Futility, Utility

A large room, one that was still empty, its floor not flat, but instead made to simulate the obstacles of terrain outside the village. Stone outcroppings, faux trees here and there, but all with a clearly artificial air about them. It was sterile, but that was okay, the air here was cool and pleasant; the floor stable. He didn’t feel watched, and really that was the most important part. Well, that and the fact that they’d been willing to let him use a spare spool of wire and weaponry.

With these, he knew he could do far more than many of his peers. Still, it wasn’t enough, not really. While the practice during his missions--and earlier that morning--had been something, he knew he needed to be pushing ever harder. That’s why he was here. He wouldn’t fall behind, wouldn’t disappoint his family, he’d exceed his own expectations...he just needed some time and plenty of practice. Speaking of which, he ought to get started.

Carefully, he took out some bandages he’d brought from home--and his fingerless gloves--and wrapped the former around his wrists and forearms, making sure not to bind himself too tightly. With that done he donned his gloves and then checked his handiwork. When he was properly satisfied with his freedom of movement, and the protection he’d afforded himself, Koutaku unspooled some wire and then cut it with the tools he’d been given. Carefully, he wrapped wire around each forearm, before unwrapping them and doing it again.

He repeated the motion several times before he was satisfied with his efficiency and speed. This done, he coiled a small amount of the wire loosely between two of his fingers. With this, he stabilized them and left them in a place to be quickly manipulated.

Smiling down at his work, he withdrew a pair of kunai and began to tie the wires each around their own respective loop at the end of the small bladed implements. That done, Koutaku experimentally spun a kunai on each finger, then released them before deftly drawing them back to his person.

Perfect.

With this, it would only be a matter of time.

Spoiler:

It is another bright and beautiful morning in Kirikagure. As the sun rises higher in the sky we pan down on the image of an empty, unmade be--what. (papers rustling) this. This is usually the part where I, your omniscient third person narrator describes our dear protagonist fighting for a few more minutes of sleep before she needs to start her day but.... Today we find her bed empty? Point of view floats above the tiny home she'd crafted with care, through busy city streets and past the hustle and bustle of people going about their day until we stop at the large glass doors of the advanced training facility. Apparently, she'd risen early today, finding training more important than sleep for once in her life. She'd snuck out in the short period I was away from you, my dear listeners, in order to grab a cup of cofee. as so often is the case, I am greatly shamed for my failures.

In the room sharing a wall with the large training room with simulated obstacles of terain, a fierce battle raged. Two small girls, only distinguishable by the opposite colors of their hair rushed towards to strike at a tall regal woman wearing a cloak of falcon feathers. The black haired teen clapped her hands together, and the floor ripped and tore as wooden constructs rushed towards the powerful combatant. There was a ringing of steel as two dogs clashed with the shield held tightly in her arm, and then with a great heft Freya shoved the two foo dogs away. With incredible speed she would rush towards the blond girl, the puppet master, and strike over and over. Her flury of attacks pushed the girl backwards towards the wall. Every time the jutsu approached, the shield seemed to be in place. The heads of two wooden constructs fell to the floor as they found the bladed edge of the shield of hildisvini. FInally an opening was found, and Freyja planted a foot in the girl's chest, throwing her backwards towards the wall.

Her eyes lit up as she finished the final seal. Trying to cast a second jutsu had given her opponent the chance to slip past her guard. She was never really proficient at taijutsu, but was certain she could finish the seals before Freyja could capitalize. She was wrong. SHe flew backwards. Holding her arms backwards, six small blue flowers formed on her body; one on each wrist, one on the inside of each ankle, and one each over her heart and the center of her neck. From the flowers at her wrists two small thin rope like vines poured from the center of the flowers, bracing her impact with the wall. Sharpened points cut through the drywall fairly easily, bringing a Saya sized circle of the wall with her as she crashed into the next room, sliding three meters before she was stopped by a rock.

"O.. Oh. SORRY I'll fix it after I promise. Please, don't stop your training on my count" Her eyes glanced at the boy enjoying his solidarity--or at least who had been enjoying it up until she literally crashed the party.

(TWC 531)

A crash, at first merely a sound from the room adjacent his own, followed by a terrible cracking, had him react instantly. Instinctively he spun about on one heel and took one dashing step backwards, throwing his wirebound kunai towards the source of the noise without a second thought. Then the imagery registered in his mind.

A girl, about his age, slim as could be and more than a bit roughed up, her blonde hair filled with debris, and her back pinned to what had once been a section of wall. Not an enemy, not a threat, just another shinobi from Kiri in the process of a training accident that he was about to make far more unpleasant. Fortunately, he had his wits about him and so with a flick of a wrist he tugged the kunai off course. It landed, tip embedded, in the ground beside her.

Finding, suddenly, that his breathing was a bit out of control, Koutaku forcibly calmed himself. There was no need to look more foolish than necessary in front of one of his peers. Relaxing faintly--though in all honesty it was an act, if a convincing one--Koutaku made an effort to casually whip the wire--and its attached kunai--back to himself, catching the latter, before winding the former around his forearm once more.

He felt a small smirk slip onto his lips as his brain finally decided to register what she’d said a moment before. Approaching her, his eyes occasionally glancing through the hole that she’d...entered through, Koutaku responded.

”Well, my focus is thoroughly broken as is,” he said with a faint chuckle as he reached her, offering a hand.

“I may as well say hello to a colleague. I’m Koutaku by the way.” He hoped he came off smoother than he felt, otherwise he was just making an idiot of himself….

Spoiler:

As she glanced back at the boy whose training she'd just interupted, she saw a flash of silver. Her reaction was immediate. Without even moving her body a long vine shot from the flower at the center of her neck. Her eyes traced the movements, the power of her ninjutsu more than enough to react to the subtle shift in direction. he'd not meant to attack her. That was good. The weapon would find no purchase in the floor as the vine slid into the circular hole at the back. he would still get it back though. With a whip the vine chucked the tool blade away back to the boy before slipping back into the flower that had created it. Saya would look almost as surprised at this as she expected this newcomer would.

It was no surprise that her reactions were near-instant and effective. Behind the kind bubbly persona Saya was a mind most people could not comprehend the capacity of. Saya was an impressive centerpoint between brilliance and idiocy, and her general lack of direct care for things that didn't interest her kept her true skill hidden. A small head popped through the hole. It wasn't her sister, which was surprising, or even the Freyja puppet who had been training her. The two would be welcomed with the sight of a small furry face as her main summon Ragnar Otterbrook peeked through the large opening she'd accidentally made in what must be an incredibly expensive training area. She would really need to take a day to practice not completely destroying the room she trained in.

"Right. Uh. Sorry. I don't mean to destroy everything that I come in contact with but like. It kinda just happens all the hecking time and its sorta okay I suppose cuz I can just repair all the damages, which is probably part of the reason why it happens cuz like i really mean to not cause damage but then in combat i weight the cost vs effectiveness and realize i can just deal with the consequences cuz its just some chakra to fix so i end up going way overboard and destroying twenty meters of floor or in this case.." She finally took a breath. Saya had a habit of speaking far too fast and without pause, making her hard to understand. She was doing nothing to fix this problem. While Koutaku was trying his best to come off as suave, in true Saya fashion she was letting her idiot flag fly.

"Oh right. UH. People introduce each other when they break through a wall to impede their trianing. I'm Sayatria t--" There was a chorus of "no" that cut her off from the other room, followed by her sister's face peeking through the hole.

"Also no. Lets skip a step. Her name is Saya, just saya." She didn't sound rude, or angry at all. the new girl's tone simply expressed a disinterest in following the same line of comments that she'd been going through every single time they'd met someone new.

(TWC 1042)

Blinking, his hand still outstretched, he registered that she’d never truly been in danger from him to begin with. On the one hand that was good, he wouldn’t have wanted to hurt a fellow shinobi of Kirigakure, but on the other hand...well, it made his pride take a bit of a hit if he was entirely honest. Swallowing covertly, his hand still held out, he tried to follow her words as she rattled off an easy paragraph of ranting. It was hard to tell how much of it was nonsense and how much was something he should respond to--especially given how fast she was speaking. Then again, maybe it was just a reflection of her reflexes, a side effect of a mind that thought faster than others could typically follow. His eyes shone slightly as a new light came into them.

He met people like that very infrequently, but he found them fascinating--if intimidating at times…. After all, they reminded him of his older sister, Kaiu. Koutaku shuddered, glancing up as another girl poked her head through the hole--interrupting her friend, no...relative more likely...before finishing her sister’s(?) introduction.

“Heh, Saya it is then,” he said with a bemused expression on his features, before remembering that the girl had said a whole slew of other things. “Insofar as collateral is considered, I think they made the place with that sort of thing in mind. Besides, in a real fight it’s essentially unavoidable to a certain extent at least.” He stopped, realizing he was starting to meander away from the actual topic at hand. Refocusing with a briefly apologetic look, he straightened up, withdrawing his hand. He had a feeling that Saya could take care of herself, an odd impression considering she’d just been thrown through a wall.

Nonetheless, he did try to trust his instincts when he could. “Point is, it’s nothing to fuss over and I was only just getting started anyways. Though, if you do want to make it up to me…” he paused, giving Saya and her sister(?) a sly grin, “...you could give me someone to spar with. Maybe we’ll teach eachother a thing or two.”

Spoiler:

"EXCUSE ME!!!!!" A third and fourth head appeared in the hole between the two room. The voice belonged to a very small boy, standing at about three and a half feet, who had managed to hoist himself up on the opening, hanging with arms outstretched so he could see what was going on. 

"Tria. If you give introductions you should give them properly. That is Saya, no last name do not ask. To my left is her sister Ai, To my right is coach, and standing above is, of course, Freyja. I am the leader of this group, her teacher, Pinochio." There would be an interesting shift when pinochio and coach appeared. Saya, Ai, and frey, who were the three he could see up until now, all looked completely human. THeir eyes shifted, lips curled and pursed, and skin looked soft with varied levels of tan. Ragnar was of course, an otter. No need for further explaination there. Pinochio looked well... Exactly how you would expect. He was a small wooden puppet with a yellow hat and a long nose wearing comical overalls and a white shirt. Coach looked like that one gym teacher you had in middle school... you know the one. Kinda over weight with the short shorts and the jersey style t-shirt. the bodies and faces of coach and pinochio did not move or shift, asside from a slot at the mouth that opened and closed mechanically. The easy answer was one of these for obviously living people was a puppeteer. The correct answer was Saya was extremely skilled at her craft. 

"Now. If you need training OBVIOUSLY it wou--ACK!!" Pinochio was cut off as Ai grabbed him by his small wooden head and threw him like a football into the other room. One by one all of team puppet walked through the opening, finding a spot near the hole to take a seat. 

"I... Am really sorry about that. Uh. I was sparring with Lady Freyja in the other room and Kind of destroyed the wall again. I Think that Pinochio would be glad to spar with you if you'd like? We'll try to keep you two out of the danger zone. No area of effect, no large range techniques I promise." Saya beamed as she turned, pushing off the ground to bring herself back to a standing point. Directly beside her her sister stood, giving the girl a nod before turning her attention to the newcomer. 

"Yes. This will go quite fondly. I was just aiding Young Saya in how to compete against our dear goddess Freyja anyway!  A second match will both make this more fun and interesting, and help her concentrate on controling her techniques. " THe otter spoke up next. Have i mentioned lately how obnoxiously many people this small girl has in her retinue at any given time? Its unbelievably extra. Like what the actual hell. 

Saya and freyja moved into position about fifteen feet from where the boy stood. Pinochio crossed the distance, standing in front of his new training partner with about ten feet between them as well. Now all that was left was for him to agree and begin the fight. 

(TWC 1574)

“They are quite the entourage,” he replied with a chuckle as the number of people in what had once been his quiet little training area increased not by one, but by two, then three, four and...five? A puppet then, Pinnochio apparently, funny how he’d run into two of them in one day. Perhaps it was gaining popularity, then again it was likely just a coincidence…. He hoped.

Shoving that thought violently into the corner of his mind, Koutaku gave a small bow to each of the newcomers--politely deciding to include the puppet as well. When he rose, Pinnochio had positioned himself ten feet away, waiting for the sign to proceed. “Well, I don’t see why not,” he replied with what would soon come to be known among the group as one of his characteristic grins.

“Shall we, Pinnochio?” He said even as he slid one foot backward as he took a sidelong stance, eyeing the puppet with a quiet intensity. Casually, the genin began to spin the kunai on his right pointer finger, the motion largely hidden from the puppet or the rest of the posse. More clearly, he raised his left arm before himself, angled horizontally so that it made a plus sign with the line of his silhouette. In his left hand was a similar kunai.

Spoiler:

Pinochio gave this new boy a good once over as his feet ground down into the floor. fists clenched tightly he prepared for what would be another interesting show of strength between a full fledged ninja and a three foot tall puppet, and then stopped as quickly as he'd started. 

"Oh." The boy still held his kunai. More so in his other hand he'd pulled a second kunai, and was brandishing the two towards the puppet. Now realistically pinochio didn't need to do anything. His nails and feet were sharpened from creation and healthy enough to contend with the weapons, but he wasn't one to be outdone. He gave a havy tap on his chest. Nothing happened. Clearing his throat to get Saya's attention she did the same movement again, and this time a compartment in his chest cavity opened up, revealing a metal contraption loaded with five kunai. He pulled two from the barelly of his weapon launcher, and spinning them on his fingers ground his heels down into a fighting stance again. He would allow his opponent to advance first, giving him the role of agressor in his spar. While he waited his eyes shifted across Koutaku's body, studing his movements to track what he would need to react to--or at least they would were they able to. They are painted on and non movable, unlike Ai and Freyja, so they stayed completely still as Saya watched the fight happen, taking in information for the puppet. 

Beside them would be the main attraction. Freya wasted no time pushing foward. At a speed of 93 it would take her absolutely no time to get within striking range of the small blond-haired girl. Saya was slower by far, but her ninjutsu made up the difference. The puppet shifted on her heels, throwing a spinning back kick towards the pupeteers torso with blinding speed, but before it could hit, A fine shot from Saya's left wrist. She slid back at a speed of seventy five, thrusting her left arm to the side, and the vine wrapped around the other girl's leg, pulling her off balance and throwing her out of the way. Freyja flew. 

(TWC 1937)

Eyes glinting as the puppet extracted two kunai from his chest cavity, before promptly pushing it shut again, Koutaku regarded first Pinnochio, then Saya herself. Gaze returning to the puppet, he kept the fact that she was controlling the wooden boy as a detail in the back of his mind, then he struck.

Rather, he attempted to, throwing the kunai in his right hand downwards, towards the puppet’s left foot at a speed of 15. He didn’t bother to watch Saya and Freyja, rather paying extremely close attention to the puppet instead. Deftly, even as his kunai flew, he snatched two shuriken and a third kunai from his items pouch. Throughout it all he sharpened his focus and attempted to find that same place he’d felt earlier that morning, reaching deep for his inner strength, for the power he knew he could harness. Life force, vital energy, chakra.

In fractions of a second, he felt the warmth begin to well up within him, spilling upwards and outwards from his core. His mind sharp, a smirk on his lips, and a practiced intensity in his gaze. Yet, strangely, he didn’t approach the puppet, as if apprehensive of doing so.

Spoiler:

every carved muscle in pinochio's body exploded with the power of Pinochio's movement. The moment the weapons left his opponents hand he set up the perfect counter. Joints strained from the motion as he lept into action and..... Took one large step to the left allowing the two kunai to stick into the ground about a meter from where he now stood. His head cocked to the side almost mockingly as he watched the boy's next action. He was going with weapon throws again it seemed. Pinochio had noted the sheen of wire attached to the kunai earlier, and the way the boy had pulled back when the weapons were held in the grip of Saya's vine jutsu.He made sure to move far enough that there wouldn't be an effective way to shift the kunai's movement. Of course that wasn't much of a worry. Unlike shuriken, which can spin in air, there isn't alot of manipulation one can do with just wire on a kunai. The damned things are just so awkwardly shaped that trying to do anything but pull them back will just end in them clattering off target. Even pulling them back has a chance to send them pointy end first into the user. Still, Pinochio was thorough with his insanely intricate counter. 

 Pinochio almost shifted again in the same direction, his plan being simply to tire the boy out if he was just going to lazily lob items at him all day, but instead Koutaku did something that surprised him..... Absolutely nothing. He just like. Stood there with three more weapons? Wierd. Pinochio's response was simple. He took one step forward, crossing about a third of a meter and stood still, watching to figure out what those new tools would do. 

The battle between Saya and Freyja was less simple. Two vines lashed out from the points on Saya's heart and throat, shooting like knives towards the puppet. She was trying to make space, but  Freyja would have none of that. Having picked herself back up from the ground after being tossed asside she shifted her hips, ducking just beneath where the vines were striking. This would take care of most jutsu, of course, but Both girls knew the strength of Saya's mokuton. She sprung forward on the balls of her feet to close another meter of distance, and as she did her arm raised. The bladed edge of the shield of hildisvini sliced the jutsu in half as the tips turned to lash at the puppets back. In response the still attached portions of vine struck downward, raking across the front of the shield as it was brought between the attack and it's wielder. THe ends were sharred and tattered  by the powerful boars tusks that extended from the center. 

"She's getting better. Hasn't been thrown through a wall yet." Ai sat back in a chair that was conveniently placed on the side of the two battle arenas. She crossed her legs as she leaned back, watching the two fights with a wide toothed grin. 

"She just lost two of her vines though. Still she hasn't been thrown through anything, and Freyja is our strongest fighter technically, so I would consider that a success" Pinochio didn't turn to look at Ai as he commented back. He didn't need to. His eyes don't work anyway, remember?

(TWC 2496)