Starring:
Naoya, Taree
Date: August 5, 2014
Summary:
Taree and Naoya meet formally for the first time. They practice general water manipulation together and express and share thoughts about what they were, Okumo, and their steps forward.
"Water Manipulation Training near Mist Lake"
Mist Lake, Kirigakure
Even though it was in the middle of the day, there was little light through the dark, storming clouds. The crackle of thunder rumbles in the distance, out to sea, drifting away from the village though the rain didn't show signs of relenting. The air was chilled though for once the fog upon the lake's surface was all but nonexistent.
Naoya for once wore a thin deep sea blue jacket around his torso, keeping much of the water from soaking him utterly, though he did not wear anything on his head. The young teen stood on the shore of the lake, furling his brow as he watches the steady ripples collide in response to the rain drops. Moving his hands together, the young teen began to form several seals, but did not not seem to be making much headway just yet.
The brood was enjoying the rain. Each little droplet of water a chance to knock bugs into the lake water. It was triggering a feeding frenzy in Taree's spiders. Small little odd lines of movement across the ripples of the water, only a hint of something in the water. The eagerness of her brood would make Taree swim out from her nest under the water.
Swimming up from the lakes bottom Taree would rise and take a step on to the lake shore. A quick hand sign making the water erupted off of her. The rain making a sudden side ways jerk away from her as it came close. Smiling she would sigh and do a little dance on the waters edge. Shaking water out of her ears. Grumbling to herself all this control of water and she could not get water out of her ears. Stretching Taree would walk along the ledge. Her brood a little hint of a swirl in the water swimming along side of her. They greyness and noise of thunder off in the distance masking most movement as she finally sees Naoya's blue jacket first. Walking up and tilting her head at the almost wet ninja, She would hand sign again the bubble of rain water disruption expanding around them both. "Well hello there. You seem to be getting a little wet. It speaks of dedication." the brood on the lake edge starting send off little glows of light making the water almost glitter with little stars. "I am Okumo Taree. welcome to my little corner of the lake"
Naoya closes his eyes as he slowly begins to repeat three seals though as he comes to focus more closely and ignore the lake's ripples his efforts bear fruit. Rain drops begin to linger slower a meter in front of himself before collecting to one point, the beginnings of a sphere, even if lumpy and constantly shifting and unstable. At the sound of a sudden splash of water not too far away causes him to look towards the sound, dropping that rain he had collected for the moment.
Naoya looks back in front of himself with some annoyance but then searches again for the source of the noise, after a time spotting the odd sight of Taree. Tilting his head slightly to the right, the young teen watches as the storm's downpour not only avoids her but then also himself once she drew near. "Water spider.. Doihara-san spoke of you. I'm Okumo Naoya, ikoto-san." After saying his name, the teen would dip his head towards the girl, but he never took his eyes from her face.
Nodding and smiling toward Naoya, Taree would watch and examine the globe of water starting to form. The lumpy shapeless dropping to the ground with his concentration ending. A small blush appearing on Taree's face as Naoya explains Doihara mentioned her as the water spider. Eyes brightening a little twinkling forming in them as Naoya admits to being a okumo. "Greetings cousin." Giving him a respectful little curtsey. Listening to something off into the distance Taree would look toward the waters edge smiling at her brood.
Taree would smile and hand sign once more. Slowly the bubble of water distortion would expand again until it gave them a larger semi rain free space. "You are drenched here allow me." Hand signing again slowly the water on Naoya clothing starting to roll off of him forming a oddly shaped ball between them. "What brings you out here cousin in such miserable weather?"
Naoya smirks lightly upon seeing color reach her cheeks but he suddenly goes still once the water begins to move away from his body. The teen looks away from Taree and looks downwards towards the sphere forming between them from the rainwater that had been soaking him. "I really need to learn that trick.." was said more absentmindedly as the young teen crouches some what and extends his left hand to poke at the sphere, testing how stable it was.
"I came here to try to practice water shaping. I know the basics but.. never had a formal sensei outside of the academy." Naoya withdraws his fingers and looks upwards away from the sphere and towards Taree before continuing to speak. "While the storm was passing seemed best time to try, no one is normally around then."
The sphere was not that stable really. It was wobbling freely in the air, Naoya's finger going right through the surface. His fingers would feel the cool water but as they withdraw from it the moisture would stay in the sphere. Motioning toward the lake the glob of water would float toward the lake and dip into its surface. Coming back up after a few moments, this time filled with a bunch of spiders swimming around inside of it.
"Its really not that hard. It all depends what techniques you're trying to use. And well what you were taught. Allot of the schools of thought on it vary greatly. The academy teaches you the basic for specific beginning jutsus. It does not help too much for practical applications. Like gather the rain as it falls is really impressive. Allot more difficult that you think. You want an easier time of it just try it from the lake." Hand signing once A second sphere would come up from the lake and float next to the first.
Naoya would bring his hand back close to his chest, running several of his fingers across his thumb, some what perplexed at the thought of it not being soaked. When Taree motions towards the lake, his eyes follow her fingers and the globe itself. "Just how are they.. Your brood has gills?" the concept sounded more foreign than the fact the girl all but stopped the rain showering upon them
Naoya furls his brow and looks away from the peculiar spiders cradled within the sphere and towards the rippling lake near them. "It is easier if the water is disturbed but.. Each time when I condense it, it seems to go everywhere." The teen intertwines his fingers tensely before closing his eyes and exhaling softly. Slipping his fingers away from each other, the young teen would make three seals before pausing again.
In a triangle pattern of thin water tendrils begin to raise up from the lake's surface, bowing inward onto a similar point. It would take a handful of seconds before a crude sphere began to take shape by the time the base of the tendrils shrivel, producing a sphere about the gaze of a grape fruit. Naoya when signs a final seal, which slowly begins to shrink and condense the sphere, though this process quickly destabilizes from uneven force and appears to explode sharply.
Taree would giggle almost breaking out into a little laugh as Naoya asked if her spider had gills. The spiders wobbling in the water with amusement, like she gets asked that every other day. "Everybody asks that. Actually its a common lake spider before it was interbred with our okumo spiders. Water spiders exist naturally. The little hairs on the spiders are longer. That and add a little webbing it forms a air bubble around the spiders body. Its actually really nifty as long as the water is healthy and alive the spider can stay under well forever. Stagnant water they have to come up for air constantly." Motioning with her hand the spheres of water would splash across the way back into the lake. A loud splash echoing around them.
Watching Naoya's attempt at water manipulation slowly and carefully Taree would slowly compile a few pointers she would try to give him. "Well I can give you the same advice Amata gave me on tree walking. You are trying much too hard." Walking a little closer to the water edge, Taree would bend down and strike her fist into the water. Her hand coming back up with a sphere of water around it. "Ever wonder why soap bubbles always make little round spheres? And not some other shape. Don't try to shape the water in your mind. Let it shape itself. Just hold it together with your chakra. Try it with your fist first not with hand signing. Using it from a distance uses more chakra. And is harder."
"Trying too hard?" Naoya parrots back to the girl, turning his attention onto her again. Amber eyes watches as taree reenters the water without even seeming chill with more than a bit of curiosity as her hand resurfaces, trapped within a sphere. "Without seals? How do you guide your chakra then?" Even as he questioned it, the young teen follows along to the water's edge.
Naoya kneels down onto the edge of the lake beside the girl, whose hand was still trapped within a sphere of water. The young teen wiggles his right hand's fingers lightly before dipping them under the surface of the water. The teen's hand wouldn't tense but fans out with his finger tips curling inwards faintly, acting as if he was grasping something. 'Don't shape it.. just hold it..' was said softly to himself as his hand raises slowly. Once above the water's surface, the collection of water was smooth but wasn't a well formed sphere, closer to a thick pancake yet stable.
Motioning with a fist in the water several times, Taree would explain as she went slowly. "Think back to the academy training. When they were teaching us to use chakra in punches and kicks. A slight push of chakra into your body to strengthen it. So we could hit things harder, yet not hurt ourselves. Now just think of the chakra from your hand touching the water. See you get it pretty well. Just don't try to make the water hard or soft. Compressing it is always a really easy way to make it horrifically difficult. Now if you punched someone with that your hand would be protected and you have all kinda more weight behind it." Shadow boxing for a very few swings Taree would reveal the true flaw in the technique. The water was adding weight, so was harder to move than just a fist. Winking at Naoya Taree would let the water drop back into the lake. "Its also a good way to train yourself heavier weight stronger muscles. There are lots of tricks to learn with it."
"Was always bad at the finer points of chakra control. Never broke my own hand like Hayase did though.." Naoya adds on absentmindedly as his hand turns upside down before clinching his fingers against the lazy collection of water within his hand. Two things began to change with the water, it began to take more of a spherical shape suddenly but within the sphere, the water began to shift and churn from the amount of additional chakra the young teen was forcing into it.
Naoya begins to smile faintly as it began to match Taree's sphere around her fist. "Either too little.. or a touch too much. Need to find a balance point." The teen would begin to rotate his wrist, bringing it upright once again, showing the tamed yet chaotic sphere to the girl.
Nodding softly toward Naoya, Taree would listen to him recalling his experience in training. Watching the way his water shifted and Gyrate with motion, it made her think. "No worries I actually half drowned in when I was in the academy. It was before I collect the water spiders. Put me into the hospital for a month with swamp fever." Letting Naoya practice a little more she would continue her own practice. Hand signing a few times making streaming water erupt from the lake like ribbons only to fire themselves off into the lake as sharp barrage of needles.
"You are right you will eventually have to find some sort of happy medium between too little too much. But you can also learn allot from the extremes. Make several Jutsus around it. Try actually throwing a punch but use way too much chakra with the water. And when you would connect stop controlling the water. The water has to go somewhere. It should continue on the path of the punch." Taree's eyes would glimmer with all the mental gears turning in her head.
"Almost drowning? That's what got me nervous about trying to learn water walking for a long time. Still haven't mastered how just yet. Maybe another day you could guide me?" Naoya would rotate his wrist downwards again, trying to maintain the shape of the sphere in his hand before smirking and lowering it towards the lake's surface. "Continue on the path? Maybe if it hits something solid. That's why I watch the rain when I think of water jutsu. How much can you make something ripple?"
Pressing the sphere he held into the lake at first causes no change but when he relaxes his fingers, the sphere implodes as the chakra collides with itself. A minor ringed wave, no higher than two centimeters ripples from the young teen's palm quickly though under his palm, a narrow funnel took shape but soon collapsed onto itself. "I wonder what that would do to something living if it held still long enough."
Would take her foot and step on the lake edge several times. Each time Taree would only manage to make a little splash. "Water users should never have a fear of learning water walking. Granted I admit I have not even tried to walk on water yet. You could always swim to the surface." Putting her foot near the edge again the water would simple push away from her foot. A small sphere of air around her foot shoving the water back. "Try pushing instead of holding the water in place. Its allot of times easier. to get water to move like that. Instead of holding it then willing it to move. Its actually a training method to let the waves of the ocean fall against you going deeper and deeper."
Would consider Naoya question for a moment. Eventually coming to the thought of exactly would happen to some thing living in the water. "That is a easy answer. The living thing would drown before any major harm come to it. Granted ninja have been known to have some legendary lung capacity." Taree would look across the water for a moment, Lines of ripples would show her brood scattering. With a quick simple hand signings a spot of the water would start to swirl. A funnel starting to form, growing by the moment. "Making funnels is fun. My mother used to scold me all the time playing in the bath tub."
Quickly shaking his wrist, Naoya leans back to sit upright and count his fingers to make sure they were still all there. Looking out towards the lake, he would notice Taree beginning to step and walk across the lake as if it was solid ground. "I mostly fear blowing my feet up, not worrying about sinking." Looking down towards the soles of his feet, he shakes his head, content to leave the training for another day.
"Drowning them rather than needing a long extended conflict. Seems like it would be useful." Naoya glances from his own boots out to the lake again, only noticing darting 'V' like ripples rather than the spiders themselves but soon focuses onto Taree. Lowering his gaze to the series of funnels forming around her he nods lightly. "They are simple, delicate too though I have seen some of the instructors use them for more violent displays. Not sure they would be much use outside of this nation though."
Releasing the hand sign the funnels close up in a instance. Causing the water to rush downward, Big splashes erupting everywhere. Several fish falling along the waters Edge. Taree pausing after several moments to catch her breath. "Hmm fish for lunch?" Taree's swarm already moving toward the waters edge. Groups of spider starting to catch up the small fish. Webbing them in short order before dragging them back down into the water. "Now you are talking. Usually I try to add a touch of genjutsu into the mix. a person quickly loses track of time when they are under water starting to get desperate to breath. Makes them panic very quickly, unless their blood runs cold." Her spiders starting to spread out through the area. Slowly returning with bits of twigs and branches. In no time a fine pile of firewood is drawn together. "I can make the pile of firewood, But can you help me light it i still suck at starting a campfire."
The mention of Genjutsu causes his upper lip to draw back in a mild snarl though the young teen doesn't saying anything. Lifting a wrist to his mouth, Naoya twists his lips upwards, soon beginning to produce a chittering like set of sounds before lowering it back down again. The young teen would lower his hands to his thighs and stand up, making them closer towards where the small camp fire was beginning to be prepared.
Kneeling down close to the edge of the pile of mostly dry materials, he touches the center of it lightly. The teen uses his arm as a road for four inch long spider, watching it crawl from his wrist carrying a cocoon like collection of nesting webs, acting as a rapidly burning tender. "They let me cheat as long as I take them minnow and tadpole fishing in the spring season." Moving his right hand into a hip pouch he pulls out a narrow metal rod along with a toothless key tethered to it.
After withdrawing his hand from the pile, the spider which delivered the cocoon crawls its way along Naoya's arm until he rests onto his shoulder. Taking the key with his left hand's fingers, he runs it along the metal rod, quickly causing sparks to flare and shower the small pile to ignite it. "I have to ask, do you sleep down below with them or do you live in a normal home?"
Taree would note Naoya's reaction to the mention of genjutsu. Sighing softly to herself noting another person that probably got the sleep genjutsu treatment while on guard duty. Her own face a little twisted remembering days and night of being bitten by her own spiders to stay awake. Snorting as the conversation switches to fishing. "My spiders are scary at fishing. They have a very predatorial taste for game fish. Something to do with revenge, in the wild they get eaten by the fish."
Once the fire was going well enough, Taree would take a few longer sticks and start to place some large fish on them. Taking a moment to find the best spot she would lean the fish over the fire. Letting them slowly start to cook. Thinking how much information she wanted to give away before answering, Taree would eventually speak up. "Actually I have both. a apartment in town. And well their is a city of nests down on the bottom of the lake." Looking right at Naoya to make the threat abundantly clear. "I would not try to go down there. Its very deep the spiders are territorial. And the nests granted are filled with air, They are all set up like death traps. A intruder would be surrounded by webs. Cocooned completely as the water rushed in. Certain death if I was not present"
Raising the hand that was holding the flint rod, Naoya waves it side to side some what dismissively as he shakes his head. "Taree-san.. I'm not /that/ much of a fool. My own brood doesn't like the water too much even if they like to fish. They use snares, lures and drag nets, never diving. I would be stuck somewhere, alone, unable to really see and.. Even if they were gentle, I wouldn't try it. I was just curious." Averting his eyes, he slips the metal rod into the pouch the slipped it from.
Naoya turns his head towards the spider on his shoulder before twisting his lips upwards to chitter at it lightly before shrugging after it crawls into the side of his neck with little effort. "The elders thought I would be fit to play host for hunters rather than nesters. I still blame them for why my chakra control is like it is.. gluttons." The last word spoken was hushed, almost to the point of a whisper. "You seem to harmonize with your brood rather well though, learning from them quickly. Are you teaching them tricks as well?"
Taree would nod and did look a little apologetic as Naoya continued. "I am sorry. I have kept it hush as much as I can. But you know the power of rumor." Pausing for a long moment before she would continue. "I just don't want to get dragged in front of the kage again in the middle of the night, with a half drowned student scream she tried to kill me, I was only looking." A half smiling creeping on her lips thinking of all the different nests.
As time passed Taree would turn the fish and check them for relative doneness. "You can always change your spiders. It takes effort and determination. Slowly breed them to what you really wanted. Thats how I got water spiders." Smirking for a few moments. "It really ticked off a few of our elders. That is why I am still on listed as failure on the reports. At least officially. Actually I been to Suna and have collected many different spiders to study. Do you have something you want different in a trait for your spiders?"
Raising a finger to his lips, Naoya nods when Taree mentions 'rumors'. "I'll stay hush about it. I was wondering if I needed to tether a bell to a thread and jingle it underwater to get your attention." Lowering his hand, he begins to frown at the mention of the Mizukage, pondering if it happened before. "I'd rather not say anything to get the attention of Mizukage or Amata-san if I can help it."
"No," was answered some what quickly but clearly at the same time. A light smile crosses Naoya's lips as he closes his eyes. "While we don't agree all the time, I think I will sooner change myself than them oddly.. Maybe teach them to consume other's Chakra though. That might get interesting." For his musing, the young teen simply shrugs his shoulders.
Nodding softly as she check and turned the fish again, Taree would take a few off the fire and let them cool before starting to serve. Laughing softly at hearing at Naoya inner grief over the kage and Amata. "We okumo are definitely a strange stuffy bunch. But i tell you the kage is not as bad as people think. Way too much of his meanness is politics. He has to show himself to be the evil kage of kirigakure. Amata is a strange one. One moment being your best friend the next stringing you up and whipping you in the arena for not following orders. Amata taught me how to treewalk. It was one of her much better moments."
When the fish were cool enough to be touchable, with a little help of some silk napkins, Taree would serve the fish. Letting her spiders spin up a picnic blanket in short order. "Actually I think all okumo teach their spiders tricks. Mine make dresses and other clothes." Thinking for a moment looking at the water. "How do you think I breath under water with them? Its actually quite amazing. The drawbacks to it really add up thou. My spiders are physically push overs. Tiny weak there poison is not even something that can really do more than sting."
"I don't trust them too easily.. even though they are looking a lot younger, both remind me of the elder.. poking prodding, studying each movement." Naoya grumbles, his eyes focusing onto the flame in front of himself but then uses his left thumb to point outwards behind them. "I half expect the elders to be watching us somehow even now. Monitoring progress."
With a dip of his head towards Taree, the young teen leans forward to cup his hand below the offered napkin holding the cooked fish. "My broods can't spin cloth, though they have learned to part their nesting webbing and their tainted webbing for my cuts. I can't imagine them becoming meek.. Itadaki-masu," was offered a moment before he pinches a bit of the fish free from the test with his fingertips and slips it into his mouth.
Taree would actually take a knife and a fork out of her pack before she started to eat. Looking a little dainty her groups of her spiders would form near the water line chittering begging for scraps. "The elders do not have to watch use. They just ask our spiders and listen to them. And when the elders are concerned they send someone to promote your studies." Taking a moment to toss a bit of bone to the children Taree would continue. "Sei was the one they sent for me. That was not a pleasant fight. " Remaining silent not wanting the conversation to venture to be so serious.
A chuckle escapes his lips with a shake of his head as Naoya begins to explain, "I doubt any will question my brood directly and expect direct answers.. I hardly get answers from them." His amused tone at the start fades into a bit of an annoyed one before he pinches free a bit more of the meet from the small fish's ribs. "None have come to test my limits from the elders, for that I am grateful for now."
Naoya extends his pinky and points it towards Taree before asking, "How often have you taken up tasks for the village or do you prefer to train under Amata-san when she visits? I've seen her near this lake alone several times now. Maybe looking for you?" The teen shrugs his right shoulder faintly and busies himself with another nibble of the fish.
Taree would finish eating her fish, letting her spiders play cleanup on the bones. In moments the bones are picked clean. Soon after even the bones disappear under the water. "Well once the paperwork goes through you are given missions pretty regularly. I have already been sent to sunagakure for a mission. It was very enlightening. If you mean general duty, I report to the harbor master every day. I can not complain. I sit on the docks sipping fresh lemonade and when the fog rolls in I adjust it. The most important thing I get to do there is when a boat tries to run away from port. Get to chase it and fog it. If you're looking for some duties I know where a few of the better ones might be." A small glowing spider would crawl out of Taree's hair, perching on her shoulder.
"I have been mostly been acting as a courier and generally anything requested." Naoya shifts the fish in his hands, exposing a mostly meaty section and pinching most of it into a ball, rolling it between his fingertips. "I've put my name on the list for the Mizukages request for willing Genin. I'm not truly aware of what might happen during the mission but, I don't think I should shy away just because I don't know all the details." The young teen slips the cooked ball of fish into his mouth before leaning forward, setting the silken napkin down close to the water's edge while chewing.
Moving a finger to the side of his jaw, Naoya taps light a few times before swallowing to ask, "You might? It doesn't involve being set into a genjutsu and made to run laps, does it?" The teen looks towards the Taree though his eyes quickly become distracted by the small creature giving off light in her hair.
The little glowing spider would start pulsing gently, almost like a heartbeat. It giving off a soothing gentle light. Taree idly reaching up stroking the little glow creature. "Sorry water spiders hibernate. This is what happen when a water spider spent the winter under the glowing lake. I been keeping a close eye on them seeing if they can do more than just glow when wanted. Actually its kinda fun and creepy at night in the webs. A glowing in the mist." The spider scurrying down Taree shoulder to disappear into the folds of her dress.
"Courier duty is not really that bad. But the really good duty if you want time to practice jutsu and train Is request working in the bone garden. You send your spiders out to kill pests. And you get to sit down studying or training in a quiet corner. Same goes with the rice paddies. The farmers and the gardeners know how well tame spiders can protect crops." Taking a moment to really eye Naoya up and down, Estimating his prowess. Noting how big his spiders actually were. "If you really want genjutsu practice I know where to send you lol"
"Never liked Genjutsu, Renai-san was going to take time to teach me to break out of it though. Not too good with Ninjutsu but I'm learning. I think Hayase sees me as a proper Taijutsu partner but she's better trained.. for now." Curling his fingers as he listed his points. Naoya extends his right index finger towards Taree, beginning to smile lightly again. "And you are teaching me more about Ninjutsu."
Quickly making a pair of seals, Naoya shaped a thin water tendril flow from the lake and extinguish the small fire between them. "I will begin to think about longer term jobs around the village soon, though I might try to find a few assignments outside of the village. Though, are your little ones asking for you to take them back to the nest now?"
Taree would look at hand raised up before her the little glowing spider scurrying away from it. "Its okay its just curious. Actually they all only just waking up from hibernation. One generation later, they are still young. Still getting used to the world. Spending a month underwater not used to anything." Picking up the little spider Taree would place it back up into her hair. Several glowing spots respond to it as it tunnels back into the folds of her hair.
Standing back up so she could stretch Taree would lower the rain disruption effect over the fire. Letting the rain do the work of making sure it was securely put out. "I have to admit physically any genin can probably beat me. If it was not for my mist and ninjutsu Sei would have killed me. Genjutsu wise I am set and fine once I really start to practice with it." A half smile on Taree face showing a hint of evilness in her eyes. "My water jutsu is simply a work in progress. Its only a means to an end"
"I think I should prepare then. I didn't think that they would go to that kind of extreme unless I was at least a Chuunin." Naoya brushes at his pants even as the rain began to fall around them freely though with how long they were there, the storm was lessening. The young teen extends his right hand out to Taree, his palm tilted somewhat upwards as he smiles. "You treated me with fresh fish tonight, I'll have to find something to treat you with, either a scroll or maybe a sweet treat after another lesson?"
Once the ground around the fire was soaked safely, taree would shift the rain again. Slowly letting it turn to mist over the them. Letting it build up and spread across the lake surface. "If you really want lessons I will be happy to show you some proper water jutsu techniques." Taree dimples really showing in her smile as Naoya mentions a scroll or a sweet treat of some kind. "Carefully I will definitely take you up on that offer. I will do a little research on what Water techniques might be suited for a hunter. There are a few ideas I just want to be sure on them first." The mist would be covering the lake pretty thickly be the time Taree would finally get up and step close to the water. A little wave of spiders and silk she would put a silken veil over her head as she slipped into the water. In moments she would disappear under the water to the unknown.
