Come get stronger together (Open)

'It's now or never.' The thought came as Kaze recalled how long ago he had summoned the demon lanterns to the battlefield, and if he had counted right they wouldn't last much longer. The boy was shook from his thoughts as his opponent disappeared from his view; he quickly surveyed the area immediately in front of him before glancing up to the sky. Nothing. Spinning to his rear Kaze came face to face with Kotsuzui who oddly was just standing there waiting, it was odd but at this time it the Uchiha did not have the time to contemplate it. With his resources about to disperse there was little time to think of anyway to attack other than just a straight forward assault, unless.

Flicking his eyes downwards for a second two fireballs raced towards the ground exploding on contact blowing up dirt and dust everywhere. The two heads of fire had detonated right in between the two boys, only Kaze knowing what was about to happen timed his jump within the second of the explosion to avoid any of the debris that might shoot out towards him. As his body was propelled backwards from his jump, he sent the remainder of the lanterns forwards with another flick of his eyes. The heads that were the closest to him would hit the spot where Kotsuzui had been standing as the fireballs that weren't as close would fly further into the smoke, created from the earlier explosion, detonating in random locations. Following a couple of more jumps Kaze would once again be at a safe distance.

It took a while for Kaze to figure out where Kotsuzui had shunshin'd to, which he found odd because if someone vanished from his sight the first place he would look was behind him. But maybe that was just him. Eventually he did turn, and it was at the moment Kotsuzui noticed Kaze's sharingan was no long active. Maybe that is why he refrained from getting in close and decided to fight from the cover of his fireballs, because he was exhausted and could not afford to keep his sharingan active. Though this could be an opportunity for Kotsuzui to try and end this spar, he was also feeling tired from the ware and tare of this spar and was not sure how much more he could continue.

Kaze made his move as he sent in some of the fire heads towards the ground in between the two of them. That's what Kotsuzui wanted, Kaze to send in his jutsu possibly to risk hitting himself. As the first few came in, Kotsuzui quickly jumped backwards easily dodging the ones that smashed into the ground. Once the debris lifted up into the air and blocking the two Konoha shinobi from seeing once another, Kotsuzui slipped into the ground the moment he landed from his dodge. From under the ground he could hear the impact of Kaze's other fireballs smashing down as well. This was Kaze's final act, and it was time for Kotsuzui to make his. Swiftly making his way to Kaze, the Kaguya quickly pulled his way out of the ground from behind the Uchiha. Bone sword in hand, Kotsuzui began a flurry of strikes at the Uchiha with such speed that it created a kind of after image due to the amount of strikes he was releasing. The after images of his strikes were the ones that seemed to be aimed for his upper body, but they were used to cover up his actual strikes which were aimed at the sides of his arms and legs. The purpose of the attacks were not to severely injure the Uchiha, but to give him enough slices on the sides of his limbs to wear him down so much that he would be incapable of fighting anymore.

375/5767

[sorry for long wait, was in finals and did not have much time for anything else]
20 ap for Hiding Like a Mole
+25 speed and strength while attacking with bone sword.

Health: 15 (35) [+20 from bloodline]
Chakra: 30
Stamina: 30
Speed: 64 (+25 = 79)
Reaction Time: 124
Strength: 35 (+25 = 60)

AP:41 - 20 = 21

Kaze watched as the smoke cleared leaving nothing but charred earth behind, Kotsuzui had once again disappeared but he could only be in one place. If he was into gambling right now the boy would bet his life that his opponent was underground, the only problem being that there was no way to actually tell where he was at without activating his sharingan and draining the last bit of chakra from his body. There was only one option he had at the moment, it would require perfect timing but it could be down.

There was only one technique that he knew of that he had the chakra to perform. Five hand seals were quickly woven, the boy waited for the inevetable attack. If he had learned anything during this spar about how Kotsuzui attacked it would most likely be from the rear. Up until this point Kaze had been fighting on the reckless side, he had chakra to blow, he was pumped to be fighting, and was not doing too much thinking. Now that he was physically running on empty his mind became a weapon instead of his body. The field was abnormally quiet, well at least to the Uchiha standing in the middle of it, he was focused on hearing only one sound. The sound of his attacker coming to the surface, it was quiet and sounded more like sand than earth being broken through, still it was a sound and that is all that matters. His eyes, which he had closed to focus on hearing, now snapped opened as he quickly turned to face the Kaguya now in front of him. A sword was sent forward in a flurry that seemed to blur from the speed of the attack; Kaze felt a stinging sensation in one of his arms as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Had his sharingan been active there was no doubt in the boy's mind that he would not have been hit, unfortunately his kekkai genkai was currently out of reach for the time being, at least until he could recover some chakra.

The Uchiha would appear fifteen meters away, now watching from a distance as Kotsuzui finished his attack on the training dummy that had taken Kaze's place. He had been lucky to only receive a few cuts in his escape, they were shallow, the type of wounds he would only receive from a fellow Konoha shinobi. He was thankful for this but also knew that if he had not been able to avoid the rest of that attack this match would have been over. The boy was tired but refused to let it show instead aiming to stall a little bit with conversation. "It's funny how the first time I was pushed to my limits like this I was beaten to a pulp in my own opinion. Although I am not unscathed, this is a very different outcome, one that I have quiet enjoyed. Can you say the same?" While this was an attempt to get a little time to catch his breath and recover Kaze could not help but feel a little curious as to what his sparring partner thought of their match so far.

-5 AP for Substitution Technique

5 AP

The moment Kotsuzui began making contact with the Uchiha, he knew it wasn't really Kaze. With the help of the mark seal placed on Kaze earlier, Kotsuzui figured out that he had used the substitution jutsu to avoid the onslaught. Having no need to cause any more harm to the object Kaze replaced himself with, Kotsuzui simply stood there as he let the dummy fall to the floor and walked out of the smoke towards the direction Kaze vanished too. Seeing as how he replaced himself with a training dummy, the Kaguya did not need to use his mark seal to find the Uchiha as there was only one spot on the training ground to get the dummy. As he slowly made his way to Kaze, Kotsuzui began swirling the three foot bone blade between his fingers as he listen to his fellow Konoha shinobi speak.

"You know, this is actually the first time I've been pushed to my limits like this. And I have to say, it was well worth it. Although..." he said as he paused and looked down as his charred and tattered robes, "I think you owe me a new set of clothes" as he sly grin spread across his face. It was clear the Uchiha had used up all his reserves. Having not used his sharingan and resorting to retreating when Kotsuzui came in close, and having used his fireballs mostly defensively prior to Kotsuzui closing the gap, it was easy to see. But Kaze was not to only one running on fumes. One more move as Kotsuzui would probably pass out. "You've got nothing left in the tank" the Kaguya began, "And I think I have just enough left to heal those wounds I gave you and these burn marks on myself. So what do you say we call it?" Then a grin spread across his face again, this one not so friendly. "Unless you don't like ending things without a clear cut winner? Because I don't mind continuing. All I need is this bone sword of mine and without those special eyes of yours you don't have a defense against me." Kotsuzui quickly came to his sense and shook of his natural thirst for a fight. "But there's no need to go that far. We're fellow ninja and I think it's safe to say we both benefited from this. So, what do you say?"

If Kaze agreed to continue the fight, then Kotsuzui would ready himself with his weapon in hand. If he agreed to call the spar done, the Kaguya would tie his sword to his belt and walk over to the Uchiha. Locating the cuts he gave him, Kotsuzui would place his hands over them. A gentle glow of Kotsuzui's chakra expelled from his hands and surrounded the wounds below as his chakra began speeding up its healing process. The wounds began to clot and close, and within minutes they were completely healed. One by one Kotsuzui went over the wounds and closed them, almost like he had never damage the Uchiha. Once done with him, Kotsuzui sat down and spread his legs as he began healing the wounds caused to him by the fire heads.
535/6302

5 ap for Medical Basics

"Well said" Kotsuzui added after Kaze went on to say that it was the village who was winning with this spar. "I'll get you back one day" Kotsuzui finished replying to Kaze's remark about the clothes. After the Kaguya had finished healing his own wounds, the Uchiha informed Kotsuzui that he wanted to ask him a question. Looking over to the fellow Konoha ninja who was not also sitting down on the ground, Kotsuzui simply nodded letting him know he could ask his question. Kotsuzui leaned back onto his forearms now basically laying down as he contemplated the question. "There are many reasons i've become a ninja" Kotsuzui began. "The first i'd have to say, it because I love to fight. It almost like it's in my blood pumping through my body, like a drug. So I became a ninja so I could learn how to properly fight. Second, to protect my mom. Family is everything to me and I believe in protecting that. My family has extended past just my immediate family to now include this village. I must become stronger to protect this village. In terms of future plans, I've got two. The Kaguya family is widespread, I've only seen two others within this village. Our bloodline is a very unique one, one people go after. In order to protect all Kaguya, I want to create a group comprised of Kaguya members to keep one another safe. After all in some way we're all family and we need to keep each other safe. I also want to join Konoha's ANBU force. I figured it was the best way to protect the village. How about you pretty boy, what's your reason?"

282/6584

[we can go for a little CD, get a few more words and get our characters to get to know one another a bit more]

Adjusting himself so that he was a bit more comfortable Kaze listened intently as his questioned was answered. He was genuinely curious about Kotsuzui and had soaken up the words spoken. "I can see how your bloodline is one that people would want to have as their own, I'm very curious about it my self actually. As to why I became a shinobi, that's easy. I wanted to be just like my father. He was wise, powerful, and well respected among his peers. The ideal shinobi, father, and husband. The village along with my mother and I were his family and he fought to protect it. Before he joined the anbu black ops he was known world wide as one of the most powerful shinobi and was feared by many. Itaze Uchiha was his name and he is who I aspire to surpass in greatness, that is why I became a ninja, to protect the village and everyone in it and to be even greater than he was." 

The boy paused a moment reminiscing about the past, a small smile finding its way onto his face. He wondered what his father would think of him now, would he be proud of what Kaze had become. "I don't mean to be rude but you only spoke of protecting your mother, did something happen to your father?"

Kotsuzui listened as Kaze spoke. Kotsuzui was also very interested in what the Uchiha clan was capable of doing, but he already had an Uchiha team and would probably find out through him. He listened to why he wanted to become a ninja, because he wanted to surpass his fathers power and become stronger than him and to protect the village. When Kaze spoke about his father, he referred to him in the past tense, leading Kotsuzui to believe Kaze's father must have passed away. Before Kotsuzui could ask, Kaze went on to ask Kotsuzui about his own father. Looking up into the sky, Kotsuzui began thinking of the father he never really knew. "Kaguya Tetsu is his name. I never really knew him. Back when I was a kid, about five years old he was arrested and imprisoned. He's been there for the last 13 years. My mother never told me why he got arrested, but she always tells me my thirst for a fight comes from my father. I think that may have something to do with him being in trouble. I don't go see him either, see I was born in the Earth Country so he imprisoned there. It's a long way from here, and this is my home now, I've left that part of my life in the past. What about you, you kept referring to your father in the past tense? What happened to him?" as he looked down from the sky and back towards Kaze.
251/6835

It turned out the Kotsuzui's dad was not in his life, thirteen years was a long time to be without a father. Kaze knew how it felt to not have that father figure, it was far from fun, but pity was something he had did not want and he was pretty sure Kotsuzui was the same. The world they lived in was cruel by now both of them had to understand that.

"My father is dead." His answer was blunt, there was no need to beat around the bush. "He was killed on a mission, there were ambushed on their way back to the village. My father and his ANBU squad fought back and while they won, it came at the cost of his life. One of his teammates had been caught in a paralysis jutsu but before the enemy could deal the killing blow he jumped in front of it blocking the attack and sacrificing himself. I was four years old." On some nights Kaze would sit awake haunted by dreams replaying that story as if he was there, sometimes he wished he was't able to remember it or that it hadn't been told to him at all. In the end he was always glad he had been told, he would rather be haunted by memories than not know at all.

Kaze gave it to Kotsuzui straight. His father had died on a mission after having been ambushed. Not too sure of Kaze's current age, but it turns out he lost his father around the same age Kotsuzui lost his own. The two were more alike than the Kaguya had thought, the only difference was that Kotsuzui still had the opportunity to see his father. Kaze would never get that opportunity again. "Sounds like he died an honorable death" Kotsuzui added in. "I know that if I'm going to die, It's going to be in battle. And it will be done so honorably. I'd rather die an honorable death than have life simply end me by old age and whither me away." That was Kotsuzui's arrogance and love of combat speaking. It was in his soul to fight, it's who he was. Dying in battle was the only positive way of dying to him. "Hold on to that" Kotsuzui said, referring to Kaze's story about his father. "It'll shape you into who you will become later on, drive you to become the best you can be. I know having your father around would be great, but this is something that can push you, something you'll have over everyone else. A reason. Most people become ninjas because it is what they think needs to be done, but not all of them have reasons. It's those reasons that separate the mediocre from the greats. You an I, we're going places" Kotsuzui added once more with a rare friendly smile on his face. With that the Kaguya slowly and painfully got up onto his feet and padded the dirt off himself. "I'm heading over to the bar, I could use some drinks to subdue my aching body. You're free to join." Kotsuzui would wait for a reply. If he accepted the offer, Kotsuzui would walk off with the fellow Uchiha to the closest bar. If Kaze decided to go his own way, the Kaguya would place his hands behind his head after giving the Uchiha a nod and slowly drag himself to the bar while saying "I'm sure we'll be seeing one another soon". Either way, the bar was his destination. 

367/7202
[EXIT unless stopped]

I exited because I felt like the character development had taken a good enough course. If you'd like to continue it than we can, i have no problem with it.