Ayaki Meets A Strange Monk

## Participants:

Inochiryoku

Guest\_Deathpunk187

Inochiryoku: - From a distance anyone could see such a fantastic feat. A man who danced upon the horizon of the water, seemingly floating upon air above the lake. Inochiryoku would wave his arms in a fluid motion, shifting his feet to alter his stances. His breathing was steady and in line as his arms quickly thrusted forward and returned slowly. Up close however, another feat would be seen. After a few moments of this graceful dance, he returned to a meditative stance, using one foot to remain on the staff while folding his other leg as if he was sitting. Placing his hands into a tiger seal once again, he began to mold chakra as he always did. As an unfortunate set of events, a flying dandelion flew upon him, landing under his nose. Feeling an itch, only one thought slipped through his mind. 'Oh no," he thought to himself. Holding back from sneezing as best as he could, he attempted to dismount from his staff before it happened. Unfortunately for him, the sneeze came too soon as he jumped, launching his foot off too strong. A loud splash could be heard from anyone near the water as the Monk landed in. The monk quickly rose to the top of the water, gasping for air. A few seconds after catching his breath, he suddenly begins laughing.  Grabbing his staff, which was floating on the surface of the water, he climbed on the small wooden buoy he had and began to paddle his way ever so poorly to the edge of the lake. - Inochi stepped off of the buoy and began to walk into the village. Luckily, what he wore wasn't heavily weighed down by water, seeing as what little he wore dried quickly. By the time he entered the village, the only thing wet was his staff and his hair. Fortunately, his hair was still braided making it easier for the wetness to stay out. Instead of holding his tiger seal, he instead walked around with his staff out, pretending it to be a walking stick.  As he walked down the road he traveled on, he noticed a small happening going on just in front of him. It seems an argument was going down before his eyes. -

Guest\_Deathpunk187: \*The young boy has three sets of clothing as he wears daily. His clothing consists of a white t-shirt. This shirt is comfortable but it can be a little exposing it were to have been soaked in the water and it allows air to flow through. His second t-shirt above that is a black t-shirt which is also comfortable being cotton. Black clothing tend to apply warmth unlike any other clothing but it also depends how thick it is. All his t-shirts are short sleeve, however, his outer hoodie is rough in tecture and black in color. This makes it that this pair of clothing keeps him warmer. His hoodie is also a turtle neck covering his lips but this one covers it completely. The look he has on his upper body is similar to the regular stereotypical shinobies kids see in the cartoons being all covered up. The pants are all black with bandings on the buttom piece of his legs. On his feet he does not wear a regular ninja tabi but dressing shoes which also can change ones performance. This causes him to have a bit of a pain since dressing shoes is mainly for weddings or funerals. The boy opened his arms and looks up towards the tree like a body giving his spirit away. The gentle wind stirring makes it that his body receives some air and then he stretches around as a sound comes out if his mouth. The boy felt like a new person being on the shades of the tree it increases the cool feeling since it shields of the sun. But then it all changed after he hears people arguing on the village he has this bored look on his face. His lips turned flat being all serious the boy thinks to himself "I think is best that I get moving." The boy walks towards the monk with no attention to the others he went by a pond of water. Slowly he unzipped the jacket and exposed his buttom half of the face. The boy places his hands in front of himself and fills it up with water. "Oh a little cold! But it feels sooo good" he chuckled and then moves his hands around. This makes the hands colder since is wet and applying movement mixes together. The boy thought it be better to just stare at the water and watch it move as the wind makes it all jiggle.\*

Inochiryoku: - Inochiryoku continues staring at the argument happening before him. Though he knows the child playing in the water near him, he prepares to deal with the two people fighting. He walks over to them, stick in hand, and begins talking. "Now, now what's all the fuss?" he says to them. Before allowing them to respond to the question, Inochi interrupts them. "Now, just because Mr. Fujiroku over here promised to do your chores, Mr. Bonisuka, he is simply too busy with the funeral he must attend," he says. As he speaks, one of them attempts to speak up. "But..." They began, but failed as Inochi interrupted and continued. "However, that doesn't mean they won't be able to ever." He looked over at one of the members of the argument. "Mr. Fujiroku, you'll come back tomorrow to complete the chores, right?" he asks, smiling.  Stunned by the interraction, the person who he was talking to remained silent. "Good to hear it. Aren't you glad to hear it as well, Mr. Bonisuka?" he asked to the other member. "But..." said the second member, only to be cut off all the same. "Great!" Inochi exclaims. "Everyone's happy!" Inochi immediately nods with a smile and turns around to walk back from where he came, glad he solved the argument. Though out of earshot from Inochi, 'Mr. Bonisuka' begins to mutter, still confused. "But... I'm a woman," she states. The two people who were arguing before simply left out of awkwardness and confusion. In a strange and odd way, Inochi prevented an escalating confrontation. 'Like planned,' he said to himself in his head. Really though, who knows? - As he walked back to where he walked before, he turned to his side to see a boy with a handful of water, just watching it. He put his staff onto his back and walked over to the boy quietly to stare at the water he held. 'Was this water special?' he asked himself. "Seriously, what're you doing?" he asked the boy almost immediately after thinking such. -

Guest\_Deathpunk187: \*He turns around and saw it was the man from earlier. Then he looked towards where the argument had occur seeing it was done. Then he says "well as you can see my face usually covered up and water cools you off. The argument from early which now has stopped made me a bit bothered, I just wanted silence am not used to noises but then again I chosed to be in a village. It feels nice to hear people but when people argue fights can start and can be physical I thought of being away from them. But it seems to have stopped. Also it looks nice looking at the small waves forming when you touch it. Finally, the last reason is if you look at how I put on my clothing I have it covering my face this jacket makes me so warm is like a heat wave here." He places his hands in front of himself a smile on his face as he moves his hands in a counter clockwise motion he watches the waves move. He continues doing this as the man thinks of what to talk about.\*

Inochiryoku: - Inochiryoku contemplates the words of the boy. The boy talked really strange and confusing, though he was pretty sure he got the just of it. Looking at the boy, he noticed how he was wearing odd clothing as well, including a hoodie that didn't quite fit the season as well as shoes that didn't seem natural to wear while sifting water. 'Maybe he is a business man's son, or something,' Inochi thought to himself. After carefully watching the kid play with the water some more he began to speak. "If it is so hot, why'd you choose to wear the hoodie?" he asked. "Not a smart choice, I'd say." Inochi nodded and turned around beginning to walk away from the boy. - He continued forward until the road led to a small cluster of trees. Finding a tree to his liking, he drew his staff and leaned up against one of the trees behind him. Inochi sat down and placed the staff in his lap horizontally. Closing his eyes now, he forms the Tiger Seal once more and begins to enter into a meditative state. -

Guest\_Deathpunk187: \*Ayaki says "I have no clue where am from was really cold." Ayaki thought then said "I cannot even remember...Nevermind I confused myself." Ayaki was lost in thought as he thinks to himself why he wears this kind of clothing. Ayaki then washed his face once more and while he was talking the man kept walking away. Ayaki followed him as he talked and when the man sat and leaned Ayaki looked at him seriously and after staring at him forming a Tiger seal Ayaki saw how he formed his hands. Slowly he tried to perform it and after his fifth attempt while the man was meditating Ayaki saw another tree near him and sat down. While Ayaki sat down he formed the Tiger Seal again and closed his eye. Ayaki took a few attempts like kids tend to copy he opened his eyes every five minutes to double check. The boy broke his focus multiple times as everytime he felt bothered by how he sat back. Then he took a deep breath and finally forming the Tiger Seal he closed his eye and listening to the man breathing. Inhaling from his nose was a bit difficult so he was breathing from his mouth slowly was hyperventilating then he unzipped his black hoodie turtlenecked jacket amd took of his black shirt underneath. He leaned forward as he broke the Tiger Seal and stretching his arm dropping it he began to take a deep breath. His face was sweating as he was coughing. The boy hoped the man did not hear him then he went back to meditating. Closing his eyes letting the air stir at him he smiled thinking to himself "ahh much better" he smiled listening to the wilderness as the birds where chipping and trees shaking. "Other than listening to anything normal I do not feel anything" the boy thought to himself.\*

Inochiryoku: -Inochiryoku could hear the boy clear as day, even before arriving at the tree. With a bit of sensing on Inochi's part, he could see the boy's general location as he bounced and wiggled everywhere around him. Though Inochi looked as if he was meditating, and in a way he was, he was merely just molding chakra. Any amount of noise wouldn't disrupt his form. As a set example, the boy was not very stealthy in the lines of 'staying quiet' yet he still molded the chakra as if nothing was happening. Without opening his eyes, Inochi began to talk to the boy. "Is there any reason you've been following me?" he asked him. Inochi had a clean idea as what the boy wanted, but assuming was not Inochi's strong suit. He took a large breath of air as he continued to hold his sitting position, almost unmoving. Opening his right eye to look at the boy imitating him, he notes that the child had removed the heated clothing he had worn previously. "I see you've taken my advice," he says outloud, hoping the boy to hear. "It's always best to take weather into account before leaving." Of course, who was Inochi to disipline? He preferred to wear nothing upon his chest or head, with only his large prayer beads around his neck as an exception. 'A heart and mind connected as one,' he would think to himself. 'They shall never be hidden from anyone.' Eventually, the monk sighed and continued meditating, closing his eye once more and allowing the boy to state his business. -

Guest\_Deathpunk187: \*The young boy places his right hand on his head as he rubs it and then says "well when we were at the pond you have asked me a couple of questions such as why I wear such clothing and why am I am on the pond. Well I gave my answer as we walked because I was thinking...Can he hear me as I walk? Do I have to repeat myself? Also to know who I am talking to and feel that they listen to me best to have him around." Ayaki showed signs of boredom as he stand up and his legs looked weak. This does not mean that he was tired but he constantly kept walking back amd forward. The dressing shoes he wore bothered him as he thought for a second. He removed the shoes as he sat down and untied it removed his socks. He was in shocked but it was to be expected wearing dressing shoes he had red marks all over his feet. The boy was sad thinking he hurted himself then he traced the red markings with his finger. For a while this served to distract him of boredom and then he got over it. The boy walked being lucky since walking with the wrong footwear anyone will slip since grass can be slippery. Ayaki felt as a new person he walks as if he never walked before he felt tickled by the short grass. Ayaki said "wow is this how it feels like? I feel like a new person!" He ran around the grass laughing as he was getting used to the grass. But once he stepped on the sandy floor he jumped "ouch hot hot..." Then it was feeling rough. The boy walked between the two and he stood by the grass. Then he had his eyes wide opened and sat by the monk. His eyes was wide opened like he saw a ghost and his feet looked sand colored. He smiled and thought to himself "now now that was fun...wonder if I get used to barefoot? So far I an having a blast and all I did was mess around in different terrains." Ayaki's foot was shaking because he moved around a lot.\*

Inochiryoku: -Inochi sat there, pondering the child's words. 'What do they mean?' he asks himself in thought. It was as if the boy was saying something, but ended up making no sense at all. After the child spoke his words, he then began to run around barefoot, talking about how he felt great after doing so. Inochi sighed once again, listening to the child enjoy his time. Eventually the boy calmed down and sat next to Inochi again, explaining the amount of fun he was having. Knowing that the child spoke strangely, he proceeded cautiously with his words. "But why follow me?" He asks. "There are plenty of other children to play with I'd think. I'm just a monk is all." He says all of this with his eyes still remaining closed and his hands continuing with the tiger seal. His arms, which were covered in tattoos, remained stationary. Very slightly, he wiggled his forearm a bit to adjust his gauntlets that he wore. They weren't completely made out of metal. In fact, most of it was just fancy leather and fabric, only holding metal to the sides. -

Guest\_Deathpunk187: \*Ayaki thought he was being ignored as he already had explained why he followed him. The boy walks away from the monk speechless as he took his jacket and black shirt. The boy had it folded on his right arm and with his left he had a pair of shoes. Then he walks out on the monk looking around the big village. He paused and thought to himself "where do I live now exactly? I want to take my clothes back. Ayaki stopped by the villagers with a pause he flips back and walks towards the monk. He then arrives were the man was sitting and says "your the first adult I have met since I came to this village so I see you as a father because I do not see anyone else talking to me. I have no friends or family and I came back to ask you...Where is my home at? Where do I sleep on this huge village, on the pond?" Ayaki looked impatient as he walked back and forward he wanted to pull the man from his meditation. Then he interrupted and said "why do you put your hands like that? Is that some sort of symbol that only you do?" Ayaki then said "do I get to make my own home?" He said happily. "What makes you different than the others? As a monk are you a shinobi? Is there a school here? How do we learn?" The boy burst into questions then was about to walk from him again and wonder around. But his curiousity lead him back towards the monk.\*

Inochiryoku: -Inochiryoku was taken aback slightly when he heard the boy speak at first. "A father figure?" he said, confused at the statement. He then began to laugh a bit before finally regaining composure. "Strange to have someone consider me like a father. I'm nothing like the sort." At this point, he had opened his eyes but still maintained his seal. "I am amused that you think that. Not every day that a strange child tells me that." The monk rests his back against the tree he sat next to. "Home is where you want to be," he says outloud, though to himself. It has been quite awhile since he had heard those words and still isn't sure who said them to him. Must have been a traveler like himself from long ago. He hears the boy talk about his hands. He simply nods at the boys question. "In a way, yes. I am the only one who meditates in this way." He looks down at his hands before continuing. "Just a small habit I suppose." There was no reason to go into details about it. Even if he was just a boy, he was still unknown to the monk. The boy asked many questions after that, an obviously curious mind. "I'm a traveling monk who currently lives in this village," he says with a smile. "Helping people is what I do and Hoshigakure is a place that needs help for now." He then stopped and looked at the boy again. "What is it you want to learn?" -

Guest\_Deathpunk187: \*Ayaki did not heard when the monk said that is home what the boy needed. But when he came back and heard somewhat the monk has said he said at first "what do you mean by 'I'm a traveling monk...Hoshigakure is a place that needs help for now' the 'help for now.' Part Ayaki kept repeating since he already feels the monk is leaving the village. "Are you leaving soon? Are you a nomad? Why are you going to leave? Don't you like it here? Will I always see you for my whole life?..." The boy stopped before he gives a paragraph of questions. Then he said "I don't know learn about..." The boy moves his finger and hands around forming a Tiger Seal. "This? What is this? Is this a symbol of peace?" What kind of ninjas are their? Is it like a video game where you perform magic and stuff? How do people even do this magic performance without learning them? There has to be a way in how you learn magic. I want to learn something...I want to be away from battle or something I hope there arent so much meanies. Also I do not know where is this 'home' that you speak off." Ayaki was getting the curious feeling again as he trembled because he wanted to hold and touch the beads on his necklace. His eyes stared at it rarely blinking when he did his eyes became watery. He rubbed it and then snapped out of it. He was listening somewhat when he stared at it.\*

Inochiryoku: -Inochiryoku shook his head but lightly. "Well, eventually I'll have to leave. It's my duty to spread the word of Ninshu." Inochi continued leaning back against the tree, his bare back against the bark. He then looks at the boy who had just made the Tiger Seal, albiet poorly, and proceeded to ask what it was. "Nothing much. Just helps me meditate is all," Inochi explained to the boy. Without speaking, he showed the child what he was doing incorrectly to the seal so that the boy could adjust it to fix it. "You want to be a shinobi, eh?" he says. "Not much I can help you with that. Well, the shinobi part." He pauses a moment. Standing up now, he breaks his seal and returns his staff to his back. "However, if you want to learn the way of Ninshu, I don't mind instructing you." Reforming the Tiger Seal, he stops for a moment, seemingly surprised by something. Though it could be easily his imagination, something was wrong. "If you want to learn, I'll have to teach you some other time though. I have an appointment for Acupuncture that I mustn't be late for." Inochi would stay and listen to the boy if he had any comments to say, but then would bind his chakra into his palms and use his Tiger Seal to use Body Flicker. He would disappear away from the boy and reappear near the pond they just met, though the boy wouldn't see him appear there. He then began to run quickly towards the problem.-

Guest\_Deathpunk187: \*Ayaki says "what? I what?" As the monk left him his eyes had a liquid dripping out of it salty tasting and his eyes began to redden. He was crying as sounds were coming out of his mouth tears reproducing one after the other. His tears made his face become all sticky. The boy had his clothes slide of his hand as it fell on the floor getting covered in grass. The pigments of the grass made it all green in a part and so did his black t-shirt. He was blurred in sight by crying and wiped it off with his white t-shirt. He bringed his head down in depression looking at his black shoes. He crouches down and feels the too of his shoes. Ayaki was not told where he lived at. He thought he lives either on the pond or the forest. Ayaki lifted his jacket and carried it like a man in a suit. He had it lay on his arm and walked with his arm slightly bent in front of himself. He carried his shoe on his left finger the inner part behind his shoes. He had it on his middle finger and index finger. Then it slipped he grabbed it having one on his hand and the other faced towards the side on the other hand facing away from his hands. He used all five fingers to get grip on them. Ayaki walks the forest alone as his tears were drying up. He closed them for a while and reopened them. The boy then later on dried his face as he lifted his thumb. He was feeling alone with no friends walking over pebbles and in a few minutes he arrived towards the pond. The boy was far from the monk as the monk had left the pond when he arrived on it he placed down his shoe. He kept it away from the pond and leaving one last thing which was his sweater and side pouches. The boy walked over the water as it was a bit warm but not for long. The sun was going down the sky turned orange pinkish. He felt weird walking on the pond as there were leaves above it. He sets on the center of it and took a deep breath. The boy felt weird but he thought of clearing his eyes for a bit. Then he was going to sit by folding his legs and was going to meditate. However, the boy thought to himself "he appeared to be in a hurry." The boy grabbed his jacket and put it on also being cold by the wetness of his clothes. His pants were dripping water and felt soaked his legs becoming shiny. He picked up his two pouches placing them on the sides. The boy then ran with his shoes on his hands and as he stepped with his right foot on the ground he lifted his left. Continuing towards the village thought he can learn some medical techniques. He took slight small breaths having a pain on the side part of his torso bottom area. He was slowed and began to control his breathing also swallowing and then continued. Slowly he began to feel close so he ran faster and looking around the stores he ran. Then he tried to maneuver around people. Others looked at him akwardly as he ran talking out loud "what is wrong with this kid? Who is this kid? Why is he so weird?" Ayaki then saw the hospital pushed open the door. He arrived as he was coughing and slowly his breath was dropping. He forced his caugh out turning ref on his face. Then after about few minutes as others tried to question him saying "do you know a monk who meditates? He said he was going for an "acute punch her...acue puncher...acupuncture appointment." I must see him. The boy was impatient if he was not told he was going to run around the hospital until he finds him.\*