Maikumaru walked along the path through the mountain range. The nights in The Land of Lightning were always dark. Though at times the sudden strike of lightning here and there would cause the sky to flash for only a moment. A head of him was the entrance to a small village. The village was of a medium size. The village looked to be a bit on the pristine side, but Maikumaru knew of the invisible rot that plagued this village. Many mercenaries and bandits came through here. They came through here and preyed on its residence. Maikumaru wasn’t surprised to see that said village was in a bit of a grimy shape. He kept his coat on tight, obscuring his face. He hunched himself over, trying to make himself look smaller than he actually was. It worked to a greater extent then to be expected. Seeing someone as large as he was was something of an oddity, however seeing someone be generally big was common amongst most villages where protection was needed.

The Tsuchikage continued to walk down the street. He had looked to the side to see a man speaking to another. Whatever argument they had, it got heated and the broke out into a fight. They clearly weren’t shinobi. They clearly weren’t the warriors Maikumaru was looking for. Maikumaru left out a soft sigh. “Dammit. I didn’t even bother to think where to look.”

He looked up at the sky and saw a torrent of smoke exiting from the village below and up to the night time sky. He had decided that was to be his destination. The back alleyways of the village were even more disgusting than he had anticipated. There were people laying on the ground. He found two people in an intimate moment. They were trying to hide it, but it was quite clear. He grew closer to the billowing smoke. He cut through some corners, walking over trash and people. Eventually he came upon it. It was a group of apparent about ten homeless ronin, gathered by the fire, cooking food. He smiled. “Hey what the hell do you want? You came to take our food? You think just cuz you’re big you can come here and do what you want? HEY?! I’m talking to yuh! What are you staring at?” He gripped his sword. The others did the same. They drew their weapons. And brandished them towards Maikumaru. He stood up straight, revealing his full size. He grabbed his hood and pulled it back. “You...all of you...are true warriors. Tell me...what brings you here?”

They all looked at one another puzzled. “We’re Suna refugees. What’s it to you.” Maikumaru’s foot flew sideways, slamming against the trashcan of fire to the side, leaving the suspicious meat to char in the fire. They all looked ready attack and started to make moves towards him. But before they could, The Tsuchikage let out a roar of words. “This is not food fit for true warriors! These are scraps left for the weak! And none of you are weak!” He reached in his coat and pulled out a bag full of Ryo. “Tonight! All of you will dine like warriors!”

They all cheered for Maikumaru. Except for one. He was a small man. “All of this will come at a price. Nothing in this world is free. What do you want?” They all stopped cheering and looked at Maikumaru. “I’m looking for warriors. Mercenaries to join my cause. To join me in battle.”

“For what?” The Tsuchikage smiled.

“For now, all you need to do is eat. I’m sympathetic towards your positions regardless of my own motivations. All that I want from you guys right now is to enjoy a meal with you.”

They all smiled and nodded, and walked towards Maikumaru to stand beside him. Once again, the small man hesitated to accept the offer. “The only place to eat is at the bar. And its always occupied by the Broken Swords.”

“What are the Broken Swords?”

“Gang of bandits.” Maikumaru raised his eyes. If he could assert his dominance on them as well, they might prove useful.

“They always pick fights and rob people. They think of the bar as their own. And I don’t think it’d be a good idea to piss them off, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

He ripped off his coat and revealed his strong body, and the seals on it. “Don’t worry. They don’t scare me. And don’t underestimate me either. I eat bitch ass bandits like them for breakfast.”

Arriving at the bar on the corner of the village. There were sounds of hardy laughter and vulgar debauchery. Maikumaru looked up at the bar, and placed his fists on his hands. He looked at his group and nodded his head. “Let’s go eat.” Maikumaru knew what was going to happen. He knew how bandits operate and how violent they can get. And this was going to get violent. It was the perfect opportunity to gauge their skill. They had the soul of warrior’s, willing to fight for themselves in the face of an unknown enemy. Usually that would be enough for the Tsuchikage. However the game has changed, and he needed more than their soul. He needed proficient soldiers.

Maikumaru looked opened the door the the Tavern. The sounds immediately died down. Eyes fell on Maikumaru and his group. The tavern was rather large even having an upstairs, but it wasn’t even half full. It consisted of only men, who wore jackets with the kanji for ‘broken’ on the back. And they all looked at them. Maikumaru walked towards the tender of the bar. His face looked fearful, darting between Maikumaru and the members of the Broken Swords. He presented the bag of ryo and gestured the group to sit at a table close to the counter, where Maikumaru placed himself. “Whatever these guys want. On me. If they ask for drinks you give to them…” he leaned in close, his tone even more serious and his eyes dead centered on the bartender “...no matter what.” He walked quickly to the kitchen, and started to hear whispered between him and his chef. A lady sheepishly walked out of the kitchen, trading glances between the Swords and Maikumaru’s group. She started to take their order’s as Maikumaru turned into their direction, look at them. His eyes left them and then saw the ones of one of the blades. They looked eyes with one another, even from across the room. And then they stared at each other. But the Broken Sword member cocked his head to the side, and made a devilish smile. Maikumaru glared a strong glare, and nodded his head, turning back around in his seat. They were warriors too. What would happen tonight will sure be interesting to say the least...

1169 WC

It seemed that Chigetsu had chosen a poor place for dinner tonight.

He had walked into this no name bar without thinking, wanting a bite to eat for the night. This had already been a poor choice, considering he was not a fan of alcohol. In fact, “not a fan” might be putting it lightly. Alcohol was nearly poison to the Hozuki, something that compromised their liquefication. It was horrifying to see those from his clan get addicted to the stuff, and slowly lose control of their ability to liquefy until all their flesh just melted away one day like they had some sort of leprosy. As a child he had witnessed exactly that happen to an older gentleman, it was something he would never forget. The look on that man’s face was the stuff of nightmares as he died. Of course, he had completely forgotten all this when he had decided on the bar as his place of acquiring dinner for the night. It was rare that these sorts of places even served anything other than alcohol and milk, but just looking at the place gave Chigetsu a good feeling when he first saw it. It looked homey and tavern-y, like it made nice home cooked meals. He had never had the chance to eat a home cooked meal, something like what a mother would make for their child, and so the thought of it was rather appealing. What exactly was in a home cooked meal though? He was more in love with the idea than the actuality of it, and given how picky of an eater Chigetsu was there was a high chance he would turn his nose up to it if he saw it. Of course, he had absolutely no idea what it even was, or the sort of things it would consist of, so now this theoretical dinner was only speculation in his mind.

And so he had walked into this bar, in one of the shadier areas of Kumogakure, a village he was barely familiar with. He was clad completely in casual dress, a midriff exposing striped shirt with a nice purple hoodie overtop, along with a simple black skirt and stockings. Crossdressing in a shadier location like this was probably an absolutely awful idea, but it had become such a habit at this point that it was difficult for him to break. Needless to say, he was out of place from the very moment he walked in, and the creeping realization of how wrong it was that he was where he was began to creep up on him as soon as he took a seat. This was before he even realized the crowds of very angry and dangerous looking men that currently swamped the interior of the bar. He was a sore thumb in the crowd, a small feminine little thing surrounded by a sea of huge, muscular men. The stares made him a bit uncomfortable, and he was already beginning to sweat. A waitress would lock eyes with him as he took a seat, a look of shared horror on her face at Chigetsu’s current predicament. She would sheepishly look from Chigetsu and then to the two groups of men that seemed to divide the room. He had a silent plea for help written all over her face, but unfortunately there wasn’t anything that she could do to help him.

He found himself nervously fiddling with his pink braid while he waited for the waitress to come around. The room remained so silent that you could hear each word she spoke as she ran through taking each of the scary looking men’s orders. Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, she would come to Chigetsu.

“Hello Miss~! Could I take your order?” The voice was spoken in an entirely fake cheeriness. The anxiety was present and obviously visible on her face.

There were many questions that Chigetsu wanted to ask. First of all, was it always this… Uh, tense in here? And silent? Maybe if they played a little music it would lighten up the atmosphere a little bit. Maybe some nice classical music? That was always nice and relaxing. He could imagine some nice piano music or something orchestral in the background that would perhaps ease the mood a little bit. Of course, he was pretty sure that if he said this it would be heard by just about everyone in the building, so he refrained from any of it. He was unsure of what exactly to order too, since he had never seen a menu the entire time that he had been in here. Was he supposed to just know what they served? He had no idea what they even ate in bars, much less bars in Lightning Country. This was his first time in one, after all, and he didn’t really intend on drinking alcohol. Even if he did, he didn’t know enough about the different type of alcohol to even know what to choose. He was ignorant of the most basic things, like what the different types where, or what names of popular brands were.

“U-Uh…” He would whimper, voice akin to a trembling mouse. “Do you have any jello…?”

---

[879]

Appearance Reference:

Maikumaru turned around, to see what looked like a small woman walk in the door. Eyes turned to her as she made her way to the bar, where Maikumaru himself was seated. He looked at everyone else in the room. Their eyes were on her. He turned around back into his seat and shook his head. “Oh man…”

She sat down next to Maikumaru, who took a side glance at her. He turned around, and looked at the gang of bandits behind him. One of them twired a kunai in his hand, and licked his tongue along the blade. The Earthbound Brawler shook his head and turned back around. The waitress came out to order for the lady next to him. A Waiter came out and sped walked to the table that was directly behind Maik, full of his new allies. “What can I get you gentleman?” They all gave out their orders. And then he went over to Maikumaru. “And how about you sir?”

“Just get me some Beef Teriyaki. And a lot of it. The works. A big guy like me needs a big amount of food. And some water.” He pats his belly and gives a nod. “Oh and by the way, his lady’s drink is on me.” Maikumaru was not going to spare any expenses to make himself look good in front of all who were there. He was displaying how well he can get people on his side as to oppose the apparently violent nature of the Broken Swords. He knew how bandit gangs worked. They were the uppity type, the one that did things through brute force. Not a lot of organization. Not a lot of connections. This had become a cold war that Maikumaru was going to make hot. And one that he had planned to inevitably win. Maikumaru reached in his coat and removed another bag of money. He leaned back and reached behind the young lady that had sat next to him, and placed it on the other side of her. He made sure that the Broken Swords in perfect view of them. He made sure that they knew he was showing them up. He didn’t even look back to know of the pericling gazes he was getting.

The bartender came out along with the waiters. Everyone’s food and drinks were handed to. He leaned next to the female next to him, and whispered, “I wouldn’t stay here long if I were you, things are going to get ugly.” Again, he felt the piercing gazes. Whispering to someone in the presence of another was a good way to cause agitation, insecurity, and paranoia. He laughed to himself. It was a far crow from how he used to be. Spitting insults from left to right. Now he had grown more meticulous. However, he suppressed his desire to cut the bullshit and throw down. But, if he were to vilify his enemies, he would have to make sure they made the first move.

Maikumaru was served his food. He dug in right away. His allies had made idle chatter, while enjoying themselves, ignoring the bandits that had kept their eyes on them since they got to the bar. The Tsuchikage was going to eat as much as possible. He was going to need his energy for what was to come. However, he didn’t know how hard of a shell they had to crack. He heard the talk of his acquaintances calm. He heard footsteps approach. Maikumaru smiled. It was about time. Only two of them would walk over. One would sit on one side of the female, and the other would sit on the other side of Maikumaru. He paid them no mind, and kept eating away at his food. “So. That must be enjoyable.”

The Tsuchikage just kept eating, never giving him a glance. “Mhmm.” He reached for his water, and gulped the rest of it down. “You know that uh...this bar belongs to the Broken Swords...right?”

After taking another bite of the beef, he sighed. “If that were the case, the real owners would tell me to leave.” He continued to not look at him. He was invalidating his presence as much as possible, seemingly treating him as if he was not a threat. Maikumaru would not pay too much attention to the one next to the female, as he was intent on trying to flirt and get her to sit with the Broken Swords. While at the same time eyeing Maikumaru’s bag of money. “Alright...I’m just looking out for you, if I’m being honest. Wouldn’t want anyone to get unnecessarily hurt…”

“That’s fine. You should probably get back to your friends.” He took his bowl and gobbled down his beef, letting it all fall into his mouth. He grabbed the napkin next to him and wiped his face. The Broken Sword member realized he was unsuccessful at intimidating Maikumaru. He turned around and saw that the Suna Refugees were finished with their meals. “Yo. Yo guys still hungry.” They all gave a loud ‘Yea!’

He banged on the counter a couple of times. “HEY! Give my boys some refills will yuh?” He heard one of the waitresses. “Coming right up sir!” He could only imagine the stress they must be in. The atmosphere was getting heavier by the second. He kept quiet and listen to the conversation next to him, from the invading member of the Broken Swords to the female who had entered at the bar the worst possible time.

934/2103 WC

Beef Teriyaki. Chigetsu couldn’t help but notice the order of the man sitting beside him. And a lot of it too. He had never really had a taste for meat, preferring seafood as was natural for someone who grew up near the sea. Seeing that he was in a different country now he couldn’t help but be somewhat curious of the local cuisine. This curiosity was wiped aside as the man offered to pay for Chigetsu’s drink, referring to him as “this lady”. It made him internally giggle. Whatever was going on here with paying and the standoff that seemed to be happening, Chigetsu was completely unaware of though and honestly a little intimidated. Whatever it was, it seemed that now he was getting pulled into it. Was it worth the price of a free drink? Honestly, it probably was. Chigetsu would smile at the nice man beside him who had offered to pay, and with his good will would decide to order something a bit more… alcoholly. This was a terrible idea, considering what Chigetsu had just been thinking about earlier. His clan reacted very very poorly to alcohol… But why not live a little? It wasn’t like one drink would kill him anyway, and he would be careful. With this in mind, Chigetsu would order some cute little bright sugary cocktail, probably with a lot of juices. He was ignorant of the entire thing, and so he would just point at a picture on the menu for the waitress.

The bartender would come around with waiters and waitresses rather quickly, seemingly intimidated themselves at the situation that was occurring right now. The fancy drink that Chi had ordered, which included a little umbrella and straw, was carefully placed right in front of him, and he would stare down with bright wide eyes.

“Thank you, Mister!” He would say to the nice man beside him. Although he was still afraid of the situation that was unfolding, it was important to be grateful. It seemed that the man had already begun eating though, and so Chigetsu would do the same and go to his drink. Being a Hozuki, having just a drink for a meal and no solid food was perfectly fine, and he was rather used to subsisting on liquids in this manner. The first sip of alcohol through the straw would be strange, however. Different than what he expected. It was both sweet and bitter somehow at the same time. He assumed the bitterness was the alcohol, although it was perhaps unfair to call it bitter. This was some other new flavor he had never experienced before. Together with the sweetness and acidity of the juice it was rather good. He was pretty sure there was pineapple in this.

Soon two other men would come to sit around where Chigetsu and Maik sat, one on each side. The pink-haired male would take a second to stare at the man who had just sat down beside him before returning to his business of slowly sipping at his drink. It was only when they started talking that he would begin to pay some notice. Chigetsu’s earlier assumption was correct. He had walked into a very interesting situation. The conversation seemed to be mostly between the one man and Maik, and so Chigetsu would do the best he could to keep his shoulders down and his head out of this situation the best he could despite the fact he could hear everything. The other male that had sat down beside Chigetsu seemed to have a different idea in mind.

“Hello there, you pretty little thing. Why don’t you come over and sit with us instead? The seats are much more comfortable. We’d be more than happy to pay for a meal for you as well.” The man would place an arm around Chigetsu, which would immediately cause the smaller male to tense up.  This was a completely foreign situation for him, who wasn’t used to flirting or romance whatsoever. At least, not with other men.

“I… Uh, I’m just…” Chigetsu had no idea how he would weasel his way out of this. “I’m not used to bars, so I didn’t know...  I…” He would continuously stutter, obviously intimidated. “This is my first time drinking alcohol, so…” Chigetsu’s mousish voice would be interrupted by the banging on the counter by Maik. More food? He was almost in shock. Chigetsu had only turned his head away for a second, and now Maik had eaten the entire massive meal that he was provided. Chigetsu wouldn’t have been able to finish a meal like that in an entire day, let alone in one sitting and ask for more! He was a little impressed, honestly. Although, should eating massive amounts of food be something that you get impressed over? Chigetsu had no idea.

“I’m just looking out for you sweetheart. If this is your first time, I could take care of you. All you need to do is trust me.” The man smiled, assuming he had found himself an especially young little girl to play with. Rather aggressively the man would place a hand down on Chigetsu’s thigh. He was getting a bit uncomfortably touchy, and the mere act made the poor Chigetsu begin to sweat. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head.”

---

[926/1805]

“HEY!” Maikumaru would turn his eye to the small skeptic from earlier. The same one who was weary of Maikumaru and this bar. “Get your hands off of her!” He stood up from his seat, giving the man the deadliest glare Maikumaru had ever seen in a long time. His friends followed suit and stood up with him. The man placed his hands up. “Hey why don’t you guys mind your own business!” A man with an eyepatch and a large sword strapped to his back called from the table near the entrance of the bar. Then The Broken Swords would stand up as well. The two groups stared each other down. The bartender, who Maikumaru noticed spent little time at the bar, came out to see the situation. “Come on now...calm down.” His words fell on deaf ears. They started to bicker with one another, going back and forth. The Tsuchikage turned around, not paying his group nor the opposing one any mind. He surveys around the bar, getting more familiar with his surroundings. There was a second floor, visible from the bar counter. It was about half as big as the downstairs was. It was filled with tables, seemingly a bit more of a restaurant area. Of course there was a railing that would keep anyone from falling over. It was a large, but barebones bar. When the Brawler finished survey of his potential battlefield he turned back around in his seat.

The argument continued. One of the Broken Swords walked towards the center of the downstairs bar and pointed and screamed accusingly. “You lowly trash think you can just come into OUR bar and do whatever the hell you want? Guess again!”

“This bar doesn’t belong to you. Now back off!”

Maikumaru leaned towards the girl next to him, taking advantage of everyone's distraction with one another. "Things are about to get about to get a bit messy. I suggest you make a beeline for the door unless you can defend yourself. Otherwise, I won't be protecting you." As he finished his fair warning, Maikumaru stood up from his seat and shouted. “HEY!” He looked at both groups. “I think it's clear that you guys don’t want us here. But um...me and the boys here came to eat. So that leads us to this conflict. A conflict that I think there is only one way to be resolved.” He walked towards the man with the eyepatch. “This can be resolved the only way our kind knows how…” Maikumaru looked down at the Broken Sword member with the eyepatch. He kept his head up but his eyes down on him. “Like gentlemen.” In a quick motion he took his right fist and moved it across his chest, and then launched a quick backhanded fist. He hit him on the shoulder, but the Tsuchikage put enough strength into it to cause him to fly across the room, and fall on the tables that were far on the right.

Everyone was shocked but quickly moved into action. This wasn’t exactly as planned. Maikumaru had planned to prod them all in a rage for them to strike first. However, when they started arguing with one another, Maikumaru realized that one of the two groups might relent, and leave the bar, The Goal was to see how capable of fighters his group was. Maikumaru was rushed first. They all came after the Tsuchikage. However they were intercepted by his group. However, one Broken Sword was able to slip through the group. He wielded two longer than average Kunai. He shuffled at the Brawler, mimicking a boxing style. Maikumaru took up a squared stance. He expected him to attack with his weapons, however, the Tsuchikage noticed he was kicking more than one would expect. The strategy was essentially a way to mind game opponents into focusing on the weapons, rather than his surprisingly elegant kick. To Maikumaru, this was an absolutely idiotic idea. Effective for sure. A high kick came towards Maikumaru's head from his left side. He not only raised his left fist to block, but he placed his right hand towards that side as well, grabbing the leg. He would then spin him around, and slammed him on the floor.

However, he was caught off by surprise by a chain that was swung around him. There was a heavy weight on the end of said chain, causing Miakumaru to have his arms close to his chest. He saw the one who held the chain. He was a shortstop, but he was almost as muscular as Maikumaru himself. He rushed towards the Tsuchikage and unloaded punches on him. He punched him in the stomach and face, reverting between the two. They were strong, but not enough to phase the Tsuchikage. With his immeasurable amount of strength, Maikumaru broke himself out of the chain. All of the links fell to the ground. He grabbed his opponent by the shoulder, using his longer arms to keep him at a range. And then he ran his fist into his stomach, lifting him off of his feet. He would stand there and do nothing. He fell to his knees, and then on the ground, clutching his midsection.

There had been no one rushing Maikumaru, leaving him the ability to They were doing pretty well at holding their own. The fights were pretty even. It was surprising, considering that these men were homeless for a while, and didn’t have the luxury the Broken Sword bandits did. He looked at the bartender. He tossed him the bag of money. “Thanks for the food.”


946/3049 WC

Chigetsu couldn’t help but feel relieved as the big nice man yelled at the creepy man that had been flirting and creeping on him. The way that he jumped out of his seat and glared down the man was enough to get the creeps arm off Chigetsu’s shoulders, but it seemed rather than standing down things would begin to escalate. Did this guy have no shame? The way he was flirting when Chigetsu clearly wasn’t interested was so incredibly shameless, Chigetsu just had no idea how to react in a situation like this. The last time that somebody flirted with him so suddenly like this was… never. Chigetsu had half a mind to get involved in this situation himself, at the very least for his own self defense with how strongly that man had been coming onto him, but at the same time he just felt too much like a fish out of water. Suddenly everything had erupted into argument, with all this big guys yelling at each other, and Chigetsu was stuck staring down nervously into his drink.

The man that had spoken up in Chigetsu’s defense learned over and would begin to whisper into his ear. Apparently things were about to get messy, and for some reason he was beginning to think that this big mess was all something that had been planned out in advance. A gang war wasn’t exactly something Chigetsu had any intention of getting involved in, but at the same time Maikumaru’s comment made him begin to remember that he wasn’t exactly some helpless little flower either. Despite being incredibly uncomfortable in this situation, Chigetsu likely wasn’t in any sort of danger. It was a bit strange, now that he was thinking of it, that he got so intimidated in this situation when he was a trained shinobi. Chigetsu would end up being a bit dumbfounded by the revelation of how silly he was acting.

The violence had already begun. A man was thrown across the room behind Chigetsu, colliding into a few of the wooden tables on the other side. The sounds of shattering plates and silverware hitting the floor filled the room. Immediately afterwards everyone else began to throw fists as well. This was all taking place behind Chigetsu, and as such he did his best to keep his head down low and his eyes down on the counter in front of him. He didn’t even want to look at it. Instead he would stare at the bright color of his fruity little alcohol drink that the nice man had bought for him. The stress of the situation combined with his earlier anxiety, swirling around in his gut. His shoulders tensed up. Chigetsu was liable to go off like a bomb if anything set him off now. The meekness and nervousness that had consumed him earlier evaporated away very quickly once he had realized that he had nothing to really fear, and these emotions were all replaced with an incredible frustration and annoyance. Without his earlier inhibition, the girly drink that he had been sipping at earlier would be taken by the neck and slammed down in an instant, the entire cocktail disappearing down Chigetsu’s throat in a single action. The glass would be placed down afterwards, and Chigetsu would wipe his lips with the sleeve of his shirt. Rather unlady like behavior, but it didn’t seem as though there was anyone paying attention to him in the moment. The alcohol was already beginning to make him feel funny, even though he had only drank it mere seconds ago. Maybe it was because he was a lightweight. Maybe it was just his Hozuki genetics. It was probably a terrible idea to drink alcohol in the first place, and chugging it like that would probably only make things even worse, but right now those sorts of reasonable thoughts had been set aside.

Chigetsu would lean back in his seat before twisting around on the barstool to face the chaos that was unfolding behind him. He would raise his hand, pointing a single finger up at the ceiling. As soon as his arm stilled a single water bullet would release from his finger tip, colliding immediately up into the ceiling. The loud crack of the bullet being fired combined with the sound of wood cracking and breaking as it penetrated up through the roof would fill the room. It was all overbearingly loud compared to the sounds of violence and combat, and so Chigetsu was hoping it would cause a brief lull in the mess. Enough for him to get the attention of this group of hooligans. Assuming there would be a brief pause in the violence as everyone froze to see what sort of fireworks had just went off, Chigetsu would narrow his eyes and stare down at the group of men. Staring down metaphorically, as he was still shorter than them while sitting on the bar stool. He put on his best angry face, but ultimately he just wasn’t that intimidating of a person.

“You jerks fighting over this place is just gonna end up destroying it. You all should leave! This place doesn’t belong to any of you. Or at least fight outside so you don’t wreck everything.”

He would punctuate those angry comments with a big pout, puffing out his cheeks. His finger was still raised up into the ceiling. Chigetsu wasn’t aiming for any of them, at least not yet, but if their fighting continued that could all change very quickly.

---

[939/2744]