Beginnings (Open to first reply only, NK,)

It was quite surprising the young Genin easily ensnaring the silver haired teen in the paralysis jutsu, restraining his movements for her was unable to break free from its invisible hold. As soon as she noted he wasn’t able to free himself, roughly taking ten seconds, the utsu dispersed and immediately following he spoke up, although he began with a repetitive statement, having already mentioned one needing to be stronger than the technique to break free. Gin chuckled lightly afterwards, having made an attempt at being humorous. Rosa was unamused by his antics, and as if noticing her lack of enthusiasm, he quickly complimented her on how fast she had learned the jutsu before he left her alone, to train alone as she had been before he approached her.

Rosa was thankful he left for even though he had taught her a new technique, he had taken up far too much of her time, precious time she could have spent learning a few more jutsu instead feigning being friendly. No one would understand her if she ever spoke about her beliefs, only other Akari would understand why she viewed people, and life, the way she did. Unfortunately, Gin was not an Akari, and would never be able to relate to her feelings.

Speaking of whom, Gin retreated back to the spot he had previously taken up, standing there and focusing on something, probably building up his chakra for another fire technique if one were to guess. Rosa turned her back to the young man, returning to learning the technique she was working on before he interrupted her. She made the boar, ram, snake, horse, and then dragon hand signs, focusing on building up a large amount of her lightning chakra, her body pulsating to the vibrations of the supercharged current coursing through her veins. Her fingers began to tingle slightly as she flowed her chakra to her hands, her appendages briefly warming from the concentration of chakra before she shot a rather large, powerful stream of lightning from her hands. The lightning cackled as it soared through the air, extending to a distance five meters away, surging to life. If that had hit someone, they would most likely have died, or come quite close, she thought to herself, measuring the power of her newest technique.

Rosa was quite pleased with how her training was turning out, having already learned two jutsu with the day nowhere near being close to over. She had many hours of sunlight left to learn a couple more techniques, and with her mind filled to the brim of ideas for what jutsu to learn next, she bent down and picked up the book she had skimmed earlier, having set it down to practice with Gin earlier. She had just flipped to a new page, already checking off Electromagnetic Murder from her list, when the sound of an angry man reached her porcelain ears. Glancing over at the two noisy men, she noted that Gin looked surprised, as if he knew not what the other man was rambling about, while the green eyed weapon user glared daggers into his soul. She heard enough pieces of their conversation, averting her eyes to keep from alerting them that she was listening to what they were saying.

It seemed that the random man had senselessly allowed his emotions to drive him, disregarding etiquette and common sense as he approached another Hoshi shinobi. And what for? Because he thought she was pretty? Or that Gin spoke to her?

Pathetic.

Rosa disliked those kinds of people the most; shallow, weak humans who always tried to blame their mistakes on others. It was an absurd notion, and one she would not tolerate. Another problem with the man’s logic was his inability to see her as anything besides a trophy, something to be obtained and fought over like wildebeests. Who was he to decide the people she could freely interact with? And what authority did he have to attack those she conversed with? She thought someone needed to teach him a lesson in manners, how to not objectify kunoichi for his own selfish gains.

Thus the moment he shouted he wanted to kill the silver haired teen, she spun on her heels and shot a medium powered stream of lightning from her hands, hitting the man with it just after Gin’s fist left the man’s temple. The unconscious body of the shinobi sizzled slightly as he was shocked by tiny waves of electricity running through him, his limbs and torso spasming every few seconds, before the lightning dispelled, his body falling limp. Her expression wore no emotion, not a hint of the annoyance she felt crossing her visage. Her eyes were their usual dull blue, lacking a trace of the mixed emotions swirling around in her. On one hand, it looked as if she were trying to aid Gin in fighting the childish boys, wanting to help him as a friend, yet that was far from reality. Someone needed to show the weaklings their place, and that they can’t just go around fighting any guy that even looks at an attractive woman. It was ridiculous and it was incredible fools like them even made it as shinobi. They were unfit to protect anything, thinking too much with their hearts and not their heads.

Should Gin continue with his actions of looking at the other men, Rosa would do likewise, sizing them up, and once her eyes met with any of the boys, the oceanic orbs would come to life, mocking them as the deplorable, sorry excuses of men that they were. As he spoke up, referencing his innocence before ordering them to come at him if they were wanting to fight, instead of circling in a group. Rosa felt their group tactic was a cheap trick as well, technically one versus five was hardly just, yet Gin seemed confident in his abilities to hold them off, and as none of them had given her any reason to fight again, she stayed back this time around.

They bombarded him, in groups of two, trying to letally harm the young man, which seemed quite ridiculous to the young woman. Why would these boys try to KILL someone over an attraction? She couldn’t believe people had been raised in such a manner, as if it was perfectly normal to lash out angrily for the smallest of reasons. Rosa would have wrinkled her forehead, perplexed and at a loss of words, if she showed emotion, but since she like a rock when it came to her expressions, all any of them got when they snuck glances at her was a hardened stare, her eyes boring into their very beings, sending terrified shivers down their spines involuntarily. She even thought she might have seen a few gulp nervously under her gaze, becoming unnerved by the fact that the woman they were fighting for was conscious of what they were plotting. Probably not the best first impression any of them were hoping she would have.

On the other hand, Gin had taken out three of the offenders skillfully, easing his way through each defensive maneuver he used to counter them offensively, and perfectly timed his offensive attacks to be the most effective. She had to admit he was one hell of a melee fighter, fairing better in this group fight than most could do in a one vs. one fight. One of the boys got taken out by a kunai, the second to a fire style technique burning his legs and delicate areas, and the third to yet another kunai, this time through the foot. His screams echoed out across the training grounds, any remaining inhabitants glancing in their direction with irritated looks across their faces before returning to their training. By this time they all swarmed Gin, realizing they were not strong enough to defeat him in measl group’s of two. The fourth boy ran at the victor, roaring a battle cry that lead to his failure, getting his wrist swatted like a fly and a quick jab to the jaw shattered the bones, rendering the opponent unconscious.

It was just Gin and a single assailant, the two remaining shinobi of the fight. However, the fifth boy stared in fear as the silver haired genin spoke out to him, inquiring if he would charge him or become wise and high tail it out of the area. The boy chose the latter option, turning around as fast as he could and running off, hopefully to get medical assistance to his idiotic buddies. He redeemed himself a little by not following his friends and fighting someone obviously much stronger than himself, being wiser than following the “pack”.

As the boy made his escape, Gin started walking off towards another direction, leaving Rosa to watch his retreating figure. If he continued his path towards a tree to cool off, she would grab her backpack, placing the book she was reading back inside and pulled out a water bottle. She would then walk over to where she saw Gin walk off to, finding him leaning against a tree with only his arm. He seemed to be lost in thought as she approached, and if he didn’t notice her, she would walk up to him and place the stilly cool water bottle against his cheek, as that was one of the only parts of his body exposed by his warm clothing, while saying, “Here.”. This would only be to get his attention, if he noticed she was there beforehand, she would pass the beverage to him, placing the bottle into his hands, still saying, “Here.”. Then, if he accepted the water in either case or not, she would back up until they were about half a foot past arm's length, keeping her distance but still in range of a conversation without making it awkward.

She wouldn’t be quite sure what to say, not feeling the need to comment on what took place, but also not wanting to ask if he were okay because, honestly, that would give him an even more wrong impression of how she felt. She gave him the water to keep him hydrated, for if he fainted due to losing too much water through sweating, she would most likely be responsible for him, as there were hardly any shinobi around their specific area. Rosa didn’t want to cut into her training time to carry, or drag, him to the hospital. It might sound cold of her to think this way, but she grew up believing that such trivial things as friendships would only hinder a shinobi, for feelings of attachment and love could get in the way of one’s judgement. In a world of life and death, worrying about the lives of others above your own would surely get you killed, and if it didn’t, well, you were lucky. Thus her actions, unbeknownst to him, were not out of kindness nor "friendship", but selfishness.

If Gin reacted to any of her actions, she would act accordingly based on what was said or done.

(WC: 1,860)
(TWC: 4,085)

While she walked away from the silver haired teen, she heard him curse under his breath, either from the coldness of the bottle or her “appearing” out of nowhere, she wasn’t sure which. They turned around at roughly the same time, and the pinkette was greeted with a raised eyebrow. If she were one for showing emotions, she would have tilted her head slightly in confusion, not exactly understanding why he had lifted his brow. But since she was not one to do such a thing, his raised brow was met with a stern face, the same as ever. His eyes lowered to the water bottle in his hand, his brow still raised before he shook his head. It seemed he was rejecting her offer, although she wasn’t quite sure why as she thought anyone would be thirsty after fighting even a little bit. He also didn’t seem to be carrying any kind of water, although maybe he had an alternate dimension or scroll that he chose to store such a mundane thing as a water bottle in.

She stepped closer as he offered the water bottle back to her, her slender fingers wrapping around the bottle and slightly brushing against his own fingers, clutching it in her grasps if he released it. Instead of distancing herself as she had before, she remained within arms reach, her left hand holding the water bottle, as she was unsure of what to say next. Should she comment on the fact he didn’t seem to have water, just to point out a flaw in his rejection, with the possibility of him showing her up and embarrassing her for being wrong in her claims? It wasn’t worth the trouble, not if he was so confident in his bodies endurance, and at least she offered it to the stubborn man, so no one could say she was at fault if he did collapse later on.

A second or so later she noticed his eyes widen slightly, as if the gears turning in his head had found something truly magnificent. At this notion she raised her own brow, briefly for but a few moments, until he shook his head and shrugged. It seemed he had potentially rethought whatever glorious realization hit him earlier. Gin surprised her but acknowledging his appreciation for her gesture, and even going so far as to explain that he had been through worse than the “morning warm up” those childish boys put him through. With his wording as it was, it sounded like he got into fights regularly, fights more intense than a group of angsty teenage boys. The pinkette momentarily wondered if he enjoyed fighting as much as it seemed he did, or if he just happened to always be at the wrong place at the wrong time. If it were the latter, she felt pity at his poor timing.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as his hand moved towards his ribs, for she did not recall him getting injured in that area in the fight. Rosa guessed it had to have been from what he said just now, that he had been through worse. She inwardly sighed, her eyes looking up into his, making eye contact if he allowed, as her tone not as bitingly cold as normal but not full of warmth either, “That injury of yours, I can heal it, if you’d allowed me to?” If he accepted her offer, she would be able to practice the basic medical ninjutsu technique without having to cause injury to herself or a helpless animal. It worked out well for both of them, her learning a new jutsu and him not having to be bothered by the ailment the injury brought about.

If he said yes to her offer, she would set the water bottle down beside the tree, and inquire, if he didn’t speak up again first or move himself, “Would you prefer to be standing or sitting? Do whichever you would prefer please.” Rosa would wait for him to get comfortable before moving to be beside him whether he sat down or continued standing. Her gaze would be meeting his own as she continued as being a medic, asking the normal doctor-y questions, “Are you only injured by your ribs, or are there any other places you need healing?”

Depending on his answer, she would nod her head and move her eyes to look at his ribs, her hands making the boar, rat, and then snake hand signs. Rosa recalled that in one of the books she had read, before she met a young shinobi by the name of Kotetsu actually, that this technique had two levels, one dealing with simple injuries of bruises and shallow cuts, while the second dealt with the bones and fragments being placed back together. She focused her chakra into her hands, feeling the slight warmth as her energy enveloped her soft skin, as her palms began to glow a faint blue hue. It was a sign of medical chakra, or so she could only assume due to her natural affinity being lightning and the chakra at the moment was nowhere near the viciousness of her element. Rosa would then move her palms to rest above his ribs, her chakra flowing into his skin and beginning to aid his body in healing itself. If Gin’s injuries were deeper than just bruising, she would activate the second level of healing, by adding more chakra to her hands and focusing on mending any of his bones back together in the makeshift healing process. Similarly, if Gin had any other injuries, she would tend to those after healing his ribs.

If he said no to her offer and then continued with his next actions, she wouldn’t care about him declining for he had every right to do so, and thus, their eyes would meet as he seemed to be studying her, or rather, the emotions, or lack thereof, deep within the blue pools he stared into. Rosa was taken aback, with no indication given to him through her expressions that she was, by his words, how easy he had been able to analyze her intentions from the brief actions she had displayed. He read her like a book, perfectly nailing each reason for why she had done what she did. Yes she didn’t really care about his well being, and yes she sent her lightning to shock the brat for treating her in such an ill-mannered way. Anyone would have felt attacked by his accusations, believing hate to be behind his words, yet she felt no flames trying to burn her alive while he spoke. Rosa did, however, feel a hint of curiosity, as if he wanted validation on his insight to her.

This would cause the pink haired beauty to purse her lips briefly, finding the right phrasing for what she was to say next, “You don’t seem to be angry or upset, despite the very real possibility what you’ve said could hold truth to it. Why is that?” It was her turn to be curious about him, or more specifically the fact he was not like anyone she had ever met before, his reaction mild and clam whereas anyone else would have been furious and sought an explanation for her “inhumane” thoughts.

Gin shrugged for the umpteenth time as he explained she, although using such a casual nickname like Pinky, did not have to worry about him collapsing on her. He seemed to be quite the pessimist, or realist perhaps, believing no one would help him even if he did collapse. To that, he was wrong, at least regarding her. Sure it would be a pain in the ass to lug his sorry behind to a hospital, but they were in a desert, a dangerous place to be unconscious for long periods of time. Then, surprisingly, he dismissed her, saying she could go back to her own training and that he would no longer bother her for assistance. He continued then, saying he would be working on his own training, and that she may join him if she so desired, lecturing to her of sorts that he didn’t care whether they were friends or not but that they reigned from the same village and, thus, should have a vested interest in the shinobi around them because they are only as strong as their weakest link.

She might have replied to him, or his silly words of insight, had he not already started to walk away, her unamused eyes falling on his retreating form. He waved as he went on, stating he would be melting things on the other end of the training, presumably for her to find him if she wanted to train more with him or something of the sorts.

Rosa was left to her own devices, placing the water bottle inside of her bag before sighing aloud. He was a strange one, she had to give him credit for that, and quite the perplexing shinobi as well. Almost as if he were just as much indifferent as she, although that seemed preposterous for him to understand her in such a way. She couldn’t believe such a thought might actually happen, having gone so long without someone knowing that her way of thinking was abnormal yet perfectly fine regardless. It was a fickle thing for the young lady, wondering if she should go and find the young man to converse more with him, or be left alone like how she normally trains and lives.

She was pulled away from her thoughts by her eyes catching sight of a few birds rapidly flying away from the direction the silver haired teen had traveled, piqued her curiosity as to what had happened to scare them away from the scene. Perhaps he had unleashed a powerful jutsu, one she might be interested to learn. The only way for her to find out was to head in that direction. Instead of casually walking, for that was the slow and lazy way to get there, she ran off, traveling as fast as her slender legs would carry her.

Upon coming into sight of the clearing he was in, she stopped her pace and watched, her eyes scanning over and noticing the boulder that was melted on one end. A weak technique would not have been able to accomplish such a feat, she mused. Rosa didn’t have long to speculate, however, as Gin made a series of hand signs, taking a deep breath before releasing a stream of silver from his cupped mouth. From her vantage point, she was unsure as to what element he called upon for that technique, the flames not looking nearly as flame like from her point of view, but looking more liquified, as if he used metallic water instead. Her eyes traveled over to the boulder as his own had, the rock having been annihilated by the jutsu until nothing remained but the slag.

Gin nodded his head, proud of his accomplishment, before cracking his neck and seeming to prepare for another technique, although not yet forming any hand signs for it. This gave the pinkette time to strut her way down to where he was, her cape flowing behind her elegantly as she moved. When she was in earshot of the young man, she would call out to him, “Hello Gin. What element was that jutsu just now?” Hopefully he didn’t think she was stalking him, for she hadn’t really intended to go train with him again, but his powerful attacks intrigued her enough to find him. Would she say that to him? Probably not, didn’t want him getting another bad impression of her or anything like that.

(WC: 1,952)
(TWC: 6,037)

“I-I suppose you healing me would allow me to continue training longer than I had initially planned. I would certainly appreciate that opportunity.” He would say with a nod of his head in acquiescence. He did not particularly like the idea of someone healing the injuries his father inflicted. If they were decent enough with what they were doing it would allow for the asking of questions that he did not particularly want to answer. His ribs hurt so damn bad though it was killing him. As he had these thoughts she would walk past him to the tree to set the water bottle against it before turning toward him to ask. ‘Would you prefer to be standing or sitting? Do whichever you would prefer please.’ She would say in the same curt, emotionless voice she had been using before. He would shrug his shoulders, and mistakenly causing the same injured ribs to flare up in pain as he did so, before sitting against the tree, setting his back against it for support. 

Her emotionless blue eyes would meet his hazel ones as she asked her next question. ‘Are you only injured by your ribs, or are there any other places you need healing?’ Now this question brought up a few concerns. To be honest he was in a great deal more pain than he would ever admit to someone he didn’t know and trust, and he certainly didn’t know or trust her enough to show that. Hell, the only reason he was letting her heal him at this point was so that he could train longer. He reasoned that they were both shinobi of the same village after all so there would be absolutely no reason for her to slip a kunai into his ribs and call it a day. Besides, she would not kill him in the middle of the training ground even if she did want to. There were simply too many witnesses. So the answer to her question was that there were quite a few more injuries causing him pain ranging from mild discomfort to flaring up and causing him to stop. In particular, his ribs on both sides. The upper right hand (From his perspective) of his chest cavity, his right arm, and his right leg. He had wound up in the floor while his old man kicked him and he was doing it from the boys right hand side. The left hand rib damage was from the initial kick, he had rolled from the force of it so that the opposite side had been facing the man. 

So did he tell this girl the truth about his injuries? Would she notice and call him out on it? Would she even be willing to heal all of it? Could she even manage to heal all of it? The most important question thought was if she would ask questions, and if she did what the answers to those questions needed to be. Gin was a stubborn teenager, of this he knew. He did know when to lay back and often preferred it. When it came to the subject of his old mans beatings though he was tight lipped and stubborn about it. He would sit there for a moment, his own eyes now avoiding hers as he contemplated telling her the truth or a lie. ‘I suppose in order to build trust one has to take chances neh?’ He would think to himself before giving a deep sigh and turning back to her. Hazel once again meeting blue. “To be honest I have a few injuries. I’m not even sure you’ll be able to heal all of them so I don’t expect you to.” He would say with a bit of a shrug. “Ribs on both sides, upper right part of the chest cavity. Right arm, just below the shoulders” He would say, pulling up his sleeve to show the nasty bruising that had begun due to the abuse. It was why he wore long sleeves at all. “And finally my right leg, upper thigh down to the knee don’t worry, I won’t pull my pants leg up.” He would say with a small grin at his small jest. 


“By all means heal as much as you want, I make a great medical practice dummy.” He would say, a dark joke to be sure, but he was slowly losing the mood to care. “You have more experience at this then I do. If you can’t heal everything or simply have no desire to then just heal what’s most important. Trust me, I’ll live.” He would say, avoiding her eyes again at this point. He couldn’t put his finger on it but he wanted to tell her everything when he looked at her eyes. It was more than likely the simple fact that she was totally apathetic to everything. So whether she knew the truth or not it simply wouldn’t matter. He would hold his tongue though, unless questioned. At which case he would play it by ear.

After she was done healing him, whatever amount that might be his realization about her attitude would come to light. She would look at him not in defensive, indignation or hurt at his words. No the look in her eye seemed to be.. Curious? That was certainly an interesting thing to see in the pink haired girls pupils. Then she would speak once more, asking a question he hadn’t been expecting. ‘You don’t seem to be angry or upset, despite the very real possibility what you’ve said could hold truth to it. Why is that?’ She would ask, wondering what his thought process was behind his words and lack of scathing in them. ‘So I’ve made her curious? Fair enough I’ll indulge it, she’s helped me after all.’ He would think before giving his neck a pop. Leaning against the tree stiffened it up a bit. “Simple, it wasn’t meant to insinuate that you were a horrible person. It was a statement, not an accusation. If it was untrue and I’d caught you on a bad day then I’d figure you’d never talk to me again. But we just met today so it wouldn’t really be a loss on either parts now would it? There’s also the fact that I don’t know you. I don’t know the life you have or are living. Besides, we’re shinobi. From a young age we are trained to kill. Hell, some people are even bred specifically to make their potential in that field stronger. At the end of the day we’re soldiers. Nothing more, nothing less. So to be honest, if I am correct about your attitude and how your thoughts work than that is fine. That line of thinking has every bit a place in our world. I can not necessarily agree with the line of thinking when it comes to mundane things, like training or making friends. As it would be difficult to do so, but I won’t sit here and judge you for having a thought process more in line with what it means to be a shinobi than most jonin. I don’t think like that either, whether or not I simply don’t have the capability to truly look at people in such a way. Or due to the possibility that I simply have not matured enough yet I simply do not know. So I suppose you’re more of a shinobi than I am right now.” He would say in a calm, collected voice. Brutal honesty had a place, and this was it. He was not lying about a single thing he had said either. If he was right about her thought process than she simply was a better shinobi than him right now. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing though. 

At this point the silver haired teen would stand up, offering her a hand as well in simple politeness. “Thanks for the healing, Pinky.” He would say before telling her he would go continue his training and giving her the wave. He would arrive at the training grounds as planned and go through the process of melting the boulder to a heap of crap before the voice of the girl he had just left on the other side of the grounds would great his ears. “Hello Gin. What element was that jutsu just now?” She would ask as he turned around to meet her crystalline orbs. ‘Well she certainly does get straight to the point doesn’t sure?’ He would think before giving a small nod in greeting. A single word would escape passed his lips as he did so “Fire.” He would say the word with a sort of reverence and a small grin. At this point the girl would be able to note a silver fire alight in his eyes if she were to look into them. As well as steam escaping every few breaths. If she were truly attentive she might also notice a light being generated from him as well. “It merely looked different because for some reason, which I have yet to discover, mine is silver.” He would explain before flipping through a few quick hand seals. “Observe..” He would say before unleashing another torrent of flame, this time into the open air above them. Of course he was facing away from the girl so she wouldn’t be harmed at all. A great silver torrent of flame would fire out from his lungs again. This time the girl would be much closer to observe the jutsu more closely. After a few moment he would allow the fire to die out before turning toward her again. “It’s by far my favorite element, and if you can’t tell. The one I happen to be best with.” He would say with an oddly proud glint in his eye. He had made huge amounts of progress in his manipulation of the element. Feeling as if it was becoming a part of him more and more with each passing moment. Indeed he felt like he would do anything with fire at this point, and it had only been a little while since he had begun to truly grasp what he could do with it. “Interested in learning?” He would ask in curiosity. He wouldn’t mind teaching the girl, as a matter of fact he rather enjoyed teaching the element to Salaluna. Although that might have been because of the after training ‘entertainment’. He doubted he would get a similar end with this girl though so that thought process went out the window immediately. If she didn’t respond by now he would simply say “I certainly don’t mind teaching you, and it wouldn’t even take long.” He would say in complete seriousness.. The element wasn’t very hard to learn how to use. Mastering it was what generally took time, and teaching people something always made for a good refresher course and kept you thinking about the basics.

WC: 1826
TWC: 2901

It seemed the young man beside her was leaning towards accepting her offer, listing a pro for why her healing him would be beneficial for him. Not every deal, or even most for that matter, ever turn up a win-win kind of situation for both involved. This was different. He would be healed, giving him more time to train than he originally planned, and it gave her a chance to learn basic medical ninjutsu, in case she ever needed to heal herself or, perhaps, a comrade, to keep them from dragging her down. It was then she asked follow up question, to which he shrugged his shoulders, potentially sending a jolt of pain through his body at the sudden movement due to his injuries, before he sank down to the dusty ground, his back leaning against the sturdy tree. Rosa bent her own knees, the bare skin landing against the dirt softly as she knelt beside the silver haired teen, meeting his gaze to inquire more of his injuries.

He informed her that not only were his ribs damaged, but several other places we as well. His ribs were the obvious injury, yet she had not expected for his upper right chest cavity, his right arm (just below the shoulder), and his right leg (upper thigh down to the knee) to all have sustained such damage. She felt it peculier that it was only his right side, as if he had been attacked on only half his body. If he were in a fight, his left side should have been injured in some way, besides just his ribs, so why was his right side the only one in pain? His injuries also didn’t align with falling if he had jumped off something, as his feet, ankles, or calves would also have flared up in pain, at least that is what the pinkette assumed based on her limited knowledge of how the human body works in relation to strains and such. The only kind of possibility she could think of was that someone else roughly pushed him against a hard surface, such as a wall, and somehow caught only his one side, although based on how he fought just now she doubted one could easily do that to him. Thus, either he was ganged up on by several slightly powerful shinobi for the previous situation to happen, or he didn’t put up a fight against whoever was assaulting him. The latter didn’t seem plausible just as much as the former, yet from her experience those were the only options she could deduce happened. He didn’t seem clumsy enough to have hurt himself, but fighting also didn’t give a reasonable answer for only parts of his body to be injured. Gin’s injuries just didn’t add up with what she had witnessed him doing.

She simply nodded her head in response to his jest, giving him acknowledgement without having to voice her opinions on the matter, for she did not find it nearly as humorous as he seemed to have, a small grin upon his lips. Rosa wasn’t sure why it mattered if he pulled his pants leg up or not, it was just a leg that needed healing after all. Nothing strange or weird about it, and especially not something to be joked about. Thus she moved on from his comment, her mind already calculating a plan to heal him, as he hopefully continued, stating he made a great practice dummy. He wasn’t entirely wrong there, she mentally noted, for he did have enough injuries to give her the practice she needed for the jutsu. Although something about his comment, either the choice of words or his tone, seemed off to her, even if he was already a curious fellow to begin with. Rosa wasn’t quite sure those words were normal to be said when one is as injured as himself, although she wasn’t quite sure due to never having experienced this kind of moment herself. Sure during her training with her father, she would get hurt and beaten with jutsu, but the nurses who healed her knew what went on and didn’t need to ask questions, nor did she ever need to say anything to them about her injuries as they were skilled in healing everything from bruises to broken bones.

“I cannot argue with that, you do have quite the number of injuries.” Her voice broke through after his own, still as flat as ever, and her crystal eyes kept hidden the suspicions she held inside. It wasn’t her place to comment on such things as it was his life and he seemed to be strong enough to be capable of handling anything on his own if he cared to stop what might be recurring problems. If he didn’t care to change how his life was going, that was his choice, although she would want nothing to do with him if he chose such a route. Rosa couldn’t stand people taking what life threw at them, not even trying to escape the struggles they went through and then acting as if the world was out to get them. Those kind of people are not the only ones with problems, yet they are the only ones standing still while life hits them with bricks, breaking them down piece by piece, instead of standing up for themselves or taking the bad and using it to their advantage. In her mind, everything could be changed if one fought back instead of submitting to whatever it was beating them down.

Gin was incorrect on his following statement, having believed that Rosa had any kind of experience healing people prior to the current moment. Of course this just came from his lack of information on the Akari and her arsenal, and not his lack of sense or understanding. Although, she would have thought the silver haired man might have already figured out why she had offered to heal him to begin with, seeing as how he was able to clearly read her intentions earlier. But perhaps the pain was starting to cloud his thoughts, making it more difficult for him to think straight and deduce why she was doing what she was. Either way, however, Rosa went on with her healing, quickly weaving the boar, rat, and snake hand seals and focusing her chakra to her palms. A few seconds of concentration later, and a gentle green hue wrapped around her soft hands as her chakra morphed into healing energy.

Her novice hands moved to rest just above his ribs, figuring it was best to heal the most damaged part first rather than last. She remained quiet while she worked, her eyes remaining on her hands instead of looking up at her patient. She didn’t even budge when a few of her rosy tresses fell in front of her right eye, slightly obscuring her view but not enough to deriment her in any way. Gin’s ribs were significantly bruised, the girl could tell as her chakra flooded into his skin to aid it in naturally healing itself, but she did not waste too much of her time thinking about how he sustained such injuries, the knowledge wouldn’t do anything to help her nor even himself. She couldn’t stand up to those causing him harm, he had to fight this battle all on his own if he truly wished to be freed from the chains holding him down. After about two minutes of her meticulous work, the dark purple splotches hidden beneath his clothing would have completely vanished and the pain would liner no longer. Then she moved on to the upper right part of his chest cavity, her hands once again lightly hovering over the afflicted area and her aquatic eyes staring at the mesmerizing green glow. She was beginning to understand the advantages of being able to wield healing chakra and the unlimited possibilities that came with such intricate chakra control, even if she had no desire to pursue specializing in such a field.

The potential silence between them gave her time to think about trivial things, her mind having nothing better to do than observe, as her chakra mended with his skin and allowing her to feel the slight pulses from his heart as well as the rhythmic up and down motion of his chest when he breathed. Rosa had never been quite this close to someone before, she was beginning to realize, and had never really thought about such small details as breathing and living before, despite needing both to survive. Most kunoichi would have been nervous being in such close proximity to a man, especially one they hardly knew, but she was different. Her mind was not wired to be bothered by childish antics like being extremely close to the opposite sex or how he towered over her petite frame even while they were perched on the ground.

A minute passed, the Akari left to her own thoughts unless Gin had decided to break the deafening silence that loomed over them, before she finished healing as much as she could from his chest cavity, the bruises and soreness taken away from his battered body. The next place her hands traveled to was his right arm, just below his shoulder. She had to extend across him, without touching him of course, to reach the exact origin of his injury, as his left side was beside her body and not his right side. Rosa’s ability to mend bruises seemed to be coming along quite smoothly, taking only about thirty seconds to heal the beginnings of the spots covering his upper arm. She was pleased with herself, at her handiwork and achievement, how she could learn something new as quickly as she had and already be an expert at it.

The last place Rosa healed was Gin’s upper thigh down to his knee on his right leg. She could already note just by the surface area needing to be covered that it would take a considerable amount of time to heal no matter how skilled she was at healing. Small areas of damage were easier to heal than larger ones that covered more area, as her hands would have to spread out more in order to properly heal the entire wound. The challenge, perhaps daunting to some, wasn’t troublesome to the young Genin, her hands already hovering on opposite ends of his injury to heal from the outside in. Her tactic seemed to prove effective against his large bruised area, her hands being pulled back to her lap and her chakra dispersing after about two minutes of her intensely healing him. She had healed him to the best of her abilities, her knowledge of medical ninjutsu sub-par.

She took a moment of pause before getting right to the point, inquiring about his view of her from his previous statement. It seemed Gin didn’t think of her as a horrible person, much to her disbelief, but thought of her as more of a shinobi than even some Jounin. Rosa had never heard anyone describe her in such a way, understanding, albeit unknowingly, that she was following in the footsteps of her people, doing what she must for her clan and her father. An odd feeling stirred within the Akari as the man before her  accepted her as a shinobi for her intent to kill and ability to do so without feeling remorse, so long as it was a necessary hit and not upon an undeserving civilian. On the outside, her composure remained calmand chilling, the mixed emotions she was feeling inwardly were cast aside on her outward appearance. Even if he knew what she was like and didn’t run away, she couldn’t blindly trust him just for his words alone. He would have to prove himself as more than just another conniving, manipulative shinobi trying to garner her favor in order to crush her in their palms.

Gin concluded his analysis of her by rising to his feet, offering her a hand while he stood up. She glanced at it momentarily, weighing if she should accept his offer or not, before lightly placing her hand on top of his palm, allowing the silvery haired teen to help pull her to her feet. She would have declined his offer for assistance, believing herself to be above needing such aid over a menial task as standing, but she thought of her father and how he might have found it be tremendously coarse of her to decline one’s politeness, so long as it did not cause her injury. As she was lifted onto her feet, Gin showed her his appreciation, thanking her for healing him while using the nickname he decided was a good idea to call her. Why he couldn’t just call her by her name was a mystery, yet she couldn’t be bothered to argue with him over a silly thing as what to call her. She probably wouldn’t see him ever again anyways, so it was no use wasting her time and energy over it.

They went their separate ways after she politely thanked him for helping her up, having interacted far more than either seemed to have wanted, at least it appeared that way. However fate seemed to think otherwise, and before she knew it she was investing a powerful jutsu having gone off, able to scare the birds from their homes. Of course the silvery haired teen seemed to be making quite the scene, melting rock with a jutsu she had never seen or heard of before. As her voice faded away, he gave her a simple nod of acknowledgement, similar to the ones she gave, and replied effortlessly that the element he had used was, in fact, fire, despite its peculiar coloring of silver instead of redish orange.

When he uttered the single word his eyes flared with the same fire he had just used, a burning passion overcoming the otherwise clear eyes of Gin. It seemed fire was his natural affinity for him to get so worked up over it. He was delighted, it seemed, to talk about his beloved element, going into detail to explain to her that it looked different for a reason unknown even to himself. Rosa had expected him to have a legitimate reason for his silvery flames, such as an experiment he had partaken in to change the element’s color, yet his response was less than thrilling. It couldn’t be helped that he was unaware like the rest of the shinobi world about his flames, but at least it gave him some sense of purpose to find out why and how he was different. Maybe it would drive him to stand up for himself, beat those that constantly use him as a punching bag and go off on his own in search of answers. It was what she would do, if she were in such a position; although she knew she never would be for Rosa was not one to simply take beatings from others, she would die fighting them to the very end.

He asked her to suddenly observe him as she hands fired through a couple of hand seals, performing a jutsu she did not know. Instead of shooting his flames to the open field in front of them, he sent a spiraling wave of fire into the air above them. As the fire died down, the silver in the flames twinkled like the night sky as it dispersed. If the silver did not give his flames any kind of boost, she noted that it at least made his jutsu more presentable than others and caused him to stand out more. Although standing out might not be what shinobi typically want, as standing out leaves them open to being discovered if they are infiltrating a village or hiding within the shadows, waiting to assassinate a target.

After the fire completely vanished, his voice took on a new tone as he validated her hypothesis of fire being his favorite element. For some reason he held a deep connection with it, favoring it above any other elements he may have known. His prideful feeling was not satiated at just showing Rosa his element, he decided to ask her if she wanted to learn it as well. She had not put too much thought into the element’s she needed to learn, but she did know from her father that to create their clan’s element she would need both lightning and fire chakra affinities, and luckily for her she already had the lightning affinity from birth.

“Actually yes, I would like to learn it. Thank you for the offer, Gin.” Came her rather timely response, utilizing the fact that he enjoyed using and showing off his element and that she needed the element for her Light release. It seemed to be a situation where both of them would gain something out of it, so Rosa thought it was a good idea to accept his offer.

(WC: 2,841)
(TWC: 8,878)

“I can’t argue with that, you do have quite the number of injuries.” She would say to his rather dark jest with a flat tone. ‘Ever the stoic huh?’ He would think to himself as she knelt down to begin the healing process. She was on his left side, meaning she would have to cross his body in order to heal him. He watched carefully as she performed the three hand seals to technique she was intending to use, Boar, Rat, Snake. The three hand seals were of course well known in the ninja world and once they were a done, after a second or two of course, an ethereal green glow would coalesce around her hands. Covering them in healing chakra. She would rest her hands above his ribs, causing him to wince severely at the initial contact before the pain started to fade away due to the healing technique she was utilizing. She remained quiet, utterly focused in her task and he couldn’t help but watch such determination himself. Her sapphire eyes never straying from her work. It was oddly inspiring in a way. The sheer determination to learn something so that you can better yourself. He was delusional enough to think it was because she wanted to help him. No, such a thing wouldn’t be possible in his mind. At least not after such a short time of knowing each other. 

After a moment or two of her beginning her healing process strands of her hair would fall into his eyes. The pinkette did nothing to move them though, instead staying totally focused on her work. Which he was grateful for, as the pain he was feeling was lessening with each moment she spent applying her medical based chakra. Still though, he could imagine having hair in your face would be annoying as hell when you’re trying to work. So Gin did the obvious thing, he slowly reached up and moved the strands behind her ear. Clearing his vision completely while probably making the situation FAR more awkward than necessary. Something the silver haired teen excelled at indeed. As the minutes rolled by he wouldn’t offer a word. Instead choosing to allow the girl to work in peace and quiet. It was after all the first time she had tried the medical technique. As such he didn’t want to disrupt her focus anymore than he already had by removing the hair from her eyes. Doing such would be counterproductive to their goal. 

After a few more minutes of healing, the sapphire eyed girl moving her hands periodically toward the afflicted areas. He would give her his thanks before leaving her to her devices. He would travel across the field and begin to practice with his fire techniques, the silver flames licking the stone and slowly melting it into a pile of slag. At this point it would be time to teach his fellow genin fire. The element he never got tired of using. “Very well then, but in return you’ll have to give me your thoughts on what I said earlier, about your cold countenance. You asked me why I wasn’t angry or upset, but never gave your own thoughts to my answer.” He would say with a carefree grin and a shrug. “You can answer after you learn the element though. I enjoy teaching it too much to hold it from you, even if you do decide not to answer.” He would state with a small chuckle. In all reality the silver eyed genin couldn’t care less about if she approved of his thoughts or not. He just wanted to point out in a nice way that it was rather rude to ask a question like that, receive an answer, and then not respond. 

“Fire is simple.” He would say to start teaching, hopefully getting the girls total attention the moment he started speaking. “It’s one of the five most basic elements one can learn after all. It’s a primal force in our world that requires our respect. After all, do you not avoid an open flame? Do you hold your hand within the flame of a candle? No, of course not. These are minute signs of respect, even if you never thought of it as such before.” He would continue to say, the girl would probably want him to stop with the lecturing of fire and move on to practical appliance but the fact of the matter was that he was serious about the element. It could irrevocably harm someone accidentally and cause massive damages if handled improperly. So he wanted to start with a small lecture of just how powerful the element was. “Fire is the great destroyer of our world. It burns, incinerates, melts. Nothing is safe from it’s wrath. Even water, considered it’s polar opposite cannot maintain an effective form against the power of fire.” He would continue to say before raising his hand to shoulder height. Wordlessly a small silver orb of flames would coalesce into his hand. “Due to the..virulent nature of the element I devised a safer way to teach it that doesn’t involve people potentially harming themselves with countless burns. Although you’d be fine considering your healing techniques.” He would state simply with a shrug as he held the orb in his hand, never once breaking eye contact with the girl. Eyes with a great silver fire within would meet crystalline blue as he taught her what she needed to know. 

“Utilizing chakra of any elemental nature requires aligning and molding your chakra in such a way within your body to cause it to have an effect on the outside. As such you have to have the chakra already be of fire nature within you before it will ever manifest, or control it outside of your body. This is true with any element. It’s this aspect that I will focus on to teach you the element.” He would say before gesturing with his head toward the orb. “This orb is obviously fire chakra. It has not been giving definite shape, volume, or anything that would cause it to become destructive. So this orb will not harm you in any way, shape, or form.” He would say before taking a step closer, easily now within arms reach of the pinkette if he wasn’t already. “I will push the orb into your at the centerpoint of your breastbone. Just to the right of your heart.” He would continue, his voice no longer having any form of playful edge to it. He needed the girl to know he wasn’t going to be some kind of pervert and try to cop a feel. “Once I push the orb into your body it will fade into your chakra system. I will step back then, and you will be ablaze in silver fire as the elemental chaka engulfs your chakra coils. It will not harm you, but it will feel...different.” He would say, trying to find the correct word to describe it. 

“It will last for a few minutes before dissipating harmlessly, needing only to naturally work it’s way out of your chakra system to be fully expelled. Your task will be to match the alignment and feel of my chakra within your body. Once you have done that, you will do the same after my chakra has dispersed. The end result, should you get the alignment and ‘feel’ down will be the creation of the fire element. At that point you’ll be ready to start learning jutsu. When you channel it yourself it’ll feel warm, soothing. If you’re interested in learning a technique or two from me after the first one will be how to expand upon that feeling for survival purposes.” He would say before taking a small breath and continuing. “There is also of course the normal way to learn fire, where you try to force your chakra into the alignment countless times before striking gold and then going on into techniques. I like to think my way is faster, but the choice is yours. If you choose my way, I can easily replicate the orb if you don’t get the alignment down on the first try. If you choose the latter, I’ll channel my chakra a bit more aggressively so you can get a good feel for it while you try to get the alignment down.” He would say before looking up and to the right, as if he was trying to remember something. He’d shake his head soon after before smiling softly. “Nope, that’s it. So, take your pick.” He would say kindly. If the girl chose his method he would nod his head and reach over toward her. “Brace, it won’t hurt, but it will feel odd.” He would say before slowly pushing the orb of chakra inside of her. Slowly so as not to alarm the girl. The orb would seemingly phase  in slowly before disappearing inside of her completely before he pulled his hand back from the center of her chest, lest she think he was trying something ‘funny’. To be honest the method itself was great for learning the element. It however have one single drawback, at least for him. 

It gave whoever he was teaching a direct feel for just how potent his affinity for the element really was. The girl, wouldn’t be hurt, but she could, if she wasn’t prepared, be nearly overwhelmed by the power his fire chakra possessed. He had the strongest affinity to the element that he could research. No one else even coming close. It was odd, and he would need to find answers as to why at some point. That was neither here nor there though. Right now all that mattered was watching her to make sure she didn’t have any questions. 

If she chose the normal option he would nod his head as he let the orb of silver fire dissipate from his hands before getting a firm grip on his own fire chakra. He would begin to channel the element, immediately getting lost in his own thoughts as the fire began as a faint flicker, like a candle being lit, before it slowly grew into a raging inferno within him. He would take hold of his chakra to channel it for the girl in all it’s glory so that she had the strongest control point possible for her own endeavors. Besides, he didn’t get to show off often damnit.

WC: 1743
TWC: 4644