Starring:
Hiei, Hiroyasu
Date: April 10, 2013
Summary:
Hiroyasu and Hiei get together to train and spar a little. In the process, they find a common bond in friendship
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"A Test of Skill"
Training Grounds - Kumogakure
It was early morning, and Hiei is standing in the ninja academy training center waiting on his partner to show up so that they could get a good workout in. Their physical training up to this point had been grueling, anything from running with weights on their limbs to carrying boulders across their backs. Now it was time to see if any of Ogo-Sensei's training had paid off. As Hiei warmed up by stretching his muscles, he removes his standard ninja tools to replace them with the safter wooden ones from the weapon rack.
Hiroyasu makes his way into the training arena with his 'weighted companion boulder' on his back, the sight of his training partner catches his eye and he approaches him "Good morning, Hiei" he says with a light bow of his head. Before he unties the rope around his waist and slides the boulder off. He looks around for a moment before pulling on the top of it, popping off a lid, he methodically removes all the harmful tools from his belt and places them into the backpack and sealing the top. "Are you ready for this?" he asks refilling the empty pouches with the wooden and blunt replacements.
Hiei stands up and turns around when Hiroyasu arrives. He offers his partner a slight smile. "Morning, Hiroyasu-san." He selects a wooden sword from the rack as well. He then eyes the other ninja for a moment as he seems to have removed a top section of the boulder on his back. Shaking his head slightly he comments. "I'm anxious to see how much we've improved thanks to Ogo-Sensei's unorthodox training methods." He pauses. "Did I just see you take the top off that boulder, or was I imagining it?"
Hiroyasu looks in each cardinal direction, up, and anywhere nearby before saying "Yeah I hollowed it out, Makes a sturdy element proof container for my things. Especially my paper tags which are quite fragile until activated by Chakra. Sensei didn't strictly forbid it, it's still heavy" he says loading up on as many Kunai as he can carry. "You have probably progressed well, I am skeptical about myself" he says walking to one of the unused sparring circles.
Hiei shakes his head. "I've seen some of your jutsu. Your sealing power dwarfs my own. That's impressive in my opinon. I admit to focusing more on my physical attributes than my own jutsu, but eventually, I will get better. We both will." He smirks. "Hiro, someday we'll be regarded as respectable shinobi…it'll take hard work, but I know we can do it. Now, let's train." Sticking the wooden sword in his belt, he moves towards the center of the arena. "By the way, you'd better not let Sensei find out about that hollow boulder. He probably won't like it."
Hiroyasu fills each hand with a blunt kunai, "Unless you complain about it, I think he will probably not care. I think it's a decent compromise, I have to carry around a still heavy boulder, but it carries around the stuff I need" he gives a light roll of his shoulders in preparation "I'm ready, Attack at your leisure" he says before adding "I do plan to use some barriers, I need to work on my timing. After the our 'Goat' incident" he says with a shiver and curl of his lip.
Hiei shrugs. "I don't care, he won't hear about it from me." He doesn't bother with a kunai knife at the moment. He simply moves into a fightning stance and begins to circle around Hiroyasu. "Don't remind me about that filthy thing. I took four baths and still couldn't get the stink off." He darts forwards, aiming a punch towards Hiro's shoulder, followed up by a side kick towards his gut.
Hiroyasu attempts to lean out of the way of the punch only to find himself on the end of a pulled punch, when the kick comes it finds nothing but air as the young ninja backhand springs out of the way. A quick dip of his hand into a pouch at his waist reveals 3 kunai which he releases in an quick rising motion, sending them at Hiei in a tight bunch. "It has caused me to start research if you can reverse a barrier to trap something, like a gassy monster goat and it's stink temporary." he adds.
The first kunai knife thrown by Hiroyasu impacts his shoulder, but the second one and the third one he manages to evade by leaning backwards as they barely fly over his face. Hiei takes a moment to rub his shoulder where the first knife impacted. "You're stronger than you look, Hiro." Shaking his shoulder a little, he comments, "I hope you figure it out, though. Really don't want to smell something like that again." He decides not to pull his punches anymore and leaps into the air, spinning slightly to kick out his foot towards Hiro. He uses the strike as leverage to backflip off him and sends a wooden kunai knife on course for him while in midair. "Let's see you dodge this.."
Hiroyasu raises his forearm against the kick only to find it to be used as a launching pad, The kunai blade almost surprises him but he attempts to block it with Kunai in his oft-hand but his coordination is not in sync with the attack and the blunt blade thuds against his chest. "That is going to bruise.. Excellent! " he says with an odd glee, before charging at Hiei trying to catch him either before or right when he lands with a light elbow.
Hiei lands in a crouch and when Hiro comes in with his elbow strike, he blocks it with the flat of his hand. "You'll have to do better than that.." He sends a knee towards his gut and then spins in place, dropping low in an attempt to sweep him off his feet with a kick. "I've been learning taijutsu since I could walk."
Hiroyasu sidesteps the knee, anticipating the tactic of a combination, he leaps over the sweep just barely in a back-flip, the whoosh of Hiei's foot blowing against his face as he's upside down. He shouts "I know, it makes your moves clinical, predictable, and vulnerable" as he throws the off-hand Kunai blade at the extended leg, before hitting the ground several feet away, his hands deep into the pouches filling each empty hand with a kunai knife.
Hiei wasn't anticipating a ranged attack at this distance. He only manages to move his outstretched leg slightly to avoid Hiro's kunai knife. The blade itself manages to cut the cloth on his leg, but doesn't hit the skin underneath. At the other shinobi's comments, Hiei grins. "Predictable? Really. Alright then, let me show something that's not so predictable." He backflips away, getting some distance between the two before he begins making seals with his hands until he finally slams his palms together. "Taijutsu is only one of my talents. Ninja Art: Lightning Needles!" Small bolts of lightning appear around his body and then fly on course for Hiroyasu.
A rush of chakra swirls from the tag in Hiroyasu's hand forming a quick half-sphere in front of them, Each bolt of lightning hits it with a whip crackle and a slight gong as the barrier absorbs them, slowly burning away as the tag turn to ash in his grasp. "I know" the only reply before sending out each blade in a quick flick of his wrist.
Hiei quickly draws the wooden sword at his side and manages to block the incoming kunai knife as he swings it in front of him. He attempts to use the substitution technique to dodge the second knife, but Hiro manages to catch him in the shoulder before he has a chance to. He grunts from the strike and smirks. "You're just so smart aren't you?" He smirks and then points two fingers at the ground, disappearing in a puff of smoke.
Hiroyasu looks round quickly, trying to use his wits to determine the places Hiei could be. "Found you!" he shouts sending a double volley of shurikens at his poorly hidden sparring partner. "I don't claim to be, I let my actions speak volumes" and he disappears in a shower of smoke and sparks.
Hiei growls under his breath when the kunai knife comes for him. "Hiding against this guy is a moot point." He attempts to dodge, but gets hit right in the forehead. Falling backwards from that strike is what allows him to dodge the second one. Rolling back up to his feet, he rubs his forehead for a moment and then looks around. Hiro was nowhere to be seen. However, out of the corner of his eye, he catches a slight sparkle..most likely the sun reflecting off Hiroyasu's bald head. Withdrawing two kunai knives, he growls and forgets to hold back. He leaps into the air and swings at Hiro with the two kunai knives.
Hiroyasu is caught off guard by being detected so quickly, and attempts to block the dual kunai strikes but Hiei's reluctance to hold back actually shatters the kunai in his hands spending a spray of splinters into Hiroyasu's hands and wrists. "Hiei!" he shouts back-peddling in caution and fear, "Calm down" raising his bloody hands in defense. That was not what he expected at all, his hands throbbing in pain, the shards of wood visible in his raised palms.
Hiei advances upon Hiroyasu with his teeth bared and a slightly wild look in his eyes. The shot to his forehead has his Yotsuki blood boiling as well as a large bruise where the wooden kunai knife impacted. It wasn't until until Hiroyasu screamed his name and asked him to calm down that the slightly older shinobi shakes his head as if to clear it. Remorse is immediately reflected in his eyes as he offers a hand. "Sorry, Hiro! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to let my temper get the better of me like that. Here, let me help you up."
Hiroyasu sighs in relief when Hiei comes to his senses, "It's alright, Give me a minute to address these, go get a cool drink of water and splash your face." he says raising up his hands before walking out of the sparring circle and over to his boulder bag, where he sits on it and begins to pull the splinters with his teeth for the large ones. After a minute or two, his hands are free enough that he pulls the only metal Kunai that he had kept in the back of his belt to push the smaller shards of the skin wincing slightly at some which are close to the nerve.
Hiei still looks remorseful as he takes Hiroyasu's advice and walks over to a barrel to get a drink of water. He dunks his head in to drink and to cool himself off. Wiping water out of his eyes, he shakes his head. He didn't know what had come over him. He didn't really want to hurt Hiroyasu, afterall, the guy was probably the closest thing he had to a friend around his own age. He looks down at his hands and shakes his head before walking back over to where Hiro was sitting on his boulder-backpack. "It's nothing serious, I hope. Again, I'm sorry about that. I just…kinda saw red there for a minute."
Hiroyasu looks up from his task, "Not a lot blood, it's just like getting 30 paper cuts. It hurts worse than it looks" he says putting the knife back into the emergency stash in the back of his belt. "Don't sweat it, I just hope that you take that level of focus against an enemy however.. Hiei look, look" he points at himself "Friendly Teammate" he says drawing the word teammate in the air. "Got it?" he asks jokingly before pouring a ladle of water on his hands, then his head. "I'm glad I don't get sun-burnt on the head anymore that hurts worse than these" he says flourishing his palms.
Hiei nods and then smiles a little. "I got it, Hiro. It won't happen again." When Hiro makes a comment about his head, Hiei asks. "I didn't want to say anything unless it was something personal, but why do you shave your head? Surely a guy at your age, male baldness is not an issue yet."
Hiroyasu says "I think you owe me a lunch, got a favorite noodle shop?" pointing a finger gun at him "Oh yeah, well that. Since we're on the same team, I guess you should know. I dishonored my father with a few 'incidents' at the academy. So I am honor bound to wear this shame until I redeem myself. It sucks most of the time, but I don't spend any time or money on hair related stuff and bathing is quick!" rubbing the back of his head before looking up at the sky "We still got an hour or two before lunch, You think your ready for round 2?" he asks with a smile refilling his used Kunai and shuriken from the training equipment.
Hiei nods and sighs slightly. "At least your dad is talking to you. Mine says that he's proud of me for graduating the academy, but I know he still feels that my lack of caring about my training when I was younger is the reason why my sister was taken by a rival shinobi." He shrugs again. "Anyways, I'll treat you to ramen for lunch as a way of saying I'm sorry. I'm ready for round two whenever you are." He also replaces the kunai knives that he used earlier and then moves back out into the sparring area.
Hiroyasu wrinkles his face for a moment, "Ramen is a little heavier a meal than I usually have. We aren't well to do, so it's mostly steamed rice and fresh vegetables." he says before quickly "Don't think I mean your family any disrespect, you pay us well." he says waving his hands in caution. "Oh Look!" he points off in the distance "a Hawk i think.. it's gone now" he says drawing a pair of kunai from the pouch. "Come at me" he taunts rolling his shoulders and giving the kunai a twirl.
Hiei smirks faintly. "A hawk, huh? Probably just a messenger or something. They're around here all the time." He didn't look in the direction at all. Hiro was crafty, and Hiei decided that he'd have to watch him a little. "Trust me, I don't get to eat ramen everyday, though I wish I could. The men in my family are known for being huge muscle bound guys. So my mother feeds me stuff that
Hiei smirks faintly. "A hawk, huh? Probably just a messenger or something. They're around here all the time." He didn't look in the direction at all. Hiro was crafty, and Hiei decided that he'd have to watch him a little. "Trust me, I don't get to eat ramen everyday, though I wish I could. The men in my family are known for being huge muscle bound guys. So my mother feeds me stuff that'll put on muscle mass." He hefts the wooden sword in his hands. "I've been practicing with this thing for a few weeks now. Let's see how good I've gotten." He runs towards Hiro, attacking with a swipe of the wooden sword.
Hiroyasu attempts to dodge the sword only to find it bury into his face with a solid thwack! He backpedals grogigly "Not the Face Hiei! I need it" say with hands on the face, "I think you might have broken something" he sniffles only to suddenly jump backwards flinging the Kunai he was holding towards his opponent. "Your concentration!" he jests
Hiei looks concerned again when Hiro screams that he might have broken something with his last attack. "Oh bam, I'm sorry Hiro. I was really holding back that time!" And it's too late when Hiei realizes that Hiro was only bluffing. The first kunai knife strikes his chest and the young shinobi winces. The second one hits his arm and he blinks slightly, having not even felt a thing. He chuckles. "You throw like a girl, Hiro!" He attacks again with a sword thrust towards his abdomen, and then an angled slash towards his shoulder. "I'm not falling for that again!"
Hiroyasu attempts to parry the blade with his dual Kunai but he fails to overpower Hiei as the wooden blades sliding against the force finding it's target in his gut, causing him to lose his breath "uuuh" he utters before trying to riposte the slash only to have a kunai slip out of his sweaty hand, the wooden sword landing true into Hiroyasu's shoulder. He grasps the blade trying to hold it "Got you!" he shouts trying to play it cool slapping a explosive tag onto Hiei's chest, of the training variety.
Hiei tries to use substitution jutsu to get away from the tag that Hiro places onto him, but the other ninja has a hold of his wooden sword and he's unable to get away. There is a small explosion and Hiei stands with his off hand holding his chest and breathing heavily. "Okay, that hurt. I didn't know you were able to do that, you sneaky pow. What other skills are you hiding from me?" There is a slight smile on his face, an indication that he approves of Hiroyasu's tactic.
Hiroyasu frowns "I don't have the skill to the use the real ones yet, Those training tags only require a tiny fraction of the Chakra and focus. You should practice with some, they aren't powerful but can help with your chakra control." he says taking a step backwards "I do plan to learn them. Very versatile, Think Sensei could teach me?" he asks before looking up "We better stop, or we will be not be able to get lunch before they close until dinner" he says pointing at the sky.
Hiei nods. "Not a bad idea, actually. They could come in handy." When asked if Sensei would teach him, he tries not to laugh. "I..don't think he would. In fact, I don't think Sensei likes us very much." He walks back over to the weapons rack and begins to replace the wooden weapons. "Yeah, and my stomach is rumbling, too. I already missed breakfast." He then straps on his normal ninja tools now that the training was over. "Think you could convince him to teach you?"
Hiroyasu chuckles "I think the only thing I could convince him to show me was a sour face and a blank stare, honestly" joining Hiei in unloading of the training equipment, "I don't much about Sensei, but didn't he say we are the first students that he's had.. I'm sure he'll adjust, or die trying" he says with a chuckle before opening his boulder bag pulling out his ninja tools and re-equipping before pulling out a medkit. "Need any bandages or salve?" he asks pulling out the tools to properly dress his hands.
Hiei chuckles. "No, he won't die trying. /We/ will die from him trying. I go to bed every night so tired that I can barely walk." When Hiro offers first aid, Hiei nods. "Hai." He walks over to a bench to sit down and let Hiro do his thing. "You beat me up pretty good though. I have to honestly say, I didn't figure you'd give me this much of a challenge. Afterall, I hear you pretty much ignored most of the basic combat skills at the academy."
Hiroyasu pulls out a little of salve on the visible minor nicks "This might sting" he says putting the salve on the gash on Hiei's forehead before putting a simple band-aid over it. "Yeah, well that is why my father and I don't really talk and I get a weekly head shaving. However, most of the talents I do have lend their strengths well to ninjutsu in general. I am glad that I have two excellent Taijutsu examples to learn from." he says rubbing his bandaged hands together for a moment "Don't go anywhere, I have a jutsu I want to try" he adds giving his Chakra a moment to stabilize.
Hiei nods. "Like I said before. My father just looks at me and then leaves the room when I'm at home. We don't talk much these days." He doesn't wince when Hiro applies the salve to his wounds. It was his fault for the wound on his forehead, he should have been wearing his forehead protector there instead of around his neck. That's what he got for trying to be stylish, after this, he'd put it back where it was supposed to go. "We're lucky to have a medical ninja on the team. Sensei and I are bound to get injured during missions. Having someone to patch us up on site will be invaluable." When he mentions a justu he wants to try, Hiei looks skeptical. "Eh? It's not going to hurt, is it?"
Hiroyasu sighs and releases a burst of green chakra from his hands then laying his hands on Hiei's shoulders, a surge of restorative chakra filling him with a feeling of relief. Hiro exhales deeply "There you go, Hiei. It's like an instant nap!" he chuckles packing up his medkit and his boulder bag, before strapping it back on "Now Lunch, You might better rested. I'm hungry and tired" he says motioning him to the exit for lunch.
Hiei blinks several times as he moves his arms. He stands up to his feet and does a standing backflip. "Amazing." He sits down long enough to tie on the weighted items on his hands and feet that Ogo-Sensei insisted that he wear everywhere he goes. "I thought medical ninja could only heal injuries. I didn't know you guys could also stave off exhaustion." He tosses an arm around Hiroyasu's shoulders. "Instead of buying you one bowl of ramen, I'll buy you two. Induldge yourself for once. I'm sure your mom won't mind this time." He comments as they walk towards the exit.
Hiroyasu says "I'm having White rice, and vegetables like usual.. just add double pork cutlet" with a chuckle, "We can do many wonders, even share chakra if the situation is dire enough." he pauses "and before you ask, no I can't do that yet." he adds making his way out of the training area with his team-mate, and possibly new friend.
