Blood Tells [Private]

Midori listened carefully and watched as he explained things, thinking about her own visualization, trying to think what she thought of as power, not exactly sure at first what he meant until he started to describe his own as a form of a lake that he had turned into a giant well. It was a simple enough visualization, but for Satori, it definitely suited him, but for her, she had no idea where to begin at first... until she felt the power she held within begin to stir.

A very eerie smile crossed her features for a moment, and she locked eyes with the man for a moment as the realization hit her like a punch to the jaw. She allowed her eyes to close for a moment, going within her mind and thinking about what power meant to her, the smile fading as she focused inward, hands gently moving to the knees as she shifted a bit sitting indian style, now in a meditative pose she had been in before.

Midori had imagined this exact thing many times, but never really made the connection to be the representation of her power... it was interesting to think about. And then she was there, in her own mind and soul, connecting with what she knew was always there, lurking within her, and suddenly she was standing on the other side of a large set of bars. The bars that made up the cage were rusted, weak and hastily constructed, but they were holding for now; this was her control over this power... and it was not exactly great... she knew that. Perhaps this training would help.

Lurking on the other side was a massive dragon... all fire and rage, armored scales and growling at her presence, as though she was offending it with her presence. The dragon was jet black in color, but most interesting were it's glowing eyes; one was a powerful green, shining with a brilliance that was very representative of the power of her cursed form. The other, however, was much dimmer shade of yellow... that had to be her own Chakra's power, something that she had neglected to train.

Opening her eyes, she nodded to Satori, her visualization complete. "It is a Dragon, untamed and poorly caged with two color eyes. The green is bright; the Curse. The Yellow is dim... my Chakra." It was about as much she had put into a single stream of words in a long time, so it was obviously something strong within her.

Satori allowed her to take her time, there was no rushing this situation anyway really. Rushing would only cause far more damage to her in the long run. Instead, he waited patiently until her eyes finally opened and she explained what it was she was visualizing. Satori smiled softly. It was ironic in a way, Dragons were seen as protectors, equalizers, wisdom incarnate and great peacekeepers. The representation of Yang.

On the other hand, Tigers, a great cat that many could compare the Ryuutei too, were the representation of Yin. Of great destructive power and ultimate wrath. It was ironic that her mind would grasp out toward the image of stability instead of great power. Perhaps due to how much she hated the anger and power that she naturally held, and was subconsciously seeking a balancing factor.

"Good, now, close your eyes and feel that dragons power emanates from you. Feel it smashing against the cage and pushing its limitations, cracking the bars, bending the metal. You are the cage, and you must strengthen it. Reinforce it with new layers, repair the bars." This was the basics of chakra control. Forcing your chakra to push out, overpower your baseline subconscious control and then focusing to try and keep it contained.

Midori listened carefully to his next set of instructions, nodded, took a deep breath, and let her eyes close once again, thinking about what she needed to do. In this way, she was the perfect student; she didn't need complicated instructions, but instead keep it nice and simple, and she would commit to those instructions without hesitation. Returning to her inner world, she visualized it again, and focused instead of the beast, on the bars.

Strengthen and Enhance the bars... it was an interesting enough idea, as it would mean that she would not need to fret over if the beast escaped the cage, but how was she going to do that? She tried simply visualizing what she wanted, and that did nothing... so she focused on them, reaching out mentally and feeling the metal, the rust, the creak of the metal as it buckled against the beast's hide as it thrashed it's tail against them idly, pacing on the other side. Oddly enough, she was unafraid of the beast at the moment; it wasn't trying to get out, but it did seem oddly wary at what she was doing... and slowly, the rust began to fade as she felt her energy flow into the bars.

Suddenly, she was very afraid.

Disapproving being caged, the beast began to thrash and flex the bars even more. Outside, her face contorted in pain and sweat began to bead on her brow, and slowly scales began to appear on her hand, slowly creeping up her arm. She managed to speak through gritted teeth. "It does not like the cage... trying to break it..." she explained, her voice in obvious pain.

Satori had been prepared for it. Midori held a bloodline that allowed her to absorb extra chakra, it was a secondary pool that meant she had to completely split her focus. Setting aside the fact they didn't even know exactly how it worked just yet. That extra chakra was going to rear its head, it just made sense.

Trying to control one form of energy was far easier than trying to combine two with one you didn't even understand.

"Don't lose yourself. Remember, this is all in your mind, Midori. 'It' is not a real creature, it does not have thoughts or emotion. It is your chakra, it is power, it is you. If it's lashing out you don't need to be afraid of it. The chakra will stop if you force it to, your own chakra can never kill you without outside interference. Reign it in. Calm yourself and the power, and focus on the cage." Midori was imaginative, creative, and those were powerful weapons.

But she also had to understand visualization was not reality. This was also a reason Genjutsu was such a weakness for her; she had to train that side of her mind if she wanted to move past this roadblock.

Midori could hear his voice, but it was muffled, and she seemed to be trying to open her eyes, but couldn't as the scales continued to creep up her body. One interesting thing to note is that her limbs were not amplifying in size yet though, even as it reached her elbow, and she was slowing it's progress, but still seemed to be losing the battle.

Within her mind, she continued to press, holding the bars up as best she could while the dragon thrashed and threw itself against the bars, and she could tell that soon it would overwhelm her... but she wasn't going to let that happen. This cage was made for a reason, but it was a stop-gap. If she wanted any chance at controlling this power, she needed to do it on her terms, and unfortunately, it was almost as if she had trapped herself in a Genjutsu; she was stuck here until she figured it out, or the beast won.

Gritting her teeth, she audibly yelled "STOP!!" as she focused on the beast, and suddenly, very abruptly, the scales stopped climbing, and the beast within stopped thrashing, both those discolored eyes glaring at her intensely. She reached out for one of the bars, and heard the dragon growl, but instead of putting it back into place, she ripped it off herself, causing the rest to fall apart like dominos in a cascade of metal. She approached the dragon, which seemed stunned for a moment and was easily within distance to be taken control of; the bars had been her fear of the power... and she needed to accept it was hers. For once, Satori was wrong about something... and she reached up and placed a hand on the dragon's snout, still looking it dead in the eyes.

Slowly, Midori's eyes opened, and she looked at her hand, and the scales receded. "The cage was fear of my power... I cannot be afraid if I am to control." She clenched the hand as the scales vanished completely, and for a moment, all was well, and she turned towards Satori, unsure what was next.

Satori tilted his head once. It was rare for him to be wrong, and that was because of one simple miscommunication: She was afraid. Or had been. She had been so terrified on such a subconscious level of her own abilities that it had interfered with basic visualization. Staring at her for one long moment, Satori released a slow breath.

"I wish you'd tell me when you're scared or unsure," he stated simply before leaning back a bit and eying the clouds for a few moments. He knew he couldn't read everyone perfectly all the time. But he hated when he messed up. Many of his peers, superiors, and subordinates already relied on his perception and mind. If he messed it up then who was going to help them? But he needed them to communicate with him if he was going to truly formulate a proper plan.

Sighing, he lifted his gaze and focused on her.

"At least you managed to do it yourself. Well done," he stated with a slight smile, before glancing at where the scales had faded away from her skin. Putting it aside, for now, he instead clapped his hands together.

"Still, you just brushed the surface. If the dragon is your power, and the cage was fear, then that means you need a new way to control the power. Not through fear or insecurity, but through a method that matches what you want from it. Will you dominate the power, collar, and leash the dragon, forcing it into submission? Demand your power serve you? Or will you work with it and let it become part of you naturally? Either is fine--or another method. No answer is wrong, but one is especially right for you."

Midori heard him say that she should have told him that she was afraid of her own power, and she looked him in the eyes with a single eyebrow cocked as if to say really? in the most sarcastic manner possible. She had never been one to open up about herself, and even less so about her feelings; admitting fear and insecurity, even to Satori, was a bit of a stretch even when it could prove to be important. He hadn't requested all of that information, so there wasn't a chance on this earth she was just going to volunteer that information out of the blue. If he needed that kind of data, he would need to request it.

She thought about what he said though... and she guessed what would suit her best. "I will fight to make it my own." But it wasn't a contest to dominate it, but instead to earn the right to wield it, as though the power deserved respect as a combatant or fellow person... it was her visualization of what needed to happen, pure and simple. She could already tell the road to earning that right was going to be long and painful, but that was the way everything had worked for Midori up to this point; why would it change now?

Satori tilted his head slightly as she commented that she would fight it. A predictable response from her, really. With a slight smile he simply straightened with a nod and motioned for her to begin.

"Then imagine the same as before. The dragon welling up with power and clashing with you. The purpose is to control that power and push it back," simple and to the point, Satori after this would wait with his hands resting atop both his knees. Bemused but content as he would interlace his fingers and wait for the progress of the training.

It was going to be rough on her due to how long it had been since she had begun training her chakra, it would have been the Academy days the last attempt she had made for it. But, as she did this it would get easier. All Satori could do now was sit and watch as she worked, and offer advice whenever she may need it.

She nodded at his instructions, closed her eyes, and began as best she could. Visualizing in her mind the battle between her and the Dragon, but not as a struggle this time, but a contest of their strength. There was no threat of one completely overtaking the other, but a way for them to gain respect for one another; once she gained the respect of the power that threatened to consume her constantly, she would be able to master it. The eyes of the dragon changed; the dim yellow one vanished and transformed into the steady green, representing the entirety of her Cursed power, while her own body glowed a dim yellow light, representing her own Chakra. There was more of that energy than her own, but that was the wrong line of thinking... they were both hers, she just needed to equalize it out, which was going to take training.

In her mind, she charged the beast, and with a great movement of a powerful arm, was crushed almost instantly, flattened into the ground. But the beast relented, simply showing her the difference in their power, and waited. Slowly, Midori stood back up, grinned, and charged again.

Almost half an hour had passed, and slowly, sweat had built up on her brow, and her breathing was becoming more and more labored as her own Chakra reserves began to tap out. After a few more moments, she ceased it; she had made progress, but it was a slow process and would take daily training to truly get herself to the point where she would be able to call the two Chakra's an equal. After taking a deep breath to get her breathing normal again, she looked to Satori, thankful that he was so patient with her. "Done for today. More tomorrow." At least with this part. From the look on her face, she was fully expecting Satori to come up with some things to teach her to use that bit of control she did have and put it to good use.

Satori smiled softly after the training, and simply nodded his head once as she stated more tomorrow. "Every day," he stated simply before he would slowly rise and dust himself off.

"Tomorrow I'll teach you the Arkhat style as well. It should suit you well enough, channeling chakra into raw physical strikes to amplify power. It's what I used to use to match your raw strength," as he explained this, Satori then began to move toward the exit. They would continue tomorrow, and he had little doubt she'd begin incorporating more chakra-related techniques and focus into her training.

But for now, they'd both need food. Him especially. Ryuutei had big appetites, starvation was a serious threat. Grinning a bit to himself at that thought he moved toward the exit of the village, and both their homes.

Midori gave a very slight, almost inaudible sigh as he explained that they were done for the day, expressing her disappointment that they were done. It wasn't that she didn't need the food and rest, honestly, but there was, regardless of her lower capability to understand and retain the information, a hunger for knowledge. She liked learning new things, discovering new ways to grow and adapt. She also considered what he was saying regarding being able to use the Chakra to augment her strength; if he used it to match her in battle, if she used it to the same proficiency, technically she would by superior in the way of raw physical power. That being said, she had a long way to go, and she doubted she had seen what Satori was truly capable of.

Standing and walking alongside him, she flexed her hand a time or two while looking at it, trying to feel a difference, and while it was very subtle, it wasn't a difference in her physical feeling she was experiencing the sensation of, but more... a peace for now of the inner war she felt waging inside her. Things were calmer... and she was certain that they would get better as she continued to train. She only nodded as he described that she would be training it daily, and mentally she tacked on that she might even go for twice a day if she had the energy reserves recovering quick enough between an early morning session and later in the evening. She always did recover quickly.

Perhaps that too would be something they could find a way to train.

The next day, as promised, Satori had taken Midori back toward the training grounds. His hands tucked into his pockets as he entered through the gate and turned to face her once they were back inside the center area. As per usual, before anything, he began to stretch, and focus on basic chakra flow to relax his body and settle it into a balance. Trying to learn and train when you weren't relaxed and calm were generally major detriments.

Once that was out of the way, Satori settled back and smiled at Midori.

"Right then, first off, understand what I'm teaching you," as he explained this he would lift his hand up walking toward her and clenching a fist.

"Standard guard," he explained simply, telling her to brace herself so that she could feel what his standard punch felt like first.

Midori was almost downright eager when she walked onto the training grounds this morning, a half a step faster than normal as the only way she was showing her excitement. So far, her training on her own was going well, and she felt like she was getting better every time she did it; she was past getting crushed immediately and was to the point where she was making that internal dragon actually work to hit her. It was amazing that this was something that she felt the progress actually happening after being stuck for so long, and it renewed her excitement for training again. It was as though she had finally broken through that ceiling and was moving forward again, and much like a boulder; once it got rolling, there wasn't much in the way of stopping it.

She nodded at first, assuming her typical guard, and focusing on remaining still, one hand outstretched like she had caught a fist, and another tucked into a tight fist near her waist. It happened instantly and without need for an explanation; she knew him so well that she didn't need one in advance. She would do as he asked, and he would explain while it was happening, something they were so familiar with that it was almost like second nature. Satori had always been the teacher in this respect; Midori was perfectly fine with that arrangement because he was just about the only person that could teach her properly most of the time.

Satori took a deep breath before stepping forward and smashed his fist into her open palm. The force would be jarring but it wouldn't break the guard or move her, his physical strength matching her current level marking the clash as two on even footing. Relaxing afterward he would take one step back and tilt his head now that she had a feel for the current physical power. He then relaxed himself slowly, before clenching his fist and causing chakra to pool through his body.

His legs opening slowly before his hands lifted up, holding one palm open facing her and his other clenched at his side.

"This is with just the basic stance," he murmured, before shifting as his body suddenly contorted. Muscles flexing as chakra flowed through them, and his fist swung forward before smashing into her guard. Immediately, the difference was clear, nearly double the physical power would explode forward into her limbs to likely break the guard and send her several steps back. His body slowly relaxed as he drew back his hand, making sure she was alright with a quick once-over.

The first impact was as expected... her elbow bent a little bit and she had to focus to not counter him on instinct, but nothing outside the norm. This was his normal force, as far as she knew... and she also had a vague idea he was about to strike a lot harder with a Chakra infused strike, but she was uncertain at what to expect exactly. She braced as best she could, preparing herself but otherwise unmoving, and then the second strike hit.

And it hit like a truck.

To her credit, Midori had been getting smashed by a Dragon, and had been figuring out how to deal with an overwhelming strength, even if it was only within her mind, and she slid backwards, her arm completely collapsing, but she held his fist and while it had visibly shaken, she had managed to hold her stance in place to some semblance of what it was supposed to be. Recovering, she noticed Satori completely relax, and she followed suit, shaking her hand around a little bit to try to get the feeling to return to the appendage. If she could master what he was teaching, she would easily become a force to be reckoned with; the advantage was that while she had slacked on the Chakra Control and such, she had honed her physical fundamentals to the point that she no longer even had to think about what moves to make anymore.

Her body knew what to do.

Combine that with what she was learning here, and she knew that things were going to get a lot better for her quickly. Speed, Strength, Twitch Drills, all of it would get better, which also meant she was going to have to redo her training regiment to match. Perhaps she could convince him to go to the market after this and help her find some more training equipment.

Satori smiled softly as she managed to deflect much of the force. If he'd continued on into a combination she'd of been in trouble; but that was the point. Falling back, he then took a slow breath and stated firmly.

"Use your bloodline to empower your arm," before he returned to the same stance, and then released an influx of chakra even further. This time instead of using his fist, Satori braced himself and suddenly drew the open-palm that had been extended back before smashing it directly into Midori's enlarged hand. The energy gathering into his palm and releasing in a blast on-impact.

The force would be twice what even the last blow had formed, and without her cursed form, it would have guaranteed to send her flying, perhaps even broken a limb. With it, the reaction was similar to the last. This was not done to show off; but instead to show her what it could do for her.

Lowering his hand after the impact he smiled softly at her.

"That's what I can do with the stance, and a technique of the style. Imagine what you'll be able to do with it."

Midori hesitated at his next command; it wasn't fear outright, but concern. She hadn't tried her curse form since she started working on her Chakra Control, so she wasn't sure what to expect, but she did complain and she did comply after a moment. Her arm transformed as normal, but one thing that could be noted that her arm didn't grow grotesquely huge like it normally did; instead it was more toned and defined, definitely larger than normal and longer, but it was less the freakish difference and more like an adult, muscled version instead. She noted it, but then focused on the training instead, waiting for his strike.

It came, and she would have thought she could have contested it a lot better, but she was sorely mistaken. This time, her stance did break because she had thought she was in a better stance for taking the blow than before, but instead she rotated and pivoted, recovering quickly but for a moment she had been wide open, her eyes wide. It was amazing what she might be able to accomplish if she could master the techniques that he was about to teach her, and the excitement in her dark green eyes grew even more intense. He had her attention now, in every way, like she was about to be given a gift on her birthday that she had been looking for years, and she couldn't be happier with the results thus far. Returning her arm to normal, she also noticed that the burning sensation wasn't as intense; her Chakra wasn't clashing as much, another sign that things were getting better.

Satori grinned at the spark of light in her eyes. Proof that she was excited as she should be, and that he now had all of her focus on him. That was good; it was proof that she could evolve the way they both wanted her too. Straightening, Satori turned and focused on her fully as she recovered.

"Let's get started then, shall we? While we're at it," Satori reached into the pouch on his hip and pulled out a paper for a mission with a grin.

"Let's get a crowd to watch as well. No harm in teaching some others and showing them what a real training session looks like, after all," amused, he would tuck the mission paper away and motion her to follow him toward the section of the training grounds near the Academy. It would be good for her to get some funds after all, and atop that, it meant that they both could train and show the children what hardcore training results could provide considering they had only recently graduated themselves.

// Thread Exit.

Midori narrowed her eyes in great annoyance, her lips pressed into a fine line; he had pressed a button, and Satori knew it, and he was probably enjoying it, the bastard.  She would admit she could use the funds, and she would admit that it would be probably fine, but damnit if she didn't hate dealing with crowds... ever since the Academy, she had only grown more and more people who liked to gawk at her either because of her strength for only a Genin or her figure... but both were extremely annoying.  Still, it did get her paid, but she was going to make the table a little more even for her annoyance.

"You will go with me shopping after."  It wasn't up for discussion either.  She liked him tagging along because he was a better judge of good versus cheap equipment, could spot a scam from a mile away, and knew what she wanted but in physical form, which helped big time with making her Ryo stretch as far as it could.  Every dime she could spare was being put towards building her home and taking care of things for living, as well as a portion that was her 'Shit hit the Fan' money.  It was expensive, certainly, so she sighed and followed him, agreeing with his terms.

// THREAD EXIT