16autumnroad | [Voice / Action : Forest, 3/17] Arrival

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[Voice / Action : Forest, 3/17] Arrival

Kai! [Sudden absence from the battlefield prompts Chouji's immediate attempt to dispel an illusion.]

Why won't the genjutsu break? It must be too strong. [Not to mention that genjutsu and fine chakra control are not his strongest skills. Pain should also work. It's hardly the preferred method for breaking illusions, but it's more reliable for anyone whose chakra control isn't near perfect. He reaches for a kunai, but none is available. Unarmed and unarmored in a genjutsu that could be used to do pretty much anything to him; somehow that isn't surprising. Chouji is starting to worry though. He crouches down, snatches a jagged rock, and slices open his left palm. Still nothing.

Unwilling to simply sit and wait, he pushes off lightly, leaping into the trees. Chouji conceals himself as well as he can among the branches, only now noticing the journal lying open on the ground below. Shivering from the cold, a twinge of pain between his shoulder blades makes Chouji twitch, wondering if the attack he's been braced for is finally coming. His eyes widen as he looks over his shoulder to see a pair of feathered wings. A little desperate now, Chouji makes one final attempt at breaking free. He stabs his thigh with the rock. Still trapped, he resigns himself to staying here until someone manages to free him, letting the stone fall back to the ground. Chouji keeps watch for any further signs of danger on the off chance the genjutsu's caster slips and gives something away.]

[Chouji can heard over the journal; he will pick it up as soon as he receives an answer. He can also be found in the forest or anywhere in the common areas of town after he eventually makes it there.]

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[That doesn't mean much to Chouji yet, but he'll store the information away for later.]

I'll be there as soon as I can.

[Tenten's running wasn't strictly necessary, given how far into the forest Chouji is, so she has a bit of a wait before he finally comes into view and waves hello.]

[ Tenten waits for Chouji with all of the patience in the world. Upon seeing him in person, Chouji might notice an immediate warmth to Tenten compare to her coldness over the feed.

She has, in her hands, hello kitty band-aids. Don't worry Chouji, you're going to be just fine. Her arms are also open. Yes. She wants a hug from you. ]

Chouji! I can't believe you're here! I mean, it sucks and everything because, on one hand, you aren't home, but, I've been waiting to praise you for your skills on the battlefield for quite sometime now! You single handedly saved so many lives! Everyone was amazed by your talent! [ we we we so excited. ]

[A hug, he can do. Tenten gets her hug first thing.

Chouji's immediate reaction to the praise, though, is blushing. Nothing but blushing. And silence. She'll have to wait a minute while he processes that before he can respond.]

It's good to see you too, Tenten. [Let's start with that. That's the easy part.]

Thank you. [He means it, and his smile makes that obvious, but Chouji still has no idea how to take compliments so sincere and enthusiastic.] It took me longer than it should have to do anything, though. My teammates and my dad had to cover for me. I'm just glad I came through for everyone in the end.

[ Tenten will continue to look at Chouji eagerly. ]

It's okay. Some people just aren't ready to confront the dead coming back to life. I mean, they should stay dead for a reason. If one of my teammates died and came back to life, I'd be pretty distraught too. [ Glances at Neji's dead prone body.... ] It's still important to fight back though, or else you're betraying their will. I'm glad you realized this and were able to do more than your fair share. [ She's surprisingly sympathetic to what Chouji went through. She can't imagine losing Guy-sensei. As annoying he is, he is important to her. ]

[He does his very best not to wince. He's prepared for this after talking to Sakura and Lee, but her choice of words makes everything hit him all over again. His teammates are hurting at home. Tenten's team isn't whole at all anymore.]

Y-yeah. [His voice only falters for a moment. His smile doesn't falter at all.] I guess you're right. Thanks for that too. [He's sorry, Tenten, but Chouji is not breaking this news to you.]

So, where's the building we all live in? [Subject change no jutsu!]

[ Tenten is totally unaware about this circumstance with Neji. Instead, her voice remains bright and perky, thinking Chouji's faltering is simply because death is a touchy subject for him. ]

We live in Community Housing One. We're on the fourth floor. I'll take you there! [ She turns and immediately starts to walk off, not regarding for Chouji's speed (or lack thereof) ]

Who's here from our world? I've talked to Sakura, Temari, Lee, Shikamaru, and Ino. I heard Asuma-sensei and Neji are here too. Anyone else? And do they all live on the same floor?

[It's a good thing he won't have any issues with the pace she sets, then.]

Let's see. Kiba, Itachi and Sasuke all live here. But, Itachi and Sasuke are somewhat reclusive and don't interact with us much. I've never spoken to either of them and I've been here for a year. I think that's it however. [ She doesn't know about the other Akatsuki. ] Sai, Shino, Hinata, Kankuro and Gaara were also all here at some point.

We all live on the same floor, or a floor above. We're all within close contact with each other, especially since we can walk on walls and the like.

[Chouji freezes for a second at a couple of the names Tenten lists, but since she doesn't seem alarmed, he just says after a short pause] It'll be nice to see Kiba. Mostly Konoha nin have wound up in Luceti, it seems like.

[He is just going to hope and assume that "all" does not include the missing nin.] Ah, that's good.

What's it like living here? [Open-ended has started seeming like a good idea when it comes to questions.]

[ She notices the freeze. ] There's a nonaggression agreement in place, especially since death is not permanent but still taxing. Either way, you are correct. Mostly Konoha natives are here.

It's quiet. The environment is nice and kinda facilitates whatever you need. It's a sleepy town. There are some businesses, but no real economy. So, that means the restaurants and the like are free, but food only generates once a day in the morning so don't eat it all, Chouji! [ ....Yeah. Tactless Tenten strikes again. ] But, there's certainly most taste and stock than what you have on the battlefield, so I'm sure your normal di-[ Oh. That's right. He hates that word. ] habits will be okay. Every now and again, the Malnosso, the people in charge of this place, kidnaps people and modifies them for a slight period of time. Also, they sometimes interfere with the environment. Sometimes its harmless, like there's just a carnival. Other times, it's not very harmless. Like you're possessed by masks. [ Yeah. Tenten isn't the best when it comes to infodumping. ]

...Death isn't permanent here? What do you mean by that?

I wouldn't eat it all, Tenten! Even I can't eat a whole village's worth of food. [The indignation is mild. Tenten avoided calling him fat and just finished paying Chouji the most enthusiastic compliment he's ever heard] Kidnapping? Carnivals sound fine, but possessed by masks?

After you die, you're revived by the people here but they take something as a price for their hard work. Someone I knew died, and they lost their ability to speak. [ That was Temari but she doesn't want to tell Chouji someone from our world died here. ]

I don't know, Chouji! This is comparatively smaller to Konoha, and I've heard legends about your consumption. Mostly from Guy-sensei who wants a hot dog eating contest with you. [ And she shrugs her shoulders now. ] Yeah. Sometimes, they send robots to kidnap you so they can experiment on you. Sometimes they go outright crazy with their experiments that they apply to everyone, though.

Edited 2013-04-22 06:27 (UTC)

They... bring you back, just missing something important? [Chouji already knows Temari can't hear. He is connecting the dots without too much help here.]

If he won, he would be sick, and if he lost, he would keep challenging me. No one should have eating contests with an Akimichi! [Especially not people who had no idea how to lose. A loss is not always a challenge to improve. But this is all a moot point, because Gai is not here, and the other things are much more pressing concerns. Very reassuring, Tenten.]

They've already kidnapped us, why do they need robots to come do it again?

Pretty much. It's a reason to avoid dying, like always. [ So nothing's changed in that regard. ]

Well, let him challenge you anyways! I can use the day off, you know? And he'll pay for the materials! [ HAHAHA. Tenten the maniacal genius strikes again. ]

I'm not sure. I think it's for their own amusement, or maybe to test us in a personal setting and see how we react to the average stimuli around us. I think Shikamaru would know better on this subject than myself.

...Has anyone other than Temari died here? [He almost didn't mention it, but he wants some assurance that his teammates, the rest of his friends, are alright. Even if they come back, the initial fact of their deaths is bad enough.]

What if he challenges me to every kind of eating contest? Kakashi is his rival, but he might look for a food rival.

Ah, alright. A lot of people have said the same. I'll ask him more.

[ Tenten pauses at that question. She didn't want to be open about that. After a brief moment, she tries to say something but it's choked out. She finally gains the ability to speak. ] No. She's the only one.

He wouldn't do that immediately, but, even then, you're free to keep on eating until I need him. The more time I have to train at my own pace, the better!

She talked to me first, but I didn't know that was how she lost her hearing. Not until you said... [He shakes his head, trying not to think about it. Too many people have died in the past two days, but somehow Temari's death manages to have an impact even though it was temporary. It hits him harder than all but three of the war casualties have so far. He's still keeping himself numb to the big picture, not ready to deal with any of all of it in a place where most of his friends don't even remember what happened.]

You want me to distract Gai-sensei from training you? With eating contests?

[ Tenten's attitude about death remains icy. ]

Don't think about it too much. She's still with us and that's what counts. And don't let her know that you know, she'd hate to know that people are weak.

Yeah. I think Gai-sensei would like that, he's very competitive and you'd be able to eat anything you wanted. I hope I can remember this strategy to adopt back home too, cause Guy-sensei really needs to ease up on our crazy schedule sometimes.

[Chouji nods, silent for a moment. He's quiet when he answers.]

I'll try not to dwell on it, and I definitely won't mention anything to Temari. I know she doesn't like pity or feeling weak, and I also wouldn't want to bring up any bad memories for her.

Well, you can just... save that idea until Gai-sensei shows up here. [And Chouji will hope that she forgets about it by then, if he ever does arrive.]

Yeah. Don't make her angry. Because I've experienced her toughness and trust me, I don't want the entirety of Luceti being torn down in a giant razor wind. [ Sigh. ]

All right! Thank you, Chouji!

I'll do my best not to. It isn't as if I'd want that either!

[Chouji really doesn't think he wants to be thanked. That doesn't bode well for Tenten forgetting about suggesting the idea to Gai-sensei. But because he doesn't know what else to do, he just answers as normally as he can.] You're welcome.

Good because whoever sets off her temper has to rebuild everything and you aren't Yamato-sensei. [ She knows about that strange fella. ]

I don't want to set off anyone's temper. [Especially not Temari's] And I'm much better suited for knocking things down than building them.

I said I'd go meet her after I get a little bit settled, so I shouldn't keep her waiting too long.

I think with your size you'd be perfect for roofing things up and tall place work, but I agree.

Yeah. It might be best if you head down there now.

Probably so. It'd be like D-rank missions all over again, just with more ninjutsu.

I think so. We're all in the same building, though, so I'll see you later! Thanks for coming to meet me, Tenten.

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weaponry - 2013-06-22 01:06 (UTC) - Expand

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[Voice / Action : Forest, 3/17] Arrival

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