There were more than seven hundred steps to the Fire Temple.  Each one burned the calves of those that climbed them.  A good workout just to say to find time to meditate with the fire sages of the Jun Chi clan.  Motoichi thought the steps were a bit unnecessary, winding around the rocky hill until finally coming to the Fire Temple.

A few sages were by the entrance when he made it to the top.  They bowed their heads in greeting and motioned for him to enter.  He tied together his modified kataginu to keep it from blowing around in the wind.  Climbing up here, the wind was stronger, making his gray hakama work against him as he stepped up the outside steps of the temple.  

Stepping inside, Motoichi took a moment to enjoy the respite from the wind.  He took his place near the bell and rope in the middle of the temple's main room. Three pulls of the rope and two claps of the hand later, he sat kneeling.  His eyes closed and head bowed down in meditation, hands clasped together.  He took slow, long breaths.  The Fire Temple was the best place for him to reconnect his senses with his chakra and the Fire Sages were there to help guide him to a better connection.


Post: 219

The trek to the fire temple was not one to be taken lightly, it should be taken with a deep sense of introspection, a learning experience of sorts. The red-headed ninja and her twin climbed each of the steps in a somber outer silence, but within the mind of the two a conversation was flowing Dainishi, her twin, was rather aggravated at the trip into the city and having to go to such a temple " -- You realize there's no point to this, we can just as easily meditate at home, right? We didn't have to come all the way out here just for that." she was never the funnest of people; Harumi on the other hand wished to see the temple at least once while they were in Iwagakure returned her thoughts on the matter, "I know we didn't, but this is such a unique experience! Live a little, sis." Harumi briefly turned to look at her sister who followed behind frowning as she did so.

Soon the two were at the top, removing their footwear and giving a curt bow they entered the building, Harumi first immediately followed by her twin who was still slightly annoyed by the whole situation. One could tell from aesthetics alone that the temple was ancient causing Harumi to give an internal "Wow..." her sister was far less impressed by the motif and thus didn't respond, instead she took a seat upon the ground watching the large bell in the center of the room, spying another person in the room. Harumi then took her spot to the left of her sister, wresting upon her knees as a sudden influx of thought came in from her twin who was still looking at the other gentleman, "Another shinobi, and one with such pretty hair." Harumi couldn't help but look in the direction of the auburn-haired shinobi giving a slight sigh. While he did seem to have quite nice hair she hadn't come to socialize, she was there to meditate "Plenty of shinobi with nice hair, sister." she brushed the man off, closed her eyes and began to listen to the ambient noise around her.

Dainishi on the other hand couldn't help but stare at the fellow for a little while longer, not quite in the mood for meditation.

OOC:

He followed the advice of the Fire Sages, having told him several times to let go of his mind, let go of the world, and only sync his soul with the world.  Several times he had tried, having come to the temple for over a week now.  Every time he came to this place he got the same result.  A few deep breaths in, a few smooth exhales out and the world seemed to quiet down.

The sages had told him this would happen.  That the thoughts would come flooding in.

Memories, questions, possibilities.  All the regrets and mistakes of the past were said to appear during the beginning.  One sage, bearded and frayed with old and sickly skin, told him that this was the first test.  For Motoichi, it was the only test.  The memories, questions, possibilities, and regrets of his life that were said to flood in never came.  At least not all.  Only one ever came to mind.  And with each time it was worse.  It was the root, the cause and all of its effects.

That boy.

Motoichi could never forget that boy.  How was he supposed to?  The old sages said to let go of it all but what did they know of this?  They were sages, wise men cooped up on a hill.  They would never understand.  They weren't there, they hadn't seen him, they didn't know him.  No one knew him.  Except for Motoichi.  Letting go of the boy would mean to let go of the last bit of evidence that the boy ever existed.

No, that could never happen.  So once the memories of the charred skin, the cut flesh, the bloody clothes, and every other disfigured inch of the boy resurfaced the noise of the world would rush back.  Breezes became typhoons, birds chirping became mind-splitting screeches.  If a sage walked by, the soft footsteps of his bare feet on the floor thundered and shook Motoichi until he was nauseated.  Each time the noise won.  Each time Motoichi failed the test.

Today was the same as all the days before.  Except today there was something new that struck into the meditation.  Two sets of footsteps.  Four thundering earthquakes repeating each other in a never ending loop.  Hard and blistering.  The shakes were louder, stronger.  No barefooted sage had created these waves.  Today, the shakes came alive. Motoichi could see the boy sitting opposite of him, shaking him, calling out to him.  "Wake up!  Wake up!"

Opening his eyes, all the noise stopped.  This was the only moment about meditating with the Fire Sages Motoichi enjoyed. The reason he came back each day.  There was always so much noise, so much headache, but just for a tiny blip of a second.  One nanosecond after opening his eyes.  There was no noise, no mind-splitting screeches, no nauseating footseps. Nothing.

Then just like that he was back.  The meditation over and the first test failed.  He sighed, resting his hands at his sides.  Some perspiration trickled down his forehead, his bangs slipping off his ear and hanging over his face.  A clean wipe of his head and he was up.  One glance to the old Fire Sage and the message was sent.  Another failed meditation.  With this record, he'd never achieve this burning peacefulness that they talked about.  A calm, steady peace that would light his soul, spark it to new life.

He got up, rolling back onto his feet and pushing off at the knees.  A quick dust off of his hakama and then a turn towards the door.  That's when he saw them.   The two sets of footsteps that had increased the level of headache he now had as result of his meditation.  It seemed the strong, hard feet belonged to two redheaded women.  The irony perked up an eyebrow.  Occasionally there were others that visited the Fire Temple, other regulars that came on certain days of the week.  Not these two.  Motoichi had been here enough times to know this was the first time they had visited.

The women were obviously in meditation and he had half a mind to not bother them.  Yet their presence for some reason shook him enough to see the boy alive, if only for a brief moment.  "I apologize for interrupting but I was hoping I would have a word with you two."  He bowed at the waist and then stepped to a side wall, sliding open a door to a private room.  A wave of his hand gesturing for the two women to enter.  "I feel that I must speak with you. So if you would, please."


Post: 780
999 words
Trained Strength E-0 to D-0 750/750
249 words left

Pin drops could be heard, if anyone was incompetent enough to exercise such clumsiness. The fire temple was a peaceful place, and a much needed one for the adventure seeking shinobi. The Genin's life was one chaotic exchange worthy of being written down. It served him well to make his routine trip to the fire temple in search of solace. His time here always gave him a clearer picture of who he was. It rarely "changed", but it was always resolved in greater clarity.
 
Kurai had spent the entire morning in the temple and was currently sitting down with a few sages. "Han, Kurai. Your presence is always a delight. With you comes very entertaining tales, tales we could never experience given our vows." The sages and Kurai laughed, it was nice to know that the sages had a sense of humor, and didn't belittle Kurai for his seemingly lack of discipline. "Whatever I can do to help..." Kurai picked up his journal that lied next to him. He opened it slowly, and licked the tip of his pen, and began to let the ink flow out on the page as took advantage of his current mental dexterity. In such a state he was able to conjure and express a vast range of emotions, in vastly different context. This time he chose an emotionally withdrawn, neutral approach, illustrating rationality and clarity. With this tone, he merely wrote down his past travels and daily deeds. A simple account of the last couple days. 
 
As Kurai sat with the sages in silence, the door to the private room they occupied creaked open. Kurai's eyes peeked from behind the drapes of his shaggy white hair that fell in front of his face. He sat both his pen and journal aside, and brushed his hair from out of his face. Private doesn't mean empty. Kurai thought to himself. He stood up and faced the three people, two of which bore a striking resemblance to each other. Kurai was in a loosely fitting leather garb. With his chest projected and his hands interlocked in front of him, "Hello, I've lost track of time, I think I've been here for almost 4 hours. I'll excuse myself now, too much of anything can be harmful." The snow haired poet knelt down to collect his belongings, but as he did the sages spoke. "Before you retire for today, allow me to introduce you to Motoichi, he visits almost as much as you, but you two always seem to miss each other. Motoichi, this is Kurai." The white hair shinobi was usually very sociable, but it appeared that the three had something private that had to speak to each other about, hence seeking a private room, so Kurai would allow them to achieve that goal as quickly as possible. The sages marched behind him.
 
Despite his consideration, his instinctual intrigue in the three new faces did not wane. He would wait outside the room. He sat and sipped tea in the meantime. 
 
 
 Training: 503

Meditation came easily to the young women, for they had been trained in such an art since birth, being alone for such great periods as they lead to a good deal of introspective meditation, it would be fair to say that they were experts in the art. Harumi remained in a state of serene silence, allowing a deep black well to flow throughout her mind thinking of nothing, simply at peace with the surroundings around her. She had no inner turmoil, no great struggle, no painful memories, in that moment there was nothing but serenity; however, Dainishi's mind wandered, her eyes remained opened observing the area around her and of course keeping a keen eye on the other pilgrim that had come for meditation. She contemplated the possibilities of what the man was thinking of, surely he wasn't as apt a pupil of the meditative arts as they, so it stood to reason that his mind was clouded by something or other. Shrugging the thoughts away Dainishi's gaze returned to her twin who seemed to be deep in meditation.

It seemed to be only minutes later when the other pilgrim stood and began to approach the two, eliciting a look of intrigue from Dainishi who slightly nudged her sister from her meditative state, which Harumi didn't appreciate in the slightest. Looks like he's coming over. The Eizo's statement caused a bit of intrigue in Harumi who also shifted her gaze toward the man as he approached, drawing in a few of his features which, in all honesty, seemed to be fairly unremarkable. A good trait for a shinobi. Wonder what he wants... which Harumi would find out but seconds later as the man spoke, apologizing for the interruption and asking them to speak with him in a side room. Harumi cocked an eyebrow in slight suspicion, but standing none the less, returning his bow. Dainishi stood immediately afterward and did the same, with a bit of a more pleasant expression upon her face.

"Certainly--" Harumi silenced herself as she noticed that the room was already occupied, immediately she bowed before the sages returning to her upright position after a few seconds, her twin remained standing feeling no need for such an overly-formal expression. Near immediately afterward the sages introduced the two, the man that had asked them to accompany him was 'Motoichi', and the leather clad, white haired fellow as 'Kurai'. The two remained silent throughout the introduction, watching as the sages and the newer fellow, Kurai, exited the room.

"So, what is it you want?" Harumi asked informally as her twin stepped off toward the side sitting once again, unfortunately not able to directly communicate with the fellow.

OOC:

Motoichi opened the door to the private room, unaware of its present occupants and ushered in the two women.  Watching them step in, he was taken by surprise as much as they were to find a few sages seated with a white haired boy holding a journal and pen.  Some form of writer, perhaps?  Or maybe a sketcher of sorts.  He had been to the Fire Temple for quite some time now and had yet to stumble upon this boy.  Odd.

"Hello, I've lost track of time, I think I've been here for almost 4 hours. I'll excuse myself now, too much of anything can be harmful."  The white haired boy declared, stepping up from his seat and collecting his things.

The sages also stood up and approached Motoichi and the two women.  "Before you retire for today, allow me to introduce you to Motoichi, he visits almost as much as you, but you two always seem to miss each other. Motoichi, this is Kurai."  One of the sages introduced the two of them.

"I do apologize for the intrusion, I had no idea the room was being used.  Still, it's good to meet you, Kurai."  Motoichi bowed in apology.  Looking at the boy, he took note of the hitai-ate.  Another ninja, have to make note of the boy's face.

Kurai exited with the sages following him as they politely let Motoichi and the two women use the room.  Shutting the door behind them, Motoichi turned to face them.  "Well then, as I was about to say... ah, the reason I asked to speak with the two of you is that I've been having trouble for several days now clearing my head in meditation.  Yet I saw you two only just arrive and immediately seemed at peace during your meditation.  I was hoping you could help me, teach me--tell me anything about how it is you've achieved such a calm and grace in so short a time."

He gestured to the chairs left vacant by the sages and Kurai before taking a seat himself.  The meditations always left him more exhausted than rejuvenated.  Looking at the two women now, they seemed much better off than he.  What was their secret he wondered.  He held his head by his propped up arm and awaited their response.


Post: 394
643 words

The herbal tea was tasty, the Genin sipped away with much satisfaction. Despite his shinobi prowess, he wasn't one to listen in on a conversation, he was exceptional at gathering from pure observation, making such underhanded tactics unnecessary. The sages were surprised that Kurai hadn't left and walked over to him while he sat peacefully with his tea. "Young Kurai, I thought you were retiring." "I was, but I would like to get to know the other regular a bit more before I set off. Until then, I think my tea and I will manage well enough. Meditation always rejuvenates me and gives me energy that exceeds my potential." The sages nodded and walked off leaving Kurai in solace.

Principle #X: To wait is to think. To act is to know

It was a random phrase that came to Kurai, he sat his tea on the side table and wrote it down.

Dainishi was immediately disappointed with the man's question, Meditation this, meditation that...We do enough meditation on our own, now we we're going to teach him?! Please tell me we're not going to teach him, sister! with arms crossed she stared at her sister with a bit of a furrowed brow, both aggravated with the possibility of having to do more meditation, and the fact that she couldn't speak with the man to tell him the extent to which she hated the activity. Harumi shot a quick gaze back as she sat in the former seat of one of the sages, continuing the internal dialogue between the two If he wants a few tips, how am I supposed to deny him the opportunity to learn? Besides, you and I both know that you can't really teach the art of meditation. Dainishi was thoroughly aggravated by that point, throwing her hands up in the air in a show of frustration which was probably quite confusing to Motoichi who most likely had no idea that the two were communicating in the first place. Well, have fun with that. I'm going outside. Dainishi quickly followed through with her statement exiting the private room, returning to the main area with the sages and the other fellow.

Harumi couldn't help but roll her eyes as her sibling exited the room, fully aware at how confusing the situation must have been for Motoichi, so she decided it best to address said situation, input on meditation could wait a few seconds "My sister and I communicate through telepathy, she's a mute you see; anyway, she's not the biggest fan of meditation, or anything that has to do with sitting still, really." her separate colored eyes refocused from the door where her sibling had just exited to back toward the red haired shinobi, Motoichi. "In all honesty I can't really teach you a whole lot of meditation, and most of everything I'd be able to tell you, you would've heard before. Suppose I'll give it a shot, though." she stopped to clear her throat, unsure of where to begin or how much he knew of meditation "I'm sure you already know the basics, and the finer points take years to master, but I can give a few tips. Try to begin with a deep breathing session, by and large try not to come in with preconceived goals, they should come organically and not be forced. Allow yourself to fully relax, as a shinobi this is of course one of the more difficult aspects of meditation being taught to always be on guard and all, and with that your sessions should improve--" she felt as if she had just spouted out a bunch of nonsense, which she did to a good degree. Any idiot already knew what she was saying, it was all in the implementation of the techniques that mattered, and she couldn't exactly improve the shinobi's implementation. "But yeah, I can't really teach you anything, it's something that you have to learn on your own." She shrugged her shoulders, unsure of what else he wanted.

While the two were talking about meditation Dainishi had found the other fellow and the sages, who left almost immediately as she approached the pale shinobi. Hopefully he would be a bit more fun than the other two she had just left, sitting across from the man she gave a quick wave before making a few fairly obscure hand gestures which was her way of asking for pen and paper as to 'speak' with him.

OOC:

One of the twin ladies exited the room, leaving the sister and the guy to speak alone. Kurai rested his pen and pad on his lap and he reached for another sip of his tea. The girl sat down across from the white haired boy. He gave a polite smile. To his amusement, she responded by flailing around, attempting to convey something. Perhaps this is how they greet others where she is from??? Then he realized she was gesturing for pen and pad as well, likely to write something. But why not just ask, why the charades... she is mute apparently. Kurai closed his eyes gently flashing another slight smile as he grabbed the pen and pad and handed it to her. "If you have forgotten my unremarkable name already, it is Kurai. What is yours?"

OOC:

Motoichi stood in quite confusement as the two women threw looks at each other.  One wasn't pleased at all and seemed to be wanting the other's attention.  The second sat down with a look just as spiteful as the one given to her.  The red-haired girl still standing threw up her arms in frustration and marched out of the room.

The other redhead stayed behind and was now looking at Motoichi. "I'm sorry, did I . . . do something?" he asked.

"My sister and I communicate through telepathy, she's a mute you see; anyway, she's not the biggest fan of meditation, or anything that has to do with sitting still, really." she explained.

"Ah, I see."

"In all honesty I can't really teach you a whole lot of meditation, and most of everything I'd be able to tell you, you would've heard before. Suppose I'll give it a shot, though." she stopped to clear her throat.

"I'm sure you already know the basics, and the finer points take years to master, but I can give a few tips. Try to begin with a deep breathing session, by and large try not to come in with preconceived goals, they should come organically and not be forced. Allow yourself to fully relax, as a shinobi this is of course one of the more difficult aspects of meditation being taught to always be on guard and all, and with that your sessions should improve--But yeah, I can't really teach you anything, it's something that you have to learn on your own."  She shrugged her shoulders and relaxed back into the chair, looking back at Motoichi expectedly.

It was a lot to take in.  Yes, some of it was repetitive of what he had heard from the sages but not the part about not having preconceived goals.  This whole time he was expecting something out of the meditation.  To face the test that the sages had kept on telling him about.  Was that the trick here?  Was the test that he needed to pass the very thing he needed to let go of?

While lost in thought Motoichi absentmindedly stroked his chin and unknowingly stared at the woman.  His mind elsewhere, he was busy revisiting the images that came to him during his last meditation.  For a long while he stood there in thought before returning to the present.  When his mind refocused, he realized his folly of still staring at the girl.  "Oh, I beg your pardon.  Was lost in my own world for a moment."

He got up from his seat and bowed slightly before her.  "Thank you, you have helped me more than you know.  Please apologize to your sister for me having upset her.  Maybe one day we can get together again and do something more to her liking."  He then made his way to the door, stopping it halfway ajar, pegging a question before heading out the door.  "Oh, and I don't believe I ever asked you your name?  I think you already learned mine from the sages earlier."

Motoichi took a step outside and spotted the other red haired sister talking with the white haired boy from earlier, Kurai was his name.  He made his way over and formally apologized to both of them for his earlier interruptions.  Apparently today was his day to jump in on everyone's toes.  He just hoped he hadn't upset anyone by it.

In hopes of not angering anyone, Motoichi quietly slipped away, bowing goodbye to his newly made aquaintances as he turned and hurried home. A lot had happened today and quite a lot more needed to be thought upon. Motoichi was sure to sleep well that night after such an eventful day.



Post: 636
1,279 words
Trained Perception from D-0 to D-3 1,175/1,175
104 words left