Float Like a Tomo, Sting Like a Hinote [Tutoring Hinote]

[Tanuki Rinko]

Tomo looked out over the training ground, nostalgia welling up within him. The last time he'd been here was to train a student, just like today. He looked down at the note his eldest sister gave him.

Meet with Takayama Hinote in the Obstacle Course. He has some untapped potential, so I'd like you to use those odd absorbing powers to pull it out of him.

Tomo shook his head. "That's not how it works...I think..." The late twenties man looked out over the dirt battlegrounds as he began questioning his own abilities. He tried recalling the book he read long ago dealing with his assimilation powers. He knew he could take the talent of a person, a skill that is ingrained in a person's being. For some, that would be a bloodline ability. Others it might be a power they trained enough to be part of themselves. "Or...maybe I can?" He looked down to his lightly tanned hand and flexed it. "I guess if even Sonoko doesn't know the kid's expertise, this will be the best way to find and train it." The Mochizuki looked towards the entrance of the obstacle course in hopes that his latest student would arrive.

 

[Ginyama Senshiro]

Hinote walked through the village, the all too familiar rhythm of his wooden appendages hitting the stone beneath them haunting him with each step. Although he had adjusted to life without his biological legs to the point where he was not bothered at all when the civilians and shinobi of Kumogakure-no-Sato looked at him with needless pity and unwanted curiosity, the ten year-old boy was still enraged by the events that led up to his current condition.

"I lost so much that day: my father's watch . . . my own legs . . . my pride . . . "

As he approached the entrance to the obstacle courses, he sighed in a vain attempt to regain his composure before reaching into the right pocket of his shorts and unfurling a note left for him at the Takayama Estate.

"This must be it then," he mused as he crammed the note back down into the depths before looking up, nearly falling on his posterior in shock as he recognized his teacher from before.

"Oh shit! It's the guy with the toads!" he thought as he regained his balance and dusted himself off. "Okay . . . just play it cool. Maybe he won't remember you taking all those smoke bombs and tripping in the middle of the street."

"Takayama Hinote," the student succinctly introduced himself as he bowed towards his master. "It is a honor to be under your tutelage, sensei."

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

Tomo's sharp eyes caught sight of the boy long before he made his entrance. Lucky for Tomo, because they instantly fell to the wooden legs. The man's brows furrowed as he noticed the general ease of Hinote's movements. He must have had those appendages for a while to be so accustomed to them. It wasn't uncommon for a shinobi to lose a limb, and in some cases grow some. But to see a student with an already debilitating condition turned Tomo's stomach. He closed his eyes so he could refocus them upon the child's upper body. As an abomination with hand mouths, Tomo could understand the frustration that came with uncomfortable looks.

A small smile crept to his lips at the boy's introduction, and he gave a small nod of his head. Good. The respectful ones are always easier to train. Keeping his eyes up, Tomo initiated the lesson. "Mochizuki Tomo, let us do our best." Lucky for Hinote, Tomo's memory was fuzzy on that faithful toady day, so there were no expectations, or lack thereof. The man placed his left hand on the side of Hinote's neck. "Please excuse the intrusion." The mouth bit down on the boy's neck and began to suck on it. Five seconds later the hand was removed, and a small hickey was left in its place. Tomo closed his eyes to analyze the DNA he had absorbed using his Mystical Replication. My hands feel...stiff? No, that's not quite the word... At the same time my mind is more clear, calm even. Tomo nodded to himself and opened his eyes to Hinote once more. "I think I have an understanding of your potential. Would you like to train your mind, or your body? Though I can see your latent capabilities, only you can decide what you want to do with it."

[WC: 306]
[MFT]

 

[Ginyama Senshiro]

"What the hell!?" the boy thought as his mentor for the moment bit into his neck with his . . . hand? His eyes widened, his muscles tensed, and his mind was screaming at his body to get away.

Before he could muster the courage to cure his paralysis, however, Tomo released his grasp. Hinote's own hand went instinctively to his neck to make sure he wasn't bleeding from the bite. As he did so, the man asked him whether he would like to train his mind or his body.

"I . . . don't know . . . " he answered honestly, both because of the shock he was still experiencing and because of other factors, the most important one being the Sentama clan's Outrage that he inherited. On one hand, being physically better while suffering from his clan's curse would, in fact, be quite potent with just enough control: on the other, though, how would he ever manage to maintain that perfect amount of control without being mentally better?

He closed his eyes and sighed, recalling the incident with the Yakuza grunt: how the fool had shot him in both kneecaps before being sliced in half by his own boss.

"If I had just stayed out of the way . . . would I still have kept my legs?"

With a nod, he opened his eyes and stared into Tomo's with determination.

"I choose to train my mind, sensei."

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

Tomo gave a sharp nod. "You're going to need that determination later. But for now..." He put a finger to his chin to ponder on how to proceed. "We could try some meditative exercises, but that's something you could do on your own time." Not to mention that would be boooooooring! Tomo's eye twitched slightly as the Toujigikou woman spoke in his mind. But she did have a point. His other mind mate joined the conversation. Perhaps some Genjutsu training? I recall that going quite smoothly when I took over. Come on Tomo-boy, what do you say? Tomo frowned. "No." Realizing he responded aloud, he cleared his throat quickly. "Genjutsu training seems like a good option. Normally my sister Kimiki would handle such lessons, but frankly her mastery over the jutsu matches her brutality with it."

Tomo took a seat on a nearby bench so he could meet Hinote's gaze with more comfort. He rolled his neck to try and relax. "First let's gauge your current abilities. Put me under your strongest Genjutsu. Believe me, you'll need your best. I don't go under easily." He released a breath so his shoulders would drop and unfocused his eyes. "Alright, I should be a bit more susceptible now. If I may give some advice before hand. When choosing a Genjutsu to afflict your target with, take their personality and life into consideration. Find their weakness and exploit it. Contemplate how their mind functions and work around it. Do not forget their surroundings either. If you wish to distract a logical person like myself with a sound, choose one that would draw my attention, while being plausible in this environment. If you wish to intimidate me, get into my head and find what would cause me a feeling a dread." Tomo have a final nod to show he was ready.