Clarity of Mind [p/Izu Momochi][Training]

Dracoso let out a small yawn as he stood beside the lake within the training grounds. His home had been rather hectic that morning and he had even beaten the sun to rising. The 'children', the boarlings who had followed him home after one of his first missions and been adopted by his mother, had sudden started to act up recently. With summer winding down, they seemed to be getting rather restless to go exploring. Dracoso was confused as to why they had not grown much in size as most animals seemed to jump up in size in their first year or two. The more confusing factor was that he had caught them wrestling as and rapidly moving their limbs in odd gestures. For a second he thought they almost looked like they were trying to make handseals....

He shook his head of the thoughts from home and focused back on the water in front of him. He had spent plenty of time lately teaching and leadings others and he had not taken too much time to practice his own jutsu. Making separate seals with each hand, the water shimmered and began to rapidly vibrate. A large watery wolf head emerged from the lake surface and was followed by the rest of the water beast's body. As it landed beside him, two streams of water flowed out the water beast to circle him. They softly orbited him, as if protecting him form any exterior threats.

He connected with Sutsui with no more than a thought and she softly extended out her field of awareness around him so that he could have a full 360 view of the area around him, and he slowly began to move in time with the beast and the orbiting water. He closed his eyes and focused on his connection with Sutsui to create a better mental awareness of all that was occurring around him. If any were to approach, the water beast would cease its motion and simply be aware of the new being while the orbiting water would passively float around him.

WC = 348

Having badly slept, Izu woke up early this day, so early that the sun wasnt even up yet, and instead of going back to bed, decided to go early to the training ground to practice and enjoy the calm of the morning fog, the cold and fresh mist embracing her skin in a humid hug. She liked the feeling of it, and found it appeasing, as well as making her feel like she was alone, at peace, floating into the mist, like she was all blanketed in a cloud. Arriving at the lake, Izu passed by the opposite side of the big lake, far from the actual training grounds bording them. As she got close to the beach, she removed her shirt in the cold dew of the morning, the air making her skin shudder and tense up under the chill weather. ''whoo, cold morning! With this fog and distance, no one will see me if I take a little bath and relax swim before hitting the training! All of the village is still asleep ahah!'' said Izu to herself in a calm and confidant voice.

As she undressed herself gradually looking right and left to be sure no one saw her, she activated her byakugan, just to be sure. No one. As she now finished undressing herself until she was wearing nothing anymore, she got into the cold water under the dark sky of early morning hours, the first sign of light showing itself in the horizon, as the moon reflecting on the water covered the nude body of the girl underwater, only her head and shoulders above it, at the same level or the rolling fog forming on top of the cold water, a result of the contrast in temperature between air and the lake.

As Izu bathed and swam, she was feeling and acting relax, her eyes closed most of the time, now sure no one was there. She stretched and didnt care to hide, showing every part of herself above water from time to time, akin to a sensual mermaid, with her pale and fair skin, her athletic figure, covered with tattoos and scars of her rough life, indicating both her life prior as a criminal, but also as someone who had a rough upbringing. She was like a porcelain princess, but all chipped and cracked by a rough life.

Unsuspecting of the day getting more and more there, with the sun raising itself, Izu heard a noise deeper into the fog, into the water. Reactivating her byakugan, she could see the chakra presence of a snake, gliding on top of the gentle waves of the quiet lake. Hidding quickly into the water to preserve her modesty, Izu quickly spoke to signal her presence and confirm the presence of someone or something else ''Hello? Who goes there ? I hope you're not spying or creeping on me! Show yourself.'' said loudly the young hyuga.

Dracoso would be in the middle of his practice when he would hear a voice ring out across the lake. The voice would be calling out to someone trying to take a look at her in the water, and he paused for a moment. The last time he heard someone yelling that was when a young woman had been changing while a pair of kids had tried to sneak into her stall. The store owner had tossed the kids out, but his quick memory made him reach out to Sutsui who was draped around his shoulders inside his suit. Sutsui reached out further, holding her tailseal in place as Dracoso would silence his steps and keep his eyes purposefully cast away from the waters.

At first, Sutsui would send a quick image of a small snake floating through the waves and roughly its distance from Dracoso. The second image she attempted to send, but Dracoso filtered it out, just out of his own shyness to know. He communicated with Sutsui to give him a general understanding of what was going on, and Sutsui sent confusion through their link. He sent an image of what Sutsui looked like right after she molted combined with the dreaded image she had of when she was put on display at the adoption center. Sutsui was silent for a time. She then sent a simple message of the fact that she could sense the girl had 'shed her outer skin' that humans liked to wear and that she was about 10 meters from the snake.

Following Sutsui's directions, he guided the water beast into the lake to subtly flow under the snake. Upon reaching it, the beast rose up, quietly containing all but its head within a water prison and carried it off towards the shore where Dracoso was sitting. He looked down at the snake as the water beast released it like a dog retrieving a stick. "I thought we had protections against this kind of thing happening....." he said softly to himself. As he rubbed the back of his neck, he gave out a sigh and shrugged, figuring he could take it back to the adoption center later in case someone wanted a very sneaky snake for a familiar.

Sutsui sent a wave of mixed emotions, which upon focusing on, he realized that Sutsui was feeling a sense of irony to this. He shrugged and stood pointing away from the direction the young woman was probably still swimming. Sutsui would be tracking her patterns with a muffled connection to Dracoso. He would say over his shoulder, "It looks like you had a small critter in the waters looking to cause trouble." Dracoso reached into his bag and pulled out his pirate hat, carefully using the water to slide the snake into the hat and folding the edges over the bottom. He gently applied an adhesive to seal it in before strapping the hat to his lower back.

"I would not expect someone to go swimming in the middle of the training facilities. Are you here to practice?" He asked over his shoulder.

WC = 519

quickly realizing someone was there, Izu plunged her body into the water, letting only her head pop out. As the ninja asked her a question, she swiftly answered, half shy and half on the defensive from getting caught in this vulnerable position. ''huuuhh- thanks for the snake by the way. And humm, yeah, i'm here to train, I just didnt expect to have someone this early here. Turn around, I'll come out and get dressed, we can talk and practice after. Don't look, i'm watching you.'' said Izu in a firm tone, but kind, activating her byakugan to see if he was looking. As she got dressed and got back her gear from the beach she undressed on, Izu got back to the young man, tapping lightly his shoulder. ''Hey. Its fine now, you can turn.'' said in a calm and light voice the young hyuga girl.

''so what are you doing here in such an early morning? Beside spying on younger girls naked in the water?'' said Izu in serious but very calm tone.

Dracoso would relax where he stood as he listened to the girl get out of the water. He assumed she was getting dressed as he kept his body turned away from the activity. As she would tap him on the shoulder, he would turn around and get his first view of the girl. From her eyes, he remembered seeing a similar appearance in a couple of students he had met while going to the academy. While most of his students so far had been shorter than he was, the girl came up to almost the exact same height as Dracoso. They stood only a few feet apart, but they were on the exact same eye level to one another. Dracoso rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, unsure where to start.

"Well, people do not usually go skinny dipping out here since it is a public training ground. I was here to train and practice some of my techniques since I have been out of practice for close to a year now," he explained. He poked at one of the water orbs that was still orbiting his body from the water heavens convergence technique, letting it softly drift around him. "I also come out here to offer training to others who are interested. With the sudden influx of interest from new individuals wanting to become ninjas, I figured I might run into a few of them here."

He would glance down, noticing the design on her jacket sleeve, before meeting her gaze again. "That is an interesting jacket you are wearing. I feel like I have seen the symbol before in a book once. Though the name escapes me..." he would say, thinking back on the stories he had read.

WC = 290

As she got dressed, Izu looked at the man into the eyes. He seemed calm, relax, not the usual intense glare of the people of the mist. As he noted her weird behavior of bathing in the lake, Izu quickly replied. ''Eh well before being at training ground its mainly a lake, and I feel like connecting to the water and cleansing my chakra, as well as my mind by relaxing is a focal point of training preparation and learning. But enough about this, it was awkward enough to get caught fucking naked in there ahah... You were talking about training right ? I might want to learn a few techniques, yeah! Mainly weapon and medical ones. Shielding or poison thing would be nice, as im lacking those, but also water techniques if you have some. I'm just not that good in ninjutsu tho haha so ...'' said awkwardly Izu, wanting to brush off the unfortunate event of her getting caught.

Izu was now getting a bit more serious, wanting to train but also to get to know this man, wich she never saw before. He looked older a bit than her, but still wasnt that old either. ''By the way, I dont think we ever met before, im Izu Momochi. Yeah Momochi, like the legend Zabuza a long time ago. This is where the vest comes from by the way. Its a seventh swordsman of the mist vest, but I dont know to wich one it belonged. I've been connected and drawn to their legendary stories since im a kid, and one day i'll own one of these sword, Nuibari. Its my greatest dream. What about you? Who are you?'' said izu in a serious way, flicking into her hands and between her fingers a large acupuncture senbons, doing fast hand tricks with it.

Dracoso would take in the girl's words and nod as she explained herself and her interest in learning new techniques. Dracoso was familiar with water and medical techniques while having access to a few of the simpler weaponry techniques. He scratched his chin as he nodded and gave a chuckle at the awkwardness of almost running into her naked in the water. As she finished introducing herself, Dracoso would state, "My name is Dracoso Hehane. I am one of the teachers for the village who is assisting the newer ninjas with learning about techniques, tools, and overall strategy. If it was not apparent, I am from one of the branch families of the Yuki clan. I had read stories of the seven swordsmen and figured someone might eventually locate the swords. With the large influx over the last year or so of craftsmen, you may just find someone who can replicate them. Of course, with your dedication, I imagine you would prefer the genuine article," he would say with a smile.

He would talk while watching her tricks with the senbon and comment, "well, medical techniques are needed for handling poisons. If you have not yet been trained on handling potions and poisons, you may want to spend some time getting apothecary training. Those who have it as their main focus for abilities will find that it takes no real effort to retain as a skill." He would wave one hand over his tool sealing bands and drop a senbon of his own along with a small bottle of paralytic poison. "These may interest you. The senbon I have is a hunter's senbon, dipped in a concoction that will paralyze your opponent after a short period of time. The bottle contains another paralysis poison which takes effect immediately for a short time. Combined, you can bring down some opponents long enough to handle them as you need."

He would then scratch his chin in thought and say, "and in regard to water jutsu, you could always learn some of the more basic techniques. You can learn almost all techniques up to the third rank, or C rank as some refer to them, for all specialties. Some have elemental restrictions, but otherwise you can learn quite a few." he explained. With a few hand gestures, he would summon a blade of water in his free hand before waving his other hand and making the senbon and poison vial disappear. "With the right combination of weaponry and ninjutsu, you will have plenty of tools to use," he said with a smile as he paused for her reaction.

WC = 435

as Dracoso presented himself and talked about the seven legendary sword of kirigakure and how there might be the option to make a replica, Izu smiled.''Well met Dracoso. And yes, for your info, I already have a replica of the legendary Nuibari!'' said the girl with assurance, confident in her knowledge of the matter. ''I am very well versed in the medical arts, I am myself a medical kunoichi, but I use it in a less than orthodox way. I've always been passionnate about acupuncture and the human body, as in my mind, mastering one body and the body of your opponents is the best way to stay in control and on top of things. I use my acupuncture both in traditial medical ways, but also in combat, specializing in using medical jutsu offensively. I would like to learn apothecary to master poisons indeed, as it is one of my main goal too. If you know Iryojutsu that produce poisons I would be much gratefull to learn that from you. Any medical techniques too I am interested, in fact!'' added the young hyuga.

As Dracoso gave aways a paralytic poison, Izu analysed it. This could be very good along her acupuncture neeldes and other attacks! Especially if working as a team, this could help others to land critical and deadly hits, easing the combat. ''Well this might be really usefull! I wish i learned more and knew more about poisons and toxins... As for the senbon, I think my own custom made senbons would be better suited for coating with this poison tho, as the needles are so thin they can pass armor, so even if the hit is minimal, the toxin's effect still will get into the target blood stream.'' said Izu comparing their materials.

Dracoso nodded to her as she explained her interests in poisons and acupuncture. He was had some knowledge and experience in the craft, having that he had worked on creating senbons with some of the expert craftsmen in town. Even the medical staff at the academy had mentioned to him that it was a great way to release stress and pressure across the body by targeting key pathways for the circulatory system. While most needles he was aware of that were used for acupuncture were no longer than an inch. Senbon would make for an interesting change.

"Well, since you have such a strong interest in handling poisons, we can start with a lesson on being an apothecary. The first thing to understand is why something is considered poisonous. To keep it simple, it is because it interacts with our body or brain in a way that either breaks down the cells or structure that is there, or by overriding our natural functions to cause it to harm itself. For example, paralytic poisons can feel into the muscles or the brain to cause the muscles to contract involuntarily and seize up. The brain is naturally able to paralyze the muscles in our body when we sleep, in order to prevent things like sleepwalking or attacking someone in our sleep. Some poisons go even further to paralyze certain muscles, like those in our lungs or heart, to cause death."

He paused at this point to let Izu take in the information and respond before continuing, "it all depends on what materials you use. For example-" Dracoso waved a palm over his sealing bands again and the earlier items disappeared into them while a packet and a pair of gloves appeared in his now free hand. He slipped on the gloves before opening the packet to hold up what appeared to be a leaf and a flower tied together. "-this, is Hemlock. It is one ingredient which can poison an opponent due to its natural properties. The leaves, flowers, and even the seeds carry materials within them which cause the lungs to become paralyzed for a time and can be fatal. You can grind the ingredients up into a powder, mix it in water, or even apply it directly to cause a reaction. That is why it is important to work with your materials carefully. Some can affect you based on touch, while others can simply be inhaled. What are your thoughts so far?" Dracoso paused again, letting Izu catch up with the thoughts before seeing where her interests lay.

WC = 428

While Izu knew most of the human body and its way of reacting to differents toxins and poisons, as well as what was the mechanical and chemical reactions that happened inside of the body, she did not have as much extensive knowledge regarding plants and the natural sources of these poisons, toxins and venoms, and therefore took special attention to learn how to recognize those plants and how to use them to do and create toxins and salves with them, now knowing their properties. For a few hours, they talked and looked over plants, both real specimens and drawings of some in apothecary books, exchanging knowledge. 

''Hey Draco i'm learning an awfull lot from this! This is awesome, and will be very usefull paired with my way of fighting. Where did you learn all of this ? And do you know also like, techniques, jutsu, that uses poison or something like it? Im also interested in any other water techniques, notably like hidding in the water, and a few summoning too. I've heard of summoning water, so that might be usefull for me, but also i'dd like to learn to do summoning as a whole, as i've also heard of mythical creatures one could sign a contract with, and wanted to learn maybe something like that?'' asked Izu, not sure if her teacher would be able to teach all of that.

After awaiting Dracoso answer, they both practiced and discussed the techniques and skills that Izu wanted to learn, waiting for whatever the teacher wanted to make the kunoichi learn. After a few moments, she asked away more questions. ''So with all that different knowledge, Im having a hard time seizing you up, weirdly enough, my instinct is usually pretty good. What is your specialty? What kind of shinobi are you?'' asked calmly Izu.