People always told you you were never going to amount to much. Just some orphan girl one step...
The Princess of Blades (Naruto/Exalted)
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Prologue ~ OP
- Location
- Massholistan
People always told you you were never going to amount to much. Just some orphan girl one step away from living on the street, born to civilian parents who didn't love her enough to leave her anything when they died. Not even a family name to remember them by. For your entire life you've been Tenten...just Tenten. No family to call your own, with nothing to your name besides what money you managed to scrounge up and painfully save. What could one little orphan girl possibly do? But you never let those words drag you down, you never let them get to you, because you had a dream. Forged with all the innocence and boundless confidence that a starry-eyed youth could muster. One day you'd be legendary, your name would be the one little orphan girls hear in hushed conversations and used to quell arguments. You'd show them all what one little orphan girl could do.
You scrimped and saved, and managed to get into the Academy, and you never looked back. Classes were hard, making friends was harder. You never had much interest in most of the pursuits that seemed to enrapture the other girls in your class, and the boys looked down on you because you were a girl. And besides, who wanted to be friends with some orphan tomboy without even a family name to call her own? You were good, but you weren't some natural prodigy, to seek out an befriend as a course of natural survival. You had good marks, but nowhere the near the best. Even after all this time you were still just...Tenten.
You tried to emulate the great Kunoichi of legend, to do what they did, to follow their path, but that still led only to frustration. But despite everything, you still loved the Academy. It finally gave you a chance to learn and to satiate your boundless curiosity. Something you'd never had in the orphanage that had been you entire life for years, and the streets of Konoha were not particularly suited for education. At least not of the sort you had at the Academy.
So you adapted, altering your course to find what worked as you rose through the ranks of the Academy and beyond. Graduating, becoming a Genin under Mighty Guy and facing his tests...it was harder than anything you'd done before. Bitter failure after bitter failure when you tried to become like your idols. But despite that you never, ever gave up on your dream. If you couldn't become a legend in their path...you'd just have to forge your own. One built on your strengths. You were still just Tenten, but you had your own strengths, and those would be enough.
And now, this was it. The first step onto the rest of your life. The Chunin Exams. The chance to prove yourself. The culmination of everything you and your team had trained for the past year. And it had been easy, you and your teammates breezing through the first two challenges. You were elated. Neji and Lee, they were the brothers you never had, and you wanted them to succeed as much as anything.
But then everything went wrong. First the proctors had to stop Neji from murdering his cousin, then Lee...god...Lee. He went up against that monster from the Sand Village. The fight was magnificent, but you can still hear the sickening crunch as his limbs were crushed into beneath the swirling sand. He would had died were it not for Guy's intervention, and now you don't even know if he'll be able to walk, let alone continue his service.
And so you entered your own match against the sister of that monster with fire in your eyes. It wasn't just that she stood in the way of your dream, but her brother had almost murdered one of your best friends. Crippled him. So you went in fully intending to wipe that condescending grin off of her face, for you, for Lee, for every setback and hardship you faced down to reach this point.
It's just a shame you're currently losing this fight rather horribly.
The swirling vortex of the sand girl's wind jutsu plays over your skin like millions of infinitesimal knives. You are trapped in this screaming hell, the cutting wind and the scything dust making it impossible to open your eyes. You can barely breathe as it buffets your face, forcing its way down your throat whenever you try to take a breath. You can feel the woozy dizziness of exhaustion pulling at the edges of your consciousness, the faint siren call to let yourself slide down and give up. You slam those impulses down, you won't give up now. You can't give up now.
You feel the wind around you begins to relent and you gasp for air as you begin the fall back to earth. You try and steady yourself as you tumble through air, but your eyes are still bleary and tear-filled, robbing you of all sense of orientation. Desperately you try and turn your fall into something approaching a controlled lan-
Time slows to a crawl as your back slams into something. You can't even imagine what it could be, because your entire world is pain. Sharp, excruciating pain, more than you've ever faced in your life stabs through you. Your mouth fills with the bitter copper taste of blood as the impact forces your teeth to tear a gash open in your cheek. Your eyes snap open as darkness tears at the edge of your vision, threatening to drag your down.
Then, with a wet, visceral, crack, the pain vanishes. Everything beneath your lower back vanishes. Your vision swims, and once again you have fight off the encroaching darkness. You force through a wet cough, sending the blood in your mouth spilling out across your face. Your vision finally achieves some measure of clarity, but all you see through half-lidded eyes is the sand bitch's expression of bored disdain
"Oh, and here I was expecting some excitement after the show your teammate put on." She drawls, and the raw contempt in her voice makes your skin crawl. Fury pushes through the aching dizziness "Oh well. That was pitiful."
"Not...not done yet." You force out through gritted teeth.
"Hmmph." The blonde girl just snorts, and then cocks her fist back. "If you insist."
The blow sends you tumbling through the field of discarded weaponry from your earlier efforts. You can feel new gashes open up all across your body before you land in a sprawling heap on the stone floor. Your mouth tastes like dust and blood and you can feel something warm trickling down your face. Your legs refuse to move, a fact that sends cold shivers of dread throughout your body. But still you force yourself to rise on shuddering arms. You can see the blood drops beginning to coalesce beneath you but you don't care. You're not out of this yet, not as long as you're still conscious.
"Well, that's just pathetic." You can practically hear the sneer in her voice as you struggle to lift your head to look at her with half-lidded eyes. Everything in you screams to just give up now, you can barely move. Let alone fight. She took the best you had, and you couldn't even hit her. But you push it down. You're running on anger and spite at this point. You refuse to give up, not after the way she dismissed you, not after what her brother did to Lee. If she wants to win, she's going to put you down.
"N-not giving up y-yet." You spit out, to yourself and to her, and your fingers close around one of the kunai knives littering the floor. Your blood thrums in your ears and you take one last shuddering breath as the fire in your gut roars to a crescendo. The blond girl says something, but you pay it no attention, all your focus going towards measuring the distance between you and her. She's gotten close, too close. Probably thinks you're about to collapse.
With one last push of effort you force yourself up, throwing yourself up onto your feet. Your legs predictably give out from under you, sending you falling backward. But the kunai you held in your right hand flashes out towards your opponent. You get a visceral thrill as you see her eyes widen. She dodges, but not fast enough, and the kunai carves a straight gash across her cheek. You just manage to see the blood beginning to well in the cut and feel the sharp feeling of pride in your breast when the retaliatory wind blast slams you into the far wall.
The impact jars all the air from your lungs, and as you slump to the ground beneath a spiderweb of cracks your vision once again swims from the force of it all. Black spots weaving in and out of your sight as everything swings around you. You suck a breath in through your teeth and try to move your arms, only to seize up at the pain lancing through them when you so much as move your fingers. As the dust swirls around you and bits of concrete rain down from the cracks above you, you feel the last embers of defiance settle in your stomach. You did it, you hit her...Now what?
You're exhausted, you can cuts and gashes all over your body, slowly spilling your life out onto the stone floor. You're pretty sure your spine is broken, probably some other things as well. It'd be so easy to just put your head down and slide into the darkness that's been tugging on you ever since you were caught in that vortex. Now look at you, you can barely move and you're backed into a corner. Just waiting to be finishes off. Rationalizations piling upon rationalizations, all whispering in your ear to just lie down and give up. It'll put a stop to the beating. You hit her once. You made your point, but she's just been toying with the entire time. There's no hope-...
No.
The single word echoes through your mind, and your face twists into a savage snarl, your fingers curling into fists. You can't give up now. Not now, and not ever. You hit her, you drew blood, and if you did it once you can do it again. And again. And again. Until you can grind that smug grin into the dirt.
And you're going to keep going until that happens. You feel your blood pounding in your ears as you grind your knuckles into the stone floor. Pushing yourself up inch by excruciating inch. The fire from before roars back to life inside you. You sway slightly as you rise onto your feet, shards of concrete dust falling off you, the pain lancing through your body gradually giving way to the fire burning through your veins. Idly you grab a Kunai from where it had fall on the ground, twirling it through your fingers.
The dust finally settles, giving you a clear view of your opponent, and you see her eyes widen at the sight of you standing there. You crack your neck and she takes a step back.
"So," your face twists into sneer, "It was a fight you wanted right?"
[ ] Crush her.
The Princess of Blades (Naruto/Exalted)
AKA Tenten and the Quest for Narrative Relevance
You scrimped and saved, and managed to get into the Academy, and you never looked back. Classes were hard, making friends was harder. You never had much interest in most of the pursuits that seemed to enrapture the other girls in your class, and the boys looked down on you because you were a girl. And besides, who wanted to be friends with some orphan tomboy without even a family name to call her own? You were good, but you weren't some natural prodigy, to seek out an befriend as a course of natural survival. You had good marks, but nowhere the near the best. Even after all this time you were still just...Tenten.
You tried to emulate the great Kunoichi of legend, to do what they did, to follow their path, but that still led only to frustration. But despite everything, you still loved the Academy. It finally gave you a chance to learn and to satiate your boundless curiosity. Something you'd never had in the orphanage that had been you entire life for years, and the streets of Konoha were not particularly suited for education. At least not of the sort you had at the Academy.
So you adapted, altering your course to find what worked as you rose through the ranks of the Academy and beyond. Graduating, becoming a Genin under Mighty Guy and facing his tests...it was harder than anything you'd done before. Bitter failure after bitter failure when you tried to become like your idols. But despite that you never, ever gave up on your dream. If you couldn't become a legend in their path...you'd just have to forge your own. One built on your strengths. You were still just Tenten, but you had your own strengths, and those would be enough.
And now, this was it. The first step onto the rest of your life. The Chunin Exams. The chance to prove yourself. The culmination of everything you and your team had trained for the past year. And it had been easy, you and your teammates breezing through the first two challenges. You were elated. Neji and Lee, they were the brothers you never had, and you wanted them to succeed as much as anything.
But then everything went wrong. First the proctors had to stop Neji from murdering his cousin, then Lee...god...Lee. He went up against that monster from the Sand Village. The fight was magnificent, but you can still hear the sickening crunch as his limbs were crushed into beneath the swirling sand. He would had died were it not for Guy's intervention, and now you don't even know if he'll be able to walk, let alone continue his service.
And so you entered your own match against the sister of that monster with fire in your eyes. It wasn't just that she stood in the way of your dream, but her brother had almost murdered one of your best friends. Crippled him. So you went in fully intending to wipe that condescending grin off of her face, for you, for Lee, for every setback and hardship you faced down to reach this point.
It's just a shame you're currently losing this fight rather horribly.
The swirling vortex of the sand girl's wind jutsu plays over your skin like millions of infinitesimal knives. You are trapped in this screaming hell, the cutting wind and the scything dust making it impossible to open your eyes. You can barely breathe as it buffets your face, forcing its way down your throat whenever you try to take a breath. You can feel the woozy dizziness of exhaustion pulling at the edges of your consciousness, the faint siren call to let yourself slide down and give up. You slam those impulses down, you won't give up now. You can't give up now.
You feel the wind around you begins to relent and you gasp for air as you begin the fall back to earth. You try and steady yourself as you tumble through air, but your eyes are still bleary and tear-filled, robbing you of all sense of orientation. Desperately you try and turn your fall into something approaching a controlled lan-
Time slows to a crawl as your back slams into something. You can't even imagine what it could be, because your entire world is pain. Sharp, excruciating pain, more than you've ever faced in your life stabs through you. Your mouth fills with the bitter copper taste of blood as the impact forces your teeth to tear a gash open in your cheek. Your eyes snap open as darkness tears at the edge of your vision, threatening to drag your down.
Then, with a wet, visceral, crack, the pain vanishes. Everything beneath your lower back vanishes. Your vision swims, and once again you have fight off the encroaching darkness. You force through a wet cough, sending the blood in your mouth spilling out across your face. Your vision finally achieves some measure of clarity, but all you see through half-lidded eyes is the sand bitch's expression of bored disdain
"Oh, and here I was expecting some excitement after the show your teammate put on." She drawls, and the raw contempt in her voice makes your skin crawl. Fury pushes through the aching dizziness "Oh well. That was pitiful."
"Not...not done yet." You force out through gritted teeth.
"Hmmph." The blonde girl just snorts, and then cocks her fist back. "If you insist."
The blow sends you tumbling through the field of discarded weaponry from your earlier efforts. You can feel new gashes open up all across your body before you land in a sprawling heap on the stone floor. Your mouth tastes like dust and blood and you can feel something warm trickling down your face. Your legs refuse to move, a fact that sends cold shivers of dread throughout your body. But still you force yourself to rise on shuddering arms. You can see the blood drops beginning to coalesce beneath you but you don't care. You're not out of this yet, not as long as you're still conscious.
"Well, that's just pathetic." You can practically hear the sneer in her voice as you struggle to lift your head to look at her with half-lidded eyes. Everything in you screams to just give up now, you can barely move. Let alone fight. She took the best you had, and you couldn't even hit her. But you push it down. You're running on anger and spite at this point. You refuse to give up, not after the way she dismissed you, not after what her brother did to Lee. If she wants to win, she's going to put you down.
"N-not giving up y-yet." You spit out, to yourself and to her, and your fingers close around one of the kunai knives littering the floor. Your blood thrums in your ears and you take one last shuddering breath as the fire in your gut roars to a crescendo. The blond girl says something, but you pay it no attention, all your focus going towards measuring the distance between you and her. She's gotten close, too close. Probably thinks you're about to collapse.
With one last push of effort you force yourself up, throwing yourself up onto your feet. Your legs predictably give out from under you, sending you falling backward. But the kunai you held in your right hand flashes out towards your opponent. You get a visceral thrill as you see her eyes widen. She dodges, but not fast enough, and the kunai carves a straight gash across her cheek. You just manage to see the blood beginning to well in the cut and feel the sharp feeling of pride in your breast when the retaliatory wind blast slams you into the far wall.
The impact jars all the air from your lungs, and as you slump to the ground beneath a spiderweb of cracks your vision once again swims from the force of it all. Black spots weaving in and out of your sight as everything swings around you. You suck a breath in through your teeth and try to move your arms, only to seize up at the pain lancing through them when you so much as move your fingers. As the dust swirls around you and bits of concrete rain down from the cracks above you, you feel the last embers of defiance settle in your stomach. You did it, you hit her...Now what?
You're exhausted, you can cuts and gashes all over your body, slowly spilling your life out onto the stone floor. You're pretty sure your spine is broken, probably some other things as well. It'd be so easy to just put your head down and slide into the darkness that's been tugging on you ever since you were caught in that vortex. Now look at you, you can barely move and you're backed into a corner. Just waiting to be finishes off. Rationalizations piling upon rationalizations, all whispering in your ear to just lie down and give up. It'll put a stop to the beating. You hit her once. You made your point, but she's just been toying with the entire time. There's no hope-...
No.
The single word echoes through your mind, and your face twists into a savage snarl, your fingers curling into fists. You can't give up now. Not now, and not ever. You hit her, you drew blood, and if you did it once you can do it again. And again. And again. Until you can grind that smug grin into the dirt.
And you're going to keep going until that happens. You feel your blood pounding in your ears as you grind your knuckles into the stone floor. Pushing yourself up inch by excruciating inch. The fire from before roars back to life inside you. You sway slightly as you rise onto your feet, shards of concrete dust falling off you, the pain lancing through your body gradually giving way to the fire burning through your veins. Idly you grab a Kunai from where it had fall on the ground, twirling it through your fingers.
The dust finally settles, giving you a clear view of your opponent, and you see her eyes widen at the sight of you standing there. You crack your neck and she takes a step back.
"So," your face twists into sneer, "It was a fight you wanted right?"
[ ] Crush her.
[ ] How?
[Optional] Stunt It
[Optional] Use Willpower?
The Princess of Blades (Naruto/Exalted)
AKA Tenten and the Quest for Narrative Relevance
A/N: What am I doing with my life?
Anyway, while I continue to fail at writing an update for Upon I had this idea and it would not leave me alone (and I also wanted to practice writing fight scenes). So, let's see how it goes. Your starting character sheet is below.
In addition, this fight is the prologue. As such, you will be selecting your starting charms and excellencies as you move through the fight and aftermath. My only requirement is Tenten is capable of learning the charm (duh) and you work it into a basic stunt at minimum. Otherwise, good luck.
Anyway, while I continue to fail at writing an update for Upon I had this idea and it would not leave me alone (and I also wanted to practice writing fight scenes). So, let's see how it goes. Your starting character sheet is below.
In addition, this fight is the prologue. As such, you will be selecting your starting charms and excellencies as you move through the fight and aftermath. My only requirement is Tenten is capable of learning the charm (duh) and you work it into a basic stunt at minimum. Otherwise, good luck.
Character Sheet & Rules
- Location
- Massholistan
CHARACTER SHEET
NAME: Tenten
ALIASES: None
EXALTATION: Solar
CASTE: Dawn
ANIMA: A swirling array of scrolls and golden blades, spreading out like the rays of the rising sun.
MOTIVATION: To become a legendary kuniochi
- Character Description
-
APPEARANCE:
Tenten is a modestly attractive girl, with brown eyes and shoulder-length brown hair, which she keeps tied in two buns on the sides of her head. Due to her young age, she is rather short, just barely over five feet tall. Her hands are scarred and calloused, a testament to her endless training with all manner of weaponry.
She tends to favor loose and breathable clothes that do not interfere with her range of movement, typically seen in sleeveless vests and pants. In addition, she carries a number of scrolls, which contain a veritable armory of different weapons sealed within them.
TRAITS & ABILITIES:
Tenten is naturally observant and inquisitive. She is strongly-opinionated about women, and has a distaste for weakness and being over-reliant on others. However, she is compassionate and helpful, always striving to be kind and caring towards others. This is especially true for her teammates, who she cares for deeply. Despite this however, she often finds herself exasperated at their antics, which can lead to her fierce temper emerging, especially if she feels she is not being respected. Tenten is highly determined, and willing to go to extreme lengths to accomplish her dreams, and is not dissuaded easily.
In combat, Tenten is canny and an accomplished weapons expert, especially due to her preternatural accuracy with throwing weapons. She also has a natural aptitude for sealing techniques, which she uses to store her weapons in paper scrolls. She is a quick and nimble fighter. However, she only has average strength and stamina. She shows some skill with Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, but her Genjutsu skills are insignificant.
- Condition
- Attributes & Abilities
- Charms
- Jutsu
- Rules
Last edited:
Prologue II
- Location
- Massholistan
You see your opponent begin to steady herself, slowly overcoming her shock at seeing you striding out of the dust cloud, but you don't give her the chance. With a sudden burst of speed one of the small shards of concrete still on your clothes is in your hand, and then it's hurtling towards her eyes. Vaguely you're aware of her eyes widening to track it, but you pay no attention to that. Instead you skim your free hand along the ground, collecting one of the multitude of knives strewn across the floor. You feel the knives dance in your hands, and in a flash they are sent streaking towards your opponent. Distantly you hear a soft cry of pain, but your focus has already shifted. You can feel the cutting edge of the scything wind brush against your skin as you slam your hands together in familiar hand-signs, products of years of rote memorization. All your attention on heavy kusarigama behind her. Your chakra sings in your ears, far stronger than you've ever felt before. You've never attempted such a disparate replacement before, but you exhale-...
Your feet skid across the concrete floor as smoke curls around you. Faintly you hear the sharp sound of the metal weapon skidding across the floor, caught up in that deadly wind. You're already moving, narrowly diving out of the way of another wind-blast as the sand bitch whirls around to face you, the tell-tale shimmer of Jutsu surrounding that damn fan. Two more knives lash out, but they are merely batted way by the wind, you let out a small grunt of annoyance, but it quickly disappears as you spot the dark patch on her shoulder. So you did hit her, and given the way her shoulder hitches when she moves it, it was a clean hit. Any thought of celebration is wiped from your mind though, as once again the wind reaches out for you. Something in the back of your mind reaches out, and with barely a thought your hands are moving once again. A flash of smoke and a katana goes skidding across the floor, wind whipping around the metal blade.
You on the other hand are forced to turn your dismount into a handspring to keep from slamming head-first into the floor. You whip through the air as your opponent spins around once more, desperately trying to keep track of you. You're not entirely sure how you're doing this, but you're too focused to question it, all your thoughts whirling through you second-by-second. At the apex of your arc you let loose another pair of knives. You see the blonde girl's eyes bulge as she throws herself to the side, lacking the time to bring her fan to bear. But it's not enough, the second of your knives misses her by inches, but the first slices across her stomach. You see her shirt tear open, blood begins to well up through the cut. Lightly you land on your feet. Your opponent is leaning slightly on her fan, breathing heavily, but it's her face that catches your attention. She's looking at you with pure hate smoldering in her eyes. You take a deep breath as the two of you stand there for a second, amid the field of your discarded weaponry. You can hear the whisper of voices from the viewing platforms, but you ignore them, simply electing to stare down your opponent. A mirror of how this match started, but this time the blonde girl is the one to make the first move. With a scream, her fan extends to its full form and another vortex reaches out to claim you in its grasp, but you spin out of the way, weapons flashing from the ground into your hands and the dance begins again.
As you twirl out of the way of yet another wind-blast you realize you are in a stalemate, you're too fast for her to hit, but with the winds whipping around her there's no chance for any of your weapons to get through. She's spending chakra like water in her fury, aiming to squash you like a bug, so you could try and wait her out, but if she hits you...you grit your teeth as the edge of one of the blasts of wind clips you, sending you skidding backwards. No, if she traps you again she'll probably just suffocate you, and you don't know if you can dodge forever. You need to end this decisively. You need to do something about that fan. Then your foot makes contact with something, and your mouth splits into a feral grin. You have a plan. You send two more knives arcing towards her, but they're a mere afterthought. A distraction.
Your heel kicks down, sending the fuma shuriken spinning up into your grip. It's not nearly as big as many of its kind, but for what you need it for it will do. You twist your hand, the four blades beginning their rotation before you reel back and lob it towards your opponent. It's a clumsy throw, artless and inaccurate, plain for everyone to see. The sand bitch doesn't even bother to knock it aside, merely shifting her footing and letting it sail harmlessly past her. Your face sets into a cruel smirk, and your hands form a now intimately familiar position. The look on her face as you appear right in front of her in a cloud of smoke is one you will take with you to your grave, her eyes nearly bulging out of her head as the knife in your hands stabs downward, intent on burying itself in her collarbone. The wind whips around you, but you push through, intent on ending this fight once and for all.
Frantically she moves the heavy steel casing on her fan in front of her to block your knife, and the two weapons collide in a shower of sparks, locking together as the sound of metal grinding against metal fills the air around you. "Gotcha" you spit out through gritted teeth. Your heart hammers in your chest, this is it. You throw your entire body weight down on your knife, twisting yourself into her guard. You feel her shoulder catch, and she screams in pain as the fan is forced from her grasp in a shower of sparks. Your knife goes with it, both of them clattering to the ground a few feet away, just out of reach. Something catches in the back of your mind and you frantically spin to the side, dancing out of the way of a vicious pressure wave that scythes through the air where you just were.
Your feet grind into the concrete floor as you finish your rotation. You have no weapons left on, but that's fine, this ends now. Your hand curls into a fist as you whip around, no time for form or finesse, just raw power. You see a fleeting moment of absolute terror on the blonde girl's face before your fist connects with the side of her jaw. You feel something give way before you hand, and a visceral snap rings out as the girl is sent tumbling backwards, blood pouring from her mouth. She crumples to the ground, landing on top of her fan. She shifts a handful of time, breath gurgling through the blood in her mouth before her head lolls to the side. You merely stand there sucking in air while you wait to see if she's truly down for the count. Eventually, the referee wanders over and looks her up and down before shrugging his shoulder.
"Winner: Tenten" he drawls out, and a tidal wave of relief washes over you. You did it, you won. You won. You hear cheering from the viewing platforms and you look up to see the other Konoha genin waving to you...well you see most of them...some of them...okay two or three are actually waving, but in your mind they're all cheering for you. Unfortunately you don't see Guy- among them, but you try to push down the stab of disappointment. Last time you saw him he was rushing Lee to emergency surgery, and that was all of a half an hour ago. But the thought of Lee snaps you back to your opponent. She's still lying there on the ground, and as you glance at her she let's out a wet cough, sending a spray of blood out of her mouth.
[ ] Go over an make sure she's okay - She may be a complete bitch, and the sister of that monster that tried to murder Lee, but you're better than her. And you want her to know you're better than her.
[ ] Ignore her - She'll be fine, the proctors will take care of her.
[ ] Kick her while she's down - You beat her, you want her to know it, and you want her to remember it. [Requires Failed Compassion Check]
A/N: Well, that took longer than expected. Also man, poor Temari. The dice absolutely hated her. Anyway, still working on the Chakra system, hope to have that out by tomorrow, so I haven't updated the Character sheet with that yet.
So yeah, you won, and now everyone just saw you start glowing and all your injuries heal themselves in a burst of golden light. Then you methodically took apart someone who was beating the shit out of you five seconds beforehand. I'm sure this will engender no suspicion whatsoever.
Your feet skid across the concrete floor as smoke curls around you. Faintly you hear the sharp sound of the metal weapon skidding across the floor, caught up in that deadly wind. You're already moving, narrowly diving out of the way of another wind-blast as the sand bitch whirls around to face you, the tell-tale shimmer of Jutsu surrounding that damn fan. Two more knives lash out, but they are merely batted way by the wind, you let out a small grunt of annoyance, but it quickly disappears as you spot the dark patch on her shoulder. So you did hit her, and given the way her shoulder hitches when she moves it, it was a clean hit. Any thought of celebration is wiped from your mind though, as once again the wind reaches out for you. Something in the back of your mind reaches out, and with barely a thought your hands are moving once again. A flash of smoke and a katana goes skidding across the floor, wind whipping around the metal blade.
You on the other hand are forced to turn your dismount into a handspring to keep from slamming head-first into the floor. You whip through the air as your opponent spins around once more, desperately trying to keep track of you. You're not entirely sure how you're doing this, but you're too focused to question it, all your thoughts whirling through you second-by-second. At the apex of your arc you let loose another pair of knives. You see the blonde girl's eyes bulge as she throws herself to the side, lacking the time to bring her fan to bear. But it's not enough, the second of your knives misses her by inches, but the first slices across her stomach. You see her shirt tear open, blood begins to well up through the cut. Lightly you land on your feet. Your opponent is leaning slightly on her fan, breathing heavily, but it's her face that catches your attention. She's looking at you with pure hate smoldering in her eyes. You take a deep breath as the two of you stand there for a second, amid the field of your discarded weaponry. You can hear the whisper of voices from the viewing platforms, but you ignore them, simply electing to stare down your opponent. A mirror of how this match started, but this time the blonde girl is the one to make the first move. With a scream, her fan extends to its full form and another vortex reaches out to claim you in its grasp, but you spin out of the way, weapons flashing from the ground into your hands and the dance begins again.
As you twirl out of the way of yet another wind-blast you realize you are in a stalemate, you're too fast for her to hit, but with the winds whipping around her there's no chance for any of your weapons to get through. She's spending chakra like water in her fury, aiming to squash you like a bug, so you could try and wait her out, but if she hits you...you grit your teeth as the edge of one of the blasts of wind clips you, sending you skidding backwards. No, if she traps you again she'll probably just suffocate you, and you don't know if you can dodge forever. You need to end this decisively. You need to do something about that fan. Then your foot makes contact with something, and your mouth splits into a feral grin. You have a plan. You send two more knives arcing towards her, but they're a mere afterthought. A distraction.
Your heel kicks down, sending the fuma shuriken spinning up into your grip. It's not nearly as big as many of its kind, but for what you need it for it will do. You twist your hand, the four blades beginning their rotation before you reel back and lob it towards your opponent. It's a clumsy throw, artless and inaccurate, plain for everyone to see. The sand bitch doesn't even bother to knock it aside, merely shifting her footing and letting it sail harmlessly past her. Your face sets into a cruel smirk, and your hands form a now intimately familiar position. The look on her face as you appear right in front of her in a cloud of smoke is one you will take with you to your grave, her eyes nearly bulging out of her head as the knife in your hands stabs downward, intent on burying itself in her collarbone. The wind whips around you, but you push through, intent on ending this fight once and for all.
Frantically she moves the heavy steel casing on her fan in front of her to block your knife, and the two weapons collide in a shower of sparks, locking together as the sound of metal grinding against metal fills the air around you. "Gotcha" you spit out through gritted teeth. Your heart hammers in your chest, this is it. You throw your entire body weight down on your knife, twisting yourself into her guard. You feel her shoulder catch, and she screams in pain as the fan is forced from her grasp in a shower of sparks. Your knife goes with it, both of them clattering to the ground a few feet away, just out of reach. Something catches in the back of your mind and you frantically spin to the side, dancing out of the way of a vicious pressure wave that scythes through the air where you just were.
Your feet grind into the concrete floor as you finish your rotation. You have no weapons left on, but that's fine, this ends now. Your hand curls into a fist as you whip around, no time for form or finesse, just raw power. You see a fleeting moment of absolute terror on the blonde girl's face before your fist connects with the side of her jaw. You feel something give way before you hand, and a visceral snap rings out as the girl is sent tumbling backwards, blood pouring from her mouth. She crumples to the ground, landing on top of her fan. She shifts a handful of time, breath gurgling through the blood in her mouth before her head lolls to the side. You merely stand there sucking in air while you wait to see if she's truly down for the count. Eventually, the referee wanders over and looks her up and down before shrugging his shoulder.
"Winner: Tenten" he drawls out, and a tidal wave of relief washes over you. You did it, you won. You won. You hear cheering from the viewing platforms and you look up to see the other Konoha genin waving to you...well you see most of them...some of them...okay two or three are actually waving, but in your mind they're all cheering for you. Unfortunately you don't see Guy- among them, but you try to push down the stab of disappointment. Last time you saw him he was rushing Lee to emergency surgery, and that was all of a half an hour ago. But the thought of Lee snaps you back to your opponent. She's still lying there on the ground, and as you glance at her she let's out a wet cough, sending a spray of blood out of her mouth.
[ ] Go over an make sure she's okay - She may be a complete bitch, and the sister of that monster that tried to murder Lee, but you're better than her. And you want her to know you're better than her.
[ ] Ignore her - She'll be fine, the proctors will take care of her.
[ ] Kick her while she's down - You beat her, you want her to know it, and you want her to remember it. [Requires Failed Compassion Check]
[ ] Stunt?
A/N: Well, that took longer than expected. Also man, poor Temari. The dice absolutely hated her. Anyway, still working on the Chakra system, hope to have that out by tomorrow, so I haven't updated the Character sheet with that yet.
So yeah, you won, and now everyone just saw you start glowing and all your injuries heal themselves in a burst of golden light. Then you methodically took apart someone who was beating the shit out of you five seconds beforehand. I'm sure this will engender no suspicion whatsoever.
Guide to Using and Abusing Chakra
- Location
- Massholistan
Crilltic's Quick Guide to Rating Enemy Shinobi (AKA the "How Fucked Am I?" Index)*:
*AKA Guide to Chakra and Jutsu in this Quest
Chakra is the mystical life-essence that runs through every living thing. (This is not to be confused with the actual Essence, which is currently only running through one very specific living thing). Mostly, it is used to murder lots and lots of people by villages of magical mercenary wizards (and also one group of magical samurai but we don't talk about them). It is Chakra that lets them casually murder dozens of non-magical soldiers (well, and also their stupid powerful martial arts that don't require any chakra at all, but that's another topic) and bend the laws of reality to their whim. THis guide aims to help you correctly identify just how strong one of the these Shinobi, and hopefully provide accurate advice in dealing with your newfound problem.
First off, there are several tiers of how skilled a user is in controlling and utilizing their Chakra. This is important because it influences how much of the stuff they can bring to bear against you, and also how confidently they can go tell the laws of physics and good sense to go sit in the corner and have a nice little cry. This is all helpfully summarized in one ten-point chart, split into two halves:
Chakra Rating:
The Normal Chart:
0 - You cannot manipulate Chakra. Good luck. Try not to die. Die anyway.
1 - You are a student, or someone who doesn't know what they're doing. You struggle with E-Rank Jutsu.
2 - Your typical Genin. You've mastered E-Rank Justu and can do some D-Rank Jutsu (this is where Tenten currently is)
3 - Your typical Chūnin, or particularly skilled Genin. Can do some C-rank Justu.
4 - The lower bound of Jōnin, also particularly skilled Chūnin and child prodigies. Can do B-Rank Jutsu.
5 - Your typical Jōnin, most medical-nins are here as well even if they don't usually fight. Typically have some A-rank Jutsu in their bag of tricks, maybe even an S-Rank Jutsu.
The "You're so fucked" Chart:
6-10 - Above 5 is where you start getting to the heavy hitters. Your famous Jōnin, your Sannin, your Kages, your S-Rank Missing-nin. They have S-rank Jutsu in their arsenal, all which will probably do very unpleasant things to you if they hit you, and their other skills are such that unless you are also on this list they will hit you.
If you're fighting someone who is 7 or up, basically your recourse is to bend over and kiss your ass goodbye. Because you're about to be dead very soon (or depending on the Shinobi in question just wish you had died quickly).
Chakra Pool:
Now, that all skill is useless if you don't actually have any Chakra to use. Which is where your Chakra pool comes in. Four things play a role in how large your personal Chakra pool is. Your physical stamina, your mental toughness (Willpower), Genetics and your Chakra Skill. In short, your Chakra pool is equal to:
Chakra Pool = Chakra Rating*(2*Stamina + Permanent Willpower + Genetic Heritage^) x10
^ Generally a poor genetic background is ~2, average is ~7, highest is typically ~12. Tenten has a genetic marker of 6, so slightly below average.
Completely exhausting your pool of Chakra is generally considered a bad idea and can lead to the following symptoms: Fatigue, Numbness of Limbs, Headaches, Dizziness, Fainting Spells, Coma, and Death. Likewise, as physical and mental resilience are important determinants of a person's chakra potential, if a person is physically or mentally exhausted or incapacitated they can find it difficult to impossible to utilize the chakra in their bodies.
Note: Because Tenten is an Exalted, and therefore bullshit, she can avoid chakra exhaustion by using her essence pool to recharge her chakra reserves at the rate of one mote for 10 Chakra. It is a desperation move, because it is horribly inefficient, but you know, better then falling unconscious.
Elemental Affinity:
There is also the Elemental Affinity. Some jutsu are divided by their elemental nature. Every person has an affinity for one of the Five Elements. (Fire, Water, Wind, Earth and Lightning). A person has an easier time learning and using Elemental Jutsu within their affinity (Justu cost 20% less XP to learn and use 20% less Chakra when casting). Tenten does not know her Elemental Affinity.
Justu:
There are four main types of Justu covered here.
Ninjutsu: Primarily defined by "It's not any of the other Jutsu". Ninjutsu uses Hand Seals to manipulate Chakra in order to accomplish all sorts of things. Either way, Ninjutsu is one of the two Jutsu types to use the Chakra skill (the other being Genjutsu). Ninjutsu is split up into six Ranks (E through S). Currently Tenten is capable of learning E and D rank Ninjutsu (provided she can find some to teach her)
Genjutsu: The art of using Chakra to manipulate an opponents mind. The other Jutsu to use the Chakra Skill. Much like Ninjutsu it is split into six ranks. Tenten can learn E and D rank Genjutsu (though E rank Genjutsu don't exist). However, she currently does not know any. Additionally, the Chakra skill serves in this instance as a defense against Genjutsu.
Taijutsu: Unlike Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, Taijutsu is all about the physical body. It does not use Chakra extensively (though some fighting styles do use Chakra to augment the physical body). Instead, Taijutsu takes the place of the Martial Arts skill. Because Fighting Styles are busted, besides, it's not exactly like there's anyone to teach you them.
Fūinjutsu: The art of sealing. Seals work differently than the other Justu, in that they are custom techniques. You can either follow preset recipes with various component parts to do various things, or build your own techniques from the various seals Tenten knows. Tenten's specialty is seals, which is why she's able to do this. I'm still working on finalizing the Fūinjutsu mechanics, so please be patient with that. Fūinjutsu replaces the Linguistics skill. (Yes, I know that will require modifying many of the charms there, and yes, I'm working on it).
Finally, any questions?
Bonus Rules Edit: This is something I forgot to add earlier, and I doubt it will be particularly relevant but.:
OMAKES:
I do give rewards for Omakes, and other player created content. Provided I feel it is of suitable quality to merit a reward. If it is, I will treat it the same as the benefits of a 3d stunt (AKA +3d, 1 twp or 6 motes and +1XP), where the author or artist can apply whenever they wish. Only one omake bonus can be applied at any one time.
Double Edit: I should also state this is subject to revision as well, if I find any glaring holes in it as the Quest progresses.
*AKA Guide to Chakra and Jutsu in this Quest
Chakra is the mystical life-essence that runs through every living thing. (This is not to be confused with the actual Essence, which is currently only running through one very specific living thing). Mostly, it is used to murder lots and lots of people by villages of magical mercenary wizards (and also one group of magical samurai but we don't talk about them). It is Chakra that lets them casually murder dozens of non-magical soldiers (well, and also their stupid powerful martial arts that don't require any chakra at all, but that's another topic) and bend the laws of reality to their whim. THis guide aims to help you correctly identify just how strong one of the these Shinobi, and hopefully provide accurate advice in dealing with your newfound problem.
First off, there are several tiers of how skilled a user is in controlling and utilizing their Chakra. This is important because it influences how much of the stuff they can bring to bear against you, and also how confidently they can go tell the laws of physics and good sense to go sit in the corner and have a nice little cry. This is all helpfully summarized in one ten-point chart, split into two halves:
Chakra Rating:
The Normal Chart:
0 - You cannot manipulate Chakra. Good luck. Try not to die. Die anyway.
1 - You are a student, or someone who doesn't know what they're doing. You struggle with E-Rank Jutsu.
2 - Your typical Genin. You've mastered E-Rank Justu and can do some D-Rank Jutsu (this is where Tenten currently is)
3 - Your typical Chūnin, or particularly skilled Genin. Can do some C-rank Justu.
4 - The lower bound of Jōnin, also particularly skilled Chūnin and child prodigies. Can do B-Rank Jutsu.
5 - Your typical Jōnin, most medical-nins are here as well even if they don't usually fight. Typically have some A-rank Jutsu in their bag of tricks, maybe even an S-Rank Jutsu.
The "You're so fucked" Chart:
6-10 - Above 5 is where you start getting to the heavy hitters. Your famous Jōnin, your Sannin, your Kages, your S-Rank Missing-nin. They have S-rank Jutsu in their arsenal, all which will probably do very unpleasant things to you if they hit you, and their other skills are such that unless you are also on this list they will hit you.
If you're fighting someone who is 7 or up, basically your recourse is to bend over and kiss your ass goodbye. Because you're about to be dead very soon (or depending on the Shinobi in question just wish you had died quickly).
Chakra Pool:
Now, that all skill is useless if you don't actually have any Chakra to use. Which is where your Chakra pool comes in. Four things play a role in how large your personal Chakra pool is. Your physical stamina, your mental toughness (Willpower), Genetics and your Chakra Skill. In short, your Chakra pool is equal to:
Chakra Pool = Chakra Rating*(2*Stamina + Permanent Willpower + Genetic Heritage^) x10
^ Generally a poor genetic background is ~2, average is ~7, highest is typically ~12. Tenten has a genetic marker of 6, so slightly below average.
Completely exhausting your pool of Chakra is generally considered a bad idea and can lead to the following symptoms: Fatigue, Numbness of Limbs, Headaches, Dizziness, Fainting Spells, Coma, and Death. Likewise, as physical and mental resilience are important determinants of a person's chakra potential, if a person is physically or mentally exhausted or incapacitated they can find it difficult to impossible to utilize the chakra in their bodies.
Note: Because Tenten is an Exalted, and therefore bullshit, she can avoid chakra exhaustion by using her essence pool to recharge her chakra reserves at the rate of one mote for 10 Chakra. It is a desperation move, because it is horribly inefficient, but you know, better then falling unconscious.
Elemental Affinity:
There is also the Elemental Affinity. Some jutsu are divided by their elemental nature. Every person has an affinity for one of the Five Elements. (Fire, Water, Wind, Earth and Lightning). A person has an easier time learning and using Elemental Jutsu within their affinity (Justu cost 20% less XP to learn and use 20% less Chakra when casting). Tenten does not know her Elemental Affinity.
Justu:
There are four main types of Justu covered here.
Ninjutsu: Primarily defined by "It's not any of the other Jutsu". Ninjutsu uses Hand Seals to manipulate Chakra in order to accomplish all sorts of things. Either way, Ninjutsu is one of the two Jutsu types to use the Chakra skill (the other being Genjutsu). Ninjutsu is split up into six Ranks (E through S). Currently Tenten is capable of learning E and D rank Ninjutsu (provided she can find some to teach her)
Genjutsu: The art of using Chakra to manipulate an opponents mind. The other Jutsu to use the Chakra Skill. Much like Ninjutsu it is split into six ranks. Tenten can learn E and D rank Genjutsu (though E rank Genjutsu don't exist). However, she currently does not know any. Additionally, the Chakra skill serves in this instance as a defense against Genjutsu.
Taijutsu: Unlike Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, Taijutsu is all about the physical body. It does not use Chakra extensively (though some fighting styles do use Chakra to augment the physical body). Instead, Taijutsu takes the place of the Martial Arts skill. Because Fighting Styles are busted, besides, it's not exactly like there's anyone to teach you them.
Fūinjutsu: The art of sealing. Seals work differently than the other Justu, in that they are custom techniques. You can either follow preset recipes with various component parts to do various things, or build your own techniques from the various seals Tenten knows. Tenten's specialty is seals, which is why she's able to do this. I'm still working on finalizing the Fūinjutsu mechanics, so please be patient with that. Fūinjutsu replaces the Linguistics skill. (Yes, I know that will require modifying many of the charms there, and yes, I'm working on it).
Finally, any questions?
Bonus Rules Edit: This is something I forgot to add earlier, and I doubt it will be particularly relevant but.:
OMAKES:
I do give rewards for Omakes, and other player created content. Provided I feel it is of suitable quality to merit a reward. If it is, I will treat it the same as the benefits of a 3d stunt (AKA +3d, 1 twp or 6 motes and +1XP), where the author or artist can apply whenever they wish. Only one omake bonus can be applied at any one time.
Double Edit: I should also state this is subject to revision as well, if I find any glaring holes in it as the Quest progresses.
Last edited:
Prologue III
- Location
- Massholistan
You sigh, you can't just leave her there, no matter how much of a bitch she might be. You don't want her to die, especially now that the battle rush is dying down. You let out a deep breath and walk over to the blonde girl, what was her name again? Tem-something...Temalla...Temalli...Temari...Temari that was it. As you stand over her she let's out another wracking cough, sending a spray of blood out over her upper chest. Her face is contorted in pain, the cough not doing her any favors. Especially since you're pretty sure you broke her jaw...why did you come over here again? You nudge her leg and her clouded eyes swivel over to look at you, widening slightly when she sees who you are.
"Hey." Her face contorts into a scowl, "That was a good match." She opens her mouth to say something, but between the blood and the broken jaw what comes out is too garbled to understand. You hazard a guess it was something insulting though. Despite this, you're still set on your plan of being the better woman, so you extend her your hand. She just stares at it, disbelief clear on her face. You roll your eyes, is she really doing this? You swear, some people and their pride. "I don't bite you know, and I figure this will be less embarrassing than being carried out of here on a stretcher."
Hesitantly she lifts her arm up for you to grab, which you do. You feel her tense in your hand just before you yank her upwards. She's lighter than you would have expected, and you're able to get her up on her feet with only a hiss of pain on her part...or well at least until her feet almost collapse out from under her, forcing you to shoulder most of her weight. Eventually, she does manage to get her feet under her, even if she's still leaning on you as you walk her over to the waiting medical-nins.
"'Or...tem..." you hear her garble out "Toshal...'ullshi." And you suppress a smirk.
"You were really good as well," you grunt out, "We just don't know when to quit." But that only reminds you of Lee's match with her brother, and you feel something inside you harden as you hand her over to the medical-nins. Temari wobbles slightly when you let go of her, but manages to stay on her feet. "Pretty sure her jaw is broken, definitely hit her with two kunai, possible concussion" you rattle off to the medic on the right, who just nods as the two lead the blonde girl off. She spares you one last look, with an unreadable expression on her face.
Intimacy: Temari (1/2 Scenes complete)
You spare yourself a smile, that went better than you had expected. You doubt she'd of extended you the same courtesy if the positions were switched, but then that was basically why you did it. Plus if she had choked on her own blood or something, you probably would have felt terrible afterwards. But she didn't, and who knows maybe she'll be less of a bitch the next time you see her. You stifle a yawn, the first hints of lethargy starting to creep into your limbs now that the adrenaline from the fight is staring to fade away. That fight really took a lot out of you, you feel like you should probably go lie down somewhere. Hey is that the floor? It looks like it's getting clo-...
When your eyes flutter open the first thing you notice is the soft beams of late afternoon light stretching through a window to your right. The second thing you notice are those very particular type of scratchy, uncomfortable sheets that every shinobi in Konoha eventually has seared into their minds. Scratchy sheets that mean you can only be one place. You lever yourself up onto your elbows to look around the hospital room you're currently situated in and scowl. Last thing you remember was giving Temari over to the medical-nins and then...everything is kinda fuzzy.
"Oh good, you're awake." You glance over to see a nurse standing in the doorway, looking you up and down.
"What happened?" You groan, rubbing your head, "I remember finishing the fight, and helping my opponent but then..." you trail off.
The nurse shrugs, "All we were told is you had collapsed. It was strange really, by every measure you are in perfect health. Oh, and you've stopped glowing."
You quirk an eyebrow, "Glowing?"
She nods, "Yes, what appeared to be raw golden chakra forming a mark over your brow, shining through your headband. And more forming an aura around you, though that was already fading by the time you got here. Though, it wasn't like any chakra I've ever seen." She picks up a clipboard at the foot of your bed, "You caused quite the stir young lady."
"Oh." That's all you say, that's all you really can say.
It's the nurse's turn to quirk an eyebrow, "I take it from that you didn't know that was happening?"
You shake your head, "No I-..." You mentally run over your memories of the fight, for a time when you noticed you were glowing or...something. "No."
"Mmm." the nurse just makes a noncommittal noise as she marks something down on the clipboard, "Well, this will likely require for some further tests, but considering you're otherwise in perfect health, those can be scheduled for another time during the break period in the exams." With that, she replaces the clipboard on your bed and leaves you alone in the room once more.
You wrack your brain, going over everything you can remember of how it went. First you were getting your ass kicked, then Temari broke your spine and you almost passed out, then she threw you on top of a pile of knives, you glanced her with one of them, then she threw you into the wall. You almost gave up there, but you kept going, got up and then you beat her. Where...wait.
Wait.
She broke your fucking spine. Then you got up. What. How.
Spine's don't just heal themselves. You know enough medicine to know that. You also know enough about medical ninjutsu to know that something like that is theoretically possible with some medical jutsu. But you are painfully aware you can't do any medical ninjutsu, certainly not one that would let you fix a broken spine without a conscious thought.
The only thing you can conclude is that something happened to you in the middle of that fight there, when you got thrown into the wall. Unfortunately, that is the only thing you can conclude because at that moment the door to your room explodes inward. You almost jump out of your skin as you try to get into something resembling a fighting stance and shards of wood scatter around you. Your mind quickly runs down the who could possibly be bold enough to attack you in the hospit- "MY YOUTHFUL PUPIL! I CAME AS SOON AS I HEARD!"
oh
oh no
The bane of eardrums, doors, and fashion sense all throughout Konoha is currently standing where your door used to be, gleaming smile proudly displayed on his face and stuck in a pose you know to roughly mean I am overcome with pride for my students. You can already feel the exasperated smile creeping onto your face. "Hi Gai-sensei."
"Congratulations Tenten!" His booming voice softens to something approaching a normal tone, "I hear you won you preliminary match, just as I knew you would!" He gives you another beaming smile when you nod. "I even heard from my eternal rival it was quite a spectacle!"
You rub the back of your head, "I guess, though...something odd happened." When he cocks his head, and you continue, filling him in on the events of the the battle and what you think happened. "So...I'm pretty sure something happened when I slammed into the wall...but..." you trail off as your mentor strokes his chin.
"Well, Tenten. It sounds like to me that you finally managed to surpass your limits! To find the true spirit of youth locked with you!" He says with a flourish, and a smile. You feel something inside you crack.
"Um...okay" You decide to let it slide, "But what about the specifics. Have you heard of golden chakra before?"
Your mentor just scratches his chin, "Not as such no, but I know a fool-proof method for uncovering this mystery!"
"Vigorous training?" You sigh.
"Vigorous Training!" He says, completely unhindered. "It would of course be easier if I had been there to observe your match, which is also why I am here. I must apologize for missing your matc-"
You wave him off, "Don't worry about it Sensei, it was more important that you got Lee to the hospital as fast as possible." A moment of silence passes between you two, "How is he...Lee I mean." You see a shadow pass over your teacher's face.
"He..." Gai seems to hesitate for a split second, "...is strong. They were able to save the limbs, but they don't know if he will ever be able to walk again. But I believe that Lee will triumph over this!"
You laugh, trying to inject some levity into the moment, "Yeah, like Lee would ever let some injury keep him down like that. I'm sure he'll be back normal in no time at all!" Internally, you're not so sure, but you decide you've got to have confidence in your teammate.
Gai just gives you another smile, "Exactly what I said! Right now they have him on sedatives from the surgery, but when he wakes up I expect you to visit him!"
"I'll be sure to visit as much as I'm able." And you mean it.
"Oh, so you're here Gai. I suppose that explains the door." A low voice interrupts the both of you from the doorway. You twist to see who it is, and you feel your eyes widen as you see the short figure in his distinctive red and white robes.
"Sandaime Hokage!" You and Gai both bow to the most powerful shinobi in your village...who is currently standing in the ruins of where your door once was with a bemused expression on his face.
"None of that now." He says with a wave of his hand, "Gai, I wish to speak with your student here in private."
Gai bows again, "Yes, of course Hokage! I was just leaving actually." He turns back to you, "Tenten! I expect you on the training field bright an early tomorrow! Now that you are in the Exam finals, it is time for the real training to begin!" As he leaves you with on final smile and thumbs up, you feel the blood drain from your face.
With that, you are left alone with a chuckling Hokage, who takes this moment to pull out a pipe, casually lighting it as you glance at the prominent "No Smoking" sign directly behind him. The two of you sit there in silence as he puffs on his pipe for a moment that seems to stretch out forever before you finally muster the courage to speak. "S-so...honored Hokage." You try and fail to keep a waver out of your voice, but as it turns out being alone in a room with the proclaimed "God of Shinobi" is...intimidating. Very intimidating.
"Hmph...'Honored Hokage'...well I suppose it's better than Gramps." He harrumphs.
"Ah...w-what?"
He waves your question away, "Oh nothing, just thinking of one of your peers." He puffs on his pipe, "Your preliminary match was quite the spectacle, wasn't it?"
"Ah...um...y-yeah. I guess?" You try to fight down the blush you know is spreading across your face at the praise. "You...you watched it?"
He gives a snort, "Of course! I always watch the fights, it is always so interesting seeing how the our next generation is developing in their skills." Oh...that makes sense, "But your match, well...it peaked an old man's curiosity. So I decided to come down and see the one responsible myself. Unofficially of course." He fixes you in a conspiratorial wink.
"Right...of course." You take a deep breath, "Hokage sir, do you have any idea what happened? What that all was?"
The old man gives you a paternal smile, "Yes, actually. I know exactly what that was." He scratches his wizened beard and you feel hope blossom your chest, "It was something you need to find out for yourself."
"What."
But the Hokage just chortles "You've obviously been given a gift, but discovering what it is on your own will teach you far more about it than me just telling you the answer."
You feel your mouth open to say something, then close it, then open it again, "That sounds like-"
"Like the advice a wise old man would give to a young student, still learning the ways of life?" The Hokage finishes.
...
"Yes"
"Well, I was trying to be as vague as possible, but I guess such things just come naturally to old men like me." You briefly feel a vein throb somewhere in your forehead. "But!" He holds up a finger, "Now I'm afraid I must take my leave. It was good to meet you Tenten, I will be watching how you grow with great interest." You gulp.
"Thank you, Hokage sir. I will not disappoint you."
The Hokage gives you a smile, one you think you detect a hint of melancholy, "As long as you follow what your Jounin-sensei taught you, and remember the Will of Fire, I'm sure there will be no chance of that happening." And with that you are left alone in your hospital room. The hospital room with a completely destroyed door. Yes, you think it is time for you to leave.
You stretch, then carefully untangle yourself from the mess of blankets and step onto the tile floors. A look outside confirms you've got a fair bit of daylight left, so what do you do with it?
[ ] Go visit Lee. He's probably asleep, but you want to see him regardless.
[ ] Hey, maybe Temari is here. You could annoy her again if you wanted to.
[ ] Find someone else? If so, who? (write-in)
[ ] No, you're just going to head home. Even after passing out, you still feel exhausted, and you need time to process...everything (this will end the prologue)
Well, that took forever to write. So much dialogue. Anyway, next update is the end of the prologue, and then we get to do a chargen vote. Which I'm sure will be entirely amicable all around and involve no arguing whatsoever.
Also I'm officially on Winter Break now. Which means one thing. Daily Updates. Probably. Hopefully.
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Prologue ~ Final
- Location
- Massholistan
You resolve to go check on Lee, even if he's probably unconscious at this point. Your decision is also hastened by the shout of "what happened to this door?!" from somewhere behind you. However, it is not long before you slow down and realize you don't actually know where Lee is in the hospital, which causes you to stop. You suppose you could try and find where he is on your own, or- You turn to a passing nurse, "Um, excuse me? Where is Rock Lee's room? I'm his teammate."
She just gives a noncommittal grunt and points you down one of the hallways leading towards the surgery ward. Well, that went both better and worse than you had anticipated. Look's like it's time for your favorite plan B. Investigation! Though now at least you're not just wandering aimlessly. You pass by room after empty room, the draw down in missions due to the Chunin Exams leading to a corresponding drop in the Konoha hospital's intensive care requirements. Funny how that works out, but at least it means it's easier to find Lee's room. Though considering he ended up being at the end of this hallway, you kinda ended up taking "process of elimination" to its logical conclusion.
However, when you reach the door you find it slightly ajar, and you can hear the soft sounds of someone speaking inside. Cautiously you peak inside, Lee is obscured by the door frame but at the foot of the bed facing away from the door you see-
"Neji!" You see your teammate tense slightly as you say his name in surprise. Of all the people you expected to see here in Lee's room, Neji was definitely on the bottom of the list. You mean, you are teammates and all but..."What are you doing here?"
He shifts slightly, "Visiting my injured teammate, like I expect you are?" He states matter-of-factly.
"Oh." Your thought process slams to a halt at that, you expected Neji to visit a some point, despite the way he presented himself he wasn't a complete prick all the time but not until Lee at least...unless. "Is he awake?"
Neji just shakes his head, "No, he is still out cold."
You wince, but then something occurs to you, "Wait, then what was the talking I heard outside." You think you see a flash of embarrassment flash across your teammates face, but it quickly disappears into his normal blank expression.
"It was nothing Tenten, now I am going to take my leave. I must begin my training for the Finals. I suggest you do the same." He goes to leave, but you stop him before he can get out of the room.
"How does it look?" You ask in a soft voice.
"I am not a medica-" He tries to protest, but you cut him off.
"Neji, how does it look?"
He hesitates for a second, "It...is not good." He finally relents with a sigh, and after a second of silence you feel your heart sink, and you wordlessly let Neji out of the way as you stare at Lee in his bed. You hear him move to leave, but then he stops, "Tenten."
You blink, and glance at him out of the corner of your eye. "Yeah?"
"After you collapsed, they announced the bracket for the Finals. You have a bye the first round, then are facing the winner of either Shikamaru Nara and Dosu Kinuta"
You blink again, "Oh...um, thanks Neji." You swallow, "Who are you against then?"
"Naruto Uzumaki."
You wrack your brain, wait...orange tracksuit, loud. You think he was one of the few people who was cheering for you. Well then. "Try not to beat him too badly I guess."
"Goodbye Tenten."
"Later Neji." And with those receding footsteps you are left alone with the unconscious form of your other teammate. Wordlessly you slump down into the one of the chairs off to the side of the room, staring at Lee. It's surreal, from the outside here, the only indication the vibrant friend you've known for years now may be crippled for life is a slight increase in the number bandages currently adorning his form.
"So..." You start with a sigh, "I guess if Neji got to say stuff to you with looking like an idiot, I can say my piece." As you expected, there is no answer besides the steady rise and fall of Lee's chest. "Let me just start by saying you're a complete idiot Lee. You're probably one of the most annoying, exasperating and frustrating person I've ever met." You swallow, but your throat is suddenly very, very dry. "But you're still probably my best friend in this village."
You stop, and try to gather your thoughts. "I won...just so you know. Socked that monster who did this's condescending sister right in the face. Did that one for you. Figured you'd do the same thing for me if the reverse happened." You take a deep breath, "I don't think I could have done it without you though, seeing your fight it...I don't know. You were great Lee, don't let anyone tell you different, but seeing you scream like that..."
"You just wouldn't stop pushing. You never stopped pushing on anything. I..." You think back to your fight with Temari, "I didn't get that for a long time. I didn't understand why you kept trying to beat Neji when you clearly couldn't. I thought you were an idiot. And Gai was just enabling you. Or insane" You let out a chuckle as you remember the feeling you had as you slammed into the stadium wall, or when you felt your spine snap. "Well, I guess I ended up being just as bad as you and Gai in the end."
"But you're something else Lee. You never give up, and you showed me how to do that too." You rise out of the chair you're in to look over the sleeping form of your teammate, "Which is how I know you're going to beat this. No matter what Neji, or the Medical-nins say. The Lee I know wouldn't let some physical injury keep him down. And me and Gai will be with you every step of the way, and we'll even drag Neji along with us. You know how he can get."
The only response you have is the soft sound of Lee breathing, but in your head you like to think he's sleeping a little softer now. The rays of the setting sun begin to stretch out through window in front of you, creeping along the bed before finally settling on you. They feel nice, but they also signify your visit here has to come to an end. Gently you lay a hand on Lee's shoulder, "I'll come visit again when you're awake. I promise." Then, with that note of finality you turn on your heels and close the door to his room behind you. Your shoes clicking on the tiled floor of the hospital.
As you leave you can feel something settle inside you, a burden that you didn't know was there finally lifting, and you can feel yourself turn toward the future. You don't know what happened to you today, but when you leave the hospital you take a deep breath as the last lights of the sun fall on your face. You exhale as the sun slips below the horizon, and the next step you take as you begin the walk home feels like the most important one in your life. Like a new chapter in your life has opened, leaving the old one behind.
At that moment you decide you're not going to let it go to waste.
End Prologue
And thus began the tale of the Princess of Blades.
Both of the votes for the end of the prologue are out of character, so they'll be discussed here. First, you have bonus points to assign before the beginning of the story proper. You have 15 bonus points to assign (10 + 5 XP for completing the Prologue I am treating as bonus points for this purpose). Point Costs are as follows:
Please make sure plans are formatted correctly for me to use a vote tally program.
[ ] Bonus Point Plan.
If people would like me to make a list of what is available for purchase I can do so tomorrow morning.
Next up, there is going to be one interlude from the perspective of one of the spectators for your fight with Temari. I'm allowing you to choose who that is. (With some exceptions, for example Sarutobi, Gaara and Temari's Jounin-sensei are not applicable choices).
This interlude will not be extensive, but it will give you some insight into what that specific character is thinking when Tenten's exaltation goes down.
So:
[ ] Interlude Choice.
Both of the votes for the end of the prologue are out of character, so they'll be discussed here. First, you have bonus points to assign before the beginning of the story proper. You have 15 bonus points to assign (10 + 5 XP for completing the Prologue I am treating as bonus points for this purpose). Point Costs are as follows:
Please make sure plans are formatted correctly for me to use a vote tally program.
[ ] Bonus Point Plan.
If people would like me to make a list of what is available for purchase I can do so tomorrow morning.
Next up, there is going to be one interlude from the perspective of one of the spectators for your fight with Temari. I'm allowing you to choose who that is. (With some exceptions, for example Sarutobi, Gaara and Temari's Jounin-sensei are not applicable choices).
This interlude will not be extensive, but it will give you some insight into what that specific character is thinking when Tenten's exaltation goes down.
So:
[ ] Interlude Choice.
Interlude 1 - Kakashi
- Location
- Massholistan
Kakashi was bored. Not an all-together unheard of occurrence, though considering right now he was cut off from his normal recourse for boredom it made it all the tougher. A shame really, he'd just picked up a new one a few days ago, and he was in the middle of a good part right now. But he had promised Sasuke he would give him information on the winners of the preliminaries, and more importantly Gai had entrusted him to spectate the last of his students while he rushed Rock Lee to the hospital. He'd of accepted regardless, but he couldn't remember a time he'd seen Gai this distraught over something. Not that he could really blame him, with the condition the Sand Jinchūriki left his student in. He'd hoped to at least give him some good news regarding the last member of his team.
A shame she proved not to be up to the task. One of Asuma's genin said the fight was over before it began, and he couldn't bring himself to disagree. She was by all indications a skilled weapons user...but against a good wind user she'd need to be a lot more than just a skilled weapons user. And as Gai's student slammed down on the Sand genin's fan, her back bending visibly on impact he winced slightly. Not at the injury of course, but at the thought he may have to tell Gai another one of his students ended up crippled. Then she was spent sprawling through the field of discarded weaponry and he mentally added "severe lacerations" to that assessment.
And yes, a quick glance confirmed what he had suspected, a broken spine. The way they stayed still despite the girl's attempts to rise was something of a dead giveaway. Still, he felt one of his eyebrows creep up as yet another of his best friend's pupils refused to give up...or pass out...despite grievous injuries. It looked like the girl was intent on fighting despite her injuries, he had to give her points for guts at least. Unfortunately guts don't matter much if it's impossible for you to hit your opponent. And then he glanced at her opponent, and he lifted his back off the wall, because the sand genin was practically radiating confidence. But to his eyes he saw something else entirely, she's too close. She thought she had the fight in the bag, after all her opponent couldn't hit her even with her trump card, and now she couldn't even stand. And to be fair to her, she was almost certainly right, the fight was over...unless.
Then he saw it, the girl's arms tensed, coiling underneath her for a split second before she flipped up. The two kunai she was keeping hidden underneath her body flashing out towards her opponent. Even from here he could see her opponent lean back in surprise. The sand genin was good, but she was too close, not enough time to block with a Jutsu. The second kunai missed, but the first carved a line across her cheek. Then her retaliatory wind-blast slammed Gai's student into the far wall, her injuries making it impossible for her to even attempt to dodge. And with that he leaned back against the wall.
He sighed, Well, at least I can tell Gai his student managed to land a hit on her opponent. And that she never gave up. but after a hit like that...it may not matter if she wants to give up or not. After a certain point, your body decides that for you. He could hear the genin around him begin excitedly chatting as the dust cloud from the girl's impact, but he just kept his sight trained where the girl should be, waiting for the dust to clear.
NO.
His stiffened as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand-up, and he saw some of the genin stiffen as well. They felt it too, he realized. He didn't know what it was, but something just shifted. He felt his left eye narrow as the dust began to shift and whirl, reverberating with the sounds of shifting masonry. Light tore at the edges of the dust, pushing it out of the way as she emerged. Resplendent as hundreds of golden blades and scrolls shifted around her, burning in their intensity like a second star, Gai's student strode out of the dust cloud. With a cruel smirk on her face and a kunai idly playing through her fingers. He felt something twist inside him as, an urge to shrink back in the face of her radia-ah, he blinked, so that's it then? a fear genjutsu. Interesting.
Down in the arena her opponent looked frozen there, an ashen expression on her face as she tried to steady her shock and gather her courage. Idly, Kakashi pushed up his headband, revealing his sharingan to the air, and if anything his eyes widened further. Chakra was pouring from her body, suffusing the air around her in that display. He could see how it formed the structures floating around, but he couldn't copy it. Hm, a new bloodline limit? But he dismissed that as well, it was something else, it all felt off. Not just the strucutre of the Jutsu, whatever it was, but the chakra itself. It felt too...refined, too perfect. He could see more chakra, still flowing through her that felt normal, but the contrast was disconcerting.
"K-Kakashi-Sensei?" He was interrupted by Sakura glancing back at him, "W-what's she doing?"
He gave an slight shrug, "It's chakra, a lot of it. That aura. It's a fear genjutsu, makes it hard to look at her."
"Oh." He turned back from his student. And as for Naruto...
"Hell yeah, Bun-girl! Kick her ass! You can do it!"
He was being himself.
Kakashi turned back to the fight just as Gai's student sent two kunai flying at her opponent, both moving so fast they left an after image. Wisps of that strange chakra still clung to them as they sliced through the air, carving a faint trail in their wake. One of them was swatted away by a gust of wind, her opponent finally beginning to overcome the genjutsu, but she was too slow and the other hit her square in the shoulder. But he wasn't focusing on that, his attention were on the hand signs the girls hands were currently flying through. Drawing the normal chakra still inside out, where it mixed with the flowing gold that surrounded and she moved.
A weapon clattered to the ground as it bore the hit meant for her, as she appeared in a puff of smoke behind her opponent, body wreathed in golden light as she flung two more knives at the sand genin, before substituting herself again, and again and again.
But despite her newfound prowess, she still couldn't reliably hit her opponent, and it really was a testament to her opponents skill that she was still keeping up.
Still, Kakashi certainly wasn't bored now.
Then Gai's student stopped, skidding to a halt by a large fuma shuriken lying on the ground. With a single movement it was in her hand, and with another it was flying towards her opponent. Too high and to the right his brain helpfully supplied, just as his breath hitched in his throat. He saw the thrower take one step as their hands blurred, their opponent leaning slightly to dodge the blade...just like they always did. A cloud of smoke, and an unruly mop of blonde hair flashes in his vision.
Flying Thunder God Second Step
He hears cheers as the girl's kunai collides with her opponent's fan in a cloud of sparks, then she twists her body, disarming herself and her opponent. Her body flows, narrowly spinning out of the way the high pressure wave that would have pulped her if had hit. And then her fist connects with the sand genin's face, and then it's all over. The blonde girl slumps backwards, falling onto her discarded fan. But all he can do is stare at the winner of the match. Well, that certainly got a lot more exciting, he says sardonically, for a genin to use the substitution jutsu like that. It shouldn't be possible, especially with how she performed the first half of the match.
Idly, he notes the girl helping her opponent walk to the sidelines and the waiting medics as he pulls down his headband. Then less idly, he notes her collapsing just after she handed off the sand girl. Then he sighed as he noted the medical-nin looking awkwardly between her and the sole stretcher they had remaining. A quick statement to Naruto and Sakura, and then an even quicker Shunshin and he was standing besides the medical-nins. "I can carry her, her jounin-sensei left her in my care for her match."
The two medics glance at each other, and then shrug. He picks up the young girl, eyes immediately going to the blazing image of her a sun currently burning over her headband. Yes, it looks like certainly got more exciting. Then he stopped for a second, mind crashing to a halt as he remembered something.
Wait, how the hell am I going to explain this to Gai?
Oh yes, and [X] Plan: Fast but Less Pretty Tenten won
A shame she proved not to be up to the task. One of Asuma's genin said the fight was over before it began, and he couldn't bring himself to disagree. She was by all indications a skilled weapons user...but against a good wind user she'd need to be a lot more than just a skilled weapons user. And as Gai's student slammed down on the Sand genin's fan, her back bending visibly on impact he winced slightly. Not at the injury of course, but at the thought he may have to tell Gai another one of his students ended up crippled. Then she was spent sprawling through the field of discarded weaponry and he mentally added "severe lacerations" to that assessment.
And yes, a quick glance confirmed what he had suspected, a broken spine. The way they stayed still despite the girl's attempts to rise was something of a dead giveaway. Still, he felt one of his eyebrows creep up as yet another of his best friend's pupils refused to give up...or pass out...despite grievous injuries. It looked like the girl was intent on fighting despite her injuries, he had to give her points for guts at least. Unfortunately guts don't matter much if it's impossible for you to hit your opponent. And then he glanced at her opponent, and he lifted his back off the wall, because the sand genin was practically radiating confidence. But to his eyes he saw something else entirely, she's too close. She thought she had the fight in the bag, after all her opponent couldn't hit her even with her trump card, and now she couldn't even stand. And to be fair to her, she was almost certainly right, the fight was over...unless.
Then he saw it, the girl's arms tensed, coiling underneath her for a split second before she flipped up. The two kunai she was keeping hidden underneath her body flashing out towards her opponent. Even from here he could see her opponent lean back in surprise. The sand genin was good, but she was too close, not enough time to block with a Jutsu. The second kunai missed, but the first carved a line across her cheek. Then her retaliatory wind-blast slammed Gai's student into the far wall, her injuries making it impossible for her to even attempt to dodge. And with that he leaned back against the wall.
He sighed, Well, at least I can tell Gai his student managed to land a hit on her opponent. And that she never gave up. but after a hit like that...it may not matter if she wants to give up or not. After a certain point, your body decides that for you. He could hear the genin around him begin excitedly chatting as the dust cloud from the girl's impact, but he just kept his sight trained where the girl should be, waiting for the dust to clear.
NO.
His stiffened as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand-up, and he saw some of the genin stiffen as well. They felt it too, he realized. He didn't know what it was, but something just shifted. He felt his left eye narrow as the dust began to shift and whirl, reverberating with the sounds of shifting masonry. Light tore at the edges of the dust, pushing it out of the way as she emerged. Resplendent as hundreds of golden blades and scrolls shifted around her, burning in their intensity like a second star, Gai's student strode out of the dust cloud. With a cruel smirk on her face and a kunai idly playing through her fingers. He felt something twist inside him as, an urge to shrink back in the face of her radia-ah, he blinked, so that's it then? a fear genjutsu. Interesting.
Down in the arena her opponent looked frozen there, an ashen expression on her face as she tried to steady her shock and gather her courage. Idly, Kakashi pushed up his headband, revealing his sharingan to the air, and if anything his eyes widened further. Chakra was pouring from her body, suffusing the air around her in that display. He could see how it formed the structures floating around, but he couldn't copy it. Hm, a new bloodline limit? But he dismissed that as well, it was something else, it all felt off. Not just the strucutre of the Jutsu, whatever it was, but the chakra itself. It felt too...refined, too perfect. He could see more chakra, still flowing through her that felt normal, but the contrast was disconcerting.
"K-Kakashi-Sensei?" He was interrupted by Sakura glancing back at him, "W-what's she doing?"
He gave an slight shrug, "It's chakra, a lot of it. That aura. It's a fear genjutsu, makes it hard to look at her."
"Oh." He turned back from his student. And as for Naruto...
"Hell yeah, Bun-girl! Kick her ass! You can do it!"
He was being himself.
Kakashi turned back to the fight just as Gai's student sent two kunai flying at her opponent, both moving so fast they left an after image. Wisps of that strange chakra still clung to them as they sliced through the air, carving a faint trail in their wake. One of them was swatted away by a gust of wind, her opponent finally beginning to overcome the genjutsu, but she was too slow and the other hit her square in the shoulder. But he wasn't focusing on that, his attention were on the hand signs the girls hands were currently flying through. Drawing the normal chakra still inside out, where it mixed with the flowing gold that surrounded and she moved.
A weapon clattered to the ground as it bore the hit meant for her, as she appeared in a puff of smoke behind her opponent, body wreathed in golden light as she flung two more knives at the sand genin, before substituting herself again, and again and again.
But despite her newfound prowess, she still couldn't reliably hit her opponent, and it really was a testament to her opponents skill that she was still keeping up.
Still, Kakashi certainly wasn't bored now.
Then Gai's student stopped, skidding to a halt by a large fuma shuriken lying on the ground. With a single movement it was in her hand, and with another it was flying towards her opponent. Too high and to the right his brain helpfully supplied, just as his breath hitched in his throat. He saw the thrower take one step as their hands blurred, their opponent leaning slightly to dodge the blade...just like they always did. A cloud of smoke, and an unruly mop of blonde hair flashes in his vision.
Flying Thunder God Second Step
He hears cheers as the girl's kunai collides with her opponent's fan in a cloud of sparks, then she twists her body, disarming herself and her opponent. Her body flows, narrowly spinning out of the way the high pressure wave that would have pulped her if had hit. And then her fist connects with the sand genin's face, and then it's all over. The blonde girl slumps backwards, falling onto her discarded fan. But all he can do is stare at the winner of the match. Well, that certainly got a lot more exciting, he says sardonically, for a genin to use the substitution jutsu like that. It shouldn't be possible, especially with how she performed the first half of the match.
Idly, he notes the girl helping her opponent walk to the sidelines and the waiting medics as he pulls down his headband. Then less idly, he notes her collapsing just after she handed off the sand girl. Then he sighed as he noted the medical-nin looking awkwardly between her and the sole stretcher they had remaining. A quick statement to Naruto and Sakura, and then an even quicker Shunshin and he was standing besides the medical-nins. "I can carry her, her jounin-sensei left her in my care for her match."
The two medics glance at each other, and then shrug. He picks up the young girl, eyes immediately going to the blazing image of her a sun currently burning over her headband. Yes, it looks like certainly got more exciting. Then he stopped for a second, mind crashing to a halt as he remembered something.
Wait, how the hell am I going to explain this to Gai?
Oh yes, and [X] Plan: Fast but Less Pretty Tenten won
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Preparing for Finals - Beginning of Week One
- Location
- Massholistan
When you woke up the first thing you heard was the sound of birds chirping. You quirk an eye open only to immediately close it as you run into the bright early morning light playing across your face. With a yawn you raise your hands to wipe the away the sleep from your eyes, blinking repeatedly as you stretch. Your back gives a resounding crack as you work out the tension from sleeping and...yesterday. Your eyes widen slightly as the memories of yesterday catch up with you, reminding you just what happened. At first you want to dismiss it as all a dream, but you can still feel...whatever it is there, hanging on the edge of you consciousness. Like your chakra but different. Then you sniff, and you can feel your mouth start to water as you realize the married couple down the hall are making sausages for breakfast, Old Man Tsugi is cooking stir fry as usual and...wait a minute.
You blink, how do you know that? You glance around your apartment and it looks sharper than you remember. Not much, but now you can see everything clearly, whereas before it would be difficult to make out some of the more detailed seal structures on the scrolls adorning your walls. Eventually you shrug your shoulders and roll out of your disaster area of a bed. The one area of your apartment you never bother to clean, because given your schedule you'll inevitably end up collapsing into and ruining it again. Maybe your newfound awareness is related to what happened yesterday? You don't know for sure, but something feels right about that. You stretch again, and as you relish the feeling of your joints popping you realize that you feel a bit more limber as well. But you put those thoughts from your mind for now, Gai-sensei said he wanted to meet you bright and early for training, and you remember what happened the last time you were running late for a training session.
You enter the small bathroom attached to your apartment and quickly begin the process of getting ready for the day, but not before giving yourself a look in the mirror. Your own pair of soft brown eyes look back at you, resting in the middle of an intimately familiar face. You sigh in relief, at least you still look the same. Because that...would have been difficult to explain. After that, the shower passes far too quickly, the warm water feeling positively divine against your skin. Then, a simple brushing later, and you finish tying your hair into its distinctive style. It's one you've worn for as long as you can remember, you think one of the attendants in the orphanage first did it. A quick, simple and practical style. You love it. Then you throw on one of your blouses and a serviceable pair of pants, tuck in your scrolls, grab something to eat (Gai-sensei has been known to struggle with the "break" part of "lunch break") and you are off.
Even this early in the morning the streets of Konoha are already starting to fill with people. The Chunin Exams having attracted people from all over the Land of Fire to Konoha, in a hunt for potential contracts and contractors, them plus the delegations from the various Hidden Villages, and you had a recipe for a truly great bounty for the merchants of Konoha. When you get to the training ground however it is totally deserted. Briefly you wonder if you came to the wrong one, but you dismiss that, this is the one your team always uses, unless it's already been booked. And given how it's deserted you highly doubt that. But then where is Gai-sen-"DODGE MY YOUTHFUL PUPIL! DODGE!"
Instinct seizes hold of your body as you furiously dive to the side, rolling into a combat pose, and not a moment too soon. The spot where you were just standing vanishes in a cloud of dust as a very fast moving green object lands with a crack. You cough, waving the dust out of your face, "Wha-" you start. But then the dust clears, and you suppress an internal groan. For standing there, striking his Dynamic Entry pose, is your teacher.
"Excellent work Tenten!" he booms, shifting into his trademark Nice Guy pose. "Even this early in the morning you came prepared with enough youth to dodge my sneak attack!"
You open your mouth to speak, but then close it again. Of all the crazy things you've seen Gai-sensei do, opening training with a sneak attack to test your reflexes doesn't even make the list. Then you look around and notice something missing, or more specifically someone. "Gai-sensei? Where is Neji?"
Gai for his part looks somewhat awkward, voice fading to something approaching a normal volume. "Well, Neji has elected to pursue training separately from you. Especially since I believe he wishes to work with clan techniques to prepare."
You blink, on one hand that makes sense, you're competitors now, not teammates. Plus, it's just such a Neji thing to do you probably should have seen that coming. On the other hand, "He does remember now that we've made it to the finals winning isn't a requirement, it's displaying the qualities that would make for a Chunin, right?" Not that you have any intention of losing mind, but it is something to keep in mind.
Gai gives a boisterous laugh, "Exactly what I told him Tenten! But it seems your own example has lit a new spirit of youthful competitiveness in your teammate, and who am I to quench such a flame!" Then he straightens, "Put your teammate out of your mind for now, it is your time to train. So tell me, have you discovered anything since I spoke to you in the hospital?"
You shift on your feet, before listing all the things you've noticed since you woke "Well...ever since I woke up it's felt like my senses are on overdrive, way more than they were before. But they don't bother me, it just feels...normal. I think I got a bit more limber, a bit faster. And-" You pause, feeling around at the edges of your conscious for the not-chakra, and it eagerly rises up to meet you "I can still feel the chakra from before, but it feels different, and I don't know how to make it do anything."
Gai for his part just scratches his chin, "Yes, my eternal rival mentioned the golden chakra you were channeling, As well as the fear genjutsu you were using when it appeared."
You freeze, "Wait, fear genjutsu?!"
Your sensei nods, "Yes, evidently the chakra aura that surrounded you for the fight caused quite a few scares among those watching you." You think back to the way Temari was looking during the second half of the fight. At the time you hadn't been paying much attention, but now you do remember her looking rather pale and shaken throughout the fight.
"Oh. Well, if I did it wasn't on purpose. I don't remember casting one...or casting the aura for that matter." You give him a helpless shrug.
"Don't worry Tenten! I'm sure we'll be able to get to the bottom of this!" He gives you a thumbs up, "Now, can you manifest the aura?"
You take a step back and concentrate, trying to pull on the new chakra. It coils to your mental touch, seemingly readying for a command, but no matter what you do it stubbornly refuses to budge. After a few seconds you sigh and release your concentration, shaking your head. "No, I think-" you pause, what do you think? It feels like you should be able to use the new chakra easily, "I think I need to be doing something."
You see a wicked gleam form in your sensei's eyes as he extends a finger, "Then that is what we shall do! Tenten, it is time to unlock the power of youth deep within you!"
"Um."
He shifts into a battle stance, and you get a sinking feeling in your gut. "Come my youthful protege! We shall open training with a spar, let me see just what this new power of yours can do!" Yes, this is exactly what you were afraid of, but nevertheless you shift into a stance mirroring his, one of your scrolls clutched in your hand. You've spared with Gai-sensei before of course, even managing to best him a few time, but that was with him holding back. Given the fire currently blazing in his eyes, something tells you this is going to be an entirely different level.
"Your intensive training begins...NOW!!" Gai's arm blurs and you just barely manage to raise your arms in time to block his strike. Even then, it still sends you skidding back several feet, a cloud of dust forming around you heels.
You are now sparring with Gai-Sensei. Who is not jobbing as much as before. Good luck.
[ ] How are you going to fight back (Write-in)
And thus the main plot kicks off. So it's time for the training arc. Oh isn't that fun. Anyway, the way this is going to work is each week until the Finals start is going to be one "mini-arc" where you'll be able to gain training time and XP points from Tenten spending dedicated time honing her abilties (and also presumably whatever crazy shenanigans she manages to get herself involved in during her off time.) This will also be an opportunity to meet more people, and gain intimacies. So keep an eye out for those.
Any questions? The structure should be more clear once this fight has played out, and you guys can go into the first vote for how to spend her time during this week.
You blink, how do you know that? You glance around your apartment and it looks sharper than you remember. Not much, but now you can see everything clearly, whereas before it would be difficult to make out some of the more detailed seal structures on the scrolls adorning your walls. Eventually you shrug your shoulders and roll out of your disaster area of a bed. The one area of your apartment you never bother to clean, because given your schedule you'll inevitably end up collapsing into and ruining it again. Maybe your newfound awareness is related to what happened yesterday? You don't know for sure, but something feels right about that. You stretch again, and as you relish the feeling of your joints popping you realize that you feel a bit more limber as well. But you put those thoughts from your mind for now, Gai-sensei said he wanted to meet you bright and early for training, and you remember what happened the last time you were running late for a training session.
You enter the small bathroom attached to your apartment and quickly begin the process of getting ready for the day, but not before giving yourself a look in the mirror. Your own pair of soft brown eyes look back at you, resting in the middle of an intimately familiar face. You sigh in relief, at least you still look the same. Because that...would have been difficult to explain. After that, the shower passes far too quickly, the warm water feeling positively divine against your skin. Then, a simple brushing later, and you finish tying your hair into its distinctive style. It's one you've worn for as long as you can remember, you think one of the attendants in the orphanage first did it. A quick, simple and practical style. You love it. Then you throw on one of your blouses and a serviceable pair of pants, tuck in your scrolls, grab something to eat (Gai-sensei has been known to struggle with the "break" part of "lunch break") and you are off.
Even this early in the morning the streets of Konoha are already starting to fill with people. The Chunin Exams having attracted people from all over the Land of Fire to Konoha, in a hunt for potential contracts and contractors, them plus the delegations from the various Hidden Villages, and you had a recipe for a truly great bounty for the merchants of Konoha. When you get to the training ground however it is totally deserted. Briefly you wonder if you came to the wrong one, but you dismiss that, this is the one your team always uses, unless it's already been booked. And given how it's deserted you highly doubt that. But then where is Gai-sen-"DODGE MY YOUTHFUL PUPIL! DODGE!"
Instinct seizes hold of your body as you furiously dive to the side, rolling into a combat pose, and not a moment too soon. The spot where you were just standing vanishes in a cloud of dust as a very fast moving green object lands with a crack. You cough, waving the dust out of your face, "Wha-" you start. But then the dust clears, and you suppress an internal groan. For standing there, striking his Dynamic Entry pose, is your teacher.
"Excellent work Tenten!" he booms, shifting into his trademark Nice Guy pose. "Even this early in the morning you came prepared with enough youth to dodge my sneak attack!"
You open your mouth to speak, but then close it again. Of all the crazy things you've seen Gai-sensei do, opening training with a sneak attack to test your reflexes doesn't even make the list. Then you look around and notice something missing, or more specifically someone. "Gai-sensei? Where is Neji?"
Gai for his part looks somewhat awkward, voice fading to something approaching a normal volume. "Well, Neji has elected to pursue training separately from you. Especially since I believe he wishes to work with clan techniques to prepare."
You blink, on one hand that makes sense, you're competitors now, not teammates. Plus, it's just such a Neji thing to do you probably should have seen that coming. On the other hand, "He does remember now that we've made it to the finals winning isn't a requirement, it's displaying the qualities that would make for a Chunin, right?" Not that you have any intention of losing mind, but it is something to keep in mind.
Gai gives a boisterous laugh, "Exactly what I told him Tenten! But it seems your own example has lit a new spirit of youthful competitiveness in your teammate, and who am I to quench such a flame!" Then he straightens, "Put your teammate out of your mind for now, it is your time to train. So tell me, have you discovered anything since I spoke to you in the hospital?"
You shift on your feet, before listing all the things you've noticed since you woke "Well...ever since I woke up it's felt like my senses are on overdrive, way more than they were before. But they don't bother me, it just feels...normal. I think I got a bit more limber, a bit faster. And-" You pause, feeling around at the edges of your conscious for the not-chakra, and it eagerly rises up to meet you "I can still feel the chakra from before, but it feels different, and I don't know how to make it do anything."
Gai for his part just scratches his chin, "Yes, my eternal rival mentioned the golden chakra you were channeling, As well as the fear genjutsu you were using when it appeared."
You freeze, "Wait, fear genjutsu?!"
Your sensei nods, "Yes, evidently the chakra aura that surrounded you for the fight caused quite a few scares among those watching you." You think back to the way Temari was looking during the second half of the fight. At the time you hadn't been paying much attention, but now you do remember her looking rather pale and shaken throughout the fight.
"Oh. Well, if I did it wasn't on purpose. I don't remember casting one...or casting the aura for that matter." You give him a helpless shrug.
"Don't worry Tenten! I'm sure we'll be able to get to the bottom of this!" He gives you a thumbs up, "Now, can you manifest the aura?"
You take a step back and concentrate, trying to pull on the new chakra. It coils to your mental touch, seemingly readying for a command, but no matter what you do it stubbornly refuses to budge. After a few seconds you sigh and release your concentration, shaking your head. "No, I think-" you pause, what do you think? It feels like you should be able to use the new chakra easily, "I think I need to be doing something."
You see a wicked gleam form in your sensei's eyes as he extends a finger, "Then that is what we shall do! Tenten, it is time to unlock the power of youth deep within you!"
"Um."
He shifts into a battle stance, and you get a sinking feeling in your gut. "Come my youthful protege! We shall open training with a spar, let me see just what this new power of yours can do!" Yes, this is exactly what you were afraid of, but nevertheless you shift into a stance mirroring his, one of your scrolls clutched in your hand. You've spared with Gai-sensei before of course, even managing to best him a few time, but that was with him holding back. Given the fire currently blazing in his eyes, something tells you this is going to be an entirely different level.
"Your intensive training begins...NOW!!" Gai's arm blurs and you just barely manage to raise your arms in time to block his strike. Even then, it still sends you skidding back several feet, a cloud of dust forming around you heels.
You are now sparring with Gai-Sensei. Who is not jobbing as much as before. Good luck.
[ ] How are you going to fight back (Write-in)
[Optional] Stunt it?
[Optional] Use Willpower?
[ ] From this fight you can select one Excellency to unlock for free, as long as Tenten can realistically use it for a fight. Must be from a Caste/Favored Ability with at least one dot. Bonus points if you work it into a stunt.
And thus the main plot kicks off. So it's time for the training arc. Oh isn't that fun. Anyway, the way this is going to work is each week until the Finals start is going to be one "mini-arc" where you'll be able to gain training time and XP points from Tenten spending dedicated time honing her abilties (and also presumably whatever crazy shenanigans she manages to get herself involved in during her off time.) This will also be an opportunity to meet more people, and gain intimacies. So keep an eye out for those.
Any questions? The structure should be more clear once this fight has played out, and you guys can go into the first vote for how to spend her time during this week.
Preparing for Finals - Beginning of Week One II
- Location
- Massholistan
You can already feel the bruises starting to form on your arms, the dull throbbing ache a testament to the power contained in the jab you just managed to block. With a thought two Kunai are clutched in your hands, arms crossed in the guard stance as you gazed warily at your sensei. Your heel digs into the dirt, you need to get away, to gain distance. Engaging him in CQC is a fools-errand, all the time's you've managed to best in spars you did it from a distance. But you need an opening, especially with the way he's raised the ante. Unfortunately, you don't get one, because just as soon as you have that thought he's on you again.
His fist slams into your guard, forcing you back, your arms straining as he leans into you. Then there is a flash of movement, and you frantically shuffle your feet in desperation to avoid his low-kick, only for for his knee to come up and slam into your gut. You can feel the air being forced from your lungs as he slams through your guard like it was nothing. You feel your breath catch in your throat, your lungs refusing to take in the air. In desperation you lash out with your kunai, but it only cuts through the early morning air, and his spinning kick in retaliation sends you tumbling through the dirt.
When you finally arrest you movement, coming to a crouch among the dust and grass, frantically sucking in breath Gai-sensei is still where he was. "Tenten! Now is not the time for defense! We must unlock the power I know you are harboring inside! Hit me with everything you got!" He gives you his patented fist of encouragement, and you let out a deep breath. Pulling more kunai into your hands, you take aim. Then you let them fly, a cloud of sharpened steel all slicing through the air towards you teacher as you take the opportunity to leap backwards . But as you spot your sensei's smirk you already know it's not enough.
"Leaf Whirlwind!" His foot slams through air, a spinning kick so fast it leaves a shockwave in its wake. The wind buffets you as your kunai tumble harmlessly to the ground, and you grit your teeth. Just like the fight with Temari. Then he blurs again, and you just have time to register his cry of "Dodge!" as you scramble backwards, his foot slamming down into the ground where you were just standing with a brutal crack.
You skid to a stop, but you're already breathing heavily. He's too fast you realize, the only way you've been able to dodge thus far is he's been telegraphing his attacks almost to the point of absurdity. And now that's he's starting to emulate wind jutsu with his taijutsu...you shake your head. No, there's got to be a way to win.
"Not giving up yet I hope Tenten!" your teacher booms, "My eternal rival said you struggled against wind jutsu! But with the power of youth by your side, you can overcome any obstacle! No matter how daunting!"
You grit your teeth and ready another set of kunai, but inside your head your mind is whirling. The last time you truly beat him you managed to trap him, trip him him up with with a kusarigama, and then finish it with the rest of your arsenal in your scrolls. But now, now he's even faster than before. But still, you have to try. You let the kunai fly, spiraling towards your sensei as you ready one of your scrolls. The thin paper unfurling around you, revealing rows upon rows of carefully sealed weapons. But before you can so much as begin the process a blur of movement blocks out of the sun above you. Moving so fast you can feel the air being displaced as a kick scythes down towards you.
You react purely from instinct, some deep and primal ingrained within you as a cloud of smoke explodes from your scroll. The smooth steel flowing into your hands like you were born with it, a thin bulwark your only defense against the force bearing down on you. Your teeth clench as you block, every muscle in your arms crying out in anguish as the shockwave reverberates through your body, driving you down onto your knees. The summoning smoke clears, and for a heartbeat you both hang there, Gai's brutal overhead kick balancing perfectly on the flat of your sword blade.
But sadly it is not to last, for a sharp crack reverberates through the training ground, sending a chill up your spine. Your eyes widen as the steel blade shatters in your hand, shards of metal exploding outward as you are flung back.
Shakily, you get to your feet. Gai really is a monster, the thought flashes through you mind, spitefully (if not seriously) as you rub your bruises. All this time you'd just been thrown around like a ragdoll, barely to dodge or block this level of taijutsu. You needed to gain distance, but that just wasn't possible. Even the trick you pulled against Temari isn't something you can try again, your chakra refusing to latch onto to any of the weapons around you. You need something...more.
The not-chakra thrums in your ear, teasing the edge of your consciousness. Like it wants to be used, but when ever you try to focus it, to mold it like you would chakra it slips from your grasp. You grimace, already you can see Gai-sensei shifting into another stance. Then his foot shifts, kicking up dust as he launches himself at you again, and you let go. Instincts, long-honed by years of practice, take over...and for the first time you feel it flow.
Normally you didn't have enough time, not when he was really starting to move, to get a hit. But...even though he blurred a little as he began to get closer, running, you felt as if he was moving slowly. Time slowing down as the golden chakra flooded through your body, flowing into your hands. Your fingers twitched, and you already knew what they were going to do. IT was a simple trick, four kunai to box them in, one following a split-second later, right down the center.
You draw them, felt their weight beneath your hands, and threw. They flew through the air faster and more beautiful than ever before, small corkscrews of golden light trailing behind them as they carved a path through air like bolts of pure sunlight. You feel something bloom to life around you, and you let it, an explosion of light as your weapons intersect with Gai. The fist four miss, as intended, but the fifth.
A small flash of blood, flecks of red in a forest of green spandex...
A thrill runs through your spine. You hit him. You hit him! Wait, you hit him! "Gai-sensei!" you shout, you don't think the wound was that deep but-
"Tenten!" Suddenly he is towering over you, and despite your aura his face is completely obscured in shadows. You reflexively take a step.
"Gai-sensei I'm-*urk*" Your apology was cut off as you suddenly found yourself in a bone-crushing hug.
"I'm so proud!" In between the air being forced from your lungs you briefly notice the tears of joy cascading down your teacher's face. "Tenten, truly that was incredible! So this is the power of youth locked with you? Astonishing!"
"G-gai-s-sensei...c-can't...breathe." You gasp out, and then you feel the pressure release and you stumble back, gasping for air. "Y-yeah, I finally figured out what I needed to do."
"Excellent! If I had failed to help you realize this, I would have been forced to do 600 push-ups as punishment. But now, we can continue your training! We must find out what your limits are, because only then can we surpass them!" He booms, and this time at least you can't help but get swept up in the excitement.
Normally, you'd wince slightly at the thought of training like this. You're already breathing heavily, and you're covered in bruises. But despite that, you feel better than you ever felt. "Yeah! Let's do this! I'm ready!"
"Then let's begin! Intensive Training Round Two! Start!" But you're already moving, leaping away as you feel the golden power surge through your body
When you stumble out of the training ground as the sun hangs low in the sky. Your body feels like it is one giant bruise, and you're running on fumes. But you stumble away with a contented smile on your face. You only managed to hit Gai a few more times during your spars, but you earned those hits.
But now you've got a bit of time left after training. Even if you can already hear the sirens call of your bed from here, it wouldn't do to go to bed this early. No, you'll just go and wash up, and then you should have time to do something not training related. Provided you want to of course.
So what do you do?
[ ] Track down a friend/"friend" to hang out with?
[ ] Write-in
His fist slams into your guard, forcing you back, your arms straining as he leans into you. Then there is a flash of movement, and you frantically shuffle your feet in desperation to avoid his low-kick, only for for his knee to come up and slam into your gut. You can feel the air being forced from your lungs as he slams through your guard like it was nothing. You feel your breath catch in your throat, your lungs refusing to take in the air. In desperation you lash out with your kunai, but it only cuts through the early morning air, and his spinning kick in retaliation sends you tumbling through the dirt.
When you finally arrest you movement, coming to a crouch among the dust and grass, frantically sucking in breath Gai-sensei is still where he was. "Tenten! Now is not the time for defense! We must unlock the power I know you are harboring inside! Hit me with everything you got!" He gives you his patented fist of encouragement, and you let out a deep breath. Pulling more kunai into your hands, you take aim. Then you let them fly, a cloud of sharpened steel all slicing through the air towards you teacher as you take the opportunity to leap backwards . But as you spot your sensei's smirk you already know it's not enough.
"Leaf Whirlwind!" His foot slams through air, a spinning kick so fast it leaves a shockwave in its wake. The wind buffets you as your kunai tumble harmlessly to the ground, and you grit your teeth. Just like the fight with Temari. Then he blurs again, and you just have time to register his cry of "Dodge!" as you scramble backwards, his foot slamming down into the ground where you were just standing with a brutal crack.
You skid to a stop, but you're already breathing heavily. He's too fast you realize, the only way you've been able to dodge thus far is he's been telegraphing his attacks almost to the point of absurdity. And now that's he's starting to emulate wind jutsu with his taijutsu...you shake your head. No, there's got to be a way to win.
"Not giving up yet I hope Tenten!" your teacher booms, "My eternal rival said you struggled against wind jutsu! But with the power of youth by your side, you can overcome any obstacle! No matter how daunting!"
You grit your teeth and ready another set of kunai, but inside your head your mind is whirling. The last time you truly beat him you managed to trap him, trip him him up with with a kusarigama, and then finish it with the rest of your arsenal in your scrolls. But now, now he's even faster than before. But still, you have to try. You let the kunai fly, spiraling towards your sensei as you ready one of your scrolls. The thin paper unfurling around you, revealing rows upon rows of carefully sealed weapons. But before you can so much as begin the process a blur of movement blocks out of the sun above you. Moving so fast you can feel the air being displaced as a kick scythes down towards you.
You react purely from instinct, some deep and primal ingrained within you as a cloud of smoke explodes from your scroll. The smooth steel flowing into your hands like you were born with it, a thin bulwark your only defense against the force bearing down on you. Your teeth clench as you block, every muscle in your arms crying out in anguish as the shockwave reverberates through your body, driving you down onto your knees. The summoning smoke clears, and for a heartbeat you both hang there, Gai's brutal overhead kick balancing perfectly on the flat of your sword blade.
But sadly it is not to last, for a sharp crack reverberates through the training ground, sending a chill up your spine. Your eyes widen as the steel blade shatters in your hand, shards of metal exploding outward as you are flung back.
Shakily, you get to your feet. Gai really is a monster, the thought flashes through you mind, spitefully (if not seriously) as you rub your bruises. All this time you'd just been thrown around like a ragdoll, barely to dodge or block this level of taijutsu. You needed to gain distance, but that just wasn't possible. Even the trick you pulled against Temari isn't something you can try again, your chakra refusing to latch onto to any of the weapons around you. You need something...more.
The not-chakra thrums in your ear, teasing the edge of your consciousness. Like it wants to be used, but when ever you try to focus it, to mold it like you would chakra it slips from your grasp. You grimace, already you can see Gai-sensei shifting into another stance. Then his foot shifts, kicking up dust as he launches himself at you again, and you let go. Instincts, long-honed by years of practice, take over...and for the first time you feel it flow.
Normally you didn't have enough time, not when he was really starting to move, to get a hit. But...even though he blurred a little as he began to get closer, running, you felt as if he was moving slowly. Time slowing down as the golden chakra flooded through your body, flowing into your hands. Your fingers twitched, and you already knew what they were going to do. IT was a simple trick, four kunai to box them in, one following a split-second later, right down the center.
You draw them, felt their weight beneath your hands, and threw. They flew through the air faster and more beautiful than ever before, small corkscrews of golden light trailing behind them as they carved a path through air like bolts of pure sunlight. You feel something bloom to life around you, and you let it, an explosion of light as your weapons intersect with Gai. The fist four miss, as intended, but the fifth.
A small flash of blood, flecks of red in a forest of green spandex...
A thrill runs through your spine. You hit him. You hit him! Wait, you hit him! "Gai-sensei!" you shout, you don't think the wound was that deep but-
"Tenten!" Suddenly he is towering over you, and despite your aura his face is completely obscured in shadows. You reflexively take a step.
"Gai-sensei I'm-*urk*" Your apology was cut off as you suddenly found yourself in a bone-crushing hug.
"I'm so proud!" In between the air being forced from your lungs you briefly notice the tears of joy cascading down your teacher's face. "Tenten, truly that was incredible! So this is the power of youth locked with you? Astonishing!"
"G-gai-s-sensei...c-can't...breathe." You gasp out, and then you feel the pressure release and you stumble back, gasping for air. "Y-yeah, I finally figured out what I needed to do."
"Excellent! If I had failed to help you realize this, I would have been forced to do 600 push-ups as punishment. But now, we can continue your training! We must find out what your limits are, because only then can we surpass them!" He booms, and this time at least you can't help but get swept up in the excitement.
Normally, you'd wince slightly at the thought of training like this. You're already breathing heavily, and you're covered in bruises. But despite that, you feel better than you ever felt. "Yeah! Let's do this! I'm ready!"
"Then let's begin! Intensive Training Round Two! Start!" But you're already moving, leaping away as you feel the golden power surge through your body
When you stumble out of the training ground as the sun hangs low in the sky. Your body feels like it is one giant bruise, and you're running on fumes. But you stumble away with a contented smile on your face. You only managed to hit Gai a few more times during your spars, but you earned those hits.
But now you've got a bit of time left after training. Even if you can already hear the sirens call of your bed from here, it wouldn't do to go to bed this early. No, you'll just go and wash up, and then you should have time to do something not training related. Provided you want to of course.
So what do you do?
[ ] Track down a friend/"friend" to hang out with?
[ ] If so who?
[ ] Treat yourself out. You've earned it. Maybe you'll even run into someone you know.[ ] If so where? (Will influence encounters)
[ ] No, you're too tired from training to go out at all, just spend the rest of the day relaxing.[ ] Write-in
[ ] Stunt?
From your vigorous training with Gai you gained +1XP.
Alright, well that was your fight with Gai. It went about how I expected. Gai wasn't really trying to hurt you, just rough you up a little and back you up into a corner until you managed to pull out something that would actually let you hit him.
Unfortunately, he still couldn't convince Tenten to wear the jumpsuit.
Unfortunately, he still couldn't convince Tenten to wear the jumpsuit.
Preparing for Finals - A Dumpling Encounter
- Location
- Massholistan
Before you do anything however, you need to get changed. Your clothes are a wreck, and from the way they're currently sticking to you, you probably aren't smelling like a rose either. Luckily your apartment isn't that far away, and before you know it you're in the shower scraping the day's troubles away. It takes all your effort not to just collapse into bed on the spot, but no, you've still got plenty of time left in the day. So you throw on another outfit, and you're out the door into the cool evening air in no time.
You stretch your arms, reveling in the feeling of your back cracking, as you try and decide how you are going to reward yourself for this achievement. Lee and Gai may have their punishments, but you've always found more positive forms of reinforcement worked for you. But where to go? There's just so many places to choose from, ramen? ice cream? A trip to the bathhouses? You pause, who are you trying to kid, you know where you're going. It's the same place you always go when you want to treat yourself, or you need a pick-me-up, or you had a craving, or just because...okay so maybe you come here a bit too often. But as you stand in front of your favorite restaurant in all of Konoha, you find you can't bring yourself to care.
The aging door creaks open as you push your way inside, and immediately your are buried in a deluge of sounds and smells. The heady aroma of sizzling oil wafts over you, causing your mouth to water already. A sharp tone rings out, the small bell on the door announcing your presence to the few people in the small dumpling shop. Most importantly the young man currently wiping down the back of the counter top with a rag looks up at you, a smile blossoming on his face.
"Tenten! Back again I see?" Then he looks you up and down, "Training with Gai?"
You changed your clothes, but you can't do anything about the bruises currently covering your arms. "Training with Gai." You respond flatly.
"So you'll be having the regular I take it?" at your nod he rolls his eyes. "You know, we have an entire menu you can choose from."
You wave your hand, "Maybe some other time, right now I want the good stuff." He shouts something into the back as you sink down into one of the time-beaten chairs tucked away in the corner. With that, you claim one of the handful of small tables dotting the floor as your own, not that you really needed to. There's barely anyone else here, as is typical. Not that you don't wish for your favorite eatery would be more successful, but on the other hand this is where you come to relax and unwind. A state that would be rather difficult to attain if the place was constantly packed to the gills. See also, why you stopped trying to bring your teammates here. Though maybe when Lee's back on his feet you'll make an exception...
But they're not here, and it's just you today so you take the opportunity to lean back in your chair. The wood creaks as you take a moment to rest your eyes, and for a moment you feel completely at peace with yourself. Which is of course why the moment is interrupted almost immediately.
"Um. You're Tenten right? Lee's, ah, teammate?" You quirk open an eye to see a familiar looking pink-haired girl nervously shuffling her feet besides your table.
You let the chair fall forward, the up-raised legs slamming into the wooden floor with a heavy thump, before sighing and turning your attention to the girl. "That depends, who wants to know?" You quirk an eye, all the while desperately trying to remember the girls name. It's something with an S...
"Um. Well, actually I was just...I saw you from out there-" She points out the window looking out onto the street, "and I actually was looking to talk to you but um..." She glances down at the empty chair across the table from you, "Is anyone sitting here?"
If anything your eyebrows raise even higher at that, she wanted to talk to you? Why? You mean, you're awesome and everything, but you barely know her. So many questions, but before you can answer any of them you decide to give the girl -wait Sakura! That was her name!- You decide to give her a chance. "Oh uh, no, I'm just here by myself."
She sits across from you, but instead of explaining she just stares at you for a second. "Sooooo..."
She blinks, "What? Oh...sorry, I was just-" You see her eyes focus in on your arms, "Are...are those all from yesterday?"
You shake your head, "Nah, taijutsu training with Gai-sensei. It looks worse than it is trust me. Just a bit sore is all. Anyway, why'd you want to talk to me?"
She hesitates for a second, looking unsure of herself, before finally blurting out "I want your help with Genjutsu!"
"Um." Your train of thought crashes to a halt, and you can only manage to formulate a single question. "Why?"
She huffs, "Because Kakashi-sensei was helping train me in it, but Sasuke's in the hospital and then he said he's going to be training him personally and I'm stuck with Naruto and I don't know what to do, but then I remember you had that fear genjutsu yesterday and how I couldn't dispel it and you seemed really nice so I thought maybe you'd help. Then I saw you here as I was walking by and-" She pauses, sucking in a breath after that, and you have to cough to stop her before she opens her mouth again.
You awkwardly rub the back of your head, "Um, that's great, but ah...that's kinda the only Genjutsu I know. Besides how to dispel them of course...I'm a weapons expert mostly. Genjutsu's...not exactly my strong suit."
She visibly deflates, "So you mean you can't help me?"
Luckily, you're offered a brief respite from the awkwardness by the arrival of your food. "One of order of sesame dumplings!" The piping hot plate of fried joy is placed in front of you, and you can already feel your mouth beginning to water.
Then you remember Sakura is there. "Ah, no I didn't say that, but I'm not sure how much help I can really be." You take the opportunity to pop one of the dumplings your mouth, luxuriating as it practically melts in your mouth. "Wan' wun?"
But she just shakes her head, "No thanks." Maybe she's on a diet or something, you don't know how anyone could rightfully resist them otherwise.
But you just shrug you shoulders, "More for me then."
The two of you just sit there in silence for a moment, then only sound you scarfing down your latest meal. It was times like these that you were really grateful for Gai's absurd fitness regimes he had your entire team do.
It is Sakura who breaks the silence, "So...does that mean you'll help me?"
"Eh?" you blink.
She nods resolutely, "Yes, even though you might not be able to help me much, I figure a few sessions can't hurt right? I mean, if you're not busy, I know you're in the finals too so you probably need to train..." she trails off.
You open your mouth to answer, but then shut it again as you put some more thought into the answer. On one hand, you're not sure what you do with the not-chakra is even a normal Genjutsu. So right off the bat you're not even sure if I can really help her. On the other hand, it'd probably help you figure some stuff out, and maybe make a new friend. Plus who knows, if she's being trained by Kakashi-sensei as a Genjutsu specialist then you might be able to pick up a thing or two yourself. Since really, you're awful at Genjutsu. Not as bad as Lee of course, but it still can be a sore spot.
On the third hand, you do remember both her teammates are in the finals as well, though not initially facing off against you. So this all could be an elaborate ruse to learn your weaknesses...but if it is why are they trying to find out about your genjutsu of all things?
Sakura looks at you expectantly as you open your mouth to answer.
Do you agree to spend some time training Genjutsu with Sakura?
[ ] Yes, sounds like fun - Will unlock additional options on weekly training votes. [1/2 Sakura intimacies gained]
[ ] No, I don't think I can help you, and besides I need to focus on my own training.
Oh look, Tenten made a friend.
You stretch your arms, reveling in the feeling of your back cracking, as you try and decide how you are going to reward yourself for this achievement. Lee and Gai may have their punishments, but you've always found more positive forms of reinforcement worked for you. But where to go? There's just so many places to choose from, ramen? ice cream? A trip to the bathhouses? You pause, who are you trying to kid, you know where you're going. It's the same place you always go when you want to treat yourself, or you need a pick-me-up, or you had a craving, or just because...okay so maybe you come here a bit too often. But as you stand in front of your favorite restaurant in all of Konoha, you find you can't bring yourself to care.
The aging door creaks open as you push your way inside, and immediately your are buried in a deluge of sounds and smells. The heady aroma of sizzling oil wafts over you, causing your mouth to water already. A sharp tone rings out, the small bell on the door announcing your presence to the few people in the small dumpling shop. Most importantly the young man currently wiping down the back of the counter top with a rag looks up at you, a smile blossoming on his face.
"Tenten! Back again I see?" Then he looks you up and down, "Training with Gai?"
You changed your clothes, but you can't do anything about the bruises currently covering your arms. "Training with Gai." You respond flatly.
"So you'll be having the regular I take it?" at your nod he rolls his eyes. "You know, we have an entire menu you can choose from."
You wave your hand, "Maybe some other time, right now I want the good stuff." He shouts something into the back as you sink down into one of the time-beaten chairs tucked away in the corner. With that, you claim one of the handful of small tables dotting the floor as your own, not that you really needed to. There's barely anyone else here, as is typical. Not that you don't wish for your favorite eatery would be more successful, but on the other hand this is where you come to relax and unwind. A state that would be rather difficult to attain if the place was constantly packed to the gills. See also, why you stopped trying to bring your teammates here. Though maybe when Lee's back on his feet you'll make an exception...
But they're not here, and it's just you today so you take the opportunity to lean back in your chair. The wood creaks as you take a moment to rest your eyes, and for a moment you feel completely at peace with yourself. Which is of course why the moment is interrupted almost immediately.
"Um. You're Tenten right? Lee's, ah, teammate?" You quirk open an eye to see a familiar looking pink-haired girl nervously shuffling her feet besides your table.
You let the chair fall forward, the up-raised legs slamming into the wooden floor with a heavy thump, before sighing and turning your attention to the girl. "That depends, who wants to know?" You quirk an eye, all the while desperately trying to remember the girls name. It's something with an S...
"Um. Well, actually I was just...I saw you from out there-" She points out the window looking out onto the street, "and I actually was looking to talk to you but um..." She glances down at the empty chair across the table from you, "Is anyone sitting here?"
If anything your eyebrows raise even higher at that, she wanted to talk to you? Why? You mean, you're awesome and everything, but you barely know her. So many questions, but before you can answer any of them you decide to give the girl -wait Sakura! That was her name!- You decide to give her a chance. "Oh uh, no, I'm just here by myself."
She sits across from you, but instead of explaining she just stares at you for a second. "Sooooo..."
She blinks, "What? Oh...sorry, I was just-" You see her eyes focus in on your arms, "Are...are those all from yesterday?"
You shake your head, "Nah, taijutsu training with Gai-sensei. It looks worse than it is trust me. Just a bit sore is all. Anyway, why'd you want to talk to me?"
She hesitates for a second, looking unsure of herself, before finally blurting out "I want your help with Genjutsu!"
"Um." Your train of thought crashes to a halt, and you can only manage to formulate a single question. "Why?"
She huffs, "Because Kakashi-sensei was helping train me in it, but Sasuke's in the hospital and then he said he's going to be training him personally and I'm stuck with Naruto and I don't know what to do, but then I remember you had that fear genjutsu yesterday and how I couldn't dispel it and you seemed really nice so I thought maybe you'd help. Then I saw you here as I was walking by and-" She pauses, sucking in a breath after that, and you have to cough to stop her before she opens her mouth again.
You awkwardly rub the back of your head, "Um, that's great, but ah...that's kinda the only Genjutsu I know. Besides how to dispel them of course...I'm a weapons expert mostly. Genjutsu's...not exactly my strong suit."
She visibly deflates, "So you mean you can't help me?"
Luckily, you're offered a brief respite from the awkwardness by the arrival of your food. "One of order of sesame dumplings!" The piping hot plate of fried joy is placed in front of you, and you can already feel your mouth beginning to water.
Then you remember Sakura is there. "Ah, no I didn't say that, but I'm not sure how much help I can really be." You take the opportunity to pop one of the dumplings your mouth, luxuriating as it practically melts in your mouth. "Wan' wun?"
But she just shakes her head, "No thanks." Maybe she's on a diet or something, you don't know how anyone could rightfully resist them otherwise.
But you just shrug you shoulders, "More for me then."
The two of you just sit there in silence for a moment, then only sound you scarfing down your latest meal. It was times like these that you were really grateful for Gai's absurd fitness regimes he had your entire team do.
It is Sakura who breaks the silence, "So...does that mean you'll help me?"
"Eh?" you blink.
She nods resolutely, "Yes, even though you might not be able to help me much, I figure a few sessions can't hurt right? I mean, if you're not busy, I know you're in the finals too so you probably need to train..." she trails off.
You open your mouth to answer, but then shut it again as you put some more thought into the answer. On one hand, you're not sure what you do with the not-chakra is even a normal Genjutsu. So right off the bat you're not even sure if I can really help her. On the other hand, it'd probably help you figure some stuff out, and maybe make a new friend. Plus who knows, if she's being trained by Kakashi-sensei as a Genjutsu specialist then you might be able to pick up a thing or two yourself. Since really, you're awful at Genjutsu. Not as bad as Lee of course, but it still can be a sore spot.
On the third hand, you do remember both her teammates are in the finals as well, though not initially facing off against you. So this all could be an elaborate ruse to learn your weaknesses...but if it is why are they trying to find out about your genjutsu of all things?
Sakura looks at you expectantly as you open your mouth to answer.
Do you agree to spend some time training Genjutsu with Sakura?
[ ] Yes, sounds like fun - Will unlock additional options on weekly training votes. [1/2 Sakura intimacies gained]
[ ] No, I don't think I can help you, and besides I need to focus on my own training.
Oh look, Tenten made a friend.
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