Training for a mission [P/NK]

Kuro was up early that morning. He enjoyed the look of morning dew on the grass, something he never really got to experience in Yuki unless it was a particularly warm summer day. He stepped into the training grounds and decided to borrow a nice person dummy since he didn't see Miki around yet. He looked around at the training area and shook his head a bit. None of the more used spots seemed to be right for him. He needed a good special spot. He looked around for a few minutes until he found a nice spot closer to the trees. He couldn't stop himself from chuckling as he made an 'X' in the ground with his foot. He also couldn't help getting some grass and using it to make a smiley face on the dummy. "There you go. I dub thee, sir smiley the dummy." He lifted the dummy up above his head and slammed it's wooden pole base deep into the X he had made, making sure it was fairly deep. "Now how this is gonna work Smiley, is I'm gonna hit you with my new jutsu. All I need you to do, is NOT get smashed into a billion pieces. Think you can manage?" The dummy smiled wordlessly. "Great, thanks buddy." Kuro patted his back with a laugh and double checked to be sure it was securely in the ground. True he wanted his jutsu to be able to send the dummy zooming away, but he didn't want it to be EASY.

Kuro put about ten metres of space between him and his new punching bag. He stretched his arms and fingers before bringing his hands together for the hand seals. He smirked, cause this time he KNEW the handseals. No guessing what they were and hoping that he got it right. He'd recited it over and over in his head. This time he had confidence and clarity. "Monkey, Rat, Tiger, Dragon, Horse, Dragon! Water release, Snake's Mouth!" Kuro's chakra rapidly built up in his chest as it had last time he tried this technique. He let the pressure rise up to his mouth, his cheeks and neck inflating with water until he was forced to open his mouth and let the torrent of water gush forth. The torrent held a pillar-like shape in it's main body. The water circled around him and rose above his head as it's own head formed, a giant snake face with glowing eyes opened it's watery jaws and hissed. 

All right, so far so good, now he just had to focus on what he wanted the snake to do. He COULD have it just charge straight forward, but that would be too simple. He needed it to be more than a straight forward attack. So, he directed the snake to move towards the left of the dummy. The water creature obeyed and moved as ordered, going faster than Kuro could himself. He waited until his attack was past a tree before he shoved it with focus to get it to turn. The Jutsu snaked around the trees and slammed into the dummy, it's massive jaws slamming shut on the dummy, encasing it in it's high powered crushing grip. The water snake then dispelled itself, but the water remained, creating a small river that washed the dummy away. Water stopped gushing from Kuro's mouth and as he wiped his mouth he had an idea. Hurrying forward he liquefied and combined with the rushing water, becoming one with it as it gushed forward, stopping after a decent distance. Kuro mentally smirked to himself. This was yet another way for him to use this. He didn't have to do one big attack with it for attacking's sake. He could use it to get around really quickly, not to mention his opponent would likely be so focused on dodging the jutsu that they wouldn't notice his little slip trick. Kuro reformed his solid body, standing above the now soaked and slightly torn dummy and picked it up, it's grass face gone. "Ohhh noooo, Smiley your face fell off! Man. Oh well, at least the rest of you is ok." He picked up the dummy and patted it's head... which then fell off. "Augh! Smiley! No! I'm so sorry! I'll fix you I swear!" Kuro started running with the dummy, causing more of it to fall apart, tear and for the stuffing to fall out of it. "You said you could take it! Why Smiley, why!?" He dropped the dummy and stared at him before laughing at his own silliness. "What am I doing?" 

Kuro sat down on the gathered pile of dummy remains and dug his hands into his pockets. Upon pulling them out he had a bundle of meatsticks in his hand. He chomped down on one and heard something move nearby. At first he thought it was Miki, but when he turned to look he found a fox with green fur and yellow eyes. He froze and they stared into each others eyes for several moments, the only movement between them was the fox's tail swaying and it's ears occasionally twitching. "...hey... you want some of this?" The fox continued staring at him and didn't move. He tried to reach out to the creature and give it the food, but it quickly backed up behind a tree. "Hey, hey, it's okay, dooon't run away. Just... I'll leave this here." Kuro set the food down and carefully backed out of sight. He then liquified and carefully slid around towards the back of the fox and watched as it cautiously stepped forward and started eating the food. He then very carefully. Formed his arms and reached out... grabbing it from behind as he solidified the rest of his body as well. "Gotcha!" The fox yelped and squirmed in his grasp. Kuro held tight and admired it's fur... so sooooft. The fox continued struggling in his grip, so he held it with one arm and started feeding it with his other, the food calming it down a bit. "Shhh, shh, there you gooo, eat the tasty food. You loooove the food. You love me because I have the food for you."  The fox was still squirming to get away but Kuro decided to try petting it's head as well as check on it's gender. His efforts were rewarded with learning it was a girl and now having a bleeding hand. "Aaaahhhhh no, stop, biting is bad, bad girl!" Kuro would be in the position of trying to pull his hand out of the angry vixen's mouth while hugging it from behind.

WC- 1103
Snake Mouth training: 2000/2000
Familiar acquiring: 1103/2000

approved

Miki would walk up to an odd sight, which was that of Kuro hugging a fox that was rather viciously biting his hand. He thought about helping, but wasn't exactly sure what kind of help he could even offer to the strange boy who was obviously loving something that hated him pretty intently. That didn't actually sound so strange though, as Kuro seemed to like Miki even though he was constantly cold and distant. What Kuro saw in him the goggled boy had no idea. Deciding to do something sort of out of character, Miki found a good sized log. Placing the seal necessary for substitution, he wondered how he should go about this. Kuro seemed like he was one to be frightened easily, which was a trait that Miki needed to rid of him. Fear was fine, but underestimating yourself on a constant basis was never good. Therefore, Miki decided that he would have to frighten the boy past fear. Playing pranks was a little out of character, he would admit, but it was for a good cause. If Kuro was going to be his friend, then Miki wouldn't let him die in any circumstance he could change. And if that involved playing an immature prank, then so be it. He hoped this would also deal with the the fox problem as well. Animals rarely changed, and Miki didn't have time to help Kuro change the Icy heart of a fox. Flinging the log, it would fly over Kuro's head. Whether he noticed it or not was unimportant, as Miki would substitute with the log, overexagerating the cloud of smoke for effect. "Shouldn't you be training?"


WC: 277
Substitution Learned (500/500) for other half, see "What a Lonely Shinobi"

Kuro jumped back in surprise when the smaller ninja appeared in front of him. He'd been so focused on dealing with the vixen he'd failed to notice his approach. The jump caused him to release his grip on the fox... who held on still, her feet just off the ground. It appeared she was actually paralyzed with fear. "Agggghhhh, Miki don't DO that!" Kuro lowered his hand so the vixen's entire weight was pulling on his hand and she was standing on all fours. "I am very busy making another friend as you can see!" He then stood crouched there a few seconds with his hand in the fox's mouth, still dripping blood. "She's my new permanent assistant."

Wc-115

Miki sighed looking down and shutting his eyes, thinking on earlier thoughts. "We don't have time to make friends with the local wildlife. We won't be doing a mission if I can't pass my exam that is pretty soon. So either put the fox away or let it go."
His eyes would remain closed during this, as he sensed an imminent defeat on his hands. He knew pretty well that Kuro would likely not give up the animal, and would just carry on the argument. Hopefully in that time, the fox would leave or decide Kuro was nice enough to trust. He opened his eyes, and looked at the boys bloodied hand, and sighed once more. He figured Kuro could turn it to water and re-adjust his molecules to fix the injury, but he wasn't positive thats how his clan worked. Miki still hadn't quite gotten down how he even changed his molecules to water. Miki wondered if he could do the same with his mist, but so far was unlucky in that respect. He had gotten an idea for a jutsu with his mist while attempting to turn his fingers into the substance, though he hadn't perfected it yet. Placing his thoughts back on course, he wondered what Kuro would do about the fox.

WC- 215

Kuro dug into his pocket with his other hand and pulled out a small cookie. "Just gimme a sec." He waved the cookie around the vixen's nose, watching it twitch as it picked up the scent. "Yeah, you like the smell of cookie don't ya? Well, if you want the cookie," Kuro set the treat down next to him. "You need to trust me enough to let go of my hand." He then sat on his knees and waited. The animal stared at him awhile before letting go of his hand and dashing to the cookie, snatching it up and fleeing behind a tree to eat it. Kuro sighed with relief and looked at his slightly mangled hand. "Well, this painful." He focused his chakra into his other hand and held his wounded one as he used his simple medical jutsu on it. "So, you need help getting ready for the exam? Well, I can help with that for sure." Kuro smiled at Miki while healing his hand. "Looks like you've got substitution down, what's next?"

Wc- 176
Familiar-1394/2000

Miki thought for himself, and knew he only needed the transformation technique, which wasn't super hard. But Kuro likely already knew it, so having someone teach him first person would be great. "I just need the transformation technique, which I assume you know. I am pretty great at memorizing people, so if you show me the basics I doubt it'll be difficult to learn"
He still kept his rather expressionless face, so Kuro wouldn't know the turmoil beneath his surface. Questioning himself suddenly on why he needed help from an outsider, and why he would even want a so called friend dragging him down. The goggled boy quieted these thoughts. He knew Kuro was a valuable asset to learn from, as well as he had been the first person to willingly talk to him without strictly needing anything from him. His leader Taiga just wanted him to be strong for a village he wasn't sure he owed his allegiance to. He couldn't follow this boy home when he left, as that would put him in danger. He sighed, though Kuro would likely not understand what it was about. "Would you mind walking to the exam with me after you teach me? You could provide some helpful tips on the way that would take up too much time explaining here."
He wasn't sure exactly why he asked that, or why he covered up the fact that he was simply nervous, but his expression didn't change. His cold calculating eyes did soften a bit, though it would be hard to tell behind the goggles.

WC- 262

Kuro smiled and put a hand to his chin. "Transformation huh? You know, I kinda... forget that I know that one sometimes. Yeah, I can give you a hand with it. As for the exam, sure I'll come. After all, we're just gonna meet up for a mission afterwards right?" Kuro put most of his attention on Miki, but glanced towards the fox now and then. It was carefully peeking at them, likely wanting more food. Kuro smirked and tossed a bit it's way, slowly luring it out of the brush.

"Anyways, transformation technique. Simple enough, just have to really focus on the target you want to become. Don't just think about the thing though, think of what ot does, how it must feel to be like him or her. Don't worry about anything but that. Based on how 'calm' you are, I'm sure that you'll have no problem. Try transorming into me." Kuro offered himself as a subject for practice and took a step back, getting closer to the vixen without it knowing. She was just focused on what the smaller person was doing.

Miki nodded and listened to the boys simple explanation of the technique, as well as saying he would accompany him to the exam area. Miki began studying the boys features, and wondered how this frail looking boy was actually so tough. He was very pale, and his hair was an odd shade of blue. No muscle could be seen under his coat, though that didn't particularly mean it wasn't there. Overall, he was slim, and his water powers actually suited him. He also had demonstrated an aptitude for medical jutsu, which was a very useful talent. Thinking like Kuro was hard, he was an exciteable boy who had liquid body and emotions. He seemed accepting of just about everyone, even overly carniverous foxes. He kind of wished he could be as friendly and outgoing as this boy, but it wasn't in his nature. He was born abandoned and alone, cared for by people that pitied him. Kuro would likely never understand this pain, so he could never truly understand Miki himself. The boy sighed as he preformed the seal, and concentrated on Kuro's body and form. This boy had the capability to be the greatest water style user if he wanted, probably even develop justu that shattered molecules on contact. His ability made his possibilities endless, and Miki couldn't hope to ever travel on the same path as him. He doubted Kuro would ever leave him alone, so Miki would have to forcibly end this friendship before it got too far if he had too. But not yet. For now, he could live his little dream of happiness. For now, he could have a friend. Preforming the jutsu, he would now appear as a perfect replica of Kuro, though with Miki's signature lack of emotion. "Was that good? It felt right."

WC- 300 
Claiming: Transform tech

Kuro watched Miki transform and his smile widened when he saw a copy of himself. "Hey, not bad!" The vixen on the other hand didn't like this one bit. Now there was 2 weird guys! Kuro looked at the fox and smiled as he crouched down and held out a hand. "Come on, I'm not gonna hurt ya. I got more food for you if you come with me. I can bake you stuff." The fox stared at him and the fake him. It didn't understand what he was saying of course, but he didn't seem hostile, and he DID smell like there was food around him a lot. The vixen slowly approached him, careful to keep the weird, less inviting version behind the one she was walking to.

Kuro's face lit up into a happy smile and he looked back at Miki looking like a child who just figured out something amazing. "Quick, help me think of a name. She's a girl so... Vixie?" He looked back at her with a smile. "Do you like the name Vixie?" The green vixen stared at him then moved around his hand and pushed her muzzle into his pocket as she searched for more food. "... Yeah... I can't tell if that's a yes or a no. Miki I need your input on this, it's really important, I can't flub this up right now." 

WC - 231
(Prev. Post WC- 185)
Familiar acquiring: 1810/2000