Ichiraku Ramen, a local Konoha restaurant that obviously serves ramen. Within the restaurant came a groan from a man, possibly the owner of the restaurant. "Order something already! You're taking up precious customer space!" the man shouted at another may, lying on a table in front of him. "I..." the owner of the ramen shop leaned forward, eyes widening as he listened for the ronin's order, "...don't want your noodles."  "WELL WHY THE HELL-"  "Just water." The man raised an eyebrow to the ronin asked for nothing but water. The man shrugged, sighing  and walking away. "It'll be free you know..."  "What?" Aethir raised his head to the man, the an shaking his head. "I don't charge for damn water!! I'm too damn nice..." Aethir continued to stare for a moment before laying his head back down. He appeared to be exhausted from something, sweat droplets on his forehead as the inside of his body felt like it was on fire. He wasn't sure what the deal was... Maybe he was sick from the rain the other day. The poor ronin was too tired to even think to himself about anything, just wanting to rest here before wandering on home.

The restaurant owner came back with Aethir's water, the ronin slowly making contact with the glass. He sighed as he felt the cool touch of the glass against his burning hands, smiling as he brought the glass of water to his mouth. "Rough day?" Aethir lowered the glass, not taking a sip yet before nodding, the man looking away to tend to some other customers. The ronin took a sip of his water, but that sip turned into a gulp, and soon a guzzle. He drunk the cold water down, resting his body on the table once again, feeling the cool liquid lower and distribute itself within his body. "That's amazing. Water tastes amazing..." The tired Aethir sighed, smiling to himself. "You know... You never truly appreciate the taste of cold water until it saves your life. Then it tastes like the best thing ever, you know?" Aethir turned to the ramen man who obviously wasn't paying attention. "Right..." he spoke to himself, resting his body back onto the table, staying silent as the business ran. As he did this, he went over the training and teachings of Fuuinjutsu he was taught so far, trying to familiarize himself with the new techniques, forming mental hand signs and symbols in his mind.

Word Count: 421

Lelouch was currently playing kickball with the kids of Konohagakure! "It was down to the game winning shot, the other team was pretty interesting, but Lelouch was about to shut them up with this fast leg! With the ball that was in front of him. he would step back and rush forward, kicking the ball as hard as he could, he noticed he made the goal! With a jump of joy. He would Laugh. " Did you guy's see that? it blew straight by you all like a falling rock from the sky!" Lelouch noticed the kid bringing  the remains of the ball to him. " DUDE! YOU BROKE THE BALL! NOW WHAT WE GOING TO DO ALL DAY IN THIS SUNNY WEATHER?!?!?" Lelouch would stop laughing and open his left eye up. " uhhh.. sorry man! I didn't mean it, but you gotta admit that was AWESOME! who knocks the air out of a ball?" Lelouch noticed the kids was sighing in agreement and they laughed it off.

Stepping back, the man would clean the sweat from his face. " Well sorry again, but tomorrow, I can surely say I'm going to return, with three balls just in case. and also we're going to have more players! Sounds like a plan?" Lelouch asked, he saw the kids throw a thumbs up and rushed back over to their parents. Turning around, Lelouch would head off for the  Ichiraku bar. He was hungry and worn out! All that kicking and running in the hot sun, it's was exhausting. Walking over to the bar, he could on spot the chairs due to the Japanese signs hanging down. Walking straight under the food court, he would pull out a chair and take a seat by this kid that was currently drinking water? Looked pretty good, but that's what Lelouch could use at the moment, a nice cold glass of water and some ramen!

With the man walking over to him, Lelouch would rub his eyes. Hearing the man ask for his order. " So! What you want kid? A nice glass of water like this kid over here? or you want me to whip you up some good ole ramen with a cold glass of water?" Lelouch would smile! " YES! That's exactly what I need. Also make it Shrimp ramen! trying to cut back with all that damn salt!" Lelouch stated. He would turn to the boy next to him. His face was placed in his arms and he rested on the table, he must had a rough day! Lelouch been there and done that a few times. Looking at the man bring his Cold glass of water over to him, he would speak. " Your shrimp ramen is coming right up! thought I'll bring you this first." " Alright thanks!" Grabbing ahold of the glass, the boy would drink it down fast, but he'll have to stop halfway due to the brain freeze. " OUCH! Stupid brain freeze!" Lelouch stated. he would yawn and place the glass cup on the bar table. With the man making his ay over to him with his shrimp ramen. Lelouch could already smell it! " hmm this looks good!" " That's 50 ryo! But the drink is free." " ah! here you go good fella!" Lelouch would reach in his pocket paying the man his ryo. Grabbing his chop sticks. He would begin to work with them. The hard times? Eating his shrimp ramen, his left eye would peek from the corner looking at the kid. Lelouch couldn't hold it back anymore.

" Hello, I'm Lelouch. Ma.... May I ask for your name sir?"


647

Why did it have to be so damn hot in the Land of Fire?

Having trekked several miles to Konoha, Katarina was slightly more than peeved. Just why did her client's daughter have to go running off with some jerk and going at it like rabbits in a hut in the middle of a forest close to the Land of Earth's borders? Couldn't they have just banged in some hotel room in, oh, maybe Tanzaku City, where she could've at least had a shower?

Letting a small sigh escape her lips, Katarina counted the small stack of bills in her hand. Not much ryo, no, but what was she expecting from such a mission? No danger, no ninja, no excitement. Hell, it was lucky enough to have been even considered a mission, let alone an E-rank. Though, she doubted the money would last her long. It would definitely run dry before the week was over, though.

Spotting a small ramen shop amidst rows of stalls selling nothing but jewellery, arts and crafts, and whatnot, she decided to grab a small drink to at least quench her thirst before she looked for another mission. Her money supply be damned, it was going to run out in a day or two anyway, from her experience.

She ducked under the flaps and saw the entire shop almost completely full. Several of the unsightly men leered at her, before patting the chair next to them. They were fortunate she wasn't in the mood, or they would be leaving the shop one organ less, Konoha's authority be damned.

Instead, she spotted a duo sitting at a small table in the corner of the stall and trotted up to them, before taking a seat and ordering a cup of cold water. She never was one for manners, and she wasn't going to start by asking if the seat was taken. The fact that the cup of cool water was free was just icing on the cake.

"And what's up here?" she asked, eyeing the two men as her brain began churning.

Aethir didn't pay the noise of the restaurant any mind, slowly closing his eyes to get a better image of that he was imagining. It wasn't until he heard the seat next to him move that he opened his eyes slowly and began to tune into the sound around him. 'Well, this isn't home...' Aethir rubbed his forehead into his arm, groaning, 'So it's to be expected.' he said, looking  over to the man sitting down next to him, commenting on the disruption of noise. His eyes widened a bit as he heard the man introduce himself to someone...or what Aethir thought was someone besides him. He turned to his other side, checking around himself, looking back at this man called 'Lelouch'. "Ah....Um..." the ronin went silent, trying to think of his name, not having to ever introduce himself in such a tired state.

"Aethir. That's my name. Yes." he said tiredly,  soon inhaling deeply for a yawn. "Gah...Naps are amazing." he sighed, soon looking over to a woman with a tired look on his face, who sat near them. "What's...up?" Aethir stared at her for a moment before looking up. "Um...Up...No, I...I don't see anything..." The ronin was silent before realizing what the woman was really asking. "Oh! Er... Sorry. Exhausted. Tired. Just a glass of water! I have." he spoke, his sentences borderline of not making sense. He raised his empty glass of water, the water being refilled by the ramen man. "Thank you mister ramen guy. You. You...nice person you." he could hear the restaurant owner grumble angrily, probably cursing at his own niceness. Aethir sighed, sipping the water and lied back down onto the table. He wasn't AS exhausted as he was when he first entered this restaurant, but he was definitely in no shape to do any missions either. The most he could probably do was sound like a dribbling idiot while drinking water to recover from exhaustion and the heat. "And who are you, ma'am...?" Aethir looked slowly to the woman, nodding to her so she knew hews talking to her.

Word Count: 785

" A... ethir.... Aethir! Nice name kiddo! You seem very tired. You must have indeed had a rough day." Lelouch responded, continuing to eat his ramen. He would sip his water and turn towards the left, left of the other boy! Noticing a girl asking: "And what's up here?" Lelouch would place his glass cup on the bar table, and smirk. 'Such a beautiful young prize!??! she's beautiful! ahhhhh get out of my head you dirty scum bag go away!!! go AWAY!' Lelouch thought in his head, he would continue to sit straight and tall with that same smirk on his face.

" Nothing is going on here ma'am. Just two dudes having a conversation about this hot wea-... I mean introducing ourselves." Lelouch stated and he sighed, turning back to his food, he would finish up the ramen and finish up his cold glass of water. Turning to the man, he would signal him over to his destination. " Get over here old timer! I would like a refill on water as well!" Lelouch reached the glass cup over to him. " Oh yeah, I'm done with my Ramen." Holding out the items, he would wait the guy to come and get them. Once he took the bowl and the glass. Lelouch would continue on with this conversation.

" So, the hot weather chasing you over here as well? trust me you'll get used to it if ya live here!" Lelouch said as he flexed his left arm showing his muscle just so the two could see his konohagakure headband that was tied on his forearm before it reached the elbow. " Weather like this happens often. But not as bad like this. trust me, I was never chased over here to deal with this guy for some water hahahahaha!" Lelouch stated in a joking matter. He spotted the man approaching him holding his iced cold water. Placing it on the table just before him, Lelouch would grab ahold of it and sip. But this time slowly. His thirst was controlled.

1011

Before either man had even said anything, Katarina's brain had been working overtime even against her will. She just wanted to rest and cool down - Kami knew she had a layer of sweat decorating her skin - but apparently years of honed instincts, no matter how dulled, seemed to fight against her desires.

Her sharp eyes gave the man in front of her a once over. Konoha ninja, going by the headband on his left arm. Fluent in taijutsu, given his above average toned muscles. Lack of weapons on self indicates extreme skill, yet posture dictates otherwise, so likely taijutsu specialist. Possibly has a dojutsu, since he wore tinted glasses in doors. Fingers handling glass and signaling waiter shows extreme dexterity with fingers, implying rapid use of handseals... or taijutsu movements. Possibly-

Katarina cut off her train of thought by blinking her eyes twice in rapid succession. 'Damnit, I wanted to rest! Stop taking everything in!'

That was when she registered the man in front of her speaking, before flexing his left arm with the Konoha headband wrapped tightly around it. He took another sip of his drink, before the waiter came with her order.

"It wasn't the hot weather that chased me here," Katarina said, smiling as she accepted the glass of water. Taking a small sip, she continued, "I just needed to collect payment from Konoha's black market."

Her eyes drifted over to the somewhat sleeping boy beside her and almost went through the same procedures as the man across her, but she stopped herself in time.

"And besides, this isn't really what I would call hot weather," Katarina smirked. She did live in the desert before, after all.

Then again, he likely knew that, going by her state of dress.

Taking another gentle sip, "Name's Kat, what're yours?"

Aethir eyed the female as she appeared to be looking at Lelouch. He lazily looked back and forth at the two, listening to them talk. He took this as a moment to rest his eyes, thinking about plans for today. 'Maybe I'll take a rest for today... Do nothing for once. Yeah~' Aethir sighed happily before hearing the woman speak her name. Apparently her name was Kat, Aethir too tired to make anything else of it. "Nice to meet you, Kat." the ronin spoke before breathing in and exhaling.  "My name is Aethir. Pleasure." he said while nodding, going back to resting his head.

As his head rested on his arms, Aethir's eyes looked over to the Konoha ninja's band on his arm. 'A Konoha ninja... Hmm... Now I'm wondering if it was a good idea to tell him my name...' Aethir didn't say anything verbally regarding the man's band, simply going quiet as he rest his eyes for a bit more. Finally, he asked two questions, one of each for the man or woman. "...Are you from Konoha, Kat?" Aethir asked, opening his blue eyes to look over to the woman, the eyes then made their way to Lelouch, "And what brought you here, Lelouch? Unless you were hungry...then...my question is stupid." He slowly rose from the table, rubbing his forehead lightly. "I was on my way home, but needed a break. Which is why I'm here you see..." the ronin sighed, shaking his head. "I swear, you spend a few months in the woods to train yourself, and come back completely wrecked..." he absentmindedly said aloud. Aethir then slowly looked at both the man and woman, getting ready to ask another question. "How do you both feel..." he paused, taking hold of the cold glass of water before him, "...about strawberries?" the ronin asked, sipping the last of his water silently waiting for an answer.

Word Count: 1111

He saw the girl looking at him and he smirked. Sipping from his cold glass of water he placed it back on the table. Once the girl introduced herself as Kat, Lelouch would follow that up. " I'm Lelouch!" Once he stated that, he heard the boy next to him speak:  "And what brought you here, Lelouch? Unless you were hungry...then...my question is stupid." Lelouch would laugh at the boy statement and reply. " Yeah, I'm here for some food and something cold to drink, and obviously this hit the spot! I'm in a much greater mood than earlier." Lelouch stated, he would then drink some more water.

Checking both of them out for a headband, he didn't notice anything. What the hell? the two doesn't have a headband, what is this? Who am I sitting down with? Dropping his right hand down by the handle of his kunai that was in his ninja pouch attached to his right leg which was covered by the other leg. he would simply smirk as if nothing happened. Hearing the boy named Aethir  speak again. Strawberries?  " ..." No comment, in fact, Lelouch would continue to sip his cold water, and look at the two.  But as bad as he wanted to ask for an explanation behind this, he just kept his mouth shut. He didn't in fact know what the hell they was. Rouge's? killers? he kept his right hand on the handle of his kunai, though the pinky would only have a good grip, just to make it look none obvious. His the pinky next to the ring finger would grip tighter on the ring of the handle. Fighting himself from holding back, as bad as he wanted to stand up and- this is crazy! How could something like this escalate to this? Lelouch just wanted to protect himself until at least one of them who had the 'heart' would speak out. Until then the boy would remain- Paused? shocked? these speculations.. such..... Circumstances?  

He wouldn't give this anymore attention. Though, before this Aethir kid left, he wanted to have a few words with him, just in case he run into their kind again, he'll know not to be so alerted or something. Continuing as if nothing happened. he would sigh. " Today is such a beautiful day I suppose."

1406

Katarina heard both men introduce themselves. Of course, Aethir seemed... strange, if his questions were any indication. Then again, it was strange in a... adorable way. It kind of reminded her of a teddy bear she could cuddle before bed. When she was eight.

She saw Lelouch's eyes dart over, scanning both her and Aethir, before widening an almost unnoticeable fraction. His right hand dropped beneath the table, and Katarina smirked. Panic. It was evident all over his body he was panicked that neither of them seemed to sport a headband.

She looked Aethir over for a quick second, his still sleeping form ornating his part of the table. Despite the lack of a headband, he didn't seem dangerous. His eyes were closed in a relaxed manner, not in a tense 'I'm faking my sleep' manner, while his body also showed minimal signs of hostility. Relatively safe then.

"We're not missing ninja, you know," Katarina offered. You don't have to try and guard against us." She took another sip of her cooling water. "Makes for bad first impressions. Like I said my mission brought me here. Otherwise I'm normally running around the continent. But at least you're right on one thing. Today is a beautiful day. I hope you won't ruin it, or some discipline may be in order," Katarina ended with a smirk.

Aethir let out a tired yawn as he slowly looked over to Lelouch as he explained how his food...was incredibly delicious. Aethir could have gone for some noodles right about now, but decided to hold off for when he goes home.  'No place like home they say...' he shrugged to himself while rubbing his chin. He yawned again, being sure to cover his mouth every time. Suddenly, Kat spoke of missing ninja, causing Aethir to looking at the two. He pressed two fingers, index and middle against his bottom lip as he looked at the two curiously.

"Missing...Missing...Missing..." Aethir closed his eyes to ponder on this, remembering what missing ninja were. "Ah yes...I'm not a missing ninja. I actually consider myself a wanderer..." He would continue the story, but thought it'd be safer not to say he went to the ninja academy located in Kirigakure. Thus, his mist headband was tucked away inside his jacket's pocket, hidden from the eyes of everyone around him. He listened to what Kat was saying about trouble, missions, continents, discipline... Aethir's sleepy mind was floating off somewhere, however he payed attention to her words... They just didn't register until a few minutes later. The ronin, with his peripheral, eyed Lelouch for a moment, soon suddenly getting up from the table and stretching. "Enough resting for me I think..." he spoke in a strained voice as he did some stretches, bones cracking as he did this. All the while, he kept Lelouch in sight of his peripherals. Stepping away from the table, he paused for a moment to think to himself about what to do today. Aethir then turned to look at the two with a tired smile. "So, do you two have any plans for today?" he said, trying to , for some reason, look for something to do besides head home and call it a day. He wasn't sure why he wasn't listening to his tired body. Maybe because he wasn't the time to sit around and do nothing. He sure as hell didn't know...

Word Count: 1465

Lelouch heard the two speak about not being missing ninjas. " Okay, good to know!" Lelouch wondered how did the two know what he was thinking, but perhaps they was just throwing that out just so it would be known. Though, Kat response was....Not so understandable with Lelouch? Discipline? " Discipline, that's my middle name girl!" The man stated as he gave Kat this look. Turning back down to his drink, he heard Aethir speak about what the two was up to today. " Nothing much! On my behalf. I might just kick back under the air conditioner when I get home, you know chill style. But before I do just that, I got some other work to attend with."

His right hand would be removed from the kunai handle, and he would smirk still wondering how awkward thing's got back there. Could have turned out worse, if the two didn't explain themselves as they did just now. Rubbing his hands threw his shaggy hair, he would place both of them on the table. " So, this might be awkward for me to ask, but you two up for a little workout? or did the laziness take over." The ending of the statement was a blow to Aethir, he seemed pretty tired, but he gathered himself together pretty well.

With a sigh, the boy would wait for the two replies. " If you two is down, I can lead you to a nice open spot in the training grounds so we can beat the crap out of each other. Nothing like a old fashion fight!" Lelouch would only say those few words and remain relaxed in his chair. indeed this conversation was interesting, in fact, this is what lelouch needed. A old school conversation with some side blows in it. You'll be one smart one to catch onto it too! His water was empty, not to mention he had to use it! Standing, he would rush over to the Portable Toilet. Opening the door, the man would quickly close it and lock it. Taking care his business he would sigh. Once the boy was done, he would flush the toilet and pull his pants up zipping up correctly, he would fresh up. Placing a lovely smell on his body that smelled really good he didn't get the name of the stuff but it worked. Popping in a mint he would sigh. Fixing shirt the boy would unlock the door and walk out closing it behind himself. Heading back over to the bar. He would take a seat. " Please excuse my actions, this water did the trick!" He would then signal the old man over to him. " Hey come! I need another refill, but it make it some juice or something!" Lelouch stated. He had enough of water for once, some juice would be nice.

Once the guy placed his cup back on the table, lelouch would grab a hold of it and sip. " hmm! best juice I've ever tasted!" The man would say, he didn't have much of time here, so if the two was down for some sparring, Lelouch would be more than welcome to battling them for fun!

1941

Katarina wanted to facepalm. She wanted to facepalm so bad. There she was, being the typical hormonal seventeen year old and this boy did everything in his power to avoid her advances. Obvoously not keeper material.

When his posture relaxed, though, Katarina gathered got another good guess at his skill level. Believing someome so quickly, at just a simple dismissal, proved he didn't have as much experience as he might have liked. Normally one did not just lower their guards because you said something. No, actions spoke louder than words, and for all she knew neither she nor Aethir should have done anything to convince him otherwise.  

Speaking of Aethir, he seemed to have shot up from his sleeping position. As he seemed to work his stiff bones, she caught how his eyes never seemed to leave Lelouch, now having concluded that he may not have been as friendly as expected. Granted she had a hand to play in all this, but she was a woman, and she needed some damned drama in her life that didn't involve eloping teenagers banging each other.

And then she perked up further when mentions of a small spar reached her ears. Underneath her table, she raised her left hand from her lap and flexed her fingers. They were stiff, though unlike Aethir,  they were so from weeks of inactivity. The lack of dexterity in her finger movements were attributed to not having used a single jutsu or swung a single blade for weeks on end, especially not hers, having decided to try and lay low from the samurai, whose hunts for her have mysteriously intensified the last few weeks. Oh well, a girl fighting with a handicap? Why not.

"I'm in for your little... workout," Katarina said after a little thinking, before finishing her small cup of water. Good thing it was free; she would definitely be coming back for more after their little spar. That single cup had barely been enough. "Now, why don't you be a gentleman and show a lady to the training grounds? Unless of course you want to get down and dirty with me here?"

The ronin stood where he was, listening to the two speak. A workout? Unfortunately, Aethir had just gotten done with a month long workout, running from giant Konoha bugs and- ...He wasn't going to get into that. But then again, he really did want to see if his training proved useful, or if it's a waste of time. But also, he's very...exhausted from JUST coming back. "Alright..." Aethir spoke, rubbing his nose with his index finger, "I'll give it a go. The exercise. Why not...?" he nodded to the two, listening to Kat speak of being a gentlemen and showing the way. This caused him to casually walk back to his seat and wait with Kat with a smile, his large blue eyes staring at Lelouch, waiting for him to get up and lead the way. He sure as hell didn't know where to go for this 'exercise'.

When Kat mentioned the 'exercise' taking place here, Aethir looked over to her with a curious look. "Down and...dirty..." he repeated, rubbing his chin as he looked to the outside streets of Konoha. "If it does take place here, let's at least exercise outside." the ronin suggested, not wanting to cause trouble for Ichiraku. They did give him free water after all. The ronin waited for the Konoha ninja to lead the way, either that or decide to exercise here in the middle of town. While he waited, Aethir rested his head in the palm of his left hand, thinking about a blend of ideas. "I really don't like waffles..." Aethir sighed to himself, rambling about...waffles? "Are any of you a fan of fruit? What's your favorite?" the ronin asked with a smile, his still tired eyes lazily focused on some spot on the ground, his once tired facial expression turned into a look a daydreamer would have, thinking about.......waffles.......I guess...

Word Count: 1787
Reaction Time D - C 1700/1700

He could only sigh with agreement, taking one more sip from his juice. He would place the glass cup back on the table, and stand. " Alright you two! Let's hit up the training grounds, not far from out current destination, and don't worry lazy bones! I'll go easy on ya." Lelouch would wave goodbye to the ramen shop owner. Taking the path, he knew it'll get them there faster. With his chakra signatures on low levels, he could only read them as if they was following him, but let's be logical here, he had no control over their movements.

Walking in the peaceful area of konoha, where exactly there was barely people, just some Academy Students training, and a few other ninjas. The area had a pond of water at least four feet deep, and three training dummies stood in a line, dead grass dirt, rocks, and some bushes surrounded the area, he counted at least five tall trees, one was in pretty bad shape!

Turning around to the entry, he would wait for the two to arrive. He wondered, how should he handle them? punch here kick there, taijutsu king? Lelouch knew just what to do. Perhaps a two on one? it'll probably make this more interesting and fun? this is what Lelouch liked.  Standing with a smirk on his face, he would continue to look pretty, but who was he kidding, he didn't have to try with that.

2196

The training grounds caught Katarina by surprise. When she had obediently followed Lelouch to the training grounds, she had been wondering if he would in fact lead them to one of Konoha's more infamous training grounds located on the outskirts of the prosperous nation. When he didn't seem to take any routes leading to anywhere close to the village walls, especially since they were already quite a distance from the village center, Katarina was no doubt disappointed. Yet, the training grounds proved to be not as... bland as she had thought.

Best thing was the appearances of several Academy students. Sure, while the trees would provide good hiding places and defenses and she could use the water to augment her electricity, she doubted that with one person constantly chasing her, even just that one, she could concentrate enough to do so. But, with the Academy and its students in close proximity, it would be inadvisable for them to use their large scale techniques, most of which Katarina believed her weakness to be. She idly wondered if this was what Lelouch had in mind when he chose this spot.

Then, Lelouch solved one of her problems. Two on one? Sounded great by her standards. Besides, she doubted if she could handle two of them alone without first polishing herself to a few weeks prioe, where she could've arguably sjrvived against ninja exceeding her caliber.

"Two on one, huh? So, whose the one and the two?"

Aethir followed Lelouch along with Kat to the training ground, not paying any attention as he yawned with his hand over his mouth. Even when tired, he seems to have some sort of mannerism about him. At the training ground, the ronin stretched more, yawning once again as he was still a bit tired. 'No rest... no rest... No rest...Um...' Aethir thought to himself before shrugging, 'Nope, forgot the rest of the song...' He had to admit, he was a bit bummed to have forgotten his motivational song, but ah well...

As he heard the talk of a two versus one match, Aethir blinked, then shrugged. They wondered who the 'one' will be...And well, Aethir definitely didn't mind. "I'll be the one against you two if you guys want." he nodded as he said this, backing away from the two while standing close to the nearby source of water. He turned to the academy students practicing nearby, turning back to the two in front of him. "Only if you guys want. Otherwise, I'd probably sit out if it's any other way." Aethir smiled, shrugging while staring at the two. 'This is a spar...' he told himself mentally as he maintained his friendly facial expression, 'No one has to die. Just endure. Yes. As long as I remember that, I'll be fine. They'll be fine. Everyone's fine.' Aethir nodded before exiting his shrugging stance as standing where he was, arms crossed and awaiting an answer. As he did this, his eyes studied the surrounding areas, taking note of resources he could use to his disposal before ultimate staring back at the two.

Word Count: 2066
(366)

He spotted both of them arriving, kat stood by lelouch, and Aethir was in the middle just a few meters out making a triangle. Standing with a smile on his face, Lelouch would activate his byakugan: 'BYAKUGAN!' Veins in his face forehead around the eye area, he would make a fist. Though, he just realized it would be no use, but he could surely use the byakugan to spot their weak spots. So he decided to use it, with his eyes focusing on Aethir, he would turn to Kat, " Let's do this!"  He would place his right hand pinky on the ring of the handle which was a kunai in his ninja pouch.

His hand would grip it, the law flew from his hand to Aethir right shoulder, if that was successful, this spar would be over in no time, He could only wait to see what will happen. Hopefully everything will go according to plan.

He knew this one on two thing was surely going to be interesting, but he never got in such thing in awhile, except the time when his sensei challenged him and some other dude. But that was different, the fight only lasted for a few hours, he was surprised they lasted that long. Once the kunai left his hand, he would flip out a single senbon. His left hand index finger/thumb, he would rush over by the tree, just to the right of Kat. He wondered what she could do. From the looks of it, she might have had a few tricks up her sleeve? who knows. Standing by the tree, this gave him a diagonal positioning from Aethir.

2475

+1 towards reaction time~ ( due to byakugan being activated)

So, the two of them were up against Aethir? If he volunteered himself, then he was most likely confident in his abilities, or against causing conflict between others. Then again, the latter option was unlikely given how he then crossed his arms over his chest – confidence and challenging. So he had little if any diffidence in his abilities to hold the two of them off? Well, he would be sorely mistaken.

Before Katarina could suggest a battle plan, Lelouch had already retrieved a kunai and launched off from his starting point. She bit back a sigh and scanned the area again. There were quite a number of things she could use at her disposal, if she got slightly creative.

Should she show them her abilities? It wouldn't hut. After all, no one goes for the small fry in the black markets, only picking the most dangerous but possible not so rewarding missions for the fun of it. Then again, Lelouch was a Konoha ninja, and there was a high chance that they would clash in the future. The same went for Aethir. It wouldn't be to her benefit if she began flaunting her abilities.

Katarina sighed and decided that she would do whatever called for it, and rushed towards Aethir, making a beeline for him. From the corner of her eye, she saw Lelouch standing by a tree, eyeing Aethir. If he caught what she was doing, he would be able to catch Aethir in a pincer attack with her, and the two of them could disable Aethir.

And maybe after he was down, she could take care of Lelouch?

Oh well, she would cross that bridge when it came to it.

A/N: Guys, do you mind if I use my jutsu? I entered this thread without my jutsu list or weapons, so I technically shouldn't be able to use them. But my jutsu list only consists of my freebies, so...

(OOC: Go for it, Katarina. I don't mind.)
Aethir stood where he was, hearing Lelouch speak of the spar beginning. As he said this, he spotted a kunai flying toward his right side, Aethir casually turning 90 degrees and walking backwards slowly while he shrugged as it passed him, almost mocking his attempt to harm him. The ronin eyeballed Lelouch as he began to make his way over to a tree, Aethir's attention quickly redirected to Kat, hearing her move. 'She was just on a mission...' Aethir nodded to himself, pondering as Kat made her way over to him, 'And yet she's just running in...Zero hesitation. Have they already made a plan...? Nah, they wouldn't have had the time... So is this brute force?' Aethir cocked his head to the side for a moment before returning it to it's upright position, trying to figure out if the two ninjas were on the same page or not.

"Ah well..." Aethir shrugged, stopping his backwards walking and awaited Katarina's actions. He turned to look at a spot on the ground, appearing to not look at either ninja directly...however, he was keeping both of them in his line of peripheral vision, seeing Lelouch by the tree he was running to earlier, and Kat running towards him. 'Actually...I think I may have a plan...' Aethir smiled, forming a hand seal, water from the pond shooting up due to something rising into the air. That something...was Aethir? No...it was a water clone that looked like Aethir, landing next to the ronin. "It's a spar..." Aethir simply said, backing away to stand near a training dummy as the water clone opened it's eyes, excess water dripping from it's body.

As the water clone stood and got into a taijutsu stance, it's eyes in the same position as Aethirs was, keeping the two in it's line of peripheral sight, Aethir crossed his arms, staring at the three. 'This way when I do fight, I'll expect everything.' the ronin smiled, glancing to Lelouch. 'And I better watch for either of them trying to attack me from over here...' he nodded to himself. "Good luck!" he said with a light wave, becoming silent as he observed the battle soon to come.

Word Count: 2446
(746)

Jutsus Used:

Jutsus on cooldown:

ooc:

Normally when she was bored, Risu would simply use her money and time to go shopping for jewelry or some new clothing, but some other days she just decided to go for some training at the training grounds, mostly just because those were the days the shops were closed, like sundays, holidays or just plain sickdays. However, normally the training grounds she went to were empty, but not this time, as this time the young woman could see the three figures swarming on 'her' chosen field.

With her full ANBU outfit on, she usually trained there, to get accustomed to the still new attire and also because she did not want to be recognised by other people, especially not the retainers from her uncle or her own clan's guard, what better way than training masked and armed, the identity hidden behind that of the ANBU operative going by the name Lamya.

This time it seemed she did not had to spend her time training, but rather had the pleasure and privilige to be watching and monitoring the three people that were duking it out against each other. Two of those shinobi were fairly inexperienced, yet one of them showed a lot of potential, though she did not know where he came from.

Sitting in a tree not more than fifteen meters from the combatants, the ANBU operative chuckled softly when she saw that one of the two inexperienced ones was in fact a hyuuga using his byakugan, no matter how pointless it even was, the differences in skill were too obvious.

"I wonder how long it will take them to notice me," Risu snickered, pulling the mask over her face, now hidden behind the image of a snake, she chuckled again, simply being amused by the sights she could behold. "At least one of them is from Konoha, so technically I'm allowed to join the fray, is it not Uraeus?"

The big white snake hanging next to her on the tree simply looked up once from its coiled position, hissed a bit and went back to his daily nap, not speaking or uttering a single word to his friend and master.

wc:363

Katarina ignored the water clone Aethir summoned. He was her target, not some clone he conjured up to fend them off. If it came down to it, she would leave the clone to Lelouch. She always did like getting personal. Clones just didn't give you that.

One quick glance at Lelouch when he revealed himself from his supposed hiding place showed him throwing something. It was small, tiny, almost invisible. A senbon perhaps?

But why would he throw a senbon of all things? Maybe even despite not having the same affiliations, he didn't want to accidentally cripple Aethir. Poor judgement on his part, by Katarina's standards. It was kill or be killed in the ninja world, and she doubted something as small as a meal would change that, even in a spar. At most ninja were likely to stop only when they knew they had their opponent on the ropes, which was exactly what she was going to be doing.

She just hoped he would realise she was gunning for Aethir, not his clone.

As she approached Aethir, with roughly five metres between them, she whispered, "Lightning Release: Arc Restraint."

Tendrils of electricity burst forward from her body, aiming for Aethir, who she noticed, safely, was the only one in the vicinity and within the jutsu's range, with his water clone and Lelouch both just slightly too far away to interfere.

Chakra 135/150:

Training:

Aethir smiled at his clone as he saw Katarina head towards him. He then frowned, looking around as he thought he saw movement from beyond the area. Peering into the tree, Aethir was searching for the signs of movement, his attention attracted to another hint of movement as he nearly failed to see the oncoming senbon. He hopped back a bit as the senbon went flying past he knee area. 'Okay, so he's packing needle too... What else, he's going to show me a gun-' Aethir blinked as he saw Kat...totally pass his clone. Aethir's smile returned, but soon faded once again as he saw some sort of ...electric tendrils appear from the woman. 'And just what is that...?' Aethir questioned as the tendrils came after him.

The ronin smiled before turning tail and bursting at a speed of sixteen meters per second, faster than what the ropes can travel to grab him, gasping as he saw Lelouch standing there. He didn't slow down however, as he attempted to deliver a straight punch with his aright fist to the ninja's face, avoiding his shades so they can stay intact. He wondered if he had the reflexes or endurance to counter his speed and strength...If he did or didn't somehow dodge, Aethir would continue sprinting either way until he was about seven meters away from him.

The clone, not wanting to be forgotten, burst at the same speed (sixteen meters per second) attempting to deliver, with the same fist, a blow to Kat's top center back area. Hit or miss, the clone would then sprint back a bit, staying seven meters from the the woman, opposite side of the original Aethir. Both Aethir's had a plan with whatever happened, the original failing to shake the feeling that a pair of eyes were on him...

Word Count: 2759
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Jutsu in play:

Cooldowns:

It was surprising to watch the two benin-class shinobi take it on against a ronin who obviously portrayed more skill and experience in combat, what made it even better was the fact that the two genins weren't even doing a bad job. It was quite refreshing to see the strong ronin being pushed and being forced to follow the flow of the two genius, who displayed an exceptional level of intuition and tactical ingenuity.

"Allright, these two are really something else," Risu whispered to herself, placing her hand on her large white pet snake's coiled body. "Uraeus, you wouldn't mind that I want to have some fun, right?"

The snake closed its eyes, nodded a bit and slithered away from the branch upon which the young woman was sitting and observing the clash between the two different genins and the strong ronin who the ANBU operative could swear she had seen somewhere. The Hyuuga genin was easily played by the ronin's water clone, but held his ground superbly, yet it was the young woman who went straight for Aethir who managed to catch Risu's interest, as it seemed that this kunoichi, who by the looks of it was probably a ronin as well, had not the slightest clue when it came to a friendly bout and an actual fight. This one actually gave it her all and used every possible meassure to come on top victorious, admirable and so worthy of being part of the people Risu wanted to surround herself with.

"That's it," The young woman chuckled when jumping out of the tree, her face covered by the ANBU mask and her gray armor depicting she was not just any of Konoha's shinobi, but belonged to the select elite of the ANBU. "I'd say you all have been doing very well, but if this takes on any longer, I would get bored and when I'm bored, there's no fun.

With a quick set of hand seals, Risu created two of her own water clones. One of them raced towards Lelouch and the water clone of Aethir, while the second one followed the young orochi lady towards Aethir and Katarina, with the Water clone aiming to shield Aethir from Katarina's jutsu and the 'real' Risu jumping in front of Aethir, just to withold him from attacking or countering the other ronin.

"This battle is over," The two clones said calmly, each of them getting in the way of the fighting parties. "There's no reason or  for violence and especially not when Ronin are involved. Seize your activities or you will all be dealt with accordingly."

448/811

jutsu use:

OOC: Aethir, you haven't done your chakra right (clone jutsu +1 clone is a total of 20% of your total chakra and 15 chakra to be deducted from your total chakra)

' A clone? the hell? just can't have a normal fight can we? ' He thought to himself, he could barely hear the girl that joined, but he spotted her location just from the current location he was. Around this time, his byakugan would still be off until activation. Though, the man wasn't to for about about this clone that was heading straight for his direction. How should he respond? Gathering himself together, Lelouch would rush up by Aethir. Though, he would only be five meters apart from him. But lelough didn't care for what he was doing at the point of time. Just as he crossed up the clone, he didn't obviously think his steps out. POW! a hit to the head from a nearby tree would send the boy to the ground. " OUCH! " He yelled out as loud as he could. Grabbing onto his head. The spar was over for him obviously. He remained on the ground right next to some bushes that was awkwardly wet. Looking up to the sky. Lelouch wondered if the others would stop to help him up or something.

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OOC: SHORT POST!