sunshine_ooc | Test Drive Post!

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Test Drive Post!

Sunshineverse

Okay everyone, it's time to test some people out! The rules of the game are simple. You have a character you would like to try out as a native to the setting of this game. You want to see if this is the right setting to play said character in, right?

Well, then all you have to do is drop them into this post as a top level comment with this as the header:
Character name | Series (OC's just put Original here) | Planned Village Affiliation

Then you comment around and play with everyone else!

If you need some ideas on how to get started, you can drop your character in during the middle of a mission, have them at an eatery around their village, or maybe even just doing weapons practice. It's up to you how you want to set out, so feel free to put your characters in this version of the Naruto universe however it most seems appropriate. Just be sure to say where you put them somewhere in your post though, otherwise two people might not even be threading in the same country.

One last thing! Remember that your character was born in this universe, so whatever else you decide, your character is a world native, even if they might be a tourist in the village you decided to test them out on.

And that's it. Just be good to each other and have fun! Threads you do here can count toward future activity checks, so long as the person you're threading with gets in too. These threads can also be used for samples on your application.

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World♦ Country Information
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♦ Character History FAQ
♦ Nationality Guide
♦ Taken

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It had been a while since Sasuke had had the time to go wandering through some of further stretches of forest around Konoha, busy as he'd been. This particular weekend had turned up like an unexpected and inexplicable gift: totally empty of clan engagements, missions, or leads to follow. He'd taken the span of perhaps five minutes to feel guilt about not taking the time to spend with his family before he'd packed a tackle kit and the minimum complement of weapons and taken off for the weekend, goshawks in tow.

The stream he'd sought was a distant tributary of the Nakano River that ended up in Konoha. It was one of those locations that was quiet and felt uninhabited despite its proximity to the road, tucked away behind uncomfortable brambles and a strange overhang of rock that made it look more desolate than it was.

That same overhang meant that fish tended to gather in its shadow in the late afternoon, enjoying the cooler water, so Sasuke was perched just out of sight on a convenient flat rock, line dangling in the water and goshawks behaving themselves in order not to alarm any of the regular forest creatures around. It was so rare that he was interrupted, and by anyone with enough chakra to be a threat, that he almost didn't lift his head when the sound of footsteps came from upstream, assuming that whoever it was would find the road and leave.

They neared rather than departed, however. He glanced up at the same time as a tall stranger emerged, not much older than him by the looks of it. No village marker, and dressed like a civilian, but there was enough chakra present that there was no way to write it off to a fluke.

Sasuke stayed where he was, both hands still on his fishing rod, but his gaze locked on the stranger's with an assessing look.

Juugo had been telling his friends that the large birds by the stream wouldn't hurt him, and focused on the birds themselves, so he startled badly when there really was a person already there. He froze under the gaze, tensed like he might run, but didn't move for one long moment.

This person... Those birds were not average goshawks. They were beautiful, and young still, but no, not average. His friends fluttered around his head and shoulders, nervous about the goshawks more than the person with them, but Juugo felt the creeping terror sliding through him.

Ninja, probably, and those were so dangerous. They were stronger against it, that was true enough, but that often didn't matter. But they were also faster, and Juugo had been chased more than once. He couldn't risk it, not with it curling underneath his skin again already. What could he do? He couldn't stay, and the ninja didn't look like he was ready to move. Maybe if he didn't run, the ninja wouldn't chase.

Juugo took a step back, then another, acutely aware of his tattered and threadbare clothes and bare feet for the first time in a very long time. His voice croaked when he tried to use it.

"I'll go.

It looked like Sasuke had startled the newcomer more than vice versa, for all that this area was still generally close enough to the village that shinobi wouldn't be thin on the ground. True, they were more likely to be coming and going en route to home or a mission, but that didn't explain the tension that shocked through the man's frame. With chakra like that, Sasuke couldn't imagine why, unless he was in some way expecting trouble from a ninja.

That was, in itself, enough for Sasuke to frown, setting his fishing rod down to stand. Two of the goshawks circled down to him from the trees, landing one to a shoulder and tucking their wings neatly, but Hoderi merely hopped to a lower branch, craning his neck to get a better view of the new person and his entourage of smaller birds.

Which was probably the first thing to address, Sasuke decided, because as yet there had been no move toward threat, and Hoderi was easily the hungriest of the lot.

"They're not food," he called out to the goshawk, earning a disappointed look, before turning his attention back onto the stranger. "There's no need. Were you searching for something?"

Juugo looked at the goshawk who had been eyeing his friends. He didn't want his friends to become dinner, even if the goshawk's human friend was trying to forestall it. The little birds were not happy with predators so close, and hunkered down on his shoulders. He knew what they were expecting.

"If he tries I won't let him; he can catch the fish in the stream if he's hungry."

But that didn't solve the problem. The man wasn't fishing anymore, which meant he was more interested, like the birds were. Maybe if he went slowly he could get away before something bad happened. It could be hard to fish in the same spot anyway. One fisherman scared off the fish for the other. Maybe that way would work, if this person was fishing for his friends. As hungry as they looked, he probably was.

"Fish. You're already here; I'll go."

Juugo stepped back, edging the way he'd come.

Ah -- the stranger's birds were making themselves even smaller around him, Hoderi had clearly frightened them. Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes, instead reminding himself to take Hoderi out in public more often so he could learn to better control himself, and instead directed his gaze at those smaller birds. They didn't look or behave like summons, rather like actual creatures of the forest, which ...

Frankly, if the guy hadn't been a head and half again taller than Sasuke and radiating chakra, he would have considered the guy largely unthreatening.

As it was, though, Sasuke frowned when he turned to go, not entirely comfortable with the idea of someone like this wandering so close to the village without any idea of his goals.

"Hold on," he said, taking a careful step towards the man -- he looked about as spooked as his feathered friends, which meant Sasuke made sure to keep his feet and hands in view. He had no intention of attacking, just asking: "I don't usually see people in this area, even civilians. How did you come to be here?"

Juugo shrank in on himself, much like his little birds were doing. His arms went around his chest and he gripped his sides hard, breathing in an uneven gasp. His whole posture screamed fear and don't-come-close, and it was only the chakra that didn't match the rest. Even Juugo's rusty voice had a thread of fear in it.

It was as there as it always was, but not close enough to scare his friends. Maybe if he answered the questions he could go, and make himself safe, somewhere quiet and with no people he could reach.

"I was looking for somewhere safe."

Let that be enough. Every moment was a moment closer to blood---no. No.

Even without the words, the attitude of the man's body gave away his fear -- and it was something immediate, Sasuke could tell that much, not the sort of harried presence of someone on the run from a more distant threat. Of what, Sasuke couldn't tell, given that the forest around them was still peaceful with afternoon light and faint birdsong, but the words only confirmed it.

His eyes narrowed slightly, the awareness of the chakra tickling the instinctive want for the Sharingan's clearer sight but not quite enough to activate it just yet. Whatever someone with a chakra like this was afraid of, he knew with certainty that he didn't want it to lead to Konoha without the village being thoroughly prepared.

"What's the danger? I know this area; I can find you a haven if you need it."

The hope across Juugo's face was so naked and vulnerable that he looked years younger for a moment, not that he looked particularly old normally. Even the little birds looked happier, responding to their friend's uplifted mood.

When the fear crept back a little, Juugo felt it settle and back down too. Good. So good. If this man could show him a haven, a safe place, where no matter how violent it was, no one would be hurt, then Juugo could be content.

"Where is the haven?" Juugo paused. "Are there people there?"

If there were, then it wouldn't be a good place and his hopeful expression flickered at the thought.

That first reaction and its accompanying question were good signs, Sasuke thinking about how best to present someone with chakra like that to the gate guards without getting them both immediately pinned down by security, but the follow-up made him blink his focus back to the man in surprise. It was a strangely general way to phrase it, something that made Sasuke question again exactly what it was causing so much fear.

"What kind of people are you looking to avoid?" He asked, though he was also thinking of his own camp not too far away, established in a cave tucked out of sight beneath a cliff face and newly made cozy for his impromptu free weekend. And speaking of his own weekend ... "Or are you looking to avoid everyone?"

He should have been more concerned for his own neck, perhaps, but unless the total panic that had been flickering through this person's expressions up until now were top-notch artifice, he wasn't expecting anything he couldn't handle. And even an outright attack would have been a change from --

A change.

If everyone was the answer, then it was unlikely that he was a specific enemy of Konoha's, though there did follow the risk that he was a missing-nin. But nothing about his movements thus far told of shinobi training, for all the chakra nearly pouring out of him.

Juugo nodded at the second question. He didn't want to hurt anyone. Even damaging trees and earth was its own sorrow, though if he could avoid hurting people, it was a bearable one.

Even this stranger would have to leave so that Juugo could be safe. He was helpful though, and Juugo felt grateful. He'd figured it out, and would help make Juugo be safe, and so Juugo would thank him. No one else would know, but it was better that way. When Orochimaru had discovered it, that had ended in so much blood.

Juugo shuddered. "Is it close by? I'm not safe."

He clung to himself tighter and rocked on his heels. Even if it was calmer right now, there was no knowing how long that would last.

So -- no one at all. Better for Konoha, maybe, but not so much for Sasuke's trying to figure out what was going on with the stranger at the source of the chakra. The birds on his shoulders shuffled unhappily, reacting to something about the uncontrolled way it seemed to be -- shifting, somehow, hard to pout hims finger on beyond the strange gut-level Fear this.

At least that was one problem to resolve easily -- he turned one cheek into Hoori's fluffy breast, instructing the chick to return to their camp and make sure there were no others in the way. Easily the fastest, the bird dove gracefully off his shoulder and into flight, winging away.

"I've sent him ahead to check for people," he added out loud, just in case the man had no experience with summons -- the birds hovering around him definitely weren't, but if not, then how ... ? "In the meantime, I'm going to need you to tell me what to expect if I help you here. What's not safe about you?"

"It."

Juugo didn't want to talk about it. He just wanted to be safe. His fingers dug into his flesh, and the dull pain didn't help but it was there, and that was okay. It didn't really feel pain, or if it did, Juugo never really remembered.

"When it takes control, there's only death. Blood and screaming and... It doesn't stop until there's nothing left."

He couldn't say any more. His knees felt weak, and only the thought of getting somewhere safe kept him from letting the ground have him. He wouldn't be getting back up again if he fell. It probably would.

It. In another place, Sasuke would have pointed out that the description was far from being useful, but here -- with the words that followed -- he was tempted to put a hand on the sword slung over his back. Between the chakra and the clear terror of whatever it was, there was more than enough uncertainty here to make him want a weapon at the ready just in case.

But just in case of what, exactly, still wasn't clear. There was still no indication that the man feared being followed, which led to the bizarre conclusion that he was afraid of something with him. Which would make sense, perhaps, with his desperation for a place away from people, especially with an explanation like that ...

"It's something with you," Sasuke said, carefully. "And you can't control it, can you? Something wrong with your chakra?"

"Chakra?"

Orochimaru had talked about chakra a lot during the experiments. It was something ninja had, but Juugo had chakra? Was it his chakra?

"I can't. He said he would fix it, but he only made me fight. Blood, so much blood--"

Juugo grabbed at his hair, wishing the memories would come out as easily as the strands did. The pain was good; he was still here. It was still sleeping. The birds on his shoulders chirped at the motion but didn't move, only hunkered down like they were expecting a storm.

"I need to be safe. I don't want to hurt anyone..."

... this man didn't even know what chakra was, apparently, despite the increasingly-massive amount of it swirling around him. Wherever he'd come from and whatever his goal had been, there was no way that Sasuke could simply let him go free at this point, even if he didn't seem to want to cause harm.

Though want didn't sound like it factored into it. Blood, Sasuke heard, hand nearly flinching up toward his sword at the movement before he realised it wasn't threatening.

If anything, the stranger looked pained, and the words ... Sasuke had seen and experienced interrogation techniques by now, and he'd learned that the best questioning didn't actually happen in the course of pain, but after. Even if the man tried to give an explanation, the fear running through his system would likely garble it more than not.

That made time their most valuable resource, Sasuke's jaw set as he scanned the horizon for -- there was Hoori's silhouette, circling down to land on the arm he stretched out. "There's a hidden cave close by, less than two hundred metres' walking. There's no one in that area right now, but you'll need to keep it in check until we get there."

They were deep enough in the woods that it would take a significant commotion to draw attention, but with that amount of unharnessed chakra, Sasuke had no interest in taking chances. He gauged the tension in the form in front of him, frowning, and added in the voice he'd learned to use when commanding a team: "I have no intention of allowing you to hurt anyone before we reach it. Or after."

"That sounds safe. Caves are good, nice, until it ruins them."

Though Juugo was still tense, flinching at what appeared to be nothing every so often, the promise of somewhere safe brought him enough clarity to push through the fear. This man would show him somewhere safe, and he could go back as far into the cave as he could and hopefully it wouldn't get far enough out. Maybe this time the cave-in would trap it and Juugo wouldn't have to worry anymore. There would be nothing to worry about then.

"We should hurry."

He shuffled a couple unsure steps closer, still drawn in on himself tightly, but the birds looked more relaxed.

Safe, ruins, more words that made Sasuke keep a wary hand close to his sword just in case they didn't make the cave in time. Fortunately it seemed like the prospect of a space away from people had forestalled whatever it was for now -- perhaps the man had some measure of control over 'It', or at least his emotions were tied to how quickly 'It' emerged.

The question of how exactly to lead the man to the cave without presenting his back once they were in the forest proper instead of the open space around the creek was troubling, up until Sasuke remembered the small birds.

"It's only a short distance from here," he said, pausing where the path narrowed and lifting his arm until the goshawk on it was clearly visible. "This is Hoori. He'll lead you and I'll follow. If this It comes out, I'll be able to stop you more quickly from behind."

And no matter what manner of danger had such a large man in fear, goshawks were unmatched in agility in woods like these. Hoori would easily find safety, and the goshawk took off from Sasuke's arm with the slow pace of a bird that knew as much.

Juugo flinched at the words. This man was so confident, but even Orochimaru had gotten out of the way until it was done. Even he couldn't stop it or he would have, Juugo was sure. It caused so much damage.

"When my friends fly away, run. No one can stop it."

But he was eager to get to somewhere safe, and his eyes followed the goshawk's flight easily. He started after, keeping a good pace even so under-clothed and with bare feet, focused on little else. Safe. Safe. Safe.

Friends -- the only thing Sasuke could think of that qualified were the birds still hunkered down on the man's shoulders. So somehow, woodland animals could tell when this 'it' was likely to occur, or at least when it was about to. That made sense, he supposed, given how sensitive most wild animals were to human chakra.

And this was -- with the man's back to him, Sasuke let the Sharingan flood freely into his eyes, barely holding back an exclamation at the size of it as much as the feel. It didn't seem to fit properly into the stranger's body, as tall and broad as he was, and tendrils still lifted up and away from the main mass as if it was under no control whatsoever. No: more than that, as if they had never been trained to focus or be formed into usable shapes.

No village marker, this chakra, and the insistence that he be away from people; if this didn't mark him out to be on the run, Sasuke wasn't sure what did. Still, now was no time to investigate, even if he still didn't know what they were avoiding with such urgency.

The cave was fortunately close, the mouth of it half-obscured by vines dangling to screen most of it from view. Hoori soared directly into it once they were only a few paces away, executing a trim mid-arc spin before flapping out of he cave and Sasuke's waiting arm.

"Does this It try to travel places?" He ventured, checking to see if the man were still coherent. "I can seal off your legs if that is the case."

The cave was nice, and well hidden. Juugo relaxed even more. He would be safe here. Even if it came out! It wouldn't get too far without something to chase, and he walked all the way in before the question made him pause.

Juugo peered out, not ready to come out again. "Sometimes. It goes farther if there's something to chase, or if I know where people are before it comes out."

There weren't any people nearby except this man. So it wouldn't go very far, Juugo thought. But it would be better if this man left entirely, and Juugo didn't watch him go. Then it would just destroy the cave and the trees around it.

"If you leave now, it won't try to chase you. It doesn't pay attention to things that are far away."

So there was sentience remaining when this It emerged, at least on some primitive level. Sasuke could see that the man was built for speed, particularly, and though he had clearly been steady enough to attract woodland creatures to roost on him, his movements were far from a shinobi's trained precision. Still, that cloud of chakra ... even an Academy student could do damage with a fraction as much.

"You're too close to my home," Sasuke said, tone blunt. "If this It can do as much damage as you're suggesting, I'm not going to leave you unsupervised."

Even with Konoha's proximity (and the nearness of the outlying civilian settlements) aside, he wasn't particularly confident about the structural soundness of a cave built this low into the rock face. If too much damage happened to the interior, there was no guarantee that the stranger wouldn't end up buried under a rockslide, and though Sasuke had no particular allegiance to him, he also had no particular desire to leave someone buried alive.

Reaching out to pull some of the vines aside, he glanced inside, eyes adjusting to the dim interior to see that the hidden location had at least relaxed some of the physical tension, if not the chakra.

"Since that's the situation, shall I seal your legs?"

Juugo winced. No, he really didn't need to know that. It might decide to go looking. But there was nothing that could undo it, so he'd just have to hope it didn't remember.

But the cave was nice, and the man was offering something, even if Juugo didn't know exactly what it was. Whatever it was, Juugo would take it, no matter how much it cost. But asking what it was would help him prepare for it.

"What do you mean, exactly?"

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