After the Academy (p, Koaru)

Seasons were beginning to change after Suzume's graduation from the academy. Flowers starting to bloom, birds chirping and scattering around. The weather was almost right, aside from some drizzle. Now an official shinobi, things would be getting more real soon. She worried over the chunin exams, so much so in fact that instead of focusing on preparation for it, Suzume decided to go outside to walk off her nerves. The plan was that she would get back to training once she was able to direct her attention with her practice. Her mind was just to scrambled at the moment to do anything effectively. 

Recalling some of the good times, she was somewhat somber about advancing. There wouldn't be days like the field day she had with Allegro anymore. Eventually she would be expected to pick up a mission, as all shinobi were responsible in doing. Walking past many of the older ninjas, she recognized they too had all gone through the same things. Suzume would miss the routines and the easy come, easy go assignments. Not that homework was something she would miss, but being at how apprehensive she was over what was to come, it seemed a lot better. Although, being so pessimistic would only do her harm. She forced a more positive view to the changes. Those assignments were getting too easy, and going on a real mission could even be quiet the adventure.

Watching a group of senior ninjas goofing off, she managed to chuckle. Maybe she could manage that. Having a group of her own, having a good time, and working together. Suzume began to daydream all the possibilities if she ever achieved those desires. Perhaps somewhere along the way, she would find the perfect rival. It wasn't that it was impossible, more so just difficult. But, these chunin exams wouldn't be an easy feat, and it would pretty much be the gateway to everything she longed for. So much pressure was being put into one event. Suzume wanted to avoid being left behind, as this might be one of her bigger fears. Seeing the same people she once trained alongside with become higher in ranking than her was a shameful and dreadful thought. It wouldn't be an option anymore to procrastinate. And now that she didn't need to learn at the academy, she had plenty of her own time to get what she needed to prosper. 

Getting her head out of the clouds and onto stable grounds, swiftly she turned for an unoccupied training area. It was nicely secluded and out of view, a place of her preference as other people watching her train made Suzume uneasy. She begun with some basic stuff, using a wooden dummy as a reference to target. Some simple warm ups, to get the blood flowing. Utilizing the tree walking technique, she would run a fair distance up before  leaping off to perform a dropping attack. She was getting into this, coming up with all the ways she could defeat any adversary that comes her way. 

[WC:506]

Reaching such a height in the trees allowed Suzume to oversee a portion of the pond Allegro was training in. She noticed the movement in the water, wondering what was beneath the surface to cause it to twirl like it did. Though these were training grounds, so she minded her own business and got back to her own training. She continued her work with the wooden dummy, now practicing striking pressure points, yet unaware Allegro had appeared. Being the small framed girl she was, it would be to her advantage to have such accuracy in a battle as her opponent would more than likely be stronger than her. 

After a while, she would sense a presence was there. Something - or someone - was standing in the view from the corner of her eye. Turning towards the mysterious being, it would be revealed that Allegro was saying hello, waving at her. Before she could speak, she was amazed at how much he had changed. Her eyes grew a bit wide and her lips parted a bit. She covered herself partially with her arms as if she were to block a punch, not that she was afraid of him but merely because she was astonished. He was already much bigger than her, but it was evident that he had been doing a great amount of strength training by how muscular he was now - compared to when they were in the academy.The only thought Suzume could form at the sight of him was, "I don't want to get into a fight with him at any point". 

"Oh, hey, long time no see..." she would finally manage to respond. It had been so long she didn't know that Allegro would even remembered her. The only reason she remembered him was from that day in the academy. Suzume then took a few steps towards him, taking a break from her training.

"As have you...a lot stronger...." Suzume would admit. As he studied her, she would circle around him like some vulture staring down prey. Except, Allegro would never be prey to her...especially with how massive he was compared to her. She felt like a vulnerable ant standing by him, ready to be squashed, and was glad that she had comradeship with him instead of being his adversary. She would soon get back the spot where she stood right in front of him. Having to turn her head up towards him because of how much shorter she was than Allegro, Suzume was hesitant to engage in a match with this guy. As he peered down at her, Suzume looked off to the side. One punch from him could easily knock her out. Trying to hide the fact she was intimidated, Suzume would smile with a laugh and say, "Sure, if you really want to."

To add to the fun, Suzume put her hand out, gathering up some courage. It would make good practice to battle against another person of his dexterity, since ultimately in a real battle it would be more likely for her to be disadvantaged like this. She snickered and responded, "Yeah, I'll have this 'dance'".

The kunoichi circled around Allegro like some kind of predator eyeballing its tasty prey. Was this how flirting was supposed to be? Allegro was still green behind the gills on the subject. But now was not the time to be bashful about it. Suzume giggled at his mention of sparring together, before offering her hand in a playful manner. Allegro kissed the hand that Suzume extended before twirling her around, as if the two were about to begin a waltz. This was quite different from how sparring partners normally engaged one another on the training fields here in Konoha. The musical ninja could hear the song playing in his ears, as if they were being played by the headphones on his head. The song was not too fast, nor was it too slow. It was a groovy sound that would make him move his hips without intention. Then, after a short bow to Suzume, Allegro would raise the seal of confrontation once he was about 5 meters away from the kunoichi. Play time was over, and it was time to get down to the nitty gritty. 

The two engaged in combat for hours, trading blow for blow, and working up a decent sweat and developing and perfecting their jutsu. The two ninja had come to realize that they were about evenly matched, however neither of them quit the fight. This fight was not just a fight to see who was physically stronger, though just looking at the pair would give a biased answer to such a question. Instead, they were testing each other's will power. Which of the two of them had it in them to overcome even the most damaging odds. Allegro was training hard to learn how to apply his fuinjutsu seals in a combat environment. From his training with the other genin on his team, and his sensei, Allegro learned that taijutsu was one of his weaknesses. He definitely would not be able to sit around and draw seals into the ground in the middle of a fight without feeling a mean fist to the fast before he finished. He knew that in the chuunin exams there was a lot of one on one match ups against other genin. Genin, who would without a doubt be just as strong if not stronger than he was. Plus there was his own teammates to deal with. Practicing in seclusion allowed the ninja to develop some secret methods that even Higuto and Jason would not expect from their team leader. He had a heavy title to uphold, but was set on doing just that. He dared not go easy on his sparring partner, either. Suzume put up a great fight, and Allegro would soon see clearly why she was also recommended to take the exams. 

When they finished their sparring, Allegro stood hunched over with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. His long red dread locks were dangling down to the floor as he hunched over. The Uzumaki could see the sweat forming droplets on his nose before falling to hit the blades of grass below his feet. When they finished their sparring, Allegro stood hunched over with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. His long red dread locks were dangling down to the floor as he hunched over. The Uzumaki could see the sweat forming droplets on his nose before falling to hit the blades of grass below his feet. That was enough for one day of training, and besides, Allegro was parched. He caught his breathe eventually and shared his canteen on water with Suzume. He had filled the canteen up earlier before they began training in the pond he was training in earlier. The two had been sparring for such a long time, that the sun had set into late afternoon. Most of the other genin have already gone home for the day and the hustle and bustle of the active village had died down to a drone. Allegro's father would no doubt be worried about his only son this late in the day, even though he could easily be out on an important mission. His old man was a retired shinobi himself, though after serving his time and fulfilling his missions, the man grew old and had grown soft. As a result, the man worried after him at every turn. There was an odd role reversal between his Mother and his father that was very pro gender neutrality. His Mother was neglectful and carried an unparalleled machismo as one of the most notorious mercenaries in the Earth country while his Father was now a stay at home dad. He figured it was best not to make his overprotective dad wait for too long. Allegro stood up straight and bid Suzume farewell. He was not sure when the next time he would see her again, or if he would ever see her again at all. But, such was the life of a shinobi; here today and gone like the wind the next. Allegro walked away with one hand extended, waving good bye to his old friend.

[1560 TWC]
[Exit and Close Thread]

Claims:

Approved big dawg

Forgot to also claim +8 stats.

Suzume didn't fully understand why Allegro had gracefully spun her around and around in some formation of what she supposed was a dance. Yeah, dancing was fun. She went with it, despite not getting what Allegro's moves were all about. The girl didn't think much of it other than as some musical ninja thing. All through the academy, everyone knew about what music was to the boy. Without it, could he have ever existed? 

With his short bow, Suzume took the signal that the real spar was about to begin. And then, the next few hours were a blur. Not in the sense that the girl didn't know what was going on, but rather that she took every moment and movement within the fight as it happened. She was super in the here and now, with a laser focus that tended to be beneficial in combative fights. 

Alas, it did come to an end before she knew it. Where had all the time gone? The sun had changed its position much more from when they initially started. She was thankful for the water Allegro shared. What a comrade. Would she ever form a bond with another like him? Or even see him again after today? Either way, she was glad to have those few hours with her classmate as a memory to never forget. She smiled as Allegro waved goodbye, waving back as well. 

[EXIT]
[TWC: 1,261 and claiming Flicker Movement, putting the rest (761) towards Hiding Like A Mole Technique, and 6 stats]

Approved

Allegro if you ever come back to us it’s actually 7 stats that you get