[Yuki Tsugime]

polly voo franzy?

People had goals that ranged from the most menial of things to grand ideas that may or may not have ever come to fruition and while there were plenty of factors that influenced whether or not a person would be able to achieve it the common denominator for them all was trying. If one didn't work towards their goal then there was little chance that it would see the light of day and that simple acknowledgement was a powerful driving force for a certain young academy student who had his own goal he was working towards.

Tsugime sat idly about in the Kiri training grounds twirling a rubber kunai around his index finger as he stared off into the hazy distance. He had come to work on another 'core technique' as his instructors in the academy called it and to be honest he didn't quite see it. The others? Definitely. Being able to make clones, switch places with an object at moments notice or transform oneself into just about anything someone could think of were super useful and something every ninja --or aspiring in this case-- should know, but the boy didn't quite see how useful these last two were. Sure, on the off chance that a literal ninja who could shoot fireballs or lightning from their faces got tied up with rope it could be ok to have but chances were they'd have something a lot cooler to free themselves with, right? And as for the other one, who in their right mind wouldn't notice someone holding up a sheet to try and blend in to the background? Ridiculous.

Regardless of his personal feelings towards the jutsu, if they could even be called that, mastery over them was required to even participate in the graduation exams so whether he liked it or not Tsugime was gonna have to learn them, but that didn't mean he had to like it. However, that begged the question of how he was even gonna learn these things in the first place seeing as how he could tie himself up and without a second person to try and spot him he'd have no idea if the cloak was working properly. This was a pain in the butt.

tagged: Kaguya Toru || word count: x || notes: x

xxx

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Yuki Tsugime

It was a particularly humid summer day, the sun was shining over the mountain peaks and the fog was not too heavy today as it often was. Summer was often the best time when it came to visibility around the village with early winter being perhaps the worst. It was warm and humid enough that Toru had gone without his shoes for the day, wandering around barefoot as he had often done in his academy and early genin days until he was actually able to afford standard shinobi sandals. Those days were long gone, but the now young leader was perhaps the same in those ways. He liked to feel the earth beneath him, even if it was not always practical. He had a light green yukata on, wrapped and tucked nicely at his waist as he wandered down from his tower.

Administrative work was not something anyone favored, and he had gotten tired of it and chose to take a lunch break leaving a clone of his to do work in his stead while went down a wrapping staircase and out one of the side doors as if to not be bothered on his way down. He had in his mind that he might eat something summer worthy. Zaru udon sounded nice, a thick noodle that was cooked and then allowed to cool off. It always made for a lovely light lunch, with a few sides to boot. His stomach grumbled and he let out a longing huff of air, a sigh, his feelings concealed by his momentary solitude.

As he wandered down a freshly and beautifully paved cobblestone on his way to a local udon shop he paused nearby the academy. He always made a point to stop here mostly to check in on instructors to see how things were progressing. He found some of the progression to be quite disappointing, and other times it was satisfactory. Sometimes though he walked by to observe the students - and today there was only one. He knew of the boy, though not much about him - a Yuki who was equally hard working and lazy.

"Tsugime, was it?" Did he remember the name correctly? He certainly tried to remember everyone to the best of his ability, it was part of his job to remember his soldiers and future soldiers.

"Warm day, why aren't you out enjoying it?"

OWL

[Yuki Tsugime]

polly voo franzy?

Idle thoughts mixed in with trying to find the best way to start his learning of the techniques. Well, technique. trying to learn a new jutsu from basically scratch was gonna be tough and though he had seen it --or rather experienced it-- when one of his instructors surprised the entire class by revealing themself out of seemingly nowhere Tsugime still wasn't sure on how to go about things, especially the 'no second person to see if it actually works' thing. Maybe practicing in a busy area and seeing if people noticed him would work? But that depended on people actually taking the time to tell him they could see him instead of just ignoring it altogether; a risky strategy.

The boy spun on his heel upon hearing his name called unsure of just who it was but expecting a classmate or maybe an instructor though the pitch was a little high for it to be the latter, and imagine his surprise when the literal Mizukage was standing before him. Eyes widened at the realization as the kunai twirling on his finger came to an abrupt halt. Had Toru seen him lazing about in the training grounds where people were supposed to be bettering themselves? Was there a talking to coming? Shit shit shit. "I.. um.. yes, Tsugime, Toru-sama." The young Yuki mustered. Normally he didn't care too much for teenagers and rarely did they fluster him outside of how weird they smelled at times, but this one was different. He was the Kami-damned Mizukage!

Question... question... answer the damn question! Tsugime's mind screamed at him. "Normally I wouldn't pass up the opportunity but these academy techniques aren't gonna learn themselves, and trying to figure out how to train the invisibility cloak when there isn't anyone to say if they can see me or not isn't helping." Tsugime replied. The other techniques, while still tough to learn, where things he could practice on alone but these last two necessitated at least one person.

tagged: Kaguya Toru || word count: x || notes: x

xxx

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Yuki Tsugime

It came with the territory of his position, the shock and immediate fear that often filtered through academy students - and others at time too - when he arrived without announcement upon their doorstep and stared at them with his lackluster gaze. He had to admit it probably was a bit intimidating, though Toru himself had never felt that when he had been in the academy. His encounters with the Mizukage were far more casual than most would probably like and his language with the woman had been crass. Apparently it had paid off because it was he who had become her adopted child. For better or for worse, her blessing had put him into this position too.

"I see." Toru took several steps forward, moving off of the cobbled path and onto the damp grass of the training arena. It was soft as always and well maintained. It was so often used that he had put out an initiative to keep it well maintained, students were given an opportunity to help clean and maintain it for extra credit. It had turned out well, the training grounds were far more illustrious and lush than they had ever been in the past.

"Then I will assist you. Show me what you already know how to do." There was always a chance that Tsugime had no idea what he was doing at all but Toru was here now and he would assist. Lunch would have to wait for the time being but his clone would be fine working on its own. In this manner Toru could maintain an entire day's workload without having duties bleed into the next day. He was always busy, and there was always something to do but even he had to take breaks - even if it meant taking on a mission - or else he would go crazy most likely as so many leaders before him that had caved under the pressures of being in this position and abandoning their post.

Toru would do no such thing, he had vowed that to himself and to his country.

OWL

[Yuki Tsugime]

polly voo franzy?

Wait, was he serious? The literal Mizukage was going to help him train? This had to be a dream, or maybe a nightmare considering the possibility of screwing up so bad he'd get held back. Toru couldn't do that, could he? Of course he could! Fine fine, relax, if there was anyone to get tips from then who better than the strongest ninja in the village, right? Besides, if the Yuki did well then maybe he'd be able to just skip right onto the graduation part of things and finally become a ninja. Listening to teachers go on and on about whatever the lesson for the day was had gotten a little stale and Tsugime was ready to take that next step!

"Uh.. right.. what I've got so far..." Tsugime would shuffle around in his pack and pull out a body length piece of fabric, plain and unassuming. He knew this was the catalyst for the technique but how exactly it was supposed to help him blend into his surroundings was still a mystery. "I know I'm supposed to use this thing but I don't know how to make it look like what's around me." The boy replied with a huff. Since it was technically ninjutsu chakra was involved somehow but compared to something like the clone technique where he knew exactly where to focus it this was... nothing. No clear direction or anything.

tagged: Kaguya Toru || word count: x || notes: x

xxx

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Yuki Tsugime

Toru just stood there, his stance was neutral and unassuming. It was not meant to be intimidating for Tsugime but he was clearly intimidated regardless with the way he fumbled with his pack pulling at a lengthy piece of fabric. In the real world, he would be forced to find his own fabric to hide behind but as an academy student it was easy to have one of those pieces handed to you.

The Mizukage glanced down to his sleeve and slowly pulled at a loose piece of string, giving it a sharp tug to rip it off.

"It is like many other techniques, you must apply your chakra." That was the more obvious thing, applying chakra to jutsu was almost standard.

"Stand where you would like to try and blend with, a flat surface is usually best when you are first learning." It was a soft instruction but Toru would wait for the Yuki to put himself up against something he deemed good enough to try the technique out on.

"Now, this technique requires some imagination. You have to figure out what your surroundings look like, then focus chakra as thin as the sheet along the entirety of the fabric."

OWL

[Yuki Tsugime]

polly voo franzy?

Apply chakra to the sheet? Well that was weird. Tsugime knew that it was the ca--cat--catalyst for just about every technique in the world but had no clue chakra could work on regular old stuff, too. Listening to Toru it seemed the trick was applying chakra to the sheet to make it match the surroundings thus letting a person be able to blend into their surroundings but it also required knowing what the area around them looked like, but it wasn't like he could turn his head and see that so there was a bit of guessing involved.

The boy King would instruct the young Yuki to find a place to try his hand at the technique, preferably somewhere flat for first timers. "Hmm." Tsugime hummed as he looked from left to right trying to find the perfect spot before settling on a grassy patch not too far from the duo. There weren't many trees behind or around it so the boy wouldn't have to think too hard about what was around him. "Think I found a spot, let's give it a shot." Making his way over Tsugime would lift the sheet high enough to cover him from head to toe; he felt silly and could hardly imagine this actually working but if it did work then the possibilities were endless.

"Spread my chakra and imagine my surroundings." Taking a deep breath the boy would try and push his chakra outwards throughout the sheet while also trying to picture the immediate area around him. The grass, ground, small bushes, the mist wafting through the area... man, there was a lot of stuff to keep up with and this was a relatively empty spot. A flicker of an image, perhaps multiple ones as Tsugime's thoughts of the area pulled his concentration. He was trying to picture everything in the area instead of the area as a whole. "Is it working? I can't tell from back here." He'd ask.

tagged: Kaguya Toru || word count: x || notes: x

xxx

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Yuki Tsugime

Toru continued to stand there, without intruding upon Tsugime's privacy he found himself staring at the ground, and wriggling his toes in the grass. The feeling was nice, and he had not done it in a while. Perhaps he could practice within the Kaguya compound sometime barefoot, reconnect to the earth. It had been so long since he had truly trained himself the way he had done in the past. It would have felt good, a reminder of the time before he had the world upon his shoulders.

If Atlas were real...

His attention was soon taken by the young man performing the technique, or at least attempting. There were flickers of images, though none of them pulled focused on the area that Tsugime was up against. Rather he was just trying to figure out where he was as a whole which would never yield the results the boy likely wanted.

"You would be able to tell, it feels... Different. But you need to focus on the surroundings directly behind you. Get those right. You are spreading your mind over the entire area instead of what is there for you to copy. Focus, do not use your chakra recklessly."

It was harder for academy students to do so, of course, but it was best to tell them now to avoid excessive chakra use in the future.

OWL

[Yuki Tsugime]

polly voo franzy?

As expected the results on the opposite side of the cloth were none too good and from what Toru was saying it was because Tsugime was trying to hard to think of everything that was in the area instead of just copying what was directly behind him. A mental picture of sorts, not a collage but a single image was what was needed to accomplish the technique and if it worked then the boy would just... know. It was a vague answer but hey if that was the advice the Kage was giving then it had to mean something, ya know?

"Ok so, if I just need to focus on what's behind me then..." Tsugime trailed off as he turned his head to get a good look at what the area directly behind him looked like: grass, couple trees, nothing too wild. He just needed to picture it as a whole instead of the individual parts. Once more into the breech. Another deep breath as the Yuki spread his chakra out throughout the cloth to try and simulate an image of what was behind him. He did this so many times on almost a daily basis without even thinking when recalling stories to friends or even just daydreaming, but having to put it into practice was surprisingly difficult.

This time instead of various flickering images there was but a single one, but it was fuzzy and out of focus, like someone was hazily remembering details about a dream. Tsugime could feel his chakra taking shape but it still felt off yet that was still a better feeling than the first attempt. "Something feels different this time, I dunno what exactly but it's a more consistent feeling." Maybe he was finally getting the hang of it, whatever that looked like.

tagged: Kaguya Toru || word count: x || notes: x

xxx

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Yuki Tsugime

Toru observed in silence as Tsugime went back to the drawing board in an attempt to try again. Jutsu were tricky, one had to really focus and really practice to get it right once. The best was getting it right twice, twice usually meant that there was an understanding enough to replicate the feeling to a finer tuned perfection. Having a teacher present though was superior to doing it alone, someone who could give out pointers so that one could arrive to the correct answer sooner than simply by trial and error. Unfortunately at Toru's level few could really 'teach' in the way that he needed so trial and error was often a symptom of becoming more experienced.

Tsugime got it right, or at least better this second time around and Toru nodded to himself briefly.

"It is better, but unclear. The image is right, but out of focus. Focus your chakra more." Sometimes those with lesser chakra control - such as Toru - had a harder time making these precise changes, though it could also be an indicator of larger than normal chakra reserves which had its own benefits even if it meant some techniques were going to be a little more difficult to perform.

OWL

[Yuki Tsugime]

polly voo franzy?

Better. It was better. That wasn't satisfactory by any means but progress was being made and that was the important part. The image was there but it was out of focus, a product of lack of control. Tsugime heard the sentiment before from his instructors at the academy, but he had a lot of chakra to throw at techniques so it kind of evened out in his head. However it seemed that wasn't going to fly here as this jutsu required at least some precision to ensure that whatever image was being displayed on the cloth looked as pristine as possible.

The good news was that the image Tsugime had of his surroundings behind him was pretty familiar so he could focus his more of his effort towards focusing his chakra better. "Got it." The boy replied as he readied himself for another attempt. He once more spread his chakra outwards throughout the cloth with a clear image of what was behind him in his head careful to not pour too much chakra into one area or skimp out on another.

Where there had been a slightly out of tune feeling before was now replaced with one that felt harmonious. The boy's breathing was settled and his mind wasn't filled with a jumbled mess of images but a singular picture of what was behind him. "This feels right.. is it right?" Asking that question before was more of a confirmation of shortcomings but Tsugime felt confident that he had done well this time around, maybe not perfect still but leaps and bounds better than before yet Toru would be the final judge on the matter.

tagged: Kaguya Toru || word count: x || notes: x

xxx

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Yuki Tsugime

Toru could scrutinize, but there was no sense in doing such a thing. It rarely left someone feeling good about what they had accomplished and while he held things to a higher standard than most, this was already an impressive stride on its own. Nothing that Tsugime would not be able to master with diligent practice, as long as he kept working on it over the course of his education at the academy. It would likely come in handy as well during his graduation examination. After all, all of the techniques were tested in the exams...

"Better. The image is clear." It was the only confirmation Toru gave, he was not one for great congratulatory statements to boast ones ego. Ego was what often got shinobi killed, so he preferred to cultivate a careful confidence and critique of ones abilities. Not self-esteem issues but always a desire to grow better to be good but to also to be hungry for more. It was a good balance he felt, in a shinobi, to be hungry to be better.

"With more practice you will master it in due time." Perhaps, perhaps not... Did not matter much, but his desire for going to get lunch had grown substantially.

"You may stay and continue your training, or you may come with me for lunch."

OWL

[Yuki Tsugime]

polly voo franzy?

Well it certainly wasn't the glowing review Tsugime may have heard from others but he was smart enough to know that he hadn't perfected the technique yet so there was still some work to be done in that regard, but this was another step in the right direction towards his goal so he'd take it. "Ya darn right I will." A sigh of relief left the boy as he lowered the cloth, a small toothy grin showing on his features from a job mostly well done. Getting one of the ridiculous jutsu down pact had been his goal for the day and for all intents and purposes he had reached it; at the very least he knew the feeling of what a good image felt like so even if the boy had to train alone going forward he had a baseline to work with. Still, there were all manners of environment types in the world that were infinitely more detailed than the one he mirrored today and getting comfortable with all that was paramount to mastering the jutsu.

Tsugime had expected the Mizukage to up the difficult level of the training but instead offered to have him join for lunch, the sudden shift nearly throwing the Yuki for a loop. "I'll never say no to food. What did ya have in mind?" The boy inquired. Being so hyped up on learning a new jutsu had covered up just how much energy he used in all the attempts, and though the kid did have more chakra than some other kids his age he was still just that: a kid, and his pool of stamina did have a limit but there was no better way to replenish it than by stuffing his face. But what were they gonna eat? It was hard to get a read on Toru since he always seemed so middle of the line. Most teenagers were either loud or awkward but this one... he was different.

tagged: Kaguya Toru || word count: x || notes: x

xxx

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Yuki Tsugime

Toru had a feeling that Tsugime would have an easier time going forward from here, and with proper academy instruction within his homeroom class he would be seeing even more progress in due time. His goal was only to give the tools instead of help perfect, he did not have time to really help anyone perfect anything nowadays. Nor was it his job, that was the duty of the many instructors equipped to do so in the academy. Toru would likely not be a very good teacher anyway, his desire for perfection would undoubtedly reflect itself upon the students at one point or another. It was likely best he was the leader and not a sensei.

"Zaru udon. There is a spot nearby, come along." Toru shifted his weight and started to walk out of the training grounds back onto the cobblestone. His step was delicate and practically silent even as they would hit the stone. Of course he wasn't going to stand around and wait if Tsugime wanted free lunch he would come along, if he didn't he would stay back. If he chose to stay it wouldn't offend Toru, who would just keep on moving along.

It was a short walk out of the administrative district and to the restaurant that had an outdoor facing front to which Toru would duck into. He would order his cold noodles for himself and pay for both himself and whatever Tsugime ordered - if he had come along - before bidding the Yuki a farewell and good luck with his studies.

OWL