Queen and the Crow, Part 1. [P, NK]

It had been two days since the young Uchiha last saw the cute little blonde girl that was supposed to be a part of his team. Well, I don't know if you could actually call it a team since right now it only consisted of Jace and Queen, but still. He had heard that she had passed her genin exam yesterday and wanted to congratulate her. Honestly he kind of just wanted to see her again, but that was besides the point. Wanting to congratulate her was his excuse for it and he was sticking to it. 

He had tried to visit her at her mansion of a house last night, but the over protective guards wouldn't let him in. Something about not letting her run around with riff raff like Jace. As if that would stop him though. He might be shy, a bit awkward and definitely clumsy, but he was persistent. He had managed to send one of the local crows with a letter to her. He had a sort of knack for befriending them. He did have crow summons for a reason after all. The letter simply asked for her to meet him in the village training grounds at noon the next day. He hadn't waited for a response, but instead he went straight home to sleep.

That was why he had gotten up early this morning. He had went through his normal routine of showering and getting dressed in his usual black pants, mesh undershirt and white jacket. Of course he finished off the ensemble with his leaf headband tied to his forehead. It was about 8 o'clock when he finally got to the training grounds. There was only one or two other people there already, training different techniques. Jace had made his way over to the edge of the 10 meter wide river and sat underneath a thick tree with his back to the trunk. He had brought a book with him to kill the time until Queen was supposed to arrive. 

There was one other thing he had brought with him of course. It was the sword he had gotten during his match with Queen from Ling. The black sword was at home in it's sheath and leaning up against the trunk of the tree to Jace's left. There was something different about the sword though. There was a purple ribbon tied along the sheath that was exactly the same hue as Queen's eyes. Jace had always wanted a sword of his own to use but he thought this would make a good present for the blonde. He couldn't really help himself, since he was developing a crush on the girl. His first crush actually. He remembered her saying she had always wanted to learn how to wield a sword so...what the hell. He could always get another one later on. 

He sat there reading his book for hours as he waited for Queen to show up. It was nearly noon now. She should be here soon...

Morning had struck the village of the leaves and the girl was just waking up from her slumber as a subtle pecking noise was coming from her bedroom window. With sleep still plaguing her eyes, she made her was hazily to the bright light that came from the clear glass, a small black figure sanding on the ledge of the frame. Rubbing her eyes, Rei blinked twice to see if she was just imagining thing but indeed, it was in fact a crow. The girl opened the window as the bird flew into her room, frolicking about before landing on the edge of her bed. She was just about to kick the thing too. It was’t until now that she realized a tiny note attached to the bird’s leg. The girl unattached the note before the crow took off once more and out into the open sea of blue skies. Rei just watched it momentarily before returning her gaze upon the small piece of paper in her hand. She unravelled it and read the short message.

Queen,
Meet me at the training grounds tomorrow at noon!
Jace

The girl’s cheeks reddened momentarily before she took a deep breath and her cheeks turned into their usual pale while color with a slight pink undertone. Tomorrow morning was also the day that she was taking her Genin exam so there was no way that she could fail it now. There would be no way that she could show her face in front of Jace without a headband to prove her skill. first things first, she would finish off the tournament that she had started yesterday, where she first met Jace. The girl got dressed in her usual attire before heading out towards the Dojo. She was greeted by her undying fans, as the battle everyone was waiting for had come. It was her versus her most closest friend, Moonyoung, the boxer with a tack for picker her nose without giving two shits about whose looking. The two entered the ring, standing across from each other without a word leaving either of their mouths. The crowd was going absolute bonkers. For sure, this was being broadcasted locally on the very few television sets that existed in the ninja world. “Let the final match of the MMA tournament begin!” The broadcaster shouted as the bell went off. “ All right Rei, let’s see what you got!” The red headed girl put up her fist, getting ready for the match. “You’re the only one I left call by my first name, but don’t think I won’t punch you in the face for using it.” Rei replied, putting her own guard up as the two now inch themselves towards each other. Let the match begin.

The two threw fists and kicks at each other, each girl dodging with difficulty. If there was one fighter that can be argued to match Queen in skill, it was Moonyoung. But let’s be real, at the end of the day, no one topped Queen in taijutsu. The red haired girl through a left hook that Queen ducked under, sending a jab right towards the girl’s abdomen. The two parted making some breathing space. “Jeez queen, when was the last time we fought this seriously, two, maybe three years ago?” The red haired girl laughed, before charging at Queen once more. The two exchanged fists up until the final round when Queen delivered a counter kick towards the girl’s chin, knocking her out instantly. Moonyoung fell flat on her back, snot dripping out of her nose. The match was over.

Long story short, Queen reclaimed her champions belt for the fourth year running (or whatever year it was), and then helped to take he knocked out friend home. She had to get rest for the the examination she had tomorrow, as well as get her beauty sleep for when she saw Jace. The girl headed home with the champions belt around her waist. Hopefully tomorrow, it would be her headband that she would have instead. The girl headed home and prepared for the next day.

The Following Day

Queen passed her test with flying colours. Although her proctor was a little stingy about giving her the headband, the girl was no fool and without a doubt in her mind, knew that she deserved it. She walked towards the training field with the headband around her forehead, but already began to get annoyed with having something over her head. She then tried resting it around her neck, but then realized that as she fought, the piece of medal cloth would bounce around and disrupt her in combat. Just as the girl was arriving to the training fields, she was putting the headband around her waist right when she spotted Jace. Of course, from where she stood, he wouldn’t see her as she was coming towards him from the rear (assuming that your facing out towards the river). The girl took noticed of the two others training on the fields and realized all the space available if the two decided to do a little training of their own; why else would Jace invite her to the training fields after all?

Rei approached the slouched male who hid behind the tree, doing nothing but reading a book. “Finally decided up on being a ninja huh?” Queen let out in her infamous monotone voice. “I hear being a scholar isn’t too bad of a career choice.” She finished, mentioning the studious Jace in his unnatural habitat. From where she stood, she could not see the blade that the boy had brought with him, as it was blocked off from sight due to the tree. The girl just stood there and looked out towards the river, wondering what Jace’s response would be. She definitely thought he was skilled, but she couldn’t show weakness in front of a boy she merely just met. “Why did you ask me to come out? Your lucky the training fields was on my way home or else I wouldn’t have even bothered showing up.” The girl now was just overcompensating, but it wouldn’t seem like such. She felt like she had to put up this extra tough persona around the boy, or else he would just melt her like a chocolate bar in a furnace.

Jace hadn't been waiting too long for the blonde. In fact, it was barely after noon when she showed up. Jace had just finished a chapter about how to present a gift to a girl when he heard her speak. That's right, Jace was reading 'How to Get a Girl to Like You: For Dummies". He managed to think up the gift idea on his own, but of course having his first crush he didn't really want his heart to get stomped into tiny little pieces in front of him. So the logical thing to do was research right? Unfortunately for him his efforts would seem to be in vain today, although he didn't know it at the time. "Finally decided up on being a ninja huh? I hear being a scholar isn't too bad of a career choice." Obviously she didn't know his skills other than taijutsu, or she wouldn't be saying that.

At the sound of her words though, Jace would close his book and set it on the ground next to him with the cover facing up so that Queen could see the title if she just glanced down. Then he stood up quickly and faced her, trying to hide the book from view with his legs. "Why did you ask me to come out? Your lucky the training fields was on my way home or else I wouldn't have even bothered showing up." Jace flinched a little at that. He obviously should have been expecting a response like that from her, but in reality he had been so caught up in thinking about how she might react to his gift that he hadn't thought much about what she would say to meeting him there. "Oh. I um. I heard you were having your genin exam and I wanted to congratulate you on passing it." Of course he didn't know whether she had passed the exam or not but he had had complete confidence that she would.

Without skipping a beat, Jace would add on "I knew you would pass. You're really talented. So..um. I got you something. Here." Reaching behind him, Jace would grab the sword wrapped with a purple bow the same shade as Queen's eyes. Looking down at the sword, really trying not to look at the blonde in the eyes, he would hold out the sword for the girl to take. "I remember you saying you always wanted to learn how to use on of these. So, I thought...I thought I would give you this as a congratulations gift. It's yours now. Jace's face would turn beat red as he said this. He had never done anything like this before. He hoped the girl would like his gift. Then he remembered what the book had said. "When presenting a gift to a girl, make sure to make direct eye contact. It's also polite to smile. The best kind of gift to give a girl is..." The words trailed off in his head. He really only needed to remember to look Queen in the eyes and give her a smile. Ok. Quickly, his face still redder than a tomato, Jace would look up to try and catch the girl's eye as he flashed her an uncertain smile and waited for her response.

Like any other day, Ita had made his way out of his small wooden home towards the Leaf’s training grounds. Ita was sporting a gray, blackish shirt and black pants. (like the ones in his profile picture) Along with that, Ita had black ninja shoes and two ninja weapon pouches containing various tools as well. Ita’s leaf headband would be hanging from his waist too. Ita simply strolled towards the training field enjoying the day and the usual sights. As Ita came into view of the training grounds, he saw someone familiar. His friend Jace. He wasn’t alone either. He was with a girl with blonde hair.
 
As he got closer, Ita could see Jace offering a black sword with a purple ribbon wrapped around it’s sheath to the girl. ‘What was Jace doing?” Ita thought. “And who is that girl?” Ita waited for the exchange to go down before making his presence completely known. Ita was curious to see what was going down. Ita’s sharingan flickered and he would focus his keen eye sight on the two of them. Ita could see Jace’s face blushing. Was he embarrassed? Or Nervous? Ita wasn’t too good with girls. He had always noticed girls his age gawking over him, but he never gave them any thought. Ita was always too wrapped up in his own problems or ambitions too. This whole scenario was actually pretty enticing.
 

Ita awaited for the exchange to finish, allowing his eye to then revert back to normal. Giving them a few extra moments, Ita then walked up to the two of them and smiled at the girl before diverting his attention to Jace. “Hey Jace what’s up?” Ita would say to his friend, glancing at the book that was resting next to them on the ground. ‘How to Get a Girl to Like You: for Dummies’. Upon seeing this Ita then looked at the girl, then Jace, then back at the book on the ground. Now Ita knew what was happening and felt a bit awkward. Ita would speak in an almost awkward voice, ”I-I hope I’m not intruding on anything.. I just came to do a bit of training.” as he scratched his head with his right hand to defuse tension. For once in Ita and Jace’s friendship, Ita felt like the awkward one of the two, but based on Jace’s facial expression, Ita couldn’t quiet figure out who was acting more strange. Poor girl.

The boy halted his reading rather quickly to the sound of her voice. He place the book down near the base of the tree before getting up to greet the girl, just as every Queen should be greeted. Too bad he didn’t bow or kneel in her presence, she may have to show him so common courtesy. Queen’s eyes flicked towards the book, catching a glimpse of the title before Jace’s blocked it from her view. She was only able to catch the “For Dummies”. Somehow, the girl wasn’t too surprised by the title. It just reassured her that Jace wasn’t the brightest bulb on a christmas tree. She was rather disappointed too, he seemed like a viable candidate to continue what would soon be, her royal bloodline. Still, it didn’t stop the girl from feeling the odd butterflies dance within her stomach.

Queen’s eyes would have flickered her eyes back towards the river in front of them, continuing to speak. From her peripheral vision, she would have caught the boy flinch due to her harsh words. Her stomach would have dropped momentarily as the boy seemed affected by what she said, and she only regretted saying it even more after what the boy said next. She didn’t know what it was, but Jace had a weird effect on her. She usually didn’t regret her harsh words, or manner or being since it was just who she was as a person. But for whatever reason, she truly cared about Jace’s emotions, and how her words made him feel. She would toss this thought to the side. She couldn’t let her emotions take over. Emotions were for the weak, and could one day be the reason why she fails. She couldn’t let them take over.

"I knew you would pass. You're really talented. So..um. I got you something. Here.” The girl blushed slightly to his complement, a look of slight surprise on her face as her lilac eyes locked onto Jace. The boy pulled out a familiar item with a light purple bow wrapped around it. It was the sword that the crazed baboon of a woman tossed into the ring when the two had been exchanging fists. He extended his arms towards the girl, offering it to her as he continued to speak. Rei was absolutely flabbergasted. She didn’t know what to say or do. It was completely touching, sincere, thoughtful, too many words to describe this moment. If the word bae existed in this world, Jace was the epitome of that word. Queen didn’t deserve someone like that in her life, and she knew it, but she couldn’t possibly say no.

She extended her left arm and grabbed the sword at it’s centre. Just as she grabbed onto it, the boy looked up and smiled at her while looking her directly in the eyes. Caught completely off guard, Queen’s heart halted. Her pulse was momentarily nonexistent. While yes, Jace’s smile and awkward eye contact was rather creepy, like “I’m going to kill you right now and rape you corpse” creepy, but in Queen’s eyes, it was like how a pre-teen girl would see Justin Bieber while in close proximity. The girl bit down on the inside of her cheek to keep herself from blushing. She grabbed the sword and pulled it towards her and focused her gaze on the weapon to avoid the awkward tension that was building. “I’m more of a fist fighter..." she paused momentarily before continuing. "But thank you.”The girl responded, knowing basic manners.

From the corner of her eye, the girl spotted an unfamiliar boy walking towards them. He seemed rather friendly so there was no need to pull out the blade on the boy. Besides, he was also a leaf ninja by the looks of the headband that rested around his waist. It was only know that she realized how stupid it looked to wear it as some sort of belt. She would really need to find an alternative way to wear her headband besides the usual methods. For now, she would just leave it in it’s place. The goth looking boy (due to wearing all black) approached the two, addressing Jace first. It seemed like the two knew each other. It was rather rude that the newcomer didn’t introduce himself to Queen, so she figured she wouldn’t even bother to introduce herself either. Even though she was rather impolite herself, she hated those who demonstrated a lack of manners. “No, you aren’t.” Queen responded to the boy on whether or not he was intruding. “I could go for some training myself.” Rei replied. Now that she was officially a ninja, she would have to train even harder than she already did. Her journey was only beginning after all.

Queen had taken the gift from Jace with only a moment of hesitation. Jace, having awkwardly been staring into the blonde's eyes, noticed her gaze flick down toward the weapon as now she was the one avoiding eye contact. He couldn't be sure, but it looked like she had been biting her cheek as well. Jace wasn't exactly sure what that meant but the blonde had thanked him for the gift. Before he was able to do anything else, however, a familiar figure showed up.

Ita was there wearing his signature all black clothes, his headband hanging around his waist. He said hello to Jace and asked, albeit a bit awkwardly, if he was intruding on anything. Jace was usually the awkward one out of the two so it was kind of odd for him to see Ita acting awkward at all. Jace figured he had probably been watching the exchange between himself and Queen and figured it was something 'intimate' for lack of a better word. Before Jace could answer though, Queen spoke up, saying Ita wasn't interrupting and she could go for a bit of training herself. Well, now that he thought about it, he could go for working on some new things as well. After having finally advanced his sharingan to the same stage as Ita, he had a few things he wanted to test out.

"Actually, I was about to ask Queen here to do some training anyway. Why don't we all train together? I have a few genjutsu I want to practice. She probably will want to focus on taijutsu though, since she's naturally gifted at it." he said, more to Ita than to his blonde crush. Though he looked at both of them when he said it.

Now that the situation was, well less awkward. Ita would divert his attention away from his friend Jace and now towards the blonde girl. Ita would speak,
 
“Sorry for not introducing myself before, my name is Ita.”
 
Like always, Ita left out his clans name as it was not something he knew much about nor seemed to feel particularly attached too. Upon hearing Jace’s words about her, Ita would speak once more
 
“So you are good at Taijutsu? And Jace is working on Genjutsu? I guess that leaves me to do my own thing unless you guys need me.”
 
Ita would wait around to finish his introduction to the girl. If she would play along, then he would too. If not, then Ita would begin to focus on his training instead. Unless, they would stop him or inquire anything of him, Ita would wander off into the training grounds in close proximity to them, in the idea that they could all see each other and help or converse if needed. Ita went to a few trees and used his chidori spear on them, cutting individual logs around the same length perfectly at the tree’s base. The logs were cut so cleanly that they would all stand up straight. Ita would then pick them up one by one and place them in different areas of the open ground lay out of the training grounds. Ita also left some logs in a pile incase Jace or his friend wanted to use some. Ita seemed to train a lot with trees; hurting them, killing them, cutting them up. It was as if the trees had done something to him, although that would be just crazy talk.
 

Ita now was going to begin working on a skill that would allow him to move at his max speed upon the first step. Until now, Ita had relied a lot on his speed and wanted to keep it that way until he diversified his pool of techniques. Ita started off by taking strong first steps and releasing energy, moving at almost his max speed and appearing next to one of the logs. The purpose of this was to get the right location without coming into contact with anything. Once he would become comfortable he would begin ushering in techniques with this new skill and begin trying to strike the logs after coming off the his max speed appearance.

The awkward tension surrounding the three kiddos seemed to have finally lifted, as the last and definitely the least of the three had agreed to some training as well. Jace was certainly quite the charmer, as he complimented Queen’s Taijutsu ability to the boy who had recently join the pair on the training field. If there was a way towards the blonde kunoichi’s heart, it’s to compliment her on her skills, and puppies. Well, except for the fact that her ego was already inflated, so complimenting her could only get one so far; you’d have better luck with the puppies.

The boy in black finally introduced himself, but it was a little late for formalities. Queen had already been offended by the lack thereof introductions. He had chosen to ignore her when he first arrived, and so, the girl would choose to do the same. Besides, the boy would soon know her name once she began her journey to complete her lifelong goal. She would only make brief eye contact with the boy before returning her gaze to cute little Jace. The boy known as Ita had chosen to train on his own, so that left the two soon to be lovers. “How about round two Jace?" She asked the boy, taking a few steps back in order to form a fair starting distance between them. As she waited for a reply, she would unsheathe the blade and let the blade catch the light of the sun. She may have wanted to be Queen of Taijutsu, but she soon too would master the art of weaponry. It was one of the tasks she would have to accomplish before she could move forward with her goal. Rei would sheathe the blade once more, this time, the bow that decorated the black cover catching her eye. It was only now that she realized the shade of purple of the decoration was the same as her eye color, Lilac. Her cheeks reddened humbly, but would barely be visible from the distance that she now gained from Jace. Had it been on purpose? Was it just a coincidence? The boy definitely had some skills in treating a lady. Too bad Queen was too prideful to admit it.

After the blade was back in its guard, Queen would place it horizontally on her lower back before reaching around her wrist for her hair tie and putting her hair up in her famous high ponytail; this being if Jace had accepted her offer of course. The two were about seven meters from each other. Once the girl’s hair was up and ready, she would do some quick light stretching. “This time, I’ll let you use your pathetic jutsu.” Queen called out, her disgust in chakra induces techniques quite apparent. She hated anything that dealt with chakra, and those who used it. once Jace gave the signal that he was ready, the girl would charge at him at full practically full speed, something that she had been working on doing for some time now (running at 40 speed). She was faster, much faster than Jace had probably remember seeing her, but that’s because she was holding back last time. This time, she would show him just a little bit more of what she was made of. She’s also never really fought in a battle where jutsu were incorporated into the fight. She mainly only ever fought within the comforts of the dojo, so if she wanted to best the shinobi of the ninja world, she would have to learn how to fight against those who used it.

Ita hadn't stayed long after making his presence known to the two would be love birds. Jace found it kind of odd that his friend would just come over and say hi before going back off to train on his own. Though, he really shouldn't have found it that odd. Ita did have a tendency to focus more on his own training than anything else. The first couple times they had met, Ita had created a crow clone for Jace to learn from while he disappeared off on his own somewhere to train something called Chidori or whatever else he was working on. Jace watched his friend move a short distance away and start cutting down trees and setting them up to practice with, leaving a small pile out of the way for who knows what. His gaze was brought back to the cute blonde though when she had something about round two. Round two? Did that mean she wanted to fight Jace again? Well taijutsu wasn't his strong suit but he was ready for some training anyway. She was a fair bit further from him than when she had arrived. She must have distanced herself in anticipation of Jace's obvious response.

The girl unsheathed her new sword and seemed to admire it, probably waiting for an answer to her question. "Sure. I wouldn't mind another go." Jace said in response. He then watched as the blonde placed the sword on her back and tied her hair up in a ponytail. He kind of liked it better down, the brilliant golden locks flowing down her body and giving her a faint yellow-ish tint to her skin. He thought she was just as pretty with it up though and having her hair in a ponytail was certainly more practical for fighting. "This time, I'll let you use your pathetic jutsu." There was an obvious disgust in her tone as she said the words. It didn't really bother Jace though. He was more comfortable using genjutsu than any other ninja art, especially taijutsu which he was weakest in. 

Jace flashed a charming smile at the girl, taking on that rare persona of confidence he generally only retained during a fight. His brilliant green eyes would begin to swirl and take on a bright crimson color. Three black flame-like tomoe would appear in either eye to surround his pupils. He took a stance with his body angled slightly so that his left was foot was just barely ahead of his right and his face was looking at her. "Ready when you are." he said. Without any hesitation the blonde would charge forward at Jace, a lot quicker than she had been before. Perhaps she was holding back in their first fight. Wouldn't that be something. He definitely couldn't let her get too close. Her taijutsu would prove dangerous to him. As soon as the blonde would begin taking her second step forward, Jace would activate one of his favorite genjutsu. The false surroundings technique. Unlike Ita and Kyori who were both Uchiha, Jace doubted Queen would be able to see through his genjutsu.

To the blonde, Jace would appear to stay exactly in the same position he had taken thanks to the genjutsu he had cast. In reality, however, upon casting the genjutsu he would simultaneously dash to his left as quick as he could while keeping his eyes trained on the girl. What would she do when she realized she was headed for thin air? What would Jace do next? Find out next time on dragon ball Z!!!

Ita, a naturally gifted learner, was excelling in his training while the blonde girl who so rudely didn’t introduce herself to Ita after he had, quarreled with Jace. Ita continued his training, taking strong and abrupt first steps and bursting into full speed. Ita was now decimating the logs which he had set up. Seeming to disappear and reappear to the human eye, then releasing devastating blows to the logs. Ita continued this training for some time. Ita then began to use a technique which he had just recently mastered. Chidori. By mastering the technique he was now able to cast the jutsu freely without the need of hand signs and could move in any direction he choose, having complete control.
 
Ita stood still looking at the logs at which he had destroyed before him. Ita then motioned to the rest of the logs which he had laid in a pile next to him and began to sit them up one by one. When he was done, he had placed 7 logs in various locations around the training field. Ita was now going to use his chidori in correlation with this new skill in order to move a full speed then strike the log with his jutsu. Ita now took a step backwards, being 5 meters away from the first log. Ita closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Ita then opened them and his sharingan was present. Ita was working on procession as well. Ita then clenched his left fist and with his right he focused chakra until his hand illuminated with a bright blue light. There would also be a crackling sound of raition in the sound of a thousand birds chirping. Ita could feel the immense power in his hand. The power to kill. Ita then pivoted his right foot and in a blur of speed he vanished, reappearing before the first log almost instantly. Ita thrusted his hand bearing chidori through the log directly in the middle, right where a person’s chest would most likely be. Ita’s hand moved through the solid wood with ease penetrating it fully. Ita then sent a surge of chakra through the log causing it to shatter into a million tiny pieces. One down, six to go. Last the last one, Ita would make quick work of the rest of them. In the same fashion, Ita would take a strong first step and appear before each log, thrusting his hand through the logs one by one.
 
Once Ita had finished, he took a deep breath, panting from releasing so much chakra in such a small amount of time. Instead of continuing, Ita figured he would go watch Jace and his friend fight. Ita made his way over to where they were fighting and took a seat on the ground a safe distance away.