Festival of Sound: Raikur's Games

Missions:

Raikur was exhausted as he walked back home from his most recent training session. He had spent a majority of the day attempting to hone his skills, primarily focusing on his Bukijutsu. The training tanto he had used had been worked ragged, ending up with more chinks and scratches than any he had seen before. On the plus side, at least it meant that he had been training properly. In recent weeks, Raikur could tell that he had been making great leaps and bounds towards perfecting his swordsmanship, telling of someone who hailed from the Shokku clan.

As he continued walking home, Raikur could not help but think that he had forgotten about something today. It had something to do with his sensei Kaito Uchiha, the village’s Otokage. But he could not quite put his finger on what it was… His mind was racing, trying to figure out just exactly what it was when a father and his two small children quickly walked past him, moving in the same direction as Raikur. “Daddy, daddy! Hurry up, we are going to be late for the big festival!” The smaller child was attempting to drag her father along, hurrying him up for whatever this festival was.

Festival… Sounds like fun I guess… Festival? THE FESTIVAL! It finally occurred to Raikur what he had been trying to remember. The fool was supposed to go to the Festival of Sound! He now remembered the Otokage’s announcement about the commencement of the festival, something that he had decided to go to. WITH A DATE NO LESS! A young woman by the name of Julia had been shy in asking Raikur to attend the festival with her, she had actually managed to corner him at his favourite local ramen stall. Tugging on the side of his shirt as he awaited his delicious spicy pork ramen.

At first, he was about to reject the girl, not wanting to waste the time he could have spent training or doing missions. But she had mentioned that they could go together at night, which would not have interrupted his schedule. It also occurred to him that his parents would likely be there, which in turn made him remember the last thing his mother had said to him after spotting him when he moved out of home. “You were always a disgrace to our family Raikur, you have brought nothing but pain and misery to your father and I! I do not know what Harune sees in you, mark my words, you are going to die alone. Nobody could ever love a fool like you!”

He chuckled when he remembered his mother’s words, it encouraged him to accept Julia’s offer. Besides, she was a very attractive girl and very much his type, he would have been a fool to reject her invitation. Realising the time, Raikur gasped and starting sprinting back home. He would need to hurry up if he was going to make it to their meeting point on time, the last thing he needed to do was make a bad impression by having her feel stood up. He heard one of the children that just past him cry out in surprise as he saw the young Shokku leap onto the nearest house roof. Raikur commenced to leap from rooftop to rooftop, racing to get home.

In a matter of mere minutes, Raikur arrived at his humble little home at the edge of the Shokku clan district. Deciding not to waste any time, he opted to jump in through the unlocked bedroom window, quickly ripping his clothes off and jumping directly into the shower, giving himself a quick clean before getting out and dressing himself. Instead of his usual black on black attire that Raikur would often don, he decided to make a better impression for Julia. He wore a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up just below his elbows. For the first time ever, he was going to be showing the people of Otogakure his tattoos, now he truly prayed that his parents were there to see him, the fit his mother would have…

He paired this shirt with a pair of nice black pants and clean boots, completing his outfit. He then decided to fix his hair up for once, using some product to give it a messier but more smart casual look. Looking in the mirror, Raikur grinned with satisfaction, his outfit was complete.


Checking his clock, Raikur sighed in relief to see that he would make it on time, he had done a good job in preparing quickly enough! Spraying himself with some nice cologne, Raikur left the house and walked to meet up with his date for the night. Along the way, he took note of the many other people walking in the same direction, it appeared that the Festival of Sound was going to be a very popular event indeed. It was actually the first Otogakure event that would be taking place since Raikur and his family arrived in the village. He was sure that his sensei would put on quite the spectacle for them all.

Raikur arrived at the meet up spot slightly early but was rather surprised to see that Julia was already there waiting. She looked extraordinarily beautiful, he had not truly noticed this when they first spoke, but now it was too obvious for him to miss. Her bright pink hair was shining in the early night sky, her blue eyes shining even more. She was dressed in a white crop top and tight blue jeans. Raikur was shocked to see that she too was sporting some incredible tattoos on her arms and torso. He was finding himself more and more enamoured with the girl the longer he looked at her. Spotting him walking towards her, she jumped up and ran over to him, a hand raised in the air, waving at him.


“Raikur! Hey there! It’s so good to see you, you look really nice tonight!” She embraced him in a big hug, the shy version of herself from their previous encounter seemingly nowhere in sight. The young Shokku was completely blown away in confusion, it seemed that looks could indeed be deceiving. “Hello Julia, I am sorry if I arrived late, training took quite a while toda-“ She cut him off with a playful smack to his shoulder, “No no silly, you aren’t late! We’re actually both early. Aren’t we just some eager beavers Rai. Is it okay if I call you Rai?” He nodded at that, not too upset by having a new nickname, perhaps it was because Julia was the one saying it, either way though, the young Genin had a smile on his face.

The two of them departed the meeting point and began walking towards the festival, taking in the sounds and sights as they walked. The closer they got, the busier it became. They were surrounded by people, chatting, laughing and singing along with the festivities. They were surrounded by joy and happiness on all sides, something that lifted Raikur’s mood further. He was by no means the most cheerful or talkative person in Oto, far from it actually, but found that his mouth would not stop moving as he and Julia began to chat back and forth. They would talk about each other’s interests, hobbies, field of work, goals, everything. The two of them clearly had some kind of undeniable chemistry that put a larger smile on Raikur’s face.

They approached a bunch of carnival game stalls, which were clearly extremely popular. Couples and families alike were flooding through this area, laughing and screaming with joy as they attempted to take on the tasks. Julia looked at Raikur and pouted dramatically. “Rai, if you don’t win me some prizes, I’m going to consider this date a total and utter failure, I hope you know that!” Raikur would simply laugh as he scratched his head, nodding and going to the nearest stall. It was thankfully the least populated in the area, meaning it did not take them long to get to the front of the queue.

It was the popular ball toss game, where Raikur would be required to throw a ball as hard as he could to knock over the tower of glass bottles. He paid the participation cost and was given three balls, all of which were made of rubber. It appeared the carnies had made this as hard as possible for anyone to win, it also explained why not as many people were here at this stall. Holding the first ball in his right hand, he wound up and threw it directly at the bottom middle of the tower. A direct hit! Unfortunately, it simply bounced off the bottle and landed on the floor, causing Julia to laugh. “It looks like you’re going to have to try harder than that Mr Shinobi!”

Raikur laughed with her before attempting once more. Yet again the ball simply bounced off the bottle and landed on the floor, Julia laughed even harder. “Come on now, surely you aren’t THAT weak?” Raikur sighed with a smile on his face, he subtly focused on his breathing, activating the Total Concentration Breathing technique, enhancing himself. He then infused the rubber ball with some of his chakra, before throwing it at full speed once more. BANG. The ball smashed through the middle bottle and caused the rest of them fall to the ground in a shattered mess. The carnie grumbled to himself as Julia picked out a stuffed toy for herself from the rewards, a large smile on her face as she chose a stuffed bear.

They moved onto the next one, which happened to be the Whack a Mole game. Raikur was dragged to the front by Julia, who was demanding he win her another toy. “The bear clearly needs a friend Rai, we can’t leave him all alone when I’m out! That would make him so sad.” She pulled a very fake sad face, her dramatic puppy dog eyes making Raikur laugh. “Alright, alright. I will win your bear a friend!” She cheered as he paid the ryo and entered for his turn.

This game would be relatively easy for Raikur, who’s speed was staggering, even for the general Shinobi. Every time one of the plastic Moles would even slightly poke its head out, it would be whacked by the mallet in his hand. Many of the surrounding people began cheering with Julia every time he would successfully bonk one. By the end of the game Raikur was laughing as Julia picked out a stuffed lion to accompany her bear, before forcing him to go with her to the next game. It appeared that she would not be satisfied until he won her every stuffed toy at the festival. Raikur did not mind though, he was just happy to be spending time with her.

The next game was the High Striker, where he would need to use his Vigor to smack the base of the structure with a large hammer. This was yet another easy game for Raikur, who slammed the hammer down with relative ease and watched as a small ball flew to the top, ringing the bell to signify that he had been successful. This time, Julia asked him to pick the stuffed animal for her, most likely testing him. A purple elephant caught Raikur’s eye, which he subsequently gave to her, placing a large smile on her face. “How did you know! I wanted that one the moment we got here!!” She was practically jumping with joy at this.

They approached the final game stall in the area, it was the infamously difficult log rolling. They arrived just in time to see a man cry out as he fell from the log into the water, the crowd around them laughed as he did so. The man re emerged embarrassed but cheerful, his efforts cheered on by the crowd as he got out of the water, making way for the next person to try. Raikur tensed up when he saw who be getting on the log, it was Yuuma, his despicable father… He and Raikur’s mother had apparently come together and he made some vow to win her a prize to show her his love. Everyone in the audience applauded as he showed his dramatic display, everyone but Raikur, who’s eyes narrowed as he watched on.

This test would require good Chakra control, something that the Shokku were not known for, so he was curious to see how his father would perform. To Raikur’s surprise, his father did not really on Chakra, instead it appeared to be entirely speed that got him through it with relative ease. That was interesting. As the log rolled, Yuuma would quickly shift his balance and rearrange his stance whenever necessary. Yuuma was successful and dismounted the log to collect his prize. Seeing his chance, Raikur gave Julia a wink and snuck to the front of the queue, the carnie nodding and ushering him to the log. Yuuma’s eyes widened as the two crossed paths, Raikur choosing to ignore his father and got in position.

In a mocking display, Raikur copied his father’s dramatic speech from earlier word for word, directing it to Julia blushed as the crowd laughed with approval. He noticed his parents scowling as they watched him do it. Revelling in their fury, Raikur copied his father’s movements perfectly as he completed the game with ease, utilising a mixture of his Total Concentration Breathing and Surface Walking to remain on the log. He hopped off in success to the roar of a cheering crowd, giving a mock bow as Julia jumped up and down with excitement. She began choosing her final stuffed toy as Raikur looked into the crowd, locking eyes with his father. Surprisingly, Yuuma did not look angry, instead he seemed shocked to see Raikur’s ability to use a technique as advanced as Total Concentration Breathing.

Raikur looked away and walked over to Julia, who was parading her newly won stuffed penguin, pure joy was etched across her face. He then proceeded to walk her home as the two of them laughed and chatted together, Julia needing Raikur to hold two of the toys for her, due to the sheer quantity and size of them all. They arrived at the doorstep of her house, it appeared that she lived alone, just like Raikur himself. “Thank you for the amazing night, Rai, I really enjoyed myself. We should hang out again some time soon, don’t you agree?” She giggled and gave him a quick peck on the lips before taking her stuffed toys and walking inside. Raikur walked home with a very large smile on his face after that, it was a night he would not forget for a very long time.

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TWC: 2,486

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Claims:
Claiming 4,000 Ryō
Claiming 20 AP

Using 2,486 WC towards Ascended Muragan (1,318/6,000 -> 3,804/6,000) from this post

Using 800 WC to claim 8 points in STR (Now at max stats)