Transformation Confusion (Quest thread) (Training )

The two children had stopped at the famous-original Ichiraku's Ramen shop and got a bowl of ramen and a smoothie from a nearby shop afterward as a good way to recover from their studies and training. Even though they enjoyed each other's meals, but were pleasant. By the time they finished, they began to make thieir way for the residential area. Shao was not looking forward going home... but his time with Mari made it all the better.

Still, Shao was quiet in thought. Mari caught on and looked to him. "Shao, something wrong?"

"It's... I was just thinking about Kyle..." he said.

Mari frowned. "Come on... you can't let what he said depress you--"

"No, that's not it," Shao said, his mind focused on what he saw. "I mean, that was very out of character of Kyle." He looked to Mari with a serious expression, concerned about what happened. "He might do stupid things, but he isn't that stupid to steal things that isn't his. He is no criminal."

Mari was quiet and soon rubbed her chin. "Now that you mention it, you're right. Kyle wouldn't do that, even with his pranks. " she said, "So what do you think happened?"

"I wish I knew..." Shao said-- but soon looked up as movement caught his eye. As they neared the end of the street, he saw movement on the rooftops and spotted the kid's spiky hair. "But speak of the devil, there he is."

They spotted Kyle hopping over the rooftops-- but on his back was a series of goods in a sack on his back. The stolen goods from the stores he had been accused of. "That fool. He really did steal it, and lied to our faces!" Shao scowled, disappointed.

Mari also frowned and called out to him. "Kyle! Stop right there!" she demanded.

However, Kyle turned his head, spotting the two-- and made a face by pulling down his eye lid and sticking out his tongue.

"That twerp...." Mari grumbled, her cheeks puffed out. "Let's stop him! "

"Um... you sure?" Shao asked, "I got a bad feeling about this--"

But Mari didn't wait and quickly jumped up after Kyle. Shao sighed. FOr a shy young girl, Shao witnessed when Mari could be quite driven when motivated. Figuring it was better to stick close, he took off after them, determine to figure out just what was going on.

Shao and Mari chased after the fleeting image of Kyle all the way to the residential area of the village-- vanishing beyond the trees and allies of the other homes that lined the dusty streets and houses. It took them a bit of time to truly catch up. Despite Kyle's short-comings in the academy-- the kid was fast! Even with them running, he was a speed demon on the run. He had already lost his pursuers from the academy...

... or so the two children thought.

The two soon ended up in a nearby allyway, and landed to the ground. Kyle had vanished from their view and they looked aorund, trying to figure out what to do. "Did he get away?" Mari asked.

"No... I swear he ran through here," Shao said as he kept an eye on the edges of the ally. "But something is not adding up. How did he lose the others from the academy? Shouldn't they had followed Kyle too?"

"Maybe Kyle lost them somewhere?" Mari added, "I mean he is clever when he wants to be."

"No way," Shao said, "Clever or not, our teachers are Chunin. No way they would be thrown off that easily. Something is not adding up here."

The two walked down the ally, in hopes to find Kyle. They passed by a few of the allyways where garbage cans and power lines lined the way. "You are right, " Mari agreed slowly, "But we both saw Kyle running away with all those stolen goods so--"

"GUYS!!" A loud voice shouted.

Mari and Shao turned around, drawn to the voice-- that came from one of the trashcans.

POOF! The trashcan changed and soon Kyle appeared out of the smoke of it-- running up to them. "I'm glad its you guys!"

"KYLE!?" Both Shao and Mari exclaimed in surprise.

Shao quickly took up a fighting stance, instinctively taking a step to separate Marie from Kyle. "Hold it right there. Classroom antics aside, theft is one act I will not stand by and let you get away with," Shao said. Though he was weak in Taijutsu, he still took the stance regardless, unwilling to allow Kyle to get closer.

Kyle however stopped and held up his hands. "No-- wait, please! This is all some sort of mistake! I swear I didn't steal anything!" Kyle pleaded, his eyes wide with alarm. "I been hiding here the whole time since i got away from the teachers."

"So?" Mari scolded, "We saw you! We saw you running off with all those stolen goods from the store! "

"Huh?!" Kyle's face twisted with confusion. "I swear I didn't steal a thing! You think I'd be that stupid to steal something and get caught in the act?"

Both Mari and Shao had a similar look on their face-- dull, expressionless faces as if to say 'what do you think?"

"Grrrr!" Kyle groaned and scratched his head. "I swear I didn't steal anything! I swear! Come on, this isn't me!"

Shao gave Kyle a firm look. "That's enough! We are taking you to the academy office and--"

"Hey, guys! What's going on ?" someone said from behind.

Mari turned around and glared at him. "Not now, Kyle! We are--- HUH?!"

Mari's scream caused Shao to turn around-- then jump back at what he saw.

Standing on the other side of them was in fact a SECOND Kyle, with his arms behind his head and strolling up to them casually. "Jeez those two were hard to ditch. Why in the world did they think I---"

Shao and Mari were baffled, alarmed to find two of him. The second Kyle blinked at their surprised faces. "Um... what's up? Why do you guys look so surprised?"

It was then the first one looked over-- and both KYles looked at one another.

"HUH!?" Both of them exclaimed.

"Oh brother...." Shao groaned and rubbed his forehead.

(Training rolls: 3 rolls End, 2 rolls Int, 2 rolls Str. +2 for Quick Learner. )

The member 'Enjin' has done the following action : Dice

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'Battle Dice' : 2, 5, 6, 4, 10, 9, 18

Mari and Shao now were looking at two Kyles. Two of the same kid with the same white spiky hair, deep brown skin and brown eyes. They were dressed in the same clothes and looked alike to every detail. They were all quiet for a moment, unsure what to say.

"This guy..."

"This guy..." the Kyle duplicate said in turn.

"HEY! QUit pretending to be me!!"

They both shouted it almost completely in sync.

Shao and Mari stood to the side away from them, unsure what to do. Both kids saw as the two Kyles began to bicker between themselves. "I'm... I'm very confused right now. What's going on?" Mari gasped softly to Shao.

Despite the situation, Shao's brow furrowed as he recovered from the surprise. "There is only one real explanation. We observed unusual behavior from Kyle, and at the same time, there are two of them. " he explained shrewdly. It was in this moment that SHao's more analytical and cerebral talent came through. "Only one explanation is possible. One of them is an imposter-- another person transformed into Kyle."

The two Kyles glared at one another angrily, both now mirroring each other's movements and was moments away from resulting to physical clashing.

Mari observed them, her eyes not leaving the two identical people. "Well, wait a minute. Isn't it possible this is clone of Kyle that he made to pretend he was in two places at once?" Mari asked.

"Not likely, " Shao said, his eyes glued on to them as well. "The clone jutsu can only mirror the actions of the caster. It isn't capable of doing completely independent tasks and from a far range, " he explained, "The only one capable of this is a Shadow Clone, and that is an A-ranked Jutsu. Nothing any of us are capable of using right now. That means only one thing."

Shao's white eyes peered at both of them-- the two Kyles grabbing one another's face and trying to pull their cheeks apart like a pair of angry monkeys. "One of them, is an imposer transformed into Kyle through the Transformation Jutsu. He would be committing crimes posed as Kyle, so even if caught, the transformed victim would take the blame."

"GRRR! STOP PRETENDING TO BE ME!!" One Kyle snarled.

"ME?! You're the jerk making a monkey out of me! I'd punch you if you didn't have my face on!!" the other one grunted. The two began to pull and push at one another, easily escalating into a fight between the two.

Mari frowned as she saw them scuffle. "Well, this will make it harder to tell them apart. They both act like idiots..." she sighed.

"I AM NOT!!" they shouted back in unison-- and turned back to one another. "STOP COPYING ME!!"

Shao could only take so much of this madness, now that both Kyles were pulling at one another, trying in vain to reveal whom among them was the fake or original. It was becoming completely stupid and Shao was beginning to lose his patience. "THAT'S ENOUGH!!" Shao shouted as loud as he could.

Mari jumped at his outburst. Kyle and Kyle 2 stopped mid-pull, their faces being tugged at the same time but looked to Shao.

"Both of you-- step away from one another and stand a meter apart!" Shao demanded, "If I find one try to run away, we will say that one is the criminal!"

The two Kyle's blinked at Shao, but did as he said. They soon stopped talking, but still glared at one another, mirroring one another like a mirror.

Shao let out a sigh, glad he could get them to cooperate at least. "Well, that settles the arguing... till we can solve this mystery," Shao said, "Mari? Can you see anything that might tell them apart? A quirk? A detail of clothing? Anything?" he asked.

Mari shook her head. "No... they seem completely identical. I can't stop a difference between them," she said.

Shao sighed, unable to think of any other way to tell them apart. A good minute passed-- then Mari gasped with exclamation. "Wait-- there is a way to tell them apart!" Mari leaned to Shao, her eyes wide with realization. "Your Byakkugan. If you use it, you can see their chakra-- and maybe can tell them apart."

Shao hesitated at a responce. He bit his lip at the thought. "Mari... You know that I haven't--"

"I know, I know... and I'm sorry," Mari said and held her hands up in an apologetic gesture. "But you should try at least. Please. It may be the only way to tell them apart."

Shao let out a sigh as he realized he had no other choice. Up till now, he had not been able to use it-- as he didn't know how to trigger it. But now in a real situation, he needed it. He then made a hand sign to focus. "Okay..." SHao thought to himself. "Just relax. Focus your chakra, and open your eyes... Please, I want to awaken my Byakkugan..."

Slowly, his chakra began to build up in his body and surge faster around him. He remained calm but soon he felt a change in his eyes-- like a sudden surge of blood to his eyes. Unaware to him, the veins in his forehead and face began to become more defined .

"Byakugan!!" He opened his eyes, revealing the intense glare of the white eyes.

(Training+2 with quick learner. 4 to Dex, 3 to End. Word count going to Byakkugan training this point onward. )

The member 'Enjin' has done the following action : Dice

---

'Exercise Dice' : 3, 9, 5, 4, 2, 7, 9

Shao's senses almost seemed to explode to him as his eyes took in more than he thought upon opening them. His senses were turned to a 360 degree vision. It was giving a headache real quick to be assaulted by so many visual senses at once. He gritted his teeth to bare it, but was able to maintain the jutsu. He directed his attention to what he needed to do-- looking to the two Kyles standing before him. He aimed to see their chakra network. He soon was able to see them like an x-ray-- and then it became the chakra network. He saw it like surging blood vessels, the chakra moving in fast paces between them. There were two different ones, seen similar to color-- however...

... "You did it!" Mari exclaimed, seeing the defining signature appearance of the Byakkugan. "I told you you could do it!" She jumped up excitedly. "Now you can tell them apart and..."

"It's no good," Shao replied.

Mari stopped and blinked at his words. "Wh-what? What do you mean? Can't you see his chakra?" she asked.

"Yes," Shao replied, his eyes focused on the two Kyles, "But the problem is this is the first time I am seeing Kyle's chakra-- or yours for that matter," he said, glancing at Mari's chakra. Hers was a shiny shade of rose, while the two kyles had colors close to white and blue. It was impossible for him to tell which was real. "I wouldn't be able to tell them apart by chakra alone. If the transformation jutsu was a jutsu that continuously drained chakra, I could see that-- but it only required one time to cast to cause a change. So I can't detect any change in their chakra that gives them away."

Mari's expression of excitemen faded, despite Shao having unlocked his Byakkugan.

"YOu mean this moron gets to keep pretending he is me?!" one Kyle argued.

"Oh, I am sooo close from knocking my teeth out!!" the other one grumbled from the right.

The situation only seemed to be growing more and more complicated. "So what do we do now?" Mari asked.

All the while, Shao looked at the two Kyles with his Byakkugan. Even though he couldn't tell them apart, he could see so many details. His hair, his shirt, his stance-- the Byakkugan gave him the ability to see small details with ease. It was if he now had the eyes of a hawk and could spot tiny details naturally. He could make out everything around him-- but no clue how to tell Kyle apart from his imposter.

As the two bickered, Shao's eyes widened-- not from what he saw, but an idea that came to his mind. "Mari-- come here. I have an idea," he said and turned to her. Curious, Mari leaned in closer to him. Holding his hand up and keeping his voice a whisper, Mari listened. ALl the while both Kyles watched them. Both leered at them, straining to know what they were talking about.

Finally, a few minutes later, Mari leaned up. "Will it work?" she asked.

"It has to," Shao said, and turned back to Kyle.

"So..." one of the Kyles asked, "Do you know who the real one is or not? I'm starting to get sick of my own face here... and that's a bad thing!"

Shao ignored Kyle's words. He kept his eyes on them then---

WACK!!

A sudden blow came from Shao as he charged-- and punched the one on the left right in the face. Though his strength in Taijutsu was not as strong-- a punch was a punch and it hurt.

The punched Kyle rolled head over heels and landed flat on his back. Startled, he rolled upward and looked to Shao, his focused Byakugan eyes upon him. "What the hell?! It's me, Kyle! I'm not the bad guy here!" he protested.

"Drop the act," Shao demanded in a cool, calm tone. "I know you're not Kyle. My Byakugan can spot small details-- and your eyes gave you away. You're eyes are calmer, less panicked than Kyle-- and that is what gave you away. Don't bother denying it."

The Kyle on the ground looked wide eyed. "No-no way! But my transformation was perfect!" he said.

Shao's eyes widened with realization and success. "So you admit it then," Shao said, his voice betraying his confidence and victory.

The fake Kyle's eyes widened-- realizing what happened. "Wh-- You... You tricked me!!"

Mari immediately got between SHao and the REAL Kyle, keeping an eye on the imposer closely. "Kyle, stay near me, okay!"

However, just like the original, he didn't approve. "But I wanna smack that fake's grin in and---"

"If you get mixed up with the original, we won't be able to tell you apart again!" Mari said firmly to get his attention and it kept him quiet. "Just stay beside me for now, okay?"

It was then that the fake transformed in a puff of smoke-- becoming one of their classmates. A boy with black hair and blue vest and long pants. "Why you--- "

There was a sudden interrupton as movement appeared behind him-- and they looked to find the two teachers who had been chasing Kyle up to now. "So it was YOU all this time, hm?" the teacher said. Slowly the student turned around, seeing them stare down at him angrily.

"Oh crap..." he groaned-- and was grabbed by the back of his shirt to be pulled up.

It was then that the surprise was enough to make Shao lose concentration to his Byakugan and his eyes reverted back to normal. The boy tried to get away, but the two teachers kept hold of him. "You're in big trouble, pal. First you are gonna return what you stole, then the Hokage has some words for you."

As the first of the teachers dragged off the student to be punished-- the second teacher turned to Shao. "You're Shao Hyuga, correct? We saw what you did from afar. You're detective skills are impressive," he commented.

Mildly unsure how to respond, Shao bowed his head to the instructor. "Um, thank you," he replied.

The teacher gave a smile and waved. "I look forward to see your performance on the graduation exam-- and Kyle, try to stay out of trouble for a change," he said to Kyle. Before anyone could reply... he too vanished in a blur of speed to catch up to his colleague and the student they apprehended.

Now that the imposter was gone, Mari let down her guard at last and allowed herself to relax-- as did Shao. However, Kyle blinked several times, and finally let out his more impulsive nature that had been bottling up all till now.

"WOULD SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED?!" he shouted-- almost making Mari cringe by the sound.

"Jeez, Kyle... calm down," Mari grumbled at his outburst.