The Bloody Unicorn

Kita's diversion seems quite successful in getting them into the bar, but it does attract attention. Such use of a camouflage technique is like a beacon to any sensor in the room, and while security deals with the diversion, Murata lazily settles a hand into the Seal of Confrontation as she thinks on what to do with them. Mind's Eye of the Kagura easily peels past the Academy-level tricks. Three signatures - Kita's, that of another human, and the third is different - must be one of the monkeys. Bobo's signature is not present, so it must be Momo, identifying the second transformed figure as Gonk.

Mostly, she is annoyed that they have not done a better job. As Momo parts from the group and vanishes into the crowd, Murata slips away in turn, keeping her mental eye on Gonk and aiming to maneuver through the dancers in such a way that he cannot keep track of both her and Momo at the same time. Once she is confident that she has lost him (at least for the moment she needs), she gets back within a good range of Momo, hands weaving idly through the seals for Mass Pull. Unbeknownst to the monkey, an invisible disc of Space-Time chakra will manifest before his path... and if or when he walks into it, he will be yoinked across the dancefloor (with a number of shouts as he knocks a man's drink out of his hand on the way over) to where Murata is waiting to firmly grab his shoulder. A memory of Murata's - her gutting a man like a fish - flashes briefly before his eyes.

"Good evening, Momo," she says gravely, narrowing her eyes at him. "Having fun?"

If his response is acceptably cowed, she will release her grip on him. "Keep them out of trouble," she says, and releases him back into the wild of the dancefloor like tossing her catch back into the river.

With her 'eyes' idly keeping tabs on the trio, she allows her attention to wander once more. For a few uncomfortable moments, the mass of chakra signatures threatens to give her a migraine, but she soon acclimates to the rush of information. A number of people have congregated by the bar. She could certainly use a drink. Perhaps if she walks over and plays dumb she will simply scare her charges off.

Murata makes her way to the bar, pulling up a seat next to Yuuma. If he turns away to reply to Mizuki, Murata will take the opportunity to stare sidelong for a moment at his 'scarf', raising a skeptical eyebrow. Well, isn't everybody sneaking their little friends in. She will likely make eye contact with Mizuki as the unfamiliar woman also gives that scarf a knowing look, and Murata will simply snort in amusement at the shared moment of recognition and turn back to the bar. Perhaps she should have brought Princess along after all.

490
TWC: 966

Mind's Eye of the Kagura -45
Mass Pull -30

Page's cheeks would flash red as he would blush with embarrassment upon hearing a familiar voice jokingly chastise him, gazing up from the coat he had tucked himself into, bottle still clung in his hand and up to his mouth, he would catch eyes with Mizuki. Putting the bottle down after looking down and finding it empty. He would look down considering the request, but after taking a brief moment to recompose himself, realizing he wasn't in any kind of trouble and allowing the liquid courage to start hitting, he would clear his throat and get ready to respond. "Well, you see hear, that s'why I always like to keep a little bit on the side," Page would say, starting to slur his words, grabbing the shot he had previously poured out and sliding over to Mizu, "Helps whenever I upset someone, on account of drinking or other... external factors, a little recompense to go a long way."


Page would wait for her response to this as he approached the seat directly to her left and sat down, "Ah yes, if it isn't my favorite jounin... Miz..." before he could finish what he was saying he caught the death glare coming from Mizuki telling him to avoid revealing her identity at all times. After taking a second to compile his thoughts, "Miz...leth, Mizleth, yep Mizleth, my favorite jounin in all of Sunagakure, yep, for sure, yep yep yep yep, anyway, its a pleasure to meet you Tsubaki, you two jounin seem like you are having a great time, and I hate to intrude so I think I'm going to get up and see if I can stay in line and not blow anyone's co- err I mean not blow anymore Gin around, that would be a real shame wouldn't it?" Scratching the back of his head as now that he was closer to the village leader and an obviously higher positioned Hoshi shinobi, he felt another intense wave of shame and anxiety about making a further fool out of himself, "So yeah I am going to go get caught in line over on there if you all don't mind," the former farmer would conclude.

Walking that awkward pace that is distinctly not a speed walk but it is most certainly a noticeable accelerated post to get out of his potential shame, he walked closer to the scent of the genin he recognized, going between them and the dance floor. Just as he had made it to the perfect midpoint between them and Murata, all the sudden he felt himself pulled towards the Kiri Chuunin as he unconsciously collided with the invisible disc she had sent from the dance floor. Flying through the people and bumping, giving an apology each as he traveled 5 meters towards and into the dance floor. Arriving with his shoulder under the arm of the kirigakure shinobi, now covered in drinks, Page was hit with a flashback of Murata, whose personal space he was now thrust into, gutting a man in his exact position, and even though he knew it wasn't real a stabbing pain was felt in his stomach for less than a moment. Just as this flashed in his mind a memory he had long since suppressed flashed back from back when he was still a genin in the leaf. He saw himself in a similar position, an academy student from Suna grasping at his shoulder as their blood decorated Page's Konoha headband, his arm shoved through their chest. Just as quickly as it appeared, however, it disappeared. 

"What the hell was that?" he would say instinctively, swallowing his words immediately after saying them as he tried to take them back realizing the situation he was in. "Sorry, didn't mean to..." Page would start, but then stop as he had no clue what he actually had done, not knowing what he would apologize about. "Err, how can I hel...." the former farmer would try to start again, but that just felt forced to him. He would lift his left arm to scratch the back of his head as he would stick his right hand out between them, "Um, hi! My name is Page, its a pleasure to meet you," the sand genin would state, before letting out a hearty chuckle at how the situation turned out, a combination of a nervous reaction, the intense will to lock away the memory, and just how damn humorous the events of the night had turned out. Page had not been able to avoid the potential for trouble, so at this point he decided, fuck it, why not just embrace this.

WC: 773, TWC: 1,352

Of all the answers he had been expecting from the long-haired woman, her flirtatious invitation was not exactly high on that list. Having been seated, he ordered his food and drink before turning his gaze back to the woman with a measured gaze. She was lovely, by all accounts. Blue eyes scanned her up and down again with the intent of taking in the sight of her as opposed to the passing glance of a stranger in need of a seat at a crowded bar. As a light amber beer was placed in front of him, Yuuma continued to hold the gaze of the woman a moment before his lips would press upwards into a smile. “Yuuma. Yuuma Fujiwara. I am a Genin for Hoshigakure,” he offered with a bow of his head. It was difficult to be more formal in the cramped setting, but that wouldn’t excuse him from attempting to maintain some semblance of proprietary. Although Yuuma had no idea who he was talking to, his gaze would turn as Page was addressed and moved forward to the two of them, and for a moment, Yuuma had a small enjoyment watching the interaction as the stranger identified the Hoshi Jounin as Tsubaki. Someone he hadn’t met yet, but there was no surprise there; the higher ranking ninja most likely had matters to attend to that were beyond the scope of his understanding for the time being. His eyes followed the exchange between the three at his left, Page identifying the woman as a “Mizleth”. An interesting name, though not one he had heard before today.

The Docket he had ordered was a thin beer often enjoyed by farmers after a day’s work. Although Yuuma wasn’t much of a drinker, he had found himself enjoying something similar when his life had been a bit more laborious and still preferred it to this day as something to pair with an evening meal, though it wasn’t exactly something that one would drink to get inebriated unless they wished for frequent bathroom visits on account of how much they would have to drink for any veteran effect to take its hold. When the woman turned her attention back to him when she concluded the business with her Suna kin, she would find that same friendly smile waiting for her. “A pleasure to meet you, Mizleth. I didn’t mean to intrude on your conversation- the bar ended up being a little busier than I thought it was going to.” Eyes cast a glance around the bar, spotting Murata whom he recognized from the front gate making her way to the bar as well. Apparently, her prowess on the dance floor had been appropriately exercised. Yuuma would offer her another nod of acknowledgment as she came to sit at the bar, likewise offering her a friendly smile before turning her attention back to the definitely-not-Kazekage. A hand reached up to adjust the scarf around his neck some, tugging at the collar now that he had settled in from the outside. Perhaps a scarf had been a poor idea to bring in to a crowded place with a bunch of warm bodies all packed together. Hindsight. “I’m looking forward to the exams,” Yuuma continued, picking up the conversation with the kind stranger. “I have yet to meet many people from other villages. And now we all get to show off what we can do. Its kind of exciting.” His eyes lidded some as that smile grew. “Everyone I let through the gate was fairly pleasant as well although..” His voice lowered some as the sentence trailed out. “That Raikage is kind of intimidating.” He couldn’t so much whisper thanks to the noise, but it was something he said with the intent of not making a big deal of it, leaning in for just a moment at though he were passing along a quiet word.

Opposite of him, he was aware Murata had sat next to him though he had been oblivious to her observation of his “accessory”, his attention having been taken by the woman on his left, as would the glance that they might have shared over the similar realization as it had been at a moment he had turned to address the beer he had been given finally. What Murata might catch as her eyes fell back over the article was a big pair of owlish eyes blinked up at her from just above a beak that had manifested beneath them. Even should she think it some kind of illusion, those eyes seemed to follow her. Though who really knew with an owl. What might confirm her suspicions would be when the beak moved in speech. “Yes hello, is there something I can assist you with?” The voice of Archimedes was perfectly human, the inflections captured by subtle chakra manipulation in the manifested vocal cords, and in a place with such dense noise pollution, it was unlikely anyone would know the voice to be that of the animal companion as compared to anyone other random faces in the crowd. His tone wasn’t so much condescending as much as it was that of a strict school professor whom a student had held the gaze of for a moment too long.


wc - 876
TWC - 2,430

Mizu seemed to want to keep their conversation private, getting really close to the Senju face. The Kage's violet eyes meet with Tsubaki's deep blue- a very intimate moment between the two female figures. It was broken when the Kage returned to her drink for the occasional swigs of her drink. Tsubaki wasn't sure the last time Mizu must've been at a party but from the looks of her downing her drink it was something long worth the wait. 

The party was starting to kick off really well, many people had come to join the party from all over- Hoshi, Kiri, Suna mostly. Mizu had put it in better words,  “Seems this night is full of surprises..." But her saying this was in reference to her getting the attention of someone she knew.

Mizu just had to get looked at for a man nearby to spit out his drink. It was a pretty embarrassing sight that leads Tsubaki to chuckle and the man to bury his head in his arms. At first, she just thought it was because Mizu's stunning appearance had caught a stranger off guard- not an uncommon event to happen to Tsubaki- but upon further deduction, she found that they were not strangers at all. 

The Kazekage approached the adult, joking that losing all that Gin was a sin. The stranger's face was completely flustered as the tomatoes in her greenhouse garden. He tried to explain to Mizu that it was the reason why he kept Gin on him- that and it makes him happy and helps him cope with his sadness. But Tsubaki got the feeling that the Kage and the lightweight drunkard knew each other. He was introduced by Mizu, his name was Page. Tsubaki assumed he was a Suna ninja, checking his person to see if there was a headband confirming it. Mizu had given the man a hardy stare to make sure her identity would be safe with him, confirming that the two knew each other. In his drunken state, he put together a fake name to give his Kage, Mizuleth. That gave Tsubaki a hardy chuckle. "Ah, yes! Mizleth and I are having a grand time." 

Next to them was Yuuma Fujiwara, a genin of Hoshi. Tsubaki had seen this genin around but she hadn't actually MET them. The genin was enjoying something he called a docket, a drink Tsu hadn't heard before. He was very polite, which was a strange thing to see in a bar, and held himself very highly. 

Other things were still happening in the bar during the conversation, interesting things. Without Tsubaki's knowledge, two boys and two monkeys had snuck their way into the bar using stealth techniques like hiding with camouflage and silent killing skills. Both Mizu and Murata, a Kiri chunin, were made aware of these two boys but it wasn't something Tsubaki noticed or really cared about. 
----------------------------------

It seemed the bar was as full as it was going to get. As the Hostess of the event, Tsubaki felt it was appropriate to make some kind of speech to the crowd. Tsubaki climbed on top of the bar counter- receiving a hardy stare from Shimo. 

"Hello, all you wonderful people!" Tsubaki shouted to get the attention of everyone- the live band would stop for a brief moment to allow Tsubaki to talk without competing with their noise. "How are all of you tonight?" She would wait for a response of drunken cheers. "Great! The only rules tonight are no summons, animals,  weapons, or fights AND treat Shimo with the respect he deserves! Let's hear it for the man giving out the amazing Hoshi liquor!" She would clap along with the crowd for the expressionless, large man continuing to work. "It's still amazing how well the great nation's shinobi can party together. Let tonight be the night of unity and fun. The night is still young, so party it out as long as you can!" Tsubaki would then jump down from the counter and allow the applause to die down and the music to start back up. 

WC: 682
TWC: 1610

Kita scratched at the back of his neck, feeling somehow even more embarrassed after Momo reminded him of just how foolish he looked.

"Hey I don't know, I just thought it felt appropriate..."

Eventually the two's drinks arrived. Kita looked down at the glass that he had been given, noting that it seemed particularly small for a glass of something to drink. Maybe it was one of those fancy drinks or foods that they give you in incredibly small portions? That was Kita's guess at least. Whatever the case, Kita picked it up and downed it in a single gulp. It burned on the way down, causing the disguised boy to cough slightly. The boy couldn't quite compare it to anything else he had drank in the past, though he imagined that if he had drank a bottle of poison that would achieve the same result. Still, despite its acrid taste and its painful nature, there was something rather enticing about it. Besides, it would look odd if he was one of the few shinobi who WASN'T drinking tonight. Gonk asked what the plan was tonight, which Kita answered through slight hacking.

"Well aside from testing out my liver, I imagine that there has to be a couple of interesting people to meet here. Maybe go dancing, try some of the more exotic foods on the menu."

Kita gave a slight grin as he remembered something from yesterday, chuckling through the last remnants of his cough.

"Speaking of interesting people, it's possible that we might meet some... higher ranking shinobi tonight. Just yesterday I happened to meet the Raikage. If we meet anymore shinobi like him, this could be our chance to earn our village some favor. That's all purely hypothetical of course, most likely we're just going to be interacting with your general, run of the mill shinobi types."

Still, it was an interesting prospect in Kita's mind. He called the bartender over to get another drink while Momo explained his and Bobo's adventures in Kirigakure R&D. Kita nodded along. It made sense to him, and it certainly explained why Bobo was as comfortable with drinking as he was. Yet once Kita got his second drink, Gonk almost spat his out.

"What's the problem?"

Kita took a sip after responding, this time anticipating the burn in his throat. He still coughed, but not as bad. 2 o'clock huh? Kita turned to look in the direction that Gonk had pointed out, but nothing was there by the time he looked. Kita was curious to ask exactly what it is that he had noticed, but his fellow shinobi was gone by the time Kita had opened his mouth. Strange... yet not enough to bother the boy. He finished the last of his drink, before getting another, larger drink and standing up from his seat at the bar. He was just beginning to notice the slight buzzing in his head as the alcohol began to worm its way through his system. He began to drink his third, wondering if this is what adults were so obsessed with. The poor boy had no idea what he was getting into...

Kita stretched his limbs, looking about the bar for anything, anyone that might be worthy of his attention. The dance floor did seem like a rather good time, but the boy wasn't in the mood JUST yet. After all, he wasn't done with his drink. Yet he quickly found a source of amusement when a particular shinobi, one who Kita assumed was the host, climbed up onto the bar to give a speech. It was short, but it was somewhere to start. With a shrug, the boy took another sip of his drink before walking over to the figure climbing down from the counter. He flashed a friendly smile, before holding his drink up slightly as a toast.

"Nice speech! My name is..." The disguised shinobi paused to think of a name. "Goubi. Are you the one who's hosting this party here?"

Word Count - 668

Total Word Count - 2506

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