Peace Talks

[King of Cats]

Laying in his bed, Kohaku was re-reading "Make-Out Paradise." He had had the day off from his typical ninja duties, and instead of training the teenager decided to catch up on some much needed reading. He hadn't picked up a book since he was called to action at Ougonjidai Restaurant, and Kohaku happily spent the whole day reading his favorite romance novel.

With his legs crossed Kohaku read the book in his hands, out oud. He spoke quietly, just to himself, "...and then she jerked on her skirt, this wouldn't be the last bald bastard to affront-" Kohaku was suddenly startled by his radio communicator. The shortwave radio was used for team communications after hours, and on days of rest it was strictly an emergency line. Kohaku hadn't expected to hear the radio buzzing, and jumped up in his bed, throwing his book across the room.

"Agent Reach Around, this is Megumi. Do you copy?" Kohaku scrambled for the floor. Once he got his bare feet on the hardwood floor, Kohaku rushed to the radio. He took his work as a ninja very seriously, and not even a day of rest and relaxation would tarnish his record of perfect attendance. Whenever he was called on, the village knew that in Kohaku's hands, it was safe.

Holding the radio in one hand, Kohaku pressed the transmitter button and began his broadcasting. "RA copies. It's good to speak with you again Megumi, more Spirit Invasion work, I presume?" Kohaku released the button, he had forgotten to say "over." Megumi waited a moment and then responded.

"That's right Reach Around." Reach Around was Kohaku's code name. "This time we got a, hopefully, more peaceful solution aimed for your night. By the way kid, I heard about your work in the Ougonjidai. That was a real mess, you did great. Your whole team did. Over." Kohaku was smiling from ear to ear, proud of his team. Sealing up that radish spirit was harder than it was forecasted to be, but the team did a great job in the larder.

Kohaku pressed the button once again. "Thank you Megumi. Now, lay it on me. What's our mission for tonight? Over." Kohaku released the button, and this time Megumi responded right away.

"There's a young spirit on the loose. It's a little boy, and he's rumored to be plauging the streets of Yukon District. Go there, find the spirit, and calm him. Then we want you to light off a flare, a specialist in sealing will be waiting to handle the spirit. " Megumai paused for a second, allowing Kohaku to take in what she had just told him. "Reports tell us the boy is incredibly persuasive, do not be fooled though. The spirit is codenamed Mongomery and it's very dangerous. It lured someone into an open manhole, killing them. Over." Medumi spoke with a firmness in her voice when she talked about how dangerous the spirit was.

Kohaku accepted the mission and Megumi assured him that she would continue trying to reach his team mates. He was to head to the Yukon District immediately and begin searching for the spirit codenamed Mongomery.

Once he got dressed Kohaku popped a food pill and headed out into the windy, cold, snowy streets of Iwagakure.

[Texas]

"UGH" released from Murasaki's mouth as he woke up. The child rolled from the floor bed he had set up, and sat upright to gaze upon his very small apartment. Ironically since the laws of slavery has changed, his life has been a little worse than it used to. Other than having a master and being told what to do... since his Military slavery turned into a Military contract, he wasn't paid all too well in general. The young lad also didn't really have any parents to rely on since they signed a contract with their current master... so at the end of the day Murasaki was truly on his own.

Upon rolling up into a standing position the contracted shinobi did his stretches and prepped for the mission at hand. He knew that as a genin, he wouldn't get too hard of missions... however he didn't expect to work with others. Based on the contract, Murasaki assumed that he would be working on his own. The teenager was both excited and dreading doing this mission. A solo mission meant that Murasaki can let loose and engage as needed, however being a group... that usually entailed that the boy had to be respectful to the highest degree. All he wanted to do was get through his contract so that he could determine his true future. Unfortunately, that means not pissing off and nobles, elders, fellow ninja, clan members. As the list went on, it pretty much could be summed up as anyone. ESPECIALLY associate with the village of Iwagakure no Sato

Murasaki had already been given his orders the day before, so he wasn't all to worried. Due to waking up a couple hours earlier than the determined arrival time, the boy was really not concerned about being late to the mission. In stead, he got dressed, put his ninja pouch on, his head band tightened, and headed towards the meeting point that was agreed upon.

It was really dark out, finding a mischievous spirit that lured people at night meant that it was common sense to do so. With edge rolling off of his aura, the boy got to the meeting place an hour early and waited for everyone else. He stood against a building with his hands in his pockets surveying the area and waiting.

[Drak]

“Again, this happens,” Hanzou muttered to himself, braced against the cold Rock Country winds as he weaved through the streets and alleys of the village. “Hey Salad, get up you gotta go catch a ghoul. Pay is good but goddamn is this annoying.”

He neared the Yukon District where the ghost – codenamed Montgomery – had been sighted. It was primarily a residential area, with a few small local businesses dotting it. As such, the streets here tended to be narrower, and the whole place was crisscrossed with alleys, all the better for a ghost to hide and lure people into what the mission office described euphemistically as “unfortunate situations.”

What the hell kind of name is that even? Montgomery? Furthermore why do these spirit hunter radio fuckers have a need to give everything a shitty codename?

Hanzou spent little time in this district, and he took a few wrong turns. As he approached what he thought was the correct intersection, a childlike giggle from a nearby alley stopped him in his tracks. Going into a high crouch, Hanzou crept over to the alley and peeked in. Nothing. Not wanting to take a chance, he dashed across the alley. Even as he went on, he threw a few glances back at the alley’s entrance. Each time he looked back, it was as still and empty as it had been before.

When he rounded the next corner, he was startled to see a boy standing there. He seemed real enough, and older than the ghost was described. But then again, it’s a ghost. I suppose it could change shapes. From the boy’s clothes he appeared to be another shinobi.

“Hey, you,” Hanzou barked, cupping his hands around his mouth. “You’re not that goddamn ghost are you? Are you gonna try and lure me into an open manhole? Or paint a tunnel on a wall and get me to run into it full speed?”

[HotelBravo]

There were times when Nikkou was by herself that people didn’t see the anxiety and worries that she had upon her own shoulders. The rules of the Enkouten felt suffocating, and so did the village. What she wanted more than anything else in the world was freedom - and it was a complicated feeling for Nikkou. The reason being - because she was under pressure to perform as a kunoichi. People relied on her, her team needed her, it was those bonds that kept her here. Despite everything she was an Enkouten. The Duty and rules did bind her to a degree, but it didn’t mean that she had to like it. She was under a lot of scrutiny because of her past running a gang before she ever finished her academy education. It was part of the reason she had such a late start as a shinobi. She didn’t actually have boundless energy like she pretended to, she just put on a performance because that positivity is what she wanted to see more of in the world. The Enkouten compound had just received her new orders, and so Nikkou was released from her punishment early. For Nikkou it was public humiliation, and it had gotten more and more harsh the longer time went on. It bordered on Abuse, but the Enkouten believed in life and to that end offenses such as those that Nikkou had against the traditions and rules of the Enkouten meant that she was frequently being humiliated in increasingly creative ways.

The manacles on her hands and ankles were released and she was allowed to leave the room where she had been undergoing a verbal thrashing from just about the entire clan. She returned to her room and got dressed in her gear and went to grab her skateboard when she noticed something. In the Enkouten clan there were many crafterse and creators. She hefted her skateboard and looked at the trucks of the board which had been removed and dismantled. The beautiful art on her board was covered in art disparaging her and calling her names and telling the story of her crimes among the Enkouten. There wouldn’t be time for her to fix her board, and to be honest she felt like crying. There wasn’t much that she cared about in the world but she did care about her skateboard. She really felt free for the brief time that she road around on it. She picked the board up and threw it out the window, shattering the glass. She’d give them something to complain about. She pushed the shattered glass to the side and stood in the windowsill. She had gathered a large pile of scrolls and clothing in the middle of the floor. A few handseals and she unleash a fire jutsu to spark the pile on fire.

Fuck the Enkouten.

She dropped to the ground and picked up her board and left for the mission, a burning building in the Enkouten compound left behind. It glowed orange in the night. She slung the useless board onto her back and run up a wall. She would make life worth living. Forget about The Enkouten. There were people who liked and needed her.

---

Nikkou was sliding on some ice, using her wheeless skateboard as a snowboard instead. It was much harder to keep her momentum, but the plus side was that she could manuever around the snow. She heard Hanzou calling out about a ghost, and she suspected that he had already found it. She snowboarded off of a roof and came to a halt near Hanzou spraying snow everywhere. ”Hell yeah! You really found the ghost already?” Nikkou held her hand over her eyes to block out the moonlight and the city’s light pollution so she could get a better look at the ghost that Hanzou was spotting. ”It definitely looks kind of girl shape! Nice find! Lets go punch it! HEEE YA!” Nikkou kicked her board up into her hand and placed it on the sling on her back. Nikkou charged, determined to be the first to capture this ghost. She wanted to make sure she put up a good showing and show off her value instead of whatever happened the last time they went on one of these missions. She leapt and tried to tackle Murasaki thinking that he was the ghost. She would catch it first this time.

[King of Cats]

Running at full speed, Kohaku made it to the rendezvous spot at an appropriate time. He was surprised to see that he wasn't the first ninja to arrive. From the looks of things, Team 21 had been assigned another member for this mission. Maho had recently joined in an epic rat brawl and it seemed destiny would push Murasaki towards the group too. Kohaku was running up to the intersection where he was decided to rendezvous with the team to create a plan of attack for the mission.

Wearing a black hoodie that was fully zipped up and black denim trousers, Kohaku looked to be kind of cold, and he was. His breath gassed up the air in front of him when he stopped running and landed right in front of Murasaki. The two of them were standing on the sidewalk and there wasn't a soul in sight. There wasn't anyone walking down the street and there was a loud echo in the dark night sky. Panting, Kohaku introduced himself. "Hey, I'm Kohaku. Uh, Operative RA is my codename, but you don't have to worry about that. My team just got the call for this mission. We got a roaming ghost, luring people into danger." Kohaku started to catch his breath and paused for a moment. "Alright my team should be here any moment and we can designate patrols. Nikkou and Hanzo are an interesting bunch. Anyways, while we wait, tell me a bit about yourself." Kohaku smiled in a friendly way to Murasaki.

[Texas]

Annoyance

Was that the word? Murasaki watched as this older, taller, and more annoying figure in front of him acted like...well.. not an adult. He glared at the man with frustration and put his hands in his pockets as he walked over to him. In hopes Hanzou wouldn't move, Murasaki lifted up his right hand that had his tattoos on it and facepalm his own face. Upon getting close enough to Hanzou, he would swing his hand around and try to poke him in the chest. With attitude bleeding from the tone of his words, Murasaki sharply asked "Does this feel like a ghost to you?"

He would pull his hand back and place it in his pocket. "Based on your announcement to the entire area, I am guessing you are a Genin like me assigned to this mission?" The boy would let out a bit of disappointing air and place the right hand on the back of his head as if he had an itch. "My name is Murasaki, and you are?"

Before Murasaki could get fully comfortable the Kool-Aid Man in the disguise as a young girl exploded over to their direction with a voice of a thousand crows. Murasaki knew that he was different from them, due to being a previously military slave.... but was this his punishment for signing a 7 year contract? Was he really better off knowing this is the kind of punishment the earth gods bestowed upon him. Before he could fully react, it had seemed like they had some kind of rapport. What the kid didn't expect was for her to jump down and try to tackle him. He would take a large step backwards and watch on as she fell to the ground.

More air with disappointment leaked from his mouth as he seemingly had to repeat himself. With a slightly monotone, mixed with a bit of stern, the child would try again to explain himself. "As I told your friend, I am not the ghost. I am your teammate Murasaki. And you are?"

Was this Murasaki's nightmare? Was this the true mission? Instead of hunting a ghost, did he actually enter a house of horrors? Was he truly meant to be a part of a team? With introductions being made, another man ran over with an announcement of his name. With his left hand in his pocket and his right arm behind his head, they both met in the middle and turned into a loose arm fold. Murasaki's seafoam green eyes glared into the Akari speaking as he gave the lowdown of the mission. He would nod and with a monotone voice he would inform the group (separately but say his name for the third time) "My name is Murasaki, I am a genin. That's all that is important right now." What past would the boy give... nothing that could be part of a light conversation, that's for sure.

The boy looked around at the rest of them in hopes that they gave the same info he did... although with the first impressions he has obtained... his hopes were extremely low.

[Drak]

A scoffing chuckle escaped from Hanzou’s mouth as Muraski marched up and jabbed him in the chest.

“Damn man, who shit in your soba tonight?” Hanzou asked, his tone sharp but not quite antagonistic. “Anyway, I’m-”

He was interrupted by Nikkou’s shouting, followed promptly by a flying leap at Murasaki.

“Wait Nikkou no!” Hanzou called out, taking a step away to ensure he was out of the danger zone. Murasaki had the same idea. When Nikkou landed, Murasaki ran her through the same introductory spiel that he had gotten. A chuckle started to well up in Hanzou’s chest, but died part way. He wasn’t sure what had been on the underside of Nikkou’s board before, but he was reasonably sure it wasn’t this.

“Traitor Nikkou,” “Useless Nikkou,” “Bad Apple Nikkou lights fires,” a drawing of her burning to death? What the hell is all this edgy shit?

Hanzou opened his mouth to ask about the board. In what was probably a lucky coincidence for everyone involved, he was interrupted by Kohaku’s voice from above.

“Hey Kohaku, long time no smell,” he said, looking up at his friend with a grin and giving him a casual salute. Again, he heard Muraski’s introduction, this time ending with a clearly frustrated comment about how what he had said was all that was important. Looking down at the boy, Hanzou put an index finger against his temple in an exaggerated thinking pose.

“Alright Murasaki the genin,” he started. “How’s this for important? What do you do? We’re,” he made a circle with his finger, gesturing to himself, Nikkou, and Kohaku, "all on a team together. We train together. We’ve worked together before. We’ve got no idea what your powers or specializations are.” He leaned in, studying Murasaki’s getup. “From the looks of things you shoot arrows. Anything else?”

He straightened himself back up to his full height. “Like this: My name is Fukusha Hanzou. I’m a genin. I focus on ninjutsu and genjutsu at range. Now you try.”

[HotelBravo]

“Wait Nikkou no!” Hanzou cried out in warning. Simultaneously, Murasaki had stepped out of the way. Nikkou could have carried this moment further into an attack if he was an enemy, but since things changed mid-flight she needed a way to stop herself. She let herself fall. She was used to falling, thats one thing a skateboard would teach you.

*THUD*

”Ow Ow owwww” Nikkou Groaned after having the wind knocked out of her from a rather unceremonious collision with the ground. She caught Hanzou looking at her board, so she moved the sling so that the board was moved out of his eyesight. She really didn’t need this conversation right now. "As I told your friend, I am not the ghost. I am your teammate Murasaki. And you are?" The underaged supermodel with seafoam hair explained as she got back to her feet. He was just a bit shorter than her. ”I see that.” She stated flatly. Hanzou greeted Kohaku while Nikkou brushed the residue from her collision with the ground off of herself. Hanzou was taking the lead and asking the good questions, so Nikkou let Hanzou finish his interrogation.

”And I’m Nikkou, but you can call me Big Sis.” She explained to Murasaki the genin. ”Now hurry up and introduce yourself properly, there is a ghost on the loose!” Nikkou started jogging in place, ready to run. ”Oh yeah, I know a couple of jutsu. But I’m getting better with my taijutsu so watch out - HEE YAH!” Nikkou Demonstrated her technique by kicking the air a couple of times. She looked back at the boys. ”Alrighty”

[King of Cats]

Watching Nikkou was classic. She was a rambunctious young girl and Kohaku was never surprised by how much she surprised him. Sometimes it was more like a startling, but he was trying to make nice with her. On their last mission she exploded on him. Again, classic Nikkou. Kohaku had left a bad taste in her mouth, or rather smell on her shoulder, with his "jizz sword," and he couldn't help but wonder if she had gotten over it by now. It was ironic to Kohaku that Nikkou refused to trust him, when she was the one who broke the rules of their spar and attacked him after quitting the match. He figured, if anyone was untrustworthy it was the hotheaded blowhard, but Kohaku hadn't said anything to her then, and he didn't plan on saying anything to her now. In fact he wanted to get along with Nikkou, she was on his team after all. Kohaku wanted to get to know her, at least in some way. Maybe not the same way that Hanzou did, but to be honest his interactions with her had been oddly muted besides the time she requested to be called mango tits. She was an odd one, that much was certain.

When Hanzou took the lead of the mission, Kohaku was glad. Last time he had devised the plan of attack and led the charge on spirit charged rats with his explosive Chalk jutsu. Of course it was unlikely that the team, plus good ole, friendly ole, Murasaki, would get into such an epic battle like the radish demon had presented the crew before. This ghost, reportedly, wasn't violent like the demon radish was. Of course, things changed fast on the streets of Iwagakure.

Standing in the group Kohaku waited his turn to speak. "My name is Kohaku, Akari. I'm a Taijutsu specialist." Kohaku smiled to Murasaki, then he looked at the rest of his team. "We need to devise a plan of attack. Splirring up is probably the best option, but I say we go in teams." There was Kohaku playing the leader again. He didn't see himself as the leader of the team, but he was definitely the most goal oriented out of his group.

Standing there in his hoodie he was cold, he wanted to get moving and was looking at his team members, hoping they would form groups on their own.

OOCShow

Everyone pick a number between 1 and 4 and include it in their next post. We are going to roll for who gets to find the ghost, after we decide on teams. If you win: you don't have to control the ghost if you don't want to, but you will have to be the one to RP finding it. Or I guess you can give the chance away to someone who wants it. I just thought this would add a little fun to our thread.

[Texas]

What a happy group.. too happy. Murasaki glared Hanzou as he spoke down to the child. The blue haired boy couldn't tell his personality, but what he could tell was they were too happy of a group. The boy listened to everyone, it seemed like they were all part of prestigious clans. The thought of them living a potentially happy life made the edgy teen only more angsty. He would look around the group of people and shift his folded arms tighter, hiding the tattoo on his hand. "I don't think what I specialize in would help with this mission, and I don't wish to just merely tell you", his attention moved over to a glare towards Hanzou. "Although I am happy to display it so you could see it up close and personal if you like." Murasaki didn't want to appear weak or a pushover. So this response was just another way for him to show that he could handle himself.

Murasaki, turned to the group again. "I agree with Kohaku's assessment. Most of us seem capable" (another jab at Hanzou) "to handle this if we split up so I am okay with whoever I end up with." The boy then looked at the Akari, the only clan he actually respected to some degree. It was the Tushykage that abolished slavery to begin with, well at least he was in power. So that earned at least a couple of points in his book

Although he didn't outwardly show it, Murasaki was somewhat pleased to be with a group as a whole. He would even face Nikkou and state "It's nice to meet you" along with turning to Kohaku and noting "and you too. What idea did you have for splitting up teams?"[/color]

OOCShow

3!!

[Drak]

Hanzou bristled at the dismissiveness with which Murasaki had treated him, and continued to treat him as he proceeded to greet his two teammates.
“You don’t think what you specialize in would hel- Then why are you here?” Hanzou asked in exasperation, almost shouting the second part. “And now the kiddo wants to fight me. Goddamn, didn’t think we’d need to be dealing with a petulant child on our mission. How is it that Maho handled herself better than this guy?”

Throwing his hands up, Hanzou walked in a little circle and took a deep breath. He ended his rotation looking up at Kohaku.

“How about this? You and dipshit over here,” he pointed a thumb over his shoulder at Murasaki. “Can form a team. Me and Nikkou can form another. They said the sightings are centered around this intersection right here, so each group can take a direction on each street and meet back up in the middle. If any of us see something we can make some noise and get the other group over. I for one heard some creepy laughter on my way over here so I’ve got one lead right there.”

Hanzou took a few steps away from the group in the direction that he had come from.

“Oh, and in case the ghost can transform, we should think of a code to identify each other. How about ‘Rock Pizza’?”

Edit: 1!

[HotelBravo]

"I don't think what I specialize in would help with this mission, and I don't wish to just merely tell you" Murasaki had responded to Hanzou as the latter attempted to organize the group to some degree. "Although I am happy to display it so you could see it up close and personal if you like."

“You don’t think what you specialize in would hel- Then why are you here?” Hanzou puffed up like a porcupine in Nikkou’s eyes. ”I was kind of wondering the same thing.” Nikkou added in a comment to Hanzou under her breath. “And now the kiddo wants to fight me. Goddamn, didn’t think we’d need to be dealing with a petulant child on our mission. How is it that Maho handled herself better than this guy?” He took a deep breath and seemed to calm himself down. Nikkou really sympathized with how he felt.

"My name is Kohaku, Akari. I'm a Taijutsu specialist." Kohaku answered. He immediately began to speak again. "We need to devise a plan of attack. Splirring up is probably the best option, but I say we go in teams." Nikkou folded her arms and tapped impatiently while he gave his directive. Once again he was taking the lead and it hadn’t even been two seconds since they had gotten here. Nikkou was actually already in a rather sour mood so it actually rubbed her the wrong way. She said nothing in this instance though because she told herself that she had already forgiven whatever perceived slights Kohaku had committed against her, so it wasn’t fair to bring them up again when supposedly they had resolved the dispute. Even if he had never said sorry, just a little bit of time was all Nikkou needed to calm down and consider all right in the world. At least as much as it could be.

His demeanor made her think of Kohaku, but then that wasn’t exactly right. It was like Kohaku without the good parts, and Jizz Sword. "I agree with Kohaku's assessment. Most of us seem capable" Murasaki looked at the rest of the group. "to handle this if we split up so I am okay with whoever I end up with." Then finally he decided to return the greeting to Nikkou and Kohaku. "It's nice to meet you" He then turned to Kohaku and added "and you too. What idea did you have for splitting up teams?"

“How about this? You and dipshit over here,” Hanzou thrusted a thumb over his shoulder at Murasaki. “Can form a team. Me and Nikkou can form another. They said the sightings are centered around this intersection right here, so each group can take a direction on each street and meet back up in the middle. If any of us see something we can make some noise and get the other group over. I for one heard some creepy laughter on my way over here so I’ve got one lead right there.” Hanzou took a few steps then paused. “Oh, and in case the ghost can transform, we should think of a code to identify each other. How about ‘Rock Pizza’?”

Nikkou didn’t feel like her energetic self, but then her energetic self had always been a lie. Despite how she was feeling at the moment she put herself together, she slapped her face with both hands twice to get the blood flowing. Let the show begin. ”AAAAAAALRIGHT! Lets fucking GOOOO! I’m going to catch that ghost before any of you!” She pointed accusingly at both Kohaku, Hanzou, and Murasaki, but mostly at Kohaku. ”I gotta show off today thats for sure, you better not get in my way so I can look at least a little bit cool in front of our guest, you got it? Lets GoOOO HANZOU FASTER!!!” She pulled her board out tossed it on the ground where it lay flatly because it had no wheels and jumped onto the top of it so it began to slide across the icy terrain. She reached her hand out to grab Hanzou and yank him onto her board with her as she whooped and hollered as they slid away and she skillfully built momentum. Her hair would be flying into his face if he joined her.

OOC: I pick number 4 phpBB [video]

[King of Cats]

With a not so surprised grimace on his face, Kohaku watched Hanzou and Murasaki begin a fued. Such was the life of a ninja in team 21, or at least that's what Kohaku thought. It seemed everyone was charged with emotions and Kohaku was just soaking it up this time, instead of fighting with Nikkou. It was interesting to see Hanzou dislike someone, he was a rascal to say the least and his attitude was humrours. Kohaku hoped the two would fist fight after the mission, he was betting on Murasaki. It was always the angsty kids who were hiding a special power. Kohaku stood there watching the scene with a look of slight displeasure. Just once he wished to get through a mission without fighting each other.

When Nikkou and Hanzou skated off, Kohaku and Murasaki were left standing in the snowy street alone, again. Kohaku coughed awkwardly, not sure how to start conversation. After a momentary pause he said to his teammate, "Sorry about those two. Hanzou ain't that bad, you just gotta get over the bravado." Kohaku pointed in the opposite direction that Nikkou and Hanzou skated off to. "We should head this way. The ghost could be anywhere, but it can't be faster than us. If we cover enough ground tonight, we can find this bitch tonight and make short work of this mission." Kohaku stuck a thumbs up at Murasaki, then darted off running at full speed into the night.

[Texas]

Mursaki watched as Hanzou was a bolstering buffoon not knowing why Murasaki was there, and then took note of Nikkou's energy as she excitedly headed in the same direction as him. Every part of his fiber wanted to shout "Good Luck" with sarcasm, but instead he rested his arms from being folded and let them hand down naturally. He didn't mind if Kohaku saw them, but in general Murasaki wasn't a big fan of advertising his true purpose of being around ninja. It wasn't about wanting to, that's for sure.

The boy stood there and looked at Kohaku. His expression stayed the same on his face... well expressionless would be the right word. Simply resting Murasaki addressed Kohaku's apology. "You don't need to apologize for them. If they feel like they did something wrong, they can apologize themselves." A lesson that was learned in his past when he acted out when he was even younger. Murasaki in general was ahead of his time as far as maturity went. He had to grow up fast to survive mentally in the environment he was forced into. Especially after being recruited by the military.

In general Murasaki agreed with with Kohaku, better to push through and get this figured out. In terms of how the mission was laid out, it seems like a nonthreatening (well physically) ghost would require some kind of conversation. However, what would make this spirit go to rest? What was it truly doing? All questions that could be answered by whatever group encountered the spirit.

The boy watched as Kohaku gave him a thumbs up. Without any true expression he would turn and start following the Akari. As they ran, the boy would begin to ask questions. He had a couple after they were answered.

"So I noticed that Nikkou didn't say her last name. Is she part of a clan like you guys?"

There would only be a very slight pause, before he continued.

"You guys seem rather old to be genin, do you have any goals?"

It goes without saying Murasaki wasn't used to social interactions. In fact, he has for the most part been told what to do and has done it. It hasn't been until Slavery ended and he was given a contract, that he was able to make choices specific to himself. This also came with more freedom and more social interactions. Intro to talking would have done him wonders....


Nikkou

[Drak]

Hanzou let out a surprised shout as Nikkou grabbed him by the arm and yanked him onto her moving board. He had never been on a skateboard, or a snowboard, or whatever you would call the ersatz contraption that they were using to traverse the icy street, and when Nikkou let go he immediately began to lose his balance. His shinobi training was enough to prevent him from toppling over immediately, and he cast his arms out to his sides for balance. Then they began to pick up speed and Hanzou's balance teetered again. One particularly close brush with falling sent his arms windmilling for balance until his hands found Nikkou’s waist which he quickly grabbed ahold of to keep balance.

Using his squadmate for balance came with the upside of keeping him from a face full of pavement, but the downside of a face full of hair.

“Damn how the hell - ptheh - do you stay on this - ptoo - thing?” Hanzou asked, pausing a few times to spit Nikkou's hair out of his mouth as it was blown in. It had a distinct mango smell, but tasted like, well, like hair and mango-scented soap.

“Hey! Hey! Hold up! Stop here! This is where I heard something laughing at me!” Hanzou shouted as they sped towards the creepy, dark alley he had passed on his way to meet everyone, taking his right hand off of Nikkou’s waist to point the way. “Freaky-ass child laughter from over there.”

When – through what was equivalent to a miracle of navigation to Hanzou’s untrained feet – Nikkou brought her board to a halt, Hanzou let go of her and wobbled off the board. He took in the scene around him. It was an alley much like any other: dark, grimey, damp, smelling vaguely of the garbage that littered it. No ghosts or creepy laughter were immediately noticeable.

“Hmmmmmm,” Hanzou scanned the alley and turned back to Nikkou. “Maybe it moved.”

A moment passed. Hanzou glanced over at Nikkou’s board again.

“Hey, Nikkou,” he started haltingly. “What um… what’s with your board? Did I just miss all that edgy shit on it the last times I saw you?”

[HotelBravo]

Nikkou was drowning in the sensation of the rush as she navigated the street. It wasn’t quite the same as doing so on a skateboard, but the ice was slick enough to allow her to move easily even with a passenger. He had wrapped his arms around her waist, and she just grinned - she felt like she could much more safely go even faster than before. “Damn how the hell - ptheh - do you stay on this - ptoo - thing?” Hanzou kept spitting. ”Haha! Yeah! Isn’t it great?” Then she glanced over her shoulder. ”Wait a minute are you spitting in my hair?” It certainly put a damper on the fun, but as quick to Anger as Nikkou was, she was also quick to forgive as well. After the momentary annoyance she let out a carefree laugh once she realized what was happening and that her hair was flying into her face. She had never considered tying up her hair before. She liked the feeling when it flew free in the air behind her. She pulled out some wire and made a loop with it, cutting the excess. She maintained her balance while she took her long waist length hair and held it in her hand like a pony tail, she begun to twist it several times to bunch her hair up and then folded the twist in on itself, she used the wire to wrap around the tail end and the base to keep it in place. ”Hey Let me borrow a couple of senbon.”

“Freaky-ass child laughter from over there.” Hanzou said. Nikkou reacted quickly, she had to release her hair and hold her hands out and crouch down. She angled the board against the direction they were moving to cause friction to bring the thing to a stop. Unfortunately the work on her hair had been undone. ”I guess this is our stop. Actually that was a lot of fun lets do that again!” Hanzou started looking down the alley. “Hmmmmmm,” Hanzou turned is head back to her and she held out her hand for a high five. “Maybe it moved.”

”Oh hell yeah, I just got an idea - what if we did tricks together?” If just riding on the board together was that fun surely doing tricks would be even more so. She clapped her hand eagerly as she thought of some tricks they could do. Something easy since Hanzou wasn’t used to the board yet. She kicked the board back into her hand and was half daydreaming when she was pulled out of it by Hanzou’s voice. “Hey, Nikkou,” He started.

”Huh?”

“What um… what’s with your board? Did I just miss all that edgy shit on it the last times I saw you?”

Nikkou looked down at the scribbles on the board and frowned. Her good mood was completely ruined. ”Damn it.” The hurt feelings had returned. It was not so simple to get a skateboard in Iwagakure. Ninja didn’t exactly care for them and Nikkou seemed to be the only one. Just screw it. She didn’t need reminders. She angrily hurled the board as if it were a fuuma shuriken into the alley way until it stuck into a business sized garbage can, having pierce the bin’s side. She formed a few hand seals and held up her fingers in a ring and breathed out a fireball at the board, the sustained fire melted through the finish until the blaze caught onto the board on its own. She dropped the jutsu.

”It’s not so simple. Everybody Loves the fucking Enkouten, but I hate them. I’m constantly being punished by them for little infractions and they are constantly looking over my shoulder. They stole six years of my life! I didn’t get a chance to be a kid. Then they do shit like what they did to my board all the time. Its a punishment. They believe in the ‘sanctity’ of life and since the laws changed removing slavery here they haven’t forced me to do any kind of forced labor - but Forced labor is what I did for six years! I never wanted to be a shinobi, and I don’t give a fuck about crafting things in the forges. I just want to feel the wind blow through my hair as I skate around, and maybe have someone nice on my skateboard with me wrapping their hands around my waist. It was a good feeling. The only reason I’m a kunoichi at all is because its one of the most respected jobs in the clan, and if I’m lucky some bastard will gut me while I’ out on a mission so I don’t have to come home.”

She gave a hefty sigh and sat down on the icy ground with her back against the alley wall. ”I set the Clan compound on fire before I came out here for this mission. If I don’t show off that I’m too valuable a shinobi to punish, Hanzou, they’re going to punish me again. Our little war keeps escalating. I wonder how long until I end up in jail. Anyway, Lets find that fucking ghost, I don’t want to talk about the Enkouten.” Nikkou stood up and walked up the side of the wall to climb to the top of the building so she could get a much better vantage point.

[King of Cats]

Running down the street with Murasaki, Kohaku's ebony locks freely flew in the wind. He looked forward with his red eyes, surveying the shadows for any signs of a ghost. Kohaku had a firm image in his mind of what kind of opponent he would find, but he ertainly didn't know what to expect from the ghost. The anomaly was a restless spirit, lost in the material plane and longing for a purpose unfathomable to humans. Kohaku didn't know exactly how he would subdue a spirit. He was hoping a stern talking to would work, but that wasn't exactly Kohaku's specialty either. Kohaku was friendly, but he wasn't exactly charming. The awkward teen would have to breakthrough some new skills if he was the one to face the ghost.

As the two ninja Murasaki and Kohaku, ran through the streets they talked to each other. Kohaku spoke with a firm tone, confident in what he said and clearly trying to impress Murasaki. What he was trying to impress Murasaki with wasn't clear. Perhaps it was politeness. "Nikkou is an Enkouten. I don't know much about her, but she definitely keeps a grudge. I'd watch out for that one." Kohaku spun his finger around his ear, signaling that Nikkou was in fact looney.

The two kept chatting, but they quickly confronted the elephant in the room. Murasaki asked Kohaku about his age. "I graduated from the academy when I was ten. Eight years ago. I've just been whittling away at other stuff. College, work, stuff like that." It was partly true. Kohaku had taken some college courses on business management. His father always suggested the teenager look into owning his own proprietorship, but in truth that wasn't what kept Kohaku as a genin for so long. Kohaku had fallen into a deep depression after consuming his first shiin in the Akari arena. When the boy realized his penchant for devouring his clan mates, something in him broke. Kohaku was changed forever that day, but he certainly wasn't going to burden Murasaki with the sadness of it all. Kohaku smiled as he told Murasaki his half truth, a convincing liar to say the least.

When the two of them came to the end of the street they stopped and looked down the next turn. It was a westtbound street and the snow seemed to be falling extra hard down it. In fact there was a clear difference in the two streets. The one the two had just darted down had a light dusting of snow, and the next road was covered in a downpour. The wind whipped up down avenue, and Kohaku got the chills looking down it. They weren't prophetic chills, but instead they were cold chills. The temperature was at least fifteen degrees cooler and the wind was carrying this cold to Kohaku and Murasaki.

Speaking with confidence, Kohaku said to Murasaki, "Well, something's up. It shouldn't be this cold here. We should check it out." Kohaku gestured for Murasaki to lead him down the street.

As they walked down the street, Kohaku spoke to the ninja he was partnered with candidly. "So what's your deal Murasaki? Why the attitude? You get some bad news recently? Besides working with us?" Kohaku folded his arms as he spoke, suffering from the chill in the air.