Solstice heard footsteps approaching, the mere sound of someone coming close to her without her having eyes on them was enough to wake her softly, she was an exceedingly light sleeper, especially when it came to unfamiliar sounds. The crunching of the grass on the ground underfoot calmed her breathing, and it was not long before she felt the warmth, the familiar warmth aglow from Tenmei sitting down beside her, Solstice almost wanted to cuddle up to that sun-lamp like warmth and fall into a much deeper sleep, though as she subconsciously attempted it, the soft aroma of herbal tea met her senses, Solstice was beginning to like this girl, anyone who bought tea as a provision for intense training was good in her book.

yes please... Solstice said looking to her side with her eyes closed before opening them, reaching out for one of the cups and hoping it was already filled by the caffinated ambrosia which filled her nose. Once filled, Solstice would drink the fluid with an amount of reverence and sigh heavily after her first good sip. The flowing concoction rolling down her throat, able to feel the warmth all the way down to her stomach. there it sat, accumulating with each sip, the energy of the caffeine transferring to her almost immediately as she finished her mug.

So, i trust your day was probably uneventful? She said lightly as she sat herself up, her body recovering from the atrophy of sleep. Stretching her muscles to the sky and then outwards, she placed the now empty cup on the ground beside her, planting her hands on the tree at her back before vaulting back up to her feet, with a quick spin as she landed to route the momentum to a halt, and to look a little more flashy. after listening to tenmei's response she nodded and clapped her hands together. Flicking down two scrolls form her sleeves and unravelling them to face her, one of which was the picture of the chakra gates, the other was a notation on the nature of wind chakra and fire chakra.

Last time we tried this i think we went a little too far, I forgot that unlike me, the fire in you is a part of you, not just a skill you have developed, so, we can't eliminate it entirely, but, what i think we can do, is develop it into a technique. That way, you can learn how to ventilate yourself, rather than building up more and more, Think of it like training a chakra dial to yourself, so you can increase and decrease it at will... Then, lastly, if all else fails, we can always find a fuuinjutsu user to seal it with a Tetragram seal. But, lets ignore that option for now. She said a little funnily as if she was joking, with a small hint of seriousness as if it was an option.

But for now, i want you to stand up, and start making yourself hotter, while i prevent you from getting too hot, okay? She said with a smile as she began her demonic ice corruption technique. Soft fog began to rise from her body as the ground began to freeze into small pools at her feet. The moisture in the air beginning to freeze over and fall like light snow as she controlled her skill. Moving closer she held out her hands, Give me everything you've got darling, i can take it.

When the older girl reached out her hand, Tenmei was happy to oblige, by picking up the ready filled clay mug, and pushed it lightly in to her hands, making careful sure to hold on to it for a few moments longer to ensure that she didn't spill it. After all, even though it had been sitting in her bag for the time it took her to walk out all this way, it was still emitting a steady amount of steam, as if it had been brewed while the female was still waiting for her presence to be acknowledged. 

Still, while Solstice was enjoying her lightly sweetened supplement, Tenmei finished off her own, shaking out the last little drip and catching it on her tongue, before swallowing it before it had a chance to burn the delicate flesh there.
Only after she had checked to see that there was nothing left in the thermos, did Tenmei delicately wrapped up her cup and nestle it back in her knitted woolen shoulder bag.

So, i trust your day was probably uneventful? 

How did she know? 

"No, not really" Tenmei answered without much consideration.
"I just cleaned up and tidied around the house. You know, just to keep things organised. I also put away some more of my fathers old books. He used to be really in to History and would write down what he learned from other people while we traveled. 
As far as I know, he had left his work with an old acquaintance back in one of the smaller towns we had passed by on our way North. He died a month ago, so I inherited all of them back"

But even then, she was assured that, the book she found didn't belong to his family either...

With that aside, Tenmei listened with keen interest as Solstice explained the idea about how to control her kekkei genkai using a release of sorts. This was a good and not many had tried it before....
But when the Jounin mentioned the seal, the younger girl shuddered, a  chill going down her spine. 
She had heard stories of people who had tried to seal of their heat. Many stories. None of them ended up the way they had hoped it would.

"My father told me a story once of a woman that tried to seal it away. It worked for a time, but eventually the pressure of the seal got too much and she died from a stroke not a couple months later"

But not to dwell on that macabre news, Tenmei nodded and walked over to the point half way between the well and the trees. Then, with a deep breath she continued to let go of her forced control and let the heat well up inside her. 

Fire come's from one's center
That was what her father had always said. With her arms hanging loosely down by her side, Tenmei took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the chilled night air. As she let go of that breath in a long, drawn out sigh, the dark haired girl felt the inner restraints let go as well. 
Then, with the continuations of these tides of air, Tenmei started to slowly get hotter......and hotter.

It started from her stomach chakra where she had gathered it earlier that day, and slowly moved along with her arteries, with her veins, like a river of lava over taking an otherwise gentle creek. 
It crept up over her abdomen, brushing her organs and feeding every  muscle with a liquid fuel that radiated out through her skin. It came across her lungs, her heart, even reaching up to her crown. 
But then it would rush back, only to pumped through faster and hotter.

Two hearts working as one.

In the mean time, outside of her inner consciousness, the world grew hotter around her.
The green grass that ticked up her ankles started to brown and then wither along with the nearby plants that had first turned towards the hear source, all unable to withstand the immensity. The stones of the well started to pulse with a similar heat and even the space around her started to shimmer as the super hot waves distorted the air. 

These effects only served to spread out further....
No living thing could touch her without suffering the heat. And this, scared the coal haired female. 

And her heat grew

Solstice watched her progress as she got hotter and hotter, remaining close as the only area her heat was not able to overtake was her area of cold, as she got hotter and hotter, Solstice empowered more chakra into the demon ice corruption technique stepping close and holding her hands, the frigid nature of the corruption perhaps a little too cold collided with the heat creating a bizzare wind formation around the two, an area of extreeme heat, and an area of extreeme cold clashed together creating a massive dust devil around the two of them, in a rather dramatic nature, the miniature whirlwind whipped around them blowing at their clothes and hair as the heat and cold continued to rise.

Solstice smiled, she was doing well, but she could not give into panic, if she did, she would likely lose control of her heat, and solstice would have to eliminate it with extreeme prejudice and essentially cancel out the fire temporarily for only a few moments pressing her own fingertips against hers solstice had to speak over the humidity, the heat, and eventually the flame and the wind. Once she thought she was hot enough, this became more interesting. Opening her mouth and projecting her voice, solstice began to channel more of her own hyouton chakra to her fingers which were actually connecting with Tenmei's skin now.

Okay, listen up, this is where you need to keep your head, keep focused on me, and the sound of my voice. Focus on your heart, and your breathing like we did before, remember your chakra points, all this heat is, is your chakra... it's all yours, looking for a way out, and it's built up all of your life... We need to let it out, so, we're going to work on opening your chakra gates, these are the points that no doubt your family have taught you to keep closed, and it's turned you into a furnace. I want you to open them, and i won't let the fire hurt you. She said as she stepped closer, her cold beginning to cancel out the more dangerous heat coursing through her body.

Fingers first, Then forearms, arms, then onto the points down your neck and your spine, your chest, core, then your legs, in one wave, close your eyes and control the vents... you can't open them explosively, or you will burn yourself out of energy too fast! Solstice continued to talk her through, what was about to happen, but also preparing herself as well. Solstice began to filter chakra into her golden gloves, which were able to touch chakra, this was something Tenmei had to be able to do... But solstice believed she could do it, it would be rocky, but the jounin knew she was special, she knew she had it in her. Not many genin could almost completely seal away their kekkei genkai for even a few moments on their first try.

Come oooon, you can dooo it..!

Tenmei was only vaguely aware of Solstice taking up her hands.
All her concentration, all her focus was on the heat that emanated from every chakra point in her body. She had never released this much before and the pressure around her felt as if she was standing in deep water.An ocean full of desert air and she was standing right in the center of it.

And even then, her body temperature got hotter and hotter.

Despite the roaring winds that deafened the area, Tenmei could hear Solstice's commanding voice over the ravaging chaos. An odd contrast to be sure. Still, the words only partially registered and was tempted to open her eyes, only to see that the leaves of the nearby trees had were starting to wither away along with a wide circle on the ground.
The grey stones of the well had turned an evil shade of black and the air was getting harder to breath.....
but none of this other compared to the threat of the dust devil that threatened to suck away her control.

The words came again. This time, clearer.

As much as Tenmei tried to focus on the female, the wind was always screaming louder, shaking her deep down in to her core and feeding the underlying fear that lingered there.
But in no way accepting defeat, Tenmei decisively gripped the cold females hands tighter and tried doing her best to slow her breathing and focus on the steady pounding of her heart and the grip that Solstice had on her hands.
These sure and constant things soon became her solace....and with that, she found a space in her mind where she could shift her focus to the gates.

The one in her fingers were the first to open, and did so easily enough. Then her arms and the ones in her neck. But as she got to the gates towards her center, it got harder. The pressure around her and inside was close to bone shattering and she could feel the cotton bits of her clothes start to burn away with the heat.
The gates in her spine came next and only then did she hesitate, her hands shaking from the strain of letting go of this much at this time.

"I'm gonna burn up. Just like my dad"

Tenmei tried to yell over the wind but she could barely hear her self think through the howls of the whirl wind and the pounding of her own heart.
Despite her fears and the tears that spilled halfway down her cheeks, the female continued till she had reached all the way down her legs.
All she could do now was hope that Solstice could stop her from bursting in to flames as she could feel the sparks from her clothes and smell the smoke from the leaves. Nothing around her was safe.

And Tenmei had a feeling, that neither was she.

She did it, the hard part was done, and she was loosing chakra fast, all of this pent up energy was threatening to drain her dry of her chakra, but she needed to refine it, and she needed to control it, their clan had built up this fore for generations to the point that it had become overwhelming for any one member to possess, and no-one said it was ever going to be an easy thing to do. Aya still had her pulse ready to put the safety breaks on in case she needed to, but Tenmei was not done yet, her gates were open, but her heat was just gushing out, which was exactly what it needed to do for now, her temperature had risen and risen to an almost dangerous level for herself, but not quite, solstice's cold was still there, creating a counterforce which would allow her to survive the temperature so close to her body.

She would have already probably badly hurt herself at this temperature were it not for solstice standing here, the potential of the clan was simply astounding, that a single Genin, had this much strength instide them, Solstice's power over her first stage of her demonic ice corruption was being matched by it now, the two forces, even with Demon ice's in built resistance to heat and katon, was still being unable to gain much more ground in her direction. After a few crucial moments of maintaining her power exhaling like this though, Solstice began to feel the intensity of the heat weaken, not necissarily the temperature, but the rate of which it was exploding from her body, it was slowing down!

Now was the time to strike as the wind too with it was beginning to get a little quiter, meaning little as it stood, Solstice yelled out to her in the midst of the chaos. "You've done great! now, you need to take control of your chakra points! Don't close them off, but tighten them up! Remember, this is all YOU, you're in control, this is your power, tame it! You won't burn up, I wont let you, I'm not letting you. Keep focused, think, fingers! Arms! Body! Tighten your muscles, control your breathing, and limit the release like focusing the flame on a blowtorch! Solstice called out, and moved her hands back up to her shoulders, she needed to keep her eyes closed to focus, and look inwardly and analyse her own chakra.

Solstice gripped her shoulders tightly still ever cooling the inside of her body with her own technique to safe although still notibly high levels. it was something that needed to be done and Solstice was still chanting in her head for her to be able to get through this, but at the same time, she was looking for any sign of burns across her body, everything seemed allright for now, she had no burns, but anything past the first degree would be solstice's key to step in unless Tenmei said otherwise. She'd kept her chakra stable before, this was the hard part, letting go was a psychological struggle, but this is where she would have to grit her teeth and work, and prove herself.

Come on Tenmei, you're strong, prove it to me, to your friend, to you're new home, that you have this! That this fire is you! and now you will be controlling it! not the other way around! I belive in you!!! Solstice was trying to get her pumped up, her own doubt was poison in her mind when it came to controlling her chakra, the imbalance of yang in her body was filtered out and in seconds she would be loosing her own chakra, rather than the welled up excess of decades of repression. It was no wonder this clan had a problem with combusting, if she was only twenty, and her father was three times her age, that would mean he would have had three times the burning chakra welled up inside his body fighting for a way out.

That was more than any normal ninja could handle. But Tenmei was young, and strong, and had her friend beside her.

(wordcount up to here, 7139 on microsoft word)

The pressure she was putting on her body was phenomenal.
All her life she had been told to restrain this power. Focus and maintain a perfected control else they would explode like all her ancestors had done in the past. But here she was, exuding enough heat to melt through icebergs. It was unnatural for her and she was suffering the consequences for it. 
Her chakra was being burnt up along with the bits of clothes that fell to the brown and dried grass. She couldn't keep this up for long.

And that was not the only way she was suffering.

Her skin had gone a shade darker than what it had been and her hands were trembling as they had done that morning.  Every breath she took, Tenmei was gasping in the mixture of boiling air and freezing oxygen.
And with every breath that she exhaled, it felt like more of the heat would come out in yet more waves. It felt like there was no way of stopping it.
That it was way out of her control.  And so her fear was brought back to the surface once more, along with the images and the doubts.

"I'm scared" Tenmei wasn't shy in admitting over the sounds of her own anxieties
"I don't want to end up like my father and like the rest of my people. To die in flames is a fate worse than the dying itself. I can't face that I wont.
But I am scared I can't control this...I can't......How can you stop something that has been bred in to my DNA for so many generations.
Don't let me end up like them....please"

To let out this much was hard....and now Tenmei was expected to bring it back in.
At first, she thought that it was asking too much, but with the hands now gripping her shoulders and the words that spoke of the utmost confidence in her own ability. Well, she had to try. After all, if she couldn't believe in herself, then believing in the one that believed in her would have to do.
And that was enough for the female for now.

Keeping her eyes closed, Tenmei tried her best to focus on her breathing despite the difficulties it presented. But after a long moment she managed to steady her inhales to match with her exhales and her heart rate, beat by beat started to slow.
Then, just like before, she started to picture the thick syrup like heat that intermingled with her boiling blood, circle back to her center.
Then, very slowly, almost painfully so, her inner heat started to retreat, first from her crown and then her third eye, all moving down to her grounding center.
And it kept going, taking the outward heat with it.

It was draining, and some of the heat still remained inside each chakra point but slowly, it subsided, just as she was told to do.
Leaving the female both mentally and physically drained.

Solstice heard the girl's cries and pleas for help and it almost broke Solstice's heart to hear them, with each of them was the pain and fear of her losing her father, her mother, and her people. The power was bred into their DNA, but they weren't trying to kill it, they were trying to tame it, but like fighting a bull, even a matador has to bleed it first, for a bull at full strength would surely overpower the fighter, and lead him to die a slow and painful death. The beast within her had been bled now, and though Tenmei was exhausted, there was now less ov her people's power within her to control, meaning now she would be able to create the processes inside her to stop this from ever happening again. Solstice knelt on one knee close to her, and opened her mouth to speak. her controlling her power meant Solstice could also raise her own temperature, the gushing wind stopped to but a wild breeze and solstice held her hand and guided her through the last of the transformation.

Excellent, you've suppressed it, now, don't turn it off and lock it in your gut like we did before, remember. I dont want you to push this fire back into yourself like you're used to and hold it back. I need you to focus on your chakra gates again, starting with your fingers, and rather than pushing everything back into your gut, i want you to open up that prison to all over your body. Make your many gates and your skin the walls that hold it, for gates can open and close at your whim, and opening them to varying degrees, and controlling the flow of your chakra will master your heat. She said lightly, smiling at her progress. Though the area around her was damaged, solstice wiped the sweat from Tenmei's brow, and any tears which had fallen from her eyes.

You've passed the hardest part, now Control your heat like a jutsu, like a fire release. So when you use it, open each gate just a little bit. And use the power of the heat, but dont let it run wild. So, narrow those gates down, and limit what heat they relese, tense it up, and picture those gates closing slowly until they're just right. Solstice watched her as she attempted to teach her how to use her clan's kekkei genkai in a manner which she would be able to control for the rest of her life, no doubt opening up massive reserves of skills which would be able to make her a powerful ninja in her own right.

Solstice continued to talk her through the last of the technique until she was able to close off her chakra gates and hold her heat within them, no longer trapping all of it in her solar plexus chakra like she had been doing. Similar techniques were used to seal vast stores of chakra, but chakra replenished like blood, moving it from your body and storing it, only causes more to grow, and every prison has a capacity. Once she completed it, Solstice would lean in close and hug her tightly, commenting simply, You did it, and I am proud of you... Even if Solstice's embrace was the only thing holding her up at the end.

Tenmei was unsure if she could even do what was asked.

From the moment she was old enough to learn about the chakra inside of her, the young female was taught how to pull all of her ability back and reign her heat in side her base chakra, else she would be like her previous ancestors and face the same horrific fate. The doomed destiny that all members of her clan faced.
The idea of letting go all that she had worked for all sixteen and relearning the very opposite of what her father had told her. Well....the idea was simply blasphemous and the fear that she would lose control and burn down a small portion of this very forest, was entirely real to her.

So basically, despite the female's words of encouragement and her beliefs of Tenmei's control. She still worried that this exercise would all be for naught.

With Solstice kneeling before her, Tenmei held tight to her hands as she maintained a steady focus on her breathing while also concentrating on the gentle marble like grip of the crouched female. Slowly, and again, one by one she opened her gates starting from her fingers and sweeping up her arms to her shoulders, neck and down her military straight spine.
As soon as all of them had opened fully once more, Tenmei worked the chakra around her body, siphoning off the liquid type energy as it reached different parts of her completely rigid form.

It would bend around her solar plexus and she would hold a tiny bit there like a mental dam wall being erected for that chakra spot. What remained would then flow onwards to her chest, around her lungs and then another inner cork would hold it in place. It would continue until it had reached the tips of every appendage and the crown at the very top of her cranium.
Now with her Charka leveled out, Tenmei slowly closed her gates so this lava inside her would trickle through at a constant, but gentle flow. Unlike before where it would smash through her like waves at a beach.  It was done.

She had become the first of her kind to go completely against what she had learned from birth....and survived.
Solstice would never know much of a turning point this would be for her clan and her future family. A crucial point in history, it would make.

So now, with her heat still running through her body but at an extremely disparate way to before, the moment she was allowed to relax, her lithe form could only react as any human body would when faced with such drastic happenings.
Her legs went first. From the knees down all sense of balance disappeared from underneath her and Tenmei could not help but to transfer all her weight in to Solstice's unbending and welcoming arms.
Her own limbs however, felt like they had been weighed down by lead bricks and her head felt much the same. It was when her vision started to go from perfect to spinning around faster than it took her focus.....Well that was when her consciousness started to slip.

"I....I don't feel so good" Tenmei whispered as she heaved her arms up to wrap around Solstice in warm and grateful embrace.
"Thank you. For believing in me.....when no one else would give me the chance. You have helped me more than you know"

With those final words and a few last tears, the last bit of consciousness that Tenmei had been holding on to, slipped away from between her fingers and  she passed out, cold. Too exhausted from the rapid changes of her natural structure, and from the excessive release of heat.
And from making a huge step towards her one true goal.

She was warm to the touch, and nowhere near as hot as she was before, Solstice was actually able to drop her technique altogether while she still held her precious cargo in her arms. Laying a kiss lightly on her forehead as she drifted away into unconsiousness. Scooping her arm under her legs and picking her up and cradling her, Solstice needed to find a place she could rest, naturally her ffirst though would be her home, though, she didn't think so, this time, solstice had already been to her house and been a guest there, and she didn't want to impose the stress of having a guest over while she was drowsy and probably still asleep. So, with her hanging from her arms, Solstice bagan to walk back to the city.

Passing people on the streets she began to pick up speed, moving at an almost constant level there was very little jarring movement as Solstice was trying to make the trip comfortable, making a beeline for the subtle and comfortable home of the head of the Aisu clan, as well as her mother. Solstice soared from buillding to building cradling this girl in her arms, flying toward her open window solstice ducked her head and soared through the open window to extend her body to a standing position and flow with the momentum so that her precious cargo would remain stationary and largely comfortable. It was time for her to be a guest in the Aisu household, laying her on solstice's perfectly made bed, Solstice walked downstairs to put some fresh baking in the oven.

Spending little more then ten minutes making the dough for the bread she prepared some general other food stuffs before putting the bread in the oven to bake for the next extended amount of time, before making herself some ramen noodles to sedate her own hunger after today's workout, and moving into the shop area where her mother was, selling ninja tools to those who came to buy her astounding work. Greeting her mother with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, her mother took her two gloves from her with a smile and said she would polish them up like she usually would after missions like this. Solstice served a customer before heading back upstairs about half an hour later to ensure that Tenmei was there and comfortable.

Sitting at her bedside she swept the hair from her face and moved her into a slightly more comfortable position on her side, hoping that she would not be having any nightmares or the like that would spoil her rest after she had done so well today. It was strange, the two of them had chakra natures, but Solstice could feel that hers was something a little more, her fire threatened to overpower her ice, which meant that her fire was as strong as the skill of a chuunin at least, welled up inside the body of a genin. No doubt the affinity in her blood passed down from her clan, solstice had nothing like that, her familie's bood was the ice in her veins, but the ice was no stronger thanks to the clan, she had to work for every ounce of power that she had managed to accumulate, but her, she could very well become stronger than solstice if she trie hard enough.

You've conquored your blood, now nothing stands in your way. She whispered to herself as she waited for her to awaken at her bedside as she tidied her room neatly. Though there was little more than a bed, a window, and a table and chair in the room, it looked cosy, the varnished floor and paint made the room seem warm, the table/ desk set was vintage and the chair looked comfy to sit on, the bed was large, taking up 1/3 of the room space, enough to lay a family on. but it was hers.

'I saw what you did...Tenmei. Letting go like that, did you want to end up like your mother? Like me? I'm so disppointed in you.'

She remembered this dream. If the female were to look in the mirror, she would not see the face of a trained ninja, but the face of a ten year old child, looking up at that man with fearful eyes that spilled tears that would stain her pride.
And, he would always be there; standing tall with those familiar light eyes and dark blade, looking down at her with so much pity.
Tenmei knew what he was going to say before the words even parted his lips. After all it was the same thing over and over....and over again.
But this time.....

"No. You don't need to do anything. Nothing will happen to me. Please, you don't to be sorry"
  "But Tenmei. You know it would always continue to grow inside you, no matter how many times you release it. She can't always be there for you, you know? She won't always be around to stop you....

I'm sorry. There is nothing, anyone can do"

--------------------------------------------------------

She wasn't in that area by the well anymore.
The smell of burnt foliage and smouldering soil was gone from the air and she could not detect the musty scent of smoke and tea that often hung around her own abode. Instead, the air was filled with a most delicious odor, one she could not place.
There was no coarse fabric scratching at her skin, there was no uncomfortable humidity. She was just laying on something soft in a place that was different to her own home.

"Where am I? How long have I been out?

Slowly, the female opened her pale grey eyes and squinted through the dim light to see her surroundings.
Though not overly furnished, the room seemed cosy enough with it's warm coloured walls and neutral floor. Though the desk and the window caught her attention, it wasn't until she heaved her torso up from the feather light pillows, did she fully see where she was and how big the bed she had been laying in was.
Wherever she had been taken to, this person was obviously important and had good taste in furnishings.....And naturally, only then it occurred to her what must have happened.

"Sorry. I don't mean to be a bother. I didn't expect that training to have taken so much out of me. I didn't burn anything did...."
Tenmei cut herself off as she glanced down to the sheets she had been lying on and put a hand down on them to test it's warmth.
They had gone quite hot to the touch, like how some material got after being ironed...but they were still intact and not darkened in any places. This in itself was highly unusual.

Even after that nightmare.......

"What is that I smell?"

====================================================

((Word count - 9000+ Done))

Solstice smiled as she got up walking over to her closet and opening it wide taking out of it one of her long deep purple leather jackets that she used to wear as a genin, as well as a tight black tank top, matching pants and tights then throwing them toward Tenmei with her same warm smile on her face. There was a problem with her own wardrobe, with the complex forces of the cold and the heat ripping at each other in between them, the cold had made them frigid, and the heat had broken and ripped most of her old clothing apart. In many ways to be rather revealing. Solstice gifted her some clothes which would breathe well, and for the most part resist her heat. the coat was sleeveless and was basically an accessory, it looked cool, and went with the outfit, bringing out a little bit of Solstice's inner Girly girl when it came to attire.

Here, put these on, the rest of your outfit kindof got shredded, mine is a little more okay, leather seems to be a little more element resistant for the most part, so i tend to stick to it. She said smiling and leaning against the wall to face her. Not really caring about the whole privacy thing for the most part, but she had made sure by taking the correct route home that she would not have been exposed to anyone, it was none of their business and she wanted to keep her dignity intact. As for what's cooking, fresh bread and Tea is being made downstairs, so, I was your guest once, so allow me to repay the favour for you.

Solstice headed for the door of the room as she told Tenmei she would see her downstairs once she was descent and dressed. heading down the stairs Solstice walked to the stove and opened it, looking at the lovely raised bread which just had that right amount of fresh crunchiness around the outside, Solstice breathed it in relaxedly as the sweet aroma of the bread washed over the room. Putting the kettle on at the same time, she waited for that to boil, moving to her mother's tea trey which was layed out with various teas and herbs to bring out various flavours. Preparing two cups as the water began to boil. Solstice reached in and gripped the bread sliding it out from its tin and placing it on the bench with a knife, splitting it in two and serving it all in one nice bunch. Dinner and tea.

Solstice waited for Tenmei, and when she appeared she'd look up. I was really proud of what you managed to do today, it was a massive step in your training and though it was hard, you pushed through. Sorry if i was a little hard on you, but i think we got there in the end didn't we? Solstice was worried about her for a moment but it was very clear now that any damage she had sustained was temporary, though her tan had become notibly darker by a shade, it looked kinda nice, a little out of place compared to Solstice's cool alabaster skin, but it was a nice contrast to the usual pallid nature of kiri.

Tenmei was rendered still and speechless as she watched as Soltisce glided effortlessly to the wardrobe and grab out a select few items of clothing before tossing them carelessly towards the still gaping female. But then, just as the Genin had focused her bleary consciousness enough to form a 'thank you', the older girl had said to meet her downstairs and was gone, disappearing out of her sight, the door closing with a soft click behind her. She had not even answered her quetions......

Still, Tenmei passed it off as nothing to worry about. She was sure that the explanations of what had transpired within those last few moments would be made clear when she had gotten herself in to something....well. A little less revealing.


It took the dark haired girl a few moments to heave herself off the bed without her vision spinning like an out of control carousel.
Only once she could stand without the aid of the wall, Tenmei moved to the clothes and laid them flat out on the bed so she could clearly say what was provided her. The jacket and pants looked to be comfortable and provide decent enough coverage, however the top and tights looked to be a little less appealing to her usual choice of fashion. So, after picking up the unwanted clothing, folding it neatly and placing it back where she had got it from, Tenmei carefully changed her attire.

Over all, Solstice had been right.

Tenmei's previous clothes had been torn to shreds but not because of the heat, she always wore items that protected against that.
But because of the extreme cold and the wind as it whipped and tore at the usually durable threads. She would need to change what she wore on a more permanent basis if she were to be working with this one in particular more often.

After stripping down to just the remainder of her bandages that bound her breasts and the material that made her underwear, she tore up what was left of her shirt and fastened it around her torso so it loosely covered the bandages and kept her modest. She then slid slashed the side of the trouser legs and slipped them on, followed by the stylish jacket. Tight clothes made her uncomfortable but this was good enough.

So long as she maintained control

Now fully clothed and her glossy coal black haired, brushed and tied with a leather string, the younger female cautiously made her way out the door the Jounin had exited through headed down the stairs.
But just as she stepped down the first three towards the lower level, the realisation suddenly hit her. This was her house. The head of the the Aisu clan. And she was a guest here.....
Tenmei had never been here invited to anyone's house let alone the head of a clan's place before. With this epiphany, her tanned cheeks picked up a slightly pinker shade as she continued down the stairs, following the smell of freshly baked bread and tea.
The very thing that lured her a smile to her lips, a rare thing by far.

Tenmei found the colder female sitting down with the kettle and the most delicious smelling, and looking food item she had seen in a long while. But it was the tea that held her attention as she sat down along side the female, feeling much better than she had been when she first woke up.

"It was for the best. I don't think I could have done that much without the extra shove. So I thank you."
Tenmei rested both her hands on the table and interlaced her fingers, shifting her weight to lean forwards to show her interest towards the answers that she sought earlier.
  "I don't remember the last couple minutes of the excersise. Did I really....did I really do it? I mean....Does it mean that I really have controlled the heat so I wont loose control like my father had?
How long was I out for? It must be late, surely?"

Solstice took the kettle from its boil and poured it into one of the tea pots which was always prepared for herself, her own small blend of herbs mixes with the water and an aroma began to fill the air with the steam. Solstice listened to her for a while as she waited for the flavours to properly mix, she lifted one of the ppieces of bread and took a deep bite of it. The bread was a little over crunchy, borderline slightly toasted around the crust, making it more flaky than she would have liked, but the soft flesh of the bread was still sweet to the taste. Solstice was not the best baker, nor the best tea brewer, she always got the mixtures not quite right or there was always something obstaining perfection, but that was neither here nor there.

You did, inside you right now, your chakra is in balance with your body, think of your chakra like blood, it's made from everywhere, and you've been storing it all in one place, which means there is none in your body, so your body makes more, then you store it, it makes more, etcetera etcetera. She explained taking another bite from her bread and munching on it before swallowing, leaning against the kitchen bench, placing her half of the bread on the plate before pouring her teapot, and allowing Tenmei to help herself to the use of the tea set, to use any mixtures of the herbs she wished. They were your basic couples, jinseng, lavender, green, chai, and base tea leaf.

Your ancestors would have used this technique to survive in cold temperatures far beyond them, cos the cold counterbalances it, but it keeps growing. Though no doubt, as people started... to lose their lives. She paused slightly, not wanting to say exploded. the success rate for reversing the process would have been almost impossible with the aid of any natural cold. short of jumping into the middle of a frozen lake. But now, the chakra in your body is balanced between your chakra points like it should be, meaning, your chakra veins are now properly flowing and you are in control of the heat, though be careful, you can still quite easily burn someone should you get excited or overwhelmed, but you will no longer be able to combust. She finished.

Taking a sip of her tea and looking toward the time to answer her next question. well you were out for about an hour or two, so it's nearing about ten o clock at night, so about dinner time for us here, or breakfast if you're me, i've basically been up all night, so, it's been an interesting day, as far as days go. Solstice laughed stretching up high, revealing most of her body with her open coat. You should be able to properly control that chakra into techniques and jutsu now, without much risk of overheating, if you pace yourself. She said on an added note

Despite her words of reason, Tenmei still had her doubts about the effectiveness of the release they just performed. Yes, she felt much balanced inside and far calmer than she had been that morning. However, the dark haired female was all too aware at how fast the heat built up inside her. Spreading it all out meant that it would take longer for it to get to that point, but eventually it would get to the same point.
It just meant that what they did that time, well it would only be the tip of the iceberg of what was to come in the regards to her training.


While Tenmei took the time to consider this new information, she grabbed a small pinch of the loose green tea lives and placed it in the strainer that sat at the top of the pot. Then, with only using her gut instinct to measure, she grabbed a pinch of lavender and the same amount of jinseng, and placed it in the mortar to grind it up till it was a few strokes away from being too fine. Only once that was done, she added that to the other leaves and waited for it to settle in to the water inside the pot.

She had learned much while traveling around with the old man.
While her father had taught her restraint, it was Satoshi Nakamura who gave her the essential skills to get through the days. Making tea just happened to be one of her specialties.

"I see. I can feel the difference anyway but...." Tenmei picked up one of the slices of bread, inhaling in the delectable scent before biting in to it's slightly crunchy texture, savoring every flavour as it tantalized her famished taste buds. How long had it been since she had eaten anything decent that wasn't soup or noodles.
  "I'm always careful. I have burned too many people not to be. Actually.....I was surprised I didn't burn you when I touched your hand the first time. I get a little....nervous around new people"

The steel eyed female stopped what she was and picked up the pot, not really noticing how hot it was in her hands. Within one delicate movement, she placed her fingers on the lid and poured it in to the cup without making it splash on to the sides. Just as she was taught to do. Without waiting for it to cool, Tenmei picked it up and sipped at it slowly, a smile forming on her lips.
No surprises there. It was perfect. Just as always. Just like the way that he used to make it for her.

"Oh hey! My bag. I'm glad you picked it up. Tsukeru doesn't do well with the cold. Which is why I keep him close by"
Replacing the tea back down on the bench, she carefully leaned over and grabbed her bag. Without having to look, she reached her hand in and out crawled the tiny yellow and black reptile. It was no longer than ten centimeters and was as thin as your garden variety skink.
It scurried up her arm, stopped to look at the blue eyed female....hissed and then disappeared beneath the folds of her jacket.
All this time he had been camping out with her thermos sound asleep.

"Speaking of jutsu....something happened while releasing the chakra. For a second there, my eyesight changed. I saw colours that weren't there before. I had heard my mother experienced something similar.
I think...I could see people's heat signature. Like, I felt chakra around eye for just a second and then there was heat and all of a sudden....
This is never happened before so why is it happening now?"

Solstice looked at her eyes as she mentioned that they had somehow changed. The chakra points in her eyes must have been filled with Katon chakra with the rest of her body. Which had obviously reacted in such a way which caused to her use some form of sensory jutsu based on sight. It was a useful skill, heat signatures were a hard thing to change, even if someone was suppressing their chakra you would still be able to see their heat, as well as any residual heat they were giving off. Which made is more than useful in many situations, in which she had to sense out abilities. Other people had means of sensing other people's chakra, but this was an interesting back door to those defences.

Solstice tried to think of the words to put it into, her katon chakra in her body was a little more raw than normal people's but she must have had the potential to use this jutsu for a while now, and if it happened to her mother, then, there was a high chance it was a technique to do with her blood, which made Solstice think a little more about her clan. A lot of the time clans have abilities they specialise in, which is passed down through their bloodline like the hyuuga gentle fist techniques and the like. Though, your chakra has been so repressed you probably repressed the abilities themselves, because you could not route your chakra to your eyes.

She still thought about her words before she said them for a moment before she continued, here wording meant everything. When your chakra hit your third eye chakra point in your body, it probably filtered to your eye gates, the katon chakra mixed with your vision allowing you to see other sources of Katon chakra and thus, heat vision. Or something like that. You probably have other clan skills in your blood that you could probably use if you figured them out, but it comes down to you, i would try to remember the techniques of your mother and your father, and play around your chakra gates, just remember not to open them fully whenever you do, they should not be too hard to control now, but you're still a genin, expert control comes with practise.

Solstice smiles broadly and continued to nom on her bread and drink her tea with a warm smile on her face. It was good... and the relaxing nature of the area around her was therapeutic. Do you have any other questions or worries hun?

Like before, Tenmei had to take a moment to let it all sink in.
It didn't make much sense to her. For the majority of her life, she had been taught how to control her abilities by her father: And although her father was a skilled ninja, his capabilities didn't compare to that of her mothers. As it was she that had learned all these techniques that she had been told about. It was the half that she never knew, who could bend metal to her will.
It only stand to reason that her father could not do these things because he just couldn't let go. Let go like she and her mother could.....

Maybe the idea of holding on to things did a lot more damage than to just ensure that her father died the way he did.
Just maybe.....this was why only half of the clan managed to survive the disaster all those years ago.

In the end, this was all big news to the girl, and for the longest few moments, she just sat there in contemplation, staring deep in to the swirling mixture inside her tea cup. It was then that she started to wonder, further about this new vision. What if she could conjour it up right now? What would this drink look like in technicolour? What about the lizard that still sat sleeping beneath the warmth of her clothes.
It was worth a try....and after her rest, she had a little chakra to spare. Maybe just enough to have a glimpse of what she could see.

"No. I think your right. Oddly enough I don't remember my father displaying any special techniques outside his fighting type jutsu" Tenmei started to say as she explained her thoughts from before.
  "I never met her but my mother, from what I was told, had also mastered the more subtle techniques of my clan which put her above the rest. I wish I could have got to know her....but no child of my clan ever has. One thing I hope to change one day"

Tenmei had never told anyone that before.
She had always thought it was just a hopeless idea because of how many people had tried and failed to find the ever elusive solution. But times were changing and people grow and evolve. Her ancestors found a way to move on when everyone else burned. Why couldn't she do the same.
Tenmei would not be a Genin forever.

"Do you think I could try this...heat vision thing again? You said, to focus on the chakra around my third eye area"
As she spoke, Tenmei placed the cup down on the table and closed her eyes, only using the chakra available without having to open her gates any more. She didn't plan to use it for long. Just a glimpse.

A little look at another door opened.

Solstice watched her think before finishing off her breath, her mother walked into the kitchen to see the two of them before looking at Tenmei and smiling, looking into her back and catching something in the corner of her eye, it was Tenmeis bag, exclaiming in surprise at the lack of the glint of steel on a blade she cried out in surprise and bent down to pick up Tenmei's clan Kunai, OH! I remember the guy who used to make these, lovely man, good craftsman, She gasped, you must be a Sotsuji! Well, i'm going to head off to bed you two, goodnight! Solstice's mum said placing the kunai on the bench before walking toward a room on the other side of the house.

Solstice laughed at her mother's enthusiasm with ninja weapons, it was her trade after all, and she was the best solstice knew. Looking back to Tenmei Solstice's mind by this point in time as a little baffled by what had just happened, trying to think about whether she should apologise for her mother or just allow it to sit where it was and hope that everything could go back to the way it was before. "That's mother, Goodnight!" Solstice said and called out to her as she waved slightly. Lowering her arm and looking back to Tenmei.

Though yes, your eyes, you're going to need to flow your chakra from your third eye to your eyes. Feel and try and manouver your katon chakra like a muscle to sit around your iris and your pupil then open your eye again, there's no need to try to be a hero from the start and do it with your eyes open, we don't need you shooting heat beams out your eyes in my house. She joked, hoping that Tenmei would take it as a joke, and not as a serious eventuality that could actually happen. Though with some of the clans that were coming out of the woodwork these days she was not entirely sure, though keeping her eyes on Tenmei she watched her and attempted to lead her through the skill.

Remember to focus on your breath, Solstice reminded her, thinking that perhaps she should look into a jutsu like this, though sensory techniques were not usually her thing, many of them were ninjutsu of considerable strength, which was simply something that she was never really good at as a girl, they were hard, and she never really got the hang of them very well. Closing her eyes her breathing paused and exhaled as a long sigh, as she wondered what her father would think of her doing this right now.

She could not remember much of her father, and in some ways envied Tenmei in the fact she got to know hers for a considerable time longer, Solstice had gone through a really tough childhood, but she could not even begin to fathom the pain of losing both parents... it simply did not compute in her mind what would have happened to her if her mother had dies as well. Though none of her thoughts showed on her face, her speech guiding Tenmei through her new skill.

She almost had it.

With her eyes closed, she focused on the chakra that swished and swirled around her third eye, and drew it forth to her pupils. From there, she extended it out towards her irises, but just as she was about to open her eyes and see if it had worked.....a voice pulled her from concentration and the super heated chakra snapped back to her third eye as if it had been on a piece of elastic. She had been so close to doing something that her father never could, the disruption left her feeling a little bit deflated to say the least.
Still, Tenmei didn't show any disappointment and simply smiled at the woman that breezed through the room.

"Yes. My father gave it to me after I had first controlled our kekkei genkai for the first time. I didn't know the man who made it personally but I have heard much about him. How did you.....?"

It seemed that lately, the amount of times Tenmei had been left without words was growing ever more with each moment she was in the presence of these people. It was not that she minded of course. The dark haired female didn't talk much to begin with. But there was always a difference between not wanting to say anything and not being able to say anything. So just like every other time she had been put in this slightly bewildering situation, Tenmei just sat there with the shadow of a smile and nodded with a brief wave to acknowledge the woman's presence.

And then she was gone, just as suddenly as she arrived.
And then the room returned back to normal.
Tenmei finished the contents of her cup and placed it back on the tray to make it easier when cleaning up later.
Then, just as before, the Genin closed her eyes and tried to focus on that Chakra point as she did last time. Unfortunately this time, it was a little harder to perform the same maneuver and she had to open her gates a quarter of a fraction in order to get the power that she needed to do as her mother had done years ago.

It was Solstice's voice that helped her over the barrier.

She could feel the gentle rush of heat come over from around her forehead to the back of her eyes. And just like before, she extended in a spider web pattern, first to the pupil and out to the iris where the katon rich chakra danced around there like a delicate string that spun around the lense of the mini organs. It was only when she could feel her breath slowly flow in and out of her chest in a steady motion that she dare open her eyes. After all, she knew very well that this could very well destroy her eye sight just as much as it could help her.
But if it did work....the things that she could see would be intense....

And intense it was. The bright technicolour shades that spotted her vision was so intense that it near knocked the girl back on to her haunches and away from the table.

Naturally, the first thing she looked at was Solstice.
Expecting to see the bright red and greens of a normal person, the older female registered as a deep blue with lighter areas around her fingers and near black spots around her chakra points. perhaps she was colder than Tenmei had originally first thought.
Which was an insanely different contrast to herself which appeared to be a bright yellow mixed with oranges and reds. Similiar to the colours that she saw in the kettle and the center of the loaf of bread. Everything else was patterned with all the colours of the rainbow, varying depending on each item. It was amazing to say the least....

And then it was gone.

"Holy-Shit" she said when her vision cleared after a moment of blinking and rubbing the rest of the warmth clear.
"That was...I don't think I can describe it. I don't know if I can ever get used to seeing in those colours. Even the walls had their own colour signature. I don't even know if I can stand it long enough to differentiate"

And there was her doubts again. The little voice in the back of her mind that wandered if she were good enough or not for this. If she was going to be able to even get near to her mother's level or would she end up like her father....like what he had said to her before.
The nightmares were there for a reason.
And they were always there.

Solstice smiled and waved as she saw that her eye was resonating with her katon chakra, knowing that she had accomplished her goal again. This was her first time she did it, so it was only natural that she would not be used to using things like sensory techniques, the fire inside her was still being registered as an enemy, something to be afraid of. Though with this she was taking her first steps, as long as she used her jutsu often enough, that act alone burnt up her Katon chakra, which would vent it when it needed to be vented rather than letting it burn up. It took it over a dozen years to get this far, and that the was the explosion from it, as long as she used her power, she would not need to perform that ceremony again.

"You'll get used to it Tenmei, this is your first time using that fire that only a day ago you were afraid would consume you if you lost control, so, take it easy, take it slow, and soon enough you will get there. Just practise using your fire a little bit every day, and then you will not only burn off what little build up your body can make in 24 hours, but you will also get used to the strange new sensations which have been catching you off guard. You should have seen me whan i started freezing things, i freaked out!" She said with a laugh as the hour was beginning to get a little later. Moving on toward eleven o clock at night. Solstice looked to the time.

So, If you have any other questions about your chakra, strange dreams, or anything of the like, feel free to ask me, I know what it's like for your Kekkei Genkai to talk to you while you're sleeping. Solstice said with a smirk, not really intending to get a reaction out of her with those words, but she remembered the forest of blades again, and her hands moved discretely to one of her scars. The dreams which could hurt her while she slept, she mastered them, but she was not yet able to comepletely discern who the man with the blade was in her dreams, she wanted to know, and if she could at all help it, she would find out.

Snapping herself out of her couple of second daze her eyes fell back to Tenmei, pouring herself another cup of tea as the water was not quite has hot as it had been before, though, doing so she thought of a means to test tenmei, holding out the pot toward tenmei Solstice smiled. "Tenmei, warm up the water would you, i cant be bothered putting the kettle back on." While her words were said jokingly, her eyes were full of craft, as she wanted to see Tenmei attempt to raise her temperature in her hand to a point where she would be able to bring water to a boil, but not damage her mother's Tea set. It was a tough challenge, but if it broke, Solstice would always be able to buy another one, the set was pretty, but not overly expensive.

It had been so long since she had been able to let loose and not worry about burning down the house and hurting anyone that gone within three feet of her body. It had even got to the point where she was not sure what smiling felt like anymore. But still, despite the worries and the anxieties that lingered about her thoughts, Tenmei found Solstice's good humour contagious and was laughing right along side her.  It was just something about her and this place. Maybe it was the cool air of her home or the tea she had drunk tonight.

Whatever it was, this place reminded her of her old home she had shared with her father back in Yukigakure, the first place where she could fit in.

Still, despite the good mood that flowed over her, she still had her troubles. Her main one being the nightmare she had experienced while she had been knocked out. The one that continued to question if it would be enough. After all, she was very aware of how the heat built up in her, how fast it rushed through her systems. It was these concerns that lead her to question the logic of her future sensei.

"Are you sure it would be enough?" Tenmei had said, conveying her fears through quiet words  "My kekkei genkai was originally designed to  help my ancestors survive the cold of the most northern parts of Yukigakure. Even here, where its warmer it still builds as if trying to ward of those extreme temperatures. Without using techniques that burn more chakra will it be enough to control it?"

Tenmei followed Solstice's attention to the clock and once again, nearly swore out loud. It didn't seem all that long ago that she had been leaving her home to start her training, with nerves and excitement bouncing around her gut. But here she was, many hours later and still up and drinking tea with the older female in her home.
As fun as this had been, and as productive it was time she left and headed for home. They would have to continue their training some other day when the day light would last a bit longer. But before she left, Solstice had one more job for her to do....

A final piece of training.

"Not really.... I mean, I do dream every other night and some of them are okay but others. It doesn't matter, I have been experiencing them for many months now so it's nothing I can't handle. So...no need to worry about that"


Following the instructions, Tenmei took hold of the teapot and held it in her hands with one underneath the pot while the other held the side. Just as she had done with the eyes, the Genin channeled the energy from the chakra point at her chest and in to her fingers, allowing it to push its way to the surface. It would build inside that part and continue building until the heat was clearly felt radiating from her hands. With slow deep breaths, she used that radiated heat to warm the pot and waited for the high pitched whistling noise that came with boiling water and a small exit hole.
After a few moments of silence, Tenmei started to worry, but just as her emotions became unstable, so did her heat....and the water boiled within an instant.

Tenmei only just had managed to withdraw her hand in time.

"Damn it! I guess....I am just getting tired now and should probably head back home." The young female said as she carefully replaced the now steaming hot teapot back on the tray. If she had held it for any longer it would have exploded in her hand. A small act that would spoil everything she had worked so hard to achieve that evening. Much had been done today so it was no wonder that her control slipped when the full effects of stressed induced insomnia hit her.
   "Thank you for today. I never thought that anyone would accept me like you have. Let alone teach me things I would have never learned otherwise. It means a lot

More than you could ever know"

Solstice watched as she handed the teapot over and looked at her facial expression as she controlled her chakra, but as nothing began to happen, there was a stillness in the air. She watched Tenmei slip, and then the water began to boil rapidly, and solstice already knew what had happened, she was over expectant and wanted the effect to occur quickly, she opened her palm and with her steel glove took the kettle and placed it back on the hotplate.

You need to begin working on this fear that is seeded deep inside you Tenmei, that is the only thing i see consuming you. You have the potential to master this technique, this chakra, and live a long and happy life. But you need to fight these fears with control, practise, and confidence in yourself. If ever you're in doubt, fall back on your breath. No matter what, breathe. And your chakra is yours to control, if there's ever too much of it, simply use it, you've only scratched the surface of control, we'll get there, and you dont have to do it alone. Solstice parted with some last words as the two of them walked for the door of the house.

Looking to her and listening to her thanks she headed for the door and opened it for the girl she found herself looking to and fro and leaning against the door as they prepared to depart, looking out into the open world she hoped that good things would come to all her friends and her pupils. It's not problem at all, you know where i live, so, it's not too far from your place, it's just over thatway. But yes, it is getting late, so, I am going to organise a squad meet sometime in the next few days, I'd like you to be there, i'll mail the address to you, or come and get you before hand, weather permitting. She spoke lightly before wishing her a good night.

After she left Solstice headed up to her bed, taking one last cup of tea and looking over her kitchen before turning off the lights and heading up for bed, turning off the lights and falling on her bed back first, she kind of wished that the girls heat was still within the blankets she had been resting on. But her open window combined with the cold of her room and the town had robbed the warmth long ago. Solstice sighed a tired sigh as she began to close her tired eyes. It was a good time to fall asleep, the day had been good. She hoped for another.