Starring:
Date: October 30, 2012
Summary:
Amiko visits Jump, only to run into Goh and Ariya.
"Visitor to Jump"
Jump Headquarters
The morning sun shines down across the island of South Beach, once again providing the foundations for a fantastic day. The boat ride over would be pleasant, as are the people that are wandering around the Village. As Amiko will walk across the road, she'll be privy to a few waves and looks, but nothing too sinister.
When she finally does peak her head into the doors of Jump, the chaos is evident. People are throwing food about at one table, there's another couple brawling on top of another. Loud chatter is causing a buzz, making it almost difficult to think.
Coming up from behind Amiko is Goh, who will tilt his head in curiosity when seeing her. "Amiko?" His voice echoes out. "What are you doing here?" He knows her situation. It's pretty unlikely that she's keen to join.
Amiko jumps as Goh speaks, a little startled as the older man unintentionally sneaks up on her. She turns quickly and smiles. "Ahh, Goh-san. I, well, I just thought I'd come and see these Jump Headquarters after you told me so much about the organisation. And since I was kind of in the area I thought I'd take the opportunity to come and say 'hi'. So… Hi!" she says, seeming quite happy once the surprise wears off, "They're quite a raucous bunch, aren't they?" She gestures into the hall, smiling again as she looks at the food fight that's starting to develop.
Ariya comes out holding a tray full of what is either sustenance or ammunition for the ongoing food fight. Though most people would know she eats everything in front of her. And then second helpings. And then the food of anyone nearby her. Before dessert. And afterwards a snack. Suffice to say, Ariya literally has a pile of food as she slides in beside Goh and the girl near him. She doesn't miss Amiko's comment about Jump members, but she doesn't seem angry. She says, "It actually gets even worse. But the food here is top notch." She'd start slurping up ramen and after a few moments wipes her mouth, looking from Goh to Amiko. "I'm Ariya," she says. "I don't think we've met…you new?" Her tone is polite and slightly muffled around mouthfuls of food.
Leaning over to look into the hall, Goh sweatdrops a little at the chaos. "Er, yeah… I guess that's a good word for it, really. Raucous. Heh." Pulling his duffle bag a little tighter over his shoulder, he grins. "I appreciate you coming all the way over here, though! Hi to you as well. Feel free to have a good look around. Or as much as you want, anyway. The main common area is just here. The only really thing that's worthy of attention is the job board." Beckoning Amiko to follow, Goh will enter the building, dumping his bag at the entryway. "Dorms are off to the right. Cellar and healing rooms are off to the left." He points in those directions, almost like someone directing traffic.
"They're a little wild, but… I guess that's just what happens when the cauldron starts to bubble. People of heaps of different cultures are here. Shinobi, non-shinobi. Think we even have a few samurai around here." He looks to the left and right, as if searching, before shrugging and heading back out the front door. If nothing else just for some quietness.
It's at this point when Ariya ninjas into the scene, the blonde male smirking a bit. "Hello, Ari. And she isn't a member. She's just visiting." He'll let Amiko introduce herself.
Amiko nods to Ariya and says, "Nice to meet you. Ari was it? I'm Uzumaki Amiko. I'm a foreign ninja, from the Land of Whirlpools and working for Uzushiogakure, but also a friend of Goh-san. And if this organisation can keep disillusioned ninja from turning rogue and causing havoc, then I guess I'm a friend of Jump too." She extends a hand to the other ninja and smiles before asking, "So what do you do around here, if you don't mind me asking? I'm kind of interested in seeing how all this works. If it ends up being possible I might even be able to broker a deal between Uzushio and Jump, send some missions and whatnot here when we can't handle them ourselves."
As she eats Ariya keeps her eyes on Amiko, her gaze thoughtful and slightly suspicious. She slurps up some broth and then starts digging into a meat pie, while the two of them make introductions. She answers some of Amiko's questions about Jump. "Jump isn't another shinobi village," she says. "It doesn't require anything of you and you can come and go as you please. But it's that very freedom that make most people join Jump, since it's a good resource for finding missions and finding friends. A casual place but also a committed one. It's more involved than my explanation, but you're free to stay as long as you please." For Ariya that's a fairly long speech. She goes back to her food.
Goh raises an eyebrow at that second point, perhaps not quite expecting it. Some sort of deal with one of the Villages would certainly be handy! His smile widens, looking to Ariya as she explains. "Very good." He muses with a small laugh.
"She pretty much nailed it. What people 'do' here varies from person to person. Some of our members are hardly ever actually here. They will be constantly on the road, doing jobs. When they finish they'll drift in, get a new job, then drift out just as quickly. Others on the other hand stay here most of the time, and only do jobs that are requested from Shiroku Hills. Quite a few of our non-combat types are these sort of members. Which I guess is what we are designed to do, cater for everyone. If you're good enough, you can do jobs that can net you some very serious coin. Others are pretty content to just do small jobs to make ends meet." The blonde shrugs.
"Having some sort of agreement with Uzushio would be pretty great. But that would have to be carefully worked out. We're a neutral group, after all. We don't want to be seen as helping at one Village or another, otherwise we invite enemies to come smash us to pieces."
Amiko nods thoughtfully and adds, "Of course, I wouldn't want to threaten the peace of this organisation as well as the villages, especially at a time when the world is preparing to send itself to hell." She laughs at that thought, then continues, "And neutrality can be pretty hard to maintain. But I'm sure we could work something out. After all, its not like we'd be sending you direct aid, or funding, or troops. Just jobs that we simply can't handle." After this, her stomach rumbles loudly and Amiko looks pained for a moment before asking, "Would you mind if I joined in the meal? I've been travelling and I'm running pretty low on rations. I'm heading back from the Land of Wind, and that desert is a nasty one. Got myself some wonderful heat stroke and sunburn, and used nearly all my food getting back out."
Ariya would wave over a passing server, for Amiko to order something. Today it's ramen with all the toppings, meat pies and fruit pies. Stuff changes depending on what food is shipped in to the coastal location of the headquarters. It doesn't seem to occur to Ariya to offer any of her food, which she's working her way through. She does look wary when Amiko talks about opening relations. "These are delicate times," she says, and then narrows her eyes as she looks at Amiko. "Maybe I'm missing something, but are you authorized to make any decisions during this time, Amiko-san? You're talking to our leader, but what rank do you hold? I hardly think you'd be authorized to make any decisions for your village." However, when she hears Amiko's plight on food she adds, "We can send you back with some food, anyway. Wouldn't want you to starve before you could talk with your village about us." Her tone is so frank, it's hard to tell whether that last part was a joke or said in seriousness.
Goh nods in response to that. "Right you are. Neutral stuff is like dancing on a thin line. Or on the edge of a knife." Hearing the stomach rumble, Goh looks down to the stomach and smirks. "Yeah, of course." Man, what was it with the chicks that enjoyed eating so much?! Mind you, it seems Amiko was just genuinely hungry.
"C'mon. Let's go grab you a seat." And with this, the blonde will lead the way into the building. The food fighting has stopped by this point. Actually, now that meal time has passed, quite a lot of the noise has lessened. People have had their fun, and are now starting their daily routines. Sliding onto the bench of a long table, Goh will lean forward on his elbows. Once Amiko and Ariya take their seats, a waitress will approach and ask for the order.
"Amiko holds a bit of power that's probably beyond what her rank would suggest." Goh clarifies to Ariya. "Uzushio is a Village without much of a public face. I would imagine that all of the shinobi that it lets wander around have some sort of authority for forming alliances and stuff. Maybe like an ambassador?" He leans back.
"Or I could be way off the mark."
As the serving girl comes over, Amiko quickly places an order and then returns her attention to the conversation in front of her. Amiko nods to Goh and adds, "While I can't finalize any formal arrangements, I can certainly negotiate terms and temporary alliances. Then its just a matter of sending out a Tokubetsu Jounin to put down whatever needs to go on paper. I probably have the authority to do that part myself as well, but to be honest I really hate paperwork. Its so boring. So I've never learnt what needs to be done! Good way to avoid real work." She smiles again, then her smile gets even larger as she sees the waitress quickly coming back with a plate of food. "Oh wow, that smells delicious. You're right, it really is fantastic food. How can those guys stand throwing it around like that?" she asks incredulously, speedily digging in to the meal.
Ariya shrugs. "We're wanderers. Some people here use their money for nothing more than the clothes on their back and the food in their mouth. They save up for nothing and value no lasting possessions. So I suppose you do as you please even if…hey!" Ariya ducks quickly as some food goes sailing over her head. She grabs her now-empty bowl and flings it with force at the side of one of the food fighter's head. But when she turns back she seems to be back in business, and glancing to Goh carefully before she says more to Amiko. "What we want is good will," she says. "I've visited your village, it's an organization of integrity. As you can see, we're not trying to steal the missions of other regions, we take them as they come to us. If we do accept any missions you hand us, it'd be nice to have in writing that it's a collaboration or at least a tolerance…not a rivalry." She glances to Goh again, raising her eyebrows questioningly.
"I dunno." Goh remarks simply. "There aren't many… hard and fast rules in Jump." Perhaps highlighted by the fact that Ariya just hurled a bowl at somebody. >_>;
"I set it up so we don't end up turning people into machines, encouraging creativeness. Some like to take advantage by throwing food at one another." He laughs a bit, "Which is fine, I guess. They clean it up afterwards." Scratching his head, Goh nods at his Jump partner. "Yeah, that's right. We're not really here to compete with anyone. Just to provide a home. Like I said, any partnership would have to be really carefully worked out. I'd say we'd be interested, at least enough to find out a bit more."
Wrinkling his nose, he looks then over to Amiko. "Speaking of jobs. How goes the hunt for your criminal? You mentioned Sunagakure. Did you track him all the way into the desert?" Certainly not ideal. He turns back to Ariya then. "Amiko here has been tracking a criminal from her Village. A very dangerous guy to have running around the various countries. Big into poison. Even managed to give me the slip."
Amiko nods seriously. "It's not going well unfortunately. I wasn't prepared for the conditions of the desert, and passed out from heat stroke. I managed to make it to Sunagakure before losing consciousness, but the crim got away. I haven't been able to pick up his tracks again since, so I'm headed back to Konohagakure, which looks like it'll remain my base of operations for a little while… at least until I can pick up the scent again," she explains, and shakes her head miserably, "Losing him was a big loss. There's no telling how long it will take him to resurface." As she finishes off her meal Amiko sits back in her chair and says, "Well if you'd like to discuss it I'm certainly happy to lead some initial talks about business relationship. I'm sure having a few extra missions to go around would be beneficial for Jump."
Ariya's plate is nearly empty as she continues to stuff her face. At last she stops, takes a few big gulps of water and sits back with a sigh. But her eyes brighten — not darken — at the mention of a hunt for a dangerous criminal. She raises her eyebrow when Goh mentions that the criminal managed to give even him the slip, and everyone else it seems. "If he's a dangerous criminal when he resurfaces again, you can call on me. I mean, er, Jump. I — we, that is would be more than willing to help you take him down." She doesn't specify whether she means capture or kill. But from her smile which is half ready and half dangerous, it suggests either one would be acceptable. But then the dessert comes and she abandons her rather imposing aura in light of pumpkin pie, which she starts wolfing down.
"Mmm." Goh nods in understanding. "The desert can be tough, especially if you're not used to it. Good that you at least got away with your life, at the very least." He does smile at Ariya, sort of wincing at the rate which she is eating everything. Her belly is just a bottomless pit!
"Let's hold on the business talk for right now, Amiko. It might actually be better if I go to your Village myself. I want them to know we're taking it seriously, after all. That way, we can skirt around all the waiting and idle chatter. No offence, of course. I'll have to go in your company. Once there, I can give you a recommendation, too." Shifting a bit in his chair, he does nod to what Ariya says.
"Ari is right. I realize this is a confidential matter from your Village, but there are some resources that Jump has if you want to take advantage. The people around here are a hub of information. Given that they travel everywhere, they hear many many things. Heck, maybe there's even a job on the board to deal with this guy? That someone else requested?" He does swivel to look at the job board, looking at the many pieces of paper pinned to it.
Unfortunately Goh is unlikely to find any job posted for dealing with this particular criminal. Thus far his involvement in criminal activities has been a well kept secret. "I'm sad to say that its unlikely anyone else has posted a bounty on him. He hides behind the scenes of the operations he's involved in, which makes him difficult to track. Especially so since all the operatives we've caught would rather die than give up information. Its like freaking shinobi seppuku whenever we've attempted to take someone alive," Amiko says with dramatic sigh, then flips some hair out of her eye as she continues, "In any case, if you'd like an escort into Uzushiogakure, you're more than welcome to call on me. Just come to Konohagakure when you're ready, I shouldn't be too hard to find. At worst I might be out of the village for a couple of days chasing down a lead." Finally she looks over to Ariya and comments, "He's right. You really are a bottomless pit!"
Ariya is chewing through her pie. "Sounds very discreet," she says, after Amiko explains some about this criminal. "We can either be quiet about this or ask around, whichever you want, Amiko-san. Mm, this pie is delicious you have to try it." She's done with it by the time they're done speaking, and she does smirk to Amiko's comment. "I went through a time of starvation," she says. "Not everyone made it. So to make up for that time, and honor the people who died of hunger I'll eat till I'm full." Which no one has ever really seen. "You can eat most anything. Dirt, tree bark, weeds, but pumpkin pie beats them all." She wipes away some crumbs and says to Amiko, "Can you tell us anything about him? His name, his looks, his technique?" She looks to Goh enquiringly as well.
"That sucks." Goh replies simply. "Damn these baddies that like to hide in the shadows, all ninja-like. Hate it." He takes a deep breath and exhales slowly, trying to get a bearing on it. Standing up from his table, he moves to stretch out. "High level ninja if we can use the shadow clone with such skill. Has some skill with seals, and combines them with his speed." Lifting a hand to wave, he begins to step away.
"Unfortunately I need to head off and hit the road, guys. Salamander business. Amiko, feel free to stick around for as long as you want. We have the facilities to make sure you're all good before setting off."
He tips his head to Ariya. "Try not to have your belly burst, Ari." He muses with a cheeky grin. "Be safe!"
