A/N: hello again peeps! lookie what i has for you~ :D
NEW CHAPPY HO~
-cough- anywho, wanted to post this last week but the last scene was being kinda 'weird', despite knowing exactly what i wanted and pretty much getting the last conversation verbatium, 'cept for a few add-ins from mr. Broody -waves hand- and i got horribly sick... and we've discussed this before... I SHOULD NOT WRITE WHILE SICK! all i get is severe crack... which i'll go into detail later~
for now, have at it! :D i had a million other quippy things to say... but forgot them as of writing this!
ENJOY!
Kumogakure no sato, the Village hidden in the Clouds had an interesting structure, primarily that it was a large amalgamation of ancient stone work alcoves dug out of the high mountains with wooden structures build out of them as time went on to accommodate for an expanding population. Originally the place, some thousand years ago according to legend and Village history, was a single stone temple build out of one of the mountains. This temple was dedicated to knowledge, the pursuit of enlightenment, meditation, control of oneself and the world around them and is probably the core reason Kumo-nin always have some 'profound' sanctity with words, even if they each individually seem to have a certain way of showing this reverence. Not that any of them find it weird for a 'normal' everyday conversation to include rap, speaking in iambic pentameter, silent gestures, or lots of open ended sentences with inferred meaning, mind you. It was a generally held belief in Kumo that what was 'said' was never as important as what was 'implied', as only an idiot would take things at face value…
Back to the structure of the high-rise city hidden in several layers of clouds.
Now, due to having to 'expand' from the single stone temple, which what remains of that is the base architecture of R&D, most of Kumo looks rather cobbled together or literally 'tacked on' to the mountain sides with various multilayered platforms hanging in the air held up by suspension bridges. Most visitors find the architecture 'tacky' or looking like 'beehives', fearful by the looks that at any moment said structures could just 'fall off' said mountains and the Village in the Clouds would be no more. Oh these silly, silly land-dwellers…
What many of these visitors may miss is that just like a 'conversation' with a Kumo-nin, their buildings had various hidden multilayered structuring… in fact it wouldn't be too far of a leap to state that just about everything these brutish-thug-like Shinobi did was multilayered and up to various interpretations!
… but back to the point.
Despite the look of the buildings to be nearly 'falling off', each structure was actually deeply rooted, all the way to the core, into the mountain it was build off of. Starting from the base internal stone structures and building 'out' with wood or whatever was available at the time. The Kumo structures were actually extremely sturdy and less likely to collapse then something built on solid ground. Kumo did NOT mess around when they built a foundation, as unlike other land-dwelling structures, they had to build EVERYTHING, not just 'from the ground up'… of course this may have also been due to one of their primary contractors being a clan of plant wielders that if you got into a conversation with them about 'basics' in architecture they'd give an in-depth analogy about root systems requiring several years of horticulture to understand…
But to simplify, the structures had more than just the basic struts on the outside for stability, built miles of tunnels and internal supports to keep everything stable. Then of course there were the 'internal' systems that made these structures just a bit more 'advanced' then several other Villages and their architecture.
Not that Kumo liked to gloat or anything, but the claim to fame about 'who invented internal ventilation' supposedly went to an architect in Kumo… that was then stolen by most other villages as a great means to make breezier homes. For Kumo this internal ventilation was required, as any room closed off without some means of getting 'air' in with even a single occupant could wind up being fatal due to the thin atmosphere in the high mountains, not that any of the other Villages had to worry about such things…
Now, why the in-depth discussion on architecture?
Simple…
"ACHH!"
Because this internal ventilation system, made mostly of stone no less, is the primary means that Yorihi managed to not only get 'out' of Kumo-general-Hospital, but make her way over to her grandmother's apartment and 'snuck in' without having to use the front door…
"Ugh," the 'blind' girl groaned as she rubbed her head, having fallen out of the grate in the ceiling several feet. She had spent several hours after meeting her new 'teammate', his word, trying to find where her clothes had gone and convince the nurses she was well enough to be let out. The small girl was half-convinced if she were at least half the size of her Father they would have done whatever she asked as she had attempted the same manner of intimidation the large Raikage employed and only garnered a few snickers. It may have also been due to the fact two of the three nurses that were looking her over happened to have red-eyes, meaning related to Xiao and Seichi-san, and likely knowing her 'intimidation' was all a bluff… or just assuming it was as she had been severely tempted to toss that one guy out a window and make a break for it. She had enough experience 'breaking' buildings to know just where to hit, with what amount of chakra, and the general position the Hospital was in the Village to run for her life to the appointed meeting place…
Luckily Bachiko had lazily swished his tail and suggested she go about this stealthily… since he doubted his Master wanted anyone to see her in that terrible hospital gown.
The reminder of the hospital gown and all its evils, plus the strange disappearance of her normal attire (except for her arm bands thankfully), weapons, and general 'stuff', had been reason enough to make a slight detour to a certain reddish-brown haired girl's closet and ransack it for something 'decent' to wear… she'd give it back, she promised, she just needed something other than this damn hospital gown for the moment!
Yorihi had no idea when her Grandmother got off work, if the woman ever did actually, and since it was nearing midnight figured anyone else in the apartment was asleep and she didn't want to be rude and wake them up while raiding Mei's closet. Luckily she didn't need 'light' to see where she was going, shuffling her way up the outer wall, to a duct, and through her senses figured out her position compared to where she wanted to 'go' and made her way with relative ease…
… Until she'd fallen through that one grate.
The girl growled as she rubbed her elbow, having landed on it, and feeling around to figure out where exactly she was. It was Mei's room if she was remembering the furniture and 'stuff' all around right, but that slightly annoyed her as the blind girl had hoped to make it to the closet without having to bother around the girl's room itself, "Tch," she clicked her tongue and got to her feet, fiddling with the hospital gown to make it sit in the most appropriate spot and feeling as Bachiko hopped down, landing deftly on her shoulders and grinning like the evil little bastard he was.
Yorihi had all of a second to 'glare' at him mentally as she continued facing forward before a light turned on behind her with a loud click! And made both blind girl and feline jump.
Gakushin Mei was many things; hoarder, tool chest, fashionista as her partner liked to call her, but she liked to think she wasn't an idiot… also perhaps a bit of a night person as she had been wide awake listening as something moved through the walls, trying to be 'quiet' and not quite achieving it before miraculously falling through the grate in her ceiling. Now, she wasn't going to claim that grate was booby-trapped or anything (though now she'd have to reset that one seal…), but seriously whoever was trying to sneak into her room should have learned stealth a bit better…
Then she'd flicked her light on, as again she had been wide awake already, and spotted a relatively short girl in a terrible hospital gown.
Whatever the fourteen year old genin had thought, that was not it… as she quickly proceeded to laughing quite loudly.
Yorihi jumped again from the sudden sound before turning on Mei and jumping at the girl, getting out in a harsh whisper, "Not so loud Mei-chan!"
The older girl deftly dodged the shorter girl, by falling on her side and bringing a tan hand to her mouth, still quite obviously laughing her ass off.
The 'blind' girl pushed herself up from the blanket growling as her tattooed brows lowered threateningly at the older genin, "Mei-chan!"
Immediately tan fingers reached out and poked the girl in the forehead, between her cyan tattoos and above her hitae-ate, pushing her enough to fall to the side as Mei straightened herself up and her laughing brought down to a light snicker, "The hell are you doing here Yorihi-chan?"
A frown passed the girl's pale mostly covered face as she reflexively rubbed her head; seriously it was always something poking her in the head or messing up her hair! "I was trying to get some clothes to borrow!" there was still a bit of a growl in the younger girl's poor attempt at a whisper.
"Hehe," that wide cocky grin Yorihi was starting to associate specifically with 'Gakushin' women spread on the reddish-brunette's face, "Well why didn't you just say so?" the teen hopped out of her covers, not bothering to straighten them, and landing on the floor revealing she slept only in a pair of pink-and-purple poka-dot panties and a decently short red shirt.
Yorihi reflexively blushed, not used to being around people that were so obviously 'under-dressed'.
"Mmm-ah!" Mei crossed her arms over her head and stretched, shaking some of the sleep out of her body before lazily walking towards her closet, not even caring about her attire as the girl was blind, it's not like she could see!
Sadly the younger girl could see her 'hanging all out' and since she couldn't quite 'not' see figured to just ignore it or get used to it. The ghost cat sitting next to her seemed to just be lazily waving his forked tails back and forth like the half-naked teen was nothing to worry about. Yorihi decided to glare at him…
"So hey!" Mei called out from her overstuff closet, tossing a few things aside as she bent over and Yorihi really wished she could 'unsee' her cousin/aunt/whatever relation Mei was to her in panties, "What happened to your clothes and why're you in that hospital gown?" she straightened enough to point at the uncomfortable younger girl still seated on her bed, raising a reddish-brow as the pale girl seemed to fidget.
"You remember the genin exam a few days ago?" to be honest Yorihi had no idea how long ago the thing was, Oku had said she'd been out a few days, maybe three…
The older teen in the skimpy red shirt just seemed to stop her 'searching', holding something black in one hand as she crossed her arms and tilted her head, "No, not really…" at the sound of someone falling off her bed she just chuckled, turning to the girl, "To be honest I just got back from a mission a few hours ago so it's not like I had time to catch up on anything from the past month before Kaa-chan scowled at me back at her desk, taking my team report and saying if I didn't get a shower and in bed in an hour she'd ground me…" there was a dramatic sigh as the older genin turned back to her closet and threw what she'd had in her hand, apparently deeming it not what she was looking for…
"O-oh… really?" a blue-black brow rose as she remembered that Mei was already an active-duty konoichi. Idly her eyes scanned the room again, now with the light on she could easily see the discarded pile of muddy reddish-black clothing to one side and her pale hitae-ate hanging off her mirror, scuffed and with a bit of red on it… a frown tugged at the girl's face, wondering if Mei had been hurt or her partner, "D-did… w-was everything okay?"
"Hmm?" black eyes just seemed to blink back at the girl as Mei stood up again, some stuff thrown over her shoulder, "You mean my mission?" there was a quick nod from the smaller girl as black eyes went from the blind girl on her bed to her pile of mission clothes and her forehead protector. She really hadn't had the chance to clean anything up, literally going straight home, stripping them off, tossing it all in a pile and running for the shower before Jun could snag it, putting on her sleepwear and hoping in bed… only for her weird little 'cousin' to show up, falling from her ceiling and all, needing clothes. A light smirk came to the girl's tan face as she grabbed a few more things and walked over to the younger girl, "Went about as expected for an escort mission," as she walked across the room, clothes in hand, she couldn't help but smirk into her mirror and at her hitae-ate hanging off it, "There were a few bandit raids, a handful of low-level nuke-nin, and my partner managed to break her leg so I had to carry her back…" a nonchalant shrug as she tossed the clothing at the small girl on her bed, "Like I said, pretty normal…"
"R-Really?" a cyan tattooed brow couldn't help but raise as the younger girl was slightly surprised by how nonchalant the older teen was about her mission, from the sound of it involving killing a number of people while defending not only her target but injured partner as well. Absentmindedly Yorihi pulled up what appeared to be a black stretchy top, breathable and form-fitting and figured it'd have to do for now, before asking without thinking, "did you kill any of them?"
A reddish-brown brow rose as the older genin put her hands on her hips, more out of it being a comfortable stance then any kind of point, "Course I did," another shrug as she moved to sit next to Yorihi, leaning on the back wall lazily as she absently reached out to pet the strange blue-black cat, not even caring when he seemed to scrunch up relatively annoyed, "I remember Ruri-sensei going on and on about 'disabling' opponents as us genin aren't 'required' to kill anyone, but eh…" absently she waved a hand closing her eyes, "When you've already done it, it's like taking off a bandaid, you stop caring that you're 'killing' someone, and more just getting them 'out of the way' and ensuring your target is safe…" her black eyes seemed to stare blankly after she opened them, falling a bit further down the wall, "I mean… I'm not trying to justify it, Yorihi-chan, just that… well…" a slight frown came to her face, "I'm not like Kaa-chan… the opportunity is there, I take it, otherwise I'll disable them or sensei handles them…"
"Mm," absently the blind girl nodded, still fiddling with the stretchy shirt, thinking over her own experiences with killing. They'd been so dramatic and imprinted deeply in her a desire to 'not' do it because of the price… yet Mei-chan seemed detached from it, not seeing her kills as really anything and she wasn't sure if that was better or worse than gloating about it. –And what did she mean about Baba?- she knew her Grandmother didn't have a single qualm about killing, if the woman was as 'creative' about torture as she had shown Yorihi, there was no way that woman had any problem about taking life…
In the heavy silence that seemed to spread between the girls Mei glanced over at her odd little 'cousin', finally noticing her new eye covering as she may or may not have picked up the ghostly feline and put him on her chest. The cat growled for all of a second before nuzzling into a ball on her chest, causing the older teen to snort, "Cheeky bastard," a tan hand roughly noogied the cat's head but there was no way he was moving. Black eyes turned to the girl still wearing that damn hospital gown and fiddling with the clothes in her lap, "So I just noticed," a grin spread on her face, "you got your own hitae-ate~"
A slightly embarrassed flush may or may not have passed the girl's pale cheeks as she nodded adamantly, setting the clothes to the side and hoping off the bed.
A reddish-brown brow rose as she watched the girl systematically start from the bottom with her replacement clothes so as not having to take off the hospital gown immediately, "So the test you mentioned earlier…?"
Yorihi slipped on the new stretchy black shorts, finding a decent enough front and back split skirt with a few pouches for weapons she could use for now, nodding to the older genin's question, "Mm… I-I passed…" it felt strange saying it out loud, before a grin spread wide on her pale features that she couldn't help but look up at the older girl earnestly, even if Mei couldn't see her eyes.
An equally earnest grin spread on the older genin's face, "Good job Yorihi-chan," she raised one hand to give a thumbs-up while the other continued petting the cat on her chest, "Though honestly I couldn't see them failing you… hehe."
A certain cat may or may not have snorted as his Master had a bit of a frown, picking up the stretchy shirt, "I could have failed, if I'd fallen…" she nudged her chin towards her cat lounging on the older girl's chest, "If it weren't for him I probably would have…"
Black eyes glanced to the blue-black tabby on her chest as she pet him a bit roughly, "Cheeky bastard," another snort from the feline as those thin black eyes just looked back at her 'cousin', "I bet you could'a done it by yourself…"
The smaller girl just shrugged, not sure what to do with the odd praise. Mei was the first person in her 'family' she had a chance to actually show off her hitae-ate herself. They knew obviously, they must have, that she'd passed… but even still, it felt almost weird to Yorihi to first show her hitae-ate to the girl that was her Grandmother's daughter and only really associated with when she needed to borrow clothes… or when her and Yugito dragged her off to shop for 'stuff'.
It was at this moment she realized she didn't really know the girl, or the other Gakushins really, as much as she knew the desk clerk she called 'Baba'.
"Ya know," a lazy voice piped in as black eyes opened to stare at the shorter genin, "if I didn't know you were blind I'd almost say your were staring at me?" a reddish-brown brow piqued as she eyed the odd little girl, knowing she wouldn't see, but finding it funny as she just seemed to stiffen and blush in embarrassment.
"I-I was just thinking…" her hands fiddled with the fabric in her hand as she thought of something to say, "What…" her voice started but she thought better of it, watching as the older girl's brow rose higher as Mei continued to absently pet Bachiko, "…Did… d-did you have to do anything after your test? W-with your new partner I mean?"
That reddish-brown brow rose higher as Mei decided to sit up, propping her chin on one hand as Bachiko rolled into her lap upside down, "You mean like an 'initiation' thing?" the blind girl absently nodded, "Well I dunno how they do it in the other Companies but yea, we had this kinda weird little test from our sensei, though it was more for him to get a feel for what we could do and how we worked together…" that was when a thought slipped into Mei's mind, her narrow black eyes opening a bit wider as she looked at her 'cousin', "So, you went through the crash course, who'd they assign as your partner?"
A flat look came over the blind girl's face, "a boy named 'Kumori Uenkai' showed up at my hospital room earlier claiming to be my new 'teammate'…" she may or may not have huffed, she didn't like how the older boy acted, arrogant and dismissive of her.
"Uenkai… Uenkai… hmm…" a tan finger rubbed along the older girl's chin, "That name sounds familiar…" she crossed her arms moving about in various thinking poses, "Maybe in the class before me?"
A cyan-tattooed brow rose, "Mei-chan?"
"hrm…" a thin black eye popped open, staring at the younger girl up and down, seeing she had yet to take that hospital gown off the top. The eye closed and a frown seemed to spread on the older genin before she rolled slightly to the side, upsetting a certain blue-black tabby who had been quite comfortable, as she reached into the pile of discarded clothes and tossed something black at the girl, "You're going to need that…"
Yorihi squeaked, dropping the shirt she'd been reluctant to put on and catching the garment Mei-chan had thrown at her. Instinctively her hands went all over the thing feeling it out to 'figure out' what it was even if she could plainly see it, a red blush spread on her face.
"Hehe," that cocky Gakushin grin spread on the older girl's face as she propped her chin on both hands, "If you're going to be doing any kind of 'initiation' stuff you're gonna need the support…" a squeal may or may not have come from the older genin causing a certain cat to jump, "Especially if your partner is a boy~"
The red spread even further, unlike last time she'd borrowed clothes from Mei over seven months ago she now knew what a bra was when it was thrown at her. Yugito had taken it upon herself to teach the young growing girl some things, horrible, horrible, terrifying things that apparently she was supposed to learn from her 'mother'… Reki somehow got involved and Kemui-sama had been conveniently absent due to teaching a class. Somehow that afternoon had been just as, if not more, terrifying then the torture-cell illusion, at least with that she'd 'chosen' to do it and there was an obvious tactical purpose… the ins and outs of her developing female body did not!
Mei, unfortunately, didn't know any of this, as she flatly stared at the girl's reddening face, "You are the only person I've ever met that gets so embarrassed by bras," there may have been a sigh as the girl in the snug red-shirt crossed her arms, inadvertently 'showing off' her own developing chest before continuing in a chiding voice, "Seriously though, you're gonna want the support," her hand came out sagely as if making a point, "I mean I know some girls with hand-helds don't need them," there was a short cough that sounded almost like 'like my partner' before another cough as the girl continued, sagely, "or my mother who just lets it all 'hang out'," there may or may not have been a growl, "but developing young girl's like us need the extra support, especially you!" a tan hand suddenly pointed at Yorihi…
… who made a rather pathetic 'Eep!' sound and jumped.
A reddish-brown brow may have raised a bit before that serious look returned to the older genin's eyes like she was imparting sacred wisdom on her junior, "considering at your age you already surpass me…" there was not a sniffle, "and you'll likely surpass my mother by the time you're Jun's age," those reddish-brown brows furrowed, deathly serious, "So you might as well get used to wearing those now!"
Yorihi looked deathly terrified of the older girl, hidden white eyes wide as she could only give a firm nod before turning around and finally taking the damnable hospital gown off to put on the horrifying garment.
Mei just seemed to snort, "Seriously, didn't your mom teach you anything?" at the way the younger girl's shoulders scrunched up Mei got the feeling she'd just said something she shouldn't have. –Crap!- "Er… I mean," embarrassedly she scratched one tan cheek, looking away, "Well I mean Oba-chan should'a taught you something," her arms crossed as her eyes closed with a pout on her face, "Even if I doubt she even bothers wearing anything underneath that kimono-top… freakin' lucky with those damn hand-helds…"
Yorihi could only raise a speculative tattooed brow as she pulled down the 'tight' black stretchy shirt, glad it had barely any sleeves so she didn't have to adjust her armbands, before turning back to Mei absentmindedly tugging at the annoying undergarment under the shirt, "this is really annoying…"
The reddish-brunette seemed to pop out of her ponderings on her 'aunt's' under-things, turning a flat black eye to her younger cousin looking her over in the lamp light, "It'll have to do…" a tan hand rubbed her chin as something seemed to cross her mind, "By the way, what happened to all your gear?" last she'd seen the girl before her mission Yorihi had been walking around with a small arsenal; wired kunai, four adult-sized swords, those beat rods, arm and leg guards, and who knew what else. The kid as an Academy student was better equipped than some chuunin she knew.
There was an obvious grumble from the girl as she fiddled with her shirt again, "I honestly don't know, I'd been in the hospital since the test and none of the staff would answer me about my clothes," the frown spread as she 'glanced' around the older girl's room, "I half think they hid them just so I wouldn't 'escape'…"
A laugh broke out from the bed that Mei futilely tried to hide behind her hand, "You're probably right, I know they took my partner's stuff while she was doped up… probably still is now that I think about it," a reddish-brown brow rose, "but they gave all the salvageable stuff to me to hold onto," a tan hand pointed to a small collection of gear on a chair featuring two tomahawks and several kunai holsters, "but I knew they threw out her pants; covered in too much blood and they had to cut them off anyway," she waved her hand around flippantly as if it wasn't that much of a deal.
"So, wait…?" Yorihi turned to the older girl with cocked tattooed-brows, wishing she at least had a belt to rest her hand on, "They just gave you her stuff… because you're her partner?"
Black eyes blinked up at the younger girl, "Huh? Yea I guess, why?"
All was quiet for moment…
... then Yorihi started shaking, her hands in fists tight enough to turn the knuckles white and a seeming blue aura of angry chakra eeked out of her before she threw her head back in a scream, "THAT SON OF A BITCH!"
Rightfully Mei jumped, holding the angry girl's cat a bit closer as at first her sudden burst of chakra was scary… then a snicker escaped the older girl as it became insanely funny as the younger Gakushin's mind easily put the pieces together. It seemed Yorihi's new 'teammate' was not only familiar with hospital procedures but already using and abusing them…
Without realizing it, Mei was starting to like the guy already.
Downstairs in the den area of the Gakushin household…
At the sudden large and familiar burst of angry chakra, the two occupants that had been fast asleep on the couch jumped awake…
Or really one of them as the other simply jumped but never quite got to the 'waking up' part.
Blue-green eyes had shot open as Mabui recognized that sudden burst of dense wild chakra. –What the hell? Senpai?!- quickly looking around the dark den of the two-story apartment the grey haired girl didn't see anything out of place; the TV was on showing a blank static-filled screen, the files she'd brought over were still strewn about on the coffee table and looking to her right Jun seemed to still be asleep with his head lulled back and left arm along the back of the sofa.
The last thing she remembered Jun was helping her fill out all the overnight paperwork for the new registrations for the Academy, Shinobi forces and a few mission files ready to be archived because she was tired of sitting at her little desk by herself back at the Raikage's tower. The brunette asleep next to her wasn't a part of the Admin. forces but perhaps as a genetic gift from his evil mother was decent at dealing with paperwork… but even he got bored, or as he put it said she needed a break and put a movie in to get their minds off of 'work' for a few minutes. She remembered reluctantly allowing him to watch the distracting thing while she continued her work… then got 'distracted' by said movie and apparently ended up falling asleep… on the same couch as him…
The dark skinned young assistant may have turned a few shades darker with a red tint before she quickly got up, stacked her paperwork into a neat little pile, sealed in a carrying scroll which was quickly tossed into her kimono and headed for the door. Thank whatever Kami above her Senpai just went berserk nearby else she would have probably slept the whole night at that evil desk clerk's place and she did not want to be there when Reki came home.
It never occurred to Mabui, as she was quite obviously fleeing, to ask what Yorihi was doing at the Gakushin residence at this ungodly hour anyway, since last anyone knew the young newly-minted Genin was unconscious at the Hospital. But details later, fleeing now!
In no more than a second later there was a loud crash as Mei suddenly had a new access point to the outside in her room. Raising a reddish brow the older genin walked over to the large hole, deftly avoiding the debris and noticed that not only was her wall demolished but so was the glass framing the outer wall. She easily felt as the lazy cat that had been lounging on her chest hopped up onto her shoulder as he too looked at the destruction wrought by his Master, all Mei could do was whistle loudly.
"OH MY GOD!" an oddly familiar voice called a bit down the hall as Mei leaned out of the hole in her wall, spotting a familiar grey haired assistant who had stopped in her tracks of fleeing, too stunned by the abrupt damage to continue immediately. Without thinking, the off-duty chuunin's hands went up, "WHAT THE HELL SENPAI!?"
That reddish brow rose higher, "Mabui-san?"
The older young woman seemed to squeak, jumping a good foot in the air before turning around and seeing Jun's little sister just standing amidst the rubble, in her underwear no less with a rather familiar blue-black tabby on her shoulder. The utterly frightened deer-in-headlights look on the cute woman's face was priceless, as she looked about to say something, turned distinctly red… and bolted down the hall throwing over her shoulder, "I WASN'T HERE!"
Idly bored black eyes narrowed, brow rising higher on both her and the blue-black tabby as the genin stood back, hands on her hips and just shaking her head, "Honestly, I'm back less than ten hours and all this happens…" she brought her hands up into three seals just about anyone in Kumo was familiar with before stepping outside her room and placing her hand on the side of the glass which slowly started to repair itself. A nudge on her shoulder proved to be Yorihi's cat giving her something of a playful nuzzle which she returned, "Yes, yes, you're cute~" she rolled her shoulder towards the closing glass, "You better go after her…" the cat merely snorted in response causing black eyes to roll, "Go on, she's going to need someone to help calm her down," again she nudged her shoulder towards the glass, only this time Bachiko leapt off, attaching to the reforming glass as he looked back with an odd look in his vibrant blue eyes. Mei just raised her free hand as the glass continued fixing itself, "Go on, shoo~" and the bakeneko finally left.
"Uhh… Mei-chan?" a masculine voice called across the hall as the younger genin could feel that her brother had apparently woken up and was now standing in the hole from her room scratching his head confused.
"Yorihi-chan came over to borrow some clothes," absently she waved her free hand down the hall, conveniently in the way Mabui had been fleeing, "by the way you're girlfriend left running again…"
Narrow black eyes stared at the back of his sister's head as the elder Gakushin put his hands on his hips, "We're just friends, besides…" at the similar narrow black eyes flatly glaring at him disbelieving his claim, Jun pointed at the girl, "What're you doing out in the hall in your underwear?"
Mei just stared at her older brother flatly for a good minute before sighing and turning back to her task, "Cleaning up after our family," there may have been a growl in her voice as a reddish-brown brow twitched in a way very reminiscent of a certain desk clerk being told she couldn't smoke, "Like I always do…"
Jun just scratched his head, before yawning and turning around… it was too early to be awake.
It was around 0300 and Uenkai was sitting in a meditative position in the middle of a training ground not quite number 18. He couldn't sleep and as a habit of his prior to his coma he had spent most of his nights unable to sleep restlessly training until he wore out enough to pass out or his former partner would find him and drag him to bed, usually by force. Due to his long overdue sleep he was barely capable of the former and without her the later would never happen again, so here he was, meditating in the middle of an empty field, alone.
Behind him were the things belonging to his new 'teammate' that the hospital had signed away to him. Thanks to his previous time there and being active duty prior to his coma, he was quite familiar with hospital procedure on injured patients. True they weren't 'officially' partners in the conventional sense just yet, but on paper he and that little arrogant girl were as officially 'partners' as Kumo-General cared about, thus he had the 'responsibility' to look after her belongings while incapacitated. He intended to give them back, that was without a doubt, and when he had visited her yesterday he had not expected for her to be awake. Like several of the other more 'decorated' of this year's graduating class it had been expected the girl would need relatively a week to heal up…
Then he had met her face to face.
… and something in him was just insanely annoyed. –I don't understand why Kemui-sama entrusted me with this task- Kumori Uenkai had never considered himself a particularly 'spectacular' genin, his track record obviously spoke otherwise with what happened to his teammate despite whatever progress came beforehand. Yet… yet that assassin woman, the one that was considered the Raikage's hidden blade, his unsuspecting tool meant to stab in anyone's back that thought to oppose the big Oni… she had looked him in the eye, not dismissing his injuries or experiences, listened to what he had to say and for whatever reason deemed him worthy to 'look after' the Raikage's own daughter. He had expected the woman to kill him for failing, instead she gave him a much more risky mission, trusting him to not only look after the girl but teach her from his experience in the field. Least that's what he had interpreted from that meeting about a month ago.
The first time he had 'seen' Tenkyuu Yorihi she was unconscious in a hospital bed after her overly large familiar had brought her to the hospital after the test, vacantly mumbling something about bats. Part of him wondered if she was messing with his surname, which while similar to the sound of 'bats' had nothing to do with the nocturnal flying rats. The hospital staff had stripped her down, put her in a gown and handed him her belongings, as again he was registered on paper as her partner, then left. He was a fourteen year old boy with battle experience and they left him to look after some green unconscious eleven year old… mumbling about bats…
He remembered looking her over in the hospital bed, this pale little girl scuffed up, possibly concussed, in that ridiculous hospital gown, the only articles of her own clothing the nurses deemed unnecessary to remove being the dark blue blindfold and the stone armbands… and he hoped her undergarments because he was not going to be responsible for such things. It was bad enough back with Sasayaki when she'd go skinny dipping and leave him to look after her 'things', honestly the developing woman made a point of teasing his unstable male hormones…
Uenkai vigorously shook his head… he didn't want to think about her… it was wrong to think of those ridiculous times, especially with her being gone and now him being reassigned… it just…. It wasn't right.
Focus returned and in the right place, the young man turned his mental attentions back to his new 'teammate's' belongings strewn about behind him. Part of his mind knew that the best way to gather information on the girl was to inspect what she carried with her, this was information gathering one-oh-one… another part of him called him a coward for not simply waiting to ask the girl. Obviously his Shinobi training won out… sort of…
It was his obligation as her new 'teammate' to inspect and repair any of her gear… yea, that was it… He'd made a point of cleaning her clothes, more out of habit then any actual consideration for her… it had just been a rule between him and his former partner; whoever wasn't injured washed the other's clothes before handing them back. There was nothing worse than getting out of the hospital in gritty, bloody clothes from who knows how long ago. Also out of habit, and nothing else, he had examined her armor and weapons. For being such a small, young girl, the kid carried around on her an apparent arsenal: wired kunai of varying degrees, a few throwing knife holsters, with knives hidden into her clothing as if to not appear to be there, a fully stocked first aid kit with apparently homemade antiseptic pastes (which had surprised him as nothing in her profile suggested she had any interest or proficiency in medicine) a pair of extendable beat rods he recognized as the old ones Kuri-sensei used to use upside his, and various other 'insubordinate' students' heads, arm and leg guards seeming designed to cover over her wrists and top of her shoes if the measurements were right by his understanding… and strangest of all was her adjustable belt holster with four, yes four, adult-sized swords. He would openly admit he had spent the most time looking those over out of all her gear, sure he had sharpened and polished her other weapons and armor, noting to suggest a chain undershirt as those were often invaluable in combat against small arms and shrapnel, but those swords were a continuous interest to him.
From what he had gathered listening to her fellow students, via gossip as he was not going to actually ask them, the girl had never once drawn the swords her entire time at the Academy, simply carrying them around and using the beat-rods as a proxy for a double sword style in combat. This of course made him insanely curious, inspecting the weapons more, though not drawing them either, out of respect for the weapons, not their wielder. The four blades were guardless, smooth single pieces, sheath and grip, and if one didn't look closely would not notice they ever were anything beyond just sticks. It was their shape that suggested the blades hidden within, as well as how they were arranged on the leather belt holster, meant to be carried on the sides with the current configuration, two on each side, individually separate allowing for multiple stances and combinations with any of the odd blades. Then there was the type of blades, from what he heard everyone just assumed they were four katana, obviously no one had gotten close enough to notice the nuanced differences between each blade.
The one on the top left, if he were to wear the holster, was the longest, with a slight bit more curvature to the end, making him think it was probably an Uchigatana; a blade designed specifically to be drawn and slice in one quick motion. Opposite this blade on the top right was the shortest and straightest, had it a guard he would think it was a Ninjato; a short sword favored by many Shinobi for stabbing, quick strikes, and maneuverability in tight spaces. Also it was in some respects an insult to Samurai, being a straight blade as opposed to their beloved Katana, and with a guard able to deflect such a larger sword easy. This one was obviously meant to be a 'modified' version, as it retained some curvature but he couldn't resist the idea it was still meant to pierce as oppose to slice like the sword opposite it. Below the Ninjato was the only one he'd call a full Katana, though there was something about its weight and balance that seemed to suggest it was 'off' as well. He knew the weight of a Katana, he'd pulled enough of them out of his body during fights to be intimately familiar with the relatively common blade, this one was heavy, not just the heaviest of the four swords but heavy. He partly wondered if the sword itself was meant more to 'crush' then actually cut as its weight suggested, but without drawing the blade, again out of respect for the blade, he would not know why the oddity. And finally that brought him to the last blade, similar in size to the Katana opposite it yet a fair bit shorter, making him think it was just a typical Wakizashi, sure a bit large one as it was closer to the size of a Katana then the ones he'd normally seen, probably making it technically an O-Wakizashi, but a Wakizashi nonetheless. From the scabbard he couldn't see anything strange about the blade, just its size, too short for a Katanna, longer than a typical Wakizashi, but its positioning across from the heavy Katana and obvious lighter weight made him wonder if out of the four swords those two were the ones truly meant for duel wielding. It was an interesting thought, the first top two seemed designed to be used individually, while the bottom two could be as well, they could also just as easily be used together, like a Wakizashi and Katana were supposed to be.
Whoever made these blades made them custom and obviously with the intent to be a set for the strange little girl to use when she was older. The straps on the belt holster were adjustable all around, obviously meant to be changed as her body did and her style with the swords altered. From how the thing was designed he could see various configurations, she could probably ever wear it over her chest and draw the swords off her back like many Black Op.s ANBU did for the convenience and mobility. Whoever made this, the swords and the holster, put a lot of effort into its construction, as if hoping to provide the girl with as many comfortable options as possible. This person obviously cared deeply for her and if they never said it or acted like it, they certainly made the point with their craftsmanship. If the blades were even half as impressive as the rest they were certainly fine swords, part of him wondered if she would tell him who made them, perhaps have this blacksmith look over his own cleaver-sword.
But quality of weapons meant nothing if the wielder was nothing, his mind petulantly reminded him.
He set the collection of blades down, staring at them with passive teal eyes, noting about his features showing his respect for such finely made weapons. He would not draw them, not wield them, but they were fascinating to behold. He was used to common place metal sharpened to an edge wasted in battle, not something obviously so unique and he hoped cherished. Most Shinobi, in his experience, wore out weapons and simply got new ones, only Kiri had been known to have specific blades that lasted generations and were revered more than those that wielded them. The dark tan boy couldn't help the chiding groan at himself. –That's probably why I can't help but respect these blades…- it was probably also why he was so irritated with the girl, not giving a damn her weapons were gone…
That's when he felt an unmistakably large and angry force of nature heading directly towards him, a light blue light in the distance towards the village getting unmistakably closer and closer.
Without changing the look on his face he stood up, holding the swords in one hand and the knapsack with her other gear over his shoulder on the other side.
The unmistakable shimmering light blue thing seemed to jump, shadow the moon a moment, giving an enhanced look to the vibrant chakra brimming off the intruder, as she came down with rocket like force, foot out and causing a crater where Uenkai had been.
Landing on the outer cusp of the new crater, he'd seen bigger, Uenkai effortlessly strapped the blades to his back along with the knapsack, freeing up his hands as he took an unconscious battle ready stance.
There was an unmistakable growl as the dust cleared from the center of the crater, as the short shimmering blue person pulled her foot out of the ground and 'glared' at him with a hitae-ate, "Give them back!"
The effortless growl and intensity of the small girl's words sent an unconscious shiver through the older teen but he stood firm, showing none of his surprise as he merely stood tall as any other Kumo-nin, "0345, you're early," his shoulder shrugged around him, "and this isn't even training ground 18, either you're bad at taking orders and following simple instructions or you found a target more interesting?" he let the small devious smirk pick that the edge of his lips, hoping to goad the girl. He'd admit openly he'd never, neverthought he'd see the day where a newly minted genin effortlessly exuded that much chakra, sure the girl always had a tendency to be eeking out some amount of the life energy, but this was intense. Obviously she was furious and her chakra was acting up in accordance with her emotions, he wanted to see just how far he could push her… that was it, he told himself.
That growl as the girl's shoulders rose, like a beast raising its fur, but she didn't rise to his bait, holding her hand out at her tattooed brows obviously lowered, "Give them back!" she barked again, but didn't make any move towards him.
The odd 'inaction' caused the boy to lower his own scarred teal brows questionably. Here was someone out of control to the point their chakra was visible, she had made her 'entrance' by slamming the ground hard enough to create a crater, and all she did was ask to have her stuff back? Teal eyebrows furrowed as the older genin narrowed his eyes, "You didn't answer my question: are you incompetent or impatient?"
Again the ruffling of the girl as she was obviously tensing, irritated with her chakra flaring, but she didn't move from her position, "I will answer whatever the hell you have to say, after you give me back my swords!"
A teal brow piqued, part of him glad she cared about the finely crafted weapons while another was curious why they were the only things she seemed to care about getting back at the moment. He raised a tan hand to rub along his chin, "And why should I? You aren't in a position to bargain," he stated flatly, watching the girl as she lowered her hand to clinch at her side as he lowered his own to his hips, displaying a look that saw her as no threat despite the obvious, "What makes you think you have the right to order anything from me?"
That familiar growl as her chakra seemed to condense, "Try the fact I could have just killed you and taken them!"
He couldn't help it, Uenkai flinched, not just at the intensity of her words but by how low and controlled they were. Genin, especially right out of the Academy genin, even from Kumo, didn't resort to killing immediately… and when they did it was not something done lightly. The girl's 'battle aura' seemed to lower but only to become more dense, more controlled as her anger seemed to be focusing her instead of sending her out of control like most people he had fought. He suddenly felt the familiar sensation he had when he met the assassin, only this was backed by that dense focused chakra… the girl did not lie, she would have killed him if she felt the need to get her things back.
Wordlessly and with a stony face, Uenkai unstrapped the sword bundle from his back, taking one last look at the beautiful blades before tossing them to the enraged girl. Effortlessly they flew through the air, she reaching out without having to move, taking the weapons, unraveling them with familiar ease and strapping them around her waist. The fluidity of the motion, the lack of needing to adjust, and the way her chakra lowered visibly showed there was no doubt, those blades were hers and hers alone. There was a visible sigh of relief as the girl lowered her shoulders, obviously glad to have something of hers back…
"Why did you want them back so badly?" the teal haired boy crossed his arms, keeping the stony look on his passive face, but even he was unable to ignore what just happened. The relief the girl felt was palatable in the air, her chakra lessened considerably, there had to be more then sentiment behind her desire to have her weapons back.
The blind girl ruffled, comfortably setting her arms on her blades like normal, "Not that it's any of your business, but these swords help keep my reserves in check," her head tilted down, feeling the smooth lacquered wood of the blade sheaths, "They are made of the same stone from the mountains I trained in… they help keep my chakra occupied…" her fingers fidgeted on the handle of the long top one, "… so I don't burst like just now…" an embarrassed blush crossed the girl's cheeks hoping the boy couldn't see it in the darkness.
A teal brow rose, "I hadn't felt anything from them while in my possession…" they were just normal blades to him, beautiful and well crafted sure, but nothing to denote any chakra property… unless they had to be unsheathed…
A scowl passed the girl's mostly covered face; whatever embarrassment at her outburst gone, "You wouldn't, they feed only on my chakra…" there may have been a pout as she added under her breath, "… they wouldn't do anything for you…"
Teal eyes narrowed on the little girl, feeling perhaps the barest of irritation, not that he showed it, "Are you going to answer my earlier question, are you incompetent or impatient?"
The girl's shoulders rippled again with some underlying threat, turning his way, scowl fully in place, "Neither, as obviously I found you despite being nowhere near what time or place you told me, so you're the one that's either impatient or incompetent, giving your new partner the wrong place and time!"
Uenkai would never admit this, but he felt a childish roll of anger bristle up in him as his hands went to his sides and may or may not have balled into fists, "Firstly I told you the appropriate time and place, and secondly I was out her performing my own training, not intending to be interrupted by some child-oni!"
Yorihi obviously bristled, gripping her top two blades in her frustration, maybe a bit of her chakra showing back up, "I only wanted to get what was mine back! Like I give a damn about how I've inconvenienced you!" okay, she was mad, to the point of completely ignoring that ground in decorum half of her family had been systematically dismantling since she came to this freakin' village while the other half quietly approved of. Let it be said that when Tenkyuu Yorihi was mad she took after her Father, the Raikage, in full force! A dangerous pale hand pointed at the older boy indignantly, "And what the hell gives you the right or thought that you can take my belongings without my knowledge or consent!"
Let it also be said that Kumori Uenkai did not back down just because some little girl got it in her head to act like an Oni, daughter of the Raikage or not, she was still younger than him, less experienced then him, and a little GIRL! He was trying to contain his bubbling, insulted irritation at the green genin, but only really managed to keep his voice relatively above normal and hands in tight fists, it was a 'start', "I am your senior, the one in charge of your from now on if I deem you worth of my time, and as your teammate it is my obligation to care for your belongings while incapacitated as a sign of respect!" not that he respected her, mind, but the tradition… yes, that was it.
Yorihi growled, visibly shaking and wanting nothing more than to punch him in his smug face, "You are not my 'teammate', we've never even met before yesterday, so how the hell am I supposed to trust you with my belongings if you don't even consult me first!"
Oh the childish argument of 'blame', this could honestly go on all night/early morning, and Bachiko, sitting some distance away on a rock wished he had some appropriately themed food…
Immediately a pale hand pointed to the blue-black tabby, who jumped with a hiss, "And shut up!"
Bachiko, now pointed out and 'discovered', had his forked tails puffed out in blue-black flames along with all the hair on his back as he scrunched up in a typical cat-fashion and hissed at his angry Master. She simply growled back at him, showing just as much 'puffing up' with her chakra.
Uenkai suddenly felt extremely ignored, causing one of his teal scarred brows to twitched, but his earlier fury to dissipate, if now he was more annoyed than anything else. His narrow teal eyes traveled from the blind girl, glaring with her brows, stance, and Hitae-ate in place of her eyes, and the blue-black fork-tailed cat doing much the same. Similar to how he remembered the Masters did back at the Academy, Uenkai crossed his arms, garnering a neutral expression before finally speaking, annoyance clear in his voice, "Since we're all here," the two ruffled 'cats' seemed to turn on him, puffed and angry as they had been, "Might as well get this over with…" he may have rolled his eyes, maybe.
Blue-black brows, both the kitty kind and human version, had all of a moment to rise at the boy's flat tone before he was gone in a flash… and the ground opened up at Yorihi's feet as she dodged a massive ground strike from the boy's cleaver like sword.
She landed on her feet with ease, hands reaching into her back pouch… only to grip air and remember that wasn't attached to her belt like normal. –Damnit!- the young girl grit her teeth, bringing her hands in front of her in a modified stance for hand to hand combat she'd been working on with Ruri-sensei. The boy's cleaver-sword came in fast again, enough she had to lean to dodge –He's fast…- the sheer size of the sword would suggest it was slow like an axe but apparently Kumori could wield it as swiftly as any rapier. Hidden white eyes rolled as she used chakra laced palms to deflect the large blade, placing her hand on the wide flat side and guiding it away. –And I had been worried about him fighting…-
The boy attacked like a ferocious whirlwind of blades and strikes with the large cleaver-sword, Yorihi managing to dodge mostly by instinct and guiding the blade away in tight spots. It wasn't that she couldn't dodge his strikes but that she was trying to work her way inside his defenses, whatever she could say about the boy, as arrogant and a jerk as he was, he was indeed an excellent swordsman… or axeman… whatever, either really worked as the cleaver-sword was large enough to really fall into either category, and he wielded it efficiently as both.
After several frantic minutes of the two attacking, deflecting, and dodging where appropriate, Yorihi managed to stick her hand on the side of the blade and send it high in a upward jerk, using the momentum to draw back her other hand for a solid punch aimed right at Uenkai's head.
It was probably only because the girl practically roared that the teal haired boy realized the danger he was in, quickly flipping his grip and with a mixture of gravity and swinging force, brought the flat of his cleaver-sword down like a shield to block her devastating fist. He could feel through the blade and long handle, the shake and force, and just how powerful that hit could have been as it forced his blade to literally kiss his forehead and push him several feet back… he honestly expected a quick follow up move, so was rather surprised when again he flipped his grip, going for a diagonal chop only to hit complete air.
Yorihi was standing in a neutral stance, seeming to only be standing with her arms at her sides but with how tense her body was it was easy to tell she had every inch guarded. The frown on her pale round face showed how uninterested she was in this, "What are we doing here Kumori?"
Was it an insult that she was referring to him as his surname? Or was she just being professional? He lowered his blade, taking a more axe-wielding stance, crouching low as his eyes never left her small frame, "I'm evaluating your skill…"
"Tch," he was almost half-convinced she would have spit were she anyone else, "You could just ask, besides," the pale girl nodded her chin in his direction, in some way feeling like an insult, "if you really want to see what I'm capable of give me back the rest of my gear…"
A smirk picked at the edge of Uenkai's lip that he hid by crouching further into his stance, "I have to have something be your goal, reacquiring your stuff will just have to be it…" she growled again in response, her shoulders ruffling irritatedly, causing that urge to smirk to grow in the older boy.
"How is this an evaluation of my skill then? Not even allowed to use the weapons I've trained with?" her cyan tattooed brows lowered, like she was reading him more seriously, waiting for any sudden moves.
Uenkai just rolled a shoulder, "You'll just have to figure it out," that smirk was becoming obvious, "If a Shinobi thinks they're only as good as their gear then they are no worth to us," the boy's dark chin nudged at the girl, "I gave those back to you as sincerity, use them if you wish…"
A frown spread on the girl's pale face as her stance seemed to drop momentarily, hands absentmindedly running over the handles of her top two blades… then she shook her head fiercely, "No," her voice was low, holding that threatening growl as she gripped her blades for all of a moment, then letting them go, "Bachiko…"
A scarred tattooed brow rose, what had she just said?
Suddenly the blue-black tabby was on the young girl's shoulders, grinning a wide Cheshire grin as his Master seemed to be putting forth all her effort to concentrate on something… it almost looked like she was muttering something under her breath?
Teal eyes narrowed as the boy gripped his blade, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end, that ground in sixth sense that something serious was about to happen. –Guess I should stop it…- without even a thought the boy disappeared, reappearing in a whirlwind of his massive blade… the girl dodged, of course, only this time she seemed to actually jump away? His scarred brow twitched –why is she dodging now?- before she had fought tooth and nail to get near him, now this? That disturbing feeling on the back of his neck was still there so again the boy charged…
The cat on her shoulder just seemed to roar, causing a 'force' to knock the boy out of his charge. –Was that a ninjutsu? Genjutsu? Or just the beast's force of chakra?- many in Kumo were familiar with some level of 'demon chakra' seeing as they had two Jinchuuriki that weren't adverse at all to showing off their sealed demon's abilities. The little cat on the small girl's shoulder could only be considered as something demonic, with how intelligent it acted and the feel of its presence… so that had to be it, just a dense focus of chakra thrown his way in the form of a roar, a reflexive scare tactic, not a real technique. A pout came to the teal haired boy's face –two can play at that game…- immediately he put away his massive cleaver-sword by attaching it to its latch on his belt and brought his hands together running through several seals, "Kirigakure no jutsu!" taking in a massive breath infused with chakra before breathing out a wave of mist.
The demon cat seemed to growl, swishing his tails about his Master's shoulder, Yorihi could only snort taking the small moment to comment on the chakra 'mist's' futility, "Explain to me why you would use a concealing technique on someone that can't see?!" sure, the claim was utterly false and while switching her eyes to their chakra-sight she got interference due to the chakra density in the mist, but still, with sound, smell, feeling, even taste she could navigate the older genin's position. The only reason she could see him doing such a technique was out of habit, to annoy her cat, or as a setup to something else…
… She really hoped it was that last one.
There was a loud clap as Uenkai smacked his hands together, kneeling some distance from where he had been and running his hands through a complex set of seals before holding an odd seal and growling out as he released his chakra into the mist, "Eteru Youshiki!"
-Wait-what?- cyan brows quirked along with odd whiskered ones as both Yorihi and her cat tried to determine what the boy's added technique did. They both could feel the chakra in the mist increase, but what the hell did it actually do? Looking around with all her senses as Yorihi split her attention from what she had been doing and keeping aware of the swirling mist… nothing seemed to be happening! "What the h-…he… hell?" there was a sudden tingly-ness in the small girl's fingers and toes and it had absolutely nothing to do with her gathering chakra.
Vibrant blue eyes just blinked as his Master started to wobble, he twitched his nose and nudged her consciousness heavily… it felt… sleepy? The blue-black cat growled, nudging the girl's head trying to wake her up…
"Ugh…" Yorihi groaned, her body felt so heavy… -the… the… hell… is… is…-
There was a massive growl next to the girl's ear, it sounded so far away…
Next thing she knew the ground was exploding in front of her and she was being dragged out of the mist… the first breath of fresh air felt so electrifying she gasped loudly as her senses began to unfuzz and she realized Bachiko had taken on his larger form, grabbing her with his forked tails, while growling at the visible mist as it started to dissipate, showing Uenkai pulling his massive cleaver-sword out of the ground where, assumedly, Yorihi had previously been standing.
The young Oni's ascent to consciousness was most eloquently put as, "THE HELL WAS THAT?!" as she struggled to be freed from her constant-companion. Bachiko, of course, rolled his massive vibrant blues, shrinking down and retaking his position on her shoulder…
Uenkai twirled his massive blade before setting it on his shoulder with a bit of smirk, blowing most of the mist away from the area, knowing the girl wouldn't go anywhere near it now that she knew the effects, "A family technique, with my chakra I turn ordinary water into an ether that'll easily knockout most living creatures," he nodded his head in respect to the ghostly feline, "seems he proves it doesn't work well on demons," that smirk grew as he again latched his sword and ran his fingers through another series of seals, "not that I can't handle his kind, Kasumi no Jutsu, Arukouru Youshiki!" the teal haired boy breathed out a concentrated stream of mist towards the two, denser, thicker and more controlled then the area-of-effect style Kirigakure technique.
Yorihi instinctively jumped back but was still blasted by most of the technique, she had held her breath expecting something like the ether earlier so when she rolled out of the stream of mist she took in another breath… only this time distinctly smelling and tasting what it was…
The girl shot up gaggling, "THIS IS ALCOHOL!" Tougemichi may have been a hermit that stayed away from society but he was not a man to not imbibe now and then… in fact Yorihi was convinced the old man drank some of the purest booze known to man. After eating out with Reki and her family a few times she'd come to recognize the smell of sake and beers, and none of them were quite like the overpowering pungent scent from the old blind Assassin's stash. This… this mist that was now permeated on her clothing… this was a hell of a lot closer…
Now, while the alcohol didn't seem to really bother the small girl, she did notice her feline companion wobble and fall right off her shoulder, "Bachiko!" worriedly she immediately grabbed the languid feline. Picking him up she noticed he was listless, eyes wide and unfocused, and if she wasn't feeling/hearing him wrong purring for no damn reason… she shook him as one of her tattooed brows twitched, "you're drunk!"
There was a dark chuckle from the middle of the field and the blind girl couldn't help growling at him, "Didn't you know?" that devious smirk of his grew immensely, "most demons are extremely susceptible to alcohol, they get drunk off of simply the smell of the stuff," teal eyes became sharp, full of pride as he let the next words drop, "My family has known this for generations and its why our alcohol manipulation has been a number one defense against demons in many countries!"
There was a volatile growl that filled the area, and it had nothing to do with the drunk feline…
Uenkai stopped his gloating; bringing his teal eyes down to notice the girl had set her companion to the side, enough out of the way as he assumed to be 'safe' as she seemed to retake her neutral stance… only this time she looked pissed! Not quite the same as when she came down from the sky burning mad about her stuff missing, but focused mad, best show by how her chakra wasn't visible except around her hands… why was her chakra visible around her hands?
The young girl's pale lips were moving again and Uenkai dared take a few steps closer, cleaver-sword drawn and ready, just to catch a glimpse of what she was saying…
"… small… unassuming… and can cut… small… unassuming… and can cut…"
The boy's teal scarred brows quirked, what the hell was she saying?
The chakra in her hands seemed to suddenly fluctuate, doubling at least in both size and intensity as the girl brought her head up, growling again a fair bit loud, "Small, unassuming, and can cut!" there was a burst in both of her hands before she shot off towards the boy, attacking viciously in a flurry of kicks, flips, and various other maneuvers.
Caught off guard by the increase in speed and ferocity by the younger girl Uenkai could only counter, parry, and narrowly dodge with his blade, hearing as it clanged against something he couldn't seeing in the bright flurry of motion. A kick-flip, a feint, and a strike so hard it sent the large cleaver-sword out of his hand as the girl set her leg behind his knocking him to the ground, pinning him and holding something bright blue over his eye…
"I should kill you…" the girl's voice growled as she held in her hand what looked like a blade made out of nothing but chakra.
Teal eyes were wide, pupils small, as all the boy could do was stare. He had never, never seen someone able to use shape manipulation to such an extent as to form a weapon of pure chakra. He'd seen weapons made from fire, water, earth, metal, acid, and various other compositions with the help of chakra… but never pure chakra on its own. –and she didn't even use hand-seals…- he could only stare… just stare…
Yorihi's hand seemed to visibly shake as the chakra knife sparked, losing its consistency and before the volatile energy could explode or something she let it dissipate… and punched the cocky boy in the face, hard, before standing up and walking back to her cat, "That's for Bachi-chan…"
With a groan the boy rolled to his side, rubbing his face and seeing if anything was broken before sitting up, slightly dizzy, and turning narrow teal eyes on the girl, "We're not done yet!"
Instead of any kind of verbal response he saw her flick her opposite hand back without turning around, the one she hadn't 'let go' of her chakra blade, at him and several lights shot towards him…
"Ack…!" opening his eyes, as he had reflexively closed them, he realized he was pinned to the ground by chakra knives. He had all of a moment to register they truly existed, blink, before again they seemed to disappear, either the chakra running out or the girl released it before something volatile could happen.
"As far as I care we are," the young Oni clippedly threw over her shoulder as she kneeled down next to her companion, the drunk cat rolling around in a shabby patch of grass, dazed, confused and annoying as hell in the back of her mind. Some part of her mind registered it was probably a good thing he was a 'happy' drunk apparently. She reached out, rubbing his belly, which she knew he hated, when he rolled on his back, causing the drunk cat to bat at her hands as he lushly growl-purred, not really being able to do much of anything at the moment. There may or may not have been a smirk picking at the edge of her lips, seeing his vibrant blue eyes so wide and unfocused was amusing, but she also knew it was dangerous for him, it hadn't been the first time she'd learned about alcohols and demon cats, Tougemichi had enjoyed messing with the cat more then she would admit.
Without turning she could see and hear the boy sit up, check his clothing for holes before standing up, drawing his blade and already holding molded chakra in his chest, "We're not done yet!"
A cyan-tattooed brow twitched as she comforted her languid cat, "Yes we are," that frown spread, "I've no interest in 'proving' myself to you anymore, just give me back my things and we'll leave…"
There was a growl from the teal haired boy as his lip pulled back in a slight snarl. Taking his cleaver-sword in both hands, Uenkai took up a distinct sword wielding style, "We're not done," his hands gripped tighter on the long rough handle, shaking the feather attached to the bottom loop, "You're not the only one being tested here…"
Yorihi growled in frustration but stood, facing the boy as her hands were glowing again, "What do you want?" her brows were low, mostly obscured by her similarly colored hitae-ate making on the cyan tattoos above them the only things visible, "You take my things without permission, insult me, attempted to kill my cat!" indignantly she pointed a glowing fist in the direction of a certain drunk bakeneko rolling in the only small patch of grass on this rocky plateau, "And refuse to admit defeat!" her hands returned to her sides, shaking glowing fists, "so again, what the hell do you want?!"
The boy's grip tightened as he crouched into a low stance, saying in just as low a voice, "I haven't died yet…" before charging at the girl, who again growled countering, deflecting his blade and hitting him several times in the chest with her elbows before bringing up one of her glowing fists, having converted the chakra held there into a knife pointed under his chin…
Those cyan brows were still on him as she seemed to look directly into his face with her hitae-ate, "How many times do I have to kill you?" there was no threat in her voice, no malice, just a blunt statement of their current situation.
Instead of fear, instead of anger, insult or disagreement the older boy just grinned. He grinned in such a way that his eyes were hollow and his face was sad but something underneath was content before answering, "as many times as it takes for me to get back to what I was…"
That surprised Yorihi, as she 'let go' of her chakra knife and lowered her hands, standing normally as she 'stared' at the boy. He only straightened his stance enough to stand in front of her, no malice, no anger, nothing even overtly threatening anymore; he was watching her as much as she was watching him. Her dark brows became visible again as the tension left her forehead. Maybe she was reading too much into the situation but maybe this meant she was 'worthy' and now he just needed to get himself up to that level as well. A slight frown came to her pale face as she moved to the side, "It'd be easier to train if I had my stuff back…" she didn't know what she expected but it had become something of her philosophy that it didn't hurt to ask.
"Hmp," the boy seemed to give a clipped shrug, turning around, first picking up is cleaver-sword, slinging it over his shoulder then pulled off the knapsack with her gear off his back, idly throwing it towards her before turning around, "You have five minutes, then we continue…"
Yorihi easily caught the bag, a slight smirk pulling on her face as she watched him irirtatedly stand there. For some reason she felt the need to quip back, and maybe had some pushing from a certain drunk cat as she turned to the side, opening the bag, "I only need one…"
Without turning she could see the boy tense up and bite his tongue… she found it more amusing then she should have…
Quickly opening the bag, and seeing her beloved gear and clothing, she decided to ignore changing clothes for the moment and instead focused on getting her arm and leg guards back on along with her holsters and kunai pack. The rest she could do without and left the bag in the 'careful' paws of a certain cat that proceeded to latch on to the thing as she set it down next to him. After quickly attaching the necessary gear, jumping to consider the weight, she returned to her previous position, hands sliding behind her back as she pulled out a familiar set of beat rods and flicking them into their longer form, "You ready?"
A smirk picked at the edge of the boy's face as he turned on her, cleaver-sword over his shoulder giving him a rather 'I don't care' look, "Two minutes ago…" his smirked widened as he saw her tense and maybe flush a bit.
Yea, yea he could deal with this…
For many hours the two sparred, sparing no expense in chakra used, techniques expended, and utterly wreaking the training ground. By this point the sun had risen well beyond the mountain peaks and it was apparently one of those rare days the clouds were mostly clear up in the high altitude city, meaning it was probably down pouring below the skyline.
Yorihi was holding her two handed style with her beat-rods out, one in front, the other behind, breathing heavily as she faced her opponent. Uenkai had his cleaver-sword in a back axe-handle style, expecting to drag it forward for a long sweep or side-chop, those scarred eyebrows low as his teal eyes tried to pierce the veil of the girl's Hitae-ate. Both combatants were panting heavily, having expended their repertoire of techniques, chakra, and whatever tricks they could figure out… becoming somewhat familiar with each other's style in the hours after the sun rose high.
Both were standing, ruffed up, weary, and still pushing to spar out of the habit they'd developed between the short clashes…
Bachiko, the now-sober bakeneko sitting stoically in his little patch of grass next to his Master's bag of gear snorted. If anyone asked his opinion he'd 'tell' them the two were only still going and standing because both were too stubborn to 'drop' first.
"Ugh…" "Oof…"
So of course there was a chiding kitty chuckle as both suddenly dropped face-first into the stone beneath them…
"Why's it so hoooot," Yorihi whined, hands out in front of her down head as she laid flat on her stomach. Her finicky feline companion padded over to her with a skip in his step, mentioning something about exhausted muscles and the sun high above them with nothing between them and its deadly rays. She swatted at him with about as much effort as a rock rolling up hill as he hopped over her offending arm, giving that stupid Cheshire grin.
Uenkai's only response was a grunt.
The two worn out genin seemed to just slump in their downed positions for the better part of ten minutes before both seemed to finally raise their heads at the same time, narrow teal eyes meeting the shiny plate bearing Kumo's insignia as the girl's dark blue brows with the cyan tattoos just sat flatly above it. For what seemed like another ten minutes the two just 'stared' at one another…
"Kumori Uenkai," the boy started with a rough worn out voice, causing one of the girl's tattooed brows to rise, "I'm technically a second year genin but before a month ago I was in a coma due to a botched mission that took the life of my previous partner…" for a moment the boy's teal eyes were flat, caught somewhere in the middle distance, barely registering the surprised way the girl opened her mouth but without the words to speak. Stiffly he pushed himself up, his muscles screaming in every manner of protest for the aggressive workout before something blue-black seemed to pad over to him, slip under his arms and expand in size. It was the girl's cat, the one he'd drugged with his technique, the demon apparently taking pity on him, expanding enough to help push him up so the boy could sit up. He nodded his thanks as the beast shrunk back down to size, staring at him with those large vibrant blue eyes before flicking its tail and helping its Master do the same… if considerably less accommodating. There was some growling from the girl as her cat seemed to nudge her closer to the older genin before letting her finally 'sit'…
She growled at the cat who merely nudged at her innocently, slinking his way into her lap, "Tch…"
A side of the dark skinned boy's face twitched and he felt the need to grin at the two before shaking his head and continuing his little 'speech', "This sword," he drew it with what strength he had, setting the flat end on the ground as he leaned one arm over it, "Was my former partner's…" in a voice barely above a whisper, "It's the only thing I have left of her…"
Again the blind girl had that look about her face along with the tightening of her shoulders like she wanted to say something, but the frown meant she would keep silent.
Part of Uenkai was thankful for it, fighting with the girl allowed him to learn a lot about her, she came off brash, arrogant and cocky but the reality was she had every right to make whatever claims she did. The girl could back up anything she said, so did he or anyone else really have the right to call her arrogant? When speaking she gave the impression of someone that snapped quickly, with a short temper and no clue just how small they were. The later he could probably blame on her father, the Raikage had a big presence and despite how small the girl was it was easy to forget when she was charging at you with enough chakra around her to seem like a cloak, but the previous two… it was either an act or honest observations, he wasn't sure, she was a lot more calculating then a hot-head would ever be capable of, and despite her outbursts, unintentional or not, there always seemed some measure of control to them. She was a kid with power and whether or not she knew how to use it was up in the air but unlike most she was aware of exactly the amount of power she had and accepted it. That was something he couldn't say for most of the shinobi he'd ever met, most of the time everyone just bluffed they were leagues better than they were, to her either there was no reason to 'act' or she didn't know how… either way he was impressed by her.
"I wanted to say that because I want to start over," he held his hand out, looking at her straight in the face, "I want to ignore our disrespectful introduction and start over right…"
Those two-toned brows cocked as her head tilted to the side a bit, "Okay?" her arms seemed to fidget and he wasn't sure if she'd reach out until her cat nudged under her right, pushing out, and despite the fact she growled at him she held her hand out to him awkwardly.
Uenkai knew she could have taken his hand, he was far past the point of being tricked that she didn't have some way of knowing exactly where everything was without sight but a smirk picked at his lips as he humored her. His partially gloved hand grabbed hers around the forearm, apparently surprising her as her brows twitched like she was blinking as he gripped hard and gave their conjoined arms a shake, "Hmp…" it was a greeting among warriors, friends, words were not needed.
As the two let go, the boy smirking lightly to himself, Yorihi pulled her hand back slowly, rubbing her fingers as her dark blue brows cocked, "Kumori… -kun?" he seemed to shrug not minding, "if this is meant to be a… 'greeting' would you mind…" she held up her other hand, fingers twitching as she wasn't sure about her next action, it wasn't exactly something she'd done before, others may have found it weird, "if you could…" she bit her lower lip, feeling very uncomfortable about asking but did so anyway, "Let me 'see' your face?"
His scarred brow went up as he watched her seriously, "after that spar I'm convinced you have some means of seeing without your eyes…"
The girl gave a more confident nod, "My other senses are heightened to the point they can substitute for me and Xiao-chan taught me a family skill of hers that lets me do something similar with chakra, but…" her pale lips were pressed into a thin line, her hands nearly gripped in front of her, "neither are really as accurate as touching something with my hands… so if you would… since you want 're'-introduce us… well…" there was a heat rising on her cheeks and she had no idea why but utterly hated it… Bachiko was laughing, the jerk.
Uenkai just seemed to none, leaning in closer to her he grabbed the girl's smaller hand's with both of his own. She made a cute little 'eep!' sound as if surprised and turned a few interesting shades of red for a moment as he pulled her hands towards his face. About half way there she seemed to regain her senses, turning her hands in his, making him stop, as she seemed to run the tips of her small fingers over every inch of his hands.
"You weren't kidding about the sword not being yours originally were you?" the boy's brow only seemed to rise as she continued feeling, "The calluses may be gone but the bone growth from repeated use suggests someone more proficient with kunai or small arms, not repetitive use of that weighty axe-like-sword," she nudged her head towards the blade next to him, "though with what we did today I don't doubt you'll have blisters pretty soon…" a tip on one side of her lips seemed rise.
The older boy couldn't help he could feel his face doing the same, as he felt her hands halt as if waiting for him to continue. He couldn't just yet, not without his own comment, "I don't think I've ever felt a girl's hands as rough as your own," the way her brows lowered and a red frown spread on her face suggested she was getting angry. The teal haired boy just smirked, "I'm glad, it's just more proof you're serious about your training," at least the frown left, the red didn't, as he moved her hands to his face, "Good enough?"
"Mm," the girl nodded as he let go of her hands, closing his eyes and letting her do as she pleased. The boy seemed to just set his elbows on his knees, leaning on them with his hands in his lap, face still and serene. Yorihi watched the small twitches on his dark tan face for a short while, yes she could see his face, and yes this entire exercise was technically superfluous, but she figured if she were to keep up her 'blind' status, especially with her partner she'd have to be more serious about it. It also gave her an excuse to test out her ability sense with touch, she was curious the extent of the damage he'd sustained, and after mentioning he was in a coma, likely due to some injury during that last mission… he fought well for being incapacitated so long, he must have trained hard in the last month, especially since that weapon wasn't his? –I wouldn't have believed that with how he wields it…-
It seemed she had been too still for too long as Uenkai cleared his throat, snapping Yorihi out of her thoughts.
"O-oh… sorry," immediately she ran her hands along the sides of his face. He felt warm, likely from the sun beating down on them, and running her hand along his jaw she could feel sections that had been broken, along with some scruffy hair, especially at the tip of his chin. –Is he trying to grow a beard?- her Uncle always had a goatee trimmed short while her Father's had definitely gotten longer and he'd trimmed up his mustache. Tougemichi had had some whiskers he never seemed to do anything about, not that she really noticed other then when they'd first met and she'd left. Uzushio-jiji, from the times she got to see him again, usually as asome excuse to 'check her seals' and make sure they were working properly… as well as get into a fight with Reki-Baba, always seemed to have his curt pink-looking mustache. Feeling around the older boy's lower face, noting the bits of teal scruff coming in she couldn't help but giggle trying to imagine him with any of the facial hair of the men in her life.
"What?" the boy cracked a teal eye open just to see the girl snickering as she felt around his chin.
"N-nothing, nothing," her voice was higher pitched as she seemed to be brushing off the snickering as if it never happened. That caused the boy's face to scrunch up and she decided she'd 'seen' enough of his lower face. Moving her pale hands up she felt around his cheekbones, noticing the left side had been previously broken but surprisingly his nose hadn't, or at least the bone part of it hadn't. One of her brows quirked as she followed the slew of damage up the right side of his face, the skin was unblemished, likely healed quickly or never broken, but underneath was a roadmap of scarring the further up she went where the bones had shattered and reformed.
His right eye opened as her thumb trailed along the side of it, "Guess you are really good…"
Her hand came up to the scar in his right eyebrow, noticing a severe spiderweb of healed cracks from the point, "What hit you?" the scar was small, seemingly three incisions that looked like a thin slanted 'N' as she pushed the teal hair aside to get a better look. Two were small, likely old scars from training at various times, but one longer one…
"The same person that gave me this one," he raised his left hand to point with his thumb at another scar, in a similar position only on his left brow, "Can't say Sasayaki was particularly 'good' with that blade of hers…"
It was meant to come out humorous, but Yorihi couldn't help but suck in her breath at the melancholic tone and the mention of a name. She honestly didn't think he'd tell her about his partner, especially not so early in their knowing one another. The only thing she could do was nod, moving her hands away, "I… I suppose it wasn't this strike that knocked you into a coma…?"
"Dunno," the boy's voice was lower and much more somber then before though the blind girl was half convinced it was just because of their proximity, "Can't say I remember much from over a year ago…"
She just nodded, dropping the subject. After a moment or two of thought, and hesitation, she shifted on her knees, pushing herself up more as she moved her hands further along his skull… through his surprisingly soft short teal hair.
There was a sputtering sound, a sudden shake from the boy, then silent stillness.
Yorihi shrugged, not sure why her cat was suddenly rolling around and laughing in the back of her mind. –Shut up! I'm trying to see if there's any more damage!- That was her story and she was sticking to it! After a moment of feeling around his skull, totally not just enjoying the feel of running her hands through his short hair, of course not, she would never; she felt a long scar hidden by his hair along the back near his hairline and several fractions on his skull, "I guess this might be it as well?"
There was no response, and likely she didn't even notice.
After another merciful minute the girl removed her hands from the boy's head and sat back down properly, just tilting her head and seeming to process her observations. Actually she was watching as the boy's scrunched up face seemed to finally start slipping and he unclenched his hands from his lap, now why did he do that?
Uenkai coughed into his hand, still not opening his eyes, "Are you finished?"
A quick nod was his response, "It was interesting," why did his face just get slightly redder? "You've certainly had your share of broken bones, and that's just on your head," a light smile picked at her lips, "I can easily believe any one of them would have been hard enough to knock you out for so long…" the boy obviously blushed embarrassed but did nothing else, seemingly taking her joke in stride.
Though he may or may not have pouted with a slight grumble, "Anything else?"
"Yes actually," Yorihi smirked to herself, time to implement phase two on covering her own ass and excuses for being blind. A pale hand raised as she pointed at his hair, "What color is that?" if the Raikage's daughter was going to be completely honest with herself… she really had no idea what color that was…
One of the boy's scarred brows rose as his similarly colored eyes blinked, "Why would you care? You can't 'see' it right?" by the inflection he put on the word 'see' Yorihi could tell he didn't mean it in the conventional sense, as in with her eyes.
-This is going great!- her smirk slightly grew, proud of herself for thinking this up, "Actually thanks to my lessons with Moe-sensei I have a… 'sense' of color," that's what the crazy midget had called it right? She pushed the thought aside and continued, "thanks to my experience with her illusions I've been trying to figure out a way to 'sense' color without my eyes," this was utterly true, who knew when she'd go somewhere like the caves again and being able to distinguish color inside that blackness would save her life? "So using the technique I mentioned earlier, I've been working with chakra to figure out the… 'feel' of colors?" a shrug, sounded good enough, as she pointed at his hair, "and I'm not familiar with that one?"
His eyes may have become slightly suspicious, "that's why you spent so long petting my hair?" the girl gave an embarrassed laugh, scratching her cheek. He just slightly glared at her a moment before shaking his head, looking away, "Its teal, same color as my eyes by the way…"
"Teal?" an honest grin passed the girl's face, "Thanks!"
An embarrassed blush crossed the boy's dark tan skin, which he quickly shoved aside as he crossed his arms, "Alright, now that that's done with," he may have shaken a bit while the girl laughed, "Why not re-introduce yourself?"
A tattooed brow rose, "Like just say my name?"
The boy shrugged, "if you want, though I suppose some more information would be helpful…"
Her head cocked as she seemed to be thinking something over, "like what?" there was so a smirk that seemed to mimic her cat's, "Why don't you give me an example!"
Teal eyes closed tight as the boy grumbled before a usually quiet side of his brain spoke up and said it'd only be fair. –She's willing to listen to you and curious to know who you are… don't screw this up!- he snorted, "Fine," putting his hands on his knees he cleared his throat, "Like I said, I'm Kumori Uenkai, second year genin, formally part of Company F… and um…"
"What about what you like?" the girl piped in curiously, "Dreams, ideas, hopes, hobbies… stuff like that?" it wasn't often she got to just straight up ask about this stuff to other people, call her curious.
That reddish tint crossed the boy's face again, "S-sure, why not…" again he cleared his throat, taking a moment to ponder what to say, "Um… I mostly train, I miss my old partner, haven't really done much but both since I woke up…" out of the corner of his eye he noticed the girl's shoulders slump, probably tired of him whining about someone she'd never meet. He shook his head, "… and one day I plan on killing the Raikage…"
Immediately Yorihi's eyebrows lowered, "You realize that's my Father right?"
Oddly a smirk rose on the older boy, "So?" he gave a much more cocky grin, "The only way to become the Raikage is to kill the previous one…"
She seemed to become less threatening but more serious as she crossed her arms, "And you want to become the Raikage?" a nod from the boy, "Why?"
His grin just spread, "I want to have the power to annex Kiri so there'll be no more war between our two nations, instead uniting as one!" unconsciously he raised one hand in a fist, showing how serious he was.
Yorihi quite obviously blinked, now rather intrigued by Uenkai's words, "Why would you want to annex Kiri specifically?" absently her hand raised to her chin as she went into a thinking pose, "It would be easier to try and take over the smaller countries boardering us, or even one of the other in-land great nations before Kiri, it being an island nation and all…"
"Hehe, not half bad," Uenkai kept grinning, before holding up one finger, making a point, "But it being an island nation off our coast makes it a better target, being we could directly access it, not smaller countries to get in the way or tip them off," to the side the Raikage's daughter nodded in agreement, "But not only that…" he lowered his hand, gaining a more solomn tone, "My father was originally from Kiri… when the civil war broke out he went back to try and stop it… mom," a frown tugged at his lips, "she didn't stop him… I didn't get it at the time, but when she got a notice of his death…"
"Kumori-kun?" Yorihi's voice was soft, not sure what to do in this situation.
Quickly the boy waved off her sympathy, "It's a sad story for another day," he raised his head, teal eyes shimmering with unshed tears as he looked at her hitae-ate as if they were her eyes, "Point is… Kiri always seems to be at war and while it's not the place of my birth, it is the land of my fathers…" he held out a fist, "When I become Raikage, I will have the power to take over the country, bring it into our way and stop all the pointless bloodshed there…"
The way he looked, the way he spoke, Yorihi could not only see, but feel the conviction in his voice and sincerity of his words. He had the pride of any Kumo-nin, the grit and respect of power this place honored, yet he still valued his father, respected the man despite his death and wanted to do something that would make him proud. It was something definitely worth respecting and something she had not been expecting.
The blind girl gave a quick nod, "Tenkyuu Yorihi, just graduated genin," she reached up and adjusted her hitae-ate catching the boy's attention, "I like sweets, training and spending time with my family, learning new skills as well as pushing myself to master them and while I don't quite have a dream like yours yet I do want to continuing getting stronger to protect those I care about!" she pumped her fists gaining a serious look, "That includes my Father, so if you ever try to go after him…" her grin grew slightly sinister as her brows came down seriously, "You'll have to get through me first!"
An equally menacing yet serious grin came over her the older boy, "I wouldn't have it any other way," he held his hand out as if making a deal, and smiling even more as the smaller girl took it, both of them gripping hard and shaking once. Deal struck.
A lazy cloud passed over head, shadowing the new partners, making them look up.
"Heh," Uenkai gave a grin, letting go of the girl's hand before standing up, grabbing his cleaver-sword and attaching it to his belt, "C'mon, I know this place on the 3rd platform that makes these great sweet rolls…"
Yorihi just cocked a brow, before hopping up, Bachiko quickly taking his lazy place on her shoulder as she watched the boy turn around and head towards the exit of the training field, "Kumori-kun?"
He seemed to nervously scratch the side of his face, taking a few awkward steps away, "You said you liked sweet things… the place has all kinds of pastries, candies, what-have-you… and its 'bout time for lunch, right?" he waved a hand as if justifying what he was saying.
She walked up to his side, catching up easily as she leaned around him, simply 'looking' in his direction with a raised suspicious brow.
The only response the boy seemed able to come up with was flustering, indignantly crossing his arms and mumbling while he took off in front of her, "… I also like sweet things."
Yorihi just put a hand over her mouth and giggled sweetly, following her new… 'interesting' partner.
Kumori-Cloudy Weather, Ue- Over, Enkai-Coastal Waters
Kumori Uenkai – Cloudy Weather over Coastal Waters
Kirigakure no jutsu – lit: 'art of hiding in the mist' - common: hidden mist technique
Eteru – ether (chemical compound, ie: Michirueteru – methyl ether, diethyl ether)
Arukouru – alcohol (chemical compound, ie: echiruarukouru – ethyl alcohol, ethanol)
Youshiki – style
Kasumi – mist, Kasumi no jutsu – mist technique
A/N: look, they get along now... isn't that cute! :D
... i give it five minutes~ -snickers-
anywho, don't ask where this sudden rash of 'humor' came from, and if you don't think its 'humorous' then obviously my sense of humor is more warped then i thought o.O but for some reason snark is back in full force, ESPECIALLY with the younger generation, ie: Mei and Yorihi, to be honest i have no idea where that scene came from... or Mei's obsession with bust-sizes... must be that cousin she reminds me of and Rise Kujikawa... yes, i'll blame that... seems to be her running gag and she is just rolling with it... someone has to teach her poor 'cousin' properly, damnit! -couch- back in the bin Mei!
-crickets crickets-
have i mention i may still be 'slightly' sick?
anywho, amusing humorous times as casa-de-Reki... even if that woman isn't there... HA! XD
i got both more and less information i wanted out of Uenkai out, and i'm fine with that, just be more quirky fine-tuning i guess... and honestly i just like the idea of SOMEONE being able to get under Yorihi's skin by just breathing... it amuses me and i don't know why... i find it weird that the guy can be so batman-level dark and brooding one second and utterly flustered the next, i think he has something similar to Uryuu Ishida's personality from Bleach, which is weird as i'd never say that by looking at the two, but having written them both... i can see it... not one-hundred-percent mind, but as an analogy/suggestion...
and as for his techniques... i will admit the way he weilds the cleaver-sword 'may' be influenced by the Warrior class in FF14RR... i had fun with it... but considering the 'sword' it is literally something in between a sword and an axe therefore can be wielded as either, and i like that kind of diversity in a weapon... his 'skills' are something that popped into my head while fleshing him out awhile ago and i swear are influenced by my taking Chemistry... when i say 'alcohol' and 'ether' i'm meaning the chemical compounds, not just the common versions of 'Ethanol' and 'Diethyl Ether' that are typically refered to as 'alcohol' and 'ether'... though for now i suppose that'll be what he can show, but i figure if he gets good enough at manipulation could work into just about anything that falls into those two functional groups... ugh, now i have to look more up on the effects of what those do... i hurt myself for my writing, i really do T.T
and YES! the number one way to banish/get rid of/kill/stun/spot/trap/whatever just about any kind of demon in Japanese mythos (at least from what i've read) is by giving them SAKE! :D apparently most demons get drunk really quickly and lose their transformations/reveal themselves, thus why sake and other types of alcohol are used primarily in cleansing rituals... woo~
i think that's enough...
LOVE TO ALL MY REVIEWERS AND NEW PEOPLE FAVING! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! :D don't forget to bug me... it helps in the creative process~ -snickers-
speaking of 'creative process' as i said i was horribly sick this past week, and when i'm sick, i write crack... one involved the future kids of the Teen Titans coming back and screwing with them and another that was something of a mega-cross-over involving just about all the major characters i write about (Tess and 'Team Grey Warden', Hopelessly Romantic Shepard with Liara and Javik screwing with her, and nothing's complete without Koma-Soi fluffy-ness and horror) as well as several that are really just my favorite characters (Aya Brea, Panthro, Frieza, etc.) with plot device being 'what happens when Raven uses her powers on the Gamestation XLR'... i was in the mood for screwing with TT and sick... bite me~ also maybe some of that insanity made it in here... hrm...
shutting up now~
till next -huggles everyone- Sayounara, Mina!
-Ikasury
Ps. definitely still sick... -sniffles-