Blaze of Glory [Katon Training | Karukaya & Co + Invite]

"Karu, you busy?"

He'd missed the knock on the door jam, his door was never closed (unless he had Jayr or Temaki 'visiting', at which point it was locked, barred, and the room sound-proofed), but he'd been focused heavily on the paperwork on his desk. It was requisition forms, this time of year the Jounin sensei where all begging for fresh gears and training materials, and he always ended up taking the task of dealing with it instead of Temaki; he came from a family of merchants and was better with money, so he was able to do the magic needed to make sure that budgets where never broken, yet everyone still got what they wanted. Plus, him doing this meant that he was able to move money around to where it was needed; there was a reason that the tourist industry had exploded in recent years. Between all the new parklands, wildlife preserves, and all of that, there was a massive influx of people in the ecotourism industry, and the slow, but needed, modernization of the village thanks to the open trade with Hana was helping significantly as well. They were quickly evening out the differences between the villages, while still maintaining what made them special and different, so that the upcoming merger of the countries would be smooth as possible. As far as the leadership was concerned, the countries where one giant family, and so far the civilians and nobility of both villages where on board with the plans. Everyone was benefiting, and the economies of both villages where booming. Good times. The red-head glanced up after a long pause, noticing his 'secretary', she was assigned to work with him yes, but he didn't like the concept of secretary, especially as she was a ranking Chunnin, and he felt it to be distasteful to reduce her to such. "Oh, Naname. What's up?" He reached up and ran his hand through his brilliant hair; he'd gotten some decent sun recently, and his hair was bleaching to an extremely bright hue that almost violated nature; the stronger his inner fires had become, the brighter his hair got; it was a weird effect, but he'd never bothered.

"There's a message from the front desk. There's a ninja from Amagakure here that wishes to see you. He asked for you by name, so I'm assuming it wasn't just a request to speak to a ranking commander."

"Delightful. Don't get too many Amagakure ninja without some kind of fanfare or announcement. Oh well. I'll be down in a few minutes, I'm nearly done here."

"I'll let them know." She waved versus bowing; he was very much a 'I don't give a fuck about protocol unless I have to, so relax' type of person, and he had a rather friendly relationship with his attendant; so they'd established a comfortable rapport. It worked, and they both liked it. The message was passed along, and maybe ten minutes later, he was done and moving down the stairs toward the ground floor. Appearing at the desk, he glanced around pretty instantly noticed the Amagakure ninja; he was too pale to be native of Hinowa or Hana, and definitely not from the deserts of Yokuchi, and his features where wrong for a man from the high tundra. He took a moment to tug his flak jacket down so that it was settled properly, bushed some dust from his long pants. His pouches and bags were hanging from his belt as usual; although only his medic kits and flame gloves where actually in them. Otherwise, they where empty enough; he wasn't planning on going anywhere today, so he was minimally equipped, but that was fine. He was a walking one many army, really; so he didn't need to worry about having a massive amount of gear. So long as he had his gloves, he was good; his arm was a weapon of mass destruction, and he walked around with it uncovered; or rather, it was uncovered to the sealing bandages that kept the power of the Nova chakra contained. He didn't wear long sleeves often, and everyone was used to the strangeness of his right arm by now. It had been nearly 5 years since he'd lost his 'real' arm and the Nova arm replaced it, after all.

"I'm going to guess you are the one that wishes to speak with me?" He was speaking to the seated male, finishing his question before shifting to stretch his arms high over his head with a solid crack and pop of shoulder joints. He'd need to stretch soon, he's spend many, many hours hunched over his desk, so standing felt great, but he was a bit stiff, and he didn't like to feel stiff. "How can I help you, sir?" He was high ranking, powerful, but still spoke like a kid in customer service sometimes; he would have been a merchant in another life, and it showed sometimes; he spoke like someone that spent a lot of time working with a lot of people, and that was very true; as well as someone that had a genuine knack for working with strangers. He was constantly working with dozens of people, ninja and otherwise; he needed to be able to handle working with people of all ranks, position, ethnicity, etc; and he was good at it.

WC: 941

"My name is Okami, and, to be honest, I want you to train me in Katon. You're a legend, and it would be an honor to learn from you. I know this is kind of weird, and I'm sorry if it seems like I have no manners. I'm on a ton of Class-10 pain medication right now, for several injuries I sustained that probably should have killed me."

Right, this guy wanted him to train him. Delightful. He received at least a dozen requests for training sessions a week, and while he did honor several of them, for the most part he only trained with his family. It was rare for others, even other Jounin, to be able to handle his particular style of training, so when people that came to him and asked, he wanted to know as much as he could so he could gauge if they would be able to survive, let alone benefit at all. Well, this one handing over a copy of his files definitely helped, it would save hours of bureaucratic red tape as he didn't need to send a request to Amagakure for it. Not that he was likely to get it, after that incident a decade ago, the country was basically a black hole for information about it's people. A lot of pretty nasty shit had gotten out after their Jounin Commander defected and blew their admin building up so hard it basically disintegrated; generations of information on some pretty fucked up policies and rather atrocious levels of ethnic genocide... yep. Most of the world was pretty angry with them for quite a while, and that was only just starting to die down. Lots of heads rolled, but there where still some old guard in charge, and they had doubled down on the isolationism. It made getting anything about anyone from them a nightmare.

"Right, let's see what you have." He took the offered file and flipped it open; he'd long since learned to just ignore the blocks of black and focus entirely on what mattered. Hmmm... not the best he'd seen, but not that bad for his age. This guy was barely any younger than he was; but he also know that he was an outlier, most couldn't compete with his talent and hadn't been lucky enough to not have to worry about surviving. He'd trained hard, worked harder, and gotten rich at a young age. Combine that in with having owned his home outright, and the sheer ease of supporting a family of high ranked ninja when everyone pulled their weight easily; he'd been extremely lucky, and he knew it; hence why he even humored requests like this. He wanted to give back to a world that had given him so much; there was always another way he could help out. He managed his time well, so he had plenty of time for his jobs (all three of them, given he was a veterinarian, ninja, and father to four kids), and still managed to train himself, his family, and the few random people he took on. He refused to take a new student officially, his only student was and would continue to be Artemis; just like he was technically still Temaki's student (inappropriate student-teacher relationship for the win), and he had no plans to allow that to change. He looked at these extra sessions as one or two off things, he'd help for a day or two, or on just one area, then send them along to train on their own. Simple enough.

"Hmm... Well, I can see how you made rank, You're pretty average for most Jounin. I can also see why you'd want to train up, you're taking missions classified above your pay grade, as they say. It's a miracle you've made it through this intact." He was a master at reading files, and there was plenty in here that told him what he needed to know, classified or not. "You may want to try again when you're not half dead. I might be a medic, but I can't reverse death. That's outside of my skillset, honestly. What did you want to work on, Katon? Just Katon, or something specific about the element?"

WC: 740

740 + 941 = 1681

Oh, that looks nasty; he could see more than just the scar, his eyes where well trained in medical issues, and that was one hell of a place to get shot with an arrow period, let alone with a Raiton infused one. He tsked softly, shaking his head over how poorly the wound was treated. Raiton or no, any decent medic should have been able to heal that without leaving the man in so much pain. It was too late for him to attempt anything, nor even for Jayr to try; so he'd have to suffer for a while longer. Still, it was impressive that he was up and moving around; let along that he'd managed to travel this far.

"How about this." He closed the file and handed it back, glancing over his shoulder at the clock on the wall. He had... oh, a few hours to spare; that should be enough. "We can go out back to the Academy training ground, and you show me what your skills look like. Depending on what I see, I can tell you if I can train you. We may share an affinity for fire, but that alone isn't enough to make it possible for me to train you. My fire is very different from 'normal' fire, thanks to my Nova chakra; it causes changes to my base fire and lightning chakra, so it can be difficult for me to train someone in elemental control effectively. Show me what you have, and I'll see what I can do. Fair?"

WC: 261

261 + 1681 = 1942

"Caannnnaaa. Put me down! I'm not a baby.", came the young child's voice. Mittens, or Mitsukai as was her birth name, was currently being carried by the back of her jacket through the village by a massive all white wolf roughly the size of a horse. The wolf belonged to her elder sister, Jayr, but Cana had sniffed her out the moment she had begun moving through the village in an attempt to find her sister, or any of her extended family. Cana, a bit pushy as always when it came to the ill child, had instantly scooped her up and began to carry her towards where she had last smelled Karukaya: the closest person that the child would know.

"Hush, child. You smell funny, and not in a good way. I'm carrying you.", Cana responded while attempting not to open her mouth too much and drop the child: thankfully human speech was easy enough by now for the wolf, so she was able to pull it off.

Mittens simply rolled her eyes and went to sigh only to find herself coughing. She brought up her right arm, tissue in it, and covered her mouth with it; feeling flecks of whatever it was she was coughing up - blood, definitely blood from the sudden glance at the tissue - to come flying into it. She hastily folded the tissue up and shoved it into her pocket; the last thing she wanted to do was worry anyone, though given the hightened sense of smell the majority of her family seemed to have she'd be scented out fast as could be.

It took Mittens a moment to notice that Cana wasn't taking her towards either of Karukaya's offices but instead towards what looked to be training grounds behind the Academy. "Where are we going silly? I don't want to go back to school.~", Mittens joked, the pale child in the white dress and dark blue jacket attempting to wiggle free once more to no avail.

Cana didn't respond; at least not until she had spotted Karukaya and waited until it was safe to approach; which she would do only to gently place the child down next to him and release her from his mouth. "Found this. It smells funny. Can I eat it?", Cana said, obviously joking, in english.

Once the younger male had agreed to his proposal, he lead them out of the building and around behind it; the Academy was situated in the same compound as all the administration buildings, as well as the main hospital and hidden ANBU barracks, so getting to the dedicated training grounds was a simple enough task. Anyone could have found them, there where helpful signs posted everywhere that alerted passerby as to what was in which direction, and there as always someone moving around that could point you where you needed to go. The nearest ground was perfect, as it was a dedicated fire training area, with large blast walls and plenty of fire protections installed; even if you couldn't see those. This was a village of fire and flame, the entire city was fitted with massive fire control measures, hidden in the walls and in the ground out of sight and out of mind. The mark of a good system was that it wasn't visible; only the warning sirens and such where above ground, as they needed to be in places that carried the alerts and warnings in case of earthquakes, volcanic activity, etc. The village did much to earn it's safety, and what they did worked well.

A demonstration was made before he even asked for it; a decent one, at that. Great Fire Annihilation, hmm? Really, not a bad way to attempt to impress someone; it was a high rated and difficult jutsu for most to use, and it made for a good show. He knew it well, while his preferred style was close quarters, he was extremely adept at ranged fire techniques after all these years; and that was one of the earliest he'd ever attempted for himself. Still, it wasn't a dazzling show, but he had to give credit where credit was due. To that point, he said so, offering his sincere opinion on the jutsu, "Not bad, really. Useful, and you show adequate proficiency in it. Still, as they say in civilian sciences; a single data point doesn't make for a good case study. It basically means, you can't use one example to prove an idea, or point. I'll need to run you through some basic exercises, to see what you are really capable of."

He lifted his left arm, showing it so that it was easily seen entirely. "Case in point, from the stories they tell of me, you would only believe that I am capable of close quarters fire-based combat..." His arm began to shimmer and seemingly warp, the power of the heat being release causing the air to overheat and creating heat illusions. Flames erupted and wrapped around the arm, trailing from his closed fist to just below the elbow in a glove which resembled a swirling helix pattern. His personal signature ability, the one he'd spent a quarter of his life developing and perfecting; Helix Flame Fist. "This jutsu is what made me famous, really; and for all of that it's power could be considered less than the jutsu you just used. However, you've heard what has been done with it; seen the reports. For me, and those I train; you do not learn to harness more power, but to control and perfect the power you already have." He released the jutsu, now raising his bandaged arm up as well. The palm of his left hand was placed against the back of his right, which was held vertically flat so that the palm faced the center of the giant wall, both arms stretched out before him, level with his chest. From beneath the bandages of his right, and the pores of his left, began leaking a strange, almost liquid appearing substance that was black as tar, yet clean in appearance, and sparkled with what appeared to be tiny pinpoints of light; similar to the night sky on a moonless night in the high mountains; where you could see all of space and creation around you. This substance, his Solar Nova Chakra, encased his hands before seeming to be pulled toward the center of the open palm before exploding outward; a beam of pure destructive energy firing in the direction he was aiming and releasing a sound that had absolutely no comparison in the natural world; as well as a flash of light that was painful to the eyes, like staring into the heart of the sun for too long, only it passed in an instant.

The center of the wall, the point he'd aimed to hit, was now very much gone; with the ring of metal around the missing part burned to molten slag, and small fires eating away at the inner wooden core of the structure.

"Given what you know of me, would you believe I had abilities like that?" Oh, it was showy, sure; but it was also a point to be made. He could have released a massive explosion around himself, blasted a few meters to kingdom come, but this was more efficient, more effective. He might burn away trees and grass, destroy some dirt; maybe cause moderate burns with a basic explosion; but the focusing of the chakra into a beam compressed the devastating power down until nothing could stop it. "This is the difference between control and power. Do you think you can handle learning that?"

He was about to begin speaking again, offer a few lessons and better explain what he'd done, when Cana appeared with something hanging from her mouth. Something distinctly family shaped. "Cana. Why is Mitsukai in your mouth?" Why was Mitsukai in the village at all? Jayr hadn't mentioned anything, and there was no alert of Jai coming to visit. Strange. "Okami, excuse me a moment. I need to attend to this. She is my sister, and she is rather sickly. I need to be sure she is alright." He even offered a respectful, apologetic bow to the Ama ninja before moving toward the pair. He was there in a flash, the distance between them was small enough, and once he was there he knelt down to Mitten's level and gently removed her from Cana's grasp. He pull the small one into a happy hug; he really did enjoy getting to visit with family, and he's always really liked Mittens. "What brings you here, Little One? Are you with your sister? Did your Father decide to come visit?"

Jutsu and Chakra:

WC: 1086

1086 + 1942 = 3028

Hugs? Oh, she liked hugs! She returned Karukaya's hug happily, smiling and beaming like any other happy child would. As she did so she got a glance over his shoulder to see another individual standing a bit aways and beyond him a flaming hole in the wall: she could only imagine the kind of power that had been used to create that. Power that was definitely out of her reach for now, and if she didn't get better soon, likely forever.

At Karukaya's questions however she refocused on him and shook her head no a bit. "No, dad's at home and Jayr doesn't know I was coming. I came to see if she could bump up the treatment a bit." She hadn't been due for another round of the treatment that kept her from spending long weeks in the hospital for another month or so, however given she was coughing up small bits of blood she figured it best to come now than to wait for a response from Jayr. Of course, she didn't say any of this outloud, which was why Cana decided to step in again on her behalf.

"I was carrying her around because she's sicker than usual. Mittens, show him what's in your pocket. You can't hide your sickness, they cannot treat you if they don't know what's wrong." Cana's voice was gentle, but guiding: clearly the wolf knew what she had hidden in her pocket, but wanted to give her the chance

Mittens found herslf looking suddenly guilty; she didn't like to worry her family and coughing up blood was not really new when it came to what was wrong with her. In fact, she normally ended up coughing a lot more than what she was. But, since Cana brought it up... Mittens reached into her jacket pocket and produced the tissue that had tiny flecks of blood on it. Feeling another coughing fit coming she brought it up to her mouth once more as she nearly doubled over from the force of the cough; several more flecks of blood littering the tissue.

Cana growled, obviously frustrated: she didn't like anyone sick, let alone children. "I'm going to go find Jayr; last I heard she was helping with a surgury in the hospital. She should be done by now.." Cana would wait if Karukaya said anything, and if not she would be off at a dash, off to find Jayr.

Mittens finished her coughing fit, staring in the direction that Cana had gone. "Oh bother... I don't like to be a bother." She then looked over towards Karu and the hole. "Are you and your friend blowing stuff up? I thought only TemTem and my sister did that.", she asked curiously; ignoring the fact that had anyone else called the Rakuenkage TemTem they likely would have been in a lot of hot water.

Word Count: 865

That would make sense, then. She'd wandered all the way here, sick as can be, with no one having any idea she was gone. Yep, she was definitely Jayr's sister. He shifted her slightly, freeing one of his hands and placing it flat across her chest. The hand would begin to glow a soft, pure green color as he began working his medical ninjutsu on her. It was nothing fancy, but it would help to repair some of the damage that was making her cough up blood, as well as make her feel a bit better. "You're never a bother, Little One. You are family, and family is all that matters in the end." He was using the Mystical Palm Technique here, one of the fe he had access to that really seemed to work with her. It wasn't enough to cure her, sadly; but it did buy them time, and made her day a bit brighter. No more coughing up blood, at least for a few hours, and she would be able to breath with much more ease.

After a a few moments, the glow faded and he was finished with what he was able to do; he was a trained medical ninja, this is true; but he was and had always been more of a hands on surgeon, as well as a veterinarian; he prefered the old ways, in this instance; he could do things most general medical ninja could not, and things that made specialists jealous, but not in terms of jutsu. His skill was in medicine, not in medical. There was a difference, abet a subtle one that few where able to see. "Well, as Cana will have Jayr here soon, we shall wait a bit. She can take you to my office, the fun one, you can pet the ferrets and feed the baby elephant I have boarded." He knew her well, she would be all over this idea, and anything that made her happy and kept her spirits high was good for her. More to the point, his office in the wildlife center was as good a place to be for her as the village hospital; he had all the same equipment and medication there, as well as access to far more. He didn't need to abuse his position to get funding for his 'pet' projects; as the other Jounin often put it; he funded his work himself, from his own pocket; it was how the village was able to have such amazing wildlife preserves and such without the village bankrolling it.

"Here, come meet my new friend, Mitsukai. He's from the Sky Village, Amagakure. He's come to train and learn. I was showing him some things, and I used my Nova chakra to blow up the wall. Maybe I can show you what I did later, yes?" He would give her time to introduce herself to the other male, if she wanted too; before continue to speak. "As i said, Okami; she is my sister, and she is regrettably rather ill much of the time. It was a rather large shock to see her here, she lives in Hanagakure with her father most of the time; and we'd received no word she was coming. It seems she decided to come visit without saying so. Cana is her sister's companion and partner, she went to fetch her. Jayr will likely be here to fetch her soon. I am sorry, but we will have to postpone our training for a later date. That you where able to figure out Rasengan on your own is... impressive, and it shows you have talent for control. You should be able to benefit from my training, at least enough to be worth both our whiles."

He would be too focused on Mittens for the foreseeable future to want to train himself; let alone someone that was basically as stranger. However, this ninja had piqued his interest, to some degree; he didn't have the usual attitude you got from most Ama ninja, or the ones he'd ever had the displeasure of meeting anyway; and he was willing to learn, so that was a major plus. Most Jounin tended to think they knew all that they needed to know; they had trouble accepting that anyone may be able to help them, unless it was some massively famous figure. He refused to think of himself as that; he knew he was well known, but that was a given to anyone that was as tied to a Kage, let alone the batshit insane Rakuenkage as he was. Add in his ties to the Commander General of Hanagakure, and you had a recipe for having your name thrown around. He'd rather not be well known, as he preferred to just do his job and live his life than be famous or something.

"We do have a few minutes, however. I have something to show Mitsukai, and you're welcome to watch. It might be helpful for you, an idea for a new technique or two you could work on; if you haven't see it yet." He had dozens of jutsu learned and trained, almost entirely of the fire nature, with a few lightning and his smattering of Nova interweaved within. Within that range of abilities were several very... unique, at least as far as hew knew, jutsu; strange and odd abilities that he'd never seen anyone else use. Flashy, and great for showing off, if you where into that sort of thing. He looked at it as a way to entertain the children; his kids loved them, and he knew Mittens well enough to know she would too. She loved to watch her family show off, and it gave her ideas for things she wanted to learn when she could; and gave them a list of things to teach her too. He moved a few feet to the north of where they stood, finding a set of wooden benches made from a type of wood that was found deep in the forests between Hinowa and Hana that was full of a special compound that made it impossible to burn; public furniture was always made from that wood in Hinowa, as the volcanic nature of the region meant that at any time, a vent could open up and spew ridiculously hot steam and ash, which was a massive fire hazard. These would be safe, and the shade from the nearby walls would keep her comfortable. "Sit here, dear. Watch closely." He patted her head affectionately, picking a stray leaf from the strands before backing away.

He moved several dozen meters away from both of them, closer to where the large wall with the molten slag core was; it was starting to cool and the fires had gone out, the metal was turning solid once more and that was going to be a pain in the paperwork later; but he really didn't care. Arms where lifted to his mouth, hands formed into a little tunnel that was open enough for something as large as a marble to pass through without issue. Inhaling deeply, he filled his lungs with fire chakra and exhaled hard; instead of a blast of flame or something of the sort, a massive number of what appeared to be fireflies expelled through his hands. The fireflies swarmed and moved around him as he released more, creating a circling effect of an insect swarm, without all the noise and such of a normal bug group. It was almost silent, and would be disconcerting if not for the beauty of it all. After long moments his breath was exhausted and he lowered his hands; but not to his side. They where lowered to be level with his chest, and a shudder seemed to move through the gestalt mass; it was like they where responding to his movements now, and that was exactly what was happening. He began to move his hands and arms in a fashion that had the mass moving and responding in kind, they danced and raced across the sky and ground, never moving within a dozen meters of either of his companions, for long moments, pushing several minutes really; it was a show, and he was letting Mittens enjoy it.

That was enough of that one. He lifted his arms up and over his head, bringing his palms together and causing the fireflies to move into a massive ball above the wall in the center of the field. It was like a cluster of bombs going off all at once; hundreds of individual flashes and booms as the little fireflies impacted with each other and exploded. They where literally little bombs, each capable of causing significant damage on their own; brought together as they were it was like watching Temaki or Jayr exploding things for the giggles. Hell, it made him giggle a bit; he was a nature pyromaniac obviously, all fire users where; or damn near all of them were anyway. He loved doing stuff like this, even more when he was showing off for family.

Now for the other one he had in mind. Instead of lifting his hands to his mouth, he merely lifted them up and seemed to double himself in a puff of smoke; shadow clones, or clone, rather; made in the singular for this one. The clone moved away from the original, putting roughly ten meters between them to allow for a decent show. From his 'real' hand, Karu began releasing chakra again; he would fully capable of releasing non-nova chakra from his nova arm, he just prefered not to risk the bandages to fire; they were made to be fireproof and incapable of burning, but that didn't stop him from being cautious, especially since they were in the middle of town and there was family well within the blast radius if his arm detonated. The chakra being released seemed to sparkle and burn, it was obvious fire chakra, but it was almost like he'd turned his fist into the head of a sparkler; that firework that you could hold in your hand without burning yourself. However, that was not exactly true; these sparkles would cause serious injury to anyone without the fire resistance and endurance to handle it; he'd burned the unholy fuck out of himself the first time he'd tried to learn this ability; although he didn't have the scars to show for it anymore, since, well, he didn't have that arm anymore. The sparkled glowed and flashed in multiple colors, like little rainbows trailing from his fist. He launched himself into a fairly straightforward, if flashy, charge; moving toward his clone at a speed that was at it's heart not all that fast for him; but it was visible to both of those watching without much issue. He threw a pretty wicked looking left hook at the clone, and the world seemed to just stop for an instant; the sparkles didn't detonate in an explosion, instead they seemed to fly toward the clone and 'stick' to it's flesh and clothing, where massive flames seemed to instantly appear. The sparkles where massively superheated and highly concentrated flames; each held the power to spark wildfires and burn through steel. Even a clone of Karukaya couldn't handle that kind of punishment, and the clone broke after only a few moments of being on fire; releasing with a boom and explosion of smoke that works to snuff out the flames by starving them of oxygen for just long enough to put them out.

He was done with that, now. moving back toward them as an easy trot, he moved to Mittens to check on her again. "What do you thing, Little One? Enjoy the show?"

Jutsu and Chakra:

WC: 1984

1984 + 3028 = 5015

5015/6000 S-SS Katon (Secondary Element)

"You're never a bother, Little One. You are family, and family is all that matters in the end." were the words spoken as Karukaya used the Mystical Palm Technique on her chest. Mitsukai watched quietly for a moment as it fascinated her to not only see the technique in use but to also feel the difference it was making in her chest. What had started out feeling raw, torn to shreds, and burning, became a cool sensation devoid of any sort of pain. It no longer was a drag to draw in air, and in fact Mitsukai found herself taking several deep breaths; ones that resulted in coughing only as she brought up the remaining blood and phlegm that had been lingering in her lungs, all of which was deposited into the tissue in her hand. Her next deep breath following this caused a smile to break out across her face of genuine happiness: must better, so much better. Oh, it wouldn't last more than a few hours due to her sickness which she knew easily enough, but it was a reprieve for now and she would certainly enjoy it. "Thank you, Karu.", she would say as she finished taking another happy deep breath.

At Karukaya's next words she was giggling happily and even clapping her hands: she hated the hospital with a passion, but Karukaya's office was a different story entirely. He had all of the equipment needed to take care of her and then some, as well as adorable and interesting animals around she could look at and even pet. Plus, the environment itself was more happy and less depressing: there was nothing worse than having to lay still in a bed while being given a treatment to save her life, knowing that her fate could one day be similar to those dying around her. No, no, and no. She would stick with the animals any day! ck with the animals any day!

Mitsukai would then once again turn her attention on the male whom she didn't know. Hearing that he was from Amagakure caused her lips to form a small 'o' shape out of amazement. "I've never met someone from Amagakure before. Hi, I'm Mitsukai." She didn't bother with her last name, though she was more than proud to have it, it was just something that had been ingrained in her since she was a very young child: you didn't give complete strangers all of your information because it could be used against you, especially when your father and siblings were in high positions of power.

Mittens would then fall silent as she listened to Karukaya and Okami speak, gathering from the conversation that Okami had come to train under Karukaya, something that would have to be postponed due to Mitsukai's sudden and unexpected appearance.  

When she heard that Karukaya had something to show her since they had a few minutes she clapped her hands happily. Once Mitsukai was happily positioned on the bench, underneath of the shade so that there was no risk of the sun bothering her or her getting too warm, she shifted her attention fully on Karukaya – giggling when the leaf was removed from her hair. She watched him with rapt attention while feeling highly curious as to what it was he was going to show her. What she saw was absolutely beautiful; the swarm of fireflies that Karu created causing a small "Ooooo.", of a sound to escape the young child as she kept watching. When the group of fireflies began to impact each other and explode a burst of giggles escaped her which had her clapping her hands excitedly.  

She then watched as next Karukaya created a single clone of himself. She watched then as Karu created what resembled a sparkler with his hand before rushing at his clone. The punch that he threw caused the sparkles to stick to the clone. Following this, after the clone caught fire, it poofed with its own boom and explosion of smoke. She then watched as Karu came over, rejoining her once again. At his question she nodded her head several times. "Yes, yes! The first one was very pretty! The second one was awesome, too!" Mittens didn't have access to Katon chakra, but it definitely wouldn't stop the ideas from flowing through her mind of something similar that she might be able to create on her own: she might have been sickly since birth but she had never allowed that to stop her before and she wasn't going to now.

She then shifted her golden colored gaze to Okami as he went to show off a bit too. Mitsukai paid attention to him with the same rapt attention she had shown Karukaya as Okami created a wolf that he seemed to reside inside of. She clapped happily again and giggled once more, clearly amused. "I liked that too!" Oh yes, the happy child was definitely happy now.

Word Count: 855 + 865 = 1,720

"….." Jayr had almost killed the nurse who tried to stop her as she rushed out the hospital: the woman had been bitching about unfinished paperwork dealing with the successful surgery she had just completed: none of which Jayr had spared a thought for after Cana had come rushing in to inform her that her sister had made the journey from Hanagakure to Hinowa, seemingly alone, and was coughing up blood. The only saving grace was knowing that her sister wasn't laying around somewhere alone, but was in fact with her husband in the Academy training field where Cana had left the child. "Get the fuck out of my way before I remove you, it's the only warning you'll get.", was what Jayr had decided in sticking with instead of actually putting her hands on the nurse. The threat, as well as a ton of vicious sounding growling from both herself and Cana, were more than enough to get the nurse side stepping hastily enough nad clutching the clip board to her chest as if it would somehow protect her from the wolf-like female.

Jayr stormed out of the hospital, medical bag in hand: a rather interesting sight to see considering how pissed off the medic looked. Add in the way that Jayr was dressed: a white tunic styled top that went down half way down her thighs with a purple sash around her waist, a pair of white leggings that tucked pristinely into a pair of black boots, as well as a white duster jacket over top: and her rage didn't match her natural beaty.

Once she had cleared the hospital doors she took off at a dead run, purple hair whipping around behind her as her wolf-like ears whose fur matched her hair searched for any sign of distress coming from the training grounds. All she could pick up on, though, was what sounded like training – or likely showing off considering the insane amount of giggling she was hearing. Jayr was upon the area quickly enough, coming skidding to a complete stop right next to Karu; her gold eyes locked onto her sister who seemed a bit healthier compared to the report Cana had given her. A sniff of the air was all it took to relay to her mind fire based chakra as well as the sweet hint of healing chakra: it meant Karu must've healed her up a bit before him and... a stranger?... had been showing off?

Cana, quite content with how Mittens now looked, simply went over to her, sat down next to her, and placed her large all white head on her lap as she clearly searched for affection. Jayr snorted at her wolf and shook her hely went over to her, sat down next to her, and placed her head on her lap in an obvious search for petting and affection. "Oi, you and I are going to have a very important conversation later on, Mittens." The use of her sister's nickname obviously enough to indicate she wasn't so much angry as she was relieved to see that she was alright – though that important conversation was going to happen sooner rather than later. However, there were a few questions to ask first, "New person is...?", she was asking her husband, while her attention remained on Okami.

Oh, and there as Jayr. He remained perfectly calm, even with the massive rageragerage vibes coming off his wife. He knew there was little to fear; even with the Ama nin showing off in response to his display, he felt no reason to worry. So far, the foreigner had been perfectly peaceable, and had a significantly better attitude than most ranking member of the Amagakure military that he'd met over the years. As of that moment, there was no real reason to trust him, but Okami hadn't given him any reasons to be worried, beyond the usual worry he felt for family around strangers. Raising his arms above his head in a long, easy stretch once more; "He is a jounin from Amagakure. Name is Okami, wants to train with me. We've been showing off and such, mostly. Little One was enjoying my fireworks."

Simple, to the point. Nothing more was really needed; beyond him moving over to her and slipping his arms around her form, pulling her close and raising his body temperature a few degrees in a way that to them would be soothing and affectionate; it was definitely more public friendly than anything else they would have done; that was for sure. "He's clean in the books, that's the only reason we're still standing here." That, and he had a significant advantage over the other ninja, he had the eyes and training to get a good idea of the power of other ninja without needing to test them outright; the man's description of himself as needing training was accurate; but that was so for Karukaya as well; and with his perceptive abilities and such he could see that he was in much better shape overall. It's not like he couldn't have Coen Dragoon leaping across the village to come help, or half a dozen dogs, or Fa Mulan, if she wasn't busy with Art; coming to help in less than a minute if shit went south.

"I've cleared up the light pneumonia Mitten's had. She should be pretty stable for the next few days. We can figure out how she got here by herself later, Love."

WC: 370

370 + 5015 = 5385 / 6000 S-SS Katon (Secondary)

Mitsukai's attention shifted from Karukaya and Okami and on to her sister Jayr as she came skidding to a stop right next to her husband. Jayr looked at her and even before she said anything Mitsukai knew that her sister wasn't quite as angry as she was concerned; sure enough this assumption was solidified when she heard Jayr speak, being called by her nickname of Mittens instead of her actual name like her sister would have had she truly been angry with her. Still, her sister's words were enough to have her squirming a bit and feeling guilty. Mitsukai knew she shouldn't have made the journey alone, but given at the time what had been happening she hadn't wanted to wait until Jayr got the message and came to get her, or sent someone else to bring her to Hinowa.

However, Jayr's attention wasn't stuck on her for long before she inquired about Okami. Mittens kept quiet as Karu explained that the stranger was a Jounin from Amagakure named Okami who had come to Hinowa to inquire about being trained by Karu. She then listened as Karu explained that he had cleared up the bit of penomonia that Mittens had, and that she would be pretty stable for the next few days. This caused Mitsukai to nod her head several times in agreement and smile. "Karu fixed me, JayJay! I feel much better now."

Once she confirmed what Karu had said she shifted her attention to Cana, noticing that the wolf had placed her head on her lap in a clear attempt to get attention. Giggling softly she would reach down and scratch at Cana's head and around her ears just like she liked. "Silly Cana.", she muttered softly, keeping her attention focused on the wolf to give the adults a chance to talk - Mitsukai tended to forget from time to time that her rank technically made her an adult, even though she was ten years old.

WC: 335 + 1,720 = 2,055

"....." In silence Jayr listened as her husband explained who exactly Okami was. The fact that an Amagakure nin was in Hinowa searching for training wasn't exactly odd; they all tended to have their reputations given their connections with both the Rakuenkage and the Commander General. People talked, whispers went around, and rumors of their abilities and exploits spread. The mixture of the information - since she trusted Karu with her life and the life of her sister - as well as Karukaya's arms around her form and the added relaxing heat were enough to have her calming down significantly. There was no need to rip the visitors head off, after all, nor give a bad impression if his intentions were true and honest: and knowing Karu had they not been the man would have been turned to ash by now.

"Alright. I'm definitely curious to hear that one...", she said in response to Karu mentioning they could figure out later how exactly Mittens had made it on her own to the village. Jayr's golden colored gaze shifted over towards her sister, eyeing her curiously as she petted on Cana and scratched her around the ears in a way that had the wolf's leg twitching and her tail thumping hard against the ground.

It was then that she shifted her attention onto the newcomer. "My apologies if I came off a bit... aggresive. I'm very protective over my family, especially when I hear that one of them is very ill." It was about as nice as she could put it really; the fact that she hadn't outright attacked him upon arriving on the scene was yet another thank-you, though an unspoken one. Jayr had gotten a good bit of control over her feral urges; turning partially into a wolf had definitely changed her demeanor, but thankfully Karu's presence was enough to keep her calm and stable the majority of the time, so she hadn't decided to attack first and ask questions later.

It was then that she got a look at the man's wound; eyebrows raising a bit in curiosity. He was lucky, that much was evident. The fact that he was here for training spoke wonders on the kind of drive and initiative he had too. "All of that and you still come to get training off of Karu? That takes balls." A simple statement, but a true one.

"Agreed. You have to give credit for that; do even be on your feet by now is rather impressive; let alone to believe you could keep up with someone in prime condition. It is one of the reasons I was willing to humor him, if nothing else. For the moment, we will have to postpone any sort of actual training, at least with me supervising. However, so long as nothing going wrong, I should have time in a day or two to at least start a lesson one on one. I would need to make sure that Little One is properly settled; and her father knows that she is safe. We do not need to have him racing over, he may just nuke part of the village, just because he can. Which, would set Temaki off, and that would cause a few volcanic eruptions. Ah, the wonders of living in an active caldera."

Actually... no that he was thinking about it, even for a moment; he realized he had training scrolls on him, he was going to give them to Artemis for her own training, but it wasn't like he didn't have copies. Multiples. Paper plus fire equaled a massive monthly bill for replacing paper scrolls and books. Reaching into his hip pouch, he fished the correct item out and held it up, so that Okami could see it. He then tossed it over, an easy underhand chuck that was slow and would be nearly impossible to fumble. "Read over that, we'll discuss it when I can work with you properly. It's theorems on control and the nature of fire; how to work with fire that is hyper condensed and such. If you've worked with highly powerful fire enough, you'll have noticed how it becomes almost liquid, and the normal movements and such needed to direct and control it no longer work. That's what your first lesson will focus on. I would also suggest that you find the water training grounds, observing the movements of the water chakra users can be extremely beneficial, and it's always a good place to work on your base fire power. In my younger years, I would drop myself in the icy water and focus my fires until I overcame them; it was one of the ways I pushed my flames to the level they are at. It's not much of a secret, either; but extremely uncomfortable, so not many ever try to do it. There is also low oxygen training; that is supremely beneficial for learning fine control. Once you can create a flame that will not die, even in extreme low oxygen environments; and do it without killing yourself in the process, you've reached heights of power and control few ever dream of. I gained more offensive power through that line of training than I had in years."

His attention returned to his wife and young sister, he was working over his supplies and such back at his other, preferred, office. There should be enough there to get a much better idea of what was going on with her. "Come, let's show Mittens the animals in the office. If the elephant is still there, I will see if the old girl will let her ride." He released Jayr and moved away a bit, enough to where he was able to lift of Mitten's and place her on his shoulders. He wasn't worried at all about her being that high, nor did he have any reason to be. He could easily support her, and he was fast enough to catch her if she started to fall. If not him, Jayr could. He also knew it would make Mittens extremely happy to be that high up, and he could run just fast enough to give her the sensation of flying, without risking her safety. "Coen and Roku will be stopping by later as well, Coen can take her around the large enclosure, if she asks nicely."

WC: 674

674 + 5385 = 6059

6000 / 6000 S-SS Katon (Secondary)

59 remaining.