no rain | Event Mission, Ryou & Ita

Ghost!:

They did the mash!:

The night was dark and cold, heavy set with humidity just warm enough above freezing to render her surroundings damp. Normally, she thrived in the cold- it was in her blood, after all- but this burrowed between her bones in a manner that would've left a lesser woman nervous. She'd been through the motions before. The likelihood of her reaching age thirty was slim at best, given her track record of injury and jounin status. Missions that would normally pass her by began to stack up on her desk- high risk and high reward. The village needed the money, possibly more than it needed her.

It was a sobering thought, but she'd made her peace with it by now. A small building- an inn or hotel of some sort- loomed above her head. A graveyard sat off to the side like an afterthought. It had about two floors in total. Not the biggest she'd seen, but it was more than she would've otherwise expected at this corner of...

Of...

Yugakure?

No, that wasn't right. She wasn't supposed to be here. Lachesis blinked when her attempt to release the genjutsu failed. And again. Maybe it was a dream of some sort...? Odd feeling in her gut, she looked down at herself- dark yukata and open toed boots. Not necessarily something she wouldn't wear, but definitely not something she owned.

The Yuki grimaced. What was the purpose of her being here? Was there anyone else? She looked around, hoping someone- anyone, really, would catch her eye.

A flash of white in one of the upper windows- she didn't sense any chakra. Were they a sensor? If so, why let her see them? A soft scowl marred her face as she straightened her posture. Lachesis looked around- third time's the charm?- and...

Hm. She knew that person, didn't she? Something about Halloween... Was he the poor sap she dropped the gremlins on?

[WC: 319]
[Total WC: 319]

Ryō yawned and rubbed one eye as he shuffled along the dirt path away from the Konoha Training Fields. He had been out there all day, with no missions to take care of for the day, working on new jutsu now that he access to new scrolls and guidance from other shinobi. Without the hindrance of his parents, he could feel himself expanding in all new ways and was excited at being able to learn new things.

Another yawn brought him to a stop as he looked around and settled against a large rock. Perhaps he had overdone it at the fields. Nothing a little nap couldn't fix. He settle in and let his chin touch his chest as his breathing began to slow.

The sound of a twig snapping brought him to his feet abruptly, kunai in hand. He looked around, his whole body tense, as a chill air began to spread through the trees. It wasn't a natural chill; it soaked through the bones and gnawed at his soul. It did nothing to help the tension in his shoulders, but it drew his attention to something else.

The trees looked different. It was subtle, but they didn't look like any he had seen within the village. The more he looked, the more the details of the forest seemed off. He looked around and began exploring, feeling something drawing him in closer. A part of him wanted to be more concerned, but his curiosity was greater than his sense of danger.

As he came to a clearing, he was surprised to see an unfamiliar building. It looked like it might have been an inn of some sort, though the graveyard next to it seemed a weird addition. The building itself was unremarkable, if perhaps a touch spooky given the mist that clung to the ground and trees. It looked abandoned.

Or nearly abandoned, as Ryō realized with a start that someone else was there. Something about her features stabbed at the fog in his mind and Ryō leveled a finger at her. "Wait a minute, I know you! You're the Jōnin that had those cat ears and the kids!" Seeing her there made him feel somewhat more at ease, as at least there was someone else from the Leaf there.

"What is this place? And how did we get here?" He asked, his voice somewhat quiet from whatever power seemed to be clinging to the building and grounds, as he stopped next to her and waited.

-----

Post WC: 411
Total Personal WC: 411
Mission WC: 730

Sound asleep in bed in an unfamiliar place was the former Hokage and now missing ninja, Ita Uchiha. His senses finally come to him and before opening his eyes, he could already tell that something was off. The air around his still body was cold and damp and the surface of the bed he laid upon was lumpy and uncomfortable. There was a strong odor of mildew in the stagnant air. Ita’s eyes opened slowly, and he sat up, taking in his surroundings. “Where am I…?” He thought to himself as his crimson eyes scanned the room. He made note of the moon’s soft white light that crept through the only window in the room which illuminated a patch of warn and rugged, red stained carpet.
 
The Uchiha rose from the bed and glided over to the window. At first glance outside, Ita confirmed that he had never been to this place before, so how did he end up here? “It appears I’m not alone…” He thought, looking down at two others below, their shadow’s silhouettes dancing under the dim flickering light of a singular oil lantern which hung outside on a wooden post attached to the building Ita currently stood. They were talking, but Ita could not make out their words from his current position.
 
A moment later, a chill ran up Ita’s spine, as if there weas someone standing right behind him, but when he turned to face them, there was no one. Over the current situation, the Uchiha attempted to long range teleport to his pocket dimension, but it was no use. “Interesting…” He thought to himself, realizing that something or someone was preventing him from leaving this place. With no other choice and not eager to explore the rest of the building he was in, the Uchiha slipped through the outer wall of the building using Kamui, and he floated downwards to the ground outside to join the two others who had begun congregating.
 
Ita’s feet touched the hard, wet ground and his body solidified once more. His entrance, appearing as ghostly as the ghouls that haunted the residence beside them. Upon observation, the two in front of Ita would notice that he had jet black hair that was shoulder length but tied in the back in a small ponytail to prevent it from getting in the way of his eyes. He also had a pale complexion and deep crimson eyes which represented his clans famous dojutsu. He wore a gray cloak that cut off just above his ankles and black shinobi shoes that fit to the wearers foot and calf that were standard issue to Anbu and ROOT operatives of the Leaf village. Across his forehead was a headband with the Leaf’s insignia containing  a line through the center representing his defection.
 
Ita studied the pair before him with his sharingan, quickly noticing the leaf head band of the male. Ita wondered if they would recognize him, a conversation he was not looking to engage in at the current moment. By the confused look on his face, Ita would deduce that they were most likely brought here against their will as well and were also questioning the reasoning behind it. Ita shifted his attention from the pair and began to study his surroundings once more. There was a cemetery next to the building he had woken up in, but he could not see much past that due to the darkness of the night and the blanket of low suspended fog obscuring their view past the property.
 
“What is this place?” Ita inquired, looking for some sort of answer to explain their current situation.  

WC: 608

Lachesis was a twin. Born of an alliance between Kumogakure and one of the Yuki, her older brother was enlisted in the Hidden Cloud's forces as an elite shinobi. Notably, he had the sharingan, as did her father. The chances of her unlocking it were slim to none, seeing as how she'd inherited the famed ice release from her mother. In other words, she was familiar with the features of a typical Uchiha clansman- especially once given the fact that she had many of their features herself. Even though she didn't carry the name, nor the protection of the Uchiha district, she was aware of the basic ins and outs of their abilities.

So when the strange Uchiha- who else could it be?- seemed to phase through the wall to descend near them, the Onomori found herself tensing, and once his headband came into view, proudly bearing a scratched leaf, she made to shove Ryou behind her, using her own body as a shield. She knew better than to look him in the eyes, and thus she wouldn't.

He may have had the same questions as the two of them, but she didn't trust the stranger as far as she knew him. "Don't come any closer." Her voice was as sharp and frigid as the ice she commanded. Lachesis didn't recognize him- but if he was aware of the going ons of the Uchiha in Konoha, it is more than likely that he knew who she was, if only in general.

Should Ita (though she didn't know his name yet) comply, she'd open her mouth to elaborate on his questions. It was possible that he had taken both her and Ryou here, given his apparent proficiency in space time abilities, but she wouldn't start pointing fingers until she had something to back it up.

"We're in Yugakure. Some sort of dream, or multi target Genjutsu." her voice was carefully manufactured to not let any lingering emotions- malice or otherwise- come through. Noises began to filter through, interrupting her conversation, and she turned her head to the right to see... Hm.

Various zombies, skeletons, and other Halloween horrors congregating around the graveyard. One appeared to carry... A boombox?

...Yup, this was definitely a dream. But it wouldn't do to have their conversation interrupted any further regardless. "Let's shut that down and continue talking, hm?"

[WC: 393]
[Total WC: 712]
[Mission WC: 1,731]

Ryō had known he wanted to become a shinobi ever since he was a small child. Growing up on stories of the legends of his family and the heroic deeds of his own family had started a fire early on in the young Senju, to see the village prosper and others grow up in peace and safety. This belief had carried him through many dark times, including his familially-forced exile during one of the darkest times for the Hidden Leaf village. It was a belief he felt so strongly about, that he had signed up to put himself in harm's way for the sake of the village.

And before him now was the antithesis of that belief.

To go against the village was madness, but to betray the village? To feel strongly enough to scratch out the emblem of your home to proclaim your betrayal openly? That was not a feeling or thought Ryō was equipped to handle. It froze the boy in place, preventing any action from him whatsoever until the Leaf Jōnin grabbed him and pushed him behind her abruptly. He had nothing in him to resist her, still stunned by what he was seeing in front of him. 

Those eyes burned into his mind, the first time he had ever seen the Sharingan in person. He knew, of course, the stories and legends of the Sharingan, how it was a dōjutsu so powerful that many in the shinobi world feared it on word alone, and how the Senju had once warred with the Uchiha and the Sharingan in long ages past. Just standing there under the weight of that gaze was maddening for Ryō. A part of him felt suffocated under the pressure of these two squaring off even as they exchanged words. 

It was a mercy most needed when the sound of music suddenly began to fill the air. Freed of the grim spell, Ryō turned and was surprised to see a myriad of creatures, each horrific... but somehow in a way that did not repulse him like it should have. Whatever the reason, the creatures had assembled in the graveyard beside the inn. Of all the things that could have been thrust upward from the horrific pit, Ryō had not foreseen a boombox being what they would have produced. 

Not wanting to listen to whatever sounds came out of that, Ryō was blessed to be granted leave by his Jōnin to do something. Needing no further excuse to be doing something, anything, Ryō flew off across the ground and pulled out several shurikens and launched volleys of them into several zombies before he landed in the middle of them. Ducking under a lunging grab from one before rolling from a tackle attempt by another, Ryō avoided their grasps before they had all clumped together in an attempt to chase him down. 

Landing far from them, away from possible harm from anything the others may have done, Ryō tapped into his chakra. Mildly surprised to be able to use jutsu within this place, Ryō weaved his hands through those practiced hand seals. Chakra gathered in his throat and mouth, coalescing into a handful of stones as he expelled the chakra from his mouth at speed. "Earth Release: Stone Pistol Jutsu!" 

Satisfied that the troublesome creatures were handled, Ryō returned to the group. That brief stint of activity had done well in getting him moving again and kept him from freezing up a second time, though he avoided the Uchiha's gaze where at all possible. Naturally, he turned to the Leaf Jōnin for direction and instruction.  "So what now?"

-----

PWC: 598
TPWC: 1,009
MWC: 2,329

Ita remained still, his face as smooth as stone. Ita had no intentions of harming the two Leaf shinobi before him, in fact- his intentions were quiet the opposite, but he wouldn’t bother explaining. “If you are under the assumption I brought you here, then you are wrong. I have no interest in either of you Leaf Shinobi.” Ita said in a calm, flat voice. It was strange that the three of them had found themselves gathered here tonight. What was it that tied them together to this place? The Uchiha’s sharingan studied the woman who was reacting to Ita’s presence by shielding the presumed Genin. She would respond to Ita’s question by stating they were in a place called ‘Yugakure’. She suggested it was some sort of dream or multi target genjutsu, but Ita disagreed- partially that is. His sharingan did not detect the use of any Genjutsu. Was it possible for him to be trapped in a Genjutsu that was strong enough to fool even his keen eyes? Ita had his doubts and figured this had to be a twisted dream.
 
Moments later, various zombies, skeletons, and other Halloween horrors began to spawn around the nearby graveyard. Ita couldn’t believe his eyes, a zombie was carrying… a boombox? Now confident that this was a dream, Ita planned to put an end to the ghouls that sought to disturb his rest. Ita was not alone in this instance, as the Genin that was shielded by the woman before him just moments ago, was now springing into action and dueling with the various party monsters. Seeing that the monsters were being taken care of, it left Ita and the woman alone for a few moments. “What is your name?” Ita would say. She looked familiar, but he was sure they had never met before. Whilst observing her characteristics, Ita concluded that she showed signs of an Uchiha lineage, but not entirely. Ita’s attention adverted to the boy who seemed to be enjoying himself, battling with the ghouls in the graveyard. It wasn’t much longer until each monster had been defeated and upon returning to rejoin the group, it appeared their reason for being here had been fulfilled.
 
Ita took one last look at the two before him and then their bodies and the world around them would begin to shimmer a bright light until it eventually engulphed Ita’s vision, returning him to the land of the living once more. Ita shot upright in bed, resting his forehead in his palm. “What a strange dream…” Ita thought to himself.

WC: 428
TWC: 1036
 
[Exit/Missions Complete]
 
6000 Ryo = 16450 New Total
10 Tickets
30 Mission AP = 40 New Mission AP Total
20 Bonus AP = 139 New Bonus AP Total
1036 Towards Shadow Clone 1036/1500

Lachesis stood perfectly still before the strange Uchiha's examination, expressing neither fear nor open disgust. She had nothing to say to him- well, not in front of the Ryo, at least. Giving away her name to a missing ninja- a deserter- was not only against official protocol but also chaffed at her pride. "Call me what you will," she replied monotonously, head shifting to the right as she observed the devastation the genin inflicted to the graveyard. Well... That wasn't quite what she meant by shutting it down. The jounin hoped no political consequences would follow them into the waking world.

Slowly but surely, after the party goers had largely dispersed or been painted across the ground by some delicately positioned earth jutsu, the world around her began to shimmer and fade. It was evident that she was waking up, and like the previous dreams, the chances that she would remember what had once occurred was slim to none. Nevertheless, she tried her hardest to commit the stranger's features to memory... Though whether she would be successful the following morning was another matter entirely.

For better or for worse, the Yuki had largely grown out of her 'dismember first, ask questions later' mentality, but she mentally toyed with the possibility of potentially crossing blades with the stranger later on. She doubted highly that she would emerge victoriously, weakened as she was, but... Her lips slowly twisted into something that could be considered either a grimace or a grin.

"See you in hell," she muttered softly enough that only the missing nin Uchiha would hear. Lachesis wasn't sure if it was fate or destiny or some other bullshit, but of one thing she was certain- they would be reunited.


(Exit)

[WC: 288]
[Total WC: 1,000]

Claiming:
+10 stats towards speed
+10 tickets
+2,000 ryo from first mission + 4,500 from second [4k + 500 jounin wage] = 6,500 ryo
+30 AP
+465 words towards https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t49146-flying-swallow-v7-2 - the rest is on my stat page and detailed in the first post below it
+500 words to make temporary paralysis C rank (its at d rank right now)
+35 words towards https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t46609-puppet-art-ventriloquism-v7

Feeling rather like he had missed a very important conversation, Ryō looked between the two taller shinobi and wondered if something violent was about to happen. Instead, he was surprised to see the Uchiha begin to fade away. Looking behind him, Ryō was shocked to see the Leaf Jōnin begin to fade as well. What was happening? Ryō looked between then and then wildly around as he slowly became the only person in front of the inn. "Hello? Guys?" Anybody?" Ryō called out but received only misty silence as his answer. Oppressive, soul-crushing silence was the only thing with him. 

Turning around one way and then another, Ryō felt a panic seize his chest as he started to panic. His hands began to tingle and his mouth became dry. Slowly backing into the building, Ryō did his best to steady himself but found little success as his surroundings appeared to close in on him. With a panicked cry of alarm, Ryō clamored into a room within the building; anywhere was preferable to the sheer terror of being out there. However, as he began to look around, Ryō found raw confusion replacing sheer terror. This was supposed to be reality... Right?

It wasn't for many hours that Ryō managed to jolt himself awake. Like many prior nights, his sheets had slowly been thrown to the foot of the bed where they lay tangled between his ankles; the fabric was still damp with sweat from the terrors that had plagued him throughout the night. Rolling over out of instinct, Ryō immediately fell against the hardwood floor as the sheets made attempts to swing his leg over fruitless. The panic and helplessness of those nightmares were already largely gone from his mind. What had been left, beyond the fog of uncertainty, was new purpose.

Finally properly awake, Ryō freed himself and took stock of things. It was still early in the morning, a fair bit earlier than he'd usually wake up; the sun had only barely begun to kiss to the horizon in the promise of the day to come. Standing at his window, Ryō felt that lingering feeling from his dreams begins to coalesce into something real. Although he could not recall faces or names, or even really what he had done within the dreams, Ryō's newfound drive was already pressing him forward. It wasn't enough to sit back and let things happen around him. 

If he was going to truly make things better, Ryō knew he would need to make changes to himself. After all, if he couldn't bring himself to change for an ideal, how could he hope to inspire others to do that very thing? The violence and hatred and the cruelty and the suspicion; Ryō knew that he would have to do better if he was going to confront and changes those things for the better. His contemporaries, those of his generation that had continued to live the lives of shinobi while he had been guarded like a babe, had shown what could be done. If they could do it, why couldn't he? 

-----

{Exit//Complete}

WC: 512
TWC: 1,521 

Claiming:
- 6,000 ryo [first mission: 2,000 + second mission: 4,000]
- 30 AP
- 10 tickets
- 5 stats to Vigor, Chakra, and Speed each
- 500 WC [1,000 / 1,000, other half ] spent towards Summoning Technique 
- 1,000 WC spent towards learning Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears

Approved