Rainy Days and Memory Lanes (P)

It was yet another day falling upon the Hidden Leaf village as the day was one meant for rain as it dropped down upon the Leaf and the forest surrounding it for many miles. At Vergil's house all was dreary as Saori was hard at work with keeping the floors of the house clean while Vergil was in the process of putting his training gear on. Saori stopped by his room as he did this and shook her head. "You really planning on going out training in this weather? The Chuunin exams may be less than a week away but that doesn't mean you have to try your best getting sick before the big day." Vergil didn't listen to her as he continued putting on his clothes, coat included, before stepping out through his bedroom door and making his way to his front door. "If I'm going to contend to such an important tournament I must make certain I can at least put up a fight. Dont worry. I'm very adept when it comes to using the elements of nature to help me rather than break me. I'll make sure not to get sick." She shrugged upon hearing that as he opened the door and she walked over to close it behind him as his patio protected him from the rain above.

"If you're still out there after a little while I'll come out and help you train. I don't want to take any chances with your health." Vergil sighed as he put a cloak on and pulled it's hood up over him as he nodded to her. "If you must. I shall look forward to having another spar with you." She smiled and bowed as he walked away and made his way through the rain and towards the gate as usual. Normally the rain caused everyone to get inside of their buildings but now, unusually, their were many of them running from building to building as though on errands as he could tell they were all getting ready for the upcoming Chuunin exams. It was known for being an event that could bring in many different ninjas and regular citizens from multiple lands and villages so they all needed to make sure they could supply the food for all that came to the village to enjoy the exams. Shrugging Vergil continued his path down through the threshold of the gates as he made his way down the familiar road that led to the training field. The gate guards were calm as he passed, a few of them giving a slight wave and nod to him as he passed, as he nodded back and continued on his way.

As he made it to the training field, the field completely soaked in rain as puddles formed all along the surface of the soil everywhere, he walked over to the good old tree and placed his sword down on the trunk before removing his cloak and looking up to see that the tree was protecting him a good deal from the rain. He would proceed to do a few stretched underneath the tree as he proceeded to do a few mid air punches before looking up to one of the branches and hopped up into the leaves in order to grab himself a branch and he began to do a few pull ups for a little bit. The water fell down from all around in blotches thanks to the thickly clustered leaf groups all along the leaves of the tree as he wouldn't concentrate on the rain as he pulled himself up over and over again but instead on events of the past in his mind. His mother's last words to him still rang loudly within his mind every day as he was trying to find ways of improving himself so that he could live up to them. Saori who was now spending all her time as his house's maid and personal ninja. It was all a lot that's happened.

Letting himself fall from the branch after getting his warm up pull ups in he landed on his feet and looked around the raining field to ponder about what he would do next for either a warm up or a main event of his training session. His eyes would travel over the surface of the nearby river to the cliff that was right beside it to the logs that were underneath the tree next to him as he figured a little bit of Taijutsu practice was in order. He took a few moments to get in some breathing exercises, doing a few stretches with his other limbs, before stepping away from the logs and getting down into a fighting ready stance as his eyes were glued onto one of the logs that he was going to use as his training target. After a while of getting his body ready, the rain falling just safely out of his way behind him, he would rush at the log full speed and start punching.

He would take the next few minutes to test his skills against the logs, pummeling them with his fists and feet while making certain to keep his speed up in order to combo his attacks as much as possible, as the wood of the logs proved sturdy enough to repel his attacks. After a while he stopped and flipped back onto his feet before taking in a deep breath and getting onto his hands in order to commence with a few push ups. The rain coursed and fell all around him as he used it as his focus of concentration in order to take his mind off of the slow burn he was beginning to feel within his arms due to the many push ups he was performing. The ground around him, even though it wasn't in the direct line of the rainfall he could feel the ground below him and how wet and slippery it was. It provided a bit of a cool feeling for his fingers and palms as he would perform a handstand upon finishing his push ups and using his wrists to push him up and flip over to land onto his feet. He shook off his arms as he stood up straight and looked around the field thinking what next was for him to do. Maybe a good run was in order.

Taking a low stance while putting his hands down along the ground as he dug his feet into the ground while taking a look at his route around the field before charging forward from his crouched position and took off into a run all along the length of the field as he could see he certainly did get faster as the rain was moving slower than he was. He took in his breaths equally without having to speed up in order to keep from draining too much of his stamina as he ran. Within his mind the motivations of what had made him want to become a ninja and he used them as his motivations to grow physically stronger as a ninja. Running over the raging river with his chakra infused feet also helped him in his control of the chakra within him as his legs grew in strength from the many laps he ran all along the field. He was definitely going to need a shower after this even with all the rain showering him already for he could tell all this cold air along with the rain was increasing the possibility of him getting sick.

Stopping himself after a little bit of running he heard a distant rustling and crunching as he looked over to the entrance of the field and saw Saori in the black cloak he had seen her in when he first met her was entering the field and making her way towards him with her hood up. The rain fell on the both of them as she walked up to him and waved from beneath her cloak with a smile. "Hey. Just came by to see if you were ready for a nice sparring session? I would rather you get back home soon as possible but I know you're serious about getting as strong as possible. I wish to offer any help I can." Vergil took in a sigh and nodded as he looked over to the river, the rain causing the surface to churn and ripple, as he thought of how best to proceed with sparring. He stepped back onto the river, his chakra coursing through the soles of his feet as he did so, before he looked over to Saori who took her spot a bit of a ways away from him.

Twisting his neck around and allowing the muscles and bones to crack within it he took a stance over the churning waters and looked over at Saori as she did the same and watched Vergil closely this time with her Sharingan already activated. He could tell that she didn't want to get caught by surprise like she did last time he sparred against her as he didn't want to go ahead and activate a technique right off the bat this time and see how far he could get with his own strength. Thus taking the time to ready himself mentally he took a look at Saori and the nearby surroundings as he thought of how best to proceed in his attack as she stood apart from him and waited patiently for him to make his first move. He thought about maybe trying to implement the sword he had left by the tree trunk in some sort of secret way to attack her from a blind spot but didn't know exactly how to proceed with such a plan as he just decided that maybe the direct approach was the best way to proceed for now.

Setting his feet apart and gathering strength into his feet he would propel himself forwards toward her as she got a hand up and blocked an oncoming punch before using her other hand to push the underside of his arm with such strength Vergil was forced to flip over the top of her. He would try and deliver a kick to her head as he did so but was met with a forearm as he landed on his feet behind her and twisting his forearm around to try and smack the side of her cheek. She had already turned around and caught his forearm, however, as he tried for a punch and she jumped up and away in order to land a bit of a ways away from him. She took a deep breath and got into another stance as she got low to the ground and waited to see what Vergil's next move was going to be. Thinking that that didn't work at all Vergil knew he had to go about this spar another way as he allowed the chakra in his soles to dissipate and he quickly sank into the waters below him.

Sinking deep into the waters and looking up towards the surface with his Sharingan he could see her form clearly through the water as he kept his breath held and used his chakra in order to move it once more into the soles of his feet and propel him around the deep water in order to move around behind her. He would then push his feet downwards, chakra blowing out of his feet full blast, as he propelled upwards like a torpedo towards her position. She was expecting his attack, however, as she quickly flipped out of the way and Vergil was sent flying into the air before flipping around the forming a couple of hand seals. He would then take a deep breath before blowing out hard as a giant ball of fire shot from his mouth and flew down to her position still atop the surface of the river. Her responding move was quickly forming a bunch of hand seals as the water beneath her churned and swirled rapidly before she formed one last seal and the swirling water suddenly shot upwards from all around her in a whirlpool of liquid destruction. He watched as his fireball was completely swallowed by the water before he put his arms up in order to defend himself from the oncoming deluge of pain.

Before they could hit him, however, they suddenly dispersed and fell away harmlessly away from him. He looked down to see she had dispersed it away herself as Vergil fell through the air and landed on the water before her. "If you're going to go easy on me I'd rather you kill me." She gave him a look that said 'get real' as she shrugged. "I wouldn't be much of a protector if I killed or fatally hurt the one I was sworn to protect. Don't forget the entire point I'm even around you is because your mother asked me to look after you and help you out in whatever you need." Vergil sighed and nodded as he rubbed his shoulder and rolled it around. "That may be but I won't be able to learn how to potentially get out of situations if you solve the situation before for me before I can solve it myself." She smiled at that and nodded. "Very well. I'll make certain to lower the power of my techniques. Don't give me any of that "don't go easy on me" crap. Just because the techniques are lower powered doesn't mean you can't learn."

Vergil would nod to this in agreement as he jumped away from Saori and got back into a stance as Saori eased herself into her own stance waiting for him to make another move against her. He would have to be clever in order to get a point across to her as he started to gather his chakra once again all along his body. He took in a deep breath in order to relax his body as he looked around at the water and could see that the churning river was now moving differently in response to the chakra output that both of them were putting off from their bodies. She watched Vergil closely, Sharingan eyes in watching his every move like a hawk, as Vergil had his own activated and he dashed forward towards her once more. The water trailed behind him as he moved and he kicked her leg out to the side in order for him to move quickly to the side as he began to run full speed in a circle around her as she watched curiously.

After a while of running he would then move in from the side and direct an upward kick to her chin as she was able to see it coming and she got a forearm up to catch it just in time. She was propelled up into the air as Vergil righted himself and jumped up after her while forming hand seals and he appeared to be creating afterimages behind him with his every movement. She watched this as he did a few more hand seals and suddenly moved to the side while two more went totally different directions which caught her off guard. He knew that she would be able to see the real him out of the group of clones with her Sharingan but that was his intention as out from behind him a kunai was soaring it's way towards her from the direction of the river below as she was caught by surprised and managed to catch it before it could hit her stomach. A wire was tied to it as she looked at it in order to see which Vergil was holding it as she was shocked to see it was a clone! Before she was able to realize what happened she felt something hit her right alongside the face as Vergil managed to get her with a firm punch to the cheek!

She would wind up flying away from the strength of his punch as she flipped around through the air and landed on the cliffside by her feet before pushing herself off in order to fall and land on the ground below it. Shortly after Vergil landed on his feet a little bit away as she rubbed her cheek with a slight grimace before smiling. "Wow. I didn't expect you to get me that good. How did you do that move?" Vergil relaxed his chakra as his afterimages and clones disappeared. "Simple. I tied a wire to the blade of one of my kunai, pulled it up and threw it as I jumped after you, and when I moved out of the way I tossed the wire towards one of my clones to make it look as though they were the ones holding it." She rubbed her cheek a bit more, a bit of green chakra surrounding the hand rubbing, as she let her hand down to reveal there was no mark nor bruise on her face.

She looked impressed as Vergil cracked his knuckles and was ready to continue but Saori tilted her hooded head to the side in confusion. "You want to keep going? You were able to hit me in the cheek. Is that not good enough?" Vergil blinked water from his eyes as he stood back up straight and brought a hand up over his hair to slick it back. "Are you trying to tell me I should find victory in only hitting you?" She shrugged and nodded to the question as though it was supposed to be an obvious answer. "Well yeah. You outwitted me and was able to devise a very good strategy in order to get a punch in which, being frank, no ordinary Genin has ever been able to do. I'm willing to say you've won this spar." Vergil sighed at that as she apparently didn't understand that, on a battlefield, high ranking ninja don't commend low level ninja just because they managed to punch them. However looking up to the sky he did in fact feel as though it wasn't a good idea to stay out in the rain so he had no choice but to nod to her words as he turned to the tree.

"Very well then. Let's head back home. I have a lower basement in the house that I can use for the rest of my training." He walked over to the tree as she followed and smiled wide at his decision to leave. "Good. I've been keeping that area clean for you. All your weight equipment is currently in good condition so you shouldn't have a problem getting by." Vergil nodded in response to this as he picked up his sword and walked over to the threshold of the training field's entrance and exited to walk along the leaf covered path to the village gates. "So how has your training been treating your body so far, sir? Do you feel as though you've gotten stronger?" Vergil kept his eyes forward as he walked before flexing one of his hands and answering. "Yes. Only a bit but I do feel as though I'm getting closer to my intended goal if only by a little margin." They walked past the gates of the village and made their way to Vergil's house through the rain as the streets were proving to still be busy with people running around all over to prepare for the Chuunin exams.

Vergil stepped up to his door with key in hand as he put it in his keyhole and unlocked the door. Stepping inside his home he shook the rain out from his hair before slicking it back once again as she took her cloak off and offered an arm out to him asking for his coat. "I'll go dry these off for you. Feel free to go ahead down to the basement if you wish. I'll have your dinner ready shortly." Vergil nodded as he took off his coat and put it in her arm as she turned to walk away but Vergil got a few words in before she could make her way to the bathroom. "Thank you for everything you've done so far since you've gotten here. You've certainly made life a little bit easier for me and I greatly appreciate it." She turned to him with a grin, he could tell she was happy he had expressed his gratitude, as she bowed to him. "You're welcome, Vergil. If you need anything else from me before dinner just give me a call." She would then walk away to the bathroom as he made his way down a set of stairs to the basement.

He walked into the roomy and mainly empty basement save for a few wooden dummies and exercise equipment as he rolled his shoulders once again and thought about getting a little bit of a relaxing meditation in. He had a few small windows along the top portion of the basement's wall which allowed his to see and hear the rain through the glass which always helped him relax. He got into a spot near the windows and sat cross legged with his back to the wall before taking in a breath and closing his eyes while putting the knuckles of his hands together while allowing his chakra to flow through his body. He would sit there in the dimly lit basement, light being given only by the day outside, as he concentrated on bringing his mind at ease to allow it to fall into a deep trance. He would feel his mind floating as he looked deeper into his each memory for him to roam in search of his inner strength.

Memories of when he was a little younger and training to be a ninja in the academy would pop up as he found himself within the mind of his younger self as he sat in a classroom listening to the finale of one of his Chuunin teacher's lectures. Afterwards the class was dismissed and he roamed the corridors of the school, not paying attention to any of the ladies that cast glances towards him, as he would walk into the academy's courtyard and sit on a bench to pull out a book to read while waiting for his next lesson to begin. During which he heard a commotion happening a ways away from him behind a tree as he could see three other people from his class gathering around another individual seemingly looking to threaten them with greater numbers. Vergil wasn't very interested in bullies as he opened his book and picked up on the page he had last left off. He would read for a little bit as evil laughter reached his ears from the bullies as well as a few whacking sounds and whimpers and cries for help from what sounded like a girl. Putting his book down he looked over to see that it was indeed a girl getting bullied by two bigger guys and a girl as he got up and started to walk towards them.

His memory shifted as he was in a kumite session with one of the bullies in front of the teacher and the whole class as the guy was cocky before Vergil as he was constantly waving at him to throw the first punch. Vergil wouldn't hesitate as he quickly swept the guy's legs out from under him before twisting around and kicking him in the gut to send him flying away from Vergil so fast his head was still spinning as he stood slowly up. Vergil got into a fighting stance as the guy looked livid from being made a fool of and started charging after Vergil as Vergil would jump and flip over him in the air, dodging his charging tackle, before flipping around and kicking him in the head from behind. Vergil would land perfectly on his feet, hands in his coat pockets, as the bully named Mabui would stumble for a bit before turning around and giving a small angry grunt before stepping over to Vergil with his fists up. The teacher and class watched all that happened before them in wonder on who would win this spar as Vergil kept his eyes on Mabui approaching.

He would start to swing wildly at Vergil's face, trying to rely on his brute strength to win him the fight, as Vergil moved side to side in order to avoid his punches while often times ducking them and backing away. He would wait for Mabui to attempt a hard haymaker directed to Vergil's chin before Vergil quickly got a leg up to kick him in the gut once again. The result was Mabui being blown back from the force as Vergil decided it was time to end the battle by quickly following after his flying form and tackling him to the ground before pulling back a fist and bringing it down towards his head but stopping it just midway as Mabui watched with bated breath. The whole class was awed by Vergil's skill as the teacher chuckled and declared the kumite finished with Vergil as the victor. Getting off Mabui Vergil turned and walked back to his position in the rest of the class that was out of the way of the sparring field as Mabui got himself back to his feet and ground his teeth in anger and jealousy before stepping into the crowd himself.

Another memory would erupt in his mind as he was walking away from the academy after classes had ended and was heading home before he felt a presence appear behind him and he turned his head slightly to see a pair of hands trying to grab him. He backed away from the hands, making his way into the shadows of a nearby building in an alley, as the three he had encountered earlier, Mabui included, walked inside while cracking their knuckles menacingly. Vergil sighed, tired of them already, as he dropped his belongings onto the ground and watched the three of them approach as his eyes went from blue to bright crimson as the three stopped upon seeing this. One tomoe could be seen within the crimson color of his Sharingan as he got into a stance and watched his opponents closely ready to put them all down and go about his day.

One last memory showed within his mind as Vergil was walking out of the alleyway, belongings all accounted for and safely placed in his pack he had around one of his shoulders, as he took a glancing look back in the alleyway to see the three lying on the ground unconscious but otherwise mostly OK. He turned and walked in the direction of his manor, boots leaving imprints in the dirt as he walked, before his nostrils became covered in the smell of ramen nearby and he decided to have himself a quick bite to eat. Stepping inside and ordering himself a bowl he put his pack down to the floor between his legs as he order some tea to go along with it and took a sip before putting the cup down and looking at his reflection in the liquid. Unpopularity seemed to just latch onto Vergil at the academy as already he had made himself enemies out of bullies that didn't seem to want to learn how to stop pestering him. He looked up as his bowl was being passed to him and he took it with a nod to the owner before placing it on the table in front of him and reached over to a ready set of chopsticks. Tomorrow was just going to be another day of grief for Vergil in terms of academy and bully life but he felt that every little bit of grief he went through he couldn't help but feel it was all making him stronger.

He ate his bowl of ramen slowly, savoring it's taste, as the villagers outside walked by the shop having fun little conversations and children laughing with their parents as he tried his best to ignore it all so he could enjoy his supper. He missed his family and the fun times that he used to have with them before they were abruptly taken away from him. Shaking his head to get such thoughts out from his head he finished his meal and got up from his stool to leave as he grabbed his pack and left his money on the counter with tips and payment all. Making his way to the manor he passed by a cloaked figure with their hood up and an Anbu mask on walking past him on the street but his younger self didn't notice them but his current form did and Vergil's thoughts became full of shock as his mind returned back to the real world.

Opening his eyes he was greeted with the dimness of his basement once more, the rain outside pouring ever the harder still, as he took in a deep breath and stood slowly up from his position while rolling his arms and muscles around in order to get the stiffness out of them as he heard footsteps coming from upstairs. "Vergil? Dinner's ready." Already? He sighed at this as he looked out the window and saw the rain falling. So he had met her once before already but only in passing? It just went to show that she had indeed been watching him for a long time as he called up to her. "I'll be right up." He could hear her voice calling back as she walked away from the basement's entrance. "I made you some tea to go along with it. Better hurry before it all gets cold." He rolled his body around before he headed up the stairs to the warm dinner that was waiting for him, realizing that he was hungrier than he though he was, as the day would go on without much incident. There were only a few days left before the fateful day he got in front of many of his peers and fought against other ninja of his skill for notoriety. He had to make every day towards it count and he would make certain that he did just that.

{Exit}

(WC 5,065)

(Claiming 25 stats, Rupture, Arrogant Stance Strike, and C rank of Basic Medical Ninjutsu)

-_- Approved.