Atop A Lofty Perch ~Open RP~

[Inuzuka Akira]

Akira tilted his head slightly, almost dumbfounded that Tatsuo had never heard of the ANBU before, then again he had to remind himself that not everyone had his kind of military upbringing. He looked down, focused on gently playing with the fur on Shiro's back as he began to explain.

"Well they watch over us; they're kind of like the village's guards or even soldiers. Every village has ANBU of course but it's hard work. I think they wear masks a lot, yeah, but they do the most important job. Sometimes they even get to go on special missions to catch bad guys or get military intelligence," Akira sounded like he could barely contain his excitement, like he'd just been shown the world's largest assortment of free candy.

"Yeah, most ANBU are Jounin-level ninja by the time they go out on big missions, I think they just have slightly different responsibilities. I ain't too sure, but it sure sounds like a crazy fun adventure. I think we'd make the perfect team with the ANBU, you know? We'd be really respected or even feared. Some of the things those guys can do are insane!"

 

[Tatsuo]

"What?" he said in response to Akira's head tilt. "I mean I know that.." he said defensively, obviously trying to save face. "I was just wondering about specifics.." he said crossing his arms. "But you're right, going on special missions and stuff? That seems awesome, you and me could probably beat like at least a thousand samurai together. Especially when we're a bit older." he would laugh as he threw a few fake punches in the air. "We could be a pretty awesome team, we'd need a team name though, all great teams have team names, otherwise they're lame." He nods a few times, pondering on a name. "We could be the super strong team, but that's kind of a lame name. We need a cool name, not just any name." Tatsuo sighed, he would never think of a good name, hopefully Akira would have something. "You got any ideas?"

 

[Inuzuka Akira]

Akira let out a light hearted chuckle to his friend's annoying, playfully poking his tongue out and nudging the boy's shoulder. He was so happy the idea of becoming ANBU and even forming a team was settling in with Tatsuo, he figured it would be a shame to not let this bond between them develop. Hell, that was why Shiromaru and Akira were so close.

"Team names, huh? Not my strong suit," he said with a disappointed sigh, looking up at the clouds and taking several moments to think of something at least halfway decent, "hmmm.... Konoha 3? Nah, that sucks too...."

Shiromaru's ears immediately shot up at the mention of a team name, eager to put his two pieces in as well. He let out an eager bark and a little whimper. Akira's face lit up at Shiro's suggestion which he quickly rendered into English, "Yeah I like that name a lot! Shiro suggested Team Shitatka... I guess it's a mix of the three of our names. What do you think, Tats?"

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo shakes his head, obviously not in favor of the name, his face also turning tomato red. "It's uh.." he looks around, despite no one watching the two youths, before leaning in. "It's too close to a bad word, people will make fun of us for it." he would then chuckle a little bit, rubbing his chin. "If we do become an Anbu squad we'll need a good name, but we have plenty of time. Plus! Don't most ninja teams have three Ninjas? We'd need to find a third before we were a true team, otherwise we'd just be a pair." He said with a firm nod, sure of his logic. "I don't think pairs are as strong as teams, so we'll have to find a third person to be in our team. They have to be as cool as us though, we can't have anyone lame or annoying." He nods again, continuing in his rant. "And Shiro has to like 'em too because he's part of the team as well." Tatsuo nodded once again, before crossing his arms in thought. "They also can't be old, that'd be a captain. So all of the teachers at the academy can't be part of it. We'd need someone, around our age and as cool as us, not sure many cant fir that, but if there is someone they can join our team."

 

[Inuzuka Akira]

Akira let out a muffled giggle, stopping himself from being an utter child and laughing at his own joke. He had to admit, he didn't think of that when he heard the name... then again Shiromaru did have a mischevous sense of humour as he'd found at a while ago.

"Well I mean, we do have three ninja," he said, gesturing to Shiro, "he's just as much ninja as we are. I mean he can use chakra and ninken can learn jutsu too," he looked down at the Shiba who gave indignant looks to Tatsuo while nestled into Akira's lap.

Sorry it's so short ^^; Sort of doing a million things at once...

 

[Tatsuo]

"Yeah I know, but what happens if you get knocked out? I can't even understand him!" he'd laugh again. "We need at least one more person I can talk to." he said with a firm nod, sticking his tongue out at Shiro, before going to pat him on the head. "It's okay, I still like you Shiro." he would furrow his brow. "But for now, i'm fine with just hanging out with you two. I think it's something we should keep in mind, we should be recruiting to our team so we can become the strongest team." Tatsuo leaned back, this is what being a Ninja is all about, he thought to himself. Hanging out on top of Hokage Rock with his best pals and planning on all of the cool stuff they would do when they were older. However they both would need to train to become strong, if they were going to protect the village and each other.

 

[Inuzuka Akira]

Akira chuckled as he poked fun at Shiro, the little Shiba giving Tatsuo an annoyed grunt before settling back into his master's lap and falling back asleep in no time. The Inuzuka let out a brief sigh of uncertainty.

"I guess so yeah but... I dunno, I think pairs are often much stronger. If we have a third guy, we might end up having lots of disagreements. Besides, you don't have to worry about me falling unconscious, buddy, I'm gonna be far too strong for that and so are you!" Akira looked out onto the village, enjoying the moment as much as his friend was - as long as being a ninja was fighting for a good cause and hanging out with his buddies, this was definitely the kind of life he wanted to follow.

 

[Tatsuo]

"Mhm, I don't think you'll ever get knocked out. Me and Shiro wouldn't let them. But you're right, we shouldn't push it, a pair is fine with me." he eyed Shiro before going to pat him on the head once more. "I mean a trio, of course." letting out a laugh as he looked up to the clear skies, then turning down to look back at the village. "Y'know, I really wanna protect all this." he said a bit more somber than their earlier playful conversation. "Like, I really do. When I was born, we were always on the move, my family was always fighting to reclaim the village." he said, letting out a sigh. "Now that we have it, it's just.. perfect y'know? Like there isn't anything i'd change about the village." he would say turning back to Akira and Shiro shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know if that's dumb though, i'm sure there is something wrong with the village, I just haven't found it yet. I've only really lived in the village for about a year since it was liberated, but like in this short year i've had a lotta good stuff happen, stuff that didn't happen before. Wonder if it's just luck." Tatsuo would seem to be kinda out of breath after that statement, as if he got something off his chest he had never told anyone before.

 

[Inuzuka Akira]

Akira let out a chuckle, scratching behind Shiromaru's ears as said trio was mentioned once again. Shiro seemed to have warmed up to Tatsuo really quickly which made Akira feel that much better since it just meant the trio's teamwork would be just that more exceptional.

"Huh? Yeah, I know what you mean," he said looking out over the village and turning to Tatsuo, "heh heh, well, our elders fought hard to protect this village, I'm sure they wouldn't let anything go wrong with it. But, that's kinda why I wanna be ANBU, so I can spend everyday contributing to the village's defence," he explained. He looked back over to his friend, he could practically feel the boy's heart rate go up; he looked slightly distressed.

"We've all done a lot of good stuff this year, I think, and if we keep working, all the stuff we've done is gonna pay off," he put his hand on Tatsuo's shoulder for support, giving him a comforting smile.

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo flinched a bit as Akira touched his shoulder, but he was quickly comforted by the fact that he had now had a friend, his age, who had his back both figuratively and literally. "Yeah, they've put a lotta work in the village. We won't be shown up for sure." the confidence dripping off the words, talks of defending the village seemed to get Tatsuo as riled up as Anbu talk did Akira.

"You're probably right, being Anbu is the best way to go about it too. You, Shiro and I, vs any and all threats to the village!" he said now as excited about the Anbu idea as Akira. "Though I do have one question." he says looking to Shiro. "Does he get a mask too?" he would then stick his tongue out at Shiro playfully. "Maybe we can get him a cat mask?"

 

[Inuzuka Akira]

"Haha, we'd be an unstoppable force on the ANBU, defending our home from all kinds of threats," he mused happily but the idea of Shiro in a mask made him chuckle a little too much, though Shiro, who had suddenly woken back up didn't seem too impressed. He let out a disgruntled bark at both Akira and Tatsuo.

"Come on, buddy, relax. You'll get your own cool little uniform," he chuckled, turning to the other student, "paranoid lil pup, eh? If he didn't know any better he'd think I was about to dress him in a tutu and chuck him on stage."

Akira laid on his back, Shiro coming up and laying his head on top of his chest, in prime position for petting and head scritches from his master, "hey, Tats, what's your family like? Ya'know, your parents and stuff?"

 

[Tatsuo]

"Eh I think he'd look pretty good in a tutu, personally." He joked, before crossing his arms as the topic of his family came up. "Uhh what do you wanna know? My dad is the coolest ninja ever, but he is very strict. My mom isn't so great of a ninja, but she is very caring. I don't have any brothers or sisters. Got a pretty small family to be honest. I have a cousin, but he deserted the battlefield as a Genin during the civil war. So I don't know much about him." He would then catch his breath, even for Tatsuo that was a lot of talking all at once. "How 'bout you?"

 

[Inuzuka Akira]

It never ceased to amaze Akira that Tatsuo had the ability to talk 90 miles an hour for minutes at a time without having to stop for breath, it was quite a remarkable feat in fact. He'd heard him talk about how his father used that special family kunai to take on hundreds of samurai at once... The guy must've been pretty cool if he was capable of stuff like that.

"That's pretty cool. I remember you saying the cool stuff your dad was able to do. My dad is retired now but he was a captain for the ANBU. My mum never really wanted to become a kunoichi so she owns a little flower shop near where we live. Dad and me are part of the Inuzuka clan so we live with lots of ninken. They're my brothers and sisters actually. You know Aomaru, he's like my second dad and he's really bossy and mean," he smirked and looked down at Shiromaru who seemed to whimper in agreement with that; it was certainly something he could vouch for.

"Is your dad still a ninja? Does he still go on missions and stuff or is he retired too?"

 

[Tatsuo]

"He's somewhere in between. He wants to retire but doesn't y'know?" He would say with a firm nod, thinking back to the conversation they had this morning. "He said he's pretty tired of all be Ninja work but doesn't wanna officially retire until I'm a full fledged ninja, something 'bout there's been ninjas in our family since forever and he won't let me ruin it if I fail the academy exam or something." He would say frowning a bit. "He says that stuff a lot, like he doesn't think I'll pass the academy exam and all that." It obviously troubled Tatsuo and he seemed quite vulnerable despite his earlier confidence.

 

[Inuzuka Akira]

"I'm sure he just expects you to be as cool as he is, ya'know? I think he just wants you to try really hard to follow the family tradition. My dad and Aomaru are exactly the same with me; they never let me goof off or anything, I have to be training or studied almost 24/7," he said with a small frown, lamenting the fact that he practically had no time to be a kid.

"I guess why that's why I like hanging out with you and doing stuff like we did today. I get to be all silly and get into trouble like we students should," Shiro's ears perked up for a moment, seemingly in agreement with that once again. Akira looked down at his ninken, giving his ears a little scritch as he watched him get comfortable and cosy.

 

[Tatsuo]

"Yeah he probably does." he says thinking about it a bit, a short silence following before he goes to respond again. "Yeah I remember Aomaru, he is a good dog, even though he is very strict." Tatsuo sighs, crossing his arms. "But yeah you're right Akira, I like hanging out with you. We always go on fun adventures. Maybe we should go on a mission? I know we're not officially ninjas yet, but there's gotta be some E-rank missions we can go on? Maybe fight some bandits or something like that?" he says getting super excited and hopping to his feet, retrieving his kunai. "Y'know i'd go like this." he said ducking down swinging the kunai downwards into the air, cutting down a piece of grass. Before jumping a few feet to the side, and tossing the kunai at a nearby tree. "See I coulda' beaten like three enemies with that combo."

 

[Inuzuka Akira]

"A mission, eh? Yeah, that'd be some good experience, we might even get some money for doing little missions like that," Akira mused, thinking of all the candy he could buy with some extra spending money like that. The student chuckled as he watched Tatsuo get up and start fighting the tree, showing off his moves like any true ninja would.

"Wow, hehe, you seem to know what you're doing over there," he said, ushering Shiromaru up and getting to his feet. He gave Shiro a couple minutes to limber up before he shot him a determined glance which was quickly reciprocated. He ran at the tree and swiped at the bark, putting a rather nasty gash into the wood using his claws. Then, Shiro followed up with a kind of jumping head-butt which left a sizable dent in the tree. Seemed like the Inuzuka fighting style was mainly based on brute force.

 

[Tatsuo]

Furrowing his brows, Tatsuo was visibly impressed by the combo. "Do you two have a name for that combo? If not you should call it the Super Magnificent Man Slash Dog Bash Killer Combo!" He would say catching his breath after the long phrase. "All cool techniques need cool names too, or their lame. It's like teams." Tatsuo would say mimicking almost sage like wisdom. "I know these things pretty well."

"But let me show you my secret technique." He said getting into a stance before running up a tree, and slicing one of the smaller branches off, landing with a agile backflip. "I call that, The Terrible Tree Top Truncator! It's one of my best techniques, only my closest friends know about it." he would say with a giggle, smiling happily. "I think I come up with pretty great names for combos."

 

[Inuzuka Akira]

Akira watched as Tatsuo demonstrated his agility, slashing at the tree and jumping around it as many skilled ninja would surely be able to do. It was definitely impressive and the young Inuzuka couldn't help but smile, "haha, that's amazing, buddy. I'm glad you trust me enough to show me that! I can't wait to see all these moves of yours... and maybe I can go up against them one day," some healthy sparring is always good and Akira liked to take any opportunity to test out his own skills.

"Anyway, the day's gonna end soon," he said as he watched the sun beginning to set. They'd spent a long time messing about round here and it was getting to the end of the day. Akira gave Shiro a little pet and prepared to head off, "I should probably head off back home; Aomaru and dad are gonna be mad at us if we're out too late..."

With that, Akira wished his friend goodbye and headed back down the mountain back home with his ninken.

Topic Left

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo would smile and nod as he said. "Yeah i'm sure we'll spar at some point. I'll make sure to not hit too hard." he would say innocently as if he genuinely did not want to hurt his friend. "Though I am sure you and Shiro would be too much for me!" he would then frown as he looked up to the sky, realizing it was late. He would have to get home too, if he was late for dinner his dad would send him to bed without any. And nothing was worse than a night without dinner. "See ya around Akira, i'm going go home too." he would say leaving as well.

((Topic Left))