Poker and Puppets [Duel Contract Search]

[Ryu Hime]

After Hakuren left Maru in the care of her friend Akazukin, the two of them would hold a conversation telepathically to each other. “Hey Haku-chan dear, since I’m doing this favor for you, you won’t mind doing me one in return.”

Hakuren shakes her head in disappointment for she could guess what Akazukin was going to ask of her. “You want me to lend you my sensory link so you can cheat in cards.” Hakuren begins heading to the casino that Maru and Akazukin would likely be heading to. Akazukin would likely be ting a leisurely pace so it would be no problem for Hakuren to beat them there.

“My peek into the future can only help me so much, but don’t worry this time it is for a mission. Oh shit” That last part catches Hakuren concern and she accidentally trips over her own foot. Fortunately Hakuren was able to recover quickly. “Change of plans.”

Hakuren stops for a moment standing in the middle of a rooftop, “What’s going on?”

“Seems people caught word of my acceptance of this mission. We just got attack by a thug”

“Are you alright do you need back up?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I took care of him. However I am a little concerned about the mission. I need you to do the mission in my place.”

Hakuren gives a heavy sigh and then continues her run to the casino. “Fine, give me the details.”

“There is a poker tournament going on at the Royal Flush. You are to retrieve the grand prize, which is a possessed doll. By the way you could have told me Maru was a puppet. I just made myself look like an idiot.”

“Sorry”

“Also next time you hand a person of to me, introduce me to him. We are almost at the Royal Flush. Where are you.”

“Already inside and registered for the tournament.”

Hakuren would wait right next to the down with a raven on her shoulder. As soon as Maru comes in and walks pass she would yell at him. “Flirting with yet another girl!” Hakuren’s voice was back to normal and if he turns around he would quickly realize the blind woman and the voice were the same person. “So we meet again. Did I fool you or did you caught unto me?” Personally she thought she did an excellent performance. “You are going to help me with a mission. We are going to win this.” Hakuren then hands Maru a flier about the poker tournament. With an interesting grand prize.

(OOC: Maru please note that any of the conversation between Akazukin and Hakuren)
(Continued from here: https://www.ninpocho.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=57981&p=307935#p307935)

 

[Midori Futotta]

“Oh and are here. I have some business to take care of bye-bye.” Now that Akazukin had done her job, she decided to take her leave. Maru had wondered what kind of business “Eh? Well I guess I'll see you around hon. Just think about that proposal we talked about, I'm pretty sure we would make an awesome couple.“ he flashed a smile at Akazukin and with that she was gone. Now that he was here, the puppet master strutted his way towards the entrance to hopefully win big. He looked around, wondering around not actually paying attention where he was going at first. That was until he walked by a woman who yelled at him as quickly as he walked by and startled he jumped in surprise! ‘Shit, that lady found me!’ Maru held up his hands as if he was in a western stick up, his eyes closed as he began explaining.“Easy, easy, sugar. She is married, I was just-” he opened his eyes to see Hakuren, then sighed in relief.

“Phew… So you were the voice all along, you know a simple ‘hey I'm the voice you met from the gates’ would've been nice hon” he said adjusting his hat then fixed his tie before he fully relaxed. Now that he knew he wasn't about to be attacked by some fatal-attraction-dragon-lady, the woman seemed to want help getting some kind of item. Taking the flyer within her hand he read that what she wanted to win… was a possessed doll.

Maru narrowed his eyes, as if to say 'really?’ Probably because he was pretty much a possessed doll himself, usually human puppets would house a heart or their brain within their core. But Maru only had his soul and his conscious within his core. "Seriously, the grand prize is a possessed doll. You know if I wasn't a crook I would study law to end this barbaric practice.” He pumped his fist into the air to show how serious he was being. But then a lightbulb went off in his head…

When HE was to actually win this possessed doll, he could probably teach it his ways perhaps become a partner in crime in a jewelry heist or perhaps since he could wear puppets, perhaps he could ‘wear’ this doll to gain its powers. He wasn't sure if he could, but he could sure try to see when he wins this doll or if things came down to it he could just steal it then escape. Tucking the flyer for the grand prize within his coat pocket, he clapped his hands together. “Alright, so your mission is to win a possessed doll, hm? Well count me in pumpkin, consider this beauty won.” He said confidently, but then he realized something. “Say did you sign me up for this tournament?”

 

[Toraono Kuro]

And so it begins...

Hakuren and Maru found themselves in a faintly rose scented smoke encircled den. The chambers were immense and ancient. It was obvious that the rooms were not designed with gambling in mind. With Hakuren’s sense of hearing and location she could discern there were no less than ten exits five of which were hidden. Gifts were given to the entrants for the tournament. It was life or death gambling of the highest capacity. People weren’t just betting on who would win they were even betting on how the others would lose and when.

A very tiny girl with slender fingers handed Hakuren a pair of glasses and motioned in a manner for her to put them on.

What would happen?


The same tiny girl gave Dokuso Maru had watch… it was a beautiful work of art with the strictest of tiny clockwork gears, springs, and components that allowed the watch to tell perfect time down to the last millisecond. Thousands of brass points spiraled out from its center with four hands instead of two constantly tracking time.


Hakuren’s sense of the little girl…
Hakuren could hear a tiny heart beat but she heard no muscle twitch, or any abrupt shifting of mass upon the stone floor as the girl moved about. She did indeed touch the floor but she more or less glided across it as if she were dancing instead of walking.

Maru’s sense of the little girl…
The tiny waif of a girl looked almost malnourished. Were it not for her smooth movements and happy smile Maru would have sworn the girl was some kind of ghost. She dashed about from guest to guest handing out interesting trinkets to each of the twelve guests and imploring them to put them on. She did not speak a word but her smile was infectious and her giggles when people smiled at her were to the point where any normal person would simply sit and say “aaaawwww….” The young girl with black hair was simply adorable despite being pale, thin, and tiny to look upon her was to wonder how and what she might grow up to be.

Other guests were given different items before a tall slender man stepped forth and took the young girl’s hand. He kissed her forehead than motioned for her to go to her playroom. With a grin and a nod the tiny girl skipped away.

The gentleman had the look of an elder whose physical capacity was still in its prime. Even his silver gray hair was still full and thick. He wore traditional samurai grey robes and hakama with thick reinforced black leather sandals. As he motioned everyone to sit down, it seemed his mannerisms were the same as the little girl’s. Interesting…

“Welcome Gamblers… this year in the Forgotten Shrine we host the 'Tournament of Fate', test your souls against the games of chance here and win sacred artifacts or lose your lives. I Lord Shishidou welcome you.”

WC: 499

OOC Synopsis:
Hakuren and Maru were given a special item by a little girl, the item in question whether worn or not expands the senses or abilities of the bearer to superhuman (i.e. kekkei genkai *shinobi bloodline*) levels. The object feeds on natural chakra and should the holder actually wear said object they will get a sense of exactly how the object works.

There are other things that can occur but that is for later posts.

 

[Ryu Hime]

Both Hakuren, Maru and several other guests were escorted to this strange room in which the tournament would be held. One of the other contestants was kind enough to hold her hand and guide her considering she was blind. Hakuren would do her best to keep up this act while watching what was going on through the eyes of her raven on her shoulder and a little mouse quietly following behind the group. One of the first skills a Yamanaka learns is the ability to communicate with others telepathically by sharing thoughts. Not limited to words, the Yamanaka may communicate through sharing pictures, memories, and even learn to share sensory input between themselves and others. Hakuren uses this ability on a daily basis to mitigate her blindness by linking to her pets and have them stream live sensory input into her. She also gives commands through the same method using moving pictures to convey a command. Hakuren found such communication with her pets far more effective than basic verbal communication.

She found the mouse in the alleyway nearby where she and Maru first met in Soon Haven. She had to be a little more forceful in her commands to control the untamed creature but still animals have such weak minds compared to her will. Once inside the mouse would stealthy crawl around the edges of the room and Hakuren took note of each of the exits.

As for Hakuren a girl places a pair of glasses into her hands, which causes her to sigh. Hakuren did make a request to have someone aid her with her blindness. She had planned on having Akazukin disguise herself as one of the staff here and help her. However it seems the runner of the tournament had a better of fixing the so called problem. Hakuren would assume these classes were somehow enchanted to allow her to see. Hesitantly she takes off her blindfold to put on the glasses.

Not many has seen her eyes before because she is always wearing either a black sash or headband over her eyes. There are a couple of reasons to this: first off it is a advertisement for her blindness. By seeing the blindfold people instantly recognize the fact that she is blind even from a distance. The other reason is that people find her eyes unusual and sometime uncomfortable. Her eyes were an unusual shade of orange due to becoming a vampire, but what scared people was the fact they look lifeless. They were motionless and clouded and people seem to act differently with her eyes shown. So she keeps her eyes covered with bathing being the few exceptions.

Suddenly the host of the event makes an appearance and spoke words that slightly concerns her. It seems that they would be betting more than just money but there very lives. Hakuren is not sure how many times she died already. Someone wanted her dead in Tea Country, unfortunately they did not realize she was an immortal being. Hakuren raises a hand as to ask a question, “Should such losses comes to pass, may I assume our bodies be returned to our loved ones for proper burial.” Living in a shinobi world with dark sages and human puppets, it should not be too surprising for one to be concerned about their body after death.

 

[Midori Futotta]

As they were escorted into the strange looking chambers where this tournament was supposed to be held, Maru started to think that they weren't in a casino at all. The place looked ancient, not how he believed a casino to look which is why he was feeling a bit skeptical of if this was the place or not. Maru tried to move up closer to tap Hakuren’s shoulder to ask her something, but when he saw the little girl passing out gifts he stopped himself. “Ayyye, free stuff.” He said, forgetting all about asking Hakuren if they were in the right place. When, it came Maru's turn to take his gift he held his hands out and the little girl handed him a watch. Not just any watch but a beautiful, expensive looking watch that counted to the last millisecond!

“Pretty fancy.” He said before he place the watch on his left wrist almost as soon as he got the item, then he was about to thank the little girl until… he actually got a good look at her. She was deathly thin, pretty pale too.. for a moment Maru thought this girl was deader than dead but then everyone else seemed to only find the girl adorable, hell some even said awwww. He nudged Hakren, keeping his voice low. “That little girl looks like her life is over. Someone needs to give her a riceball, candybar or something." he said before there was an old, tall, lanky man stepped forth. The man was the same as the little girl, pretty weird but it seemed that this guy was the host for this event who revealed himself to be Lord Shishidou.

Shishidou welcomed all the gamblers to the tournament, a game where you can win sacred artifacts but it also comes at a price.. If you lose the tournament you lose your life. This game was high stakes, with our lives on the line and they had to be all in to be able to win these artifacts. Maru looked over at Hakuren who seemed to wonder if their bodies would be returned to their loved ones, but Maru had a better questions. “Moreover, what the hell are we gonna be dying for anyway? I mean is these artifacts even worth dying for?” He asked, truth be told he planned on cheating his way to the top anyway but since they were putting their lives on the line what kinda powers could these artifacts have that the minimum bet is your life.“Oh! And what are these things you gave us for."he raised his gloved fist and pointed at his watch.

WC:443

 

[Toraono Kuro]

Lord Shishidou looked at everyone before locking on to Maru's face and putting a face to the voice that had called out along with the young lady's question. He answered the questions as they came with a style that could only come from being Lord over a large domain. "Your remains if there are any would be returned to your next of kin outside of some wager otherwise. The artifacts are truly worth dying for some of them were once powerful enough to change the world and that is only hinting at their capacity. The gifts given to you by my youngest daughter are some of the lesser artifacts so that those of you whom are capable might understand exactly what you are wagering your SOULS for. Each of you would attune to any gift my daughter gave you differently. The only thing that each gift has in common is that they were either made or found in this very temple. Once you have written your names down on a slip of paper your name will be placed in a bowl and the first contestants will be matched up with one another. MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOR!!"<i></i>

After his explanation Lord Shishidou went and sat in a large robust chair as another beautiful young lady that might be related from her features brought him a large spicy scented glass of wine (Hakuren would notice the scent was vaguely like that of blood) Maru would notice how his features grew excited as people still stepped forth to wager their souls. It seemed it was going to be a very robust tournament indeed as a total of 40 people signed up with Hakuren and Maru making a total of 42.

 

[Ryu Hime]

Hakuren bows twice, claps her hands twice and then bows once more. “Oh sorry, old habit when I come to a temple.” Who knows maybe the lord would appreciate the use of such old customs. The man sure does seem to be a traditionalist. Looking at the young girl’s white skin, black hair, traditional clothing and graceful movements, Hakuren has an idea what she is. “Good grief Maru, have you never seen a geisha before? She is quite skilled for being so young.” Hakuren has a feeling he was simply too young to know of such things. She swears this next generation has no care to learn the old traditions.

With the traditional clothing the host and his servants were wearing, Hakuren finds herself improperly dressed for the tournament. If she recalls right the current outfit she is wearing is a chakra armor jutsu and thus a change of attire could easily be arranged. Hakuren takes of the unique glasses and places them on her head. With a few hand seals her body was engulfed in flame and the one chakra armor overwrites the other. As the flame dies off she is left in a plain red kimono with a matching blindfold. This outfit was actually an emulation armor hence the flames during the casting.

Hakuren walks over to the table to one of the pillows surrounding it and sat seiza style. Unlike the other tables in the other part of the casino this one was a more traditional one, which was lower to the ground. There were no chairs for people to sit on but pillows. Seiza was the traditional style of sitting where one bends there knees and sits on their feet. To those who are unaccustomed to sitting in such a way may find it uncomfortable over time.

Hakuren takes the inkstone on the table and ever so gingerly pours a little water onto it. She has seen far to many people make the mistake of putting to much water in the inkstone at one time. She then takes the ink stick and grinds it into the liquid until the water turns into ink. She then pushes the ink into the indented part of the inkstone called the well. Dipping her brush in the ink she then writes her name on a piece of paper.

白蓮​

It was the name Hakuren written as white lotus. “Sometimes I believe writing ones name is the truest form of saying it.” When it comes to kanji how a name is spelt gives it meaning one might not realize when it is spoken.

Hakuren learned much of this kind of stuff from her older sister. Her older sister, Ai, was a priestess to a shrine to Mother Suna. Ai hand to learn and practice many old traditions. Back during Hakuren’s younger years she would sometimes mimic her older sister. Sitting here in Seiza writing her name with ink she made herself, brought back fond memories. Now that she reflects on her siblings, she recalls her brother liked to play poker not with cards but with tiles. It was mahjong poker. These tiles had three suits: Dots, Bamboo and Characters and they went from one to nine. Roku, her older brother, played with a special set of tiles that had there pictures carved onto the tiles. Hakuren was able to play by feeling what the tiles were, though Roku was always the better player. Hakuren wonders if they would play Mahjong poker here. It would be quite considerate of Lord Shishidou if they had tiles like her brother’s.

 

[Midori Futotta]

After the man answered his question, he Maru's greed suddenly got the better of him. An item that can change the world was something he could use, especially if the item can bring him boatloads of cash. And if these gifts only were the lesser items, he couldn't wait to test this watch to see what it could do, if it did what he thought it did he might would be able to cheat without getting caught. But still… that girl. “Geisha?...” Maru said, clearly not knowing what she was talking about when she called the little girl a Geisha. To be truthful he has seen one in paintings and in other places but he didn't know that Geisha is what those make-up wearing women were called. Regardless he stopped questioning things around here to see if he could begin gambling, letting Hakuren go first to sign her name to get a glance around.

Once the blind woman would sign her name, Maru went next and wrote his name on the slip of paper. He was curious who would he be going against in this poker tournament, it looked it was like 40 something people around here willing to gamble for these rare artifacts. Plus Lord Shishidou seemed a bit too excited that they were putting their souls on the line, everyone seemed confident that they could actually win the tournament but of course everyone has also had wondered what did theses gifts actually do. Maru decided that he might as well know what the watch does so he channeled his spiritual chakra to his watch in a similar fashion that he channels his spiritual chakra within his puppets. Tinkering with the clock to make the hands go forwards, then backwards again to see if something happens if he combined his spiritual abilities with the enchanted artifact. If he was lucky it might would give him cool abilities, if he wasn't that lucky than he would explode or something. But he was curious to see what would happen.

[Channeling Spiritual Chakra into item O-O]

 

[Toraono Kuro]

As Maru finished signing her name a delicate young man carefully folded it and placed it into a massive crystal bowl. Once all forty players had their names in the bowl the little girl stepped forward and drew the first two names for the tournament. She went to the center of the chamber and calmly announced the first two players of the evening. "Our first two competitors will be Maru and Lady Shinzen... please take your seats at the central table. The game will be Konoha's Holding Fire... we will begin once everyone has received their drinks or food."</I><i></i>

Maru attempted to adjust the dials or turn the hands but nothing happened, indeed he almost cut his fingers on the finer metallic pieces until he applied spiritual chakra which the watch eagerly devoured. A faint sultry voice could be heard ever so briefly demanding, "Touch me... feed me... hold me..." Suddenly Maru saw the world slow. Not that he was going any faster in comparison, no that was not what happened. He could see, hear, feel, every detail around him as if he were in multiple places at once but still himself. The omnipotent sense was an extraordinary sense of time. His soul was expanded to the point where he could even see behind himself without turning his own head. The feeling subsided gradually until Maru could feel himself being escorted to the table where his match would take place. A bruise appeared on his neck, a hicky, someone really liked him yet he did not know who.


A feeling of contentment swelled throughout Maru's body as if he had been embraced by a long lost lover.

Lady Shinzen stood and made her way to the central table, she was six feet tall and wore 8 inch heels making her even taller than most of the men there. Her dress was spidersilk and shimmered with her every move. Everything about her said sex but her eyes and her stance were that of a predator. She set her eyes upon Maru and was not impressed.

<I>"Hurry boy... let me finish you off and send you to the underworld."


Hakuren found a young man near her he moved like the young girl did and his muscles were far sterner than the girls. If she could see she would notice their resemblance to Lord Shishidou.

 

[Ryu Hime]

It was not just Masu and Shinzen playing at a game of luck right now for the almost the whole room would be making wagers with another. Pretty much everyone here were die hard gamblers that found risking it all as the ultimate thrill. It was life or death gambling of the highest capacity. People weren’t just betting on who would win they were even betting on how the others would lose and when. However apart for the name of the game, she knew nothing and thus there was not really anything to bet on quite yet so instead she asks the man near her that seems to be one of the servers, “Can I get some of the stuff the Lord is having. It smells absolutely delicious.” The beverage sure had a smell similar to blood, she is sure her vampiric tongue could taste if it really does contain blood.

After getting herself a glass she begins her experiments with the artifact sitting on top of her head. The glasses seems to have improved her sensory link, but the question was by how much. Akazukin was somewhere is Soon Haven likely outside the normal zone for the link. For her first experiment she would try to see if she can create a sensory link with Akazukin. Another experiment she tries is to create a sensory link with the item itself. She expects it would do nothing since it is an in-adamant object and thus it has no sentience, however the underlying reason for how the item works is still is unknown to her. Perhaps there is more than meets the eye to these objects.

Another thing she wanted to test is what type of effect do the other artifacts do. When Maru expressed concern about the young girls health she had her bird keep an eye on her to see what he meant. During this time she took note of the different items she gave out to the other people. One woman got an emerald brooch. Hakuren uses an Emerald Emitter jutsu, which was set to help her track the gift giving girl, and creates a replica of the brooch. With an empty glass in hand she walks towards the woman swaying drunkenly all the while. When she got close enough she pretends to stumble and falls into the woman. In that moment she stealthily snatches the brooch with one hand while dropping the glass and the fake with the other. Simultaneously she quickly apologizes, “Oh Sweet Mother Suna, I am so sorry. I think that drink might have been to strong for me.” It was the old bump and grab maneuver known by pickpockets. If successful, with a slight of hand she tucks the real brooch under her obi and walks off.

If the woman notices the missing brooch she will likely see the one by her feet with the broken glass. Despite the woman in possession of the emerald for the jutsu, it will still work for Hakuren as long as the woman doesn’t destroy the gem.

 

[Midori Futotta]

At first when he tried tinkering with the watch, nothing happened it wasn't until he actually fed his spiritual chakra to his watch was when he actually got to see something happen. Looking up, Maru would see the whole world slow as if time for him was slowing, he wasn't moving as fast as he would think but he was able to catch every detail on the world around him, hell he could even see behind him without turning his head which he found awesome. It wasn't until he was actually escort to the table that the feeling of whatever just happened stopped, rubbing the side of his neck which had a bruise and he had a strange feeling like he had someone around here liked him a lot, as if rooting for him to win the first round in which he had to do now for his phantom lover… Plus he wasn't too interested in death but winning was important now.

As Maru made his way to the table, he saw a very tall and rather beautiful woman come his way in a expensive looking dress. Maru gave the woman finger guns, and winked at her before saying the next pickup line he could think of. “Well you look like a nice tall glass of water.. And I'm pretty thirsty too.” He said, although it didn't seem to impress the woman. In fact, she wanted to hurry up to beat him so she could take him out already but Maru his cool since this was a game of luck and plus with his watch helping him there wasn't no excuse he should lose. “Well you can't really blame me for trying, let's get this show on the roll. Or in my case, the puppet show. “ snarky as ever it was time to start. May the best person win.

 

[Toraono Kuro]

A warm, smooth glass of milky liquid was placed in Hakuren's hand by an attentive waiter. The libation was sanguine and did indeed have blood in it. The blood was fresh lamb blood mixed with light herbs and honey to make it sweet and nourishing like a healthy blood tinged warm ice cream shake. It was sweet beyond belief. The glasses had indeed expanded her sense of her partners as she found herself able to see through multiple eyes at the same time. She found she could even see through Akakuzin's eyes but she could not feel their body or presence like the pets that were within five hundred meters. As she managed to take a gifted emerald brooch from one of the female contestants she plays off her drunken, blind, role eloquently. Her theft does not go unnoticed but the young girl that had handed off the broach merely smiled and kept moving about. Lord Shishidou noticed as well and he simply grinned and relaxed, just waiting to see how events unfolded. The woman picked up the fake broach and went to sit down and watch the first match.

Luckily Hakuren had not decided to test the brooch ...

Maru found himself seated before a beautiful woman as another beautiful woman handed out the cards the last one was placed face up for both people to see. If Maru used his watch he would be able to see every card as it was handed out. The strain of such an action was a question that Maru would have to answer on his own. As the cards were put in place the face up card for the lady was a 'queen of hearts', the face up card for Maru was a (BLACK) 'six of diamonds'. The other card for both players was face down and three cards were set in the center of the table although nearest the dealer. Neither of the players could logically see the cards near the dealer unless they had special abilities until after they made their initial bets at which time the dealer would flip her cards one by one.

 

[Ryu Hime]

The game begins and cards were dealt. It was life or death gambling of the highest capacity and Hakuren plans to take advantage of this. What would be the point to form teams when it is quite likely only one will leave this place alive. Hakuren was immortal and her body regenerates after death. Should her soul be claimed she has placed her memories in an unconscious body of Yamanaka. Should Hakuren not be able to dose her again with a drug to keep her asleep, the body would awake. Hakuren had removed the memories of the owner of the body so essentially she’ll stay alive through another’s body. Until she receive her old body which she would then transfer her memories back. The bird would hold the memories of this place.

True people other than the two playing the game might interfere with the game to see their bets come to fruition, but how far would they go. Would they willing aid one of the individuals just to see there bets come true? Would the player even except or trust their help? It is so easy to betray when one’s life is on the line. Hakuren was sure Maru would trust any help she may send his way.

Hakuren was already doing a drunk act so there was no reason she would not take it further. Spinning around she then collapses near one of the servers. “I don’t feel so…” Should the man or anyone else not catch her, her unconscious body would do a small bounce as it hits the floor. It was quite obvious that this was not an act and truly did faint. Her soul leaves her body and inhabits to body of the woman playing with Maru. She did not control the woman or cast any jutsu on her part from the mind transfer. Hakuren would lay low and try to avoid being detected. Hakuren merely watched through her eyes.

Surely the woman would look at her face down card and once she did Hakuren would return to her body. Still trying to appear unconscious she would form a sensory link with Maru and tell him what card the woman had telepathically.

 

[Toraono Kuro]

A dashing young rogue would scoop Hakuren up as she collapsed and he would certainly feel her up as he did so but he didn't grab any truly sensitive areas besides lightly caressing her chest. He would try to wake her while Hakuren was busy. She entered Lady Shinzen but due to the strength of her item her attempt at stealth and light contact was a full take over of all of Lady Shinzen's senses. Hakuren could even taste the recent sip of honey liquor that lingered upon Lady Shinzen's tongue. Hakuren did indeed notice that Lady Shinzen's card face down was a Queen of spades but that was because Lady Shinzen could see the chakra aura inside the card and it told her what her cards were without her having to actually look at them. If Maru used his chakra on his cards she would be able to read his as well. Luckily he had not. It was obvious that Lady Shinzen had some kind of kekkei genkai but what it was would have to wait as Hakuren found herself violent thrown from Lady Shinzen's body back into her own. Lucky for her Shinzen did not have any idea what had happened only that she felt for a moment that she had not been herself. Triumphantly she flipped her face down card over sneering at Maru waiting for him to check his own.

What would the bold duo do now'?


The rogue cradling Hakuren is named Danudee, and he is quite the professional gambler. What fate lay in store for Hakuren when she woke up?

 

[Midori Futotta]

And so the games began, begin seated in front of the beautiful woman Maru couldn't help but attempt to us his watch to see if he could get some kind of advantage from it. Placing his hand upon the artifacts he began to channel his spiritual chakra into his gift so he would again try to expand his soul so he would be able to simply see the cards as they were dealt, hopefully if things went right he would be able to remember what card was in everyone's held. Maru looked down at the card that the woman hand face up which was a ‘queen of hearts' while Maru had his one card face up which was (BLACK) 'six of diamonds'. The other cards were face down, but he knew for sure that no one would be able to see his hand unless their gift gave them some kind of special ability. Before the initial bets are up, Maru decided to bluff them out so they would be scared to bet muttering things like 'You guys are fucked’ and whatnot. But then he heard some commotion coming from behind him,so Maru turned around to see what was going on.

Hakuren was in the arms of some guy, and she looked out cold. He reached his hand over the snap his fingers trying to get the unconscious woman's attention. “Hey! Hey! Hey!” Despite him yelling, it looked like she wasn't waking up anytime soon and he really trust the dude holding her but the game had to continue. With the tall woman in front of him, each player took turns looking at what the had face down of course Maru being the last person to take a glance at his cards with the woman in front of him sneering at him. When Maru looked at what he had face down, his eyes shot open as if he just won the lottery then placed his cards face down again… Another bluff to try to scare other players however, it didn't look like the woman was the type to scare easy much less she would probably be able to call his bluff but the other players might be frightened at least.

Maru looking back at his watch, he begin to come up with an idea for using it since it seemed to feed on chakra however it seemed a bit risky because he didn't know how much the thing can consume. He took a gamble and engulfed his watch in chakra, similar to how he would engulf his puppets in chakra by extending his chakra from himself into the item. With any luck, the benefits he got from his little helper might aid him in this game of chance… Or he could just be wasting his energy but he wouldn't know unless he tried.

[Ooc: My bad gonna try to post faster.]

 

[Ryu Hime]

The woman decides to flip her card for all to see, which was just great. Hakuren wasn’t sure if that was due to her influence, but if the woman was going to do that anyways Hakuren’s moment of peaking seemed rather pointless right now. It seems the artifact really increased the power to her Yamanaka abilities for she did not try to come in that strong. Hakuren could only imagine if she tries to possessing someone at full force. At least she figured out one thing about the woman Maru was playing against.

Form Hakuren’s understanding the artifacts increases one bloodline, which means that woman was a Hyuuga. Hakuren could warn Maru, but she had a better plan. The Hyuuga’s greatest strength is also their greatest weakness. Hyuuga abilities are all about seeing chakra, so if one were to blind her she would find her bloodline useless. Hakuren had just the jutsu to block her special sight. The man would not be holding Hakuren for long for she would then cast a ‘Name of the Rose’ jutsu which converts her body into chakra. Normally this would make her into a being of highly compressed chakra, but this time Hakuren modifies the jutsdu so that her essences permeates throughout the air especially around the table that was being played at. To normal people she would be invisible, but to the woman she was a dense fog as long as she used her abilities.

 

[Toraono Kuro]

OOM ((OUT OF MODDING)): ouch, you kind of overstepped yourself but the playout will be actually quite nice... HAKUREN WILL NOW LEARN EXACTLY HOW HER item works as well as Maru's and the woman's trinket. NAME OF THE ROSE ACTIVATE!! and punish to a certain extent with a great deal of learning involved. Feel free to PM if you need more exact details and a full write up...

As Maru focused his chakra upon his watch he soon found himself in five places at once. He actually became a temporal entity he didn't alter time but he stepped outside of it. He saw through his past, he saw through his present, he saw through his future if he simply reacted, he saw through his possible future for the good of himself and the other person whom had inadvertently over -powered his artifact and his possible future if he acted against Hakuren's bumbling interactions.

Each of his points in time were tied to a beautiful woman a mistress of time as it were whom held his hand in the past. Maru was seeing through her temporal sense.

In the present she had her arms wrapped around his shoulders as she draped herself over him like a woman in the heat of lust and want would do to someone who reflected her needs and desires as he fed her spiritual chakra.

In his personal reactionary future she was a protective mistress whom straddled his lap grinding against him looking over her shoulder at Lady Shinzen with terrible eyes that resembled a clock's face with the countdown seemingly leading to Lady Shinzen's downfall.

As for the other two future's one was where his Mistress of time accepted Hakuren's chakra and her presence and helped her return to her natural state so as not to overexert herself and end up butt naked with only 10% of her chakra remaining as Maru found himself capable of seeing his newfound temporal mistress and a rose covered chakra entity Hakuren. In this future Maru's Temporal mistress would gently walk Hakuren's chakra form back into herself despite Hakuren's chakra dropping by 50% from interacting directly with Maru's Temporal Mistress and a murky vision of a dark haired man that seemed to protect Lady Shinzen.

His darkest reaction would be to allow Hakuren's well timed but ill-advised assistance to completely empower his Temporal Mistress granting her a temporary projected chakra form for all to see and granting Hakuren access to the artifact's true name even though he could figure that out on his own if he mastered his artifact on his own. Hakuren's actions would allow him to directly interact with the Temporal Mistress but in return Hakuren would temporarily be completely drained of chakra and wind up naked in Danudee's arms, and truly unconscious although spiritually aware of what had occurred with full knowledge of Lady Shinzen's artifact, her own artifact, and a little bit about Maru's artifact as Time is a constant ever changing mistress.

No matter what action Maru choose he would definitely know now that his artifact was a very sultry, constantly demanding yet somewhat appreciative woman. She could be his greatest ally or she could turn her back upon him to force him to learn a lesson.


Hakuren would find her artifact only increased her senses and the sensory input she got from others, she could receive actual physical and emotional input from anyone she was mentally linked to. Her glasses allowed her fully enhanced focus of her mental capacity meaning she could sense with intensity far beyond her norm. Her artifact did not truly magnify her abilities so much as it lessened the feedback she would normally receive from interacting with and through others. It was as if she had found the perfect antennae for her radio and she could now tune in to any station and hear perfectly without static or a time delay. She literally saw and felt things through others as if she were sensing it herself in real time without any delay it all occurred at once but due to her artifact enhancing her mental focus it was not overwhelming. After entering the name of the rose Hakuren would literally see her links to Maru, Akakuzin, her break from Lady Shinzen and her links to the animals she had brought to assist her. She could see the chakra sigils inscribed into her artifact and the crystal lenses themselves. She could also see that her artifact was actually alive but had not taken any form she could recognize as a man or a beast. Her artifact was nameless, only slightly awake, and fully alive. It was like a child eager to learn, able to maximize its intensity to experience but untested and unknowing of the possibility. IT was all she could obtain with certainty, the glasses were alive and did exactly what glasses would do for a person with impaired sight. They enhanced and corrected, in Hakuren's case they truly enhanced and corrected perhaps she might learn to interact with them better later.

Hakuren could also see that the emerald brooch she had taken was alive as well, but she could not understand what it could do as she had yet to fully interact with it.

Hakuren could inadvertently see a beautiful woman protectively hovering around Maru in a ghostlike state but she moved so fast to her astral vision that it made her dizzy until her rush to flood the immediate area around Maru and Lady Shinzen brought her into direct contact with the Temporal Mistress and Lady Shinzen's Black Pearl.

BLACK PEARL BUTLER​

What would happen next depended on Maru's reactions from outside of normal time. As long as he held her hand he was free to act in a way that benefitted him or both him and Hakuren the most.

Hakuren could feel the weight of time pressing down upon her as the Temporal Mistress eyed her with concern etched within her tic toc eye.

TEMPORAL MISTRESS​

 

[Midori Futotta]

When he focused his chakra into his item, he didn't just traveled through time but he stepped out of it. It was like when he extended his chakra into the item that Maru was at 5 places at once becoming a temporal entity of sorts by extending his chakra to his artifact. Maru had to pat himself on the back for this idea since he was heavily relying on his item to win this tournament. Each scenario with each Maru was different from the past, present, future, and the two other scenario's outside of time which went something like this;

In the past, although Maru hadn't noticed his mistress of time, she seemed she had been with him the entire time when he first put the watch on his wrist. When he first messed with the watch by feeding it spiritual chakra he could see the Temporal Mistress asking him to feed her more chakra, and if everything was how it was before she would leave that hicky on his neck which was probably the reason why he felt as if he was embraced by some phantom. The Maru from the past while still holding his mistress hand had decided to simply rig the game. Feeding his Temporal mistress more chakra so he could get a glance at the cards as they were as they were passed around, he rubbed his chin and while he was outside of time he came up with an idea. Maru decided to accelerate his movements so he could simply take the cards from each persons hand then switched them around giving these people, including what Lady Shinzen's had however he left the queen of hearts just in case the woman would be suspicious in him rigging the game to hopefully see to his victory.

In the present, while Maru was trying to intimidate the people around him. He was fully aware of his temporal mistress, and he was already madly in love with her. It doesn’t really take Maru long to become obsessed with his newfounded phantom mistress and of course he didn't care much about spending his chakra in order to keep her satisfied. Hell he would even resort to putting leach seals on some gamblers to drain chakra to feed his beautiful temporal mistress. Her being draped over his shoulder was kinda distracting, he raised a hand to run his fingers lightly over her wrist finding himself a bit speechless.

And of course the future with his temporal mistress straddling his lap and proceeding to grind on him was distracted the puppet master even more. Maru's cheeks turning a lava looking red with what looks to be blood coming down from his perverted nose with a huge smile on his face..

‘Marry me lady please!!!!!' Was a translation from a bunch of gibberish that came from Maru's mouth. Was it legal to marry a phantom? Could he take this watch with him when he won? If he wasn't allowed to take it, he'll have to resort to stealing this artifact.

So far there were only three undistracted Maru's, there were two possible outcomes to Hakuren's interference. One would lead Hakuren back to her body safe without any major consequences whereas, if he chose the other option he would actually overpower his temporal mistress. Sure.. he liked Hakuren. She's been a great help plus she was indeed pretty hot… buuuuuut if he was to empower his artifact MORE there would be no telling what she could do. Plus after he could just transfer some chakra into her if he had to, so Maru nodded his head. “Go ahead and take it all sweet cheeks.” One of the Maru's said, then unfortunately for Haruken.. Maru decided that overpowering his artifact was the best course of action. His act was based fully on his lust for his temporal mistress that he was actually willing to sacrifice Hakuren's energy (and little did he knows her clothes) but it shouldn't be so bad since she would gain knowledge on all of three of their artifacts. Now it was time to wait to see what happens when his artifact becomes overpowered.

[Ooc: Choosing to overpower my artifact! <\\\< My bad Hakuren's but lots of benefits for both of us!]

 

[Ryu Hime]

It seems Hakuren might have overstep her bounds a little as she feels someone draining her chakra in large quantities. It was Maru that was doing it feeding her chakra to the watch. Hakuren could only imagine how powerful the watch would be when so overcharged and thus she allows Maru to do so. Hakuren is an experienced Yamanaka and knows that ‘Name of the Rose’ is an exceptionally special jutsu. It only lasts for three rounds and the user can sacrifice rounds to restore a portion of chakra. In short Hakuren figure way not have their cake and eat it too. Hakuren allows Maru to feed the watch all but 1% of her chakra. Once she was that low she begins sacrificing rounds one by one. Maru would get his temporal mistress he so desired and Hakuren would be able to return to Danudee's arms with more than enough chakra to restore her lost chakra armor quickly.

So the artifacts were alive their own souls, though Hakuren’s seems a little immature compared to the others. The two on the battlefield had actual forms while hers seems shapeless. Holding her glasses in her hands she felt like she was holding a child abandoned and alone. Hakuren uses her telepathic abilities to speak directly to the soul within the glasses. ”My dear child, I invite you to become one with me. Should you accept I will guarantee that you will never be alone and that I will be there for you in both the good times and the bad.”

(The following is if the artifact accepts her offer
Hakuren was low on chakra but there were other ways she could cast jutsu. Thanks to her vampirism she could cast jutsu with the payment of blood. Hakuren takes off her blindfold, snatches a knife a person had to go with their meal and stabs out her own eye. Hakuren felt some pain but not as much as most people would. She was blind because the nerves never connected to her eyes. Her eyes were motionless and felt nothing, but still she bleeds. The blood spills out onto the glasses and Hakuren begins her vows, “With this blood I form this contact. From this day forth you are mine and I am yours.” Hakuren casts a specific jutsu A jutsu that allows the user to concentrate chakra into a small sphere of whatever minerals may be lying around, creating what resembles a glass eye. Using the glasses and the blood it became a red glass eye. Hakuren was very careful not to mess with the sigils. “I welcome you as a part of myself. From now on we shall be of one body.” Hakuren places the glass eye into her now empty socket. Hakuren also alters her chakra armor accordingly.

[ooc: Jutsu used: Crystal eye with blood magic]

 

[Toraono Kuro]

OOC: well good lord and butter!! Now for the ramifications...
Maru's attempt to move while outside of time completely backfired, the watch could never make him faster. It did expand his awareness of time in the same manner as the genjutsu known as Tsukyomi except the jutsu was not torturing anyone it was simply granting him different view points. Maru was indeed free to move about to any point within the temporal phenomena his Mistress invoked but he could not interact with anything but her while he was within it. He could see things with perfect clarity or her could hear things with perfect pitch but temporal manipulation of speed was impossible as speeding up the body in such a manner would kill his cells at an accelerated rate reducing him to dust and causing her to disperse since she was MARU's TEMPORAL ASPECT. While his plan to move the cards around failed vibrantly Maru did find out that Lady Shinzen was a partial descendant of a Cloud Nin with an electromagnetic bloodline. She was an indirectly trained Santaru and she was actually following the electric impulses of her opponents. Needless to say she was flabber ghasted when she could no longer sense Maru's nerve endings firing despite the intensity of his stares. Then with a sudden surge of energy and a clap of air being disbursed a beautiful red head woman with emerald eyes, a ruby dress, and lightly flaming hair appeared upon his lap. Her skin glowed like light and though she was shaped like a beautiful woman it was obvious she was not a mere human woman. She was a temporal optical occurrence neo-being T.O.O.N. for short. As a projected temporal hologram she could only take near human form when empowered with a sizeable amount of energy or chakra. Thanks to Maru and Hakuren's donation she was fully formed in all her glory.

She smelled of flowers and ozone, her hair was warm and fiery like liquid static. Her lips hungrily closed over Maru's devouring his kiss for such a moment that every straight man in the club except Danudee whom carefully cradled Hakuren found themselves straining for a look.

As Hakuren controlled her chakra she took care to give only what she willed herself to give...
Her glasses shimmered in her grip.
Hakuren then made her own choice violently...
The artifact had no choice but to accept her offer but her blood magic had another affect that was most likely unintended. Her sacrifice of her eye caused it to function so long as she wore or held her glasses. Where nerve ends had been dead or none existent was now an incredible surge of 'artificial' life as runes from the glasses entered her bloodstream and bonded with her once injured nonfunctional eye. The artifacts were still basically nameless so while the bonds were newly forming they expressed themselves as best they could following the imprints of personality their wielders fed them along with the energy they needed or received.

Stage 1 BloodBond achieved
Feel free to give your glasses a voice and a personality.

Maximum artifact soul empowerment achieved
Watch evolves (You may now call her by her true name- as can Hakuren if you both decide upon one.)


Lord Shishiden watched eagerly as two people had already seemed to give to their artifacts immediately. One girl even sacrificed her eye only to get it back improved. As these two items increased in power his daughter grew stronger. Her flesh took on a healthy sheen and her hair grew fuller.

Danudee stepped away after the girl woke up and stabbed herself in the eye offering her blood to her glasses of all things then the most wondrous thing happen. The eye she stabbed began to function properly while her glasses took on a different shape.

Was this girl some kind of magician? That would be awesome ~ These were Danudee's which Hakuren discovered she could hear.

Lady Shinzen whispered to her black pearl and the shadows and energy around her grew cold as small sparks of black lightning surged beneath her palm that only Maru and now Hakuren could SEE. The arrival of Maru's visibly distracting and gorgeous illusionary woman pissed Lady Shinzen off and made her shadow butler more protective. It seemed the game had shifted into high gear as the dealer readied herself to draw and turn over the first card.

Danudee was going to ask Hakuren if she was okay when she grew warm and seemed to be a little stronger physically.


Hakuren now heard Danudee's thoughts since he had been holding her during her exchange of chakra, an interesting side affect as she had no true mental link to him she could simply HEAR his thoughts and now see out of one of her eyes if she chose.

Maru's temporal mistress sat upon his lap after she stopped straddling him she turned about still grinding down on him showing her ownership. MARU WAS HER MAN AND NONE COULD HAVE HIM SAVE HER. NOT EVEN TIME COULD HAVE MARU SO LONG AS SHE WANTED HIM AND HE TRULY WANTED HER IN RETURN.