[Yuie Junichi]

After about a year hanging out at the Yuie clan compound, it was kind of weird to be out and about again. 

It's not like Junichi had been sedentary; maintaining the spas was a lot of hard work - it required crawling around, scrubbing things, carrying heavy objects in from town to the spas. Plus, he'd been keeping up with his training in private, working out a little, continuing to practice his one-handed seals until he could actually, finally, pull it off. Together, that had been enough to keep him in shape, so the week of walking was going to be fine. Mentally, though, it was a little more difficult...

Maybe that's why they'd been given such a light task this time. This wasn't anything serious, just something simple to get Junichi back on his feet. The shinobi system had paid for his education, so they didn't want him loitering around forever.

Junichi showed up at the Rin Outpost, watchtower #1 among the outposts established around Arashi no Kuni's borders, scheduled to be the first stop on their long trip. He'd packed a decent amount, ever prepared for the worst, though they were also going to be able to stop and supply halfway through their journey.

The weather was surprisingly mild, only lightly sprinkling. Apparently it'd be sunnier up north, though Junichi had never been up north for super long. In a way, it was funny how little of his own country he'd explored.

Sitting down outside the tower, he awaited his teammate's arrival, pulling out a bar of soap and starting to whittle away at it with his kunai.

[takeda sadako]

Another stupid-ass busywork mission. Sadako had been getting saddled with a lot of these, lately, which set her teeth to grinding when she laid down to sleep at night, images of the paperwork she’d been pulling together for her promotion circling in her mind. Was it some passive-aggressive communique, someone in leadership trying to tell her that gruntwork was all she was good for? Or was it just coincidence, bodies getting sent where bodies were needed? Didn’t matter, really, work was work. She was going to have a partner for this one, which meant that this was either going to be smooth sailing or one of the worst weeks of her life. When she showed up at the Rin Outpost and saw fucking Junichi, it became crystal-clear that this was the latter. Whittling soap. Almost a year he’d been ghosting her, and he was just sitting there whittling soap. Sadako walked right past him without sparing a glance in his direction, though she aggressively jingled the bells on her wrist, viciously twisting a line of chakra and injecting it into his brain meat so that those jingling bells wouldn’t stop for as long as she had the chakra to spite him. She was feeding the technique only the barest amount of chakra, strictly limiting her flow, so she could keep it going for a long, long time. "Hurry up,” she said shortly, shouldering her backpack. She’d packed light, only the bare essentials. "I want to be at Haraju Pass by sundown.” They’d just need to grab the reports from the guards here, and then they could get moving, and get this shitshow over with.

Yuie Junichi -- 252

LAIKA OF THQ

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Naru Kane: Kurikaesu [Ringing Bells: Repeat]
RANK: E
CHAKRA USAGE: To Use: Very Low | To Maintain: Very Low
CLASSIFICATION: Genjutsu
ELEMENT: -
HANDSEALS: 0
TRIGGER: Auditory
DESCRIPTION:

The most simple of techniques in the Naru Kane tree. This technique has the effect of repeating the ringing of the bell even after it ends. It doesn't amplify the volume of the ringing in any way. The ringing originates from the position of the bell that activated the genjutsu and nowhere else. This fake ringing of the bell can not activate any other genjutsu, it is primarily used as a teaching device for the technique tree to allow genin to understand the basics of the techniques. It can however be used as a small distraction if used properly.

[Yuie Junichi]

Before he saw his partner, he heard a jingle of a bell. Then the jingle kept on, ringing around on his head. It wasn't like it was loud, just a sound like someone shaking their wrist around. He looked up and immediately found the answer to his question before he could even think to ask it.

Takeda Sadako was probably the last person Junichi wanted to see on getting back. They'd made good teammates, so he probably felt the most guilty about letting her down. He'd knocked her out of the running for the Chuunin Exams and then had put on that terrible performance. It wasn't any wonder that she was agitated, but it also really pissed Junichi off, too. She'd avoided the third round, so she should count herself as lucky.

He sighed and decided he'd tolerate it for a little bit, stashing his project away and standing up.

Junichi approached the guards without a word to Sadako, meeting her standoffishness for now.

"We're ready to go now." The guards handed off the reports. Junichi returned to Sadako's side reluctantly and flipped them open just to give them a skim. It was a good idea to know what was going to be ahead of them - if any groups had been sighted on the border recently or anything.

Assuming already that Sadako was going to snatch it from him, he'd offer it to her before he started walking. It didn't seem like she'd packed much, so she had more room for it anyways.

"Are you planning on being immature the whole time, or just for the first few hours?" Junichi asked.

[takeda sadako]

Sadako did in fact reach over to snatch the reports from Junichi, resulting in an awkward collision of hands as he was already handing them over to her. Her nostrils flared as she skimmed the report herself, doubling down into complete redundancy just for the principle of the thing. Nothing terribly exciting from this outpost; border was quiet, no issues reported. She’d only been through this specific area once or twice before. It was rare that she left Amegakure itself for anything other than a mission, and usually her mission assignments didn’t take her so close to any of Arashi no Kuni’s borders. If she had to travel out-of-country it was usually via the northwest border, not this backwoods mess of an area. Maintaining her flow of chakra to her technique took less concentration than she thought it would. Either a good sign that her practice in micro-managing her chakra flow was going well, or irritating the shit out of Junichi was so god-given a mission that it felt like second nature. Maybe both. "Depends,” she replied, dry and flat as stone. "Are you planning on finishing the mission, or are you gonna run home to hide in a fuckin’ bubble bath for another year?” She set a brutal pace—not quite running, but she had a longer stride than Junichi, and Sadako was a master power-walker.

Yuie Junichi -- 230

LAIKA OF THQ

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Naru Kane: Kurikaesu [Ringing Bells: Repeat]
RANK: E
CHAKRA USAGE: To Use: Very Low | To Maintain: Very Low
CLASSIFICATION: Genjutsu
ELEMENT: -
HANDSEALS: 0
TRIGGER: Auditory
DESCRIPTION:

The most simple of techniques in the Naru Kane tree. This technique has the effect of repeating the ringing of the bell even after it ends. It doesn't amplify the volume of the ringing in any way. The ringing originates from the position of the bell that activated the genjutsu and nowhere else. This fake ringing of the bell can not activate any other genjutsu, it is primarily used as a teaching device for the technique tree to allow genin to understand the basics of the techniques. It can however be used as a small distraction if used properly.

[Yuie Junichi]

Sadako sped up, moving at a pace that was definitely not going to be sustainable for a week. She was irritated, so she was trying to make this unpleasant for Junichi. He huffed and sped up a little, but he wasn't going to hold this pace forever. He had more in his bag than her and he wasn't as tall and, more than anything, he wasn't going to wear himself out just because she was in a bad mood. If she was mad about him being gone, what was the point of making coming back so miserable?

There was a bitter root that was growing in him. It'd first taken seed at the exams, when Hitsukai broke his arm, but he felt like it was getting worse, like it was really hard not to just open his mouth and blurt something rude. His auntie told him that was just part of going through puberty, but it kind of made him feel like he was going crazy. He had to bite his tongue to stop himself from snapping at Sadako.

His auntie had also taught him a bunch of relaxation techniques that were supposed to help. Focus on his breathing, imagine the event from another perspective... It was all kind of really hard with that stupid noise in his head.

The ringing was already getting really annoying. He was used to getting pestered since he had a brother at home, but the repetitive sound wasn't quite as fun as Kenichi.

He tried it anyways, taking a deep breath and letting it out slow.

...Junichi really wished that was more effective. It never did as much as he imagined it would.

"If I wasn't ready to finish a mission, I'd still be at home," he answered, sounding sour despite his best efforts. "We'll be able to do it better if you don't waste all your chakra on something stupid."

[takeda sadako]

Junichi would struggle to keep up with her, and he definitely wouldn’t be able to do it forever. Sadako knew that. She’d known it during the stupid marathon segment of the exams, when they’d stuck together through the whole awful thing and somehow made it across the finish line together. They’d both failed, in the end, but at least they’d failed together. Like a team, whatever that was supposed to mean. But then he just— It’s like a storm inside your chest. Lecturing Sora on the virtues of discipline and self-control was all fine and well, but the tempest was battering against her ribcage, her brain smoking with the effort it took to keep herself from screaming at Junichi until she made him go home. "If you don’t like it, make it stop,” she snapped back. "Shouldn’t you know how to use kai by now, or did you just waste all your time making fuckin’--soap dogs, or whatever?” She actually had no idea what he had been whittling and also did not know how to release out of a genjutsu herself, but her mouth was operating beyond her ability to control it. She did cut the thread of chakra fueling the bells. Eventually. Even with minimal expenditure, an hour straight of maintaining a technique was more draining than she wanted to admit, and she didn’t want to risk actually exhausting herself for the bit. The light sprinkling of rain had given way to bright, warm summer sunshine by the time they got to Haraju pass. It was nearing sundown, grassy terrain bathed in a wash of gauzy orange light. Sensory rain had been going nonstop in Ame since Sora visited, so it had been a while since Sadako had gotten to enjoy actual sunlight. She ruined it immediately. Whipped through two handseals to summon a raincloud to dump its contents all over Junichi’s head—and her own, but it was worth making herself miserable as long as she was dragging Junichi down with her.

Yuie Junichi -- 326

LAIKA OF THQ

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Ninpō: Uramiame [Ninja Art: Grudge Rain]
RANK: D
CHAKRA USAGE: Low [Very Low Drain]
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: Suiton
HANDSEALS: 2
DESCRIPTION:

To activate this technique one must perform two hand seals, causing the once-clear skies to darken. The jutsu summons a storm cloud capable of bringing rain. The rain can make footing less certain because it slickens the terrain with water or mud.

[Yuie Junichi]

Sadako snapped at him again and his lip curled, but he bit it back again. He tried to imagine it from her perspective. She'd lost her place in the exams to him and he hadn't done well, and then he'd gone back to the clan compound. He thought it was the right choice - he thought he needed to do it in order to keep being a shinobi - but he hadn't even explained any of it to her. To her it must've looked like he'd messed everything up for her and then run away.

When she severed the genjutsu, he breathed a sigh of relief. Having a few quiet moments allowed him a chance to think.

He considered telling her about everything. Why he'd shut down, why he was even a shinobi at all. What he'd been practicing while he was away, what his ambitions were, how sorry he was. The rain settled down and it was finally sunny out, the first light he'd seen since coming back from the exams.

Then Sadako immediately gathered a storm cloud to ruin it, dumping a bucket of water on their heads.

"Cut it out. You're older than me, so start acting like it!" He complained, reaching out to try to grab her arm and pull her, force her to face him; he's pretty sure he never would've had the guts to do that even last year. It was just- they'd only made it through the first leg of the journey. He had to survive six more days with her, and he wasn't going to spend them getting rained on in the middle of the night because she had an issue!

[takeda sadako]

Junichi grabbed her arm and Sadako’s vision seared red, a vicious beast battering against the cage of her ribcage. "Don’t fucking touch me,” she snarled, her rage sudden and hateful and wildly disproportionate, her surly, passive-aggressive derision swiftly shapeshifting into something almost unrecognizable. A version of Sadako that Junichi likely hadn’t seen since the train. She snatched her arm away and lashed right back at him, her hand curling into a fist to try to thump hard against Junichi’s forearm. Her own summoned raincloud was pouring buckets onto her head, flattening her too-long, untrimmed hair in untidy directions across her neck and forehead. "If you don’t want to deal with it, then leave! I’ve been just fucking fine without you ‘til now, and I don’t need you here. So just—” Sadako couldn’t get the words out, suddenly, blocked by a heavy lump in her throat, and she realized with sudden horror that her eyes were burning, that storm in her chest churning too fast and too hot for her to wrangle. She spun away, viciously thickened the thread of chakra to the technique, sending another surge of heavy rain pouring down; all the while still walking.

Yuie Junichi -- 206

LAIKA OF THQ

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Ninpō: Uramiame [Ninja Art: Grudge Rain]
RANK: D
CHAKRA USAGE: Low [Very Low Drain]
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: Suiton
HANDSEALS: 2
DESCRIPTION:

To activate this technique one must perform two hand seals, causing the once-clear skies to darken. The jutsu summons a storm cloud capable of bringing rain. The rain can make footing less certain because it slickens the terrain with water or mud.

[Yuie Junichi]

Junichi flinched back when Sadako whirled on him. Not even really out of fear - for all her posturing Sadako wasn't someone who had ever scared Junichi - but discomfort, discomfort with the anger on her face, the guilt at knowing it was his fault, that he'd made her feel like that.

He raised his arm to block her punch, or take her punch, or whatever, because it seemed like she was aiming for his arm anyways. He winced, sure it was going to bruise.

Sadako kept on, until she couldn't anymore, until she choked up. Was she about to cry?

Junichi stared at her, wide-eyed. He didn't know what to do.

The clouds started pouring buckets on them both, completely drenching them and making it hard to see through his glasses. He followed after her diligently anyways, his head a mess as he tried to problem solve this. Kenichi was better with feelings. Kenichi would tell him what to do, what to say, how to make it better.

It was so hard. Part of him wanted to keep saying it was her fault, that if she'd just acted normal this all could've been fine. But he knew they were a team and he'd left her, so...

"You're right to be mad at me, okay? But we're going to have to sleep on wet bed rolls at this rate. Don't do that to yourself just because of me. Just throw whatever punches or insults you need to instead."

[takeda sadako]

Angry, impulsive, contrarian—it was like being given permission to be angry severed her connection to the feeling, the open invitation to hurt Junichi however much she wanted effectively killing the desire to do so at the root. She severed the thread of chakra, the miniature storm clearing in an instant; wrung out her hair and the loose fabric of her clothes, but for a while she didn’t say anything. Obstinately pretended she wasn’t sniffling to clear the block in her throat, surreptitiously scrubbing at her eyes to banish her tears before they fell. Didn’t even look at him, really, just kept walking, albeit at a much more sustainable pace than the one she’d set at the start. He wasn’t going to leave, that much was clear. Laying down and making himself her punching bag wasn’t—she didn’t want to hurt him. She did, but she didn’t, and that didn’t make much sense but the feeling was there in her gut regardless, churning into frothy bile and rising up her throat to escape as venom from her mouth. She wanted him to leave, but he was staying, stubborn as hell, and that—made about as much sense as all the rest. "Why’d you come back.” It was a question, presumably, but delivered so flat and so dull that it came out as more of a statement.

Yuie Junichi -- 232

LAIKA OF THQ

[Yuie Junichi]

The chakra storm brewing over their heads waned, drying up, though that didn't change the water it'd left behind, drenching their clothes. Junichi cursed that he didn't have the ability to use katon chakra to dry the both of them off. The only techniques he had at his disposal would just worsen the situation. Instead he was left with his bangs dripping water into his face and a tense silence.

Some part of him hoped that Sadako would just do it, would just wheel around and hit him once and they'd be done with it. He wouldn't be happy about it, but he could take a hit or two.

Instead she just stayed quiet for a while and kept crying. Kept doing her best to pretend she wasn't crying.

He stared out at the horizon, observing the area around the border, doing what he was ostensibly supposed to do on this mission. He let his eyes travel across the land, sweeping for anything suspicious, but it was just a bunch of wide-open space.

Eventually, Sadako spoke again. It was a question - kind of? - whatever it was made his stomach twist uncomfortably - that he really didn't want to answer, but he had a feeling he had to.

"...I only became a shinobi because of my brother," he admitted. He'd never said it to Sadako directly, so telling her plainly... Maybe that was for the best. "I didn't want to be one. I didn't want him to be one. But he insists he's going to be the best shinobi ever. I don't... I don't want him to get hurt, so I came with him. But I'm really... The Chuunin Exams showed me that I'm nowhere near ready enough to consider myself a real shinobi. Compared to some of the people out there, I mean..." Just thinking about Hotarubi still made him shudder.

"I didn't want anyone else to get hurt because of me, because I wasn't ready, but I also... I can't stay away forever. I have to get stronger to protect Kenichi."

[takeda sadako]

Junichi didn’t owe her an explanation, really, but he explained himself anyway. Her mouth twisted as she mulled over his words, a deep furrow etching into her brow as she tried and failed to make sense of it. "That’s stupid,” she said, the blunted flat end of a warhammer. "You can’t protect anyone. No one can. It’s just you.” She’d been forced into team exercise after team exercise over the past couple of years, and sure, sometimes a trio worked better than a shinobi alone, and one person’s strengths could cover another’s weaknesses. She couldn’t deny that at this point. Didn’t even mind it, really, and she’d got used to working with Junichi, even liked having him along like a skinny little sidekick— —but then he was gone, and what was the point? "People die every day,” Sadako said flatly. "People you love, too, and it doesn’t matter how smart or strong they are.” Spoken with the bone-deep certainty of someone with experience. "Someone else out there is smarter or stronger or nastier. Someone out there is gonna rip their arms off and throw them to the wolves,” she went on, her temper rising. "You can’t do anything about it except look after yourself. So if you’re just doing it for someone else, why bother? Why’s it fucking matter?”

Yuie Junichi -- 221

LAIKA OF THQ