A mother's touch

Set up in Aroma, on the oceanside cliffs, a tournament arena, and a practical village of temporary homes and stores have been set up. Merchants from all over the continent will be selling wares.
broodboy
Posts: 66
Joined: Fri Jun 04, 2021 9:43 pm

A mother's touch

Post by broodboy » Mon Jul 12, 2021 5:11 pm

Aroma country was busy with the festivities. To non shinobi the battles were entertainment, but to shinobi it was a rare opportunity to advance to the next rank. Akihiro never really cared much for titles or rank as long as he could tinker away in the forge he was happy. However, he hated facing opponents he did not stand a chance at beating. He recalled the events of his latest fight with the Konah genin who he thought easily should have been a chunin. He was not a great assessor of skill, though. She had a myriad of jutsu at her disposal and even a rare transformation that still managed to send a chill down his spine.

What good were the ideas he had in his head if he did not have the skills, jutsu, or by in large the means to act on them. Being able to remember everything about a fight was brutal to someone’s ego. He reviewed it several dozen times and while he thought of a few places where he could have done better or not attacked so predictably, he still lacked the large list of jutsu and abilities than his opponent. If he wanted to beat someone, he would need to create tool that were just as effective as jutsu, or, at the very least enough to create a window for him to get the upper edge.

He sat staring at a set of chocolate chip cookies in dep thought as his mother approached him from behind embracing him in a warm hug. She always felt calm and inviting. A stark contrast to his father we was cold, deadly, and calculating. That was probably due to the fact he was attempting to climb the family hierarchy, but Akihiro was unknow to that fact. The young genin took in a deep breath, the smell of his mothers perfume comforting the frustration and embarrassment In his mind.


” I see you found the sweets my beetle.” A term his mother called him ever since he was a baby. Although, her endearment was met with silence and a face that sunk into his hood. ”Beetle, do you want to talk about it or do you just want to enjoy Aroma countries sweets. I warn you though, I here they have some gross ones.” Another moment of silence sat at the table with them. She was a professional at patience and the young genin never won, but that was not what this was. She could feel her sons frustration with trying to create his own path through the difficult world of being a shinobi.

”Having a big brain sucks doesn’t it.” Her voice soothing and speaking from experience. ”You don’t have all the answers as fast you like or if you do have them no way to actually do it. Unfortunately, I get lost in my thoughts and ideas too easily, you probably come by that honestly. Your father, as harsh as you think he is, excels at prediction. It took him a very long time to learn that though. I can’t tell you how many times I had to patch him up before he took his studies seriously.” Aki’s face turned up to her, remnants of tears on his face. ”He lost too?”

She smiled and wiped the last bits of pain from his eyes with her sleeve while sitting down across the small outdoor table with him. A fondness fluttered over her eyes as she remembered the countless times she had to pep talk her husband for feeling the same way. Akihiro and he were similar in that regard in that they were easily embarrassed. His mother took his hands in hers and stared deeply into his obsidian eyes.

”Listen Beetle, the Henrin family has lots of ninjutsu and taijutsu. But, the one thing we all have is our incredible minds. I know you feel pressure to be like your father, but he is an exception in our family. The way your mind works is amazing and I can’t understand a lot of it. However, I will be honest with you. If you don’t focus on learning to fight more you will continue to feel like this. You need to merge your passion with the shinobi arts otherwise. You’ll continue to lose beetle. That’s the harsh desert truth of it all.”

Akihiro was aware of his power level, but, he often became frustrated when the larger picture wasn’t taken into account. However, that wasn’t the world he lived in or at least not right now.”I know I’m weaker than most of them. I just…. I can’t figure out how to battle effectively with my crafting.” She pulled out a tattered notebook that the young boy recognized well. It was his at the academy filled with every idea for weapons, tools, and armors that floated into his brain. Even ways to make puppets better. ”Why do you keep that useless thing around?” He said with a scowl. His mother let out a chuckle and snatched a cookie from the plate. ”This has brought me so much joy ever since you threw it away. When I am stuck on something at work or learning a new method of iljutsu I will refer back to this and get inspired. Beetle, you have such a wondrous talent. The village needs shinobi like you to push boundaries on what it means to be a support ninja.”

Akihiro felt a small ember of pride well up in his stomach. He would look his mother deep in the eye in admiration for the praise she bestowed upon him. He wished his father could speak as she did, but unfortunately, diplomacy wasn’t his strong suit. ” Mother, I need to head to the forges before my next battle. I think I have a few ideas that will work for me against some of the opponents I observed after my fight. I do not want to face father yet, but please pass on my gratitude to him for training me in taijutsu.”

She smiled with a tilt of her head, ”You tell him yourself when you beat the snot out of the next guy. Now hurry along to the forges and I’ll take care of these cookies.”

broodboy
Posts: 66
Joined: Fri Jun 04, 2021 9:43 pm

A Fathers Muscle

Post by broodboy » Tue Jul 13, 2021 3:26 pm

The walk from the small café he and his mother sat at to the forges tucked far back in Aroma country was a bit of a walk. Most were due to the large amount of smoke and heat they generated. The familiar smell of coal tickled his nose as the warmth from the many furnaces poured out from the front doors. The intimate feeling he got walking through the billowing plumes of smoke as soot fell onto his face only made the small ember of passion his mother instilled in him earlier grow. He strolled past the entrance and showed his official papers to the clerk along with his apprentice blacksmithing license. Many places required them for you to actually use their forges unsupervised and it was a good way to establish best practices across many villages.

He eagerly pulled out all of his tools that he would need. Measuring tape, needles, penicils , sketch pad, hammers, tongs, anvils, raw metal and a number of other things. He began tracing the basic form of a few pieces. He wanted to make sure that it would fit snugly for his upcoming fight against any number of the chosen combatants. He did not know how much time he had which would help in forcing him to not tinker too long at it. He would start with bracers and some greaves to accentuate his taijutsu style. Taking hits from the forearm up to his shoulder would be much more bearable with that addition. Luckily, Akihiro was also knowledgeable about human anatomy which meant he new exactly how he wanted to bend the metal, hide, and cloth where he needed to guarantee a comfortable fit while still being able to move around.

He pulled a large quantity of metal from stock and began to heat it. His eye focused on it able to understand the weaknesses it had in them so he could hammer it out once he began. He took the searing hot brick of metal and began to hammer it. Shards of impurities falling off onto the floor along with beads of sweat already dripping from his head band. He was determined to actualize his ideas and not just talk about them or draw them. With each swing of is hammer the glowing block slowly began to form into something recognizable. By the end of a few hours he had a large sheet of metal large enough to be broken in half for a set of bracers. He carefully heated a center line with the assistance of another smith who specialized in katon techniques. An idea crossed his mind to use fuuin jutsu as lines to engrave things with chakra but he did not know if he had the time.

He took the two slabs and placed them in the oil quickly cooling their temperature down and solidifying there sturdiness. The only thing left to do for them now was to grind them into the shape needed for his arms and forearms and polish them. He looked out through a window nearby and saw the sun was rising. He was already tired but he wanted to finish. He needed to finish and show the off his crafts at the international chunnin exams. He didn’t care about glory or ranking up he simply wanted to feel pride in his own ninja way. He chugged a nearby bottle of water as the cool sensation felt like nothing compared to the heat he was working in.

He pulled up a chair to the grinding wheel as he maneuvered the cumbersome sheet of iron he pummeled to a quarter of an inch thick. Large gloves covered his hands as sparks flew every which way when metal met the wheel. The sound echoed through the facility with a screech which usually signaled to others that someone was taking on the daunting task of slowly shaving down metal to fit a form or sharpen an edge.

Akihiro couldn’t hear anything over the sound of the grinder, but he probably which he could. Heavy footsteps barreled down the hallway as a tall brute of a man made its way towards Akihiro.

”Akihiro!” The man yelled. ”Akihirro!!!” Again a second time, but failed to reach the young genins ears. Quickly the massive man grabbed his shoulders and spun him around. He stopped the large stone wheel with one hand as friction caused the callous on his hand too burn slightly, an unpleasant smell rose in the air briefly. The young boy’s eyes widened it could only be one person strong enough to do that he knew of. His father.

He heart began to race as he stared him straight in his black eyes. His muscles bulging and grip tight. He didn’t think he would be found so quickly. He prepared himself for the scolding of having lost the fight. He was instantly put into a bear hug as the air from his lungs left is body.

”Let go, you’re breaking me in two!” A beaming smile across his fathers face was unusual, but a welcome and rare site. ”You were so manly! Standing on your two feet meeting those arrows head on.” The small Henrin was extremely confused. He had never seen this side of his father before. He put Akihiro down and gave a solid pat against his back. The young mans legs slightly wobbly from the impact. ”You are not…. Disappointed?” His father took in a deep breath the waves of heat visible as they entered his nostrils. His voice erupted piercing through the compound to be the only thing heard. ”HOW COULD I NOT BE!” Everyone immediately looked at the odd image of a man three times the size of a boy yelling in praise. The young boy’s face went flush. ”I thought you did not like me losing. It embarrassed the family.” His father crossed his arms chest building from behind them. ”You and your mother I swear are too brainy for your own good. I am proud that you stood your ground like a man. No gimmicks! Just awesome taijutsu. Although, you really should learn the family style, it would flow well, but I won’t beat a dead horse.”

There was an awkward pause between them for a moment before the sound of metal beating metal and the ‘woosh’ of billows stocking the fires filled the room once more. ”Just like your mother always tinkering away. What are you working on? Something for your next fight!?” His gorilla hands started picking up every tool and piece of metal he could find like a bull in a china shop. ”Please put that all down…. But yes I was. I have made lots of armor for people at home and weapons but I don’t have any. So I was making some bracers and leg guards. Although, I am not sure I will finish them in time. Just getting the metal to be as thin as I needed it took all night into the morning.” His father effortless picked up both sheets of metal in one hand. ”If it’s muscle you need then we’re in business!”

The young boy’s eyes lit up as this was the first time his father had ever worked on something with him. With his strength he could easily finish out a whole set of armor and who knows what else. The two worked well into the night stopping only to rest their muscles and brains until the armor was craft.

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