Team Maaya: The Hawk and the Ox

[Cespenar]

Momo opens up her Sharingan with a small burst of chakra, takes the book, skims through it, and returns it after roughly a half minute, grinning apologetically.

[Overlord Rion]

Upon taking the book and starting to leaf through his lines, he could only say one thing to Momo. "That's cheating." Takuya wasn't exactly good at memorization, but he might as well give it a shot.

Come on, big money, no whammy!

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(1d20+2)[16]

[Jacior]

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Int Check: (1d20+4)[20]
Really hope I don't fail this.

Manabu takes the book after Takuya and peruses its contents.

[Cespenar]

"Was it a race?" she says back to Takuya with a smile.

[Overlord Rion]

"I'm glad it wasn't. I would've looked like I was in last place there." Despite trying to focus on memorizing his lines, Takuya couldn't help but smile.

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Saicho takes the script and reads it for himself, then passes it along to Yuji and Hanae. The three of them each take five minutes to read it, and that combines with the thirty seconds that Momo took along with the five minutes that both Manabu and Takuya took to waste twenty-five minutes reading the script.

Yuji looks to the big tent, then nods. "Well, we have time to practice one scene. Which one should we practice?"

Saicho speaks up immediately. "I think we should do the end. It'll be the most important part, so we need to have it down pat."

Hanae speaks her mind as well. "I don't have any lines in the ending though! I think we should practice the beginning, where Gennosoke and Oboro announce their love for one another."

Yuji just shrugs, as he clearly has no interest one way or another. The three genin look to their compatriots for their opinions.

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Practicing a scene will take up the remaining 35 minutes of prep time. If you choose to practice the ending, then you get a +4 bonus to your perform check for the ending.

If you practice the beginning, then you get a +1 bonus to all the perform checks for every part of the play.

The play's plot in a nutshell

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Scene 1: Gennosuke and Oboro pronounce their love. Hattori arrives with a message from the shogun saying that the Iga and Koga will volunteer ten ninja each to fight against one another. Whomever wins decides the next shogun of the country. Tenzou from the Iga clan arrives to take Oboro away.

Scene 2: The battle has been going on for sometime, and a few ninja on each side have fallen. Oboro is threatened by Kagerou, one of the Koga ninja, and almost killed. But Gennosuke intervenes with the intention of saving Oboro's life from one of his own comrades. Oboro orders the Iga to not kill Gennosuke, but Tenzou objects.

Scene 3: It is down to just Kagerou, Gennosuke, Tenzou, and Oboro. Tenzou proclaims his desire to steal Oboro away for himself and attacks Gennosuke. Gennosuke is blinded in the fight, and Kagerou sacrifices herself to kill Tenzou. Hattori and Tokugawa arrive in order to force a final battle between the two lovers. Gennosuke is given a sword by Hattori, and stood in a field opposite Oboro.

Scene 4: Oboro proclaims her love for Gennosuke, then walks over to him and stabs herself with his weapon. She dies, then Gennosuke declares Oboro the winner before killing himself with the same weapon. Curtain fall.

[Cespenar]

Momo ponders on that for a while, and then speaks.

"I'd pick the last scene. Besides it being the scene that has the potential to impress people the most, I'm not 100% sure my genjutsu would be plausible enough for the suicide part. It would be a good chance to try it."

[Jacior]

Manabu just shrugs. "I'm dead at that point, so feel free if you like. I can go see if I can pet a tiger." He has a mischevious grin on his face as he says this.

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

The group decides to play out the last scene. Yuji moves over to read the script out, while Hanae stands off to one side looking a bit upset. Saicho moves around to stand to the left of Momo, and Yuji directs Takuya to stand in front of her. "Alright, in this scene Gennosuke has been blinded by Tenzou's final moments. Without his doujutsu, Gennosuke is unable to fight. Hattori has arrived, and given both Orobo and Gennosuke swords. Alright, Saicho. Start the scene."

Saichi puts on his best gruff old man voice, then looks to Momo. "Oboro! The eyes of the Shogun are upon you. Gennosuke is the only Koga remaining. You are the only Iga remaining. Whomever wins this duel will decide the fate of our country. May the gods smile upon you both."

[Jacior]

It's at this point, that Manabu decides it would be a good time to go take a look at those tigers he'd seen earlier. With not much effort put into it, he starts to sneak away for a peak at the beasts.

[Cespenar]

Having used the Minor Illusion Technique beforehand, Momo tries to force herself into role.

Looking down at the illusionary kunai in her hand, Momo shuffles over to Takuya with the air of a sleepwalker, as if under conflicting forces. When she reaches him, she stops for a moment, and speaks.

"Gennosuke. I might not have been strong enough to stop all this... killing, but know that my love will reach you even beyond death."

With that, she holds the kunai forward as if preparing to stab Takuya, but then twists it and buries it into her own chest. She whimpers, once, and slumps onto the ground. A small pool of blood begins to spread from under her body.

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Chakra is down to 19/27, I believe.

[Overlord Rion]

Can Takuya act? Oh dear lord no. Adopting other people's roles was a huge pain. But, he had to do it, for the sake of the show.

And money, you like that part, right?

Ignoring his voice for the moment, Takuya uses the Minor Illusion technique to magic up a scroll in which he writes something down. "Oboro was the last one standing. The Iga win." If he has to, he'll use the technique again to appear as if he stabs his own kunai into his chest, slumping down to the floor, his own pool of blood rapidly increasing in size.

Wow, you suck at this.

Shush you.

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Saicho facepalms at Takuya's "acting". "Okay, okay... Listen. Your close friend for years, your girlfriend for just as long, and your soon-to-be wife just committed suicide in front of you. Don't go Keanu on me. Give me something."

Yuji just shrugs. "Maybe it's the best he's got."

"Well that's why we're practicing. Lets try that again. By the way, that was really good Momo. But maybe some tears next time?"

[Overlord Rion]

They want acting? I'll show them acting.

Does this mean special effects?

Yeah, sure, why the hell not?

Great, follow my lead!

How does that even-

FOLLOW IT.

Another outward bombardment of expressions. All right then, from the top! I'll get this right!"

--Assuming Momo does a repeat performance--

This time, Takuya decides to keep his eyes closed until he hears Momo hit the ground. He slowly opens them, making sure to keep his face expressionless this time. He crouches and cradles Momo in his arms.

Next time I'm picking a bit-part

Once again, Takuya brings out a scroll, and uses one of Momo's hands to write something on the scroll. Once finished, he throws the scroll to the side. Trying to make his voice as authoritative as possible, Takuya says "The last one to write on the scroll was Oboro of the Iga. They have won." He says, more quietly now "You won't have to wait long." He then picks up Momo's kunai and stabs himself in the chest, slumping to the side.

I'll be damned if I'm going to let the little hussy out-act us.

Uh, wait, she's older than me.

DETAILS ARE IRRELEVANT! POINT IS WE WIN!

Takuya waits for a few moments before lifting his head, "How's that?"

[Jacior]

Manabu plucks at the grass, having nothing to be doing. He idly wonders to himself if he should actually go find some sort of entertainment. They were going to be at this for a while and he couldn't... really... participate in the final scene. Being dead and all. Maybe go find some children to entertain.

He clambers to his feet and starts wandering around, seeing what there is to be seen and leaving the other genin to their acting excercises.

[Cespenar]

Momo rolls her eyes at Takuya's first attempt, and raises an eyebrow at Saicho. "Tears? Well, I could try, but no promises."

But the second time though, she was impressed. The effort, at least, was showing. When Takuya asks how it was, Momo opens her eyes too, looking at Saicho expectantly.

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Saicho nods. "Wonderful, wonderful. Now, lets go through it one more time."

The group of genin start over again, just to be certain they've got everything down for the ending. By the time they're finished completely rehearsing it's time for the show, and Yuji heads out to pick up Manabu. With everyone gathered together, they head over to the main tent to see the fat Mr. Blackburn beside a thin man who looks like the spitting image of him. The Blackburn brothers nod when the genin arrive, then enter the tent. They can hear the Blackburns shouting, and going through an impromptu comedy act, before their group is called on stage.

The stage is a short wooden structure with a single wall at the rear. The wall has the background of a starry night painted on across the front, and the other spaces where walls should be are simply empty. The audience sits in stands that form a semi-circle around the stage, and the place seems quite full. The entire crowd claps as the genin go on stage, then become deathly silent in preparation for the play.

---

Play

Hanae goes off to the corner, then turns her back to the audience so they know to ignore her. She begins narrating. "Years ago, before the Ninja Villages were founded, many ninja clans competed against one another. This is the tale of two of those clans: The Koga, and the Iga. The two clans have fought for centuries, but soon they will come together in peace. Gennosuke of the Koga Clan and Oboro of the Iga Clan were to be wed, and their marriage would save both clans from annihilation in battle. But fate had a different idea..."

Spotlights appear on stage. One settles on Momo, then the other settles on Takuya.

[Cespenar]

Momo seems to have redone her hair before the play starts, and now she wears it open instead of two buns around her head. It flows freely as she runs through the stage and holds the tips of Takuya's hands.

"Oh, Gennosuke! It is surely a present from the gods that the first child of our love will be the peace between Iga and Koga."

Her speech comes off easy in dramatic tones, and she seems to be in her element. Almost as if she has done plays like this before.