Solo Training...Or is it... (Kotetsu, Rosa, P, NK)

It would seem like more training is in order. 'You can never have enough training...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he got up and started his morning routine. Today wasn't going to be any different from any other day really. Just closer and closer to the start of the Chuunin exams, and Kotetsu was not feeling prepared at all yet. He still had a lot to work on, and no idea where to start. 'I guess I could go to the library to see if there's any ideas there that would help me pick a direction to go in...' He thinks to himself as he finishes packing up his gear for the day. 'Let's see if I can find some other useful tricks in the library...' Kotetsu thinks to himself as he heads out the door.

He started a little later today than he normally did. As such, the streets were a little busier. More people were awake and going about their daily routine as well. That didn't really bother him. He was much stronger now than he was, so he was more than capable of dealing with almost any problem that would arise. One man recognized him on his walk to the library, it was one of the religious zealot's followers that tried to attack him at the training grounds, the day he had met Tsume. His arm was still in a cast, and his face went pale as he saw the young shinobi walking towards him. Kotetsu didn't care about the man. He tried reasoning with him and it failed. Should he attempt to approach him again in a similar manner, he would defend himself. But it would appear that the man had had enough from their first encounter, as he allowed Kotetsu to pass unmolested. In fact it appeared that the man was relieved to not have been confronted by the young shinobi.

The rest of Kotetsu's journey to the library was uneventful. He walked inside, returned the scrolls that he had borrowed, and  went in search of more knowledge. There were a few things he was interested in. He had learned a lot from Thorfinn about the Earth Grudge Fear bloodline that also resided within Kenshin. Looking through the library was a fruitless endeavour. Kenshin had likely made sure that any written records were no longer here, as he did not seem to like having much information known about him. Kotetsu could respect that, and would keep his silence on the matter as it is really none of his business. 'I wonder if I'll be able to get him to open up at some point...' Kotetsu thought to himself. He liked the scar-covered Chuunin of Hoshi, despite his rough exterior and penchant for violence.

His next search was a little more worthwhile. While it seemed there was not much here, there was a little information to be found about his clan. Mainly where they originally lived, a few famous Yuki clan members, and a couple jutsu that would definitely  come in handy later, when Kotetsu had more time, and the to learn the most complex of jutsu. After reading up on his heritage, he decided to see if there were any other jutsu he could work on before the Chuunin exam was slated to begin. His repertoire was pretty extensive, but you never knew what would be helpful in a pinch. If he couldn't find anything else worthwhile, he could always go master what he already knew. There was one scroll that caught his eye though. A jutsu that had been around for a very long time. Once that Kotetsu hadn't even thought of trying to master. The Rasengan. 'There. That will be a useful trump card for close-combat for sure...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he picked up the scroll and read what it entailed. It would take a lot of work, but Kotetsu was up for the challenge. 'I wonder if I can master it in a day...' He thought to himself as he rolled up the scroll and brought it with him, returning the rest to their respective places on shelves. Once done, he made his way out of the library.

His next stop was to be his last one for some time; the training grounds which was located near the water gardens of Hoshi. It was a decent walk from the library to the training grounds, but Kotetsu was fine with that. it helped him to build up his physical endurance. The streets were still fairly busy, but essentially as uneventful as his previous walk from his home to the library. On the way there, he thought of different ways he could apply the Rasengan to a fight. It had a fair amount of destructive potential, so it could clear obstructions, he could use it to hit someone. Possibly even deflect a jutsu that was aimed at him. 'Definitely a lot of potential...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he arrived at the training grounds. 'Now I just need to master it...'

The training grounds looked relatively deserted for some reason. 'I would have thought there would be more people here...' Kotetsu looked around and he saw a few youngsters like him, although most likely they were still academy students trying to learn the basic jutsu. There was an older shinobi who appeared to be meditating off to another side. That left a good deal of space for Kotetsu to work. Setting his bag down beside a tree, Kotetsu pulled out the scroll and began to re-read it. " The Rasengan is created by concentrating chakra into a sphere in ones hand and spinning the chakra at high speeds. The ball that is created through this technique is then slammed into the target dealing massive damage." He read aloud, so he could hear them as he read them, to get an idea as to how it worked. The scroll went over different stages of how the Rasengan was formed. You needed to first summon chakra into the palm of one hand, release it so that it coalesced in the air right above your hand, condense it, and rotate the chakra, so that it formed a fast-spinning sphere of chakra. Quite a large undertaking, but Kotetsu was up for the challenge.

WC: 1046

The sun shone ever so brightly through the window in her room, the pinkette already being awake and almost ready to begin her day. She intended to learn many jutsu today, wanting to become stronger and to also unlock her clan’s Doujutsu, the Golden Eyes. Her father and mother showed her their precious Kekkei Genkai many times before, wanting the young woman to master their light release abilities. It was the only thing she, a Loyalist of the Akari clan, could do as a Genin. She was not yet trained in the art of assassination, and as such could not fulfill her duties as an Akari.

She, of course, knew that training only one thing in a day was a waste of her time, and knew she needed to learn more techniques and jutsu today as well. Rosa, having been planning her training spree for quite some time, had already checked out several books from the Hoshigakure Library, mostly books on lower E ranked jutsu and lightning affinity techniques. She had yet to master any jutsu requiring the electrifying chakra that coursed through her body, yet such an element would be greatly useful in the shinobi world. Able to electrocute anyone at will, or shock zap them into submission, was something worth value.

She placed the three books she obtained from the library inside a black backpack, adding a bottle of water inside as well. Then she thought better of herself and placed two water bottles, for she did not want to get dehydrated by a training session. She would be the laughing stock of the village if she did such a foolish thing.

With everything packed and her gear on, plus her usual attire consisting of mid-calf high combat boots, brown shorts, and her white jacket and maroon vest combo, she exited her apartment and made her way through the busy, noisy streets. Rosa easily cleared them in no time, having maneuvered her slender body to avoid making contact with anyone and taking her typical long strides. Her pace was quick, she had a purpose and wanted to get there fast. Her boots thundered as she crossed over the pavement of the roads, her expression blank, devoid of any emotion.

It was thanks to her father that she could so easily hide her emotions away, he was a stoic man and she his stony daughter. Thus as she entered the training grounds, taking subtly glances at the water gardens surrounding them, her expression could have been mistaken for anger, due to how one’s naturally resting face tends to sometimes take on such an appearance. However, she was neither upset nor angry, just content and focused on training. Her aqua eyes scanned the area as she walked, noting the few children practicing their jutsu for the Genin exams and a man meditating, trying to focus his chakra and potentially learn a new jutsu, or he was just relaxing in the tranquility of the gardens and the warmth brought by the sun.

Rosa cared not either way. As long as those around her did not disrupt her peaceful training, she would be completely fine with whatever they partook in doing. She made her way to a shaded area underneath a tree, nearby a boy who was staring at a scroll, obviously reading how to learn some technique or fighting style. She passed by him, barely giving him a glance as she laid her bag down by the trunk of the tree a few meters away from his own, pulling out a green hardcover book and skimming the pages. She closed the book soon after, setting it back down gently before facing the open training grounds, the gentle breeze playing with her rosy locks as her eyes searched farther out in the distance, thinking of what she should do next.

Rosa wouldn’t admit it aloud, but the techniques she had lined up required tools she did not have, such as being able to place herself in a genjutsu or using a kunai to cause a small injury so she could heal herself, among a few other things. It put a damper on her day to be at the will of another shinobi, especially when she was only trying to learn low level jutsu, for she rather liked being alone and working on her training without the assistance of others, despite them being taught in the academy that teamwork was necessary in the ninja world. Rosa never cared for teamwork, which could be the reason she never had any friends. Friends didn’t help her in life in any way, so why keep such shallow relations with people who will only end up getting in your way or stabbing you in the back? It was useless and pointless all the same.

Then it hit her like a ton of bricks.

She didn’t need anyone’s assistance to learn her Golden Eyes doujutsu, or so she thought anyways. But, as she began to ponder how to learn her clan’s doujutsu without a more experienced clan member with her, her plans were once again soiled. Rosa was back at the start, her pride too high to request the aid of the small child near her. He looked to be quite young, standing almost a foot shorter than she with a black fauxhawk, and she was far too old to ask an academy brat for help, despite the obvious Hoshigakure forehead protector on him deeming him at least a Genin brat.

(WC: 917)

Just as he was about to get started working on the Rasengan, his focus wavered as he spotted a newcomer enter the training ground. A pink haired girl entered the training grounds and looked around briefly before making her way towards where Kotetsu was sitting with the scroll he borrowed. She stands at an average height of 5’5 and had a slender, curvy figure. Kotetsu figured she was probably around 100 to 110 pounds. She had pink hair, coming down to about mid back, and had deep blue eyes, a very different shade of blue than Kotetsu’s ice blue eyes. Still very striking though and they provided a good accent to her hair. Her clothing was like almost every other shinobi Kotetsu had met. Different and consisted of some form of clothing with bits and pieces of armour. It consisted of calf-length brown leather boots. On her left leg she wears a leather strap that her ninja pouch is connected to. She was wearing a deep maroon sweater-like vest that ends just below her chest, and a sleeveless white jacket. The jacket is worn over the vest and reaches past her hips with a small triangular opening above her shorts but below her naval. She wore shorts, but there was very little of them. They seemed to cover enough to not reveal anything that would be embarrassing. Her right hand had a fingerless dark blue glove, while her left hand has a black fingerless glove that covered her arm up to a little past the elbow. Her left shoulder is covered in a small black piece of armour-like material and her shoulder armor has a long red cape attached to it via some form of connector. It also appeared she had a backpack of some kind on her back. He couldn’t really make it out because of the cape, other than that it was black in colour. She was very pretty, and badass-looking at the same time, probably due to the “Don’t mess with me” look she had. Kotetsu had to stop himself from staring. ‘Can’t be caught doing that again…’ Kotetsu thought to himself with a small smile. ‘I wouldn’t want to develop a reputation as a peeping Tom… And she looks like she would be ready to kick my ass…’ Kotetsu was not one for profanity, but there was always a time and place where it was appropriate.

She walked right past him and dropped her backpack off underneath a tree. Where she immediately sat down beside it and pulled out a book to read. The book had a green cover, and it looked like there was writing on the front, but he couldn’t make it out from here. She sat reading it for a few moments before closing the book and simply looking out across the training ground. He shrugged and went back to the scroll he was reading. ‘I’m pretty sure I have this figured out…’ he thought to himself as he rolled up the scroll and placed it back into his bag. “Here goes nothing…” He says quietly to himself. He then pushed himself up to his feet and turned around so that he was facing the tree. Almost as an afterthought, he grabbed his bag and tossed it away from the tree, coincidentally closer to the pink-haired girl. If this worked the way he thought it would then the tree may come crashing down, and he didn’t want his bag caught in the cross fire. If it was closer to the girl, there was less area that he would need to try to protect.

With that out of the way, there was nothing left to do but to try the jutsu. Kotetsu held out his right hand, because it was his dominant hand and started gathering his chakra into the palm of his hand. That in itself was a bit of a task because of the sheer amount of chakra that the Rasengan required. It took him almost a minute to gather the appropriate amount of chakra in his hand. He then forced it out of his hand, into the air just above his hand. To someone that would be watching (like a certain pink-haired girl nearby), it looked like a small mist of blue chakra slowly materialised over Kotetsu’s right hand. From there, he focused his attention on trapping the chakra, forcing it into a spherical shape, and spinning the chakra quickly. The mist slowly took the shape that Kotetsu wanted and slowly started speeding up in terms of its rotation. The amount of concentration the Rasengan took was immense for his current level of skill. But at least he knew that he could control it. After another pair of minutes, the sphere was about a quarter of a foot in diameter, and the rotational force was off the charts compared to when he first started. It’s incredible…’ He thought to himself. ‘Now to test how powerful it really is…’ That’s where the tree came into play. Once he was confident in his handling of the jutsu, he turned his palm so that it and by extension, the newly formed Rasengan, was facing the tree. He then pushed the Rasengan into the tree. The effects on the tree were a bit ostentatious. The Rasengan drilled through the tree easier than Kotetsu had thought possible. ‘It’s almost as if the tree wasn’t there…’ Kotetsu thought to himself as the Rasengan finished shearing through the tree. As he released the jutsu, he didn’t count on it dispersing so violently. The residual chakra of the Rasengan sliced through what little there was left keeping the tree upright. It slowly started falling down towards Kotetsu. He could have easily dodged out of the way, but where was the fun in that, especially when the tree could come crashing down in a way that could hurt the young lady nearby, as well as crush his bag. ‘A little ostentatious, but it will have to do…’ Kotetsu thought to himself as he prepared to use a technique he recently learned. It didn’t require hand signs which was a small blessing.  Suddenly, 5 large spikes of Ice appeared out of the ground and speared the tree trunk, preventing it from falling. The spikes were all fairly large, the smallest at a meter in diameter at the base. He had positioned the spikes in such a way where the tree would fall and roll in the opposite direction from where the girl was sitting. Speaking of which…

Kotetsu turned around and grinned sheepishly at the young girl, while scratching the back of his head embarrassingly. “Sorry about that…” he said to her. “I wasn’t really ready for how that ended up.”

WC: 1120
TWC: 2166

A bag landing a foot or so from her brought the young Genin’s attention to the child beside her, a glare shining in her aquatic eyes at his disturbance. He didn't seem to notice her irate look, facing the tree he had used as shade, and seemed to be warming up for some kind of jutsu, one she knew not. He extended his right hand, focusing intently on his palm, and at first Rosa thought he was failing his attempt at this new jutsu, becoming disinterested. She was about to open a blue covered book to learn more about Lightning chakra jutsu, when a small mist of blue chakra began to form above his palm, swirling rapidly in a circle. Her eyes watched a bit more intrigued this time around as he seemed to be shaping the chakra, forming it into a sphere with a diameter of about a quarter in foot. She wondered what affinity of chakra one needed for such a technique, presuming he was using wind chakra with the way the chakra flowed smoothly through the air, and it didn't have normal characteristics of the other elements. Unless, of course, it was a new element she was unaware of, that was a possibility as well.

The boy then shifted his palm, the chakra orb following suit, and faced the tree. It clicked in her mind as to why he moved his bag towards her just then, he didn't want it to be in the crossfire of his technique. It was a viable reason to have thrown it towards her, but she felt he could have thrown it behind him or to his left with just as much ease, and without having to interrupt her- despite the fact she had not been training as of late. Her thoughts were interrupted as he rammed his hand into the tree, the chakra biting through the bark as if it were a twig. Rosa’s eyes widened slightly, impressed by the power of the technique not the wielder of it, but her immediate thoughts were put to shame as the jutsu ended less than cleanly, slicing what little remained of the tree as it dispersed.

She watched with a bored expression as the tree began to fall on the child, not attempting to lift a finger to aid him in getting out of his predicament. He got himself into trouble, and he'd be the only one getting himself out of it. It seemed he could handle himself well, protecting his tiny frame from the falling tree with a unique element, one she didn't know a person could possess. Five large ice spears shot out of the ground, impaling the tree and keeping it in its place, with himself safe from the impact. The tree rolled to the other side, thumping loudly with dust flying as it landed on the welcoming ground. It was around this time that the boy turned to face her, scratching the back of his head nervously. He apologized to her for the trouble, admitting he wasn't ready for the aftermath of the technique.

Rosa sat quiet for a moment, blankly staring into the boy's icy gaze, contemplating what she should say, not wanting to make such a young looking child cry with her usually harsh tone and biting words.

“Try to warn others if you don't know what a jutsu will do, it'll save you from being embarrassed or potentially hurting someone in the future.” Her time was neutral, uninterested but neither angry nor upset. She was trying to be helpful to the young ninja, giving him wise words despite the fact he obviously knew more jutsu than herself. It was rather humiliating to be showed up by a child. Speaking of which, she wondered how old exactly he was. Eight? Ten? Possibly even twelve?

Her intrigue about the technique got the best of her, and she inquired the boy about it, “Was that jutsu utilizing wind chakra? And is it supposed to disperse violently like that after slicing through something?”

(WC: 1,592)
(Sorry my post js so short, on my phone >_<)

The girl’s response was one of almost disinterest, which suited Kotetsu fine. He should have warned her in advance that he was going to use a new jutsu, but what’s done is done. It would appear thought that he had piqued her curiosity about the jutsu he had used because she asked about the chakra nature involved to use the jutsu. “The Rasengan is actually a jutsu that is purely a change in chakra form.” He says politely. “It doesn’t have a chakra nature at this stage, I do plan to try imbuing my clan’s ice nature into it at some point in the near future, likely after I make Chuunin.” He does not make the statement as a boast, he says it because he is due to take the Chuunin exam soon and when he graduates, he should be able to improve on the already strong jutsu. He then answers the second part of her question. “The bit at the end is intended as it is also supposed to push your target away, assuming your target is still intact at that point.” He says with a small laugh. “I just wasn’t expecting the backlash at the end to be so forceful. This is a very powerful jutsu indeed…” 

While answering her questions, he looks at her for some form of identification. ‘I wonder at what stage of the game she is…’ Kotetsu thought to himself. ‘I don’t see a headband on her, perhaps she’s just doing what Hikari-Sensei does, avoiding the obvious so that she can walk in the streets easier…’ That particular aspect was never really something that bothered Kotetsu, he didn’t care to hide who or what he was, and if anyone made an issue of it, he was more than capable of protecting himself with words or hands. The fact that his training with the Rasengan had developped so quickly already was a good sign, it meant that it would be ready for him to use when the Chuunin exams arrived. All there really was for him to do was to keep working on the jutsu he had now to the point where he had perfected their use. There was no point in learning any more, as his repetoire was already fairly large.

“I’m Kotetsu by the way.” He says to the older girl. “It’s nice to meet you.”

WC: 393
TWC: 2459

(yea, this post was sub par xD)

Rosa listened intently as the young shinobi answered her curious question, explaining that the technique he used was actually non-elemental. She had not thought about there being such a technique, and her interests were piqued further. She wondered what kind of requirements one would need for the Rasengan, as the boy called it, and she figured any requirements could not be too difficult for such a small child to be learning it. Then the boy continued speaking in a rather polite manner, something new to the Akari as she expected him to be just as monotone or irritated at her. It was a nice change in pace for once.

He mentioned wanting to add his clan’s ice element to the technique, and from what the pinkette saw through her deep blue eyes, if he added ice it could surely kill someone. If the ice spiked out across the orb, or if it was concentrated heavily enough, damage would be hard to avoid, and if the ice ball shattered after impact, shards could impale the target as well. Then the boy added that he would only do that once he reached Chuunin rank, making him a Genin like herself at the moment although he was already far stronger than she and would most likely be taking his Chuunin exam soon. She wasn’t sure if it was quite a good or bad thing for such a young child to almost be at Chuunin rank, having to most likely witness horrendous things and be put in extremely difficult situations very early on in life.

The boy then went into answering the second part of her inquiries, admitting he had not expected the backlash from the technique to be quite as forceful; however, he did note that he knew it would have some kind of backlash, which gave him a bit of credibility in her eyes and made him a little less reckless than she originally thought.

As he answered her questions she could feel his eyes staring at her, silently curious about her own rank, which would have been indicated on the Hoshigakure shinobi headband she owned. Her forehead protector, despite its name, was not looped around her head in an effort to protect it, but was actually tied onto the armored plate on her shoulder, visible only when looking at her left side and that would be the reason the young man, Kotetsu, had not been able to spot her headband at first glance.

Rosa pursed her lips briefly as the boy gave his formalities, before she replied in a monotone voice, her face void of any emotion, “Nice to meet you as well, Kotetsu. I am Rosa Akari.” She wasn’t one for getting to know others, finding friendships to be more of a burden than not, but if her father taught her anything, it was that manners were always necessary in daily interactions, even amongst the most foul of humans. Thus, the woman had no other words to say to the man, and would likely go back to her own devices if he didn’t speak up or stop her.

(WC: 510)
(TWC: 2,110)

Mid-claim:

2000/2166:

10 stats
976 WC towards Rasengan (4000/4000)
1000 WC towards One Thousand Needles of Death (1000/3500)


Proof of Rasengan: Here

Approved

It would seem that the girl was not a very talkative one. She remained silent throughout his entire explanation. She introduced herself as Rosa Akari and left it at that. 'An Akari. I wonder if she's related to Valen-Sensei...' He thought to himself as he sat down beside a nearby tree to rest. Using two incredibly powerful jutsu simultaneously like that was not something he was used to and it was somewhat taxing on his limits. 'I will need to work on my stamina if I am to be able to use those jutsu reliably...' He took a few moments, simply to lay against the tree and enjoy the moment before turning his attention back to the pink-haired kunoichi. "So, what brings you out to the training grounds today? Were you planning on working on some jutsu of your own?" He asked her, sounding genuinely curious about her own skills.  

WC: 150
TWC: 2609

The jutsu seemed to have worn the young boy out, her crystal eyes watching as he slid slowly to the ground near another tree near her own. It wasn’t much of a shock to the Akari, Kotetsu was obviously still a child, his stamina and durability low at his age, as he was still growing after all, . He had prominent skills for a kid, that much was obvious, but one couldn’t deny the limitations their bodies gave them. After several minutes of resting he would be able to continue his training, but until then he was out of commission. It appeared to the pinkette that he had no intentions of replenishing his body as he rested, and with that thought in her mind, she rummaged through her backpack, pulling out the two water bottles she had brought along for the day. Rosa hoped he wouldn’t misunderstand her intentions, she wasn’t trying to be friendly with the boy, she just didn’t want him to faint from dehydration, forcing her to carry his unconscious form all the way to the Hoshigakure Hospital and waste her precious training time. She was cold, but she wasn’t heartless to leave a child in danger.

She stood, the bottles in her hand, and walked over to the resting form of Kotetsu. Once she was right in front of him, she would extend one bottle, the other for herself to drink, “Here.” Whether he took the beverage or not was up to him. If he didn’t, she would walk back to her belongings, placing the bottle back into her bag for later, before resting her back against the bark of her own tree, her clothes protecting her from feeling the rough wood. If he accepted her water, she would do the latter, still using the tree to rest her back against, standing as she was not exhausted like Kot seemed to be.

Rosa twisted the lid off of her water and let the refreshing liquid quench her slight thirst. She had hardly done anything to warrant much rest, and as if reading her thoughts, Kotetsu spoke up once more, inquiring about her training and reasons for being there. She turned her head to met his gaze, if his eyes were looking in her direction. He was a curious fellow, although luckily he hadn't overstepped his boundaries. Curiosity killed the cat for a reason…

“Yes, that is the only reason one would be at these grounds.” It was a silly question he posed, wondering if she would be training while at the training grounds. Her tone had no softness to it, he would be able to tell she was not just being sarcastic but also silently vocalizing how obvious his question had been. “Do you come here to do anything besides train?” Rosa wanted to know if it were the norm for shinobi to spend their time at the training grounds in another way. Perhaps for drawing the scenery or people watching she supposed, although there were better places to partake such activities in Hoshi than here.

(WC: 511)
(TWC: 2,621)