Somewhere amidst the montainous and forested outskirts of the hidden village, a certain pair of garnet hues peered towards a curious little creature. Tiny legs allowed it to pull itself against the natural odds of the world, slowly pulling its weight up as it climbed a rather large tree. She registered mental notes with every minor and major movement, trying to deconstruct this creature’s marvelous technique. While Mahiru preferred more… Physical approaches to her training, if her recent meeting with the bear was anything to go by — she had to learn new training methods if she wanted to evolve as a kunoichi. This is why her intense gaze dedicated her undivided attention to the chameleon climbing up that one particular tree;
Her goal was pulling off the same. A secret technique, codenamed by her on the fly as wall-stick-trick.
She had seen shinobi do it several times before. Ignoring the almighty grasp of lady gravity, they were earth benders that walked on walls and even stood upside-down if they so wished. “Hmm… This isss not helping at all…” Alas, the lizard-girl was but a simple genin who favored taijutsu techniques. Not only did she spend far too much time honing her body, the number of acquaintances that could teach her the ropes was a grand total of zero. Given her reptilian features however, she guessed learning from distant relatives could help her awaken some hidden power within, but the numerous irregularities on the ground — a product of falling from the trees several times over — was an obvious sign that that idea had gotten her nowhere.
“Maybe I should jussst go back to weight lifting or something…” arms crossed, she dropped her weight back as she sat on her tail. A dramatic pause as a lone breeze travels across the forest,
“NEVEEEEEEER!” Reptilian hues burn like stars of determination. Not in a million years would Mahiru pass up on the chance of tackling new challenges on her path! Like the dedicated girl she was, she jumped back several times and was soon sprinting her way towards the trees one more time. Her momentum carried her forward and daring to step all over gravity’s almighty pull. Was it… working?? Another step! Again, again! A couple more and she’d reach the first branch - - - “Eh?? Eek!” And then her world spins, and before long her back hits the ground with an unceremonious —
THUD.
“Uuu…” Another outline of her large tail is left on the ground, a testament to how many times her back had hit the ground that morning. “This sssucks…” she rolled on her back and hugged her bandaged tail almost as though it was a pillow of consolation. Defeated and humiliated by her nemesis yet again, she laid there stuck on the first metaphorical wall on her path.
[attr="class","monbody"]There was something about the strange and treacherous terrain that surrounded Kumogakure that pulled Asahi toward it, at every opportunity. He liked the way the sun rose and fell behind the forests and mountains, he liked the silence of nature before his day became a mess of responsibility; and most of all, he liked the opportunity to be away from prying eyes, staring daggers into him at every turn of the road. Maybe it was not such a mystery as to why he liked to be out here. But it was quite a preferable place to get his training in, too. Asahi carried under his arm three things, though they were all completely identical: wooden targets of varying sizes, to be hung from different heights and repeatedly bombarded with freshly-sharpened shinobi tools to be dulled again in the course of an afternoon. Shurikenjutsu was never his specialty, and in fact he didn't quite like it very much. He was just not very good at hitting a target dead on, and the various chips and scrapes and punctures in the wood in the rinds around the little red dot would attest to that fact. But it was something he had to improve on - or, at the very least, something that made it look like he was trying to improve - and so here he was.
It took Asahi about fifteen minutes to find the perfect spot for just such a bout of target practice. The trees around him were quite tall, and he was able to hang two of the targets from fairly high places; but the act of climbing up and down the tree was uncomfortable, difficult, and tiring in and of itself. There were better ways to do just that, he knew. He had read the scrolls in the Academy about chakra control and surface walking, he had seen the Shinobi leap from wall to wall as if they were some breed of spider. But he was never able to do that himself. Of course you can't do that, the intrusive thought crept into his mind, You're hardly a Shinobi to begin with. You'll be lucky if you don't fall and die climbing a tree like this; and in a secluded forest no less. Perhaps this is where you deserve to die? He blinked, the thought passing into and out of his mind in such a way as to not be uncomfortable. He had these intrusions often, of course. They didn't bother him anymore. And besides, maybe he didn't need the final target. It was already a slog to throw the kunai and shuriken, and then to walk up, climb up the trees, and retreive them; why make it harder for himself? And why was he trying so hard, anyway? If nobody was here to see it, maybe he should just sleep instead. Yes... that sounded like a better option. He tossed the final target on the ground, against one of the taller trees. It's too hard, so don't do it. Typical. He ignored the thought, again.
And maybe he would have continued to give up if it was not for that sudden noise, the sound of what he hated the most; people. The NEVEEEEEEER! stirred the birds around him, and out of sheer instinct Asahi jumped onto his feet, feeling like a little child who was caught stealing the candy he wasn't supposed to have. But he looked around and saw no-one. He was still alone, but the threat of that solitude being broken began to move him inside like some ancient machine. He scowled, an act of show for himself, and cracked his neck. Here they come, to ruin my day. Perhaps I would be best practicing with living targets? The vivid image of him throwing a kunai into the forest, and only hearing a single cry before calming silence, became more and more appealing. He crept through the brush, keeping himself low, hovering his hand over his tool pouch. Did he really intend to use it? Probably not. The whole thing was an act of course, some horrid routine he was so used to sliding into. And then he saw her.
Asahi had never seen this girl before. He did not exactly make a lot of lasting friends in the Academy, but he at least made an effort to remember everyone's name. That discomfort bubbled to the surface; were there more people than he first thought who could upset his fine afternoon? And she looked quite odd, with that tail of hers, trying her absolute best to get up the tree. He could have spoke up sooner but he did not, watching her run up the tree and fall back down, crushing her own tail. Good. The vile thoughts again crossed his mind. I hope the fall kills her. Snaps her neck. Return the peace. Without knowing her name, he only wished malice upon her. But his face softened. His frustrated eyes relaxed, and he took a few steps out of the forest. Instead of approaching as an enemy, he wore a small smile, and held his hand on his hip. He looked about as unintimidating as he could.
"I don't think that's the proper way to climb a tree, you know." His tone was jovial, perfeclty masking the baseless anger he was feeling only moments before. "Although that sure is one way to land! And by the looks of it, I suppose things haven't been improving very much?"
"Isss there a proper way even?" She groaned out a reply without looking at the source of the new voice nearby. Mahiru rolled on the ground to try and alleviate some of the pain from her fall — unfortunately for Asahi, with a tail as thick as hers there was little to no chance of injury, though it did hurt. Normally she could always find somewhere to train without getting into anyone's nerves due to her antics, but it appeared she had failed this time. Slitted garnets looked up to notice a young man approaching, his hair a softer hue than her own. Yet another face she had never met before, but that was nothing new at this point. Considering her rather shady origin, it was hardly surprising the dedicated genin had very few connections.
“Did I get in the way of your training? Sssorry, I didn't mean to.” civilians rarely walked around these parts, so she assumed he was there to do the same, “Well, yeah… I’ve been trying to get the hang of sssomething knew, but it’s not going that well.” a sheepish laugh followed as she rubbed the pain away from her large bandaged tail. “But thisss is not the end!” Any lingering doom and gloom she had first presented was gone with a self-motivating hurrah, arms high up in the air to stretch herself.
“Name’sss Kobayashi, Kobayashi Mahiru!” she’d extend her hand forward for a handshake, completely unaware of the monstrous mindscape the other party carried within himself. Considering her looks, it would be hypocritical for the lizard-girl to judge someone by the looks, and there was no chance of her seeing through his practiced technique of keeping a jovial mask. Regardless of whether he shook her hand or not, the genin would spin dramatically on her right heel, focusing back on her goal.
“You see, today I’m learnin’ the sssuper secret wall-stick-trick!” red garnets sharpened at her target, the tree that had seen her fall on her butt several times over in that morning alone. Her head tilted forward, shading her scarlet eyes as she prepared herself once more. “I’m not leaving today till’ I can walk upssside down on that bough! Hoooooh! GO!” and before long, like a cranky but reliable machine the genin attempted to climb yet again. Of course, she fell like a bag of potatoes again, rolling down the small hill that led to the targeted tree and stopping a couple feet away from Asahi.
