Surf's Up! (Apollo, Baruga, and Saturn)

Sun Jul 03, 2022 12:04 am

Missions:

A feeling of eagerness engulfed the young Hikari Namikaze as she sat amongst a crowd on the sunny Mikadzuki beach. The Akari had been talking to many of the locals all day to try to figure out what exactly was going on. It seemed like most of the people on the beach seemed to be like Hikari, teleported from all over the main realm. But there seemed to be a few natives, who didn't know much about what was going on either. They just knew that every couple of years a group of people get teleported in for about a month and then leave as quickly as they came. After spending some time talking with the natives, the Kunochi was able to confirm that this place wasn't anywhere in the world that they had came from. The locals here hadn't even heard of what a Ninja was. A concerning development, but certainly an interesting one.

Along with this development, Hikari heard another interesting tidbit of information, about how later that day there was an event going on, a surfing contest, with a cash reward for the winner. Upon hearing this, the Akari would immediately check the purse she was wearing at the time and count the ryo in her wallet. While the former deputy kage wasn't as broke as when she was "The Hobo Magical Girl," Hikari was still quite deflated looking down into her coin pouch. Despite all of the favors she had done for the noble class over the past couple of weeks, the Akari still found herself in crippling debt. And that was where Hikari found herself now. Standing on the beach with a few other people all in swimsuits, waiting for the event to start. The former head of the Hoshi's black ops wore a simple two piece black Bikini with the front tied together with a black ribbon. The swimwear had silver palm tree branches designs stitched into the fabric. Hikari's long blonde hair had been tied back into a long braid that fell down to about her hips, and had a black hair band to keep her hair from frizzing up to badly. Over said bikini, the girl wore a light blue hoodie to act as a cover up in order to try to keep some of her modesty before she entered into the water. The kunochi wore one of her contact lenses over her transplanted byakugan, making the eye look normal with an oceanic blue iris. Her other eye held no such cosmetic, and as the eye's iris would be golden, the color of all Akari's eyes while not in their awakened state. Behind the Akari's back and resting on her shoulders Hikari held a white long surfboard that she had carved into the Star symbol of Hoshigakure, and painted the carving golden to make it appear like it had been originally painted all along.

Hikari's Swimsuit:

The Power of Haven would sit on the beach, waiting for her call to go out to surf. While the Akari assassin wasn't a professional surfer, the female did get a little bit of practice from the time she was in an island country while hunting down the 4-tails a few years back. As such, Hikari didn't consider herself a complete beginner. Probably not enough to win the competition, but hey! If it was enough to get her a constellation prize, the Akari would be thrilled with that.

WC: 580

Mon Jul 04, 2022 8:49 am

When I look back... For what reason did I come to this beach?:

Saturn Sentobi was seated in a wheelchair on a field, ways from the clear blue sea, tilting his chin upwards towards the mid day Sun. Its warm rays embraced the Kumon Shinobi's skin, bronzing his complexion. Sunny days were not very common in the mountains of the Hidden Cloud Village where Saturn had spent most of his life. The people there were extremely patriotic, but kind and friendly even to a 'foreign' shinobi such as himself -- although he had spent most of his life in Kumogakure, he was originally from Konohagakure. During his time in the Hidden Cloud, Saturn had made a number of friends. He shared commonalities with most of the shinobi in his age group. Life there was a constant struggle for survival. Every day, he and most other shinobi would get up and hunt for the next mission to complete in order to ensure that they had the means to make a living. The will to become stronger and attain more power was engrained into the doctrines of the youth starting from an early age. Saturn himself found a degree of salvation within his own quest to improve his own abilities, resonating with the people in his environment. On this particular day in Mikadzuki Beach, however, he was far away from the hustle and bustle in the village. The beach was serene beyond anything that Saturn could previously conceive. He began to think for himself from new perspectives. His icy blue eyes shimmered in the rays as he let his train of thought wander into his memory in this moment of bliss, where nothing else mattered.

When I look back.. For what reason did I come to this beach? Saturn's inner monologue sounded off as he attempted to recall the series of events leading up to his present circumstances. His odd blue lips contorted on his tanned face before he grabbed and scratched his cheeks where his beard would be, although today he was clean shaven with his sharp jawline and high cheekbones on display. Saturn's flirtations with certain Hiden techniques which allowed him to possess the bodies of other shinobi and even animals (he had possessed an ostrich, a vulture, a bear and a cat in that order during the course of his missions and adventures in Kumogakure) tended to cause a disorientation to his own normal state of consciousness. Upon inheriting memories and tendencies from the various vessels that he had possessed, their intangible quirks and recollections of events sometimes overlapped in the young Yamanaka clansman's mind as he struggled to adapt to the repercussions of his abilities. As he was not taught by an expert and instead was discovering his abilities on his own, there were certain imperfections in the beginner's techniques. In essence, he would sometimes experience symptoms of dementia.

I was at that parlor with Duncan, where we found two cadavers and retrieved an eyeball from a jar.. Then there was that rendezvous with Shimada-san and the others in the forest, which was actually a room.. Was that all really just a dream? Saturn wondered, gripping the wheel of the wheelchair he was seated in, before noticing. What? A wheelchair?! He shrieked, getting up on two feet and looking around for anyone who might be in need of the instrument. There was no one in sight. Reaching into his pocket, he took out a small piece of paper and wrote an apology note simply reading 'Sorry' in piss poor handwriting before signing 'The Fortune Teller' and leaving it on the seat. He wore a cyan short sleeved hoodie, and a knit cap with a starry patten to match. He wore matching shorts as well with pink stars on them. From two holes in the knit cap, his blonde hair poked out like horns. In his left hand, he clutched a metal flask. Saturn was now standing in front of a notice board. One of the papers nailed to the board read 'Surf's Up!' and he distinctly made out his own name 'Saturn Sentobi' as one of the names invited to the competition. Although he was initially taken aback, he would reconsider upon seeing the '4000 Ryo' reward mentioned at the bottom of the note. Although in his current circumstances, Kumogakure was far behind him, he was hardwired by his years of struggle to pounce at every opportunity to earn more Ryo. In the distance, he could see a small crowd gathered at the surfing area. He cracked his knuckles, 4000? That means I'll get 8. Yosh!

By the time Saturn got to augmenting his surfboard, he had mostly forgotten his past. He was fully immersed in his new reality, and had even forgotten some of his abilities. His memory was in the same state of mind that an inattentive consciousness would inhabit in a bizarre dream, just going with the ebb and flow of things, focused on limited details. For some reason, he remembered that he could use Surface Walking to disguise his lack of surfing expertise - forgetting to account for the abilities of the competition. He had never been surfing before, he could not swim and in fact it was going to be his very first time getting into the sea. Saturn found himself crouched under the shade of a palm tree, a few feet away from The Power of Haven. He was carving a hole into a wooden surfboard that he had acquired from a kind surfer. His plan was to use the crevice to find his footing on the sea's surface. He figured that the prize money would more than make up for the gaping hole on the surfer's board. After hammering at the board loudly, he would wipe his brow on his forearm and glance at the blonde haired kunoichi. Besides Yagi, one of his Kumon mentors, the girl in front of him was the first blonde that he had seen since he left Konoha as a child. Her eyes were colored differently from one another, and her modest outfit distinguished her from the crowd. He would smile and give her a subtle nod as if to wish her 'Good luck.' and then focus intensely to resume hammering the gaping hole in his instrument.

WC: 1036 ~~(sorry)~~

Mon Jul 04, 2022 7:03 pm

"Oh, this is brill! Yahoo!"

Sports were recreation. Physical activities to be done for leisure. This was true of surfing, sledding, and all sports requiring a board and some loss of traction. Oh, sure, the method was different, but the availability of the sport in question was all the same. The only people who could actually practice them were, in fact, people with enough time and money to afford it. Either that, or those whose lives depended on it — or those who simply didn't care for their time or money. There was a reason beach bums were called "bums".

Luckily, blessedly, Baruga fell into the first category instead of the second or third. Personally, her area of expertise was more in mountain snowboarding and sledding — after all, Kumogakure's only ocean was infamously frigid, and the mountains were so conveniently lined with resorts these days — but after about a day or so of practice, she found that the physics remained mostly similar. Her time with the Whale Contract also benefitted her; after all, one did not ride a whale flying in the sky without a good sense of equilibrium.

(Once a bit of Water Release and chakra was applied, but that was neither here nor there.)

Hence, the surfboard with the Kumogakure insignia currently ripping up a good wave, trying out a trick. Alas, Baruga's dark skin shined with the beachside sun as she attempted a Hang Ten for the first time, and promptly bailed into the water with a good laugh.

Checking the time once she resurfaced, Baruga noted that she should probably head to the surfing competition and get ready. Warm ups were over.

Jogging up to the latest people in line — Hikari Namikaze and Saturn, as it seemed — Baruga silently sighed in relief that she wasn't late. The blonde woman in front of her had dichromatic eyes but otherwise seemed modestly dressed, while the blonde man was just weird altogether. Who would cut a hole in their board like that? Not only does it get rid of the laminate that protects the board, it also causes the board to waterboard and then sink... though, if he was some shinobi planning on using a parlor trick for a single day's worth of competition, she wouldn't stop him.

In any case, Baruga was wearing... her standard kunoichi attire. What? It was her most athletic outfit available, and it was specifically made for her to be hydrodynamic-slash-aerodynamic. It was also, by and far, already a swimsuit. In the field, modesty meant death, practicality meant life, and given she rides flying whales and blasts Water Release techniques at people, she'd gladly maneuver around in a summer beach outfit rather than a heavy, water-soaked combat vest.

With that self-description out of the way, Baruga cleared her throat.

"I assume this is the queue for the surfing competition. — If you plan to ever surf again, I do hope you have a decent replacement for that board."

She spoke plainly, looking down at Saturn's... handiwork. Her own board bounced in her fingers — a tasteful combination of white, black, and blue, with geometric patterns and gradients and Kumogakure's symbol as its centerpiece art — custom-made, because of course it was.

WC: 536

Sun Jul 10, 2022 12:25 am

The Looks:

Freedom!! The archer was ecstatic to have the thought run to his head. He was cooped up in the village running his chunin exams, except the one time he was not. This was the perfect getaway that he needed. The sun that shines off the sand in the beach reminded him of Sunagakure. The vast layer of oceanic water still felt the same. Kota came to the beach to get a break from Suna but in a way was constantly reminded. The only difference was the vibe. Kota felt like the air was cleaner and did not carry the scent of blood as much. The only thing Kota needed to make the experience better was some hot guys to hit on.

“Hey you!” Kota was walking along the beach when his attention was grabbed by a passing stranger. “You should sign up for this surfing contest. We can use more people for it.” Kota looked it over. He was only interested in doing it for fun more than anything, it was slightly exciting. Kota had not gone surfing since he was a small child. His father was teaching him how to hunt sharks. The poor creatures would get close to surfboards and mistake them for seals. The thought put the pen in his hand and signed him up quickly. Sharkfin soup was going on the menu for later. The hunter would make it his personal mission to get it done.

Kota grabbed himself a popsicle while he waited. His sunglasses kept the sun out of his very necessary eyes. The archer was looking stylish as he waited for the contest to start. His armor and bow were placed away in his armory seal. The only thing he placed in his storage space was his quiver and knick-knacks. Kota wanted to look more like a normal person. His colors were usually black and gold but this time with a more tropical feel to it. He did not wear his ninja headband. The only small indicator to his shinobi status could be the emblem on the strap that he used to wrap his towel on his shoulders. His armor had a cape and Kota started to feel weird anytime he was not wearing one. Still he had to put it away before grabbing a board. The towel would not feel good if it was soaked.

The last person in line was the golden skinned archer. He was placed behind a young lady that looked decent. She was tall with interesting blue highlights. Kota objectively would admit that if he was into that kind of thing he would hit on her. Her height alone was a small plus to him. They just did not make them as big anymore. The hunter was able to hear her last words about a surfer in front of her. Kota, being a bit bored and nosey, tried to peek around her to see the board in question. Just a glance could tell him it was not structurally sound. The hunter had made a variety of swords, bats, and other items. Crafting was second nature to him. He could not tell the finer points of some items. Stuff like the surfboard was just too low in quality to hide anything from him. He had enough experience with senju wood to tell it was not even made from that. It was the best wood out at the moment.

“Yeah. That board is not looking too great. Do you need help with some improvements? I don’t have all my tools but I am good with my hands.” He chirped in the conversation bored just wanting to pitch in.

WC: 608

Wed Jul 13, 2022 4:10 pm

Standing and waiting for her turn in line, Hikari would take note of a blonde male standing somewhat near her. Looking over to at the male, the Akari assassin couldn't find herself taking her eyes off the mans.... very interesting surfboard. It was certainly hand made, but the Akari couldn't tell for certain if there was some sort of crazy scheme that the pale man had around this unique design, or if he was just wasn't the best at making it. Normally the Haven native would assume the latter, but this was a competition where no rules prohibiting ninjutsu was outlawed. Well, time would give us the answer to this.

Two other competitors would approach the pair and start talking to him about his surfboard, to which the Kunoichi would turn to them and respond "Hey guys. Lets not bother him to much about it right before the competition. Who knows, he may have some sort of plan." She would then cast her gaze again and take a second look at the surfboard in question and have second thoughts herself. The thought of going out onto the ocean on that.... thing, gave Hikari a shiver down her spine. ".... Although... if you aren't quite sure, you could either use mine when I'm done, or take this man up on his offer."

Looking back up to her fellow competitors, the Kunoichi would give a smile and introduce herself. "Oh, by the way, I'm Hikari, an Artist from Haven country. You don't seem like the native's I have talked to around here, so I'm guessing you were pulled her like me. Well its nice to meet you!" As she said this, Hikari would take her two pointer and middle fingers of her right hand and put them above her brow, giving a mock salute sign to greet her competitors.

After a short time to introduce themselves, if the party chose to do that, a voice on the microphone would call out.
"Ok... first up is Hikari Swim out 25 meters and ride back in! Be sure to put on a show for the judges!"

Looking around to her other competitors, The Akari would say, "Well, that is my cue! Wish me luck!" The, throwing off her hoodie, the Kunochi would make her way to the waters.

The Akari would paddle out on her board 25 meters and sit in the waves waiting for a wave she could ride in, after about a minute, Namikaze hadn't found a good wave to ride in on yet. Eventually, a smaller one meter wave would start to form. It for certain wasn't the kind of wave Hikari would want to show off on, but it for certain was workable. Before the wave reached her, the Akari would call out and ask, "Hey! There wasn't any sort of rule about how long we had before we needed to come back in. Do I have to take the first wave that can bring me back to shore? Or can I wait for a while for a good wave?"

The announcer, who was was recording this on a camera, would take a second to grab his mic. "Don't worry! We got someone who knows how to use ninjutsu under water right now who will form a wave to bring you back in. You will know when it is time to start your run."

A bead of sweat would form on Hikari's forehead, not being aware this was a thing. "Ummmm, Ok? I understand. But follow up question! How big is this wave going to be?"

"Well, size its going to be... lets say a bit bigger than your normal waves."

"Oh... ok.. So the average wave a surfer rides back on is about 1-2 meters in height, so are we talking 2.5 meters or 3 meters? Because my teacher told me that only experts should try to ride 3 meter waves."

"You will know when to come in!" The event organizer would repeat, ignoring the Kunoichi's request.

Taking a moment to ready herself, Hikari would get up onto her knees, getting ready to ride in. Suddenly, beneath her, the Akari could feel a large wave starting to form. Getting up onto her feet, the Akari would attempt to ride in the wave, but feel the force pulling her beneath her feet trying to rip her board out from under her. The strength at which this was done was more than anything Hikari had felt before. Hikari found herself on the high end of the wave as it rose 3... 4.... 5 meters above the sea level. At this point the Kunoichi would stop trying to stand and just try to keep on her knees to keep balance, as to her surprise the waves rose more and more.
10... 12.... by Hikari's guess, the wave had hit about 15 meters in height before the blonde woman would wipe out and get caught up in the current of the ocean, sending herself spiraling through the water and after about a minute, washed up on the Mikadzuki Shores.

A moment of silence could be heard from the crowd as everyone watched at the unmoving Hikari, wondering if she was ok, until out of her lips one could hear a low pitch, but loud, "ooooooooowwwwwwWWWWWCCCHHHHHH."

At this point members of the audience would start cheering, getting to see a nasty wipe out like that, but knowing the person involved was actually ok. The event organizer would get back on his mice and continue "Well people, pretty much every time we do this the first person almost always wipes out like this! Honestly, best part of the competition if you ask me! Anyways... who do we have up next.... Saturn! Your up next bud! 25 Meters from the coast my man!"

WC: 964

Fri Jul 15, 2022 11:34 pm

Carving the rough edges of the gaping hole to finish up his final touches on his borrowed surfboard, the tip of Saturn's tongue stayed pointing out of his mouth, showing his unwavering focus. As he examined the measurements of his augmentation from his crouched position, a familiar figure approached him. Looking up at Baruga, the blonde haired shinobi would at first appear pleased to see his compatriot. "Baruga! It's you." He would simply say, and then trim a couple of rough edges on the hole. Wait.. if Baruga-san is here... I can't be dreaming.. He would narrate in his monologue and briefly sulk before gathering his thoughts to reply to his senior's comment. "You don't have to worry about that, 'cause I'll buy a decent replacement with the prize money!" Saturn would claim, his face shimmering with enthusiasm. He grinned from ear to ear and a sparkle would glimmer in his pearly whites. Then, a second competitor would comment on his board as well. "Yeah, actually, I could use some help smoothing out these rough edges, maybe..." Saturn would scratch his non existent beard and examine his work, then turn to Kota, "Actually, I changed my mind. I'll see what I can do with this!"

Saturn would set the board aside, letting it lean on the trunk of a palm tree next to him, then interlock his fingers and stretch his arms high up in the air, exhaling sharply. As the blonde kunoichi would chime in, the kumon's face would gleam up, nodding along, almost giggling. He was giddy with excitement for the event and perhaps a little nervous as this would be his first time. Then, when Hikari would have second thoughts and offer her board, the amateur would pout. "You too?"

"I'm Saturn Sentobi. I am a fortune teller. For a little bit of ryo, I could read your palm... I can't see the future yet, but I can help you remember where you kept your keys, if you ever forget.. " He would attempt to sell his prototype before clearing his throat and fixing his gaze on the horizon. Hikari's name would be called out, and Saturn would rise to attention, growing more nervous knowing that his turn was coming soon after. After subtly choking upon seeing the artist take her hoodie off, Saturn would get himself together and wish her well. "Good luck, Hikari-san!" He would stick two thumbs up and grin, letting another starry sparkle radiate from his perfect teeth.

The fortune teller watched his competitor as she paddled to the sea, paying attention to the cues and the size of the wave. Saturn would listen in on the exchange and visibly stress out, feeling empathetic towards the kunoichi whom he thought did not get treated very kindly by the officiators, who did not pay heed to her concerns about the size of the wave. Watching it rise, the shinobi gasped, his jaw dropped, then he watched as the wave ascended to a whopping 15 meters, counting the time it took to rise and fall before washing Hikari to the beach. He gulped, and tightly clutched his anomalous surfboard. As his name was called out, he would slouch and his complexion would visibly pale, but he would stammer and trot towards the water step by step, holding the surfboard in his right hand. Upon reaching the edge of the coast, he would gaze out 50 meters into the ocean and spot a pod of dolphins jumping out of the water and back inside. Above, seagulls circled a school of wild tuna about 10 meters to the side of the surfing spot. Others loitered around the coast.

As he would pass the announcer's table, he would lean in and whisper in the official's ear. "I'll be right out, I just need to use the washroom real quick." He would rub the back of his head, and excuse himself to one of the portable washrooms set up on the sand. The shinobi left his board leaning on the side of the set up and swung the blue door open and shut it behind him before forming four hand seals in quick succession to summon two shadow clones, one of whom would be seated on the potty when he was cast, and the other on the first clone's shoulders. Looking at Saturn in a condescending manner, the clones would appear fed up of his antics. You know what to do.. The original would sternly communicate to the two shadow clones before taking a deep breath and take his top off before stepping back out in his starry cyan surfer shorts, leaving the clones inside, letting them lock the door after him. Then, the shinobi would take his time getting to the water. A young man with dark hair would knock on the door of the portable toilet a couple of times as the shinobi wandered further off to where he was supposed to be. After the third knock, two female figures with blonde hair and a fair complexion in red bikinis would emerge from the washroom. They seemed to be twins. "What?!" The man would exclaim and look back and forth between the two women and the young shinobi who was making his way to the sea, making deductions in his head but all eyes were on the shinobi who was about to have his go. "Pervert." One of the girls would inexplicably label the young man and slap his face before walking off, swaying her hips. Her twin would let out a loud "Hmph!" and follow behind her towards the rest of the audience.

Standing at the edge of the beach, Saturn looked up at the clear blue cerulean Mikadzuki sky and cleared his throat, waiting for something to happen. When nothing interesting would show up, he would clear his throat once again even louder and this time right on cue, a white seagull strayed from its flock in the sky, holding a massive wild mackerel in its thick marmalade talons. He waited patiently and watched as the avian dropped the massive game five meters ahead of the surfing spot. Unlike the surfer before him, Saturn then opted to walk the 25 meters to the spot, infusing chakra in his feet to step on the surface of the water with poise. Upon reaching the spot, he would turn around and drop the board. Before the board could touch the water, Saturn would jump , tuck his knees into his chest and plant his feet on top of the board, using Surface Walking once again. As the water rushed up from the gaping hole on the instrument, the board would begin to sink, but the water could not drag the shinobi's feet into its depths. Thus, a vacuum was created between the soles of his feet and the board, fixing them in place and disallowing the board to sink any further. It worked! But there's more...

Saturn stuck his thumb in the air to signal the announcer, and watched with his peripheral vision how a dolphin had wandered closer to claim the freshly killed ridiculous mackerel that was dropped back into the sea. Before the blonde haired shinobi could put his arm back down, the water around him began to rapidly ascend. At this point, the amateur's board was stuck to the water like glue. Yet, as the slope of the wave became more pronounced, the board tipped backwards, almost toppling the shinobi over but in the nick of time, just the tip of a gelatinous snout wedged itself into the gaping hole on his board. It was the dolphin that had ventured closer to him just moments prior, and she was masterfully hidden in the water by the height of the ascending wave. The fin on its back sliced into the wave as it rapidly accelerated its own speed, making the board skip on the water as it got dragged along. As the wave rose to 5, 7 then 10 meters, the expression on the first timer's bronzed face morphed from fear to sheer excitement. He was moving at the dolphin's swimming speed, cutting into the edge of the wave, neatly tilting with the mount's intuition.

When the wave reached its peak height of 15 meters, the dolphin underneath the board spouted out a jet stream from its blowhole - the immense pressure causing the board to launch itself up ten feet in the air. "Fuck.." The excited expression on his face would fade for a moment as he glanced down at the sea, barely catching the shadow of his mount still hidden inches underneath the wave as its snout overtook the hole's position on the trajectory. He prayed as he came back down into the crashing wave and 'miraculously', the dolphin's fin would impale the crevice. The mammal would gain speed again as the board on its back would appear to slice effortlessly through the rest of the wave as its slope steeply declined, carrying Saturn along closer to the beach. As the wave melted into the sea, a sliver of the swimmer's fin could barely be picked up for half a second as it smoothly launched the board forward and dove back deeper into the sea.

Gliding with the momentum from the help he had received, the blonde haired shinobi was once again grinning as he skated all the way to the sand. Looking into the audience, he stuck up his thumb and grinned wide, proud of his feat. The twins in red bikinis who were suspiciously still for the whole performance were the first to clap, prompting an applause from the rest of the audience as the kumon shinobi would bow.

"That.... was the most disappointing performance we have seen today, ladies and gentleman."

"Huh?!"

"Boooo!" The audience jeered and seemed to turn on the first timer after hearing the announcer's comments.

"You know we like to see a good old w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-WIPEOUT!!"

"Wipeout! Wipeout! Wipeout! Wipeout! Wipeout!" The crowd chanted in unison.

"What?!"

"You can leave now, Saturn. The results will be announced at the end of the event."

"Good grief..." Saturn would mutter and walk back to the others, clutching his novelty board.

"Next up.. we have... Baruga! Come on over and make your way to the surfing spot, 25 meters from the coast young lady."

Jutsu used:: Shadow Clone
Transformation Technique
Sixth Sense 1.0 (Skill) *Currently revamping as 1.1 but is basically Mind Body Switch Technique in this context in accordance with 1.0
Mind Body Switch Technique

WC: 1720 TWC: 2756

Sun Jul 17, 2022 1:22 pm

Well, that was good information. Apparently, the blatant use of chakra — as seen by Saturn's Surface Walking Technique and subsequent weird trick-thing which allowed him to float — wasn't actually disallowed by the competition. Funny how that works.

Baruga is now 100% confident that she'll win this, unless some prodigy from Mizugakure pops up. Even then, she at least knew how to put on a show.

Giving Saturn a firm pat on the back as he passed by her, Baruga jogged over to the coast, putting her board in the water, before using her Surface Walking Technique to push herself forward with her foot, like a skateboard on land. Once she got to 25 meters, she turned her surfboard towards the audience, gave them a wave and a wink (which elicited more than a few cat-calls and wolf-whistles, and she swore she could hear an "AWOOGA" somewhere in there), and got on her stomach, before giving the announcer a thumbs-up.

"Oh, what's this? Looks like we've got an actual surfer amongst the ninja competitors! Let's see how she mixes it up!"

Once she felt the wave begin to pick up, Baruga begun paddling, before centering herself on her board. One, two, three meters — five meters — she stopped paddling and started to get on her feet, letting her board dip downwards before veering it to slice against the wave horizontally.

The wave was huge, almost fifteen, twenty meters tall, about the size of a building, now. Then, her peripheral vision caught something. The wave behind her was crashing, but the wave in front of her was cresting. A sight of euphoria for many, a white whale for surfers across the globe.

(The phenomenon went by many names. The tube. The barrel. Riding pipeline. In all cases, riding inside the wave and making it out of it. Riding in the tube meant huge points in just about any surfing competition — but, in many cases, by many accounts, simply being there was better than any victory or any trophy out there. Addictive, memorable, life-changing.)

Baruga was an opportunist at heart, proactive and wild-eyed and desirous, and so she knew what she had to do without even thinking about it. Steadying herself on her board, she communed with the nature chakra around her, and entered perfect synchronization with the ocean itself. The wind whipped through her multi-colored hair and the sun was glorious on her dark skin — all while the markings of Sage Mode on her face and eyes begun to appear, burning blue and gold respectively.

"And she's in the tube! Would you look at that? Just a vision of beauty, that girl!"

Her hand grazed the side of the wave, causing a line of seafoam to follow as the sweet ocean water felt like ambrosia on her skin. Keeping her eyes open, Baruga leaned forward and drew more and more on the nature chakra, purely intoxicated by the tube and the harmony she felt by being in it — so much so, that she simply stopped moving for a few moments, frozen in bliss as the wave crashed behind her and the sky called out in front of her.

Cetacean Sage Mode was fully visible on her body now, even if it didn't quite give her the actual empowerments of nature chakra. Being in the tube was true nirvana, for an ocean-based nature chakra user like herself — and she did not use the term "nirvana" lightly in this case. In that moment, she was one with the nature around her, and there was no clear definition of where Baruga Ryoinsatsu ended and where the wave began.

Alas, a surfboard was a finicky thing, so she had to move her muscles sometime. Like pulling away from heaven itself, Baruga wrenched her body away from drawing on nature chakra so she didn't accidentally wipe out at the wrong time and turn into stone in the middle of the sea. Her markings disappeared. In her supreme enlightenment, she actually fell behind the exit for the tube, so she veered herself downwards to get more velocity to escape the tube; this wave had peaked at about twenty meters tall, so she had plenty of space to do so; and decided to wipe out more safely.

To that end, she kept her hand in the water and, without hand seals, summoned a fully-sized blue whale under the water, Ujimasa. Ascending up the wave sharply, Baruga pulled her hand away from the water and made a Ram handseal. Using the Body Flicker, she gave herself and her board a burst of speed —

And practically flew into the air over the wave, using her newfound momentum to yank her body clockwise and do about three, four, five, six spins. Simultaneously, Ujimasa breached the water, providing the spectators a sight to behold, as Baruga was practically upside-down in the air, spinning like a top, at the same time that an entire blue whale jumped out of the water.

It was ridiculous. It was unreal. It was stupid. It was everything that you'd see at some high-end aquatic amusement park, except far more scripted and far less realistic. As such, the crowd absolutely ate it up, pictures were taken, the announcer was going on about how Baruga was going to get full points. Everyone was excited.

Baruga knew how to put on a show, indeed.

As she wiped out over the wave and into the water, her surfboard went flying some other direction, while she dove headfirst into the ocean. Grabbing onto Ujimasa, the whale guffawed at her telepathically. The sound of applause could be heard under the water.

("Usin' me to show off, lassie?")

("But of course.")

Ujimasa ferried her back near the shore, the both of them still underwater. She gave him a quick order to retrieve her board stealthily before she resurfaced, combing her hair out of her face by raking her fingers through her locks.

After that euphoric experience, she'd be spending all her vacation days at surfing beaches. Her family's ski lodges could go rot, for all she cared.

"Well, I think I did well."

"Next up is Mr. Kota! Like the others, 25 meters from the shore! Good luck following that up, kid."

WC: 1036
TWC: 1572

Techniques, Summons, and Skills Used:
— Surface Walking Technique
— Nature Chakra Proficiency (and Cetacean Sage Mode effects)
— Whale Summon: Ujimasa
— Body Flicker

Sun Jul 17, 2022 3:58 pm

“I mean. I am not making fun of him for it. His board, his choice I guess.” Kota did not put too much stalk into it. He was merely offering his help. Kota believed anyone that took up his offer on modifications to be good people. The ones that could not be bothered to spot a diamond of a craftsman such as himself were unworthy. When the weird surfer introduced himself, Kota made a note to remember such a person. The other two names were taken in stride.

“My name is Kota. Feel free to make your acquaintance. I am a traveling hunter.” Kota was raised too politely to give a fake name. The man gave a nice smile at the rest of the people present. He was off the shinobi clock anyway it made no sense for him to go out of his way to hide himself. Not to mention he was from a hunting family and it was the profession he was raised on, becoming a shinobi was secondary.

Watching the competition Kota was impressed how fierce it was. When it was the turn for his group to make a move Kota was still impressed. He was impressed by how Hikari was able to wipe out so spectacularly. The pure way in which she hit the water was amazing on its own. The sensation was like watching a marvelous carriage crash. Kota gave a secret thumbs up to the wonderful failure.

Kota was already not a fan of Saturn. When the man whispered to the judge it made Kota suspicious. He kept his hands behind his back but started making hand signs when no one was looking. The signs for the rat, snake, rat again, a ram, and an ox. The jutsu allowed him to get a clearer understanding of the world about him. His sense of smell got better which was a negative in the current crowd. Someone passed gas and being able to smell and pick it up was a pain. Still he focused his chakra sensory on the toilet in question. He could sense two more signatures appear, as well as a small whisper. Thinking about it he took the man for a ninja. Shadow Clone was a technique he knew as well. It was basic but he knew it. That made Kota a bit more alert. If he was a ninja that meant the girl he knew could be one as well. Kota was not suspecting Hikari at the moment. She had a shapely body that could be made out in her swimsuit but did not seem dangerous to him.

Peering as Saturn went into the water, Kota could not help but speculate as to what the man was up to. He made clones that just dressed as girls and came to the beach. It was really weird to say the least. He stayed on his board and surfed alright. At least he did better than Hikari by a lot. Not that Kota remotely trusted the peanut headed ninja. He was the definition of suspicious. That or maybe he was just weird in a creeper sort of way. Either way Kota edged more away from the guy when he made it back to the beach.

Two things Kota became sure of as he watched Barugo surf. The first was the girl had moves and would be a hands down winner. The second was that he was sure she was a shinobi as well. Kota would not realize that the only reason he could sense her chakra at all was because of his expanded senses. Still he committed to try to and remember the two chakra signatures to memory.

“I guess they saved the Okay for last!” Kota was confident in all that he did. That included knowing his own limits. Traveling growing up he would surf with a spear in his hands for certain seafood. That did not mean he was amazing at it. Just looking at how Barugo smoked the competition away using various jutsu let him know this was not his to win. He swam out with the burrowed board. He surfed well, keeping his balance and popping off a handstand to show off. It was not a lot but it gathered him some points. Coming back the crowd cheered. They were happy with how he did but Kota could tell the difference. “Looks like you got this one Baru. I couldn’t come close.” Kota assigned the surfer a nickname as saying full names all the time was for squares.

“Somebody please help!!!!” A scream pierced the bitch and made Kota grab his ears. To others it may not have been as loud. The issue was that his hearing was greatly increased as well. It sounded like a mountain crash right next to his ears. Kota would not have been surprised if some chakra was infused in that shout. Following with his eyes Kota could see a man awash on the beach with a wooden craft. The look in his eyes screamed crazy. Kota was crouched on his knees a bit holding his ears and head. “Anyone know how to heal? If not, we can head over and help.”

WC: 867
TWC: 1472

Techniques:
— Senses Beyond

Wed Aug 03, 2022 1:37 pm

After a bit of time, the Kunoichi would slowly rise to her feet. Checking herself over, Hikari felt pretty confident she was going to have bruises tomorrow, but nothing was torn or broken, so a day or two of rest would be all she needed to recover from her wipe out. Drat! While the girl had only a little hope in actually winning, she had at least wanted to not make a fool of herself.

As she got up and was looking around her, out of the corner of her eye Hikari would see... somewhat of strange individual. Since arriving in the paradise dimension, everyone the Kunochi has seen has been in some sort of beach attire, either swimsuits or something to cover up the swimsuit. This man.... was wearing what looked like a baggy long attire. His clothes were torn and dirty, and in his hands he held a.... Volleyball? Some sort of volley ball with a face on it. It also appeared like the man was... speaking to said volleyball? Well, that was strange. The man obviously didn't seem like he was part of the competition. (Or this dimension, come to think of it.) Was he ok? The Kunnochi would start to make her way over to the man, to check on him. Due to her wipe out though, the girl would be limping a little bit, so there would be time for anyone who wanted to catch up to her.

WC: 243

(OOC: Sorry for the short post. I didn't want to hold anybody else up. I hope to have a more stable posting schedule starting this weekend, but I did want to start to push the story along at this point and not hold you all up anymore. )

Fri Aug 05, 2022 11:16 pm

"That's not fair.." Saturn muttered as he saw how Baruga played the crowd, and they drooled all over her. Shortly after, his jaw dropped as he watched his compatriot slice into the water before springing into the air and spinning like a beyblade, showing off her crisp acrobatics. That's a wrap, he thought, he didn't stand a chance against the whale shepherd after all. He cursed as the craftsman gave her her props, he seemed to have fallen for her good looks too. Folding his arms and looking to the side as his senior passed him, he muttered barely audibly. "That was pretty cool, Baruga, I can't lie."

Saturn chuckled at the announcer's introduction of the shinobi from Sunagakure. He did just fine, but Saturn thought he had him beat for second place. Before the announcer could get to declaring the results, the piercing scream in the distance sent a chill down his spine, causing him to stop and glare out into the part of the beach further ahead where the man was flailing. While the announcer remained speechless, Hikari had begun to make a move towards the wailing subject. Instinctively, Saturn was drawn towards the man as well. The man in question was dressed like an outsider. Perhaps he had some answers, Saturn thought. He himself had no lucid recollection of how exactly he had arrived at the beach.

Briefly, he caught up to Hikari and walked alongside her. "You did your best, Hikari-san. You almost had it." He would say, but the timing was slightly off and awkward considering their circumstances. As they approached the anxious man's wooden craft, Saturn would walk faster, gaining a step on the fellow blonde haired shinobi to reach the subject first. Kneeling down, he picked up the volleyball and looked at it, there was a smudged face. He focused intently before handing the ball back to the anxious man. "It's just a ball.." He muttered, looking suspiciously at the erratic man. He seemed neither young nor old. His hair and his eyes were both neither dark nor light. He seemed just as though he had seen a ghost. Puzzled and curious, Saturn held his arm out and grabbed the man's palm. He did not even seem to speak the common tongue, or he was too panicked to try.

Closing his eyes, Saturn Sentobi focused. He was using an ancient technique of the Yamanaka clan. It was one that he had discovered for himself by intuition and even refined. He possessed a sixth sense that would classify him as the cream of the crop in the Yamanaka heritage. As though by convergent evolution, he was mastering all of their hiden techniques one by one just by his own intuition. The specific technique that he had used on the subject was one of the oldest devised. 'Psycho Mind Transmission.' Was a technique that let Saturn touch a subject and gaze into their mind to remember their version of events and inherit their quirks. His eye twitched as he immersed himself in the world of Wilson's comrade. The look on his face appeared more and more disturbed as he peered into this man's soul.

Snapping out from his daze, he looked back at the man with a look of sympathy, before fixing his gaze on Wilson - looking absolutely horrified and traumatised. He had learned some things about Wilson and the man in front of him, and the things that had let up to their present circumstances. It was the stuff of horrors, the unspeakable. He wanted to bawl his eyes out, then his ears, and then his nose as well. It was the kind of tale you never wish to come across in your lifetime. He could tell his new friends and scar them too, or he could keep Wilson's secret to himself. Looking back, he could see Baruga approaching himself, Hikari and the subject with Kota perhaps trailing behind. Saturn felt as though his older compatriot had the stomach to hear the tale. They had shared an adventure together in the past at the beach, but he struggled to recall the details and his sense of time was greatly skewed, messing with his recollection of the sequence of events that had occurred in the beach thus far.

Walking towards Baruga, he would place his hand on her shoulder and lean in, covering his mouth over her ear. His eyes still visibly twitching, he would whisper in her ear the secrets that he had learned from reading the erratic man's mind. He had hoped that his senior would be better equipped to deal with the information that he had learned, and to decide whether or not to tell the others anything about it. It was a special case after all. His voice was shaky and his heart pounded with longing to repent. "I'm sorry." He would tell the blue haired kunoichi after sharing the burden with her. Still scarred, he would look at Hikari and Kota and give them each a subtle nod. "Hikari-san, Kota-san, it was nice meeting you both. I hope to see you around. I'll be on my way, I need to meet up with a friend." He would claim, before turning around and walking away, wobbling in his step.

Techs; Psycho Mind Transmission

WC: 878

TWC: 3634

EXIT;

Claims

2x Mission rewards for Surf's Up and Cast Away with Beloved Presence; 20000 ryo, 100 AP

35 Beach side tickets

1000 words towards Imitation Black Hole

2500 words towards Mind's Eye of The Kagura

116 words towards Weeble's Wobble

18 words towards Discipline

72 AP (max stats)

Surf's Up! (Apollo, Baruga, and Saturn)

Surf's Up! (Apollo, Baruga, and Saturn)

Re: Surf's Up! (Apollo, Baruga, and Saturn)

Re: Surf's Up! (Apollo, Baruga, and Saturn)

Re: Surf's Up! (Apollo, Baruga, and Saturn)

Re: Surf's Up! (Apollo, Baruga, and Saturn)

Re: Surf's Up! (Apollo, Baruga, and Saturn)

Re: Surf's Up! (Apollo, Baruga, and Saturn)

Re: Surf's Up! (Apollo, Baruga, and Saturn)

Re: Surf's Up! (Apollo, Baruga, and Saturn)

Re: Surf's Up! (Apollo, Baruga, and Saturn)