[Gima Naoya]

It had been some time since the Gima brothers had been in touch, Taro having fully committed himself to the way of the shinobi several years before Naoya. So, when the youngest brother was invited out for lunch with his accomplished big bro, he couldn't have possibly declined.

There was so much he wanted to know! What adventures had Taro found himself on in the past few years? What guidance could the senior shinobi give his kid brother on academy life and forging his path forward in this uniquely challenging career? It was all a wonder to the boy and his mind raced with the potential for boundless learning. More importantly, he was eager to eat a hot meal, on what was a particularly frigid rainy day in the hidden rain.

So why then, he pondered, had his brother asked him to show up here?

The boy stood between four massive mouths whose progressive darkness threatened to swallow him whole at the intersection of Amegakure's great sewer system. Flickering yellow lamps dotted each tunnel but they did so in vain, their dull glow no match for the pitch of the underground. The only reliable light was from a crescent of day which shone down from the manhole Naoya had entered through, though that too would disappear once someone noticed it was ajar.

But, despite the... questionable setting, Naoya had learned long ago to trust his brother, no matter how ridiculous his requests were. In fact, it was always the more inane suggestions that produced the most fun.

From down what would be the southward tunnel, Naoya heard a scurrying of pads on concrete. His eyes adjusting to the dim lighting identified the brownish grey form of a small rat. But, other than the slight annoyance that it wasn't his brother, he wasn't bothered by it. The dark beneath the city streets was their home after all; Naoya was the one intruding.

Gima Taro

[Gima Taro]

It seemed like nothing was coming, and in truth, as the minutes dwelled on to nearly half an hour, one might wonder if Taro had just up and left his poor brother out in the cold. But he wouldn't do that, right?

No, not really. Taro had a sense of pristine loyalty, and his family members knew that. So when he showed up to the scene, with a bruised eye and some blood running down his mouth, it was clear he was doing what he was ever so good at doing- Getting into trouble. Getting into fights.

You'd think he'd had gotten better now that he was a Shinobi, doubly so now that he was... Well, who he was, but it didn't seem so. He stepped forward, hands swung behind his head as the hooks of his maneuvering gear slid up into their holsters.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Little Rooster. Heh... I can't say I actually expected you to come all the way here." He muttered, as he looked down the sewers towards the darkness. He was here, of course, to introduce his brother to... Well, someone very important to him. Someone who rarely left the sewers.

Someone like his sensei. He moved forward, giving his brother a big hug, and... Probably got some blood on his clothes. Awesome. If nothing else, it was still the same country headed idiot he'd likely known for so many years.

"It's good to see you. There's food inside, you know." He had made sure to tell his Sensei that this guy was coming- And to prepare the specialty dish of the Rat Sage.

And perhaps, now that he had mentioned it, the brother would be able to smell the interesting mixture of cheese and tomato sauce in the air... And bread, too? What sort of dish could it ever be?

"Come on- Lets head in. You're going to catch a cold in the rain." He lightly teased as he patted him along into the sewers. This was a quick and easy way to introduce him to all the nonsense he had been up to, without actually having to explain it all out verbally.

Plus, his Sensei was usually better with words than he was anyways.

[Gima Naoya]

The boy heard his brother before he saw him, turning in his direction with an eager grin which fell away as soon as he caught sight of the state Taro was in. Well, that explained the late arrival at least. It wasn't uncommon to see Taro looking like this, bruised and battered by whatever encounter he'd just walked away from.

Naoya immediately closed the distance. His hands hovered a few inches away from the older boy's wounds and a worried expression contorted his face as he studied the damage. Hopefully the other guy looked worse. Or, well, knowing Taro it was probably more than one person. Naoya never really understood it but some part of him hoped his brother was like a vigilante or something; not just a troublemaker getting himself beat up for no reason.

He stepped back as his brother spoke and nodded to clarify his understanding, a muted chuckle at the question of whether or not he'd even show; he'd considered declining in the first place honestly but thought too highly of Taro to allow that.

Upon mention of food, the look of worry was replaced by one of doubt. Food? Down here? In fairness he had shown up expecting it but with each passing minute he grew more suspicious of where exactly they'd be dining. If he was smelling anything, tomato, cheese, or otherwise, it wasn't mixing well with the cistern they occupied at present, so Naoya gladly followed behind.

As if no time had passed from the time they last hung out, a wave of comfort washed over the younger brother. Despite their surroundings and the barrier built by time and change, Naoya felt safe.

Gima Taro

[Gima Taro]

Was Taro a vigilante, or a bully? ... A little of both. He was not innocent, but he was not evil, either. Somewhere in the middle. If god were judging him though, he'd probably be send straight to hell.

Still, Taro put a hand out to stop his brother from touching his face, smirking.

"Relax. It's not that bad. Trust me, I've had a lot worse than this." He muttered. It was the truth- He'd once had his leg broken in two places, his arm shattered, and enough cuts to leak like a bag of milk that just got through a woodchipper.

Taro also did a good job of trying to keep his brother feeling comfy. When they had spent time together, Taro always presented himself as the one to take the blows, to fight, to protect his family and friends.

He was the front line defender, built with the willpower to take a beating and keep on pushing. So it was natural for one who knew him to feel at least somewhat safe around him- Head on a swivel, and body on alert, it was easy to see how he'd usually be the one to get hit first.

Eventually, they reached a rather small divot in the sewer system- And pushing a suspiciously rusty looking grate out of the way, he waved his brother into a rather clean (Compared to the rest) room.

"The smell to get here sucks, but at least it's nice inside, right?" He chuckled. Indeed, some sort of jutsu had been performed in this area to completely cut out the stench of the sewers around them- And it was only further held in place by the door that he closed behind them.

It was clean as well- And on a table in the middle of this, well- What appeared to be a living room build on concrete- Was a dish that some would call Pizza, depending if they'd ever seen it before. Just cheese, though.

"Grab a slice- I'll go see if I can find Sensei..." He muttered with a stretch.

[Gima Naoya]

To some extent, the Gima brothers had become estranged over the last five or six years. Taro had begun a rather successful career as a shinobi, all things considered, and Naoya had sunk into a life of conflict, mirroring his siblings in some ways. So, seeing Taro in this state wasn't completely unheard of. If anything, the inverse was a rarer sight.

But, despite the distance that grew with time, the feeling of trust that the youngest held in Taro had been present for as long as he could remember. And, at least as far as Naoya was concerned, nothing could change that. It was refreshing, like a glimpse into some long shrouded memory of the pair going on make-believe adventures through the city or traversing a forest trail or ravine as they grew too far from some family outing.

Even though the setting couldn't be more dank and off-putting, Naoya felt at home for the first time in a long while.

Entering the small hideout within the sewers was something else entirely though. It really felt like a storybook, walls covered by bookshelves and everything supremely cozy. That comfort was only highlighted by the juxtaposition to the concrete the room was made out of, though some effort had clearly been taken to cover that up. The table in the middle of the room sported some strange food that looked like a congealed cheese soup. It was warm, both literally and figuratively, and Naoya was pleased to be free of the sewer's stench.

'Sensei?' The words echoed in the young boy's head. What teacher made their roost here of all places? Knowing Taro, this was probably the home of some runaway criminal, no doubt wrongfully charged with some heinous sin and forced to carry out their vigilantism from deep below the city streets. The overpowering smell of melted cheese over baked bread drew him from the thought and he dutifully took a seat beside to table and grabbed a slice, offering Taro a nod of understanding as the boy departed.

It was a bit hard to maneuver, and took two hands to actually pull the slice free; Naoya almost hoped whoever got that next piece in line wasn't too bad with germs before he recalled his surroundings, but before long he had a long steaming slice in hand. The cheese immediately began to drip off the sides and wobbled over a bed of what looked to be a red sauce.

He took a bite; and instantly regretted it.

Pain seared through the roof of his mouth and he placed the piece back down at the edge of the dish it came from. For a minute he just sat their, bouncing the chunk of molten cheese and sauce around his mouth, afraid to let it sit in any one place for too long in fear it would singe him again. He eventually got it down but not without a great deal of struggle.

Though, all things considered, it was delicious.

Gima Taro

[Exousia]

Edo watched the boys journey from the shadows, his slender frame hidden beneath a darkened alcove. The stench of the sewer was rife here, a thick cloak of rotting garbage and feces that masked not only his presence, but the very place he called home. There were, in fact, several seals in place around the elder rat’s abode, one of which helped to filter the sewers stench from the air, as well as half a dozen others that performed various simple tasks the rat-man couldn’t be bothered to do himself. He had not made them, but he knew how to make them function, and had taught Taro how to maintain a handful of the more important ones, though some he kept secret.

Such as the one that went off the moment his student brought the stranger into his home; it was a simple seal, one that read the chakra signatures of anyone who entered and sent out a pulse of natural chakra if they didn’t match who it had been configured to recognize. The young Ame Genin had no idea of the security measures he had put in place for such an eventuality- but, luckily for the Gima brothers, Edo saw no point in terrorizing small children for an honest mistake.

So he watched, waiting for the brothers to get comfortable before he moved in, slipping through shadows and landing in front of the very culvert his young apprentice had just walked through, his eyes narrowing as he walked from the comforting darkness of the sewer into the warm, bright confines of his home with nary a sound. So quiet was he, in fact, that the elder rat was able to watch as Taro walked deeper into his home to look for him, all while the younger boy (who looked enough like his student that he had to be related) took a bite of the pizza he had prepared.

"Do be careful, young one. The first bite is always the hottest.” Edo said as the young one struggled with the hot, cheesy mass in his mouth, clearly not used to eating something so warm- or, apparently, so good, if the expression on his face was any indication. The rat-man moved slowly, shuffling his feet in a way one might expect of an old man, his gaze lingering on the pizza as he spoke to the younger Gima brother, waiting to see how he would react. "I prefer to let the cheese cool before I have a slice, but the young rarely have the patience for such things. Such is the way of the world, though. The young charge ahead, fearless, while the old sit back and watch.”

Gima Taro Gima Naoya

[Gima Taro]

Taro knew quite a bit about this secret abode. He kind of knew it was secret, but honestly... He trusted his brother enough to not do something really stupid. Or at least, if he did, Taro would probably smack them upside the head hard enough for him to forget he was even here.

"Edo-sensei." Taro dropped a bow as he stood tall.

"I hope you don't mind... But my brother was... Really interested in all of this, and I trust him more then anyone else- So..." He smiled, scratching behind his head. He sighed, rubbing his chin as he glanced around the area a bit more.

"I wanted to show him what I do! ...Honestly, I really wish I could show more people, but..." He glanced off to the side.

"Obviously, I don't want to reveal the secrets of the village..." He calmly added, rubbing his shoulder with a hum.

"S-So, did you have some sort of training in mind for me today?" Stuttering wasn't his usual thing, but... When he was around his Sensei, there was a level of respect that he couldn't quite put a pin on. He felt awkward around the older rat, not that same scrappy fighter he had around the chumps who tried to bully him.

[miyake mikio]

CONSEQUENCES BE DAMNED Ta-ko had refuuuuuuuused to let Mikio help him train. And that was fine! Really it was fine! It didn’t bother her at all to be abandoned by her teammate and then when finally reconnected with him to be completely shut out of the Secret Trainings that he was doing all by himself! Not even a little bit! So when Maru picked up the scent of the Gima boys taking some kind of SECRET PATH into the SEWERS of all places, it was total coincidence that Mikio just so happened to be traveling the same way, going into the sewers for her own personal business that had nothing at all to do with being jealous of Ta-ko’s precious little baby brother for getting to learn his secrets. And if she was surreptitious about her own entrance, careful to keep quiet and low and to the shadows, that was also part of her own private business, and had nothing at all to do with avoiding detection from the Gima brothers. She laid low along the walkways, keeping herself flat against the wall and using the dim lighting to her advantage as she watched quietly from a distance. Neither Azuki nor Maru were with her; after Maru had led her to this place, she was on her own. She crept along the path until she had a solid line of sight on Ta-ko, Nao-nyan, and… a giant rat? Edo’s whiskers twitched as he scented the air, but if he smelled anything suspicious, he kept his peace. The seal surely would have gone off for her as well as it did Naoya, but as with the young boy, Edo said nothing—there was no threat to his home, and the consequences of Taro’s failure to keep a careful eye on his six would be his alone to bear. "Indeed,” Edo intoned, stroking his wispy rat-beard. "You are going to practice meditation—the art of stillness, and of cycling natural chakra through your system. It will be dangerous. Do you believe yourself to be prepared?” He had failsafes in place—more of the seals littered about the place—but it was better if Taro did not know of them, and exercised due caution as a result. Gima Taro -- 375

MADE BY NIGHTBLOOM

[Gima Taro]

Taro was none the wiser to the girl who was spying on them. That would eventually bite him in the butt, but he was hopeful that his skills would advance to a point where he'd start being able to watch his six better. One could only hope right? But at the mention of his Sensei asking him to practice meditation- Stillness, well...

He could do that. He looked down at his hands, then his arms.

"Stillness, huh? Well... I aint too bad at standing still if I say so myself. I think I can take it." He smirked confidently, looking up towards his Sensei with a grin.

What he lacked in skill, he made up for in pure, unbridled determination. You'd rarely find someone who could get knocked down and get back up as many times as Taro could. It was in essence his greatest ability- Not that he really considered it one.

He figured, maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to take this 'dangerous task on'.

"...What is it dangerous though? What could happen?" It was important to know what was at hand here.

[miyake mikio]

CONSEQUENCES BE DAMNED From the shadows, Mikio’s tail swished excitedly back and forth, all of the thrumming excitement that normally sent her bouncing off the walls contained via brute force to just the erratic swish-swish of her fluffy pink tail. Meditation sounded boring, but danger sounded exciting, and the contradiction piqued her curiosity almost as much as it made her head hurt. What could Ta-ko possibly be up to? Nao-nya seemed equally unsure of what was going on, eating his hot-hot pizza slice on the sidelines as he watched Ta-ko and the rat-man with rapt curiosity. "It is more than simply standing still,” Edo said. "It is stillness of body, yes—but also stillness of heart, and stillness of mind. Should your balance be disrupted, it will spell your end—nature will claim you as one of the rats of this very sewer, and turn your flesh to stone. It is a careful mind that students of senjutsu must walk, to both give and to take, to cycle chakra without greed, to achieve complete and total stillness.” Taro’s pure determination was what made him appealing as an apprentice; it would also be his greatest hurdle to overcome, that stubborn belief that he could surmount any challenge if he simply threw himself at it hard enough. Flinging himself into the sage arts as recklessly as he flung himself into alleyway scraps would be sure to result in his doom… and yet, Edo had hope for him still. Foolish, misplaced hope, perhaps, but hope nonetheless. Gima Taro -- 256

MADE BY NIGHTBLOOM

[Gima Taro]

More than just standing still, huh? Taro scratched at his head, trying to get a feel for this. Stillness of the heart and mind... Well, he wasn't an idiot. He knew that was figurative. Body of stillness, a mind free of thoughts. But what worried him was the idea that if he failed... Nature would... Claim him?

He didn't quite understand, but he didn't need to. He understood the point. If he screwed it up, he'd die. So, truthfully, this wasn't something he could keep getting up from. He had to take this carefully. As prime as Taro was when it came to his stubborn, headfirst nature, he understood when a situation called for something else. He was and idiot sometimes, but not that big of an idiot.

"Alright. Yeah. I'm ready. So I just sit down... Clear my thoughts... And be really still? Should I be focusing on my Chakra?" He questioned, scratching at his head as his eyes glanced around the room. This would be tough. Especially if the price of failure was, well, quite literally dying. Or at least, he assumed that's what the elder rat meant by 'claimed by nature'. Maybe nature just branded him with a funny letter?