Noise [Closed]

[Samejima]

Naoki felt like she'd been slacking off quite a bit lately. The training menu for the day was already done, at about 20 minutes more than half the time it took for her to complete it since the last time she made adjustments (which, admittedly was a very long time ago) and she kept feeling like she needed to do more. The genin wondered from time to time if she wasn't accidentally totaling the times and laps wrong, or if she'd failed to learn how to count properly at some point in her training. Am I doing well if it's always like this?

She wandered onto Academy grounds, hoping someone was already out of class and had time for her worries. Alas, it was the middle of the day and there wasn't much she could do but wait around. Huh... Oh well. No one's around at all though, kinda weird. Naoki searched for a secluded place to just sit down and relax for a bit, setting her bag down and rummaging through it for something to mess with. The most obvious thing was her kokyuu, the thing she'd brought with her ages ago and tried to learn, only to lose her eyesight along with much of her motivation to actually sit down and learn about it. In fact, between the trips to Sietch Zensunna and training, along with patrols and the occasional swim, she hadn't had any time at all to reflect on what she wanted to do with the rest of her career.

What do I wanna do...?

Absentmindedly, she reached for the kokyuu, gripping its neck and examining the dagger that came out of its base by touch. There was indeed no one around however, and she decided it might have been safe to try and practice, just a little.

I won't be loud anyway... Hrmmm... Posture somewhat bent around the kokyuu itself, she held the bow tightly with her left hand while her right attempted to figure out which strings to put pressure on. The first swipe dragged a strange screech out of it, while the next was a somewhat pitched down version of that screech. Rrgh... How'm I supposed to figure out how this works...

And the screeching continued, likely attracting attention from all walks of life, though not many would have wanted to approach its source.

[EDIT: Tag changed to Closed]

 

[Kazumi]

Re: Noise [Open]

They say in the cavernous depths... everyone can hear you play terrible sounding instruments. That may not be exactly true, but the sound of Naoki's playing certainly tried. Yumi flinched a little as she exited the building with her typical school attire, bag slung over her shoulder as usual. She flinched again as the sound repeated, different, yet similarly painful. "What in the world is that..?" She asked herself as her curiosity drove her towards the far end of the building and around the edge towards the back half of the compound where a certain shinobi sat, torturing the world with her death sounds.

Thankfully the hour was later than most students left, and so the collateral damage was slight. In fact, Yumi seemed to be the only casualty, much to her dismay. She raised her right forearm and pressed it awkwardly aganst her ear as she raised her left hand to cover her other. She didn't interrupt the girl, and as she quietly approached a curious thought hit her. Could Naoki hear her coming with all that sound? Even when she first met the girl she was amazed at her ability to see with sound, but could she still see when there was all that loud sound? So, she decided to test that theory by keeping close to the building as she worked to get closer to Naoki, pausing her movement should she stop her playing.

 

[Samejima]

Re: Noise [Open]

The way Naoki's hearing worked was, as long as there was sound, she would be able to sense anyone coming, 360 degrees up to quite a ways ahead. So the death sounds were actually helping her sense things more clearly! Since they were so loud. Immediately the failing ceased and Naoki walked over to that person who seemed to be sticking close to the building. "Hi," was the only thing she said for awhile, sheepish grin on her face, and if not much else followed she'd continue with, "Um... So that was me practicing. I... still can't play it, so, sorry you had to hear that, ahaha..." She turned her face away awkwardly once she'd finished.

"H-how was class today? Didja have someplace to be?" Naoki asked, in a very transparent attempt to change the subject.

 

[Kazumi]

Re: Noise [Open]

Once it became apparent that Naoki already knew where she was, she dropped her attempt at pseudo-stealth. That actually helped her relax a little, she wasn't that good at creeping, though the cessation of the music did help that as well. Her arms droped form her ears and she gave Naoki an amused smile. As Naoki attempted to quickly change the subject, Yumi took the bait, though if it was due to being considerate or having a short attention span, why know.

"Was okay... nervous. The examinations are coming up in two weeks, and I still don't think I am ready." While she was not on part with someone like Naoki, she was easily more physically capable than most of her classmates. "I didn't really have any particular place to be... though I was actually hoping I would see you. You know a bunch of stuff, and so I was hoping you might be able to help me figure out some stuff too." Whatever it was that Yumi wanted to ask about, she looked rather shy, or perhaps conflicted, about asking.

 

[Samejima]

Re: Noise [Open]

Expression lighting up considerably, Naoki was very happy indeed to hear that Yumi wanted her help with something involving talking and not possibly endangering herself. Enthusiastically, perhaps from what can be considered a sort of upperclassman syndrome, she said, "Oh oh, you can totally come talk to me about stuff! I mean, figuring stuff out is usually pretty tough, but if you think I might be able to help, I'm happy to! Ah, wanna sit?"

Naoki then turned to point at the spot she was sitting in a few seconds ago. She'd go there and sit close to her bag if Yumi agreed, otherwise she'd just listen to what was said and act accordingly, picking up her bag and following Yumi wherever she wanted to talk. It was an open, albeit deserted, area after all. If it was a sensitive matter, someplace no one would just stumble onto their conversation would be more prudent.

Ooh boy, it's not something too urgent I hope. Whenever I make snap decisions they turn out to have some kinda weird side effect or another... She did say it was in a couple weeks though right, the exam- oh! Is it a Genin Examination? Of course it is, what'm I thinking? I didn't go through a regular one though... Dunno if I'd be able to help much in that case...

 

[Kazumi]

Yumi didn't seem to have any desire to relocate themselves and so she followed Naoki over towards the designated spot and sat herself down, placing the bag to her side as she did so. Before she began speaking she took a moment to look around the area, verifying that no one was anywhere near enough to overhear. The place was still deserted, much to Yumi's relief as she looked back to Naoki and let out a short sigh of relief. "So... I was wondering what you knew about Cursed Seals? This guy named Kuro and this other guy.. Senju or something," names were never her strong suit, "wanted to give me and this other kid sone while we were at the training dojo. Turns out the kid already had one, but like... we did an obstacle course to show I was actually worthy of getting one. I was hesitatnt though so I didn't make a decision right there. So later I went home and talked to Kurisu and he seemed really against the idea. Saying it was corrupting, something that Kuro said too, but he also said you should take advantage of any opportunity... so I couldn't get a straight answer from him!" She spoke somewhat quicker than usual, almost to the point of rambling out her story as she continued. "So, I was hoping you might know a thing or two, cause you know a lot of stuff, but you're not one of those adults who seem to know everything but won't actually tell me anything..." At this point she paused, looking over towards Naoki expectantly with a hopeful expression on her face.

 

[Samejima]

Whoa! Cursed seal, I have one of those! "Ooh, I have one! A Cursed Seal! I was actually training with Kuro-dono when I felt this one. He said that um... I think, that I needed to learn how to control my chakra when I'm using it, or I'd become like, a steel demon...? It was something like that..." Naoki trailed off, unsure of what else to say after that since she's tried quite hard to block that memory out. It was still a little hard to think back to that time, when she felt this different way of thinking. Naoki thought it was something she didn't want to experience ever again if possible. Though she felt like she could control it now, the fear of truly being taken over by that... that feeling of confidence and recklessness... That wasn't something she'd want to feel again.

Was it?

She shook her head a little, "But basically, all you gotta do is know how to keep it under wraps, like, make sure you're the one controlling yourself, and not the other you. Uh... Make sense?" Her head tilted as she asked the question, unsure whether or not she'd explained it so that it sounded right.

The seal itself is not visible at this point in time, as her hands were wrapped in bandages she used to hold her weights in at all times, for training purposes. Naoki herself had no idea the seal even had a physical manifestation, aside from that transformation that happened when it activated for the first time.

 

[Kazumi]

Yumi blinked at Naoki's sudden admission of having that curse placed upon her. "You.. you do?" She seemed skeptical to say the least. She kept quiet though until Naoki finished her explanation. A shake of her head indicated that she undertood it as poorly as Naoki likely expected, "no... not really. Why? I mean, doesn't it degrate at the soul or something? Unholy or something." She couldn't recall Kurisu's exact words, but they were something akin to that. "Other you? So... someone else can control you?" She did remember Kuro saying something about that and the other silver haired man saying that his had no such effect.

"Why did you get it? Can it be taken off?" She asked again, still just as confused as before. "Are you not worried or anything? Shortcuts being bad and all that stuff?" She didn't shy away from Naoki as if she was a leper for having it, but she did look a little more wary knowing that she had something as mysterious and 'evil' as that on her friend's body.

 

[Samejima]

Naoki scratched her head a little, indeed expecting the explanation to have been inadequate. "Hmm... Well I dunno about that soul stuff, just that all I had to worry about was controlling it if I ever have to turn it on again... And it's not really someone else controlling you, it's still you! But... not you? A different you, like... Umm..." She paused here, unsure how to continue. The answer would come to her soon, in one glorious moment of clarity sometime down the road, but this was not that moment.

"Well, like, you still know it's you thinking, but you think in a different way. Not like someone else was in control, but like... you've started to think in a different way." She leaned on her left arm, head tilted slightly upwards, thinking about how she could better put the feelings she felt into words. I know how it feels, but I just can't... say it! Man this is annoying. Never been told to actually tell someone about something I haven't read about myself... Because if she had, she'd be able to just remember what she read and tell Yumi what she understood from it. But no, this sort of knowledge didn't seem to have been written anywhere she'd normally come across it.

"When did I get it? Hmm..." Thinking back some more, there was actually no particular instance when she recalled actually being scribed. "I started feeling it during that training session though, maybe that was when it happened?" She wouldn't have been able to recall the slight tingling she felt during the one large battle she's participated in of course, being a minor jolt in one storm of a battle. "And I actually haven't thought of getting it taken off, I mean... It's more power! And I already know how to control it, so..." she shrugged, "Why not?"

 

[Kazumi]

Yumi shook her head, not able to really puzzle out Naoki's exact meaning of the experience. It still didn;t sound pleasant, and the thought of knowing what you were doing and wanting to do it when you really didn't... certainly did not settle well with the girl. Had she had a proper shinobi upbringing perhaps she would be more accepting of these ideas, but at heart she was a snowbound foreigner who only recently began to understand the shinobi way of life and thinking.

"You're not worried about any... adverse effects and stuff? Kurisu didn't like the idea of them at all." She, on the other hand, was not really sure what to make of them. On one hand people embraced them fully and on the other they were shunned. "What if it is doing that influencing stuff right now? Like... making you do stuff you normally wouldn't?" She sounded quite naive right now, perhaps even idealistic, especially for someone who wanted to be the equivilent of an assassin, spy and thief for the rest of her life. "That doesn't concern you at all?"

 

[Samejima]

Ad-verse... Adverse? That's bad right? I wonder what kinds of books Yumi's been reading... Maybe we can exchange books sometime- oh! I still haven't told her I can sorta see when I focus really hard. I should tell her later on then, when the book titles are being exchanged... Then maybe we can go to bookstores together, or pick out clothes and stuff, that'd be fun. No one has ever accused Naoki of being the most to-the-point person in a group of people, and likely never will.

"Naah, it's off now so it shouldn't be doing anything like that," she said, confident in her assessment of the dangers that lurked. It may very well still be taking root however; the thoughts that ran through her head back then did not magically disappear after all. Her reasoning throughout the spar was still sound, and the more she thought about how she wanted to continue in life the deeper she got into the idea that she needed more power to help people. "If you're really that worried about it though, we could try and look for a way to remove one. That way you can just try it for a bit, and if you don't feel like you can control it it can just be... taken off? Otherwise... hmm."

Nothing came to mind in terms of a seal removal besides a possibility of an unsealing jutsu, and even then she didn't know if it existed. So she gave up on that for a bit, making a note to return to the issue later before asking something she'd been wondering about. "And um, I've been meaning to ask, but... Who's Kurisu?" she asked, smiling a bit apologetically. "I guess I shoulda asked a bit sooner..."

 

[Kazumi]

Yumi's head tilted in puzzlement as Naoki spoke of it being 'off' somehow. "Um... I thought you said you hadn't taken it off before." Yumi's confusion only grew as Naoki continued to explain, offering to help her find out about a 'trial run'. It wasn't until the topic of Kurisu arose taht her confusion faltered. "You... never met him?" She asked, looking more surprised than anything, "He came to see me in the hospital the... the first night. I don't really remember all the details, but he offered me a place to stay. Said it wouldn't be safe to be living back home alone."

A smirk crossed her lips as she thought about that, "he teaches at the academy sometime. He is an ANBU! Has a mask and everything. He even lets me wear it from time to time, feels weird though... too large for me." She seemed to ponder that memory for a moment before she shook her head and continued. "I thought you knew him though, sorry about that... if you want you can come over sometime and meet him! He is really nice and smart. A little boring though, but most adults are."

 

[Samejima]

Before continuing with her earlier question about the girl's guardian, she answered with a hasty, "Ahh, no I meant it turns off, like deactivates for awhile..."

Ooh, an ANBU! She'll be fine with him, yep. "An instructor then! And ANBU huh... They've always seemed kinda scary to me, whenever one passes by... The masks make me nervous." On off days, when she needs to go out on errands later at night than usual, she would very rarely be able to hear tiptaps on a rooftop. They weren't ever very loud, but following one through the still bustling late-night Grand Palais produced sufficient noise to identify the masked shinobi, likely out for an actual mission. She sometimes wondered if she would be more useful out on that field... But always cast that thought aside quickly. She wanted to protect people, not just get herself into serious danger for investigations or raids or whatever else it was ANBU did outside of the village.

"I can visit though? Is that um... Is that okay? Might be stuff he doesn't want people to see or something ANBU-y like that right?" she asked, worried as usual.

 

[Kazumi]

"I mean, he has a lot of papers and stuff, but I doubt he'd care. Especially if you let him in on your lil secret." She winked and smiled, giving off a small giggle of amusement at the slight joke. "Well... what do you think about the Seal stuff? I don't think it can be removed, like a tattoo but... I mean, you have one." The fact that her best friend... Yumi paused to think about that for a moment. This girl really was the closest thing she had to such in the village, wasn't she? She tended just to hang around her parents before she went to the academy, and even when she was there she didn't really connect with any of the others.

Yumi's expression grew distant and blank for a few seconds as she suddenly went quiet. As those few seconds went by she blinked again and her eyes refocused onto Naoki, "Umm.. what were we talking about?" she asked, looking slightly embarrassed as she rubbed her hands anxiously on the ends of her skirt to straighten it out.

 

[Samejima]

Ah, she didn't ask why I'd even be worried about that... Does she already know I can see stuff sometimes? It was more likely that she'd forgotten the genin even was blind, with all the non-bumping movement and the eye contact (or the current equivalent of it anyway) still being made. But she went along with it, resolving to just ask about the books later on since Yumi seemed to already have that information, dismissing it as a case of she herself having already told Yumi about it at some point in time.

"Secret? The seal?" Confused, as she really hadn't been playing much attention to that 'cursed' bit, having experienced how it felt firsthand, Naoki was rather oblivious to the fact that it really should be kept a secret. "I'll try and ask around though, there might be some way to remove one... Maybe...? And you could always just turn it off... once you learn how to control it..."

There's a lot of things to be thinking about now that I think about it... It's a cursed seal for a reason, and well... If Yumi was struggling with her chakra before, I don't know if she'd be able to control it well enough to not get sucked into that... It might be too dangerous! But... Kuro-dono did ask her if she wanted one right? She's probably got the potential to have a seal then! Just gotta make sure she's ready for it I guess, since, well... Wait, does she want it though? That's probably the first question I should've asked! Ugh, I'm just so insensitive sometimes... I should learn how to control that, can't be too much harder than controlling a seal...

A little deep in thought, Naoki didn't notice the fact that the area had been completely silent for the duration of her train of thought. When Yumi snapped her back into the real world with a question about what exactly they'd been talking about, she replied, "Oh, um, about Cursed Seals right? And visiting? Waitwait lemme ask you something... Do you want that seal?"

 

[Kazumi]

Yumi nodded along with Naoki as she recounted their current topic of discussion. The nodding halted as Naoki shined the spotlight on her and directed it right into her eyes. "Do...do I?" For whatever reason she seemed hesitatnt to say. "Well.. I mean... I guess kinda maybe? I mean, if it was like... just for evil or bad for you or anything, sure, I guess so. I'm just worried about that, you know? My mom and dad weren't very religious or anything, but my uncle was. So... you know, I'm just a little skeptical that it could errode away my soul or corrupt it or something."

Yumi looked away from Naoki, as if admiting that was some combination of childish and embarrassing. "I don't know, maybe it would make it so I could use ninjutsu or something, like you can! I mean, I don't know anything about it, but I would do anything to be able to do the awesome stuff that you and everyone else does."

Yumi quieted down for a few seconds before she continued in a more somber tone, "being in a village full of awesome shinobi who can do all this awesome stuff. I just feel so... out of place, you know? I mean, sure I might be able to do something with the... blood.. stuff maybe, but even that isn't much compared to stuff I've seen you do!" From the look in Yumi's eyes and her body language, it looked as if she admired or even looked upto the girl she sad opposite of.

 

[Samejima]

Waiting until the entirety of what Yumi had to say was said, Naoki rubbed the back of her head sheepishly at the mention of 'things she could do'. "W-well, I mean, I can't do much at all compared to what stuff like Kuro-dono or Takahashi-sama have done, protecting Suna from the bigger threats to Suna... But that's not the point! Um! The seal though, it did have a ton of chakra, so that'll help with ninjutsu for sure!" And it wasn't that she wanted to egg Yumi on to getting a notoriously dangerous permanent sear somewhere on her person. She truly believed that getting a seal and being able to control it would only make her stronger. So why not get one?

"It's just more power and one more thing to work on, and I can always help, y'know, i-if you want, so..." she paused, and took a few moments to think before her next words. "Just depends on how far you wanna go to do awesome stuff." What was that thing I read that one time... uh... Naoki's head tilted up absently as she tried to recall the sentence. "You're only as... strong? As you want yourself to be... I think that's what it was."

 

[Kazumi]

Naoki was even modest! Here she was, only a scant few years older than Yumi and yet she was already twenty different shades of awesome, or atleast that what how Yumi had envisioned things. "So... so you think I should then?" From how Yumi asked, it was pretty clear that she likely would do whatever Naoki suggested her to do. "If you think it'll help and that I should, I will. I just... I don't know the difference of what Kuro was offering than Kazuki... Oh! That was his name!" She had been trying to remember if for over a day and it just not finally clicked! "Do you know him? Silver hair. Sort of mysterious?" She gestured with her hand to somehow try and convey those two concepts.

 

[Samejima]

If only she was just being modest. Naoki was constantly outclassed, and she knew it. That was one of the few things that kept her from outright turning into a cocky know-it-all. Being called some kind of genius at the age of 9 could really get to a kid, and that idea was now planted like a toxic weed in her mind. In any other environment, she would've grown complacent, would've just stopped doing even training and waiting until she was older to start panicking about how to continue her life. But with other, better, people around her, she grew with a constantly worried mindset. Worried about how to get better, how to grow, how to keep being a genius. And if Yumi was catching up, well... The threat was felt. Naoki was no saint.

What she was however, was a friend. She would outline any pros and cons she knew, but what she couldn't explain was out of her hands. "Danger in exchange for ninjutsu, basically," she said, nodding. How'm I supposed to explain that weird... change? I don't think it's something someone can just explain though, must be one of those 'gotta feel it to be real' things?

"I don't think I've heard the name... and I wouldn't really know what his hair color is," she said, forehead creasing as she smiled a bit. Did I tell her I could see all the time or something? But my headband is still on, so she should know I can't... Oh! And this was when it occurred to Naoki that it was possible Yumi just thought vision was something that was returned to her with her extra hearing. Thinking it best to clarify how she 'saw' things, she asked, "Um, Yumi... Did I tell you about how I can only see sometimes now?"

 

[Kazumi]

Yumi took Naoki's nodding as a sign of approval, despite her potentially warning words. Perhaps she would speak to Kurisu once more before seeking Kuro or this other guy out, but that would have to wait until later in any case. "Huh? See sometimes? Did something happen?" She sounded a little worried that Naoki could have gotten blinder! "What happened? Did you hurt your ears or something?" She had no idea how Naoki managed to get around only using sound, and after a while she simply took it for granted that this was the case. Besides, saying she heard things rather than see them was awkward to think about. She leaned forward and tried, to little gain, to examine Naoki's face and the sides of her head from a short distance away.