How's the Water? [Tsubaki]

[Samejima]

Stretching, Naoki tried to sit down on the sands surrounding the Undersea portion of Sunagakure. Despite the upper area needing the most help, she had decided to keep having her tired time off in this area, as it was likely the most tranquil area she'd be able to find that's so close to home. It was a good spot to train concentration, the area was known for its low amount of visitors from overworking Sunans not wanting to push their luck too far and take days off. It was in this area that the genin laid down to see if she would be able to make more progress out there than at home, with all the drunkards having taken over the shop. Hmm... Okay, I did wanna see about how to maybe get some more sight out of me at around this place, I'm sure it's a really pretty place so I'll have fun here~

The day itself was rather hot, though obviously not as hot here than it is up there. Still on her back, Naoki concentrated on her sight, eyes exposed but closed for the moment, and attempted to visualize the area as she remembered it out of a lack of sound... save for the waves of course. It wasn't long until she drifted off to sleep however, concentration being a thing she'd been practicing for too long too much recently. Why was that? Because she had something she really wanted to see as much as possible, and her usual record time of a full minute to enable her sight was insufficient for her current purposes. Smiles are but a fleeting expression of happiness after all, and really the only way one can capture one is to just keep watching right? With absolutely no stalky thoughts.

If there was anyone near the edge of the water, she'd be able to tell, though she really hadn't been paying attention to anything but the giant boulder she'd relocated herself onto. The area closer to the entrance to Undersea was where she'd decided to perch, and anything at the far end would have gone unnoticed as well.

 

[Kazumi]

How had she not heard of this place before? The fact that there was a vast underground sea just below her feet has continued to astound Tsubaki since she had heard about its existence earlier this morning. Though it was near approaching evening, the bustle of the underground village was relatively light today. She had heard there was some flavor of festival being celebrated locally, but it was none she had ever heard of and so she took the opportunity to sneak off and indulge her overactive curiosity. So, with only her clothes on her back she worked to jog though the city streets, following one of her instructor's advice to increase her stamina as she hunted the underground complex for this mysterious Undersea.

It was nearly noon when she had departed, and a few hours had already passed, with more than one missed turn or poor assumption. Though, finally, after a trip that lasted an order of magnitude longer than it had any right being, she arrived! Slowing her pace to a casual walk as she caught sight of the first glimmers of light from the giant luminescent crystals that lighted parts of the shoreline as they reflected of the nearly mirror smooth waters. Her breath caught as its wonder reached out and took hold of her heart. It truely was magnificent to behold, far more than worth the four hour journey that brought her here.

Her soft boots crunched the sand against rock under her feet as, step by slow step, she made her way towards the edge of the vast sprawling lake. It had been... nearly a year since she had seen such a vast span of water, and all of this time it had been only a short distance away. She had always assumed the village's existence in the middle of the desert had exclusively relied on its shinobi inhabitants to provide all of the resources the village needed, but with the discovery of this... suddenly it all started to click perfectly into place.

She, like Naoki, appeared to be too preoccupied with their own activities to notice one another. Though, in the dark blue haired girl's defence, the younger of the pair was sitting perched atop a bolder that was hidden from view until she had walked around a somewhat tall ridge of crystal. Now that the serenity of the vista had its grips on her, it was unlikely she would notice much else for at least a short while. WHo would want to distract themselves from this serene beauty after all?

 

[Samejima]

Naoki's sight was very slowly returning to her, taking a longer time than usual despite the quiet of the surroundings. She may or may not have been much too preoccupied in the rhythmic lapping sound of the waves, but she was starting to doze off and relaxed her body posture quite a bit from the original half-reclining position she took on the conveniently comfortable boulder... eventually getting very close to slipping off the thing altogether. Whether this was from focusing too much on the wrong thing or from a lack of it, she began to slip off one side before awakening and clinging onto said side, using a rudimentary chakra projection to cling onto it before she fully lost her grip and just landed in the sand with her backside now covered in sand. "Oof! Ah geez..." Gotta be careful about the tailbone... Mighta lost my ability to move just like that! Ugh...

She stood up and brushed herself off, and found that her eyesight was still unusable due to the recent almost-then-actual fall. Sighing, she began to concentrate once more, and found that someone she recognized was next to her. "Hm? Is that Tsubaki-san?" The girl turned towards whomever that was, and the sound she'd created helped with identifying the newcomer. The sound of the waves wasn't helping too much... But it did provide a rather nice 'view' for the blind genin, as if she were witnessing the older girl in a near-complete sunset. "It's Tsubaki-san right? Hi! Came to take a break too? I almost fell asleep up there, the sound of the waves is nice..." Almost instinctively, she took a couple steps closer to the edge of the water, still facing Tsubaki. "Wanna sit down for a bit?" she asked, now concentrating extra hard on recovering her eyesight. She wouldn't miss another smile if she could help it, plus it'd help with actually being able to see gestures since the sound of the waves really can't do much by way of precision.

 

[Kazumi]

The sound of failure from behind her roused Tsubaki from her near-trance as she turned and peered back towards the sound. The now familiar sight of Naoki brought an amused smile to the girl as she watched Naoki pick herself up and address her. She nodded and stood patiently as the dark skinned girl made her way closer. She worried, if only for a few passing moments, that the girl did not assume she was stalking her. It was pure coincidence that she happened up the genin, although their meetings lately seemed to be occurring with increased frequency. Again she nodded as Naoki made certain that was who she spoke to, and finally she did so again with the request to sit.

She made a large gesture for Naoki to come closer, assuming smaller ones would more likely be missed. The she turned away from Naoki and gently folded her legs under her as she perched herself atop them, looking out towards the crystalline structures that jutted out of the pristine waters. "What brings you here?" Tsubaki signed, again with larger motions in hopes that Naoki could understand. At this moment, she couldn't recall if the girl could even understand what she signed, but she had mistakenly left her writing equipment back at the shop earlier that day.

 

[Samejima]

Slowly but surely was the key, something that Naoki knew very well, but she tried to hasten the speed of the gate-cracking anyway, purely because she wasn't quite getting the meaning of the gestures she'd been meant to see. Her eyes were open by this point, and some vague shapes could be made out, faint colors also manifesting. Her brain seemed to have been connecting the pieces between her hearing and her sight together by context, and after a short (but still delayed) second of deliberation, the girl replied, "Ah, I'm here to train with concentration really... I thought being in a mostly quiet place would help, since home is uh... pretty annoyingly loud right now, haha..." She didn't mention the drunkards, because who wants to hang around someone who hangs around drunkards? "Oh, did I ever tell you about how my sight works? It's something I've been working on for awhile, but there hasn't been much progress..."

The sound of failure from earlier was brought up in her mind, as she sat down and crossed her legs. While it was somewhat loud, Naoki held some kind of hope that this person she'd taken an interest in hadn't witnessed the failure from the beginning... That I actually fell asleep even though I planned to train... uuuugh just kill me now It wasn't exactly visible, but Naoki seemed to be a little less energetic than she usually was by the way she was talking. Currently, she was also just facing straight ahead as she talked, turning only if some movement was sensed.

 

[Kazumi]

Another slow exaggerated nod would follow Naoki's offer as Tsubaki looked back and forth between the sea and the genin. Once Naoki would begin speaking again, Tsubaki would close her eyes to both focus on relaxing and on what her friend was saying. After a few moment she leaned forward a little and brought her right hand behind her back, pulling out a few lengths of hair that had tried to position themselves under her when she sat. The action, and slightly painful tug from a few strands that was still lodged under her caused her to momentarily consider cutting her hair shorter. As that thought came and gone, she quickly opened her eyes and looked back towards Naoki once more, hoping to remind the girl she was listening with genuine interest.

 

[Samejima]

Uh... was that a no? Or... Umm... I'll take that as a no. "Ah, um, so, I actually used to be able to see properly, but after my chakra awakened or something the flow to my eyes was blocked and redirected to my ears, which is how I hear so well normally. I know my eyes have changed color but I'm not really sure what they look like, since I've never really looked at 'em. So now, whenever I wanna see, I have to concentrate a bunch on one of these eight Chakra Gates in the body, make it so that it opens just a little bit to allow the chakra in it to restore the flow to my eyes and not so much that it starts using up the life force that's kept in by said gate. Does... that make sense?" After the spiel, throughout which she took a grand total of three breaths, her eyesight was somewhat fully returned, and she was able to see Tsubaki in all the gracefulness she held, making the genin feel... strange, from the sight. She took in a breath and unknowingly held it, taking in the elegant posture and looking away, heart beating rather quickly as she suddenly became aware of her breathing.

Any questions would be answered of course, and if there was an ensuing silence Naoki would once more attempt to break it. "So yeah, umm... How are you liking the place? Pretty quiet during this time of day, aside from the fishing that happens here sometimes I guess."

 

[Kazumi]

Her interest in what Naoki spoke of was quite genuine, though she intentionally did appear overly enthusiastic as to try and contain her curiosity to ask even more questions. This was likely a personal matter for Naoki, even if the younger one spoke of it in an almost casual manner. She could only cringe at the thought of communicating what was wrong with her hideous speaking voice... A moment of silence ensued and she quickly tried to shake the gloom off her face and replace it with a pleased smile. "Thank you for telling me. I is very interesting. They mentioned gates as part of the chakra system in the academy. Did not know it could do such things." She continued to gesture slowly and in a more controlled manner, segmenting out the part of her mind that desired to barrage Naoki with endless questions.

"It is very nice. It is embarrassing. I did not know place existed for nearly one year. How could something so large be kept secret?" Once she concluded her signs she could not help but have her attention drawn back towards the clear sea. It certainly was a wondrous sight, and the botanist in her wondered what sort of plant live would live at the bottom of such a remarkable location. With those giant crystals and the other strange circumstance, they could certainly have wondrous properties about them.

 

[Samejima]

Having gotten quite used to explaining things about her lack of sight itself to any old shopkeeper who asked, she occasionally did also have to explain her subsequent usage of said lack, which made it easier for her to communicate about her disability at the very least. Additionally, she saw her newfound ability as something that offsets her disability, and having hope for the future of not having to explain this to anyone anymore was helpful in minimizing her discomfort when explaining it. "Mmhm~ Well, I wouldn't call it interesting really, but it's weird how it turned out... Either way now I'm stuck just focusing on that gate to try and crack it open more easily, but at least there's some way for me to see y-" She stopped short of the last word, thinking on what that might mean. It's bad enough that they've been meeting so often that she was worrying that Tsubaki suspected her of setting up meetings like this, and she didn't exactly have the courage to ask whether or not that was the case, but to randomly say something that sounded like "seeing you gives me hope" was something that miiiiight be construed the wrong way. The stalky way. She looked straight ahead once more, hoping to hide the sudden worried expression on her face.

"Really? I guess Sunagakure is a pretty big place after all... It's not exactly a secret, but I guess there really isn't much to do here but relax and fish, which is why it's not usually mentioned, especially to academy students..." Since, y'know, students don't get stress and don't need to unwind at all... The wry thoughts went through her head as she recalled an experience that caused her stomach to churn a little... and it wasn't from the lack of an after-lunch snack either. "But it being hidden away here does make it hard to find huh? Might be to keep people from relaxing too much or something, hahah," she mentioned, conjecturing seemed to be something she did far too much to try and advance conversations. "Speaking of which, how's the Academy going? Learned some new stuff?"

 

[Kazumi]

If Tsubaki picked up on Naoki's near embarrassing slip, she showed no apparent signs as she simply continued to watch and passively smile. Naoki certainly was unique, as far as individuals she had ever meant, and Tsubaki had seen far more than her fair share of them. She tumbled and stumbled over words, tended to ramble, appeared genuinely nice, but was likely th most skilled and capable person she had ever seen. Why the girl seemed to not mind spending time with a lowly academy student such as she was a mystery to Tsubaki, especially one which did not make communicating an easy task.

As Naoki finished her ramblings, Tsubaki nodded and began to gesture once again. "Going well. Learned quite a lot. My chakra is lighting. Teacher said I am progressing quickly, but I am behind most others younger than me." She indeed had been learning at a remarkable rate, not genius level perhaps, but considering her background she was far beyond where any of the teachers would have expected. "Working on chakra control. Is difficult to control sometimes. Can climb flat surface with hands, but water is difficult. Amazing how ninja can use these things to do impossible. Very glad to learn." She closed her eyes, tilted her head slightly ajar and nodded softly with sincere pleasure.

 

[Samejima]

Naoki's eyes lit up upon hearing a mention of lightning. "Really? Me too! Or well, I'm good at lightning too but my affinity's with water. They should work together pretty well by what I've heard lightning does when used in conjunction... I can't be too sure though. We should try things out sometime!" Happy to have something in common with Tsubaki, she jumped up to her feet and was eager to start demonstrating what exactly she meant by an affinity, when she remembered what the last sentence might've been about. "It's cool, I had a pretty tough time with walking on water too... Density of the chakra has to be stronger, and you have to kinda... keep yourself from slipping around? So it's harder than solid surfaces, or at least that's as far as I remember..."

Thoughtful, Naoki tilted her head to her left side, pondering how best to approach the situation. Hopefully an affinity in water doesn't give me some weird advantage in walking on water itself... If it's something I don't know about, I won't be able to help with it. Maybe she's just having trouble visualizing things? Oh wait, I should ask first! Settling down a little and calming down to retain her slightly fading eyesight, the overzealous genin sat back down to try and not seem like a total kid. "Did you wanna just chill for a bit? I can show you some things if you want, later on or tomorrow or whenever..." She hoped that attempt to set up another meeting wasn't too obvious.

 

[Kazumi]

Naoki's continued enthusiasm brought a smile to Tsubaki's lips. It somehow reminded her of her brother, always eager to please and to help out however he could. It would serve them both well in life, if they didn't let others walk all over them. She doubted Naoki would, given how capable the younger girl was. Then, at Naoki's suggestion of working together at some point, she would receive a quick appreciative nod. It still seemed strange to her that someone of her caliber, though she honestly didn't know what caliber that was first hand, wanted to help an older foreigner like her.

Then, as Naoki sat down and resolved herself, Tsubaki would continue to look over towards her with curious interest. At the mention of assistance, she had to keep herself from giving too emphatic of a nod. She did her best to remain calm and collected, but the opportunity to learn from someone who was not two or three times her age was a welcome one. She attempted to sign as casually as she could muter, "If you are not busy, I am available. If not, we can schedule time when you are available." If the girl had an affinity with water, though her understanding of what the exact implications of such was, then perhaps she had pointers or simply had a firmer grasp of the concept she could pass on to Tsubaki?

 

[Samejima]

As if she was fully expecting a no and a worried-slash-disgusted look, Naoki bounced a little in her seat, looking for all the world as if she'd just received a particularly sweet-tasting piece of cake. The bouncing seemed to serve as a prelude to her next action, which was to jump up once more excitedly, reaching downwards to try and pull Tsubaki up on her feet as well. Naturally if she felt any kind of resistance, she would let go and calm down a little, but otherwise Tsubaki would find it much easier for her to get on her feet as she was practically pulled upwards without any effort on her part. "Okay, then let's start! I'm sure the instructors could explain it a lot better, but lemme see if I can help at all... Mind showing me how you normally do? Just step onto the water, no need to actually get in." The genin stepped back, remembering to keep her focus up on her eyesight while unsuccessfully trying to divide her attention between that and sensing the chakra being used. It was a necessary skill for instructors, not that she'd know, but it was something one tended to pick up after a prolonged period of time trying to sense one's own chakra flowing through a bunch of body gates.

"I think, for water, you just have to kinda... make it support your weight. You know how there's a little filmy sort of thing over water when you juuuust touch it a little?"

 

[Kazumi]

Looking momentarily surprised by the strength of the smaller girl as she was practically yanked to her fee, Tsubaki very nearly broke into a laugh from amusement. Once there she listened patiently with Naoki, still comparing the girl's enthusiasm to her brother, though she was far bolder than he was in actually seeking out help to give. Once Naoki finished speaking, Tsubaki would then nod, take a deep breath and step pas the girl over towards the waterline. Thankfully, as this was an underground sea, of sorts, and not an ocean the water was relatively still.

Pausing at the edge of the water, Tsubaki glanced back over her shoulder towards Naoki, have her a confident smile, before she turned back towards the water. That smile would fade as it was out of view for Naoki, though she might have been able to see such with her ninja ear magics. Another slow and deep breath would follow as she tried to recall the specifics as to how the instructor had told the other students the method of perming this somewhat rudimentary, for shinobi, technique. She needed to allow her chakra to flow freely through her both, and to force it to then pool at the bottom of her feet.

Tsubaki closed her eyes as she visualized the diagram of the chakra system she had seen, trying to feel the energy flowing through her as she attempted to will it to collect at the soles of her feet. She simply needed to project it just below her feet, and create a solid layer under them which would adhere to the water. All she knew of ice lead her to believe that one should slip and side around atop it, even if they could stand, but from demonstrations that did not seem to be the case. Taking one step forward, Tsubaki placed the bottom of her foot atop a few inch deep section of water and attempted to rest it atop it. As it always had, it worked initially, the invisible field cushioning her foot from submerging for a few seonnds until she put more of her weight on it, which would cause the delicate balance to shift and her foot to quickly plop under the water.

 

[Samejima]

Observing the older girl's actions carefully, after smiling back as she was given one herself, she didn't realize very quickly that her eyesight had disappeared once more, and only did realize after she glanced up at Tsubaki to establish eye contact before telling her what her thoughts were on the attempt. Ah, gotta start it up again... But I think that happens a bunch to people, shouldn't be too hard to figure out which part was different... "Gimme a minute..." she said, holding a hand up before subsequently putting her head in her left hand and supporting that arm with her other one. She decided she would try and do so herself, and went through the procedure following it normally and succeeding, but it had become something like second nature for her to initiate, being used to channeling chakra from her years of practice. Hmm... Maybe I need to try and do it slowly? And so she did, lowering her foot steadily, making sure it didn't jolt downwards or anything. The chakra, which felt to her like little platforms extended from her feet on which to stand, seemed to concentrate on the area closest to the water while still being supporting around the foot itself. She managed to put one foot on the water before stepping back onto dry land.

Okay, so I guess the chakra just has to be concentrated a bit differently? Might need a taller platform... And it seemed like she might've been putting too much pressure on without adjusting the chakra levels enough to allow it to stay there, I think. Naoki considered her words carefully, ultimately nodding and saying, "I think I know what you have to do, just think of the chakra as like, a platform? Make it a bit taller, project more of it from under your foot. Just one at first will be fine, and to minimize chakra usage you can probably just practice with accuracy some more later on," she paused to remember what it was that she was about to say. "After that, instead of trying to stand on it, just push down on the platform, and make sure you send chakra in there at a steady rate! Or just push down slowly and make sure it's firm before pushing down on it any more. Once you're sure it's stable, that's when you try to stand on it." She hoped the suggestions would work, but if they didn't then well, she kept her sensing capabilities as sharp as she could, even going so far as to get on the ground (while still behind Tsubaki) to try and sense it a little better.

 

[Kazumi]

Tsubaki nodded along as Naoki explained how she understood the process. It sounded similar as to what her teachrs had told her, although in a much more simplified manner. It was hard for her to say which was actually more defective, though she would admit it felt easier to actually ask Naoki for questions or clarifications than he did her teachers. Taking a step back and retreating her foot from the water, Tsubaki closed her eyes for a second and tried to imagine it as Naoki described the process.

Slowly nodding in understanding to herself, Tsubaki opened her eyes and turned her head back to face Naoki, who was now laying down on the ground behind her. It wasn't likely intentional, but Tsubaki's immediate reaction was to reach down and press her shirt against her thighs to prevent the onlooker from seeing up it. In hindsight, she knew it was not Naoki's intent, and that by reacting this way she was implying such... but force of habit and embarrassment worked much quicker than logic sometimes.

 

[Samejima]

Naoki was now confused. She did sense the movement above Tsubaki's ankles, but didn't move in the least until a few more seconds passed and she sensed no chakra. "What's wrong? Did you wanna ask another question?" she asked, making sure to snap her fingers so she didn't miss anything after asking, still on the ground with her eyes looking less focused, and closed more often than they were open. Her head, though tilted upwards, stared innocently up at Tsubaki's face and not near her lower areas. "Did your chakra freeze up?" she asked, remembering that it was a case she'd heard of before while in her Academy days. While not uncommon, it did happen sometimes out of nervous energy. "Apparently it happens to everyone, so don't worry if you wanna take a couple minutes to recover okay? I'll be down here to try and make sure the chakra spread is even, though I don't exactly have awesome control over it I might be able to tell you if you're on the right track..." And with that, she resumed her totally not-stalky position on the ground behind Tsubaki.

 

[Kazumi]

As the moments went on and Naoki began to speak, almost uncharacteristically casually, the awkward sensation began to subside. Of course she wasn't trying to do anything... that was just silly. Removing her hands from the spot at which they pressed her skirt down, Tsubaki slowly turned back towards the shoreline. It felt strangely awkward having Naoki perched down there, but the aspiring kunoichi segmented that feeling inside her mind and pressed it off to the side.

Taking a quick encouraging breath, she stepped forward and set her right foot atop the water. Doing as Naoki had said, she focused her chakra to her feet once more, imagining a platform rather than a cushion as the instructors had recommended. She put a small bit of weight on it, and the barrier between her foot and the water held. As she leaned forward, she pressed more weight upon it and it still did not give way to the increased pressure. The chakra fluctuated somewhat wildly, and she wondered if, and how, Naoki could actually sense chakra from down there.

Putting her weight upon the foot, she worked to take another tentative step out onto the water. Miraculous it held, but concentrating hard enough to keep the ever shifting water under her from giving way and sending her to a watery doom took nearly all of her concentration. One after another she took slow careful steps out onto the water, the soles of her feet pressing against the water as they made slight ripples on the otherwise smooth glassy surface.

 

[Samejima]

It's going okay... I think? Uh... Lying on the ground didn't do anything to sharpen her senses it seemed. It hasn't broken yet so it definitely was going well right? Or maybe she's actually having a bunch of problems and I'm not helping by just being down here! So she got up and walked closer to Tsubaki, careful not to distract her. The older girl was leaning forward a little, and it didn't sound like the water was giving way! Naoki's expression brightened from the worried lines they initially had, and couldn't remember to start focusing her eyesight before Tsubaki took her next step out there. She's doing it! It's happening! Woo! She was careful to stay quiet in case it broke Tsubaki's concentration, but couldn't quite hold back the little bounces that resulted.

Naoki would consciously be trying to keep from making any sounds, so she couldn't very well sense anything that was going on in the area. This was when she began to start working back up to regaining her eyesight, though unfortunately she wasn't quite focused enough on that to keep from distracting herself by the revelations that were taking place. She knew Tsubaki wouldn't go too far out into the water just in case, so she tried to just calm herself down to get that eyesight working so she could observe from the distance she currently had. Until then though, she was standing there still bouncing a little, grinning ear to ear and preparing to approach Tsubaki herself once she managed to get the optic nerves firing.

 

[Kazumi]

Continuing to keep her eyes closed, she attempted to envision the water ahead of her as a smooth pane of glass, rather than the water that would love nothing more than to consume her at a moment's notice. One step after another she proceeded out, and each was filling her with a little more confidence than the last. Before she had actually realised it, she was a dozen yards out past the shoreline as she stood precariously atop the softly rippling water below her. Slow steady breaths carried her forward a few more steps, her chakra control holding steady as she continued to concentrate.

Then, as if the fates schemed to conspire against her progress, a faint tickle brushed against her nose. Her concentration wavered as her feet began to try and slip out from under her. The sensation continued and against her best efforts, a reluctant sneeze was quickly followed by the sight and sound of the water swallowing Tsubaki as her chakra flows momentarily disrupted themselves in the presence of one of nature's greatest distractions.