Never Stop Improving {Meika/Hiroki}

The fresh start of her day began with a simple cup of warm peppermint tea. Allowing herself to relax and take in it’s wild fragrance. The raven - haired kunoichi always makes sure to stock up on her herbal teas when passing by the marketplace. As well as purchasing a snack for her adorable feline friend. She lowered the cup of tea onto the kitchen counter, before withdrawing the ingredients for Salem’s meal. Salem was the name of her little grey kitten.

Meika shredded some tuna on a small glass saucer. Then cracking a little quail egg on top of the shredded tuna, before mixing it up all together. The ash - grey kitten mewed hungrily for it’s breakfast. With a soft hand, Meika petted the feline friend, before setting the saucer of food down in front of it. Salem instantly buried it’s fuzzy face within the plate's meaty contents. Purring loudly in appreciation of her breakfast. Meika took a moment to enjoy the presence of her feline. It started to dawn on her that her little kitten wasn't really much of a kitten anymore. The feline was still young, but had definitely grown.

Next was to prepare her own breakfast. Toast with spread, fruit, and some egg that was scrambled within a hot pan. This was enough to give her an excellent start for her day. Especially since she was planning on putting in alot of hardcore training in. So Meika really wanted to make sure she started the day off with a good source of energy.

Breakfast was finished and put away. Cleaning the kitchen was easily done within little time, and the cat was happy with it’s plump belly of food. Meika gave herself the time to take a shower and freshen up. Putting time in for good self care and hygiene was always important, and far more healthy than going without. She stepped out of her nightwear, tracing a finger gently along the face of the dragon tattoo that started between the top of her shoulder blades. Seeing the tattoo always reminded her of the bitter past that she left behind.

When her shower was completed, Meika clothed herself in an attire for flexible movement. She didn’t need to worry about much protection. Pulling a rustic - red tank top over her head, along with black leggins that hugged her form comfortably. Topping it off by twisting her freshly dyed hair up with a chopstick ornament. It was something that happened often. After washing her hair numerous times, the black dye starts to fade away. Leaving her to redye it with a special herbal mix that was naturally made by basic ingredients.

It wasn’t long after, that Meika left her home in search of something she heard about. The kunoichi was really good at collecting knowledge within her whereabouts. It was a little while back that she found out about a new training facility that was available within kumogakure. This was an excellent opportunity to prepare herself for her next goal. The young lass was restless as she made her way to the facility. Navigating her way through the village as she mentally prepared herself for the training that was to follow.

The door to the advanced training facility opened as Meika made her way within. Her ghostly orbs glanced upon the area, taking in the equipment that the facility had to offer. The lass took her shoes off at the door, before continuing to the floor. It was time to begin her training.

To begin her training, the lass lowered herself to the floor, tucking her legs beneath her. The floor was cold to the touch, causing a slight shiver to disturb the back of her neck. Taking in a deep inhale of breath as the kunoichi expanded her lungs, and then slowly exhaling through her lips. She started off with some basic breathing techniques to help her focus, relax, and energize. This basic exercise went on for at least an hour. There was no need to rush something like this, taking the time to meditate was never a bad thing. Meika’s mind was clear as her body felt light, almost as if she was drifting upon the surface of water. As the time ticked by, the lass allowed herself to slowly come out of the meditation. Pushing her palms together, before slowly bringing them up above her head, allowing her arms to fully extend and stretch.

Meika continued to stretch. Now her feet were extended out in front of herself, with her hands cupping the heels of her feet. Leaning forward as the warm burn traveled through her calves. She welcomed the burn, and held the position until the sensation started to fade. There were a few other stretches that the kunoichi practiced. Preparing her body for a good sweat. Plus she takes pride in her flexibility, being more of a nimble shinobi than a brute force machine.

After kumogakure became Meika’s new home, she discovered a lot within its walls. She noted that the majority of it’s shinobi possessed brute strength and relied more on weaponry and hand to hand combat. Meika was different from that. She was more of a support beam if anything. She wasn’t the one that would be charging straight into battle, more or less she was the type to analyze the situation and try to get the opponent to play into her hand.

There were plenty of cons in a strategy like that, but the lass wasn’t going to allow herself to be easily discouraged.

Even though Meika wouldn’t be defined much as a strength based kunoichi, she still found it reasonable to do some core training to keep herself in shape and conditioned. She positioned herself parallel with the floor, with her arms pushing against it. Holding up her torso as the lass prepared herself. She continued by performing pushups and planks. Spending good time rotating between the two as her abdominal tensioned against the workout, giving her the sweet burn that only pushed her to do more. Next was a nice set of crutches and sit-ups. The burn only increased.

Meika felt like it would be essential to make sure her stamina wasn’t lacking. Moving from her core workout to run some laps within the facility. She made sure to keep a steady pace, while practicing some controlled breathing at the same time. The day felt as if it was moving quickly, there was no telling if anyone else would arrive.
{WC: 1,082}

This was the first time, in seven years...seven long years...that the old Shimada Estate was being seen by the sky blue eyes of the estate's future inheritor. A 17 year old genin, by the name of Hiroki Shimada. The house, which was left empty upon the death of the owner's, their son was set up to take it over, but not until the Shimada survivor's 18th birthday. It was decently sized, laying right on the border of the village, and the base of the mountain which led to a very particular forest. Unbenowst to an even younger Roki, this forest was the temporary home to a group of missing ninja which followed him on his way back from that very place. Once home, a tragedy struck, involving the massacre of his parents. His younger brother's body was never found, so it's assumed that he was taken by this group and killed sometime later. All that was left was a piece of his favorite coat which was found later the next day.

This was the very thing that laid in the Kumo nin's very hands at this current moment in time. A weary look peered out towards it, and the place in general. He had previously been too afraid to come back here, to this place of such unresolved trauma. A place which was once only known and seen as loving and kind and being cared for, albeit under tough love, it was just tainted by fear and sadness and hatred. Why hadn't he just thunk it through like he was always taught to do? Why did he have to go to the forest? Why was he in the wrong place at the right time? Why couldn't he have been more careful or observant? Some of these questions just echoed deep within the back of his mind, that tortured him like a burning fire.

Playing with fire, was dangerous though. The left fist began to clench around the scrap of clothing. This same fire, was also used as a fuel to become stronger. A fuel for revenge, which drove the same boy whom was simultaneously saddened yet angered at even the mere thought of ever coming across whoever had done this. It burned deep down inside him. Ever slowly growing over the span of these last years spent primarily on his own. He grew up with his friends, but there was still a certain disconnect there. While they cared for the Kumogakuren during this time, it still wasn't the same as before. There wasn't a wholeness to him. The missing piece: his actual family. It just wasn't the same as living with someone who've they known all their life up until that point. Missing his loved ones dearly, Hiroki decided it was time to muster up his courage to at least stand before the place in which he would have to eventually live in again. Maybe then he could truly feel at home? It was highly doubted, for there would still be that pounding in the back of his brain. Knowing that whoever done this, still was probably out there, doing the same to other families. Tearing them apart at the very seams. Shaking the foundations to their very core. An entire world being flipped upside-down, in the course of a single night. All because of one minor screw up. But still, filled with dishonor for bringing shame to the family name, he made a vow right here. Promising to his deceased parents to find whoever did this, and bring them to justice. And if, in the off-chance that his brother was still alive, he'd bring him home.

This encounter, was just the start of teenage Roki's day. A new vow in mind, the boy's sights were set out to train. He wouldn't get stronger by just standing here, moping all day long after all. So, his walk through the village was done so at an even pace. Not really paying attention to too much going on, but the bustle of it was hard to ignore. People were out and about on this fine day. Trying his hardest to hide his emotions, a fakely posed smile was adjusted, as he headed over to the advanced training facility. There, he'd be able to train in solitude, where he could use his hidden emotions to better himself. Rage, anger, sorrow, bitterness, all of these things were utilized in the past to push through the pain which often came with the strict regimen which had been built by himself.

However, this session wouldn't go as usual. The typical place in which the salt and pepper haired Ninjutsu specialist normally trained, was currently occupied by someone. Another genin judging from the same head band which showed their village allegiance. He was needing to work on teamwork, seeing as the last few days had been strictly solo work. So maybe this was a sign to actually get out and do it? That's at least how the shinobi would look at this situation. The kunoichi who was currently running laps around the place seemed to be working on her own process, as the mischief maker could tell when one was being implemented. Hopefully, it wouldn't come as to much of a disturbance to the girl, as suddenly his voice rang out to her, the words "Need some help training, love?" left his lips like a cool autumn breeze. The boy was also hoping that this was enough to mask how he truly felt on the inside, rather distraught and in a sense of disarray.

WC: 923

The words spoken by the boy drew her attention. She had noticed his entrance a little time ago, but it wasn’t until now that she actually looked at him. Meika was always a curious lass, to the point that she easily found herself in trouble. Despite that though, she wasn’t usually the one to work with others. Her past made it difficult for her to trust others.

But trying to do everything alone wasn’t going to always work. There were going to be many obstacles in which a team would be more suited. If she wanted to overcome the darkness of her past, Meika couldn’t allow herself to be controlled by it.

“Do you think training with me could be useful to you?” Her question probably wasn’t the one he would expect, but she was curious to see what he had in mind. The lass had stopped her training to focus her attention on him. A few strands of her hair had fallen loose from her pin, but she didn’t seem bothered by it. Instead, she let her silver eyes explore the mask that he wore.

Whether it had to do with her clan’s talent at reading others, or just a simple physiological talent. The raven - haired kunoichi had always been keen to read an expression, even if one was to try and hide it. Meika spoke nothing of it though, sometimes it was better not to. If he wanted to train, then maybe it’ll distract him, even if just for a short time. “If you think it would be, then let’s see what we can do.”
{WC: 267 | TWC: 1,349}

The look from the dark black haired girl standing before him was noteworthy. Her eyes were seemingly taking the sight of himself in, apparently his entrance was nowhere near grand enough to draw it. Which brings about the question, had she have noticed if another person snuck in without saying a word? Or was it just a simple matter of actually getting to now see what Hiroki had looked like? Either or, the rebel didn't really mind. At least she gazed upon him and made an acknowledgment in the long run.

Hands fiddling with a single coin now to ease his nerves, it quickly made it's way through each individual finger. Rolling over the knuckles until it had reached the place in between. This motion then repeated in the same process. That is, until she had actually spoken back. At which point it came to a sudden halt, Roki's thumb and index finger now grasping onto it. "Indeed, I do. It's been a while since I've actually done so with another person. Most of the times, I've just stuck it out by myself. However, I'm at a crossroads one could say, I need a partner for my next mission because it could get...ugly to say the least." The Kumogakuren would leave it at that, not bothering to go into any real detail as he was entirely sure on what mission he would even take. There was only the knowledge that whatever it would be, there was gonna be a guaranteed danger.

Hiroki Shimada's piercing blue eyes had now locked onto the softer, metallic gray eyes of the other, currently unnamed kunoichi. Taking a deep sigh, the thought of whether or not this woman had seen through his fake smile briefly crossed the fashionable teen's mind, but alas. There was nothing to be done about that specifically besides just trying to keep the illusion of happiness up. So in the spirit of "joy", Roki managed to utter the words "And what is it that you would like to do? Any particular things that need to be worked on? Ninjutsu? Teamwork? Hand to hand?" He'd spare the details of continuing said list of possibilities even further.

WC: 362
TWC: 1285

"I'm quite similar when it comes to working in solitude, but there's no need to fight alone if the mission can end with a loss you can't come back from." Meika was moreso lecturing herself, while showing the man her understandment in his offer. It wouldn't hurt to take the chance to execute this mission with a little more firepower.

The raven haired lass felt her expression soften. She was always stubborn when it came to expressing herself around others, and it could easily make her seem uninterested, which wasn't really the case. "Having a partner to work with is new to me. Maybe some teamwork would help me more before this mission."

Meika would pause for a second as she pondered the situation. She wasn't really good when it came to close range. She relied more on tricking her opponents with her illusion genjutsu. Close range was dangerous to her.

"I'll be honest with you. I'm more of a genjutsu user with some ranged attacks. I'm not very reliable when it comes to hand to hand, so it wouldn't hurt if I could practice some defense." She was blunt about her pros and cons when it came to battle. The shinobi standing in front of her would need to know who he's fighting beside, and what they are capable of doing, along with their weak spot. Seeing each other's fighting pattern would also be important, to avoid any friendly fire and injuring each other with our own attacks.

"What about you? Is there anything you look to try?"
{WC: 259 | TWC: 1,608}

It was a rather reassuring thing to know that he wasn't the only lone wolf within this village. Hiroki Shimada also took notice of the girl appearing to ramble rather half-heartedly. Almost appearing to just be talking to herself instead of him, but the nin didn't take this to heart. It was more than likely just a little quirk with the other Kumogakuren genin. Nodding in agreeance to the first statement, he waited to actually verbally respond; figuring she had more left to say.

And that she did, ears perked up, listening with intent, he listened carefully and intently to what she began to say next. All where extremely good things to take note of. Knowing what an ally can and can't do is always necessary, because teams and groups should be able to mesh as one. Without knowing ones ways of combat, social interactions, strategies, etc, fighting within the ranks, unintentional friendly fire, amongst a plethora of other deadly things could occur. With a sly smirk, the Shimadan crossed his left arm around his chest, and tucked it under his right which was now angled upwards so his chin was in his hand.

So she fancies herself an illusionist, eh? The thought crossed the wading river of Roki's mind. This would actually mesh quite well with his own fighting aesthetics. For starters, a lot of his tactics relied on physical tricks and maneuvers; to increase this with other mental illusions would only enhance things. Also, the rather short and lean teen liked to start by attempting with some form of paralyzing the enemy. This in theory could then help ensure genjutsu hits them as well. Altogether, from the get go, it would appear the two could certainly become a formidable pairing. However, one thing the two did unfortunately share in common was the lack of hand to hand combat. As previously mentioned, while he could do some close range techniques, a lot of them were based on ninjutsu rather than taijutsu. Nor was he the speediest or strongest shinobi out there, so most hits were either weak or slow. But that wouldn't be mentioned in the kid's reply.

Instead, the Cloud's future, hopeful, Raikage opted to simply say "That's extremely good to know. The name's Hiroki by the way, and I like to think of myself as a versatile combatant, with more focus on mid to long range techniques. That's also why I have this." The right hand which was previously clutching the chin of Hiroki's face was now gesturing towards the katana carefully laid between the rope which acted as a belt and his pants. "It's always handy to have some form of reliable close range combat besides just your fists. I don't know about you, but personally I'm more speedy than strong which is why I naturally skew towards sharper weapons. Plus the sheer beauty of how one could dance through the battlefield with one of these without breaking a sweat is kind of awe-inspiring. But, I digress. Let's put your reflexes to the test shall we?"

There was a cursory moment which acted as moment for her to get ready for what would be said next, before eventually continuing on echoing his thoughts "A rather simple test, just copy my hand seals, trying to match my speed. Don't necessarily worry about focusing any Chakra or anything. But merely perceive every little movement within my hand. Notice every muscle twitch and glide into place. Every sinew, every knuckle slide into piece as if doing so were like putting together pieces of a puzzle. Then use these inputs to immediately formulate the potential sign which could potentially be performed. See where a finger lands and think of which one could possibly be formed using it. View said seal in your minds eye, and react. Then repeat. Ready yourself."

The one thing the black and white hair Kumo trickster may or may not have forgot to mention that he'd be weaving all of the signs he'd be showing. Oops. There had to be some level of difficulty or necessary twist to add. Expect the unexpected would be test two after all, so could she pass? After another very brief moments flew away on a bird's graceful wings, Roki then proceeded to display the hand signs: dog, ox, snake, rat, tiger, only using his right hand to do so. All the while, Hiro's eyes had their gaze directed towards the unnamed genjutsu specialist to observe how they were doing.

WC: 744
TWC: 2029

There was a definitive change in the atmosphere. What once could have been seen as tense and dreary, had now begun to lighten; evolve even, into something more lighthearted, but still with an undertone about it which deemed a certain seriousness to be present in the current moment as well. This reflected in the way the sun shone down from the sky, the velocity of the wind and how it felt against the pair's backs, the once nearly quiet buzz of talking civilians had now livened to a human symphony of the town being awake and enthusiastic. These moments blending flawlessly together within each other to form a perfect, harmonious moment were balance could emerge.

This balance, was initially seen in his training partner as well. At first, it was quite obvious how she was taken aback a bit by the one handed approach, as well as matching pace with the speed at which the hand was moving to create an intricate, yet firm seal. Like a hawk watching it's prey high above within the clouds, there was intent being portrayed within the stare of the nin. Intent to carefully watch as the cogs of thought turned within the mind of Meika. This intent was to see how she was able to take in brand new information, and respond on the fly. From the looks of things, the kunoichi of the Cloud Village was a rather fast learner. Either that, or she was just good with processing certain battlefield observations to improvise. Whichever way it was, a mental note of both of these hypothetical theories were made.

After a huge improvement being shown within a new potential team member, the smirk being worn upon the fair skinned shinobi's face turned that to an impressed smile. In tandem, his words rang out, proud and true "My, my, my. We have some talent here. It's a pleasure to meet you." With this being said, Roki's back and arm eased up, all the while his opposing arm reached around his back. This was blocking sight that the other hand was being placed into one of his waist packs. The hand in question begun to firmly grip onto a senbon which was placed inside. "Onto some target practice, shall we?" Like a bolt of lightning, the playful deviant of Kumogakure whipped the hand around back to the front of his body, the lone senbon being hurled forth at maximum speed. It was purposefully positioned though to glance right past the dark haired teen's head; a flash of silver flying past, making contact with a target dummy placed 10 meters behind her.

WC: 437
TWC: 2466

Time seemed to go by faster when training with another individual. There was only so much progress one can make going solo. Having to match oneself with another has proven to be more motivating. Since usually no one wants to feel like they are falling far behind compared to the other.

Meika could easily tell that the man before her was much more experienced than she was, even if she would never want to admit it outloud. That wasn't something that she would let discourage her. Instead the kunoichi would feel more determined to try and match him, not only that, she was determined to learn him. If the illusionist sought to execute a deadly mission with this man by her side, becoming familiar with him was a must. Being a total stranger to her partner would be a great way of getting herself killed. So not only was Meika learning from him, she was also learning of him.

The little test that Hiroki introduced to Meika was flying smoothly. He rewarded her with a positive praise. Meika wasn't the type that normally chased after such rewards, but this was a different matter. The praise left a grin upon her face as the blossom of confidence only grew. That was when she noticed a sudden change in his stance.

One of his arms drew back behind him and Meika felt the urge to jump back, but she didn't obey that urge. Instead she kept her feet planted, but light just in case she needed to react quickly. If for some reason Hiroki chose to spring an attack on her, she would be ready to side step out of it's direction. His hand whipped around as if to launch something at her. Her foot itched to step aside as the senbon flashed past her head. Planting itself into the target behind her form. Meika allowed her eyes to glimpse over at the landed senbon, before glancing back at Hiroki. Allowing the breath she had been holding to finally slip from her lips. "Let's see what we can do." Was her response to his invitation to target practice.
{WC: 356 | TWC: 2,496}
{Claiming for the 5th Christmas Calender}

Everything so far was going just swimmingly. The practice was needed, and the overall confidence was just surging forth, as this was beginning to feel much more comfortable. These emotions blossomed like a magnificent flower during the first sign of spring. It didn't happen all at once, but was an easy climb. But, the feeling of it, even just the tiny bit from when it was initially felt, was peaceful. It felt like things were truly beginning to align.

"Remember the first piece of information?" The genin said, with a bright, white smile curling between his lips. He would continue by adding, while forming some seals, creating two lightning clones "For this next bit, you will utilize part of what I'm about to show you, but on a larger scale this time. Obviously in actual combat, it will be extremely rare that an opponent would simply be standing still unless you catch them by surprise or somehow stun or paralyze them. So take what you learned about predicting someone's movements, but now you have to do that with their entire body instead of just the arms. To take it a step further, you said you prefer long range, yes? So, instead of forming seals. Hit my clone that will be moving around. We can move on to the actual thing in a few if you'd like, but figured it could be helpful to just warm up first." Thus closed the boy's initial monologue.

With arms now being crossed, the youngin looked the kunoichi in the eyes and stated. "Let's begin!" Upon saying that, the clone on his right hand side would take off. First crouching just a tad, then taking to the air, launching 15 meters upwards, and backwards towards the edge of the arena. From there, Roki's clone would stay at a distance, this was target practice after all; in the air twisting forward in order to land doing a forward roll. This roll was used in tandem to propel the weight to stand up right immediately, his torso arcing to the left, legs and feet following suit to sprint a meter in that direction before performing a fake out maneuver, running 3 meters to the left instead. After there was a back hand spring into an immediate duck. If Meika was paying with close enough attention, looking at every miniscule detail, the ducking motion could've been predicted by how low his stance was before performing the backwards movement. Had the lightning clone not been hit by this point, he would run in some more zig zags, serpentine motions followed by jumps from awkward angles, and other tricky maneuvers to make the target hard to hit.

WC: 450
TWC: 2916