It was a warm day in Konoha, a nice break from the cool weather they've been experiencing as of late. It was probably the first day in months Tatsuo could use his boat. However no adventure would be proper without his best pals. As he made his way to Akira's house he became a bit nervous. He hadn't actually asked him if it was okay to knock on his door. His dad was strict at least that's what Akira seemed to say. Nonetheless, Tatsuo was scared of few things, Akira's dad would not scare him from going on an adventure with his best friend. Once he arrived at this yard he hesitantly made his way up to the door, knocking three times awaiting a response. Tatsuo was not wearing his typical clothes, but a t-shirt over swim trunks and a pair of paddles hoisted over his shoulder, it was obvious he was going to do something with the water today.
Ninpocho Chronicles
Ninpocho Chronicles is a fantasy-ish setting storyline, set in an alternate universe World of Ninjas, where the Naruto and Boruto series take place. This means that none of the canon characters exists, or existed here.
Each ninja starts from the bottom and start their training as an Academy Student. From there they develop abilities akin to that of demigods as they grow in age and experience.
Along the way they gain new friends (or enemies), take on jobs and complete contracts and missions for their respective villages where their training and skill will be tested to their limits.
The sky is the limit as the blank page you see before you can be filled with countless of adventures with your character in the game.
This is Ninpocho Chronicles.
Current Ninpocho Chronicles Time:
Set Sail: Forest of Death! [Private]
- Thread starter Tatsuo
- Start date
The sudden door knocking was immediately picked up by Akira's father and Aomaru, both of them moving to the door almost instantly and opening it. They stared at the strange boy for a moment. The man disappeared from the doorway shortly thereafter while Aomaru stood where he was.
"Tatsuo, am I correct?" The old dog remarked with an inquisitive tone which was awfully cold and unfeeling. The canine paused for a moment, tilted his head back and let out a weak howl which brought Akira and Shiromaru to the door in no time at all. They charged down the stairs to greet their friend; Aomaru left them to it and returned to what he was doing.
"Hey, hey, Tats, how are you? It's so cool to see you again! What are we gonna do today?! What's going on, buddy?!"
Akira was practically bouncing up and down like an overly excited puppy - Shiro was taking a similar attitude, jumping up at the other ninja student with his tail wagging furiously, "Are we going on a walk or something today, buddy?"
"Tatsuo, am I correct?" The old dog remarked with an inquisitive tone which was awfully cold and unfeeling. The canine paused for a moment, tilted his head back and let out a weak howl which brought Akira and Shiromaru to the door in no time at all. They charged down the stairs to greet their friend; Aomaru left them to it and returned to what he was doing.
"Hey, hey, Tats, how are you? It's so cool to see you again! What are we gonna do today?! What's going on, buddy?!"
Akira was practically bouncing up and down like an overly excited puppy - Shiro was taking a similar attitude, jumping up at the other ninja student with his tail wagging furiously, "Are we going on a walk or something today, buddy?"
Tatsuo was wrong, he was definitely intimidated by the combination of Aomaru and Akira's father. However, Tatsuo wouldn't let that show he kept his normal cheerful smile even if he was fidgeting a bit more than usual. "Yes s- sir?" he would stutter out to Aomaru. His fear seemed to fade away quickly once Akira showed up, nodding his head. "Yeah! We're gonna go explore! You, me and Shiro, I bet there's lots to explore around here. Actually I am sure of it!" he would say, motioning him to follow. "You got permission from your dad? If not I can talk to him, I don't think he knows me, but i'm quite a convincing guy I bet he'd trust me if he just talked to me for a minute. If he's letting you go we should head out soon before it's noon, otherwise it'll be too hot to get everything set up!"
Tatsuo would then hand him a paddle to carry. He would also bend over going to pet Shiro behind the ear as he peered back into Akira's house, trying to get a glimpse of whatever might be in there. In his head he imagined a house with over a hundred dogs all battling for dominance and food. He wondered how tough Shiro and Akira must be to always come out of the house unscathed, maybe they were top dogs, behind Akira's dad, of course?
Tatsuo would then hand him a paddle to carry. He would also bend over going to pet Shiro behind the ear as he peered back into Akira's house, trying to get a glimpse of whatever might be in there. In his head he imagined a house with over a hundred dogs all battling for dominance and food. He wondered how tough Shiro and Akira must be to always come out of the house unscathed, maybe they were top dogs, behind Akira's dad, of course?
"Explore? Yes!! I love exploring!"
Akira looked to Aomaru who was in the middle of having a drink of water from a bowl on the floor. The old dog looked up at the young ninja, one would say he was raising his eyebrows at the boy if he had any.
"Can I go out, please, can I?"
The Inuzuka looked to his father sitting at the kitchen table, hoping to get a more sympathetic decision. Luckily for the Inuzuka pair, his dad didn't seem to mind all that much.
"Go, have fun. But if you get into trouble, I'll send Aomaru to drag you back here by your earholes," he warned, giving his son a rather menacing stare. It didn't take long for Akira to decide to bolt out the door after that; it was as if he was trying to get out of the house before his dad quickly changed his mind. He wasn't used to being out of the house today; he'd been cooped up for ages and now he barely realised he was still charging around on all fours. It wasn't until Tatsuo handed him an oar that he corrected himself and stood properly, holding onto the big wooden stick.
"Alright, come on, let's go!" He and Shiro seemed both overly energetic this morning - the little Shiba was barking and wagging like crazy. It was with this hyperactive attitude that Shiro and Akira kept up with the rest of the pack in the house, though they were still puppies as far as the others were concerned so they weren't particularly very high up on the pecking order - they were more like little babies being taken care of by the older pack members.
"Wait... Where are we going again?"
Akira looked to Aomaru who was in the middle of having a drink of water from a bowl on the floor. The old dog looked up at the young ninja, one would say he was raising his eyebrows at the boy if he had any.
"Can I go out, please, can I?"
The Inuzuka looked to his father sitting at the kitchen table, hoping to get a more sympathetic decision. Luckily for the Inuzuka pair, his dad didn't seem to mind all that much.
"Go, have fun. But if you get into trouble, I'll send Aomaru to drag you back here by your earholes," he warned, giving his son a rather menacing stare. It didn't take long for Akira to decide to bolt out the door after that; it was as if he was trying to get out of the house before his dad quickly changed his mind. He wasn't used to being out of the house today; he'd been cooped up for ages and now he barely realised he was still charging around on all fours. It wasn't until Tatsuo handed him an oar that he corrected himself and stood properly, holding onto the big wooden stick.
"Alright, come on, let's go!" He and Shiro seemed both overly energetic this morning - the little Shiba was barking and wagging like crazy. It was with this hyperactive attitude that Shiro and Akira kept up with the rest of the pack in the house, though they were still puppies as far as the others were concerned so they weren't particularly very high up on the pecking order - they were more like little babies being taken care of by the older pack members.
"Wait... Where are we going again?"
Tatsuo waited patiently for the door to close behind Akira before responding. He looked to both sides like he always did before saying something he probably shouldn't, "The forest of death, I told my mom I was going to the Hokage Rock but there's no rivers there." He would nod. "There's lots of rivers for us to sail and explore through in the forest. I'd go alone but that wouldn't be half as fun as with you two!" He would say charging down the path towards the forest!
In this, Tatsuo seemed to be quite eager and fearless almost opposite of his hesistent behavior around Akira's father just moments ago. While Tatsuo generally seemed excited, this was even more so. He could barely contain his excitement for exploration it'd seem he was on cloud nine.
In this, Tatsuo seemed to be quite eager and fearless almost opposite of his hesistent behavior around Akira's father just moments ago. While Tatsuo generally seemed excited, this was even more so. He could barely contain his excitement for exploration it'd seem he was on cloud nine.
Akira knew the forest was a dangerous place, especially if you were going to blindly sail through the rivers - all manner of dangerous animals and beasts lived in there, but being Inuzuka, the student and his ninken knew those forests like the backs of their paws. He looked at Tatsuo as they started walking down to the forest, surprised that he actually owned a boat.
"You're so lucky! I wish I had my own boat... I don't know much about sailing though, to be honest," he said, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. Shiro looked equally confused as his master did, still trailing alongside the pair. It didn't take a massively long time for them to arrive at the entrance of the forest but now seemed the best time to get stuff set up; it was still fairly early in the morning and hadn't gotten blisteringly hot yet like it usually did in Konoha around this type of year.
"So which river where you thinking of?"
"You're so lucky! I wish I had my own boat... I don't know much about sailing though, to be honest," he said, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. Shiro looked equally confused as his master did, still trailing alongside the pair. It didn't take a massively long time for them to arrive at the entrance of the forest but now seemed the best time to get stuff set up; it was still fairly early in the morning and hadn't gotten blisteringly hot yet like it usually did in Konoha around this type of year.
"So which river where you thinking of?"
"I don't know! Any of them are fine with me." he would say trudging along with his oar in hand. "Just any of 'em. My boat is nearby. It's not too big, but there is enough room for you, me and Shiro." As he moved past a clearing, they arrived at a river with a small boat tied to a tree on the bank. "Isn't she a beauty." The ship itself was actually pretty ugly, it was basically a giant log with the middle scrapped out. It did look ready to sail however. "I'm a professional sailor, I'm just as good at sailing as I am being a ninja." he quickly jogged over, hopping into the ship and motioning the two to join with him. "C'mon." If they would enter the boat, he would remove his kunai and cut the rope holding the boat in. Placing his oar into the water he would begin to push themselves off. "Okay, we need to row at the same time, or we'll get stuck. You ever been sailing before, pal?"
As they came to the forest clearing where the lake was, Akira laid his eyes on his friend's boat. For the little Inuzuka, it was amazing! Surprisingly, he'd only ever seen boats in books and had never seen one in real life; spending most of his life in the forest, he seldom ever saw water deep enough to sail in so there weren't many people taking their boats down the rivers in this place on an average day.
"Whoa," he said hopping in, shortly followed by Shiro, "do you have a name for her? That would be so cool if your boat had a name," he chuckled, watching Tatsuo strike the rope and allow them to move off. Akira quickly put his oar into the water and gently paddle along, trying to keep in sync with Tatsuo.
"Eh... Sailed before? This is the first time I've seen a boat in real life...."
"Whoa," he said hopping in, shortly followed by Shiro, "do you have a name for her? That would be so cool if your boat had a name," he chuckled, watching Tatsuo strike the rope and allow them to move off. Akira quickly put his oar into the water and gently paddle along, trying to keep in sync with Tatsuo.
"Eh... Sailed before? This is the first time I've seen a boat in real life...."
"Of course it has a name, Akira. It's a boat, all boat's have names." he sighed, shaking his head. "It is called the The Super Awesome Boat for Exploring and Finding Treasure." Tatsuo would grin at his own name, obviously content with the sound of it. "And you've never seen a boat before? Huh, well okay basically there are a few rules you gotta be careful about. If it starts to get rough, don't abandon the ship. You don't wanna jump out the ship and hit a rock, once that happened to me I had a bump on my head the size of Shiro for weeks. Second if the river starts to go too fast, just pull in your oar and duck down. No need to fight the river, it'll probably end up deciding where we go. And usually it's somewhere cool. Third don't hit me with an oar please." he would say turning his head with a grin as he'd push them off into the river. "Set sail! We're going on a trip pal, and who knows where it'll take us!"
Wow... Sailing a ship sounded complicated. As best he could he tried to keep in tandem with Tatsuo who seemed to know what he was doing better than either Shiro or Akira. The little Shiba was laying down in the boat as they rocked about on the water, looking slightly ill; he tended to get a little bit seasick when he was on water.
"Haha, that's so cool," he chuckled when he heard the name, thinking about what else the boat could be called, but only being able to come up with dog-related puns. The water slowly began to get more rapid and aggressive, so Akira took Tatsuo's advice and eased up on the paddling a bit as they headed more downstream, not wanting to get capsized or anything.
"What if we find something scary? Like a dead body or something? Won't that be so cool!" He looked at his friend with an excited grin, "maybe there'll be some animals wherever we end up. If you teach me how to sail, I'll teach you about hunting!"
"Haha, that's so cool," he chuckled when he heard the name, thinking about what else the boat could be called, but only being able to come up with dog-related puns. The water slowly began to get more rapid and aggressive, so Akira took Tatsuo's advice and eased up on the paddling a bit as they headed more downstream, not wanting to get capsized or anything.
"What if we find something scary? Like a dead body or something? Won't that be so cool!" He looked at his friend with an excited grin, "maybe there'll be some animals wherever we end up. If you teach me how to sail, I'll teach you about hunting!"
Tatsuo continued to lead the ship down the river, they weren't moving very quickly so they had lots of time to look around at all of the weird flora and fauna that the forest had, he spent much longer staring at a mushroom that looked a lot like the Hokage then he should have, because they ended up in a rapid area of the river, which rendered their paddling useless. He would pull his oar into the ship and began to listen to Akira. As almost at a flip of a coin, Tatsuo's whole demeanor changed, his usual giddy self became a lot more solemn. After listening to Akira speak for a moment he nodded. "Yeah, we'll be okay. Hunting sounds fun." his responses were shorter than, well, ever. It was easy to tell he wasn't mad, just a bit sad.
As they ducked down in the boat, Akira could sense a change in the atmosphere between the two... He didn't know what was going on but he could certainly feel Tatsuo's mood change - it hit him like a train.
"Tats?" He asked, looking at the student's face curiously. It felt nice letting the rapids take them wherever. It was like he could relinquish control and end up in some random place, which felt quite liberating really. "Dude, are you okay? You look kind of down..."
"Tats?" He asked, looking at the student's face curiously. It felt nice letting the rapids take them wherever. It was like he could relinquish control and end up in some random place, which felt quite liberating really. "Dude, are you okay? You look kind of down..."
OOC said:
"Yeah, i'm okay." he would say before shrugging again trying to be more chipper. "I'm sorry, it's just I got reminded of somethin' pretty sad. I try not let it affect me too much. Either way, we're sailing down a dangerous river, in a scary forest, we need to keep our eyes peeled." his brows would furrow as he ducked his head low looking to the left, were two boars about the size of the boat they were in dueling, their hard tusks crashing into one another, fighting for dominance. "Whoa look at that." he would say nudging Akira. "We gotta be careful, we're getting deeper into the forest now, the current might start to overtake us. Remember stay in the boat if you can, if you fall out, swim with the river, not against it. It's stronger than you." Just as Tatsuo said that, the small boat began to rock more and more. The current was taking them farther and faster than anticipated, Tatsuo ducked down himself as water began to spray into their faces. "HOLD ON!" he would say as they were sailing straight towards a group of rocks!
For his first time on a boat, this whole thing was pretty scary for the poor Inuzuka and his little dog. The water was getting all the more vicious as he tried to stay comfortably ducked inside the boat, practically praying that it wouldn't capsize as he wasn't the best swimmer. He listened to Tatsuo's advice about not fighting the current, hoping it wouldn't even have to come for that. Both Akira and Shiro were startled by the captain's sudden exclamation, looking up to see them speeding to a cluster of rocks in the middle of the river. They hit with a rather sizeable force which was enough to launch the trio flying from the boot to land on the grassy bank on the edge of the river, the boat getting stuck between the bank of the boulder.
"Guh... What now?"
"Guh... What now?"
Tatsuo rubbed his back after being tossed, he landed pretty awkwardly on it and it felt sore. He definitely would have whiplash from that tomorrow. However his time to lick wounds was cut short as he noticed a sleek black panther enter the clearing from the bush."Looks like we got company, pal." he said looking to the large black panther circling the trio. Tatsuo quickly dusted himself off, keeping his face towards the panther making an effort to prevent showing his back to it. "Watch out, don't let it see your back." he said reaching into his pocket and retrieving his father's kunai. Tatsuo then made his way next to Akira giving him time to get up, to prevent the animal from striking him. "We might be ninja, but I don't think this'll be a fair fight. Look at his ribs." he said analyzing the situation quickly. Almost all of the cats ribs were visible, it's skull was a husk of it's former self. The cat was obviously hungry. "Can't blame him can we huh, i'd probably eat a little kid too if I was that hungry. Wonder what kid's taste like." he would say before the cat would feign a lunge at them, making Tatsuo up his guard and flinching backwards. "I sure hope the cat doesn't find out!"
The sudden warning from Tatsuo made Akira suddenly spring up, practically coming face to face with the dark skinned beast who was looking to get some delicious children intimately acquainted with his digestive tract. The boy was dazed for a moment but quickly regained his composure. However, he felt something rising within him as the panther snarled at him... Something he couldn't control was happening to him; he instantly dropped to all fours and bared his sharp fangs at the cat, snarling and snapping back. His eyes were even more savage and looked equally hungry. His claws dug deep into the ground. Tatsuo would probably be taken aback by this sudden behaviour but it was all done to protect Tatsuo.
As he was on all-fours, Shiro helped matters along by jumping on top of Akira's back and giving the same snapping and snarling back to the cat, growling with all his might in an effort to make both of them look much bigger than the cat. The panther looked increasingly more intimidated at the two, it probably wouldn't take much for Tatsuo to just shoe it away now.
As he was on all-fours, Shiro helped matters along by jumping on top of Akira's back and giving the same snapping and snarling back to the cat, growling with all his might in an effort to make both of them look much bigger than the cat. The panther looked increasingly more intimidated at the two, it probably wouldn't take much for Tatsuo to just shoe it away now.
Tatsuo furrowed his brow, he was stunned for a moment at the fact of Akira's almost savage behavior, was this how Inuzuka's fought? He thought about it for just mere moments before taking his kunai and throwing it at the feet of the cat. The startled cat let out a growl, before retreating back into the woodwork. Tatsuo scratched the back of his head as he turned his attention to Akira. "Wow, you just scared a giant cat." he said as he went to retrieve his kunai. "That's pretty impressive, is that how all Inuzuka's fight? If so imagine a pack of you guys, that'd be the scariest thing ever." Tatsuo seemed very impressed by how fast Akira reacted to the situation. "We'll make a great team since we're both pretty powerful ninja!" he said looking around once more, before letting out a sigh. "Even if we're great ninja.. we're lost ninja." he furrowed his brow looking down the river. "We hit a few too many branches in the river to just follow it back, we'd end up somewhere totally else. Can you smell anything that'd help us?"
Once the giant cat was scared off, Shiro jumped off the Inuzuka's back who now turned his attention to his friend. He snarled for a moment before backing off; for a second he forgot himself there and had gotten a little carried away in the heat of the moment. He stood back up, dusting himself off, wincing as he'd accidentally bitten his lip with his fang while trying to threaten the panther.
"Ow," he grumbled, wiping his lip off and taking a good look around at the dense forest. The foliage from the trees were so thick that it barely let any light through.
"Haha, well, that's what we do. Lots of Inuzuka are really friendly, but battle sometimes turns us into wild animals you know? We're all pretty excitable so it doesn't take much for us to get a little carried away by the adrenaline," he explained, scratching the back of his head, "that's a good point though..."
Shiro already got to work sniffing about the ground, trying to find a trail to lead out of the forest. Akira got busy too, sniffing about the air, pacing up and down, seeing what he could discover, "man, the forest's really dense out here; there's not much scent to follow...." Even Shiro seemed to have trouble finding anything either.
"I'm not normally allowed to come out this far into the woods... I think even if we howled, we'd be too far away for my dad to hear us. You got any ideas of finding our way back?"
"Ow," he grumbled, wiping his lip off and taking a good look around at the dense forest. The foliage from the trees were so thick that it barely let any light through.
"Haha, well, that's what we do. Lots of Inuzuka are really friendly, but battle sometimes turns us into wild animals you know? We're all pretty excitable so it doesn't take much for us to get a little carried away by the adrenaline," he explained, scratching the back of his head, "that's a good point though..."
Shiro already got to work sniffing about the ground, trying to find a trail to lead out of the forest. Akira got busy too, sniffing about the air, pacing up and down, seeing what he could discover, "man, the forest's really dense out here; there's not much scent to follow...." Even Shiro seemed to have trouble finding anything either.
"I'm not normally allowed to come out this far into the woods... I think even if we howled, we'd be too far away for my dad to hear us. You got any ideas of finding our way back?"
"Well.." he furrowed his brow, looking around past the trees. From the top a small cliff was peaking through the tree tops. "There's some high ground, but we gotta go through the forest to get to it, but we got a much better chance of finding where we are if we go that way." he'd say beginning to walk into the forest, pushing through the thick bushes at the ground level. Tatsuo didn't seem worried at all, it'd seem like he expected it. "This stuff happens all the time to me, pal, every time I go an adventure there's a misadventure or two. It's always what makes it fun." After struggling to get through most of the brush he took his kunai and began chopping at the thicker wood vines blocking his way. "C'mon we need to get there soon, we don't wanna be out here past dark or our parents will kill us!" Tatsuo would then continue to lead the way through the thick forest bush towards the rocky cliff face.
Akira had to admit that he was pretty impressed with Tatsuo's initiative; he'd barely noticed the cliffs in the distance there. It didn't look too far away and he was sure it was gonna provide a good vantage point to find a way back home... He was just hoping they wouldn't run into anymore wild animals trying to kill and eat them. The Inuzuka followed alongside the other student, sticking close and keeping an ear and nose out in case anything tried to sneak up on them.
"Hey, so, what about your boat? Aren't you gonna lose it if you leave it in the rock like that? I just mean... I don't want to be the one responsible for losing your prized possession," he said, scratching the back of his head and giving a nervous chuckle.
"Hey, so, what about your boat? Aren't you gonna lose it if you leave it in the rock like that? I just mean... I don't want to be the one responsible for losing your prized possession," he said, scratching the back of his head and giving a nervous chuckle.
Current Ninpocho Chronicles Time: