A few straggling Little Ones, but at least much better than trying to fit on the other boat [Tutor]

[Eishi]

I had missed the original boat over to Tea. It wasn't that I had slept in or did something careless like forgetting to post in the other thread. No, it was because I was told to venture to the country through the use of a small fishing boat at Kumo portside. It was uncomfortable having to share a room with the rest of the smelly crewmen all while knowing I was probably missing out on some 'quality time' with the other genin's and students who were likely enjoying themselves on their own vessel. It had only been about an hour since it left the dock, but surprisingly I hadn't seen my estranged mentor Kiri, anywhere.

Last time I had seen him, we had left on less than good terms. He had confined me and made me think I had broken my legs before telling me to redo my homework. Instead of doing that, I just stopped visiting him altogether for the last two weeks. Hell, it took about four days for me to even calm down enough to attempt to contemplate trying to remedy the bitterness that now existed between my mentor and myself. My pride wasn't willing to let me do half the suggestions I had come up with. It put me in a position I had no real experience in. It'd be a lie to say it didn't freeze me up a bit. Only when I had been invited to the ship today, had I decided I was going to try and make amends with the man. Unfortunately, as the minutes went by, I was beginning to suspect I had been set up to take this shitty fishing boat, alone, in some convoluted form of revenge. If that had been the case, I'd probably just call it a loss and cut the man from my life altogether, but I didn't think Kiri the type.

Either way, I had enough problems on my mind. I, hopefully, didn't need to burn all of my bridges on my way over to Tea Country.

 

[Kiri]

The trip concerning Tea Country was a bit problematic. With the World Tournament in focus, he had to decide if he wanted to come along as part of the Medic Team. Funny, he must have forgotten to enlist himself after the brief pre-tournament, or he was likely forgotten and dismissed because of his international record. Well, either way, Kiri was on his way to Tea Country through other means. As s Chuunin, he could finally move about on his own, and since Kahako would be there anyway, it wasn’t like he was escaping from his superiors. He was merely meeting up with them through other means.

The other strange thing was that he had decided to take with him his student, Eishi. He remembered how the boy had gotten all gung-ho in the previous class, which resulted in a very bad memory. Something along the lines of broken legs and threat of life. But despite all of that, the defiance was still there. So he couldn’t really blame the boy if the non-appearance for the past week or more had to do with it. Then again, Kiri knew he was partly to blame. Maybe he shouldn’t push the boy too much, even if he was trying to make a point of the world. But he didn’t want Eishi to learn it in a real setting where he could regret it for years. Such a troublesome thing. Maybe he shouldn’t have taken a student.

Oddly enough, even if the boy had grown to hate him, it was quite disheartening, if not altogether frustrating to see the lad walk about the ship without realising Kiri was there. It was almost as if he was avoiding him. Well, Kiri didn’t reach out or call to him, but still, this is getting ridiculous. Kiri was mostly seated along the side, near the railings of the ship, and though there were lots of people (perhaps overcrowded to a dangerous state) because of the World Tournament. Wearing a mere oversized greyish jacket with a fur-laced hoodie, though not worn up, on top of a thin white shirt (because Tea Country was far warmer than Kumogakure), and some mundane black pants and boots. And he smoked his usual vanilla-flavored cigarette as he was reading for a small leather journal. He didn’t have to glance whenever Eishi walked pass by for he knew of the boy’s chakra signature even if the latter was trying to hide it. But perhaps he, on the other hand, was lost in the maze of people, and because of his cigarette that had special effect of calming his chakra pulse, made his identity even less obvious, wherein the nature of his chakra was being suppressed and therefore unidentifiable. Still, wasn’t his white mess of a hair obvious? Or were the numerous ear piercings making him look more like a thug, a background character who shouldn’t even have a face drawn?

In any case, Kiri would just ignore him for now as he flipped another page of the leather journal to come up to an empty one. He pulled out a pencil from his pocket and began scribbling. He wanted to figure out how to amend this relationship with the boy but he just couldn’t make a decision. For now, he’ll just stay put.

[WC: 555]
[Topic Entere]

 

[Minami Sora]

"I miss my boat!" Sora yelled into the sky as he threw a major fit. This was going to be his first trip out of the Wind country, he is...well was suppose to tag along with a new teacher and another student. Sora was sad and mad at the fact that Shieo was out the county at the moment. Sora view the older man as an older brother, after his first training session Sora delved deep into the history of the shinobi. He was slowly learning of the dark past of those he admired. His young mind could only handle so much of the truth, he separated himself from other kids at the orphanage, and just lock himself in his room reading. The caretaker was so surprise at the sudden change of the energetic youth that she didn't know what to do. Sora was patiently waiting for the next training lesson from Shieo and when the letter arrived, Sora was beyond angry. The letter told how Shieo left the country for business but told the young ninja in training not to fret that he had something in plan for the youth.

Sora is now currently on a dock with only a small fishing boat for passage to tea. The boat obviously has seen it's year of service, the captain of the book was a very old man who quickly assumed that the young boy was interested in World tournament. As the old man rambled on about what village is going win, Sora notice that another boy was on the fishing vessel. Sora telling the old man, he told the old man that he was beginning to get a little seasick. Sora hid himself some fish barrels and watch the boy. Their was only one other thing on his mind, "Who was he suppose to meet?"

 

[Eishi]

I don't know why it took me so long, but I found Kiri about a half an hour later. He just kind of appeared out of nowhere. I had to wonder if he was getting tired of waiting. Fucker probably rolled 20's on the stealth check I mumbled as I approached the brooding man.

"Yo," I raised my hand, my expression blank as I thought about what next to say,

"You willing to bum me? Haven't had one in a couple years." I asked him nodding towards his pack. I'd just give him the evil eye if he retorted with something stupid like me being too young. He was aware of my street rat history. I had picked up light smoking ever since I was five. it was one of the few ways to relax in a high-stress environment. Well, cigs and coffee, which was pretty on par with the way adults de-stressed.

If he gave me one, I'd take it and give it a puff, letting it sit idly in my mouth as I leaned over the railings a couple meters from Kiri. If he was to still insist on being self-righteous about it, I'd just ignore him. Either way, I was currently freezing up a bit, realizing a bit too late that I really didn't know how to apologize. I had never actually done it before in earnest, at least, not as long as I could remember. Fuck, why does this have to be difficult I screamed internally, my outer appearance calm and relaxed as I continued to stare out into the sea.

It had also been a while since I had noticed the young boy watching me some thirty or so minutes ago, but I had paid him no heed as my mind had been preoccupied. He had probably noticed my injury or something and was curious, but either way, I called out to the kid without turning towards him,

"Boy, I see you in that barrel. You got a problem with the way I look?" I questioned, my voice lowering an octave or two into a threatening tone.

 

[Kiri]

It was almost astonishing to think that the first few words from the boy were such. Kiri only frowned, not looking up from his leather journal, nor speaking. He let the boy wait until he would be by the railing, probably tired of bored as well. A few minutes would go by, his hand has stopped from writing on the journal as if he was in mid-thought though he really just didn't know what else to write about. It was one of those important times he needed get himself together, yet he couldn't put a finger to it. He then, finally, glanced at Eishi and said, "Get your own somewhere else. These are specifically for me." It was a contrived way of saying he was too young to smoke but also not in a way that Kiri knew there cigarettes weren't exactly their nicotine counterpart and had more of a medicinal effect.

Just then, he would sigh as Eishi spoke of the boy by the fish barrel. It was crowded as it was, already, and the ship still had fish barrels littered. Perhaps it was for trade, otherwise, there was no point in overcrowding the ship with passengers to fill the gaps of barrels. But back to the boy, Kiri only glanced for a bit and quickly recognized the face from the document he had before. "You're late. You were supposed to meet us at the port... Though my other student here may have gotten into similar problems. But considering you're both on this ship, you're not helpless, after all."

At that, Kiri would tie his leather journal and put it back into his small bag and then face Eishi. "He's a student from the academy. Specifically, a friend's. But that guy decided to go on vacation for now so the boy's with us, until we reach Tea. Make sure to look after him." Standing up, Kiri looked out over to the horizon and saw t nothing but an endless sea. "You boys best be careful. The last thing I want is to see either of you falling over board. Now make good use of your time and try to practice some intel gathering about this ship's crew. I'll be at the deck, so meet me there in an hour once you're done." Thus, Kiri manages to move away.

[WC:389]

 

[Minami Sora]

Sora watch the two interactions from the distance making sure not to be noticeable, "You willing to bum me? Haven't had one in a couple years." The boy around his age said as he nodded towards the cigarettes in the older man lips. Sora waited quite a while for him to reply, "Get your own somewhere else. These are specifically for me." "Is he condoning smoking at a young age? Or he's the type that doesn't care as long as you don't bother him?" Sora thought to himself not liking the information provided to him, going by current information they was either father and son or Siblings. He assumed the second one considering they don't resemble one another in no way expect personalities and way of speech. "They're at least step-brothers." Sora said as he continued to watch the two.

"Boy, I see you in that barrel. You got a problem with the way I look?" The young boy said as he leaned over the rail. Sora could tell he was making the question into a threat the way he said it, it reminded him of the bullies at the orphanage and he wasn't about to be talk down to by someone close in age. "BOY?! We're probably the same age! AND Y'KNOW WHAT!?! YEAH I GOT A PROBLEM WITH THE WAY YOU LOOK!, YOU LOOK LIKE WANNA BE BANDIT LEADER! He said angrily, he was going to continue on but he remember something Shieo said You seem like a nice kid, but tread carefully.... Sora coughed a little then said, "I'm sorry for my rude outburst and my verbal attack on your appearance. I'm Minami Sora and hopefully we can let this problem evaporate like water." Sora quietly waited when the older man join the conversation.
You're late. You were supposed to meet us at the port... Though my other student here may have gotten into similar problems. But considering you're both on this ship, you're not helpless, after all." The older man said, Sora was just now noticing the small book he was putting away "I see what that says probably something from Shieo." He thought to himself quietly as the older man turn to the boy leaning over the rails. "-student from the academy. Specifically, a friend's. -guy decided to go on vacation, -boy's with us, until we reach Tea. Make sure to look after him." Sora didn't care too much about the teacher said till he told the younger boy to look after him. "Eh?" Sora thought to himself as His substitute teacher kept talking as he looked out at the sea. The last thing I want is to see either of you falling over board. Now make good use of your time and try to practice some intel gathering about this ship's crew. I'll be at the deck, so meet me there in an hour once you're done." The sub said as he began to move away.

I already gain information on the cap'n of this fine vessel. He's a 63 year old with 3 sons, and is currently a grandfather of two, with one great granddaughter coming soon. He's hoping that the leaf village wins this year's tournament." Sora was trying to impress this man that he can tell Shieo about the things he did while on this trip.

 

[Eishi]

Stingy Motherfucker I thought as I was leaning over the railing. I had noted the boy's response, but It wasn't worth my time to talk to him just yet. It was only after Kiri had given us his 'job' that I even thought of something entertaining.

"Rule number one boyo~. Learn to gauge your opponents," I said in a sing-songy voice as I placed my hand on his shoulder faster than he'd be able to react at his current skill. I didn't let up my cheerful placating smile as he would feel an insurmountable weight descend on his shoulder, driving him to his knees.

"Kiri, the man who just left, could kill me without me putting up much of a fight. In turn, I could absolutely demolish you into a fine paste. So do know the pecking order here, boy," I let go of his shoulder as I moved away from him,

"Also know that I am a sadist in the most literal of word..." I admitted as I shrugged my shoulders in a lack of difference.

"Anyway, you heard Kiri. He gave me babysitting duty, so let's go do something fun," I stated as a fact, heading towards the back of the boat. I motioned for the boy to follow. Kiri gave us a bullshit job, anyway, so he wouldn't care.

Seeing as I had already been around the ship at least twenty times looking for Kiri, I knew there was a small lifeboat tied to the rear. Using my affinity in magnetism and metalwork, I was quick to simply snap the wipes, dropping the little boat into the water. Grabbing a long rope off of the deck before jumping into the boat, I tied a knot between the ship and the lifeboat using my arm and legs before tossed the oars, one after the next, into Sora's arms.

"You got a hundred meters to go out. You'll be paddling," I said raising my only arm,

"Not like I'm doing it," I chortled as I lowered my arm, opening a package containing a large number of premade and chakra imbued explosive notes covered in little plastic baggies.

"We gon real man fishin'," I said with a hick accent I heard plenty in the slums of raiden's eye.

If he was slow, I'd explain it to him, but, hopefully, he was smart enough to catch my drift.

 

[Minami Sora]

Sora suddenly felt an intense weight drop on his shoulder, forcing me to my knees in a instant as the other boy said "Rule number one boyo~, Learn to gauge your opponents," in show tune like matter. "Are these the shinibo, a person who advocates and encourages the act of murdering people, are talking about?" Sora thought as the young boy was clearly show casing his superior prowess. "Kiri, the man who just left, could kill me without me putting up much of a fight. In turn, I could absolutely demolish you into a fine paste. So do know the pecking order here, boy," he said as he let go of my shoulder. Pecking order? The was system that was created by the strong to stay on top, the strong are suppose to protect the weak not hold it back." I said slowly standing back up staring at him.

I started to think about the training I could do when I got back to the orphanage seeing this exercise as a waste of time. "why did you send me on this" I said to myself expecting Sheio to criticize me, following the other boy to the back of the ship more out of habit then command. Focusing back on the other boy when the life boat fell from the ship. "What the actual fuck are you doing!?!?" I said dropping the oar and grabbing the haul rope as I attempted to haul the boat back up to the ship. "We gon real man fishin'," he said as I look in the boat and saw explosive tags. "NO NO NO NO" I thought to myself as I tried even harder to get the boat back up on the ship. Those explosives could shake the boat you idiot come help me get it back in place before we get in trouble. I said tugging at the rope even harder.

 

[Eishi]

It was a nice thought, to think it was somehow the strong's duty to protect the weak. Though, ultimately it was wrong in a society where power and ability were equivalent to status. In the most real sense, Kumo was a meritocracy and ultimately its own nation lead by the will of the Council and Raikage. We were much closer to mercenaries than protectors. Either way, it wasn't worth my time answering while I led him down to the back of the boat. It didn't take long before I was starting to regret even bothering if he was just going to be a ninny and worry about the rules and getting into trouble.

"Stop being such a nit. Who's going to stop us? I already told ya, I'm the second strongest person on this boat and Kiri won't care, anyway. So get on the boat and start paddling. I want to enjoy this trip, if I can, while it's still light out," I stated as I cut all the ropes beside the one that I had personally tied. The boat was not getting back up after the two clean slices with my spear without my assistance.

I tapped on my leg waited for him to get in, already. We were going to go fishing whether he wanted to or not. If he still insisted on me paddling our asses out there with my crippled self in some act of defiance, I'd make it clear that I'd be using him as bait when I finally did.

 

[Minami Sora]

"I going to say this for the last time, I'm not coming, and let me be frank when the opportunity shows itself...I'm going to teach you a lesson you will never forget." I said walking away towards the pier of the ship. The wind was blowing softly as I sat down on one of the fish barrels, the smell of raw fish combine with salt of the sea didn't mix very well together but he wasn't about to complain. Reaching into his satchel, he pull out a new book different from the manga that he usually reads. "Charka Control and Nature affinity" by Taka Hiroshi, the book talks about how to properly control your charka and talks about the paper test. "Paper test?" He sighed as wanted his stern and mysterious teacher back. He continue to read slowly taking his time as the book reading level was for more educated shinobi, getting this far was a blessing. It has been three months since his last training and he lock himself away from the outside world and study day and night only stopping to rest, eat, drink, and use the rest room. He wanted to be fully prepare for his next training lesson but he wasn't prepared for this.

 

[Eishi]

“You’re not too bright are you? And here I was thinking you were a bit more teachable,” Without much more thought, I appeared besides the young academy student, grabbed him by his collar and tossed him into the salty water behind the boat a good distance out.

I took my time getting into the smaller paddle boat as I used one paddle and my metallic spear to paddle out towards where the boy had landed.

“You can come with me or swim back to shore. It’s an hour and a half that way, though,” I stated, pointing towards where the docks of Kumo were generally located on the main land.

I knew the choice he was going to make, regardless of his complaints, we were out in the middle of the sea at this point. He wasn’t the suicidal type and there’s no way he could keep up with the fishing boat. The paddle boat was also getting tugged along behind a fishing boat at a breezy pace and the ropes slack was lessening. From this distance, the boat was the size of my thumb. Time was running short.

I figured we had given the fisherman plenty of room to not interfere with their work. Though, they might hate what’s about to happen I mused to myself.

“Now we wait for something to surface,” I said leaning back as I took out manga, assuming Sora was already in the boat, as I waited and listen to the motion of the sea.

When I finally heard a splash of a breached wave, I quickly tossed the explosive note in my hand towards the water and a moment later a loud ‘boom’ rattled about as two fish flew up into the sky. It was only once they had resurfaced dead that I used my spear and magnetic control to impale them and drag them back to our boat. I placed their corpses into a bucket of ice and gave one of the notes to Sora.

“You’re next. Don’t waste my notes by doing something stupid like missing,” I warned as I went back to my book and readied another water proof explosive note. I placed it as a book-marker in the front of my manga for easy access.

If we were gonna be riding to Tea country, might as well have some fun while doing it.

 

[Minami Sora]

"You hate him, don't you.... I heard a voice when I hit the cold water. "You want to kill him....no?" The voice said in a mocking manner as I started to swim to the surface. "I can help you get stronger but only if you'll let me in" The voice said with an even stronger urge as I broke the surface. Gasping for air, I quickly swum to the lifeboat climbing aboard and coughing out salt water. "You ass! What if I couldn't swim!?!" I said in between the coughing. "All my stuff is wet! you owe me for the damages to my property. I said pulling out a partial wet book titled "Charka Control and Nature affinity." "Oh thank god, The print is still readable." I said flipping through the book. “You can come with me or swim back to shore. It’s an hour and a half that way, though,” he said, I quickly took note of the distance of the life boat to the ship. "I can use charka walking and walk back to the ship but jackass here won't let me, and I know I'm not at the level to stop him." "I'll come with you but I'm not helping you." I said as I sat down reading my book. "Foolish boy, one do you wish to become? You read the history, you're teacher told you the truth, and this just proves the truth to the letter. Their just using the power and prestige of the rank to fuck with the masses." This voice wasn't external but internal, must be oxygen rushing to the brain, I assume and kept reading my book.

 

[Eishi]

The trip was going by quick enough, unfortunately, my companion on my trip was content on being a wet blanket. I ignored him after the first time I had tried to get him to have some fun throwing explosives into the water, but he just wasn't having it. Not like I needed him, anyway, as I was content to read my book and throw explosives whenever I heard a fish breaching the waves.

After I had caught a good load of fish, at least thirty from a quick headcount, I began to pull the rope, slowly dragging us back to the boat. When I was close, I willed the metal clamps to fix themselves back into place. I'd have to replace the rope I had cut earlier, but that wasn't exactly too hard on a boat filled with fisherman. If anyone gave us lip over the incident, they'd only be getting my undivided loathing.

"I'd say it was fun, but you wouldn't know fun if it pulled your pants down and fucked you in broad daylight," I commented without a filter to the only other ten-year-old on this boat. I ignored him after that as left the area pretty quickly with my bucket full of dead, scorched fish, heading to the kitchen on the ship. We still had another day or so until we arrived, so it was best to get to drying the fish I had caught if I wanted to eat them by the time we got to Tea country. I was going to relax regardless anyway, Kiri hadn't been seen nor did he seem to care for my shenanigans.

A day or so later, I'd exit the ship, wondering where the hell Kiri had gone.

[EXIT]​

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[Kiri]

It was strange, for the most part, to have been observing how his student would act. He allowed Eishi free reign on this little babysitter duty. Though he knew the boy's temperament, it was also good to let him be on his own. Oddly enough, it showed a different to him and Kiri couldn't help but smile. Though of course, a thought crossed his mind that his student was now finally a competent shinobi and he should stop treating him like a kid. Needless to say, Kiri still felt a little bit proud to see the boy in his different side, though worry still crossed his mind. A new country meant a new challenge. He'll have to find ways to keep Eishi in shape. And as he was about to take another smoke, only then did he notice his pack was missing.

Mumbling a curse, Kiri would glare at the boy's retreating form before he reached over to his small pouch and took out another pack that was easily concealed within a cylindrical case. "Kids..."

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