The pursuit of illusion was coming closer to Itaru’s grasp, but it still eluded him in the understanding of it in its entirety. Days and weeks of straining his mind had left him with a constant headache and a lot of days spent sitting and meditating. He hadn’t been keeping up with his physical fitness the way that he should have, and it was important to him that he stay in good shape. He did eventually want to go back to training hard to improve his body, he couldn’t neglect it.
Naoko said there would be a special guest helping with physical fitness training. Itaru was expecting that he would be seeing Shoichi-sensei or maybe Higa. He was dressed in a sleeveless earthy green garb, his arms were wrapped up very tightly. He wore matching shorts that fell above his knees and wrappings that covered all but his kneecaps. On his head he wore a white sweatband that pulled his shaggy hair from his forehead.
The training area that he reported to was a circular track that had several small groups of shinobi were running together. In the center was a large obstacle course with logs to jump, poles to “monkey-bar” across, and ropes to climb high into the air. At the corners of each track there were free weights of various shapes and sizes. One other thing of note was that the track itself was made from smoothed stone, while around it was fine gravel over a layer of dirt. The obstacle courses were cushioned by sand, and the occasional shinobi falling or running through it would kick it up to make a small haze.
It was a good place to get a good all-around workout. Seeming to be the first person to show up. He was carrying a water bottle a little smaller than his forearm that he had already sipped down a quarter of the way on his walk. He stopped and balanced on one foot while pulling his other up to stretch while he scanned around for Naoko.
It would probably be easier to spot her and the guest if he unraveled his bandages so that he could see in multiple directions, but getting dust in his extra eyes was a real annoyance he didn’t want to deal with. Nor was the rude staring that he was all too aware of.
Around the training shinobi, the obstacle course, the track, and the surroundings grew a number of tall trees and in one of them, roughly 15 meters from Itaru, a dark skinned woman in a black leotard laid on a branch seemingly asleep as her violet ears and tail flick every so often hidden in the shadow of the canopy overhead, the stray beam of light connecting with her skin, hair or clothing. Junko had made her way to the location the night prior before she had fallen asleep, granted the repose ended at dawn and now she was simply waiting and conserving energy until the extras showed up, using her hearing to determine the random arrivals.
Should the newest one, or even another, say or draw her interest her gold eyes would open and lock onto him or them regarding them lazily, clearly not the prime representative of a jounin.
“Itaru Tokuro,” a voice called from behind him. With his extra eyes wrapped up he was surprised with the sudden interruption of his stretching routine. It was someone that he was not familiar with. They were a plain faced shinobi with a red bandana on and a blackened chest plate over standard issue gear. “Naoko will not be able to attend training today, you are to train with Junko, the leader of platoon 2.”
There was no pause, as soon as the message was delivered the man turned and started to move away. Itaru reached his hand forward and grunted to try to stop him, but it was to no avail.
Itaru had heard of Junko, but had never seen her in person. He began moving around the area of the track looking a bit lost. He spotted some trees nearby and decided to make his way to them to take advantage of the shade.
He sat down and leaned his back against the nearest one he found, not realizing the person he was waiting for was in the branches above while he started drawing formulas for study into a patch of earth barren of grass with a small twig.
The stern emotionless tone of an anbu caught her attention instantly and drew Junko's attention while she listened to him regard the boy who had shown up a few moments ago and name dropping Naoko making the neko sigh quietly since it seemed she was needed now. However his reaction to the man leaving puzzled her before he began to wander around briefly and conclude with sitting beneath her place at the foot of the tree.
For a moment she neglected to do anything as Itaru began to draw, her gaze focusing on the subject, seemingly a sapling? or maybe a stick, either way she calmly closed her eyes and slunk down the back of the tree lightly touching onto the earth before leaning against the tree watching over his shoulder while he continued to draw not saying anything quite yet.
Itaru worked vigorously on the diagram, it was one of those overly complex book explanations about how something worked, in this case genutsu. One of those things that wouldn’t actually impart any skill by learning it outright but was something that one could do to stay motivated about the subject in between real lessons.
Busy work.
A stray branch from above would make a small cracking noise, which would immediately draw Itaru’s gave up from his work. He blinked as he noticed a woman in the canopy who was seemingly watching him from above. Protective of his own work for little reason other than a strange instinct to stop others from copying him, he brushed his foot over the diagram.
“H-Hey! What gives?” he called up the tree. “Why are you being nosey up there?”
He didn’t know who he was speaking to, which was a bit risky given his low rank. Still, it was hard to make them out in their entirety through the branches, so he assumed it was someone younger than himself.
With her location found she shrugged to herself and slipped down the tree before landing beside him with only the sound of displaced dirt, the neko landing in a near crouch before raising upright meeting his gaze with her own before shifting to the diagram he had worked on.
"Fundamentals and theory aren't a bad start, granted I have no experience using illusions."
The neko calmly remarked before crouching back down and placing her palm to the ground and focused her chakra along her clawed glove and into the earth causing a faint pulse as particles lifted from the surface. However in the next second the sharp scent of ozone filled the air and electricity cracked the earth around her hand making the dust fall. A quiet sound of annoyance escaped the cat as she brushed her palm free.
"I haven't managed the Earth Release yet but I understand the weaving of chakra to a point where I can place a small amount of will into it even if its only... resonance?"
The question lingered on Junko's lips while she she glanced at the earth for a moment before shrugging and meeting his gaze once again expectantly like she expected at least some commentary on the energy they all used throughout their daily lives.
Hotaru tensed up as the woman slid down the treetop before he could manage to wipe away all of his idle calculations. There was a small look of confusion on his face as she made a demonstration of her own use of chakra. He shrugged his shoulders, he may as well have rolled with it since he wasn't sure when he'd run into Junko. She had recognized that he was working on illusory work.
"Yea. Genjutsu is sort of like trying to thread a string through a needle from a distance and then stitch something from the other end of the line," he said. "I understand how the chakra works well enough, but it is a difficult thing to put into practice."
He paused for a moment and drew a breath in. He turned his eyes back to the loosened pile on the ground.
"Ninjutsu is probably more practical, but my abilities suit learning illusions or medicine, and I don't see myself as a doctor," he said. "Do you ever wonder what it might have been like if you focused on doton over what you know now? I always worry I'll have regrets about whatever I choose," he finished with a small laugh.
[attr="class","texty"]"Not really, but you're 'older' than I am, being a shinobi is most of what I know and I've tailored my skills towards that." She admitted with a shrug never really having those kinds of thoughts, she questioned the validity of continuing to war among other villages when the empire stood at their doors. A quiet sigh left the mocha woman before her gold gaze passes over him once more.
"I would honestly say to figure out the direction which you can excel the most in, if that's illusion, pour yourself into it, if its healing buck up. People will be counting on you but you wont be forced into the vangard if your talent is genjutsu, you'll be where you can do the most with your abilities." She mused quietly regarding him carefully, her advice potentially callous but if he's more worried about not fulfilling his calling. "As for your question, I'd probably be more of a scout than an assassin."
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“Older than you are…” Itaru muttered as he gave the woman a second glance. His nose tilted to the side as his face scrunched in disbelief but realizing he had made a face he brought his hands up in a show of embarrassment. “I’m a lot older than I look,” he said.
He had totally missed the point and thought she meant physical age. He was trying to walk back his show of disbelief about her being younger. He still didn’t get it.
“That seems like sound advice, I will continue to hone illusion. Perhaps I’ll figure something else out in the end.”
He glanced down as she mentioned being a scout. Scouting was about all he was good for right now. He’d have traded places if he could.
"If you didn’t do the assassinating, someone less skilled in it would be put in danger trying to take your place, yea? But that would mean.... I um… apologize, that must mean your rank is higher than my own and I have been addressing you like a peer,” he said giving the woman a quick bow.
simplicity
Last Edit: Nov 3, 2021 1:54:59 GMT by Itaru Tokoro
[attr="class","texty"]"I'm not bothered by it." She shrugged off the poke at her station not particularly caring about such things in passing, they only really mattered when orders needed to be given and this wasn't one of those times. The neko glanced at the ground silently inspecting a shadow for the time as her tail and ears flick slowly before her gold gaze met his once more.
"You're supposed to train right? what kind of training do you think will fit what you're aiming for?." The woman inquired as she leaned on one leg and used the other to nudge his leg away from his diagram trying to damage it as little as possible beyond what he tried to obscure. Meanwhile she quietly continued to exert her own into the earth around her feet, her ears focused on the sound of cracking when her nature flicked back to lightning making her reach vanish before she tried again. "I don't know much more about genjutsu than the idea of it, my work is more in... force and strikes."
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"Oh, you must be the one who they sent for me to work out with," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "No wonder you were up there observing me."
He laughed and finished sweeping away his diagram left in the dirt. He moved his neck from side to side to stretch out.
"I was actually expecting just some general fitness training, I wasn't sure who I was waiting on... so I just started dabbling with my studies while I waited."
He began stretching his legs again, followed by his arms. As he pulled his arm in front of him some of the bandages on his arm came loose, briefly exposing an eye before he quickly reached to cover it up. He didn’t say anything, hoping to continue on unnoticed.
“I’ve been working on throwing lately too, hand-eye coordination type things,” he said. “I am super interested in martial arts. What kind of fighting style do you use, ma’am?”
[attr="class","texty"]"I slept up there." She calmly responded to his statement about being sent to him, the information meant to distract from that line of thought without lying. She took note of his exposed eye having been taught to expect awkward physiology in the world and her own was proof of that, as of yet she hadn't met another with her feline traits. However his approach to general exercise made her wonder if her just meant to stay in shape rather than progress.
"I use instinct in a fight rather than style." She said before moving one of her hands forward and running chakra through her hand causing her nails to grow, sharpen, and harden into claws that could rend flesh and possibly bone. Admittedly she never quite got the hang of using tools so she preferred to specialize in a weapon that complimented her already developed skills. "If you know the Inuzuka I mainly emulate their method of attack."
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