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Naruto Saga » Tsuchi no Kuni » Iwagakure » Practice?! We're talking about practice?? [Ruby Rose/No Kill]

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Karumo

Karumo


D-rank
Karumo stood at the center of a plateau, one of the many practice fields of the village, set on a plateau of hardened stone on the south side of the village. The plateau itself was nearly flat and in the rough shape of a circle, almost 30 meters in diameter, but it was raised several meters off the ground in a part of town that wasn't developed. No houses or buildings nearby, it was used by shinobi every now and then to practice or kids to hang out and run around in if they wanted to, but other than the occasional guest, the area was usually empty, giving Karumo a decent enough place to train while he had the time to. Karumo's back pack sat a few feet behind him with a couple of plastic water bottles seated on a flat rock at the edge of the plateau and a white towel sloppily thrown over it. In the center of the area was a plethora of training dummies and targets he had set up, five targets for shuriken practice in a row at the far side of the region. In the center, Karumo had set five practice wooden dummies with arms and other extensions sticking from it, each of them set in succession so they would all almost be in range of each other. Each section of it capable of rotating so upon contact it would spin around back at the user, perfect for practicing some basic combat and get further along in his Taijutsu training.

Karumo stood at the center of them, his expression calm as he took in a deep breathe and exhaled slowly. With a fiercely intense expression he started out with his right hand hitting the arm near the top of his head, knocking it back in it's spin towards him. The hits weren't hard, he didn't want to break the wood joints that connected the arms or anything, but it was enough that the speed of their rotation would keep him on his toes. Moving his head to the left to dodge its return, he then hit three more arms and sent them on their way to keep things moving. Every motion he would hit a few more or reverse the motion of others with his hands, using the back of his hands, palms, wrist whatever he could use. Then bringing his legs in, moving fluently to kick a few of them, using every bit of his reaction ability as the rest of the world faded from view and his attention was solely on hitting and avoiding being hit from the dummy arms.

Every movement was focused, conserving energy, if he needed to jump or fall to his hand, he was willing, he wanted absolute perfection on this run through. He wouldn't accept any less, he could always hold it for a moment without slipping up or getting hit by the arms but when exhaustion kicked in and his attention fell, it was so frustrating... and with every attempt the time he could maintain his flawless combination would shrink. He allowed himself to dodge them, but taking a hit at this speed was unacceptable, not that it hurt, no more than hitting his head against a metal bar or anything of that nature, it was about pride and getting better when he seemed to stall out.

*Crack*

The sound of the wooden arm hitting his head was deafening as things slowed a bit and he realized what had happened. He'd been moving full speed, he thought he had accounted for all the arms and their movement, there was no way he'd failed after... not even a minute? Maybe thirty seconds? Insulting. He was better than that. His teeth gritted and his hands balled into a fist as he lashed out at the stem of each of the wooden puppets with his full strength. Five hits, one for each puppet. The sound rang out amidst their spinning as the puppets would crack where they were hit, falling over and away a few meters away with Karumo as the epicenter. The arms flailed wildly as they fell to the ground and Karumo stood back up sighed at his own loss of control. "Keep it together you idiot..." he mumbled to himself as he walked towards his backpack and grabbed the towel to clear his face of the sweat building up.

The collar of his black shirt under his grey ANBU armor was beginning to hold a bit of the sweat from his face and head. Using the towel to wipe his face and neck dry he sat down heavily on the rock and grabbed a water bottle to take a sip of it. Not a sip, he downed nearly half the bottle as he sat there and thought about how quiet it had been for such a public area of the village. Letting the towel drape over his shoulder he slid down to the floor and used the rock as a back rest as he took a few minutes to catch his breath. Before he would be up to clean up the dummies and set them up, assuming he hadn't broken any of them in his little childish outburst a second ago...

[884 words]

Ruby Rose

Ruby Rose


D-rank
The Land of Earth was empty as it was vast, with mountains ranging in almost every direction to the north and to the west that Ruby could see, and just plains of nothing but earth and dirt which gave the country its name in the east and the south. The shinobi village in this particular country, the Village Hidden in the Stones, was particularly reminiscent of the environment that birthed itself – hard, strong, and unwavering – as she had known from some of the ninja that she had recently met. But at the present, Ruby didn’t find herself within the storeys-high walls that surrounded the shinobi village, instead wandering the lands that surrounded the magnificent village, surrounded by a myriad of training grounds each designed in its own special way.

There was one large one that caught Ruby’s eye, though. It was roughly thirty meters in diameter, and raised about five meters above the ground level. Watching from a distance of around forty meters, sitting on the edge of a similar training ground in both size and fashion, Ruby swung her legs back and forth as she watched the man spar with five training dummies in the center of the circle. She didn’t have as clear a view as if she were up front, but Ruby didn’t want to disturb the man’s intense training, as fast as he was moving telling her he was definitely not a simple Genin or a D-ranked wandering ninja like herself.

Crescent Rose lay on the ground beside her, the girl dressed in various shades of gothic red and black, with hair partially dyed red to keep the colour scheme uniform. The mechanical object, blunted at one end and attached by a handle at the other, was caressed by one hand as Ruby studied the man’s fighting style. Or, maybe ‘studied’ was the wrong verb… The young girl was rather enthralled by the speed and skill with which he performed his motions, leaving no one dummy still as each punch or kick sent the dummy spinning on its axis.

It was when she heard five loud cracks that she realised the man’s little training session was likely over, as the puppets flew off their roots several meters away from the man in question, who then began to walk to the edge. At the same time, Ruby dropped from her position, swiping Crescent Rose with her right hand and jogging, maybe running, to the man’s position, who had taken a seat at the edge. If the man was facing outside, he would see Ruby running towards him, and even if he didn’t, the sound of her footsteps against the earth would likely alert him, unless he was too immersed to react.

Stopping a meter from the edge, Ruby would leap up to the top of the raised platform, landing a meter away from the man, who she could see was decked out in ANBU armour. She would turn to look at him, holding the handle of Crescent Rose packed up in her right hand, eyes all but shining as she regarded that he could probably have been Jonin-level or better, recognising him as the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure as well, one who had recently received his position.

“Hi! I saw you training! You were like, so cool the way you took down those five dummies so quickly! And like, can I train with you?” Ruby asked in awe.

WC: 582

Karumo

Karumo


D-rank
Karumo leaned back facing inwardly on the area where the dummies lay, his mind wandered in the moments that he relaxed. A slight cool breeze and some birds flying in pack off in the distance, his mind had begun to wander, losing himself in the short time of which he was distracted. His concentration broke by the sound of footsteps approaching, Karumo's ear twitched as the sound approached near him, turning his head slowly and calmly upon the sound of someone jumping up. A woman in black and red, fully decked out in scheme in all the facets of her clothing and hair and weaponry landed a few feet away from him. Karumo raised an eyebrow, a thought shot through his mind of the woman approaching him with a weapon, and a person whom he'd never seen before. Potentially the least subtle way she could have approached and timed herself if she were going for an assassination, and reckless beyond that. Should she be trying to kill him, his title alone would cause almost every killer of any rank and regard to tread carefully, not that he valued his own skill for any of what it was worth. But the title of Kage held weight and caused worry in the eyes of the enemy, even if Karumo wasn't confidently living up to the physical prowess of his predecessors, there was no reason for anyone else to know that, was there?

It wasn't so much his own inner musings that gave him a slight bit of confidence that his life wouldn't be taken with a swing of her scythe, but rather the gleam in her eye. Not that it couldn't be some twisted pleasure in taking in the sight of your enemy, but Karumo wasn't about to start taking a dogmatic view that everyone was out to kill him or commit some heinous act. His eyes rolled over her quickly then aimed to meet hers as she stood there and quickly spoke up, “Hi! I saw you training! You were like, so cool the way you took down those five dummies so quickly! And like, can I train with you?” the words pierced through Karumo's ears as he listened. It wasn't annoying in the slightest, but a break of the silence that he had befallen, outside of the moments he was actually training.

What's more, the mannerisms with which she spoke were quite informal, a small part of him appreciated that but another questioned her repeated use of the word 'like' all the same. Karumo scratched his temple briefly as he began to think, "Uhmmm.... sure? That's fine with me I suppose?" his tone would be rather questionative of it all and the situation he was in.

Karumo would stand up, using his hand to push off against the rock behind him and stand up in one motion, a slow grunt as he picked himself up, feeling his age in the movement. The turning to her, water bottle still in the other hand, he asked with a bit of a laugh, "So... who are you anyways? And what sort of training do you have in mind?" he would cover before he moved onto anything else. Depending on what she had in mind, Karumo would probably end up having to move the training dummies out of the way to make room, unless she had a reason to use them. Otherwise he would patiently wait for her reply and hopefully a bit of an explanation to go along with it. Regardless, he'd enjoy the training partner while he had one, the company at the very least.


[615 words, 1499 words total]

Ruby Rose

Ruby Rose


D-rank
"Uhmmm.... sure? That's fine with me I suppose?" he answered, and Ruby did an inward double flip as excitement coursed through her that the Tsuchikage – the freaking Tsuchikage oh my god – of Iwagakure had just agreed to have a small training session with her! She watched with eyes agleam, focused only on his movements as he pushed himself off his interim seat with one hand, standing up to a tall six feet, easily overshadowing her by an entire head. Even so, Ruby felt no sense of fear, only anticipation at training with one of the five individuals regarded as the most influential in the ninja world.

Coming from a humble background of a disgraced clan head’s daughter, this was a big deal.

“So… who are you anyways? And what sort of training do you have in mind?” he asked.

At this point, Ruby already had her left leg stepped outward. It could’ve been misinterpreted by most others as preparing for combat, what with her widening her base to increase her stability and whatnot, though anyone more experienced could’ve seen that her blunt weapon, looking like a bastardised and glamourised baseball club, still hung loosely in her right hand to her side. Her defenses weren’t up, and the look of intrigue on her face at his question, complemented by the shine in her silver eyes, spoke that she was instead making a small move, and had been interrupted by the question in doing so.

“Uhm, my name is Ruby! Ruby Rose!” she answered with a smile, in a laxer tone not in line with the bubbly excitement she’d just shown. “And I was thinking we could have a spar? Me against you.”

She waited for his response, if he gave any, knowing that there might be a slight chance he was surprised that a small girl like her would want to spar against a Kage. But, it was her only chance to do so, and few could say they managed to spar with a Kage whilst they were still Genin, with most only claiming that at the earliest ranks of Special Jonin, when their accomplishments would have first sparked the interests of their leader. But here she was, having luckily stumbled upon the Tsuchikage training, and who had agreed to train with her; this had to be her lucky day. Leaving home had definitely been worth her father’s suggestion.

If there was no response, she would walk towards the center of the raised platform, an estimated fifteen meters from the edge in every direction. Karumo’s hapless training dummies were littered around her, at least five meters away in every direction but no more than seven. She took note of his strength. That would definitely be something she would need to keep track of. As she did so, her right hand flicked, and the weapon in her hand extended, mechanically shifting outwards with joints unshackling from one another, rapidly growing into a two meter long scythe with a blade curving three quarters of a meter long. Ruby gripped the scythe with both her hands, leveling it around thirty degrees anti-clockwise from the horizontal, with the bladed portion on her right and pointing outwards, waiting for Karumo to make the first move.

WC: 548 + 582 = 1130

Karumo

Karumo


D-rank
The girl stepped forward with one leg after he questioned whom she was, his eyes widened a bit as he watched slowly, her weapon hanging loosely at her side. Her eccentricism spoke far louder than her stance though, her eyes gleamed a bit, probably because she recognized him and he accepted her offer to train. “Uhm, my name is Ruby! Ruby Rose!” she spoke up in retort with a welcome smile. She had relaxed a bit, perhaps mentally preparing herself for whatever was to come next, Karumo offered a slight smile in return as she spoke, a thought crossed his mind about how unique her name was but lovely nonetheless. He held off commenting as she continued, “And I was thinking we could have a spar? Me against you.”

A spar, eh? It was certainly an interesting prospect and not a challenge he'd received often, it at all. It certainly took a level of guts, but from what he had seen, unless she was very relaxed and holding back significantly, her movements would be a bit behind his own. Combined with a chakra pressure also lower than his own and that could pose a problem, but then again, holding back was a possibility and not just anyone would pose a spar against the Kage being totally outmatched. At least they shouldn't reasonably so. Karumo's smile faded just a little, holding a bit of it behind as he chuckled lightly, "A spar is fine with me, if you think you're up to it? " he would offer to make sure she was absolutely sure.

Assuming that Ruby was still willing and ready, he would grab a kunai from his pouch and twirl it in his hand briefly before it stopping it into a reverse grip. When they were both ready, Karumo would make his way around to the edge of the dummies and stand at the ready, assuming that she didn't suggest clearing them out of the way or his own compulsion didn't warrant moving them of his own accord.

With all the other accords out of the way, Karumo would stand with his legs split a bit and shoulder width apart, his right hand holding the kunai out towards whatever position Ruby would have chosen to start. Doing his best to separate the two of them by somewhere around 7 meters if possible, giving a bit of room between them to start, even if it was a bit dramatic for a spar. Barring any other bits of conversation or tasks to take care of before hand, he would watch carefully with his arm held forward and bent slightly, a slight bend in his knees as well, ready to move at the sound of a pin drop. His purple eyes watched carefully, all the emotion gone from his face as he would begin analyzing and interpreting everything he could. If anything, he would practice his focus most of all, working to expand the machine-like focus he held so dearly and his ability to perceive and react to everything going on. Giving her a chance to make the first move so he can roughly imitate her own speeds and make it a fair match if he needed to.


[542 words, 2041 words total]

Ruby Rose

Ruby Rose


D-rank
"A spar is fine with me, if you think you're up to it?" came the quick reply.

Ruby nodded her head twice enthusiastically, more than glad that the Tsuchikage, though not formally introduced, agreed to a spar. Granted, had she been less excited, she’d have noticed that he had yet supplied his own name – not that she needed it. She watched closely as Karumo took a single, unmarred kunai from his pouch, holding it tightly in his right hand in a reverse grip as he moved to the training dummies located at the edge of the platform. They were likely the ones used most often for training practice, Ruby supposed, keeping both eyes on him as she too moved to take her spot. The two of them were separated by a short distance of around seven meters – it may have been long by civilian standards, but with the speeds that they were able to achieve with chakra, it was much less so – with Ruby roughly eight meters from the center of the large platform.

Her crimson weapon, bearing the same colour as her name, remained hidden in its compartments, folded up as a bat in her right hand throughout her brief movement. As she arrived at her position and turned to look at him, her weapon would unfold itself, various mechanisms turning and gears rotating as compartments opened up and blades realigned themselves, until what Ruby held in her right hand was no small bat, but rather a huge, two-meter-long scythe, mainly red in colour with several streaks of black etched into it, and a metal blade that shone silver in the light of the afternoon sun. glowing almost magically in the sun itself. Twirling it halfway in her right hand, she gripped it so the blade of the scythe, three quarters of a meter long, was facing away from her, resting on her left and pointing towards Karumo, who had raised his kunai in front of him, directly between the two.

As soon as her left hand closed around the handle of the scythe, holding it so the handle was thirty degrees clockwise from the horizontal, she would speed off, going as quickly as possible, although she was certain five meters a second was likely snail’s pace compared to what Karumo was used to. It would take little over a second to make it to him, during which her scythe would be pulled back before being released rightwards in a huge momentum-filled slash, aimed for his right side.

WC: 425 + 1130 = 1555

Karumo

Karumo


D-rank
Karumo watched Ruby nod her head twice at the acceptance of the spar, a rather quiet response compared to her demeanor before. Karumo prepared himself and took his position away from her and his kunai in his hand. He began to control his breathing, keep his cool and stay collected through out, preparing for whatever she could throw at him. His footing just at the center at the platform, a single dummy lay partially broken between the two of them. Karumo watched the bat in her hands carefully too, at first it seemed as a blunt weapon he'd need to look out for. His kunai could counter most things, but that could be easily knocked away.

It was after she reached her spot on the platform that her bat unfolded from itself, opening up in crimson color and revealing a large scythe in its place. It was certainly an interesting mechanism to say the very least, perhaps it would have been even more surprising to unleash it in battle. At the very most, it would have done a better job of catching Karumo off guard and all, but his mind digressed from the thought as he continued to watch. The black and red scythe held cautiously in her hand and pointed towards Karumo, he watched unwavering at the sight.

As soon as the scythe hit her left hand, she dashed forward, quite the burst of speed towards Karumo. She was certainly moving quick, but not quick enough to throw him off guard, he had plenty of time to prepare for this first move. But beyond that, he would have to nerf his own capabilities to a considerable degree to match her own. He leaned back in his stance as she approached, squatting backwards as she approached, preparing to make a grand leap backwards away from her incoming attack.

Her scythe pulled back for an incoming attack, Karumo held his kunai in the path of the scythe while he lept backwards. A safety precaution in case he shouldn't be able to separate enough distance to avoid being hit from the scythe. A quick jump back a little bit faster than she were moving, if he were able to clear the distance and avoid the scythe or parry it so he could jump away afterwards. He would toss the kunai from his right to his left hand, while bringing his right hand back to his pouch behind him and draw his shuriken.

If the shuriken get drawn, he would toss all three of them to varying point of Ruby depending on if she kept charging or if she changed direction. He felt a little bad for her, but it would certainly take him a moment to adjust and find a speed for her that would give her a chance to compete here. Strength would be a whole different story, but as long as he matched her own, that shouldn't be a problem in the slightest. The three shuriken loosely thrown by Karumo's standards, just to test her reaction time and see how well she could really wield that scythe in a defensive stance as well. Her handling offensively seemed fine enough, but Karumo wasn't ready to give up his brief analysis of the spar ahead of him just yet. As long as Ruby would let him, he would continue to push little by little until things unfolded and she had to rely on more clever maneuvers or start using her own jutsu. This was the fun that Karumo got from battle, not from beating a weaker opponent or anything sadistic like that, but from being able to test that opponent. To analyze and interpret, to find the best course of action, and in a spar like this, where he felt he would lead things from his own stance, would make the mind games behind it all that more interesting.


[652 words, 2693 words total]

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