Same Walls, New Stories (P, NK)

Another day another bay, as they say, in a way. Well, Rakka actually was in a bay or by the bay. She was on one of the islands dedicated to housing and living areas, on the side of the isle that faced the inner bay of the village. Here, on the beach, she was pretty much alone. She chose this place for a reason, after all, and that reason was that she could be here pretty much alone. Well, around this time that was roughly the midday, anyway.

She only knew of one other person who used this spot, and he’d been gone for awhile now. A pity, that. She hadn’t heard from Naoki in quite some time. She had no idea what he was up to nowadays, only that he’d been absent from the village for about a year. Though she’d never admit it, Rakka had missed the man’s company. He was helpful, he made for intelligent conversation, and he might have been the only friend she’d had in the village.

She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t tried to contact him. She feared that her friend might have been killed, but any attempt she’d made to summon him had failed. It was discouraging, but she didn’t let on to anybody. While it was nice to have a friend to talk to, Rakka was good at moving on. Still, her return to the place that they’d met stirred old memories. The beach, which in another time, before Kirigakure, would have been lit by wild parties, was now deserted. It was tranquil, and the sound of the waves rolling against the shore was relaxing. Looking across the beach, she half expected to see Naoki himself as she reached the spot that he’d taught her the art of Fuinjutsu.

Deep in the mist, in a retreat known to few, the former and the now acting leader of the village was relaxing from his day of struggles. And this relaxation was in the form of sculpting from a strange black, metallic rock. Naoki was in fact crafting the body of his second Exemplar, his hand slowly moving along and just off the surface of the strange material, his chakra shaping the rock beneath his palm. Although this was the exact same spot he crafted his first, Vigil, it was now an entirely different sight than before. Previously this beach was a sandy refuge from Shimagakure's non-stop all-round-the-clock parties, with tropical trees and shrubbery separating him from the noise, it was quitter but still warm and bright. Now the vegetation was everywhere, what used to be just a few plants to obstruct him and discourage random wandered her become become a natural barrier on its own right, the grass streaked across the previously sandy beach stopping only few steps from where waves hit the shore. The mist shrouded all and with no party noise in the background, the only sound that filled the map's ears was the waves gently crashing on the land, receding and then returning again.

As Naoki's hand glided along the rock in the making of the form for his soon to be daughter, his mind continuously worked, deliberating on the events of that day and the plans for the future. With Xyxer gone on his crusade for glory, Naoki was free plant his small seeds of hope. It was true that the demon of the Mist had shaped the New Kirigakure to be a formidable force and that the inner workings of the village had been rid of most crime with a strong order of things in place. And yet Naoki could not help but feel that the people have been suffering silently. Throughout the past month he had met with the family heads, religious leaders, influential tradesmen and other people who had a voice and a pull in the village. He had discussed their needs, the changes that could ease their work and benefit the populace, and with careful selection of his words had the council implement them, one improvement at a time. He chose these changes as carefully as he chose how to present them, not all of those people in the village shared his outlook and some of them were greedy people with an intent to carve out the most for themselves; likewise, not all on the council would understand what Naoki meant to do, some of them were rather fanatic in their belief that suffering bred strength and that this strength would win them the world. Naoki could have sworn some of those people looked at other humans as little more than fuel to gain power with which to attain their ambitions.

In the end the of the biggest concern to the Uchiha man were the young - the new generation of shinobi and kunoichi being raised in the village right now. Frankly, he believed that Xyxer overstepped the line with the Blood Games. Sacrificing young lives was foolish, wasteful, cruel and quite possibly unforgivable. Depend on who you ask, of course. As before, some people seemed to outright revere Xyxer for such "strength". Naoki himself believed in the balance of things. Everything was a trade-off, every decision and action had a cost for it. And while most of that cost here was paid in the lives lost, if this continued the fearless troops that Xyxer so wanted could easily become merciless killers without a shred of humanity or sensible thought in their minds. To some that might seem like strength, but to the man standing on the shore that was fate, of course debatable, worse than death. You see, in this person's mind, everyone was here to do most good. If you torture a creature to be a twisted mind that only seeks destruction, then you reverse that good nature and they may as well better be off dead. And so Naoki took action where he could. He delayed the plans for the next Blood Games, he introduced into those plans softer rules for the fights, he added medical teams to be on stand-by throughout it. And the change that he submitted to the council that very day was an updated curriculum for the academy. He chipped away classes he found pointless at that age, classes of advanced arts that would only interest those of certain set of talents. He restructured the system to allow teachers to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the students and assign them to classes appropriately. Utilizing the massive resource that was the great library Naoki made room for survival training and philosophy. He meant to train the mind and individuality of the young before they are sent to kill, so they can draw the right conclusions, so they know the value of life. He knew this was both a blessing and a curse as these children would grow pained by their actions, instead of numb to the suffering of others, but a population that knew when to raise the sword was better than one that flaunted it and spilled blood needlessly. This was among the first things he aimed to do, for this seed would grow slowly but surely and it was imperative that it be planted as as soon as possible.

As the thoughts of this kind swirled in his mind Naoki sensed a chakra signature approaching. He smiled as he recognized it. This might be a nice surprise for her. It was highly unlikely that the woman will sense him before spotting him with plain eye. After all, he had made it regular practice to use the new properties of the manipulated fabric to minimize his passive chakra output in order to avoid unwanted attention. To a sensor not intent on seeking him out specifically, he likely seemed about as interesting as a stray dog right now; quite likely he could not be sensed at all with that massive chakra imbued whirlpool half a mile off the shore behind him. Naoki's hand continued to move, but the rock would no longer change shape below it as he reduced the chakra output further; instead he was just feeling the surface and imagining the further details he would need to make on it as his eyes slowly moved to the outcropping where he expected her to appear.

The place had changed a lot since Rakka had last visited. Where once there had been just enough foliage to obscure any potential view and deter any possible visitors, there now stood a massive amount of flora, creating a regular barrier in and of itself. Rakka was not too bothered by it, as she was travelling by beach and could merely advance down the sand, but it would make traversing to the area difficult without taking a long walk around, as she had. Wreathed in the mist of their new home, this place was otherwise calm and quiet. It reminded her of the old Shimagakure. She didn’t feel she had the right to call the place her home, not truly, for she had not been born there, nor had she been trained there, nor did she hold any particularly strong connection to any inhabitants of it. She had no claim to this place, but they had taken her in in her hour of need, and that was enough.

She’d never really had a home, after all. She’d never return to Sunagakure, for her memories of the place were nothing short of horrific. It was not the fault of any particular villager, though it was likely for the best that Rakka left. Hearsay was that that village had been overtaken by Kumogakure’s ravenous empire. It was most ironic that the man who had taken over Yukigakure had also taken Sunagakure in turn. Ah, Yukigakure. It had been a wonder that they had churned out a jounin of her caliber, for their population of Shinobi and Kunoichi was so low that she had largely had to teach herself. Even so, she’d risen through the ranks quickly, and might have been one of their ANBU, had they had the time to let her keep rising. Since then, Rakka had largely stagnated, partly due to moving as rapidly as she did, and partly due to her having… well… Having let herself go. Physically she was as fine as she’d ever been, but mentally, emotionally, she was weaker than she’d ever been. She had consumed the drink, and now the drink was consuming her.

It was a surreal feeling of deja vu that greeted Rakka when she arrived at the spot where she’d first taken up the study of fuinjutsu with the help of Naoki. There, in the same spot, modeling yet another strange stone statue, just as before, was Naoki Gekou. For a moment, Rakka wondered if she had stepped into some sort of time loop, for the situation was so familiar. She saw him before she sensed him, but at that point, it hardly mattered.

”Well, shit.”

”He lives! I thought you might have died, Naoki” She quipped upon approaching him, a rare smile on her face. ”It’s been awhile.”

Naoki's naturally dark brown eyes tracked the Jounin as she approached him. He would turn to fully face her, returning more of a smirk than a smile along with a response and a nod to her jape "I admit to a close call or two." His hands would come together and seemingly out of nowhere a small towel would appear in his hands; he would start cleaning the dust off like a true craftsman, then just as mysteriously the cloth would disappear. "How has the village fared while I was gone?" he would ask, but then without really giving an opportunity for her to speak he would say in a slightly more hurried manner. "Say, would you mind posing for me while we talk? This next piece is a girl and while I do know the female form by heart, making up a face is a bit of a different song for me." Should she agree, he would reward her with a bit more of a smile than previously and move to pick up some of the more delicate tools by the sculpture while muttering barely audibly. "You are a fine specimen after all." It was said more to himself though and he hoped she did not quite hear it, but who knows.

Naoki greeted her warmly, some sort of smirk on his face as he worked on yet another statue, performing some kind of magic trick to make his cloth disappear. What a guy. He inquired as to the welfare of the village, which Rakka answered with a simple shrug. She would have spoken to elaborate on the state of the village, how tired she was, and how badly she needed a drink,, but before she could, Naoki cut her off, asking her to model for whatever that statue he was making was.

A look of mild discomfort arrived on the face of Rakka, gone a moment later, as she responded with her classic noncommittal shrug.
”Sure, I guess. I’m not much of a model, but I’ll do my best.” She said, looking around, as if there were something she needed to do. ”Should I sit?” She asked, thankfully covering up the words that Naoki had muttered under her breath. Between her not particularly paying attention and speaking over him, so even with her heightened senses, she didn’t hear his response.

”What is this for, anyways?” She would ask, looking to the statue. ”I didn’t think you’d have time for art projects.”

As the female Jounin agreed to pose for him and asked if she should sit while looking somewhat confused, Naoki would chuckle slightly. "You misunderstood. I only want to model her face after yours, asked merely out of politeness... Not that I am not excited for it. But, no, you don't need to sit unless you want to. As long as I can see your face, it's fine." He would explain, at the end gesturing for her to come and stand behind to Exemplar's statue so he could see her while working on the face. Assuming that she did, he would gesture with his hand, somewhat similar to slowly trying to scare away an annoying bug, although more elegant than that. With the gesture, three dimly glowing motes of light would come forth and float towards Rakka before starting to orbit her head in three different angles. These would shed light on her face, at different angles and intensities as preferred by Naoki - Kirigakure was a dim and gloomy place with the mist and the storm clouds above, and he could use some extra light for this. With that, assuming Rakka didn't mind the sunflies too much, he would begin working on the second Exemplar's face.

When asked by the woman about the statue he was making the Uchiha man would stay silent for some five seconds, his expression giving few signs of him being a thought about it and then begin explaining. "These are somewhat more than just art, they have a practical purpose. I call them Exemplar and as the name suggests they exemplify certain traits that I adore. I don't believe you've met the first one, but you were there when I crafted him." He would briefly stop sculpting and stay his vision on the Jounin for a bit longer while explaining this part before continuing, certain that the last bit just said would confuse her. "It was the statue I was making when we met here last time. Although I'm sure completely coincidental, it does seem somewhat symbolic that you would be present in the making of the second one as well."

Naoki clarified that he intended to model the statue’s face after her own, a fact that was relieving to Rakka at first, as she took her place behind the statue, staring forward diligently. As Naoki created a few small orbs of light, Rakka reached for a small flask in her jacket, nonchalantly unscrewing the top and taking a swig as Naoki explained what exactly he was making. She hadn’t really had time for a drink in all the weeks that she had been forced to take on the brunt of the work to be done her in Kirigakure, and this short break was as good as any for a small drink.

Naoki explained that these statues were made to exemplify a trait that he “adored,” which led Rakka along the very reasonable line of thought that Naoki was trying to flirt. As she’d diligently practiced throughout her life, Rakka deflected as best as she could, which was, mercifully, rather easy this time around, as he presented her with a lead for another question.

”Met?” She asked. Naoki had not yet explained the true nature of the Exemplars, so this particular phrasing was a tad odd. She was putting the flask away now as she waited for his response, her head tilting slightly to the side to signify her curiosity.

1647 w.

[Exit,

1647 towards training Thousand Faces technique (with discount)]

Approved