Meeting a New Face (Sal & Yumi, nk)

It was a warm, sunny day in the Village of Sand when the young academy student stepped through the gates of the training grounds. Yumi was getting stronger, this much she knew. She could run faster and had a more accurate aim than when she had first set foot into Sunakagure's ninja academy. Yumi first began with her normal stretching routine to limber up. Today she was going to work on the surface walking technique. Yumi was excited and terrified at the same time. Within the grounds was a tall stone structure with a smooth, vertical surface. Several marks could be seen going up the wall where students had scrapped into stone – representing how high they had climbed.

Now it's my turn to leave a mark, Yumi thought as she stared up at the tall, training wall which stood before her. I have to mold my chakra onto my feet. Too much and I will spring off the face of the wall. Too little and I'll loose my grip … and fall off the face of the wall! My textbook mentioned to get a running start.

Yumi picked up a small rock which lay in the sand and took a couple steps backwards. When she was standing 4 meters away from the wall, she took a moment to pause to clear her mind and mold her chakra. Then she was off. Faster she ran until she was about to run into the wall, but instead of doing so, Yumi leaped into the air and started running up it. Her first couple of steps were fine. Yumi placed one foot after another. That was when the young ninja caught sight of the ground from the corner of her eye. She was 3 meters up when she lost it. Too little chakra was molded, and yumi came crashing downwards landing in the sand below. Sand was squishy when walked on, but did not make for the spongiest of cousins. Worst of all, Yumi could hear footsteps coming in her direction...


(WC = 339)

Basic training, that was on Salzem's agenda for today. He had heard stronger metal dummies were being shipped into Suna this morning and just had to check it out. Wooden ones were too weak, stone ones were too brittle, the training grounds had seemed to be a place for the genin and academy students, nowadays. With the introduction of these new dummies however, that might just change. He walked into the training grounds, hands in his pockets, surveying the many ninja going about their daily grind. He remembered when he was like that. He remembered when he had so much to aspire too, so much to become. That all seemed a long while ago now.

Salzem's sanguine eyes finally fell upon something resembling a rock-wall without the rocks. It looked like something the younger ninja use to train their surface-walking technique. Proving his deduction, Salzem saw a girl running up the flat surface before her feet lost their grip and she crashed into the soft earth below. Salzem winced slightly as he saw her impact with the sand. That looked like it hurt. Salzem was leaving Sunagakure soon, but he supposed his last act could be too help her learn a bit. Salzem walked over to the rockless rock-wall, hands still in his pockets. As he approached the girl, he noticed that she was younger than he expected. It seemed academy students kept getting younger and younger, Although his face couldn't be seen under his breathing mask, he was smiling kindly and offered her a hand to help her up.

"Hey there." He said, whether she took his hand or not. "My name's Salzem. I see you're having a little trouble."

”Ow,” the young girl mumbled.

Yumi took the boy's hand without looking to see who it was. She then dusted herself off. She had landed upon her bum which was most likely going to bruise before the day was done. Yumi glanced up at the boy who'd helped her up and noticed his breathing mask. The young ninja did not expect to meet someone who looked so … scary. The boy was older than herself but had no way of knowing how strong he was.

”H-hello,” Yumi said awkwardly. She was incredibly embarrassed that someone witnessed her fall, and a boy none the less! ”M-my n-name is Yoshinaga Yumi. I-it's a pleasure to meet you.”

Pull yourself together, Yumi! I don't think he means you any harm, despite his stupid mask, Yumi thought as she bowed in a courteous manor despite feeling 'put-on-the-spot.'

She then took a deep breath and said, ”I'm working on the Surface Walking Technique. Its harder than it looks. All the ninja make it look effortless, though. I don't believe I've seen you around before.”

The Village of Sand was indeed a large place. It was perfectly justifiable that she had never seen Salzem because of the city's vastness. Yumi did not yet realize he came from elsewhere.


Yumi's eyes widened, ”Wait, are you offering to help me train? There's only so much the classroom can teach!”

Edit: (WC = 232)

Salzem raised an eyebrow as he caught the fear slip past her eyes. With his enhanced senses, he could practically smell it on her. Normally, this kind of horror at his appearance would make him feel self conscious, but she was a child. She did not know true horror. If his face was the extent of her fears, he'd let that be. He nodded a greeting in response to hers, choosing to ignore the stuttering/awkwardness. She bowed before him and to that, Salzem held up a hand, one coated in his metal gauntlets.

"No need to bow. A simple verbal greeting will suffice." He never could stand such a level of respect given to him, especially from strangers. It made him aware of where he stood and, quite honestly, he didn't like knowing that. He didn't like knowing that people were looking up to him. It made him feel like he was going to let them down. As this Yoshinaga explained what was already evident, Salzem smiled whistfully, remembering his days when he used to struggle with this kind of chakra manipulation. She stated that she hasn't seen Salzem before and he guessed that was understandable. Normally, he is out at night and asleep during the day. His tainted blood demanded a bath in the moonlight.

"I move around." Salzem responded honestly to her observation. Brushing over that topic, Salzem moved onto Yoshi's surprise, thinking he was going to help her train. That hadn't been his intention when he first came to the grounds. Quite the contrary, he was going to do some training with himself. Oh well... He was going to have to check out those metal dummies on his next run through.

"I suppose I am." Salzem responded, shrugging his shoulders. "It's always good to know more quicker right?"

(Hee hee, Yoshi is a wonderful nickname! I approve.)

”Oh, a wanderer, then,” Yumi assumed form the nin's rather vague explanation. ”So, which village do you hail from? Have you traveled to all of the villages, yet? Which one is your favorite?”

Yumi still could not locate the teen's forehead protector, so the young girl bluntly asked him. Yumi was a rather curious girl by nature and she was at that age where her brain was full of questions. She had only known Suna and was interested in knowing about the outside world. She wanted to know about what sorts of animals lived elsewhere. Yumi had scoured Sunagakure's library and found a plethora of such knowledge, but she still wished for more. The young nin decided to ease up with her inquiries for now, she had just met the masked teen after all. Not to mention she was standing in the sandy training grounds. It was a place to train – not interrogation. When Salzem offers his aid, Yumi's eyes light up like camp fires. A new found twinkle can be seen in her eyes. The young Yoshinaga moved her hand to her chest and closed it into a fist. Her lips curled into a smirk.

”Hnyuk-nyuk-nyuk … that's the spirit, Solzem-san!” Yumi said enthusiastically. Then, in a more calmer tone, ”Being given the chance to learn things at a quicker pace, does not always make it right, though. No, the truth of the matter is I, admittedly, need someone's help.” Yumi paused a moment to look up at the training wall. ”Um, what if I were to climb all the way to the top, and then, loose my grip? The fall that you witnessed hurt bad enough as it was. And the other technique I wish to learn is the Substitution Technique. I've been reading up on it, but someone needs to throw something at me, err, something that's not sharp, preferably.”

Yumi turned back to the masked ninja with a hopeful grin and puppy dog eyes, ”I do not know what the instructors will examine me on during my genin exam, but I'd like to be as best prepared as I can. Any instructions you can give me ... I will truly be grateful.”

(Plz sempai, teach me your knowledges! XD)

(WC = 366)

(lol. Glad ya do :b)

"I've been around." Salzem said again to Yoshi, though not to get on her nerves or frustrate the poor girl. Salzem just likes to keep such information to himself, especially when it came to people he just met. Two her third question though, Salzem shrugged.

"I think home is my favorite." Salzem responded, then offered her a coy smile to let her know he was messing with her. At Yoshi's request for aid, Salzem just shrugged. There was nothing wrong with requesting help. Humans coming together was what made them strong in the first place. Although some people won't admit to needing aid, this 11 year old already has risen beyond them. He wondered if she realized that. Its easy to say no to all attempts to help, but its much harder to actually let someone in. Yoshi began providing a what-if: what if she made it to the top and fell off. Once again, Salzem shrugged, this time, turning his gaze toward the top of the rock-wall.

"I'll just catch you." He said in an a-matter-of-fact tone. "Its pretty high up. No reason to risk hurting yourself. As for everything else, we'll see how long this one takes. Now, for the basics," Salzem began. "put your hands together in the tiger sign as it is best for manipulating chakra. I then want you to close your eyes and clear your mind." Salzem crossed his arms and waited for her to comply. "I then want you to concentrate on your feet, let your chakra flow into them. It will work as something sticky to make sure your feet stick to the wall." If Yoshi showed some apprehension, Salzem would offer her a pat on her shoulder.

"Don't worry." He reassured her.

Salzem watched as Yoshi ran at the wall after doing as he instructed, snickering to himself over the girl's reaction to his reply. The expression on her face was just priceless and he couldn't help but laugh a bit at it. It reminded him of Kouki back home. Slowly, his smile withered into a somber expression. Kouki.... Home... Just the memory of his old village ached. How he wanted to go back there... how often was he reminded that he couldn't. Not the way things were now...

In his moment of brooding, Salzem had missed Yoshi's second attempt at the wall and only upon hearing her laugh did he look up again. He saw the young girl standing flat up against the rock wall, smiling like an idiot. His brooding mood didn't last for long as the girl's smile was contagious. He grinned back but that soon too fell as he watched her feet detach from the wall. Reacting quickly as Yoshi fell, Salzem used his massive strength to leap into the air, catching the young girl before she could fall three feet. If she would hang onto him, they would fall at a reasonable speed, Salzem landing deftly on his feet.

"Good work." He smiled. He would let go of Yoshi, allowing her to stand on her own. He looked at the sun, judging they had a few hours until sundown at least. He could probably teach her a couple new techniques should she have the energy.

Salzem noticed how hard Yoshi was holding onto him, like cat frightened  holding onto a tree branch. She thanked him, eyes giant brown orbs nestled in her face. He simply smiled lightly and nodded, allowing her detach from him. Once she was off him, she mentioned another technique she wished to learn: substitution. It appeared as if she wanted to take a short break however, sitting and resting against the wall she had just conquered while retying her hair. Salzem plopped himself down in the sand as well, using the time he'd been given to clear his mind and just be. It wasn't quite meditation as he wasn't in an stance in particular, nor were his eyes closed. He was just simply existing without the distraction of thought. A wonderful, cleansing feeling.
Yoshi's voice broke his silence and he looked up at her, hair all tied, curious brown eyes meeting his sanguine ones. He hesitated for a second before answering. He didn't really know how long he'd be sticking around... He had planned and even made general arrangements to leave Suna within the next week but then he'd be leaving home again... Salzem offered Yoshi a small grin which was only partly forced.

"I'll be here a little while yet." Salzem replied. He waited for Yoshi's response before she asked him a weird question: could she throw this canteen at him. Well... Yeah she could... Then he remembered, almost face-palming due to his forgetfulness. Substitution. Right.

"Go ahead, Yoshi." Salzem approved, speaking the nickname he'd coined for the first time. Should she continue, the canteen would fly at him at a speed of 3, slow, but not much slower than he expected. He casually looked around for something to swap his body with and saw a small wooden dummy to the right of Yoshi. That will do. Just before the canteen would smack into his face, Salzem weaved the three handsigns and he was seemingly replaced with a small medium dummy. Salzem leaned up against the rockwall to the right of where Yoshi the dummy once stood, stretching his arms across his body.

"I take it you know the handsigns already so there's no need to go other that. What this technique is all about is speed and illusion. The second your opponent would strike you, your body would be flooded with chakra, allowing you a short span of time to find something about your size to replace yourself with. It is essential for you to pay attention to the opponent during this technique, understand?" If Yoshi would agree, Salzem would nod, then walk over to the canteen and pick it up.

"I'm going to toss this to you about the same speed you tossed it to me." If Yoshi would agree, he would underhand toss the water canteen at the girl (speed 3), hoping she would be able to substitute before it hit her.