The sun was setting over the densely packed towers of Amegakure, the long shadows stretching across the western outskirts of the city. It was there that the young genin stood, standing confidently on the sturdy branch to get that perfect view. The gentle breeze of an approaching evening rustled the leaves around him, gently tossing his scruffy excuse for a hairstyle as it did the blades of grass across the nearby valley. The shinobi pulled in a deep breath as he took a moment to watch the city as all the lights started to come to life in reaction the sun's descent. This place may not have been his home, but none of that ever really did matter. Not to him, at least. But he didn't have time to ponder the whole mess of rain versus sand. There was too much work to do. [break][break]
With another deep breath of the fresh valley air, the shinobi focused the chakra into his feet and started his descent. His stride was smooth and casual as he made his way down the side of the tree, going completely horizontal as he walked down the side of the trunk. It always left him just a bit winded, but there was no way to improve without a bit of practice. It was important that the process look completely effortless if he was going to impress his fellow shinobi. "Oh, this?" Lips curled into a cocky smirk, a hand moving to rest on his hip as he gestured causally toward the ground. "I dunno. I just figured I would give it a shot. Turned out it was super easy. Just focus the chakra to your feet and boom. Walkin' on walls like it's nothing."[break][break]
A hand moved to brush through his hair, ruffling it up a bit as he smoothly transitioned from the trunk to the ground. Oh yeah, that felt perfect. His smirk grew to a toothy grin of self satisfaction as he turned to walk deeper into the forest that bordered the valley, giving himself a bit more privacy for his secret training. Couldn't have some random passerby see all the effort that went into his skills. The genin twirled a kunai on his finger, leaning back a bit as he made sure his gait carried that air of aloofness he sought to capture. "Three on one, huh? I like those odds." In a flash he suddenly turned around, his other hand swiftly slipping into his pouch before flicking out to release two more kunai. At the same time he threw the one held in his hand, arms moving in opposing directions as he threw the three weapons out in an arc.[break][break]
The first hit the tree directly in front of him, but the other two flew at more of a downward angle and unceremoniously stuck into the ground. "Dammit.", the shinobi muttered under his breath as he realized that the arc of his left arm was off. Quick, he had to think of how he would recover if this happened in public! "How about uh...That? It was a warning shot. Figured I'd give you two a chance to run. And it's the only one you'll be getting." He nodded confidently to himself as he leaned down to pick up the two kunai from the ground and yanked the third from the scarred up trunk. Clearly not the first time the boy had come here to throw sharp objects at things. "...Yeah. Yeah they'd totally buy that.
[attr=class,punkiwofwordcount]word counts are for twats
Amegakure no Sato was… a foreign place. Even by the standards of one who had travelled throughout most of the world as a nukenin, Kanon still couldn’t help but take pause at just how different Amegakure was compared to all the other hidden villages. Metal made up a lot of its structures, for one, and their communication technology was something she would love to get her hands on.[break][break]
And she was sure all the other villages would agree.[break][break]
Alas, apart from not really knowing how to work their technological parafernalia, she highly doubted that the village would ever willingly part with such a tremendous advantage, especially to a missing ninja like herself. It’d certainly be used against them, they likely thought, not to mention how it might affect their relations with Otogakure.[break][break]
But while the technological marvels and new sights were certainly interesting, as was contemplating the political landscape of the hidden villages, one eventually tired of the amount of grey that was present everywhere. As the day came to a close and the lights of the village started to come alive, Kanon exhaled. Yes, it was probably best she moved on, lest she… turn just as grey as this place. Figuratively? Literally? That, she could not answer.[break][break]
Something akin to relief washed over her as she left the village, seeing the greenery she had grown so familiar with once more. She took a moment to appreciate it anew, having already missed it from her time spent in Amegakure. She listened to the rustling leaves and… the sound of a voice? Kanon blinked, feeling a sensation of deja vu, but she was yet curious. Random voices in the forest could turn out to be quite interesting, after all. Or they could try to kill her. Either way, still entertaining.[break][break]
Despite her astronomical weight, Kanon had started to learn to compensate for this through the smoothness and calmness in her steps. She was no master of the unseen, but there was a certain element of deliberacy to her movements, not quite calculated, but whimsical, as if she was in no rush at all… which was true in this case. A confident predator stalking its prey on nothing more than a spontaneous desire. Who knew what the prey would look like? Would it be a small mouse, a bunny rabbit, a stubborn ox capable of goring her in an instant?[break][break]
But as she got closer, her fanciful fantasies and musings were narrowed down to what she would describe as a cat. Aloof, cool, agile… or at least trying to be. Hiding in the trees, she would observe a young boy who was… talking to himself? No, this was more of a rehearsal, all in an effort to sound cool as a cucumber. It was endearing, like watching a toddler trying to be all tough and mighty only to fail at anything but seeming petulant and adorable.[break][break]
Curiously observing his efforts from the shadows, she would eventually finally decide to speak up, moments after his “warning shots”.[break][break]
“Hmm, no. I don’t think they’d believe that. In fact, I’ve an inkling they’d be rather upset that you potentially murdered their friend.” She spoke out from the trees in casual fashion, her impish chuckling resounding throughout the area.[break][break]
It was at this point that she leaped out of hiding, coming out from the darkness of the tree she was on and landing a few ways away from Daichi with an audible thud! Rising from her crouching position, Kanon would stare at him with complete calm and confidence, the cheshire grin on her face akin to that of a curious cat’s.[break][break]
“Tell me, little one.” Kanon herself was a mere 4’11”, certainly on the small side, but she carried herself with the confidence and poise of someone twice her size, “Are all your days like this, trying to forge the perfect facade to get people to admire and stand in awe of you? We all wear masks to some extent, but this just seems like a bit much to me, especially for a kid like you.”
Before the boy even had a chance to start thinking up his next quip or toss another set of kunai he found himself being rudely interrupted by an unfamiliar voice. Now this would have been the perfect opportunity to put everything he practiced to work. He always told himself to expect the unexpected, to be ready to react to anything no matter how crazy it seemed. All he had to do was turn toward the mysterious figure, kunai pointed in her direction. Tilt his head up a bit, wipe the smile from his face and stare her down real intense like. Then maybe open up with a line like 'i don't remember asking you, stranger.' Or something like that. That'd definitely show her this was more than a facade.[break][break]
But no, it didn't go so smoothly. Instead of any of that he found himself paralyzed by the sourceless voice, his anxiety spiking at the mere thought that someone saw him doing something so humiliating. His eyes frantically searched his surroundings for a source, nervous fingers clenching his kunai as he readied himself for an attack from this mysterious force. Then there was the heavy THUD behind him, his mind immediately turning into overdrive. No doubt this was some monster of a woman that was addressing him judging by the sheer weight of that impact. He would have to brace himself to overcome the most overwhelming of odds. With a deep breath he quickly spun to face his onlooker, legs bending a bit to lower his center of gravity as wide, panicked eyes locked on to hers.[break][break]
Only to find that she was...small. Really small. Like almost half a foot shorter than him small. The confusion showed plainly on his face as he watched the woman, the little remains of his previous 'cool cat' facade crumbling as the gears started to quickly turn in his head to parse this information. It was then that he went back over her words, actually paying attention to what she said this time around. Dammit. Why did she have to call him out like this? And she looked so cool while she did it, too! And kinda cute too... No! He had to focus![break][break]
His face scrunched up a bit as he corrected his posture, standing up straight and allowing his arms to fall to his sides. It seemed the only thing she was here to attack was his ego, which almost made him wish this encounter had been a more violent one. "...Well the plan was that if they saw me kill their friend they'd be like... 'oh no that could've been me' or 'I'll be next I better run'. So..." He gave a little shrug of defeat, shooting a glance back toward the tree he actually managed to hit. It made sense at the time, at least.[break][break]
But that little moment of deflation was short lived as he quickly caught himself starting to sink and steeled his expression once more. "A-and before you start thinking you can get all high and mighty, I'm not a kid. I'm a genin. One of the best!" He puffed his chest out a bit, tilting his chin up as he fought to regain his air of confidence. "I don't need a mask to get people to stand in awe. I'm the real deal, you know. So you better be careful with what you say." Even if that vague threat was at all intimidating, his body language remained stiff and defensive, arms moving to fold across his chest as he spoke. He couldn't let this random girl get to him so easily. He had a reputation to build here, and it wasn't one of a coward.
[attr=class,punkiwofwordcount]word counts are for twats
It was all she could do not to laugh out loud at just how startled this kid seemed at her presence, frantically trying to prepare himself, look cool, and calm himself down all at the same time. Young blood coming out of their homes for the first time were always entertaining to watch and tease, their little reactions were so adorable! The grin that was already on her face widened as she stared at the poor victim she had chosen to torment.[break][break]
The scruffy-haired teenager that stood before her looked very green, likely a genin judging by his age and countenance. Whereas his stance was stiff and on edge, hers was relaxed as could be, looking into his eyes with complete confidence. Combined with her horns, state of dress, and tone of voice, one could almost be convinced they were talking with an actual oni… although her size was perhaps a detractor in that.[break][break]
Oh, but the excuses and cover-ups he made to try and salvage his image! Kanon couldn’t help but giggle as she listened to him try to explain away his little gaffe only to almost immediately lose steam and immediately move on to try and make himself look all big and scary. Widening her eyes and putting a hand to her mouth in faux-amazement, she would continue her relentless teasing.[break][break]
“Oooh, a genin! Whatever shall I do against such an amazing opponent? Will he use his clone jutsu to scare me off, or perhaps he’ll try to use his astounding shuriken skills against me!” Kanon giggled uncontrollably after that little show, taking a few moments to regain her composure before sighing and speaking up once more.[break][break]
“So, tell me, after you’ve convinced the world you’re the biggest, baddest kid in the world, then what?” She asked him, and while her tone didn’t change too much, there was absolutely an undertone of seriousness in there, “Will you continue to isolate yourself forever, constantly fearing what might happen if that perfect little façade of yours crumbles for even a moment? Really, I’m much more interested in seeing what’s behind that mask.”[break][break]
Grinning in predatory fashion, Kanon would slowly walk up to him, leaning forwards as if to get a better look at the boy.[break][break]
“Come on, now. A pretty girl showed up from the woods and asked you to be true to yourself for just a few, scant moments. Don’t you think that telling all your friends a girl was interested in you makes for a better story?”[break][break]
Of course, she wasn’t interested in him. Not in that way, at least. She simply wished to provoke him into dropping his silly theatrics and actually talk to him instead of a caricature of what coolness was.
Why was it that when he said 'genin' it sounded cool, but coming from her it sounded like she was making fun of him? There was nothing wrong with being a genin, right? Even a fledgling shinobi was more than a match for the common bandit and the sort...Right? Daichi could feel the doubts starting to creep in as she continued to mock him and his skills, face scrunching up a bit as his arms folded across his chest. He couldn't let it show that she was getting to him. He was a trained shinobi of Amegakure, dammit! How could he let this pretty monster lady just come out of nowhere and poke fun at his skills? At this point he was starting to wish that she was actually just here to try and eat him or something. At least that was a sort of attack he knew how to handle.[break][break]
The more she spoke the smaller he felt. She wasn't just mocking his skills, she was trying to tear him apart with her words. Dismantling everything that he had worked so hard to build up. This air of confidence, his sharp wit, the techniques that he struggled to perfect day and night. It was getting harder to keep his brave face, the corners of his lips twitching as he fought the urge to frown at her. Worst of all, the more he contemplated it the more he realized that not only was she right, these were the very fears and concerns that he had fought so hard to put aside. And there she was, so casually confirming them despite being a total stranger. How the hell was he supposed to respond to this?[break][break]
Shit was he starting to blush? His cheeks were definitely starting to feel warm. "I-I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have a facade! And it's not gonna crumble. I know what I'm doing, alright? He shook his head at her, his composure starting to crack a bit as she continued to apply pressure on him. In the heat of the moment, he didn't even realize how he managed to contradict himself within the same statement. "I'm gonna start my own clan. Then you'll see. I'm gonna have a ton of students and teach them all my secret techniques and everything. And maybe if you're nice to me I'll teach you a bit too someday." He nodded to himself in confidence once more, slowly building himself back up after she so expertly tore him down with his own insecurities.[break][break]
Everything she said was things he had heard before. Things he had told himself in the past. But he couldn't let such doubts get him down, not when he had come so far already. Though one thing he didn't expect was for her to be 'interested' in him. Not just him but...the him behind the mask? The redness of his cheeks suddenly grew more prominent at that, his eyes turning away from hers as he felt his anxiety starting to peak. "I-I mean...Y-you're not the first pretty girl I've talked to, you know. It's not like it's weird for you to be interested in me or anything. I'm super popular back at the village. Yeah like...Yeah." His ability to form sentences while keeping up the act was starting to waver a bit, but so long as he didn't look right at her he should be able to recover a bit.
