[Nōhime Ouritsu]

bleed it out

Well this was certainly going to be a mission for the books. Kuwana had become a popular destination in the Land of Stone over the last few years and even played host to the most recent chunin exams, and while that had been a great boon for all involved it also garnered the attention of those who sought to line their pockets in less legal ways. A number of underground fighting rings had popped up across the city and with them were bringing in droves of people who cared not for the well being of the city's inhabitants. In an effort to quell these fighting rings Iwa had tasked the chunin with infiltrating them and gaining as much information on their operation as possible before shutting them down.

While that seemed simple enough the there were a couple wrinkles that were going to make this tougher than usual. Firstly, they had to hide their identities as shinobi as to avoid drawing suspicion and causing the organizers to disappear underground. It was unfortunate considering a fighting tournament was the perfect setting for the young Nohime to let loose a bit. No matter, he had a number of techniques that were subtle enough to still be used without having his cover blown. Secondly, in order to draw even less suspicion to themselves they were to not only enter the fights but win the whole thing as well. That seemed the easier of the tasks set before them but it meant that for a good portion of the mission the two would be separated.

Speaking of the dynamic duo, where was his mission partner? Ouritsu stood idly near the gates awaiting the arrival of Ryoko, a woman he had never met before but was happy to work with all the same.

words - aihara ryoko - notes

(C) ELLIE @ GANGNAM STYLE

[aihara ryoko]

Another lovely day, another lovely mission. She had pondered the pit fights before, though according to their rules she’d never have done well. She had always relied on her jutsu, and it insisted she used none. She hated being removed from her precious techniques. She could tolerate it for a little while though, if it meant she got to do some fighting.

She was off to see some Nohime. She knew the name, and was curious if he was a relation to her sensei. Well, of course he was, but she wondered how close. She scans the area by the gates, still far enough away to plan their mission. "Hmm..” she muses, standing out like a sore thumb in her typical costume. The gaudy cloak and cowl marked her rather famously for who she was, though she wasn’t 100% on the other one. As she paces about her massive shuriken follows her about, floating ever at her heel like some manner of well trained dog.

"Ha! Purple hair, what the heck is that about?” She asks, though it’s hard to tell if her eyes are quite fixed on Ouritsu. They were, of course, but the big buttons on her cowl would have to pass along her stare. "Guess you’re the guy. Goin’ down to fight some people? No jutsu and all that?”

She approaches closer as she speaks, not being overly loud, not overly quiet. It wasn’t like she was ever going to blend in anyway. She pauses at a comfortable distance away, eyeing the other chuunin some. She doesn’t leave much time for him to reply before she continues to ramble on, or much distance between them as she leans closer to his face and continues to mutter annoyingly.

"I’m Ryoko, we’re partnering up for this. I got some ideas I think’ll work just fine. Honestly, whole mission sounds kinda boring but gotta do our part for the village and all that. You got any ideas?

You any good at fighting? Talkin’ to people? I’m pretty good at both. Figure I can go down in the pits if you don’t wanna fight em. I’m not real good at punchin’ people. Not with my actual fists at least, but I got like.. Contingencies. Plans. Got ideas.”

Her smile grows wide, her rather amused with herself. She goes a little quiet, like she might let him actually speak, but no. The moment he says a word she interrupts.

"Real good ideas..”

Then with that she actually does go quiet.

[Nōhime Ouritsu]

bleed it out

Well it wasn't long until a voice called out to him, or more specifically, his appearance and turning his head would reveal the sight of a girl approaching him who seemed pretty normal but had chosen to make one hell of a first impression. Her questions were enough of a giveaway to know that she was his mission partner and in almost one breath transitioned to introducing herself and rambling on about the details of their mission and even her personal thoughts on said mission. Honestly it was a dizzying display of just how many words and different trains of thought a person could blurt out in a small amount of time.

"Um... nice to meet you Ryoko, I'm Ouritsu and yeah I'll be your mission partner this time around. I think we can use jutsu in the fights but nothing that will actually show that we're shinobi, y'know? Super subtle stuff, maybe some genjutsu and stuff like that." The Nohime replied as he thought back to the details on the mission missive. With their training even not being able to use flashy techniques shouldn't have been a huge problem. Granted, Ouritsu wasn't the best hand to hand fighter and a lot of his techniques would immediately blow their cover so maybe getting into the actual fights wouldn't be the best idea but he was sure they'd figure out something.

"Well, most of my techniques will blow our cover so I might be better suited to try and talk to people to figure out who's running this whole operation so we can put an end to it." He added with a nod before heading out of the village gates towards Kuwana. "What ideas did you have?" He asked, a little afraid of what was possibly going to come out of Ryoko's mouth as she seemed to be just a tad bit unhinged, er, unique.

words - aihara ryoko - notes

(C) ELLIE @ GANGNAM STYLE

[aihara ryoko]

”Ha!” she says and cackles quietly. It’s a laugh filled with amusement, but somehow it seems to be amusement at someone else’s expense. The abrasive chuunin shakes her head.

"All I gotta do is take off my costume and no one knows who I am, but I ain’t takin’ it off for some stupid pit fighting people. Ain’t worth it.”

She says and shakes her head, falling into step beside Ritsu as they set off on their mission. Behind her the massive shrunken continues to float, never forgotten. Her mind is always paying attention to it, and the string keeping it safely behind her.

"I got lots of tricks. Some subtle jutsu I guess, bust mostly I was thinkin’ I’d just turn into an animal and beat 'em all up that way. Nothing too scary, since I’m not supposed to kill anyone. Something quick, agile. Able to beat people up without needin’ claws or fangs or anything fun like that.”

She continues to wear her amused smirk as she speaks, nodding some at the last part. She clearly had an odd idea of fun if it involved claws and fangs, but odd was a fine descriptor for the girl. Not only for her demeanor and the way she dressed, but just her general thought processes tended to be far different than others. Perhaps too much time spent in the skin of beasts.

With her initial terrible first impression made, a good deal of her confrontational testing fades and she converses normally, letting him talk when he likes without interruption. She never stops smirking, though, or toying with the invisible chakra thread leading to her doomstar. Sometimes it gives the occasional spin or orbit around the girl.

"So I figured I’d do that, you talk them into letting me fight, and it’s all pretty simple from there. Ya know?”

[Nōhime Ouritsu]

bleed it out

Where Ouritsu had imagined a decent application of the transformation jutsu to cover their tracks it seemed that Ryoko had other ideas and while it was true that it was difficult to figure out what she really looked like under that... cowl thing, she was going to take it one step further and just enter the fights as an animal. Wait.. what?! "You're going to do what exactly? Turn into an animal? You know this is a fighting ring for people, right?" Ouritsu asked as he looked back at the girl with a look of pure confusion etched onto his features.

He could only imagine the look on those peoples faces when he waltzed in with some beast in tow, and assuming they didn't laugh him out of the place they might have tried to attack him. However... this was an organization of seedy folks whose lone goal was to make money so perhaps there was an opportunity to exploit. "Actually, that might just work. I'm sure these guys would bet their own house to see one of their fighters go against an animal, you might be onto something." Ouritsu could hardly believe that he was willing to go along with such a ridiculous plan but they weren't dealing with a normal situation to begin with so thinking out of the box was necessary.

"What kind of animal did you have in mind, anyway? It's gotta be something that can pack a punch but still make these guys think they have a shot at beating it."

words - aihara ryoko - notes

(C) ELLIE @ GANGNAM STYLE

[aihara ryoko]

"’Zactly. I wouldn’t give them too much credit on smarts or self restraint. ‘Sides, I’ll make it fun. You know what a kangaroo is? Trust me, walk me in there and they’ll wanna put me in a ring somewhere and try to punch me. I even brought some gloves to wear, really sell the look.” she mutters and there is some motion under her cloak as she pats her own butt.

Well, she was probably patting the gloves, but it was hard to tell in her strange get up. At least it was mostly flowing, and easy to move in? Close inspection also revealed the cloth to be more durable and padded than it looked, offering more than just anonymity.

Some distance from the village now Ryoko sets her attention to the world around them. She remains alert as they walk, eyes scanning over the craggy path, cliffs and outcroppings around them. She did not like to be snuck up upon.

"Anyway, that’s gonna be all up to you. I won’t be able to talk, so once I change shapes like.. I’m just gonna be a kangaroo. I’m pretty good at being an animal, really really convincing. Could say I grew up using it, spying on people around town. Heck, I even had dinner in a couple different shapes.

Hunting is pretty fun like that. Gets you real connected to the animal side of things.”

That draws a little snicker from the diminutive woman, and she shakes her head gently. She sighs and waves away the memories with her hand. "Anyways, you got any ideas you wanna add?”

[Nōhime Ouritsu]

bleed it out

"That jumpy thing with the long tail?" Ouritsu asked still not quite believing that this was the plan they were going to go with and that at some point Ryoko was going to let him in on the actual plan. Ironically enough his idea did involve using the transformation technique but to an appearance that was still considerably more human. He'd definitely have his work cut out for him trying to sell animal fights but if these guys were as money hungry as they believed then a few slick words would hopefully do the trick.

The chunin would listen as the girl spoke on how she had transformed into an animal on more than a few occasions and even went hunting as such. A brow raised in confusion at the revelation and it began to make sense why their paths had never crossed before even though they looked to be around the same age. It was very well possible that they had but she was probably transformed into a stray cat or a pigeon or something and Ouritsu was none the wiser. "What exactly do you do that requires you to be transformed into an animal so much?" He inquired. Iwa had all manner of different jobs and paths that a shinobi could specialize into but he couldn't think of one that would have someone transformed into a creature as often as it sounded like Ryoko did; or perhaps she just really really liked it.

words - aihara ryoko - notes

(C) ELLIE @ GANGNAM STYLE

[aihara ryoko]

”HAH!”

Ryoko laughs loudly at his question, snorting quietly and shaking her head.

"What, are you kidding me? I spy on people. Watch things. Fly around and have fun. Slither through rocks or sniff around old garbage piles. There are whole other worlds you’ll never experience if you spend your whole life just being a human.

Humans are like, real bad animals. Like, on a biological level. We got brains and thumbs, but like nothing else going for us. We can’t see real well, we can’t hear real well, we have horrible senses in general. We’re weak, and slow, and soft. Even with training, without chakra a bear beats most of us pretty easily.

Like, I bet most people wouldn’t wanna fight me if I turned into some big old bear and started roaring at them. They’ll line up, though to punch a kangaroo. No claws. No roar.”

She nods as she wanders, ever on edge. Being an animal had a huge number of disadvantages as well. Even a hawk in the air has reason to look over its shoulder. She continues to search through shadows around them, ensuring they are not easily ambushed.

The two continue along, drawing ever closer to their destination. She would need to transform soon, most likely.

"I mean if you want, some time I can teach you the jutsu. It’s pretty basic, and you can give it a shot. Grow yourself some wings for a while and swoop down through a valley and tell me you don’t love it.”

[Nōhime Ouritsu]

bleed it out

It was still hard to tell exactly what Ryoko did but judging from how shadowy her actions were while she was transformed into various animals Ouritsu guessed that she was maybe a member of the ANBU or something. He rarely ever saw them and when he did their faces were always covered with... animal-like masks and they were often wearing cloaks similar to the one Ryoko had on; well similar-ish as hers was kinda crazy looking. Of course the chunin could have been dead wrong and the girl was just a weirdo who read too many books about nature and stuff.

He had never really thought about how people stacked up in the animal kingdom and with the way Ryoko put it they weren't all that great. Granted, shinobi were a few cuts above normal civilians but even still Ouritsu had never thought himself capable of beating up a tiger or bear with his bare hands, but something that looked kinda dopey and harmless? Easy money. "Hmm, yeah that makes sense now. No sense of fear and these guys will be lining up to fight you." He replied with a nod before hearing Ryoko's offer to teach him the technique she used. "Let me see it in action first and I'll get back to you on that." He honestly didn't think it would be all that different from the normal transformation technique so he was curious but yet to be impressed.

In time the two would reach the outskirts of Kuwana, a buzzing city that had boomed in popularity with the constant presentations from the Okada and the influx of visitors from the most recent chunin exams. The young Nohime had spent a good amount of time here --mostly working-- during the exams and was a bit peeved at himself for not catching onto any signs of the fighting ring during his time patrolling. Those in charge had surely done their best not to draw the watchful eye of the shinobi stationed here but that was going to be stopped today.

"Now if I were an illegal underground fighting ring how would I go about letting people know where to find me? Walking around with a kangaroo on a leash might draw too much attention, but we gotta flush 'em out somehow. Any ideas?" Ouritsu would ask Ryoko as she seemed to be the more imaginative of the two.

words - aihara ryoko - notes

(C) ELLIE @ GANGNAM STYLE

[aihara ryoko]

The oddly dressed chunin comes to a pause as the town comes into view in the distance.

"Alright. So, from now on I’m just a kangaroo. People can’t know we’re nin so we gotta get in character. You wander around charging people money to fight your famous boxing kangaroo. I .. am your famous boxing kangaroo.”

As she mutters quietly she draws out the boxing gloves and offers them to Oritsu.

"I don’t know a lot about this place, maybe ask the locals. Let em know you heard that people like to box, that you have a boxer to beat them all. Talk it up, sell it. Lying’s part of our job.  Maybe make em mad and call them all weak.  Whatever works.”

With that Ryoko would lift her left hand from below her cloak. She flicks quickly through a very long string of one handed seals, and suddenly there is a poof. A little pretty little orange and black songbird appears on her shoulder in a little pop of summoning smoke. The little robin chirps happily and then flies off.

Shortly afterwards Ryoko lifts her hand again. She works her left fingers through a couple more seals, and then is engulfed in smoke herself. As it fades her transformation is clearly complete. She bounds from large foot to large foot, her tail on the ground helping to hold her balance.

She gives a couple hops to test her balance then settles in front of Ritsu. She holds her little roo hands out, waiting to be graced with puffy red boxing gloves.

While she is getting settled in her new shape, her songbird scout flutters into town and starts nosing around. Ryoko had been to Kuwana before, but not so often as most. Much as she had heard about and wanted to join in the pitfights, without jutsu she knew she’d never have lasted long. She had to find this place, pit fighting was a dream come true!

SPOILER: Click to show

  Jutsu Used: Kage Kuchiyose no jutsu.   True Transformation Jutsu

SA of note: Expert Shapeshifter

Due to constant practice with the true transformation jutsu, as well as pushing herself to use it for long durations, Ryoko has become as natural at holding an animal shape as she is walking on ceilings. Her deeper understanding of this jutsu, paired with her exceptional chakra control, allow her to maintain the jutsu with only a very low amount of chakra. The cost for the initial transformation remains unaffected. 

[Nōhime Ouritsu]

bleed it out

Making themselves loud and known was going to be the best way to get the fighting ring leaders attention and since Kuwana was a town of showmanship it shouldn't have been too hard to grab the right peoples eyes and ears. "Sounds like a plan." Ouritsu would reply with a nod. While he still wasn't sure what Ryoko actually did outside of being a shinobi she sure seemed good at it. The chunin would watch as the girl first summoned a little bird --odd-- before flickering through another set of seals and transforming into a kangaroo. His eyes widened a bit at seeing the creature up close and personal and.. yeah, it looked as real as could be. Placing the gloves on its hands and making sure to tie them tight that left just one thing: a transformation of his own.

With the amount of time the Nohime had spent here during the exams and especially being introduced to various members of the Okada clan he couldn't very well walk around as his normal self; even taking off his headband and flak jacket wouldn't hide the long purple hair that made him stand out. A disguise was needed. Performing a very familiar set of seals Ouritsu would transform into an average height, middle aged man with blazing red hair, a scar running down his left eye and sporting black slacks, a blue button down shirt and a tan overcoat. It was a far cry from his usual appearance and should have ensured that no one would recognize him. "Alright this should do the trick. Let's go make some noise."

Leading the now transformed Ryoko into the city proper Ouritsu would take a moment to clear his throat before taking a deep breath. "COME ONE, COME ALL. WHO WANTS TO TRY THEIR MIGHT AGAINST ONE OF THE STRONGEST ANIMALS TO GRACE KAMI'S GREEN EARTH?! THAT'S RIGHT, A SPARRING MATCH AGAINST THIS BEAUTIFUL EXOTIC CREATURE: A KANGAROO! SURELY SOMEONE IN THE ENTIRETY OF THE LAND OF EARTH IS STRONG ENOUGH TO BEST THIS BEAST. WHO WILL TAKE HOME THE BRAGGING RIGHTS?"

The chunin would make his way through the center of town spouting the same pitch hoping to grab the ear of their target.

words - aihara ryoko - notes

(C) ELLIE @ GANGNAM STYLE

[aihara ryoko]

The little robin flits into the sky, making its way quickly over the town. A bird’s eye view often gave up secrets one might not see from the streets, walled or fenced off portions of the city and alleys becoming more plainly visible.

It was one of the easiest ways Ryoko knew to scout, and now that she was pretending to be a circus animal she could not scout on her own. In kangaroo shape she was a sight, standing just under six feet tall and made more from svelte and streamlined muscles than raw bulk one might expect from the likes of bears of panthers. It was not an outwardly intimidating animal, and the boxing gloves and upright stance gave it the look of a viable sparring partner.

Of course, Ryoko was not a kangaroo, and she still had her human mind. She leans heavily into her act, bouncing from foot to foot and hopping after the barker as he tried to sell the fight. Ryoko eyes those around her, hands rising up defensively, waving a mitted paw threateningly, but also somewhat cutely at those around her.

Her displays of ‘intimidation’ were likely to draw more laughs than fear, and she was happy to play into that.

Meanwhile her little songbird continues to scout. It flutters to windows and lands in trees. Bounces and flaps from place to place in an ongoing search of a place that screamed ‘pit fights’. She felt like it shouldn’t be hard to find. Unless it was underground, that’d make it trickier. But it if wasn’t well hidden, she hoped she could find it in bird form.

[meepington]

I'm a Monsta!

As the bird flew it would pass by a large building in the western end of Kuwana that seemed to be somewhat bumping. Music was rather loud and the lights from the building made it rather obvious that this was a place of recreation of all kinds. Inside were men and women of various shapes and sizes, the interior had a bar in the back with a hardwood floor stained with blood from the various matches that had already gone on. The sounds of a voice of a P.A. system would blast for all to hear. "Hey Hey Hey, Man whose next on the floor we gotta get movin man!" the announcer would shout.

While this was a fight club it was still first and foremost a club meaning that there was countless activity as the sea of people gathered around the center piece in the middle as they prepped for the next set of matches. The Bookie and the Owner would find themselves situated in the back rooms of the facility, the bookie with a clipboard in hand as the owner sat beside him dressed in the finest clothes blood money could buy, both men having the best seats in the house for all of the bloodshed.

"These matches ain't bad but the crowd sure ain't bumping like it used to be." beside him was the owner of the facility a tall physically imposing man but not anything that would be able to intimidate a shinobi. "You're the booker what do you propose is the solution." He'd lean over the railing to get a gander at the facilities. "I'on know. We got honeys in the back and the bottles up front, but it seems like the undercard ain't doin too much."

As the next match would begin the crowd would watch the matches and seemed to have a hard time getting invested they were tired of the same few faces they really needed someone big to spice up the match card but it wasn't like the answer was going to come running through the doors.

SPOILER: Click to show

@

[Nōhime Ouritsu]

bleed it out

They had definitely drawn some attention to themselves, that was for sure, and it came from just about every walk of life, too. Men, women, children, the elderly all stopped in some form of awe as the the transformed Nohime paraded around his mission partner who was under the guise of a kangaroo. Most were confused having never seen a creature like this before, especially one wearing boxing gloves, and there were quite a few laughs to be had at the sight of it, yet of the crowds none had been the target audience they were looking for which meant it was time to keep moving until a certain someone's eye was caught.

"IS NO ONE BRAVE ENOUGH TO TAKE ON THE MIGHTY 'ROO? YOU'LL BE THE TALK OF THE TOWN, THE BELLE OF THE BALL, A STORY THAT'LL BE PASSED DOWN FOR GENERATIONS!" Shouted Ouritsu as he continued to lead the transformed Ryoko a bit deeper into the heart of Kuwana. The edge of the city was a nice starting point and if they were lucky the growing crowd would be enough to pique the right persons interest and entice them to see what all the commotion was about. The chunin was making sure to project his voice as far as possible to catch the wandering ears of any passerby's or those hanging around the city.

"SURELY WE HAVE SOMEONE IN THIS GREAT CITY OF KUWANA WHO IS STRONG ENOUGH TO GO A FEW ROUNDS WITH THIS MAJESTIC CREATURE? WAIT... DON'T TELL ME THAT THIS IS AN ENTIRE TOWN FULL OF COWARDS? I SURE DIDN'T HAVE THIS PROBLEM IN KONOHA." That would be sure to ruffle some feathers. Even if there weren't any shinobi present alliances and animus often ran through the laymen of a country as well.

words - aihara ryoko meepington - notes

(C) ELLIE @ GANGNAM STYLE

[aihara ryoko]

Hmm, they didn’t seem to be making much progress with the citizens. Sure they were drawing a crowd, but everyone seemed to be more set on laughing or just gawking at the strange creature.

Some get closer, though none seem to want to betray the pit’s location. As a kangaroo ryoko remains cute and unintimidating, however she is quite dangerous. After much gawking and people generally taking them as a side show attraction more than real fighters, Ryoko finally let’s get with a single strike.

Quite out of no where she leans back into her tail and reaches back with an arm. She then propels herself slightly forward and lunges, lashing out with a gloved paw and landing a solid strike right across some rando’s face.

The force of her blow knocks the civilian down and sends him skittering back a few paces, and for a moment the crowd goes still and silent. Feathers ruffled indeed.

Laughter would follow, the land of pitfighters finding the action suddenly amusing. Of course, it did not help them locate the pit, but thankfully Ryoko had her other scout. When the bird locates the pit, it does what all good scouts do. It self destructs.

What, your scouts don’t self destruct? Lame.

Information is transmitted back the instant the bird pops, and Ryoko perks her little kangaroo ears up. She gives a look over at Ritsu and bounces about excitedly before bolting off into town. She b-lines for the fighting arena, rapid hops carrying her through the city in a most ridiculous manner.

It wouldn’t take the Roo long, and of course she’d be slow enough to be followed, but before long she would be leading her animal handler to the doors of the Arena and boldly into the building.