It's Time for Team Training! [Open]

[Kazu]

Every sound, every slight movement, and every accidental brush echoed and reverberated like the chorus of jeering crowds. It's almost like I'm there already.

One of the only sources of fresh water in the vast and bleak deserts of Wind Country, the Undersea was of critical strategic importance. Its existence was the only reason Sunagakure could continue to exist — without its life giving waters, the denizens of Sand's shinobi village would have been forced to leave the drought stricken lands generations ago. Beautiful beyond words, the vast caverns were littered with giant slabs of crystal that sparkled and glowed with brilliant iridescence. Not to mention that this place was practically holy to every Sunan, for the great underground ocean hid in its depths the grave of Primus himself, the founder of their way of life. The Undersea was truly a magnificent place to be.

Yatamaru stood in the center of this vast subterranean sea, situated underneath the Toraono Dojo. He was floating on top of the water, held in place by his chakra. He didn't move, except for the slight up and down bobbing of the shifting water underfoot. Breathe. Er, well, focus. Or, concentrate. I know what I mean. There had been a rather shocking announcement made recently — Tea Country, of all the places, had extended an invitation to see who the strongest shinobi in all the lands was. Whether he was selected to represent his country or not, Yatamaru had decided to take the looming challenge as an opportunity to hone his skills. Ugh, this is so damn complicated! Suffice to say, it had been a while since he'd done this. And by 'this,' he meant training a completely new skill up from nothing.

"Come on, it's just chakra. You've just gotta feel it, whatever the hell that's supposed to mean..." He was, of course, not familiar with this new body. After all, he'd just made it for himself this morning.

One of the coolest, and trickiest, things about not having a flesh and blood form was that Yatamaru could easily "swap parts," as he liked to call it. Don't like the skills your old body had? That's fine, just trade it in for a new one! Because a person's skills were fundamentally tied to their physical body, Yatamaru had the benefit of being able to mix and match what he was proficient in to suit the needed circumstances. Previously, he'd been equipped for stealth and espionage — a martial arts tournament, however, called for a more direct approach.

The only real downside was that he had to start over with each new body. Not completely, but the skills he'd developed in one form took time to manifest in a new one. Just swapping bodies isn't enough. To master a skill, you have to live and train with them. You have to develop them, like everything else. He still had hundreds of hours of practice before he'd be anywhere close to proficient with this body's innate skills. To master them, he'd need hundreds of hours more! It'll all be worth it, though. I have high hopes for this body.

He continued to concentrate, trying to tap into the innate chakra control the body he'd selected had. He knew he could do it, he just had to figure out how. He closed his eyes, letting his snow white hair drape down over one eye. His clothes, a simple collared white shift and ordinary brown pants, looked battered and worn. He carried nothing else on him, except for a large silver flask that sloshed with liquid whenever he moved. If it weren't for the fact that he were walking on water, he might not even have looked like a shinobi. That was fine, he was here for one thing only:

"Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate." Is it just me or is that word really funny to say? Yeah, he was making awesome progress. Totally.

 

[Kikuchi Sachio]

Sachio was very excited to finally be a student at the academy. He'd spent much of his childhood alone, but now he was old enough to start training to be a ninja, and he couldn't wait to make many friends. The long white sleeves of his coat flapped behind him as he dashed along. He figured that to help be prepared, he should practice some things before any upcoming classes, though he hadn't quite decided just where to do so. He let his feet lead the way, not paying attention to where he was going beyond avoiding running into people. Eventually, he made his way down to the Undersea and figured that this would be as good a place as any to train since he'd have plenty of water to drink if he got thirsty. Sure, that was the reason. It wasn't that he was out of breath and didn't feel like navigating his way back out. No, it was only because he wanted to train here.

After catching his breath, Sachio straightened from where he'd bent, hands on his knees as he panted for breath. He noticed as he stood there, that there was someone standing out on the water. He knew how to do it in theory, but had never done it before himself. Well, why not today? He could wait to practice the clone jutsu until after he had figured this out. Taking a few deep breaths, he tried to channel his chakra as he moved to put his foot on the water, but the minute he put any weight, there was a splash and he pouted a little as he had to pull his boot off and dump the water out of it. "Well, imagine how much more water would be in here if I did up the straps," he commented to himself with a laugh, sliding his boot back on. "Now let's see...." he pulled from within one of his oversized sleeves a little booklet and flipped it open to a page. "To walk on water, emit a stream of chakra on the bottom of your feet, blah blah changes, should be...hmm...no yeah, I can do this." he decided after reading bits and pieces of the page out loud. He closed it and tucked it away again before approaching the edge of the water again. He stepped out confidently this time, and got two or three steps in before he was distracted by his success and this time both of his feet ended up in the water up to his ankles. "Drats!" he said, sloshing out to dump water out of his shoes. "This is a lot harder than it looks...I wonder how that guy hasn't fallen in yet. I wonder if he can hear me..." he said to himself, as it was not uncommon for him to talk to himself at length or even hold short conversations with himself to figure things out. "Hey! Can you hear me over there!" he called out towards whoever was further out than he was, pulling his sleeves back so he could cup his hands around his mouth and try to make his voice louder, though he didn't know if he was heard or not as he bounced and waved his arms frantically in the persons direction for good measure, just in case they did hear him and wanted to know where the voice came from.

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

The announcement had a lot of people buzzing within the village, the Sunaku clan included. There has been a lot of mumbling, many people joking how his father probably burst through the mansion walls to put hi same into registration... and was caught by surprise when it was heard he himself was the one to sign up. His father loved to fight and still had quite a bit of life in him, but in the end, he seemed to figure fighting against young, hungry for glory members of other villagers probably would put too big of a target on his back... and Harupia himself assumed his mother probably had a hand in keeping him grounded. Then again, with the last few training session they had together, ti was quite clear the gap between them has shifted towards his side. Boons of his...latest revelations. It would seem his father was also tried to acknowledge his son as the better fighter.

he felt conflicted in the first place, with all the thing happening in his village, to sign up. And part of him had to knowable the urge to present his abilities in front of an international audience was part of the drive. but also showing that their village as strong, no matter what was happening inside. That they could send their warriors and stand proudly in front of anyone who dared to oppose them... and if luck had it maybe they would be able to snuff out something interesting about their enemies with the whole world watching. Besides, there were quite a few talented members of the village who would be here to defend in their steed...heck, he might be one of them if he didn't manage to get into the four people sent out.

He knew one thing, he would need to prepare. Training in his family home was one thing, but he needed something more...secluded. He didn't quite know the full extent of his powers just yet...but he knew well that the more he realized them, the more he felt himself go...wild, unpredictable. So he needed to find a nice secluded spot. and what better place to find a lone corner then the underground caverns. He decided to go through passing the undersea and search from there...maybe some underwater cavern, or maybe he could create something on his own. For the moment, it seemed he was just calmly walking twoards it deep in though...only to be interrupted by someone seemingly shouting out towards the USnersea. Welp... it's not that he was quite pressed for time yet...he could allow himself to sidetrack a bit.

getting closer he saw the source of the shouts, a young man whos seemed to be around academy age, and the target, being a lone figure meditating on the water... chuckling a bit as he stepped closer he would say "You know, depending how good he actually is with that, you might surprise him just enough to earn him a bit of a bath" his tone mostly upbeat, though there was a bit of intent there to point out hos interrupting someone in their training was not in the best form.

 

[Kazu]

...is it just me, or is this not working? Indeed, something was wrong.

Try as hard as he might, Yatamaru couldn't seem to tap into the latent power of this body. Figuring out how to use unfamiliar skills always took some trial and error, but this was starting to get ridiculous. He'd cycled his chakra many times through his body, focusing on where the flow of energy tended towards — this was his usual "cheat code" for getting a handle on what he needed to do, revealing the intricacies of how his new body worked. So why isn't that working here? Something wasn't adding up. His eyes flashed down to the silver flask by his hip, remembering the sorry state he'd ended up in after a full night's work. He remembered going out for the night, the dozen or so sake bottles, and then he came back home to work on his puppets. He remembered fine tuning it, re-adjusting the chakra regulators, and then...

Oh no. I don't remember when I switched bodies... Thankfully, Yatamaru had prepared for this. Pulling up the sleeve on his left arm, Yatamaru ran his finger along the outside edge. He was looking for something — a moment later, the man had found a small latch and pulled it open. The inside of Yatamaru's arm was hollow, except for a compartment for sealing scrolls and other equipment. On the inside compartment were a series of numbers and letters. "Fucking hell!" It was all he could manage to say without completely losing his cool. I'm in the wrong damn puppet!"

Just when he thought his frustration was about to peak, a young boy's voice came calling out from across the Undersea. It was disarmingly innocent, instantly winning over Yatamaru's curiosity. He turned to look where the source of the voice was coming from, and found himself completely in awe of what he could see. What the hell? Has the Undersea always been this small? How did that kid get so close? It took a few moments for Yatamaru to realize that the kid wasn't close, his vision had improved. No, that's wrong. It's not improved, it's been augmented! Indeed. In his drunken stupor the night before, Yatamaru must have realized a specimen of this caliber would have its own benefits. His drunken and sober selves didn't always agree on what was best at first, but it seemed this time drunk Yatamaru had chosen wisely. I've gotta remember to buy myself a "thank you" vodka. None of that cheap shit too — I'm celebrating later with some top shelf.

Slowly getting over his newest discovery, Yatamaru could see that the kid was a total bundle of energy. Jumping and waving to get Yatamaru's attention, the kid seemed to be playing hooky from the Academy or something. I mean, I can't just ignore the exuberant little pipsqueak... He'd always had a soft spot for kids. Might as well go say hello. As he made up his mind, another man had decided to join their little posse. Yatamaru didn't recognize him, but something about his aura made the ANBU think he should. Shrugging off the thought, he proceeded towards the shoreline. Quick as a flash, Yatamaru's body almost seemed to flicker in and out of existence as he glided along the water's surface. He was fast, and skilled. But his reflexes! Praise the Mother, you've really out done yourself, me. Seems he wasn't quite over his discovery yet.

"Normally I'd agree with you, friend." Yatamaru was referring to Harupia's words, though the scruffy-looking white haired man was nowhere to be seen. "However, today I'm in a pleasant mood! The Undersea is big enough for us all to train here." As the man continued to speak, the source of his voice would quickly become apparent: he was right behind them! While turning around, the two might even spot the man slipping his flask back into his pocket after a sneaky swig. "Nice to meet you two! The name's Yatamaru. Have you two come to train your skills as well?" Harupia might recognize the name as one of the contestants in the upcoming Sunan preliminaries, though there were a lot of people who had signed up to defend the village's honor. What was one name in a sea of hundreds?

 

[Kikuchi Sachio]

Sachio was a rather excitable young man, and in fact couldn’t remember if he was supposed to be in class in that moment or not. He had been entirely side-tracked by seeing someone do a jutsu and wanting to do it himself, which had eventually led him to the undersea to train, and thus led him to meeting Yatamaru, though he didn’t know his name yet. He didn’t notice another approaching him as he bounced around, giving his all in attempting to gain the attention of whoever was out on the water. He only paused in his frantic waving and dancing for a short moment, when someone behind him mentioned that it might not be a good idea to interrupt. He turned to see who spoke, his hands still up in the air, and his sleeves now falling to billow around his head and shoulders, covering part of his face until he blew at the sleeve and shook his head to free it, grinning widely. “I….honestly didn’t think about that.” he admitted, bouncing on the balls of his feet as if he just couldn’t stand being still.

Before he could say anything else, he had glanced behind him towards the water to see if the person had fallen in, about to make a comment when he gasped, grinning excitedly and resuming his display of hopping around with enthusiasm when he noticed that the person was heading their way. “OHOH! OVER HERE!!!” he yelled out, waving his hands frantically and dancing about. He had no thought in his mind to the idea that perhaps the person was approaching annoyed or angry at being interrupted, and could only think that the person was headed over here in a gesture of goodwill. Thankfully, he was right and while the person's appearance made him jump in surprise, he wasted little time in whirling around, throwing his arms up and getting smacked in the face with his large sleeves before a muffled but very enthusiastic, “Hello!” came from within the sleeves before he dropped his arms to free himself, ending up planting his hands on his hips and grinning widely up at the new people he had just met. “My name is Sachio!” he declared. “I was on my way….somewhere, and then I saw someone use a clone jutsu so I wanted to try and do it and then I ended up here and I saw you walking on water and well I really wanted to try that too but I just ended up with wet boots but then I thought maybe I could ask you for help and well here you are so can you help me? Huh? Huh? Huh?” he asked, somehow managing to say all of that in one breath before pausing to inhale and start bouncing around Yatamaru like an overexcited puppy, staring up at him with his big red eyes as he waited for his answer.

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

Harupia couldn't help but chuckle seeing just how bouncy the young man was...he couldn't really blame him for being excited seeing someone train like that. He was preaty excitable himself when he was younger... After a moment passed he would say "Well, it seems no harm done right now...Just remember not to interrupt any of your friends f they decide to train as well" finishing u right as the other remains started moving...with an impressive speed he had to add. Impressive enough that he managed to move from the far of position on the water right behind them...casually hiding his own flask of drink as he did. He t was surprised by the sudden appearance..though not as much as the young man at their side... that jumpiness of his would probably be something he needed to reign in sooner or later. Though the enthusiasm could be somewhat infective, hehe.

He was slightly more focused on the man now in front of him. Yatamaru...an unfamiliar name, though he was almost certain he did see it somewhere... also seeing the speed at which he was able to move, he felt that was an oversight on his part. Then again, he still felt like playing catch u after his return to the village. Smiling a bit he would say "Sunaku Harupia, a pleasure to meet you both. And yes, you could say I came here to train as well...though for the moment I was trying to focus my mind more...figure out how to prepare for the upcoming events. correct me if I'm wrong, but is your training to do with the tournament that was announced?" he would ask before turning to the young boy there "Well, learning how to control your chakra to do something like walking on water is something that you'll probably learn int he academy. But I guess giving you a bit of a presentation wouldn't hurt" he finished with a wide grin on his face.

 

[Kazu]

Yatamaru always had a weak spot for kids. I don't know what it is about them. Maybe it's the innocence? Having seen and done as many horrible things as he had, the innocence of youth was certainly a welcome relief. A good change of pace, if nothing else.

Introductions were in order, and the slightly intoxicated newcomer was pleasantly surprised at the young boy's over the top enthusiasm. Does the Academy take their time breaking in the new kids these days? I remember half my class walking out in frustration after the second day! Morbidly plausible jokes aside, Yatamaru returned the young child's enthusiastic grin with a sly smile and a slight chuckle at his expense. "Whoa-ho-ho! Calm down — Sachio, was it? I love your spirit, little dude, but you've gotta slow down. Us old farts can't keep up with that kinda speed!" From what he'd managed to gather in that blur of a spoken sentence, the kid was trying to train up his Ninjutsu. Playfully bringing up one hand to stroke an imaginary beard, Yatamaru closed his eyes in mock self-debate. "Hmm, I see. Well, I don't know. That's a pretty advanced technique for your age..."

After a few moments of the joke, however, Yatamaru couldn't take himself seriously anymore — a thin smile cracked through his facade of careful deliberation, letting the young boy know it had all been in jest. "Even so! Let's see what you've got, kid! Let me see you try to circulate your chakra, really make it move within you!" They'd start with the basics. I need to know what it is I'm working with here, after all. He observed the way Sachio moved the chakra in his body, paying particular attention to the evenness of the rate of flow. "In order to balance themselves atop a sheet of water, a shinobi must be able to accurately control the movement speed and the path of their chakra system. For water walking it's important to have an even and steady flow of chakra, and you must always direct it perpendicular to the surface of the water." Yatamaru's heart was in the right place — he knew that it was important not to just tell a student what to do, but to also explain why they were doing it — but, unfortunately, his method of explanation was probably a little too wordy. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that most of what he just said probably went over the little kid's head.

While the kid dealt with unscrambling the riddle of an instruction set provided to him, Yatamaru would exchange pleasantries with the other grown up in the area. "Pleased to meet you, Harupia." Yatamaru would offer his hand to the other man, a sign of mutual respect and acquaintanceship. The Sunaku was free to accept or decline. "Indeed! Fortune favors those who are prepared, or so they say. Perhaps we ought to prepare together?" Yatamaru didn't usually get a chance to train with others, due to the usually solitary nature of his job description. An opportunity to face off with a worthy sparring partner — how could I pass this up? There was a certain eagerness to his words, a sense of nostalgic excitement, that probably told Harupia he wasn't some average leveled fighter. Yatamaru was well experienced in combat, and would not hold back if they were to spar.

Glancing back towards the boy who was surely struggling with his assigned task, Yatamaru gave him an encouraging smile and thumbs up in-between words with Harupia. 'You're doing great!' was what it seemed to say.