Starring:
Date: August 17, 2016
Summary:
A training session and introduction of Chouko, an emacieted student who has joined the academy despite the pressures of the Storm Brigade.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Class of 0015': A Shinobi's Bread and Butter"
Kumogakure Academy
For those recently inducted into the Academy it is a new and exciting day. One that offers the promise of one day becoming a shinobi, a defender of the Land of Lightning. Something that was quite appealing until the Storm Brigade attacked Kumogakure directly. The direct response to the Storm Brigade's attack lead to massive property destruction as a tidal wave reached the city that stands upon the mountain, and from that day academy attendance dropped significantly as worried mothers restrained most prospective students from going. It became 'too dangerous'. Perhaps that is why Chouko's entire class consists of only a few brave students whose parents were highly patriotic.
The few students who have decided to come despite all the risk are now asked to report to the academy for their first series of lessons. Perhaps this wasn't day one of the academy for some, but everyone whom would join Chouko that day were all in the same situation as she. Those had already arrived so early in the morning were already taking in the new sights, including the rows and rows of a variety of blunt weapons all along the walls that might provoke a feeling of awe.
Most might have not been paying attention to the girl standing in the middle of the training fields, with glasses upon her face and a book containing her curriculum for the day. Shoulder-length raven hair, violet eyes with pupils that were slitted, and occasionally the girl that was likely not much older than the students here would flicker a strangely serpent like tongue from between her lips. To many, these were fair indicators to the girl being of the Hebisuuhai clan. The greatest indicator, however, was a white snake that coiled around her waist a few times, whose head was also raised and reading the very same book that Sakuya herself was. "Ready." Sakuya closed the book as she slipped her glasses off her face and folded them up, slipping them into her chuunin vest. "Alright, students! Line up! Today is going to be a fun day. Today, we're going to be punching the teacher." - "This has to be the best idea you've ever had. Getting yourself punched. I love it." The second voice did not come from Sakuya, but from the white serpent known as Zuzu. Sakuya's partner in 'crime'. "Shush, Zuzu…" Sakuya snapped the curriculum shut and slipped that into her chuunin vest soon after. "Basic Taijutsu is the foundation of a shinobi's combat retinue, and is the most important. It is the bread and butter of what it means to be a shinobi."
Patriotism and parents are not the reason Chouko is a student at the academy, but she does like the idea that the class seems more small. Less students means more time with the teachers which means faster graduation. The very thin girl, who had just arrived in Kumo a few days ago, unattended by any adults, had been staying in one of the nicest inns in the city, waiting to hear word that she could begin her training at the Academy. And so it seems that day has come. She walked slowly through the school, looking at the weapons. Still wearing her fine yukata, and smelling of scented water. Not a typical ninja. But more odd is the look on her face: eyes half closed, bags under her eyes and very pale skin. The youth looks…sick. To accompany this look, at least once or twice a minute she seems to cringe as if feeling some sort of unseen pain.
Slowly the girl makes her way to the training feild, her eyes opening a bit more when she notices the girl, not much older then her, with the snake. Color comes to her cheeks when she sees how much older she is the the rest of the students. She tries to take a deep breath, as she listens curiously. She tilts her head curiously when the teacher mentions that they are supposed to punch her. Nervously she raises a frail hand.
As the class begins, another figure can be seen leaning against one of the matted walls of the training grounds. When he arrived, nobody can really tell, heck most of them may not even know he's there yet. Hiei's twin swords rest in their sheathes on his back as he watches Sakuya begin to teach her class. Seems the subject was taijutsu, a skill set near and dear to his own heart. When Sakuya informs the class that they'll be punching the teacher, he actually chuckles a little. "Now that brings back memories." He comments offhandedly to himself as he crosses his arms over his chest and continues observing. He should have summoned Seer, he might have been interested in how the human kids are educated in relation to the goat kids from his own village. He ildy pushes a lock of white hair out of his face as he pushes away from the wall, moving to a better position so he can see how this goes down.
The raising of the hand confuses Sakuya. OH! Oh… Her hand soon reaches her face. "Forgot to ask if there were any questions…" She would whisper to herself before raising her head and pointing out towards Chouko. "You there… One with the…" … Suddenly, she would contact her snake via direct genjutsu as she transmits an illusory voice into «Good rye, Zuzu… Look at her. She… She looks like she hasn't eaten in weeks. That's unacceptable…» Zuzu's response was also made through genjutsu, »Oh, quite so. I bet the students will make fun of her more than she made fun of you for being creepy-looking.« - «Go die.» … "White hair! The one with the white hair… Do you have a question?" She asks. »Sakuya, heads up. The Raikage's scent appeared suddenly. He is here, somewhere.« - «Why don't you go say hello for me?»
The result of that question spoken without words, but as a meeting of the minds caused the serpent to slowly coil off the young chuunin and across the ground, as he worked his way over to Hiei. Hiei would watch the serpent meekly heading his way. In his general direction. He still hadn't found the Raikage other than through scent. Unlike Sakuya, who had initially been scared of Hiei, Zuzu was still a bit… fearful.
"Taijutsu…is more important then N-ninjutsu?" Chouko asks in a nervous voice, her eyes slowly blinking, and half opening. Wheat, she asking to have to actually hit things, this is going to be embarrassing. Her head, very slowly turns to watch the snake sliver away, her raised hand lowering to give Zuzu a little shy wave as she watches the creature move over to Heiei, before very slowly turning her head back to look at Sakuya, blushing a little.
Hiei comments from where he's sitting. "Well, no discipline is more important than the other. It's all about what you want to specialize in, however, with that being said, it's always a good idea to be a well rounded shinobi. There may be times in your career when Ninjutsu isn't a great option. Or you might be low on chakra in the middle of a battle. Taijutsu is a great skill to have. But that's just my humble opinon." He looks down at the floor when Zuzu approaches. He holds out his hand as invitation for the snake to slither up his arm and get comfortable. "Hello there, Zuzu. It's been awhile." Hiei seems pretty laid back and everything, possibly even in a good mood, considering the stuff going on in the village and in the shinobi world as a whole.
"Great question." Great answer from Hiei. She isn't going to exactly counter Hiei's opinion, but there is one thing she can say. Sakuya would straighten up as she looked at the ground, slipping her hands behind her back and grabbing her forearm with her other hand.
"See… I left the academy seeking to excel in the art of Genjutsu. Genjutsu, the art of illusions. Misdirecting enemies and creating opportunities to strike, but as I excelled in genjutsu I realized that there were issues that genjutsu could not solve. While I could make my opponents writhe on the ground in pain, it needed something more. I often fell behind my peers during scouting missions that required speed above all else, and many times when I was pinned by the enemy, I found myself useless."
"So I branched, and fell in love with Taijutsu even though at the very beginning I thought most of the kids picking up Taijutsu were… A bunch of lug-heads. I was going to pursue some passionate art of the unreal, but in the end… A shinobi that focuses on one thing is bound to find situations that will put them at risk if they do not have -all- the tools available to them. Today's lesson is showing you what I call the 'bread and butter' of being a shinobi, but to put it in perspective, a shinobi that simply eats bread and butter is bound to come into nutrition problems down the road… SO!" Sakuya claps her hands. "My name is Hebisuuhai Sakuya. If I recall, you are… Itami Chouko… Correct? How about you throw the first punch?"
A fair number of kids let out groans, many of them having trained daily with their own punches and were itching to throw it at something.
Zuzu rope-coiled himself in a spot beside the Raikage. "Raikage-sama. An honor… Are you planning to scope out the incoming talent today?"
Chouko's head slowly moves between looking at Sakuya and who she doesn't know is the Riakag, gently nodding to the man. This is her first time seeing him, and very likely the first time he would have seen Chouko. But she may remind him of another sickly looking ninja that trained in this very academy a generation ago. She takes a little sigh. Okay, that is not nearly as bad as she thought. "T-that makes sense." Chouko fiddles with her left hand, making a fist and looking at it nervously before looking up at the older girl. She takes a deep breath. "Y-yes, that is my name." She then takes a stance she read about in a book and charges, letting out a warrior yell, and attempting to punch Sakuya hard in the stomach. Well hard for her.
COMBAT: Chouko attacks Sakuya with PHYSICAL with a roll of: 12
COMBAT: Chouko attacks Chouko with SHARP with a roll of: 13
COMBAT: Chouko defends against SHARP(13) attack from Chouko with a TENSE…4
Hiei returns Chouko's nod with a smile and nod of his own before he looks down at the snake. He then does a sort of double take with Chouko again as his brows knit together for a moment, then he shakes his head slightly before speaking to Zuzu. "Yeah, something like that. I'm glad to see that classes are still going on. I understand some parents have pulled their kids out because of the attack, and I can't really blame them." He chuckles. "That, and I have an ulterior motive for being here. My son's class is after this one, and I wanted to sit in on it to see how he's doing. I had planned to be really quiet so he doesn't notice that I'm here." He lifts his chin towards Sakuya. "So how do you think she's doing?"
RP: Sakuya transforms into SPAR-II.
COMBAT: Sakuya defends against PHYSICAL(12) attack from Chouko with a BLOCK…22
"Decent. She has a tendency to lecture on and on. Not teacher material in my opinion, but the times are tough, and much of the staff in the academy are taking part in shinobi operations…" Zuzu lowers his head. "I suppose they are, anyways." Zuzu stops talking a moment, because snake vocal aren't meant to be used for speaking, this they wear out quickly. "… … … … This is an opportunity to gain experience in a new area. That is all. She has yet to tell, and may not get the chance to tell the Head Ninja what her specialization will be, because she has yet to find one."
Sakuya lowered her hands to her side as she took a deep breath and prepared for the worst. Honestly, there have been students who have looked like they were weaksauce, but have ended up knocking her to the floor. What is more embarassing than a chuunin getting floored by a student? Little more is embarassing. Yet, the attack was easily caught between her hands… Yet… The smell of blood alerted Sakuya that something had gone terribly wrong. "… Chouko? What's that?"
Frail is how one may describe the young Chouko. She is about 11 years of age, short and thin. Her face is very narrow, and almost sickly, with sharp cheekbones, a pointed chin and dark circles below her eyes. She sees the world through a pair of normally half lidded blue eyes, her hair is white, and oddly well kept. Looking silky and soft to the touch. It is tied into a hip length braid, tied with ornate ties that look like red roses and vines. Her body shows clear signs of emaciation, with long thin arms and legs and if one could see her chest it is obvious that most of her ribs and hip bones would be easily visible. Her skin is very pale, and soft. Her hands showing little to no signs of labor. Chouko is wearing a black and red Yukata. It is made of silk, and seems to be of the highest quality with no imperfections, or marks. The Scene it depicts, a tree with red leaves and red butterflies, is highly detailed. The obi is made of a shiny gold silk, again looking to be of top quality. On her feet are a pair of woven sandals.
As the punch lands there is the sound of a crack, or maybe a crunch, as Chouko's punch lands in Sakuya's hands, clearly the punch hurt the young girl a lot more then the teacher, blood starts to gently drip between the girls fingers as she keeps the hand held tight, "It hurts! It hurts!" she cries, tears starting to well up in her eyes, and a look of anguish on her face. She waits, seeing what Sakuya will do. Chouko must be really hurt or a huuuge oat based on how much she is carrying on.
Hiei watches the scene unfold as he continues his conversation with Zuzu, though he can tell the snake was tiring out. "If you need to use genjutsu or something, you have my permission." He informs him before he comments, "Well, we all have to start somewhere. I was an academy instructor as a Chuunin. Actually well into my Jounin-hood as well. I enjoyed it. Then I became a General and then Kage, so I had to give it up, except for my personal students. I'm sure she'll find her calling soon. In the meantime, I'm focusing on finding the Head Ninja. Excuse me for a moment, Zuzu." He rises to his feet and strides over to where Chouko and Sakuya are. "Shh, Chouko. It's going to be fine." He withdraws some bandages from his belt and cleans her wound before binding it up. The whole process takes perhaps two to three minutes before he steps away, looking at Sakuya. "Forgive me for interrupting, please continue." Now that he's a little closer to Chouko, he studies her for a moment. "You..there's something about you that seems really familiar to me. We haven't met before today, right? Do you have an older sister that I might know?"
COMBAT: Hiei heals Chouko for 310 with FIRST AID.
Sakuya semeed to visibly freak out when a student started to bleed after throwing a physical punch… Sakuya backed away, looking convinced that she had made a mistake. Thankfully, the Raikage appeared. "Hiei… Ah… I didn't… Okay." Carry on as she was, it seems… She seemed to inch away from Hiei a moment before calling out to the other members of the class. "That won't happen to everyone, I promise! Line up and start punching me… One at a time!
A few students hesitated after seeing Sakuya apparently draw blook out of Chouko. However… Eventually, Sakuya started getting what she wanted, one at a time.
[NPC System]: Student #1 roll(s) Physical vs Sakuya from 5 to 20 and get(s) a 11. - Rolled by: Sakuya
[NPC System]: Student #2 roll(s) Physical vs Sakuya from 5 to 20 and get(s) a 19. - Rolled by: Sakuya
[NPC System]: BEEFY Student #3 roll(s) Physical vs Sakuya from 10 to 25 and get(s) a 16. - Rolled by: Sakuya
The funny thing is right when Hiei attends to her the girl stops crying, and just lets out a sigh, slowly opening her left hand, several shards of thin glass sticking out of her skin. She looks up at Hiei, a slightly upset look on her face…oddly enough some of the wounds seem to be alredy closing, and she doesn't flinch when any of the glass is taken from the bloody hand. "T-thank you…" She looks over at the other girl, only 2 years older then her and blushes, she can't help but think to herself. 'well now I look like a baby.' But she lets Heie take her aside before looking up at him. "M-my mother trained here a long time ago…you might have known her. C-chou." She then rolls her eyes. "Also you ruined it." She starts to unwrap her bandaged hands, the cuts already healed.
Hiei tilts his head at Chouko for a moment as he realizes two things. One, he interrupted her tactic, and two, she was Chou's kid. Wow. "No kidding? You're Chou's daughter? That's awesome. I remember her shop. My Mom knew her, my sister and I used to tag along when she went shopping. They worked together as shinobi. Mom says she was a bit of a..well..she liked to have fun." He then looks at Sakuya. "Don't look so freaked out. I think it probably would have worked. Great tactic. I wouldn't have had the guts to do it at her age." Though he hoped Sakuya wouldn't do the whole 'hit me' thing when Shun's class came in. The kid was a little taller than his classmates and physically stronger due to his Yotsuki blood. Not to mention Hiei had been showing him a few things about taijutsu.
Chouko looks up at Hiei "I didn't know she kept a shop here along with the one back home." She then looks down nervously and nods her head. "I guess before me she did a lot of stuff…helped with the pain." She then giggles when he says her tactic would have worked. "I don't mind hurting myself it helps!" she says as if that is a totally normal thing to say. "I can't hit hard at all when someone is expecting it." She then just watches the leson go on for a while, before looking up at Hiei and then Sakuya, "Can I have another turn?"
RPCOMBAT: Sakuya defends against with a BLOCK…21
RPCOMBAT: Sakuya defends against with a BLOCK…20
RPCOMBAT: Sakuya defends against with a BLOCK…12
Sakuya would watch as each promising student came up and ran up to throw a fist at her. The first one would have his punch redirected to the side. Easily. The next one was a little harder, not a problem. The third one however punched so hard it left a bruise on her arm. Thankfully, sleeves. She ends up rubbing her arms as she smirks a little. "Alright, I know what you're specializing in." Sakuya would giggle. "Alright. I've felt each and one of your punches and the level of power behind them! Next, I'm going to refine that ability by teaching you a few specific attacks, and a few kata to use on your own time… Is everyone ready?"
Most of the students seem to reply, "Haaaai!" Most of them. The beefy kid looks like he had his own taijutsu style in mind.
After the other children had a turn, and she was about to move on, it seems as if Chouko wanted another go. "You want to give it another try then?" Sakuya asked. "I'll allow it. I do not mind. Give me your strongest hit!" Sakuya fell into a prepared stance as she watched Chouko. "Is your cut okay?" She asks firstly, as she wasn't exactly sure how it happened. She moved on and let Hiei solve that issue.
Chouko looks over Sakuya, her half lidded eyes close all the way, as she thinks and readies herself. Her mind racing, trying to come up with some kind of trick, some kind of trap…but she can't think of anything…well might as well show off. She lets out a loud scream and runs towards Sakuya, punching as hard as she can, hoping that Sakuya is still nervous enough that she can also pick pocket the chunin….just to show she can.
COMBAT: Chouko attacks Sakuya with PHYSICAL with a roll of: 14
COMBAT: Chouko attacks Sakuya with STEALTH with a roll of: 9
Hiei has gone silent as he watches the exchange between Sakuya and the other kids. When Chouko takes another shot at her, he simply watches. He's looking at her footwork, her stance, and even her breathing as she throws her punch. It was mostly habit for him at this point.
Sakuya readied herself as Chouko came inbound! Tricky! Yet, there was something even more tricky happening. Her punch was a sort of distraction, and she could see her hand reaching over to one of the pockets of her Chuunin vest. Oh no. Not that again. Not smoke bombs in her vest. After teaching for about a week, she has started to grow wary of what sneaky students are capable of, and she could sense based on the vibrations of her fingers touching her pouch that she was attempting to do something she knew was going to discredit her in front of the other students. As the punch came, as a result, Sakuya deflected it, but not just away, she guided the momentum of the fist to strike the fist that was sneaky-sneaking into her pocket. "Nice try student!" She says as she pokes Couko in the head with a finger. "You're not the first to try something clever like that! You're showing a lot of promise. Good work!"
Chouko's footwork is sloppy, her stance is barely noticeable. But there is an odd grace and confidence in the way she moves to attack. Just like her walk, she seems to run with the poise and grace of a aristocrat, not of a shnobi. She is not fast, and her breathing is ragged, but it always seems to be that way, as if each breath causes the girl a sharp pain.
"Yaaah!" Chouko calls out, before making a squeak when her head is poked, she slowly pulls both arms back and looks down sad that both plans failed…but when she is told she is showing a lot or promise she perks up and grins! "Th-thankyou!" She then happily runs over, but doesn't join the other students, but instead Hiei and the snake.
Hiei and Zuzu are currently chatting about the benefits of being cold blooded. Of course Hiei is taking the stance that the outside forces would weigh too much and that he would be all sluggish and stuff during the winter months. Of course, they're chatting quietly as not to disturb Sakuya and the rest of the class. However, when Chouko comes over and looks up at her to see if she had a question or something. He does chuckle a little at Sakuya..mostly because he's been there. During his first week of teaching he'd been suckered with that smoke bomb trick more times than he'd care to admit before he wised up. "So..Chouko. What do you think of taijutsu so far?" He asks the girl.
"It will need to be a last restort." Chouko says with a little giggle looking up at Hiei. She is panting, and looks exhausted just from that little bit of running. Followed by another pain spasam, she slowly looks up at the man. Still not aware that he is the kage of the village. Kages are all old wrinkly guys, right? She then looks down at her feet. "M-my body isn't made for tajutsu….S-so you knew Chou?" She says perking up and giving a toothy smile.
With the focus off Sakuya, the focus would return to Zuzu. "I actually meant the personality trait, however I could argue that the physiological state is actually more beneficial due resource mana-" The snake hisses as someone approaches, cutting his sentence off and raising his head. Listening carefully, he would determine that Chouko is not fit for Taijutsu. Not at all. Ninjutsu would have to be the way to go. Even that would require a fair amount of endurance. Chakra after all is derived from natural stamina.
"It will need to be a last resort." Chouko says with a little giggle looking up at Hiei. She is panting, and looks exhausted just from that little bit of running. Followed by another pain spasam, she slowly looks up at the man. Still not aware that he is the kage of the village. Kages are all old wrinkly guys, right? She then looks down at her feet. "M-my body isn't made for tajutsu…." She then looks over at the snake then Sakuya and blushes "May I be excused?"
Hiei nods once. "Yes. She was a friend of my mother's. Though I haven't seen her in years. I got caught up with my career as a shinobi. However, I haven't formally introduced myself. I'm Yotsuki Hiei, Raikage. Though you probably knew that already." He waves a hand, "Don't sweat it. Taijutsu is not for everyone. Though it wouldn't be a bad idea to at least have the basics." When she asks Sakuya if she could be excused, he goes quiet to let her answer, not wanting to hold Chouko up if she needs to be somewhere.
Sakuya would be in the midst of showing the other students a few healthy kata to practice, and when Chouko came to ask to be excused the instructor sighed. "I… I suppose! However, I'm going to need to make up the work with you later! Stay well, Chouko." The serpent himself would also nod. "Go get something to eat while you are out." The serpent demanded. "You won't survive academy with a figure like that."
