I'm 100% behind the Human and Hallways idea in principle. For an Omake, I'd even love to see Pandaa hosts it. I don't think the costs in Intel is worth it, however - better Keiko be "incredible Pangolin Summoner" than "that girl who summoned that awesome DM."
It'd be like people just hearing about the powerful ten thousand shadow clones user and seeing that he uses them to, say, fetch his slippers.
@OilWhail
Regarding Action Plan
Build bridges and genuinely try to make friends; get Keiko involved where possible, and Noburi if he is not doing so on his own.
Noburi is doing fine, but we should leave Keiko be. She is capable of positive social contact, as long as it is on her terms - encouraging her to do so would just irritate her. Keiko is also keeping an eye out and pulling her weights by observing various aspects of the village.
Possible topics of conversation are:
For Asuma:
-He's chaperoning us, if we ignore the fact that we're all deadly assassins. Let Mari chats him up. Actually, maybe she's occupied with handling Kagome.
-Talk about wind affinity? Keiko should appreciate the information.
For Ino:
-She likes clothes, fashion. Maybe talk about styles we saw in other villages? Hidden Mountain's myriad labyrinthine traditions?
-She seems
snooty to appreciate the finer things in life. Maybe we can talk about Hot Spring?
-We're interested in treating mental conditions, be they paranoia, martyr complex, insecurity or social anxiety. She is likely knowledgeable about such topics. Not the best idea to talk about such in current company, however. Maybe if the group separates and they somehow assign her to us instead of Shikamaru.
For Choji:
-He likes eating. Mari could cook him something? We could talk about things we ate?
-He is a taijutsu specialist. We could talk about taijutsu - asks for a spar, even, with an offer of buying dinner/going where he wants. We're guests, so we should get to be the one to choose dining place by default.
-He is the least likely to catch any social mind games we try, but also the focus of his team due to the fact. Interacting with him too much might look suspicious.
For Shikamaru:
- Doing things in an efficient manner
- CCnJ
- Respecting his intelligence? Flattery would be suspicious.
We know, from [DATA EXPUNGED], that their contingency plan for suspicious behavior is putting their fingers in their ears and la-dee-dahing really loudly, followed by mind scans. Shika is likely pre-committed to do that if we reach a certain threshold of suspiciousness. Is there a way to de-escalate if that happens?
Share Mist and Missing-nin life trivialities, ask about Leaf (e.g. things we do the same, things we do different)
I don't think we should do this. Reminding them that we're Missing-nin/"Other-village Ninja" just affirms that we're on the outgroup to them, it'd make socializing them harder. We should focus on the things we have in common.
Do any of our minders know where we could find get-well-soon flowers to bring?
This is brilliant. I hope we get a scene at Ino shop - why the heck would a ninja clan owns a flower shop?
Try to minimize Kagome's stress level by not making him talk too much / interact with non-teammates if he doesn't feel like it, keeping close-by, encouraging him to eat any of the nice food we get that someone has already been checked for poison (are there chocolatiers in Leaf?)
Find a chocolatiers or sweets shop should be in the main plan. Choji, maybe Ino, would likely appreciate it. Kagome should appreciate it. Remember when he's an explosive prone recluse that planted an explosive tag on our back but let us live because we had chocolate? Ah, good times.
If the topic of why Fire isn't a model for what Hazou wants to achieve comes up again, consider drawing from
That is, indeed, inspiring speech. But is there a way to work in why Team Uplift is important and realizes this fact whereas other people apparently doesn't? The goal isn't to toot our own horns but increases our relative value toward bringing Ninja Utopia to fruition in his plans.
If for some reason J insists on giving us our rewards
Honestly, I don't think we should even be talking to Jiraiya next update. If we do, however, maybe put the plan in a by-priority order? Shouldn't spend two updates on just rewards.
@Radvic
Watching a play seems like a clever idea to get a good scene, information and social points with our escorts. I'm all for it.
Someone might want to go through the recent update and put one or two things Hazou and/or Keiko discovered in place of this general statement. (E.g. fashion pace, prices)
Observations:
Tiny front "Troublesome."
Shika is vulnerable to Mari seduction. Or rather, largely not more immune to it than other people.
the streets were lined with shops, and smaller merchants sold food and goods off the back of carts. There were buskers on every other corner—musicians, jugglers, and storytellers. None of them seemed to be making a rich living, but they all had at least a few ryo in their hats.
The city seems to be healthy, standards of living higher than average. Probably low poverty.
...and hearing it dismissed so bluntly...well, it wasn't a good feeling.
Hazou grew up poor, so this isn't actually indicative of Ino being extremely elitist. His comments about her nature could well be a subtle bias.
Sarutobi said. "I was thinking more along the lines of the theater district."
A play sounds nice, but also what they want us to do. This can be good or bad.
she was so excited that she was actually using shunshin to move around the store.
Either Ino and Asuma are sloppy, or they're willing to expend chakra for a trivial task. This may be a common occurrence, as neither the shopkeeper nor customers are mentioned either way of being surprised at the display.
this city is so rich that they actually have multiple styles and sizes of clothes lying around their shops. Not only that, but apparently they even have styles that change more than annually, thereby requiring the fashionable to update their wardrobes. And there is enough wealth to support that excess."
Leaf all-expense'd a high-end clothing store frequented by elite clientele.
Akimichi ducked his head in embarrassment. "Yup. It's not really a big thing, though. We aren't better than anyone else just because we're clan, so what does it matter if my dad is the current head?"
Choji doesn't like being treated differently due to being a clan ninja.
Regarding Kagome and Mari:
He was twitching slightly, his eyes flicking around like an animal in a trap, and his knuckles were white where he gripped his weapons. "I hear a lot about you too, and I won't let you do that to my team! If you try it, I'll—"
Kagome said, shaking Hazou's hand off without seeming to notice it and backing away.
Hazou noticed that he was careful not to meet her eyes.
Kagome's panic cut off as Inoue-sensei snagged him in her Sunny Day genjutsu. The tension slid out of his body and he smiled.
"Thanks," he said.
She rested a hand on his shoulder for a minute, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Sorry, my friend."
Kagome is confused, scared and ashamed of the fact. We should remind him that we can handle ourselves. As well, we should visit Best Apprentice ASAP - her presence will calm him down. Except if, like, she's dead/horribly maimed and tortured, in which case whoops.
Mari is feeling guilty about using Genjustu on her own team repeatedly, not to mention for all we know there's a cost to doing so. Further, we look weak and divided if we need to use justu on our own team to prevent violence. We should talk with Mari about this, and expresses our appreciation of her.
If you want it—and only if you want it—we actually have a psychiatric staff that you could talk to
Presumably, these are civilians. We should get a psychiatric staff for our Future Hidden Village.
