Well, it seems we are finally in a situation where we can choose for ourselves what to do with our time. Let's do something productive like making our team not ignorant of the world around them:
[X] Action Plan: Oh my Jashin, Read a(ll) Book(s)!
Goals:
- Survive
- Don't piss off Leaf
- Be polite to everyone we meet
- Listen to our handlers and follow their instructions to the letter
- Don't give the Yamanaka a reason to scan us.
- Politely ask, if we are allowed, under what conditions the Yamanaka will scan us so that we might not necessitate that happening. Explain that we have clan reasons for not wanting our brains perused by a new ally.
- Learn as much as we can about the following topics
Steps:
- Dispel
- Ask to be excused to our temporary quarters citing that we think Jiraiya should have as much time as he needs to mull over our previous declaration. As a Parthian shot, express our interest in some light reading as a way to relax and if there are any libraries our handlers could take us to when they are ready.
- Once we are situated and our handlers have been assigned to us, ask to visit the local library or local equivalent after we finish a tour of the places we are allowed to visit in Konoha and which ones we must stay away from.
- Politely but firmly insist that we want to wear veils or something similar to obscure our faces from prying eyes. We know it won't be enough to deter someone like a Hyuuga, but it might help in case there are any Mist spies in Leaf passively looking for their missing-nin.
- If there is no publicly available library, burn one favor (or haggle/guilt-trip by saying that we just gave Jiraiya the "sealcrafting innovation of the year") for a stash of books containing topics we desire to research.
- If we are not allowed to do that either, ask our handlers what we are allowed to do while we are in Konoha and spend the rest of the update getting to know them as they give us a tour of where we can and cannot go.
- At the local reading center, suggest to each member of the team to do the following:
- Everyone scans what is and is not available so that we have a list of what we can and cannot read about for the next update
- If one of the topics listed below is not available proceed to the next in line.
- If one character completes their
assigned suggested reading, have them collect books for the other team members and then peruse topics that personally interest them or chat with the handlers as is appropriate in such an establishment: quietly.
- If we are asked why we want to go to a library, truthfully reply that we never had the chance to learn for the sake of learning before and that we are eager to complete our non-combat educations. Having the chance to relax and improve ourselves at the same time is a rare treat for people in our positions and we want to take full advantage of the opportunity. We won't be idle, but we won't be physically exerting ourselves for the first time in months: perfect.
- Maintain our disguises (w/e they are) as we read and keep them on until we are safe back at our designated accommodations.
- Hazou reads about engineering and natural laws with an emphasis on mathematics, physics, chakra laws, rationality (gotta go meta), and lastly abstract thinking.
- What is the "Inumura diffusion" and how can it help our education as well as our seal craft?
- Learning about buoyancy would help us if we ever want to make something lighter than air.
- Keiko researches law (particularly in relating to missing-nin as well as basic ninja protocol (if she gets snippy tell her to compare and contrast Mist methods with Leaf's since we need to fix any potential culture gap issues immediately)), economics/logistics (i.e. the basics of trade, how merchants operate, prices of goods, etc.), and international history plus politics
- Basically, suggest to her that we don't ever want to have a mistake like we had in Hot Springs again where we didn't realize that ninjas from two different countries would work together to maintain the security of a DMZ.
- If we have time, ask her to look into laws related to re-instating missing-nin or the process by which a village can (for lack of a better word) adopt missing-nin into a village so that hunter-nin won't bother us anymore.
- Are there any cases where this has happened before? How did they do it if it happened?
- Noburi studies up on his medical knowledge by reading about physiology, how chakra works in the human body, and biology in general.
- While he looks for his books, suggest to him that he should try to ingratiate himself with our Leaf minders to get to know them better.
- Even if he fails his rolls it's not like they are going to murder him for putting his foot in his mouth.
- If he has time he can also look into chemistry and then persuasion.
- Mari does as she pleases as per usual, but discretely suggest she look into psychology/counseling if she is serious about helping Keiko with her problems.
- Kagome, if he can be persuaded to do so (and our handlers allow it), should look into works by sealing masters just to see what he may have missed out on in his years of isolation. If he does not have access to anything worthwhile to him, have him look into survivalist literature or forensics so that he can improve the team's overall stealth.
- Challenge him to see if he can spot any flaws in the published works and remind him that one day, again if he so desires, he may have his works published in an establishment just like this alongside the greats of sealing.
- Hazou asks permission to pick up some reading material for Akane too, consisting of more engineering materials as well as mechanics/machinery, trap-making, inventing and the latest no-chakra-involved inventions in Konoha, and some light reading like canon's "Tales of a Gutsy Ninja".
- Also drop off a get well soon card in the cover of one of the books, telling her that we will not abandon her and wish for her speedy recovery. No matter what happens or what she chooses she will always be a valued member of our team.
- At night, have Hazou ask Noburi what he needs to make a new barrel so we can plan for it later. (At the moment, I'd rather not have Noburi wandering around un-henged with a barrel strapped to himself while we tour Leaf, but I also do not want him to be a liability if we get attacked for some reason.)
Timetable:
- This should only take a few days with a hard limit of a week at most.
- If we are denied any chance to read some books, end the update after one day of meeting and greeting our handlers plus whoever/wherever they allow us to visit.
Contingencies:
- If Hiruzen wants to talk with us further have Mari take lead.
- If he wants to talk to Hazou, pause the update so we can collect our thoughts before we talk to the God of Shinobi.
So, did I miss any subjects? Suggestions?
I feel as though we should devote an entire update just to enriching our team's overall education. Meeting various canon characters can wait until after we establish a rapport of not causing trouble by doing nothing more than sitting quietly and reading in a library. All of the topics I listed I believe will benefit the team in the medium to long term once we have our freedom back: Hazou's regime will give him plausible sources for all of the hivemind's crazy projects, Keiko's will allow her to act as our legal expert as well as a business executive, Noburi can learn more about his specialty as a medic even though he has no barrel at the moment, Mari's will allow her to help out as team counselor more, and Kagome's lets him improve his craft of choice or at least satiate his paranoia.
Edits in Bold
