Alcohol was something Taro had never fully decided what his feelings were about it. It would be legal for him to start drinking in just a couple of years, but he was still unsure of whether it was something he actually wanted to try when the time came or not. On the one hand, there was his mother when she was drinking. It was never to excess from what he could tell. A few glasses of wine during select dinners, but it always seemed to take her mild demeanor and turn it into something more surly. She talked a little louder and became more impatient with waiting staff. He could never understand why she ever chose to indulge in something that always seemed to put her in a bad mood.
On the other hand, since separating himself from civilian aristocracy and moving to Kumogakure, he found festivals here were boisterous and loud. They were like the ones he remembered from Shihon, and the influence of alcohol did not seem to be uninvolved in their cheery affect, if the ruddy color of every grown-ups' cheeks were any indication. That, and anything meant to be restricted from him was something that naturally piqued his curiosity. And of course there was...
Taro touched his fingertips to his cheek, feeling a heat blossom underneath.
She enjoyed drinking, he thought, and for that reason, he had crossed many of Kumogakure's great bridges just to get to the Yankī brewery this midafternoon. When he had first hatched this scheme, it had been with the intention of drinking something for himself sometime when she was around. Then since making the journey across the village here, he had gone back and forth about whether it would be better if he simply gifted it to her instead. Or, would that be weird? and not actually that impressive of a gift, since she could get some for herself at any time. Whatever he decided to actually do, he knew that he needed to look
cool doing it. If he got her to think that he was cool, then maybe...
He patted himself on the cheek—gentle, but stern.
Focus. He could decide what to do with it later. For now, he needed to make sure he could actually get the
thing he was after in the first place.
Taro squatted behind an unoccupied bench, peeking at the crowd before him. It was a school day, meaning most students who weren't Taro were still attending their lectures. The weather was pleasant though, with a sun that warmed the skin and a light breeze that cooled it back down. For that reason, plenty of people were milling the streets in good spirits. The bench didn't exactly provide perfect cover, but he figured if he just made it slightly-less-than-obvious that he was not supposed to be there, prepping to do something which he was not supposed to do, that would probably be good enough.
Eventually out of the crowd, he spied an elderly man, the bald spot on his head shining radiantly in the sun, and his back folding over in a way that made him look shorter than he actually was.
Perfect.Taro formed a short series of hands seals then brought them close to his chest.
Henge no Jutsu.In an instant, his visible form had changed to that of the old man—broad-nosed, sagging skin, and a drooping brow. He flapped his arms experimentally, letting the loose skin sway under the short sleeves of a dark blue haori, then smiled to himself. It was a funny sensation, one that he would have enjoyed doing again a few more times, but he had a mission to complete.
When the old man was well out of view, Taro slipped his hand through the bench's crack to reclaim the coin purse he'd left there and stuffed it in his pants' pocket, then rose from his squatting position. Slowly, with the gait of someone who had spent too many years on his feet and now suffered every step of it (probably), he made his way to the brewery entrance.
Just as Taro stepped inside, he paused, eyes widening a little. The interior of the establishment was different from what he had expected. There were way less bottles in reach, and so many more crates and barrels than he ever thought there would be. Had he misunderstood what a brewery was?
He didn't have time to dwell on it. He didn't need to give anyone any reason to know that he didn't know the first thing about what he was doing.
So he turned to the first person he saw—a boy who couldn't have been too many years his elder, and whose hair was held
so high and tidy in mighty defiance against gravity he just wanted to smoosh it. Taro restrained himself though, and instead called out, pitching his voice to deepen to a baritone that sounded suspiciously like someone who was trying
really hard to fake a lower register, "Hello there, young man. Might you direct me to your finest, umm—" He looked around, scanning the room for any labels because he hadn't thought far enough ahead to actually know what he was going to buy. He held a hum while he continued to look around and play this moment of hesitation as casually as possible. "
Spirit."
He nodded to himself, wisely.
This was a good plan.
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.
