Hanging by a Moment (Private Vivi)

Akina flinched slightly as Viper chuckled. She wasn't expecting such a reaction from him. She smiled a little, and she guarded herself cautiously. This could all be a trap. She smiled, but the moonlight revealed that it was a cold, steely smirk. "I'm not as good as you might think, Viper-kun." Arrogance was not in her nature. She bowed slightly to him, showing her gratitude. "Thank you, though you know the Hyuga don't really use weapons, right? What makes you think I'd be any different?"

Her body tensed for an attack. Though the Hokage was merciful, it didn't mean something darker was going through his mind. She instinctively slipped off her geta and tabi. The girl flexed her toes. She could be rigid, or she could practice the more free style of fighting Viper often forced her into. Akina wondered how she would fare if a spar actually happened.

"Our lineage does not define what we are good at my dear" Viper says in a casual tone, he turns his back to her for but a moment as he reaches up to the surrounding trees and breaks off two branches of equal length, he flows his chakra in to them preforming his Henge Mastery as both branches are enveloped in a cloud of smoke, the smoke fades revealing two perfectly crafted Katana stored inside a wooden sheath.
Viper turns towards her and tosses the sheathed blade in his right hand towards her, "Here, catch!" Viper says while tossing the weapon.
"This is all I can do right now, these weapons are but temporary illusions created through my transformation technique, but they should suffice so I can see if my guess is correct." Viper smirks softly to tease the girl, it seems she wants nothing more than to fight, Viper will oblige with her wishes.

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Can't get the url code to work but that is the Katana we are using]

Akina blushed slightly as Viper called her "dear", but she smiled at the kindness he was showing her again. When he had left her without a word, she had exclaimed that she wanted a sword of the finest caliber. She smirked at the irony of the moment. She watched with guarded interest as the Hokage turned to a tree and cut down two branches of equal length, but what he did beyond that was lost to her.

As he turned, her heart beat at an accelerated rate. He ordered her to catch the object he had made. Her arm extended and she gracefully clasped the wooden sheath lightly. Her eyes closed for a moment, and her lungs filled with air briefly as she placed her other hand on the weapon's hilt. The fact that Viper was willing to spar with her, it must mean that he was a very accomplished swordsman. For a solitary moment, she opened her eyes and she thought she saw cherry blossoms blooming on the trees, and some of the blossoms were allowing their petals to slowly float to the ground.

The Hyuuga's feet shifted into a stable stance, and her hands were poised almost naturally on the wooden sheath. No doubt the wooden katana would leave welts on the body if it were as pliable as she thought it was, but her eyes opened fully this time. There was a satisfied look on her face. "I cannot thank you enough...for everything." Her voice was truly grateful, but her eyes showed no emotion.

The girl sprinted towards Viper, keeping her hands poised on the weapon. She was well aware that he had one too, but the katana was helping her to not be afraid. She flicked her wrist, and the wooden blade slid out of its sheath beautifully as it lunged at Viper's chest, and just as quickly as it struck out at the man it seemed the sword was back in its sheath. She wondered if she had successfully completed her first iai. Senbon Zakura...is that your name? Even if you are just a shinai...please, don't fail me. She wondered how Viper would proceed.

[Background music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXmPgqWL6Cg&feature=related]

Viper smirks as she blushes, he watches as her eyes close, then reopen void of emotion, "Heh, let us dance then my love."
Viper whilst not being the best swordsman is still very proficient with a blade thanks to his natural fighting style being calculative, along with his mothers blood flowing through his veins.
Viper positions his weapon masterfully, the sheath is gripped just below the mouth, his thumb pressed softly against the bottom of the guard, softly his thumb extends sliding the blade but a few inches from the sheath due to his thumb against the guard.
Viper watches her advance, his right foot slides back a tad, his eyes remain their shade of onyx Viper not wanting to cheat with his Sharingan, his natural senses are more than enough for now.

The girls blade is drawn and makes its way towards him, to this Viper sweeps his left arm across his body bringing the sheath with him, his wrist turns to the right making the hilt of his blade face downwards.
The sheath gracefully impacts the flat right side of her blade, whilst preforming this motion Viper's lead foot turns to the right along with his upper body.
Should this all be successful up to this point her blade is knocked to her left no doubt knocking her off balance, his blade falls out of his sheath only to be grasped by the hilt in his right hand, his right foot slides behind his left as his body goes in to a clockwise rotation, his body twists as with one swift motion his blade is now positioned at the girls right hip halted in mid air, a light breeze makes itself known due to the jet stream.
Viper's stance is noted to be masterful, this one act if preformed by a real blade, and if he followed trough would no doubt bifurcate the girl.
Viper looks up with a smirk stepping back and sliding the blade back within the sheath, "Again."
He puts 5 meters between them waiting for her once again.

Akina's eyes opened slightly, as her blade was knocked back to the left. Her footing was not as sure as she thought it would be, and she staggered to the left with her blade by half a step, trying to quickly regain her balance. She was impressed by Viper's skill, and she suddenly felt bad about underestimating him. Her footing was regained. Her iai had failed, but as the wood inched toward her right hip, she gripped her sword's hilt, and in one fluid motion, she unsheathed the sword once more with a twisting motion to the right.

There was a dull clunk as wood smashed into wood, and the impact of the blow sent a jarring, painful sensation through her hands. She had barely blocked the hit, but she was at least a little satisfied with herself. She heard Viper speak and watched him back away from her a considerable distance. Akina sighed slightly, re-centering her mind. Again, she saw cherry blossoms falling to the earth, but that was impossible, because it was beginning to cool, and that summoned the arrival of autumn to everyone. She had recollected herself. She paid attention to Viper's footing, and decided to copy it with a similar stance. So, iai doesn't work...what do you think...Senbon zakura...if that really is your affinity? The girl listened for any type of noise, but she found none coming to her that was seemingly out of the ordinary. The Hyuga figured the blade would guide her if or when it deemed appropriate, but for now, she was left to her own instincts. From the way he was acting, Akina thought that maybe she wasn't absolutely failing him this time.

She moved with grace across the field, but she was sprinting at his left side, closing the distance between them. She didn't want to use Byakugan on him, but she thought that it would be an interesting experiment to try later once she got the basics down. She withdrew her sword with a fluid grace that seemed almost practiced. She sliced to the right in an upward diagonal manner, making a cutting motion that ran from Viper's left hip to the right side of his abdomen. She followed that slice with a twisting, jabbing motion, before she allowed her feet to twist the rest of her body to the left, causing her blade to slice across Viper's abdomen from the right to the left. Quickly, she completed her twisting to the left until it brought her full circle. She was now crouching closer to the ground with her sword pointed right at the Hokage's chest. There was a ghost of a smile on her face.

"I keep seeing cherry blossoms, Viper-kun...do you think this sword has a name?" Her voice displayed a childish curiosity on the matter.

Viper watches her advance, she still suffers the same flaws she does with her gentle fist, she runs in and strikes, instead of waiting to counter.
Viper intends to keep silent about her flaws this time, and instead show her what he meant long ago.
Viper watches as she enters his left flank via her dash, Viper turns to his left keeping his left hand gripping the neck of his sheath, his left foot sliding back as he now faces her left flank, with his change in position the strike falls short by but a few inches.
In conjunction with his turn his right arm crosses his body to grip the hilt, in one swift motion the following occurs, while the girl is still off balance from her evaded strike Viper rotates his upper body to the right whilst quick drawing his wooden blade, the strike is low and quick aimed for her shins.
With the speed it is delivered, and with the girl running forward the strike has a very high hit rate, should it impact her shins it has enough force to heavily bruise her legs, her forwards momentum causing her to trip over the wooden blade and sent flying forward, Viper fixes his stance turning back to his left and bringing his left foot back to be aside his right.
"The way of the sword is about patience and planning, you won't ever kill anyone by just running in and swinging." Viper smiles during his words and laughs slightly trying to ease the tension so she does not explode like last time.
He hears her words, he ponders them for a moment.
"This sword is but a replica of a real blade, it does not have a name." Viper feels best to show her, he cancels his chakra flow to her "blade" as it returns to its state as a small tree branch via a puff of smoke.
"Do you see?" Viper questions, he re sheaths his blade, he reaches forward to grip her tree branch and flows it with his chakra, it returns to the state of a blade once more.
"With this power, I can change the state of anything I want, just how the basic skill allows one to alter their appearance." Viper hopes she understand and that he explained it well enough.

Akina realized that she was running into a problem, but there was nothing she could do to stop herself. Not only was there a raging pain in both of her shins, but there was also dirt in her mouth. Her world was blurry, and as she struggled to look at Viper and rise to her feet, her world went black.

There was warmth around her, and the landscape seemed to be experiencing a spring-like season. As she rose from the ground, Akina felt no pain. Looking down, her kimono had changed into a light yukata. She looked around her slightly, and she noticed a rather blurry image of a woman and a small child. As the Hyuga girl walked over to the woman, she tried not to gasp. The woman was easily the most beautiful Uchiha she had ever seen, and the child turned out to be a woman much younger than the woman in front of her. The young woman held a sword that was light pink and its sheath was white, until it moved, and it flashed light pink as well. Akina noticed that the younger woman had eyes like a Hyuga. Akina's jaw dropped.

The woman noticed her, and Akina felt the need to run and hide. The woman looked at her with a gentle smile, and bid Akina to come over to her. She felt warm in the woman's arms, but she was also observing the Hyuga with the sword. It was something out of the ordinary, and for all the questions that Akina wanted to ask, she merely held her tongue. She watched the woman and the Hyuga woman spar for a while, until the Hyuga woman walked over to her and gave her the sword in its sheath. "Its name is Senbon zakura. If you can master the blade, it will find you."

Akina moaned slightly, spitting the dirt from her mouth. Shakily, she stood to her feet. She heard Viper talking with her, and almost made a remark about teaching her the forms instead of fighting her with a wooden sword. Her dream in the darkness plagued her, but she merely nodded as she watched the branch turn back into a sword. Her eyes were determined, but she was still confused. "I had the strangest dream just now..." She wondered if he would let her show him with a simple transformation jutsu, so she spoke again, "Might I show you?"

Viper hears her moan as she gets to her feet, his mind goes to a certain place but goes back to concern as he makes his way over to her to help her stand should she need it before proceeding with his words and actions.
Viper hears her speak of a dream, did he hit her harder than he thought? He speaks, "Yeah, go ahead and show me." Viper takes a step back still holding his sheath firmly in his left hand, his blade now in its slumber.

Akina's head was pounding, but she still saw the sword clearly in her mind, and she touched her sword, concentrating on it and flowing chakra through her hand until the sword and sheath looked right. The sheath looked to be solid white, until she moved it slightly, and it flashed with a very light pink gleam. When she withdrew the katana, she noticed that the blade was the same color as the light pink that had gleamed on the sheath.

Something tingled as she held the sword, even though it was a mere illusion. "I think...my mother gave me this sword in my dream." As she held the katana gently, she gave Viper a quizzical look. "Your mother was teaching my mother how to use this sword...and...they seemed...warm and caring toward me." She tried to choose her words carefully, but all the questions she had from before started to come out. "Do you think your mother made it especially for a Hyuuga? Why would my mother have a sword? Why would she give me something as precious as her sword...Senbon Zakura? Have you heard that name before?" The wind shifted ever so slightly, and the tranformation Akina made to Viper's disappeared.

She found herself overcome. The girl bowed deeply. "Teach me all you know, Viper-kun. I don't care how hard you end up hitting me, because I need to master the sword so that I can obtain Senbon Zakura!" Her eyes stared straight into his, and they were full of eagerness and determination. This could be the only thing she could find that was of her mother.

Viper thinks for a moment, is she crazy, did she hit her heard that hard, or maybe she is on to something, the details of the blade are actually somewhat familiar to him.
"Now that I think about it, that name does sound familiar in some of the stories, along with the tale of moms biggest rival, but I've only heard parts of that story sadly." Viper sighs thinking back and trying to remember details his family told him when he was little.
"Very well, let us continue, but instead of us hitting on each other, let us work on your style and foot work, ok?" Viper questions as he walks over to her.