Training Grounds - Kether+open

The circular academy building was surrounded in mist, as always.  It turned the white walls grey, and each red roof overhang for the 7 stories seems progressively more faded.

Hayate exited the from door, pulling up his hood and mask and popping his headphones back on now that he was back in the mist. He headed west at a moderate pace, looking up at the kenjutsu academy just past the training ground.  There was a note of pride as he did so, soured ever so slightly by wistfullness. He had, of course, taking basic training there.  To Hayate, Kenjutsu was a tradition tied deeply to the village, and a true Kiri ninja knew swordsmanship.  When he passed the initial suitability test, it was a proud moment.  As with everything in Kiri, the instructors did not mess around, and after only a short initial period you were told whether you had any prospect of continuing further or not.  Hayate was told he had the aptitude to continue, but he could not resume lessons and learn any more of the art until after becoming a genin.  He was eager to continue, though he wouldn't admit to it if asked.

As he reflected, he noticed the tall silver haired boy exit behind him, look both ways, and seemingly notice Hayate and head his way.  It was probably just coincidence, but they looked like they were in the same boat in class, and if they were heading the same place anyway Hayate had probably better at least learn his name - "tall silver haired boy" didnt exactly roll off the tongue quickly, even just in your thought.

As soon Hayate turned the corner into the training ground, he focused chakra to his feet, using that to sprint up the 6 foot stone wall to the east, just a short alley away from the closet building.  He'd be hard to spot from the street.  He was close to the top when he felt himself start to slip, and used one last big jump to reach the top and pull himself up. That one still needs work.  Almost there though.  He crouched on top of the wall, elbows on his knees.  The thought to take the normal approach and turn and introduce himself on the street never even entered Hayates mind.

If Kether notices Hayate up there, he'll just nod and say "Hey.  You were just in my class, right, tall-guy-san?"


If Kether enters but doesn't notice Hayate, he'll drop down a few feet behind Kether before saying the same thing.



If someone else enters Hayate will ignore them unless spoken too/interacted with.



WC 437
AP 79 (80-1 tree climb)

Kether stepped out into the seemingly unnaturally thick mist that was constantly around the academy as he exited the academy building. The mist had always been somewhat of a source of comfort for Kether, as it was much easier to avoid interacting with people if they never saw you to begin with. Unfortunately, now that he was actually trying to make contact with someone, the mist made it a bit more difficult.

He looked around for a couple of seconds before he managed to spot Hayate out in the mist and started walking in his direction. He hoped it looked casual enough and not like he was just trying to follow him.  As soon as the kid made it to the training grounds, however, he took off sprinting. Kether was caught off guard, not having expected to have to chase him down like this, and he felt a flicker of doubt in his own mind. Maybe trying to introduce himself wasn’t worth all of this after all. The hesitation passed in a second, however, and he took off running after him. That second of hesitation allowed Hayate to get enough of a head start that Kether had lost sight of him and so he was pretty much just running blind.

He had seen the direction that Hayate had taken off in and so he was just following that way but within a few seconds he had found himself up against one of the walls that surrounded the training grounds. Where did he go? he asked himself as he looked around. There wasn’t any sign of him through this thick mist, but the kid couldn’t have just vanished. He glanced around for a few more seconds before he shrugged in disappointment and started to walk away.


Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be, he thought to himself. Oh well, I suppose I had best get to practicing on the transformation jutsu anyways. Can’t let myself fall behind. A soft thud behind him caused him to spin around quickly. As he did so, he found himself face to face with Hayate, who had apparently just dropped down from somewhere. Ah, the wall, he realized, kicking himself mentally for not even thinking about the possibility.



”My name’s Kether,” he said in response to Hayate’s question. Who called someone “tall-guy-san” anyways? ”Yes, we are in the same class. You seem like you have the mindset of a Kirigakure shinobi. I was wondering if you might be interested in… assisting each other with training so that we can both improve our abilities.” He wasn’t really used to conversation, but he hoped he didn’t come off as too weird. Who knows, maybe he’d be able to gain some training in people skills from Hayate as well.

WC: 460

A light mist spread over the training ground, most of it fully visible but getting hazy at the other end.  A few trees scattered about the area, and of course the stone wall separated the field from any nearby buildings that careless students might harm.

The two students stood a few feet apart, the hooded shinobi just over a full half a foot shorter than the lithe kether.  The mask covered his face, so he allowed himself a small smile that quickly reverted to neutral at the compliment of having the Kiri mindset.  I KNEW that was the right move. He internally congratulated himself.  Steady, calm.  What others think doesnt matter.  he self chided. 

Hayate's eyes glanced over Kether.  He didn't seem weak, though neither did Hayate sense he was outmatched physically.  Still, the older student likely had more experience with the ninja arts, or at least had a longer reach, and it could prove to be good training either way.  After a moment he nodded his approval.

"I'm Hayate.  I guess we were taught that live practice is better than rote repetition. What did you have in mind?"  He cocked his head to the side ever so slightly.

WC 199 twc 636
AP 79

Now that they were face to face, Kether couldn’t help but notice the rather large difference in stature between the two of them. Standing a little over half a foot taller than his new training partner, Kether felt a sense of frustration that he had waited so long to get enrolled in the Academy. He was the oldest person he’d seen, which meant other shinobi that were his age were already Genin or even Chuunin. He had a lot of catching up to do. Still, he had almost been done with his studies in the Academy before the change in leadership, so he felt fairly confident about his basic skills.


 He inwardly sighed in relief as Hayate returned the introduction and agreed that it might be beneficial for both of them to train together. Still, his question about what Kether had in mind was a good one. He honestly hadn’t thought he’d even get this far.

”Umm…” he began hesitantly. ”Well you’ve clearly gotten the surface walking technique down and you seemed to do fine with the chakra cleansing. Those are pretty basic, but they’re good for practicing chakra control. Have you gotten anywhere with the transformation jutsu yet? I haven’t even started practicing that one.” Kether thought he probably looked like an idiot to Hayate, but in the end it was the training that mattered. ”Of course, we could always just do some sparring or something to do some more physical training. It’s up to you.”

WC: 247
TWC: 707

Transformation jutsu.  grrrrreeeeeeaaaat. Hayate tried to keep his face neutral.  If there was one jutsu that was giving him trouble....


".... I've tried transformation jutsu a few times." He admitted. Well, more like 50, but Kether doesnt to know that. Hayate looks a little to the side and down.  "It... It hasn't gone well so far.  I can get *something*, but its more like a shadowy caricature for a few seconds, and its not very stable.  Here, watch.  It might take a second."


Hayate first looked around to make sure sensei wasn't in sight, then slowly formed handseals, first dog, then boar, then ram.  He thought about each detail of sensei, one at a time, but by the time he reached the last detail, the first was a bit fuzzy.  His transformation actually consisted of three separate poofs of smoke, and then in Hayates place stood Sensei.  No, actually, on second look, that isn't right.  The face actually wasn't half bad, but the flak jacket looked two dimensional and just not quite right, and the pants and sandals looked like they belonged to a wider and shorter man.  

He concentrated for a moment more, then started to speak.  the voice was a mixture of Hayates teenage boy and the deep, clear tone of Sensei.   "See, no matter where I start, i keep getting it like...."   

*Poof!*  sensei dissappeared, and Hayate was back to normal, though sitting on the ground with his hands behind him to support him.

"Like that.  All kinda mixed up, and the moment I do anything but concentrate, or try and fix the broken parts, it just ends."

Hayate shrugged.  "Any ideas?  I'd hate to try and pass with THAT."


WC 282 twc  918
AP 74 (79-5 attempted transform)

Kether nodded at Hayate’s admission of not making much headway on the transformation jutsu. It was the most difficult jutsu that rising Genin were expected to know, so it only made sense that they would struggle more with that one than with any of the others. Even the surface walking technique had taken him over a hundred attempts before he could do it steadily. Still, if they both put their mind to it and helped each other then they’d have it down before the next Genin exam.
 
”Yes, it could certainly use some work,” he said as he examined Hayate’s transformation. ”I think perhaps it would be best to start small and slowly work your way up to a full transformation, at least for now.” Kether closed his eyes. He hadn’t even attempted to perform the jutsu yet, but he didn’t want to entirely embarrass himself. ”Attempt number one,” he whispered as he formed his own hands into the handseals necessary: dog, boar, ram.
 
There was a small poof of smoke that obscured Kether for a few seconds. When it cleared, he looked mostly the same except his hair had turned completely black. ”As you can see, changing a single attribute isn’t too difficult and it’s much easier to maintain. Obviously that won’t be enough to pass the exam, but if you can individually change different attributes at will, then it should become much easier to change multiple attributes at once.” He smiled awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head. ”At least, that’s the best process I can think of for figuring it out.”
 
”Attempt number two,” he whispered as he made the handseals again, this time changing his height to more closely match Hayate’s. It required the same constant upkeep of chakra that the surface walking technique did while also maintaining focus on the aspects being changed. This would certainly be a hard jutsu to master.

WC: 319
TWC: 1,026
AP: 60/70

The older boy made a lot of sense.  The constant flow of chakra wasn't hard once one got down the surface-walking jutsu, but focusing it into specific effects and holding those effects perfectly was the hard part.  So why not work on each little part step by step.

The boys traded turns transforming and critiquing the transformation for a while, though after about 10-12 more transformation attempts Hayatecould feel his chakra getting low.  He definitely notices some some improvement, though he was more impressed with Kethers progress.

Hayate moved to sit against a nearby tree, his back against the trunk as he watched Kether finish up his latest transformation.  The barren branches offered no shade as the sun moved almost directly overhead, but since it was the cooler season he didn't mind.  

"I'm spent for now" Hayate admitted when Kether looked over.  The hooded ninja was removing a tin from the pouch strapped to his leg and opening it.  "I need a break.  You gonna keep going?" He said, before taking a bite of the first riceball from the tin.

WC 180 twc  1098
AP 14 (74-60 12xattempted transform)

The training continued on for some time for the two academy students. Kether was thankful that he had Hayate to tell him any of the small details he might have missed in his transformations and by doing the same for his new training partner, he was able to increase his own level of perception. By the time Hayate had moved under one of the nearby trees, Kether was pretty exhausted as well. He glanced over at the younger student as he started to eat some food.


”Attempt number twelve,” he whispered as he formed the handseals yet again. Once the poof of smoke had cleared, Kether stood there as an almost exact copy of Hayate. ”I think we’ve had sufficient training for the day,” he said with the beginnings of a grin on his face. The voice wasn’t quite right yet, but it was leagues beyond where he had started. ”We should rest. This has been a very productive day.”
 
He took a seat near Hayate and closed his eyes. In his head, he went over the different techniques he had learned. Just because Hayate had been willing to train with him didn’t mean that the two were friends exactly and even if they were, Kether didn’t really know how to act around a potential friend. Rather than try to figure it out, he’d just focus on learning more about his skills as a shinobi. If Hayate tried to have any conversation, however, he’d be more than willing to respond.

WC: 250
TWC: 1,276
AP: 10/70 (10 transformations = -50 AP)

The two students sat against the same tree, Hayate munching away on his rice ball while Kether sat stoicly, his eyes closed.  Hayate tried to match the older ninjas calm silence, but after a few minutes he couldn't help himself.  

He pulled up from his lean against the tree, switching to sitting crossed led so he could better face the other ninja.  "So..... What's your story? If you don't mind me asking."  Since Hayate had just semi recently re enrolled after his year away from the academy, he didn't know much of Kether besides he was older and in the same class.  He realized this could often be a rude question, but his curiosity got the better of him.

Hayate reached out with the small sports water bottle he had just used to squirt water into his mouth, tilting it toward Kether in offering, though if he didn't open his eyes in response to the question Hayate would shrug to himself and pack it and the food back in his leg Pouch. 

If Kether responds, Hayate will listen.  If Kether asks what he means, Hayate will say.  "just, you know, you don't look like you're from around here, and you're an older student like me.  And you're pretty good at that Chakra molding, do you know any cool special jutsu?".   If Kether ignores the question Hayate will sit for a few more minutes then get up, announce to himself (out loud) " well, I guess it's time to get back"  and leave


Wc 251   twc 1349

Kether’s eyes opened at the sound of Hayate’s voice. ”My… story?” he repeated with a hint of confusion. ”What do you mean?” He gratefully accepted the water bottle that Hayate had offered him, squirting some of the water in his mouth to help refresh himself before passing it back to Hayate.

”Oh,” he said as his new training partner clarified. ”There’s no story. My parents just didn’t want me to become a shinobi so they didn’t let me enroll in the Academy. Eventually I realized they were never going to allow me to try and so I ran away and enrolled myself.” His parents had eventually forgiven him, of course, but they hadn’t been pleased. In fact, they had tried to pull him out, but the Academy wasn’t going to give up one of its students. ”I was pretty close to graduating before the village became New Kirigakure, but it was decided to have the currently enrolled students redo their training with new guidelines.”

He felt a surge of pride when Hayate complimented his chakra control and couldn’t help a small grin forming. ”I’m still learning just like you are, I’ve just always been fascinated with jutsu so I put a lot of practice in so that I can control my chakra better. I don’t know any jutsu other than surface walking, substitution, the clone jutsu, and that chakra cleanse we just learned. I guess I’m getting there with the transformation jutsu now too, but nothing special.”

His curiosity piqued, he cocked his head to the side slightly. ”What about you? What’s your… story? Also, if you don’t mind me asking, do you know what your element is?”

WC: 278
TWC: 1,554