A Fistful of Sandy Exchanges [P]

Ari had been spending most of her time in the training grounds since arriving in Sunagakure. With very little interaction between her and any of the ninja belonging to the village, she was starting to feel somewhat isolated. There wasn't much to be done about it unless Ari planned to start introducing herself to other ninja, still, she wasn't sure how to go about doing such a thing. The only foreign ninja she'd ever met and achieved friendly terms with was Kurisu, although that was more like love at first sight. Knowing that wasn't the casual way to introduce oneself to ninja from another village, Ari decided she would do what came naturally. Positioning herself purposely in the centre of the training grounds before taking her own Taijutsu stance; it had Ari standing side face with her left hand forward slightly beneath shoulder's height, with feet planted firmly at shoulder width and her right hand resting on her hip.

The intention was not to impress anybody around her, but to bring curiosity. Beginning with a swift right hook at head height, Ari moved her right foot forward following directly beneath the elbow. Within the punch's movement her left hand dropped to her hip to complete the stance's transformation. In this fluid motion she moved from left side face to the right before moving her right hand back into the position her left once took. Ari performed the movements at fifty speed, nothing outlandish that would surprise anybody observing her. However, the intention was still not to impress whoever might have been watching, but to garner their interest. Suddenly Ari's left leg performed a backwards kick, done so by raising her leg behind by bending at the knee; then she launched her foot directly behind her while bending her torso forward at forty-five degrees. Her body turned immediately following the kick's completion before dropping her foot to the ground, turning her right foot to resume a left side face stance.

These movements would continue until someone interrupted Ari or she tired herself out. She was still feeling exhausted due to the climate change between Konoha and Sunagakure, these movements caused her to tire even faster. Unsure of how an actual fight would affect her, she was morbidly curious on whether or not it could cause her to faint.


-5AP

Nobu decides that he will wander about the village for a while after waking up this fine day. He wasn’t sure what the day had in store for him, but he would embrace it no matter what it was. At least, that was what he had thought. He didn’t realize all of what had been going on in the village as of late, but he was going to find out today. Taking a quick, but pleasant shower he readies himself and puts on his cloak. He no longer considered not wearing it, as he had grown fairly used to the heat of Suna. He wraps his headband on and heads out, grabbing a few bottles of water for the day.
 
He knew that he was a great deal hungry, as he had not been shopping for anything for his relatively new house. He almost missed the Lizard on a Stick that he had eaten nearly every day at the Akari home. Still, this only allowed him an excuse to go out and eat something delicious. Finding a nearby ramen stand, he had decided to find out what “all the rage” was with this dish. Watching it prepared and then serve to him, he handed over a fistful of money and began to dig in. It wasn’t anywhere near as good as people had seemed to think, but it was by no means bad either. Gulping down the last of the broth, Nobu thanks the shop keeper and heads out.
 
Sakaiza was still a great deal ahead of Nobu as far as training and skill. It was both a wonderful thing and a bit unpleasant. He had honestly thought that Sakaiza was more experienced and skilled, but he hadn’t thought that the gap would be as far as it was. Nobu really thought that he had closed much of it, only to have found out that they were still a great distance apart. That was it, Nobu was going to have to crack down on his training. He hadn’t been slacking by any means, but he would have to push himself even harder in his training in order to close the gap.
“Looks like it is time to head to the training grounds, I guess. I should go and grab those training weights. It would add some much needed resistance to my movements.” Nobu would say out loud as he began to head towards the old mans house. Grabbing the weights and thanking him, he rushes off to the training grounds at full speed. He hadn’t done so in quite some time, and he was actually really surprised at how fast he had gotten there. He knew that his speed had improved, but he hadn’t realized by how much.
 
 
The training grounds were filled with shinobi practicing various moves. It hadn’t been quite as much as he had grown accustomed to, many familiar faces nowhere to be found. Sakaiza was likely sleeping, his training normally going long into the night. Ryu hadn’t been willing to train with folks much, as he had barely been seen around the grounds. Giichi was likely doing some intense solo training with his insects, and Nobu didn’t see Ichiro around either. Maybe he was going to have to train alone today, which was a bit of a bummer. Nobu always managed to have a better workout when practicing with a pal.
 
As Nobu moves towards his favorite rock, he spots someone that is very unfamiliar. He had not met everyone in the village, that much was for sure, so he decided to slowly approach. They had been practicing what appeared to be Taijutsu from a distance. Intrigued, Nobu would move closer and watch. They indeed had been practicing Taijutsu, and Nobu began to approach before noticing that her headband was not that of a Suna shinobi. It had the symbol of Konoha on it, a leaf. What were foreign shinobi doing here? At first he questioned it, but realizing that he could not say much as he had been a foreigner as well, he approached even closer, now only fifteen or so meters away. Nobu was a bit nervous, as he had never really dealt with people from outside of Suna in a good while, and those that he had dealt with had not been the “friendliest” of folks. The leaf were allies, though. That had to have a lot of weight. If Koroshi had trusted them, then Nobu would have little reason not to.
 
Watching at the end how the girl had seemed to be growing tired as the motions continued, Nobu had figured that she was facing some of the same issues that he had faced when he first arrived. The temperature and shifting sands beneath your feet had proved very draining while practicing. Stepping up to the girl and holding a bottle out, he had nervously let out, “Hey, you should try to stay hydrated. Would you like some water?”
 
Nobu stood a mere five feet tall, and was rather scrawny, even for his age (twelve), though you could only tell this from his forearm down. He had also been covered in a large grey cloak around his body. Judging from his clothes and his odd appearance, he had clearly not been a Suna native.
 

He had tried to be pleasant to the newcomer, but all of his words came out in a strange manner, not flowing quite as freely as he had been used to. “So, you practice Taijutsu? That’s pretty cool. I do as well. I’ve always wondered how skilled the folks from other villages had been. So, what brings you to Suna if you don’t mind me asking?” He rattled off almost too quickly.

A Sunagakure ninja approached Ari, the answer she would give him was one not specifically created for him. Rather, it was an automatic response that she would give anybody apart from family members if they offered her a substance. "I'm sorry but... Never put something in your body you don't know the origin of." Ari spoke calmly and clearly even though he would hear her exhaustion. Wishing not to signal that it was because of the man himself she quickly added, "I'm happy you approached me, I've been doing this for a while, waiting for someone with the courage to approach me; I am a foreign ninja after all." Halting her movements, she dug a water bottle out of her weaponry pouch before raising it to her mouth and taking a sip. Ari held the water bottle up slightly to the right of her face immediately after, showing him that she was already supplied. Assessing the boy in his grey cloak, it prevented her from making any confident assumptions.

Judging by the nervousness in his voice and short height however, she guessed he was considerably younger than herself. He spoke once more, this time for longer than he had prior. It seemed he'd taken an interest in Ari for the sake of taijutsu which he coincidentally also practiced. The boy then added a thought he'd had which wasn't unexpected, but she'd never considered providing an answer to it before. His last question would have been fairly simple to answer, although she wasn't sure whether he had permission to know or not. Starting with a pleasantry neither of them had taken thus far, Ari returned her water bottle to the weaponry pouch before placing her right hand's palm on the centre of her chest. "First of all, my name is Ari." She performed a brief half bow, signifying that she respected the boy as an equal before standing up straight once again. Either the boy would introduce himself now or she would continue, if he introduced himself she would wait until after he finished speaking.

However, if it wasn't contextually appropriate she would not speak. "I do indeed practice Taijutsu, I find great joy in using my body as a weapon. Can't really speak on behalf of other shinobi from Konoha, I'd consider most of them quite skilled though." Ari placed her right index finger on her chin before continuing, "I also can't really say why I'm here, not sure if you're allowed to know or not... However, I do have a considerable amount of free time if that interests you?"


-5AP = 525AP

Hearing the words of wisdom from the lady, Nobu understood. For all she knew, the bottle could be poisoned, diseased, or drugged. Because of this, Nobu just nodded and cracked open the bottle and took a sip of it himself before capping it again and placing it in his cloak. Bowing slightly, in a similar fashion to what she had he then returned to a more casual stance and spoke. "My apologies. I am Nobu Sen Katto, Shinobi of Sunagakure. I'm not going to lie, I almost didn't approach you. It isn't every day that one sees a foreign ninja, and that curiosity is really what had caused me to come over, I guess. How are you faring while training on the shifting Suna sands? It had been a bit difficult for me at first, but you eventually grow accustomed to it. I’m not sure if you will be here long enough for that or for that to even matter much, though." Nobu had still been a bit nervous, that much could be heard still in his voice. 
 
She couldn't say why she was here. That bit was a little unnerving, but there would be no chance that they could be here with ill intent. Lord Koroshi would have nothing of the sort. As allies, they likely had some important message, news, or discussions that they could not deliver through a letter. A letter could be intercepted, and any delicate information that it had would then fall into the hands of the interceptor. Depending on what exactly it was, that could spell doom for many. While this had brought a powerful tugging feeling on the back of his mind out of sheer curiosity. He knew that whatever their mission was, it shouldn't concern him though.
 
Switching his focus to what this shinobi, Ari, had mentioned he thinks for a bit. She had been doing what had looked like training, and she spoke of how she had enjoyed practicing Taijutsu. She seemed a bit older than Nobu, and to be sent on a “secret” mission for her village would likely be something reserved for a more advanced shinobi. Nobu couldn’t be sure, but she had likely outranked him by a great deal to be sent on such. This also meant that she was likely an absolute wealth of information and teachings. They were from Konoha, and that might mean that she would be reluctant to offer any training or jutsu practice. Nobu had hoped that this would not be the case.
 
“Well, I came here to practice. I still have a great deal of training to do if I ever plan on…” Nobu’s mind wanders off to his last encounter with Sakaiza and how much he had still been ahead of young Nobu, “…On reaching my goals.” Nervous and not knowing how it would be received, Nobu just blurts out the first thing now on his mind. “You seem to be skilled. Could you show me a thing or two?” He hadn’t trained with too many people, and especially not folks from another village so this was going to be a fairly new experience for the boy. “Of course, that is if you are up for it. I would understand if you didn’t want to do so. I don’t have much to offer in return, but I would happily share my time with you and hopefully provide an adequate work out session. What say you?” Nobu was ready for either response, be it an acceptance of his offer or a rejection. Never the less, he sipped on his water and gazed over the training grounds. The day was rather hot, and he was glad to have his water on him. He pulled the training weights out of his bag and began to attach them to both his ankles and forearms. The added weight wouldn’t be much, but every bit would help toughen his body and hone his skills. 

Ari listened to the boy, whose name she discovered from his speech was Nobu. He was earnest in his explanation of why he approached her, it seemed most Taijutsu practitioners had earnest personalities. Perhaps it was a necessity to pursue mastering physical arts involving the use of one's own body for the weapon. After he finished his introduction and before Ari had responded by confirming she practiced Taijutsu, she replied briefly, "I am finding this sand less to my liking than I thought I would... But seeing this part of the world was definitely worth the admission price; unfortunately it is unlikely I'll be here long enough to grow accustomed to it." Shortly after this reply was Ari's admission to being a Taijutsu practitioner and her enjoyment of it, followed by Nobu's confession to the sizable amount of training he still required. She admired the honesty he had, enough so that she would have considered training him everything she knew if he were a Konoha ninja.

During her thoughts on this matter and seemingly out of the blue, Nobu added that she seemed quite skilled while asking if she could teach him. At first she felt a sudden happiness about having a training partner; however, there were limits on what she was willing to part with in the way of knowledge when concerning a foreign ninja. Ari could still show him anything she knew that was public knowledge, she possessed a fair amount of techniques that could fall under this category. Nobu further showed concern for Ari's situation presumably since she was new to Suna's heat and would be tired. This was of no concern during her thoughts, as the adrenaline running through her briefly caused whatever discomfort she felt before to seemingly vanish. However, his mention of whether she'd be up to it or not quickly grounded Ari once more. The heat was awfully stifling and training would be bothersome...

But, she was trying to become accustomed to it, what better way than to train in it with someone that's used to it? Ari feigned disinterest momentarily as she placed both hands behind her back and kicked the sand with her right foot lightly, staring at the ground. "Hmm, well..." Silence for five seconds followed; eventually a smile rapidly appeared on her face as she looked up at Nobu. "You're on." Soon after, she observed the boy equipping weights. The practice was quite alien to Ari and considering her medical background, she knew it wasn't healthy to weigh down one's limbs. However, different Taijutsu practitioners used different methods, it wasn't her place to interject on his. Instead, Ari decided to continue conversing with Nobu before getting into the training. "I can't teach you any secret techniques I know, or anything I personally created for that matter. We never know when the villages might turn on each other and for what reason they may."

Stopping briefly to allow what she said to be processed by Nobu, Ari added "There's also the chance you might get captured and allow the knowledge to slip, so I can only provide you with my knowledge on public techniques. Using my experience should still make it easier for you to learn what I know. Assuming you're okay with these terms, I'll need to know which techniques you've learned so I can fill in the gaps." Ari caught her breath while allowing Nobu to respond to her terms, pulling out her water bottle once again to sip from it. The liquid within it had become warm and was no longer as quenching as when she acquired it. It was better than nothing, so she would have to continue drinking it with no better option.

So she would not be here for an extended stay, so this only reinforced the thoughts of what her mission might have been here. She had time to spare though, and would prefer to train rather than loaf around and see the sights. Not that Sunagakure had much in the way of tourist attractions. The village was rather harsh to foreigners. This coupled with how plain the village had been meant that unless you were coming here for a specific person or thing, you likely weren’t coming here. Especially not for a simple vacation at least. One thing it did have were shinobi that were passionate about a rigorous daily training routine, though.
 
Waiting patiently for her response, the silence was deafening while he awaited it. Then she said something that would make his day. She had accepted his request for some pointers and training. “Glad to hear it!” When she had said that she would not be able to teach Nobu any secret techniques he had just nodded and assumed as much. He would not expect a shinobi to reveal village secrets to another, even if they happened to be allied. The next few bits she said really caught him off guard, though. Our villages turn on one another? No, that would be unlikely, wouldn’t it? Nobu’s mind started thinking, the gears of his thoughts now whirring full steam. The leaf were allies to the Sand, Nobu knows this much. The question was, why were they allies. Nobu wasn’t around when any treaties or alliances were made, and he had not been taught such in any formal school, as he was trained in a rather…. Unorthodox way when compared to a normal shinobi. Nobu had just assumed that the bonds that brought them together were strong, two powerful nations forming an alliance stronger than merely the sum of their parts. Honestly, he really didn’t know why. Her words kept clawing at his mind, bringing question after question to the forefront of his thoughts.
 
All of this flashed through his mind in the brief moments between that and what she had said next. If he had ever been captured… Nobu didn’t want to think about such things. If he were to be captured, it wouldn’t be just a bit of information that the enemies would gain, nor would that likely be the reason he had been caught. If whoever captured him only sought a bit of information on hidden village jutsu’s Nobu would count his blessings. He likely wouldn’t tell them a thing, but still. If he were captured there would be far greater concerns… far greater. He was essentially a walking weapon in the wrong hands, or at least the container for it. Most likely his capture would result in his death as a large piece of Nobu was ripped from within. The thoughts sent chills down the young boy’s spine. He couldn’t ever allow such things to happen….
 

Nobu would shakes the thoughts as he finished listening to her speak. She inquired about what techniques he had known. “Well, I know some. Not as many as I’d like, but some. Let’s see. As far as low rank techniques, I am familiar with several kicks. Dynamic Entry, Leaf Gale, Leaf Whirlwind, Heavenly foot of Pain. I also have some training of Rising Leaf Wind, though I have yet to truly master it. Something about the execution of such a move from the ground throws me a bit off.” Placing a finger on his brow and scratching, he continues to think. “Let’s see, I also know… Great leaf whirlwind, a powerful clothesline (Lariat) and I’ve learned just the right place to strike to knock the wind from my foes (Sucker Punch).” Was there anything he had been missing? Ah, yes there had been. “I also am familiar with the Evening Elephant technique, a move I enjoy a great deal.” The boy smiles as he rattles off the list. It hadn’t been all that much in all honesty, but he was proud of the accomplishments he had gotten thus far.


OoC: You can assume that Nobu rattled off any Taijutsu that I might have missed on his stat page besides Drunken Fist, because he doesn't know he learned that one.

Ari was not aware of the impact her words had on Nobu concerning the possibility of war breaking out. For her, it seemed like an assumption any ninja could make. Villages always had the possibility of upsetting one another, whether it was due to one person's mistake or something more serious. Nobu still answered her in good time with a list of techniques he knew. Ari was pleased to hear him mention a couple of techniques even she hadn't gotten around to learning yet. However, he was lacking of a few techniques she considered to be critical in the arsenal of a Taijutsu practitioner. Leaf Rising Wind and Leaf Great Whirlwind were another pair of techniques Ari hadn't learned; Nobu also hadn't learned Leaf Rising Wind, although not for the same reason as her. However, Nobu had learned the Leaf Great Whirlwind. The main reason Ari didn't possess as many as Taijutsu as she could was due to raising a family, she would never admit this however.

Instead she nodded as Nobu went on and widened her eyes in surprise whenever he mentioned a technique she hadn't learned, visually expressing that she was impressed even if she wasn't. Finally the boy mentioned being familiar with the Evening Elephant. Ari learned the technique as a Genin and hadn't the chance to use it ever since. A strong feeling of nostalgia to the days of her youth almost drowned Ari before she quickly snapped back into reality. "That's a nice list of techniques, you've even gone to the effort of learning some I haven't yet." Folding her arms, she continued. "I could show you a few you didn't mention, though, I'd prefer to show... Not tell." Ari sipped from her water bottle once again, finishing the contents before shoving it back in her weaponry pouch. "I want you to try and punch me in the centre of my chest at... Let's say half your speed. I'll respond with the technique I want to teach you first, obviously not at my full strength but I'll move fast so you don't end up hitting me."

Ari's tone had remained the same as when they first started speaking, she was still clearly exhausted by the dry heat. Seemingly not allowing it to annoy her throughout their conversation or to get in the way of training. While her footing would seem off as she slipped slightly on the sand with every step, Ari tried to remain outwardly composed. Assessing the place Nobu stood, Ari extended both of her arms out and took a short step forward, bringing his shoulders beneath the centre of her forearms. This was a decent range for punching someone in the chest and also for using the intersection method to show its utility. Ari held off on telling him what the technique was she planned to show precisely to take him by surprise. The last time she taught anybody a technique was Queen, an experience that ended up being very short lived. At least now Ari didn't have responsibilities to attend to in the Hokage office and could spend more time training.

Resuming the stance she'd been using before Nobu approached her, she positioned her feet beneath each of their respective side's shoulders, raising her right hand so it was open and vertical; Ari's fingertips lined up with her nose and her thumb bent slightly inward so it wouldn't get caught on anything. Positioning her left hand at her hip, she didn't turn her body so as to be side facing Nobu. Normally during combat she would but since he had to punch her in the chest it would simply complicate things. "I am ready to receive your punch whenever you're ready to throw it." Ari announced with confidence. Her eyes locked with Nobu's as she waited for him to make a move, the serious face of an experienced fighter being worn by her for the first time since they met. Although Ari's actual combat experience was lacking, she had trained with Kurisu and felt naught but confidence and excitement to train once again.


-10AP (Forgot to minus 5 last post) = 515AP

Rattling the list of jutsu he had learned had taken his mind off of any concern it had for the possibility of war, at least for now. Nobu’s mind would likely wander to it again at a later point in time, and because of this he would likely go to wherever he could seek the answers he wanted.  This duty would likely fall into the hands of the Kazekage sometime soon. His words would likely sooth the boys mind and put any concerns he might have at ease.
 
Surprised to hear that he had known techniques that she had not yet learned, this only made Nobu smile. He knew that she likely knew many more techniques than he had, and his knowing a few techniques she didn’t was likely because of the different training methods. Nobu had enjoyed Taijutsu, something that was direct and to the point. He did not spend much time training anything besides his martial arts skills, as the other practices felt…. Off to the youth. He hadn’t been inept at things like Ninjutsu, but he didn’t show the same promise in those fields as he had with Taijutsu. She likely had more in her arsenal than just martial arts skill which could explain some things, not to mention any other responsibilities she might have had to her village that took her focus away from training. “Well, if you would prefer I could show you those jutsu if you’d like. It would be the least I could offer you for aiding in my training.” He would say with a big grin. By this point, much of the nervousness in his voice had gone away.

Ari spoke of preferring to show Nobu some new techniques. This was perfect, as he had also enjoyed a more “hands on” approach to his training. “I would rather you show me them as well. You can only learn so much from hearing and seeing another. One must experience the technique firsthand in order to truly grasp it.” Nobu cannot help but notice that her movements seem a bit off in the desert sand. Hopefully it wouldn’t prove to be too problematic for her during this training. She would position herself rather close to Nobu, leaving not much distance at all between them. She then mentions that this was more for demonstration of the movements by stating that Nobu should only move about half as fast as he was able.
 
Half speed, eh? This was something that Nobu hadn’t been used to, causing it to almost be a training exercise in itself. He had not been used to limiting how fast he moved. Instead, he would normally aim to move as fast as possible, noting any increases or decreases he notices in striking speed and agility. Well, this wasn’t entirely true as he had limited himself in spars before, but it was by no means the norm. He had regularly sparred with Sakaiza, who happened to be more than capable of sparring with Nobu at maximum ability. Of course, Sakaiza wasn’t teaching Nobu any moves either. They would just push one another to their limits in order to train, leaving the learning process to the individual. Well, this was just one more thing Nobu would need to learn to master if he had ever expected to become the best practitioner of Taijutsu the land has seen.
 

Nobu meets Ari’s gaze, signifying that he had been ready to proceed with a simple nod. Clenching a fist, Nobu would try to bring it to the chest of Ari (Speed 50, Power 10), aiming for a clean shot at her sternum. She would likely have little to no difficulty stopping this attack, and without her telling him what they would be practicing he wouldn’t know exactly what to expect in defense of the attack. Well, he would have to just see as she performed the move.

"I would be happy for you to show me the techniques you know; first we'll focus on you though..." Ari responded to Nobu's offer of teaching her the techniques she hadn't learned yet. Continuing on, Nobu was happy with the offer she made to show him what she knew. There was some concern for just how fast the boy could move, otherwise Ari wouldn't have asked him to move at half speed. If he was capable of moving a lot faster than she was then trying to display the technique would be difficult. In her opinion it was better to play things safe at the start, Ari didn't know anybody capable of moving faster than she could when going at half their speed, so she felt no reason to worry about him doing so with a punch. Instead she stood her ground waiting for his strike after the deal was accepted. Ari maintained her stance and watched his body movement carefully with her peripheral vision, although she kept eye contact with Nobu.

Normally she would avoid any sort of maintained eye contact with a proper opponent; she was gauging how uncomfortable it made him feel to keep eye contact for a prolonged period of time. A taijutsu practitioner could not afford to feel any sort of discomfort during a fight. If a shirt was torn or pants pulled off during a fight, regardless of how nudity could feel embarrassing, there was no room to worry about it. Previously Ari met Kurisu while wearing a towel in Konoha's streets; due to her training with this mindset she didn't feel worried about onlookers. Although she did not recount this memory verbally for Nobu. Upon seeing him nod, Ari noticed the slight movement that led to him punching with his right fist. Turning her waist clockwise in rotation by ten degrees, she brought her left knee up with the movement while raising her right elbow. Normally the Intersection Method was performed with an arm and its corresponding knee on the same side.

However, this movement was also to illustrate that with a flexible body, moves could be used in ways they weren't normally intended to be. Ari moved at roughly half her speed too which ended up being sixty and used an equal amount of strength. Without knowing that Nobu held back in the strength of his punch, she felt inclined to lock his arm into place at least. Finally driving her right elbow down above his forearm while her left knee continued to bring itself up to meet beneath his forearm, Ari would lock the boy's forearm between her limbs two inches before his elbow. Upon touching his skin she would stop just as his arm was unable to move, which was almost instantaneous upon contact as her bones dug into his muscle with considerable force. With Ari's chest untouched by Nobu's fist and his arm locked just before the elbow, his fist would only have an inch of space left before striking her. "Normally this move is used to incapacitate your opponent's limb by breaking a bone, otherwise as you can see they might be in range to use another technique on you."

Ari dropped her left knee while pulling her right arm back, taking a natural stance with both hands at her sides. The punch felt rather easy to stop compared to what she imagined, still unaware that Nobu held back in both speed and strength, she had to ask him about it. "Was that your full strength? I only wanted you to move slower during the demonstration, to illustrate how effective this technique is at stopping an attack." Knowing that it didn't matter too much in the grand scheme of things, he would have an opportunity to answer before she continued speaking. "No worries though, this technique is known as the Intersection Method. You can use either elbow with either knee, as long as you're capable of bringing them together with enough force." Ari maintained a positive tone throughout all of her speech. Deciding to demonstrate the technique once more without using him as the target, she took a half meter step backwards.

"So just follow along with my movement." Ari spoke, demonstrating the technique at the same time by raising her right knee and dropping her left elbow. She only moved at one speed and thought it wise to explain her reasoning. "Balance is important... So whenever you practice techniques ensure that, if it's possible, you do so with an extremely slow movement and gradually build up speed with each repetition." Finishing her first demonstrated move, Ari then repeated it with her left elbow and knee at the same speed of one, followed by connecting her right elbow to left knee and vice versa with the same speed. "Now, I do this every day for every technique I know, it's best if you do the same so that any changes in body weight that might throw off your balance are accounted for." Finishing the display of bringing her left elbow to her right knee at the same time as finishing her sentence, Ari continued maintaining eye contact with Nobu and spoke again.

"The next technique I'm going to show you could be difficult; it's called the Morning Peacock and happens to be an A-Rank technique." Ari rotated her body ninety degrees to the right while speaking. "Essentially it's a series of punches that are so fast and powerful an aura of fire is formed around your fists." Displaying it, Ari took a natural stance before suddenly releasing a flurry of punches at her maximum speed and strength. With the technique she had two hundred and ten speed, while her strength measured at one hundred and forty-five. Nobu's reaction speed would be unable to keep up with her fists, although she wasn't aware of that. To him it would appear as if a blur appeared in front of Ari with orange streaks of fire moving back and forth. "This technique will put a considerable amount of strain on your body, don't be surprised if you feel slightly lethargic after using it the first time." Ari's display finished with this sentence and she turned to face Nobu directly again.

"Whether or not you can use the technique just depends on your body's fitness... So, show me what you've got." Confident in her tone, she expected Nobu would be able to use the technique. Unusually, Ari was smiling as she watched him, she hadn't previously had the chance to fully enjoy conducting a lesson and the experience was refreshing.


-5AP -30AP -40AP = 440AP

Ari kept looking directly into his eyes, not breaking eye contact even while the punch was coming towards her chest. It had been a bit offsetting, as this amount of eye contact was a tad unsettling. He wasn’t against meeting another and looking them directly in the eye, but her gaze pierced him continuously. Nobu hadn’t been too familiar with it, but maybe she had some sort of Doujutsu? Nobu thinks back to some of what he had seen, including the Sharingan, Byakugan, and Golden Eye. Those all had clear visual signs of their use, though, and Nobu coulnd’t see anything of the sort in Ari’s eyes. Nobu could not be sure as he was no expert, but he didn’t think it was Doujutsu. Why was she staring holes through the boy? She didn’t seem to have malicious intent, and she seemed to be smiling. Was it a non-verbal challenge? Nobu knew that eye contact in the animal kingdom could be seen as a threat or a challenge. Nobu, not wanting to appear weak to this “predator” decided it best to keep eye contact, signifying that he was up for the challenge of her training.
 
She reacted rather quickly, but Nobu could tell that she had held back as she said she would. His right arm extended, she responded by attacking the arm itself, causing it to stop an inch prior to contacting her chest and causing a surge of pain to shoot through his arm at the points of contact. It was an interesting technique, that much was clear. It effectively generated a defensive move by using a timely offensive strike to the opponent’s limbs. Fascinating. Nobu would not have expected to do so in combat. Most of his blocking and defense had been either using the tougher parts of his body to intercept an attack or using his speed to avoid it entirely. And this move could be used to break bones, which was almost the best form of defense available. It would be difficult to continue an offensive with a broken bone, which Ari points out.
 
Releasing his arm, she realized how Nobu had pulled his punch, inquiring about it. “Well, I wasn’t sure how much to put behind it honestly. I don’t do a lot of training like this. I just assumed that this was to get the motions down, hence the request to hold back my speed. Sorry, I hope I have not offended you in any way, Ari.” He says with a slight bow, clearly meaning no disrespect with his actions.
 
Either elbow with either knee, that’s what she had said. Nobu notes how limber her body was, and how she could improvise moves normally meant to be performed one way to be performed in another. This was a powerful lesson all by itself. Using techniques in ways that the opponent wasn’t used to could be used when opportunity presents itself. For this particular move, if one of your limbs is injured or in a position in which it could not be used, the ability to use any pair of limbs to defend and break the opponents arm could one day save your life. His body wasn’t very bulky, instead being on the scrawny size of things. Because he lacked large, bulky muscles he happened to be rather limber himself. Ari’s flexibility was on a different level than Nobu’s though. Maybe he would have to practice this, and extend his body’s full range of motions.
 
Slow, gradual movements? This was not what Nobu had expected. He had always been forced to push his limits, beyond pain or any other deterrents. He rarely slowed down to focus on balance, but it was likely sound advice. Plus, practicing the motions with slower movements could show him the differences that he normally tries to note while going full speed. Muscle memory would also kick in as well, as repeated uses of the move while moving slower would probably take longer to tire out. Overall, what she said was making a lot of sense, and so Nobu would do so. As she asked, he followed her example, slowly lifting his right knee to his left elbow, and then alternating to his left knee and right elbow. He did this several times, alternating and gradually building up speed. He felt like he had a solid idea of what would be needed to use the technique effectively in combat, but until he actually had to utilize it he couldn’t be completely sure. “Alright, I think I got this down. I like this technique. It feels like it embraces the philosophy that a strong offense is the best defense. Now that I have the general idea of this move down, what should we work on next?” Almost as soon as he lets this out, Ari begins explaining the next move.
 
She goes on to explain the Morning Peacock, a series of incredibly fast punches, generating enough force to cause a fiery aura to appear on ones fists while performing it. What it caused by the friction with the air at that speed, or was it the channeling of one’s inner chakra forming the aura? Would the flames hurt? As Ari performed the technique, he wasn’t able to follow along once she got into the move. Her fists moved with such speed, and Nobu was honestly quite impressed. The only thing he could see was a blur of motion, along with the light emitted by the fiery aura. “Wow, Ari! That was fast! I’m not sure I caught all of it, as it was a bit hard to follow. Only one way to find out though. Now, I’m not particularly good at using fire.” Nobu says, still unsure at to what creates the flames. He doesn’t mention his worry about the burning, as he didn’t want to seem cowardly or weak. He wasn’t so much afraid of it, but he still didn’t like the idea of his fists catching fire.
 
Turning so that he was not facing Ari, as he didn’t want to accidentally hit her even if she could likely block or evade it. Taking in a deep breath, Nobu felt as though he was ready to try the move. Focusing chakra flow into his arms, thinking that this might have something to do with the flames he begins slowly punching, left to right in alternation. Gradually he begins to start building up speed, before trying it at full speed. His fists move quickly, but they still don’t seem to be producing the noticeable flames of the technique. What was he missing? Was this some sort of Ninjutsu involved? Before letting it frustrate him, he takes another deep breath and relaxes while closing his eyes. After four or so of these, he tries again.
 
Starting this time at half speed, he starts rapidly building speed again. This time, a fierceness can be seen in his eye, though Ari likely wouldn’t be looking him directly in the eyes from this angle. He WAS going to get this technique down. The punches build up enough speed to the point where they finally were at max speed as the fiery aura began to cover them (Speed 175) and Nobu noticed the flaming streaks. Proud of himself, he smiles and turns to Ari. Sweat was pouring from him, as he was trying for some time to generate the speed and force needed for the move. Wiping sweat from his brow, Ari could easily see that he was positively beaming with pride.
 

“You are right. Such quick motions and the focusing of the flames really does take quite a lot out of you.” He would say as he reached for his water to take a swig and help replenish some of his lost fluids. “Would want to dehydrate. So, what else did you want to show me?” Nobu was happily taking in all of this training and eager to learn more from her.


OoC: Feel free to have Ari step in and show Nobu proper motion after he starts to get frustrated if you'd like to. 

[AP: 209- 40 (Morning Peacock) - 35 (Intersection Method) =134]