The Mist Seeps Out (open within reason)

"Owwwww! you jerk, i was kidding."  Hayate pulled his legs up to sit cross legged, to avoid any further kicking.  He rubbed the offended shin.

He thought about what Asami said.  He knew, of course, his parents and the other mist ninja were rooting for him.  He had meant here in the  stands.  And with the way his match ended no one cheered for anyone, and he hadn't quite caught Asami's, nor stayed for any of the others.  He still had his doubts, but he kept his mouth shut about them.  He'd have to see.  It didn't really matter, he told himself, so dont worry about it.  Just perform.

His window watching was briefly put on hold to watch the scantily clad teenage girl come in, but after a brief gaze at both of them, like they were pieces of meat to be sized up, she passed right by and headed back to the only other patron at the moment, another Leaf ninja.  Hayate watched he saunter back, and sit down next to the confident looking guy.  In fact, Hayate thought he recognized them from the briefings as other exam participants, but he wasn't fully sure.  

While looking over to them, he'd briefly ask Asami "Hey aren't those two also in the exam?" offhandedly, before rotating his gaze back to his fellow mist-nin.

wc 223  twc 2058

Reflex would take over, the long-haired girl wouldn't see it coming, a sharp tug on her braid and the disrespectful girl would be laid out on the ground like a helpless beetle. Asami was far too quick for the less than modest kunoichi—she would never see it coming. With her attempted slight turned back on her and a more than a slight altitude adjustment, the Leaf ninja would learn that day not to mock the shinobi of the Mist. Yes, the chuunin-hopeful saw it all in her mind's eye, it would be too easy. Yet, despite this, the young girl did not act.

Another time, the small voice inside her head cautioned, this is neither the time nor place for that.

The arena was where differences could be settled, not a barbeque joint. Indeed, for one of the first times in Asami's life, restraint would be the name of the game. Instead of retaliating against the black-haired girl Asami simply flashed a friendly smile when their eyes met and instinctively flinched away as the braid came close to her face. So much for a friendly atmosphere of competition, right? Then again, perhaps it was to be expected; Konohagakure sat as a vassal state of Kirigakure and open opposition risked a brutal suppression, which left petty attempts at vengeance.

However, small acts of rebellion would prove insufficient in removing Kirigakure's boot from the throat of Konohagakure. The strong will always dominate the weak. Such is the way of the world as every shinobi of Kirigakure knew all too well. And yes, even Asami understood such a fact.

Recovering her composure, the girl followed her companion's gaze across the room and towards the table where the rude Leaf kunoichi now sat. The two figures seemed to be the most mismatched pair she'd ever laid eyes upon. One wore what could only be headphones whose vague buzz could be heard even over the bustle of the restaurant and the other, the less than dressed one, was decked out in a trove of gaudy gold. Maybe mismatched wasn't the right word? Strange, perhaps? Yes, strange worked much better.

"Not too sure," she replied, a mischievous glint appearing in her eyes not unlike the one Hayate had seen the night of the fireworks. "But, there's one way to find out."

Giving her friend a knowing wink, Asami slipped out of her side of the booth and made her way through the restaurant towards where the two Leaf shinobi sat. Thankfully, there weren't many people around her she could disturb other than the supposed-Leaf Shinobi. Stopping a healthy distance from the table so as not to be rude the young girl gave a shallow bow.

"Please excuse my interruption," she rose from her bow and jabbed a thumb back at Hayate. "I have a bet going with my friend, he says you two are contestants in the chuunin exams, but I'm not too convinced. Can you help me win a few ryo by informing him that you're just citizens of Konohagakure?"

The girl's tone remained even and almost friendly as she spoke. Manners were important, even when speaking to a foe.

TWC: 2604

To Allegro's surprise, Cho had found her way to Allegro's booth and sat down just as he had finished his grilled pinapples. He welcomed her and began using his chopsticks to lay down a large whole fish on the grill. He stared at it intently as the grill marks began to form on the fish's skin. He was so mesmerized, he had totally missed the question Cho had just asked him.

"Hmm?" He said obliviously.

He looked at Cho in her familiar clothing and jewelry and saw that she had found time to clean up after her first round match in the Chuunin exams. The rumors surrounding Cho Aburame had been circling the village nonstop since her match came to a conclusion. On the way to this very barbecue shop, Allegro had already overheard several people explaining what happened with a surprising amount of detail. Allegro was unbothered. Upon signing up for the exams, Allegro, along with all the other participants from the Leaf village agreed that they would be willing to die if it meant the chance to be promoted to Chuunin. Now, the village was surprised that someone has died, and Cho disqualified from the tournament.

Konoha was growing soft.

Allegro had never killed before, but this was only by chance. He was capable of ending a life on a moment's notice, but not unless it was necessary. Whether Cho's victim was slain out of necessity or not was not the Uzumaki's duty to decide. However, he did know from previous training sessions that Cho had great potential. The Hokage would one day regret not making an exception for the Aburame. Until then, Allegro would just lay low and focus on progressing in the tournament. He intended to follow every rule set in place and win. Moreover, he intended to stay far away from any unwanted trouble.

And then, as if on cue, trouble found its way to him. Asami stood at their table, and bowed humbly, allowing the Kiri headband to gleam brilliantly under the sun peeking in from the window. Allegro observed her figure carefully as he listened to her. Allegro would have a look of confusion on his face. He would look at Cho first, and then back at Asami. Both ninja wore Konoha headbands proudly on their foreheads. Allegro would not say much, but could be seen visibly stumbling over which words to say as he used his index finger to scratch his cheek. He gave a shy laugh, until Asami eventually realized that her question was a silly one.

‘Tch, that bastard, pretending he can’t hear me with those headphones on.’ Cho thought to herself as Allegro tended to the fish on the grill. She would let him eat before she tried some of the grilled fruit and vegetables. She would be first to see the Mist kunoichi approaching and assumed it was to pick a fight. Cho welcomed her with a daring smirk on her face, her eyes begging Asami to try something that would piss Cho off. With the turnout of the exams, Cho’s dissapointment in herself would easily translate into rage toward one of the remaining contestants from the Mist village. Cho granted Asami the courtesy of stating her purpose first before she gave her an earful. However, Cho would even regret doing that much; Asami had asked a stupid question. Cho would interrupt Asami’s sentence after the word “citizens” with a booming voice.

“Citizens?! What are you, blind??” Cho taunted mercilessly while her thumb pointed in the direction of the Lead forehead protector that glinted brilliantly in the sunlight. “I was looking forward to crushing you Mist savages with my own hands...but things got complicated. But Allegro here will do it in my place! Don’t even think for a second you can beat him. Got it?” 

Cho would slam her fist down on the table, causing several embers to flare up from the charcoal grill at the center of the table. Cho’s eyes would size Asami up as if to verify that her previous statement was true. She then looked back to see Hayate. Nothing about him seemed too impressive either. “Since you seem to like gambling, I’d even be willing to put a wager on that.”

Hayate was about to protect, that no, it was just an idle thought, but when Asami got that grin there was no stopping her.  Indeed she was up and out of her seat before he could get in a word edgewise.  He slowly shook his head at the recently vacated seat, and put his mask back up.  As he was counting out ryo to leave for the food, he first heard Asami's question, and them another female voice burst out at her.  He paused counting for a second to listen, but when it became clear that there wasn't a fight, he renewed his head shake and finished counting the right amount of money to leave.

He would then stand up and head over to learn on a wall just by the door, arms crossed, finally actually looking over at Asami standing next to the two Konoha ninja.  "C'mon, Asami.  It's not worth it."

[Exit as soon as asami exits]
twc 2211
11 stats,  
1st fight got 798 to Yojinbo (Dancing Blade Risk), this adds 2211 to get to  3009/4000

It struck Asami as strange that she had failed to notice the headbands before speaking. Perhaps it had been some form of genjutsu? Yes, that had to be it; the tricksy Leaf-nin used genjutsu to hide their headbands from her only to reveal them at the last moment to make her out to be a fool. Made perfect sense. The young girl could live with her apparent blindness, but what she could not live with was the way the two Leaf ninja reacted.

And they call us the savages?

One seemed to be mute and the other seemed unable to keep her mouth shut. The young girl felt that her initial assessment of the pair as 'mismatched' still held true. If this was the best the Leaf village had to offer, well then, it was far from enough. In fact, the chuunin-hopeful nearly found herself lecturing the pair before catching herself and opting for the high road.

"My apologies," she smiled the patronizing smile her mother used give her, one that expressed pity and understanding at the same time. "I wish you the best of luck in the remainder of the tournament."

Once more she offered a shallow bow.

"Enjoy your evening."

With that said, she went on her way finally heeding Hayate's words. He was, after all, right. The pair of Leaf shinobi were not worth it in the slightest.

[Exit, TWC: 2835, 2500 words going towards Quicksilver Augment (I will purchase this in a different thread). This leaves me with 335 words, so +1 stat.]

Approved

Allegro could not help but feel a bit embarrassed as the exchange of words between shinobi underwent. As he looked around the restaurant, he could see that more and more patrons and servers now had their attention on the table where Asami and Hayate now stood facing Allegro and Cho. Cho was basically shouting at the top of her lungs at this point, with a very clear distaste for the Leaf's honored guests. Allegro, as if he was physically incapable of speech, would only gesture with his hands for Cho to calm down and for Asami to pay his comrade no mind. The seemingly well mannered Mist kunoichi bowed while giving him a smile that didn't quite seem genuine. 

Something about her aura made Allegro's senses tingle. Her chakra was unique in some way, as were most who carried unique kekkei genkai. In that instant of eye contact, Allegro had made a mental note of their chakra signatures. They were soon to be opponents, anyway. Right away, Allegro was easily able to determine that out of the two genin, Asami was the one with the more powerful chakra. This would cause Allegro to see her as the "final boss" of the chuunin exams. By the time Asami had turned around to leave with Hayate, Allegro could no longer hide the grin on his face. He hoped the songs their fighting spirits sang would ring true in the arena tomorrow for all to hear. In fact, he would make sure that they did, as dictated by his ninja way.

[1022 TWC]
[Exit Thread]

Claims:

The Mist kunoichi had been dismissed almost as quickly as she appeared. Both she and the mist ninja a few feet behind her had both decided that it was not worth it getting into it with Konoha ninja in the heart of their home town. Lucky for them that they came to their senses sooner rather than later. Cho gave a confident scoff, her actions reaffirmed by Asami's response. Cho noticed Allegro staring intently at Asami as she bowed before them. Cho knew from past experience that when Allegro stared at someone like that, it's because he's very much looking forward to fighting that person. Cho wondered if that meant that this kunoichi was stronger than she appeared...because her appearance was substantially less than impressive. 


"OI! WAITER! ADD ANOTHER ROUND OF KOBE BEEF ON ALLEGRO'S TAB!!!!"

Cho would smile as if the exchange did not even happen and continue to feed herself until both her and her swarm of insects were satiated.

887 TWC
+4 stats
All WC towards Insect Clone (3524/4000) carried over from Cho vs Avalon

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