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.

[Texas]

It was oddly cold. Almost, unnecessarily cold. Something was off, but Murasaki couldn't put his finger on it. It wasn't the cheap cologne or scent that Kohaku put on, that wouldn't change the entire temperature of an area... although it could clear a room all the same. Murasaki ran with his senior, only in age, a step behind to allow him to lead the path. During their ninja running, the blue haired child would continuously look around the area to make sure he is keeping a visual just in case.

Murasaki expected to be asked a similar question, but the way Kohaku phrased it almost stopped him in his tracks. He really did loathe this situation. Explain himself? How could he while they were literally hunting a dead child that was haunting people. This wasn't the time or place, but maybe the boy could explain in layman's terms so that this thick skulled Neanderthal could understand.

As they ran, he would first address Kohaku's answers to his questions. "That's admirable. There are other great and lucrative things to do other than be a ninja and still help Rock Country as a whole." The cold was in fact getting worse, so much so Murasaki agreed. "I'll follow your lead, it seems like if we follow the cold, we will get closer." Was this true? Well it kept getting colder, so how could it not be!

Internally the boy was getting excited, but it was clouded by his anxiety to properly answer the wild eyed clan member next to him. The boy used his normal monotone voice, stating everything plain as day. "I do not have an attitude, this is who I am. I will try to be less blunt, but I cannot guarantee it." Murasaki's history is a bit jaded, if Kohaku saw the tattoo on his hand he probably would have an idea of his history or at least a slight understanding. As they kept running it got colder. At one point, he thought he saw someone walk around a corner. The boy would use his right hand naturally to point at the location. "Something moved over there!"

[Drak]

Hanzou reciprocated Nikkou’s high five. Then, instead of answering whether or not he wanted to do some tricks he asked about the defacement of Nikkou’s board. The moment he saw the degree to which her expression soured, he knew he’d made a mistake. When she tossed the board, he even thought it might be a fatal one; a feeling that was only reinforced when he saw the board go clear through the side of a dumpster.

“Shit, what the f-” he was interrupted by Nikkou’s fireball which ignited the board and the trash it was nestled into. “What the fuck?” he asked again, this time with a greater intensity.

Goddamn psycho. What was that?

When she went into her explanation, Hanzou’s indignant, horrified surprise started to melt away, and by the end of it he almost even looked sympathetic.

“Shit,” he said sympathetically, letting the word hang in the air for a moment. “I didn’t know.” He briefly weighed the merits of objecting to “Everyone loves the Enkouten.” After all, they had little but disdain for the Fukusha, and the Fukusha tended to respond in kind. He decided against it, and by that point it seemed like it would be weird to add anything else on. Without another word, Hanzou followed Nikkou up the wall, a curtain of awkward silence having descended between the pair.

Man, after our spar and the damn rat mission I knew that happy exterior wasn’t the whole her, but goddamn I didn’t realize just how not her it was. I feel bad for her, and bad for asking. This is all kind of my fault. I want to cheer her up but it seems like everything I could say would make things worse.

As they crept up the building, another tidbit from her outburst cast its shadow on Hanzou's thoughts. Wait: what was that about wanting someone to wrap their hands around her waist? Was that about me just now? I didn’t even mean to do that, but that was kind of a smooth move on my part huh. Shit though, bringing up the skateboard seems like a bad idea, but then again, fuck it.

“Um,” Hanzou spoke up haltingly when they reached the roof, doing his best to break the awkwardness. “I would have been down to learn some tricks. If you hadn’t….” …tossed that shit and burned it like a psycho? Nah, that’s bad don’t say that she’ll throw you in the dumpster and burn you up. I want to make this better, not worse. He cut that thought off with a “yeah.” Nikkou knew the rest. He didn’t need to tell her.

Instead, Hanzou dug around in his jacket pocket and produced a pack of cigarettes. He tapped two cigarettes out. He put one between his lips and tucked the other behind his ear. With a snap of his fingers the cigarette in his mouth ignited.

I can't just… not say anything, can I? That had to be about me. This might be a bad time, but she’s also the one who mentioned it. And again, it’s not like I grabbed onto her on purpose, but it’s also not like I hated it or anything. I just gotta play it cool.

“Also… if you thought it was nice,” he half-mumbled, “I could maybe be convinced to hold your waist like that again.” He turned his head away, ostensibly to avoid blowing smoke at Nikkou. In reality he was trying to hide his embarrassment at having said something like that.

“If you play your cards right,” he added with a grin and renewed energy and assertiveness in his voice, clearly his idea of playing it cool. “That can be for later. For now though, we've got a ghost to catch before stink-man Kohaku and the baby do, and I know just the critter to help us.”

Flying through hand seals and placing his hand on the ground between them, Hanzou shadow summoned Ankou. The salamander spirit crawled up from the roof of the building and perched on Hanzou’s shoulder. Again, it plucked the cig from behind Hanzou's ear and began to smoke.

“Hey, it's that chick from before!” Ankou croaked.

“I also thought that seeing this geezer might cheer you up a little,” Hanzou blurted out, the confidence of his previous comments still there, but waning.

“You know what I bet would really cheer her-” Hanzou reached his hand over his shoulder and clamped the spirit’s mouth shut.

“That’s enough about that. Ankou, think you can help us find a ghost?”

[HotelBravo]

“Shit,” Hanzou started. “I didn’t know.” The words seemed to be laden with sympathy for her but she had a hard time believing in it. Of course her situation would seem sympathetic, but the moment anyone realized that she had been a criminal and probably deserved the punishments all the sympathy would be gone. She had just been a kid! They just rode around having fun and hanging out - something people called loitering. When some of the people she had once thought were friends had been caught by the authorities they had ratted out the rest of the group and for some reason everyone pointed to her as having been the leader of the group. Hanzou was digging into his pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes. Nikkou didn’t much care for the habit, it reminded her of the forges of Enkouten, and the smoke seemed to bother Enkoutens so little. They were just used to it. As long as he didn’t litter, because she had to clean up so much litter during her community service that it had made her physically sick.

She had turned her attention away from Hanzou was searching for any signs of the ghost while he had his cigarette. She didn’t care if he slacked off, she was going to drag him to the win if she had to. She held up her hand to her eyes to block the ambient lights of the city so she could have a better field of vision in the dark as she gazed. “Also… if you thought it was nice,” Hanzou was mumbling. Nikkou paused what she was doing looking back to him. She hadn’t heard what he had said clearly because he had mumbled. ”What did you say?” She asked him. “I could maybe be convinced to hold your waist like that again.” He turned his head and breathed out a pillar of smoke, the plume disappearing into the night. He was hiding his face and embarrassment, so Nikkou didn’t see the expression on his face. “If you play your cards right,” She was still formulating her thoughts about that statement when he spoke again. A grin was stretched across his face and he held more energy and confidence in his voice.

”Yeah! That would be fun!” She mirrored his tone and enthusiasm, but why had his earlier tone lacked the confident tone? Nikkou put her hands on her own waist to remember the sensation. She had liked being held. She didn’t realize how much she had liked being held. She wasn’t a person that enjoyed being touched, in the past that sensation came with being restrained and she hated being restrained more than anything else in the world. What had it been about that time in particular that she enjoyed? The freedom, the wind in her hair, and the arms around her waist. She should hate the sensation right? She didn’t like being touched normally. Nikkou had already admitted that she had enjoyed the sensation but right now she wasn’t sure why she had or if she actually did want to do that again. She did think skateboarding was fun, and wouldn’t say no if Hanzou wanted to learn

“That can be for later. For now though, we've got a ghost to catch before stink-man Kohaku and the baby do, and I know just the critter to help us.” To work then. Hanzou formed the summoning jutsu handseals and slapped his hand against the ground. The sealing formula expanded from his hand and the Salamander Ankou appeared in a puff of smoke. The creature climbed onto Hanzou’s back and took the cigarette, lit it, and began to smoke. “Hey, it's that chick from before!” The Salamander said.

“I also thought that seeing this geezer might cheer you up a little,” Hanzou said. Ah, Nikkou understood now. He was just being nice. Fuck. She realized now that she had been hoping for something different although she didn’t know what that was. There was a strange disappointment she felt in the pit of her stomach, but she thought that it was really unfair to be disappointed when she didn’t know what she had been waiting for. It was unfair.

“You know what I bet would really cheer her-” The Salamander began, and Nikkou gave it a curious glance - because she too was wondering what might cheer her up. “That’s enough about that. Ankou, think you can help us find a ghost?” He pinched the Salamander’s mouth closed.

”He can’t help while you got his mouth shut like that.” Nikkou said lightly. Then she hopped in place so that her feet were square with her shoulders. She took her hands and slapped herself in the face multiple time. They were hard as well, enough to sting. The pain would help her reset her mood. There! Now turn on the energy! ”ALRIGHT! LET’S FUCKING GOOOO! We gotta find that ghost before those edgelords do!” She looked around where she was again from her vantage and seeing nothing decided it was time to move.

”Lets go Hanzou I don’t see her from here!” Nikkou ran to the other building and leapt across the gap.

[King of Cats]

Walking down the street with Murasaki, the two chatted in as friendly a manner as Murasaki would allow. Kohaku was a friendly guy, though he had his own quirks that made him seem edgy; Murasaki wasn't nearly as friendly as Kohaku, but he seemed to be warming up to the idea of working with a team member. Kohaku smiled as he talked with Murasaki, his eyes patrolling the streets for any sign of a ghost. The two seemed to be getting along well. Kohaku didn't mind Murasaki's bluntness, he just found it hard to swallow as a team member on a mission. That fact was largely due to Kohaku being naive though. Nevertheless he aimed to befriend his team member. Murasaki had an interesting demeanor to say the least.

As Kohaku talked with Murasaki, and thought about how much he favored him to Nikkou, his eyes were firmly glued to the backdrop around them. Kohaku was looking for any sort of hint that a ghost may have entered the area. As they walked the two of them endured chilling temperatures, Kohaku rubbed his hands together for warmth as they walked closer to where the ghost was. It would take them about twenty minutes of walking down the street, about a mile in length, but eventually the two of them would be presented with a ghost sighting.

Squinting his eyes, Kohaku was staring at a trash can. it seemed like it was moving, and Kohaku assumed that there was a ghost at work. He stopped walking and said to Murasaki, "See tha-!" A cat suddenly jumped out of garbage can, holding a large piece of spam in her mouth. The meat was remarkably clean, and the queen looked happy. She started walking off to feed her baby, when suddenly a flash of chakra appeared before the cat. A giggling could be made out, somewhere within twenty meters around the two Genin, and then the cat shot off into the distance. The cat ran and ran, but it didn't go anywhere. It looked like it was running on a treadmill.

Kohaku and Murasaki were just begining to know it but the ghost was in their presence. The ghost had just expanded space before the cat, and the Genin were next.

[Texas]

What a pain, it didn't take long before Murasaki noticed the cat stop moving. How could an innocent cat get hurt! The boy acted quick and weaved a couple of hand signs before he kicked the heal of his foot against the ground. The child would then bend down as the earth went and shackled two of the cat's legs. His arms would reach the chains and the boy would whip those earth chains with momentum and send the chain backwards. The cat would stay in place but the chain would drag the non-moving cat up in the air and behind his head. The boy named after a popular color would whip the cat behind and send it flying as if it was a failed team rocket burglary.

As the cat descended from the air and got some distance, Murasaki would release the jutsu allowing the cat to land on all 4's on a building. Murasaki turned with no expressions on his face and noted to Kohaku, "Cats always land on their feet" before he turned back and looked towards the freezing cold. It was a weird situation they were in, and what was happening was beyond the boy's experience or knowledge.

Before he could truly process the situation, a child followed by a mist would take a couple steps around the corner and face them. In that moment, it was freezing cold and Murasaki couldn't move. He would make a snide comment and try to clench his muscles in an attempt to make a minor movement in the future if needed. " Well Team Leader... what do we do now?" With emphasis on the team leader part, Murasaki waited for the right call... or the wrong call. He was sure that it was still better than his.

Jutsu UsedShow

For the sake of comedy, the jutsu had a chain attached to it. In a normal instance, this would be just bindings on the opponent.
*Doton • Binding Formation
D-Rank Ninjutsu
After channeling doton chakra into their foot the user will slam the ground within 5 meters of a target's feet with their heel, causing a formation of rock to shoot upwards at [Control] speed binding the target's feet at [Control] strength

[Drak]

Say it again. She didn’t hear you; say it again!

It was too late for Hanzou to take the advice of that particular whisper in the back of his mind. He had already painted bluster back onto his words. Nikkou’s response seemed positive, and yet not quite what Hanzou had expected. Maybe it would have been better to go and give her a hug now: pull her close, show Nikkou that he cared, that she wasn’t alone. Instead, he had suggested they go back to the mission at hand. He was summoning a lecherous salamander to help them find a ghost. When Ankou emerged, Hanzou thought he could see a flash of displeasure ripple momentarily across Nikkou’s face. I thought she liked Ankou… when we first met she shoved me out of the way to get at him. Wait, was she hoping that we would get another minute alone? Shit.

”He can’t help while you got his mouth shut like that.”

Hanzou sighed, chuckled, and removed his hand from Ankou’s face.

“That’s better! Now what’s this about a ghost?”

“There’s a ghost on the loose around here. It’s been hurting people, and we’ve been tasked with chasing it down. I figured since you’re a spirit you might know a thing or two about finding them.”

Ankou shrugged.

“I can do my best to smell it, but by the time I do that it might already be on you.”

Nikkou was hyping herself up while Hanzou filled Ankou in on the situation, and the moment he finished she took off running and jumped to the next building. Hanzou ran after her, and Ankou wrapped his tail around his waist to hang on. He smiled as he looked ahead at Nikkou. She looked like she was having a great time jumping from building to building.

As they ran, Ankou’s nostrils flared.

“Hey kid,” he croaked. “Look left.”

Hanzou slowed slightly. He could see a mysterious glowing mist wafting up from a nearby alley across the street. It was in the quadrant that Kohaku and Murasaki had taken. It would take them a short time to get there, so hopefully the pair could stand their ground for at least a few minutes.

Part of me was hoping we'd look around for a while without seeing anything. Maybe get another minute to talk to her. Try to unbungle earlier.

“Yo!” Hanzou skidded to a stop. “Nikkou! Stop! Look over there!”

Hanzou pointed out where the mist was coming from.

“That’s from where Kohaku and Murasaki are. Seems worth checking out, don't you think?”

[HotelBravo]

“Yo! Nikkou! Stop! Look over there!”

Nikkou glanced over her shoulders at Hanzou and the salamander that was closely clinging onto his waist with its tail. She came to a halt, sliding on the slick roof tops and nearing the edge. She engaged the wall walking technique to give herself traction and then looked where Hanzou was pointing, following his finger and eyes. “That’s from where Kohaku and Murasaki are. Seems worth checking out, don't you think?” Hanzou explained. There seemed to be a mist which was uncharacteristic of the weather. Usually any kind of fog formed over night or via precipitation. In this instance there seemed to be an eerie glowing mist rising out of a particular street. It was possibly steam, but steam didn’t glow

”Man! We should have gone that way.” The disappointment was heavy in Nikkou’s voice. ”C’mon Hanzou maybe we can still beat them to it!” Nikkou took off in a bolt in that direction. Running at her full speed and jumping from rooftop to rooftop was a great feeling. As she leapt between one particular set of roofs she closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation of weightlessness as she moved through the air. She could feel her breath turn to mist in the cold air, she could feel the burning in her legs and arms from the taxing parkour. It wasn’t unpleasant though. It was just light enough to feel alive. Yeah! She opened her eyes after she landed and continued until she made it to the street where the mist was happening.

She looked down and clucked her tongue. Those two were already there.

[HotelBravo]

“Yo! Nikkou! Stop! Look over there!”

Nikkou glanced over her shoulders at Hanzou and the salamander that was closely clinging onto his waist with its tail. She came to a halt, sliding on the slick roof tops and nearing the edge. She engaged the wall walking technique to give herself traction and then looked where Hanzou was pointing, following his finger and eyes. “That’s from where Kohaku and Murasaki are. Seems worth checking out, don't you think?” Hanzou explained. There seemed to be a mist which was uncharacteristic of the weather. Usually any kind of fog formed over night or via precipitation. In this instance there seemed to be an eerie glowing mist rising out of a particular street. It was possibly steam, but steam didn’t glow

”Man! We should have gone that way.” The disappointment was heavy in Nikkou’s voice. ”C’mon Hanzou maybe we can still beat them to it!” Nikkou took off in a bolt in that direction. Running at her full speed and jumping from rooftop to rooftop was a great feeling. As she leapt between one particular set of roofs she closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation of weightlessness as she moved through the air. She could feel her breath turn to mist in the cold air, she could feel the burning in her legs and arms from the taxing parkour. It wasn’t unpleasant though. It was just light enough to feel alive. Yeah! She opened her eyes after she landed and continued until she made it to the street where the mist was happening.

She looked down and clucked her tongue. Those two were already there.

[King of Cats]

The ghost, codenamed Monty, stood on the sidewalk in front of Murasaki and Kohaku. The two Genin were certainly in shock. Murasaki asked Kohaku what to do and Kohaku answered him promptly, "That, I don't know.. Let's try talking to her. Him. Whatever." Kohaku reached into his utility pouch and grabbed a kunai, just in case. He held it in his left hand and made sure not to make another movement.

The ghost saw Shiroyasha reach behind his back and grab a kunai, the spirit cried out "Leave me alone!" The ghost had the voice of a girl. Monty picked her hand up and released a wave of chakra into the air. A mist formed in the air between the Genin and the ghost. The mist was a field of expanded space, the two Genin would never reach the ghost at this rate, and behind the ghost was a brick wall. The ghost was cornered, but at what cost.

Kohaku wasn't sure what the ghost had just done, but basing it's actions on the previous display of Jikkukan, Shiro deduced some kind of space-time barrier ha been placed between them. "Dont step forward. We don't know what this ghost is capable of." Kohaku felt like he was stating the obvious, but it certainly didn't hurt to take the lead. It seemed he was the dedicated boss of the missions, at least lately. He didn't like that. Kohaku didn't consider himself a leader, he had yet to grow into the role. This was but one of the first of many times he would learn how to safely guide others.

Calling out to the ghost, Kohaku said, "We're here to help you. Tell us, what's your name." Kohaku telled unnecessarily loud, hoping to get the attention of Hanzou and Nikkou. It was a long shot.

The ghost was crying and said to Kohaku, "My name is Akira. I'm lost. I was safe and quiet, then someone released me from my nap." The ghost stopped it's feet, releasing a sparkling powder around her. "I want to go home. I've been gone for so long, my mommy is gone!" Akira started screaming a ghostly wail.

[Texas]

Reaching for a Kunai? Murasaki couldn't help but fold his arms in visual disappointment. Had this Akari really never read a single manga or learned nothing from conspiracies? The boy gazed upon the ghost girl as she released the mist, it was clear that she was nothing but startled. It only took a few words before the girl was crying and telling the duo that she had missed her mom and was lost.

However, Murasaki was uneasy, his earrings ringed only for a moment until the mist settled. What didn't waiver was Murasaki's position or his arms folded. Their sole mission right now should be to help this ghost. However, the reports stated that people were getting lured and injured to sewers. Based on this interaction solely, the people reporting their injuries were lying..... Or this ghost was lying.

A ghost in general was close to unbelievable, however if this was real.. then would it really be out of the question for this ghost to have a true inept capability of being truly mischievous. "Kohaku" he softly said, hoping the ghost couldn't hear. "Do not get too close." There was no proof that this being was evil, but there was no proof that it was good either, which left the young Military Slave weary of the situation. Before we do anything, there was enough commotion for the other two to arrive. We should help this girl as a group."

[Drak]

Hanzou sprinted after Nikkou in the direction of the ghostly mist. Hanzou stayed a little behind Nikkou

“So what’s going on there?” Ankou croaked, too quiet for Nikkou to hear. “Seems like I interrupted something when you summoned me.”

“Shut up.”

“She seems nice. Not bad to look at either.”

Hanzou grunted in vague assent. He couldn’t disagree, but didn’t want to give Ankou the satisfaction. Not only would he never live it down, but the salamander was sure to say something weird to Nikkou. Besides, they were quickly coming up on the source of the mist. Careening around a corner, Hanzou skidded to a stop next to Nikkou. The scene was creepy to say the least. Kohaku and Murasaki were facing the ghost, seemingly getting ready for a fight. At the other end of the alley, the ghostly form of a girl could be made out through the mist which seemed to ripple and distort space like light passing through moving water.

"Yeah, I think that's a ghost," Ankou blurted out, pointing at the spirit.

Slowly walking towards Kohaku and Murasaki, Hanzou took a supporting position between and behind the pair.

“Kohaku, Babyface, looks like you found the ghost! What happened? You piss it off?” he whispered, hoping that his words would be hidden from the ghost.

[HotelBravo]

Nikkou looked over the alley way from the top of the roof, she kept her presence hidden and decided that she would watch and wait for an opportunity to support her team from above. The Ghost was at the end of the alley and she was on the roof of one of the buildings forming the alley way directly next to the ghost. Hanzou seemed to have descended onto the ground floor and made his way around the corner moved cautiously towards Kohaku and Murasaki. Nikkou couldn’t help but feel for the poor ghost girl. This was absolutely the worst team possible to be sent to deal with her situation. Kohaku and Murasaki were blunt and heartless. She was a reckless. Maybe Hanzou could manage? She held her tongue and placed pressure on her tongue with her teeth to help her keep from talking. She really had no right to criticize the others. She honestly should be much more developed in her shinobi training given her head start on these three. It was only years of neglect that put her on the same genin team as them, even though they all seemed to be of similar age. Her eyes focused back onto the situation. She was looking for opportunities to support, but it wasn’t exactly clear at this point what that was.

The Ghost Girl had began to speak and complained that someone had woken her up. Was she telling the truth? Nikkou couldn’t detect a lie, what did the Ghost gain from lying? IF she wasn’t lying that meant that someone with the power to bind spirits had used their techniques against the poor ghost girl. She likely would not be able to go to rest until the technique was released. Nikkou kept an eye out on the surrounding areas at this point, including above. There was possibly an assailant somewhere that had raised this girl’s spirit for some reason. If they didn’t reveal themselves then it would be up to Kohaku, Murasaki and Hanzou to play detective with the ghost girl and find out more about this unknown person. Specifically, what was there objective? If they knew the objective they would likely be able to predict what their next moves would be.

She would trust her companions despite how much displeasure she was feeling towards some of them.

[King of Cats]

Listening to Monty scream and cry was absolutely mind numbing for Kohaku. He hated when kids cried and this ghost was no better. Akira seemed to only be about eight years old, but that was still old enough for a spirit to be deceptive. Kohaku couldn't help but wonder if this ghost was lying about it's status as a ghost. From the sounds of it someone had torn this spirit from it's resting place and bound it to this world. Kohaku shuddered thinking about the type of misery he would be in if something like that were to disturb his final resting place. Kohaku was a bit scornful, he would probably be a vengeful ghost. The Genin wondered if the same was true about this child spirit.

"Akira, we're here to help you. You can release the barrier." Kohaku visibly stored his kunai back in the holster, hoping to show a sign of good faith to the ghost code named Monty. "My name is Kohaku, and this is Murasaki, and Hanzou, and Nikkou. We are ninja's from Iwagakure, do you think you can trust us?" Kohaku held his arms wide open as if he were about to hug the spirit. He was putting on the most chill face he possessed. Kohaku wasn't much of a speaker, but he knew how to talk to people and he had taken some classes on assuaging perpetrators in hostage situations. It felt a lot like he was the hostage in that moment.

The ghost was still crying loudly and screamed, "Kohaku! Leave me alone! You're ugly!" The ghost stuck up her middle finger at Kohaku, a ghostly trail of ectoplasm floating around her erect finger.

It felt like a ten thousand pound rock came hurtling down on Kohaku's shoulders when Monty told him he was ugly. Kohaku's face turned white and he let out a heavy sigh. He was speechless and just scratched his head looking at the ghost. Monty started screaming louder, to the point it would hurt someone's ears. "NOW!" The ghost commandedKohaku. Taking a step back, Kohaku stood next to Hanzou and Ankou now. It was up to the team.

[Texas]

The screaming and crying irked Murasaki. He loathed children and even adults that couldn't fully control their emotions. The child had a great conversation with Kohaku, in fact it was a great step forward to being friends. However, their talk put his guard down and had the child forget the interaction they had during their introduction. At the end of the day Kohaku was a moron. The blue haired boy heard Hanzou's voice which caused a slight vein of frustration to form on the side of his head. However, the vein grew even more with even more frustration as he watched the adult aged child fly by in a team rocket amount of speed leaving him behind the group. Due to the formation, this left Murasaki in front of the 3 stooges which meant he had to commit to at least trying to reason with the spirit child.

Although he didn't want to do it, his 7 year slave military contract dictated that he had to. So after it stopped raining Akari, the boy focused his turquoise eyes towards the spirit. When they locked eyes, Murasaki kept his cool with his hands in his pockets and made the grand attempt to ease the spirit as a whole.

"Look Akira, as funny as it was to watch you fling my coworker, you have to know that wasn't very nice."

Those words cut deep and the boy could tell that the girl became upset by being told she wasn't being nice. In fact, the main tell was her hair raised and he crying turned into anger. The genin tried to ease the situation by continue talking. "Maybe we can help. We are here to tr---------" Before he could finish his sentence Akira put her hand forward and shouted "NO YOU'RE MEAN!". The boy braced for impact and clenched his entire legs throughout. A gust of wind pushed Murasaki back, but due to bracing he slid back a meter to be behind the crew. The boy sighed and shrugged his shoulders. He tried his best, now it was up to the other two to give it the old college try.

[Drak]

Hanzou couldn’t help but snicker a little when the spirit called Kohaku ugly. Called him ugly and hit him with the one-fingered sal- The ghost’s command made Hanzou wince, his hands instinctively going up towards his ears. Kohaku complied with the ghost’s command, leaving Murasaki to confront the ghost. His approach too was to little avail and Akira sent him skidding back towards Hanzou and Kohaku. Hanzou gestured for Ankou to hop off his shoulder and wait by the others.

With an outstretched hand Hanzou caught Murasaki, helping to arrest his slide and steady him on his feet.

“I’m gonna try this my way,” Hanzou murmured to him. “Just play along. Try not to get too mad.”

Taking his hand from Murasaki’s back, Hanzou put on a confident, friendly smile. He put his hands up at his sides, palms towards Akira, fingers outstretched. He looked like he was making an especially casual, amenable surrender as he took a few steps towards the specter. The alleyway appeared to grow a little bit longer, sending the girl a step away with each step that Hanzou took. Taking notice of that, Hanzou stopped.

“Hey there,” he called out. “You don’t wanna deal with someone ugly: I get it. If he and I didn’t go way back I wouldn’t want to deal with him either. And you can’t even smell him, can you?”

Another step forward. This one wasn’t met by an equal expansion of the alleyway. The ectoplasmic haze around her also began to slow its swirling. Hope that’s a good sign.

“And don’t get me started on the mean one: Murasaki. He tried to fight me earlier. Don’t worry though, he’s all bark and no bite. He’s just pissed because he’s got a stick stuck up somewhere rude.”

Another few steps forward this time.

“He’s not gonna hurt you though. Neither is the ugly one. Neither am I, and neither is she,” he gestured up at where Nikkou was watching the events unfold. Hanzou had thought it prudent to not make it look like they were trying to ambush Akira.

“We’re just here to talk, Akira. I’m Hanzou. Can you come here and talk with us? I’d really rather you didn’t scream at me, or push me back, or make it look like there’s a tunnel on the wall so I run into it.”

It seemed like the ghost might be calming down a little. Hanzou stopped walking and waited for some sign that his little routine was having the desired effect.

[HotelBravo]

Nikkou hadn’t been planning on sneak attacking, only on providing support but suddenly she was called out by Hanzou. She cursed inwardly before sliding down the side of the wall. There was just something odd about this whole situation. The way that everyone was getting flung around by a spirit who wasn’t using any jutsu. Hanzou had begun to placate the ghost with his soothing words. How was Nikkou supposed to back him up on this? She looked to her other allies who looked just as lost as she was. What, was she supposed to know how to care for children just because she was a girl? Boys could be so cruel sometimes. In her analysis of the situation though Hanzou had only placated the ghost and they were no closer to resolving the situation than they were before. They needed to know more about the situation and the only one that had the information was this ghost.

”Don’t make fun of me for this.” she muttered under her breath so that only Hanzou could hear. Nikkou put on as an overly sweet and motherly demeanor she could, and did that thing with her voice that women did when caring for little children. ”Akira, sweetheart, can you tell us what your Mommy’s name, what she looks like, or where your house is?” She could hardly believe that she was capable of making this sound with her own voice, but as much as she didn’t care to share her gender with women, she was still a woman she supposed.

The Ghost seemingly placated by the motherly vibe seemed to take to Nikkou - maybe there was something to the baby voice that women did. The Ghost child approached Nikkou, and wanted to give her a hug for comfort but her arms passed through Nikkou and she was threatening to cry again. Nikkou shivered as she felt a sensation like someone just walked over her grave fill her. Ice water filled her veins. She shivered but kept her composure. ”I’m sorry - but don’t worry we’ll help you find your mommy and your home, does that sound okay?” Akira, the ghost girl nodded.

”My Mommy’s name is Akari Emiko.” Akira said. Nikkou paused and glanced at Kohaku hoping he had some direction.

[King of Cats]

It was uncanny to watch the ghost fight with everyone. It seemed neither Kohaku or Murasaki had a persuasive bone in their body. Scowling throughout the whole ordeal, Kohaku despised this job. But thankfully it was almost over. When Hanzou began to soothe the child, and Nikkou tag teamed her, the ghost acted agreeably for the first time. It started talking to Nikkou and Hanzou.

After telling Nikkou her mother's name, Akira began crying. Her cry was certainly annoying, but it didn't pierce ones soul like before. Instead of a defensive scream of anguish, Akira's was softly sobbing for the loss of her mother. The ghost held her fists to her eyes and gently cried. It was sad to most people, but Kohaku wasn't impressed. He didn't feel any compassionate bone in his body for ghosts. They were monsters, abberations of order and life itself. Kohaku turned away from the ghost and prepared his flare.

In his pocket, Kohaku kept a special flair fr Village business. Lighting it off in the air would alert the shinobi guard around, and someone would come who was equipped to deal with the spirit. Someone who understood Tenkujutsu. Ever since the spirit outbreak in Iwagakure no Sato, Tenkujutsu specialists were on the clock twenty four seven.

Reaching into his pocket, Kohaku grabbed the special flash bang seal and held a single hand seals. Once the seal was activated, Kohaku held out his left arm.

Deep withing the musculature of his left arm resided a special Shiin of the Akari clan that only Kohaku had awakened, in this century. The Kiroshiin was a scaly, grey limb made of muscle and skinew. Kohaku channeled chakra into the organ and it began to inflate. The shin quickly emerged out of a hole in Kohaku's left palm. If no one saw the Shiin emerging they would have never guessed that there was a hole to the inside of his body in his palm. The shin wrapped itself around Kohaku's wrist, and detached itself from his body. The shin measure dfive feet long, but it wrapped around Kohaku's wrist and fist nicely.

Slapping the seal onto his shiin, Kohaku prepared to fire it off stealthily. While Nikkou and Hanzou talked to the ghost, Kohaku was ready to finish this mission. If things went awry, his back was turned to the ghost. It would be up to Murasaki to defend Kohaku.

[Texas]

Ugh who would have thought this group of bumbling buffoons were capable of showing complete compassion to a child like this. It felt like 10 seconds ago they were lava boarding and flirting in their devil's three-way of a group. Murasaki internally cringed and got frustration of the situation alone. He loathed ninjas like them, why couldn't they leave their silliness for when they were off mission? What was the point of acting so immature, was that their natural state? There was an old wives tale that if you crossed your eyes and stuck out your tongue, it would get stuck if you got hit in the back of the head. Could this be true for acting like children? Were they running around with diapers screaming and hit in the back of the head and permanently became stuck like this? Maybe Murasaki was just being internally harsh, or maybe he was assigned to a maternal and nurturing mission with 3 shinobi too old to be wearing diapers but did anyways.

The child himself figured out the situation pretty quickly. It was clear they were borderline broken out in two teams again. This seemed to work out, as Murasaki walked back a little bit more with his hands in his pockets. With his off hand that was hidden from view by the other team, he would rest his hand on a kunai prepared to do something if things went south. What was important for the execution of the mission is to keep that girl distracted as a Tenku Team approached. So if Murasaki had to be a shield, he did what he must to execute the mission. He would softly say to Kohaku so that no one could hear, "I got your back, good to go."

[Drak]

Nodding solemnly at Nikkou’s request not to be laughed at, Hanzou was still not entirely prepared for what came next. Her sugar sweet tone took him by surprise. He managed to suppress the laughter that would have otherwise come bubbling out of him like a fountain, but just barely. As the ghost approached, Hanzou tensed his body and put his hands together, ready to transition into a flurry of hand seals at the first sign of trouble. If the ghost did something he didn’t like, fully summoning Ankou would be the first step – easier to fight a spirit with a spirit.

Then, Nikkou’s motherly approached… worked. When they had first confronted the spirit, its cries were shrieks that tore at their ears, shook the surrounding buildings, and even stretched and warped space around them. Now, the ghost girl’s – Akira’s – cries were just that: the loud, distressed cries of a lost child.

Maybe Nikkou has a feminine side to her after all. Wanting someone to hold her, and now this…

Hanzou re-centered himself in the moment. The whole mission could come down to the next sixty seconds. Keeping the spirit placated long enough for the village’s exorcists to arrive would net them a needed win. Any misstep might mean spending the rest of the evening being tossed around by the spirit of a lost child and having to do this all over again the next night. Or worse, having the mission reassigned to another squad.

Then, the spirit tried to jump into Nikkou’s arms, but phased right through. From the look on Nikkou’s face, it couldn’t have been a pleasant experience. Keeping with the tack she had been making, Nikkou managed to get the spirit’s mother’s name.

Akari. Like Kohaku. That could work to our advantage. Then again, their clan is known for eating their own. If that’s how she went out, we need to hide Kohaku’s lineage from her.
Hanzou turned slowly around to face the girl, and Kohaku. Akira was still looking at Nikkou. Nikkou was looking at Kohaku. Hanzou stared directly at his friend, hoping he would look back. Subtly, but perceptibly, Hanzou shook his head and mouthed some words to his friend.

“Don’t say it.”

WC: 358

[HotelBravo]

Kohaku wasn’t looking back. Did he not hear what she said her mother’s name was or did he not care? Or maybe there was something else. Nikkou wasn’t exactly with the secrets of the other clans. She was ignorant of the dark nature that came with Kohaku’s shiin outside of it smelling like fish. Maho was standing in front of Kohaku as well, blocking any kind of view of what was going on with the boy. What were they doing? Nikkou didn’t know. She turned back to the ghost of the child who had once belonged to the Akari clan.

”I don’t remember where my house is.” The ghostly child cried. I want my Mommy, and I’m just so tired, I want to go back to sleep.”

”Okay, don’t worry.” It seemed the boys in the party were useless at this kind of thing. Hanzou seemed more concerned about what Kohaku was doing than finding a solution for this child as well. Damn, it was up to her. [color=FF8000]”I have an idea, why don’t you follow me?”[/color] It was a rather bad idea and maybe a gamble, but it would give Kohaku plenty of time to jack off or whatever the fuck he was doing with his back turned to everyone in an alley way. Akira nodded, and began to follow Nikkou. It was a dumb idea, but at least it was something. Nikkou was gambling on the fact that this child was a ghost - and was going to perhaps be buried among the other Akari. If her mother was alive that would be great, but if she was dead then they would likely find her grave, and Akira’s grave as well. Hopefully just putting the ghost girl back into her grave would work.

It wasn’t too far from where they were already to reach the cemetery. Akira had little comment about where they were, and only tried to cling closely to Nikkou. Then suddenly the girl bolted from Nikkou’s side. ”Mommy!” she rushed ahead and embraced another ghost - this one of a full grown woman, who Nikkou presumed was Akira’s mother.

”Thank you for helping me find my Mommy!” Akira said excitedly. The woman beamed at Nikkou before the pair turned towards a duo of graves, and Emiko, tucked the child into her grave as though she was tucking her into bed. Nikkou wanted to say something at the sight but Emiko put her finger to her lips, the sign for quiet, before she too turned to lay down in a grave, vanishing away into the mist.

In that moment both ghosts were gone, and there was little information about what had started this all in the first place. Nikkou would turn around and meander back to the rest of her team. ”Mission accomplished I guess. Might as well call in the spooky bois anyway to make sure that Akira and her Mom don’t wake up again from their graves.”

[King of Cats]

Just as he was about to hire his shiin into the air, Kohaku's attention was caught by Nikkou. It seemed she was being led somewhere by the ghost, and to say that Kohaku was shocked is an understatement. The ghost had been so defensive, it was hard to imagine that a hot head like Nikkou could appease it. Watching in disbelief, Kohaku lowered his arm. The gang meandered off, following Nikkou and the ghost, and Kohaku begrudgingly followed. He had been hoping to seal the deal on this mission, it had dragged on far too long.

To his surprise, when Kohaku arrived he saw the ghost vanishing into a mist. He was impressed with Nikkou, and shot her a thumbs up as the ghost disappeared.

Walking over to the group, Kohaku said to his companions, "Alright gang, you all did good. I guess. Nikkou, excellent work. I was surprised you had such a soft spot. Murasaki, thanks for backing me up." Kohaku gave Murasaki a nod of approval. The ninja had really proved to be faithful to the team. "Hanzou, you did a good job too. We all made a great team." Kohaku stuck his hands in his pocket and looked as nonchalant as a young man possibly could. "Maybe we can all work together on another mission. These spirits are keep Iwa busy, we could make a name for ourselves. What do you say, Murasaki?" Kohaku looked at the ninja he was speaking to with a sincere look in his eye. When it came to the protection of his village, Kohaku was all hands on deck.

[Texas]

The mission seemed to slow down a bit. Thankfully they all did it and they all came out alive. Who knows what would of happened if Nikkou wasn't there. The child gazed upon the group and nodded back at Kohaku as he acknowledge his backup. It wasn't like Murasaki could really do anything, but he was there to help regardless. With his arms in his pockets, Murasaki listened to Kohaku note about more missions.

"Sure." he said coldly, yet acknowledging the situation. He would look at each of them as he addressed them before leaving. "Nikkou, without you we would have been in a bad place. It was nice to meet you." With a slight head turn he would look at Kohaku, "Thank you for leading this mission. Let me know next time you need me." With his last head turn he would look at Hanzou. "Hanzou, you were here."

With those final words, Murasaki would turn from the group and begin to walk off.

[Drak]

Instead of leading her to Kohaku with her saccharine voice, Nikkou lured the ghost away from the alley and towards a nearby graveyard. Hanzou ran after her, pausing for just a moment to let Ankou jump up on his back.

Mother and child reunited, Ankou sniffed the air, his nostrils flaring and his tongue flicking in and out of his mouth.

"It's definitely been placated, but I can still smell the spirits around here," Ankou croaked. "Go ahead and call those spooky boys, toots."

Hanzou glared at Murasaki's last dig at him, and made an obscene gesture at him as he walked away.

"Really Kohaku? Him?" Hanzou chided his friend when Murasaki was out of earshot. "That useless ass?"

With a click of his tongue, he reached into his pocket and produced three cigarettes. One for Ankou, one for him, and one he held out for Kohaku.

"Well, mission accomplished I suppose. Time to call in the Exorcists and celebrate. Smoke?"

The cigarette in Hanzou's mouth sparked to life and he took a long drag. If we keep getting these spirit missions, maybe I need to look into picking up some of that Tenkujutsu shit.