Early to the Festivities [open]

[mitsunari]

Mitsunari had made his way steadily towards Konoha. As one of the most powerful ninja countries (as well as the closest) it would undoubtedly have someone who knew something about the whereabouts of Orochimaru, or at least know someone who might know.

As he had walked through the gates he'd felt his hunger rise at all the different smells of food throughout the city. Though he really wanted to start his search for information immediately, he duly noted that just as an army couldn't march on an empty stomach, neither could any person. He looked around for a food stand or restaurant and walked to the first sign he saw that looked likely.

"Ichiraku...Ramen..." He said. "It'll do." He entered and had placed his order in as few words as possible. Though the old man Mitsunari presumed to be the establishment's owner had looked at him oddly for a moment, he didn't say anything. Mitsunari figured that because of being in a ninja village the owner had probably seen stranger.

Mitsunari's back itched and his wings ached to stretch out, but Mitsunari couldn't. Shinobi from other lands he'd probably seen, but people with wings drew unwanted attention, even if it was just a single shopkeeper. Mitsunari would have to keep them concealed a while longer. He picked up his rather plain order of ramen and ate it carefully, years of training and paranoia making him check it thoroughly by habit. Mitsunari then wondered if it had been the plain noodles-only ramen that had drawn the stare from the owner.

"Xi, here we are. Ichiraku Ramen!" Came a voice from outside, belonging to a girl close to full maturity by the sound of it. Mitsunari looked as a woman dressed in armor with a massive sword slung over her back walked through. Mitsunari recongized immediately that the weapon was a killing tool. It seemed to carry the stench of blood around it, but maybe Mitsunari was simply looking too deep into things. He watched the other woman enter as well, noting the places in her dress she could carry hidden weapons, since none of the ones she carried appeared obvious. Mitsunari not once noticed either face. If some conflict were to happen, Mitsunari wouldn't have cared about that anyways.

Having assessed the change in the situation, Mitsunari turned back to his bowl, an unanswered question in his mind. Why were they dressed so oddly for a ninja village?

[Luan Xi]

Xi walked into the tent and inhaled the comforting scent of good Ramen and grinned, "Katsumi, you are a goddess right now! Thank you soooo much. Here, Let me buy you a bowl, and dont worry about prices, I'm pratically rich."
She quickly sat down at a stool and ordered two bowls of ramen, convinced that if her guide didnt touch her bowl that she could scarf them both down easily. She took off her cat mask and sighed. The bowl of beef and noodles was gently placed in front of her and thanked Shiva for the blessing of a good guide to food. Saying a quick prayer to Shiva, placing a few napkins in critical places to protect her expensive satin dress and raised her chopsticks to chow down. She stopped, noticing a strange person off to her right, and examined the person.
It was a man, with reddish hair and equally red eyes. Xi's bright blue eyes took in every aspect of his countenance. From her observations,He seemed bored, grave, and uncomfortable all at the same time. There was an aura of mystique surrounding him and Xi was curious as to who he was. She shook her head curiostity killed the cat, Xi, besides, its also not polite to stare. She delved into her bowl to try and distract herself from the urge to look at him again. why did she have the sudden impulse to talk to strangers these days? She sighed, apparantly, resistance is futile she glanced over at Katsumi and whispered to her , "Hey, do you have any idea who that guy is over there? He seems a little.erm, strange for these parts."
Not really waiting for her answer, Xi slid over a couple of seats to get a little closer to him, then gave a hesitant smile, "Hi, I'm Xi, are you here for the Masquerade?"

[mitsunari]

Mitsunari had picked up a biteful of noodles when the lady in the black and aqua dress spoke to him. He calmly chewed his food and swallowed before responding.

"Masquerade? No. Didn't know." Mitsunari bluntly answered and calmly decided to note what these two looked like. Perhaps he might be able to get information out of them later. In the few seconds that it took him to note the kunoichis' facial features he already had another biteful of ramen prepared.

Turning back to his bowl he placed the bite in his mouth and chewed, mentally weighing the risks and advantages of plying these two for information considering his objective. However he didn't know anything really about Konohagakure and the Fire Country so it was entirely possible that they were allied with his target. He'd have to proceed cautiously.

He swallowed his last bite and turned towards the two in their out-of-place outfits. At least I know why they're dressed so outlandishly...perhaps this festival could be very beneficial for learning what I need to know.

"Are you from here?" Mitsunari's voice carried its usual serious and direct tone, although somehow it sounded like he was making conversation rather than avoiding it as his tone usually implied.

[katsumi]

Katsumi was about to say that it was no big deal and that she didn't know the stranger sitting and eating besides them, but the Sunagakure ninja had gone over before she could say anything.

Katsumi watched their "conversation" (if it could be called that) and watched Mitsunari closely. There was something about his eyes that made Katsumi...not nervous...but wary and on guard. There was definitely more to this guy than just some tourist.

As the stranger posed his question, Katsumi decided to respond. "Well, I'm from here. Katsumi, niced to meet you. Are you from another village by any chance?" Katsumi couldn't place why she felt that the stranger might be a ninja, but some of the things he did. His methodical, direct meanor, and the way his eyes seemed to note everything. She had a gut feeling this was no ordinary tourist out eating ramen. Where had she seen eyes like that before?

[/blockquote]

[Luan Xi]

Xi watched the stranger carefully. His direct and avoidant tone immediately alerted her to unnoticiable details most people would dismiss. One: He was eating plain ramen. Who in their right mind would settle for starchy water when they could have a fine selection of broth, meat, and vegetables? Two: His tone reminded her of a soldier's voice, a man on a mission. She remembered a time where her voice sounded so cold, and that was when she was hunting some fool for threatening her god's temples and servants. Three: He was virtually silent and introverted, which told Xi he was not one for frivolous extravaganzas like this one, and she believed him when he said he didn't know.

Her Curiosity further piqued, she decided to keep this little chat going. After Katsumi responded, Xi jumped in "Aand I'm not from here. I am a Sunagakure native, and I fancy you're a stranger to these parts,Soldier" She paused to let it sink in, then gave an innocent smile "I completely understand your discomfort in being in a foriegn area like this. A person just doesn't up and leave his home unless he has serious buisness to attend to."

She sat back, completely at ease in a potentionally dangerous situation, and pulled her bowl over to eat. After carefully eating a few more bites without spilling anything on her dress, She looked up at him again, a sly grin on her face, "But business can wait for a single evening. Right now, its Party Time! Why Don't you join us for the night? Katsumi was waiting for her guest and was kind enough to show me around. And now that I have a grasp of where I am, perhapes you need a little guidance too. What do ya Say-" she stopped. she was moving so fast that she didnt even catch his name. Embarrassed, She hid a faint flush under her hands and whispered to the man, "I'm so sorry, I've completely forgotten to ask your name, soldier. If you've already said it, then I didnt catch it."

[mitsunari]

Mitsunari snorted at Xi's comment. "Soldier? Never did belong to a village. World can get rough at times." Mitsunari looked up from his bowl to the two women. The fiery redhead just looked like she distrusted him. Whatever, fine with him. The other one, Xi, was observantly looking around him and his person. If the worst were to happen, she'd be the threat. The other is pretty much loud, noisy and obvious.

"No, never been a soldier, just been through a lot where I was from. Traveling magicians never were looked upon very highly, although we did pretty good." Explaining his point, Mitsunari held up one finger and a small lick of flame burst into existance.
A minor illusion, nothing more, but he still kept the hand seal he'd made with his left fingers concealed. The lie also effortlessly rolled off, either his words would be taken for truth or everything he said would be taken as a lie. It didn't matter to him.

When Xi asked for his name, Mitsunari took another bite, making sure to chew it throroughly before swallowing and answering. "Catch my name? I don't recall giving it." He took another bite and swallowed it before placing his chopsticks down, since his meal was now finished.

"My name is Matsuda," he lied effortlessly. No sense in revealing his real name anyways. Hell, he didn't even know if his real name was his real name. One more thing to pay Orochimaru back for.

"Sure, if you're inviting me to the festival, I'm sure I could spend some time. Lead on." Mitsunari looked at their ramen. "Well, finish your meal first I suppose."

[Luan Xi]

Travelling magician? Matsuda? Why dont these answers sit right with me? Xi ignored her gut instinct and decided that she had time to puzzle over the magician's easy replies after the party was over. Besides, he was probably just being careful, what harm was there in doing that? "Thats the spirit, here, i'll pay for your ramen, Matsuda."

She ate the remaining bites from her bowl and drank the warm broth with utter satisfaction at having food in her stomach, then sighed, "Done, thanks again Katsumi." She then reached for her mask and placed it over her face. As she did so, a thought crossed her mind. Matsuda doesnt have a mask...
" So, whats your favorite animal, Mat?" She pushed her bowl away from her and reached into the bodice her dress for the wad of bills she brought from her secret stash in Sunagakure, and began counting up the tab, "I know its an odd question, but I'm just asking so I know what mask to get you."

[mitsunari]

Mitsunari watched as the others finished their ramen. He decided it to be prudent to keep it to a minimum, after all traveling performers of any kind often barely scraped by, they might not feel comfortable taking free meals, they certainly wouldn't turn one down.

"That's really not necessary," Mitsunari said, truthfully. He was more than capable of funding his own meals, although he'd have to be a little scrupulous to keep his facade up.

"Favorite animal?" Mitsunari thought for a few moments. He reached under his jacket and after making a quick concealed hand motion procured a mask that appeared to be in the shape of a hawk with brightly colored red and orange fires. "I suppose it doesn't really count, but a phoenix would probably be my favorite...otherwise a hawk."

He flipped the mask (a genjutsu like the flame from earlier) a few times in his hand and held it up. "I've had this thing for a while, didn't think I'd be needing it today though..." He turned towards the two kunoichi. "I'm ready when you are."

[katsumi]

Katsumi calmly finished her ramen. Because she hadn't really participated in the conversation she was done first and was most of the way through her second bowl when Mitsunari made the comment of waiting to finish.

"Wait till we finish? What a gentleman." Katsumi's tone came off mildly sarcastic. It was obvious she didn't trust this newcomer and she'd never really been good at subtlety to begin with. She downed the rest of her bowl and turned to see the mask 'Matsuda' had crafted.

Heh, Matsuda she thought to herself. Probably isn't even his real name... Though she really didn't like to admit it the mask he had looked pretty good. Katsumi preferred red as a color and the way some of the feathers blended together reminded her of a burning fire.

"A phoenix? Why not? Can't be worse that this tin bucket." Katsumi said, tapping her helmet that she'd placed by her feet so that it rang out slightly. Having finished her meal and now that the time was getting closer to the festival, Katsumi was ready to go. She never really liked being stuck in one place for too long unless she was training.

"Well, I'm ready, I dunno about you guys! Let's hit this party, er, festival-thingie...whatever! Let's go!"

[Luan Xi]

Xi's grin seemed to get wider with every second she spent with these two, but when Mat pulled out his 'mask', she felt a tingle run up her spine. This Magician was pretty good, and the trickster inside her, Shaivi Monk that she was, seemed to sense that he was a praticed liar, but she suppressed the instinct to pry and maintained her genial composure "Well I dont know how a Phoenix would feel about being accompanied by a Black Cat and a Knight, but I really Dig it. So long as your comfortable wearing it."
She quickly paid the owner and stood, removing the copious amount of napkins and tossing them in a garbage can. Turning to Katsumi, she laughed at her slip up, "Boy i just love enthusiastic people! Lets get this party started!"
She then stepped outside the establishment, sighing at the sudden cool down of her body made after being exposed to the cold night air. Above her, stars twinkled and a gorgeous full moon lit the sky. She started humming a tune, and half-danced down the street towards the festival grounds, the moonlight activating a more childish and innocent side to her that only came out during such times as these. For now, life is good She thought dreamily to herself as she spun in a circle, the ghostly light making the satin of her dress shimmer elegantly.