To make a long story short, Miyuki had a problem. And what was worst, was that it was a problem of her own making.

In hindsight, perhaps this had not been her smartest move; surely she would’ve been better suited for other missions. But it looked like it would be a lot of fun and would allow her to show off just what she could do. Only she had forgotten one small little detail. She was just a genin who had yet to serve even a full year and while there was little doubt that she was a talented ninja, her talents lay in both taijutsu and genjutsu – both of which weren’t exactly known for their flashy moves; at least not at her current level. Of course in hindsight, she probably also should have specialized in ninjustsu rather than genjutsu like pretty much every other ninja she knew. But no, she just had to be different and decide to forge her own path. There was a reason that there were more ninja who combined ninjustsu with their taijutsu rather than genjutsu (which is not to say that there weren’t any genjutsu masters roaming around – there were a reasonable number of them in fact; they just tended to stick to both genjutsu and the shadows).

So here she was, standing backstage waiting for her turn to try and impress the locals with no clue what she’d be doing for her three tricks. Sure she could easily recreate the practical portion of her initial genin exam and maybe toss in a bit with her kekkei genkai or some wall walking since no one in the audience were used to seeing ninja, but that seemed pretty boring to her. And if she was bored with her routine, how the hell was she supposed to impressive enough to make it into the top cut – let alone win first place – against more experienced ninjas who could use flashy ninjustsu. I mean, this wasn’t some paltry civilian school talent show put on for students to show off in front of their parents where a few parlor tricks could blow them over. She did have a plan though; she just hoped that she’d be able to pull it off.

“… is Hasegawa Miyuki from Boufuugakure.”

Showtime. And the timing of her tricks was going to be tight (not to mention the fact that she was praying to practically every kami that her first trick would be recognized as one since it kinda sorta involved setting up for her second one). Measured steps took her to the center stage, where she bowed to the audience before sliding right into the first part of her act; a simple henge. There was more to it of course than just that one simple illusion. Where a young girl on the cusp of womanhood once stood, there now appeared to be an adult male dressed up in the traditional stagehand black who then began to set up a few targets. On its own that wouldn’t have been very interesting (especially since she wasn’t the first contestant to use a henge), but she didn’t stop with that first transformation. The stage hand morphed into the woman who worked at that bakery she liked, followed by an elderly priest she had seen once, the little brother of a former classmate, her next door neighbor (who had been a ninja himself until age and injury had forced him into retirement), and so on and so forth encompassing the living, the dead, and the fictional (who were not all human since her tastes had included tales of the supernatural). She also had made sure to incorporate her placement of the targets into the trick; walking up the back wall and even across the ceiling as casually as she had the stage floor to hang them at the proper height and angle to make her next trick more impressive than just your regular target practice.

Done with the set up (and her first trick) she made her way back to the center stage, dropped her henge, and bowed again to the audience. A moment of calm and then she struck sending the first volley of shuriken at the targets. They hit smack dab in the middle, but as they had been the simplest of throws (straight on and still within close range) this was only to be expected. From there the throws got trickier; odd angles, farther distances, obscured lines of sight, her no longer standing still, and even a few instances of ricocheting off of things including other shuriken and kunai (with a bit of help from some ninja wire attached so that she could get a few to change direction mid air without seeming to do anything). She might not have been getting all bulls eyes but she was hitting her targets. More than that though, she could feel the excitement that hadn’t quite been there during her first trick starting to whisper through the crowd.

And then it was over; she was out of both shuriken and kunai. This was her last chance; it was all or nothing. This time she didn’t bow though. She simply slid into a ready stance and then moved. Like the kunai and shuriken throwing, it started off slow; a step forward for a straight punch, straight punch, low block, kick to the side… but the it began to speed up with the moves growing more elaborate and acrobatic. She took to the air, adding spins and flips and flying leaps. At one point she simply folded to the ground in a full split with her head and back resting against her rear leg (in her mind’s eye she could see the sword sweep that she managed to slide under) before rising again in a backwards flip kick turned cartwheel to get herself fully upright again. Had anyone been watching her close enough, they would’ve noticed that despite all her acrobatics and the amount of energy she had to be expending to perform them she wasn’t breathing heavy at all. In fact, she wasn’t breathing.

And then just as the tension had hit its crescendo, her movements slowed and became more and more like the moves she had made in the beginning. Until she was once again facing the audience. She closed her stance and bowed to her audience, her breathes slow and even. It was time to leave the stage and let the next ninja have their turn. For good or for ill she had given it her best try and while she wasn’t confident that she had shown up all those who had went on before her and all those who would follow after, she knew (hoped) that she had put on one hell of a show. And that was all that could (and had) been asked of her.

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