Starring:
Date: September 29, 2011
Summary:
Raili trains a village of beekeepers (and Aburei) to deal with the hive-raiding bears known as the Huns.
"The Musical - I'll Make a Man Out of You"
A rural village [Land of Fire]
"Bleeeeeh." Raili wakes up from slumber due to a sudden sharp pain in her head. "What the heck…" Raili attempts to rub the top of her head but, is blocked off by some sort of invisible force field. It'd take a bit but, she'd eventually decide to open her eyes. "Whaaaaa… Oh Kami!" Raili's eyes widen at what she saw before her, a door but, not any door. It was UPSIDE DOWN, including the entirety of the room itself. "They really did it, they flipped the world! What are we going to—"
The rest of Raili's body slides off the bed, heels over head, a scrunched up Raili rests by the bed she was given as she starts to slowly seperate her own dream from the real world. Soon she'd figure out that she herself was just upside down and roll over, splaying out on the floor with a flop. "Hnn… what time is…" Miss Kushrenada takes a look at her bracelet and goes into shock, it was twenty minutes after she told the group of boys to gather up for training.
A good thing she was skilled at quick changing, off would go off her pajamas and with the aid of summoning, she'd suddenly be in her usual attire. Lacking quite a bit of gear but, that didn't matter, she'd dive out of the window and suddenly appear before the squad. The obvious hints of her only just waking up being the tired look on her face, combined with only one of the pig-tails on the left side. Her shoes were also on the wrong foot.
"Uh…" Raili rubs her eyes, trying to get a better bearing of things. Why exactly did she decide to begin training at 5 in the morning? It sounded reasonable if you know… SHE wasn't in charge of it all. Having to wake up so early sucked, the cold temperature sucked, and she's pretty sure she could've delved back into that crazy awesome dream if she made the training time later.
Aburei waits outside with the rest of the folk who've elected to take Raili's training in defense of their village. It was a bit of a hassle explaining things to the rest of the villagers who weren't there for the attempt at banditry; people were busy scolding the boys, some of the farmers had the stereotypical distrust of outside folk, and a lot of things got mixed up as people asked questions and misunderstood answers. In the end, though, most of the townsfolk seem to welcome any help they can get with their situation. Of course, now more questions are arising as the hard-working farmers eye the daylight starting to burn. "Where is she? Should've gotten going an hour ago." "Is she really that capable?" "Why doesn't she just handle the bears herself?" Aburei tries to bolster everyone's patience. "I'm sure Raili-san has good reasons for how she does things. Maybe this is some kind of test — " Oh hey, there she is! …And doesn't she look…charming. n.n; "Um, good morning, Raili-san. We're ready to get started." :)
Raili was talented at one thing, thinking on her feet and not cracking or fumbling under pressure like most would. A small smirk hits the young Jounin's face before she gives the group a dynamic thumbs down. "Hah, standing around and waiting for me are you?!" Raili bellows, her face somehow managing to stretch across the field rather easily.
The Kumo nin leans over and whispers to Aburei, "Morning by the way. Thanks for holding things together." Aburei gets a flash of a grin before she goes back to her dynamic hand gestures, pointing at the crowd. "If you were serious about defeating the Huns, you would've began to work out already! You must not want to stop them, are you looking for true pity?!" She slams her hands down on the podium… that was… there for some reason, it apparently appeared with Raili. "The first step to becoming a warrior, you must believe in yourself and already be willing to become great warrior you envision yourself to be." Raili peers down at a boy that seemed to lack composure all together, "Maybe I should just leave you all here to be eaten? Yeah… doesn't seem like you want to train anyway."
Raili leans forward, her eyes scanning over the crowd below. Many of them already looking discouraged and or terrified by her sheer volume alone. Slowly easiing back she pulls out a container full of staves and tosses them to fighters to be. "We have a long way to go…"
Several of the villagers make fist-to-palm 'So that's how it is :o' gestures or hang their heads like scolded children. Aburei blinks at Raili's aside to him. "Um, you're w — " Eh, better not respond, actually. e.e; The villagers, especially those who were part of the bandit party earlier, start to barrel out their chests and flex their muscles, a few even running in place or dropping to do push-ups. "We're serious, Sensei!" "Please forgive our lack of initiative!" "Teach us, we're ready!" This last statement is somewhat contradicted as the staves clatter amongst the group, causing jumps and clumsy grabs. Aburei is, surprisingly, one of the few who actually manages to catch a stave. o.o He smiles for a moment, then realizes something: he's in the middle of the School of Hard Knocks, isn't he? c.c; Gulp.
Raili does not know why she tossed out the staves, she actually didn't really know how to use them properly! They seemed to be the approriate training tools though so she beams at the reactions from her pupils. There would then be an odd ticking that radiates from the girl like some sort of clock. "Now then, I want you all to clear your mind. Try to be as empty headed as possible. Think of nothing other than training don't think on flexing though, you're embarassing yourself."
Turning her back to the group, she'd look off into the distance. The girl would begin to gather a large amount of chakra, unbeknownst to the little army of non-ninja. "Relax…. relax…." Raili then glances over her shoulder and spreads her chakra all throughout the crowd. A genjutsu link being established within all at the same time. Something usually difficult for a genjutsu user in actual combat… it proved easy when all of them lacked any Genjutsu training and actually cleared their mind of everything except her planned theme.
"Now then… let's get down to business." Raili hops down in front of the crowd and strikes a stance with the staff. Everything would seem strangely tense and suddenly she slips the staff into the handles of two jars, lifting them into the air and with an elegant twist she'd smash both pots with staff strikes before they land. Her normal talking would shift into song as she continues on…
o/` To defeat, the huns! o/` Suddenly their brains would be filled with images as if they had been training for hours, false memories being placed into their minds before they find themselves all challenging Raili at once, the girl easily evading their attacks. o/` Did they send me daughters? When I asked, for sons? o/`
She spirals her staff about, easily taking them all done. o/‘ Your the saddest bunch I’ve ever met. But you can bet, before we're through… o/‘ She appears in front of Aburei’s face, o/‘ Mister I’ll, make a man. Out of you. o/` With that she shoves Aburei back with the staff.
Aburei tilts his head while Raili talks. Clear your mind? Relax? That's just the sort of thing he tells people before going into a tune…is Raili-san going to…yyyup, looks like it's genjutsu time! Gosh, Aburei has more in common with Raili-san than he thought! n.n He'll have to show her his own illusionary talents later. …Yyyeah, on second thought, she probably wouldn't find them very impressive. ._.
Aburei is suddenly jerked out of those thoughts when he finds himself participating in a group assault against Raili. o.O Wow, he wouldn't have been so quick to strike at anybody on his own choice. Yet here he is, flailing helplessly with the rest of them while Raili shows them how it's done. Aburei shrugs (or would if he were in control) and lets the illusion proceed. He knows well enough that nobody can get hurt in — WHOA! O.O; Oof. Okay, maybe his pride can get hurt a bit. x.c;
Day 3: o/` Tranquil as a forest! o/`
None of the men except, possibly Aburei would really notice that Day 1 suddenly finished and Day 2 was nothing but, a memory. Training with the staff technically continued though in between there was a bit of archery sometime during Day 2. Raili would be in front of the group with a bucket of water balancing on her head, staff in hand, and one step away from the edge of a cliff, she looks at them and gestures for them to toss the rocks in hand at her. With elegance she'd step about, swinging the staff about and deflecting all the rocks.
Slamming the end of the staff she'd continue on, her fist tensed. o/‘ With a FIRE within! o/` She tosses a staff to one of the boys and places the bucket on his head, which he finds difficult to balance. Raili sets him straight, o/ `Once you find your center… o/` The goes stiff, afraid any movement would send the bucket tumbling off his head. With a thumbs up, Raili backs away, o/` You’ll be sure. To win! o/`
A signal is given to throw their rocks at him and the boy ends up getting nailed by a few before flailing around, accidentally deflecting one rock, barely avoiding a few more rocks as the bucket goes tumbling off the cliff. With a face palm, Raili would grab the staff from the battered boy's hand and toss it to Aburei, dragging the boy away. o/‘ You’re a spineless, pale, pathetic lot. And you haven't got a clue. o/`
The injured boy is propped up against a wall as people start chucking rocks at Aburei, o/‘ Somehow I’ll. Make a man. Out of you! o/`
Aburei looks on with some concern at the state of the boy. Shouldn't he be fixing the poor guy up? c.c Aburei feels the illusion stretch a little as his will starts to disagree with it. Oh, yeah, he's not really hurt, no point in breaking out for that. -.- Aburei lets the genjutsu take full control again, accepting the stave from Raili. Wait, what is he supposed to do with — WAUGH! x.X;
The training starts to flick rapidly through various scenarios. o/‘ I’m never gonna catch my breath. o/‘ A gentle giant of a man and his short irascable companion dash through a field while flaming projectiles whiz around them. o/` Say goodbye to those who knew me. o/` A lanky fellow attempts to break a board with his fist and splinters every knuckle in his hand. o/` Boy was I a fool in school for cutting gym! o/`
o/` This gal’s got 'em scared to death! o/‘ comments a non-trainee watching from the sidelines while Aburei acts as Raili’s <strike>punching bag</strike> sparring partner. o/‘ Hope she doesn’t see right through me. o/‘ Wait, that thought wasn’t from the illusion, it was Aburei's own, but he doesn't know why he thought it. c.c No time to ponder it now, though, because they're all hopping over a fast-running river on thick (but not thick enough) poles. o/` Now I really wish that I knew how to swim! o/`
o/` BE A MAN! O/`
A sudden shift to night: o/` We must be swift as a the coursing river! o/`
The girl would have them hold onto one of her newer inventions, powered by a fuse as opposed to one powered by chakra, dragon faced missiles. They'd all have an intended target but, many of the missiles go wild Raili barely dodging some while some of the villager lookees flail and barely manage to avoid the missiles themselves.
o/‘ BE A MAN! o/` Raili sighs, picking up a staff as they return to their staff training once more, a bit of progress being made but, it was still not enough. Soon they’d have their hands full, Raili blazing through the crew like a wild storm they were all attempting to hit her. o/‘ With all the force of a great typhoon! o/` they’d only end up striking at each other. Thanks to the training they'd actually begin to block in time. But, as Raili makes her own retaliation they eventually are taken down… with a bit of resistance this time. It wasn't enough though.
o/` BE A MAN! o/`
As the combined forces of all her soldiers echo throughout the area as she watches over them go through a bout of spars against one another. o/` With all the strength of a raging fire… o/` She glances up to the dark sky above as the bouts continue on, a bit too fast to really comprehend but… the memory of it all was somehow all in their minds, o/` Mysterious as, the dark side of, the moon! o/`
Aburei has to keep reminding himself (without focusing on it so much that he breaks it) that this is all an illusion. o.o; The blisters, the bruises, the aching muscles…and the soot on his face from trying to lean down and sight along a rocket while firing it off. *.* And most importantly, of course, the danger isn't real. He'd be a very busy medic if it was. Naturally, though, while pretty much everybody experiences some pain, nobody gets injured so badly they'd have to, y'know, stop training. That'd be counter-productive. So they keep whacking away at each other with their sticks, and occasionally are subjected to the humiliation of Raili sweeping through them. Aburei sees her coming once again and resigns himself to the blow…but somehow, his body responded where his brain only saw the inevitable. Did he just block that? o.O Maybe he's actually getting good at — OW! Okay, good is a relative term. u.u;
o/` BE A MAN! o/`
Raili tries to keep up with the incoming staff strikes, she was good at taijutsu, when compared to a common villager. Though she was not anywhere near amazing when it came to ninja, she was soon overwhelmed by the onslaught of staves, all flowing in motion with one another as the group finally learned to work alongside each other. She is swept off her feet and is 'eye' to eye with the end of a staff that lingers a hair away from her face. The singing is no long covered by Raili, instead the 'men 'begin to sing.
o/` We must be swift as the coursing river. o/` They all climb the face of a cliff with weights strapped to their backs with an impressive amount of dexterity and speed.
o/‘ BE A MAN! o/` A group of the trainees spiral about Raili as they prepare a synchronized attack, o/` With all the force of a great typhoon! o/` A flurry of feet and fist would soon come, forcing Raili to ’teleport' out with the aid of ninjutsu. "I'm creating mons-" Her voice is overrun by the loud, o/‘ BE A MAN o/`, They would all be set up with missiles once again, all being launched and hitting or narrowly missing their targets, o/` With all the strength of a raging fire! o/`
Raili begins to clap as she watches multiple boy’s clash with each other under the moonlight, neither side remotely letting up, attempting to use tactics and slight trickery to get an edge on their opponent without being dishonorable as Raili joins them in for the finale of the training montage.
o/` Mysterious as the dark side of… the moooooon! o/`
The illusion breaks… there were some cuts and bruises on the 'men', they also actually felt exhausted and well, most couldn't tell the difference between reality and genjutsu as for when the genjutsu cuts, the sky and everything else was in the same position of when they were still in the alternate world. One of Raili's more advanced genjutsu it was effective for training but, it was obvious she was exhausted from its use as she slumps before dropping to a kneeling position, trying to stifle some panting.
Aburei doesn't know how much effect this will have on his real self, but it sure feels like he's learning something. The other guys certainly seem convinced. And oddly enough, Aburei feels himself really wanting to do well at this. He's never been a combatant and he probably never will be much of one, but he wants to be competent. He wants to be capable. He wants to become a man worthy of —
— Oh hey, the genjutsu's over. c.c Aburei takes a moment to orient himself amidst the trainees, who are chuckling and giving each other tired punches. Hm? Gosh, Raili-san looks more tired than anybody. Aburei kneels in front of her, brushing aside her bangs and peering up into her face. "Are you okay, Raili-san? Here, let me give you some chakra." Aburei places a hand on Raili's chest. He may not have much chakra compared to her, but he hasn't been using his, and it should at least help her recover more quickly.
Raili, too exhausted to really give a proper response, looks up to Aburei when he moves her bangs aside. Her limbs were all wobbling, "Ugh, sorry. I figured it'd be easy to do this since they weren't fighting the genjutsu but, I may of overdid it." Raili closes her eyes, pulling herself together with the aid of the passed on chakra.
"Thank you…" She grins slightly, "Looks like I underestimated you. I thought you were just a regular ol' medic." She then gets to her feet, sustaining a B-rank Genjutsu like that without some sort of underlying kekkei genkai of sorts was difficult enough for the more sturdy.
Raili's decent level of stamina was struggling to keep up. A hand reaches up to place a hand on Aburei's shoulder, "I'm not gonna be able to function properly for a few days at this rate. I'm gonna need you to make sure they keep up the.." With that Raili goes silent and falls forward, her face saved from falling in the dirt by the healing hand as she hangs limp. Alive but, very much exhausted it looks like her part in the training today was done.
Aburei chuckles faintly. "I am just a regular ol' medic. Well, by Neutral Medical Center standards, anyway." n.n; Oops, looks like Raili-san really is exhausted. c.c; Aburei grunts and manuevers Raili into a carrying position. Oof…looks like his muscles haven't developed as much as that genjutsu made it feel like. >.<; Still, Aburei manages to heft Raili up and carry her back into her quarters.
The bandit chief from the day before eyes Aburei as he carries Raili sideways through the door. "Lucky," he mutters. :P
