Lack of a Better World

Humming to himself, Honey got sprayed in the face, raising up his hands to guard against any other subsequent attacks. As he stumbled backward, he tripped over the orb he was playing with earlier, landing flat on his back, the ball kicking back towards its creator. Peeking upwards, he saw her smile, and grinned back in return, standing back up as he was laughing. He, unfortunately, did not have any pranks to pull for the time being, besides possibly transforming himself into a boulder and crawling around. Strongly considering it, he creeps closer slowly, before water from his hand her way, a quick droplet flicked off his hand to bump into her forehead.

“I’m glad you appreciate it!” Honey dives off into a roll to dodge any further attacks, attempting to sneak around her silently. Crouching in the bushes, he suddenly sprays water at her and dive rolls again, this time getting caught running into a tree. Acting as if it was intentional, he rolled off and stood back up, staring at his friend Mei, thumbs up equipped.

Once he stops the hijinks, he begins thinking. As Honey memorized her scent, he decided to take inventory on what else he had learned about her so far. Something about this woman struck HB as someone he could rely on. He did not feel the pressure he did around the high-ranking ninja, yet something about the way she moved and spoke did strike him as a force to be reckoned with all the same. ‘Resilient is right…’ He thought to himself. If he were to have a meltdown, well-- mentioning negative feelings again caused him to feel a cringe inside himself, looking down at his hands, ignoring what he was capable of without steady control of himself. He would go off for hours, unable to be calmed without a military-grade technique meant to neutralize high threat targets. She however was able to compose herself in a matter of minutes.

He continued thinking about the ninja in front of him. He didn’t realize it, but he’d been staring directly at her for an extended period of time, a pleasing look smeared across his spaced out face. This continued before returning to his alert state, tilting his head to the side in interest. As her cool demeanor returned from the playfulness, she offered to tell about her bloodline, and Honey was ready.

“Alright. Here are my questions:” Honey started, going down the list as he returned to his previous training, paying attention to how she would react to each question.

He hopped on top of a 1 meter pole, before following up and jumping on each ascending, till he was about 3 meters in the air, perched on the bamboo reinforced with some metal alloy. “One. Do you have control over your techniques? Or do they have control over you?” He asks genuinely.

He goes on to explain further about his bloodline, giving her all the information he knows in response to her answer, taking a genuine interest into how her chakra manifests, asking as many questions as it takes to get a solid idea of how it actually takes shape in her body. Once he realizes that it is about her chakra and of her affinity, he feels as if he understands how chakra and ninjutsu work that much better. As opposed to being some great force inside them, it naturally is them, and how they control their bodies’ ebb and flow. Learning about how the crystalline chakra flowed in her body was enough for Honey to whisper his own personal commentary, such as “Wow,” and “That’s beautiful…” For some reason, he wants to reach out and touch her as he watches with chakra sensory, but as he is too far to reach, he decides against it and continues his questioning.

“Two,” Honey decides to test his balance, ascending slowly up the poles with slow, deliberate hops. As one sway beneath his weight, he stopped for a moment to concentrate on his question. “If you could use your bloodline to change the world,” Honey laughs. “This is an absurd question. I don’t even know if I could answer it myself. If you could use your bloodline to change the world, how would you?” Honey thinks on his own question for a moment, “I’d love to teach people how to survive on their own, and how to avoid deceitful shinobi.” He grimaces, and nods slowly to himself in affirmation. “I don’t know how that changes anything though. Maybe throw some deceitful ones into jail?” A puzzled look crosses his face.

He continues his climb, wobbling and needing to regain his balance. Something about the height was starting to get to him. Even though it was not dangerous, the small surface on which he could stand was intimidating to the larger man, for the time being. Some part of him however knew that he needed to stay nimble, and this was the best way to ensure that came to pass.

“Three.” Honey Bunches grimaced, before going silent. He would not yet ask who taught her what she knows. Personally, it was a loaded question as the only way he learned was through his classmates' mockery, and his incessant rifling through the academy files they held about him, and through means, he’d prefer not to remember. Something about the way he acted showed that he was considering asking a question heavy in his own mind, but he would not end up doing so.

Staring into space, he continues: “Have any funny academy stories about your bloodline manifesting when you didn’t want it to? One time, someone pushed me and I grabbed them with a werewolf arm… Kid pissed himself… Now, this is a kid with a 2 meter long arm...” He shakes his head, remembering how weird it was to transform into a man-sized beast as a child, more than tripling in size. He asks this as if he had run out of breath, but he still stayed balanced on the pole 5m in the sky. The green and blue behind him were a strange contrast to the tan jacketed man, and his facial features were held by his position, crouching on the pole as he waited for an explanation.

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1/6 NP

Pleased with herself as Honey laughs in response to her little prank, Mei laughs as well, covering her mouth as he defends himself and then rather dramatically jumps into a series of motions, ending with a dodge roll directly into a tree. So overtaken by the humor of the situation she fails to evade the water, and it splashes against her clothing and hair, getting both slightly wet as she fails to contain her mirth. Then, seeming satisfied--and rather amusingly trying to play off his mistake as intentional--Honey stands, clearly enjoying the shared moment as he regards her. Eventually composing herself, the laughter fading away into a small smile, Mei glances to Honey, only to realize that he was staring with a rather goofy look on his face. More surprising still, he didn’t stop when she noticed and she raised an eyebrow almost in question. Only a few moments later did he seem to realize his mistake, launching into his questions, giving her some direction rather than expecting her to entirely lead the conversation.

However, as he posed his questions, moving through the training ground, clearly practicing his balance, timing, and speed on the poles, Mei couldn’t help remember his lingering stare. Eventually though, she stowed that away for later consideration, glad that he’d turned his attention elsewhere. It wasn’t that the gaze of others made her uncomfortable, or that there had been anything discomforting in his eyes, it was more how earnest it had seemed. Like catching a dog peering up at their master with a look of expectation and joy.

Biting her lip slightly--the faintest of blushes coloring her cheeks--she suppressed a bit of laughter at the comparison, finding it far too apt a description of the man as he delivered his third query. Refocusing her attention, Mei let her senses come back into the forefront of her mind while she considered his first question in earnest. Speaking with an almost idle air to her voice, Mei answered the first of his inquiries.

“For the most part I have control over my bloodline. It’s a rather intricate process actually...” she trailed off as she considered it more, before speaking up again on the matter. “My chakra, while in my body, remains in a more or less recognizable state, no crystallization really, the ‘magic’ as it were, all happens as it leaves my chakra system. Of course, if I’m being entirely honest,” at this she looked up at him with a sort of self-effacing amusement on her face, “...well, I’m only just getting a proper handle of it.”

“Before this year most of the practice I’d had was...um, involuntary? Shinko--my mother--forced me to use my kekkei genkai.” She cleared her throat, but then smiled, her eyes downcast as she remembered the sphere and indeed the image of Honey tripping over it.

“I didn’t really want to be a kunoichi originally, if I’m being honest, but despite my resistance I eventually fell in love with the intricate beauty of the Tengoku no Tehai(Heavenly Arrangement).” She looked to him, her expression serious as she clarified, “That’s my clan’s kekkei genkai.”

Averting her gaze again, Mei refrained from mentioning that she’d never actually met another member of her clan, let alone another inheritor beyond her mother--who hardly counted in her personal opinion. His second question however takes her longer to respond to and a look of deep contemplation crosses her features as she considers it. After some time with him training on the poles, she finally speaks up.

“Honestly, it’s hard to say...but I want to make the world better and safer for everyone if I can. I know it’s a big ask, and I’m just one person, but I think my clan--even if I’ve never really met them--” the statement slipped out without her even considering it, her train of thought passing it by. “--I just feel like the Anzen-sei has taken on too much of an isolationist philosophy when our gifts could bring so much more to the world at large.” She glanced up at Honey, then turned her gaze further upwards to the sky, her azure eyes refracting its light slightly.

“I’m just beginning to really grasp at the complexities of my bloodline, but I hope that someday soon I can use it to really improve things somehow.” Eventually, turning her gaze back to Honey, she shrugged and kicked her feet against the dirt of the packed earth for a moment before moving on.

With a bit of a laugh, as she wracked her memory for entertaining instances where she’d fubbed some use of her bloodline, she recalled one that brought her a particularly smug kind of amusement. Laughing to herself slightly, she recounted it.

“Well, not academy stories really, but I did um...accidentally crystallize my mother’s hair once. She had to cut most of it off and she was really mad for weeks after that, but if I’m being totally honest...I didn’t do it entirely on purpose.” There was no sense of remorse there, and the smug satisfaction she’d felt all those years ago returned now, drawing a smirk onto her lips. As she thought of it, her eyes far away for a moment before the amusement faded and she remembered the reality of her mother and her relationship, a part of Mei wished that things had been different between them. There was no going back now of course, no changing the past, and even if there had been, Mei was certain that she’d make the same decisions again. After all, her mother’s intentions had never been anything but selfish and cruel.

Looking up as she shook away the dull malaise, Mei took a breath and upon looking at Honey during his exercise, decided she’d try it herself. Rising to her feet in a swift motion, she stretched once more, limbering up, before taking several running steps and then leaping into the air where she just barely managed to land on the top end of a pole with one foot. However, unaccustomed to such a maneuver, Mei felt her balance going forwards, and rather than fall she jumped again, drawing the wire she’d prepared earlier and whipping it forwards to another pole. Wrapping around the pole, she channeled chakra through the two as she performed handseals midair.


In the moments before she reached the pole her chakra crystallized from the wire’s point of contact upwards along it, widening the platform she had to land upon just before she touched down. Adrenaline coursing through her body, Mei beamed down at her handiwork, exclaiming a bit breathlessly as she did so.

“Well, that worked better than expected!” Blowing out some air, Mei carefully steadied her atop the center of the pole’s tiny platform, before she released her technique. The crystallized chakra swiftly disintegrated as she let go of control, turning first into falling shards, then particles, before dispersing almost like mist into the atmosphere. If Honey used his sensory technique he’d notice the energy rapidly spreading out and dispersing into the ambient gradient of natural energy and chakra around them.

Mei meanwhile was weaving handseals slowly as she called upon her memory of a technique. Finishing she cast out her chakra, letting it spread down through the pole and into the ground where it spread out and then blossomed. At a swift speed, several spears of earth stabbed upwards from the ground, missing her training dummies by mere millimeters, the act clearly intentional. The spears seemed to have spirals of crystal and other minerals within them, showcasing once more her uniquely altered earth affinity.


Smiling at her success, Mei continued to balance on the pole, gradually getting the hang of it the longer she did so. Eventually, she started hopping between them at a measured pace, not going up or down too much in elevation as she trained her balance and coordination.

“So,” she said breathlessly as she moved, “...what else did you come here to train?” After asking she clarified her own intent.

“Personally, I wanted to hone my ninjutsu some more so discovering my second affinity has been a nice bonus haha. Well, that and meeting someone new!” She shot him a coy smile as she landed, before turning away and moving once more, the expression gone almost too fast for him to process. Mei had decided that she liked this man, he seemed decent and it was nice to have a friend who really seemed to understand her.

Spoiler:

Throughout the entire conversation, Honey was pleasantly surprised by her attitude and pleased with how humble she was. All things considered, her swift recovery and how impressive it seemed her powers could be, anyone would be excused for bragging. There was a lot that Honey didn’t understand about the world, but he did know now that he was capable of using his brain to solve problems, and to make allies. In this case, he didn’t have to strictly stick to one way of speaking or attitude, he could merely be himself, and that feeling was welcome to flow through him.

Thinking of the crystal orb, he grinned. Although simple, everything the man had seen this for was easily defined as the tip of the iceberg.

Honey closed his eyes, letting the impressions wash over him, comprehending different aspects of chakra and in it, he felt a degree of relief that he could finally seem to make sense of things. For a moment some part within starts to distract with thoughts of the negative variety, the type that makes one wonder if one’s friend will stick with them after they’ve become a master. He shakes it off, the plague of paranoia taking a stop in Honey-ville for a brief interval.


He nods to her, understanding. Smiling at the sheer prospect, he heard that her practice was ‘involuntary’, and that caused him to feel sick in his stomach. He listens intently, hearing that she was forced to use her bloodline for other’s gain, her mother in particular mentioned to be a controller of her fate. Shaking his head, he is deeply troubled by this. Eventually, however, he is placated by her story of falling in love with the bloodline, and it causes a big smile to run across his face. It was true that there was strength in numbers, and an entire clan at one's back must be nice. At least, that was the impression Honey got, with no real answer to the true nature of her relationship with her clan. He did remain curious why she ended up leaving the isolationist culture.

There was a good deal of silence now, and it seemed like she wanted to take their mind off of the questionnaire for a moment, and that was fine. Honey was still interested, jumping at the chance to learn more deeply about bloodlines and things of that matter in the world. The fact that there could always be a sinister hand lurking behind each move in a kind person’s heart, makes Honey rife with fear thinking of what could have been. Under other circumstances, if they had to meet as an enemy…

“I’ve never met a single member of my clan.” He says quietly in response to her clan bringing gifts to the world, though a little late in the conversation. “And I don’t know if I ever will.” He intentionally makes the words inaudible, saying them to himself more than anyone else. It was his burden to bear, and he didn’t want to bring people down with it. Knowing that bringing up her mother would also be in poor taste, Honey shakes away the thoughts once more.

This internal conflict lasted but for a short while, as he now sat perched atop one of the taller poles, staring at a few unused ones that were also about 10 meters long, considering what exercises he wanted to take part in, without really wanting to think about it too hard. He tries to stand on his hands, kicking his legs mildly to gain balance. With just enough poles around him to avoid falling down 10 meters, he went back on his feet, paying attention to the next part of the discussion.


“It looks like our paths align!” Honey blurts out, “I’d teach the fry until they can fight for themselves. You make the ocean worth fighting for.” He says quickly, not pausing to take a breath or have any smooth inflection. “I mean, the world. You and me, Mei Anzen-Sei…” He finally pauses to breathe.

He’s extremely excited at this, squeezing his hands together and ignoring the urge to screech, eyes wide behind his sunglasses. He continues on a rant about an idealized version of the forests far outside the deserts of Sunagakure, rife with wildlife, opportunity, and knowledge for a new era.

He laughs deeply and loudly at the fact that she froze her mother’s hair. Honey opened his eyes mid-laughter to see her expression like a pleased feline, before fading into a face that made Honey say “What the fuck?” to nobody in particular. The shift of her features made him look away, sun-scorched cheeks flushing red, before he heard her start to climb up the poles, training with the same tools. “Fair warning, these things suuuuuck.”

He gasped, watching her make a larger platform as she landed, giving enough applause that he didn’t lose his balance on top of the bamboo. “Changin’ the game!” He perks up as he observes the technique, the beauty of it through chakra vision enough to make him hop closer to inspect it. He heard something rise out of the earth below, but he did not spare much time paying attention to what it was, caught up in the visible energy in front of him. As she suggested, he decided that it was time to decide what else they wanted to train


He started to let his gaze wander across the ground below, noticing an array of spears poking out of the puppets near her grounds. Checking out his own setup, it seemed like he was in no danger, although if they were to slip and fall at the wrong angle, it would be possible to take some damage from the spears.

Out of nowhere he gets extremely tense, before the sound of a deep breath is heard, his body completely relaxing. Throwing off his tan jacket, it starts fluttering to the ground.

Staring down at the puppets, he dropped from the sky to kick it, landing with all his weight and smashing one of the more derelict of the bunch, the puppet exploding in confetti of wood and straw. Unfortunately, it was reinforced by metal, and it fucked up Honey’s leg with a large gash.

Not one to give a fuck, he continued, kicking one of the puppets straight up into the air, and pointing at another one, saying “You’re next.” Staring at the puppet as it started flying into the sky, he jumped up and spun into a kick, sending it whistling away from Mei. The flying puppet soared, catching the jacket in its descent, Honey following up with a roundhouse kick for the target straight into the ground as he ripped off the jacket, the puppet slamming against the dirt and cracking as the wood smashed once again, the metal frame beneath bending from the impact. Narrowing his eyes, Honey tried to land on one of the poles, gasping as his balance slipped out from behind him, and he started to fall backward.

Following the momentum into a backflip, as he pulled on his jacket and adjusted his sunglasses in midair, he carefully landed on-- nothing, falling back down to the earth, landing and controlling the impact by moving it throughout his entire body, letting out a “Uggggh.” as he hits the ground with a thump. He stays there for a moment, before rolling and standing back up, checking on Mei for a brief moment.

Recovering from his ordeal, he began using basic medical ninjutsu on his injuries, the now fading marks got a good resounding slap, and he was good to go. He continued by standing up tall, before bracing his arm and charging into the puppet he still had an agenda with. Catching it with a clothesline, he threw the puppet in the opposite direction they were training, thrown 10 meters into a tree.

He looks at her with a grin. “Maybe something like that?”

Just as he says it, the puppet hits the tree and explodes into pieces of wood, the metal frame horribly disfigured beneath. He scratches his head, looking at the damage. The original target he had pounded into the earth was looking at him with a mocking expression that said, “Had enough?” As the second target asked, “Why, father?” Looking over at the final destroyed puppet, it had nothing to say.

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NP: 2/6

Her gaze turning as Honey began his maneuver, Mei watched with fascination as he began his attack upon the dummies, her eyes widening as he slammed down onto the first dummy, the metal of its frame tearing a wild gash through his flesh. Biting her lip, worry rising in her chest as she watched his blood flow out with each movement, Mei nonetheless kept her composure--and her balance--trusting that the man had the measure of his body better than she. Still, that horrid gash made her own leg itch in sympathy, knowing that it surely must hurt terribly. Still, each of his movements was practiced for the most part, controlled, if not entirely precise. Following his path of destruction, Mei considered her own capabilities, her growing repertoire of ninjutsu, and what she could accomplish with them. With this in mind she hopped between several of the poles, moving down in elevation, before she pushed off and forwards, rolling and popping back to her feet as she performed a set of handseals.

Focusing, her chakra spiked for an instant as it was mixed with her earth affinity and then immediately released. Forming 5 meters ahead of her, a wall of earth pushed up from the ground, reaching 2 meters in heigh, 5 in width, and 1 meter in thickness as it manifested. Then, performing another series of handseals, Mei whipped her hand forth, a wirebound shuriken whirring forth to strike the wall of earth, embedding within it to no effect.


An instant later she released another technique creating a water clone in front of her, before using said clone as a source for a second water affinity jutsu causing the clone to suddenly liquify as a menagerie of needle-like formations split off from its form and then shot towards the wall. In a flash, faster than the needles, the wire, shuriken, and then earthwall changed, her chakra running through the former two before it struck the wall itself. Swiftly the wall of earth crystallized and then the water needles struck, easily piercing the weakened wall and turning it into a shattered husk of its former self. The needles themselves eventually struck the earth before reaching Honey or doing any other significant damage.


Pleased, Mei considered other applications she might be able to use Jitsugen for, wondering if perhaps she could adapt it such that it wouldn’t necessarily remove all the momentum from some of her own techniques. Shelving that idea for later as she noted Honey healing himself, Mei jogged over to him, a slightly worried look on her features as she knelt beside him and roughly gripped his leg at the knee and ankle, surveying his work.

When she was satisfied that he was okay, she promptly slapped the side of his calf and glared up at him with a slight scowl. “As impressive as that was, you should be more careful,” that said she pushed to her feet and huffed out a breath before sauntering over to where her needles had gouged through the earth.

Tapping her bottom lip with a finger, Mei took in a deep breath and then moved back to her sitting stone and promptly seated herself once more. She needed a moment with her thoughts, several things had just begun to occur to her. Clearly in deep thought, Mei began to think aloud, nonetheless engaging Honey in conversation despite her introspection.

“How much do you know about yin and yang, Honey-san?” Mei began, before waving a hand dismissively.

“Nix that. Yin chakra is typically invisible, intangible. In fact...most chakra is unless it’s densely packed.” Her brow creased in concentration as she raised her palm before her, swiftly bringing to bear her chakra. A moment later she mixed her water affinity with it and began to absently move the chakra in the air above her palm. Almost absently, she began to almost lecture aloud, “It stands to reason that non-physical and non-visible manifestations of chakra are entirely possible. I mean, they’re used in sensory techniques...for stealth, they’re used in genjutsu as well.... So, unless I’m off the mark entirely...my kekkei genkai should be able to crystallize those varieties of chakra as well.”

Wracking her brain, Mei tried to recall if her mother had ever mentioned anything of the sort, but she just couldn’t plumb up any such memories. Perhaps the woman had wanted to keep that aspect of their kekkei genkai from her until she had a truly firm grip on her daughter. Disgusted at the thought, Mei frowned, then let out a relaxing breath.

“Ugh,” she exclaimed, gripping at her hair in frustration before throwing her hands up.

“I can’t express to you how frustrating it is to have the only source of knowledge about your abilities be someone who deserves only your disdain!” Clearly annoyed, Mei pouted slightly, glancing at Honey, before tilting her head back to gaze upwards at the sky. She had no idea how to even begin practicing such a thing...or, well, she did have ideas, but it was all theory and no real substance. She needed to talk to someone who used less physical techniques, but Mei didn’t really know anyone like that. Her efforts to thwart her mother’s attempts to guide her along a once unknown twisted path--maneuvering Mei to her liking--had similarly isolated her from people and resources she now needed to progress. Other shinobi, specialists, generalists, scholars.

Still, this didn’t mean she would give up, it just meant that she’d have to do some research, see if she could find such people and get them to help her. The question was...how was she to do that exactly?

Then, a memory struck her, surging back into her awareness and her gaze shot back down to her companion.

“Wait, didn’t you mention that you had a friend with some experience subduing others? Do you know anyone who uses genjutsu...or just techniques that aren’t visible without Sensory skills?” Looking suddenly invigorated, her gaze seemed to lock Honey in place, demanding that he answer. Hoping desperately that he did know someone like that, even if not directly.

Spoiler:

He laughs when she warns him to be careful, giving a thumbs up. “I don’t know if I’m physically capable of staying safe, but I’ll keep that in mind.” He watches her training, and subsequent strut across her damaged technique, and Honey was greatly distracted by the earth spears still poking out of her training area, deciding that they were his next target. Slowly creeping over he stares at her as he jumps and performs a spin kick around himself, a series of cracks being heard as he snaps through all stone spears in range with a single kick. Honey forms a string of hand seals, coating a rock in chakra so as to make it invisible, tossing it idly in his hand. , before tossing the rock in his hand, the sound of it hitting his palm audible as if it were not invisible at all. Gripping it tightly with his hands, he squeezes into it, revealing that it isn’t a dense mineral, perhaps some small amount of shale that made it to the surface. Slamming it against the ground, most of the rock explodes around in visible pellets, the main lump still invisible.

Staring down at what looked like nothing, with his advanced sight he saw the indentation that it left against the ground as it lay there, and he picked it back up, tossing it in his hand once more. He didn’t do much more with the rock, deciding to leave it alone somewhere indistinguishable. He gets a bit closer as she asks how much he knows about yin and yang. He raises an eyebrow, listening to the explanation. He raises the other, almost a bit disturbed at the concept of invisible techniques. His face changes colors for a moment as she asks about this variety of techniques, and inside he feels a deep sense of discomfort. Narrowing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he thought of his journey throughout Sunagakure.

Staring at her, he watches her moment of frustration reach a head, but he understands what it’s like to not have a large pool of knowledge at his disposal.

“Friend subduing me?” Honey lets out a dry laugh, more to comfort himself. “I would hopefully consider him my friend. He was watching the gates at night, although I haven’t seen him often through the village. It seems he works pretty hard…” Honey scratches his chin, referring to Musu, the jounin night watch, “Although I’m not sure if he uses anything invisible…”

“I was once attacked by an assassin that used invisible waves of energy… Hurt pretty damn bad, I was lucky to get out of there that day…” He mumbles, unable to forget the crimson of the sharingan threatening to end his life. “But… They can’t teach you much now.” He has a grave stare, fiddling with a single ryo in his jacket pocket. Recounting his steps through the village, he started to feel a strange sense of yearning for the world outside once more.

“I met… I don’t know what you’d call him. He didn’t seem to use any invisible techniques.” He says, “But damn, the Monkey’s Uncle has some of the best tea I’ve had in my days…” He nods, and smiles fondly recalling Raleth, another jounin in the village.

“There’s a collection of individuals all in the same family around here.” He says, mostly distracted, recounting everyone he knew throughout the village. “It’s huge, I swear there’s at least four adults of the same family lineage, not counting those I haven’t run into yet, including the children.” Staring at her, he starts, and then stops, looking her over. “…” He starts thinking for a moment, returning to his descriptions.“We have the Kazekage, we have… Souji?” He thinks of Souji, remembering his blue and white eyes and ridiculous use of chakra through his palms, “Scratch that, not Souji, he has some creepy blue and white eyes. The entire… eye gets these weird veins. I can’t remember them all right now, but I’d be able to tell they’re a part of the Kazekage’s lineage.” He nods. “She paralyzed me with some sick manipulation of what smelled like blood.” He blinks a few times, remembering the feeling of being unable to move, as well as the sickening smell of all the blood, surrounding their battlefield.

“Funny story, I was supposed to be tested and subsequently trained--” Honey looks over his shoulder nervously, feeling the words get caught up in his throat for a moment as he surveys the surroundings. “Well my team was supposed to get tested.” Honey gives a grave look, “But I’m going to be honest, it did not go well at all.” He looks away again, “And then, I tried to prove myself by protecting the village, but on every occasion, I only ended up roughing up every visitor, even if they were dear to the Mizukage herself… And you could imagine how that went…” He remembers the shame he felt talking to the village leader, followed by her ire from finding him tossed through the main guard house by the entrance to the village, the whole event taking place mere hours from the botched training session.  

Shrugging, he looks to the side, remaining in thought. He frowns, looking back to Mei.

“We could search through the village sometime. If we can’t find what you need though, I’d be more than willing to escort you through the lands beyond here. It’s not every day I get to help someone really learn something about their techniques.” He gives a sigh of satisfaction, “Whatever is required, we can find out what you need to know. I promise.” He looks off into the distance, towards no direction in particular.

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3/6 Nature Points

Choosing to let his comment about being unable to remain safe pass her by, Mei listened intently as he rattled off several individuals and some small tidbits of information he knew about them. By-and-large he didn’t elaborate much, which in the moment she found frustrating, but nonetheless it was helpful that he knew any other shinobi as she herself was rather...disconnected from the community at large--much to her chagrin. Still, frowning slightly, she couldn’t help but sigh around the time he finished, before smiling faintly up at him. After he’d snuck off she glanced over to him, tilting her head slightly, speaking on the earlier manner as he destroyed her earth spears.

“Well, it’ll bear looking into at some point. I’m just certain that there’s much more to my bloodline than I’m seeing right now.” That said, Mei withdrew for a moment, closing her eyes and focusing on her senses. Performing a handseal, she activated her sixth sense, allowing her to detect chakra once more. Perhaps there was a way she could experiment without counsel.

Very carefully, she called upon her chakra, holding it within her body as she analysed its exact nature. It was truly in harmony as she observed it, but every so often she detected something else, as if there were more than one distinct thing before her.

“Hmmm...” she hummed, an eyebrow raising as her eyes opened. The chakra had responded to the sound.

“Well that’s interesting...it seems chakra responds to certain resonant frequencies. Maybe...” she trailed off and focused again, this time externalizing a small amount of chakra and letting it swirl slowly above her palm. Using her voice she began humming, channeling chakra through her body as she did so, amplifying the sound’s effects on her chakra. Initially nothing seemed to happen, but as she amplified her voice further--its volume not increasing, but its intensity somehow becoming more distinct--she noticed that the chakra began to fluctuate slightly, then more drastically. Experimentally she began trying different sets of frequencies, different notes and volumes. The chakra responded to each, but differently. Reaching deeper still, Meiyaku narrowed her gaze as she peered down at the chakra above her palm, and then promptly stopped humming. Knowing the feel of the sounds now, and recalling the principles she’d used to unify her regular chakra with the affinities within her body, Mei used her will alone to directly influence the chakra at different resonant frequencies. Initially she forced the chakra to resonate only at one frequency, but then she realized that it wasn’t taking the entirety of her efforts, and so she pushed even further.

Suddenly, rather than simply rising and falling or morphing in shape ever-so-slightly, her chakra began to wildly spin as she utilized two different frequencies. Her eyes widening slightly, she briefly lost focus, causing the chakra to swirl off and dissipate.

Her lips parting slightly, a wave of realization rolling through her, Mei addressed her companion, glancing in his direction with unconcealed amazement.

“Did you see that? I...I started forcing the chakra to resonate at more than one frequency and it just, the way it responded was almost as if parts of it weren’t in sync.”

She fell silent for a moment, a look of consideration coming over her visage as she recalled the information her chakra sensing abilities had given her. It had been almost like the chakra was splitting.

“I’m going to try that again. Maybe the key to getting just one half of the chakra is through its frequency.” Settling in some more, she raised her palm back to its former location and took in a deep breath. Holding it, she channeled chakra once more into her palm--slightly more this time--and then narrowed her gaze as she tightened the grip of her will upon the energy. Gradually, she began forcing the chakra to resonate at a certain frequency and it behaved as before, reacting more intensely as she modulated and increased the frequency. When she was certain she had a hold on things, Mei introduced a second frequency and immediately the chakra began to move, rotating at a gradually increasing speed. Tightening her focus further, Mei closed her eyes and instead used her other senses to analyze the chakra.

Gradually she altered the second frequency until the movement of the chakra became erratic. Rather than rotating as it had before, it began to move in a sort of swaying rhythm as some portions attempted to move one way, while others moved in direct opposition. Sure she was onto something, Mei pushed one final time and drastically increased the intensity of both frequencies in unison. With a energetic snap beyond the normal five senses, the chakra suddenly and violently tore into two portions, rotating in opposite directions. One remained physically visible, but as she opened her eyes--realizing she’d begun humming again--she noticed that the other half was only visible with her sixth sense.

“Oh...” she whispered, her expression frozen as she stared down at the rotating chakra. Then a grin blossomed on her lips and, swallowing, she spoke--now at a more audible volume.

“Well, it appears I’ve figured out exactly how to separate yin and yang from one another. I’m sure I’m not the first, but honestly...I don’t care.” Still smiling, Mei narrowed her eyes slightly and focused again, this time calling upon her bloodline. Performing handseals with her off hand, Meiyaku tried to use Jitsugen to crystallize both manifestations of chakra. However, to her disappointment, only the visible half of the chakra ceased its movement and plopped into her palm, now a solid construct of chakra. The invisible yin chakra simply continued rotating in the absence of its counterpart, totally unaffected by her technique.

“Well, I was right. I have a lot to learn it seems. The question is...if Jitsugen doesn’t work...then what does and how do I learn it….” Briefly, an image of her mother flashed through her minds eye and in response, Mei frowned, threw the crystallized chakra to the ground--shattering it--and stood up. Beginning to pace, the yin chakra already having dispersed, Mei considered how she might get her mother to explain to her without getting caught up by her machinations.

“I really don’t want to ask her,” she said quietly, almost to herself, “...but I’m not sure that there’s another way….”

Spoiler:

Honey looks closely, wanting to understand what the young lady was showing him. His eyes zoned as his advanced sight and hearing picked up the frequencies from nearby. The dissonance caused him to force his hands over his ears, and let out a whine. He didn’t let it affect him otherwise, the dissonance within the technique being more or less contained in the few moments it lasted. He turns his head as she marvels on his achievement, the process somewhat lost on Honey. ‘Not in sync? Sounds like the story of my life…’

He nods, allowing her to have plenty of time to focus on her training. He did some basic exercises on the ground, even doing things as simple as push ups and jumping jacks. He worried of some anomaly, where he would get stuck in a single jumping jack, unable to land back to the ground. Luckily, this was not the case, as it likely would not be the case ever. The chakra-related aspects of the training they’ve been undertaking has been mentally exhausting to a point for Honey, where now he would be able to continue but he does not really have any great desire to figure out more.This sentiment seemed to be the opposite for his companion, who has made further progress, informing him with a smile on her face. The different intricacies of chakra flow and of managing that flow was interesting at first, but now the things Honey couldn’t really sense caused him to lose interest in trying to learn himself. He watched her progress, not really leaving any commentary, just checkin’ the steps as she brought them to his attention.

Looking at the dummies, he decided he wanted to try a few final moves, before calling it quits on the training grounds. Punching and kicking somewhat thoughtlessly was his current agenda, paying only enough attention that he would hit his targets, but not with enough force to really damage the puppets or his hands.

Honey is quite distracted before he turns to her, but through his advanced hearing, he does hear her personal exchange. As is the Honey Bunches custom, he gets much too close to his friend, staring at her with wide eyes. He doesn’t do it to be intimidating or to put off some sort of feeling, he just temporarily forgot about personal space. Taking a full step back after getting in her business, he tries to act natural. “Ask what? The kazekage isn’t that scary…”

He seems to be tired, and he continues, “We can talk about her later, but for now I need to take a shower or something. Wouldn’t mind something to eat either…” Taking his time as he lost interest in most of the exercises, Honey takes a deep breath, standing up. “What do you think? About time we head back into the village?” He looks around, smiling. “We’ve only been training for a few hours, but I feel like we’ve already learned so much.” The sun hung in the sky to confirm that it was still somewhat earlier in the day. “Plus, I wouldn’t want to waste any more time we could be spending completing missions for our village.” He does not really focus on the request part of going on missions, seeming to assume that she wouldn’t mind taking on tasks for the village with him almost immediately after meeting under casual circumstances.

“If so, I’ll meet you somewhere near the grove! Don’t worry, I can find you.” He smiles, and waves her farewell, for the time being, slowly traveling back to the village, the scent of his friend memorized.

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[EXIT CLAIMS:

Her eyes widening as her companion suddenly invades her personal space, Mei puts one hand back to brace herself. Eyes flitting across the man’s face, she finds herself far more nervous than she might normally be. There was just something earnest about him, the action didn’t even seem threatening, and then he withdrew, seeming to realize that he’d been far too close for either of their comfort. Swallowing hard, Mei realized that her other hand had unconsciously clutched at her chest just over her heart. Exhaling slowly, the woman does her utmost to relax, but finds the experience to have been both distinctly uncomfortable, and strangely...exciting almost? Strange. Listening as he replies to her various queries, mostly brushing aside the exact nature of her discovery--seemingly out of either a lack of interest or understanding, rather than through any malice--Mei finds herself smiling once more by the time Honey gets even halfway through his list of acquaintances, be they associates or friends.

Still, she can't help but fixate on the first thing he said about the Kazekage not being scary. Wasn't that her explicit purpose, to serve as an intimidating presence and a governmental figure in order to implicitly warn the other villages that Suna was not to be trifled with? Yet, rather than find his dismissal of her anxiety at the thought, she found it somewhat endearing. Oddly, it seemed that he just wasn't fazed by things like social standing or even sheer power. Truly a man in his own world. Of course, there wasn't anything wrong with that now was there? If anything it meant he was undaunted by those things that gave her--well, most people--pause. It was a gift really, one he had likely without realizing it at all, not knowing that he existed in a state of relative freedom compared to most. Nodding absently in reply as he asks about heading back to the village and perhaps doing some missions, Mei's attention shifted. Rather, it had shifted as she looked back down at the crystalline sphere of chakra that still lay on the ground of their training field.

Smiling to herself, Mei responds without looking back at Honey.

"Honestly, that sounds like a good idea. I'll let you go ahead though. I want to think for a little bit before I leave," she'd then turn, meeting his eyes and giving him a small smile--seemingly more subdued than before, but no less genuine. Rather than merely spreading her lips, the expression was in her eyes far more prominently than before. It was clear that this was the more natural expression for her. He'd likely come to learn that with time even if he didn't grasp it in that moment. With that done, she turned away from him and stood from her seated position, walking past him and towards one of the remaining stone pillars. Placing her palm on the surface of the stone she closed her eyes. As Mei's vision went black she heard her companion depart.

Breathing deeply, Anzen-sei, Meiyaku called upon her bloodline once more and channeled her chakra through the stone. Analyzing its structure, Meiyaku performed a single handseal at her side with her empty left hand: Ox. Her chakra pressed against the stone and then crystallized, spreading over its surface, but not penetrating the solid rock. Watching closely with her more spiritual awareness, Mei noticed that the chakra of the technique was resisting Jitsugen.

Interesting.

Channeling more chakra into the crystalline structure, Meiyaku then performed another technique, using the Ox, Tiger, and Ram handseals. Immediately, five spears of earth erupted from their twin, shattering the crystalline structure and creating a sort of crown as they came from different portions of the original spear.


Smiling to herself, the kunoichi stepped away from the construct and performed the handseals two handseals--Ox and Serpent--for a second earth affinity technique.


Pushing up from beneath her very feet, the wall carried her upwards as it formed, providing her with a new platform to stand upon. Once it was finished forming, she sat down on it, taking on a lotus posture and gazing off into the horizon, imagining what other members of her clan might be like. What were they doing now, she thought? Did any of them know she existed, if they did...was she missed? The idea comforted her, that and the fact that she'd made a new friend today. It was nice not to feel so alone--though she'd long since grown used to it. She hoped that things with Honey Bunches would develop over time, she needed a close friend, if she was being entirely honest with herself. Someone to lean on, someone reliable and without machinations behind their every action. A confidant. Chuckling to herself and shaking her head, Mei couldn't help but realize how sad it was that she was already considering how their friendship would develop going forwards when she'd just met the fellow a few hours ago. Laughing quietly, she supposed that they'd just been fast friends. She didn't know if it was Honey's earnest nature and their shared experience--even if she hadn't been entirely upfront about her past--or if perhaps this had all been rather surface level.

Frowning momentarily, she shook her head vigorously, trying to banish the thought, before she took in a deep breath and held it for a time, focusing on the feeling instead of the possibilities of the future. Gazing down, Mei looked upon her own work and then sighed. Standing up, she hopped down from her perch and performed a series of handseals. In moments her various earth constructs crumbled into dust, falling to the floor. Taking her time and being thorough, Mei picked up each of the dummies she could manage, and stowed them away. When faced with the massive training figure that Honey had been using, she decided that there was no way she was going to drag that thing anywhere. So, instead, she placed a hand on it and stowed it in her spatial storage. Walking back to the shed she found where it was meant to go and then retrieved it, the massive--and now damaged--wooden structure slamming down into the earth that served as the shed's floor.

That done she brushed her hands and clothes off, closed the shed, and then stowed her hands each in a pocket and departed the field. Taking her time, Mei headed for home. She'd stop there, get cleaned up, perhaps grab a snack, and then meet Honey where he'd suggested.

Smiling faintly as she walked, Mei hummed to herself, not even really noticing that the encounter had truly put her in a good mood.

It had been a wonderful addition to her day and for that she was grateful.

Spoiler:

@Bubels
Approved

@Meiyaku
Considering that you are D-Rank and a clan member, you cannot learn Suiton yet. DM me when you fix your claims.

 <---- Me. 

Approved.