We Must Be Strong! [Tutor]

[Tatsuo]

They had to get stronger. Being defeated at the hands of Kaen so readily was eye-opening to the growing shinobi. There were evils in this world and there wasn’t always a hero to save the day. So to stop that from ever happening again, they would have to train hard. All of them, Hira, Hoshi and Tatsuo would need to train harder than they ever had before if they were ever to defeat such an enemy. Hira and Tatsuo were preparing to train on that day.

Thinking back to the hospital where Tatsuo and Hira first spoke about the need to get strong. It was a dramatic talk for all included, but it was not lost on the boys. It lit a fire in their insides, one that had been dormant before. Kaen’s fire had been able to burn their skin, but the burning in their hearts could never be extinguished, by even the darkest of enemies.

Tatsuo was sitting on a stump near the edge of the forest near his shared residence with Kaji. Hira had requested to meet with him the next day to train, Tatsuo had never really trained anyone before. He’d shown Hoshi some skills about surviving in the wilderness but Hoshi’s ability as a shinobi heavily outweighed those of Tatsuo. At best he could outlast him, but there ninjutsu nearly the same level and his Taijutsu made Tatsuo’s look like child’s play. But for whatever reason, Hira was insistent that Tatsuo show him a thing or too. Not that he minded, but the boy never really thought of himself as all that strong even if he got cocky.

The sun was beating down on the field, Tatsuo drank from his water bottle as he watched the grass flutter in the wind. At least the breeze was nice, commenting on the otherwise warm weather. It wasn’t often the Village Hidden in the Clouds got this warm, but Tatsuo was sure to enjoy it. He was used to the much warmer climate of Konoha, so the heat never bothered him. He was wearing a simple white T-shirt, black pants, and a small ninja tool pouch on his hip. His headband was proudly displayed on his forehead for the world to see. He thought it important to remind himself that he was indeed a Leaf Ninja, the lines began to blur as he spent most of his time with Cloud Ninja, but he was a Leaf patriot through and through.

He perked up as he saw Hira approaching from the distance. As the waterboy approached, Tatsuo lifted his hand and called to him. “Finally decided to show up, eh?” he said grinning. The boy had a pretty sarcastic type of banter. He stood up from the trunk and did a quick stretch, bringing his arm across his chest. “You ready to get started?”


WC: 482
Post Count: 1/5

 

[Hirateuchi]

It was about that time for Hira to head towards the forest to train with Tatsuo. The wood ninja he had met during that fight with Kaen... he was strong. All Hira was capable of doing was staying in the back while he charged face first into the danger. He wasn't sure what he could learn from him; their fighting styles seemed to be as far apart as possible, but at the very least it couldn't hurt to spar and get some basic tricks from the more experienced shinobi. As he sauntered up to the supposed meeting spot, he noticed Tatsuo calling out to him, albeit sarcastically. He was down for the verbal challenge to lighten the mood surrounding the reason for their meeting. He walked into full view, wearing a simple tank top with the top half of his plain kimono lying down, tied around his waist. Stretching his arm across his body, he called back with a wide grin.

"I know you like to think that sand ninja is the fatty... Hira looked at Tatsuo's stomach with a devilish grin, "...but I figured it might take you a while to get ready." He giggled at his own terrible joke before walking over, his heap of a weapon slung over his shoulder. Hira sat down next to the intrepid hero of Konoha and began to set his belongings down. He had brought a few supplies: his weapon first of all, but also a few kunai and some water bottles to utilize more for his jutsu than his thirst.

"Despite that, though, you still held out much better than I did, I need to work on my endurance and my ability to focus my chakra better. Don't suppose you have any secret tricks from Leaf that you would like to divulge," Hira started with a laugh, but underneath it was clear he was troubled by how weak he was compared to those around him. Both his taijutsu and genjutsu were severely lacking; the only thing keeping him relevant was his innate control over water and its healing properties, but he wasn't satisfied being just the waterboy for others to step on. He wanted to be able to charge in with his comrades next time. Looking over his equipment and the area, Hira asked out more to himself than Tatsuo, "Hmmm, what to start with?"

[WC 394, Post 1/5]

 

[Tatsuo]

Sharing a few laughs with Hirateuchi certaintly put Tatsuo at ease. He'd never trained anyone before so he was branching into new territory, but once Hira asked him what to start with he nodded. "Well, you've got some really useful water jutsu, but of you ask me! The most important trait in a shinobi is toughness, you gotta be able to take hits left and right. Don't think most people agree with me though." Tatsuo had an interesting idea about how he fought, perhaps it stemmed from his lack of blood lust, while he enjoyed combat he derived no joy from inflicting pain on anyone, even those he was supposed to be fighting. Tatsuo laughed before rubbing the back of his neck as he finished his quick stretch. "But, I don't really think that's the way you fight. Ya know? Everyone's got a different way of doing things. Mine is just taking more hits than they can dish out, but your water is tough too! So we should make that tougher." he nodded, he hummed in thought after his monologue, in just how exactly to train with him and just then, a light bulb illuminated over his head. His face curled into a grin and he exclaimed, "I got an idea!" He formed a handseal before kneeling and slamming his hands into the ground.

Sprouting from the earth were a set of five wooden targets. Each shaped like different caricatures of a villain. One shared a certain likeness to a Pyro that the two knew just a bit too well. "Let's just start with some simple strikes, see if you can take these down. If you can, we'll move onto something harder. Give it your all, my wood doesn't break that easily!" he said trying to challenge Hira in hopes of igniting his blazing spirit! He intended to not only test the strength of Hira's abilities, but his stamina. The will to continue fighting when all seemed lost, was a trait Tatsuo valued highly. He saw it in him when they fought Kaen, but he wondered if he could replicate it here.

WC: 834
Post: 2/5

 

[Hirateuchi]

Hira stared on as his comrade summoned forth multiple wooden targets. Most of them seemed mundane, but one, in particular, caught a fire in Hira's eye. Of course, he had to make one of them look like the sand shinobi. If he hadn't any motivation to train hard today, he was just given the best motivator possible. The boy took some time to tie the straps of his weapons to his arms, securing them tightly before giving the blades a few practice swings and tugs. The metal of the blades began to shimmer ever so slightly, but the only change noticeable at a glance was the small drips of water falling at regular intervals off the tips as Hira channeled his chakra into his attuned steel.

Gripping the cords attached to his blades, Hira lept at the targets, spinning with a ruthless flourish of attacks, taking turns throwing and pulling back the various blades to keep a constant source of pressure on the imaginary enemy. Mostly the blades stuck into the wood, leaving small incisions before being pulled back out, with others slicing off small chips from the sides of the creations. He needed to be faster. To be stronger. He increased the bombarding until he was gasping for air, finally coming to the last target, the one that resembled Kaen. Frustrated at his own incompetence, reminded of how pathetic he was during the fight, Hira let loose a howl of rage as all his blades fell to the floor, void of water chakra.

Hira's water bottles burst open, the water flooding out and forming a small puddle in front of him, but one that would soon bubble and whirl with a violent energy. With one fluid motion, Hira moved his arms forward with the use of a few hand signs and send out a large blast of condensed water straight into the wooden target, ripping and tearing at its fabric. Hira did not release the pressure until his jutsu had ripped a hole straight through, leaving a frayed and broken wreck in its wake. Panting, he fell down to his rear, having already used a lot of energy in that single attack. "Well I guess that explains why my endurance isn't as great in fights as I need it to be..." He started with a chuckle, but soon just hung his head down. He would have to get control over his temper before he could gain better control over his chakra. "Sorry about the mess," he casually said to Tatsuo, grabbing the back of his neck out of embarrassment.

[WC 430; Total WC 824. Post 2/5]

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo surely was impressed by the vigor that Hira showed. The wood creations Tatsuo created were in no way weak or fragile, but he was able to cut, slash, and generally leave his figures torn to pieces. But as expected, he went above and beyond to defeat the Kaen like figurine. While Hira thought his temper was something that needed to be curbed, Tatsuo thought it was something to be utilized. The boy himself was at the mercy of his emotions, it usually lead him to trouble but in his mind it was all worth it. If he had to hurt himself to save others, he'd do it a thousand times over. It was just how he felt. Using ones emotions to empower themselves to do greater things was something he believed in.

He hummed as he gave Hira a moment to catch his breath, as he apologized for the mess Tatsuo shrugged. He wasn't exactly the most tidy guy and he doubt Kaji would care too much about the yard being a little messed up. "Nah, it's fine. All in a good day's training, just don't hit the house or Kaji will show us the sharp end of Eelspine." he laughed before forming another hand seal and slamming his hands into the ground once more. This time the wooden tendrils were thinner and more snakelike, they also continued to move. "Alright, let's ramp this up a bit, this time they won't sit still and they're smaller. Let's see if you can keep up!" He maintained his hand seal and the snake like wooden tendrils danced around Hira and Tatsuo, bobbing and weaving in and out, they moved fast but it wasn't at no cost. Even with Tatsuo's increased chakra pool, he still wasn't able to do such techniques with ease. Especially in his recovering state, beads of sweat began to cover his forehead.

WC: 1148
Post Count: 3/5

 

[Hirateuchi]

Another set of targets sprouted up for Hira to deal with, only this time they were moving. Of all the nasty tricks, he had to wait to do this one until Hira had already spent most of his energy lashing out at the creation imitating Kaen. Taking a deep breath and letting out an overly exaggerated sigh, Hira stood up once more. Untying the cords around his arms, he let his weapons drop to the floor, figuring he might want to try a different approach to this problem. The residual water that remained on the land from his last attack began to creep towards Hira's open palm, and as it reached its destination stretched out into a still malleable but seemingly solid watery whip.

Gripping the water whip in one hand, and snapping it once to make sure the form was efficiently put together, Hira began to swing it wildly, attempting to hit any of the moving targets. The trouble was he was acting cocky, thinking that any wooden creation would be sure to move quite slowly, when in fact they were able to swiftly move out of the way of his attacks as though they were as light as air. He couldn't tell if there was just a large power gap between the two young shinobi or if he exhausted himself too much during the first attack, but he wasn't about to give up.

"Hey, those things are pretty fast for hunks of wood. Just hope you don't cry when I break them."

This time instead of whirling into a frenzy, Hira took his time, sending out a few cautionary attacks to get the feel for how Tatsuo was moving these things. Although he still had a tough time landing a hit on any of them, he was starting to learn the patterns they seemed to follow.

"Hope you aren't just doing the same thing over and over again to dodge my attacks," Hira said, but before giving Tatsuo enough time to react flung the end of his whip from one target to a nearby one without pulling it back, managing to grab onto it. Although he wasn't sure he had enough strength at the moment to snap it in half, he was certainly holding it in place. A grin spread across his face as he began to snicker, giving Tatsuo a cocky grin.

[WC 395;Total WC 1219. Post 3/5]

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo couldn't help but smirk as Hira began to get cocky, he was a lot like that when he first started training for real. It felt good to succeed in the small things, but Hira would never progress if they kept at this level. As the wood snapped under the pressure of his wooden whip, Tatsuo nodded and looked to Hira. "Nice catch, but if you think the others will break so easily, you've got another thing coming." Tatsuo truly began to exert himself now, the pressure of his chakra could be felt as the wood started to increase in speed and intensity, "Now, let's see how you do under pressure!" And just like that, the wooden tendrils went to strike him. If they were to hit Hira, they would just wrap around him before letting go and continuing the little game. They weren't striking with enough force to hurt the boy, but this took a lot of concentration and chakra from Tatsuo. He probably shouldn't be pressing himself so hard so soon, but just the thought of pushing Hira to his limits and helping him improved filled him with a vigor that he couldn't really pinpoint. "You won't get anywhere unless you fight like your life depends on it!" With that he continued to funnel chakra into his wooden beams which now numbered five, all circling Hira like a shark hunting it's pray in open waters.

"NOW WIN!" he shouted to Hira as the wooden tendrils shot towards him from every angle, allowing him just a small window to either escape, or defeat them. The path Hira chose was up to him, but inaction would give him nothing but defeat. He knew that if Hira truly wanted to, he could fight and fight hard, he'd seen it against Kaen, despite the difference in level, he kept up with Hoshi and Tatsuo to the best of ability. Tatsuo had all the confidence in world for him, but whether he could bring it out in full force was yet to be seen. Just how much did Hira value victory.

WC: 1496
Post Count: 4/5

 

[Hirateuchi]

Tatsuo really wasn't planning on going easy on me from the start, was he, Hira thought to himself as the boy called out shortly before sending a bundle of branches his way, intending to strike. Hira yelled out, partly in determination, but also partly due to frustration, "Don't think just because you're stronger than me... Don't think I'm going to go down easy!"

Hira planted his hands down on the floor, surrounding himself in a water prison. He knew that Tatsuo's jutsu was easily more forceful than his own, at least at his current power level, so he needed to think quick and put a stop to them. Battles could be won more than one way, and they did not always require brute force. Condensing the chakra infused water, the tendrils struck without mercy, attempting to restrain Hira, but as soon as they entered the water, they were halted just long enough from the resistance for Hira to jump out and start the hand signs for another small jutsu to buy himself time. As the wooden creations continued to pursue him, he would dash away, leaving pressurized mist in his wake.

Looking behind him, the tendrils were starting to pursue Hira more and more slowly. If he could last until Tatsuo ran out of chakra, he would have overcome the attack, but he knew that enough was not a solid strategy to victory. The wood, though, even when infused with chakra was still wood. Every time it went in for the finishing blow, it became more and more soaked with Hira's water, weighing it down significantly, at least Hira would hope.

After running around for a few more seconds, Hira found himself in an opportunity to finally make a counter-attack. I hope I slowed them down enough for this to work... Hira took one last deep breath before stopping in place, looking as though, even if for a moment, he might have given up; however, with a swift and powerful motion, just as Tatsuo's attack began to encroach dangerously close, Hira lifted his arms, and up followed a strong torrent of water, obscuring Hira from sight, as well as the outcome of the last strike.

[WC 365; Total WC 1584. Post 4/5]

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo was only looking for action, the hunger inside Hira that was required to be strong. Tatsuo would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't at his limits as well, but this was an exercise for the both of them. Despite the varying skill levels in the two shinobi, Hira was not as weak as he lead himself to believe. Tatsuo could see the blazing spirit inside him and he intended to bring out the inferno inside him. Just as all seemed lost, the tendrils going for the kill on Hira the boy showed a last push of determination. His arms lifted and shot a powerful water stream of water which tore through Tatsuo's wood. Bit by bit, piece by piece, they were shredded until it was only a couple of splinters moving in his direction.

Tatsuo stopped giving chakra to the wooden tendrils, which fell to the earth as if they were just normal sticks. He bent over placing his hands on his knees. He had pushed himself too hard, both of them were told to avoid any type of strain as they recovered, but they both needed to be stronger. They could never lose like that again, if they were to defeat Kaen they could not afford to be idle. And despite the advice of a plethora of doctors and nurses from the hospital they could not be discouraged. They would become strong together.

Between labored breaths, Tatsuo looked up to Hira and grinned from ear to ear. "You did it, buddy. I knew you could." he said as he made his way to sit on the grass. Despite being so tired and drained, he could only laugh. This was the type of life he wanted to live, getting stronger alongside friends, he knew deep inside himself, they would one day change everything. If a shinobi from the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Cloud could share such a determination, who knew what the world would be like when they're adults. After a few moments, his stomach grumbled and he let out a loud groan. "Ugh... we need food."

WC: 1847
Post: 5/5
Tutor Complete!

 

[Hirateuchi]

Hira almost couldn't believe that he had been able to stop Tatsuo's attack. He had confidence in his method, but he still felt as though he didn't have enough power to stop the wood outright. Perhaps the fight with Kaen really had pushed him to want to become stronger. He fell to his back and lay, exhausted and gasping for air. He too was working much more than he probably should have considering what the doctors had told the boys, but if he were going to commit to the shinobi life, he would have to train even if his body didn't want him to. During that fight with the demon of the sand... Hira saw what true power was... and what it was to abuse that power in order to hurt others. For a long time, Hira wasn't sure he had wanted to become a shinobi, but that was the final motivation he needed to push him over the edge. Somebody that strong... if he wanted to protect his family, his friends...

"Yeah, I'm parched. I could really use some more water to freshen up. You have no clue how dehydrated you get doing that for so long." Hira began to sit up, a faint smile curved onto his lip. It didn't matter that he was a shinobi of Kumogakure, or that he didn't truly belong to this nation to being with, just as it didn't matter that Tatsuo was one of the Leaf. In Tatsuo, Hira had not only found a friend but somebody who would continue to push him to his limits so that he could look back without so many regrets.

[WC 274;Total WC 1858. Post5/5]