[Hono Kin]

Little Kin was usually sent to do small and menial tasks, but today, she got to go on a little adventure on her own. The six year old was given a small series of packages to bring along a basket on her back. Making her way, the little blonde takes her walk through the village, going on what felt like a forever trek until reaching the gate. The tall and imposing wall that rest around their village home. "Ohayo!~" She says cheerfully, but shyly, as she slowly digs the tippy toe of her sandal into the floor. It was possible that the guards might recognize her, or at least Saya and Koji assuming they were all there.

"My Okaa-San sent me here to deliver you all lunch." She says with her eyes shining. Bowing politely in respect to her seniors, she slowly slides the basket off and shows three neat bento boxes. Neatly wrapped with colorful cloth. Three boxes. One for each of the guards. She shyly steps forth and takes one. One wrapped with blue and black cloth and offers it with both hands to Koji. The soft spoken thing steps back and folds her arms neatly behind her back. If he opened it, he'd see there was rice, mixed with sesame seeds, taro potatoes that have been seasoned with soy sauce, as well as bits of roasted sweet pork that had onions, spring onions, and some pickled radish to cut through the fat. A hearty meal for the gate guardians.

For drinks, small bamboo cannisters reveal barley tea. Good for the warm day.

"Thank you for protecting the village and all of us. When I grow up, I wanna defend the village too." A small giggle comes through as she lightly sways her hips forwards and backwards, like how a child does when they're full of liveliness and a sense of wonderment. 

[Honō Kojirou]

Guarding the gate had gotten calmer lately. After having to deal with insects all evening that one time, Kojirou had been on extra edge for the past few days, but as it turned out… luck was finally on his side! No more out-of-nowhere shenanigans to completely throw his brain out of the loop – the following days had been dealt with professionally, all thanks to the aid of Kumori! The shorter swordsman was back in the game now, entirely dedicated to his given duty.

But he often forgot to replenish himself because of that drive. Once in a while, his stomach would growl and reveal his large appetite, even if he’d snacked on some onigiri moments prior. Woe to his mum for having had to keep his belly full all these years – alas, in the distance, rescue was on the way as a bright, haloed angel of aid and victory! And at the sight of this small, beloved Honō mascot, Kojirou’s eyes regained new energy!

"Kiiiiiiiiiiiiin!” he called back, waving his hand widely, "Ohayooooooooo!”

And she brought food, too! Kojirou quickly glanced at the contents with his starved look, overwhelmed by the care and time it took to prepare this for him. "T-Thank your mother for me, too…” he sobbed in gratitude, his tears thick and flowing down his cheeks as he took a bite after another, "Look at you all grown up, Kin… it feels like it was just yesterday when you were this little. Time is so cruel…”

He… he couldn’t be real, could he? Kin wasn’t exactly the tallest girl her age around here… but Kojirou wasn’t the tallest guy around his age, either. His entire perception of tall and not tall was skewered by years of feeling normal, until both Saya and Kumori passed him.

[Hono Kin]

When Koji greeted her, she smiled brightly, feeling a sense of satisfaction at having come to support her older cousin. Her head held high as she practically beamed. Before he took the liberty to begin gobbling down the food that was offered. The little girl finds herself placing her hands along her hips. "I will!~" She says, though finds herself dropping her bright grin for a moment as she looks confused. When he mentions when she was smaller? "Oh? Huh..." She says, standing side by side with Koji himself. She didn't think she got much bigger. Then again though. She was a child. She was growing a little bit every day! Not too much though.

"It must be because I started going to the academy!~" She says, before she seats herself. "They haven't really taught us anything ninja related on the first day, but...that's okay! I got to meet lots of other people. I was told that for a while, they'll be teaching us mostly about other things. That the clan's most likely going to teach me faster. More jutsu and stuff like that." Watching him eat with vigor, she slowly hands him one of the bamboo canteens for him to drink from. Twiddling with her fingers slightly, she looks up at him with a softness in those kind eyes of hers. "How's work?~ Have you been really busy?" Simple question really.

[Honō Kojirou]

”I’m sure you’ll learn some new Jutsus at the Academy too. Like the golden five… and maybe a fancy Fire Release Technique or two,” Kojirou dreamed, reminiscent of his own… limited time at the Academy- boy was struggling. ‘Learning more at the clan’ kind of resonated with him, for ever since he started dropping lava, his clan had basically chained him to their confines teaching him every Jutsu on the table. Painful… very painful- Kojirou was kind of a deviant at first (not what you think), but he overcame that hurdle and became a prominent Genin at last!

Carefully picking up the canteen, he accepted the refreshment bottom up and was more than ready to address her curiosity: "Work’s been…”

Flashbacks to that one Aburame kid whose insects had Kojirou floating in the air like a fish caught in a net.

Flashbacks to that woman who tried to sneak into the village by pretending to be a newly-baked mother, only to reveal that her ‘infant’ was a doll, and that she was trying to set up an ambush.

Flashbacks to the panda that dug him into the ground like a bamboo seed.

"Naaaaaaaaaaaah, it gets a little busy here and there, but nothing Nii-chan can’t handle! Just ask Saya or Kumori, I’m sure they’d agree!” he expressed joyously, not wanting to worry the little angel about his shenanigans, "But uh, you mentioned the clan was going to help you learn Jutsus, right? I got a really cool Jutsu I could show you, but… I don’t know if the Academy’s shown you yet, but it’s a really cool Jutsu. Trust me, it’ll blow your mind!”

Without warning, one handseal – a large poof, lots of steam, and from the clouds emerged another Kin! "Tada! This Jutsu lets you transform into other people – very useful for spooks.”

[Hono Kin]

Smiling brightly, she listens, hoping to hear some fantastical story of his business at the gate. However, she deflates for a moment as he mentions that he was hiding some things. Puffing her cheeks up in a pout, she looks up at him with that look as if he'd done something naughty. However, that look immediately drops when he talks about teaching her a new technique. "Really?! Ah. Oh...If it's a fire one. I don't think I can do fire jutsu. I can make rocks break though?" Her smile immediately returns, and with it, there was a moment where he does his seal and turns into...Her! Blink. Blink. Taking the liberty to look at their duplicate for a moment with a bewildered gaze. She claps her hands and is seemingly very impressed! "Sugoi!"

"Uohwaaah...That's the Henge isn't it?" She finds herself pretty amazed by it, but it was a jutsu she'd seen done a few times. Her older siblings in the household trained with it from time to time in their own bidding attempts at passing the academy. It was weird to think how uncannily similar someone could look just like her, and for a few moments, as she looks out to Koji, she takes the liberty to really look at a version of herself but in a different perspective. Before she did some thinking. Spinning on her heel, she recalled the seals she read about.

Dog. Boar. Ram. Her hands run through the seals slowly, as she was still getting used to using them. The only jutsu she'd ever learned that needed them was the Kawarimi, and it wasn't one she'd had to use often. "A lot of people say that this jutsu's the hardest one Koji-Nii." As she did the seals, she mused on what to turn into. What to become.

[Honō Kojirou]

Aw, no Fire Jutsu… but certainly, that meant she hadn’t accidently burnt herself. Good – forbid that. However, she mentioned that she was able to make rocks break… ohhhh, so she had Earth Release chakra! Plenty of their clansmen had Earth Release, too – Fire and Earth went hand in hand here, especially when you consider that Lava was a fusion of those two elements.

His Transformation Technique managed to impress her greatly! Good to see her spirits up again! "Yup! Henge no Jutsu,” the copy-Kin replied, "As long as the person you want to transform into is of a similar build… wait, I’m not that short… a-anyway, as long as the person you want to transform into is of similar form and build, you should be able to transform into anyone you wish to look like. You can’t transform into a bird, though…”

There were limitations, even to the Transformation Technique. And Kin could likely feel the weight of those limitations drag her down, to which Koji-Kin patted her shoulder. "Since you’re transforming into someone else, it takes a lot of creativity and brain-ing… ness… to pull off. Yeah! Think deeply… who do you wanna transform into? Maybe one of your siblings?”

[Hono Kin]

She smiled brightly when she was told that she got it right. That it was in act the Henge no Jutsu that he did. However, it was surreal hearing her own voice talk to her. Though, in those next moments, she was told to turn into someone that she could really envision and imagine well. "You're not short Koji-Nii! You're way taller than me!" She says, balling her fists and holding them up to her chin. Going on one leg though, she tried to imagine who she wanted to turn into. Vividly in her mind. Before then forming the handseals.

"Let's do it! Henge!" She cheers, and with it, she leaps into the air, before then poofing into smoke. Within the smoke, as it clears, he'd see the outline of what seemed to be another girl, but taller, and generally more elegant. Refined. Graceful. Kin had chosen to look like one of her elder sisters. She remembered how elegant she looked in a nice looking dress, to celebrate her making it to the rank of Chunin, and the brilliant white dress that she wore. Taking the liberty to exit the smoke, there was...a few details off. Though relatively minor.

If it came down to imagination, Kin had no lack of that when she entered into this form. Still though. Closing her eyes, she gave a beautiful smile. Before poofing back almost immediately. The small Kin back to where she was. "Ie. Ie...That transformation's hard to hold!~" A small and nervous giggle, she wasn't sure how she looked. She never got the chance to see.

[Honō Kojirou]

Ah, okay… Kin confirmed that he was taller than her. Good to know! Kojirou had been a bit self-aware about his growth since Kumori surpassed him, then Saya surpassed him, and Atagi surpassed him a long time ago… maybe only Koume was shorter than him now. Did it mean anything? Nope! If anything, Kojirou didn’t remember exactly why it felt like such a big deal to begin with… but instinctual.

When Kin performed the Transformation Technique once more, she decided to transform into one of her older sisters! Almost looked like a possible future, grown-up Kin in the making! "Woah! And no caving eyes, either… hmh…” Kojirou wanted to congratulate her right away, but he noticed some minor… inconsistencies. Now, it’d been too long since he last met Kin’s older siblings – apparently, he could not catch a clue back at the Academy – but there was something up with her chin. She also had an ahoge – only Kin had an ahoge in their family!

"True, but I think it’s a good step towards mastering it. You looked almost 100% like your sister… buuuuuuuuuuuuuut-" Kojirou nodded with a hand holding his chin like a sage, "-Your hair bang, the one atop your head, was still apparent. That’s a classic Kin special – only you have that in your family, remember?” Some personal traits might’ve been too strong for Kin to abandon during transformation, after all.

"Let’s try with your other sister. I bet she’d be shocked to see a clone of herself enter the house one day… go all ‘WHO ARE YOU’, hihi!”

[Hono Kin]

"I do?..." She slowly looks upwards at herself, to see the aforementioned little bang that seemed to wisp upwards. Sometimes, people called it a cowlick, which she didn't really know how to feel about. Slowly twirling her finger along the top, she finds herself grinning with a small giggle when he calls it a "Kin special". When she came to stop, she found herself grinning brightly. "You've got it Koji-Nii!" Weaving her hands through the seals again, she finds herself closing her eyes and envisioning the transformation. Every detail of the person she knew.

Hanabi. Someone who was more rough. Rugged. Sharper features with a gruff personality. Taking a deep breath, she calls forth. "Henge!" Before she appears forth. A more boyish style of clothing with a dark leather jerkin, as well as a collar around her neck. A more vibrant shade of emerald eyes, as she smirks a cocky grin. "Yosh. Yosh! Moshi Moshi! Let's get some drinks at the bar yeah?" She says, trying out her sister's voice and getting a real feel for it. Hanabi was the life of the party. A more rugged person who lived to live life in the moment, and often on its edge.

"Oi! Ttaemae! Who do you think you are? Pretending to be me?! In this house? I'll beat you up! Not that it'll be difficult. I deal with small fry like you all the time."

[Honō Kojirou]

Okay, second time was the charm! Kin had close family ties and knew her sisters well, so if she just put her heart and mind to it, then Kojirou knew that she’d be able to overcome this hurdle and master the Transformation Technique. One of the most useful techniques for a shinobi – the ability to assume the form and décor of another person! Super-useful for sneaking through the first round of a Chūnin Exam!

However, just because you assumed the form of someone else, it didn’t mean that you’d be able to 100% mimic said target persona’s actions, behavior and speech patterns. That was a skill in and of itself that Kin would have to practice with- she sounded just like her older sister now, what on earth? Kojirou visibly moved his face back in shock at the sudden ‘Yosh! Yosh!’ and the ‘Moshi Moshi!’, physically taken aback by the sudden, wild change in behavior.

"Kin, ya still in there? You’re not allowed to drink alcohol yet!” Kojirou quickly killed any chance for her to try and use the transformation as an excuse to get drunk when she wasn’t even 10 yet, much less of age to drink, "That’ll mess up your belly, and then all of a sudden, you’ll be married to a Futago! Trust me, that stuff’s dangerous…”

Either way, perfection.

"-But really good Transformation! You can even behave like your sister now – not even I can pull that off as well… b-but my older brother’s not the easiest to read.” Truth be told, Kojirou had one hell of a reclusive older brother – Sekirou, the first-born of his parents’ children.

"… Okay, one last time – let’s try and have you transform… into me! Become Kojirou!”

[Hono Kin]

She found herself looking upon her incredulous cousin, finding him trying to kill her aspirations before he talks about how if you drink, you'd be all messed up and married to a Futago. "Oh no!" She says, poofing back into her small state. Though, she was fairly confused. "Wait...But how do you know?" She asks childishly, tilting her head to the side as she furrows her brow in wonder. Though, she quickly found herself presented with another task. To transform into...Koji? Woah. It'd be the first time turning into a guy. Was that different?

Forming the handseals a few more times, she channels her chakra, and she envisions Koji. One of her fonder memories of the man, and with it, she calls out. "Henge!" She says, before poofing into a cloud of smoke. What came out of it? Him. With the burn that spread along his face. Dressed in a loose yukata that was perfect for the warm summer. Turning, she tries to think of what he might say. "It's pretty great working as a gateguard. Getting to see all of the faces come and go! Ah, it's such a relaxing day today. Best of all, I get to spend it with you!" She tries to sound as enthusiastic as she can, pretending to be him. Though, she wasn't sure how convincing it was in practice. As the Kojirou double brushes their long hair behind their back.

"This isn't half bad. Is it?"

[Honō Kojirou]

… Wait, he didn’t mean to say that out loud. Quick, change the topic, Kojirou!

Now, being presented the challenge of transforming into the person she was looking, Kin gathered her focus and made the young man’s heart melt into pudding. Oh, if only Saya was around to see this marvel – it was like watching your kid pick up your tricks and traits and grow up with them, it just ushered in waves of pride and validations. Kin was certainly going to become a valiant kunoichi, and Kojirou would make sure to follow her every step like a true brother would!

There came the poof, the smoke, the shadowy silhouette under the fog, and out of the clouds emerged a replica of himself! Kojirou’s eyes widened at the attention to detail, especially since his burn scars were copied precisely! "That’s so much better! You’re getting there, Kin – I think you got the technique itself down to a T now!” Kojirou jubilated with his arms flailing up in the air, "But knowing the technique is only half the battle – the other half is using it for its exact purpose. That means ya gotta fool somebody with it in order to truly master it.”

And with that, he suddenly ran towards a nearby wall and disappeared from Kin’s sight. Seconds later, Kin’s mother returned with an exclamation: "Young lady! I told you to just hand him the bento, you don’t have to bother Kojirou-chan while he’s on duty! Now, let’s get you back home, I made chicken strips for everyone- just kidding~!”

Who appeared to have been her mother suddenly poofed, and out of the smoke came a foolish Kojirou! "It’s just me, Kin! Ya mum knows I’m watching you, no worries… but this is what I mean!”

[Hono Kin]

Koji seemed very pleased with her, and that considered? She was joyous. Though, when looking upon him, cheering her on? She'd skip forward before repeating his arm flailing motion. Yay! Though. She stopped for a moment. When he mentioned that she needed to fool somebody to really master it. In which case, Kin poofs back to her original state. What was Koji talking about? She wondered. Looking a bit confused, she watches him run off before he can elaborate further. "Oh...Do you have to go to work now?" She asks, deflating with puffed cheeks. In a pseudo pout. Before suddenly? Mama showed up?!

"A-Ah! Sorry! I just wanted to learn so-" She was pretty gullible, all things considered. So. When Koji appeared before her, showing her just how the technique was supposed to be used? She looks up at him with wonderment. Before slowly sticking a finger into her mouth in idle thought. Before pulling it out and brushing it along her right sleeve. "So. I need to be good at lying?" She asks, not too sure if that was the message she was supposed to be taking away from this training technique. Blinking, she then had to ask herself this question. "Isn't that wrong?"

A good question.

[Honō Kojirou]

Oh… dilemma incoming. Kojirou didn’t want to teach Kin that it was okay to lie all the time – if anything, he just wanted to make sure that she knew how to defend herself and her allies, and if that involved the act of lying or deceit to get out of a sticky situation, then all the better if it meant she’d be safe… but how was he going to iterate this to the little student?

"N-Not exactly what I meant, but in a way, it could get you out of danger,” Kojirou treated very carefully on his words, "Like… for example, if someone wanted to speak to the Kusa lord! Yes, sometimes some very dangerous people could try and do that – *cough* OY!”

A single handseal was weaved as fast as he possibly could, fumbling at the execution a bit as Kojirou realized that being in a hurry made him lose focus. Therefore, as he tried to follow up on his exclamation ‘OY’, he fumbled the handseal like a couple times before finally pulling it off as fast as he could-

Huh, weird, he’d have to practice on that later-

-And thus, the familiar smoke cloud burst from his position, and Kojirou had transformed into a typical bandit! "I WANNA TALK TO THE KUSA LORD RIGHT NOW! IF HE’S NOT HERE IN 5 MINTUES – I REPEAT, 5 MINUTES – THEN… THEN… THEN I’LL EAT ALL THE WATERMELONS IN THIS VILLAGE! NONE WILL BE LEFT BEHIND!”

…

…

…

"… *Cough* N-Now’s your time to pretend you’re the Kusa lord…”

[Hono Kin]

Blink. Blink. Blink. Looking at Koji's funny demonstration, she found herself trying to focus on the lecture more so. It was okay to lie to protect people or herself. Before then a bandit appears before her. Threatening to eat every watermelon in the village unless the Kusa lord appeared. Before she gets a comical anime sweatdrop along the side of her head, before scrunching her face somewhat in confusion. Maybe if they were a Kushinbou they could. They always seemed to have black hole appetites.

"Umm..." She weaves the handseals, and thinks of what the Kusa Lord looked like, but honestly, didn't really know? She hadn't seen him super closely, and so, she turned into a more sloppy version of the man with a crude scar along his face that was almost entirely wrong, and on the wrong side of his face, and was significantly shorter than him. Not that she could turn into the monster of a man, even if she wanted to. Before gazing towards the bandit. "Hai. Hai." She says in a somewhat relaxed, weasely, and somewhat androgynous voice. Or what she imagined he might sound like. A sort of mischievous look about him.

"I've come to protect the watermelons." They say with an almost snake like grin as they close their eyes. Though, before long, she poofs back into her former state. Scratching their head. "I...think I get it Koji-Nii. I'm going to need to trick people sometimes." She says, nodding her head, and holding her little fists to her chest. "I think you really showed it to me." She says, nodding her head even more fervently. "Thank you for teaching me!"