Open Okay, but like honestly... What even is a Shinobi?

[Chikamatsu Suisen]

The day was like any other, well sorta, it was like maybe the second or third day she was in the Hidden Leaf Village, oh, by she I mean Hyuuga Ran of course. Well anyways, this young girl wasn't native to this city, and like honestly, it was kinda confusing. Everything was named after plants, or rather trees. There's the Oaks, Maples, and like I swear she saw a sign about Kitsune Park, which I you ask me sounds like a park filled with foxes which would be super cute. Anyway back to Ran, she was walking down the street curious about the village and how her life was going to be now that she lived in this city.

Walking a long she would find herself walking past a small little shop that advertised "Shinobi Gear" but like honestly, what did that even mean? Slowly stepping into the shop she would look around at all of the shiny metal weapons and wires. Damn, like who knew how many versions of a throwing star, er... Shuriken, do you really need? There were the standard little four pointed stars, something labeled as "Fūma Shuriken" which looked like a bunch of blades that folded up, theres standard kunai, there double sided kunai which seemed odd, and there were like these little fork looking trident shaped kunai.

"Why? I mean like I am very curious. What would cause someone to need all of these different throwing things? Don't all of these things do the exact same job? Like you throw it and it sticks in your target."

 

[Sugihara Aki]

Aki blinked at the spot of bright pigment that had suddenly appeared on the kunai she was examining- it was a pleasant light greenish color, the very same as the paint she had just been using at home, which coincidentally dotted her hair, arms, and clothing as well. She rubbed it off with the sleeve of her jacket and set the tool down back where she found it.

The Chuunin had stopped by one of the Shinobi Gear shops on a whim, wanting to cross-reference a handful of new bladed designs she had been workshopping recently with the more time-tested variants that were available for public retail. She had also been meaning to pick up more standard shuriken for quite a while... but in all honesty, she rarely used store-bought tools anymore. Even though it was a reasonable expense for her job (such that her family could spare the money), so was scrap metal, and scrap metal was typically cheaper and more fun to work with anyway.

Aki shrugged and moved further down the shelves of ninja tools, passing a few other patrons. Just as she caught sight of a freshly restocked group of Fūma Shuriken, she heard a voice from her left- it belonged to a girl who looked about Academy-age, who had questioned aloud why anyone would need so much variety in their target-sticking implements. She grinned. "Everyone has different ones they like, I guess." Pointing at one of the baskets of kunai, she continued, "Regular Kunai are usually heavier than regular shuriken, which is why I like them more. Plus the handles make them better for close range too."

(edited to fix a formatting thing)

 

[Chikamatsu Suisen]

Ran looked over to the paint covered teenager. She raised an eyebrow as her stark white eyes took in all of the details, well the colors… seemingly so many colors. ” Okay I get that, everyone has their own taste but like… “ She grabbed a double sided kunai and a kunai that looked like something some who would call themself the “yellow flash” would use. ” Aren’t these just extra? Why do you need a blade on both sides? And these little prong thingies, doesn’t that stop it from piercing as well? “ She chuckled a little bit before looking back at the teen, ” I guess I’m still new to all of this I guess. I’ve never even used any of these yet. “ She chuckled, slightly embarrassed at that fact.

 

[Sugihara Aki]

Aki laughed along with the younger girl. Maybe this was how she knew she was getting old, she thought- seeing herself in the newer generations. It wasn't as scary of a feeling as she had thought. "Well, as far as 'extra' weapons go, these two are pretty standard... the double-sided kunai can be useful if you find yourself in a tight spot and need to defend yourself from multiple attackers, you don't have to waste precious time to switch your grip on the blade. They can be a little weird to throw, though, there is that."

The Chuunin eyed the 'little prong thingies' that Ran mentioned and grinned once more. She couldn't resist nerding out over shinobi tools; it was literally her job. "Those are called tines, like the ones on a fork. Pronged kunai come in a few forms, some with longer middle blades than others for people who do prioritize their sticking. Even in the case of shorter ones, they're good for close-range since you can catch an opposing blade between the tines-" she demonstrated, clinking a pronged kunai together with a regular one so that the latter notched between the middle and side blades of the former- "like this. All just products of people wanting different uses out of their kunai."

Aki noticed Ran's slight embarrassment and gave a reassuring smile. "No worries! We were all beginners at some point. I appreciate the chance to talk about ninja tools; my brother and I have spent a good portion of our time as shinobi learning to make them." Setting the kunai back down, Aki swept a hand around at the displays. "There's no better way to learn than asking. Anything else catch your eye?"

 

[Chikamatsu Suisen]

”I suppose that makes sense, but like I guess… how would you even figure out which one you should use!“ She let out a sigh, there was so much to learn still. All she knew was that her eyes could see intersections in peoples bodies and those were supposed to be where you strike.

”So I suppose a question I would have, you see… I have these fancy eyes, called the Byakugan. Is there like a weapon I could use to help me hit those little pressure points I can see? They’re very small on the body, but…” She looked confused looking at all of the various weapons.

 

[Sugihara Aki]

Aki shrugged in response to the younger girl's first question- "Trial and error for me, mostly. Plenty of people choose weapons that are required for specific techniques, but I like to just pick one and try it out for a little while. That's one of the ways I train, actually; even if I don't end up liking the tool, at least I've learned something."

The Chuunin raised her eyebrows- the Byakugan were fancy indeed. She had very vivid memories of wishing her family had some long-lost cool eye powers like her Uchiha and Hyuuga classmates when she was in the Academy, since that was around the time she was getting desperate to be good at something since she kept failing ninjutsu. "Wow, good question. That depends... have you done much training for hand-to-hand combat so far? Some of the Hyuuga I knew in the Academy had at their age, and some hadn't." She rolled up her right sleeve to show the wraps covering her arm. "When it comes to unarmed combat, usually the best answer is to stick with what you're familiar with- just your hands will do fine, if you get arm wraps to protect them. If you're not as used to fighting yet, though, or if you want something a bit sturdier, I think there are different types of gloves you can try overtop of them." She didn't know if this store had those, but it might be worth looking around if she had any interest.

 

[Chikamatsu Suisen]

[OoC: I am sorry to do this, but I am not vibing with Hyuuga Ran and will be changing her character so Topic Left]