Cool Summers Day -Open,NK-

"Where are you off to so early in the morning Mitsunari"

Sneaking out had been impossible at this point, the thoughts of leaving out early in the morning before many had came about had been thrown out the window as he stared down the question of his foster father. Looking at his current answers he could lie and tell the man that he was going out to get groceries or he could tell the truth about him just going out to do some training. His foster father wasn't too "keen" on him being a ninja, a huge contrast from his actual fathers words before he had left with his mother on a caravan trip.

As he delved deeper into the cognitive thoughts within his mind the question this time was asked not from his side but behind him, the subtle clicking of nails on a banister filling the living room in which they all were standing in. A dragon to the side and a tiger behind him the odds for a successful lie were starting to dwindle rapidly. Both parents staring the male down as if waiting for the first sign of a lie or the male to move. Neither were ninja in a sense that they were mere civilians yet the mother had forever been the deadliest of the family. Finding no other grounds for getting out of his predicament the only option was to break down and admit it," I was...going to go out and train early in the morning?," beads of sweat dripped from his face as he looked to both with his brown eyes before hearing a sigh from his side.

"That all? Could have simply said that instead of having your mother use her intimidation, you know how I hate these stare downs with you and your mother,"

This was true. His mother had been an intimidating figure in the house even though he was the only one that had been a ninja. It was something about women or mothers in general that had always scared him, maybe their glares when they had became serious caused something within the boy to go haywire and cause a state of fear. Whatever the case was however he did not want to truly piss her off, what she could do with a knife she could probably do on him at any given moment. After a few hugs and comments from both parents, Mitsunari stepped out from his house and moved to position himself towards the North, the direction from his house to the training grounds.

The walk had been in silence though the soft stepping of his feet against the warm sand proved to be the only source of sound that he had needed to comfort himself at this time. With many of the ninja being asleep or getting ready for the new day this had meant that he could get all of his training done and even learn a new jutsu or two if he had used his time to his advantage. He had made a habit of getting to the training grounds at exactly ten minutes from his starting point, though the path he had taken each day consisted of only a few jumps that he could have done from a nearby building to another or running through the streets like a hyperactive idiot.

At that point he had made it just in time to head to his normal spot, the area itself had been deserted as he originally thought putting the smallest of smiles on his face as he continued to walk. At long last he had made it to the same spot in which he had trained day in and day out, looking at the mauled training post he had wondered who all had came to train at this specific spot besides himself looking at the small indents and cuts which were probably from Kunai or some form of bladed weapon. Dropping a small bag onto the ground, Mitsunari slowly pulled out a few items one of which had been a nice length of strong rope. Taking the rope in both hands he simply tied it around the post as a cushion of sorts, the rope being a small...damage insurance on both himself and the post. With his body still developing it was better to go about training like this rather than breaking his hands every time he punched the post.

After preparing the training post the next item he had pulled out was a pair of training wraps, the ends of each as well as some of the wrap itself had been frayed from constant use the usual wear and tear from training day in and day out. The preparations were done, his fists were wrapped, now he was ready to train. Lining himself up with the post it was an easy rhythm after that, his right fist colliding with the rope followed by his left in sequence.

The sun rose to find a dark silhouette out over in Suna's training grounds. After his past few days of intense training, Soyokaze was just about done with all of the work and he didn't think his body could take much more. In any case, he'd mastered a good number of jutsu in a short time and was feeling pretty pleased with himself today. He was still broke, but that was another issue entirely. Soyokaze was going to attempt another Air Bullet and go home, when he caught a glimpse of another shape punching out a training post, one of the very same ones he had been mauling with his Wind Style: Slash jutsu. "Another ninja? Maybe they'd like to get some training in...", Soyo thought with excitement. He had been waiting for the chance to train with a bona fide Suna-nin and it looked like a golden opportunity. He walked over to the ninja, who was hammering away at the post with his fists. "Hi, I'm Soyokaze. What's your name?", Kaze ventured.

The small thumps from his hits connecting on the training post filled his ears as he began to hone in on his training, each punch sending him on a journey into his mind. Envisioning the post as an opponent he swiftly shifted to the right side as if they had tried to counter his jab, his footwork pivoting as soon as his arm moved backwards into position. With his weight shifting to his right side he threw a left hook followed by a right before going into a shuffle feint and hopping backwards only a meter, keeping on the balls of his feet so that he didn't lose momentum in the slightest. After four sets of the same left, right, pivot and back step he had stopped for a moment to catch his breath having thrown at least a hundred punches in rapid succession he noticed a single voice ringing in the distance behind him.

Turning his head slightly for a moment he looked at the male from the corner of his eyes before fully turning around and looking the other ninja over with his brown eyes. Of course at first he had said nothing until his assessment was over in which he simply nodded and stretched," Name's Mitsunari, Nice to meet you Soyokaze. So how long have you been out here?," since he had not seen the male prior to coming here he assumed that he had simply showed up after him or had indeed been in another area of the training grounds. Setting the small stuff aside he slid his bag away from him after taking out a small towel and wiping his forehead with it while looking at the ninja in front of him," So you here to train? Wouldn't make sense to come if you weren't so want a training partner?," instead of simply waiting for the question to pop up between the two of them, he made the first move and waited for the male to answer before making a move.

"Not much you can learn from an Academy student these days unfortunately since they are leaning only the basics of how to be a ninja. So I take you're a Genin as well?," before he continued he decided to look the male over again before finding the position of his head band. Smiling for a moment he would continue to speak as if he didn't miss a beat," Though I guess training with them you'd show them a thing or two to help with their progression, an academy student is still a ninja after all aren't they?," Whether it was intentional or not, there was cause to train the lower ranks if not to help them progress further than what they were now. If Mitsunari had the time to do so he'd head down to the academy and help with some of their training, but there had been times where he had to do other things such as meditation or help his family.

The small observation made him smile a bit as he went over to lean onto the post," Yeah its in my blood oddly enough though neither my real parents nor my foster parents had any aptitude for any of the ninja arts and this comes as natural to me as breathing. It's fun and keeps my mind clear of all distractions though i've been wondering just what is it like to use ninjutsu," though after listening to the male's proposition the smile widened and the terms weren't too bad.

Leaning off of the post he would hold out his hand and offer a handshake before he had begun to show Soyokaze how to strengthen his body," You got a deal though I hope you are fine with a sore body after this," if the male had shook his hand then he would turn around to face the training pole and take in a deep breath. Pressing his fist against the tightly coiled rope he would begin to explain the basics of how to strengthen his body," When you punch you usually tense up your muscles in your arm before letting the energy within it explode to deal some pretty good damage on someone. In your case as a ninjutsu user, its like preparing a jutsu then releasing it. Though as the forms are similar, there's a difference. Your strength doesn't need to be channeled so you can easily release it before your opponent," giving the pole a few punches he would exhibit a simple form before stepping back," Go ahead and give it a few punches, keep your fists nice and firm but don't make it too tight and breathe as you go through the motions," with that he would wait and watch Soyo as he went through the technique.

"You'd be surprised", Soyokaze said with a smile, remembering his fight with Haruki's clones, "..some of those kids are out of this world. This little Chikamatsu girl could pull off a Shadow Clone Jutsu. My own sister can just barely manage walking up a tree. I guess you're right though, it's good to give a little back. I'd have been glad of the help myself when I was in the Academy." When Mitsunari asked if he himself was a genin, Soyo reflexively touched his Suna forehead protector, almost as if to make sure it was still there. "Yeah, I'm a genin. I'm pretty fresh from the academy too, now that I think about it", he said after the slight pause.

"Actually, my whole clan is pretty terrible at taijutsu. I'll take a stab at anything, but I've never had any sort of aptitude for it. It's pretty damn cool, though, taking your body and making it a weapon just as strong as any jutsu", Soyokaze said in response to Mitsunari's discussion of taijutsu.

Soyokaze looked at the proffered hand and shook it firmly. "Us Suna-nin shouldn't be afraid of a few bruises. Let's do this!" Soyo said firmly. After hearing the taijutsu-nin speak about the nature of taijutsu techniques, he thought about how to best set it up inside his head. "Like a jutsu, huh?", Soyo thought aloud as he began to ready his stance. He took one more glance at the smiling Suna-nin who wordlessly encouraged him and took his first strikes at the training post.

Hearing about the academy students learning faster than some made him wonder if the kids there were learning jutsu that he couldn't do yet...that would have meant that he needed to step his game up and pick up the pace on his training. Then again progress didn't come to those who rushed it and taking his time would prove to be more beneficial than trying to catch up with those that were still in their diapers so to speak. After getting the answer that he had been waiting for he simply smiled and thumbed towards head band which had been on his arm instead of his head. Though he had been a genin for a while and towered over many other his experience hadn't been up there.

As the thoughts began to flow inside of his mind he returned to the male in front of him as he finally spoke," I've been a genin for about a few months though I figured since I hadn't seen any about I was the only one, but it is good to see a fellow genin about," though in all honesty he had never came out when someone was here so as far as he knew he was alone in the Genin department. The further the conversation went the more he had learned about the genin in question for starters that his family was piss poor at taijutsu. " Its fun when it can make you so much more versatile with other styles like your Ninjutsu to make say...your feet or fist hit with more force than a normal punch. In some cases you could probably use the force from your punch as a shell of energy, though you'd need a mastery of your muscles else you rip your arm in half," though the thought of someones muscles ripping at the core only proved to be so much more...hurtful in a sense.

After shaking his hand, Mitsunari simply stepped to the side to allow Soyo to try the technique out though he had been watching his technique as he punched the post. His form wasn't bad though it was apparent that there wasn't much energy or force being put into the punches. As he continued to punch, he simply cleared his throat to speak," Add a little more....snap in your punch. You're form is good for a beginner though you should add a little more...power into it so to speak. Just like one of your jutsu, add in a little more power to your punch as if you were performing a ninjutsu. Keep going at it for a bit and we'll try some more training," he was surprisingly being a good teacher though he had wondered how Soyo would do in an actual spar.

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"More power, huh? I think I can manage that", thought Soyo as he began to launch his next punch. Before he got into his stance, though, he thought of a pretty good idea to help give his punches a little more strength behind them. Soyo closed his palms together and readied his chakra, channeling it to his hands as if he were going to perform a Gale Palm jutsu. This time though, he didn't make the bird seal to release the jutsu. Instead, Soyo let the chakra swirl around his fists and he unleashed his punch again. "That felt somewhat better to me. What do you think, Mitsunari?", he inquired of the other shinobi. Soyo couldn't help but feel rather glad that he had met another Suna-nin determined to improve themselves. He could foresee a very fruitful friendship between the two of them. Another, more competitive, side of him was thinking about how well they'd match up in a sparring bout. He pushed the more mischievous thought away for a moment and refocused his mind on the training the were about to do. "What's next, Mitsunari? Feel like learning a little ninjutsu?"he said with a slight smile towards his training partner.

If Mitsunari could see chakra he would be pleased at the fact that the young ninja in front of him had been picking the lessons pretty well. Though he couldn't see the chakra he could see the power through the punch that he had thrown that the lessons themselves were working. As a smile formed onto his facial feature before he stepped forward and patted the ninja on the shoulder," What do I think of it? Though it seems like you said your aptitude for other types of fighting are...abysmal at best, using a fusion of Ninjutsu in your techniques makes them stronger," pointing towards the rope as an example he would chuckle," those cuts prove that you are grasping it better than I thought you would, but you'd need to find a style all your own in the future that allows you to use both in battle...with a little more training," to show his point he stepped to the side of the training dummy and threw two quick punches followed by a swift crescent kick and stretching," Given a little time you can easily find your own style and take the battlefield...or at least impress the Kazekage," though that was his own goal to stand before his leader and prove himself, it could have easily been the goal of the whole village and yet he was going to make it.

Being lost in his own thoughts caused him to miss a bit of what Soyo was saying until he stared at the male before shaking free of his mind and nodding," Sure I wouldn't mind learning some Ninjutsu. I was thinking of developing my skills in it once I was capable of doing so which could be soon or later. After that we can have a small spar to use what the two of us had learned so far this morning," Though he wasn't good with Ninjutsu as a whole there had been something within him that he didn't know...or was yet revealed to him.

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"Abysmal would be too nice to describe my taijutsu skills, but I'm glad that I've found something that works for me", Soyokaze said with a laugh. Mitsunari displayed a swift and powerful crescent kick that had actually bit through his corded post. Soyokaze whistled appreciatively at the impressive display of taijutsu. He was still thinking about the other ninja's words when he heard Mitsunari talk about impressing the Kazekage. "Don't we all..." Soyo said a little more seriously, "...who knows? Maybe you and I will hit jounin one day, or maybe even ANBU Black Ops." Soyokaze didn't doubt that he had the drive to become an asset to the Hidden Village he called home, and from the looks of it Mitsunari did as well. "Why else would someone be out here in this desert training ground at this early in the morning, if they weren't driven?", Soyo thought ruefully, remembering the aches of his past training.

"Ninjutsu is just the flip side of the coin from taijutsu, pretty much in the very same way you explained how taijutsu works. You channel your chakra from within and send it through your body. The only difference is the method of release. For the Body Flicker Jutsu, instead of trying to release the chakra through your body, close your eyes and try to envision where you want to be and see yourself there. When you have that mental image clearly defined, simply weave the Tiger hand seal, and you'll be off!", Soyokaze explained. He realized that a demonstration would be more useful than just words, so he closed his eyes and saw himself standing by the bush off to the corner of the training field. He made the Tiger sign and with a puff of smoke, he had been transported to the bush. "Wanna try it out?", he called to Mitsunari.