[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

She had not stayed inside of Tsuchi no Kuni following her recovery inside of the hospital in the city of Kuwana. It was a waste of time, that entire exam had been. She had learned basically nothing, and it had pulled her from what she was doing long enough that she couldn't find that damn old man when she had returned to Bird Country. Exhausted, prideful as she was, she was ready to give up and move on... and she had. Though not for lack of trying, rather she had been struck with the wonderful joy of recieving a summons. Oh how grand it was! The gods laughed and sang in peace and joy today! Egh, the young vipress was disgusted by that thought even in sarcasm. No, it had just been a normal summons. What had struck her though, was that she was not called to Konohagakure by that excuse of a political leader, but the Raikage. Distracted momentarily by the thought, she almost assured herself that Keisuke was some sort of temporary leader or, worse yet, a puppet lord. Then again, she had never liked him even when he was one of the head instructors of the academy. His sunshine and rainbows outlook really was the perverbial piss in her craptastic cereal when she had done nothing but suffer in those walls. She had shook the thoughts from her head, reading through it as some sort of call to Kumogakure. She had no clue why, at least not if this was related to the village collapse... Images of the dead flashed her mind at that time and she had shuttered. It was worth checking out though, especially if it meant no more Konoha still for a while longer. So she had... sort of. It hadn't lead her to Kumogakure fully, but rather a spot in their mountains that looked down on the fog banked lakes that the country was known for. Waiting after two weeks of travel for what she assumed was going to be some messanger to get her a payhcheck or something. Hell if she actually knew, the letter had not specified at all. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

Kizumi had a migraine. (it wasn’t actually a migraine; she had a bad habit of blowing minor physical inconveniences out of proportion. the woman could wrestle a rabid bear into submission, but give her a headache or a little tummy upset and she’d be whining about it for days.) The past few months? Shitshow. It was fine, though, she was managing. There was enough work to keep her busy, and as long as she was working she was making progress, and progress was the way to stop the shitshow from spiraling downward. Everything was fine. Kikai’s mayor—interim, the former had died during the earthquake—had written to Kizumi to ask for a favor. Of course she agreed. The favor, it turned out, was a little coin purse: meager, thin, but the mayor said the survivors had pooled what few resources they had to spare (none, Kizumi suspected) and insisted it go to the girl who had gone to so much effort to retrieve their dead. Kumogakure would take care of her own; but that girl was a foreigner, and Kaminari no Kuni’s people were terminally proud. Kiizumi broke into the mayor’s office and left a different, heavier coin purse on her desk before returning to Kumogakure, with a small, unsigned note attached: to your people, from a friend. But Kizumi was as proud and diligent as any of her countrymen, and she wouldn’t let the message go unrelayed. She heard from Mitsuda that Yakitsukeru wasn’t especially fond of remaining in her village anyway, which was convenient enough. Easy to write to the girl to summon her back to Lightning Country—not strictly inside of Kumo, but just beyond, where the fog rolled in thick waves over rainwater lakes that pooled in the mountain’s valleys. "Thanks for coming,” Kizumi said, coming up beside the younger girl. Kizumi was dressed plainly: just slim-fitting shorts and a chest binder, seal-inscribed leather straps at her wrists. No hat or robe of the office, not even her usual garb. Just a woman ready for training. "The people of Kikai wanted to repay you for what you did, so thought I’d deliver the message in person.” She held out the coin purse, thin and worn as it was, and delivered the message: "’The Leaf girl, with the dark hair. Please tell her thank you for allowing us to put our dead to rest.’”

Tateyama Yakitsukeru -- 395

LAIKA OF THQ

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yakitsukeru was far from find currently herself. Three countries had been crossed getting herself back home from Iwagakure since she had gone to Bird Country first originally. A week of travel had seen her recovering further and buying not one, but two scarves to wear around her face, the red and black crossing in an amiable fashion like the crossing of two snakes. Her haori had been replaced with a new one as well that sported simple green lines in varied hues rather then the flowering pattern she had used before. The seals emboidered into her haori's back with no reservation, the rush job making it obvious to an extent. Meticulous as she could be it was hard to move and sew. Her inability to stay in one place turning into a bit of a joke for herself as she turned finally to meet that cherry red eye with her own gloom-filled scarlet stare. Her lower face obscured by the scarves as she prefered it that way. Especially in the cooled air of Kumo. Sizing the woman up, she looked to be as built as they came at their height category. Honestly Yakitsu was kind of whelmed, "I knew the sssummonsss was of importance, but I am frankly sssurprisssed to sssee it isss you Lady Hachidaime-Sssama. To what do I owe both this pleasure and concccerning meeting?" A message? That caught Yaki off guard as she took hold of note and read it not needing to know what was in the bag judging by the jangle of yen coins in the bag. Her expression going neutral as she read it, she was smiling, despite it hiding. For a moment anyways. Closing the letter away and sliding it into a pocket she would look to the bag and weigh it for a moment... not enough. Cutting her finger without hesitation, she began to draw out a small seal in her blood before performing set of seals. The bag growing exponentially heavier in but a moment. The girl's expression turning from neutral to absolute hostility in a moment as she threw the significantly heavier bag at the Raikage's face. "How could you absssolutely ever think that delivering that money wasss okay? Asss little asss it isss that could of at leassst fed one of the children. Sssend it back!" Yaki spat towards the woman. Station removed from any equation running in the wrath of the vipress. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Senkin [Great Weight] - Max Cost Medium - Half Ton Weight MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

Kizumi, thankfully, had both the reflexes to catch the flung purse and the strength to hold what felt like several hundred pounds in one hand, though her forearm flexed with the effort. She held up the little bag, examining the seal drawn in blood with admiration. "Huh,” she said, bouncing the bag in her hand. "Ojii-chan wasn’t kidding, I guess.” She tossed it back, a gentle lob that would be relatively easy to avoid, if Yaki weren’t able to handle the weight of the bag herself; she didn’t want to brain her with it, though it seemed Yaki didn’t share the sentiment. "It’s my money,” Kizumi said, sitting down at the edge of the lake, dunking her feet in the water. "I took the pouch when the interim mayor handed it over, then left a fatter pouch on their desk before I left.” She glanced up, shielding her eyes from what little sun was gleaming through the heavy fog. "Lightning Country’s people are very proud, Tateyama-san. It’s a kind thing to allow someone to repay a debt, in whatever way they can.” She gave the girl an up-and-down, assessing her furious expression, the blood oozing from her finger, the scarves and haori concealing whatever muscle, or lack thereof, that she had beneath. "Mitsuda told me you’ve been working on—well, a lot of things,” she said. "Not to brag, but I’m pretty good with weaponry. I’ll train you, if you want to learn.”

Tateyama Yakitsukeru -- 242

LAIKA OF THQ

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yakitsukeru wasn't necessary surprised that the kage of a major nation could casually catch half a ton in a hand and just brush it off. She did however, find it highly unsatisfying - how could she not? Stepping a step and a half to the side the bag would betray the gentle look of the toss as it sunk onto the ground and cracked the earth below. Yaki didn't flinch at that. She thought she didn't anyways, she very visibly did twitch at the noise. The old hag would then go on to explain exactly what it was that had exactly happened and the actual action made much more sense. Of course Kumogakure wouldn't pass along what amounted to no relief. That had not stopped her initial reaction having been to impulsively listen to her anger and she was not about to apologize for that. Luckily to that point as well, Kizumi didn't ask for one. "That would have been better to ssstart off with Lady Hachidaime-Sssama. Misssconception comesss from a lack of detail, that isss how death happensss when it wasss never needed. Though I doubt you need or appreciate a genin trying an lecture you on sssuch a thing ssso I will withhold further commentsss out of the ressspect I do hold for you," Yaki would state shrewdly. Her tongue just as sharp as it ever was. Yakitsu was very clearly someone who showed respect, yet she boldly pointed out her disdain and appreciation like it was breathing to her. She was an open book to read, yet intensely hard to judge for the same reason. Even her good intentions were brought forward with rougher speech. Applying pressure to her bleeding finger and moving back to listen she would hear Kizumi's offer and tilt her head. Her expression sharp, but its hostility left with her anger after the explanation. An offer to become a disciple of a kage in a different village? Could she ask for a better offer out of the blue towards her learning of weaponry? Honestly... probably not. There was going to be a catch, there was always a catch - but that did not matter before the glutton. Her hunger for knowledge cam first and she would feed it today, "For what would I owe the honor Kage-Sssama? Asss I truly have no reassson to sssay no, it isss an incredibly generousss offer I would be incredibly ignorant to refussse. I can not asssume the tutelage of a kage would come free." TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

If Kizumi had any other kind of disposition, or was any less used to working with teenagers, she might have bristled at Yaki’s attitude; she was brusque, rude, openly disdainful. As it stood, she was unruffled; entertained, even, by how clearly Yaki made her opinion known. It was honestly charming, in a barbed kind of way. "Appreciate it,” Kizumi said, a wry grin tugging at the corner of her mouth. It almost felt normal. Dealing with a surly teenager’s spicy attitude made her feel like maybe things could slide back into a normal routine. Yaki assumed there would be a cost, and she wasn’t wrong. "Just Kizumi is fine,” she said. Too much -sama grated on her, nails on the proverbial chalkboard of her brain. "If you agree, and Lord Hokage is content to let me borrow you, I’d have you working alongside Kumo shinobi while I train you here. Help out with missions, put what you’re learning into practice.” Konoha and Kumo were close enough that she felt pretty sure that it wouldn’t be an issue—and it wasn’t like Yaki couldn’t be summoned back to Konoha at a moment’s notice if the need arose. If anything, it would probably be a weight off Kesiuke and Mitsuda’s shoulders, having Yaki in the Cloud instead of wandering the wilderness in some backwater western nation. "If that’s agreeable, I can write to Lord Hokage today to formalize the arrangements,” Kizumi went on. "We can do a little starter session if you want to get an idea of how we’ll train together before you decide, if you’d like.”

Tateyama Yakitsukeru -- 265

LAIKA OF THQ

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

"Very well, Kizumi. I agree with your proposssal," the young viper would state with no hesitation between when Kizumi finished speaking. It was an amazingly simple deal, get trained and do work that she was otherwise already going to end up doing? It was free improvement being offered from an incredibly experienced set of hands, knowledge was always power and devouring the wealth of knowledge that came with the experienced was just another boon of being like she was. Gluttony's grand reward would come from the benefits of transactions like these. Pointing to the numerous scrolls on the belts over her body Yaki would move to asking a general question, "I am certainly ready, though I would asssk if you would rather I remove my explosssivesss or not. A folly of mine, perhapsss, but I care little to rely on jutsssu even now a year into being a genin. My grasssp of ssso many basssicsss isss ssstill lacking far too much to be learning the complexitiesss of techniquesss yet." Yaki would state her position without hesitation. It was odd to here a young shinobi of any background say they did not wish to learn techiques, but Yaki was affirmed that creating a ground of the basics was the correct decision at the end of the day. One who started off with 'talent' that neglected the foundation of knowledge - that was failure in the eyes of the vipress. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

Yaki agreed more readily than Kizumi had thought she would, all things considered; she was expecting a little more snarky back-and-forth before the girl finally allowed herself to agree. Maybe she had underestimated just how eager Yaki was to learn—or how eager she was to get out of her home village. In any case, it was a net positive for Kumo, and she wouldn’t complain about getting there the easy way. "Perfect!” she said brightly, clapping her hands together. "I’ll take you to the armory.” Before they left, however, Yaki had another question: explosives. Kizumi hummed thoughtfully, taking in the sheer number of scrolls on her person. Were those really all explosives? And to not want to learn any techniques… it was an admirable approach to her education, certainly. Kizumi’s plan was changing by the second, shifting from a nebulous thing into a secure vision of how Yaki was going to succeed under her tutelage. She grinned. "No explosives for now,” she said. "I don’t want anybody to accidentally get blown up while you’re still learning the basics, but I think you’ll like what I have in mind. You can incorporate the explosives down the line no problem.” Her plan firmly cemented in her mind, Kizumi took Yaki back to the village, quietly checking in with the gate guard and signing some papers before escorting the girl to the armory attached to the training fields: where weaponry of all kinds were stored, from standard shinobi tools to shields and armor and beyond. She waved to the guard on duty and made a beeline for a rack towards the back of the room. "Here,” she said, pulling something from the wall. "This is what we’re going to focus on. It’s called a meteor hammer.” A weighted ball hung from a flexible chain, hefty and dangerous-looking. Her lone eye gleamed with anticipation, eager for the girl’s reaction.

Tateyama Yakitsukeru -- 315

LAIKA OF THQ

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yakitsukeru was likely not the sort that Kizumi was exactly used to dealing with. After all the girl cared for very little over her own personal education and gain, she would never refuse this sort of training even if the price was high. After all, she would gladly just leave and never pay those debts if she could get away with it. Doing work which made her money and lessons from the Raikage herself was like asking the girl if she wanted her cake and to eat it, you would not catch her dead complaining about the sweets. Taking a moment she would cut the seal from the small money bag that had been left to the ground. Being lead into the village in a mostly quiet manner other then being told that she would need to forgo her explosives, for now. She absolutely couldn't do that all the time, but she could lessen her number of bombs for now. As they entered the armory Yaki looked around with some amount of interest as she lifted her massive back scroll and placed it against a wall alongside a lot of the more dangerous explosive scrolls and her basic tool point, Kizumi didn't need to take a strong guess to judge them all to likely be explosive. Turning to see an odd weapon in Kizumi's hand Yaki's gaze looked perplexed. A chain weapon off the bat seemed an odd choice after all, "A bit odd for a weapon choice, but I don't sssee any given flaw that would allow me to quessstion your judgement on thisss matter Kizumi. Though I would like to know more about what you are handing me, sssince I am being banned from explosssivesss. Itsss a thrown weapon I take it? I know chain weaponsss tend to be incredibly fickle, ssso I am alssso curiousss why you believe thisss is right for me." TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

Oh, delicious. Kizumi loved a student who asked the right questions. "Chain weapons can be hard,” she agreed. "Normally I might start someone off with kenjutsu or glaivework, since they’re simpler to learn and much more commonly practiced. You, sweetheart, are a little weirdo.” She took the only other meteor hammer off the rack, looping the chain loosely around her arm and hooking the spherical weight under her arm. She gestured with her chin to the door, and led Yaki outside to the training field. "You’re already spreading yourself thin with your studies—you’re trying to learn everything, right? Ninjutsu, fuin, tai, genjutsu? Learning my style of buki would be too much on top of all that. I value versatility. Changing tactics mid-combat is the best way to win, I’ve always believed that, but you’re already doing that. Exploit people’s weaknesses. With weaponry, the best way to do that—” Kizumi shook the chain in her hand meaningfully. "—is to use a weapon that people don’t typically train with, or know how to counter effectively. Make sense?” Adjusting her grip on the chain, Kizumi allowed the weight to hang loose at her side, and backed up enough from Yaki to give herself room to begin swinging the weight around her body—building its momentum. "It’s only sort of a thrown weapon,” she said, manipulating the chain with deft movements of her hands. "Your hands are never fully leaving the chain—it’s more like an extension of yourself, a way of giving your body more reach, more fluidity. Pairs wonderfully with taijutsu teachings.” Her genuine passion for the subject at hand was clear: her eye was bright, her movements clear and practiced. It almost looked more like a dance than an act of aggression. With a final arc of the weight around her side she suddenly flung the weight forward, the bulk of it knocking the head of a training dummy clean off its torso before she pulled it swiftly back to her side.

Tateyama Yakitsukeru -- 329

LAIKA OF THQ

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yaki rarely talked to the principle philosophies that she worked under as her primary day to day comprehension of her job, and less so of why she went to great lengths to seek knowledge like she did, but she had no reason to disagree with Kizumi. She was insanely rapt in the detail that the Raikage knew about her dabblings in all fields. Something she had actually only ever shared to expressly one other person since entering the academy. Though word could always travel back, Miho to Mitsuda to Kizumi, "A perfectly valid inquiry I sssuppossse then, and an incredibly accurate anssswer for an outsssider to the Sssnakesss of Hi no Kuni. I don't particularly mind many ssstylesss of techniquesss, though I am primarily a fan of the more mechanical sssidesss to fuinjutsssu. I believe that anyone who only ssstudiesss that they show talent for isss the greatessst fool in a room, and the next isss the one who believesss that effort to make foundationsss in the fundamentalsss of even their art is unnecesssary. Ignorance isss death, and if it isss sssomething to exploit with my enemiesss then I will." Yaki had kept one of her brushes on her as she removed her scarf and haori, letting them drop with the heavy thud of a few hundred pounds hitting the ground. Not particularly carrying about her disfigurement being on display when she was standing next to a visually crippled woman. Drawing a seal onto the already hefty ball she wrote "Two-Hundred" and performed the seals to channel the chakra into the Senki. The chain ball growing heavy from where it hung from her arm, having coiled it after the demonstration. Managing the weight just fine, if one looked past the scaled skin of her face, arms, and neck there was a lot of back and arm muscle to see beneath the white shirt-dress that she wore. Following the demonstration she tested the ball and its new heft on the chain. Likely not a weight to spin it quickly on, but she was sure she could break this weapon on purpose if needed. An incredibly interesting thought as she swung it towards the dummy having picked up momentum. The weapon would roll off the dummy though as she had misjudged her own distance to the dummy, a pondering look as she rethought her throw. She could likely get there in a few more attempts if she really tried. Beginning to pull the head of the hammer to her she spoke again, "I wasss hoping to break the torssso, but thisss isss certainly interesssting. If you can remove a sssolid wooden dummy'sss head, how much of that do you think can be compensssated in difference of force by weight?" TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

Mitsuda was an old—well, friend might have been a strong word from his perspective, but Ojii-chan was someone Kizumi had worked with a number of times over her two decades as a shinobi, and they had spoken quite openly about his students during his last visit to Kumogakure. Yaki’s suspicions as to the source of Kizumi’s information were, of course, correct, though Kizumi had no way of knowing that the girl was so secretive about her pursuits. She withheld a grimace at Yaki’s cutting evaluation of those who only study that they show talent for. Kizumi had never had a talent for ninjutsu, was absolutely terrible at genjutsu, and had only ever truly cared about her weaponcraft—but she kept that thought to herself, for now. Slowing the movements of her own weapon until it once again hung loosely at her side, Kizumi watched in open fascination as Yaki dropped what seemed to be a couple of hundred pounds of extra weight from her body—the haori sent up a cloud of dust as it hit the ground—and promptly vandalized the borrowed meteor hammer. The seal she scrawled onto its surface read two hundred, and Kizumi had enough brain cells left in her skull to be able to piece together its meaning. For a first attempt, her technique wasn’t terrible. Kizumi hummed thoughtfully at the girl’s question; she wasn’t a scientific person, and she’d never been very good at math. "I’m not sure,” she said honestly, idly swinging the weight in her grip. "A heavier weight is harder to maneuver and needs more build-up of momentum before you let it fly, I think. The less strong you are, the harder it is to build up that momentum, the slower and less effective the impact is going to be. I’d focus on getting comfortable with the base weight before you go adding in variables.”

Tateyama Yakitsukeru -- 311

LAIKA OF THQ

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yaki listened while dragging the chain back towards her. Given her more cautious approaches to things she had absolutely no clues about this made sense at the very least. However, Yaki held absolutely nothing that she was doing to be a problem within itself. Kizumi seemed to agree to some degree as well, but the girl had to wonder if she was on to something with the idea of using her seals on the heavy ball and chain weapon. She was honestly fascinated with exploring a lot of what was going on here, but she needed the basics of the weapon before she started to try and get creative with it. "I can sssee that, perhapsss usssing the unweighted sssortsss will reign better resssultsss for ussse here. Though I would prefer you show me more of the basssic motionsss of the weapon before I get too deep into my own ideasss," Yaki would state as she finished dragging the ball back and picking up the chain ball scratching the seal and the weapon with the backside of the ink pen to smir and break the weight seal she had placed unabashed by the use of her chakra on the seal twice now today. Looking to the raikage she awaited to be shown the more basic moves that could be used and practiced with the meteor hammer. The girl getting more and more odd ideas into her head as she pondered the weapon, though her attention was mostly rapt upon her current teacher. A teacher she could hopefully trust to give her proper guidance on this matter. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

Yaki’s experimentations piqued Kizumi’s interest as well—she had never really considered combining fuinjutsu with her weaponcraft, frankly because she had never been creative enough to come up with the idea. Kizumi knew she was a meathead at heart, and was content to accept that. That didn’t mean she was so foolish as to let a good idea pass her by, however. She felt selfish for thinking so, but mentoring Yaki was likely to turn out more beneficial for herself and for Kumo than she originally anticipated. "Right,” Kizumi said, "basics.” Watching Yaki break the weight seal, she shook her head and made a mental note to check in with the armorer. That—that one was Yaki’s, now. She walked Yaki through the semantic stuff: how to secure the end of the chain to her anchor wrist, how long the chain needed to be in proportion to her height, that she needed to make sure the chain wasn’t too long because she needed to keep the weight from hitting the ground while retracting it. Though Kizumi’s own hands were calloused and worn enough that she was unbothered by the slide of the chain through her palms, she recommended that Yaki wear leather gloves if she wasn’t already—her hands would thank her for it later. Managing the rope length, staying in motion. The first exercise was a simple one. Kizumi instructed Yaki to follow her movements and stood with her feet shoulder-width apart, windmilling the meteor hammer in a simple, relaxed clockwise motion; once she had momentum comfortably built up, she turned to the side and extended the hammer out halfway through the spin, before retracting it back, windmilling it again, then turning and extending the hammer out in the opposite direction. "This is all I want you to do,” Kizumi said. "We can move on to rope manipulation once you get comfortable with how to move your body and how to keep the hammer flowing. Using a meteor hammer is all about constant motion, constant flow—you need using it to be as instinctive as breathing, or you’re gonna fuck up and whack yourself in the face with it.” Which was why she had insisted on no explosives.

Tateyama Yakitsukeru -- 365

LAIKA OF THQ

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

The girl listened and watched like a hungry predator as she was taught how to weild the meteor hammer more freely. Basic stance, movements, form, and all - Kizumi was masterful in the way she weilded the weapon in her hands and Yaki had to admit there was no way for her to ever emulate that in a meaningful manner. Not to that level of skill, but she could at least attempt to do so. Ever the glutton to learn she would paya attention to the weapon and begin to see it as a dance of snakes, the winding motion and freedom to the body it was clear that she was sloppy despite the free-flowing mimicry she attempted. An off-put step here, her weight pushed in the wrong direction there. She looked entranced in the study though, as if the physical medium of her body was only actually performing the motions and she was studying herself. An odd quirk that Kizumi would witness as the girl continued to build more and more up on the basics. The movements getting clearer, if still incredibly rough. There was never a way to quantify such things, but the girl would not stop as Kizumi would eventually call for her. Extension, retraction, twist, step, twist, step, rotate, extend, retract, repeat. There was a pattern to the motion, one that made the girl go into a state of repetition rather easily, though to Yakitsukeru this was the normal concentration that was needed to enter Sage Mode initially. Even if that was not what she was training she was visualizing something. A perfected form perhaps? The explosives in the room had been long forgotten. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥