BIG BEACH ADVENTURE

Fu laughed at what Youta said, “Youta, that’s so cliché.” She would say, her giggles lingering. “Well I guess that’s a good idea. Alright! We should split up!” Fu did her best to do the least amount of work on missions, only really getting involved if she had to. She didn’t care much for the actual mission other than for it being a success of course. She was in it for the money and the socialization and adventures she got to go on with random people, so when Youta suggested she go with the big guy, Fu was more than happy to agree. “Haha! Okay, I’ll go see what the big guys up too!” Fu would say, quickly scurrying off in the direction of Duncan as the last words left her lips. “Good luck!” She would say while in motion, throwing a hand up over her shoulder and shaking it at Youta.
 
When Fu arrived, she would find Duncan’s large back to her, and on the other side, the couple. “Woohoo! Get em’!” Fu cheered from behind. This was probably inappropriate, but she didn’t know the big guy or the people he had a problem with, so why would she get involved? “I heard he was talkin’ smack!” Fu would instigate from behind. Her words didn’t appear to affect the man and the ordeal ended rather uneventful. “Aww man…” Fu said to herself under her breath, her body feeling as though she were sinking into the earth.
 
Once Duncan realized Fu was accompanying him, she would say “Hey, mind if I tag along?” This was around the same time he had declared he was entering the footrace. Fu wasn’t big on running, but that sounded much more fun than what she was currently doing. Fu was now cracking her knuckles and stretching her limbs, getting limber for the race to come. “There’s no way you can run with all those muscles!” Fu would say to Duncan jokingly. “Do you gamble big man? Want to make a bet? How about…, 500 ryo? Who finishes first wins!”
 
The race began at the sound of a whistle and Fu’s legs began to spin like an old cartoon characters. The kunoichi’s legs and short stature was sure to give her an advantage against Duncan’s wide and non-aerodynamic frame. The normal contestants were instantly left in the dust by the shinobi participating and the race had turned into an all-out competition of who was the fastest. Not only Ryo was at stake, but their reputation to be the fastest shinobi representing their village was as well and Fu was sure that Duncan, who had stated early that he was proud of his home, could not turn down a hypothetical challenge to see who represented their village- the fastest.

Spoiler:

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At this point the party of four seemed to have broken off into groups of two. Youta was speaking with Shikami and he would look over at the boy. He knew of his clan. At which time his Stage two Meigan activated and he could see the Yuumei about Youta as well. and Shikami would disperse his eyes with  a blink, He would nod "I am a Shinkou, I went searching for the village of Abyss for about a year, but I had to return home to my village, I ran low on supplies. My mother whispers to me, but I could not locate it. And I knew no other Shinkou till now. Where are you from, and have you been to Abyss yet?"

While they talked Shikami would continue his work he had been doing. That was when the kid ran up, gave the flyer and youta made his comment. Shikami would nod and wait at the next line for their companions to finish the foot race part of the race. Shikami had his surf board he had borrowed for this race in his hand and he waited. Duncan seemed to be his partner since Youta and Fu previously seemed to know each other already. LIkely from the same village. Shikami did not care to look into that however.

Once Duncan eventually reached the line, Shikami would take off at full speed and running into the ocean he would throw the board to the water and he would leap to flop on top of it, paddling out. Even if it was after Youta had made it out to the sea, They were still a good deal in front of the others that was participating in the race. Shikami would paddle out to the ocean till he felt comfortable, and he waited for just the right wave to come in, than he would take off for it. Paddling through the Wave Initially, and than Standing up on the board as he rode the top of the wave for a minute As the wave began to fold in on itself, Shikami had taken off from the top at an angle and started to ride on the inside of the wave. His hand running across the water , feeling the sea splash his skin. He would eventually break out before the wave collapsed on top of him.

As he slowed down on the way back in, he dropped back to sitting on the board and looked at Youta to see how the boy was progressing. Overall it seemed like it might be a rough match, they both may start having to use jutsu if Youta had not already started that himself. It all almost seemed somewhat Surreal, like it was almost too good to be true. But Shikami could not yet figure out why he felt that way about this entire situation.

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Youta would talk to Shikigami and say “I have not ever been to the abyss village. But I have always wanted to go. I have met some of the elders of the village and in my village there are a few other members and some are pretty powerful. We should see how this mission goes and maybe meet up and head there. Two people are better than one. Hoshigakure is where my adoptive parents are from.” He would continue his conversation and would wait for Fu on the line and when she got close Youta would activate this seal he had on his body and blue lines would cover his body. He would reach the ocean and move at incredible speeds. As he reached the ocean he would activate the walking on water jutsu. He would continue to run at full speed till he would reach the finish line. He was not sure who won if it was Fu and Youta or Shikigami and Duncan. He was not too worried about it though. But as they finish, he would try to end the effects of the seal before Shikigami got close. They would all be at the finish line when a man would approach them.


This man was a small, very thin man in a black shirt that seemed at least 3 sizes too small. It seemed like an extra layer of skin instead of a shirt but he would approach us and look especially at Duncan. “Hello, are you 4 by chance shinobi?” He would wait for us to answer then continue interrupting if we took too much time. “Well you all look like just the people I need. I could use some people to perform some stunts for my movie I am making. Would you all be interested? I can pay you.” Youta would look at everyone and say politely “I am not personally interested but I cannot speak for everyone depending on how many people you need. If everyone else goes I will go but I am definitely not going by myself.” Youta would wait for the group to make a decision.
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The younger kunoichi known as Fu seemed like an interesting sort, her demeanor and behavior far different than Duncan had expected of a shinobi. Part of him wondered if it was all truly just an act, an intentional deception to mask her true nature and hide away how dangerous she actually was by disarming those that fail to see through it. Maybe she was so powerful that such a playful nature was simply never corrected for fear of retaliation... or perhaps he was just looking a bit too far into the matter. Without any outward reaction he would just wave off such thoughts and focus on the matter at hand, a footrace. He was a bit out of shape and rusty, but the thought of the event still brought him great feelings of joy. It was then that Fu would challenge the man, stating that his sheer size and bulk meant that there was no way he could run quickly. A younger, more hotheaded version of himself might have been provoked by such a statement, stirred to anger by the taunt. Now that the man was far older and of course wiser, he knew the taunt for what it was an simply shrugged it off. "I guess we will have to see." Fu and Duncan would both stretch to limber up, not wanting to pull, tear or sprain anything during the race. It was then that Fu would press to worm her way into the mind of the giant. She would offer a little wager, putting a little bit of ryo on the line. Duncan wasn't sure that it was a wise move, but his Kumo blood was burning hot. "Alright, you are on!" After limbering up he would get into position with his hands out in front touching the ground and his left foot in front ready to spring into action. When the whistle would blow, Duncan and Fu would both launch from the starting point and completely dust the civilian participants. Fu was quick, far quicker even than Duncan expected. She was quicker and had less mass to provide resistance from the air, but each one of her (much faster) strides were like one third of Duncan's larger stride. Still, the sheer difference in their respective speeds was clear as Fu managed to pull ahead by a good margin. Crossing the finish line in second might not have mattered to most, but it just meant that he had to push himself and his training even harder. "You're a fast one aren't you?" The knight would pull out a pouch and toss it to Fu, "A deals a deal. Just means I'll have to work a bit harder to close that gap for the next time I encounter you." He'd offer a grin and a nod. It was good to challenge not only others but oneself as well.

It was then that the large man would look to see how the others were doing. This was of course a two part event. Fu gave her team a solid lead, and it would be interesting to see if the other young shinobi would be able to capitalize on the advantage presented. Many of the beachgoers would be watching, staring out at the efforts of the two surfing shinobi. Duncan couldn't help but notice that Youta had a bit of an odd aura about him, a faint glow of sorts. Perhaps using techniques to bolster his efforts? Once the two had finished, it would seem as though the Hoshi ninja pair had emerged victorious. 

It wasn't long after they all regrouped before a strange little man approached them all and asked them to do stunts in a movie. "Well that sounds like a good time. What kinds of stunts do you need done? Jumping out of buildings, or are we needed for the fight scenes?" Another grin would make its way to his face, hoping he was right. Perplexed by the odd enthusiasm Duncan was showing, the man would nod, "Yes." It seems he didn't specify, but Duncan didn't care. He was going to have some fun. 

Once on set, the giant of a man was a bit large to be a proper stunt double. Wouldn't really fit in right, but he was offered the chance to play one of the goons that the hero had to best before reaching the main bad guy. In all honesty, Duncan couldn't really follow the plot but he was given some creative freedoms with his goon, and so he made the most of it. 

The hero would be approached Duncan, the scene mentioning something about the goon needing to steal the hero's magical belt. "Begone foul giant. Else my blade will cut you to ribbons!" the hero would warn.

 Duncan would just laugh, speaking from his chest as he said, "If you go to this bout with the bulky brute Duncan Crawford and escape with your life and still lose your belt... you are a lucky lucky lucky man. Oh yeah! That's what their gonna be calling you, cause comparatively speaking to the bulky brute Duncan Crawford you are nothing but garbage. Yeah! Nothing but garbage little man. And I'm talking inevitable. And I'm talking you can't hold that belt with me coming after you." It was at this point that the hero then proceeded to cut down the goon, much to Duncan's dismay as he didn't get to finish his bit.

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Shikami would silently give the boys words some thoughts. He had Noticed Fu made it first, and Youta went before he did. The man watched as a familiar aura went across Youta. However Shikami had decided to do this without their ninja magic to assist him. Sadly between the lead that Fu got for the team, and Shikami upholding his honor, they had won the competition over all. To which Shikami would congratulate Youta and Fu on the victory. Shikami would than hear the man approach the four of them as they celebrated the pair's victory. The man was asking for them to help in his production of a movie as a stunt double. Shikami would agree much like Duncan had, Youta had initially said no but since most of the group agreed so far, Since Fu seemed to stand their silently. They would all likely go to be stunt doubles.

Shikami had a decent build , but Not exactly what they were looking for.  Shikami would go through the motion of the stunts for the man as required, but his bit was less than anyone else. He was just a extra with no lines, nothing spectacular. His fight scene was even sub par. Shikami had to let a clearly telegraphed kick hit him and knock him off the building he was on top of. Shikami did as such and fell off the building, hitting the padding below. He would look over to Youta and Duncan, It would seem that Duncan was playing the part of a goon who had lines and actually got a little bit of a fight against the hero.

Shikami would eventually get out of the padding and walked around the beach while he waited for any possible retakes of shots he needed to be involved in. Along his walk he would see a scene playing out in the movie where the main hero had washed up on shore with no memory of who he was and only had a friend named Wilson that was just a volleyball. Shikami would shake his head as he watched the scene unfold to eventually the man finding his memory and remembering who he was by the end of the movie. This entire movie was rather cliché to Shikami. The man would sigh and would do the retakes of his shots he needed to do. It was usually cause either the director changed his mind on how something should  happen or someone messed something up, Shikami however was a jounin of high caliber, so he would ensure that it was never his fault, and had always executed the stunts as he was meant to.

Eventually the director would call it a day and let them all go about their business. Shikami had to stretch out from all the jumping and falling he had to do. It was never easy work to be a shinobi, he never expected their to be another job out there that rivaled it however, until today. Shikami did have to laugh at part of the movie where the bad guy stalled the hero by getting lifeguards sick and having the hero be a fill in for eight hours, buying him time to get his evil stuff done.

Some goons made it troublesome for the hero by pushing some people in subtly to make the hero have to work hard at the job by saving people. It was well thought out and very time eating and even hit hard on the physical side of things for the hero. Something though made Shikami feel weird about the entire situation. No one around them was beachgoers watching from the side. It was like everyone was apart of this movie or something. Everyone was in on this.

Shikami finally realized somehow even with his clans prowess , he had been placed under a genjutsu to do this entire production, everyone had. Shikami would begin using Genjutsu release , on himself and people around him releasing them. He searched for Duncan, Fu and Youta and inform each of them that the movie was a fake this entire time, that they are under a genjutsu and needed to bust free. The fastest way to prevent it from happening again was to find the man and put a stop to him. That way these people can enjoy their vacation.

twc- 2184

(Mid Thread Claim)
1026 towards Tempest 974 here 2000/2000

4 stats to Strength
17 stats to Speed

Shikami Shinkou wrote:twc- 2184

(Mid Thread Claim)
1026 towards Tempest 974 here 2000/2000

4 stats to Strength
17 stats to Speed

Approved.

Fu passed the finish line with ease. It was a glorious race that was all in good fun. “That was awesome! I didn’t think you could move that fast, pops!” Fu would say harmoniously, quickly diverting Duncan’s nickname she had assigned him from “Big guy” to “Pops” now that they were friends, and he was looking a bit older after their race. The nickname “Pops” meant more than an insult to Fu, but a sign of respect for her elders, although Duncan would probably have a hard time seeing it that way. Fu assigned nick names to almost everyone she met, regardless of their consent. Fu snatched the money from Duncan’s oversized palm, in the same way a child would snatch their parent’s [phone], then stuffed it into her bulging wallet that vaguely resembled a green frog.
 
After the race, Fu followed Duncan around, making sure not to venture far, until they met up with the others. After a while of following him around like a puppy dog, a strange little man approached them and asked if they wanted to do stunts in his movie. “A movie! I’ve always wanted to be in a movie! I’ll be the main character- no, wait, I’ll be the villain!” The strange, little man seemed entirely too pleased at their willingness to help, but he wasn’t as thrilled as Fu.
 
Once the shinobi made it to the movie set, Fu’s life was shattered when the production team informed the kunoichi that her help wasn’t needed and that they were assigning the villain role to Duncan. Fu’s enthusiasm died out, and if it weren’t for Duncan being apart of the set, she may have burned it down, but for now, she would sit on the side lines and cheer her big friend on. “Get him Pops!!” Fu would yell. The director and the rest of the crew shot Fu disgusted looks because of her poor set etiquette. “Sorry..” Fu said in a sheepish voice.
 
Fu thought Duncan looked funny on stage. Fu wondered how they would even fit him on the screen and he looked way too strong to only be a side character. Once the scene started, Fu wondered if Duncan had it in him to differentiate real life from acting. Her eyes were glued to the ensuing soliloquy, Fu waiting eagerly to see if the hero would receive a dose of real-life action.  


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Fu was super excited about being in the movie and wanted to be an actor. But it was obvious from the way that the producer and Director looked at our group that they were really only interested in Duncan. Duncan was a big guy and looked like he could be a villain or a giant. But Youta would say to Fu “You know they only asked us to be polite, they were interested in the big guy,” he would then turn towards Duncan ``what was your name again? pops i am pretty sure that is what Fu told me. But you know her she can be a handful.”

As the movie progressed one of Youta’s seals would start to bother him. It was the one over his eye. Which would mean one thing and one thing only, there was a genjutsu happening either on the movie set and on the beach goers that happen to see or go to the movie set. Youta would then start trying to break the Genjutsu and would succeed after a time but before he broke the Genjutsu he could still see through it with his seal. He would see Fu and Duncan just standing there. He would walk up to Fu and whisper “We are under a genjutsu a long with quite a few people on the beach the movie is not real, find the clues and break the Genjutsu then help Duncan. I am going to find Shikigami and find the caster.” He would then break the Genjutsu knowing he had to work fast he would activate meigan and try to find the rogue shinobi along with his Shinkou cousin.

He would see a lot of power coming from the director who was looting and stealing stuff from he was an Uchiha which would explain why the Genjutsu was so powerful. “Shinkigami! It is the director get him.” Youta would quickly try to catch the man in a dark whip making the necessary hand signs to catch him to turn him over to the local authorities. Because this is not his country so it is not his job to dole out judgement.

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Pops? Man that made him feel old. Still, it didn't seem like it was said with any malicious intent. To the literal children - like many of the shinobi had been - he must have seemed quite old. He was often twice as old as they were. Fu seemed rather interested in playing the part of the villain, but it would seem as though the role of the main antagonist was already filled, and she didn't fit the directors idea of what one of the 'goons' would look like. She could no doubt change her appearance, but the director was... well a bit weird about it. So instead she just sat on the sidelines and cheered on 'Pops'. 

Duncan would watch as the hero moved in to attack, cutting his lines off. The disappointed giant of a man would move directly into the 'fight' scene. The hero was of course set to win, but that didn't mean Duncan wasn't able to have a little bit of fun with it. A poorly launched thrust would be easily sidestepped, a large outstretched arm ready to retaliate with a massive lariat move. He'd watch as the swordsman's eyes grew wide, to which Duncan would quietly whisper "duck kid. Then counterattack." to the actor. The hero would do so, taking the advice of Duncan and letting the attack sail right over his head before slashing towards the now exposed back of the giant. He'd feel the prop make contact, to which he would give a loud grunt like he was in pain. Hopefully the movie magic behind the scenes could add some special effects or something to really drive home the damage of such an attack. Duncan would turn around, the goon ready to retaliate and then step into the outstretched blade, thrusting it between his large arm and the side of his torso on the opposite side that the camera was viewing. It wasn't a particularly believable battle, but it made the hero look good and at the end of the day, that was what these movies were all about. The hero saving the day and bringing down the villains. It brought hope to those that evil never prevailed. Unfortunately, reality didn't always line up with fiction. Still, after putting in the efforts he would end his efforts as "Big goon number one" and shift focus to that of a civilian that was in need of saving from some sort of hazardous water. Usually it would be hard to pull of reusing the same actors for multiple roles, but Duncan was a veteran shinobi at the end of the day, and a simple transmutation jutsu would shift his form to a much smaller, much more puny form that was far from what he looked like normally. The hero needed to save these civilians in order to showcase that he was truly heroic and willing to risk it all (including letting the main villain get away) to save as many people as possible. Of course, he'd no doubt catch up with the antagonist later for the final confrontation, but right now the scene was saving swimmers while the lifeguards were sick with some sort of virus. Or something like that at least. It was really hard to follow from the bits and pieces Duncan actually saw between his roles. Plus, it also didn't help that the scenes weren't shot in order. The movie would be cut together with the various parts all lined up to make a story that made sense in the end. The plot of this movie was... well, it felt like a very cheesy, B-grade action film. Still, Duncan was glad to have the opportunity to assist. Despite his original unease of this place, it was ultimately growing on him. 

One of the scenes was of a man who had lost his memories. It looked like the same person that played the hero in the scene before, but this time with a much less clean cut look and a ragged beard. He was talking to... a volleyball? But... how did that make sense to the film? Genres were all mixing together in a rather odd way. Duncan wasn't in this scene, so he was able to just watch as it played out. 

Shikami would rush over and mention this was all an illusion. "What?! People aren't going to witness my great acting skills? How ever am I going to transition to movies later in my career?" Jokes aside, if they were all caught in some sort of genjutsu that was a concern for certain. Flooding his whole body with chakra, he would watch as various props and landscapes changed right before his eyes. And the little director also shifted, his form now that of a rogue shinobi. A headband with a strange village symbol etched out with a line through it could be spotted. 

Duncan would crack his knuckles and then his neck, stretching his body out a bit for what he expected to be a proper fight. He could feel his body firing up, a light bounce on his feet as he prepared for this beatdown. There were four of them, and just one (now outed) enemy. The man was going to catch an ass whooping like nothing that he had ever experienced before unless he released the illusion. And even if he did, Duncan was going to beat the shit out of him on principle for putting him in a genjutsu in the first place. 

"I dunno about you folks, but I think it is time to kick some ass." And with that said he would begin his stroll over to the enemy, wondering just what it was they planned to do to stave off the crashing waves of pain that were coming his way. 

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“A Genjutsu? That’s awesome! I can’t believe it took us this long to figure it out.” Fu then busted out laughing. “Hey Pops! If that was a genjutsu, I bet you just looked so funny there to anyone watching!” She then placed a hand over her mouth and tears began to form in her large, orange eyes as she did her best to suppress her laughter, not wanting to enrage the man and cause him so go on a rampage. Once she pulled it together, she decided to start acting like an actual shinobi and followed suit by flooding her chakra network and release the genjutsu she was under. “Well, that was fun.” She laughed.
 
The crew of four oddly placed shinobi were now back together again and the enemy behind the movie’s genjutsu had been flushed out. Fu almost felt bad for him, but he had to of known better than to try and trick a couple of shinobi- especially one as big as Duncan. Fu thought for a moment about what their ultimate end goal was, to rob them? Unlikely. Or was it something more sinister? Either way, the truth was going to be beat out of him soon enough. “Kick his ass, Pops!” Fu cheered Duncan on from the side lines. Fu wished Archie were there, he would have loved to see this. Fu waited to see if the others would join in or stand by and watch along side her as the large man beat the illusionist to a pulp. “Don’t hold back!”, “Let em’ have it!”, along with many more words of encouragement, would be heard by the body builder from the peanut gallery behind him- that was Fu.

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