From a Distance [Solo, P]

Aina:

His brightly colored eyes were practically burning him, and his head felt as if it would implode. But, his stubbornness urged him to continue, no matter how much he wished to stop.

He'd actually bothered to train for once, but it was more of warm up exercises if anything. At the moment Jiro was halfway through a jog around the entire village. To be precise, he had just began his second and final lap; he couldn't wait to finish up and head home at long last. However, he wasn't in such a state from merely stretching out his muscles. Earlier the blond had went to the library, cramming in as much information as he could on jutsu aside from the main two in the academy. Sadly, they only allowed him to glance at the E-ranks, which had frustrated him. Surely he would be perform even a single D-rank if they gave him access to the jutsu, but no, they were concerned about academy students "wearing themselves out."

In his opinion, they were being irrational. Only fools would let their bodies give out and die from chakra exhaustion.

The youth was breathing in deeply while he ran, sucking in as much oxygen as he possibly could. Stamina was never a strong point of his, his speed was mediocre, but that all had to change come the genin exams. It was for that reason Jiro was trying, that he was actually training. After all, his brother would possibly be upset with him if he slacked off for too long. The same went for his parents.

So wearing a short-sleeved black t-shirt and sweatpants, Jiro continued onward, the beautiful sunset just behind him.

And he never bothered to turn around and notice someone watching him from afar.



Come the next day, around ten o'clock in the morning, Jiro was back in the library. He skimmed over the book in his hands, taking in just the information he needed. It was on the very basics of fuinjutsu, talking about things learned in specific academy classes. The blond was ignorant to the other courses offered at the ninja academy, but after looking through the book he began to ponder on what else they had to offer.

He was confident enough in himself to spread out rather than stick to ninjutsu and taijutsu and genjutsu. Who said he was to be so unfairly restricted?

With that in mind, Jiro looked over the last of the explanation on fuinjutsu. The book kept it very basic, to the point where even a child younger than he would, somehow, fully understand. To be so clear and concise had to be a talent, one that he'd certainly try to attain in the near future. He then flipped through a handful of pages holding excess information and data, skipping over to "Fuinjutsu Breaking" and a technique named "Mark Seal." Both appeared to be rather handy. Holding onto that deduction, the blond proceeded to read the pages' contents. However, he suddenly paused and rose up out of his seat. He'd just remembered: his chakra control was horrible. With such a lack of control, how was he supposed to carry out making and perhaps activating even simple seals?

Quickly, Jiro walked back to the section that contained E-ranks, immediately going towards the academy section. Knowing them, they'd definitely have something on fixing one's poor chakra control. Eventually he came across a book that appeared to be reliable, but once he reached up by a small margin and grasped it—

"O-Oh!"

She said in a soft, yet mildly surprised, tone of voice. His attention immediately snapped towards her, and watched as she blushed from embarrassment. Her hand was on the same book, close to his; he could feel the warmth from it.

"My bad, I... d-didn't see you there..." The girl quickly retracted her hand and began to play with the hem of her shirt, gaze sent towards the ground. But, she sometimes took the risk of looking up, and into Jiro's oddly colored irises. He saw it. He witnessed it all. And because of doing so, the urge of saying "cute" was almost unbearable. She was his height, but then again he was rather small, and her own eyes a fitting shade of reddish brown. Smooth, jet black hair, fair skin... If anything, she'd be one of those girls Ichiro would undoubtedly hit on.

For a second, he almost didn't know how to speak. But as she soon began to peer curiously at him, the boy realized he most likely seemed stupid just standing there. Completely on reflex, he grunted as a response, rudely grabbing the book and walking back towards his seat. Perhaps not the reaction she was expecting... if she was expecting anything, but that was how Jiro acted. But, he hated how that girl made him act on a whim...

"H-hey! Wait!"

The blond turned around upon being called out to, the girl marching over to him with a frown on her face. He paused at the sight, waiting until she finally managed to stop in front of him.

"What makes you think you can just take the book like that?" she huffed, crossing her arms and staring, waiting for an answer. Jiro's eyebrows rose in shock, honestly believing the raven was a shy type. Apparently, his assumption was far from correct. His eyes then shifted between the two, from the book to the girl and repeat.

"Well..." he began, sighing as he did so until his gaze landed on the object in his hands, "You let go of it. Obviously I'm going to guess that I could just take the book? You look smart, you could've figured it out yourself... probably. It's not that difficult..." The manner in which he spoke made him out to be exhausted, or worn down. Considering his age and the time of day, that would have been concerning to most. But, the female in front of him clearly was not "most." She merely stared, as if taking him all in. His hair, eyes, skin, expression, clothes... To be honest, Jiro was slightly put off by it, and wondered if he seemed the same way just a few minutes earlier. Right when he was about to check if she was still on Earth, via waving his hand in front of her face, the girl suddenly came to. And then she blushed. Confused by her reaction, Jiro was further caught off guard from the girl's next statement.

"L-Looks like we'll be sharing then?"