After having finished their first D-rank mission (yay!), the genin team returned once more to the Sky Bar to finish their mission in beauty. The crowd had barely settled as the night moved on, the floor filled with dancing people while the bartenders had their hands full on taking care of the many patrons' requests.

Mizuki, just like before, felt exhausted from the whole climb, muttering silently to herself that, of all the places, this had to be her least favourite, if only for the ridiculous amounts of stairs just to get on spot. Her only benefit for being here, at least until her body recovered, was that she was old enough to actually be allowed to drink alcohol.

Slipping through the crowd, Mizuki found a small spot, barely enough for four people and claimed it for her team as she sat down on one of the stools. It wasn't exactly comfortable with an enthousiastic crowd close enough to almost sit on the table, but it was better than nothing. The guys didn't care much anyway, since they were already out checking the dance floor. So much for planning...

Taking a look around as good as the crowd possibly allowed, Mizuki didn't notice any waiters. Right. The bartenders were busy, and she'd have to get a drink herself. However, leaving her claimed spot now would definitely mean losing it the moment she turned her back to it. And no sign of the guys either, or she'd gladly send one of them to get some drinks.

Mizuki guessed it'd be better to just sit and wait for a while as she recovered her wind and listened mindlessly to the music that was being played. Her eyes darted over the compact menu on the table, taking her time to find a good cocktail to drink - 'Spark Breeze' seemed rather tasty on first sight. Exotic and refreshing, it was an excellent choice to start the party with.

Word Count:

Lin drifted through the door, showing the doorman her Special Jounin identification card and flowing to the bar. Well, flowing was a... word for it. Mainly it was weaving through the drunks, the men who would probably want to dance with her, and other such folks. Both of the bartenders were busy, but she caught the eye of one and pointed with her head where she would be. He gave her a small nod and she wove again, a seamstress in the crowd to an empty place at the bar. She propped herself up as much as she could on the bar, her sweater coming up in the back for a split second before she righted it. Stupid sweater-dress. She liked it for its length and for its relative warmth, but most of all, she liked it because she thought that it made her look cute.

She didn't know if Maigo would be at the bar tonight, but she did know that she wasn't expecting him. This was to blow off some steam that she hadn't been able to in a while. While Lin was quiet she was an extrovert and loved to mingle with people. She loved the flashing lights, the music, the pure emotion that came with dancing, and of course the floor that looked like a thousand foot drop. She looked at the floor and wiggled her toes inside of her flats, ones that looked to be knitted like her sweater dress. She didn't have to wait long for the bartender to come over and gruffly ask, "Usual Miss Lin?" As he handed a beer to the man next to her, the man took it and his place was immediately taken by another.

"Mmmm. No, I think I am going to do a blue konoha tonight. Put it on my tab, the one that gets sent to me every month in the mail please." She smiled, resting her chest and arms on the bar. It wasn't sticky, which she liked, since the bartender that served her kept a clean bar-counter. Not at all like the one that had been there three nights ago. She had placed a hand there, and walked off, without so much as a 'no drinks thanks' because of it. A dirty bar was unappealing in almost every aspect.

The man nodded and took out a cup that looked like a tulip and started to make her drink. She looked around the bar... Now who hadn't she seen before? She spied a couple of genin boys that were dancing that she hadn't seen before. But she didn't exactly want oggling tonight. So... OH! there was a girl. The drink clinked on the counter and she smiled to the bartender in thanks as the man who was next to her shouted his order for a drink.

Lin moved through the crowd as a cat would lazily wander through an alleyway or around a scratching post over to the new girl and smiled, still standing at her table. "I'm Lin! You must be a new genin." She deduced... from the looks of the girl. Lin was a couple years older than she had been when she was a genin, and this girl was as advanced in years as she had been when she was starting out.

The girl had black hair and blue? no green. No blue? eyes and had a lithe frame, most likely a speed-type ninja like Lin herself. Or a long-range type like Lin herself. or... or she could just be new to the whole shinobi thing. She shrugged to herself and kept the smile, a genuine one, since the girl reminded Lin a bit of herself. Though, without the white hair, the scar, and the 400 pound panther living at home with her.

WC: 653

There were few people she knew at the party, and it didn't seem like the guys were returning anytime soon. Mizuki eyed the 'Spark Breeze' once again on the menu and sighed. Perhaps, if she was fast enough...? No? She was hesitant to try it, her intuition telling her it would be a choice between having a drink or having a spot - her exhausted body won the game.

The movement of an unknown woman through the crowd attracted her attention for a moment. The way she flowed through the people, ducked under eager arms and avoided stumbling drunks made Mizuki wonder... was she a ninja, or just a regular here that knew her way? It mattered little at this moment, really. She loved the girl's sweater-dress, though. It wasn't exactly Mizuki's style, but she found it rather fitting for the girl. Casual, warm, and still stylish for a night out.

But really... Sit. Or drink. Sooner or later, she'd have to move for a drink. There's was no such thing as going out and have nothing to drink. If only the guys returned for just a moment, she could appoint them guard duty just for a second.

But instead of the guys, the young woman appeared again. And had set her eyes for Mizuki? Yep, she had. And in a matter of seconds, she stood right in front of her, smiling brightly, being friendly.

"Hello, Lin-san. My name's Raiu Mizuki, but please, call me Mizuki-chan or something.", she greeted with a slight bow in respect. "You got sharp eyes. How could you tell? I graduated just a few days ago."

That answered her previous question. The girl's movement, her confidence. She was a kunoichi, and while she looked about the same age, perhaps a bit older, Mizuki doubted they were of the same rank. No, most likely not. Mizuki was old for her rank, due to her persistent weakness, so she expected Lin to be Jounin, at least.

And... she had a drink. It was as if life was just mocking her now. Not that it was Lin's fault Mizuki had this annoying situation. In fact, since she had been so friendly and the chairs remained otherwise empty, Mizuki waved her arm at the empty seats.

"Please, take a seat. I doubt the guys will be needing them for a while. And if they do... I guess they just had to be quicker."

Mizuki wasn't their shepherdess, you know. She came here with the idea to have fun, and that's what meeting strangers felt like. Fun.


WC: 440 + 331

Lin sat down at the behest of the new ninja. She didn't know how she knew that she was a shinobi, and a new one at that, but she did and it was always nice to meet new genin. "So..." She smiled and looked at the people dancing, "You're not dancing, you're not drinking, you're not playing the games that they have for the younger crowds in the corner." She indicated where people were playing Giant Jenga and other assorted games. "What brings you here?" She sipped at her Blue Konoha and raised her eyes to the girl.

Lin had tried to hide her scar on the right side of her face, and pulled the hair in front of it once more, subconsciously... self-consciously doing so with a movement that said it was more of a force of habit than anything. She smiled to Raiu-san. She hadn't made that many friends since becoming a Chuunin, and some of her friends had left since then. Perhaps it would be a good thing to befriend this Genin? Or perhaps to train this genin. But what could she teach her? Most likely nothing, but perhaps there was something that she had wanted to learn from a Special Jounin like Lin. Perhaps not.

She was getting unsure of herself, and so turned to the dance floor, waiting for her answer and sipping again, before turning back to the Mizuki.

WC: 904

Happy to see Lin take up her offer of a seating, she flashed her a brief smile. Upon hearing her perception of Mizuki lacking dance or drink, Mizuki nodded seriously. She was aware of her... unusual behaviour, considering the context of the Sky Bar.

"It's rather embarrassing, really. When I entered the place, I found this little spot and decided to claim it instead of getting myself a drink first. As for the guys, they had already ran off to dance as this is supposed to be our little after-party for getting genin rank, and for successfully having finished our first official mission. So now... I'm somewhat stuck here as leaving the table will most likely result in losing our spot as well", Mizuki replied, feeling embarrassed as she realised the total of it all sounded even worse than it really was. Her cheek gained a soft pink flush, but the genin hoped it would remain unnoticed in the rhythmic alteration of darkness and light the music endorsed.

She noticed that Lin-san felt somewhat uncomfortable herself. "Just like a cat", Mizuki thought to herself. "Curious enough to venture forth, yet all together cautious about what's to come.". It was rather adorable, especially since the image of cartoonesque neko-Lin popped into her mind. Mizuki blinked her eyes once to get the image out of her mind and smiled reassuringly, but it seemed Lin-san's gaze shifted to the dance floor just at that moment. Mizuki decided to follow her example by taking a look around to see what the guys were up to, but the crowd hid their presence. Oh well.

Returning her gaze to the table, Mizuki folded her arms and rested them on the table, taking on a more comfortable position on her seat. "Are you familiar with this place? I've had heard many good things, but it's the first time I really get to be here."

That was, if she didn't count the genin patrol along, and that one time many a years ago when mom dragged Mizuki along to find dad in here, drunk for two and looking goofy as he danced about. Or rather, what was supposed to be dancing. Mizuki had found it hilarious to see dad act a fool, but mom... not so much. It was only later, when she was much older, that she got to hear it was in a period her parents were having a tough time together in their relation. She counted herself lucky those troubles had been settled.

WC: 429 + 440 + 331

"Oh! Your first mission? Mine was about a sum of money that was stolen from a merchant. I had to chase a bandit across some rooftops, and eventually found him and apprehended him. With a great cost to myself, mind, since he was a shinobi as well." She smiled, watching the rhythmic bodies sway to the dance music, they moved in what seemed to be a hum and rhythm of a wave, or perhaps that of a cloud that was somersaulting in the air. She had never been to the ocean before, so she imagined the waves there would look like the people.

When she looked back to Raiu Mizuki, She was looking at the table, and Lin followed suit, thinking of something to talk about. She was saved the trouble by Mizuki who asked her if she knew this place. She was abashed to say that, yes, she did know this place, like the back of her hand if she were to admit that. "I do know this place, it is one of my favorite haunts actually. And if you want, I can look after your place for you while you go and get a drink. It isn't very much fun to be just sitting here while your friends have all the fun dancing and you are worrying about your place." She giggled, "I could even make some clones so that your place is kept warm for you until you get back." She offered. She didn't say which one she would use. It wasn't like she wanted to intimidate the girl or anything. Not only that, but she might be able to hide the fact that she was a special jounin a bit longer.

Her thoughts wandered, for some strange reason to Alwen Sangotatsu, the girl that she had rescued only days before from the clutches of the guards. She shook her head, hardly the time to be spacing out. Lin sipped her drink and let Mizuki decide for herself if Lin was worth trusting with her spot or not. Perhaps when she was done with her drink and Mizuki had come back she would have worked up the liquid-courage to go out and ask someone for a dance, or just dance on her own. She enjoyed the rhythm and the music here. It seemed to calm her down, even if it were the upbeat music that a couple of people were jumping up and down to like it was at the moment. The sky bar had always been a safe place for Lin.

WC: 1342

Woah., Mizuki blinked in amazement when hearing Lin-san's adventure. Compared to her mission, the one she underwent was... rather underwhelming. The most excitement she got out of her mission was mistakenly attacking training Kumo ninja in the dark and get ingloriously flopped into the floor. Not exactly the best start, but she learned a valuable lesson out of it.

Her second lesson came right now. Clones. Of course. How could she, as ninja, forget she could simply use a clone to remain here seated while she got a drink. Mizuki had been so used to execute hand seals only when training or fighting that she tended to be, perhaps, a little too serious about them. In fact, it made her aware that the guys used their clones and jutsu for the silliest things first, unlike herself, who rather refrained of making use of ninjutsu for such trivialities.

Well... she was nineteen. That's hardly an age to play games anymore, right? As a young woman, she had to behave properly, remain dutiful, find a man... Hm. Mizuki decided that train of thought had to derail in favour of another one.

"That would be most kind of you.", she replied to Lin-san's offer to keep her seat safe. She smiled, a hint of amusement in her eyes, at the offer to keep it warm, even. "I'll be right back."

Standing up, Mizuki gave Lin-san a courteous bow and made her way towards the bar. In the corner of her eye, she could catch a glimpse of one of her team members going wild on the dance floor, but the other one remained elusive still.

At the bar, crowded worse than an anthill, she could see the bartenders working hard still to satisfy the requests of the patrons. It seemed things hadn't slowed down even a little bit for them, and from the look of things, it wouldn't anytime soon. Seeing an open spot, she slipped through to fill it in and stand in between the huge line of other customers.

"Yes?", one of the bartenders asked after a god-knows-how-long-wait.
"One Spark Breeze, please."

He seemed rather unimpressed, narrowing his eyes to take a good look at her. Somewhat offended at his brazen stare, she blinked her eyes and tilted her head with a frown. Rude.

"How old are you?"
"Ah, nineteen."

He nodded slowly, seemingly not exactly convinced yet probably giving her the doubt of benefit what with the crowd and lightning, and served her the drink she requested. She paid the bartender, muttered a 'Thank you' between her teeth so as not to be impolite, and moved back to the table where Lin-san sat.


WC: 457 + 429 + 440 + 331

Lin watched as the girl got up and bowed to her. Quite the cute gesture as she walked over to the bar. A man, about in his mid-twenties saw that she was alone, and she sighed. She plucked out a hair and formed a series of hand-signs before a clone of herself appeared, sitting down across from her and both of them gave him a withering look. She was going to keep this seat like she had said. The real Lin took a sip of her drink, and the clone looked forlorn at not being able to drink something of its own. "What?" Lin said to the clone, as it still was sad. Clones were funny things. They acted almost autonomously, but they were not autonomous at the same time. It was strange, but some had more life than others. Her reflection clone jutsu was actually just that. A reflection of herself. And it made sense that the clone would want some of the alcoholic drink, since she wanted it too.

She held it jealously as her clone looked at her, placed its hands in its lap and gave her a very compelling puppy-dog eyes. She sighed, and glowered at it. Perhaps keeping her seat warm wasn't worth the trouble. She looked out to the dance floor and the Clone followed suit, both of them bobbing their head to the music and watching the lasers dance across the room and the bodies. The room was warm, and Lin sat back in her chair, enjoying the ambiance of the bar.

Movement out of the right corner of her eye made her look, as Mizuki, a little grumbly, returned from her camp-out at the bar. It had to have been at least 15 minutes for her to get a drink. Perhaps it was because they were so busy. Lin actually had never seen it as busy as it was, and gave a glance to the door, where the bouncer was keeping complaining people from coming in. It was a good thing that Lin had arrived when she did. When Mizuki was close enough to the small table, Lin snapped her fingers and the clone poofed away in a cloud of smoke and turned back into a hair, its purpose served. "What'dya get?" Lin asked as she approached the table again, if she had been wearing her chakra-tail and ears the ears would have been perked up by now, and the tail would have been swinging back and forth, twitching with excitement.

Unfortunately the ears and tail were left at home with the memories of Mifune, her childhood friend. Now was not the time for the past, but time to look towards the future.

WC: 1806

Jutsu Used: Chakra remaining: 235:

On the road to her seat, Mizuki was surprised to see Lin sit on the other end of the table. Well, at two ends. Right, clone. With all that waiting and commotion, she had forgotten Lin-san had offered to keep her seat warm with a clone. As she arrived, the Lin-clone vanished with a puff, and allowed Mizuki to sit once more.

The blue-and-yellow cocktail in front of Mizuki looked invitingly, almost urging her to take a sip of its exotic fruity taste and savour the subtle aftertaste of alcohol it promised. Mizuki realised how thirsty exactly she was, but drinking it all up at once might not be the best of ideas even if something told her that was just what she should do.

"It's a Spark Breeze. The menu states it holds exotic fruits, slightly sour in taste, with a pouring of a blue-hued alcohol.", she replied, as if having learned the menu by heart. She proceeded to take a slight nip of the drink, tasting it and smiled satisfyingly. "Never tried it, but it tastes rather good."

She wondered if she should offer Lin-san a taste, but considering they just met that might be a little too familiar still. Mizuki wasn't exactly one to keep much to herself when it came to materialism - her katana being the exception, then, but it was more a delicate balance between remaining polite and acting overly familiar.

"You should try it sometime.", she suggested. "Or... maybe you have already?"

Taking another sip to quench the most of her thirst and really savour the taste, she could feel the exotic drink refresh her mouth and throat. Ah, that hits the spot., she thought, feeling already more revitalised than a short while ago. And since her body seemed to have recovered from the long trip back and forth to the reporting station, she was even thinking about throwing in a dance later in the evening.


WC: 330 + 457 + 429 + 440 + 331

There was never a good reason for any of the decisions that Maigo made, ever under any circumstance! A talented artist in the act of... acting now and thinking later! His claim to fame was improvisation of his problems after the fact with either close cut escape from danger or crashing and burning into the very problems with which he faced themselves. Maigo found himself, after paying a hefty cover fee for not being a Kumo ninja, Oh the indignation! He found himself in a table in the corner of the room, loud music and all else, sitting with strangers and jawing on about nothing! In his usual attire, a green vest and brown belt tied in front, black pants and sandals and the black arm wraps over his forearms. The heavy scarring could just be seen on his left shoulder and lightly over his stomach and chest of the vest, but he had his midsection wrapped up in white bandages to hide most of it.

Well, the story of how he found himself at this table is a far stretched story of a random venture not worth re-telling. Maigo sat lounged out slightly as he yelled to the group around them over the music, "Yes! I taught the Tsuchikage everything he knows! I am the master of all genjutsu!" It wasn't everything at all... hardly a few genjutsu really but the laughter that came up doubted his enthusiasm. But still, Maigo's bravado knew no bound and his own ability to exaggerate his previous dealings would help him build an image! Still, he was spoke down, only a jounin or someone at a Kage's level could claim that! Etc, etc, etc...

One guy spoke up in return, detesting Maigo's skill! How dare he, he looked down, the argument flared for a brief moment as Maigo claimed he could, even keeping up in drinking along with that former Tsuchikage himself! Again, Maigo had one drink with him, but that was besides the point, Maigo had already entered into a challenge of drinking then! He would prove his metal against this chuunin kid from the cloud! Not that Maigo was much better off or more capable or anything of that nature, but he'd been challenged!

Two bottles entered onto the table, whiskey straight and dark in its color, Maigo took two shot glasses and filled them with a defiant smile! He took the first one and raised it, the contest, drink until you drop! The first few shots went down rough, but didn't leave much of a sting in the grand scheme of their event. Small breaks of a minute or two each grew between the both of them, they were ninja, they wouldn't quit! A minute became two and two became five, the bottles they had set out emptied, words began to slur as they continued to test each other and in the end, they each finished one bottle still sitting sloppily upright. Others gathered around for a moment, what was four people had grown into eight watching the two dim-wits drink themselves to death. The alcohols slow spills here and there grew on the table, it was wet and smelled of the whiskey as Maigo kept pouring shots, one girl next to him taking over so he would stop pouring half of a shot on the table each time.

Still, the two continued on, what was shaky turned into outright sloppy behavior as they could barely bring their arms to their lips to drink anymore, but Maigo was defiant and continued on! Another half bottle had gone by, and he'd spent almost two hours now at the table, drinking back and forth and insulting each other. One more shot, it went down his throat and Maigo glanced down to the other guy, he saw him wobble, a dazed look in his eyes as he suddenly fell over to his right and onto the seat. It was victory! The stupidly drunk Maigo had won this contest, he got up from his seat using his arm as a point of contact to push himself up, heaving up with a groan as he felt the drunk daze shift from light to violent in his head almost immediately. Standing was a terrible idea.

Out of his seat, he fell to a knee, shaking his head as he gathered himself, one person reached for his shoulder to help him up but Maigo shook him away, "No no, it's alright, I'm gonna just walk it off!" he hiccuped after, irritating even himself. He needed to stop speaking to avoid that tragedy, but he took steps at a time through the crowd, weaving sloppily through and swaying as he did so, bumping into one... two people at least. Apologizing with a stupid drunken smile, his walking it off turned into taking a lap around the entire sky bar, he found himself caught with a familiar sight as he stumbled by one table.

A flash of white hair and a familiar face, Maigo stopped after taking a step just past the table and wobbled himself back that step. Almost faltering in his step as he placed a hand against the back rest to hold himself up, speaking blatantly and ignoring any potential conversation they would have going, he spoke to Lin, his gaze hardly focused on any one aspect of her, to Maigo, he was still but he was probably wobbling severely. "Heyy.. yy-you.. When' dida youu get here?" his words slurred as he could barely concentrate on them. As he finished his sentence a guy that followed him tapped his shoulder and handed him the half empty bottle of whiskey he'd paid for and left.

Maigo lit up for a second, "Ooo! Thanks," he gave in suprisingly clear tone before turning back to Lin, almost completely forgetting that she was sitting with someone. A bit rude maybe, not to recognize her existence or introduce himself or any of that, but Maigo was a foolish dunce on a good day! And now, well, he'd finished a bottle and a half of whiskey already and he still had so much energy to burn.


[1039 words]

Lin giggled as she watched the bodies undulating to the music, almost as if they were one unit. Well, except for that man who was stumbling around. She thought with annoyance that she might just go tell him that he had enough and to go and sleep it off. But what better place to be drunk in than a bar? Well she couldn't answer that, but she could say something to him when he came over. If he came over. Her attention swayed back to Mizuki who was describing her drink.

"It sounds like the blue Konoha only a bit more sour." She offered her drink, which was a sweet blueberry liquor with blue grenadine and vodka in it. "Want to try? I haven't ever had the spark breeze, but I am sure I'll order it next time. Usually I get warm sake, but tonight I was feeling festive for some reason." She smiled to Mizuki and would wait for her to make a decision as to whether she wanted a sip of Lin'sLin' s drunk or no.

Suddenly Maigo showed up and all of the pieces fell into place, the drunk she saw in the pattern, who moved with all the grace of a landslide, that man was Maigo. Oh. Well that was a shock. So much so that she stared at him in diabelief, her mouth slightly agape and her head tilted. With a raised eyebrow and wide eyes she ered his question, "I only just arrived. It... looks like you have been busy." She was interrupted by a man bringing Maigo a half bottle of whiskey .
It was a good thing that Lin did not make any hand deals or her glare would have literally withered him on the spot. A withering glare nonetheless was given to the man for giving more fuel to the intoxicated fire which Maigo founf himself in.

Lin sighed, closing her eyes and composing herself before turning to Mizuki, "this is Maigo and if I were to tell you where and when I met him you would not believe me. However when he is sober I enjoy his company a great deal." She said, a hypocrite herself but she had only just met Mizuki Milo and felt a great deal of embarrassment for Maigo. "And believe it or not he is a jounin. Maigo, this is Raiu-San. She is a genin who is celebrating her first mission success!"

Introductions out of the way, Lin turned a bright red out of the awkwardness of the situation and proceeded to wish that she knew 're silhouette technique.

Wc: 2246

The mass of movement around them only seemed to swell in size and fervour as time passed. Or, at least, that's what it seemed like until Mizuki spotted a drunk tumbling and fumbling about, disrupting the otherwise rhythmical cadence of the dancing masses. Well, you always had those types of people, the sort to live in their own happy world without much care for those outside of it, seemingly forgetting all about their behaviour once alcohol had dulled the senses. Curious how the world of a drunk and that of a sober man were like day and night.

Returning attention to Lin-san, Mizuki listened to the description of her drink, which seemed to be rather similar. Perhaps the Blue Konoha and Spark Breeze had similar ingredients? She'd had to try  one to be sure, and, as if Lin-san had read her mind, was promptly offered the opportunity. Not expecting such sense of familiarity, Mizuki's cheeks coloured a soft pink and clumsily yet politely declined under the excuse that she'd might try one later.

Her attention was drawn away shortly after as the drunk in the crowd stumbled around their table, and Mizuki, reflexively, raised her back and moved her hands to her kata- huh? Feeling no katana at her side, she surprisedly look down at her hip where it should have been. Right. She forgot her katana at home. Just like she didn't have one about an hour ago or so. Well... Great. Just great.

Mizuki relaxed somewhat when Lin-san, equally surprised to see the drunk at their table, introduced him as 'Maigo', then shot daggers from her eyes to the stranger passing a half-full bottle of whiskey, and mentioned he was a jounin. A sceptical look crossed Mizuki's face for a second. This drunk was a jounin? She did have hard to believe that, but looks could be deceiving. And since Lin-san seemed to know her world better than she did, Mizuki guessed she'd have to accept that Maigo was a jounin.

Bowing politely towards Maigo, Mizuki greeted him kindly, "Please, just call me Mizuki-chan, and have a seat, Maigo-san."

That said, Mizuki rested her arms on the table again and took back her former, more relaxed posture. If anything, this would be an interesting night.

"Lin-san is right. I graduated just a few days ago as genin, and my first mission was a success. Our team came here to celebrate, but the guys already took off to dance."


WC: 425 + 330 + 457 + 429 + 440 + 331

Believe it or not he is a Jounin... Maigo's head tilted a bit as he thought about that. Was he really that... standoffish now? I mean, he was drunk and all but his appearance sent Lin straight past all the curiosity of running into each other here and straight into embarrassment. He supposed it was a fair reaction but really, he hadn't even given her a real reason for embarrassment, not yet at least. His attention had turned though as Lin talked to her company and introduced Maigo, he turned and offered a smile as he could, the girl bowed and introduced herself, Mizuki.

Maigo nodded and spoke up as he began to sit down, "Well that's great! I can't even remember my first mission... way too long ago for any of that." he shook his head as he finished sitting down, the mechanic for which he did so was surprisingly reasonable given his state of intoxication, keeping himself from falling over or off the chair at the very least, taking a seat next to Lin, if she would let him. He supposed she could keep him at arm's length here, a bit understandably to say the least. The others seemed to relax so Maigo slumped in the seat a little, having left the bottle still closed on the table in front of him, he ignored it now as Mizuki began to explain how the others had already run off.

"So it was your first mission too! Lots of firsts..." Maigo gulped and hesitated a bit as he sat up, pulled his chair forward underneath him and readjusted his position before sliding back in the chair again. "And you just graduated recently! So congrats on that too!" the drunk Maigo would now be actively trying to control himself, knowing that if he acted up he'd be getting daggers glared through him by Lin. His vision turned back to the bottle for a moment before turning away quickly, he wouldn't really push his luck there, leaving it be for the moment he would speak up again.

"So why not go with the other people in your squad, why not celebrate with them and dance and all else, why just hang out here?" Maigo asked with a raised brow, leaning forward slightly and setting his elbows on the table so his words could be easier to hear over the music and ambience of the bar itself.


[411 words, 1450 words total]

"Yes, Congradulations are in order." She smiled as he sat down and scooted a bit closer. She didn't want him falling out of the chair or anything. It was good to see that he hadn't completely lost his grip on his equilibrium either, nor his propriety. Though, it was a tish strange that he could compose himself so quickly. It was a strange sort of dance that he was doing between the Mr. Hyde of his drunk self and the Dr. Jekyll of his "not so drunk but really inebriated and probably shouldn't be upright at the moment" self.

She would snatch away the bottle of whiskey if he wasn't paying attention, if her reaction time was greater than his, or if he would let her and put in on the opposite corner as him. No sense in him losing his memory. "I am curious as to how medical ninjutsu works on liver damage due to an excess of alcohol. Now.... I don't want to try it on you, mind, but I am curious now." She giggled and raised her eyebrows to Mizuki, obviously in jest.

She smiled and drank some of her Blue Konoha, some of the color from her cheeks wasn't just embarrassment now. She knew how to drink, and these fruity drinks went down smoothly. Perhaps she would have to try some of that... now blast it... what was it called... sparkling breeze... spring breeze?

"What was your drink called again?"

WC: 2505

Smiling shyly, Mizuki thanks the two on their congratulations. She remembered how she had felt proud about finally reaching genin rank, yet all together found herself already picking up responsibilities to achieve the next rank. With her elder sister being a pirate and her mother suffering a seemingly incurable illness, she had picked up the duty to work hard and become a child to be proud of, while hopefully being quick enough to find useful knowledge and potential solutions to save her mother.

When Maigo asked her about her reason for not dancing, she glanced away for a moment into the direction of where the guys were and hesitantly scratched the back of her head. Did she really had to mention this embarrassing situation again?

"I decided it would be good to find us spot since the guys left to dance as soon as they stepped through the door, and then... I got kinda stuck here. I wanted to go for a drink, but that was out of the question lest I lost the spot, and the guys haven't returned since."

She assumed they were either dancing their legs off or flirting with a girl somewhere in a shady corner. With these two, it wouldn't be unlikely to see them try both considering how impulsive they tended to be, living more in the moment - so unlike Mizuki.

When she picked up Lin-san speaking about medical nin and livers, she tilted her head somewhat with interest. Lin-san was an iryo-nin? Mizuki wasn't really surprised for some reason, as she had found there was something nurturing and tender about Lin-san's general expression. But the idea of medical jutsu mostly sparked a sense of hope within her. If Lin-san was an iryo-nin, perhaps she would be willing to travel along, visit other villages and gather information on more medical jutsu?

"You are right. It would be an intriguing find. I mean, I don't know much about medical jutsu myself, but I heard Ranton's... precise. Acupuncture, in any sort of jutsu, sounds like it could only enrich my comprehension", she agreed to Lin-san's jest, nodding her head pensively in mock seriousness. "Oh, ah, it's a Spark Breeze. The crushed ice fizzles a little bit on the tongue, if you're willing to believe it."


WC: 2807

Maigo nodded and smiled as Lin agree with his congratulatory sentiment and then followed by slumping back into his seat, letting his arms fall limp to each side as he passively listened for the moment. However, his short break was interrupted as Lin reached across and snatched the bottle from in front of him, Maigo apathetically leaned forward and looked towards her with a, "Heyyy..." sounding like a child who had a toy taken away. Albeit, a toy this child knew he was abusing at that.

Lin continued on making some comment about liver damage, Maigo smiled and chuckled a bit knowing she was referring to him, Mizuki on the other hand joined in the jesting. Maigo fell back into his slouch and tilted his head towards the two of them as he leaned up and spoke with a little grunt, "Well, I don't plan on being your lab rat for this! You'll have to find another boyfriend of yours to mess with..." he chuckled at his joke, he knew it would be a little bit of an interruption to their conversation, hoping he'd catch Lin off guard just a little.

But hey! She stole his bottle of whiskey, the least he could do is interject with his own jokes and humor, otherwise he might be subject to sitting around and listening to them talk about who knows what or their drinks or even worse, getting forced into dancing himself. Well, at least the drunk Maigo could probably make something of it, but he'd focus on just one thing at a time, if he could.


[269 words, 1719 words total]

Lin laughed at Maigo's attempt to make her give him back his Whiskey. It wasn't going to work. She swirled her own drink and smiled at Mizuki, "I am almost done with my drink, I think I am going to order another, the next one a Spark Breeze. It sounds entertaining and tasty all at the same time."

Lin nodded at the words that Maigo spoke, she knew that she didn't want to practice on him either, but she wanted to make him squirm a bit more. She was in good temper, and the alcohol from the drink that she almost had finished already had made her giddy. She looked out to the dance floor with longing eyes and downed the rest of her drink, "Perhaps we should go out there and abandon this table, the vulturous drunks will be happy." She got up from the table, giggling once more, her cheeks red and her skin glistening a bit with the drink and the heat of the bodies.

"I'll defer the decision to you both, dance, or I can get another drink and rejoin you soon?"

WC: 2704

The way Lin and Maigo went about with each other, it was clear that they knew each other rather well. Leaving the two to their own teasing conversation for a while, Mizuki took another sip of her drink, noticing it was almost empty. Curious, she thought, how these cocktails were gone so fast. Yet, it left her with wanting more. She was still thirsty, and the warmth emitted by the dancing bodies in the middle of the bar didn't exactly prevent thirst from crawling in.

Mizuki eyed the dance floor for a moment, catching a glimpse of one of her team mates, somewhat hidden in the dark getting familiar with a girl. She had been there before, when she was six or so years younger, curious to discover what all the fuzz was about 'being together' with the opposite gender, but had found that to be ... rather underwhelming, compared to what everyone else usually said about making out.

As she finished the last of her drink, Lin-san contemplated the procurement of a second drink. A most interesting thought, found Mizuki, as she had yet to try out Lin-san's drink herself - the Blue Konoha. Then again, she had been sitting here this whole time, and joining the waving crowd for a dance had been on her mind for quite a time. She didn't come here just to drink, after all.

"What if we went to dance, and went for our second drink afterwards?", she threw in the group.

WC: 3059

Maigo stayed slumped back in the seat as Lin laughed at him, commenting about her next drink and all, Maigo felt himself slipping further and further down but in reality he wasn't moving. Still, he wiggled to slide back up and then consequently back down, continuously fidgeting in place here and there as he lounged and listened. Obviously his comments and attempt to catch Lin off guard didn't work, he'd probably have to try a little harder then.

Maigo went on and watched as Lin glared around the bar, pausing at the dance floor before turning back and making a comment about going to dance, her particular use of the word vulturous drunks caught his attention, his head tilted with an eyebrow raised for a moment as he wondered. Lin left the question posed to the other two and Mizuki made the comment about dancing then coming back later, the thought wracked around in Maigo's head a little bit. It seemed he was the last opinion needed? But he always felt so uncomfortable being put on the spot for decision making, he'd have much rather left it to the two of them.

Maigo would turn to Lin if they offered him the chance to speak his mind, otherwise he chime in with a smirk, "Well, I'll dance but you know how I feel about it..." he chuckled a bit and held a smile, "Still, I think I'd rather keep you from the vulturous drunks..." he threw out with a delivery that was far more suave in his mind than his actual delivery. He'd notice her radiating a bit, but Maigo was well past that, leaving his hand out for Lin to drag him from the table if she wanted to, if that would end up being there decision. Otherwise, he would lounge about and keep the table occupied while they were out getting their drinks and whatever else.


[326 words, 2081 words total]

"Dancing sounds fun Mizuki-chan, Let's go to it. And Maigo, I wouldn't expect any less, after all you are my boyfriend. Vulturous drunks beware!" She giggled, sticking her tongue out a little at the jest that vulturous drunks might be a problem. "As for how you feel about it, I know that you say that you dance like a chicken, but I haven't ever seen you, so... no time like the present." She ushered them both onto the floor.

The bodies' undulation accepted them, and it was like diving into a warm ocean of drunken dancing and late night shedding of inhibitions. Lin was buzzed enough, since she drank enough, to enjoy moving through the crowd to a little place, and looked back to see if Maigo and Mizuki were following. If they were, she would start to dance, her dance moves more feline than anything else, since she had a cat for a dance partner most times at home.

WC: 2878

Lin stood up as first, eager to join the crowd of dancers, unlike Maigo who seemingly danced 'like a chicken'. Mizuki couldn't help but giggling at the thought of seeing some sort of 'Drunk Chicken Dance', and would, for some reason, not be too surprised to see that become a new sort of modern dance. The world was weird like that. It would be a most curious sight, nonetheless. A drunken jounin dancing like a chicken. It might be harder than one could imagine.

Urged by Lin, Mizuki stood up with a smile and joined her into the crowd. She wouldn't have to be told twice, considering how long she had been waiting. And, as if on cue, just as they joined the dancing waves, one of the guys suddenly stood at the now empty table, looking around confusedly where everyone was gone too. Well, too bad, Mizuki thought, a bit ticked at the fact they had left her on her own this entire time. It didn't take long before her team mate shrugged his shoulders and left for the bar, though. Who knew, perhaps they'd bump into each other on the dance floor later.

Not bothering with worries, Mizuki joined into the rhythm of the dance. With the alcohol from her drink now mellowing her discipline, she allowed the music to guide her into its own world. Her body swayed fluently along the tunes, much like a river following the directions of the bedding, and quickly seemed to find its own pace in between Lin's feline grace and Maigo's Chicken dance.

This was a fine evening.



WC: 273 + 3059
Total: 3332

Maigo smirked at Lin's comment, agreeing with his wanting to keep her away from the vulturous drunks since he is her boyfriend and all. Maigo started to lean up as she went on about him dancing like a chicken, mixing up events since that was in reference to his sleeves but he chuckled anyways, there were no sleeves to inhibit him now. He brought himself up gradually as Lin ushered them on, catching himself standing, the fluid in his brain shifted and things moved into extreme clarity and back out, he wobbled a bit but stayed standing.

Yeah, standing up was already a bad idea again.

Still, he hesitated and followed after Lin onto the dance floor, the whiskey bottle had left his memory and he followed the glowing Lin into the crowd, also forgetting a bit about Mizuki at that. He smiled as he watched Lin start to dance, following in her footsteps (ungraceful as they were) afterwards and along with. A lot of movement and just feeling through the motions with not particular direction but all in flow. For now, he would just focus on containing himself, not appearing too drunk or wild, and trying not to run into anyone else including Lin and Mizuki. Well, he was more alright with bumping into Lin, maybe even purposefully.


[220 words, 2301 words total]

Lin continued to move like a cat, weaving between the people, and if she had remembered her chakra tail and ears, she would have been swaying the tail, and the ears would have been perked, happy. She giggled as she watched Maigo try not to hit people, and bumped into her as she danced. It was nice to have someone be as close as him. She watched the genin and flashed a smile, hoping that she was having fun as well. Lin was just here to make friends and have fun, and she had achieved both.

It was a great night to do both, and she would dance until one of them spoke up, her body moving like a cat's, sometimes gracefully smoothly, and sometimes, jumping like lightning flashes, her pupils wide with excitement, and always a cattish grin lighting her features in the room lit by lazers, lights, and a fog machine that was recently introduced for one of the faster, more modern songs.

WC: 3044

Mizuki allowed her body and mind to become one with the dancing crowd, barely paying attention to what was happening around her and allowing her mind to forget about the day. No more forgotten katana, no sore muscles from the genin exam that took place just a few days ago. No more patrol mission that had been rather embarrassing, and no boys that had left her alone to go out dancing.

Now, there was just the music and the dance floor, the lights that brought colour to the place and two new people she met. They, too, seemed to have fun, losing themselves in the ambience, and perhaps a even into each other's eyes. Mizuki pretended not to see it as she had no business in the love affairs of a couple. If anything, it was good to see people care for each other. Love was a much needed thing in the world.

As time seemed to fly by, pushed forward by melody, Mizuki almost forgot to get her next drink - the Blue Konoha. And the moment she remembered it, all she wanted was to dance just a little longer. Just a little more, before her body would start aching again from strenuous physical activity - as it always had done. Maybe then she would take a drink.

But when said illness did strike, Mizuki didn't feel like drinking at all. Her muscles burning, the ache seemed to be so much stronger this time than it was a few hours? ago. It was not just her sickness that struck, of course, but rather the accumulation of the sore muscles, the inelegant defeat during her mission, the long running from point to point during said mission and the timeless dancing all at once - her body was tired and screaming for sleep.

And perhaps it was time to do exactly that.

She tapped Lin and Maigo on the shoulders, hoping she wasn't disturbing something too personal, and spoke up.

"Lin-san, Maigo-sama, I'm terribly sorry but I have to leave. I'm afraid that all the dancing in addition to the mission and the recent exam's taking its toll. While I'm sad to go, I wish to thank you for a nice time together and I hope there will be a new opportunity to meet in the future.", she said, bowing courteously to them both as she thanked them. "Should you wish to visit or seek me out some day, my house is three blocks away from the hospital, there where the jacaranda trees stand. The trees form the entrance to the Raiu Dojo."

Mizuki awaited their reply, hoping that they too found the meeting pleasant enough to meet up sometime later. Then, she left the Sky Bar to drag her fatigued body back home.

[Exit]

WC: 469 + 3332
Total: 3801

Training:

Maigo followed Lin as he would, dancing around as best as a drunk fool could, doing his best to keep up and minimize the damage as he could. The lights and loud music, they were all weighing against him at the same time and yet, it all seemed drowned out in the same breath as he focused on his dancing on focused on Lin amidst it all. Granted, that focus was blurred beyond reason at this point but it wouldn't entirely stop him, not at that level anyways. None of it would break his smile, the fun he was having in the moment though, he'd probably shrug it off later on, too masculine for dancing.

Still, Maigo felt a tap at his shoulder, stopping abruptly to turn towards it, finding Mizuki there. She spoke after a moment, leaving and such, Maigo frowned a bit and moaned obviously in reply, but she spoke so formerly in the midst of the crowd and music. Maigo heard the words, whether it was his own temporary impairment or natural foolishness that let them jumble around in his head and not interpret half of them was a different story entirely. Still, at Mizuki's bow he blinked, wobbling in place a bit and nodding himself, she continued on with a small bit on how to find her again if they wanted to, a Raiu Dojo! It sounded like an interesting place, Maigo wondered how the swordsmen and weapon users of Kumogakure had always compared to Kirigakure, the infamous seven swordsmen and the like in Kiri always held such a famous reputation but he was always curious about the rest of the world along with it.

Maybe another time, Maigo knew that a genin (unless a prodigy of the highest degree or with some highly specialized skill) wouldn't offer much of a test for comparison but still... maybe someone there? Thoughts for later! The drunken Maigo himself was thinking on an entirely different tangent, he nodded again and spoke up, "I.. t was nice to meet you, and congra-ats again on everything again." His speech slurred up again, he knew that the drunk was beginning to wear off and come down, muscles relaxing indefinitely as he started to feel his own fatigue and sleepiness take over.

All the while, Maigo would take a seat back to let Lin talk and say whatever, he would stay stumbling to himself and musing in as he listened to whatever they would say, like drunken furniture! Hearing the words and interpreting almost none of it within the blank and randomness that was his mind. All said and done though, that would leave Lin and Maigo as Mizuki departed off from the bar. Maigo would smirk and turn towards Lin, holding an arm up and trying to lean against her as he would begin to speak with a theatrical sigh, "I remember wh--" only, his own joke about the situation would be fluently interrupted as his inability to judge distance or any sort of depth perception would betray him.

His less than suave attempt to lean against Lin failed, his arm missing entirely and instead of gradually shifting his weight, he'd decided for the sake of the joke and inability to think anything through, to just shift his whole body at once. Tragic to say the least as he missed, and his giant stature would start moving towards the floor, almost in slow motion he would go from upright to landing on the floor of the bar next to Lin by some margin, his shoulder offering a small thud that wouldn't be audible over the sounds of the bar, but Maigo heard it. His drunken mind ignored all the situation and instead caused him to laugh to himself while those nearby turned to look and probably cause Lin some degree of embarrassment in addition.

With groaned labor he would pick himself up, bringing his legs up first and then shooting up with his body, more energy in him from his own drunkenness. At standing, the room would spin a bit, Maigo wobbling on his own legs as he held his arms out to balance himself, taking a moment to look around and gather his composure. He would turn to Lin, still smiling at his own ineptitude before speaking up, "I think I should go to..." he nodded to himself with an exhale, "Want to help carry me back?" he chuckled and left it up to her to decide. Still, if she did then he'd walk back with Lin, probably make a bunch of dumb comments about nothing and get into the mindset of the drunkard on the way back. If Lin decided to stay at the bar, then... Maigo would stumble back like the adult he was! Though, maybe... no, he'd go back to the inn and crash right to sleep. That sounded like a plan after all.


[825 words, 3126 words total]
[Exit Thread]

Training: