A Chance Encounter

Having slept quite well the previous night, Koutaku rose later than his norm, around ten in the morning, ate some breakfast, and then bid his family goodbye. Not yet awake enough to take on any missions, the genin decided that he’d instead head for the training grounds, perhaps he’d meet someone new and—failing that—he could surely use the place to wrap his head around some of the new things that Keita Uzumaki had taught him the day before. With this in mind, the young man made his way through the village, for once not in a hurry as he navigated the crowds. Idly he watched as old men played chess, old women bickered and gossiped, and a slew of children or other adults went about their daily routines—playing, shopping, doing laundry, meeting friends, the work really. The city really was bustling today, more than some days, but at the same time, there was something subtle, an undertone to things. He could sense what his parents sometimes spoke about on rainy evenings at the dinner table, or behind closed doors—knowing others could hear them. The tension of war. While nothing was yet certain, Koutaku knew that there was a certain tension between Kirigakure and Sunagakure that had been going on for some time, perhaps a feud of some sort.

Still, it was a cold war, if it could yet be considered a war at all. It weighed on him knowing that he would be pulled into such a conflict so early in his shinobi career if something were to occur and perhaps for that very reason, the genin increased his pace. Making short order of the trip, Koutaku arrived at the training facility and—seeing that it was not terribly overcrowded today—retried a series of spare tools from storage and then entered one of the fully equipped rooms only to find—to his surprise—that it was already occupied.

“Oh, I’m sorry, would you prefer it if I trained elsewhere?” He asked the shinobi he’d interrupted--a girl--as he slung the loops of wire over his shoulder.

“It’s, uh, no trouble at all really. Of course…if you’d rather have a training partner that’d be fine too.” He smiled, but the expression was slightly hesitant. Koutaku wasn’t terribly accustomed to dealing with others and even with the confidence he’d gained in learning from Keita and Travis the day prior, he still had a lot to learn when it came to social situations.

Spoiler:

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

With every swipe of her borrowed training naginata, the grey hologram next to her flashes briefly green and issues an approving beep. Nominally, Shoko is mimicking its movements, though she has grown good enough at this routine that they move in sync. 

On days where she does a good job on her physical drills, the happy trills of the simulation room form a pleasant rhythm. It reminds Shoko of the arcades in the new downtown with the dancing games.

Somebody interrupts her. She does not pay him any mind for a moment, as people frequently stumble upon in-use rooms, apologize, and move on. As he lingers, his words more clearly arrange themselves in her distracted mind and she works to formulate an answer.

"You can train with me," she eventually says. She side-eyes him with dark, rabbit-like eyes, more out of necessity to keep her form than from suspicion or annoyance. It may still carry an ambivalent first impression nonetheless. "I'm just doing drills."

Beeeeeep!

"Pause..." Her command to the room causes the simulated teacher to freeze in place and turn paler and clearer, like a frozen ghost. She turns towards the newcomer to more properly look at him, oak naginata still held firmly in both hands. He's her age and looks a little nervous. "You use wires?" she asks. "My name's Shoko."

Listening to the unceasing rhythm of beeps and watching as Shoko flowed through her drills, Koutaku found himself impressed by her dedication and show of developing skill. He had an appreciation for that sort of thing, especially in regards to bukijutsu as he felt that few people really respected the wide variety one could accomplish with the art. However, while he’d been rather nervous for a moment there, the shift and sway of her movements lulled him into a sense of appreciative calm as he observed her form and made calculations in his own mind as to the efficiency of each movement. Still, when she finally addressed him, still engrossed in her drills, he nodded and smiled again, this time much less hesitantly, though his eyes seemed distracted by her movement.

Then she stopped and the spell was broken and rather than stare at her, Koutaku was staring off into space as she turned to face him. On some level, he took in the details of her expression, her general demeanor, and method of approach, but much of him was still analyzing. However, as she spoke again, the young man’s gaze cleared and he met her gaze and grinned. “Hmm? Ah yes. I’m Koutaku by the way,” with that said he brought each coil up to a finger and focused, his chakra drilling into the microscopic surface of each spool of wire before the blue glow vanished and he refocused on her. Performing handseals, he dismissed the practice wire to his pocket dimension and then initiated another technique to swap its position with that of his proper wire set up.

It took all of five or six seconds and as he performed the actions he spoke, “I’m using them to expand my repertoire, and it turns out they serve as a truly excellent delivery method if you have the skill for it.” His eyes darted up and to the left for a moment, as if he were recalling something before he once more met her gaze.

However, not wanting to go on and on about just himself, his eyes fell on the naginata and he gestured towards it, shaking out his hands before drawing out a shuriken at lightning speed, wire already wound through the center. “Solid choice, good reach, and versatility. All the best parts of a spear, a sword, and a staff if you ask me. Plus,” he met her gaze, “…you seem to be picking up the knack for it damned quick if your drills are anything to go by.”

Walking forwards, Koutaku crossed the distance between himself and the hologram, before circling it with a curious eye. “I have to admit I’ve not used this function of the training grounds yet. I prefer a bit more…tactile feedback if you will. What do you think of ‘em?” He looked her way, tilting his head in question, genuinely curious what she might say on the matter. After all, it was something he had little experience with despite his plentiful visits to the Military Training Facility.

Spoiler:

Shoko's impressions of Koutaku are that he has a lot to say... and he's a showoff. She finds his apparent nervousness giving way to such swagger puzzling. The notion that someone might try to impress her without it being some sort of power play is alien.

Her father taught her that the humble shinobi are the wisest. They know to value hiding their secrets. Strength is to be shown judiciously and decisively. 'Speak softly and carry a big stick', was the phrase?

Shoko watches him neutrally with those big dark eyes, politely inscrutable.

"Nice to meet you," she says. He says that she's picking up the naginata damned quick...? He doesn't know how long she's been practicing for... when he circles the hologram, he at last says something she can engage with. To his previous words she had largely nodded along and made polite noises of comprehension. "They're predictable, and they're here whenever you have time, so you don't have to work around a teacher's schedule."

"Are you a Chuunin?" she then asks, brows furrowing at that birdlike tilt of his head. He's her age, and he doesn't have a vest. "...if you're a Genin, you should spar with me."

She will humble him or he will earn her respect.

210
TWC: 436

As he went on, and she remained silent, it was not as if he didn't notice her quiet observation. There was something about it, something inscrutable. It bothered him, but in a good way, a way he couldn't really put his finger on. Hmmm...weird.

Nodding at her mention of schedules, Koutaku couldn't help but see the value there and so made a mental note to try them at some point. Then she dropped a question he had not expected and given her manner he had no idea if he should be flattered or not. His mouth opened, but only one word came out, disjointed and uncertain, his voice cutting out before he could say more.

"I--..." his brow creased and one side of his lips scrunched inwards. He seemed briefly confused, caught conversationally flatfooted, but she didn't stop, she continued her thought, finishing it where he had left his entirely open-ended.

"Uh. Hmm, Heh" A smile forced itself slowly over his lips, pulling the corners upwards ever-so-slightly, though his brow remained creased. His eyes began to dance with an unknown emotion, one that would not remain unheard for long. "Ha! No, I'm a genin, like you presumably." He chuckled to himself and relaxed, giving her a lopsided smile and while he didn't say it out loud, one thought crossed his mind.

'Well, she's a strange one!' Nonetheless, he enjoyed strange things, they intrigued him. Besides, he certainly wasn’t one to talk. Of course, be it ignorance to that fact or a simple lack of care for it, he decided to anyways.

"You know what, why not! What are the ground rules then?"

There was mischief in his eyes and a playfulness that was undeniable. He was in his element, or at least he soon would be.

Spoiler:

He's laughing at her. Her eyebrows lift slightly in response, and her lips subtly purse. Well, we'll see.

"Kenjutsu rules," she says. He will understand what she means. Each clean hit scores a point, with the first combatant to score two points winning the match. After each point, they move to their starting positions. Leaving the arena counts as a point for your opponent, and if using steel, a 'tap' counts as a hit. She turns from him. "Starting twenty meters apart, with training weapons. I'll set it up."

Shoko heads to the door to flip open the control panel, typing in the parameters. Her ghostly teacher vanishes, and the room's simulation shifts, turning to a fifty by fifty meter arena on the beach. False ocean calmly rolls against false sand on one side, and faux palm trees wave on the other. It's quite like some of the country's smaller islands. Shoko finds this arena setting one of the more realistic, presumably due to the programmers having a wealth of local data and models to draw from.

Once the arena is set, Shoko steps to her starting position ten meters from the center. Comfortable habit draws her into a poised, ready stance, training naginata held level with her chest along the hilt with blade slightly raised.

A small scoreboard, one of the less fantastical effects of the training rooms, seems to hover in mid-air above the beach - in reality, it's attached to the wall. It counts down for them with a trio of lights.

3... 2... 1... Begin!

Shoko is immediately on the offensive, dashing towards Koutaku with swift, careful footwork, weapon extended in front of her. If she manages to close the distance, she will slide the spear through her hands in order to make a twisting tap along Koutaku's cheek with the wooden 'blade' from two meters away, utilizing her weapon's reach.

314
TWC: 750

Training Naginata: Health 100, total length 250cm ('blade' length 85cm)

Stats:

Remaining unreadable, Koutaku internally puzzles over her less than expressive nature, but based on her curt manner he surmises that perhaps he’s misjudged her? Mistreated her somehow? He’s unsure. He frowns slightly but lets it go. Things will be what they will. Nodding, his smile gone, Koutaku backs to one side of the training room, with about 5 meters of floor behind him as she sets up the holodeck. As the scenery changes, he blinks once, twice, then narrows his gaze and in an instant, it's like a switch has been flicked, a shift made.

The jovial boy is gone, replaced only by someone more focused and less mercurial. Koutaku takes a deep breath, closes his eyes for a single beat as he feels her position herself twenty meters from him, then opens them. The time for talking is over, she's silent, poised, ready.

Moving.

Koutaku moves in turn, using the shuriken he'd already drawn earlier, bringing it up as her weapon closes the distance, Koutaku catches the edge of her blade against the left side of his shuriken. Body still moving, his eyes on hers, he flicks his wrist, and ducks down, before ducking into a 40-speed dash towards her. That flick though, it sends his shuriken down and then to his left, under the naginata at 50 speed. He jerks his left arm upwards slightly, and the wire attached to the weapon sends it up and over the shaft of the training weapon. He pulls the wire taut, and as he approaches her at 40 speed, her weapon jerks after him, its "bladed" end moving to the right as she remains stationary. If she wasn't careful he'd disarm her.

As he closes the distance, Koutaku's right hand flicks, a kunai appearing in his palm at 140 speed, and being grasped just as quickly. Spinning it once, so that he was holding it in a reversed grip, Koutaku thrust forwards with the blunt end of the implement at 40 speed, aiming for Shoko's shoulder. During the spin, somehow, wire had wrapped itself into the ring at the base of the kunai.

Spoiler:

[/spoiler]

Shoko is the same picture of focus, judgment forgotten as she focuses on the fight. He catches her naginata with a shuriken, demonstrating that he is significantly stronger than her - and likely confident of it, to try such a thing. As the strike is blocked, she takes another step forwards to bring her feet closer together, hands sliding down the length of her weapon so she grips it more confidently.

A skilled practitioner of the naginata knows how to maneuver their feet while their upper body betrays nothing. Smoothly, she pulls her weapon's blade back enough to clear the shuriken's path before it can snag her, wire looping through only air. She had only been tapping him on the cheek with the end, so there is much less space for her blade to cover in retreat than the shuriken has to loop.

Simultaneously with pulling back the end of her weapon, she uses her closer position to give him a rude surprise when he ducks towards her. Koutaku, having been looking her in the eye as he did his wire tricks, will find himself ducking directly into Shoko's boot as she delivers a sharp kick to his nose with her right foot. She doesn't need an awakened Sharingan to teach him not to look an Uchiha in the eye.

If he manages to evade this and continue on his attack with the blunt end of his kunai, Shoko will withdraw her foot and pivot backwards in a half-spin, at the same time placing her weapon between them to give him a quick jab in the chest before he can close that next meter of distance. All actions are, of course, done at her maximum speed.

285
TWC: 1035

She's a quick one, but using Split Second, he's faster, a hand coming up beneath his chin at 70 speed and catching her foot as it rises to meet his face. Gripping the tip of her shoe, he overpowers her 15 strength with his 30, and pushed down abruptly, throwing her leg downwards towards the ground in a sudden movement even as he swerves to his left and forwards. As he moves, his left arm whips forwards slightly and the shuriken that had missed her weapon suddenly slashes forwards through the air, aimed directly at her midsection. However, despite his efforts, Shoko seemed to recover, perhaps slightly less balanced than she'd expected to be, as she steps back and pivots, putting her naginata between them.

Koutaku's arm, in position as he follows her step, locks with her Naginata, his kunai ending up on the other side of the shaft, trapping the weapon between his arm and the kunai as his shuriken blurs passed the weapon entirely and heads directly for her right side, near the stomach and below her guard. Not done, Koutaku braces himself and pulls back, trying to drag her weapon out of her hands with 30 strength as he does so. Unaware that she's an Uchiha, he has no reason to avoid her gaze, and besides, Travin has prepared him for such eventualities now. Moving backward at 40 speed, In that same instant, he uses his left hand to perform the Monkey handseal.

Spoiler:

Shoko forms the tiger handseal when he locks her weapon. She inhales, ready to unleash a stream of flames upon her opponent.

Instead, Shoko chokes on embers as the technique snarls in her throat. A faint tongue of flame escapes from her lips and just as quickly fades. The scoreboard dings when Koutaku's shuriken brushes against Shoko's clothes, indicating that he has scored the point, and Shoko lets the naginata fall away from her hands so she can stumble back in a coughing fit. Embarrassing.

Even so, she accomplished what she was aiming for. He's better, but not insurmountably so. When she recovers, it's with a bashful smile.

"I haven't gotten the hang of weaving with one hand yet," she says. It may be a little bit of a humble brag, to save her own ego. It's a complex skill. "You're good. May I...?" she reaches out to accept her weapon back so they may begin the second round.

159
TWC: 1194

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Fire Release: Fire Stream [Failed]