A Day in the Desert

[Kanmuri]

Beads of sweat rolled down the face of the 9 year old boy as he sprinted and dodged attacks from the mighty boar he had provoked. More than half his size in height and near triple his length, the dark, cold eyes of the boar stared with rage at its opponent, a rather short boy coupled with snow white hair and bright, scarlet red eyes.

A smile ran across Kanmuri’s face as he acrobatically pushed off the boar’s husky face. It’s really been a while since I’ve been able to enjoy myself like this. Kanmuri thought to himself as the boar used its weight to skid across the hot desert sand and change its direction back to the young prince. Between going out with dad and working on my mission, I really haven’t had free time. Even now- Kanmuri would then cross his arms in front of his chest as he braced for impact. The jet black coat of the boar glistened as it raced towards Kanmuri and Kanmuri would grunt as he willingly took the full force of the beast. The 60 pound boy would be sent flying a few feet before he quickly regained his footing, but the boar was not done yet. Not letting up, the black creature raced and jumped in the air looking to land on the boy.

“Crap! The young demon would whisper under his breath as he quickly rolled out of the way, but that’s when he realized he made a crucial mistake. “Dang it. I’m on the floor…” Not skipping a beat, the giant boar would look to capitalize on the situation before stopping completely in its tracks. It’s muscles twitched with noticeable force, but it would be to no avail. Kanmuri would get up with a sigh and dust the sand off of his clothes before saying, “You’d think after all this time and training with dad that I’d learn to never end up on the floor--well, in this case, ground.” He’d sigh once more and raise his clear skin to the sky before sighing once more and saying, “Looks like I still have a lot to learn before my Genin Exam.

Kanmuri would then turn his gaze toward the giant boar that was out for blood. His face would become slightly serious as he said, “You can struggle all you like, but you’re not escaping from that genjutsu. From your view, you’re stuck in a Mime Box aren’t you? Just accept it and stop struggling.” The nine-year-old boy would then draw his sword and place it on the long snout of the boar. “I’d rather not use this today so, please, calm down.” Kanmuri would command. Almost as if it understood the words of the young prince, the boar would stop struggling and stand in place, still under the effects of the genjutsu.

Walking in front of the boar, Kanmuri would look the animal in the eyes. Although it was complying, the anger did not fade--not even a little. “As much as I’d like to leave you like this, I don’t think my dad would be happy with me if I did. He’d probably say something along the lines of ‘A king not only governs his people but everything in his domain--including nature and its creatures. Therefore, treat nothing like your toy but as something you truly cherish.’” Kanmuri would say as he waved a finger in the air and attempted to deepen his voice. He’d then weave a few handseals before watching the beast blink a few times before lying down. Kanmuri would shake his head in disappointment as he thought Dang...I still can’t perform it right. Instead of using Temple of Nirvana, I used Night instead. Now the boar thinks it’s blind…At this rate, I’m not going to master Temple of Nirvana or the other genjutsu before the Genin Exam.

Kanmuri would try to lean on the beast before quickly catching himself as he remembered it wasn’t sleeping. He’d decide to lay on the hot sand before closing his own eyes and taking in the atmosphere. He was sweaty, but somewhat satisfied. He’d done a good job of training before his Genin Exam in a few days. It was time for a little break.

 

[Natsume]

"HYAAAAH!" The shrill battle cry of a young girl almost right next to him would likely startle the boy from his briefest of respites.

Natsume had spotted the wild boar from a distance just as it and Kanmuri had lied down apart from one another. She'd been searching the outskirts of the village day after day looking for anything that she could practice her combat training on, but despite her parents' warning about not straying far from the village due to all the dangers lurking just outside the gates Natsume hadn't found a darn thing!

Her impatience and frustration were such that the moment she laid eyes on that boar she knew that she'd have to do battle with it until one of them fled in terror! It was with this in mind that Natsume totally ignored the boy's presence as she raced straight across the sand as quickly as her legs could carry her with her long, honeyed hair and fluffy tail flowing out behind her dramatically. She felt just like a real ninja as she took off into a far leap from her run with the battle cry that would have stirred Kanmuri from his rest.

Though blind, the boar certainly wasn't deaf as the presence of light footsteps being masked by sand was quickly shattered by the young Aikayume's cry of imminent combat. The big pig grunted angrily and turned its face toward the offending sound as it moved to get back onto its feet and defend or attack despite its missing sight. For its efforts, the boar would receive a sharp and audible crack straight on its nose from Natsume's bokken as she brought it down with both hands in a slashing motion. Not honed nearly well enough to serve as even a rough cutting weapon, Natsume's wooden sword still packed a wallop as a striking weapon and it showed as the formerly calm boar recoiled with a squeal of surprise from the sudden whack on its face.

"Hahah!" Natsume gloated cheerfully with a huge smile as she celebrated her good fortune. "I've been waiting for this opportunity for days, Mr. Pig! Be my training partner for the day and I'll let you live!" She remained in a ready stance as she prepared for the boar's charge, her sword gripped tightly in both hands in front of her as her tail swished about back and forth excitedly behind her. Despite her uncouth surprise attack and willingness to do battle with the local fauna, Natsume's facial expression and body language held not even an inkling of malice or ill will. Mostly she just looked incredibly happy and excited to do battle with the boar.

 

[Kanmuri]

The loud cry seemingly appearing from nowhere would almost instantly result in Kanmuri drawing his blade and getting into his fighting stance. Even if there was no threat to him, the fact that something caught him off guard was enough of a reason for him to assume a stance of self-defense; he had no choice given his background. Though Kanmuri’s brows would raise in surprise when he saw his “threat.” In front of him, or rather above him, was a girl ready to strike the boar he had finished training with. The young girl looked taller than him, as most females did at his young age of nine, and had bright, piercing, lime colored eyes. She had features similar to that of his fathers’ including tall fox ears and a rather stunning fluffy tail. Her young, youthful features contrasted that of her strong, beige colored animal features and hair. She, like many of the people with similar features as her, his father included, was objectively stunning.

She would then come down with a CRACK as her staff connected with the large snout of the boar. Kanmuri’s eyes would then squint as he focused in on the object. That’s not a staff. That’s a wooden sword! A strong one too. The beige haired girl would then shout in praise as the boar squealed in pain. She’d then taunt the boar, but Kanmuri would only shake his head in unsatisfaction and dismay. Now, my genjutsu is going to wear off...and we’re gonna be left with an angry, giant boar… the young demon thought to himself.

Feeling the mental connection with the boar quickly fading, Kanmuri would quickly dash in front of the boar and look into its eyes. Having mastered the art of visual genjutsu, there was no need for him to weave any handseals. Right now, I’m just going to make it run, there’s no need to upset the boar anymore than we already have. Take this!

Having quickly made out a plan in his mind, the white haired boy would stare into the eyes of the boar, and for a few seconds it seemed to tremble and be locked in fear before it ran off. Now...I have to deal with this girl… Kanmuri thought as he turned to face the girl. With a smile, the young boy would say, “Hey, my name’s Kanmuri, and you’re cool! I don’t really meet many kids my age, so to see someone young and strong is always great.” The boy’s face would then subtly change from a smiling one to a slightly concerned one before he continued. “You seemed really happy upon seeing the boar, and you should be because they’re hard to find! Unfortunately, you arrived too late. I had already finished my training session with it, as you can see.” The boy would then gesture to his rather sweaty appearance before smirking. “But I’d hate for your time to go to waste, and you seemed to be well versed in the art of swordsmanship, just like me.” The boy would say as his slightly sharper than average canines showed. He’d then point to the girl’s bokken his own sword. “So how about it? Want to show me what you got?” Kanmuri would ask as his bright red scarlet eyes twinkled with excitement. He had never really sparred with kids his age. His only experience with other kids with age was killing, so he hoped that this experience would be something he could incorporate into his future Genin Exam, but it all depended on the girl’s answer. That being said, all Kanmuri could do was eagerly await her reply.

 

[Natsume]

Natsume's stance faltered a bit as the boy ran to put himself in between her and the boar that now had murder in its clearing vision.

"Hey! This is-...!" The kitsune raised her voice in protest before pausing as she saw the unharmed boar tremble and then flee as if something terrifying were chasing it. It was at this that her attitude entirely changed as a big grin formed on her lips. She was entirely unaware of the role the kid had in forcing the boar to turn tail and flee.

"Hyah hah!" she whooped, raising her bokken high over her head and spinning it in celebration before pointing it after the retreating boar. "And they told me this place was dangerous! I can make any bloodthirsty creature retreat after one taste of my awesome strength!"

She brought her weapon back down to her side as the boy complimented her and introduced himself. Her self confident smile never faded by any measure and she was quick to offer her hand that wasn't still holding her sword out for a friendly shake.

"Hey there! Nice ta meecha!" she greeted incredibly informally. "The name's Natsume! Remember it cuz one day I'm gonna be famous and you'll be able to tell everyone that you got some one on one training time with a kunoichi star!" Whether he accepted her shake and greeting or not, and why wouldn't he, Natsume's smile and confidence remained intact. "I'd really love to have a good spar since that boar wimped out on me so quickly. It's kinda boring training by myself all the time, ya know?"

 

[Kanmuri]

Kanmuri’s grin only grew wider upon hearing the girl’s answer. The girl would introduce herself as Natsume with an air of confidence--confidence that only made Kanmuri’s demonic enzymes buzz throughout his body. With a wide grin, the boy would scan the girl before saying, “There’s a lot of confidence in your voice. I like it, but how much of your confidence is backed up? I don’t see a ninja headband anywhere on you, so I can only assume you’re an academy student.”

With his grin now in the form of a smirk, Kanmuri hoped to edge on girl. He was playing a simple mental game of ‘Prove me wrong.’ I’m sure she can easily see through this mental game of mine, but I don’t care. Her demeanor and tone has already told me enough about Natsume. She’s confident and hopefully, if I’m right, won’t back down from a fight. Kanmuri would think to himself before saying, “I’m no longer an academy student as I was allowed to graduate under certain circumstances.”

The young prince would take a few steps backs as he hopped to loosen up and cracked his neck. "Also, that boar didn’t wimp out on you. I placed it under a pretty intense genjutsu, so it turned tail and ran. Though, I can’t blame you for not recognizing it if you’re still in the academy.”

Kanmuri would then raise his head towards the skin burning sun as sweat rolled down to his neck. He’d raise his arms in the air and grip them in an attempt to stretch his arms and upper back before continuing. “I’m not saying all of this to make you feel bad or inferior to me; I don’t know anything about you and that would be ignorant of me.” The young boy’s signature grin would make its appearance again. “You’ve just made a mighty claim, and I’d like to test you. Most of all, I want to help you reach the goal you’re aiming for. I have no problem trying my best to make you the famous, kunoichi star you’d like to become so, now, Natsume. Come at me with everything you’ve got!” Kanmuri would declare as he threw his sword a few feet away from him. The young, demonic prince would bear a face not only mixed with glee but hunger--hunger for a fight, and his bright, scarlet eyes was indicative of this fact.

 

[Natsume]

Natsume's lips tightened into an annoyed pout when the boy who had introduced himself as Kanmuri called her out as an academy student, only getting tighter and more annoyed as he noted that it wasn't her power that had frightened the boar off, but instead his. It was his mention that she probably wouldn't realize he was using a genjutsu because she was 'still in the academy' that practically had steam spouting from her ears. If there was anything she didn't like it was when people made her feel inferior and this kid suddenly seemed to really be doing his best to gouge the knife in good and deep.

Not only was he suddenly being a real big jerk, but he also wasn't accepting her offer for a friendly shake. At the realization that her extension of good will was probably going to be ignored, Natsume allowed her offered hand to fall back to her side as her would be sparring partner took to stretching and then threw his sword away. She watched the weapon fly through the air before hitting the ground, still looking annoyed even as she wondered how on earth throwing his weapon away was going to help him.

"You can't say all that stuff you just said and then try to backtrack like you didn't mean to try to sound better than me," Natsume noted matter of factly as if she were lecturing him on proper etiquette. "And why are you being such a little punk all of a sudden? I'm getting all kinds of mixed signals. You were nice a second ago and now you're all coming down on me for still being a student and being all like 'Well I'm not a student anymore because I'm a sissy who relies on genjutsu.' " She did her best to mimic his voice and tone, obviously adding her own bit of mocking into the mix. She even tried to somewhat copy the mannerisms he'd shown thus far as she took his stance.

As her mimicry ended, she swung her sword out quickly, aiming the point right at Kanmuri's nose. "I'll have you know that I don't need help reaching the top when I'm already there. My stardom is guaranteed! Training is nothing but a stepping stone on my way to the top!"

Having reaffirmed her beliefs, Natsume calmed considerably with a sage nod. "Now that you've shown your true colors I'm adding additional stipulations to our session. There's no jutsu allowed at all. We have to rely entirely on strength of body to win. Additionally, if I beat you you have to apologize for what you said and become the founding member of my fan club."

 

[Kanmuri]

Kanmuri watched as the girl’s face only contorted in annoyance at his...performance. His demonic enzymes would quickly settle and his grin dissipate into a look of dissatisfaction as his urge to fight was quickly evaporating. The young prince would sigh before thinking Looks like, I was wrong...this will probably be annoying now. Although Kanmuri was a child, he was very far removed from the world both mentally and emotionally. Having grown up continuously tortured, it only made sense for him to be. In addition, Kanmuri’s regard for others wasn’t really existent as currently, there was only one person that the young prince cared for besides himself, and that was his father and king, Miroku Akkuma. As of now, Kanmuri had pledged allegiance to one other person, Kaen, his ANBU leader, and although he was currently a means to an end, he had earned the young boy’s respect, something the older girl in front of him did not. Natsume appeared to be deeply upset at the words the the young prince said, but Kanmuri could not be anymore indifferent as he thought I read her wrong. Looks like I’m still not that great at reading others. Even if I didn’t intend to do anything I said, it sucks that I couldn’t win her over. Dad would probably be disappointed in me.

Kanmuri would slightly chuckle at the thought of his father teaching him how to interact with others better. His father had just recently taught him that everyone can be used somehow, and whether or not Miroku Akkuma meant in “morally correct” ways didn’t occur to Kanmuri. In Kanmuri’s young and messed up mind, there was only one way of interpreting his father’s words. A king needs followers to fight for him, and those followers must be acquired by any means necessary. That applied to the girl currently standing before him. She was supposed to be nothing more than a sparring partner for the boy and potentially an ally, but Kanmuri played his cards wrong, very wrong. Natsume would go on about how Kanmuri sounded pretentious and was implying that he was better than her--even going as far as to call him a punk. Unfortunately, Kanmuri would not let that slide. His scarlet eyes would soon become cold as any plans he had for the girl had been thrown out the window. His eye would subtly narrow and his head would raise and cock to the right. Did she just call me a ‘little punk?’ Even if I switched up, that should be an obvious sign of my niceness being a facade. Even that simple-minded boar would know that!

As much as Kanmuri wanted to let his anger consume him, the white haired boy would take long, silent deep breaths in order to restrain himself. He knew that if he gave an inch to the Shinigami, it’d have no problem taking control of his body and kill the girl and eventually him as well. Simply put, Kanmuri knew he couldn’t die yet--not without accomplishing his goal. So he stood there and waited for Natsume to finish her rambling before speaking his mind.

Kanmuri would slowly raise his hand and gently remove the sword from his face, and speak to the girl cold with narrow eyes saying, “I don’t know why it’s so hard for you to understand. I clearly said that I wasn’t looking down on you, but maybe I should. You are only showing me that you don’t feel like you are superior to me by getting upset over me saying you’re an academy student. I was being honest. Academy students usually encounter genjutsu later on, and you obviously didn’t notice that I used genjutsu, so I told you. Am I wrong? No.” The nine year old would then shake his head in annoyance and disappointment as he continued saying, “Next, you said something that proves to me that you know nothing about genjutsu. It’s not a ‘sissy’ tactic. It’s rare to find genjutsu specialist. Why? Because it’s hard to master and use but, again, you obviously don’t know that. Until, you realize that, you’ll never get to the top. If you don’t want my help, then have it your way. Don’t say I never offered, but I will call you out. You claim that genjutsu is a ‘sissy’ tactic, yet, you won’t let me use it in our fight. What does that say? If it was really a ‘sissy’ tactic you should be able to beat me regardless shouldn’t you? Or are you just that unsure of your skills? If you want me to apologize or even think about founding a club that supports you, you’re going to have to strongly convince me somehow because I don’t know what makes you think I’ll just agree to your deal.”

Having said all that was on his mind, Kanmuri stood there staring Natsume down, now, with both hands by his side. Anyone who knew the smallest thing about body language would know that this young boy, as arrogant as he came off, actually had something to ground his overconfidence in. However, that neither justified his actions, but until someone worthy of his respect put him in his place, Kanmuri would never learn. Until then, the boy would just burn any bridges he found unnecessary, and hopefully that would not come to bite the boy in the but.

 

[Natsume]

Natsume's sword would only be pushed to the side as far as Kanmuri pushed it, her arm remaining stiff and straight without returning the weapon back to her side. She remained silent as Kanmuri said his piece, but the moment he appeared to be finished speaking the weapon returned to pointing straight at his nose with a swish of movement. She seemed incredibly dead set on pushing her opinion on this matter.

"If you call an Akimichi a fatso and then say you didn't really mean it that way it won't save you from getting sat on till you cry. You can't just be a jerk and then backtrack on any hard feelings like that. It's about the way you said it more than exactly what you said. Get it? Whether what you said is true or not hardly makes a difference in the context of things."

She pulled the sword away this time on her own, spinning it in her palm before thrusting it through the loop at her hip. "And my opinion on genjutsu aside, I've got no interest in allowing jutsu if we spar because it doesn't help either of us improve. Neither one of us is improving our methods and tactics if you're doing something you've already done a hundred times and I'm stuck in your crazy mind games. It's totally pointless and it just becomes a fight to see who's better, which isn't what I'm after at all. I'm interested in improving my taijutsu technique and you should be too. You can't rely on chakra twenty four seven, ya know! Bodily strength is the best strength!"

With that much said, Natsume allowed a wickedly challenging grin to cross her features as she eyed the boy in front of her down. She was pretty pumped up now after talking about strength, her previous annoyance with Kanmuri already forgotten. "And there's nothing stopping you from turning down my deal, but if you think you can do better than me you can feel free to create your own terms of victory as well. Whacha say, eh?!"

 

[Kanmuri]

Upon seeing the sword being pointed back at his face, Kanmuri’s upper lip would twitch in annoyance. This girl needs to be put in her place. I really don’t know how much more I can tolerate, and the fact that it’s just us here isn’t helping me control myself or the shinigami. Kanmuri thought as he took deep breaths to try and calm himself. His patience was running thin, and his ego would soon get out of control--all while the shinigami within him waited for a point of weakness with a smile.

Natsume would go on to make claims that seemed irrational to the nine year old boy, and as much as he wanted to expose her, Kanmuri decided against it. It’s pointless...There’s no hope for her. He’d very obviously shake his head in disappointment as his anger faded. There wasn’t any need to be angry, he just needed her to go on to her next destination. They had no reason to be talking to each other if all they were going to do was argue. I don’t have time for this. I’d much rather get “this” over with...whatever “this” is Kanmuri would think to himself before raising his head to look at the girl with annoyance.

She would finally remove her sword from his face, but...she was still talking. This time making even less sense than before. So she doesn’t want me to use genjutsu because it’s something I use all the time...yet she wants me to fight her with my “body” that she uses and trains all the time Kanmuri would think this thought to himself as he made a neutral face and whispered “...ok… because that makes perfectsense,” under his breath.

He’d cross his arms and tilt his head to the left as he listened to the girl in front of him continue to talk. Natsume would go on to say that she wasn’t there to fight in order to see who was better and proudly claim her opinion that “bodily strength is the best strength” as fact which only tired out Kanmuri. His hands would rub across his face as his stress levels slowly rose. More than anything, the nine year old just wanted to leave. Between him already being tired and Natsume spouting nonsense in his eyes, Kanmuri was becoming exhausted, and once Natsume finished talking the nine year old sat down on the sand, took a few deep breaths, and then spoke.

“Alright, so I’m confused. What do you want to fight for? It doesn’t make sense to me. I thought this was to see who was better--for ‘bragging rights,’” Kanmuri would make air quotes in order to emphasize his expectations before continuing. “Plus, you don’t want me to use my greatest strength, but you’d like to use yours.” The young boy would scratch his head in confusion before he said his final words. “This doesn’t seem like it’d end for me well at all. What do you suggest? And please...try to think of something that’ll benefit the both of us, or at the least not give any of us an unfair advantage over the other.”

 

[Natsume]

"No no no!" Natsume quickly spouted with a disapproving waggle of her finger as Kanmuri responded that he thought this was about bragging rights and the such. "This isn't anything like that! This is physical strength and combat training! I mean... why else would we spar? The victory condition was just to spice it up a bit and make us try a little harder!"

She was obviously quite enthused at this point, gleefully and excitedly explaining herself despite her partner's poorly hidden lack of any joy to be had from their encounter. Her tail happily wagged back and forth as she gestured and motioned happily.

"The goal isn't really to win, but to improve our physical prowess! That's why genjutsu isn't allowed. You could use a little more muscle on your arms since you look like you don't work out too much and I'm always looking to improve at least a little bit. Like I said before, I wouldn't be improving anything at all if you caught me in a genjutsu and then I'm just standing there like a doof. ...I mean, I guess we could just arm wrestle for awhile or something instead... but there isn't really as much legwork for that..." She drifted off momentarily, thoughtfully scratching her chin as she suddenly appeared to be losing focus on the matter at hand for more physically philosophical thoughts.

 

[Kanmuri]

At this point, Kanmuri just wanted to some freedom. He wanted to leave. His introverted nature was showing as it become more and more apparent that he could not match Natsume’s endless energy. However, an opportunity was presenting itself--the opportunity to fix his mistakes. Despite Natsume’s energy having the characteristic similar to that of timelessness, her memory couldn’t be any different as her anger, irritability and the whole slew of other negative emotions that she harbored towards Kanmuri seemingly dissipated.This was something that the young demon would pick up on.

She’s gotten over everything that quickly? How- Kanmuri’s thoughts would be caught off by the sheer display of enthusiasm being expressed by the girl.

Her tail...is wagging...Just… Kanmuri’s face would slowly turn into smile before the child gave a genuine laugh.

“Hahaha. Alright, Natsume. You’ve won me over. I’ll spar with you, but I won’t use my sword. I’m not the best at unarmed combat; however, my dodging ability is pretty good because of that. You’ll work on trying to hit moving targets, and I’ll work on dodging attacks unarmed. Sound good?” The young prince would ask with a smile. If Natsume had said yes, he would have put some distance between themselves and gestured her to begin her attacks.

 

[Natsume]

As Kanmuri broke into a small fit of laughter, it broke Natsume from her own drifting thoughts, tilting her head ever so slightly as she stared at the young boy with a confused expression that read obviously that she had no idea what was going on. Her tail wagging became much less pronounced from the enthusiastic flailing it had just been doing, but it didn't stop nevertheless.

She didn't get the opportunity to question him as to what made him laugh before he himself piped up with an agreement to their original plans for a spar and making sure that everything was okay with her and that she was ready. Given that, her curiosity was quick to take the back burner in her mind at the opportunity to better hone her skills. Now was the time!

Instead of questions or even a moments hesitation, Kanmuri would receive an incredibly enthusiastic "Heck yeah! That sounds perfect!" from Natsume who now barely seemed to be able to contain her excitement as she fidgetted in place with unbound energy.

She waited quite impatiently as her affirmative answer prompted her sparring partner to back away from her to put enough distance between them. In the open expanse of the desert they really had full freedom of movement with no walls or boundaries to keep to.

"Alright! Get ready for the workout of a lifetime trying to stay out of my way! Heehee!" Natsume cheered out with a little chuckle as she received the go ahead from Kanmuri to begin her assault. She was quick to crouch low into an offensive stance with her hand resting on the hilt of her bokken. She wasn't exactly being subtle about the style of attack she was preferring as she rushed straight toward Kanmuri without actually drawing her blade.

"Teyah!" she called out the moment she was in range to attack with her head-on strike, drawing her blade from the loop at her hip and slashing outward in a horizontal strike at about the level of her opponent's chest in one single motion. The action was certainly not nearly as refined as an iaido master, but it was obvious that she'd spent a lot of time on training to get it right. Rather than placing her wooden weapon back at her hip, Natsume would keep the sword in her hands, aiming to follow up on whatever dodge Kanmuri may have decided on to counteract her beginning strike.

 

[Kanmuri]

As Kanmuri put distance between himself and Natsume, he’d begin to intently watch every action the feline took. The white haired boy, although strong in the area of mental fortitude, was rather weak in his physical aspects. He had an extremely toned, lean body for a boy his age, but that was far from impressive as it was the minimum for becoming a shinobi. His frame was small and skinny, and his punches lacked strength and force behind them, but that was fine with Kanmuri. He knew his role. He didn’t bother complaining about the cards he was dealt; he only needed to make the most out of what he had, and that’s what the young prince would showcase as his scarlet red eyes raced over the young girl’s actions.

As Natsume crouched and placed her hands on the tilt of her bokken, Kanmuri would shift his weight onto the balls of his feet and stagger his legs. Although, he couldn’t process it fast enough to say it in his mind, the nine year old boy already knew what was to come and quickly darted to his right off of his left foot, before taking a small jump backwards in case the young girl had any ideas. Beads of sweat slowly licked down on his face as the demonic enzymes in the boy began fill more of his body. With excitement threatening to overtake him, Kanmuri made a conscious effort to try and control his breathing. If he wanted to pass his Genin Exam, there was no room for him succumbing to the euphoric buzz that flowed throughout his body.

The young boy would keep his body weight on the balls of his feet and keep his feet staggered which would allow for quick darts in any direction. Despite Natsume’s inexperience, Kanmuri couldn’t let his guard down completely. He had faced stronger opponents, namely Gin, but as far as Kanmuri was concerned, he was no one on his level yet. No...that Uchiha was still alive and every day and night that passed with Gin alive was only a testament to Kanmuri’s failure to kill him when he had the chance. This “spar” had one purpose--and one purpose only--the improvement of his skills. With this in mind, the nine year old didn't take his eyes off of Natsume. He didn't let a single action get by him.

 

[Natsume]

As Kanmuri dodged off to the right well ahead of her attack, Natsume did her best to trace his motion even as she followed through with her dedicated swing. It wasn't as though she'd expected to start hitting him on her first attack, but if she didn't show that she actually meant business then there was no way this training exercise could possibly be taken seriously! If Kanmuri stopped, then he was definitely going to get a pretty painful strike, though it certainly wouldn't be severely injuring by any means. At worst it would probably leave a pretty obvious bruise.

She'd give chase the moment her equilibrium balanced out, likely a bit earlier than most given her slight bestial advantage, skipping off her right foot and turning to pursue her opponent with a cheerful grin. She was definitely in her element right now!

Her full swing to begin served a second purpose, as would be displayed when this time she began to make a swing as she approached Kanmuri a second time only to stop short before she reached the point of no return. Her second attack would be a feint as she waited for Kanmuri to dodge once again before attempting to stay straight on his heels this time and strike him with a diagonal slash at his left shoulder.

If he happened to realize that her second strike wasn't going to follow through and remained as he was then Natsume would end up stuttering in her feint attack, hesitating uncertainly before attempting to follow through with her formerly fake strike.

 

[Kanmuri]

Natsume’s first strike, a horizontal strike, was dodge by Kanmuri extremely quickly, and the space between the two would only increase as Kanmuri not only decreased his room for error but simultaneously increased the amount of effort the young girl would have to exert if she wanted to reach him. As his studied Natsume, something would spark in his brain, a worry.

The sand...it’s not really affecting her. Kanmuri would think as he dodged the girl’s second strike with simple, quick hop back with one of his legs. I wonder w-

The young prince’s thoughts would be interrupted by a diagonal slash that was approaching as Natsume quickly took the momentum from the “missed” strike and spun to slash his left shoulder diagonally.

A grin would come across the face of the nine year old as he thought. A feint! So she actually thinks a little bit after all. To the untrained eye, Kanmuri’s dodge of the feint and strike would seem like luck, but anyone who trained for long enough would have immediately noticed how Kanmuri easily dodged the feint and strike. The staggering of his feet allowed for a wide stance to be taken, and in conjunction to shifting his weight to the balls of his feet, Kanmuri would be able to hop reasonably far in any direction rather quickly. Hopping off of one leg allowed the boy to quickly hop in another direction with the other leg if he the need ever arose-just like it did now.

Safe from the strikes, Kanmuri thought. She’s not too bad--very raw, but not disgustingly bad. She has some strengths, but she’s more or less too straightforward. However, the sand doesn’t seem to be affecting her movements much-if at all. She’s got a great sense of balance.

Kanmuri would then proceed to increase the distance between him and Natsume once more, although, he never stopped moving. He quickly, but lightly, bounced between both balls of his feet. With the space between him and Natsume, Kanmuri was essentially confirmed to dodge any convention attack she had. If she wanted to hit him, she’d need to think out of the box, but even ingenuity wasn’t confirmed to be enough to hit the agile demon.

[OOC - I thought I posted this already, my bad]

 

[Natsume]

"You're pretty fast, huh?" Natsume complimented him with a cheeky grin as she stood in place after her second failed strike while Kanmuri once again widened the gap between them. She didn't seem too fussed by this fact as she approached for a moment at a slow walk while idly spinning her wooden sword with a bit of a self-satisfied expression. It was pretty obvious that she was hiding something. "You sure are kicking up a lot of sand though. I'm sure your shoes are full of it by now." Comparatively, Natsume's feet were making much less of a mess of the sand. As a matter of fact, if Kanmuri took a moment to glance at her slow steps he'd realize that her feet were barely sinking into the sand at all, her footprints left behind as barely visible shoe-shaped indentations rather than small craters with every one of her steps.

Natsume wasn't exactly a superwhiz when it came to chakra control, but what she did know was tireless training and endless self-discipline. Despite living in the middle of a desert, Natsume had worked to teach herself water walking before most academy students had even learned to stick to vertical surfaces. Usually it was something saved for after one became a genin, but Natsume knew that one didn't become the best by being normal and waiting to be taught the next lesson. Instead, Natsume innovated and worked out her own solutions. She was probably burning more chakra than she should doing it her own way, but what did she care when she wasn't flinging around anything but taijutsu at the moment anyway? Either way, keeping herself up on the surface of sand was just splitting the difference between water and land, which was even easier and less focus intensive for her than keeping herself afloat. As a result, she left less of a footprint and kicked up less sand than the kids who hadn't focused on something so worthless for a resident of Suna before the actual lessons began.

In the end, Natsume saw this as at least a bit of an advantage since Kanmuri was putting out more energy than her to move through the sand. So long as their stamina tanks were relatively the same, it meant that as long as she kept up her pursuit she'd eventually win through attrition as Kanmuri tired out first and made a mistake or became too slow for continued dodging. But how long that would take was anyone's guess... She could always add a little sizzle to the heat she was pouring on with her attacks, but if she got too fancy then she'd start using more energy skipping around him than he was using to stay away from her. It was quite a problem to think about...

And just like that, Natsume sheathed her weapon at her hip slowly, knelt down into a half-runner's stance and then bolted straight toward her opponent. She didn't even reach for her weapon as her arms pumped in perfect rhythm with her steps, barreling straight toward the boy like a fox-eared, excitedly grinning freight train.

"Coming through!" she called out jovially, intending to match him for every jump and swerve to the best of her ability. If given the chance, she wouldn't hesitate for even a second to plow straight into him with all her speed.

 

[Kanmuri]

A small grin would come upon the face of the nine year old as Natsume complimented him. Despite trying to stay poker faced, Kanmuri couldn't help but grin when praised and acknowledged, a small flaw of his. The taller girl would slow walk toward him, but Kanmuri refused to let up any ground as he walked back in conjunction with her steps. It was only when she mentioned his inability to move on the sand that he stopped moving.

Kanmuri had noticed before, but upon hearing that he was making a "mess," the young prince looked at their makeshift battlefield and saw just how much of a difference there was between the efficiency of their movements.

Wow, she barely left any footsteps--compared to my easily trackable trail of steps. She may be raw, but she's not a complete beginner. Not at all. Kanmuri would think to himself. He wasn't sure whether it was due to her beast-like figure or if it was a consequence of chakra manipulation, but he didn't have time to think. In fact, there was barely time to react.

Having been forced to hunt on his own many a times when he was a younger child, Kanmuri had a lot of experience fighting animals--specifically dodging high paced attacks by Sunan boars. The sunan boar was an animal native to Sunagakure that was not only strong but fast, especially when running linearly. Kanmuri was eventually forced to adapt, in terms of reaction speed, to this extreme challenge at such a young age in order to eat. His skills improved to the point to where he could toy with sunan board and use them as training partners later on in his life--something he occasionally did now. However, the speed at which Natsume propelled herself wasn't the same speed as the boars he was used to.

Natsume was much faster.

If not for his past training and experiences, Kanmuri would have definitely been a dead meat. However, his past training wasn't enough to completely overcome the speed. Whereas he had time to react against the boars, Natsume gave him no time to think, and all Kanmuri could do was react instinctively. He jumped.

Using Natsume's lowered body as a platform, specifically the big target that was her head and ears, Kanmuri jumped into the air with a sigh of relief as he dodged the collision between him and the bigger girl; however, something clicked in Kanmuri's head. As he was in the air, only one thought crossed the mind of the young prince, Crap...

 

[Natsume]

"Hey!" Natsume called out in surprise as the top of her head was suddenly used as a springboard to lift Kanmuri off and over her charging form. The action caused her to stagger and fall face first into the sand, but even in the awkward position with her butt raised high in the air and her face in the sand she still had a trump card. From his kickoff from her noggin, Natsume could read roughly where he was jumping toward and her tail lashed out in that direction. With any luck she could wrap the luxurious fluff around his ankle and his leap wouldn't go nearly as far as he was hoping for. If she was extremely lucky she could just strike him out of the air with it and it would totally count. She didn't really expect that though...

 

[Kanmuri]

I’m completely defenseless... The young prince would think as he saw Natsume fall headfirst into the golden sand below. The older girl’s ability was to be applauded. Although he was on a high skill level than him. She had forced him into a corner, and there he was floating in the air. With the demonic enzymes racing through his system and his cognizant awareness of the trouble he was in, time seemed to slow down for the nine year old and his thoughts would run wild as his eyes processed what was to come.

Her tail! It’s about to launch at me. What can I do? Is there anything I can do at all?

Natsume’s long, bushy tail would slowly inch its way closer to the young demon’s body, and the future outcome seemed to become more and more apparent.

Is this how I’m going to go out? No--not with a genin exam approaching. I won’t lose to this girl; I don’t care how small of a match this is!

With his anger and frustration growing, Kanmuri’s next action had nothing to do with winning or losing like he thought. It was fueled by one thing, insecurity. The thought of someone being better than him made every bone in the young prince’s body to tremble with rage. His life goal was born from hatred, and that hatred was all stemmed from insecurity. The young boy was only deluding himself in thinking that his next set of actions were to prevent a loss. No. The actions that were about to transpire were the manifestations of Kanmuri’s insecurity.

Because of his genjutsu prowess, Kanmuri would weave the necessary hand seals purely on muscle memory. Being a genjutsu prodigy for his age, the chances of the genjutsu that Kanmuri casted to not hit were incredibly low. Not only did he not need eye contact, but Natsume had alluded to her lack in the arts of illusion. There would be a chance that she would be aware of the fact that she was under genjutsu, but those chances were also small, but in the shinobi world anything was possible. If the genjutsu hit, Natsume would feel her tail swing at nothing but thin air, and Kanmuri would fall harmlessly to the ground. [Kanmuri attempts to cast B-Rank Visual Genjutsu: Depth Barrier [Mastered]]