Midori Sato - Fieryfly

[Fieryfly]

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The First Training
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A Worked up Beast is an Unstoppable One!
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7th Month of the Timeskip

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A collaberative work between Fieryfly and Gerontis

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Summary :

SPOILER: Click to show

Though not caring about the words and opinion of a puny human, Gyuki decides its time. But its not only time for small talk.

The beast had his eyes closed. His mighty and large head was resting on his arms as his tails swept around. The cage that once held him confined in a space was nowhere to be found. Yet, the dark room still held him captived inside Midori. Growling the beast would alarm his host, just to warn her that he was getting awake. His eyes slowly opened, as Midori would feel something. His calling that she should appear before him. As soon as he had send out the call, he waited. The eight tails were slowly moving around in the air.

Why was it 6 AM? Midori wondered only when she woke with the call resonating through her body. Sure, she was an early bird that normally rose with the sun, but well, honestly, yesterday had confused her very much and she had spent a lot of time awake, shifting in her sheets. So when the call in her head came and she was forced to wake up her eyes only fluttered open for a moment and then closed again. She tried to believe that it was her alarm clock, but failed to do so because no alarm was strong enough to shake her into her soul. She groaned. "Whyyyyyy...." She whined, her head burried in her pillow. Moments later she appeared before Gyuki, for some strange reason not dressed in her pyjama's.

"Whyyyyyy...." She repeated standing before Gyuki.

Not really answering the question, the nostrils of the beast widened as he snorted a bit. The soft gust would pass Midori and would give the clear signal that she shouldn't annoy him right now. ''I overheard the conversation of yesterday. Though I was tempted to make clear what my opinion on the situation was or is, I heard you saying something else.'' After saying that with his usual booming voice, the beast paused. ''You told your friend that you wanted me to be free. Its true that I want to be free, but I never told you something else.'' The tails slowly were put down as the beast seemed to puff his cheeks. After that, he chuckled in his own special way.

''I don't mind being here. Here I can enjoy some kind of peace. That and I disagree with your puny friend.'' Slowly the head rose up as the monster ox then raised his upper body. Still leaning forward, he frowned at Midori. ''But while I ordered you to listen, I never said that you were needed to chose who to follow.'' He said, hoping she would think about his words. It had been troublesome for him to not speak up when she had been in doubt.

Midori withstood the booming and rubbed her eyes. A yawn escaped her lips and smashed Gyuki in the face. "So you want to be free but you don't want to be free? Confusing. I don't mind having you here either, by the way. But..." She frowned and tried to wake up better. Really listening while being tired was tiresome!. "Wait so... I am not needed to chose who to follow? If I am not needed then... who will decide that?" She asked while surpressing another yawn.

For a moment, he was thinking how he could explain it to her. It was maybe indeed worded a bit confusing. ''Simple actually.'' He said, finding it bit ironic as it wasn't that easy. But he never minded it anyways. ''I want to be free, that is something you realized. And felt. Which mean that our bond is growing. But I don't want that to cost your life. Besides, you humans are annoying. The time that I will be able to become free it will be for a short time. Like you start to see, I am a weapon in the eyes of Kumogakure.'' Gyuki told her. Slowly his right hand was risen from the ground as he pointed at her. His index finger easily dwarfed her in size and for that reason he made sure to keep some distance. ''You need to decide that. You may decide what to believe and who you agree with. Either with me or anybody else. Even while I am able to influence you, you have a will of your own. Or..'' A grin started to appear on his lips.

''Do I need to test that out now?'' The question was meant to joke a bit, though he was serious with his previous words that held a certain meaning.

Those her stance remained the same Midori's eyes shot open as soon as Gyuki's hand moved. She eyed his finger. "So I do need to decide that." She said annoyed. She had known the answer but for some reason she had still hoped that someone else would provide a solution. That would be easy, but nothing was ever easy in life. "I have a very strong will. It says I want to sleeeeeep." Midori resolted by to her whining. "Do you know what time it is?"

''Do you see a clock here? Or a window?'' Gyuki retorted back. He moved his hand back. Snorting, he looked away. ''But if you are like that. Go to sleep. I had decided that its my duty to make sure you stay in shape and learn how to control my power, that you borrow from me.'' The beast leaned forward again as he laid down again. Closing his eyes, he snorted once more. ''But if you want to sleep instead learning something new, than that is your choice.''

Midori gave Gyuki a look. "You can look through my eyes and stuff." She deadpanned. "You know what time it is." The girl was finally waking up and was stretching her arms above her head. She cracked her neck and flexed her wrists and fingers. "Too late I'm already awake now. We might as well do what you had in mind." She continued before pausing and asking: "What did you have in mind?"

She would continue to hear him inside her mind. ''You already have mastered the ability to spit inkt. However, it doesn't stop there.'' She would hear him snorting again. ''There is more to it. But we will keep it easy. First, get yourself ready. I will wait until you're outside and ready.'' Gyuki instructed her. The beast had his eyes closed. Though he had his plan on how to train Midori already in mind, he was wavering about two aspects of the training. Though they weren't that important in his opinion.

Sneak out in the morning at six? If her mother found out she would throw a fit. Midori was about to object to the idea, decided against it because going against Gyuki sounded like a bad idea and just nodded before opening her eyes. She stared into her pillow. It was blue. Pushing herself up Midori quitely attempted to put on her clothes and open the window. For once ninja training actually helped it seemed because she got out of the house without making a sound. She shot through the empty streets. The early marketworkers gave her a short look, but ignored her and the ninja on patrol also didn't seem to mind the young Chuunin dashing around.

Midori picked the trainingsfield she had trained on with Nobushige-sensei long hige-sensei long long ago. Back when he had tried to teach Gakuko Shadow Clone jutsu and her lighting balls. It was so long ago. She smiled at the memory, but then got serious. "Okay, I'm ready." She said out loud which must have been strange if there had been anyone around.

''Good. Now, this may sound strange, but hand over control.'' Gyuki's voice calmly ordered her. The beast knew how that sounded like, but it was needed. Else it would just become a bit annoying. Waiting for what he was expecting from his host, Gyuki was however very patiently as he could understand that this was going to become a huge step for her.

"W-what?" Midori couldn't help but stutter. She took a step back as if that would help her somehow get away, which would of course not work. Giving over control? Her mind raced through the things that could go wrong the most evident one being that she would not get that control back. The thought terrified her as she remembered the times Gyuki had taken over before. It had scared the living hell out of her. No control was terrifying. Midori shook her head from the left to the right, but she wasn't speaking. She understood that Gyuki was meaning no harm, but while her head could be rational the fear was stuck in her heart. She closed her eyes.

"W-what will you do?" She asked him then.

''Create a clone. Unless you can do so. Then be my guest.'' Was the sarcastic reply of Gyuki. Though he understood her fear, he wasn't finding it amusing that she still didn't trust him. ''So, can you? So far I am aware you're not able. I on the other hand know how to make one.'' Gyuki continued as he waited further on how she would react.

"No.." Midori muttered. She could not make clones. No one had ever thought her how to do that and she had never tried herself. She had always been content with one of her self. Two Midori's were not really needed. She could solve her own problems just fine with just one. Something was rising up in the throat but Midori pushed it back. "Okay." She then said, her voice quivering. Her eyes passed over the field and then she closed them firmly, waiting for Gyuki to take over.

A bit surprised she had finally given over control, she would feel how she was pulled down in front of Gyuki. The beast was still laying there and she wouldn't feel anything weird. Just that she couldn't go back. Like she was now trapped inside the dark confined space. ''Ah... Fresh air.'' The voice seemed to come from outside. ''I missed this.'' It stayed quiet for several minutes.

Stuck. She was stuck. It was the only thing that could cross her mind. She could not move, both because of the walls surrounding her and because of fear. Her breathing became quicker. She could hear Gyuki talk and he sounded quite happy, but Midori's breath kept coming faster and faster. What a stupid idea this was. Now he would of course never give it back. He would prance around in her body and leave the city. Roam the land and never come back. Why would he? It would mean he was free. Or at least as free as he could be in this life.

''Stop thinking like that. If I wanted to do that so badly, we wouldn't be here right now.'' Gyuki's voice boomed through the room. He sounded a bit angry and annoyed. Likely he had sensed her thoughts and feelings, which had sparked his reaction.

''This should do it.'' Midori would hear suddenly. Because of the fact she wanted to get out, she would feel the sensation of suddenly surface up. A clone of her, was sitting on a branch, looking down on her. ''Though I am not able to sense any... experiences like what I just did, this can work.'' The clone raised her right hand and flexed her fingers. She looked perfectly like Midori. ''Though I suspected this could work, I had the slight hope I could sense some freedom. Its a pity.'' Turning her head, the voice was even the same. ''Okay, are you paying attention?''

And she was back. Midori took a deep breath and flexed her fingers. So that was what it was like to be stuck inside, not being able to come out. How did he manage it? How had he not gone crazy? Suddenly his madness made a lot of sense. Everyone would be mad if he or she was stuck like that. She steadied her breath and stared to the clone opposing her.

That was Gyuki?

Confused she stared to herself who was not herself. "G-gyuki?" She asked as she inched forward. "You are in there? But also in me? That is... honestly very confusing, but... also pretty cool. You could always do that?" She asked him.

''Surprised?''[/b] The clone grinned as she leaned forward. Supporting her head with her left hand, the clone still had a rather wicked kind of grin. ''Simple. We share a body. When you make a clone, you split chakra off. My chakra has mixed with yours and thus you create a clone with my chakra. The only pain in it is that you don't have the knowledge to create one.'' Gyuki explained it to her. Sitting up straight again, on the branch, the clone pointed to Midori. ''But today I will pass the knowledge of how to produce an Ink Clone.''

Surprised was an understatement. Midori stared to the moving copy of herself. Surely clones were not that strange, but to have one that was talking with Gyuki's voice was totally not noraml. "That is... I would like to know that." She said still trying to grasp the concept. "But can you be like this more often then? It is way easier talking then and people won't think I am completely insane when I talk to myself.. Well, they might think that anyway." She pondered about this. "So how do I do it?"

Her question if he could be like this more seemed to make him sigh and look down. ''No. Remember, you tamed me? If I would run around as a clone of yours, that would ruin the plan. This must remain between us, Midori.'' He sounded serious or rather she. The voice was still like Midori. For a moment, Gyuki was confused as well, but he managed to focus. ''It's simple. You know how to form the illusionary clone. And how to spit ink. We're going to take it a higher level. I want you to focus. Try to focus that ink in your mouth before you spit it out.'' He told her, waiting to see how she would try to perform the idea with the information he gave her. It was a bit hard for him to teach her as his abilities were like a second nature for Gyuki. That and he had never taught anybody them.

Even though she understood Midori felt sad. It would have been great to communicate like that. But she got it and nodded. "Okay.. I'll try." She said and she closed her eyes. Ink Spit had never been her strongest technique but it had gotten better after the Falls of Truth. She made a handseal and gathered the ink in her mouth. For some reason it never tasted weird which honestly weirded Midori out. Shouldn't it taste weird?

"Nwwooww whaww?" She asked Gyuki trying not to spill ink. "Jwust swpit iww?"

Hearing her question made the clone frown. ''Focus. Try to mould it. Mould it in your own image.'' He further instructed. Wavering a bit, the clone pointed to herself. ''Same as I did. Just try to keep your focus steady.'' Not sure how else to explain the technique, Gyuki wasn't sure if this would work. Already he gained the feeling that the first try wouldn't work out like he would hope for. But he would stay patient. Midori would be the first person after all to learn how to use his Inkt release.

Honestly Midori had no clue what Gyuki wanted. Mould the ink into an image of herself. How could she do that? But she tried and concentrated on the clone before her and her own idea of herself and then spit the ink forward. It traveled a small way, tried to form something but failed to get shape and dropped to the ground where it remained nothing more then a small puddle of black water. Midori stared to it. "Well, that failed." She deadpanned. "I don't understand your instructions at all."

''Like I said.'' Gyuki replied in a patient and calm manner. ''Try to picture the illusionary clone technique and spit out the ink. It's all about using the ink as material for it. The first few times it will fail as it isn't easy, Midori.'' Hoping that it wouldn't only help her to grasp the concept of the technique, but also that she wouldn't get demotivated. She already had mastered the most basic ink technique, but this was going a step further. The only thing that Gyuki was wondering about, was his patience. It required a lot more self control than he wanted to admit.

Midori frowned as she rocked back and forth. An illusionary clone was not that hard. She had been able to do that when she graduated the Academy. But combining two jutsu was never easy. She closed her eyes again and focussed. Ink gathered in her mouth as she formed the seals and tried to think of how she would normally create a basic clone. She breathed in through her nose and spit the black liquid forwards. It floated in the air for a moment and tried to take shape. Some features started to appear, but the technique wasn't stable enough and fell apart again.

Midori sighed and tried again. And again. And again. Everytime the ink would form more after the idea of Midori but it never stayed alive for long. Helpless she looked to Gyuki. "What am I doing wrong?" She asked him.

Seeing that she kept trying, Gyuki simply remained quiet. Watching from his place on the branch, the clone he controlled rubbed her chin. ''Hhmm.'' Suddenly, the clone dropped herself from the branch. Landing perfectly and with a certain grace on her feet, she sighed. ''I am not sure. You're the very first person to learn Ink Release from me.'' He admitted to her. Thinking on how people had taught her techniques in the past, Gyuki realized that her sensei actually taught her all kind of things, but not so much for techniques. Realizing that it he had to figure out what way would be best to train and teach her new things, Gyuki thought of another approach. ''So far the ink is taking some features, so you're clearly improving.'' He said, on purpose praising her. ''But stop thinking what you're doing wrong. Keep trying to focus on those features. Just make them more solid.'' Stepping to her side, the clone made a gesture in the air. ''Shall I else try it with you?''

Well, at least she was doing something right. That was good! She wasn't completely failing. Midori smiled and rubbed her nose. "As in, show me how you do it as a clone?" She asked as he stated his suggestion. "That'd be great. Maybe I'll understand it better." She formed the seals again and waited for Gyuki to do the same. She had to keep it solid. Solid and firm and capable of existing. How hard could that be really? she questioned herself. She should totally be able to do that.

Forming the seals, perfectly in sync with Midori, she would hear Gyuki's voice inside her mind this time. He couldn't after all talk in a normal fashion, with a mouth filled with ink. Remember, Try to focus on making it solid.[/i] After that, the clone of Midori opened her mouth and spitted out some ink. In the air, it already took several features. By the time it would reach the ground, two feet touched the grass. Another version of Midori stood in front of the clone Gyuki controlled. The only difference was that it had the color of the ink for a short moment before gaining the colors. Now you try it.[/i] After finishing that sentence, the ink clone that had been created seemed to melt, into ink.

Midori gaped at the perfectly created clone. That was pretty impressive. Yush, she could do this. Normally Gyuki's voice was kind of scary but now actually it gave her confidence that she could do this. An image of herself, a copy that could walk and talk and fight. A deep breath and she send the ink forwards. The black goo sailed through the air and started to form feet. As it landed it stood for a grand total of two seconds and looked like a deformed mass of something, but it stood. Then it slowly started to sink, but Midori still looked excited. "Did you see that?!" She asked Gyuki. "It stood!"

Though he had expected that she would be able to perform it by now, the clone did flash a smile in Midori's direction. It seemed that praising her and showing an example was the way how she would keep making progress. Only he wasn't sure what he could do now other than to praise her. ''I am proud of you.'' He said, after letting several moments pass. Then an idea came up. ''Though I know a way how to perfect the technique. Come, sit down with me.'' The clone proceeded to sit down on her rear, in a meditation sit. Gyuki started to flesh out his thought. It could be a reason why Midori wasn't able to advance something that was so natural to him.

Midori grinned. This was going pretty well and she was about to try again when Gyuki said she should sit down. Sighing slightly the girl got down to the ground next to Gyuki, crosslegged and gave him a look. "Okay, so what? I was doing it. A bit more practice and I'll get it done. I don't need a break really. We haven't been working that long."

''Remember, listen.'' Gyuki mumbled, a bit annoyed as the clone raised her index finger. ''You're making progress, but do you want to keep struggling like that all the time? Creating an Ink clone shouldn't be that hard.'' He told her. With the clone placed both her hands on her lap, there was slowly a frown appearing on her face. ''After all, our bond has improved, but it's also a problem. As long we aren't bonded to a certain level, you will keep struggling with using- I mean, borrowing my powers.'' Hoping that he wasn't too confusing, Gyuki waited to see if she understood it before he would continue.

"I am listening." Midori sputtered before actually being silent. She understood what he was saying, but still thought she was making pretty good progress for something she had only been doing for a short time. Who could expect her to learn a technique so quickly anyway? "So how do we increase our bond?" Midori asked as she was digging holes in the sand with her fingers.

''To listen.'' Gyuki first said, forgetting that he was needed to be a bit more precise than that. ''In order to understand how to use my abilities, you need to understand me. The better you can do that, the better you will be able to use them.'' He told her, hoping that it kept making sense to her. Only problem was that he wasn't able to figure out a way how their bond could become better. It was just like what he had said, she would need to listen. But more, to trust him and try to sense what he was feeling. Though as always, that wasn't only something she had to do..

"Okay talk." Midori said. "You talk. I listen. I can never understand you if you don't talk to me about who you are." Her hands played with the dirt on the ground as she watched the spitting image of herself ponder. It was strange, but it was also nice to talk to Gyuki like this.

Simple. You already know my name, our seal is open and you look ready to trust me a bit. However, the real work is to not listen just to what I say. But you need to dig deeper. Gyuki explained inside her mind. It was time for some theory, because he would indeed to explain some things. Only it had been such a long time since his last good bond, that he was a bit rusty with it. Not to mention Midori was a world different than from the First Raikage. You need to compare it to like... trying to listen to your friend. When you listen to Deidara, do you just focus on his words? Isn't expression important? Tone?'' Gyuki asked, trying to make Midori think about it while he was already thinking how to explain how she could try to listen to him.

Trust. Everytime it boiled down to that simple tiny word and Midori wasn't even a hundred percent sure that she could trust Gyuki. Sure, he had given her body back, sure he hadn't broken out. But there was always this tiny voice in the back of her mind that reminded her of the events that had happened and of the dreams. She shook her head slightly. She had to trust him. He was not as bad as she had thought he was and he had been rather nice lately. Yes, I focus on all these things. she replied. But that is kinda hard to do with you since you are mostly in my head and I can't see your expressions.

Gyuki had expected that kind of response. ''That is just the thing. You can't see my expressions, but you can do much more. Instead of only listening to what I am saying, you should tap deeper. Listen to what I feel. He explained. The Ink clone briefly smiled. Do you understand that? I try to not make it too complicated. If I have to actually rank this, you're going to try to something only a Raikage in the past was able to. Gyuki then realized what he said, that it might sounds demotivating. But I think you can do it.

While the whole feeling thing was interesting, what was way cooler was the fact that this was a Kage skill. Only a Raikage before had been able to do this. Midori's hands formed into fists. Gyuki's words were not demotivating at all. They actually made her focussed more. She could do this. She would do this. I think I understand. And I'll try. How can I achieve that? How can I listen to what you feel?

That is the problem. You need to just try and figure it out yourself. Nobody explained how you are able to hear words, am I wrong? Gyuki said, but it was just one other question to keep her sharp. At least, he was trying to get that effect. Besides, I have no idea how to explain it. It has been a long time that somebody managed to achieve it. And it was even hard for him to achieve it. Thinking about that, he could remember some things about it. After all, those memories were kind of dear for him. Maybe it is a good hint, but you could try to let me work more with you. The more we work together, the better our co-operation. If we get better at that, we might understand each other better.

Well that was not much help, Midori thought slightly disappointed. She nodded to his question, which was stupid because they were talking to each other in their mind. How actually am I able to hear your voice.. She asked him as she suddenly wondered about that. She had never questioned that before. Why hadn't she? Wasn't that weird?

So what? You want to do teamexcersizes together? Do yoga? She chuckled before becoming silent again. Suddenly she got up and stretched out her hand to get Gyuki up too. Let's go somewhere.

Strange. The Ink clone took Midori's hand, while getting up. Don't mock me. I still can smash people. She would hear a snort in her mind. Still, he didn't sound annoyed. Where do you want to go? Gyuki was half tempted to joke about that she would likely want to go to bed. But he couldn't help to grow curious. That and it was nice to move around on his own. Even while he was looking like a human.

Yeah right. One punch at that clone is gone. Midori retorted as she turned sideways towards the exit of the field. She held her hand up before the clone, lightning sparking between her fingers. Let's go hiking. She continued. I used to do with my dad and he used to do with his grandfather, at least he always said so. We used to have these great talks while hiking, but you also have to watch out for each other. It's fun.

You need to try it out. Gyuki responded as he followed her. Listening to what she said, Gyuki couldn't help but to comment on the hiking. I know some wonderful places in the land. I remember the time I met one of my bretheren. He is a turtle and was in this bay.. Gyuki started to tell her, telling her on how he had met the Three Tails. At least one of the Tailed beast he could sympathize with.

Midori smiled as Gyuki started talking. This trip would be fun.

[Fieryfly]

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A path, made by a Bijuu and a Sato.
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A friendly conversation,

Between mere friends?
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Continuation of the previous post

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A collaberative work between Fieryfly and Gerontis

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Summary :

SPOILER: Click to show

After training, Midori takes Gyuki for a bit of hiking. Though not sure if he will like it, the two decide to go for a walk anyways. What follows can be read, a glimps on how the dynamic between Midori and Gyuki truly works.

It was truely long ago since she had just gone on a hike. Team missions didn't count because that was about having a goal and getting that goal. This was just hiking because you could hike. The only goal you had was getting to the top of a mountain. Because Midori wasn't stupid she was aware of the fact that that woman would never let her leave Kumogakure so randomly so she chose one of the mountains that lay just behind the city. It didn't matter anyway which mountain it was. As she walked Midori kept glancing to the clone. When they had started he had been talking about a turtle that was a friend of his, but that story seemed to have ended along with the houses. They were no longer in the city now which made Midori breath a bit more freely. She felt like she should say something, but wasn't quite sure what. Everything was still so confusing. "Did the first Raikage like hiking?" She asked suddenly, remembering what Gyuki had told her.

The question made the clone look up. It was a nice exchange of view to look up and see the clear sky instead of a dark roof. ''He liked it now and then. Not that he had much time for it. Often he tried to walk around Kumogakure instead of the mountains, but he liked it.'' The clone turned her gaze back to Midori. A grin widened the lips of the clone. ''He was quite irritating. Much like you at the start, asking me all kind of questions on what kind of landscapes I had seen during my travels.'' After saying that, the ink clone frowned as she seemed to become more serious. ''But I kind of liked that. That curiousity. He was even more curious than I was. I never told him that..''

"I never asked you that." Midori huffed. She was arguing with herself, at least that was what it looked like. It felt weird. It was weird! It was also weird that Gyuki was speaking so ... seriously about a human. She had never heard him do that before. "Do you miss him? The Raikage?" She asked, remembering how bad she had felt when she had heard that Nobushige-sensei had died and she realised that she would never see him again. She had missed him. A lot. Sometimes she still did. She had no clue what it must be like for Gyuki, to outlive someone like that.

The clone stayed quiet. Like she hadn't hear or didn't want to hear the question, but Gyuki was thinking about it. ''Yes and no.'' Was the answer at first. Placing a hand at her neck, the clone closed her eyes as she scratched it. ''You humans are so fragile and it is clear that you will die before me. So I already had braced myself on that loss. Yet..'' Opening her eyes, she seemed to be a bit of confused. ''It drove me mad. Sad and so many other things. I wished I could've done something to help him, but I had no influence on anybody. I was seen by many as a mere weapon, a tool that he could use.'' Gyuki stayed again silent for a few seconds. He briefly thought back of those times, but he realized something. ''I never liked Snake-sensei.'' He told it in a rather blunt fashion, but his tone however changed with the next sentence. ''But you could compare our loss. It is kind of the same, except I saw him die. And I couldn't do anything about it.''

Midori felt sad, almost as if she could feel Gyuki's sadness. It sounded like he had really cared a lot for that man. And he must have been really cool. He had been Raikage after all. She wondered why it was that Gyuki could live so long but his friend couldn't. Would she die too and would have to live on again? That thought was sad too. "You didn't know Snake-sensei so well." She said. "He looked mean and he did mean stuff, but he cared a lot about us. When... when you attacked Kumogakure and started to send Bijuu bombs around one was coming at me and... Nobushige-sensei protected me. Practically with the intention to sacrifice his own life." She paused for a second. "And he rammed a kunai through my hand... that was not very nice though." But she chuckled at the memory as she absentmindedly wrapped her right hand around her left one. A mark could still be seen on it. "I don't know what is worse. Seeing a person you like die and not be able to do anything about it, or knowing too late that that person died and you weren't there to help him."

He listened to her, but the nostrils of the clone's nose widened. Like usual, he wanted to snort, but the nose of Midori was very different than his own. Thus, no gust or sound was produced when the clone tried to snort. ''Both is worse. Dying is a big annoying thing.'' The clone said, almost like Gyuki was going to complain or whine about it. ''And that is also why I don't like Snake Sensei. Now it looks like I kind of followed his style.'' Again the nostrils of the nose of the clone widened. Sighing, Gyuki gave up. The body of a human wasn't much to his liking. How could he produce his snortings to make clear how he felt? How did they do that? Just tone and body language? ''But dying is a natural thing. It is just the circle of life. Like how you eat something, that is mostly a dead animal. Maybe that animal had any younglings? We can go on, but it is something that is natural to you. Even I can die, even if it is temporary for some reason.'' Gyuki tried to explain, but realized he was sounding like he knew a lot. Deciding to shut up, he would look around through the eyes of the ink clone. He quite liked the area. Though it was nothing in comparison with the ocean.

Midori snorted. And then did it again before giggling. "That is how you do it." She said. "Also stop saying you dislike Nobushige-sensei. I liked him. A lot. It is not nice to-" Suddenly she stopped talking and frowned. She had just snorted because she knew that Gyuki had wanted to do that. How had she known that? He hadn't told her or said anything remotely close to wanting anything like that. And still she had known. They arrived at a junction and automatically Midori chose the left road. "How did I know that?" She asked concerned. "Why did I know that you were trying to snort?"

The clone shrugged lightly. ''I tried to explain it several times. Listen. Seems you did it on your own.'' Following up with Midori, Gyuki briefly thought on how he could explain it. He had tried it several times, but it wasn't easy to understand it. Let alone make it work. ''Imagine that we are one and the same, yet different personalities. No, that is wrong.'' The clone mumbled something. There had to be a way to explain it so that Midori wouldn't have a headache nor he would have to bring in all kind of complex stuff that would make it harder to explain. ''When your mother is angry, do you need to hear her say that?'' Gyuki asked.

"But you weren't talking." Midori huffed again. Why was stuff so complicated when it came to this. Why couldn't it just be easy. Then they could just go back to hiking and be done with everything. Luckily his question did make sense. "No." Midori said. "When she is angry she puts her arms over each other and looks at me with this stern gaze. It is very annoying because she won't say anything, but I just know it and that is annoying. Though my mom is hardly angry with me."

A grin crept upon the lips of the clone as Midori answered. ''There you have it.'' He sounded rather confident. ''You don't need hear her to say it, but by knowing her and how she acts, you know she is angry. Our bond will over time work the same. As long you keep trusting me and work with me, you will learn more about me. And at the same time, I learn about you.'' Gyuki explained. He was glad with her answer as it meant he wouldn't have to bring in all kind of annoying terms. He prefered to keep it simple. ''I have my habits and you already managed to pick one up. Over time it will become like.. what do you call it? A sixth sense? I thought it was called like that, but I think it is.'' The clone snorted. This time, it had a bit more sound. Not that it was like when he would do it with his orignal body, but so far he was content with it. ''Though I suppose that it may have its drawbacks.'' The tone of the last sentence seemed to be a more worrying one.

Midori jumped on one of the big rocks that were lined up next to the road. "So I can see ghosts now?" She asked and then stuck out her tongue. She did understand what Gyuki meant to say. It made sense. Her mother didn't have to talk and Midori knew that she was angry. Gyuki didn't have to talk and she knew that he wanted to be able to snort. It was kind of the same thing really. Well... not really, but close enough, she thought. "So can you read all my thoughts?" Midori asked, sounding slightly concerned. That would be awfully annoying if Gyuki always knew what she was thinking. She liked to have her own thoughts too. "And if so, can I read your thoughts as well?"

The clone whiped her head in Midori's direction. Sending a glare in return for the joke, Gyuki wasn't really that angry. But he found it below himself to find that funny. ''I don't see ghosts. That is a stupid human belief. Ghosts, they don't exist.'' The clone mumbled, finding the whole strange term of ''ghosts'' rather strange. ''And no. You can say that I can read some, but I can't really read them. It is something to explain it in broad way.'' Gyuki pondered on how he could explain that. It had something to do with their link and bond. So he could try to merge the topics together so that she would be able to understand it with ease. ''It is like you can guess how I feel or want. When I for a moment would disagree with what somebody says, you could over time easily manage to find that out. It is the same as how I can 'read' your mind when you disagree with something. It isn't that hard later.'' He told her. At least, it wasn't that hard for him. It had been something he had done several times. Either cause of some reasons, but also cause he didn't had much else to do.

Midori pouted. Gyuki couldn't appriciate a joke. And who said that ghosts weren't real? Nobody had ever really proved that they weren't real, so why couldn't it be true. Deep down Midori knew that no such thing existed, but it was a funny thought anyway. "So basically," she said after Gyuki finished his other explanation, "I can never lie to you. And you can never lie to me. That is actually... rather comforting. I don't like liars." The last sentence was mumbled as the thought about Asami. That woman had lied to her and that had caused a lot of harm. And she was lying to everyone because she was not the savior of Kumo, unlike what everyone might think or whatever Deidara said. She wanted him to understand, but it was so hard to explain. Ryo would understand, right? She suddenly thought. She was sure he would. "Do you like Ryo?" She suddenly asked Gyuki. "Is it weird for you that I like like him and you don't and stuff?"

The way how she formulated made Gyuki wonder about it. It was kind of like that, so he decided that he would just make the clone nod. When she asked about that boy she felt something for, Gyuki wavered. ''I am not sure. I don't like people who really want to be close with you... I don't like to hear too many other voices, thinking they know you.'' He mumbled, which made it clear he wasn't really fond of making that clear. ''But if you mean that yellow haired boy, I don't mind him. Neither is it weird that you like things I don't like. You like that Deidara. I don't. Cause our bond and link will grow, it doesn't mean it will affect your personality. It might effect you on another kind of way.''

Midori blinked twice at that reply. He didn't like people who wanted to be close with her? Was he... jealous? Midori wondered with slightly wide eyes. She looked to the path in front of them. With all the talking she almost forgot what they had come here to do. To hike and see the mountain. It was good that Gyuki didn't dislike Ryo though because that would be silly. She didn't see how anyone could dislike Ryo, but she did wonder if he found it weird when she kissed him. "I don't understand why you don't like Deidara, but that is fine I guess. And in what way will it affect me? Will I get crazy new personality traits?" She said, joking slightly.

The clone nodded while it had a serious look. Placing a hand on her forehead, it seemed that Gyuki was searching for something. ''Seems they haven't grown yet. But yet, my chakra is going to make some physical effect on you.'' He told her on a serious manner. A grin came back on the lips of the clone as she used her hands to make some kind of imitation horns. ''I wouldn't call them crazy. I have my horns ever since I can remember. You might develop some other physical effects that make it clear you're my host. The First Raikage was very scared. Cause you won't be really human anymore.''

"What!!" Midori halted abruptly. She had meant that last question as a joke, not expecting Gyuki to say that she would really change physically. "B-but I don't want to get horns!! Nonononono, that would be very not cool. Stop with making me grow horns! I don't want them. You can keep them. Or thrown them away or whatever. I don't want them." Frantically Midori went with her hands through her hair to feel if anything was out of the ordinary. She found nothing, but was still suspicious. "You are not making fun of me are you?' She asked him with an angry look on her face.

The clone started to laugh as Midori asked the question. Though it was all a joke, it was worth it. ''Of course! You deserved that one! Hahaha, you should see your face!'' The clone's cheeks started to blush as the clone kept on laughing and pointing at Midori. ''Thinking that Bijuu chakra would work like that! Hahahaha, that is hilarious! That was great.'' Managing to calm down, the clone shook her head. The grin had turned into a wide smirk as the clone looked again in Midori's direction. ''But, you will go through some changes. Not really anything in appearance. But in order for me to stay within you, your body needs to be able to endure Bijuu chakra. It is much, much much beter than your human chakra.'' Telling her that, Gyuki was clearly enjoying telling her that. There was a certain pride in the voice as it was explained to Midori.

"You..." Midori said, pulling her hands out of her hair. She puffed her cheeks. It was not funny, not funny at all! He was laughing at her! How rude! She took a breath and then jumped at Gyuki, aiming to topple him over and wrestle him to the ground. She would teach him for being so mean! What if she had gotten horns? That would not have been funny at all so she had rightfully been panicking about that.

''Hmm? HEY!'' The clone tried to jump away, to get out of Midori's reach. But even it noticed the incoming threat, the clone wouldn't be fast enough. With Midori on top, the clone tried to push her away. ''Get off me.. you... this clone!'' The clone muttered, trying to get Midori of the clone he was controlling. While he could in theory easily get away from it, he was now distracted and caught off guard. Or maybe he was having fun. No! This was a struggle to the death!

"No way. You tricked me. You evil! Now you will pay." Midori said as she grabbed his hands - or where it her hands? It was all so confusing anyway so she was going to stick with his - and pressed them against the ground. But it was hard to restrain a Tailed Beast even though he was disguised as a clone and she needed all her concentration to keep him in place.

''I don't have red eyes or black hair! You're evil! You're human! Or not... You are!'' The clone used one hand to slap Midori's away, trying to keep pushing Midori off her. Gritting her or Midori's teeth - it was really confusing Gyuki now too- the clone tried to gain the upper hand. But with Midori's weight on her or him -Really, who is who?!- it was hard for Gyuki to gain the upper hand. ''Give up, I can smash trees with ease. Damn.''

"Who needs to be able to smash trees?!" Midori called back. Her hand was slapped away and she formed it into a fist that she planted in Gyuki's stomach. First she was pretty pleased with the fact that she had landed a hit until suddenly the clone poofed away and she was sitting alone on the ground, drenched in ink. Midori blinked. Clones, of course, could only take one hit and then they were gone. Midori stared to the ink on the ground and on her pants. Well, that sucked. Now the clone was gone. How were they going to hike now? They hadn't reached the top of the mountain yet. "Ehh, how... how did I make a clone again?" She asked Gyuki in a small voice.

She would hear Gyuki laugh inside her mind. It kept going on like that for a bit. ''Simple. Like how I showed you. Focus.'' He instructed her. Though she had offended him, by merely trying to test his strength that was absolute, Gyuki found it amusing. Inside her, the beast was laying calm in the place he was sealed in. A grin on his lips, he felt actually happy. ''Well? What is taking you so long, hmmm?''

"I know that, but... it didn't work last time." Midori said. She got up and tried to get the ink of her hands by wiping it on her pants. That didn't help at all so she gave up on that. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Mould ink in her mouth, remember the clone technique on the academy, think of the image she wanted to make. Midori spat out the ink before her and watched how it formed into an image of herself that seemed rather stable really. Her eyes widened. "I... I did it?"

''Does it have horns? Or any tails?'' Gyuki asked, clearly making jokes as he opened one of his eyes. He could see the clone through her eyes and snorted. In a good manner, so far that was possible. ''Seemed that you have it finally under control. Now, just relax and keep on breathing.'' He ordered her as she would feel something weird. It was a brief moment that it seemed that her stomach seemed to move, before she would experience a goosebumps. The clone in front of her moved her arms out of herself. Glancing at her hands, the clone nodded. ''Yes, you did it alright.'' The clone told her. ''Though you will need to learn on how to get better. You can make clones stronger, you know? It will be a huge pain if this body will be destroyed with every punch. Not to mention, kind of waste of chakra.'' Gyuki warned her, though not sounding too serious as he wasn't trying to make it sound like a lecture. ''Cause remember. You're borrowing my chakra. Hmm.''

Midori didn't listen at all to what Gyuki was saying. She had just created an ink clone and it lived and Gyuki was moving it. That meant she had succeeded the training! A smile appeared on her face as she punched her fist in the air. "I did it! Yes! That only took forever, but I did it! And yes yes, I remember and stuff, but I did it! Isn't that good? I think that is pretty good. I was never able to make clones. Nobushige-sensei taught Gakuko but he didn't teach it to me." For a moment it seemed that Midori's old rambling had come back. It felt good to talk again, she thought, but then she calmed down. "Teach me next time how to make them stronger. First we need to get to the top of the mountain." She said, having already forgotten that she had been mad with Gyuki.

The clone pouted. Though she, the clone, pouted it didn't mean that Gyuki wasn't happy to see Midori like that. It reminded him of how she used to be. ''It isn't that easy. It comes with experience and bit of testing out. Of course, you're my host. So that means you're like me, kind of awesome right away.'' The clone said, the grin back again. Placing her hands on her side, the clone briefly stopped walking as a laugh was heard. ''After all, there are many things a Tailed Beast can do what a human can't. We are kind of better... in some ways.'' Snorting, the clone would catch up with Midori. Maybe it was time to explain Midori how Bijuu chakra worked? He already had told her that her body was undergoing through some changes due his chakra. ''But, like I said, my chakra will start to effect you. Right at this moment, your body is kept being destroyed and rebuild due my chakra.'' Gyuki tried to explain. ''All because your body won't be able to keep me sealed inside. Else it will just go like... Booooom!'' Spreading out the arms of the clone, he hoped that would explain how it kind of worked.

Yeah, right, Midori thought. He was rebuilding her body. Sure. "I am not falling for that again. Using the same trick won't fool me a second time you know. I am not stupid." She raised her hand before her face and waved it around so that Gyuki could see it. "See, it is not being destroyed or rebuild. You liar." She said but she didn't sound mad, more... amused. "Also I bet there are many things a human can do that a Tailed Beast can't. For example," she raised a finger in the air. "We can make ice cream. And chocolate. We can build awesome cities and all kinds of other cool stuff. What can Tailed Beasts do? Hm?"

The mouth of the clone fell open. First she wanted to explain Midori that it wasn't that simple or obvious. It was done on a cell-level, so she wouldn't notice it. But before he could say anything, Midori began to list a few things. Huffing the cheeks of the clone, the eyes narrowed as the hands of the clone clenched into fists. ''Don't test me.'' The clone said, though in any other stiuation or person this would be a bit funny, cause the clone didn't had the voice of Gyuki. ''We Tailed Beast aren't like you puny humans. Each single one of us is unique. Can you swim for a long time in the ocean? Can you have as much chakra as I have? Can you use ink without me? We tailed Beasts don't need any cities.'' Snorting, the clone took a more arrogant look as she kept walking next to Midori. ''We aren't in need of things you humans are so dependent on. We are the Bijuu after all.''

"Huuuhhhh..." Midori said thinking. They were reaching the higher parts of the mountain now and the oak trees started to change into pines. The path become more rocky instead of the mushy forest ground they had been walking on. "No, I can't, but the question is if I really need to have that. Ice cream on the other hand." However his last sentence did make her think. "There are nine Bijuu right?" She asked Gyuki as she thought about it. "What are the others like? Do you know them? Do they like chocolate and puppies too?"

Gyuki thought about it. The clone nodded as he became a bit more serious. ''Yes, there are nine of us. But to make it clear, the amount of tails doesn't mean that one is stronger or weaker. We are all equal in strength and chakra. Only have different abilities and appearances.'' Gyuki thought further about it. Though he didn't mind to tell and teach Midori more about the Bijuu, he wasn't keen on talking about it. Mostly for his dislike for some of the Bijuu. ''I know all of them, as they know me. And some are just... evil.'' The lips of the clone curled down as she shot Midori a glare. ''Like the Nibi, other known as Matatabi. He is evil. Stupid flaming cat. Then you also have the Nine Tails, Kurama. He is a real sadistic scumbag.'' The clone huffed. ''Though there are some who are to my liking. The Sanbi is a good beast. He is fun and great.'' By mentioning the beast he liked, it seemed he became a bit happier. ''Though I don't think they all share the same preferences as me.''

Gyuki hated the Nibi? But wasn't that... Kiyomi's Tailed Beast, Midori thought absentmindedly. "Matatabi... Is he red or black with evil eyes?" She mumbled out loud planning to ask Kiyomi that if she ever saw her half sister again. "The Sanbi is in Kumogakure, right? Though I have never met his host..." Midori pondered about that too. Why had she never met him. Hell, she didn't even know if it was a him. Maybe the host was a girl just like she was. Why hadn't Asami used him or her for the liberation of Kumo. Midori felt bad for thinking that. It was not like she wished that someone else would suffer like that. That was mean.

''Noo, he is blue with some two coloured eyes. But he is a evilish cat.'' The clone said back. ''That is partly me to blame.'' Gyuki said, answering why she had never met the host of the Three Tailed Beast. The clone looked in the direction they were heading, while explaining his reasons. ''When two hosts are near each other, it is possible for the beasts to ''sense'' each other. Though we are different, our chakra is connected to each other. At least, that is how I can explain it. When they are close, it is often common that the Beasts either talk or threaten each other, depending on their relationship. Though I am not on any hostile ground with the Three Tails, I thought you wouldn't be ready. You need to learn a lot of other things before you can see another.'' Looking sideways at Midori, the clone had a worried glance. ''That and such thoughts won't help. As long you keep trying to see it as a bad thing, you will never fully progress. Even somebody as the First Raikage found it often depressing he was seen as a weapon in the end, but that doesn't mean you can't live like you want to. Just know.'' Slowly and carefuly, the clone bumped a fist against Midori's shoulder. A grin crept on the clone's face. ''That you have somebody who is there for you when you need some protection.'' Removing the fist, the clone snorted. ''I do demand some tribute however.... Seeing we beast can't make any chocolate....''

After all the things they had done and the trouble they had had. The distrust and the fear. Midori was really really happy that Gyuki wasn't evil after all. There had been so much doubt but this actually felt like he was genuine. She just knew he wasn't lying when he said he would help her when she needed it. Somehow she could feel it. She guessed that was the link Gyuki had been talking about. It felt nice. To have someone to protect everywhere. Together they could totally beat Asami if she ever tried something again.

"Thanks, Gyuki." She said in a rather timid voice and she meant it. "Thanks.

As for the tribute... Well we could go out to get ice cream together? Chocolate ice cream." She winked and sprinted ahead of him. "But let's get to that mountain top first!"

The clone, thus Gyuki showed no response or thought back when Midori said thanks. He saw no reason in responding back. She would know he meant what he said, so why the need to further talk about it? Probably a human thing. It made Gyuki a bit afraid he would think or perhaps act more like one when he would take over clones of Midori. That would be a big disaster! He didn't want to become like them! That wasn't something he considered an option. When Midori suggested ice cream, the clone nodded and smiled at Midori. Only to see her run ahead of him. ''Hey! Hey!'' Chasing Midori, the clone raised her hands in the air as she kept shouting. ''Come here and show some honor! Hey! Midori!''

Thank you too.