[X] Activate Stains of Time stack it with with Demonic Illusion: Stabbing Pain in Jiao's eyes. Use Limb Switch and activate 2nd gate and deliver a series of blows aimed at her head to rattle her mind further if not KO her.
Sorry for lack of updates, heatwaves equal me suffering so I haven't had the motivation to write. I'll try to get something out this week since it'll be cooler.
Winning Vote: Stack Siren's Scream and Fierce Echo together and while Jiao is dealing with the genjutsu, give her a big ol' punch to the face!
You drew on the power of the Rinnegan and after some hand seals, you shrieked as loud as you possibly could. Jiao had stopped laughing to look at you, but was now paralyzed by the power of your Siren's Scream, her teeth gritted in pain as the Fierce Echo multiplied and reverberated the sound into her ears.
"ARGH! YOU WILL PAY-" Jiao began to roar but you had ran forward and jumped up to where Jiao was in the brief moment she was paralyzed. Jiao's eyes widened as she saw you in front of her, rearing back your fist.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" you shouted, slamming your fist into Jiao's cheek. You could instantly feel her body go limp as you spiked her into the cold waters below. You landed on top of the water, breathing heavily as you quickly fished the unconscious Jiao out of the water. Thankfully she didn't inhale any water as she was breathing normally. You draped her across your back and walked back to the shore, dropping her back first onto the sand.
"You're strong, but can't take a hit to save your life, huh?" you muttered to Jiao, but it was mostly for your own benefit. You focused on your Chakra Sensing for a moment to check if anyone was coming your way, even with this out of the way spot, perhaps someone heard the battle and sent shinobi your way. But nobody was coming from what you could sense, so there was no issues.
"Anzu's dress is ruined..." you muttered, looking down at the now dirty and tattered sundress. You suppose you'll have to find a replacement some other time. You sat down on the sand, resting and looking at Jiao. Her face was starting to swell where you drilled her, a large and nasty bruise was already forming.
You had two thoughts on it. One, Jiao totally deserved to get punched in the face, what she said was awful and you have no regrets in teaching her a lesson. The second thought...was that Jiao, while a bitch, was pretty hot and that bruise didn't do any favors. Also once she sees the damage no doubt her bitching will go into a frenzy...
So what will you do?
[] Leave Jiao as is. She deserves this punishment.
[] Use a small version of Freezing Touch to help reduce the swelling of the bruise.
Write in allowed?
Something like
[] Let her stay like this until she wake up. She needs to know that you're healing her as a courtesy, rather than her simply not being as hurt by the fight than she actually is.
[X] Use a small version of Freezing Touch to help reduce the swelling of the bruise.
Jiao isn't stupid, even if she wins gold in mental gymnastics. Graciousness even to the loser who started the fight is an example she should learn from.
[X] Use a small version of Freezing Touch to help reduce the swelling of the bruise.
Baby steps. The temptation to give it straight to her is great, but this is a big enough shock to the system as is, I think. If there is even a hint of a brain in that skull, this should be enough to make some progress.
This is the third or so time she was defeated in the last few days, and this time it was fair-ish, by her standards.
[X] Let her stay like this until she wake up. She needs to know that you're healing her as a courtesy, rather than her simply not being as hurt by the fight than she actually is.
Winning Vote: Use a small version of Freezing Touch to help reduce the swelling of the bruise.
You sighed, not knowing if this was truly right to do or not. You could let Jiao live with the consequences of being a spoiled brat, but perhaps showing some honor and graciousness might get through to her more. You made a simple set of handseals and formed ice chakra in your palm, not enough to freeze anything, but to be soothingly cold. You hovered your hand over Jiao's swollen cheek and left it there for awhile, making sure to move it away every now and then to prevent the constant cold from damaging the skin.
While the bruise would clearly remain, the swelling was already going down considerably. After a few minutes of this, Jiao's eyes slowly opened and she groggily looked at you before gasping in surprise and rolling away from you, panting heavily as she looked at you with rage, ready to strike at a moment's notice. Jiao grit her teeth and spat out, "What are you doing, worm?!"
"After I won the fight, I noticed you had a large bruise on your cheek. I was reducing the swelling with some ice chakra." you simply explained, showing Jiao the hazy white and blue chakra on your palm. Jiao touched her injured cheek and winced. She was still panting, but now her look of rage was replaced with confusion.
"Why would you do that?" she asked, her body now in a more neutral position. The clothes you had given her were obviously soaking wet, with sand stuck onto her skin. Despite taking a dip into the ocean earlier, strands of hair were still plastered to her forehead, overall looking extremely disheveled. All in all, she looked a lot more...humbled now.
"Because...I think you're not actually a bad person. You are whiny, spoiled, and most of all ignorant. But...you're not bad." you gently said, getting to your feet. "I just wanted to make sure you're safe, running your mouth here as a foreigner is a good way to go back to prison. As much as I hate to say it, you're right when you call us savages. The Mist Empire, no, the entire continent of Jihopan, is a savage land with even more savage people. That is why I wanted you to talk with the Mizukage. I just want to make sure you have some form of protection."
Jiao said nothing, but was clearly thinking on your words. She dropped onto the sand, sitting down with her arms curled around her knees. You couldn't see her face at this angle, but it was clear something clicked for her. You calmly walked over to Jiao and sat down next to her. "You don't need to say or tell me anything about yourself, alright? But will you meet with the Mizukage now?"
"...Very well. But I demand to have this bruise healed before I meet one of your leaders." Jiao muttered, trying to sound haughty but in reality sounding more tired than anything.
"Well, I'm not a medical ninja, but I can reduce the swelling with some ice chakra, will that be okay?" you asked.
"I suppose." Jiao sighed, pulling her head back to reveal her face. Her eyes were watering, as if she was about to start crying. But you didn't say anything and placed your ice chakra coated hand just above her bruise. Jiao stayed silent as you treated her bruise. You weren't going to take Jiao to the Mizukage until she managed to calm down, but perhaps you could help her along with some conversation?
Will you talk to Jiao? Or perhaps would it be better to just leave her with her thoughts for now?
[] Ask Jiao about her homeland. You are interested about it after all.
[] Ask Jiao about her powers! That invisible force, the multiple elements...man that was pretty cool!
[] Just leave Jiao alone, she doesn't need you needling her further.
Hey so my laptop is literally falling apart, so until I get a new one, this story is on hiatus. Hopefully it'll only be a few days but I'd feel bad if I didn't tell anyone lol.
[X] Just leave Jiao alone, she doesn't need you needling her further.
---
You decided not to ask Jiao about herself or her homeland. She would let you know of those things on her own terms. After a few more minutes of trying to reduce the swelling on Jiao's face, you felt like it was about as small as it could possibly be. You lifted your hand off of Jiao's face and gently said, "Alright, before we go to the Mizukage's office, how about we get some new clothes? Can't show up looking like this."
You motioned downward to your tattered dress and Jiao looked at the clothes she was wearing. She shook her head, took a deep breath, "Very well. But I suppose there is no hidden tailor like you told me before, is there?"
"Sorry. I figured things would get violent, so I wanted to make sure we were in a safe place before sparks flew!" you explained, standing to your feet and wiping the sand off your knees and legs. You extended a hand towards Jiao and after a long pause, she simply got up by herself. You retracted your hand, but didn't take the gesture personally. Even if this was a blow to her ego, you had a feeling Jiao wouldn't suddenly become super friendly right away.
"Let's go back to the inn, find some better clothes, then go shopping." you said. Jiao didn't respond except for floating into the air and flying away. You shrugged to yourself, thinking at least some progress was made. You followed Jiao all the way back to the inn and the owner was behind the desk as you two entered. He gave you a critical look, but otherwise didn't say anything as you went to your room.
As expected, Jiao instantly took over the bathroom. You shrugged and took some fresh clothes from the closet and went down to the lobby, heading to the owner. "Excuse me, is there someplace I can get cleaned up, my...uh...roommate isn't fond of sharing."
"What the hell happened?" he asked, before shaking his head and saying, "Never mind, better off not knowing. Here, this is an unused room."
The owner picked a key off a hanger and threw it to you. You easily caught it and looked at the number engraved on it. It was the room next to your original one. You shrugged and went to go take your much needed shower.
---
Eventually both you and Jiao had finished your showers and had just left the clothing store. You were thankful that Byakuren paid you well, or else you'd have gotten into a debt already! You came out with a cute looking pink blouse and light blue pants while Jiao had bought a purple kimono with a white sash that held it together. Jiao had calmed down completely by now, but she stayed uncharastically silent.
"Alright...now it's time to find the Administration Building!" You declared, pumping your fist into the air.
"You don't know where the building is?" Jiao asked, bewildered. "You worked so hard to bring me to a place you don't even know how to get to?!"
"It'll be fiiiiiiine!" you casually said, waving your hand nonchalantly. "It can't be that hard!"
Jiao said nothing but rolled her eyes. You navigated through the city, using your chakra sensing to eventually find a large building with a lot of powerful chakras in them, one notably old and dangerous feeling. You shuddered, to have your presence to be so...intimidating even in a calm situation...you wondered what hells Byakuren has seen in his life. Pushing that out of your head, the Administration Building was rather large and tall, at least seven stories in all. On all sides of the building, a large symbol of the Mist was etched into the stone, no doubt marking it as an important building.
"Okay, here we are!" you said to Jiao. She nodded and after a moment's hesitation walked ahead of you into the building. You followed her and entered the lobby of the Administration Building. It almost gave you a sense of deja vu from when you entered the Kyogoku's Group building. It was remarkably clean and modern looking, with polished marble floors and comfy looking furniture. However, there was a big difference in that at the end of the room, behind where the large counter where the clerks do their work, was five highly detailed statues chiseled from stone.
They were clearly of all the current Mizukage, all wearing the formal Kage robes and holding their hats in their hands. The first was obviously Byakuren, who even as a statue looked intimidating. The Second Mizukage was a very...foppish looking man with a thin mustache, the plaque on the bottom of the statue said it was of Gengetsu Hozuki. The Third Mizukage was a handsome looking man with closed eyes and long hair, his name was Taro Terumi. The Fourth Mizukage was a man of short stature and with a boyish face, but you could sense...something sinister from the look it was giving. His name was Yagura Kurokuwa. Finally, the last statue of the Fifth Mizukage was of an extremely beautiful woman with equally extremely long hair, even tied into a topknot. She was Mei Terumi.
"So...these are the people who rule over the Mist Empire. The ones who decide when to send people to their death in a pointless war. Tch..."
"Maya, go on. You're the one who knows Byakuren, bring him out here." Jiao firmly said, in a tired tone. She clearly just wanted this to be done with.
"Sorry, got lost in thoughts. Anyway...!" you quickly said, walking up to a free clerk. It was a woman with bright blonde hair that was rather frizzy, as if she only made one attempt to comb her bedhead. She wore glasses and was writing down something on a scroll before looking up at you, her smile showing off her ruby red lips, no doubt some lipstick.
"Hello! Welcome to the Administration Building! I am Haruri, is there anything I can help you with?" she politely asked.
"I'd like to see Lord Byakuren if he's in," you whispered, sliding the note Byakuren gave you what felt like ages ago. Haruri looked at the note and nodded.
"Ah, Lord Byakuren told me a bit about you. I'm his personal secretary, I was also his pupil's sensei until they graduated." Haruri explained.
"You mean Kai and Ishako? You were their sensei?" you asked, dumbfounded.
"Well, less sensei and more therapist. I still help them out when they have the time. Which is...um...not often recently..." Haruri trailed off. "Oh wait, you met them before?"
"Y-Yes...we've met."
"I'm so sorry."
"It's appreciated. Anyway, see that woman in the kimono behind me? She's from the eastern continent and I just wanted her to be recognized as a Mist citizen for her protection." you explained quietly.
"Alright then. I'll send a notice to Lord Byakuren, please wait in the lobby until I call for you!" Haruri peppily said with a charming smile. You gave a smile yourself and walked back to Jiao, telling her she'll have to wait. She sighed, but said nothing, taking a seat in the nearest chair, which looked rather comfy. You decided to give Jiao some space and sat in a chair near the entrance, looking out the nearby window and people watching.
It wasn't even five minutes later until you saw someone who looked exactly like one of the statues from earlier! You rubbed your eyes as the door to the building opened and you saw the Fifth Mizukage herself walk indoors. The statue truly did not do her beauty service, her hair was a deep auburn and her striking green eyes stood in all the best ways. She wore a blue dress that only went up above her chest, exposing her shoulders and underneath the dress was a suit of fishnets, finishing up the outfit was a pair of light gray, high heeled sandals with shin guards going up just below her knees.
"Wow. She's...stunning. My word, I'm so jealous of her boyfriend! Or girlfriend! Or friends in general!"
"Hello? Are you okay?" Mei asked, suddenly grabbing your attention. She was trying to speak to you!
"O-Oh! I'm sorry, Lady Fifth!" you yelped in surprise. You noticed Jiao shaking her head but decided to ignore it.
"It's alright, I have never seen you here before, and I tend to know the regulars of this building. So, I was curious about you," Mei explained, her voice was sweet and pleasant. She was almost the polar opposite when compared to Byakuren, you could already tell she was extremely kind and inviting.
"O-Oh, yeah. Me and my friend over there are refugees, we're trying to get work permits." you smoothly lied, knowing your deal with Byakuren shouldn't be told to others. Not even other Mizukage.
"Ah. That's impressive, usually most refugees are sent to the prison..." Mei sighed. "I wanted better conditions for them, but I was overruled..."
"Well, I did go there first. I don't mean to be crass but the warden there-"
"Did he ask you for your underwear?" Mei quickly said, sounding both annoyed and disgusted.
"Yes..."
"That disgusting trash...ugh, he even tried asking me of all people! I was sure he'd stop after I suspended him without pay for five months. I suppose I'll bring it up at the next meeting...although I am worried what my father would do..." Mei pondered. "Ah, sorry, I shouldn't bother you with work related issues."
"It's fine with me! I just can't believe the Fifth Mizukage is talking to me!" you enthusiastically replied.
"I do try to make myself approachable. Although it only really works with women and kids. Men are always scared for some reason..." Mei sighed.
"Men? Why?" you innocently asked.
"...I have a few guesses, but...it doesn't matter right now. Oh! I'm so sorry, I forgot to ask your name!" Mei suddenly said.
"I'm Maya Terumi!" you replied with a smile.
"Terumi? So we're from the same clan then. That's interesting. You say you're a refugee?" Mei asked, now examining you closely.
"Yeah...my mother was born in the Mist Empire, but she left and met my father somewhere in the Leaf Empire. Everything was really good but then...an ambush on our town..." you sorrowfully began, vivid images of your home being destroyed flashing within your mind.
"I understand, you don't have to tell me more." Mei gently said, now taking a seat next to you. "Do you have a home at the moment?"
"I'm living in an inn currently, I've been doing odd jobs around the village to pay for it." you said. You mean, it wasn't really lie...
"It might take awhile with the paperwork and such, but I'm sure I could set you up with a home in the Terumi Clan grounds. Perhaps you could find a direct relative of your mother." Mei offered.
"I...never thought about that. I was more focused on Byakuren's deal and my dream of peace. I don't remember mom talking about any siblings or family but if they're alive...shouldn't they deserve to know about her demise? About her children? But...it could be dangerous. I just lied to the Mizukage, there could be someone in the clan who knows of my mother and could poke holes in my lie. Tch..."
Well, what will you do? Would you accept Mei's offer to possibly gain a home in the Terumi Clan grounds? Or would you decline to protect yourself?
[] Accept Mei's offer. Your mom's family should know what happened to her, if they're still there. Plus...you wanted to know if you have any aunts or uncles.
[] Decline Mei's offer. As tempting as it is, you're already fairly well known for defeated Gaikotsu, no need to out yourself even further.
[] Tell Mei you need time to think on it. It's...a big choice, one you don't know if you're ready to make.
[X] Accept Mei's offer. Your mom's family should know what happened to her, if they're still there. Plus...you wanted to know if you have any aunts or uncles.