Rock and Iron [Tadaomi/Tsubame duo]

[Tsubame]

On her usual day, at the usual time, in the usual spot, Nanjirou Tsubame sat in meditation on a rock. The majority of her training outside the academy had been conducted in this manner. Her sword floated in front of her, held in ethereal blue chakra, while she was instructed in the ways of combat by the spirit within. She sat cross legged on a flat topped rock, one of many in this training field. The spirit inside her sword, Ganesh, claimed he was demon and one of many spirits held within her blade. He has told her that to get stronger, she must delve “deeper” into the blade and seek council from each of the spirits within. Their secrets would be her strength. Ganesh was all that Tsubame had had since her parents were murdered. She had no reason to doubt the spirit in anyway. So she sat and learned and craved for something a little bit more.

The young girl’s mind wandered to the mission she recently had with three others. Takamura, Matsuko, and Hakiri. Her mind trained her muscles but as they fought she discovered that it was a very different thing to actually move your muscles. She wouldn’t admit it yet but it was rather exhilarating. The girl was longing for her next bout. A battle held in something other than the white void mindscape of her mental projections. While distracted by these thoughts, she was disarmed by Ganesh and knocked to the ground easily. The spirit spat and cussed while returning to their starting positions.

”Lazy girl! Are you even paying attention to these lessons? Wasting my time with a girl, perhaps I should find a boy.” His verbal abuses were nothing new. After four years of them she had grown quite proficient and becoming numb. She did regret losing her footing though. They had worked on these techniques last week. She shouldn’t fall for them anymore. In symmetry they resumed. Tsubame was learning how Ganesh fought to obtain his techniques, the “Wrath Seals.” It was harder than she made it look. He was a full grown man and she was a twelve year old girl. But there were no excuses when it came to Ganesh. It was like he couldn’t discern the difference between him and anyone else. Everyone was expected to be just like him. Everyone else was lucky they didn’t have to deal with him. He was Tsubame’s very own fairy godmother. Just, a demonic spirit living inside a sword.

During their sword clash Ganesh slammed Tsubame in the face with an elbow. Frazzled, the girl was unable to hold her sword during the next encounter. Another spit and a cuss from the spirit.

”You’re obviously done for the day and it has only been an hour. Practice Jigen-Ryu on your own so that you don’t waste my time during the next bout.” In usual fashion, Ganesh is first to leave the mindspace as he retreats to the depths of the sword. Tsubame awakens from her meditation and rubs her cheek. The physical damage from the mental training never translated to her physical body but her muscles still ached like it had.

”Grumpy old man.” She muttered under her breath as she slid her beat up old sword into her obi.

WC: 555

 

[Hakiri Tadaomi]

There was nothing, he'd finally decided, like real combat.

His first mission had been...exciting. Enjoyable, even. It wasn't exactly a fight to the death, but it had been real combat with people who hadn't cared at all if he learned something or not. That intent was something different than what he was used to. Even his family, ruthless although they were for his training, still wanted him to learn something when they beat him until he was bloody. In a real fight that desire wasn't there at all...just the desire to beat the crap out of the other guy, giving it their all to win.

It was a thrill, and he loved it. Plus, fighting pointed out to him the parts of his jutsu which were still insufficient. His time since then had been filled with training and working on polishing those weak spots...the end result of which was a few late nights, his body trembling as he tried to execute the jutsu one more time. It was an exciting time!

Of course, he'd also gotten to work with his fellow students and a single Genin for the first time, and his impressions there were clear. One of them was weak, and thus nearly useless. Certainly not good for training. Which left the other two that he might be able to use as sparring partners. Both of them were, after all, near his level of strength...for the moment. He didn't plan to let them stay next to him after all. So if they wanted to keep up, they'd have to work hard. But regardless of whether they could keep up, he'd use them right now as practice. Sparring was the next best thing to actual fighting after all.

Which was why he'd asked around a little bit before finding out that Tsumabe always kept an appointment nearby, sitting on top of a rock meditating for some time every day. Supposedly it was to foster a connection with her sword, although how that was supposed to be true, Tadaomi didn't have a clue. But then, he wasn't someone who used weapons. So maybe all of that mumbo-jumbo had a point. Which, as he arrived and saw the light-blue aura of chakra around the sword, might actually be true. But she was also just putting her sword away, muttering something that he couldn't make out as he walked up to her. “Nanjirou-san,” he called out, waving once as he approached, “If you have nothing else to do, do you mind being my sparring partner today?”

He was, if nothing else, very direct. Some people might call it a virtue. Others...not so much.

An excited gleam shone in his eyes as he continued, “You did well in our last mission, and I can respect that strength. What do you say?”

WC: 467

 

[Tsubame]

Hakiri Tadaomi, a grown man trapped in a boy’s body in more ways than one. He had a love for the battle that he wasn’t afraid to show. On their mission together he shined like a star when he finally got to crack skulls together. They weren’t so different- Tsubame and Tadaomi, they were both hopelessly addicted to this shinobi life without fully understanding what it was going to cost them. Regardless, Tsubame was elated to see the young academy student that was still shorter than her. She stood to her feet and held her sheathed weapon steady as she flipped down in front of him.

”Hakiri-san.” She gave the boy the once over. He may have had some shuriken or kunai in the holsters on his legs but he was relatively unarmed- well, as unarmed as a shinobi ever was. ”Should I make it fair and not use my sword?”

She knew he would say no. He was a brawler that only knew how to use his fists. Several opponents with weapons came at him with weapon on their mission together and he took on all comers with that same equal, undeterred fire in his eyes. So, Tsubame crouched down and slid her sandals appart. The soft tingle of the dirt moving sent a chill up and down her neck. Her face lowered with her stance until she was practically buried in her scarf. Then her back twisted as her left hand remained clasping Ganesh in place. Her right hand remained in the air, lose and rigid at the same time as it linger with the fingers looking like they were already holding the sword.

”Whenever you’re ready, Hakiri-san”

WC: 292

 

[Hakiri Tadaomi]

The small boy let out a laugh as the girl asked if she shouldn't use her sword. “Of course you should,” he replied as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “That's the only way it'll be fair in the first place.” His self-confidence was obvious, as was the excitement in his eyes as he looked squarely at the Genin he felt he was on par with. Arrogant or not, there was no condescension at all in his eyes as he met her gaze head on and grinned. Each hit she scored on him would be something she earned and he deserved. They were badges of honor, not marks of shame, a story of how he became strong over time.

She was inviting him to take the first move as well. One hand turned into a fist, the other a palm, which met in front of him as he bowed to her deeply. “In that case, I'll take first strike.” He smiled broadly as his hands abruptly moved, a kunai slipping from his sleeves before he threw it at her. But neither hand stopped moving, the hand seals clear as Tadaomi vanished in a puff of smoke-

-And the same kunai plopped to the ground in his place.

He was suddenly at her side, having crossed the distance in a single instant, and he immediately dropped into a low kick meant to take the Kunoichi's legs out from under her and upset the stance she'd already put herself into. A prepared opponent was better circumvented instead of being charged at directly, especially one who already held a weapon at the ready. He might have a lot of pride in his scarred and hardy body, but that didn't mean he wanted to give her a new scar. She'd have to earn it. His grin was splitting his face and his blood thundered in his ears. It was his first time since coming here that he'd truly been able to spar against someone he felt on par with, and it already felt great.

WC: 332

 

[Tsubame]

A kunai? Tsubame wasn’t aware Tadaomi even used kunai. It flew at the girl but there was still plenty of time to dodge. She was more concerned about the handseals her opponent was weaving. She knew she recognized them but they weren’t from her own repertoire. It was in a moment of smoke that she realized what was going on. Kawarimi, the substitution jutsu. That kunai was never going to hit her. It was a distraction at best and a means of clearing the distance between them at worst. Unfortunately for Tsubame, it worked on both fronts. Before she registered completely where Tadaomi had gone to she felt a hard thud against her leg. A low kick was delivered to her stance that sent her falling to the ground.

The young kunoichi fell flat on her face with a harsh thud but at the same time she concealed her hands with her body and wove some handseals of her own. Thunderfist- a technique that concentrates a lot of electrical energy into the user’s hand. Upon her next physical contact with a person, the energy will be sent straight into their body.

”Ow! Hakiri-san, that’s not fair.” She reached out for Tadaomi’s leg like she needed help getting up. She hoped to pull the wool over his eyes and get in a free revenge shot.

WC: 229

 

[Hakiri Tadaomi]

He hit!

He didn't rejoice, but a surge of satisfaction ran through him as her legs were swept out from under her. So he could use this as a way to get in close! It wouldn't work against anyone prepare for it, but he could file it away as a tactic to use for now. When he was more experienced and had better jutsu he could move beyond it, but he had to work with what he had for now. Which was apparently enough already to have gotten in the first blow against Tsubame. An unarmed fighter who got past the range of the sword could start to truly fight. That range was her advantage, which was why he had to resort to a somewhat underhanded method to get in close.

Tadaomi snorted at the girl's words though, amused at the naivety she exposed. Not fair? He chuckled a little and extended a hand, reaching down to pull her up, “Of course it wasn't fair, it wasn't supposed to b-”

The moment he gasped her hand a bolt of lightning blasted through his arm and his muscles all locked. It took him a moment to understand, and another to believe it when he did, but the proof was in the surge of pain all up his arm. Just when he thought to lecture her as to how to be sneaky, she went and proved that he was the naive one after all!

His teeth gritted as the words hissed out of him, “Point, Tsubame-san.” His legs gave out a second later as the lightning released them, and his mind spun, but-

His body blurred as he took a quick half step back, giving the girl the distance she needed to use her sword, but giving him the distance he needed to recover. He chuckled again, the sound far more sour than before, “Well done. I'll give you the next move.” His voice might be sour, but the smile on his face was still clear. He was enjoying himself, even though she'd just gotten him with an even more underhanded blow than his own!

WC: 353