Nakazo wiped a bead of sweat forming on his brow with the back of his hand. The sun overheard was beating down on the genin with a fiery ferociousness. It was midday with the sun at the highest point in the sky and Nakazo was finding it slightly hard to breathe in these conditions. That was why he came out here though, and why this location was more preferable than training in the shade. A strongly held belief in the Ashitaka clan is that to suffer is to become stronger. Nakazo was a firm believer in the clan creed, and his experiences in his young life had so far given proof to that. He rounded a corner of a large clay building and his destination began to come into view. The midday temperature was so hot that the air in the distance gave off a mirage. He knew there would be no water to be found there, however, but he was prepared with an ample water supply of his own. As a ninja of the sand he knew just how important the need to stay hydrated in these conditions was. He absentmindedly touched the strap holding the backpack to his body as his thoughts strayed to the water containers within as he continued making his way to his destination.

The Tsumi Sand Grounds came into view as he made his way towards them, the eager ninja quickened his pace with a visible fervor, excited to get his training started. While most of Sunagakure was comprised of tightly packed buildings, the Tsumi Sand Grounds was a notable exception. Here the sprawling metropolis gave way to a large open section particularly designated for training. It was known as one of the hottest spots in the village, owing mainly to a lack of nearby shelter, save for a single hut used for breaks in training. The area was enclosed by a waist high wooden fence with a single entrance and exit gate. Already Nakazo could see that there were others in the midst of their training. It didn't matter though, the grounds were so large that a dozen ninja could train comfortable together all at the same time. While Nakazo generally liked training alone he knew that it was always easier to train with someone else. He mulled over the idea of finding a partner while he crossed the threshold into the grounds, making sure to close the gate behind him.

Nakazo nodded to a Jonin standing watch near the fence and then made his way to the break hut. He place the sack containing the water and a few other odds and ends down in the shade, well away from the scorching heat. He breathed out as he stepped in the sun drenched grounds and began doing some simple stretches. When those were complete he then went to an end of the sands and pushed off the fence, running to the other end as a means of a warm up. The sands here were hotter than the rest of the city, and he could feel their heat through his standard issue ninja sandals as he ran across them. He skidded and turned as he reached the far end of the grounds, turning on his heels and touching the fence post at the same time he then sprinted back. The whole race had lasted only a few minutes but he was breathing heavy when he was finished, sweat already started to pool in his hair and fall down his face. He stepped into the hut for a moment, replenishing himself with water. Nakazo began to think on his next course of action, considering asking a nearby ninja to be a training partner. He scanned the area around him as he quenched his thirst.

629 WC

Misaki often wondered what it would have been like to have a normal childhood. He tried not to dwell on it, though. He had come to the conclusion that daydreaming about what could have been didn't do him any favors at all. It just made him sink into a momentary depression and wallow in his own misery. Maybe if he had been born to a different clan, maybe if he didn't have that cursed birthmark on his face or, hell, maybe if he had been given up for adoption... The blue haired boy shook his head and slapped both hands to the sides of his face. Nope, nope, nope! He had to seize the day. He couldn't afford to just lay in bed and do nothing. He stretched, groaning and looking at the small clock hanging on the wall in front of him. It was a worn out secondhand purchase, much like everything else in the boy's small apartment.

He rolled his futon and placed it in a corner of the room, as he usually did every morning. He rearranged the small table so that it stood in the center of the floor and proceeded to get ready for the day. He would train for a while, he decided. The Tsumi Sand Grounds sounded like a good enough idea. Though often crowded, they were spacious. Of course, there was always the slightly emptier Coloseum, but Misaki frequently felt like he was under more pressure there, as if the fact that it was an arena made it so that people had some sort of expectation of his performance. He shuddered at the thought. He already judged himself on a daily basis, he didn't need other people doing that for him.

"I'm off!" He said to no one in particular. He grabbed his weapon and strapped it to his back. It was a simple naginata, with a red handle and a slightly curved blade. He had fashioned it himself. Despite it being nothing too special - the edge was somewhat dull and the handle somewhat worn - he cared for it. It had been the fruit of his labor, of several days of scavenging, asking for favors and putting in hard work after his shifts at his several part time jobs.

As he walked through the streets of the slums, Misaki greeted several people, bidding them a good morning as he almost always did. The day was scorching hot - not unusual. He was growing used to it, after a year of being back in Sunagakure. The days were almost always the same, all throughout the year. The consistency was, in a way, comforting. Sure, it made sleeping at night difficult, it made him sweat at all times of the day and it tired him out quite quickly, but it made this village home. Moving somewhere colder would probably turn his routines upside down.  

After a few minutes, he reached the training grounds. He smiled at himself. The place - simple as it was - never really lost its charm. It was the people, mostly, that gave it its character. Genin willing to learn, Academy Students working hard, Jounin and Chuunin sparring or dictating their own lessons. The young boy found a secluded corner for himself so that he could start practicing. He wasn't very talented at much of anything. He barely knew the basic Academy jutsu. It made sense, since he had barely studied there for a couple of years.

He spun his naginata in his hands tentatively. Misaki had only recently gotten the hang of using a spear. When he started, he thought the weight handled strangely and that the maneuvers he could pull were limited. Practice had changed some of those early perceptions, but his hands still moved somewhat clumsily over the long shaft. At least he didn't drop it anymore.

Sweat dripped down over his forehand protector as he chugged from the water container, trying desperately to replenish what he had just lost with his sprinting warm up. Brown hair fell over the top of his headband, soaked from the exertion. His simple clothing of loose fitting dark blue material was beginning to show signs of dampness. To any not from Kaze no Kuni it might look like he was overdoing it, but to a native he was taking just the right amount of precaution. Dehydration in these extreme heats has a way of creeping up on you when you least expect it, especially when one is performing physical activity. Best to drink more water than necessary, than to not drink enough, he thought to himself. With almost half the container empty he sighed with refreshment and place the bottle back into his backpack. Still inside the hut he scanned the grounds before him, seeing if he could spot anyone in need of a partner. There's only so much I can do on my own. If I have someone to spar and train with, we will both grow stronger that much quicker. Nakazo was never one to skip out or waste any opportunity to train. It was what had got him this far as a ninja, and it was what was going to get him even further, he just needed to work at it tirelessly. I will become even stronger, I have more potential than just being resigned to Genin status my whole life. It doesn't end here for me.

Out across the grounds tucked into a corner Nakazo spotted a boy, a Genin he assumed, practicing on his own. He was wielding a long spear of some type and going through some training motions. He appeared somewhat clumsy, and to Nakazo's eyes it didn't look like he had been using such a weapon for very long. He's clearly younger than me, and the technique isn't the most refined. He studied the boy for a few more moments, watching him complete a standard training exercise with the weapon, much better than the one he had initially observed. He's not that bad after all, I shouldn't underestimate him based on his age or what little I've seen so far. We both Genins, and we're both here to improve. I have a long way to go myself, I should by mindful of that. Nakazo vowed not to judge by first impressions, and began to make his way over where he was training. He passed by multiple people training in groups of twos, and even what looked to be a Jonin training with his squad. The Ashitaka waited for him to finish his latest maneuver before catching his eye and introducing himself.

"I'm Nakazo of the clan Ashitaka. Are you a Genin as well?" At this range he noticed for the first time the boy's blue hair and the predominant birthmark over his face. I've seen him around the Academy before, though we've never talked. "Your name is... well, it escapes me. I was wondering if you'd be interested in having a little light sparring session. We're the only two here without a partner, and you look like you might want to put that thing to use," he nodded down to the spear, waiting for a response.

570 WC
1199 Total WC

The thick humidity made beads of sweat roll down the sides of Misaki's face. Unlike most of the areas in Sunagakure, which were drowned in dry heat, the Tsumi Sand Grounds were known for being oddly humid. His hair line was soaked. It made parts of his usually (and naturally) well kept hair clump together and stick to his forehead. A few months before, when he had had longer hair, it had been more of a pain. After getting rid of most of it by cutting his own hair, it was now more of a slight nuisance. It made him wonder how the girls and young women around him dealed with their own long hair without much of a fuss. Maybe they were just used to it.

Misaki paid little attention to his discomfort. He kept moving, repeating basic exercises - thrusts, parries, transitions, stances. It was his basic warm-up. Afterwards, he planned to move to the wooden dummies close by. They couldn't quite compare to sparring with an actual person, but they weren't exactly easy to deal with either. Every strike resulted in some form of movement from the training dummy, one that Misaki had to either counter or fend off. He actually found it quite fun, trying to predict which movements caused which reaction. Over the past few months, he had been hit over the head by a stray wooden limb more than once.

He was about to move there when someone approached him. He was a brown haired boy with lovely blue eyes. He didn't seem to be much older than Misaki himself, maybe only a couple of years his senior. The boy promptly introduced himself as Ashitaka Nakazo. Misaki nodded, wondering what he wanted. Maybe the blue haired boy was intruding in his usual training spot. Yeah, that was probably it. He was about to explain that he would happily move aside when, instead, he was offered a chance to spar.

"My name escapes him? That's an odd choice of words," he thought. Maybe the older boy was under the impression that they had met before.

"I, uh, don't know how much I can help, but sure," the young boy agreed. "My name is Misaki of the Karisuma Clan," he began, scratching the back of his head sheepishly and matching the way that Nakazo had introduced himself. "Or rather, I'm what's left of the Karisuma Clan... I think," he stated, referencing the fact that all of the Karisuma had been, well, massacred a few years back. As far as he knew, Misaki was the last of them. His eyes were his signature, his inheritance from that cursed family. In their mismatched colors, they glimmered in the light.

In any case, he had agreed to spar. He didn't know how much of a match he'd be for the other boy, but he was determined to do his best. He refused to do anything but. Whether he won or lost their simple match could only really be decided if both of them gave it all they had.

The young boy began to answer him, and from Nakazo's point of view it didn't look like he had any idea who he was. Just because I've seen him around the Academy doesn't mean he's seen me. Misaki's blue hair was easy to notice at the Academy, but Nakazo's brown hair would let he blend in. He continued speaking though, and introduced himself as Misaki of the Karisuma Clan, a Clan that Nakazo had never heard of of. He said he's what's left of his Clan, Nakazo thought to himself as the boy spoke, interesting. The Ashitaka decided against bringing it up and getting Misaki to elaborate on it just yet, he knew there was a story to tell there, and it wasn't best to bring up old wounds so early when meeting someone new. It was then that Nakazo noticed his eyes, one grey and one blue, a very unusual trait, especially when paired with that hair and the birthmark. The boy agreed to spar at the end of his response, and Nakazo nodded back in response. He took a few steps back so they where about ten feet away.

That spear is going to be troublesome to deal with. All I have is this. As he finished his thought his left hand went behind his back, reaching into his ninja pouch around his waist. It found the single kunai he had been gifted upon graduation at the Academy. He drew it out in a swift motion, holding it out in front and so that the pointy end was facing downwards. Nakazo went down into a crouch and studied his opponent, trying to decide on the best course of attack. I'll need to get inside his range to neutralize the spear, I can't let him push me back with it. "Are you ready?" He asked, but he didn't need an answer. In the boys eyes were understanding, he knew what was about to happen. Nakazo pushed off the ground and sped towards Misaski, his Kunai slashing in front as he tried to get in behind the spear to attack it's wielder. My strength is in my speed, I need to utilize it if I want to have any chance at winning this.

387 WC
1586 Total WC

(OOC: Just a note I don't have any Jutsu approved yet, so I'll be fighting purely with Taijutsu. Doesn't mean you can't use anything you want, just that I'm a little limited in what I can do here.)

As Nakazo stepped a few feet away, Misaki braced  himself, trying to get ready for the coming challenge. He went into a basic stance - front foot forward and pointed at the target, knees bent for maneuverability, weapon pointed diagonally towards the ground so that it could be moved at a moment's notice. The boy was concentrated, his brows furrowed. He knew he had to focus, keep his eyes on his opponent and his actions. He had to learn how to read patterns and behaviors if he wanted to get better at this - at being a shinobi, at wielding a weapon, at fighting in general. It had been a while since he had last fought against someone, spar or otherwise. He hoped that it would help better his skills, at least more so than training on his own would. It was always better to test maneuvers and skills out on someone who could actually react to them effectively.

Before Misaki could ask what the terms of the fight were, Nakazo was already charging towards him, kunai in hand. He had wanted to know what the rules for the fight were - were they allowed to use jutsu? Weapons? Well, obviously weapons, or else he would have been told to leave his naginata aside. But what about the scoring system? Did the round end when someone landed a hit? Or was it when someone gave up? Or maybe there was only supposed to be one round? Oh well. Misaki supposed he would find out at some point later on.

Misaki could somewhat tell what Nakazo was aiming for in his charge. He wanted to get out of the spear's immediate reach. It was a straightforward but useful strategy. The blue haired boy sidestepped away from him in time, just as Nakazo entered his range, at the level of the spear's blade. Misaki swept the naginata upwards, aiming to slice the back of the boy's legs, which would now be open at the current angle he had. Regardless of whether the attack landed, Misaki would follow up by lunging towards Nakazo, the blade of his weapon aimed at his torso. He wanted his opponent to become defensive, so his attacks would be relentless. He didn't want to leave any openings, he wanted to guide how the other boy reacted, how he fought and how he responded to Misaki's own fighting style.


OOC: I'll start using jutsu in my next post, I think. Feel free to use yours when they get approved.

Nakazo sped inside Misaki's reach, moving past the blade of the spear. He brought his kunai to bare, aiming to slice at his opponent's chest. The blue haired youth reacted quickly to his surprise start, and managed to step out of the way. His reaction speed is incredible. Nakazo skidded across the sand, his kunai swiping at nothing but air as Misaki re-positioned himself to counterattack. He turned his head around, his body moving more slowly, and just managed to catch view of the spear coming up and at him from out of the corner of his eye. Nakazo tried to turn as fast as he could, but the blade made contact with the side of his right leg, slicing through fabric and leaving a line of red in its place. By the time he had made it all the way around Misaki was pressing his attack. The spear viciously lunged at his chest, making a foul hissing noise as it cut through the humid air. Nakazo kicked off the ground and jumped backwards, hoping to put some distance between himself and his opponent. It wasn't enough though, the range on the spear was too long, and he was stuck in the air as the sharp edge approached him.

I have no choice, I need to use wind style, he thought, thinking of the only jutsu he had that would allow him to escape this danger. He quickly concentrated on his chakra, gathering as much as he could in the short time he had. He willed it to collect inside and around his lungs as he took in a breath. The blade was inches from his chest when he expelled the air straight at Misaki. It whistled as it escaped his lungs and Nakazo was propelled backwards by its force. He wasn't sure if the wind would hit his opponent as he was more focused on his own survival. The Ashitaka landed three or four meters away, giving him the space he needed and allowing him to just narrowly avoid the spear.  With the kunai still in his left hand he reached back into his pouch with his right and found the three shuriken he knew would be there. In one swift motion he brought his arm across his chest and then arced it outwards. The three shuriken flew off his hand, speeding towards Misaki. Nakazo then moved parallel around Misaki, trying to keep his distance and get around his side or back for his next move.

Chakra 140/150:

422 WC
2008 Total WC

(Ok cool, I got my Jutsu approved yesterday so that works out good)

Misaki felt the tip of his weapon's blade brush against the other boy's skin. It ripped through clothes and leaving a shallow gash on his leg. Seeing as his partner didn't stop to re-position or grant him the round, Misaki could safely assume that the winner would be declared when one of them either gave up or was unable to continue. Alright, that was fair - it was how most fights outside of the Academy usually went, in his experience and also how they functioned on missions, in a practical sense. A bandit or assassin wouldn't be keeping score, especially not based on how many times an attack had landed. So, a realistic battle it was. He could do that.

"He's fast," Misaki thought as he saw the boy effectively move to dodge most of his attacks. Nakazo's movements were efficient. He didn't waste any energy on unnecessary maneuvers, from what Misaki could tell. The boy focused on doing just enough to dodge and position himself effectively.

Once more, his spear made contact with his opponent. This time, he could tell that the scratch left on the side of the other boy's chest. Misaki's strategy was working. He was grateful that he had the stamina for it, otherwise this might have been very counterproductive. That probably wouldn't have stopped him from doing the same thing, though. He felt like he had the other boy cornered. Just then, though, Nakazo's jutsu hit him directly. He instinctively shielded himself, letting go of the spear with one arm and bringing it up to cover his face. His weapon remained at his side. The technique didn't cause any direct damage, but it pushed him back enough so that he was standing five meters away from his opponent.

He regained his composure quickly, his hand going back to his naginata. He took a defensive posture just as Nakazo threw three different shuriken in his direction. He parried all three of them, but failed to notice that it was a distraction until his opponent was already rushing towards his side. Fortunately, he had less ground to cover than his opponent did. In other words, he could readjust his position so that he was facing the brown haired boy.

Maybe he would have to use his Kekkei Genkai. Honestly, he didn't care if it came to that. Using the Stunning Eye always put a strain on him and left his eyes dry and stinging for a few hours afterwards. He had heard that in some extreme cases, overusing the doujutsu could lead to temporary blindness. He wasn't sure whether or not it was true, but it seemed plausible. Even so, the young boy was reckless and negligent of his own safety. He didn't really care about potentially getting injured or even causing himself some form of harm. To anyone with experience, it was obvious when he fought that he didn't care for his own life.

In order to make the most of it, though, he had to prepare. The blue haired boy infused his weapon with chakra, readying it to act as a substitute for him when the moment was right. His strategy was a reckless one, a gamble, but it fit his style.

Chakra 145/150:

Misaki was blown back by Nakazo's wind style technique. The ability didn't do damage, but it was able to keep his opponent and the spear away from him. Nakazo landed about five meters away from Misaki after the technique was used, and he quickly reached into his pouch to throw the shuriken that resided there. His arm went out in an arc as the three weapons spun through the air. Misaki expertly parried all of them. Nakazo made to run around the side of his opponent, but he quickly re-positioned, and then ended up apart facing each other. Darn, he thought, looks like I'm not going to be able to get around him with such a simple attack. The blue haired youth stood in a stance with his spear out in front, staring him down. Nakazo wasn't quite sure what he was planning, but he wasn't about to stop trying in this fight.

He planted himself in the sand, making sure his left foot was dug in slightly. Nakazo was bracing himself for what he was about to do next. The effort caused the wound of his leg to flair up, and he could feel a wetness on his leg, his pants clinging to the skin due to the blood. I'm not sure what he's got in store for me, but this is as good a time to use this as any. His hands formed the Tiger seal necessary for the jutsu, and he began to concentrate his chakra. He pulled energy from all parts of his body and willed it to collect inside of his lungs. He then imbued it with the fire nature, and then took in a huge breath. His left hand moved to the front of his mouth, and he breathed out sharply. A fireball materialized in front of him and began to move towards Misaki. It burned the air around it as it scorched and hissed. The fireball however blotted out his view of Misaki, and he could no longer see his opponent. His hand was still over his mouth in the position necessary to cast the jutsu and Nakazo was now in a precarious position. If Misaki was somehow able to get around or near him it would be very hard for him to react to it.

Chakra: 125/150:

391 WC
2399 Total WC

"Not yet," he chastised himself. It looked like he didn't have much of a choice but to alter his plan, though. He couldn't properly defend against a fire technique, especially not one that took as much skill and chakra as this this one. Of course, he could also try to dodge and end up taking some of the attack. No, that wouldn't help him at all. Sure, he was reckless, but he wasn't stupid. He would have been willing to end up covered in burns if it served some sort of purpose, but right now, he couldn't see one.

Screw it.

He channeled raw energy towards his eyes, activating the power within them. At his current level, it wasn't able to do much, but it would still grant him the advantage he needed if he managed to use it properly. His eyes shone brightly just the same, though. They seemed to be glowing and sparkling, which made for a beautiful sight.

In the following split second, Misaki activated the substitution jutsu, leaving his spear behind to take the attack in his stead. This wouldn't be revealed until the last second, though, when the attack made contact. Nothing would be left behind but his weapon amidst a puff of white smoke. The young boy would reappear in front of Nakazo, only inches separating the two. Doing so was a risk. Certainly, choosing to position himself behind his opponent would have been safer. Nevertheless, he didn't have his weapon in hand and his taijutsu skills weren't exactly the best. Hopefully, though, this would catch the other boy off guard. More so than that, what Misaki wanted was to look into Nakazo's eyes - or rather, for Nakazo to look at his own.

If he did make eye contact with Nakazo, his eyes would trigger a chemical reaction in the other boy's brain. Specifically, they would flush the boy's body with those related to joy, awe and wonder. He would be tricked into thinking that he was staring at the epitome of beauty. As a result, his reflexes and reactions would be encumbered. Such were the effects of Stunning Eye.

All the same, Misaki would do two things simultaneously. He would activate a jutsu to call his weapon back to him. A few seconds later, it would return to his hand. In the meantime, he would lift his knee, aiming to hit Nakazo's stomach and knock the wind out of him. Once he had his weapon again, he would use it to make a sweeping motion aimed at the other boy's legs, in order to trip him or, at the very least, make him lose his balance.

Chakra 125/150:

Nakazo squinted his eyes as his fireball moved across the battlefield towards Misaki. He could no longer see his opponent, but the ball of flame exploded as it made contact with something. Nakazo could make out the shape of something in the aftermath of the explosion, but he quickly realized it wasn't that of Misaki. It was something long and thin, his spear perhaps. Did he ditch his spear, where did he go? His question was answered the instant later as his opponent materialized in front of him, mere inches away. Nakazo couldn't help but make eye contact with him, and he felt the effects of the Stunning Eye almost instantly, though he didn't know what was happening to him. He began to feel elated as he stared into Misaki's eyes. It was almost soothing looking into them. What is going on? He felt dazed, and was struck by shock at the sudden change in emotions inside of him. He was under the spell of the Stunning Eyes so much so that he didn't see the spear speeding towards Misaki in the distance. Nakazo was having a hard time remembering what they were doing here, the trance of the eyes was powerful.

He snapped out of his haze as he saw Misaki's knee flying up to meet his stomach. He used some sort of ability on me, his senses began to return, though his body felt groggy. There were clearly some lingerings effects to the eyes, and he felt a reduced reaction time after snapping out of it. He wasn't able to block the knee in the time, and it connected with his stomach. Nakazo doubled over, clutching his chest as he gasped for breath. Damn... those eyes... Out of the corner of his vision he saw the spear fly back into Misaki's hands. His opponent made a sweeping motion with his weapon, trying to trip him. Nakazo couldn't react in time to the second attack either, the Stunning Eyes and having his breath knocked out of him was hard to combat. The spear completely tripped him, and he went spinning to the ground. I lost, he admitted, if this was a real fight I'd have been dead here.

"Yield..." Nakazo raised an arm from the ground as he got one leg up, he was now kneeling on one knee in the sand. "I yield."

405 WC
2804 Total WC

It hadn't even been a minute and his eyes were already stinging. The brightness around him didn't help at all. Despite that, all of his attacks had managed to connect. Misaki couldn't help but feel a little bit proud of himself. Rarely did anything go so smoothly when it came to battle. He disabled his doujutsu as soon as he was sure that he had made eye contact with Nakazo. Another minute and the pain in his eyes would become unbearable. He really did need to practice using this technique more. He couldn't expect it to work almost immediately after activation all the time. He he wasn't able to maintain it for extended periods, it would be near useless in a real fight.

Misaki was panting, his spear pointed at Nakazo's chest. As if on cue, the other boy yielded. He relaxed his stance and let his weapon rest at his side. "Good fight," Misaki said. He smiled despite the heat and the sweat covering his face. He was tired and probably needed a couple more minutes to catch his breath. Nevertheless, Misaki extended a hand to help Nakazo to his feet.

It was at this point that he noticed the other boy bleeding. His clothes were stained red. A thin trail of blood flowed down his leg. Misaki's eyes widened in alarm. He hadn't meant to actually injure his opponent. This was supposed to have been a friendly spar, not a serious fight. Now that he thought about it, though, what was he actually expecting? He wielded a bladed weapon, after all and he had felt it made contact twice. Looking at the boy's shirt, he spotted a larger stain of blood as well. His expression became panicked.

"I-I'm really really sorry, I didn't mean to actually cut you," he began, letting his spear drop so that he could wave his arms in front of himself frantically. "I guess I got a little carried away, but I didn't mean to! Does it hurt? Are you in pain? I'm not a medic or anything but it kind of looks like it's still bleeding?" The last part was meant to be a statement, not a question. His insecurities and nervousness got to him, however. He patted himself down. "Bandages! You need bandages! I don't really have bandages," he mumbled as he tried to look for some in his items pouch anyways.

The other boy would probably think he was either strange or a fool - likely both. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself. If one thing could be said, it was that his concern was genuine. Misaki had a tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve, so much so that his emotions were almost always obvious in one way or another. "At least let me take you to the hospital? I'd feel really bad if I just left you like that."


OOC: Let me know if you want me to start a thread in the hospital - just a regular "get to know you" type of thread. I think it would be fun!

His opponent dropped relaxed his stance and let his weapon rest at the sign of Nakazo's surrender. He could hear him say "good fight", and the Ashitaka nodded back in agreement, his breath finally coming back after being knocked out. Misaki held out a hand to help him up, and Nakazo accepted. He felt himself be lifted up from the ground and he ended up standing in front of Misaki. His opponent's eyes were no longer sparkling and shimmering as they were before, but he caught a tiny gleam of it out of the corner of the eye, signalling that the technique had just been deactivated. I'll need to ask him more about those sometime, he thought, I've never felt anything like that before. Nakazo watched as Misaki's eyes widened at the sight of him. His left pant leg was stained with blood and all cut up. His right arm was held close to his side, trying to ease the pain of the wound on his rib.

Nakazo began to speak, to ease the concern he saw on Misaki's face, but he didn't get a chance. The boy began to go on speaking in a panic, even dropping his spear he was so concerned. He was apologizing profusely for the injuries he gave him. Then he began patting his body and looking into his pouches for bandages. Nakazo smiled slightly at the effort, appreciating the concern Misaki had. The ninjas of the sand had a reputation of being cold and heartless, but Nakazo found nothing of the sort here. He tried to put Misaki's mind at ease. Nakazo placed a hand on his shoulder and looked up at him, giving him a grin. "Relax, I'm fine, I've had much worse in my day. Don't worry about this, it's to be expected with the way we sparred. I shot a fireball at you, don't feel sorry for what you did to me." He gave a light chuckle after that.

Misaki offered to take him to the hospital, and he nodded back in acceptance of the offer. "Thank you for your concern, I'll take you up on that. Lead the way." Nakazo would follow after Misaki, limping slightly as they headed to the infirmary.

[EXIT]

386 WC
3190 Total WC

(Thanks for the thread! I'd love to do another and a simple social thread in the hospital fits perfect!)

---

Training

Strength E to D: 750/750
Speed E to D-3: 1925/1925 (-150 Ryo)
Endurance E to E-3: 450/450

3190 Thread WC/3125 Training WC
65 WC left over