Those Who Dare To Fail

[Kyuuji]

Tzing. The sound of metal slicing through air, followed by a thud. For a moment, Riku is almost hopeful, but as he looks around for it, it turned out it just hit a rock. A frustrated groan is dragged out from the boy standing in the training grounds. Once more, he had failed to get even remotely close to the target. For the most part, he did fairly well in class. He found himself getting distracted from time to time, but he had never been good at listening, with only a few people being exceptions. Some people just had an air to them that demanded attention from him. Like Michi.

Lately, though, he had found himself having significant issues with projectile usage. In that he was completely failing at throwing them. He didn’t get how throwing something could be so difficult, but somehow it was. Throwing should be simple. Apparently not, though. There were all these angles to account for, and the slightest thing he did could mess everything up. His canine companion loyally went to fetch the projectile and bring it back. He patted the puppy on the head. “Thanks, ‘Samu,” He mumbled quietly to the dog. He didn’t need to speak loud for Isamu to hear him. Even the things he doesn’t say, Isamu hears.

Riku is this close to giving up. He much prefers unarmed taijutsu, which he is excelling at. It’s his strength, as Michi puts it. His ninjutsu isn’t too bad, knowing the basic general non-elemental ninjutsu, but he’s pretty great at unarmed taijutsu. Most other types of taijutsu, however, are a very different thing. But, by far the worst of all his skills is throwing. Maybe he could be a decent shinobi without throwing stuff around, but he hates feeling like he’s the worst in something. He’s supposed to be a good Oracle, too, and he wonders how he supposed to do that if he can’t even doing something like this. He frowns down at the object in his hand, before he throws it, trying to use more force this time.

 

[Miroku Riyota]

Oushi-Ouja Etoku​

The strike of the clock signalled the end of academy hours. The students flooded out of the doors, some strolling away with friends and comrades. Others running to parents. For the young Etoku it was the beginning of a stealth mission to avoid his caretaker. He was allowed freedom from watch during academy hours as he was in the care of the faculty. However, the moment the clock struck the end he was back under supervision, and the carer would tolerate no tardiness. He peeked anxiously through a window to try and spy the tall, pale woman waiting expectantly outside. There she stood, checking a pocket watch and tapping her foot.

Slowly he crept back from the window, hiding under desks and chair and making his way through the academy as quietly as possible. His aim was to escape through the backdoor before Rika came looking for him. He crept through silently, past classrooms and training areas, unopposed until KERSHUNK! A shuriken broke through the wooden wall and soared over his head, barely missing his scalp and shearing off a few hairs before digging in to the wall to his left. He ducked down low, thinking he had been discovered, but when no shouting followed suit he curiously looked at the trajectory of the projectile and found the door to a small training room where a student appeared to be practicing with throwing weapons.

"What are you playing at in here? You almost killed me!" He entered the room in a frustrated manner, approaching the unfamiliar student and their canine companion.

 

[Kyuuji]

There was a weird sound, and the boy looked around to see where it had gone. There was a moment when he missed the new hole in the wall, but once he saw it, he was petrified. That really hadn’t been there before, he was absolutely certain. And with the shuriken nowhere in sight, he came to the correct conclusion, the only conclusion he could come to. He had thrown the shuriken through the wall. Oh no. Oh no. He had known he was bad, but this definitely hadn’t happened before. He hadn’t a clue what to do. What did one do in this situation?! He was going to be in so much trouble. What if they kicked him out of the academy?! The dog beside him gave a whimper and licked his hand, but that didn’t help much. He was so very sure that his end was nigh.

Then the door opened, and Riku knew what it was without looking up. Here was a teacher, telling him how he would never be able to be a shinobi now. Except… the voice was a kid’s voice. Like his. And he was saying… Oh no. “No, no, no,” He mumbled under his breath, wanting to exist in denial for a moment longer. Then he forced himself to look up, and he flinched. It really was a kid like him. Which meant… “‘M so sorry!” He blurted out, horrified. The kid didn’t look hurt, but if he said what he said, Riku believed him. “‘M so sorry,” He repeated, feeling like would fall apart and cry at any moment. The kid was mad, and he had a right to be if Riku had almost killed him.

“Was training ‘n stuff… ‘m sorry…” He blinked furiously, trying to hold back tears. Must not cry, he told himself. He sniffled a little bit. His lip trembled. He had almost killed someone, he couldn't help but keep thinking. It was getting very difficult, this whole not crying business.

 

[Miroku Riyota]

Upon witnessing the reaction of the room's denizen Etoku began to feel a bit bad. He knew already he had overreacted but he was hoping it would lead the person to explain themselves. Not...this... "H-hey...hey now, uh hey...it's not that bad. I mean, I'm alive and well so...it could've been worse. So...please don't cry?" It was an awkward circumstance for them both and whilst Etoku did feel guilty he feared the other student wailing would get him discovered. So he tried to smooth over the situation to the best of his ability. "Look, I'm sure it was just a mistake. What's your name?" After asking he took a closer and more curious glance towards the other student. "Oh? Oh! You're new aren't ya?" He stated, hoping he had the right person.

 

[Kyuuji]

Wide watering eyes focused intently on the other boy when he began to speak. He had expected that the other boy would remain upset with him, but the anger that had been on display on the boy moments ago seemed to have faded, leaving a more hesitant persona that didn’t seem to hold his error against him. “...Y’sure…?” He asked quietly, with a great deal of uncertainty. Almost killing someone wasn’t something that he could easily dismiss, but if the boy wanted to forget it, Riku would do what he wanted. The other boy was the injured party.

“Was a mistake,” Riku agreed earnestly. The other kid asked his name, and then seemed to recall that he was the new kid. Riku had almost forgotten that he had only been here for so many weeks, it seemed as if it had been so much longer. He gave a shy nod. “‘m Riku,” He introduced himself. He hesitated over whether to introduce himself with his longer name. He didn’t know what to call himself, lately. Calling himself by his dad’s surname seemed wrong, but he didn’t know if he could call himself a true Inuzuka, either. “My ma’s Inuzuka,” He finally added. His hand was tangled in the fur of the fluffy puppy beside him. “‘e’s Isamu,” He offered, never one to leave his companion out.