Starring:
Date: September 20, 2015
Summary:
Hige's final training for his chakra network before Kenta re-checks to see if it got better!
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Hige's Healing: Final Chakra Training!"
Konoha
Poor Atsuro, Hige had sent him another note for a late night training session. The teen is in a clearing a bit into the forest to make sure they aren't bothered and he's sitting…upside down on a thick branch with a new, more intricate scroll tied to the branch in front of him. Konsho is laying down nearby and gives a big yawn at the late hour as they wait for Atsuro.
Atsuro is actually a few minutes late in arriving this time. It could be a sign that his heart isn't totally into yet another training session for Hige, but it could also just be that he took some time to get coffee—he does have a mug of it in his hand as he approaches, after all. "You know," he says, rather than simply greeting Hige, "It's not that I resent having to help you train, but I thought it would go without saying that I'd prefer to do it at a non-stupid time." Taizen woofs a more polite greeting.
Konsho's head raises when the other Inuzuka arrive and barks his own greeting back, tail wagging happily to see Atsuro and Taizen. Hige just chuckles softly as he looks from his upside down seat to Atsuro and shrugs. "Yeah, well, you're always busy. I have to get you when I can. And can't you stop whining long enough to see that I actually brought you food and drink this time. It's over in the basket by Konsho." Hige shakes his head and tsks softly. "Always so ultimate grumpy."
"Evening, Konsho," says Atsuro, reaching to scratch the dog behind the ears. "Seems more like you're just picking whatever time is convenient for you and expecting me to arrange my own schedule for it, but we can settle that some other time." He takes an angry sip of coffee, then looks over to the basket of food and brightens up considerably. "Well, why didn't you say so sooner? All is forgiven." He walks over to the basket and bends down to see what's there. "So," he says, "What're we doing this time? That scroll looks different from the other one."
Hige rolls his eyes at Atsuro when he says everything is forgiven. "Maybe you should use your nose first before your mouth," he says dryly down to the older Inuzuka. "And it's not exactly the best time for me either, but you tend to spend your days doing work. I almost think you need a team again." Feral eyes return to the scroll in front of him and he nods. "Yeah, I finished the two prior, got them all perfect so this is the last one. It's the most intricate and the most detailed on my chakra system so…it's the last one."
Atsuro shrugs. "You understand that helping people train is /also/ work? That means I can make time for it during the day, hint hint. Costs me less in coffee too." Taizen sits down beside a suitable boulder and Atsuro brings the basket over. "Mind you, I didn't remember that you were bringing refreshments," Atsuro adds, sitting down and starting to unpack the food, "Need to factor that in… hmmm…" He looks over at the scroll. "Same process as last time?" he asks.
"Lot more chakra, but pretty much. I kind of expect I'll have trouble walking home after this though. Apparently even people that don't have problems with their chakra network find this one hard." Hige takes a deep breath before he lets out a low chuckle. "Are you calling me work? That hurts ojii, that really hurts. I would think you'd love spending time with me by now." Konsho raises his head to sniff at the basket too and Hige stares at the dog. "You had a huge dinner, don't you even think about it."
"You're definitely a piece of work," Atsuro agrees, "But I was speaking more to the fact that it's part of my job to help the ninja of this village to develop. Therefore I will happily take some time out of my other duties to help with this sort of thing. You think the Jounin Commander is just a paper pusher? I assume you do, but you're usually wrong about things." He starts passing out food from the basket, giving some to Taizen and setting aside some for himself—he'll go along with Hige's warning to Konsho this time. "This smells good," he says, "You make it or buy it?" Then with a glance to the scroll, adds, "But my role is the same, aside from carrying you home?"
"Yep, just keep an eye on things, let me know if something doesn't light up the way everything else does. Hopefully it'll all work out but…who knows. And all you do is push paper. I rarely see you out of your stupid office after all," Hige says, glancing over to Atsuro. Konsho looks a bit sad but doesn't ask for anything, though once Hige closes his eyes to start the dog slowly pulls himself closer to Atsuro and gives him big puppy eyes. Hige starts in, the lines starting from his hands lighting up quickly a good five feet out on the scroll. It…actually looks like a body. Must be of Hige's since it's so small! For now everything seems to be going well however as the blue light shows evenly and starts to grow.
"Sounds simple enough," says Atsuro cheerfully, "Especially since I've already done it before. So at least it's easy. And at least it's the last time." He grins cheekily as he adds that last bit, then shakes his head. "You always say that, and yet I never actually see you while I'm in my office. Of which, I spend plenty of time outside, by the way." He reaches over to pet Konsho. "Not this time," he says, "Sorry. Gotta keep you healthy." He takes bites of his food whenever Konsho's /not/ watching now. He looks down at the scroll, chews, swallows, then says, "Looks nice and even so far."
Konsho's eyes just get bigger and sadder as he stares up at Atsuro and he crawls closer until he's practically in Atsuro's lap. Who can resist so much cuteness?!?! Hige just focuses on what he's doing and the whole scroll brightens enough to light up the clearing before it quickly shifts to green. It's here that some uneven areas start to show up, with one or two that would be around a leg the most obvious.
"Shhhhh," Atsuro tells Konsho gently, reaching down with one hand to scratch behind Konsho's ears. Conveniently, his arm now obstructs the dog's view, so he quickly starts eating, keeping his chewing quiet to keep up the ruse. First swallowing so as not to make the eating obvious in his voice, he tells Hige, "Okay, looks like you're having some trouble now. You're not quite there in the leg area."
Konsho doesn't mind the scratches at all, and while it does keep his eyes covered it doesn't fill his tummy! Still…he doesn't move much at the moment. Hige doesn't open his eyes but he seems to internally recognize the erring areas and cleans it up, making everything once again even as his mostly re-trained chakra system picks itself back up and puts it back in place.
Continuing to scratch and rub Konsho everywhere near his face that would feel good, Atsuro eats bits and bites of his meal, while Taizen is able to eat at a normal and more leisurely pace. "You know," Atsuro tells Konsho, "The more you exercise, the more you can eat…" He glances at the scroll again. "You too," he tells Hige, "Anyway, you're good for now. Smooth as bu— the sea on a calm day."
Konsho whimpers softly so that Hige can't hear. "I do exercise a lot," he says, sounding rather sad. Hige just snorts softly at Atsuro's words and shakes his head lightly a Atsuro's words. "I exercise plenty. Just because I don't have your super muscles doesn't mean anything." Hige falls silent as he pushes the chakra through, making the whole thing glow brighter and actually stays even and seems to be flowing rather smoothly.
"And you're adorable," Atsuro tells Konsho, "But Hige's the one who's responsible for feeding you, and if he's worried about how much you eat, I can't go against that. He's your partner, not me. I'm just saying, if you burned more calories, you could eat more. That's all." He rubs Konsho's head as he quickly snatches up a bite. "It means you don't exercise enough," he tells Hige, grinning. "Still good."
"It means I exercise plenty, just not the same way you did," Hige calls back to Atsuro as more chakra flows through the scroll and it flares bright green before it turns yellow instead. Even this time the chakra seems to remain fairly even throughout which should be a good sign that his body and his chakra network are actually naturally working how they should! Hopefully. "Just a little?" Konsho asks in the most sad sad voice he can dredge up.
Atsuro sighs dramatically, "Not the same way I did? It seems all my instruction was lost on you. Why must my students be so ungrateful?" He nods slowly as he looks down at the scroll again. "Nice," he says, "Still looks good. Hm, you're doing better on the harder exercise than you are on the easier exercise. Perhaps my teaching skill has benefited you after all." He looks down at Konsho. "I'll save a bit for you and bring it around tomorrow," Atsuro says, "Then Hige can figure out how to work it into your meal plan. Win-win."
Konsho looks saaaaadd at Atsuro. If he were human he might just start to cry! "Not all of us want to look at you," Hige reminds Atsuro dryly. "Nor would our body types really allow it." The yellow glow brightens and soon the clearing is lit brightly by it. Konsho actually pulls away and sits up, looking at Hige. He might just be dropping soon. The amount of chakra he's pushing out is incredibly high. Konsho looks at Atsuro to make sure he's watching…after all, Hige /is/ upside down in a tree. Don't need him to fall and crack his head open.
"And yet," says Atsuro, getting up from the rocks (yeah, he did notice, Konsho!), "You're relying on this body to make sure you don't break your under-muscled neck. He walks over to the tree, standing under Hige, ready to catch him if need be. "Seems to be working," he says, looking at the scroll, "Heck of a lot of chakra you're putting out there. Don't overdo it."
"Exactly. You keep that thing. I'll keep my own," Hige says, voice strained. Konsho walks over next to Atsuro to watch Hige as well, giving Atsuro a head shake when he says not to overdo it. Even he knows Hige won't listen to that. And he doesn't the scroll glows brighter and in one final flash it dies, just as Hige drops from underneath the branch limply, obviously out of energy.
"I think I'm getting the better d— aww, what'd I just tell you?" Atsuro's smirk quickly gives way to a frown as he moves to catch Hige. Taizen has also gotten up and hurried over, just in case Atsuro fumbles or something like that. Can't let Hige die so soon after victory!
Hige flops into Atsuro's arms with a loud groan. "Ugh…did it flash?" He asks, forcing his eyes open a smidge to look up at Atsuro. "If it didn't flash then I have to do it again…" Later, obviously. Konsho hops up to the tree branch, using his teeth to untie the scroll until it flops on the ground nearby. Konsho goes about rolling it up with his paws and nose neatly before picking it up in his mouth. He's…obviously done this before.
Atsuro gives a firm nod. "It did flash," he says, "You're good." He sighs as he looks down at Hige in his arms, rearranging the boy so that his feet comfortably touch the ground. "You gonna be able to make it home on your own?" he asks, "Or do I need to carry you?" He pauses, "It just occurred to me that you might say you don't need help no matter what. So I'll help you get home."
Hige opens his mouth to respond to Atsuro, but he closes it when Atsuro says he's going to help regardless. Which is probably a good thing, since when he's on his feet he waivers some. Konsho comes up next to Hige for the teen to lean against for some extra stability. "Eh, thanks ojii. I'll have to check in with Kenta, but…I might actually be a little more normal now."
Atsuro smirks. "Your chakra, maybe." He puts an arm on Hige's shoulder and starts to steer him out of the area. "Lead on, Tai," he tells the dog. It's dark out here, and someone's gotta be the trailblazer. "When you check in with him, make sure you ask if you need extra rest," he says, "And I'll be checking in with him too, so don't even think about trying to get some extra training in or whatever."
Hige chuckles tiredly as he he leans against Atsuro. "You're assuming I'd listen to him or you when it came to my training habits. You should know better by now," he muses before he goes along with the other Inuzuka back home. Luckily the Inuzuka village is close to the training grounds. Someone's good planning apparently!
