#that she's still prioritizing them over the ones introduced later on
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Haven't played HS2 yet but I'm starting to lose hope. The final season only has 9 episodes and we're already on ep3. As someone who's romancing Hunger I'm really disappointed. I knew we'll only have crumbs compared to the other LIs but in this update you dont even get crumbs. It's disappointing.
oof it's a good thing i decided to save hs2 for the dr then because honestly i would have been super disappointed too to play and spend a fuckton of diamonds and not even get any hunger content at the end of it
i'm really sorry that you didn't enjoy it because of that anon :( i feel you
that really sucks that we don't get anything with him in the update because it felt like we got very little in the last update too. i hope the plot developments were at least fun for you to read :/
#romance club#heaven's secret#shut up jen#conversations#this is why despite how much i like hs2 i genuinely don't consider it a good book or worth the hype#because it's unbalanced as hell and i don't think alice should have introduced any new LIs#if she wasn't gonna balance things out at least a little bit#i mean the main LIs have been around since s1 with loads of scenes so i think it's a bit unfair#that she's still prioritizing them over the ones introduced later on
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I be back.
Images by themselves below the cut because I spent way too much time on them + text because I’ve been gone for a while—‘course I got a lotta say.
It’s certainly been a while, eh? I did this last cour, too, and I swear to God if I do this for the next cour… Worst part is, I haven’t even watched it yet this time, rip :,) Will definitely do sometime later today, for sure, for sure.
So, I meant to get this done for IchiHime week (and look at how that turned out, haha), but not only was July a month full of pleasure, but it was also full of pain work. I was bordering a D for Orgo, so I spent a good portion prioritizing that—and it wasn’t for naught! Not only did I pass, but I went from a C- to a B! A freaking B, not even a B-!!! I’m still so shocked… I also ended up with over a 100 for lab, but I honestly kinda expected that. I’m just so glad I graduated without failing Orgo 2. Was infinitely better than Orgo 1, but goodbye, will never see you again. If I ever do, it’ll be too soon… Had hella good professors, though. That, I will say.
I go from ranting about Orgo to raving, even though it’s almost been a month… Oops ^^” The grade just still makes me so giddy, haha. Anyway, been mainly prioritizing drawing this (plus a part two to this, which I do have done as well, but I will be posting that sometime later today), though I did spend a good portion of the first half of this month rebooting my personal writing club. Enough about where I’ve been—let’s talk about the piece, shall we?
So, this was originally just an art idea I knew I wanted to do later, and when I saw what the first prompt was, it automatically came to the forefront of my mind. That, plus with the idea I eventually got for the second prompt, I really just had to. I actually probably could’ve gotten this done in a more reasonable time, but, see, when things are just an idea, I don’t put too, too much thought into them—only enough to consider them neat or substantial or something.
When it actually came to it, I found myself at a dilemma of just how faithful I wanted to stick with Orihime’s confession. Originally, I thought about incorporating the five specific things she mentioned into different past lives, but then I realized the timelines wouldn’t really make sense with what I was going for, especially considering Soul Society and stuff, which I had not thought about. So I kinda had to choose between previous lives or parallel lives. I initially went with the latter, but… idk, last minute, like the week of, I decided after checking the prompt list one more time that, nah, I definitely wanted previous lives. So, uh… yeah… I might still end up making a parallel lives version of this in the future, ‘cause I did like those ideas, too. We’ll see.
Anyway, I did try to make them at least somewhat reminiscent of the five things: Orihime and Hikoboshi are related to the astronaut thing ‘cause of space and stars and stuff. Heian Period IchiHime, well, it’s a bit of stretch, but I couldn’t really fit donuts in here since the timeline between them and the introduction of ice cream and the current timeline would’ve made one/two of these lives tragically short without even factoring in Soul Society—nothing wrong with tragedy, but not for this post, haha. So I went with small Chinese cakes ‘cause they’re a sweet? And they’d definitely be a very rare and special treat, so… idk.
Shinigami IchiHime’s also a bit of a stretch? You’d think I’d have the easiest time with being a teacher sometime in history, but I ended up sticking it here, and I was adamant I wanted to draw them in their academy days. So, you’ve got Orihime teaching Ichigo some kido techniques or something, idk. Maybe there’s also a kido equivalent to the dummy Hollow thing? And Orihime has a similar/equivalent position to Shuuhei for that? Idk, am just spitballing here to justify myself even though I know I don’t have to.
Then finally, we got Edo Period IchiHime, with Ichigo introducing ice cream to Orihime for the first time ever. And then of course, I shouldn’t have to explain the last one, haha.
Oh, God, I have so much to catch up on… which I will do later. And hey, since my scheduled posts are all up, I guess I’ll just use my queue to reblog posts I’ve missed since Ik I definitely will be reblogging a lot—don’t wanna bombard you with a ton of posts, aha. I will be making them daily instead of weekly, though, so that I’m not stashing them for too long. Starting tomorrow.
#bleach#inoue orihime#kurosaki ichigo#ichihime#fanart#digital art#I hate backgrounds sooo much#made my wrist fricking hurt#and what? to look subpar? bah humbug…#also ew what’s with that new dashboard setup???
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Do u have any transfemme Jiang Cheng headcanons you’re willing to share 🥺 every time you bring it up it makes me unreasonably happy so I would love to hear more about it 🫶🫶
AHHHH no really major headcanons, it's just something I like to rotate in my mind a lot! transfemme jiang cheng is. so special to me. I guess I have a few thoughts
I think a big part of Jiang Cheng's relationship to gender comes from Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan being the models of masculinity and femininity growing up. Jiang Cheng already relates a Lot to Yu Ziyuan, and I think if JC is transfemme, it's a big deal to her that Yu Ziyuan wields so much power. She's an incredible cultivator, a fierce fighter, and generally is a force to be reckoned with. At the same time, she's still a woman living in a misogynistic society. YZY would probably make a better sect leader than JFM, but she's a woman and his wife, and therefore he gets the final say in things
This in turn I think affects Jiang Cheng's feelings about gender and being sect leader. Jiang Cheng has a tendency to prioritize sect concerns > personal desires, and I think in this situation, masculinity is seen as a tool. Even if she knows privately that she is a woman, she would not be public about it because she's already in a precarious position being such a young sect leader. She needs all the respect she can get when rebuilding the Jiang sect, so she stays in the closet by choice. She might eventually come out years and years later, once the Jiang sect is stable and she knows she's not going to get fucked over, but that's really not her first priority
I do think she tells her siblings, though. Jiang Yanli is probably the first person she tells, and she's endlessly supportive. Wei Wuxian is kind of clueless about this sort of thing (see: not realizing he liked men until he got resurrected into the body of a gay man) but he loves Jiang Cheng so he'd be supportive, especially if he learned when they were both still kids. Of course, this makes the tragedy of Jiang Cheng losing everyone even worse. After her siblings died, there was no one who knew who she really was. Thank god for resurrections, huh? fucking hell
in a modern au, I think being a woman would fix her. She would be able to come out without all the other bullshit to worry about, and I think it would be very healing for her. I've known a number of people to go on estrogen who said the effects were more emotional than physical, and I think HRT would be so good for her. I just need Jiang Cheng to be happy goddammit. has she not been through enough
that got long. I guess I had more thoughts than I expected lsdkjflksdjf I also have a snippet from a modern au wip that I don't know if I'll ever continue/finish, but I'll put it under a read more bc I find it funny. I think Wen Qing should crack Jiang Cheng's egg, as a treat <3
Wen Qing knew Jiang Cheng too well. It was something he both loved and hated. There were very few people outside his family that could see through his blustering and read him for who he was, and Wen Qing was one of them. Hell, she was better at it than his own brother.
She didn't hesitate to call him on it either. He wouldn't be forgetting the way she'd looked at him after he introduced her to his parents and told him this explains a lot about you. Rude. Correct, but rude.
Because she knew him so well, she knew the best times to drop these bombs on him. Exposing him when he was in the wrong mood might make his temper flare, or it might make him curl into an insecure ball. Neither were reactions he liked having around her.
Wen Qing knew the best time to drop revelations on him was when he was happy and as close to relaxed as he could get, which is of course why she apparently decided the best time to bring up this particular bombshell was when he was floating in postcoital bliss.
“I'm going to tell you something,” Wen Qing said, her ankle still hooked gently around his calf. “You can't freak out about it.”
Jiang Cheng paused in the middle of pressing lazy kisses to her temple, heart rate immediately spiking. “Now?” he said, incredulous and a little whiny.
“It's not a bad thing,” she reassured him, gently scratching his scalp. It relaxed him like a charm, though he was still suspicious. “Do you promise to listen?”
“Do I have much of a choice?” he asked, propping himself up on her chest. Her lips quirked in a smile as she looked down at him.
“I think you're a woman,” she said, direct and matter-of-fact.
Jiang Cheng jolted upright so hard he slammed his head into the headboard. Wen Qing frowned and sat up as he rolled off her. “You're going to give yourself a concussion,” she said, accusatory.
“You're insane!” Jiang Cheng said, attempting to sit upright without making his head swim. Wen Qing huffed and pushed him down with a firm hand to his chest. He could throw her off if he wanted to, but, well, he didn't want to. He rather liked it when she pushed him around and climbed on top of him like she was right now, pinning him in place and preventing him from running away from the conversation.
#asks#sandu zidian#mdzs#jiang cheng#my writing#sorry this post is so long I'm not normal about jiang cheng#DISCLAIMER ABOUT THE SNIPPET: cracking someone else's egg should always be done gently and with caution#it's better to let someone else figure it out themself and just be supportive the whole time#however. in this situation I think wen qing has thought long and hard about it#and decided jc is not going to figure this out without intervention#also this exchange just appeared in my head one night when I was trying to fall asleep so I had to write it#I really want to write more of it...... I just don't know how to approach jc's inner gender journey#especially since im not transfemme myself#i wanna do it right!#the temptation to trans jiang cheng's gender in my fake marriage au is. strong.#but maybe I should reserve that for much later along the timeline lol#anyway. grabbing jiang cheng in my jaws and shaking around like a dog with a chew toy
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can i ask what amity’s canon deal is?
just read the fragile facade you show to me
oh for sure!! this question Delights me. i actually tried to rein this infodump in but as you can see it got kind of long. obviously spoilers for the whole of toh ahead
canon amity is introduced as an overachieving school bully who is incredibly nasty to luz's first friend in the demon realm, willow. she's being mentored by lilith, who leads the emperor's coven, and is on the path to join + lead the emperor's coven herself someday. this would mean having immense social power but also being directly under the emperor's very fascist thumb.
in the canon, luz stumbles into the isles at age 14 and meets amity at demon high school; amity promptly tries to get her killed due to insane jealousy antics, but then the two of them enter a rivalry-turned-shaky-friendship instead. amity realizes over time that she's been Kind Of The Worst and starts trying to make better choices. she also has a falling-out with lilith when lilith makes her cheat in a witch's duel with luz, bc amity values honesty/fairness A Lot. that knocks her pretty squarely off the Emperor's Coven Ambitions path.
(which is funny given that she's introduced as just being. So Awful. amity please consider any of your unfair biases for 2 seconds challenge level IMPOSSIBLE)
it turns out that amity's mother is a Viciously abusive and classist social climber who has been hyper-controlling of every aspect of amity's life, including who she associates with and what she prioritizes and what her goals are. so a lot of amity's season one arc is about redefining who she is, what she wants, and who she cares about. and distancing herself from her parents. and making amends for her bullshit. and being desperately pathetically Embarrassingly head-over-heels for luz.
season 2 kicks off with amity's mom trying to kill luz, in part over Corrupting Their Daughter. this isn't even a homophobia thing this is just a classism thing. & amity Fully breaking from her parents' influence and fighting back against them to save luz's life. it's incredibly gay and involves her snarling "stay away from MY LUZ" be still my beating heart.
amity meets hunter later as an enemy. canon luz is aligned with wild witches, who are very much traitors to the empire. canon luz loves committing treason and fucking with the empire. amity and luz are dating at this point. amity is therefore now down to aid and abet her in Anything
amity and hunter spend the beginning of the episode psychologically fucking with each other because they both have The Exact Same Neuroses around needing to be Useful and Good Enough. then amity recognizes that hunter is actually Very Very Suicidal and Very Very Reckless in ways she herself once was; she offers him help and is basically like, "hey, i've been abused, too, but it's gonna be okay. come with me and my found family can help you."
hunter, who accepted similar kindness from luz earlier and Immediately got in terrible trouble with belos for it, is like .....hmm... maybe. i'm considering it.
then he realizes that amity has a magical object that belos needs & is like HAHA WAIT. NEVER MIND ACTUALLY. I CAN GET THE EMPEROR'S APPROVAL BACK IF I JUST TRY TO KILL YOU INSTEAD the two of them have a Wild and Desperate fight that ends in amity holding a knife to an exhausted hunter's throat & hunter telling her that if she escapes or kills him, the empire will slaughter luz in retaliation. checkmate!
hunter you suck so bad good god!
amity and hunter bury the hatchet about this offscreen later, though. there's very little ongoing animosity between them in the canon bc from a doylist perspective, there wasn't time to flesh out an entire onscreen talk about feelings; from a watsonian perspective, amity is just like, "yeah man, i tried to kill luz the first time i met her, i get it. you were crazy. i have been crazy before. we're all good"
endgame amity is fighting against the empire and against her mother alongside luz n luz's found family. four years into the future in the show's epilogue, amity is living a cheerful life as a wild witch inventor-slash-adventurer who is in a happy relationship with luz, who has made up with the friends she lost in high school, and who hangs out in giant cuddle puddles of said friends (including hunter) at least once per week, usually more. she's cast off her high school ambitions and is much MUCH happier and healthier.
so the princess AU is basically just positing that if amity DIDN'T meet luz at age 14, she would have continued down the path she'd started out on instead. which would have meant selling her soul to become an emperor's coven soldier and, just. becoming the loneliest most miserable bitch alive.
#replies#there are a million additional details re why amity does certain things she does or fucks up certain things she does#but this infodump is long already. so i just centered it on the characters youve seen her interact with in the princess AU#toh#amity blight#lumity#and who is that other witch#shitty idiot repression gang#long post#abuse
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thoughts on the third Doctor Who special, because i'm the only person with correct Doctor Who opinions and I need to yell them into the void and I think I should get paid for it.
Overall I felt like The Giggle was probably the weakest of the three specials. I actually kind of wish we'd spent more time with the Toymaker and that he'd had a motivation (besides just "sow chaos"), and weirdly, I didn't feel like NPH quite had the menace to pull off the character (even though I thought he was great as Count Olaf). My read is that the episode was really a vehicle to introduce Ncuti Gatwa and let Fourteen do a lot of Processing, and they kind of prioritized that over what was nominally the "plot."
It was obviously delightful to see Ncuti and David interacting, but the episode had a lot of what I used to complain about back in the RTD days. Which is to say - he doesn't even pretend to be logical or coherent with the "science," which results in a lot of deus ex machinas (dei ex machina?) and "love/friendship saves the day because I said so!" And like, I get it, it's not a hard sci-fi show and the sci-fi context is there in service of a larger emotional truth, but wow. It bothered me in 2008 and it bothers me today. But more than that - I think I get what RTD is trying to do with bringing all the companions back, giving Fourteen a TARDIS and a family etc. It felt like he was saying "hey, the whole concept of this show has been existentially horrifying from the jump and I want to course-correct." But uhhh personally it doesn't work for me! The inherent pathos and horror of a human traveling with an immortal alien is fucking great and fascinating, IMO. There's so much to play with there. There's a reason we still talk about Donna's mind-wipe 15 years later - it was brutal and impactful and MEMORABLE. And don't get me wrong, I'm delighted that Donna came back, I absolutely loved getting to see them together again and I love the character growth she's had. That's not what I'm talking about; I'm talking about a larger pattern of lowering the emotional stakes of the show. To instead write these endings as "no see, no one loses anything, everyone gets exactly what they want and it's all perfect!" is DULL even when the execution is heartwarming.
I'm complaining a lot but I genuinely enjoyed the experience of watching all three specials (especially Wild Blue Yonder) and I'm so excited for more. This is just a real weakness (IMO) in RTD's writing specifically, and in the larger trend of media (especially children's media) becoming more anodyne and harmless.
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Welcome to dreamglcw!! a blog for midnightfms and penned by Liz ( 21+, cst ). Template credit to: sup_edits.
Introducing . . . M O O N C H A E Y O U N G . . .
Moon Chaeyoung, 28 year old single mother, resident of yuseong. Receptionist at Hanhwa Resort. For more information click here.
🐇 answer the following prompts, either ooc or ic!
when did your muse first arrive in yuseong bay?
Chaeyoung arrived a year ago from the capital with nothing more than a broken heart and a baby on the way, a small bag with her clothes and barely enough money to find a place to stay. a runaway looking for a place to belong, for a place to raise her kid, a place to call home...and now a year later she can proudly say she did. yuseong bay became her home when her own gave her the back.
what does an average day look like for your muse?
Her days always start early, between tending to her son and preparing to work it is safe to say that mornings are chaotic in the small home, but somehow it always works. she then leaves her son with the older woman who welcomed into her own home not so long ago to. "It's good to have company" the elder always assured her each morning, grateful for something to do, loving the kid as a grandchild of her own before shooing Chaeyoung away. Goodbyes always last long so she has to rush to the bus station and to the Hanhwa Resort where she works as a receptionist. A perfect smile and welcoming aura until the time to go home comes. With tired steps she picks her baby up and makes their way back home, filled with laughter and babbles that soon will be words. It is hard, but oh so perfect.
where can your muse usually be found?
Chaeyoung is easily found at the andante cafe, be it on her way to work or on her way back home, needing an extra pump of sugar to make it through the day. Aside from it, she is more of a homebody, enjoying the simple life in the small apartment with her son or in the park nearby.
how does your muse feel about hanhwa resort?
Grateful, that is the first word that comes to mind to Chaeyoung when thinking about the resort as it is the place that puts a roof over her head and feeds her baby.
is there an aspiration for your muse to stay in or leave yuseong bay?
Yuseong bay has slowly become a home for Chaeyoung and from what she has seen she hopes it will be a permanent home for Jisung, her kid. So, she dreams of affording a better place, bigger, to home the family she build here.
🐇 answer the following, ooc!
list your muse's three favorite songs.
To my youth - Bol4
She's in the rain - The rose
The swan lake - Tchaikovsky
describe your muse's wardrobe.
Comfort over fashion. As a single mother she prioritizes clothes that would be used in more times and that she wouldn't mind dirting rather than the previous style she would have used as a teen. Though her uniform is a diferent side, always prim and proper, no wrinkle in sight acompanied with a styled hair.
what is a color, word, and emoji that you feel describes your muse?
white, stubborn, 🥀
three strong likes and dislikes for your muse.
likes: classical music, sweet drinks and food, animals
dislikes: smell of smoke, her parents, sourness
three positive and negative traits for your muse.
+resilient +adaptable + affectionate
-detached -volatile -mistrustful
three talents and shortcomings for your muse.
ballet, she was once a runner up for the national ballet and it's still in her bones, she has an affinity for languages and can easily pick them up with just a bit of practice, emboidery is a new one she has recently discovered as her kid ventures in the first steps.
shortcomings: after everything that happened, she has trust issues with those surrounding herself and her son, friendships are now hard to form and mantain and her stubborness shines brighter than the sun from day to day.
what is a book/tv series/movie/video game character that you feel your character relates to? (you can include who you would say they're alike, and who they would say they're alike.)
tba
a relevant goal or arch for your character to overcome.
search / find peace. She is still too hurt by the ghosts of her past and the fire of anger has yet to fade, she is in search for a home while still thinking bitterly of the word. Chaeyoung has a lot to unpack before reaching that destination but one day maybe she will finally open once again to the world and not just one or two people around her.
🐇 B I O G R A P H Y.
Born with a silver spoon, Chaeyoung is the only daughter and was the heir to the Moon Empire. Ever since she was a baby whatever she wanted she got without even having to ask for it, as a child her room had been filled with toys and during her teenage years her closet had been filled with brand names only. It was a dream life for many, yet in exchange of all those luxuries she was expected to be the best, another thing for her parents to boast about, and she played her part really well.
She became interested in ballet at a young age and it became her whole world. Her eyes sparkled and her mother was more than happy to sign her up in a prestigious academy for it. Chaeyoung dived into that world while keeping her academics as top of her classes, sleepless nights with private tutors came and went but it was worth it in her eyes as she got to compete in the Asian Grand Prix and other competitions earning the attetion of the Korean National Ballet. She was doing wonderful in this new place slowly rising ranks until she became the first dancer, the prima ballerina of the National Ballet and that is when her dreams came crashing down.
She was pregnant.
And she was on her own, the father of the baby was gone and so were her supportive parents who claimed she was a shame to the family once they found out. With nothing more than what she could carry on her bags, Chaeyoung left that life behind moving to Daegu to start again, just her baby and her.
...1 year later.
Chaeyoung pregnancy ran smoothly thanks to a neighbor that took care of her and treated her as if she was her own daughter, the caring mother she never had. She gave birth to a healthy baby boy Jisung who is now almost 1. Even if she struggles with her work, her home is always filled with love.
🐇 P E R S O N A L I T Y.
The Chaeyoung of today is very different from the one during her teen years. The girl who never had to work for anything is now working any job she can, learning new things that can be done at home so she can work while staying close to her baby. long gone is the childish chaeyoung replaced by one driven by love, one that never gives up. her fingers are pricked from her work as a seamstress for the theater but she takes pride in them. A bit emotional detached, takes long to earn her trust and for her to open up, keeps new people at arm's length afraid they would leave her again.
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FABULA MISSION 011
SCHEDULE TYPE: TRIMESTER ( PART 1 OUT OF 1 )
SCHEDULE RESTRICTIONS: cannot be paired with another trimester schedule, unless stated otherwise. for reference as to whether your muse is eligible for this event, please click over HERE.
on APRIL 8, the FABULA members have their quarterly meeting with PARK EUNSOOK and SHIM JOOHEE, but many of them will notice that there is another familiar person in their meeting as well.
FEEDBACK & NEW MEMBER ( PART 2 )
“we’ve told the two newly added members, NINA and SORI to focus on specific skills during the last few months we saw different results. on one hand, we noticed NINA following our advice quite well that we’ve seen some improvements during this time. on the other, while SORI did practice on some of the skills she was assigned to work on, she is still lacking in many ways that we had to add NOH AREUM to FABULA to take over the parts that SORI lacked and could not fulfill.” EUNSOOK explains before turning her head to AREUM to let her briefly introduce herself. afterwards, the older woman returns to explaining what she had mentioned earlier. “SORI, we noticed that you’ve been working more on dancing during the last few months but what we wanted to prioritize more from you were KOREAN, PERFORMANCE, and ACTING. while you did work on all of them, it still wasn’t enough — in fact, with the inclusion of AREUM it actually became unfavorable for you in this upcoming comeback and you will see what i mean in the next few minutes.”
congratulations to AREUM for joining fabula! starting from APRIL 8, AREUM will be moving to the FABULA DORMS. AREUM will be taking ROOM A and become roommates with HAYOUNG. the information will be updated on the room arrangements tab on the master sheet whenever the admod team gets a chance.
since there will be a short period of time for AREUM to prepare for the comeback, she will be requested ( but not required ) to work on SINGING during the Q2 term.
for NINA, SORI, and AREUM all three of them will be eligible for OPEN EVENT 006 ( FANSITES ) and OPEN EVENT 007 ( BIRTHDAY ) starting MAY. more information on that can be founded in their respective posts and if you wish, you can ask to be invited to the fabula fansite blog starting today.
WOOHEE’S COMEBACK
“as you may have heard, BLAZING’s WOOHEE is having a comeback later this month. since the featured artist in the song will not be able to make it during the live performances, both WOOHEE and her team have selected HAYOUNG to be taking over the artist’s place.” EUNSOOK smiles proudly at HAYOUNG after revealing the news.
WOOHEE will be coming back with the song “RA TA TA” starting APRIL 19. since lil cherry will not be present in the live performances, HAYOUNG will be replacing her during the music show promotions.
FABULA COMEBACK
FABULA’s comeback is scheduled for JUNE 15 and the list below will be their tracklist for that comeback:
WIFE
NONE OF MY BUSINESS
CHERRY COKE ( APRIL SOLO )
SUGARCOAT ( MINJI SOLO )
BADDIE ( TITLE TRACK )
BBB
the lyrics distributions document for this can be found over HERE.
after JOOHEE had handed out all of the important files related to their schedules for the next few months, EUNSOOK asked all of the girls to look at the lyrics distributions. “like i had told most of you, starting from this comeback and onwards we will be dropping the role positions for all of you, sans EUNHYE and her leader role. once all of you look through these files and pages carefully you’ll start to notice that the company has already prepared and began showing that the FABULA members are all-rounders. examples of this are NINA and MINJI, both who are currently our strongest vocalists, taking on rap parts and our strongest rappers, HAYOUNG and EUNHYE, taking on more vocal parts.”
EUNSOOK eyed SORI and after a deliberate pause, she revealed, “since you were working on dancing quite a bit and have good technicality when it comes to it, other aspects of your performance-based skills fell short especially PERFORMANCE. this meant that you lacked charisma and with these girls already charismatic as is, it’s going to be harder to even shine, let alone get any solo parts for yourself. which brings the question…what will you contribute to the group? your parts are already few, but the producing team felt that it was justified seeing that you aren’t a great singer and there are already few rap parts in this comeback as is.” sighing to herself, EUNSOOK added, “i may be hard on you for this, SORI, but you have an even shorter amount of time to prove that the company’s decision to have you in this group isn’t something that they regret doing. do your part and help the team for their JUNE comeback.”
COMEBACK PROMOTIONS
for this comeback, FABULA will be promoting ‘BADDIE’ until JULY 7. then from JULY 9 until JULY 21, they will be promoting ‘BBB’. FABULA will receive 3 wins from ‘BADDIE’, which will be from THE SHOW ( JUNE 25 ), SHOW CHAMPION ( JUNE 26 ), and M! COUNTDOWN ( JUNE 27 ).
as for their other activities, it is as follows:
APRIL 12-13: line friends fansign [ MINJI, HAYOUNG, and EUNHYE ]
MAY 26: yonsei univeristy spring festival ( will be performing TOMBOY, IMPURITIES, and ANTIFRAGILE )
MAY 27: ‘CHERRY COKE’ pre-release song
MAY 28: busan national university spring festival ( will be performing TOMBOY, IMPURITIES, ANTIFRAGILE )
MAY 29: ‘SUGARCOAT’ pre-release song
MAY 30: hello82’s fanfia game episode release [ ALL MEMBERS EXCEPT EUNHYE ]
JUNE 15: group appearance on KNOWING BROS [ ALL MEMBERS ]
JUNE 18: APRIL’s VLOG release ( behind the scenes of ‘cherry coke’ featuring SORI )
JUNE 20: MINJI’S VLOG release ( behind the scenes of ‘sugarcoat’ featuring NINA )
JUNE 22-JULY 20: fansigns & video calls for BADDIE and BBB promotions
JUNE 28: [BEORIGINAL] ‘BADDIE’ for STUDIO CHOOM
JUNE 29: ‘BADDIE’ dance relay for M2
JULY 6: waterbomb festival in seoul ( will be performing BADDIE, BBB, and TOMBOY ).
FABULA PHOTOBOOK
as a gift for the fans, the FABULA members will take part in creating a photobook just for them! since this will be released sometime around Q2 or Q3, the company has suggested for all of the members to start preparing on the creation and photoshoots for it in the midst of their comeback preparations.
around MAY 18, all of the girls will be doing a summer inspired shoot. due to schedules, SORI, HAYOUNG, AREUM, and NINA will be flying to PATTHAYA CITY, THAILAND first and be staying there for one week. three days later, EUNHYE and MINJI will be joining the rest of the girls.
during the THREE DAYS, the four FABULA members will be filming behind the scenes content and do parts of their solo and duo photoshoots. whenever they are not taking pictures for the photobook they will be practicing in one of the studio rooms that the company has rented for their comeback. once EUNHYE and MINJI arrive, they will finish off the solo and duo photoshoots on the first day they arrive. the remaining days will be photos taken of FABULA during their private tour around PATTHAYA CITY ( eg. visiting local landmarks, taking a cooking class on thai cuisine, meeting elephants, etc. ) and additional interviews that are added to the photobook and its promotions. for the tour, the girls will also be asked to vlog the whole experience and will be released at a later time.
for the interviews, the group will be split into pairs and answer some of the interview questions set up by the staff! the pairings are as follows:
CHA SORI & OH EUNHYE
LEE MINJI & NOH AREUM
MOON HAYOUNG & SEO NINA
examples of questions that could be asked:
please introduce yourself and your role in the group (it has to be something not related to singing/dancing/rapping. for example, “in charge of being the happy pill in the group!” the more creative the better)
do you have any nicknames?
your strengths? weaknesses?
your most recent hobby?
list three items you have inside your bag right now.
describe one of your favorite experiences from the tour.
to what age would you want to live?
how satisfied are you with life?
if you were given a chance, what kind of superpower would you like?
what would you do if you won the lottery?
CHANGING MAJORS
EUNSOOK faces towards EUNHYE, knowing that her announcement is related to her specifically. “with the success of your back to school podcast, we can now begin the actual project—‘CHANGING MAJORS’, which is a variety show where you get a chance to visit and promote other universities and their programs. in each episode, you will act as a university student that will be joining the program for the first time! like we mentioned last time, you were given a chance to pick what majors you were interested in and we’re here to give you the schedules and the majors you will take during the first season.” the woman hands EUNHYE a folder containing detailed information about the show.
for reference, here are what the episode lists would look like:
BACK TO SCHOOL PODCAST
EPISODE 1 ( INTRODUCTION OF PODCAST ): airing MAY 24
EPISODE 2 ( INTERVIEW WITH NPC STAFF ): airing JUNE 7
EPISODE 3 ( INTERVIEW WITH NOVA’S MITZI ): airing JUNE 21
EPISODE 4 ( INTERVIEW WITH SUNG HANEUL ): airing JULY 5
EPISODE 5 ( FINALE ): airing JULY 19
CHANGING MAJORS
EPISODE 1 ( HOW TO REGISTER FOR CLASSES / FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL ): airing AUGUST 2
PERFORMING ARTS ( SINGING ): airing AUGUST 16
CRIMINAL LAW: airing AUGUST 30
PHYSICS: airing SEPTEMBER 13
VETERINARY MEDICINE: airing SEPTEMBER 27
WRITING REQUIREMENTS
JUNE COMEBACK: write a 300+ word solo regarding the comeback activities/schedules ( either the ones mentioned above OR notoriety tier gigs, if applicable ) or continue a thread ( non-event or past event is acceptable ) that started in Q1 ( JANUARY 8-APRIL 6 ) by writing an additional 4 replies for +6 POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE ANYWHERE and +6 NOTORIETY ! ** everyone except EUNHYE can do it up to two times **
FP INTERVIEW: write a 4 replies thread ( 2 posts per mun; minimum 8 lines each ) with your assigned partner about the interview portion. for the thread, you must include at least 3 questions ( altogether ) with responses for each of them ( to make it easier, please bold or italicize which questions were said in the thread ). completing this will earn you +7 MODELING and +3 NOTORIETY !
FP TOUR: write a 300+ word solo or a 4 replies thread ( 2 posts per mun; minimum 8 lines each ) with another FABULA member about anything related to the tour ( eg. visiting local landmarks, taking a cooking class on thai cuisine, meeting elephants, etc. ) for +9 MODELING and +3 NOTORIETY !** can be completed two times **
CHANGING MAJORS: write a 300+ headcanon post or solo about the episodes filmed for the show. if you choose to do a headcanon post, you can talk about all of the episodes and how the experience was or you can write a solo talking about one specific episode. completing this will earn you +5 VARIETY and +5 NOTORIETY ! ** only for EUNHYE **
make sure to use the hashtag lgc:fabulamission for the tasks. you have until JUNE 29, 2024 at 11:59PM EDT to complete the requirements and validate your points. please submit the following form ONCE on the points blog.
MUSE NAME ∙ FABULA MISSION 011
- JUNE COMEBACK: +6 ( skill points distribution ), +6 notoriety [ LINK ] ** can be done up to two times for everyone except eunhye **
- FP INTERVIEW: +7 modeling, +3 notoriety [ LINK ]
- FP TOUR: +9 modeling, +3 notoriety [ LINK ] ** can be done up to two times **
- CHANGING MAJORS: +5 variety, +5 notoriety [ LINK ] ** only for eunhye **
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One of the thing I love about IDW Op is that he's technically an atheist war pope. It's interesting that he didn't believe in religious aspect himself but was willing to use it for the power. Made his character more complex to me. Do you have opinion on this topic?
I have a lot of mixed feelings about it tbh. On one hand, I think being an atheist/agnostic fits IDW Optimus' character well (I've tried to imagine him as religious and just...can't), but on the other hand, I kind of have a problem with the way most media depicts religious people, and it's a bit disappointing that the Matrix has canonically been associated with multiple miracles (reviving OP and Hot Rod from death, creating new sparks, even Primus/Rung being able to make them) but Optimus still calls the Matrix 'nothing but a bauble' at some point like. Really bro? So there is a part of me that is disappointed at the Matrix being treated as a Plot Device rather than a proper, respectable religious thing. On the other hand, that's just not what the story is about, and I can't call a story/character bad because it didn't go in the exact direction I wanted.
TLDR: I think Optimus being agnostic/atheist makes sense for him, but I really dislike the way it was handled in the story because it feels more like it was used as a plot inciting device than some sort of journey of Optimus trying to discover his purpose. Also, the way he interacts with other religious characters had a lot of wasted potential, so I just feel like it wasn't written in a very interesting way? Basically, the writing is such a mixed bag of interesting concepts with mediocre/bad execution that I can barely focus on the in-universe implications and mostly just get mad at Barber's writing.
My feelings are also complicated by the fact that I don't like Barber's writing at all (it's like 90% dislike and 10% like) because of how bad he is about prioritizing plot over character emotions and stuff. Earlier on in phase 2 it seemed as if Optimus was genuinely curious about his religious role as a Prime and asked the Camiens for guidance on who he should be as Prime (Windblade, Aileron, the Mistress of Flame). In Death of Optimus Prime, OP literally wished he was dead when he woke up. He made a very big deal about how he's Orion now, not Optimus. In Dark Cybertron he had a whole crisis about whether he's Orion or Optimus. Basically, he was set up to have a huge identity crisis (especially since the war is over and leadership of Cybertron fell to Starscream), but any amount of introspection was quickly derailed into PLOT PLOT PLOT OPTIMUS ANNEXES EARTH AND FIGHTS GALVATRON. The story just devolved into bullshit plot on Earth that was just action, action, plot, things happening, with pretty much no room for the characters to stop and breathe and talk and have relationships with each other. I barely felt any emotional investment for most of exRID.
I think the only scenes we got with Optimus actually getting to reflect on this new role of his was 1. when he first met Aileron and asked her and 2. when he's telling Aileron he doesn't believe and then Pyra Magna comes in and gets mad at him.
Speaking of Pyra Magna, the story writing also annoyed me because from the moment she was introduced, Pyra Magna was SUPER self-righteous about how she should be the Prime instead of Optimus and she said that she would try to make Optimus into a better Prime. But then guess what happens? Her and Optimus barely talk and Pyra Magna is basically just there to form Superion and punch people :/ And then later on when Onyx Prime is introduced, all the sudden Pyra Magna goes from having strong opinions about what a True Prime should be and believing she's destined to be the true Prime........ to talking about how she's never trusted Primes and she left the Mistress of Flame for trusting a Prime too quickly??? I know Pyra Magna isn't Optimus, but the reason I'm bringing her up is because she seemed truly religious and opinionated, she SAID she was going to "teach" Optimus things, she seemed like she was set up to be a rival to Optimus, but instead they barely have interactions and the ones they do have early in the series end up being retconned later by Barber's shitty writing that puts plot over consistent character development so. :/ I really expected Pyra Magna and Optimus to have some meaningful interactions, some mix between a rivalry and a mentor/student situation, but instead all she does is shit on him like half the case of exRID/OP and it just made me mad.
(There was also Slide who went from worshipping Optimus to saying that his leadership style is "literally fascism" and monologuing about how Optimus is a conqueror while fighting Unicron and Trypticon is being killed in the background. She's so fucking annoying and comically stupid that I genuinely thought she was going to betray them or do something evil just because she was so unhinged.)
But if you want my actual in-universe opinion on atheist pope Optimus, I do think it's an interesting concept. It shows off Optimus' sense of duty where even though HE doesn't believe, he thinks that what other people think of him his more important. He sees that being a religious figure can help him do what he thinks is right, so he willingly plays that role as a means to a greater end. He's already a "patriot and hero" to the Autobots thanks to his military feats; he's used to being venerated (sometimes to unhealthy degrees) and knows how powerful his influence can be whenever he makes political decisions. I think that he basically saw the Camiens' worship of him as just a new form of the admiration he was already used to receiving. He's spent his whole life commanding armies so simply adopted the colonists into his ranks as well.
(Also, side note, it's so fucking hypocritical for Pyra Magna to call Optimus a piece of shit for "using belief, but not believing" only for her herself to admit a few volumes later that she's never trusted Primes. Why do you wanna be one so badly then if you think Primes are so awful? If it's because you think you could do a better job than past Primes, that literally makes you the same as Optimus, who is also trying to redeem the title of Prime, so you have no right to be punching Optimus in the face lmao. But I also genuinely can't tell if that hypocrisy is supposed to be deliberate or if Barber just did what he usually did and ignored character emotion/motivation/self-reflection in favor of shoving some backstory in for Pyra Magna that tied her to Onyx Prime.)
At least Optimus tried to discourage the blind worship and used the Camiens to do things he had already spent his whole life doing (fighting genocidal colonizers aka Decepticons and protecting organic lives) so I don't really see it as out of line for Optimus. It shows how IDW OP can be a politician as well as a military leader. I think it shows how Optimus can be clever and take advantage of his reputation to achieve his political goals (protecting Earth) and it makes him a more realistic character. Sometimes things that are good aren't done through noble means. Sometimes people do good things by being not very nice.
Also, for what it's worth, I think IDW OP is less manipulative than someone like Starscream, who constantly flaunted his "Chosen One" status while admitting he didn't believe in it (or wavering in his belief) and doing things like creating secret police and trying to kidnap sparklings. Like damn at least Optimus risked his life in the same battles he asked his followers to fight in, he ruined his reputation for the sake of protecting Earth from the Decepticons. Even if the guy is an atheist pope at least he puts his own ass on the line for things he believes in for the sake of protecting people who pretty much hate him lmao. That's why I'm more inclined to view Optimus sympathetically; he's living a lie for political means, but his politics are literally "protect humans and Earth from the bullshit war and destruction Cybertronians forced onto their planet", and the burden of leadership is making him depressed and passively suicidal, and eventually he literally sacrificed himself by jumping into a black hole to save millions/billions of people so like. Let the guy fucking rest lmao.
#squiggle answers#idw op love#hot take but when you think about it#if idw op hadn't annexed earth then cybertron would have had no allies against unicron#unicron would've destroyed all the other planets and come to earth#then the humans would probably be unprepared for the battle and not used to working with cybertronians#and they might all have died#and also the remnants of the cybertronian race would have had no planet to live on#so like. i'm just saying this to put it on the record#OP is pretty much directly the reason why earth the human race and the cybertronian race aren't extinct#which i think makes him a very effective and realistic politician/military commander#he did shit things because that's the nature of war and politics#but also without his presence then the world/galaxy would be immeasurably different probably for the worse#which is why i get so mad when people just go 'he did bad things!' and hate him because of that#yes. he did bad things. he also did good things#he's a fucking military commander did you expect him to be a squeaky clean uwu daddy who's nice to everyone and has never done anything bad#sorry the ask was about religion but i also derailed it into idw op's politics#i thought this would be like a 10 minute answer but fucking OOPS#i should've been in bed like an hour ago
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More Thoughts on TWDU & The Caryl Spinoff
Okay. I wrote a post a while ago about some of the problems with TWD “universe”. Some things have changed after SDCC. Importantly, the “where’s Rick and Michonne” mystery should be settled before long. The idea of the Richonne spinoff still seems a little strange to me (whatever happened to the movies?) and it won’t have any of the qualities that would have made the Caryl spinoff so unique. But hey, the Richonne spinoff still makes a million times more sense than Isle of the Dead.
Whilst I’m here, I wanted to touch on the CDC/French plotline for a little bit, as it looks like these elements are going to be important to the franchise going forward. The creative minds behind TWD have made many questionable choices over the years but using Dr Jenner’s reference to the French as the linchpin of TWD’s expanding “universe” is truly bewildering.
Scott Gimple used one of Jenner’s lines (“The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be”) for the title of the S7 premiere. “Wildfire” and “T-S 19” obviously resonated with Gimple, and he has praised the CDC plotline in the past: “The thing that means so much to me about season one is, I was a fan. I was watching live every Sunday ... And then later, in my Walking Dead life, I hear people maybe taking shots at [the CDC episodes]," Gimple told Decider. "And I was not one of those people. I had a great time those Sunday nights. And there are some moments in the CDC that I love and I remember”. TWD Universe Boss on Bringing Back The Walking Dead's Dropped CDC Plot (comicbook.com).
Of course, Gimple is entitled to like what he likes, but I think that there have been much better episodes than “Wildfire” and “TS-19”. I also think it’s worth noting that Robert Kirkman regrets the whole CDC plotline as he always tried to stay vague in the comics about the cause of the plague and what was happening outside the US.
https://www.cbr.com/robert-kirkman-reveals-his-biggest-walking-dead-regret/
For reasons best known to themselves, the powers that be at AMC have made Jenner’s comments integral to the future of the franchise. Variant walkers and Jenner talking to French scientists featured in the post-credit scene of WB. The 11C trailer shows that we’ll be seeing variant walkers in TWD before long. Details about the Daryl spinoff are few and far between, but his story seems to be intrinsically linked to Jenner’s comments about the French.
This whole French thing is baffling to me, and it seems like whoever decided on this new plotline wanted all the acclaim for foreshadowing something in S1 without putting in any of the work. They’re piggy-backing off a throwaway reference – it reminds me of when the BBC’s Sherlock introduced a whole secret evil sister plot after a couple of jokes about a lost sibling, or when J K Rowling provides world-building via Twitter and whatever she has tweeted just falls apart if anybody thinks about it for more than a second.
I could never class the reference to “the French” as meaningful foreshadowing or set-up, because it hasn’t ever been mentioned in all the time in between the S1 finale and now. They’ve had SO much time to set Europe or fast walkers up if they wanted to. They could’ve had the walkers get slightly faster and smarter each year and they could have thrown in a reference to France every season. There’s never been an issue with including easter eggs in the past, the Darabont era was full of them – think of the upside-down American flag in the RV (an official distress signal) or the bible verse outside the church in S2 (foreshadowing that Sophia was already dead).
I can’t understand why any creative mind would give so much weight to this single reference to the French. Why would you prioritize a line spoken over a decade ago/an exotic location over consistent characterization or world-building? Why on earth would you send Daryl to France (which only seems more egregious now that the other spinoffs appear to be US based at this moment in time)?
The relationship between Carol and Daryl is the emotional core of the show. If TWD loses Caryl, it will lose its heart as well as its head – we’ll get variant walkers that make no sense in-universe alongside a whole load of narrative choices that seem unfathomable (like Maggie and Negan pairing up for Isle of the Dead or the possibility of Daryl leaving Carol behind for France).
All of this wouldn’t sting if the show had always been bad, say if TWD was more like Z Nation, which features a runaway Liberty Bell plowing through the undead like the rolling boulder in Indiana Jones (go look it up, I’m not kidding). But TWD has been smart in the past and you can intellectually engage with the show. Like I outlined recently, Kang’s allusions to the Cold War in S10 are so good. The best zombie narratives are closely linked with social commentary and critique, e.g., George A. Romero engaged with issues surrounding race, gender, and class - Kang’s work slots into this tradition. I’d take her intricate work and careful storytelling over foreign locations or fast walkers every time.
The whole CDC/French thing is just based on the shakiest of foundations – like, you’d condemn a house with foundations that unstable. It’s mind-boggling that the writers are relying on one line said over a decade ago to re-pivot the franchise, rather than honoring the characters and world that they’ve built. I feel like it should almost go without saying, but there’s no doubt in my mind that the Caryl spinoff would have been structurally sound. Caryl have been developing their bond for 11 seasons for crying out loud and we could all see where they were going when New Mexico was repeatedly mentioned in S10. Caryl taking off and pursuing their New Mexico dream would have felt right. The CDC/French stuff and whatever they have Daryl doing on his solo mission never will.
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Adventure Comics #278
Cover Date: November 1960 | Written by Otto Binder | Art by Al Plastino
Read on DC Universe Infinite | NOTE: These commentaries are going to be very spoiler heavy
Jumping over to Adventure Comics this time. I’m going to do my best to prioritize reading in chronological order over just reading series by series.
Today we’re going through “Supergirl in Smallville!”
We start out at the Midvale Orphanage, where one of Linda’s friends is upset because the power went out so she won’t be able to iron her clothes and be presentable for the family that’s coming to adopt her. Linda very sneakily uses her x-ray vision to heat up the iron, which leads to her friend getting adopted, which leads to Linda spying checking in on her friend and being happy that she’s so happy now in her new home.
But Supergirl’s not happy. Superman won’t let her be adopted (not sure how he’s enforcing that tbh), and she’s feeling sad and lonely.
So Linda hatches a plan to prove that she’s responsible enough to get adopted by a family and still keep her secret identity. She goes and fetches her Linda Lee Robot to cover for her while she’s gone, and then once again flies through time.
It turns out Linda’s plan is to go back to when Superman was still just Superboy, and find the Kents. She tells them everything, who she really is, that she’s from the future, and that she wants to spend a week embedded with them as a way to prove that she can keep her secret. Her thinking is that if she can not get herself outed while staying with the Kents, and most importantly, keep her secret from a younger Clark, then he’ll have to let her get adopted in the present time.
Martha and John are more than happy to help Linda out. They’re excited to have a daughter for a week, even though they’re going to tell Clark that she’s a distant cousin staying with them. This plan is getting needlessly complex.
So, she start showing Linda around, but Superboy returns home, via secret tunnel, and Kara has to outsmart Superboy, which she does by dumping a bunch of his trophy bullets (bullets that people have shot at him, which he keeps, for some reason). Superboy needs to pick them up off the floor, giving Supergirl time to slip out.
From there the Kents and Linda act like she just arrives as the distant cousin, and Clark seems to be none-the-wiser.
And of course weird stuff starts happening at random. Linda is out shopping when an electrical fire starts around her in the store she’s in. Before she can be outed, Superboy rushes to her aid. He flies her back home and tries to reassure her to not be scared as they’re flying, and I love Linda’s face in this panel:
So the next things that happens is that Superboy is trying to help build some kids’ fort after they’ve left for the day, but stumbles upon some green Kryptonite, weakening him immediately. He calls for one of his Superboy Robots (dang they really loved their decoy robots back then), but as the robot leaves the secret tunnel, it gets struck by lightning, frying its circuits.
So, in order to save the day, Linda pulls the hull of the robot apart and puts it on like it’s Iron Man armor. It’s lead lined for some reason so Superboy can’t find out the truth and Supergirl is protected from the Kryptonite. She arrives and disposes of the Kryptonite and waits for Superboy to dismiss his “robot” before leaving.
Later we see Linda repairing the robot before Superboy returns, which is what the cover also depicts.
Then Krypto shows up, and Linda’s worried about him seeing her, so she throws a stick “miles high”.
After that, she is introduced to Lana Lang, the Kents’ neighbor. Lana is suspicious that Clark is Superboy and has set up a (bad) trap to catch him in the act. She’s wired a bunch of apples to her tree so that a normal human couldn’t shake them off. Which... Alright. But instead she meets Kara and they have a nice afternoon together. Lana wants them to bake an apple pie together, but needs to get the ladder to pick some apples.
Linda offers to shake the tree, and accidentally stumbles into Lana’s trap she had meant for Superboy. Ma Kent, who was here the whole time, whispers to Krypto, who’s apparently also returned, and they stage it to look like it was Krypto burrowing from under the tree, and not Linda, that shook the apples lose.
Next thing that happens is that Linda notices Superboy is out helping build the Midvale Orphanage, which Linda is amused by.
After that, while walking on the sidewalk, Linda is almost hit by an out of control car, but uses her super-strength to stop it. The driver is shocked, and starts chasing Linda when she runs away. She’s able to dupe him by slipping into a store, taking off her wig, and changing really fast.
By now it’s getting late into the week and so far Supergirl has done a great job keeping her secret identity. Then, with Superboy off-planet, there a runaway blimp floating out towards sea. Supergirl’s able to retrieve it, and makes sure no one sees her.
BUT...
Instead of using the secret tunnel back to the house she flies in through the window, which the Kents scold her for.
And just like that, Supergirl’s failed her mission.
Once her week’s up, she returns to the present, sad that she failed and has thus proven Superman right. The story ends with Linda watching another friend get adopted, and realizing that she won’t be able to have that for a while, but she will have her happy week with the Kents.
Goodness Supergirl looks so sad in that time travel panel.
Yeah, so once again this just reinforces Kara’s lonely existence, having to sit by while her friends find homes, and accepting that she can’t have that.
Personally I think Kara’s being a too hard on herself, but I guess that’s something that’s been a staple of her character from the very beginning. The random time travel angle of this issue was a little odd, I wonder what kind of story we would have had if it was just her spending time with the present-day Kents.
Still getting to see Supergirl interact with some Super-staples like Krypto, the Kents, and Lana was a real treat.
#supergirl#1960s supergirl#adventure comics 278#adventure comics#kara zor el#kara zor-el#linda lee#earth one supergirl#earth one kara zor-el#clark kent#superboy#martha kent#john kent#kal el#kal-el#dc#dc comics#silver age comics#silver age dc#silver age supergirl#adventure comics v1#lana lang#krypto#krypto the superdog
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Beyond A Reasonable Doubt (Harris Sisters #2)
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (Harris Sisters #2) by Nyora René is about lawyer Ruby Harris and partner Justin Davis. 5 years ago Ruby and Justin had a one night stand in which they didn’t exchange their real names. A week later, Ruby walks into the shock of her life when Justin is introduced as one of the firm’s partners. Present day, Justin and Ruby have to work a case together and the game they played of avoiding each other is OVER! The chemistry between these two is potent 🔥 they didn’t stand a chance!! Whew!! I’m a fan of sexual tension!! As a Black female lawyer Ruby rightfully has concerns about how a relationship with her boss may negatively affect her career. I like that Justin doesn’t brush aside these concerns, he makes sure she is protected. Office Romance is such an enjoyable trope, but so often the focus is on the secret, I’m glad this story offered more than that. We get a FULL story that includes how the relationship works once it’s out in the open and we also get to see the drama with the case they are working on together. Ruby is in her early 30s and Justin is in his late 30s so they’re not only dealing with workplace drama but also their own emotional baggage. I love that we got to see them do couples therapy on page (chefs kiss)! The sisterhood and the friendship dynamic were an added bonus. Both Ruby and Justin had amazing support systems that hold them accountable. They both lead busy lives but still find time to cater to and prioritize each other. Justin is really mature, he knows he found his wife and is all about taking care of her. I mean, the romantic baths, washing of hair, full body massages, weekends away on the yacht etc. 🫦 I need me a Justin! Nyora René came back with a banger!! I can’t wait for the other sisters stories! Also, I hope Justin’s law partners Chris and Will get stories too!
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**I don't own the rights to the images on this teasers. Credits to ownerships**
#ariesreadtoo#blackgirlsread#black romance novel#girlhaveyouread#indiebooks#indielove#black romance#black authors#blackromancenovel#nyorarene
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THE ROOKIE REACTION
Today's reaction is to the season 5, third episode titled "Dye Hard" which originally aired on October 9, 2022. The episode was written by Natalie Callaghan and directed by Bethany Rooney. Spoilers ahead!
We start the episode one month later catching on what's happened in the interim for our characters. Lucy attended and graduated from the undercover agent training class she was reluctant to enroll in. Now, let me pause here. I know absolutely nothing about how things work in law enforcement, but it seems to me one month in class learning how to be an undercover agent is not a lot of time. I know this show is all about moving the plot along but for some reason, that detail stuck out to me. Also, Nyla is back from maternity leave which doesn't surprise me. One of my coworkers spent a few months on maternity leave when she had her first child, but Nyla strikes me as someone who was itching to get back to work. P.S., I love her friendship with Angela. Last on the list, we have Nolan who is officially a training officer - something he has wanted to be since he became a rookie four seasons ago. Now that we are caught up, let's jump into the episode.
One month later, Lucy is still with her lawyer boyfriend Chris (Kanoa Goo). He informs Lucy that he got invited to join an anonymous online group who are dedicated to tracking down the whereabouts of notorious serial killer Rosalind Dyer. They call themselves Dye Hards. Chris further explains that these group members have done extensive research. They scour message boards, social media and subreddits for tips and take the credible tips and place them into a document they have dubbed the Mother Doc. Lucy rightfully is concerned about Chris's mental and emotional well-being now that he has fully recovered from his near-fatal injuries. She tells him that it's not healthy for him to spend his waking hours researching Rosalind. Chris asks Lucy to take a look at the document and Lucy reluctantly acquiesces.
Meanwhile, at the station, Nolan begins his first day as a training officer. He admits to Grey that he is nervous about messing up and the sergeant assures him that he will. Grey reminds Nolan that he is a good cop who knows how to do the job so he should stop being so concerned with being perfect. Then Grey reminds Nolan that since he is new to being a training officer, that technically makes him a rookie again. I love that four seasons later, the title of this show is still showing relevance.
Nolan is introduced to his rookie, a young woman named Celina Juarez. Right off the bat, I started to speculate as to what kind of rookie Celina would be. Would she be a legacy like our dearly departed Jackson West (Titus Makin Jr.), following in her parent's footsteps? Would you be a know-it-all, eager to impress type like Lucy? Would she be timid or rough around the edges? Take orders easily or go off half-cocked. Nothing could have prepared me for what we actually got in the episode. Of course, Nolan would get someone who is a bit new-agey, someone who feels the need to cleanse their "shop" of bad spirits and juju with sage prior to them leaving the station. Of course, she would be someone to pull over an old lady because she saw a dark aura around the trunk of her car. Of course, she would prioritize her intuition over logic. Of course! You know what, Talia Bishop (Afton Williamson) and Nyla had their hands full dealing with Nolan when he was a rookie. Turnabout's fair play!
Celina is reprimanded by Tim for making an illegal stop which could land the LAPD in hot water and Nolan struggles to be an authority figure to her while also trying to see things the way she does. Nolan knows that he had a unique approach to the job that wasn't always appreciated or valued. He wants to make sure that he isn't dismissive of Celina as others were dismissive of him.
Meanwhile, Tim is paired with Thorsen who seems to be way too preoccupied with whatever is on his phone, much to Tim's annoyance. Tim calls him out on it and Thorsen admits that he is being blackmailed. Tim asks for details and Thorsen tells him that someone took one of his thirst trap photos and doctored it to look pornographic. The two of them track down the person who happens to be a teenage boy. Tim chastises the kid but obviously his threats of taking away his computer and other tech falls on deaf ears because the kid takes a photo of Tim and Photoshops it into something very provocative which is mocked by their coworkers. Tim and Thorsen return to the kid's apartment, again, and tell him that he is going to start volunteering at the youth center that James (Arjay Smith) runs. Rather than take the kid's computer and tech away, Thorsen believes he should have a second chance like he was given.
Back at the station, Nyla and Angela are investigating the disappearance of a young woman. I called it immediately when I said that their storyline was going to collide with Nolan and Celina's. As it turns out, the old lady that Celina pulled over, there was blood found in the trunk of her car. The old lady tells Celina and Nolan that her grandson sometimes uses the car. Because there was no probable cause to pull her over, Nyla is very upset at Nolan because the blood found in the car matches the missing woman but since the stop was made illegally then that further complicates things. Celina feels bad for her screw up but insists that she had a legitimate reason for pulling the woman over.
We then head over to Lucy who is out on patrol alone. She notices a squatter going into an abandoned building and she follows him inside. She walks around in what used to be a restaurant and for some reason decides to step inside an old walk-in freezer. The squatter locks her inside and honestly I thought this story line was going in a completely different direction that where it ultimately went. I assumed that being in a locked freezer would remind Lucy of being trapped underground in the barrel, but Lucy actually takes advantage of being trapped without cell reception to read over the Mother Doc Chris asked her to take a look at. She discovers that one of the individuals in Chris's online group used a phrase that Rosalind said to Nolan. Lucy believes that Rosalind has infiltrated the group. When Tim and Thorsen finally figure out that she's missing, they track her down and free her from the freezer.
Lucy reports her findings to Chris who is freaked out because he's divulged details surrounding the case to an online person who is actually Rosalind Dyer. This part of the episode kind of threw me. I get that Chris wanted to gain intel on Rosalind Dyer, but he was super sloppy about it. It seems like there should be some severe consequences for his actions. Anywho, the IP address attached to Rosalind's online persona is tracked to Washington but by the time Lucy and crew get there, there are more dead bodies. Rosalind Dyer is playing chess while the LAPD and FBI are playing checkers. I cannot wait for them to take her down.
We head back over to Nolan and Celina. Celina tells Nolan all about her missing sister and how it wasn't logic and rules that helped find her, it was a psychic. Nolan tries to find a way to blend his pragmatism with her intuition and they are able to track down the missing woman. While Nolan is clearing the house, Celina spots the kidnapper and abandons the victim in favor of going after him alone which is against protocol. Nolan waits for the paramedics to arrive and then he heads off after Celina. Celina chases after the kidnapper and eventually gets the drop on her. The two of them go back and forth and let's just say that Celina can hold her own in a fight. Unfortunately, the perp gains the upper hand and tries strangling her. This scene was pretty dark because he came really close to taking her out. Nolan swoops in to tackle him and they are able to subdue him.
Perhaps my favorite moment of the episode is when Nolan sits down to talk with Celina. They recap their first day of being a training officer and a rookie. Nolan is going to be a great training officer because he has the ability to empathize in a way that Nyla, Angela, and Tim cannot. Nolan has spent most of his life being a civilian so that brings a certain level of understanding of how people work that not even a seasoned law enforcement agent would have. What I didn't particularly care for is how he rationalized away Celina's intuition. He tells her that she more than likely saw the blood on the trunk of the old lady's car, but her brain processed it as a dark aura and rather than having a premonition about the whereabouts of the perpetrator, she simply dreamed about it because she'd spent so much time reviewing details of the case. I would much rather she be this cop who has premonitions and vibes and sees auras and her challenge is learning how to balance that with fact and reason rather than having to ignore those things in favor of doing the job the traditional way.
I really did enjoy this episode. I liked the whole caper with the missing girl and Nolan learning how to adjust to his new rookie. I even liked the Tim and Thorsen stuff. I liked seeing that dynamic. The Rosalind Dyer storyline is starting to drag for me mostly because I don't get her motivation. She is just killing folks for no rhyme or reason while the FBI and LAPD bumble around after her. Seriously, how long is this going to last? To mid-season? Season finale? Will she finally be brought to justice, or will she just escape again? I reckon I'll have to wait to see what happens. Until next time ...
#tv reaction#blw reactions#the rookie reaction#abc the rookie#john nolan#lucy chen#tim bradford#nyla harper#wade grey#angela lopez#wesley evers#celina juarez#aaron thorsen#rosalind dyer#the rookie season 5
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This week has been eventful! We got 12 inches cut off of our hair and it's still past our shoulders! This was partly because we wanted something new, and partly for the littles, so they could wear certain littlespace hairstyles without it looking weird from our hair being so long. We also got a pink bunny costume type thing and it has a hood with bunny ears. It's mainly for the littles but it's also going to be our Halloween costume. We had practice for the preventing bullying and youth hate crimes government run virtual symposium, and the panelists were blown away by our answers and writing. We're really proud, especially since there are going to be over 2000 people watching.
We had our first meeting for the anti-vaping program. As soon as we walked in, this girl smiled at us and she just was really welcoming and approachable. We sat next to her, she introduced herself and Everett introduced themself and we made small talk. Her friends were there too. She and her friends go to a different high school. It was really super nice to get to talk with genuine people. So many people who go to our school are just braindead screen addicts. We know that might sound harsh, but really, they don't care about anything but their phones, and they always prioritize social media over actually talking with people. We often feel alone in our classes despite going to such a huge high school because no one in our classes really talks to each other, they just care about their phones, unless they're like best friends and in that case they only care about their phones and each other. Since coming to high school last year, we've always tried to form real connections with people who also genuinely care about making connections, but it's really not easy because of how few people care about anything other than their phones. Anyway, our point is that we were very glad to meet that girl and her friends and we look forward to talking with her next meeting. We feel like she's an actual real person who cares about people and things instead of a screen zombie. During the meeting, we learned about how our program's goal is to reduce youth vaping in Minnesota by 30% by 2025, what that process looks like, and how nicotine is dangerous and harmful.
We had our first official meeting for DECA, the entrepreneurship program we're in. Again, our goal is to qualify for the state competition. We're really excited to be a part of this.
Everett had a dysphoria-induced breakdown and it was really bad. They hadn't fallen asleep until past midnight the previous night because they felt so trapped and suffocated and disgusted by our body and they've been misgendered a lot lately. They texted their friend about it and their friend supported them so well; it was amazing to have those caring words and we're so grateful. We don't know where we'd be without this friend, she's helped us in many ways. Then, two days later, our mom asked Everett why they use they/them pronouns and they spent three minutes pouring their heart out explaining. They told her it's because those are the pronouns they identify with and the pronouns they feel comfortable using and they feel seen and heard when people use those pronouns for them because every time someone calls them she they're showing them they don't care about who they are they don't hear their voice they don't hear their pain. She says isn't that just wanting to be gender neutral and they say no it's not about that look at me do I look gender neutral no I look like society's image of a girl but I am non-binary that's what it's about I am not a man or a woman I am not a boy or a girl and she says but you have two X chromosomes and they say it's not about what you're born with it's what you identify as trans girls have XY chromosomes and they are not male they are female gender isn't defined by chromosomes and she says she doesn't understand and walks away. That felt horrible and triggered them very badly and they were crying for a long time. They tried to reach one of two of our friends but they weren't able to support us. In the end we got through it, we always do, but it was just a really ugly experience.
Something we've noticed is that our system switches have become a more noticeable shift in our mind. We sometimes switch to certain people when we don't want to and struggle to switch back, so we made a list of switching triggers for each person. Switching triggers are things that trigger a person out of the headspace, they are not trauma triggers and they're not necessarily bad.
We were watching a documentary in our world studies class and goofing around with our classmate because the documentary was in another language and they had the translated subtitles and then the subtitles that were in English that were trying to guess what the words were saying even though he was speaking in another language. There was a man speaking and the automated subtitles said "I need a husband hotel, I'll invite custard in Christ anoxia vinegar fold the envelope" and we and our classmate were laughing.
We had a job interview for a server position at a nursing home and we got the job! We're very excited and proud of ourselves for saying the right things! We start next week.
Thank you for reading, and have an amazing weekend!
-Sara and Everett
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Hazel Krasinski: All About Blunt and Krasinski’s Daughter
Hazel Krasinski, born to Emily Blunt and John Krasinski in 2014, is one of the most well-known celebrity children in America. Her parents’ status as Hollywood stars, as well as their British heritage, has added to her fame. However, many are curious about who Hazel is as an individual. To quench this curiosity, we’ve compiled a list of all the fascinating information available about Emily Blunt’s first child.
Hazel Krasinski’s Early Life
Hazel Krasinski came to this world on February 16, 2014,in California, four years after her parents, Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, tied the knot in Como, Italy. Her birth coincided with a prolific year for both of her parents. Her father appeared in The Prophet and BoJack Horseman, while her mother made an appearance in Edge of Tomorrow and In the Woods. After living in California for a few years, Hazel’s parents moved to New York.
In September 2013, her parents revealed they were expecting a baby. They celebrated with a baby shower in December 2013. Hazel’s birth was kept secret until May 2014 when her father shared a photo of her on Twitter, revealing to the world that she was 3 months old.
Hazel’s ethnicity is a beautiful blend of American, Irish, British, and Polish descent. Her father is American, and she shares an Irish heritage with him through his mother’s side. On the other hand, her paternal grandfather’s roots are in Poland.
Hazel Krazinski mother, Emily Blunt, hails from Britain, where she grew up before gaining American citizenship through naturalization. Her multiethnic background is a testament to her parent’s diverse roots and the bond that unites them. In 2020, Hazel Krazinski’s family relocated from their New York residence to London, where they currently reside.
Hazel Krazinski’s sibling
Introducing Hazel Krasinski’s younger sibling — Violet, who happens to be her only sister. Born in June 2016, Violet’s arrival was celebrated on social media platforms just like her elder sister’s.
Siblings Hazel and Violet seem to share an unbreakable bond, and their closeness is evident in the numerous pictures of them always together. It is fascinating to note that their celebrity parents still prioritize spending quality time with them despite their busy schedules and individual careers.
The Love Story of Hazel Krazinski’s Parents
The alluring love story of John Krazinski and Emily Blunt, who are the proud parents of Hazel Krazinski, began in November 2008 at a restaurant in Los Angeles. The duo met through a mutual friend, and John walked over to greet Emily’s friend after leaving Justin Theroux’s side. After exchanging pleasantries, the friend introduced them to each other, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Their love story kicked off on their first date, which was a casual pizza date at John’s apartment. The two instantly fell in love with each other, and things started to happen quickly for them. A year later, in August 2009, they decided to take their relationship to the next level by getting engaged. Although they kept their engagement details private, John once revealed that it was a beautiful experience that left both of them in tears of joy. Hazel Krazinski’s parents’ love story is a perfect reminder that love can begin with something as simple as a slice of pizza and can lead to forever.
A Whimsical Wedding Tale
Hazel Krazinski parents embarked on a journey of love that culminated in a joyous union barely a year after their engagement. Their charming nuptials took place in Lake Como, Italy, on the picturesque estate of celebrity actor George Clooney. The ceremony was a private affair held on the 10th of July 2010, a magical date etched forever in their memory.
Their love story blossomed into a happy marriage that has borne two beautiful fruits. The couple welcomed their first child, Hazel, after four years of waiting, and later, their second daughter, Violet. In several interviews, Emily Blunt and John Krazinski revealed their daughters’ exciting talents.
Krazinski divulged that Violet enchanted everyone with her remarkable love for music when she was hardly two years old. He expressed his pride and joy in his daughter’s musical talent during an appearance on the Ellen Show.
Blunt, on the other hand, disclosed that someone sent her a video of Violet singing “Jingle Bells” with a British accent. The mother of two marvelled at her daughter’s Cockney-infused rendition, saying it was “kind of brilliant.” Blunt also excitedly talked about how Violet became a logo designer on Some Good News, a comedy show starring her parents.
John Krazinski: Father of Hazel Kranzinski
Hazel Krazinski’s father is the charismatic actor, director, and writer, John Krazinski. This renowned cinema personality was born on October 20, 1979, in his home state of Massachusetts, USA. John is the youngest child of Mary Clare and Ronald Krazinski, respectively of Irish and Polish ancestry. When it comes to John’s physical appearance, he is tall, handsome, and well known for his captivating blue eyes.
John captured the hearts of television audiences with his portrayal of the charming salesman, Jim Halpert, in the popular sitcom The Office. His remarkable acting skills won him the Screen Actors Guild Awards twice in 2007 and 2008. John has also ventured into the world of directing and writing. His most significant work is the horror movie The Quiet Place. This movie marked the first time John acted alongside his wife, the talented actress Emily Blunt.
John Krasinski, Hazel Krazinski’s father, has had his fair share of romantic relationships before marrying Emily Blunt. John Krasinski had a relationship with actress Rashida Jones from 2005 to 2006 and dated Renee Zellweger in 2007. He is active on social media and can be found on Instagram under the username @johnkrasinski, where he regularly posts updates about his personal and professional life…Read More
Source: News Knol
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The Shinobi Rules
Silirt
Chapter 74: Dishonor and Discontent
Chapter Text
Morning brought with it a dull ache and a feeling like he was still exhausted. He could move around, but until he saw someone who could help him, he was a stuck pig. Erisa introduced him to a healer, but he was hardly paying attention as the old man entered their hiding place and started work on him. He had to take his word for it when the procedure was over, but an hour later, he felt the tiniest bit better.
“Can you see now?” Renden asked.
“It wasn’t that I couldn’t… see, I just… couldn’t open my eyes.”
“Okay. I don’t think there’s any point in giving you an update with the situation, then.”
“I can hear you,” he said. “Just… tell me.”
“There’s no word out of the fortress yet. I used some tricks to make it look like we used more elemental transformations, but there’s a… there’s a snag. They say that Konoha is a suspect.”
“Is it… because we burned them?” he asked, straining himself somewhat. “Since when does the leaf…”
“I don’t know. To be honest, even after having been one of them, I don’t know all the tactics. Do you?”
He had to admit that he did not, but it was not something he had ever been ordered to do. Somehow, they’re disregarding the evidence. Did they find it? Did they decide that it must have been a frame job?
According to Renden, though, that was all he knew, and Obito had no use for speculation. He was just as capable of coming up with theories himself. Eventually, he was replaced by Erisa.
“Are you awake?” she asked.
“I would be,” he said. “Do we know anything else?”
“I am more concerned about you. Do you feel any better?”
“I don’t feel like I’m dying now.”
“You felt like you were dying before? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Well, I… didn’t know if I could trust you two. I… I know I’m a deserter, but you two have your own interests, so I can’t expect you to prioritize me… I’ve had a lot of bad luck lately.”
The kunoichi frowned with her eyes, insulted. He had figured that she saw herself as a caring person, and when he suggested that he did not know she would take care of him, she seemed to take it that her nature had not shown through. She set a bowl of soup in front of him and left without another word. Struggling to sit up after that, he managed to eat, and started to feel less like a sponge.
Well, if I haven’t insulted them so much that they’ll decide to frame me instead, we need to figure out why the elders didn’t think it was Kakuzu. We don’t know whether they found the evidence we planted or not. It did not seem like they had, though, because he would have thought they would make an announcement.
“What if they didn’t, though?” he asked himself. No one else was around, after all. What if they found the evidence and decided not to report it? Then, they wouldn’t have to go after that one-man army, and instead they get to suspect someone else. He thought a moment longer. Wait a minute, even if they thought he did it, if they know that he only does jobs for money, then wouldn’t that mean someone had to be paying him a lot to get rid of the Greats.
He went outside to find Erisa taking care of her tools.
“Should you be on your feet?”
“That’s not important right now. Even if Kakuzu killed those people, who put the hit out, and who paid him?” he asked. “What was the story supposed to be?”
“The story was supposed to be that he decided to get rid of the main government of Taki. He was betrayed.”
“He was betrayed decades ago. No one else alive today probably remembers that. Why not get revenge before now?” He shook his head. “There was a problem with the plan. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before. Even if they think it’s possible that what we were suggesting was correct, who’s to say they just give up? Why would they publicly accuse a known assassin of anything? Wasn’t your family going to dispose of him by sending him off somewhere-“
“For the most part, it doesn’t matter what they think,” the kunoichi said after a moment. “For the most part, thanks to you and Renden, those people are dead. We just didn’t want it to look like a coup-“
“Wait, you didn’t want it to look like a coup to the general public? You framed an assassin who only looks out for himself and thought that no one might suspect your really rich family of hiring him?” He shook his head. “There was too much of this that relied on people drawing their own conclusions, and it’s just not likely to get them all to draw the one you want. Even if the shinobi who were supposed to be protecting the elders reported exactly what they found-“
“What did you want us to do?” she asked. “Why didn’t you say this before?”
“Okay, let’s take a step back. You and your family were trying to get the public to believe a false narrative. In most cases, it’s not as simple as showing them some planted evidence and letting them run wild with that. There are many possible false narratives they could believe, and there’s also the truth. It’s not easy to get everyone to believe that one specific false narrative.”
“What else is there to believe? My family has no motive to hire a killer to dispose of its enemies. We were going to win control of the country anyway.”
“That’s not a certainty,” he said after a moment. “The shinobi from Takigakure might want more power for themselves, and they could accomplish a lot by casting doubt on your new regime. They might also want to blame Konoha.”
“Well, what’s the problem if they do blame-“
“The problem would be that wasn’t what we agreed,” he said. “We were supposed to frame Kakuzu, not a foreign country that could be forced into a war with the water alliance over this- don’t even act like the Mizukage isn’t going to force all the waterfall ninjas to the front-“ He shook his head. “Even if you won against the fire country, you’d be making it all too easy for the lightning country to get you next, and that would be it for you. You’re playing with a kind of fire you can’t put out with a basic Suiton.”
His words seemed to hang in the air for a moment, while Renden was returning.
“What are you suggesting?”
“We’re going to have to interfere with the investigation. If there’s only one mountain you want people to make out of the molehill you’ve given them, you’ll have to paint a clearer picture of it. I know we didn’t want to make it look like there were very talented shinobi doing everything they could to make the assassin look guilty, but we’re past that. We’re past tricking them into thinking it was all their idea. Now our only option is to build the web of lies.”
“So, we plant more evidence,” the kunoichi said. “It’s simple.”
“The best thing that we could plant is a letter requesting the services of Kakuzu the Immortal. It would be even better if this letter actually exists, but I’m starting to think it doesn’t.”
“What do you mean by that?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.
“Yesterday, I thought that there was some imminent threat to your family. From looking at the letters that were addressed to our assassin friend, though, I got the idea that he works quickly. If the elders had contacted him, your family would already be dead.”
“That’s why we had to strike first,” she said, looking betrayed. Strangely, that annoyed him more than if she had just said ‘you betrayed me’. The use of an expression meant that he was supposed to be able to figure it out by himself, he was supposed to feel shame that he had insinuated the elders should have been granted a chance to lose gracefully. Even if she was telling the truth that her family would have won the right to govern the country, she decided all by herself, or someone decided for her, that a specific assassin would have been hired.
“If there had been a letter, you would have mentioned it, probably before I ever did. As it is, we have to fake one. Get a scroll like we found in the old hideout. We’ll say that they drafted the letter, but they hadn’t sent it yet. Your family never would have known that it existed, not unless it had a ninja on hand who could have gone through their personal effects.”
“That would just be suspect, though,” Renden said, discarding the notion. “If she went through their stuff and found a letter saying that her whole family was supposed to be slaughtered, then no one would believe it. This has to be found, untouched, by someone else.”
“Then we have to edit a letter that already exists,” Obito said after a moment of thought. The more he thought about it, the less he cared if Erisa’s family was blamed for the coup, because for one thing, they really were responsible if they put her up to it, and for another, it seemed they had no evidence to suggest they would have been killed. Anyone on the continent who had a problem with anyone else could have hired Kakuzu; the motive alone could not be used as an excuse for killing someone, or everyone would be dead.
As much as it annoyed him that he was seeing an instance of the mentality, though, it made perfect sense. Fundamentally, they lived in a world where people could disappear at any moment. To normal people, it was probably quietly terrifying. There were probably some contracts that the Hokage would not take, like a man just wanting to get rid of his neighbor, because the hidden village was not really supposed to be able to just provide people with a way of getting around their own laws and there were things he could be doing with his shinobi that were more valuable than the contract money for that sort of thing. The same filtration mechanism did not exist with rogue ninja, and as far as he knew, the only thing the villages, those that cared anyway, could do to make the world a less scary place was to eliminate them.
The others were gone. Erisa knew that the letter had to be found, probably sooner rather than later. If any real letter existed, it would have been sent straight to its intended recipient directly after it had been written. What she was trying to get the public to believe was that the elders had done something moronic in keeping evidence on them, and there would have to be a lie connecting to that lie. The best thing that he could think of was that if she left the amount blank, suggesting that the writer had to ask someone else’s permission before determining a reward that could be offered to the assassin. If it was a large amount, and it would have to be, Kakuzu might have rejected it out of hand unless it had the treasurer’s signature on it, because he needed to know that someone involved in the deal had the money that was offered. Renden was gone for some other reason, but it was hard to imagine what.
Getting up, he saw that the secret base where he had been left was a lot like the last one, it was a hollow behind a waterfall, and there were fish running down the current. Huh. I never really thought that they’d just go over the edge like that. I guess they don’t mind the fall.
He speared one on a stolen dagger and started eating it raw, finding he liked the taste of it. I can’t use the Hiraishin yet. Even if I could, though, I have to make sure these two have a plan in place for deflecting suspicion away from Konoha. I don’t care if it ends up landing on the hydroelectricity barons. They can cut everyone’s power if they want to run the country.
Silently, he reasoned that there was another step missing. Not only did they have to suggest that the Greats had a plan to contact an assassin, they had to suggest that instead of taking their offer, he slaughtered them. I almost want to scratch the part about the amount. I can only see him getting bothered if they insulted him with a low figure. That line of thinking, however, ran into the problem of why the offer letter would still be sitting in a box somewhere.
He revised the plan again and decided that there could be multiple drafts, perhaps distinguished by each being more generous than the last, and then if a final draft ever existed, it could have been taken away by Kakuzu himself, or it could have been destroyed in the fire that he used on the elders. The story would not, either way, fall apart if it never materialized. The problem that introduced was the fact that criminals were keeping evidence against themselves, and it could not be discovered upon the initial investigation that was probably currently going on. Maybe those are problems that solve each other, though.
The personal houses of the elders had probably not been searched yet, and would probably not be searched until after the fortress, and that meant that there was still time to plant something. While the Falling Fortress was not exactly publicly accessible, no one would think to look in the houses of the elders who went there whenever they had to have a general meeting. It had been decades since the ruling house had been driven out of Taki, in his understanding.
Renden returned with a puzzle box of some sort. It looked ancient, but there were quite a few still lying around since the clan wars. Their primary purpose was to maintain secret communications, but it was something of a lost art among ninja, because there were few who could not force them open. Their use among civilians, by contrast, had increased.
“Did you just buy this?” Obito asked, looking it over.
“No. It’s something we found a while back. I don’t think anyone’s used it in years.”
“Okay, the problem with that is that it’s shut, and we don’t have a way of getting it open and then closing it again, and it has to be closed for the planted evidence to work.”
“We’ll have to solve the puzzle.”
The box was of a beautiful, practical design. All the joints were dovetailed and the wood was a sturdy maple. There was an unidentifiable series of characters on the piece that must be the lid, and on the short side panels there were two buttons that appeared to do nothing. The steel springs beneath have probably been working for decades at least. Opposite the lid, there was a bar dovetailed between the short sides and the bottom. Okay, the lid is irremovable from the short side panels- two pins as long as the box is thick are securing them. If I hold it up to the light, though, I can just see it shining through the lid and the long sides. The way it comes open has to be by the lid with the side panels still attached to it, leaving the long sides effectively undisturbed and the short sides with a panel taken out. The buttons don’t do anything to the inside- from the sound of it they are housed in a cylindrical wooden well, I just have to hold them down so that the panels pass over them.
“Did you figure it out?” Renden asked. “Erisa wouldn’t let me give it a shot until she had it open, but I don’t think she spent a lot of time on it.”
“That makes sense. Seeing the inside could probably spoil the trick, so what she wanted was to figure it out herself and then put it back the way she found it. You don’t think there’s anything important in here?”
“No, we didn’t have any reason to think that. It’s been buried for a long time, so whoever buried it is probably dead already.”
“Huh.” The only thing that moves on the outside is the bottom bar, and I can only get it to slide a few fingers in one direction. That frees up one of the side panels, but not the other.
“You don’t agree?”
“I’m just focusing,” he said, moving the bottom bar. I can’t just yank on the lid until it opens because I still have to have the buttons pressed to release the side panels. I’m not going to know when it’s in the right position because it has another step in the way. Looking at the lid, the symbols might have had some clue about how far to move the bottom bar, but he simply could not read them. “Give me a hand here. Use a finger from both hands and jam in both of these buttons. Don’t touch the rest of the box.”
With the other ninja’s hands on the short sides, arms horizontal, he had a hand on top, gently jiggling the lid while he moved the bottom bar once one of the side panels was free. When the opening in the bottom bar’s dovetail lined up with the second side panel, it was cleared and the button holes passed over the buttons, hitting Renden’s fingers.
“That should be it,” he said, lifting the lid up the rest of the way. There was a note inside and he read it aloud, observing that it had not suffered the same environment as the outside. “Please kill us. Please destroy our bodies after they are lost to us. The weakness to the Jiongu is time. Attack the same target twice.”
“Interesting,” his partner observed. “I don’t know what the Jinogu is, but it’s interesting.”
“It’s a word in the traditional language, but… it’s not like I know what all of those are. Where’s Erisa? If she was just getting a document from the fortress, then she should be back already.”
“She’s probably being careful with it. What exactly are you going to write once we get it?”
Deciding that it was a fair question, Obito went ahead and explained his plan. There was something he wanted to know as well, though. As Renden nodded along with the idea as he said it, he wondered if he was alone in not wanting a war with Konoha. When he reached the end of the explanation, he asked for a promise.
“What?”
“If this works, and people think that it was Kakuzu, you can’t ruin it by saying that some other country was responsible. No matter what, this stays domestic.” The other ninja frowned. “If people decide that Erisa’s family did it or paid for it, then you’re going to have to accept that. The fact of the matter is, in any investigation, the first question anyone asks is ‘who stands to gain’, and even if they can claim they would’ve had it anyway, they’re the ones who end up with the Falling Fortress.”
“Someone else could have set them up. It could have been made to look like they arranged it.”
“That’s true,” he said. “It won’t be a foreign actor, though. I want a statement from you two saying that we did it, something you couldn’t deny later, and even if someone else comes up with this all by themselves, I’m going to release that statement.”
“Why?!” Renden demanded, suddenly angry. In the short time that Obito had known him, he had been cool-headed and reasonably clever. “Why would you give up so much to protect Konoha from a war?”
“It’s not just one country that gets destroyed in a world war. If you’re one of the smaller countries in the water alliance, you should be the most worried about-“
“Taki is the strongest after Kiri. We don’t even have to worry about Rai-“
“Yeah, because they’re on the other side of the continent, but if certain things in the middle fall apart, it won’t be hard for them to get to you. I can’t tell you how I know, but if it came to a fight between the two of those countries, the lightning ninjas would win. There’s no doubt about it. The water alliance is too split up to come to the aid of the mist, and even if they did, they’d get slaughtered shortly after. The Raikage has an absurd amount of firepower and I’ve infiltrated the palace of the Water Daimyo myself; you can ask the Namikage if you don’t believe me.”
They had reached something like a standstill. The young Uchiha was not willing to give up on his demand, and the Pyon clan representative was just shaking his head slowly. We’re not getting anywhere like this.
“I don’t believe you just left Konoha and went over here because you liked Taki so much better,” he said after a moment. “Maybe, if I knew the reason why you left, I would understand why you hate the country so bad that you want it get plunged into war.”
“You want to know why I left?” he asked.
“Yeah. Yeah, I really do.”
“Something you have to know is that I wasn’t really in the regular forces. Pretending to be in the regular forces, technically, was part of my job. I was in Root.”
“Root?”
“It’s Danzo’s branch within Anbu. Everyone answers directly to him, not the Hokage. We don’t get contracts from outside; we’re salaried retainers. Basically, we work for the village. Everything that you have in place to control the regular forces doesn’t exist for us. We don’t have hitai-ate to identify ourselves, we don’t have to report what we’ve done to anyone outside of Root, and we don’t even have to pretend to serve the interests of the outside in any way.”
“That’s what made you decide to leave?” he asked.
“That’s not enough?”
“I’m just trying to get your story straight.”
“I was ordered to kill a Genin team.”
“Who?” Obito asked. “What did they do?”
“I forgot and they didn’t tell me. I know there was a kunoichi named Tsubaki, but I don’t know the other two. My team and I decided to get rid of our commander instead. It wasn’t easy, and it cost them both their lives, but I lived, and I guess I hoped that our team leader was entirely responsible. Unfortunately, Danzo knew about the assignment.”
“So, you ran for it?” he asked.
“That’d be enough, but that’s not the end of it. When I was brought in, he said he had another assignment- something perfect for a man with no concept of loyalty like myself. I told him I’d take it and never went back.”
“That sounds like a less than fun way of finding out how your concept of loyalty works.”
“Oh, he tried to tail me, but I lost them before I crossed the border into Taki. Even if he knows I’m here, he hasn’t sent anyone after me. My specialty has always been hiding in enemy territory until the right moment presents itself.”
“He thought that if he tried to poke around for you in here, he’d be caught by the locals before he found you, making it pointless. It made more sense to just declare you to be a missing ninja who had never been part of Anbu.”
“That’s exactly what happened. The trouble is, no one else believes it. That’s why there’s no point worrying about what people believe.”
“I don’t,” he said.
“You don’t?”
“Yeah, if you’re trying to say that I care about holding my comrades to a standard because of what people might think, that’s not why. The fact is, most of the terrible things Konoha’s done, it’s not a matter of opinion; people know it. Shodai was proud of it, Nidaime was somewhat reserved, and Sandaime is openly moving away from it, or he’s trying to.” He sighed. “There’s a point to being honest and following the rules that doesn’t relate to popular opinion.”
“Good. As long as we’re on the same page about one thing…” Renden started, trailing off. Obito volunteered to finish the thought, perhaps in a different way than was intended.
“You’ll find you’re on the same page with people you utterly despise about a lot.”
The Shinobi Rules
Silirt
Chapter 75: Birth of a Ninja
Chapter Text
“It should be the third house,” Erisa said. “They don’t have a dog.”
With that, the short discussion on which deceased elder to frame was concluded. The three of them had spent a small amount of time scouting three different possible locations, deciding to meet back after their first try, because one house was not likely to be vastly different from the other, and if they did not find a good candidate in the first three, they would not find one in the next. The one Obito had surveyed was a strangely tall building made out of a single spire of wood, complete with the sloping roof seen on a lot of important buildings throughout the country. There was a dog who could probably hear him, but detected no threat from such a range.
With three fake offers to Kakuzu the Immortal in the puzzle box, which had been closed again, they were off. It was fortunate that the kunoichi had been overcautious and taken three different letters to make sure that the other two who were coming up with different angles of the plan would like them, but actually altering the characters to read what they wanted was difficult and time consuming. It took all three of them working carefully to create reasonable forgeries, and what they really needed were perfect forgeries.
Perched on a nearby tree, the three shinobi took stock of the house. It was somewhat plain in design, but clearly quite old, with the standard conventions of the land of waterfalls, all the way down to the sloping roofs stacked on top of each other, as if one was not enough. Wider than it was tall, he almost thought of the villa of the surviving river lord, hoping that he was not making any waves. As Renden had stated, there was no dog, nor was there the smell of a dog having been there recently. The Sharingan revealed minimal chakra signatures.
“It’s a go,” he said. There was no need to establish that he and Erisa would look out for the unexpected; they had already discussed it and it was standard procedure. They watched as he jumped with the puzzle box, using a Doton on the way down. The garden in which he landed was completely undisturbed as he passed through it. He came up outside the property, rejoining them without the payload.
“Good work, Renden,” the kunoichi said. “I’ve never seen an earth transformation that smooth. It’s like you landed in water, except there was no splash.”
“Everyone learns basic earth tricks,” he said. “Even some Genin in the land of fire know them. What people do after that is what’s interesting. It’s the variations that people add to it that make all the difference. I was impressed when I started learning what the Kiri ninjas called ‘fish techniques’-“
Before he could finish his explanation, the investigators appeared, right on schedule. They would search the entire property and find the puzzle box without a doubt, so there was no point in supervising them. If anything, it would only make things much worse if they were there; the investigators might have sensor types.
“Do they work for your mother’s family?” he asked on their way back to the hideout. “What makes them care about doing the investigation properly?”
“It’s split up,” Erisa said after a moment. “There’s the Greats, and then there’s the Judiciar. Whenever you have a new elder, you don’t replace the Judiciar, and vice versa.” Some of the niceness had returned to her voice, now that the stress seemed to have mostly passed. Obito decided that perhaps he was giving her too little credit in terms of disposition. Most ninja he knew responded to their situation by being sour in some way, which was understandable. It was really only Guy who was outright cheerful, and that was only sometimes.
I used to be cheerful.
The three of them ate a supper of fish from the river, though Renden did not like the idea of eating it raw. Because neither of them had given anything he could use against them in the event that they failed at blaming the dead for their own deaths, he was staying with them for the time being. I could still warp back this evening and get some rest at the village. I might even give Dramada an update as to how the mission was going. His fist cliched under the table. If I had learned the Hiraishin any earlier, I could have used it to get back to the Hokage on the mission to kill Dotou, and I could have told him that based on everything we knew, he had not killed his brother. Would he have told me to go ahead with it anyway, like Kakashi said? After all, it had not been a certainty that the target was guilty of anything when they were sent on the mission. Would it have at least made the decision easier?
“It looks like you’re thinking about something,” the kunoichi said between sips of what was basically fish soup. Apparently, she ate fish raw on a regular basis, but it was all the same to her. What was different was the fact that her face was on display, and he had a hard time looking away.
“Yeah,” he said after a moment. “I was thinking about shinobi leadership. I know you’re not affiliated with Takigakure, and you’re basically a servant of your own family instead, and they used to do it like that in the clan wars… it just seems strange to me. I don’t know if this is offensive, but wouldn’t they not want to use someone as important as you for such a dangerous job?”
“My father has six daughters and one son,” she said, smiling sadly. “Well, maybe I should say that my mother has six daughters and one son. I’m not entirely sure the boy is his.” Obito was frowning already. “It’s not that he doesn’t have a heart, the other five daughters are all treated well. They have new dresses at least once a year and within a set of reasonable options, they get to choose their husbands.”
“Where does Renden come into this?”
“I’m starting to think I come into it the same place as her other brother,” he said, sighing. “First, if you don’t know this, there’s a rare condition where a man has only girls. We don’t really know what causes it, but it could also be a product of random chance. After the first three were girls, he probably started thinking that was the problem, and my mother might have thought the same thing.”
“Is that why she cheated on him?” Obito asked. “She wanted to have a boy?”
“It was never proven that she cheated on him, but he took trips sometimes, so she had the opportunity. She was also beautiful…”
“That’s what I would have assumed.”
Erisa went red for a moment while her half-brother scowled at him. I didn’t mean to make things weird.
“I don’t know why my mother might have wanted to have a boy, but she might have wanted to have one for her husband’s sake, or for the sake of the country, because they shared an ambition of taking it over, which, I guess, they have now. What I know is that as my older brother started growing up, he really only looked like my mother, and not my father. That happens, of course, but in light of the circumstances, it made him suspicious. He asked one of the ninja working for the Judiciar, a man who had come by the place before, to look into her activities, and basically, he did. He never let her out of his sight.” She shook her head.
“Was he the boy’s father?”
“He might have been. My mother has a way of play acting that she’s just so sad, and so lonely, and so mistreated. She knew he was watching her, or she just acts like that no matter what, and I would not be surprised if he wanted to make her feel loved. Maybe I should be more cynical about it, but I was never able to bring myself to think of my parents, any of them, as people who wanted to hurt people.”
“Were you the fourth daughter, then?”
“Yes, I came out right after the heir. My mother timed it well, but… it was the same situation. I looked just like her, and nothing like my father. One of the servants told me he cried so hard on the day I was born and he confided in her that if his wife cheated on him once, he would have thought she would stop after she had a boy.” Erisa was crying. “He loved her so much and… he never deserved that. He even told her that before the boy was born, he had basically given up on having a son, that he had quietly decided he would raise the eldest girl to be the new head of the family, but he only wanted that to get out once she was old enough to understand her eventual responsibilities. He was only continuing to have sex with his wife all the time because he loved her; he wasn’t trying for a son. He didn’t want her to feel any less loved because she had already produced three children, or that their romance was over.” The girl’s hands balled into fists. “He told the servant that it did cross his mind that she cheated on him, but he decided to think she did it out of love, to give him a gift he had always wanted, but when he saw that she had another kid, under almost equally suspicious circumstances… well, he decided that she must have hated him.”
“Did your father disown you and your brother? Is that why you’re a ninja?”
“No, he didn’t have any proof. If it’s the case that my brother and I have the same biological father, and that’s what he thought… my mother was careful to pick one who had similar features to herself, or else a lot of recessive traits. I guess she couldn’t find one who had similar traits to my father, or else the decision was made for her, in that it was the ninja who was set to watching her.” Obito looked over at Renden, who seemed to be hearing things for the first time.
“What happened to him?”
“Well, that’s the next part of the story. Takigakure requested his services because of an unusual and highly lucrative mission. There was no way of saying that it was strange for him to leave, and he never came back. Many thought he must have died. Things were cold between my parents, but I think my father wanted to know for sure if his wife cheated on him, if she no longer loved him, and they started having sex again. She was always willing, and she would have wanted him to think that there was never anything wrong with him, because whether or not she did, she wanted him to think she had never cheated. Two more girls came out, on the same day, and they looked just like my father.”
“Was that the final nail in the coffin?” he asked as she seemed to gather herself.
“Technically, it doesn’t make any more sense for him to say that she must have cheated after the two youngest daughters came out. Technically, if all pregnancies are independent events, then those could have been just the same as the first three daughters. He had no reason to think that his own genetic makeup would have changed to where he would have sons more frequently, or from some point on, his kids would not look like him, but there’s another way of looking at it. He was convinced that he was never capable of having boys, and he decided that his traits that went into his five legitimate daughters must have been dominant traits, at least relative to my mother’s traits. He told my mother that he knew exactly what she had done, but he would forgive her for the sake of the children, who had done nothing wrong.”
“I was born after that,” Renden said. “All I know from my mother was that her husband cast her out when she saw that she was pregnant because he thought it wasn’t his.”
“I heard from the servant that she had hoped the child would convince him that he could have boys, because somehow, even when he was in the womb, she knew he was a boy. I think I was only around two years old when this all happened. She told him that after seven children, she was certain that it was a boy. I suppose she might have said that because she had a boy before, which no one denied. I think she might have gone too far when she said that she was certain it was his.” Erisa was not crying, but she was looking at the ground. “He started strangling her and he asked her if she knew the difference because she had cheated on him before, but he couldn’t finish her off. It was too early for his children to hear what she had done, and he might have still loved her, or the memories, and it was hard to tell the difference. My mother admitted to being unfaithful before, because he knew, and I guess she thought he was as angry as he could be, and that any change would have been good.”
“He must have liked the fact that she was trying so hard to spare his feelings, or he thought that she had been denying it out of shame, but…” Obito found himself unable to finish the thought.
“Yes, I think it might have been something like that. Sometimes I wonder if she had the child without saying anything, what would have happened? Would my father have seen himself in Renden? Would it have been enough to convince him it was possible that my brother and I were his kids?” She shook her head. “No, even then, there was still a problem… once the doubt starts, it never goes away. After I was born, there was nothing my mother could have done to convince him that she was faithful.”
“What happened when you were born?” he asked Renden. “How did you get to the Pyon clan?”
“Well, my mother was provided with enough gold to get her to Konoha and establish herself. I don’t know why she went there instead of one of the other water countries. She married a man right across the border who knew she was pregnant, but he wasn’t concerned. He didn’t have a wife because he spent a long time fooling around, and I guess he was interested in what kind of child she might have. He decided to pretend like it was his and marry her as long as he could put her son in the ninja academy in Konohagakure, which would be somewhat far away, but the idea was that he would come back after graduating, and it was not unheard of for a kid to graduate in a few years.”
“Was he interested in having a kid with water release?”
“Yeah, probably. There are families in virtually every country that have different elemental affinities, as I’m sure you know, but in Konoha, they’re concentrated in the hidden village, except for a few families who notably live outside of it, and since Shodai, they think of themselves more like allies than citizens, unlike how it is in smaller countries like Taki.”
There was a question he wanted to ask, and yet he could not bring himself to do so. Why had she been born? Why had her mother kept up the affair? Had she fallen for the other man? If she had, did she ever really love her husband? He did not ask those questions, because at some point, Erisa had to have realized that she was the clue, she was the flaw in her mother’s narrative, and she was the reason why their marriage fell apart, even though it was not her fault.
“How did you end up as a ninja?” he asked after a short pause.
“Well, when I was about five or six, I started hearing things from my older sisters. They never blamed me for our mother leaving, because they knew nothing about genetics, and if anything, they might have blamed Renden, but I learned that things were not the best between my parents and that my older brother was being groomed into the position of taking over the family. I wanted out. Even though I didn’t know anything else, I felt like I was not going to be happy there, and when there was talk of sending my brother to the ninja academy in Takigakure, I decided I wanted to go to.”
“He wanted to go?”
“No, not really, it was more like people knew he was going to be a target as the only son and heir, and so various people were pushing for him to have at least the most basic training in chakra control and taijutsu. They most likely send me along with him because if both of us went together, it disguises the motive for sending either one of us.” It seemed like she could talk more evenly. “I kept with it, but he basically decided he did not have enough talent or interest.”
“That happens,” Obito said, remembering there were a lot of dropouts and polite failures back when he was in the academy, though it was strange to think he left going on nine years earlier. “Do you still belong to your family?”
“On paper, the whole cheating thing never happened. My father is probably aware that people know, including my brother, but it’s too late to do anything about it, and it’s like he always said, the children never did anything wrong.”
“Neither did Renden.”
“That’s true, but I grew up with my own family,” he said. “Maybe I would have been better off as the legitimate son and heir, but I wouldn’t want to go over there and cause a conflict now. It’s just pointless.”
“I wasn’t saying that you would, I was saying he was wrong to get rid of you.”
“Well, as long as he thought my mother was cheating, then she could go and find the actual father and make him raise me. He didn’t do that with Erisa and her brother because he couldn’t be sure at the time. I know it’s ironic or something that when he could be sure, he was wrong, or probably wrong, but I get how it happened… I don’t think I would have believed my mother either. I’ve had a few girlfriends and I’d have ended things with any of them if they were nearly that suspicious.”
“You don’t think of him as your father, though?”
“I mean, sure, he’s my father, but I never knew him and he never did anything for me. I know for a fact the man who said he was my father wasn’t really.”
“He told you?”
“No, he got an injury in a border skirmish a long time ago. I’d rather not go into details, but there’s no way he could have had a kid. I don’t know if people knew, but if they did, they didn’t say anything. I think they were aware that I wasn’t really his son. He was decent to me, though, and he influenced who I am now, so I wasn’t ever worried about it. He’s pretty old now, if he’s still kicking.”
“What about your mother?”
“She died. She was older than she looked, and I think the stress aged her. I always knew her as my mother and I never realized most of what she did until I ran into Erisa when she was assigned to a patrol mission, and we recognized each other. She let me believe I was getting the better of her in a fight, I saw her face, and she looked just like a younger version of my mother.”
“How did you get to be working for your family?” Obito asked. He had guessed there would be some resentment.
“Well, sometimes I feel a kinship with my older brother,” the kunoichi said. “Neither of us have biological parents any longer, and we bonded over our shared situation. He knows enough about the world of ninja to know how to request missions, and he has more than enough funds to offer. If we complete this mission, Renden and I are set for life.”
“That’s…” He was at a loss. When he was in Konohagakure, he was making more money than he really needed, but he had never felt like he was rich. What would he do with his time if he never had to think about making money from missions? Would he be able to take more that would benefit the secret village in the long term?
“The only thing in my mind is that I want to have a real conversation with our father,” Erisa said after a moment. “I know he’s not really my father, but I want to see if he would adopt me, knowing that money had nothing to do with it. I want him to see his son.”
“Do you think that would have a chance of making things worse?” Obito asked. “What if he regrets sending his son away? You were saying that he didn’t deserve any of this.”
“I know. I don’t know if it will make things better, but it will be the truth. That was something that our mother never understood, the value of honesty. You should tell the truth as soon as possible.”
He frowned. They had a strange understanding of that particular virtue if they were getting rid of all the elders and letting all their relatives think that they were killed by Kakuzu the Immortal. It’s the same as the Uchiha, or a lot of them. Doing the right thing is just a language of words to use to win an argument. It doesn’t apply to someone who isn’t in your family.
“Okay, one more question,” he said after letting out a breath. “I’m sorry I’ve asked about your whole life story, but you don’t even have to answer this one. I just want you to think about it. What did the Greats do to deserve being slaughtered?”
No one said anything. With enough chakra left, he could easily get out of there at any time with the Hiraishin, as grateful as he was for the fact that they took care of him. I shouldn’t have let that make me think that they were both good people. That’s an entirely unrelated concept. They took care of me for their own reasons.
“I’m familiar with the way war works,” he said after a moment. “I know there’s no way to localize the punishment to those who deserve it. I don’t know if this whole situation will blow up into a war, but here’s another question. What if we’re not at war, but we always act like we are?” He thought back to his own actions. “If you had been honest with me, I might have gone along with your plans anyway. I might’ve been willing to sacrifice them for peace, but only if I knew that your family taking over would make a positive difference, and that the incident in itself would never just be blamed on a foreign actor.” He sighed. “I’ll see myself out.”
The Shinobi Rules
Silirt
Chapter 76: A Second Set of Eyes
Chapter Text
Obito was starting to get lost in the loose ends of the countless missions he had taken since coming to the secret village, but at last, there was an answer for one question. Mado and Uno had returned from their mission. The three of them had been summoned to the main office, or what had become it.
“We have determined the position of Orochimaru’s base, which is almost certainly where Mitarashi Anko is hidden. Most likely, her actions are a combination of her own interests, and factors that are now beyond her control. Whether or not she chose to be involved with one of the Sannin, she has taken liberties to her own benefit within her current capacity.”
“Thank you, Mado,” Dramada said. He had heard it before; this was for the benefit of the only one who had not. “Your task is to infiltrate the base and bring her back, dead or alive.”
“Sir, how can we go up against Orochimaru?” he asked.
“You are forbidden from underestimating yourselves. The three of you working together have power not seen in the Uchiha clan in generations. Between you, there are four Mangekyo Sharingan and two Byakugan. Your orders do not require you to fight him, but if you do, you will defeat him.”
Obito was less certain, but as he was not allowed to doubt his abilities, he supposed there was nothing to do but keep it to himself. The others had told him a fair bit about what they had found out since they returned, but only in passing; he had not been given the full briefing at any point. There was a point of order before they left, though.
“I had thought, before this meeting, that you would insist on receiving an eye to aid in your completion of this mission,” the older man directed at the kunoichi.
“No, sir. I lost one eye. I’m going to get it back before I start asking for another one.” She looked over at him, and he nodded in understanding.
“I don’t think I need one,” Uno said. “I should already be eternal at this point.”
“You most likely are. There was talk of a transplant for Obito, though. We would be happy to keep his eyes in storage in case someone loses an eye down the road.”
It wouldn’t replace an Eternal Mangekyo, though.
“Sir, I think we should go ahead with it,” he said after a moment. “I am still kind of unnerved by the whole thing, but… Uno uses less chakra on his eye techniques, and… to be honest, I don’t fully understand the potential of my own techniques, but I feel like in the long run, I would be better able to practice with them and use them, even if there’s a period where I have to get used to the new eyes.”
“I support his decision, sir,” Mado said. “With one eye from his mother, and one from his father, we would maximize our long run combat effectiveness. He has also proven himself more than capable, even before he developed advanced dojutsu.”
It seemed she had come up with the same idea as Dramada, and that she had come to respect him more than when he first started, which was fair even if she had not changed her perspective at all. He would be awake for the procedure, but he would have qualified healers moving the eyes around for him, as opposed to the field transplant that he and a temporarily blind Uno had managed for their older teammate. He had no reason to worry. It was just strange, to think that he was going to have his parents’ eyes in his own head.
The secret village’s two specialists of iryo-ninjutsu started to tell him precisely what they were going to do, and when it felt like it was stressing him out more rather than less, he told them he already knew what the procedure entailed and he wanted them to just get on with it. Of course, part of the reason he was taking the time for the transplant was because they found the base, meaning they had the time to go after it, even if it was not entirely at their leisure.
What does Orochimaru really want? Is it just immortality? Revenge for being kicked out of Konoha? He had only learned a little about the Sannin, but one of the things that confused him the most was that they had only heard of the one who particularly did not want to be found. What are Jiraiya and Tsunade doing? I know they were kind of disillusioned after the last war, but… what did they want? What are their ambitions?
His father’s eye, as he had seen, was rather like three draughtsman’s compasses, but that was when it was in Uno’s head. He was not sure how it was going to look in his own. Dramada must have realized at some point that I have the potential to use the most different advanced dojutsu out of anyone, but only after we recovered that book.
His own eye, which he had seen in a mirror one time, was three points that turned sharply, like a three-pointed shuriken in flight, only the edges of the shuriken were less angular, like an old fashioned sword he had seen once. In the one occasion on which he had looked at it in a mirror, he had thought nothing of it, other than that the pupil at the very center was red; perhaps that was the strangest part to him. Looking over at his mother’s eye, it revealed nothing about what form it would take in his own head, or how it had been in life.
“Don’t worry, Obito. Your parents were always watching over you.” His right eye went dark and he absently knew it had taken out.
“What did their eyes look like?” he asked
“Few saw them in combat and lived to tell about it.” The nearly toothless old woman smiled. “There was one time, though, when your mother was giving birth to you, that I thought she would kill everyone in the room. Pregnant mothers always go through intense emotions when they go into labor, and Uchiha women are the worst, or the best, if you like the drama that comes with delivering babies.”
“Were you there for my birth?” he asked.
“I was only a trainee at the time. When my husband and I parted, I decided to try to live a new life under Sarutobi Biwako, and when your mother gave birth, she was between exceedingly important missions. I remember it was almost a disappointment that it could not be put off any longer, both for her and your father. When she was in the act of giving birth, a man named Nara Shikaku came in with a message about an urgent summons- I doubt anyone told him that she was giving birth.”
She laughed as Obito finally opened his right eye, regaining his depth perception. It was strange; the world did not look any different through their eyes. He could only imagine what would happen if he could consciously activate the Mangekyo dojutsu. Would all three of the techniques he had available fire at once? No, probably not, even Uno said that he still consciously chose which to use.
“Was my grandmother there?”
“We allowed your father to take you home after your mother passed out from the pain. If you ended up in her care, I can only assume it was his decision. That was one of the last operations I performed within Konohagakure, though… I decided to leave and no one thought anything of it.”
He silently thought that maybe it seemed she was trying to reinvent herself again. No one would be overly concerned with the loss of a trainee. A question remained, however.
“Why’d you leave?”
“Well, when you were born, I felt like I had accomplished more than with all my other operations to date. I asked Sandaime’s wife if I could keep performing deliveries and she said that would not be possible; there were too many injured who needed help. The skirmish at the time was a terror to everyone in our hospital.”
“Did Dramada promise that you’d be able to do more of the kinds of operations you liked?”
“No, but he did promise that I would be able to refuse treatment to anyone I liked.” She smiled as if she knew a joke, but the way he figured it, she was the one who had been joking, with herself. “Of course, I never used it, but it’s nice to know that I’m not under orders.”
It was strange to think that a woman who was older than the village leader seemed to have so much respect for him, but that was how it worked sometimes. In the hidden leaf, the Hokage had a maximum tenure imposed by the fact that shinobi would not serve one too far past his prime, and so it was inevitable that some servants would be older than their master.
“Would you like to activate your dojutsu, so I can tell you how much you look like your parents?”
“No. I’m not worried. I probably couldn’t consciously activate it right now.”
“Do you need to start your mission?”
This mission might be the only way of activating it. If I use the Mangekyo enough, consciously or not, it’ll teach me how to use it when I want, at least if it works like the regular Sharingan.
“Yeah, I think so,” he said, not going into detail. He was no more confident about his abilities, especially not after he collapsed in the last mission, which could have been poisoning, or it could have been a wound to his internal coils, but he could have sworn he would have noticed if it were something so simple. I must have been using a lot of chakra before that; it made me less aware of bleeding it.
It was a bit late in the day to leave, but the other two had been discussing the strategy and the route, which was the first and most important thing to take care of right before leaving. He supposed he could have no complaints when they announced that they were moving out, and whatever they would meet on the way there, they would have to handle it when they reached it.
Konoha seemed to have mostly controlled the situation with the tailed beasts, but that was not entirely a good thing. Perhaps it was better for the fire country’s situation in the world, the water alliance would be less likely to take a shot, as would the lightning country, but the leaf would be more able to search through their own land, and the secret village was at greater risk without the distraction. The other countries, however, might be concerned about the appointment of Shimura Danzo, some concerned enough to form alliances that they would not normally form. Kiri could act like it has no other choice but to join with Rai to bridge the gap with Nami, though that’s really just to counter us. The world has never seen an alliance so convoluted and there’s no way that it could stand except if we put it in peril.
What would leave the world in peace, though? Was there any permanent solution? Was there anything that was even close? Serviceable? Was it worse if they killed innocent people forever, just to avoid killing some amount of them in war?
It might not be worse. I don’t think wars prevent other wars, though. They might cost resources, including people’s lives, but we’ve been fighting them since we were a lot poorer and fewer than we are now. There was no reason he could see that wars would not go on forever, even if periods of peace would wax and wane between them.
Uno and Mado went ahead of him, running off to the north, but he had a kunai somewhere outside Tsuchigumo, so he had a shortcut. Using the Hiraishin, he was confident that he had saved a lot in the way of chakra, but he would have to stay on his toes. As ever, his objective for the day was to throw a kunai ahead of him and get back, so he could return recharged and ready, but since the others did not have that option, he guessed they would be camping out. It’s not such a bad thing if I stayed with them. I’ve seen it over and over again that three is much safer than two.
He looked forward to hearing about their long mission in the east, but if they were as strict about time as Kakashi had been, there would not be much talking when they stopped for the night. At least it won’t be hard to decide sleeping arrangements, since none of us care. If they really want it, I guess I could fetch supper for everyone.
One of the complications with the mission, which he mulled over as he ran through the woods, grateful that there were no tailed beasts around, was that they knew the base was Otogakure, but that would of course be hidden from the rest of the land of sound, as full as it was with shinobi, even without a hidden village. The small country served as a reminder that the villages were built by ninja, and not the other way around.
“I hope I don’t see that Shiin guy while I’m there,” he muttered as he covered ground to the best of his ability. The other two had gotten faster, he knew, but there was no way for them to catch up to his teleportation jutsu. A stray thought told him that if Team Minato had managed to stay together, it would have been something, with all three of its members able to use the Flying Thunder God technique. There was no point, though, on dwelling on the past.
When his new teammates caught up with him, it was because he had stopped about as far as he thought they would get in a day, and at some point they probably picked up on his trail of bent branches. With the insight of their Sharingan, they could tell which trees he had hit on the way there.
“Hey, do you feel like you’re more limited with only one eye with the kekkei genkai?” he asked after a moment, insisting on setting up the camp himself since they were tired, or at least more so. “Does your regular insight feel more limited?”
“That’s a difficult question to answer,” Mado said. “My eyes have never been upgraded to Eternal. I know I’m using chakra every time I’m using insight or genjutsu, but over the years it’s become easier. Even though only one eye is from the appropriate bloodline, it feels like I can see the same thing through both eyes, if both eyes were open.”
“Wait, so you can see the Byakugan imaging while using your Sharingan insight?”
“If both eyes are open, yes,” she said. “When I was retraining myself, I was using one eye at a time, and I had never used the Hyuga kekkei genkai, as you know, so that was harder to learn. Using them both at the same time drains chakra like nothing else, but… it’s like I can see everything.”
The camp was set up in short order and there was nothing to do but get to bed. He was having a hard time imagining what his teammates’ dojutsu were like, but it would definitely be useful. Naturally, he knew, the eyes would overlap in the middle, because the vision that each provided the brain could be represented as a cone. Using a naïve assessment of the combination of the eyes, he would think that one eye would be seeing through one lens, the other eye would be seeing with the other effect, and that they would simply overlap in the middle, but the way Mado was making it sound, she could see both with her whole field of view.
Obito decided to stay with them instead of going back for the night. They had not quite crossed the border, but there was plenty reason to anticipate danger, and it was a chance for him to try out his dojutsu. Whatever he did, though, it seemed like even the basic Sharingan were not working. Is this some kind of mistake? I know I’m not used to the eyes… what if they just have a maximum lifespan? What if they can’t be preserved for years and years, or at least not perfectly?
When he at last went to sleep, on his turn, he was drained of chakra and his physical energy was making him restless. Rolling his eyes for exactly no one to see, he effectively knocked himself out, and was grateful with his last conscious thought for the chance to sleep. It had been a while since he had gone through the same thing, and sometimes that required a little push, so to speak.
The morning brought with it a long silence as two of them stared down at Uno, who seemed to have gotten sick in his sleep. Obito turned to his teammate and she answered before he asked.
“No, he wasn’t like this before. I don’t think he was hiding it either. We both have a tendency to push ourselves, so I think I could tell if he was sacrificing his health for speed on the way here.
“Should I go back? I could tell the healers what happened.”
“No. You might be used to being able to pop into the village every time you need something, but on missions, we have to function on our own. Using your technique drains chakra and if someone figures out how to track your movements-“
“That’s an objection to my use of the Hiraishin in general,” he said after a moment. “That’s not an objection to using it to get advice from the healers about-“
“I’m fine,” Uno said right when Mado was about to respond. He knew what she would have said, that a general objection was just as good, and she would prefer that he give it up entirely, but she had no way of replacing the strategic advantage that it presented, even if she had heard of his eye technique. “It’ll be fine. I can keep going.”
He stood as if to prove his point, as if because it definitely did not.
“If you’re fine, then tell us what was wrong with you, now that you know it’s gone,” the kunoichi said.
“I don’t know. I just know that it doesn’t feel like it did a few minutes ago.”
“Do you have chakra?” Obito asked.
Uno responded only by flashing his eyes, which looked bizarre. Even though only the previous night he had been excited for the potential of the combination of two of the three great dojustu, it looked strange in the morning light. The strain on the side with the Byakugan was clear, but the other one was perfectly calm, it was the subtle focus of the Eternal Mangekyo.
“Was he doing this on the way here?” he asked. “I can’t see how this is good for your internal coils.” It seemed like Mado agreed and he sighed. “I’m starting to think the Hyuga probably know something we don’t about chakra control and their own kekkei genkai. Earlier, you had a hard time expressing its power.”
“That was no illusion,” she said. “This may seem hard to believe, but I can see further with my right eye in terms of chakra perception than I can with my right just in terms of visible light. Initially, I was hesitant about ever having both eyes open at once, or ever using both dojutsu at the same time, but I was pressed and I couldn’t fight like that.”
“What happened?”
“The two of us were pinned down by summons. They were overlarge snakes, which was expected, but they seemed to be capable of illusions. It may sound simple to fight something like that, but they were striking powerfully without being detected. Any one of their strikes would have killed us.”
“Your standard Sharingan insight couldn’t see through the genjutsu?”
“No. You might have been something of a specialist at that, but honestly I don’t know if even you could have seen through this. You’ll remember that En successfully implanted one of Tekka’s eyes in his own head, so he’s had time to study it and counter the effects of the technique. Dramada was primarily worried that he’d learn how to replicate it indefinitely, but this is about as bad.”
“You used the Byakugan to see through the genjutsu?”
“That was what I was trying to do initially. I could see their internal coils, but then I couldn’t see the rocks they were pitching at us with their tails.”
“What?”
“Orochimaru, primarily, specializes in earth and water. Rocks are hard to detect if you’re looking through chakra vision, so I guess he was planning for us to use the Sharingan insight to try to detect all the chakra around us, as soon as we realized we couldn’t just use it to see straight through the genjutsu. It’s a good strategy he used against us at a fundamental level because it’s a combined assault from the real and the illusory.” She sighed. “It was a risk, but I had to open both eyes at once and use both techniques. Uno had fought really hard and probably run them down enough for me to be able to make a difference, but he was already knocked out at this point.”
“That sounds…” He had been in situations with injured teammates before. The Shinobi Rules clearly stated that the focus should remain on the mission, as opposed to the fates of any of those carrying it out. It was strange that the one that came to mind was a time when Rin had taken a hit against a rogue ninja. He was from Taki, or that was what we thought…
It was as clear as if it had only just happened. His teammates were down and the enemy had burned through a lot of chakra. It made perfect sense to take on a kid in close combat. When he and the rogue ninja exchanged punches, though, he fought like never before. No one would have noticed except him if my eyes flashed red at the time.
“It’s rough, but you get used to it,” Mado said after a moment. “It’s like you’re that much happier to get out of the situation alive.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I know the feeling,” he agreed. Uno was insisting, somewhere, that he was going to be fine, and that it was a passing thing.
“You’re not allowed to use both eyes,” the kunoichi decided. “Until we can handle the chakra drain and ruptured balance, none of us can.”
Their teammate only looked at him for the next wordless moment as he seemed to think about the compromise. Perhaps he had heard it before, and he was just waiting to see how Obito would react. Did it make a difference that the two eyes he now had were from his parents?
“Seconded,” he said. “Let’s get moving.”
The Shinobi Rules
Silirt
Chapter 77: Thorough Infiltration
Chapter Text
The land of sound was covered in rice fields, and between them there were high mountains, creating the same sort of stark contrast in altitude as was frequently seen in Rai. The country had, at one point, been called ‘the land of rice’, following the form of the land of tea, the land of hot water, and other countries, but in the last twenty years had changed its name, perhaps having decided that naming itself after nature transformation sounded more frightening. At the moment, though, it threatened no one, having no more interaction with the world than a tepid alliance with the land of fire.
Something like three years before Obito was born, there had been a skirmish between Yu and Oto, one that they had to realize was pointless because a much larger country was supporting one and not the other, but ended in a stalemate nonetheless. He was sure that the hot water ninjas would tell anyone who was presumptuous enough to ask that they were only testing the strength of a vastly inferior force, but thus far, it seemed no one had.
Orochimaru chose this place carefully. He wanted some place that wasn’t going to get itself into any trouble, some place that wasn’t going to question his establishment of a secret base if they knew about it, but also they couldn’t just get destroyed without a serious effort. It was the kind of simple, direct plan that was wiser than people realized that he had come to expect from his enemies. He sighed.
“Even if we know that he has a base somewhere in this country, we don’t know where it is,” he said. “We can’t just search the entire country.”
“We looked into that already,” Uno said. “Basically, the way he’s hiding it- he’s the one who founded Otogakure.”
“What?”
“The hidden village is just his secret base. It has no function other than to help him discover the secrets of ninjutsu,” Mado said. “I highly doubt that they never get contracts, though, and that’s why we’re not coming as ourselves. We’ll have to go in without our gear.”
“I’m used to it at this point,” he muttered. “I’m just glad I heard about this in advance.” What was clear all of a sudden, though, was why they had stopped in a quiet thicket of trees not far from the capital of the land of sound.
Into his pack went his gear and regular clothes, and out of it came his flowing robes and wooden sandals that were customary for dignitaries in the region. The disguises included a layer of makeup, which would hopefully hide the marks around the pale eyes of his teammates. As far as the eyes themselves, the two of them divided a pair of fake contact lenses, apparently a transparent polymer that distorted the vision, and could be used to change the color of an eye. The three packs were lowered into the ground with a basic Doton and the bark of a nearby tree was marked with a jutsu-shiki. His teammates did not need him to explain that he would be able to go back and get their things if necessary. Unfortunately, I can’t carry anything with me that would allow me to get back.
“Hey, Uno, I’ve got an idea if you’re up for it.”
“You’re not carving a formula on me,” he said.
“I didn’t think you-“
“You didn’t think I’d refuse?”
“I didn’t think you’d be that smart, but yeah, I didn’t think you’d refuse either.” The three of them headed off as soon as Mado returned. For whatever reason, the ladies of Oto opted for parasols instead of hats, even when the sun was not that intense. She flipped a switch at the end of the handle and a blade popped out.
“This is nothing out of the ordinary, even if they search us and find it.” Her eyes flitted to the marked-up tree. “I’ve already memorized your justu-shiki, so I can carve it at my convenience. Do you need to carve it yourself?”
“No,” he said after a moment, thinking. It’d be trivial for Kakashi to warp to any of the kunai I’ve left around the continent, but he’d have to have some understanding of where each one was, so it doesn’t do him any good. He still can’t get into the secret village.
“Then we’re good to go.”
They were, more or less. Walking the rest of the way to the capital city, it became clear that the people favored simple, traditional architecture, and there was an amphitheater in the center that they could hear even as they approached. The sound rang out proudly over hill and dale and while the words were lost, the feeling of apprehension was communicated well. Each quiet note in the tune was followed by a louder one, and there was some stringed instrument that was steadily increasing in pitch.
“What is this place?” Uno asked as they arrived.
“If you’re asking about the sound, that’s probably a play going on,” he speculated.
“That sounds interesting. Do you think we have the time to check it out?”
“No,” Obito responded immediately. “Even if we had the money, we wouldn’t have the time.”
“Oh, we have the gold, most likely,” Mado said. “Most likely, the show is actually free. There are a lot of counties that will put on shows as propaganda, and they don’t want anyone to miss it.”
“If it’s a good show, I don’t think I’d mind,” Uno said. “I’m just happy I can see again.”
They arrived at the city and noticed that there was a place to leave one’s wooden sandals, and he sincerely hoped that meant there was nothing that would damage the soles of his bare feet, because he brought nothing else with him, and the door next to the great gate opened to a perfectly flat concrete path. Doors opened exclusively by sliding as they walked through the city, and people took notice of them momentarily, but disregarded them soon after that. Their robes were of all kinds of colors, and yet their conversations were anything but loud. It seemed like everyone was in a contest to see who could be the quietest.
It’s possible that this is out of respect for the music. While they can hear it, they don’t want to talk over it, so they move in close and whisper. The building that they were seeking was directly in front of them, and the whole thing was of an even, square design, green tiling on the roof and the walls of an off white.
He guessed that they had sent a letter ahead of them, because the moment they entered the room, they were invited up to speak with the Daimyo. Does he really have nothing better to do, or does he think that we were invited by someone important?
Either way, he could not help but see it as an oversight that he had not been informed of the plan, unless he was supposed to have no idea what was going on. He was careful not to make a sound before they were shown into the throne room, where they were granted an audience with the sound lord himself. Almost as soon as they were in, Mado seemed to trip over her dress, inadvertently pushing herself away from Uno, and hitting the ground. One of the female servants rushed over to look her over as she was helped up, and the two of them left together to a side room.
“Excuse us,” his teammate said to an officer of the guard. “We’re from a country of more practical dress.” Yeah, I’m pretty sure he didn’t think of that line himself. “Allow us to wait a moment before giving our address.
“No matter. Think nothing of it,” the guard captain said. Perhaps he did not look terribly ready for action without his armor on, but his expression told them both that he was serious. “We have another party here to make a plea.”
The doors were opened once more and a group of older men and women entered. They started on an argument that seemed to wear on the Sound Daimyo, who rested his temple on the knuckles of his fist. In substance, they were saying that too much of the royal funds were going to contracts of unknown purpose to Otogakure, while the future of the citizens was in jeopardy.
“Oh, they’re talking about assistance for old people,” Uno muttered. Even though no one from the center of the room could hear him, the fact that it was even audible meant it was entirely too loud and Obito almost instinctively looked away.
“They’ll be back,” the guard captain muttered back. “The lord isn’t supposed to interrupt them while they’re talking, but he tells them the same thing every time, and they come back every time. I’ve started to think they like to hear themselves talk.”
If for no reason other than because he was interested, or rather, because he wanted to have an answer to the question that was being asked, he was listening, but it felt like it was hardly any different from the arguments he overheard in Riwa. The farmers wanted something and framed it as a necessity for the health of the economy. The interested parties talking to the self-appointed river lord whom Obito killed minutes later had used much the same terms. It was not, therefore, terribly surprising, that the elders of the city were using the language of what was good for the public when they were angling for their benefit as an age group.
It’s just like Renden and Erisa- and I already observed that they were just like some of the Uchiha. They used words like honor and truth, but those only apply to their own family. It’s better than if they hated everyone equally, I guess, but it’s not a real moral code.
It was as if he was doomed to go back and forth between different people with false solutions to problems, or solutions that were not even posed as solutions, just plots. Would it make any difference if the old people of the city got together to send some people our age to make this argument? He figured that out of any group of people, there had to be a few who could be convinced to go against the group for personal gain, or guilted into supporting some other group, though that was a different kind of personal gain, he reminded himself. What they wanted was not gold, but approval, and they would get it only by betraying their own group for another.
“The hidden village produces gold,” the Daimyo said at length. “That is why we invest gold into it. You may use words to suggest that purchasing soup for the old is an investment, if you must, but none of my descendants will be foolish enough to believe it. If your children will not care for you, then you were wicked to them.”
Obito thought that the last sentence was unfair, but he had not been sent there to argue against it. The elders were sent away. As obvious as it was, he had never thought that the difference in a form of government would make a difference in general social dynamics. There were countries that were run by a council of elders, like Cha, and countries where they just had a substantial say in government, like Konohagakure, but with a royal family, even the youngest child could end up sitting the throne.
“Has the other one been made presentable again?” the Daimyo asked. “I had thought that our guests from Yu would be of greater interest than our weekly constitutional.”
“There is still some hope, Lord of Sound,” the guard captain said. “It’s not a high bar, though.”
The middle aged man who ruled let out a single bark of laughter as Mado returned and a servant came up to him, and he summoned a few guards to his position as the three of them took their place on their knees in front of the throne. Obito suspected that they had worked together long enough to allow some humor between them, breaking the strictest sense of formality. Before any of them could say anything, though, the guards marched around behind them, and had two polearms pointed at the young ninja in the middle. It was not easy, even with his incredible speed, to neglect the danger, but what was happening was almost certainly a plot by his teammates, and there was nothing to do but to trust them, even as his eyes widened. It made sense why he had not been informed of the plan.
“You seem to be taking this in stride,” the feudal lord observed. “I had expected a response. I had expected you would not simply register your surprise.”
“What could I do before being stabbed?” he asked.
“Is what you told my servant true?”
“Yes, Lord of Sound,” Mado said. “We are all from Yu, but as you know, there are many who suffer under the peace that is not a peace. When we accepted your test of our strength, we had hoped that would be the end, but those who failed the hidden village…”
She was a completely different person when she was acting. That was the objective, of course. The Daimyo only looked down at her, seeming to consider how good of a job she was doing.
“He was sent here, then, to monitor you. Yugakure needed someone who would be less suspicious than either of you, and so they picked a younger boy. What is the hidden village’s interest?”
“The elders have told us to assess the potential of the shinobi here,” she said. “The act like they fear another invasion-“
“I don’t need your opinions, you traitorous whore; I am aware that there is not one country that desires peace, not when they were all founded on war, not when their maps were painted with blood.” He had not moved, but his expression indicated his anger had lessened.
As Mado tried to stick to ‘the facts’, Obito did not have to fake how disturbed he was at how many of them were close to the truth. He had the misfortune of knowing a few ninja from Yu, though he was sure they were not all bad, and the picture she was painting of their situation was probably even more informed than his own, since her last mission had taken her over there. He reminded himself that she was a servant of the Uchiha clan exclusively, as she had sought to prove to Dramada, and that while she probably wanted to avoid an invasion of Konoha, weakening one of the fire country’s allies was only nebulously connected.
“If we are captured, Lord of Sound, we can only expect that the hidden village will assume the worst. We can only expect that they will turn to their allies to aid them rather than challenging you alone, and while countless lives will be lost either way…”
“Say nothing more; I know what you want. I shall allow you to have it. You can survey the hidden village, and you can report that it is much weaker than they feared, but only if you pass the rest of our tests to ensure this is no elaborate trick.”
“Whatever test you propose, they’ll fail it,” he muttered. He had no specific goal in mind, only negativity. They would have come here with a goal, though.
Mado explained that they had been ordered to come and contract the sound ninja for a mission, but one that would only get the three of them captured. While under guard in Otogakure, they would have to observe everything that was around them, and then escape to bring it all back. There were limits to the court’s ability to believe in the cruelty of the hot water ninjas and they expected a realistic idea of how the three of them would accomplish the mission, and she went on to specify that she would have had to use her body to endear her guard to her welfare, but then the guard captain insisted on started from the beginning. The disguised kunoichi explained that she had access to an account in the financial desk and could get a loan, and the whole inquest was stopped just to verify that point.
When the servant who had run off to what must have functioned like a bank, he explained that it was perfectly conceivable that she could have taken out a rather generous loan if she only knew the code, which she recited everything she knew about accessing the money and they stopped her. The only thing Uno was asked to explain was that the motive was their relatives being held captive. The Daimyo then wanted to go back to an earlier point and have them specify what they meant by getting a contract, and then being considered so suspicious that they ended up being captured.
“We had little intel on the hidden village. We don’t know where it is, and we don’t know what they want. Our own ninjas, though, believe that the sound would want to know the same things about us that they want to know about them.” She moved her throat like she was swallowing. “If we let on that we knew something about the combat potential of Yugakure, we would be certain to be dragged off, or so the plan went.”
No one had asked Obito, exactly, so he could not say how he would respond if someone had, but he might have said it was a strange plan that was reliant on their belief that one of their enemies was needlessly cruel to the point of being foolish in the long term, or in complex matters, but basically rational. It also seemed to rely on their own ability to fill in the gaps they left in the explanation based on the interest of the authority to which they were appealing. The plan was certainly more complicated than just looking around for the hidden village until they found it or asking nicely while pretending to be defectors.
“There is one more test that must take place before any progress can be made,” the guard captain decided. “Move the monitor over this way.” They removed their spears from his back and dragged him to the feet of their officer without questioning it. He felt the blow before he saw it and wondered for a moment if particularly strong warriors in the regular world had learned something about chakra control without realizing it. He could see that he was being beaten with a staff, but either the blood was getting to his head or the butt of the spear was so fast that it could not be seen.
At no point did the others intervene. He was in no condition to try to figure out what the test was, but if that was it, they passed. It did not seem like they passed, though, because now the guards were grabbing Mado. Though he had some vague memory that she could break out of their hold easily, she struggled ineffectually before they started beating her. From what he could see through a single partially closed eye, they were not hitting her on the head. Acting on some instinct, he tried to move, but Uno was there already, trying to tackle them before getting knocked back.
“Enough. Take them to the cells.”
He felt himself being picked up, with the strange, disconnected thought that he could not do anything. The three of them went down a set of stairs at some point, though he was not sure how they got there. When his vision cleared, he was in a cell by himself. He tried to sleep, but it had been a long time since he had been beaten so soundly, and before, he had always tried harder to defend himself, but he could not afford to give the impression that he was a shinobi. It was a challenge to remember why.
When he woke up in the morning, he had a pounding headache, but it seemed like he could see again and that was most of what he needed. The others were in separate cells, and it seemed they had not spoken to each other the entire time. We’re probably still being evaluated on how we act around each other. There are ways they could be watching silently, without being noticed.
His bruises hurt, but he took the lead of the others and did not say anything, either to them or to the guard until around noon. When that time came, he was instructed multiple times not to try to get either of his countrymen to try to go along with the original plan; they had been given a way of contacting the Daimyo and his forces at a moment’s notice. Though they were not entirely sure he was not a shinobi, even if he was, he was probably substandard at best and would not fare well against several trained servants of the sound lord. He said nothing as they concluded their explanation and sent him on his way with the others. Though he did not explicitly hear anything about what was going on, he figured that some message had been sent to the village to allow them to look around. To think, we’re going through so much trouble just so we can carve a jutsu-shiki into something in Otogakure.
He really wished he had possessed the forethought to cut one into the skin of Mitarashi Anko.
As they walked, still in the view of the capital city, he thought about how Mado had characterized their current quarry as a total villain. Even though I can’t disagree with her assessment, I don’t think she was… I don’t think she knew everything. There was something else going on, and even though he had described everything he had seen to his teammate, he doubted that he had related it perfectly. It was that damn mark on the back of her neck. We found the same mark on the rest of the bodies. Is it just a way of controlling them? It didn’t seem to do anything.
Obito’s thoughts turned to the tests, assuming that it was a series of tests and not just one that was important. The first one was simple; they beat him in front of the others to see if they would react. It was not a test to see if he would defend himself, because shinobi were trained to take beatings. The fact that they did not rush to his aid meant they were telling the truth, or they were shinobi as well, and were prepared to sacrifice him. Those were the most likely conclusions, anyway.
After that, they beat Mado to see if he or Uno would react. If he reacted, it would be out of an uncharacteristic regard for her welfare, but it was what they expected out of his teammate. There was no point in beating Uno after that, because the others, who had already been beaten, would not be able to react. As a result, the third test took the form of tossing them all in cells and seeing if they would talk while no one else was apparently around. They could have used anything to hear us in that situation. They could have had someone disguised as a rat and we never would have known. It could also be that the walls were just thinner than we thought. They could’ve even just put recording devices somewhere it was too dark to see them. None of us would’ve risked using the Sharingan and getting caught.
Whatever the tests were, exactly, it seems like they passed, at least so far.
The Shinobi Rules
Silirt
Chapter 78: A Deep, Dark, Hole
Chapter Text
The suspicion that the Daimyo’s forces were watching them had long since passed, but the three of them had not said a word. Obito’s teammates had not apologized for going behind his back and coming up with this plan to make him look like some agent of Yu, who was himself hung out to dry by having no backup plan or ability to get himself out of there. Are we not saying anything because they’re still listening to us? Are we thinking that the sound lord sent a letter ahead of us, saying what our whole cover story was?
The biggest problem with trying to come in with their faces bare, knocking on the door, was the fact that Anko had already seen them, and some version of Orochimaru had as well, though there was no telling whether or not the version that might be in Otogakure would be aware of it was well. They went down into a deep valley that was surrounded by rock formations. It’s part of the country that’s not currently good for anything. It was probably a mine that was excavated years ago.
“Who are you?” the shinobi guard asked when the three of them arrived. He was only a few years older. It’s easy to see why they have people actively guarding the place. It’s only been around for so long; there’s no way they have border seals up and running.
“Did the Daimyo not tell you about us?” Mado asked.
“Oh, the secretary told us, but he didn’t use any names. Frankly, I don’t like his habit of shoving difficult people off on us, so I’m inclined to just leave you in a dungeon somewhere until you start talking.”
“You couldn’t do that!” Uno loudly protected. “We were supposed to be allowed to look around. We’re working with him, not against him-“
“Well, you’re not working with us. It seems that you don’t know this, but we have a mutually beneficial relationship with the country here. We’re not subjects. We don’t jump when they say ‘jump’. You’re going to lockup until you get more cooperative.
They said nothing as the bald shinobi led them through the village gates. Those would not, of course, help in the event that some invader tried to jump down from above, but for all he knew, the enemy had no reason to worry about it. Maybe it’s an obvious way of attacking them, and they’re actually ready for it.
Eyes turned. There were three kids a few years younger than themselves.
“Jigumo, where are you taking them?” one asked. “Who are they?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out, Yoroi. I don’t like what the useless government is telling me. It doesn’t add up.”
“It was probably good enough for them, but they didn’t explain it in a way that was good enough for you,” Obito said. “That aside, I’ll take any break I can get.”
“No, you can’t let him do this,” Mado said. “He’s going to use this as a chance to get away. You can’t let him report on everything to Yu-“
“You three can’t trick me. It doesn’t matter whether or not you are all on the same side. We’re on Orochimaru’s side, and anyone who’s against him is an enemy of ours.”
As annoying and simple-minded as the approach was, it was hard to exploit it and get him to do anything to go against his master. It was especially hard to avoid getting locked into yet another dungeon where he probably still could not discuss things with his teammates. Is this still part of the plan? He could believe that the kunoichi had arranged for him to be threatened and made out to be a handler for spies, but more and more was happening that seemed to be out of her hands.
At some point I’m going to have to make that decision again. He thought back to the land of snow, how he was in a position where either his teammates had no idea of what was going on, or they were going ahead with a mission even though it was, well, against his idea of what they were supposed to be doing. How could I have an objection to killing an innocent person if I’ve knowingly done it myself? Was it really just because we technically weren’t ordered to kill Dotou based on how I was interpreting our orders? At the time, we were supposed to have a deal with the land of snow and its leader, and… he wasn’t innocent in the first place. He might not have killed his brother, but he definitely wasn’t innocent. What made me decide that I could kill people who probably were just because I was ordered?
Though he would have never found the words to express it back when he was just starting as a Genin, he figured that the reason he was willing to take missions, including missions that involved killing people, from the village basically because of Sandaime’s commitment to finding alternatives to war. After the second one that terrorized the world, he started to believe, at least according to the contemporary histories, that the true ninja way was to seek peace. It was ultimately because of the ethos of its leader that Obito had been willing to follow the orders of the village. When I couldn’t see how the orders connected to the goal of a more peaceful world, and if anything might have made things worse… I didn’t obey them.
Kakashi had been right about a lot; he had been right about the fact that his infiltration strategies had started to cut corners and he was right about how disobeying orders was driving the country from the backseat; it was only the leader who had the benefit of perspective. Even as challenges to his belief came, he had to hold on to his reason for objecting, his belief that sometimes the ninja on the ground was better informed about the situation than his commander.
Since leaving the village, everything I’ve done… I’ve at least tried to do it for the sake of… I don’t know, preventing war. It was worth reconsideration, though, that he was willing to follow Dramada’s orders as long as he was not necessarily able to tell how it made the situation worse. Would I really care if Rai and Kiri fought? Has that been something like a blindspot for me, or is… is it just something that’s so far out of my hands that I can’t do anything about it?
The dungeon was dark, but it was probably better than getting marched through the center of town, assuming that was how Mado and Uno’s plan was keeping the three of them from getting spotted and recognized by Anko. Do we start talking to each other now, or are we just going to stay silent? Do I have to figure out what my teammates are trying to do for the entire mission?
Resisting the temptation to use his Sharingan, he looked over at the other occupants of the cells, finding each in their own, an old man and an old woman. What did they do? Were they elders or something? As capable of cruelty as the elders of his own village had been, it was still painful for him to watch someone with creaking bones sleeping on a hard surface. He had always thought that anyone incapable of effective resistance should be kept under house arrest. I guess that might be due to not having a place to house them… or they really are capable of mounting resistance.
“Hey, who are you?” he called out, aware they were probably being monitored. His character was one who would probably take any chance he could get to regain control over the situation. Inaction meant being stuck in a cell forever, or if they were let out, going back in failure. The old woman seemed conscious, and annoyed at this fact.
“I don’t remember,” she said. “I don’t want to remember.”
It was not that strange of a phenomenon for old people to have things floating around in their minds that they would have preferred to forget. Even the normal people in the village had regrets and terrible experiences that were no fault of their own. All the same, it gave him some avenue to continue the conversation.
“Were you in the war?” he asked, assuming the two of them had been shinobi at some point.
“In it? Kid, we practically won it. Maybe it technically ended before or after our last battle, but we never heard anything about that.” He tried to picture it, but so far, he was having no particular luck. “Who are you?”
“That, he can’t tell you,” Mado said. “We were not provided with names, nor were we to use our own. Doing anything else is complete lunacy.”
“You sound like a shinobi.”
“If I were a shinobi, I’d have to be the worst there is. I’m sure that everyone is, though. In times like these, I really hate being surrounded by them.”
“Oh?” the old lady said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve heard someone be that honest.”
“You’re in a cage. They wouldn’t be able to keep you here if they didn’t have some way of keeping you from using your tricks to get out.”
“True,” she said. “True, there’s no alcohol in here, so you can go ahead and assume that I’m not in here because I want to be. I can’t do anything to you. That said, I’m not going to get mad if you hate shinobi. Most of us are the same way. If shinobi had never existed, I would just be a compulsive gambler.”
“How did they catch you?” Obito asked. “Were you passed out after a loss?”
“You’re acting like you were there at the time, kid,” she said, annoyed. “We all have our vices, and lapses in judgement. I noticed there were people following me, but I was having a hard time imagining what a handful of kids wanted. No one had put a hit out on me in over a decade.”
“So, you kept doing what you were doing and didn’t worry about it?”
‘I thought they were going to ask me for something. I really only wanted to show them that there’s no point in asking me for anything. The sooner they realize that, the better, or so I thought.”
“What did they actually want?”
“You know as much as I do. They took me here and haven’t said a word since.”
The only thing that putting her in here achieves is taking a piece off the board. If she thought someone was going to ask her for something, she must be well-known, or some heroine from a bygone era. The other ninja probably has the same story.
“What about him?” he asked.
“He was tied up by a pretty girl and was drained of chakra in about thirty seconds.”
“It’s as you say,” the old man said. “We all have our vices. This is an embarrassing situation for both of us. I can only think that we spent so long out of action that we let our guard down.” He sighed. “There really is no use in taking it out on each other.”
All of a sudden, he realized who they were. Would his character know? Were they famous enough in different countries that he would know- would be stranger to ask, or to guess? After a moment he decided there was no way to know which approach was the best, but he had a decent one.
“I think you do remember who you are.”
“Senju Tsunade,” the old lady said after a while. She let out a long breath. “Unfortunately, I’m not the only one who remembers. This is Jiraiya, the bastard.”
“I may not be from a clan…”
“Your mother raised you herself and she never identified who the father was; you’re just as much of a bastard as you are in your general personality.”
“Maybe she didn’t point him out because she didn’t want to ruin his reputation,” the old man said, squinting back at her. “Maybe, he was in a high place within the village.”
They were both glaring at each other without saying anything. Obito did not want to look back at Mado and Uno to see if the plan had changed in response to their new friends, who may well be more important than killing Anko, and may well be necessary if they wanted a chance against their old teammate, who was regarded as a legend. He would have had some idea where to find them. He sends out an unsuspecting team of Genin level shinobi after each of them, catching them before anyone could recruit them to go after him.
Before he could say anything, for better or worse, though, the door opened and the room filled with light. The kunoichi they had been seeking came down. No- why? Of everyone in the whole fake town, why’d they have to send her?
“Good afternoon, Obito,” she said. “It appears you had no consideration for my circumstances the last time I was at your mercy, so I suppose I cannot claim that I care about yours. Why you are here and whom you are serving are of no interest to me.” She’s only telling me this because her team didn’t catch me. She doesn’t even see the others as her equals. I’ve probably gone down a bit.
”Well, now that our cover is blown, why were you sent down here?” Mado asked. He could speculate as to how she might have had some other escape route planned, and how they would sneak up on Anko and kill her if it was not practical to bring her back alive. It would have been the easiest thing to use an earth transformation to get out of there, even though there was a metal grate on the floor, but they would have to be unmonitored for hours or else someone would notice their disappearance. Wherever their positions before the apparent breakout, everyone in Otogakure was likely to have moved, including the target. That was the point of going through the city rather than tunnelling in from the side; it was to get an idea of where people were and how we could get out. Finding the place isn’t enough; we needed the cover to find the target within it.
“The guy on guard duty; Jigumo- he went straight to our master and told him everything that happened right after tossing you in here. I happened to be there.” Uno frowned. It had been a risky plan, but theoretically sound. They had even accounted for the guard being overly cautious- it would have been fine if he had told anyone else about their presence and provided a basic description. Obito started looking around the cell for any sections of metal directly connected to the bars.
“It goes without saying that you memorized our faces-“
“It wasn’t that. I figured that you’d steal Iroha’s Byakugan after you couldn’t recover your own eye from me. We picked our guard because he’s a pretty blindly loyal guy and because he could sense chakra. You weren’t using your dojutsu at the time, but your chakra moves through your body differently after an organ transplant, especially through the top two gates; they’re right behind your eyes, but I’m sure you know that. Jigumo noticed the same thing in you that he saw in me and it immediately registered as suspicious.”
“So, he didn’t give you a description; you asked for one. You and your master were probably both aware that we would be coming after you. So, what now?” Mado asked.
“You might be at a disadvantage here, but you still have your chakra,” Anko said after a moment. “I was certain of who you were, but I was asked to watch you while someone shows up who can drain your chakra.” Obito frowned while his eyes moved around. He had never seen it done before, but he knew that sort of thing was possible. “He was in a mask last time.”
“It wouldn’t have been viable,” Mado said. It was clear she was also looking for a way out, perhaps not wanting to let on that he had the Hiraishin. That wouldn’t help either of them, though. I didn’t think to cut it into anything directly outside the city, and even if I did, using it would put me in no position to fight, without my tools, and likely to be tracked down and have the fight taken to me. If their guard has even the slightest sensor type abilities, he could find me at close range.
“I liked killing that Iroha guy,” Uno said. He was not standing terribly far from the bars, which was convenient, or perhaps demonstrating that he had the same plan. We have to move quickly. It’s not going to be anything so lucky like getting the key off her; they wouldn’t have taken the risk that we could take her hostage.
“Oh, you did, didn’t you?”
“Yeah; you wouldn’t believe the kinds of things he screamed.”
“You’re an idiot. I’m not falling for your provocation.” Obito turned away, catching sight of a steel toilet, directly at the back of the cell. Mado gave him a look saying she had the same idea, and he let her take care of it.
“Well, if he’s such an idiot, you don’t need to worry about him, do you?” she asked. “I certainly wouldn’t, but I suppose that’s another story. If he’s ever plotting against me, it’s usually something laughable.”
“Are all three of us really even necessary?” Obito asked. “Couldn’t you just say something happened?”
Right as Uno started off on something about Iroha, Anko grabbed him through the bars by the neck and Mado used a powerful lightning technique after a short, hidden series of seals, grabbing the steel toilet and transferring the charge through the metal grate on the bottom of the cell, which was probably there to make it harder to get out with a Doton. The charge went up through the bars right as their captor’s intended victim grabbed her hand with both of his own, and she was shocked.
“Is she dead?”
“Just unconscious,” the kunoichi muttered. “The charge was lessened by having to pass through resistors. Use an earth transformation,” she ordered, though it looked like Uno had been hit by the ninjutsu as well. “Damn. I should have thought he wouldn’t be able to break free.”
“We’ll get him out of here.” He remembered using his technique and getting into that strange world with the old man, more grateful than ever that he had made the split-second decision to save his life. Grabbing both of his teammates, with his foot on Anko’s hand, he tried to recollect as much of the situation as possible and get in the mindset of saving them from certain doom, and for a moment they were in the dark world together.
“Obito, what is this place?” Mado asked. “This is your dojutsu?”
“Yeah,” he said. “It’s weird; some of the advanced dojutsu that I’ve heard of really have nothing to do with vision, but I guess maybe… it doesn’t matter. I’ve got to get those old guys out of there. They’re the only people who can help us.”
“We haven’t cracked the cell open… I don’t think we can. I think the sound ninjas must have built the dungeon specifically for powerful shinobi like the Sannin.”
“They didn’t take us into account. Let’s leave Uno in here. I need your help.”
They returned to the world they knew, to the surprise of the other prisoners.
“That must be a spacetime jutsu,” Jiraiya said. “My student, Minato…”
“He’s my teacher,” Obito said. “He didn’t teach me this, though.”
“It’s as I feared,” Mado said, hastily looking over the cell. There were countless tiny fuinjutsu symbols. “We can’t get out of here by breaking the bars.”
“I’ve got one more idea,” he said, turning to the old lady. She had wrist chains, and probably had no chakra, but she could move around somewhat. “I need you to use your blood to write a jutsu-shiki I describe in your cell. If I can touch you, then I can get you out of here.”
“Do it,” the old man said. “It’s the Flying Thunder God Technique.”
While it was going on, he wondered if he could use the Mangekyo technique to phase through the bars, but he really did not want to trust his current fate to anything that experimental. The moment he was done speaking, as Tsunade was putting the finishing touches on the formula, he put his teammate back in the strange world, finding the other two just as unconscious as he left them.
Going back, he was feeling the strain on his chakra. Even though he had not used all that much, it was like the resistance he always felt in his legs right before going for a hard run. Using the Hiraishin, he got into the cell of the old lady, where he tried to reach into the other cell, but even at the maximum extension of both chains, he could not touch both of them at once.
He was standing there, not knowing what to do, as Jiraiya took the next logical step without hesitation and started copying the jutsu-shiki onto the floor of his own cell. It was the exactly right move, but he did not know he would have enough chakra. How long can I remain in that dark world? I’ve never used the technique except on instinct before; I’ve got no idea how it really works.
There was no point in wondering how many times he would be making the right move, only for it not to work out. Damn it. I didn’t even get the Mangekyo dojutsu off more than three times before replacing my eyes. I should’ve mastered it, even if mastering it required more chakra. As it is, I really can’t claim to know how it works.
Concentrating, he moved Tsunade into the other world, hoping she could help Mado look after the unconscious. In another minute, I’m going to be unconscious… using unfamiliar techniques is taking more charka than I expected. As soon as he returned to the world he knew, he pushed himself to use the Hiraishin, and then repeat the process. He was breathing heavily in the dark world.
“Obito, you can do this; it’s just one more; we’ll be out of here.”
“Can he not stay in here until he recovers?” the old lady asked. “His chakra flow is unusual.” That’s it! Anko was just saying that you could get an unusual chakra flow from a recent eye transplant, and I’ve just had two! My gates are probably out of sync right now, but I can’t afford to worry about that.
“No,” he muttered. “I’ve never managed to stay in here for more than a few seconds at a time. It’s best if I get it over with. It’s harder to get up in a fight than it is to stay up.”
Referencing a general principle of taijutsu seemed to register with the Sannin, who shared decades of experience on the subject. Returning to the normal world, he felt the strain on his eyes lessen. They haven’t discovered we’re gone yet. I know I can’t complete the technique if I try it now. Maybe I just need a breather. It was a struggle to keep his eyes open and concentrate without using any of his dojutsu, but he could not afford to fall asleep.
He could have sworn that no time at all passed when the door opened, and Fuma Kagero entered. He had not seen her since the Chunin exams. She gave him an odd look before coming closer.
“I’m here to drain your chakra, but I thought there were supposed to be more of you down here.” She looked around. “If you’ve all become invisible, that’s impressive, but I don’t think that’s what it is.” There was no lack of calm or control in her voice or demeanor.
“You’d better report that they got out,” he said. “How else are you going to track them down?”
“I think I can get it out of you.”
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Hello Kitty - B. Barnes
NOTE: for the sake of this imagine, let’s pretend that Bucky knows about HK. WARNING: contains smutty ending, do not read if you are below the age of 18! aka MINORS SCOOT! also this isn’t proofread so sorry if it’s shitty?
TAGLIST: @poetic-heart @hallecarey1 @moonlightbaby10 @5-seconds-of-bucky @bbl32 @wobblymug @iwannabekilledtwice @golden-hoax @barnes-lokison
SUMMARY: it’s your third date with bucky and you are dressed to impress...for the most part
“It’s our third date.” You admit shyly to Natasha and Wanda, who sat before you on your bed. The two women’s “oohs” had your body feeling much warmer in your bathrobe than moments before. You maintained your gaze on your bare thighs, with your fingernails continuously picking at loose pieces of fuzz on your robe.
“So what are you wearing?” Natasha quirks an eyebrow at you, the corner of her lips tilted up deviously. Wanda matches her expression, further encouraging you to stand up and retrieve the knee-length, red dress from your closet. Once again, the two “ooh-ed” simultaneously at the piece.
“I don’t think he’s ever seen a dress so revealing.” Wanda giggles. Natasha joins her with a few chuckles of her own.
“He might think he chose to go out with a harlot.” Nat jives, earning another barrage of laughs from the girl beside her. Yes, Bucky did have a few years on him, but it was nothing you enjoyed hearing others tease him about. Bucky Barnes knew how to put up a shell, and do it excellently. Something you are certain of though, is nobody enjoys having their age being commented on.
“Guys, come on…” You whine, tossing the dress onto your bed and returning to the seat at your vanity, where various makeup products lie scattered.
“We’re only teasing, Y/N.” Wanda’s hand, donning several rings, waves carelessly about. Natasha hums in agreement.
“What are you wearing underneath?” She questions.
“Underneath? Why’s that matter?” Natasha and Wanda both suck in a sharp breath, and exchange a wary glance. When they lock their bewildered stares back onto you and still say nothing, you begin to grow impatient.
“Hello? Am I missing something?” You fold your arms together, leaning back in your chair and looking at the expectantly.
“Y/N, it's the third date.” Wanda snickers.
“I know.”
“Then you should know that it’s important to wear the proper...undergarments.” Natasha mumbles.
“Look who’s sounding old now.” You turn in your seat and waltz over to your dresser. “What’s wrong with wearing what I normally wear?” You call back to them as your eyes study the selection of panties and bras displayed in your top drawer.
Natasha scoffs, before bluntly stating “Your sports bra and granny panties aren’t gonna get you laid, Y/N.” You take a deep inhale through the nose and spin around to meet the woman’s interrogating eyes. Part of you almost makes a comeback on the sports bra comment, but find yourself squeaking after processing her last few words.
“Laid?! Who says we’re going that far?” You nearly choke out, laying a hand on your cheek in mortification.
“Says anybody who’s ever dated anybody. Third dates require you to bring your A-game.” Wanda informs, now making you succumb to humiliation further. The girl is years younger than you and knows more about a stable love life than you ever could. “You have to dress up. Even underneath.” She adds.
You glance down at the sloppy bow you tied to keep your robe shut. “Well...that rule is stupid. And outdated. Who says we can’t go out on a third date, have a good time fully-clothed and end it that way?” You snip, turning back to grab a nude bra with a satisfied smile.
“Y/N, just take our advice. It’ll help you in the long run.” Nat begs, catching a sinister glint in your eyes. You make an indecisive noise, feeling giddy for keeping your friends on their toes, before declaring:
“No, I don’t think I will. In fact, to prove to you both how ridiculous that rule is…” Your hand shuffles around the drawer, away from Natasha’s and Wanda’s prying eyes. When you finally retrieve your most embarrassing pair of underwear, you elicit a devilish laugh and raise the piece of clothing, high and proud for their eyes to see. In sync, you watch their lips part and eyes grow ide.
“Y/N, no…” Wanda’s strawberry-blonde hair swishes on and off of her shoulders as she shakes her head furiously.
“Don’t do this.” Natasha continues pleading. But their desperate attempts to keep you from wearing the pair of panties, clutched tight in your grasp, is only further motivation for you to pull them on your body.
“Y/N, yes.” You nod. “If you two ladies don’t mind excusing yourselves, I have a date to get ready for.” Both women perceive your satisfied smile with doubtful frowns tracing their lips. Natasha and Wanda knew perfectly well that you would come to regret your decision later in the night. You, however, were too ignorant to realize the mistake you had just committed.
♥︎☆♥︎☆♥︎☆♥︎☆♥︎☆♥︎☆♥︎☆♥︎☆♥︎
“Thanks for taking me out, Buck. I had a really great time.” Your hand, entangled with Bucky's, lessens its grip. As the two of you approach the elevator to ride up to your floor, the red fabric adorning your body stops swishing at your knees. Bucky rests his vibranium hand against his chest, sparing you a smile nobody else in the compound would ever have the delight of seeing.
“The pleasure is all mine, Y/N.” His fingers remain laced with yours throughout the entire elevator ride up to your respective floor. When you began leading the way to your own bedroom, Bucky stops you with a proposal.
“Actually I was thinking about it, and uh…” the same hand on his chest moments ago winds behind him to scratch at the nape of his neck, “did you want to come to my room and chat a little longer.”
You graciously accepted the super soldier’s offer, but it was not long before your lips and tongues pursued more intimate activities. Currently, yours were forming escalating moans as Bucky’s mouth prioritized the space between your shoulder and neck, giving each patch of untouched skin his undivided attention.
“I gotta get this off of you,” he grumbles, yearning for more of your bare skin to meet his lips. Eagerly, his flesh hand searched the back of your dress up and down for a zipper. His vibranium hand remained at the bottom of your thigh, metal fingers tucked just below the red skirt of your dress and dangerously close to--
You suck in a sharp breath, eyes enlarging at the thought of the underwear shielding your privates. Bucky’s blue eyes, darkened by the dimly lit bedroom cast down to yours with concern.
“W-what happened? I didn’t hurt you did I?” You respond with a viscous shake of your head, desperate to not let this moment slip through your fingers.
“Just had a...small chill.” Your lips tremble at the sight of Bucky’s turning up into a smirk. You swear his eyes darken four shades in front of you too, complementing the burning list fueling your actions. His lips bend down to greet the shell of your ear, and this time, a sincere chill does run through your body. It sends tingles to your toes and an itchy feeling only Bucky can give you antidote for.
“Why don’t I warm you up, then?”
You’ll admit, for being over one hundred, the man still had power to every butterfly in your stomach, and each thump of your heart. Once glance from his blue eyes could send your knees wobbling, or worse, be to blame for a full on collapse. Currently, this charm of his was sparring with your inner-shame all because of what lies beneath your dress.
You remember why you put the pair of panties on in the first place, but you never expected your long-time crush to be witness to them. Taking a deep breath, you mentally prepared to deal with any future teasing from Bucky this moment would bestow on you. After all, it’d be quite nice to rub it in Natasha’s and Wanda’s face that you still got laid while wearing them.
“Yeah, I’d like that…” you elicit a nervous chuckle, following Bucky’s perusing eyes. You feel his hand still struggling to take hold of the small zipper and tug it down. His impatience grew clear when his warm palm and cool metal appendage dissipated from your back entirely, and instead, grasped the hem of the dress pooling at your thighs.
“Fuck it.” He mutters, and lifts the skirt of your dress up. By this point, your eyes were clenched shut and your teeth were grinding together in anticipation. Without realizing it, your fingers were clutching Bucky’s bedsheets for support of the various reactions feeding through your brain. Only did your hands release the cotton sheets when Bucky’s hands cloaked them.
You peeled your eyes open to see him, a cheeky smile lining the bottom of his face as he responded in a coy manner. “Nice panties.” A wave of heat filled your body from top to bottom, while your heartbeat reached a pace that you never knew to be possible. Bucky could hear each thump for himself, and chuckled to himself at the sight of you falling sheepish underneath him.
The blue beauties of his eyes dragged down your body to the light pink cotton underwear, where a familiar cartoon head was printed all around it. The yellow noses and dotted eyes stared up at him daringly, awaiting his next move. As did you.
A sharp breath leaps down your throat when a cool metal finger inserts itself through the side of your underwear, and you feel your stomach begin quivering at the feeling of Bucky’s vibranium hand sliding the panties down your leg in a teasing manner.
“Hello Kitty.” Is all he says, before introducing your wet heat to the magic trick that is his thick, pink tongue.
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