FurikoMaru
Versed in the lewd.
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2013
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[X] You Are Like Breeze
It's difficult at first, ignoring all the other ambient chakra that's trying to get your attention, but eventually you settle yourself, and...
[embed=425,349]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoAEUr0jDs8[/embed]
... the sky blossoms in your mind, and you comprehend.
The sky, the domain of Wind chakra, begins at the horizon, and ends only at the very top of the world. It encompasses every breathing life that walks on the planet, from the plants that are its mothers and daughters and best dancing partners to Menka and Yuji watching you from the deck to the people passing on the street in front of the shop to the thousands of Lollypops and Hyuuga and Nara and Akimichi to the Hokage to the Kages of the other nations and all the people and animals and plants within them to the people of lands beyond the Elemental Nations lands and life in teeming billions...
And you.
Movement without end. Strength without form. Power that can never be held.
Breaths beyond reckoning... attend, and understand: there is no air in your lungs now that has not at one time passed through the trees of Konohagakure, and through them the life you taste is the life of the Shodaime. This is the gift he gave the city he loved.
Breathe out, and in taking a fresh breath, know that you now contain an infinitesimal fragment of a sigh let out by the man who owned this shop of your parents before the Yamanaka ever came to Konoha.
Out, and know that in a century yet to come your great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter on the other side of the planet will draw in that very same breath in a new guise.
In. The sea is far from Konoha, and yet it is within you now and forever in this moment; you hear its waves crash against your heart. Indescribable joy touches you, and you try desperately to hold onto it... but the breath slips away, as it was meant to.
Out. The plants of the garden receive your energy with barely-audible pleasure.
In. She's asleep, in the city at Lightning's far eastern border; or she was when she let out this breath.
Out. And you are at peace and storming all at once.
From the top of the world, to the bottom, and everywhere between.
In your mind's eye, you are standing at a crossroads, with a signpost before you. The arms point in all directions.
None of the places named are familiar to you. Some lack precise distances. Some have distances but no named destinations. Others are completely blank; these seem to call to you the most urgently.
You know, somehow, that if you linger here, you will melt from Ino into something new, and soar away along every path at once to see them all.
You know you want to.
Such limits are no limits at all.
=
When you try to run back inside, overwhelmed by the desire to tell Dad everything, you trip over your own two feet. Your legs, it seems, have decided to be slightly more shaken by this revelation than the rest of you; if you hadn't caught the doorframe you'd have done a faceplant.
Dad holds up a hand. "Don't say anything, " he says. "Not a word."
And he hands you a notebook and pen. "Write down everything you remember. All of it."
Don't need to tell me twice.
Even as you fill the pages of the book, you know you're losing details. You know there is no possible way you can commit the enormity of the experience to paper, and the longer you try the less you remember yourself.
But the signpost and the crossroads stay with you. You aren't about to forget them anytime soon.
[X] Stop play-acting. Shika-chan does just fine playing as himself; now that you know all the rules, you're sure you can do the same thing.
Your next game is... kinda weird.
At first you think you're going to lose; your natural instincts lead you into making moves out of sheer curiosity, and Shika's quick to jump on that.
But then something strange happens.
You make a plan.
You've made plans before, obviously, when you were trying to be Goemon, but this isn't like those. Those were about going where Shikamaru would go before he could, turning his own methods against him. They were about taking his tactics apart piece by piece to keep him from winning. Their objective was always the same: not losing.
The room is silent except for the click of moved game pieces, and the cries of cicadas in the garden. A breeze drifts in through a rip in the thin shoji, but not nearly enough to counter the sticky heat. A bamboo wind chime sounds without.
Shika sighs.
Click.
The plan is tricky, very tricky, and you don't know if you can quite manage to pull it off.
... click.
But right now, despite yourself, you can't stop smiling.
Click.
Click.
...
... click.
Because you know, somehow, that this plan is important. It deserves its chance to live.
"What are you doing?"
His question startles you out of your reverie. You look up at him, and your smile broadens.
"Is there a problem, Shika-chan?"
He stares for a moment, then shakes his head and goes back to studying the board, muttering, "Troublesome."
A tiny thrill passes through you. Even if you don't win today, you confused Shikamaru again. That's your favourite kind of victory.
Click.
Fun as shogi can be, it's a slow game where the fundamental elements never change.
... click.
One's skill in it is judged by how well one can navigate and plan within the set parameters, and hold all possibilities in mind at once.
Click.
Click.
With real people? There are no permanent parameters.
Click!
They're always changing, whether they know it or not. Every day, Shika gets harder to surprise, and every day, you think of new ways to manage to do it anyway.
... click.
It's one of your favourite things about your best friend.
Click.
Shikamaru stares at the board.
Your giggle bubbles up from the bottom of your lungs and overcomes your voice as you declare your win.
"Glad to see you make such an advance, " Shikaku says from the corner. Your laughter 'eep's to a halt. You thought he was asleep! You turn to look at him and stammer out a thank you for his compliment. How long has he been watching you play?
"Advance?" Shika asks, and an evil part of you hugs itself in glee to hear an ever-so-slight note of anger in his voice. "She just went back to what she was doing before."
His dad frowns at him. "And this time, it worked."
Shikamaru's eyes widen (that is to say, they open all the way for once), and he gives you a slightly more appraising look.
"I wasn't sure you'd approve, " you admit to Shikaku in embarrassment.
"Hm?" he says, a ghost of a smile tugging at one side of his face, wrinkling his scars ever-so-slightly. "I told you before. Shogi is a mirror." He motions for Shika to move, and takes his son's place across the board from you. "If you never acknowledge your reflection, you won't master this game in a thousand years.
"Now, " he says, looking you dead in the eye, "let me see the true Yamanaka Ino."
It takes him longer to defeat you than before. Not much longer, but longer.
You think you understand now why Dad and the Angel think Shikaku-san's so cool.
[X] Uh, you kinda suck at swords, remember? Let's ask dad if there's another way to build up your chakra reserves.
Dad says the best thing to do, at your age, is do exactly as you have been doing; run around getting lots of physical activity, and taking naps every now and then.
"I know it's hard to wait, Ino, but the Academy is only a couple of years away, and right now your body needs to use all the chakra you have on your growth. By trying to get more you'll just tire yourself out for little to no actual gain to your reserves. At best you'll be a few inches taller than you would have been otherwise."
Well that sucks. "Menka said I could get stronger by learning kenjutsu."
Dad snorts. "I'll bet he did. Human or cat, some boys just can't resist the allure of the sword." He ruffles your hair. "If it really means that much to you, you should start going for runs in the morning. It'll improve your stamina and lay the groundwork for better training results later in life."
You hadn't thought of that. It would give you something to do before mom wakes up; mostly you've just been using that time to read and stretch. "That sounds fun. I could do it along the wall -"
"NO!" O.O
You blink, jolted by the vehemence in your father's voice. Is it just you, or does he sound almost... panicky?
"... is there something wrong?" you ask hesitantly. "I thought following the wall would be a good way to make sure I can keep track of how far I've gone."
"Yes, good thinking, " Dad says quickly, clearly worried he's upset you. "It's just that... usually only active-duty ninja go for runs along the wall. I know how much you loathe the company of genin."
"... well, that's true, " you admit. Still, you get the impression that's only the reason he thinks will convince you. Dad's got his own reason for not wanting you near the wall, you can tell.
He pats your head again. "You can still go running through the village, just as long as you stop before everyone else is up. I'll let Mom know not to worry if she finds you out of bed when she calls you for breakfast."
[X] Start going for runs along the wall. You've got to find out what Dad's hiding.
[X] Start going for runs through the village. Dad wouldn't keep stuff from you if it weren't to keep you safe.
[X] Bring someone with you! Who?
-> [X] Menka. He clearly wants to spend more time with you.
-> [X] Shirotama. He's pleasant, quiet company.
-> [X] Shikamaru. Tell him it'll be easier to coast once you guys're in the Academy if he gets a head start now.
-> [X] Chouji. Wait til those jerks who called him fat come to school and find out he can outrun them!
[X] Why are we even talking about this? The Kenjutsu Train Has No Brakes!
[X] Let's not go running or sword-ing. Dad did say it's best to wait until we're older to start building our reserves, right?
It's difficult at first, ignoring all the other ambient chakra that's trying to get your attention, but eventually you settle yourself, and...
[embed=425,349]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoAEUr0jDs8[/embed]
... the sky blossoms in your mind, and you comprehend.
The sky, the domain of Wind chakra, begins at the horizon, and ends only at the very top of the world. It encompasses every breathing life that walks on the planet, from the plants that are its mothers and daughters and best dancing partners to Menka and Yuji watching you from the deck to the people passing on the street in front of the shop to the thousands of Lollypops and Hyuuga and Nara and Akimichi to the Hokage to the Kages of the other nations and all the people and animals and plants within them to the people of lands beyond the Elemental Nations lands and life in teeming billions...
And you.
Movement without end. Strength without form. Power that can never be held.
Breaths beyond reckoning... attend, and understand: there is no air in your lungs now that has not at one time passed through the trees of Konohagakure, and through them the life you taste is the life of the Shodaime. This is the gift he gave the city he loved.
Breathe out, and in taking a fresh breath, know that you now contain an infinitesimal fragment of a sigh let out by the man who owned this shop of your parents before the Yamanaka ever came to Konoha.
Out, and know that in a century yet to come your great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter on the other side of the planet will draw in that very same breath in a new guise.
In. The sea is far from Konoha, and yet it is within you now and forever in this moment; you hear its waves crash against your heart. Indescribable joy touches you, and you try desperately to hold onto it... but the breath slips away, as it was meant to.
Out. The plants of the garden receive your energy with barely-audible pleasure.
In. She's asleep, in the city at Lightning's far eastern border; or she was when she let out this breath.
Out. And you are at peace and storming all at once.
From the top of the world, to the bottom, and everywhere between.
In your mind's eye, you are standing at a crossroads, with a signpost before you. The arms point in all directions.
None of the places named are familiar to you. Some lack precise distances. Some have distances but no named destinations. Others are completely blank; these seem to call to you the most urgently.
You know, somehow, that if you linger here, you will melt from Ino into something new, and soar away along every path at once to see them all.
You know you want to.
Such limits are no limits at all.
=
When you try to run back inside, overwhelmed by the desire to tell Dad everything, you trip over your own two feet. Your legs, it seems, have decided to be slightly more shaken by this revelation than the rest of you; if you hadn't caught the doorframe you'd have done a faceplant.
Dad holds up a hand. "Don't say anything, " he says. "Not a word."
And he hands you a notebook and pen. "Write down everything you remember. All of it."
Don't need to tell me twice.
Even as you fill the pages of the book, you know you're losing details. You know there is no possible way you can commit the enormity of the experience to paper, and the longer you try the less you remember yourself.
But the signpost and the crossroads stay with you. You aren't about to forget them anytime soon.
[X] Stop play-acting. Shika-chan does just fine playing as himself; now that you know all the rules, you're sure you can do the same thing.
Your next game is... kinda weird.
At first you think you're going to lose; your natural instincts lead you into making moves out of sheer curiosity, and Shika's quick to jump on that.
But then something strange happens.
You make a plan.
You've made plans before, obviously, when you were trying to be Goemon, but this isn't like those. Those were about going where Shikamaru would go before he could, turning his own methods against him. They were about taking his tactics apart piece by piece to keep him from winning. Their objective was always the same: not losing.
The room is silent except for the click of moved game pieces, and the cries of cicadas in the garden. A breeze drifts in through a rip in the thin shoji, but not nearly enough to counter the sticky heat. A bamboo wind chime sounds without.
Shika sighs.
Click.
The plan is tricky, very tricky, and you don't know if you can quite manage to pull it off.
... click.
But right now, despite yourself, you can't stop smiling.
Click.
Click.
...
... click.
Because you know, somehow, that this plan is important. It deserves its chance to live.
"What are you doing?"
His question startles you out of your reverie. You look up at him, and your smile broadens.
"Is there a problem, Shika-chan?"
He stares for a moment, then shakes his head and goes back to studying the board, muttering, "Troublesome."
A tiny thrill passes through you. Even if you don't win today, you confused Shikamaru again. That's your favourite kind of victory.
Click.
Fun as shogi can be, it's a slow game where the fundamental elements never change.
... click.
One's skill in it is judged by how well one can navigate and plan within the set parameters, and hold all possibilities in mind at once.
Click.
Click.
With real people? There are no permanent parameters.
Click!
They're always changing, whether they know it or not. Every day, Shika gets harder to surprise, and every day, you think of new ways to manage to do it anyway.
... click.
It's one of your favourite things about your best friend.
Click.
Shikamaru stares at the board.
Your giggle bubbles up from the bottom of your lungs and overcomes your voice as you declare your win.
"Glad to see you make such an advance, " Shikaku says from the corner. Your laughter 'eep's to a halt. You thought he was asleep! You turn to look at him and stammer out a thank you for his compliment. How long has he been watching you play?
"Advance?" Shika asks, and an evil part of you hugs itself in glee to hear an ever-so-slight note of anger in his voice. "She just went back to what she was doing before."
His dad frowns at him. "And this time, it worked."
Shikamaru's eyes widen (that is to say, they open all the way for once), and he gives you a slightly more appraising look.
"I wasn't sure you'd approve, " you admit to Shikaku in embarrassment.
"Hm?" he says, a ghost of a smile tugging at one side of his face, wrinkling his scars ever-so-slightly. "I told you before. Shogi is a mirror." He motions for Shika to move, and takes his son's place across the board from you. "If you never acknowledge your reflection, you won't master this game in a thousand years.
"Now, " he says, looking you dead in the eye, "let me see the true Yamanaka Ino."
It takes him longer to defeat you than before. Not much longer, but longer.
You think you understand now why Dad and the Angel think Shikaku-san's so cool.
[X] Uh, you kinda suck at swords, remember? Let's ask dad if there's another way to build up your chakra reserves.
Dad says the best thing to do, at your age, is do exactly as you have been doing; run around getting lots of physical activity, and taking naps every now and then.
"I know it's hard to wait, Ino, but the Academy is only a couple of years away, and right now your body needs to use all the chakra you have on your growth. By trying to get more you'll just tire yourself out for little to no actual gain to your reserves. At best you'll be a few inches taller than you would have been otherwise."
Well that sucks. "Menka said I could get stronger by learning kenjutsu."
Dad snorts. "I'll bet he did. Human or cat, some boys just can't resist the allure of the sword." He ruffles your hair. "If it really means that much to you, you should start going for runs in the morning. It'll improve your stamina and lay the groundwork for better training results later in life."
You hadn't thought of that. It would give you something to do before mom wakes up; mostly you've just been using that time to read and stretch. "That sounds fun. I could do it along the wall -"
"NO!" O.O
You blink, jolted by the vehemence in your father's voice. Is it just you, or does he sound almost... panicky?
"... is there something wrong?" you ask hesitantly. "I thought following the wall would be a good way to make sure I can keep track of how far I've gone."
"Yes, good thinking, " Dad says quickly, clearly worried he's upset you. "It's just that... usually only active-duty ninja go for runs along the wall. I know how much you loathe the company of genin."
"... well, that's true, " you admit. Still, you get the impression that's only the reason he thinks will convince you. Dad's got his own reason for not wanting you near the wall, you can tell.
He pats your head again. "You can still go running through the village, just as long as you stop before everyone else is up. I'll let Mom know not to worry if she finds you out of bed when she calls you for breakfast."
[X] Start going for runs along the wall. You've got to find out what Dad's hiding.
[X] Start going for runs through the village. Dad wouldn't keep stuff from you if it weren't to keep you safe.
[X] Bring someone with you! Who?
-> [X] Menka. He clearly wants to spend more time with you.
-> [X] Shirotama. He's pleasant, quiet company.
-> [X] Shikamaru. Tell him it'll be easier to coast once you guys're in the Academy if he gets a head start now.
-> [X] Chouji. Wait til those jerks who called him fat come to school and find out he can outrun them!
[X] Why are we even talking about this? The Kenjutsu Train Has No Brakes!
[X] Let's not go running or sword-ing. Dad did say it's best to wait until we're older to start building our reserves, right?