The Eyes into the Past... (Training)

Zeo Stat Page

It was a beautiful day in Hoshigakure and it was one of those days that things just worked itself out for everyone. The air was a mix of clouds and birds sang in the distance, while the water gardens remained serene and peaceful. It was so calm reflections often just appeared as clear as a mirror on the water's surface. After his encounter at the gate when that rogue enemy attacked, Zeo had decided to take a few days out. His desire to be a ninja or even train had not faded, but he needed to reflect on the things that happened, how he handled it, and how he could improve. He was able to put the enemy into a very minor genjutsu, but it wasn't enough as it came up to Misaki-- his sensei-- to save him. He even saved his own clone as he had placed to try and make a diversion. In the end, the enemy's end came at the hands of a fellow shinobi. It was for the best. In the end, he didn't truly like the idea of killing. Even though as a shinobi, he knew there would come a time when he had to take a life to save others. Still, he felt powerless. His genjutsu was his only contribution. The others surpassed him greatly. It made him feel a bit inadequate for the rest of Hoshigakure.

So he figured he take some time to get his head on straight and possibly train a bit on the mental aspect of things. The water gardens were always his go-to place to train and also spend his free time outside. However, every time he was near the water, it made him miss his family. His parents who were now long gone. He would look into the water, remembering the times he had in the small river village he grew up, his time with them, and how much he missed them. In the tide of his grief, he could have willingly forgotten about them, but that was not something he could do. It was something he should never do.

The only thing he had left of his parents was now the scroll he held. During that tragic night, his mother handed him the scroll and told him to keep it safe along with himself. It must have been important to entrust it to him during the last moments of her life before she told him to run. He clung on to it, even when he had survived after falling into the river. It was now his last possession and clue to what happened that night.

He had it close and never had it leave his person or his sight when he showed it to others. The scroll was sealed in a metallic sleeve, meant to keep it secure. However, the mysterious part, it was sealed shut and the latch wouldn't open. It was sealed by a fuinjutsu of some sort and no matter who he showed it to or what methods he himself tried-- it would not open. It was a blue cylinder with the clan crest-- a golden Shinto gate on it, showing it to be great importance to Zeo. Perhaps a will or special message that needed to be read.

Either way, he had no clue how to open it. Beyond that, Zeo was forced to flee and where Hoshigakure took him in after they found him half-drowned in the river. Even though time had passed and he had grown stronger than he had been then, he still longed for answers. He knew one thing. In due time he would have to return to the River Country to where his village was, and find out what happened. All he remembered was fire, and that fire scared him-- along with the shadows of people who were causing destruction. Shinobi likely, but still his memory was a mess from the trauma and the dead of the night.

For now, Zeo sat at the edge of the lake, cross-legged and with the scroll in his hands. He longed for answers to his past and his family, but he had to grow stronger. Strong to protect himself and to never let such tragedies happen again.

Lost in his own thoughts, he wasn't completely aware as he usually was. Normally, his ability to sense chakra was sharp and he could do it with great range, but he wasn't really up to snuff today. He wouldn't notice if new people came, allies at least. But he probably needed friendly presence at times like this.

WC: 766

Okabe wandered through the outskirts of the village aimlessly, twirling around in his hand the sword he always carried with him. It was a nice enough temperature out for him to wear some white sweatpants and a black tank top. He had no missions coming up for the next few days and he didn't feel like causing any trouble. He just needed somewhere to go and clear his head and kill some time. Boredom was a bitch and being alone only made it worse. Since the teen's old crew of hooligans moved on to make things of their lives, Okabe had a hard time coming up with things to do to keep himself occupied.

His meandering eventually led him to the village water gardens, a change of scenery since he rarely ventured out of the actual town area. Born and practically raised on the streets, he always felt weird away from all the hustle and bustle. The quiet was unnerving to him.

As he zigged and zagged his way down the lakeside the tall genin would spot someone else further down his path. It was a blue haired kid a little younger than Okabe. He was sitting by the water, not really moving around. A perfect opportunity to end his boredom. He would stow his blade in it's pure white sheath and bend over to grab a small stone. The teen would toss the rock in his hand a couple times before finally catching it and flinging it towards the water in front of the unknown boy in front of him. The stone would skip a few times before plunking loudly through the surface just in front of Zeo.

Hoping that would catch the stranger's attention Okabe would start walking towards them to chat, "Hey what's got you so deep in thought over there?" He would call out as he walked.

(WC 311)

“Stats Page”:

Soma shin woke up early that morning for what he hoped was going to be a relaxing day. He would get up and get dressed, put on his hoodie, and grab his headband for a trip into town to hopefully find something to do. He purposely did not plan anything today so he could explore and maybe see some old friends or maybe make some new ones in town today. He felt like he had just been doing missions left and right and needed to take a break to maybe do some training or just have some time to himself. He would leave after having a good meal for breakfast and head towards the town. He was not sure who he would see or what he could do so he started heading towards the watery gardens to take a stroll through the park.

When he arrives he sees a new genin talking to his friend Zeo. He sees a young man in white sweatpants and a black shirt. He is going to casually stroll up as they are having a conversation and wait for an opening then say ”Hey there Zeo, long time no see. How have you been? Are you having any luck with your new team? Is there something wrong their buddy?” He then would turn to the new genin and will now politely and say ”hello I am Soma Shin Misaki, it is a pleasure to meet you. I hope I am not interrupting anything.” he looks at both of them trying to measure and discern their responses to answer if they are interrupting something like a team exercise. He hopes that he has a chance to talk to his friend zeo and see what he has going on and he is always willing to meet new people and help anyone he can.


WC 306

Zeo's thoughts were lost as deep as the lake was, watching his reflection lightly ripple in the water below him as he saw light movements and objects. Possibly fish. However, it was then that the impact and swing of the skipping stone splashed and disturbed the peace of the reflective pool. At first, he worried if it was some form of attack or measure. His head shot up and turned, but soon saw the older man who seemed to just be another visit to the waters and just wanted to skip stones. He had no longer been so jumpy to the strangers in Hoshigakure. Many of them were very welcoming and accepting of him. They knew he been through a lot and wanted to help him recover. He soon turned around to see one person he didn't know. He seemed older, with long black hair but also obscured a part of his narrow face-- a possible eye patch. Did he lose his eye? A tragedy to be sure.

The stranger appeared friendly enough if a bit rude to use the throwing-stone trick to snap you out of thought. Zeo kept a neutral expression as he saw him approach. Taking the scroll, he tucked it back into his kimono's shirt and rose up from where he sat. "Um... sorry, just thinking about personal things..." he said as he looked to him. "Who are you? I don't recognize you from the village." Zeo asked politely, as this was the first time he met this man.

It was then a far more pleasant voice spoke up that broke any tension. His eyes widened a bit by the voice and looked to find him. The friend he made a while back who welcomed him to Hoshigakure. He even did a mission with him. Though it was temporary, it was a pleasant one despite him being a bit short-tempered and not the best strategist. His overwhelming cheerful personality brightened up everything.

"Misaki-senpai..." Zeo spoke, but soon corrected himself. "Er, sorry... Soma. Um, I'm fine. What are you doing here?" He asked through the presence of the newer face didn't go lost on him. While he didn't know the stranger who threw the stone across the water, he knew Soma and trusted him as a cheerful spirit. Zeo seemed to have a good intuition of people after a little bit of time.

"I'm doing okay. I had a bit of a scare when returning from training due to an attack on the gate. Luckily, we handled it without issue. Masashi-sensei was amazing. But.... " he paused, seeming downcasted again to bring it up. "I was worried I didn't contribute enough, even with my genjutsu. It just seemed to pale in comparison. Had my seniors had not acted, i would of been burned to a crisp. Even with my water style..." he explained.

He longed to become stronger and do his part. He never wanted to feel powerless again. He just wanted to help those around him and to prove he was worth saving.

WC: 508
TWC: 1274

The skipping stone seemed to startle the blue haired boy, but he quickly composed himself and asked for Okabe to introduce himself.

"Sorry if I scared ya there. The names Okabe." He would say with a quiet laugh, "I've lived here my whole life and this is the first I'm seeing of you. Either you're pretty new around here or this village is bigger than I thought."

As he spoke another person Okabe didn't know approached. The newest stranger seemed to know Zeo and greeted him like a friend. The two boys seemed about the same age, one with blue hair and the other with green. It was an interesting pair to say the least. The blue haired teen looked troubled by a recent mission. It appeared that the boy had recently seen combat. A scary thought even for Okabe at 18 years old. Zeo expressed a desire to grow stronger to be useful. If he was already feeling that way at his young age then that would mean Okabe was way behind. He had only recently decided to become a shinobi and before then, training was not in his schedule. He wondered if he should be spending his days off just wandering around when he could be training.

Wanting to at least say something nice to the kid he would squat down comfortably and say, "Hey you're only a genin I assume, this is when you're supposed to be getting strong. Nobody expects you to be an outstanding soldier just yet."

(WC 252)
(TWC 563)

Soma shin looks at this new shinobi and bows respectfully. Then he looked at his friend Zeo and he could tell by looking at Zeo that he was troubled and needed a good friend. He needed someone to help him through this tough time. Soma Shin was a shy person and not always the best at helping people through their emotional problems. He did not really know what to say or what to do to help someone when they are down like this. He was going to really try though with Zeo. Zeo was one of the first friends he made in the shinobi community in Hoshigakure other than Sakuragi. They went on a mission together and also trained together. He felt like he owed Zeo. He felt like he should at least try to help him.

“Do not let a mission get you down. We are still young and have a lot to learn. We should always be working to better ourselves in whatever way we can.” He told Zeo. “We can always do some more training if you would like.”

He then turns to Okabe “It is my pleasure to meet you. I think I have seen you around town. My family has a house in town. I might have seen you around the village square or maybe did we go to the academy together? I do not know but I have lived here all my life so I am sure I have seen you somewhere. But if you are free you can surely join us for some training if there is anything I can help you with let me know I do not know a lot of jutsu nor do I know what you need or want to learn but I can try to help or I am sure Zeo would be willing to help too.”

He then turns to both of them and says “let’s go into the training grounds and try to get some training. I am sure we can help each other become better and eventually we will be the ones that people come to in order to get help on missions”. He then waits and will follow Zeo and Okabe if they head towards the training grounds.

WC 374
TWC 680

The encouragement he got from both the new stranger from Hoshigakure and Soma were all comforting-- and more important was the truth. He was still new. Though talented in certain areas as a shinobi, he was far from expected to do the extraordinary, especially when facing a vicious enemy that was a skilled shinobi. He was lucky that others he could depend on where there. More so, Soma's words seemed to ring a hint of good advice. "You're saying... I shouldn't see it as me not contributing, but take each fight as a further lesson? To learn from the examples of my seniors?" He asked as he looked out into the pond as it calmed down. He could see his reflection again, and as this dawned on him, he realized he was being too hard on himself.

He let out a long breath and smiled as he turned around to his seniors. Specifically, Soma since he knew him more and his wisdom more clear. "You both are right. Sorry for being so glum," he answered to them with a more positive tone, the clouds of his gloom starting to fade. "But yeah. I should learn more from all of this. Anyway, sure let's go to the training grounds. I normally like to train here for water style but the training grounds are near the waters anyway. "

Zeo soon took a step forward towards them-- but suddenly something happened. He felt a sudden jolt in his mind-- like a sudden headache. He wobbled a bit as he felt the sting and reached for his head with his left hand. "Gaaaahh...." he groaned, feeling the pain in his head. It wasn't serious, but enough to rattle anyone when they felt a sudden pain. He wobbled a bit, feeling dizzy as the sensation rattled his head, causing him to clench his eyes shut.

It was as if in that brief moment, he felt weak. Perhaps a lack of chakra from earlier, but he otherwise felt fine. As he steadied himself, he looked up-- and something changed for a split second. The scene before him was different-- as if night had suddenly replaced the clear day as the trees, grass, and village itself was replaced by the night's sky-- the stars making its form. Before him, in place of Soma and Akabe--- were colored, starry masses. One was a brilliant mix of different colors, like a treasure trove of gemstones clustered together, shining bright. The other, a gray dull void of foggy clouds, or the close to what a nebula of that kind would have-- both in the shape of both people.

The split second he snapped his eyes open again-- the vision was gone, and Zeo saw his two new friends, who likely would look at him like he might have been unwell. He gasped for a few seconds, rattled by the sudden reaction he had. He didn't know how or why, or WHAT he saw exactly. It rattled him, but was so brief, he might have imagined it.

Perhaps the use of Genjutsu on an opponent for the first time had a side-effect. He had never deployed Genjutsu on another person before. There was always a chance it could happen as he never knew if there were any drawbacks or risks using a Genjutsu. If you used a jutsu to influence a person's mind-- did that mean you are opening your own mind to dangers as well? Something worth asking...

Either way, Zeo paused with his eyes wide, wondering how his friends might have responded to this?

WC: 597
TWC: 1867

The green haired teen reassured his friend and even took it one step further by suggesting they start training to get stronger right then. Okabe was thinking about coming up with an excuse and finding a way to leave when Zeo seemed to falter a little upon standing up. He held his head like it was hurting and he looked distressed. It all appeared to pass after only a moment but Okabe couldn't help but feel concerned.

"You alright there? Looked like you were gonna pass out for a bit." He would say placing a hand on the kids shoulder.

He stopped worrying about getting out of training and decided to keep an eye on the Zeo for a little while. Just to make sure whatever that was, wasnt something of concern. Working on his skills was something he had been putting off for a while at this point.

If Zeo was alright and willing Okabe would walk alongside him and Misaki to the training area. "I see you've got a sword on you. The question is, do you know how to use it?" He would ask his blue haired companion.

As he spoke Okabe would slide his katana out from its white sheath and let it dangle loosely in his hand. He liked to talk a big game about his sword skills, but in truth he hadn't had formal training since his parents died in the civil war. His father used to give him lessons: proper way to hold the blade, basic practice forms, good blade maintenance, etc. Okabe never took any of it to heart and instead leaned into his sloppy habits and unconventional stance. If he was going to be a swordsman like his father he would do it his own way.

Towering above the younger shinobi with him he would jab his blade into the ground and clap his hands together, "All the jargon that instructors give about proper technique and form is trash. What really counts in bladework is confidence and the resolve to swing your sword straight through your target." He would pause his speech, pick a stick up off the ground and toss it above his head. Before the twig reached the ground Okabe would snatch his sword out from the dirt and slice the stick in two. "All the Technique in the world wont help if you don't have the guts to cut when it counts."

(WC 404)
(TWC 967)

Soma Shin Misaki looked at Zeo who seemed distracted or light headed for a moment but then returned to his normal self and continued on towards the training grounds further in the watery gardens. This new shinobi was talking to Zeo to make sure he was alright. “Zeo I agree, what's going on? Do you feel ok? we can train another day if you are not feeling well. There is always time to train and you know I’m always willing to help you out.” Soma Shin put his hands on Zeo’s shoulder to try to help him steady himself. Misaki was starting to get close to Zeo so since he was definitely one of Soma Shin’s friends he had a genuine look of concern for Zeo. “Do we need to go see Masashi maybe or another medical shinobi?” He turns to Okabe and kind of whispers “Do you think we should take him to a doctor or a pharmacy? Either way let’s keep an eye on him.”

Okabe starts talking to Zeo about his sword. Misaki had no idea how to use a sword and he was not sure if Zeo really knew how to use one either. Soma Shin specialized in using Ninjutsu techniques and did not ever really use weapons because other then the fact he was pretty weak he was not a big fan of using metal objects. But turns to them and says “hopefully one day I will be able to make katanas and other weapons out of my crystals. I am still waiting to learn to control them and make them with jutsu. My grandpa said he would train me when he thinks I am ready.” Then Okabe continues on about knowing when to cut and having the guts. Soma Shin looks at him and says “Guts are great in theory but without technique guts will get you killed faster than anything else. Sometimes the best thing to do is wait and train your technique. Otherwise you will not only hurt yourself but your team. We all have a lot to learn but it is always a good time to train and worry about the battle later. There is plenty of time to do missions and help the village.”

They have been walking and talking meanwhile Soma Shin is also going over some of his memories about missions he has done. Whether it was protecting that business man or escorting that princess across the country. He was always trying to think of what he did during those missions that needed improving and he was thinking that he would remind himself next time he saw Masashi to help him.

WC 443
TWC 1023

Zeo's head buzzed for a few seconds but he soon regained his composure, but he soon recovered. For that brief moment, it felt more like he was dizzy or light-headed but it passed as he blinked, his vision no longer clouded by that strange... thing he saw. He didn't even know how to describe it. He could clearly see the concern on their faces as he shook his head and rose up. "I'm Fine... I think. Huh... " Zeo voiced, thinking aloud as he tried to make sense of what happened to him. "Maybe I been studying genjutsu too much it started messing with my head or something. " he said in the light attempt to make a joke.

"It's okay, really. I think I just got a little dizzy or something." he said, wiping his eyes for a moment with his sleeve.

He felt fine despite that and looked to them. "Of course. I'd be more than willing to train. Sorry to concern you," Zeo asked, but soon drew his attention to his own sword as Okabe brought it up. "Oh, yeah. I recently got it. I been wanting to learn how to use a sword for a backup. My strengths are mostly long-range combat, but as I am sure you know, not everything works out to that way in a real fight. So I hoped to learn proper sword techniques. I even learned a jutsu recently to make a water sword. But I don't have the skill of a swordsman yet." he explained.

Shin however was a bit more insistent on Zeo's condition as he turned to the green-haired kid and smiled. "I'm fine, really. I mean, it probably is nothing. I just thought my vision blurred for a second. I have been practicing more Genjutsu, so maybe I'm the one seeing things for a change, you know?" he said, not even sure what exactly he saw himself. It was so brief and sudden, he didn't really understand what he saw. Either way, he was more than willing to practice more jutsu , especially with the company of those friendly in Hoshigakure.

Okabe expressed his more vague view on swordplay, in that form meant nothing. Still, Zeo knew nothing of 'form' or stance so he needed to learn it all regardless. "I suppose so. I attack from range and use Genjutsu for a reason but... doesn't form also influence the means to block and strike in the right manner and stability of the blade? " he countered, cause he needed to know the finer point. "I guess you make a point though. Courage is needed but, the goal for me is to learn how to use it if need be. If my back is up against the wall, I am sure I'd have to do it."

Zeo drew his sword-- producing the jian he bought. The Jian was a different kind of sword oppose to a katana. It was a straight sword with a rather rectangular frame, but narrow. It was lightweight and narrow, but stable and well balanced. The form to wield a jian was different from a katana, but some things remained. Either way, he was drawn to the jian sword as opposed to a katana and wanted to learn how to use it as a melee weapon. It was common knowledge that when you were a ranged fighter, enemies would definitely rush to close the gap.

With them now at the training grounds, Zeo recalled the way it was and before. The sandpit for practice, the wooden platforms, and polls for acrobatic training and of course the areas that led out into the lake-- the polls sticking out from it as well. It was a good blend of both the lake and the shore, offering a good amount of places to practice in all forms of ninjutsu and the like. It offered plenty of space and equipment to practice whatever they want.

Zeo blinked when Soma mentioned about making weapons out of crystal. He turned to him, and for that second that 'mental image' of gemstones he saw moments before came to mind. "Gems? Soma-- do you know how to use Crystal Release? That's very rare...." Zeo commented, recalling what he learned about bloodline limits. "I wish I had something special like that."

With them well placed in the training grounds, Zeo figured he shares his skills. "Well, Ninjutsu is my current area of focus. I use a lot of water release techniques. But I also try to use that in combination with Genjutsu, as I told you. " he explained. I know that you, Sona, don't know how to help me with water style or stuff like that, but I am willing to learn C rank jutsu that can help me. But as I mentioned, I'd like to learn how to wield a sword better for close-quarters combat. It will work great, especially if I can learn to apply change in chakra nature to swords too." he explained as he showed them the Jian blade.

WC: 841
TWC: 2708