Starring:
Date: December 14, 2011
Summary:
Eremi learns his affinity, and Taiki reveals his situation in life.
"Team 10 Chronicles: Revelations"
Training Area #26
It was a quiet and rather cool day out in the training area. With winter approaching or perhaps already being here, many genin have taken to practicing their skills inside. Though a few remained, deciding to brave the harshness of the occassional breeze that might send a chill down a less prepared or conditioned individual. One such person being Eremi, who currently sat on a stump off in the distance appearing to be loosening and once again wrapping his bandages that covered his arms. His attention focused purely on what he was doing, instead of the normal behavior of keeping an eye on everyone that was around the area. It was a new technique he was trying out to combat his too often distrust and suspicion of others.
Taiki can be found training in all kinds of weather, regardless of personal comfort. And he rarely if ever trains inside, or at least inside the Inuzuka clan compound. Today is no exception. He is out here, in the cold, and well away from anyone around him. Why? Well the answer could be in the scroll he's unrolling on the ground right now. He channels ckakra into his hand and slams it down on the only seal present, then steps back. One second later about ten large, apparently heavy metal rods shoot out of the seal, arcing in the air before raining down upon the area. Incidentally enough, any living animal or human is missed by a good margin, but plant life can be skewered. Taiki looks around at the spread and nods. "This should work, don't you think Shinobu?" The dog barks happily as Taiki smiles. "Okay… let's see of this works…"
Stay focused, it was all Eremi could tell himself as he continued his mental exercise. Something that he was finding increasingly difficult with the sounds that were emanating in the area. They were a new noise to the boy and he wanted to look up just for a quick second, but then came the trouble of him losing himself in bad habits once again. For sure he figured he could ignore it, then he heard the barking. He couldn't help but take a peek by lifting his head out of curiousity and perhaps a certainty to whom the barks belonged to.
Peering ahead, it would seem that his guess was correct. Shinobu was the culprit and the same went for Taiki. Quickly he finished wrapping up the bandages before picking himself up from his seated position and moving ahead. A wave in the air was given to let the others know he was approaching and to not hit him with such a brutal attack. "Hello Taiki and Shinobu."
Slurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp. A strange sound emanates from the nearby woods. Slurrrrrrrrrrrp. Slurrrrrrrrrrrrrp. It gets closer and closer until! Atsuro emerges from the trees, sipping coffee from an insulated mug. "There you are, Taiki," he says, "Good to see your rebar slinging training is going well." He steps completely out and away from the forest and walks over, Taizen appearing from the trees behind him. "Oh, and Eremi's here too. I'd offer you a sip of coffee…" He grins slyly, "But I don't think you'd like this kind."
Once all the rods were in place, Taiki started to focus his charkra, channeling lighting around his body. While holding that chakra in place, he performs handsigns any academy student of at least second year would realize, much less any official Genin. Though there's two new handseals in the mix: Dragon at the beginning, Horse at the end. He finishes this up and calls out, "Raiton: Kiwarmi no Jutsu!" With that he disappears in a puff of smoke… the first sign something went wrong. Oh, a piece of rebar is in his place, but a loud ZOT! can be heard, followed by minor cursing. "Ow… Christmas it, that hurt!" he calls out from about 5 feet east of his last position. "Hey there Eremi, how's it hang'n?" When Atsuro speaks up he sighs and shakes his head. "That's only a delivery system sensei."
Seeing Taiki was still in the middle of some sort of new jutsu, Eremi slowed his approach then finally came to a complete stop with wide eyes as his friend had simply vanished. Panic set in and he was ready to frantically look around, but was stopped short when hearing a word that made him cringe and forced him to slowly glance in that direction. "That was…Was that supposed to happen?" He tilted his head in confusion, then once again set out to move closer. "I…think I may sign up for the chuunin exams. I know I won't pass them, I just want to see where I am at skill and knowledge wise."
The boy then snapped his head from the loud slurps and seeing that it was Atsuro, he let out a relieved sigh. "I've never tried coffee before, so I don't know if I'd like any kind." He'd bow slightly, "But thank you for considering to not offer me some."
"A delivery system for metal rods?" asks Atsuro, "Well, that's interesting. I assume something more useful was supposed to happen there. Something that didn't involve replacing with a rod and shocking yourself, for instance." He pauses then grins. "Hold on, let me guess. You spread metal rods all over the battlefield, and you can replace with any of them but you somehow prevent anyone else from doing it. At least without shocking themself. Guess you've gotta put that lightning to good use, eh?"
He glances at Eremi. "Well, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't like this kind. Besides that, I dunno if you'd like the caffeine much." He pauses. "Hey, what's your element, by the way?"
Taiki's somewhat used to Atsuro's snarkiness by now, so he just shakes his head and chuckles at the mention of more useful than shocking himself. "Bad part of elemental training, you can hurt yourself if you're not careful. And you're close Atsuro'sensei. What is supposed to happen is that I replace myself with the metal rod instead of the Holy Log. The rod takes the hit, and discharges electricity in the form of a flash of light, thereby disorenting my opponents enough to give me an edge. The lightning is supposed to transfer to the rod during the replacement technique." He then chuckles as he looks over toward Eremi. "So no, that's not what was supposed to happen." He falls silent for a moment before saying, "I don't think I will join the exams. I'm not ready yet."
Eremi stayed silent, eyes moving between the two as the spoke to one another, sensei and student. He was some what jealous of the relationship they had with each other, but he was still happy Taiki found someone to help him train and learn from. When an opening came for him to respond, he took it, "I will take your word for it." He smiled in blissful ignorance, "Oh, I am not really sure. Do I get to pick? That's a tough decision to make." He'd cross his arms and lose himself in his thoughts in an attempt to decide which element would benefit him the most only to end up at the same point as before, "I don't know." He'd glance to Taiki, nodding at the explanation given, but somewhat surprised to hear that his friend won't be joining as well, "Well then I really hope I don't pass, then maybe we could take them and pass together."
"Elemental training?" Atsuro asks, "You say that like I haven't cut myself with my own sword a few times. Or hurt my hand punching a dummy." Atsuro glances down at his hand and smirks. "I went for his face and he grimaced. Ended up slicing my knuckles open on his incisors. Anyway, my idea was good too. You should try it, let me know how it works out. And… I'm probably going to regret asking this, but what is the 'Holy Log?'"
He smiles and takes a sip of the coffee. "Someday, Eremi." He shakes the mug back and forth and the sound of coffee sloshing inside can be heard. "But I'm afraid there's no picking. You're born with one and you're stuck with it. Let's hope you've got a good one, eh? Don't want to be stuck with lightning like my poor student here. I still have some chakra paper on me, if you want to be tested."
Taiki just laughs and shakes his head. "Then why do you take verbal jabs at me when a technique I'm learning messes up sensei? Everyone has to go through the mistakes before getting it right, unless you're an Uchiha." He then stops laughing and tilts his head to the side before continuing, "The only problem I can think of is how to put in enough lightning chakra to cause a shock like that. I'll think on it and see what I can come up with though. As far as the Holy Log goes though…" Taiki's grin becomes mischievous and slightly demented. "It's a secret."
After trying to disturb Atsuro for the moment he turns his attention back to Eremi. "I'd like that, Eremi. It's too bad I had to stop training for a bit."
Eremi looked confused for a second, not understanding why Taiki would have to /stop/ training at all. Unless it had something to do with that Inuzuka clan business that keeps Taiki normally busy. Though his only way to actually find out, was to ask. "Why did you have to stop training?" He waited for an answer before looking at Atsuro, "Oh, well it sounds better that way. I don't like making important decisions like that." He nodded as if stating a matter of fact, "But I don't want lightning you say? Well, fingers crossed then if I don't get to pick." His eyes moved toward where he figured the teen would be keeping paper, "I'm being tested though, is it possible to fail? I have no idea what to expect."
Atsuro grins toothily at Taiki. "Why do birds fly? Come on, Taiki, verbal jabs is just part of who I am. Besides, I don't screw up anymore. That was all years ago. And the Uchiha thing: they're only pretending." Taiki's explanation of the Holy Log is thoroughly unsatisfying. "Have you eaten anything strange lately?" He turns to Eremi and pulls out a slip of chakra paper. "You take this and focus some chakra into it." He holds it out to him. "But you'd better hurry, because I think I have to take Taiki to a doctor."
"Suuuurrrrre you dont sensei," Taiki snarks back about the not making mistakes. "We all know what a paragon of perfection and virtue you are." Taiki does his best to hold back a snort, but it kind of half comes out. "And no, I have not eaten anything funny. I'm just as sane as you are." His gaze turns to Eremi and says, "Don't worry, if you have Lightning you'll be just fine."
Eremi stared at the paper, not satisfied with how simple it is, "Why don't they give these out during the academy?" Asking, but not necessarily looking for an answer as he reaches for the paper and holds it in his hands. Nothing felt special about it, just an ordinary paper. He glanced up at Atsuro, a little skeptical, then focused back on the paper. "Alright, here goes." Holding the paper tight in both hands, he focused his chakra in his hands in the same way Atsuro taught him with tree walking. The moment the chakra hits the paper, it instantly wrinkles up. "Oh my god, I failed didn't I? What's it mean?" He looked between the two Inuzukas for answers as he showed them the paper. Though with what was going on, he still didn't forget Taiki didn't answer his question about why he had to stop, but not being a pusher he lets it drop.
"You're getting lippy," Atsuro says, frowning at Taiki. But, hold on. "Oh Taiki," he breathes happily, "I really /have/ taught you something. And hey, I'm far from a paragon of perfection and virtue. That would be just awful. But have you ever seen me hurt myself training?" He slurrrrrrrrrrrrps again as he watches Eremi do the chakra paper test, nodding a little as the paper crumples up. "That means lightning," he says, "Heeeeey, awesome. That's the best one."
Taiki grins widely and says, "I'm trying. Not that easy, after such a long time of keeping my head down and being seen but not heard, but… Mom and Pops convinced me that it would be best if I started trying to come out of the shell. It's just another way to not let them win, is all." Taiki watches the paper crumple and then smiles widely. "Congratulations Eremi! You and I have the same chakra nature!" He's genuinely happy for his friend and says, "At least you won't be alone in trying to learn this stuff. We can bounce ideas off of eachother, which will make things a lot easier."
Shinobu barks at him, then growls. Taiki looks over toward the dog and frowns a little saying, "I was hoping not to have to answer that question." Taiki's face looses the joy in it when he converses with Shinobu about whatever this is, and Shinobu is fairly serious as well. He barks at Taiki again, then barks and growls again, causing Taiki to sigh. "Okay, okay, I get it." He then turns to Eremi and gives his friend a sad smile. "Another reason I'm happy you're lightning aspected like me is because I have someone else not only to be supportive of, but to be a friend of mine. You see… I don't get along… Let's just say there are people in my clan that don't approve of my dreams, and are trying to sabotage it. During that big clan gathering I told you about some people used their weight to ensure I had no time, or permission, to practice… pretty much anything. You notice I don't practice in my compound all that much? Well, that's why."
Eremi's jaw dropped with what Atsuro responded with. The teen changing his answer from lightning now being the best element to get was not only confusing, but frustrating as well. "But you said…" He bit his lip, deciding it was probably best to simply let it go. "Well I guess I was born lucky then. To get lightning that is." He bowed in appreciation, "Thank you for administering this test. You have your own team to deal with and yet you still do so much…too much for me." He straightened up and smiled at Taiki, "Yes, I never thought about Ninjutsu really before, but now knowing this I should start incorporating it somehow into my training."
Which he thought he was going to be able to start immediately, but when he glanced toward Shinobu, he noticed something odd the way the ninken was acting toward Taiki. How the two were seeming to communicate in the way that only Inuzuka's could. Knowing something was up, he simply waited to hear what this was all about.
He didn't have to wait long and when Taiki looked his way, with that sad smile that caused Eremi to clear his throat he tilted his head, "What's going on?" He asked, but Taiki was already giving him the explanation to why he had to stop training. When he finished, he could tell that in not so many words, Taiki had something to say that it seemed like he was holding back. The boy glanced toward Atsuro, with watery eyes, curious to see how his friends sensei would react to hearing such a thing. But it was foolish for him to think the two didn't already speak of such a thing. The real question was what were they going to do to stop this.
Clenching a fist, Eremi rubbed a hand into his eyes before glancing toward Taiki, "You can't let them do that." He was shaking now, at the thought of what exactly it means for people within his friends own clan to be 'using their weight' to hold him back. "You can't let them stop your dreams." The boy sniffed hard, more upset with himself that he hadn't already known this. That there was nothing that he could probably do himself. It hurt him as well, to hear this. Having a friend, but not being able to protect them. What kind of a friend was he being?
"I promise Taiki, that if you'll let me, I'll make sure you get to see your dreams come to light."
"They grow up so fast." Atsuro pats Taiki on the head. "Faster than me, even. Just think, in a few years you'll be older than me." He simply stands by and listens as Taiki explains his situation and Eremi reacts to it. "See you later, Eremi," he tells the retreating boy. He takes a sip of coffee and then turns back to Taiki. "You sure that was such a good idea?" he asks. "Now he's in on this too."
Taiki sighs and looks at Atsuro and shrugs. "Only to a point. That was the compromise between Shinobu and myself," Taiki says as he looks the direction Eremi took. "All he knows, for certain, is that I'm having difficulties in my clan, probably political in nature. Every clan has that, to a certain point. He may suspect the truth, but he doesn't know it. It's a risk, but a calculated one. He's not the type to go barging in and challenging the Elders to combat, so I don't have to worry about that." He then sighs and look at Atsuro sideways. "Besides, they're getting bolder. I think they know something's up with their perfect plan. Really, how could they not? But their getting bolder means its going to spill out of the clan sooner or later. I need may allies in this, Atsuro'sensei. This is just one small step in that. I can't do this alone."
"It wasn't really that perfect of a plan to begin with," Atsuro says, "Actually, I'm not really sure I'd count it as a plan so much." He shrugs. "Anyway, this coffee's getting cold, and I'm not exactly dressed for winter. So maybe I'd better get going. Need anything else from your wise sensei before I leave?"
"It was perfect so long as I didn't have anyone but my parents in my corner. The moment that changed, is the moment they began to lose conrol. But they won't take it lying down, sensei," Taiki says as he looks around. "No, I think I'll practice a bit more, at least get to the point I'm not shocking myself when I kawarmi while chaged with lightning. Eventually I'll need to learn more taijutsu from you, but that can wait for a little bit longer. Go on and get warm. I'll see you later."
