Cosmos Quest (Naruto/Lupin III)

[Guile]

So just helping Hinata, then?

Click to shrink...

Ninja wire and/or Kunai Bullet Tank for better traction if he hasn't thought of it himself yet. Hm, what if he tethered ninja wire to himself, then let the other end flap free? Ninja wire flying at the speed of his meat ball rolling would hurt like heck.

We don't even know who everyone is fighting, so it's hard to plan properly. You can't plan to fight EVERYONE.

 

[overmind]

I just don't see the need for summons at this stage, they should be fine without them.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Oh, Hymn, don't bully everyone. They're right to be more cautious now.

Do I love audacity? Of course. But it shines most brilliantly when it comes up against difficulty.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

I just don't see the need for summons at this stage, they should be fine without them.

Click to shrink...

You've been reading what kind of monsters are in the exam, right? The summons are pretty much just for, "In case you're up against one of the complete badasses normally out of your league." No offense, but as they are now? Flashbangs/smoke or not, I'd be saying, "Just forfeit, you're fucked and they're brutal, your best bet is against Gaara and that's only because he'll toy with you and you can quit before he's done."

Oh, Hymn, don't bully everyone. They're right to be more cautious now.

Do I love audacity? Of course. But it shines most brilliantly when it comes up against difficulty.

Click to shrink...

Meh. This is still the prep. Were we up against the monsters right now, yeah, be worried. Until then, I'm not quite so.

Although I will admit I would not be so confident with....well, nearly any other GM.

 

[katreus]

[x] Summons for Chouji and Hinata if they agree

 

[overmind]

You've been reading what kind of monsters are in the exam, right? The summons are pretty much just for, "In case you're up against one of the complete badasses normally out of your league." No offense, but as they are now? Flashbangs/smoke or not, I'd be saying, "Just forfeit, you're fucked and they're brutal, your best bet is against Gaara and that's only because he'll toy with you and you can quit before he's done"

Click to shrink...

Have some faith in our friends, I know what we are up against, but at the same time I see that we are constrained by time, so we support them as best we can.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Have some faith in our friends, I know what we are up against, but at the same time I see that we are constrained by time, so we support them as best we can.

Click to shrink...

There's having faith, and then there's being delusional. Dante!Gaara is well in the latter category and only him playing around will give them a remotely good showing. Suigetsu at this point is also probably in the "You must be touched in the head to fight this guy."

Chouji in particular is kind of completely screwed against them without some new trump cards. The best advice we can give him without arming him more effectively is what Neji gave: forfeit.

 

[uju32]

There's having faith, and then there's being delusional. Dante!Gaara is well in the latter category and only him playing around will give them a remotely good showing. Suigetsu at this point is also probably in the "You must be touched in the head to fight this guy."
Chouji in particular is kind of completely screwed against them without some new trump cards. The best advice we can give him without arming him more effectively is what Neji gave: forfeit.

Click to shrink...

Here's the thing though.
Of the four original noble clans(only 2 left) the Akimichi are the most laid back.
There wouldn't be any family issues if he got this far and got defeated.
Nor with the Nara.
And a defeat might push him to train more, like in canon.

The only person with family issues is Hinata, and she can actually make effective use of ninja tools to blind most of her opponents.
So she doesn't need it.

If by some chance Chouji made the finals?
Summoning quest certainly.
Just not really feeling it at 3 days notice.

And as a final note, the fact of their leaving the tower on a potentially dangerous sidequest just before the next test?
Wouldn't play well with the promotions board anyway.
Especially if they come back injured.

 

[Vindictus]

Well, I'm all for "Plan- [X] Spirit Quest" myself.

What could possibly go wrong?

[Gets image of Chouji participating in an eating contest to earn the favor of the Great Black Boar of the South while Hinata acts adorably shy about- Wait, how the fuck did Hinata get sent to the fucking Bear kingdom? 0_o]

 

[FurikoMaru]

[X] It's that girl, she's tinsel on a tree~

"Are you sure you want to do this?" you ask, rolling up the one-use Chouji-summoning scroll for later. "I only mentioned it 'cause I couldn't think of anything else that'd give you a boost quick enough."

"I can't just make Hinata do it alone," he says, crosslegged on the floor, counting his kunai for about the fifth time in the past twenty minutes.

"... but you're both gonna be alone anyway once you get where you're going," you point out, eyebrow raised. "Besides, it's Hinata; she'll be fine. She's always been strong."

Chouji shakes his head. "Ino... Hinata's not like you, you know?"

You frown. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"The way she acts when she's around people, that isn't how she is all the time," he says. "When she's just with us, she's... she talks less. She gets really worried about how what she does or says might make us feel, and on missions she never wants Shikamaru or I to do anything dangerous. She's a really gentle person."

"Well, yeah," you say, deciding to ignore the accidental insults for now. "You think a gentle person can't be strong?"

Chouji huffs. "She says the reason she's always taking risks on missions and leading from the front is because you asked her to look after us. She said she didn't want to let you down. She wouldn't do all that stuff if you hadn't asked, just like I bet she wouldn't have said yes to this summoning thing if you hadn't been the one to suggest it."

You blink.

"But that doesn't matter," Chouji declares, tucking his weapons away again, "because even if Hinata doesn't know it, I know. She's not a loser or a coward like she thinks; to do what I've seen her do takes bravery. A lot of it. Where it came from isn't important." He stares at the floor. "So... it shouldn't hurt to borrow a little of her courage, if she's already borrowing yours, right?"

Where the hell are your friends' parents? Lupin asks flatly. Chouji isn't even old enough to shave yet, he shouldn't have to worry about this kind of thing. And Hinata-chan! Who lets a sweet little girl like that go around thinking she's a loser?

Before you can reply, to either of them, Hinata comes back from the bathroom.

"Is everything arranged?" she asks.

"Yep!" you chirp. "If you're ready, we can get you guys on your way right now."

She smiles, and goes to kneel beside Chouji.

"Remember to set your watches so the alarm goes off five minutes before the 24-hour mark," you warn. "We don't want you losing track of time."

"Got it," Chouji says with a nod.

"Good luck to both of you," you say, and you mean it. "Be yourselves - that's what this whole thing is about, after all, so it'll probably help."

"See you in a day," Hinata says, and gives you one of Shika's and your half-waves. You grin and return it.

Two voices cry "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" and the pair of them are gone.

"... so what do we tell the proctors if they check to make sure no one left the tower?" Menka asks.

"Vision quest! Y'know, like in Ninja Princess Kurogiku when Shinpei was in Crane Country to assassinate the ambassador and Kaede had to keep their house sealed off so no one would know he wasn't home."

Menka brightens up with a twitch of his tail. "That was a great arc! Man, she does so much for him. I wish he'd stop chasing Kurogiku and realize what's right in front of him."

Oh, please! What do cats know about romance? Kaede/Kurogiku is the only pairing that makes any sense!

No dice. Mikage-sensei hates girls'-love; it's never going to happen.

Screw canon! Back in my day we shipped Lt Emma/Kamille and that's how we liked it!

=

If you were paranoid, you would think Hinata timed her walk into the kitchen the next morning to perfectly coincide with you taking a drink of milk.

"Wh- how did-?"

Her grin is brighter than you've ever seen it, and her cheeks are glowing rose. "Mushi-san was kind enough to drop me and Mokona-sama off. Ah!" She holds out the cushion in her arms, which turns out to be alive. "Mokona-sama, this is Ino-chan, my friend I was telling you about!"

"Puu~!" the creature says perkily.

... dear god it's cute!

Almost sickeningly so. Er, let the voice of experience guide you on this, don't laugh at it. It'll probably suck you into that gem on its forehead or something if you do.

"Pleased t'meetcha," you say, shaking one of its paws with your fingertips. You glance up at Hinata. "So I guess it went well?"

"Bunnies," she says simply, still beaming. "Bunnies everywhere. I can't wait to tell Hanabi. Between this and the special exploding tags you made me I think I might have a real chance."

"Rabbits? Hm." Thinking about it, it certainly fits her temperament. "That ought to sort out your speed problem. What kind of stuff can Rabbit summons do, uh, Mokona... -san?"

"Puupupu pyuu bunyu!"

"You'll see in the finals, I expect," Hinata says. "Um, I kind of want it to be a surprise."

You grin. "Heh. Fair enough."

... wait, bunnies? 'Mushi-san'? Ohohohohoho, ask her. Ask her! ;D

... no fucking way.

Ask her!

"And... this Mushi-san who dropped you off?" you ask weakly. "Is there a rabbit with space-time jutsu or something?"

"... I suppose it must have been, now that you mention it," she says, sounding like the thought genuinely hadn't crossed her mind til then. "A friendly person, but he isn't on the contract; he said he prefers not to be tied down. He only brought us this far because it was on his way to another place." She looks a bit anxious. "Although on reflection I think he might have been mistaken. Oh, dear, I hope he isn't lost - none of the place-names he mentioned were familiar. Do you know of a town called Albuquerque, Ino-chan?"

...

.....

... Hinata is officially the scariest person I know.

You have a really funny way of pronouncing 'coolest', you know that?

-----

This can be treated as an omake, if you prefer. I don't quite know what I want to do about Chouji, so that snip is going to have to wait until tomorrow.

And yeah, no more freebies. Songs in the title don't count anymore, and stuff like the totally obvious joke I made above won't count either.

 

[shaderic]

... Bugs Bunny.

As a Summon Boss.

And Mokona as a low level summon.

Rabbit contract is HAX.

EDIT

On re-reading, he isn't part of the contract. Which doesn't stop him from being awesome.

 

[FurikoMaru]

And Mokona as a low level summon.

Click to shrink...

Oh, he's not low-level, he's just bein' Mokona again.

"Puu-puu-puu~puu-pyuu-nyuu~ puruu pyuu pupuu!"

Translation: "When you become a lord of existence, you can take your vacations however you like. I, however, will stick to being carried around bitchin' fight scenes by cute girls."

 

[shaderic]

Considering this is white Mokona, who is either the next best thing to God or a living inter-dimensional portal that attracts magic, I am un-surprised.

This does nothing to refute the Rabbit contract from being Haaaaax.

Yeah, Mokona's probably not technically part of the contract either.

Of course, now that Clamp's involved, the homosexuality rate is about to skyrocket, along with the overly pretty dresses.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Considering this is white Mokona, who is either the next best thing to God or a living inter-dimensional portal that attracts magic, I am un-surprised.

This does nothing to refute the Rabbit contract from being Haaaaax.

Click to shrink...

I'm so glad you like it. I almost gave her the Elephant contract; that's the other one that'd suit her well. I had this whole thing planned where Col. Hathi would give her a blustering dressing down, only to be cut off by his wife Winifred and sent on her way to meet with Babar and Celeste, maybe even Ganesh if I was in a mood to offend some people with my ignorance of Hindu theology. Naturally she'd have some fun with Horton and Dumbo, and maybe Snuffleupagus.

Of course, now that Clamp's involved, the homosexuality rate is about to skyrocket, along with the overly pretty dresses.

Click to shrink...

Man, I wish. I dunno how you guys'd take it, though.

 

[Vindictus]

And here I was hoping that Hinata-chan would be able to show off her hidden Mama-Bear side... T_T

Seriously though, that was good. Rabbits are a pretty good fit for Canon!Young!Hinata, and she hasn't deviated that much so far.

 

[FurikoMaru]

And here I was hoping that Hinata-chan would be able to show off her hidden Mama-Bear side... T_T

Click to shrink...

*patpat* I feel your pain. It was really really close between rabbits and elephants, and elephants would have turned her into a fucking freight train of momkra.

But elephants can't properly run, and you can't ninja without running sometimes.

 

[uju32]

[X] It's that girl, she's tinsel on a tree~

Click to shrink...

That Girl theme - Earl Hagen and Sam Denoff.
Also used in Family Guy season 3 episode "Mr Griffin goes to Washington".

No, it doesn't count.
But it's fun to do anyway.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" you ask, rolling up the one-use Chouji-summoning scroll for later. "I only mentioned it 'cause I couldn't think of anything else that'd give you a boost quick enough."
*snip*
Where the hell are your friends' parents? Lupin asks flatly. Chouji isn't even old enough to shave yet, he shouldn't have to worry about this kind of thing. And Hinata-chan! Who lets a sweet little girl like that go around thinking she's a loser?

Click to shrink...

Lupin raises a very good point here.
Even the better ninja parents here are remarkably handsoff by Earth standards, modern or otherwise.
Unless it's a Japanese cultural thing.

"See you in a day," Hinata says, and gives you one of Shika's and your half-waves. You grin and return it.

Click to shrink...

D'aww.
My pancreas....

Menka brightens up with a twitch of his tail. "That was a great arc! Man, she does so much for him. I wish he'd stop chasing Kurogiku and realize what's right in front of him."
Oh, please! What do cats know about romance? Kaede/Kurogiku is the only pairing that makes any sense!
No dice. Mikage-sensei hates girls'-love; it's never going to happen.
Screw canon! Back in my day we shipped Lt Emma/Kamille and that's how we liked it!

Click to shrink...

I have no idea who Mikage is an expy for, but I believe those are Emma Sheen and Kamille Bidan of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam.

Her grin is brighter than you've ever seen it, and her cheeks are glowing rose. "Mushi-san was kind enough to drop me and Mokona-sama off. Ah!" She holds out the cushion in her arms, which turns out to be alive. "Mokona-sama, this is Ino-chan, my friend I was telling you about!"
*snip pic of Eldritch Abomination*

Click to shrink...

Oh God.
Hinata, what did you DO?

Almost sickeningly so. Er, let the voice of experience guide you on this, don't laugh at it. It'll probably suck you into that gem on its forehead or something if you do.
"Pleased t'meetcha," you say, shaking one of its paws with your fingertips. You glance up at Hinata. "So I guess it went well?"
"Bunnies," she says simply, still beaming. "Bunnies everywhere. I can't wait to tell Hanabi. Between this and the special exploding tags you made me I think I might have a real chance."

Click to shrink...

Very smart man, Lupin.

And I think Ino's stock with Hanabi is about to get even higher than before.
Come to think of it, Ino has been systematically subverting the obvious key players of the next generation.
First Hokage-kun, then Hanabi.
Hmm...

Oh, yes.
Very nice foreshadowing, with the gift of the stuffed rabbit 'Sagi-san way back when.
Nice turn there.

"And... this Mushi-san who dropped you off?" you ask weakly. "Is there a rabbit with space-time jutsu or something?"
"... I suppose it must have been, now that you mention it," she says, sounding like the thought genuinely hadn't crossed her mind til then. "A friendly person, but he isn't on the contract; he said he prefers not to be tied down. He only brought us this far because it was on his way to another place." She looks a bit anxious. "Although on reflection I think he might have been mistaken. Oh, dear, I hope he isn't lost - none of the place-names he mentioned were familiar. Do you know of a town called Albuquerque, Ino-chan?"
...
.....
... Hinata is officially the scariest person I know.
You have a really funny way of pronouncing 'coolest', you know that?

Click to shrink...

Mushi?
*goes to Google*
I got nothing.
Nothing that seems relevant anyway.
Help?

This can be treated as an omake, if you prefer. I don't quite know what I want to do about Chouji, so that snip is going to have to wait until tomorrow.

Click to shrink...

Works fine as a regular update.

Chouji?
Given that he has a major weakness with genjutsu, and needs to get his targets to stand still, the answer seems obvious.
He is named Butterfly after all...
And give his presence on the team of a genjutsu mistress, you'd expect something to come of it.

And yeah, no more freebies. Songs in the title don't count anymore, and stuff like the totally obvious joke I made above won't count either.

Click to shrink...

They're still fun to track down, so I hope you don't mind if I keep doing them.

 

[shaderic]

Allow me to sum up for you.

Mushi means Bug.

Think of a famous rabbit named Bug. A 'Bug Bunny', if you will.

 

[uju32]

Allow me to sum up for you.
Mushi means Bug.
Think of a famous rabbit named Bug. A 'Bug Bunny', if you will.

Click to shrink...

Ah.
Thanks.
All the definitions I was finding for mushi were things like Hello and such.

 

[Selias]

Mokona isn't a summon. Mokona is Mokona.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Lupin raises a very good point here.
Even the better ninja parents here are remarkably handsoff by Earth standards, modern or otherwise.
Unless it's a Japanese cultural thing.

Click to shrink...

Partly cultural (that episode of Pokemon where they meet someone's 'cousin' and hitch a ride? In the original they were flat-out hitchhiking because apparently it's safe to do that in Japan), partly narrative necessity, and partly - because this is seinen-ish - because shinobi just don't make good parents.

I have no idea who Mikage is an expy for, but I believe those are Emma Sheen and Kamille Bidan of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam.

Click to shrink...

Yep. Mikage I gave that pen name just because she writes ninja shoujo comics; it seemed appropriate.

Almost made it Oscar/Antoinette, but then I remembered that Versailles no Bara happens in the same universe as the Lupin III anime. Fun fact, that's how I found out Lupin's canonically bi in the show (dunno about the manga, it's pretty hetero aside from the Goemon-rescue chapter); he stares at Oscar for like twenty seconds, uninterrupted, without either working out she's a chick or noticeably being distressed that he's attracted to a dude.

Very smart man, Lupin.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I mean, I figure he eventually has to learn the lesson; it happens to him often enough. ^_^;

Come to think of it, Ino has been systematically subverting the obvious key players of the next generation.
First Hokage-kun, then Hanabi.
Hmm...

Click to shrink...

I have this vision of fifteen years in the future, where Konohamaru's the actual Hokage, and all of Spymaster Ino's letters to him are still addressed to 'Hokage-kun'.

Oh, yes.
Very nice foreshadowing, with the gift of the stuffed rabbit 'Sagi-san way back when.
Nice turn there.

Click to shrink...

I like to bring things back when I can. :3

They're still fun to track down, so I hope you don't mind if I keep doing them.

Click to shrink...

Go right ahead.

 

[Jack Trade]

Hinata with space-time warping bunny summons........I'm sorry but are you try to kill me with laughter because that is the funniest and most awesome thing you've written so far and I've just noticed the bugs bunny reference.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Hinata with space-time warping bunny summons........I'm sorry but are you try to kill me with laughter because that is the funniest and most awesome thing you've written so far and I've just noticed the bugs bunny reference.

Click to shrink...

Ya know what the best part is? Hinata doesn't even give a shit about the hax or the combat applications. She's just happy she can be surrounded by bunny rabbits whenever she wants.

And personally I can't blame her. Look at Mokona. I'm serious, look at that shit. Jewelpets and Precure mascots wish they were that squee-worthy.

 

[Jack Trade]

Ya know what the best part is? Hinata doesn't even give a shit about the hax or the combat applications. She's just happy she can be surrounded by bunny rabbits whenever she wants.

And personally I can't blame her. Look at Mokona. I'm serious, look at that shit. Jewelpets and Precure mascots wish they were that squee-worthy.

Click to shrink...

Out of interest what show is Mokona from. I need something to watch on the train.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Out of interest what show is Mokona from. I need something to watch on the train.

Click to shrink...

Magic Knight Rayearth/Mahou Kishi Rayearth, originally. After that two artificial magical beings designed to resemble him show up in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, which you should not watch because CLAMP have disowned the anime for shoddy animation and OOC behaviour in the filler arcs.

 

[iamnuff]

...

That thing doesn't even vaguely look like a rabbit.

It looks as close to a rabbit as QB does to a cat.

 

[FurikoMaru]

...

That thing doesn't even vaguely look like a rabbit.

Click to shrink...

The hell else would you classify Mokona as? Besides 'a Mokona'. Be thankful I didn't give her Ryo-ohki.

 

[uju32]

Partly cultural (that episode of Pokemon where they meet someone's 'cousin' and hitch a ride? In the original they were flat-out hitchhiking because apparently it's safe to do that in Japan), partly narrative necessity, and partly - because this is seinen-ish - because shinobi just don't make good parents.

Click to shrink...

Really?
Huh.

Almost made it Oscar/Antoinette, but then I remembered that Versailles no Bara happens in the same universe as the Lupin III anime. Fun fact, that's how I found out Lupin's canonically bi in the show (dunno about the manga, it's pretty hetero aside from the Goemon-rescue chapter); he stares at Oscar for like twenty seconds, uninterrupted, without either working out she's a chick or noticeably being distressed that he's attracted to a dude.

Click to shrink...

Or maybe his woman-dar is just that good.
He is the uncrowned Master of Disguise after all;if anyone could see through it....

Yeah, I mean, I figure he eventually has to learn the lesson; it happens to him often enough. ^_^;
I have this vision of fifteen years in the future, where Konohamaru's the actual Hokage, and all of Spymaster Ino's letters to him are still addressed to 'Hokage-kun'.

Click to shrink...

* enter Hokage Tower*
Rokudaime Naruto: 'Maru, is your sugar-mommy sending you my Intelligence reports again?
And what are you doing in my seat?
With MY hat?

Konohamaru: :3

I like to bring things back when I can. :3
Go right ahead.

Click to shrink...

Will do.

Ya know what the best part is? Hinata doesn't even give a shit about the hax or the combat applications. She's just happy she can be surrounded by bunny rabbits whenever she wants.
And personally I can't blame her. Look at Mokona. I'm serious, look at that shit. Jewelpets and Precure mascots wish they were that squee-worthy.

Click to shrink...

Hiashi: Where are you going?
Hinata: Training trip oto-san
*cue Hinata and a field full of bunnies*

...
That thing doesn't even vaguely look like a rabbit.
It looks as close to a rabbit as QB does to a cat.

Click to shrink...

Dude, when the Eldritch Abomination chooses to answer to rabbit, you call it one.
And thank whatever deity you worship that it chose such an innocuous characterization.
There are much worse forms it could have taken.

I do wonder what Sarutobi's reaction to it will be; he and Hiashi are the two most likely to get some idea of just what exactly Hinata is cuddling.

 

[Selias]

Magic Knight Rayearth/Mahou Kishi Rayearth, originally. After that two artificial magical beings designed to resemble him show up in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, which you should not watch because CLAMP have disowned the anime for shoddy animation and OOC behaviour in the filler arcs.

Click to shrink...

xxxHolic, too. Also, was the anime really that bad? I remember watching it a while back, and it seemed pretty good. Might be misremembering, though, since it's been 6 or 7 years.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Really?
Huh.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, Japan is 'behind' North America in a lot of odd ways, and one of them is that they don't helicopter-parent much.

Or maybe his woman-dar is just that good.
He is the uncrowned Master of Disguise after all;if anyone could see through it....

Click to shrink...

Nope, I thought that too at first. Then later in the episode he Zantetsukens her clothes off and is all like O.O "What?! Boobs? ... you're like a human Kinder egg!"

Hiashi: Where are you going?
Hinata: Training trip oto-san
*cue Hinata and a field full of bunnies*

Click to shrink...

Someone needs to draw this. Pleeeeaase?