"Umm... I've decided to teach you one of the jutsus today, it's very useful and almost nescesary in order to learn any other jutsus." Koumei was sitting in the same clearing, wearing her tanktop again, without the vest. Genma and Kasei were leaning on a nearby tree.
"Now that you have the Griffin's Bloodline, I can teach you to use Eagles Eyes no Jutsu. You see, a Wing Ninja does not have many original jutsus. Maybe twenty or thirty. They rely on the Eagles Eyes to pick up on jutsus that they see other ninja use. Using these eyes allows you to see chakra, but in battle it also allows your brain to process what you see at an extremely fast pace, so that it almost appears in slowmotion.
"On top of granting almost telescopic vision, it prcesses things so quickly that if you were to go watch a movie in a theatre or wherever, it would appear as a sequence of screens instead of a moving picture. Although it cannot copy moves like the Sharingan or see the inner coil system like the Byakugan, it's still useful. I'll demonstrate."
Koumei removed her mask and made three seals, using one hand, and spoke the jutsus name.
"Eagle's Eyes no Jutsu." Her eyes were invaded by yellow which stretched over to cover all white. Two black pupils enlarged in the center and she blinked a few times.
"I also want you to learn how to do one-handed seals, as it is very useful in certain circumstances. I will allow you to use both hands today, but as soon as you master this jutsu, I'll only tolerate using one handed seals"
"The seals for this jutsu are bird, dragon, bird. Fairly simple. Then you simply force chakra to the back of your eyes. Thats the only hard part. I learned this jutsu when I was eight, and it took me almost two days to master it. But now I'm eighteen, your nineteen" she pointed at Kasei," and your twenty-nine, ne? So I expect you should master this in a few hours, at least by the end of today. You may go practice now, if you need help, come and ask."
Koumei stood and moved over to a nearby tree, jumping up and sitting on a wide branch, dangling her legs happily and replaced her mask. She looked down upon the two jounin, repeating the words 'Eagle's Eyes no Jutsu' over and over. She lifted her yellow eyes and looked through her mask across the forest.
A flock of pigeons glided across the sun, casting a shadow over the clearing for an instant. She looked over to Kuro and he bobbed his head and took flight with them. 'Bird's Eye View' she whispered, making no seals, and she slumped over slightly. Her mind left her body and suddenly she was looking through the dark eyes of Kuro. She watched lazily as snow-covered trees passed beneath her and wished she could feel the wind on her face. Kuro's head moved from side to side, surveying the forest, which was vanishing beneath her, being replaced by busy streets. She was over Konoha.
She looked over the people catching snatches of conversation in passing, and Kuro sat atop a tall building. She saw Naruto at the Ramen Bar, along with a boy in dark with two girls, one blonde the other pink haired, sat on either side of him. A little ways off, another gennin was playing some kind of board game against a Jounin. The jounin was losing horribly.
Kuro turned again and she spotted Anko following around the copy ninja, Kakashi, and yelling at him with a hoarse voice. Anko, I told you to leave him alone. She sighed mentally, looking up it was nearly dark out. Time passed quickly, she noted, but her thoughts were broken as she felt something tugging at her. Shaking her shoulders. 'Kuro, I have to go, so get back here soon' she disconnected.
When she re-entered her physical body, she began shivering immediately. She sat up and looked around. Kasei was sitting beside her in the tree branch and watching the sunset. Genma was sitting below, asleep. She shivered again, looking over the snowy trees. Suddenly, a warm vest landed on her shoulders. She looked over at Kasei and blinked, realising that her Eagle's Eyes were still activated.
"A-arigato, Kasei-san..." she said slowly as she deactivated the jutsu. He said nothing for a while and she turned back to the sunset.
"Genma's mastered it, one handed seals and all, and I've mastered it with the normal seals."
Koumei looked back to him and noticed the jutsu was active in his eyes. She smiled. "Gomen-I forgot to tell you how to de-activate it."
"We figured it out," he said and the yellow eyes vanished. She stood, wrapping the warm vest around her shoulders.
"I think tomorrow, I'll teach you how to control the bloodlines. That will take awhile to get used too. Then we'll move on to wing jutsus, and you'll get to know your elements. I'll just teach you tomorrow and leave you the rest of the week to get used to it while I go off for awhile. I have an unfinished mission for the Sand."
Kasei did not question. Koumei jumped down and landed near Genma, followed by Kasei, and they headed back towards the village, soon joined by Kuro.
"Where are you staying, anyways? They kicked you out of the hospital because they said you were too noisy. But that was Anko's fault." Genma asked casually.
"I stay at a hotel. But it's expensive, so thats why I need to finish my dealings with the Sand."
"Oh," said Genma uninterestedly. The peacock at his side whacked him with a wing.
"Hey! What was that for!?" there was a moment of silence, and the two male ninja lagged further behind. "I can't do that, it's a mess and it's small. Hey, Kasei. Let Koumei stay with you."
"What?" he hissed.
"You ARE the one in charge of her."
"But-ah, whatever." he flicked hair out of his face again. "Fine."
Kasei sped up and fell into stride beside Koumei. "You can come and stay with me for awhile. Until you get payed for that Sand mission."
Koumei was suprised at his sudden kindness. "Wha- really?"
"Sure," he replied. "You can move in tonight if you'd like. I have a big guest room you can use, with an extra bed."
"A-arigato," she said, turning back to look at her feet as she plodded towards the hotel.
"I'm going home," said Genma, breaking off and turning left.
Koumei turned and gave a small wave as she approached the hotel doors, followed by Kasei. "I just need to get a few things. You can wait here, if you like." She turned and walked through another door. As Kasei waited in silence, he wondered how Genma had talked him into this.
Koumei returned with one bag of things, a very small bag, and went over to the counter. She emptied her pockets and put all of her money on the counter. It wasn't nearly enough, but the clerk just smiled and let it slide. She thanked him and turned back to Kasei.
"Here," she said, taking off his vest and handing it back to him. She dug in her small bag and pulled out her torn black jounin vest, slipping it on and following Kasei out.
The two shinobi walked in silence for awhile, until they came across Kasei's house. It was small and stood alone from the other houses. There were no lights on, and the windows were open. Kasei fiddled with the lock for a moment before opening the door and turning on the lights.
Koumei entered and took off her sandals, placing them beside the door. She looked around. The house did not seem so small inside. The walls were unpainted, and everything was organized. The only things out were a katana and a few shuriken resting on the dining room table beside a cloth and a bottle of polish.
"Follow me," said Kasei. He led her up a small staircase and down a hallway. He turned left an opened a door that had the words "Keep Out" written in Japanese. The inside was large and empty, and the only peice of furniture was a large bed, garbage bin, and a dresser.
"Why does the door say 'Keep Out'?"
"It use to be my little brother's. He hated everyone, except me, and he commited suicide a few years ago," said Kasei casually.
"G-gomene... I didn't know," replied Koumei, turning away.
"Don't worry about it. You're life's been much rougher than mine."
"My life has no meaning. I'm just a tool that will do anything for anyone. People walk all over me, and I hardly ever resist. If he wanted to, I bet, Orochimaru could own me again. People never care about me, and they shouldn't. I have no heart." Koumei was still facing away. There was a long pause. "Thanks for the room, Kasei."
Kasei didn't know what to say, so he simply turned and left, closing the door softly behind him. 'That was odd' said Rey. 'Yeah, if she has no heart, then how can she have had friends? And why did she protect us from Orochimaru? This kunoichi... She sure jumps from feeling to feeling. First she's shy, then angry, then she wants to kill you, and then she makes friends with you. Something must have happened when she was a kid that made her like this...' Kasei said to his phoenix. He headed off to his own room, and got to bed.
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The next morning, Kasei awoke and headed downstairs to see if Koumei was up yet. And she was. Or at least she had been. She was passed out on the table, with her arms folded and her head tilted slightly. Her dark hair was pushed back and tied up and she was in her usual black and red tanktop, and she wore her black short pants. He stared at her face, and noted how innocent she looked when asleep. She had a small nose, that looked as if it had been broken, long eyelashes, and thin lips.
Kasei stood there for awhile, before he noticed how close his face was to hers. He quickly pulled back and shook his head, walking over to the stove. He filled a kettle and set it down on an element, before taking out two cups and pouring coffee mix into them. He sat down and leaned back, looking up at the ceiling and waiting for the water to boil.
Kasei looked back towards Koumei as the kettle began whistling, and she started to wake up. She buried her face in her arms for a moment before lifting her her head. She saw Kasei and rubbed her eyes.
"Gomen... I fell asleep waiting."
Kasei went over to the kettle and turned off the stove, pouring the boiling water into the ready cups. He put one in front of Koumei, placing cream beside it and sitting down with his own cup. He picked up the katana and began polishing it while he sipped the coffee. Koumei poured a bit of cream into hers and began to drink it also. She lifted her mask from the tabletop and traced a finger over the red lines absent-mindedly
Kasei put down the sword and finished off his coffee.
"We should get going." he stated simply. He stood up and placed his coffe mug beside his sink. Koumei did the same, downing the rest of her drink. She followed Kasei to the door and put on her sandals, as he replaced the katana in it's sheath across his back. Once outside, Kasei locked the door and turned to walk off, brushing a few loose light brown hairs out of his sharp grey eyes. They darted all over, seeming as if they never stayed still.
Koumei followed behind and met up with Genma once at the training field. But, unfortunately, there was a team of gennin already training there. Kakashi's team, the one with the noisy Naruto. Koumei moved to the opposite side of the field, followed by Genma and Kasei. I guess we'll have to share today, she thought. She sat down on her usual stump and put on her mask. The two jounin leaned against a tree. She began.
"Uhh... today I'll teach you to release the seal, and we'll spend the rest of the day until around 1:30 learning how to use it. This is an extremely painful process, and it takes alot out of me, so I'll show you once, and then stay in that form for the rest of the training. Are you both wearing old shirts like I told you to? This will cause you to bleed and will stain the cloth. I'll only demonstrate once, so activate your Eagle's Eyes."
There were two nods and the words Eagle's Eyes no jutsu rang across the clearing, on top of the clang and clash of the training gennin on the other side. Soon, two pairs of yellow eyes were watching her intently. She took a deep breath. Using both of her hands, she made the seal for 'bird' and held it, closing her eyes behind the mask. She stood and set her legs apart in a wide stance to brace herself.
Through the two jounin's eyes, they saw chakra gathering between her shoulders. More and more and more until there was a large amount. Suddenly, Koumei grunted and two wings made entirely of light, grew from her back, exploding into brown feathers and taking form. They rose above her head as they had before, and the snow became drenched in blood. She gasped once and let her wings fall limpy aside as she leaned against a tree, catching her spent breath. The gennin on the other side of the field suddenly stopped and looked over.
Kasei's eyebrows arched as he saw that the wings themselves were not actually made up of chakra, and he decided to ask her about it.
"What are they made up of if they are not chakra based?"
"Th-they are real. Real bone and flesh and feathers. But if they are damaged, or you break a wing bone, you will be unable to seal them in again."
"You saw the chkra concentration, ne? I want you to copy it and hold the bird seal with both hands. All you have to do is will them out, and the seal will break. It's very painful, but you must remember to hold the hand seal, otherwise it won't release. You should be able to do this on the first or second try. It took me only a few minutes to master it."
The two ninja nodded as they removed their jounin vests. The gennin were now taking a break and watching them, but they ignored it. Kasei wore a sleeveless black shirt, and Genma wore a dark blue one. They silently took the same stance as Koumei, and closed their eyes, bringing their hands up to form the seal. This action was followed by two grunts of pain, and Koumei smiled. They had dropped the seals.
"Again," she said as she sat down and folded her wings neatly.
They kept this up until the snow was thoroughly soaked in red, but the two shinobi finally got it. Kasei's wings were bright red-orange, and Genma's were dull olive green. She smiled as they collapsed panting and sucking in pained breaths of cold air.
"I told you it was painful. You'll get used to it after awhile. Now, I need to teach you how to fly. First, you should stretch, so when you are ready, copy what I do."
It took the ninja a few minutes to be able to stand again, and another few to regain their balance.
She began stretching and flexing her new muscles, and they followed her movements exactly, but slower as they were still figuring out which muscles did what. They did this for about fifteen minutes, before she stopped them again. The gennin were still watching.
"Now watch. While I'm gone, I want you to do this at least for an hour a day."
She stretched her wings once more and brought them up, extending them to their full length. She brought them down with such force, that the snow beneath them blew oway, exposing the frozen earth beneath. She lifted into the air as they watched in silence. Koumei danced around, enjoying the wind on her face, as the onlookers stood in awe. On the ground, the wings looked so large and cumbersome, but in the air, they became streaks of light brown. She folded them in mid-flight and landed expertly in a crouch before them, before standing.
"I'll leave you to practice while i'm gone, but first i'll tell you how to complete the tranformation. It's the same, but depending on which trait or traits of the griffin you wish to posses at the time, you force chakra there and will it to transform. For example, you can force chakra to your hands or feet for claws, your eyes for sight, or your head for a beak. For a full transformation, just go through every part of your body. Also, the new skin of the griffin will go over your clothes instead of ripping it to shreds."
"You should get started on learning to fly. I have to get to the Hidden Sand by nightfall. To reseal the wings, just will them to do so, and force any remaining chakra away from them."
"What's your mission anyways?" asked Kasei.
Koumei paused, but decided to answer before leaving. "I have to assasinate some little kid. His name is Gaara of the Sand, and he's supposed to be extremely powerful. I gotta go." She took of into the air again and hovered for a moment, before Kuro joined her and she slipped off.
"Gaara? Wasn't he that kid from the exams that had a demon sealed in him like Naruto's?" asked Genma.
"I guess. He's extremely powerful. I wonder if she can kill him. She is still recovering."
Genma turned and flaped his wings experimentally. Is Kasei worried about her? I'm sure she's fine... but she didn't look so good. She looked worn out and tired.