Will They Make It?

The Mission:

Kota just finished up with his shower. He had spent some time having fun in what people would call a winter wonderland. To him the place was just an icy tundra of bleak nothingness. Not to mention dying from frostbite looked a lot more painful then dying from heat stroke. The hunter had never spent time in a place as cold as a Yuki’s butthole before. The time he spent here was a first. He was pretty excited to head back to Suna. He wanted to see Guren and talk to him about some stuff. There was loads to do. He even thought it would be nice to scroll around the place with Musu. It was a whole mess of plans that he was making in his overacting brain.

Getting in bed the archer gave his bird a good night snuggle and got inside. His mind started to create a sweet dream when he suddenly shot up. He hated when this was happening. The sensation of space warping alerted him to the fact that something was up. Kota was dabbling in space-time techs a lot more often. Using it and his roc movement he understood the sensation which is why he was alerted. He could not grab Delphi because he did not know where he was heading. The archer was just snagged and dragged along for the ride. His vision was dark till a flash of light blinded him.

Coming to with his vision returning, Kota took a look around. He put his hands together and performed the two handseals for dog and monkey. A bow appeared in his left hand as the quiver formed on his back. Kota would look normal if it was not for the fact that he was in pajamas instead of his usual armor. He was not wearing shoes or socks on the grassy ground. His jet black silk pants stayed on his lower body very snuggly. If one looked close enough they may even notice he was going commando, his shirt was a tight gold long sleeved crop top. It accentuated his body and was comfy. The look was more provocative than what he would wear out in public, baring a none special occasion. At least he would have been wearing shoes.

The archer decided it was time to look around after his gear was on his body. He wished he had a technique for shoes but he did not think about it before. “Hello, is anyone else out here?” Kota would call out loudly to see if he was missing anyone. At the sound of silence he decided to explore. Traveling around since his birth. He understood how important it was to find out information and the lay of the land. Securing shelter, water and food. He would also look to see if he could find anyone.


WC:474
TWC:474

The events of the past few weeks had been a lot for Asuka. The sheer chaos of his time in the land of snow thus far had been of a level he typically associated with the Halloween disaster. Job after job with hardly any breaks between, many of them higher-ranked and exhausting either physically or mentally. This time, at least, he’d not had to kill anybody, though the retrieval of baby new year’s had come close. Luckily, it hadn’t come to that for the silver-haired medic. He’d vowed not to kill if he could avoid it, not after the cult.

He wasn’t sure what to make of the people, either. Kota was a constant, he never seemed to meet anybody without first running into the man. But the jounin, Musu, and the rogue, Katsuragi, those two were unexpected. Different. He hardly understood Katsuragi when he spoke, the man more than a little strange. And Musu, while cordial, gave the impression of not particularly liking Asuka. He wasn’t sure if that was true or not, but they’d hardly been warm to each other. The flirting between Musu and Kota was… also odd, to witness. Kota had gone a little far in some of his comments for certain, and even remembering the words sent a flush across his face. The man needed to learn some restraint, really. Comments like those were best saved for dates and in the privacy of one’s own home, not mid-mission in front of one’s mission teammates. Kota finding happiness with someone was far from a bad thing, though.

These missions had given Asuka the realisation that he wasn’t really close with anybody. He was cordial with a handful of people, and semi friendly with a few others, but he wasn’t truly friends with anybody in the village. He had next to nothing, as far as human connections went, and perhaps that was what had bothered him the most when seeing Musu and Kota interact. They had each other, and likely other friends, but who did he really have? Not one single person he could trust to be in his corner. That hurt, a lot more than he thought it would. He wanted something like that with someone.

It seemed this mini “vacation” had given him a lot to think on, and a lot of new concerns besides.

His introspection was interrupted, however, by a warping of the space around him. Alarmed, the young man tried to grab a hold of something, anything, but it was no use. As he was pulled through space and time, he only had himself. He’d just stepped out of the shower and into a sleep yukata, so he didn’t even have proper clothes on to face whatever was happening now in the series of unfortunate events that made up his life.Too used to strange and bad things happening, the young man merely rose to his feet and sighed as he landed wherever he’d been dragged. Why did these things always happen to him? It was good that not too many other people got into these kinds of situations, but still.

Having risen to his feet, he observed a massive grass-covered space, with nobody in his immediate line of sight. ”Is there anybody here? Where am I?” he called, scanning the area and finding nothing but open space in front of him. Rather than dwell on it, he picked a direction and set off, glad at least that there was grass rather than stone or earth to walk over if he had to do it with bare feet. Not that cut feet would be much of a hindrance for him, but saving every bit of chakra he could helped.

WC: 633
TWC: 633

The time here in the land of snow was coming to the end. The long days of missions, gallavanting around the hidden village in the snow, and going on countless missions were a strange change of pace for the young Uzumaki. Still, the villagers seemed less interested in Musu as the days went by and also less frequent. The aura around the area was beginning to change, as though it was about to enter a long sleep, and Musu was not welcome to the invitation. Still the Uzumaki learned more about his past, the battle with the robed woman in the inn was clearly a highlight here, and it gave Musu some direction and closure in the life that he lost.

As Musu woke up from his sleep he would look around his room at the inn, the small fireplace inside kept him toasty throughout the day, and also allowed for him to enjoy his early morning in peace. Getting out from out of the covers of the blanket was still a task, considering the frigid air and cool temperatures, but it was slightly made better by the warm tea that the Uzumaki received daily. As though right on queue of cup of warm delicious cinnamon tea was ready for sipping as Musu readied his body and his mind for the day. Dressing into his robes, Musu would take this time to reflect on the time that he had spent here.

When the Uzumaki first arrived he knew that he was late to the party. There were many other ninja here that were looking to do work and also looking to make some extra money. The town was bustling with energy, chakra, and people from all over the ninja world. The inns were full, and conversation with a stranger was only few feet away, but it was the connections with the ninjas that also joined him from Sunagakure that he spent the most time with. This wasn't exactly on purpose though, as the Uzumaki wished actually to meet people from other areas of the world, but the fact that he was able to meet people in the village he had never dreamed of meeting in most other circumstances. It gave Musu a new perspective on life and the jounin of the sands knew that he had work to do on making better connections as soon as he got back to the village.

His first couple of days were spent enjoying the town, building snowmen and playing in snowball fights, learning the lay of the land, and discovering that a person of great power and chakra was the one that controlled everything here. This "Santa" or so he was known was never seen in the days that Musu was here, his presense only felt in times of great need, and his power reflected in the respect and love that he had of his people; if the santa was even a He. Musu asked around a few times what the man looked like and how he wielded such power but most of the villagers he spoke to only had some vague descriptors of the being: Tall, Large, White Hair, Red Robes, that was it. He didn't even have an idea of how this whole village worked, but now that his time was almost done here he had a better idea.

All of the missions Musu went on always seemed to work out. They found the man alive, they found the toys they were looking, they got the help of the mystical summons, and overall found themselves done with the tasks as easy as 1, 2, 3. This was the power of Santa coming to aid the ninja that helped his villagers; his power made sure that the villagers, big or small, were safe, happy, and healthy throughout this time. The power of Santa and his role in the ninja world would come to a head on the day of the winter equinox when his role was threatened. Even though the big man leading the charge was weakened, he still had enough power to gather all of his summons, the gifts, and the right ninja for the job to fix the night.

However, after the night of winter equinox and the mission to save the new year baby, Musu could start to feel the power of the land begin drift away. The power of this Santa and this place were only active for a small time near the end/beginning of the year, and now the time of this village this year has come to an end. Musu had gained new knowledge, friends, and acquaintances through this journey, not to mention a whole lot of Ryo. Perhaps he even finally accepted the affections of Kota and Del, despite the years of trying not to give in, but he was excited to see where things go.

As soon as Musu was done with his tea, the fire in his room was also almost out, and Musu figured a nice quiet day inside the inn, talking to the innkeeper, and having deep conversations with the few people that remained here was a great final night. However fate had other plans for the Uzumaki and upon open the door it was as though Musu had traveled to a new space and time. The land was... green, the breeze coming from the east was crisp and clean, but warmer than the ones in the hidden snow village, clearly he had entered a meadow. As the door and the room behind him began to dissipate, Musu began to realize that he was summoned here, somewhere, by something ominous. Despite the tranquil zone of rolling hills, small trees, light clouds, and a rainbow on the horizon, Musu could sense the presence of something large near by.

That's when he heard Kota's call, coming from across the way beyond one of the small hills, and out of site for the time being. Musu at this point could recognize the tones of the Hunter from any distance away now, so long as the man was speaking in his normal voice, and the Uzumaki figured that the best way to move forward was towards the direct of the voice. If anything it would be a chance to investigate this mystical area with a friend, at worst it was a terrible jutsu that had tricked Musu, But either way musu felt as though he had no choice here. As Musu walked towards the hills where the voice of Kota came out he would take a moment to see if there was anything ominous out and about, as he drew closer to the hill he could see a small stream that trickled pleasantly along the hill side, but nothing scary or dangerous as of yet. When Musu got to the base of hill before the steam he could sense another familiar chakra signature, that of Asukas, the medical ninja who led the last mission they took to the save the baby new year.

Overall, Musu hadn't had the chance to learn too much about the young medic, simply that he was well dressed and kept an analytical view when they needed to be. Overall, Asuka was an interesting fellow, but not one that Musu would go out of his way to meet, and perhaps that's a bad thing. When the Uzumaki was in the sealing corps or guarded the gates, he never really met anyone outside of his work group, and Asuka was so far... detached from the normal circles Musu was around in the village, and Musu realized that maybe was a mistake. Before the Uzumaki had a chance to reply a bolt of lightning came from seemingly out of nowhere, crashing down onto top of hill, a flash of blinding light cause temporary loss in vision to the Jounin. Moments later the deafening sound of thunder would pulse from the lightning, once setteled and the vision returned, Musu could see exactly the foe that they were going to be fighting.

The thing had to be 5 meters tall, and 2 meters wide, with a large neck attached to a torso. The thing, appearing to be some sort of colorful animal, was covered in paper, eyes that appeared to be jewels, and a smile that didn't seem to go away. The thing looked, unsettling, but it clearly here to fight. Either the group of ninja would survive or this totem of wrath and chaos. Musu could feel a slight drop of sweat coming his brow, prepared for whatever this beast was throwing at them. It was as though the meadow was the awesome staging ground of some epic fight just waiting to begin, the power of which nobody : ninja or god, would ever have seen before or will ever see again.

It was customary for Musu to wait in preparation for whatever came his way, he wanted to see what he was up against here, and how best to utilize his chains. He was working on a new way to master his basic chains, the ones taught to him by his mother as a young boy, but wanted to add more power to them, he had recently found some old texts inside the old Suangakure Library, some distant Uzumaki who once lived in the village, with the way to expand the user's chakra more potently through the chains, in order to do that required some intense chakra control through the tenketsu point that the chain was coming out of it, otherwise the enhancement wouldn't work, if there was any time to practice this new technique it would be now.

A moment would pass, then another, then another, and there began to be a bit of wonder going through the Uzumaki's brain. What really was going on here? Was this some cruel trick, some deceit that the enemy in front of them was plotting, or was this some sort of test that the Uzumaki was not smart enough to solve. Standing about 10 meters away and down from the mysterious creature; Musu would decide it was time to say something.

"Um, Hello!" Musu would yell into the quieted meadow. The being, colorful at it was, revealing itself to be more of a trickster, and not making a simple movement. He would wait to see what his friends had to say about the matter, if anything at all, and once there was more information Musu would be ready to act.

[1745]

The past few missions were a success, The more work that showed up the more money kept rolling in. Katsuragi was in his room, counting up the dough he earned from his oast jobs. Each passing bill that slipped throug lh his fingers, the more he realized that he was gonna need some bigger pants to carry it all. He laughs, and then laughs even louder when he remembered his back up plan, he almost killed one of his teammates to get the bag. He pauses once more, looking out towards the window; he was heavy in thought.

“Could it be…”, he wasnt sure before, but now he started to realize that he made a mistake. He needed to see Asuka again, talk with the shinobi to correct a wrong on his part. He was surprised he wasnt called out for it earlier. He leans back into his bed frame. The piles of money were scattered all over the bed, while half of Katsuragi’s form was covered by the sheets. “I think Asuka is a he…”, he streches the lower right section of his mouth in shock. He waa told it would be like this when he got out, things not making sense for no reason. But, that didn’t worry him too much. Even though he wanted more jobs for more northpole money, it didn’t mean he would get one today.

Moments later, he felt a slight tingle. The hairs on top of his head tingled, his vision grew… brighter? He felt this feeling before, it felt familiar. He props himself up, trying to see if he could beat yhe sickening feeling. “Awww shit, I know what’s gonna happen. Whelp, atleast let a mothafucka change first…”, he said while getting out of bed. The stacks of newly minted bills scattered across the floor as he stood up. He was too tired to care, yet knew that he was gonna be transported to some far away distant land to pull a job.

“Where is. My shit again… oh yeah”, he searches his pants to find a pre roll stuffed in the back pocket. After retrieving it, along with a lighter, he hops back into bad and lights the end. The heavy commerical scent flooded the room, the aroma was vibin… and so was he. He smoked till his face became numb, so numb he started to forget why he even got out of bed. He was in the sunken place, and he wasnt trying to be saved. While riding the waves of the aroma, he was brought back down to earth by the sensation he felt earlier. “Whahh, DAMN! Ight!!!”, he said, reading a mysterious opened scroll that was placed on his lap. He had no idea how it got there, it just read th following. “Please don’t smoke that stuff, I have some really good northpole preroll that will make you as jolly as a giant, Katsuragi~”

He got out of his bed at lightspeed, his buz was worn out by the mysterous force. Talk about a buzz kill, he thought. He was now seen walking over to his closet, and accessing his only set of clothes. Although he changed, he knew the scent of his preroll would linger. He didnt’t care. In fact, he liked the smell of it and didnt care what anyone else thought. After putting on his clothes, and steps out and looking in front of a mirror to get a good look at what he was wearing.

Katsuragi's attire consisted of a Yakuta black leather jacket, which underneath he wears a hanley blood red hoodie. His belt is black leather, designer's choice, with an overlapping LV emblem as a buckle. The pants he wears is a fresh pair of black stretch jeans with ankle zippers located on the lower inside section of the pants. His boots on his feet also being solid black of a leather material with an emblem labeled "EU", it's made of metal stitched to the tongue of the boots. His hair, still vivid, was a solid dark purple. His hair in contrast with his pale skin, however, his arms torso and hands bore a mural of mostly assorted prison tattoos; all black ink in color. He himself stood at a height of 6'2 feet with a thin frame. His tools and such were all assorted evenly along his attire, given no hint to their whereabouts yet allowed him easy access with a little bit of technique.

He liked his look, but it was done too many times. He needed to switch it up. He made quite a bit of money, so that wasnt the problem. The problem, was getting out of this winter wonderland ans back to Tanzaku Town to get more gear. Or, perhaps maybe he should try some cloud styke attire. He knew that Sakura Corps owned like almost everything, so he should have no problem gerting what he needed.

Suddenly, boom! He was gone from sight, his room empty except for save the piles of money on the floor.

He was now seen in a more grassy scene. There were hills for days, and it wasnt as cold as before. He looks around to see just what was he doing here, and what was the job. Katsuragi disliked taking ordere, but due to his chaotic life and poor life choices, he a tually needed someone to give hon direction. Lost, and confused, he roamed about for few minutes untill seeing a figure off in the distance. It was Musu! He ran towards his teammate, he knew what time it was. “Yo! My man! We back at it again, what’s the jo-“, he stoped talking but kelt uo his advancment towards Musu. He could t believe what he saw ahead and was just as vex as Musu was. “Man I hope We get max pay for this shit, gawd damn! Shit, This aint like the parties I go too”, he said while standing next to Musu, confused.

He takes out his problem solvers he used on his last little job with the team. He needed to be ready ar any moment in caee things were to go down. He looks over to Musu slighly, figuring iut how he woukd fit in his back up plan.
—-
Twc/ 1046

The archer was able to get some exploration in before he found another person. The location he was in was remarkably large. From his experience and what he could tell he speculated he was on a small continent. The giveaway was the flora he found were not indicative of any markers shared with plants that were from any of his travels. That would have to mean that he was too far from the original native plants to understand the flora. The two other things he found odd was the like of any animal. Kota believed if he brought Delphi along she would have been the only bird flying in the sky. It was a weird thing to see. Kota had heard about private dimensions but he did not have a great amount of experience. Besides the time he traveled to the land of the dead. That could be called another dimension but it was filled with living things. This place just seemed barren.

Kota was in thought, when he felt a presence rapidly approaching, using his chakra sensory. The archer looked up to see what it was. It was just a gold colored pinata thing. He shook his head as if it was rational and he had simply seen a rare bird. Till it struck him. Pinatas could not fly. He looked back at it and the thing looked back at him. Kota was sure the creature was intelligent. He even started doubting it was an actual pinata. It could be someone transformed into it or something else. It would be considered the weirdest experience he has had in his life. Then again shark people were real and villages could get destroyed by a fart. If the thing started talking it should not be weird. Kota just looked at it and noped out. If it was the reason he was here. Chances are it could be dangerous. He would want to observe it first. The thing continued looking at Kota before flying away. It did not bother with him and vice versa. They both decided to stay in their own lane.

He was a bit shocked when he ran into Asuka again. It was also weird how the man had suddenly showed up. Kota could have sworn he had checked the area earlier and did not see him. “Are you okay?” His voice belated his concern. Kota may not have thought Asuka to be overly powerful and could get killed off with a sneeze. It was just as a ninja of the Sands, the pretty boy was one of his people. Over time and finding his heritage Kota was feeling closer to the village than ever. That included everyone in it. If Asuka was in distress, Kota would help him with no questions asked. “Can you heal yourself up and do I need to carry you?” Kota walked around barefoot a lot in his younger years so his soles were pretty tough. Only reason he did not do it as much was because there was a chance of running his foot into something, if it messed up his cuticles and made his feet look garish. Well some people with set tastes would not be happy about it.

Kota would start to move around with Asuka. He would carry the man if needed or let him walk. It was just easier for two people to move together than to be single. Kota was making idle talk when the fast moving presence approached. Turning on his heel he lashed out with his leg, the horizontal spin kick was so fast. Space started to break into little glass pieces, all of which shot out in a line in an attempt to stab the creature. Before he had ignored it the fact that it was coming at them at full stop did not bode well, this time he decided to attack.

The pinata was taken by surprise. The force from the kick took a few slices out of the paper body. Kota was a bit surprised that it was actually a pinata. Drops of candy instead of blood had fallen out. Kota wanted to get a taste. Would mystical pinata candy taste good? It was questions like that, which kept him up at night.

The archer was busy after that kick. Some other stuff happened, some interesting, some not. The pinata would get beaten and rewards would be passed out. Only thing Kota was slightly interested in finding out was that being in the dimension as a thank you from Santa, who new entrapment and rewards could be a thank you gift. The powerful bastard being able to warp everyone with ease made sense. Kota had used the experience to expand his knowledge on the fundamentals of space time. Overall it was a valuable experience. Kota was just happy when he popped back into his bed.


-11 AP for Glass Shard Swing. I used my Birdbox Fighting Skill PB ability. Glass shard swing is flying at 125 Power and 105 Speed.

[Exit] - leaving unless otherwise needed.

WC: 812
TWC: 1,286

Claims: 20,000 Ryō / 100 AP / 2,500 Winter Equinox Tickets / 1x “Golden Ticket” (allows entry into the LE raffle)

Putting 12 points into Chakra for Dephi, as well as the AP. 33 words will also go toward learning blindspot shooting that I continued learning here to finish learning it at A rank. The other 1,253 is going towards learning Deflect

Of course the subjects of his turbulent thoughts would be the ones he ran into again. They had become a constant through his time in winter wonderland, something he could not avoid running into even if he tried. Katsuragi and Musu seemed to be facing off against… a giant piñata? While Kota was next to him. The other man appeared to be overly concerned, and the young medic felt a hot spike of irritation at that, even if he didn’t outwardly show it. “I’m fine. Even if I injure my feet I’ll be able to heal them myself.” he pointed out, not willing to let the other man carry him. He was capable of doing things under his own power.

Surprisingly enough, the piñata went directly for them, rather than Musu and Katsuragi, who had been closer to the thing. Moving into a succession of handsigns, Tiger - Boar - Dog - Dragon - Rat, the young man activated an amplifier technique to help the power of his Chakra Enhanced Strength along. Activating Chakra Enhanced Strength, the albino medic went in for an attack of his own, fists connecting with the terrifying thing with the ripping sound of paper splitting accompanying it. While the thing swung at him again, he didn’t attempt to dodge again either, simply meeting the giant fist with his own in a clash of paper versus raw strength. Unsurprisingly, at least to him, that fist also crumpled, leaving another major “injury” of sorts on the giant thing.

Kota seemed to have caused some damage with whatever technique he’d just used as well, and the piñata was already looking significantly worse for wear just from those three clashes between it, himself, and Kota. If their teammates did not jump in to help, Asuka would continue on this path of attacking with the additional strength granted by Chakra Enhanced Strength. The piñata made an odd roaring sound after the clash that mangled one hand, seeming to feel it somehow, as the young man moved into his next punch. He wasn’t exactly the fastest man in the world, but he was far from slow either, watching as his next attack hit the thing hard, sending the piñata flying away about 5m with a resounding crash. Would that be enough to tell the thing? He’d have to wait and see if it got up.

If the piñata didn’t get up after the combined attacks of Kota and Asuka, the young man would turn to both of his fellow sand shinobi. “I’d like to explain some things to you, Kota, Musu. When we go back to the village, we should meet.” the young man said, looking at the felled piñata with an odd expression. Wait… was that money, underneath the thing? It had probably been inside the piñata, and fell free of the holes made by Asuka when he punched it. ”There’s money here. We should probably split this before we return to where we were.” the young man noted, observing the rest of the team.

WC: 505
TWC: 1,138
[Exit]
Claims:
10,000 Ryō / 50 AP / 2,500 Winter Equinox Tickets / 1 “Mythical Item” of the player’s choice (excluding “Black Zetsu Cells”, Bijuu Tickets and LEs) Forged Papers
Using the WC to train AP per Strength of 100, at a rate of 4 AP/100 words due to forgoing claiming anything else with the WC for a total of 44 additional AP.

Approved

Musu, facinated by the sheer extravigance of the thing, decided it best to let Kota, Asuka, and the newly arrived Katsuragi handle this one. Standing there almost like a proud a parent he watched as the large creature was ripped apart, letting loose a torrent of prizes and goodies for the four of them to share. Had he not been stopped, Musu would grab his share of the loot, and feel his essence being teleported somewhere new. 

"I'd like that very much, Asuka, farewell Katsuragi! Until we meet again!" Musu would yell as he faded away. 

The next moment Musu was inside his home in Sunagakure. He didn't have the chance to say goodbye to anyone inside the village of snow, but that's OK, it was time for him to move onto the next chapter of his life. He had little time to think and even more to do than time permitted, but this was a chance to do something new.  

[Exit: TWC: 1900

Standing along side Musu, he stares down the giant that was a… stuffed cardboard animal. Katsuragi tries to think back to where he bought his prerolls from. Whatever it was, it was good. He holds his position, waiting to see what he could do. However, it wasnt in his power to do anything really. He sat bac and watched the otger two do the work. He almost chuckled.

“Damn, this one takes the mothafuckin cake. Yo Musu you see this?!”, he did however keep his guard up. The giant may not be alone. So in a sense, he did do something for the mission. Who would have thought, katsuragi guarding the backs of these fine shinobi. He certainly wasnt going to tell the boys back home what he did.

When all was done, the giant revealed to have the money stuffed inside him. “Oh hold up! Showtime!”, he runs to the gang and takes what is his. After that, he saunters away till he was teleported away. He nodded towards the  group as well, surprizingly. Once he returned back to his room within the inn, he counts yhe money he got from the mission. His room was a mess, the money he got frow previous missions were scatter along the floor, very untidy. He told himself hundreds of times that he would get to it, but meh.

Now it was time for rest, Katsuragi would lay down in his bed full of money. “I should really get in touch with that dealer… holy shit that was amazing.
—
Exit twc 1303

Claiming: 10,000 Ryō , 50 AP(Converted to 2,500 Ryo), 2,500 Winter Equinox Tickets1 “Mythical Item” of the player’s choice:  1 Chimera blessing

Plus 4k ryo due to b rank

Approved for Moose and Kat