Kirigakure Training Facilities: Speed Training

Ryusame woke up groggily in his bed. He didn't remember getting home the previous night. For a moment he blinked into what he thought was bright sunlight streaming in from his window, only to find as his vision came into focus that he was looking at a reflection on the wall. Despite giving his vision a few moments to adjust when he rolled over he was blinded by the sky outside his window. Groaning in pain he pushed himself up against the wall and waited another five minutes. I can't remember the last time the sun was out like this, he thought to himself.

His room was small and messy, with very little in the way of furnishings aside from the lumpy futon mattress that took up about ninety percent of the floor space. Until about a month ago the room had been an old shed on the edge of his family's meager compound, stuffed floor to ceiling with old junk and broken tools. When he had been promoted to Genin he had been given permission to clean it out and turn it into living quarters. The room was still a little musty and at night it got much colder than the main house, but Ryusame loved having a space of his own.

After a quick shower in the main house, a somewhat run down but comfortable three bedroom that dominated the tiny islet that his family owned, Ryusame took off for the Training Facilities using the Body Flicker. The previous night's work had shown him a gap in his abilities that desperately needed to be addressed before he felt confident taking on any missions for the village. This is the last step, he thought as he travelled. After this I'll finally be ready to serve as a real ninja of the Mist.

He arrived at a compound near the Academy in a blur. Compared to the Research and Development district the security there was basically nonexistent, but there were a couple of reasons for that. First and foremost the particular compound that he had chosen was designated for Genin. As such there really wasn't much around worth stealing. Even if there was, there were so many ninja that made use of this place that stopping each one and checking their credentials would have been an arduous process. Ryusame assumed that there were some guards lurking about, but they were most likely hidden in nearby buildings where they could cover multiple targets at once, or else mixed in amongst the civilians. And of course there was the odd instructor volunteering their time who were all Chuunin rank at least.

Ryusame chose a corner of the yard that was out of the way and protected somewhat from the sun by an over hanging awning. A trio of training posts were set up in the shade there. The dark lacquered wood was covered in chips and scars from ninja blade work, salt crusting like scabs in some of the larger wounds. He gave one of the posts an experimental push and found that despite its appearance the different sections spun smoothly on hidden bearings. Each section had several random chunks of wood sticking out from if, some carved into mock blades, some into crude clubs. Striking any one would send the other sections spinning and force the ninja to duck and block.

Taking a few steps back Ryusame pulled out his newly purchased Tanto. Although it was a simple weapon he deeply admired it and had spent some time staring at the dark whorls in the blue scabbard. Whoever had crafted the thing and put a good edge on it, blunt enough to hold up to decent punishment and if not quite sharp enough to shave with still plenty lethal. He tested the blade for a moment, slowly practicing switching his grip back and forth like they had taught him in the Academy and managing not to drop the weapon in the dirt. Satisfied that he wasn't going to make a complete fool of himself he moved in and struck out at the post.

There was a satisfying thunk as his blade struck home, followed immediately by a fiery pain in his calf. In his eagerness he had stepped too far forward and one of the club attachments had come around to punish him for it. Ryusame had just enough time to figure out what he did before he crashed down on his right side, the blow having also swept the leg out from under him. With a groan he rolled over on to his back and stared up at the awning above him. This is going to be a long day....

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Word Count: 780 Words

Equipment Used:
Tanto

Jutsu Used:
Body Flicker: 10 AP

Remaining AP: 698/708

''Wrong footing...'' said Izu out of absolutely nowhere, suprising the man who was starting to practice. Indeed, without him even noticing her with her stealthy approach, Izu was too training at the practice grounds. Contrary to the boy who was here to sharpen his own edge with a less than sharp small blade, the blonde hyuuga chuunin was here to practice her stealth and sneaky approach of others, practicing her assassination and ambush abilities. 

As she got out of the ground thickets, revealing to be hidden in the grass, the blonde girl approached Ryusame, which she had met recently prior to this even, at the small bridge in the lower district of Kirigakure. Izu could see very well that this man was out of his element here, and was also unprepared, suffering from poor conditions of living. With her sense of deduction, and a bit of her sense of smell, she could guess that he was too, from the poorer districts of the hidden mist, a man brought about in the gutter, much like herself. Wether his parents and family was still alive, it didnt mattered to her. But nonetheless, she was intrigued and curious about his way of life, seeing herself only a few years back in the boy, sharing a similar origin, despite growing really fast into a chuunin. 

''If you swing like that even the practice post will win Ryusame.'' Reminded the kid, approaching with her casual and slow demeanor, never showing her true speed in her usual gestures, only showing her abilities in situations of combat. Her face was smiling, a bit of a mocking tone and expression on it, sarcastically commenting the new genin move, but also seriously giving him advice. After all, she suggested she could train them, at least those who would take her up on her offer, and this man would probably do just that, seeing as they met by pure randomness at the training grounds. 

''What kind of move you trying to learn? I could help... for a price.'' Said the momochi chuunin, a even larger smirk growing on her face, as she suggested an idea, without disclosing what or how much the price would be for such shared knowledge and expertise. In truth, her price wasnt calculated in Ryo. It was something far more valuable to her, yet abstract to most, benign even. As she waited on his answer, Izu got out her sword and started to trust it into the dummy, practicing with surgical accuracy her jabs.

Ryusame leapt to his feet, startled out of his skin by Izu's sudden appearance. For once he was grateful for the lack of rain and with it the lack of mud as he tried to casually brush off his uniform with his free hand. "Izu-senpai, I, uh, I didn't hear you approaching. Yeah, my footing could definitely use some work." He tried to laugh off the comment to cover up his embarrassment. "I was really never much for these kinds of drills in the Academy. That's probably why I'm struggling so much now. I really wish that could tell my past self to pay more attention...."

The fact that she had been able to sneak up on him without him picking up on it at all was disturbing to Ryusame. Granted he was only a Genin, and by all accounts she was days away from being promoted to Jounin, but the idea that she could approach him at any time without him noticing exposed a weakness in him. A weakness that I need to recitfy, he thought to himself. She may not mean me any harm, but the other villages have Jounin too. I can't be this open to attack and observation.

Pushing the thought aside he returned to the moment "Well this is a little embarrassing, but I'm not here for any particular move. I recently finished my first puppet and...." He searched for a better way to phrase it, one that didn't sting his pride now that someone else would know about his failure, but he couldn't come up with anything. With a resigned sigh he carried on. "I'm not coordinated enough to use it. I can use the Puppeteer Technique no problem, but when it comes to actually applying it to the mechanisms in the puppet, well...." He make a jerky motion with one arm in imitation of the puppet's awkward first response to his command.

"But if you are willing to train me I would be forever in your debt. Probably literally, in fact, I've got a few thousand Ryo saved up from my stipend, but that's about it." Ryusame bowed his head, hoping that the gesture would augment his paltry offering enough to earn at least one lesson. At the same time he started making a mental inventory of everything he owned in an attempt to come up with some other form of payment. Of course, as with the Ryo, his status as a Genin combined with his family's humble status meant he had very little to his name.

Probably the only things of value that I have are that book, the scrolls, and my tanto, he thought. Well, that and my puppet, but I can't give that away and still have any honor as a Puppeteer Nin. I'd really like to keep the book since I haven't even gotten a chance to open it yet. Besides she's probably experienced enough that it's of little use to her anyway. The scrolls are probably the most valuable, but I'm unlikely to get another one of those anytime soon. Maybe my tanto? I'm no good with it anyway.... Damnit, I don't want to give up any of those things. But to be trained by a Momochi would be priceless, I can't just let this opportunity slip through my fingers.... He continued worrying at the problem while he waited from a response.

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Word Count: 564 Words

Remaining AP: 698/708

Izu reveled in the jumpscare she enticed into the training genin, enjoying every moment of her incredible stealthy abilities. Of course, she succeeded in her practice of ambushing opponents, but now her goal for the day just changed. She would train Ryusame today, as he desperately was in need of training, and she wanted to help the village and the genins, especially the new ones, to get even better, making the hidden mist the greatest village.

''Its pretty normal that you didnt hear me...'' Said Izu, a faint smile in her face, as she stood there looking half bored and lazy again, her shoulders slouched and her hands in the pockets of her oversized dark blue jacket. As she listened to him, he explained that this type of training, with a blade and a post, werent at all his forte, as he was a puppeteer, a user of the mystical art of fighting with puppets that are manipulated with one's own chakra by threads of chakra. This was a type of shinobi arts that Izu knew nothing about, not even remotely. But to spar and practice, one didnt need to know all the workings of such things.

He continued on to explain that he would need to train and practice his puppetry mastery and usage, using it in a real fight and to learn to apply mechanisms to actually know how to fend for himself. With a understanding nod, Izu kept listening. Now he adressed the part about her asking for a price to train him, and he started talking about ryos and being in debt to her forever. Seeing he didnt understood the type of price she was talking about, Izu let the man stress a bit, seeing his eyes move so fast one could see his toughts behind rumaging as fast as she moved, anxious as to what he would need to give to get to training with her. 

Without answering, Izu stood there, her serious gaze still in her face, cold and unnexpressive except a harsh sense of seriousness. The blonde girl waited on purpose, keeping long seconds of silence looking at the man before finaly cracking. Almost immediately, the Hyuuga chuunin bursted in laughter, unnable to contain it anymore and laughing at the situation. After a dozens of seconds of laughing, she finally gathere herself enough to reply.

''Ahahahahahahahahaha! Ooff! Ahaha, this is funny. I couldnt hold it anymore. No, by price I didnt mean any worldly posessions like money or gear. I meant a price like, loyalty to me, or a favor you'll owe me one day when I'll need it. Are you willing? If so we can start to spar and fight, and i'll go easy on you, teaching you the basics of footing, pacing and spacing, as well as how to land attacks and jutsu on your enemies, and also how to dodge the hits of your opponents.'' Said Izu after her laughter, getting back to her seriousness, proposing to train him should he accept. She would stand there ready to start once he would reply.

Izu's laughter send blood rushing to his face in a flush of embarrassment, but even so Ryusame felt a wave of relief wash over him. Despite his poverty she was still willing to train him. A small part in the back of his mind warned him that he should be careful in entering into deals with other shinobi lightly, but as he saw it this wasn't an opportunity that he could pass up. Having a great ninja train him reflected on his own potential and opened up avenues that wouldn't be possible through other instructors. Besides, she's one of the Momochi. I want this, he thought. She can craft me into the kind of asset for the village that I want to be. And if I can prove to her that I want to serve the village then maybe I can prove that my family truly does serve Kirigakure as well. With the Seventh Mizukage arranging the duel between his two predecessors he had heard renewed rumbling about who truly did and did not belong in the Mist. While no one had mentioned his family specifically he still worried that their ties to the Rain Country would make them easy targets.

Ryusame sheathed his tanto carefully and lowered himself into a sincere bow. If a favor is all you ask of me in exchange for this gift then I happily accept. Ask anything of me, and if it is in my ability I will give it to you no matter the cost. And for whatever it's worth you have my loyalty as well. Words are easy enough though, so I hope my actions will prove this to you as time goes on." He would remain that way until she signaled that it was okay to rise again.

"I appreciate you going easy on me during our sparring session," he said as he rose. "Hopefully it isn't too frustrating for you to have to limit yourself so much on my account." Ryusame settled back into the stance that his instructors had taught him in the Academy. As he did so he tried to be mindful of his brief exchange with the post and the comment Izu made that had scared him half out of his skin, carefully considering the placement of his feet and the balance of his body weight. Rather than pull out his blade again he raised his hands up, assuming they would be fighting a taijutsu duel. In his chest his hear hammered away, the anticipation of the sparring session sending adrenaline coursing through his blood.

Ryusame took a breath to steady himself and cursed the fact that he had never paid proper attention to physical fighting forms. From the first he had wanted to be a Puppeteer Nin and had assumed that he would never need the ability to fight in close quarters. After all, if anyone got that close to him in the first place he had probably made a fatal mistake already. He shifted his stance slightly, correcting what he thought was an error in his balance, and looked into Izu's eyes. It was unnerving, bordering on terrifying for him, but he wanted to show his new teacher that he was completely committed. "Well, I think this is the best I can do. Any notes on my form?"

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Word Count: 553 Words

Remaining AP: 698/708