"You'd think she'd have learned by now," complained Jiraiya, going off into the bushes and picking up the limp Anko.
"Yeah, like that'll happen," said Tsume Inuzuka. "She's a slow learner. My clan's got a few of those. Only way to get your point across is to pound it in."
"So, how faithful were you planning on making the movie to the Inuzuka version of the story?" asked one of the particularly large nin-dogs.
"As I said, I don't recall any singing in ANY version of Shiroyuki," said Jiraiya as he walked along with the unconscious Anko draped over a shoulder. "So it's going to be different in some respects. If nothing else we have to put in some differences just so it isn't quite so regional. The movie will be playing in multiple countries after all."
Kuromaru glanced with his one eye in their direction. "I'm going to be Shaman Moon?"
"That would be a suitable role for your voice, wouldn't it?" asked Jiraiya.
The other large dog, a female from the voice, added her two yen. "If you're going to have some of the same roles for the pack that rescues Shiroyuki, can I be 'Snowpaw'?"
"Doesn't she die protecting Shiroyuki from an assassin's arrow in the original version?" asked Jiraiya.
"Yes, it's a fairly important role in that she befriended the princess and helped welcome her to the pack," said the large ninken. "It was after that event that Shiroyuki declared no one else would die protecting her - that she would fight alongside her pack and friends."
"I'll check, but the production staff pretty much will decide all that by themselves," admitted Jiraiya. "Your name?"
"Pacchisu," said the female ninken.
Orochimaru ran down the road clad only in his boxers. "FREE! FREE AT LAST!"
An old man playing checkers in front of a store looked up. "Hey Statler."
"Waldorf?" asked the other old man.
"It's gotten entirely too noisy here lately," said Waldorf.
"Ever since that animation studio opened," agreed Statler. "What can you do though?"
"What about moving to Konohagakure?" asked Waldorf. "Ninja village. Gotta be quieter than this."
"Maybe," said Statler.
Brief silence, broken only when Orochimaru crested a hill and manic laughter could be heard in the distance.
"Heard they're re-opening that old theater," said Statler.
"Are they?" asked Waldorf.
"Some ninja-toad or something in charge of it," said Statler, shaking his head. "Weird stuff."
"So you want to go check it out and heckle from the sidelines?" asked Waldorf.
Statler made his move. Clak-a-clak-a-clak-a-clak. "Yeah. Think we're done here."
Waldorf frowned at the much emptier board for a moment or two.
"MOMMY? MOMMY, WHERE'D YOU GO?!"
Shizune twitched as the former Kumo-nin went running past them again.
"She gone?" asked a large box sitting on a merchant's horse-drawn cart.
"Milady, she's run past us four times in the last ten minutes, and each time she's come from a different direction," said Shizune, who wasn't hiding at all. "One of those times, she popped up out of a manhole leading to the sewers."
Brief silence followed by a "So?"
"Milady, some of the places she's come out of aren't physically possible for her to have been hidden within," said Shizune. "Much less connected. She ran into a flower shop and came out of a dress shop."
"Kawarimi and shunshin. No big deal."
CRASH!
"HEY YOU! WHAT'A ARE YOU DOING?!"
"Looking for my mommy!"
"She's a no here. Who your mommy is - so she can pay!"
"Oh hell," grumbled the box. "Don't say it. Don't say it. Don't-"
"Mommy Tsunade!"
"The Legendary Sucker?"
Shizune considered saying something different, but there really was only one thing to say wasn't there? "She said it."
"Mommy Tsunade is the Legendary Sucker?"
Shizune shook her head.
"Great," said the box. "How can this get worse?"
Plink! went a raindrop onto Shizune's head.
"Was that a -?" began Shizune, glancing up.
It began raining in Earnest, but also in the town where Shizune was currently sitting on a post near a merchant's cart with a talking box.
"Hey, don't-a move, you gotta da ribbon caught on your-a buckle there."
"What? Where?"
RIP! SHRED!
"I told-a you not to-a move!"
"AHHH!"
"The Legendary Sucker - she-a gonna owe me bigga time for-a this. You wreck-a it, you-a bought it."
A merchant glanced at Shizune, shrugged, then got onto his cart and directed the horses to begin moving.
"So, Mommy Tsunade is legendary for her oral skills?"
"WHAT?!" screamed a box, causing the merchant to stop, Shizune to facepalm, a cat to scream and run away, and a tough on the next corner to fall down from the streetlamp he'd been leaning against. The rain seemed to hesitate before slowing to a light drizzle as if had decided to leave as well.
"What-a you know-a about such things? You seem a bit-a young, no?"
"Oh, Master once smeared honey all over me out in the woods and left me some reading material on the subject." That this had been one of Orochimaru's attempts to kill his minion was not mentioned.
"She-a did?"
The lid of the box opened an inch and the merchant found a pair of eyes from within glaring at him. "Shut up and drive, damnit."
"There she goes!" helpfully called out the street tough, having added things together and pointing helpfully at the merchant's cart. Shizune thought he looked vaguely familiar and there had been money involved. Oh dear.
The merchant, feeling the shadow of doom upon him, did as the crazy woman in the box had ordered him to.
Shizune merely leapt over to the cart and sat down, noticing a brief blur in the air.
The lid slowly closed.
Silence briefly made an appearance, saw what was about to happen and left again.
"MOMMY!" said someone in the box. "I FOUND YOU!"
"How did you? Where? What?" Tsunade's voice trailed off.
"Mommy! I so sorry! I didn't know you liked suckers. I'll get you some at the next village!"
"Why can't you go pester Orochimaru some more?" asked Tsunade.
"Because Mommy won! Shikoro is a good girl!"
"AGH!" Tsunade burst the box, revealing herself and Shikoro.
"YAY!" proclaimed Shikoro, standing up and throwing her arms wide. "Do you know any other games, Mommy?"
"How about you hide and I go find you?" asked Tsunade, not expecting it to work.
"Oh, okay!" said Shikoro, looking around before leaping from the moving cart.
"That worked?" asked Tsunade after a minute passed.
Five more minutes passed before she realized. "Shizune?"
Shizune paused as she went over the contents of the bookshelf. Thesaurus, four dictionaries, a complete set of the Abukunai books including the "The Art Of Abukunai" coffee-table edition.
Once done with that, she looked at the various desks while waiting for Tsunade to come back for her.
"WAIIIII!" yelled Shikoro as she ran past Shizune, found a closet, and ducked within it.
Shizune sighed, though she perked up a moment later when she found some pre-production sketches. "Shiroyuki, huh?"
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(Posted Sat, 14 Sep 2013 17:08)
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