Starring:
Date: January 4, 2012
Summary:
Konsatsu unexpectedly bumps into Itami within the tall grasses of the open plains. This leads to the two of them talking about what the future holds in store for them.
"Woman and the Kusogaki"
Open Plains
There was something about the wind today. It seemed…dead, with a certain chill only lifelessness can carry. Itami could taste it as she flicked her tongue out of her mouth from time to time to identify what was around here. The wind carried in the scent of San-Sara and the lives lost in its destruction. Now, there was nothing left, but a mass of rubble and charred remains.
To be truthful, the taste was a bit bittersweet, both literally and figuratively. She hummed softly, slipping her forked tongue between her lips a final time before withdrawing it back into her mouth. Someone was around here…someone familiar.
The tall grasses of the open plains, a trait of the lands that prevents those that are vertically challenged from visiting too often. The only reason one of such stature would choose this direction would be if they were in some sort of rush. Which is exactly what Konsatsu was as he plowed through the grasses that easily over toward him, using his pincers to clear path as they cut each blade out of his way.
The boy wasn't trying to hide his approach, he didn't expect anyone was around to need to do so and if they were, he'd simply cut them down too. Except that was far from his mind, his true goal this day was to get back to the village and harass a certain member of the jounin council. One might call it a childhood crush, but was attempted murder love? I think not c.c <3
Itami gave it a few moments before she raised up from the ground and dusted herself off of grass. She proceeded into the grass, listening to the sounds of snipping and rustling until she's able to track down who it was. She already knew considering all the noise. "Hey!" She called aloud. "You're making too much noise. Today is supposed to be a day of relaxation."
With the voice of another being heard, the sounds of grass being chopped down in its prime came to a sudden halt. It was a familiar voice, cynical and degrading, one that made Konsatsu think twice about being spotted. For a moment he pondered jumping out and going for the kill, but if he was right about whom it was and if this meeting was anything like last time, she already knew most likely, exactly where he was.
So from the spot where he stood hidden for the time being, he hunched down, bending at the knees before springing up just enough to peer above the grasses. Before his decent downward came, he spotted the woman, Itami! And she was heading right for him. Clearly it was too late and he was already spotted, but before she came to close he quickly spun around making a huge arc with his pincer to clear out a section for them both to be seen.
Itami saw something pop out of the grass and land back down inside. She started to head in the general direction, barely missed by the slice from the pincers that cut down the grass to reveal the both of them. She looked at him in silence for a few moments before she began to rub her face, clearly marked claw marks. She had to go to the hospital the previous night and receive care, receiving salves to deal with the scars all over her body from fighting. She probably couldn't do much in this state. "Hello?" She inquired while they maintained their standoff.
Konsatsu held the pincers firmly in his hands, awaiting for the inevitable, the show down between lizard and scorpion. This time would be different, he was sure about. Attacking from her front was the way to go about it. However, when Itami appeared through the grasses, staring at him with her ruby red eyes the boy simply froze. Even when she raised a hand, he was almost sure he was to be struck down, but was shocked to witness her rub at her face, making the fading scars that much more visible.
It wasn't until she started with a greeting that Konsatsu regained his composure, twistsing his weapons in his hands as if he could easily take her down if he wanted to, but gracing her with his mercy by tucking them away behind his cloak and on his belt. "Hello, woman!" He glanced away, taking his eyes off her. "You following me? You're not very good about it."
The boy waved the topic away turning to face her once again, "Are we here to train or do you have another compromise of some sort."
Itami sulked, "I have a name, you know," she offered to Konsatsu. "I wasn't following you. I didn't even know you were out here, actually," she hummed and recovered with a smirk. "I'd say you were the one following me. How does that sound?" She asks. "Wait…" She frowned, "We were here to train?" Since when? "What did you want to do?"
Konsatsu rolled his eyes, "Yes, yes. My brother often tells me I need to show you more respect, but using your name 'Itami' isn't going to be the way to do it." The boy then crossed his arms, leaning back with a smirk and look of confidence on his face, "Me allowing you to live, that is the greatest amount of respect I could show you." He'd lead it off with a shrug, letting his arms fall back to his side, "No one seems to understand that though. They'll see, eventually."
Konsatsu then looked up to the woman, eyeing her in silence, "It sounds like you are on the right trail. I am always watching you from the shadows. How does that sound?" He'd chuckle for a bit, letting it slowly fade away, "Anytime we meet, we are together to train. Two great shinobi like us, there are only good things to come from it." His hands made a few karate chops in the winds, "Besides, with my brother going for the chuunin exams soon, I'm being left behind to watch him continually grow. I need a sensei that is all that is power and evil." He blinked for a moment, "It's why I follow you." o.o
"Oh… I suppose I should be grateful, then…" Itami took her turn to roll her eyes. "Well, I suppose I can accept that," she shook her head as she began to take a seat within the cleared grass. She began to rub her face once more on the way down. "…" She wasn't sure of what to say about what he said. Not immediately, at least. "Me being watched from the shadows should bring me discomfort, but…seeing as how it's you…it brings me even more discomfort." Now she was looking up to him. "You need a sensei that is 'all that is power and evil'… I'm the one that fits that profile?" She asked. It was…something she hadn't heard before, so she's largely curious
All Konsatsu could do in response was smile widely as it was clear he was unable to pick up the subtle amounts of sarcasm and took them instead as compliments. He watched Itami take a seat and again rub her face, this caused the boy to tilt his head, wanting to ask why she does so, but held back. Instead straightening up as he held firm in his stance, "Good, discomfort is good." In his mind he was rubbing his hands together while he said that, from Itami's point of view his little movement may have seemed odd. Konsatsu then started nodding, "Yes, I need a sensei that is all of that. I see it as being you because from what I've seen and heard, it is you."
He cleared his throat and took a big breath, readying himself for the long list of explanations he enjoys giving, even if the ordering is sporatic "First of all, my brother is afraid of you and as powerful as he is, that must say something. Secondly, my instincts never lie. You are my rival for a reason. I have chosen to test my skill against you as much as I can, so that too says something. Number the third, that Jigoku with as much power as he claims to have does not dare use them against you. He can take down an entire village of mercenaries and yet you live to tell him what he can and can't do. And Fourth, well, there are only three for now. Even that is more then enough to tell me all I need to know about who is in charge around here."
Itami hmphed. Discomfort is good. Of course. "These are all things that you've heard about me? I wouldn't say they necessarily make me powerful. I honestly don't know why your brother would be afraid of me, as I don't think I've given him a reason to be. As for rival…well, there might be something there. I'm sure our clans have clashed sometime in the past considering where they live…" She explained.
"The Jigoku…in this case, doesn't dare use them against me in the vicinity of the village. He doesn't actually respect me all that much and its clear from the air he carries. If he were to attack here, he'd be taken down rather quickly. He…thinks he is untouchable, but…that's only in his mind," she spoke with a hint of darkness in her tone and that is what frustrates her so much. "I'm in charge by position only and it is something that holds great weight, I agree. I suppose there's one thing left to ask…" She lowered her head to give it a rest from having to look up at Konsatsu, "Where does the 'evil' part come in?"
Konsatsu sighed, hoping Itami wouldn't pick up on that part that he failed to mention, "Well, it's simple really. If you're my rival and I'm the good, then you must be the evil." He didn't think that answer would stick, not believing it himself, but he hoped it would buy him some time to think on a better reasoning. "Well, from my point of view as a very well educated 10 year old. Umm.." He looked around, searching for the answer, "You have no problem with killing people." The boy nodded, "You don't allow people more chances for doing something wrong, you just end their lives…." Of course he speaks of San-Sara, but it also makes him wonder how many chances he's going to get if he keeps trying to assassinate the woman, "Evil is evil and you radiate it." c.c
Itami hmm'd. "I see. Well, that does make sense yes. The rivalry…" She nodded in a sing song manner. It's true, that answer didn't quite settle with her, but that last one hit her pretty hard. Enough for her to suddenly grow still. She was quiet as she sat there allowing what he said to be processed. At that time, the wind carried the scent of San Sara once more, but this time, it felt much more bitter than sweet. When she finally regained some composure about herself she asked, though it leaned more toward a statement, saying softly "I radiate evil…"
Konsatsu nodded happily and quite obliviously at the statement Itami finished with, "Yes," surprisingly he began to blush and if his hood wasn't already up, he made sure to hide his face within, "It is what has drawn me toward you." Somehow the boy had mistaken the characteristics of evil for perhaps…beauty. "I'm not sure how others don't notice it as well." He shrugged with a smile, "I guess I'm just the lucky one."
"Really…" Itami asked, though it was rhetorical and didn't require answering. She glanced up to Konsatsu momentarily as he continued speaking. Have others really noticed something like that in her? She wondered… "I suppose you are the lucky one. No one else is capable of training you in such a fashion other than myself." She smirked, seemingly satisfied with what she's heard. "Are you still playing with fire?" She asked of him.
Konsatsu blinked, wondering if he should take that as an admission that she was going to be his sensei. "I agree with that." He shuffled a bit, having an urge to glance around, but still being surrounded by grasses taller then he is only able to stare at green. Something he could only do for a few seconds before shaking his head and looking back at Itami, "No, not necessarily. Not how I think you mean anyways." He brought his hands up, clenching them in front of him. "Keiji and I got in a spar to start off the new year. Surprisingly I was able to hurt him enough for him to need to go all out, into sasoriendai ii. Even still we were pretty evenly matched, up until the end of course."
"Start off the new year…?" Itami questioned. Ah, right, of course. She wasn't anywhere within the village during the new year. At least, not on the surface. She couldn't stand fireworks. The way they shined in all sorts of colors and looked like they were reaching for her…like claws in the sky. They're horrible. "So…you want to get stronger than him and beat him, I'm assuming?" She asks. "I suppose I can help, if that's the case," she began to rise from the ground and dust herself off for the second time today. "Where do you wish to begin?"
Konsatsu bobbed his head left and right, "Sort of, but it's not that simple. I want to get stronger and I want to beat him, but it's more then that. I want to be the best, not necessarily the strongest and beat everyone. I want to be someone the village or anyone can call on if they need help, to be able to deal with someone that needs taken care of. Jigoku, for example." He watched the woman rise and realized they were soon to start training, though he was still unsure if he would call her sensei and she would call him student. "At the beginning of course."
Itami cants her head asking, "Is that so?" Smiling, she continued with, "I understand. Well, then. We should make that happen. We'll make this about you because I'm not going to go find you all the time. You're going to find me so I can train you. Besides, this will help you familiarize yourself with the village and give you some exercise. There'll probably be a thinking exercise thrown in every so often, I don't know yet. We'll tackle that once we get there. So, in honor of what seems to be like a tradition, since I'm 'woman' you'll be 'kusogaki'."
Konsatsu frowned at the thought, never once imagining he'd pick the sensei that would make him work for his chance to be trained. "Fine, but I guess I can't be too upset about it. From the sounds of it, we've finally come to an agreement about you teaching me and me, well, being Kusogaki." The nickname didn't bother him, in fact it made him smile. At his current skill and attitude it was to be expected, but it means he earned it and it belongs to him. Surprisingly enough, he'll treasure it until the next nickname is given. "Ok, woman, listen up. I just know that I made a right choice in picking you and I want you to know in return, I won't let you down in your decision to train me."
