Reag grabbed his head, still feeling the pounding aftereffects of his late night activities. Wincing in the late afternoon light, the newly minted Special Jounin clutched at his eyes. Blinding lights did not help hangovers. Some people would say that a fifteen year old had no business drinking. Those people where obviously dead wrong. The wire user would celebrate however he wanted too, legality be damned. It’s not like he had plans to become a drunkard after all, only to make merry with his peers over his promotion. And what a cause for celebration it was! The leaf shinobi had barely been a member of the Konoha Ninja Corps for nine months, and already he was receiving his second promotion. There had even been a few covert offers from some of the more exclusive divisions. Personally, the ex Chuunin had his sights set on the Sword Saints. After all, he was the last practitioner of the ‘Dance of the Moon’, what use to be Konohas Signature Kenjutsu style.
 
Pulling himself up and out of bed, the Special Jounin took a look around his apartment. He had moved out of his parents place after a loud argument over the safty of his chosen profession. The ninja was civilian born, after all, and the very first of his name to enter the dark world of shinobi. Not that he would let that stop him. Already, Reag had several ideas of how to become the head of his own clan, and possibly build up his own reputation as a dreaded warrior. It would still take time, however, and his targets in the bingo book could wait for now. He would get around to capturing them at a later date, when he was more heavily equipped and better trained. Perhaps some time in the ANBU core would give him the edge he needed.
 
Dispelling the idle thoughts that floated through his alcohol addled brain, the newly promoted ninja began his morning ritual; Prayer at the altar, brushing of the teeth, shower, twenty minutes of reading, and finally thirty minutes of calculations. He had been studying jutsus for a while now, and had begun to work on a mathematical formula for total area denial via the Shadow Clone Shuriken technique. If he could complete it, it would lead to an incredibly useful tool in his arsenal, and possible the boost he needed to take out the likes of Ukiyo or The Whimsical Sniper. That was a dream worth training towards. He knew, realistically, that he had no chance against any of the high ranked nukenin, but it was good to dream. While he thought big, if he ever encountered either of those two ninjas, he knew to flee on site.
 
After finishing up his daily routine, along with taking a few headache pills, the fifteen year old ninja began to plan out his day. Fortunately for him, today was a day off for most of the official teams, meaning he would have plenty of time to spend training. Unfortunately, he had horrible luck with these types of days. They would always end with him either in a fight or running for his life. Hell, he had a whole week of days like this when he visited Suna as a Genin. He was going to forget that little fiasco any time soon. So today he was going to play it safe. With his plans finally settled, Reag decided to head to the outskirts of the village, beyond the outer walls, and to train in the forests around the Hidden Village. Chances are nothing would disturb him there.
 
Reag quickly got himself dressed; Reinforced jackets and pants layered itself on top of civilian underclothes, providing a decent protection against simple attacks. Clothing taken care of, the Special Jounin began to equip himself with his weapons. He started with a retracting knife on his left wrist and moved onto a Kopis on his belt. It took him a total of fifteen minutes to fully dress himself for his day of training, but in the end, he felt the wasted time was worth it. You could never know when something unexpected would happen, and he liked to be ready for potential catastrophes. Finally, the wire using ninja grabbed mask, attaching it to his face. The grey porcelain mask had become something akin to his trade mark, something he knew he would eventually be known for. Unlike the masks the ANBU wore, this one was a lot more personalized, as it was created from a mold of Reag’s own face.

Finally happy with himself, the Special Jounin left his apartment. In a few short minutes, he was already in the forests around Konoha. He figured he would work on his Kenjutsu today. Yes. That seemed appropriate for an unlucky day such as this.


Word Count: 805/1600 (Perfected Weapon Refining, -20% from Gifted Trait)

It was odd to Julian, odd that he would be up so early as the sun had barely began to peak it’s head over the horizon Julian had already been training now for at least an hour.  It was not physically intense training but it was mentally exhausting, he was working on training his fuuinjutsu to a rank above it. It would be hard but he knew he could do it and he would just have to do the mental gymnastics in order to expand his mind and allow his chakra to become stronger in this endeavor.  To Julian it was a tad bit hard, it certainly was harder than focusing on creating a singular jutsu after all he had but one jutsu in the specialization he was going to attempt. However he would not even use that jutsu, instead he was going to work his chakra into drawings he made in order to get used to the act of pouring chakra into a seal. Beyond that he would just have to work out how to get better with the grey matter inside each side of his skull.

Hours before Julian had awoke in a cold sweat, it seemed like the past had come back to haunt him in his sleeping hours. Understandably the genin did not like this and he bolted nearly right up trying to dispel the dance of faces that paraded inside his head that night. It was not easy, these faces haunted him enough when he was awake but for him to not have a last bastion that was sleep to retreat to concerned the sixteen year old immensely. As he jumped out of bed he shook his head as if the physical act would dispel the mental demons which had paraded around inside his skull. It would not and only time would do that, time and a distraction. It would be a while before Julian realized that and decided to train however.

The young genin started out by walking to his fridge and pulling out some bread and a glass of water from the spring he had encountered the other day. The water woke him up quickly and did in fact help dissipate the shades by making him more alert to the physical world and the bread helped by providing a solid base to his stomach. After finishing that he moved over to his bathroom where his light blue towel was hanging over the side of his shower, pulling that down and folding it on top of the sink he turned the water on and let it pour down for a bit before sticking his hand inside it’s stream to feel out the temperature. Julian was a bit picky about the heat of his showers after all, and after a couple minutes of adjusting he jumped in naked as a jaybird in order to wash himself. It was as if he hoped by cleaning his body, he could clean his mind. A foolish endeavor but still the shower helped him place his mind on things other than the dream of the past, of the experiences with the organization.  After a bit of washing himself and scrubbing his body down with animal fat in bar form he turned off the water and dried himself off with the towel smelling the dust of his room once again.

‘One day I will really have to clean this place up’ Julian thought to himself scratching his chin as he began to dress himself for the day. During his shower the idea to train himself sprung into his mind and in lieu of having a jutsu in mind he decided that making his fuuinjutsu stronger inside himself would be a very good idea. It was that or to boost the power of his doton chakra after all, and Julian had been meaning to try out some new sealing jutsu anyways. There was not much one could do with just the C rank of chakra status on fuuinjutsu a lot of it’s more complexities were hidden within the higher ranks of the skill set and recognizing that Julian knew that ever if he was to delve into the realm of fuuinjutsu first he would need to expand it so that he could actually attain a rank high enough to formulate functioning jutsus.

Rubbing the back of his neck where a seal in the form of a hammer and sickle were Julian thought of his one fuuinjutsu. Just a shoddy thing in order to boost his or another’s speed, it was nothing special but hopefully after working more he would be able to create a more powerful version and remove the one that looked just like a regular tattoo.

Standing in the forest as the first rays of the sun struck him Julian heard another person running nearby, it did not seem to be anyone he knew but that could just be the sun in his eyes. Deciding to be sociable Julian waved with his left arm in small, sharp motions. Once to the left, once to the right it was more of a signal that the other’s presence was noted then some sort of parade wave.  Hopefully this person from Konoha would not be carrying bad news out there. Julian tugged at his headband around his neck with his right hand; the paranoia would always be there for the young man it seemed. That was not one thing he could get rid of by distracting his mind with training.

Reag spent the next few minutes wondering around in the forest surrounding the hidden village, trying to see if he could find a nice clearing. That was the thing about the forests of Konoha, they always seemed to have a very conveniently placed clearing for practicing in. The Special Jounin had invented all of his best techniques and perfected his sword style in the various clearings around leaf village. As such, like most Konoha shinobi, he was very attached to the forests of his home. Add on to this his over reliance on the Kawarimi, he was the picture of the typical leaf ninja. Though, that being said, it was more than a little odd that he wasn’t able to find a clearing yet. Perhaps luck just wasn’t on his side on this day. It would certainly fit the established pattern. The newly minted Special Jounin never had peaceful days off.

Finally, the wire user spotted a small break in the trees, interrupting his thought process. Finally, the newly promoted ninja could say that things where looking slightly better. Just seconds earlier, the ninja had somehow gotten the feeling that he would never find a suitable training ground. That would have fit into the narrative he had spun himself about days off. Still, now that he had his own personal training ground, he could spend the day relaxing and training, preferably in that order. The clearing itself was fairly standard. All it consisted of was a simple grass floor surrounded by trees, with a single large boulder in the center. The wire user briefly thought that it would make a nice spot to sit down and get some reading done, before moving onto his basic training exercises. The fifteen year old pulled out a worn book before leaping to the top of the rock.

The next half an hour passed very quickly for Reag. Completely engrossed in his reading material (An interesting essay on the various high ranking jutsus and the ninja who use them. He paid particular attention to a section devoted to a notorious Uchiha nukenin), the fifteen year old completely lost track of the world around him as he read. It wasn’t until a breeze sent a leaf into his face that he snapped out of his book. Frowning, the wire user closed his book, the magic now lost. It was a bit like waking up; after being snapped out of it, it was impossible to go back. Figuring it was time to begin his training, the young shinobi put his book away and leaped off the rock. It would be a good time to start working on that new wire technique he had been practicing.

Landing on the soft earth, the wire user began to channel a little bit of chakra into his wires. It was a draining exercise he had taught himself over the past few months, one that had allowed him to become the Special Jounin he was today. Five minutes of minor wire manipulation later, the leaf shinobi was content with the progress he was making. Following his chakra control warmup, the fifteen year old began his basic movements for his sword style, the Dance of the Moon. He was always amazed at how well the style seemed to fit into his combat method, almost as if it was tailor made to allow him to kick ass. Picking the boulder in the center of the clearing as his target, the teenager began to work on his approach, mimicking the movements he would have used if the target was trapped in his genjutsu. It was all rapid dodges, sudden shifts in speed, and quick attempts to move horizontally. With his illusion running, he would have been impossible to track down.

A sudden shifting sound in the tree line put the Special Jounin on high alert. It would seem someone had found him in his clearing. Cautiously, Reag moved towards the source of the noise. While it was likely a fellow Konoha ninja, it paid dividends to always have a little paranoia. After all, most shinobis died from a single moment of carelessness, rather than being out blasted on a battlefield. Finally, the wire user spotted the source of the noise; a fellow leaf ninja. Reag didn't immediately recognize whoever it was, sending further questions into the teenagers mind. Still, whoever this new ninja was, he didn’t seem particularly hostile. Quickly, the wire user took in everything he could about the figure, putting his age at around fifteen. With that, the Special Jounin removed his mask and spoke. “It's more than a little unusual to see others around here. I take it your out on a solo training exercise? I'm Taira Reag, newly minted Tobubetsu Jounin of Konoha. Specialties in Genjutsu and Bukijutsu. Age fifteen.” With that, he nodded, introduction finished.


Word Count: 805 (1600/1600 Perfected Weapon Refining, -20% from Gifted Trait. 0012/1600 Dance of the Crescent Moon)

The man was odd, not too tall; in fact the boy in front of him was rather short indeed. However that was not the most interesting thing about him, if Julian had to pick one with that label he would have gone for the mask. Now for a split second Julian assumed it was an Anbu he had encountered, but that theory had a gaping hole due to the customization of the mask itself. The mask was molded to the boy’s features; it seemed to be custom made for the ninja himself not just mass produced and with customization later added. So, that ruled out him being an Anbu but he certainly did not seem to be a genin even though he looked younger than Julian. A long time ago the Genko had learned that age did not always equal skill and rank in the ninja world. Luckily Julian would not have to wait long to guess inside his own skull as the other ninja spoke.

So he was right about him being younger, but just barely. Julian was quite impressed with his rank as just under that of a jounin, it was the rank that Julian wished to strive for. His first goal he had put in place after coming to that village and thus the other ninja won some of his respect right off the bat. Although their specialties did not match up he could not help but feel a kinship, it was probably from the shared village. Not one to be rude Julian then opened his mouth to reply “Yes, I assume you are as well? My name is Julian, I am but a humble genin age sixteen. As for my specialties, they are just the boring regular; ninjutsu and fuuinjutsu” Julian kept his silvery voice rather subdued but with a spark of warmth a chuckle inserting itself in the pause before he listed his specialties. He would pause again before continuing “Are you too practicing in this area? The question was lodged because honestly Julian was far more of a social creature than one to train on his own. Though if he was honest with himself he had no idea in which way they could help each other.

Still, he had spent most of his time just pointlessly pouring chakra into seals that he wrote down on paper. They had done nothing really except get him better at putting the chakra into the seals, no new ideas for jutsus had come to him while he completed the task. However if Reag wished for the seal that Julian actually knew it would allow him to get more experience with the fuuinjutsu that he hoped to train. The Genko would not ask if the other ninja wanted it unless he also wanted to train together however, no need to set the other on edge. The problem with fuuinjutsu was that unless you were trained in its specialty you often did not know what kind of thing would come from a seal. Seals could be traps, they could be damaging, but the thing Julian liked most about his seal was the boosting effects they could bring. It was why the very first seal that he had created, and the only seal he had in his inventory was a seal that boosted the person’s speed. It was a low boost for now but once he got more experience he planned to use all sorts of seals to boost his and other’s attributes, status and many other things.

Now if this touketsu jounin was out there for training as well, how could Julian help him in his endeavors? He was not the kind of guy who wished to be put under a genjutsu after all, though he could help him with weapon training it was something he had considered getting when he was secure enough in the skillset he had currently. When that would be he had no idea, but the idea of utilizing weapons with his current jutsus was more appealing than using for instance summoning or genjutsu. However that was further down the road and Julian had no idea where his journey would take him, time would tell was the popular saying and it would indeed tell a lot in the coming days, months and years.

Reag looked at the older Genin, while he listened. It was odd, dealing with someone who was older than him, yet lower rank. Due to his rapid rise through the shinobi forces, the wire user never got to spend much time with peers his age. It had always been that way. In the academy, he had isolated himself with his unusual eyes and demeanor. It was funny how that had happened. He knew he had cold eyes, but so did every ninja. While it was unusual to see in children, it didn't isolate him from the shinobi force, just his peers in the academy. So he had taken to sleeping in and skipping the first few classes of the day, better to avoid the odd looks he was given. Later on, that developed into a full fledged nocturnal tendency, leaving him most active late a night. It was quite rare to see him out at this time.

Post graduation, he had managed to isolate himself from the rest of the Genin with his team choice. The corner of the wire user's mouth twitched at the memory. That particular arrangement had been a disaster. Despite his low academy scores, he had been selected for the Hokages personal Genin team. After that, no one aside from his teammates would associate with him. The words 'Stuck up' floated through the Special Jounins head. How was it his fault that he was calm and collected, like any real shinobi would be. The fact that Uchiha Oshiki had picked him as a pupil had only made it worse. Was it really any wonder that he double into his training, rapidly rising to Chuunin? At least then he was able to deal with more professional ninjas. Sure, most of them where several years older than him, but if that’s what it took for some respect, he would take it.

Still, the teenager in front of him seemed ok. “Yes, I assume you are as well? My name is Julian, I am but a humble genin age sixteen. As for my specialties, they are just the boring regular; ninjutsu and fuuinjutsu” Ninjutsu and Fuuin? That was an interesting combination. While he wasn’t sure of the Genin's fighting style, he could see were it could go. The fuuin could easily be used for defensive attrition fighting, wearing his foes down while maintaining a tactical advantage. Afterward, he would have his ninjutsu blasting techniques to finish the job. Overall, it would be very effective. However, that particular strategy had a couple of flaws. It would be weak to a blitz attack, as without any form of close quarter combat specialization, a quick Taijutsu or Buki rush might lead to a quick death.


Still, it was an interesting combination of focus. He was half tempted to initiate a spar with the teenager in front of him (Restricting himself to D and C rank techniques, of course). In his past year of service he had never gotten a chance to fight a fuuin specialized ninja. It would be good experience for any future encounters he had. On the other hand, fighting a Genin was in poor taste. Generally speaking, uneven spars were looked down on by the administration. It was more of an unwritten rule, as official police had nothing to say on the matter. “Are you too practicing in this area?” Reag nodded. Carefully, he placed his mask into his jacket pocket, before speaking again. “Yup. You can find clearings like this all over the Konoha forests. It's the perfect place to train anything you don’t want other people to know about.” He paused, relizing that it sounded like the wire user was suggesting that he practiced kinjutsu.

“Every ninja should have a technique or two they keep in reserve, just in case. I guess it's a bit of a tradition. I myself came out here to practice a genjutsu that you do not want to be on the receiving end of.” he spoke, chuckling at the end. That was an understatement if he ever uttered one. The torture technique he was developing was possibly one of the cruelest genjutsus he could imagine. “Anyway, thats besides the point. You seem a little green to this ninja business. I know I'm a year or so younger, but I think I can still give you a few tips. You know, tactics and what not. Hell,” the wire user began to grin slyly. “Ill even restrict myself to D and C ranked skills to even the odds a bit. My guess is that you could use a little practice against someone with a more unorthodox fighting style, something I excel at. A little practice against someone with an unusual fighting style might save your life when your a chuunin.” With that, he turned around and walked back into the clearing.


Word Count: 812 (0824/1600 Dance of the Cresent Moon, -20% from Gifted Trait)

Before replying the higher ranked ninja removed his mask revealing that the mask was indeed feature forming. If Julian had to guess he would think Reag had made the mask himself, it was probably useful in protection but Julian did not enjoy jumping to conclusions. The other ninja replied confirming that he was there to practice, stating the truth about the forest surrounding Konoha. It was truly a beautiful place besides being a place where one could find a measure of privacy in the world of the ninja. Reag seemed to enjoy that privacy to train and Julian agreed with his next point that some of their techniques should be only known by themselves. An unknown jutsu could really help a battle go in the favor of someone else, the young genin knew that from his previous match against two other genin. The thought that the ninja across from him was practicing some forbidden jutsu never crossed the mind of Julian, despite his suspicious nature he could empathize with the idea of secrecy.

Reag then spoke of genjutsu and that he was planning to develop a technique of which Julian did not wish to be on the receiving end of which cause the genin to reply. “I do not think I would wish to be on the receiving end of any genjutsu” his voice said with a cheery tone, genjutsu was not something Julian had much experience with after all and he was not much used to it. Someone who used both genjutsu and weaponry would be quite a threat to face in battle after all, even with the slightest pause a weaponry user could down their opponent quickly. With the addition of genjutsu they could create those pauses with a trigger and without touching their opponent. It was a combination which excelled for a quick victory at least in Julian’s opinion.

Next Reag offered to teach the Genko some tricks about the ninja trade, what he said about him being green was true. Julian was not one to overestimate himself and he knew that he needed a lot more knowledge before he could cast off the title of green. The offer came in the form of a spar of which the more senior ninja would restrict his techniques; it was more of an offer of good faith than a hindrance in the mind of Julian. As such he appreciated the secession and responded politely “While you still have a vast advantage you are correct I do need the practice. Not to mention your specialties are the things which mine do not do well against, at least in my opinions. Due to how much I could learn from this spar there is no way I could refuse your offer. Are there any more ground rules you wish to set down?” Julian asked as he folded his hands together in front of himself at a ninety degree angle, there was about twelve meters between the two at this time but Julian knew the special jounin could cross that distance in no time at all.

Thinking back to his previous spar he smiled when he closed his mouth, the thought of him being able to learn this time excited him far more than the prospect of fighting two ninja. Not to mention he would be able to train against the weaknesses to his specialties. He would await Reag’s reply before taking any action instead letting the question linger in the air between the two for a while. A friendly battle in training was just what Julian was looking forward to, not to mention he would be able to test his seal out in an actual combat simulation instead of just simple solo training.

No maiming and no killing, standard sparring fare with perhaps the exception of a grindhouse Julian nodded as the Special Jounin began to list off the rules for the match. Next, his opponent told him to go all out which made sense to the genin however once Reag spoke of slowing himself down Julian thought that he should not go to the extremes a normal all out would be not wanting to hurt or get hurt too badly. “I am honored to spar against you, it matters not whether I win or lose in this meeting. I just hope I will not bore you” Julian stated the last phrase with a chuckle. If there was one thing that Julian’s speech pattern was it would be polite. Such was the genin who looked to advance his career; his mother had always told him that you catch more flies with honey. The genin himself thought it meant that the friendlier you were the more friends you would make.

Julian thought back to his first spar and the fact that it appeared as if his opponent did nothing was telling to the genin. In his last match he had attacked early and thinking back it would be odd for any sort of trained ninja to not attack right out of the gate when they thought they had the advantage. This of course allowed him to remember the specialties of the other ninja, chiefly genjutsu. There appeared to be no weapons in his hands so from the power of deduction Julian would note that his opponent must have used a genjutsu and he quickly used Genjutsu Kai to restart the chakra inside of his brain, this allowed him to see the wire snake into the ground for traps and it also allowed him to see the wire that came up to his side, in reply to that he would activate his own technique later.

Julian had also thought about the trigger to the genjutsu and it must have either been an action that his opponent did or a word, unless he could figure out his opponent’s style of trigger he would be in hot water trying to guess the next time Reag would use genjutsu. Julian was glad the other ninja had limited his options though, even if Julian continued to recognize the genjutsu he would run out of chakra before his opponent did. Still it would have been pointless in Julian’s mind to win against an opponent who limited themselves anyways, instead the genin thought to the future when he could repay his opponent with a better fight.

The technique that the genin had done was done after he ran forward four meters which put him around eight meters from the wires that were embedded in the ground, he ignored the wire behind him and realized more were probably there. However, he decided that this was his best option in the situation as he formed three hand seals while running. Julian had begun to run once the genjutsu was dissipated which was when his opponent had finished speaking about bragging, not that Julian would instead of replying with a sentence he would state the name of his technique as his eyes flashed violet. If his opponent kept the wires in the ground to snare Julian as he ran forward he would become stunned in the arm that controlled those wires as the metal acted as a conductor for the technique to travel. “Electric shock impulse” Julian stated calmly as he planted both hands on the ground and crouched the electrical chakra traveling across the ground in a ten meter radius hitting all of the wires that were on the ground at the time including the one that was creeping in for a shot.

The only questions in Julian’s mind were how long he could keep this up, what would Reag do next, and what his next move should be in reply. The spar had begun and the genin hoped he had at least fended off the first attack without exposing himself too much. Fighting against someone who used genjutsu and bukijutsu would be hard for the ninja who was used to casting ninjutsu and using fuuinjutsu. The one technique he had of fuuinjutsu was the odd tattoo on the back of his neck, Julian had activated it when he began to run giving himself a slight boost compared to his normal pace. Whether or not this would affect the match at all Julian did not know, but he had come out to the forest to train his fuuinjutsu anyways. Hopefully this match would give him new ideas for fuuinjutsu to practice and create that way he could increase his usefulness to the village and perhaps give Reag a better spar the next time the two would fight in the future.

Spoiler: