Forest Training (Seth, spar, no kill)

Akina's eyes were still focused, and she stepped back as Seth came at her. Her hands attempted to catch his, but they were too late, and she found herself looking up into his eyes. He let go and waited for her to get up.

Mistake. she thought as she took another stance, one primarily used for defense. "Maybe...a little. Why do you say that?" Her breathing was still steady, but her body was starting to shake a little. She was still determined to go on.

Akina was still thinking of something her sensei said to her. "My sensei was scolding me for being with you...do you know why?"

Seth was standing on the tree looking down with a puzzled face as he spoke "Why is that?" He continued to stare into her eyes he loved so much. He began to walk down the tree slowly as he waited for a response. He hoped she would still stay by his side instead of listening to the way others talked.

Akina saw that Seth was moved to a tree, and she wondered how he had done that. She knew that chakra could flow to different parts of the body, so she tried to direct that chakra to her feet. The feeling was stranger than normal, but she waited for the flow to balance itself out.

Approaching the tree, Akina awkwardly stepped on the tree. She began walking on the tree almost naturally for a few steps, but she felt her chakra flow waver, and she started falling. She hit the ground, but quickly got up and tried again. She was walking up to Seth easily, and she stood on the branch next to him.

She looked into his eyes for a moment. "He nearly beat me in front of the class, and he said that even a Hyuga and an academy student should know better than to openly accept strangers from another village." Her eyes seemed to become wet, but she held whatever the liquid was back.

"I don't care. You're the only friend I have."

Seth looked at her his heart felt heavy he knew the feeling he also had just dealt with his mothers death. That's when Seth pulled a bold move he reached out and pulled Akina into a passionate hug before speaking "I am sorry i caused you pain. I know how it feels." His eyes were mellow as he held her close.

The girl lost her footing for a moment. She was grateful for Seth’s embrace, because
it was something to hold her steady. She
had enough time to regain her chakra and steady herself. Warm feelings were bubbling up inside of her,
but what translated on her face was a mixture of confusion and fear. She was not entirely sure that she understood
what was going on with her friend, but she decided that the best thing she
could do was return the favor of a hug, if it was only for a brief moment, the
girl would do it for her friend.


All this time, I
wasn’t sure. I wasn’t sure about who I
was or what I could do in this life, or in this world. I think I have my answer now. Something about Seth makes me feel like I can
do more, even when I push myself past my limits. That’s why I will stay with him. Everyone needs a friend.


Silver eyes looked into snake-like gold. A smile was on her lips, before she decided
to play around for a little while. She
let her body slip away from the boy. It
was like slow, dream like motion. The trees blurred with the brown, mossy
ground. The cracked bark of the tree
groaned slightly at the shift, and for a moment, Akina wondered what she would
do if the branch would not hold her weight on the other side. Her eyes closed for a brief moment as she fell
further back, and then opened in relief when she felt her body jolt forward
slightly. The force was enough to jar
her body slightly, but she bit back the pain.


A memory flashed before her eyes. She was about four or five, and her aunt was
looking over a scraped knee. She was
glaring at the boy who walked her niece home, and the small Akina shook with
some fear. She had forgotten the cruelties
of her clan. She had broken the biggest
rule; she had brought in an outsider.
She started crying, and that only made her aunt scream a little louder
that day.


Later, her aunt had smiled at Akina and told her to keep
trying to be who she wanted to be, but by that time, the girl was quite confused.
“Why don’t we accept outsiders, Aunt?” she would ask, and the only answer she
would get for it was a cold stare and a sharp suggestion that perhaps a little
Hyuga such as yourself should go play ninja with all the other kids.


Her silvery eyes looked out onto the forest landscape and
noted that some of the things looked blurred and some tears started falling to
the ground like little raindrops. Almost
in response, it began to rain lightly in the forest. Most of the birds that had been singing in
the trees had stopped, and an orange bird flew past her quickly seeking shelter
from the storm. “Why do people always hate outsiders and then act like the ones
who don’t fit in to their molds don’t exist?”
her voice was filled with some semblance of disgust, but she shrugged
away the thought as she stepped back over the branch, returning to its top
side.


Akina looked at Seth for a moment. “This world is so fickle, so let’s ditch it
and find somewhere that works a little more…realistically.” A bout of laughter echoed through the air as she
realized what she said. “Sorry, Seth,
memories can be hard to deal with, sometimes.” A smile graced her lips and
something a little more mischievous entered her eyes.


Not saying a word, the girl ran toward another tree and
jumped for a nearby branch. While she
was in the air, something in her felt alive.
The feeling of momentary flight had somehow empowered her to clear her
mind of everything that was going on.
She was not going to tell her friend this, but she needed time to
process why he had hugged her so tightly.
His body had felt different to her somehow; it was like he was silently
needing something and seeking it from her.
There was something cold about his rigid body, the way he had held
himself in that moment.


Akina landed on the branch not so nimbly. She quickly knelt toward the branch to regain
her balance. Silvery eyes took a moment
to look back at Seth. “Bet you fifty ryo you can’t catch me,” the taunting edge
in her voice caused her to blush a bit, but she quickly regained her composure
and ran at the next branch.


The Hyuga girl had found something she liked doing. Maybe it was the risk of the whole thing, or
maybe she was starting to realize she had not been taking herself seriously
enough, but something in her was starting to change. She had read in her class books once about
the Will of Fire and what it meant to inherit that, but she had never really
understood what that ideology meant to her until now. Somewhere deep in her heart, she felt a spark
ignite some type of purpose into her life.
Whether she had found that through trial and error or through
friendship, she was not too sure. Maybe
she had passed through the gateless gate and solved one of her “master’s”
koans.


She kept leaping from branch to branch, carefully keeping
her eyes peeled on the forest around her, watching mostly for Seth, but she was
also planning a route. Her speed was
decreasing with every branch she jumped to, so she had to come up with a plan.
Instead of jumping to the next branch like she planned, the silver eyed girl
hid on the shady side of the tree and relied some more on her chakra and
newfound climbing abilities. Akina
started her trek upward, hoping to get a better view of her surroundings.


The rain had stopped for a moment, or at least, Akina
thought it had when she was somewhat blanketed by the tree’s thick leaves. The girl moved cautiously now, smiling at the
tree and silently thanking it for its assistance in her plan. She dared not climb too high, or she might
risk falling and having some serious injuries, but she did climb high enough
that she could see the light gray clouds moving away from the village and the
forest in general. Her smile had changed
from something upbeat and happy to something more solemn and reverent.


I wonder what my
parents would think of me now. They
weren’t really around, and I wonder if they would have been as strict as aunt
and uncle were at times. Then again, if
it weren’t for them, I might not have certain qualities that I do now…like my
motivation and resolve, but then again, for everything there is an opposite,
and I am one ironic child. I have
greatness in me, and yet, I don’t have what it takes to strike someone
seriously.A small sigh
echoed in the wind as Akina’s body moved rather stiffly from the branch she was
on back down toward the forest floor.
Looking straight ahead during her descent was a little disorienting, so
Akina kept her eyes on her destination.
The girl was very careful to remain on the shady side of the tree,
hoping that she had lost her friend for a little while. Akina was really wishing they would have gone
more in depth with the training of clone justu, since Seth seemed to like
playing mental games with her. The
thought of what he kept saying during their first confrontation caused a heat
to rise through her, but Akina clamped her hands down on her cheeks and fought
the blush. When she reached the ground,
the girl headed for the bushes, hoping to rest a little before having to fight
or flee again.


Silver eyes looked around for Seth, but could not see him
anywhere really. Akina tried to move
quietly through the green shrubs, but she was having a slight hair of
difficulty every now and then. Her feet
caused small twigs to crackle helplessly under their weight, which in turn,
caused Akina to stop her movement forward and crouched down.


A rustling in the bushes caught her attention and caused her
to roll away from the noise. She spotted
a speck of brown among the green and mentally sighed. The rabbit hopped onto
the open pathway. Akina had to keep
moving. That is what she knew, but her
muscles were getting stiff.


The girl gritted her teeth and began sprinting through the
bushes as fast as she could. The name of this game was now speed and
intellect. There could be time for
talking later, provided there was a later.
Given the current situation, Akina viewed Seth as a friend and a mentor,
but she also wanted to make him feel better about what happened. It wasn’t his fault, and he needed to know
that.


There could be a possibility that what had been perceived to
happen between Akina and Seth was just another mental game. Thoughts kept swirling in her head, but she
kept moving forward as though it was the only direction she could go. Her pace slowed dramatically, and she had
begun paying attention to any wildlife that was around. It was possible that perhaps they held
something she could learn firstly about resting her body, and secondly about
Seth’s whereabouts.


The stiffness had started to go away, and for that, Akina
was grateful. She went out of the shrubbery and back to the trees. Instead of climbing one, however, she stayed
hidden on its darker side and tracked the sun with her eyes briefly, as looking
to the bright golden orb caused the girl a little bit of pain. She had noted that the time had passed by
quickly like leaves blowing in the wind.
It was nearly late afternoon, and the morning seemed so far away, like
an ancient time gone by.


The stiffness had dissipated, but with that small relief had
brought another pain. Hunger hit Akina
like a knife to her stomach. The sheer
pain almost drove her to her knees.
Silvery eyes looked around for another rabbit or a small creature that
could point her in the direction of some editable plants or berries. The young student crawled back to the bushes.


Her hands greedily seized some of the black berries that she
saw next to a fawn. The fawn jolted back
at her sudden movement, but it stayed still for a moment and ate one of the
berries before running off, probably back to its mother. Akina smiled tiredly as she took one of the
berries and placed it in her dry mouth.
As she bit down, sour juices exploded forth from the berry and made her
thirst vanish for a moment before it intensified by at least ten. Her eyes bulged slightly, but her mouth
opened for more food and punishment.
Hands crammed a handful of berries into an open, dark abyss. More sourness followed, but it dulled after a
while.


Wiping her hand on the ground, Akina Hyuga continued her
search for Seth. Any movement she
noticed made her flinch, but she had to remain vigilant. Her eyes scanned the ground and then the
trees. If her friend set any traps, she
would be done in, and that thought was not entirely pleasant. Akina’s eyes still burned with an intense
fire, despite her body’s screams for rest and food.


Her eyelids felt very heavy for a moment. The food had started to settle a little
faster than she thought it would, giving her maybe just enough energy to
possibly flee from a serious conflict.
The chances of the girl actually succeeding were a little slim, unless
she could figure out a way to hide well enough to start taking a small nap. The Hyuga child crawled over to a thicket and
settled down. A light, almost false
sleep found her swiftly, and she had a slight hope that Seth would not find
her.

Weaving five seals, Namakemono prepared a technique. Better safe than sorry A slight whistle was heard, in attempts to catch the two Student's attention. Namakemono was seen on a broad branch upon a rather tall tree. Namakemono donned his regular attire which consisted of blue sandals on his feet which were commonly worn. His legs he wore a pair of loosely fitted black pants with a holster strapped to his right thigh. Around his waist was nothing special but the hip pouch suspended around to his rear. He wore a mesh shirt under thee long sleeved black shirt, in whichthat was under the Flak jacket of Konoha. On each shoulder he bared a metal plate with the Konoha symbol on each one. At last, he wore a pair of fingerless gloves with metal plates on the back of each hand and the forehead protector, in a slanted fashion turned to the side. He kept both hands in his pockets while he slightly chewed a tooth pick.

"Not bad, not bad you two."

Namakemono said, before facing them as he dropped himself from the tree lines and landing on all threes in a pose. Dragging his feet up, he stood straight, comparing himself to the two in his mind. Kirigakure eh? What are you doing in Konoha... He took a keen look at the two children and they seemed to be missing something that all Shinobi should have. This idea came faster than a strike of Lightning, They're missing the basic tool, at least from what he saw from the Hyuuga girl. Approaching the two at a smooth walking pace, he complied.

"My name is Namakemono Tousou, nice to meet you two. I've been observing the battle and so far you guys have the spirit of a Shinobi, or Kunoichi. Ah, but you lack something important..."

Namakemono said, reached back into his hip pouch, fiddling around with the gear, metal clanking together, before he pulled out two Kunai knifes, both ringed on his index and middle fingers.

"What's a Shinobi without their tools? I'm surprised you guys didn't pick up some basic gear when you had the chance. So far, with a knife you would have the advantage unless your opponent has substantial Taijutsu skills."

Namakemono twirled the two daggers for a few rotations giving the lecture before he briefly spotted the rotation, offering the handles at each Student. He waited for their response to the entire random appearance and offer before continuing.

Seth looked at him wondering how he discovered he was hidden above for he was traveling light so he would not confuse Akina. Seth jumped down landing in front of the man and laughed he didn't understand this shinobi he never found use of kunai just swords and he was not going to use a sword on Akina. He couldn't risk hurting her after what he had done. Seth had just realized he had opened up to someone something he had never done. He then spoke "How are tools helpful? I am a excellent shinobi without them." He then looked down at the sleeping Akina, he walked over to her and placed his arm on her shoulder hoping it would awaken her he did not know as to were the other man came from but he some what had ignored him.

There was a slight rustling in the brush near the Akina
Hyuga, but the girl only moved slightly.
Her eyes moved back and forth rapidly, and she wouldn’t like admitting
the fact that her sleep had gone from light to heavy. Her body felt limp, rather than stiff, and
then it happened. There was a loud
whistle that caused her eyes to flutter open and then close lightly once
more. A relaxed, heavy sigh exited her
lips, and her body shifted slowly on the ground. She would have to deal with whoever was
touching her shoulder now, though.


Her eyes snapped open, and her whole body jerked back,
reawakening her stiffness for a moment.
The pain caused her to wince a little.
Her heart beat rapidly, until the sleep disappeared slowly from her eyes
to reveal the image of Seth, standing next to her. Akina shuffled to her feet, shaking her head
slowly and stretching. Her expression
was that of crankiness as she took in her surroundings again.


There was someone new there.
Someone who seemed to be offering her and Seth a kunai knife each. Seth coolly ignored the man, but Akina
recognized him as a Leaf Chunin. She
bowed slightly, enough to show respect to the man, but she also began studying
him carefully, wondering how long he had been watching them. She blushed slightly at the thought, and her
hand hovered hesitantly over a kunai knife.


Seth had chosen not to take one and use it on her, but what
should she do? Taking the kunai might be
a symbol of betrayal or ruthlessness, but the girl was wondering if she would
regret not taking the weapon before her. Her hand gripped the offered kunai
firmly in her hand. Her eyes had lost
all signs of tiredness, and the nap seemed to have rejuvenated her
slightly. She looked to Seth quickly and
smiled sincerely before looking back at the Chunin. “Thanks.” Her voice was void of emotion. The girl backed away from both Seth and the
Chunin as she placed the kunai in her obi carefully.


She sent the Chunin a different smile. It looked realistic, but there was something
hollow about it. She looked at Seth and
nodded to him reassuringly before she whispered, “I don’t use weapons on my
friends.” She hoped Seth heard her, and prayed that the Chunin didn’t. She was formulating a plan in her mind.

The man smiled to the Hyuga girl as she accepted the Kunai blade. The dagger was not only used for offensive battle purposes, but it could be used for traps, taking out door knobs, or defense. Knowing the boy didn't accept the knife, he simply shrugged and twirled the Kunai before planting it back in the hip pouch. Squatting at their level, he spoke to the two children.

"Well it was a shame you didn't take the blade, you may need it for our next exercise. I hope you guys are ready for a quick lesson"

The man's face got serious before standing straight up and stared at the two students. He didn't fine joy within beating students, but it was an exercises after all. He didn't plan on becoming the offensive one, but he would provide the correct reactions if something foolish was done.

"This lesson, I'd like to teach you guys how to over come an opponent like myself, one far more powerful. This is a basic fundamental that should be already in your little heads so I'll lay it down on ya. Your goal is to beat me to a point where I'll consider you guys a threat. You get the first move."

The Chuunin said before kicking back a few meters to give himself and them room to approach for combat. He didn't get himself in any fancy stance for these opponents. He wanted to test the boy who said he didn't need a blade. The Hyuga was smart enough to take such a lethal weapon.

"So, before you guys approach, what are your names?"

Seth looked at him his golden snake eyes met the chunnin's "I am Seth. I am a genin of Kirigakure." He was preparing his moves in his head as he waited for Akina to speak to the man.