Sucker Free
Feb 1, 2011 22:57:08 GMT
Post by Forte on Feb 1, 2011 22:57:08 GMT
Hey, what's up. So I was convinced to start up my idea for a story now as opposed to later...I wanted to wait a while until one of the other stories was done, but I might as well give it a shot now. Sorry in advance if I'm taking shine from any of the other authors, don't mean anything by this.
Hope y'all like what I'll be trying out.
---
Morning. Beautiful time of day, wasn't it? The sky was clear and the weather was totally sweet.
You point the bill of your cap backwards and start off walking through the city again. It wasn't exactly home, but it was a place to spend the night, at least. That last freelance job had paid off quite well, which was good.
"Hey, J!"
A slender-looking girl with wild blonde hair runs up to you. She smiles and looks you over with her cool blue eyes. "Been looking for ya. Sleep well?"
"Yeah, guess so."
"Money's tight again, huh?"
"Might be for a while, yeah. But we'll figure something out. We always do."
"Yup! You've always been able to make something out of nothing, J."
"Too true."
"C'mon. I'll cook us breakfast if I can find something at the market."
"Sounds good, C." She turns and starts to skip off ahead of you, her fair skin seeming to sparkle against the morning sun. That Cadence was a cheery girl, even when times were hard...well, she never thought times were hard, anyways. She was grateful for everything that came her way. Which was odd considering her lineage.
Well, whatever. She'd been your best friend since about seven years back, when you had just turned nine. You had both practically grown up in the same place...though not everyone liked you there and pretty much drove you out by using some underhanded means. All because of your old man...your old, old man, as in, your grandfather. Your dad was...well, it wasn't very appropriate to say. Your mom was a diplomat, so she was away a lot, for really long periods of time.
She'd flip out when she got back, you realize. Damn.
You shake your head and head over to the market to help Cadence pick out some stuff for today's meal. She was a whiz when it came to making a lot from a little...you wondered if her family was actually more resourceful than they let on, or if it was just Cadence herself. Something to think about, you figured.
"What'cha want to do after breakfast?" she says, carrying a bag in her hands.
"Dunno. I want to find out what Gramps had been doing."
"They say that he almost destroyed the Five Powers a while back...that he was trying to ruin the world as we knew it. That sounds kind of scary. And if they found out that you're his grandson...well..."
"Chill out, C. We're civilians, but we still can bring the heat. Besides, I'm convinced that this ain't the whole story. Gramps never did things without reason. If he was going after the hidden villages, I'd like to find out why."
She thinks for a moment before nodding. "Makes sense. I'm behind you, then."
"Thanks, C. I wouldn't have made it this far without you."
"Ha, don't say that. You're the one that's been protecting me all this time. I should be thanking you," she says with a smile. "But for now, which way are we gonna head next?"
Hm. Good question. You were currently in Fire Country...you could make it over to the Hidden Leaf easily and start your investigation there. That was west of this small city. Eastward was the Land of Waves, and further out than that was the Hidden Mist Village in the Land of Water. Also west of the city were the Tanzaku Quarters.
You had a lot of places you could go to right now.
---
a) Head eastward.
1. Land of Waves
2. Land of Water
b) Head westward.
1. Hidden Leaf
2. Tanzaku Quarters
c) Free choice as to where to go (any place in any direction).
---
Kinda skimpy on some things, but I'll get to those soon. Just a bit tired.
---
"Lightning Country sounds like somewhere good to go."
"Hm. I guess so. It'd kind of be like a homecoming, right?"
You and Cadence sit near a crystal clear pond, eating breakfast beside the makeshift fire pit you had dug out earlier. You shake your head at her question.
"Nah, I've got no family there or from there. I may look it, but I've got no relationship to that place at all."
"Yeah, I see your point."
"I do have some acquaintances over there, though. And there's a small town near the Hidden Cloud village that we'd be able to crash at for a while. We'd just have to do some traveling for a bit..."
She shrugs as she bites into her food. "Fine with me. A little exercise never did me any harm."
A few hours later, you both grab the few things you have from the place you were staying and leave for Lightning Country. It would take a few days for you both to get across the border and into the Hot Water Country. You both rest after moving quickly through the dense forests for an entire day, lying on the branches of a large tree.
"How far do you think we are?" Cadence asks.
"Not that far out. We should make it to the next country in about a day at this pace."
"Cool. Getting sleepy, though..."
"Yeah, it's getting dark out, too. You get some sleep, and I'll keep watch."
"You sure? I can take it from here if you're tired, J."
"Nah, it's fine. I'll be okay, promise."
"Okay...have a good night, then. Be safe, Joshua."
"I will."
She gives you a smile before lying back and closing her eyes. Out like a light...huh, and she wanted to take watch. That girl worried too much about you sometimes. You figured that it would be a good time to make some more headway in studying up on 'jutsu'. Your gramps was apparently a genius when it came to the subject, and you knew how to mold your energy into 'chakra', which was needed to perform the three types of jutsu: taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu. Didn't seem terribly hard so far, but practice always made perfect.
It's a few hours before the sun starts to rise and Cadence wakes up. She taps you on the shoulder and you pick up your book to leave.
Another few hours of running through the treetops is uneventful until you hear some screams to the west of your location. You nod to Cadence and she follows you in that direction as you head towards the ground and hit it running. The scene comes right into your sight a moment later. There's a young woman being harassed by a group of five thugs. A small cart lay ransacked nearby and the woman was backed into a tree, her face bruised and her clothing torn.
Well, this was what you needed, a spot of trouble before lunch. "C, we've got work."
"Hm. Looks like it. Pro bono, I'm assuming?"
"Naturally." You grab the thugs' attention. "Hey, jerk-offs! Why don't ya aim higher and try to rob someone who isn't outnumbered for once, huh?"
They all turn towards you and immediately charge forward without a word. Damn...looked like they weren't average thugs after all.
"Run! You're going to get killed if you stay here!" the woman screams out at you.
Get killed? Ah, didn't seem like it would be that bad. Maybe a cut or two, lost limb. It happened.
"Game plan, J?"
You look over to your companion and smile. "Same as always, C."
"Right on, then." She cracks her knuckles. "Time to set it off."
Style Select #1
a) Element
1. Latent mastery of one element
2. Rising expertise of two elements
3. Control of three elements
4. Minimal competency in four elements
5. Bare basics of all five elements
for a1)-a4)
i) Fire
ii) Water
iii) Earth
iv) Lightning
v) Wind
---
Statistics (ten point scale)
Ninjutsu: 5
Taijutsu: 5
Genjutsu: 5
Intelligence: 8
Strength: 5
Speed: 5
Stamina: 5
Seals: 5
Total 43/80. 12 free points for you guys do whatever with, which means the stat total can be no higher than 55/80. Stats can be rearranged as anyone sees fit.
---
Anyone else? I've been out for a while and had a blazing headache up until a few minutes ago, so I haven't been able to do much of anything lately, much less write. If anything, I'll take the middle road for the elements and giga's stats as our build.
I think I should go over some of the ground rules for now.
Basically, this story is going to be influenced by how everyone votes. You can add or subtract from the choices I give out via free choices when they come up. Sometimes I'll say you can pick 2 or 3 options, but you don't necessarily have to. Sometimes less is more.
One of the things that I'll tell you right now is that there will be a severe lack of number crunching. In other words, there won't be a value assigned to your total chakra pool, or your jutsu. The only numbers you'll likely run into are the stats and the level of your elemental ability/abilities. So that also means that you won't get killed off from chakra exhaustion during a fight as a result. You can die other ways, but not like that.
Speaking of deaths, you guys can pretty much die as many times as you want and finish the story, so unlimited continues. Of course there's a catch. You get penalized for dying, and more importantly for the way that you died. Penalties can range from busting you back to the beginning of a fight, or an entire arc with the difficulty turned up, or handicapping you, or even a nasty (and likely permanent) stat decrease, or if I feel you guys really sucked, I'll decrease one of your stats and then cap it. For that last one, you'd have to do incredibly badly.
You also have to consider your partner. She's there as your bailout, my mouthpiece, and a great help in battle, among other things. If you want to go it alone, you can, but otherwise I'll have you two teaming up at almost every opportunity, so you'll have each others' backs on a default setting. Her affinity will complement yours in most cases, and since you have the lead, she'll follow your orders unless they're bad. Then I'll have her question you about it. However, she's also her own person and may be apprehensive about something that you see as no problem. From there, it has to be your call.
I'll have more info as we go on.
---
I guess we're gonna be looking like this. And I note that we're over 55/80, but whatever.
---
Joshua West (alias "J", "Josh", "Mr. West")
5' 8" (1.73 m), 180 lbs (81.8 kg)
16 years 2 months
African-American descent
Born: Kennedy Port, Iron Country
Residence: n/a
-Base Build
Ninjutsu: 8
Taijutsu: 7
Genjutsu: 4
Intelligence: 9
Strength: 6
Speed: 7
Stamina: 9
Seals: 7
Total: 57/80
Element Level
- Fire 0/5
- Water 2/5
- Earth 0/5
- Lightning 2/5
- Wind 1/5
Jutsu
>>Water Element
Wave Fist (D-Rank, offensive, close range)
Wave Kick (D-Rank, offensive, close range)
Aqua Tower (C-Rank, offensive, variable range)
Aqua Cannon (C-Rank, offensive, variable range)
>>Lightning Element
Heart Attack (B-Rank, offensive/supplementary, close range)
Bolt Punch (C-Rank, offensive, close range)
Spark Ball (C-Rank, offensive, variable range)
Volt Ride (D-Rank, supplementary, variable range)
Amp Up (E-Rank, supplementary, close range)
>>Wind Element
Cutter Gale (D-Rank, offensive, mid range)
Gust Knuckle (D-Rank, offensive, close range)
Blowback (E-Rank, supplementary, long range)
>>Neutral
Machine Gun Blow (C-Rank, offensive, variable range)
Rolling Thunder (B-Rank, offensive, close range)
Corkscrew Blow (B-Rank, offensive, close range)
Corkscrew Cross (A-Rank, offensive, close range)
---
Cadence Kennedy (alias "C", "Sunshine")
5' 4" (1.65 m), 130 lbs (59.1 kg)
16 years 20 days
Irish-American descent
Born: Kennedy Port, Iron Country
Residence: n/a (Kennedy Manor, Ore City)
-Base Build
Ninjutsu: 9
Taijutsu: 8
Genjutsu: 3
Intelligence: 8
Strength: 7
Speed: 8
Stamina: 8
Seals: 6
Total: 57/80
Element Level
- Fire 2/5
- Water 0/5
- Earth 2/5
- Lightning 1/5
- Wind 0/5
>>Fire Element
Ignition Line (C-Rank, supplementary, variable range)
Heat Trick (C-Rank, offensive, mid range)
Hot Changeup (C-Rank, offensive, variable range)
Nova Knuckle (B-Rank, offensive, close range)
Scorch Step (C-Rank, supplementary, close range)
>>Earth Element
Crazy Spire (B-Rank, offensive, long range)
Earth Wall (B-Rank, defensive, close range)
Mud Burst (C-Rank, offensive, mid range)
Gamma Wave (C-Rank, offensive, long range)
>>Lightning Element
Amp Up (E-Rank, supplementary, close range)
Bolt Punch (C-Rank, offensive, close range)
>>Neutral
Flash Kick (B-Rank, offensive, close range)
Sweet Chin Music (C-Rank, offensive, variable range)
Cannon Clothesline (B-Rank, offensive, close range)
Shuffle Knuckle (B-Rank, offensive, close range)
---
"We're on, sugar." The girl beside you stood almost half a foot shorter and maybe fifty about pounds lighter, but she could fight better than any guy you could think of. Helped that she had Irish blood in her. She brushes down her plain white shorts and shrugs her arms in her blue hoodie, with her pink tank-top clinging to her body.
The thugs dressed in black get within range and she takes off a moment ahead of you to clock one of them with a straight punch, sending him rolling across the ground. She turns and ignores the one coming behind her as you charge in with your fists up and rock him with a barrage of punches before finishing with an uppercut.
Her right leg shoots past your face as she lands a side kick to one of the thugs' heads as they come in behind you for an attack. You duck and throw a hard right at an attacker coming in from her right side, hitting him in the gut and sending him backwards.
"Fifth one?" she asks.
"Hm. Probably..." You charge up a ball of lightning energy in your right hand and throw it hard at the attacker coming down from above.
"Spark Ball!" The attack hits him and leaves him paralyzed as he falls to the earth. Cadence lines him up and delivers a hard kick to his chin as he reaches her, throwing him quite a distance and knocking him out. The other four are still active and come at you both again.
"Stubborn..." Cadence mutters as she makes seals and puts her hands together in a triangle shape. "Here it comes. Fire Style: Heat Trick!"
A wave of heat comes from her hands and hits one of the thugs dead on, burning him severely and turning most of his clothing to ash in the process. He falls unconscious.
"Needs work, I guess."
You snort at her comment. "Girl, please." You string together your own seals and launch a kick at the nearest enemy. "Water Style: Wave Kick!" A wave of water rises up and slams into your target, following your kick's path. You make more seals and track him as he flies briefly through the air.
"Lightning Style: Bolt Punch!"
You time your punch perfectly and send volts of electricity jumping through him as you connect, sending him flying off like a rocket into a tree. The bark splinters as he rams back first into it, and slumps to the earth unmoving. Two down, three to go?
"C, you wanna wrap this up?"
"Whenever you're ready. Your call?"
"Guess so. Wind this time."
"Fire, then."
You nod. "I can dig it."
You dodge a few blows from the thugs as you move towards each other, ending up side by side. You both start to make seals and Cadence steps in front of you as you finish and release your technique, stretching one hand over her shoulder.
"Wind Style: Cutter Gale!" A blast of wind erupts from your palm and races towards your enemies. Cadence crouches and slaps both hands on the ground in front of her.
"Fire Style: Ignition Line!" Trails of flame shoot along the ground and in the same direction as your attack, and they meet up, creating a flaming gust that engulfs the three remaining thugs. As the flames dissipate, there seems to be nothing left of them but their small assortment of weapons.
"That's over and done with," she says.
"Yeah. Not too tough."
"Maybe...I think a bit of practice is good, though."
"Yeah, you're right." You both move over to the stunned woman, who is leaning against a nearby tree. She looks at you with a degree of familiarity, you notice. She has long black hair with a few strands hanging between her eyes, wears blue overalls, and has olive green eyes.
"..."
"Hey, you okay?" you ask her. "Sorry if we scared you or anything, but you looked like you were in real trouble there."
"...What...what's your name?" she asks in a soft voice.
"My name? Oh, right. My bad, didn't mean to be rude. Joshua West, nice to meet you. This is my good friend, Cadence Kennedy."
"Nice to meet you. I hope you'll be okay," Cadence says with a smile.
"Joshua...West...that name..." She continues staring at you with some kind of purpose. "Was your grandfather, by chance...a man named Jacob?"
"Jacob West? Yeah, that's my gramps. I guess I shouldn't tell you that but-" She immediately grabs you and pulls you into a tight hug.
"Whoa...what's this all about?"
"I knew it! I somehow knew it! You're his grandson after all! Where is he? Where has he been all of these years?"
"Hey, slow it down, slow it down. Listen, I'm still looking for the man myself, that's part of the reason why I was traveling along this area. I haven't seen him except in photographs. I haven't heard about him except from Granny Becca or through some of the legends about him. I barely know the man. I only know of the man."
"Oh...I see. I'm...I'm really sorry. I didn't know...I was incredibly insensitive," she says dejectedly. "I just got so excited when I heard that you were his family..."
"Why's that?"
"Mother called him Ol' Jake, I just called him Mister Jacob. We met him one day when we were going through some rough times. It was after the Third Shinobi World War...my father was a world class baker from the Hidden Rock Village...he was sent into the war and died as a result of some serious injuries. They say that he stubbornly tried to fight Konoha's Yellow Flash. Even though he was a talented fighter, he was no match for him. Still, he refused to give up and fought until he was unable to move. It was said that the Yellow Flash figured out he was a baker and brought him to an enemy outpost for treatment as he let him go, but my dad went back out half-healed..." She stops for a moment and lets out a heavy sigh.
"Anyways...that was a few months before I was born. Mom tried to continue the business but ran into a lot of trouble...she couldn't replicate dad's famous bread recipe. We were about to pack it in before Mister Jacob arrived and gave my mother some advice. She then came up with a special recipe, even better than Dad's, people said. Mister Jacob, no matter what he was doing, would always find us somehow and buy our bread, no matter what time of day. He said that he wouldn't eat any other bread as long as he lived, so my mom got worried about his eating habits and told him her secret recipe, making him swear to keep it secret, of course. He found us again one day and said that he was happy having it at home, but he still liked to buy from us."
"So you're grateful to my gramps for helping you and your mom, huh?"
She shakes her head. "Not just that. Mister Jacob said that he was going to do something to change the entire world as we knew it...he said he was going to get rid of the old ways and try to start a fresh era. One where we didn't have to deal with all of this tension and fighting between hidden villages...he said that he wanted to change the world, and I believed in him. It was only a few years back when he made a mockery of the world's shinobi by himself, and I nearly jumped for joy. Since then, Mom and I have left Iwagakure and went out on the road, selling our baked goods. Mom says that I'm getting good with baking, too. I'm sure that I was attacked because of my connection with Mister Jacob...they don't know where my mother is, but she's tough. She was a fine kunoichi in her day, so I'm not worried."
"Good to know. So you don't know where my gramps is either, huh?"
"No...Mom and I have been wondering if something happened to him. We haven't seen him for the longest while."
"Yeah...there's something definitely odd going on. If they're resorting to attacking pretty girls selling bread, then that means these people are desperate for information. I think we should back you up for a while and make sure you're okay."
"Are you sure?"
"Well, I guess I should consider your opinion, C," you say as you turn to your friend.
"Where you go, I go. Besides, if you're out doing good, I'll be too happy to lend a hand, J. You know me already."
"Right, right. Sorry if that sounded bad."
She flashes her bright smile. "No worries. I know you're always thinking of me, J."
"In that case...thank you so much. My name's Gina. Gina Panettiere. If we can get my cart fixed up as well, that'd be so awesome."
"Don't you worry. J's a real handy-man," Cadence says. "He's the first guy my parents call if we have any kind of problem in the house. Though I wish he'd take some pay home for it."
"God loves a cheerful giver, C," you say as you set to work on Gina's cart.
"Yeah, but God's not droppin' manna on your doorstep for the hell of it. I'm gonna shove a stack of bills down your pants one of these days, I swear."
"Yeah, yeah...hey, I'm thinking of how we're gonna take care of Gina here. We're trying to get to Lightning Country, anyways..."
"Huh? That's where Mom and I are staying...well, near the border at least. It's a place called Sprite City, and it's pretty bustling. We're thinking of moving there, actually. The people are nice, and there's a lot of business."
"Sprite City, huh? That's where one of my contacts is," you say. "Alright, that's good. Right now we're near Sound Country and Hot Water Country...maybe we should take a few detours so we can throw those guys off."
"That could work," Gina says.
"Yeah, it could. Dunno what I want to do at this exact moment, though."
---
a) Take an alternate route to throw Gina's pursuers off.
1. Northwest to Sound Country.
2. Northeast to Hot Water Country.
3. Northeast to Frost Country
4. Backtrack through Fire Country for a bit before heading back up.
4-1. Hidden Leaf Village
4-2. Tanzaku Quarters
b) March straight ahead to Sprite City. You'd take your chances as you were.
c) Free choice.
---
"Let's head off to Sprite City. It should be helpful if we get there as quickly as possible."
Gina nods at your suggestion. "Okay, I understand. Is the cart ready?"
"Yeah. It should be good to go."
"I'll pull us, J," Cadence says. "You rest up, okay?"
"C, I'm fine."
"Don't give me that! You've gotta get some rest in."
"Alright, alright. You can pull."
"Much appreciated. Gina, hop on. I'll have us there in a jiffy."
"Thanks a lot, Cadence. You know, Joshua reminds me a lot of Mister Jacob..."
"Ah, I'm probably nothing compared to the old man..." you say.
"That's not true...in fact, I think you can possibly finish what he started so long ago..."
You think about that for a moment. It really would be nice to have a world that was peaceful and didn't have so much fighting, and so many people sent off to do battle with each other. Jutsu and weapons were getting deadlier all the time, and countries were always bickering about territories and resources. There were many corrupt people using their power to do what they wanted... and the 'shadows' had grown so large that they had lost sight of their origins, being born from light themselves. They had started to block out the lights they were supposed to protect, and the world was suffering for it.
But you also thought about something far less extreme, a type of reform for the shinobi system as it was. Maybe it really was essential to this world you lived in, and it just needed a change or two to make it all proper and fair.
On the other end of the spectrum was making waves to strengthen the shinobi system as much as possible, making everything run like a well oiled machine and preemptively stifling conflicts. There were a lot of possibilities, and right now you felt that you wanted to continue your grandfather's work, but that could always change. Gina had given you one piece of the puzzle, but was that it? There definitely was more, and there were other perspectives to consider. In any event, you had to build yourself up some more.
You and Gina hop on to the back of her bread cart as Cadence digs her white boots into the ground and pulls you along quickly. Her blonde hair trails behind her as she jogs on. Your mind turns to her and the things that could happen between you two as you went along.
She liked the idea of a free, peaceful world, but as she was optimistic, she was also realistic in her thinking. More than that, she would be against anything that would put you in any kind of serious danger. You knew that you would run into some things and would have to make some big decisions...would you have to consider her in every one of them, or could you think mostly of what you would want to do? Would she even be willing to follow you if your opinions started to drift away from each other? Would there be a possibility that she would be your enemy one day?
Your heart starts to ache at the very thought of having to hurt that girl. She meant a lot to you, and you didn't want to see her hurt by anyone, including yourself. But what would you do if your ideals ended up clashing? Brainwashing her and breaking her mind were out of the question. That would be taking away the essence of who she was, of what you liked about her. The fact that she was a free spirit made Cadence...well, Cadence. It was just something, though...something that was a possibility, and it bothered you right now.
You lie back on the cart and close your eyes. A quick nap would be good.
---
"Joshua?"
Gina's voice reaches your ears, and you open your eyes again. You've reached a warm place with a clear sky above you...and you can see smoke rising from several places. Oh.
"Hot springs...Hot Water Country."
"Yeah...but..."
"What's wrong, Gina?" You sit up and turn around to see Cadence standing in place, in front of someone with an orange spiral shaped mask and a black cloak with red clouds on it. "Who's this guy?"
"I don't know...but he wanted to talk to you, Joshua." Cadence's tone has shifted...she's stern and more straight to the point than usual. "He says that he knows your grandfather. But I don't like the way he said it. I don't like it at all."
"Oh, come now. I just wanted to have a little talk with the grandson of the famous - or perhaps infamous - Mister West."
You hop out of the cart and stand beside Cadence. Gina kneels in the back of the cart and looks you all over fearfully.
"What'cha wanna know? I mean, I haven't seen the old man in...well, I've never seen him, actually. I just heard about him. So you're fresh out of luck if you want me to give you any info."
"On the contrary...I have some information to give you, young Mister West."
"Yeah? Like what?"
"Well, I knew your grandfather quite well. A little too well, perhaps. He and I...developed quite a rivalry. You see, he stepped all over my plans before I could implement them, and decided to go off and nearly level the shinobi world himself...well, practically. He had a little help, of course."
"What's that got to do with me?"
"Indeed, what does it have to do with you? Well, you seem to want the truth about your grandfather, and I think you'd like to be able to create a world of infinite peace and bring an end to all conflict between humans. I mean, wouldn't we all? So I propose this: we join forces. You help me, I help you. The truth, the whole truth about your grandfather would be revealed to you soon enough, and I would be on my way to creating this 'dream' of mine. I have a method of ensuring that the world as we know it would be changed forever. It's something simple, and I would explain it to you in detail..."
"Hm." This guy seemed like a dreamer, but he sounded exactly like your gramps in a way. He wanted to change the world, too...huh. Seemed like a lot of people these days were sick of the old ways.
"It sounds interesting, C. What do you think?"
"...I'm not sure. I don't have any opinion either way."
"Hey, don't go there. I value your thoughts, Cadence. Please, this is important, so I need your input as well."
She gulps before staring into your brown eyes with her blue. "Joshua, my heart is screaming at me...it's telling me to get everyone out of here, and to not take this deal, no matter how tempting it seems. This..somehow, this isn't the way at all. This plan doesn't feel right in the slightest. But I know that you'd want a peaceful world, so it's up to you. I just...I don't know if I could go all the way with you, Joshua."
"Thanks, Cadence. I'm gonna take all of that into consideration..."
"I know you will..."
You look back at Gina, who seems to be squinting at something on the man's cloak. But what?
"Something about that outfit...looks..."
"You okay, Gina?"
"Yeah, it's just that I feel like I've seen someone like this guy somewhere before..."
Well, that could be possible. He could be someone famous or something...or an international criminal. Only time would tell. "By the way, I didn't catch your name, man."
"But of course. Forgive my rudeness. My name is...Madara Uchiha."
You freeze up at that. This guy was seriously on something...Madara Uchiha? Yeah, right. Dude had been dead for the longest time...
"You seem not to believe me. Well, I could show you something that might help..."
At that moment, Gina gasps in horror. "He's...he's Akatsuki! This guy, that cloak! He's with Akatsu-!"
Gina is pulled from the cart and slammed to the ground, Cadence wrapping her hands around her neck.
"Ahh-! A-!"
"Cadence! What the hell are you doing, girl? Snap out of it!" Your head turns to the masked man, and you notice the hole in his mask is lit up with a crimson pinwheel...of all the things to happen now. You avert your eyes from the Uchiha bloodline limit, the Sharingan.
Dammit. Maybe he was the real deal? Either way, you needed to stop this...Gina was frantically gasping for air as Cadence continued to choke her. You didn't know how far this genjutsu went, but you could get rid of it with a timed attack...or...
"So, what is your answer, Mister West? You've probably figured out what would happen if you agreed to join me, right?"
You manage to smirk at him in the midst of the turmoil. "Yeah, I've figured that out. I've also figured out what I want to do."
---
a) Accept 'Madara's' offer.
1. Accept it fully.
2. Accept it with conditions (specify).
3. Agree to join him, but say you'll be flying solo for a while.
b) Refuse the offer.
1. Fully refuse.
2. Refuse, but say you'll think about it.
---
"You see, I'm not really ready to make such a commitment right now, Mister Uchiha. So I'll have to decline your offer. Sorry about that," you say as you make seals quickly.
"Surely, you're not going to attack me?"
"You're right. I'm not." Your hands light up with electricity and you grab and lift up Cadence with one of them, slamming the other into her chest.
"Lightning Style: Heart Attack." She spasms for a moment before falling over, her eyes going blank and her breath stopping. You make another set of seals and clap your hands together before stretching them out to each side.
"Sorry 'bout this, Gina. It'll be painful for a while..."
"I see...you're really his grandson after all," Madara comments as a field of electricity forms in the immediate vicinity. "Using a Lightning technique to take out your friend, and then using another to prevent me from using genjutsu...impressive. I think I actually will give you some time to think your decision over...I'm interested in how you will grow over time..."
"Joshua...it hurts..."
"Just hang in there, Gina...it'll be over soon."
"I suppose I should take my leave. Goodbye for now, Mister West. We'll meet again sometime soon. Think about my generous offer."
The area around his mask seems to spin into a vortex, and he is swallowed up in it, disappearing. You release your Volt Ride and look over Gina as she gasps out in pain.
"You okay?"
"...Yeah...I'll be okay...but Cadence..."
"I know..." You rush over to her side and start compressing her chest as you perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on her, trying to revive her as you had put her into cardiac arrest. Your hands light up with electricity as you rhythmically compress her chest and administer shocks to her system.
"C'mon, girl...you can make it..." You hear her gasp and cough a moment later, while you still continue your compressions for a while longer. The light comes back to her eyes and her breathing starts to return to normal.
"Cadence...can you hear me...?"
She seems a bit disoriented, but manages a smile as she catches her breath. "Joshua...I'm okay..."
"Oh, man. That was scary. Even though it was my idea...damn..."
"My head went blank for a while...I think I was in a genjutsu. All I saw...was this strange red eye..."
"The Sharingan. He got you with a visual jutsu, and tried to force my hand by having you choke out Gina."
"Geez..."
"It's okay, Cadence," Gina says. "I knew there was something wrong...I don't blame you. That guy, though...he's an Uchiha. I've rarely heard of any Uchiha in years..."
"Well, besides that, he's supposed to be dead," you say.
"Why's that?"
"Madara Uchiha co-founded Konohagakure, Gina. He was there when the Uchiha and Senju clans called a truce, and he fought Hashirama Senju at the Valley of the End with the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. It was said that he was killed in that battle...guess it wasn't so, huh?"
"I...wow...this world really is crazy..."
"Tell me about it. You okay, C?"
"More or less...I'll be good in a few minutes."
"Gina, can you take care of her for a bit?"
"Yeah, for sure."
"Okay. I'll pull us the rest of the way up." Your mind is still racing after that encounter with Madara...what the hell was he after? He said he wanted to change the world...but after thinking about it, you realized that it wasn't in the same way the old man wanted to. No, it seemed like he wanted to change the world by having it under his foot or something...and he wasn't above using any means to get what he wanted. Using Cadence like that...damn him...
You move faster to blow off some steam as you move up through the dirt roads. You eventually stop as night falls and check everyone into a hotel. You're still shaking after what happened...
"Joshua..." Cadence walks towards you and gives you a hug. "It's okay. I'm here, okay? I know that you wouldn't let anything bad happen to me, and I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you. So please...just let it out, if you have to."
You hug her back tightly, and she rests her head on your chest. "Today...really shook us up, huh?" she says softly.
"Yeah..."
"I wanna get stronger..."
"Me too."
"...Just don't be reckless, okay?"
"Yeah, I won't. I'll be careful. You need to get some rest, though. Have a soak in the hot springs, C. You'll feel better."
"Only if you do the same, J."
"I dunno, I might have something to do later..."
She looks up at you with her blue eyes and places one hand on your cheek. "For me...please?"
Damn. You couldn't resist that, now. "Alright, C. I'll take the night off."
She smiles softly and pats you once on the cheek. "Thanks...I'll see you soon. Me an' Gina are around if you need anything, remember."
"Yeah. Have fun."
"I will..." She releases herself from your embrace and walks off towards her room. You sigh heavily and look towards the starry sky.
"Gramps...this is trouble. I'm running into things bigger, stronger, and faster than me. But I know that I'm not alone. Whether it's C, or the Almighty, someone's always got my back. I'll find the truth, and I'll find you, old man. So be ready...I'm gonna change this world, one way or another." You exhale softly and head over to your room to get changed.
It's a few minutes later before you're soaking in the hotel's hot springs. You take note of another guy across from you, with slicked back sliver hair. He toys with a bracelet around his neck.
"Hey. Can I ask you a question?"
You figure he's talking to you, so you nod and reply. "Sure, shoot."
"What do you do if your life starts to change for the worse? If everything starts to go south and you can't do anything about it?"
"Well, I'd say to believe that everything's gonna be alright. But that's not all, I reckon. If it's at all possible, you should try and make your own way, do your own thing. That's just me, though."
"Hm. Sounds interesting. The village I'm from...it's becoming weak. It's turning into a damned tourist trap nowadays. We're made up of shinobi who don't want to be shinobi! I mean, what the hell! So I talked to this guy with a swirly mask today. He said he could satisfy my desires, you know? And I could help him change the world and stuff. I'm also thinking about joining a certain religion and stuff. I'm just sick of this crap, man."
"Well, have you thought about becoming a mercenary? I mean, they're separate from shinobi and they get pretty nice pay, get to choose their own work...it's a nice line of work if you're interested in that sort of thing."
"Maybe I am...heh, it's not often you get people that'll talk to you all of a sudden like this. What's your name, brother?"
"Joshua West."
"Folks call me Hidan. I'm from Yugakure, to the northwest."
"Ah, I see. We're heading past there to Sprite City."
"Oh, really? Hm...mind if I tag along? It'd be nice to see if they had any work for me up there."
Well, this was interesting. You had an opportunity to make something brilliant happen at the moment. Maybe you could take the day's negatives and turn them into positives after all...
---
a) Tell Hidan he could join you.
1. Ask him if he'd like to stick with you for a while instead of going out for a job.
2. Tell him you'd help him find some good work.
3. All of the above.
b) Tell him you're on an important mission and couldn't handle any more passengers.
c) Ask him about the man with the mask...maybe you could glean some more information about Madara.
---
"Hey, I'm thinking of making a pitch to you, Hidan. How'd you like to roll with us for a while?"
"Us?"
"Yeah, me and a couple of ladies are heading up for now, but we'll be around a bunch of different areas. I'm doing some investigating and stuff, and we'll take on some different jobs as we go along."
"Thanks, man...but no thanks. I just want to find myself my own way, you know? I think I'd be kind of an odd fit with a guy like you. You seem like you've got it together and all, and we might reach a crossroads because of some of my ideals."
You shrug. "That's cool, man. Either way, we'll be happy to have you if you want to ride up to Sprite City with us."
"Yeah, sounds cool. I'm in."
"Cool." You lie back against the stones surrounding the spring, thinking. You guessed that you had messed with one of Madara's potential recruits...which was good and bad at the same time. Good because you could limit his power base. Bad because he could get pissed and come after you quickly.
Whatever...risks were a part of life. You couldn't wimp out now.
---
Hidan introduces himself to the girls and you four start on your way up north. You pass through Hidan's home village, the Village Hidden in Hot Water. It wasn't much of a ninja village at all...he was right, it was a real tourist stop. Sign pointed the way to various hot springs, merchants were all over the streets...it was a bustling little village, but you could understand why Hidan was pissed off, at least a little.
"I've gotta tell you guys something...but you might think less of me for it."
"...Go ahead, man," you say.
"I was really pissed off at this place...these guys took the meaning of what a shinobi was and smashed it to bits with their lollipop and sunshine attitude. They just wimped out, all of these guys. So I left this village, and joined the faith of Jashin...I had planned to exercise my faith by completely destroying this village and all of these people..."
Gina lets out a small gasp. You and Cadence remain silent as he continues. "I was just so pissed off, man. I was so angry...maybe these changes were just scaring me too much, and that's why I've been so violent lately. Maybe that's just who I am. I dunno. I just know that this isn't the right way for things to be. There's gotta be some violence in the world..."
"Why is that, though?" Cadence asks. "Why can't we have peace instead of bloodshed?"
"Lady...you might not like hearing this, but as long as man walks this planet, there ain't no such thing as peace. You can change the world, you can make it a better place to live, but there will always be violence and bloodshed. Whether it's to disrupt the world or improve it, there's always gonna be people busting heads. That's where I'm supposed to be, busting heads. It's who I am. It's what I'm here for. I didn't need Jashin or anything else to tell me that...I just feel it in my soul. It ain't my business to worry about peace and love and all of that crap, no offense. I'm here to kick ass and take names if I have the time. That's all it is...that's me."
Everyone is silent as you all reach the outskirts of the village and leave the hustle and bustle behind. Your feet dig into the dirt as you head for the Frost Country ahead.
---
Cadence jogs alongside you to keep warm as you move through Frost Country by night. Hidan sits silently, his giant three-bladed scythe strapped to his back and connected to him by a chain. He wears one of Gina's down-filled jackets, and Gina is herself wrapped in one as she sleeps soundly.
"Hey, J...you think Hidan is right? Do you think there's no such thing as true peace in this world?"
You take a moment before answering. "I think he's kind of right...yeah, there's no such thing as 'true' peace, but we can always try and try to get as close as we can. And believe it or not...we need guys like him who are willing to bust heads without hesitating. We can't run a proper world without 'em."
"I guess that makes sense..."
"It's what he sees in the world, C. That's his perspective. You've got yours, so you'll think about things like that differently. Right and wrong...all that is subjective in the end when it comes to people."
"Yeah. I feel you, J."
You eventually find a place to stop the cart and find one of Gina's spare jackets to put over Cadence. You lift her up and into the cart as she yawns.
"I can stay up for a while longer..."
"Don't worry about it, C. Just rest for now, you don't need to push it."
"...Hm. 'Kay..."
"Night."
"Mm-hm...dreamin'..."
You smile as she nods off...and then get serious as you hear footsteps coming towards you. Standing down the road from you is a huge guy, maybe about six and a half feet tall...he's got a big sword and seems like he isn't afraid to use it. He wears a small cloak over his shirtless body, black pants, and heavy combat boots. He has long black hair running down his huge shoulders, and has rippling muscles seemingly everywhere. His hair obscures his eyes from your view.
You wondered what he wanted at first, but he pointed his sword towards you and made it clear. Hidan shrugs off his jacket and walks up beside you.
"So, looks like we've got a fight on our hands."
"Looks like it," you say.
You look at each other and nod before charging at him.
---
a) Attempt to disable the use of his sword.
b) Attack him directly.
c) Attack him with precision.
d) Attack him lightly and gather info before going at him.
---
"Ante up, big guy!" Hidan yells as he swings his scythe down. The big man moves surprisingly quickly as he blocks and instantly reverses the attack direction, then hits Hidan in the gut with the grip of his sword. He slides back as you rush in and slide under a sword swing, then pop up and start making seals.
"Lightning Style: Bolt Punch!" You slam your charged fist into his abdomen, but receive a backhand for your troubles. You sail backwards before landing on your feet and charging in again. Looked like your attack didn't do much to him at all...damn. Probably was all that muscle, dude was ripped.
Hidan gets slugged in the face and rolls past you. You jump back and barely dodge a slash coming at your chest, then resume your sprint forward and leap upwards, then launch a flying back kick at his head. He takes the hit solidly and stumbles backwards a bit before throwing an uppercut at your position. You manage to parry his massive fist and skip backwards as you hit the ground.
"Dude's tough," Hidan comments.
"No doubt. He can take hits as well as he can dish 'em out."
"You got anything in mind?"
"Probably. Just need to run a few tests first...how many elements are you good with, man?"
"Zilch."
"You're killing me out here. Seriously?"
"Hey, I wasn't big on ninjutsu. That's it, dude."
"Alright, alright. I've got you, don't worry about that. You lead in, I've got something."
"Okay, if you say so..." Hidan takes off at full speed and you take another look at the current situation. The big guy had a little immunity to electrical attacks as long as they were weak. He was quick with his weapon. He had a lot of physical strength. All of that you knew. His movement speed...it didn't seem like he was too confident in that. Forcing him into a hand-to-hand situation could be for the best, since your attacks were generally geared towards close combat.
First thing was first, though. You either needed to put his arm out of commission, or take out that weapon. Hidan swings his scythe at the man again and is easily blocked, then pushed off some distance, rolling along the ground to a stop. "Dammit! I'm getting tired of this!"
"Hidan! I'm open, man!"
"What?" he yells as he picks himself up.
"I said, I'm open!"
He stares at you before glancing once at his scythe. He smirks in realization, and from his position swings the weapon in a wide arc towards you both. You hop over the trailing chain and follow the scythe as it seems destined to be blocked by the big guy's sword again. You strike it hard with your lightning-infused palm, and then watch as it slices through the sword like hot butter, and cuts the big man's chest as it flies away. He grunts once as you jump back and then charge in, launching a follow-up attack. Your fists fly at high speed and hit him in the chest and abs with a barrage of punches.
"Machine Gun Blow!" You hop backwards again and pull back one of your fists to finish the job.
"Game over, dude. Corkscrew-!"
"On your six, Josh!"
Hidan's yell prompts you to roll left and dodge a volley of light arrows that landed where you once stood, in front of the big man. You turn and note a foreign-looking woman in a knee-length blue skirt and red fur jacket. Her white hair was tied into two long pigtails on either side of her head. She had sparkling orange eyes and a smile on her face. Hidan happened to be lying on his stomach, below one of her heeled, woolly boots.
"Mister Hidan, of the Village Hidden in Hot Water, ya? How's life these days with the Jashinists?" she asks with a heavy accent. Sounded Dutch, you thought.
"Eh, I don't run with those guys anymore, you know? 'Gimme that old time religion' is what I say. I'm just looking for work, sweetie. By the way, could I get your number sometime?"
"My, we're quite bold today, aren't we? Too bad for you, I'm in the mood for some...chocolate." She winks at you playfully, and you can't resist smiling back.
"Careful now, I might be a bit too sweet for you. Fresh batch and all."
"That's okay. As long as it's fresh enough, right?"
Damn. You gulp and start to figure out the situation in lieu of this...lovely, lovely conversation. "So, what's the deal with Andre the Giant here? Why attack us? Oh, nice genjutsu, by the way. C and Gina seem way out of this one..."
"Thanks. I didn't want too many people involved, ya? But you play well with others, so that's good. And this was a little test...just to see how you were coming along."
"Coming along?"
"Da, as the grandson of the Wizard, I guessed you could have some exceptional ability. Looks like I was right, ya?"
"'Wizard'? You must be talking about the old man again. Nothing but trouble, I swear..."
"It must seem that way, hm? But don't worry, I'm not an enemy. Let me introduce myself, ya? Heidi Lichtbrenger, het Arrow Witch. I am part of a certain group, known as the Seven Grand Cannons of Truth. That is my helper over there, Staal."
"Man, sounds like quite a group."
"Da, it is. We were born out of a desire to help Mister Jacob West fulfill his dream of changing the world as we knew it. He disappeared, but we are searching for him still. And with you rising up as a new star, we'll be able to continue our mission with a little less worry."
"You believe in me that much, huh? Well, I'll try not to let you down, Miss Lichtbrenger."
"Please, call me Heidi. And I know you'll continue to get stronger and stronger, just as he did."
"Do I have some kind of super-strong bloodline or something, like the old man, you think?"
"Not that I know of...in fact, your grandfather was something truly special. He managed to take on the world as he was, with just the skills he had learned and built upon over his years of training. He could do things that people with bloodline limits could only dream of, and it was because he didn't have one that he could do such incredible things."
"Because he didn't have a bloodline limit? I find it hard to believe, that. I mean, able to outdo things such as the Sharingan..."
"Not just the Sharingan, but the Rinnegan as well..."
You blink a few times at that. "You're trippin', Heidi. The Rinnegan originated from the Sage of Six Paths, the founder of all ninja arts. You're telling me that the old man, my grandfather who immigrated to this continent on a damn lifeboat with a buck-fifty in his back pocket and his girlfriend, the guy who I've never actually met, did things that the ****ing Sage of Six Paths, the father of ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu, the guy who supposedly created the ****ing moon on his DEATHBED could not do? You messing with me, girl?"
"...Your reaction, believe it or not, was far milder than mine. But when I saw it...my God. It can't be just described what Mister Jacob could do with those two hands of his. And he could do a lot of things."
Okay. You're now officially flipping out, at least on the inside. Your grandfather was apparently a legend beyond legends beyond legends...and somehow, you're supposed to match up to that? All you've got is some old book of techniques that he supposedly wrote, at least partially...and they weren't even that advanced, certainly not to the level Heidi was making it out to be.
Wait. Maybe that was the point. Building and building on what you already had until it exploded exponentially...was that what he did? Was that how he got so strong? If it was like that...maybe...
"We Seven Cannons want to see you grow strong, young Joshua. The world could stand to change a little more these days, and we think that you're the one to do that."
"What if I go the other way? What if what I'm thinking goes against your wants?"
"It's not like that, Joshua. We will help you, no matter what path you choose. As long as the world changes in some way...we will be satisfied. Besides, our leader feels that she knows what path you will eventually choose...and we will be there to guide you if you so need it. We will do what we are able to, for you and for your friends as well."
"...It all sounds a little too chipper."
"I understand a little. When I first joined, I couldn't really believe what was going on. I wasn't sure about any of this. But as soon as I saw Mister Jacob that day, I felt something in my heart start to stir me up...it's the same feeling I'm getting right now, from you." She moves from her position and walks towards you. Her face is almost at yours as she stares into your eyes.
"I believe...that you will make something good happen for all of us in this world. I believe in you, somehow..."
"...I don't want that faith to be misplaced..."
"It won't be. Just follow your heart," she says with a smile. "Come, I will take you all to a safe place." Several arrows appear out of thin air around her and strike the area around you, making a box shape. She makes a few seals and claps her hands together.
Immediately, you all end up in the middle of a small town. Gina and Cadence are still sleeping on the cart. Hidan looks around and gets up slowly.
"She's got everything, dude. If you don't hit that, I'm gonna be so-"
"Hidan...not the time, bro."
"Right, sorry."
"Anyways, it's time I left you for now, ya. Be a good boy until I get back, okay?"
"No guarantees," you say with a grin.
She giggles at that and gives you a wave before disappearing with the big guy, Staal. Well...that was interesting.
"...Just saying, you've gotta tap that, or I will. Seriously."
"Maybe later, man. I've still got some stuff to sort out in my head..."
"Alright, dude." He cracks his neck. "The girls are still sleeping...maybe I should hit the hay, too. A little rest after those night-time exercises should be nice..."
"Yeah. I might settle down myself after a while. Sleep well, man."
"You too, dude."
You're far from ready to sleep...there should be something to occupy your time right now, right? All of these thoughts, you wanted to focus them somehow. Or maybe it was just better to sleep things off for now...
---
a) Read through your book again. Maybe there was something that you could pick up.
b) Do some training for a while. You could work on something you hadn't noticed before.
c) Try to wake Cadence up.
1. Ask her to train with you.
2. Talk to her about what happened earlier.
3. Talk with her about general, unrelated stuff.
d) Just go to sleep. You were tired, but didn't realize it yet for some reason...maybe.
e) Free choice.
You close your eyes and try to go to sleep. Nothing.
You keep trying and trying, falling asleep for maybe a few minutes at a time before waking up each time. It was pissing you off immensely. All of these thoughts kept pestering you, over and over. The pages of the book came to your mind all jumbled and nonsensical. You couldn't see anything properly. What the hell was all of this?
The morning light hits you and you slowly open your eyes. You hadn't actually slept at all.
Goddammit. What was going on? Why were you feeling this way all of a sudden? You were calm and composed last night, feeling cool about everything and dealing with whatever came your way. So what was this? Why were you freaking out all of a sudden? Why did it feel like everything was on your shoulders now?
"Hey...you feeling alright?" Cadence kneels down and looks you over. "You don't look so hot."
"I'm fine...just over-thinking, that's it."
"It can't be that."
"That's what it is, though."
"No, it ain't. I know you better than that. You don't do things like over-think. Something's on your mind."
"...It's a long story."
"I'm here to listen...that's what I'm about. I'm your friend. Tell me about what's burning you up..." She places one of her hands on top of yours.
You sigh deeply and recant what had happened last night, and how it all made you feel so suddenly. It just felt so messed up how you were feeling all of a sudden.
"It's not something so crazy. I think it's just the weight setting in, the reality just getting to you. We all get that feeling sometimes. What you've gotta do is keep yourself sharp. Come on," she says, grabbing your hand and pulling you along with her. She finds a secluded spot and moves off a good distance from you.
"Cadence-"
She puts a finger to her lips, silencing you. Her hands make shapes suddenly, and she isn't speaking a word. You read her signs like you usually did...
I want to put your mind on something else. We'll go a round or two to get you out of this funk.
You sign back. I'm not in the mood, Cadence. My heart won't be in it.
Don't be like that. Just follow my lead, it'll be okay.
Fine...I'll try it with you.
Good. Get ready for me...
She walks up to you and slowly sends a fist towards your face. You push it away gently and just as slowly chop at her neck. She blocks softly and tries a trip on you, which you step out of and counter with a slow punch towards the midsection. She parries gently and tosses a light elbow, which you block.
Your eyes are locked onto each other as you move with each other, slowly and gently. The movements start to get a little faster, but you don't look away as you both move on. She trips you up a bit, but you regain balance and block a light punch before countering with your own. She grabs hold of your arm and tries to pull you in, but you spin and break free for a moment before restoring contact with her. Her knee meets your palms as you block another low-speed move. You can feel her stare going right into you, as if she was looking for something, trying to pull it out...but you can't look away from her for a moment. Everything starts to go faster and faster.
You throw a punch to her head that she dodges as she throws a kick to your stomach that you block easily. She quickly switches to the other leg and you block that as well. She performs a reverse kick with the original leg and you parry that before trying to counter with your own kicks. Her body moves gracefully as she jumps onto your leg and then towards you...
You spin away and then block an incoming punch, following up with a right cross that connects, hitting Cadence in the side of her head. She skips backwards and shakes out her arms before rushing back in at you. Your arms and legs bounce off of each other over and over as you both try to find an opening and attack. She kicks high and you duck under it, going in to sweep her leg from under her. She instead pushes off of it and floats up into the air over your head. She then flips herself over to deliver an axe kick that barely whiffs as you roll forward and out of the way. She lands again and throws another punch that you dodge, and another, and another. You bob and weave as she tries to land a hit on you.
She flinches as you tag her with a punch to the abdomen, and you step in and light her up with high-speed jabs of all sorts. You finish with a straight punch that sends her sliding back. Her slight edge in speed allows her to recover and hit you in the shoulder with a flying punch, which makes you stumble a bit as she winds up. She then laces you with a hay-maker to the face that nearly puts you on the floor, if not for your regained balance. You quickly shrug it off and take advantage of her lagging follow through to grab her arm and pull her into your knee, making her gasp out in a bit of pain. She grabs hold of your leg and uses it as leverage to take you down onto your back. You roll over, taking her with you, and continue squeezing her arm until both of your grips slacken and you break free of each other, getting back to your feet.
Your eyes are locked to each other again as you both breathe heavily. This...was something you hadn't done with her in a while. 'Therapy', she called it. Made a lot of sense why she said that now.
How far do you want to go? she signs silently. The session had changed your mood a bit, but you were still tired...you were also restless about this whole thing that had happened. Everything was getting stirred up inside of you right now.
---
a) Continue with Cadence.
1. Stick to taijutsu only.
2. Add in ninjutsu for the rest of the match.
b) Might as well stop now...you didn't feel like going any further.
1. Talk to Cadence afterwards.
2. Try and get some rest again.
3. Read your book and try to figure something out from there.
c) Free choice.
Hope y'all like what I'll be trying out.
---
Morning. Beautiful time of day, wasn't it? The sky was clear and the weather was totally sweet.
You point the bill of your cap backwards and start off walking through the city again. It wasn't exactly home, but it was a place to spend the night, at least. That last freelance job had paid off quite well, which was good.
"Hey, J!"
A slender-looking girl with wild blonde hair runs up to you. She smiles and looks you over with her cool blue eyes. "Been looking for ya. Sleep well?"
"Yeah, guess so."
"Money's tight again, huh?"
"Might be for a while, yeah. But we'll figure something out. We always do."
"Yup! You've always been able to make something out of nothing, J."
"Too true."
"C'mon. I'll cook us breakfast if I can find something at the market."
"Sounds good, C." She turns and starts to skip off ahead of you, her fair skin seeming to sparkle against the morning sun. That Cadence was a cheery girl, even when times were hard...well, she never thought times were hard, anyways. She was grateful for everything that came her way. Which was odd considering her lineage.
Well, whatever. She'd been your best friend since about seven years back, when you had just turned nine. You had both practically grown up in the same place...though not everyone liked you there and pretty much drove you out by using some underhanded means. All because of your old man...your old, old man, as in, your grandfather. Your dad was...well, it wasn't very appropriate to say. Your mom was a diplomat, so she was away a lot, for really long periods of time.
She'd flip out when she got back, you realize. Damn.
You shake your head and head over to the market to help Cadence pick out some stuff for today's meal. She was a whiz when it came to making a lot from a little...you wondered if her family was actually more resourceful than they let on, or if it was just Cadence herself. Something to think about, you figured.
"What'cha want to do after breakfast?" she says, carrying a bag in her hands.
"Dunno. I want to find out what Gramps had been doing."
"They say that he almost destroyed the Five Powers a while back...that he was trying to ruin the world as we knew it. That sounds kind of scary. And if they found out that you're his grandson...well..."
"Chill out, C. We're civilians, but we still can bring the heat. Besides, I'm convinced that this ain't the whole story. Gramps never did things without reason. If he was going after the hidden villages, I'd like to find out why."
She thinks for a moment before nodding. "Makes sense. I'm behind you, then."
"Thanks, C. I wouldn't have made it this far without you."
"Ha, don't say that. You're the one that's been protecting me all this time. I should be thanking you," she says with a smile. "But for now, which way are we gonna head next?"
Hm. Good question. You were currently in Fire Country...you could make it over to the Hidden Leaf easily and start your investigation there. That was west of this small city. Eastward was the Land of Waves, and further out than that was the Hidden Mist Village in the Land of Water. Also west of the city were the Tanzaku Quarters.
You had a lot of places you could go to right now.
---
a) Head eastward.
1. Land of Waves
2. Land of Water
b) Head westward.
1. Hidden Leaf
2. Tanzaku Quarters
c) Free choice as to where to go (any place in any direction).
---
Kinda skimpy on some things, but I'll get to those soon. Just a bit tired.
---
"Lightning Country sounds like somewhere good to go."
"Hm. I guess so. It'd kind of be like a homecoming, right?"
You and Cadence sit near a crystal clear pond, eating breakfast beside the makeshift fire pit you had dug out earlier. You shake your head at her question.
"Nah, I've got no family there or from there. I may look it, but I've got no relationship to that place at all."
"Yeah, I see your point."
"I do have some acquaintances over there, though. And there's a small town near the Hidden Cloud village that we'd be able to crash at for a while. We'd just have to do some traveling for a bit..."
She shrugs as she bites into her food. "Fine with me. A little exercise never did me any harm."
A few hours later, you both grab the few things you have from the place you were staying and leave for Lightning Country. It would take a few days for you both to get across the border and into the Hot Water Country. You both rest after moving quickly through the dense forests for an entire day, lying on the branches of a large tree.
"How far do you think we are?" Cadence asks.
"Not that far out. We should make it to the next country in about a day at this pace."
"Cool. Getting sleepy, though..."
"Yeah, it's getting dark out, too. You get some sleep, and I'll keep watch."
"You sure? I can take it from here if you're tired, J."
"Nah, it's fine. I'll be okay, promise."
"Okay...have a good night, then. Be safe, Joshua."
"I will."
She gives you a smile before lying back and closing her eyes. Out like a light...huh, and she wanted to take watch. That girl worried too much about you sometimes. You figured that it would be a good time to make some more headway in studying up on 'jutsu'. Your gramps was apparently a genius when it came to the subject, and you knew how to mold your energy into 'chakra', which was needed to perform the three types of jutsu: taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu. Didn't seem terribly hard so far, but practice always made perfect.
It's a few hours before the sun starts to rise and Cadence wakes up. She taps you on the shoulder and you pick up your book to leave.
Another few hours of running through the treetops is uneventful until you hear some screams to the west of your location. You nod to Cadence and she follows you in that direction as you head towards the ground and hit it running. The scene comes right into your sight a moment later. There's a young woman being harassed by a group of five thugs. A small cart lay ransacked nearby and the woman was backed into a tree, her face bruised and her clothing torn.
Well, this was what you needed, a spot of trouble before lunch. "C, we've got work."
"Hm. Looks like it. Pro bono, I'm assuming?"
"Naturally." You grab the thugs' attention. "Hey, jerk-offs! Why don't ya aim higher and try to rob someone who isn't outnumbered for once, huh?"
They all turn towards you and immediately charge forward without a word. Damn...looked like they weren't average thugs after all.
"Run! You're going to get killed if you stay here!" the woman screams out at you.
Get killed? Ah, didn't seem like it would be that bad. Maybe a cut or two, lost limb. It happened.
"Game plan, J?"
You look over to your companion and smile. "Same as always, C."
"Right on, then." She cracks her knuckles. "Time to set it off."
Style Select #1
a) Element
1. Latent mastery of one element
2. Rising expertise of two elements
3. Control of three elements
4. Minimal competency in four elements
5. Bare basics of all five elements
for a1)-a4)
i) Fire
ii) Water
iii) Earth
iv) Lightning
v) Wind
---
Statistics (ten point scale)
Ninjutsu: 5
Taijutsu: 5
Genjutsu: 5
Intelligence: 8
Strength: 5
Speed: 5
Stamina: 5
Seals: 5
Total 43/80. 12 free points for you guys do whatever with, which means the stat total can be no higher than 55/80. Stats can be rearranged as anyone sees fit.
---
Anyone else? I've been out for a while and had a blazing headache up until a few minutes ago, so I haven't been able to do much of anything lately, much less write. If anything, I'll take the middle road for the elements and giga's stats as our build.
I think I should go over some of the ground rules for now.
Basically, this story is going to be influenced by how everyone votes. You can add or subtract from the choices I give out via free choices when they come up. Sometimes I'll say you can pick 2 or 3 options, but you don't necessarily have to. Sometimes less is more.
One of the things that I'll tell you right now is that there will be a severe lack of number crunching. In other words, there won't be a value assigned to your total chakra pool, or your jutsu. The only numbers you'll likely run into are the stats and the level of your elemental ability/abilities. So that also means that you won't get killed off from chakra exhaustion during a fight as a result. You can die other ways, but not like that.
Speaking of deaths, you guys can pretty much die as many times as you want and finish the story, so unlimited continues. Of course there's a catch. You get penalized for dying, and more importantly for the way that you died. Penalties can range from busting you back to the beginning of a fight, or an entire arc with the difficulty turned up, or handicapping you, or even a nasty (and likely permanent) stat decrease, or if I feel you guys really sucked, I'll decrease one of your stats and then cap it. For that last one, you'd have to do incredibly badly.
You also have to consider your partner. She's there as your bailout, my mouthpiece, and a great help in battle, among other things. If you want to go it alone, you can, but otherwise I'll have you two teaming up at almost every opportunity, so you'll have each others' backs on a default setting. Her affinity will complement yours in most cases, and since you have the lead, she'll follow your orders unless they're bad. Then I'll have her question you about it. However, she's also her own person and may be apprehensive about something that you see as no problem. From there, it has to be your call.
I'll have more info as we go on.
---
I guess we're gonna be looking like this. And I note that we're over 55/80, but whatever.
---
Joshua West (alias "J", "Josh", "Mr. West")
5' 8" (1.73 m), 180 lbs (81.8 kg)
16 years 2 months
African-American descent
Born: Kennedy Port, Iron Country
Residence: n/a
-Base Build
Ninjutsu: 8
Taijutsu: 7
Genjutsu: 4
Intelligence: 9
Strength: 6
Speed: 7
Stamina: 9
Seals: 7
Total: 57/80
Element Level
- Fire 0/5
- Water 2/5
- Earth 0/5
- Lightning 2/5
- Wind 1/5
Jutsu
>>Water Element
Wave Fist (D-Rank, offensive, close range)
Wave Kick (D-Rank, offensive, close range)
Aqua Tower (C-Rank, offensive, variable range)
Aqua Cannon (C-Rank, offensive, variable range)
>>Lightning Element
Heart Attack (B-Rank, offensive/supplementary, close range)
Bolt Punch (C-Rank, offensive, close range)
Spark Ball (C-Rank, offensive, variable range)
Volt Ride (D-Rank, supplementary, variable range)
Amp Up (E-Rank, supplementary, close range)
>>Wind Element
Cutter Gale (D-Rank, offensive, mid range)
Gust Knuckle (D-Rank, offensive, close range)
Blowback (E-Rank, supplementary, long range)
>>Neutral
Machine Gun Blow (C-Rank, offensive, variable range)
Rolling Thunder (B-Rank, offensive, close range)
Corkscrew Blow (B-Rank, offensive, close range)
Corkscrew Cross (A-Rank, offensive, close range)
---
Cadence Kennedy (alias "C", "Sunshine")
5' 4" (1.65 m), 130 lbs (59.1 kg)
16 years 20 days
Irish-American descent
Born: Kennedy Port, Iron Country
Residence: n/a (Kennedy Manor, Ore City)
-Base Build
Ninjutsu: 9
Taijutsu: 8
Genjutsu: 3
Intelligence: 8
Strength: 7
Speed: 8
Stamina: 8
Seals: 6
Total: 57/80
Element Level
- Fire 2/5
- Water 0/5
- Earth 2/5
- Lightning 1/5
- Wind 0/5
>>Fire Element
Ignition Line (C-Rank, supplementary, variable range)
Heat Trick (C-Rank, offensive, mid range)
Hot Changeup (C-Rank, offensive, variable range)
Nova Knuckle (B-Rank, offensive, close range)
Scorch Step (C-Rank, supplementary, close range)
>>Earth Element
Crazy Spire (B-Rank, offensive, long range)
Earth Wall (B-Rank, defensive, close range)
Mud Burst (C-Rank, offensive, mid range)
Gamma Wave (C-Rank, offensive, long range)
>>Lightning Element
Amp Up (E-Rank, supplementary, close range)
Bolt Punch (C-Rank, offensive, close range)
>>Neutral
Flash Kick (B-Rank, offensive, close range)
Sweet Chin Music (C-Rank, offensive, variable range)
Cannon Clothesline (B-Rank, offensive, close range)
Shuffle Knuckle (B-Rank, offensive, close range)
---
"We're on, sugar." The girl beside you stood almost half a foot shorter and maybe fifty about pounds lighter, but she could fight better than any guy you could think of. Helped that she had Irish blood in her. She brushes down her plain white shorts and shrugs her arms in her blue hoodie, with her pink tank-top clinging to her body.
The thugs dressed in black get within range and she takes off a moment ahead of you to clock one of them with a straight punch, sending him rolling across the ground. She turns and ignores the one coming behind her as you charge in with your fists up and rock him with a barrage of punches before finishing with an uppercut.
Her right leg shoots past your face as she lands a side kick to one of the thugs' heads as they come in behind you for an attack. You duck and throw a hard right at an attacker coming in from her right side, hitting him in the gut and sending him backwards.
"Fifth one?" she asks.
"Hm. Probably..." You charge up a ball of lightning energy in your right hand and throw it hard at the attacker coming down from above.
"Spark Ball!" The attack hits him and leaves him paralyzed as he falls to the earth. Cadence lines him up and delivers a hard kick to his chin as he reaches her, throwing him quite a distance and knocking him out. The other four are still active and come at you both again.
"Stubborn..." Cadence mutters as she makes seals and puts her hands together in a triangle shape. "Here it comes. Fire Style: Heat Trick!"
A wave of heat comes from her hands and hits one of the thugs dead on, burning him severely and turning most of his clothing to ash in the process. He falls unconscious.
"Needs work, I guess."
You snort at her comment. "Girl, please." You string together your own seals and launch a kick at the nearest enemy. "Water Style: Wave Kick!" A wave of water rises up and slams into your target, following your kick's path. You make more seals and track him as he flies briefly through the air.
"Lightning Style: Bolt Punch!"
You time your punch perfectly and send volts of electricity jumping through him as you connect, sending him flying off like a rocket into a tree. The bark splinters as he rams back first into it, and slumps to the earth unmoving. Two down, three to go?
"C, you wanna wrap this up?"
"Whenever you're ready. Your call?"
"Guess so. Wind this time."
"Fire, then."
You nod. "I can dig it."
You dodge a few blows from the thugs as you move towards each other, ending up side by side. You both start to make seals and Cadence steps in front of you as you finish and release your technique, stretching one hand over her shoulder.
"Wind Style: Cutter Gale!" A blast of wind erupts from your palm and races towards your enemies. Cadence crouches and slaps both hands on the ground in front of her.
"Fire Style: Ignition Line!" Trails of flame shoot along the ground and in the same direction as your attack, and they meet up, creating a flaming gust that engulfs the three remaining thugs. As the flames dissipate, there seems to be nothing left of them but their small assortment of weapons.
"That's over and done with," she says.
"Yeah. Not too tough."
"Maybe...I think a bit of practice is good, though."
"Yeah, you're right." You both move over to the stunned woman, who is leaning against a nearby tree. She looks at you with a degree of familiarity, you notice. She has long black hair with a few strands hanging between her eyes, wears blue overalls, and has olive green eyes.
"..."
"Hey, you okay?" you ask her. "Sorry if we scared you or anything, but you looked like you were in real trouble there."
"...What...what's your name?" she asks in a soft voice.
"My name? Oh, right. My bad, didn't mean to be rude. Joshua West, nice to meet you. This is my good friend, Cadence Kennedy."
"Nice to meet you. I hope you'll be okay," Cadence says with a smile.
"Joshua...West...that name..." She continues staring at you with some kind of purpose. "Was your grandfather, by chance...a man named Jacob?"
"Jacob West? Yeah, that's my gramps. I guess I shouldn't tell you that but-" She immediately grabs you and pulls you into a tight hug.
"Whoa...what's this all about?"
"I knew it! I somehow knew it! You're his grandson after all! Where is he? Where has he been all of these years?"
"Hey, slow it down, slow it down. Listen, I'm still looking for the man myself, that's part of the reason why I was traveling along this area. I haven't seen him except in photographs. I haven't heard about him except from Granny Becca or through some of the legends about him. I barely know the man. I only know of the man."
"Oh...I see. I'm...I'm really sorry. I didn't know...I was incredibly insensitive," she says dejectedly. "I just got so excited when I heard that you were his family..."
"Why's that?"
"Mother called him Ol' Jake, I just called him Mister Jacob. We met him one day when we were going through some rough times. It was after the Third Shinobi World War...my father was a world class baker from the Hidden Rock Village...he was sent into the war and died as a result of some serious injuries. They say that he stubbornly tried to fight Konoha's Yellow Flash. Even though he was a talented fighter, he was no match for him. Still, he refused to give up and fought until he was unable to move. It was said that the Yellow Flash figured out he was a baker and brought him to an enemy outpost for treatment as he let him go, but my dad went back out half-healed..." She stops for a moment and lets out a heavy sigh.
"Anyways...that was a few months before I was born. Mom tried to continue the business but ran into a lot of trouble...she couldn't replicate dad's famous bread recipe. We were about to pack it in before Mister Jacob arrived and gave my mother some advice. She then came up with a special recipe, even better than Dad's, people said. Mister Jacob, no matter what he was doing, would always find us somehow and buy our bread, no matter what time of day. He said that he wouldn't eat any other bread as long as he lived, so my mom got worried about his eating habits and told him her secret recipe, making him swear to keep it secret, of course. He found us again one day and said that he was happy having it at home, but he still liked to buy from us."
"So you're grateful to my gramps for helping you and your mom, huh?"
She shakes her head. "Not just that. Mister Jacob said that he was going to do something to change the entire world as we knew it...he said he was going to get rid of the old ways and try to start a fresh era. One where we didn't have to deal with all of this tension and fighting between hidden villages...he said that he wanted to change the world, and I believed in him. It was only a few years back when he made a mockery of the world's shinobi by himself, and I nearly jumped for joy. Since then, Mom and I have left Iwagakure and went out on the road, selling our baked goods. Mom says that I'm getting good with baking, too. I'm sure that I was attacked because of my connection with Mister Jacob...they don't know where my mother is, but she's tough. She was a fine kunoichi in her day, so I'm not worried."
"Good to know. So you don't know where my gramps is either, huh?"
"No...Mom and I have been wondering if something happened to him. We haven't seen him for the longest while."
"Yeah...there's something definitely odd going on. If they're resorting to attacking pretty girls selling bread, then that means these people are desperate for information. I think we should back you up for a while and make sure you're okay."
"Are you sure?"
"Well, I guess I should consider your opinion, C," you say as you turn to your friend.
"Where you go, I go. Besides, if you're out doing good, I'll be too happy to lend a hand, J. You know me already."
"Right, right. Sorry if that sounded bad."
She flashes her bright smile. "No worries. I know you're always thinking of me, J."
"In that case...thank you so much. My name's Gina. Gina Panettiere. If we can get my cart fixed up as well, that'd be so awesome."
"Don't you worry. J's a real handy-man," Cadence says. "He's the first guy my parents call if we have any kind of problem in the house. Though I wish he'd take some pay home for it."
"God loves a cheerful giver, C," you say as you set to work on Gina's cart.
"Yeah, but God's not droppin' manna on your doorstep for the hell of it. I'm gonna shove a stack of bills down your pants one of these days, I swear."
"Yeah, yeah...hey, I'm thinking of how we're gonna take care of Gina here. We're trying to get to Lightning Country, anyways..."
"Huh? That's where Mom and I are staying...well, near the border at least. It's a place called Sprite City, and it's pretty bustling. We're thinking of moving there, actually. The people are nice, and there's a lot of business."
"Sprite City, huh? That's where one of my contacts is," you say. "Alright, that's good. Right now we're near Sound Country and Hot Water Country...maybe we should take a few detours so we can throw those guys off."
"That could work," Gina says.
"Yeah, it could. Dunno what I want to do at this exact moment, though."
---
a) Take an alternate route to throw Gina's pursuers off.
1. Northwest to Sound Country.
2. Northeast to Hot Water Country.
3. Northeast to Frost Country
4. Backtrack through Fire Country for a bit before heading back up.
4-1. Hidden Leaf Village
4-2. Tanzaku Quarters
b) March straight ahead to Sprite City. You'd take your chances as you were.
c) Free choice.
---
"Let's head off to Sprite City. It should be helpful if we get there as quickly as possible."
Gina nods at your suggestion. "Okay, I understand. Is the cart ready?"
"Yeah. It should be good to go."
"I'll pull us, J," Cadence says. "You rest up, okay?"
"C, I'm fine."
"Don't give me that! You've gotta get some rest in."
"Alright, alright. You can pull."
"Much appreciated. Gina, hop on. I'll have us there in a jiffy."
"Thanks a lot, Cadence. You know, Joshua reminds me a lot of Mister Jacob..."
"Ah, I'm probably nothing compared to the old man..." you say.
"That's not true...in fact, I think you can possibly finish what he started so long ago..."
You think about that for a moment. It really would be nice to have a world that was peaceful and didn't have so much fighting, and so many people sent off to do battle with each other. Jutsu and weapons were getting deadlier all the time, and countries were always bickering about territories and resources. There were many corrupt people using their power to do what they wanted... and the 'shadows' had grown so large that they had lost sight of their origins, being born from light themselves. They had started to block out the lights they were supposed to protect, and the world was suffering for it.
But you also thought about something far less extreme, a type of reform for the shinobi system as it was. Maybe it really was essential to this world you lived in, and it just needed a change or two to make it all proper and fair.
On the other end of the spectrum was making waves to strengthen the shinobi system as much as possible, making everything run like a well oiled machine and preemptively stifling conflicts. There were a lot of possibilities, and right now you felt that you wanted to continue your grandfather's work, but that could always change. Gina had given you one piece of the puzzle, but was that it? There definitely was more, and there were other perspectives to consider. In any event, you had to build yourself up some more.
You and Gina hop on to the back of her bread cart as Cadence digs her white boots into the ground and pulls you along quickly. Her blonde hair trails behind her as she jogs on. Your mind turns to her and the things that could happen between you two as you went along.
She liked the idea of a free, peaceful world, but as she was optimistic, she was also realistic in her thinking. More than that, she would be against anything that would put you in any kind of serious danger. You knew that you would run into some things and would have to make some big decisions...would you have to consider her in every one of them, or could you think mostly of what you would want to do? Would she even be willing to follow you if your opinions started to drift away from each other? Would there be a possibility that she would be your enemy one day?
Your heart starts to ache at the very thought of having to hurt that girl. She meant a lot to you, and you didn't want to see her hurt by anyone, including yourself. But what would you do if your ideals ended up clashing? Brainwashing her and breaking her mind were out of the question. That would be taking away the essence of who she was, of what you liked about her. The fact that she was a free spirit made Cadence...well, Cadence. It was just something, though...something that was a possibility, and it bothered you right now.
You lie back on the cart and close your eyes. A quick nap would be good.
---
"Joshua?"
Gina's voice reaches your ears, and you open your eyes again. You've reached a warm place with a clear sky above you...and you can see smoke rising from several places. Oh.
"Hot springs...Hot Water Country."
"Yeah...but..."
"What's wrong, Gina?" You sit up and turn around to see Cadence standing in place, in front of someone with an orange spiral shaped mask and a black cloak with red clouds on it. "Who's this guy?"
"I don't know...but he wanted to talk to you, Joshua." Cadence's tone has shifted...she's stern and more straight to the point than usual. "He says that he knows your grandfather. But I don't like the way he said it. I don't like it at all."
"Oh, come now. I just wanted to have a little talk with the grandson of the famous - or perhaps infamous - Mister West."
You hop out of the cart and stand beside Cadence. Gina kneels in the back of the cart and looks you all over fearfully.
"What'cha wanna know? I mean, I haven't seen the old man in...well, I've never seen him, actually. I just heard about him. So you're fresh out of luck if you want me to give you any info."
"On the contrary...I have some information to give you, young Mister West."
"Yeah? Like what?"
"Well, I knew your grandfather quite well. A little too well, perhaps. He and I...developed quite a rivalry. You see, he stepped all over my plans before I could implement them, and decided to go off and nearly level the shinobi world himself...well, practically. He had a little help, of course."
"What's that got to do with me?"
"Indeed, what does it have to do with you? Well, you seem to want the truth about your grandfather, and I think you'd like to be able to create a world of infinite peace and bring an end to all conflict between humans. I mean, wouldn't we all? So I propose this: we join forces. You help me, I help you. The truth, the whole truth about your grandfather would be revealed to you soon enough, and I would be on my way to creating this 'dream' of mine. I have a method of ensuring that the world as we know it would be changed forever. It's something simple, and I would explain it to you in detail..."
"Hm." This guy seemed like a dreamer, but he sounded exactly like your gramps in a way. He wanted to change the world, too...huh. Seemed like a lot of people these days were sick of the old ways.
"It sounds interesting, C. What do you think?"
"...I'm not sure. I don't have any opinion either way."
"Hey, don't go there. I value your thoughts, Cadence. Please, this is important, so I need your input as well."
She gulps before staring into your brown eyes with her blue. "Joshua, my heart is screaming at me...it's telling me to get everyone out of here, and to not take this deal, no matter how tempting it seems. This..somehow, this isn't the way at all. This plan doesn't feel right in the slightest. But I know that you'd want a peaceful world, so it's up to you. I just...I don't know if I could go all the way with you, Joshua."
"Thanks, Cadence. I'm gonna take all of that into consideration..."
"I know you will..."
You look back at Gina, who seems to be squinting at something on the man's cloak. But what?
"Something about that outfit...looks..."
"You okay, Gina?"
"Yeah, it's just that I feel like I've seen someone like this guy somewhere before..."
Well, that could be possible. He could be someone famous or something...or an international criminal. Only time would tell. "By the way, I didn't catch your name, man."
"But of course. Forgive my rudeness. My name is...Madara Uchiha."
You freeze up at that. This guy was seriously on something...Madara Uchiha? Yeah, right. Dude had been dead for the longest time...
"You seem not to believe me. Well, I could show you something that might help..."
At that moment, Gina gasps in horror. "He's...he's Akatsuki! This guy, that cloak! He's with Akatsu-!"
Gina is pulled from the cart and slammed to the ground, Cadence wrapping her hands around her neck.
"Ahh-! A-!"
"Cadence! What the hell are you doing, girl? Snap out of it!" Your head turns to the masked man, and you notice the hole in his mask is lit up with a crimson pinwheel...of all the things to happen now. You avert your eyes from the Uchiha bloodline limit, the Sharingan.
Dammit. Maybe he was the real deal? Either way, you needed to stop this...Gina was frantically gasping for air as Cadence continued to choke her. You didn't know how far this genjutsu went, but you could get rid of it with a timed attack...or...
"So, what is your answer, Mister West? You've probably figured out what would happen if you agreed to join me, right?"
You manage to smirk at him in the midst of the turmoil. "Yeah, I've figured that out. I've also figured out what I want to do."
---
a) Accept 'Madara's' offer.
1. Accept it fully.
2. Accept it with conditions (specify).
3. Agree to join him, but say you'll be flying solo for a while.
b) Refuse the offer.
1. Fully refuse.
2. Refuse, but say you'll think about it.
---
"You see, I'm not really ready to make such a commitment right now, Mister Uchiha. So I'll have to decline your offer. Sorry about that," you say as you make seals quickly.
"Surely, you're not going to attack me?"
"You're right. I'm not." Your hands light up with electricity and you grab and lift up Cadence with one of them, slamming the other into her chest.
"Lightning Style: Heart Attack." She spasms for a moment before falling over, her eyes going blank and her breath stopping. You make another set of seals and clap your hands together before stretching them out to each side.
"Sorry 'bout this, Gina. It'll be painful for a while..."
"I see...you're really his grandson after all," Madara comments as a field of electricity forms in the immediate vicinity. "Using a Lightning technique to take out your friend, and then using another to prevent me from using genjutsu...impressive. I think I actually will give you some time to think your decision over...I'm interested in how you will grow over time..."
"Joshua...it hurts..."
"Just hang in there, Gina...it'll be over soon."
"I suppose I should take my leave. Goodbye for now, Mister West. We'll meet again sometime soon. Think about my generous offer."
The area around his mask seems to spin into a vortex, and he is swallowed up in it, disappearing. You release your Volt Ride and look over Gina as she gasps out in pain.
"You okay?"
"...Yeah...I'll be okay...but Cadence..."
"I know..." You rush over to her side and start compressing her chest as you perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on her, trying to revive her as you had put her into cardiac arrest. Your hands light up with electricity as you rhythmically compress her chest and administer shocks to her system.
"C'mon, girl...you can make it..." You hear her gasp and cough a moment later, while you still continue your compressions for a while longer. The light comes back to her eyes and her breathing starts to return to normal.
"Cadence...can you hear me...?"
She seems a bit disoriented, but manages a smile as she catches her breath. "Joshua...I'm okay..."
"Oh, man. That was scary. Even though it was my idea...damn..."
"My head went blank for a while...I think I was in a genjutsu. All I saw...was this strange red eye..."
"The Sharingan. He got you with a visual jutsu, and tried to force my hand by having you choke out Gina."
"Geez..."
"It's okay, Cadence," Gina says. "I knew there was something wrong...I don't blame you. That guy, though...he's an Uchiha. I've rarely heard of any Uchiha in years..."
"Well, besides that, he's supposed to be dead," you say.
"Why's that?"
"Madara Uchiha co-founded Konohagakure, Gina. He was there when the Uchiha and Senju clans called a truce, and he fought Hashirama Senju at the Valley of the End with the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. It was said that he was killed in that battle...guess it wasn't so, huh?"
"I...wow...this world really is crazy..."
"Tell me about it. You okay, C?"
"More or less...I'll be good in a few minutes."
"Gina, can you take care of her for a bit?"
"Yeah, for sure."
"Okay. I'll pull us the rest of the way up." Your mind is still racing after that encounter with Madara...what the hell was he after? He said he wanted to change the world...but after thinking about it, you realized that it wasn't in the same way the old man wanted to. No, it seemed like he wanted to change the world by having it under his foot or something...and he wasn't above using any means to get what he wanted. Using Cadence like that...damn him...
You move faster to blow off some steam as you move up through the dirt roads. You eventually stop as night falls and check everyone into a hotel. You're still shaking after what happened...
"Joshua..." Cadence walks towards you and gives you a hug. "It's okay. I'm here, okay? I know that you wouldn't let anything bad happen to me, and I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you. So please...just let it out, if you have to."
You hug her back tightly, and she rests her head on your chest. "Today...really shook us up, huh?" she says softly.
"Yeah..."
"I wanna get stronger..."
"Me too."
"...Just don't be reckless, okay?"
"Yeah, I won't. I'll be careful. You need to get some rest, though. Have a soak in the hot springs, C. You'll feel better."
"Only if you do the same, J."
"I dunno, I might have something to do later..."
She looks up at you with her blue eyes and places one hand on your cheek. "For me...please?"
Damn. You couldn't resist that, now. "Alright, C. I'll take the night off."
She smiles softly and pats you once on the cheek. "Thanks...I'll see you soon. Me an' Gina are around if you need anything, remember."
"Yeah. Have fun."
"I will..." She releases herself from your embrace and walks off towards her room. You sigh heavily and look towards the starry sky.
"Gramps...this is trouble. I'm running into things bigger, stronger, and faster than me. But I know that I'm not alone. Whether it's C, or the Almighty, someone's always got my back. I'll find the truth, and I'll find you, old man. So be ready...I'm gonna change this world, one way or another." You exhale softly and head over to your room to get changed.
It's a few minutes later before you're soaking in the hotel's hot springs. You take note of another guy across from you, with slicked back sliver hair. He toys with a bracelet around his neck.
"Hey. Can I ask you a question?"
You figure he's talking to you, so you nod and reply. "Sure, shoot."
"What do you do if your life starts to change for the worse? If everything starts to go south and you can't do anything about it?"
"Well, I'd say to believe that everything's gonna be alright. But that's not all, I reckon. If it's at all possible, you should try and make your own way, do your own thing. That's just me, though."
"Hm. Sounds interesting. The village I'm from...it's becoming weak. It's turning into a damned tourist trap nowadays. We're made up of shinobi who don't want to be shinobi! I mean, what the hell! So I talked to this guy with a swirly mask today. He said he could satisfy my desires, you know? And I could help him change the world and stuff. I'm also thinking about joining a certain religion and stuff. I'm just sick of this crap, man."
"Well, have you thought about becoming a mercenary? I mean, they're separate from shinobi and they get pretty nice pay, get to choose their own work...it's a nice line of work if you're interested in that sort of thing."
"Maybe I am...heh, it's not often you get people that'll talk to you all of a sudden like this. What's your name, brother?"
"Joshua West."
"Folks call me Hidan. I'm from Yugakure, to the northwest."
"Ah, I see. We're heading past there to Sprite City."
"Oh, really? Hm...mind if I tag along? It'd be nice to see if they had any work for me up there."
Well, this was interesting. You had an opportunity to make something brilliant happen at the moment. Maybe you could take the day's negatives and turn them into positives after all...
---
a) Tell Hidan he could join you.
1. Ask him if he'd like to stick with you for a while instead of going out for a job.
2. Tell him you'd help him find some good work.
3. All of the above.
b) Tell him you're on an important mission and couldn't handle any more passengers.
c) Ask him about the man with the mask...maybe you could glean some more information about Madara.
---
"Hey, I'm thinking of making a pitch to you, Hidan. How'd you like to roll with us for a while?"
"Us?"
"Yeah, me and a couple of ladies are heading up for now, but we'll be around a bunch of different areas. I'm doing some investigating and stuff, and we'll take on some different jobs as we go along."
"Thanks, man...but no thanks. I just want to find myself my own way, you know? I think I'd be kind of an odd fit with a guy like you. You seem like you've got it together and all, and we might reach a crossroads because of some of my ideals."
You shrug. "That's cool, man. Either way, we'll be happy to have you if you want to ride up to Sprite City with us."
"Yeah, sounds cool. I'm in."
"Cool." You lie back against the stones surrounding the spring, thinking. You guessed that you had messed with one of Madara's potential recruits...which was good and bad at the same time. Good because you could limit his power base. Bad because he could get pissed and come after you quickly.
Whatever...risks were a part of life. You couldn't wimp out now.
---
Hidan introduces himself to the girls and you four start on your way up north. You pass through Hidan's home village, the Village Hidden in Hot Water. It wasn't much of a ninja village at all...he was right, it was a real tourist stop. Sign pointed the way to various hot springs, merchants were all over the streets...it was a bustling little village, but you could understand why Hidan was pissed off, at least a little.
"I've gotta tell you guys something...but you might think less of me for it."
"...Go ahead, man," you say.
"I was really pissed off at this place...these guys took the meaning of what a shinobi was and smashed it to bits with their lollipop and sunshine attitude. They just wimped out, all of these guys. So I left this village, and joined the faith of Jashin...I had planned to exercise my faith by completely destroying this village and all of these people..."
Gina lets out a small gasp. You and Cadence remain silent as he continues. "I was just so pissed off, man. I was so angry...maybe these changes were just scaring me too much, and that's why I've been so violent lately. Maybe that's just who I am. I dunno. I just know that this isn't the right way for things to be. There's gotta be some violence in the world..."
"Why is that, though?" Cadence asks. "Why can't we have peace instead of bloodshed?"
"Lady...you might not like hearing this, but as long as man walks this planet, there ain't no such thing as peace. You can change the world, you can make it a better place to live, but there will always be violence and bloodshed. Whether it's to disrupt the world or improve it, there's always gonna be people busting heads. That's where I'm supposed to be, busting heads. It's who I am. It's what I'm here for. I didn't need Jashin or anything else to tell me that...I just feel it in my soul. It ain't my business to worry about peace and love and all of that crap, no offense. I'm here to kick ass and take names if I have the time. That's all it is...that's me."
Everyone is silent as you all reach the outskirts of the village and leave the hustle and bustle behind. Your feet dig into the dirt as you head for the Frost Country ahead.
---
Cadence jogs alongside you to keep warm as you move through Frost Country by night. Hidan sits silently, his giant three-bladed scythe strapped to his back and connected to him by a chain. He wears one of Gina's down-filled jackets, and Gina is herself wrapped in one as she sleeps soundly.
"Hey, J...you think Hidan is right? Do you think there's no such thing as true peace in this world?"
You take a moment before answering. "I think he's kind of right...yeah, there's no such thing as 'true' peace, but we can always try and try to get as close as we can. And believe it or not...we need guys like him who are willing to bust heads without hesitating. We can't run a proper world without 'em."
"I guess that makes sense..."
"It's what he sees in the world, C. That's his perspective. You've got yours, so you'll think about things like that differently. Right and wrong...all that is subjective in the end when it comes to people."
"Yeah. I feel you, J."
You eventually find a place to stop the cart and find one of Gina's spare jackets to put over Cadence. You lift her up and into the cart as she yawns.
"I can stay up for a while longer..."
"Don't worry about it, C. Just rest for now, you don't need to push it."
"...Hm. 'Kay..."
"Night."
"Mm-hm...dreamin'..."
You smile as she nods off...and then get serious as you hear footsteps coming towards you. Standing down the road from you is a huge guy, maybe about six and a half feet tall...he's got a big sword and seems like he isn't afraid to use it. He wears a small cloak over his shirtless body, black pants, and heavy combat boots. He has long black hair running down his huge shoulders, and has rippling muscles seemingly everywhere. His hair obscures his eyes from your view.
You wondered what he wanted at first, but he pointed his sword towards you and made it clear. Hidan shrugs off his jacket and walks up beside you.
"So, looks like we've got a fight on our hands."
"Looks like it," you say.
You look at each other and nod before charging at him.
---
a) Attempt to disable the use of his sword.
b) Attack him directly.
c) Attack him with precision.
d) Attack him lightly and gather info before going at him.
---
"Ante up, big guy!" Hidan yells as he swings his scythe down. The big man moves surprisingly quickly as he blocks and instantly reverses the attack direction, then hits Hidan in the gut with the grip of his sword. He slides back as you rush in and slide under a sword swing, then pop up and start making seals.
"Lightning Style: Bolt Punch!" You slam your charged fist into his abdomen, but receive a backhand for your troubles. You sail backwards before landing on your feet and charging in again. Looked like your attack didn't do much to him at all...damn. Probably was all that muscle, dude was ripped.
Hidan gets slugged in the face and rolls past you. You jump back and barely dodge a slash coming at your chest, then resume your sprint forward and leap upwards, then launch a flying back kick at his head. He takes the hit solidly and stumbles backwards a bit before throwing an uppercut at your position. You manage to parry his massive fist and skip backwards as you hit the ground.
"Dude's tough," Hidan comments.
"No doubt. He can take hits as well as he can dish 'em out."
"You got anything in mind?"
"Probably. Just need to run a few tests first...how many elements are you good with, man?"
"Zilch."
"You're killing me out here. Seriously?"
"Hey, I wasn't big on ninjutsu. That's it, dude."
"Alright, alright. I've got you, don't worry about that. You lead in, I've got something."
"Okay, if you say so..." Hidan takes off at full speed and you take another look at the current situation. The big guy had a little immunity to electrical attacks as long as they were weak. He was quick with his weapon. He had a lot of physical strength. All of that you knew. His movement speed...it didn't seem like he was too confident in that. Forcing him into a hand-to-hand situation could be for the best, since your attacks were generally geared towards close combat.
First thing was first, though. You either needed to put his arm out of commission, or take out that weapon. Hidan swings his scythe at the man again and is easily blocked, then pushed off some distance, rolling along the ground to a stop. "Dammit! I'm getting tired of this!"
"Hidan! I'm open, man!"
"What?" he yells as he picks himself up.
"I said, I'm open!"
He stares at you before glancing once at his scythe. He smirks in realization, and from his position swings the weapon in a wide arc towards you both. You hop over the trailing chain and follow the scythe as it seems destined to be blocked by the big guy's sword again. You strike it hard with your lightning-infused palm, and then watch as it slices through the sword like hot butter, and cuts the big man's chest as it flies away. He grunts once as you jump back and then charge in, launching a follow-up attack. Your fists fly at high speed and hit him in the chest and abs with a barrage of punches.
"Machine Gun Blow!" You hop backwards again and pull back one of your fists to finish the job.
"Game over, dude. Corkscrew-!"
"On your six, Josh!"
Hidan's yell prompts you to roll left and dodge a volley of light arrows that landed where you once stood, in front of the big man. You turn and note a foreign-looking woman in a knee-length blue skirt and red fur jacket. Her white hair was tied into two long pigtails on either side of her head. She had sparkling orange eyes and a smile on her face. Hidan happened to be lying on his stomach, below one of her heeled, woolly boots.
"Mister Hidan, of the Village Hidden in Hot Water, ya? How's life these days with the Jashinists?" she asks with a heavy accent. Sounded Dutch, you thought.
"Eh, I don't run with those guys anymore, you know? 'Gimme that old time religion' is what I say. I'm just looking for work, sweetie. By the way, could I get your number sometime?"
"My, we're quite bold today, aren't we? Too bad for you, I'm in the mood for some...chocolate." She winks at you playfully, and you can't resist smiling back.
"Careful now, I might be a bit too sweet for you. Fresh batch and all."
"That's okay. As long as it's fresh enough, right?"
Damn. You gulp and start to figure out the situation in lieu of this...lovely, lovely conversation. "So, what's the deal with Andre the Giant here? Why attack us? Oh, nice genjutsu, by the way. C and Gina seem way out of this one..."
"Thanks. I didn't want too many people involved, ya? But you play well with others, so that's good. And this was a little test...just to see how you were coming along."
"Coming along?"
"Da, as the grandson of the Wizard, I guessed you could have some exceptional ability. Looks like I was right, ya?"
"'Wizard'? You must be talking about the old man again. Nothing but trouble, I swear..."
"It must seem that way, hm? But don't worry, I'm not an enemy. Let me introduce myself, ya? Heidi Lichtbrenger, het Arrow Witch. I am part of a certain group, known as the Seven Grand Cannons of Truth. That is my helper over there, Staal."
"Man, sounds like quite a group."
"Da, it is. We were born out of a desire to help Mister Jacob West fulfill his dream of changing the world as we knew it. He disappeared, but we are searching for him still. And with you rising up as a new star, we'll be able to continue our mission with a little less worry."
"You believe in me that much, huh? Well, I'll try not to let you down, Miss Lichtbrenger."
"Please, call me Heidi. And I know you'll continue to get stronger and stronger, just as he did."
"Do I have some kind of super-strong bloodline or something, like the old man, you think?"
"Not that I know of...in fact, your grandfather was something truly special. He managed to take on the world as he was, with just the skills he had learned and built upon over his years of training. He could do things that people with bloodline limits could only dream of, and it was because he didn't have one that he could do such incredible things."
"Because he didn't have a bloodline limit? I find it hard to believe, that. I mean, able to outdo things such as the Sharingan..."
"Not just the Sharingan, but the Rinnegan as well..."
You blink a few times at that. "You're trippin', Heidi. The Rinnegan originated from the Sage of Six Paths, the founder of all ninja arts. You're telling me that the old man, my grandfather who immigrated to this continent on a damn lifeboat with a buck-fifty in his back pocket and his girlfriend, the guy who I've never actually met, did things that the ****ing Sage of Six Paths, the father of ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu, the guy who supposedly created the ****ing moon on his DEATHBED could not do? You messing with me, girl?"
"...Your reaction, believe it or not, was far milder than mine. But when I saw it...my God. It can't be just described what Mister Jacob could do with those two hands of his. And he could do a lot of things."
Okay. You're now officially flipping out, at least on the inside. Your grandfather was apparently a legend beyond legends beyond legends...and somehow, you're supposed to match up to that? All you've got is some old book of techniques that he supposedly wrote, at least partially...and they weren't even that advanced, certainly not to the level Heidi was making it out to be.
Wait. Maybe that was the point. Building and building on what you already had until it exploded exponentially...was that what he did? Was that how he got so strong? If it was like that...maybe...
"We Seven Cannons want to see you grow strong, young Joshua. The world could stand to change a little more these days, and we think that you're the one to do that."
"What if I go the other way? What if what I'm thinking goes against your wants?"
"It's not like that, Joshua. We will help you, no matter what path you choose. As long as the world changes in some way...we will be satisfied. Besides, our leader feels that she knows what path you will eventually choose...and we will be there to guide you if you so need it. We will do what we are able to, for you and for your friends as well."
"...It all sounds a little too chipper."
"I understand a little. When I first joined, I couldn't really believe what was going on. I wasn't sure about any of this. But as soon as I saw Mister Jacob that day, I felt something in my heart start to stir me up...it's the same feeling I'm getting right now, from you." She moves from her position and walks towards you. Her face is almost at yours as she stares into your eyes.
"I believe...that you will make something good happen for all of us in this world. I believe in you, somehow..."
"...I don't want that faith to be misplaced..."
"It won't be. Just follow your heart," she says with a smile. "Come, I will take you all to a safe place." Several arrows appear out of thin air around her and strike the area around you, making a box shape. She makes a few seals and claps her hands together.
Immediately, you all end up in the middle of a small town. Gina and Cadence are still sleeping on the cart. Hidan looks around and gets up slowly.
"She's got everything, dude. If you don't hit that, I'm gonna be so-"
"Hidan...not the time, bro."
"Right, sorry."
"Anyways, it's time I left you for now, ya. Be a good boy until I get back, okay?"
"No guarantees," you say with a grin.
She giggles at that and gives you a wave before disappearing with the big guy, Staal. Well...that was interesting.
"...Just saying, you've gotta tap that, or I will. Seriously."
"Maybe later, man. I've still got some stuff to sort out in my head..."
"Alright, dude." He cracks his neck. "The girls are still sleeping...maybe I should hit the hay, too. A little rest after those night-time exercises should be nice..."
"Yeah. I might settle down myself after a while. Sleep well, man."
"You too, dude."
You're far from ready to sleep...there should be something to occupy your time right now, right? All of these thoughts, you wanted to focus them somehow. Or maybe it was just better to sleep things off for now...
---
a) Read through your book again. Maybe there was something that you could pick up.
b) Do some training for a while. You could work on something you hadn't noticed before.
c) Try to wake Cadence up.
1. Ask her to train with you.
2. Talk to her about what happened earlier.
3. Talk with her about general, unrelated stuff.
d) Just go to sleep. You were tired, but didn't realize it yet for some reason...maybe.
e) Free choice.
You close your eyes and try to go to sleep. Nothing.
You keep trying and trying, falling asleep for maybe a few minutes at a time before waking up each time. It was pissing you off immensely. All of these thoughts kept pestering you, over and over. The pages of the book came to your mind all jumbled and nonsensical. You couldn't see anything properly. What the hell was all of this?
The morning light hits you and you slowly open your eyes. You hadn't actually slept at all.
Goddammit. What was going on? Why were you feeling this way all of a sudden? You were calm and composed last night, feeling cool about everything and dealing with whatever came your way. So what was this? Why were you freaking out all of a sudden? Why did it feel like everything was on your shoulders now?
"Hey...you feeling alright?" Cadence kneels down and looks you over. "You don't look so hot."
"I'm fine...just over-thinking, that's it."
"It can't be that."
"That's what it is, though."
"No, it ain't. I know you better than that. You don't do things like over-think. Something's on your mind."
"...It's a long story."
"I'm here to listen...that's what I'm about. I'm your friend. Tell me about what's burning you up..." She places one of her hands on top of yours.
You sigh deeply and recant what had happened last night, and how it all made you feel so suddenly. It just felt so messed up how you were feeling all of a sudden.
"It's not something so crazy. I think it's just the weight setting in, the reality just getting to you. We all get that feeling sometimes. What you've gotta do is keep yourself sharp. Come on," she says, grabbing your hand and pulling you along with her. She finds a secluded spot and moves off a good distance from you.
"Cadence-"
She puts a finger to her lips, silencing you. Her hands make shapes suddenly, and she isn't speaking a word. You read her signs like you usually did...
I want to put your mind on something else. We'll go a round or two to get you out of this funk.
You sign back. I'm not in the mood, Cadence. My heart won't be in it.
Don't be like that. Just follow my lead, it'll be okay.
Fine...I'll try it with you.
Good. Get ready for me...
She walks up to you and slowly sends a fist towards your face. You push it away gently and just as slowly chop at her neck. She blocks softly and tries a trip on you, which you step out of and counter with a slow punch towards the midsection. She parries gently and tosses a light elbow, which you block.
Your eyes are locked onto each other as you move with each other, slowly and gently. The movements start to get a little faster, but you don't look away as you both move on. She trips you up a bit, but you regain balance and block a light punch before countering with your own. She grabs hold of your arm and tries to pull you in, but you spin and break free for a moment before restoring contact with her. Her knee meets your palms as you block another low-speed move. You can feel her stare going right into you, as if she was looking for something, trying to pull it out...but you can't look away from her for a moment. Everything starts to go faster and faster.
You throw a punch to her head that she dodges as she throws a kick to your stomach that you block easily. She quickly switches to the other leg and you block that as well. She performs a reverse kick with the original leg and you parry that before trying to counter with your own kicks. Her body moves gracefully as she jumps onto your leg and then towards you...
You spin away and then block an incoming punch, following up with a right cross that connects, hitting Cadence in the side of her head. She skips backwards and shakes out her arms before rushing back in at you. Your arms and legs bounce off of each other over and over as you both try to find an opening and attack. She kicks high and you duck under it, going in to sweep her leg from under her. She instead pushes off of it and floats up into the air over your head. She then flips herself over to deliver an axe kick that barely whiffs as you roll forward and out of the way. She lands again and throws another punch that you dodge, and another, and another. You bob and weave as she tries to land a hit on you.
She flinches as you tag her with a punch to the abdomen, and you step in and light her up with high-speed jabs of all sorts. You finish with a straight punch that sends her sliding back. Her slight edge in speed allows her to recover and hit you in the shoulder with a flying punch, which makes you stumble a bit as she winds up. She then laces you with a hay-maker to the face that nearly puts you on the floor, if not for your regained balance. You quickly shrug it off and take advantage of her lagging follow through to grab her arm and pull her into your knee, making her gasp out in a bit of pain. She grabs hold of your leg and uses it as leverage to take you down onto your back. You roll over, taking her with you, and continue squeezing her arm until both of your grips slacken and you break free of each other, getting back to your feet.
Your eyes are locked to each other again as you both breathe heavily. This...was something you hadn't done with her in a while. 'Therapy', she called it. Made a lot of sense why she said that now.
How far do you want to go? she signs silently. The session had changed your mood a bit, but you were still tired...you were also restless about this whole thing that had happened. Everything was getting stirred up inside of you right now.
---
a) Continue with Cadence.
1. Stick to taijutsu only.
2. Add in ninjutsu for the rest of the match.
b) Might as well stop now...you didn't feel like going any further.
1. Talk to Cadence afterwards.
2. Try and get some rest again.
3. Read your book and try to figure something out from there.
c) Free choice.