[Open] Er, this is mainly just a voicetest. Hi ^^

[elegantlymasked]

Uzuki Yuugao woke up. Without opening her eyes, she could tell that she’d been sleeping on hard earthen ground- somewhere unsheltered, judging by the harsh sunlight. She must’ve been more tired than she’d thought, to fall asleep in a cemetery. But when her eyes grew accustomed to the light, she didn’t see Hayate’s gravestone, or any of the familiar surroundings of Konoha. There was definitely no one around the.. park? that she was in. It was impossible to move her without noticing, and this wasn’t a genjutsu, so what had happened? A knot of worry formed just above her stomach.

Standing fluidly, she reached back to make sure her katana was still in place, and adjusted her kunai pouch. It took a second for her to decide to wear her ANBU mask- it’s a part of her uniform, and she might need it, whether she was in enemy territory or not.

It was still fairly early, but Yuugao was sure she could hear the sounds of a market to the right of a bunch of buildings. Taking a few deep breaths, she headed in that direction, where there had to be someone who could tell her what was going on. Her body was tense and ready to evade any surprise ambushes, her left hand constantly hovered above her kunai pouch. However, the few civilians that she passed seemed completely uninterested in her, nor did they react to her uniform.

She had no idea where she was, or how she got here, but she could deal with this. She was one of the best kunoichi in Konoha. All she needed to do was find out where she was, and then the direction that led to home. Easy. Even a genin could do it. Yuugao flexed her fingers and marched right into the market.


//Points if you know who this is from the picture? :P She probably has 5 minutes screen time across the whole anime. Here's her wiki page though, I'm taking her from the end of the timeskip.

Comments

[sarutobiskid]

He thought he recognized her as one of the ANBU running around Konoha, but he couldn't be sure. And calling out to someone you didn't really know wasn't his style. However, he made sure that he walked into her line of vision, his hitai-ate proudly stating that he was a Leaf shinobi. Besides, anyone in Konoha would recognize him. The Sandaime Hokage had only had the one son, after all.

[elegantlymasked]

She stopped immediately with a small frown- not that you could see it behind her mask- but nodded respectfully. What was he doing here? It seemed too lucky for her to run into someone from Konoha right away.

"Sarutobi.. Asuma, isn't it? Please excuse my memory, but where exactly are we?" Yuugao hadn't let down her guard yet, if anything, this coincidence made her more cautious.

[sarutobiskid]

He frowned at the voice, trying to put a face to it. "Yeah, I'm Sarutobi Asuma," he said cautiously. His experience with the ANBU outside of Kakashi and Hayate was limited and not very pleasant. "This place..."

He blew out a huge sigh. "This place is called Michi no Sato. It pulls shinobi associated with Konoha from any time or reality. There's no known reason. It's possible to leave and go back to your own time, which I've found out first hand, but you can return too. Don't know how or why. Sometimes a genjutsu keeps us trapped in here like rats, but if you intend to return, you can leave the village for a while."

He pulled out his pack of cigarettes and lit one, taking a long drag from it, before speaking again. "Sorry, that's just e condensed version. If you'd like to show me who you are, perhaps I can give you a more satisfying response."

[elegantlymasked]

She tilted her head slightly, as if indicating that she was paying attention. "But... how is that possible?" It sounded completely implausible, but so much so that it wouldn't make sense to say it as a lie.

While she's still not sure that he could be trusted, Yuugao doesn't think removing her mask would be detrimental, especially if he was telling the truth. She contemplated it for a few moments. Finally, she reached up to untie it, keeping it in her right hand as she bowed formally. "Uzuki Yuugao. We've never been introduced, but I believe we had a mission together a few years ago?"

[sarutobiskid]

Okay, beautiful women were his weakness. That was how he'd fallen for Kurenai when they were kids, not that she'd been the only woman he'd had in his thirty-one years of living.

"Hello, Uzuki-san," he said politely, keeping his tongue and drool in his mouth. "No, I think I would remember if I'd actually been introduced to someone as beautiful as you."

[elegantlymasked]

Well, that was unexpected. She wished she still had her mask on, even if she could stop herself from blushing after years of training.

"Uh.. I.. It's good to see a friendly face around then, if what you say is true," she murmured, trying to bring the subject back to something useful. "Are there many other shinobi from Konoha here?"

[sarutobiskid]

"Uzuki-san, nearly all of the shinobi you will meet in this village are from Konoha. I think it's just the sand siblings of Suna that are the exception. I haven't met anyone who isn't, but I'm sure that I'm wrong. There are...this place has a habit of picking multiple versions of some people. So, you might run into people who normally you would avoid many times over in the same day."

He shrugged, wishing he could help the woman more than this. "I guess it's best to sit back and observe until you're comfortable here. That's what I had to do when I first arrived."

[elegantlymasked]

"Please, Yuugao is just fine." 'Uzuki-san' really didn't suit her.

The multiple versions of people sounded incomprehensible to her, although the fact that most people were from Konoha was reassuring. "I see. Thank you for your advice, but I don't plan on staying here for long. There must be some way to leave this place, and I intend to find it." There had to be a way out, maybe the other people who tried looking had just missed it?

[sarutobiskid]

"Yuugao-san, then. I assure you that many people have tried to leave this village since Konoha shinobi started arriving here. I, myself, wasn't attempting to leave when I found myself back in Konoha. I wish you luck if you are still insistent upon leaving. However, if you find yourself still stuck here, you can find me at the flower shop that is run by one of my students."

Have someone for whom she's a main character in his backstory.

[youngesthokage]

He'd let himself get distracted again. Then again, getting a child set up in a place was just as important as the Academy in some ways, so taking a break from one for the other was perfectly acceptable, but it still made him aware of his time mismanagement.

It didn't, however, seem so much of one when his perusal of the market yielded a very familiar ANBU, and even if she wasn't the one from his captaincy...

She was still Yuugao, and having any part of his team was just...

Yes. So though he was aware of his status in many of the timelines, he approached her anyway, light on his feet as he came up on her right. "Cat."

Main character? :O

[elegantlymasked]

She heard someone approaching (damn lack of peripheral vision), but she didn't turn until she heard his voice. Uchiha Itachi would've been the last person she'd expected to see, but she took it into stride. Grabbing her katana with her left hand, she stepped towards him, adding power to the swing that was aimed at his neck.

... And then she waited to die. She wasn't scared, Yuugao just knew when she was outclassed. The Uchiha prodigy who entered ANBU, became a captain, then murdered his whole clan bar one, and became an S class criminal while she was still jounin- despite him being younger than her? Yeah, she was going to see Hayate soon, and she couldn't help but feel relieved.

Yeah, his ANBU team was Iyashi, Hayate, Yuugao, and Tokuma Hyuuga while captain..

[youngesthokage]

He twisted away from the attack and huffed softly, not looking upset so much as... vastly disappointed. He'd really hoped for another from home, and someone who had been protective of him almost like a sister? That would be rather welcome right now. "You don't need to do that. We're not in Konoha, and I am not a missing nin."

Aww Hayate. And yay you know who she is! :D

[elegantlymasked]

Having averted her eyes at the sight of him- she really didn't want to fall into one of his genjutsus- she missed the look of disappointment. She was confused at his words, and even more so at the lack of counter-attack. They were clearly not in Konoha, but Yuugao would have been notified if he'd been taken off the list.

She moved back a little, taking a defensive position, but keeping him in range of her attacks. She wouldn't die without putting up a fight, even if he didn't seem interested in killing her right this moment, she didn't believe he'd just.. want to talk.

Nevertheless, maybe he could provide some answers for curiosity's sake, at least. "Where are we then?"

Indeed! In my headcanon they met on his team. She helped when he got uh, promoted to hokage.

[youngesthokage]

"We are in a village called Michi no Sato. You're the first you I've actually seen here Yuugao. We haven't had many ANBU arrivals."

How did he get promoted to hokage? Do you have his background anywhere? I'd be interested to read it

[elegantlymasked]

If he'd been anyone else, she would've stared him down. As it was, she kept her eyes on his torso, in case he made any sudden movements.

"... That makes no sense. And there is no village called Michi no Sato."

Oh! I haven't finished everything up to when he's from, but pretty close.

[youngesthokage]

"There is. It's the village of Michi no Sato in Jiten no Kuni. You are not home... and I am clearly not the Itachi with whom you have a familiarity. I have never been a missing nin." Looking at his torso worked in a way, considering that his coat was snowy white and while cut in a similar fashion to the Akatsuki coat... clearly wasn't the same.

(OOC: Here's the link)

Oh wow um this is gonna take me awhile to read anyway xD

[elegantlymasked]

Apparently it would be pointless to argue with him about the existence of this village, and country.

"I realise I am not home but whether you are the Uchiha Itachi I know of? I don't believe there's another one of you." Sure he was dressed differently, but they're just clothes.

I understand in advance this comment is likely hazardous to my health ~

[itachi_san]

Of all the days to be in the market, walking slowly and shakily across the street, alone. Of all the days to have decided to wear the Akatsuki cloak because the wind had a bit of a chill to it.

It would have to be the day to come face to face with a woman in ANBU armor.

She was new here. He could tell by the way her chakra moved. She was on edge. And he, for all intents and purposes was a face in the bingo book of every major village. A thinner face, with a nearly emaciated body to match, but a familiar, immediately recognizable face still.

This... probably wasn't going to end well.

Ahaha it is probably worse for her?

[elegantlymasked]

Yuugao caught a glimpse of red clouds on black and that was enough to send shots of adrenaline running through her body. Although he'd probably spotted her too by now, her first move would be crucial. Right now, he didn't know who she was or her attack style- perhaps she could surprise him.

Using an earth style jutsu, she sent stones hurtling towards him, then disappeared. She reappeared a few moments later behind him, ready to skewer him with her katana.

That totally depends on your definition of 'worse'

[itachi_san]

It was only by skill of sharingan that he was able to see the attack take form. It was no surprise, but it might as well have been. As he was, Itachi barely had the energy for everyday tasks. A fight was impossible! But he had little choice.

He stumbled more than avoided the large stones, weaving hand signs for a shadow clone as fast as he could. In fact, it was the clone that pulled the actual Itachi out of the path of the last stone. He focused his chakra, sending the clone back into her katana as she appeared, and then detonated it on impact.

It wouldn't be a big enough blast to hurt her. He couldn't afford to use that much chakra even if he wanted to. But it would at least force her back. It would give him a little time...

"I'm... not..." He called out. His voice was weak. His breaths were heavy. His body was shaking. "I'm... not here... to fight..."

Oh. I feel bad on behalf of her for beating up a sick guy :(

[elegantlymasked]

She'd jumped backwards the moment it exploded but she realised that there wasn't nearly enough chakra in that to hurt her. Which was strange, coupled with his clumsy movements and she'd noticed how thin he was when she was trying to stab him. This was Uchiha Itachi- he's not supposed to be sick and frail.

On one hand, it was Yuugao's duty to make sure he died- this was Konoha's best chance to finally get rid of him. However, despite being good at walling off personal emotions while in uniform, this just didn't feel right. And she did need information about this place, which he'd probably spent a lot of time in. Perhaps if she could take him captive..?

She quickly strapped her katana back in, before coming at him again, this time from his right side. Her kick was aimed at dislocating his shoulder, while she contemplated ways to neutralise his sharingan.

Hey, I love a good fight scene! Itachi... Less so...

[itachi_san]

It was quite the surprise, then, that Itachi's body broke into a flock of crows when Yuugao's kick made contact. The burst of smoke and fire from the clone explosion had given Itachi just enough time for teleportation and substitution jutsu. Unfortunately, he coudn't make it very far.

Barely out of sight behind a stall in the market, an exhausted Itachi was slumped over, panting, trying to catch his breath. Through his crows he could sense every move that she made. And for the time being, he would have to leave the actual fighting to them.

They all had sharingan, after all. And it would only take one to catch her in a genjutsu. To paralyze her, at least, and put a stop to the fight quickly.

Me too! Pity I know nothing about martial arts :|

[elegantlymasked]

Yuugao flinched away from the explosion, quickly glancing around to spot possible hiding places. She thought she caught a glimpse of red clouds but the crows- there were so many of them. And she was fairly sure they all had the sharingan.

Keeping her eyes on the ground, her fingers flew through the seals for a basic fire jutsu aimed in a general upwards direction. Hopefully that'd get at least some of them.. Her hearing wasn't enough to keep up with all of the crows, and she couldn't use her katana if she didn't know where they were. She jumped a few steps back and began to form more seals- this time for a wind attack. She never got through it though, having to duck at the last minute to avoid a beak in her temple, Yuugao looked straight into a swirling red and black eye.

"Fuck."

You should give it a try sometime. I love it.

[itachi_san]

Yuugao could hear voices spinning around her head. And they were all Itachi's. Moving was impossible, both in the genjutsu world and in the real world. In fact, to passers-by, it probably looked as though she fainted.

"Now... That I have your attention..." He began slowly, sternly. "Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you."

The bodies that appeared around her in all directions were all clad in ANBU armor, mask off. A uniform she would clearly recognize. Without the cloak, he looked like he was scarcely more than skin and bones. So fragile, like a single punch would be all it would take to break him completely. But that wasn't going to happen if she couldn't move.

"There is a lot that you think you know... That, at the time, was necessary for you to believe... That is not as clear cut as you thought it was. I am not your enemy." The voices echoed off each other. "There are things I have done... that I am not proud of. Sins of my family, that I shouldered in the name of my clan and my village. For as long as I can recall... I lived to die. Now... Here... I can finally live."

I'm really uncoordinated, but it's on my bucketlist!

[elegantlymasked]

She clenched her jaw in frustration. She was essentially paralysed- completely defenceless- and he wanted her to relax? Seeing him in the ANBU uniform only reinforced the feeling. After everything he'd done, it was like pouring vinegar into a bullet wound.

"Did you or did you not massacre your entire family, except your little brother who was essentially emotionally dead after the event? You joined the Akatsuki, how can you say you deserve to live?"