Cosmos Quest (Naruto/Lupin III)

nightblade · Nov 23, 2013

[X] Yeah, you aren't thrilled about the possibility of ANBU even suspecting you believe yourself to be a reincarnated thief. Whatever Asuma says, you've pretty sure that'd cost you the promotion to chuunin. And even if they don't get the full picture, who's to say they won't just think you're a sleeper?
-->[X] Play dumb. You were both thieves in a past life, you've almost certainly got some sort of code for 'It's not safe to talk here, meet me somewhere else later' that won't end up embarrassing you horribly.
-->[X] Slip another note into his pocket, maybe?

Unclouded · Nov 23, 2013

[X] Yeah, you aren't thrilled about the possibility of ANBU even suspecting you believe yourself to be a reincarnated thief. Whatever Asuma says, you've pretty sure that'd cost you the promotion to chuunin. And even if they don't get the full picture, who's to say they won't just think you're a sleeper?
-->[X] Play dumb. You were both thieves in a past life, you've almost certainly got some sort of code for 'It's not safe to talk here, meet me somewhere else later' that won't end up embarrassing you horribly.
-->[X] Slip another note into his pocket, maybe?

Guile · Nov 23, 2013

[X] Don't worry Jigen, I just need to use this mysterious technique on you, and then nobody will suspect anything weird is going on.

Hymn of Ragnarok · Nov 23, 2013

uju32 said:
No, you need to be better.
Especially when dealing with enemies, or people already on their guard.

You seriously overhype social.

And all things in friendly territory, with plentiful backup if things went south.
Very different from planning to engage active hostiles with diplomancy and no physical backup.
I have said it before, I will repeat: we have been operating with training wheels.
And the training wheels will come off.

Furiko flat out said she's pretty much doing this Quest on Easy mode. And it doesn't change the fact that everything in this Quest so far has been overwhelmingly social. If Furiko wanted to do lots of combat, it could have happened. Instead, it as a long exercise in world building.

If

If what?

We just graduated from the academy dude.
Operation Nabiki was our very first C-rank.

Which does not invalidate that instead of something like the Wave mission where combat features prominently, Furiko instead threw us into pure social, and therefore the updates are overwhelmingly social. Still are in fact.

You can say all you want about how we're only just starting out, fact of the matter is social is the overwhelming front runner and combat far back, and any hopes it's gonna change so far look to be just that: hopes.

And I do not dispute that it will play an important part.
But warfare will have its place here, as judged by the fact that the GM gave us warfare applicable feats.

Maybe, maybe not. Seriously, I know it's Naruto, but over nearly a year Furiko has written huge amounts of social, not very much combat. I think her preferences are pretty clear.

I say it will take much longer than being a 13 year old.

I seem to recall Lupin doing the master thief thing as a teenager from what Furiko has said, so I'm pretty sure you're underestimating.

I assert again, that if you intend to play diplomancy as a primary tool to deal with enemies, you need to be either packing the Charisma of Naruto, the mind rape eyes of Itachi.

Or just be a clever bastard. So many characters in fiction can get by on

Failing that, a big enough gun to give you cover when diplomacy fails.
The neutral to friendly people we have met so far are not a reasonable benchmark for what/who we will need to deal with.

Considering the subject matter Furiko seems to prefer to write (seriously look at how many plot arcs there are focusing on interacting with the little people, we went on damned vacations and celebrated birthdays as a kid for entire arcs) I do think they're gonna be the overwhelming majority.

So far, we have basically not had to face opposition; all the people we have socialized with have been neutral at worst.
That is not something to rely on.
Even if the GM has been playing this on Easy mode.

I rely more on the fact that the GM wants to see Lupin win, truthfully.

I remember Ino not having a choice because combat had already failed.
And she had alternatives.
I do not intend to be in a situation where diplomacy fails, and not have heavy duty combat skills to fall back on.

Yeah, like it'd have made a difference against Kakuzu. Point is, talking our way our of shit even against ludicrously stronger opponents is viable, and you don't need mind rape or Naruto charisma to do it.

We are 12, soon to be 13.
We just graduated the academy a few months ago.
We have done ONE C-RANK.

And oh that choice of C-Rank, Furiko chose the one with investigation, social interaction, and talking to people over something like the Wave arc with training montages and boss battles.

The writing is on the wall.

That one C-rank escort/guard job devolved into an A-class escort, diplomacy, infiltration and counterassassination mission,.
This ended up in a final battle that involved hundreds of people, a large number of ki-adepts, most of the underworld of Tanzaku Gai, and a freaking goddess.
The body count was in the wheelbarrows of men and body parts.

And guess what? It was just a one post affair in the battle and its aftermath.

We the players didn't even actively participate. It was practically a cutscene and we didn't even need to make decisions for the outcome to be decided.

That's the precedent set for our missions going south.
We've been given notice.

And I've noticed that for that mission going south we had to put in pretty much no effort to survive.

Seriously, reread that scene and look at how brief it was. Then look at all the many social interactions and see how long those are.

Do the math.

Your opinion.
I disagree.

No, not my opinion, truth. Social interaction has dominated all other things in this Quest.

Strongly disagree.
The fight DID occur, we were just using a goddess' POV while Team 5 got stuck in.
Ami was cutting her way through opposition as was Asuma.
Kiba almost died/got crippled.
Ino was forced to kill two people, despite her best efforts.

Everyone in that battle racked up more kills than Kakashi did in his first three fights in canon.
So no, you just weren't paying attention.

Seeing as we the players had to do NOTHING for that battle....yeah, I'm not taking that as a sign that we need our A-game cause no effort was required of us. That wasn't difficulty, that was "Right, missions' mostly over, here's the final battle, and now that's over too, now let's see who you want to interact with before ya go."

No.
I wasn't a player then.
But that isn't that game.
This is a ninja quest.
You will notice that Ino was the only member of her crew born in Konoha.

You will notice that Ino's shtick has been thievery and stealth shenanigans from childhood forward, to the point where her devotion to it caused a rift between her and Chouji.

More to the point, that was an example of how willing Furiko is to radically change the name of the game. Why do you think she won't do that here, cause we've got a headband? Nah. She'll do what she wants and will continue to trample canon as she sees fit.

I will point you to our first encounter with Asuma, and how he punked us when we tried to steal his cigarettes.

And I will emind you that Furiko said that the only reason we failed is cause we went for the cigarettes specifically, if we'd gone for his wallet we'd have gotten away clean. We coulda punked him.

Or how Itachi stomped us through our S-class thought shields.

I recall that being the fine print of the nature of our concealment.

They may not be PCs, but Age and Treachery counts for a hell of a lot.
And I do not see the GM putting us up against people who we can punk at leisure.

No, but we tend to reign supreme at our specialties.

I do not believe that is accurate.
Both the Yuki and Hougetsu were suspected to be extinct, for good reason.

Not following; this certainly doesn't seem to be the case here.

Zabuza's loyalties have not had more than a tangential effect on major plotlines so far.

But if you'd assumed about him, you'd be wrong, and sooner or later you're gonna assume on something big and it will bite you.

In the future?
Maybe.
Now? I'm yet to see it.
Rain sent teams to the chuunin exam, like in canon, but aren't allied, like in canon.
I'll give you Kankuro,

Occam's Razor suggests canon is in effect until disproven;

That is not a valid use of Occum's Razor at all. Occum's razor prefers simpler explanations with minimal assumption, and assuming ALL of canon is valid until disproven is a lot of assumptions, and a lot of bad ones when Furiko keeps turning it on its head.

Furiko certainly isn't rebuilding the entire setting from scratch.
The broadstrokes remain the same, as do a lot of the details, simply tweaked or expanded on.
It's recognizably the Narutoverse, of the Naruto time period.

Not from scratch, but she deliberately adds on the setting or subverts it as a matter of course in order to deliberately play against our expectations.

See, for instance, Kankuro and his lack of face paint. Assuming that was there, turned out not to be wise. A minor point, but proof of how Furiko uses our preconceptions against us.

I fully expect to see more changes as we go on, but you are asserting way more changes to canon than is in evidence.

And you're assuming characters who have never appeared on-screen still having their fingers in the pie.

Find me a citation that says he doesn't.

No. Burden of proof is on showing something is true. If you will claim Tobi is out there plotting, first prove he exists. Otherwise it's practically a baseless accusation.

It'd work better in a setting where Furiko is not converting and upgrading from the base material and going out to surprise us with curveballs.

Kakashi still ended up with a Sharingan and his canon character, Minato still died with his wife, Naruto still ended up as jinchuuriki.

Occam's Razor applies unless the GM indicates otherwise.
As is her prerogative.

No, Occum's Razor says the hypotheses with the least assumptions is likely to be best amongst other hypotheses, stop bastardizing that principle.

It doesn't mean we get complacent, or even expect the plot to follow stations of canon.
But it does mean that major forces and factors do not change without notice.

Ame changed. We only got notice because we asked. Otherwise, we'd be oblivious.

Assuming canon IS complacency.

FurikoMaru · Nov 23, 2013

Man, you guys are gonna be so pissed at me when you find out what changed. Both of you, if I can manage it.

Hymn of Ragnarok · Nov 23, 2013

FurikoMaru said:
Man, you guys are gonna be so pissed at me when you find out what changed. Both of you, if I can manage it.

Tastes like vindication.

Well, we'll see how the chips fall.

The Nobody · Nov 23, 2013

[X] Slip a note into his pocket.

Disminded · Nov 23, 2013

[X] Who can say no to the puppy?

I can see no way this could go wrong.

iamnuff · Nov 23, 2013

[X] Slip a note into his pocket.

the jonin is totally going to notice that. hopefully they won't know what it's about though.

ok, cover story time.

If anyone asks why we wanted to talk to him alone, it's because we want to try and weasel info on his Ghetto puppet thing out of him.

that seems like something we should really be more interested in anyway, right?

Guile · Nov 23, 2013

iamnuff said:
[X] Slip a note into his pocket.

the jonin is totally going to notice that. hopefully they won't know what it's about though.

ok, cover story time.

If anyone asks why we wanted to talk to him alone, it's because we want to try and weasel info on his Ghetto puppet thing out of him.

that seems like something we should really be more interested in anyway, right?

Maybe we just wanted to put our hand in his pocket, is that so weird?

We thought he might have candy in there.

Hymn of Ragnarok · Nov 23, 2013

Hmmm.....

Damn, could we plausibly say we're 'pen pals' and Jigen is the only name we knew him by? So a bit like online dating/chatting with screen names. It'd probably pass muster for the people listening right now, and maybe if we describe our former life in the right terms, like it was some kind of fictional story, that would also be plausible enough. A cover for everyone to talk about their past lives and whatnot without being overly suspicious.

The main problem is, if people started digging they wouldn't find any proof this existed, or that the story we talk about existed.

delwgun · Nov 23, 2013

We are a master pickpocket who can even fool jonin with our sleight of hand, i am prety sure they wont notice if were gona put the note into him at the same time as we actually pickpocket him.

nightblade · Nov 23, 2013

iamnuff said:
[X] Slip a note into his pocket.

the jonin is totally going to notice that. hopefully they won't know what it's about though.

ok, cover story time.

If anyone asks why we wanted to talk to him alone, it's because we want to try and weasel info on his Ghetto puppet thing out of him.

that seems like something we should really be more interested in anyway, right?

I highly doubt their going to notice that. Were good enough that they won't.

iamnuff · Nov 23, 2013

Guile said:
Maybe we just wanted to put our hand in his pocket, is that so weird?

We thought he might have candy in there.

uh. i wasn't talking about hiding the note.

I was talking about the reason we want to meet him somewhere secluded.

he's got jonin watchers, they are going to notice us giving him a note, and then going somewhere private with him.

if we are skilled, and lucky, they might not be able to actually hear what our private conversation is actually about, but they WILL know we had one.

edit: ok, suppose they don't catch the note, they still see us going somewhere private with him.

or do you really expect that a foreign shinobi is just going to be allowed to vanish somewhere that his guards can't see him?

FurikoMaru · Nov 23, 2013

Well, nuff, would you care to make a plan to get around the ANBU? If it bothers you that much.

iamnuff · Nov 23, 2013

FurikoMaru said:
Well, nuff, would you care to make a plan to get around the ANBU? If it bothers you that much.

...I already did?

or at least, an excuse for wanting to talk to him in private.

The way i see it, us ditching his guard to run off and have a little chitchat is either going to be impossible (in which case, there's nothing we can do, so there's no point planning for this) or really obvious to the guard that we did it deliberately.

"sneaking away without anyone noticing that we are together" would have been easy against a chunin, perhaps possible against a jonin, but Anbu?

probably better to assume they will know we did it on purpose, and then give them a very good reason WHY we did it. (I.E, it's probably easier to pump him for info on his Ghetto version of our Clan Jutsu, if we don't have a member of anbu reporting everything he says and breathing down his neck)

seems a hell of a lot more beliveable than "We decided to go make out in the corner" or something.

Guile · Nov 23, 2013

And of course, all this subterfuge and notes and secret rendezvous would be unnecessary if we were willing to expose the existence of the Throne to Jigen.

Not that Ino/Lupin don't LIKE needless subterfuge, or anything. But still. Just sayin'.

On the other hand, siccing Inoichi on Jigen for being the mysterious older man that swept us off our feet and took us to a secluded area where no one could see or hear us would be hilarious. For me. Not so much for Ino and Kankuro.

FurikoMaru · Nov 23, 2013

iamnuff said:
seems a hell of a lot more beliveable than "We decided to go make out in the corner" or something.

... have you met Ino?

uju32 · Nov 23, 2013

FurikoMaru said:
Man, you guys are gonna be so pissed at me when you find out what changed. Both of you, if I can manage it.

Looking forward to it.

Hymn of Ragnarok said:
Tastes like vindication.
Well, we'll see how the chips fall.

Don't go breaking out the champagne yet.

FurikoMaru said:
[X] This family just keep growing

If this is a quote, I don't recognize it.

FurikoMaru said:
Buuuuuut then you remember that odds are someone saw Kankuro leave the bar after you did, and Neji can see through walls. And oh, yep, there's a jounin on the roof of the next building over, probably keeping an eye on Kankuro and the chick he's supposed to fight in a month. Shit. The touchy-feely crap'll have to wait until you two are actually alone wow that sounds dirtier than you wanted it to.

Called it.
If there's a jinchuuriki walking around, you'll have someone on him, friendly or not.
I wonder if either ANBU guy is Tenzo.

Now, while I'd be willing to pass up a promotion for the prospect of reconnecting with an old friend, it's quite another to get random ANBU into our private business.
Is there any reason not to take refuge in audacity and invite him home to the Yamanaka clanstead?
Tell Dad he has head guys that you recognized because SENSOR!, and he did use something very similar to Shintenshin during the exam.
Make sure Gaara and Temari are elsewhere, drawing most of the security detail in that direction because jinchuuriki.

It might be a good idea to introduce Dad to Lupin first.

FurikoMaru · Nov 23, 2013

uju32 said:
If this is a quote, I don't recognize it.

Wouldn't expect you to. It's from a Christmas movie called Emmett Otter's Jug-Band Christmas. A Jim Henson flick, actually - a Muppet rural version of The Gift Of The Magi, with a happy ending.

And a '70s rock band with a weasel for the lead singer and a woodchuck for the keyboardist with mystique.

[embed=425,349]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSW5cK87JQ8[/embed]

uju32 said:
Called it.
If there's a jinchuuriki walking around, you'll have someone on him, friendly or not.
I wonder if either ANBU guy is Tenzo.

You could always ask him.

Hymn of Ragnarok · Nov 23, 2013

uju32 said:
Don't go breaking out the champagne yet.

I'm sure there's stuff I'm not gonna like, but Furiko's pretty much taunting with us about changes she has in store, and aiming to hit us both if she can. A surprise being a lack of change is definitely there, but aiming to hit us both when we're taking contradictory positions?

Can't do that without at least one curveball.

No, I think it's safe to say she has done something to really shake things up.

uju32 · Nov 24, 2013

FurikoMaru said:
Wouldn't expect you to. It's from a Christmas movie called Emmett Otter's Jug-Band Christmas. A Jim Henson flick, actually - a Muppet rural version of The Gift Of The Magi, with a happy ending.
And a '70s rock band with a weasel for the lead singer and a woodchuck for the keyboardist with mystique.
[embed=425,349]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSW5cK87JQ8[/embed]

Huh.
Never seen that one.

FurikoMaru said:
You could always ask him.

Believe me, I'm tempted.
But we have no way of knowing that if he's Tenzo or......
.......
Wait.
Lupin did say, and I quote,

For fuck's sake, do not tell me the Kyuubi is walking around wearing a kid like a dinner jacket!

Walking up to the jounin on the roof and coldcocking him with a related statement while watching his chakra would actually be a workable way of fishing for additional information.
Depending on if the effect of the Mokuton on bijuu was common knowledge, asking if he's a Mokuton user out of the blue might be yield truly amusing results.

EDIT
Besides, if we exhibit that we know/suspect enough sensitive information, and can find more, they'll pretty much HAVE to bring us into the know.
And that means promoting us.
Right?

QUESTION
Is the existence of bijuu other than the Kyuubi common ninja knowledge?

Guile · Nov 24, 2013

Considering they've periodically broken free and rampaged multiple times during the last 50 years? And before that, they rampaged full-time?

Seems likely.

FurikoMaru · Nov 24, 2013

uju32 said:
QUESTION
Is the existence of bijuu other than the Kyuubi common ninja knowledge?

Yep. Everyone over the age of about 20 knows there are eight other jinchuuriki in other villages. A few of the younger ninja know about it too, but good luck getting them to admit it. The kids are in the dark to keep them from asking awkward questions about Naruto.

Hymn of Ragnarok · Nov 24, 2013

Hmm. I'd still like to just Throne the guys and have our conversation that way, although I suppose the hand seals could make the jounin or Neji think things have gotten heated.

Still. Aside from that, it solves all of our problems on privacy and letting everyone participate in the conversation.

And the whole 'keep the trump' thing can go get bent, consider the character they'd rate their lost friend way higher than the exam. Keeping the chance for greater interaction with a lost friend and reincarnation of said friend hidden for a full month just so that there first time Lupin and Jigen really 'see' each other it's to kick the crap out of the other?

Pretty sure they'd care more about sitting at an imaginary bar, knocking back shots, and drunkenly trying to corrupt/stop Lupin from corrupting the minors present, all while Ino and Kankuro laugh or be ashamed at their-selves.

uju32 · Nov 24, 2013

FurikoMaru said:
Yep. Everyone over the age of about 20 knows there are eight other jinchuuriki in other villages. A few of the younger ninja know about it too, but good luck getting them to admit it. The kids are in the dark to keep them from asking awkward questions about Naruto.

Okay.
I think it's safe to say that any halfway competent foreign intelligence org knows what Naruto is.
They probably even suspect who his mother was.
What is missing from their files is the identity of his father, which I suspect they wouldn't have ajudged important anyway.
At least until they figured out who he was

It also means that the moment we actually talk to him, we are likely to fill in holes in our knowledge.
I wonder how public Gaara's jinch status is in Suna in this AU.

Hymn of Ragnarok said:
Hmm. I'd still like to just Throne the guys and have our conversation that way, although I suppose the hand seals could make the jounin or Neji think things have gotten heated.

I can pretty much assure you that Neji will come through the wall if we start making hand seals.
Best to just invite him home publicly the next day; it plays to our allies as making friends and maybe fishing for information.

I suspect though that the Yamanaka are the only ones who have managed to directly weaponize their Throne, due to their doujutsu(yes, Furiko ruled it was a doujutsu).
Hence the need for eye contact.

Hymn of Ragnarok · Nov 24, 2013

I remember the Yamanaka clan's pupilless eyes being part of their family or something, although I think you mean bloodline instead of doujutsu. The word doujutsu has not bee thrown around with regards to us, in fact I think I recall an exchange along the lines of, "I may not have a doujutsu but I have a rare mimijutsu!"

uju32 · Nov 24, 2013

Hymn of Ragnarok said:
I remember the Yamanaka clan's pupilless eyes being part of their family or something, although I think you mean bloodline instead of doujutsu. The word doujutsu has not bee thrown around with regards to us, in fact I think I recall an exchange along the lines of, "I may not have a doujutsu but I have a rare mimijutsu!"

Implied way back when we were in the Academy.

[X] A Chat With Pops
*snip*
Dad gets home much more quickly than you would have expected.
"Well, I had a little fun with him," he says when you ask for details, "but in the end, when the dojutsu-interference argument failed to sway him, I had to reveal your dual-affinity to properly reinforce that it'd be bad for the clan's future to marry you to an Uchiha. We still don't know if Ranton is hereditary yet, after all, or what a Sharingan would do to the mix."

And given that Inoichi has mentioned at least once that the Yamanaka keep their secrets better than the Uchiha, well...

Of course, I could be reading it wrong.
I don't think so, but it's possible.

FurikoMaru · Nov 24, 2013

uju32 said:
Implied way back when we were in the Academy.And given that Inoichi has mentioned at least once that the Yamanaka keep their secrets better than the Uchiha, well...

Of course, I could be reading it wrong.
I don't think so, but it's possible.

It isn't a dojutsu. The Yamanaka perpetuate a rumour that it is. Really it's just a genetic quirk like Kurenai's red irises.

The Throne requires eye contact because the eyes are the window to the soul.

Hymn of Ragnarok · Nov 24, 2013

FurikoMaru said:
It isn't a dojutsu. The Yamanaka perpetuate a rumour that it is. Really it's just a genetic quirk like Kurenai's red irises.

The Throne requires eye contact because the eyes are the window to the soul.

This misinformation pleases me.

Cosmos Quest (Naruto/Lupin III)

Unthawed Freeloader

Clothes That Kill Virgins

Well worn.

Versed in the lewd.

Well worn.

Why does this line say strange things?

Versed in the lewd.

Connoisseur.

Clothes That Kill Virgins

Well worn.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Connoisseur.

Versed in the lewd.

Connoisseur.

Clothes That Kill Virgins

Versed in the lewd.

Not too sore, are you?

Versed in the lewd.

Well worn.

Not too sore, are you?

Clothes That Kill Virgins

Versed in the lewd.

Well worn.

Not too sore, are you?

Well worn.

Not too sore, are you?

Versed in the lewd.

Well worn.

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