follow up to a puppet sup(P/IO Niko)

"That. That sounds aweful! Imagine being invisible in combat. No one could see my cute outfits and all of my dancing moves would be worthless. Literally it would make all of my performances less good. I'd have to focus solely on my singing--which is quite impressive but not as good as the whole package." Impressively the point was right there, and Saya swept well past it, ignoring its entire existence. It will come as no surprise that while she recognizes the power that comes from being able to be invisible, the fact that it would remove her aesthetic from the field drastically reduces the appeal of such techniques. She was never going to actually learn the sensory spec anyway.

"Oh yea. Its just like this. " At her full speed she'd form the seals for the summoning technique, and in her arms another weaponry refil for the pinochio puppet would poof into existence in a cloud of smoke. With a great heft she'd toss the magazine filled with 4 kunai towards Niko. This was actually pretty useful. She was able to teach him the jutsu and get rid of the extraneous weaponry she didn't really need at the same time. Efficiency.

"Saya. You have to actually perform the technique at a speed that he can see and comprehend. Has my extensive lessons taught you nothing about how to aid in ninjutus?! " As Pinochio corrected her two things happened. First, Pinochio stepped up to help in teaching the young puppet user. Why he'd allowed her to try herself, he wasn't sure, but he'd hoped there was some chance that she would learn something from the experience. She would not. He went through the seals slowly to ensure Niko had the time to see and recognize each, speaking their names in turn. "Boar. Dog. Bird. Monkey. Ram. Then you place your palms on the ground or use the seal of confrontation. It's quite simple once you get the hang of it.

The second thing was less informative. Out of the corner of her eye Saya noticed the doors to the training center open and a small black nose peer inside. A furry creature about four feet tall simply strolled inside and glanced about. Across his chest was a fine woven set of leather armor, or what she assumed to be armor. His shoulders were made broader by the wolf skin cloak that swayed behind him in the wind. She watched in awe for several minutes as he went to and fro, triyng to get a feel for where exactly he'd just entered.

"Medical is hugely important to the ninja world. Saya also wants to learn the specialty at some point, but she's been struggling so far. Maybe that will be where you become the teacher instead of the student. " Ai chimed in here, stepping up beside Pinochio. He postured for a moment as the taller girl took her place in front of niko, his status as the teacher dwarfed by his small size.

(TWC 8016)

Niko had to say such a technique would be quite useful in general. If he forgot something he could simply summon it. If he did not have enough space on him for all of his puppets he could leave them at home and summon them when they are useful. He had heard stories of people being able to summon massive intelligent animals. Maybe he could dabble into that later in his career. But for now, he would focus on puppetry.

"I see this technique could be quite useful. Being able to summon people or puppets. Or even resupply yourself when your out in the field. Ill is sure to remember how you did it today and practice it on my own time. Though for the record it would be nice if you could keep a visible speed when performing jutsu." Nico would chuckle slightly before bringing up her previous comment on his invisibility trick.

"Okay, okay ill try my best not to ruin your performance with my expert-level techniques, I will especially not use a noise-canceling sensory technique to block out your singing." Putting a serious face on before awaiting a reaction. Once a reaction was provoked he would break out into laughter. 

"Yeah I could sneak across the battlefield and heal all the Kiri ninja, maybe if I could direct healing chakra through a puppet I could use multiple healing jutsu at once. hmm, oh sorry ignore my rant I do that sometimes when I get deep into thought. Anyways the healing specialty has always been alluring to me. Some people have spread rumors that adepts at the art can even bring people back to life. I myself don't believe such a thing, but the idea itself is quite alluring." Nico was not lying if he could bring people back to life then maybe just maybe he could bring his parents back to life. They could be the big happy family and he would not have to feel this void in his heart any longer.
(TWC 4886)

[b] "Yea it's pretty useful just generally. If it weren't for the summoning technique and storage displacement Aya would have us weighted down with bags of random things every day and it would be quite difficult to find. " Ai confirmed Niko's statement. She joined in with pinochio, both forming the hand seals slowly so that he could see what he needed to do more effectively. Saya.... Well Saya kind of just walked away like she wasn't in the middle of a convorsation. "Uh. Don't mind her. I'm sure she'll be right back, but we can help you work through whatever you need until her focus returns"

The small otter headed down the hallway about half the distance between their room and the doorway before stopping. Thats when he noticed there was a small human girl approaching. Even at her tiny stature she stood about a foot taller then the otter, and glazed at his movements with excited intrigue.

"greeting furless one! I was uh. I was looking for an Inn but I don't think i've quite found it. " His speech was heavily accented in a way that Saya hadn't heard before. She continued forward until she was just a couple feet ahead, but didn't actually respond.
"I said greetings. Have I mistaken my language again or have you humans lost the ability to speak in the time i've been gone? I swear this was the dialect that ye use?"

"Oh uh. Hi. Yes. Um. Wh. What how. HI." Saya was for a loss for words, which didn't happen very often. She'd met alot of people in her time in the village, but this was the first time she'd ever met a talking creature! except for the monkeys, but she'd not so much met them as she watched them from her boat.

"Ignore her. Theres nothing that could actually interupt her performance, but having sensory ability to move around without being seen would honestly be a huge help to the team. " Ai responded to Niko's joke as seriously as he'd suggested it, but when he burst out laughing she too began to giggle slightly. "That's a really good idea. If you figure out how to give healing ability to puppets let us know. I'd love to have the strength to heal fallen comrades along it Aya to be honest. Or we could make a small healing puppet at some point. While each of her puppets so far are pretty unique, I feel like if we could crack the code to making a puppet that could heal our comrades, that one might be worth making a bunch of. I wonder if theres anything in the history books about puppetry users who also used healing jutsu for support. " She considered the idea for several moments, allowing niko time to respond. It really would be a game changer for Saya's purpose.

Across the hall, the small otter was less then enthused by Saya's mumbling.

"I worry about your tongue child. While it isn't surprising to be in awe of the great head of the Otterbrook clan, You should at least be able to speak a few sentences!"

(TWC 8538)

Niko was confused, had the girl just left while they were in the middle of a conversation. It was kind of humiliating, to say the least. At the very least she kept enough control of the puppet to respond and answer the question. If he was not mistaken did she just leave the room with a giant talking sloth? The fact was a little shocking.

"Did she just leave the room with a talking sloth? What the hell. That's not a threat to village security, is it? Am I the only one weirded out about that? Do you guys know that sloth? Or what it is doing here." Nico gave ample time for a response. He was a little freaked out, by the sloth. Was he not just talking about summoning animals, was that thing a summon animal? Nico had no idea. Maybe talking about them invoked Murphy's law.

"Yeah maybe having a medical jutsu stored in a mechanism that would heal someone or something. I have no idea yet the plan is just that at the moment a plan. But maybe soon I could develop a technique or mechanism like that. That would be pretty cool. While having unique puppets with their own personality is cool sometimes you have to remember that in the end, the puppets are the tools of the puppeteer. If a tool stops fulfilling a purpose it should simply stop being used."

 It took Nico only a few seconds for him to correct himself, "you guys are quite different to puppets at this point though, you're essentially an extension of Saya her self yall should be quite proud of that." Nico tried his best to hide the fact that he realized that after saying his previous statement. Though while he succeeded they could probably tell. 
(TWC 5186)

"Um. I mean. It's pretty small. Like pinochio sized so I have to assume its not much of a threat..... probably. She's fine. Worst case She'll stay within earshot. She has to actually be able to hear you for us to be able to talk so yanno. Let's just focus on your training and she'll go talk to the cute creature who randomly walked into the training facility like it works here?" Ai tried her best to explain away Saya's decision to simply go talk to this potentially dangerous critter. Her prefference would have been to pretend it didn't exist but that wasn't the way her sister was. Her sister liked to know things and meet people, and so this new entrant was the perfect opportunity to learn something new.

"Actually it seems to be a sea otter. While it is about sloth sized, you can see that it lacks the long claws of a sloth, and also it is walking on all fours. Ninja sloths could possibly do the same, but that pushes it more towards not being one. I assure you Niko, I am even less of a fan of what has just happened then you are. This is quite an unideal situation for both of us, but she will not listen to reason until she's figured out the situation. " With Ai and Pinochio's explanation seeming to be accepted, Niko continued to discuss the powers of medical ninjutsu.

"I... I don't think that a puppet should be done away with just because it's less useful now. Every puppet brings something different. We are of course the exception to the rule because we fill a vital role in Aya's life specifically. In a pinch, those less used puppets could be the difference between life and death. " As niko spoke, pinochio's face got redder and redder. it didn't really, this is a metaphor. He's made of wood. The suggestion, while innocent, felt like it was aimed directly at the small puppet who was more or less the after thought when they got into combat. Sure he wasn't as tough as Ai and coach, and didn't have fantastic abilities, but he'd protected her longer than any of the others. Still though she had little reason to, Ai defended him, and he finally calmed down.

"Yes. We are not normal puppets. She would not be able to function effectively without the two of us specifically. Not only do we hold pieces of her knowlege, but experience too. Without us the sudden realization would overwhelm her and I cannot say for sure how that would go. "


Meanwhile...

"OOoooo. What's an otterbrook clan. Is kiri your home too? What are you doing here?! Do you know anything about a freyja?" The otter's face fell into his claw as he listened to the tiny girl. Of all the people for him to run into, it just had to be a kid. Then she said the magic word and he glanced back up with interest.

"What know ye of the Lady Freyja? The gift giver.... I didn't think the humans had any understanding of the old gods. " From beneath the leather breastplate he pulled a chord necklace. At the end was an intricately carved hammer made of some sort of bone that cleamed pristinely in the light.

(TWC 9089)

Nico could understand what the puppets were getting at. In Nikos's mind, the puppets were simply tools. Yet in Saya's young mind, the puppets were family she had. This attachment could be detrimental in combat. But she was already attached there was simply no going back now. Nico simply sighed. He could not help the girl with the issue some part of him hoped she would work it out and improve herself but Nico knew that this was unlikely.

"Nah, I understand that every puppet has something unique to bring to the table. It's understandable. that's just not how I myself deal with things like that," Shrugging lightly, Nico then continued with "That was an otter? I could have sworn it was a sloth. Maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me or something."

"Anyways is there an extra requirement to this summoning technique is it really that simple. For such a skill as teleportation essentially the technique is quite simple. Though besides that what is Saya doing at the moment? Conversing with that otter thing?" Nico was generally curious the girl had just up and left to talk to some weird otter thing.

"I have to get going soon so if we could wrap up in a little bit that would be great." Niko had to get his injured arm checked out and then continue his journey into the sea of knowledge that is the Kiri library, soon he would have to tackle some higher-level missions maybe some with combat involved. It would help his experience as a shinobi to get in a combat situation.

"I kinda got to get this arm checked out soon, so as to not nurture any permanent damage." Nico would not leave yet he would wait for some responses and for Saya to finish her conversation with the sloth thing.
(TWC 5492)

"No no. It's not attachment. Saya splits her consciousness between the three of us. Pinoch and I literally hold the pain of her history so that she can stay focused on the task at hand and keep her positive outlook. If we were destroyed the aspects of her past that are just regular stories that happened but weren't traumatic would kind of uh. All come flooding back. Could be very bad. Once she has this new puppet I believe there would be a natural resplitting, but I really can't say. She could break down or berserk. Either way having to deal with a whole bunch of repressed trauma at one time is not how we'd like her to deal with things, so we exist to shield her from that. " Ai's face became deathly serious as she explained what the two had been hinting at for so long. Kiku had realized and understood the situation immediately, but Niko needed direct explaination. That was the difference between the analytical and the empathic. For Niko, they had to put it in psychological terms that could be grasped instead of emotions to be felt.

"Yes. I do believe it is an otter. Seems pretty far away from the lands they're native to though. Maybe he's from deeper in the islands, but I'm not aware of any otters in this area so if I had to guess, he's not meant to be here. Doesn't seem to be a threat to Saya though." Where Ai had issues understanding and talking to niko in a way that was clear, Pinochio had no qualms. They thought similarly it seemed, and his blunt speech was adept at reaching the analytical mind. "As for the summoning technique, no that is all. It is helpful to note that the stronger your chakra reserves, the easier the technique is to use. I believe you can cast it with less seals based on the strength of your chakra. Tria knows this, but often doesn't think about it so she uses all of the seals required. "


It would seem their conversation was coming to an end. It was only a matter of time before the pain in Niko's hand meant an end to their meeting, and this seemed the perfect time to actually split. Saya might not even notice he left if he didn't say something directly to her.

"Right. Yea. You go get that checked out, we'll stay here and make sure that everything is okay with Aya and get her home once she's done talking to a random otter that somehow walked in and started convorsation. because that's not wierd in the slightest and I'm not worried of freaked out at all. " Ai was not so great at hiding her emotions when it came to protecting her sister. She would shield the girl from anything that could harm her, mentally or physically, but she had an obvious soft spot when it came to her sister's direct safety. "If you haven't already, next time we can show you the storage displacement technique so that you can more easily store all of the things you have and not need such a big bag!" With that they'd give him a wave, and if he left a short nod of respect.

Meanwhile....

"OK. So that is a really cool necklace and I feel like i've seen it in a dream, but on the task at hand Freyja is a person? So i've been getting visions of this really pretty woman with like a necklace and a weird cloak made of feathers and stuff and the only thing i could get from it was the word Freyja. Oh. The word and some wierd understanding on how to make a puppet that looks like my dreams? Do you know anything about this? Can you help me?!" She got more and more excited with every word. This random creature showed up and by the glory of plot convenience seemed to have information she needed to understand what was happening with these wierd dreams.

"Yes. The story of the gods is an old and long one. Freyja is a Vanir who holds many gifts. The necklace and cloak are but two of them. Come. Take me to your home and we can further discuss things. I believe I can help you a great deal, but first. If you'd wish, my clan has followed the gods for a hundred years. If you are willing and strong of heart and constitution, I believe I have a friend who can help you get stronger and gain the favor of the old gods." He nodded as he spoke. His tone was low and pensieve. It wasn't chance that he'd stowed away on a boat he hoped would take him back to his home land, gone through an enormous unmooving typhoon for several days, and barelly made it to solid land without drowning. This was the will of the gods bringing him to someone who needs to learn.

"Uh.... Yea that sounds good. Cool. I'm totally strong and stuff." This could possibly be the least convincing arguement she's ever made, but still the otter pulled from a bag at his side a small rock. Bringing it up above his head he'd look at it for a moment before he began to juggle it back and forth. After a few minutes there was a poofing sound and a rush of smoke. Before them stood an otter with a large scroll on his back.

"sign here in blood child and the gods will see you work for their favor." That seemed odd. Where was she going to get blood anyway? Do otters carry around blood and quills everywhere? Realizing she was lost the otter pricked her finger, and helped her set it down on the scroll unrolled before her. The scroll keeper disappeared, and it was done. "Now you have the power of the Otterbrook clan at our fingertips. Now we must take the time and learn and train.

(TWC 10091putting 2k towards otter summons contract(2k/2k) 1998 towards Freyja(10k/10k)previous training 2500 towards ragnar otterbrook(2500/2500) 491 towards summoning technique first mastery(750/750)previous training 1999 towards great pacifist seeking shelter first mastery (3750/3750)previous training 790 towards wood clone(2500/2500) previous training 313 towards great pacifist seeking shelter second mastery (313/3750)

exit and topic closed after niko posts his exit -4 kunai and 16 senbon given to Niko )

Nico was a little suspicious there is no way that the harmless girl says could ever be some kind of cold-blooded killer like her sister said. Nico at least thinks so. The girl would give away the entire village for friendship if It came down to it. Nico could not process the fact that the little innocent shinobi who would prattle on nonstop about world peace would be like that.

"For some reason, I find that hard to believe." he would leave no room for response simply shrugging and ending the train of thought, Nico would then start to walk out of the training room stopping at the door saying. 

"Then I hope for your sake and says that nothing ever happens to you guys." Nico for the first time felt pity for the girl. If such she had such a glaring weakness it was only an inevitability that it would be exploited the thought was quite sad in and of itself. Nico then smirked and found himself in the hallway taking brief note of the girl's vivid talk with the otter and watching her sign the contract with a notice expression. He then silently excused himself.

He learned a lot today. About himself and his weakness. About what it means to be a ninja. And also about his good friend Saya. How she acted, reacted. And some more on her backstory which was quite tragic. Today was a day of learning a day and of respecting. He would hopefully look back on this day positively but as his mother once said. The future is never set in stone. One day he will die and the only things he would have left behind will become his legacy. He awaited that time and he would expand his legacy until it stretched the stars themselves only then would he be satisfied.
(TWC 5801) Claiming 58 stats 10 vigor, 4 strength, 19 chakra, 25 speed, then 20 ap, 250/250 for Summoning Technique, 375/375 into this Scent Masking, then 400/400 left for Psycho Mind Transmission, 1875/1875 for Chakra Nullification, 500/500 for Chakra Suppression, then the remaining 1899+1/1900 for Oni. Leaving the last 500/1900 for another oni. Also claiming the 4 kunai and 16 senbon dropped. Topic closed.

Approved