I mean good to know.
But really you clearly game quite a bit of thought. Another thing to consider is that Hazõ and Mari kinda understand each other, Not 100% sure but mari may be persson that have the best guess o Hazõ inner thought process and she accepts him regardless the same way he accepts her.
Because an interesting thing to mull over is that Hazõ maybe the one on the team with most reasons to hate her but the thought never crossed his mind, and she knows it.
remember what kei said about the pangolin giving us jutsu?, they though we would be a purely familiar clan and wanted to pass them along to tie the animal and human clans for generations to come; if a single clan has had any one scroll all this time then they are more than likely equiped whit several of their animal summon's justu.
"What did he say?!" Hazō demanded the very instant that Jiraiya popped back into existence after visiting the Seventh Path.
Jiraiya jumped a bit at the excited cry and then laughed in amusement at himself.
"Jeez, kid, let your old man catch his breath before you start throwing demands around, eh?" He stretched languorously and then poured himself a cup of tea from the waiting pot. He sampled it, allowing his eyes to drift closed in pleasure.
"Stop being cruel, Father," Kei said. "Hazō is likely to explode if you drag this out yet longer."
Jiraiya snickered. "Honestly, I'd like to see that. Still, okay, since my shy and adorable daughter asks, I, her doting father, shall grant her request." He turned to Hazō. "Yes, Gamabunta agreed to siege Rock for us. In exchange we owe him an absolutely ruinous amount of stuff, starting with a literal ton of pipe weed, another of wakeleaf, and the list gets weirder from there. I told him he was being unreasonable, he said that if he was going to have a headache from repeated summonings then he deserved it, I said that maybe he should just not die and then I wouldn't have to summon him multiple times but that it was good he was finally acquiring some humility, and then he said—"
"Not the sieging!" Hazō said. "The chakra farm! Did he agree to let us set up the chakra farm? And what about Noburi? And—"
"Okay, okay," Jiraiya said, patting the air in signal for Hazō to calm down. "I'll save you some head-exploding countdown: he agreed to all of it. He's going to siege Rock for us, he's going to let us set up the chakra farm, and he's instructed Ma and Pa to assess Noburi for Sage Mode, help him prepare, and then train him once he's ready."
"Yes!" Hazō said, pumping his fist in the air and then turning to high-five his brother. "Noburi, you are going to be unstoppable."
"'Going' to be? Dude, I already own that one." Noburi gripped his lapels and rocked back and forth with an insouciant smile.
"Hold your horses there, bucko," Jiraiya said. "Remember that the first part of this was assess. We need to figure out how your bloodline will interact with nature chakra. You've got minimal internal reserves; is that going to cause you to have unbalanced totals between nature chakra and regular chakra? Plus, you'll need to train up those muscles a lot." He took his son's arm and flopped it around in exaggerated disapproval, then let go and shook his head sadly. "Do you even lift, kid?"
"Jeez!" Noburi said, offended. "Cut me some slack, old man. I'm benching my body weight plus twenty pounds without using chakra."
"Only your body weight plus twenty? At the ripe old age of fifteen?" Jiraiya shook his head sadly. "Ah, the dissipation of the younger generation. No motivation. Why, back in my day—"
It was at this point that Noburi and Hazō leaped at their adoptive father, fingers wiggling frenetically in the unique seals of the dreaded Tickle Attack Technique. A maniacally giggling Jiraiya twisted away and led them on a merry chase through the expansive halls of the Gōketsu estate house.
o-o-o-o
June 3, 1070 AS
"Kei, I'm sorry," Jiraiya said, shame-faced. He looked down at his hands for a moment, then visibly forced himself to look up at his adopted daughter. The rest of the family watched in a mixture of horror at how Kei might react to having her contracted and much-anticipated gift incomplete, and amusement at how satisfying it would be to see the normally unflappable and braggadocious Jiraiya taken down a peg. "I know it's your birthday, and it's an important one because you're turning sixteen, and I didn't forget, but—"
Kei raised an imperious hand. "I am not upset, Father. I recognize that the Earth Country ninja who survived the destruction of Rock have been waging asymmetric warfare against us for months and therefore the Inuzuka have been required to track them down. It is unsurprising that they have yet to find time to complete the capture of a chakra pony."
Mari's carefully sculpted eyebrows shot up. She was curled into one of the armchairs that had been distributed around the living room's circular hearth, her bare feet tucked up under her knees. She was wearing a festival dress in honor of the occasion; soft fabric, dyed a uniform and therefore expensive yellow, with red-orange flames silkscreened on so that they appeared to wrap around her body starting at the hip and spiraling upwards.
"That's very mature of you, Kei," she said. "Good for you."
"...Thank you," Jiraiya said. Her ready acceptance didn't seem to have made more than a small dent in his guilt. "Still—"
"There is in fact one thing I wish from you for today," Kei said. "Delivery of said thing will constitute an adequate birthday gift and wipe clean your failure to complete our equine-related contract."
"And this one thing is?" Jiraiya asked, looking more nervous than a genin walking into a suspected ambush.
"Private. Come with me, please. Everyone else, I would be grateful if you would remain here for now and also promise not to investigate the nature of my request to our Clan Lord." She rose and walked out of the room, not waiting for the pledges and not looking to be sure that Jiraiya was trailing along behind her. (He was.)
She led him upstairs, down the hall, and into her room. Jiraiya stopped in the doorway, looking more nervous than he had in the living room. She ignored him and pushed the window open.
"It's very tidy in here," Jiraiya said, clearly flailing for a topic.
"Thank you. Come inside, please. Leave the door open and stand there." She pointed at a spot two long steps off the imaginary line that connected door to window. There was an 'X' chalked on the floor at the indicated spot.
"Is this going to involve getting stabbed?" Jiraiya asked plaintively. "Because I don't like getting stabbed." Despite his protestations, he took a step into the room, his eyes scanning around quickly to look for traps. He even got down on his knees and looked under the bed.
"There will be no weapons of any kind involved," Kei said. "Please take your mark and place your left hand behind your back."
Jiraiya took his mark but he was looking more and more skittish by the moment. His feet automatically shifted into a modified migi hanmi—left foot forward, body calm, weight slightly back. It was a defensive combat stance, suitable for rapid front kicks to ward off an attacker, or evasive maneuvers.
"Stand square, please," Kei said. "Left hand behind you."
Reluctantly, Jiraiya followed directions.
"Thank you. This will be easier if you do not move more than necessary and make only very minimal contact. Acceptable targets are the back of the torso and the back or top of the head."
"Uh..."
"Quiet, please."
Kei took a deep, shuddering breath, and then another. Her hairline was speckled with sweat and her heart was pounding so fast that her carotid artery visibly thrummed like a tuning fork.
Jiraiya stayed still and quiet, eyeing his daughter distrustfully.
Kei took a third breath and held it. She stepped towards him, her every muscle tense as iron. She let the breath out, drew another, and stepped yet closer until she was only inches from being chest-to-chest with her adoptive father. Jiraiya couldn't help but lean away slightly, although he straightened again when she gave him a raised eyebrow.
She took another shuddering breath and spread her arms. She leaned in close and very carefully wrapped them around Jiraiya, touching him with pressure so slight it would not have toppled a straw balanced on end. Jiraiya stiffened at the touch and then forced himself to be still.
Kei's whole body was shuddering like a person in the grip of hypothermia but she did not break. At Hazō's instruction, she, Snowflake, and their other sisters had been practicing meditation and self-discipline training for months and that training was paying off. Her arms tightened and she leaned closer until her cheek was touching Jiraiya's chest and her arms were in solid contact all the way around.
Astonished, he used his right hand to stroke her hair very, very lightly.
She endured the touch for just over a second before leaping back as though she'd been scalded.
"Thankyouandpleaseexcuseme!" she called over her shoulder as she dove out the window.
Probably the dog scroll, he is a better pick for Summoner over all.
And maybe akane would get the porcupine since we wouldn't have to give it up for treason evasion.
Kei's whole body was shuddering like a person in the grip of hypothermia but she did not break. At Hazō's instruction, she, Snowflake, and their other sisters had been practicing meditation and self-discipline training for months and that training was paying off. Her arms tightened and she leaned closer until her cheek was touching Jiraiya's chest and her arms were in solid contact all the way around.
Astonished, he used his right hand to stroke her hair very, very lightly.
She endured the touch for just over a second before leaping back as though she'd been scalded.
She took another shuddering breath and spread her arms. She leaned in close and very carefully wrapped them around Jiraiya, touching him with pressure so slight it would not have toppled a straw balanced on end. Jiraiya stiffened at the touch and then forced himself to be still.
I leave for a few months and the moment I peek back there's a succubus trying to get into my bed. This story is already temptation enough to return, thank you very much.
I leave for a few months and the moment I peek back there's a succubus trying to get into my bed. This story is already temptation enough to return, thank you very much.
You know... ninja death rates are really, really high. And, up until this last war, there were a lot of ninja living on the Goketsu Estate, living as (informal) Goketsu. I wonder how many ninja-born babies are being taken care of by civilian relatives because their parent died in the war? In 5, or 6 years, will we see a sudden spike in chakra active children?
I hope Gaku-pilot is ensuring those children are well-taken care of. Children made into Orphans by war. Luckily, the Goketsu will go pretty damn far for each other.
Hazō stirred reluctantly awake to find Kei and Snowflake standing at the foot of his bedroll, studying his body in a contemplative fashion that did not bode well at all.
"Good morning," he greeted them, stretching his arms casually behind his head with a yawn (only to quickly retract them as his hands bumped into the shelter wall).
The two girls looked at each other for a second, then nodded.
"Good morning, Hazō," Kei said. "You may be reassured to know that we have just decided that, while your candidacy as our test subject has been confirmed, we will not run the experiment out here in hostile terrain, instead waiting until we are back in Leaf with its superior emergency medical services."
"That's very reassuring," Hazō agreed, slowly picking himself up off the bedroll. "What's the experiment?"
"We would not dream of contaminating the results by giving you advance warning," Kei said. "Although… would you like to play a game, Hazō?"
"Go on."
"Guess which one of us is which," Kei said. "If you win, we will give you the details of the experiment in addition to taking over your next two turns of Yuno duty. If you lose, you will take over both of our next two turns of Yuno duty."
The terms weren't exactly balanced. Yuno duty involved spending the day sticking close to Yuno and repeatedly reassuring her that she was not going to come back to Leaf to find that Noburi had fallen out of love with her and/or been seduced by another girl, both possibilities which were growing steadily greater in Yuno's mind with every day the team spent on the eastern continent, and driving her to distraction. On the other hand, he had a bad feeling about any experiment involving Kei, Snowflake, and emergency medical services, and fifty-fifty odds weren't that bad.
So was it Snowflake with the looping pink ribbon, or was it Kei trying to misdirect him? The ribbon looked like it would take time to put on and take off, which Kei would be reluctant to bother with. On the other hand, both girls were the type to double-bluff instead of going for a single-layer deception. Also, Kei had spoken first when he woke up, and she took the lead more often than Snowflake when both were involved in a conversation (which was curious since Snowflake should be the one with more initiative).
The possibility of a triple or quadruple bluff could not be ruled out, especially since Kei and Snowflake might have had time to plan this, but that way lay only madness, and he was still only half-awake.
"You're Kei," he decided. "That's Snowflake."
Both girls shook their heads. "Incorrect. In fact, we are both Snowflake, with no additional traits assigned due to expected brevity of existence."
"I don't believe you," Hazō said. "Kei wouldn't spend an extra clone's worth of chakra for a prank in mid-mission."
"She would if she had already bribed Noburi to prepare a refill with which to reset the day, as it were."
"Nope," Hazō said. "I already bribed Noburi to tip me off to any arrangement like that in advance, and he hasn't said a word."
"Indeed," Snowflake(?) agreed. "Fortunately, Kei also bribed Noburi to refrain from doing so."
"Oh, come on," Hazō objected. "What could you possibly have to offer him that his all-knowing and all-powerful clan head couldn't match?"
"Simple," Snowflake(?) said. "We have cracked the code on your personal storage scroll labels, and had been doling out parts of the solution as bribery material for weeks before we left Leaf. As soon as Noburi completes the collection, from us or through the exercise of his own intellect, he will be able to resume pranking you by interfering with their contents—a pastime you cruelly denied him when you began writing your labels in elaborate cypher and including traps."
Hazō suddenly realised why, not long ago, Kei and Snowflake had requested storage scrolls containing a zester, a zither, and a pair of zori. At the time, busy with other things, he'd just put it down to "Nara social experiment" and decided to think no more of it, as Leaf citizens typically did under such circumstances.
Come to think of it, it was very similar to Ami's MO: once people got used to the idea that you just went around doing weird stuff for no good reason, you could go around doing weird stuff for very good reasons indeed, and nobody would think to call you out on it.
This could not possibly be a good sign.
-o-
Today was another drizzly, cloudy day, the kind where it was obviously not going to rain unless you gave in to the hot and humid weather and stowed away your raincloak in favour of lighter gear. Increasingly, Hazō was contemplating some carefully-phrased blasphemy in order to offend the kami of the heavens and bring about a cleansing thunderstorm, but for the fact that he suspected they were already on thin ice with the spirit world after the koi incident. The kami were not fond of those who used ninja know-how to impersonate them (or their miracles), the famous example being how Lightning ninjutsu users had a much higher rate of being struck by lightning than those of other elements.
Yesterday, the team had had a major stroke of luck: following a river, they'd found their first civilian village. While, after discussion, they'd decided not to attempt to infiltrate—they could hardly pass for natives, and any foreign travellers out here in the middle of nowhere would inevitably be reported to the next ninja passing through—Kei and Snowflake had been able to make all kinds of useful inferences about the surrounding terrain and possible ninja patrol routes, and there was every chance that if they kept going, the river could turn out to lead to the lake. That was their objective today.
There are ninja passing through the area. Do they notice tracks left by the party?
The team is moving very slowly, prioritising avoiding other ninja. They take 3 steps down on the time ladder for a +3xAB CM modifier.
Hazō: Stealth 15 + 6 + 3 = 24
Kei: Stealth 18 + 6 + 6 = 30
Snowflake: Stealth 18 + 6 + 3 = 27
Akane: Stealth 15 + 6 + 6 = 27
Yuno: Stealth ?? + ?? + ? = ??
Lowest Stealth is Hazō (24).
Local ninja leader: Alertness ?? + ? = ??
The leader beats Hazō's roll, and no further rolls are necessary. He notices the tracks and the ninja begin pursuit. They are prioritising speed over stealth, so Team Gōketsu does not have to make Alertness rolls to notice them.
Athletics rolls all round as Team Gōketsu attempts to shake off the pursuit.
Hazō: Athletics 40 - 3 = 37
Kei: Athletics 50 + 9 = 59
Snowflake: Athletics 50 + 0 = 50
Akane: Athletics 48 + 6 = 54
Yuno: Athletics?? + ? =??
The pursuers easily catch up with Hazō and he calls for the rest of the team to stop.
"Wait!" Yuno suddenly held up a hand as the group emerged from the treeline, preparing to crest the small hill overlooking the riverside village. "Do you hear that?"
Hazō strained his ears. There was something moving to the west, some way away but incoming fast. It wasn't a chakra beast. Any predator formidable enough to go after a group their size wouldn't start making noise until it was much closer. Somebody wanted to catch up to them, and they were making speed their top priority.
"Enemy patrol," Hazō hissed. "Let's head east and try to lose them in the forest we were exploring yesterday."
"Quadrants 3B to 3C," Kei advised as they began to run.
Hazō nodded. They hadn't seen any signs of enemy patrols in that area, which avoided the worst-case scenario of fleeing from one patrol, only to crash headfirst into another. Hazō doubted that Asuma would be impressed with a reprise of the Team Uplift wildfire incident.
Yuno took point, her eyes taking on a glint of pure steely focus as she plotted the smoothest route over rough ground while simultaneously scanning the area for chakra beasts that might react badly to sudden intruders into their territory. Bringing her along had been a brilliant idea, even considering the demands of Yuno duty. Kei was close behind, offering an occasional "No, that way", supplementing Yuno's instinctual sense of the terrain with flawless recall of the maps she'd had primary responsibility for drawing up.
Akane and Snowflake were in the middle of the group, moving at a respectable pace. The stupid thought flashed through Hazō's mind that he hoped Akane wasn't pushing herself. She'd learned her lesson. He was sure of it. Almost sure. Even if she wasn't, Snowflake remembered what happened last time, if only secondhand. She'd notice if anything was wrong.
They ran and they ran and they ran. Trees blurred past, occasionally too close for comfort. Periodically, flocks of startled birds fled the area as they passed, and Hazō hoped no other ninja out there were watching. Either no chakra beast dared get in their way, or Yuno spotted them in advance and steered the group away. The enemy—no, it was too soon to think of them as the enemy—the other group wasn't letting up. Of course, they'd know the terrain, both in the specifics of the landscape and in the general sense of knowing how to navigate this natural environment. Still, no small-continent hicks were going to beat the team that had braved elements and battled monsters everywhere from Snow to O'Uzu when it came to adaptability.
In theory. In practice, Hazō was starting to flag. Had he not got enough sleep? Was it the stone in his sandal which he'd taken too long to stop and remove? Or were the others just setting too fast a pace?
As if any pace could be too fast when it came to outrunning a patrol. No, Hazō just had to push himself a little harder. He hadn't summoned Canvass yet today, so he had plenty of chakra to spare—
"Stop or die!"
They were right there. Right behind him. One had a machete in his hands. And while they were speeding up, Hazō was slowing down. From here, it would only take one swing.
"Code Olive!" And then, for the pursuers' benefit, "Stop and talk!"
-o-
There were five of them. The machete-wielder, a grizzled older man, put Hazō in mind of Shikigami-sensei, only with fewer scars and with so many equipment pouches hanging off various belts that they might collectively stop a ninja-strength punch. The woman standing next to him was tall, thin, and had a narrow face, together with short, prematurely grey hair that seemed like the silvery glint on the end of a sharp stiletto.
The other three were distinctly younger. A short, stout boy with a face that seemed made for easy smiles made Hazō think of Noburi. A gangly girl's hands hovered, ready, over thigh holsters on both sides, her eyes scanning back and forth. Another boy stood slightly in front of her, protectively, gripping a hunting spear with bright feathers dangling from a strap. He had a bandage over his forehead, clearly a field dressing, but clean with no blood.
"Identify yourselves," barked the machete-wielder.
"We're representatives of a certain clan that's interested in new trade opportunities," Hazō said. "We were scouting out the area for business purposes. We're not looking for any trouble, and in fact, would be happy to offer samples of our products as a gesture of apology for coming here without your people's permission."
"Scouting the area for business purposes," the machete-wielder repeated sceptically, looking back and forth between them. "You expect me to buy that?"
"We're entering a new era of international trade," Hazō said. As long as he could keep the other party talking, the Gōketsu had the advantage. They were in fact interested in trade opportunities, as a very secondary goal, and with the numbers equal and good odds that some or all of the younger ninja were genin, the other party had incentive to want a beneficial exchange rather than pointless bloodshed. That would soak in as the two groups watched each other and the adrenaline of the chase wore off, and in the meantime Hazō was confident in his ability to pile on the charm.
"Have you heard about the recent developments out west?" he asked.
"Another so-called world war," the ninja grunted. "The west's still drowning in its own blood, the ink's fresh on the treaties, and you're telling me somebody decided to send a strike force like yours to the other end of the world to open up trade? You want to tell me a better story? Last chance before I decide you're trying to bullshit me and I'll need to get my answers another way."
"We've made a new kind of peace," Hazō said. "The kind where it makes sense to send ninja out to make new bonds instead of staying home and licking our wounds, or staying on guard for Round Two. All of the Kage, as well as representatives of other villages, got together at a new Chūnin Exam and signed a new kind of mutual protection treaty. Nobody makes war on anyone, as enforced by everyone else, and that means an explosion in trade opportunities—with former foes, but also with anyone else who's willing to take advantage. Our village has profited tremendously from trade even in these short months, which is why our leader's given us permission to go out and steal a march on our competitors who don't realise that the east is full of profitable opportunities and valuable trading partners. Really, we should have approached you before doing anything else, and, again, I apologise for any disrespect, but it just goes against the grain to approach a potential new partner without having the perfect offer ready up front."
The two senior-looking ninja exchanged glances. They smiled. Then, just as Hazō was getting his hopes up, they burst into laughter. A couple of seconds later, the other three followed.
"All the Kage and all the villages have agreed that nobody makes war on anyone," the woman said, the smile dropping abruptly off her face as if it had never been. "Look at the stupid backwater ninja, they'll believe anything anybody from the civilised West tells them.
"Listen up, 'merchants'. You've got two choices…"
Suddenly, Hazō's missing-nin survival instinct seized his attention and forced it sideways, onto the younger girl. She was whispering something urgently to the machete man, and his eyes were growing wide.
"Shit, you're right," he said in the voice of a man seeing the shadow of a falling star cover his house. "Two summoning scrolls. Leaf's here to finish the job."
The woman glanced at the stout boy. His hands immediately came together.
"Fire Element: Heavens-Licking Pyre Technique!"
His left hand rose in a curving movement, as if picking something up from the empty air, and a tongue of flame exploded out of the earth at his feet, lashing out to pierce the sky far above.
In a time-slowing moment of inevitability, Hazō watched the two leaders' eyes glide past Akane, hesitate over Kei and Snowflake, and stop on the summoner who didn't have fifty-fifty odds of being a clone.
