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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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eaglejarl said:
"The leader just vanished into the ground," Hinata said suddenly. "The other two are standing ready, although based on where they're looking they don't know where we are. The leader went down about five feet...now he's moving to the right...coming back up." She frowned. "He's reaching up, just his hands above the surface, groping for the seals that make up the two domes."
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Tua said:
Here, have something to tide you over until the real chapter drops.


Hazou had made sure to leave the apartment more than an hour before he was supposed to meet Ami. A serious case of nervous energy and a stronger than usual feeling that he'd die by Keiko's hand long before any external threat could get to him demanded nothing less.

On the upside, this meant he could take his time and take in the sights of his former Village as he walked at a leisurely pace to his destination.

On the downside, try as he might, he could not fully relax because there was always a chance of triggering a Surprise Keiko Event:

While it had felt like a good idea at the time to let Noburi in on this secret meeting in case he needed someone to corroborate his precommitment to not talk about Keiko, he had come to regret that decision; as much as he loved his brother, Noburi was definitely the type to break immediately under torture.

Getting beat up once in public was more than enough. He really did not want a repeat of that, thank you very much.

With these happy thoughts swirling in his head, he eventually arrived at a park he used to visit as a kid and sat down on an unoccupied bench.

Closing his eyes, he didn't realize how much he had missed just coming here and letting go of his worries. The breeze on his face and even the random chatter of the passersby felt like a balm on his raw soul.

Had he been homesick without even realizing?

"Saya, hold up please. This telescope is really heavy, you know!"

"Stop complaining, Ayaka. This is exactly why you will never catch up to my physical exams' score in the academy. Now hurry, if we finish our chores Dad might finally let us visit big bro."

"Do you really think so? But what if he doesn't want to see us? He would have tried to make contact otherwise, right? I really miss him."

A strange jolt of recognition passed through Hazou's body but when he opened his eyes he couldn't spot anyone carrying a telescope in the passing crowd. Weird.

Ah well, it was probably nothing important. He was about to close his eyes again when he noticed a small and fuzzy black shape to his right. A shape that he was absolutely sure had not been there just a minute ago.

Oh no.

No, no, no!

He was Goketsu Hazou, inventor of the Skywalkers, student of the Heartbreaker and adopted son of the Hokage. He refused to go down without a flight!

So forget about taking his time, he was heading to Yukizome's Experimental Cuisine this instance and he'd wait out the remaining time there.

He apologized to the civilian child and mother that he had nearly run over in his mad dash, but in the end he managed to escape alive and unhurt.

The child for her part walked up to the bench Hazou had bolted from, picked up the black kitten plushie and ran back to her mother with a huge smile on her face.

Mewnori would live to meow another day. And this time she would make sure not to carelessly forget her on a bench again.

-o-o-o-​

While he initially had planned to enter the restaurant the moment he had arrived, he stopped short at the door because he realized his plan to meet Ami had one significant flaw: he didn't actually know what she looked like.

This could turn out to be problem.

But this was Keiko's big sister and he at least knew how Keiko looked like from spending time with each other as teammates. In addition, yesterday's match had given him extra insight. For example how she looked from below when was laying down on the hard arena floor and even from a bird's eye perspective from when Pangaya and Pandamonium threw him around like a toy to amuse their summoner.

Given said information he should be able to extrapolate Ami's looks: very similar to Keiko but taller and with longer hair because that's how aging worked, right?

Right.

And now that he had a rough idea what to look for, was he just to enter and hope there would be no other girls matching this description of her in the establishment - and then what?

Was he just supposed to sit down on the same table as her (assuming she had arrived as early as he had) and pretend to know what he was doing when he clearly did not?

Or worse: what if there were multiple girls matching the description? How would he even know who'd be the correct one? Knowing his luck, he'd sit on the wrong table with the wrong "Ami" talking about the wrong things at the wrong time and then her actual date would show up and he would have to explain how this was all a misunderstanding and really, wasn't Uplift great?

And now that he thought about that, was this a date? Should he have brought flowers?

This clearly was a well thought out plan. He sighed and pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket to review it:

Secret Embarrassing Diplomatic Undertaking to Collect Intelligence About Mori's Intentions

Under it were loads of tiny scribbles to help him guide the discussion with Ami but it was painfully clear that his plan lacked sufficient contingencies about a situation like this one.

He put the paper back into his pocket, making a mental note to burn it before he went home and considered his options:

He still had time so he could go buy some flowers and return home to further optimize his approach with someone smarter than him. Like Ke--

A cold shiver ran down his spine.

Or maybe he'd not do any of those things and just head inside right now.

Yes, that definitely sounded like the smart thing to do.

-o-o-o-​

To Hazou's delight, he could not spot any female patrons whatsoever inside Yukizome's Experimental Cuisine so his worries about chatting up the wrong person turned out to be groundless at least.

In fact, there only seemed to be two male patrons in here: the first one was sitting on a bar stool, eating… something. His pained grunts whenever he took a bite of whatever-that-was did not inspire confidence in Ami's choice of location.

The second one was seated at a corner table with a half eaten dish in front of him and was quietly sleeping with his face on the table. At least Hazou hoped that this was what he was doing because he couldn't actually see his chest move from his current viewing angle. Still, none of the staff seemed to be concerned about this and it'd be unlikely that Mist had started executing people via restaurant in a bid to be more humane under Aunt Ren's leadership, right?

He turned his gaze away; having established the restaurant as an Ami-Free-Zone for the moment being, Hazou had no idea what to do. Arranging for seating would be the usual step but he didn't know whether Ami had a place reserved for them or not.

Smelling his fear and indecisiveness as service people won't do, a waiter (?) pounced.

"Good day, young man. I am Minoru Minori and I will be your waiter today. Do you happen to have a reservation or were you struck by the desire to do some science with your taste buds spontaneously?"

Spoiler Alert: This is clearly Ami wearing an incredibly shoddy disguise to try and mess with Hazou.
She isn't trying very hard however (her clothes are much too big for her frame and she is using her normal voice for starters). She is mostly interested in seeing how Hazou would react to him catching her.

Ami, Deceit: ?? - ?? (Dice) - 90 (A disguise not even a child would fall for) = 16
Hazou, Deceit: 24 - 2 (Dice) - 6 (Severe Consequences) = 16

Tie goes to the attacker and Ami wins.

And props to Keiko, only she could mess things up for Hazou without being physically present - as far as you know, anyway.

A/N: Oh, good. It's going to be one of those updates.

Wait a minute, wasn't Minori a woman's name? And this guy in front of was clearly male: he could tell by the moustache which seemed to be attached to his nose via his glasses.

Something was off.

Then again, who was he to judge when he was living with Kagome-sensei who was clearly a man using a name traditionally reserved for women? Disappointed at himself for jumping to conclusions he missed the waiter raising his very, very bushy brows in disbelief.

"Sir, are you alright?"

"Ah, yes, sorry", Hazou replied. "I am meeting someone here and she has probably already made a reservation for us."

"Very good, sir. Who would this lovely, gorgeous and - presumably incredibly intelligent - lady happen to be? So I can look up under which name the reservation was made, you understand "

Ah, crap. Did Ami put it under her real name or a fake one? Well, nothing to be done about it. Time for some patented Hazou Charm to deflect and defuse the situation.

"Yes. A local girl. From Mist, very loyal and very legal. No need to look further into it."

"..."

"..."

"Well, will you look at this. I do have a reservation for 'Girl from Mist' here. Please follow me, sir."

The waiter led Hazou into a seperate room. One which only contained a single large table and two chairs.

Yes, he did it and all without arousing suspicion! Score: Hazou one, waiter zero.

Hazou took one of the chairs and gingerly sat down. To his surprise, the waiter did the same on the chair opposite to him.

"What are you doing?", Hazou demanded.

Instead of replying immediately the waiter twirled his thick moustache like those villains he used to create for his game night, then pulled on it, removing the disguise completely. "It's a-me, Ami."

"Oh", Hazou said dumbly. "Well, this is awkward."

Ami only flashed him a bright smile.

Score: Hazou one, "waiter" two.

-o-o-o-​

"Noburi, have you seen Hazou? I wanted to review our match with him some more", Keiko said in between bites of the most delicious honey covered waffle ever. The honey was even from Bear. Bear!

"Uh, no, I haven't. Why?" Noburi replied.

"I literally just told you", she looked at him in concern. "Are you alright? You seem to be sweating heavily."

"Ah, yeah, I think I might be getting sick. I'll go lie down for a bit upstairs just to be safe. Please make sure I am not disturbed. By anyone", Noburi turned on the stairs hesitantly, then looked Keiko in the eyes in a burst of courage. "Especially close family."

How curious.

"I will do my best to serve you, Noburi-sama", she gave him a mock bow "Anything for the glory of the Goketsu."

Keiko had just finished her meal and had started to walk upstairs to read a book when the doorbell rang.

Sighing at having her potential reading time cut short, she jumped down the stairs and slammed the door open.

"Yes?"

Two girls, roughly three or four years younger than her, stood in front of her. One of them at least had the decency to look her in the face while the other hid behind her oversized telescope, shuffling on the spot like the book hating coward she probably was.

Then again, it hardly mattered which one of them did what since they both looked the same to Keiko.

"Hi! We were just wondering if Noburi is here? We wanted to visit him if that's alright", one of them said. "Please?"

"I'm afraid Noburi is not receiving any visitors. Now shoo!" Keiko said, then slammed the door shut.

It was reading time after all and that time was sacred.

"Saya, I don't think big bro wants to see us. Do you think we did something wrong?" Ayaka started to sniffle.

Saya went to hug her. "It's alright, I am sure this was all a misunderstanding. Let's go home for now, OK?"

"S-sure."

-o-o-o-​

Hazou and Ami sat in silence until after the real (and moustache-less!) waiter had brought in the food and refreshments.

Hazou was still too embarrassed to talk, so he distracted himself by looking at the things the waiter had brought in; he couldn't help but notice that - even though the food looked pretty disgusting - it also looked very familiar.

So familiar in fact that he had nearly blurted out the question about whether Yukizome's Experimental Cuisine was a front for Mist's Seal Research Department because he recognized the stuff on his plate as the product of failed sealing research (though a lot more intact than Kagome-sensei and he would have left them).

Oh dear. Ami had taken him to a restaurant that served beings from the IN with beings from the OUT. Beings that appeared to be still alive enough that they had started eating each other.

What was she playing at? Was she signalling that she knew about Hazou doing dangerous research? Research which ultimately led to the development of Skywalkers and his adoption into Leaf?

The other thing his eyes were drawn to was a big ornate bowl of water close to Ami's side of the table. A bowl that was big enough to submerge a human sized head in it.

…

Was she taunting him?

Did she know that Hazou could use Mist's Ultimate Secret Forbidden Technique which could incapacitate any Mist jounin regardless of their power by pulling their hair and pushing their face into the water? He had seen the devastating effects of it once in person and been told about the other known occurrence by Jiraiya himself (Hazou disliked remembering that one even more than the previous one).

This was clearly no coincidence and he was acutely aware that he was in possession of a technique so powerful that it could topple Mist singlehandedly if it spread - at least assuming they didn't counter it by issuing razors to their senior staff. He briefly wondered whether the long hair all of the sannin cultivated was more than a fashion statement.

He thought he was pretty subtle in checking out the bowl, yet Ami seemed to pick up on his musings because the moment she caught his eye she smiled at him some more and started twirling her hair provocatively.

Was this a test, then? Was she trying to figure out whether he would try to attack her if given the perfect opportunity?

No, wait. Think about this rationally. Maybe it wasn't a test but her way of conveying that she was no threat to him right now and that she had deliberately given him a way to compensate for the inherent power difference between them?

Well, whatever it was, Ami seemed to have grown bored of waiting for Hazou to make the first move.

"So, do you want to take it from the top? As you already know, I am the amazing Mori Ami. And you must be Goketsu Hazou, right?" she asked.

Hazou internally cursed for precommitting to refuse to answer a few questions every now and then so he could establish a pattern of plausible deniability for questions he genuinely did not want to answer.

But he cursed Noburi even more for letting him talk him into not answering the very first question she would ask. 'It will establish dominance', he had said, and idiot that he was, Hazou had believed him.

"Umm", Hazou replied, establishing his dominance in all things stupid.

"Your name is Goketsu Hazou, is it not?" Ami tried again.

"Hnngghr."

"Your name is Goketsu Hazou, son of Kurosawa Hana, formerly of Mist, is it not?"

"Hdk."

"Are you alright? It sounded like you were choking."

"Oh, I wasn't. I said 'hdk'. It means 'Hazou doesn't know', it's a clan mandate thing. For some reason only I have to follow it though."

Ami blinked and Hazou could swear her smile grew even bigger. Was she half cat or something?

"So Hazou doesn't know if his name is Hazou? Nevermind that then. Was there anything in particular you wanted to ask me? Nice suit, by the way."

"Thanks, you too." Stupid reflex. He had just complimented her on her ill-fitting waiter's uniform. Smooth, Hazou. Very smooth. "Uh, I mean you are very pretty and you are clearly very smart."

There, that should make up for the faux pas.

Why was she leaning closer now? Was she blushing? Oh crap.

Hazou was acutely aware of how similar Ami was to Keiko right now. Not by their mannerisms, naturally, because they couldn't have been more different if they tried - apparent tendencies that they enjoyed messing with him aside - but by their appearance.

And this realization made him deeply uncomfortable.

Not because he couldn't imagine himself dating someone like Ami at some point in the future but because he was reminded that Keiko didn't even know he was here. And the only way to tempt fate more than by meeting Ami without Keiko's knowledge would be if he'd fall in love with her and they'd start dating behind her back. Or her front. Or even had the audacity to do so on the same continent as her.

His knowledge of Mist clan history was spotty at best but even he remembered reading about that Yuki clan that nearly destroyed itself from within due to an affair gone wrong.

Said story was particularly memorable for him because some of the people he had talked to in Leaf actually thought Yagura had had them killed for having a bloodline - which was beyond stupid.

Either way, he could and would not let his clan get destroyed if he could help it so it was time to course correct.

Which should be easy since all he'd have to do is be himself and say something stupid.

"So breeding programs, huh?" That should do it. Now to grab that glass of water and pretend to drink from it to buy some more time.

"What about them?" Ami replied. Then her eyes widened. "Oh, is that why you mentioned them in your speech? 'You don't need breeding programs, you just need population and time'? It all makes sense now."

It did? Hazou had a bad feeling about this.

"When you said this you were directly addressing the Mizukage and Hokage, your aunt and your adoptive father, respectively.

"You were asking them for permission, weren't you? For you to marry whoever you wanted to because political marriages to strengthen a bloodline are not that far off from a breeding program, if you think about it. And you made sure I would be there to hear you say it with the message you had sent me two days earlier. You agreeing to meet the day after the match settles it.

"Oh my, this is such a nice romantic gesture! I'd be delighted to accept your proposal! ❤"

That was that, then; he was a dead man walking. If the embarrassment wouldn't get him, having to explain to Jiraiya and Keiko why he was now engaged (?) to Mori Ami would.

And this was seriously unfair. He said stupid things all the time and this wasn't usually what happened!

Of course, he could always try to say no but given his experience with Mori women in general Hazou knew that they cared little about his desires if they went contrary to theirs, so that'd be a lost cause.

Best to just get it over with and give in.

"That, uh. Huh. Yes." Hazou replied, showcasing his mastery of language.

"But enough about that, you probably want to address the elephant in the room first, don't you, my dear Hazou?"

Oh good. He did precommit not to mention Keiko at all but once Ami did she would be fair game. So at least something good would come out of this.

"Oh, Kei--" / "Summoning Technique butnotreally: Come forth, Mr. Twinkles!"

Ami slammed her hand on the table and after the cloud cleared all Hazou could see was a huge pink stuffed elephant that was successfully hiding Ami behind its bulk.

Until she jumped on the table to hug it from behind anyway.

"Ta-da!" she grinned at him.

What.

No really, what. Who would do such a thing?

Jiraiya had tried to warn him. Repeatedly. But he didn't listen. He just had to press on and now he had met his match - in more than one meaning of the word.

And she was looking at him expectantly like this was something to be praised for. He suppressed a sigh.

"That's a really big elephant. Well done...?"

"Thanks!

"By the way, it sounded like you wanted to say something? It sounded suspiciously like 'Oh, Kei' but I'm afraid I cut you off in my excitement."

"Uh, nah, you must have misheard. All I said was 'Okay.' But enough about that. I am sure you have questions for me as well?"

Ami nodded, picked up her elephant and put it back into her storage seal. The food that had splashed around when she had unsealed it was already eating through part of it's adorable fur but death-by-storage-scroll would take care of the residue and some sewing later would take care of the fur.

"So, how was life as a missing-nin? Did you visit any cool locations? I am thinking about writing a cooking manga set in Bear featuring a missing-nin protagonist who is searching for the ultimate ingredient to make the ultimate dish.

I even thought of a great name for it: 'The Missing-Ningredient'! What do you think?"

He could do this.

Just relax and remember OPSEC. Hazou wasn't under any illusions he could lie to Ami without getting caught so he would have to be deliberately vague. Hopefully without her catching on.

"Great title. And our life as temporarily-displaced-ninjas-serving-their-Village-through-other-means was alright. It was rough at first and living in constant fear of Captain Zabuza was nerve-wracking but on the other hand having the opportunity to do good without all the red tape was refreshing.

As to where we went? Lots of places, really."

Nailed it.

"That's so cool! I also went to Lots of Places, it's a miracle we haven't met earlier!"

Or not. She was clearly mocking him.

Probably.

It really was hard to tell considering she had yet to drop her smile from the moment he met her until now (all she had done was vary the intensity of it), which made reading her really hard.

He actually wondered if she might be part Kurosawa with the way she could keep it up but even he had enough tact to know that questioning her parentage to her face would have been a faux pas.

That particular question could wait until the second date.


-o-o-o-​

All in all, that went better than expected. Ami had even given him a hug before they parted ways, and he was now engaged (?) to a very powerful and influential kunoichi.

'Operation: SEDUCING AMI' was tentative success then. In fact, it may have been too successful even. Either way, it looked like Jiraiya had worried for nothing. Or too little - the jury was still out on that one.

Before he had left, Hazou had even handed her a post-interaction survey which she had happily accepted and promised to turn in the next time they'd meet.

Though he really did not like the way she winked at him before asking whether he would keep handing them out once they were actually married.

He thought he was all done getting red in the face but apparently not.

Now all that was left to do was to burn the note in his pocket to destroy all evidence of said meeting and he could head home to figure out a way to tell Keiko about what had conspired without getting accidented in his sleep.

He pulled out the piece of paper but instead of finding the note he had written, he found a different one entirely:

This was really fun! ^_^
I am looking forward to meeting you again. (✿◠‿◠)

PS: I know what you did last summer. (˵ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°˵)

She knew what he had done last summer? But he didn't even remember what he had done himself.

Which could only be a good thing, right? If it had been something bad he would definitely remember.

But no, focus and try to remember just in case this turned out to be important.

So what had he done last summer?

Lets see: Murdered some chakra beasts, went to Snow, unsuccessfully tried to find chakra beasts to annihilate there, left Snow, exterminated more chakra beasts, revolutionized ninja warfare via Skywalkers, killed some more chakra beasts, got adopted by Jiraiya and became Leaf royalty, reduced chakra beast populations, nearly got Minami killed, reduced civilian ship populations, actually got Minami killed, introduced some chakra beasts to explosives, and talked to Keiko.

Nope, looks like he had worried for nothing. That had been a pretty normal summer as far as his team was concerned.

Well then, time to head home and figure out how to break it to Keiko. The problem with ranged weapon specced ninja was that they could still hit you even if you made sure to be very far away before breaking the news.

But as long as she let him speak and as long as he came up with a great plan to explain why him getting married to the sister she idolizes would be a boon to the clan, it should be fine.

Which it will be. Definitely. Since they were all mature and well adjusted murder children.

…

He would take the long route home, enjoy the scenery one last time.

Just in case.

-o-o-o-​

"So, how did it go?" Noburi inquired from the couch he was currently lounging in like an oversized cat.

"Pretty well, actually. She seemed to be onboard with Uplift and she had a… peculiar sense of humor. Also, I am pretty sure Keiko isn't going to be the last formerly-Mori to join our clan."

"Duuuude! Does that mean what I think it does?"

"Yeah, I think we are engaged now. Probably, I am not too clear on the specifics."

"Engaged to whom?" Keiko said while walking into the room.

Oh shit. When had she even snuck in? He hadn't finished planning yet but he at least he had a tried and tested reply from earlier to fall back on.

"Yes. A local girl. From Mist, very loyal and very legal. No need to look further into it, you wouldn't know her."

"I see. By the way, what is that sweet smell coming from your direction? I think I recognize that from somewhere."

"Oh, that? Perfume. I, uh, use women's perfume now. Because really, who are we to tell people what they should or should not use? Down with the establishment, I say", he turned to Noburi for support but none was forthcoming. "Sage damn it."

Keiko casually glanced down at where her weapons pouch was usually located, but then she remembered that she'd left it in her room since she hadn't planned on committing fratricide today.

Bummer.

"I couldn't agree more. Please stand by, I will be right back."

Once Keiko had left, Hazou exchanged a nervous glance with Noburi and then both of them rushed out of the house as if Jashin himself was on their tail.

They refused to come back until Jiraiya had assured them that at least one full squad of his best and most trustworthy ANBU would be guarding them at all times.

Keiko for her part remained uncharacteristically happy for unknown reasons which only worked to unnerve them even more.

-o-o-o-​

"Well, this was fun", Ami said to herself while she put her disguise back on. Just in time, too, it seemed because a new customer had just approached her. "Welcome to Yukizome's Experimental Cuisine, I am Minoru Minori, how may I help you?"

"Hello, I am Kurosawa Shin and I have a reservation?"

"Very good, sir. If you could follow me into our private room?"

Oh right.

Her ✰Hazou-chan✰'s self-proclaimed rival had somehow learned about their meeting and decided he could not afford to be left behind. And Ami was more than happy to oblige. And then she'd poke him to figure out where the leak had come from.

Frankly, she quite enjoyed messing with Kurosawa in particular because of all the adorable faces they'd involuntarily make when she managed to rattle them.

And after today, she'd have one that belonged just to herself. ^_^


A/N: I think this is the longest chapter I have written in, well, ever.

I don't even know what I was trying to do (and still don't) but I just had this itch that had to be scratched apparently.

My initial idea didn't even have them getting engaged but it somehow ran away from me. :V
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Between this, Keiko's nightmare, Ami's note, and all of the ami/Hazo shitposting, both my hype and anxiety for when Hazo finally meets up with her is at an all time high. This is either going to be the most hilarious or most dissapointing post of the entire quest.


.....no pressure QMs
 
Guys, I would seriously start planning the Ami update now. There's still a lot you can get figured out without knowing the outcome/consequences of the match, and it seems like a bad idea to wait for @eaglejarl's update before getting started.
 
Velorien said:
Guys, I would seriously start planning the Ami update now. There's still a lot you can get figured out without knowing the outcome/consequences of the match, and it seems like a bad idea to wait for @eaglejarl's update before getting started.
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Is the idea to roll the after-fight and the Ami date into one update, or to do the Ami date and then go back to see the after-fight?
 
The king Chad said:
Turning Nabori's siblings away caused me actual, physical pain.
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I don't like giving out OOC information as a QM Incognito but that telescope Ayaka was holding? That was meant to be their gift to Noburi.

It was incredibly expensive but the twins saved up for nearly two years, starting right after Noburi went missing, because they knew their big bro would come back and they wanted to surprise him with it.

Unfortunately, Keiko happened and the twins returned the telescope because looking at it just reminded them of Noburi's rejection, and thus made them incredibly sad.

The telescope vendor has left Mist again and the chances of getting another telescope are, if you will excuse the pun, astronomically low.
 
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Ami Protoplan:
  • [Outfit stuff]
  • Be there punctually. Bring a gift [gift ideas].
  • Discussion topics:
    • KEEP OPSEC. Ami is better than you at this game so be careful!
    • Uplift! Ami might be skeptical that we can follow through on our ambition, but hopefully our goals align enough that we can cooperate to achieve them.
    • Share sanitized stories of our missing-nin adventures.
    • Ask what she thinks of Leaf. Also ask for her hand in marriage.
  • If Ami brings Keiko up as a topic, stay away from her connection to Ami or other sensitive topics (you want to respect Keiko's privacy).
  • Don't make any promises. If Ami wants something, say we'll clear it with our clan head and get back to her before we leave Mist.
 
With regards to the Ami situation how do we feel about leaking that Hana is potentially out of ambassador to leaf position
 
Oneiros said:
With regards to the Ami situation how do we feel about leaking that Hana is potentially out of ambassador to leaf position
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She is likely already aware and she probably has enough clout to take it for herself if she wanted, that she hasn't (as far as we know) is probably an indication that she intends to keep playing the aloof big sister to Keiko for now and we should not mention this.
 
Tua said:
She is likely already aware and she probably has enough clout to take it for herself if she wanted, that she hasn't (as far as we know) is probably an indication that she intends to keep playing the aloof big sister to Keiko for now and we should not mention this.
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This, and it would signal that we're either idiots for not figuring this out or actively working against her (Ami's and Keiko's both) interests. Neither of which we want to portray ourselves as.
 
Tua said:
She is likely already aware and she probably has enough clout to take it for herself if she wanted, that she hasn't (as far as we know) is probably an indication that she intends to keep playing the aloof big sister to Keiko for now and we should not mention this.
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I personally disagree with your assessment but even if it is correct what would cost us? I'm not saying try to offer it to Ami but just say something about how there was drama with Hana. That she might have to spend time in Mist. If Ami already is aware it cost us nothing. If she isn't and wants the position it gives Jiraiya more leverage against Ren.

It's a very low risk move with potentially big benefits
 
MMKII said:
I don't really want to give her flowers or anything like that (seems weird).

What sort of gift would be appropriate?

Cookies?
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At a glance:
Something from Leaf.
A handful of explosives (can never have enough).
Something nice from the Mist marketplace.
A plush kitten.

Plenty of options with varying significance, if we want to.
 
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