It would be a sunny day today. The sun shone upon the village called Konohagakure with gentle, warm radiance, like a mother hugging her child. The birds chirped gently upon this nice day, the forests playing home to these winged residents rustling ever so slowly from the harmonious and gentle gusts of wind blowing through them. Fallen leaves danced in the wind, playing entertainers to God and the Earth as they fell onto the ground, resting among the grass. Within these forests life would be abundant. Bugs scattering about within the grass and trees, birds moving about, the occasional animal out looking for food or for a mate. Things were calm and peaceful today, with not even a single piece of chaos being seen.

Not everything is natural though. Humans inhabited these lands, lived within the village hidden in the leaves, put on the title of "shinobi" and bore arms against other Humans. They were once natural, with two arms, two legs, and a regular anatomy. Recently though that has changed. There are so many "oddities" in the Shinobi world that being regular was now unnatural. It was a world full of murderers, thieves, liars, monsters, vigilantes, and much, much more. Now these very same people are born with strange appearances. Humans with tails to straight up giants to people having spider-like appearances. Each person belonging to a different "clan" as though this is something normal occurring. No, the world was messed up. So much now that it's affecting those living within it.

One such oddity stood within the training grounds; A cleared flatland stretching around sixty meters around with trees surrounding it near entirely save for the nearby lake. The terrain within this clearing was a patchwork mix of grass and dirt, and had the appearance of the aftermath of many training sessions before today. Standing in the middle of the Training Grounds would be Sora, the mentioned oddity from earlier. He wasn't odd for what was on the outside. In fact, he looked like the average thirteen year old boy. He's wearing a black hoodie and white shorts with two black tool pouches attached to each thigh. Upon his shin and forearms were mahogany wraps that would cover them entirely. His eyes were yellow and his hair would also be mahogany colored. Finally, his face would have a tired look upon it.

Yes, this oddity looked rather normal, which is perfect for him, as what makes him a fellow freak is an easy secret as long as he's not cut or openly reveals it. His reasoning for being within the training grounds doing nothing more than staring out towards the lake would be his own. He needed to think some before he began his Taijutsu and Medical training for the day, to ensure himself that he's normal like the rest of his fellow Shinobi. He needed to ensure himself that he's just not a puppet like what those within the Academy called him and he needed to prepare himself for his progression towards the completion of his goals. He had a long road ahead of him, and today would mark the day for him where he begins taking his first step upon his road.

wc: 543

The day was magnificent, a breeze flowing through the training grounds as the birds chirped in the distance. They sang an ancient tune, one that had been repeated through generations. It was a way of communicating, although it sounded so beautiful. It was far from anything humanity could fathom, a simple chirp that could mean numerous things. The simple sounding communication techniques represent a vast language that would be blessing the listeners among the training grounds. Itsuki was one of those, having entered the somewhat destroyed training area. Almost any moment he would begin his training, but the complex language of the birds had gotten his attention. Due to his odd amount of studying, he knew some of the types of communications that the birds of Konohagakure shared with one another. A lot of the speaking was in quick bursts, others through long tunes that the others would echo back in order to agree or disagree. Birds were something so magnificent, so elegant.

He found his way past the newly destroyed ground, a spot that still had smoke rising from the collision spot. Whoever had caused it was still near practicing, and as he saw a flame erupt in the distance he realized a girl was training with her sensei. He nodded in approval, he loved seeing people take training and sparring into their own hands. He wished he had been assigned a squad in order to begin his training as a Genin, but sadly his name must have been near the bottom of the list; that or he was being kept off of certain squads for reasons unknown to him. As he continued further, he caught a glimpse of more Shinobi training. There were ninjas of almost every rank, shape, size, and much more. He loved the diversity of the Hidden Leaf Village, as he has stated many times, and walking through the training area showed just that.

As Itsuki looked around, he couldn't help but see a boy with yellow eyes. He wasn't aware of a clan with a Kekkai Genkai with yellow eyes, but then again he didn't have a vast knowledge of all the clans of Konoha or the Shinobi World considering it was so large. He squinted a bit, but a smile formed on his face. "Hey there!" He waved the odd looking boy down, moving closer. He was intriguing, not in a rude way. He jogged towards him, stopping directly in front of him. "This is odd... I need someone to practice with, are you uh, are you up for it?" A goofy smiled appeared on his face, sticking his hand out to introduce himself. "The name's Itsuki Senju, it's nice to meet you. What's yours?" Why not force yourself upon strangers in order to train, right?

WC: 467

Sora would have been broken free of his thoughts which ran so rampantly within the realm of his mind by a person which would exclaim a greeting to him. Turning around from his facing the lake Sora would see a five foot eleven boy that appeared to not only be taller, but older as well. He had shaggy white hair and brown eyes. As Sora looked upwards towards the one that towered over him by approximately ten inches, he would examine him up and down. The stranger seemed friendly enough, though Sora would still be wary of him. For all the young Jiongu knew he could be some kinda of crazy person or just another asshole.

"Wait.. you? Spar with me?..." Sora asked, astonished that someone actually wished to spar with him. The rookie never actually had anyone to spar with before, so this would be indeed quite a surprise that someone is asking him of anyone else if they could practice with him. What astonished him even more was the goofy smile the stranger had when he offered it. Sora didn't exactly know how to react nor what to really do but thank whatever exists that the stranger did. Through the gesture of an outstretched hand, the stranger would introduce himself as Itsuki Senju, telling him that it's nice to meet him and then asking for his own name in return.

"S-Sora." He would stammer a little as he regained his senses and shook the boy's hand. Releasing his grip, he would move away from the lake. "Sure, we can spar. It'd help my improve my Taijutsu more if i had someone to practice with me anyways. So yeah, let's do it!" He said rather enthusiastically as he continued walking away from the lake, moving towards the center of the flat area. Wherever the stranger would move to would be the distance of which the two would begin combat. The young Sora would smiling a bit at this moment. He was completely excited for this spar to begin. It was complete and utter luck he felt that he actually met someone willing to trade blows for the sake of improvement.

Sora kept the thought in his mind of what Itsuki mentioned about himself. He was a Senju, a member of a clan of renowned wood users with a powerful Kekkei Genkai. If Sora remembered correctly the current Hokage is a wood user along with the leading medical ninja in the village, and that was only the surface being scratched. Although Sora learned nothing whatsoever about the actual techniques the clan used he did know that they could create and manipulate wood, which could prove to be quite a bit of trouble from a long range or even medium ranged distance. He, a close combat medical and Taijutsu user, would most likely have to immediately resort to his own clan's abilities in order to get a hit in on the older boy. Yes, when they're both ready, he would have to make a plan to close in quickly.

"Are you ready?"

wc 528
twc 1071

Suki sighed as she entered the area, she was without a mission and thusly with little to do. Her goal of proving Her parents innocence had never seemed further away. Usually she was reasonably confident, But today she felt somewhat down. She had yet to complete a non D rank mission, and she felt somewhat ashamed of that. She felt as though all her experience and training since becoming a genin. It was out of character for Her to worry So much about these things. But she had received a letter from her parents earlier that day. They had encouraged her not to worry and that it wasn't her fault. She was secure in that knowledge, But at the same time, it reminded her of how she had gained no ground on her goals. Her depression would end, of course, it always did. For now she needed a distraction. Something to do that engaged all of her senses, leaving her no time to dwell on such things. This was the ideal day for a mission, but she had headed to the training grounds instead. Maybe a good workout would help. When exercising people were known to get a kind of "runners high". Suki could use one. More importantly, it would ease her lack of confidence. She had done a few missions, was no longer a fresh genin, but she had never been in a combat situation. That needed to change, and maybe She would find a solution among the other ninja. Surely someone wanted training. Maybe she would find a chuunin or jounin who would teach her a few things, maybe a fellow genin to train with.

As she stepped into The sunlight from the trees she had walked along while in thought, She smiled for the first time since before the letter. The Sun felt warm on her fur. It was good sunbathing weather. But she had alternate goals. Still... Maybe later right? The sunlight would make it clear what she was. It's light and warmth soaking into her yellowy-Orange fur. This was contrasted by various black markings, that gave her the look of a wild feline of some kind. Perhaps almost a tiny leopard, or a serval. She was big for a house cat, She stood 16 inches at the shoulder, and was 2 feet 2 inches from her chest to the base of her tail. Her long tail matched the color Pattern of the rest of her body. She was, by all obvious signs, a cat, some domestic housed at, or a crossbreed between wild and domestic perhaps. However if one looked closer, they would see her paws were opposable. The had a thumb of swords. It was hard to see from a distance. Her tail was prehensile, like a monkeys tail. She could grab and hold things with it. Those were the main anatomical differences between her and a typical feline. Not that there were not more important differences.

Suki watched The others in the training area, a couple boys had caught her interest. Someone had mentioned training a moment ago, she had heard that much. She wondered if she could join. Training in nearly any form was perhaps just what she needed. So Suki approached cautiously, observing them, and listening. "Hey....uhh... Sorry but if you are training could I join in? I could use a nice session. Oh... And my name is Suki. Sorry if I am bothering you."

Word Count: [578]

Itsuki's face lit up when the other Shinobi boy known as Sora accepted his offer to spar. There was something so exciting about training, the adrenaline flow that Itsuki felt while in combat was almost pleasurable. The glimmer in his eye as he watched the other boy gesture him away from the lake. So the boy gave away that he was a Taijutsu user, something good to keep in mind.

He moved behind the male, following him to the flatter portions of the training area. He wiped sweat from his forehead, the sun baring down upon those outside in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. He smirked slightly, prepared to have fun with the spar. He got into position, a smile appearing on his face. "Ready when you are!" He was in a battle stance, ready to move and attack at any second when motion in his peripheral vision caught his attention. He lowered his arms and turned, watching as a cat moved closer to the two Genin.

"Hey....uhh... Sorry but if you are training could I join in? I could use a nice session. Oh... And my name is Suki. Sorry if I am bothering you." His eyes widened, this cat was speaking! He knew there were some strange creatures within the Shinobi world; however, a ninja cat was something new to him. His smile remained on his face as he scratched his neck slightly, looking from the cat named Suki to Sora, shrugging slightly. "I mean, I'm okay with you sparring with us!" A threeway? This would be interesting.

He tried to think back on his knowledge of clans, he knew of the Inuzuka clan who used ninja dogs as their fighting companions; however, he wasn't aware of a clan of actual cats as ninja. He wasn't denying that it was possible, he was staring at one at that moment! He knew not to underestimate an opponent, the cat named Suki could potentially wipe the floor with him. He smirked, it would be a fun battle!

WC: 344
TWC: 811

Sora waited where he stood, watching Itsuki got into position, a smile on his own face while he got into a battle stance of sorts, showing he was prepared for whatever Sora threw at him. Sora himself unwrapped the mahogany wraps that covered his forearms. Beginning with the left, he would use his right hand in order to undo it, continuing to unwrap it until it fell upon the ground, revealing large stitching in the middle of his forearm which would stretch around it. After doing this he would do the same for his left arm, revealing the stitching that would be in the same place as the stitching on his right, and made in the exact same way as well.

Both forearms would go up, the hands clenched into fists, his legs spreading and positioning themselves in a way that he would form a regular fighting stance, one which was rather common to use when his fellow classmates fought within the Academy. He could feel the adrenaline as well, pumping through him as though he was getting filled up with it. His heart was no longer beating, it was quickly jabbing itself while within his body, his insides warming up as a competitive look was on his face. His smirk became a smile as well, his muscles ready to move, and right as his sparring partner said those four words, that singular phrase, he would begin to charge forwards, hoping to close in from the twelve meters distance they were apart from one another.

“Ready when you are!”

Right when Sora did move, though, he would immediately stop in his tracks. He saw Itsuki stop and look at something. At first he didn’t know what it was, causing Sora to have to stop the fight as well and move up a few more meters, walking until he saw the small creature in full view. His jaw would drop though, because this creature, this cat that was a bit larger than the average cat, would have spoken to them. His jaw dropped. Never had Sora ever heard of a cat that can speak their language before, and fluently at that. It wanted to know if it can join in and introduced itself as Suki, apologizing if it bothered them.

Sora remained where he was, which would be nine meters away from Itsuki and the cat, where he could catch Itsuki looking from the suspected shinobi animal to Sora himself. He could hear what sounded like Itsuki telling the cat that it’s okay with sparring with them. Sora himself didn’t know how to honestly react to this. He didn’t know what the cat was exactly nor if he should actually hit it. He wondered if it would even count as animal abuse to hit a cat that obviously had intelligence, though he didn’t even know if he wanted to risk it. For all he knew, this creature could possibly take out both himself and Itsuki! All in all this sparring session is getting stranger and stranger by the moment.

Shaking his head, Sora would shake off the confusion he felt and would face the two, his arms raised up once more as he decided that nine meters was a decent enough distance to restart this battle. “All right. Once more. Ready?” He would say to the two, the adrenaline returning to his system as powerfully as before.

wc 571
twc 1642

Suki kinda felt like she was almost forcing herself into what had probably been intended to be a 1 vs 1 match. And if that was true, she was surely sorry. She hated forcing herself onto others. However some training was probably exactly what she needed. Get her frustration vented in training and exercise. Or at least she hoped it would work out that way. Anymore she hardly felt like She was growing, like her solo training and missions was yielding little results. Others seemed to soar through the genin rank, and become chuunin so quickly. However, she supposed she wasn't that kind of genius. She didn't have that kind of luck either. This would be a milestone for her, but it was one long overdue. She would have to work harder. To be honest, as easy as the academy was to her, and with her parents training, she had hoped to be farther along than she was. Still...

Suki smiled when itsuki approved of it. She had heard them introduce himself, but wasn't able to tell which was which until she had heard their voices a second time, this time in visual range. Suki watched, Sora hadn't voiced an approval, but based on his seeming to address both of them when asking if they were ready, he seemed fine with her joining in. Suki calmed herself, entering a serious state and detaching herself from her feelings. What were their skills? Should she conclude from the way Sora was holding his arms that he was a taijutsu user? No... He could be readying himself to block an attack. There wasn't a clear indicator of what she should expect from either of them.

A New thought occurred to her. What were the rules? What was and wasn't acceptable? Were ninja tools usable? Was this a taijutsu only fight? No one had ever given any indication of what was not allowed. She didn't want to violate some unspoken rule, but she also didn't want to delay the training any more than she already had. So what she would do would be watching and waiting. If one of them started using ninja tools, she would. If they started using jutsu, she would.

"Ready when you are." Suki prepared herself, reading herself to jump or to climb or to hide if need be. Hiding was a valuable skill, though not one she expected she would need to hide here. Suki began concentrating chakra into her lips, forming a Fuuinjutsu seal there. At will it would release instantly, and likely save her if timed well. And if the training didn't involve jutsu, she would simply never activate it. Suki lowered herself, waiting for itsuki's declaration of readiness. Who would move first and what would said move be?

Suki contemplated her options. They say he who strikes first wins, and that strategy did indeed have it's own merits. Hower... Rushing in to attack when you have no idea of their abilities, or even the rules of the match, was stupid. So Suki would take the slow and cautious approach for now. Retreating and hiding and relying on guerrilla warfare was another option. Surprise your foes with ambush attacks and jutsu from the trees. It was indeed a decent option. Her size meant her foes towered over her, a straight on attack would not be wise. At least not until she had some idea of their capabilities. Who knew what kind of abilities they could have? Itsuki had called himself a Senju, so she knew to expect mokuton jutsu from him at some point... It was a famous and powerful clan. If you lived in konoha and didn't know much about them, you had to be dense. They were a world famous clan. The other ninja, Sora... She had to be most wary of him for now. Those stitches? What were they? What did they do?or was he simply in some kind of accident? No... You wouldn't expose your wounds before battle... Those were not wounds of any kind surely..... Then what? When battle started, she would gain some further distance, and get a vantage point from a tree limb, unless she was attacked quickly.

Word Count: [712]
Total Word Count: [578+712=1,290]

Stats: All Es. (As we discussed, her lack of confidence right now will hold her back from using her body to the fullest.)

The birds that had originally been chirping had since quieted, either stopping to see what was happening in their neighborhoods or leaving at the sign of a battle; either way, the silence was almost deafening. He heard slight grunts in the distance from others training, but it wasn't as peaceful as the birds who had blessed the air with their ancient tunes. The breeze had picked up, ironically at a moderate gust that made the mahogany wraps Sora took off sway in the wind, falling on the ground a bit away from the male. What was underneath confused the young Genin.

Stitches!? His eyes bulged as he analyzed each and every stitch from a distance, hoping to find out why they were on his wrists; they could pose as a threat during the battle. Had Itsuki got himself into a fatal spar? The boy seemed to be ready to fight, but what were his specialties? Were those stitches lethal? Itsuki would have to wait and find out, hopefully it wouldn't be the hard way. He grunted slightly, getting back into his fighting position as he looked towards Suki. She seemed to be lowering her body, ready to pounce at any second. She was almost as intimidating as the fillet fish boy with stitches.

The small feline was giving Itsuki a bad vibe, she could be dangerous. He almost heard his Academy Sensei's voice in his head, "Never underestimate an opponent, you never know what power they could have hidden under the surface!" He bit his lip slightly, concentrating on his plan of action. What was he going to do? He needed to act fast, or else someone else would make the first move. He decided, it would be better if he initiated the battle in order to get an early advantage; or, would going first be his downfall? It was too late to find out.

Itsuki smirked slightly, "Fine the, let's go!" He made sure to speak loud enough for Sora to hear that the fight had initiated, turning quickly as he placed his hands on the ground. He lowered his chest, sweeping his legs around in order to try and knock Suki a bit away. She was close enough to hit with the length of his legs, but that was easily avoidable. He wanted to test her speed, see if she was quick on her feet - or would the term be paws? He grunted, using the hands planted on the ground to help balance him as he swung his legs back around towards him. He hoped to have hit her.

WC: 437
TWC: 1,248

The sounds of the birds died out, nature's symphonies ending quickly, near abruptly. Either the feathered creatures were fleeing from the sign of a conflict occurring or were curious about what was indeed happening, though it was a near-deafening silence which could be easily noticed that had caught Sora's attention to the change that had happened. The distant sounds of others sparring were left out of Sora's mind as well, ignored and shoved away as to not allow distractions to occur during this battle. This would be the first time since the Academy which the rookie would be fighting an actual opponent, and his very first time fighting two opponents at once. He wondered how it will go for him and how badly he'll get beaten, though as it had crossed his mind it would be ignored as well as to prevent any unnecessary anxiety. The young Jiongu was confident in his skills and abilities to the point of Foolhardiness, and so he wouldn't dare even consider the possibility of losing.

Sora would watch from the distance as Itsuki turned quickly, placing his hands upon the ground and lowering his own chest as well, performing a sweeping motion of sorts with his legs in an attempt to attack Suki. Sora was slightly confused regarding him. He didn't know whether or not the fellow Shinobi was testing the cat out or not, hoping to get a feel for its' skills or if he was legitimately trying to kick it in general as an opening attack, but Sora knew a possible opening when he saw one, and he wished to take abuse of this opportunity. While Itsuki would be performing his attack, Sora would begin running once more, his left arm up as though it was prepared to block any possible attack and his right arm lowered, the stitching now broken and a small, swarming mass of black threads revealing themselves.

As Sora had closed in now, having cleared two more meters, he would bring his right arm backwards before driving it forwards, resulting in a punch that would be aimed towards Itsuki from seven meters away. After his arm stretched itself all the way to the maximum length a normal one can, the lower section would continue, revealing a rather thick tendril of black threads stretching and stretching, the fist soaring through the air, towards the Senju's left arm, aiming to hit the elbow joint. Farther and farther it would stretch as it cleared the seven meters, aiming to strike it. He had hoped that he would catch the Senju off guard, or at least see more of what Itsuki can bring to the fight so he can contemplate what he should do next in order to have a possible chance at winning. For now though the punch was merely a way of creating a bigger opening of which Sora could possibly use to his advantage.

wc 493
twc 2135

Suki sized her opponents up, less in the physical sense, as that would be pointless, on all 4 paws, any typical human towered over her, including 10 year olds. She was a cat after all, and despite her size being formidable to other animals, it was nothing to her opponents. She could only hope they were fellow genin like her. If not, she would get her rear end handed to her. Suki sighed to herself just before the match began. Itsuki bend over, placed his hands on the ground, and whipped his legs towards her. Suki tended and leaped backwards, but not quite fast enough. His kick hit her front paws and kicked her momentarily onto her hind paws. Suki thought this would be a good time to unleash her Fuuinjutsu, but as she jumped backwards, away from itsuki, she saw Sora throw a punch.

And clearly not just any punch. It drew his arm back first, before flying the arms full length. However as it reached his max range, not even near itsuki, some stitches on his arm released, and his hand kept going, connected to his body by a mass of black threads. It soared towards Itsuki. As Suki tried to put sever meters from itsuki, she wondered at what she had seen. Somehow his fist had nearly completely detached itself from his arm. What was that mass of black threads? Clearly he could disassemble his own body on at least a moderate level. That was no Kekkei Genkai She had ever heard of, to be sure. But what was more fascinating to her was his unique anatomy. When the threads had exposed themselves during his attack, she had seen no muscle tissue in them, no blood, no arteries or veins, nothing that should be there. Did he have any internal organs at all? Most likely he did. But how did they survive seemingly without blood vessels? Maybe the black threads carried blood? Maybe they were hidden? What did he eat?

This was something totally beyond her realm of experience. However, she had learned something. He could use physical attacks well past his range. He had closed a couple meters before unleashing his punch? Was 7, give or take a meter, his limit? Suki would keep an eye on him. She had her Fuuinjutsu ready if he tried his mid range extendo-fist punches against her. But she didn't want to be the first to be a jutsu, incase she accidentally broke some unspoken rule. For now her main strategy was to play it safe And observe.... Besides... What was a weakling such as her to do against a member of a legendary clan, and Mr. Extendo-fist over there?

Word Count: [453]
Total Word Count: [1260+453=1,713]

[Chakra: 140/150]

So sorry for the delay... I have been babysitting nearly non stop for the last... Nearly a week... Sorry... :(

One member of the topic left and I haven't seen the other on... So I am deeming this a dead topic. If anyone objects, feel free to Skype me.

I am using 1,599 words to train Fuuton from D rank to C rank.