[Game Thread] Squad B- A strange start.

[CadenceK]

"I've got a feeling that guy wasn't with the examination committee." Nanako obviously states. She casts her gaze over to Laura, her worry suddenly double. "What do you make of this?"

[DoubleL1987]

Having sat in silence throughout most of the presentation, Larry glanced at one of the walls of the room, as if trying to see the boardroom through it. "Personally, I'm not sure how much I like the idea of being an 'expendable asset'."

[KellyCat]

"I think...it will make for an interesting day..." she said, holding onto the small box but not opening it. "Maybe we should wait on this... Wait for the right moment?" She puts the box back in Nanako's hand.

[Rahzeil]

Seido shook his head and began to pace back and forth. "Expendable is such an ugly word. I prefer renewable. It makes me more comfortable with the idea of being... recycled. In any case there really aren't many options as long as they order us to stay here. I for one do not feel the need to pit my power against that of the committee or the guys who purged our squad members earlier today."

[Ryoga]

Gideon shook his head as Aggro growled at his side. Up until know he'd been more concerned with Aggro's health and had been tending to him on the ground. Now the gash in Aggro's side was all patched up, and he sat attentively at his side, like a good and loyal dog. Gideon gently patted Aggro's head as he finally spoke up. 'We're dealing with dangerous people, more dangerous than us collectively I assume, as they command loyal ninjas who could snuff us out in a heartbeat....' At that Aggro whimpered, but Gideon's calm smile assured him.

'As much as I hate to admit it, we are expendable...at least the lesser skilled of us. It's a horrible fact, and I'm not excusing their demeanor, but I'd feel safer riding this out for the moment, barring any better ideas...'

[Rahzeil]

Seido shrugged. "Not much, I'm afraid, except..." Seido's brain began to crunch numbers. It was semi-expensive for him to run his Byakugan. But at the same time, using it would allow him to cheat the confines of the room to some extent, and no-one ever need know that he was using the technique, so long as his mask staid firmly in place. No, he thought, you know what curiosity did to the cat and they have nine lives. You have only one and it's hanging by a thread as it is. The time for answers will come later. The time for casual conversation is now. Seido glanced once around the room without moving his head. Two of the ninjas clearly knew each other so it would be rude to speak to them when the two men were on their own and as Seido had already begun to get to know Larry a bit, Gideon was a more refreshing target. "A pet user, huh? I've always been curious... What happens if your dog dies in combat? Does that spell endgame for you or is it more of a temporary setback?" Seido knew that these animal-partner-ninjas were generally a little bit testy about their animal companions but he was generally curious about the outcome of such a situation, as he might one day be called upon to kill such a ninja. besides, it had taken this long for the young ninja to speak at all a little friendly conversation certainly couldn't hurt could it.

[Ryoga]

Aggro stood up and walked over to Seido slowly, it's nose sniffing on the way there, intently. Gideon smiled and shrugged at the question. 'I hope no such day comes...My uncle's cheetah was mangled in a fight once and passed. While my uncle didn't die, he was never really the same. He's since stopped operating...' Gideon stopped and thought, the implications of either of his or Aggro's death scared him, and he almost felt like bringing Aggro in for a big hug just to assure he was alright. That last fight was a doozy, and he wasn't sure they were going to make it out.

He finished 'Personally, If either of us were to pass, I don't think we'd ever be the same. I've seen some animals waste away without their masters. Aggro and I are brothers, we've grown up together.' Gideon waited, and then smacked himself in the forehead, as if to show his own stupidity.

'Ah, I'm Gideon, and of course, that's Aggro. Don't mind him, he's just getting your scent, easier to discern you guys from enemies if we're to lose our handle on things...' Gideon gave a sly smile, not willing to divulge what 'losing their handle' implied.

If allowed, Aggro will sniff all the people in the room momentarily before moving on, then come and sit back down at Gideon's side. 'Good boy...Friends, friends, remember...Hup!' Aggro's head perked up once more and stared attentively at each person in the room in turn, as if remembering their scent and relation to Gideon.

[CadenceK]

Nanako never noticed the dog until attention was called to it. In her tiredness and worry for Laura her "dog-alert" senses must have dulled. But when the dog began to wander the room sniffing the people trying to get their scent her brain fully kicked into high gear and she began backing into the sofa. When she couldn't move backward any more she began climb up the back of the sofa and duck behind it trying to avoid the dog at all costs. As she was doing all this she started to whimper the words "Kagai... Inu.... Kagai... Inu... Kagai..."

[Ryoga]

Gideon gulped when the dog had gone over to Nanako and motioned his head to move on, Aggro dipped his head low, as if saying sorry and moved on, slightly dejected. 'Sorry about that...He's relatively harmless, especially out of danger.' Gideon gave a half smile, concerned for the girl.

[DoubleL1987]

Larry didn't say anything out loud, but those paying attention to his expression would have noted the distaste of referring to shinobi as "expendable", or in Seido's niver term "renewable" - he hadn't come to this life to be someone's tool, a blunt instrument to be used at someone's beck and call. But, for the moment, the others were right in that they weren't going anywhere.

When Gideon came up to him, he smiled happily and scratched the dog behind his ears - he liked animals, especially dogs. As he did, he glanced at Nanako who seemed to be a bit freaked out by the dog and took a moment just to consider what an odd little group he had ended up with...Then again, he was probably the strange one to a group of people who had known about their past without having it literally beaten out of them.

"So..." Trying to break the silence that had fallen after Nanako had curled up into a ball, Larry looked at the rest. "...Anyone have a famous ninja in their family tree? Just curious, since I wasn't even aware of my family's past until two years ago."

[Rahzeil]

Seido could not help but laugh a little at the mention of 'famous ninja' and he turned his head slightly to one side in order to do so. Though he was speaking directly to Larry, his eyes stayed trained on Nanako. She is afraid of dogs? How does she ever expect to survive in a team with one? Better yet, what if she is ever called on to fight against a pet user? She has an exploitable weakness she will have to watch for. Her and the pet user. "Don't you think that 'famous ninja' is a little bit of an oxymoron? Isn't the goal of ninja not to get famous?" He paused for a moment before continuing. "It depends on how directly you want to trail the family line. If you follow immediate family only, then I only have one famous ninja in my family. However, I am a member of a clan and that means there will always be one or two I suppose if you look hard enough. I assume you have a reason to ask. What about you?"

[DoubleL1987]

"Well, I've read up on a few of them, let me think of the names now..." Larry stroked his chin for a moment, before recalling the names and snapping his finger. "...Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha, I think their names were. I haven't quite read up on all the history, since most of the clan archives my mom managed to save are all in Japanese and I'm still learning it."

He leaned forward, looking interested. "Which clan are you from, Seido?"

[Rahzeil]

"Mm." Seido said in response to Larry's mentioning of who was in his clan. It was his way of disguising an admittedly foggy memory in regards to the Uchiha. Most of his research had been in regards to his own clan after all. When Larry asked which clan he was in he hesitated for a moment. He didn't really like giving other people knowledge of his capabilities and saying what clan he was a member of went a long way to spell it out for people. Still, between three of the members of the team he didn't register much threat and he wasn't even sure if Nanako could hear him right now. Besides, there was always the chance that the committee would just shove the leftovers of the different teams together to make a new team afterall, which meant he could end up working with these guys long term. This of course brought on a new train of thought, as he wondered who each of his team mates' sensei's had been. Had they been the targets? Were they still alive? They had not entered the building with the students because they were not permitted to help; did that mean that the new team would get a replacement sensei. Seido paused as he realize following this train of thought any deeper would cause Larry to think he was intentionally ignoring him. He put up one finger in the 'one moment' position and then, after intentionally bringing his face to an expression as impassible as possible he removed his mask for all of three seconds to allow those in the room to see his unactivated byakugan and register that he was hyuuga before replacing the mask. "Keep it a secret for me. It's more dangerous if my opponents don't know they are up against it. Usually I wouldn't show it at all, but I register a good chance that we will all end up in the same team from here on in."

[KellyCat]

Laura hears her better half scrambling behind the sofa to escape the dog. "Nanako sweet heart... Just think of it as an oversized kitty. Like when I dressed up for Halloween with the kitty ears and tail. You said I looked very cute dressed up like that. Just a big over sized stupid kitty." She said as she tried to coax the girl out from behind the sofa. "And if it does even look at you wrong, I can always turn it into a puppy-sickle. How does that sound sweetie?" She reaches behind the sofa an takes Nanako's hand in her own, trying to gently lead her out from behind the sofa.

"My family is not a ninja family" She said, her Irish accent more prominent as she talked about her family. "I express a recessive family trait."

[DoubleL1987]

If anyone had looked at Larry when Laura mentioned dressing up as a cat, they would have seen the momentary drop of his jaw before quickly trying to recover his composure and fidgeting with his holster to try and distract himself until he had managed it.

"Well, my family isn't a ninja family either - my dad didn't even want to tell me about the past of mom's side of the family tree. If I hadn't accidentally 'awakened' if you will, I'd probably be partway through a business degree and ready to take over the business. I actually don't think we've had any active shinobi since my great-great-grandfather if I remember right," Smiling a bit, he brushed his fringe away from his eyes. "But it's nice to know I'm not the only one who's had this dropped on me. What about you, Nanako?"