[Hyūga Shigure]

the price of freedom is steep

Tateyama Yakitsukeru Shinobi Academy 400 words

It wasn't very often that Shigure found himself near the Academy, it had been ages since he had graduated despite the fact that he was still a Genin. He didn't come to the area willingly, though, he had just been distracted by the Takoyaki he had been eating while randomly strolling across the streets of the Hidden Leaf. That happened to him quite often, to be honest, when he wasn't busy training or in a mission. Free time was becoming more scarce and he didn't mind it much, but he had to admit if felt refreshing to have a day where he could just not think about anything important, other than the seasoning and smoothness of his octopus treat. "It's cooked to perfection!!" he said to himself as he devoured another skewer of Takoyaki, leaving only two untouched. That was when he noticed that he was walking just beside the academy and he stopped. His white eyes stared at the building and a bittersweet smile took over his face. Memories of his former classmates, his original team, the times he had fun fooling around with Kaito, or when the boy would share who his secret crush was, and how happy he was that they all ended up on the same team, while Shigure complained about being the third wheel jokingly. It was an almost innocent time, in a way. With a deep breath, he made his way towards the swing in front of its entrance and sit there for a bit, taking a sip of his bottle of tea. "Almost feels like it was a lifetime ago... So many memories... I wish they were still here to share this feeling with me..." he said, with the subtle smile on his face. The sun was now being covered by thick gray clouds, it was likely going to rain soon, and although that would mean his Takoyaki would be ruined and soggy, he for a change didn't seem to care too much. The thoughts in his head meant more to him than his food, and that was quite a statement considering just how much of a foodie he was. For once, he was completely unaware of his surroundings, he was just giving in to the plethora of memories storming his mind, hoping that, for a brief second, he could actually travel back to those simpler days.

made by eden @ gs and thq

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Unlike those that could reminisce past their prime of the academy, some people just found that they never felt like leaving. Not until they found a reason at least, and for the Snake Girl herself, that reason was found in the great Sage. Stuck on the academy grounds at least for the end of the day, Yaki found that she didn't really have a whole lot of anything to truly distract her... or generally to study from. At least not for what she was attempting to do already. Substitution with her snakes... not that she could do that yet. Yes! For someone who bragged on having mastery over the other academy jutsu Yakitsukeru did struggle with one. The oldest trick in the book: Kawarimi no Jutsu. A quick lick of the air would forewarn her of the moisture, her practice would be cut short if she stayed, so she would simply begin to leave. It was the play of a century, a genius move, and something that was so sensical that the dumbest dolt could decide that they needed to leave... knowing that there was a village hidden in rain would further the general gloom of the young girl... who in their right mind would live in a place like Arashi no Kuni? She didn't know, but the person at the entrance might... what was this idiot doing actually? Staring into space like they were seeing old memories, a dolt was located. "Are you here to help sssomeone, or are you just gawking like the crowsss?" Came a sharp remark from the girl. As she looked at her superior, a depressive and upset look plastered to her. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hyūga Shigure]

the price of freedom is steep

Tateyama Yakitsukeru Shinobi Academy 312 words

Lost in his thoughts, the usually attentive and perceptive Hyuuga was surprised by the voice that awaken him from his daydreaming and trip down the memory lane. Looking up, he saw a girl with a rather unique feature. He eyes were crimson red and slit, just like a snake, her complexion was rather pale, and her hair pitch black. Yet, that didn't look weird to his eyes; it was oddly beautiful, just like a painting. But the impression of her feature was quickly replaced by a reading of her attitude, her words and body language - the Hyuuga was fairly good at that - which allowed him to see a certain sadness and anger hiding deep inside the crimson of her eyes, and that made him a bit sad. She looked young, too young to be nourishing such feelings, but then again, he was just like that back then, he could understand. With a kind and gentle smile forming on his lips, he chuckled lightly at her words and shook his head. "I was merely daydreaming and remembering my time in the academy... Those were good, fun years!" he admitted. Then, looking down to his hand he saw the two skewers of Takoyaki, one yet untouched. Offering the octopus treat to the girl, he widened his smile. "You look a little sad... Please take this Takoyaki, it is truly delicious! Food always makes me feel a little happier when I'm down." he said, chuckling a bit more as he realised just how silly he could be at times. His attitude was friendly and he seemed like the caring type. His very casual clothing could fool many people into thinking he was just a civilian, but the leaf's headgear on his forehead was the proof of his life as a Shinobi. "My name is Shigure, from the Hyuuga clan. What is your name?" he asked.

made by eden @ gs and thq

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yaki would give the boy a disinterested stare, the twenty year old genin seeming to have not struck any sort of chord with the girl in his attempt to explain what he was donig standing around here. Yakitsu had asked, but she hadn't cared enough to know, his answer did seem to strike some level of necessity to respond at least so she would, "I do not sssee what is ssso fun to you about thisss place. I have been here passst when I wasss meant to and it hasss been dreadful. I am ready to leave." As he looked to his food, Yakitsu would gain a feeling that she was being looked at on a deeper level than what she was comfortable with on a surface level. Woman's tuition perhaps, it was not a perverted vision, but one that looked at her on an emotional level; pity or sameness... she hated it and her glare would grow in responce to the offer of food. That was until her stomach would grown quietly, but more than audibly. Turning her head away she would speak again, "Sssadnesss is for those that look for pity and attention. I want neither, thank you. I will that the food out of consssideration of the offer and nothing more." Takoyaki was not her favorite, preferring the taste of plain rice over anything else, even if it wasn't conducive to a living body to just eat white rice... Kazui would have gotten onto her... damn idiot, "Tateyama. I do not know you ssso you can call me as one would my family." She would nearly hiss in response at the genin. Though her attitude was hostile, like a coiling snake it seemed more to do with her general demeanor than her trying to snap at him with such harsh words. TAGGED | Hyūga Shigure NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hyūga Shigure]

the price of freedom is steep

Tateyama Yakitsukeru Shinobi Academy 365 words

The girl seemed quite jaded for someone so young and an academy student of all things, but Shigure knew better than judging people without properly knowing them; he went through hell when he was probably her age or younger, and that destroyed his mind and shattered his heart. When she said she had been there past her time and was ready to leave he felt a sense of sympathy towards the girl; he felt the absolutely same thing about his rank as a Genin, and he couldn't wait for a chance to take another Chuunin Exam, and this time he would make sure he was ready to successfully complete the exam and claim the new rank. "I see, guess our experiences with the academy were just different." he said, not losing the smile or the friendly tone. SHe took his food, but not without giving Shigure a piece of her mind - and what a piece - but that didn't faze him and his reaction was to nod. "I am happy you accepted it!" he said as he handed the takoyaki over to her. "But I do disagree with you on the sadness subject, but again, I will not patronise you on that." he wasn't one to just call people out, especially when they didn't really seem ready to hear a clashing opinion. This girl was completely on the defensive, almost as if she had been hurt before and felt the need to build such tall walls around her heart. It was sad, he thought, but maybe - with patience - he could get through to her. As she formally introduced herself, restricting it to her last name, he nodded. "Very well, Tateyama-san. You can just call me Shigure, but if that makes you uncomfortable, you can call me by my last name." he said, pausing briefly. Shigure pondered for a second, but he decided he would engage in further conversation. Worse come to worse, she would just walk way. "And, if you don't mind me asking, is something wrong? I may be reading into this too much, but you seem to be angry, and I can't believe it would just be due to annoyance with the academy, am I right?" he asked.

made by eden @ gs and thq

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

The younger girl would coil at the intuition of the fool before her. He was just another random member of the village so what did he care? Or so what if she did? Kazui was gone and she needed to graduate so that she could pursue her inheretance as well as the only person that had attempted to understand her without having utterly pissed the snake-like woman off. She would swallow the takoyaki quickly. "Why I would be upset is none of your business! Respectfully, do not go digging into my business when it doesn't involve you." The gloomy mood she exuded seeming to grow in her agitation, her hair rising as snakes began to raise up from inside the collar of her yukata to peer out at the world as if reacting to her emotional outburst of sorts. Her expression would soften again though as she quelled herself. Deciding it wasn't conducive to get mad at whatever random decided to stick their nose where it didn't belong, she would sigh. "Hyuuga-San, I believe no one experiencesss thingsss the sssame. Itsss bessst not to try and think in that manner. I sssimply need to correct my behavior and requessst to tesst once more, though. Sssuch asss properly usssing the Kawarimi technique. " Yakitsukeru would respond much calmer than before as she ate another piece of takoyaki, making eye contact from beneath her bangs with her senior. TAGGED | hyuugashigure NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hyūga Shigure]

the price of freedom is steep

Tateyama Yakitsukeru Shinobi academy 304 words

This girl was quite the savage, he thought, but he didn't take it personally; some people just closed themselves in and avoided letting anyone come even close to breaking their own shells. He didn't know her, her story, and what led her to be like this, so he was in no position to judge. But if he could be of any help, he would gladly offer her an aiding hand. Keeping the friendly smile on his face, he shook his head at her words. "I didn't mean to pry, so I apologise if I crossed a line. I was just concerned, as a fellow shinobi from the Leaf." he explained, pausing briefly as he thought of which words to say. "Call that comradery!" he said, widening his smile a bit. He saw a couple snakes coming out of her collar and thought that it was quite interesting, if not peculiar, that a young girl had such an exotic type of pet, or maybe it was a kekkei genkai he had never heard of. "Interesting..." he thought to himself. But then something felt different, almost as if she was trying to improve her overall behaviour and be more polite. Shigure arched one of his brows, and when she mentioned requesting another test and the substitution jutsu, he quickly put the pieces together. "I see... Kawarimi is not too hard to master. Again, I don't mean to be inconvenient or anything, but... If you want, I can show you how to do it and give you some pointers." he offered. Considering her behaviour so far, he had no idea if she would take on his offer or not, but hey, all he could really do was offer help, it was up to those in need of help to accept it not. That's how the world works.

made by eden @ gs and thq

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yakitsu couldn't comprehend this man before her who was so plainly ignoring the fact that she was being nothing, except rude to him. Yet here he was still interacting with her... she could twist this situation around probably... She had too many things on the line to be this moody with a helpful senior anyways. To continue was like asking to never see Kazui again, "Camradery... thatsss a firssst," Kazui was a comrade first... she needed to learn the ways of her inheritance and find her friend sooner rather than later, "if that isss the cassse then I will accept your apology. Pleassse do not pry into my personal mattersss further than you need too." Even if that meant swallowing her pride for a moment. She would look down and act as if bowing, despite her anger rising at herself for being this pathetic. For lowering to anyone, and more so for even thinking about that traitor she had called a friend... that she still called a friend. She needed to make up for this immediately. Clenching her hands together she would feel as though her snakes were writhing in her gullet as she forced out her words. "I... mmmmmm," Yakitsukeru would stutter the sage apprentice finding it hard to keep up the facade of calm and accepting, even with someone who was continuing to be nice. He wasn't hostile... and she needed to find Kazui sooner rather than later. If it was for Kazui she could suck it up, biting her lip slightly she would look down as she broke skin hiding her upset eyes from the Hyuuga's gaze,"yesss please." TAGGED | Hyūga Shigure NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hyūga Shigure]

"there and back again". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." TRAINING The young Hyuuga chuckled at her response at the mention of comradery. "You should probably get used to it. You will find many fellow Leaf Shinobi eager to help a comrade." he casually explained. Shigure himself had been helped by a plethora of shinobi, not only from the village, but from allied nations as well. There was some degree of acceptance from the girl, and Shigure just nodded in agreement. "I will try not to pry, but know that I will be here to listen the moment you feel like sharing." he added, making sure to keep that venue open in case she eventually needed. We never know what tomorrow will bring. Still, he had to admit he was quite surprised by her hesitant bow, he thought she would more nonchalantly accept his offer to help her train, but seemed like the girl - despite her pride, was wise enough to take a reaching hand that could help her grow. With her accepting the offer to train, Shigure nodded enthusiastically to her and got up from the bench. "Very well." and as his eyes gazed up the horizon to the east, he pointed his finger to the area. "There's a training field a kilometre that way, let's use it! Follow me." and without further ado, Shigure darted towards the place at a fast pace, but allowing the girl to keep up with him. He knew very little about her innate abilities and affinities, but for a training such as the Kawarimi, that knowledge was not really necessary. Once he arrived at the open area, Shigure would quickly leap from tree to tree, collecting some pieces of wood she could use for her training. He placed a pile of around five of them in front of her. "Alright! We are all set to start!" he announced in a rather excited tone. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." Kawarimi Training Training Field 1 [Tateyama Yakitsukeru] [311 words]

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

"I will keep thisss in mind for the future Hyuga-Sssan. I, however, will have to passss on the talking. It would be a wassste of energy for both of usss." Yakitsu would say brushing the boy off in the regard of his attempt to show some form of empathy for her. She didn't care for his sympathy, or his nice words on a matter she would keep to herself. Kazui causing her unease and distress by leaving was her business and not that of this failure of an adult in her eyes. As he readily agreed to train her, the sage appretice was caught of guard to some extent. He did not hesitate in trying to drag her to a training field on the far side of the village either. Despite their position by the academy grounds that had its own field. She wasn't given time to truly rebuttal with such common sense though as her now soon to be temporary mentor ran off. Sighing in anger and frustration she would begin to chase. Unless the boy slowed down on occasion she would slowly lose pace with Shigure as Yakitsu was far from an ideal athlete. In shape and running fine the whole time? Sure, but she was not doing so at the same pace of this older boy. "hhhhh Hyuga-Sssan... academy... the grounds... they were far... closer!" The raven-haired girl would stammer out as she tried to catch her breath as she finally arrived after having followed her senpai here. TAGGED | Hyūga Shigure NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hyūga Shigure]

"there and back again". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." WARM UP Shigure chuckled at her stubborn words and shook his head. "Oh, I disagree completely, but I will respect your decision nonetheless." he said in a kind tone. Then, without further ado, he dashed towards one of the leaf's training grounds while Yakitsukeru struggled to keep up. Shigure smiled mischievously and laughed a bit when she mentioned - through her laboured breathing - that they had plenty of facilities in the academy, to which he nodded. "I know, but we would miss out on this nice warm up! Getting your heart some work out will help molding your chakra for the training!" he added in a quite enthusiastic tone. Not long after they departed, he arrived at the Training Field one, a glade by a river and near a rocky cliff. There were plenty of trees there to be used for their training, making it a very suitable field. Shigure would stand there and wait until the girl showed up, and once she did, he would speak to her. "Take a moment to catch your breathe." he paused, waiting until she was ready to move on with their training. Once she gave him a sign or told him she was good, he would nod. "Alright then! The Substitution Technique is fairly simple, but extremely useful. It is a technique that focuses on replacing our location with that of an object. You need to prepare which object will be used in advance, and the object needs to be within your range." he started, raising his index finger. "Once you perform the necessary seals, those being Tiger, Boar, and then Ox, your chakra, attuned to the object, will allow you to create a momentary optical illusion, giving your shape to the object as you switch places." he explained, placing his hands on his waist now. "Questions so far?" Shigure asked. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." Kawarimi Training Training Field 1 [Tateyama Yakitsukeru] [308 words]

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Controlling her breathing, attempting to use chakra to help as a way of stimulating her chakra further she would calm her breathing rather quickly. This came with the amount of training that shinobi were expected to undertake to succeed. Expending chakra was simple enough to help with minor things, and it caused one's pool to expand. Similarly she was told that using too much chakra to mold was fine as long as you met the minimum. The theory of chakra control came from finding the absolute minimum, but that did not work well for those that have massive reserves. Recently hers had been expanding rapidly, or so the sage had told her. She had plenty to use. "Yesss, Yesss, I know the basssics of the technique. I ssseem to struggle more with the actual ussse of it. My Sssubssstitute sssometimes doesss not activate dessspite what I did to fix my ssseals asss you can sssee I do them perfectly," Yakitsu would waste no time demonstrating the handseals with no imperfection to the seals themselves an overwhelming high amount of chakra would be used compared to what was necessary if Shigure were to look using their kekkai, "the issue is the activation. Ssso why doesss it fail ssso often for me?" TAGGED | Hyūga Shigure NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hyūga Shigure]

"there and back again". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." ISSUE The girl said that she knew the theory behind it, but that sometimes the technique wouldn't work for no apparent reason, and that was quite intriguing. Shigure touched his chin in a rather thoughtful expression, but then he decided that the best way to deal with that was to witness it. "That's interesting, and intriguing... Well, let me take a look at your chakra. Byakugan!" and upon uttering those words, the veins bulged on the side of his face as his doujutsu was activated, thus allowing him to see inside of her chakra pathway system. "Go ahead." he said, and upon saying that, the girl started performing the five hand seals necessary to use the Substitution Technique, and he immediately noticed something off, which made him widen his eyes and arch his brows. "Wow... I see what the issue is!" he exclaimed, nodding emphatically. "You are using an unnecessary amount of chakra. The more is not always the merrier, especially when using techniques that require more precision and control. Your overwhelming amount of chakra is actually getting in the way of the substitution. So I guess we should start by training how to control your chakra better." he said, lifting his index finger. "Please sit down, Yakitsukeru-chan. I want you to close your eyes and focus. Try to feel the chakra inside of you. Let me know when you feel it, okay? And then I will let you know what the next step is, alright?" he said, cracking a gentle and kind smile on his face. Shigure never thought about being a teacher of any sort, but oddly enough he kept on finding himself in such situation. Maybe he could follow that career in the future? Who knows, it wouldn't be so bad, wouldn't it? "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." Kawarimi Training Training Field 1 [Tateyama Yakitsukeru] [300 words]

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Control? Tateyama Yakitsukeru was a paragon of control! What sort of arrogant idiot was this boy to question her- no no she needed to just listen to this moron. Even if he was right, she didn't want to inwardly admit defeat to his strange older boy. A Hyuuga though, she had never seen their prized dojutsu other than knowing of its existance, so at least she got to experience a shinobi marvel in and of itself. She would hiss out a breath outwardly in response to her failure. "I remember being informed once upon a time that usssing more than necesssary wasss of little consssiquence. That isss untrue then?" Yakitsu would say with a glowering look, not directed exactly at Shigure, but notably for whoever had lied to her face about such a simple matter to be honest about, that was until Shigure would get a little too chummy and the sharp crimson gaze would dig at the genin. "I will sssit, but may I pleassse remind Hyuuga-Sssan, that I would prefer you refer to me by my family name. I do not know you that well, and your sssudden disssregard is not well to build trussst if you really wanted to." The girl would say as a few snakes would slither out over her arms as she sat down and brought her arms together, wrapping around her wrists and up her arms with a calm stillness. Thinking inward she would feel out for the source of her power, the well of chakra inside of her. A hiss would come from her lips as she nodded to try and affirm she could feel her chakra flow, easy for one who practiced the beginnings of meditation in sage arts. TAGGED | Hyūga Shigure NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hyūga Shigure]

"there and back again". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." CHAKRA FLOW Shigure nodded. "If you use more than necessary when using, say a fire ball jutsu, then it is of little consequence. However, when you pour too much chakra on techniques such as the substitution or even tree climbing, it will not work properly. The reason for that is that the excessive chakra may get in the way of the execution of the technique. I know you can't really see it, but those eyes of mine can see it clearly." he explained, unsure on how much she knew about the Byakugan, despite being a citizen of the Hidden Leaf Village. Then, when she accepted to just sit down and concentrate, she did add to the fact that he should treat her more formally, which made Shigure chuckle lightly. "Alright, alright... Tateyama-san! But I will only do that if you call me Shigure-kun instead. You know, calling me by my last name is too formal for me." he said, winking to the girl in a more playful way. Now, back into the focus of the training, Shigure watched as she sit down and in a short amount of time, she made a sound indicating she felt it. "That was quick! Good job Yaki... Sorry! Tateyama-san!" he flinched, quickly correcting himself. "Now I want you to feel the flow of chakra inside of you, try to feel how it moves inside your body, the direction it flows. If you have a hard time, try using a hand seal and start molding chakra, this prompts the chakra to start moving a little faster, so it is easier to feel, alright?" he explained, keeping the girl under his watchful doujutsu, so he could see any variations or anomalies that might arise from her chakra network. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." Kawarimi Training Training Field 1 [Tateyama Yakitsukeru] [294 words]