Secrets of the Cloud

Time... well time just worked differently here.  That was a fact that the boy was learning quickly.  It felt different.  He had no proof, but just the idea that this place was alien to him was enough.

Surprisingly, the adjustment to this new life went better than the boy expected.  He hadn't yet seen the creators of this Sanctuary, but after the initial meeting with Koga again, and Arata being introduced as his younger brother, Arashi felt at home again.  At least as at home as he could.  

There were still some things that were gone.  The majority of them being the traditions of his family.  He had no teachers, save for Akihana, but she could only do so much.  When he wasn't watching Arata or learning from Aki-san, he stared at the scroll in his room.  He hadn't yet touched it.  He wanted to, but he was admittedly scared.  There was no way to say what was in the semi-burnt scroll.. and there was even a chance that there was nothing in there at all.

Finally, after his studies, Arashi finally did it, biting his lip.  It had been.. what.. a week?  Since he brought it, and now he was going to open it... gently.  It was, after all, very fragile.

He took it outside as to not disturb or take up room in the house, and instead laid it on a table outside.  Taking a deep breath, the boy placed his hands on the seal.. and then realized that he didn't know how to open the scroll.  So much for that.  

Sighing, the boy sat back, speechless, as the secrets of his family laid at his fingertips.. but were inaccessible.  What was he going to do now?

(w/c: 289)

"Fondant, be careful," the blonde instructed as the slug hovered over Ran, attempting to inject some health back into his limp, unconscious form. Ever since... The kunoichi refused to think of it in clear terms but ever since they had attempted to remedy the young boy lying prone on his bed, things had gone from bad to worse. While at first his innards had at least been putting up a fight, it seemed the will to go on was simply gone from this boy. He was still being kept alive though by everyone's combined efforts. Akihana was not one to give up on someone, especially if that someone was a child in her care.

After making sure Ran received his daily dosage of medicines, the blonde left the small medical facility, deciding to head back to her cottage and start lunch for the boys. Arashi seemed to have fit seamlessly into the small equation that was their family. Any worries the young woman had of Arata not accepting an older brother figure in the house were put to rest at her son's boundless joy at having another boy to talk to. Arata had been so excited at seeing Arashi that Akihana barely had time to explain that thie older boy would be staying with them now as part of their family.

In the end, everyone had settled in nicely, an extra room had appeared in the small cottage to accommodate Arashi complete with a comfortable bed, bookcases, closets and even a chest of toys, making Akihana think that maybe Den had misunderstood Arashi's age, but Arata found those greatly amusing and Akihana couldn't wait for the day when Arashi would be happy enough to pick up the water guns in the toy chest and play with his brother. Ninja training aside, boys needed to have fun.

The Kunoichi made her way to the porch only to find the object of her thoughts struggling with a thick scroll on the small picnic table. Walking to Arashi, the blonde smiled slightly at him before touching the scroll lightly with her index finger. "it's chakra sealed," she explained, directing the tiniest bit of her own to the scroll, merely a drop. The scroll fizzled slightly but refused to open.

"Probably sealed so that only someone with your bloodline can unlock it, now you try, just think of it as donating a tiny bit of your chakra to the scroll," she instructed.

Her words startled him, not like a child who just got in trouble, but like someone who was trying not to disturb anyone.  Arashi turned and bowed his head.  "I'm sorry, I was trying not to disturb you." he said, while she calmly walked over and helped him.

A chakra seal?  That was something he didn't consider someone of his family possessing, but it made sense.  He watched Akihana tried to break the seal, finally turning to him to tell him to try it.  He looked down at back up.  "I.. I don't know the sealing tech-"

She interrupted him with instructions of what he had to do, and the boy nodded, slowly bringing his hand up and touching the center of seal.  The edge curled away, but it didn't give in.  He bit his lip and decided to put in more chakra, only this time placing his palm on the seal.

The seal vanished and the flap of the scroll fell away, allowing access to its contents.  Arashi smiled and gave a small sound, looking up at Akihana, and then proceeded to gently opened the scroll.  

The first part of the scroll was a warning to allow only family to possess the secrets, followed by the general information of the kumonikutai.  But what followed after that was more interesting.  The bloodline had three distinct uses within the Cloud village.  Offensive, Defensive, and Medical.  The branch of medical dealt with using their ability to become suspended water to move through a patient, and held such techniques as poison siphoning and resuscitation.  Defensive was more for intelligence, the ability to move undetected, gain information, and protect the body, holding the coveted ability to maintain a cloud form for extended periods of time.  Offensive was relatively new in the family, and was starting with techniques for summoning storms or using precipitation as weapons.  

Arashi read through the first parts as much as he could, not minding Akihana looking over him, and then he laid the scroll down.  There was one section that caught his eyes.  The scroll was incomplete, and mentioned its attempts to rewrite the knowledge lost in the homeland.  Tatsumaki.  And unfortunately for Arashi, there were some things that were burnt away.

"Tatsumaki... Akihana-kasan, have you ever been there?" he asked, turning to her.  

(w/c: 384)

Akihana watched in silence as the scroll unsealed itself, giving way when the proper kind of chakra was applied. Den's interest in DNA and their relations to bloodline limits had never really sparked the same curiosity in her though Akihana knew the technicality of it. She had a feeling the young doctor would like to see the technique applied here. Not that she was ready to introduce Arashi to anyone just yet. No matter what else, he was a kid first and foremost and that meant he needed time to adjust before she subjected him to a world of curiosity and possibly judgement. They made an odd unit the three of them, Akihana with her golden locks, Arata with his ink dark head and Arashi with his fine brown hair. They couldn't have looked less like a family if they tried which just went to show that family wasn't skin deep.

And neither had been the boy's Cloud family judging by the documents spilling out in to the picnic table. Akihana didn't want o pry but her golden gaze automatically flicked to Arashi's face, making sure he was okay before redirecting to the documents he held. There seemed to be different categories of jutsu his clan favored, the details not making much sense to the medic as she tried to give the boy his privacy, letting him read. At least until he asked her about Tornado country.

"I've never been there," she admitted honestly, a faraway look in her eyes. She had heard stories though, stories that had lost all merit over the years but ones that still remained. "It once had a minor Shinobi village though no Kage, it was mostly known for its storm and hurricanes. A journey to Tornado was thought to be the passive aggressive way of smiting suicide."

Shaking her head, the young woman returned to the present. "Why do you ask, is there something about the country in those documents?"

Arashi looked more into the documents, the words graphed into the scroll, as Akihana spoke.  He knew that his village was from elsewhere, and that it was destroyed by the Leaf.. but he didn't know where that was, until now.

"The village that was there... Tatsumakigakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Winds... or the Tornados, depending on how the kanji was written.  That's the village we fled.  The one that was destroyed by Konoha." he said, running his finger down the words.  He curled it and pulled his arm back, turning to Akihana.

"My family was from there."

He turned back to the scroll, running his finger down it, no worry in the least of Akihana overhearing him as he read.  "The kumonikutai was the result of the family's attempts to adapt to the harsh environment, and settle the curiosity of their needs to explore.  While not in the village proper, the birthplace of the ability was in the Land of Tornadoes and Storms, a necessary genetic change to survive a land deemed too hostile to all but the most rugged individuals."

Arashi sat back, going over the words in his head.  He then smiled, like a boy who just learned how to answer a problem.  "That's why we were so loyal to the Cloud.  They understood the hardships we had, and Kumogakure was a land we were adapted for." he said, stopping as he remember that Kumo was no longer there.

"I mean, because my family came from there, its someplace I think I want to visit.  And if I am going to harness all of the power of my clan and become the most powerful Tekiatsu, I may need to see if there is anything out there that was left.  Of course.. that's after all of these." he said, gesturing to the starting list of abilities that were recorded.

"Sh-shadow Cloud Shroud.... Tornado Kick... wait.. there has to something here.." Arashi pushed back the scroll some more, looking over the listed jutsus.  "There has to be something that doesn't require the bloodline... if I can find something..." he looked up at his mom.  "I owe you more than you know.  I was hoping that there was something here you could learn... you can learn anything if its written down, right?"

The boy swung his leg out, turning himself so he was facing Akihana.  "I mean.. that way you have a little bit of my family too."

(w/c: 410)

The young mother laughed softly, placing a hand on Arashi's shoulder to calm him down in his frantic search for a cloud ability she could learn. He was still young enough to not need to know the horrific details of a transplant but he did need to understand that bloodline jutsu was exclusive. Akihana couldn't perform cloud jutsu anymore than her adopted son could access Hikariton release. "Arashi, all these techniques are meant to only work with your bloodline limit," she explained gently as she put the scrolls away. "And I'm afraid my knowledge of your clan is very basic. As secretary, my involvement in all the clans was strictly for documentation purposes. The clans protect their secrets and they are right to do so." Arashi's clan had been as proud as any she could think of and so it was only normal that their secrets were only meant for them.

"Though I do know one thing," she added with a small glimmer of amusement in her golden eyes a she fully turned to face the boy. "A perfect storm is incomplete without lightning. And that is something I can help you with so you'll always have a part of this family in you too along with your cloud one." The blonde would wait for her charge to understand the offer and then she would gesture for him to scoop up all the papers and return them to the safety of the seal.

"I hope you don't mind unconventional teaching methods," she began once the scrolls were all away and out of danger. "I usually teach the way I learned things, and since your brother was very young, I couldn't leave him to go train in the training grounds or spar with others so i taught myself jutsu while working around the house. I learned the fire element while trying to save on heating bills, I wasn't working for the Raikage then and things were a little tight."

As they entered the house, Akihana made for the kitchen, making sure that Arashi was following her. "Lightning was my second element and funnily enough, I used to practice it while making grilled cheese sandwiches for Arata and..." The almost mention of Yaju made her stop for a second, sometimes it was still hard to believe her friend was gone, that so many of her friends were just gone... But shaking her head slightly, she returned to the present with a forced smile on her face. There was no point in making the children sad. "So this is how I practiced," she began, reaching out a finger in front of her

"Have you ever been slightly shocked before? Maybe you pulled at a plug with wet hands, or something similar. Focus on that feeling, not the pain but the zing of it, the way the electricity dances across your finger tips. Try to use your chakra to create that feeling if you will." As demonstration, the blonde closed her own eyes, focusing ever so slightly until a small spark of black colored electricity danced on her fingertip.

"Your's won't be black, but you'll know it when it happens," she continued patiently, encouraging him to try it now. "Go on, it won't hurt you, and I'll be right here in case something goes wrong."

The boy sighed and slouched back.  "But... that's not fair.  You didn't have to do all this for me.  You have enough to worry about with Arata.  I just wanted to show my appreciation.  Besides... how else am I going to make the clan survive?" he asked innocently, while he ran his hand down the worn scroll paper. 

"Whats the point of secrets if there is no one else to share the knowledge with?  If something happens to me.. then there is no one else to keep this knowledge, and then there will be nothing else left of my clan except for the clouds in the sky.  I didn't want the clan to die with me." he said sullenly, as Akihana started closing the scroll, talking about secrets meant for the clan alone.

"To be honest, I don't understand it all, a lot of it is confusing.  It may help if you could read it sometime, at least to help me learn.  Since I am all that's left, that means the rules of the clan are my word, and I don't mind if you know our secrets.  I don't want to keep anything from my mother." he said, as she explained one thing she could do.

Lightning chakra.  In order to reach the mastery levels of the bloodline, he knew he would need that kind of chakra, but the idea of getting it this early hadn't crossed his mind.  At least, not until now.  Arashi looked up and crooked his head as she guided him into the kitchen. 

She instructed him, and Arashi looked down at his hands.  "Well, I got too close my dad once while he was training, and I kinda got shocked accidentally.  Mom was furious.. mostly at him." he said with a dry chuckle.  He remembered the memory of his father as he tried to wield lightning with on hand and the storm in the other, and how the man was finding it difficult to control both.. resulting in the young boy wandering too close and getting a sharp but not serious spark. 

Arashi nodded and held his hands out like he was holding a gun, extending the two index fingers together.  He tried to picture that memory, and feel the moment of shock, trying to picture the feeling of the bolt.  He could see it, and he could feel it, and he felt a warmth on his fingers.  He squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated, trying to summon the chakra energy through him, feeling the pressure in his fingers.

A slight vibrational wave was the only result, besides an almost obvious blast of air from his fingers as the chakra he summoned was wind, not electricity.  The boy had to open his hands and shake them out, as it did hurt. 

"It didn't work..." he said, flexing his fingers.  "I got wind out of it, but not electricity." he said, turning at looking at Akihana.  "But I did feel something, something like heat.. I never felt that with the wind chakra before."

(w/c: 507)

Akihana could understand his frustration, there was more responsibility on Arashi now then there should be on any boy his age. Though she could understand how important clan survival was, she would have to ensure he didn't forget to be a kid in the meantime. And if that meant taking away his scrolls and reading them to ensure he understood them in an easier way, it was the least she could do. So she merely nodded when he asked her to look them over, taking the sealed scroll or him and keeping it away safely for future reading.

In the kitchen, the young woman observed as he tried to channel his chakra, the small blast of wind blowing her hair back pleasantly as his first attempt did not result in perfect success. It was alright, she hadn't expected him to get it down on the first try. Heavens only knew she hadn't except her practicing had been with fire and lightning so there was a lot more singing of hair involved.

"You're very close," she encouraged, moving her own had to his, her palm already glowing with healing chakra. Touching the boy's hand slightly, Akihana extracted the small amount of pain from his body before speaking again.

"Hand seals and gestures, I've found, are very unique to an individual. See the way you were holding your hinds outwards, like you're wielding a weapon. If you had formed electricity in your hands, it would be formed in a ready to strike way, which means you would need to learn to first form it, then shape it, then throw or wield it." The kunoichi spoke clearly, making sure he understood. "In that way, you're already making demands of chakra before you can channel it, at least that's how I like to think of it."

To demonstrate her point, she held up her own hand, palm upwards as though ready to receive soemthing. "When starting out, i find this hand seal most effective because this way you're giving the chakra you're working with a bit of freedom to form however it will. Once you have it formed, you can shape it and mold it to your liking but in the initial stages, try to simply coax it out."

More sparks of dark electricity extending form her fingers, making a soft, crackling sound. "There, now you try it, Bremen to always go with the chakra and not try to oppose it. Shinobi often wield chakra as a weapon but really, its your life force, you should be on good terms with it," she finished with a small laugh.

The feel of Akihana's hands on his warmed him, and he felt much more relaxed and comfortable.  He loved her, the bond that had been broken with his own parents' deaths found a means to repair itself within this woman who had long since acted like the village's mother.  The minor pain that had grown in his hands was wiped away almost immediately, leaving Arashi in the same state he started in, while his mother showed him a different approach. 

The boy watched her demonstrate again, and he turned his right hand in kind, dropping the left to his side.  He tried again, taking a deep breath while his thoughts traveled back to that distant memory, trying to remember what it felt like.  Wind was easily, it was always all around him.  And water.. well he was born with water.  Lightning was different, though, because while the memory of being shocked was in his head, it wasn't a very common occurrence. 

"Lightning... is very different from water and wind." he said, trying again.  He concentrated with an open palm, trying to picture the shock he had gotten, the power that surged through him.  He remember something that Kaos had mentioned when he was learning wind.  You have to understand what it is, what it represents.  Water was gentle and flexible, wind was forceful and powerful, lightning was....

Quick.  Quick and Precise.

Lightning was the perfect strike, it came one second and was gone the next, but its effects would carry on.  Unlike wind and water, where the chakra was generalized, lightning would be instead very direct.  He willed his chakra flow to a fine point on his palm, and his fingers warmed again with a slight vibration.  There.. a slight spark.

Arashi took a breath and concentrated harder, squeezing his eyes again while trying to will the chakra as before.  His hand warmed and then, again, another spark, from his little finger.  Another formed on his ring, and the boy closed his hand a little, picturing a find point.  Suddenly, a bright flash and snap as a spark from his finger met with the middle of his palm, creating a circuit that shocked his hand.  Arashi gave a quick yelp in pain and then shook his hand, trying to hide the fact that he just technically shocked himself.

(w/c: 388)

The blonde watched quietly as Arashi focused, pride swelling inside her as she saw the first sparks dance across his skin. Whatever mental technique he was applying was clearly working which was how training was supposed to be in Akihana's opinion. For her, it had come easier if she was around things that required the element she was training for but Akihana knew different people had different means of achieving the same result. If only more people understood that, the world would be a peaceful place.

Her hand was up once again as soon as she heard the yelp. Not only had Arashi managed to unlock the element but he was already doing what all lightning users had to do eventually, accidentally shock and singe themselves.

"Don't worry, when I tried that first, I nearly took out Fenn's eyebrows," she reassured the young ninja, her glowing palm once again healing the damage Arashi had done to himself. "That's why I personally believe everyone should know at least basic medical ninjutsu, so even if they hurt themselves training, they can patch themselves right back up and hold on long enough for med nins to get to the scene."

When she had made sure the boy was alright, she spoke once more. "This time try to wave the lightning. You know how to make it appear, don't try to form it into anything specific, simply try to move it with your hand as if you're waving. If you can wave it then we're halfway to learning the raiton jibashi technique." It was one of the easier jutsu but with great potential given Arashi's natural affinity to water.