Starring:
Date: July 31, 2015
Summary:
Daisuke tutors Tatsuo in the ways of drawing upon more of the Three Tails chakra, but things don't work out quite as planned as Isobu isn't playing nice.
"Tails of a Nara: A Tail!"
Konoha
It had been a month since Daisuke had called on Tatsuo for training on bringing his cloak of chakra out from within the sealed Bijuu inside. About a month was enough time for Daisuke to observe Tatsuo and his progress, slip ups, and general handling of such chakra. Yesterday Tatsuo was given a message scroll that said to meet him in the usual spot and to come ready to train and talk. The talking part was probably the odd part of the message, given that if anyone had anything to hide they would start to worry. But, of course, Daisuke had left him a whole afternoon and night to worry/stew/prepare to meet him.
It was mid morning, the time of their meeting, and Daisuke was leaning up against a nearby tree, close to the entrance of the secret Bijuu training facility, eating an apple for breakfast. He had a few Hokage-type things on his mind, so even if someone was late, he might not notice. He had an important guest visiting the village soon, and preparations were always an annoyance to him. As if to momentarily quell his annoyance, he takes a big bite of his apple, chewing thoughtfully.
Tatsuo is pretty much right on time, though it looks like there's been much hair pulling since he got the message. He's not going to hide what happened, there was no way he could. After all it had happened in front of Atsuro, Daisuke's second in command. There's no way it had just 'slipped by' somehow. No, the question wasn't if he knew, but rather what would happen since he did know.
Tatsuo had been surprised when neither Atsuro or Kenta had not only been /not/ trying to avoid him, but it was almost like they were seeking him out more and that…baffled him. It was the opposite of what he'd come to expect. But then again they weren't exactly in charge, Daisuke was. So…what was going to happen?
As Tatsuo nears the area he sees Daisuke and straightens up, taking a deep breath before continuing forward to bow to the Hokage. "Hokage-dono," he says formally in greeting.
Daisuke looks over as Tatsuo arrives, giving him a smile in greeting. "Tatsuo, good of you to come. I trust you are well?" he asks the boy as he pushes himself off the tree. Giving him a few moments to reply, he would then begin to walk towards the training facility, "Shall we get started, then?" The trip down into the facility would be mostly silent, as Daisuke let his protege dictate the conversation, whether he talked or not, it was completely up to him.
Eventually they would make it out onto the field and head towards the rocky area that they have trained within twice now, seeming to be a favorite of Daisuke's. Hopping up on a rock, Daisuke turns to wait for Tatsuo to hop up before starting. "Before we begin, let's summarize what you have, and have not, been testing out since our last training session. If you will." he says with a go-ahead nod.
"Uh…hai, Hokage-dono, I'm well…thank you…How about you?" Tatsuo follows after the Hokage, eyes downcast as they move through the area that is becoming ever so familiar to him as it's use becomes more and more frequent. The walk would be quiet after that as Tatsuo isn't much of a talker anyways, especially not when he has things on his mind. Things he knows he'll have to discuss eventually. Once they reach the area Tatsuo follows Daisuke and jumps up to a rock, folding his legs beneath him to sit down. "Um…well…I've continued to…um…talk to him sometimes…it's a little better now…I've practiced a little and it…um…seems okay…" Most of the time.
"That doesn't give me much information, Tatsuo. I'm looking for what you have, and have not, tried out, what has worked, what … hasn't… and what parts interest you the most in say…sparring…. and combat applications in general." Daisuke says, drawing out certain words as he looks from Tatsuo to the fake sun up above, waiting for the boy to give him information. After all, unmeasurable amounts of improvement and training had no worth to the Hokage. 'A little of this, a little better' these were not what he was looking for.
Tatsuo is hesitant to divulge the information but in the end it's the Hokage, so he really doesn't have much of a choice. Maybe he can still dance around the problematic part, at least. "Um…hai…" he says softly, eyes moving down to his hands. "I've…used Isobu in combat against the Recluse…and in a spar…but only the cloak…and with people that know," which of course is rather limited still. "It's…a great power…but…" he pauses as he tries to come up with what exactly he wants to say. "It…tries to take control…"
Daisuke sits down on the rock and leans back, listening to Tatsuo get through 'telling' him of the incident without actually telling him. "Yes, I did say that to you a few times, did I not?" he says as he turns to look at the boy. "That he will always be there looking for cracks in the wall?" he adds with a raised eyebrow. "Why don't you tell me, in your words, what happened and why you think it did. Learning from incidents is the best way to never letting them repeat themselves, after all."
Tatsuo ducks his head when Daisuke just comes right out and asks about it, staring at the hands that rest in his lap and are now nervously wringing. "Um…hai…" he says softly once again before taking a deep breath and looking up at Daisuke. "It was…um…Kenta-sama was going to help me work with…water jutsu. He said to…attack him…and said pretend like he was a Recluse member…coming to get me…" His eyes lower again and he's silent a moment before he continues softly. "It scared me…and it scared…/him/…so he tried to take over…and attack Kenta…" The memory wasn't a pleasant one, that feeling of not having control, not matter how short. "I…managed to get it back…but it was hard…I really had to fight him."
"Fear. Ok, that is easy enough to get a picture of, being as timid as you are." Daisuke says with a nod. "And the reason why you couldn't tell me about it in the last 20 minutes before I had to come out and say it? Or the last few weeks before this?" he asks Tatsuo, "Was that fear as well? Or just humility. Either one has no place around me when we are doing something like this, helping get you through this." he adds as a stern statement to Tatsuo. He will give Tatsuo a few moments to say whatever he needs to say, but after that it was time to train, and Daisuke's caring attitude had gone cold.
"Now, today we are going to work on producing cloak extensions, the easiest and most 'natural' being tails, while the rest come after. You have seen my cloak before, and the tails that sprout when using certain levels of the chakra, today I want you to produce a single tail." he says as he stands back up and turns to Tatsuo to observe. "Produce your cloak and begin to draw further. Go slow, and only push as much as you can each time without feeling like you are giving up the reigns."
Tatsuo's eyes remain on his hands as Daisuke speaks of the fear, and his own timidity. He was right of course, though he was quite timid the fear wasn't entirely based around that. He could be quite fearless and stupid at times as well. "I…didn't want you to be…disappointed…" Tatsuo says softly without looking up. It wasn't even angry, it was the disappointment. But a lot of that was also family based, thanks to his father.
When Daisuke stands the boy blinks up and pushes himself to his feet as well, listening to what the Hokage wants him to do. He chews his lower lip worriedly before taking a deep breath. This is what had happened when he almost lost control…he'd avoided it again so far. But it was time…Tatsuo closes his eyes, head bowed slightly as he focuses inward to that energy and starts to pull. The power fills him quickly to that point where they'd stopped last time, the boy having figured out how to get there quickly with practice.
"Don't worry about senseless things like my disappointment, Tatsuo. Every one of the Jinchuuriki including me have gone through these set backs. Not everyone had an instructor to guide them and pick them up when they fell. When we are talking and training all things Bijuu, I am just your instructor, a mentor rather than the Hokage, if that will help you be forthcoming with your set backs. Because without all the information, I can't help you." Daisuke explains while Tatsuo is focusing and producing his cloak, sensing the hesitation from the boy to do so and knowing full well what that felt like.
"Good, focus and stall there if you need to before you push any further. I will be here to stop any loss of control and we can start again." he says as a form of reassuring Tatsuo of one of his fears and letting him focus on the hard task before him.
That…was a hard way to see the Hokage. As an instructor to talk to rather than someone to simply look up to and obey. Tatsuo's eyes open, red eyes now, and looks up at Daisuke for a few moments before he simply closes them again and starts to focus. As he draws on more of the others chakra it starts to become visible, bubbling out around him. Things start off well enough at least, but then his face gets a little twisted and his teeth start grinding as an internal battle begins to insue.
Daisuke watches the boy begin his struggle, reminded of his own struggle around the same age, his thoughts floating back to such a time, standing there, his Aunt Hashiramako watching over him. Hashi… as time went on without word from her he grew more and more worried. She had been such a boulder for him to lean on, and having lost two Isobu hosts prior to Tatsuo, it was clear that he was never going to be as good a teacher to the Jinchuuriki as she was to him. He sighs and runs his fingers through his hair, focused on Tatsuo and his struggle again. He places a hand lightly on Tatsuo's shoulder, the familiar sensation of the hostile bijuu chakra almost as soothing as it was burning. "You can do this, not just because you have a great teacher, but because I chose you for a reason." he says quietly to Tatsuo to not interrupt, but help, him out.
Tatsuo teeth continue to grind despite the reassurances, sweat beginning to break out on his forehead from the effort of control. The cloak continues to bubble out however, more and more as the tail starts to form. In fact it looks like it might be about complete when he lets out a cry of pain and drops to his hands and knees. And still the battle rages.
Daisuke watches the cloak, not only the tail, but the ferocious bubbling that let him know that the battle was still raging. As Tatsuo drops to his knees, Daisuke crouches down, not helping or hindering, just watching and waiting in case he had to use his dampening seals. After a few moments, he gets enough of a rush of a mixture of energy and impatience to say, "You can't do much battling on your knees, Tatsuo. From here it looks like you are prostrating yourself before Isobu, when it should be the other way around. This is your body, take control and show him how it is going to be."
Tatsuo's hands come up to cover his ears as if he could shut out whatever it is Isobu is likely saying to him in reply to what the Hokage says. But he's a fighter. Teeth grit he shifts his legs underneath him, struggling to stand. And he does as the first tail completes.
But then he screams again, arms flung out to either side and head tilted back, face to the sky as the sound of the scream starts to change and deepen. And another tail starts forming.
Daisuke watches Tatsuo, nodding along with his progress. The first tail forms and all looks ok, but Daisuke knew better than to believe that mere moments with a tail meant anything to a Jinchuuriki. In fact, it made them more dangerous. As the next tail starts to form, Daisuke reaches into his pouch and grabs a chakra paper seal with the kanji for 'Sit' on it, slapping it onto Tatsuo's forehead. The seal was invented by his Aunt for this expressed purpose, and it had been used on him a few times, so he knew that Tatsuo was about to feel a WHOOSH as his bijuu chakra would begin to dissipate, like someone had punched him in the gut. Whether Tatsuo fainted or not, Daisuke wouldn't be speaking to him with his next words. "Not cool, Isobu. Next time that happens, I will put 10 more layers of binding on your cage so that you can't even move an inch."
As the seal takes effect the cloak dissapates, bubbling away into the sky as the tails vanish as well. After a few seconds Tatsuo drops back to his hands and knees again, taking in deep breaths as he tries to catch his breath after /that/. "He fought…so hard…and I failed…" There it is again, that fear of failing, engrained within him thanks to his father. Of course failing with his father usually had consequences…so far Daisuke hadn't done anything besides give him support. But now? He wasn't sure what would happen.
Daisuke pats Tatsuo on his shoulder again and says, "Cheer up. If you had drawn a tail on your first go you would've done something even I couldn't." he says, reassuring the boy. "It will just take practice after this, but not alone. A handful of people, including Atsuro, have these handy things.." he says, holding up one of the dampening seals. "..and they are people that are ok to train around. Until you are confident that you can produce a tail, lets keep it like that, ok?"
Tatsuo is…surprised. He shifts back so he's sitting on his feet, head tilted to look up at the Hokage with a confused expression. "You aren't…mad?" Apparently he still has a hard time accepting that he's not going to get in trouble while he's learning. "Who…uh…who else…besides Atsuro-sama?" He slowly stands again now that he's gotten his breath back.
"Why would I be mad?" Daisuke asks, getting a bit more of a sense of the boy Tatsuo was. He smiles and pats Tatsuo on the head, giving his hair a bit of a ruffling before saying, "Hmm, Atsuro…probably Inuzuka Taiki…I guess Kenta would be ok, and Hige. Any Jounin really would be ok, as long as you make sure they are prepared. I'll give you a few of these to keep as well, so you can hand them out in case they don't have them on their person." he says, holding four of the paper seals out to Tatsuo.
"Because…I failed…my father…" Tatsuo starts, then trails off before his eyes sink to the ground. Tatsuo blinks up in surprise at Daisuke, ducking his head a little at the unexpected hair ruffling. And then…he actually smiles at Daisuke. Not a huge one or anything, but still a smile. A rare sight. He takes the offered seals and looks at them for a moment before putting them into one of his pouches at his back. "Thank you…Hokage-dono…" he says after it's all said and done, giving the man a deep bow. "I'll practice my hardest and do my best." He says it without his normal hesitation, with some actual conviction.
Daisuke holds up his finger as Tatsuo thanks him, "Sensei, remember. When doing Bijuu things." he corrects the boy before turning to look towards the entrance. "Shall we go get something to eat? I know for a fact that using up lots of chakra makes anyone hungry." he says to Tatsuo with a grin.
Tatsuo nods quickly, "Um, hai…sensei." A quick amendment is all that takes, though it still feels strange on his tongue. When Daisuke mentions food the young Nara's stomach grumbles at him angrily, and loudly! It's enough that it actually startles Tatsuo and makes him start in surprise. "Oh…I guess I could use something to eat…" he says sheepishly with a little smile.
