of bones and blades (p) (nk)

John had woken up from a strange dream as his eyes fluttered as he was trying to focus from the dim light coming in to his room. John looked outside his window and saw that it was still dark outside. turning right, John took a look at the clock on his nightstand. 5:30. the sun was about to come up. John muttered as he got off his bed. as John took his naked feet down, he felt that the floor was cold. maybe it was going to be winter? John didn't know, and proceeded to do his morning ritual. shower,brushing teeth, and eating breakfast. John was then heading out and tied the scabbard to his waist as John went out.John was walking towards the training grounds as usual, but the streets felt and was empty. nobody had woken up yet. or they probably were. The wind was quite chilly as it was starting to get morning.it was so quiet that John could hear his own breathing. each step that John took was heavier than the last, signifying that John still hadn't been at 100% from the mission that he had participated in. it was maybe gonna take some time for John to recover. John went past the gates and saw that the guards were sleeping. "i guess guards need rest as well.." John thought. John was walking towards the training grounds and as he walked, John thought of how much tougher it was going to be now that he was a chuunin. sure, John liked challenges, but not when they upped the ante. about 20 minutes later, John had arrived at his destination: the training grounds. John began by stretching his arms and legs, and carefully spinning his wrists around so that he wouldn't get carpel tunnel. after John had finished with stretching every body part so that he was ready, John began to jog around the big training grounds which was 500 meters in all sides, big enough to keep a group of people, big enough to keep maybe 100 families in a big apartment in. John had jogged 10 laps in a normal way, 10 laps sideways, and 10 laps backwards. afterwards, when John had taken some rest, John lied down on his back, and had put his hands behind his head and began to do pushups. each pushup reminds him what it meant to be a shinobi. each pushup reminded him WHY he became a shinobi, each pushup helpd him fight through the pain of having to deal with the long times it would take to learn techniques.. how much hard work had to be done in order for John to get to wherever he wanted to go. finally, John was done with 30 pushups. John then lied down on his back and made 30 situps. every situps would remind him why he was becoming stronger. for every situp it'd help John to get the mental strength to get through this ordeal of becoming as strong as possible. when John was done, he was on the ground, panting with his eyes closed. this was taking some muscle for John, most likely because he hasn't been training in a while. but there was no time to rest, as John has to train to get stronger and better.after some hesitation, John got up and looked at his newest weapon, the konoha army sword. John took it out from it's sheath and looked at it with awe and fascination. John remembered in his younger days when he read some comics about a guy going on adventures with his big sword. John tried to imitate the comic book character and he held the handle of the sword with both hands, as if it was a double-handed sword. John took a few swings, and it made a whooshing sound as he swung it. John wanted to try out how sharp it is so he walked up to a tree and proceeded to swing the sword as fast as he could, i.e. 43 speed, and the strength of 51.the sword made deep cuts at the tree bark, and this made John amazed at how sharp it was. just as John was gonna swing it again, John heard the gates open behind him.  John had kind of expected people to come in and disturb him as it was for everyone, not just for John. John turned around and smiled. "hey. didn't expect you to come here." John sort of knew that he came in, but to John, this was no surprise to him.

For the first time since the promotion mission, and following the moment that he saw Mitsui Hamamichi's face for the first time, Mako had found a moment for a break.  Working annoyingly hard and dutifully dedicating everything to the village.  Working guard duty and doing as many missions as he could churn out.  He understood that it wasn't necessarily the amount of work that you do, but how difficult the work that you're doing is. Which is why he took as many difficult jobs he could find.  This was just his nature.  He had to constantly surpass the limitations he placed on himself, not just the limitations he felt was placed on him by others.  Though admittedly on easier tasks he could be found shirking responsibility by flirting with the girls of the village, or just lazily smoking beneath a nice shade tree.  He couldn't change who he was just because of some added responsibility. 

He found himself waking up after a long night on gate watch as he had proven recently that his cautiousness and foresight was his greatest attribute and his ability to think several steps ahead of any challenge was indeed a trait that was admired in that of a watch dog.  Mako walked over to the shower without ever having opened his eyes, knowing the landscaping of his apartment.  He stepped in and slapped the heat to maximum blast taking the hottest shower he could.  He could feel his muscles tensing and relaxing in reaction to the hot shower.  He was immediately refreshed.  He then stepped out and put on his usual training clothes, leaving his chuunin vest, which was just a pair of brown cargo khakis and a black v neck.  He then attached the ninjato to a shoulder harness placing it on his right chest facing upside down so it was easy to draw then putting his army katana on his waist.  He needed to upgrade his weapons and armor and as a Sarutobi they had exclusive access to chakra metal and chakra enhanced carbon, but this would be a method he would employ another day.  Today he simply wanted to relax and take it easy, and he hoped no one got in his way.  He wanted to go to his hide away in the training grounds and avoid any responsibility and watch some of the girls train.  Maybe practice some jutsu, though if he didnt it wouldn't disappoint him.

He headed out of his home and locked the door behind him, and took off on a route that he always took as a child to hide from the higher ups, one that kept him out of site, and he could stop by his childhood home and get a meal on his way to the training grounds.  It was a beautiful day outside and he decided to stroll along smoking a few cigarettes before he got there.  After stopping and picking up some food from his parents house, he would head to the grounds.  While he was there however he would manage to make up a to go bag with food and water for the rest of the day.  He stepped out of the house and he had a straight shot to the training grounds from here and likely wouldnt be stopped, so he formed up the summoning ths signs to bring forth Grandpa the eldest monkey sage, and would proceed to swing through the trees between the Sarutobi estate and the Training grounds, channeling chakra to his palms and feet allowing him to easily keep up with the monkey sage who had refused to actually race him, but most certainly wasn't holding back.  They sped along through the tree tops in monkey fashion until they finally made it to the training grounds.  He couldn't hear much going on but he heard snorting noises of a boy who trained very hard, and he had no issue recognizing who it was. 

John Kaguya taijutsu master of the Leaf, the man whose skills in close combat would soon be unrivaled by anyone in the leaf, and possibly the world.  Though he still had some training to do, Mako knew that John was heading in the right direction.  Mako would watch as John would proceed with training in the art of weaponry.  It seemed strange to Mako seeing the man work with the sword.  He stayed perfectly silent and waited until just the right moment to walk in on him. 

Mako stepped through the gate and would proceed to inform John of several things he was doing wrong with his blade," The blade in your hand is an extension of yourself and as such is not a tool used for smashing against stuff,  a true swordsman views a blade as another limb of his own body."  As he drew his blade from his hip and held it in both hands.  Showing John the proper way to hold the blade to extend ones capability with the weapon and to maximize one's cutting force.  It was a simple action in how he held it with his dominant hand at the top of the grip centimeters below the actual cross piece, and his left hand at the bottom of the handle used for stabilizing the weight while still keeping it capable of being swung with either hand.  Or even with both hands maximizing the actual damage.  It was held directly in front of him angled forward allowing him maximum reaction room.  Mako would then quickly snap the blade away waiting for John to react to his entrance.  Garumpa was hidden not too far off, out of sight waiting to enter the fray if John initiated battle.

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John had smiled at the wise words of his teammate. John then took a look at his long sword and then imagined himself as the sword being an extended version of his arm. it took some moments but then John got it. John turned around and stepped back and then extended his right hand, the hand that he had held the sword in, and made some swinging motions with the sword. as John wasn't used to handling swords, it looked clumsily, as John had to admit.after some clumsy looking swings, John took a brief moment of rest. John had looked at Mako's eyes as he himself was panting a bit. the sword was a bit heavy, but John was gonna get used to it. at least, John had hoped so. John then had a thought in his head. John was going to show him some moves that he had learned, and John thought that they were gonna surprise him, but in a good way. John would hope that the attacks that he had learned wouldn't injure Mako too much. though John had turned towards Mako and opened his mouth to talk to Mako. "Mako. i am asking this of you as a friend. could you possibly help me get better with the art of a blade? if you do, i can show you some moves i've learned." John said as he grinned. John kinda knew that these techniques that John had learned would, hopefully,shock and amaze his friend. of course, these techniques that John was gonna show Mako, were the same ones that they have been training for. though, John wanted a bit of his friend's approval and Mako's own point of view what he thought of his techniques.John stretched his back as he groaned out loud as his back was creaking and popping as it was a bit stiff. John stretched his arms and cracked his neck as he then turned his head towards Mako. "well, what do you say? would you like to train me in the arts of blades?" John had asked Mako, and hoped that he could train him.

Mako smiled at John and laughed, he had no idea John wanted to work with weaponry.  In the Sarutobi house weapons were a long standing tradition, in fact in order to be recognized as a Jounin you must craft your own blade, one specificaly made for you.  Mako had been working on crafting his own blade for some time but still hadn't worked out all the kinks.  He knew however that he could show John some basic swordsmanship.  Today he would likely show John the Battoujutsu Quick Draw technique.  This technique was normally hard for most non weaponry users to comprehend its effectiveness.  As it was a quick slash drawn directly from the sheath of the blade with a follow through swipe that was very difficult to dodge.

Mako reached into his back pouch and lit a cigarette and discarded the match on the ground.  He then stepped back several paces and placed his right hand on the army katana on his waist. it was on his left hip so he would have an ideal draw across so he could properly follow through with the blade.   It was not easy to mitigate the attack, with the draw out and slash, into one simple swipe, but those people who could master the action find that it becomes a primary tool in their repertoire.

He would have John throw a kunai at him to demonstrate the technique.

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John looked at Mako like he had asked him what his underwear size was. John then nodded and moved his left leg so that he almost stood in a horse position, and moved his right hand as if he was gonna fire off a kunai. instead, John with the speed of 30, threw his hand up, aimed at Mako's cigarette and fired off with the same speed of 30, as John had shaped his hand into a gun and fired a finger bullet from his right index finger. Mako would have to act fast in order to deflect the finger bullet or else, it would hit his precious cigarette. John would smile as he'd know that Mako would deflect it. after all, Mako was faster than he (John) was. both in reaction time and in regular speed. at the time when John first met Mako, he had this weird feeling that he (Mako) somehow knew John's every move. it was almost like he could read his mind. but that was poppycock. John didn't believe in that. and if he did, he'd be a crazy person, walking around in the streets of Konoha.

if Mako would deflect it, and John sort of knew he would, because he is as fast as a cheetah, Then John would be amazed at the speed of not just Mako but at the speed of drawing the blade out. this was going to be something totally new that John would know. the ability to deflect things fired at someone with just a sword would be impressive. speaking of impressive, John would then show Mako something that could intercept a physical attack. though, John would have to be careful in how he uses the technique, as it could very well shatter either his wrist or ankle. depending on what Mako would use. John would then also use another technique that is going to be smashing. that, John would know beforehand that it was going to be. if Mako doesn't dodge it, then he'd feel it. most definitely feel it, as it was a powerful move. a move so powerful that it could kill someone, if they weren't strong enough to deal with the aftermath of the attack. after John would have learned this technique that Mako was teaching him, John was gonna show him the newest techniques that he had learned.

Mako smiled as John looked quizzically upon him. Mako knew John all too well, just a very small amount of enticing and this kid would attack the Hokage in a rage.  Mako enjoyed fighting John though, because it was an oppurtunity to watch a friend grow, and turn into a valuable ally. As John moved his hand to make a gun Mako relaxed his posture. Fucking bone bullets, Mako thought to himself, this guy never changes.  Mako waited until the bone fired off from John's hand and a me within a meter of him. In a flash at a speed of 125 the Ninjato flew from is sheath and swiped upward through the bullet halting it's path, and then he brought it back and reinserted it into the sheath as quickly as he had pulled it out.  The movement was so quick that there was no way could truly perceive the entirety of the action, with Mako's hand making a tan and black blur.  Mako never left the slightly slouched position he was standing in. Additionally the arrogant smile never left his face, and he prepared to make John work for his weapon training.

Mako then quick as lightning reached into his pouch and released a kunai at a throwing speed of 95 well under the fastest Mako could throw but he had to make sure john could respond to it, Mako by then flew into action throwing together the hand signs he had learned from a secret ninja art given to him by his Nara mother, planning to make the Kunai grow in size to almost 100 times it's normal size.  He threw together the necessary hand signs and then channeled his chakra outward to the flying weapon. The weapon poofed but failed to do as he had planned, Mako wished he was a genius and didn't have to try so hard learning jutsu, but at least he had a good partner to use them with.  The kunai would continue its flight toward the center if John's torso, hopefully John would block the attack with his new sword instead of dodging it, or relying on his bone.

Mako would give John a taunting arrogant glare almost telling John that he was far too weak to even be on the same battlefield as him. Mako needed to get John fired up some way

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John applauded as Mako did what John had hoped to do. then John's eyebrows furrowed. in an instant, Mako threw a kunai at him at what seemed like blinding speed. in one quick motion, John dragged his right leg back at about 20 centimeters and bent his left knee and focused most of his weight on that knee as a bracer. John then quickly with the speed of 43 took out the sword from the scabbard and struck at the kunai, sending it crashing to the ground at an upward slice. John panted a bit heavily as he regained his body posture and stood erected. John put the sword back at the scabbard. John even started to sweat at how fast John went. he had to go full speed in order for the kunai not to hit him. because if it did, it would cut him pretty badly. either that, or it'd stab him. or even pierce his body. though, it didn't matter now, as the kunai was on the ground, John was unhurt, and Mako had a weird glare. as if he was telling John that he would never be as good as Mako would. which angered John. a bit, but he got angry. John made a grouchy face as he contemplated on whether or not to attack. John decided to attack Mako. John did his best to not telegraph what technique he was gonna do. so he looked Mako straight in the eyes, and smiled. "think fast, mako." John said and dashed towards him with the speed of 43 and with the added bonus of the Lariat technique that John was gonna use against Mako, it boosts it by 30, so John would be moving at 73 speed, and with the combined power, John would have 81 strength. John had stretched out his right arm as he had switched from his right hand to his left to hold the scabbard before he attacked Mako. John then, with the combined strength and speed of 81 and 73, smashed into Mako's chest and, if the attack hit, would send Mako flying. if Mako was stronger than John, but only react to the action by blocking, then Mako would skid backwards. whatever that would happen, john would be prepared for Mako's next attack. if all else fails, then John would try out a new technique that he has been planning of using. the million dollar question was, if John had the spine to use it.

Mako would just simply stand and wait,  he could tell John was in a mood and wanted to show off new techniques that he had been working on, but Mako had other plans.  The first time they met John tried very hard to beat Mako and force him to apologize to a chunky lady that had been stalking Mako.  And he wanted nothing to do with that.  So he had to leave that fight unfinished where their skill levels had, had a massive gap.  Now John was a chuunin along with Mako and skill gap or not, today John would earn his respect.   Mako was fast and he prided himself on his speed and his ability to move quickly from a standing position, with very little buildup. 

MAko saw John rushing at him with all the speed poor John could muster, but Mako had no difficulty following it,  Mako just continied to stand watching John through his aviator shades.   His Left hand on the sword on the left side of his waist and his right handing holding a cigarette near his mouth.  He watched as every step John made seemed to crush the ground beneath it somewhat and John would approach one step at a time.  He perceived how John's arm made a hook and it appeared John planned on placing that hook directly in Mako's chest.  Mako studied the pose John was currently in and sized up the weaknesses of this technique so that he could exploit it.  John continued the approach and Mako would stay still seemingly as if to allow the attack to connect, if Mako made his counter now he would give John more than enough time to react.

Just as John got within a meter of Mako, he would be able to see Mako smile with great delight.  Just as John took one more step and was on the verge of connecting Mako would HoHo over to the side of John easily dodging the attack but that wouldn't be where it ended.  Mako would stick his leg out in front of John's leading leg at a speed of 100. The attack would be a surprise counter attack, to send John falling forward.  It wouldn't hurt him all that bad but it might leave a little bruise on the kid's pride.  MAko knew that if John had learned anything new, John would need to pull it out to win this fight.

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John anticipated that Mako would dodge, but not like that. John was about to fall down, but used his falling as a momentum to do a frontal flip just as he was gonna hit the ground, John rolled forward and looked at Mako with a grimace face and John could see at Mako's face that he wanted John to use what he could. mentally, John knew that Mako wanted John to use the best techniques he could if John wanted to win. and win, John wants. "i believe it is time to use that technique." John said and reached with his right hand at his back for something. suddenly, John's face grew into a grin, as something came out from literally behind his back, and when it came out at about 10 centimeters, John grabbed it and pulled out his entire spinal chord. now, due to him being a Kaguya, this would automatically be replaced by a new one. seeing as John was standing 30 meters away now from Mako. John stood where he is and swung his spine at a 45 diagonal arc aimed at Mako's waist. John had made the spine grow out so much that it, should it be fast enough to wrap itself around Mako's waist, John would then pull Mako towards himself. John had swung the spine at the speed of 43 and with the strength of 51. if Mako would dodge it, then John would use the spine as a whip and attempt to get hits on Mako with the speed of 43 and strength of 51.

John didn't want to admit it, but he was having great fun. not just for training with a teammate and a friend, but also for getting stronger and, it may also stem from his blood being awakened due to the brutal history that the Kaguya have. being a warrior like clan, John would fit right in in fights. that would explain the giant shit-eating grin that John had now as he was fighting Mako. though John did his very best to be focused and keep his mind clear enough in order for him to concentrate on the actual fight itself. John would learn many things with his teammate Mako. it's a shame that they didn't have a Jounin sensei when they were genins, as John would have to learn from his sensei. but, John would have to make due with Mako for now. as he had the pure instincts of a leader. John himself could not do any leading at all, as it wasn't in John's nature to give out orders, but rather to take the orders and follow them through to the end.

Mako watched on as John managed to prevent himself from crashing face first into the ground.  Mako had previously, in their last bout, taken it easy on John.  Mako knew however that John had monumental potential within him and on this fine day there would be no mercy.  John had to feel the heat of battle with an opponent who outclassed him.  John would one day easily out class Mako with his secret ability which was why Mako knew he had to push John to acheive, and be great.

Mako smiled and said the phrase, "I'm not gonna go easy on you John, you will be fighting for your life today."  He let it hang in the air just before John went to remove his spinal column and use it as a weapon. This action would not go unnoticed, it was gruesome to behold and fairly intimidating. When he had finished speaking Garumpa leaped the wall and flew through the air, transforming midair into a great black Bo staff. Mako caught the staff as it came in and used it to block John's spinal attack by spinning the bottom of the staff upward deflecting the spine out and away.  Mako could feel the monkey channeling him energy and offering him, the chakra and speed buff that the staff carried with it.

Mako then stepped back and prepared for John to initiate a true battle, one that neither Com at ant would forget
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