Konohagakure: Total War IC

[Bad Situation]

A Brand New Day (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGyrkrikqqY)

It's mid-spring, and true to fashion the idyllic sight of Konohagakure is as sunny as always. The weather today is particularly balmy, inviting in its warmth but not so hot or humid that it saps at your strength: rather, it's quite invigorating. Whether or not this pleasantness will last through your career as shinobi of the Leaf remains to be seen, though the more hopeful of your lot might take the agreeable weather as a sign of good fortune.

The village is bustling with activity, even at this early hour, typical of sprawling metropolis that is Konoha. War was good for business, after all.

Though your graduation exams were conducted yesterday, with your headbands doled out after a manner, it is only today that you'll truly enter the ranks of genin. The graduation ceremony is largely an informal affair but it also doubles as the platform of which you'll be receiving your team placements and assigned instructor. Needless to say, attendance is all but mandatory.

Rika
It is a with groggy sense of being that you find yourself roused from your slumber. Kneeling at the edge of your shared futon is your mother, Soushi Risako, a beautiful if unkempt young woman whose faint wrinkles underneath her eyes belie her true age. She is wearing an unadorned kimono and when you blink your sleep-smeared eyes at her she offers you a kind smile and gives you a light peck on the forehead.

Today is an important day for you especially but if there's one thing you could expect from your mother, it's her steady, gentle kindness. Life hasn't always been easy for the two of you, in your cramped one bedroom apartment, but if Risako has ever had a complaint she has never seen fit to voice them. There are some who would call her a doormat but you know better than anybody else the kind of steel she has lying dormant in her soul.

"Best wash up for breakfast, dearest. I want your sensei to know that my baby girl is every bit as beautiful as she is talented and I can't see that happening with a face as dark as the one you're wearing." She tilts her head playfully as she leans in toward you to runs her thumb against your cheek to wipe off some ink. "Don't worry, I sent your manuscript to the editors. You looked to tired that I didn't want to disturb you."

Sora

You woke up an hours ago, practically dragged to the clan meeting hall by your mother at some godforsaken hour in the morning to 'meet' with your grandfather. That was almost half an hour ago and the two of them have yet to say a word. You're practically awake at this point. Old Yama and your mother sit on opposite sides of the room, glaring daggers at each other. Well, more accurately, your mother is glaring at him. Yama on the other hand is more than content to return her anger with his own impassive gaze. Of course, the spiritual pressure you feel rolling off him would say otherwise.

If you let this go on for much longer you're likely to be late to your graduation ceremony. Though, in the back of your head you think your mother might know this.

Akiko

The branch house compound is a simple, elegant affair, with a quality and aesthetic most would not typically attribute to a 'lesser' household. But then, what could you say about a clan who held the vast majority of its members in bondage? Something had to give, after all.

The Hyuuga are notoriously early risers and you are no different. From your bedroom you can hear the faint sounds of sparring occurring just outside your window. On most days you would join them, but today is a little different from most. A rapping at your sliding screen door takes you away from your thoughts, as they slide open, revealing your big sister Hanae.

Yoshihiro

"Yoshi-nii!"

A pair of two loud voices streak through the Maeda household, and jerkily pull you from your fitful rest. You can hear their heavy footsteps thumping through the halls and in a moment, they'll be upon you.

[Cespenar]

Akiko (http://www.animemay.com/thumbnails/detail/20121101/blue%20eyes%20long%20hair%20shirts%20coffeekizoku% 20simple%20background%20anime%20girls%20faces%20lo oking%20back%20black%20hair_www.animemay.com_98.jp g) just about finishes getting ready as her sister slides the door open. She ties her sandals tight, raises her head, and gives Hanae a big smile between her obscuring hair.

"Morning, nee-chan!" She pauses for a moment, her smile dimming only slightly. "I'm mostly ready."

[Eurus]

Spectating the silent arguments between his grandfather and mother wasn't a new experience for Sora, but this was perhaps the most unsubtle one yet. At first he takes advantage of the silence to shake off the last shadows of sleep, intending to wait for his grandfather to speak.

That was almost thirty minutes ago. His legs were starting to fall asleep, now. Well, if nobody else was going to say anything...

Smiling as brightly as if they were out to a casual lunch, Sora turns to his mother. "Okasan, are you coming to my graduation ceremony today? I know it's not really your favorite thing, but it'd mean a lot to me."

[ZeroNumerous]

Rika

Rika always had trouble sleeping during the summer. While others found the heat playful or even invigorating, she found it oppressive and draining. Even the more mild summers frequently had the young lady fanning herself and desperately wishing for winter to return. Today was no different, and forcing herself to rise out of her futon became an epic undertaking. She'd spent the night working, and what little time had been set aside for sleep was dominated by tossing and turning and a desperate wish for coldness that would never come.

As her mother rouses her Rika rubs her face, smearing ink across her palm and cheek in the same motion.

"What...? What time... Why is it so hot?"

Rika groggily looks at her mother through half-closed eyes. Why was today important again...? Wasn't--

"I'm late!" Rika leaps up out of bed, as she scrambles across the tiny apartment she called home. She digs through her closet while simultaneously hastily shedding her sleeping clothes. "Oh no, oh no!" Rika quickly gets dressed in a boy's tee-shirt and a pair of slacks. She licks her palm and rubs her cheek, trying to clean off the ink like a cat as she gets moving toward the door.

The young girl spares one last look at her mother. "Goodbye mom! Love you! Be back soon!" With that said she bolts outside and starts heading toward the ceremony, absentmindedly cleaning her face all the while. Of course, all she succeeds at doing is smudging her cheeks with ink and making herself look like a tiny coal miner.

[Overlord Rion]

Oh ye gods, no. Not today, please not today. Of course, Yoshi's prayers were never answered concerning his siblings. He'd already prepared his clothes for graduation in case this happened. His plan was simple, whenever they came into his room, he'd throw the covers in their faces, get dressed while they recovered from the surprise, and grab his breakfast on the way out.

For now..he must wait.

[Bad Situation]

Akiko

Hanae returns with her own smile as she edges into the room on her knees, gently closing the door behind her as she does so. She crosses the room and sits by the window where she watches the other branch members sparring. "Big day for you, isn't it? Excited?"

Sora

"Yo-" Nagi opens her mouth to speak but is rudely interrupted by Yama, who raises an eyebrow at your mother. "She will not be at your graduation ceremony, Sora. While you meet with your sensei she will be in here with me, discussing your future. Isn't that right, Nagi-chan?"

Your mother looks like she wants to say something about this but instead she screws up her face and slowly nods.

Rika

As Rika darts around the house, Risako merely stands up and calmly walks into the kitchen area where a full meal is all laid out for her daughter. At the small table she watches her daughter's antics with, patiently giggling as Rika dashes about. However, when the dark-haired genin attempts to flee from the household, something cold and intangible catches hold of her movements and the young artist finds her limbs locked into place.

Gonna need a Will Save. DC 20.

At the table, Risako flashes her daughter a cold-blooded smile and makes an elegant gesture toward the cushion on the opposite side of the table. "Your ceremony can at least wait until after you've had breakfast, ne?"

Yoshihiro

Predictably, Sakura and Hikaru burst into the room all grubby-handed from breakfast. Their eyes level upon you instantly but when they leap into "Yoshi-nii" all they manage to do is get tangled up in your bed sheets.

The two masses of energy squirm about in the tangles for quite a while. "Augh, no fair using your ninja training!"

[ZeroNumerous]

Rika

Rika stops, but doesn't respond to her mother. She can't move, and as a result says nothing. Risako was a very stubborn woman, and Rika inherited that much from her mother. If she wanted Rika to stop, then she'd have to ask nicely.

[Cespenar]

Excited? She did have a slight fluttering feeling in her stomach, but was that actually excitement, or was it because she thought she was supposed to be excited, she did not know.

Nevertheless, she takes a deep breath through her nose, holds it for a moment, and exhales through her mouth. It was the first thing Hanae taught her, lesson one of martial arts, as well as anything else in life.

"Not anymore," she answers, smiling serenely. "Shall we go, or do we have time yet?"

[Eurus]

While his attempt to break the tension seemed to have backfired (if the second or two of awkward silence that stretched out was an indication, anyway) it did seem to give Sora an out.

"...May I be excused, then? I should go soon, or I'll be late."

[Bad Situation]

Rika

Risako smiles at her daughter's back and merely tilts her head as the jutsu binding Rika wears off on its own. "Are you so eager to leave me behind that you can't spare a few moments to have breakfast with your mother, Rika? I wanted to talk you know. Just the two of us. With all that went on with your grandfather we haven't had a time to just sit down and talk." There's a hesitancy to her tone but she powers through her words regardless and simply gestures to the seat across from her.

Akiko

Hanae simply shakes her and waves her hand at you, "Ah, no I have a mission to get to you see. I pulled a few strings with sensei so I could see you off before joining up with them over in Sugoraku Village. I just...wanted to see how you were holding up I suppose? You always were the type to keep your feelings to yourself, after all. I wanted to be here for you in case you were feeling nervous but I guess I was just being silly."

She crosses the room and looks at you with a sort of nostalgia in her eyes as she lovingly runs the back of her hand against your cheek, "Silly as always."

Sora

Yama simply holds up his massive forearm and does a shooing motion. Whatever the case, it seems you're now free to leave.

[Overlord Rion]

"Ha ha, I win again, you little munchkins!" Yoshi dodges around his siblings, almost slides into the kitchen and grabs anything that looks like food before he says anything. "So, I graduate today, right? I'm not late yet, am I?"

[Bad Situation]

Yoshihiro

You enter into the kitchen and as ever, it is a busy affair. Your family is seated all along the table while your mother scrubs dishes in the sink. When you ask your question your father peers over his newspaper to look at you through his glasses and quirks an eyebrow at you incredulously before returning to his reading. "Did the Academy not teach you how to read a clock? You're thirteen years old, son. You should be responsible for your own life at this point." Your father it appears is as bristly as ever, though you've all but come to expect this kind of attitude from him by now. He doesn't look like much right now as he sips his coffee in his patched up, too-small pajamas but back when he was your age Maeda Atsushi was practically running your grandfather's dying business as he clawed his way to the top.

A quick glance at the dining room clock says you have almost half an hour before you really need to leave the house.

[Eurus]

Sora doesn't sigh, even if he feels the brief urge. He only smiles as he stands, bows politely to both family members, and departs the room.

It's only when he's safely out that he exhales in relief, and perhaps a touch of frustration. That's quickly smoothed over, though. Today was supposed to be a good day, so he didn't want to start it on the wrong foot. If he hurried, he might still be able to catch up to his friends.

Grinning at the thought, he practically breaks into a sprint toward the road. Neither of them lived too far, although they were both a little out of the way. But if he got ahead of them, he could intercept one or both when they arrived. Possibly with some sort of amusing ambush.

[Cespenar]

Akiko touches her sister's reaching hand with the smile still on her face.

"I don't exactly keep my feelings to myself, nee-chan. I just try to... overcome the bad ones." A shadow passes over her face as she remembers her old days.

"Like anger... or hate. If I ever could move one step forward in that sense, it was all thanks to you." She squeezes Hanae's hand lightly, before finally getting up.

"I should go. Better early than late." She moves towards the door, and looks back one last time. "Love you. Take care of mother, okay? You should have the time, now that I'm gone," she adds light-heartedly.

[Overlord Rion]

"Uh huh, yeah. All right. Yes, dad. I didn't have enough time to check because I was busy getting ambushed by family. As usual though, the food is delicious." He looks over to where his mother is washing dishes. "Mom, do you need any help with anything before I go? Actually, does anybody need help with anything?" He was looking forward to seeing Sora and Rika graduate as well. Hopefully something ridiculous would happen.

[ZeroNumerous]

Rika

Rika turns around when her mother speaks, then nods. "Sure, we can talk. But not here. Can we talk while walking?"

[Bad Situation]

Sora

As you set off onto the road you come into a crossroads of a sort. You stand at the edge of the merchant's ward, where you know Rika has to pass by to get to the Academy every day but you also know that just down the street is Yoshi's house. It seems the half hour your mother held you up for did more than just bore you, it wasted the time you could have used to play a prank on your friends.

Rika and Yoshi live in different parts of the village. Yoshi, due to his family's influence lives somewhere near the border of the clan district and the merchant's ward. Rika on the other hand, lives almost halfway across the village and in one of the poorer apartment complexes. If you want to play a prank on them you'll only be able to intercept one at the most with the amount of time you have on hand. Setting something up closer the Academy will take too much time.

Akiko

Forgetting the fact that Akiko is also a shinobi and explicitly stated that she held off a mission to come greet you in the morning, your sister squeezes your hand in return and stands up to leave. She demurely slides open the door to your room, edges herself out and closes it in a similar manner. From within your room you can hear your sister's measured footsteps fade off as she draws further and further away, presumably toward her room.

Yoshihiro

Your mother says nothing, simply as she lifts a rubber gloved hand out of the sink to shoo you away with. Seeing this, your father gives you a meaningful look and jerks his head in the direction the door. Your brother, Jun, looks up from his ledgers and looks as though he wants to say something but refocuses himself before he can manage to say anything.

If Yoshi leaves he makes it outside of his house unaccosted by his younger siblings. Halfway to the academy however, he notices something quite odd at the entrance of the park. Near the gates you a number of school bags strewn about by the wall, all thrown together in a messy pile.

Rika

"And why pray tell, are you in such a rush that you can't spare the time to eat breakfast with your mother? Are you that eager to be rid of me?" She smirks slightly but sets her chopsticks down regardless alongside the rest of the uneaten food. Without missing a beat she stands herself up and reaches toward a hanger on the wall to throw a shawl over her shoulders before stepping outside with you. "After you."

[Overlord Rion]

Near the gates you a number of school bags strewn about by the wall, all thrown together in a messy pile.

"All right, all right, I'm going, I'm going. Can't believe my family wants to be rid of me this badly. Oh woe is me!" Theatrics aside, Yoshi walks backwards out of the kitchen, bowing to the family in the most ludicrous way possible. His life was about to become grim if the things he had heard were true. He'd take lightheartedness where he could get it.

But what was this? School bags, all over the place? And such a mess, too. This simply would not do! Yoshi figured if he hurried, he could figure out what was going on here, and run towards the academy afterward, he'd make it. Time to investigate!

[Cespenar]

Waiting for her sister to leave completely, Akiko clears out herself, leaving the house. She watches the others train for the limited amount of time allowed by her stride, and waves if any of them sees her walking.

Knowing that she has time still, she sets a relaxed pace and tries to enjoy her walk to the ceremony.

[ZeroNumerous]

Rika

The young lady makes no move to leave. "Any more emotional blackmail you'd like to throw at me?" Rika stabs her mother with an emotional knife. "I don't want to talk about what happened, but if you'd like to throw more guilt at me then we can see how much like Grandfather you've become." The young lady twists the metaphorical knife. The two of them were both bull-headed, and while Risako was a better emotional manipulator than Rika, the young girl hadn't exactly been ignoring her lessons.

"Besides. We both know what happened. I'd rather leave it in the past."

[Bad Situation]

Yoshihiro

You enter the Konoha public park and immediately you are put upon by the disquieting silence that fills the air. The park is, unsurprisingly, empty at this hour of the day. A far cry from the usual bustle you would encounter on your way home from school or during the few times you were given the responsibility of escorting your brother and sister to the playground. Various play implements and recreational equipment are scattered around the park, some that you recognize from your own childhood even.

Still, no readily apparent sign of any other people though.

Akiko

Your leisurely walk to school is relaxed and sedate but is the same boring fare. It's early enough that nobody in the clan district is really up to much business and the few who are generally take to the city's rooftops. In fact, you've seen more than a few shadows blur in and out of sight from the corner of your eye today. There are a few people walking the streets, academy students like you but none seem to be as relaxed as you are and even then, none of them are stupid enough to bother somebody from one of the Noble Clans of Konoha, branch house or no.

As you make your way to the academy however, you pass by a particularly large group of boys walking in a direction opposite to your own, laughing together as you pass them by. They're all huddled together and conversing, with one familiar boy slinging his arm over one of the others very relaxedly.

Spot DC 13:
Upon closer inspection you realize why the one boy is so familiar. He's a fellow student at the academy, in fact they all are.

Listen DC 20:
The boy with the arm slung whispers very quietly into the smaller boy's ear, "Think you're hot ****, huh? How about you show me what that stupid headband of yours is really worth?"

Rika

The smile doesn't disappear from Risako's face but the air around her eyes take on a heavier kind of countenance when Rika compares her own mother to Ayushi. Sighing disappointedly, Risako removes the shawl from her shoulders and instead drapes it over Rika. "I did not know wanting to spend time with one's daughter was emotional blackmail but I suppose you know better than me now, after spending time with them for as long as you did."

Risako says nothing more as she turns and leaves the small kitchen making almost no noise as she retreats into the bedroom, closing the sliding doors with soft thunk.

[Eurus]

Sora considers for a moment, before deciding to wait here for Rika. Deciding on a form of greeting, unfortunately, is a little harder. He'd used up his last smoke bombs on a prank the other day... and he still hadn't quite gotten the hang of that one genjutsu.

He could just wait for her like a normal person. Boring, but oh well. They probably didn't need any more excitement today. He'd just have to remember to restock on smoke bombs later...

[ZeroNumerous]

Rika

The young girl looks down, sighs, and shakes her head. "Stupid..." She turns around and leaves the house, heading toward the Academy at a slow pace. Rika gets lost in her own thoughts, and pays no attention to the world around her.

[Overlord Rion]

Well, Yoshi still had some time before he had to start running to the ceremony. "Time to clean!" Yoshi begins sorting the bags and generally just making sure the area looked neat.

[Cespenar]

The Hyuuga eyes her peers as they pass, and what she hears make her stop in her tracks. This was often an important point in her debates with Kosaku - he believed helping people was tantamount to hurting them in the long run, since you robbed them of the potential of standing on their own. Akiko often argued to the opposite - there was a different kind of power in solidarity than in solitude, and even the latter examples would end up producing stronger individuals, they were in the end just that - individuals, and didn't tend to use their powers to support the community as the others did.

Both were ideals though, and no one could live their lives fully by utilizing only one of them. Real life didn't work like that. In this instance, for example, Akiko turns sideways and simply watches the kids go, curious if the situation devolves into anything more than it is. If the smaller boy really did win his headband, he would probably look back at the days where he was picked on by a mere bully with longing, rather than fear.

[Bad Situation]

Sora

The morning passes by uneventfully but before long, you see Rika heading down the road on her way to the Academy. Even before coming into hearing range you can tell she has her head is up in the clouds. Whatever she's thinking about, it's keeping her from paying attention to her path and subsequently, you.

Yoshihiro

The bags are the usual in Academy student fare, though one of the bags in particular catches your eye. It's the nametag sewn into the bag that really draws your attention though. Hosh itaka Sendou, you remember him as one of the bullies who used to pick on you back during your first few years at the Academy. He laid off you once you fell in with Sora and Rika and it was becoming apparent that he wasn't a match for you during spars but as far as you can tell, he never quite abandoned his delinquent ways.

Akiko

The group passes by Akiko without comment, though the group seems to huddle together closer when they realize that a Hyuuga is watching them go. As if it really mattered with your bloodline but then, civilian students always did practice the strangest sort of habits.

[Cespenar]

Although the reason Akiko is watching them is different, she greets and waves if any of them makes eye contact. When the group passes, she sighs and moves on to the Academy.

[Overlord Rion]

Well, he WAS a delinquent, so Yoshi felt no remorse for looking in Sendou's bag. Who knows what kind of crazy thing might be in there.

If there is nothing of interest, then Yoshi neatly puts it back and continues on to the Academy after making sure the mess of bags was satisfactory.