The Day After

The sun was up and high in the sky before Mara Asano really stirred for the first time this morning. Even once she'd finally gotten up, she felt sluggish. She'd burned through a lot of chakra yesterday in her fight with Hato, and she was definitely feeling the consequences of it. But this was all exhaustion, not injury. She had come away from it remarkably uninjured, thanks in no small part to Hato's approach. Sure she'd suffered some blood loss, but her opponent literally healed her on site. If that didn't speak well of her fellow Kumo Genin, she wasn't sure what would.

Mara had accomplished her primary goal for the exams: she'd survived. She hadn't truly expected to make Chuunin, so her defeat wasn't all that disappointing. If anything, it gave her a taste of what real combat was like. And that taste had confirmed how woefully unprepared she was.

She donned her exam outfit again, but instead of heading toward the arena, she'd head to the training grounds. She did want to watch the coming exams, especially Hato's next match up. But she wanted to get a little training in before that.

With the pressure of the exams off her shoulders, and with no real worry about showing off her moves now, she headed to the grounds. She took her time along the way, enjoying the walk. Konoha was a notably more maintained village than home, and she was used to the poorer parts of Kumo. It was still entertaining for her to simply see buildings this nice.

The training grounds were mostly empty again, with only a few Academy Students around. Everyone must be watching the exams or training somewhere more secretive. As she stepped onto the dirt pitch, she reviewed her weapons pouch. Her fight had cost her a kunai and an explosive tag. And she had exactly zero money to spend on replenishing her supply, let alone expanding it to include the katana she was looking for. She would definitely need to take up a few missions upon her return home or she'd be dead broke.

Hato was quite a bit faster than her, but Mara definitely felt that their fight could have lasted a little longer if she’d been able to hurl a kunai before Hato had fully Body Flickered to her position. The problem was, she was unable to retrieve her weapon in time to throw. She needed to find a solution to that problem.

She'd already learned how to perform the Storage Displacement Technique. However, the jutsu hadn't been too useful yet since she hadn't exactly had much to store. It was also not really a combat efficient jutsu, requiring too much time to retrieve her equipment. It'd bee a good way to stow her cloak, but little else so far. However, she wondered if she could utilize a modified version of this technique.

It would have to be a highly specialized version of the displacement, obviously. In order for her to retrieve them faster, they'd need to be small. A kunai or shuriken would be about as big as she could manage.

She reached into her weapon pouch and retrieved one of her kunai. Twirling it in her hand, she concentrated for a moment and then activated her space time jutsu. The kunai vanished incredibly quickly. But she when she retrieved it, it took a moment of concentration to arrive. No, displacement wouldn't do her much good in combat.

But what if she didn't displace it? What if she simply allowed it to slide from her pouch to her hand along a tiny dimensional pocket? In theory it would work. She'd open a tiny space time rift in her pouch and one by her hand, and the weapon would just fall through. It wasn't extra complicated honestly. And the same thing could have been accomplished with a sleeve pocket or something simple. But Mara rarely had sleeves in which to hide such a thing.

She positioned herself in front of the training dummy and prepared to throw. It took extra attention to avoid actually reaching for her pocket. Suddenly, with a flick of her wrist, she opened her dimensional tunnel. The kunai appeared suddenly within her grasp, as if from nowhere. It wasn't instantaneous, but  it was about as quick as she could move, and far faster than the displacement. She caught it  in her hand and hurled the blade forward at the dummy. She'd need to increase that throwing speed too.


With a moment of inspiration, she attempted to open up a small dimensional rift and call her kunai back to her. After a moment of concentration and a grown of exertion...the kunai remained firmly planted in the dummy. "Ok, that was nothing..."

She knew it wouldn't work, but held out hope. Maybe someday. Dejected, Mara walked back toward the dummy and retrieved her weapon from the target.

A loud roar of cheers issued from the arena aways off. Another victor, she supposed. She wondered if any other of her fellow Kumo Genin would make it to the second round. She'd heard Zyxis had lost too. She should probably swing by and make sure he's alright. He seemed to have taken this tournament very seriously.

She also wondered if there would be any consequences for herself. She was comfortable with surviving a loss to an ally. But would her village leadership feel the same? After all, Kumogakure valued strength and she'd been shown lacking. And it hadn't been a glorious battle she'd lost. She'd essentially been eliminated in seconds. Not exactly an awe inspiring performance.

She walked back to the throwing line and attempted her hidden weapon trick again. With a flick of her wrist, a kunai appeared in her hand and she hurled it at the dummy. For an extra kick, she formed the Ram hand sign and charged the spinning projectile with her electricity chakra. It landed with a nice heavy thud, as it cut into the wood a bit.


[WC: 1006 | TWC: 1006]

Tracking to claim later::

It was a sunny day, contrasted by the day that the cloud swallowed the sun whole. After his spar, Tadashi had more of an incentive to keep on going as a ninja, because that's what his Mom would have wanted him to do, and also, he can't just give up like that. He had legs to walk, why not put them to use to walk on the path he vowed to run to, with full force. He wouldn't be as cheerful and energetic as usual, but he would have a calmer personality, enlightened from life, the fire in his heart, burning brightly, yet not fiercely, still wavering at some moments, but mostly normal. The young Namikaze had his ninja pouches on his two thighs, and he also had his katana, strapped on his left hip. He left his jersey zip jacket open, revealing his black shirt with a red fire in the middle of the shirt. His Jutsu Encyclopedia was held on his left hand, hoping to learn some jutsu there. The crimson haired Genin would be walking towards the Traning Grounds, but there weren't that many people, most likely at home. Tadashi thought he was the only person who would be there until he heard the crackling of lightning and the sound of something sharp, hitting against something else. 

"A lightning user? Pretty rare around Konoha." He curiously thought. Walking to the entrance, he saw a blonde hair girl about the same height as the 13-year-old, throwing a Lightning infused kunai at a training dummy, hitting with a thud. It seemed to be Lightning Release: Kunai Cutter, a technique he trained before and learned from his jutsu encyclopedia. but he could be wrong. Walking towards her, he would stop until he was about 5-10 meters away. He would form a calm and reassuring smile, yet having a confident gaze, 

"Hi, haven't seen you around. New here?"

For a brief moment, he would turn his eyes towards the crackling Kunai, now bearing dulled out lightning and slightly charred exterior, not that noticeable, before focusing his attention to her.

WC: 453

Mara turned to face the younger shinobi who'd approached her, his Konoha headband gave away his place of origin before his question did. "Oh, hello there," Mara replied with a friendly smile. She felt strangely more outgoing here, where no one knew her.

"And yes, I am new around here," she replied pulling her cloak aside to reveal the Kumo headband around her waist. "I'm here for the exams. Well..." She paused for a moment. Really, she was done with the exams at this point. She planned to spectate a few, but they certainly wouldn't be involving her. "...I was here for the exams. Now I'm here to cheer on the people who made it to Round Two. At least, until we head home."

She spoke warmly toward the boy. He wasn't much younger than her, but he looked like he'd seen far too much for his age. She couldn't be sure he wasn't sizing up how much of a threat she'd be. Had she been too forthcoming? Or was she just being paranoid? His eyes spoke the same story of someone who'd been around the block, even down to the appraising look he gave her slightly burnt kunai.

"A little lightning chakra. Though you probably already knew that. I'm Mara Asano. What's your name?"

[WC: 215 | TWC: 1221]

"You are?" Tadashi inquired, now curious, where was she from? Was she originally from another village, or perhaps she moved here? All of that was answered, when she pulled her cloak over to show her headband on her waist. From the crimson haired Genin's studious nature, he could easily identify her village as Kumogakure, no wonder she had Lightning Release, it was normal for people of Kumo to have this Chakra Nature. That must mean she was most likely here for the Chunnin Exams, other than that, he had no clue to what her reason for coming for Konoha could be. It was not a shocker when she said that she lost the exams since he already watched her fight, and damn did she fought well. The crimson haired Genin did feel a little bad when she conceded, but we just have to live with it. 

Tadashi would respond warmly and reassuringly, "If I recall correctly, I saw your fight. You fought with all of your strength and really tried your best there. You did a good job, feel proud of yourself. Next time, reach higher than what you've previously scaled. I wish I could say the same thing about myself." The last sentence, he would drift off and mummer, while looking down, ashamed and a tiny bit enraged from himself. Soon after, if there were no questions about his previous behavior, the blonde would comment on his previous glance of the Lightning. In response to the girl, he would act modest about him knowing the lightning jutsu by turning his head a little, blushing a little bit, but would turn it back once she asked him about his name.

"My name is Tadashi Namikaze, a swordsman of Konoha. Well, I only call myself a swordsman because there's barely anyone that wields a sword." He would jokingly say, but with that calm look on his face and eyes.

 WC: 421

She blushed a little at her combat performance. She wasn't really sure she'd been that impresive in the fight. It had been fairly short lived. "Thank you. Getting to that higher rung next time is sorta the whole reason I headed here today. Didn't want to miss much time on training. I don't just want to do better next exam. I want to win!"

She had herad his final trailing comment, but it felt a bit too personal to delve into, so she let it pass.

"A swordsman, huh" Mara replied teasingly, in a friendly manner. "It's a pleasure to meet you Tadashi. I actually hope to get my hands on a sword at some point too...once I actually get some money. I don't know if I'd ever be of the quality to be called a swordswoman, though."

Her curiosity got the better of her and she tried to gently steer the conversation back toward his comment from a moment ago. "I'm sorry if this is personal, but you seemed especially upset at your performance. From everything I had seen, you fought very well! Better than I did, certainly. And it took you a bit longer than me too get taken out by the chakra absorption.

The crimson haired Genin would giggle a little at her reaction towards his friendly compliment, it had been a long time since he had felt such liveliness with someone he could relate to. In response to her determined gaze, he would say with the same tone of voice that she had, holding out his right hand into a fist, "It's my pleasure. We both need to get stronger and vigilant, soaring higher than we ever done!" Soon after saying those words, he would return back in his previous, carefree stance.

Tadashi would lightly chuckle at her attempt at teasing at him, "You should get one, they don't really cost that much, but they have a little bit of learning curve, just look at some scars I have to confirm that. After learning the basics, it's a breeze to use, great for clearing distance!" He would pause a little, after hearing her response, "Nah. Mara, you'll be great. It might seem weird, but try to understand and connect with the sword, after that, you can do anything." He would encouragingly and warmly reply.

It seemed that he should have kept his mouth shut, and should have kept those words, buried in his thoughts. The blonde's inquisitiveness got the better of her as she diverged from the conversation. Tadashi would try his best to keep his neutral and calm gaze towards her, "I'm not sure that I fought better than you... But, there's always these things that keep biting you in the back, I was way too confident and prideful in my skills, that I made one major oversight... If it wasn't for that, I would have had a better chance of winning. But, you can't change the past, I just have to learn from my errors for next time." The young Namikaze would say in a resolute tone of voice.

If there were no more questions, Tadashi would walk 5 meters in front of himself while taking mild stretches to warm up. In relation to Mara, Tadashi would be 5 meters diagonally right from her, in the front. "I forgot for a few minutes for the reason why I'm here." This was a new technique Tadashi had learned just before the Chunnin Exams, but he didn't want to use it due to its many imperfections. He would hold out his left hand right in front of him, molding chakra in his body while taking a deep breath. Ox->Rabbit->Monkey, his hands danced through the hand seals at a Speed of 99. To the untrained eye, it would seem like a blur. A sparkling blue ball of chakra would erupt on his right hand as Tadashi would smile, canceling the jutsu called Chidori. 

"One-handed handseals, complete."


WC: 564
TWC: 1436

Mid-Thread Claims
7 Stat Points
1436 WC Towards and to finish This and Proof of Progress is Here
Remaining 121 WC Towards This

Approved

Mara nodded thoughtfully at his sword advice. It was a nice piece of motivation. "Thank you, I'll definitely keep that in mind. I have a long way to go, but I'll keep my mind set to it." She'd need to get her self some missions to earn some money first. Being dead broke could be a complication for getting better gear. But still, the thought was nice.

"I'm sure you'll come back even stronger next time! I know I certainly plan to! We just need to put our minds to it and work just that bit harder than everybody else." Mara wasn't positive that she entirely believed it herself, but it felt good to say these things.

Mara watched as he wove the single handed seals. It was certainly more convenient than her two handed approach. It could have been enormously helpful in her fight with Hato during the exams. And it definitely would prove useful if she started carrying a sword. The Chidori, she was much more familiar with, it being her prized jutsu at the moment. It was an imperfect jutsu, but she was beginning to formulate some plans in her head. She wasn't ready to start experimenting, but she could always continue theorizing. Honestly, she kind of needed to stop theorizing and actually get some work done. Her learned jutsu list wasn't long enough to waste so much time thinking about Chidori alterations and other more ridiculous ideas.

"Very impressive," Mara replied. She hesitated for a moment. She really wanted some help from him, to learn the technique. It'd be invaluable to he, in any number of ways. But she knew that he was a Konoha shinobi. There'd be plenty of reasons for him to not want to tech her. And she didn't exactly have much to offer him in exchange, especially if he knew the Chidori. If he was a lightning user, she'd be far ahead of him in techniques. But...she could at least try. Worst case scenario, he'd just shoot her down.

She opened her mouth hesitantly for a moment. "Um...Out of curiosity, would you mind showing me how you did that? Given how my fight went, I think one handed seals would have definitely come in handy. I'm not sure there's much I could offer to show you in return though..."

[WC: 389 | TWC: 1814]

Claim Tracking For End:

Just soon as the ball of chakra, transmuted into a crackling, volatile lightning ball, crackled out of Tadashi's hand, he would hear Mara's intrigued compliment, his eyes, and body darting towards the voice, now sideways towards her. The crimson haired Genin would smirk at that comment, he must be doing well if people from other villages complimented him, or at least, on the right track. There was no road left for him, just the one that would end, futility is very much real, yet not present. He had to keep moving, because if not, his Mother's death, the blood that he shed profusely and the lives that he took, would have been nugatory and unvailing. Tadashi would softly sigh, there's progress. After the soft sigh, he would hear an almost whimper of hesitation, as if the blonde would want to say something salient to the conversation, but was too nervous to say. 

The crimson haired Genin's bangs would move with his head, as he patiently looked at Mara until she asked him about teaching him one-handed seals. His golden eyes would widen at the question, he? A shinobi from Konoha, teaching a shinobi from Kumo? That was extremely out of the blue, to say the least. This was golden! Was this reality, or simply a sitcom? Tadashi took a moment to register what Mara just said... Before bursting out laughing hysterically, clutching his stomach, tears threatening to fall from his petite eyebags. 

After a few seconds, he used his left hand to wipe off the tears and tried to regain and straighten himself up. My god, that actually brightened up his day, and made him like her that much more. "Sorry! I'm very sorry! I'm just surprised to see that you would trust a foreign shinobi to teach you stuff, even though we may be the same people that slit each other's throats? Such subsequent irony! You know what Mara, I like you, NOT IN THAT WAY, but I can't turn off an offer like that! I'll show you how I do it." 

The crimson haired Genin would beckon the blonde to move towards him, so that they were at least, a few feet away from each other. "You know Yin and Yang right?" Tadashi would pause for a few seconds, regardless of the answer, he would continue, "Yin and Yang are two forces that cannot live without each other. These forces are interconnected; complementary to each other, they both balance the world." A leaf would fly towards Tadashi at a Speed of 10 or so, as he would grab it at a relatively short speed, holding it at his right eye, covering it. "What happens when one is gone?" A half of the leaf would then burn to an ashy crisp, revealing his right eye. "The results would be catastrophic," The young Namikaze would throw the leaf to the ground, "And that's how hand seals work. You could say that the hands that you perform are Yin and Yang in a sense. They both mold the world or chakra. The left hand is Yin and the right is Yang. So if one does not use, let's say the right hand. How could you use the left hand to mold chakra?" Tadashi would pause for the blonde to answer, regardless of the reply, he would debunk the question, "Make your own Yin and Yang. You cannot be dependant on the world to provide you with what you need. Substitute the absent energy, and use your mind force to be complete. A jutsu is only half complete unless you pour your mind and spirit into it." Tadashi would explain.

Instantly, with his left hand, he would weave Boar>Ram>Snake>Horse>Dragon at a Speed of 99 before outstretching his hand towards a rock a few feet from the left of him. A wave of pure electricity would shoot out towards the rock, slicing it in half, before leaving a burn mark on the grass. 

"If you put your mind and spirit into it, then you can achieve the art of One-Handed Hand Seals."

WC: 797

Mara stood there motionless as he nearly doubled over laughing. A series of emotions flooded through her mind as he did so. Embarrassment, annoyance, anger, shame. Pity. Her mind settled there. She knew asking to learn a technique from a shinobi in another village was a bit out of the ordinary. But they were still so young, and here for an st least supposedly amicable purpose. They were competing against each other for mutual recognition of abilities. They had a lot to learn from each other. The idea of actually asking didn’t seem absurd to her, but she felt sad that it was such a ridiculous topic to him. Maybe the divides between the villages really were to far a divide to bridge. 

When he finally replied, she felt a bit to his words that she wasn’t sure he intended. Her request had been so ridiculous he’d decided to honor it out of entertainment. Regardless, she wasn’t going to turn it down.

He began his description with the concept of Yin and Yang, asking if she was aware of them. “Of course,” she joked. “I wouldn’t have gotten very far if I didn’t.”

He continued, finally asking her what would happen if she didn’t use her other hand to shape the chakra. “I...don’t know. My initial assumption would be that the jutsu fails. But obviously that’s not the case.”

After he’d finished and destroyed the rock in demonstration, Mara looked down at her hands. “I see,” she said, mimicking a few hand seals together, and then apart. She needed to complete it with her mind. She formed a seal or two to no avail, finding it difficult to hold the image. But eventually, imagining her other hand there, she strung a series of seals together. Her lightning jutsu leapt out splitting the rock next to him. “That is a very convenient trick.”

A commotion in the distance indicated a group of her village was meeting. She was supposed to. E there too. “I’m sorry, I need to go join them,” she said apologetically. But as she got to the edge of the training grounds and stopped, she turned her head lately back toward him. 

“Tadashi, I know you thought I was ridiculous asking you before, thinking it’s absurd that a Kumo ninja would learn something from a Konoha ninja. You said it’s crazy to teach someone who could cut your throat some day. But I think you’re wrong. If our world is ever going to get better, if the terrible things that have happened are ever going to stop, we need to be better than that.” She turned fully to face him. “I don’t know that this world has room for change, but I intend to try. And I hope some day, the idea of our villages working together, either on a large scale or something as small as two Genin training, won’t be a laughing matter. And I hope we both live to see that day.”

With that, she turned and left the training grounds, not really wanting to hear a potential second outbreak of laughter. She sped off after the Kumo group, eager to learn whatever the ruckus was about. Maybe one of her fellow villagers had advanced to the next round. She didn’t know if Tadashi thought she was ridiculous still, but she hoped not. 

She genuinely hoped that her words were more than just blind idealism and naïveté, that there actually was hope for their world. She hoped they could maintain this period of peace. She supposed they’d both have to live to find out

[Exit. WC: 591| TWC: 2405]

[Claiming: 
+12 Stats (+5 Strength, +4 Health, +2 Stamina, +1 Speed)
+1000 words toward Hidden Arms Technique (1000/1000)
+1000 words toward one handed seals with discount (1000/1000)
+405 toward Manipulating Attack Blades (405+38 pervious = 443/2000)