A New Year Has Begun [Private | Minikui]

[Honnou]

“And while you’re kind of exposed to the heat, I guess it won’t bother you with the weather today,” the blacksmith assumed in his explanation of the procedures necessary to run the work in his stead. Hon donned leather pants and warm, fuzzy polar bear or tiger pelt around his waist whilst his torso was fully exposed. It was a dilemma to work with a forge in the middle of winter; it was cold outside, and the stingy cold made itself much more apparent up in the mountainous civilization known as the Hidden Cloud Village. On the other hand, however, the forge’s heat was unbearable… but didn’t Hon have a forge back at home?

He did like building stuff. Mostly shields, shurikens, figurines and sculptures. However, he never had the aid of an actual forge before a week after his Chuunin Exams. Let’s just say that he got a lot of help and aid from these blacksmiths, so after returning from an investigation mission up north - which had arguably colder weather - he felt generous and wanting to repay the favor that these friends of his had given him. If not for their help, his Hidden Carpal Blades would be mere scraps taped together; impractical in the battlefield and just a child’s work.

Now, he wasn’t busy welding and forging weapons today. Nah, people really got into jewelry, and while he enjoyed experiencing a meddle work with emeralds and other noble stones, he felt like challenging himself… or the people in the town. With a little creativity, he painted a sign saying ‘Come and get any welded object of your liking for yen’. That should do the job…

 

[Yuki Minikui]

Minikui was walking around outside and it was quite chilly out there. She hadn't expected it to be so cold so she was shivering. Most places were open but she didn't know where she wanted to go exactly so she kept wandering around until she saw a sign about getting custom made jewelry for pretty cheap. Intrigued she followed the sign and went inside the shop which was quite nice. There was a taller guy standing there and the first noticeable thing about him was this long red strand of hair that stood out against his black hair. Smiling at him she shivered a bit and walked over to the counter.

"Hey there my name is Minikui and I was wondering exactly what you could make in here. It seems like you could really make a lot. I didn't come in here exactly just to buy or look at jewelry though as you can probably tell. I mainly came in here because it is freezing out there." Looking around the shop she saw the other types of jewelry that has already been pre-forged she smiled greatly at him once again. Suddenly she leaned against the counter the best she could as she was quite short and couldn't exactly see over the counter very easily so she kind of lifted herself up a bit to get a better look at the boy in front of her.

As she continued to lift herself up off of the ground a slight bit using just her arms she looked straight into the boys eyes before continuing to speak to him once more. "You know you are quite tall compared to me would you mind coming out from behind the counter so I don't have to lift myself up to see you easily. It is quite troublesome for me to look at your jewelry when I have to lift myself up off of the ground. I hope this doesn't come off as rude either because I don't mean to be. I just would like to talk to you easier than how I am currently." Letting myself drop to the floor a small and quiet thud goes off in the building as I back away awaiting your answer.

 

[Honnou]

How surprising. Hon actually had to lower his gaze a little to directly eye the smaller lady who found her way to the counter. She must have seen his sign earlier, so he expected the very next customer. Although, she shivered quietly. The cold was getting to her, and he couldn’t have her annoyed by the low temperature. He moved a hand over to the handle that opened one of the forge ovens, and with a little nudge, he released some more steam that heated up the room and probably helped with her freezing.

“Hmh,” he hummed out, “I can tell you. I’m Honnou, just to let you know… or Hon... and, well… aww, I thought you were going to order a necklace or something.” Truth be told, it let him down a little; she looked just like the curious, fine lady who was hunting for the sweetest of jewelry either for herself or for a valued family member.

But he knew nothing about her but her name.

“Oh, s-sure,” Hon responded and moved around the counter to make it easier for her to eye him at equal level, “People can’t help their heights. Believe it or not, I’ve found it annoying too…” His eyes, however, were clear and easy to see for any type of visions; bluish and shard-like, almost like gems embedded into irises, shining off a sharp, white light from where the pupil should be. It was almost like looking through a thick ice shard reflecting light.

“Talk or not talk, I did promise to forge something, didn’t I…?” he reminded her whilst holding up one index finger, “I really want to see how far I’ve come with my smithing skills, so say the word, milady.”

 

[Yuki Minikui]

As the forge opened and let out a bunch of steam Minikui's dress went up a little and she quickly pushed it back down not allowing anything but her legs to be seen. The steam was really warm on her skin and left little spots where it looked like something had dripped onto her or as if she had begin to sweat a little bit. Wiping them off with her hands she turned back towards the man who was suddenly in front of her instead of over the counter and she stood up tall and straight composing herself as a businesswoman would. With what he had said she simply smiled at the man.

"Well I do always enjoy a nice necklace I don't have anything specific in mind so maybe you could make something that you think would be fitting for me? I don't really know what would look great on me at all, Hon." Staring into Hon's eyes she showed him a beautiful smile flipping her hair one way and then back the the other before finally letting it rest behind her back as it normally would do. Lifting her hand up she moved her hair out of her face elegantly her blue nails shimmering in the light from outside of the store which was quite beautiful to look at however very cold outside. "So I would like you to make me a necklace please. Yes a necklace would be good but you get to design the whole thing yourself Hon if you don't mind doing that for me?"

 

[Honnou]

... He didn’t even release that much steam. Attempting to move on as quickly as possible before someone set him up, Hon merely turned around to face the workbench. He was a little thrown back, but he could come back on track soon enough. He was used to surprises which befitted a shinobi. So… a necklace fitting her, huh? He didn’t know Yuki-chan that well, so he would have to base it off of her appearance. Despite turning his back from her, he saw her perfectly well. That was thanks to his Hakumei Byakugan; thank you, Hakumei Byakugan, for helping Hon look at people when they didn’t even expect it.

“Easy,” he replied to her and began putting the materials out on the workbench. She wore bluish-themed garments, so he figured that she would need a bluish stone as the center of the necklace… perhaps sapphire would do. “… You’re a shinobi like me, right?” he asked her as he pulled a shelf to reveal a collection of shards and round stones that his boss found in the northern mines and brought here to be grinded, “I would guess, given by first glance, that you like Ninjutsu… I mean, more than Taijutsu and Genjutsu, that is.” He would try and start a conversation with her whilst picking up an untreated sapphire, also called a flawed sapphire, and as he sat down on a chair next to the smaller grinder, he began grinding the stone until all its crystal-like features came to play. But there was a problem; metallic minerals were inside the sapphire and ruined its flawless potential. Hon would have to remove the metal, and assuming that it was just iron, he came up with a solution.

He put down the sapphire on the counter right in front of Minikui and weaved a few handsigns. This often costed the most chakra out of all his Ninjutsu, but he wouldn’t plan on using the same Jutsu again for today.

Magnetic Style: Magnetic Control!

If watched carefully with the naked eye, the iron materials would appear to be ionized by his Jutsu. This process was invisible, but Hon used it to slowly pull the iron out of the sapphire like sucking out poison from a wound. The sapphire began reflecting more and more light, which caused its bluish colors to shine graciously.

“This is just like us,” Hon explained to Minikui while he was at it, “We’re born with the properties of a flawless sapphire. But we have many issues inside of us that we often accept and have to live with… but with a little help from the world around us, we can better ourselves… wow, that sounded a little cheesy.”

 

[Yuki Minikui]

Minikui simles at him as he turns around and begins to work on what seems like a sapphire. She doesn't know hardly anything about metalworking or gemworking and so she instead walked much closer behind examining every move he made. He first began to grind the sapphire down to make it flawless rather than flawed as he called it earlier before beginning his work. The sapphire was quite beautiful to her though she did notice the metal inside of it which seemed to her as if it was always going to be that way and she frowned a bit. She didn't want that inside of the gem that was supposed to draw peoples eyes to her and she was about to say something about it to.

That was when the man began to put his hands over the gem as he had finished grinding it to perfection. Curious she leaned down a bit on one knee and watched as the metal simply disappeared from the sapphire and she gasped amazed not sure what he did exactly. She assumed it was some kind of jutsu but he hadn't really said anything which caused her to be very curious about it. He had been talking the whole time and she realized she should probably begin to reply to what he was saying. Standing back up she brushed the dust from the floor off of her knee and stepped back a bit to give him more space to work with.

"Well yes I do prefer ninjutsu though I'm not sure exactly how you came to that conclusion, Hon. Yes I am a shinobi such as yourself and I spend most of my days training though my body after weeks of going without much sleep does need to rest a bit so I take a day and rest up browsing new shops and meeting new people. Then of course I resume my training which takes up most of my time honestly. I don't mind it though. As you say that we are born as a flawed Sapphire I agree with that statement very much. No one is born knowing everything and everyone needs help in some way, shape, or form. This is what friends and family are for to help through the tough times that cannot be done alone."

 

[Honnou]

Okay, it wasn’t too cheesy for Minikui to understand. She was sharp. And this would take time, so she was patient too. She also appeared curious about the technique that he used to extract iron particles from the sapphire. She would likely learn some more Jutsus in the future, but now, he focused on readying the sapphire. It would be the heart of the necklace, and he began thinking of its exterior decoration. Perhaps some dragon jaws surrounding it… or maybe branches? Was she a spider girl? Or maybe something simple and flat?

“Yup,” he replied to her, “So let’s just wait and see where this’ll take us…” The sapphire was now done. It let all beams of light shine through it, casting out beautiful pillars of bluish rays from sources of sharp lights. “The sapphire looks fine now. I just need to forge the rest of the necklace,” he informed her. He would return back to his workbench and open a desk filled with plates of different metals. To compliment the blue stone, he chose a cobber-reddish plate of cobber and tin. It wasn’t as expensive as gold, but it gave off a sunny-red glow that was warm and touching. That meant more to Hon than material, since the plate was very small in comparison to those on necklaces usually worn for special occasions such as weddings and etc.

He had to form it into a pattern. The pattern would be like a web that would hang on her chest whilst she would wear the future necklace, and those front parts were usually designed creatively. He decided to form them as… hmh… ah, yes! He was thinking of dragons earlier, so why not have several long-necked dragons circulate the gem? Actually, that would be a little too difficult and take more time… perhaps just one dragon would do. He imagined it as a Serpentine Dragon clenching its body around the gem like an anaconda.

First, he’d heat up the plate. It needed to be in high temperatures to be forged. “I’m going to make a dragon-esque figure to wrap around the gem,” he informed her, “That way, you can always say that a dragon is watching over you.”

 

[Yuki Minikui]

Minikui continues to watch as he inspects the sapphire making it even shinier to where the light that shines through it is a perfect blue hue that covers her face a bit making her smile greatly at him. As the man walked back over to his workbench Minikui smiled and stared at him for a bit admiring his work ethic and the way that he moved from each place where he needed to be to continue making her necklace. Walking up behind him she watched as he had a few different pieces of metal laid out on the table presumably trying to choose between each of them to make the part of the necklace that held the sapphire.

Watching on he decided on a beautiful copper-reddish plate to frame the sapphire in. They complimented each other very well and she seemed to smile about it though she had no clue what or if he was going to change how the plating looked as he had down with the sapphire before. She knew very little about metals and such so she thought that this was going to be very expensive and in her head started to worry about whether or not she was going to be able to pay t his hardworking man for all of his work. She really hoped it wasn't to expensive and visibly started to panic a bit before resolving back to a calm demeanor and watching him work. Visibly she was calm again but she hadn't even begun to calm down inside of her head. She didn't really feel that she had needed to respond to what he said about how the necklace was going to be made so she didn't and instead intently watched the man work very hard on it.

[MFT]

 

[Honnou]

Alright, it was heated up plenty. Now, Hon would move it towards a grinder where he would grind it flat and clean with an arc-like tilt. The grinding caused sparks to fly everywhere, so he proceeded with caution. In the meantime, while the sparks escaped the metal getting a solid job, Hon spoke up: “I’m a shinobi too. It’s nice to utilize other labors once in a while, though.” Besides, smithing really, really, really helped him a lot throughout his missions. He had invented many unique weapons and items for himself and for others that saved his lives countless times.

Alright, the metal plate was grinded nicely. Now, Hon just had to form the dragon-like features manually with a hammer and a spike. He would proceed to grab those tools from the workbench and start doing his work by hammering the spike onto the metal place precisely as he carved out the form. “*Yawn*… I might’ve worked for a long time today. *clash, clash* Let’s hope your necklace will look brilliant.” The cold outside would slowly start to fade away and reveal beams of light from the clouds parting.

That was right. It was getting a little warmer.

 

[Yuki Minikui]

Watching the man work Minikui was in awe at how well he had honed this craft of metal working. She was also pleasantly surprised to find out that he was also a Shinobi much like her which was for some reason a relief to her. She always felt a bit awkward and unsure what to do around other non-shinobi like people. Especially since the only people that she had ever been around were shinobi as her parents were before and she was also seen around other shinobi. "Well you seem to be very well educated on the subject and a very find craftsman at that. I am very grateful that you took the time out of your day to make me this necklace, Hon. I truly do appreciate your generosity." Flipping her hair a bit she noticed she subtle breeze that was a bit warmer than before and simply smiled not saying anything but enjoying the newfound warmth she now felt on her back.

 

[Honnou]

Hon didn't mind her compliments. He appreciated them. He had read a lot about craftmanship as a side hobby, and now that all those hours of self-education were kicking in, he saw such beautiful results. A necklace so dazzling that he needed a moment of silence upon the completion of his work. Then, he would grab a thin string and tie the plate with it, making it wield-able by neck. His work was done.

The necklace consisted of an almost transparent plate with lines and carvings picturing a serpentine dragon. Dragons were mythical creatures said to rule the oceans and lakes, mighty forces to be reckoned with. There were also two tomoes floating around the grasp of the dragon's hand - those who were interested in ancient mythology would know that they represented the tide jewels said to hold the powers of the tides and ebbs of the ocean. In Hon's eyes, dragons were fabled super shinobis whose Water-Style Jutsus covered several maps and influenced civilization as we knew it.

Minikui would definitely appreciate it. If she knew a little about dragons, then that was enough. If a lot, then she would per theory be baffled by the handiwork.

"Here you go, Mini," he addressed her as he held up the necklace with both hands delicately, "Since you're a shinobi, you'll probably only want to wear this on special occasions... but hey, I can forge many more items than just necklaces. If you want a shield or a sickle, just give your order... b-but of course, this necklace is for free; customer perk."