MEETING THE TINY MAN [NOMO]

Dana stood standing in her incredible awful fighting pose and waited for something... Anything to happen. Jeez, her opponent was taking a while wasn't he? She couldn't actually see anything in front of her due to the truly awful attempt at a fighting stance, so it was surprising that Pinochio hadn't pressed the advantage. Maybe he too couldn't see? Dana didn't know if this just how fighting stances worked since, despite her offense at Pinochio's comment, she had never actually been in a fistfight before. Was it like a dance? Dana was good at dancing, sometimes. She could do a decent tango, headspin, and could hit a fat whip if the situation ever arose. The last one was probably one of Dana's best secrets. Was she going a bit loopy from standing still for so long? Possibly.

It felt like hours, days, weeks, months of staring at the back of her hands before Dana finally decided that enough was enough. Why had nothing happened yet? In actuality, it had been about a minute of just the two standing there and waiting for the other to do something, except Dana truly was just that clueless. She wasn't some combat master who'd wait days for a gap in her opponent's guard to finally show itself. Finally, Dana did the smart thing and lowered her hands enough to see what Pinochio was up to. If he was still in his lackadaisical stance, Dana would make her move.

She took a step forward, tripped on a rock that she'd missed because her fists blocked the lower half of the vision, caught herself before she properly fell on her face, and continued shuffling towards the little man unperturbed. A rather traitorous thought appeared in her mind which just involved picking him up and drop kicking him, but Dana squashed it down. Though a small smile at the funny mental image worked its way onto her face before she could help it.

If allowed to get within arm's length of Pinochio, Dana would do the really powerful taijutsu move called CHOP! With her right hand flat and fingers stretched out, Dana brought it down right onto the top of Pinochio's head with a speed of 70 and a Strength of 5.

WC: 375
TWC: 2380

There were a hundred things running thorugh pinochio's head as he prepared for an epic battle against.. A ninjutsu user who wasn't going to be using ninjutsu. Ok. The battle wasn't set to be that epic however having not actually fought seriously since he was officially made, every battle was an intense battle for the small tai user. Could he even call himself a tai user? Sure he mastered several of the eight inner gates, and that was a feat, but when was the last time he'd actually used a taijutsu technique? In the battle with that super cool ninja girl with the shark sword he'd ended up using his weapon almost exclusively. The more he trained techniques, the more he realized that he wasn't actually leaning on his hand to hand combat at all. it's almost like something well past himself or Dana had made it so the two were effectively the same, with Weaponry doing what tai did only with an easier stat line up. But honestly, what are stats.

He realized quickly that it was probably on him to make the first move--well. He realized after a while that it was probably on him to make the first move--no. He realized eventually, and thats all that really matters, that it was on him to make the first move. By the time it had registered in his tiny brain, Dana was rushing forward with terrifying precision to trip directly over her own two feet, nearly face plant in the dirt between them, and then kind of half run half... I don't know like. Shuffle? Yea shuffle works, towards him.

Keen eyes studied her form. Eventually he was even able to see her face through the outlandishly high block she'd set up, and notice that she was laughting for some reason. That wasn't exactly what a serious fighter did. Did she really think so little of him that the thought of crossing fists was a laughable endeavor? He would show her. He was no longer the wooden boy with no power behind his punches, doomed to a life of being controled onto a roof to hide when any real combat came. No. He was pinochio taiju--weaponry. WEAPONRY master. LEADER of the pinochio pinochio branch of the school of the anything goes style of martial arts. weaponry arts? Martial. weapons were martial. Deff

She got within striking range, reaching out with her terrifying range, and he released everything he had in a moment.

"FOURTH GATE OF PAIN OPPEEENNNNNNNN! KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN! CHESTNUTS ROASTING ON AN OPEN FIRE TECHNIQUE!" Even as he started what would seem to be a really wierd shouting match with no opponent, His body puled under the power of the fourth of the eight gates. Thrusting a fist foward, a square of concentrated punching might rushed towards Dana, overtaking her if she didn't get out of the way in time and blasting her over and over with powerful punches. With her strength, The technique would paralyze her for the duration if it caught her, With a terrifying power of 130 the square fuck you field would crush anything in the area, dealing its damage for one turn before he would release the technique, to ensure Dana wasn't harmed too badly in the exchange.

(TWC 3118)

The "fight" was over before it had even started.

Dana's ferocious head chop soared down through the air, distending the very fabric of time and space under its sheer might. This was it! The moment where she proved Pinochio wrong about her physical ability. She was strong! She was powerful! She was... Flying through the air and being bombarded by a bazillion and one fists.

"Oof, ow, ouchies, heckers, fecking hell, ouch, fuck, shit," Dana cursed up a storm as she experienced the worst pain she'd ever felt. Wait, no, it wasn't as painful as the time she accidentally stepped on a lego, that was the worst. Did Lego even exist or was her pain-wracked mind just making up random stuff to distract her? That was definitely a possibility, especially with the non-normal way that Dana's mind worked. Why had Pinochio decided to go this hard? Maybe it was all those times she'd messed with him a little bit by patting his head? If that was the case then he needed to talk to someone about that, holding onto resentment was never a good path to take.

Finally, Pinochio released his technique and Dana fell to the ground with a thud. She laid there for about 5 seconds, not moving. And then... She sat up with a big smile on her face as she did the handseals for the Mystical Palm Technique. Thankfully, the damage she'd received was fairly minor all things considered so it wouldn't take long to patch herself right back up. It'd only take... Three posts or so.  It was a miracle she somehow hadn't lost any of her teeth or received any incredibly debilitating injuries through that whole fiasco; something she could only attribute to her strong Senju heritage!

"That was so cool!" She gushed excitedly as she held a glowing hand up to her stomach to deal with a burgeoning bruise from one of the punches, "Where'd you learn to do that?"

She looked around the street where the pair's brief bout had taken place and nodded her head in approval at all the destruction Pinochio's technique had caused. This was what she liked to see. Anything less than sheer mindless violence was unacceptable in Dana's eyes. The various citizens coming out of their homes didn't look too pleased about the carnage either, though their anger turned to confusion when they spotted a white-haired girl on the floor in a somewhat worse-for-wear victorian dress waving at them.

WC: 412
TWC: 2792

...Maybe he over did it just a little. At first, the sheer power of the technique he'd learned, but not actually gotten to try out yet was amazing. His eyes darted to and fro, watching the punches fly through a field of concentrated fuck you. It was somewhere around the seventeenth or eighteenth strike that he realized he probably should have gone a little bit easier on Dana. She did want to challenge his martial prowess though. She'd brought this on herself. It woudl take a few moments for the paralysis effect to wear off, the taijutsu zone disappearing to spill his acquaintance onto the dirt below. THen she let out a string of explicatives that would definely have caused Ai and Saya to cover their mouths in surprise.

"I uh. So... That's my new technique. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that it hurt a little? I kind of made it up myself. It's called kachu tenshin amaguriken, or chestnuts roasting over an open fire technique. Part of my super cool new taijutsu dojo. THe pinochio pinochio school for the anything goes style of martial arts. Technically it's more of a martial dojo I guess? I mean we do weaponry stuff too so like... Sorry. I'm ranting." He would eventually take a step forward, offering her a hand up. There were abrupt coughts and the clearing of throats in the area that drew his attention to the onlookers.

"NOTHING TO SEE HERE! JUST A QUICK SPAR!" It was at this point that he would realize he should probably release the fourth gate. The power coursing thorugh his body didn't help the situation. He allowed the technique to release, the aura that glowed about his body sinking back into his skin. He forgot how much using that technique hurt. Something about releasing the physical limiters on ones body really took it out of him.

"But uh. Yea. I've been working exclusively with my physicality for a while now. I'd like to think ive gotten much tougher." But he still wouldn't be able to stand up to Saya. He didn't speak the words. He knew them too well. There was something about that girl that was just different. THe power held in the palm of her hands was terrifying--even more so given the ease at which she could wield it. Were she serous about her tasks as a ninja of the hidden mist, She would easily push to the highest ranks. She could actually be the next great ninja to walk the world, but she never would. Thats what bugged him the most. He would probably never actually reach her level, even with how hard he trained day after day, and she chose to squander it. SHe met the Mizukage and had the gall to tell her to her face that there wasn't alot of chance of her changing. She was who she was, and that was it. It was so simple for the girl. Why couldn't it ever be that simple for him?

(TWC 3624)

"It did hurt a little! Most painful technique oi've ever experienced!" Dana said, far too excitedly for the content of her words. Of course, she left out the small fact that this was the only time she'd been hit with a technique that wasn't her own. Like that time when she'd stabbed herself in the stomach to prank Niko - which he hadn't found very funny for some reason. Oh yeah! And that other time when she'd stabbed herself to take out one of her kidneys to put into Daiko whilst surrounded by a bunch of civilians. Ah, good times indeed. She should try and meet Daiko soon, he was definitely a kindred spirit whom she enjoyed the company of tremendously.

"Thank ye!" She said brightly as Pinochio offered her a hand up, that was dreadfully nice of him! She raised her left arm up to accept the small man's helpful hand, only to blink owlishly as the raised arm was bent at a 45 degree angle. This normally wouldn't be a bad thing, but Dana - medical expert that she was - was pretty certain that arms weren't supposed to bend away from someone's torso like that. Without wincing, Dana quickly grabbed her wrist and bent it back to the correct position which generated an awful crunching sound, and then brought her other hand down so she could heal it with the mystical palm technique. "Sorry 'bout that, easy fix though!" She laughed easily, and would then finally accept his hand if he hadn't brought it back after Dana's gruesome display of correcting a bent arm. If he wasn't offering anymore, the Senju girl would push herself up and continue to heal all the various injuries she'd accumulated.

"Yeah, it's nothing bad, really!" She backed up Pinochio's statement about it being a quick spar, offering a placating smile and wave to the growing crowd of civilians. It was the arm that had been bent the wrong way, though, and Dana could see some of them staring at it with a mix of awe and disgust. What, had they never seen someone perform magical ninja bullshit before! Ugh, it was like they had been living under a rock or something! Like, hello, Dana and Saya had been leaving forests all around Kiri for aggessss. They also must have seen ninjas doing other stuff before? Anyway, that was enough of that. It looked like Dana's food was ready!

"HURRAH!" Dana cried out in glee, and ran over to the stand. The lady didn't look all too happy with Dana, and her expression turned downright thunderous when Dana didn't leave any sort of tip after picking up all the containers. They wobbled as Dana stepped but, remarkably, managed to stay completely upright the whole time.

"Let's go sit down to eat!" Dana called out excitedly to Pinochio. Where could they sit? The rooves of the nearby buildings might be a good idea, or maybe down that dark and mysterious alleyway. The choice was up to Pinochio.

WC: 506
TWC: 3298

"It's a pretty tough tech, though honestly. The more I study the more i consider the redundancy of both taijutsu and weaponry. I've been thinking about maybe branching out at some point. My bestest buddy in the whole wide world daiko does this stuff with like. Teleportation and cool summons and stuff. I was thinking of maybe changing my field of study from taijutsu, weaponry, and ninjutsu eventually to like. Weaponry, space AND time. I think thats the specializations. I wanna see if I can get so fast i can launch myself up into the atmosphere and use cool space techniques to like. swim around the stars. " It was immediately evident that Pinochio had absolutely no clue how space/time worked. It was to be expected. He'd seen so little of what was going on lately, only actually getting stories from the two ai's when he explained to the useless puppet version of himself what he'd done for the day. 

Helping her up was... A bit of a challenge. See normally one could just brace themselves and pull, using height and momentum to help their friend up. While Dana definitely didn't weigh very much, Pinochios height left him already around sitting height from his friend. That left him heaving overhead as he helped her to her feet in a manner that absolutely didn't help the staring form people in the area. 

"That. That looks pretty bad. Its like the time I stabbed myself with my kama. Or the time i tripped and my kama flew in the air and stabbed me. Or the time I had it turned the wrong way and it stabbed me. Or the time it slid from it's shieth, got kicked up into the air about ten meters, and then stabbed me. THinking about it, I should probably find a weapon that I don't stab myself with quite so often. Never had my elbow reverse though. That's a new one. " He watched as she used medical ninjutsu. That. That awoke something deep within Pinochio.

For all of Sayas skills there was one thing she could never figure out. Medical ninjutsu. Try as she might--and she did try so hard for like two hours, She could never understand the difference between ninjutsu and medical techniques. In the end she'd decided to simply ignore the damage preemptively, training her fuinjutsu up to a level that would protect her in ways similar to med. 

As THe huge mound of food was lifted, Pinochio gave the old lady a kind smile, holding up two fingers. With a sigh she set two wrapped containers on the now empty counter and went to finally sit down and rest. Wierdly, though he'd just eaten, having done the small training session brought a mighty hunger. A hunger that only one thing could solve: Rice balls. 

It helped that the old lady made the best rice balls in the city. At the suggestion that they find somewehere to eat, he simply nodded, heading towards a tiny little house and stepping inside. 

"Elevator." In the back he opened what looked like a closet, pressing the fuinjutsu seals once they were both in to take them down to the second floor of what appeared to be a huge underground mansion. 

(TWC 4167)

"Daiko's moi bestest buddy actually!" Dana huffed, "Or something, now oi don't really know how it works when you share vital stuff with each other. He has one of moi organs now. Long story, and a really funny one actually. Basically, oi think he's a criminal now or something, but that's neither here nor there." Dana chattered away aimlessly, latching onto the one part of Pinochio's long speech that she understood. Taijutsu, Space and time? What were these words that he was saying? Dana only knew large explosions and healing people. Anything outside that very specific purview basically didn't exist to Dana. But that would definitely change when she got some more fights in under her belt! Now that she thought about it, the way the world worked like that didn't really make much sense but oh well.

"Oooh, where are we going?" Dana asked, happily bumbling along behind Pinochio with the 30 containers all stacked up on top of each other. Carrying all of this was totally more impressive than Pinochio's dumb thousand punch technique or whatever! At that moment, Dana finally remembered that this was supposed to be a day where she hated everyone and everything! She even put on the dress and eye makeup. She wasn't living up to her fullest potential! She stopped suddenly, and then the smile on her face was replaced with a frown! Oh no! Dana actually looked pretty scary when she wasn't so happy all the time.

She followed Pinochio into a... Small house? Well, this was a bit weird but she trusted him. Well, not 'him' specifically, but she trusted her friends Saya and Ai. Pinochio was, like... An acquaintance at the moment. Especially since he had just punched her really hard multiple times. However, Dana was totally over that whole thing now that she'd fully healed herself. Water off the back and all that.

"Elevator? What do ye meaaaaaaaaa-" Dana trailed off as Pinochio somehow summoned an elevator into the small shed they were in, instantly forgetting about the goth vibe she was going for a literal second ago. She stepped in the elevator, a difficult ordeal considering the stacked containers in her arms, and simply enjoyed the ride until they got to an underground mansion. "Whaaaaat?" Dana said, awed, as she stepped out. This was... Amazing! How did Pinochio have a massive underground mansion?

She turned to him, "Where did this come from? This is so cool! Where can we sit?"

WC: 418
TWC: 3716

"Oh right. You two know each other. That would explain Saya's wierd dream about doing missions with... what did she say... 'a spaghetti man, some very familiar looking girl who used like plant style or something and a dog'. Why... Why does he have one of your organs? Did he have some sort of medical issue that made his organ go bad? Did he get hurt? That seems like a pretty strange thing to have happened and none of the people in the house know what's going on? He's okay right?"  As they talked, Pinochio sat in silence, watching the lights above the doorway flash once. Flash twice. And then the doors opened. 

There was a terrible heat coming from the room the moment the path was open to the pair. A roiling warmth that met the smell of wood  burning in the corner of the room. 

"I LEFT THE FORGE ON!!!" And so he was off. He rushed over to his forge, closing the ports and allowing a flow of water from the valve in the back to calm the fire. The room was incredibly large. Easily half the width of the entire training center from the looks of it. In the front left corner there was a large set up with tables, A blacksmith's anvil, and a huge forge and kiln he used to fix and create weapons and armor for his buisiness. Overtop the dark metal structure that still sizzled with heat was a sign that read 'pinochio pinochio's blacksmithing. Toatally legit, No i will not quit.' 

"Oh. Uh this is my room. My floor I guess. Saya decided on a whim to create a new home for the team after she kind of destoryed the one we bought when we first showed up. She needed more space so she made it underground. Plenty of room to expand under the earth yanno? Theres twenty one floors, but we're only on the second. I get the second and the third, then I think the fourth through sixth are closets and then it's Ai and Saya's floor. Daiko is either the true first floor or the nineth I think. I really can't remember. " It was with ease that he explained the absolutely rediculous suggestion taht she'd created possibly the largest structure in the village by herself underneath what seemed to be a house too small for anyone to live in. It was remarkable, even Pinochio had to admint. 

"Feel free to sit on any of the furniture you see or at the kitchen table." In the back right corner was a clear kitchen set, long granite countertops and a stove that lined the wall with an enormous banquet table near the center of the room. 

"Did you say that Daiko was a criminal?! What did he do?! " Taking the lead he'd move towards the banquet table, pulling out an intricate wooden chair, pulling over his step stool, climbing the step stool, and finally climbing into the too large seat. 

(TWC 4667)

"Oh yeah, he's completely foine! He just wanted one of moi organs so he could control wood like oi can." Dana explained to assuage Pinochio's worries about Daiko's potential injury, "Oi didn't know ye two were mate? How'd ye two meet?" Presumably through Saya - Daiko had said something about Dana's fellow Senju hadn't he? - but Dana was in a rather conversational mood. Pinochio was so cool! He absolutely deserved the world. Dana couldn't imagine being as small as him, that must suck! Though it could also be quite fun; seeing the world from another perspective rarely wasn't.

"Wowww it's hot in here!" Dana commented, giggling quietly to herself at the sight of Pinochio racing across the room to turn off his forge. Not for the first time today, Dana was regretting wearing such an expensive dress outside. It was already slightly trashed from Pinochio's million-punch Jutsu, but now it was actively making her far warmer than she should be. Actually, she should really ask Pinochio if there was a place where she could change. Later, though, for she was hungry for food now!

"Ye have a whole floor? That's so cool! Saya made this?! That's... Amazing!" She said, amazed that this whole place had been constructed through the ability of her friend. Could Dana do the same? After considering it for a moment, the answer was a solid maybee. Dana personally had never attempted something on this scale before, but maybe she should? It would be a tremendous help with her whole, ahem, housing situation at the moment. Wait, was it even legal to build a massive structure like this underground? No matter, it wasn't like Dana or Saya paid much attention to those anyway.

Dana followed the stubby human to the large banquet table, and carefully set down all the containers in front of her seat right next to Pinochio's. Hopefully, he didn't mind her sitting so close. She tucked into the first dish - a soup, by the looks of things - and nodded her head after the first spoonful. "Delicious!" She declared, and then her pace of eating nearly quadrupled as she practically slurped down the entire dish. Once she was done, Dana breathed out a small sigh of content and then went to answer Pinochio's question about Daiko.

"Oh, oi dunno really. It's probably something to do with the last time oi saw him. Ye see, he was surrounded by a bunch of corpses, though oi did help most of them be better again!" She nodded, seemingly weirdly okay with everything she'd just said. There was something more pressing on her mind, currently. Something she simply had to say...

"Oi'm full, ye can have the rest." She said, and pushed the 29 other containers towards Pinochio provided he was still sat down.

WC: 472
TWC: 4188

"Huh. Yanno. That actually some things Tria was told when she was young make alot of sense." He remembered convorsations in the drawing room with their teacher far before Pinochio was more than a voice in Saya's head. He'd not gotten to the brunt of the situation, of course, given that she was about seven, but he warned her not to speak of her clan outside of their home. Something about some people wanting to attack and take things from people with powerful clans. Downside: knowing that it was their organs that could have been harvested would have been incredibly important to know ahead of time. Upside: now he knows, and they ended up surviving so no harm no foul. With the Forges calmed he stopped at a small box just to the left of his crafting area. Pressing the button a few times he'd give a nod, and then press it frantically for a solid minute and a half. Almost instantly the room got much cooler as cold air blew into the enormous studio appartment. Ninja totally have central AC. 

"Got it. Sorry. I apparently forgot to turn of the forges. I was working on something earlier and just headed out real quick to get some lunch. Is turn of the proper term? Maybe quelch? exstinguish? Whatever. Point is I turned the AC on so it should get more bearable soon." While he didn't really notice the heat, he could tell that his new friend was quite uncomfortable. As he thought about it, he could feel his own skin getting a bit clammy from the warmth, even if it didn't bother him. 

"Oh yea. I mean Saya has like. Four floors--though she and Ai share. Daiko has his own, and theres a few empty ones because Tria decided to just create instead of planning stuff out. Honestly i'm glad Daiko ended up needing a place to stay. I felt kind of bad taking up so much space with unused lodging, even if it wasn't space anyone else would use. Yanno that one jutsu? The one that like. Can make furniture? Bumbling carpenter or something. Took her a few weeks but most of the place was made using that jutsu. The rest she contracted out. They did the insulation, lighting, Metal work, etcetera. " Did he really just say etcetera out loud?! Being right has clearly started to go to his head. 

"That. That doesn't sound good. I wonder if that's what the letter Tria got was about. It would be pretty unfortunate if her first task as a new chuunin was to bring in one of her best friends. Fitting thought. Daiko is chill as fuck, but I expect if most in the village tried to tell him he had to go to jail it would end in a fight. Doubt he'd actually try to fight Saya though. " He watched her eat ravenously....but his expression didn't shift to surprise until she said she was finished. 

"Wh. I mean. I am bulking but why did you even order all of this if you only intended to eat like. One of the items?!" 

(TWC 5188)