Between a Rock and Another Rock [Junko/Kotsuko]

[Tanuki Rinko]

---Three days ago---​

Tomo sat at his desk, doing Mochizuki paperwork like usual. It seemed that a few missions centered around entertaining had been given to those not of the troupe. This troubled the man, as the Mochizuki Troupe's main focus was to perform. If any Shumo Jo could take such missions, it could run the clan out of business. He contemplated writing a letter to the mission office, requesting that they inform the Mochizuki Troupe of any missions involved such things. However, since he had attempted to put blame on the office for his failures as a shinobi, it was probably better that he drop the subject.

Koko & Kiki​

At this moment Tomo's twin sisters, Kiki and Koko, entered with no regard to their brother's wishes. "Hiya Tomo! We want you to try something out for us!" Tomo placed his ink brush down and eyed them. "I have a feeling it would be in my best interests to say no." A sisters positioned themselves beside Tomo, one on each side, and weaved an arm through his. They lifted him from his chair and dragged him out from it. "It'll be fiiiiine." Despite Tomo being taller than them, the fraternal twins were surprisingly stronger than they looked. Placing Tomo in the center of his tent, Koko held up an odd-looking device in the shape of a stick, while Kiki held up a box. "We want you to pee on this." Koko held the stick out to Tomo. His eye twitched in response. "Wha? No. No, I am not peeing on anything you give me. You know what? Let's just lay down the law now and say I refuse to pee on ANYTHING in general."

The women crossed their arms in unison. "Come on! It won't hurt you. We want to see if it works." Tomo shook his head. "Then why don't YOU do it?" This seemed to be a common phrase Tomo had to say to the women in his life. They scowled. "Do you know how difficult it is for a lady to pee on a stick? Very difficult." Tomo pushed his bangs back. "Well, at least tell me what it does." They smiled. "It's supposed to be able to measure a person's affinity to the elements!" Kiki held the box out to Tomo, and it indeed claimed it could do such. "Pretty neat, huh? So hop to it! Go pee, so we'll see, what affinity, is within yee!" A laugh came from Haruki. Oooohoohoohoo! Have I mentioned I simply adore your sisters? Not as much as my darling Haruko of course, but still. Tomo rolled his eyes and took the stick. "I swear, if this is a prank and it shocks me, Raiden himself won't be able to save you from my wrath." Naturally this was an empty threat, as Tomo couldn't stand against his siblings in a fight, but he felt a need to say it regardless.

After returning from the restroom, Tomo held up the stick. There were two full dots, a purple one and a brownish-yellow one, and a green half-dot. Tomo cocked an eyebrow as he relayed this to his sisters. They squeed in response, obviously thrilled that the device had worked. The young man could deduce that the purple one must have been lightning, and the green one wind. He always had known about his skills in those elements. However, the last dot caught him by surprise. Kiki and Koko looked at the box. "Says here you have a Minor Affinity for Wind and a Major Affinity for Lightning and Earth." Tomo cocked an eyebrow. He had never felt particularly inclined towards the Earth element, and he would have never thought to train in until this moment. Lightning and wind, they just didn't seem like they fit together with Earth. But, the Mochizuki's had never been the kind to fit in. The women snickered. "Oh, and congratulations, you're not pregnant!" Tomo grimaced at his sisters as they trotted to the exit. "Apparently you need to start training in Earth. We'll get you all set up!" Before Tomo could argue, the twins were gone.

---

---Present Day---​

Tomo entered the large training room, complete with stands and an arena all its own. The man had purposely avoided the coliseum, as he was a pacifist and found fighting for fighting's sake to be a ridiculous hobby. Who was worse, those who fought or those who watched, Tomo hadn't quite decided yet. With the help of his wind jutsu, he hopped up onto the earthy stage, scanning for any sign of his trainers. His sisters had informed him that they had gotten their hands onto two Earth jutsu shinobi, and insisted that, as they put it, 'Double the trainers, double the fun.' Tomo didn't believe a lick of that.

The man tightened the ribbon holding his braid as he thought on the book he'd read. He made an effort to at least read a bit on the jutsu he would most likely be attempting today. He focused on the more defensive side of the element, as he didn't like the idea of crushing people with rocks. It seemed a bit...barbaric. He looked again for his instructors. He imagined large, muscular guys, probably in their mid-thirties. Their feet were bare so they could feel the earth under them. They probably had ludicrous names too, like The Avalanche or The Mudslide. Little did Tomo know, that his trainers were far from the image Tomo had conjured.

 

[Kazu]

What the hell was he doing here? As Kotsuko sat up in the stands of the empty training room, he turned the page of the book that he was reading. It was an interesting read, and in this way he didn't feel like he was just waiting around for no reason, but he knew that this enjoyable activity would soon come to an end. He'd been recruited to help train some little kids' brother. He let out an exasperated sigh, thinking back to the overwhelming nature of the two who had approached him. It had been such a chore dealing with them, he figured that agreeing to this whole debacle would have been simpler than continuing to deal with them. He had other fish to fry, so to speak, and so he figured he might be able to bang this one out relatively quickly. After all, how hard could it be to teach some little kid how to use earth jutsu?

As he flipped the next page in his book, Kotsuko spotted someone walking into the training room. He stopped for a second, looking them over to see what they were here for. As they got up onto the arena, Kotsuko wondered if this was the other instructor? The two annoying brats had said he'd be with another person teaching their brother, so he assumed that this must have been him. Kotsuko glannced up at the sky, tracking the movement of the sun in an attempt to guage what time it was. It seemed that the kiid was running late, though this instructor had arrived just in time. Holding his book with one hand, the young boy sighed once more to himself. "Let's get this over with," he bemoaned to himself. Standing up, the young boy began to walk down the steps with his left hand in his pocket while his right hand held the book. He didn't stop reading at all to walk down the stairs, and instead walked as if he knew the whole place by heart. His expression was apathetic and bored, while his voice sounded disinterested in general. As he got to the bottom of the staircase, he called out to the man who'd just arrived onto the arena. "So, you're the other instructor huh? Where do you think this kid we're supposed to train is?"

As the young boy walked towards the arena, more details about him would become apparent. His cloud grey hair was flecked with some darker tones to it, though that made it match his dark grey eyes. He wore a plain black undershirt with a slightly thicker jacket over that, which he wore open and unbuttoned. Over that was another jacket, as it tended to get very cold in Kumogakure. His pants were dark colored, typical, and unremarkable. For shoes he wore thick boots, that totally covered his feet. The young boy had other things tucked away, but those were out of sight from the man on the platform. As the young boy grew even nearer, a staircase made out of what seemed to be a black sand-like substance began to form in front of him—it looked like it had come from the back of his jacket. Once he'd made it up to the platform, it disintegrated behind him and seemed to return to the same place from where it had come. This whole time he hadn't looked up from his book at all, except for when he got right next to Tomo. The boy took his eyes off the page to briefly speak to the other 'instructor.' "I'm Kotsuko, pleasure to meet you." And like that he was back to the book. It made you wonder what it really took to draw this kid's attention to something, huh?

 

[Tsuyoshi Junko]

"It seems like I do more teaching by the day." Junko said walking with his new friend on his head. A Young orange toad with purple markings around his eyes, mouth and stomach sat comfortably. He wore a blue jacket and was quite tiny.

Walking pass many, civilians heads seemed to turn once the toad spoke. After all, it was already weird enough that Junko had a toad on his head in the first place.

"Yo, So is teaching like your main thing?"

"Nope, I'm a full time medical shinobi. With my abilities though, sometimes I think I belong in a completely different branch."

"You're that good?"

"Well, if I say I'm good. You'll think I'm gloating. If I say I'm horrible at the things I do, then you'll know I'm lying." Junko said with a nod.

"Interesting answer, but we'll see. You talk a good game. This kid those crazy girls want you to teach may very well kick your ass at the end of the day."

"Welp, we're here. Time to see what the kid is all about." Junko said shrugging. He was a bit late as usual. Hopefully the student wasn't waiting too long. entering the training facility of shinbatsus path, it brought back a vast amount of memories ranging from Junkos first meeting with daisuke, to his various training days. Sweat, blood, and more blood was always the occasion when Junko step foot on the training grounds. He was such a frequent visitor, a lot of regulars recognized him and spoke. In response, Junko simply gave a wave and continued to his destination.

Entering a rather large training room, Junko shook his head. "Damn, they're both here before me." Junko said making his way towards the two shinobi. Aside from Kohaku on his head, Junko wore a grey, white, and black yukata with one of his many katanas at his side. Making his way up the stairs to the arena, the medical chief awkwardly remained silent. "well, which one of you am I teaching? or am I teaching both of you?" Junko asked curiously walking closer to the young boys.

"Well look ah here! Kotsuko! Nice to see you again! Still a book worm I see. Ready for me to show you the ropes of earth ninjutsu?!" Junko said recognizing the young lads grey hair. Interrupting his book, Junko grabbed him and gave him a nice noogie for old times sake. He had grown and probably matured quite a bit. It had been quite some time, he wasn't an academy student anymore.

"And what's your name sir?" Junko would asked finishing up Kotsukos noogie. Approaching the boy, he'd definitely receive the same. "Nice to me you. I'm Medical chief, Tsuyoshi Junko." Junko would say teasingly.

"Yo, don't forget to introduce me!"

Looking up in surprise, Junko nearly forgot about him. "Oh and this is Kohaku."

"Yo! How's it hangin?"

Topic Entered

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

Tomo turned towards the voice that called him. The look on the young man's face gave away every single emotion he felt. Surprise at the age of the boy walking up a weird set of stairs that he appeared to be making himself. Embarrassment at the fact that Tomo was so old, he was confused for the instructor instead of the student. Finally, a dash of anger, knowing full well that his sisters had set this up intentionally. "Uh..." Tomo was about to address Kotsuko when the second instructor appeared. A man, no older than Tomo, appeared from the actual set of stairs, an orange toad riding atop his head. He approached, and seemed to recognize the teen nearby. Giving the boy a noogie, Tomo ground his teeth lightly. His sisters were probably having a good, long laugh about this. While he was distracted, the second instructor wrapped an arm around Tomo, pulling him into a noogie as well. The dual-haired man struggled for a moment before being released. He scrunched his nose in dissatisfaction while patting his hair back into place. It was bad enough that Tomo got noogies from his brother Takama, he didn't need random strangers doing it too.

The noogie man finally introduced himself as Tsuyoshi Junko, a name that was vaguely familiar to the Mochizuki. Tomo gave a nod to the toad, wondering if toads were destined to be a part of his life until death. Tomo scratched the back of his head, another blush reaching his cheeks. "Mochizuki Tomo, manager-in-training and returning idol of the Mochizuki Troupe. I'm...the guy who needs training." After saying it out loud, Tomo had a fierce desire to run for it. Rush out of the coliseum and pray that he never meet these two ever again. Maybe then he could save a little dignity. Then again, running away like a prideful coward would probably be worse for his reputation. Taking in a breath, Tomo resigned to his fate. He would need all the tricks he could muster to pass the Chuunin exam he was required to take within the year. If that meant having a teenager and the Noogie Man train him, then he would just have to grin and bear it.

Finally exhaling the breath he held, Tomo looked back and forth between his instructors for the day. "I've read the basics on a few Earth jutsu. However, having knowledge of a jutsu, and actually utilizing it are two very different things." That was an obvious thing to say, but the Mochizuki had a need to show that he wasn't some 23-year-old idiot that couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag. "I'll leave it to you two to decide how you'd like to proceed." Tomo mumbled under his breath. "Because I sure as hell don't know where this is going." We're headed towards comedy Tomo-boy! Full-steam ahead!

[WC: 481]
[MFT]

 

[Kazu]

As the young boy awaited the introduction from the other man up on the stage, he heard something. Footsteps? The young boy turned around, peering over the edge of his book just enough to see a familiar face approaching him. As he got closer, Kotsuko was able to pick out the orange color of a toad that seemed to be sitting on his head. Did he know it was there? Surely, he did. If Kotsuko had to hazard a guess, he'd say his Contract Summoning instructor had more than one Contract. First there were the felines that he'd showed before, and now it appeared he had a pact with the toad species as well? Interesting. Perhaps Kotsuko could learn something today. It was at that moment, though, that Kotsuko realized his former teacher's greeting was going to be rather obnoxious and also rather curious.

It was obnoxious because of the way he treated the young boy like a child. Kotsuko didn't like that, at all. The older man had attempted to scoop up the young boy and give him a noogie on the head—Kotsuko would not stand for this, at all. A thin layer of his metallic sand quickly poured up out of the collar of his jacket that formed a small hand. It grabbed onto Junko's wrist as he tried to inflict the severely annoying and condescending action of noogieing the young boy, preventing it from happening. Kotsuko looked back over his shoulder at the man with a cold grey look in his eyes. He didn't smile at all, and looked rather unimpressed in general. "Don't do that. Don't ever do that." The boy was dead serious about that. He didn't like that sort of stuff, really. Just wasn't his style. His words before attempting to grind Ko's skull in with his knuckles, though, were what made the greeting curious. Junko thought Kotsuko was the one to be taught earth jutsu? But if they both were here to teach someone earth jutsu, then...

"You're mistaken, Junko. Seems we're both here for this guy," he said as he motioned towards Tomo. Ko had put it all together. It was a little crazy to the young boy, but it was certainly an interesting situation. Kotsuko even felt the need to put his book away—this had taken his attention. It wasn't every day that a scene like this unfolded: a teenager and the man who'd taught him, were both to teach a man older than either of them. This wasn't something Kotsuko intended on ignoring. He held his arms across his chest in a folded manner, his eyes firm and solid as he listened to, and then proceeded to respond to, the Mochizuki Troupe member. "Well, this is certainly an interesting turn of events. No matter. Since you know the basics, we can move onto something more hands on." Kotsuko didn't intend to waste time on the mix-up. To the young boy, it was merely a trivial event in an otherwise unusual situation. The only thing to do was to move forward.

Kotsuko turned his head to Junko, his face calm and collected. He asked, "You think we ought to start small? Maybe turn a stone to clay?" Without waiting, the young boy bent down and picked up a stone from the arena. Walking over to Tomo, Kotsuko extended his hand towards the man's palms. "Here, take this." With the stone now in Tomo's hand, Kotsuko returned to his previous spot. His arms were crossed again, as well. "When learning to use Chakra Transformation, you need to know the basic properties of the element you're using. I'm sure you've used some others before, so you must know what I mean." Waiting to make sure that the man was following, and seeing if Junko had anything to add, Kotsuko would continue once everyone was on the same page. "For Earth, that basic property is its versatility. You reform earth, shape it, make it more or less dense, create it using only chakra...the list goes on. Your task is to take that rock, and turn it to clay. Got it?" Kotsuko wasn't really asking. It was hardly a question, and more like an order. The young boy didn't care to stand on ceremony, and he had no intentions of making this a student-teacher relationship. He was giving him knowledge, and it was up to Tomo to use that knowledge well. If he passed or failed was entirely up to him.

Reaching into his pocket again, the young boy pulled out his book. He figured he might be here a while, considering how long it takes to master a chakra element. There were many subtleties that one could only learn with practice. This was the part that Kotsuko couldn't help in—Tomo would have to unravel this task himself.

 

[Tsuyoshi Junko]

"Uhhh ... Bimbo! Stop! Can't you tell from the first guy that those human noogie things aren't cool?"

"... Uhh, wow. Haha. My apologies to you both, I've been around my feline companions too long."

"That's your excuse? Next he's going to be hoping on all fours and trying to eat you guys like bugs if he keeps hanging around me."

Shaking his head, Junko realized that he had another companion with a crazy sense of humor. Listening to the two, Junko also realized that their was confusion amongst them.

"You're mistaken, Junko. Seems we're both here for this guy,"

"Ah... Wow. Well, I didn't see that coming."

"Well, this is certainly an interesting turn of events. No matter. Since you know the basics, we can move onto something more hands on."
"You think we ought to start small? Maybe turn a stone to clay?"

"Indeed it is Kotsuko and that sounds good. Once done, maybe moving a rock would be great to." Junko replied with a nod. As Kotsuko took over, Junko enjoyed. The student was becoming the teacher before his very eyes. "Well, looks like I don't have to work that hard today." Junko thought looking at the young genin. "He's grown so much. Hell, he even gives orders now." Junko thought with a smirk.

"Be the element. That's the best advice I can give. In the end, if you still don't get it. Well, just pray you get it because I'll have you between a rock and another rock fighting for your life." Junko said in a joking manner, but he was actually quite serious. Stomping on the ground with chakra concentrated in a single foot, Junko created a place to sit out of the earth itself.

Meanwhile, Kotsuko had returned to his book. "He doesn't seem like he wants to be here that much." Junko thought as Kohaku jumped from his head. "Where are you going?" Junko asked curiously.

"You think I'm going to sit here all day while he play with rocks? I'll be back, gotta eat and I don't think you ninja serve my type of meals."

"Just be safe and hurry back. If you're gone too long, I'm coming to get you." Junko said smirking. Little did Kohaku know, Junko had sketched one oh his seals into his coat.

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

Luckily it seemed that Tomo's instructors would simply roll with the situation, at least giving the young man the dignity of taking this seriously. Tomo listened intently to Kotsuko's words, staring at the rock in his hand. It made sense to the Mochizuki, however he hadn't performed such a task often. He was more used to manipulating what was around him more than changing was it was. Even his ink and paper did not change into something different, merely changed shapes. However, now was as good a time as any to become accustomed to transformations.

Junko chimed in with a suggestion on their next action, moving a rock. Tomo's body visibly flinched as he recalled the last time he attempted to move a rock. It seemed like there was even more dignity for Tomo to lose. Hopefully this time there wouldn't be any broken limbs. Junko also gave the advice to 'be the element'. At the man's threat, Tomo looked up sharply, his face contorted into confused worry. Perhaps this guy was more like Takama than Tomo initially thought. Learning by fighting was NOT how Tomo liked to do things.

With the pressure on, the dual-haired man returned his attention back to the rock in his grasp. He gazed at it, his mind repeating Junko's words. Be the element. Be the element. Be the element. Tomo could feel his chakra emanating from his body. The stone in hand shifted for a moment before appearing to throw itself at Tomo's chest. "Oof." The blow to the chest knocked a bit of air out of his lungs, but he remained standing. Looking down, he noticed that the stone remained plastered to Tomo's chest. His eyes widened as he heard the earth around him break from below, floating up. It surrounded Tomo, and before the man could react, small walls of earth slammed from all around. "ACK!" For a moment, Tomo remained in an earthy coffin he had accidentally created. However, it quickly morphed around him, taking the shape of Tomo's body. Once finished, the Mochizuki was successfully covered in an Earthen Coating. A slab of stone broke off from his mouth, and Tomo coughed up a few pebbles that had broken into his mouth during his earlier exclamation. I think you took him a bit TOO literally Tomo-boy.

 

[Kazu]

Kotsuko smirked a little at Junko's comments to the student in front of him—wow, that was weird saying he had a student—implying a sort of rough and tough mentality to training. It certainly fit with the theme of what they were learning about, but perhaps it was a tad premature to throw him into that sort of situation? Kotsuko observed the Mochizuki's actions, glancing up from his book periodically to see how he was doing. For a while, the older shinobi seemed to just be focusing on drawing his chakra. This was to be expected, considering that he'd never manipulated an element like this. Earth jutsu were an odd art, very unlike the other elements. It required a certain mindset, a determination and conviction that had to be as solid as a rock. If you faltered for but a moment in your attitude, the element itself would crush you. Users of earth jutsu were typically very sure of themselves, and were often hard to deter. Tomo would have to learn to think differently if he wanted to master this element.

After a while, though, it seemed he'd managed to accomplish something. Though, it wasn't what Kotsuko had exactly intended to happen at this stage. The rock flew straight into the man's chest, and seemed to stick there. Looking closely, the young boy could see that he'd managed to turn the rock to clay. This was certainly a good thing, but that wasn't the end of it. The ground underneath the man begin to splinter and break, chunks of rock flying directly at him. It didn't take long for the man to be covered in rocks, creating a shield of earth that protected his whole body. Raising an eyebrow, the young boy found this to be rather curious. He'd expected the man to have trouble starting the technique, however it seemed that the man had the opposite problem: he'd put way too much chakra into his endeavor. Exhaling, Kotsuko spoke up so that the man could hear him through all those pebbles in his ears. "You're giving it too much, Tomo. You put way too much juice in and overdid it. This isn't like wind jutsu, where you can just increase the power as much as you want. Stronger winds make your techniques more powerful, but more force with a jutsu like that will get you crushed to death. Earth is a powerful element, meaning you can't afford to lose control with it."

It seemed that Tomo was a hands on learner. He needed experiences to stimulate his growth, and that would never be achieved just by talking about it. It was a pain, but Kotsuko supposed that he had an idea on how to potentially help him. The young boy extended his hand, focusing his energies on the shroud of rocks that Tomo had gotten himself into. Gently, and carefully, the young boy began to alter the rocks around him, turning it instead into a mass of sand. Tomo would be trapped in a cocoon of sand, unable to move or use handseals. The young boy held his book in his left hand, but wasn't looking at it at all. He needed to concentrate in order to avoid constricting the man to death. "You need to control the amount of chakra you put into this. If you do too much like last time, you may just end up entombing yourself in there. Be gentle, and deliberate. The earth never moves unless it has to." Kotsuko was supplying his own version of "be the element" with this little speech. It's not because he couldn't think of anything better, but because Junko had been spot on with that comment. Earth was an element you had to feel, in every part of you, to master. "Sand jutsu are a mixture of earth and wind, so this shouldn't be too difficult for you. Consider it your only act of kindness from me. Concentrate on controlling your chakra deliberately. Using too much might just be a death sentence." Kotsuko wasn't going to sit here and let the man make the same mistake multiple times. If the man's problem was giving it too much, then the boy figured it'd be fastest to force him out of the habit. Underdoing it would be acceptable. But overdoing it? If Tomo couldn't break past that, then this might be the last element he'd ever attempt to master.

 

[Tsuyoshi Junko]

[skip me: Junko simply observes]

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

The sigh from Kotsuko told Tomo that his actions hadn't been acceptable. He listened to the boy's words, and would have nodded if the rock surrounding his body hadn't hindered movement to his neck. It made sense, and Tomo was a little shocked that Kotsuko figured it out. Despite his age, this kid had some impressive knowledge and deductive skills. These are the kinds of kids we need in Kumogakure.

As soon as that thought floated through Tomo's mind, he felt the earth shift on his body. At first, he thought the boy was helping him out of his earthy trap. However, the sand did not fall away, and instead gripped at Tomo's body. The rock that had covered his head slid down to meet with the base sand, and Tomo met Kotsuko's eyes. The man's eye twitched as he lightly struggled in the coffin. "I take it back! You kids are bat-shit crazy! All of you!" Despite his overreaction, Tomo did listen to Kotsuko's words carefully, knowing that if he messed up, it may be the end of him. He looked to Junko, hoping to see the young man step in and mention that this was all a bit too much. He seemed to be simply observing. Everyone is crazy.

The Mochizuki's initial thought was to simply get out of his predicament. Without being able to use his hands, his mind jumped to his barriers, as he had mastered being able to use them even without seals. However, he quickly rejected the idea, as he doubted that he'd be able to form the barrier between himself and the sand. There just wasn't a large enough gap. Not to mention Kotsuko would probably kill him outright if he tried to cheat.

Resigning to his fate, Tomo took in a breath and focused in on himself. His eldest sister often told him that he had an impressive chakra pool, but that meant it was even harder for him to control it. He could feel the hint of wind swirling in the sand, which he was greatly thankful for. Very slowly, Tomo tried pushing his chakra outward from his body. He actually found it more straining to do it this way, having always been used to throwing as much chakra into everything as he could. Sweat formed on his brow, both from his efforts and from the heat within the sandy bind. His hands were his focal point, and he could feel his chakra pushing against his body from his palms. He lightly shifted and was able to place his palms against the wall of sand. His eyes held closed as he shoved the element away from him. With a little more room, he began heaving himself up, trying to escape the bind from the top. Like some kind of freaky butterfly squeezing out of a sandy cocoon. It looked far from magical.

Getting half his body out, Tomo had to resist using an ink tendril to yank him the rest of the way out. Earth training. Earth training. Stick to Earth. Tomo placed a palm on the side of the sand to try and shift it away from his hips. He was able to widen the opening from the outside, and he smiled. He hated to admit it, but this was actually working. He tugged up farther until his thighs and down remained in the coffin. However, he was now caught in a weird angle, and the sand was pushing awkwardly against his crotch. Unsurprisingly, he was finding it hard to concentrate. He half dangled over the rim of the sand and looked to Kotsuko. His eyes winced continuously as he tried to keep his junk from being smashed. "Um...help?" Kotsuko had to have hit puberty by now, and surely he would understand the manly struggle Tomo now faced...right?

[WC: 638]
[MFT]

 

[Kazu]

Kotsuko smirked at the older man's screams of protest, cursing the young boy and calling him crazy. Chuckling lightly, the young boy responded, "Crazy or not, no use in complaining. Or should I make it harder for you?" Of course he was bluffing, but still. The threat could still be used if Tomo found this task a bit too hard. Having something worse happen to you was generally a pretty good motivator. The young boy continued to maintain he technique, still focusing every bit of his attention towards holding back from using his full prowess with it. Considering its purpose was initially to completely restrict an opponent's movements, Kotsuko found it very difficult to use it to its half potential. Despite having a mastery over both earth and wind ninjutsu, it was hard to make something into something it wasn't. Perhaps this was just as much Kotsuko's training as it was Tomo's?

As the young boy observed Tomo's progression, he began to gain a level of satisfaction from this. The older man was actually getting it, and was properly learning to move the sands away from his body. It wasn't much, but it was certainly enough to wriggle his way free. Kotsuko was impressed. The older man was picking things up rather quickly, despite a few odd hiccups in his progress. When the dual-haired man got into his current predicament, though, the young boy found it to be very comical. Indeed, he could empathize with the man's struggle before his eyes, and decided that this was perhaps going too far. The older man's plea for help had been understood by Kotsuko, and the young boy moved to release the technique as a result. Still smirking, though, the young boy spoke again to his pupil. "Very well, that's more than enough for me to see. You are capable of manipulating the earth—or at least the part of the sand that was earth—to move to your will." At this, the sand around the older man fell away, having served its intended purpose. However, the smirk on the young boy's face had not let up at all. It was still there, as if the young boy knew something. "Now that you've gotten a feel for the movement of earth jutsu, we're going to move onto the next aspect. Like I said, earth jutsu has many facets and elements to it..." The young boy reached out with his hand to help the older shinobi up. It was a kind gesture, and one that was universally seen as beneign and helpful. If Tomo accepted the young boy's offer of help, Kotsuko would help to pull the Mochizuki up.

That is, until the next phase of the training went into effect. At the point where the young boy had grasped Tomo's hand, a ring of dense metal began to form on the man's wrist. It was a huge slab of metal, that weighed way more than a person should be able to lift, that instantly brought the man's hand back down to the ground. He would never lift that, and would be forever stuck to the ground with a weight like that on him. Kotsuko made no motion to help him, instead looking down at him from the same place he'd been standing. His voice was as calm as ever. "The next thing you'll learn is how to manipulate the weight of earth techniques. The Weighted Rock Technique is a very useful skill to master, and can allow for some very complex strategies and tricks. You already show a bit of an aptitude for manipulating earth jutsu, so now you'll have to take that skill to the next level. Lift that weight above your head, and we'll move on to the next task." This time Kotsuko didn't get out his book to read. He was watching this man with his cold, grey, eyes. He was observing him, testing him, and challenging him to succeed. Kotsuko was curious, now, how far this man could take his latent abilities. So far he'd been lucky to pull out as much as he had—however, without a true aptitude for earth ninjutsu he'd never complete this task. Did he have what it took to free himself?

 

[Tsuyoshi Junko]

Observing the two, Kotsukos teaching methods was impressive and quite brutal, but things could've been taken further. "I would stop him, but the guy needs this." Junko thought watching tomo utilize his earth abilities. He struggled at first, but he was starting to get the hang of things. If he didn't, the poor lad would've surely been crushed.

as Kotsuko released him, Junko clapped. "Job well done. Someone responds to force I see. The same toughness and pressure that's being put on you, is the toughness and strength needed to master the earth element to the highest degree." Junko said with a nod.

"So, expect things to get worse." Junko said as Kotsuko gave tomo another challenge. Apparently, he placed metal on his wrist that weighed well over a ton. More then enough to break the lad. "I suggest you work a bit faster this time." Junko said with a blur of hand signs to execute one of his more cruel cruel techniques. Utilizing his Earth and Wood chakra, Junko caused the ground to collapse under tomo into a 14-foot deep pit. The metal around his wrist would take him to the bottom in an instant. Luckily, Junko was concentrating and didn't execute the sharpened wood chips that was suppose to impale his body on the way down.

"Find your way up, before things get a little too pointy." Junko said slowly allowing the razor sharp wood spikes to pierce through the pits walls. If he wasn't quick, things would surely get bloody. Perhaps Junkp would save him before then though? Nah. The student would stand up to the occasion like a true earth elementalist.

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

Tomo's prayers were answered as Kotsuko freed him from the sand bind. He sighed in relief, despite landing on his stomach, as the pressure was released from his nether region. Junko complimented Tomo on a job well done, and the Mochizuki only gave a nod of thanks. He was still recovering. The white-haired boy mentioned it was time for the next portion of the training. He offered a hand to Tomo, who took it without thinking. "You know, I'm sure there are many things I need to learn about Earth jutsu, but I think we should stop n-" Tomo was cut off as he felt something form on his right wrist. He looked down to see a metal band and cocked an eyebrow. "What are you-" The young man was cut off again as the weight finally caught up to him, and he was pulled to the ground. Tomo attempted to tug his arm up, but it didn't budge. Hearing Kotsuko's specific challenge, Tomo's brows furrowed. "Are you serious?! What makes you think whipping out an advanced technique like this is going to help me?!" However, Tomo knew that his complaining was futile. This kid were crazy, as he had stated previously, and he was probably finding all of this an amusing little game.

Frowning, Tomo took a moment to think on how he needed to do this. After a few seconds, he heard Junko speak, and looked to him. "Why would I need to work fa-?" It seemed the poor man would never get to finish a sentence as he suddenly found himself without ground to stand on. "WaaahUCK!" His small shout was cut short by his sudden impact with the earth below. Wincing, he looked up to find his instructors towering over him. He grumbled to himself. "For once, I would love for my training to NOT almost get me killed." He furrowed his brows as Junko's earlier comment floated back into his brain. Why did he need to go quickly? Junko spoke yet again, something about things getting pointy, and Tomo's eyes widened. Sharp pain pierced his feet, and he gave a small yelp. Along the floor and walls were wooden chips, and Tomo cursed aloud. His mind swam with possible solutions, though he found few he could turn to. With a quick hand seal, the earth shifted underneath him, and he wobbled in response. Using the little Earth knowledge he had, he turned the ground underneath him to mud. Though the wood chips were still mingled in, they were far less stable, and the pain wasn't as intense.

Biting his lower lip, Tomo closed his eyes to focus his thoughts, as the sight of the spikes on the wall were far too great a distraction. What did that darn book say?! Thankfully Kotsuko had mentioned the technique's name, but unfortunately Tomo was having a hard time recalling what it said. He could make things weigh more or less, he believed. But how does one tell Earth to weigh less? Tomo let out a light grunt as a wood chip lodged itself into his ankle. Well, time to just pump in some chakra and hope for the best. The Mochizuki sent his chakra through his arm to the small band. As he did so, his arm began to sink into the mud, stabbing his right hand into two wood chips. "Wrong way! Wrong way!" He stopped coursing his chakra into the object, but the weight did not change. It took a few seconds before it clicked. In makes it heavier, out makes it lighter. Tomo placed his left hand on the metal band and furrowed his brows in concentration. He pulled at the chakra stored in the item, and slowly lifted his arm up.

He was able to finally lift it over his head, but now he had different problems. The wooden spikes Junko had been seeping through the pit walls were right upon Tomo, and he sucked in air as one jabbed into his arm. He only had single chance to get this right. Using the set of hand seals he remembered from the book, Tomo's body sank into the ground, narrowly avoiding getting fully run through. The feeling of the earth enveloping him was odd, and he found himself thinking back to the few times he'd traveled in caves. They never ended well. Tomo shifted through the stone at a snail's pace, as he still found manipulating the earth to be rather difficult. However, it was that or die from asphyxia, and he would much rather live.

Finally the young man was near the surface, and he burst from the ground like a mole. He blinked a few times as the light shown in his eyes. Recovering his eyesight, he lifted himself the rest of the way up, and rolled out of his makeshift mole hole. Laying flat on his back, Tomo lifted his banded arm up for Kotsuko and Junko to see. His breathing was heavy, and his words were short. "There. Done. We're. Done. No more. Please. No more." He had a multiple scratches on his arms now, and his feet were bloody. Still lodged in his right hand and ankle were a few residual wood chips. Surely they wouldn't put him through more...would they?

 

[Kazu]

Kotsuko gave the student a sly grin as he realized what was going on. At first it didn't seem to register what the young boy was doing; however, Tomo eventually realized and started getting a bit exasperated. Kotsuko merely shrugged his shoulders at the older man saying, "Oh, just a hunch. Don't worry about it too much, and focus on getting yourself out of this situation." And just like that, things escalated a little quicker than Kotsuko had anticipated. He'd figured the metal band would be enough for Tomo to deal with—the young boy could have gone, enjoyed a nice coffee and read some more of his book, and then come back to witness Tomo eventually figure it out. However, Junko had decided that it would be a better idea to make things a bit more fun, adding a time sensitive element to the task. Kotsuko's eyes lit up as this happened, the sadistic smile on his face getting even wider. "Junko, I didn't think you had it in you to do something like that! Nice thinking." The young boy crouched over the edge of the pit, careful not to fall in after Tomo. He placed a hand over his eyes, trying to see what the dual-haired man was doing. "I wonder if he'll make it out in time? He does seem to have some aptitude for earth jutsu, but maybe we threw too much at him? Oh well, if he can't get the hang of this then what's even the point of teaching him more?" Kotsuko continued to watch the Mochizuki, seeing what sorts of things he'd think up. The true test of a shinobi is whether they can deal with impossible situations. Letting out a chuckle as the flailing student turned the basin into mud, Kotsuko was impressed. "Good thinking."

And then the harder part came in. Kotsuko cocked an eyebrow when he saw the young man floundering a little to lighten the weight of the metal band, accidentally making it even heavier as he tried pumping chakra in. It didn't take too long, though, before he tried the other way around, finding the metal band to be quite a bit lighter. Smirking, the young boy stood up again from his crouched position. "Looks like we've got a natural on our hands. He's a bit clumsy, and definitely needs a lot more training, but he's picking it up rather quickly." Kotsuko turned back to Junko, that smile plastered wide over his face. "Well then, I suppose we ought to give him a break. Don't want him to die on us, huh? We'll pick it up again in a moment." Of course Tomo couldn't hear that. While Kotsuko's back had been turned, the older survivalist had managed to think up a way out of this mess they'd put him in. It seemed he had a few tricks up his sleeve, particularly the Inner Earth Reflection Lure. The only reason Kotsuko knew that was because he could sense him, traveling underground at a snail's pace. Well, at least he was moving. When the man poked his head out of the ground, Kotsuko stood over him like a giant. Looking down, the young boy smirked as he spoke, "Well aren't you full of surprises? Come on, get up." The man was practically begging for the two of them to stop. Good. If Tomo wasn't miserable, then they wouldn't have been doing their jobs right. Kotsuko rubbed his chin, obviously thinking over the man's pleading. "Hrm, I don't know. It did take you a bit longer to figure out how to lighten the boulder than I thought it would take." Kotsuko was lying through his teeth, but he was rather good at that. Sometimes a little too good. Turning to Junko, the young boy restrained himself from chuckling. "What do you think? Is he done for now?" Kotsuko was having too much fun playing with this man. He was making it way too easy.

 

[Tsuyoshi Junko]

"Junko, I didn't think you had it in you to do something like that! Nice thinking."

"Expect the unexpected." Junko said relaxing as he could hear the agony in the students words as he strived to survive.

"I wonder if he'll make it out in time? He does seem to have some aptitude for earth jutsu, but maybe we threw too much at him? Oh well, if he can't get the hang of this then what's even the point of teaching him more?"

"He'll be fine. He may be out sooner then we think. If not, things will get bloody." Junko said nonchalantly. He taught quite a few students and he realized that he had to be hard on the softies so they could grow. In the end, Junko was always thanked. It was only a matter of time.

"Looks like we've got a natural on our hands. He's a bit clumsy, and definitely needs a lot more training, but he's picking it up rather quickly."

"indeed. He knows the Justus, but he's just having problems with the execution and control. If he'd realize it, this training should've allowed him to get a feel for the element and control it properly. After he got the feel, his executions will better overtime naturally for mastery." Junko said standing to His feet.

"Well then, I suppose we ought to give him a break. Don't want him to die on us, huh? We'll pick it up again in a moment."

"Sure, he deserves it. If we push him even more though, he may just break the limits for himself and reach new heights." Junko said giving Kotsuko a little to think about. In time, the snail emerged from the earth. Tired, beaten, and a little bloody. It was obvious that he had enough and was giving his all. "Good." Junko thought giving him a hand clap.

"What do you think? Is he done for now?"

"Well...." Junko said before kohaku came jumping back into the mix. He seemed fat, plump, and sluggish. "What the hell has gotten into you? literally!" Junko asked quite confused.

"I actually found someone that serves my type of meals! Ah man! She had all the bugs I could eat. she was practically made of them yo." Kohaku said chuckling.

"All you can eat buffet type gal?" Junko questioned chuckling a bit as well.

"Yeah, I basically ate all she had. He seemed a bit upset, but who cares ya know? Anyways, I see the student is tuckered out. You guys done for the day?"

"Well..." Junko said, but was once again interrupted. Surprisingly by a loud, screeching, and angry cry. Sighing, Junko looked to the entrance of the room. A rather mysterious woman stood wearing dark glasses with tears rolling down her cheeks. Her body seemed weak, pale, and like it could give out at any second.

"YOU ATE THEM! FILTHY TOAD!"

Jumping on top of the tired students stomach as he laid, Kohaku croaked. "I like to eat bugs. You had bugs all over you. So, I ate them. yes. Yes I did. What type of individuals has bugs and don't eat them?" Kohaku said croaking once more.

"I'm sorry for..." Junko said as the gal lunged at Kohaku and Tomo. If he didn't get on the move, he'd surely be demolished by her straightforward attack. If Tomo was smart, he definitely didn't want Junkos companion to get injured. Then, more problems would probably form.

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

Tomo could hear Kotsuko and Junko speak, but their voices sounded distant. He'd never possessed the strongest constitution, so losing the blood he had was making him queasy. "Oof." Tomo coughed lightly as the toad hopped onto his stomach. It seemed there was some kind of fight going on between a woman and the toad, and she was now charging towards him. Time seemed to slow as the Mochizuki closed his eyes and receded into his mind. Honestly, it's not worth it. I'm too tired to do anything. A laugh came from Tomo's body mate. Oooohoohoohoo! Then why don't you let meeeee take over Tomo-boy? The dual-haired man didn't even have the strength to shrug. You know what? I'm not even going to argue. Do whatever you want, I'm going to sleep. There was a moment of silence as this news sank in before Haruki gave a laugh. Oooohoohoohoo!!!

The young man's foot lifted lightly, and he gave the ground a light kick with is heel. The ground under the assumed Aburame shifted, and she lost her balance as she barreled towards her target. Tomo's body jumped up, catching the toad as it did. A green barrier formed right in front of the woman, and her loss of steadiness caused her to face plant right into the chakra wall. A goofy smirk spread on the young man's lips. "Oh my. It appears I've got a bug on my windshield. Oooohoohoohoo!" There was no question, the man before Kotsuko and Junko was an entirely different entity. The man hopped to Junko and placed the toad on his head. "I believe this is yours. Now time to find my Darling Haruko and make-out." He gave a wink before activating his Ghostly Form and disappearing into nothingness.

[WC: 294]
[MFT]
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[Tsuyoshi Junko]

Suddenly, an evil feeling lurked around the trio. Tomo made a quick movement that Junko caught. The grown shifted slightly, throwing the woman off balance. She tumbled and flopped as the man jumped to his feet. Smacking face first into a quick barrier, Junko raised a brow. It was obvious that the individual before them was no longer the same as a malicious goofy smirk crossed his face.

"Oh my. It appears I've got a bug on my windshield. Oooohoohoohoo!"

"I believe this is yours. Now time to find my Darling Haruko and make-out."

With a quick wink, he vanished after going under a rather ghostly transformation. Vanishing, Junko shook his head. The girl would probably need treatment. Seeing as Junkos summon ate her bugs, it was no telling if she was going to live. "I better get her to the hospital. Kotsuko, we'll have to catch up again. I'm the chief of the Kinjutsu surgery division. Need me, just stop by." Junko said picking up the girl. Before Reverse summoning himself to the hospital where some of his many reality seals are set, Junko gave a final nod.

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