Lessons Learned (Private)

[Kairyuu]

He was in a clearing not far from the statues, but far enough to expect privacy. The sound of the falls were comforting, and gave him a focus to latch onto while he tested his new….abilities. He was wearing his normal outfit. Black boots covered by red suneate, black pants that had matching red haidate, a black shirt with a red jacket ending at his waist, red han kote over his forearms, and two katana sheathes at his right side. One sword was in his hand. And the odd thing was his hand was on the other side of the clearing he was in.

Fibers of some sort connected the hand to the rest of his body. He was testing the strength and flexibility this allowed. A log several meters away was already showing a score of marks where his blade bit in deep. As he brings his arm back and down, the weapon rises and falls, splitting the wood in two. With the same unconscious command that would move a finger, Maki pulls the hand back to him, the threads coiling inside of him somewhere. Could be useful.

The smirk on his face vanishes as memories hit him. Flashes of someone else’s life. A fire over a home larger than any he’d seen before. A sense of loss. A sense of pride. Then a man telling him his son was alive, and with that a sense of rage. Being told he was overruled on letting the child die, by his own nephew. A vision of gold skin, gold eyes, and a staff. Staring at him, threatening him.

Maki’s vision comes back in as he falls ot his knees and vomits on the grass. Absorbing the soul was apparently a process, and as it was done, the memories would hit him. But only the strongest ones, and they haven’t, so far, made a lick of sense. It was as if he was seeing things through a kaleidoscope.

 

[Uchiha Takeshi]

Takeshi stood on a branch, his eyes scanning the man in front of him. A sinking feeling came to his stomach as he instantly realised things had taken a dark turn before he had a chance to stop it. It seemed like he was out of time that much was clear of course. Possible even out of his league for a captain, but he knew full well that this task was something that needed to be done, of course though he knew it was all just a matter of time before someone would come across this man. Better to be a Captain that found him.

Why do I always find myself in the worst possible situations, every time…..

Takeshi launched himself down into the clearing, he figured this man would already know that he was around. His face looked familiar his actions something that was a bit weird of course. Takeshi stood in front of the man, deciding to try to come from behind would only escalate things quicker than he wanted to. It seemed he had prepared to protect this secret, he probably hadn’t expected a wandering Takeshi at that time though, and here he was in front of the man.

“What do we have here? This looks like an interesting thing to say the least”

Takeshi stood there his black robes with a white hood symbolising office, his green hair spiked as always as he stood there. Arms folded and his eyes never leaving the man he had come across, it was clear right now that something wasn’t right. Takeshi just hoped things would go better than he first thought from looking at this. He doubted it but might as well see what could be done to help protect leaf.

[Topic Entered]

 

[Yeong Su Han]

Pulling on the thick paper that held his prize, he was rewarded with the aroma of unbrewed coffee as some of the dust hung in the air. The tiny packet in his hand dabbed a number of times against the side of a cup that steamed with pre-brewed water. Using the packet as a stirring rod, he mixed the concoction a number of times until the paper began to become soft. Throwing it away in a nearby bin, he brought the cup to just under his nose and inhaled deeply of once more before taking his first sip of the day.

Yeong was still in his small room overlooking the street full of merchant stalls below. The morning sun was cresting the horizon and still, the workers below were already plying their trade. As the warm liquid passed his lips and ground down his throat, showing just how bad he was at stirring drinks, the heat spread through his chest and woke him further. He couldn't help but wonder what the day might hold in moments like this, without direction he had found himself wandering in the previous days...

When he went to change from his loose fitting blue robes, he put on his normal blue and gold hanbok, tied simply in the middle with a length of red cord. Through careful movement, his blonde hair remained sealed tight in the bun which his binyeo kept tied. Placing his cup into the sink, he left it unwashed. There were some that thought this was disgusting, but much like tea, he found there was a hidden flavor to coffee that made itself apparent over time and age. Making his way out of the building, he entered the streets and began the day's adventure.

Pinning both of his arms behind his back, he tightly grasped his hands together to ensure the wandering digits did not get themselves into any more trouble amongst the merchant stalls. That was when he heard a most interesting comment from a couple of children that seemed to be making their way towards the Academy. "Did you hear? Hino made a contract with a slug... I know, right? Disgusting!" The comment was one that he'd heard in the past, without any specific mention to this Hino person or slugs per se. People heading out into the outskirts of the village and encountering wild beasts to form 'contracts' with, whatever this meant.

Lilting his head from left to right, he considered what he would do. On a right tilt, he considered going back to the academy. The lesson he had taken not so recently had been enjoyable, if not somewhat annoying in how rudimentary it was. Though, it was designed for students so if anyone would have been at fault for that particular annoyance it would be him. On a leftward tilt, he considered heading out of the village and investigating this contract business. The Academy was closer and there was no telling how far he might end up walking if he decided to go past the walls...

They called it 'The Valley of the End' and as he observed, it was more of a commemoration to some past event than anything nearly as foreboding as its name would imply. His place of birth had been that sort, a 'Valley of Hell' that lived up to its name more than this place seemed capable. Nonetheless, he made his way across its steep cliff edges in his exploration of the villages outer edges and expanses. He was well and truly a ways away from the village at this point and would need to turn back soon, lest he wanders off and gets in major trouble... from the village or his grandmother, who knew not which would be worse.

That he had gotten this far unmolested spoke to either his luck or small stature, for he certainly had not left the village in an outfit designed to conceal. To anyone with any skill, he would no doubt stick out like a sore thumb against the muted grays of the cliff face he stood upon. Yet, at the same time, to someone lacking in the skill such as himself, the figure below did an equally good job at sticking out. In the shadow of the valley, all of their dark clothes would have served well to hide them from the wandering eye were it not for all the activity they appeared to be up to.

Circling the cliff's edge, he slowly made his way down to where the water coalesced into something more of a stream. He hoped the rushing water would serve as to muffle his steps if only just a little. The thing he was witnessing was just too interesting to let alone. It seemed like the man before him was actually throwing his hand out and manipulating it at a range. "Remarkable..." he would mutter under his breath as he passed the zenith of the falls behind him. But then the figure took a fall, dropping to his knees and vomiting. This gave Yeong a pause, he had no Medical training to speak of.

It was something of an irony that he had just been called out the other day in a classroom to answer what one should do if alone and be witnessing a call for help. He was certain that he hadn't taken any of his current situation into account when he had given his reply. Additionally, this was far from a call for help, but the figure could hardly be said to not be in any distress as whatever recent meal evacuated itself from him. Choosing to throw caution to the wind, he maintained his poise but stepped closer to the man on his knees.

"You appear to be in distress, are you in need of some help, sir?"

 

[Kairyuu]

The world came back into focus, the blurred lines of everything snapping back into crisp reality. He found himself staring at an entire stick of pocky, unbitten and sitting right in the middle of the pile of other things. When the hell was the last time he’d eaten pocky?! And why was this one not digested, much less bitten or chewed in some manner? Maki tries to remember shoving a whole thing of pocky down his throat and simply cannot. While he was a far cry from the civilized, high society manners his birthparents likely had, he wasn’t a pig either. So what the hell…

“You appear to be in distress, are you in need of some help, sir?”

As soon as the words escape to the air, Maki’s hand is moving, launching itself past the other person and coming in from behind. His head snaps to the side in time to see that the speaker is just a child, and one offering help no less. The hand comes flying back past the kid to reattach seamlessly to his arm. He holds it up, one finger raised in the universal symbol for “give me a moment” and clears his throat before pushing back to his feet and turning to face the other.

The outfit certainly left no sense of care to being seen, that was sure. Maki was fairly certain the other was trying to be noticed, which set paranoia off in his mind that he promptly shut down. While he’d met many children who were as devious or dangerous as any grown man, none of them were dressed like they’d just left a class on how to be interested in a trade agreement with Ingurando. He takes in a deep breath before releasing it slowly.

”I am fine. Just….a bad reaction to something I ate is all.”

His brain kept moving, trying to work things out. The kid had seen him practicing, and even if not he’d have to be blind not to notice the hand flying around him a second after his call to aid. While Maki was by no means trying to hide and skulk about, he also didn’t want someone running back home to tell mommy and daddy about the man with weird body parts so they could report it to the authorities. Instead of reacting, he thinks some more. And finally smiles.

”Wanna see something cool?!”

With those words, Maki spreads his limbs wide and extends them all out. He swiftly rose to the height of the nearby trees, his arms spamming the clearing he was in. And then with a snap they all contract back in, leaving him airborne for a brief moment before he comes down to the ground in a hard landing.

 

[Yeong Su Han]

Bile was never a pleasant sight, and this man had more than his share of it spilled out on the ground before him. Bile and bits of digested food and... was that a pocky stick? Who shoves a whole stick of pocky down their throat? Even as his face curled into a look of distress and confusion as he tried to assimilate the very concept of shoving something like that down his own throat without gagging, he was taken aback by the flying appendage that spun around him.

It wasn't a visual reaction, he remained as poised as he had been from the moment he first spoke. It was a mental surprise to see a disembodied hand flying through the air, one that caused him a moment's verbal hesitation in which he found himself unable to speak. Thankfully the hand seemed to do little more than circle about his head before flying back down to its owner. At least having seen the trick once before, as the hunched over figure had been practicing on the log not too far away, he was filled with fewer questions than he might have moments ago.

"I can't imagine..." it was the beginning of so many thoughts that swirled about his brain at that very moment. Least of which was his response to eating something which didn't agree with him. Not knowing a thing about what allowed somebody to disconnect portions of their body at will, he had no idea what such a person would feel that would make them ill enough to vomit. His eyes trailed back to that pocky stick and he was left to wonder if the man even had a gag reflex or if his neck could do the same trick his hand seemed capable of.

Then there was the smile, it had a creepy effect that he didn't know that the man was aware of, especially when he was rising to his feet to tower over the much smaller Yeong. Then there were the words, had he had a more innocent childhood he might have thought nothing of them. Like most children, however, he knew they usually accompanied something that would mean trouble. 'Wanna see something cool' often meant seeing something dangerous or against the rules, that was just what cool meant to most kids. Here was a strange adult in the middle of nowhere asking him if he wanted to see something cool...

And then he was everywhere, which is to say that pieces of him were spread across the entire side of the valley. It was like a book he had once read about execution practices. Something called 'drawn and quartered' where a person was tied to multiple animals and torn apart. Here before him was an example of such a thing, and it appeared to still be smiling down at him from above the trees. Had he not already had a sample of it, he would no doubt be stumbling back horrified. As it was, he was simply aghast at the sight. His hands falling to his sides, losing grasp of one another in the hanbok sleeves.

"I..." He stumbled over his words as the man jerked back together again, like an elastic piece of taffy that somehow returned to form. There were little cords that seemed to connect each of his appendages each time he extended himself, but how he managed to accomplish such a thing, or how he was even still alive after separating every part of his body like that, it was simply beyond him to explain. "Would love to know how you did that." It was the only logical way his sentence could end, as curiosity took over where fear began. At least if he was going to be found dead down here in this valley, he would take some knowledge with him into the next life.

 

[Kairyuu]

As he came down, Maki used what he saw to get an idea of his situation. They were alone, for the moment. He saw no one else sneaking up on them, so his kid likely found him by luck while wandering. That had some good points, and some not good points. Where was this kid from anyways? He was dressed rather garishly, and seemed more helpful than he should be. His outfit and manner didn’t exactly speak of anywhere in fire Maki knew, but it had been a long time since he’d wandered his former home country.

”Well, that’s not exactly something I can freely share with just anyone. Especially people who aren’t learning the shinobi arts. It’s a very unique, and classified secret of how to do this.”

The truth was he himself didn’t know for sure. He’d eaten the soul of someone, a soul that originally belonged to him, and afterwards this had happened to him. Of course, how he came to eat souls was an entirely different story that left even him in awe at how morally low some people could be. His thoughts moved from that back to the boy before him. He was, obviously, in a bit of awe and perhaps fear of what he’d seen, but he was recovering fairly well from it.

That spoke of a good base of training. And if he was from around here, that kind of training meant Konoha. And if he was training in Konoha, then he was just the evidence Kazuki needed. ”Unless the person asking is a shinobi themselves. But I don’t think the leaders of Konoha would be happy with me giving forbidden secrets to their kids.”

 

[Yeong Su Han]

His first impression was to be as acquiescent as possible. The man clearly had knowledge that he hadn't seen anywhere else in his life. He was the type to obsess over a common pamphlet of everyday knowledge. This had had some sort of... thing... that was greater than everyday academia. Maybe it was jutsu or some form of specialized chakra control. He couldn't help it, his head was doing mental gymnastics trying to assign this thing into a role that fit his understanding of the world but he just couldn't do it.

It was only with an expert level of self-restraint that he stopped himself from blurting out an affirmative to the man's remarks about the shinobi arts. His mouth almost moved of its own volition to remark how he was already a graduate student and ready to learn such things. It was frequently the thing, his mouth running faster than his brain could catch up. In this one particular instance, he had been able to intercede and consider his words carefully as he observed the individual before him.

His choice of words belayed some inferable facts that were just a bit more concerning than the horrific trick he did with his body moments before. First, he described his ability as something only a shinobi should know while describing it as classified. That meant he had knowledge of the ninja way... meaning he was likely a shinobi himself. More concerning was the clarification on the secret. People had secrets, only nations classified them. Further, there was the way that he separated himself from Konoha in his speech. 'The leaders of' and 'their kids' spoke to him being an outsider. Yeongs eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

"What makes you think I'm from... what was it? Konoha? We are rather close to the border of the Land of Sound. I could be a simple wanderer, such as yourself..." To emphasize his point he extended a hand out towards Maki, allowing the sleeve of the hanbok to slide up past his wrist and expose an empty hand. The preference was to show that he was no threat. Moreso, that he knew he dressed like no one else in the village he had ever seen. His mannerisms might dissuade this foreign shinobi from further pursuit of who he was and where he was from and back into a more meaningful conversation.

"I've always thought..." He said, taking a deep breath but finding himself gulping under the heavy load of saliva produced under the stress he was feeling. "That knowledge was meant to be known by those willing to find it. Anything forbidden simply lacks the proper..." He considered his words carefully, lilting his head back and to the side in thought. "Enthusiasm by those doing the learning." His grin would slowly, forcefully, return back to his face. He had little hope of turning the tables on the older man... but if there was any hope of gleaning even the slightest bit of Intel from him, he felt he had to try.

 

[Kairyuu]

The kid nearly gave him the info he wanted, but seemed to hesitate and hold back at the last second. Maki got a clear impression that something wasn’t being said here, and his gut told him what. Ever since he was a child, he had hunches about things. And usually they were right, to the point that he now took them as fact more often than not. While this kid before him had nothing to tie him to it, he felt he had hit the nail on the head about being trained in Konoha. If so, he could be the evidence needed.

”Bit young to be wandering alone. And before you ask how I know we’re alone, I looked while I was up in the air. Not sure what a native of Tea would be doing here, but if you were a Sound shinobi in Fire you likely wouldn’t be staring half in awe at me whenever I pull my little trick off. But, while you appear to be in awe, you’re also not so horrified as to run off screaming, which means you’ve seen more than your average civilian. Which means you could still be a Sound shinobi, however we come back to your age. Sound has gone very far downhill if they’re letting, what, genin? If they’re letting their genin wander Fire country alone. So this points to Konoha. Also, if you were a Sound shinobi, odds are you wouldn’t be sitting there telling a stranger in the middle of the woods who just asked ‘you wanna see something cool’ all about it.”

It had come out in a burst, and most interesting was that his eyes shifted from Brown to gold as he spoke. They shifted back suddenly as the words clipped off. ”So…that. I guess.” What the hell was that? It was him, it was his words. But it was a level of analytical detail he’d not gone into on someone before. ”I don’t mind sharing that knowledge, but we’re a bit too close to Konoha for me to safely do so. Besides, the best way to learn is to see it being done first hand. Can’t do that here. I got it done to me in Wind country. Which is a heck of a hike for a kid to make alone. For now, I guess we can leave it at that.”

 

[Yeong Su Han]

Reaching up, he absently scratched at the side of his cheek as he listened to the verbal deluge that was this mans entire thought process. There was little time to get a word in edgewise, each thought being rationalized just as quickly as it was suggested. There was the oddness with the eyes, but then what was he to call odd when he had seen the man divide his body into parts and toss them to the sky not just moments before?

Extending his hands out to his sides, palms toward the sky, he shrugged. The smile on his lips no doubt gave away the game about as much as the back and forth inference's over words. "What can I say?" Were the words to accompany the gesture, an externalized thought given form. He could argue every point with equally logical counters. He would only see so much of the valley, he could have lived somewhere beyond the edge of the canyon... any number of things could explain why he appeared to be alone but wasn't.

"I guess you've caught me." He said instead of any of that. His arms remained out at his sides, the open palms proving that he neither had any weapons at hand nor was he preparing any hand signs to use with a jutsu. Unless the elder shinobi would consider him the wiriest taijutsu master in the country, the obvious implication should have been how utterly without threat the boy was. "I mean, those were some astounding leaps of logic, but to be honest..." His grin grew into more of a smirk as he lowered his arms to his sides. "Besides... I really do want to see something cool."

"So how about..." He considered out loud, his voice trailing off as he thought about what to say without just spewing it all out as if he were rambling. "We come to some sort of arrangement?" He quirked a brow as the idea fully formed in his head. "Where you give me what I want, i.e. the knowledge of this strange jutsu you seem to have mastered." Raising his hands back to gesture towards his chest, he continued. "And I'll give you what you want, whether that be information in return or a service? What do you say?"

 

[Kairyuu]

The kid made the universal gesture for “the gig is up” and Maki kept a smirk off his face. The words that followed only verified the gut instinct he had. And while he agreed they were leaps in logic, they’d felt right. He begins to respond to that comment but stops as he realizes this kid was glowing. That brought him up short, and with a blink it went away. Okay, something else interesting he’d gotten from the acquisition of his own soul? That would be an intriguing reaction to eating the intangible. ”I showed you something cool. I suppose I can give an encore…”

He stops as the kid keeps speaking, then mentions an arrangement. Maki brings a hand to his chin to scratch at it as he thinks about this. He did need some information, but not the kind the kid was thinking he would. And the kid wanted to know how to do what Maki did, which was a bit hard to work out since he didn’t know if this kid could eat a soul, or even if any other souls could unlock this power.

”I need proof that Konoha is once again a village run by shinobi and not still the Daimyo. I’m thinking a living, breathing Konoha ninja would be ample proof. However, I have to bring the proof to Sunagakure. So unless you’re willing to follow me there, I’m not too sure you can help me.” His hands drop down to his sides, making no movement towards the sheathed weapons there but with a ninja that didn’t mean much.

"Or can I?"

 

[Yeong Su Han]

There were a number of things that instantly confused him about what the other man had said. Ever since he had arrived in the village with the person he had obstinately continued to refer to as his grandmother, the way of things had been relatively set. The monster before him referred to a way things had been that seemed to be at odds with the way things were. It was relatively difficult for a person to confirm a thing they had little to no information about. Of course, that also assumed that he couldn't bluff his way past the entire situation either. There seemed to be some reward at the end of this rainbow, one worthy enough to risk it though?

He had never considered himself much of the political type, not having much use for the various accessories to power as a cult of personality might entrap. That said, he could see where such a thing could have its own alluring perks that other might seek to pursue it. Without said interest to guide him, he had never maintained more than a cursory view on village affairs when it came to leadership. If this 'daimyo' person was still around, he certainly hadn't heard about it... and if word of mouth was worth anything, it seemed as though he had more of it that was up to date than this man had.

"I have graduated the Academy..." It was a loose statement of fact, no more damning than saying he had graduated any other school. He, of course, knew that a student of the Konoha Academy was trained in more than simple academia. To say as such out loud, to an informed person, would be to admit to being a ninja. There was little more danger in admitting this, he thought than anything else that had already been said. Were he going to die, it seemed far more likely that he would already be dead. Like conversing with an avalanche, there was very little he could do to stop it, but at least he might avoid the most obvious dangers.

The intriguing bit was how he mentioned Sunagakure. Why would they require proof of the existence of the village? As far as he had ever heard, there was no bad blood between the two villages despite operating in different lands. Then, he was being trained in how to confront shinobi from foreign lands with less than peaceful methods... It was surely something of a concern, and he had to wonder what danger could be present in allowing the greater shinobi community to know that one of their villages still existed, especially if they had not figured it out already.

Well, he had already spilled the ramen on this one. Even if the man didn't have him as proof, the words had already been said. There was likely some way that his body could be made to recite all the relevant information without his will to do so, so what was to be gained in fighting an already known fact. He could think of no reason he should sacrifice himself for a fact that he had already revealed. The fact that he would undoubtedly be in some form of trouble should he return to the village and acknowledge this little slip of the tongue made his decision that much easier as well.

"...and I see no problem traveling to The Land of Wind." He smiled again, bowing at the waist respectfully. His tresses of blonde hair hanging across his feminine facial features kept in place only by his ornate binyeo. Inwardly, he felt as though butterflies were dancing in his stomach for all the danger and trouble he was sure to be in. At the same time, he could only think of his possessions that he would leave behind and the knowledge that could possibly be gained. "Assuming that you teach me what I want to know along the way."

 

[Kairyuu]

And there was the crux of it. Maki merely nods at the first pronouncement. Genin, then. Which meant there was a bit more freedom of movement, but it was unlikely he’d be given carte blanche to go wandering around another country. Still, there were ways to get people moved about. He could ask to meet and just knock the poor kid out and run off with him. It would be much, much harder doing things that way since unconscious captives had a habit of waking up. He could also convince the kid to flee the village with him, which would mark each of them as criminals and likely have people sent out to hunt them. Finally, he could just get an official escort for the kid from Leaf and all three of them make their way along. That was probably the most tedious, drawn out method, however. Lots of options to consider.

”Well, if you’re game, then good. I have some business to handle in the country, but if you can meet me at the gates in a month, I’ll be ready. As for teaching you what you wish to know, depends on what else you would like to find out. But I’m more than capable of teaching things if you’re capable of learning.” In truth, he’d never been a teacher. Hell, he’d never spoken a word in his life until a year ago. But no one else had to know that. Instead of admitting to anything, he snaps his arm back across the clearing to gather his things. "Remember, one month." And with that, he was gone.

(Topic left)