[Game Thread] Squad B- A strange start.

[Anael]

*This thread is for Ryoga, Cadencek, KellyCat and Double L*

(To be fair I am giving each of you passing grades for the first part of the exams: Your written test and the infiltration mission.)


There were five of you in the room. Only two of them were familiar with each other. The itself was fairly nice. It was an overly large and ornate waiting room. In the center was quite a spread and the attendants urged you all to help yourselves. There were plenty of chairs, couches and space so that if anyone or everyone wanted they could sit alone without really bothering or be bothered by the others. You started the night out on different squads. To be precise squads F through J. The written test went by normally but the second stage turned out to be a complete tragedy. The 5 squads were taken to a large a warehouse. You were given the mission and what to find each squad a different goal. In a way though you were competing indirectly with the other squads. It was supposed to be a controlled environment nobody told that to the mercenaries who infiltrated the staff watching the exams. A group of several rogue ninjas and about 10 anti-ninja task force members raided the grounds. The proctors were distracted and the plan was executed flawlessly. You watched many of your new teammates fall. Only 5 of you stood when the smoke cleared and all the attackers had be stopped. Then you were quickly ushered into this room after being examined by med-nin.

A tall Oriental woman who filled out the deep blue dress she wore flawless strode into the room. Her eyes too were a mesmerizing blue. Only closer inspection or asking would tell if they were contacts or natural. She spoke without an accent and she gave an order to an attendant who immediately left. Her attention was then given to the five of you.

I am deeply regretful for the events of this night. That is, however, the world of the ninja. My name is Baylee Chan. You may call me what everyone else does Tsunami. Or if you insist on Sensei that will be fine as well. I am going to speak with a few of the elders. When I return I will give you your instructions on how they want to sort out this mess. As always you may leave the test at any time. Until I return.She bows slightly and takes her leave.

[Rahzeil]

After a few moments of looking around the room, Seido casually walked over to the corner farthest from the door and began practicing stance. He laughed softly and spoke with a voice perhaps an octave too deep for his size.

So... the exams keep going. The level of commitment expected here is simply unbelievable.

The ninja speaking appeared to be in his late teens, early twenties but it would be difficult to tell seeing as how his face was covered with an Anbu-style mask, though with clear markings to help differentiate it from those of the superior ninjas. Perhaps this was part of what made his ethnicity appear so ambiguous, for it wasn't particularly clear from his tone or voice where he heralded from. He had short black hair and pale white skin. He dressed from head to toe in a business formal plaid suit. As he spoke he made a casual movement of the arms and gently switched the placement of his legs as he maneuvered through his stance. Those in the room who had paid special attention during the events leading up to their union might recall that he was dressed in Shinobi armor when the battle had began but now he looked completely civilian... well aside from a few dangling blades and scrolls that is.

[CadenceK]

Nanako head still spun and she still had a mild head ache while waiting in the waiting room with the medic nins. Her injuries much more mild and none severe enough to warrant more than a couple of pain reliever pills many of the medic nins tried to usher her into the waiting room where the others would be herded as well. Nanako, however refused to leave the Medical room until she knew that Laura was alright. As such the Medic nins gave her a chair to wait until the one that she was waiting for was done with her examination and treated. Nanako sat in the chair with her legs curled up and arms wrapped around her legs as tight as they would go. Where the chairs any smaller the small rocking motions she made while waiting may have thrown her off the chair.

[KellyCat]

Having taken a few more serious injuries from the battle, Laura came out from where the medic ninjas were treating the patients. The left leg of her jeans had a hole showing off a bit of her slightly tanned leg with new scar tissue from the deep cut. Her shirt was ruined, possessing a four inch cut across her stomach that had been dyed red from her blood which distracted from the scar that had been formed from the closed wound. Her face seemed cold and unreadable until she saw Nanako waiting for her to return, and she softened a little, her face taking on a shy smile. Slowly walking over to her partner, she offered her right hand to the other woman, "Hopefully you haven't been waiting for me... I told them it was just a scratch." she said, her mild Irish accent seemingly out of place among the Americans.

[CadenceK]

"You are awful you know that? Making a girl like me worry over you for just a little scratch..." Nanako let out a small laugh and stood up and took her partners hand but before allowing her to move any further she pulled the other into her arms and whispered into her ear "At least you are ok." After the embrace Nanako took the Irish woman's hand once again into her own. "It looks like they want to heard us into that room over there." Nanako points with her free hand. "You think there are some more crazed gun-men in there?" Nanako asked in a hushed voice that was half sarcastic, as she began walking towards the door with her girlfriend in tow.

[KellyCat]

Her steps a little slower as she favors her right leg. "Hopefully not... But they do make freeze easy enough" she remarked, giving Nanako's hand a small squeeze. "Apparently I am not as skilled at evading them as you seem to be." she said with a small laugh, seemingly relaxed in her partner's company. Heading into the main room for the speech by the oriental girl with the blue eyes, Laura gently released Nanako's hand. "I'm going to sit a bit." she said as she went over to the sofa and sat down on the soft leather cushions, her previously injured left leg resting against the arm of the furniture. Her head tilting back, she looks up at the ceiling for a few moments before she closed her eyes, seemingly in her own little world for a few moments.

[CadenceK]

Nanako paces about in front of the sofa her partner laid on. She could tell that the injuries were just a bit more harsh than Laura would ever let on. Still Nanako did her best to let Laura have a moment or two of solitude. Eventually she stopped pacing a bit and looked into Laura's face. Nanako loved the look Laura made when she went off into her own little world. Even though she knew that the younger woman was not entirely enveloped into her own world. Nanako wondered what was going on in her partner's mind right now. Is she reliving that nightmare in her mind? Is she remembering the pain of those "scratches" and how they where inflicted on her. I should have brought her down to the ground with me. I am faster than that. Why is it that I am always the one who only gets a couple bruises here and there and she is the one who always winds up hurt? She still young. She hasn't even reached my age. I am still young. But I worry about her. I can't help it. Nanako sat down by Laura after a good two or three minutes had gone by. She sat down and gave Laura the "bump" that said, "scooch over I want to put my head on your lap.". She kept her face averted from all the others though to prevent them all from seeing the tears slowly filling up her eyes. When her partner finally complied she lay one the couch on Laura's uninjured right leg and curled up into a small ball on the sofa burying her face into Laura's torn shirt, letting the tears fall as silent and as motionless as possible. Any one of them could have been me. Even worse any one of them could have been her.

[KellyCat]

Laura's hand reaches down and strokes her partner's hair, her expression softening in a look of compassion for Nanako. She whispered quietly to her, telling her that "its going to be alright." Her fingers gently caress through the older woman's hair as she tried to be as comforting as possible. "You are much too beautiful to be crying..." She said quietly, her hand sliding over Nanako's cheek to wipe away the soft tears as she looked down into her partner's green eyes, seeing them glisten with the ears. "I'm here for you, and I'll keep you safe." she said, her bright emerald eyes seeming to radiate confidence.

[CadenceK]

"Heh. You say that so matter of factly. Baka. If anyone is going to have to be protecting anyone here its going to have to be me protecting you." Nanako gives a small almost forced laugh, the sighs. "I mean look at you. You don't know when to get down in the middle of some cross-fire and you are to slow at doing it. Jeez if you keep getting nicked up like this you are going to be retiring from this job sooner than I will." Nanako starts to shift her position. As she does he rolls on her leg and gives a small "Ow" When she finally sits up straight she pulls out a black box with some golden thread lining and the business symbol of a prominent jeweler in her neighbor hood. "Here. This was supposed to be a "graduation" gift but it looks like we may actually need these so I guess you should have it now." Nanako placed the box on her partners lap. Then she sat back and stretched a bit. "Maybe this will help you in those situations you decide to be a reckless fool and get yourself hurt."

[DoubleL1987]

”…Pretty cool the way you handled that chakra scalpel. Bet you could really use it to do some damage as well, you know, go all reverse doctor on their - oh, my stuff’s in here? Alright, well you think I could…” The voice and enthusiastic questions came from another young man who was backing into the room from the doorway leading to the area where the injuries had been treated, obviously addressing an unseen medical-nin. However, the questions were ended when someone slammed the door shut rather violently from the side. ”Huh, guess he had more people to see to.”

Turning around, the young man glanced towards the others in the room, pausing for a moment on the two girls on the couch and allowing himself a quick smile before moving towards a small pile of items on the side table. He was in his early twenties, with messy, thick dark brown hair, blue eyes and a handsome, though slightly rounded face. Despite the rather large gash that had been patched up across his temple, he was looking rather cheerful as he slipped on a shoulder holster, pausing to take out the gun and check both its clip and that the safety was on.

”Glad to see some other people made it out of there in one piece, relatively speaking,” His voice was deep and had an unidentifiable accent to it. He put on the leather jacket that had been lying by the gun and then checked on an item that was wrapped in a leather sheath but didn’t withdraw it. He turned to the others and doffed an imaginary hat. ”Lawrence Raynor, but you can call me Larry for short – nice you meet you.”

[Rahzeil]

Seido made another smooth motion, returning back into the starting position of his stance. He didn't speak while he did this but after he had arrived back at the starting position he dropped all pretexts of the stance and pushed himself to lean against the wall. It was unclear through the mask whether he was looking at the new entry or the door behind him but his gaze ran relatively straight. "I don't like to give the full name but you can call me Seido... or any abbreviation thereof; I really don't care. But Lawrence Raynor, huh? Where's your hometown?" He folded his arms as he spoke so that he maintained a core position settled against the wall.

[DoubleL1987]

"Pleased to make your acquiantance, Seido. Hometown, well, I'm originally from Pretoria, South Africa, but I've been spending the last two years training with my sensei of sorts in New Orleans," Picking up the leather-wrapped item, Larry pulled a strap out from the side and slung it across his back, making sure it didn't sway overly much. "So yeah, I guess you can say I'm a long ways from home...Well, further than I was already, anyway."

[Rahzeil]

Seido shrugged lightly. He didn't move much unless necessary and as they were essentially be confined to wait he didn't bother to waist much energy. "I think that perhaps that is probably the intent. I'm from Limerick, Ireland. The days when ninja were confined to a few distinct villages are history. I'm beginning to suspect that there is a little bit of insanity that goes into these proceedings. To face death willingly is not a very human trait." He let out a dry laugh as he spoke, genuinely pondering where he fit into his own statement. After all, the people in this room had more reason than any to turn back but he didn't even feel the inclination to do so though logically he felt that he should have.

[DoubleL1987]

"Oh, I'm not planning on facing death anytime soon," Falling into one of the nearby armchairs, Larry kicked his sneakered feet up onto a small sidetable. "Still got too much to do, and this training thing is my first step heading there. I mean, my sensei was awesome, but there's a limit to how much you can learn in a cabin out in the bayou, you know? So I'm looking forward to whatever's coming up."

[Anael]

A soft shuffling disturbed the conversations taking place. An attendant dressed differently than the others hurried throughout the room. His eyes caught each of you as he in a panic set up some kind of visual projector and aimed it at a blank spot on the wall. After started the device he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The small beam of light spread out onto the wall forming an image. An image that both shocked and disturbed. It was the board room in the middle of discussing the nights occurrences.

Seated at the head was the Kage and he surrounded by the other members. A man with long gray hair and white eyes stood up angrily.

FIFTEEN! FIFTEEN of our own dead! This is an outrage. Your lax dealings with the anti-ninja task force and a wait and see policy with the ninja who defect has brought this upon us. We must strike back and show them that this will not be tolerated.

A chubbier man around the age of 60 leaned forward.
Calm down. My contacts within the anti-ninja task force have denied any connection to this attack. We have no reason not to believe them. Many members are high ranking politicians who's rather line their pockets than cause an outright war with ninja clans.

A young man with medium length black hair parted in the middle adjusted his glasses before murmuring. Bickering like a bunch of old hens and roosters.

What did you call us!? You may be one of the youngest to sit on the board but you better know your place.

Forgive me. You misunderstand. You're doing exactly, whomever did this, wants you to. Let's look at the facts. Earnings are going down. Competitors are swooping in while we bicker about attacks such as these. Time, money and effort goes into events like this money that cannot be placed into our business affairs. My guess is that they want us to focus on this while something is slipped under the radar.

A tall muscular man with long blond hair stood up.
It's always about the bottom line with you. As long as our quarterly profits increase who cares about the loss of a few ninja is that it?

Why am I forced to work with such simpletons.

What did you say?

A Caucasian woman with jet black hair in her early thirties interrupted.
He called you a simpleton it means that you are simple. And by me having to explain this like this it proves that he was right. You're still focusing on what "they" want us to. They know they can't beat us or would cripple themselves in a physical war but if you strangle our assets we would be much easier prey. Clearly, the ninja that attacked were well trained and not by us. The group of anti-ninja task force were well trained also.

A man with a hood covering most of his face stood.I'm out of here. When you're squabble for power is over let me know.

Sir, listen to me. We're all upset about our loss but they were ninja. Expendable assets. No big loss to our organization.

Quiet, all of you. The exams will continue on as planned we will carry on as we always have. We will not attack without proof. Nor will I buy into your schemes. His eyes focused in on the younger man. I know you've had your eye on running the business and have been buying up shares and territories. Maybe one day the house will be yours to control. Today is not that day. After the exams I want a task force set up to look into this matter.

With that the image cut out. What you just saw was highly forbidden as you all well know.