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 Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2011 6:16 pm
Michio walked down the main street, the cart in tow behind him. He had found a bunch of leather straps and fashioned a harness for himself. Grunting with each step, Michio pulled the cart with the four gangsters in it, making muffled sounds of angry screaming and yelling. “Well, they're out of their mind screwing haze now. Good thing the jail is only three more buildings away.” He kept pushing himself to drag the cart until he finally reached the steps for the jail. “Jeez.. you'd think with four wheels on this cart that it would be easier to move... I give pack animals a lot more credit now... that's hard work...” Michio said, thoroughly out of breath. He extended his claws and cut himself loose, retracted them, and entered the station.
“Delivery!” he said, and the officer at the desk looked at him questionably. “I busted this small group of Cobras breaking into the Sakura no Megumi grocery store in an attempt to cause vandalism as retribution for not paying them extortion money.” The officer leaped out of his seat and rushed outside to receive the small band of vandals and pulled each and every one of them out of the cart and taking them inside to book them. “That's really impressive, young man. Let's take these criminals inside and we'll talk about your reward.” Michio shook his head, “No, I can't accept any payment for this, I'm already being paid by the shinobi mission office for this, as it was my assigned mission.” He noticed in the light that the gangsters were still coated in a layer of poison. “Oh, by the way, you might want to wash your hands and spray them off. They got coated in their own toxins in the altercation.” The officer nodded and had one or two of his co-workers take the Cobra members into holding cells and turned a hose on them. The officer thanked Michio for his hard work and asked him to sign in the criminals so it was on record as to who had turned them in. Michio signed his name and left the station, taking the much lighter cart back to the store and locking up for the night. He returned to his apartment a few minutes later and took a much needed shower, enjoying the feeling of the fresh, hot water running over his skin. He rinsed his hair out, letting the water flow through it as he took pleasure in every moment he spent under the water. The water began getting cold after thirty minutes and Michio turned the water off and dried off. “Man oh man... what a week...” he said, falling onto his bed and burying himself in the sheets and the pillow and passing out for the night.
He awoke the next morning to sun rays shining through the uncovered window and rose from his bed, walking to the window and shutting the blinds to hide his still naked body. He cooked himself some breakfast and ate, then dressed and did his morning stretches. “Time to go collect my payment, I suppose.” he said and exited his apartment, tightening his headband. On his way to the mission office, he passed by Sakura no Megumi and entered the store, asking to see the owner, who emerged from his office and spotted Michio. “YOU! This store was a mess! There were broken containers everywhere, the walls were wet, the cloth sheets needed changing, and you know what else?!” the owner shouted at him, making several heads turn to them both. “Yeah?” Michio said, a little confused and miffed at this display of anger towards him.
“I couldn't be happier. I heard that the gangsters who were threatening me are in jail for a good two years. That should give me enough time to regain profits and increase my security to prevent situations like this from ever happening again! Thank you so much. I have already paid the office for your good work, and I even dropped off a few pomegranates for you.” Michio smiled sheepishly and the elderly store owner nodded knowingly, “Yeah, I noticed one of them was gone. Normally, I'd be upset, but I didn't think that just the 100 ryo was enough of a thank you. Now go on, get out of here before I change my mind.” Michio laughed and nodded, “You're welcome.” then left and went to the mission office to collect his reward.Quote: 147/130 - Community watch complete!
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Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 7:59 pm
“Well now, it looks like you completed your mission. Our customer had a number of complaints, but was overall satisfied with the quality of your work. Here is your 100 ryo. We still have a few more missions available, but I cannot assign them to you until you have a little more experience under your belt. What I can do for you, however, is assign you to travel to Lightning country on a courier mission. The local branch of the pharmaceutical company Kazeniban has created a brand new formula for a more powerful soldier pill, and they have entrusted our office with assigning a courier for it's transportation to Lightning Country. The Chuunin exams should be coming to a close, but perhaps if you are quick enough you can catch a few of the final matches before the exams are over. Might be good for you to see what it takes to move up in the world.” the mission officer said to Michio, handing him an official pass and the formula container. “This will allow you passage through any country you need to go through to get to Lightning country so long as it is either Fire or Earth country. You are to leave within the hour, so pack up and get going.” Michio took the pass and nodded, “Yes sir.”
Back at his apartment, Michio began to pack all of the bathroom essentials (toothbrush, shampoo, conditioner, etc) as well as some food rations such as beef jerky and bottled water. He packed his ninja tools, refilled his tool pouches, and packed a small blanket. Alright... I think I have everything, now time to go and get these formula plans to Lightning country... the young shinobi thought, then closed and slung his backpack on his shoulders.
As Michio walked down the main street towards the gate, he passed by the ramen shop and was called to by a familiar voice. “Oi. Michio-san.” the voice said. Michio turned his head and saw Korinobu sitting in the ramen store, “Come here. I still owe you a bowl of the shop's finest.” Michio nodded and walked over to the store, taking a seat next to his former sensei. “So what have you been up to, Michio-san? I heard there was a commotion near your apartment the day of the exam.” his former teacher asked, ordering a bowl of the store's finest ramen for himself and the young shinobi, “I also heard that there were three deaths and a hospitalization of a fourth party.” Michio nodded, taking his travel pack off and setting it on the floor next to him, “Yes indeed. Three members of the local gang were about to murder Gozu-san's youngest brother. As much disdain I hold for Gozu, I know the pain of loss of a family member and was not about to let that weakling just get himself killed. Unfortunately, I suffered a near-fatal stabbing injury to my stomach that sent me into hallucinogenic hell for a few days.” Their ramen was placed in front of them and they both said the informal grace “Itadakamatsu!” and dug in. “That sounds about what I heard from the doctor when I inquired about it. The nurses at the front desk seemed pretty sweet on you and were thrown into a fit of giggles when I mentioned your name.” Korinobu said between bites, turning a suspicious eye to Michio, “You didn't... well you know... do anything to put them in that level of infatuation did you?” It was all Michio could do to not spit his ramen across the room as he snorted into his bowl, “Korinobu-sama, even if I had done THAT, you'd probably be the last person I would tell.” His former sensei smiled and nodded, “Of course.” They finished their ramen in record time and Michio looked at the clock on the wall. “Oh damn... I have about ten minutes to get to the front gate. I'm on a mission to Lightning country. Thank you for lunch.”
By the time he got to the gate, he only had thirty seconds until the gate closed. Michio threw himself at the gate entrance, but the door shut sooner than he could run and he collided with the door. “Well now how the hell am I supposed to get to Lighning country...?” he asked aloud, standing at the inside of the gate, and a voice from behind him stated, “You don't. You failed to leave within the permitted time, so I'm afraid you have failed this mission. Please return the plans to me now, and we will assign the mission to a more punctual student.” Michio scowled and removed the formula from his backpack and handed it back to the mission registration officer, who looked down at Michio with a mixture of disappointment and sympathy, “Don't take it so hard. There's always chasing around a cat that you could do." The officer turned and began to walk away, but then said, "Oh, by the way, theres another graduation test at the academy. Maybe you should go and check it out and give a few pointers."
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Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 9:43 pm
Michio walked back to his apartment and dropped his backpack off, then left immediately to the ninja academy, where sure enough, there were new students going through graduation, but instead of sticking around to watch, Michio walked to the training area, where he spotted a man he had never seen before practicing what appeared to be a variant of tekken, or iron fist, where his moves were much faster, but still seemed to pack the same level of power in their impact. The young Kaguya decided he would ask the man to teach him the style and approached the oddly dressed man, who immediately turned to him.
“What can I do for you, young one?” the bald man asked, and Michio bowed before him, for he was certainly a man of senior rank. “That's an interesting style of martial arts you're using. Would you mind teaching me a few moves?” he asked, trying to sound as polite as possible, but the man merely scoffed. “Yes, I'm sure I could certainly teach you some 'moves', but first I would need to see if you are properly attuned to learn the ones I teach to all of the students.” He pivoted so that his back was to Michio and bowed to something in front of him that Michio could not see. He then went to his sack laying on the ground only a few feet away and pulled out a thin slip of paper and offered it to Michio. “What you need to do for this small test is to take hold of this slip of paper with your bare hand and focus your energy into it, and then we'll see if you're capable of learning the techniques that I have to offer.” Michio raised an eyebrow but accepted the piece of paper and a few seconds after he took hold of it, the paper burst into flame and was consumed in a fiery blaze. Michio dropped the paper in surprise and stomped the remains out, astonished that the flames that licked his fingers had not burned him. The monk clapped his hands together once and laughed aloud, “Excellent! We shall begin immediately!” The elder man settled into a fighting stance all of a sudden, causing Michio to do the same. “First, I will show you how to perform a simple side step, then I will show you how to turn that side step into a powerful countermove.” Michio nodded, but spoke up, “I already know how to side step though. That's practically biped locomotion one oh one.” The monk nodded, “Fine then, show me.”, and he swung at Michio, who shuffled to the right a couple of feet and the elder man seemed to know his exact movement, for he delivered a kick to Michio's cheek which sent the youth flying a couple more feet back before crashing to the ground. “Apparently, young one, you do not know how to properly side step. The proper side step is a fluid motion, not some shuffling technique. We're not performing a new age dance here.” the older man said, a smirk of enjoyment at his own joke displaying on his face. He motioned for Michio to get up and said, “Okay, now what I want for you to do is to take a punch at me, and throw all of your weight behind it.” Michio nodded, doing as instructed, and the man dressed as a monk pivoted his body and spun with the punch, Michio's fist flying inches from the monk's dodging torso. Michio was shoved forward as the monk kicked him square in the back with his leg, his calf impacting both of Michio's shoulderblades. “My apologies. It was simply a reflex of being lost to the fluidity of the move. Now, I will swing at you and you must perform the same pivoting spin that I did, predicting my movements. Be warned, however, that I do not pull punches, nor do I lightly tap an opponent. When you train with a monk from the Order of the Flaming Fist, you must pour everything you've got into every move, otherwise your existence is for nothing.” Michio nodded and thought Hm... that doesn't sound too far off from my own philosophies...
“Prepare yourself!” the elderly monk exclaimed, and they both jumped into a fighting stance, Michio having to face the monk before assuming his stance. The monk punched as hard and as fast as he could and Michio moved, pulling the same pivot and spin that the monk had demonstrated only moments before. As the monk's fist passed by his face, he could smell the air in front of him burning as if the monk's fist was on fire, and knew instantly why they called it the Order of the Flaming Fist. It was not just an mere expression, it was a truth in their style of fighting. “Very good!” the monk said as Michio stopped spinning and turned to face him, “We'll try it a few more times just so it become second nature to you. Then we'll move onto teaching you how to be a little more quiet when you move. More light on your feet."
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 2:53 am
A few minutes later, the monk bowed to Michio respectfully, “Well done, young one. Now we shall work on being unheard in our movement. The ninja here call this move the Flash Step, and it requires the utmost focus of your chakra. Have you been taught the tree climbing jutsu?” Michio shook his head and the monk's jaw dropped. “Don't these instructors teach you anything at this school?!” he blurted out, earning the dirty looks of a nearby female woman dressed in an instructor's uniform. “Don't look at me like that, woman, or I'll slap that scowl off your face so fast your ancestors won't even see it!” the monk yelled at her and she gave him an surprised, yet offended glare and stormed off. The monk turned to Michio and wagged a finger at him, “That's how you deal with people who don't do their jobs right and then get mad at you for pointing it out. Just be sure you can back up what you're saying, otherwise you might be deader than a doornail before the final word leaves your lips.”
The monk walked to a nearby tree and jabbed his thumb at it, “Now see, what you need to do to walk up this tree is just focus your chakra into your feet. It sounds simple, but there's a trick: If you use too much chakra, you'll just end up cracking the trunk and falling. However, if you use too little, your feet wont stick to the trunk and you'll fall even harder. Also, you must keep this chakra flow steady and constant, otherwise you'll be like one of those sticky toys you buy for children. You know, the ones you throw at the wall and they stick for a minute or two and then fall to the floor? Yeah, you'll be just like one of those. Now go do it, young one.” Michio nodded and walked to the tree, standing in front of it for a moment as he focused chakra into his feet. The young shinobi placed his foot on the trunk and felt himself become one with the bark and he smiled, shifting his weight onto that foot and pushing up with it, placing his other foot on the trunk and evening his body out so that it was sticking out horizontal to the trunk. He placed one foot in front of the other slowly, as if just beginning to learn how to walk all over again, and found himself walking up the tree with ease. Once he reached the first set of branches, he got excited and his chakra surged through his feet, cracking the wood and sending him flying back three feet. He spun as he flew through the air, landing on his feet and scowling. Dammit... let my emotions get the better of me... you'd think with all of the training my family gave me, I'd be in better control of what I feel. The elder monk looked at him and frowned, “Come on then. Try again, and this time don't break the trunk.” The monk motioned to the tree and Michio walked over again, this time jumping onto the trunk and finding himself pleasantly surprised when his feet stuck to the wood on such short adhesion time. He smiled and continued to walk up the tree, dodging large branches and finally making his way to the top... where a couple of crows had made their nest and stared at him for a moment before flying into the air and circling him. He had seen a flock of angry crows attack someone once, and he was not about to be the victim of one of those vicious attacks. Michio retreated back into the branches, climbing down by walking to the ground and stepping off calmly and safely.
“Very well done. You're a fast learner. You've already mastered the side step and tree climbing, and it has barely been an hour. Let's move onto the move I meant to teach you in the first place. I call it Flash Step, and it has proven useful in many battle situations in which to get the surprise on an opponent. When you put this technique into effect, you are to place your chakra into your feet much like when you were climbing that tree just a few seconds ago, but at a much higher output. This gives you a light step, almost as if you're not even touching the ground at all. Be careful though, too much chakra and, like the tree trunk, you could cause harm to the ground and give away your position. I cannot grade how well you learn this move, as I will be listening for any stealth you may put forth. You must go into the city and practice this technique. I would suggest not using it for any illegal actions... maybe go sneak up on a group of children and scare them... or sneak through a yard with a dangerous, quick guard dog. But do it later. I've got one more technique to teach you.” the monk said, motioning for Michio to follow as he turned and walked to an open dirt field. “ Now we get to the good stuff. This is why I needed you to hold that small slip of paper. Now, are you any good with what this school calls 'Ninjutsu'?”
At this Michio shook his head, “I can make the hand signs well enough, but taijutsu has always been my niche in combat.” The monk frowned, “As was I, at one point in my life. But alas, some lessons in life need to not only be experienced, but also learned well. And such is what I'm about to do for you. I am going to teach you to blow fire from your lips.” Michio's eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly, but he quickly recovered and stood at attention, waiting to learn the lesson. “Good, I have your attention. Now, the technique to this 'jutsu' is very simple. I need for you to make the following hand signs in hasty sequence. Snake, Tiger, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger.” he said, making each hand sign as he did so, the repeated the sequence with practiced speed and placed a fist with a slightly raised middle and index finger in front of his mouth, exhaling into his hand and causing a series of fireballs to erupt from his lips. Michio grinned, obviously excited at the thought of being able to technically breathe fire, and turned away from the monk, making the hand signs slowly at first, but on practice sequence thirty, he made the hand signs quickly and blew into his hand like the monk had done... and nothing happened.
“Monk-sama, what happened? What did I do wrong?” Michio asked, and the monk laughed. “My name is Togashi Furai, but you may just call me Furai-sensei for now. As for what you did wrong, tell me what you did and maybe I can point out where your technique went wrong.” Michio thought for a moment, then named off what he did, “I made the hand signs, focused my chakra into them, and placed my hand just like you did, exhaling just like you did... “ Furai raised his hand to Michio, “I think I know what happened. It seems in my old age, I had forgotten to tell you that you need to focus your chakra into both your hand being forced out of your palm and your mouth where you will blow it into your hand. The kenetic friction that the collision of these two chakra flows create is what causes the string of fireballs to fly out. Also, spread your middle and index finger a little bit more. The wider they are, the greater chance for more fireballs. Now... again!” Furai stepped back and Michio nodded, focusing his chakra and quickly making the hand signs... Snake, Tiger, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger... and then he quickly diverted his chakra evenly into his mouth and his hand, spreading his fingers wide and blowing the chakras against one another. One intensely hot fireball shot from his hand and landed in the dirt several feet away. Michio swung his hand as if he had just the handle of a door that had been sitting in the sunlight all day on the hottest day in Otogakure. “Wow... that really hurt...” Michio said, rubbing his hand and Furai roared with laughter. “Yeah, yeah it does that at first. You'll get used to the heat though. Do it again, but this time, try to create several fireballs.” Michio nodded, focused his chakra again, and performed the hand signs again.... Snake, Tiger, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger... and at the last moment, he extended his claws out of his knuckles, creating another set of 'separators' for there to be more fireballs. As he blew chakra from his mouth into the chakra in his hand, the chakra mixed itself together and fired seven fireballs towards the dirt, but neither Furai's nor Michio's attention were on the immediately extinguished fireballs. The mix of the chakra with his some sort of film on his steel strong bones caused the claws to ignite. Michio shook his hand wildly and slapped the flames in an attempt to extinguish the flames, but to no avail. It didn't hurt, oddly, but it scared Michio incredibly, and it was clear from the look on Furai's face, he had never seen a phenomena like this before. Michio remembered back to camping 101 and thought about how if there's no oxygen in the air around the flames, the flames will extinguish themselves, and he instantly pulled his claws back through his knuckles and into his forearm, putting out the flames and leaving Michio with blackened knuckles and a very confused sensei.
Michio looked up at Furai and gave him a nervous look, “Eh heh... yeah... I can explain...”
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 4:40 pm
Togashi Furai looked at Michio for a few moments after he said he could explain and scoffed, shaking his head. “You know, I've lived in this world for nearly forty years, and I can honestly say that I have never seen a human being sprout sharp tips that resemble bones from his knuckles. Nor have I ever seen bone catch fire as fast as that before. What in Kagu-tsuchi's name are you, young man?” Michio flushed and looked at his hands, then sprouted his claws again, this time out of both forearms, and offered his arms to Furai. “I cannot say what I am, because I don't know. I am human as far as I know. But this seems to be an abnormality of anatomy that has crafted bones alongside or in between the radius and ulna of my forearms, and for some reason if I focus chakra into the muscles of my arm, one of them forces the claws out through my knuckles. Oddly enough, when the tips begin to push through, my skin sort of just forms around them, rather than being forcefully and painfully penetrated and having the skin on my knuckles tear. It's really odd. I think I'm the only person who has this ability. My parents didn't have this abnormality, and none of my classmates had it. I've never shown it to my teachers either... in fact, I didn't even know that I could do it until a few days ago.”
Furai nodded, “Well I've certainly never heard of this before. Perhaps it's one of those Kekkeigenkai that I've heard about... well wait, no.. you say your family never had it? Maybe they were adoptive parents?” Michio shrugged, “All I know is that they never showed the capability to do anything like this.” Furai thought for a moment then shrugged, “Alright well, it's getting rather late, and I need to get back to the temple. Our lesson today has been concluded. As a parting note, young man, keep that ability a secret from all but your most trusted friends and mentors. An ability like that would only be seen by the wrong people as a tool for warfare, and that's the last thing someone as young as you needs to experience. Now, I must be off. Farewell young tanuki.” The monk walked over to his pack and slung it over his shoulders, then made several hand signs too fast for Michio to distinguish and erupted in a ball of flame. The human-sized fireball shot upwards towards the clouds and disappeared into them.
Michio watched with awe and then smiled, “I've gotta ask him to teach me that someday...”
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PeterBainner rolled 1 100-sided dice:
17
Total: 17 (1-100)
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 4:15 am
Kaguya Michio turned away from the training grounds and left the academy, watching the students participating in the graduation process and taking special note of a blonde one with blue tips in his hair. There's something interesting about that one... but besides his hair, I'm not sure what... Michio thought, then shrugged and exited the school grounds. He walked down main street and noticed a series of fliers that had not been there when he'd walked to the academy. I wonder what this is about? he thought and walked over to one flier. The flier had a large, hand drawn picture of what seemed to be a cat, and it was colored to be calico with the word MISSING in large red letters at the top of the flier. Hm... sucks for her. Can't keep track of her animal, she doesn't deserve to have it. Michio smirked and returned to his apartment. As soon as he got to the doorstep, he noticed a letter marked with a sound note taped to his door and a box of pomegranates next to the door. Opening the letter's envelope with his kunai, he read the message to himself as he walked into his living quarters:
Kaguya Michio,
We have just received a mission in which we thought best to assign to you. A citizen of the village has lost her feline companion and wishes for us otonin to capture and return her lost animal. She had placed fliers on the corners of the roads in the village, but every attempt at catching this cat has proven unsuccessful... by civilian hands. It is your mission, whether you choose to accept it or not, to retrieve this animal and bring it to the mission assignment office. The cat is calico and has an odd series of multicolored stripes along its tail.Oh, and Michio... try not to dawdle this time. We otonin cannot afford to have our shinobi failing missions left and right. For reasons we cannot explain and quite silly to us, this message will self destruct in five seconds.
-Tsuruchi Nobumoto, Otogakure Shinobi Mission Center
Michio grinned and crumpled the message up, tossing it into the sink. As soon as it hit the metal basin, the letter burst into flame. Michio scoffed and thought about what he had just read. “So some lady has gone and lost her cat... and it's now my job to find it, catch it, and bring it back to her... hasn't anyone ever heard of just using a cat kennel?” he asked rhetorically, then sighed and opened his refrigerator... which was sadly emptier than he was expecting. “Hm... well... I do need some money for groceries... Ah what the hell, why not? It's not like I've got anything better to do with my time.” He smiled smugly and grabbed a pomegranate, biting into it and letting the dark red juice drip down his chin. He wiped it away with the back of his hand and left his apartment, locking the door on the way out.
The young Kaguya walked down the main road towards the mission office when he noticed a calico cat dart across the road from an alleyway on the left side of the road (or right depending on where you're standing) and a woman emerge a second later chasing the cat. The woman was petite in figure with blonde hair pulled into a ponytail with her hair parted along the sides and her bangs hanging over either side of her face.
As she ran, she caught sight of Michio and smiled sheepishly as she gave chase, and Michio found himself instantly anxious and tense as if her smile was a threat... even though he knew it wasn't. He followed her and gave chase alongside her, following the cat as it darted down the series of alleyways. “Are you the woman who commissioned the search for a cat?” he asked as they chased the animal, and she nodded as they ran. “Yes, I'm having trouble catching him. I think he thinks this is a game. And I need to catch him soon or my mom is gonna kill me for letting the cat out!” She sounded out of breath and Michio, for the first time in nineteen years, could not help but notice with a mild perverted pleasure that her decently developed chest flounced as they ran. He forced his eyes on the cat and shouted “YOU THINK THIS IS A MOTHER F**KING GAME?!” in the most awkward gangster accent ever towards the cat, which paid no physical mind to him other than cocking one ear back momentarily before turning it forward again. They continued to twist through the alleys and he even passed by the owner of Sakura no Megumi, who noticed what he was doing and as he passed, the man quickly slipped a pre-cut piece of fish into his hand and winked at him. Michio shouted “Thank you!” as he ran down the alley and the cat turned right. Michio and the girl turned the corner and noticed that the domesticated animal had run down an alley that was blocked off at the end by a very tall wall that caused the alley to be a dead end. Michio tossed the fish to the cat, who was wary of the offering at first, but soon began to gnaw on the stinking meat. The girl shook her head, “Mom's gonna kill me for that...” but Michio waved a hand at her as if to fan away her concerns.
“We'll catch it for sure now. What I need for you to do is, on my signal, try to capture the cat. It's bound to run right past you, and in doing so, it'll have to run right towards me. That's when I'll lunge for it and capture it as it tries to get past me.” The girl nodded and turned to him, his features only now becoming more clear to her and she had to force herself to not blush. “Okay, but whatever you do, don't hurt him.” she said, staring down her animal and preparing to run at it. “I'll do what I can, but something tells me that this is going to hurt me pretty badly.” Michio replied, and the girl turned her head to him and giggled. “Well let's hope not. Okay... let me know when you're ready.”
Michio nodded and let his claws slide from his knuckles and allowed them to extend longer than normal, then removed them from his hands and stuck them into the ground in a form of a cage. “Okay... now!” Michio said, and the girl nodded, running towards the cat that sat at the opposite wall swinging its tail wily. “I'm gonna get you now, Hiroki-kun!” the girl yelled and Michio settled himself into the same stance that Furai-sensei had taught him for the 'Side Step' technique. The cat ran towards the girl and darted around her legs, running right towards Michio, the only other person still standing in his way. Michio lunged at the cat when it had gotten close enough.Quote: Stealth Check: (45(x2) + 50(x2) + 0 + 0) = 190 vs 120 = 57% ((ooc: gotta roll below a 57... c'mon don't fail me now.)) Quote: 86/xx 64/120 - Runaway cat mission
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 4:33 pm
The cat ran towards the young Kaguya and Michio tensed, snatching for the cat. It jumped through his arms and he fell to the ground on his face. “Ow...” he said, getting back up and looking at the direction the cat went. The cat had run to the edge of the bone wall and crouched down on it's legs, tensing for a jump, but Michio was much faster. He ran to the animal and lunged for it just as it leaped, catching it and pulling it to his chest as he turned his body and slammed into the wall of steel strong bone that he had created. The cat struggled to get free, tearing at his chest with it's claws and biting his hands, but Michio held on for dear life. The girl ran to Michio and knelt next to him, “That certainly was something else.. where'd this wall come from?” He held out the cat to her and she accepted it, and once the animal was no longer in his arms, it stopped struggling and simply glared and hissed at him. “I don't think your cat likes me much...” he said, and when he got up, he heard a squelching sound under his foot, and looked down at the ground where he had been laying. On the dirty floor of the back alley was his pomegranate he was having for breakfast, squished and mashed into the ground. Michio frowned and looked himself over, noticing a large purple-red stain on the outer thigh of his beige cargo pants. “Oh no!” the girl exclaimed, almost dropping the cat and moving to rub his what she could off of his pants before remembering that it would have made everything they just did for nothing, “That's awful! Come on, we'll get this Hiroki-kun home and then I'm taking you to the clothes store to replace your pants.” Michio laughed and shook his head, “No, it's fine, really.” But she wasn't hearing any of it. “No, I have to do this. I'll feel really horrible for the rest of the day if I don't.” She looked at him with puppy dog eyes and for some reason, even though he had been immune to it in the past, he was compelled to agree with her. “Excellent!” she exclaimed and kicked a few of the bones out of the ground and walked through the opening in the wall. Michio quickly snatched up all of the bone stakes and threw them into a nearby dumpster, then followed after the girl, who was holding on tightly to her once again struggling cat. “Hiroki! Stop squirming! We're almost home!” she said, and the cat finally wriggled free, jumping from her arms and taking off down the road, but Michio was ready this time and took off running after it, sprinting faster than he had ever sprinted before. Within seconds, he was towering over the animal and he dove for it at the 60 mph they were moving, slamming into the feline and wrapping his arms around it, rolling as he did so as to not squash the creature that was less than one tenth his size. The animal screeched and bit him in the neck, clawed his face, squirmed, and had almost gotten free again until Michio wrapped his hands around it's chest and interlocked his fingers, holding the cat at arm's length. “You're NOT getting away again!” Michio exclaimed, and the girl finally caught up to them. She looked at Michio's face and giggled with a mixture of sympathy and amusement before pointing to a door only three houses down back from where they had come. “That's where we need to go. I'm so sorry that this has become and even bigger problem than it should have been.” Michio waved it off with a shake of his head and walked alongside her to her house.Quote: 119/xx 97/120 - Runaway Cat mission
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 11:03 pm
She stopped at the door and turned to him, flushing slightly and taking the cat from Michio's arms. “I'll be right back... my house is a bit trashed because of this little turd and I need to go retrieve my wallet.” He nodded and handed the struggling animal over, of which she took and tossed inside irritably, then closed the door. Michio sighed as if he had been holding his breath and sat on a wooden box near the door, reclining against the side of the house. Man... why does this girl give me such an uneasy feeling? I've never had such a sudden reaction to anyone before, why would this girl suddenly bring forth such uncertainty? he wondered, the confusion leaving him disconcerted at his lack of composure. He sat for a few minutes thinking about what the feeling was and how to make it go away when the girl emerged, now wearing a ninja containment pouch. Michio looked at her and his eyes widened, “You're a shinobi?” She smiled and wagged a finger at him, “Kunoichi. Yamanaka Noriko to you though.” Michio smiled and took her hand in his, shaking briefly before letting go, “Pleased to meet you, Noriko-chan. I am Kaguya Michio. So when did you graduate the academy?” She blushed when he took her hand and grinned, “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Michio. I graduated last year, but mom's been really getting on my case about helping her at the flower shop, so I haven't had any time to train... which is kinda why I needed some help. It's a Yamanaka family tradition for the females of the Yamanaka family to help with the family business. The only exception was my great grandmother Ino, who lived in Konohagakure before the Fourth Shinobi war. My mom says I look just like her. But enough about me. We have to buy you a new pair of pants and the sun's going down.” Michio snickered and got to his feet, walking alongside her as they walked to the other side of the village where the civilian clothing store was located. The store clerk waved to Noriko as she and Michio entered, and Noriko returned the salutation, making a B-line to the men's pants section of the store. “Alright Michio-kun, pick something out. All of the pants here cost the same price, so just pick what you feel suits you.” she said and Michio grinned.
He looked around the racks for a bit before pulling out a pair of baggy black cargo pants with crimson leather chaps attached to them and Noriko breathed in, shaking her head. “That would look so terrible on you, Michio-kun.” She ran forward and took the cargo pants from him, putting them back on the rack. She looked around and grabbed a pair of black cargo pants with dark orchid colored kanji trailing up the outside of the right leg and down the outside of the left leg, creating two halves of a sentence on either side which if combined read 'Destined for greatness, living for the moment.' Michio contemplated it and his ego began to inflate, but he smacked it back down again. “Sure. I can get behind that. After all, I hope to be ANBU someday.” he said, and Noriko's eyes seemed to glow with amusement. “Oh really, big shot? Well then, these are perfect for you.” Together they walked to the counter and she presented the pants to the store clerk and as the girl rang them up, Michio turned his back and leaned against the counter.
“So Noriko-chan, is this your new boyfriend?” she asked and both Noriko and Michio tensed and blushed, and the clerk nodded knowingly, “Ahhhh, I knew it. Good catch, Noriko-chan, he's cute.” At this, Michio blushed even more and buried his face in one hand. Noriko shook her head, “No. I actually just met him an hour ago...” “Ah, love at first sight, huh?” the older woman said, grinning and taking the anti-theft alarms out of the pockets of the pants and clipping the tags. Michio was now as red as the chaps on the first pair of pants he had grabbed and buried his head deeper. “N-no!” Noriko said with some hesitation, but the store clerk wasn't hearing her anymore, continuing on about a story of her first love as she processed the sale and bagged the pair of pants. Noriko decline the bag and handed the jeans to Michio. “Ma'am, do you have a dressing room?” The clerk nodded and handed him a key to the dressing room down the hall, and he left the company of Noriko and the store clerk to change his pants. He emerged from the dressing room minutes later to see that Noriko's face was even redder than before he went in and knew instantly that the perverted store clerk had been hassling Noriko about her and him being 'together', which they certainly weren't. He handed the key back to the clerk, who took a look outside and informed them that it was closing time and that she needed to lock up. Michio and Noriko nodded and left hastily, with Michio tossing his ruined beige pants into the trash can. He looked up and noticed it wasn't actually that late. “Hey Noriko. Do you have a curfew?” he asked and she nodded. “Yes, but it's not for a few more hours. Why?” Michio blushed and turned his head away to regain his composure, then turned back to her, “Would you like to have dinner? My treat.” She nodded, then said “oh!” as if remembering something important and reached into her shinobi pouch and pulled out her wallet. She pulled out eighty ryo and handed it to him. “That's for successfully completing your mission earlier, shinobi.”Quote: 172/xx 150/120 - Runaway cat mission
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2011 11:02 am
Michio smiled and motioned with his hand as a sort of 'shall we?', and together they walked down the street, enjoying the cool night air. As they walked, they would notice the village nightlife begin to spring up as the daytime life would settle down for the night. Bars were opening, shops were closing, and nocturnal animals were starting to emerge from the nearby forest. They finally reached the main street and took a look around, but sadly noticed that hardly any restaurants were still open. Even the local ramen shop had closed up early. Ah, the benefits of living in a village with a population of maybe six hundred people...
“Well... there's only a couple of places that still serve food, but they're nightclubs and they're sort of loud. Are you still interested in having dinner or would you like to take a rain check, Noriko?” Michio asked, and Noriko placed an index finger on her chin and looked at the ground for a few seconds while she contemplated the choices and then grabbed his hand and led him straight into one of the nightclubs, where a loud thumping noise could be heard from outside the club, and when they entered, the surround-sound speakers made the noise all encompassing. Having a seat at the food counter, a nice lady who seemed to know Noriko fairly well attended to them. “Konbanwa, Noriko-chan. Who's you're friend?” the waitress asked. “Konbanwa, Ayako-sama. This is my friend Kaguya Michio.” Noriko replied, motioning with one hand to Michio and the waitress bowed respectfully. “So what can I get for the two of you on this wonderfully cool summer evening?” Noriko looked up at Michio who looked back at her and shrugged, “You can have whatever you like on the menu. Remember, it's my treat, and I'm pretty sure one night of dinner isn't going to break me.” Noriko laughed and nodded, “Thanks.” then turned back to the waitress and requested a slip of paper just as a particularly loud series of beats and waves blasted through the speakers and made it impossible to speak. She wrote down that she'd like the best tasting sushi in the house, and Michio wrote that he'd like a bowl of their best chick flavored ramen. Noriko looked at Michio oddly but he simply shrugged. “I like me some ramen. Don't judge me.” he mouthed to her and she giggled. A few minutes later, their food was served and they both dug in after saying “Itadakamatsu!” It was probably the most delicious ramen he'd ever tasted, rivaling that of even the ramen booth outside. Michio looked over at Noriko's plate of sushi noticed that she had received ten pieces, all with different fish on them. She looked back at him and her smile told him that she was very pleased with her meal.
After they had finished, the song had ended and they both thanked the waitress and Michio left both her and the cook a 5 ryo tip, which pleased both of them. He got up from the counter seat and was just about to walk outside when a rather loud, yet pleasant and rhythm inducing song blasted through the speakers and Noriko grabbed his wrist, leading him to the dance floor. Michio flushed and shook his head at her. “I can't dance!” he mouthed to her and she waved it away, pulling him along. “Learn!” she shouted, laughing and stood in front of him, placing her arms around his shoulders as she began to swing her hips from side to side in a strangely seductive manner that entranced him and forced his body to move in sync with hers, though in a less feminine way. He was unsure of himself, but somehow she had the capability to make him do things he had never done before. His battle-ready mind drew the conclusion that she might be using a genjutsu mind control that the Yamanaka were famous for, but he found himself unable to care at the moment. All he cared about was that for the first time in a long time, he was having fun doing something other than training or fighting.
After the song ended, Michio held her tight. “Thank you, Noriko-chan. I didn't know that I could do that.” he said, and she smiled knowingly at him, then went to let go of him when a slow song started up on the speakers and she and Michio froze, both of them unsure of what to do. Well while we're on the floor, we might as well.. he thought and slid his hands around her waist, beginning to rock side to side. Noriko blushed and slid her arms completely around his neck, resting her head against his chest. Michio rested the left side of his jaw on the left side of her head and swayed slowly from side to side, rotating on the spot.
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2011 12:06 pm
As they slowly spun, Michio broke away slightly, causing Noriko to look up at him. He smiled down at her and rested his forehead on her's and continued dancing, taking in how beautiful her cyan blue eyes were and how well they shone in the dim light of the nightclub. He felt her grip tighten on his shoulders as if to pull him close, and Michio responded by sliding his arms completely around her waist. She looked at him with expectant eyes and he wondered what she was thinking when she tilted her head slightly. Michio had never felt the urge that shot through his body before and he leaned down slowly, his lips brushing against her's ever so gently. As soon as they touched, Noriko pressed her lips against his firmer, sending Michio into a meditative zone he had never thought possible. They kissed for what seemed to be an eternity, and just before the song was over, they pulled away and stared at each other, both of them with a look of shock on their face that they would even do something as that so suddenly. “Um... yeah... “ Michio said, unsure of what to say at all and Noriko seemed to sympathize with him, her feelings relating to his almost immediately. Michio let go of her and Noriko let go of him and they just stood there awkwardly. “So... I think it's time for me to go home...” she said, looking at the clock on the wall behind him. Michio nodded and smiled at her. “Well then, we should go so you're not late and won't get in trouble with your parents.” he said, nodding his head towards the door.
They walked down the street towards her house without saying a word and when they finally reached her doorstep, she turned to him. “Thank you for dinner. I had a really good time.” she said, smiling up at him. He grinned, “Yeah, for the first time in a long time I did too. Thanks for using that mind control on me.” She rolled her eyes up and to the right, placing a finger on her lips, “I don't know what you're talking about.” and then opened her door, scooping the waiting Hiroki up and tossing him to the other side of the room with her foot, “Good night, Michio-kun.” He laughed and turned to walk away, “Good night Noriko-chan.” She closed the door and he began to walk home. Along the way, he noticed a few drunks stumbling down the street and turned into a back alley detour so that he could avoid the unnecessary confrontation. He was having a good night and did not want anything to ruin it for him.
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2011 2:01 pm
He awoke the next morning to sun rays shining through the uncovered window and rose from his bed, walking to the window and shutting the blinds to block out the sun. He went to the refrigerator and noticed with disappointment that all he had left were the bottles of water he'd purchased last month and a couple pieces of uncooked bacon. Michio grabbed the water and chugged it to hold him over until he got back from the store and left his apartment. It only took him a half hour to buy groceries and get back to his apartment. He cooked himself some breakfast and ate, then dressed and did his morning stretches as usual before noticing a message slip through the mail slot in his door. He chewed his food for a few seconds before getting up and retrieving the message. Before he tore it open, he turned on the water faucet and let the sink fill up. Then he ripped open the envelope and opened the folded letter, reading the message.
Kaguya Michio,
Good work on your success with the cat yesterday. But it appears that the girl accidentally let it out again and requested you personally to handle it. As I said, good work. Now don't disappoint.
For silliness, this message will self destruct in three seconds.
-Tsuruchi Nobumoto, Otogakure Shinobi Mission Center
Michio smirked and dunked the message in the sink full of water and walked away, wiping his wet hand on his pants. “So... she needs my help again huh? That cat's gonna be the death of her one of these days.” he said, chuckling to himself. “This'll be the perfect chance for me to practice that jutsu that Furai-sama taught me.” He stuck a bottle of water in his ninja tools fanny pouch and exited his apartment, using his key to lock the door on the way out. He walked to Noriko's house, remembering his walk home from the night before. He knocked on her door twice, but after a few minutes of no answer, he frowned and turned around. “Alright, well, I guess she's out looking for her cat. Better find her. But first, I need to go see Mr. Horiwashu and get some more of that fish he gave me yesterday. Time to lay a cat trap.” Michio said, leaving Noriko's doorstep and walking to the local grocery store.
“Ah! Michio-san! How good of you to have you in my store!” Mr. Horiwashu said as Michio entered the store, causing the young Kaguya to grin. “Ohayu, Horiwashu-sama. I need to get another one of those filets I received yesterday. That cat got away again, and I need to lay bait to trap it again.” Michio told him and Mr. Horiwashu nodded. “Of course, Michio-san. Here. It's on the house, but that's the last filet I can give you for free. These aren't cheap fish.” Michio nodded and retrieved the filet from the counter, thanked Horiwashu for the fish, then ran out the door to track down the cat.Quote: 269/xx 28/120 - Runaway Cat mission (2nd time)
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2011 2:30 pm
Kaguya Michio walked down the main street, filet of fish in a napkin, and searched for Yamanaka Noriko, who was sure to be chasing down her cat. He walked up to a vendor and asked if he had seen Noriko pass her by and she nodded and pointed towards an alleyway similar to the one the cat had run down the afternoon before. Aw hell, who was he kidding? All of the alleys in Otogakure looked alike. “Thank you.” he said and turned to run down the hallway when he saw Gozu wander down that same hallway. What the hell is he up to? Michio wondered and focused his chakra into his feet like Furai-sama had told him to, and ran after his rival, surprised that his footsteps did not make a sound at all when he ran. He quickly made his way behind Gozu, who was creeping up on a blonde girl in purple garments who was kneeling and peering around a corner... Noriko! “What are you doing, Gozu-baka?” Michio asked, walking directly behind him. Gozu jumped and turned and Noriko looked over at them. Her eyes lit up when she saw Michio, but then she saw Gozu and her vision glared. “What the hell are you doing here?” she hissed at him and Gozu turned to her and glared. “Just seeing what you're looking at, prissy b***h.” he said and Michio tensed, but it was Noriko who got there first even with Michio being right behind him. She delivered a bone-cracking haymaker to Gozu's jaw, sending him sprawling on the floor, slamming into a couple of trash cans. The noise of Gozu's collision caused the cat, Hiroki, to come barreling out of the hallway Noriko was looking down and sprint down the alley away from them. “After it!” Michio said, spotting the cat first and running after Hiroki, still a little tired from yesterday's burst of speed.Quote: 286/xx 45/120 Runaway cat mission (2nd time)
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2011 2:57 pm
As they ran, Noriko caught sight of Gozu chasing the cat as well and doing it much faster than they were. “What the hell?” she asked and pointed at the speedy Gozu, and Michio glared. “He was always faster than me in the academy.. but never smarter!” Michio said and saw the cat take a left turn into an alley and smiled as the cat crossed his path. He chased the cat down and turned the cat darted past him only for Gozu to crash into him. “Watch where you're going, a*****e!” Gozu screamed at him and got up, chasing after the feline evader. He followed Gozu and forced himself to run faster to give chase alongside him, following the cat as it darted down the series of alleyways. “Are you seriously going to try and force me to fail my mission, Gozu baka?!” he asked as they chased the animal, and he nodded as they ran, a scowl forming on his brow. “Why not? After all, you forced me to fail the academy last week, and now that I'm a full fledged Otogakure shinobi, I'm going to make your life a living hell.” Michio glared and punched Gozu with his free hand as they ran, the sudden unexpected impact forcing the Hoshitomi boy to smash into a wall for the second time in the past ten minutes. “Hiroki!!!!” Michio called, chasing after the animal. He noticed the cat dart down the hallway to the left and growled, his animalistic anger beginning to take over. Noriko caught up to Michio and they both noticed that the alleyway they were running down was the exact same one as the day before. They turned the corner and it was that the domesticated animal had run down the alley that was blocked off at the end by the very tall wall that caused the alley to be a dead end. Michio tossed the fish to the cat again, who was wary of the offering at first, but soon began to gnaw on the stinking meat, keeping watchful eyes on Michio and Noriko. Yamanaka Noriko buried her forehead in her hand and sighed, “Mom smelled the fish on the cat's breath last night and reemed my a** good...” Michio laughed and shrugged. “Sorry Noriko-chan... but it seems to work. How else are we going to catch this elusive beast?” he said and she laughed and looked at him. “He's not a beast, Michio-kun.” Michio's eyes widened and he looked at her as if she were an extraterrestrial. “The hell it's not! Do you see my face? Do you see my arms? That thing is a beast. I should know, we can smell our own.” he said, and she burst into laughter, which made Michio grin boyishly.Quote: 310/xx 69/120 Runaway Cat mission (2nd time)
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2011 4:07 pm
Hiroki continued gnawing on the fish while Michio and Noriko stared at it. “How do we go about this cat's capture this time?” Michio asked her, and she shrugged, then spotted two halves of a cardboard box with two holes in it both the front and the back. “Let's use that to catch him.” Michio nodded and picked up the box, then set it down for a moment. “Alright. We're gonna do the same thing as yesterday, but instead of...” he started to say, but was cut off when someone jumped over the tall wall and descended towards the cat. As the figure landed and snatched up Hiroki, Michio realized it was Gozu. Noriko glared at Gozu as he rose to his feet holding the animal, but was unprepared for the viciousness that Hiroki had in him. The cat wriggled in his arms and turned around, sinking his claws into Gozu's chest and neck and his fangs into Gozu's nose. Gozu yelped and let go of the cat which scampered away. Michio tried to catch it with the box, but it ran past him faster than he was prepared for. Noriko looked to Michio, then to Hiroki, and then back to Michio, and Michio motioned for her to follow the cat. “Go! I'll handle this!” he said, and she nodded, grabbing the box halves. “Be careful, Michio.” she said and ran off. Michio nodded and let his claws slide from his knuckles, “Alright you a*****e. Time to man up and fight me for real. No holding back.” Gozu watched as the claws extended themselves and his eyes widened. “The hell kind of jutsu is that?” he asked, and as his only response, Michio slid the claws across each other, creating sparks and making a 'SHIIING!' sound with them. Gozu stepped back and drew a pair of gaijin punching daggers, then charged.
Stupid move, Gozu-baka Michio thought and used his claws to block the first swing and swiped at Gozu's middle torso, but the attack was blocked by the second punching dagger. Gozu disengaged and then ran at him again, leaping high into the air above him and plummeted towards Michio, his punching daggers aimed directly at the young Kaguya rival. Michio glared and leaped up at him, spinning and rotating his body so that he was like a drill and extended his claws. “DRILL CLAW!!!” Michio screamed, and as soon as the two points of the punching daggers and the spinning Kaguya bone claws collided, the punching daggers shattered and Michio's claws drove themselves right into Gozu's left shoulder and ground up the muscles to the point of no further usage. Gozu screamed in pain and fell to the ground, smacking his head on the concrete and being knocked unconscious. Michio returned to the road when he landed and ran forward, knowing that the only way to keep his rival alive, and therefore keep him as his rival, was to find a piece of hot metal and cauterize the artery to prevent excessive blood loss. Michio grabbed a trash can and took the lid off, sliced it into strips with his claws, and pulled them together into a cylindrical bundle. He turned the empty trash can upside down and placed the bundle on top of the upturned bottom, then made the Fireball jutsu hand signs...Snake, Tiger, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger... and blew fire at the bundle. Once they were red hot at one end, he gathered them up and shoved them into the piercing wound he had made in Gozu's shoulder, and the boy woke from his unconsciousness, screaming. Michio placed a hand on his mouth and pulled the cooling metal out of the now sealed wound. Gozu glared at him with a scowl of pain and anger and went to get up, but Michio swiftly retracted his claws and punched Gozu out again. He got up and left him unconscious in the alley.Quote: 345/xx 104/120 - Runaway Cat mission (2nd time)
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