Starring:
Date: November 19, 2012
Summary:
As Kuoroke attempts to combine Suterusu's chakra sensitivity training with finding out Risu's elemental affinity, all involve discover something interesting, if not yet understood, about her.
"Misfiring Chakra Paper Test"
Sunagakure Training Fields
The strengthening winds and more often sandstorms of the autumn have made outdoors areas, such as the training area behind the academy, less popular. Since it's early enough in the morning for the air to still be cold and the sky to be dark, the training area is even more sparsely populated. Today, however, Kuoroke is up early and he'll be damned if he lets bad weather ruin his day's planning, and the smaller amount of people in the area just means he can devote more time and attention to each and everyone of them here, whether they like it or not.
That figure was already there, the girls told he was going to be training publically, they were allowed to stay home or go with him and the clone with them would seal the place after they left then *poof*. As such, there were three of the figure at that training area. Two of them on either ends of the training yard, blind folded and ear muffed. They were focusing on that sensing ability, ranging their ability as far as possible as data was gathered all around them. The third, the real figure, was going through a series of morning exercise and routines, focusing himself, even while maintaining those extra clones, to strengthen himself into a stronger shinobi.
Risu is there, she's practicing with Kunai and a body target as she waits for whoever the academy sends to test her. Sure she should have been tested back when she was a student but for some reason she never got around to it and now… well, she needs to know so she can try to perfect some kind of elemental attack for the exams, that's her plan anyway. The wind and the sand mean her goggles are on and in place over her eyes as she works, not letting the weather bother her at all as she kills time, waiting for well, whoever it is that is sent to work with her. She knows of chakra paper, but they won't just hand that out to any Genin after all.
As he makes his way from one training ninja to another, Kuoroke eventually notices Risu, throwing kunai at a target. As soon as he sees her, the Kuroki nods to himself, remembering that she had to be tested. With the low amount of people, he has enough time take care of that, himself. First, he approaches the training girl, greeting her with a sharp nod, to verify, "You're Risu, and you need your elemental affinity checked, right? Keep the training up, it'll be taken care of in a moment."
The figure would glance over at Kuoroke and Risu. Red gaze studying them mutely. It was interesting, he was going to be able to help another of their people along.. it seemed to be what Kuoroke lived for. However.. he would never say as such outloud it seems. Watching for a moment longer, the figure would continue that exercise regime. He was attentive, if called for, but it wasn't actually his place to interfer with the testing and as such, he wouldn't bother them. He had his own situation to deal with, afterall.
Risu nods to Kuoroke, as she greets him and hears the instructions. She keeps up the training, throwing kunai at the target. She has half a dozen of them and after throwing 6 she has to walk to the target and retrieve them then walk back to the throw line and start all over. She's not a great shot but that's why she's here working on it to get better after all. She hits about half of the time, but in fairness the target is on a rope and swinging in the wind so harder to hit from the range she's at. Which is the point.
Kuoroke immediately starts walking towards Stealth and his 'friends'. Two steps away, though, he hesitates and reaches into his coat, producing a handful of kunai. He tosses them into the sand under the target. "Use these. You'll save time." With the efficiency of the girl's training increased, he continues his way to the trio. When he reaches them, Kuoroke addresses the one without a mask or earmuffs, without really caring whether this one is 'real' or not. "At least one of you should go and help the girl I just talked to with her training… try to figure out her elemental affinity without being obvious about it, and let me know." After these instructions, Kuoroke continues walking, back into the building of the academy.
The figure paused in his exercise at Kuoroke's approach. Straightening up at the request, a small nod was given. He'd look over at Risu, trying to sense her affinity for himself, before a small shrug was given. That soft tenor voice would croon to Kuoroke, "Very well. I will work with her. Do not use chakra paper then?" One of the extras that was muffled completely would *poof* data gathered, as it were. He'd pause slightly before a shrug was given. "We'll make sure it is known.." With that, as Kuoroke walked off, the figure would half-walk, half-glide over to where Risu had her line at. Arms folding over his chest, that red gaze stared at the kid before him. Still, he tried to use that other sense to figure out what her affinity was.. but.. without a build up, it wasn't being easy. "We need to spar." That soft tenor voice crooned towards Risu. "Better to fight at strength, than limp throws. hai?"
Risu blinks at the request, "Spar?" She ventures, "Ah, I…" She glances towards where Kuoroke went, then back to this stranger, "Oookay?" She says, sounding unsure. "Ah, here? Or?" She glances around and picks up her few kunai that were still in use. She's now armed, the kunai in pockets, "How do you want to start? What rules?" She asks as she moves away from the target area a tad. She had asked for help in finding her affinity, but she was expecting chakra paper and not a spar, still, maybe this is some how better. She's a relatively new genin and so not likely to question such things. She moves to the sparring area and takes up a defensive stance as she looks to the figure who's name she does not yet know. "I'm Risu, what's your name?" She asks," I'd rather know the name of the person I spar, if that's okay?"
That half-glide, half-walk carried him smoothly over to where Risu had set up at. He'd ponder for a moment, letting the other sensor clone go, so that he was focused on the spar at hand. "Well.." That soft tenor would croon, "I.. go by Stealth. My real name is classified.. and unfortunately, you are not important enough to know it.. I do apologize if that sounds rude.. but it is.." A small shrug was given then. "As for the rules.. you try to kill me.. I try to stop it. Use anything and everything at your disposal. Do not hold back, or I will hurt you, hai?" That red gaze stared at Risu for a long moment. "Any further questions, or shall we begin?"
He didn't take a stance, nothing really, the wind whipping past that black covered form would howl within the metal wire he had wrapped about his chest. His own chakra would flow, preparing for the attack, but.. well, she is a genin, so he wasn't going to go.. too.. hard on her.
Risu hesitates then nods, "I see… well…. then…" She grabs a pair of kunai and without much warning throws both at Suterusu, in rapid succession as she already is moving to the side just in case, trying to guage her opponent as she watches nervously, her eyes are hidden by her goggles at the moment as she tries to observe, to find a weakness, or some opening as this is just a simple attack designed to help her learn something about her foe, or so she's thinking.
The figure's hands shifted through a seal, that metal around his chest flickering forward, the strands quickly criss-crossing before him to form a shield that would stop the attacks. Kunai literally grabbed out of the air by the mesh, the wires would uncoil, letting the kunai clink to the ground. He continued that study, still not moving as Risu would circle, waiting and watching.
After a few moments, Kuoroke reappears from the bulding, holding a sheet of the paper Risu expected. Instead of heading to the sparring pair, though, he first makes another round by the others training in the area, unhurriedly giving them instructions, while just keeping an eye on Risu and Stealth as they throw attacks back and forth.
Watching that defense, Risu frowns, realizing this is going to be harder than she was hoping, not that she thought she'd have much luck anyway, against a Chuunin but still. She charges Suterusu, throwing one kunai as she does so, another in her hand as she tries to slash as she tries to rush past him, only to… well, if he notices it, she's trying to pick his pocket mid combat while trying to use the attacks as a distraction for her efforts. She is unsure what she'll get but if it works maybe a weapon? A scroll? Who knows. She's taking a chance but she tends to go sneaky on fighting anyway.
After having stalled for a while, Kuoroke heads towards the fight, rolling the chakra paper in his fingers. He only touches it lighltly, with the tips of his glove-clad fingers, so that his touch doesn't affect the eventual results. As his experienced eyes catch the girl reaching into Suterusu's pockets, one corner of his mouth twitches amusedly. She's taking an unusual approach to this, that much is certain.
Once again, that simple seal would cause the wire to come alive, criss-crossing over itself to catch those kunai again. Even mid combat, his gaze never wavered from Risu. One hand would suddenly snap out, latching on to her wrist that went for the pocket. A raised brow, although hidden under the wrap, as he stared at it, then her. "Interesting." A gentle push away was done then, attention shifting slightly to look over at Kuoroke. "Nothing showing. It'll take further study, Kuroki-san. My apologies." He'd give a slight shrug, a step back done. Not that he said the spar was over or anything, but, well, Kuoroke was there.
When Risu is easily defended against she hops back and then notices Kuoroke apporaching, in part because of Suterusu making a commment to him. She pauses in the spar and looks to the Council Memeber, unsure if the spar is to continue or something else is going to happen now. She looks between the two, a questioning look, "Ah, should I keep fighting or? I mean, it seems pretty clear he's just going to keep blocking my attacks with easy." She notes, with some mild frustration.
Kuoroke shakes his head. "No, no…" He answers, handing the girl the paper, and Suterusu a mildly disappointed glance. "Blocking attacks is not all there is to it, though… Go ahead, try it." He nods to the paper. "And once we know, I'd like you to venture a guess of what happened here and why I asked Stealth here to get involved."
The figure would just shrug slightly back Kuoroke's way. Well, he was in training for that very reason. Awareness was one thing, but actual reading.. he still had to work on that. When the spar was finally ended by Kuoroke, the figure would relax, if slightly. Not that he stood in an active stance to start with. That attention stayed focused on Risu. Such an interesting tidbit for a genin.. there was.. something else. Of course, genin meant hands off, so he couldn't find out, but that was the price to pay for working within a system.
Risu accepts the chakra paper, and nods to the council member, "Ah, yes sensei." She offers, still trying to figure out the point of the spar, and why Stealth was involved but… first things first. She accepts the paper and holds it between two fingers. "Let's see… I… focus chakra into it and…. that should show…." She mutters to herself. She remembers the book study of how this works, she just hadn't taken the test before. As she tries to focus on the paper, Instead of the standard reactions, crumpling, tearing, becoming wet, or turning to dust, there is a small little white flash, followed by a tad of sudden darkness and… the paper is just… gone. No crumbling, no anything, just… gone. Risu blinks a few times, looking utterly confused by this result. She looks up at the two more senior Shinobi, "Ah….? What… does that mean?"
The reaction causes surprise from Kuoroke, and for a few seconds, he thoughtfully looks at the fingers that just held the paper, puzzling over where it went. "That is a good question…" He finally answers. "I've never seen it do that before - and, to my knowledge, neither has anyone else. Very unusual. We'll have to see in the records, or else do some more investigation, ourselves…" His initial thought hasn't quite entirely been replaced by this new puzzle, but for now, it has certainly been pushed to the background.
That figure would blink, one of the few times he has, a bit of confusion there in the eyes as he'd glance from Risu to Kuoroke.. yeah.. that was.. odd, to be sure. A small shake of his head was given. Well, no wonder he wasn't picking up an elemental affinity, if.. that.. whatever it was happen. Shrugging slightly, the figure would look to Kuoroke again, that soft tenor voice crooning his way, "Kuroki-sama, I believe you are done with me and I do have things to attend to. May I go, or do you need my assistance any further?"
As the two senior shinobi seem clueless as well, it leaves Risu baffled, "Ah, I see. Well, I'm sorry Sensei, I do not know why you asked Stealth to get involved either. But… ah, should we test again to just be sure? Maybe the paper was defective?" She ventures, trying to figure out why that might have happened.
"Yes… you can go, I'll talk to you in a bit." Kuoroke pronounces, after a few more moments of thought. "Yes. And, we can test again." He rummages in his inner pockets, still looking perturbed by the unusual reaction, and hands Risu another piece of chakra paper, this time watching very closely what will happen.
Risu nods to Suterusu as he leaves then looks back to Kuoroke. She accepts the new patch of paper and holds it for a moment, then… rather than the flash, this time there is just some darkness, however brief and then the paper is simply gone. No ash, no anything, just gone. She blinks a few times, "Okay, I read the scrolls when I was in the academy and that is /not/ one of the five basic reactions, I know that…. so…. ah, what does this mean? How can I work on mastering something I don't even understand?" She says, sounding a bit nervous and a tad desperate, "I was hoping to have an element to help me in the chuunin exams!"
"Well…" Kuoroke answers. "You can't. You'll have to first find out what it does mean. By the looks of it, something light- and darkness-related, though it's probably too early to say certainly. I recommend you look in the archives, and…" He trails off, looking at her empty fingers again. "…yeah. I'll have to disappoint you, this doesn't look like something you'll get ready by the exams, unless you make a sudden and unexpected breakthrough."
The disappointment is clear on Risu's face as she nods, "I see…. well, thank you sensei. I will check the archives and see what I can find. I'm sorry…. to….." She trails off, unsure what she's really sorry about, it's not like she did anything wrong although she feels like she has. She shakes her head a bit, "Anyway, I do appreciate your time and attention, I know you are very busy." She offers to the council member.
Kuoroke nods. "Yes, do that. I'll see if I can do anything to help you find this out, myself. Maybe the Kage would even take interest in your case…" Then again, Kuoroke considers, maybe involving the Kage's academical interest may not be the best thing for the girl. He shrugs slightly. As he begins speaking again, the Kuroki's tone has returned to his normal, distant one. "You're welcome. If this wasn't the best use of my time, I wouldn't be doing it, don't worry. Keep me posted about anything you find, or if you need help in looking." With that, he turns around and walks away again.
