Run, run! (Open/Training)

[Airiko Yuzuki]

Yuzuki firmly stands in front of Aurora Erudito and gazes at in awe. Just a building, but looks so, powerful and influential, just like people that train here. But what Yuzuki is doing outside the building with such determined look on her face? Today into little blonde’s head came a genius thought - Run laps around the Academy till she runs out of energy! ''A real kunoichi must be solid and unstoppable!’’ thought the girl and nod her head in agreement with herself. That’s why, the girl that enjoys slacking away from hard job now feels serious and enthusiastic as ever – she wants to proof herself that she isn’t sack of potatoes and she can laps around this big academy all day long. Even the weather today is on her side, it’s warm and no sign of rain, only gentle wind is blowing. Yuzuki fixes her light blue jumper suits, puts her hair in firm ponytail and takes a deep breath.
''Wooohoo!’’
She yells out and starts running, enjoying the view around and the wind that blows trough her ear. Big and happy smile decorated her face.
10 laps.
‘’Woohooo!’’
The tenth time around, it got a little boring and it seems that either stopped blowing or Yuzuki got really warm now. Oh, the rock that she stumbled upon on 4 lap changed his position, now he is one feet away from his old place. Birds that were sitting on the high tree next to the bench flied away. Yuzuki only smiles and keeps running.
18
‘’Woooh!’’
Yuzuki yells out as she feels getting tired already, sweat dropping from her forehead and her old dirty shoes feel five time more uncomfortable than they were three laps ago. Her legs start to feel heavy and her mind is trying not lose number of laps she made around the Academy.
27
She takes deep breaths and looks up at the sky. Looks like sky got bored of Yuzuki too, because it seem that is going to rain soon.
‘’I don’t care if it rains – I’m going to run till I black out.’’ She mumbles to herself with smile and while she adored the different shades of clouds, she managed to stumble over broken tree branch and fall down. Yuzuki’s face met the ground and she made a let out a little groan.

((Word count: 390))

 

[Osuteno]

Spoiler

A purple haired youth sat on top of the school watching a very energetic girl run laps around the school. Osuteno wouldn't have normally paid this any mind but had been shopping nearby and had heard the woohoos and decided to check in while eating lunch. It was a day off from the hospital anyway so as a person with no hobbies aside from studying or training, it was as good a way to spend time as any. While mysteriously managing to make a hot pot of tea on the school roof, Osu watched as the girl went round and round the building, with the excitement of her calls dying little by little. She appeared to be just a bit younger and her form suggested she was just beginning her shinobi training. Her breathing was becoming heavier and her movements had a bit more of a stumbling element to them as time went on. In the long tradition of famous last words the student mumbled barely loud enough for even Chigokai hearing to make out "I don’t care if it rains – I’m going to run till I black out.’’ Then she promptly collapsed. It was comedic and a cute honestly.

Osu could hear from her blood flow and heartbeat that she was fine if exhausted from this distance but despite her not caring about the rain, it was going to start falling at any moment and with the cold mountain winds blowing as they were she could catch a serious cold as she was, and that was something the mednin wouldn't ignore. A long crimson whip-like shape sprang from Osu's hand and picked the girl up by her waist before retracting, bringing her up to the roof. The whip rested her next to Osu and then changed shape into a large (still crimson) umbrella just before the rain did start.

"So how many did you make it to? I wasn't here when you started and only counted 15." Without being asked to Osu poured her a cup of tea and sat it in front of her face, though where this stuff was being pulled from was a bit of a mystery.

"If anything is sore I can fix you up real quick if you just tell me. Raiden knows I trained myself hard enough at the beginning that I would have fallen apart if I hadn't learned medical ninjutsu. If you want I could probably prep you for another 15 if you really don't mind the rain, though honestly you should take a break." The 12-year-old unknowing trap was mostly concerned about the student's health but was also happy to see someone working hard.

OOC: topic entered. MFT: WC 444

 

[Airiko Yuzuki]

A blonde student was feeling quite comfortable lying on the ground for few seconds, because she did become quite tired from all the running. Without any rush she just laid there thinking that she deserved a little few minute break, when she suddenly felt being lift up by her waist. A person? Yuzuki didn’t notice anyone around here while she was running. Oh, she hopes that this person isn’t a sensei or someone really important from Aurora Euroditio, because that would be just too embarrassing…While person quickly brought her to the roof she didn’t even had time to react normally only thing that she actually managed to say at that moment was some mumbling sound ‘’W-Wow..woooh…’’

Still laying on her stomach Yuzuki looked around, the view from Academy’s roof was amazing. The trees, the city that you could see there and rain only made the scenario even more calmly charming…Only when her savor from the rain started talking she turned her look on the person. "So how many did you make it to? I wasn't here when you started and only counted 15." A purple haired lad asked and Yuzuki blinked few times while examining the person. Short and fixed purple hair looked amazing with purple eyes, so she said with her chirpy voice the first thing that came into her mind ‘’You are pretty!’’ The Yuzuki made herself more comfortable and sit down in normal position and smiled.

‘’I made…Oh, I made only 27 laps’’ she said with a little disappointment but still with smile on her face. Young student took cup of tea that was placed in front of her nose before. Of course, not really understanding how that lad managed to get hot tea here. But before she could ask, purple haired hero continued talking "If anything is sore I can fix you up real quick if you just tell me. Raiden knows I trained myself hard enough at the beginning that I would have fallen apart if I hadn't learned medical ninjutsu. If you want I could probably prep you for another 15 if you really don't mind the rain, though honestly you should take a break." Yuzuki took few sips of warm tea and her eyes continued to examine a friendly shinobi while listening.

‘’Oh! You are medical ninja!? That’s awesome. Oh, and tea is really good, thank You!’’ she said while her eyes shined in excitement. It’s not like she didn’t she medical ninjas before or didn’t interact with them, it’s just she never talked to young med-nin before and honestly she just is over-excited by everything lately. Also, she is quite glad that she is on the roof and not in the puddle, because rain keeps on raining.
‘’Oh, don’t worry, I feel perfectly fine, only a little bit tired that’s all. Besides, I fell down only because of that stupid stick laying around in none of its place…Besides, I wish and I believe I can go more than 15 rounds.’’ blondie explained in much more calmer tone and took few sips of her tea. Roof wasn’t that high so Yuzuki could easily see the stick that she blamed her clumsiness on.

(WC:465)

 

[Osuteno]

Osu was surprised and a little annoyed that the girl called him pretty. "I'm not pretty, I'm a man. If anything I'm handso... never mind." Osu blushed to his ears. It was always an incredibly embarrassing thing for him to explain. It had always annoyed Osu that people often mistook him for a girl or found him pretty like one. He was a man after all. It didn't help he was completely unaware of the village wide conspiracy to trick him into thinking the women's clothing he wore was masculine.

Osu listened to the student for a bit and nodded at her lap total. "If you have only recently joined the academy 27 is actually a pretty good number. You don't start to make it into the higher double digits or the triple digits until you really start learning how to use chakra instead of your regular energy, at least not at our age."

Osu sighed but smiled as the student said she wanted to keep going. He pulled out a handkerchief that became wet, then steamed a bit in his hand and handed it to her. "If you aren't going to let me treat you, you can at least use this to get some of the dirt off your face. If you are going to run in this rain though, I will stick around and supervise a bit. Better to make sure you don't get sick now than to see you in the office later. Oh the name is Osuteno by the way, though most people simply call me Osu." Osu stood up and looked along the path the student had been running.

"The path is looking rather muddy, though I'm guessing you don't really mind... Do you need any help getting back down?" Osu was mostly asking due to them being on top of a three story pagoda with no way of getting down except for jumping to a lower tier and entering the building through a window or simply hopping all the way down. He wasn't sure about whether or not she was far enough along in her curriculum to make the jumps safely. It was mostly up to the student at this point. If she wanted to rest longer, he would encourage it. If she was fine getting down on her own he would sit back down and watch for her health. Should she need assistance getting down he would pick her up and make the leap straight for ground level. Otherwise he would sip tea and enjoy the rainy scenery while keeping an eye on the student. He wanted to help the student in a fashion she might not notice it was him doing anything as he was personally the type who would refuse help if someone offered. Since he was already using vapor ninjutsu for the slightly frivolous purpose of making tea, he might as well work on making the air around the school warmer, if a bit misty. He couldn't warm the air up too much or she wouldn't be able to see through the mist, but it would help make sure she didn't get sick.

 

[Airiko Yuzuki]

Yuzuki blinked few times as he explained that he is a man. Osu looked extremely embarrassed and so was Yuzuki by making such mistake, but instead of blushing for her stupidity she laughed. It was a rude thing to do, but sadly she couldn’t control it ‘’Hah, I’m sorry. And yeah, You’re handsome.’’ she managed to say between her laughs. Then like a normal person would do she calmed down and continued to listen him while nodding her head in obedient manner. Blonde finished her tea and placed cup aside. Yuzuki honestly was surprised how sweet and good was Osuteno. It’s not like she is disappointed in humanity or something, it’s just she doesn’t meet nice people every day like that, thought, she barely went outside till recently.
‘’ Hah, thank You. Nice too meet You, Osuteno, I’m Yuzuki.‘’ She says and smile while taking handkerchief and cleans her face. Usually, she doesn’t even bother with such little nonsenses.

‘’Actually, I would ask You to join me for some running, but Your outfit isn’t probably comfortable for such activity.’’ She says while examining him once more and still with smile on her face. Then girl starts to speak again.

‘’You don’t have to stay and look after me. I’m pretty capable of taking care of myself.’’ Yuzuki states cockily with big smile on her face. It’s not like she didn’t want any help, because she did want and she would lovely enjoy his company, but her little cockiness thought, that it is a good idea to show up now. Then girl stands up with hands on her hips and looks down from the roof they were sitting. They were sitting from the highest level of this pogoda. It was pretty obvious, because of the view around, but it didn’t ring in her head until she actually looked down. It wasn’t that high, but Yuzuki didn’t really believe that she could make that jump without hurting herself. Either she asks help now from Osuteno or she asks for his help when she gets down with crooked ankle. That was all that was needed to all her cockiness quickly go away and she turns at Osuteno with blush of embarrassment.

‘’Umh, on second hand…You said You could give me a hand with getting down…yeh?’’ she asks with much more quieter tone than she talked few mere moments ago and here eyes looking somewhere aside.

 

[Osuteno]

She laughed at him. She was honest to goodness laughing at him now that she knew he was a guy. That hurt the little bit of self confidence he had to start with. Still he powered through and made sure she cleaned up a little. He did recover a small amused look when she said expressed her belief that the clothing would be a hinderance. In most cases she would be right, but little did the student know that Osu had all of his outfits designed and adjusted with movement in mind, not to mention he had a few tricks otherwise.

Osu gave a knowing smile as the student's confident tone fell away while she took note of how far off the ground they were. "Oh this Senpai can get you back down and we can run together, and you don't need to worry about my clothes either." While still managing to hold onto his parasol, Osu scooped up the student princess style and jumped for the ground in an arch, resulting in falling a good 15 meter fall. They didn't thud when they hit the ground, instead just a soft clack from Osu's wooden geta stepping on stone. He let the Yuzuki get on her own feet. Perhaps... it might be a bit of fun to tease this student. It had been about three or four years since he left the academy but Osu still remembered how much his senpai played around with him when he was a student.

"Well Yuzuki-Chan... would you like to play a little game to make this more interesting? A regular race wouldn't be very fair... hmm... ah I know!" Osu performed two sets of hand seals. The first created a warm mist that covered the school grounds. It was about thick enough to where seeing much more than a few meters ahead was difficult. With the second set his shadow stood up, as in Osu's shadow pulled itself from the ground and became three dimensional. The outline was identical but otherwise was a pitchblack construct lacking details."Since endurance and speed aren't enough sometimes how about we train your evasion too? My shadow will give us a bit of a head start and will occasionally try and get you." Before Osu was even done explaining that much the shadowman silently disappeared into the mist. It was an effective training exercise, though Osu failed to realize how a shadow person jumping from the rain and mist and trying to grab you could be bad for one's heart but that was mostly up to Yuzuki how well she could handle it. "We should probably start running soon," Osu said cheerily right before hopping a couple steps forward and narrowly dodging a water prison the shadow tried to catch him with before it disappeared back into the mist.

"Shadows are such naughty things, trying to drown people like that," Osu said still smiling and began running along the path around the school. "... Hurry up or he might get you."

OOC: Sorry replying took so long, I've had a couple incidents and hospital visits this last week. Should be fairly regular from this point on posts lol.

 

[Airiko Yuzuki]

Yuzuki’s face was like open book: it was clear like clear page that she got even more embarrassed when Osuteno picked up her. Also, he called himself a Senpai which made the situation even more ironic. But her expression quickly changed when they landed and she got on her own feet. Young girl had a smile on her face as she was fascinated how gracefully and easily without any problem boy landed. Yuzuki could imagine that even after few year training she couldn’t be that gracefully. In any kind of situation. Besides, how he will be running in that outfit? Blonde girl had the idea that Osuteno had some kind of ‘ace’ up his sleeve.
Yuzuki was fixing her hair into more orderly ponytail when her Senpai suggestion to make everything more interesting.
''Game? Sounds great!'' she said happily and continued to listen him with puppy like look which obviously explained that she was interested and excited. She had same happy look even when a perfect shadow of Osu appeared like alive person and all ground around was covered in mist. Yuzuki rarely had problems from avoiding someone as she moved quite quickly. But when she saw water prison trying to catch Osu her inner calmness quickly left her. She didn’t expect shadowman using jutsu!

"... Hurry up or he might get you."

''..W-wait for me! Osu-Senpai!'' Girl shouted as Osuteno was already running happily. Yuzuki started moving and quickly got caught up with him. Quite uneasy smile rested on her face as she was trying to have same phase as older boy running along. Yuzuki’s eyes where quickly moving around quite more than when she was running alone. Obviously now she had two important points: First, not embarrass herself even more in front the medical-nin and second is avoid the shadowman as good as she can. Her head quickly got back into Earth when corner of her eye she spot the shadow figure. ''Okay…Now definitely something will happen.'' She thought and she was right. A wave of water appeared in front and Yuzuki couldn’t help herself as she let out a little squeak when she jumped aside from wave. The blonde girl took a deep breath . Oh boy, she was glad that it wasn’t water prison. Young student was ready to avoid anything that would come out of the mist. With that thought she avoided one more water wave that come from her left and continued running along the feminine boy.


(OOC: Oh, don't worry about that! The most important part is that You are fine now c

 

[Osuteno]

Osu's Specter Shade seemed to be enjoying itself as they ran along the path, perhaps a bit too much. It was throwing basic water jutsu at Yuzuki here and there but after the second time it tried to put a water whip noose around his neck Osu began to wonder if he had Kahako-Senpai's luck with clones. Specifically the whole doing as they wished rather than what they were supposed to do... Though technically this result could have been partially derived from the fact that the Specter Shade was barely in the clone class of jutsu and had its own... This wasn't the time for jutsu analysis actually. At least not when it started raining more heavily... Unnaturally so. It was likely his shade's doing.

"Be careful, he is going to start coming at us harder now, though so far you are doing rather well." And just like Osu said the Shade did come for them harder, specifically Osu had to sidestep a thin pressurized stream of water that easily cut a clean line in the stone path. Osu instinctively tried to counter but as he stabbed into the shade with his crimson umbrella he noticed he didn't feel any resistance at all and the image before him fell apart into drifting strings of darkness. He shouldn't have been surprised seeing as it was one of his moves but he couldn't help but think how annoying it was to be on this end of it.

Still smiling gently Osu said, "Definitely coming at us harder now. He will likely make more attempts at catching you now from a distance either by grabbing you with a whip or trapping you in a water prison. Be mindful of your surroundings and thankful he is limited to lower class shadow and water jutsu. We will see where you are at after this lap... And mind your step, tripping will give the Shade all the time he needs to get you." Yes this would be much better training for her growth than simply running laps. Keeping her at a steady pace for long distance running, having her use more muscles and focus her instincts by dodging in a low visibility environment, secretly laying low power explosive tags along the path on this last lap with power set to 'knock one on one's buttock hard' to add that last bit to the sense of danger and further test the student's awareness.

 

[Airiko Yuzuki]

This kind of running was much more exciting and fun than usually lap running. Yuzuki was really glad that Osuteno was around and helped her. Although, the refreshing rain from before become much more annoying and unpleasant. It was getting much colder but girl didn’t feel that as she was jumping and moving around from shadowman’s attacks. The shadow didn’t appear that often like his attacks but when he did he would make Yuzuki shiver as he did look creepy. Also, girl was getting a bit exhausted at this point but when Osu praised her she smiled more confidently started running more enthusiastically once again. After boy’s next words Yuzuki nod her head quickly with same smile on her face.

''Oh, no worries, Osu-Senpai! I won’t trip!'' She says loudly and confidently, although she didn’t really believe in her own words. Well at least she sounded like she did. Yuzuki was sure that after this training her reaction and instincts will be at better level. The blonde girl this great ability to react quickly but illogically which brings only more trouble. But her happy thoughts quickly flew away when Yuzuki stepped on something. And that something was explosive tag but of course the blonde girl didn’t understand that. ''W-Wah!'' she shouts and stumbled aside not expecting it and almost stumbling on her own feet. But she quickly regained her stance and continued running. Few more meters later a bigger explosion was made and this one distracted her even more. Yuzuki stopped from running for few seconds and damn she gets trapped in water prison jutsu. Luckily she managed to grab her nose and shut her mouth in right moment so water didn’t get into her lungs. With her free hand Yuzuki started to wave nervously to get Osuteno’s attention more quickly.

((MFT. Word count: 301))

 

[Osuteno]

Osuteno looked at the academy student who had managed to step on two of the tags before getting caught. That would require a bit of a lecture here in a bit. He released the Shade jutsu which in turn released the water prison then helped Yuzuki get to her feet. "Alright that is enough for now. Time to go get you someplace warm and get you less soaked. After that we can discuss improvements." He would normally take someone to the hotsprings but he needed to discuss her performance with her and wasn't sure how well she could handle the mixed baths. People seemed to be more shy these days. There was a sauna nearby, not perfect, but it would serve well enough.

Like a proportionally unusual number of shops in the area, it was an obaa-san who ran the front counter. Osu asked if they could borrow a washer and dryer for Yuzuki's clothes, while he left care of his kimono to the old woman as it was mostly dry thanks to his crimson umbrella, which was nowhere to be seen now. A bit later Osu was tossing a bit of water onto the rocks and getting a good steam going while waiting on Yuzuki. Now that he was wearing only a towel at his waist it would be much more believable that he was male to people. Even though he was only twelve he had the faint beginnings of a lean yet strong build from more than four years of training, though as thin as his frame was he would probably never build bulk even as an adult. Other things of note were that, while he had only a few scars, they were rather large. Two large burn scars on his lower chest and the back of his shoulder, his left leg at some point looked like it had been eviscerated and magically put back together, and a small number of what a more familiar person would recognize as gunshot wounds here and there though most of those were treated quickly and properly so they were fading with time along with the other small nicks and scrapes that didn't warrant mentioning.

Osu didn't look it but he had an impressive shinobi career, from a number of C-Rank and a couple B-rank missions, to pirate hunting in the seas of Moon Country, being one of the youngest ever to be raised to the rank of Mednin, and even having completed an S-Rank mission. All that of course left its scars. Too many times he had been at death's door and he had enough trauma to justify the occasional session of counseling he had and a lot more. That is why he was going to scold this student a bit when she came in.

Osu aimed a stern frown at Yuzuki when she entered that meant what he was about to say was serious. "Yuzuki-Chan, for the most part you did very well. Though it should be noted the Shade wasn't going all out, you did a fine job evading its attacks despite the conditions. That said, you performance in our last lap was very disappointing." Osu held up what appeared to be a sort of talisman at first glance. "This is called an explosive note. Their charge can be adjusted based on how much chakra you put into them, and the ones I laid on the course were at bare minimum. I don't fault you much for stepping on the first as you are still a beginner. However after stepping on the first you didn't become any more cautious and quickly stepped on a second, allowing yourself to be caught while you recovered. You should also know that as you are right now one or two of these notes at full blast would certainly kill you. If that had been actual combat that bit of carelessness at the end would have been the end." His face eased up back into a small gentle smile, "But that is why we train and have students learn these things while they are still in the academy. Now that the serious bit is done, I was pretty careful not to hurt you but I just want to make sure you are alright. You probably haven't had a workout like that before either."

 

[Airiko Yuzuki]

First thing she did when she was let free of course was catching her breath. Yuzuki bowed her head almost hiding her face from Osuteno. She was really disappointed in herself and embarrassed. Her carelessness always brings trouble into her life. ‘’Thank you…’’ She said while still catching her breath as she was a bit shaken by situation that just happen. Then quietly and obediently she followed the elder boy. For a person who lives all his life in this region being soaked in rain, so she didn’t whine or say anything. Yuzuki got the feeling she is going to be scold or at least she will hear some kind of lecture about her being so hopeless. At least, they were going to sauna and that was quite cheering her up.

There she followed an elder lady to changing room where Yuzuki had a chance to leave her clothes to dry and was rolled up into big warm towel. Almost without getting lost around she made her way into sauna. Finally it was warm and nice and she felt much better than before. Quietly sitting down Yuzuki examined Osu. He didn’t look feminine at all now and all his different scars probably had long interesting stories which she would love to hear someday if Osuteno would actually tell them. Maybe one day she will have bruises that will have intriguing stories. Now her burn scar on left hand was a real joke compared to Osuteno’s big scars. When she saw Osu’s frown her eyes blue widen and she gave awkward smile while listening. At some point the smile was gone as she was listening the boy talk. Yuzuki understood everything he said and she understood it was just another lesson she needs to learn. She was really thankful that he helped her train today, but she was really disappointed in herself. At least, Yuzuki finally understood what her weak points are. Inside in her head she made herself a promise to train even more now in her free time.

''I think carelessness is my biggest flaw…But I think after some time and more training with people I will lose it. Well, I hope at least.'' Yuzuki says and smiles when sees his look ease up. ''Heh, I’m fine! It’s just…Only now I see how much space I have for improvement and how many things I need to learn…Oh, by the way, I never had such impressive workout! It was really exciting!'' She giggles and makes a little pause before continuing talking. ''Actually, it’s my first time training with someone else! I’m really thankful that you spend this time to help me train, Osu-Senpai!''

 

[Osuteno]

Osu nodded in the face of Yuzuki's enthusiasm. "It was really no trouble, but you are welcome. Running laps is a good starting point but it is important that your training steps up quickly from there. Shinobi are strong because we have two types of energies that we train to their limits. The ordinary physical sort everyone is familiar with that you were training by running and dodging a bit ago, and then we have spiritual energy, which is the energy derived from our sense of selfhood, our ability to experience, and the active thought with which we use to control our bodies and desires, which we train through experience, study and meditation, though a good number of our comrades admittedly don't train their spiritual energy as well as they should. Our uniqueness from other types of warriors is our ability to meld these two energies into a special sort of stamina known as chakra, which is used to guide or coerce the energies of nature and to bend natural laws, including those of our own bodies."

Osu demonstrated by molding vapor chakra into his hands and shaping a patch of steam into a yin-yang symbol by filling in one part of the circle and leaving a hole and simply outlining the other half and leaving a small patch, as well as pushing the rest of the steam away from the image to make it more distinct. It also served well as a representation of two very different forces coming together to create something when balanced, but now wasn't the time to go in depth about the frustratingly difficult explanation of yin and yang chakras. The farthest he would go, and only if asked, would be brief explanation of the five base elements, non-elemental techniques, and possibly a quick step into advanced elements. To go much farther into how advanced elements worked beyond the barebones summary of "you mix two elements" would take a couple hours and one could make a series of courses over yin-yang energies and still have difficulty reaching some true understanding. Goodness there was a good bit he wasn't quite sure about beyond base theories. He didn't use them personally, most people don't in any true application aside from some who possess particular kinjutsu and those few who have talents in such areas naturally, but he had still taken the time to go over the philosophies and studies and the subject... Osuteno realized his mind was wandering but kept a mental note for later about possibly holding a class to teach about the nature of chakra itself.

He had been quiet for a good bit without meaning to and suddenly clear his throat and got back into it. "After you really start training with chakra you'll find that your mind and body will become stronger at their base levels. You'll become faster, more perceptive, stronger overall than what non-chakra users are capable of, particularly in the areas we specialize in as individuals... On that note have you thought much about what exactly you wish to pursue as a shinobi? Or might still be too early to tell if you have talents leaning down one path or another?" Perhaps he should give Yuzuki his old training regimen from his academy days? At least the parts that were safe to do on one's own... Hmm for a medic Osu had always done a terrible job in making sure he didn't push himself too far in his training. His sense of self-preservation seemed rather weak from that perspective which would explain a bit why he got injured so often on missions.

OOC: Sorry about the wait. Been rather busy at my new workplace, very irregular hours. MFT WC: 602

 

[Airiko Yuzuki]

She listened patiently and calmly. Usually she dislikes listening theory in class and is big fan to skip some of them sometimes. But there was something about Osuteno that made her focus on him. He would make quite an interesting teacher that easily distracted kids could listen to besides from fact that he is about few years older. When the purple haired boy talked about spiritual energy Yuzuki had to face the fact that it’s probably the hardest thing to her. The young girl is full of energy and enthusiasm but she is really awful at controlling her emotions or concentrating her thoughts or energy. Although, she is a bit better now. Her eyes followed his hands as they created ying-yang from stream. Her head isn’t that empty so she did understand that Osuteno is using mix of fire and water elements.

When Osu asked the question about ideas of the path she would like to choose Yuzuki need only few seconds before answering. ’’I’m thinking about ANBU!’’ She chirps out with smile and continues to talk. ‘’I mean, I have will and desire to work for my country, but also I want to be send to other places and see how other countries look like. Besides, I think I am good team player.’’ The young girl chuckles and claps her hand while imagining what kind of interesting life she could have if everything will go according her plan. But then few questions pop to her mind and she asks curiously.

‘’Oh, Osu-Senpai! When and how did you decide what path to take? I think being medical ninja is hard and not everyone has talent for that. Also, I heard you need to study a looot. So, how did you make your choice?’’


((OOC: Ai yaaah, I understand. Actually, I'm pretty short on time too lately :/ so if I answer really late, I'm sorry too))

 

[Osuteno]

Whenever most people discussed ANBU, particularly younger shinobi, what came to mind was the picture of elites and a certain romanticism around the idea of tossing aside one's identity in order to serve the village. Osu had never, even as a younger child, thought of the ANBU Corps in such a fashion. He respected them, but more than that he pitied them. If they died it would be as a nameless corpse, should there even be a body left. And ANBU were expected to die. Such was the nature and difficulty of their missions. His own experiences involving ANBU only increased the sense of pity he felt for them, having discovered the murder and performed the autopsy for the previous sennin and being acquainted with the current, not to mention that he himself was in consideration for becoming a Sentou Henkan, the Med branch ANBU support. The shinobi of ANBU had become part of the list of those Osu would support from the background, far from any spotlight. Guiding and protecting people was best accomplished when there was no sign he had ever been involved outside of his capacity as a healer. It was his method for serving the village. Actually he found it funny that this student had instead chose the phrase to serve her country. How many years from now would she find herself in a position where there was a distinct difference in the 'good of the country' vs the 'good of the village.' Hopefully this Yuzuki wouldn't have to learn the difference, doing so had nearly killed Osu a few times.

"Hmm ANBU is an interesting choice. Though the travel and teamwork parts are more suited for the Main Branch, becoming an ANBU is a very respectable path." It was unlike him not to expect her to return the question though. It only made sense that she would. It had been quite some time since he thought about it though.

"How I came about becoming a Medical Shinobi... I suppose it was soon after I started using chakra... There were some circumstances at the time. Back then I was simply an orphan, never met or knew a thing about my parents, but was gifted enough to start training at the academy as soon as I was old enough. What i didn't know then that I do now is that I am strongly gifted with the Chigokai bloodline. I couldn't very well tell people I can hear blood and sometimes bleed from my eyes as I thought i might be some kind of demon. More specifically I have a rare trait even for a Chigokai. I am capable of hearing blood oxidize, more specifically when people bleed I can hear... a Noise. A horribly beautiful sound which triggers the pleasure sensors in my brain... as if I were on something like Euphorium if you are familiar with poisons. I didn't know anything about rare genetic conditions or the like then. All I was sure of was that I was a disgusting and evil thing that became overjoyed with the sound of people spilling blood. Just some monster. Well one day while watching some older shinobi train together one through some kunai and cut his opponent with one of them. It became embedded in a tree that was near me and I thought things to myself like 'This man wastes his blood' and 'This blood belongs to me so how dare he spill it.' It is really hard to describe just how powerful the Noise is to people who can't hear it, even other Chigokai, but it will make you think things like that. Anyway I found myself holding the kunai and walking up behind the man who was bleeding thinking 'I should just take all of it, it belongs to me anyway.' However when I was right behind him I dropped the blade to the ground and began cleaning and bandaging his wound despite him saying he was fine. He might have been, but I wasn't. I realized that unless I learned to do something about it I would actually hurt people. So I learned how to heal people. Before I was even out of the academy I was using low level healing jutsu out of necessity and turned out to be really good at medicine so they scouted and tested me before I was even nine. I did eventually learn it was my bloodline acting up and was even adopted into one of the primary branches of the clan after they learned just how... 'attuned' I was to the bloodline, but it took me years before I began developing some small sense of control over my urges. Some people believe I am selfless or studious with how much I have devoted myself to medicine or strong and talented in how i have developed as a shinobi. In reality I am selfish and weak. I am afraid by how much I enjoy the sound of blood being drained from a person so I have worked in order to make sure I can heal a person or finish them as quickly as possible before I am overwhelmed." Osu realized he had been speaking about something unpleasant for quite a bit.

"I apologize. That wasn't a very... It isn't a story people enjoy hearing. I haven't thought about it in a while so it just spilled out as I was thinking." Ah he had messed up. You don't just tell people you have a genetic predisposition for murder, shinobi or not. It was beginning to feel painfully awkward for him so Osu stood up to leave. "It is about time for me to be going. I have a few more things I need to do today," Osu lied. In his mind Osu was apologizing for making himself an uncomfortable existence. The best thing for it was to not bother this student with his presence if he could help it. "Anyway keep up the hard work with your training. Should you want to avio... I mean if you are in need of assistance 75% of the time I can be found in the hospital or training deep in the forest."

Unless Yuzuki stopped him, Osu would be quickly leaving the sauna to retrieve his clothes and depart for the hot springs to finish his day off alone.

[Topic Left Unless Stopped. MFT WC 1057]

 

[Airiko Yuzuki]

Yuzuki listened Osuteno with eyes wide open and having quite shocked expression. It was unusual for the young girl stay quiet for such long time but she kept her mouth shut and just listened. It was so confusing and shocking listening to older boy’s story. She had learned about Chigokai some little information when she was reading book about Lighting Country bloodlines when she was looking more information about Santaru. Not going to lie, she was a bit frightened when she first read about this mysterious clan and their abilities. But hearing what the boy actually felt was just… Insane. She just couldn’t imagine anything like that. For few seconds her mind was filled with such different thoughts and feelings that she looked like she was not in this world emptily staring at the Osu.

"It is about time for me to be going. I have a few more things I need to do today,"

Yuzuki quickly snaps out and jumps up from her place. It was logical that little girl was confused as she never had big tragedy in her life or any traumatic event. She got so many different feelings right now… Starting from being terrified, feeling pity and ending up with some kind of understanding and appreciation. But for one she clearly knew that she wanted to know more about Osuteno as she never met someone that complicated and interesting in her short life. Yuzuki quickly grabs his hand and unconsciously sends a little electric vibe trough his body. Frequently when she gets emotional it is normal thing to happen as her abilities of Santaru only started to show up.

‘’W-Wait! Don’t go! I mean, j-just wait a second!’’ She starts talking quickly and worriedly while trying looking straight him in the eyes. ‘’I just wanted to say t-that it’s pretty amazing and crazy of what you are capable of!’’ Oh, here we go again. She is starting to say first things that come to her mind. ‘’I think a simple person would go crazy if he could hear sound of the blood or have blood run through his eyes time from time. But- but….But the amazing part is that you can control your urges! That you are medical ninja! I mean working with blood all the time and controlling your feelings should be really tough. Especially, when you didn’t have nobody actually to help you or fully understand for such long time. And you are not weak! You are far away from that! I think you are such strong person with such amazing mind-will it is…It is simply amazing!’’

Then young girl realizes that through all her confusing and probably weird mumbling she was holding his hand awkwardly. Although, she hoped that her speech did make Osu better. She lets his hand go and bows down her head in polite manner and starts talking much calmer now.
‘’Anyway if you really need to go then go…But if you can stay a little bit longer here and tell me more about shinobi branches or something about your adventures outside the village, I bet you had ton of those…I would be really glad.’’

 

[Osuteno]

As the girl grabbed his hand Osu felt some sort of jolt or... something move through him. "Huh?" That wasn't a static shock was it? It felt different... No wait first what was this girl saying? She was looking him dead in the eyes asking him not to go then suddenly started saying really embarrassing things about him being amazing. Actually she seemed to be shouting it, that he was strong and had strength of will. That sort of embarrassing thing... Osu had turned scarlet. What story was she just listening to just now? Surely a different one than the one he told. Yuzuki suddenly seemed to become self-conscious and let go of his hand. But now she was suddenly directing a bow towards him. She would be glad if he stayed and told her more stories and taught her more?

Osu looked behind himself towards the entrance and made sure the only heartbeat he heard outside was at the front desk before turning around and facing Yuzuki again. This sort of thing could have been misunderstood if one didn't know any better. Still, students these days are incredibly forward. He was suddenly reminded of Saeko Onee-San that one time she... No, no, no. He shook the memory from his mind. This was nothing like that and this innocent girl would say no such thing to him. It only began in a similar fashion was all, he thought glancing towards the girl's toweled state... Nope. Stop. Wanted: More responsible role models. That aside...

Though now he had a completely different reason for wanting to run away, Osu didn't think he could without hurting this girl's feelings. Apparently he hadn't made her uncomfortable with his story, seemed to be the opposite. No wait he remembered a phrase about men being unable to question their own popularity. This had to be that. After all they had only known eachother for less than a couple hours. Okay this was starting to feel easier to handle, he just needed to work on making this scene less likely to be misunderstood from an outside perspective.

"Ah no. please there is no need to bow," Osu said and initially moved his hands to grab the girl's shoulders and straighten her back up but immediately reconsidered the action and put his hands back to his sides. "I thought I might have made you uncomfortable with that story, I don't actually need to go anywhere. Here, let's just sit back down."

Sighing a little internally as he sat, Osu looked at the student. A story... was it? Or a lecture about the branches? Two rather different things there. Perhaps it would be best to mix a bit of both in. "Well as you are more than likely aware, there are three branches to our military. The ANBU Branch is called upon mostly for handling shinobi threats and rarely work outside of that field though it can take the form of things like missing nin hunting teams to the Raikage guard. As a matter of necessity they are a rather isolated branch and its members keep their identities secret from those outside the branch. The medical branch is in charge of village health as a whole, shinobi and civilian and we serve as auxiliary members for teams on high risk or long term missions. While on missions our duties include not only maintaining the team's health in and out of combat, but also recovering or destroying particular elements of our village's combat potential... By that I mean bloodline or kinjutsu related pieces. The medical research wing is greatly dedicated in the use of these techniques to strengthen our village's shinobi. Now while on a rare occasion a medical shinobi will be dispatched alone should the nature of the mission lean that way, the vast majority of missions are handled by the Main Branch. Everything I haven't mentioned is more than likely handled by the Main Branch. As I mentioned a minute ago, a majority of my own missions involved supporting Main Branchers." He thought about the Main Branch members he knew from the circus performers, to the man eater, to the yakuza daughter, to the many drunks. "They are... probably the most diverse and eccentric bunch as well... Very free spirited. In comparison I would say that Med Branchers are more... we have a lot of what people call workaholics but we typically are a bit obsessed with our projects. ANBU are, those I have encountered... it's rather hard to describe... a bit resigned? Mhmm.. not quite... though I can't say I have met enough to be able to fairly make a broad statement about them."

Osu fell silent in thought for a few seconds. He should probably move onto a story but which one? A few of his missions, the more important ones, had too much he wasn't allowed to speak of for a coherent story. Others had details he didn't really want to think about, much less share, which wasn't to mention events for which the mission records held no hint of... He had a surprising number of secrets now that he thought about it. Well... He didn't have to tell about a mission particularly, she had specified an adventure outside the village. But...

"If you want I can tell you about a time I have left the village but... the only stories I have are either uneventful like visiting the beach in Wind country or delivering medicine to a remote mountain village..." Okay it was a lie that the mountain village fiasco was uneventful but he wouldn't tell a soul what actually happened there. "And the rest of my stories all involve..." Osu ran his fingers through his hair. "When I leave those gates it is like violence is drawn to me. I am not talking exclusively about missions either. Once I left the village and it was just supposed to be a quiet adventure to Moon Country with a friend to look for rumors of a legendary creature. What we found were pirates. They weren't soldiers or chakra trained or anything, just thieves with guns and swords. I had to kill most of the crew before what remained jumped overboard preferring to take their chances with the sea than be taken prisoner. Nothing hits so hard as seeing people who look at you while expressing true fear. Not a few hours later, another pirate ship. I tried to simply pay them to leave but things didn't go that smoothly and it turned out they had been subjects in illegal and dangerous surgeries to implant bloodline-like abilities. Again I kill most of the crew and left the few survivors to sink with their ship trying to investigate. I wouldn't worry much about leaving the village yourself though, I seem to be the only one who attracts this kind of trouble." That was the part he was jealous of. Plenty of others managed to leave the village and have fun adventures. When he left the village it was never enjoyable as trouble of the worst sorts, from political conspiracies to slavers, always managed to find him. Thinking about it put a tired expression on Osu's face that didn't belong to a twelve year old kid. Thankfully most of his duties these days took place in the hospital, particularly now he was a full mednin, so he hadn't left the village in almost a year.

 

[Airiko Yuzuki]

Maybe it was kind of odd that Yuzuki had such interest in him after few hours just meeting him but doesn’t it always happen so for her? She meets a person and permanently she thinks that they can be friends and it doesn’t matter if he is two years older or seven years than her. Anyway, Osuteno is staying and he was honest about not having anything to do just wanted to leave because of his told story. Yuzuki smiles happily and sits next to him listening.
While listening him talk about the branches it seemed from his words that free spirited Main Branch would be much more suited for Yuzuki. But for some reason she still was interested in ANBU branch as they always seemed stronger and had a lot of confidence in themselves and in what they are doing. Is not like she knew any ANBU shinobi personally… Another thing that made her thinking was that Osuteno looked like a person that knows a lot and survived a lot. Is it possible that Yuzuki be like that too in a few years? She does train a lot but she isn’t workaholic… But who knows.

The story about pirates once again made Yuzuki look kind of shocked. The boy sounded like the story about pirates wasn’t the worst situation that he encountered. She never actually left the village so she doesn’t really know what is happening in other countries but from stories of her grandparents everything was exciting and interesting. Hell, the story about pirates sounded excited. Well maybe except about the part looking into weak men’s look when killing them.
''I… I never encountered anything dangerous like that. I mean, I get into different trouble there and there around the village but…But I wish I could go somewhere and experience such…Such dangerous adventures! I think it’s exciting and just make you live to the fullest! My mother is always away somewhere. When she gets home which happens really rarely she doesn’t really tell what happen and she does look like she went through big messes but she is still happy about it. She still continues to leave and go to different places and encounter different things… I hope one day I can tell someone something amazing like pirates doing illegal things.''One thing that Yuzuki didn’t realize that she is looking at everything with pink glasses on. That world isn’t so fun like she thinks it is.

Also, she suddenly felt urge to apologize Osu for making him tell her all this stuff. ''I hope that you don’t mind telling me such stories. I’m sorry if I made you feel that you must tell me something…'' She tries to apologize pretty awkwardly and scratches back of her neck.

 

[Osuteno]

Osu smiled a rather strained smile as the student said she wished to go experience 'such dangerous adventures.' He was wishing she never had to do anything more exciting than an eventless bodyguard mission or maybe a collection mission. More than likely however she would have to face her first life or death situation in the next few years. Osu wondered how much the mother worried behind this daughter's back.

After an odd apology from the girl Osu shook his head. "Don't worry about it," he said simply. It wasn't as if he wanted to scare the girl off from being a shinobi but at the same time he couldn't help but worry that her attitude was a bit too careless... "I am mostly worried about how optimistic you seem to be about danger. Though it will be a long time before you will be doing anything more dangerous on your own than trying to catch... a... cat..."

Osu suddenly grabbed the girl's shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes. "Listen to me and listen to me carefully because this could mean life or death for you. Clients will lie whenever and however it suits them, nobles more than any of them. They will say straight to a nine year old's face that there lost black and orange cat is injured and lost when the truth is that there is a tiger loose in a residential area and you have to wrestle it down without injuring it or backup because there are civilians involved. Others will tell the government that you have gone rogue and have you hunted down by ANBU to be killed in an effort to cover up their petty scandals. If you ever doubt the client's word you force the truth out of them or appeal to your higher ups to look more into the mission. We can't directly refuse a mission we have been assigned without solid proof of the client's wrongdoing and even then it would be difficult to back out, but never willingly go into a situation blind." HIs face had come progressively closer and the look in his eyes more serious as he spoke. At this point his forehead would almost be touching Yuzuki's.

"If you understand I want you to nod once and say 'Hai!' clearly." After getting some sort of confirmation from her Osu would sit back with a weary and exhausted look as he thought back on how ridiculous even supposedly simple missions could become. Had he ever been optimistic towards shinobi work? He vaguely remembered not possessing these feelings of worry or dread that now followed him in his work outside the hospital but he couldn't quite remember ever being able to express as much positiveness as the student beside him. Rather he had to practice making facial expressions at one point didn't he?

Osu splashed a bit more water on the rocks and increased the amount of steam. He was getting a good sweat going and he felt his blood pressure relaxing as he did. He placed a second cloth that was soaking in cool water over his face and continued to lean back. It was a very old manish act for such a young and girlish child. While speaking through the cloth Osu began again, "Your first two goals in any situation are to live and to gather information in that order. Nothing else matters. Be it assassins, self guiding puppet warriors, tigers, vampires, pirates, or a bunch of Tenouzans looking for a 'witch' to burn at the stake there are a lot of strange things in this world that will kill you if you don't evade them, conceal yourself, and learn before making your own strike. There are people who will say that you simply need to power through all your obstacles but they are generally stupidly strong to start with or fools. That said you will meet lots of opponents who are stronger, faster and more experienced than you in our line of work. Simply keep in mind that winning or losing battles don't matter as much as surviving them. I have lost nearly every fight I have ever had with true enemy chakra users but still managed to complete my objectives and live, sometimes out of pure dumb luck admittedly, but never without some form of forethought. Some people call that trait tenacity but it has nothing to do with how strong your willpower or will to live or whatever is. It's all about knowing which risks have the greatest chance for payoffs. It is a skill I use when determining which treatments to give my patients or breaking an ally into a maximum security prison. If you really want to be an ANBU in particular or even just make it to Chuunin you will need to prepare yourself for situations where the wrong call will get you or a teammate killed or worse. And if you want to make it past that... Well that is a bridge you are a long way off from dealing with so focus on training your mind for now."

It was a bridge Osu was finding himself nearing all too quickly. Too many people were expecting too much of him and more and more pressure was being laid upon him despite his young age. The Jounin rank, or Medical Chief for him, wasn't very far off for him at all despite all his attempts to delay it. In the next couple years he would very likely be forced to step up and he would find himself having to make decisions not for survival, but what... or who... to sacrifice in order to protect the village and complete their duties. "Honestly though if you are in need of help or advice, while I don't have much experience, feel free to call on me. When I am not with patients or in the labs, the door to my office at the hospital is almost always open though you might need to get the front desk to page me... How are you handling the steam by the way? Make sure you don't force yourself too much. We can always leave and keep talking if you feel you might get sick. Though I can't imagine it is very fun to listen to the lectures of someone barely any older than you. I'm only 12 and you're what? 10? 11? Kids like us would normally be playing... I actually don't really know... House or shinobi or some other type of make believe?" It was actually a question Osu wasn't too sure about, which was bad. What if he needed to pretend to be a normal kid while on a mission?

OOC: MFT 1118

 

[Airiko Yuzuki]

The young girl opened her mouth and was about object what the boy said and convince that she can handle everything but he suddenly grabbed her shoulders and now the space with them was much more smaller. Yuzuki looks him in the eyes rather seriously and listenes. Does she look that reckless and irresposinble that she got another lecture? More likely it‘s all because of their diffrence in experience and life. All her toughts got a bit distracted as she realized how close she is too older boy. Her cheecks flash in red color in embarrassment...Or maybe because it was getting hot in the sauna and Yuzuki isn‘t consisten visitor of them.

''Hai!'' She repeats loudly and firmly. Normally that kind of speech would be repulsive to some kind of another kid but not to Yuzuki. For some kind of reason she felt even more fired up becoming epic adventurer like her mother. Yuzuki makes her way to bowl of cool water and puts her hands into it. The water was really cold but it was much better than feeling boiled. As Osuteno continues to talk she turns around and listens to him. Although, the young girl is carless and unobservant she understands the risks of being shinobi. Of being the person that can be used in the battlefield like a simple bait. She understands and is willing to take it. On other hand, she is lacking experience and she doesn’t really know how she will react when real danger comes but she does believe that won’t chicken out.

''But isn’t it the way of shinobi life? I mean, encountering unknown danger and dealing with it the best way you can? The way you see it?'' She starts to talk while still thinking and rubbing back of her neck. '' The world is huge and it’s full of different people that see everything differently! Something that seems unfair and awful to me can be pretty normal to others. Everybody does something because they think it’s the right way…And it’s exciting! I mean encountering different people and making it out your own way doing your own thinking, dealing with something awful because you want to make a world a bit better from your point of view… It’s probably like some kind of blabber. I’ m not good in explaining what I think.'' She finishes and chuckles.

When the purple haired boy asked her how she is dealing with steam she waved her hand easily. ''I’m fineee!'' Yuzuki says cheerfully and once more puts her hands in the water. ‘’Maybe if you will have some free time we could train again? I mean, it was super fun and interesting…I joined Academy not so long ago, so everything that is happening in class it’s mostly theory. Oh, yeah, I’m ten, heh.'' The next thing that the boy said surprised her a bit. Although, it wasn’t that surprising if taking into consideration the story he told about blood lust that he has. She stand ups and puts her hands on hips. ''You serious? You really didn’t have any time to play around in your life? Even when you were six? I mean, you had to play simple games like tag or Mist Shinobi*. I was playing with other kids till I started winning every game every time.''


*It’s just hide and seek with fancy name

(MFT)

 

[Osuteno]

Such optimism! It was blinding! Or it might have been if we could spring for it in the special effects budget. The reason we have so many slice of life threads is to ease the monetary burden after all.

Osu was balanced between sighing or encouraging the academy student for a few moments before choosing the latter. "Hai hai, have fun learning about all the sorts in this world." Well actually maybe not all sorts but he was done preaching caution for now.

"Oh as for training... I would say anytime but honestly I do have my hands full with my own work a lot of the time, not to mention my own training. Even when I socialize I am usually doing paperwork. I have about two half free days in a two week period unless I schedule ahead of time... Maybe I really should start teaching classes, though then I would also have to make time for lesson plans..." The thought drifted back and forth in his mind as they moved on to games.

"When I was about four I received my first real toy that wasn't a plush from some lady I can't really remember. It was also the first time I managed to leave the orphanage without the caretakers noticing if I remember correctly. Anyway the toy was a little wooden kunai and she told me the proper way to play with it was to tag someone's back without them noticing you. I think I was five when I met the same woman again and she taught me how to get on rooftops and follow cat paths before telling me to start trying my game at a tea shop where shinobi frequented, though it wasn't until I was seven that I finally managed to catch a chuunin off guard... I suppose those weren't really games but they were the only ones I had ever played aside from things like shogi or go... Actually now I am thinking about it, it feels rather terrible of me not to really remember the woman who taught me my first training exercises. It was likely due to those that they pulled me out of the orphanage and stuck me in the academy as soon as I turned eight."

... Actually who teaches a five year old how to run around on rooftops? He had honestly caused the caretakers a lot of worry.

That aside, "I guess in my own way I played tag and Mist Shinobi though in a rather one sided fashion. Never played much with kids my own age either... Well I suppose today counts for that." He offered a small smile at the last point. Really everyone he really knew and spent any real amount of time with were at the least a few years older than him... Well except Hisako but she was an android so she doesn't really count as a two year old... Her birthday should be coming up soon... No not the time for that.

"Classes aside, maybe I should start spending time with kids our age... Though outside of training I probably am not very fun. I like reading at tea shops, hot springs, saunas... Camping? No even that I do in a way it is honestly training... Is that it? How old did I say I was again?" He finished with a half joke.

Ah it might have been worse than he thought. He apparently didn't have any youth left. Had he ever had any youth? "Perhaps... it would be best to let other kids take the lead in that regard... Yuzuki-Chan do you know many kids our age? Do you socialize much?" Are you eating your vegetables? Have you cleaned your room? Honestly could he even remotely sound like he had some youth?