Tools & Tactics [Open]

[Megumi Tanigawa]

Laying out separate bags filled with ninja wire to flash bombs, Megumi looked around the training field that the evening sky covered in an orange glaze. Luckily for her around this time no one tends to be around at this time of the day. Most people she knew would be having dinner with their families around this time. As Megumi would think on other, she thought about her grandfather and how he must be lonely at home. Feeling a little guilty for not being around as much as she used to be due to her work and schooling.

Shaking off the negative thoughts as she had to focus on her training, if she was not prepared she could seriously hurt herself or not be ready for when it comes time to fight. Pulling out her puppets she would tie some ninja wire onto two her attack and support. Focusing her chakra she would send out string and thread through the two. Sending them at the tree trunk, she would have them move to separate sides and catch the target with the wire. Making them wrapped the wire around the target binding it, She would pull out a kunai with a fake paper bomb attached to it. Throwing the kunai at the target, the bindings would increase the chance of a hit.

Megumi would try a multitude of other out of the box tactics that she wanted to try, from having her defensive puppet throw her in the air, to give her a bird's eye view while she rained down projectiles. To using the puppets to block her opponent's vision while she performed hand sighs and readys bombs. Another one of her ideas was to use the puppet as a distraction and follow up their charge with projectiles and move them out of the way at the last moment.

Flopping down on the grass, she would look over at the weapon and wire riddled trunk that was here practise partner. While it was always good to sharpen her skills in her control of her puppets and her aim. Her tactics are still untested as a real combat is the deciding factor in the effectiveness of anyone’s ability. Sitting up and taking out some water to drink, she learned on Ibuki and pondered on new ways to think out of the box and catch her foes off guard. She would have to up her game as many of her classmates outpaced her in natural ability. Therefore she will have to think of ways to outsmart and counter their talent.

 

[Gushiken Yama]

Yama spent much of his time in the training fields, in order to better hone his skills as a future full fledged ninja. He had fallen into a natural habitual pattern of spending his time at the Academy, then either going home and taking very long naps or going to the training fields and staying on the outskirts to take a nap outside, or to work on his various jutsu. The boy had gotten much more of a knack for the shinobi arts after giving more dedication to it. But he also was getting a lot more lax after spending a day or two on the weekend training with the Nara's to hone his natural bloodline. The boy's life felt like a paradox. Trying to balance two different personalities but sticking true to his inner moralities. What a hassle... On this particular day the boy was wearing a brown vest with short loose khakis and a black undershirt. His hair was being kept out of his face with a hair tye, giving him a small ponytail that hung from the back. He hadn't brought a lot of gear because his plan was to sit and meditate and work harder on focusing the chakra that spilled through the network within his mind, which was the source of all Genjutsu techniques. The sun was starting to set so the ground was covered in a brilliant orange glow and gave off a very relaxing tone. Walking calmly through the training fields, the boy's mind was totally at ease until he heard a peculiar sound coming from his left.

Curious, he made his way over to where the noises were coming from and came upon a scene that he was unprepared for. The girl with the puppets... Yama had heard a few things about her in passing at the Academy, but he hadn't ever had a chance to meet her. He stood there for a few moments with an amazed look in his eye as he watched her employ her puppets in various movements, his best guess was that she was applying herself to different strategies. He noticed that she had a knack for using many different types of shinobi tools with somewhat ease. She was the first puppeteer nin that he had ever seen so it only made sense, but even still watching it in action was definitely a sight to behold. After some time, the young girl sat down on the ground rather forcefully and leaned on one of her puppets. The boy noticed that she had three of them with her, from his studies he knew that the more chakra strings you had attached to the puppet, the better you could control it. Was she really using three of them?

Finally he decided to speak up, "Oh.. You're quite good!" his tone was very shy but had a sense of admiration to it. "My name is Yama. I've heard of you but I've never caught your name. What a fascinating ninja art you have!" With this he would crack a small smile and then take a few steps towards the girl. "It's getting pretty late, I have some pretzels in my bag if you're hungry. Or if you want someone to train with I have a few hours left before I have to go home. I was coming out here to hone my mind a little bit, but this is a sign if I ever saw one." After saying this, he would fall silent and wait patiently for a response.

 

[Megumi Tanigawa]

Hearing a shy voice echo from her side, Megumi lazily peered over to see a tall lanky boy with baggy pants and a black undershirt. His face was rather bland, the only thing that stuck out was his lack of pigmentation, mostly due to the same reason as herself and his grey eyes. They weren't the eyes of Hyuga, but they did hold a spark of intelligence.

Wiping off the sweat across her brow as she responded to her new audience, with a relaxed tone. “ Not really i still have a long way to go and these trunks are not really good at being real targets. Though you should be careful when you spy on others, we ninja are not the type to take kindly to others knowing are abilities”. Laying back down and losing sight of the boy amongst the group of puppets. “ Just a friendly warning from a fellow leaf”.

Hearing him inch closes, Megumi leaned her head forward to look at the boy now standing before her. He would only introduce himself by his first name, and ask for hers. Megumi took note of him mentioning that he knew of her from the others at school. Cracking a smile at his words. “ What are we back in the old days where we only told each other are first names to avoid having to kill each other”. Sitting back up and looking at him with interest. “ I’m surprised that i’m even the subject of a conversation, i doubt anything they have said was correct or nice”. Megumi would let out a chuckle as she continued to speak. “ But let my answer you question, I am Tanigawa Megumi, nice to meet you”. Megumi give a slight nod as she introduced herself.

Hearing his offer of food was greatly appreciated. Raising her hand, and moving her fingers rhythmically she would have Akemi mimic the movements of a human and walk over and take a few pretzels from the bag and walk back over to Megumi. “ Thanks”. She would snack on the pretzels as Yama would offer to train with her. Finishing her snack she would look at the unarmed and poorly under prepared boy. “ If you're interested i’ll take you up on you offer, i have plenty of tool over by the targets if you need anything”. Leaning forward and threading her puppets, but looking at him with a cutesy face and a tone to match. “ You're going to fight against a girl how has tried herself from training and you no my moves, not very nice picking on a girl like that”.

 

[Gushiken Yama]

Yama put his hands in his pockets, and his gaze shifted ever so slightly towards the ground as she spoke. He listened intently to all of her words, and her offers to him to borrow some of her ninja tools. As she finished speaking, he nodded gracefully to her and then took his hands out of his pockets. He reached up and slowly unbuttoned his vest before taking it off and folding it before setting it on the ground and patting it twice. Standing back up, he put his hands back in his pockets. She had been a mixture of scolding, yet there didn't seem to be any real meanness directed at the boy. But when she had finished and was standing combat ready with all three of her puppets threaded he began to respond."Ohh, I mean no disrespect Gumi-chan. I've heard nothing but nice things about you. Only a few things about you being one of the only Puppeteers to grace the Leaf in a very long time. It is very nice to meet you as well." Taking a few more steps closer, he would begin analyzing each of her puppets. Observing as best as he could how each one was made, the most common deduction between the three was that they were all nicely made and suitable for combat. A slight frown came onto his face as he then started to speak again.

"In all honesty, after taking a few moments to think. I am incredibly outmatched against you. I'm more of a distance and support kind of shinobi, I do my best fighting outside of several zones of combat. Hmm... In any case though, I accept your challenge as well. I won't be needing any of your tools. It's my own fault for not bringing my own, besides a shinobi should learn how to fight through their handicaps. Thank you for accepting Gumi-chan, and prepare yourself!" He smiled at her and threw one hand in the sign of the thumbs-up. Yama as it was known, normally despised fighting. It was a lot of energy to waste... However, he found himself rather elated to have his challenge accepted by the girl. In his mind, this was maybe finally a way to gain some small ounce of respect from the other students in his classes.

Yama put chakra in the soles of his feet and jumped back, assisted by the chakra to go a bit more of a distance than what would normally be allowed through unassisted movement. After doing so he would suddenly kneel down on one knee and raise both of his hands, going through three different seals and landing on the "Rat" seal. Ninpo: Shadow Possession Jutsu! he would say, as suddenly his own shadow seemed to breath to life. He only had roughly 20 more minutes of sunlight before it would become impossible to accurately use his Nara bloodline techniques, and he had yet to try them in a sparring scenario. His shadow would move across the ground, bending and twisting as he attempted to make his way through all three puppets and connect it with the girls.

 

[Megumi Tanigawa]

Standing up and at the ready she listened to him go on about him being at a disadvantage. Well it’s true that he would be at a disadvantage, due to the fact that she could pressure him with puppets giving him no time to set up any ranged attacks properly. She was not about to let him use her own trick against her.

Watching him as he refused her offer of tool, she wondered about what kinds of genjutsu and ninjutsu the boy had in store. Spacing himself from her, and giving her the thumbs up with a smile. She was going to keep it a safe friendly spar, but the nickname and honorific nagged at her emotions. “ My name is not Gumi.. it’s Megumi and were not friends”. Annoyed at the laxed boy she decided to add a little danger into the spar.

She him form a hand sign and hearing rat she prepared herself for Yama’s jutsu. Seeing his shadow lash out at her it was obvious to any leaf ninja that he had the nara’s shadow possesion abilities. Moving back and taking her puppets excluding her defensive puppet, she would she why he said he would be at a disadvantage. Moving herself and her puppets back she would see how far his reach was. Maybe he would get stuck on her puppet she left behind, and leave himself open.. Reaching Yama’s range she looked at the shadow straining, as it tried to reach her. Looking at the distance between them, she doubted that she could reach him with her puppets from this distance. Taking out a kunai, she tossed it at Yama testing his ability to move while using that jutsu. She doubted that it would make contact from this distance, as anyone could see it coming.

Keeping an eye on Yama as she looked around the area, trying to not show it to the boy. Their was the collection of tools that could be used as an improvised shrapnel bomb. Or she could simply just wait for the sun to go down, as she could simply wait for nightfall. Moving back slightly and putting her support puppet in front of her, but still allowing to make eye contact. Megumi would tie a two paper bombs to two kunai and ninja wire to another making a kind of harpoon. While she ready her items she would make sure to check up on Yama. “ Time is not on your side Yama, let’s see if you gained the natural intelligence of the nara as well”! Megumi would yell out to him challenging him on a battle of wits.

 

[Gushiken Yama]

Megumi Tanigawa did not approve of her nickname that Yama had given her before the match had started, and he felt a ping inside of him when she had said they weren't friends. It was true he barely knew her, but surely he wasn't that bad? Meanwhile getting back into the fight, Yama watched and noticed that she had discovered his maximum reach for his shadow. Damn, this put him at a slight disadvantage. The puppet she had left behind was standing in the way of his shadow but it was a small task to merely warp the shape and direction of his shadows. No physical object could stop the will of the Nara. When he had reached his limit, the girl had taken to it quickly and responded en suite with a kunai that came hurtling towards his face.

Releasing the shadow art, Yama flipped over using his hand to do a full butterfly leap past the kunai knife where it embedded itself quickly into a tree. Looking back up at Megumi, through the evening haze he could see that she was preparing more projectile weapons. She would also say that time was not on his side and challenged his intelligence. His face dropped a little bit but he nodded to himself. "So be it Megumi." he whispered to himself. Shifting his posture quickly he looked around for a few moments, the puppet she had left to block his shadow was the most armored one. Which by his deductions meant the other two were more primarily for offense than defense.

Seeing his opportunity, Yama would start running to the left. Making a wide arc towards the girl. From what he had seen so far they were both matched in strength and speed so in a sense the girl was right. This was a complete battle of the mind. Reaching closer he would leap and while in midair would make handseals, mid leap he caught himself on a tree and propelled himself so that he was about ten feet above the ground in front of the girl,. He would finish his seals and say, Fire Style: Thermal Maw Jutsu! and a tiny stream of fire would burst from his lips making it's way towards her. He has chosen to hold back on using too much chakra to where the heat from the flames would cause minor skin burns but nothing serious. He would also make note of a chunk of wood that lay behind Gumi and he would prep his Body Switch reflexively if he were to be hit in the air. If his Body Switch was successful he would do a low sweeping kick at her legs.<i></i>

 

[Megumi Tanigawa]

While the kunai missed as expected she did figure out that he can't move while using his shadow jutsu, this is another point in her favor as she did not show her range to the boy yet. As she watched the boy as she prepped her tools, she went over what she knew about Yama. Megumi knew that he could wrap his shadow around objects not just a straight line and she knew that he could not move while performing his shadow jutsu.

Megumi watched as the boy moved in a wide left arc, closing the distance to her. Maybe he was trying a different approach, now that she knew is specialty. He would form a hand sign then jump and close the gap by ricocheting off of a nearby tree to get a bird's eye view over Megumi. With his hand sighs completed he would call out his jutsu, and interestingly enough it was one she knew. Looking at the weak flames that spewed forth. She wondered why he would use a weaken form of an already pretty low powered move, while putting himself in a position that could easily be punished. Playing it safe she deciding to retreat and move back over to where she had left her defensive puppet.

" Nice try, but such an obvious feint will not work on me, remember that I don't have to fight you. I have all the time in the world. Letting You waste energy and effort, while you try and win before the sun goes down and you your specialty will only add an already favored fight to lean ever more to my victory". As she talked she would hand off her wired and paper bomb kunai to her defensive puppet and another tagged kunai to her support puppet while she crewed the scene. " Now I know your chakra affinity as well as your specialty, your running out options to surprise me Yama".

Stringing her defensive puppet, Megumi would move her offensive puppet to his right, her support puppet to his left while moving up her defensive puppet head on towards Yama. Keeping them out of melee range she would attempted to box him in before shepherding Yama for the kill. If he would move the puppets would follow. Yama was surround on three sides with the only open way was backward.

 

[Gushiken Yama]

Moving out of the way of his flame jutsu, Megumi did not take his bait and attack him in mid-air. Instead he now found himself between a rock and hard place in the sense that he was caught on all sides by all three of her puppets. As he strafed back, he took a quick look at all three of her puppets, she had given each one one of the weapons that she had handcrafted, in two of their hands sat kunai with paper bombs, and in one sat the hook like kunai rope. Yama thought very hard while in the middle of strafing. His Nara training had given him a keen mind to think quickly and rationally in a combat situation, he was much more capable of coming up with very good on the fly strategies to deal with opponents. He had the fundamental realization that if she wasn't in range of her puppets, she didn't really have as good of a chance to defend herself from his attacks. He scanned the area quickly, with only roughly ten minutes of daylight left the battle was getting very interesting very fast. He couldn't help but think about all the growing he had done. A month ago he would have been in his room napping, now he was facing against a Shinobi type that he had never even comprehended. What a hassle...

Yama had gotten a few feet of distance in and placing chakra in the soles of his feet he jumped into the air, spinning himself over the tops of the girl's puppets. Gumi was a short distance, nothing he couldn't close the gap of in a short amount of time. He smiled as he started dashing towards her, he was playing with fire by trying to fight distance with distance, and while he didn't have a huge grasp on Taijutsu, he knew enough to do basic strikes at the girl. See how she would deal with that situation. Flying in as fast as his legs could carry, when he would get close to Gumi he would throw two punches and a kick, the punches aimed at her arms, and the kick at her left side. Maybe if he could hit her arms, it would make it harder for her to be able to accurately use her chakra strings. The less puppets she had full control of the better. After firing of his melee attacks he would then leap back, and weaving through seals this time he would cast another Thermal Maw jutsu, except this time he would use his natural Nara abilities to turn the attack into a Shadow Ninjutsu.

Upon activation, the jutsu would leak shadows out of his mouth and create a swirling mass of them on the ground that started flying it's way towards the girl. After finishing the jutsu, he would note that his chakra reserves seemed to be getting rather low. However he would not make this apparent to Megumi in any way, he was nowhere near as weak as she thought.

He would prove it.

[MFT]
[WC: 512]

 

[Uchiha Arata]

Clang! Thwunk. Sora finished practicing with his shuriken. All around him were targets, some at places you couldn't even see due to trees blocking it. However by using two shuriken, one to hit the other, he was able to hit it. Of course that wasn't the beginner work. What he just completed was hitting ALL the targets, 12 in total simultaneously. He was able to do this for a long while, but of course practice always helped. Hell he ALWAYS practice alone in the forest by the training grounds. In public however, people thought he was some perfect genius because nobody ever saw him training anywhere. In reality, he spent mists of his time training alone.

As Sora finished up, he left the shuriken on their marks, which you couldn't even see the red bullseye anymore from shuriken marks hitting the red so much that the bullseye was gone. He didn't bother to pick up any of the shuriken since nobody else really came here besides him, and instead walked back it to the training grounds. He err his usual combat attire instead of his casual. This consisted of a black pullover short sleeved jacket with the Uchiha crest enlarged and centered on the back. He wore white cargo shorts and had black sandals which rose 3/4 up his leg to his knees and was taped from the ankle to an inch from the top, on his arms he had a sealing scroll on each but it was covered by black wrist bands. On his butt was a beige pack that had a few more shuriken, about 15 in total.

When he emerged from the forest, he saw two people fighting, familiar people. They were both academy students. One was rather laid back and asked a lot of questions, being rather talkative while the other was fiery and talked a lot as well. He didn't know the cause for the fight, but decided to stick around and watch by adding a bit of chakra to the bottom of his feet and silently leaping up and landing on a branch of a tree, which was at the very entrance to the forest where he'd sit and have a good view of the fight. From what he saw, the fiery girl used puppets, one defensive and two offensive and the boy used Nara techniques and fire style. He already knew the girl had knowledge of Fire style techniques as well, though of course not at his level.

As the fight continued, he wondered if he should jump in and try to get some combat practice in as well. Though a three way battle would be interesting, he'd rather have them 2v1 him since he had all of his chakra left while they seemed to have about half their chakra. It'd be very disadvantageous for them if it was a three way since he was in a better condition. Of course, with the two of them his advantage would turn to a disadvantage since one had three puppets as well, this made it a 5v1 essentially. It'd be very difficult but if he could pull off a win then it'd definitely show proof of his training and growth.

With a shrug the Uchiha stepped down from the branch, hands slipped into his pockets as he strutted out to the two. He stood a good 20 meters away of course as to not get caught up in their bout. "Hey you two, Megima and yomo I think... After watching for a bit I had an idea, why not do you two versus me. For you guys it'll build teamwork and experience and for me I'd gain experience fighting against numbers since not every situation in the Shinobi world is fair."

 

[Megumi Tanigawa]

Cornering Yama like a an animal, Megumi would have to be careful as animals tend to get desperate and ferocious when backed into a corner. She wanted to try out some of her out of the box manures, However her sparring partner wasn't having none of it, she would have to go back to the drawing board as these were unusable in a fight.

As Yama would make a break for it by moving backward, she would send her puppets after in in turn. Throwing one of the tagged kunai, she would hope to cut him off as he dodged out of the way of the bomb. As the kunai cut through the air and landed near Yama, he would make a leap of faith and clear himself over her front line. Pulling her puppets back as fast as she could, the lay about was much faster than he looks and her puppets would not make it in time to intercept him. Freeing her left side of her support puppet, Megumi would attempt to fight off Yama until her cavalry arrived.

As Yama throughout his two punches Megumi, would put her left side forward and block the two punches with her arm. While there was no serious damage the attacks made her arm numb. The the first to dealt with, she took the kick to the back, but went with the momentum to reduce the damage. As she rolled onto her knees she thought about taking Kenshin up on his offer for hand to hand training. It was not that she wanted to be a close up fighter, but having the ability to defend herself when the enemy closed the gapped would have saved her some bruises.

Yama might of been ahead of himself, as he sealed other fire jutsu. I might of been a good follow up if her offensive and defensive were not right on his tail when he attacked. Making himself and sitting duck as her offensive puppet did a guided strike right for his head and her defensive puppet went low. His attack might of made controlling all three difficult, but she can still easily control two without even thinking about her movements.

As her revenge was dealt swiftly to her sparring partner an unwelcomed guest appeared before the two sparring members. The Uchiha offered, actually more like forcefully suggested that Yama and herself face him in a match. After training and then sparring and taking a few bumps she was not really in shape to go another round without risking injury. Also she really did not want to train with this entitled ass who could not even get her name right.

Looking over to the forest to see a few of his following watching from the trees. Lazily pointing in the direction as she walked over to Yama. “ Is your fan club going to jump in as well”? Megumi would teasingly mock his fan base of low intelligent girls who fawned over a boy and a clan that deserve only anger and disrespect for their past deeds. It takes a strong person to overcome the eyes of hate and she did not think Sora had what it took to overcome his clans bloody past and tendencies.

Offering her hand to Yama, with a forced smile over her tired and pained face. Speaking in a hushed tone as she helped him up. “ I have an idea for the prodigy. It’s a one shot deal, as were both not doing so good. I’ll move in and keeps his attention, and you get him with your shadow jutsu, i’ll try and set it up for you, but no promises as i can only use two of the puppets correctly". Megumi stand next to Yama after helping him up. She would move her puppets into a defensive line as she continued to talk with Yama. ”right now and i’m getting to the point of exhaustion. He is as fresh as a daisy and came in for an easy win. Honestly the smart thing to do would to just pack it up for the day. No point in pushing yourself into an injury and wasting time in bedrest. How about we call it a day and i treat you to some food for helping me out today”?

 

[Gushiken Yama]

Yama had seen his melee attacks go through with efficiency, and as he had tried to continue his momentum with his shadow Ninjutsu before he could even get it fully into fruition, the next thing he knew he was looking up at the tops of the trees... Or maybe it was stars? He had been hit by the 'ol one-two combo by two of Megumi's puppets, one going high for his body and the other sweeping his legs in an opposite motion. The result was Yama getting a full scorpion on himself , his legs going over his head as he hit the ground giving his body the appearance of one of the poison tailed creatures. Trying to make sense of what had just happened, and feeling remarkable pain in his head. His vision was blurry (this a mixture of his level of tiredness and the blow he had sustained.) Shaking his head and sitting up, everything was woozy for a few seconds more before he finally was able to get his focus. When he did it was right around the time that Sora had offered for the both of them to face him in a two-versus-one scenario. "So...ra" Yama managed to get out before rubbing his head. Finally when all was said and done, he managed to get his balance while still remaining in a seated position.

Megumi had gotten low, and helped him up off the ground while covering her mouth with one ear and whispering that if she could keep his attention then perhaps Yama could land a Shadow Possession bind on him. Eh...? So he hadn't imagined that the boy wanted to fight. Oh what a hassle... Megumi then also mentioned that they could retire for the night considering both of their states of exhaustion and raincheck the fight for another day. Yama narrowed his eyes, looking at both of them back and forth. On one had he completely agreed that he was much too tired to be willing to spar the boy who definitely had a one up on him. But on the other hand, ever since meeting the boy the other day and hearing his brash words about Yama's lifestyle he also wanted to prove a point to him. Sora wasn't the only capable child in the village. In any case though, he decided to play mediator and began to speak.

"Oy, I like your offer Sora I really do. But me and Megumi here have been going at it for quite awhile." He emphasized this by taking his left arm and holding his shoulder as he spun the rotator cuff wincing slightly from the twinging pain of his earlier fall. "But... In a way I also want to spar you. I think you'd give me quite the challenge, and besides. What better way to develop a sense of camaraderie?" Trying to balance both of their points in his ever growing analytical mind. The shy part of Yama wanted him to just run away and go home. But he wasn't going to let that control him, he could spend the entire next day in the house... Walking over to where he had laid his vest he picked it up and gave it a good shake before putting it back on. Suddenly a brilliant idea hit him. "Yo. I leave a lantern and a picnic basket not too far from this very spot for moments such as this. How does sitting down and enjoying a nice meal by lantern light sound? Right around this time you can see moths that glow a very bright green in the sky, it's quite a fun time. I could agree to a spar at a later date." Having put his offer on the table. He nodded once and then would wait for the responses.<i></i>

 

[Uchiha Arata]

Fatigue caught up to Sora from his hours of training causing his vision to get somewhat blurry. His reaction time was a bit off and he was even a tad slow. He didn't show anything of course because that would be showing weakness to the enemy, which is a rule of combat to not show any weakness. However the two decided that they wouldn't be able to fight from the few bumps and bruises of damage they hadn't received. Which from what he saw they each received about two strikes. He sighed and shook his head."Well, if you're not going to accept my proposal then I have no reason to be here. I have better things to do. Seems those bumps and bruises were too much for you." At that the boy slipped his hands in his pockets and strutted away from the training fields and towards the exit gate.

[Topic left unless stopped]

 

[Megumi Tanigawa]

Watching Yama as she helped him up he seemed a little out of it. It was not surprising as being hit by a battle puppet was nothing to take lightly. Waiting on his answer as he looked back and forth between herself and the Uchiha. Megumi would have her puppets at the ready to settle this Mexican stand off if Yama wanted to take a chance. However considering that he had being hit by a walking tank, she would rather him use what sense that she did not knock out of him to live to fight another day.

Hearing him taking a liking to the Uchiha’s offer she tightened her grips and readied her kunai. Staring down Sora as Yama would then backpedal and mention about their past scuffle. Giving the shadow bender a side glance, she would speak in a scolding manner as if he was a reckless little brother. “ don’t forget you took two hard blows from two metal frame, not to mention one of them was a direct blow to the head. Were not in the middle of a mission, there is no need to possibly worsen an injury”. Megumi would focus back on Sora, if they were going to have a match she would not want Yama to take the lead as she was concerned about his wellbeing. He did not seem a hundred percent and wanted to make sure it was not worsened.

Yama would continue to flirt with the idea of a match, but then defuse it by offering all of them to break bread over some nice scenery. Putting away her puppets and going to gather her tools she had enough of his indecisiveness. “ Were not fighting because you to want to have a dick measuring contest”. Putting her equipment away and giving Sora their answer as she was tired of  listening to Yama’s mixture of shyness and determination battle for supremacy.

As Megumi made her why back over to Yama. The pouty Uchiha who did not get his way, threw a childish insult at the two as he curled back up into his natural position as he stomped away. Giving the Uchiha a small glance as she sarcastically spoke to him. “ No.. don’t go Sora, we were getting along so well”. With her very low amount of enthusiasm for poking fun at Sora quickly left. Megumi would get to the more important issues at hand. Facing Yama she would quickly invade his personal space and check his head and arm that seemed to be bothering him.

She did not really care about his feeling on her forcefully examining him as she wanted to make she there was no serious damage. “ So what’s on the menu for this scenic picnic you were offering to share with Sora and myself”? The question was not, just because she was hungry and wanted to know what the food was. It was also to check his cognitive abilities. As she moved to look him in the eye checking his reflexes as she snapped her fingers in different spots to see how his eyes would react.

 

[Uchiha Arata]

Sora sighed as he walked out. She always had the wrong idea and always acted so sure of herself and cocky, which really, she'd end up embarrassing herself soon by spewing out wrong answers. She didn't understand anything. Dick measuring contest? No. he clearly gave out reasons why it would be a good idea. More experience in battle the better. Plus teaming up to fight a stronger enemy was common so learning teamwork would help the both of them so they could get more experience, and for him, learning to fight multiple enemies."Just meet me here tomorrow. I'm gonna go home and eat then get some rest. It's been a long day."

[Topic officially left]

[OOC: if you're up for it I'll make another thread.]

 

[Gushiken Yama]

When all was said and done, it was very apparent that there was an air of tension left by both Sora and Megumi. Perhaps they had met before? Yama didn't say anything else as Megumi and Sora finished their exchange and then Sora decided to head home. Walking away slowly, the girl would ask Yama what he had in the picnic basket while simultaneously checking him for a concussion. The boy was watching Sora the whole time, what was it? What was his knack? What kept him from being able to share a moment with like minded people? This question would sit heavy on Yama's mind for the rest of the night but he turned back to Megumi and focused his attentions back onto her. "Oh, oh. Sorry it's got... Well I'll just show you! Don't worry Megumi-chan my head is fine." He smiled at her as he receded into the bushes and went to grab the basket. After he had done so he brought it back out and went into the middle of the open field where they had been training. He set out the blanket that he kept in the top and also pulled out a set of plates and utensils. Pulling out a few courses as well, it was all non-perishable foods that also had unique odors to them that kept the animals away. This had been done by design and by Yama's request at the local grocery so that animals wouldn't just gobble down on it.

Having finished setting it up, the boy looked at Megumi and asked jokingly, "Should I set out three more placements for them?" pointing his thumb at each puppet in turn and chuckling softly. He turned the lantern on at this point as the sun had set all the way and the beginnings of night had cascaded over the land. "Oy... Look up." He said and pointed out the moths he had been talking about earlier. Yama had always had an eye for the small little intrinsic parts of nature that graced the earth's presence. "Help yourself to whatever you want!" He said before starting to get food set out for himself. It was a peaceful night, and although he knew that by morning he would have a splitting headache. At least for now he got to enjoy himself.<i></i>

 

[Megumi Tanigawa]

Megumi would look at him with an annoyed expression as the boy continued to stare off into space at the Uchiha’s direction. Forcefully snapping her fingers to get a response. Yama would finally snap out of it and think about her question. Not getting an answer to her question he smiled it off and went into the bushes to show not tell. Looking at him unconvinced as he referred to her as Megumi-chan, it was much better than his first attempt. As he receded into the bushes, Megumi jokily spoke as he came out with the basket and blanket. “ You're really adamant about being friendly”. Looking at Yama with a more friendly expression, it has been awhile since she has hung out with someone of her age group. It made her feel like she did not have to prove anything to him as they were equal. “ Drop the chan, but Gumi is fine”.

As he finished setting up the evening picnic over a promised scenic view. Her host joked about the extra company she came with. Covering her mouth as she laughed at the joke. “ Nah they’re a bit shy”. Sitting down in a kneeling position with correct posture. Megumi did it naturally, but her appearance did not match her action. The sun would finally part from this side of the world, and the sky would drift into darkness. Yama would turn on the lantern, revealing the vibrant greens of the moths that he spoke of. From there position it appeared as if the stars had fallen. Taking in the beauty of the moonlighten moths.

Being snapped out of her almost trance like enjoyment of the nature that surrounded them, by a enthusiastic Yama. Quickly looking back at the boy as his change in tone startled her. Looking at what was offered. The items were not exactly anything to get excited about, and they carried an odd sent with them. Taking out a few small items that looked somewhat edible, Megumi would tease him about his taste in food. “ Not exactly fine dining, next time i’ll handle the food. Let’s leave the rations for when we’re out on missions”. Megumi would hide her chewing while she ate, her traditional upbringing was bleeding out as the two shared a meal.

Taking a break from the food she wanted to know more about the boy that knew much more about her than she would have thought. “ As you seem to know about myself, why don’t you tell me about yourself and who's been talking about me”? Megumi would look at him with interest and open ears and mind.

 

[Gushiken Yama]

</COLOR><COLOR color="#008040">"Ohhh yea.." Yama muttered to himself when Gumi said that it wasn't exactly fine dining, he blushed a little bit and gave the girl a rather toothy grin before continuing to explain, "I didn't wanna bring out something that would quickly decompose, introducing strange molds and fungi to an ecosystem like this forest could have detrimental effects a few years down the road. The smell is a special type of powder that masks the scent from bears and big cats and such, but it is safe to eat I promise." He chuckled for a few seconds, then took another couple bites while watching the moths that fluttered about over his head. His mind was finally clear from the hit he had taken earlier, and a sense of clarity came back into him and he sighed in content, listening to the girl as she continued to ask him about his life and who he had heard the rumors about her puppeteering from. Stroking his chin and nodding a few times, he began to speak. "My folks named me Yama because they wanted me to be big and strong just like the mountains that surround our village. I guess I was kind of an anomaly because I'm the smallest one to ever be born into the Gushiken clan, it makes it hard to want to continue to strive when I feel like I can't surmount to the challenges that are laid out before me... Mmm.." He took a few more bites before continuing on.

"I started the academy right before my eleventh birthday, and I'll be twelve upcoming soon. I met a man from the Nara clan who helped me realize that I had the powers of the kekkei genkai inside of me and so I've been training at the Nara complex in a desire to learn as much as I can from them." He giggled, "It was been a wonderful time and the Nara's have been more of a family to me than anyone ever has!" As he continued to speak, he had finished his food and had reached into his basket and pulled out a mason jar with a lid with a few holes in it. He got up and started to wave the jar awkwardly at some of the passing moths attempting to catch a few in the jar. "I forget what her name was, Takihara something or another, she's a year or two ahead of us but I guess she was at your parent's puppet shop and saw you through a window making intricate designs for a student, I overheard her talking about how awesome they were. It was nothing but nice things I assure you." He had finally caught a couple of the moths, and a small grin creeped onto his face as he kneeled before Megumi and offered her the jar with some moths inside of it to admire.

"I guess I try so hard to be friendly because I don't have many friends, so it's all I know how to be when interacting when my peers. I could have been sad and lonesome all the time and sometimes I still am, but I try my best." He flashed her a thumbs up sign before finishing with, "But also I know that we are the next generation to inherit the Will of Fire! I have to be nice to all of my peers, for maybe someday you will be Hokage and I will save your life, or perhaps someday you will think back to this very moment and maybe save mine."

 

[Megumi Tanigawa]

Yama would mumble and blush as he was embarrassed by Megumi’s comment. It was a mix of cute and annoying at the same time for the puppeteer. Getting over his embarrassment rather quickly and bouncing back to his normal positive self. He would explain his reasoning for doing so. Not wanting to introduce a foreign alien into a ecosystem was wise as the effect are catastrophic, though it might be a bit of an exaggeration to think that a already cooked food will harm the ecosystem. Even with his overreacting and powder to keep the animals away, Megumi learned that Yama is a kind and gentle person with interest in nature.

When he would talk about himself it was from how other people saw him, not him talking about himself like she asked. Gleaming from a biography of Yama, was that he is from the Gushiken clan prided themselves on their physical strength and taijutsu ability, and that his size and his different view point had created a rift between him and his family, Megumi could from also being from a traditional family as well the amount of pressure that is placed on your shoulder. You have to no fail and shame your clan, you have to be the best and improve on your family's past efforts. The difference between herself and Yama was that she actually enjoyed and is made for her position. The odd thing about Yama was that he developed a Kekkei Genkai that was outside of his family that Megumi found odd. Perhaps someone in the family had an affair or a regressive progenitors dna strengthened in Yama. As Yama continued to talk about his family rift and how the Nara felt like his real family, her detective instincts kept nagging her.

As Yama finished his food Megumi thought upon the sudden activity after his Kekkei Genkai was revealed. It was no doubt that going to the clan that held the monopoly on that skill set would be your best bet. However the treatment that he was receiving was questionable, almost as if their was something going on behind the scenes. Megumi would look to him as he continued to speak. He would spill the beans on who snitched on her and how they found out about herself. From the answer it was through her work, however the person in question was not directly involved they were just a passer by, not someone to take their word on at least. “ You need better sources Yama. It’s not my shop, i would never even think of open one. I would not have the time to run one while juggling my training along with it. The place that she saw me at was a ninja tool shop that i work at, and she must of saw one of my contracts picking up their order”. Laying down she got comfortable as she has a lot of wrongs to right. “ The owner may be a skirt chaser, but he’s got a custom workshop that can’t be beat, one of the perks to working there is that i get access to it. On the side i do custom order for my dolls, a Tanigawa Doll goes for 3000 yen at base price and it increases the more detailed you want it. Last year i heard a Tanigawa Doll went for over a hundred thousand in an auction”. Rolling over and looking at her puppets. “ Though with the big push on foreign trade, the demand is too much for me to handle. While it’s good in one way it creates many issues”.

Sitting up as Yama would offer her a jar of moths. Shaking her head, she would then listen to his fear and wish for more friends. Giving that overly positive smile that hide pain with a corny thumbs up. Shaking her head and laughing at him as he talked about being nice to their peers and who he might be sitting next to the future hokage. Pointing at herself, “ Me the hokage, that is a good one. I might not be all sunshine and sparkles, but i strongly believe in the will and you forgot that we are all one family under the will of fire. Even if i did not like you, i would still save you, and yes that even means Sora to. After all we are all family”.

Moving to a more serious tone as she wanted to tell Yama something to him as a friend “ I think you're thinking about it the wrong way. It’s not about quantity it’s about quality. I don’t have many, friends… well i don’t really have any friends my age”. She would look away in slight embarrassment about admitting her small circle of friends. “ Friends don’t have to prove anything, your friend because you enjoy being around each other”. Looking at the shy boy that seemed to lack self confidence in the eye . “ Yama i asked you about yourself not what others thought about you, if i wanted to know what others thought about you then i would ask them. Though i learned enough about you from spending time with you, and in my opinion, you're strong in a different way”.

 

[Gushiken Yama]

When Megumi was explaining that some of her creations had sold for such high amounts of Yen, Yama couldn't hide his surprise and excitement. What a unique skill to have, and this only proved that for such a young age she had every potential to truly master the craft. But it was quickly revealed that it was a crafts shop that she used to prepare and fine tune her creations. Either way it was still incredibly cool and the boy felt his levels of respect for Gumi soar higher deep down in his heart. As he continued to listen to her, she started talking that the possibility of her becoming Hokage was far-fetched but that the Will of Fire burned bright in her too. Yama smiled again, "Gumi, I truly believe you can anything you set your mind too. You are only limited by your own mind. Someday you may be standing high up on that great roof making your first proclamation, I hope I can be by your side at that moment. Keep me in mind for your personal guard okay?" He chuckled, he started putting away some of the food and some of the dishes that were no longer in use. It was during this time that Gumi told him that she had not asked him about other peoples opinion but about what he himself thought.

This surprised him, it wasn't often that anyone asked him about how he viewed himself. His heart dropped a little, he never really had thought about it. When Gumi had said that he was strong in a different way, he felt his throat get a little heavy but he quickly cleared it. He wasn't going to allow such bursts of emotion with a girl he still barely knew. But there were a few things that lit up his mind about himself and so he started speaking, "I... Well, I suppose that I'm nice. I always try to be clean, I never disrespect any of my teachers and I always bow to the elderly." His mind drifted back a little bit to a few weeks before when he had met the man Kaji Okada, "I've seen death first hand during a training session with one of the elder ninja in the village. A boy attacked two Chuunin and killed them both, I suppose that someday we're going to have to accept that death is inevitable but it was still very strange." He couldn't think of anything else after this so he quickly changed the conversation.

He looked at Gumi and his eyes lit up a little bit, "I like spending time with you Megumi. You're talented in ways I can't even begin to understand. You're gonna be a lot stronger than I think even you realize." He nodded and as he finished packing up the rest of the stuff that was being unused he looked at the moths in the jar that he had given her. "You remind me a lot of these moths, on the outside you hide a lot, and disguise it by trying to be badass all of the time. But in the right conditions and when in the right mood, you glow very brightly." He blushed a little bit, Yama didn't know this yet. But he had the potential to be a real charmer when he wanted to be.

"There's an old saying at the Nara complex. Your shadow is always right, basically the inner you is always going to make the right decision as long as you listen to it." He would finish speaking after this, and place his hands behind him and crane his head back to look up at the stars.

[MFT]
WC: 616

 

[Megumi Tanigawa]

As Yama started to put away the food, she would help him clean up while he told her about himself, from his perspective not another’s. Her comment about him, caused him a mix of emotions that she tried to hide from her, but she could tell that her words did affect him it was just hard to tell for better or worse. Yama would go on about how he was polite to everyone, Megumi would look at him slightly annoyed as he continued to avoid talking about his personal opinion or likes and dislikes.

With a pause as they continued packing up Yama took the conversation into a more darker topic. Mentioning how he has been face to face with death, gave Megumi some pause as she look off into space and thought about the first time she was faced with death. Thinking back to how her grandmother shielded her from the invading samurai, and how her grandfather snuffed out the samurai’s live like it was nothing. “ Were only going to be faced with more death you know, it’s the path we have chosen”. Her words were cold and matter of fact, however Yama would quickly try and change the conversation, though Megumi did not think ignoring it will make the fact that death will come for them or they will make him come for others at their hands not happen.

Even with the mood killing topic, Yama’s eyes were alight as he looked at her. Saying that he enjoyed their time together along with compliments, that made her shake her head as she picked up the last of the mess. “ I had fun as well, you don’t have to butter me up I would be more than happy if this would not be are last time we shared together”. She hoped his nod was a promise of other shared moment together, as they folded the blanket and finished with tidying up. She would look at the jar full of moths that he had caught for her, and broke through her guard with honeyed words that spoke directly to her. Blushing from his words she picked up the jar and set the moths free, letting them light the area around the two friends. Composing herself and trying not to show that she was blushing. “ I have to be strong all the time, i don’t have the luxury of showing weakness. If i did it would be taken advantage of, and I would lose something that could never be replaced”.

Hearing a saying from the Nara, she understood what it meant, but could not agree on it. “ Even if it’s what you believe is right does not make it right, and sometimes we have to do things we don’t like to do or agree on. However that does not mean that we don’t try to do what we think is right”. Giving Yama a smile as she waved goodbye, she stayed much longer than she should have as her grandfather will be concerned about her.

As Megumi disappeared into the night and left Yama alone with the stars and the moths. Four figures cloaked in by shadow and darken cloth appeared around the boy. Wearing masks to hide their appearance they would surround the boy. The one in front of the boy would speak with a calm tone that hide a insidious intentions. “ Boy, if I were you I think it would be in your best interest to stay away from Tanigawa-sama. A freak like you is not on worthy of making her yours as she belongs to us, and that’s the way it’s going to stay”. The group would close in on the boy and the cloaked figure would speak in a more threatening tone. “ Don’t make us repeat ourselves. I'm sure your family would not miss a runt like you so don’t push your luck”. With their message delivered they would leave as fast as they came under the cover of night.

(( Megumi and the cloaked figures are leaving the thread unless intercepted ))