The puppet and the puppeter (P, NK, Kari)

Miyamoto was watching as he saw Kari move towards him then put her back against his chest. The feeling of her in front of him was a...weird one. In fact, this was the closest he had ever been to a girl ever, so when he could tell she could no longer see his face he turned such a bright red that his skin color might give him away as some sort of dyed experiment rather than as a human. He swallowed hard and watched her completely ace the use of the technique as he expected of her. He might have gone a bit too far with the metaphor, but it was not for lack of trying...each had their own way of doing things regardless. Once she was done he did give her praise though.

"That was an excellent execution. I could not have done any better on my own second try...and trust me it took many tries to actually get the use of this move down. Now, let us move out of the water, for now, more training can be done on land, besides you can now work on this technique at your own leisure." Miyamoto moved silently, making sure Kari was along with him as he leads the way to the shore.

Once on the solid ground of the embankment, he would begin to naturally increase his body temperature using his natural chakra to warm and dry his body and clothes. The cool air causing him to sigh with pleasure as he enjoyed the feel of nature on his skin. He did not attempt to put on his other clothes as he called out to Kari

"When you are done getting dressed we can move on to another part of training. This time I will show you to make sure your mind is guarded and able to evade potentially devastating tricks of genjutsu. Whenever you are ready though, no rush." Miyamoto would say as he would reach back and scratch the back of his head as he was almost at a loss for what to say after the incident in the stream. For now, though he would just play it off as if it did not happen and his head was just overthinking a simple thing. His face was still beet red as he cleared his throat one more time.

He was embarrassed and even though he could not do much since he was not a Genjutsu user, he would tell her the basics of the Gen. Release and hope she could pick up on it at a later time.

WC:430/1,980

Praise, it was the one thing Kari always understood and appreciated. It gave her a sense of accomplishment and solidified the fact that others knew of her accomplishments. Therefore, when Terumi gave her a job well done, Kari wanted to think of a way to thank him. The only person in the world who would honestly give Kari unconditional praise was her father. Her mother did it sometimes, but most of that was a bait to get something out of Kari. Everyone else did it reluctantly or was like Kari's mother in the girl's eyes. Still Kari never called anyone out on it because in her mind, praise was praise.

She folded her arms and lowered her head. She wanted to smile, to show Terumi she appreciate it. She wanted him to smile back so she could see the radiance that other's smiles brought. However, she could find a way to create one. The action felt weird, incomplete, and if Kari had a mirror, she was sure she would see no radiance. Therefore, she kept her head down, trying to think of something acceptable, something other than her traditional bow. All she could imagine was ice cubes.
"Cold," she muttered.

When Terumi suggested they move to dry land, Kari found a new type of determination inside of her. The idea was great and exceeded the importance of her previous dilemma. She tail Terumi while staying downstream of him. Once she was on land, a new problem arose. She was soaked and had no towel. It was the major flaw of learning water jutsu. She looked at what she had. There was her cloak, which was water repellent, her small shorts, and her t-shirt. Out of everything here, she thought the t-shirt would give her the best results. In addition, it would probably dry quicker. Therefore, she set it down, curled into a ball to minimize the breeze nipping at her wet skin, and combed as much water from her hair as she comfortably could. As she turned her head, she saw the steam rolling off Terumi. The boy was lucky to have such a trick. It is no wonder he did not mind getting wet. Kari let out a sigh and continued focusing on finishing her hair.

After water stopped dripping down from her locks, she took the t-shirt and started to rub off the water. The shirt pulled on her skin, barely removing any water as protest for the girl's incorrect use of it. After several minutes of struggling, Kari's body dried enough to allow her to comfortably stand. Her bralette and underwear, still felt like ice to her skin. Instinctively she wanted to just take it off, but once again, her logic for not skinny-dipping came into play. All she could do was minimize the wind contact. Therefore, Kari put on her cloak, hiding her two wet pieces of garments and covering most of her body. It was still obvious that she was not wearing pants but at least she was covered, until a rouge gust came by.

After moving her hair bands, shoes, and shorts to a nearby tree and hanging up her soaked t-shirt, Kari turned back to Terumi. He already instructed her to join her once she was dressed. Looking down, she was as dressed as she was going to be. With that, she ran over to him bare foot and all, wearing just her cloak, bralette, underwear. When she arrived, she noticed that the boy face was red. Did he catch a cold from jumping in the water? She reached out, lifting herself onto her toes, and placed her hand on his forehead.
"Are you sick Sempai? Your face is really red," She asked in her soft and dreary voice while her aloof eyes studied his face.

WC: 633

Miyamoto was caught off guard as Kari just seemed to dress lightly after warming herself just a little. The next bit made his face go from an embarrassed pink to something more like she knew what she had done and was needlessly just playing with the teenage boy's feelings. When she asked him then stood close to him as she put a hand to his forehead to feel him, he would naturally be warm due to his drying being complete and his blood flowing coupled with the chakra inside him flowing like a river.

"uh...n-nothing is wrong..." He started in as he cleared his throat and then placed both of his hands on her waist as she felt his head. He instinctively moved a small step forward as he looked at her still studious gaze. He then gave her a smile before letting go and stepping back a few inches as he continued to explain.

"The next technique I will show you is to make sure you are mentally strong enough to withstand an attack from someone trying to trick one or more of your senses using a Genjutsu. The technique is actually quite simple, all you have to do is realize that you are stuck inside a Genjutsu by noticing a fallacy in the area around you. Or you could perceive the movements of individual Genjutsu attacks by memorization, or finally by being better and faster than your opponent." Miyamoto was gone in a flash as he used the Body flicker technique, propelling him at a speed of 235 to the tree she hung her clothes as he grabbed them and then threw them up on a branch as soon as he was done. Then he raced back over at the speed of 115, considerably slower, but still able to make the wind whistle as he came to a stop in his exact position.

"Now the trick is to memorize your surroundings. Every detail should be mentally noted. As an artist...you should have no problem with figuring out what just changed." Miyamoto said as he waited for a moment before adding.
"Make sure to think about everything you have done before I gave you this task, never go looking around without a plan. Study your memory and tell me when you find the change." Miyamoto finished as he stood there, no longer bright red as he was earlier.

WC:400/2,380

Terumi's forehead was indeed warm. It was the same warmth she felt back when they were in the water together. It was then that she remembered his ability to warm his body. She closed her eyes, not sure what else to say. It was unacceptable to forget small details like that. Those things were the triggers that got people killed in their profession. Fortunate for her, Terumi played along. That is to say, she assume he was.

In actuality, she had no clue what he was thinking or doing. When he grabbed her waist, her eyes opened and darted down. She removed her hand only to catch him smiling from the corner of her eye. Her eyes darted back up. His smile had a glow and then he released her. Without a chance to inquiry his actions, Kari remained silent and listened to his explanation. Kari felt she was mentally strong. Though she remember the times her mother tricked her through praise. She wondered if that counted. Would Terumi know the answer.

As she lost herself in thought, a gust of wind blasted through her. Her cape started to fly up. Her arms went up, ready to catch her balance. Then another gust pushed her forward nullifying the need to raised her arms. So she lowered her head and pushed down her cape. The second breezed managed to fly up her cape and free her underwear and bralette. Then the boy spoke again. His face changed drastically. The redness disappeared and he assigned her a mission. She did not understand what he meant.
"Change?" she repeated quieter voice.

Her eyes widened. Was that gust was Terumi? How could he move so fast. She dismissed the thought given the impossibility. She had to focus on the scene. She lowered her head and closed her eyes. Then she took a deep breath and made a fist.
"I will find the change."

Then she ran off to her stuff. She pulled out her notebook and then ran back to Terumi. Then she sat on the ground and started sketching the Stream. She sketched the trees. She sketched the fields. Everything was tranquil. Nature was every changing but the feeling it produce was the same. The only thing throwing everything off was the boy's sword and Kari's clothes. She walked up to her folded clothes. Though grabbing her book messed up the careful folds she made, nothing seemed off. Then she looked up to her shirt, it was scrunched up. It would not dry properly this way. She stretched it out and lied it back on the branch. Then she returned to Terumi.
"I think the wind pushed my shirt together, but I could not find a change. Who could have made a change? Are we not alone sempai?"

WC: 465

Her movements as Miyamoto speed to and from his target seemed almost confused. Miyamoto did not know how to react but with training to remove himself from the current state of events. Once back to the shore area, Miyamoto watched Kari as she listened to his words. As fetched her sketchbook and then sat down to sketch out the scene in her mind. She was quick to draw out the scene just before they trained in the stream. Miyamoto noted all the details in her art as she even drew the unchanged clothing hanging at the tree just before he messed with it.

When she stood up and fixed the things that were out of place, Miyamoto clapped a few times, it was not a huge change that he did, but then again sometimes it was the smallest changes in Genjutsu that were the hardest to spot. So in that spirit once she returned Miyamoto retrieved his jacket and blade. The moment his hand touched the blade, it turned a dark, deep purple color, almost with a tinge of raven green along the scabbard as he put the sword back in the loop on his belt.

"You have done well Kari, and I do think you are strong enough to withstand genjutsu...I wish I had a few of those tricks to test you, but alas at the time I do not. Your memory is sharp as is your control of chakra as you demonstrated with the mist technique. Continue to practice these moves, and try to find someone with genjutsu experience to help you with fighting against it, that is how I learned. However there is one thing that has bugged me since the library, and even when I caught you in the tree. Why would someone like you want to become a shinobi? Do you know how to fight? What motivates you?" Miyamoto said as he then sat down on the rocks, looking at her expecting answers.

WC:330/2,710

Once again Terumi's praises filled the air. With the added affect of a clap, the boy seemed to impressed by her perception. Then he brought up her chakra skills and gave advise on how to further train her resistance to genjutsu. Kari turned around, unsure what to do. Once again the problem of how to return her gratitude. For the first time, she had doubted what she heard. She could not tell why. She felt like she did not do much to earn so much praise. It was like talking to her mother yet something told her he meant it.

Then an interesting question came out of his mouth. Though it was broken down into three, the true objective was clear. The boy saw her as someone different. "Someone like her," it was a phrase in a list of praises she heard so much in her life. Suddenly that little voice that told her he was giving her honest praise went silent. Like a candle snuffed out by a gentle breeze. She lowered her head. All questions needed answer.
"I... I wanted to see new lands, new environments. I wanted to find a peace and tranquility that hides from me in this village," She said in a robotic like voice. One that was quiet but clear, void of any sense of life.

Kari turned around, her face was empty of emotion. Her collar hid everything by her aloof eyes which gazed at the man. They were eyes of someone lost, possessed by thought and open only to serve the most fundamental needs. She brushed away the damp hair that fought to block her face.
 
"I want to find something to fill the space here," Her hand moved to her chest, clenching the fabric over her heart, "Being a Shinobi is the only way to find it. I know it. If I work hard, if push myself. If I can see the little details, then maybe..."

She stopped. Her hand trembled. He head dropped, noticing the unconsciousness take over. She removed her hand from her chest and walked towards Terumi. Her expression did not change.
"I am a shinobi. I am not as strong as you Terumi-Sempai or even Ai-sempai but I work hard to get stronger every day. I study everyone. Even though I don't understand. I look forward and hope, hope that if I get a little better, that something will click."

She stopped in front of the man. Her expression did not change. However her stance did. She gave a low bow. One where she was left exposed to the will of the boy.
"Thank You for training me. You have taught me a lot. I do not have much to returned the favor but here."
Kari's hand reached into her sleeve and pulled out a coupon for a free day at the hot springs. The place was called the Tsukami Inn and it belonged to her father. She extended her arms careful not to lift her head. Her father told her that it was best to let the others decide to accept what you offer them without the influence of anything else. It makes the customer happier.

WC:530

He found the switch, her tone and even her body language changed as soon as he asked the questions. Her answer sounded like a rehearsed one, which instantly told Miyamoto that she was hiding something. He was going to get the bottom of that in due time, but for now, he let her do her thing without interruption. Her little speech about her heart and finding something that filled it, and that being a shinobi is the only way she will find what she is looking for to fill it. A noble cause of course, but Miyamoto knew all too well the price that had to be paid to be a shinobi. He did not want that life for her, there was something in his own heart that pulled on him...and here he thought that he had gone cold to the world. As she finished with an offering as if she was trying to barter his services he instead poked her forehead as she bowed. Something about the scene looked like the two were in some sort of anime or manga. He gave a bit of a laugh before falling to his ass on the ground, after a few seconds more of laughter he would finally speak, but only after wiping his eyes from the tears of laughter.

"Whew! Ok, let us start off with the ticket..." He said as he pushed it back into her hands and gave her a reassuring genuine smile.
"So I won't need the ticket, not to say I do not appreciate it, but if I want to see you or want to take a dip in the springs...I will find my way in. Next off, I know something is up with you when you say something that is so rehearsed that you don't even sound human anymore. Being unique does not make you a pariah of existence...trust me on that one, being unique offers you different ways to tackle a problem that for most people would most likely be unachievable." This is when he just scooted up beside her if she was still bowing.
"As for finding something to fill your heart and thinking that being a shinobi will do it for you...You are most definitely looking in the wrong place. Finding what can fill your heart is something that can be...tricky, besides in our line of work...most of the people around us do not get to live out full lives to even find that piece of the puzzle." Miyamoto said as his smile faded away as he just stared off, thinking of those on his team he had lost...those that just disappeared...and his own family.
"Just like I said earlier, be like water, water constantly moves...it never stops, it adapts, always finding its own path." He finished as he looked over at Kari, and with a gentle nudge he would sigh and stand up, a smile crossed his face that made him look completely different from the boy she met days before and even today.

The girl reminded Miyamoto of himself when he first arrived as a refugee, the weight of those going to the other side still stacked on his shoulders, but it was moments like these where something of the naive and pure-hearted kid shined through.

Hope.

540/3,250

Before Kari's head could complete the bow, she felt a strong finger hold up her head. Shortly after, a energetic laughed sprung up in front of the girl and a loud thump sneaked through the breaks caused from the boy taking a breath. Kari remained motionless but her mind was running circles around her head. What was so funny? Without a logical answer, Kari began to tremble. She fought the urge to raise her head and look at the boy and his possible radiant smile. She could not believe such a healthy laugh could come from someone who was just a ghost a hour ago. Ghost could not laugh after all. She did not understand it. Why would someone laugh at something she said when nowhere in the conversation did Kari mention the word date. It was the only reason people laughed with her. So was he laughing at her? He had to. It was only logical given her inability to properly produce humor.

She felt him push the ticket and her hand back to her chest. He declined the ticket, the only thing she thought she could offer him as thanks. She trembled again but her eyes broke away and saw a smile on his face. One with a warm radiance. Her eyes dropped back down, with her curiosity finally full. He did not seem angry nor dangerous. His actions showed that. He could have threw the ticket to the ground, ignored her, or even push her down. Anything else which would be most appropriate in her blind state.

His followed up statement was weird in itself. Did he plan to sneak and find her or break into her father's spring? She would not recommend it. Also, she offered a free ticket. Why would he choice to do shady things over a free way? Before any other clues could be revealed, he shifted the conversation back to her person. He called her word staged, rehearsed. A fairly accurate statement though not in the way Kari would envision. Each one of her words were said multiple times though never at the same time. Come to think of it, why did she reveal so much. She trembled again realizing the illogical action she just took.

Then he said something which would break her view of him. He admitted she sound human. Could that mean she was not acting weird? She might have misunderstood the meaning behind his question, but by his next comment, he also misunderstood her.
"I am not unique. I'm broken," she muttered in the short pause of his conversation.

She raised her head only to notice Terumi move to her side. She lowered her head as the giant of a boy began a speech about her heart and how being a shinobi was the wrong choice. He was the 2nd person to tell her that, which means the boy knew her father. Still, he did not understand... at least that is what she told herself. Kari did not believe she feared death. It was something that rarely crossed her mind. She could remember her mother saying it is when people sleep forever. It was a nice tranquil answer despite the harsh truth. Besides that one moment, the thought never came to mind.

Finally he finished with that confusing quote, "to be water". It was a mystery she would be force to solve later. For now, her head felt like a pinball. She could not read the boy. She could not understand his motives. He helps her. He says weird things. He sees her differently then most people.
"I won't quit," Kari protested against his death warning, "Not until I find it."

Then she grabbed her book started to run to her clothes. Only she stopped after a few steps. Her mind itched with a riddle, a chance to seek a answer from an unlikely source. She did not turn around to the boy. However she made sure her voice was loud enough to hear it.
"Tell me... what fills your heart Sempai? What makes your smile so bright and warm?"

Without waiting for an answer, the girl dashed to her clothes. With her hands full, she ran up the tree and then jumped down from the highest branch with a giant object about her size wrapped in bandages on her back and ran off back in the direction of the village.

WC:733

(EXIT)
Total WC: 5007
Stats earned: 25
500 words to Gen release/master (50% taught by Miyamoto)
2000 words to Chakra Absorption
500 words to Puppet Art: Ventriloquism
500 words to Hidden Mist Technique (50% taught by Miyamoto)
1507 words to Puppetry Performance: Skillful Achievement with a Human Body

In the future please include a total WC.