We Must Be Strong! Part 2 [Tutor]

[Tatsuo]

Despite the opinion and advice of many of the Medical Branch in Kumogakure, Hira and Tatsuo continued to train. Whether it was chakra control, taijutsu, or anything in between, they were busy training. Today Tatsuo offered to teach him a few new jutsu. Tatsuo was not able to do elemental jutsu that were not wood, but wood derived from a mixture of Earth and Water. His jutsu tended to share properties of both, as strong as earth but as fluid as water.

Tatsuo was wearing a simple black t-shirt and a pair of shorts, his headband tying his hair out of his eyes. They’d decided to train again right outside Kaji’s home, it was quiet in the forest, a great place to train away from the everyday bustle of the village. Tatsuo himself always felt more comfortable closer to home base, especially since it was the closest thing he could consider home in such a foreign land. It wasn't long for him to start the lesson, the sun just begun to reach overhead, they could waste the whole day sharing jokes but both of them wanted to get back to work.

“Alright, i’ve got a few jutsu I can teach you. Do you know the Cancel technique? If not that’ll be the first priority, if you’re stuck without Cancel and fight a Genjutsu user you’ve got no chance in winning. If you do, I can teach you the Body Switch jutsu, it allows you to switch with targets with a chunk of wood, or anything else. Lets you dodge what could be a fatal move.” Tatsuo wanted to start with the basics, while he wasn’t exactly the most well rounded shinobi as he lacked any skill in Genjutsu, but defending himself was his forte. So defensive techniques of all kind were the best thing he could teach Hira. “If none of that interests you, is there anything else you’d like to learn? I know a couple of things but I can learn too.”

It was true, just as Hira needed to get stronger, they both faced defeat at the hands of Kaen. While Tatsuo might’ve been able to take a few more powerful blows, he had no better chance at defeating Kaen than Hira did. If he was going to be able to protect his friends he would need to continue getting stronger and training with someone who had a drive akin to his own would really help them both grow stronger.

WC: 421

 

[Hirateuchi]

Hira had grown fond of training with the young Leaf shinobi, Tatsuo. Although there was still a gap in their power level, he was able to keep up much easier than when it was one of the village Jounin. After having asked to train together once more, Hira met in front of Kaji's house, where they had trained every so often. After arriving, though, he hardly had time to relax before being asked by Tatsuo what sort of training he would like that day. While the suggestion of the Body Switch and Cancel jutsu came up, Hira had already worked on learning those techniques and didn't think he needed any help on that front. Instead, he piped up with another suggestion, albeit a strange one.

"How is it that you make that wood of yours exactly? I've been toying around with a new style that could probably benefit a lot from that kind of manipulation of water, but every time I try it just falls apart." Although Tatsuo did not realize it yet, Hira had been working in secret, even avoiding the watchful gaze of his mentors, on hardening his water into a more reliable offensive form, though up to this point he had not had any luck accomplishing such a feat. He was hoping with the knowledge Tatsuo possessed he might harness it and create a more unique, and admittedly more vicious, fighting style so that if they were ever to engage in such an overwhelming battle again he could be more useful than the last time.

Hira looked around, spotting a patch of nearby grass still glistening with a hint of dew, and called out to Tatsuo. "What do you say we start with this and go from there...? As he spoke he simply lifted his hand, raising the moisture from the earth with a commanding presence, letting it hand in the air just in front of him while he waited for his comrade's response.

[WC 327, Post 1/5]

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo was happy to hear that Hira had a strong base as a shinobi, those jutsu in particular were valuable to all ninjas of style and ability. He listened as Hira asked him how he made wood and it made him rub the back of his neck. As much as it pained him to say it, Tatsuo had no idea how. "I've got no idea, it kinda just comes out. You know how like.. you just move your arm? Well that's how it is for me just using wood jutsu it kinda just happens." However Tatsuo did not want to discourage him, he furrowed his brows and brought a hand to his chin.

Obviously deep in thought, he tried to remember just exactly when he had used Mokuton for the first time. It had been years ago so his memory of it all was hazy, "Well, when I first joined the academy I couldn't manipulate chakra at all. I couldn't do basic clone jutsu, or anything like that, all of the stuff that was expected from shinobi I wasn't capable of and I probably would've failed out had it not been for the mission I got put on. Back in Leaf they'll sometimes give academy students missions that are even easier than a D rank mission. Not sure if they do that here, but that's not really important to my story." he shrugged before continuing his monologue. "Well one of my friends and I went to some veterans home and we had to bring them bento boxes filled with food. All was swell, except the occasional old man trying to swindle us for the bento boxes, but either way something happened to my friend and a giant crab attacked him! It busted down the door and he and his dog tried to fight it off. We could hear the faint moans of a man asking to be saved inside the room, so I hopped over the crab while my friend kept it busy. I went to grab the old man, but the roof went to cave in. I placed myself over him, and honestly I thought I was a goner, but when I realized I wasn't dead, wood had sprouted up all around me covering me and the old man in a protective shield. I was really surprised but from that day on I kinda just practiced with it, till the point where I got now." Tatsuo told his story but hadn't really made any progress, he bit his lip and as if a light bulb lit over his head he grinned from ear to ear. "I got an idea!"

The intrepid hero, as reckless as ever, charged straight at Hira, ducking low to hit him with a low sweep in an attempt to knock him off his feet. While Tatsuo's aggression would seem mindless, he had an intention behind it, hopefully Hira wouldn't hate him too much after it.

WC: 911
Post Count: 2/5

 

[Hirateuchi]

Hira supposed it shouldn't come as a complete shock that Tatsuo wasn't entirely sure how his wood jutsu worked. As it were, Hira still wasn't entirely sure himself how his water transformation worked. While he had witnessed others use water style, he still hadn't been able to gather a satisfying answer to the mystery of how it was he was able to turn his body into a liquid state. In fact, Tatsuo seemed to have awakened his powers much in a similar way that Hira did: in a moment of need without any real warning.

While he was in the middle of this thought process, Tatsuo suddenly yelled out before charging at the young liquid boy. "What the heck are you doing?" Hira tried to call out, but he hardly had any time before the ninja was upon him, ready to sweep his feet. On instinct Hira immediately formed a quick hand sign, and just as Tatsuo would hit his legs they would seemingly melt away as they morphed into liquids, before reverting back after his attack. "I don't know what kind of funny guy you think you are, but I'm pretty sure that isn't going to help me figure out my new jutsu."

Slightly disappointed, Hira looked around, trying to see if he might find some form of inspiration to give him a new angle, a chance to see how he might be going about the problem all wrong. In frustration, Hira gritted his teeth and took the bait that Tatsuo might have been providing, intentionally or not. Perhaps sparring could really be the simple answer. If their other powers were unlocked in the heat of the moment, was it possible that was how all new styles were discovered? Not wanting to dwell on the myriad of possibilities, Hira lunged forward in turn, and taking a few makeshift jabs at the young boy, although his form was sloppy and unrefined from so much practice at long range combat.

[WC 329, Total WC 656. Post 2/5]

 

[Tatsuo]

While Tatsuo's teachings were a bit.. unconventional, he had the best intentions. He grinned as Hira finally took the bait, Tatsuo hopped backwards a few feet, clapping his hands together his fingers intertwined. He focused the chakra at his feet and from the ground rose three wooden tendrils. However that wasn't all to Tatsuo's attack, another wooden tendril lurked under the earth only the subtle shifting of grass would give way to it's position. While Tatsuo was still injured from the fight, Hira managed to bring the best out of him and he would push Hira as far as he needed to go to learn whatever technique he had in mind.

The tendrils took on the shape of wooden dragons, each going to crash into Hira like giant clubs of wood. An attack like this would never kill him, but still he had no intention of going easy on him. They both had unlocked their special potential in times of terror, if he had to make Hira fight for his life he'd do it and buy him lunch later. Somethings had to be done. "I'm not going easy on you Hira, if you let your guard down for even a minute i'm going to put you back in that hospital, so don't get comfortable!" Tatsuo shouted to his training partner, it would be impolite of him to not at least give fair warning.

WC: 1145

 

[Hirateuchi]

Hira knew Tatsuo was an eager shinobi, but what he was doing in the present mock fight was going beyond the line. It wasn't difficult nor was it erroneous to see the wooden dragons were not meant as an idle threat, but instead as a full-on attack. Hira stood bewildered for but a moment, trying to take in the reality of his comrade suddenly attacking him without holding back. Whether he had come over a sudden bit of rage over Hira's prodding, or been a traitor to Cloud this entire time as a spy from Leaf, action had to be taken swiftly and decisively to deal with the current threat.

Hira thought to himself as he quickly formed some seals with his hands, before spewing out a wave of water from his mouth. The wave crashed down onto the earth with torrential force; more than he usually utilized but it seemed fairly clear to him that the incoming wooden dragons were dangerously filled with chakra and force. As a matter of fact, he wasn't entirely sure his water was up to the task of defending this assault. While it hurt his pride to admit it, Tatsuo was right. His wood was as fluid as his own water but was much denser, and as such, would be near impossible to halt with the malleable liquids that he could muster. But what else did he have at his disposal...?

Think Hira, think... Maybe if I just slow them down enough to run away? No, it was hard enough pulling that off in our last training session, and he was pulling punches then. But what... Before Hira could finish his thought process, he felt the force of wind foreshadow the imminent attack, and as a wooden head came roaring right next to him, barely managed to avoid without getting a glancing hit on his side. The barrage continued as Hira became more and more desperate.

After once glancing hit knocked him to the floor, Hira could only look at his incoming doom, and dread the consequences of not having gotten stronger. With a defeated bow he sunk to the floor, his hand resting on the surface of a water barrier he had constructed in front of himself, most likely to no avail. As the titanic construction reached closer and closer, the surface of the water began to sink in temperature as Hira thought hopelessly to himself in what ways he could block the monstrous force of Tatsuo's jutsu. Slowly the wave of cold swept up, soon covering the entirety of its form as it shimmered ever so slightly in the early sunlight, just as the wood crashed into its new solid structure...

[WC 451, Total WC 1107. Post 3/5]

 

[Tatsuo]

As Tatsuo's wooden dragons crashed into the newly formed wall of ice, shards of frozen water were sent through the air, shimmering spectacularly under the sunlight of the day. Even Tatsuo was distracted by the world of light they had created with their attack. Forgetting he was even in a fight he dropped his wooden dragons which slowly sunk back into the ground as if they were waiting for the next time Tatsuo called upon them. He then turned to look at Hira and gave off his widest grin. "Ya' know, i'm sorry for not telling you before but I didn't think it'd work if you knew about it." he shrugged, before walking over to Hira extending his hand to help him up.

"Man that was cool, I wonder if I can use something else too." he said rubbing his chin as he thought, Tatsuo himself knew he was both blessed and cursed with such a natural affinity to the element but kids could dream. "Well, now that we know you have, can you use it on command?" he said crossing his arms, looking over to Hira. "I don't think we need to spar anymore, but i'll meditate with you or whatever you do to utilize chakra." the boy said offering his support.

WC: 1358/1500
Post Count: 4/5

 

[Hirateuchi]

"I still don't think I can do that on demand... and I suppose your method worked, but you're still an ass." As if to prove his point, Hira stuck his hand out once more towards the melting water, giving it his all to recall the feeling of freezing it, but to no avail. Both delighted in the fact that he was able to do something so unique but also irritated that he could not repeat the endeavor, he agreed with Tatsuo that they had sparred enough, and meditating sounded like a great idea. Even beyond the fact that it was beneficial for his powerful chakra control, it was the only chance he got these days to be lazy and relive his youthful ignorance towards the troubles of the world.

Picking up his gear, he simply started walking off without saying another word to Tatsuo, still somewhat angered at his sudden actions earlier. He hiked through some of the forestry and over a hill to find a lake with a small current running through it, particularly due to a small waterfall only a few steps further back. The boy plopped his gear next to an outlying rock, fairly certain that there wouldn't be a chance out this far of anybody disturbing it, and started to walk over the lake towards the rushing water with chakra focused into his feet.

He walked over until the waterfall was splashing directly onto him, eliciting a large sigh of content. He felt at peace near the water ever since he had learned of his abilities, and even more so when he could essentially immerse himself entirely in its presence. Taking a seat on top of the rippling liquid, he crossed his legs and closed his eyes to concentrate, though found himself peeking once in a while to see if Tatsuo had followed him up.

[WC 309, Total WC 1416. Post 4/5]

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo grinned as he called him an ass, he rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged his shoulders. "I only did it because I knew it would work!" he said as if that would absolve him from all sins. "Ya know I don't see why you're taking it so personal, you never used Ice Ninjutsu before and now you have." he said further cementing his defense. He watched as Hira failed to manifest the Ice Ninjutsu once again and frowned. "I'm sure with a little bit of practice it will come to you. Somethings just take time, I wasn't able to really use wood until Kaji-sensei pushed me to my limits. After training with him for a while I was able to grow more than a simple branch. Then when we stopped talking, I was able to continue practicing the art and grew the mastery that I have today. I mean i'm not perfect but I can control it pretty well ya know?"

Despite Hira being angry at Tatsuo's sudden attack, it seemed to not bother him all that much. He only did it because he thought of Hira as a friend, Tatsuo himself would be insulted if someone he considered a friend didn't give them their best shot. If the two were going to get stronger it would take hard work and incredible effort from the both of them to push past their limits and grow to a position where they could defeat evil's such as Kaen. Tatsuo saw no reason to be sweet about it, which honestly was a flaw but the boy faced all problems head on. Tactfulness was not something in his arsenal, but empathy was. He began to feel a bit bad for doing it so suddenly, not that he did it, but it angered Hira. So the boy let off a brief, "I'm sorry." before sitting across from him and beginning meditating.

As they began to meditate, Tatsuo realized just how tired he was.. his eyes got heavy and he couldn't remember the last time he was so comfortable. It wasn't long before the boy drifted off the dreamland and quiet snores began to emit from him as he fell asleep meditating.

WC: 1727

 

[Hirateuchi]

Hira continued to meditate despite the apology Tatsuo tried to give. He was glad that his friend was apologizing for his actions but he was still feeling petty. Even as the night came and Tatsuo began to drift on into sleep, Hira barely paid him any mind until he noticed how cold it was getting outside. With a sigh, he finally stood up and looked at the wood shinobi sitting nearby. The two had very personalities, but when it came to their determination to get strong enough to beat Kaen, they shared enough to close.

Hira walked over and using the water in the lake began to make a few waves splash out onto the edge of the land, bringing Tatsuo along for the ride. Slowly the water crept forward, Hira struggling to make sure Tatsuo did not drop off, and with some amount of time and struggle they made it back to where Tatsuo lived. Groaning from the amount of work he was making himself do for someone who he had just been mad at, he hoisted Tatsuo up onto his shoulder, carrying him gently into his abode while using his affinity to make all of the water on him fly off, ensuring that he wouldn't get sick. After all, he wasn't about to let somebody whom he also strived to beat someday fall behind.

[WC 226, Total WC 1642. Post 5/5]
[Top finished/left]