Two birds [Tutor - Kikei/Momoko]

[Kagetsu Yuii]

The day was young, the dew had not yet burned from the grass and all Yuii wanted to do was run back to the forest edge and find a peaceful place to pass the day. It would rain later in the day, and like most days they would never see the blue of the sky, but any day without a blanket of snow and the bite of winter was a good day to spend outside in good company. Unfortunately, duty and politics had another agenda for the Main Branch Sennin.

The chigokai, ever last to catch wind of the machinations of the other two great clans, had become aware of the Sataru's play for power by requesting a notable teacher for one of their high potential students. Having missed out on the opportunity to place one of their own as Sennin, Chigokai already felt mildly offended, so the clan was quick to react with a request of their own. It was thus that Yuii was met with a photo of a young genin female along with the demand that she, no one else, teach their protege.

To say Yuii was displeased would be an understatement. The last thing she wanted, even with all the recent joy in her life, was to be reminded of her failures surrounding the Chigokai clan.

Unfortunately, offending her sister clan was not an option that day and so Yuii sent a time and place via messenger cat and consoled herself with the fact that at least she could hold a lesson outside. As an afterthought, she sent a second cat for Kikei. She could knock out two birds, as the saying went. Hopefully this time her lesson wouldn't end in projectile vomit and a trip to the hospital.

Time 10:00
Place: Kumogakure Main Greenhouse
Note: Please bring full gear and your own lunch.

-Yuii

When they arrived, Yuii would be perched on a rock much like Kikei would remember her being in their first lesson. Behind her would be the doorway to the jewel of Kumogakure, the greenhouse which housed most of the rare and exotic plants their people had collected and been gifted from around the world. The contents were precious and valued far beyond any treasure in the Shogun or Raikage's keep. Which was exactly why this was their meeting place and not the subject of their tutor.

Yuii would finish the sweet bun she had been savouring in one final bite and lick her fingers clean at their approach. "Good afternoon ladies," she chirped happily, betraying non of her annoyance over the day, "I don't suppose you've magically grown past your problems, snowflake? As you can see, you've lost 50% of my attention from now on." She paused, giving the girls long enough to introduce themselves if they liked. Once they were done, the elder woman would hop to her feet and start off towards the forest.

"Who can name of the twelve main hand seals?" she asked, pulling a cookie from her sleeve and taking a nibble.

 

[Chigokai Yuka]

Momoko was not pleased with her current situation what so ever. First, the Chigokai head demanded she take tutoring classes from a rival clan member. She had protested and argued over it, insisting she training on her own was enough and that her father was plenty qualified to teach her anything she struggled with. It was all a waste of breath in the end as the head refused to budge on his word. Second, she had to drop and completely rearrange her day’s training schedule to make room for the useless course.

With a bag full of shuriken and kunai clipped to her pants, she made her way to the Main Greenhouse. Once there, she was greeted by the Kagetsu Sennin who would be her teacher and young Uchiha girl. The two genin bid their introductions, and followed Yuii as she paced into the forest behind them.

Momoko watched with annoyance as she casually pulled out a cookie and began snacking away, as if she couldn’t be bothered to take either one of them seriously. Her irritation increased but she tried her hardest to push it aside in favor of answering the question asked of them.

“Tora,” she responded quickly, before the Uchiha, Kikei was her name, could speak. “Mainly used for fire jutsus,” she added as an afterthought.
Momoko crossed her arms over her chest as she walked. In the back of her mind, she briefly wondered where Yuii might be taking them. Hopefully, it was to a clearing where she would guide and teach how to throw shuriken in the most effective way. Or maybe it would be to a more densely packed area with trees all around, where it would be best to work on their chakra control skills. Where ever the Sennin was taking them, Momoko hoped it would be useful.

(WC: 305/1500)

 

[Kikei]

The day was finally upon her, the day she would have to once again see her sensei. After months of a hikkimori lifestyle she would venture forth from her hovel and be face to face with the one she feared most. After all it was impossible to avoid her call when she sends one her messenger cats after you. The constant meow at the window was enough to drive even the most sane person insane, let alone an already unbalanced individual.

“GO AWAY!!!!!” She cried out as she attempted to frighten the cat away as she threw open the window that poor creature was at. This of course was immediately returned with a quick swipe at her face leaving a large red claw mark across it. Boy today was just not going to be the poor girl’s day no matter how much she attempted to salvage it. Falling back on the floor and rolling around on the floor in pain Kikei let out a massive whine, all while the cat just stood there licking its paw as if nothing had happened. Her message still tucked tightly in the capsule strapped to her back.

“YOU’RE THE DEVIL!” Kikei cried as she propped herself up and glared towards the cat with blood red eyes of pure hate. Stomping towards the cat she grabbed at the poor thing and yanked the capsule off its back while sending hypnotic suggestions to the cat to go jump into a river and forget how to swim even though that would never actually happen.

“I thought after my failure she would have written me off….but it seems I was mistaken. So what is she request….OH GOD SHE WANTS TO SEE ME!” She was talking quite calm at first until she actually saw what the message had to say which caused her to immediately panic. It was not a good thing after all she had ignored the cat for so long the meeting was in less than half an hour away. Scrambling for a fresh outfit in the sea of dirty clothes that littered her floor in vain, falling to her knees she whined as her search bore no fruit. It was then her father forced open her door, pushing against the pile of clothes that was obstructing it.

“Honey is everything alright?” He asked her with a concerned look upon his face.

“NO DAD! It is not alright the sennin is summoning me for a meeting in half an hour and I HAVE NO CLEAN CLOTHES!” She cried out as she began to throw her dirty clothes towards her father as if it was his entire fault she had no clean clothes. When in fact it was her own damn fault for telling her parents not to disturb her unless it was a matter of life and death, which is why her sudden outburst of screaming and rolling about warranted her father checking up on her.

“You have your yukata for the festivals that is clean and hanging in the laundry room.” He called out as he ducked and dived the barrage of clothes.

“You’re right! Thanks dad you’re the best!” She cried out as she ran out of her room for the first time in what felt like an eternity and rushed to the laundry room to grab the outfit. Of course there was still one more problem that needed to be solved the poor girl hadn’t bathed in about a week and was bound to have some lingering smells about her at this point. This sudden realization dawned on her as she removed her clothes that seemed to stand on its own at this point. This cause her to run through the house naked and dive into the restroom to take the world’s fastest and most efficient shower it had ever seen.

After wasting a good fifteen minutes of her time preparing to leave the house the young girl had no choice to dash full speed towards the location. As you would guess this caused much discomfort in her current attire, luckily with her eyes as keen as they were she was able to avoid and predict any possible disasters.

“I’m HERE!” She cried out as she caught a glimpse of the unmistakable appearance of her sensei, who was once again sitting atop a pile of rocks like some common pigeon. You would think the girl would use of the many benches that litter the land around such an extravagant green house.

Standing there she looked puzzled as another girl soon arrived after her in full gear. The greeting she then received from her sensei left her quite puzzled. ‘So this isn’t about my screw up from awhile back….well that is a relief but also why is there this girl in full gear here as well. Wait oh no sensei is replacing me as her student isn’t she and this was her way of telling me that! No that can’t be right why would she say what she just said if that was the case.’ She thought to herself completely disregarding the fact that the other girl was in fact introducing herself at that exact moment. All she caught was the end of the statement which was probably along the lines of to meet you.

“Blah blah blah I’m Riki Kikei and I guess I’m your senpai now? I think not sure.” Kikei stated as she turned her attention towards the girl briefly before returning her sights on Yuii who had begun to walk off. Following behind her she let her mind drift quite easily once more but quickly snapped back when she heard the word Tora. ‘What about the tiger seal? Are….wait did sensei ask a question…’ She thought to herself as she tried replaying the last few seconds in her head, making her realize she was asked what the twelve main hand seals were.

“Saru, Tatsu, Ne, Tori, Mi, Ushi, Inu, Uma, Tora, I, Hitsuji, U!” She quickly said having memorized the names of them by now with the extensive studying she had put into trying to learn how to properly use hand seals. Of course knowing the names was convenient but not very helpful in actually using them.

“Wait was we supposed to take turns naming them all?” Kikei asked as she stood there with a puzzled look upon her face as if she made a mistake by blurting out all twelve one after another.

[WC: 1073]

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

As Momoko, then Kikei listed off the seals, Yuii formed each one with fluid motions and perfect accuracy. This really was the most basic of skills, and it was amazing still that her white haired student has passed the academy without it. In the end, said student one the race to twelve, spilling them as rapidly as Yuii had moved. The sennin snorted with barely contained laughter and fished into her pocket. From the folds, she pulled out a brightly papered hard candy that from its colour looked to be lemon flavoured. She tossed it in Kikei's direction casually, as if throwing a ball for a child to catch, but didn't check to make sure her aim was exact. "Good job," she cheered jubilantly with just enough enthusiasm neither girl could tell if Yuii was being patronizing or not.

Her attitude was a far cry from the snarky, demanding Yuii that Kikei had dealt with their first lesson. Maybe it was a new leaf, maybe she just didn't want to get vomited on; only the gods knew.

As for Yuii, It wasn't surprising to her that Kikei had answered so quickly, she professed to be well studied on her greatest weakness. Knowing the seals was one matter, making use of them was another. In knowledge, Kikei was likely to be far beyond Momoko, but when it came to the practical she was automatically going to be stronger. "And what are the three most common ways to release chakra- excluding the will powered use your bloodlines allow?" she asked, glancing in Kikei's direction.

Without warning, Yuii veered sharply off their path onto a trail that looked to be traversed by animals more than humans. They crossed a small paddock, avoiding gopher holes and dung piles of the small oxen that stared at them in surprise. They hopped the fence on the other side, then started to climb Bits of stone cascaded down the small hill she led them up and the dry soil threatened to fall from under their feet. With quick steps or chakra techniques, they reached to the top point without incident. From where they now stood under a lone birch tree, they could see not only the forest to the east but the towering buildings of Kumoagkure to the west. If one tried, they could even see a smudge of grey that must have been their gates.

Yuii took a deep breath of the clean air, "Have a seat, girls." Yuii found her own against the tree, and stared at them both a moment as if sizing them up, "Kikei I'd like you to run through Nagamatsu Yakamochi's second-year hand strengthening exercises and try to relax a bit. Miss Chigokai- I think we must clear the air before we begin. I'm not a miracle worker, and a prestigious title does not automatically make a good teacher. Lucky for you, you're not my first student and I'll do my best to help you reach your full potential. You just have to promise to be a good student. And so, what is the area of expertise you'd been training towards?"

 

[Chigokai Yuka]

Momoko rolled her eyes when Yuii stopped and tossed a piece of candy to Kikei. In the back of her mind, she berated herself for not being fast enough to respond with all the hand signs as the Uchiha had. Later, she would sit herself down and study them until she could list them all just as quickly if not faster.

After the small pause, the three began walking again. Momoko had a bit of difficulty keeping up with her new sensei, occasionally tripping on a rock or upturned root that blocked their path. Though she did her best to not let it show how it affected her. Yuii took a sharp turn that she and Kikei followed, leading them deeper and deeper into the forest. They bypassed the oxen grazing by the tall, towered trees, and sidestepped the gopher and snake holes that littered the forest floors.

Momoko looked up sharply when Yuii asked another question, not even turning or slowing down to speak. Taking a quick glance to Kikei out of the corner of her eyes, she hurriedly spoke up, determined to get it right this time around. “Hand seals, summoning scrolls, and natural energy,” she said with confidence, puffing her chest out just a bit.

In her hurry to answer the question, Momoko almost missed when Yuii hopped a fence, just inches away from running into it herself. She quickly righted herself and followed the other two over. She wasn’t the strongest person, muscle wise, so she focused a bit of chakra to the soles of her feet before leaping, giving her the extra boost she needed to make her way over. She made sure to watch her steps diligently again as the path they were on now was less of a path and more of just a few scattered stones to lead the direction in which they should walk. The stones led up a small hill, a few of the looser rocks slipping under her feet and tumbling down to the flatter part of the land. Realizing that she would indeed fall if she wasn’t careful, she kept the chakra focused on her feet, still, practically gluing her to semi-steep incline.

When they reached the top, Momoko expected to see more of the thick forest they had been walking through. Instead, there was once single tree, white with darker stripes running sporadically across its bark. It’s branches were thin, looking like if someone tried to climb it, it would surely snap, and it’s leaves were practically nonexistent. The red-headed genin was, for once, thankful for the usual cloudy days her village had, thinking that, otherwise, this would be the perfect spot for her pale complexion to burn.

Yuii instructed the two genin to sit, motioning to the base of the tree, and Momoko followed obediently. She relished in the small breeze that was just a bit stronger since they were higher up, and took in the amazing view they’re location gave them. Momoko had never seen so much land in one glance before. Then, Yuii was talking to her again, breaking her from her small trance. She told Momoko to practice some kind of hand exercise that she had never heard of. It was a name that sounded familiar but didn’t immediately ring any bells. “What is that again?” she asked, almost a bit hesitantly. Momoko knew there were still lots of things for her to learn, but she wasn’t used to being out of the loop like this. "At the moment, I'm best in ninjutsu, but I've been working on some," she hesitated before continuing with her sentence. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she persisted and continued on. "I've been mostly training with Chigokai specific jutsu."

(WC: 927/1500)

 

[Kikei]

Kikei’s eyes went wide as she saw the small piece of candy be pulled from the pocket of her sensei. ‘Is this for real I get treats for answer the questions? If so this just got WAY more interesting free shit always makes things better.’ She thought to herself as she jumped at the candy doing a quick flip as she landed and began to devour the piece with much gusto. Honestly with how boring the walk was Kikei was having a hard time keep her attention on where she was going. ‘This is soooooo boring!’ She thought to herself as she stared at the back of her sensei’s head wondering what was going on Inside.

“What oh uh….yeah what she said I think….i don’t know kind of wasn’t paying attention.” Kikei laughed as she turned her head so as not to make eye contact with her sensei. Once Yuii’s attention was back on the tail Kikei let out a soft sigh of relief. ‘This is so not what I was expecting my day to be like.’ She thought as they veered from the beaten path and began to hike up an animal trail. Most of the things were easy to avoid if you followed the steps of her sensei but every once in a while Kikei’s mind would begin to wander leading her to fall flat on her face a few times. The finding of a fence out in the middle of nowhere was quite a surprise and raised quite a few questions. Who took care of it? Why was it placed here? Are we on the inside or the outside of the fence right now? An many other such questions filled the mind of the young woman only for them to all go unanswered as her sensei crossed over to the other side without so much as a word.

After an uphill climb they seemed to finally reach the destination of their trip, a lone birch tree atop the hill. With a look of irritation Kikei stared at her sensei wondering why they had to walk all that way just to see a tree. Just as she was about to voice her opinion in protest that she noticed just how amazing the view of the area around them. Almost reflexively she activated her sharingan so as to be able to take in even more of the spectacular view. It was also at that time she was told to have a seat followed shortly after with an order to perform a tedious task to keep busy. Was this really necessary was her sensei so afraid that if left idle she would end up causing problems. No matter the reasoning behind it Kikei sighed and took her seat and began performing her given task eyes once again returned to their natural color.

[WC: 1545]

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

At Momoko's correct answer, Yuii fished out a second candy and tossed it for her to catch just as she had done with Kikei."Correct! Candy for little red!" she cheered, either missing or ignoring the girl's trouble with the rough terrain. "Do try and get me your full attention, Snowflake. We'll never work past your, uh, handicap without your full application." she chided her other student.

Atop the hill, Yuii pondered Momoko's answer while working through a mouth full of cookie. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully, as this generally satisfied her students that she was taking them seriously, then nodded. "Your clan will surely find you a tutor for your blood techniques," she decided, stating what was probably obvious. It wasn't like Yuii could help the little blood bender- she had no earthly skill set like that. "I can help you with your growth in Ninjutsu if you want. My teaching methods are a bit unorthodox but they're not ineffective." She had mastered the academically agreed basic elemental ninjutsu at roughly the same age as Momoko and Kikei were now, as well as the basic shinobi ninjutsu techniques. Her challenge would be explaining them in a way that she- or kikei if she ever managed them- could understand. With the thought to address her, Yuii's gaze fell on her second student dutifully practising her seals but she paused as an itch rose in her neck.

The strong scent of catnip filled the air, and Yuii blanched and stirred nervously. "We'll have to save Ninjutsu for our next lesson. Atsui, Samui. I was expecting you," she warbled far too cheerily. At that moment a pair of Tigers popped into being next to the group with a puff of smoke. The pair of identical cats stared at the human trio with equal annoyance, or more specifically, at Yuii. They began to circle them as predators stalking prey, but Yuii seemed unconcerned by it. "What can I do for my two favourite twins?" she asked in that same syrupy sweet tone.

Atsui- or maybe it was Samui's tail thrashed with an extra bit of energy, while waves of sullen rage rolled off her sister's striped visage. "We've come to collect our payments." the gloomy cat hissed while her sister sniffed the air by Yuii's students and echoed her sister's demand wih the single word, "Fish."

The first cat licked her teeth and nodded, "You promised fish for the bat monster!" she hissed as her claws dug into the ground

"Twenty fish!" the second echoed again and licked at Momoko's arm with her sandpaper-like tongue.

"And you promised us fish for the rats." the angry cat added with scorn.

"Sixteen fish!" her sister giggled, playfully head-butting into Kikei.

"And you promised us fish for the giant bugs!" the poor felines face scrunched at the thought as if the bugs had been the worst of their jobs.

"Eighteen fish!" her sister laughed, nodding to herself.

"They were so gross." the first whined.

"So gross." her sister added gravely.

Yuii watched the duo, just as she watched her own student's reactions but to them, she seemed completely unconcerned with having two full grown tigers looking to collect their debt. She shrugged when they finished their list and raised her hands helplessly. "And I always pay you back, don't I? You know how it is with schedules and working; it's hard to get fishing time." By the level stares, they didn't. Working was a human affliction. Yuii's eyes flicked back to the girls, and an evil glint appeared in her eye as the perfect solution came to her. Fishing WOULD be an excellent first lesson, wouldn't it? Something about speed and patience?

"Right! Well, these two were just about to go and catch you your fish. The sensei's debt is the student's debt! There's a great little creek down on the other side of the hill you two- first one to catch forty fish gets my affection and praise. Maybe even a gold star. Kids these days still like gold stars right?" The idea seemed to appease the Tigers, and they turned in unison to stare expectantly at Momoko and Kikei.

 

[Chigokai Yuka]

Momoko quickly shot her hands out to catch the tiny piece of candy that was thrown to her. She turned the sweet in her palm, inspecting the shiny, metallic wrapping, before shoving it into her pocket. It would be a nice treat for later when she was craving something sugary. Looking back up at her sensei, she nodded along, listening to her plans for training. She didn’t think she really needed more work on her ninjutsu techniques, but she supposed a little extra training on it wouldn’t hurt. Her family had not assigned a specific tutor for her and her abilities, but her father would go out to the fields with her sometimes and drill her on techniques. So that was taken care of. Briefly, Momoko wondered just how much these shinobi knew about her family line. Did they think of her as most others did? Surely not. If they did, there would have been no way that Yuii would have agreed to teach her and the other girl would have made her disgust clear by now. Right?

Shaking her head softly to herself, she cleared her mind of the thoughts. Right now, something more important was going on. Two beautiful, large tigers were walking into the clearing, heading their way. Their markings were exact and their eyes glittered with mischief. Yuii greeted them casually, as if she were speaking to an old colleague or friend. Shockingly enough, the predators spoke back. They spoke of a debt that Momoko’s sensei owed them, walking circles around Kikei and herself. One of them licked to top of Momoko’s palm and she squirmed away from the disgusting feeling. The texture of her rough tongue against her own sickly pale skin sent shivers down her spine.

While she attempted to shake her hand off, she heard Yuii speak to the tigers once more. She went on about how she always pays her debts before something she said caught Momoko’s ear. Yuii had offered her two students up to fish for the tigers, even making it into a sort of competition for the girls. But it wasn’t anything Momoko wanted to be apart of.

“How is fishing anything like training?” she tried her hardest to keep her voice calm but was not successful in the least. “You just said you were going to help with my ninjutsu! And I couldn’t give a damn about a gold star!” Her fury was not concealed. At this point, she wasn’t even trying to hide it anymore. Fishing was a leisure activity for elders marketplace fisherman. Not kunoichi wanting to further their skills. Crossing her arms, she huffed and looked away, cheeks flushed in anger.

(WC: 1373/1500)
(Sorry for the shorter post. Trying to get back into the flow of things)

 

[Kikei]

Another candy was given out this time to her rival? No this was far too soon to label their relationship as such. Though it didn’t quite feel right to just call her fellow student as well since there did seem to be a competitive spark between the two of them. Maybe the right word for the current situation was opponent. Yes that seemed to fit much nicer than any of the other ways in which to describe the lass. Having most of her attention on her repetitive task did cause some confusion and concern as her face was booped by the skull of a large tiger. Immediately stopping she began to look about the scene and finally grasp the current situation that was unfolding.

‘So we get to slack off and have a nice leisurely afternoon fishing? That sounds pretty nice if not quite boring at the same time but I’m sure there is a way to turn….wait did she just say that the one who catches the most gets something on it is on! Time to obliterate any hopes this new girl might have of surpassing me!’ Kikei thought as a grin formed from ear to ear on her face as she quickly shot passed the group and headed towards the source of water she had caught sight of while gazing from atop the hill.

“You can argue all you want but if you can’t see the lesson in this you got a long way to go!” Kikei shouted with all her might as zipped through the trees, unsure if the other student had even followed after her or not. Even if she had remained behind with the volume of which Kikei could shout she would hear the remark. It didn’t take long for her to reach the destination in which point she quickly came to a dead stop on the bank of the river so as to survey the area for any danger and for an appropriate spot in which to fish from. She would notice the river had a very steady current nothing to rough but enough that the water wouldn’t become stagnant or freeze solid due to the low temperature of the environment. A few locations seemed to be quite deep while others were nor deeper than a foot or two. Of course being able to survey the river was made easy due to the crystal clear waters that ran through it. With a grin she began to devise the proper method in which to remove her targets from their watery home.

“Should I just make a spear and attempted to catch the fish that way or is there something more interesting and unique slash effective that I could use. Maybe casting genjutsu upon the fish to bring them to the river’s edge and scoop them out. Though wouldn’t that be hard because it puts them in harms way…..but they wouldn’t actually know that by swimming to the edge they would be putting themselves in danger….would they?” The young girl sat down as she began to contemplate the very essence of what would or would not be considered an act that would go against the fish’s natural instinct for self-preservation.

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

Kikei was eager to fish, Momoko was not. The sennin could not blame her, she would have reacted the same way in her youth, after all, but sympathy didn't mean she didn't expect to be listened to. If one let the youth get away with discord and rebellion early they were just a nightmare to untrain in their early 'discovering themselves' twenties. That's how you ended up with, Raiden forbid, pro-democracy lunatics or shinobi demanding paid holidays. If she wasn't going to ever get a vacation like hell was anyone else.

Yuii's face split into what was easily mistaken for a sweet smile. The Tigers settled at either side of her, just at hand height, and stared at Momo with twin curious but uncaring stares. "Oh, I guess kids these days don't like gold stars," she said, looking to either cat as if she were informing them thus. Her fingers buried deep into their striped coats and scratched at what she had come to know as the 'sweet spot' that turned her ferocious cat companions into purring kittens. "I don't know why she wouldn't want to catch fish, it;s a very important survival skill and it would make you both so happy wouldn't it?" She was definitely talking to the cats. Like a mother speaking to her children, Yuii knelt so that she was eye level with the twins and continued her stroking. Atsui made a purring hum that sounded like agreement and Samui melted against her leg which barely withstood the cat's weight. "Otherwise, I'll have to find you something else to eat. How about 'red' meat?"

Slowly, Yuii brought her penetrating blue gaze up to Momoko's face. The dark shadow created by the tilt of her head and the eerie way she looked at her newest student was straight out of a horror film. Momoko could be forgiven for thinking Yuii was about to let the tigers eat her. "Why don't you follow little snowflake and try to figure out the lesson in all this, hm? You can tell me when you're done, and THEN we'll discuss a lesson plan." The tense moment dissipated and Yuii made a comedic shooing motion with her hands. Hopefully Momoko wasn't interested in arguing any further.

[Feel free to assume you catch what you catch, and be creative as you like XD If you guys want after the first five posts are complete we could continue as a part two of the lesson and actually get to some learnin. Lol]