Rise and Shine [P]

Akikuro stifled a giggle that loosened itself from her throat. The sheer confidence Saya exuded was enough to balance her claims on the edge of bitter seriousness and self-evident absurdity. Akikuro had only just met her - so she could make no claims as to veracity - but she had a feeling time would prove Saya right. Besides, the Genin had a knack for believing things she wanted to believe. Even so, the charisma was certainly there.

"Well that seems rather fortunate, how'd you luck into it all?" A small tinge of envy threatened to creep its way into her voice, but that was a natural impulse; she wouldn't let it mean anything for her. "I mostly mean the ryo of course, but your bloodline sounds pretty special by itself. Hell, I assumed learning ability wasn't a thing they really touched."

She wondered what would have happened should things have turned out differently for her own lineage. Perhaps her own parents would have sent her off with an income of her own that lasted beyond the necessities and a bag of tricks lacking the benefit of a weapon meant to stay in her hand. Or maybe she just wouldn't be here in the first place, the fires of her ambition never lit by mediocrity. Would she have preferred that instead?

The conversation moves back to Saya's potential crimes which snaps her out of her reverie. "Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing your puppets carrying any instruments. Was all of that just voice?"

Akikuro wasn't certain if Ai just wanted to encourage her, or if that was a truly honest assessment. She wasn't sure if that really mattered, as it was still very nice to hear.

"I'll try my best to reach that then." She spies a small stool set against one of the room's supports and steps onto it, wobbling with the effort of retaining balance. Akikuro points to the sky and poses triumphantly, which is a feat for someone trying very hard not to move at all should she fall. "I'm gonna work really hard and someday, I'm gonna be amazing and everyone will admire me too! Then I'll buy a statue or something."

Spoiler:

"Oh. Well I guess my mom met a guy in like a bar or something and then they saw birds and bees in a park and then I wa--" She was halfway into her explaination before she was cut off, first by Ai giving her 'the look' and then by Aki's correction. While she was glad to explain the situation, it hadn't occured to her until her new friend explained exactly what she meant that of course she didn't mean how did she get her bloodline. That was super self explanitory.

"Right. Uh. Ignore that last part. My mom is super rich but I'm not supposed to talk about how she got rich or who she is. Plus I disowned her a few months ago. I've determined that I don't need people in my life who only care about how much honor I can bring them. It kinda makes ya feel like you're just an object yanno? Like a fancy vase(pronounced vaahs) That's only really worth the money if it also proves mastery over ninjutsu at age six, so you ship it off to a village to go fight or die with the hopes that it'll prove itself to its vase friends and you can claim those accolades, or it'll die in a... Uh. Vase war? And then you can pretend you never knew it. The vase I mean? Cuz it doesn't stop doing things that aren't important like singing and dancing and creating so you tell everyone its broken... The vase. The vase is broken. " This metaphor quickly became too much for even Saya herself to follow. To her credit, her voice never waivered as she spoke. There was no pain or regret in the tone. True to Saya method, it was an objective analysis of the trauma she'd been put through almost as if she were an outside observer. PupAIt, her older sister, placed a hand firmly on her shoulder in support.

"She's had a bit of a tough life, but she holds it well." And just as quickly as the topic was broached, she was off to the next thing. Unfortunately, before she could explain that she had a band she paid to just follow her around and hide in case she needed accompaniment, THe door across from where they spoke opened. About six people, all carrying large instruments(one of which was an entire piano somehow?!) Headed out, beelinging for the refreshment area to get a smothie.

"Uh. Like that. I pay them a fair ammount to just kind of hang around in case something comes up. It's been one of the best investments i've made since I got to Kiri. " There was a clanging of metal as the tuba player struggled to cross the small hallway, bumping into the wall several times as he maneuvered the oversized instrument down the corridor.

"You're gonna do great. It's a shame you don't know ninjutsu though. I know like. SO much ninjutsu. I could have taught you a bunch of stuff, AND my big sister is a suiton specialist! She's not technically here though. Theres two Ai's you see, a puppet and a real girl. Long story. I know a bunch though and can totally have PupAit cast it instead so it seems like she's teaching you."

(TWC 3071)

Akikuro jumps down from the stool after one too many seconds of testing her luck. Breaking a bone after falling from a stool of all things would probably leave a bad impression, or failing that it'd turn into a story repeated far more times than she'd prefer.

"She really does, don't think I'd have expected something so tumultuous in her background."The mysterious background and mysterious wealth clashed a little with her idea of someone so sunny and cheerful, though she supposed the puppets were pretty mysterious as well. You couldn't really tell what they were thinking as easily as you could a normal person, oftentimes that was because puppets lack minds of their own, but in this case Akikuro was a lot less sure about that which made it even harder.

In any case, she honestly expected someone with such a storied past and present to be almost larger than life. Not in the sense of having a strong personality, as Saya had that covered well enough, but in a way that made someone legendary instead of mortal and tangibly human. It wouldn't have struck her as odd if such an individual couldn't be touched at all by the everyday stranger.

The labored sounds of musical transportation draw her attention, and her eyes linger on the piano as it wobbles in the hallway. Unconsciously, she tallies up the costs of keeping a band like that around seven days a week. "W-wow, that's a lot of money. Are they Ninjas too so they can run away when you need to make an escape?"

"And I don't know Ninjutsu yet, but soon! I'm going to be a great Ninja someday and Ninjutsu has most of the same letters. Though I'll have to figure out how to balance handseals with swinging a sword around... which I don't actually have yet either. I have a lot of knives though, which might be easier to manage if they don't stay in my hand for too long."

Spoiler:

"Right. Something about sumersaults." Of course she knew what was being said. Despite Saya's bubbly, almost air headed facade, it was well documented that she is a genius. Not in the sense that people call her that when she figures something out as a means of encouragement. Not in the way a person of less than stellar intelegence would boast to try and boost their own ego. For Saya the fact was simple and proven true since the first day she was sent to classes. She'd always excelled at things far past what she should be able to understand. Hell, Even the rank she was given by the mizukage was below what she herself knew the girl deserved, were she actually on task and focused on helping the village. That was always the trade off with Saya. It wasn't stupidity that caused her to glance over the statement, making a joke of it, it was her general interest in keeping things light hearted. Her history didn't matter. At least it didn't matter to her. Her story was simply a list of things that happened subjectively that got her to this point, so the idea that it would be considered strained by most created a dissonance that encouraged her to shift the topic without even thinking about it.

Saya turned her attention to the band as Aki commented about them. This would be a bit awkward to explain... Forming seals, She would pour Mokuton chakra from her palm, it's form shifting and contorting to create a fairly comfortable looking chair placed before herself on the ground. Despite being molded instead of carved, the intricate designs on the back of the chair proved incredible craftsmanship.... Up to the point when they were hidden by Saya's back placed gently against it as she sat.

"Oh uh. Well. Not as such no. I just kind of find good hiding places whenever I bring them about. I was out at the borders one time with my friend Daiko and we got attacked by a crazy ninja, but it was okay because I'd spent the day previous digging out and furnishing a giant hidden pit under a fake lake so they could be safe and not noticed until I began my musical interlude. Also if anything serious happens a combatant would have to get through me first. "

Once again her hands flew through hand seals, two more masses of mokuton pouring from her body. These seemed to take on the image of the tiny terror herself, a splash of color bringing them into the world only to see them disappear again as they merged into the wooden chair she was sitting on.

"Ninjutsu.... only has a few of the same letters as great ninja?" She thought about it for several moments, and then realized she could probably help a bit. Behind her, The Coach puppet did what coach puppets do. From the backpack on his back he pulled a sign that read "i believe in you" except it was a bit different from usual. Where normally he would be holding a bit of wood, this sign seemed to be perched on.... A katana?!

"One of my teammates uses Weaponry. I think he's looking into ninjutsu also. I'm sure he has suggestions for how to make that work more easily. "

(TWC 3624)

Akikuro is sat cross-legged on the floor nodding along as she listens to snippets of a story with all its implications. Part of her wonders why she was at the borders and why she spent enough time there to dig that pit, but the other part of her thinks it all sounds really cool and now resists the urge to ask to tag along for the next one.

"It has some of them! Well it doesn't matter too much, its really flashy and really cool and everyone else has some of it so I wanna try it out someday so I can be all of those things too!"

For a while Akikuro entirely cast off her need to breathe and sat vibrating as she spoke. This could probably be traced to the fact that her eyes had lit up at the sight of the katana-sign thing held aloft by the Coach. A glimpse into her pupils would reveal none of the blue that it held earlier, there was merely sword and reflected sword. She didn't think she'd actually owned one before, there were probably replicas and loaned things from her younger years and academy days, but those were never really there long enough to count. That never served to dim her fascination though, a cool sword remained a cool sword that would make the moment she finally laid hands on one or twenty all the more sweet.

"Wait you know someone who could-" She leaps up and clings to Saya's side with hands clasped together in a gesture of prayer. "Please you have to introduce me"

Spoiler:

"Exactly. At least four of the letters are the same. They both end in Jutsu. " She beamed at Aki's explaination of Ninjutsu. While the work she'd been doing lately has been less about flashing and more about efficient, that was the draw for her. She wanted to be able to do the fantastical things she'd heard about in the story books. Now, solidly into her teenage years and having ranked up to chuunin, she had the full strength of the forrest at her fingertips and could tear the earth asunder to combat a dangerous enemy. It was quite a good setup in her opinion. 

"Yea. There's alot of things you can do with ninjutsu that you just can't do with anything else.... Probably. Most likely. I've never seen a jutsu that can wield the elements that wasn't ninjutsu so at least that's something! Fun fact: I can rip up the entire floor of this arena in moments and then put it all back. Requires just two jutsus to do! Do you have any clue what elements you can learn? I've got three total, which I think are all one can learn. Water, earth, and lightning--well. And Mokuton of course. That's the power given by my blood. I'm from the senju clan.. Technically." She wanted so badly to show off, To simply form the seals and let the power of her chakra rain destruction, but even before she could form the first seal, a soft 'ahem' From her sister stopped her. Right. She was supposed to be not causing mass chaos at the Mizukage's request. Still, If it came down to it she could probably have a litle chaos. Yanno. As a treat!

Saya followed the girl's gaze to the wierd looking handle that Coach had chosen for this sign. That didn't look right. He made all of his signs from the best senju wood. In one motion, she snatched it up and hurled it to a garbage can located only a meter from where Aki sat. "What even was that thing. Did you run out of wood style?! Theres a whole forrest outside the training area you could use to harvest more. Where did you get that?" She didn't remember purchasing the sword. It was shiny in the window of a weapons shop one day and she just had to have it, but as she does, It took her about five minutes of swinging it around to realize it wasn't something she could wield and toss it forgotten into Coach's bag. 

"Well. I can't really. I mean. He and I haven't really talked for a while but I'm sure I can help you find him at some point. I don't think he's on the level of my sister and I, but It's pretty good. He taught me alot when I was first learning how to be a ninja. Then I gave him a real body and turned him into an actual person later as a thank you. After that he's kind of steered clear. Something about wanting to do his own thing." 

(TWC 4136)

Aki puts a finger to her cheek as she ponders. "Hmm, well I can probably learn all the basic elements, but right now I'm aiming for wind in addition to the one I already have so I can get ice; courtesy of my own clan being Yuki. That probably fills out all three right?"

The senju clan... she had hazy memories of coming across the name before, but not much beyond the colorful impression of the gal before her really came to mind when she tried to focus on what she knew. Her thoughts were dragged further into the present by the unmistakable glint of SWORD, and it was moving now. Reflexively she flinches as it lands in the bin next to her, Aki silently admonishing herself for her nerves. After a few heartbeats and it becoming clear that neither Saya nor the puppets were likely to retrieve it, she does the deed herself and rescues the artefact from the trash.

She turns it over a few times in her hands. Its a fine sword, she could make more comments about it, but they probably wouldn't be all that meaningful without the right expertise. It was sharp, it was shiny and it was... incomplete. That was what she could tell. There was something about it, a hollowness that ran from tip to hilt that clawed with need.

As Saya mentions the potential sensei the question marks passing through Akikuro's head are almost visible, but they pass through both ears fairly quickly as the Genin finds herself adapting after experiencing the quick succession of strange events Saya seems to herald wherever she goes. Maybe there were a bunch of other potential puppets in Saya's head, maybe Aki herself was even a puppet in the making. She pokes her cheek and feels it give way like a plate of marshmallows, no luck then. "Thanks! That would help a ton."

Spoiler:

"Oh neat! You have a kekki genkai advanced element too?!" She paused for a moment. Where had she heard the name yuki before? There was something.... Maybe it was on a mission? No that didn't seem right. All at once the realization hit her. 

"OH. OH oh oh!!!! Yuki. My sister has the liver of a Yuki at home in a Jar!!!" It didn't register immediately as something that would be incredibly odd to say, but as she beamed at her new friend about the realization that she'd heard something about her clan, the looks from Ai, the Coach puppet, and Freyja made it clear that she'd said something out of the usual for a person to comment on. 

"It uh. I didn't like. Get it from someone. I mean I guess technically i got it from SOMEONE. I went trick or treating for Haloween and Me, Ai, and our friend pinochio--he's our mentor, Emptied out our candy bags but instead of candy there was an organ in each in a sealed medical bag. It was very wierd BUT it was also labeled. Ai's said Yuki on it. Is that wierd? Did i just say something super off in a way that made it seem totally normal?" Yes. Yes she did. The puppet troup all nodded in confirmation, but Saya didn't care about what they thought. She worried about the thoughts of her new friend Aki, who didn't already know about their odd haloween candy issues. 

"So i think ice is an advanced element. All the clan ones are. I think. So it won't mess with the ammount of regular elements you can learn! You just gotta get practicing and when you get stronger you can learn more! I know Water, Earth, and Lighting. Then my water and earth combine in a secondary chakra point specific to my bloodline to make Mokuton or wood style. My sister is kind of a Suiton specialist. She can't learn Mokuton yet for some reason. Big ole Brain block. " She explained the intricacies of elemental study like it was so casual everyone knew it. That's kind of how Saya was. To our dear protagonist, knowledge flowed easily, and understanding was constantly moments away. 

"Yea! I'll leave him a note that you want to meet up and train. I dunno where I'd be without my friends helping me train. Freyja and I basically locked ourselves in the training hall for like. a month when I first started learning Fuinjutsu. Just fought and studied every day and thanks to our work I've learned lots of crazy powerful jutsus. Then I have a few others in the village I work on stuff with! Oh. And then theres the Otterbrook clan. They're otters who are also ninja. Really cool people. They taught me about Norse culture and helped me try to understand the dreams I was having before I made freyja." In emphasis she would motion to the Norse goddess in puppet form who stood off to the side, simply nodding in confirmation. 

(TWC 4641)

"Well I don't have it right now, but yeah! I hope to change that sooner or later, but for now I'm sorta stuck with the basics. I don't know if there are a ton of other people who can do the same thing, but if not maybe I can profit from the untapped ice sculpture market."

Saya's mention of having a Yuki organ in her possession elicits a nervous laugh and its fair share of internal panic. All organs had some form of value, but Aki's aware that hers hit a special standard. She doesn't have much of a plan for what'll happen if someone chases her down with a scalpel, though maybe her new sword - it was hers now because she wanted it - could help a little.

"Oh, so like Santa! Except in the wrong season. Does Halloween have a candy or organ Santa variant? I'm not too familiar with the Santa pantheon." As a child Akikuro had a fascination with winter Santa, and through practical experience and skill with matches learned that while Santa was unlikely to come if you had no fireplace, it was more unlikely for him to arrive should the house burn down.

"I guess I have room for one more element then, maybe... hmm wait no. Actually, tell me about how Earth and Lightning work, are they fun?" She figures following the example of someone more experienced, especially a self-proclaimed genius, might bear some fruit.

"Wait Otters? How do Otters manage to get together and form a clan? Truth be told I always suspected the beavers, with their dams and anti-river agenda. Once I even caught one looking at the sea, with beaver intentions in its beaver eyes."

Spoiler:

"OH yea. That kind of makes sense. I mean. It's pretty easy to learn advanced elements. You just have to learn and master the two that create it, then go through the process of creating a secondary chakra point that will allow you to combine the two elements together and then you got it. I learned mine FOREVER ago. Took me like... Three days after I got out of the Academy I think? " She glanced between freyja and Ai for confirmation. What she got instead was the look. As usual, Saya had forgotten that she was a genius. Things came naturally to her that wouldn't usually, and so too often she was able to learn advanced abilities that would take others years. Still, she'd at least given some valuable insight into how her new friend could unlock her own advanced element, so it wasn't a total waste.

The time spent checking in with her puppets was perfectly timed. While she glanced away, the consideration and horror at what Saya had said about Yuki organs passed across Aki's face, making it so she never realized just how much trauma she inevitably just gave the small girl.

"Uh. Yea. It's a little bit like santa, only instead of like. A sleight and cute reindeers it was weeks where every night you woke up in a nightmare village and people tried to kill us. THinking about it... It wasn't very much like Santa at all. We did get cool stuff though. And there was trick or treating. I really liked that part alot....Except the wierd organs." Saya hadn't ever really gotten to experience the whole Santa thing. She'd heard about it, of course, but her family was far too busy to celebrate the holidays, and at this point she had to wonder if Santa was something her new situation allowed. She glanced again at Freyja who considered the question for a long time. Unfortunately she only had Saya's knowlege, so she didn't know. She'd need to talk to ragnar about it.

"Lets see. Earth is pretty cool. You can make like. Earth quakes and stuff. Also earth spikes that stab people. My big sister actually defeated someone in a tournament cuz he just made a bunch of spikes around her and she caught him with her chakra threads and threatened to decapitate him if the match wasn't called. " There was no recognization of the horrors of this fact. She knew no one in the arena was actually in any danger, so it didn't even register as a problem for the small terror. It was simply an action that happened ending in Ai winning the match.

Any excitement about introducing Aki to her otter summons passed for a moment as the vile word was said. Beavers. The mortal enemies of the Otterbrook clan slid from her friends tongue without understanding of what it meant. Visions of the stories told by Ragnar as they continued training gave her pause, flashes of the great Otter/beaver war sending a shiver down her spine.

(TWC 5148)