Day One (Open)

Takashi listened to the other two as they listed the options they believed available for training. He smiled as they talked, but wondered how many others they had trained. He could tell his request a bit out of the ordinary, though, the old man speculated that this could also be due to his age.
He was certain that an enthusiastic young 10-year old, running around and full of life, would not be thought of twice if he asked to be taught the ninja ways. Yet, Takashi was anything but that. Here was an old man, in his mid 50's, whom most likely thought to be a jounin if he were to say that he was shinobi, but he was asking to be taught, for he was only a genin.

Still, Takashi did not mind. He knew the questions he would recieve when he decided to become a ninja. Perhaps it was just as good for the others as it was for him.

"Think of me as a child, fresh out of the ninja academy," Takashi explained, looking between the two. "The world of shinobi being brand new, and full of excitement. The only jutsu known are the most basic, and any serious fight would certainly end in my death."

Takashi chuckled. He remembered seeing so many young shinobi like that, with each generation. He wondered how many had lived. 

"If you have the time, or do not mind, everything you can spare, I will value," Takashi said, nodding respectfully. After all, they were his superiors, and he knew they had important matters to attend to. Especially with so few ninja in the village. "But, perhaps starting with a spar, to excersize these old bones would be nice. I'm sure between the two of you would be quite a spectacle, and I know that it may be hard for you to not laugh when you see how slow I move."

Takashi smiled once more, and dipped his head. He like the two. They were the shinobi that he hoped the village was full of. Perhaps, despite his age, they wouldn't mind him too much.

(OOC: Since I don’t know if we actually went to the training grounds or not, I’m just going to not say anything about it just to be safe. If I'm incorrect and the timeline of this allows for us to be at the training grounds, my apologies ^^')
 
Salzem asked the seasoned man what he would like to do, slightly surprising the Hyuuga when he mentioned ninja tools. She had completely forgotten about such weapons, having never actually used them in combat she failed to realize that Takashi might not have known the basics regarding ninja tools and how to properly wield them.
 
Takashi began speaking, Hikari’s ears intently listening to what he spoke. He told them to imagine him as a child that had just graduated from the academy and entering the vast world of shinobi, knowing only the very basic jutsu’s. His statement reminiscent of when she was preparing for her Genin exam, learning the clone and transformation jutsu’s in order to pass the exam. She had stumbled upon a kind young man, Mitsui, who had helped teach her those jutsu, along with a few others such as the mark seal. It had been some time since she had last seen the man, but the young kunoichi knew his soul walked the earth no more, due to the mark seal they placed on one another. She could no longer sense his presence when using the seal, and her heart ached at the thought of yet another friend falling victim to the unfair world.
 
Hikari was brought out of her thoughts at the sound of Takashi’s chuckling. She wondered what in his statement could have earned such a reaction from the older man, she herself did not find the thought of death humorous but that seemed to be the cause of his amusement. Hikari became curious, wanting to know if the man had ever known the sadness and pain of losing someone close to him. If he had, she could not comprehend why he seemed to enjoy death, for death brought only grief and numbness in her experience.
 
He respectfully asked if they could spar first, to loosen his bones, and hoped they wouldn’t laugh at how slow he was. Hikari doubted the words he spoke, believing he wouldn't be as easy a challenge as he let on. She figured he would be faster than he believes as well, although probably not as fast as Salzem. The lycan could reach top speeds unimaginable to the average person. Takashi would be in for a shocking surprise if Salzem unleashed his full power, if only to show off.
 
“I do not mind starting off with a spar, and I think you should give yourself more credit than that, Takashi.” Smiling, she easily agreed to his offer to spar, knowing it would be a great opportunity to help Takashi learn the basics in a safe way. He might even surprise them with what he comes up with, for he was older than they were and had experienced more of life than they had. She figured he might know a few things that they might not, things he might have picked up on during his many years of being alive before them.
 

(OCC again: Hey guys, I’m sorry this is very sudden but I’m going to the lake this weekend and I might not have service. I won’t be back until Sunday, so that’s when I’ll probably get to post. If someone new joins in or you all want to continue rping, you can skip me if you would like to.)

Apparently, Takashi wanted to be treated like most of the kids that slink out of the academy rather than with the respect that came with his age. With a slight laugh, he remarked that in any serious fight, he'd probably end up dead. The lycan looked at Hikari and the two seemed to share a skepticism about the  humor of this joke, as if contemplating what was actually funny about it... Instead of making him laugh, Salzem's mouth spread into a sad smile as if he knew all-too-well how inexperience had gotten people killed.... It was what started his curse after all... It was.... difficult to remember.

He then mentioned that if they had the time, he would appreciate a spar to "exercise those bones" and a genuine grin spread across his face. He wasn't exactly excited. seeing as this guy was just out of the academy and probably had all the battle-experience and power of such a person, but it was a while since he actually got to fight someone. For the longest time since he had returned to Konoha, he had been either sleeping, eating, or punching a log for his training... Fighting an intelligent mind now was a treat to say the least.

"Yeah, Takashi..." Salzem agreed, looking at his older sister and smiling. "We're not here to make you look bad. We're here to help you get stronger. Already, you are more powerful than the strongest average man and, with our help, you'll get even more powerful." The lycan took up a fighting stance, shifting his weight on his feet to an unweighted balanced position, raising his right hand so it was about a fist's length away from his face then his left a little farther out, about another fist's. His fingers were erect, though loose and slightly curled at the tip, (a defensive form for what was known as Pacific-Wave Jiu-Jitsu) ready for whatever attack he may throw.

"I have an idea. How about both Hikari and I attack you? We'll be moving a little slower than you can so that you can keep up and, if you can knock us both down, you win! Sound good?"

Takashi listened to the response of the two. The girl claimed that he was due more credit than he was giving himself, which the old man doubted, but it was courteous. Then, Salzem agreed to a spar, and said similar, before outlining what it would be.

Takashi smiled in thanks when the young man mentioned that he would not move at full speed. The fight would likely be over in half a second if he did. Still, despite their kindness, the old man doubted he would be able to knock either over, unless they let him. 

Still, as Salzem took a defensive stance, Takashi made himself ready. 

"That sounds wonderful," the older man replied kindly. He was glad they were friendly, and willing to indulge him with their skill.

Takashi, tilted his hat back slightly, to allow a better view of the two, as the young man had stated that they would be attacking him first. Then, he straightened his back, and stood with the best posture his age would allow. It did not give him an intimidating height, for he was not a very tall man, but it was not meant to be intimidating; he only wanted to be ready. Then, Takashi held his right hand in a fist, right in front of his heart, and cupped this hand with his left. It almost appeared as if he was preparing to play rock-paper-scissors. He supposed in a way, he was, as the hand signs that jutsu required always reminded him of the childhood game. 

Then, Takashi centered his gaze to a patch of grass that laid between the two shinobi, allowing him to see both of their feet at the same time, and the rest of their bodies in his peripheral vision, to allow detection of any movement. He knew that if they wanted to, they could move faster than he would be able to notice at all, but he hoped it would be more interesting than that. 

With little jutsu, much less strength, and a slow speed, Takashi brandished the one weapon he was an expert with; his mind.

Hikari agreed with the words spoken by Salzem, and felt excited to see what Takashi could do. Despite his appearance and lack of jutsu, she knew he could still outsmart then if they let their guards down, and that was what made her excited for such a spar. Also because she had not been given the luxury to spar in quite some time, and sparring with someone new nonetheless was a real treat.

As Salzem got into a defensive stance, an unweighted position at that (which she only knew due to him having taught her how to “fancily punch things” as he liked to call it, also known as taijutsu). His hands were in front of his face, his fingers straight until the fingertips, which were curled slightly. It reminded her of the street fighting stance he had shown her, yet it was different in certain regards. She made a mental note of his stance, figuring it would be best to keep it in mind in case she ever needed to use such as stance herself.

Then the lycan offered for the two to strike first at a slower speed, giving him ample time to react and try to knock them down for the victory. Hikari was curious what approach Salzem would take, which type of fighting or taijutsu he would undergo. She herself stood with her legs shoulder length apart and slightly bent, ready to take off quickly if need be, yet her own plan of attack left her stationary. Her arsenal was full of both close and long range jutsu, so she knew Takashi would have to work hard in order to knock her over.

The aforementioned shinobi was preparing for the spar as well, tilting his hat up slightly to better his vision. He straightened his back and placed his right hand in front of his heart with the left hand coming into cup the other, in a form reminiscent of the childish game rock-paper-scissors.

With all the preparations made, it was time to start their spar. Hikari took no hesitation in forming the rat, tiger, dog, ox, rabbit, and tiger hand seals, concentrating her fire natured chakra into her stomach before expelling the fire through her mouth, morphing the stream of fire into four fireballs, each a foot in radius with an explosion radius of one meter. Hikari controlled the fireballs at will, aiming them all at Takashi (power 10, speed 10) in a horizontal line, so two were aimed straight for him with one to the left and one to the right, each about a foot apart, so if he barely dodged left or right there would still be a fireball (to a certain degree, as in she was not going to move them to follow him dodging, so he could jump to the side of all of them and be unscathed).

She did not mean for this jutsu to be hard to dodge, no she just meant for it to show him the different kinds of jutsu one can perform. This was also a sort of test to see what the elder shinobi would do, as there was a multitude of options that even he, barely out of the academy, could take to remove himself safely from the situation, or so Hikari believed.

(WC: 545)
(AP: 533 -20 Phoenix Fire = 513)

While Hikari began weaving signs for her jutsu, Salzem's back hand reached up to his necklace, his fingers breaking the cord and sending his beads flying up into the air. They moved erratically around him, forming a dangerous dome of wild projectiles with the cord slithering just above his arm almost like some kind of snake. The beads would dance around him at speeds of 10, slipping and sliding in such a way that they avoided Hikari right beside him, though still covered him at all sides. Not a moment later, the Hyuuga let off her phoenix fire-jutsu sending a line of projectiles right at the old man... With two from Salzem. With a gesture from one hand, two beads flew right and the old man at a speed of 10 and power of 10, matching Hikari's projectile speed easily. He wanted to give the old man a chance to dodge after all or it wasn't even a spar... One couldn't have a spar without it being SOMEWHAT even, right...?

Meanwhile the lycan waited for the man's approach, his hands returned to the defensive positions they were before. Salzem expected this to be either a really long or a really short fight with how much they suppressed themselves, either with this guy becoming completely overwhelmed by the two opponents or taking a long time to edge them out.

"Well! Have fun, Takashi." Salzem remarked, attempting to goad the old man.

Takashi watched the two as they began to coordinate their attacks. However, while they started, he watched them, and not their jutsu. From the few seconds of observation he had, he had made up his mind about what approach to take. 

He was not familiar with the hand signs that the young woman wove, but the result that followed was very recognizable. Takashi may be new to the ninja world, but the ninja world was an old one. The old man did not know the hand signs, nor have the chakra to perform many jutsu, but he had not signed up to become a shinobi without preparation. Knowing he had a few seconds before he had to react, Takashi flicked his eyes to Salzem, to see the young man creating some sort of weapon out of his necklace. The items of the ninja world were not something he could have prepared for very well, because unlike common jutsu, a ninja's equipment is usually specific to their person. 

However, the two beads that flew from the young man's necklace seemed to move at the same rate as the four fire balls that Hikari had launched. Takashi nodded inwardly.

The old man began to move to dodge the incoming projectiles, starting to run to the left, and forward ever so slightly, before jumping quickly, and ending with a roll to complete the dodge (all about 6 or so speed, as I believe that is fast enough to dodge them with the distance?). However, he made sure to not move at his full speed, and try to move slow enough that the incoming projectiles almost hit him, but fast enough that they did not. Takashi also did everything in his power to show signs of strain, as to convince them that the slower speed of their projectiles was near his limit. 

However, it was during this roll that Takashi began to weave his own hand signs. He knew that if either were paying attention to his hands, rather than the fact that he was rolling, they would spot the movement, but his plan still held. Takashi performed two sets of hand signs while he rolled, but did them in such fluency and speed that it would appear as if they were only one jutsu. Dog, boar, ram, ram, snake, tiger. With the ending of each sequence, Takashi could feel the chakra flow from his body. He only knew four jutsu, but he planned to use them well. 

Upon coming out of the roll (and I'm assuming dodging the projectiles), Salzem stood up, for that was the appearance that Takashi had taken. Every outer detail of the young man was perfect, only missing the beads that floated around the true Salzem. However, due to the angle that Takashi had landed, the two shinobi could not see the two other copies, or clones, of Salzem that stood behind Takashi.

Slowly, the now Salzem-appearing Takashi began to walk towards the two, with the two clones mimicking his movements perfectly so as to not give away their existence. He hoped that if they sensed any change in chakra, they would believe it to be due to transformation jutsu in place.

(transform jutsu - 5 ap, clone jutsu - 5 ap. Remaining: 160 - 10, = 150 ap, assuming cb didn't lie to me about 1 stamina = 10 ap).

After releasing her fireballs, Hikari glanced at Salzem to see what he had done. Beads and a string, that what she could only guess were from a necklace, were floating, covering the area surrounding him in a protective casing, the beads close to her yet floating sporadically enough to not grace her skin. When she turned back to face Takashi and the projectiles, she saw two of the beads following alongside her fireballs, noting Salzem had gone into both the offensive and defensive. She slightly rolled her eyes as the younger man egged the older one on, aiming to provoke him- although his efforts seemed to be in vain as no reply was ever formally given.

Back to Takashi, the new shinobi ran to the left and jumped, dodging the fireballs and beads, barely missing the flames that licked at his skin and clothes. Had he been any slower reacting, he would have been burnt or seriously injured. The fireballs landed a few meters behind where he had dodged them, exploding and turning the ground where they laid upon into craters a meter wide but not as deep as they could have been, the rubble flying in the air but not close enough to hit any of the shinobi sparring. As Takashi completed his dodging by rolling, Hikari’s veins bulged at the temple as she activated her Byakugan to prepare for close combat, watching Takashi’s every movement and studying his chakra network. She figured he would be moving to the offensive by now, wanting to show he, too, could do more than just dodge and run away. It was the kind of thing most fresh out of the academy ninja did, wanting to garner respect from those they acquainted themselves with, for no one ever wanted to be on a mission with someone who scurries off with their tail between their legs at the first sign of conflict.

However, instead of an elderly man standing up in front of them, it was a copy of her younger brother in full form besides the defensive dome surrounding him. Takashi had performed the transformation technique and as unprofessional as it may seem, Hikari wondered why he had chosen Salzem and not herself. Was it because she wasn’t a man, or did Takashi believe Salzem was stronger than she? Even though the latter was an accurate statement, she felt that Takashi could not have known such and, therefore, would be slightly offended if it were true.

Takashi began slowly approaching the two, Hikari narrowed her eyes in anticipation at what he was planning. Thus, instead of firing off another long range ninjutsu, she decided to wait, wanting to see what his tactic was. She positioned herself in the Gentle Fist stance, ready to defend against thrown objects or close combat. Hikari had a special technique in mind, one she had read about in a taijutsu book. She found the book at the Konoha Library, the same place she finds all of the books she uses to research new jutsu and techniques to train.

(WC: 1,055)
(AP: 513 -1 Byakugan = 512)

Salzem's eyes slightly widened, mildly impressed that the old man could move like that. That was to say, he shifted positions, ran and rolled with such fluency, if one couldn't see him, one might've thought he was just another ninja. Unlike Hikari's fireballs, however, Salzem had complete control of his beads, capable of making them track Takashi's movements if he so desired. Though... In the lycan's mind... that would be a bit unfair, especially since he was already holding back so much. Seeing as there was no need to give himself an advantage where none was required, Salzem merely retracted his beads at a speed of 10 as the man stood up from his roll. The whole time, the lycan couldn't care less about the man's roll as he wasn't making that much of an effort to close the distance. Instead, he focused on the hands the man wove... He recognized those signs, even if the whole thing was woven so perfectly together, he could pick out the two separate jutsus Takashi Wove: Clone and Transformation.

The lycan let out an amused smirk as the form his opponent took was his, wondering why he just didn't keep to his original. It was clear who was who, since Salzem never moved from his position nor did this guy have any chaotic beads and a massive metal cord floating about his arm. Still... the quality of the illusion was worth some praise, he'd give him that.

"Nice face, Takashi." Salzem remarked, crossing his arms and raising himself out of his fighting stance. "But you're not doing yourself any favors here. You're just wasting your chakra." Perhaps he was sounding a little confident and maybe he was. This was evidenced in his tone of voice and the apparent fact that he had completely forgotten about the clones the older ninja (now looking like him) had summoned earlier. They were nowhere in sight, not that Salzem could see or sense and that likely aided in his ego boost. The lycan glanced at his partner beside him, Hikari lowering herself into a gentle-fist stance in anticipation for whatever may come. She may have felt like waiting, prepared for the reason why Takashi walked towards them so slowly. However, Salzem didn't want to wait... He wanted to keep the old man moving, wasting his energy and perhaps that demonstrated the true difference in he and his sister: Salzem was aggressive, Hikari was defensive. While she waited for a reaction, the lycan acted, another bead shooting right at the old man's forehead at a speed of 10, or rather... his forehead...? Just looking at himself moving while he was standing here was frustrating...

The rest of the beads still flowed around him in their random electron-like patterns as he waited for Takashi to make his move. He hoped he went on the offensive soon... Fights were no fun if you don't trade blows.

Takashi glanced quickly between the two shinobi, and then grinned wildly when Salzem made his remark, in hopes to unsettle the two. Takashi would not keep this form for very long, but the clones certainly would. He hoped that it would affect the two to some extent. Chakra was rarely wasted.

Then, Takshi quickly stepped backward, while the clone in the center stepped forwards, and then once again with the one in the very back, giving him enough distance for a long running jump. This would be noticeable to some extent, however, the older man made sure to mimic hand signs close to those of "body flicker", so that it would appear as if he was activating another jutsu, though in truth he could not use it. He hoped that the speed at which he did this would not give away what he had truly done. 

Then, Salzem launched another ball at him, and Takashi was ready. In fact, he was hoping that the ninja would. The ball was aimed directly at his head, technically all of their heads as him and the two clones stood in a perfect row. However, as the clones dissipated shortly after contact, he would have to time everything perfectly. He may not have speed, but time had given him patience. 

Once again, Salzem had sent the ball at a fast speed, but one that Takashi could dodge; he silently blessed them for being understanding. Then, with enough time, all three Salzem appearing Takashi's jumped, so as to not give away their presence. However, two were aimed to dodge the bead, while the clone in front was not. The clone in front simply jumped straight upwards, so that the bead was aimed at his chest, while the one in the middle made a similar jump, but ran a bit to get a slight bit more height, enough to allow him to dodge the bead. The real Takashi had a different trajectory all together, and as he jumped, he begun to weave hand signs again, though unable to be seen, as he was covered by the two clones. Dog, Boar, Ram.

As the ball came into contact with Takashi, he grabbed it, and used its momentum to spin around in the air, before throwing it directly back at Salzem with the same force, and then landing with a roll, significantly closer to the ninja's, before breaking into a run at them. 

Or, that is what Takashi hoped it would appear as.

As the ball came into contact with the first clone, the clone would pretend to grab it, and spin around, so they would not see that it passed directly though him. Then, the clone would continue his spin, and as he pretended to throw the bead back, Takashi's running jump would be timed correctly so that it would be him, transformed into the shape of one of the beads, that flew towards Salzem's head. However, the clone had come into contact, so as it dissipated, the second clone would be there, preparing to roll, and then run towards the two shinobi.

To an inexperienced Shinobi, such as even Takashi himself, he hoped it would be indistinguishable from reality. However, to both of these Shinobi, there would be a number of finite details that would give it away, and Takashi knew this. The first clone did not have the momentum to roll so far forwards, with only jumping directly upwards, the bead would lose some speed, and of course, the flicker of bodies at the beginning, and of course the fact that Salzem could control the beads. 
However, Takashi also knew what adrenaline did to the brain.

He hoped that the shock of the clone, whom he hoped them to believe was him, throwing the bead, and even grabbing it at all, would dispell their focus on the fine details, and the fact that not only the bead, and the Salzem clone were flying towards them should contribute to it.


Takashi sighed to himself. It was going to be a very difficult fight, and there was only so much he could do with 4 jutsu. Still, he would try his best; there was no reason not to.


(150 - 5 ap for transformation again, =  145 ap)