The Kuma clan grounds. A large expanse where the majority of it was just nature, pine trees scattered among rocks and caves, a pleasant location. The ground was flat, save for the boulders and cracks among it, spread periodically. Wild bears of assorted colours, sizes, ages and breeds walked, sporadic through the expanse with various hairy individuals also scattered, members of the Kuma clan that weren’t on duty at the time. The area was surrounded by a large, wooden fence, likely made of oak or something along those lines. The air, crisp with the smells and cold of winters approach. Just warm enough to not freeze or snow, but cold enough for frost to gather across the grass, creating a rather picturesque image. White on brown, with sprinkles of green between, faded. And at the gate, a rather simple yet sturdy entry-way, stood a bear, and a Kuma clan member. Oki and Debu.

Clad in white training garments, the goliath of a genin stood at the gates, his pet brown bear at his side, waiting patiently. The past month had been certainly crazy; he even completed an A rank mission. An experience he can’t say he’d repeat any time soon. It was a miracle he survived the endeavour. Still, it was something that had impact on more than just the stab wound he had received in his shoulder. Like today for example. A genin training another genin. It wasn’t a feeling Oki could say he expected, but here he was, stood with pride in his grin as he awaited the person. He was informed in advance that the individual was from the clan of the Tsuchikage, but aside from that, Oki knew nothing. He didn’t even know much about said clan, just that bit of information. Not even the type of training the person coming was looking for, what Oki had to do. Everything was a mystery.

So, he stood there, a long white coat trailing down, in similar fashion to a trench coat, albeit not as weighty. His trousers matched this scheme, and his feet were unprotected from the cold, save for his hair, and the straps of combat sandals. His hair, black and static, stood up on end, as sharp as the goatee of the six foot seven genin, with two things around his neck: His forehead protector like a collar, and a chain like a scarf. Debu meanwhile, lied next to him, lazily, and much less dressed up. His only attire was the forehead protector, which hung loose around the bear’s neck. Now, it was merely the waiting game for the bear duo of Iwagakure.

438

Sukā gave off a light yawn as he slowly raised his head off of his soft white pillow, it still had a few minor stains of blood that he never managed to get out but most of it was gone. His eyes slowly opened, showing the blurry but yet bright light peering through the window. The blur started to clear as he shook his head from side to side, clearing his mind of the nightmares from last night, the sights of his mother killing herself again, he never seemed to let that horror leave him, and yet in his dreams there would always be sighting of a stranger. Sukā tapped his forehead lightly with the palm of his head, his head aching, "Ugghhh... Owww..." He quietly spoke in his deep voice. He moved the blanket off of himself and tossed it to the side as he sat up on his bed and gave a light sigh, "I'll try and get some training in today". His eyes wandered back to his pillow, wanting to return to sleep, however, he had other plans for today's main events. Sukā lifted his hand up, running it through his black hair, moving it back as he lowered his head and looked down. He removed his hand and let his hair fall back into place, letting it fall against his face.

After a while he eventually picked himself up, dropping his feet on the cold wooden floor, he slowly lifted his body up off of the bed and into the air. He looked over to the pile of clothes he had cleaned the day before and set out for himself to wear for this day, "This'll be one hell of an interesting day, that’s for sure." He spoke to himself quietly as he wandered over to the pile of clothes and picked them up. He wore a choker around his throat and matching armbands on both upper arms. Sukā wore a sleeveless shihakushō, and has his a tattoo of his clan's symbol on his upper right shoulder, on the other arm, almost parallel is his headband, placed there to show he is still a Ninja of Iwagakure.

He made his way over to the mirror and looked at himself, seeing the two tattoos, the blue stripe and those numbers, in honour of his cousin, Shintaro. Sukā ran a finger down each of the three scars on the right side of his face, watching himself carefully in the mirror. Next to the mirror is where Sukā kept his smaller weapons, his Kunai and his Senbons, just in case it would be needed, he took his Kunai and placed it in a specialized holder attached to the belt around his shihakusho. He looked back at himself in the mirror, ready to say a few words, from an ancient text that he has come to quote, still, he fears his own power, he had come to adopt the verse as his own motto, "In the sea without lees. Standeth the bird of Hermes. Eating his wings variable. And maketh himself yet full stable. When all his feathers be from him gone. He standeth still here as a stone. Here is now both white and red. And all so the stone to quicken the dead. All and some without fable. Both hard and soft and malleable. Understand now well and right. And thank you God of this sight. The bird of Hermes is my name eating my wings to make me tame." Sukā turned from the mirror, looking away after speaking in his low, depressive tone. He had always believed that he was the bird of hermes in that quote, it sometimes confused him as to why he picked it and why he was scared, but he would always remember the potential of a Ninja.

Sukā started to walk through his house, opening the door and quickly making his way out onto the dirt road. Each step he makes; his sandals leave a faint imprint on the ground. Currently the only sound being was that of his feet, meeting the ground before pushing off of the dirt. His movements took him further into the village, he didn't really live too far from where he had been asked to go for a bit of training. As Suka approached the gate his eyes studied the architecture, it seemed to interest him quite a bit, at the gate he saw a tall bulky man and a bear next to him. "Hey there, are you Oki?" He asked the man as he slowly got closer to the gate.

Oki looked to the rather averagely sized individual that was walking towards him, stroking his goatee in thought. His eyes scanned the person in front of him, taking note of physical structure, details, and other things of importance. Then the person spoke up, and in an instant, Oki was one hundred percent sure of it. This was the person. With a laugh, the bear man began swinging his arm in a cheerful wave, nodding. “Yes! Yes indeed! Welcome to the grounds of the Kuma clan!” he declared with pride, waving his arms out in emphasis of the surroundings. At the shouting, the bear that was lazily at the side perked its head up, realised it was Oki making the noise, and then settled down again.

“As you may have guessed, I am Oki of the Kuma clan! And this little guy here…” he walked over to the bear, wrapping his arms around it and lifting it up like one would a cat, holding the bear in front of him towards the arriving genin. “This is my partner, Debu! I’m sure you’re aware, but today, the two of us are going to be your trainers! I will not lie to you, I look forward very much to seeing what you can do, and working with you to improve your skills as a shinobi! If the information I received is correct, you are a fellow genin of Iwagakure! As stone shinobi, we must strive to better ourselves, and become strong as the mountain! So before we begin…” his loud voice paused for a moment, the personality of the big guy showing through his sheer volume as he set the bear back down on the ground. “I have three questions for you! The first, what is your name? The second! What is your goal as a shinobi? The third! What is it you wish for me to help you train today? Once we’ve got all this out of the way and done with, we can get started!” he gave a thumbs up, clearly feeling quite good about being allowed to teach a fellow shinobi. Debu meanwhile, seemed to want to get on with things and be productive, walking past the gateway, and into the Kuma grounds, likely to go set up something, or find something to eat. Or perhaps to just avoid the headache of Oki’s volume. Either way, good for Debu. Smarter than the average bear.

404 + 438 = 842

Suka's eyes analysed the man, taking note of his facial hair and his muscles, he seemed excited, cheerful even. Perhaps training today could be helpful after all. Suka moved closer to the man as he announced that they were just outside of the Kuma Clan grounds, it was a strange sense to be in an unknown location but it presented some interesting possibilities. Suka soon stopped in front of Oki and listened closely to him, he was right, this was Oki Kuma, the person who was to train him for the day. He looked over to the bear as Oki pointed out that the bear was called Debu, this was strange, perhaps he'd have to spar against both of them, it could prove challenging, almost impossible for him because he already knew Oki was stronger, Suka spent the last few years studying for a position he couldn't get.

Oki asked him to answer three questions, hmmm, what did he want to train, he wasn't too sure, essentially he wanted to become stronger and more skilled in the art of close combat but the only weapon he had was a Kunai, perhaps just helping to improve overall skill might be in order. Suka gave a response in his somewhat quiet but deep voice, "I'm Sukā of the Fantomusōdo Clan, my goal in life is to bring justice to criminals and to serve the Tsuchikage as best I can. As for what I want to train, I need to train my overall skill, I'm not that much of an effective fighter, I spent the past few years studying several different subjects." Suka gave off a little smile, "It seems like today will be fun, you definitely seem excited about it." As he said that, he patted a pouch on the side which had only a kunai sticking out of it, “I like to use weapons rather than my fists, I hope that is fine.”

Oki listened intently as the person in front of him spoke, nodding thoughtfully. Suka Fantomusodo, an interesting name. Still, Oki wasn’t here to make note of someone’s name, he was here to train them. The person before him had a simple goal; he wanted to stop criminals and help the Kage of Iwagakure. Simple, but, Oki could work with simple. Next, the things Suka wished to train. Just overall training. Still, as Suka said Oki seemed excited, the bear genin simply laughed, nodding with glee. “Excited indeed! I look forward to helping my fellow Iwagakure ninja grow as a shinobi, and am honoured to get to do so!” next, it seemed Suka was a weapon specialist, or at the very least, liked kunai, as he explained he wasn’t a fan of fists. With a shrug, Oki nodded. “That is okay! I believe I am starting to get a small idea!” Turning to his bear, Oki pointed into the distance. “Debu! Go get that area ready! You know the one!” he declared, Debu walking off with a nod. Whatever the bear duo had planned, it seemed to have to do with a routine.

With a chuckle, Oki span on his heel to face Suka once more. “Follow me.” He instructed simply, walking beyond the gate and into the clan grounds, albeit not by much. He walked past the gate, taking an instant right and walking over to a patch of grass that was literally just the other side of the fence, several rocks scattered around. With a laugh, he stood there, pointing sharply to the person he was training. “So! Before any rigorous activity, you must prepare your body! How we do this is primarily, by stretching! This prevents our bodies from aching, as well as keeps us in top shape! Now! First, take your arms, and stretch them as far above you as you possibly can!” he commanded, raising his hands high above his head in demonstration. “And then, slowly, ease your arms down your body, stretching your legs out to the side roughly shoulder width apart. Make sure your arms stay stretched as flat as possible, and reach down to touch the floor, hands connected to each other!” once again, voice not knowing the definition of volume, Oki demonstrated, stretching down to touch the floor. “When down there, hold it for a total of thirty seconds! You can hold it for less or more, but I find thirty seconds is an adequate amount of time to get your body ready! Then, adjust your posture to be standing up once more, keeping arms outstretched, lean back slowly, and raising arms above you once more. This is both a stretch, and an exercise in balance, as if you lean back too much, you will simply fall over backwards!” he explained, demonstrating while continuing to talk. “Of course, if you do find yourself falling backwards, extend both of your arms to the side, and as you feel your back begin to make contact, roll your elbows so that the palms of your hands take the impact without jarring your arms! This is a break fall! Also, you will want to hold this for less time than the prior stretch, so, let’s say this one is for fifteen seconds!” at this point, it’d be surprising if Suka didn’t have a headache from the constant talking of the excited Oki, who so far hadn’t shown any training, just stretches. Adding as almost a last point, he explained. “If you get the idea, keep doing stretches for a total of five minutes, and then we will begin!” And like that, Oki began doing stretches himself, as if he was the one being trained.

618 + 842 = 1460