he stared her in the eyes, moving slowly, on all fours, waiting for the right moment. Aaaaand... he pounced on top of her, trying to seize the flag with his teeth, trying to pin her down, biting at the girl with no real force, trying his best to keep things fair. Out here in the woods, they were just a pair of wolves to each other.

[Moru fails saving throw against Hayashi with a 9]
[Moru tries to steal from Hayashi with a 14]
[Keiyaku loses a flag to Otami. Tries to steal it back with an 11]

 

[Kimari Bōmu]

Dashing like a blazing star in to the forest he'd make his way through the thick of the woods and begin to plan what he'd do and who's flag he'd steal. He could hear all the sounds of fighting fade away as he made a sizeable distance between all of them and with it he could take a moment from everyone else to himself. Catching his breath whilst slumping down beside a tree it was time for him to sit and rest. The leaves would sit tranquilly around him as he looked up the branches creating a protective shade from the beaming sun which would shine above the country where they resided. Wiping the sweat off his brow, vision fading, senses becoming one with the earth around him. Concentrating his chakra in to the ground he could sense what was transpiring, several flags were being stolen and fought over, by all the erratic vibrations it seems like they were having fun. Good. Fun that's what he wanted, that's what he needed. Right? Yeah, right.

Right. Everyone would be alright. Right? Keiyaku and him were okay. Right. Aria will get better... she won't be like this forever. Right? He wouldn't let anyone else be hurt when he was there, that's what he promised himself after Kiriyomi, he was there to protect them. Right? Wrong. It all happened like clockwork the exact same way, he was in the fight then he was out he wakes up and he's failed, it wasn't alright. He broke his bones, he fought and fought and yet after it all he broke his promise. Right. It wasn't Right. None of it was right. It was all wrong, everything was all wrong, his breath was wrong and his heart ached, clenching his chest. What could make it right, what could he do. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. It was like it was ringing, coursing throughout his entire body vibrations were being sent to him. RIGHT.

From his right, In a flash opening his eyes a large mist soared towards him with no time to react reaching his arms out to block his face in a flash his flag was ripped straight from his waist. "Hey! Get back here!" Leaping straight in to it he flailed his hands out in the blindness yet trying to claw through yet to no avail as he'd land on a fragile branch snapping as he did, falling straight to the ground in defeat. With no Idea what happened he'd reach in to his pocket and realise time was running out from a glance of his stopwatch. "5.6.7." An orange glow originated from his entire body as smoke would fly out in to the winds from his back. This was a distraction, a good distraction and in the end. In the very end, Everything would be alright.

[OOC: Round 1 Rolled 3+2 = 5 CRIT FAIL Otakemaru stole flag
Round 2 Rolled 1+2 = 3 CRIT FAIL No flag to steal, attempted to take from Aria and failed]

[ROUND 2 BEGIN!]

 

[Uzu]

She snatched the flag from Keiyaku’s mouth with her own, grabbing the end of the cloth as their eyes crossed each other. There was no humanity echoing in there at all, only wolf. With a quick jerk of her head, Otami pulled the flag away from the surprised opponent but he was so much faster to respond than she could have ever planned for. Despite using sheer stealth skills, which was the only way to really take on a stronger foe, Keiyaku reacted with a graceful pounce she was not expecting; a not so wolfish squeal escaped her lips. She felt the male pounce her, knocking off the Wildling’s balance enough for her to side-step and fall over. She tried to roll but immediatly the other wolf was on her, biting at her throat and trying to pin her.

Once again to anyone else it would appear as if the two shinobi were locked in deadly feral combat, but the wild-child’s heart soared. She continued to bear fangs with a human smile, wiggling beneath Keiyaku as she just barely avoided a fair pin before managing to kick out from under him and take off again. She knew he’d be right on her heels, and doubled back at the last second, the moment she felt he was going to pounce her flank again to gain a little extra space. Somewhere in there, she knew that Take had taken her flag; the feeling of cloth missing from her pants a dead give away. She also knew that the best way to deal with her wolfish opponent would to use Earth Ninjutsu, get off of all fours, and actually use her training to win.

But she didn’t want to win; she wanted to play with the wolves.

[Attempting to keep Keiyaku from taking his flag back! Rolled a 12! Just barely!]

 

[Shion]

there seemed to be no end to everyone stealing each other flags, along with being a team but also being solo. A part of him was still so distracted while he was playing all of this, he couldn't even spot Keni at this point. ' I wonder if he is okay... He dashed off like that..' he thought as he shook his head he shouldn't be this distracted by him or because of him.
Nova tried his hardest to get his mind back in the game. He already had lost a flag and he saw that someone was gathering almost all of them. " I should try..." he muttered as he once more tried to snatch a flag from Otakemaru.

Again he didn't seem to make it and it started to eat away on him. Why wasn't he able to do anything for his team, was he really all that bad like others had been saying behind his back? A sense of doubt started to fill him but he wouldn't let it show on the outside, he smiled and showed like he had fun.

[ooc]
Rolled 6

 

[Pankesu Hayashi]

"Like taking candy from a baby!" Quipped Hayashi, victoriously snatching the flag from Moru. 'huh, I guess it would be more like, trading bread for a flag??? ahh that doesn't really roll of the tongue. hmmmmmmm.' Thoroughly distracted with one hand resting on his hip and another stoking his chin deep in thought about the validity of his stupid quip. This was the perfect time for Moru to regain his honour and retake his lost flag! And retake he did, the flag was snatched and once again in possession of the dog. "Aww man! Outsmarted by a dog!?" Hayashi decided he should get out of there before he makes a fool of himself again and ran off from the pack grumbling "Next time I'll just stick with my first quippppppp!"

Running through the forest Hayashi was hard at work. Multitasking was a strong suit of his what with him singlehandedly operating a bakery, so running, surveying the area for possible flags to nick and coming up with brand new quips to shout when he took one was a walk in the park. Although perhaps he wasn't as good at multitasking as he first thought when a figure shrouded in a grey mist leapt down from a nearby tree and swiped at Hayashi's flag! "Aha! looks liker you Mist! ....Geddit?" Now it was Hayshi's turn and he made a few cat-like swipes into the mist in an attempt to grab a flag but was only really successful at accidentally slapping someone in the face. "Oh damn, looks like I Mist as well!" Not wanting this encounter to get any more awkward Hayashi leapt off again, apologising all the way.

'Well Hayashi, really fumbled there, but at least the jokes were accurate, that's what really counts.' Once again he would find himself totally lost in thought metaphorically patting himself on the back, and once again universe would punish him for it. Running headlong into a low hanging branch he was thrown almost cartoonishly backwards and onto the ground with a crash. Looking up and rubbing his head who would he see but Keniwa briskly running past! "Oh! Hi Keni! Listen, you didnt see any of that... right?" He asked apprehensively.

[Rolled 9 against Moru losing a flag]
[Rolled 6 against Otakemaru nothing happens]
[WC: 366]