Open Popcorn! Get your popcorn! (spectating)

[Kureji]

So much shouting. Kureji would think that something is happening. He was a bit lost so he didn't really get there in time, but he did eventually see a bunch of commotion. Glowy Dude, Brother, Machoman, Ryuni, and some girl that looked to be around Ryuni's age, all seem to be facing off against some woman.

The woman had practically launched herself at Machoman, looking like she wanted to give him a big ol smooch but he had created some distance between them and was ready for a fight. Kureji's eyebrows were raised. Is Machoman scared of women? Either way, a comfy couch would materialize behind him as he would plop down on it. With a heavy sigh, he realized that he should at least do something. Opening a sealing scroll, he brought out a microphone and got his announcer voice ready.

"GOOD MORNING SUNA!!!! ARE WE READY TO RUUUUUMMMMBBLLLLLLEEEE!!!!!! ALL CITIZENS AVOID THE GATE AREAS AND ANY NINJA PEOPLE NOT ACTIVELY DOING THINGS, COME ON DOWN AND ENJOY THE SHOW!!!!"

Afterwards, he would then yell over to the group, "Don't mind me! Seems a bit too crowded over there! My chaos might just make things more confusing for you all!" Afterwards, he would materialize a bucket of popcorn and eat it as he got comfy.

 

[Sabaku Rika]

After Rika used her body-switch technique, she became blonde at the medical facility. She left a message with one of the nurses, "Some chick is about to get murdered by three guys and a kid." When asked for more details, she specified it was the 12 Kazekage, the 13th, some dude with three eyes, and Ryuni, vs some crazy chick with a big sword; they took the message.

Rika returned to the top of the wall and leaned over the edge of the railing. She saw she wasn't the only one watching this fight. Some other dude on a couch was watching.

It'd be one hell of a show. "Kick ass!" Rika shouted as she stepped onto the bottom railing to get more height. One hand held on to the top railing. The other she raised up to pump her fist in the air.

[Topic entered, medics notified]

 

[Chikamatsu Kohana]

The announcement echoed through the Bulwark before I even reached the area.

I knew that voice anywhere. A slight blush came to my cheeks

Gods fucking damnit.

I rounded the corner to find Kureji already installed on a materialized couch with a bucket of popcorn, microphone in hand, announcing the whole situation like it was a stadium event. I stood behind him for a moment, taking in the scene at the gate. Shin on the wall. Michino looking like he'd rather be anywhere else on earth. I squinted my eyes at the arrival.

Is that fucking Akira?

I pressed two fingers to the bridge of my nose. At the thought that this other homunculus had arrived here.

Then I walked around the couch, dropped into the seat beside Kureji, and reached wordlessly into his popcorn bucket.

"I was gone for twenty fucking minutes," I said flatly, watching the chaos unfold at the gate. "Twenty gods damned fucking minutes." I ate a handful of popcorn. "Does this shit happen every day or did I just get lucky?"

I didn't look at him when I said it. I was watching the gate with the expression of someone who had accepted that this was simply her life now.

[Topic Entered]

 

[Chiyo]

Chiyo had been settled in her office, methodically working her way through a stack of reports, when word reached her of the incident at the gates and that Michino was involved. She had risen from her desk immediately, only to find that the universe itself seemed determined to keep her from leaving. Everyone and their mother had materialized in her path with something utterly frivolous in hand: papers requiring her signature, documents demanding review, someone desperately seeking a meeting that could not possibly wait. After she had disentangled herself from the fifth person to plant themselves squarely in her way, Chiyo's patience ran dry. She simply stepped out the nearest window, landed softly on the ledge, and took off at a sprint across the rooftops, pushing time itself out of her way as she cut through the village like a blade; every second compressed.

An instant later she materialized atop the gate, slightly breathless but focused. She cast a quick glance toward Shin and felt a quiet relief that he had already arrived. Then she swept past Kureji and Kohana without a second thought, barely registering the couch they had somehow claimed, and moved straight to the wall beside Rika, already reaching for the edge to launch herself over the side and join the others below.

[Topic Entered, someone better stop her~]

 

[Sabaku Rika]

Rika looked over as the older woman approached and grabbed the railing. She saw it, she was about to jump in. While it would be a bit of an overkill for another person to jump in, Rika regconized her as one of the Sennin, way above her pay grade.

"Hell yeah!" Rika cheered before she even thought about it further, "Kick some ass!" Rika added with a wide grin. She wasn't going to stop the Sennin. She wanted to see all those power houses in a fight together. Plus Ryuni and that other dude.

Rika didn't care if it'd be overkill, or too many chefs in one kitchen, someone kicked a beehive and this was the consequence. This was going to be epic.

"That crazy chick tried tounging the 13th- I guarantee he's gonna try to kill her" Rika added as she pointed down at Alari. Then she shuddered at the memory of seeing it. It was gross, and uncanny.

[Egging Chiyo on]

 

[Kureji]

Kureji was surprised to see Kohana. But he would be happy as she sat next to him. He would put an arm around her as she would reach into his popcorn bucket. He doesn't know the younger girl or some other woman. Though, the woman looks ready to pounce in on the action.

"Oh no.... Stop..." He said unenthusiastically. He would materialize a bucket of popcorn for both other people to accommodate for them watching the show. He doesn't know if the woman was in the mood for popcorn though. The two buckets would suspend in the air ready to be taken by them if they do want to in case.

('stopping' Chiyo)

 

[Kyuji]

A barge into the Hospital, a quick exchange of information and I sighed. It sounded like there was a fight beginning soon with our leaders, Yuuto, my dear kouhai Ryuni and some stranger who was described as some crazy chick with a big sword. Unfortunately, I had not been able to catch wind of more information nor seen the informant. While our current Kazekage and my former apprentice was at the commotion and capable of handling any medical issues that came up, my duty as the Medical Chief and his former teacher made me dash out of the Hospital to the location described in full armor ready to engage if they needed me to do so.

Fortunately upon my arrival, it seemed they were having a stare-down between them. Lord Michino, Lord Shin and Ryuni were definitely allies in this situation. Yuuto was a wildcard but he had been helpful with keeping Ryuni alive after Kureji summoned me to where they had been fighting and had ample knowledge of medical techniques so he was likely on the side of the village in this situation. That left the last one who the informant described as the crazy lady with the sword and in this situation, she was either crazy or had a death wish as the odds were stacked against her and she would not be able to come out of this without sustaining some injuries if she even managed to survive. Off in the distance was Kureji and Kohana on some couch, it appeared, eating some popcorn which raised questions, but they were not in harm or causing any issues so I left it slide for now.

However when I looked up at a nearby wall, I saw Rika and Lady Chiyo. Without knowing much about Lady Chiyo, she looked like she was ready to pounce down and get involved if she needed to. That would not do for now as we didn't need all of the village getting involved in one scrimmage and sustaining unnecessary injuries. No, I would approach her and put a hand on her shoulder while addressing her with a simple comment or two: "Stand down for now, Lady Chiyo. We can get involved if things get out of control. Let the boys handle it and we can clean up their mess if necessary." Kureji also addressed her, but it was still good to have someone she knew from the village speak to her and try to let her be at ease.

 

[Chikamatsu Kohana]

I was still processing the fact that Akira had just tried to tongue Michino in front of my brother when I felt an arm settle around my shoulders.

I went very still.

I did not look at Kureji. I looked straight ahead at the fight, jaw tight, cheeks doing something I was going to pretend wasn't happening.

"..."

I ate another handful of popcorn.

Movement caught my eye. Lady Chiyo—Sennin of Homeland Security, which, fair enough, this was technically a homeland security situation—had materialized on the wall beside Rika and was reaching for the edge like she was about to throw herself directly into a battle that already had plenty of people in it.

Before I could open my mouth, Lady Kyuji's voice carried across from the wall, calm and authoritative, telling Chiyo to stand down and let the boys handle it.

I pointed in Kyuji's direction and shouted.

"What she said. Let the boys dick swing for a bit before you show up and save them. Big guy will owe you a fuck ton!"

I leaned slightly toward Kureji then, lowering my voice, a devilish grin pulling at the corner of my mouth.

"You see that french kissing harlet, yea she's a Homunculus by the way. And not one my brother made."

A small quiet chuckle escaped me as I turned back to watch the gate.

"Michino is fucking cooked."

 

[Chiyo]

Those few moments nearly short-circuited Chiyo's normally razor-sharp mind, forcing her to pause just long enough to reconsider the impulse screaming at her to act.

On one side, the girl beside her cheered her on and let slip a piece of information that cut through every other sound around them, rising above the noise of the crowd like a blade. That crazy chick tried tonguing the 13th. Golden eyes zeroed in on the muscular woman standing before Michino and narrowed to slits, locking onto her target with predatory focus as a foot found purchase on the balustrade.

Far behind her, the silver-haired man made the most half-assed attempt at stopping her he could have possibly mustered. Then the voice of reason rang out just behind her, accompanied by a gentle touch at her shoulder. Let the boys handle it, and we can clean up their mess if necessary. Of course, Michino didn't need her charging to his rescue. If that disgusting woman had touched him like that, then she ought to let him deal with her himself; and she had no doubt that he would. Chiyo would stay here, and watch, and if he needed her she would be right here waiting. Her hands tightened around the stone balustrade, knuckles draining white with the force of her desire to vault over the railing and drop into the sand below, before she released her grip altogether and let her hands fall to her sides.

The other blonde lounging on the couch added her two cents as well, reiterating the calm words of the Byakko clan's leader with considerably less diplomacy and considerably more bite. A grin threatened to tug at the corners of Chiyo's mouth, but the bloodlust still simmering beneath her skin chased it away before it could fully form.

Drawing a slow, measured breath, the Sennin closed her eyes for just a moment, stepped back from the ledge, and turned to face the blonde woman standing behind her. Her emotions were back in check - mostly - though her golden eyes still flickered with a fire that had no intention of going out anytime soon.

She blinked once, twice, recognition settling over her features as she carefully schooled her expression into something resembling a polite smile. "Ah, Lady Kyuji...thank you. You're right, of course."

The polite smile didn't last long. A sharp look flickered across her face at the woman on the couch's final words before she thought better of it, snapping back around to fix her gaze on the situation unfolding below.

 

[Tsuchigumo Maya]

The sounds of shouting and the unnatural roar of chakra-laced wind had drawn Maya from her intended path. She hadn't meant to come this close to the gates. She had only been trying to navigate her way back home from the Academy, keeping her head down and her posture rigid, trying to take up as little space as possible in a village that always felt too large and too loud.

But the commotion was impossible to ignore. As she rounded a corner, her jade green eyes widened in absolute terror.

She arrived just in time to witness the sheer, devastating force of a former Kazekage’s wrath. A massive sheet of bladed air erupted near the gate, violently repelling a terrifying, sword-wielding woman who had seemingly just tried to force herself onto him. The hurricane-force winds lashed out, kicking up stinging sand and debris. Maya gasped, her hands flying up to shield her face as she instinctively stumbled backward. For a terrifying fraction of a second, she felt a strange sensation—a dizzying skip in the world around her—and instead of falling hard onto the cobblestones, she found herself standing perfectly upright, pressed flat against a nearby building. She squeezed her eyes shut, attributing the disorientation to sheer panic.

'What is happening? Why is everyone fighting?' she thought, her internal voice trembling. 'I should leave. I need to leave right now before they see me.'

But her legs felt like lead. Peeking through her perfectly trimmed black bangs, the delicate, doll-like girl took in the surreal scene. It wasn't just the clash of titans at the gate that confused her; it was the audience. Not far from where she hid, a man and a woman were lounging on a materialized couch, casually eating from floating buckets of popcorn as if this horrifying display of violence was a theatrical performance.

Terrified of being caught in the open if the wind jutsu flared up again, Maya cautiously skirted along the edges of the plaza. She crept closer to the couch, not daring to speak to the older man and the blonde woman who sat with him. If they were eating popcorn, maybe she wasn't about to die. She hovered nervously a few paces behind and to the side of them, clutching the soft fabric of her expensive tunic with white-knuckled fingers.

Then, a loud voice from above made her flinch.

Maya tilted her head up toward the Bulwark wall. There, leaning over the railing, was that same girl who looked identical to her; she'd seen her a few times. Maya stared at her, her brows knitting together in a mix of horror and inexplicable fascination. The girl up there was everything Maya was not—brash, fearless, and completely at home in the chaos. Yet, as Maya watched her cheer on the brutal spectacle, a strange, hollow tug pulled at her chest. She looked away, back to the chaos happening.

'She's crazy... they're all crazy,' Maya thought, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. She bit her lower lip, shrinking down slightly behind the safety of the spectators' couch. Despite what she was thinking, she stayed. Maybe it was like watching a train wreck; she just couldn't take her eyes away.

[Topic entered]