Be Water, My Friend (P,NK,IO)

Altar sat in the plains, underneath the same tree, staring at the same stars. It was the day after Haru had taught him to utilize water, and had given him his Byakugan. He had received a note that told him to meet here, seeing as the plains were relatively quiet and the tree was the only true landmark in the vast plains. He now regretted not bringing anything to do in the meantime. So, seeing as there was nothing to do, Altar decided he would try to take the moment to rest. However, as he rolled over and closed his eyes, he found he was unable to sleep. The soft glow of the moon flowers was enough to keep him awake. So, he tried once more to find shapes and patterns among the stars. Eventually, he grew bored, so he resorted to leaning on the tree, and staring off into the distance. He perceived movement every now and again, and would turn, expecting Haru, but found it as nothing more than a harmless small animal, which normally ran after seeing him move. After a while, Altar gave out a sigh and sat back down, idly twiddling his thumbs, waiting for Haru to arrive.

Haru did what he always did in his down time- took a nap. That training exercise took a ridiculous amount of energy from him, and he already slept for over half the day normally. This simply amplified the effect, causing him to sleep far longer then he had originally intended. As in, he slept far past the time he was supposed to meet with Altar. Punctuality wasn’t his strong suit. He awoke an hour late, glancing lazily at the clock.
”Oh, I’m late…” He muttered almost boredly. He slipped out of the bed, slipping his new black duster on, grabbing whatever gear he needed, before climbing out the window of his apartment, before leaping out, his body flat with his arms behind his back, his duster billowing in the wind. He pressed his feet against the building, running down the side, before pushing off, landing squarely in the streets below. He stood up to full height, casually brushing the hair out of his eyes as he turned towards the gates, walking out into the plains.
 
He would arrive at the tree they had trained at before, seeing the boy sitting there waiting.

”Sorry I’m late, I got attacked by like ten ninjas, I had to fight them off to save the city and stuff.” He told him excitedly. ”So, anyways. Today I’m planning to teach you a few water techniques, and how to use your byakugan. I’d say we should start with your dojutsu, because, you know, it’s a fair bit more useful then a water dragon or something like that, but the choice is yours. What do you wanna do?” He would ask, folding his arms.

Altar sat in the plains, still waiting beneath the tree. He looked at the moon, and gave a small weary sigh. Haru was late. Really late. Altar was trying to decide whether Haru actually wanted to train him more, or if he was just trying to play a prank in him by making him sit in the plains all night. He actually expected that out of him, to be honest. He wasn't sure if that was a bad thing. None the less, here he waited, watching for Haru in the ever growing night. At least it was a semi-pleasant experience. Various animals that found their homes in the plans would come up to him at various times, then scatter when he moved.

Altar was in need of something to do, so he sat there and hummed. As he did so, animals from all around slowly came out and looked towards him. Seeing this, Altar began to softly sing out the words to the song. It was a song he had often heard in his childhood, and a very quiet one at that, but still enchanting to hear. It was said to make you happier when you hear it. His singing softly echoed through the plains, bringing a few more animals out as his voice carried. The animals drew closer, eventually coming right next to him. Altar continued singing softly, until the song came to a close and the animals once again ran off in all directions. Well, that was a shame.

Altar sighed as he stood, seeing Haru approaching. Finally, he would actually have something to do. He hoped that Haru hadn't heard the singing. He did wonder, however, what had taken him so long. As Haru approached, he gave his excuse and went on about how they should probably train the Byakugan first. That, in retrospect, was probably a good idea.

"Really, ten ninja? I've been out here fighting off a whole camp of bandits. And you look awful rested for a guy who just had to fight a ten-on-one. Anyways, yeah, lets start with the Byakugan. It seems more paramount and useful in more situations, yeah?" Altar would say, cocking his head slightly to the side.

Haru raised a finger as if to interject on Altar’s point.
”Oh, but a single ninja is worth an entire platoon of bandits, easily.” He added wisely. When Altar made his comment about looking well rested, he simply shrugged. ”I sleep over twelve hours a day. I always look rested.” He told him, brushing hair out of his face.
 
”Anyways, we’ll try to begin with byakugan training. I’ve actually got a good way to train it, the same way I did when I was a genin. The only problem is, we’re gonna have to head to an old, creepy warehouse, and I’m gonna have to make a stop at home. Sound good?” He would explain, turning and walking towards the village without waiting for an answer. ”I’ll try to explain the fundamentals of the byakugan on the way there.” He would tell Altar, gesturing for the boy to walk next to him.
 
”Unlike other dojutsu, such as the sharingan, the byakugan is usable to most Hyuuga at birth, although a little practice is usually needed to use it properly. The dōjutsu is manifested as very distinctive eyes, characterised by their enlarged and featureless white irises with no visible pupils. This will be rather obvious to you if you’ve ever looked at my right eye, or simply looked in a mirror recently, for that matter. When the Byakugan is activated, the user's pupils become more distinct, and the veins near their temples bulge.” He said, before activating his own byakugan as a demonstration, the veins bulging and the pupils enlarging. ”In this state, the byakugan is capable of seeing the body’s intricate chakra circulatory system, which we take advantage of in gentle fist techniques. It also allows you to see in nearly 360 degrees. I say ‘nearly’ because there is a very miniscule area near the back of your head where you cannot see, about the size of a pin. Be wary of this, many enemies will try to take advantage of it.” He warned him. ”In addition to the already impressive field of vision, you are capable of seeing through solid objects with the byakugan, like buildings and even underground tunnels. This makes it incredibly useful for seaking out targets. Finally, you are capable of seeing up to a mile with this eye, which is a little daunting if you haven’t had this sort of ability before. You’ll probably get motion sickness when you turn your head for a few hours, but after that, most problems should be gone.” He finished, stopping.
 
They were now in an industrial area of tengakure, filled with empty warehouses and boarded up windows. ”Wait here. I’ve got to grab someone for you.” He told him, taking off up the side of a building, disappearing into the cityscape. A few minutes would pass, and Haru would reappear, on the back of a large dragon. The winged beast would land gracefully on the pavement, and off would hop Haru, patting the creature’s head.

”You remember Noctis, right?” He asked him.

Altar smirked at the small interjection. While it wasn't entirely true, it had it's value. Haru then said he had a good way to train the Byakugan, but they would need to move to an old run down area of Tengakure. Well, that sounded just great. How fun, go to an old broken down industrial building. Yay. At least they'd get the training done. Haru walked off, and motioned for Altar to follow him. Altar would do so, following off with Haru back into Tengakure.

As they walked, Haru explained a bit about the Byakugan, telling Altar of it's features and various uses. Altar would add a nod whenever something came up that he knew about, including the nearly 360 radius view and the small blind spot. This made Altar remember his first time meeting Haru, which had ended in a small scuff. He had tried to utilize the small blind spot, and had somewhat been successful. He had ended up piercing through Haru's heart, but Haru quickly recovered and acted like nothing had happened. Altar shook his head, returning his focus to Haru's explanation, which seemed over, for the most part. However, he stopped, and Altar guessed they were where they needed to be.

Haru had spoken the truth. The place was an old warehouse, in an even older industrial area. However, Haru darted off, leaving Altar behind. It didn't take long for him to get back, though, as he was riding something. It appeared to be a fairly large dragon. He presumed it was Noctis. Haru asked him if he remembered the creature.

"Of course I remember Noctis. Kinda hard to forget him, after all. Of course, he's not the little drake I used to know, or so it would seem. Now, mind telling me why we had to come here and why you had to bring Noctis?" Altar would say, looking from Haru to Noctis, then back again.

Noctis tilted his head and stared at Altar as he responded. The dragon stayed silent for now, letting Haru do the talking. Honestly, he didn’t even know what they were doing. Haru had pretty much just said “Hey Noctis, let’s go make Altar look at stuff!” and then dragged him out of the house.
 
Haru grinned broadly at Altar’s question.
”I learned how to use the byakugan using my husky, timber, but you’re a lot stronger then I was when I started learning how to use it, so I have a more… well, extreme version of it for you today.” He said, patting Noctis on the head as he pointed vaguely at the rooftops. ”You’ll be chasing Noctis across the rooftops and through the streets, wherever he cares to go. I might throw some obstacles in your way every now and again to make sure you’re using the good eye, not your other one.” He said, tapping his own byakugan to indicate which one was “The good eye.” He was well aware that Altar had his own dojutsu, but the hyuuga were brought up to believe theirs was superior, and he was no exception.
 
”Now, all you have to do…” He began, pulling a white scrap of cloth from his pocket, and tying it to Noctis’ tail. ”…is get your hands on this cloth.” He finished, as he tied the final knot, slapping Noctis’ rear, causing him to take flight, over one of the rooftops, before diving down into one of the alleyways, moving quickly through the streets.
 
Haru’s hand would then be thrust forward, into Altar’s chest. He figured by now the boy would have attempted to start after the beast. If not, then he would not thrust his hand into his chest, but rather simply hold up a hand indicating to stop. His other hand would hold up a stopwatch, which he would shake to catch the boy’s attention, before clicking the start button.
”Wait… give him one minute. You need to use the byakugan to see him, otherwise, you’re just chasing a big green lizard through a city.” He told him. Seconds ticked by as the stopwatch finally beeped, and Haru let his hand go limp at his side, the other one pointing his thumb over his shoulder. ”Run, Forest.” He told him.
 

At this point, Noctis was about 800 meters away from them, currently located in a dark alleyway, watching above for any signs of movement.

Altar smirked. So, he was to chase a dragon around? That seemed simple enough. Chase Noctis, grab a white cloth. However, given that the drake could fly...that might cause a problem. He may need to find a way to ground him...

As Haru slapped Noctis on the rear, Altar would begin to move, attempting to start right away. However, he felt a hand collide with his chest, and he looked to Haru to see a stopwatch. So, he was to give Noctis a full minute head start? That seemed somewhat overkill, but fair enough. He could deal with that, hopefully quite easy. However, now he would be forced to use they newly acquired Byakugan, at least as best he could. Shouldn't be that hard, or so he thought.

As Haru told him he could go, Altar would first try to activate his Byakugan. It took a while, but he got it in due time, as his pupil enlarged and the veins on the left side of his face popped to more distinction. However, looking around, everything was...fuzzy. He could see, but not that well. And to top it off, when he moved his head to look the the side, his head spun and he lost balance, growing slightly sick from it all. However, it was quite a feeling. He could see practically everything within a mile radius, except a small pinprick behind him. Yeah, that would take some getting used to for sure. As Altar started to move, he had to start out slow, and slowly pick up more and more speed as he went, before being able to move at his natural pace, his natural pace being as quick as he could move. He spent some time moving after where Noctis had gone, before stopping to look for him.

Yeah, there he was. He wasn't that hard to spot, in all honesty. A fairly large dragon moving was hard to miss. Seeing that, Altar would move after him, weaving in and out of alleys and across rooftops. The lumbering beast didn't seem aware of him, so he could probably use that to his advantage. However he was surprisingly spry for a dragon, and was able to climb buildings ans make sharp turns with relative ease. That surprised him.

Altar decided to stick to the rooftops for a while, and get closer to Noctis before actually trying to catch him. He tracked Noctis through the alleyways and across the vast expanses of streets, using the Byakugan when he needed to to keep track of the dragon. Though it was hard to see and harder still to control, it was useful and working. And for that much, he was glad.

Until Noctis decided to take to the rooftops after a bad series of turns, and Altar felt the world spin and twist. He would fall to one knee, clutching at his head to try and stop the motion and dizzyness. Oh yeah, this was gonna take quite a bit of getting used to.

"God, how in the hell do you ever get used to this thing? It's like being on the Tilt-A-Whirl from hell. I mean, christ, i'd hate to be someone with hyper sensitivity with this thing. Being able to see near everything in a mile all around you is cool and all, but dear god someone stop the world from spinning." Altar would mumble, mostly to himself as he doubted Haru would be staying that close to him, if he was following at all. After regaining composure, Altar would stand back up, and resume the chase where he had left off.

Haru, his byakugan still active, watched the scene unfold, casually pulling his headband down over his sharingan. It seemed they would be gone for awhile, which gave him a bit of time alone. He wished he’ brought Cheri or someone to talk to while this happened, this was just boring… Wait… Wait… He knew what he could do. He hadn’t talked to Maya in, well, forever. It had been about a year, by his count. She might just be pissed, but best to get it over with now, rather then when he needed her in a real fight. Sighing, he bit his thumb, slamming his fist into the ground. In a poof of smoke, a small girl appeared, standing with her arms folded and her eyes closed. Haru stood up slowly, holding a hand up in greeting.
 
Before he could say anything, the girl whipped around, slapping Haru in the face. Haru nodded slowly, his head still cocked in the direction he was slapped.
”Okay, I deserved that.” He muttered in agreement.
”It’s been, what, a year? Not a single word. Do you realize how boring it is in Sirenum? All there is to doS involves killing passing sailors or staring at the ocean. We actually thought you were dead.” She snapped.
”I got busy.” He said simply, shrugging.
”If you were busy, you’d have needed me.” She retorted. Haru shook his head.
”Not that kind of busy.” He responded
”What kind of busy, then?” She asked irritably.
Haru nodded his head towards the scene unfolding before them.
”It’s a long story.”
 
Meanwhile, Noctis waited in an abandoned alleyway, bits of broken glass starting to get caught in his scales as he rolled around on the ground, bored from waiting. It felt as if he had been waiting there for hours, Altar was sure taking his time. Perhaps he had gotten lost? With that thought on his mind, he rolled onto his feet, flapping his wings and forcing himself upwards, into he air, above the rooftops. There, he scanned the streets and roofs for Altar, spotting the boy keeled over, as if he was in pain. Apparently his master’s eye was painful to get used to. Worriedly, he flapped over towards Altar, landing with a loud swooshing sound. The dragon would hear the boy complaining about the eye, and couldn’t tell if he was joking or calling out for help.
”Are you alright?” He would inquire, tilting his head sympathetically. "Do you need a break?"
 
”Here’s a tip...” Came Haru’s voice as he dropped down from a overhead roof, Maya following closely behind him. ”If you don’t want to ride the gravitron every time you look around, stop turning your head so much. Look around without moving your head. That’s what your pupils are for.” He lectured, with a hint of sarcasm.
”Who the hell is that?” Asked Maya, interjecting.
”Oh him? That’s Altar, the kid I’m tea-“ Began Haru.
”No, him!” She reasserted, pointing at Noctis.
”Oh, that? That’s Noctis. Say hello, Noctis.” Haru shouted over at the dragon.
”Hello, Noctis.” Answered the dragon, before turning and flapping away, diving back down to street level, waiting for Altar to give chase again.
   
”Well? Get after him!” Haru shouted at Altar, beckoning for him to follow Noctis.

Altar smirked as Noctis made his way over to him. He could use this to his advantage, but didn't want to seem like an ass. He could chase the dragon down normally, without using underhanded tricks or dirty scheming. It surprised him that Noctis seemed genuinly concerned about him. He figured animals like him would only care enough about their master. Still, it made him...happy, he guessed? He couldn't exactly place a name of the feeling, but he knew it well enough.

Altar would look to Haru as he gave him the tip of not moving his head, and saw him there with...a girl? Where had she come from? She sure as hell didn't look like she belonged here, and besides, what would she've been doing here in the first place? Altar would keep his gaze on them, looking between the two of them, trying to comprehend the situation for a second. A thought crossed his mind, and while it was a stupid thought, it was a fun one. Or at least, he thought it'd be funny, but that was all that mattered, right?

"Nice girlfriend, Haru. After i'm done chasing around your enlarged reptile, you should introduce me!" Altar would say, a fairly large grin spread across his face. After saying that, Altar would take a few moments to find Noctis again, before jumping quickly off the roof towards the moving beast. He thought it better to get himself out of Haru's direct line of sight now, anyways. He probably wouldn't have taken that joke very well.

Altar found himself in one of the many tight alleyways around. He was surprised Noctis had managed to squirm into the tiny space, as he himself could barely fit. However, he soon saw Noctis up ahead, wedged in the tight space. He would walk up to him, and for a second the thought of grabbing the cloth and calling an end to this game of chase flitted across his mind. But he decided against it, this wasn't the way he wanted this to end. If he was gonna claim victory, it wouldn't be from a helpless enemy, and sure as hell not from a helpless friend. So, Altar would move around, gently nudging Noctis out of the spot he had been wedged in, before giving him a small head start to take off. After he did, the chase would resume.

Altar would once again take to the rooftops, following Noctis closely, but keeping the sun to his front, so his shadow wouldn't cast into the alley and alert Noctis of his presence above him. After a fair amount of chasing, Altar finally thought he was close enough, so he jumped down, descending onto Noctis and grabbing the cloth. After untying it, Altar would return to Haru and the girl, throwing the cloth at Haru, before sitting down and deactivating the Byakugan, his pupil and veins returning to normal. His eye had begun to hurt quite a bit, but at least his vision was back to normal.

Altar’s comment, neither of the two reacted in the way Altar expected. Maya simply scoffed at him, folding her arms. Haru, however, was enraged, though not for the reason Altar had expected.
”Did you just call him an “Enlarged Reptile? He’s a dragon, not a lizard!” He shouted. ”That’s just disrespectful! I should throw you off this rooftop for that. Get out of here.” He ordered coldly. Once the boy left, Haru caught Maya staring at him, surprised.
”What?” He inquired innocently.
”Is it really that big of a deal to you?” She asked him, still skeptical.
”Oh, hell no, I just like messing with that kid.” Haru answered casually.
 
When Altar returned, Maya and Haru were playing a game of cards, and Maya was forcing Haru to cover his byakugan eye to avoid cheating. Instead, Haru was using his sharingan to track her reactions to the cards, and the number of times her eyes moved to count one of the shapes in the center, in order to guess her card number. As Altar arrived, Maya would throw down her cards, unable to believe she’d just been beaten so many times, without a single victory.
”It’s a good thing we weren’t playing for money.” Haru bragged, catching the cloth as Altar threw it at him, and stuffing it back in his pockets. ”Now, Altar, I’m guessing that’s enough work with the byakugan for today. You should see some improvements with it soon, if you haven’t already.” He informed him, standing up.
 
”Now, I’m going to teach you something that is possibly the most overcomplicated jutsu of all time, though it’s still a staple of many water style users: The Water Dragon Jutsu” He said, preparing himself to make handseals. He had already prepared some water by opening a few water towers that were sitting on this rooftop. They would have no problem with running out of water. ”Now, Altar, I want you to focus on these hand seals. I’ll say them all out loud when I preform the jutsu, and I want you to copy them all, to the letter, after I’ve preformed it. Just a little test of your memory.” He told him in mock cheerfulness. This would be fun. Haru started making hand seals, shouting the name of the seal as he preformed them.
” Ox → Monkey → Hare → Rat → Boar → Bird → Ox → Horse → Bird → Rat → Tiger → Dog → Tiger → Snake → Ox → Ram → Snake → Boar → Ram → Rat → Yang Water → Monkey → Bird → Dragon → Bird → Ox → Horse → Ram → Tiger → Snake → Rat → Monkey → Hare → Boar → Dragon → Ram → Rat → Ox → Monkey → Bird → Yang Water → Rat → Boar → Bird!” He chanted rhythmically as he drew water from the tanks, creating a dragon, which he would make do some fancy loop-the-loop tricks, before crashing down in front of water, probably soaking him.
”That was for the snide little comment you made earlier.” He said cheerfully.
 
Now, I think I’ve come up with an acronym for the hand seals, if you’re having trouble. If you take the first letter of every seal, you get ‘OMHRBBOHBRTDTSORSBRRYMBDBOHRTSRMHBDRROMBYRBB,’ or ‘Only My Hefty Rowboats Bend Barriers Of High Beryllium, Renting Those Dirty Toasters Seriously Only Really Sells Big Remmy Really Young Melodies By Doctor Barry Osborn, Hell, Really Taxing Senates Really Make Him Buy the Doctor Really Really Obnoxious Middle Born Young Redheads with Big Boobs’” Haru finished, before taking in several deep breaths. He felt pretty good about that, for something he just made up on the spot. Maya just stared at him disapprovingly.

”You seriously let this guy teach you?” She asked him with mock concern.