Sand

It couldn't be helped. Wailing away at these practice dummies in an environment like this meant sand was going to get everywhere. Even now as he had just started, Akarui was practically a sand magnet; his hair matted with it, his eyes irritated by it, his pants filled with the stuff. Even his shinobi sandals felt as though they were filled more with sand than with feet. This cheap bokken that the training grounds provided; Cracks filled with sand which flew all over as Akarui came at the dummy with a silent fury that he could only be attributed to the sand. That is, until the clouds receded.

Sun

Even for Sunakagure, this seemed like an unusually hot day. Perhaps that was the reason this training field was built here. Akarui was forced to squint his eyes due to the brightness of the sun as well as the grating sand in his eyes. Before long, his neck and arms would begin to burn, even as accustomed as they were to life in Sunakagure. As Akarui continued to make basic attacks at the dummy, he couldn't help but grunt in frustration as his arms began to tire and his hair became matted with sweat and sand. Finally, as his shoulders became red from both strain and sun, Akarui relented, falling to sit on the ground. He began to breathe heavily; the stress of the training was finally catching up with him, and he could feel the beat of his heart complaining in his chest. As his heart rate lowered and he regained his composure, Akarui removed a water skin from his pack, taking a long, slow sip of relief before dumping the remainder over his head and wiping his face.

Akarui looked down at the bokken in his now blistered hand, unable to keep a slight tinge of disappointment come across his face. This wasn't real kenjutsu training. Beating a dummy was no way to truly get used to real combat. Kenjutsu was a dance; it required a pair. A graceful sport, sure, but it was nothing without two sides. You can't have light without darkness, life without death, or kenjutsu without an adversary. Really, Akarui supposed, it was what every human being craved deep down. A purpose.

382

Entering the Sand ground training area Heero hummed and bit onto another piece of pocky. His wounds had healed enough to start training again and his recent foray into figuring out himself had led to deciding to train again. The Sand grounds was just as hot as usual and the wind was at a slight breeze at the moment. He put his water in the shade as to keep it somewhat cool while he trained before heading the the training weapon rack and picking up his usual training sword. 'Well, I may as well get to it..' His mind flashed to the last time he had trained here. The sparing match with the Kazekage had shown him just how hard he would need to work to get at any decent level of strength.

His hair blown in the wind as he removed his hakama down to the light blue undershirt. Heero's body flinched as he heard a thunk, it was a sound he knew well as he had spent many hours doing the exact same thing. 'Just another person training, maybe I can train with him.' He watched as the tall redhead drank his water.

"H..hi.... Im Heero, whats y..your name?" He called out to the other shinobi. His stuttering habit had not gone yet and it was one of the things that irked him to no end.


240

Akarui perked up in surprise at the sudden appearance of another shinobi. Rising from the ground and pushing back his scruffy red hair, he donned the standard blank expression of the Kōga clan. Akarui began to examine the boy before him as he held the bokken in a neutral position at his side. He was either very short or very young. Probably both. He seemed to be dressed at least relatively traditionally, which pleased Akarui ever so slightly.

He may seem small but if he's approaching somebody at a place like this he is either stronger than he looks or very, very stupid. He does seem to know what he is doing; especially if that stutter means he is cautious. This should be interesting.

"Heero, was it? Sorry, my hearing seems to be a bit off, or maybe it's just the wind. I am Akarui of the Kōga." Akarui tilted his head slightly to the side, bringing the blade of the bokken to rest in the palm of his other hand.

If he is meaning to train here he must be at least as strong as I am. He seems very calm. Not the rough and rowdy type at all. If he is as strong as he is serious then this could be fun... Or I could get my face smashed in. Either way.

"So... Heero. What exactly was it you wanted from me?"

382 + 238 = 620

As the other boy perked up Heero's scar on his arm throbbed. "That's strange, why is my arm doing this now?" He thought looking down at it briefly then looking back up to the boy as he rose from sitting. "Man he is tall..." Heero observed. The wind had kicked up a little bit as was the norm for the desert, still, it was not strong enough to worry about.

'Koga, Akarui huh?' Putting Akarui's name to memory he wasted no time responding to Akarui's question. " Hitting a practice dummy wont get very far so I was wondering.. i..if yo..you would spar w..with me?" He silently cursed himself for messing up the last bit of the sentience. He had no idea how strong his opponent was, but showing weakness from being timid was not the impression he wanted to make.

(p.s sorry its so short.)

156+240=396

Akarui squinted as he watched the other boy carefully; merely applying what he assumed to be the clan specialty. "What could he be looking at? Does he have some sort of body seal he is going to attack me with? This is all kinds of strange." The hot wind of Sunagakure whipped his still drying hair about. He would be more worried about it but for the calm and cool expression of this Heero person.

Hitting a practice dummy won't get very far? Perhaps there was some truth in that, but the way Heero said it rubbed Akarui entirely the wrong way, despite his stuttering. Hefting the bokken up onto his shoulder in a casual and generally untrained fashion, he took his first few steps across the sand towards this mystery boy. "What does he mean by that? Does he expect to be hit like a dummy, or am I the dummy for taking it that way? The way he retains his outward composure... even with that stutter. Is it a trick? Do I even care? Damn, at least this is more exciting than dummy whacking."
Akarui allowed his eyes to flash a smile as he lowered the bokken down into a fool's position, pointed directly at the ground.

"You seem fairly confident in your abilities, Heero. I get the feeling there are a few things you are going to teach me today, and I would be honored to learn." Akarui's eyes flashed to the boy's arm as his shoulders tensed; afraid more of what he didn't know about than the boy and his skill. He made a quick glance around the arena just in case there were any witnesses. The closest trainees were far to the other side of the area, out of earshot and soon to be out of sight if this wind kept up. "Damn. It seems I'm alone in this if something goes bad. Perhaps I should bring partners to my future training sessions." Tightening his grip around the hilt of the bokken, Akarui slowly widened his feet, allowing himself a small, strained grin. "I get the feeling this will be interesting, Heero. Let me see what you've got."

620 + 370 = 990

Heero watched as Akarui seemed to study him. There was such a intent look in his brown-gold eyes Heero wondered what the other person was thinking, as if he was trying to stair into his soul. His arm throbbed again but this time Heero ignored it. The slight breeze rustled his hair lightly as his opponent walked towards him. His breathing became calm as his opponent casualty brought his bokken down to his side.

"You seem fairly confident in your abilities, Heero. I get the feeling there are a few things you are going to teach me today, and I would be honored to learn." Heero scratched the back of his head smiled slightly, it was the first time anyone thought he could teach anything given his size. His opponent's smile widened "I get the feeling this will be interesting, Heero. Let me see what you've got."
Akarui said getting into a stance. The smile dissipated as Heero focused in. He said nothing as he sunk low into a Battojutsu stance meant for lighting quick draws of the sword, his hand relaxed as he waited for his opponents move.

198+396=594

Akarui closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. The first move would set the tone for the whole fight. Tracing a half crescent in the sand with his back foot, he moved himself into a lunging stance. The bokken felt heavy in his hands and he brought it up before him, tip pointed just above Heero's head; or at least where it would have been if he weren't so short.

"It is best to assume he is stronger than me in every way. I suppose the best thing to do is something basic to judge his speed and reflexes. He certainly seems to have his discipline down." As he flicked open his eyes, Akarui flipped his hair to side, intent on retaining vision of his focus. "Where did this boy receive his training?" Akarui quietly observed the boy for a few minutes, simply watching as Heero seemed to gain confidence at an exponential rate. "That stance isn't for playing. The boy knows what he is doing for certain. I'll certainly come out of this with more than a few bruises." The more he waited, the more uncomfortable Akarui became. Letting out a sigh, he observed the ground, realizing he would have to start sooner or later. Pulling back the bokken below his right shoulder, he tensed himself in preparation for a strike or a block. Akarui stared Heero in the eyes, a stoic look of flat determination on display.

"I hope you're ready, Heero. Don't you dare hold back. I won't either." Silently, he took off towards Heero, his muscles tensing as he lowered himself forward, bokken before his eyes, ready for a beating. Akarui's heart began to beat faster and faster as he approached his opponent, the only thing coursing through his body more rapidly than fear and uncertainty being excitement. A tinge of pride finally reached him as he turned the theoretical point of the bokken towards his opponent, wind rushing through his hair and blood boiling. "Finally. My career as a shinobi begins.  Here's to this being a worthwhile challenge."

990 + 354 = 1344

"I hope you're ready, Heero. Don't you dare hold back. I won't either." Akarui said right before charging at him. The blade of his bokken headed straight for Heero. Right before the blade would have made contact Heero ducked and rotated to the right as the blade of the bokken swung harmlessly by.  Capitalizing on the momentum of the way he dodged, Heero swung at Akarui's right calf letting out a loud yell.

(sorry its so short, I have company at the moment.)

He isn't moving. Why isn't he moving?

Akarui couldn't help but feel a little perplexed as he charged at his opponent in a somewhat lackluster manner. This wasn't meant to be a be all end all attack; merely a way of feeling out the fighting style of his opponent. Approaching Heero, he thought out altering his trajectory to make it more difficult to escape. Just about to reach the boy, Akarui had his plan ready. As he was about to make a lunge at one of Heero's shoulders, whichever moved first, Akarui blinked and Heero was gone. Before he could react, Akarui felt the sharp sting of wood slapping against his lower leg. As the pain flashed up his limb to his head, Akarui pivoted to face his opponent, bokken close behind in hopes of making a hit on Heero's shoulder or torso.

"You have some pretty nice moves, kid." His eyes merely passed over Heero's face with the standard clan expression, as though he were wearing a mask.

1344 + 176 = 1520

Heero flung himself into motion bringing the blade of his bokken to intercept. The blades connected and the clash of wood sounded and Heero jumped back. "You have some pretty nice moves, kid." Akarui said with a straight face as he ever seen. He glared at his opponent in front of him. It was common place for many to underestimate him because of his childish looks, however, during training or combat it irked him. Ill show him how much of a kid I am! He wanted to yell, he wanted regain his confidence and walk among the winners. He could feel his heart beat and his steady breathing, the training grounds he could feel out well enough, however the guy in front of him was a matter altogether different. 'what's with that look? Why does he seem so emotionless? Its almost as if he is wearing a mask... That's it! His face is a mask to throw people off.. He cocked his head to the side as if perplexed, the blank look on his opponents face seemed to stir something in him



His mind raced as long forgotten memories began to flood back, as if waking up from a long dream . 'Why am I remembering this now of all times? The smell of water entered his noes as a small house came into view. Where is this place? Wait! I remember! it was my home! He took a deep breath and allowed himself to enjoy the thought. A slight breeze ran across the training grounds enough to snap him out of the slight daze he was in. With both hands on his bokken and at the ready he looked the other redhead in the eyes. " Ever wore a mask for so long you forgot yourself?" His voice rang out stronger then it had in years, such was the feeling of providence that Heero let out a genuine laugh. "I'm such a fool, instead of living I wasted it! Well from now on im going to live life to the fullest!" As the final word was left out it was Heero's turn to attack. He charged his opponent. It was time to toss the dice. 'Lets see what he does when I don't have a plan.'

411+77+594= 1082

Akarui's shin stung as the vibrations from Heero's block coursed through his body. Unable to hold back all the pain, he allowed a momentary wince to cross his face. He's fast. Akarui thought as Heero jumped back from him, the two of them raising their bokken in parallel. I won't be able to keep up with him in terms of basic attacks. He's just too quick for me. Something seemed to be going through is opponent's head, however, as the wind picked up. Heero simply glared at him with a look of confidence he had not originally expected. That, at least, he was happy to help out with. What followed, however, was a look of confusion. Heero seemed to be somewhat disconcerted with the current state of affairs. Apparently, something about the fight had gotten to him. After a brief moment, the boy looked at Akarui again with almost a sneer of emotional confidence.

"Ever wore a mask for so long you forgot yourself?" Akarui didn't know what to think as the boy laughed. Whether it was at Akarui or at himself, he didn't know. His emotional composure is broken... "I'm such a fool, instead of living I wasted it! Well from now on im going to live life to the fullest!" Ultimately, what the boy said was true. Wearing a mask did hamper Akarui's abilities to self identify. But his training was not for nothing. Even with a ping of emotional connection, Akarui merely saw his enemy running at him, safe behind his mask. The boy seemed to have let all his emotions out and was coming at him with a blind fury. Ultimately, emotion was unpredictable. No matter what Akarui did with his sword, the outcome was ultimately up to chance. The actions of a person fighting under the whim of emotion was something he had been longing for for quite some time. Finally, Akarui broke his mask of composure, allowing tears to flow from his eyes as he fell onto his bottom, legs out before him and the heels of his hands firmly planted in the sand; his bokken firmly between his palm and the sand. Akarui let out a whail of pain and sadness, his eyes firmly locked on Heero.

1520 + 384 = 1904

With a shocked look Heero stopped his bokken after seeing his opponent fall to the ground in a wail of emotions. “Death is as light as a feather, duty heavier than a mountain.” For some reason Heero remembered hearing it somewhere but, he did not know where, What mattered was the shinobi in front of him. Heero lowered his bokken to a neutral position. "It seems im not the only person with things to sort out.....or is he hurt that bad?" He thought. He let out a small sigh and scratched his head with his free hand. "Everyone has things they have to work threw, I should know this better then anyone, well, just because I never had help does not mean I can't help someone else. His eyes focused on the guy whose face was in agony. " Hey, are you ok?" He asked holding out a hand to help the other boy up. "Sometimes words can be the best training, know it or not you helped me remember something dear to me. At least let me return the favor. Heero was still quite shocked he had not wavered in confidence, was it just a memory or something more? His recent memory of himself was like another person altogether. Someone else's pain; someone else's weakness, it seemed so foreign to him. Was his life until now on auto pilot? Did he really bury himself? The questions that bothered him would have to wait, as for now his focus was on Akarui in front of him.

272+1082=1354

He isn't going to attack? Has he really given into his emotions so completely? Akarui merely yawned, falling back onto the sand and closing his eyes. His wailing stopped almost immediately as he simply began to lounge in the sun. "You are much too trusting, Heero. If this were a real battle you might be hurting quite a bit right now. Didn't you ever learn the law of the shinobi?" The boy stretched his arms back with another long yawn before flopping them into the hot sand. "Emotion in battle is a weakness, and should be treated as such." Akarui smiled up at the boy, more genuinely than he had before. "I suppose that just means you are kind. Quite odd to see someone like that wielding weapons. It's a nice change of pace, to say the least."

Akarui had intended to use this situation to deal a surprise attack to his opponent, just as he had been trained in the clan throughout his childhood. As it went, whoever controlled the emotional exchange between shinobi controlled the course of the battle. Because of this, the Kōga family taught that emotions should not be exchanged if you were unable to control them. A stoic face and conscious focus on the battle was what would give you the upper hand. However, in the more advanced training of the Eye of Heart, the ability to control the battlefield through false body language was the primary focus. He held no ill will against Heero of course, but training body language was just as important as training kenjutsu or practicing seals. However, once he saw the genuine kindness that Heero was showing, both inside and out, Akarui couldn't bring himself to attack the boy with such a move. He had, in fact, allowed himself to become emotionally compromised.

308 + 1904 = 2212

"Emotion in battle is a weakness, and should be treated as such. I suppose that just means you are kind. Quite odd to see someone like that wielding weapons. It's a nice change of pace, to say the least." Heero just smirked at the explanation. "Good thing this is just training then aint it? So now are you ready to take it up a notch?" He felt like laughing, he had not felt so alive in his whole life. The sweat beaded and ran down his face, Suna's hot weather was starting to make itself known. The breeze from earlier faded away only making it feel even hotter.


The Sand Grounds was large, yet it seemed as cramped as a alleyway. It was not that the training area was small, no it was the feeling Heero had in the back of his head that someone was watching. Heero shook the feelings aside as he focused on what Akarui would do. Coiling himself like a spring he waited for Akarui to make his move.

181+1354=1535

Akarui yawned as he stretched out on the sand. The place wasn't all that unbearably hot and itchy once he embraced the place for what it was. "Good thing this is just training then aint it? So now are you ready to take it up a notch?" He still wants to fight? He seems different now than he was before. This new attitude might prove interesting to fight against. Akarui simply stared up at the sky, deep in thought as wind blew over him; his finger tapped on the hilt of his bokken at a steady rate. He wasn't particularly in a fighting mood anymore, though he certainly needed the practice. Internally sighing to himself, Akarui finally rolled backwards, standing up and pointing the wooden practice blade at his opponent. "We'll just say it's your turn, Heero." His face lowered back into a determined blank expression as his muscles tensed, gripping the blade in both hands and drawing a half-crescent in the sand with his back foot to put himself into more advantageous position for jumping and lunging.

Spoiler:

183 + 2212 = 2395

"We'll just say it's your turn, Heero." Heero didn't need to be told twice as he sprung from his stance and let his bokken swing at full speed at the back of Akarui's right hand, he hoped to show him just how vulnerable A swordsman with a hurt hand could be. He put just enough force into his bokken that if it hit it wouldn't break his opponents hand, still, it would hurt if it landed.

Heero felt like he was on fire, the shear joy of letting go of everything that was stopping him from being himself was exhilarating. For the first time Heero was happy during a fight.

Spoiler:

Heero was faster to begin than Akarui had been expecting. As Heero swung at him, it was all Akarui could do to jump backwards and swing the bokken down at Heero in poor form. Unfortunately for him, Heero was just too fast. As he jumped backwards, Akarui's fingers were cracked down upon by the hard wood of his opponent's bokken, his fingers immediately beginning to swell and turn a bright red color. For all he knew at the time as he tore away his right hand in pain, his fingers were broken and useless.

Useless at the very least. he thought to himself as he weighed the wooden practice sword in his left hand. It felt out of place and unbalanced as he rarely practiced his kenjutsu using only his left hand. Akarui couldn't help but bear a disgruntled face to reflect his pain, suspecting his opponent had very specific intentions considering the well being of his hand. At least, that was all he could suspect given his opponent's facial expressions and body language. The Eye of the Heart hadn't given him much of an advantage in terms of perception for this exchange, but it certainly allowed him to hold a grudge. Seeing as his hand was useless anyways, Akarui began to dash at Heero, preparing to swing his injured right hand in his direction. It was not Akarui's intention to make contact, however. As the punchline to this diversion, he kept his bokken low and pointed away from Heero as he charged, before raising it as he got nearer to deliver a hard poke with the tip aimed at his opponent's stomach.

280 + 2395 = 2675

Perception E -> D (750/750) Complete
Speed E -> D (750/750) Complete
Reaction Time E -> D (750/750) Complete

425 words remaining

"Good my attack worked!" Heero smirked, the attack had landed and any swordsman or shinobi with busted hands would be in a bad situation. With reckless abandon Heero continued to attack to only see the hand he just busted coming straight at him! "Shit I can't let it hit me, but, I cant do any more damage to it without really breaking his hand..." Heero made his decision to dodge but as he went to he noticed that his opponents bokken was thrusting right toward his chest. "Shit shit shit shit, if he hits me dead on im screwed!" He brought his bokken down to deflect the blow lower, He avoided getting hit in the chest but his left thigh was another matter altogether. "Aww hell!" He said as his leg gave out on him and he was brought to a kneel. The white hot pain shot up and down his leg and he winced in pain. He was so tired of his body being so frail, but, there was no helping it at the moment. Normally, if he got hit like this he would have stopped, however before he could make known his intentions he had a thought: "Never give up, because giving up hurts more then going threw pain...." He had not meant to say it out loud but, whats done was done. Heero slowly struggled as he rose from the ground. Now was the time to stay the course!

255+115+1535=1905

Akarui felt a surge of pride as his opponent focused on his diversion, even if only for a split second. He winced as a jolt of pain hit his hand while he swung it. Obviously it was not entirely useless as it had allowed him to get a hit on Heero's leg, but the hand might also cut down on his focus if he were not to careful with it. As Heero went down, Akarui jumped back a few meters, his feet sliding in the dust as he came to a halt.  He hoped he hadn't injured his opponent too badly, but he greatly enjoyed getting him back for the hand slap. Akarui tilted his head in confusion as the boy stuggled to his feet. He did not think he had hit the boy so hard that it would leave lasting damage, but it seemed Heero has a smaller and weaker body than most. Perhaps Akarui had forgotten in the heat of the fight that Heero was really just a young boy. It was easy to forget such things when fighting a stronger opponent. Even so, Akarui has pleased to not that Heero had the drive to continue the fight; he even seemed to be  mumbling some words of encouragement to himself. Was he just going to keep getting up, no matter how hard he was hit? The thought was somewhat frightening to Akarui; He didn't want to hurt the boy, but he might have to if worst came to worst. Then again, it also gave Akarui a little bit of pride. Eventually, if this boy kept fighting the way he was, he would either reach greatness or die trying. And Akarui got to be a part of that journey with him.

"Not going to let a little jab get you down, hmn? I won't let your wound either, then." At this, Akarui shifted into something of a left handed fencing stance, bokken pointing forward and the right side of his body behind the left. It wasn't the best style for this type of sword, but for training with bokken it would do well enough to get a few hits in. No use trying to slice with a wooden sword anyhow.

376 + 425 = 801

Training Endurance E -> D (750/750) Complete!

51 words remaining. 3051 words total.

Not going to let a little jab get you down, hmn? I won't let your wound either, then." The little taunt seemed to do the work as Heero finally pulled himself up to a relaxed stance to keep the weight off of his leg; the pain was starting to fade enough for him to put weight on it but, it would be black and blue in the morning. His opponent had taken a fencing stance meaning a attack from head on was asking to get stabbed again. Heero thought for a minute and got a idea. Heero advanced yet again this time a little slower then last due to the leg hit; still, he planed to finish the fight as soon as possible. The determined look still bright in his eyes he went for the same approach as before bringing his bokken to the ready as he closed the gap.