The Raikage's Kid [Open]

[Shinrya Kahako]

“Stand!” came the sharp shout of the class representative. The scraping of chair legs could be heard across the room as the students stood. “Bow!” With proper respects to the teacher done and the school day over, the students of the illustrious Aurora Eruditio began gathering their belongings and grouping together in their normal cliques. Some laughed and chatted about hitting the local arcade or restaurant. Others began to prepare for their afterschool activities. The very dedicated few made plans to train before heading home.

While Kogami-Shinrya Susumu would normally be one of those happy-go-lucky children, (being one to train after school himself) today was not that kind of day. Quietly, he started to gather his things. Today he was on a mission to get home as soon as possible. The need to do so burned in his belly to the point where he barely listened to a word his teachers said all that day.

Ever since the incident at home with his mother a few days ago, something didn’t seem right with her. Sure Sukino would come out on occasion and the warmth his mom had for him was gone for a little while, but now it was… different. Like she was busy even when she was herself, and even more distant when he was around. Susumu didn’t like it.

The boy frowned angrily at his bookbag before slinging it around his shoulder. He didn’t really know what was going on, but something told him that he shouldn’t leave his mom alone at home. Like he or dad should be there all the time because… something was about to happen. The feelings didn’t make sense to the eight year old boy, and in turn, it made him all the more upset. He uncharacteristically slammed the door to his classroom open before walking down the hall.

At first, Susumu made for the exit at a leisurely pace. He made it a point to avoid eye contact with anyone who passed, because he didn’t want to stop and talk. Once again, the determination to make it home to his mom hit him, along with the anger that came with not understanding the weird feeling in his chest whenever he thought about her.

A group of kids could be heard from behind, laughing loudly in joy as they made their way down the hall. Susumu gritted his teeth and made a running break for the door. He had to get away from this happy place and get home. Being in this happy place felt like he was abandoning his mom in her sad one. This school, the place that he was once so excited to go to everyday felt… restricting. And it only made him angrier.

Once outside, he would deviate from the exit most children tended to take. In his earlier escapades, Susumu learned a shortcut to making it back home from the academy. Since the pagoda was standing on the side of a cliff, if he followed it and the edge of the forest, eventually Susumu would reach a point where the cliff turned. From there, he could jump off the edge, land safely (with a good proportion of chakra to break the fall), and take another twenty minute dash through the woods to end up practically in his grandmother’s back yard.

Overall, the shortcut trip took 30 minutes off his trip home, and he used it so often, he no longer paid much attention to where he was headed or what was around him. This forest was created by the citizens of Kumogakure, and there was rarely any creature brave enough to cause harm. And even then, Susumu wasn’t completely defenseless. Both his parents were shinobi after all. He had basic training in combat long before he even entered the school.
[spoilername="OOC"]Entered with NPC Susumu[/spoilername]

 

[Chigokai Yuka]

Momoko had been training hard lately and almost too much if you asked any of her old sensei. She was worn out and tired, breathing heavily from the pressure of lack of chakra. Currently, she was standing the old forest behind the academy. It was quiet and peaceful and the perfect place for training. Momoko could block out any sound of the village and focus on practicing her jutsu.

Straightening her back and standing up once more, she took a few deep breaths to gain control of herself. She had been working on the Crimson Water technique all day, having found the perfect place for it too. It had just rained in the village and this clearing was full of dips and holes in the ground that collected water. Though now, it wasn’t water that filled the majority of them, but dark red blood, making the field look as if a horrendous battle had just taken place.

Walking over to one the few puddles that was still water, Momoko stood in front of it and focused her chakra in on it. She placed her hands in a single hand sign and closed her eyes, eyebrow furrowing in concentration. She could feel her body struggling to come up with the chakra necessary to turn the puddle into blood but she continued on, sweat rolling down her forehead.

Her concentration, however, was broken when she heard the lighter patter of footsteps running towards her location. Her lids snapped open, looking around to see where the sound might be coming from, but her senses at the moment were all dulled.

Quickly, she began gathering her things, feeling a sense of urgency to get out as soon as possible. Get out before anyone could see what she had done. With her bag slung over her shoulder, she rushed to the edge of the clearing, opposite from she came, only to nearly be mowed down but a young boy.
He seemed to be in quite the rush, just as Momoko was. It confused her as to why an academy student would be in such a hurry to run off. She knew it was just about time for classes to be let out. Normally, the students would group up and go to cafes or something after school. She had seen enough of it during her time as a student, as well.

Before the boy could even see her, let alone the blood filed craters in the clearing, he ran smack into her middle. Momoko staggered a bit at the unexpected force but, unlike the boy, she did not fall.

Her panic immediately switched to anger. “Watch where you’re going!” She shouted at him, forgetting about her surroundings for now.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

It was about that time. Kitsune knew that her grandson would be heading home any minute by now, and decided to meet him halfway. She had noticed that one of the walls in the backyard had distinct markings from being scaled pretty often, so from that she had deduced that Susumu must’ve been using a different route than normal and decided to meet him halfway and walk the rest of the way home with him considering that she didn’t often get to spend much time with him. Work kept her pretty busy, and with all her recent work in arranging trading routes with Sunagakure and various other locations, she had barely had any free time to spend with Susumu or even Kahako.

Any moment now. Aaaaany moment now. Where the heck was that kid? Kitsune grumbled a bit, her impatience getting the better of her, and she followed the route towards the academy, hoping to bump into Susumu, and would you look at that! There he was. Along with a little redhead. At first it seemed like a meeting of younglings interested in each other, but then the girl yelled at Susumu to watch where he was going, in an angry manner, so it probably wasn’t.

”You know. She’s right Susumu-kun. If you’re going to take shortcuts, make sure you don’t bump into people” Kitsune said with a chuckle ”And from the looks of things, it looks like the young miss here was in the process of training skills. At least, that’s what it looks like with all the chakra flowing about around here.” she finished and gestured into the air that was thick with chakra whirling around. Of course, you’d need some pretty good eyes to even see it. Nothing less than a doujutsu would do. Like the Sharingan, or the Byakugan.

[MFT; WC: 303]

 

[Ketsueki Satou]

(entering with NPC Rurou Kotsurugi.)



What a beautiful day it was. The sun rose rather high from the view of his dojo within the Ancient forest. The top room being his place of rest, the sun crept over the icy mountains with blinding light that hit his eyes with w warm hue. He opened them slowly to the blinding rays, and shut them as he turned and raised from his bed. The elderly sage yawned deeply as he stretched his body out. Feeling rather thin that morning, he gathered himself, quickly cleaned up and dressed in his simple cloth robes adorned with his clans crest. An old clan, Rurou. A clan of trained swordsman and killers. And he was no different, but now he was too old and too tired of the business. So he took his next passion, arming this village with quality steel.

It was this morning the Elderly sage had to go pick up a delivery for said career. A small shipment of iron bricks he ordered for smelting and processing into new blades. After a nice hearty breakfast, the sage felt much more heavier and full. He took up his long walking coat for the cold mountain morning. His long walking stick, chiseled from fine aged tree's around the dojo. The elder had left his delivery and mail address with the academy. Wishing only to be disturbed by the academy to go pick up his mail or to accept a student.

It was his usual stroll from the ancient forest through a thicket past the woods where the tree's were lesser, and the path he carved direct him from the ancient woods to a clearing of tree's that pass through some estates and up ways towards the school. It was quite the walk, and he knew he would have just as much joy coming back with a small cart of iron behind him.

After getting his mail, greeting some of the student from the academy, the elder grabbed the cart that had around twenty to thirty bars of solid pure iron. It costed him quite a bit of yen, but the village was buying his weapons enough that he managed quite well. Carrying the load back through the small wooded section that cut from the academy, passing estates and short cutting to the ancient forest was rather tedious. And in his old age Kotsurugi stood in the small thicket of woods, not far from some estates he knew to be owned by some other clan.

He grew tired enough to wish for a nap upon one of the tree's long arms. Sitting the cart of iron under his tree of choice, he covered the cart with as much branch and leaves as he could. Making look like some mound of brushes. He smiled at his handy work, then scaled the tree with a few footsteps, laying upon a nice, wide and thick arm that supported him, he slept above his shipment. Resting his tired honeydew colored eyes.

The only opened when he heard the loud yelling of youngsters not far from where he napped. Of course the color of his robes blended in with the trees and leafs. They may not have noticed him. So he remained quiet, perched up high in the trees, pulling out a long wood pipe he carved himself, packing it with a blend he formed himself that burned with a pleasant scent of mint and vanilla. His honeydew yellow eyes gazing upon the scene and those speaking. His other free hand stroking his silver beard while he smoked and watched. He was a bit surprised to see Shinrya Kitsune, then remembering these woods were probably part of her estate or close to it if he was not mistaken. He then took his time listening to the group as he plotted his coarse to walk from his current location.

 

[Shinrya Kahako]

‘Gotta get home, gotta get home…’ The mantra repeated in Susumu’s head every two steps as he ran along the path. He knew he was getting close. When he first discovered the shortcut, he littered the area with markings letting him know where to turn or where he placed one of his may ‘challenges’. A kunai cut in stone alerted him to a large clearing ahead. The line of trees around it was thick, so it was often hard to see both inside and out.

The thickness of the tree line also allowed for a good amount of chakra control training. Here the challenge was to try to jump tree base to tree base. Too high, and he lost points. Touch the ground and you just plain loose. The points were only in Susumu’s head, but hey, sometimes you were your worst enemy. He almost decided to forgo his usual challenges today, but it just didn’t feel right, no matter the rush. And so he began. With a quick sign he jumped to the first stump.

“OPH!” And straight into the chest of a girl only slightly taller than him. The force of the attack threw him like a tram colliding into a wall. Of course he was the train, and the chick’s chest the wall. Spots dotted his sight as he took in her shouting at him. His urgency currently lay forgotten as he rubbed his head and put a hand over his face. “Dude, what are your boobs made of? Concrete?” was his response in return to her shouting. The student continued to rub his head while keeping his eyes closed. Weren’t boobs supposed to be soft and squishy? She almost knocked him out!

Of course, the voice of his grandmother and her currently unwanted advice interrupted his thoughts. Braincells started firing off when he caught her comment about the girl and her shinobi training. Vibrant green eyes opened to look at the clearing that wasn’t visible to him until it was too late. Behind the fuming red-head was a field that looked like mass-murder occurred. How had she created so much of it? They rippled quietly in the breeze, and a small part of the boy was filled with awe and wonder at how the sheer amount of blood got there in the first place. If she paid attention, the kunoichi may have noticed it. The rest of him however, quickly latched onto her anger hungrily, feeding into his own brashness.

The sight in front of him was downright intimidating. But the boy wasn’t in the best mood to begin with. If it wasn’t for Kitsune being in the area, Susumu’s next response wouldn’t have been nearly as brave. “What the hell, lady? You’re a kunoichi and you can’t dodge a nine-year-old? How’d you even graduate?” Mud smudged his face and dirtied his clothes as he failed at forming an intimidating scowl. Attempting to wipe the grime off, he stood with no one’s assistance. He then rounded on his grandmother, a pout of betrayal grew on his face. “I am clearly the victim here, Obaa-san! I was making a ton of noise! I wasn’t being sneaky for once! A deaf…deaf… creature that is deaf could have heard me!”

Susumu took a step away from the two. The slight trace of a blush colored his cheeks as he fumbled over his last sentence in his anger. “Aww, forget it. I’m going home,” he sighed. Rubbing his nose again, he muttered “stupid red-heads…” before walking towards the tree the old man napped from. It wasn't in the right direction, but he would have had to walk past his grandmother if he took the straight route. And he would have to look at her while he did it. He scowled further to no one in particular. He didn’t need his grandmother watching and walking him home like he was dangerous. He knew he screwed up earlier that week with this mom’s coworker and the guy’s baby kids. But he wasn’t one hundred percent the bad guy at that time either, and the thought that someone he cared about may have felt that way burned Susumu in a way he didn't understand.

 

[Ketsueki Satou]

The old sage almost let out a laugh in a hushed scoff of smoke that almost choked him at the boys response. He had to keep some composure on the branch or he'd fall off onto his back or skull. That would rather hurt, so he quieted himself with a silent giggle that shook the tree itself. Gods this lad is going to be a handful. This will be interesting to see play out!

He kept his quiet giant form hidden in the tree's, but noticed the young shinobi getting flustered and stomping off in a huff. Kotsurugi stroked his long silvery white beard. Hmm, poor boy seems troubled. Perhaps I should keep an eye on him for awhile.

The old sage slowly sat up on the branch, his long wooden pipe poked out of the tree firstly, the waft of little smoke spewed in a soft egg white color then faded in a trail as the two Kunoichi watched Kotsurugi slink out of the tree like a sly old Cat. Scoffing and coughing, clearing his throat as he looked about, settled Honeydew colored eyes on the two. Gave a node and waved. Then with a swing of his big arm a gust of wind took the bush and threw the pile of leafs and branches to the wind to reveal his cart of metal. Grasping the handle of the cart with one hand, and his pipe in the other. He gestured to the women a good day and trotted off after Susumu, smoking his pipe and humming loudly under his beard an old tune he loved.

Hum of the woods keeper


He hummed rather loudly that it almost seemed to fill the woods themselves with a joyous feeling as the giant sage bounced in his step with his hums. Keeping up to Susumu, the young shinobi to be would hear the Giant and the smell that carried with him. First came the heavy scent of vanilla from his smoke and as he pulled up beside Susumu, the boy could smell hints of wood ash and molten steel from a forge. "Good day to you lad! What good weather to be out for a stroll eh?!" He looked back to see his cart of Iron was still intact. All counted for and the old man dressed in robes of greens and dark brown smiled under his long beard. Leafs sparse on his broad giant shoulders as the giant stood almost a full man and a half's height over Susumu. "What brings you out this way and on the way to my home?" The old man laughed, as the two were heading to deeper into the wood and towards the Ancient Forest where the sage's dojo and forge resided.

 

[Shinrya Kahako]

Well, now he was in a right mess. As Susumu travelled away from his grandmother and the girl, he moved further away from the path home that he was so used to, and deeper into the Ancient Forest. The afternoon air began to cool. In a cold tempered climate such as Kumo, it wouldn’t be long before the chill would become dangerous. He half expected his clan matriarch to follow him, tell him to come back and stop being reckless like his father. Any minute now he would hear her commanding voice… any minute…

But the minute had passed. The lack of steps behind him made Susumu realize that there was no one coming to retrieve him. No parental unit to guide him home. A stinging sensation filled his throat as he considered the possibility that what he did to Osu and his daughters really made his grandmother hate him. What if his mom felt the same way? She wouldn’t tell him what was wrong with her, but it was clear that his antics that day didn’t make her feel any better. And the few times she saw her this week, she seemed more sad and worried than ever before. And now his mom was home alone, and Sukino could be in control and lost in the mansion again. Tears pricked at his eyes, but he wiped them quickly and he turned to find another path home.

But a soft tune echoed through the forest. The deep echo of a melody he did not recognize grew in decadence as the smell of vanilla smoke reached his nose. Drawing his wood sword from its makeshift sheath, Susumu paused only to see the presence of a large man with a cart lumbering up to him. Susumu’s first reaction to the sight of the giant was that he was a mystic creature of the forest. Maybe the guardian of the realm? But he still looked human… so there was that.

Susumu lowered his toy weapon, but did not sheath it as the old man came to a stop.

"Good day to you lad! What good weather to be out for a stroll eh?!" He looked back to see his cart of Iron was still intact. All counted for and the old man dressed in robes of greens and dark brown smiled under his long beard. Leafs sparse on his broad giant shoulders as the giant stood almost a full man and a half's height over Susumu. "What brings you out this way and on the way to my home?" The old man laughed, as the two were heading to deeper into the wood and towards the Ancient Forest where the sage's dojo and forge resided.

Susumu had to crane his neck upwards to lock eyes with the giant smithy. Human as he appeared, his sheer height did nothing to alleviate the concern that the man was indeed all human. “I-I am passing through,” he stuttered at first. Quick to realize his folly at letting his guard down in the presence of a stranger. Dirt and mud smeared is face and clothes respectively, so any form of intimidation he tried to muster failed miserably at the sight of him. “Father says I shouldn’t talk to strangers. Not unless an adult I know is with me when I do. Who are you?” The anxiety of being near the giant grew a little, and the boy could no longer contain the senseless accusation that lay at his tongue. “My mother told me there are Nyans in the mountains and forests, and you smell sweet like she said they would. If you are one, know that I don’t taste good, and… and I’ll make sure to lodge myself in your throat if you try to eat me! And when my father finds out, he will have your race destroyed!” Susumu’s emerald green eyes steeled with determination. Worry and a slight fear of the man still filtered through expression as he gripped his wooden weapon tighter, but what the demon would also see between the greens, the worry, and the fiery spirit, was a slight, almost unnoticeable sheen of red.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune figured that enough time had passed for Susumu to start getting worried, so she opted to follow him now, and make sure nothing happened to him. Because, well… If anything did happen to the kid, Kahako would blow a fuse, to put it mildly. And Kitsune wouldn’t forgive herself if harm came to her grandson while she was nearby. When she got closer to his general location, she slowed her steps to the point where she could easily hear a voice. It was cheerful, and sounded like it came from a large man. Right off the bat, Kitsune dashed towards Susumu in case the stranger was someone dangerous.

Sure, it didn’t seem as if he was dangerous, but Kitsune didn’t seem that way either, despite having the power to light things on fire with her eyes. The world was a dangerous place, and Kitsune intended to make sure Susumu didn’t have to face it until he was ready. (and his mother had said it was okay, of course.)
She formed a series of handseals and summoned forth a large tiger, on which she’d ride towards Susumu. She arrived at the kid and the giant man right after Ayumu had been namedropped along with the threat of a racial purge.

”Are you alright, Susumu?” she asked, right as she arrived, jumping off of the tiger next to him, to make sure he was safe. No one, and nothing, would stand in Kahakos way if he had been harmed and even Ayumu might have trouble holding her back. Kitsune kneeled down next to her grandson and hugged him tightly. ”Don’t run off like that. You had me worried. And I owe you an apology, kiddo.” she said softly, in a volume low enough that only Susumu would hear it.

 

[Ketsueki Satou]

The elderly giant watched as the boy drew what appeared to be a stick to the elder's honeydew colored eyes. His warm smile hiding under his long flowing beard. "Ah, a weary traveler through the woods, what a tale to spin from such a humble beginning." His laugh was warm like the sun on your skin and the joy as the happy chirping of birds.

As Susumu demanded a name, then accused the giant of being a Nyan. The elder stood wondering what the Nyan was, did she speak of some Yokai perhaps, of a demon of some sort? Kotsurugi almost went deep in thought on the name when the boy also stated if the Elder was to eat him, he would lodge himself in the giants throat.

Kotsurugi's laugh was loud and booming enough that the tree's around them swayed. "And defending yourself with nothing but a wooden blade you have guts indeed Lad." He laugh trailed for a few moments as the mountain collected himself in his long flowing earthen robes.

"Oh lad, don't make this old goat laugh so hard! Proclaim your name, where you hail from, and your rank of office. And in turn the stranger would give his name, his home from which he hails from, and his title." As the giant spoke, he stood still as the mountains around Kumo, and looked to be made of the stuff. His large calloused right hand let go of his cart to stroke his massive beard. Susumu could see years of ware and tare on the skin of his hand, burned and dyed shades darker then his skin from the soot and flames of the forge.

He gave a deep sigh from breathing in as he talked, wafts of soft white scented with vanilla circled around him. Then slowly trailed off, Slowly and calm as the snow falling. "Well, I will give you my name, so I am no stranger to you.I am no "Nyan" your mother speaks of. I am Rurou Kotsurugi of Kumogakure, I am the smith of this village."

Thee smith of Kumogakure. As he was renowned among the few dozen in the village. The majority of weapons sold in the cloud village, made from Kumogakure furnaces, and transported across the world were of his make. And the other smiths in the village, were once his students.

Making note of the young shinobi's tension in his sword hand. But what stilled the giant was the color of the boys eyes. He could have sworn, for the moment he saw a familiar color. A hue of red in between the forest green. He was deep in thought, but looked back to the wooden sword in Susumu's hand, the notches on where he struck with the blade on practice targets, the shape of the guard, the hilt and pommel, how Susumu held the blade and the stance he took.

"Would you rather steel than wood to wield against demons and monsters lad?" As he asked the question, the giant could hear the heavy footfalls of the tiger approaching quickly behind. "Took her long enough." He mumbled under his breath and beard as the konoichi leaped from her mount and landed beside Susumu.

He stayed silent while letting Susumu speak with Kitsune, his manners were well kept. he merely stood, holding his cart of iron, smoking his pipe and stroking his beard till he hears an answer from the boy. Does he require steel in his hands? Does the blacksmith have another job today? His honeydew eyes watch over the two.

 

[Shinrya Kahako]

The bolstered laugh from the giant reverberated through Susumu’s chest, making him relax involuntarily at the good nature of it. His proclamation of stating he was not the dreaded Nyan cat that even his mother feared put Susumu at some measure of ease.

Finally, Susumu deemed it safe enough to sheath his weapon. In truth, the old man’s way of speaking was different from the plain speech he heard among his teachers and peers. It was also a little infectious to the exuberant boy. Almost as if he encountered a wizard from one of his storybooks. “I am Kogami-Shinrya Susumu. First son to the tenth Raikage of Kumogakure, and academy student of the Aurora Eruditio!” he stated with excitement. The fear and guarded nature that was within him slowly diminished to nothing. “I am also a member of the Shinrya clan!” he finished with pride in his voice.

In turn, the giant, Kotsurugi, introduced himself as one of the village’s most revered blacksmiths. Susumu’s eyes grew big at the thought. Slightly awed, his excitement only expanded further at the thought of having a real blade. “YES!!!!” he shouted the same time he heard his grandmother’s voice.

The reason why he was alone with this man in the first place came rushing back to him as he craned his head around to see her. His eyes grew wide with hesitation, but quickly disappeared when he saw his gran-gran riding on the back of a tiger. That was new. “Gran-gran?” he said as she gathered him into a caring hug and apologized. But the entire ordeal was primarily forgotten, because you can’t promise a ten-year-old with a sword fetish a shiny new toy or come riding into his line of sight on the back of a large cat without severely distracting him.

“GRAN-GRAN!” he all but screamed in her hear. “SINCE WHEN CAN YOU RIDE A TIGER?! I WANNA RIDE A TIGER!” rushing to Kitsune’s feline companion, Susumu stepped towards the creature. He paused for a second, gazing into the beast’s eyes in practical excitement. “Mister tiger, are you a talking tiger like they teach in class? Can I pleeeeeeease ride on your back?”

Barely waiting for the creature’s permission, Susumu did his best to scramble onto the back of the beast who stood the same height as him. Once his was safely situated, it was as if Kitsune had given him the moon. Now he wanted the stars. “Gran-gran! Rurou-ojii-san asked if I wanted a sword. Please, please, please, please, pleaaaaase can I have a sword?!”

The energy in which the young Shinrya had seemed endless. Coupled with his apparent ability to go from zero to sixty in the span of ten seconds made it clear that the boy wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune was surprised at the kidlings loudness, but in retrospect she really shouldn’t have been. Any kid would have their jaw drop to the floor from seeing someone ride a tiger to come to their aid. So when Susumu approached the tiger, Kitsune looked at him to see what he’d do, ordinarily he wouldn’t let anyone but Kitsune ride his back, but the kid was family and all… In the end, the tiger opted to let Susumu crawl onto his back, and assisted by laying down so it’d be easier for the kid to get up. Once Susumu was in place, the tiger would stand up again.

”I’m surprised that Kenichi let you ride him. But I suppose it’s because you’re family.” Kitsune said, chuckling. ”And he’d never stop asking if I didn’t let him.” came the deep voice of the tiger, confirming to Susumu that it was indeed a talking tiger, like he had heard about in class. Kitsune looked over at the giant man and gauged him as Susumu asked if he could have a sword from the guy. See, usually, it’s candy that’s used to lure kids away from authority figures, but swords? Well. Maybe to a shinobi kid it had the same effect… Regardless, Kitsune was his grandmother, and grandmothers do spoil their grandkids…

After a short time deliberating, she came to a decision. ”Yes, but! You gotta handle it properly, I go with you to obtain it, and we’ll need to get you some proper training in the way of the sword. Your mother would strangle me if something happened to you under my watch. Been dead twice. Not going find out if third time is the charm. No siree.”

 

[Ketsueki Satou]

Standing as a tree among the two the elder listened, hand on his pipe smoking away slowly. A cloud of white smoke wafted around the mountainous man. Looking down through the wafts with honeydew eyes at the beast Kitsune road upon. Not a normal steed, no, but a fierce tiger that had the ability of speech.

A summoned creature? If his hearing had not failed him, he picked up on the creature's name. "Ah, then I assume we'll be in company of your companion for awhile Kitsune-San? Maybe Kenichi would enjoy some Salted fish after a long walk? it arrived today with my shipment of tea that i'd be honored serving you Kitsune-San. It has been some time since I had visitors at my home. Most of my visitors are vendors or shipment pick ups."

The elder nodes in remembering a good supply of salted beef and fish was carted to the dojo yesterday, along with two carts of blade's he forged to be sold at markets across the land. Kotsurugi took note when the boy had asked for a blade while being fearless siting atop a powerful animal.

Was the boy always fearless? Or at ease that because his grandmother rode upon the beast that it would be just as kind to him? The elder wondered. Kotsurugi hummed a cloud of white around his mane of silvery gray hair. He turned and reached down with ease of his long arm. a long bar of blade iron about the length of Susumu's arm and twice as thick.

He reached out to offer it to Susumu. "Take this, for this is yours. You will be the one to throw it into the furnace. And I will forge you a blade that you will master. And I will also teach you how to wield the blade." Once Susumu takes the ingot, the giant takes his cart in hand while smoking his pipe. His honeydew eyes falling over Kitsune. "I assume that will be adequate? I have taught a number of students from Aurora Eruditio. One more is no bother." The giant sighed a cloud of above his head, a crown of cloud white.

Without much further word, he continued forward in the direction heading previous, Kotsurugi waved to the group to follow him as he began meandering into the thick woods. The forest seemed to hum with life as the elder paced on in a humble slow step.

"Follow friends, this way be my shortcut home." He pointed with his piped down a path that cut through a thicket off a pass to their left. The tree's were thick and the branches clouted sight. The tree's looked old and gray as the group approached. The path leading through was the exact height and width of the giant. The path leading a secret way to the Ancient Forest.

Kotsurugi walked with a bounce in his giant steps as he hummed his tune, his clouds of smoke from burning pipe left wafts of vanilla scented white hanging above their heads. His cart filled heavy with iron, clattering softly at each bump that strikes the wooden creaky wheels.

(Topic left)

 

[Shinrya Kahako]

With wide, eyes that emulated childhood innocence, Susumu took the iron bar in his hands in reverence. “Man, this thing is heavy,” he mumbled as he looked upon the bar in awe. How does a thing so heavy and strong get molded into the weapons he sees so many shinobi wield?

Still, boy would not be deterred. “Hai, Rurou-ojii-san!” he said before pumping the heavy iron up and down above his head. Not only was he going to get a real sword, he was going to help make it! AND be trained on how to wield it! It was gonna be sweeeeeet!

But a little nagging voice in the back of Susumu’s head reminded him of the reason why he decided to take his short cut in the first place. Sobering a little, a bit of worry filtered through his voice. “But, gran-gran. Mom said she wasn’t feeling well when I went to school this morning, and she still seemed angry about what happened yesterday with that Osu colleague guy. Are you sure she’ll be okay on her own today?” He asked.

After some reassurance from Kitsune, the worry would dwindle itself back to the boy’s mind as he continued to ride on Kenichi’s back. Excitement would slowly replace the negative feelings he was having. After all, not many people could say they had a chance to experience an origin story like this!


Topic left moving to https://www.ninpocho.com/viewtopic.php?f=240&t=54274&p=274577#p274577 with Satou and Kitsune.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune nodded ”I’m sure he’d love that.” she said and looked at the tiger ”He’s always been fond of fish. Salted fish even more so. I just can’t for the life of me figure out why, considering that most tigers prefer their meat a bit more… Unsalted.” she continued and shook her head. Ah well, surely he’d know his own dietary needs better than some silly human would. ”It will, yes. As you’re already an accomplished teacher, and I have been discussing finding my grandson a tutor with his father… It seems like quite the happy coincidence, doesn’t it?” she said and chuckled.

Right then, a leaf blew into Kitsunes hand and she looked at it for only a second, but remembered everything she had read in a book about them. Like how leaves are the most important organs of most vascular plants. Or that since plants are autotrophic, they do not need food from other living things to survive but instead use carbon dioxide, water and light energy, to create their own organic matter by photosynthesis of simple sugars, such as glucose and sucrose, which was simply amazing, from a scientific standpoint. These sugars would then be further processed by chemical synthesis into more complex organic molecules such as cellulose, the basic structural material in plant cell walls, which were quite necessary to keep in water and such.

The plant must therefore bring these three ingredients together in the leaf for photosynthesis to take place. The leaves draw water from the ground in the transpiration stream through a vascular conducting system known as xylem and obtain carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by diffusion through openings called stomata in the outer covering layer of the leaf, while leaves are orientated to maximize their exposure to sunlight. Once sugar has been synthesized, it needs to be transported to areas of active growth such as the plant shoots and roots. Vascular plants transport sucrose in a special tissue called the phloem. The phloem and xylem are parallel to each other but the transport of materials is usually in opposite directions. Within the leaf these vascular systems branch to form veins which supply as much as the leaf as possible, ensuring that cells carrying out photosynthesis are close to the transportation system.

How nature came up with these things amazed Kitsune, to be quite honest. Imagine if humans could use photosynthesis to gain nourishment rather than having to eat things. Then, she was snapped back to reality by Susumu being worried about his mom and what had happened the day before. ”She’ll be fine, promise. Hisako’s there to assist her if she needs it.” she said, conveniently skipping past discussing how he had thrown kunai at Osus kids and it nearly caused Osu to snap and go into full on tentacle-y blood rage mode.

[MFT; WC: 471]