C A S H E W
Cashew and Sato raced all the way back from the Academy to Sato's home in the housing district. Minding the lightning rods surrounded with caution tape, they were sure to avoid them as they made it to the front door. The mouse wondered what those rods were for, how they worked, and who had put them there. They didn't look completely natural in this kind of area, and the caution tape was clearly put up to warn anyone who would think of coming near it. The two approached Sato's front door to his home, the boy pulling a key from the pouch on his thigh to unlock the door and enter. "Father, I'm home! I have a friend with me." The instant the door swung open, Cashew's little nose was filled with the aroma of a variety delicious smelling food and ingredients. The mouse followed Sato inside, sniffing the air as he went, becoming consumed by the scent of Sato's dinner. "You're a little late from school today, aren't you? What's with the delay?" A burly man with short curly hair and an apron around his waist was steadily working in the kitchen with his back turned to his son and company. "...I stayed later to help Akina-sensei clean up after class. She also gave me and Cashew homework." The duo exchanged glances, then Sato returned his attention to his father.
"Ah, of course. Helping out your teacher is always good. I got a call from Mr. Claudius today... I'm proud of you kiddo." He turned his head to smile at his son, an indication of his heavily bearded face moving slightly. Still unawares of the two foot mouse standing below the counter top which the duo stood behind. "Dinner won't be done for a while, and your mother is still working. Make sure to do your homework and set the kitchen up for dinner." Sato nodded and replied, "Yes sir." Before he could back to his room, his father continued. "Your mother also said to go clean up at the Moonsoon Temples today. Normally she'd take care of it, but she's been really busy as of late." Sato frowned, protesting. "B-but dad, I wanted to--" A loud slap from his hand on counter beside him echoed throughout the kitchen, "No buts. Your mother said so. You can do whatever you'd like after that, but make sure you're back home in time for dinner. You can even have your friend help you, if they're willing." Sato sighed, walking to his room in a slump, with Cashew following close behind. He stopped briefly at the opening into the kitchen, taking another whiff of Mr. Hiraihoshi's cooking. "Smells good, sir!" Sato replied over the sound of vegetables being chopped, "No problem, kid!" As Cashew went to catch up with Sato he'd hear the man say to himself, "Heh, Cashew. What an interesting name for a boy."
Sato's room was surprisingly well maintained for a young boy. Clothes neatly put away, bed made, and all surfaces with the exception of his desk piled with books and papers, were relatively clean. "Well, let's get this finished so I can get onto my chores..." "Right. I wouldn't mind helping you, Sato. We can get it done much quicker together." Sato cleared a space on his desk for Cashew to come and sit, as he opened up the scrolls containing their homework assignment. "Let's see... we're suppose to write a paper about our understanding of Ninjutsu and the five basic elements. You weren't here for this class, but we spent the last couple of days covering that topic. I don't remember everything we went over though... this Genjutsu stuff has really been driving me crazy." Sato sighed, placing the scrolls down and rubbing the sides of his temple. Cashew smiled, patting his friend Sato on the shoulder. "No need to bring me up to speed, I actually know quite a bit about Ninjutsu. I discovered some scrolls in the library when I first got here that explained a ton about the subject." He spoke proudly, glad that his past crimes would actually prove beneficial to someone. "Really? Can you explain then?" Cashew nodded, looking around for some tools. A piece of paper and a writing utensil, to be exact. He leaped from the desk onto the floor and scurried over to Sato's trash can to grab a slightly crumbled piece of scrap paper, and one of the pens that had fallen beside his desk.
"Alright. Here we go." Cashew hopped back onto the desk, setting the paper down flat, beginning to draw some sort of diagram as he spoke. "As you know, Ninjutsu is one of the three basic types of Shinobi skills. Genjutsu being one of the others, which we learned today." He paused, looking to see if Sato showed any signs of confusion. He seemed to be on the same page, so the mouse continued. "Ninjutsu requires the use of chakra in order to perform. As the ninja - us - we need to be able to control and mold our chakra to perform Ninjutsu techniques, like the one I showed you in the cafeteria. Or this one, here." Cashew's body began to glow with a dim light, slightly brighter than Sato's actual lamp on the other side of the room. "Woah! How did you learn that?" "By reading, and learning to control my chakra in the specific way required to this technique. It's called the Flickering Light Technique." Sato began writing on his paper, listening to his furry instructor. "The Static Strings technique I used at the cafeteria, also require a specific form of control of my chakra in order to perform correctly. Firstly, shape transformation. You saw the strings coming out of my fingers, yes? That was shape transformation. In order to do that, you need to be able to control how your chakra flows through your body. This includes how you want it to move, how big or small you want the chakra to be, and its purpose overall. All of this is achieved through the practice of chakra control." Sato was writing away, nodding his head every so often as Cashew spoke. "I understand. But how does the chakra become fire, or water even? We learned about our elemental affinities on our first day."
"That would be the second point: Nature transformation. As you can see on this diagram I have drawn, there are five basic chakra natures." Cashew pointed to the nicely drawn diagram with his pen, "Oh, right! The five elements are Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, and Lightning." "That's correct! Most people have some sort of 'affinity' to specific elements, but this is not always the case. The element you have an affinity for will be much easier to learn, than if you were to try and learn a different element. That's not to say you can't but the process can be quite daunting I'd assume." Returning his attention back to the diagram, his drawing pen tapped on each of the elemental symbols he drew. "Each element has a weakness and a strength to the corresponding element according to this diagram. So, as you can see, Fire is weak to water naturally." Sato continued writing, pausing for a moment to look at the diagram with a puzzled expression. "Yeah... so what is fire strong against?" "The answer to that, would be wind. You see, in this chart, the arrows between each symbol points to its inferior element. Much like a flame that is exposed to oxygen will grow stronger, a fire technique that collides with a wind technique will overpower it." Sato nodded, his pen scribbling away with the newfound knowledge he gained. "All of the elements have a similar system. Water: weak to earth; strong against fire. Earth: weak to lightning; strong against water. Lightning: weak to wind; strong against earth. Wind: weak to fire; strong against lightning." Cashew waited for Sato to finish writing, then revised his paper for any grammatical errors or misinformation that need to be corrected. The boy was astonished to see such a small mouse be filled with so much knowledge. "Gee, thanks Cashew. I'm really glad to have you as a friend." The mouse nodded, retrieving his scroll to write his own paper for the homework assignment. It didn't take long for him to write it, and at the end of it all, both papers were constructed differently despite sharing similar information. "Well, that knocks homework off of the list. Let's get to those chores, aye?"
The two boys entered the main room, where Mr. Hiraihoshi was still cooking off to the side in the kitchen. "We're done with homework, father. Going to set up the kitchen for dinner." Sato walked behind his father to gather plates and utensils, while Cashew went to the dinner table to remove small pieces of trash and unnecessary items from the dining table. Sato would point to the location said items were supposed to go, then the boy continued setting up the table, placing three plates with a set of eating utensils for each, and one glass for a beverage. Mr. Hiraihoshi had his attention set on the two pots upon the stove top, one cooking up a sauce, and the other boiling a pot of vegetables. He could hear Sato and his friend go about their way cleaning up the dining room, and was happy to see that Sato's friend decided to stay long enough to help him out. "Y'know Sato... if Cashew doesn't have to be home early, he can stay over for dinner. Go ahead and set out a plate for your--"
The burly man turned to see Sato giggling with a- "RAT!? SATO, OUT OF THE WAY!" The oven mitts on his hands vanished in an instant, and was replaced with a razor-sharp knife in his right hand as he lunged for the furry fiend next to his beloved son. Cashew's breath stopped midway, and upon seeing Sato's father charge at him wielding a knife, he dove beneath the kitchen table. "Dad, wait! STOP! That's my friend, Cashew!" Sato stepped back, knowing full well to stay out of his father's way he was enraged, or risk getting himself hurt in the process. "Damn, it! It's under the table, how the hell did we get a rat in the-- ...What did you just say, boy!?" Sato hustled to Cashew's side, stepping between him and his knife-wielding father, "This is my friend from the Academy I told you about! This is Cashew! Don't hurt him!" The mouse peered over his friend's shoulder to see Mr. Hiraihoshi's menacing glare become mixed with confusion. At the very least, he set the knife down, but his gaze never left Cashew. "Are you... trying to tell me... this rat is your friend?"
"M-mr, Hiraihoshi, I mean no disrespect, but I'm a mo--"
"IT TALKS!? What kind of sorcery is this!? How did you find this r--"
"He's a mouse, dad. He became a student at the Academy today, and we are really good friends now." Sato allowed Cashew to peek beneath his arm, holding the mouse in a semi-hug as if to protect him further from his father. Mr. Hiraihoshi paused for a very long time, looking to his son, and then the mouse, finally dragging his hand down his face with an exasperated sigh. "I... I don't understand. You're telling me that you've made friends with a talking ra--"
"Mouse."
"Mouse.", the two corrected him... probably not a good idea. Especially for Sato.
Mr. Hiraihoshi's face straightened. He stood up, picking up his knife, and silently returned to finishing up his cooking. "Thank you for cleaning up the dining room table. Go on and get the temple cleaned like your mother asked of you." His voice was eerily calm, something Sato learned to be afraid of. A tone like that usually meant 'we will deal with this when your mother gets home'. The mouse nor the boy objected to Mr. Hiraihoshi's orders, quickly walking out of the front door to head to the temple. [ Exit ]
• Mission: Homework, completed.
• Mission: Practical Work, completed.
• Mission: Pocket Money, completed.
◆║ CHAKRAx 100/ 100 x ◆║ STAMINAx 100/ 100 x ◆║ ACx 2500 x ◆║ RYOx 1150
◆║ Arashigakurex ◆║ Academy Student x ◆║ E-Rankx ◆║ Bloodline/Bukijutsu - Speedy Mausxxxxxx
◆║ Arashigakurex ◆║ Academy Student x ◆║ E-Rankx ◆║ Bloodline/Bukijutsu - Speedy Mausxxxxxx
