Just An Everyday Practice [Private with Tatsuo And Ryuuichi]

[Chigokai Yuka]

Ame was about to shoot out another one of her 20 questions when a different boy walked up to him. He appeared to be out of the academy, if the forehead protector was anything to go by, but he looked young. So maybe a genin?

Out of nowhere, the boy, now known Ryuuichi, gave Ame and Tatsuo his introduction while complimenting on their training. He mentioned that he had been watching them, and Ame found this a bit odd.

Taking the last of her water into her mouth and swallowing, she responded. “You shouldn’t just watch people. Some might get the wrong idea.”
His bright smile did nothing to deter her from saying what was on her mind. He would be a good opponent to train with. But Ame stuck to her words. She knew nothing of this newcomer, hadn’t even seen him around the village before. Though that wasn’t too considering she hardly ever went out. Everywhere she went she saw new people.

Silently, she observed Ryuuchi’s face. Something about it just seemed so familiar to her. The eye shape, the nose, practically everything about him looked like she’d seen him some where before. But she knew she hadn’t. She didn’t know any genin. She barely knew any of her academy students.
Brushing it off for a later day, she looked down at the grass, observing the blades while waiting to see how Tatsuo would respond to the stranger.

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo turned to look at the newcomer, furrowing his brows for a moment. He waved to the boy and smiled, saying "Hello!" however, he quickly averted his attention to the sun directly above him. "Oh no, oh no! I have to go i'm sorry!" he said jumping to his feet. He was late for his mission, they told him to be there at noon and it already looked a bit past it. He sure was going to get scolded whenever he got there, he hated to leave in such a rush, he usually liked to meet as many people as possible, but he'd be in so much trouble if his parent's realized he forgot to go to a mission!

[OOC Left Topic unless forcibly stopped]

 

[Uchiha Arata]

It seemed as if the girl was perhaps upset with him for watching them train.. though really it wasn't his fault. He was there before either of them showed up, plus he wasn't even watching, he only said it to try and give some kind of compliment and make himself seem friendly, which he was. Generally when a compliment is given it makes other people feel good. Maybe it wasn't a compliment to her.. though that didn't matter. Within moments the boy already went on about some mission and had to go...

Mission. He knew quite a lot about missions as his two years of training sent him on plenty. Most of them were meant to kill him but he somehow came out on top. Though of course he doubted whatever mission the boy had to go on was anything dangerous. If anything it would be finding a lost dog or something.

With the boy gone he set his gaze upon the girl again, who seemed to be studying him very carefully. Was there something on his face?
"Ah... my apologies. I just couldn't help but watch since you showed up and started training while I was looking at the scenery over in the forest over there.. I didn't mean to do anything to disrespect you."

 

[Chigokai Yuka]

As Tatsuo rushed away, going on about some mission he was supposed to go on, Ame just barely held herself back from calling out to him. Now, she was left with this stranger. He seemed nice enough, but he was still someone that the girl didn’t know and that fact made her nervous.

She listened as Ryuuichi apologized to her. His face was twisted up in confusion, eyebrows furrowed. She shook her head. “You’re not disrespectful,” she reassured. She may not really like strangers, but that doesn’t mean was going to be completely rude.

Sighing, Ame looked at the stuff in front of her, her books and pencils still laid out in front of her. Gingerly, she gathered her things and neatly put them back in her messenger back. She still wanted to train some more though, so after she was finished putting her things away, she walked to the post with her shuriken in it. One by one, she plucked them out of the wood and set them back in her pouch.

“So,” she started, walking back and taking her stance again. She didn’t look over at Ryuuichi as she spoke. “You’re a shinobi?” she nodded at the boy’s headband, eyes still not leaving the post. She tossed on her shuriken at the target again, making yet another hole in the paper.

Ame wondered what kind of jutsu Ryuuichi knew, what his specialty was, his techniques to get stronger. She promised herself she’d ask later on.

 

[Uchiha Arata]

Relief washed over him when he was told he wasn't disrespectful or anything. He didnt need an apology after all then. As she went on, she grabbed her shuriken again and was once more at it with trying to hit the target. She did just fine, of course at a higher level the accuracy would be considered poor, but at her level, it was just fine.

As she continued she asked about him being a Shinobi. She assumed that just by his forehead protector, which would be an accurate assumption since only Shinobi were granted one. Of course he could have stole it or something but he didn't. It was given to him, though he wouldn't go into detail upon how he obtained it except by saying he graduated the academy.

"Shinobi? Why yes I am! I recently graduated the academy here. Now I'm currently waiting to be put into a squad to go on missions with. And what about you? Are you a student still? Of course I can't jut assume because you don't have a forehead protector since it isn't required to be worn."

 

[Chigokai Yuka]

Ame was surprised that Ryuuichi was actually interested in her. He said he had just graduated. Surely, he must have heard rumors about her from the other students. Everyone else seemed to. Brushing it off, she turned to look at him, pausing in her practice.

“That’s correct. I’m still at the academy,” she hoped her shuriken toss couldn’t show her inexperience. But to a graduated ninja, it probably did. Quickly, she tried to make an excuse for her poor technique. “I’m getting a lot better,” she rushed out, a light rose hue dusting her cheeks.

Turning away from him, she focused on throwing shuriken again. But this time, she missed completely, the star flying right the post and to the other side of the clearing. Sighing she spoke again, thought mostly to herself, it was loud enough for anyone around her to hear. “Though not by much, apparently.”

Looking in the direction her tool flew off to, she noticed that the sun was starting to go down, oranges and yellow painting the sky. She had completely lost track of time training and talking with Tatsuo, the interruption by Yume and her crew, and now Ryuuichi. But she didn’t want to leave just yet. She still had so much more work to do. She had yet to hit a bullseye and her jutsu was nearly there. Just a little bit more and she would have it down, flat.

Directing her gaze back to Ryuuichi, she thought a bit more about him. If he was a genin, he might be able to help her. She hated asked for help from anyone, but if she ever wanted to improve in anything, she would need to put her pride away and accept that she was not as good as she wanted to be.

 

[Uchiha Arata]

She confirmed about being in the academy still. He wondered who he would be put in a squad with though. He wasn't too familiar with the Shinobi system but from what he was told he was going to be put in a 3 man cell with a Chuunin or Jounin leader. The only hard part would be deceiving the Jounin in his group, but besides that things should go smoothly.

She seemed to be trying to cover up the fact she was an academy student and not be looked down on because she was one. She was trying to make herself seem stronger than she actually was. Of course Ryuuichi saw through it. It didn't even take much, any academy student would be doubted since they weren't even Shinobi yet, though being who Ryuuichi was, he wouldn't put her down.
"Well of course you're getting better. Isn't that why you're out here now?"
He smiled at her once more.

 

[Chigokai Yuka]

Ame fiddled with the last shuriken in her hand, running her fingers over the sharpened tips. She supposed she had been getting better, matching what Ryuuichi had said. Thinking it over, she handed the star to the boy next to her. With her head, she motioned towards the second paper target that Tatsuo had been practicing on before rushing off.

“Show what you can do, and I’ll try my best to match it,” she said, voice holding no emotion what so ever.

She could tell by his arms that Ryuuichi was no academy student. If anything, he looked like he could have more power than most starting genin. She tried to imagine how many hours and sleepless nights it took to get to the point he was at. “So, what kind of jutsu do you know?” he had to know at least some, right? She remembered reading once in a history book that it used to be a requirement to master the shadow clone jutsu, here in the leaf. Now, however, the graduation exams varied depending on the teacher and setting. Briefly, her mind wandered to what her exam would be like, but she quickly re-focused on what was in front of her. There was no use fretting over the future. All she could do was try to get there.

 

[Uchiha Arata]

It seems she was still looking him over and observing him. This time by trying to see his skills. What should he do? Should he hit the center? Or should he try to hit just outside so he didn't seem too experienced. He did supposedly it's graduate. Though since they were standing in place and throwing, he should at least be able to hit the center. Now if he was moving and trying to hit another moving target, he'd definitely try to only barely hit it since that is something much more complicated than a still target while standing on firm ground.

He smiled once more and took the shuriken from her, then decided to take things slow for her so she could learn. First he shook a side ways stance, the left foot ahead of the right as he stood perfectly balanced, his weight centered. He decided to show her the simple overhand throw since there were many styles to throwing shuriken. Side, behind, over, under, and even a few others, though some were just for show and not as necessary. With the proper stance completed, he simultaneously began to step forward and raise his arm. By the time he put his right foot forward, his arm was near the apex of the arc and the shuriken slid out of his fingers.

As it was released it moved straight towards the target rather quickly and hit dead center. Of course since this was an easy shot it didn't take much effort. For tougher shots he may not be hitting perfect center, and he may even need to put curve on the shuriken so it spun. He knew a bit more and could even make a shuriken do a full 180 by using two shuriken. After the sound of the shuriken hitting the target was heard, he stood up straight once more and gave a smile.
"You wanted to know what Jutsu I know right? Well.. I know a little bit of lightning and a little bit of water.. also a bit of in the middle..."

 

[Chigokai Yuka]

Ame walked towards her own target and quickly pulled out all her shuriken before running out the way. She didn’t want to be hit if Ryuuichi missed.
As the boy got in position, she mentally noted every move that he made. Each way his foot turned, the raising of his arm, the twisting of his torso, all up until he actually threw it. Not much of a surprise, the tool hit the target, dead-center, something neither she nor Tatsuo could even come close to managing.

She was also pleasantly surprised to learn that Ryuuichi seemed to have the same preference in Jutsu as her. While she didn’t know any lightening types yet, she had master a water type. He may be a good person to train with on a regular basis.

Moving of the shuriken into her right hand, she moved the rest back into her pouch. The sun was starting to really go down now, light becoming and less and less available as they spoke on. She’d have to find a way to get some light on the field so she could see a bit better if she was going to continue training. Taking the exact same stance as Ryuuichi, she focused back on what she watched.

Her right foot moved just slightly, pointing to the post and giving her more balance. Her arm raised just above her head and her middle twisted just enough to give her a good look at the target. Satisfying with her stance, she focused and threw the shuriken.

It didn’t land on the bullseye, but it did get to the closest ring, the best she’s done so far today. “Wow,” she whispered out, amazed at what a simple change it could make.

Ame looked over at Ryuuichi, the corners of her lips lifting just enough to show the beginnings of a smile. “You’re good,” she commented.

 

[Uchiha Arata]

She remained silent as she went along. Maybe he did a bit too much? Though as he continued to watch he, it seems she learned from him, though of course she'd still need plenty of practice. For three long years he trained in many aspects. Throwing a shuriken at a target was nothing to him compared to what he had been through. Shuriken throwing was simple, most students screwed up with proper stance and instead focused on chucking it as hard as they could. Form was everything for being a Shinobi. Proper hand seals, stances, it was all necessary for being a ninja. It was even the same for Ninjutsu, proper chakra balancing was essential. It wasn't all about how much power you put into it.

As she looked at him again, it was the closest thing he had seen to a smile from her. This was a good sign? Usually smiles were a friendly thing. So far if seemed like he was blending in with the Leaf nicely... he gave her a smile.
"So the trick is about form! Most Students just chuck shuriken like rocks! But the trick is to use proper form and technique. Plus I was wondering, what is your name? I don't think I caught it when I introduced myself.."

 

[Chigokai Yuka]

She hadn’t realized she never gave Ryuuichi her name. Even without knowing who she was, he still helped in her way. She was almost a little embarrassed that she gave no introduction.

“Oh, um, Hayashi Ame,” she said quietly, giving a small bow with just her head. She supposed her way of bowing was a bit disrespectful when meeting a new person. But she wasn’t about change it for just one person who she barely knew.

Taking the stance, she focused once more, throwing another shuriken. It hit in the same ring, but this time on the other side. She clicked her teeth with her tongue, clearly unhappy about the results.

She was taking the right form that Ryuuichi so generously showed her, she had been practicing all day and was constantly out here. Why couldn’t she just get it right?

Giving up on shuriken for now, she walked back to the posts and pulled out the tools for a final time. Looking back at the sunset once more, she sighed. It was too dark now, just a sliver of daylight remaining on the horizon. Crickets were chirping, birds were sleeping, and no doubt all the nocturnal animals were wondering around in the woods surrounding the training field. She was hoping to get a little more practice in on her pressurized mist jutsu but without any water or daylight left, there wasn’t a whole she could do.

Turning back to Ryuuichi, she opened her mouth to speak. “It’s getting late,” she started, pulling the kunai out of the posts and folding up the targets to put back into her bag. “I come here almost everyday. You should…pop in some time. We can train together again,” she offered hesitantly as she packed up her things and tossed the strap of her bag over her shoulder. She gave him another polite nod but no goodbye, walking off back towards the village.

She would be back again tomorrow. A small part of her hoped that he would be there, too.

[Topic left unless stopped]

 

[Uchiha Arata]

She finally gave out her name, Ame, before going back to training. Her stance was fine and so was her throw. One would think they'd hit bullseye, but she didn't. There was a reason though. She didn't have as much experience. As she practiced it more she'd find her timing for her throws better and before she knew it, she'd be hitting the bullseye like it was nothing.

After a final throw she gathered her belongings and it seemed as if she were leaving. This thought was confirmed as she began walking off. She did however say she trains here frequently. Though it didn't matter if he showed up again or not, he already knew he'd see her again somewhere.
"Alright, see you around then Ame."
He smiled once more before he sighed and walked back into the forest.

[Topic left]