Follow Up!

[TyDie]

It had been a few hours since the end of the day's bouts, and Aiya was eager to rest after having observed her competitors go at it, as well as her own bout against the Suna genin. He wasn't a bad fighter truth be told, she figured he'd be a fantastic shinobi down the line. But she expected he wasn't used to sparring against such a headstrong offense as hers. All the more reason she was happy to go against him; anything she could do to improve the abilities of her allies, be they from Konoha or otherwise, was a good move in her mind. The sun was beginning to set on Aroma Country, and the night life of the town was quite robust if Aiya said so herself. The curious little spider was happy to get a chance to explore the town now, her wondrous eyes taking in the lights and her perky ears tuning in to the sounds of the bustling town.

As she rounded a corner, she found her nose turned up as the smell of smelting iron and steel crossed her nostrils. "Ah... I should get my gear looked over before tomorrow." The young genin spoke to herself, as she followed her nose down the street to what appeared to be a forge. She was also surprised to see that, with the forgemaster's oversight, it seemed like others knowledgeable in the art of forging were allowed to work with his forge. Not that she knew the first thing about such crafts; she was a fighter, not a smith. But as her eyes searched the smithy's forge, her eyes fell on another shinobi. One whos eyes were equally unique as her own.

"Akihiro, right?" Aiya spoke up over the sounds of the forge as she approached the young genin, who only hours ago had been her opponent in the arena. "How's it going? I didn't bang you up too badly did I?" The girl scratched her head with embarrassment, clearly feeling a little guilty about having to fight an ally of Konoha in such a manner.

[broodboy]

Akihiro could still feel the pain in his arms caused by the heavy-hitting weapon Aiya used in the bout. He was always scolded by his father for not practicing shiobi arts more instead of spending his time in the smiths and libraries of Suna. This is what he got for it. Akihiro could hear the satisfaction in his father's voice now trying to enforce his point. The Aroma countries forges were large and well organized most likely cleaned up for the exams. A dozen large furnaces line a wall with one being made of something he did not recognize save for it being black with specks of white crystals embedded into it. Spanned across the rest of the building were workstations with all the tools one would need and some Aki did not recognize. Blacksmiths from all over were in here today working on things for their village combatants. A rare opportunity to observe so many different techniques.

That was not why he heard although there would be plenty of time to walk around after he got these ideas out of his head. Inspired by his last fight he began to sketch on paper at the bench. Bracers that launched senbon attached to a razor-sharp wire, like webbing. A chest piece that had four spider-like appendages coming to a point and a hollow chamber for poison or other hidden items. A bo staff that when spun the centrifugal force unfolds two metal sheets inside acting as more of a shield for barrages. The sketches took him a while and in his frenzy, he did not notice the approach of Aiya.

Startled he gave a slight twitch that sent mild pain through his body from the injuries. "That's right and you're Aiya if I remember." He was frustrated with himself that he did not put up a better fight and embarrassed to face his father again about the pitiful display of Henrin bloodline. He was a puppy licking his wounds in the one place that made him feel better and in control. "No, it is quite alright. I am used to being hit these days. I am not used to fights at all as I am sure you could tell." He was anxious to see if the Konah ninja would care about using her as inspiration for his creations. Do I hide them somehow?

"What brings you all the way out to the forges? Damage your stuff too much on my body?" An awkward laugh followed with the energy between them questionable at best. Aki spent far too much time in the forge so one could say his social skills lacked finesse.

[TyDie]

Aiya jumped back a little too as she inadvertently startled her former opponent with her presence, then immediately went to apologizing "Oh gosh, I didn't mean to scare you! The fight's over friend, no need to worry." Aiya tried to put the Suna genin at ease with her words, but the boy made it pretty clear that he was still in a rough spot after losing their match. It was a competition, and it wasn't that she felt bad about winning per se, but... She felt bad that he was feeling bad. "Akihiro, you had strong fundamentals and a solid defense. Don't be too hard on yourself." She let out a small sigh as the boy was rough on himself, when in reality she didn't feel he had any reason to be. Her offense was meant to be overwhelming and decisive, and against an opponent that was almost entirely defensive, she had no reason to be defensive herself. That was really his only weakness; he spent so much time blocking that he didn't swing very many times.

"Well, no not really. my shuriken and kunai were damaged in another challenge, but my staff came out just fine after our bout. Though, it's basically just stone and rock that I put together with Doton, so I could always make another if it got damaged. Hey..." Aiya found her eyes drawn to the papers the boy had displayed by his side, and although she didn't know a thing about forging or smithing, she knew a weapon design when she saw one. And these were based off of their previous fight it seemed! "Wow... you came up with these that fast? After only fighting me for a few minutes? That's... really impressive, Akihiro."

She took her eyes off of the papers and looked around the forge, getting a taste for the location as she looked back down to Akihiro. "So, this is where you excel huh? smithing, forging, crafting?"

[broodboy]

Akhiro was not used to being praised, especially by a peer. Most people did not step foot in the forges, let alone ask him what he spent his time doing or why he always looked so tired in the first place. For the first bit of the conversation, there was a small amount of animosity between the two. In truth, there was none from the Suna genin and more so from his pride. Sure, his mother praised him as well as his father from time to time, but they were required to do that. To be seen in a different light by someone who he did not know was refreshing and quickly allowed him to relax as he put effort into building their friendship.

"No wonder it felt like it hurt more than the usual bo staff." The young boy was amazed at her chakra control to be able to create a weapon as perfectly as one handcrafted and not have it break under her own strength. Then again, it probably had chakra channeled through it to enhance its fracture resistance. She had doton jutsu that she did not even use. I guess I should consider myself lucky I only got a few hits to the body. "Yea, I have not figured out how to attack efficiently yet. I always get nervous and second guess myself so I just stick to what I know, defense and counters."

He noticed her eye drawn to the stack of sketches and was relieved to hear her excitement. He laid them out so she could have a better look at them. "Perhaps it is my clan's gift or my inspiration, but yes. I reflected on our fight momentarily recalling all of the details of your form. You could ask me anything about our bout and I would know it up to the smallest detail. Like..." He reached out slowly and pointed to the exact spot in which her transformation started. "It took only a few seconds to generate your carapace, but it seems like a relatively young ability within your family. With mastery, I am sure the transformation will be almost instant."

He took in a deep breath inhaling the warmth from the forges, his nose slightly uncomfortable from the heat but accustomed to its unique tinge. "Yes this is where I spend most of my time. Many cannot tell but the forges are actually alive and require respect." He held a handseal and performed kai, in a puff of some smoke from a scroll hanging off the workbench he summoned the bracers and shin guards he and his father crafted the previous night. They were perfectly polished and obsidian black. On the undersides written were some random fuuin seals he was playing around with. "These are my latest creation, I want to specialize in various armors. Weapons just come with the territory, like these poised bladed back blades like spider arms I drew."

[TyDie]

Aiya looked at the boy incredulously as he recalled their fight with such keen detail. She of course remembered the course of their fight, but she didn't analyze it to quite that extent and the finer details were already lost on her. She wondered how he was able to recall everything so vividly, as he claimed... maybe it was the eyes? "Your last name... Henrin. That's a clan name, isn't it? Is that why your memory is so good?" She hadn't heard of the Henrin family before, but if their blood allowed them to have such an incredible memory she was honestly a bit jealous. Plus, their eyes looked a lot cooler than hers, if she was being honest.

"Uh huh. All of my weapons are made of stone. It makes them heavier, but I can also use Doton to shape and mold them. Like so!" As she spoke, she'd perform a few simple hand seals and grab her staff off of her back, placing one end into the dirt as she funneled chakra into her staff. A moment later, Aki would be able to see the end of her staff slowly shape and mold itself into a sharpened stone blade; her staff had become a Naginata. "I don't plan on whipping out these kinds of jutsu though. After all, I'm not trying to kill people." She stated it matter of factly, while channeling a bit more chakra into her weapon to cause the blade to return to a normal staff tip again, before placing the staff back behind her.

"The Ibakuro clan though, the spider form you saw... Yeah, it's still fairly new. I can only maintain it for a short duration right now, and it takes a little time to take form. But hey, at least it didn't freak you out like it has so many others! It's a little tiring to be seen as a creepy spider lady all the time, y'know?" The girl was always so conflicted in regards to her Spider Form; she loved it, her clan mates loved it, but so many others found it creepy at best and terrifying at worst. It wasn't easy to always be seen as some kind of monster, but it seemed Akihiro at least recognized it was a useful form if nothing else.

"Akihiro, defense is the cornerstone of any well rounded fighter. And you've already got that part figured out, you just need to develop a few better offensive options. And with so much skill in terms of weapon theory and creation, why don't you pick up a weapon style? I could teach you how to use a staff, if you feel like that's up your alley." It was an offer she didn't make lightly, mostly because she saw herself as not the most patient teacher. But she knew that Akihiro was being hard on himself right now, and if she could teach him something that would at least give a little more confidence, she'd be happy to help. Plus, she was sure that with such a wealth of weapon information inside him, there would be something he could teach her as well.

[broodboy]

Akihiro could see the perplexed look on her face as he went into detail about the previous fight. "Yes it is a family name and the reason why I have such a flawless one. It works differently for everyone in the family, but most of us don't forget anything. I am not sure how it is not a kekei gen kai, but I do know that it helps. It is often rumored that a Henrin will never lose twice." Insinuating that the next time the two would fight Aiya would not have such an easy time keeping him on her back foot.

He watched as she pulled out her bo staff that was now clearly made of stone. In the match he could have sworn it was just a regular bo staff but looking closer at it he could tell the signs of chakra manipulation. His eyes widened when she manipulated the bo staff into a now Naginata. "Wow, how versatile." He sifted through some papers and pulled out yet another design inspired by Aiya. "See here, it is a bow staff with two retracting blades on either end. It would have a scythe mode, half foon mode, naginata mode. Although, it does not look like you would need such a thing. Not all of us have the advantage of elemental affinity."

The young genin felt kindred towards her plight regarding the form she assumed. He would be lying if he said that he did not get the odd look or two from his eyes every now and then. Having extra appendages and spider-like appendages seemed extreme compared to his eyes. He pointed to the crimson ringed eyes..."I know what you mean. I too have been asked if I am possed by a demon. I think your form is extremely practical for the way you fight. If I can take you on for a while with three pairs of arm's I should be okay against most of the other competitors." A slight chuckle followed.

His ear perked up as he began to untie the safety apron he wore in the forges. "Really? That would be awesome, I know a lot about weapons, but I do not have much practical knowledge. I could even give you a crafters insight on how you form your weapons with doton so they would be less susceptible to breaking. Let me pack up my things and we can go somewhere more suited." With that said he grabbed the large scroll, easily three-foot tall when rolled, and raveled it. He performed a few hand seals and his entire apprentice black smith equipment disappeared into the scroll.

"Shall we!?"

[TyDie]

The young spider looked over the boy's weapon notes again, taking into account the interesting bo staff he had designed that could shift between so many forms. And while he was quick to say she might not need that, she raised a finger in protest. "Ah, don't be so sure Akihiro. Sure, I can use ninjutsu to alter the properties of my staff, but that takes chakra. It'd be a lot easier on my chakra reserves if I didn't always have to resort to that. That's where mechanical weapons like this would be a large boon to my skillset, keeping me in the fight longer by directing my energy more efficiently." Truthfully, the idea of using a mechanical staff that could swap between different forms seemed much more advantageous. She could keep the earth staff as a back up if necessary, but energy conservation would be a great boon to her in the future. And a scythe... hmmm...

As the boy put away his gear with some hand seals, her eyes widened with interest. "Woah..." Aiya looked at the scroll a second, noting the intricate black ink scrawled in patterns along it's surface. "...Fuuinjutsu, right?" To see how easily the boy had just stored away all of his gear for easy carry had Aiya wondering. "...Could this kind of thing store bigger objects?" She pointed to her staff in direct reference, but she assumed Akihiro would be bright enough to understand what she was inferring. Such convenient storage would not only make carrying her weapons easier, but if used right it'd allow her to use and switch between them much easier than before. It was definitely worth looking into, if Aki confirmed her suspicions.