Tact vs Unga Bunga

[Bexhex]

Amaki let out a loud sigh as she stretched her arms while bending to the side as she warmed up waiting for Shizune to show up. She looked around the dirt grounds, it had been awhile since she had sparred with anyone here, perhaps before she became a full fledged genin. Most of her training was always done alone where she could be at peace with her own thoughts, but that can only get one so far. She sat down in the dirt clearly not concerned about dirtying her clothing, and spread her legs into a split, reaching for one foot and counting "one, two, three, four....." before letting out a sigh and pushing a bit further touching her toes. She then switched to the other side before repeating the same process.

She was curious what more their was in store, it was her first time training with Shizune, in fact it was one of the first times Amaki had trained at all. She never really understood what it meant to sit down and try, everything beyond a few techniques was all a matter of instinct to her. Her mastery of her style was, I swing big stick, or I swing big stick better. She laughed hard thinking back to how silly her style of fighting must seem to everyone around her, no one knew her reason for it. The insurmountable obstacle that had to be overcome, part of why she chose the heavy unwieldy weapon. "If the cake is to big grab a bigger knife" was her motto.

After her stretches where done, she picked up her kanabo, and proceeded to swing in heavy arcing motions. Swing overhead, twist body pulling the kanabo down underneath her then back up swinging over her again with double the force as the second, then torqing her muscles hard stopping it before it slammed the ground. She repeated the repetition three times, before her muscles felt a bit of fire to them. She then took a minute setting the head down and resting her chin on the pommel. It was almost time for their training to begin, "I wonder where Zuzu-chan is?," she asked herself.

Her anticipation got the best of her, so she picked up her Kanabo once again, placing it on her shoulder she took both hands readied it then swung it out across her mid section then up past her opposite shoulder as if she were swinging it at a ball. Each time she would make false cheers and applause as if she had knocked the ball out of the park. "And Amaki swings heavy sending the ball flying out passed the field, the crowd has lost it they have gone wild," she imitated covering her mouth as if she were an annoucer.

[Jin the Sugar Glider]

While Amaki got to work on her training waiting for Shizune to arrive, thinking that she was all alone, the truth was that Shizune was already there with her. She had been in the works developing a whole new series of techniques to replace her old repertoire from before her encounter with Kiri, one that was less flamboyant and more subtle. She wanted to pass without a trace through a crowd, accomplish her objectives, and disappear before anyone knew that anything was amiss. And to that end, she had to completely revisit her application of the Jinrai's unique release; Shindoton.

Many associated the clan and it's skills with music, or at least sound, and there was a degree of truth to that. Many of the clan revolved their lives around the use of sounds with their jutsu, whether it be audible genjutsu triggers or playing music to manipulate sound waves. However, the power of vibration release went far deeper than that... Vibrations were a part of almost everything. At it's core, a vibration is just a fluctuation of energy, a wave with highs and lows just like the tides of the sea. And where it could be used to enhance a sound to the point that it was deafening, it could also be used to counter those same waves and cancel them out. Obviously, her unique chakra property already did a great deal to silence her actions, but when applied to a cloak of vibration chakra placed over her body, it could be used to muffle her movements and render her silent.

And that wasn't all either, as the cloak also worked to bend light itself around her. The vibrations of her cloak would rise to meet the incoming waves of light that would normally reflect off of her body, allowing her to be seen. And instead of revealing her position, the vibrations would redirect those lightwaves around and away from her. Thus, without any light touching her, she was effectively invisible... provided she didn't move that is. At it's current level, the cloak of chakra that muffled her movements and rendered her almost completely invisible was ineffective at concealing her while she moved, she was quite visible while walking and especially running.

So while Amaki continued her training, Shizune had taken advantage of the occasional turned back and lack of attention on her partner's behalf, stepping closer and closer and freezing in place when Amaki was facing her to remain unseen. That is, until the girl started wildly swinging her Kanabo around as if smacking a ball or something... She took a swing that would have most likely taken Shizune's poor head off of her shoulders, had she not ducked out of the way with a squeal, revealing herself to Amaki.

"Ahh!" Shizune fell to her butt with a fright as the Kanabo sailed over her head, her appearance and features distorted by the vibration cloak's light bending effect but visible nonetheless.

[Bexhex]

Amaki fell backwards reeling from her kanabo swing, as someone seemingly nearby her screamed, startling her and causing her to jump outward as the kanabo panged across the ground. She let out a scream of her own as she looked around for the scource of the disembodied voice "AHH....,". She looked around seeing the sillouette of someone sitting, distorted and shimmering, on the ground before her. She jumped again falling back onto her bottom, and looking over at the odd image. Unsure if she was wittnessing another attack or hallucination her eye was unable to make clear what was hiding in the light in front of her. "Who-whose there, s-s-show yourself, whatever you are...," her voice was shaking as she stretched out her hand towards her kanabo to afraid to move in the direction of the voice. Jikiton spread across her fingertips as the kanabo sprung to life, slowly at first darting across the ground and then firmly into her hand.

Amaki pulled her kanabo to both hands then sat there ready to swing it at a moments notice, her hands beginning to tremble as she felt she was in another of her nightmare. Then focusing hard on the spot in front of her the feint image of Shizune albiet distorted and odd, sat staring back at her as if looking back at her through the ripples in the air. "S-Shizune!?!," Amaki said confusion entering her voice as the shakiness expelled. She had never seen a technique like this, suddenly embarrassment filled Amaki's face. Had Shizune been there the whole time watching her swing at imaginary balls and acting as if some professional sport player. "Oh my god, please tell me you didn't see all that?," she said sheepishly.

Amaki swung her kanabo up over her shoulder, and began to laugh loudly at the situation they were in. Her fight response began to dissipate, leaving her with nothing but the feeling of laughing at the embarrassing situation. She held a hand outward to the distorted image of Shizune, "It's pretty dirty on the ground Zuzu-chan," A smile filled Amaki's cheeks.

[Jin the Sugar Glider]

Shizune sat on the ground rubbing her backside as the fall had left a mark that would no doubt turn into a fine bruise later on in the day. Still, she was thankful to have her head on her shoulders still, and a groan escaped her throat as her cloaking dissipated, revealing herself to Amaki and setting the girl's fears to rest. "Uh huh, it's me... I'm s-sorry, I didn't mean to startle you..." She poked her fingers together as embarrassment flowed through her, a hot feeling of shame and guilt rising to the surface. "I uh, was just working on a new jutsu... You see, because my chakra has a natural muffling effect, I thought that if I paired it with a visual distortion, it would be really hard to find me. And it turns out I was right... Because uh, yeah... I was standing there for a while..."

She didn't want to embarrass Amaki of course, but seeing as she was explaining her stealthy capabilities, she figured it was only right that she be truthful to her comrade. Now Amaki would no doubt have some sense of worry that Shizune could be anywhere, watching and listening... She was quite the sneak, after all. "So uh... you wanted to train, yeah? Did you have anything in mind orrrr..."

[Bexhex]

Amaki took in a deep breath as her heart settled, "OOOh you're fine Zuzu-chan, I...I uhm just thought you were something else ha ha," she said as she scratched her head sheepishly. "That's so cool, I bet that will be really useful, You can use my Kanabo, Imagine squishing things heads as you swung at them while invisible like that," she said with eyes lit up in envy at a power that was beyond her scope. Amaki, felt a bit relieved to think that Shizune could be hiding just beyond the shadows, it was like having some hidden protector, to fight back the other things in the dark that she could not see. As of late it was a moment of relief for her.

She set down her kanabo leaning against its pommel as she thought about Shizune's question. "Hmm, well, we could fight," her eyes lit up with fire as she said it, then she dimmed down, even in a spar, she would hate to hurt Shizune. "Or we can see who can eat the most sweet bread, we can train our bellies!! she said with a perked up smile before continuing, "oooor we could play hide and seek, that's good training right?" she asked. Amaki in truth didn't know what training really was, she just kinda did what felt right, and if it wasn't working on to the next. "I guess I don't really know what to do for training heh, I don't have that much experience training with someone," she finally said bashfully.

"Do you have anything you would like to train in Zuzu," Amaki finally asked.

[Jin the Sugar Glider]

The girl rubbed the back of her head sheepishly as her comrade commended her for her inventive methods of utilizing Shindoton ninjutsu. In truth, she was surprised that she had never heard of another Jinrai using their style in the way that she did - The clan was so well known for it's flamboyant displays, had it never dawned on any of them that the opposite could be even more effective? Muted colors, muffled sounds, and avoiding the gaze of a foe, all of these things seemed so simple to her with her newfound outlook on the shinobi life. But maybe that was just the trauma, and it's manifestation in her career. "I uh, I don't think a weapon like that would suit me, Amaki-chan. It seems a bit too... large. But, I do agree, an invisible Amaki with a giant Kanabo would be terrifying to fight, haha."

As the topic turned back towards the original reason they had come here, it became quickly apparent that Amaki, as Shizune had expected, wasn't the most prepared when it came to training. With a small sigh, the girl simply giggled at her friend, shook her head and replied. "Iiii don't think our stomachs are in need of training at the moment, Amaki-chan. Maybe after we've earned a good meal with some actual training. However, hide and seek... that uh, that could work. I could give you the chance to hide first, since you already found me by accident..."

Again, the girl rubbed the back of her head sheepishly... would Amaki even be able to hide from Shizune?

[Bexhex]

Amaki spoke nearly as fast as her friend had finished, "Okay! Tag wins the round," she said with a large happy grin as she turned and bolted off towards the edge of the training grounds. The loud pang of her kanabo hitting the ground as she left it, forgetting it was know longer hanging from her back. As she approached the boundary lines she turned throwing her hand out as jikiton stretched outward from her hands, the large kanabo snapped swinging in a circular fashion before, what seemed to be colliding with Amaki but instead of knocking her over she rolled with it taking its momentum and using it to launch herself over a nearby platform, "CATCH ME IF YOU CAN ZUZU-CHAN!! GOOD LUCK!! Amaki bellowed as she careened off downward from the balcony attached to their training ground. She fell several stories before her eyes set upon a large, perhaps five foot diameter, cast iron pipe that stretched across the two sides of kumogakure. She tilted her body swinging her kanabo around three times as she spiraled down before the kanabo collided with the large pipe leaving a sizable dent in the iron, the sudden force shot through her weapon into her hands but deadened the impact of landing hard onto the metallic surface.

Amaki let out loud cackling laughter, "Ohhh, what a rush!" she said as she giddily took off in a sprint to the far end of the pipe. She hastily found her destination, the convenient dark maintenance tunnels that would be difficult for most to traverse, but Amaki was sure her mental map would not lead her astray. She was only haulted momentarily as the sudden memories of several days past resurfaced in her head, whatever was in the tunnels that day she hoped she didn't run into it again. Her fears however were abandoned at the thought of hide and seek with her best friend, and she gulped down saliva in her deep throat before clasping her kanabo to her back and slinking into the darkness.

The dark damp and musty tunnels she new would prove to be a great hiding spot. Between the sound of rumbling pipes and bursting steam she new it would be perfect even if she managed to make too much noise it would be hard, at least she thought for Shizune to pick up on her exact location. Amaki took her steps cautiously squeezing past pipe after pipe as she felt the tunnel condense around her. She shifted and bent like a cat, twisting her body and rounding two corners left, then a shaft upwards half a story. She maintained this path for 30meters before she finally slowed down. For all the eeriness that these tunnels were she found some solace in her thoughts, it was like the very village itself was hugging Amaki protecting her. She passed two intersections before she found a split leading into a darker corridor, she took it upon herself to set up shop here and readied herself in the event that Shizune managed to find a way through all the obstacles and labryinth like corridor. In the same hall, she took several pipes channeling jikiton bent them inward creating a crude web of iron one that would slow Shizune down giving her time to escape further, and perhaps hampering that troublesome sound techinque of hers. She then tucked herself away into a tiny narrow alcove between several sets of pipes. As she sat giddy as a child, thinking about how her new found spot was all but guaranteed success.

However she had a sudden thought, what if she doesn't find me.....Then I won't get a turn.., fear began to wrack her mind, as anxiety welled up. What if the monster comes back her mind raced with what ifs as she sat alone in the dark damp tunnel, her spot suddenly the greatest hiding spot became a prison keeping her too afraid to move, in case Shizune was unable to find her otherwise.

[Jin the Sugar Glider]

Amaki was in no mood to waste time today it seemed, as she pulled her weapon to her and jettisoned herself off the side of the balcony with the speed of a lightning bolt, all the while bellowing out her challenge to Shizune. There was a brief moment of worry as Shizune wondered just how Amaki intended to survive the sudden free fall she had put herself in, but by this point she knew better - The girl had some trick in mind. And sure enough, the resounding *CLANG* of metal on metal reverberated through the air as Amaki slammed her Kanabo into the pipe, transferring the force of her fall into her weapon and the pipe instead of her bones. "Heh... clever. She really doesn't give herself enough credit." Shizune spoke idly to herself as she turned away from the pipe, giving her friend a chance to hide properly.

I suppose this is a good chance to test out the effectiveness of my wave sensing... The concept seems simple in theory, just send out some Shindoton chakra along the ground, and as the waves come back to me, it'll give me a picture of obstructions in my path. One of those obstructions is bound to be Amaki, right? The girl nodded her head, resolved to test her ability to find the proverbial needle in the haystack of pipes and stonework that Amaki had slipped into. Of course, first she'd have to get down there - A simple enough feat for her. With a breath, she withdrew her shortbow and an arrow, knocked the arrow, channeled a bit of chakra into the arrow, and released. The purple blur of her chakra coating the arrow sailed through the air, the shaft itself whistling quite loudly as it honed in on it's mark. And as it impacted a small wooden support overlapping the pipe, she leapt up on to the balcony's railing, got a sense for how far she'd need to leap, and took in a deep breath before jumping off of the railing towards her arrow. As she neared the arrow, purple waves of chakra would radiate towards her, with each wave passing over her and slowing her descent, acting as a sort of cushion. By the time her feet touched the pipe, the impact felt like nothing more than a 10 foot fall - more than enough for her to handle. She would then reach for her arrow, pull it from the wood, and place it back into her quiver before making her way down the pipe in the direction she had seen Amaki rush off into.

Once she reached the same maze of pipes that Amaki had, she realized quite quickly how smart the girl's hiding place truly was - With all of this noise, the rumbling of pipes and the occasional bursts of steam, it would be difficult to hear the ordinarily loud girl. "Smart enough to realize her own weaknesses and plan for them... That, or she just likes the maintenance tunnels. It's so hard to tell with her..." Shizune let out a small sigh as purple chakra began to envelop her feet. She would then take a step into the maze of pipes, and as her foot touched the pipe, a transparent wave of shindoton would ripple out from her foot in all directions, riding along the pipe and walls themselves as it expanded out through the complex. Her eyes closed, Shizune, stood still a moment as the wave stretched out to it's maximum range, giving her a clear image in her mind of the physical obstacles surrounding her. She could tell that the tunnel itself was about 3 meters wide, and there were multiple smaller, tighter tunnels branching off from this main tunnel. It would be tricky to determine exactly which one Amaki had traversed, But if she just kept sending out waves with each of her steps, eventually she would get an image of the girl's body, wherever it was hiding.

Of course, transparent waves of energy weren't invisible waves of energy - No doubt Amaki would notice the occasional vibration passing over her. Whenever Shizune got close enough to get a sense of Amaki's location, Amaki would likely have an idea that Shizune knew where she was.