Midnight Rain (P, NK, IO)

Haru grinned.
”Only if you ask nicely.” He responded to the boy’s request, glancing over at the pond he had drawn his water from to create the water dragon and the shark bullet. ”Follow me.” He instructed, placing his hands in his pockets and walking over to the pond. As he walked, he decided to give a short explanation on how to control suiton.
 
”Now, lightning is volatile and powerful by nature. This gives it the capability for incredible power, but makes it difficult to mold into forms or use for much of anything besides smashing it into someone. Water is more adaptable. It can change form, and state, and is easily manipulated. The hardest part about using suiton is finding a readily available source of water to use with your jutsu. Sometimes, you have to create water.” He explained to the boy as they arrived at the pond.
 

”Now you already know how to mold chakra into elements, but water has a very different feel to it then lightning. You have to move… fluidly. Lightning techniques tend to be very stiff and rigid. Put your hand in the water, try to control it. Send your chakra through it.” He explained, sitting down cross-legged at the edge of the pool.

(WC: 4475)

(40 AP)
(25/30 posts recovered)

Altar followed after Haru, enjoying that they could take a break from fighting and actually talk for once. He noted that this was the first time they had done anything friendly that wasn't formal. He listened to Haru's explanation on the water element, paying close attention to how he said that water was more loose and fluid, as opposed to lightning being rigid and stiff. Altar already knew that lightning was normally used for power and raw force, and he expected water to be the opposite.

Altar would kneel by the pool Haru had lead them to, putting his hand in the water, as instructed. He began to tighten his body, stiffening his muscles. He found himself a bit shocked when he, out of instinct, almost started up another chidori. Letting go of the chakra concentration, Altar would pull his hand out, close his eyes, and breath deeply. He needed to relax, and there was always one place to go when he needed to relax.

Altar felt himself falling. Sooner rather than later, he found himself standing on the familiar platform, the familiar girl across from him again. He smirked when she ran to him, grabbing him into a hug. After a short while, she let go of him. After a small talk, explanations and catching up, Altar felt more relaxed than ever. Nekoda had always had that effect on him, but he never knew why. He'd have to ask that next time. After a mall goodbye, Altar felt, as well as saw, everything go black.

Altar would awake, not having been out long, in the same position. He would look around him, noting that he couldn't have been out for more than a few minutes, if that. Sighing, he would put his hand in the water, relaxing his entire body. He would push his chakra through his hand, keeping himself in a very fluid and loose position and state of mind. He would then smile as he saw the water ripple around his hand, forming small waves. Concentrating more, he would find that he could make various designs and patterns using his chakra to manipulate the water, It wasn't much, but it was a start.

"Well? Long way from weaponizing it, but it sure is fun to draw shapes in the water." Altar would say, pulling his hand from the pool and awaiting Haru's next instructions.

Haru watched Altar tense up as he tried to control the water.
”No, no, no, you aren’t trying to strangle the water in a vice grip. You’re directing the flow of it. If you get rigid like that, it won’t obey you.” He explained, shaking his head. ”Let your body relax, almost go limp.” He instructed, before becoming silent again. He watched the boy relax finally, before, oddly, dozing off. He had relaxed a little too much. Haru would not disturb him, hoping that would help him stay calm once he awoke.
 
When he did wake up, he was finally relaxed, and he was actually controlling the water at a basic level.
   
”Good. Don’t worry about using it as a weapon, that will come later. Suiton is not aggressive by nature, it’s far more passive. For every technique that is used for attacking with Suiton, there’s two that are used for defense. “ He told him. ”Try to mold larger shapes, pull it out of the pool and keep it suspended. That’s one of the hardest parts of learning the element, after that, you’re golden. It only gets easier.” He explained, waiting to see how he handled the next task. 


(WC: 4675)

(50 AP)
(27/30 posts recovered)

Altar listened intently to Haru's instructions and guidance, wondering idly what all he'd be able to learn using water. So, it was defensive rather than offensive, but could be used for offense and attack. Either way, it seemed useful, so long as a readily available source of water existed. Plus, lightning and water seemed to be a good combination. Water for defense, lightning for offense. And water was conductive, so it could be used as a base for more long range attacks, both alone and combined.

Haru instructed him to try and pick the water from it's source. Thinking on it, Altar decided that it couldn't hurt to try. So, Altar would stick his hand back into the water, gently and fluidly moving it around, before slowly pulling his hand out, trying to pull water with it. Like expected, he failed. After a few more attempts, Altar finally got it, and had managed to pull out a decent amount of water, forming it into an orb and keeping it suspended in the air.

Using his will, Altar tried forming the orb into various shapes. The shapes came out slightly distorted and rough, but visible and distinguishable nonetheless. Keeping the orb in the air, Altar would look to Haru.

"Hey, sorry about...dozing off earlier. I have a place I always go when I need to be relaxed. It's kind of a long story." Altar would say

~28/30 Posts for Recovery~

Haru watched the boy lift the water from the pool, forming an orb of water and manipulating it into various shapes.
”Good, just like that. It’s incredibly difficult to get water to form a perfect shape like an orb or a square, because, by its own nature, it wants to be sloppy, it wants to be imperfect. It’s hard to explain. It… rebels, almost. It’s kind of weird personifying suiton like that, but it fits, I suppose.” He said, lying back in the grass. ”Keep trying to control it, get the hang of multitasking with it.” He told him.
 
The “Happy place” or whatever that Altar mentioned interested him. Was it a mental barrier, or more just a state of mind? He vaguely remembered Yozora doing something similar while he was under her command as an ANBU trainee. ”Well, we have time. Would you mind explaining this to me? Your clan is a bit of an oddity, I’ve seen another Shinkou doing this same kind of meditating that you were doing. What does it do? What’s the point of it?” He asked Altar. Something he had noticed while the boy was unconscious earlier was that the eye he had extracted, the Meigan, had lost the special chakra inside of it, and now was just an ordinary eye.

(WC: 4892)

(60 AP)
(29/30 posts recovered)

Altar grinned, glad that Haru was showing interest in the Shinkou, and at least a small bit, in him. Of course, this was also the man that was teaching him to use water as an element and fighting style, and helping him activate the byakugan eye that he had given to him earlier. Well, if they had time, then he'd gladly explain. But, for the mean time, he still wanted to practice keeping the water he had suspended in mid-air in shape, seeing as Haru said that would be the difficult part.

"I understand what you mean, water by it's nature wants to be fluid and flowing, it doesn't want to be shaped and forced, let alone molded int something. I can see where it's gonna take a lot of practice, trying to perfect this. It's taking quite a bit of focus just to keep this bit of water in the air and molded into an orb shape." Altar would say, slowly lowering the orb back into the water, letting it back to it's normal pool and natural shape.

"Now, if you wanna know about the Shinkou," Altar would say, turning to Haru. "We have a special element, bound to our chakra systems. It's like the purity and essence of darkness. It's called Yuumei. It lives in us, sort of like it uses us as a host. It's different from our natural chakra, and can deplete by different measures, but since it's bound, that means it gets stronger as our chakra does. Yuumei, by itself, is a very... Altar would trail off here, trying to find the right words to help him explain this final part. "Yuumei is special in the fact that it's sentient, and can talk to it's host. By concentrating hard enough, we can enter our minds and talk directly to our Yuumei, and it can take a physical form. That's what you saw me do earlier. Also, everyone's Yuumei is different, and manifests in varying physical forms for each person, and gathers seperate personalities. For example, my Yuumei manifested as as a girl named Nekoda. She's very shy, but caring. Altar would say, taking a small breath now that his long winded explanation was over.

~TWC - 4487~
~30/30 Posts for Recovery. Hoorah~

Haru nodded, satisfied that Altar understood his explanation of suiton’s characteristics. It would be easier to understand the element if you could envision it’s
 
”Wait… so you have a girl made of chakra living inside of you? That’s kind of odd when you think about it, don’t you think?” He asked, scratching his chin. ”Can she always see you? Like when you’re on the toilet or something?” He would ask teasingly. ”So your byakugan should be recovered now, but you’ll need to put some time into it to be able to activate it. I can teach you that another time, but for now, I think you should focus on the task at hand. Keep trying to move the water like you’ve been doing. I think I have an idea.” He said, making a set of two hand signs, first the tiger seal, then the snake seal.
 
From the ground erupted large roots, which formed into circular shapes, making ten loops out of the wood at varying heights.

”What I want you to do is to navigate the water through the loops. You’re going to have to throw it into the air and catch it to get it through the higher ones. Just try to keep the blob of water together without it spilling out.” He explained, releasing the hand sign. He was really tired after that, he probably shouldn’t have used such a high level jutsu without resting more, but he needed a way to test him, and this was the only way to do it.

(WC: 5148)

Altar's face would shade slightly red at Haru's comment, his eyes widening a bit as well. He wondered why Haru would jump to a conclusion like that as fast as he had. Well, at least he knew that Nekoda couldn't do as he had suggested...THAT would be awkward. However, he jumped from the topic almost as soon as he had gotten onto it, and soon was back to thoughts of training. Altar's face returned to normal, as Haru made ten rings of formed earth jump from the ground. He then asked Altar to try to navigate the water through the rings. He also informed him that his newly acquired Byakugan would be healed by now, but that time would be needed, along with training, to activate it properly. Well, that was somewhat a downer, but at least he would be able to see out of his left eye now. Knowing that, Altar would slowly remove the bandage that had been wrapped on his eye, and relished having normal vision again.

Altar would bring water from the pool again, forming it slowly into an orb, before idly trying to navigate the orb through the rings. While he attempted this, Altar would turn to speak to Haru.

"Well, Nekoda isn't made of chakra, per say, as she is more the concentration and personification of my Yuumei. She can't see me at all times, as she is trapped within my own mind, as that's where she can manifest. She can, however, tap into and see my memories, and she can see through my eyes when she wishes too. It can be annoying at some times, but I've grown used to it. As for my Byakugan, that's good. Glad I can see out of both eyes now."

Altar would then turn his full attention towards the small maze set before him. He had failed a few times while talking, the ball of water narrowly missing the ring, not going through correctly, and sometimes he had not been able to catch the water off it's descent. Now that he had his full attention turned towards the maze, he was able to control the ball of water a small bit more fluidly. Not that it was easy, because it wasn't. Trying to control the small ball, as well as keep it in it's shape and try to run it through the small hoops, was hell on earth. The orb had a tendency to want to mis-shape, and would often flow back into a loose strand of water. Or, it would keep together too well, and either bounce off the hoops, not wanting to go through, or it would cut corners and go around the rings. Altar failed, multiple and numerous times, as he tried to control the ball and guide it through the makeshift maze. each time, he got further than the last, until he hit a wall. Once he had reached the high hoops, he couldn't find the concentration to throw the water up, and catch it again. It seemed that once it was released, it was too difficult to stop it's movement and reform it before it hit the ground. Needless to say, the grass around the high rings would end up very damp before Altar finally got it right. He managed to navigate the first few rings with minor difficulty, and reformed the ball, compressing it further, making it into a smaller ball, in order to go through the smaller hoops and rings. Then came the true test. The first few high rings were easy. However, they ascended further, making it more difficult to throw the water as high as they were, and harder still to catch it as it fell. Through many close calls, and one miraculous catch, as the ball was about to touch the ground, Altar managed to get through the high rings and had a semi-easy time with the rest of the course. However, he was not satiated. Rather, he was the opposite, and was angry that he could not control the ball as best as possible. However, he reminded himself that he needed to remain calm, and the water would be easier to control. And so it seemed, at least.

As he calmed and steadied himself, the ball of water became more fluid and easy to control and move about. When he was tense and angered, the ball had responded in kind and moved more rigidly, becoming harder to control. Once done with the course, Altar brought the water back to the beginning and ran through a few more times, until he had it perfected and felt completely in control of the small ball of water.

~TWC - 5266~

Haru gave a sly grin.
”Well, if she an access your memories, she’ll know what we’re saying right now. Think about that next time you think you have privacy.” He teased. It would be obvious he didn’t mean that, and his Yuumei probably wouldn’t do the kind of thing he joked about, but it was a funny thought, all the same. He watched the boy navigate the loops, noting that his control over the water had improved dramatically.
 
”Good job, kid. I think you’ve got the hang of it.” He said, nodding in approval. He gave a heavy sigh. That previous fight had taken a lot out of him, and he couldn’t teach that effectively when he could hardly stand like this. He decided to postpone any further lessons for now.

”Alright, I think that’s enough for tonight. I need some rest. We’ll call it a night, and I’ll get in touch with you tomorrow to continue your training. I’ll teach you how to use the byakugan tomorrow, and maybe teach you some water jutsu, now that you’ve learned the element.” He told the boy, standing up and putting his hands in his pockets. ”See ya. He said as a final fairwell, walking back towards the city. Normally, he would body flicker, but he was much too tired to use any jutsu.

(Exit, TWC: 5370)
2000- Chidori learned at half wc (Copied from Altar)
2000- Chidori mastered for no hand signs (Learned at half wc, mastery cost is the same as the cost to learn)

+26 stats=2600 Ryo

Altar's eyes once again widened at Haru's comment. Well, while that was true, he didn't think that Nekoda would ever truly do anything like that. She wasn't a pryer. It honestly worried him sometimes, how she never seemed to care about what he was doing or how he was, until he came to see and talk to her. Why was it then that she decided to care about him, that she wanted to know how he had been, and if he was okay. She never checked up on him on her own. Maybe after Haru left, he'd return to his mindscape and ask her about that...

When Altar was done with the course, he returned to his thoughts, and was about to go confront Nekoda when Haru's voice brought him back to reality, and out of his thoughts. He had told him that he thought Altar had the hang of controlling water. Well, that was good news. It was seemingly easy to pick up, and it occupied his mind. He was easily distracted by things like that, and knew that now he could spend hours on end toying with water, making various shapes out of it and guiding it through makeshift obstacle courses, as he had just done, which he found much more fun now that he had mastered controlling the water.

Then, Haru gave a sigh, once more snapping his mind from it's thoughts and dragging him back to reality. He was getting lost in his thoughts more often now that normal. Perhaps it was because of the time of night it was. Haru now told him that the lessons were over, as he needed sleep. That was understandable, it was pretty late. He said that they would continue training tomorrow, as  he would help him activate his Byakugan, and perhaps teach him some water jutsu, now that he had the hang of the element, and had adapted to the way it worked. It was then that Haru took his leave, standing and putting his hands into his pockets, and strolling off back towards the city. Altar found it strange that Haru didn't run, or find another, faster way back. He chocked it up to the exhaustion, and need for thorough rest.

As Altar watched Haru leave, he found himself laying back on the grass, damp with dew and the remains of his failed attempts at the maze. As he laid back, Altar found himself lost in his thoughts again, and started absentmindedly playing with the water. He brought out an orb and started making numerous shapes and figures with it again. He continued this for a while, before actually realizing that he had been doing it sub-consciously. As he sat up, Altar took notice of the form the water had taken, and stayed in. A dragon, the same one that was etched into his skin. Altar's body tensed, looking at the complex design. He wondered how he had been able to do that, as he wasn't even paying attention to the water he had been molding and shaping. As he saw his reflection in the water, his face grew to one of disdain. He heard echoes of voices from his past. His sister, calling him a monster. Casting his eyes to the side, Altar threw the water back into the pool, only looking back when he heard the splash and the steady lapping of water at the edges of the pool. His body shaking, he slowly calmed himself and decided that now would be as good a time as any to go see Nekoda. He wanted the conversation they were due to have out of the way anyways.

Altar closed his eyes, opening them again to find himself in his small mindscape, Nekoda sitting close by. When he looked to her, he noticed her eyes pinned on him. When their eyes met, she leapt at him, enveloping him in a close hug. Altar felt uncomfortable, as his face grew a grimace. He wasn't use to affection. He wasn't use to people caring. Besides, what had happened that would cause this big of a reaction. As he looked down at her, she looked back up at him, not letting go and keeping a surprisingly strong hold on him.

"Altar, you know that I can hear you talk. I hear your thoughts. You can't hide things from me. But you also know i'm locked here. I can't contact you outside of here. So there's your answer." Nekoda said to him. He was stunned. He never expected this from Nekoda, and he had never thought of it that way. Looking back to her, he apologized. "I'm...sorry, Nekoda. I'm really, really sorry."

After hearing that, Nekoda let him go, allowing him to breath. WIth that out of the way, the two talked for a short while, and Altar left her, happy that they had gotten that out of the way, and happy that there was finally someone who understood exactly how he felt.

After leaving his mindscape and snapping back to reality, Altar got up to his feet, and started on the walk home, idly noticing that the rain had now stopped falling.

~Exit, TWC - 6132~
~Learned Lightning Beast Running~
~Learned Water Element~
~Obtained Byakugan~
~Obtained 30 SP~