[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

Daichi was at an impasse. It was relatively late in the afternoon—he had just finished his rotation with the Mizukage, one of the other bodyguards relieving him for the evening detail. They had a rotating schedule, but Daichi was frequently with the Lord Mizukage during the day when he was at his busiest, probably because Daichi essentially functioned as a second assistant during that time—he was damn good at paperwork, and had the patience for it. It meant the sun was setting as Daichi made his way towards the training grounds, turning his dilemma over in his mind as he walked quickly through the streets of Kirigakure. The impasse was this: He’d plateaued. There was no other explanation for it. He’d grown by leaps and bounds as a genin, knocked it out of the park during his exams, but ever since he’d been pulled from the hunter-nin to act as Mizukage’s bodyguard it was like all room for improvement had just… vanished. He didn’t know if it was because he wasn’t doing as much field work or what, but it made him anxious. Daichi needed to be stronger, faster, smarter, more well-prepared—and, well, if that meant losing a little sleep to focus harder on training, then he would do it. His brow was furrowed and he was lost in thought as he walked, but he was still perceptive of his surroundings—it was difficult for him not to be, after all his sensor training. He passed by civilians mostly, a lot of familiar faces from Kiri’s stationed shinobi forces, a super tall guy with an Iwa headband on his person, a couple of kids from the academy he recognized… Wait, who was that tall guy? Daichi did a double take and slowed down as he was passing by the man, taking a closer look. He was very tall. Heavily tattooed, dark hair, a long leather coat with, uh, only pants underneath. He hadn’t quite realized that he’d stopped, but he did. His heartrate had shot up for some reason, and his stomach was twisting into knots, but before he could overthink anything his feet were carrying him towards the guy. "Hey,” Daichi heard himself saying, as though from a great distance, "you’re from Iwagakure, right? Can I talk to you for a sec?”

Kita Isamu -- 384

LAIKA OF THQ

[Kita Isamu]

Getting into the village, despite his slight worries, had been easy enough. He’d even gotten to tease one of the guards, which he always appreciated. There was nothing quite like working people up, after all. It certainly made life more interesting. Getting in had been easy. But now that he was here, what did he want to do? Wordlessly slinging his small pack over his shoulders, he entered the village with no real destination in mind. There were always plenty of people he could target for flirting or teasing, but he felt like wandering for the moment. He’d never been to Kirigakure before, that much was enough to have him curious about the layout of the village.

The layout was very different from Iwagakure’s, and the structures seemed to reflect that. Obviously built for different purposes from his own home, he was suitably impressed even by the more drab, dreary buildings around him. But his admiration of architecture was cut short when he was approached by someone, a shinobi based on the chakra signature. He paused for a moment, not quite looking at the person, before turning his considerable height to face whoever had interrupted him.

”Yes?” he asked with the amused air of someone who obviously believed they knew more than you. ”I was just admiring the architecture, it’s so different from my own home. What is it you want to ask, little mist child?” Tone teasing, he looked down at the boy in front of him. He seemed a little nervous about something, and Isamu could hazard a few guesses as to what it was. Not right at the moment, though. It seemed like new entertainment had walked right up to him, and he was absolutely going to make the most of it while he could.

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

Immediate conflict of emotions. One: tone. It wasn’t bad, no red flags or anything, but the knots in his stomach cinched tighter and it was unpleasant. Two: little mist child. He was sixteen and a chuunin, first of all, hardly a spring seedling, and made a point of looking thicker and stronger than the other boys his age; he deeply resented both the little and the child. Three: the man had nearly a foot on Daichi, and as he approached their height distance grew dramatically clear once Daichi was face-to-face with his chest. His heavily tattooed, bare chest. Daichi cleared his throat and kept his eyes firmly fixed on the Iwa nin’s face. "Daichi,” he said shortly, just so the man wouldn’t have an excuse to call him child again. "Yamaguchi Daichi, chuunin. I—maybe this is a weird question, but I need training and I think I need it from someone not from Kiri.” He frowned, chewing briefly on his lower lip and reaching up to adjust his eyepatch. This was a strange impulse he was following, but at this point he felt like he should see it through. "I’m stagnating and I think a different, like, methodology or something could help. D’you know anyone in your village who might be willing? I specialize in sealing, sensory, and barrier techniques.” He felt a little crazed—it was weird to just walk up to a stranger and ask for a recommendation for a mentor, no doubt about it, but he was feeling restless and stifled and he figured—well, it didn’t hurt to ask, right?

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LAIKA OF THQ

[Kita Isamu]

The first thing Isamu did in reply to the child- Daichi’s words was groan. Of course some lost little mist child who just happened to be a sensor and sealer asked him where they could potentially get training from a shinobi that wasn’t from the mist. Of course this kid had asked him. The only primary seal user he knew of in his village, and damn if he wasn’t regretting all of his life choices right about now. The second thing he did was bury his face in his large hands, trying to decide what to do. On one hand, he didn’t want to cause an international incident by attacking someone clearly younger than himself, but in the other, he definitely didn’t want to touch this kid’s request with a 10-foot pole.

”Why is this my life?” he groaned around his hands, before straightening up and looking like the jounin he was meant to be.

”Iwa isn’t exactly known for seal users, kid. I might be the only one with any sort of mastery over them in the entire village.” he eventually replied. He definitelywasn’t suited to be a teacher, either, and he had half a mind to turn the kid away on the spot. He should’ve just worn his ANBU gear. He doubted the little chuunin would’ve approached him then, allied shinobi or not. But now here he was, stuck dealing with whatever the fuck had possessed this random chuunin to ask a strange shinobi for recommendations regarding a mentor. He debated hiding by using his ANBU skills, but dismissed the idea immediately. Even if the kid was a shitty sensor, it wouldn’t be easy to get out of his range fast enough in the village.

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

Something he said had apparently given the Iwa nin an existential crisis, because he just buried his face in his—very large—hands, groaning aloud like something unspeakable had just been asked of him. Daichi shifted restlessly from one foot to the other, glancing around them as if his surroundings might provide a helpful prompt. Alas, none was found. After a moment, though, the guy straightened up. His hair was falling forward now, thick and dark and shiny. Electricity prickled along Daichi’s skin; it took him a moment to process exactly what the guy had said. "Oh,” Daichi said dumbly, and then: "oh. Oh! You!” A very intelligent young man, Pathfinder-heir, bodyguard to the Mizukage himself, blah blah blah. Stupid. "Okay, then—can you? Would you? Teach me, I mean?” Usually he was way more articulate than this. Whatever was happening to the communication line between his brain and his mouth needed to stop immediately. "I know how to write seals, obviously, I feel like I know them pretty well, but I just—I want to learn more. I’ll take anything, honestly.” This somehow made the situation both more and less awkward—less awkward because at least now he wasn’t asking a stranger for an introduction to a stranger, but more in that he was now demanding tutelage from a stranger on the street. Objectively he knew it didn’t have to be right away, there was no urgency to any of this, but—it felt urgent. He felt uncomfortable and anxious and manic, and his instinct was telling him that if this guy had the speciality to teach him anything, then Daichi had to stay right here and learn from him.

Kita Isamu -- 283

LAIKA OF THQ

[Kita Isamu]

Isamu’s response to Daichi’s question was to quip back, dealing with the situation he found himself in through his usual somewhat rude demeanour. ”Kid, nobody can say they know seals well until they’re labelled a master. I’m a jounin and I can’t say I’ve perfected the art. If you’re aiming to train under me, you’re going to be writing seals until your fingers bleed.”

The derisive snort he’d let out at Daichi’s little comment made it pretty clear what his thoughts on the matter were. But he was in an allied village, it wasn’t like he could harm the kid, and he had a feeling the kid wouldn’t leave him alone either. He might as well teach the kid a little while he was here and hopefully never speak to him again once he left. ”I will not share any village secrets. Any training you will receive will be temporary, I have my own village, and you better prepare to train like you’re going to war tomorrow. If you don’t take this seriously I will drop you faster than you can say Fuinjutsu, got it?”

The kid wasn’t getting away from this without any kind of mini lecture. Seals were a dangerous art, a lot of the time, and he wouldn’t accept anything less than perfection. This kid would be held up to Isamu’s ridiculous standards from being in ANBU, and if he complained about it, Isamu could and would leave him to flail about by himself. It wasn’t exactly skin off his back if this random chuunin from Kiri wasn’t properly trained, Kiri wasn’t his village.

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

Whew, intense. Daichi had given himself blisters, sure, had gotten knocked around the head a few hundred times, had definitely bled on missions and in training—but never from writing seals. It kind of sounded like an exaggeration, but if it was a tactic to try to scare him off, it wasn’t going to work. He stood his ground, lifting his chin as if to say: bring it on. The guy laid out his rules, to which Daichi nodded emphatically; all were reasonable, if… dramatic? He didn’t think seals were that intense? But clearly his new mentor felt differently, and Daichi wasn’t about to say anything that would get him kicked to the curb. "Got it,” he said instead. "Whatever you’re willing to teach me, I’ll take it. What do we start with?” He paused, an awkward thought fluttering across his mind, and he hemmed and hawing for just a moment before finally voicing his next question. "And, um… what’s your name? I could just call you sensei, I guess, but…” He trailed off awkwardly, expectantly, hoping beyond hope that this wouldn’t set off what seemed like a hair-trigger frustration threshold.

Kita Isamu -- 200

LAIKA OF THQ

[Kita Isamu]

”Its funny you think you’re starting with seals. I don’t care how good your calligraphy is, you’re bringing it up to my standards before I even let you touch the kind of seals I know. And the name’s Kita Isamu. Don’t call me by my name unless you’re looking for trouble,” he responded, tone notedly impatient. He couldn’t believe he’d somehow ended up in charge of a child again, he’d wanted to stay away from kids! Was this cosmic karma for stating he’d never take on a genin team even if threatened?

Though technically, he hadn’t taken on a genin team. Just one tiny teenager. Somehow, that didn’t make things better.

”If you really must, you will address me as sensei. Not my name,” he stated with a sigh. Isamu gazed down at the short teen with a look that could only really be described as exasperation. He had a feeling this was going to be hellish to do. Luckily, he didn’t have to teach the kid any high-end seals. Nothing above B rank, at least. Any A or S ranks he knew wouldn’t be going anywhere near that kid, since most of them were village secrets. There would be no sharing of village seals here.

yamaguchi daichi

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

It’s funny you think you’re starting with seals. Daichi frowned, folding his arms across his chest. His pride was, admittedly, somewhat rankled. "I’m proficient with fuinjutsu, you know,” he said, something of an attitude leaking into his voice despite himself. He didn’t want to sound like a petulant child, and he had just asked a total stranger for help, but—that didn’t mean that he was incompetent, you know? "I can do A-ranked seals just fine—I know Shishi Heiko, I learned that one recently.” He had a grim feeling that Isamu wouldn’t react kindly to this, but Daichi felt the need to stand his ground—his calligraphy was fine, it was obviously sufficient enough to be able to pull off difficult techniques, and it would be a waste of both their time for him to practice his penmanship of all things when he could be, you know, actually working on techniques and applying them practically. That was his real problem: applying the things he learned in practical scenarios. He knew how to do things; he was a pretty good sensor, proficient with his doujutsu, had a decent grasp on barriers, was able to write seals way above what was normally expected of his rank. He was good. He just… didn’t always feel as competent as he theoretically was, considering his knowledge base. So it had to be an issue of application. Right? "I just don’t want to waste your time with that stuff,” Daichi finished, his brow still furrowed. "I’m past that level already, it’s not worth your time.”

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LAIKA OF THQ

[Kita Isamu]

”I will be the judge of what my time is worth. Not you. I’m a perfectly competent jounin and my calligraphy is just fine, but I still practice it. Do you know why that is, little chuunin? Until you can answer why, and meet my requirements to bypass that practice, I’m not letting you go anywhere near new seals. I have standards.” Isamu stated, eyes firmly fixed on the kiri nin in a rather intense stare. He wasn’t lying, either. Keeping one’s basics sharp was as important as learning the more complicated elements of the art. After all, working with A and S ranked seals required an extremely delicate touch.

This Kiri brat didn’t seem to realize that Isamu was the more skilled individual, given his questioning of Isamu’s methods. ”I’ll also remind you that you specifically asked me for training. If you can’t listen to me, I won’t train you. It’s as simple as that. As you said, it would be a complete waste of my time- to train someone who won’t listen that is. If I’m to train you I’ll need to know your grasp on the basics is solid, I’m not taking your word for it. Show me you have what it takes first.”

Crossing his arms, Isamu finally stood to his full height. He was much taller than Daichi, especially when he was standing with proper posture. Standing up tall and glaring? Those were intimidation tactics. He hardly knew anything about the kid, after all…

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

The day had started at an impasse, and the impasse, it seemed, wasn’t going to budge. Maybe this had been a bad idea? Well, yeah. Of course it was a bad idea, walking up to a stranger on the street and asking for training. What had he been thinking? Surely this wouldn’t work out well. On the other hand, he’d somehow tripped and fallen into an ideal scenario: a jounin from an allied village willing (in theory!) to teach him more advanced aspects of fuuinjutsu. It wasn’t like he had any mentors; everything he’d learned thus far had been from books, from study and theory and careful training, mostly on his own. Having an actual teacher would be invaluable. Even if the teacher in question was a bit rude, Daichi knew deep down this wasn’t an opportunity he could pass up. Isamu towered over him, even when Daichi drew himself up to his full height—the older man was a solid foot taller and glaring with a truly unimpressed expression. Daichi swallowed—pushing down his pride, mentally willing the heat away from his face. Get it together, D. There was no reason to feel so—flustered. "Alright,” Daichi said, uncrossing his arms. "Calligraphy is imperative to the practice of fuuinjutsu. One wrong stroke can change the entire meaning of the written character, which negatively impacts the flow of chakra and can render a seal inert or unintentionally dangerous.” An explanation rattled off as if he were reading from a textbook, clipped and professional and pulled nearly verbatim from one of the texts he had recently been studying. "I understand, Sensei. Where do you want me to start?”

Kita Isamu -- 274

LAIKA OF THQ

[Kita Isamu]

So the little chuunin had a sense of self preservation after all.

His glare turning into a smirk as the chuunin spoke, Isamu relaxed his posture just slightly. Not enough to change the massive height difference, but enough to seem slightly more amiable than he had before. "First order of business is finding a quiet place to practice. You’re going to show me every seal you know outside of clan or village secrets, and then I might reward you with one you don’t know if I’m impressed. Calligraphy practice will also be enacted. An hour a day if you can spare it, half an hour if not.”

That said, Isamu quietly channeled some chakra into the seals on his arms, pulling out sealing tags of his own, along with the case containing his most used brush set. He didn’t know if the little chuunin was prepared, but it hardly hurt to pull out the extra supplies. If the baby chuunin had his own, he could always practice some of his lower ranked seals himself.

He hadn’t missed the blush, but he wasn’t cruel enough to push that particular boundary. The kid was, well, a kid. He was hardly interested in children a decade younger than himself, let alone some random one from Kiri he’d known for all of 10 minutes. His dismissal of it was easy enough as he gestured for the chuunin to lead the way. This was Daichi’s village, after all. Isamu hadn’t been to Kiri yet, and certainly didn’t know the layout well enough to feel confident in finding an ideal place yet.