[Shouki Shizuka]

"Aaaaaaaah~ there's nothing quite like crab and soju before a hard night's work."

Shizuka sank back into her chair, satisfied. She deposited her second empty cup on the table beside a bottle of imported soju and a mostly finished plate of crab. Across from her sat two older girls, her teammates - Gomi and Homare.

"You know," Shizuka mused, eyes flickering between Homare and the crab, "rather than some spider or octopus, I just thought of a name that would suit you perfect." She gave a wicked grin. "Butterfly! Since you're so pretty, and your silk can look like wings in the right light. Hmmm~? No~?" Without missing a beat, Shizuka turned to Gomi.

"You need a codename too, Gomi. We can't just call you Gomi on missions. How about Kani, like the crab? Or Kurokani, since your armor's all black!"

The evening had passed in this manner since the three had arrived at the booth, situated in a quiet corner of a restaurant at the edge of the entertainment district. Shizuka did most of the talking, ignoring the simmering tension between her teammates sitting opposite her.

Finally, Shizuka clapped her hands together, concealing a handsign within the motion, and reached into her sleeves to retrieve a scroll she had sealed away.

"Right. The mission. I won't keep you waiting any longer." She cleared her throat and started reading.

"By order of the Hachidaime Mizu-yadda yadda and Keisatsu-yadda yadda, ah, here's where it starts. Team three is tasked to infiltrate an underground fighting ring hidden in the cellar of Benigani Tavern, located here in Kirigakure's entertainment district. I know where it is, you can't miss it - it's got a big crab on the front. Once we confirm the presence of illegal activity, we are to identify and detain key persons related to the operation of the fighting ring. Team three is hereby deputized as temporary Junsa for the duration of the mission. Root out the criminal element hiding within the city before it can grow, by any means necessary. Signed, Keibu Ginto on behalf of blah blah blah."

Shizuka placed the scroll on the table before suddenly her eyes lit up, as if she realized something important.

"I got it! Kanikeibu! Inspector crab!"

She blushed, coughed and cleared her throat before continuing.

"As you can tell, the Kōan-kyoku have done most of the legwork already. They could raid the tavern themselves, but the fighting rings are rather popular, so they want them to disappear quietly. That's where we come in."

Shizuka retrieved two envelopes, and passed them to her teammates. Inside each was a considerable sum of money.

"We'll use a transformation technique to enter the tavern undercover and see the 'show.' Once we're inside, we'll have several hours to identify targets. We're looking for the tavern owner, the fight organizer, bookies taking bets along with their money, whatever thugs they call security, and... well, anyone else who seems important. The Kōan-kyoku are less interested in the fighters and civilians. Once we've ID'd our targets, we'll meet again to figure out how we'll grab the money and make our arrests."

Shizuka sat back again and eyed the bottle furtively. After a moment's pause, she decided to reach for it and try to pour herself another cup.

"Any questions?"

[Mayonaka Homare]

Homare herself was simply eating the favorite of Kirigakure, their self-named soba, though she was drinking only water. The caffeine from the usual paired drink of umi no mitsu might have potentially caused her hands to shake, especially with the stressful situation of this mission she was now meant to take part in with her teammates. She still doesn't really know what to make of Miss Shizuka, though she mostly ignores the attempts to bring new nicknames to them both. The butterfly nickname doesn't even make sense to her in the first place; butterflies have six legs, and Homare really isn't looking to lose two arms. She does think the nickname for Gomi being reliant on her armor is at least somewhat clever, although she actively dislikes the fact that she's eating crab while making the comparison, which puts Homare off at least a little.

She doesn't bring this up with Gomi, however. If the other member of their team wants to make a big deal out of it, she's old enough that she can remark on it herself. Homare would really only get involved if their words led to a fight, which would definitely slow them down on the mission. She also dislikes Shizuka's drinking of soju immediately before the mission starts, especially when she hears that the mission will be one based on infiltration and constraint of a series of targets. At least they're not the fighters, but the interruption has the potential to make the fighters decide to save their bosses for the income they're likely seeing from either the illegal gambling or the illegal fighting ring. She's also not certain how they're going to get Gomi to agree to use the transformation technique, as she might decide that this plan is cowardly, and that would likely end up with her abandoning it at the slightest sign of a hiccup. She takes another sip of water before being given the opening for questions.

"Several. Firstly, what do they look like? Secondly, how will we signal, to one another or to a possible backup in the Koan-kyoku, that our job is complete? Thirdly-"

She pauses in her questioning to suddenly thrust the handle of her katana from the sheathe, catching the neck of the soju bottle before it can start pouring, and she slowly lifts the handle up to try and make Miss Shizuka leave the bottle back on the table. The blade doesn't fully clear the sheathe, allowing Homare to simply let the blade slip back down into place where it belongs at her hip. She was still wearing her usual clothing, since it made no difference what she wore for this mission, so long as she was able to fight in it.

"Thirdly, who or what are our transformations supposed to look like? Miss Gomi, for instance..."

She gestures towards their fully armored teammate, lightly jostling their teammate's arm, which makes the bones rattle together in a clear cacophony. Her point should be fairly obvious, even to Miss Shizuka.

"Other than that... no questions."

[Kaguya Gomi]

The Benigani Tavern Affair The two shouldn't have worried at all when it came to Gomi. Despite her natural inclination to rush in when in danger, she was... incredibly docile when her nerves weren't fraying from what was very obviously a self-spawned variation of psychosis. The shaking continued even while sat down and had she not been half way through eating what looked like the blandest food between the three, a basic block of uncooked tofu, then there would have been a much larger variable of reactions she may have had to being referred to as a crab. While said individual who referred to her as a crab was cracking one open to consume it. Already pale she visibly looked like a deer caught in the headlights as she froze completely for once midway to taking her bite out of the tofu. A buffer for herself and then rationalizing it was a joke, and not an attempted statement of wanting to crack open her body for the gore within, she continued to eat quietly. A little paler then before and her rattling only picking up again when she was addressed with a gentle nudge from Homare's hand. Swallowing her food, she looked between them. "I will not remove my armor, that isn't negotiable. I can transform though. Just no hiding, I won't get killed for trying to hide away, and you two should worry about getting caught in that exact scenario too," Gomi would add her thoughts to the conversation in her barely audible tone that just rang over the racket from the armor that she wore. Firm, direct, and maybe a bit morbid, but all of these were normal for the Jouheki.

[Shouki Shizuka]

Shizuka blushed and giggled when Homare prevented her from pouring her third cup.

"Ehehe.. maybe you're right. This is a liii~ttle stronger than what I'm used to. But it won't be a problem - you know, considering where we're going, it'd be more suspicious to be sober."

She turned her attention to Gomi. Her teammate was very tall, and would be quite imposing - if it weren't for her relentless quivering. Shizuka didn't understand what caused such a meek and fearful reaction to the world. Gomi possessed considerable skill. There was probably not a single genin in the entire village that could scratch her. And yet, she seemed deeply unstable, fragile as a paper balloon waiting to burst. If it wasn't for the drinks, Shizuka would be having a nervous breakdown figuring out what to do with her. Fortunately, the mission was fairly low risk - it would be a good opportunity for Shizuka to observe how Gomi dealt with being isolated, and working independently.

"Good~! That's very good, Gomi. If you keep up your transformation, nothing bad will happen. No killing or... hiding. Just find the bad guys, come tell me or Homare and we'll deal with them together. Okay?"

Shizuka glanced back at Homare. Her other teammate, despite speaking almost as little as Gomi, was considerably easier to work with.

"To answer your questions, Homare, I have no idea! The Kōan-kyoku probably figured the only information we needed to complete the mission was the location. We'll have to identify our targets on our own. Once we've got them, we can tell the station that we're done, and they'll send out a team to pick them up. As for our disguises..."

Clasping her hands together to weave the signs for a transformation jutsu, Shizuka disappeared in a puff of smoke. The figure which emerged was taller - a handsome older gentleman with eyeglasses, a refined wardrobe, and a vaguely foreign accent.

"My name is Mashiro Watanabe, but you can call me Hiro-san. I'm looking for a business partner to help me invest in combat sports here in Kirigakure. Do either of you happen to know anyone?

SPOILER: Click to show

Special Abilities
Enhanced Concentration
Shizuka's concentration is unbreakable. While focusing on a single opponent, she fights more efficiently, evading attacks without wasted movement and exploiting every tiny opening. Her efficiency increases as she continues to observe the same target – their habits and patterns becoming clear. Shizuka's concentration is particularly dangerous when her opponent attempts the same technique multiple times – Shizuka's anticipation allows her to preempt such repetitions, greatly reducing their effectiveness. While concentrating, Shizuka retains her normal awareness of non-targets.

Jutsus
NAME: Henge no Jutsu [Transformation Technique]
RANK: E
CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low [Continuous]
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu [General]
ELEMENT: None
HANDSEALS: 3
DESCRIPTION:

After performing the necessary hand seals, the user transforms their appearance to become that of another person, animal or even an inanimate object. This is considered one of the most advanced academy techniques, as it requires a constant emission of chakra as well as a constant mental focus to maintain the technique; suffering moderate pain or severe distractions will cause the technique to falter.

Shinobi are limited to transforming into objects roughly their size and their mass remains unaffected. Furthermore, this transformation is purely a shift in their physical appearance, conveying no specialized abilities of the person, animal, or object to the user upon their transformation. Transforming into a wolf does not grant a more keen nose nor would changing into a bear grant a sudden increase in strength.

[Mayonaka Homare]

Homare very nearly sighs when Gomi insists on wearing her armor, but she keeps her reaction internal; it wouldn't do to make Gomi upset before the mission even officially started. Her suggestion that the two of them worry about what should happen if they do get caught in disguise was certainly worthy of some consideration, but their third teammate seems to not put much stock into that idea. The Mayonaka shinobi frowns as she watches Shizuka use the Academy version of the transformation technique to take on the appearance of an older gentleman with glasses and some kind of foreign accent. She shrugs, then tries her hand at the same kind of technique, although she has to keep two of her pairs of arms wrapped tightly around herself so as to make it work; it was how she'd learned to use the transformation technique herself.

After the puff of smoke clears, instead of a rather short six-armed woman with blue hair, she's now a rather strong-looking brute of a man, with muscles protruding from the arms and chest barely covered by a white wife-beater shirt, black pants, and a pair of combat boots, along with a set of fingerless gloves on her hands.

"I'm lookin' for some rough and tumble boys for a job, see?"

After trying out the fake voice, she coughs for a moment, returning to her normal voice for a second before trying it again, until she can recreate it for at least a few short sentences. It was certainly far more gruff than her normal voice, so she was certain to have a sore throat after the mission was over, but it was a compromise she could live with, if it meant the completion of a successful mission. Although that would be somewhat difficult without some kind of description or picture of their targets; they'd have to find them through job title alone, which certainly might throw suspicion onto them. It was a risk they would need to take.

Homare's attention shifts to Gomi, waiting to see what kind of disguise she might decide to go for.

[Kaguya Gomi]

the benigani tavern affair The sort of condescending phrasing of her teammates words made Gomi want to shrink until she was gone, but she held her ground. Watching the other two as she shook in place like a leaf. The two seemingly immediately confirming their plan Gomi saw no reason to antagonize them. She saw no reason to potentially put her self at risk of being hurt, and following the two creating their disguises Gomi sat quietly and observed them both, or at least she had been until their attention had turned to her. Feeling a silent sort of demand from the two Gomi quaked for a moment in a more violent shiver before she performed the hand seals for the technique. Left before the two still rattling away was a young twenty-something man with some level of scruff to his face and messy brown hair pulled into a ponytail. Yukata covered in the traditional metal armor pieces of the mercenaries that worked aboard the boats at the docks down south. An attempt at disguising both as a foreigner and simply a hired bodyguard of sorts for the other two. Reaching behind herself Gomi reached for the newest addition to her repertoire and began to tightly bind the flag in a way that it made the cloth look like it was covering a short spear. A simple glance of tired green-brown eyes and Gomi was ready to go along with the trip. The shaking and rattling still present, but given good excuse.

[Shouki Shizuka]

"Aha, lovely. But I didn't quite catch your names. No matter - I can make them for you, more fun for me. Mmmm, this one is..." Shizuka jabbed a finger towards Homare's brutish disguise. "Koga." For once, a normal name. Shizuka approved of Homare's disguise - though she lamented her poor taste. She was impressed Homare had her own plan for fishing out the identity of the organizers.

"And the other can be.. hmm.. Hiroshi? No, no, I'm Hiro-san." Shizuka steepled her hands in apparent deep thought. "Then Takeshi-kun. Perfect." Gomi's transformation was more to Shizuka's liking, though between the armor and flag it would take extra effort to get inside. She worried about what Gomi's plan was if she was denied entry.

Having settled their business and preparation in the restaurant, Shizuka led her team through open streets, into the heart of the entertainment district. After several minutes of strolling down a well lit thoroughfare, she turned. The sidestreets were narrow, dark and haphazardly planned, producing an atmosphere of danger. Apparently unbothered, Shizuka hummed along happily, until she abruptly stopped.

"Hmm? Oh..." She looked around, appearing somewhat lost. "Ah! I missed the turn." She double backed some fifty paces, half jogging to find a narrow alley barely wide enough for a single person. She slid into it without hesitation. At its end, the alley spilled into a wider street, brightened by the lit windows of many shops and taverns.

"Here we are. The Benigani Tavern is on this street - it shouldn't be too far. Shall we be going in together, or separately?"

SPOILER: Click to show

Special Abilities
Enhanced Concentration
Shizuka's concentration is unbreakable. While focusing on a single opponent, she fights more efficiently, evading attacks without wasted movement and exploiting every tiny opening. Her efficiency increases as she continues to observe the same target – their habits and patterns becoming clear. Shizuka's concentration is particularly dangerous when her opponent attempts the same technique multiple times – Shizuka's anticipation allows her to preempt such repetitions, greatly reducing their effectiveness. While concentrating, Shizuka retains her normal awareness of non-targets.

Jutsus
NAME: Henge no Jutsu [Transformation Technique]
RANK: E
CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low [Continuous]
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu [General]
ELEMENT: None
HANDSEALS: 3
DESCRIPTION:

After performing the necessary hand seals, the user transforms their appearance to become that of another person, animal or even an inanimate object. This is considered one of the most advanced academy techniques, as it requires a constant emission of chakra as well as a constant mental focus to maintain the technique; suffering moderate pain or severe distractions will cause the technique to falter.

Shinobi are limited to transforming into objects roughly their size and their mass remains unaffected. Furthermore, this transformation is purely a shift in their physical appearance, conveying no specialized abilities of the person, animal, or object to the user upon their transformation. Transforming into a wolf does not grant a more keen nose nor would changing into a bear grant a sudden increase in strength.

[Mayonaka Homare]

Homare stiffens at Shizuka suggesting that she make up names for all of them before she can suggest that literally anyone else come up with a name for the three of them, or even having no names. But at least the names that Shizuka invents for each of them makes sense and doesn't sound too horrible. She relaxes a little. Perhaps the mission will go well after all, since their names are more normal than expected. Even Gomi's disguise works fairly well, even with her strange bone armor and the flag she now carries with her everywhere. With her transformation as it is, she'd likely pass for somewhat normal for this mission. That's one thing to be relieved about.

She follows Shizuka on her way through the open streets, making sure not to lose her, but feeling a bit uneasy because she's humming a tune as though nothing is the matter. This, combined with her earlier drinking, certainly does not bode well in Homare's mind, especially when she seems to have become totally lost in her own walking to the point that she misses the turn into the alleyway to get to the Benigani Tavern. She, in the form of Koga, frowns at Shizuka even as she asks if they should go in together or separately, hoping she catches on that she's not comfortable with how this mission is already going, and they haven't even started on the most dangerous part of the mission yet. She reaches over and grabs the other girl's shoulder, firmly.

"You have to- Erhem, you gotta realize dat dis mission is dangerous, get me? Take it serious-like."

This type of speech was extremely unfamiliar to Homare, and she needed the practice to speak the way Koga looked like he might speak, if only because she wouldn't have a lot of chances to practice the voice once they were actually in the tavern.

"We come in in groups, ya see? Me 'n you go in first, together. Gomi- er, Takeshi can come in after a couple o' minutes, so's it's not suspicious."

[Shouki Shizuka]

Shizuka smiled. For once - probably thanks to the alcohol - Homare was more nervous than she was. Infiltration and deception were not Homare's strengths. Shizuka knew her as a stubborn, straightforward, and serious individual. Her discipline in training left very little room for leisure. Shizuka was no different, of course. The Shouki clan demanded a difficult schedule, and her recent efforts to learn everything she could about the clan's hijutsu had absorbed all of her time. Even so, since the mission brought them to the entertainment district, she was determined to have a good time.

"You've got it backwards, Koga. I'm going to enjoy myself on my day off. But you..." Shizuka leaned in, scrutinizing Homare's disguise. "You walk like a kenjutsu master, your spine is straight as a nail, and you've been scanning the street like you're afraid another tiger might jump you. Just relax~ and take it easy."

Shizuka's criticism was harsh, and mostly to defend her own casual attitude, but it wasn't completely out of line. Even if the security at the tavern would never notice such subtle details, it couldn't hurt to raise the quality of her disguise.

"You know, I bet these fights are pretty fun. Apparently they keep records and everything. It's honestly a shame our esteemed Lord Stoneyface is such a stick in the mud."

It only took a short walk for the Benigani tavern to come into view. Shizuka didn't have to point it out - hanging beside the main entrance was an enormous, wooden crab, coloured a deeper red than the setting sun. And beside the crab, were two men, one smoking and the other talking. Maybe security, maybe not. Shizuka turned to signal Gomi, who was now rattling some distance behind, that she and Homare were headed inside.

"Well then Koga, lead the way. And remember - you're here to blow off steam, find some muscle for a score - not hunt tigers."

SPOILER: Click to show

Special Abilities
Enhanced Concentration
Shizuka's concentration is unbreakable. While focusing on a single opponent, she fights more efficiently, evading attacks without wasted movement and exploiting every tiny opening. Her efficiency increases as she continues to observe the same target – their habits and patterns becoming clear. Shizuka's concentration is particularly dangerous when her opponent attempts the same technique multiple times – Shizuka's anticipation allows her to preempt such repetitions, greatly reducing their effectiveness. While concentrating, Shizuka retains her normal awareness of non-targets.

Jutsus
NAME: Henge no Jutsu [Transformation Technique]
RANK: E
CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low [Continuous]
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu [General]
ELEMENT: None
HANDSEALS: 3
DESCRIPTION:

After performing the necessary hand seals, the user transforms their appearance to become that of another person, animal or even an inanimate object. This is considered one of the most advanced academy techniques, as it requires a constant emission of chakra as well as a constant mental focus to maintain the technique; suffering moderate pain or severe distractions will cause the technique to falter.

Shinobi are limited to transforming into objects roughly their size and their mass remains unaffected. Furthermore, this transformation is purely a shift in their physical appearance, conveying no specialized abilities of the person, animal, or object to the user upon their transformation. Transforming into a wolf does not grant a more keen nose nor would changing into a bear grant a sudden increase in strength.

[Mayonaka Homare]

Homare frowns at first when her own teammate starts to criticize the way she stands straight up and keeping her head on a swivel like this, since such things were second nature to her, but she bites back a response to the other kunoichi. After all, she was correct in her assessment. She had to pretend that she was untrained, or rather self-taught, and that meant being arrogant, taking one a more relaxed posture, and looking more like someone that hadn't had much formal training. She takes a deep breath and then lets it out slowly, doing her best to relax herself more. It wasn't an easy feat, but at least she now acted more like Koga than like Homare.

When Shizuka suggests that the fights are apparently pretty fun and that they keep records of the wins and losses, she gives the other disguised kunoichi a disapproving side-eye, but doesn't say anything more. After all, she was still trying to retain a more relaxed body language. It didn't help that she had to also sneak in while transformed, she had to act like someone else as well. At least now she was starting to speak like a ruffian rather than just look like one. Her eyes notice the wooden crab and the two men in front. She assumes both are security, since that's the safer option. And she's even been given the lead. Well, if she's going to one day lead the Mayonaka clan, she might as well start with just leading her teammate on a mission. She focuses on acting as though she really was Koga, walking straight up to the two men at the front and giving them an up-nod; she'd seen the last man do it and the two had responded in kind, so it must have been some form of greeting she just wasn't familiar with.

When one of them starts to put a hand up to stop her from entering, she thinks at first that her cover is blown, but then she sees that his other hand is lifted palm-up; apparently, an entrance fee. She has her transformation roll their eyes at this, but she digs out a few coins and nudges them into the up-turned palm before she's allowed in. At first, the area just after the entrance is pure darkness, and it feels like she'd just stepped into black satin. But she follows some pulsing music that is felt more than heard, and when she turns a corner into a crimson light, she finds herself among a pressing crowd of cheering, jeering fans.