[attr="class","torchic-lyrics"]My Son & My Daughter
[attr="class","torchic-post"] It was early morning and a heavy marine layer billowed off the glistening surface of the water which broke and parted for a lavish wooden boat. A string of paper lanterns lined the cabin and a middle-aged man with red hair stood statuesque at the stern holding a single long oar. [break][break]
Maybe it had been a gauche purchase... Maybe he was overcompensating for being too protective or too distant. The price tag would have made his own father blanch but Jun was no simple fisherman. His children were the light of his life and he’d spent far too long in the shadows. They deserved a boat fit for a Daimyo, no doubt about it. Why shouldn’t he spoil his children? He had the means.[break][break]
Jun cleared his throat, breaking the silence and hopefully drawing the attention of his progeny. “How is your training coming along?”[break][break]
Oof. Jun winced internally. The point of this outing was to spend some quality time with Erika and Hideyoshi and here he was talking about work again.
Hideyoshi stared down into the rippling water. His left arm was crumpled under his chest, pinned against the wood, while his right was resting on the edge and outstretched in the direction of his sister. Turning his head, he locked eyes with his father but said nothing.
The fog rolled around them, drawing his attention back to the water. A small, almost inaudible sigh escaped. Shifting towards his sister, he gave her a small smile. He was glad she was here. If she wasn't he would have tried harder to find some excuse not to come. Spending 'quality time' with his father wasn't his idea of a good time, but he put up with it when Erika was around.
The boat was a waste of money in his eyes. Why'd it have to be so damn fancy, he thought. It's just a pathetic excuse for him to talk to us anyway. We don't even fish! Closing his eyes, he rested his head on his arm, hoping to spend as much of the trip in silence as he could.
Jun's throat-clear shattered that hope and caused Hideyoshi to roll his eyes under his lids. Here it comes.
“How is your training coming along?”
"Seriously?" He said, holding back a groan. "Training is fine, thanks for asking." As if you didn't know, he thought.
Opening his eyes and turning to his sister, he asked her the same with more actual interest than he assumed Jun had.
"Eri? You graduated from spitting water at me?" He said with a genuine smile.
Erika hummed a soft tune under her breath as she saw near her brother on the boat. It was a melody she had heard one of the younger children humming on the streets the other day, while she was walking aimlessly and trying to look productive. Since graduating from the academy, she had to admit that her progress in training and in overall productivity for the village had come to a stagnant halt, something that she wouldn't have been too concerned about had her father not brought it up at that particular moment. And here she thought it was going to be a nice and fun trip, with some quality family bonding time...she thought to herself, glancing first at her father and then at Hideyoshi. The way he gave her a small smile when their eyes met, she could tell that he wanted to be anywhere but there.
She shifted over a little closer to her big brother, a hand reached out to pat his hand lightly. One, two, three small pats on the back of his hand as she looked at him, her smile genuine as she tried to display that she was indeed grateful that he was putting up with this outing. Erika genuinely missed spending time with Jun and Hide, although more the latter than the former. Jun always seemed so scary and distant to her, and this was definitely not something that could be rectified by buying a huge boat for a supposed 'fishing trip'. No matter, she retracted her hand and stared out into the waters, continuing to hum her tune. Her feet dangled as she kicked to the beat of her melody. It was merely because she couldn't reach the bottom of the boat with her short legs, all of her four foot ten height making her seem more child-like than she actually was.
Well...she was a child though...
"How's your training coming along?" the question had been met with a bit of an elongated silence, from both brother and sister it seemed. Erika thought for a moment before speaking, her head cocked to one side as she looked up to stare at her father. "It's been....it's been..." she struggled to find the word that to finish the sentence. Her right hand touched the back of her head as she touched her own hair, a meek smile forming on her lips. "....nice?" She wasn't even sure if that made any sense, but it was vague enough. She quickly turned her head to face her brother, a mischievous smile now replaced the innocent one she had given Jun only seconds ago. "Hehe...Onii-chan, I have a better idea!" She reached out her hand that had been rubbing the back of her head and grabbed a hold of Hide's arm. "Wanna go for a swim?" her eyes brightened as she whispered softly under her breath so that Jun couldn't hear her next statement. "It beats fishing...!" And with that, the girl would take her brother along with her to the edge of the boat, trying to throw them both overboard.
[attr="class","torchic-lyrics"]My Son & My Daughter
[attr="class","torchic-post"] That had gone just about as well as he’d expected. In other words... horrible. Jun’s jaw tightened at his son’s response and his fist clenched tight around the oar. Still, he said nothing. Just stared at his son. The boy was just like his mother; predictably and infuriatingly quarrelsome. He was determined not to drive his son away like he had his former wife. He was determined to try. Really try. But it wasn’t easy for him. Weren't fathers entitled to some modicum of admiration or even just basic courtesy? [break][break]
He watched as his son turned his attention to Erika and their playful exchange left him envious. He couldn’t resent the sibling’s closeness. There were many times he wished he’d had a better connection with his lamented brother. Maybe if he’d ever stopped to consider the consequences of his actions instead of taking every opportunity that presented itself. He never was very good at connecting with people beyond the superficial.[break][break]
He took a small step forward as Erika led her brother towards the edge with talk of swimming. “Now... Shouldn't we wait until the sun's a little higher? I don't want you two catching a cold.”
Hide watched with a tinge of sadness as Erika responded to their father. Part of him was glad she could still be close to Jun in a way he felt that he couldn't. The thought quickly left him - it wasn't something he wanted to dwell on. Thankfully Erika grabbed his arm and snapped him out of it. She whispered to him, but before she could yank him and pull them into the water, Jun approached.
His comment might have sounded sincere, but hardly anything anyone said truly sounded real to Hideyoshi. Besides, what was more fun than openly defying his father? The moment he had tried to stop them was the moment he'd decided to do it. He bent over to whisper to Eri. "You're right, it does." Looking back at Jun, he tipped backwards over the gunwale of the ship and brought Erika with him. They splashed into the water below.
Hide's eyes burned as he opened them, seeing a blurry image of the dirty and muddy river filled with teeth-like seaweed. The cold morning water shivered him to the core, but at least it woke him up. Placing a hand upon the surface of the water, he pulled himself up. Standing atop the surface of the water, he extended a hand down to help Erika out.
At Jun's words, Erika had hesitated, stopping in her tracks. She was still not used to this fatherly and protectiveness that he was displaying. It was perhaps because they had always been so distant, doing their own things. They lived in the same house, yes, but otherwise, they lived pretty separate lives. She had become used to it, knowing that shinobi families where parents and children were all shinobi tended to be this way. Most of them were always training or going on missions so it was not really possible to be close knit unless you happened to be the house at the same time as your family long enough to sit down and have dinner, for example. This was probably why Hide and Erika were closer, because even though they were not really always in the same house, they found time to spend with each other, even if it meant that they pranked each other more often than having actual conversations.
She was still deep in thought when Hide gracefully descended into the waters, taking her with him. The initial surprise of falling overboard was mixed with the chilling waters. Erika struggled a little, as her head made contact with the surface of the water first. She immediately closed her eyes, the stinging of the water if it got into them was hard for her to bear. The girl allowed the coldness to surround her, to envelope her like a blanket. Within a few moments, she would be comfortable enough to open her eyes, her pink hues making contact with the murky waters. She had forgotten that what met the eye from the surface looking down was different from what the reality was, as she was strangely disappointed by how lackluster the waters seemed.
Erika grabbed hold of Hide's hand a little tighter, glad that he was trying to help her up to the surface after he had made it there. As she ascended, she took a moment to breathe, making a disgusted face at Hide. "This river needs a draining....and it smells..." She punched her brother lightly on the arm. "And what did you do that for, Onii-chan? You scared me!" Turning to her father, who was still on the boat, she called out "Otou-san should come and join us too! It's quite refreshing." Erika gave him a big smile
[attr="class","torchic-lyrics"]My Son & My Daughter
[attr="class","torchic-post"] A tension Jun didn’t recognize until it was lifted from his shoulders seemed to evaporate as his daughter turned to look at him, heeding his words of caution. He smiled at her warmly. He was glad to see he still held enough respect in her eyes to warrant at least a moment of hesitation. He was therefore caught off guard by Hide’s sudden decision to drag his sister into the river almost as if out of spite. [break][break]
Jun had thrown off his jacket and had one foot up on the railing before the splash had settled. He was fully prepared to leap in after them when Hideyoshi popped up to the surface of the water pulling Eri up with him. The jounin blinked. Right. That was something they could both do… still, it probably felt colder on the surface where the wind could get at them than it had been in the water.[break][break]
He would have loved nothing more than to accept his daughter's invitation to walk out to his children, closing the distance both physically and metaphorically. But he could not. Or rather he did not know how. This has always been a sore spot for Jun, ever since his days of the academy he'd struggled with molding chakra. In the end he had decided to focus on mundane abilities, pushing his body to its physical limits rather than focusing on spiritual energy or whatever. [break][break]
Therefore, his first instinct was to scold his children. To demand that they return to the boat where it was safe. Where he felt safe. And where he wouldn't have to admit the shameful truth but that was not why he was here and he pushed his frustration to the side for the first time in a long time. [break][break]
He’d given up on ninjutsu so long ago that his general assumption was that he was not capable of such things but seeing both of his children walking on water made him wonder if they hadn't inherited it from his side of the family. It had been decades since his last attempt at doing something like this and looking down at the rippling surface of the water he noted that it seemed far less solid than his children made it look. [break][break]
He didn’t even know where to start with this. He looked back at Hideyoshi with a strange look on his face… one of hesitation and fear or maybe just awkwardness. At the risk of sounding silly he climbed out to the edge, almost sitting on the railing while his feet dangled just above the water. “Will you teach me?”
A thin smile adorned Hide's face as he pulled his sister up to the surface of the water. "It's not so bad," he said. "A little bit of the Kirigakure culture. Wouldn't be the same without the gross pond scum." He faked pain and rubbed his arm in response to her punch, with a teasing look. At her call out to their father, he looked over to the boat with an ambiguous expression, not meeting Jun's eyes.
There was a separation between the father and son, more than just physically. It would've pained Hideyoshi, had he not pushed all those feelings deep away a long time ago. Nowadays he didn't think about it, preferring to spend his time doing anything else with anyone else when he could. Anything to occupy the time, anything to keep his mind busy. If he didn't, part of him was afraid he'd feel a little guilty.
An unfamiliar look crossed his father's face, one Hideyoshi couldn't say he'd seen in a long time, if ever. It looked pained to him, hurt. Hide's heart twinged with a strange feeling, but he didn't know the meaning.
"Will you teach me?"
Hideyoshi stared at him with the same blank expression for a number of seconds, taken aback. His father was asking him for help? What? He wasn't sure of what to say, or what to do. Turning to his sister, he studied her face. Her reassuring expression, loving smile, and tightened grip on his hand told him what he ought to do.
With an unsure tone, he stammered out a response. "Y-yeah... Fine." That's rich. How am I even supposed to teach him anything?
"Look," he sighed. "I'll still the water. You just put your feet out onto the surface while holding yourself from the boat."
Pulling his hand from Erika, he folded his index finger under his thumb to form the necessary handseal. As he did, the surface of the water underneath Jun became perfectly smooth and mirror-like. "Eri, go over there and demonstrate for him. Thanks." A one-sided smile showed her he was thankful for any help she could give.
"It's harder if the water is choppy. Like this, you'll just need to output a steady and smooth supply of chakra to your feet. We can move onto waves and moving around and stuff once you can stand still. Just imagine you're pushing against the surface of the water with your chakra."
Erika smiled sheepishly at her father, knowing that he meant well, even though there was an obvious disconnect between him and the brother and sister. She made a face and grimaced at Hide's comment about the Kirigakure culture. If there was one thing she didn't like about her village, it was that they had such dirty waters. They were the hidden mist, supposedly with more bodies of water than most of the other villages and yet they were not pretty or presentable at all. How could her village people be able to live with that? But then again, she imagined that she was the only one who would care enough about how water looked aesthetically than anything else. Most of the others, including her brother probably, saw water as a weapon that they could use in times of need. Nobody cared how the water looked.
The girl would be equally surprised at seeing Jun's facial expression. She had never seen him give such a look. Was it one of frustration? There was definitely a hint of it, which she couldn't blame the man since he had only just told them not to jump into the water and they had ignored him. In fact, she had expected him to yell at them, as that was what parents did. The lack of a real scolding had caught her off-guard too. But there was something else in that expression she now displayed to the siblings. Before she could put a finger on it, Jun would relieve her from having to guess. It seemed that he wanted them to teach him something, or rather, wanted Hide to. She exchanged a brief glance with her big brother, the same thought running through her head as their gaze met for a brief second. Their Jounin father wanted to learn something from them? That sounded ridiculous even in her mind.
But she saw that Hide had taken the man up for his offer, possibly enjoying the idea of getting to teach him something, or the fact that Jun was actually asking for help. No matter, she watched as he performed the necessary handseals to still the water before asking her to demonstrate. Surface walking was really fun even though it had taken her days to learn. She nodded her head and made her way to where the boat was. Erika climbed into the boat rather clumsily, her height once again failing her. She looked like a mess as she stood up, facing her father. "The trick is in chakra concentration, Otou-san. It has to be a constant stream of chakra. If you lose your concentration, you'll end up falling into the water." The girl made it to the edge of the boat where the water had been stilled.
"Watch this!" She lifted her arms out, stretching them like they were wings. All the while, her chakra was being concentrated and pushed towards the balls of her feet. As she literally almost stepped off the edge of the boat, the chakra would push from the chakra points of her feet, allowing her to step off and onto the water without plunging into its depths. She felt like one of those people at the circus who walked on tightropes. In fact, it was kind of like this, even though this was much less dangerous. Erika took ten steps on the water before turning around and walking back to the boat. The chakra flow never broke its momentum from underneath her feet. As she reached the boat once more, she would smile at her father. "Now it's your turn, Otou-san!"
[attr="class","torchic-lyrics"]My Son & My Daughter
[attr="class","torchic-post"] Jun half-expected his son to tease him for asking. He wasn’t expecting how readily the two would begin to assist him and he felt an ache of pride in his chest that he was their father. Still, as helpful as they were both being he… didn’t really understand what they wanted him to do. It was all stuff he’d heard before and he supposed it made sense in its own way. [break][break]
“Ok. Just give me a second.” Jun took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He tried his best to feel his chakra flowing through him; a second turned into thirty and all he felt was silly. Jun cleared his throat. [break][break]
Imagine. He’d said. [break][break]
Maybe imagining it was good enough. The jounin hung onto the railing and dabbed his toe against the smooth surface of the water. It went straight through causing Jun to recoil. That didn’t seem quite right. [break][break]
He’d try again though, this time he’d imagine his chakra like a sunset orange liquid light flowing through his veins like blood. He imagined himself walking out across the water to Hideyoshi. He was certain it would work this time. Jun stepped out and it felt solid so he let go of the rail and put his full weight on the surface of the water. [break][break] It seemed for a fraction of a second as though he might stay afloat but his excitement was short lived as he plunged into the chilly morning river. He came up coughing and sputtering.
Glad that Erika was showing Jun how instead of him, Hide watched with an inscrutable expression as she demonstrated how to perform the water-walking technique. He did well-enough at explaining things to most people, something he had to quite regularly as a Chuunin. But his own father? Dealing with him was always something Erika far outstripped him at. All her help was gladly appreciated.
A light smile passed over him as he saw her explain it in much better terms than he had. It was hard for him not to be proud: to see his younger sister progress so much from the mewling infant he'd first met so long ago to a shinobi in her own right. It didn't hurt that she too, could do something their father failed so miserably at. The end of his lip turned up at the thought.
Turning his attention to Jun as he begun to ready himself for his own attempt, Hide watched as he hung from the railing of the ship and tested the water with his toe. He'd long known that his father possessed a strong weakness for nearly anything chakra-related. From the absence of most ninjutsu in his arsenal, to the long nights of archery and taijutsu training that Hide could still feel in his wrists and bones, it was obvious. Hide had about as much confidence in him as Jun probably did the first time Hideyoshi picked up a bow and failed miserably to hit a target.
Jun stepped out and for a moment, the water held his weight.
He's doing it. The faintest twist appeared on his lips. He had a devilish little idea. Can't let it be too easy for him. In a split second, he changed the flow of his chakra into the technique, subtly causing the water directly under his father's foot to become choppy.
Jun dropped down into the river with a splash.
Stifling a laugh, his eyes portrayed a mean look. Thankfully his father was under the water to miss it. Glancing up at Erika, his expression faded away and he hoped she too had missed it. Suddenly he felt awful. She was probably rooting for him. Releasing the technique, the waves from Jun's fall passed under his feet. Hide stood up and walked towards the boat, grabbing the railing and lifting himself up to kneel beside his sister.
"Let's help him out, Erika." Hide's face was looking away, but he extended his hand towards his father.
Erika watched as her father gingerly dabbed a toe into the water, smiling a little at his rather careful nature. It was not every day that she could see her father take on the student role, her eyes traveling for a moment to Hide. It seemed that the brother and sister were on the same wavelength, although there was probably more to it that was going on between the two men. She gave a small sigh, her eyes shifting back to Jun. It would seem that his first attempt would flop, his feet sinking into the waters. The second time proved to be a lot more successful, possibly from the amount of focus he was now giving to chakra control. It was easier said than done, after all, elemental ninjutsu being of the most difficult proficiencies to develop and train for, especially because it required such finite chakra control.
But surface walking was one of the fundamental jutsu for suiton, which at a jounin level, Erika knew that her father wouldn't have too much trouble. If anything, she thought that he overthought the whole process. If he exercised as much discipline as he wanted his children to when they trained, this should be a piece of cake. "You can do it..." she mumbled under her breath, almost as concerned as Jun was about his success. When he seemed to stay afloat, she would give him a big smile, clapping her hands together. "You did it! You di--" And she had spoken too soon, for the next second, the water from underneath her father would be disrupted. Erika hadn't been paying attention to Hide to notice that he was the mastermind behind this though, which was to his luck.
"Onii-chan! Come help me!" She was already trying to reach her hand out to her father, missing him as he plunged into the depths of the waters. Her arm would have been too short nonetheless, her outstretched hand grasped the air as she pulled back, her head turning rapidly towards her brother. Thankfully he had the same thought as her, coming to her side of the boat railing, She wondered if her father could swim! Erika had forgotten if the family ever went swimming or out to these kinds of water activities together before. Her voice a little frantic, she called to Jun. "Otou-san!" She prayed that his head would reappear from under water soon, the prospect of him drowning left a sickening feeling in her stomach.
