Commentator's Curse [Nico]

Commentator's Curse (forumotion.com)

Zaibatsu was walking around Kirigakure and getting quite a few stares because of his huge stature, when suddenly a fancy dressed middle aged man popped up in front of him, and started addressing him. "Excuse me big man, have you ever thought of being a commentator?" The middle aged man would say, with an excited but showy face on, as if he wanted to sell Zaibatsu snake oil. Zaibatsu, being originally from a barbarian tribe and then a mercenary group, had no idea what the man was talking about, just looking at him with some intrigue. "What is a commentator, and why would I want to be one?" Zaibatsu would question the man in a very deep voice matching his profound stature. Zaibatsu had a pretty bad habit of leaning closer to people when talking to them, and this was especially intimidating due to his size and menacing demeanor, and so the middle aged man started to sweat a bit, probably hoping that this freak of nature wouldn't fold him into a pretzel and walk away. "W...well, you would uh, watch some fights in the arena, and give your thoughts on it, for the people that might not know how fighting actually works." The middle aged man originally targeted Zaibatsu because he looked like a person that could fight and would know what he was talking about, but he was a bit too intimidating standing this close to him. "Hmm, that sounds fun! Will I be getting paid for this?" Zaibatsu would boisterously ask, probably in too loud of a tone, causing the people around to take a couple of cautious steps away from him, as they were all already staring at him. "O...of course. This counts as an official mission for the village." The man would say, before Zaibatsu suddenly shouted, "Great, I accept! Show me to where I need to be!" Zaibatsu laughed as he said this, hand on the man's shoulder as he nervously led Zaibatsu to the arena.

WC: 332

Nico was having quite the day. After doing a few low-ranked missions he was on his way back to the mission center. He thought that he was due for an upgrade in the quality of his missions. He simply was not getting paid enough for the amount of work he was putting into these missions. Hell, he was almost out of money for his ever-growing amount of puppets. The thought was quite frightening. If his skills declined as fast as his bank it would be the end of his career, to say the least.

So Niko made his way through the busy streets of Kirigakure. Navigating the paths and taking as little time as possible with his limited speed he went towards the mission center. Soon after arriving, he was greeted by the clerk. "Hey, Nico ready for another mission?" 

Nico would wait for a brief moment before exclaiming "I was wondering if I could take a c-rank do you have any?" The girl would look at him for a moment before turning the mission board behind her. She would then pluck one off the wall and hand it to Nico. Reading it briefly he noticed that it was a mission to commentate on a small-time ninja battle at the arena. This job seemed acceptable and pays well so Nico accepted it.

"I'll take it, have a nice day!" Nico would then head onto the streets of Kiri. Walking briefly towards the arena Nico came upon a strange sight. A larger man was harassing a man in a suit? Or at least that was what it seemed like until Nico took a closer look. Listening to the businessman interact with the larger man he soon realized that they had the same job. So this was the opportune moment to meet up.

"Excuse me I happen to have the same mission as you. So I was wondering if we could walk to the arena together? My name is Nico Kazan a pleasure to meet a man such as yourself." Nico would then raise his hand up high to greet the giant in a handshake. If the man reciprocated maybe Nico would find another friend.
(WC 363)

Zaibatsu was walking with the middle aged man towards the arena, when he noticed someone call out to him from behind. Hearing that they had taken the same mission, just through different means, Zaibatsu ended up eying the man in front of him. A little thin, but there seemed to be an air of confidence, and he was being a bit courteous, so Zaibatsu also extended his hand and gave the man a strong hand shake. Probably too strong for the situation, but Zaibatsu was not one of those people that knew how to hold back, at least not completely. After this, it seemed that it was his time to introduce himself, and he did so with a boisterous laugh and a big smile. 

"Nice to meet you Nico Kazan! I am Zaibatsu Ajin. Do you know anything about this commentator stuff?" Zaibatsu would ask, his words slightly rushed, but with a forceful pronunciation so that each word could be well understood, it just seemed like he was a bit over excited all the time. Zaibatsu wanted to know if anyone else had done this sort of thing before, or if this was the man's first time doing a commentator mission. Regardless, he would continue walking in the direction of the arena until they had made it in, and to the booth that was overlooking the arena, in which Zaibatsu would sit down, the chair that was sat on barely able to withstand his weight.

Once he had sat down and started overlooking the arena, he decided to talk to the person on the mission with him, seeing how this person thought, and what he did while they were waiting for the first fight to begin. "So, Nico Kazan, what sort of ninja are you? As you can see, I like using my body!" He said, flexing his large muscles in his right arm, showing off his huge physique.

WC: 319

Zaibatsu looked on at the man that was talking to him as he explained that commentating was pretty basic. That's what Zaibatsu thought as well, but there wasn't really a frame of reference for him, and he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, so he thought there might be something more to it than that. Still, this reassured him, and although he had his hand on his chin and was in deep thought the reassurance he got was enough for him to nod and continue to the building they would commentate in. 

Once there, Zaibatsu had asked what sort of ninja Nico was, and he responded that he was fast and used puppetry, and assumed correctly that Zaibatsu enjoyed Taijtsu as his main focus, but he was also interested in the art of weapons from his clan, but that was a bit more of a secret. Then suddenly, the man ran pretty fast towards him and flicked him, and the instant he did so, Zaibatsu had clenched his fist, ready to smash in his head like a watermelon, but managed to stop himself. His eye twitched a bit, but he managed to suppress the rage, and wondered why the man suddenly did that. 

"Didn't your mother teach you not to rush an animal?" Zaibatsu said, before shaking his head to get rid of the residual anger before turning back to the task at hand. As the people got into their places in the arena, Zaibatsu quickly read the introduction of the two people on some paper that was in front of him, as he had yet to meet that many people in the village yet. The large person was a Hyuuga, which was strange, and the person with the glasses seemed to be an Akimichi, even though he wasn't as fat as Zaibatsu thought they would be.

Both of them seemed to have builds that you wouldn't assume they would based on their name only. Zaibatsu heard the announcement be bounced to him, and also started commentating, in a boisterous voice that was probably a little too loud. "And his challenger, Raiou Akimichi! Both of these guys seem to be proficient in Taijutsu, so I can't wait for them to start." Zaibatsu was now showing some excitement, as the people that were fighting were going to have a bit of a melee, and he loved the idea of brawling. 

He didn't have much to say during the fight, but gave his analysis nonetheless, besides it was only two genin fighting, there was not much in terms of strategy or huge moves, so the end result was actually pretty mediocre. Zaibatsu ended up collecting his earnings after, but there was not really any reason for him to continue trying to commentate. He then bid farewell to Nico before leaving. "Good bye Nico Kazan, may our paths cross again." Zaibatsu would end with a fairly old fashioned farewell that he learned from his barbarian tribe.

EXIT 
WC: 494
Word Count Total: 1,145/1000
Claiming 4100 ryo from mission and genin
Claiming 20 AP 
Claiming 11 Strength
Using 1100 words towards Block [V7], 1600/2500, B rank earned, last training Bank Maintenance [Solo]

Nico could tell he touched a nerve with the flick of his puppet. Nico has always enjoyed learning more about people's personalities. Though on this occasion he probably hit the jackpot. The large and muscular man in front of him most likely has control issues. So in response, Nico would lowly reply, " Hmmm good to know. Though for some reason I doubt you're an animal. If you're an animal then I'm a monster." Nico would hang his head slightly, before grunting as a form of ending the topic.

Nico would look down to the fight. While this was a battle between two genin taijutsu fighters they did have a decent pace nowhere near Nico's own but that was to be expected with the younger ninja. "As most of the ninja here know the Hyuuga clan is famous for their speedy taijutsu and their legendary eyes. Those eyes allow the Hyuuga to see their opponents' vitals and target them accordingly. While on the other hand, the Akimichi clan is a clan that on average focuses more on ninjutsu so to see one of their clan work on the art of taijutsu or hand to hand is quite rare." Nico used an excited voice to rile the crowd. Though Nico himself was not that excited at the performance.


"The two fighters are quite adept at their field and their trading blows like experienced shinobi would quite a showing from these young fighters! Though if you look closely you can see that Kenshi Hyuuga seems to be winning the fight. The damage to the young Akimichi's organs is starting to overwhelm him." Nico took the time to analyze the fight. While it was not as entertaining as he wished he would still be able to get some valuable experience. Learning from the fighting duo he would better be able to fight with his puppets against taijutsu users. Though looking at his companion as he spoke dully he could tell his disinterest. 

"Well it was nice meeting you Zaibatsu we should train sometimes I'm sure we would have valuable lessons for each other to learn." He would then head back to the mission center and collect his pay.

(TWC 1035 ) Claiming the mission above's completion 4100 ryo including genin pay, 70 ap, and 1035/2000 towards Itemcrafting

Approved.