[Yamanaka Itsuki]

Yamanaka Itsuki

Itsuki had snuck out one early morning to the secret hideout that he and Miroru shared, deciding that he needed the space and time to work on this particular technique himself. Well, he said technique, but he was fairly sure the jutsu part of this would be the easiest one, it was what came next that would be most difficult. At least, based on what he had read when he had researched this particular jutsu.

He was deep enough into the forest that he knew he wasn't going to be disturbed, and far away enough from the old abandoned shrine that he wasn't likely to risk damaging it, though not so far that he couldn't get there quickly if he so needed. It was definitely a calculated location, this small clearing that he was in. 

Settling down on the ground in seiza, Itsuki took out a scroll and a book. Glancing carefully at the book, he made sure to double check the instructions for the jutsu. It really was a remarkably straightforward technique, at least if you took it at face value. Sure, there was obvious complexity to execution, but he wasn't really looking for that just yet, because he had to complete the first step before he could even hope to practice the more nuanced aspects of it.

Holding up the scroll he had dug up in a dusty clan archive, one that had obviously been lost or forgotten about until he found it, Itsuki carefully, almost reverentially lay it out in front of himself, opening it up to reveal a myriad of old names and rust-red fingerprints. He didn't pay them too much mind just yet, instead opening the scroll to the first blank spot and taking a deep breath.

With one of his kunai, the boy opened a slice on the back of his left hand, dipping a calligraphy brush into the blood that welled up, he carefully scribed his name in the correct spot, before smearing blood over his fingertips and pressing his hand onto the scroll as well, leaving his fingerprints beneath his name. Taking a moment to clean himself up, he smeared a bit more blood across the palm of his hand before quickly flipping through the seals required, his hand planted firmly on the ground as he put his chakra into the jutsu.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

Word Count: 393
Tags: Keen
Training: 1/8

[Keen]

Magpie Signing-Up-For-Mischief Yamanaka Itsuki

As he performs the jutsu there is a small puff of smoke and out of it flaps a corvid. A magpie to be exact. The creature coughing and fanning it's wings as it hops about on it's wee little legs. If a bird could frown this one most certainly would be doing so, but as it stood the creature managed to look merely irritated and a little indignant. "Hey! What Gives!" The magpie, for there could be no mistaking it's blue sheen feathers and smart white little breast for anything else.

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu

Made By Keen of NFB

[Yamanaka Itsuki]

Yamanaka Itsuki

Blinking slightly as the smoke cleared, Itsuki took in the sight of the Magpie for a few moments. He... wasn't exactly expecting it to be that simple, at least the first bit, no matter what the books he'd read said. He knew it wasn't, that his signing wasn't really accepted yet, but still, he had kinda anticipated not getting anything the first attempt. He wasn't quite sure why he expected such a thing, after all, he'd put the perfect amount of chakra into the jutsu, he'd done the handseals properly, and he'd signed the contract. There was no reason for it to have gone poorly.

Leaning back on his heels slightly, Itsuki bowed at the waist in the direction of the Magpie, keeping his eyes on it just enough to avoid losing track of the creature. Of course, he could sense it easily enough as well, but there was something to be said for eye contact.

"Hajimemashita, I am Yamanaka Itsuki, yoroshiku onegai shimasu," he began, as formally and politely as his grandmother had taught him, "I found your contract and wish to form a proper summoning agreement. I apologise for any inconvenience summoning you has caused, however there appears to be no living shinobi contracted to you to introduce us. Might I know your name?"

Itsuki wasn't sure how he was meant to interact with the Magpie, having no real guidance on what they were like, so he went with formal and respectful at first, even if the initial impression of the creature suggested a level of informality was to be expected. 

Word Count: 263
Tags: Keen
Training: 2/8

[Keen]

Umou Signing -Up-For-Mischief Yamanaka Itsuki

The Magpie glanced at Itsuki curious and a bit indignant. Looking at the boy first with one eye and then the other as if sizing him up. He was respectful though and showed the right amount of deference and... they liked that. "You may call me Umou for now Yamanaka-san." The bird introduced itself as it glanced around before fluttering upwards finding a higher place to roost as it glanced around spotting that it was indeed still at least within Konoha. The bird letting out a little snort before turning back to the boy.

"We do not currently have any active contractors no," It agrees a touch wary before puffing out it's chest in pride, "But that's because none have been clever or brave enough to pass the tests given to them in order to contract with us." The bird states head held regally before glancing down it's beak at Itsuki.

"Do you wish to take the test?" The Magpie inquires cocking it's head to one side curiously.

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu

Made By Keen of NFB

[Yamanaka Itsuki]

Yamanaka Itsuki

He had a name now, that was something, and he hadn't been rejected outright, which he had read was a distinct possibility. It wasn't anywhere close to sealing the contract completely, but it was a step in the right direction. He was sure not to point out the fact that the contract had apparently been forgotten as a reason as to why they currently had no summoners, it felt like it was probably a bad idea to be snarky with the magpie just yet.

Instead, he remained both calm and cautious, watching the summoning creature as it sat up on a higher perch and stared down at him. Did he want to take their test? It seemed a rather silly question to him, he'd gone to the trouble of signing the contract, of providing the required chakra to summon the avian, and had expressed his desire to form a contract with them in order to become their first active summoner in quite some time.

The tests the magpie claimed required both bravery and cleverness, things he was fairly certain he had, though he made sure to turn the focuse of his sensory skills on the magpie to see if he could detect any sorts of falsehood from it, as well as a judgement of its emotional state.

"Yes, Umou-dono, I would like to take the test to formally sign a summoning contract with you," he agreed, nodding slightly. He didn't know what the tests would entail, but he was determined to pass them as well.

Word Count: 255
Tags: Keen
Training: 3/8

[Keen]

Umou Signing - Up - For -Mischief Yamanaka Itsuki

"Right as you should. For we are the most glorious of contracts that any summoner would be honored to be bound too." The little bird spoke nodding sagely as the creature looked around before taking to the air. It's wings flapping as it soared high into the sky to get a better look at it's surroundings before alighting once more on a branch.



"I have determined your test!" Umou calls out sounding quite proud of himself as he leaves Itsuki hanging on his every word to puff up his feathery little chest. "You must complete a test of skill! So I task you with stealing the underclothes of that" and the magpie points it's wings primary feathers acting like fingers as it indicates the stone visage of one Uzumaki Keisuke on the hokage monument, "Man! And fly them from the tall pole atop the wooden nest filled with all the human shinobi hatchlings!" Umou continues his words clearly indicating the Konoha Academy building.

"This is your trial! Summon me once again once you have completed it so that I might witness your handiwork!" The Magpie chirps out and with a rustle of feather's the little summons is gone in a poof of smoke.

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu

Made By Keen of NFB

[Yamanaka Itsuki]

Yamanaka Itsuki

For a moment Itsuki turned to look in the direction that the Magpie was pointing, getting up to stand beneath it just to make sure that he was seeing what he thought he was seeing correctly. His brain stalled slightly, and a vaguely hysterical part of him was cackling about it being lucky that the magpie had chosen a current and living Hokage as his target, rather than pointing at, say, the Shodaime.

"You wish for me to steal Hokage-sama's underwear and fly them from the Academy's flagpole?" he asks, not incredulously but just making sure. Unfortunately, the magpie disappeared in a puff of smoke before he could get an answer, or ask any clarifying questions. Well... at the very least Mi-chi would find this a hilarious story, if he ever deigned to tell her about it.

Sighing slightly to himself, the Genin gathered his thoughts and decided that his best bet was to figure out exactly what the security at Keisuke-sama's house was like. It's not like he couldn't try and complete this test assigned to him... at worst, perhaps the Hokage would laugh it off if he was caught when he explained what he was doing. Ideally though he wouldn't have to worry about that. He just had to play it smart, that was all.

Gathering up his determination, Itsuki would make his way towards the Hokage's residence, moving with unhurried confidence that was meant to disguise any nervousness he currently felt. Most of his attention would focus on his sensory skills, trying to pick out what he could with his ability in this area. It would definitely be his greatest ally in completing his task. Visual examination of the location was important too of course, but with the Kagura's Mind Eye he would definitely have an edge a lot of Genin wouldn't.

In stealing the Hokage's undergarments... because that was a thing he was going to have to do.

Word Count: 322
Tags: Keen
Training: 4/8

[Keen]

NPC Signing-Up-For-Mischief Yamanaka Itsuki

The Hokage's manor is not difficult to spot. In fact it's really the opposite of that. The residence that has been inhabited by each Hokage for time near immemorable is located close to the Hokage tower and the Academy. ANBU guards are expected and while not easily spotted the presence of a few curiously small, but interested chakra signatures are not beyond Ituski's skill to detect. As he draws close he can feel their attention shift to him, but if he makes no move to attempt to enter the building the attention soon wanes. Instead the genin's real target is in plain sight. A line of laundry set out to dry and a basket of close plopped down beside it whether out of bachelor laziness or rush and upon that line flies a set of boxers amidst other clothes with a garishly familier insignia.

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu

Made By Keen of NFB

[Yamanaka Itsuki]

Yamanaka Itsuki

Upon arrival to the Hokage's manor, Itsuki found himself somewhat surprised by the overall lack of guards. At least, at first it seemed as though there weren't any guards at all, but a closer examination of the area picked up the small almost-but-not-quite signatures that he was rather familiar with, the small fox summons that Miroru often summoned to either scout or try to trick him. That put him in somewhat of a tricky situation, as he could confirm that he didn't have to worry about human guards in his task, but he did have to deal with tiny, nearly chakraless foxes that had some sort of telepathic connection to one another.

They could be distracted, but part of him almost wished there had been other guards than this, it was the telepathic connection that was particularly concerning to him. His best genjutsu wasn't particularly useful when dealing with that scenario, many of his distractions would draw much more attention than he wanted to deal with... he just needed to get in enough to grab the underwear, and then he could shunshin away, but getting around the little summons would be the hard part. He wasn't sure if Shinranshin no Jutsu would be of any use, and he certainly didn't want to use his other more offensive jutsu either. He also couldn't wait around, who knew when the Hokage would be coming home, he had to act quickly while he only had to deal with the foxes. 

Itsuki didn't know it, but while this was the first time, it would not be the last time that he cursed the Magpie summons in his life.

If he could get within 15 meters that would be good, it'd allow him to shunpo in, which would be useful. He could potentially sit in wait at the out edge of Shunshin range, dart in the moment he felt he had a good enough gap in the foxy guard patrol, and Shunshin back out. At this point, that might be his only real option... deciding to wait at least a few minutes to get a feel of how the foxes mover around the Hokage's home, Itsuki would track what he could through the Kagura, trying to gather as much information as he could before even considering to make a move.

Word Count: 436
Tags: Keen
Training: 5/8

[Keen]

Bakenokawa Signing-Up-For-Mischief Yamanaka Itsuki

Somewhere in their own realm the magpies must be laughing, but at least for today all Itsuki had to deal with were the Bakenokawa. The little foxes patrolling the outside of the house in a fairly regular close knit fashion that made them mostly easy to predict safe for...



"I'M BORED!" One of the little foxes pipes up. "Why do we get stuck guarding the house! Can't we tune in on some of the more interesting things?" Another whines in the same voice as two pause in their patrol beside a pair of bushes one turning to sniff a bug and the other pouncing on the bug sniffers tail earning a yip. Before the sniffing Bakenokawa turns and tackles it's fellow fox with a cackling laugh. This draws in a few of the other foxes causing a 'traffic' jam as it were around the perimeter as the other Bakenokawa circle around on their patrol only to find the gradually growing larger and larger scuffle of little foxes.

"Hey that's my tail!" One cries out.

"Don't put your paw in my eye!" Yells another.

Utter chaos descends. Now it would be up to Itsuki if he was fast enough to take advantage of it.

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu

Made By Keen of NFB

[Yamanaka Itsuki]

Yamanaka Itsuki

Feeling the fox guardians pause in their patrol, Itsuki moved as quickly as he could. Throwing as many back to back Shunpo as he could manage without draining himself too quickly, the young Genin would clear the distance between himself and the laundry line in a blur, heart hammering in his thin chest as he reached out to snag one of the drying bits of clothing, face turning red even as he shoved it into his kimono to get it out of sight and out of the way. 

His focus was on the chakra signatures around him, fine tuned attention on the little bakenokawa, their almost invisible signatures hard even for one trained in the Kagura to be able to pick up. He really didn't want to be spotted stealing the Hokage's underwear. That was just embarassing to consider.

A quick handseal would have the boy suddenly vanish from sight as he used Shunshin to get the heck out of there as soon as he had his prize. The moment he regained normal movement his senses flared out again to see if he was being followed, the young Yamanaka taking off to try and put as much distance between himself and the Hokage's manor as possible now that he had stolen from the most powerful man in the village.

If he wasn't followed, he'd find his way into the more crowded streets, turning a few corners and throwing a henge on of a pudgy, but plain, teenager picking their nose. He couldn't go and put the underwear on the academy just yet, he needed to make sure he wouldn't be caught there too.

The things he was doing for a summoning contract...

Word Count: 282
Tags: Keen
Training: 6/8

[Keen]

NPC Signing-up-For-Mischief Yamanaka Itsuki

Itsuki managed to successfully snag the underwear getting away without notice as he henged himself and made a clever, but casual escape. The hopefully hardest part of his 'mission' come to an end. Though his difficulties were not yet over. Konoha as always was a peaceful village filled with hustle and bustle and laughter. His target the academy was no exception. The building he'd left behind not long ago busy as a hive of bees as students attended their classes, instructors ran through various kata's and teachers chased down escaping students or scolded those misbehaving. It was as usual utter chaos, but perhaps that offered Itsuki a much needed opportunity.

Above his head atop the tallest part of the building a flag pole flew with the symbol of the leaf snapping merrily in the wind.

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu

Made By Keen of NFB

[Yamanaka Itsuki]

Yamanaka Itsuki

He had gotten away from the Hokage's manor, with the Hokage's underwear, and there was no one the wiser, at least as far as he could sense. That was one small victory. The other part would be equally tricky though, with the incredibly densely populated Academy sitting before him, his goal high above the ground, and he had yet to learn how to walk on vertical surfaces...

This was going to be tricky.

On the one hand, it might have been better had he simply waited until nightfall and then gone to replace the flag. On the other... he got the feeling that the Magpies would respect that act far less than if he had done it during the day. That meant he was going to have to try and get his way up there without anyone noticing him, and he would have to do it in a way that was perhaps the trickiest, since he couldn't just walk up the side of the building.

Reaching out for his senses, he tried to pick up on familiar chakra signatures, though he still wasn't the best at picking out individuals that he didn't know as well. Still, he was able to find the individual he was searching for, seemingly sitting in the teacher's lounge. A few handseals later and Itsuki had taken on a new henge, the chuunin outfit and red hair along with thick glasses a dead giveaway.

Uzumaki Miso-sensei would once again help Itsuki achieve something, though this time he wouldn't be aware of it. At least, that was the plan. With his henge in place, Itsuki snuck into the Academy itself as quickly as he could, moving the ways his sensory skills told him were least populated and generally moving with the sort of determined focus that meant few would dare stop him.

Again, he hoped.

His goal was simple, get as high up to the roof as he could from the inside, then make his way for the flag pole, trying his best to avoid the instructors as he did so.

---

Word Count: 344
Tags: Keen
Training: 7/8

[Keen]

NPC  Signing-up-for-mischief Yamanaka Itsuki

His disguise was perfect for infiltrating the academy with Itsuki easily avoiding most of the larger adult chakra signatures, but while he walked with confidence he couldn't avoid all of the other students. It was an academy after all and during daylight hours. As he wound his way higher up to the top floors inevitably his luck would run out. Two younger children who had to be within their first two years of schooling darted out of the library pausing to stare up at him wide eyed before one of the girls stepped forward.

"Miso-sensei~! Nee! Miso-Sensei could you show me the handseals for the replacement jutsu again?" One questioned blinking wide innocent eyes up at him while her friend let out an amused snort.

"I told her she keeps getting them mixed up, but she won't believe me Sensei." The boy grumbles scuffing his shoe against the floor and he glowers without much heat at his best friend. The two clearly in some sort of disagreement.

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu

Made By Keen of NFB

[Yamanaka Itsuki]

Yamanaka Itsuki

Winding his way through the halls of the Academy with the casual confidence he knew that Miso-sensei used, Itsuki found himself forced to walk a relatively complex path around the Academy to avoid the instructors who would likely catch him out a lot easier than he would like. This unfortunately meant that he ended up moving into the path of some of the younger students instead, students which naturally needed to stop him to ask questions.

Thanking whatever deities might have been watching over him that these kids at least asked him something that he knew, the Yamanaka replicated Miso-sensei's usual expression of minor agitation that came about from being asked to do more than usual for his job. That wasn't entirely fair to the chuunin, Itsuki may have been on the receiving end of such a look many times, but he wasn't aware that it was because he had always managed to be a bit of a pain in Miso-sensei's backside. Thus, that was how he was portraying the man.

"A good shinobi should always find their own information," he began, shaking his head slightly at the two, "and normally I'd make you go to the library to look it up, but just this once I'll give you the answer. Next time you have to work it out yourselves, ok?"

With that said, the 'chuunin' moved his hands through the seals for the Replacement technique, "Tora, I, Ushi, Inu, Mi - Tiger, Boar, Ox, Dog, Snake. Hopefully that settles your argument. Now, I have to go, if you have any more disagreements, you need to go to the library and find your own evidence, like a proper shinobi. Think of it as an information gathering mission" he declared, nodding seriously before starting to walk away, hopefully leaving the children behind as he continued his journey to the top of the Academy.

Dang Magpies.

Word Count: 314
Tags: Keen
Training: 8/8