An unusual sight

[Ryu Hime]

If someone would enter they would notice that there was something strange going on in the local ramen shop; it was a costumer who walks on all fours and whose footsteps clopped against the wooden floor. Black and white stripes covered her form for she was a zebra and a small one at that; she was the size of a pony. She stands at a table with a bowl in front of her. The bowl contained meat and noodles; quite a strange for an animal such as her. People would likely raise an eyebrow at the food sitting before her, but not as much as when they hear her speak. Her words were poetic; always in a form of a haiku. People were looking at her strangely for being an animal that could talk. The only cases of that are those who belonged to contracts, but who summoned her? Didn’t contract animals need to be summoned by a shinobi? That and many more questions moved through the air in quiet whispers. Meanwhile Shikora, the Zebra in question, gives a prayer before digging in.

I pray to the gods
Lightning, Earth, Fire, Water, Wind
Please guide me this day
Lightning give me energy
Earth give me strength
Fire set my passion ablaze
Water give me peace
Wind breath into me again
Blessed be the five​

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[Yamauchi Shizuko]

Being hungry, Shizuko headed out to her usual ramen shop. As usual she was wearing a skirt, a very pink skirt at that, together with a pair of white leggings. As a top she had a very standard pink cardigan. She had been blessed with a generous tip last time she helped the people in the neighborhood, so she could afford proper ramen for once. But she certainly didn't expect to see what she did at the shop. Once she arrived, she had to stand at a distance for a while to make sure she really saw what she thought she saw. She squinted, she tiled her head and she simply stared, but it made no sense to her. So she walked closer and managed to caught the end of the prayer which threw her off even more. ''O-oh! You can talk! But, but! You're all fuzzy and big and, and, you walk on all fours, and, uhm, you're not a human, so how can you talk? Hmm?'' she asked, both excited, curious and still a bit cautious. It was a rare sight after all!

 

[Ryu Hime]

Yes indeed I am
Does that really surprise you?
Is your world so small?
​

Despite her words she understood the girl’s point of view. A child’s world tends to revolve around their parents and only grows bigger with age. This one is still young and thus has a small view on the world. But that is not a bad thing or something she can place judgment for her world is also not as big as the world. Shikora knows nothing about the lands outside this village and thus to her might as well not even exist. Shikora was all too happy to broaden this child’s personal world.

A babe does not talk.
It speaks not till it learns how.
I am just the same.
​

Shikora then takes a sip of the broth to let her words sink in. For some she spoke in riddles, but to her she is as clear as day. Though not recognized as such she counts herself as one of the devout shaman of the village. Shikora has a very spiritual way of looking at things however such way of thinking is likely beyond a normal students understanding. A child’s world is rather small and would have likely preferred a more direct answer; an answer that does not require too much interpretation. So Shikora answers with another Haiku.

There are dumb creatures
Just like there are dumb humans
I’m not one of them​

 

[Yamauchi Shizuko]

Shizuko tilted her head slightly as the creature spoke again. It had such a sweet flow to it, the haiku-like sentences and Shizuko liked it. In some way it even inspired her to speak with a rhythm, although as she tried in her head it sounded weird so she ended up just say nothing at first. The owner spotted Shizuko and motioned for her to sit where they made the ramen like she usually did, because she liked to watch them cook. But she shook her head and without even asking sat down by the same table Shokira was standing, eating. Of course, she frequented the establishment enough for the owner to know what she wanted without asking and as she sat down her got to make her favorite ramen dish meanwhile.

She looked at the creature for a while, then down at her bowl of noodles and meat, then back up at her. She smiled brightly because of what she had said, reassuring the naive child that she was safe and in good company. ''You look cool! Can I ride you? Oh! Uhm! Are you magical? Can you fight? Can you teach me to use chakra? Uhm, uhm, I don't know what chakra is but some kids that live close to me talked about it and said all shinobis and kunoichis use it! I wanna be a kunoichi! Can you teach me? Oh! Teach me when I ride on you?!'' she asked while talking so fast she barely kept up herself. Of course, she held no respect or modesty when it came to ask things like that. At least not when it came to non-humanoids; only other people freaked her out, not awesome contract animals.

 

[Ryu Hime]

The girl asked quite a lot of questions; it would take time to answer them all. Though her request was demeaning for an intelligent creature such as her, she found no harm in it. Shikora lowers her body so that she may climb aboard. If she does so Shikora would take the student a ride around the ramen shop. The first question was if she was magical, which consider she lived in a world of jutsu; what would magical even mean. As for fighting, even a wild beast can attack. Intellect is not required for the basics of combat.

In some view I am
Shinobi use magic too
They call it jutsu
Now as for your next question
With hoofs and strong legs
I can give a potent kick
But I rather not​

Shikora stops and stomps on her fore legs on the floor. Suddenly eight vortexes of swirling violet mist appeared around them. Within the strange mist floated little white sparks. The vortexes were connected and the mist would travel from one to the next. This would be a teaching tool for Shikora to explain what chakra is, because how can she teach her to use chakra when she doesn’t know what it is.

Within your body
Eight pools interconnected
Swirling energy
Flows from one pool to the next
Two forces mixed
Physical and Spiritual
This is your chakra​

Now that she knows what chakra is Shikora will attempt to teacher her how to use it. However there are many ways of using chakra. Shikora as a teacher at the academy she is often asked, what does a shinobi really need? But the truth is such a question is up to the individual to decide, because it all depends on the shinobi. So what naturally the question is what type of Shinobi is this girl.

Four shinobi arts
Nin, Gen, Tai, Puppet
Nin deals with the elements
Gen is illusion
Tai is about weaponry
Puppet is puppets​

 

[Yamauchi Shizuko]

Shizuko was staring, almost to a point where it was rude, at the creature before her. She was hoping that she would get to ride her, and she was hoping she would teach her all those things she had just asked. But she knew she had just gotten caught up in the moment and didn't really expect anything. So as Shakora lowered herself to allow for Shizuko to jump up her back, the girl squealed with joy and climbed up as carefully as she could and happily sat properly on the back of the creature.

She tilted her head a bit at the first response, feeling it was a fair answer considering it was about something as violent as fighting. And in a way, Shizuko already knew magic was the same as jutsu, she just never had it put into words like that before. So as she was told so, she opened her mouth, inhaled slowed while going ''oohhhh''. She felt stupid for not having realized that before. Just shortly after that she was surprised by the sudden movement on Shikora's part though, and Shizuko looked at the spiriling vortexes with awe. She didn't understand what it was, but it looked really special so it definitely kept her attention. Truth to be told, even through the explanation she still didn't fully understand what chakra was. Perhaps it was the way Shikora spoke, or perhaps she just needed a more indepth explanation. Either way, Shizuko sure as heck wouldn't interrupt her ride to say that.

Once Shikora was done explaining, the redheaded girl was smiling. She had always known one thing, and that was that she wanted to use a specific weapon. It had been the weapon tied to the very side of the kunoichi who had once convinced her not to waste her life. The weapon was... a katana. Knowing this at least, she giggled and nodded. ''Oh! I wanna learn Tai! Is it called Taijutsu? I think I heard that before! Oh! Can you teach me that! You're really nice! Oh, I mean super nice!'' she blabbed, completely forgetting that she hadn't introduced herself. She also forgot that she had just rudely interrupted someone in the middle of their meal for her own selfish needs. But then again, what nine year old in the presence of a talking ''animal'' for the first time would think of that?

 

[Ryu Hime]

Would be difficult
Weapons are not my forte
Obvious reasons​

She’s a zebra; she walks on four legs and has hoofs. There it no way she would be wielding a weapon like a human in this state. Physically the only way she can hold a weapon is with her mouth and it is doubtful the girl would want to learn that style. Plus wielding by mouth is hard to talk, so giving lessons while displaying would be near impossible. Obviously Shikora was able to do some jutsu because there was still a barrier of swirling mist around them. So she did cleary have some capability to teach lessons. However the kid was kind and seemed eager to learn. Shikora takes a deep sigh,

If you wish to learn,
I will teach you some techniques.
Hold tight to my neck.​

Her last statement probably got the student a little concerned. What was she going to do? Is she going to run? How is she going to teach taijutsu without hands? The answer is more surprising than she would expect. Suddenly the mist came rushing towards them and engulf them. Visibility was practically nonexistent. If the girl failed to heed her words, she would find herself falling off and out of the mist because Shikora decided to stand on two feet. If she did warp her arms around her neck, it would give Shikora time to transfer from a pony ride to a piggy back ride. Within the mist Shikora got taller and within moments the mist was gone, thus revealing an anthropomorphic form.

Now where shall we start?
Any particular type?
Blade, blunt maybe range?​

If the girl squealed for joy at Shikora giving her a pony ride, she could only imagine the response she would get at her new form. This was not a form she took on often and found wearing cloths to be awkward with her fur and thus wore the minimum amount acceptable for such a village. Hopefully the little one would feel just as open to Shikora in her humanish form, than she was in her basic form. True she was human like in this state, but she is still clearly zebra.