Uchiha Manor - Hitofuki

[Y]

Starting to feel just the slighest twinge of exhaustion and mental consternation from making all the plants slowly whip around, Ayumu would lean back against the side of the house with a sigh. Damn dude, you can do the gardening of four gardeners in a tenth of the time, but it still doesn't feel like shit. He began to wonder why his family would even need a manicured garden. We're fucking masters of the grand illusion, not fucking botanists. What good is some fresh cut grass gonna do to goddamn chakra masters?

The grass around him would begin to droop with his mood. Perhaps the slighest notions of self-destruction had crept up into Ayumu's consciousness, or perhaps it was a simple sense of futility which was plaguing him, but nonetheless, all the garden and all the grass would slowly seem to lie down flatter, and become less rigid. Hamura, who had climed onto the wall, would habe an excellent vantage point for seeing this odd movement, but he would be able to catch merely a glimpse of the young Uchiha, as the doorframe still mostly blocked vision of him from the street.

Fuck dude. We lose hundreds on hundreds of kinfolk in two seperate genocides, and we act like its the goddamn grass and manor houses and shit we miss. Building a nice house isn't going to do shit for bringing those dead folks back. I guess it'd be nice and all to have all the young folks together again, like a family or whatever. As Ayumu's spirits lifted briefly, wondering if he could create a genuine sense of community, so too would the grass perk up. But as his thoughts turned grimmer, what if this house just gives them something to take from us again the grass would spread out again, turning into a wild mess of undergrowth.

Caught in his daydream, Ayumu would be yet unaware of the visitor on the fence, as they were still mostly unaware of each other's existence. Ayumu listened as his dominated vegetation calmed down a little bit. Not realising he had leaked his own feelings into the grass, he assumed the growing quiet among the grass represented the near completion of his attempt to clean the place up.

[Flower]

Victoria listened to the two of them contemplate what might be beyond, but didn't listen very well. Who knew what they were going to be up against? No point in worrying about it now. The boy crawled up on a wall and made mention of Emi's name. It seemed that Hamura still had some of his youthful habits. "Well, whatever it is," Victoria said, "We're not getting anything done by standing around." If the two of them were to follow her, then Victoria would begin to lead them toward where she knew the Uchiha Manor to be located. As she walked, her cells began to change one more time altering her appearance and body language to make it more difficult for others to determine her alignment and intentions (False Intentions). Her body was now in tip-top shape for her true motives, and to hide anything she wouldn't want her teammates to know...

Her sharingan eyes burned brightly as the three of them would walk forward, if Emi and Hamura were ready, and they would have a little more time to talk as they made their way there. Victoria imagined that if either of them had anything left to say, they could say it on the way there. She didn't like being the leader, but what was she to do? One of them was a rain ninja who proclaimed he was mainly there to watch (an annoyance to Valerys who didn't like anybody's eyes being on her for too long) and Hamura who was not but a child -- as powerful as he might grow up to be. Luckily, Victoria did have quite a bit of knowledge about leading others but simply walked ahead now, hoping to get to the manor soon. "As for an army," Victoria said as they walked, "if you gave me cover then I could make sure that quite a few of them fell under my spell," she pointed to her eyes, "as for splitting up, would it not be appropriate to meet where we started?"

As they would get closer to the Uchiha Manor, Victoria would keep her eyes pealed and looking around for any sign of the individual they had been sent to track. She remained aware of the grace of the Uchiha in this area as well, keeping in mind their genjutsu and fire affinities. She remembered Shiki's words about the poewrful chakra aura and it seemed that she could almost feel it... So far, however, it seemed oddly quiet. Victoria didn't like it. As they approached the building and it came within view, waiting until they were about twenty meters away, Valerys would say, "If you so desire, I could send someone in to check it out?" She smiled at Emi with a knowing smile.

SPOILER: Click to show

Leadership: 125/125 + 5 insight (Eccentric Specialist) = 130

Still Active:
    Body of Lies

False intentions
Rank: C-ranked
Skill: Taijutsu
Effect: Reading the alignment or nature or the user is harder.
Special: ---
Drawback: Same drawbacks as "Body Of lies". Only hides outward presentation. Literally mind reading, or physical contact that produces the same end results as mind reading cannot be deceived.
Description: The deceptive qualities of the Kedōin are so powerful, it even influences how the mind and body functions in terms of outward emotional presentation. Common reflexive manners, the physical appearance of emotions (such as fist clenching in anger, or relaxed shoulders in elation), and even how the neurons fire during certain emotional states can be overridden by the user's cellular manipulation abilities. "Micro expression", the involuntary facial expression shown on the face of humans according to emotions experienced can even be controlled by a conscious Kedōin, which are often the expressions pick up by animals. Animals and users with the abilities to read these emotional states will view the user as the way the Kedōin desire. For example, a evil killing intent and anger can be hidden behind a smile, which can normally be sensed by animals. The user's alignment is hidden as well, matching the current presentation they desire. When a murderous Kedōin is trying to portray a chivalrous hero, it is very difficult to tell the user is putting on an act. It takes 1 post to alter and maintain consistent body functions.
Limit: Kedōin Blood Line. Must know "Body Of lies"

[Hamura]

"I believe you're thinking into things too much. There is only so much to the compound, so if we do get lost in some way, we just come back here. Since the two of you are older, and I'm technically here to learn, I'm fine with taking a moment to hear you guys talk, though I'd prefer it if we could go in already and see what all the fuss is about."

And with that, he outright stopped responding to anything that was coming his way. He had been sitting around for long enough, and all he was really hearing was talk about how to go in and what to do once they actually ran into some kind of a hidden army. Since the chances of there being an actual army were about as big as the chances of his parents, or at least his mother still being alive out there somewhere, he was having trouble taking that seriously. As such, he just closed his eyes and started focusing on the area in front of him. Considering how everyone would rather discuss how to move along, he figured he might as well make sure that there was not actually an army, and maybe find whoever was in the compound before he saw them.

Focusing on the area right in front of him, his mind's eye went over the compound grounds while his ears listened to everything Emi and Victoria said. Even though he was ignoring it, that did not mean that he was not interested in hearing what they had to say, just in case it turned out to be useful at some later point in time. Judging by the way Victoria spoke, he imagined that she was refering to how she could capture a good amount of people in some kind of illusion, implying that she used Genjutsu. When he thought about it, it did not strike him as odd that she was someone who knew how to use Genjutsu, as it more or less worked with the image he had of her in his mind. Regardless, if no one went into the compound, he'd soon know where the chakra was coming from so he could go in himself.

SPOILER: Click to show

Detect Chakra
Rank: "B"
Skill: NinJutsu
Effect: User detects Chakra auras. The amount of information revealed depends on how long the user studies a particular area or subject.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Range of this Jutsu is 20 meters cone-shaped emanation. Duration is Concentration, up to 5 minutes per Class Level. User detects Chakra auras. The amount of information revealed depends on how long the user studies a particular area or subject.

1st Round: Presence or absence of Chakra auras.
2nd Round: Number of different Chakra auras and the power of the most potent aura.
3rd Round: The strength and location of each aura. If an aura is outside the user's line of sight, then the user may discern its direction but not its exact location.

Chakra areas, multiple types of Chakra, or strong local Chakra emanations may distort or conceal weaker auras. Aura Strength: An aura’s power depends on a Jutsu's functioning Jutsu Rank or an Item's Power Level. If an aura falls into more than one category, Detect Chakra indicates the stronger of the two.

"D" and "C" Rank: Faint
"B" Rank: Moderate
"A" Rank: Strong
"S" Rank: Overwhelming

Lingering Aura: A Chakra aura lingers after its original source dissipates (in the case of a Jutsu) or is destroyed (in the case of a Chakra item). If Detect Chakra is performed and directed at such a location, the Jutsu indicates an aura strength of dim (even weaker than a faint aura). How long the aura lingers at this dim level depends on its original power:

Faint: 1d6 rounds
Moderate: 1d6 minutes
Strong: 1d6×10 minutes
Overwhelming: 1d6 days

Outsiders and elementals are not Chakra in themselves, but if they are summoned, the Jutsu registers. Each round, the user can turn to Detect Chakra in a new area.
Limit: Must be a Sensor Specialist.

[~Emi~]

Time to meet the individual?

T

he sand shinobis seemed to be mocking him as he just tried to instruct him, making him a little annoyed. Was they really not respecting him at all, or was that just the way the sand ninjas worked? Emi thought as he continued to walk through the garden. He clenched his fingers around his nose and then rubbed his eyes using the same fingers as he explained what he had meant.

It's not specifically for this mission, but something one should have as a routine to do every time to make sure that nasty surprises never ruins ones day. I am fully aware that we can take down an army or two...

He then took a deep breath through his nose before he finished his talk.

Also, the rendezvous point are rarely useful if they're close by the actual mission point, as that would not be a safe position if one needs to escape. And on a mission where we're here to be diplomatic on, sending someone ahead would just start it off in a bad manner.

The Hoshigaki then shut up and began to ponder about better ways to train the ninjas of sand, as theory didn't seem sufficient. When they finally had reached as close enough range to be able to see the individual he had seen the chakra signature on for quite some time, Emi slowed his movement down a little, to make sure that the person would be able to notice that they had no hostile intentions.

[Y]

The gentle feuding of the assigned ninja from Sand would still sound like nothing more than foot traffic in the neighborhood - not unusual for this time of day. As the youngest of the shinobi sat up on the wall, he remained out of site of the illusionist by virute of his decision to look more carefully before looking around. No doubt, he would realise that rumours of a powerful chakra signature were true - as he would sense the presence of the high-ranking Dominate Vegetation enchantment performed moments ago by the young Uchiha.

He would, however, be beginning his supernatural surveilance just as his shapeshifter ally stepped forward. The disguised young woman, before her falsified Sharingan eyes could grante her any benefit, would feel the force of the grass of the lawn grabbing her and attempting to push her back, away from the center of the property and the manor. It would by no means by an insurmountable obstacle - being merely the work of irrigated grass in the tropical clime. But her movement through the area would not be unhindered, and it would be obvious to her that something was not qutie right.

The Jonin of sand would be similarly hindered in his movements. Further, his speak of mission tactics, as he entered the property, would begin to register to Ayumu. The young man, who had been lounging inactively by the door, would perk up his ears. Reaching up to run his hand through his hair, he would then listen carefully. He would catch "rendevouz point" and "diplomatic" from the explanation of the team's self-appointed tactician, and he would begin to sweat. Who the hell is that? Trespassers? Well versed in the history of the Uchiha genocides from days gone by, Ayumu would grow more nervous and paranoid, and would duck inside of his house, hidding out of site of any approaching travellers or trespassers. Once there, he would quickly shut the door.

Once inside, he would reach out to the thousands of fragments of will he'd spread over the plants of his manor home. In an attempt to deter unwanted visitors, he would compel the plants to actively repel any living thing, aside from him, which walked nearby. The grass would rear up with renewed fervor, seeking to grab ankles, bind feet, and knock over any who made quick or careless steps.

(OOC: In the interest of not introducing a GM / further slowing this down, perhaps the vegetation could be treated as difficult terrain, mechanically speaking? I doubt we'll reach a combat situation where it matters anyways.)

[Flower]

[OOC: Agreed. I'd be okay with difficult terrain from the plant life.]

Victoria thought about what Emi had to say and shrugged, and said, "Diplomatic? Perhaps. And I see your point about the rendezvous point -- maybe a place well recognized such as the Kazekage Tower, Village Gates, or Suna Embassy here in Gust. Whatever you think is best, Emi, you seem to be the one with the knowledge." She would smile at him, letting him know that she meant it jokingly and perhaps with a little bit of admiration. As they had been stepping forward, however, it suddenly became clear that the grass and other small shrubs near the home (not easily grown here in the Land of Wind, an interesting note) would suddenly reveal that it would be difficult to move through. Valerys would stop before fully entering the terrain and look to her companions.

"Although it appears that there is something going on here," Valerys said, "it seems to be a minor dilemma, although we should be careful that this terrain does not become any more aggravated. Will you two be able to pass through such things?" Valerys herself would look upon it uncaringly with her sharingan and cause herself to immediately begin floating a mere eight inches off the ground. Her Wings of the Planes ability granted her the ability to fly with good manueverability, making it an easy task to avoid the plant-life that had overrun the ground. Although, she was not sure that her allies were going to have such an easy time. But in any case, she knew this wasn't a one time hazard. Who knew what this terrain might be capable of -- especially if Hamura sensed it and told them about its nature.

She wondered to herself how her companions would deal with it. She would have liked to help them (if just to have more fun with them), but aiding others was not really her strong suit... She could be rather selfish. Although, she had a few tricks up her sleeve and kept them in mind in case the opportunities presented themselves to her. Valerys often found it necessary to wait for the right timing -- waiting for fate to create an opening in an attack, offering a ripe virgin at your doorstep, or putting you in the midst of some powerful S-rank ninja who might have been an infamous Uchiha. But Victoria conveyed none of this in her body language or otherwise. Standing in the air she looked part fairy, flitting around and bending her body back and forth. "So guys, coming along?"

But she held the bundle of Bitter Mercy in the palm of her hand, her messenger pack strapped over her shoulder, digging into the bundle and keeping an eye ever present -- it would suck to fly over the area just to have a plant grab her leg and strangle her or an arrow come out of a window at her neck. She also kept her eyes open on any openings in the home, windows or cracks and holes, hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever might be inside.

SPOILER: Click to show

Still Active:
    Body of Lies
    False Intentions

Wings of the Planes
Rank: "B"
Skill: NinJutsu
Effect: User gains the ability to fly.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Target is Personal. Range is Personal. Duration if 5 hours per Class Level. User taps into their adopted soul and takes on more of its traits. User's soul gains wings and it carries the user aloft. User gains the ability to Fly with Good Maneuverability.
Limit: Must be a Soulcaster. Must have mastered Soulcaster.

[Hamura]

Sensing the chakra in the area quite clearly, he could tell that there was someone inside of the compound who was capable of controlling plants and the like, he could only wonder whether this was just some random technique or a part of something bigger. Knowing that some people could actively control, create and manipulate the growth of plants and trees alike, he wondered if the person inside of the compound was the same. Trying his hardest to focus his sensory, he managed to locate what he believed to be the chakra signature of a human being. Possessing the same innate signature as the chakra running through all of the plants, the fact that it was taking place on such a large scale meant that the user of the technique was likely at least an A ranked shinobi.

Opening his eyes now that he had a supposed technique, he formed a few one handed seals that would allow him to work a lot more closely with one of his favored elemental natures. As Emi and Victoria were still speaking to one another and wasting time, Hamura just huffed at the notion of Emi being the most knowledgeable person within the group. With that, he suddenly disappeared from sight, using a body flicker technique in order to bridge quite the gap in the blink of an eye. As he did so, he saw someone moving into the building where he had figured the origin of the jutsu close to. Not having touched the ground after setting off from the wall he was standing next to, he floated over to the nearest window. Being roughly three to four meters away from the window, he figured it might be best to make contact while the rest continued to waste time.

"Oi, whoever is in there, we don't mean you any harm. The neighbors complained about someone trespassing in the compound, and since they have way too much money on their hands, we were sent here to investigate. So if you're not planning on starting trouble, you should probably get out here and talk with the adults."

Still hovering at the same distance from the window, he'd be able to tell if someone were to aim an attack at him from inside, just like whoever was inside would be able to look outside and see the masked, black haired floating carelessly in the air. Floating a good two meters above the plants so that they would not recognize his presence there, or so he hoped, he tried not to radiate any ill intentions or come across as even remotely hostile. To that end, he did not have any weapons in hand, expressing only that he was going to be waiting for whoever was inside of the building to make his way out, just like he was waiting for the two talkative adults to get there. Not really blaming them on account of their old bones, he figured the elderly would eventually catch up to him. Once they were done discussing rendezvous points.

SPOILER: Click to show

Flight
Rank: "C"
Skill: NinJutsu
Effect: Allows the user to "fly" by using Wind Chakra.
Special: Handseals
Drawback: ---
Description: Range of this technique is Touch. Duration of this technique is 5 minutes per Class Level. Target is the 1 creature touch. User coats the target with wind chakra allowing the target the ability of flight. The subject can simply fly. It can ascend and descend. Its maneuverability is dependent on the performer of the Jutsu. Clumsy at "D" Class, Poor at "C" Class, Average at "B" Class, Good at "A" Class, and Perfect at "S" Class. Using Flight requires only as much concentrating as walking, so the subject can attack or perform Jutsus normally. Should the Jutsu duration expire while the subject is still aloft, the Chakra fails slowly. The subject floats downward 20 meters per round for 1d6 rounds. If it reaches the ground in that amount of time, it lands safely. If not, it will fall the rest of the distance, taking 6 Armour Points of damage per 3 meters of fall.

Shunshin no Jutsu - Oshi (Body Flicker Technique - Push)
Rank: "C"
Skill: NinJutsu/TaiJutsu
Effect: A Jutsu that allows a user to rush forward in almost instantaneous speed. Used to draw the user close to the opponent.
Special: ---
Drawback: May use 3 times a day. May perform 1 more each time learned. Passing amount renders the user's legs immobile due to severe pain. Unable to perform again unless gained medical treatment. Must move through an opening. Unable to maneuver around obstructing objects. Can't attack while performing any Shunshin or Variation.
Description: User is able to move forward in a straight line along the ground in almost instantaneous untraceable speed while temporarily masking the user's movements within 10 meters. A puff of smoke is occasionally used to disguise the user's movements. It is accomplished by focusing the user's chi along the ankles and foot. User mostly moves just with their ankles and feet. Jutsu takes up no movements. User may only use this Jutsu half of the movements may allow in a single round while rounding down. Example: User has 5 movements, user is able to perform Jutsu 2 times per round.
Limit: Universal NinJutsu or Universal TaiJutsu.

[~Emi~]

Busy plants

T

he travel through the yard seemed to take far longer than he had wanted, and what made it even worse was that the plants just kept on trying to grab him. He pulled some away from his legs and analyzed the creations to see if there were anything special about them except for the chakra within, but they seemed quite normal. So Emi just launched the plants behind him and continued the walk until the others seemed to want to get past the annoyance by flying ahead. Emi shrugged and thought it was a good idea, which had him dash forward a few times until he finally reached the front door of the house.

It's never suggested to have a ninja location as rendezvous as it would reveal the secret. But the embassy or other fairly populated buildings in the capital would be a great place to use for those purposes.

He said to Victoria as they all stood on the front porch while the young boy took the initiative to talk to the chakra wielder. To make the conversation easier and not to frighten the individual on the inside, Emi kept quiet and awaited its response.

OOC: With shunshin the plants would not be able to move while I run, making it appear just as normal difficult terrain. With Light step I am unaffected by normal difficult terrain.

[Y]

Calm down, Ayumu. It's just a couple of strangers... Nerves had begun to rise in the mind of the young foreigner. There was always something scary about trespassers, and the emptiness of his new home, and lack of hope only made this paranoia worse. Ayumu stood in the back hall of his own house, listening carefully to the sounds of the strangers, wondering if he had heard them leap off the ground, or what had caused the rustling of the grass to slow down. He could feel his enchantment was still effective, so it was likely these few had found a way to avoid it.

With great apprehension, he would reach deeper into his reserves of chakra, and activate the Sharingan eye. This would enhance his abilities of observation, and potentially defend him from any unwanted chakra intrusions upon his home or his mind. He would hear the trio reach the front porch, and stand on it, and hear the shouts of a young man. Rudely, the younger one had addressed him with 'Oi,' but that was far from the largest red flag in the interaction.

a Ninja location... Ayumu's mind reeled incomprehensibly for a second, feeling the loss of his ancestors and the stories of Uchiha from long ago dancing in his head. Ninja, neighbors... they found me already. He was initially uncertain of how to proceed.

Finally, he decided he had to accept their potential facade of peaceful intention. Even if it was a thin lie, perpetuated by either their ninja overlords or them, it would have to be given some lip service to be believable. Even ninja pretending to be friendly would have to exercise some decency...

"Who the fuck are you guys? How many of you are there? And where are you from? I'm not coming out until you've answered me." Ayumu would say these things and shake his head gently, trying to formulate a plan. Would an escape be viable, or would that be forfeiting the manor? Perhaps, even if they did occupy the manor, friendly ninja, or even kinsfolk could be found, could lead a...

He listened expectantly for their reply.
~

[Flower]

As Hamura ran up to the window with a shunshin and started yelling for the man who was inside, Victoria cringed a little. So much noise... Could have been so much more smooth. She sighed and floated forward, following Emi and Hamura's shunshins. As they stood on the front porch, a voice would yell back at them from the other side -- although not so pleased with Hamura's questions it would seem. "Who the fuck are you guys? How many of you are there? And where are you from? I'm not coming out until you've answered me." Victoria smiled and held the bundle of poles which was Bitter Mercy in her hand. The messenger back felt light on her now, as if some great weight had been taken off her shoulders.

"Oh ho ho, so many questions and you didn't even ask for our names... how disappointing." Victoria lifted her sharingan eyes to the front door as she spoke, Hamura at the window, and floated eight inches off the ground still. She looked rather cute, floating on that porch with the sun shining upon her golden hair and red eyes. "We've been sent from the Sand Village. As for how many, well, that's a complicated answer." Victoria chuckled. "And my name is Victoria by the way, thanks for asking. Victoria Uchiha." She waited to see what this homeless man would say. So funny that he should be hiding out here of all places. Would he care? Would it really turn out that she had stumbled upon something more than just a washed up old drunk?

As she was standing on the front porch, Victoria would have moved right in front of the door, standing only about a foot in front of it. She was prepared, however, for anything that might come out -- techniques prepped on her end in case there was a sudden attack. But the man was clearly well enough to ask questions, didn't seem like the type to shoot and ask questions later... Suddenly Victoria would form a string of handseals and then turn back to Emi. The Jonin from the Rain Village who she had met not long ago. "You can thank me for this later," she whispered to him before leaning forward and kissing him on the mouth (pulling away a mask if necessary). She wondered briefly before hand what it would be like to kiss a Hoshigaki, would it be fishy? But pushed the thought out of her mind if he would allow their lips to meet.

A powerful technique, and quite the opener... Although she had a feeling Hamura wanted nothing to do with it. Besides, was he even old enough to know what kissing was? Victoria turned back to the door, wondering if her companions would be surprised, and waited to hear what the rogue man would have to say to her assertion.

SPOILER: Click to show

Still Active:
    Body of Lies
    False Intentions
    Wings of the Planes 

Kiss of Luck [25 minutes]
Rank: "A"
Skill: GenJutsu
Effect: A jutsu that gives luck against saves.
Special: "Handseals"
Drawback: ---
Description: A Mind-Affecting Technique. Affects 1 creature. The user is able to perform this technique on the target they kiss on the mouth. The duration of this technique lasts for 5 minutes per class level. This technique may be negated. The sky on the horizon was darkening. Then the small band of friends heard the sounds of heavy footsteps. Illa knew that they would be here soon, the trolls, and that her friends would need all the strength they could get. She turned to Ranok, her friend and confidant. He looked surprised when she kissed him, but did not push her away. The user gently kisses the target of the Jutsu, who is instantly blessed with otherworldly luck. For the duration of the Jutsu, the target gains a +5 luck bonus to all Attack Damage, Saves and +25 to Skill checks.
Limit: Must know the Enchantment Perception.

[Hamura]

Listening to the words thrown towards them from inside of the house, it made him wonder as to the issues this guy might be having. The way he had been seeing it, he had been rather upfront and honest regarding the whole situation. Whatever might have been wrong with the guy living inside of the building, or staying in it or however it was called when someone just started living inside of a rundown compound, he figured that there was not a whole lot he could do about it. All he could really do now was just remain honest to keep a potential fight from breaking out, a fight that would likely level the place. Truth be told, it actually bothered him a bit when Victoria was being playful regarding the man's question, seeing as he seemed highly irritated and in no mood for games.

While he could not speak for people like Victoria and Emi, he knew that most of the things he could do up until this point were rather devastating, not to mention that they acted on a fairly large scale. This meant that, if he were to rely on such techniques, the building would likely not survive. That in itself was another reason why Hamura wanted to go away from the village for a bit, find a place where he could train and maybe even find a master that could give him the attention and the push in the right direction that he needed. If he were correct, Sōjōgatani was this place that he was looking for, if it existed at all. But such things did not matter right now, what mattered was figuring out what to do next.

Looking around to try and find some other, more unorthodox way of getting into the building if need be, he worked hard to formulate some kind of plan in his head, which was when he looked to his side to see the grown-ups dealing with things in their own way. Cringing a bit at the sight of Victoria just going around kissing people she had just met, he started getting invested more and more in the idea that Victoria was hiding something. Not seeing the point in maintaining the charade that Victoria was putting up, he got a bit closer to the window to the point where he could look inside a little better. If that meant that he would be the first to get attacked, than he wouldn't be holding back any of the firepower he packed.

"Don't mind her, she's too busy playing games. But since you asked, there's three of us, and I think none of us really came looking to start a fight if it could be avoided. It would be a shame if this place got blown up in a skirmish, there were quite some things I was hoping to find out about my alleged people here."

[~Emi~]

The conversation begins

W

hen he noticed that the person on the other side of the wall stayed still and the conversation began, he knew that there wouldn't be any action in a while. So he took a step to the side and leaned against one of the walls that were on the opposite side of the door from the stranger. There he carefully listened to what all of them said as well of how they said it. Even though he wasn't there to intervene too much, he wanted to get a good grasp on the individuals that were around him. He was slightly surprised when he heard that the resident had a cracking and shaky voice, was it real fear he heard or just a ruse?

.... what are you doing?...

He said as Victoria rapidly approached him with incredibly intimate body language. Since he got panicked by it he automatically took a swift step away from her and flinched with his arms up. It was the strongest self defense mechanism he have had since he was a kid which had him shocked, what had caused such a response? His face was blushing and his body was warm, which was sensations he had not experienced since a mission in waterfall. So to take control over the situation again, Emi took another couple of steps from the sand ninjas and closely observed their movements while still maintaining his inner eye fixed upon the individual on the other side of the wall.

[Y]

Nothing other than raw confusion emanated from the other side of htewall. Vague, failures to answer direct questions, chaos, people moving about, and contradictions abound. From the Sand Village, was the thought that stuck foremost in Ayumu's mind. They were ninja. Ninja sent to check out an Uchiha compound so soon... Damn.

One of the women would claim to be one Victoria Uchiha, perhaps in an attempt to placate his fears. However, one with true allegiance to the clan would have contacted him via more official channels, not by trespassing with the blessing of the Hidden Sand. Additionally, there was that inconsistency with the statement about rich people with too much money... No, it was unlikely that this was the doings of his kinsfolk or loyal clansmen. Besides, he had not heard of Victoria Uchiha before. She either lacked the prominence which would be needed to address the master of a house so disrespectfully, or she was a falsehood, and no true Uchiha.

Ayumu's paranoia began to melt away just a little bit. These folks were no more organized than he was. They were just regular chumps, in their Shinobi way. Further, the first, louder, younger, male voice would mention an interest in fidning out about his alleged people. Despite the more straightforward approach of this speaker in general, Ayumu would be unable to reach a conclusion about what that meant. If he was truly of the Uchiha diaspora, wouldn't the so-called Victoria of the Clan Uchiha have been able to teach him of his heritage? There were far too many alleged members of his family here, of none of them were acting like it.

"All these games." Ayumu said, at a volume he decided was appropriate. The walls of the house were far from sound proof, and he realized that merely firm speech rather than hollering would make him heard. "If you're' a ninja squadron from the Hidden Sand, which of you is the ranking officer?" Ayumu didn't know all that much about the ways of ninja, but he did have a vague understanding of their military organizational structure.

Ayumu would think a little more on this so-called Victoria. There were tests he could perform that would rule out a fake versus real Uchiha. A quick look at a Sharingan eye with his own would allow him to identify a genuine Uchiha. Or, performance of any of the Copy Wheel techniques would be difficult to falsify... Crap, if only there was an elder here. Somebody in charge...

For the first moment in Ayumu's adult life, he looked around for an adult and realized that he was one. If I'm the only Uchiha in this house, doesn't that make me the elder? Holy... Ayumu was uncertain how to act. In theory, Victoria's ties would be to him. However, with her dodgy answers and failure to be particularly productive overall, he would doubt that he had much to gain by leveraging them. If she's so flaky to her ninja team, what good would she be to her long-lost cousin anyways?

Ayumu decided he needed to know who would step up to be in charge before he acted further. If the alleged Victoria was in charge, he knew what he had to do. If the direct and loud youth was their leader, as he knew children often climbed high in the Shinobi rankings, that would be another matter entirely.

"I appreciate your peaceful intentions, but come on guys. Get your story straight already. Which of you is in charge?"

[Flower]

As Emi pulled away from Victoria's kiss she looked a little appaled and blushed brightly, turning away and crossing her arms. "Why are you so frieghtened? It must be a guy thing... If we are together enough there will come a day when you will want my Kiss of Luck. I'll remember your answer~" She played as if she was hurt that he had not accepted her gift and pouted a little, but then came the reply of the man from across the wall. He sounded uninterested in her playfulness and wanted to know who was in charge. How unfortunate. It was an unfortunate quality among men that they liked to play "pick the leader," a human game that she was not entirely fond of. But oh well? If it was so important to them...

Valerys, resting inside of Victoria, wanted to laugh but Victoria just appeared involved with the mission. Here she was, for the first time ever, telling someone the truth. How many of them were there? And when she had told them the truth, they thought she was playing games! Valerys was tempted to bring forward #01 and show them how quickly numbers could change, but remembered Emi's words. This was a diplomatic mission. She held her own self back (a difficult task indeed) and turned to Hamura. Now that Emi had forfeited her gift and Hamura had unknowingly lied to this man about their parties numbers, she was more than happy to let the child take the lead on this one. If they wanted to play "pick the leader," why not Hamura who seemed so willing for it? Victoria turned to Hamura at the window.

She'd motion her hand, as if to say "go for it," pointing toward him with her pointer and middle fingers. She didn't know if he was really the leader or not, but even if it had been her she'd have wanted it this way. No point in leading from a position where everybody knows it is you... She waited to see what the boy would say, holding the spear tight in her right hand and deciding to put it into her messenger pack. As she did, something would be happening unknown to everybody as her body readjusted. As she waited for Hamura to speak she also kept an eye on the building, waiting to see if anybody would emerge. She was excited to get a look at this person who so disliked her games.

As they stood there, Victoria continued hovering a bit off the ground. It felt good to be so free of restraints, knowing that she could move wherever she wanted. Part of her just wanted to climb up on the roof and watch from up high...

SPOILER: Click to show

Still Active:
    Body of Lies
    False Intentions
    Wings of the Planes 

Acting 170 

---

[Hamura]

When finally the question came from inside the building regarding to who the leader of the troupe was, the young ninja did not bother speaking. The way he saw it, things had gotten far too chaotic for anyone to actually be the leader. More importantly, he did not want to take up the mantle of leadership and claim responsibility for it at all. Up until now, one of them had been playing a verbal game while toying with one of the other team members, while the other said team member had been sent along with them by Shiki as a means of teaching them a thing or two. Truth be told, that part was what likely bothered him the most, as it meant that his actions prior to, during and after the Chuunin exams had not been enough to earn him the respect he felt he deserved.

It was for that same reason that he had eventually acted out and moved ahead of the rest of the group, seeing as how they insisted on carrying on and on with their rambling about strategies and whatnot. In his mind, he had assessed the situation already, and did not really feel like any of the things that had been brought up even remotely applied to it. Having half the mind to state that Emi was the designated leader of the party as his own presence seemed to matter very little, Victoria's gestures seemed to imply that she wanted him to be the one to talk back to the guy inside the compound. Sighing deeply, he made a gesture at the others to move away from the door so he could either go in, or the guy inside could come out.

"That would be me, Hamura, and I have to say that I am just as unimpressed as you are. Holing up inside a building hasn't helped anyone up until now, so I would very much appreciate it if you would come out so some of this tension can die down. Either that, or you let me come in and we'll talk there. Just know that, regardless of personal feelings, I consider this a mission, and I always carry those out. That means that if you're not willing to comply, we'll have to settle this in a far less pleasant manner. So do yourself and us a favor and comply."

With that, he had said exactly what he had been wanting to say for some time now, but had kept inside for the sake of keeping the peace. But now that he had officially assumed command, he had to radiate at least some level of authority and control over the situation. As both he and the guy inside of the building would probably be aware of, if things did end up turning into a fight, it would be one fought by three against one, meaning he would more than likely die in the process of trying to take out one of them. Given how every smart combatant should know when they were facing odds they would most likely not overcome, compliance was often the most rewarding, and in this case the only way in which the situation would be moving forward instead of stagnating any longer.

[~Emi~]

Mission continues

V

ictoria seemed to allow Emi to relax after the sudden burst of affection, allowing the Hoshigaki to calm down and have his blushing cheeks return to normal color. But his mind quickly had something else to think off as the situation was rapidly getting worse. Emi then rolled his eyes as the young chunin tried to negotiate on the terms on the conversion. It was so many diplomatic mistakes that he wondered why that kid had been send on such a mission. That did however make him wonder if he himself had appeared like that to the older ninjas when he was young on similar missions, but as he thought back he realized that it wouldn't be possible as he had been extremely quiet and obedient.

Agitation and hostility only spawns distrust and primal responses, should always be avoided when initiating diplomatic connections.

Emi quietly said to Victoria to avoid disrupting the conversation or have the one on the other side of the wall hear him commenting it. Despite that he didn't like how it was developing in the name of the mission, he felt a tingle of excitement as he imagined that a fight was getting more and more likely.

[Y]

Holing up inside a house... Ayumu was beginning to get a little bit agitated about all of this. What the hell was going on? Why were these people here harassing him, so soon after he arrived. Was hatred of Uchiha really that deeply ingrained? Or was this the treatment that fell on all great men not associated with the Hidden Ninja Villages? "With all due respect, I wouldn't exactly consider myself to be hiding here. This is my private domicile, and I will not be harassed." Ayumu stifled himself from cursing out the young boy, and tried to harden his demeanor. Ayumu, this is your house, man. Yeah, these guys could be dangerous, but don't let them walk all over you.

"Look, I don't know why you want me to come out so goddamned bad. But Hamura, if you really mean that, and you really think you're the blood of Uchiha, I can -" Ayumu's heart skipped a beat. He'd been preparing to say 'take you to an elder,' when he realised once more that there was no elder in the manor. Ayumu was the eldest member of the clan present. In the chaos of these ninja visiting, Ayumu hardly had time to intellectually understand what he was doing, but something intuitive in his psyche was beginning to click together.

"take a look and see if that's the case." He finished. "On the other hand, three or more is a big number of ninja to have hanging out on my front lawn. If I'm going to show my face, all of you are going to be on the front porch, standing an arm's length apart, and making no movements. Victoria Uchiha, if your name signifies what I think you purport, then you will understand why I am wary of un exexpected Shinobi visiting my compound.

"When you are ready, tell me. Understand that I will have the Sharingan eye active, but do not be alarmed. I am looking only for chakra signatures which could harm me." An anxious twisting in Ayumu's gut lowered his self-confidence as he slumped against the wall. This was a lot to bear - more than he had anticipated, if being truthful.

[Flower]

Victoria listened to Hamura and was pleased with what he said. It seemed that it had been the right choice, this child had a little bit of a punch to him. She listened, and also to the man who claimed that she should understand why he was wary. Victoria didn't understand why anyone was wary about anything, much preferring to jump into combat, but kept it in mind and referenced her knowledge of the Uchiha. Indeed, he must have been referencing his family's massacre. Valerys smiled from within her mind.

Her body was not manipulated by her chakra but rather the abilities of her cells, so she was not worried about the Uchiha seeing her chakra. And unless he could see her soul energy he also probably would not realize that her Wings of the Planes were active, except that she was stilling floating off the ground. Her sharingan eyes were still active as before, but now that she knew he planned on tracing her with his own eyes she let them fade away to display her regular golden hue. She knew that he could not make out chakra behind her eyes like a normal Uchiha, but did know now what she wanted to figure out... He was an Uchiha. No doubt. She was thankful for his warning.

She moved away from the door and stood beside Hamura and Emi the required distance apart, her polearm still in her pack and she waiting for this man. Although it seemed that Hamura would be the primary speaker, she had her own ideas up her sleeve and waited to see how this would go. Ideally he'd come back to Sand -- an Uchiha could be valuable. Before the man could come out she'd turn to Hamura and smiled. "We'll be beside you." She appeared as if she were making herself look like her usual, cute girlish self again, a much less suspecting appearance with Hamura as the leader.

SPOILER: Click to show

Still Active:
    Body of Lies
    False Intentions
    Wings of the Planes 

Acting 170 

---

[Hamura]

Listening to all that was coming from inside of the building, the fact that a single person believed they had the right to tell him and those that were now technically his squad what to do was rather annoying. While he understood how the guy had to put out some demands as he was more or less facing three people on his own, giving in to these demands would not just make Hamura look weak, it would put everyone at risk. If he had this "Sharingan" activated so that he could check for any chakra signatures and fluctuations, it meant that he would be able to respond to them before they could properly make a move.

If the man was really so much of a threat, standing an arms length apart from one another would be playing right into his hands as it gave him a clear shot at killing or gravely injuring all three of them at the same time, meaning their numbers wouldn't matter for shit anymore. Running his head through a lot of different strategies and tactics, there really weren't a whole lot he could go for that wouldn't put anyone at risk, risked killing the guy or risked destroying the entire compound in the process. As such, a decision had to be made, one he had to make as the leader of the party. While it wasn't perfect, the only person he could willingly put into harm's way was himself.

"No, that's not how this is going to play out. It is as you say, having three shinobi standing on your front lawn is a bit much, which is why I'll be coming in until we reach an understanding."

With that, he unbuckled his belt, causing it to fall down to the ground with all of his explosive tags, smoke pellets and shuriken. Following it up by taking off his wrist guards with the quick loaders full of kunai and tossing that on top of the belt, he also unstrapped the Tanto tied to his left upper leg and placed it alongside it. Finally, he took off the simple, ivory white mask and tossed it onto the pile with a thump. Since he had repeatedly been told that his face had the trademark characteristics of one of the Uchiha clan, as well as being told that he looked a lot like his father when he was his age, he figured that just his appearance alone would help out in diffusing the situation quite a bit.

"As you might have seen or heard, I've dropped all of my weapons and raised my arms up. That way, if I do intend to weave any seals or reach for a potential hidden weapon, you'll know. My team will be waiting outside, but if anything goes wrong, they won't hesitate to blow this place to hell with everyone in it. So I'll be coming through the door now, so stand back a bit."

As he said those last words, he looked at Victoria and Emi, making sure they knew that the part about blowing everything to shit was just as much directed at the both of them as it was aimed at the man inside of the building. With that, he raised his arms up into the air as a means of showing that he meant no harm and possessed no ill intent. Lifting his leg, he kicked against the door in order to force it open, not knowing whether it was locked or not. Besides, his arms were raised, so he didn't have the luxury of being able to feel it out. Possessing enough strength to kick down doors, he would enter into the building while remaining within sight of the two other Shinobi still standing outside. That way, they'd be able to respond if things were to take a turn for the worse.



(OOC: Sorry for being slow, got a lot of things going on at the moment.)

[~Emi~]

The wait

T

he situation had started to get little out of hand as the person they were supposed to be talking in friendly terms with had gotten defensive. But that is when the young man actually changed his poor way of acting and managed to come up with something that could turn the situation around. Emi knew that it was a risky move of Hamura, but it was drastic in the right way and could possibly fix his previous poor choices of words and acts. As he knew the dangers the boy was in, Emi knew that it was fairly likely that they would need to do as Hamura had requested of them and blow the building up. So Emi looked around the area and estimated the amount of earth he would be able to gather from the yard. Luckily most of the yard was made to have plants and such in it, making it very useful for his favorite technique. But to not make the situation worse, Emi awaited any reason to blow it up before channeling his chakra.

OOC: no worries, have had little time myself