Air Drill Practice (Privite, Invite only)

Mezurashii nodded to Itami's words as she ate, the advantages of being a ninja definitely outweighed the pitfalls. She finished quickly, she was never able to eat much, she stood and put her dishes in the sink.

"You have to go to the office today don't you, papa?" Mezurashii asked and the man immediately stiffened.

"Um..." he looked at the door, the at the redhead. Though before he could make a made dash there was a lunchbox dangling in front of his face.

"Yes, you do. You can bring this to the office if you do your paperwork" she said, swinging it side to side in a tempting manner. Papa thought about it for a second before agreeing unhappily, she placed it on his head and smiled at Itami.

"I can make one up if you want" she asked a she went back over to the dishes and began to scrub.

"Papa, it's your turn to do the dishes tonight" she stated as she finished her dishes, the older man grumbled before kissing her on the cheek.

"See you tonight then, love you" he called out before he exited the house.

"Love you too papa!" Mezurashii called out before sighing happily, she sent another silent thanks to the heavens before she finished the dishes.

Itami chewed, not knowing what to say as Mezurashii talked with her father. She seemed to be in charge in this household which was strange but he respected his teammate even more for being able to do it.
Shaking his head at her suggestion, he swallowed first and then replied: "It's not necessary for me, but you can make one for yourself if you want. I will be full from breakfast and I will return home for lunch later anyway." He smiled at her: "But thanks anyway."
Finishing off his food, he stood up and handed his plate to Mezurashii who was doing the dishes again. He wished to help so she'd have less to do but it seemed she had everything under control and had her own system of doing things.
When she was finished, Itami asked: "Shall we go? Except if there is anything you still need to do or take .."
He found that he was smiling a lot more those two days, than normally. Mezurashii seemed to have that effect on him. It was quite nice.
Itami put on his jacket and took the headband out of the pocket. He tied it around his neck like it was usual for him.

Mezurashii shook her head "There's just one more thing I need to do" she quickly went out of the room and down the hall until she came to a little pray room.

It was the depiction of the Moon Goddess, a painting of her hung on the wall. Her silver hair flowed gracefully down her back, she wore a long white kimono with a night blue shall wrapped around her elbows and went barefoot, a fully moon behind her with a black crescent moon in the centre of her forehead.

There was a length of rug that Mezurashii knelt down on, a small table with flowers symbolizing night, peace and healing with incense that represented calmness and hope. Bowing low so her forehead touched the floor she whispered a silent thanks for everything she has gained in this life before rising slowly.

"Okay, I'm done. Lets go" she smiled brightly before leaving the room and going outside, she stretched as the sun warmed her skin. They walked all the way back to the clearing, Mezurashii turned to Itami with a kind face.

"We should probably meditate first, just to get our focus" she offered, waiting patiently for his own opinion.

Itami decided to wait for Mezurashii near the door because he felt that if he stayed in the kitchen, he wouldn't be able to take the awkward silence that would probably ensue between him and Katsu. Or worse, some more awkward questions from the man.

Mezurashii returned quickly, from whatever she needed to do, and they headed outside. The air was a bit warmer than Itami expected so he took off his jacket and carried it instead. He lightly whistled until they arrived at the same clearing they were at yesterday.

He was suprised to hear Mezurashii wanted to meditate first as it was something he thought required a lot of time. But nodding along, he decided to do things her way today. He sat on the grass, cross legged, and put the jacket next to him on the floor.

He looked at Mez and asked: "How long do you think we should take for meditation?
Waiting for her reply, he already closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth of the sun on his eyelids.

Mezurashii thought for a second before she smiled. "When you've meditated you sort of make an internal clock. So I'll wake you up in about an hour" she said before she sat down near him, but not so close that he wouldn't be able to concentrate. Closing her eyes she delve into her inner mind, quickly coming to her haven.

She smiled, twirling around a few times before falling onto the soft, long grass. The flowers changed colour, some taking on a calm blue while others took on a happy purple.

Sitting up she went over to the forest barrier, looking around it seemed as though everything was in order. She dashed childishly back to the small cabin that held her memories and checked them, nothing had been tampered with and everything was where it should be.

There was an echoing 'ding' that rang through her mind, exiting her memories she closed the doors and raised herself towards the clouds. Closing her eyes she felt weightless, though after a few seconds she felt gravity set in.

When Mezurashii opened her eyes again she was in the clearing where they would train, her chakra was running smoothly now and her mind was clear and focus. Her thoughts calm and her mood considerably lightened.

She flopped onto her back and stretched like a cat, flipping into a crouch she moved over to her white haired friend.

"Itami" she lightly shook his shoulder, though she was ready to leap away if necessary. After all if you startle a ninja you just might end up with a kunai to the face. She continued to lightly shake his shoulder until he woke up.

Only smiling in response, Itami kept his eyes closed as he drifted off. It took him a while to clear his head and not focuse on individual thoughts. When he managed to keep his attention on his breathing, he slowly entered a deep state of meditation, entering his dreamland.

Everything seemed unclear at the beginning. The grass was dark and the sky was black as night. The bushes ad hedges kept moving and disapearing. But as he relaxed more, the sky slowly cleared to a beautiful shade of blue. His mind drifted over his thoughts and memories and he felt as if he were flying over the labyrinth he has constructed. He could see his past in hidden corners of the labyrinth easily, as he was floating above them. The wind carried him gently like he was a bird that relied on it to keep his wings up.

Soon, he reached the sea. The salty waves crashed on the rocks that surrounded the shore. Itami saw endless possibilities here and he mentally decided to try to work on building another barrier. He imagined the black wet rocks extend higher and higher, at his will, creating a sharp wall that was almost impossible to get through. The rocks were slippery with algae and the water. The salt seemingly eroded them, to create sharp edges that covered almost every inch of the black stone. It took him a long time to focuse his thoughts into creating the thing but it was still easier than the last time he tried.

When he was sattisfied with his creation, he let the wind carry him onwards. A mental map in his head showed him he now had two barriers creating the mental labyrinth of his thoughts. He would return some other time, to continue protecting his memories from intrusions.

He flew over the sea now, watching the gentle breeze curl the water into playful waves. Seagulls appeared, flying next to him, flapping their wings.
But suddenly, the picture in front of him started to shake slightly. He blinked and sunk into darkness. He still felt light shakes and just as he was beginning to panic, he felt warmth on his shoulder, as if a hand rested there.

Slowly opening his eyes, he was presented with an image of a clearing covered with flowers and grass, and a red haired girl sitting very close to him, shaking his shoulder.
Suprised, Itami yelped and jumped away, but a second later he realized where he was and who the girl was. He settled back into the grass. "Sorry Mez." he apologized and smiled reassuringly. It probably wasn't a good idea to build barriers just before training as he was slightly tired now. He should have just meditated to calm himself and not work his mind so much. But it seemed he was incapable of relaxing completely. He didn't particularly like 'wasting time' and instead prefered to use ever minute to improve, even though meditation was actually a very helpful tool for shaping the mind.
he put his hands on his knees and breathed in and out. "Hey, how much time passed?" he asked, turning again towards Mezurashii.

Mezurashii laughed joyfully "Don't worry about it, that was probably your ninja instincts kicking in, which is a good thing" she praised before looking to the sky.

"As for the time, only an hour. Like I said, I've developed a sort of internal clock" she looked back to Itami with a smile but it fell to a frown when she noticed the single bead of sweat that gathered at his temple, she sighed and gave him an unhappy look.

"You shouldn't be making barriers right before jutsu practice, it uses a lot of chakra. You should meditate and make barriers when you have spare time, not right before training" she scolded. After all, what happens if he collapses from training? You can't keep track of the amount of chakra you use up when making barriers, so by the time you realize how much you've lost it's already to late.

"But I suppose that's just you then?" she questioned with a small smile, she shook her head but her eyes were still kind. She closed her eyes and focused her chakra, again the air formed how she wished almost immediately.

Mezurashii took a deep breath. No negative thoughts, no 'what if's' no nothing. Just calm, just a vision. She raised her hand and directed it to the ground with all her strength, she envisioned the ground breaking in huge chunks of earth beneath her, rocks cracking and crumbling under the force.

The loud crash sound came right before she lost balance, she opened her eyes quick enough to see she was in a crater of rubble. The redhead was currently lying in an awkward position and she could feel a few dozen bruises already forming, sitting up as best she could Mezurashii coughed from the dust that filled the air.

"Itami! Are you okay?" she called out, she rubbed her head and could feel a nasty bump coming along, she looked around. Trying to find her friend.

"That's a helpful skill to have." Itami said. His internal clock wasn't that good and the fact that he did things completely on a whim didn't help much. He heard that people who for instance go to bed at the same time everyday, are eventually capable of improving their sense of time and their internal clock gets impecable. However Itami's sleeping schedual changed daily. He was an impulsive sort of person.

Mezurashii's smile turned into a frown and Itami's face mirrored hers for a second, as he wondered what could have possibly disturbed the girl so suddenly. He bit his lip at her words. "Yeah, I know. I got a bit carried away. My original plan was to just meditate but I guess I got sidetracked. I feel uncomfortabe just relaxing when I could be doing other things." He sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair. Mezurashii turned to him again:

"But I suppose that's just you then?" she questioned with a small smile, she shook her head but her eyes were still kind.

He chuckled at her words and nodded. "I guess so yeah."
He watched with interest as she directed her hand to the ground. Just as he was about to ask of her intentions, a loud bang sent him flying back, away from Mezurashii.
He landed on his side, his head spinning.
Opening his eyes, his vision was blurry and he didn't understand what was going on. HE didn't feel anything for a few seconds, but after a while, he realized he was lying on a part of the ground near the boulders. The sharp shards of rock that crushed away with changing weather prickled at his skin and he could feel something liquidy on his forehead. He turned his head slowly, trying to see where Mezurashii was. But sudden pain stopped him from moving his head further.

Stubborn and convinced he couldn't be that hurt, he pushed himself up into a sitting possition. It seemed the blast threw him against the boulders and made him land on the rubble of tiny stones not far from them. His head still spinning a little, he reached to his forehead with his hand and felt a sticky substance on the side. Looking at his hand, he realized it was blood.
He wiped it on his trousers, and tried to spot Mezurashii. He was really worried about her.

Mezurashii climbed out of the mini pit hole she accidentally made and looked for her friend, she found him quickly even amongst the dust that still floated in the air.

She used a quick burst of her wind chakra to clear the air and immediately froze. Itami was bleeding, she stood and quickly made her way to him.

"Itami! Are you okay?" she asked as she looked at his injury, making sure she didn't hurt him in the process. She quickly grabbed one of her storage scrolls and tapped it twice, disinfectant appeared in a small puff of smoke and she began to apply it carefully with surprisingly steady hands.

"Don't move okay" she said absently, Mezurashii focused on taking care of his wound even though her right arm hurt like hell and she could feel her chakra draining away from the after effect. When she finished she set the small box down and scanned him for any other obvious wounds.

The air cleared suddenly and Itami was able to see better. As he was about to stand up to find Mezurashii, she suddenly appeared next to him with a scroll in her hand. "Yeah I'm fine, don't worry about me." he mumbled, his head still a bit woozy. "Are you okay? What happened? You aren't hurt are you?"
Mezurashii looked shaken up as she crouched and cared for his wound. Itami swatted her hands away. "I'm fine Mez, we need take care of you first, you were closer to the blow. And besides, even minor head wounds bleed a lot - I'm perfectly okay."
His vision blurred again, possibly from the hit to his head and he stopped rambling for a second and held his head. Blinking rapidly he swayed but managed to clear his sight again. He was greeted with a pair of worried eyes staring at him. The girl suddenly looked super tired. He grabbed her hand and tried to pull her and himself up, but failed miserably as his balance was still impaired. "You need to go to the hospital to get checked out. You were already hurt yesterday, and now again. We need to make sure you are okay." he mumbled, talking in a slurred voice but trying to sound just fine.