A New Beginning [P,NK]

[Note: The acc has kiri colors, but The character is from Konoha. You can find a link to my stats page in my signature]

The sun was shining strongly, making each little point of the training grounds bright enough to be seen by naked eye, without any shadowed corber that is too dark for anybody to miss an action occuring there... Nero Koutaishi, a ninja of Konoha, (who has recently became one after passing the Genin exams just weeks ago) stepped in to the area. "What am I doing here ?" he thought to himself, "It is not very usual of me to do this... Come to the training grounds.. To train... I'm more of the type that learns by experience, the lazy guy who doesn't work out in his free time... But of course... So much has changed... After my father's death... The man that has taught me everything I know about the world of ninja, about their way, what they can do... What I can do... With his death, now I have to take care of not only myself (which would be hard enough for me), but also my mother, who has moved to the Village Hidden in the Sand...".

He started walking into the middle of the huge area, which he has never been in before, as he was (as he thought just seconds ago) the type of a guy who wouldn't spend his free time for working out, training. He was still deeply lost in thoughts. "I have so much more responsibility now... That's why I have to take this job more seriously... It won't be just a job for me now after all, but my way... My life... I have to train to become one of those ninja who would be known for how advanced they are... Today is the day my path to becoming one of those ninja will begin... For now, I have to train... Now, where should I start ? What should I start with ? God... I guess it would have been better if I have trained harder, more often until now too... I suppose I will need some help...".

He then "came back to the real world", opening his eyes, waking up from the world of thought he was lost in, minutes ago. He started looking around for another ninja for training, or at least for the sake of meeting his comrades, as he didn't know most of them.

Itami peered through the window curiously. The weather seemed nice enough to head to the training grounds. Despite the sun it was too cold to go to the forest - the shade of the high trees often made Itami shiver, and he only trained there when he was sure the temperature was high enough. He moved back from the window and looked around the room. Spotting his jacket thrown casually over a chair, he picked it up and put it on. He really needed to get out of the house. His father has been in one of his particularly bad moods today and Itami didn't dare stay in his room, if he by chance decided to come see what he was doing. He wasn't in the mood for another yelling match over how little Itami did, to become better and stronger.

His father has been wrong. Itami worked hard; so hard he more often than not forgot to eat because he was so focused on his training. But he knew there was no point in trying to convince his dad of that, for he was a man who made his own truths and disregarded any other possible ones. It was a trait that, to some extent, helped drive Itami's mother away.

Itami sighed as he fastened his weapon holder to his leg. A time will come when he too will get the chance to leave. But he wasn't strong enough to go on his own yet. After all, he was only eleven.

He climbed out the window and jumped on the roof, tying his headband around his neck. He ascended down the lower roofs and finally hopped to the ground, walking casually towards the training grounds. He whistled as he walked, twirling a kunai on his finger.

When he arrived, he looked around, hoping to see some of his friends or previous sparring partners, but to his bad luck, none of them were here. A lot of other ninja were there however. Maybe some of them would be interested in some training or a spar.

While he was looking around for somebody to meet, or train (if he was lucky enough for the person to be a ninja), Nero's shiny red eyes spotted a stranger. The stranger attracted Nero's attention, since he also seemed to have red eyes (even if it was a totally different tone of the color, it was interesting enough to attract the Koutaishi's attention, since he believed eyes with such colors were not common).

"Interesting..." Nero thought, as he stepped towards the white haired boy (Nero realised the color of the boy's hair seconds after he realised the color of his eyes. If it was anybody else instead of Nero, they probably would have realised the white hairs first, since they were more eye-catching). "How interesting... And here I thought I was the only person in the whole village with red eyes... Are they this common ? The first person I run into has red eyes... Anyway... There's no use in waiting here...".

Nero then walked towards the boy who resembled a ghost in Nero's opinion, with his red eyes and white hair. He then started speaking, "Hello, there... It seems that you are here for some training too, right ? I take it you're a ninja... I was looking for a ninja to help me with my training, since I find working alone much more boring... And I find it rather interesting for you to have red eyes. I have never seen eyes like yours in my entire life, and the only pair of red eyes I have seen were the ones that are looking to you right now... Oh... How rude of me to speak like that, but not introduce myself...".

Nero then raised his right hand to the height of his elbow, and held it towards the boy, "offering" him a handshake, as he would continue speaking, "It's Nero Koutaishi. Genin-ranked ninja of the village hidden in the leaves. A member of the Koutaishi clan of Konoha. And who are you, my friend ?". Nero would have then waited for an answer from the white haired person (who he thought was a ninja too), also expecting the boy to shake hands with him.

Itami walked along the outer line of the training grounds, looking around and debating whether to talk to someone and perhaps invite them to spar. His slightly introverted personality prevented him from being super social and even though he's done it in the past, he found it hard to just go to a stranger and start talking to them.
His decision however, was made for him as a black haired boy approached and started talking. Itami listened intently, his head tilting slightly as he observed the stranger. He seemed older than him. Black haired and eyes the same colour as Itami's, he reminded him of the exact opposite version of himself. He wondered if his personality was also diametric to his own.

"Hello." he managed to say before the other started speaking again, offering him a hand in greeting. Itami shook it and replied: "My name is Itami Himitsu. I am a genin as well, of Konoha as you can see from my headband." He pointed to the leaf sigil tied around his neck. "I am looking for someone to train with as well. What is your natural affinity?"
He was curious about the boy. Just as he mentioned, it was quite unusual to have red eyes and a big coincidence for two people with them to meet so randomly. He got his own from his father's side of the family, but they were not tied to any particular bloodline skill, at least as far as he knew. Maybe far back in the past but if that was true it seemed the talents died out and only the curious shade of red remained. Maybe that was the case about Nero's eyes as well.
Itami pocketed his kunai (the one he twirled on his finger as a habit) and added: "About the eyes, I do not think they're particularly common, no. The only other person I saw them with, is my father. They seem to fluctuate between shades though. Somethimes the red is so intense, it quite scares me."
He chuckled slightly, but in reality he felt a twinge of anxiety. Just a simple thought about his father made him a bit fearful.

[Sorry for the late post, also can you let me use my new stats (with the weapons and 10 more stats), so I may use the items here ?]

Nero was smiling, looking at the boy as he heard his name, the name of the one with the red eyes and white hair. "Well, nice to meet you, Itami." he said, while the only thoughts in his mind were, "Itami, doesn't that mean Pain ?". He then continued talking, "I suppose we will see each other more often from this point, knowing we're both Genin-ranked ninja of the same village... As for your other question... I can tell you what it is but it would be pointless. You see, I have only recently became a ninja. All the jutsu I know- I mean, the only ones ı am yet capable- Uhhh... Not capable- The only ones I am yet able to do are the basic Jutsu that are taught at the academy, those I do not need to name, since you know their names already... Oh, and the very popular Body Flicker technique amongst them... It is rather stupid of me to tell you all of this, if we are actually going to spar, but my point was showing you that I am already not that interested nor ambitious about finishing the spar (if we are going to do it) as the winner, the side standing...".

Nero took a deep breathe. He had spoken too much for his usual self, and his body was responding to this unusual case naturally. It was like Nero's body was trying to tell him, "Hey, babbler ! If you really want to become this talkative, you should learn to breathe more often. Or I will stop working, do you understand the seriousness ?". Anyway, the Koutaishi clan member then continued talking, "What was I saying ? Oh, right... Anyway... My natural affinity is Wind... And what about you ? What is your natural affinity ? And what are you capable of doing ? I'd understand if you would choose not to answer that though. You'd have a point, since the way I acted was the wrong way for a ninja... ı only thought that there would be no trouble since you were an ally... Anyway... I have talked enough, and I'm getting tired already, because of how much work my chin has performed... God... I'm going to keep silent and rest my mouth for a while, if you would be kind enough to let me do that... So, you can go on while I am taking a rest...".

Nero would then shut the hell up, diving in to the ocean of thoughts in his mind... His attention would be evenly distirubted by his thoughts and the boy with the red eyes and white hair (or whatever he was saying, if he ever talked)... "Hmmm..." he thought to himself, "So... The shades of his eyes "fluctuate" ? That is seriously strange... Even more rare than the whole subject of having red eyes... Lucky guy... His look must be scary enough for a ninja... The white hair, the red eyes... I can guess that his eyes have the potential to become unexceptionally frightening...". Nero realised that is mouth has rested enough now, so he continued what he meant to say before, "So... The color of your eye is genetic ? It is expectable... I think I am the strange case... Neither of my father nor mother had red eyes... It was a mutation, as the doctor has told me when I was a little boy, who wondered the reason of his difference... Anyway... Should we go ahead and start the training, spar, or whatever it is that we are going to do already ?". He would, this time, wait for an answer from the boy, or he would decide to train on his own, for he couldn't afford to spend his time talking to others that day... For the time, he had to train... He had to try as hard as he could to become more powerful...

[No problem! And yeah, sure we can. :)]

As Nero spoke, Itami listened carefully. The other talked quickly and Itami had to make sure to catch every word. When he finished, Itami was slightly amused by him, since he seemed quite chatty, plus his last comment was quite funny. Itami's face though, was indifferent, if not slightly hard.
"I see." he said and furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "I agree wholeheartedly on your point that revealing my abilities would be un-ninja like. But your other point makes sense as well. Since what will follow is simple training or a spar, I am comfortable with telling you what I am capable of doing. Especially since we are allies and both from Konoha ... You would learn of my abilities sooner or later anyway."

He paused still a bit torn between telling him everything or just a small fraction. A moment later, he decided and continued: "My natural affinity is wind as well. This makes things easier, if we are to train together, since we can learn a lot of useful things from eachother, ninjutsu wise. Like you, I know all the basic academy jutsu, however the body flicker tehnique is something I haven't yet mastered.
I am capable of creating shadow clones, which was a hard jutsu to learn. And I've been practicing a wind release tehniqe, called 'spiraling wind ball'. Other than that, I know 'chakra infusion' which has proven quite useful in the past."

He smiled then, a thoughtful kind of smile, and his face seemed softer already. It completely depended on the day, how Itami was going to present himself to others. Sometimes he was calm and collected, as he was now, showing an indifferent face to the public. Other times, he was kind and sweet. On rare occasions, he would be mean and cocky, and there were days that his anxieties made him act quite childish.

Some people though, had the talent to make him go from one state to the other fast, and the curiosity he felt when talking to Nero seemed to affect him a bit that way. Despite his chattering, the black haired ninja held a certain mystery about him that intrigued Itami and didn't bore him (which was what happened usually, when talking to strangers - most people were just so uninspiring).

"How interesting." he said to Nero's last words. "And yes, sure. How did you envision this though? Should we spar? Practice side by side? Train eachother? Whatever you choose is fine with me."
He grinned then and cracked his knuckles in anticipation.

[Sorry for being this late again >.<, i was too busy today]

Nero would show his grin as he heard the answer the white haired boy gave to Nero's talk about comrades sharing information about each other not being against his way of ninja. "I am glad..." Nero then said, looking at the boy with the white hair and red eyes, "...to see that you are not a simple-minded person, but an open-minded one, and that you do not find my opinion idiotic, or meaningless.". Nero would have listened carefully to the boy as he talked about his elemental affinity, what he was capable of, etc. "Well," Nero said, "I saw a lot of Jounin-level shinobi use the Chakra ınfusion technqiue before, but I have neither faced nor even heard of a jutsu called the "Spiralling wind ball". Though I guess what it looks like, since its name is so obvious...".

He then looked up to see the sky, and it was only then that he had felt the weak breeze blowing through the huge area, that was known as the training grounds. He closed his eyes... "The wind..." he thought to himself, "It always seems to calm me down no matter what... It is very lucky to be someone with this characteristic if you are a citizen or a ninja of a village that there is always wind, with the forest that covers it... Damn... How rude... I am once again lost in the realm inside my mind... I rather find it as interesting as the outside most of the times... Though it is the truth that the origin of this realm is the outside world... Once I gather enough sources... Enough "bounds" with this realm, I might fall back to one that would be mine as well... Just a thought... Uggh... I don't know... I like the physical world a little more, it seems...".

He watched clouds floating in the sky for another short amount of time, as he then took a deep breathe and continued talking. "Well..." Nero said, "I would like you to choose what we are going to do... You are (no doubt) the one that has more experience as a ninja... This is the first time I am going to train, so what do you suggest I should do ? We should do ? What did you do at the start of your trainings ? I know I am asking a lot of questions but I have to train hard starting from today, as I also have to learn how to train with the maximum efficiency. I must learn how to use my whole potential when training or fighting... Of course, I do not expect you to teach me everythnig, but everything you can afford to teach me. I wouldn't want to cause you to lose a lot of free time either... If there is a way for both of us to help each other, that would be great... Anyway... Any suggestions ?"

Nero would have still been looking to the boy, waiting for an answer from him, and observing him at the same time (which was something Nero has always done any time he met someone). "An interesting boy..." Nero thought to himself, "And so young too... I guess I should have joined the academy sooner, I was already being trained by my father at the age anybody else joined the academy... Anyway... He sounds intelligent and as if he has an interesting story too... I'll learn more about him eventually, I hope... For now, I'll only observe...".

[It's okay, I understand completely, I often have a lot of work and cannot focuse on rp-ing ^^]

Itami smiled at Nero's comment about his open mindedness. He took great pride in the fact that he always weighed the options presented, and gave each a careful thought before deciding on his opinion. He was the kind of person to accept new information and not stubbornly stick to his own at all times.

"The spiraling wind ball tehnique is quite an interesting one, though I haven't met anyone else who would use it as well. If you are curious, I don't mind showing you what it looks like. It's quite interesting to watch - I find it very beautiful." he said in response to Nero's intrigue.
He watched Nero fall back into his thoughts again. It was a characteristic of his, it appeared, and Itami liked him a bit more for it because he was that kind of a person as well. Most people didn't understand why Itami at certain times just went quiet and fell into his thoughts so he was glad he found another person who often did the exact same thing.

When Nero spoke again, Itami contemplated his questions for a bit. He had different ways of training and he wasn't really sure they were the most effective - he simply did what he thought was best. He didn't want to give Nero any false information.

"Hmm... Well I think it would be interesting if we warm up first and maybe train for a little bit, and then finish with a spar. My training usually starts with a run and some strenght exercises. Then I either practice my chakra control or my jutsu. A friend of mine recently convinced me to add meditation to that process. I usually finish with target practice and tactic planning. But a lot of times I mix things up and I have days when I only focuse on one thing. I guess you will find what suits you the most, once you try everything. I think it's important to find what is best for your body. Some people need to spend more time on chakra control than on stamina training. For others it's the other way around. After a couple of training sessions, you will find how your body is balanced and then I believe, you will be able to construct a perfect training plan for you." he said and then paused.

He hoped he thought of everything. Nero really seemed like a nice guy and Itami wanted to help as much as he could. He seemed to trust Itami very much which was something he wasn't used to.
"I propose we warm up first and then follow with some exercises such as target and jutsu practice. And then spar in the end. What do you think?" he said and looked at the other expectantly.

Nero would smile at the speech given by the boy he was talking to for
the past few minutes. The boy kept getting more and more interesting in
Nero's eyes. "What a wise plan..." the Koutaishi clan member with the red eyes would than say, "Your
speech, my young friend, proves that you are an experienced ninja, am I
wrong ? You sure gave a lot of necessary suggestions... I thank you for
that... You only had my interest, but now you have my respect... I
agree with the short plan of yours... We can start by warming up a
bit... Ummm... Though I must ask... What was it that you meant by
"warming up". Because according to what I call the "Koutaishi Code" it
is a spar on its own, though one that neither of the sides aim on
winning, but rather doing their best to keep up with their opponent and
give them the battle they deserve... This is the way I was taught by my
father, the man who has taught me anything I know that is useful on a
battle, or simply useful in every little corner of this world of
Shinobi...".

Nero would draw his katana out from its black
sheathe, putting its sharp edge down to the ground, though not letting
go of the black grip from his right hand. He would then start talking
once again, this time looking down at the ground below the sharp edge of
the katana in his hand, instead of the young boy with the white hair
and red eyes. "Though I can agree to do it your way too," Nero would then say, "if
it is any different from mine... You are the one with the experience
after all... So... The final decision is yours... Just decide what we
are going to do and let us begin...". Nero would have been ready for a spar or any other kind of training that they might have had a chance to go through.

[sorry for the late reply]

"Thank you." Itami said and smiled slightly at the older boy. "What I meant by warming up is simple exercises such as push ups, lift ups and stretching. But I like your idea as well and it certainly seems more fun. It is definitely more fitting to our situation as it is more social."

He readjusted his weapon holder and fastened it on his leg more carefully, thinking for a second.
The fact that Nero was from a clan, and one with its own code was very interesting. So far, he only knew one person from a clan and that was his teammate Nakara. He knew they usually had a lot of rules and codes and such. Itami wondered what life in a clan would be like, and he wondered what kind of a clan Nero's was.
He decided he was going to as Nero more about it after they finish with their training. It peaked Itami's interest and he was curious to learn more.

In Nero's reply he said:
"I do not mind doing it your way, I think it is quite a good idea. However we must set some ground rules to avoid unfairness and any kind of dispute in the future.
Would you prefer if we only used basic academy jutsu, or do you wish to spar with all our abilities? Moreover do we take a sort of turns, or just attack whenever we fell like there is an opening? I've sparred in a lot of different ways, once even without anything but brute force and agility. All ways were intriguing."

He observed Nero's katana in silent and unseen awe. It was beautiful, however not the weapon of choice for Itami. He much prevered his tricks and strategies in combination with jutsu.