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Part 1: A homecoming
Turning a corner, a young boy emerged from the shadows of an alley way to reveal himself as having gray hair. His violet eyes scanning the building in front of him. Technically it was the residential area of the entire Hidden Cloud populace, but of course some did live else where. This boy however was not one of them, his family were not as wealthy as others in Kumogakure that was why he entered this building.

The building itself was much too large to just house a few units, in fact it housed many apartments, some larger than others, some smaller depending on the number of occupants and the wealth of the family. As he took the stairs he couldn't help but wonder just how many people did live here. Although he'd been here for a few months, he didn't really know anyone. Perhaps his sister knew more? After all, she had been here for a few years.

Taking a door our of the stairwell he walked along another corridor before coming to what he knew as home. It was somewhat more spacious than some of the others on the floor but that was due not to wealth but sheer good fortune, after all, the sizes weren't identical.

"I'm home!" He called stepping through the door and immediately taking his shoes off.

"Ute-chan!" A blue haired streak shot out of a room. Utemaro chucked his rucksack in her general direction with some force.

"Don't call me that. My name, is Utemaro!" He fumed before stomping off to his room. Yeah, he had his own room, he was quite proud of that fact. Still, he was a little ticked that she kept calling him Ute-chan. He'd had quite an interesting day to be truthful. He'd learned about Chakra and he done a good work out. None of it however was under the purview of the teacher and he was over three hours late home as well. Ugh. It just wasn't his day.

A knock came at his bedroom door, "Dinner's ready, Utechan!." A moment later and the door opened with something flying out of it, turned out to be a pillow, unfortunately his sister was long gone and he stood there with a dark look in his eyes, "Die!" He yelled out to some laughter. Why why did sisters always know just the way to wind up their little brothers?

What you're asking, is why is getting worked up? Is it because she called him chan? Which might mean 'little'? No. His name was essentially made up of two names, Ute and Maro. Maro meant: Myself, but it was also a masculine name. Ute on the other hand meant: Song and it was also a feminine name. He had his pride as a man and she knew that so calling him Ute-chan to him was like being called a sissy girl.

If only he could actually exact his revenge he would have done so a long time ago, but she was faster, taller, and a helluva lot smarter than he was. No matter what he did, how heavy the object he threw or how many he threw, she'd always be out of the way. Probably why he was still allowed to throw knives inside the house.

His stomach growled loudly interrupting his thoughts, stuffing his hands into his pockets he trudged out of his room like a sulky teenager that he hoped to become and headed into the dining room where his sister had set out todays meal. Surprisingly...she could cook as well, one of her many traits or so it would seem. A spread of fish and potatoes, along with many other ingredients lined the table. She had one flaw. Cooking too much.

"You expect me to eat this?" He grimaced as he sat down.

"What's that supposed to mean?" His sister bounced back rather aggressively a knife gripped in her fist.

"Whoa whoa...I meant you've done too much again." A bead of sweat dripped from her brow. Of course she done too much again, she'd gotten carried away when doing the ingredients.

Utemaro tucked into his meal taking different things from different places and beginning to chomp away. Eventually his sister sat down as well and also started to eat, but it was actually quite clean why she didn't worry too much about cooking way too much as Utemaro began to stack the plates.

"Where do you put it all? Do you have a second stomach or something?" Utemaro looked up after draining a bowl of misou soup (sorry I'm one of those people that put the u instead of the o with line across it because the keyboard shortcut doesn't work). He shrugged before devouring another fish, barely leaving the bones there. This tended to happen, he'd get hungry and then his body would just absorb it and demand more, even he couldn't figure out where half the food went.

"Okari!" Utemaro called indicating the food nearer to her. Of course, she'd barely touched hers, too scared to put weight on her self-proclaimed, perfect figure. He was twelve, what did he care about an ideal figure, he just liked his sister for who she was. Passing him the bowl of rice she grinned as he devoured the lot.

"So how did my Ute-chan's day at school g-" She dodged the bowl, the plate, the bowl, the knife, the bowl, the plate, the bowl and the cup before he ran out of things in easy reach, "I'll have you know...you're cleaning that up."

Oh she was good, she was really good, no wonder she was winding him up today. It was his turn to clean up again, "None of the teachers were at the school never mind the students, not that I could find." He shrugged. She frowned before leaving the table, "Oh well, I'm going to the shops see if I can't find more food for tomorrow."

While he was washing and drying up, something was tickling his mind. Something seemed quite wrong with what he was doing. In fact, something seemed really wrong. Why was he washing up again? Hadn't he done this an entire week in a row. Hadn't they agreed.

"KUSOU!" He yelled. The room shook with the force of his voice. He'd been duped into this! Again!

Part 2: Evening Happenings

When eight o'clock came and all the chores were finished, Utemaro often liked to spend some time in the main living room where he and his sister would often get together and play games. Today was no exception as he and his sister currently had a game of draughts on the table. Of course they were almost neck and neck until his sister revealed a cunning trap about half way through the game. He could see the trap, but he had been forced into taking the bait about three moves ago he realized.

"Too late to do anything about it now." His sister grinned having thwarted the house rule of being able to go back a move should something prove disastrous. Utemaro liked to play against his sister, not because she cheated, or because he could beat her, or not because she would give him the advantage, but because she would always try to make the game more intellectually challenging, no matter what it was. This handicap, had proven to his advantage in recent games, but it seemed now, it was at his disadvantage. Taking his piece into the trap his sister not only had a king but also had taken out most of the pieces he had been planning to use in an upcoming strategy.

"So, got something up your sleeve?"

"Not any more." The young boy confessed as he looked at the board. He had very few opportunities left and there were no immediate ways out of his predicament, every other piece he moved would land him in trouble, some moves would land him in more trouble than others. One piece however, looked rather promising. He played it and his sister countered taking out three of his without thinking. Utemaro played another piece and again his sister countered.

"If you're just going to go all out to get defeated, why don't you just give up, it'll save us a lot of time?"

"Because I'm a stubborn brat." as he moved his third and final piece to his strategy into play. It also revealed his own trap.

"Whoa. Not bad, that's almost like you planned for my original move." Utemaro smiled calmly. Watching as his sister had to make the move in order to prevent losses which were otherwise going to cost her the game. Removing her king and the other piece from play, he realized, too late what he had just done.

"Oh no."

"Oh yes." He'd lined up his pieces accidentally allowing her to take out another line of his strategy. He was out of pieces now. Well, out of useful pieces at all and it only took a few moments to understand why he had lost. His sister had opened a double bluff for him and he'd taken the bait hook line and sinker. This was why he never ever won, he'd come very close though.

He sat there wondering what he could have done differently, thinking about how he had played the game right from the very start, piece by piece he moved the counters in his mind. It was quite rare that he could bring her down into the war of attrition, that was when he'd almost beat her, today, she'd almost actively pursued it, a strange tactic he had thought at the time. Now he saw what the war of attrition had done. It had exposed weaknesses in his thought processes, but he still didn't understand why he had lost.

"I don't understand..."

"Yet." She consoled him, "But one day...maybe in a few hundred years when Ute-chan becomes all grown u-" A punch flew in her direction and almost immediately fell into a game of wrestling.

Part 3: Moonlit Boredom

The night was a peaceful time in Kumogakure, especially in the building, although he could still hear the faint humming of the air conditioning unit and the occasional gurgle of water running through the pipe work. It was odd just how much actually went on even when people went to sleep, just to keep the building sustained until the next day.

On the other hand, Utemaro might not have noticed this, if it wasn't for the fact he had already napped earlier in the day. In fact, he was pretty much wide awake after the relatively short nap he'd just had. Staring out of his curtains he could see the rest of the village. There were a few lights on, scattered around. People were still awake, enjoying themselves no doubt. It got him to wondering whether there were other students out there enjoying themselves, he turned away, speaking of enjoyment and boredom, he grabbed at his book and pencil, he never wrote in pen, just in case he didn't like how the idea played out. It was so nice to be the god of your own little world.

Scribbling away he began to get lost in his own world, thinking about how the story would play out. Well, that was until his pencil snapped and he swore in a language only his characters would understand before grabbing pushing his hand into a nearby draw. A few moments passed and his brow creased. Pencil sharpener...ah... he turned his gaze, where was it? It wasn't there.

That was odd, he kept his pencil sharpener in that draw at all times along with an eraser, and a pen which he hardly ever used and he wasn't about to settle for a pen either, just in case..and he didn't like crossing out either, it always seemed too untidy. Well, if he couldn't use is pen or cross out, then there was only one thing left to do as he swung himself out of bed dressed in his Coco patterned green pajama's. Sliding the door he made his way out of his room and into the living room, looking around for it. Sometimes his sister borrowed his things but after the last argument...he didn't think she'd go after it again.

Still, he couldn't find it and he headed into the kitchen. Checking quickly in the draws and over the counters, he was somewhat miffed that it still wasn't anywhere to be seen. There was only one real room where it might be left inside the house and if there was one place he never ever wanted to go, even it his life depended on it, it was his sisters room. Even now he heard the moans, the cries, the screams. He'd walked in before and what he saw terrified him. He shuddered from the thought he wasn't ever going to do that again, she could suffer. Still, he was left without a pencil sharpener. What could he do.

A knife he could use a knife! Unfortunately the kitchen knives were out of bounds. If they were used on anything but vegetables and meat, he'd kill them personally and Utemaro didn't feel like committing suicide. There was however one opportunity. She used his things, why not use hers? There was a closet near the bathroom, it wasn't very big, but his sister often kept her things in there, especially anything she needed to store, usually pouches and vests, often materials of sorts. He opened it up. If he didn't know better he could have sworn he was looking into a fully kitted out armory, but still here he was rummaging through her packs. The amount of scrolls seemed astonishing, considering she didn't really read that much, at least not scrolls, there were also vials of items and a few blunt weapons. Then he came to what he was looking for, the sharp things. He found her swords, a kodachi and a wakizashi, but he wasn't prepared to touch them, a momento from their Grandmother on the Musashi side. So what was left?

Guess he needed to rummage through the pouches some more. Going back he found himself looking at all kinds of implements. Some were scalpels which he could never use for something like sharpening a pencil but he also found makibishi, senbon, along with many other items and that was when he first came to the Kunai.

Inside, the pouch wasn't just kunai however was a notepad and pencil and his beloved pencil sharpener. That meant he didn't have to use her things after all. Taking her pencil sharpener he closed the closet and headed back to his room. Now he could get back to writing.

Daigoro lay on his bed. Listening to that woman every night was really grating on his mind. Every night without fail she'd drop something heavy on the floor just when he was about to actually get some sleep for a change. He'd taken to sleeping under a tree during the day time out in the village. Why did he have to live under her? Directly under her.

Biting into an apple he had bought from the evening stalls he muched quite happily wondering when she'd be going to bed. They seemed to be getting worse as well and what with the ruckus last night. What the hell had she done up there? The blood curdling screams did nothing to soothe him either, he was quite sure they'd woken everyone up.

Daigoro threw the apple at the wall allowing it to bounce off and fall into the bucket below. Narrowing missing a picture hanging up. His first day at the academy, the only picture he had of his adoptive father back when he'd first joined the village and enrolled at the academy. That reminded him, since this woman had moved in, he'd been going less and less frequently mostly since there was no one there during the night. He considered heading over there just to go to the library, it was the only useful thing there, everything else he could do elsewhere.

"I wonder." He murmured to himself and sat up walking over to his window. Not that it was very far to walk, he was one person therefore he had one of the smallest apartments in the building big enough that if he swung a cat, it'd be dead before it came full circle. Opening the window he looked down.

"Nya!" A cat. What the hell.

"Oh so cats like being swung do they?"

"Nya!" Came the simple reply as he let the stray into his room. He didn't have much but what he did have he often shared, he liked to think that he used to be part of a big family. Opening the fridge he pulled out a left over meat and a bowl of refridgerated water. The cat came by quite often as it were. Laying back on his bed he allowed the cat to eat at her own pleasure. She was a simple thing, brown and black patched but her eyes were odd, one blue one green. Sometimes he had the feeling that everything he said, she understood. Othertimes he realised she was just a cat. One usually followed the other.

Allowing himself to drift off on his bed for a change it was quite a surprise when the cat jumped on his bed and curled up beside him, she'd probably been locked out of her home, most owners did that because they couldn't keep an eye on their pet. Not that it mattered to him to be honest. His window slammed shut startling him awake as well as the cat, whom was quick to realise what the problem was before burying her head into her tail again. Feeling him self a little bit of a idiot, Daigoro did the same enjoying the time of peace and the feeling of contentedness. Maybe he should get a cat? They were pretty much like him, fairly reclusive and brutally honest with what they liked and didn't like.

Take for instance...this particular cat. She knew she didn't like regular cat food, in fact if you didn't give her regular cat food she'd simply lap at the water, give you a derogatory look and then leave. Maybe she didn't think of herself as a cat, but as a human. It had taken him quite a few months to understand her eating habits.

Looking up at the ceiling he muttered, "For once, I'm going to sleep here. I don't want any of this screaming, banging, shouting. Else I'm coming up there and I'm going to give you a piece of my mind. Got it?" He glared at the ceiling, relaxed and closed his eyes allowing himself to drift off to sleep.

Raurn awoke in his room, There was a bird tapping at the window near his bed, it had a note attached to it. he stretched to help himself wake up, he then proceeded to take the note and read it.

he looked at the clock and noted the time. "dammit... ive got to be at the academy soon..." he thought to himself.

He stood up out of bed and did another long stretch before he proceeded to go downstairs.
The house was quiet, he was, afterall the only person living there now.
After a brief visit to the restroom, raurn entered the kitchen. He opened the fridge and pulled out a breakfast he had prepared earlier in the week, todays meal was poached eggs and sausage with jellied toast. He grabbed some bread out of a nearby breadbox and place it into the toaster. he pulled his hand back suddenly as the toaster shocked him as he pulled the lever on it.
" things acting weird again... i'll have to see about fixing that later. note to self, don't use toaster..." he said in a suddenly more awakened tone.

He proceeded to eat his breakfast, the food held fairly well while refrigerated, so the taste was good.

after he finished his food, he proceeded to clean his dishes, no point in leaving them dirty, he'd just have to clean them later.
He then proceeded to take a shower and change into a fresh pair of clothes.

after getting dressed, he proceeded back down the stairs and back to the kitchen to grab one of his lunches he had prepared earlier in the week.

He then went to the front door and left, locking up behind him, knowing that noone would be home when he got back.

(exit to academy)

Masaaki Sandaa
Hp: 5/8
Cp: 5/5
MHp: 8/8

Down the various staircases that lead up to the Mountains of Lightning the boy ran, down and down past numerous civilians. Now that he had a definitive clue as to where the ball was, he took off in a full on sprint towards the Housing District, with much less regard to avoiding civilians than before. Time was of the essence, at any moment his sister might beat him to the wish-granting ball. He ran across bridges, jumped over railings, scaled walls, and ducked through crowds of people as he raced towards the Housing District; admittedly with much less finess than he thought his parkour encompassed. He couldn't go five seconds without someone yelling from behind him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"Hey, you brat!"

"Hey! Are you going to help me pick this up?!"xxxxxxxx

"Where are your parents, young man?!"

Masaaki must have pissed off at least 50 people on his way to the Housing District, but his one track mind block out anything but the one thought he had pressed into his mind. It was almost as if the thought was forcibly pulling him forward, head-first, and he was merely using his legs to support his body. After a couple minutes of exhausting sprinting, he came into the Housing District, or rather, ontot the Housing District. His last endeavor had Masaaki vault over the railing of a nearby bridge, almost fifteen feet from the roof he now stood on, and combat roll to safety. Now the boy stood bent over, hands on his knees, gasping for breath with beads of sweat rolling off his face.

After a moments rest, Masaaki resumed his search of the area, running from rooftop to rooftop, although his depleted stamina would not allow the boy to sprint as he had done up to this point. It only took him a moment to confirm his fears; Ten'nyo had a lead on the boy. The boy spotted his twin sister down by a small shop, hunched over and completely out of breath. It appeared the search for the magic ball had taken just as much a toll on her as it had him. Then he saw it.

"Not this time sis, that ball is mine."

The boy ran just as fast as his legs would allow clearing entire streets in a single bound, but it was too late. From a distance, Masaaki watched as his sister ran over, and then underneath, the table of the restaurant he had in his sights. Beneath the tablecloth, on the ground, was the wish-granting ball. He watched in disappointment as she emerged from underneath the tablecloth, cupping the ball. His speed decreased to a slight jog.

"Damn, I didn't make it."

However, the excitement was not over, and Masaaki picked up his pervious speed. The shopkeeper had come outside and was hitting his sister with a broom. Despite their rivalry, Masaaki fiercely loved his sister, and any move against her outside of friendly sparing or training was unacceptable. As Ten'nyo fled the area, Masaaki jumped from the roof of the apartment complex across the street, and delivered a swift jump-kick right to the man's face.

"DON'T MESS WITH MY SISTER!!!"

The kick connected squarely with the clerk's face, as Masaaki's shout had reached the man just in time for him to turn his head to receive the bottom of the boy's foot. Although the boy's kick wasn't strong, and his weight didn't convey much power, the momentum from the jump was just enough to knock the shopkeeper out cold, and throw the two through a table. Masaaki hadn't anticipated the consequences of his actions; seeing his sister being beaten was enough to throw all caution to the wind. When Masaaki stood up from the debris, he found it hurt to stand on his right ankle, and there was a few drops of blood falling down onto his foot. Upon lifting his pants up slightly, he saw that the broken table had scraped his leg, and although the injury was slight, it appeared that the boy had slightly sprained his ankle.

"Damn it..."

With a quick look around to all the surrounding people, Masaaki ran out of the area and towards his father's office, slightly limping to decrease the pain in his leg.

[Exit to Customs Office]

[Hp - 3]

Find the Dragon Ball Somewhere in the Village (It's around the housing area... but do not head straight there...)
There will be clues as to where the ANBU has been, because he was purposely sloppy.
Awareness DC 15
5/5

Miyako Chōzō

╔═.♥.══════╗
TAHp: 9/9
TACp: 5/5
TIMHp: 9/9
╚══════.♥.═╝

Miyako licked her finger and turned to the next page. It seemed there were other ways to purge the poison from someone's body other than using chakra or using the antidote. She squinted her eyes trying to read the words, but they were a little smudged and she couldn't make them out. "Ribbit Producing? No. Cackle? That doesn't sound right either..." She tried turning the page and looking at it through the light, but that didn't help either. Hmmm... What in the world are these?

Maybe if I try reading it upside down? She flipped the book over and tried reading the words, but that didn't help. Did mom use this book before I did? What was she thinking smudging up one of the most important things in this book!? How can I expect to learn these things if I can't even read them? She sat and stared at the page, thinking maybe if she looked at it long enough the words would just show up... but that didn't work either.

She gave up trying to figure out the words and decided to keep reading. As she read the next sentences, it felt like a fish just slapped her. If she would've read the following sentences, she would have figured out the other two ways were to induce vomiting and ingest charcoal. The vomiting had made sense to her, but she had never heard of using charcoal before. "However it does not work against metals, alcohols, acids, alkalis and glycols." "That would probably be why... it doesn't sound like it is a very useful tool to rely on."

After reading about the antidotes and the ways to remove the poison, the next section was about medical herbs. She tried reading some of the names of the herbs, but they just went right over her head. She had never heard of most of them, but from the pictures she may have seen them somewhere before. She rubbed her eyes as they were getting tired of staying awake, reading the facts on plants.

She looked down at the book after stretching the skin around her eyes and nose. It seemed to do the trick and wake her up a bit. She began looking down the names of the herbs as well as the alchemical recipes they were used in. It was intriguing to read about how plants had healing attributes to them. You could either take the plant itself, or mix it with something else to get a completely different effect.

Read a Book: Alchemy
DC: 10 + Alchemy (3) + Added Difficulty (2) = 15
d20 + Alchemy (3) = 13,AutoFail,17,AutoFail,15
5/10

Miyako Chōzō

╔═.♥.══════╗
TAHp: 9/9
TACp: 5/5
TIMHp: 9/9
╚══════.♥.═╝

She attempted to read further but she found herself dozing off once again. I need to wake myself up... Maybe a glass of water... She got up and walked into the kitchen barefoot. The rock flow throughout the home was smooth, which was rather surprising. It was amazing what the people did to this place. She grabbed a cup and filled it with cold water and gulped it down. It was a relief from the warm air that always seemed to fill the village. Maybe this was a volcano and not just a mountain? She shrugged her shoulders and went back into her bedroom.

The next section of the book mainly dealt with poisonous reptiles, spiders, and insects. She found herself barely touching the page, afraid the pictures were going to jump out at her. Either she would need someone else to get the poison for her, or she would have to grow a pair if she'd ever be in the need for any. Bugs kind of creeped her out. Their crunchy exoskeleton, multiple legs, antennae, and not to mention the eyes! She shivered thinking about them. Most of the ways to obtain the venom is to milk the animal. Yeah... no way I'm EVER doing that!

Read a Book: Alchemy
DC: 10 + Alchemy (3) + Added Difficulty (2) = 15
d20 + Alchemy (3) = 14,17
9/10