Starring:
Date: July 30, 2013
Summary:
Midori and Miyo go through an Academy Practicum in order to graduate from the Academy and become Genin. They go through a series of obstacles in the middle of the night.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"M&M are tested!"
Toshiba Forest, Konohagakure
Midori, Miyo, and a slew of the other Academy students have been woken up from their slumber and dragged out of their homes, apartments, huts, what-have-you, to be brought out to the Toshiba Forest clearing. It is the middle of the night, and the people who have taken them out here so far are all familiar faces…either parents, or teachers, or friends…but none of them have been allowed to tell you anything until you get to the clearing. Once in the clearing, you'd notice large bon-fires set up here and there, as well as what looks to be a mini-obstacle course.
The head of the Academy stands on a make-shift stage, an old tree stump near the edge of the clearing, and says, "Welcome students. You must all be tired, and confused. That is good. You are to be tested tonight." He pauses and then starts up again, "And now I hope you're scared too. Get ready, because the next few hours will be hard, dangerous, and a few of you might not make it back to the comfort of your beds." Maybe he's just kidding? He doesn't look it. The man continues by calling out names. "Midori, Miyo…" and a list of others that came before and after are called, "You will be taking this test in teams. If one fails, you both fail." Again, hopefully he is kidding? "When you are ready to go, step up to the starting line…"
The first obstacle in the course looks to be a set of Jounin with kunai waiting for something.
There were only a handful of people who could find Miyo at night, since she occasionally did not return home, and instead decided to loiter over the night in her treefort at the lake, but her dad, Uzumaki Masashi, was one of the people who could. When he had come and found her, preparing to drag her away in the middle of the night, he found her very fiesty and ended up wrapping her up in a binding seal and carrying her over his shoulder all the way to the forest clearing. Even once they had arrived, he left Miyo bound up by the seals and stood nearby, ready to release them, and his daughter at the same time.
One could tell from looking at Miyo she had the same boundless energy she normally did and was quite wound up and raring to take out the frustration of being rudely woken up during the night out on some hapless student. However, when she learned their reason for being there that night, she looks around, curious as to who else managed to make it that far. She was on like, round fifteen for graduation. Maybe she'd pass for once.
Midori was woken up in the middle of the night by her older sister, Chiyoko. The older girl seemed calm and in control even though Midori couldn't imagine for the life of her why they'd be leaving the house so late unless it was some kind of threat. So, Midori simply follows her along to the clearing, and when they arrive things start becoming clear for the young Uchiha. Midori steps forward when her name is called. Thankfully she always kept a small set of kunai in her pyjamas, although what good they'd do her was yet to be determined. "Ok, I'm ready for this," she says to herself, feeling herself get more nervous. In fact she almost devolves into sheer panic, and turns to Miyo. "Miyo-chan, make me angry. I need to angry," she says with pure desperation in her voice.
Being out of your element, without your gear, with unknown assailants…yup, that sort of sums up what a shinobi can have to deal with from time to time. The first obstacle, the pair of jounin, start off with their kunai (blunted wooden ones) held high. If either Midori or Miyo were to try to get past them, the Jounin would throw the kunai at the Academy student's head level…and they would always be thrown at head level. The announcer, aka, the head teacher of the Academy says, "The first obstacle is a test of perception. Step up…step up…"
RPCOMBAT: Miyo defends against with a PERCEPTION…24
Miyo looks over at Midori and frowns. "Angry? Uhm… well… if you say it like that, I don't really want you on my team. I'd like to graduate, and with you.. you know… how you are… you'd just hold me back." She hopes that the psuedo-betrayal of friendship would get Midori pretty riled up. "Oh, and you look totally like skittles after being woken up. Just… awful." Miyo then turns to progress through the obstacle, rushing along after being released by her wonderful father. It was somewhat like releasing some rabid beast. All swirls of loose-flowing gray hair and dark robes as she weaved her way through the rather simplistic "enemy" attack. It was not hard for the somewhat proficient taijutsuits like Miyo to notice that the attacks tended to remain around her head, and were easier to dodge just by ducking and keeping a low profile.
RPCOMBAT: Midori defends against with a PERCEPTION…11
Actually Miyo had been doing pretty well until she insulted Midori's appearance, at which point the Uchiha realised that it was all a set up. Still, mildly annoyed is significantly better than
Actually Miyo had been doing pretty well until she insulted Midori's appearance, at which point the Uchiha realised that it was all a set up. Still, mildly annoyed is significantly better than afraid and anxious. "Thanks for trying, Miyo-chan," she says as she steps up and prepares herself to try and run the gauntlet. She starts running and trying to dodge the kunai as she goes, although one particularly bad dodge gets her a glancing hit to the shoulder. Pretty soon she's through to the other side though, and turns to look at the Jounin while puffing loudly.
The Jounin throwing the wooden kunai almost laugh when they hear Miyo's attempt to anger Midori. Yes, she looks 'just… awful.' Midori makes it through the first obstacle without too much of an issue. Midori on the other hand gets that one hit, and while it might throb for a moment, it really isn't anything to think twice about. With the obstacle over with and the Jounin behind them, a line of torches leads the students into the forest. It is dark beyond the light of the torches. Up ahead, the torches are out, but another set of torches lights up another smaller clearing. What do the students do. What is up ahead? Why the darkness between?
Miyo looks back at Midori and smiles weakly. "I imagine I did not do such a good job, eh?" She then shakes her head. "Come on, anyway, partner. We've got some graduating to do!" Miyo then scoots over by Midori and takes her hand, pulling her towards the next obstacle. Miyo didn't approve of the torches, snce they could become problematic, however, Miyo had some sort of a plan. "Keep one eye closed, it will help maintain your night vision, just a bit, at least, but anything is better than nothing." She then lets Midori go and begins forging ahead, not waiting for anything else to happen.
Midori ignores the other girl's advice, at least for now. The Uchiha clan were supposed to have excellent eye-sight, and even without the Sharingan Midori was certain that she'd be able to deal with any challenges they faced in the dark. She moves off to one side, avoiding the section of the trail where the torches are out (even though she's still in the dark, at least she won't be where any attackers would expect her to be). Who knows? Maybe she can even get the jump on the next challenge! Midori draws a kunai, gritting her teeth as she approaches the next clearing carefully, making sure that she doesn't look directly at any of the torches and spoil her night vision.
As they move through the darkness, around the main path, everything is quiet around them. In the clearing, they would find two Jounin looking after some food and supplies. It might be tempting to grab something, or…the path of torches moves from this clearing back around.
For some, temptation might be… present. For Miyo, adrenaline, determination, and a bit of angst kept her from being hungry, so the food did not really appeal to her. At the same time, she had neglected to remove her robe and… other things, as usual, before going to sleep, or doing anything else for that matter, and was still armed to the teeth, and not exactly hesitant in using them either! She continues onward, ignoring the two jounin.
Midori watches Miyo move around the supplies without engaging the Jounin, and thinks about the situation for a moment. She was well-fed and her chakra levels were high, so its not like the food was necessary to her. It didn't seem that attacking or obtaining the supplies were part of the Graduation Mission brief, so Midori nods in consent to Miyo's decision, and follows the other girl without engaging the Jounin, but still with a kunai in hand in case they attacked her.
The jounin just sit and wait for…something. They do not attack, and soon enough the path takes the duo of students away from the clearing. Ahead, a small gorge with a quick flowing stream appears. A rope hangs in the middle of the gorge, but it is out of arm's reach. They could probably descend into the gorge, but it is dark below, and the torches reach out to the girls welcomingly from across the gorge. The rope might be the quickest way across if they could get to it. It hangs, oddly enough, from a tree-branch that has grown out from the other side of the gorge.
RPCOMBAT: Miyo attacks with TRICKY-SHARP-THROW…34
Miyo moves over to the gorge and looks down, then back at Midori. "This seems a bit… do you ever remember there being a big… thing here?" She gestures towards the gorge, and then looks up to the rope. One could probably jump and grab a hold of it and swing across, but that seemed a little more dangerous than was necessary. "Let's see… I got this." She slaps her hands together and manifests one of her cabledart before winding the thing up, spinnging it like a grapnelling hook, then suddenly releases the thing in a strange arc before stepping down on it and firing it up and over the branch. It quickly wraps around it near the currently standing rope and then Miyo tests it, before looking back to Midori, and then swings across the gorge. She then tosses the cable back over to Midori. "Let's go, buttercup!"
RPCOMBAT: Midori defends against with a GENJUTSU-PERCEPTION…21
"Buttercup?" Midori asks, giving the other girl a strange look. Then she walks forward to the edge of the gorge and looks down. She looks awfully nervous for a moment, and then she steps out. She's not even holding the cord! And then another step, and another, and within moments Midori is across the gorge. "You're right, there isn't a gorge there at all," Midori says as she continues down the path without stopping for Miyo. Maybe this was going to be easier than Midori expected!
The gorge that was mysteriously there before suddenly fades from Miyo and Midori's mind…well, Midori had already seen through the genjutsu, but still. The gorge was never really there. Ahead the torches start to circle back around toward the main clearing. The two student girls would find their Academy Teacher sitting there at the main clearing waiting for them. When they arrive, even if they try to be stealthy and sneak into the clearing, the teacher immediately goes into attack mode. He shoots out a shuriken, followed by a small burst of fire at each student. Combat test time.
[NPC System]: Teacher roll(s) Sharp for Miyo from 10 to 20 and get(s) a 15. - Rolled by: Nori
[NPC System]: Teacher roll(s) Fire ball for Miyo from 10 to 20 and get(s) a 18. - Rolled by: Nori
[NPC System]: Teacher roll(s) Sharp for Midori from 10 to 20 and get(s) a 18. - Rolled by: Nori
[NPC System]: Teacher roll(s) Fire ball for Midori from 10 to 20 and get(s) a 18. - Rolled by: Nori
Miyo grumbles a bit as Midori begins walking across, and rushes over, draws her sword, and chops down the branch to retrieve her johyo. Let the other students panic about some clue being chopped down. She then turns back and rushes after Midori. "Yeaaah, buttercup. It's a flower. Your hair reminds me of a flower. I think buttercups are yellow, but I've never heard of a uhh… green flower." She then twitches slightly as they come across one of their instructors from the academy. When he begins his attack, Miyo moves right into her own assault, releasing a storm of shuriken from one sleeve while the other produces a fan of seal tags which expand into a fan, erecting a powerful barrier in front of her.
RPCOMBAT: Miyo attacks with SHARP…21
RPCOMBAT: Miyo defends against with a SEAL-BARRIER…25
RPCOMBAT: Midori defends against with a CLONE-TECHNIQUE…11
RPCOMBAT: Midori defends against with a CLONE-TECHNIQUE…14
Midori had taken the precaution of sending a clone out towards her teacher before herself. As the attacks get launched at her, Midori has a moment of triumph as she realises she made the right move, tactically speaking. Of course, the teacher had seen right through her technique and aimed the attacks directly at the real Midori, and the student barely has time to even try and dodge. The kunai slices her shoulder, and Midori rolls away as the fireball hits where she was standing just a moment before, the explosion scorching her skin as she hits the ground. Returning to her feet, Midori can feel her anger building. To get so close and lose now! She wouldn't stand for it! The runs forward, managing to avoid tripping on the uneven ground and throws her kunai. "First, a kunai to distract him," she says to herself quietly as she starts forming handseals, "Next, a Lesser Fireball to keep him on the run." She breathes the well-formed fireball right at the Academy Tutor. "And finally, a gout of powerful flames to finish him off," she adds, putting together the last few handseals and breathing out a huge, flamethrower-esque river of fire.
RPCOMBAT: Midori attacks with SHARP…14
RPCOMBAT: Midori attacks with LESSER-FIREBALL-TECHNIQUE…12
RPCOMBAT: Midori attacks with FLAME-GOUT…8
[NPC System]: Teacher roll(s) Dodge Miyo's counter from 15 to 40 and get(s) a 34. - Rolled by: Nori
[NPC System]: Teacher roll(s) Dodge Miyo's Seal Barrier from 15 to 40 and get(s) a 28. - Rolled by: Nori
[NPC System]: Teacher roll(s) Dodge Midori's Sharp from 10 to 30 and get(s) a 20. - Rolled by: Nori
[NPC System]: Teacher roll(s) Dodge Midori's Fireball from 10 to 30 and get(s) a 18. - Rolled by: Nori
[NPC System]: Teacher roll(s) Dodge Midori's Gout from 5 to 20 and get(s) a 17. - Rolled by: Nori
The teacher moves into a series of dips and dodges and runs and acrobatics, and he really just looks silly doing it. As he manages to out-manuever the students, and well…rightfully so, he is their teacher, he stops and bows, making the hand-seals for a respectful sparring match. With that, he stands and states, "The test is over. Give the examiners a few minutes to finish the test for the other students and to score you all." With that, he points to the area where they first came in by that tree stump and asks, "Please wait over by the tree-stump until you are called again."
Miyo is about to unleash all hell on their sensei when he requests that they stop… and then she looks a little put out. She was so fired up too! She looks over to Midori and gives her a grin, and then a mischievious snicker. "Let's go, buttercup." She jogs over and hops up onto the tree-stump and plops down on it. "I think we did well. You totall blew some flames there. That was intense. If I had come prepared, I'd have roasted some marshmallows or something."
Midori looks about ready to continue the fight, even after the trainer says that the exam is over. Her fingers wrap around another kunai, her knuckles going white with the tension for a moment before she lets it go. "I guess the mission wasn't actually to beat him," she says, walking away in the direction he indicated, "And don't call me buttercup. They're not even green."
The examiners finish testing everyone. Some of the students fair much worse than Miyo and Midori, some fair better…and others seem to have gotten lost along the way. A few are even arguing by the time they make it to the 'waiting area'. Finally, the head teacher of the academy returns and passes out scrolls to each of the students. On it, are their grades.
Miyo: Perception: C, Stealth: D, Tactics: D, Genjutsu: E, Taijutsu: C, Ninjutsu: D, Will: C - Pass"
Midori: Perception: E, Stealth: D, Tactics: D, Genjutsu: C, Taijutsu: D, Ninjutsu: D, Will: C - Pass"
The grades are meant to show that some of their ability is still student level, but most are Genin or higher in level, which allows them to graduate. They aren't expected to be perfect. This practical test, combined with their written exam, will be what allows them to graduate once and for all.
Miyo looks at her scores, then over at Midori and smiles. "Whether or not you like being called buttercup, I don't know any pretty flowers that are green, so you'll be buttercup." She gives her an even bigger grin then rolls up the scroll. "Looks like I passed… for now."
Rubbing her eyes tiredly, Midori says, "Well we're halfway there now." She looks over to Miyo and yawns. "So, I'm going home to finish sleeping. The written exam is probably going to be even harder than this," the little Uchiha sighs, pushing her hair back out of her eyes, "And my grades aren't good enough to go into the written portion half-asleep. Goodnight Miyo-chan!"
