Learning the flames of destruction

“No, I think I have an understanding, let me try it a few times. Ninjutsu is my specialty, so I can usually get a technique by just looking at it a few times.” Ninjutsu, where the utilization of nature transformation deviated was the most nebulous of all jutsu specialties out there. It was also widely considered that one’s prowess in the art also signified the skill of a shinobi as a whole. Ninjutsu that relies on chakra and, most of the times, hand seals is a power that was believed a power capable of creating actions that to the common folk appeared to be miracles or something that came close to them at least. That could be an overstatement but rightfully so.
 
“I see, ninjutsu is a great specialty to have, unfortunately, I lack that talent.” Ayato would respond to the maiden's words with a straight face before he retreated back into being an observer. He watched how the small fingers of her hands interlocked with one another executing the hand seals Ayato had displayed not a moment ago with perfect synchronization.
 
The yellow orb of flame took flight from Hikari’s rosy lips, but the path it created was not linear, instead of a straight line it vibrated to left and right before meeting the ground. She sucked the clear air, in what appeared to be frustration. The inhalation and exhalation puffing her cheeks at the same time her lungs visibly expanding underneath her small frame. Hikari turned to look at Ayato with her big brown eyes and spoke again.

“I take that back, I’m not so good at the ninjutsu thing, can you give me any pointers?”

Making a statement one moment only to contradict it the next. Girls knew how to be adorable it seemed even if they did not necessarily intend to. But this made clear to Ayato that the juvenile features of Hikari’s face could make any lad’s heart beat a little faster. “Oh, you are faring better than I did when I first practiced the Fire Release.” The wind blew as he finished. Lifting and swaying his hair almost as if each individual strand blown wanted to be carried away with it. “Hikari, truth is we may never accomplish what many legendary shinobi have done, but we do aspire to achieve our feats of greatness by living to our full potential. In order to do that, we have to practice the same things over and over again, even if it seems fruitless at first. All effort will be rewarded in good time." Ayato stated calmly, the warmth in the tone of his voice becoming more apparent. "Falling down makes us learn how to stand up again."He knew that truth better than anyone, but if no one is there to show you how to stand up correctly you could be getting horribly wrong. Thankfully he had seen to that today.  

WC: 466

Hikari would listen to the Hyuga boy as he would explain to Namikaze how she was doing beter than he had the first time he did it. Hikari would be a bit shocked at this, but she guessed maybe she was doing a better job than she had originally thought she did. Hikari would feel a little bit better at this, he would then continue on to say the following.
“Hikari, truth is we may never accomplish what many legendary shinobi have done, but we do aspire to achieve our feats of greatness by living to our full potential. In order to do that, we have to practice the same things over and over again, even if it seems fruitless at first. All effort will be rewarded in good time.”

Hikari at this point would know that this was words of a wise man, had he ever tought before? Because that was just what any student neaded to hear to get back on their feet.

Hikari would turn around and try to perfect the technique again. Hikari would focus for a second, thinking about the technique and how she saw the genin do it, she would take a deep breath and attempt to repeat the technique properly this time. She would slowly form the hand signs Tiger – Ox – Rat – Bird – Tiger (At a speed of 30, not feeling like this would need to be perfect.) Hikari would take a deep breath and attempting to spit a small fire ball out of her mouth. As she attempted it some fire would come out of her mouth, but it was another pathetic spark rather than a fast small fireball. Only one, but it was a lot bigger than the other ones she had done.

Whelp, gotta keep trying, Hikari would think to herself and would try again. The young kunochi would focus on her breath and for a second, thinking about the technique and would take a deep breath and attempt to repeat the technique. She would slowly form the hand signs Tiger – Ox – Rat – Bird – Tiger before taking a deep breath and attempting to spit a few small fire balls out of her mouth. As she attempted it 2 small fireballs would come out at a speed of 30. The mini fire balls would go off for some distance, about 15 meters before fizzling out.

That is better, but I need to be a little better now. Hikari would focus for a second, thinking about the technique and how she just did it, and what she could do to make better. Hikari Namikaze would breathe in deeply and try once again to perform the technique. She would form the hand signs needed at a speed of 40, Tiger – Ox – Rat – Bird – Tiger before breath in and attempting to spit the small fire balls out of her mouth. As she attempted it some fire balls would come soaring out of her mouth out of her mouth, this time 3 at a speed of 30, going 20 meters.

A little bit more! Hikari would smile and take a 6th attempt at this. Taking a minute this time to focus her chakra on the technique shad been doing a few times now. The young tea waitress would take a deep breath and attempt to repeat the technique again. She would form the hand signs of Tiger – Ox – Rat – Bird – Tiger at a speed of 50 before taking a deep breath and attempting to spit a small group of fire balls out of her mouth and through her lips. As she did, 4 fireballs would spit out of her mouth, at a speed of 40 and at a power of 40. They would go out 30 meters.

Ok, that was good, Hikari would think to herself, I think I got the power, strength and distance down, just need a few more fireballs. Hikari would focus for a seventh time, thinking about the how she saw the genin make the fireballs a few minutes ago, she would form the Tiger – Ox – Rat – Bird – Tiger handsigns and attempt to perform the technique again. Taking her deep breath, she would shoot out 6 fire balls, at a speed of 40 and a power of 40, letting them shoot out and letting them go 30 meters before they dissipated into the air. That seemed like it was a perfected technique.

Hikari would smile, looking back at her genin teacher and smile, “Well, It took a few tries, but I think that is good, what do you think?”


Word count: 773

Life was not going to hand out a break. Nor get any easier. Ayato had used both his initiative and intelligence to create opportunities so far in his life as a shinobi. Practice and dedication, the words that were spoken to Hikari did not come from a spur of the moment or an attempt to look cool.  They were of his own personal experiences and thankfully they reached the maiden. 

He observed her efforts closely, the hand seals, the focus in channeling the chakra, the flames themselves.  Intangible or tangible elements sooner or later they all become part of the shinobi's blood and Hikari Namikaze absorbed everything like a sponge. The moment she believed she had succeeded in shooting a volley of fireballs that Ayato would approve of. She turned to look at him with her brown eyes and smiled. “Well, It took a few tries, but I think that is good, what do you think?”  It had been a long while since Ayato Hyuuga had seen a sight so adorable. Hikari was the kind of girl you wanna see giving a genuine smile more often. 

Ayato wanted to praise her but the words did not come. The scenery of Fireworks emerged into his mind. How you cannot help but admire their beauty when they are shot in the sky. The magnificent cracking sound vibrating through the atmosphere, the trail of light practices that eventually will lead to a powerful explosion of several different color hues. Yet as they as they begin to fall, there is a certain sadness within the magnificent scenery that words could never come to describe. "Pretty aren't they, Ayato-kun." She had asked him once, many years ago. She was frail but her eyes were always warm and the touch of her hands gentle. Powerful thoughts and emotions were within that memory. This is what eventually happens when you try to come close with someone, you only suffer from their loss. 

The scenery shifted once again, and now he was back at the river, the maiden in front of him. Tall aspen trees cast their shadows upon the water,  and the chipping of birds filled in for his silence. "Pardon me for spacing out. I...I was reminded of something..." Ayato managed to say, his eyes glittering behind looses bang of black hair. Putting a fist in front of his throat to clear his voice, he spoke again. "To say that your display was praiseworthy would be an understatement, my lady." Ayato stated with warmth in his voice, while at the same time not neglecting to address the girl with the courtesy she deserved. A lady she was, Hikari looked the part and executed ninjutsu as if she had been born with them. A kunoichi lady, he decided, not some willowy creature who sits up in a tower, brushing her hair and waiting for some knight to rescue her.  

WC: 475

As the young kunochi would ask how she did, Ayato would start to look like he was about to respond, but suddenly stopped. He just sort of looked at her for a second, as if there was something wrong, Hikari was about to ask about if the young man was feeling ok, but Ayato would suddenly start to talk again. “Pardon me for spacing out. I...I was reminded of something." Hikari might usualy get a little mad about this, if you are teaching someone something, then you should be either giving your entire attention to that person. But Ayato seemed like the person who would know that, so it seemed weird to the young maiden that he would get distracted like that.

As she was about to ask about it, he would clear his throught and say “To say that your display was praiseworthy would be an understatement, my lady” Ayato would say. Hikari’s heart skipped as she felt like she was able to get some praise from the obviously much more advanced ninja than herself.

That being said, it still bothered her, Ayato was distracted and Hikari didn’t understand why. The chestnut haired girl would think about asking him about this for a second, but felt like perhaps she didn’t know enough about him to feel comfortable asking him if something was wrong, after all, if he had a secret or something, it would be rude for the kunochi to get into the boy’s personal life.

“So….” Hikari would ask, wanting to talk more with the boy “I was wondering, when I was talking to you earlier, your eyes were a different color, they were cold, and, well, I don’t want to say weird, but they were different, was that my imagination? Or….”


Hikari would slap herself in the face multiple times mentally. What was that? She literally had just told herself that she wasn’t going to ask about his personal life! With the question before, he could just say nothing, if he didn’t want to talk about it! As for this question, there was only two options, either she was imagining it, and he was about to call her out on it. Or He was going to have to give up some personal information, that he might not wanted to give away. This was a lose lose situation.

Word count: 401

“I was wondering when I was talking to you earlier, your eyes were a different color, they were cold, and, well, I don’t want to say weird, but they were different, was that my imagination? Or….” 

Now bitter, now sour, now sweet. Hikari went from a polite level headed girl to a klutz in a drop of a hat. It was a blunt question. Well, Ayato wasn't much for easy courtesies. "A Hyuuga must never speak out of turn." It is known, but this role applied to him or the Hyuuga. Not necessary to everyone else, and Ayato wasn't offended by her question, it was not like she insulted him. His life was filled with much worse than somewhat inappropriate questions. 

"It is complicated to say at least." Ayato would let out, calmly. so he had to figure a way to weight carefully his every word. There was still a chance of being bothered by having to talk to her about himself but not to the point he would openly express it. Either way, he figured this was the best response he could give.  "My last name is Hyuuga. The name of a bloodline running back a thousand human years." Ayato would begin to explain, giving a small lecture to Hikari Namikaze about shinobi culture and society. "Shinobi clans are known to develop skill unique to them and their kin. This is known as Bloodline Limit or Kekkei Genkai. My clan, however, did not develop this skill, it existed in the blood running through their veins since the dawn of days. "Ayato would place his right hands in front of his brow, and when he removed it the eyes had shifted from brown to white, yet no veins bulge around his temples.  "White eyes are Hyuuga features. Proves you are worthy of this lineage." Ayato would finish with a sad smile on his lips.

"It is your turn to talk now, what do you say?" Ayato wasn't above admitting that he was interested in her as well. What little had he gathered was that Hikari was a local who was now a shinobi. It was confusing, but Ayato was curious, so he may as well humor her with a conversation.  Many citizens put enrolled their offsprings in the shinobi academy but that was when they couldn't find any better fate for their children than turning them into soldiers and seek glory. A time full of action comprised the majority of a shinobi's life on this planet, but Hikari, a girl of such comely appearance could follow a different path. A different from the kunai and the hand seals. A good marriage for example, either to a wealthy merchant or a highborn for that matter. 

"Hikari, why did you become a shinobi." He asked her.

WC - 464

Hikari would continue to mentaly slap herself in the face as she listened to the boy, She couldn’t believe she was such a stupid idiot! Why would she ask that? To her surprise though, Ayato wouldn’t even really seem bothered to much by it, he would continue talking, he would take his time answer though, as if he was carefully picking out his words. “It is complicated to say at least. My last name is Hyuuga. The name of a bloodline running back a thousand human years Shinobi clans are known to develop skill unique to them and their kin. This is known as Bloodline Limit or Kekkei Genkai. My clan, however, did not develop this skill, it existed within the blood running through their veins since the dawn of days. White eyes are Hyuuga features. Proves you are worthy of this lineage.” Now that Hikari would now remember that she had read about the Hyuga clan in the Kozai Yuki National Archives. She heard that the Hygua clan was one of the most powerful families in the ninja world. She knew the speiclized in tai-jutsu and cutting off shinobi’s chakra. It was quite a terrifiying blood line. Ayato came from one of the most terrifying families of all time.

Speaking of families….. Ayato would then suddenly turn the tables around and ask Hikari why she had become a shinobi. Hikari would bit her soft lips. She really didn’t want to go into the story as to why she became a shinobi, but she felt like she had to.
“Well…” Hikari would explain, “When I was younger, my parents…. Would tell me stories from when they were kids about shinobi, they grew up near Konoha, so where they were from, Shinobi weren’t considered evil like they are here. As such, I wasn’t one to believe that shinobi were evil…. So when the opportunity came up for me to become a ninja about two months ago, I took it.”

That was true, but that wasn’t the full story, but it wasn’t a lie. The full story was that, but there was more. About 10 weeks ago, Hikari had her entire family slaughtered by bandits. They charged into her little tea shop and killed everyone besides her and she was the only person left alive, after that she wanted to grow stronger to protect people, but she wasn’t so comfortable to point out the fact that she was now an orphan, and the only survivor of her family.

Word count: 425

As the teenage Hyuga would explain his story, and how he wasn’t allowed to pick another path, Hikari felt out for him, she had read that it was near impossible for a person who was in a ninja clan to become anything but a shinobi. It wasn’t impossible for one to get another job, Hikari knew a few people in her old village that had come from a clan, but pretty much all of them didn’t become a shinobi because they showed almost none of the clan they came form’s specialties. Hikari also knew that most shinobi that were in clans were forced to starting how to become shinobi at a ridiculously young age. Heck, Hikari knew that one of her friends, Miyamoto was his name if Hikari remembered right, was on the verge of becoming a chunin at the age of 10!

Also, Hikari knew what it felt like to be a person destined to be in a single role for life. When Hikari heard the stories of fearless shinobi as a child, she wanted to become one. Of course, she wasn’t allowed to become one by her parents, and was told she was going to spend her entire life as a small village tea waitress. If she was lucky when she was in her 40’s she might be moved up to an owner of a tea waitress, or possibly get to move up to becoming a bar tender at a big town, either way, it wasn’t much of a life to live for.
Hikari would look at the young gentleman as he told her, “No, never mind. I'm happy that you were able to choose your own path. I couldn’t”

Hikari would look at him, she was scared to ask this, but felt like it was an obligation she had as a shinobi to know this. Are you saying….” She would ask, [color=pink] “That if you were given the option, that you wouldn’t become a shinobi?”


That was a horrible thing to have to do! She knew that this was done around the world, but at the same, it was different having now met someone right infront of her that was a shinobi that was forced into his role.

Word count: 378

 Are you saying….” She would ask, “That if you were given the option, that you wouldn’t become a shinobi?” 

The nervousness in her voice apparent, this time Ayato didn’t have to pick up any tension signal her facial expression might give away. She was as straight forward as she could get. And Ayato had given her reason to do so.

“I wonder about that,” Ayato said coolly, responding to her question. He left the words to hang in there for a few moments. Insurrection is the most sacred of the rights and the most indispensable of duties. But what he supposed to go against at? A thousands of years of family tradition? It was his duty. His father had been a shinobi and so did his father before him. Ayato dreamed that one day he would reach their levels. The choice was made the moment Hibari Hyuuga wrapped a scarf around Ayato’s neck and named him a son. Or before that when his mother passed. Perhaps it was the day he was conceived, he couldn’t tell any more.

For a moment everything turned to gray. There was no sound of water flowing downstream, no leaves rustling with the things, no birds chirping from their hidden nests. There was only one sound in the world, that of rusty iron hinges muffling the desperate cries of a child. The memory disrupted him and sent a chill down his spine. 

“We all have our own ghosts to fight Hikari. Fights that other people in our lives know nothing about.“ Ayato moved closer towards her in order to add emphasis in his words. He was a head taller than she was, and at this distance, the difference in height was highlighted. She might felt uncomfortable with, not the height but the close in the gap. Ayato had made sure not to invade her personal space so that she wouldn't misinterpret his intentions.

"But I believe that we all wish to be heroes; though, it can be reality simply because being a hero can be achieved in many different ways.“ Ayato stated calmly, referencing everything in the conversation within that sentence. Including what she had said to him about her reason to become a shinobi.  He was trying to be considerate of the maiden's feelings, he was trying to be attentive to these things. So even now he wouldn't pry into her life. Nor ask what it was that she was keeping from him. But he had to wonder, is really pulling the thorns away from one’s path what's best for them.

WC - 422

Hikari was bothered by the fact that the man didn’t give her a straight answer, but then again, there wasn’t much proof that there was a straight answer to give. It could be exactly what the boy stated, that he wasn’t sure himself. That being said, there was 4 possibilities. The first one was that the boy didn’t want to be a shinobi, and he was just trying to calm Hikari down because he thought there was nothing she could do about it. The second one (Which is the one the young genin was most scared of was the one happening) the boy was devolving Stockholm syndrome (Hikari read about it in a book, where a captive would start to feel sympathy for his captor), where he didn’t want to be a shinobi, but with everything happening he started to force himself to believe that he did want to be a shinobi. The third option was that he was a hormonal teen, and did want to be a shinobi, but has been having second thoughts recently, (By no means is this a hate on Ayato, Hikari has gone through that stage multiple times.) The final option (And with all honesty, was the most likely possibility) was the idea of what Hikari already said, and that was that Ayato honestly didn’t know, and he was debating whether or not he honestly wanted this or not.

The chestnut haired girl knew that she didn’t know the boy nearly well enough to be able to make a strong decision on this. (Also, deep down, Hikari had a feeling she was looking too deep into this.) As such, she would smile and listen to the rest of what the boy had to say.

When he finished, she would smile back at him and say, “Finer words have never been spoken, but make sure you take that to your heart also, you are still young, it isn’t too late to start a new career if you don’t feel like the path of the shinobi is for you. “You can still become a hero in more ways than just becoming a shinobi, if you want, there is an entire world out there! You don’t have to base what you do based on the fact that your family has done something for generations.” The young maiden would look up at the sky, where the sun was about to set. “Well, it is getting late, I think that is enough training for today, unless you think that there is something I can teach you real quick. Perhaps you have an interest in wind style?” The young girl would smile as she asked this.

Word count: 452