[Kasumi Momochi]

A DEMON HAS PURPOSE

There is only one path left to take.

Kasumi wasn't entirely thrilled about her newest assignment, but she had been acting rather rash lately. She was sure it was intended as a punishment, really. She never real thought of herself as a teacher type, but she did learn from one that she considered quite good if she was honest.

Even now, as she stood at the edge of the cliff she remembered her own teacher. Rain poured and crashed against her skin but still she didn't waiver. "Ah... they should be here soon, I guess. If they show."

Talking to herself, but the words were quite enough that the storm hardly made her whisper audible. For a moment, everything turned white. Lightning through the sky bright enough to make her blink a few times.

Yeah, this brought back memories.

Waves crashed roughly into the rocks below her and finally she turned around from the edge of the cliff. Looking towards the green grass that led up to the point. She had sent a messenger to tell the two genin to show up here. She expected them any second now.

Assuming they had the guts to even show up. The Demon of the Mist intimidated a lot of people away. Even just reliving the memory made the trip worth it though.

Mayonaka Homare Shouki Shizuka

SPOILER: Click to show

SAs:
Demon Chakra:
Kasumi has become known for her strange chakara form. When in a dire situation, she is capable of releasing her chakra, which in turn takes a strange color unlike the normal blue color of chakra, and takes the form of a demonic cat figure. She is then enveloped in a demon shroud.

This ability grants her a fierce looking aura, that may come off as intimidating and a tenacity to push beyond their normal limits physically- when this mode is activated, Kasumi is harder to knock out or kill and will generally fight for longer than a normal body is capable of.

Keeping this ability active has a low drain on Kasumi's chakara.


Demon sword style:
Since a young age, Kasumi has felt the weight of a sword in her hands. She's practiced combat with swords, and is able to compete with some of the best sword users around. That said, people who lack training with a sword or intensive Taijutsu tend to be overwhelmed by her skill.

Demon chakra pool:
Kasumi was born with higher than average chakara reserves, letting her use more chakara and jutsu without being exhausted. A natural gift from her lineage. She has learned how to properly take advantage of these reserves.

One Handed Demon Style:
Through patience and recklessness, Kasumi has mastered the ability to do jutsu with only one available hand. She can cast jutsu only using one hand for the seals.

Demon Strength:
Through hard work and dedication, Kasumi has trained her body to be strong- even for a shinobi. She has incredible physical strength that is near impossible to match on even footing.

Equipment: Hakushika Kami, Demon's jacket

Jutsu used:

[Shouki Shizuka]

It was not long before Shizuka and Homare emerged from the grass. They were arm-in-arm, sharing an umbrella - or more precisely, arm-in-two-arms, as Shizuka had forced the Mayonaka spider to surrender two of her six. She was dressed in a heavy weatherproof cloak, jet black with tiny purple and gold clouds - the symbol of the Shouki clan - embroidered along its edges.  The umbrella Shizuka carried was a pitiful thing, hardly sufficient to shelter even a single person from the storm. Neither the fierce storm, the pitiful umbrella, nor the reluctant Mayonaka had dampened Shizuka's spirits, however, and when she spotted Kasumi she greeted her with infectious cheer.

"Kasumi-san! There you are - it's been so long. I heard you made Chuunin! Congratulations!"

Shizuka had met Kasumi before, during her academy days, despite not being in the same class. She had made it a mission of sorts to meet as many of the other students as she possibly could, inviting them to share a sushi lunch prepared with the help of her mother. Her victims, thus ensnared, were then pelted with questions and trivia about their favorite sort of fish. For Shizuka, Kasumi was just another academy comrade - for good or ill, she had no clue about her reputation.

"I brought some rice - we should have some if you haven't eaten yet, and you could tell us about the exams!"

[Mayonaka Homare]

Homare wasn't entirely thrilled, herself, about her newest training requirement, but she knew she had to learn it from someone, and she was already learning from other jounin besides the one assigned as her genin team leader. This was surely a punishment for seeking out training from another genin team leader, being forced to participate with even more ninja, and was definitely not an exercise to help her get more interaction with other shinobi in order to make her more comfortable around strangers. The rain certainly didn't help. Despite all her training with Suiton, she despised the rain, as it often caused her to feel cold as well as soaking wet. For this reason perhaps, she felt she was somewhat forced to accept Shizuka's offer of the umbrella. That and she didn't want to be rude to her other teammate, especially when she was so friendly towards her, despite her somewhat more introverted attitude.

The lightning strikes occasionally made Homare jump as well, although the strikes were often far enough away that there was little danger for them; most of the lightning was only between or within the clouds instead of slamming into the ground, so it was mostly just bright lights and loud bangs. Although the poor umbrella was doing its best, the two girls were still somewhat pelted by the heavy rain, but Homare at least felt she was more dry than if she'd gone the rest of the way to the cliff alone.

Even so, she still felt a little uncomfortable with having two of her arms wrapped up with Shizuka's, her cheeks still a little pinkish as they finally meet up with the one named Kasumi. She likely had seen the other kunoichi during her years in the Academy, but she couldn't recall the other Kiri ninja. Not that it was saying much; she had been in Shizuka's own class, and she hadn't recognized the other woman, either. Homare still wore her kimono, and kept her sword and axe at the left side of her hip, always within easy and quick reach, although she understood from the messenger that weapons wouldn't really be necessary.

The Demon of the Mist might indeed have been quite intimidating to Homare... if she knew who that was. The genin was woefully unaware of most of the important people in the village, other than her genin team leader and the Mizukage, due partially to her very sheltered upbringing from a young age, and then her introverted personality that had made her quite averse to interacting with others. Homare's answers to Shizuka's questions are terse, almost seeming rude, but nothing she says is really bordering on actually socially unacceptable - should Shizuka need to know, Homare mostly showed a bit of trepidation towards seafood, although she did seem to have something of a palette for shrimp, particularly cooked tempura style. She'd also already eaten, but she still had at least a little rice; she didn't know for sure if it would have been rude to pass on it, so she at least had a few bites so Shizuka would be able to tell that she enjoyed it.

"We should remember this isn't a social gathering, Miss Shizuka."

Although her face is still somewhat serious and intense, calling her Miss would at least be a good indicator that she does think highly of her own teammate.

[Kasumi Momochi]

A DEMON HAS PURPOSE

There is only one path left to take.

Kasumi wasn't sure what she had expected. The first one to speak up offered her rice, and Kasumi's eyes narrowed a bit. Not in frustration, but there was a tint of confusion. Shooooji? Shouki?

Hells, she knew this girl from somewhere. What was her name again? It definitely started with an S. Probably. More importantly, however... "You brought rice? Is it... in your bag? Can I see your bag?"

Kasumi would hold her hand out expectantly, waiting for the bag to be handed to her as the rain continued to pour onto Kasumi's unprotected clothes and face.

"Your friends probably right though. We're not really here socially. We're hear to learn. To be exact, we're here to learn water walking."

As if on queue, Kasumi would reach out and grab the front of Shizuka's shirt. Holding it with an iron grip. "So try to learn quick. And avoid the sharp rocks at the end here. They'll hurt pretty bad."

Without further warning Kasumi would plant her feet and yank the girl with incredible strength. Throwing her off the side of the cliff to her... roughly 10 meter drop into the harsh and unforgiving waters below. Then her eyes slid to Homare.

"Don't even think about running. You're goin' in that water."

Mayonaka Homare Shouki Shizuka

SPOILER: Click to show

SAs:
Demon Chakra:
Kasumi has become known for her strange chakara form. When in a dire situation, she is capable of releasing her chakra, which in turn takes a strange color unlike the normal blue color of chakra, and takes the form of a demonic cat figure. She is then enveloped in a demon shroud.

This ability grants her a fierce looking aura, that may come off as intimidating and a tenacity to push beyond their normal limits physically- when this mode is activated, Kasumi is harder to knock out or kill and will generally fight for longer than a normal body is capable of.

Keeping this ability active has a low drain on Kasumi's chakara.


Demon sword style:
Since a young age, Kasumi has felt the weight of a sword in her hands. She's practiced combat with swords, and is able to compete with some of the best sword users around. That said, people who lack training with a sword or intensive Taijutsu tend to be overwhelmed by her skill.

Demon chakra pool:
Kasumi was born with higher than average chakara reserves, letting her use more chakara and jutsu without being exhausted. A natural gift from her lineage. She has learned how to properly take advantage of these reserves.

One Handed Demon Style:
Through patience and recklessness, Kasumi has mastered the ability to do jutsu with only one available hand. She can cast jutsu only using one hand for the seals.

Demon Strength:
Through hard work and dedication, Kasumi has trained her body to be strong- even for a shinobi. She has incredible physical strength that is near impossible to match on even footing.

Equipment: Hakushika Kami, Demon's jacket

Jutsu used:

[Shouki Shizuka]

"Oh, not bags," Shizuka replied to Kasumi, then released Homare and handed her the umbrella. "Scrolls!" She produced a small scroll from beneath her cloak, and sheltered it from the rain. A light touch activated the seal, and from it she pulled three small pouches. These pouches were just cloth napkins tied at the top, and inside were bits of fish, surrounded by rice wrapped in seaweed.

"Err, I think it's tuna. Or maybe salmon?"

One by one, the pouches were handed off to Kasumi. That was Shizuka's mistake: it had put her within range. When Kasumi threw her, she tried to resist, but her taijutsu was useless. She spiraled through the air with a confused cry, cut off by the roar of thunder. Fortunately, the extended fall gave Shizuka the opportunity to take a breath and somewhat re-orient herself.

Beneath the surface, the world was more or less calm - the storm darkened the skies, but enough light shone through she could still see for a few meters. After some seconds sinking, she found the seafloor too, no deeper than 6 or 7 meters. The current and waves were strong, and pulled her towards the cliff. She didn't resist - the rocks, sharp as they were, meant refuge, so long as she could stick the landing.

While her equipment was somewhat heavy, no Genin graduated the academy a weak swimmer. A few practiced strokes propelled Shizuka to the surface, behind a wave, and towards the rocks - which she missed by two meters. She was nowhere near strong enough a swimmer to overcome the current pulling her into the next wave, so she saved her strength. Focusing chakra into her hands, she planned to attempt water walking. She cleared the first hurdle with ease: using chakra in her hands to push off the wave. On the second step, she tripped. When it was time to concentrate chakra in her feet, Shizuka failed miserably, sinking back into the wave as it crashed into the rocks. She only barely managed to collide feet first a meter below the surface, where the danger was somewhat minimal. 

Disappointed and tiring, but nowhere near exhausted, Shizuka prepared for another attempt. Perhaps Homare was having better luck...

[Mayonaka Homare]

Homare watches Shizuka pull out the scroll, keeping the umbrella up herself to ensure that the ink and paper aren't ruined by the rain, and she's a bit surprised by the small pouches that are pulled out. She has just enough time to eat her own meal while watching Shizuka get grabbed... and then tossed right over the side of the cliff. For a moment, her face is mostly expressionless, and then her eyes widen... This salmon thing tastes good, actually! Homare silently makes a mental note to buy some for herself after this training is done, but not before. She looks almost as unimpressed when Kasumi states that she shouldn't even think about running, and that she's going in the water. Homare was annoyed by water most of the time, but after being pelted so much with rain and having her clothes soaked through, having to go into the water almost didn't even register as an irritation for her anymore. And she understood that she did need to start learning water walking in order to be an effective ninja, and especially an effective ninja in Kirigakure.

As a matter of fact, after hearing the splash of Shizuka landing in the ocean herself, Homare herself pulls off her kimono, leaving herself in just the bodysuit, arm sleeves, and shorts, as well as the Kirigakure headband on her forehead. With a little more prep time than Shizuka had gotten, Homare makes sure to leave behind her sword and axe- removing the rust from them should they end up in the ocean would have been far worse than if they were left in the rain, at least. After setting her things down, the genin takes a running leap off the cliff before Kasumi can give her a throw, instead. It takes a little awkward maneuvering, but she at least manages to dive into the water feet-first; diving with the arms down like most normal divers would not have broken the surface tension nearly so well, so feet-first it is.

After a moment to regain her bearings, she swims upwards to reach the surface quite easily, thanks to her six arms. And now that she was in the water too, she got to watch Shizuka try, succeed at first, and then fail at her second attempt, giving Homare at least a little bit more of an idea of how to start with training to use the Water Walking skill. With the advantage of getting to watch someone else try first, Homare also begins with her hands, a much more difficult prospect for her when one considers that she has six limbs to focus chakra to, rather than only two. It takes a lot of work, and a few retries by diving beneath the waves and using her multiple arms to pull herself away from the rocks, but she eventually gets to a level of consistency with her stomach, a wider surface rather than multiple small surfaces, and she practically rides the next wive into a dive beneath the surface on her stomach before coming back up. This was getting tiring.

[Kasumi Momochi]

A DEMON HAS PURPOSE

There is only one path left to take.

Kasumi bit back the urge to laugh as Homare quickly ate, took off all of her personal effects, then dived right into the water. Maybe the threat of being thrown was better than she thought.She'd kick the umbrella away, scoffing at the device. This was the village hidden in the mist. Kasumi hardly minded the rain.

Instead, she made her way to the edge of the cliff. Siting down and setting the rice packages next to her.

"Hey! Make sure you guys don't drown fast! I'm gonna eat while you figure it out."

With that... Kasumi would start on the snack her suffering student had brought her. Of course, she was watching them. Making sure they didn't actually die. Making sure they made some kind of progress. If her bonehead of a genin partner could do it, these two certainly could right?

"Don't think about it so much, eh? Just let that chakra flow a bit. Like a web! Hey that's a great analogy! I'm good at this!"

Kasumi would finish her rice ball in two bites, then open up the other one. Presumably Shizuka's. She'd start eating that one next.

Shouki Shizuka Mayonaka Homare

SPOILER: Click to show

SAs:
Demon Chakra:
Kasumi has become known for her strange chakara form. When in a dire situation, she is capable of releasing her chakra, which in turn takes a strange color unlike the normal blue color of chakra, and takes the form of a demonic cat figure. She is then enveloped in a demon shroud.

This ability grants her a fierce looking aura, that may come off as intimidating and a tenacity to push beyond their normal limits physically- when this mode is activated, Kasumi is harder to knock out or kill and will generally fight for longer than a normal body is capable of.

Keeping this ability active has a low drain on Kasumi's chakara.


Demon sword style:
Since a young age, Kasumi has felt the weight of a sword in her hands. She's practiced combat with swords, and is able to compete with some of the best sword users around. That said, people who lack training with a sword or intensive Taijutsu tend to be overwhelmed by her skill.

Demon chakra pool:
Kasumi was born with higher than average chakara reserves, letting her use more chakara and jutsu without being exhausted. A natural gift from her lineage. She has learned how to properly take advantage of these reserves.

One Handed Demon Style:
Through patience and recklessness, Kasumi has mastered the ability to do jutsu with only one available hand. She can cast jutsu only using one hand for the seals.

Demon Strength:
Through hard work and dedication, Kasumi has trained her body to be strong- even for a shinobi. She has incredible physical strength that is near impossible to match on even footing.

Equipment: Hakushika Kami, Demon's jacket, Akuma no Ikari

Jutsu used:

[Shouki Shizuka]

When Shizuka noticed Homare in the water with her, she was instantly jealous. Homare had always been somewhat stronger and faster than her, and with six arms, she could probably conquer the current and climb the entire cliff with physical ability alone. It was a point of pride, then, that Shizuka at least had somewhat better chakra control.

Her second and third attempts drowned that pride in the storm. The control with her hands was perfect - though she wasn't sure why, and had no time to transfer that mastery to her feet. Whenever the chance came to stand on the wave, she failed. While these failures were not as sharp as the first, she could only delay her fall the tiniest moment before one foot or the other sank, or broke surface tension.

There was not even a second for Shizuka to think her way through these failures. Every time she was forced beneath the waves, she had to fight harder to reach the surface. Her equipment was a constant drain on her stamina - the precious cloak, waterlogged scrolls and talismans, two dozen senbon, half a dozen kunai, and three damned sponges meant to absorb poison - not water.

A survival technique bought Shizuka enough time to think. Flipping her heavy cloak backwards, so that the hood rested on her chin, she flung it across her body lengthwise in a dramatic motion. The cloak caught the air and trapped it, creating an air pocket that gave her enough buoyancy to float. Even if a wave dragged her under the surface, so long as she guarded the air pocket she could float again without great effort. It was not much rest, and it would not be long before the waves threw her against the rocks again. But, perhaps with the time she had bought, her next attempt might be better planned.

[Mayonaka Homare]

Homare, lacking such an acute level of chakra control, is having a much harder time getting herself to focus chakra into a much smaller area, and so the best she can do is cover her torso with the stuff in order to maintain a bit of control on her position above the water. The way she's doing it drains far more chakra than is necessary, however, and it starts to tire her out too fast. She releases it when she can feel her chakra draining too quickly, allowing herself back down under the water so she can swim forwards again with all six arms pumping to bring her back out to sea a little. Homare takes a moment to stare up at Kasumi when she suggests thinking of it like a web; the Mayonaka kunoichi's eyes squint a little, not sure if it's meant to be a reference to her clan's web-making techniques. Not that it matters if it is; she hadn't learned to use such techniques even if it were a reference that could be used to help her out in this situation.

Apparently, she needed to think about it less and just let the chakra flow, but she was a headstrong kind of girl, and she tried again with her stomach. This time, she pushes more and more chakra out as she tries to sit up, practically making the sea water glow a little with it, but her chakra simply breaks the surface of the water and she falls through again, proving to her that this isn't likely what Kasumi meant. The genin comes back up and spits out another fountain of water from her mouth. It was really more annoying than tiring, especially with the amount of focus required when she was already being pelted by rain above and smashed by waves around her.

[Kasumi Momochi]

A DEMON HAS PURPOSE

There is only one path left to take.

The two seemed to be trying there best in earnest, but Kasumi wasn't impressed quite yet. Of course, in her own memory of learning the technique she had grasped it nearly instantly. She hardly remembered struggling against the current as she did, her skin scraping the rocks. Only the success at the end.

"Did you just make yourself a floatie? You know that's not really the point here, right? You're supposed to use your chakra! Chakra! You don't get a pass for just not drowning!"

Kasumi would start eating again- making it more than clear she had no intention of sharing the rice with the students if they took too long to learn.

"If it's any motivator, when I did this training one of my partners drowned here!" She lied, but the concept of this being a literal sink or swim test was still the entire point she threw them in the water. "I suppose your only real options are to learn or die here. That little cloak floatie ain't gonna last forever you know."

Sure, horror stories might not be effective on these genin like they were on Kasumi, but it was the only way the Demon of the MIst ever really taught herself. Kyouka was a perfect teacher for her, but that fact hardly meant that she would be a good teacher in turn.

Shouki Shizuka Mayonaka Homare

SPOILER: Click to show

SAs:
Demon Chakra:
Kasumi has become known for her strange chakara form. When in a dire situation, she is capable of releasing her chakra, which in turn takes a strange color unlike the normal blue color of chakra, and takes the form of a demonic cat figure. She is then enveloped in a demon shroud.

This ability grants her a fierce looking aura, that may come off as intimidating and a tenacity to push beyond their normal limits physically- when this mode is activated, Kasumi is harder to knock out or kill and will generally fight for longer than a normal body is capable of.

Keeping this ability active has a low drain on Kasumi's chakara.


Demon sword style:
Since a young age, Kasumi has felt the weight of a sword in her hands. She's practiced combat with swords, and is able to compete with some of the best sword users around. That said, people who lack training with a sword or intensive Taijutsu tend to be overwhelmed by her skill.

Demon chakra pool:
Kasumi was born with higher than average chakara reserves, letting her use more chakara and jutsu without being exhausted. A natural gift from her lineage. She has learned how to properly take advantage of these reserves.

One Handed Demon Style:
Through patience and recklessness, Kasumi has mastered the ability to do jutsu with only one available hand. She can cast jutsu only using one hand for the seals.

Demon Strength:
Through hard work and dedication, Kasumi has trained her body to be strong- even for a shinobi. She has incredible physical strength that is near impossible to match on even footing.

Equipment: Hakushika Kami, Demon's jacket, Akuma no Ikari

Jutsu used:

[Shouki Shizuka]

With the assistance of her improvised flotation device, Shizuka finally had some time to breathe and think. She listened closely to Kasumi's words, expecting some helpful advice correcting the errors she was making, but the young Chuunin was a poor teacher. The threat of death did nothing to motivate Shizuka - children of the Shouki clan grew up so close to death that nearly all of them were numb to it. She was forced to reflect and improve on her own.

Shizuka watched her teammate while she pondered. Homare was having trouble pulling herself out of the water, and had taken to forcing chakra through her body, rather than her hands, to float. Shizuka wasn't quite sure what to think of that. Perhaps Homare found one point of contact easier to manage than six? Then, a sudden realization struck her - one she felt foolish for not thinking of sooner. Of course one was simpler than six. Each point of contact required a strong level of control to maintain. A slight mistake would break the balance, ruining the other points in turn. It would be hard enough to stand on a calm lake, nevermind ride a wave. But if she only needed to maintain one foothold, perhaps she could do it.

Shizuka started her next attempt without hesitation. Her hands brought her on top of a wave as easily as they had before, though now she understood why. For almost a decade, she practiced a method of traditional fishing which required her to channel chakra through the line to prevent it from breaking. Just like with water walking, there was a delicate balance between too much, and too little chakra.

When she stood on top of the wave, she concentrated on only a single foot, balancing precariously as she hurtled towards the rocks. She spotted a safe landing area, and aimed her jump carefully. Unfortunately, leaping from a wave with one foot was no simple feat. Shizuka missed her target by a great deal and was forced to catch her fall on a particularly nasty spike. The jagged rock cut through her glove, badly. Nonetheless, she was safe. She climbed a few feet, finding a spot large enough to sit on and rest. Before she could continue, Shizuka would need to store all her equipment and tend to the gash on her hand.

[Mayonaka Homare]

Homare is not so motivated by the suggestion that she might die in this rough surf. She didn't need Kasumi telling her that, the salty taste of the waves trying to wash their way into her mouth was proof enough that she might end up being fish food more than a kunoichi. She mostly ignores both Kasumi and Shizuka: after all, she needs to focus so intently on making enough surface area to stay above the water line that she can barely consider anything else. The storm and the water are distracting enough, she doesn't really need any additional stimulation to make her realize she needs to get herself up.

Another wave crashes on top of her, but she pushes more of her chakra down underneath her torso, and it momentarily crushes her before the water instead flows past and around her, and she rises back up to the surface. Although she's not so great at controlling how her chakra moves about, she's certainly great at pushing a lot of it out, it seems. With that in mind, she decides to try getting up on her feet, and she starts by riding the waves back up on top of the cliff face, giving herself enough breathing room to get vertical instead of being stuck horizontal, which was keeping her from trying to stand upright on the water like she'd seen before. She's at least proved to herself that she can extend her chakra over a single part of her in order to maintain buoyancy, but now she has to apply that to a much smaller surface area, and split in half between each foot.

Fearlessly, she leaps down, pushing a great deal of chakra to the bottom of each foot. Although this might have worked with a bit more finesse, instead the chakra on the bottom of her feet creates a buffer too high to maintain control, pushing the water away from under her feet and causing her to plummet into the water after it instead. At least with six arms, she's able to climb back up out of the water again rapidly, like a spider up a wall. The Genin spits some of that salty water back out of her mouth, coughing a little as she regains her breath.