Exhale.

Heavy breath always brought such an element of feeling into situations like this, the dimly lit room and stagnant air drove him crazy at times when it was so full of commotion. Old men and women arguing so much about something that hadn't concerned them in the least, merely their own wish to be involved so heavily in it. Karumo leaned back in his chair with another exhale, their bickering slowly drowning the room in noise, these environments were so much nicer when it was quiet and calm. He closed his eyes for a brief moment and began to think back on the moment, those days, that week that would be so pivotal to the present,

---

In the darkness of his background, Karumo found himself in the first person, looking out at a tired squad crouched down in that small jungle clearing. Each of them out of breath and the rain pouring heavily, masking so many of their words, the words drained out in his memory, he almost couldn't believe this is what his dream took him to. This moment of all things. At the center of them sat a young and helpless girl, he'd never forget her face, the daughter of the feudal lord, kidnapped and held for ransom. She was hardly conscious, slowing the group down as Karumo carried her away from her captors, but their number and skill far greater than any of them anticipated.

The next thing Karumo remembered a dismal look on their face, he remembered what they decided, to keep running with maximum effort and hope to find their way into the patrolled border of the village to save their skin. Karumo taking the girl and letting her ride on his back as he took on the lead of the formation. It wasn't long, kunai flew past his head as he ducked and picked up the pace some, then a call out to keep going, his head turned back with concerned eyes. Ayame turned, swinging her weapon in hand as it began to glow heavily in that golden raiton chakra, her long black hair flowing out as she dashed forward in her ANBU armor, he felt like calling out and wanted to stop but it was too late. A small explosion, he couldn't turn back with the daughter of the feudal lord on his back, he looked at the other squad members, they shouted at him to keep going.

He remembered the next hour, gritting his teeth as they made it to the border and he handed off the daughter to a squad member and joined the ANBU to find her, hoping she hadn't done anything too reckless.

Another pause in his memory, fast forwarding quickly to the scene of the battle, it was absolutely decimated. She'd torn through them like they were nothing, the power of that sharingan of hers and her prowess in weaponry. Bodies scattered and blood everywhere, the battlefield scarred with the marks of battle, burnt ground and... the strangest of affects in the form of black fire scattered about. A famed technique not heard of or seen in ages, still burning brightly against a few bodies and among the trees, no amount of water jutsu putting it out. They recovered Ayame's body though, carrying her back to the village proudly, to hold a funeral that in no form was worthy of her death.

Karumo might have remembered that more, going to the academy, still in his dirtied ANBU armor and mask on, marks from kunai and other such scuffs. The cloak with gold trim signifying his membership as captain of the Oracles on, having to tell a young girl about the death of her mother, trying to console her by saying that she died honorably and that she'd been a wonderful women who gave her life for the village and the success of their mission.

He brought her back to an empty home and left their alone, telling her that he'd be back in two days to take her to the funeral. Knowing that she'd probably do nothing but cry and wallow in misery for that entire time.

Then taking that same young girl to her mother's funeral, wearing all black and letting her see his purple eyes and his own real face that day, a single bandage on his face from a kunai that'd broken his mask and cut him. He hadn't anything to offer but a superficial smile as he led her to the funeral, there was hardly anyone there and all he could do was place a hand on the shoulder of that grieving girl. She didn't know who he was, he didn't give his name but took her back to that same empty house. She'd be taken care of, the village would stipend her money for food and all else to keep her going as she worked to become a ninja.

Karumo always kept slight tabs on the situation while he was working, finding out from others when they delivered the money and to make sure that Ayame's daughter, as well as the family of other fallen members of his Oracles' were taken care of.

Still, he'd never had much of the courage to go to them after the fact, his memories of everything in their vagueness that he would allow would fade away, reality calling him back.

---

"Lord Karumo!" an older woman's voice nearly yelled as his eyes opened and he sat back up.

He didn't waste a breath, he hadn't heard a word they'd said for the last few minutes as he thought back to everything, "Yes, yes, listen. As much as I value everyone here's opinion..." he glanced around the round-table, the ranking village elders and the captains of each ANBU division at seat. They were wondering what to do with the daughter who carried the legacy of the sharingan. They had other Uchiha in the village, but Ayame was a rare breed, one who excelled in prowess and had found levels to those eyes that were almost mythological. Though, only the elders and Karumo, with a few select others knew about those black flames that existed.

"But if I'm not mistaken, then I think that this decision falls completely on me?" he looked around, several people nodded their heads and acknowledged that authority. A short pause as he exhaled and stood up, "Good, then I'll take her on as my own student and train her myself, this meeting can be adjourned now." he stood up to the concerned glares of others. Those captains which had no qualms with it being decided as such stood up and began to leave along with Karumo.

He returned to his office, sat down and wrote his note, then calling in a secretary to deliver it to the listed address, the home of Ayame but listed to her daughter, Ryuko instead. When all was said and done, he'd stand up and make his way to the Bazaar to meet her. His letter reading as,

Ryuko,

It's time to give you a real challenge, you'll be meeting your new sensei in the bazaar today, as soon as you're ready head out there, you'll know it when you see him.

Karumo~

It had the seal of the Tsuchikage on the stamp of the letter and the office of Tsuchikage marked as stationary at the bottom of the page as well. He'd go down in a black cloak, his normal grey armor on underneath, but the hood up mostly, going to find a tea house and wait out the arrival of his new student. Simple enough, a rather relaxing plan and he'd even brought a cigar in his front shirt pocket if he ended up having to wait more than a few minutes.


[1329 words]

Black eyes narrowed a seal appeared in the girls palm only moments before a kunai appeared with a seal matching the quickly fading on in her hand. It was during this motion that the girl griped the kunai, having already been in the motion to throw it from a reverse she let it fly forwards only a moment after. It was then she immediately opened up the left palm of her hand and began making a motion to throw an object even though none existed in her hand, until, much like she had done with the other hand, mere moments before she would effectively throw an object that didn't exist in her hand, the same kunai reappeared in her hand and she threw it towards a new target. Her hope was to get the timing and split second accuracy done in combination with her Fuinjutsu Weaponizing technique to essentially create a means to utilize the same weapon multiple times. It was something she hadn't quiet nailed down yet, but that's why she was practicing. However in keeping in theme with practicing her split second accuracy, having only seen her target for mere moments before throwing the kunai a second time, the girl kept turning her right hand going into the Shuriken pouch and grabbing three shuriken whilst she began what was effectively a horizontal spin. It was during this spin that she unleashed the three kunai at a third target. One that was to her left in regards to the first target being in front of her, and the second target being behind. the three shuriken where released one after another as she spun. releasing them in vertical line, attempting to hit three separate targets. Her goal was to be able to take out five targets only expending three shuriken, given that she had resealed the kunai after she had thrown it a second time briefly after she'd imagined it hit.

After the spin the girl went to check her results. As expect from the final target, she hit all three shuriken in the center of there targets, it wasn't much of an issue for her as throwing shuriken even by obscure means was something she had practiced consistently, even with little perception of the target she was attempting to aim for. The first target however was a slight disappointment, the was but a little cut in the center of the target, meaning her accuracy had been fine, but she had resealed it too soon for the full impact of the damage to take effect. As for the second target, she also hadn't taken enough time to aim, nor for the full damage to take effect either, with the small cut being in place in a board behind the target, and the cut next to the target's head. It was as she preparing for another round to practice that the girl heard a knock on her door. The girl quickly picked up what little equipment she had lying around in the rather large basement that she had refurnished into a indoor training ground, so that way she could train at least some things in private without the worry of anyone bothering her, or the prying eyes of the public on her mistakes. Either way, once that was done the girl hurried upstairs to find a note had spilled under her door, and there was no even near her house anymore. The girl quickly opened it up reading it's contents.

'Ryuko,

It's time to give you a real challenge, you'll be meeting your new Sensei in the bazaar today, as soon as you're ready head out there, you'll know it when you see him.

Karumo~'

Ryuko's eyes read over the parchment a few times just to make sure it was all real, which the Kage seal in the corner of the letter confirmed it to be so, the girl was just rather excited. She had finally been assigned a Sensei! After reading it over she rushed up to her room and tightened her Iwagakure headband around her neck and proceed to rush out the door of her house, not even remembering to lock it in the rush of excitement that ran through her. Not only was she going to get a Sensei, but the promise of challenge got the blood rushing through her veins as she recalled all members of Iwagakure's Sp,jounin shinobi or hired ranked and periodically went through each one attempting to figure out to which Ninja she had been assigned. She obviously could rule out females as the word "him was used" but other than that she couldn't really deter main a person which stood out to her.

It didn't take long for the girl to arrive at the Bazaar, with the rush of excitement she had had, and her relatively proximity to the location, given that her house wasn't in the most lavish of districts and so she lived fairly close to the Bazaar. The girls solid black eyes scanned over the crowd of the bazaar. It wasn't a terribly busy day, and it was about mid-day so most shinobi were on missions, or people where working in general, but there was always a crowd at the bazaar, and so Ryuko eagerly scanned the people however no one immediately stood out to her like the letter said it would, and two thoughts became of this. First, either she had gotten here before her Sensei due to the relatively close proximity of herself to the bazaar. Or, this was a part of the challenge that had been mentioned in the letter. However the latter seemed a tad bit of a stretch to her given that the letter explicitly detailed that her Sensei would stand out to her. And so she figured she'd given him a few minutes before she concluded it was the second option. Walking into a near-by tea shop the raven haired girl entered with a small sigh, partially to inhale the aroma of teas and things of the nature, but also because the excitement was ebbing a little knowing she would have to wait a moment. The girl would sit with relatively proximity to the door, wanting to watch the crowd of bazaar wander past in hopes she would see her Sensei. But her eyes also wandered inside too. The Tea shop was relatively empty expect for maybe four or five people, one of them she found rather interesting as he had his hood up, but Ryuko didn't think much off it. A few shady people roamed the streets of Iwagakure, and so someone with there hood in the midst of the day wasn't terribly uncommon, and so the girl's pitch black eyes roamed about the crowd as she sat in incontinent patience, and ordering a black tea whilst she waited. Something her mother had gotten her into.

---

WC: 1158
Total WC: 1158

Boisterous and rowdy were never exactly Karumo's type for much of anything. He sat down at a table just outside the tea house he'd chosen, wooden bench with his back up against the wall of the building. A woman brought out a cup of tea, steaming from the ceramic cup it was presented in, Karumo nodded and thanked the old woman as she returned back inside. Karumo leaned up against the building and pulled out his cigar and began to light it, the oaky flavor singed against his tongue, or rather, would if he could feel it. The taste of the smoke in his mouth lingered for a moment as a troupe of people began to move in towards the tea house.

Three of them, taking up space and calling things out, "Make way! He's a former Jounin of the land of Rice!" They stormed their way in towards the tea house, nearly knocking over a small boy as they boldly stepped in front of him and didn't think twice about their position. Rude. To say the least, Karumo smiled a bit, his hood still covering his face, he watched as they began to move through the doorway of the tea house. Karumo's smile would be mostly hidden but he blew the smoke to the side, it floating up and falling right in the face of the one in the middle, clearly the one they were referring to.

Title meant nothing to Karumo though, he hadn't a care in the world but perhaps this group could use some sizing down, he had a few minutes to spare though, hardly paying attention to the world around him. Of course, he'd noticed her arrival, it caught his eye, almost lost in time for a brief moment. She was a spitting image of her in some regards, it brought a smile to his face a bit, a relived memory almost and convinced him that his cigar was necessary to enjoy. However, for her, she'd no idea who he really was or what to really look for, perhaps a bit of altruistic justice in the form of taunting those boisterous enough to shout their own titles in the street would be a good way of gaining her attention.

The cigar burned as he inhaled again, the man in the middle stopped within the door way, within arm's reach of Karumo while the other two took a few steps forward before noticing their fearless leader had stopped. Curious glances accompanied as the smoke had risen past his face, they each turned and looked at him for a moment, his arm flickered out from his own cloak, a small streak from the glare of his kunai knife reflecting in an arc from the sun. It was quick, almost faster than the normal eye would see, what came next was Karumo's cigar falling in half and a small tuft of hair along with it, not noticeable or anything. It seemed to all fall to the ground in slow motion as his smile faded, the man standing held his kunai at the top of the arc as he began to speak.

"You should be careful where you smoke, it's quite rude to..." he began to lower his kunai to where Karumo's neck would have been. But, before he could have finished his sentence, the extra half of the cigar would have fallen down upon the table near his cup of tea. Karumo would flicker in speed, moving to the other side of the man with Karumo's own kunai drawn and at his neck. The small flap of their own cloaks moved as Karumo's hood was down now, his purple eyes looking down on them. The other two goons, shocked for a brief moment, their dim witted minds hardly able to keep up with his speed but it seemed that the special former jounin wasn't too phased. He gave a slight smile before speaking up, "Well, if that's the way we're playing this..." he spoke and turned quickly to strike Karumo with the kunai.

No luck though, blocked by Karumo's arm as he gripped around and rotated him, breaking his grip on his own kunai. The two dimwits came in quickly, the first one tried to kick at Karumo's upper thigh, a foolish move but bold all the same, Karumo dragged the jounin's head down, his strength overwhelming him and used his face to block the kick. The same fool brought his leg down quickly and spun around with a back kick towards Karumo's head instead, obviously some skill in his movements, maybe at a chuunin's level?

Still, Karumo took advantage, it left him at a single point of contact with the ground and no one had great balance with shifting momentum like that. So he slid down quickly, kicking his ankle and spraining it immediately as he kicked him, it rolling across itself as the man fell to the ground in a bit of agony. The last one jumped forward in a burst, aiming to punch Karumo in the face, he tilted his head to avoid it, far too slow for him... catching his arm and his body, three quick hits in the form of punches, first to his collarbone, second at the base of his neck, stuttering his breathing, then the last at the top of the throat near the back of the jaw. The man fell coughing to himself almost immediately, Karumo stood over the three and tsk'd to himself for a brief moment.

Karumo would turn towards the black haired girl, if she remained seated where she was, just a few feet off from where he stood now. Karumo pinched at the place where his hair had been cut from, a few small strands, not even enough to be noticeable as he glanced upwards at it. He then spoke up after a second, "It's fine to have confidence, in yourself and your skills and all, but remember that there's always someone better than you out there..." he offered with a smile and slight tilt of his head as he nodded. Glancing back towards the aching men on the ground for a brief moment before looking back towards her, "I presume you're ready then?" he spoke rather blatantly.

He wasn't sure if she would recognize him, as the Tsuchikage or otherwise as that person with black hair and purple eyes so long ago who had taken her to her mother's funeral. If she were ready, or had anything else to say, he would listen as he walked, stepping over their bodies as he began to walk back into the bazaar, listening intently to anything she'd have to say, add on, question, or otherwise.


[1146 words, 2475 words total]

She could hear them yelling and hollering all the way down the street from where she was sitting. Her pitch black eyes shot them a dark look as they moved to head over to the tea shop. Ryuko had always had an issue with being confident in her own abilities sometimes to the point where she stubbornly stayed in a losing fight just to prove she could beat the odds and win it all, but these men where of a whole other level. They were boastful and arrogant, and Ryuko didn't like them a single bit. Her eyes narrowed at them as they approached. Luckily her black tea got here relatively quickly, and so she devoted more of her attention to making sure her drink tasted right. if what the men were boasting where true, there wasn't a single way Ryuko could effectively stop them from doing a lot of a harm, though if it came to all out violence Ryuko knew it was her duty to at least to do something, and so she didn't take her eyes off of them for a moment. However right before they could enter the shop, the hooded man blew smoke in the middle one's face. An outright disrespect to man who obviously wouldn't stand of this. Either the man was stupid, not paying attention, or things were about to get interesting, and given how hard it was going to be to ignore the Assholes that had stormed through the market, Ryuko's money was on the latter. And so her gaze shifted from one of anger and disgust, towards something akin to 'oh this'll be good'. Ryuko didn't know many high ranking shinobi, but she did know that Iwagkure was one of the five great ninja villages, and so if one of them was hanging around this little tea shop, it wouldn't be unthinkable that they would crush someone with their hands tied behind their back. Ryuko simply had that much faith in the village's military might. It was then that the exchange of movement's began. It was too quick for Ryuko's Eyes to really follow, but given how fast the hooded man was, she doubted that she would do more than get in the way in this scuffle of sorts, so she'd more watch with keen interest, and as the girl had guessed, the hooded man had taken the trio out with relatively ease. Ryuko let a small laugh. Hopefully they'd learn their place, and that Iwagakure wasn't a place where you go about spouting titles like some big shot because you'd get shut down instantly. The monoliths love that kinda challenge. Though Ryuko had no idea the man in the hooded robe was a monolith or something else until he turned to her, and Ryuko instantly recognized him. Her mouth opened a tad in a O shape as she set down her drink. The words feel out of her mouth in short breath, so it was almost a whisper. "Tsuchikage-Sama?"

The girl wasn't quite sure what to do with this information. She obviously knew what her own Kage looked like, but she really hadn't met him before. She also knew that he had sent her the letter, but she didn't expect him to show up personally. Though not necessarily connecting the dots Ryuko asked a bit stupidly. "A-are you here to introduce me to my sensei?" she asked kind of questioningly. Granted this was before the next words came out of Karumo's Mouth, and then she finally was able to make the connection. No, he wasn't here to introduce her to her Sensei, He was going to be to her sensei. With that knowledge Ryuko took a bulp of her tea, finishing it in one swig. She then got out her own coin purse and payed for her drink. She then stood up and walked directly past karumo, without making eye contact, as a kunai appeared in her hand, she bent down to the man that had proclaimed himself to be a jounin, the clear leader of the trio. She then cut off his own coin purse, which was arguably dismal at best. She really would have thought that someone as egotisical as him would have had a bit more money. Either way it didn't matter. Without taking a single coin out of the coin purse, she'd throw it on the counter of tea shop and mutter the words "I'm sure after this grand humiliation these mean would like to apologize and pay for any damages they might have caused." Of course the men were much too hurt to even really argue against the girl or do anything about what she had just done. It was then she would continue on past karumo and sit down on a near by bench and mutter to herself. "Holy shit... the Kage's my sensei." as the realization would kind of set it and done on her. More shock and star struck than anything else really. Though, the more she looked over at the purple eye'd man, there was something nagging at her. Something that begged the question of if she knew him or not. She knew she knew him. He was her kage. She had seen him on a few public appearances, but she felt something deeper there. Was it loathing? She couldn't tell, but what ever the feeling was she decided it was best to ignore it. After all she was the kage's newly appointed student!

---

WC: 943
Total WC: 2101

She spoke quietly, Karumo picked it up as he looked towards her, she seemed to have recognized him, from his title at the very least. He wouldn't break his look though as she continued on, "A-are you here to introduce me to my sensei?" he mused on it briefly as he rubbed his chin and around his mouth, pursing his lips some. "Well, I suppose you could say I'm gonna introduce you to him in some regard..." he chuckled a bit after, hoping that it would have given way to the more obvious by this point.

Still, part of him was hoping that she would have recognized him from... elsewhere, but he supposed that it would be for the best this way. At least for the time being, when he had no indication of how raw the memories and pain she'd once felt were, but he had no doubt that as time went on, more and more would be unlocked from her past and her doings...

But Karumo watched, a bit puzzled and mystified as she went to the bandits he'd just beaten down, cutting off their own coin purse and turning it over to the shopkeeper. Then she turned on past him and continued to walk out, muttering to herself, Karumo could only laugh a bit. He turned and smiled sheepishly at the shop attendant, waving and scratching the back of his head as he began to exit as well. Turning to find his young student whom had already exited herself and taken a seat on a nearby bench.

A final approach he sat down next to her, leaned back a bit and looking forward with a sort of blank and stoic expression. A heavy exhale as a thought struck him, he was really missing his cigar right now, but so is the consequences of acting so... well, non-altruistic in a self-righteous way? Still, she reminded him so much of her, he'd run over her features already, that long black hair that flowed down past her shoulders and those eyes were like spitting images of Ayame. It was a little uncanny, very worrying for him, flashbacks and anxiety over letting her down and putting her at risk began to flood his mind, filling the back spaces of his mind not used for on the spot critical thinking. It certainly was going to take up a lot of his own personal RAM with worry and anxiety, but he felt that way most of the time anyways.

So he paused for a brief moment after his almost sigh, then speaking up, "So... have any questions or anything?"


[444 words, 2919 words total]

The girl was lost in her own thoughts, when the kage approached and sat down next to her as she began pouring over the details of what it meant to have the Tsuchikage of the village hidden in the stone personally teach her what it meant to be a ninja. She obviously knew that this wasn't a common occurrence, and that this was certainly something she should take pride in. but instead usually rather upbeat girl was kind of off put. She didn't really feel like she had done anything to deserve anything worthy of this. Her academy performance had been far from the best, and she was no where near what one might consider a prodigy, and surely there was better ways the Kage could spend his time in more useful manners, but none the less he made the decision to chose her. Before even knowing that Karumo sat next to her, she merely muttered the words allowed "Why?" it was as she said these words that they some what gathered her mind back into to reality and she looked around, surprised the kage had shown up next to her. Or more importantly hand done so without her really noticing. The girl kind of jumped, and said "Oh! Karumo i umm..." it was at about this point her mind informed her of what had occured whilst she was spacing out including Karumo posing his question to her and so in an attempt to recover she said. "I, umm, er, sorry.." she would then trail off a bit "Do i have any questions?... no... not really.." she would say muttering to herself once more. But then her mind began to trail off once again, as she began to think about karumo, and herself, and as she did that, the girl slowly dawned on something she would actually like to ask him.

Then girl said the words to karumo this time. "Oh right! i do have one thing." The girl would then close her eyes, as she feed chakra into them, and then the burning sensation filled them, as it had the past few times she had done this. She was much more used to it, than the first time it had happened, but she didn't quite know what it was. Opening her eyes slowly as she looked at karumo, the girl's now red near glowing eyes would stare at Kage. She had practiced this a few times since she had learned of this ability, but she honestly didn't have any clue what it was. Her mother had obviously told her of the sharingan, but had never really shown her it, nor had she even seen it, or knew how to active it. So even when the girl did this in the mirror to see if something actually was wrong with her eyes it didn't help. And so looking at Karumo with her eyes trained on him, she would say "Do you know what's wrong with my eyes?"

It was at this point, Ryuko would wait for Karumo to respond before she did anything. But as she did this she began looking over the kage with a bit more depth, her Sharingan helping her analyse a bit more, and with this the feelings she had had moments ago resurface but a bit more extreme. She felt anger and Sadness and she felt them towards Karumo. She also felt like she knew him. Like two shared some kind of bond but she honestly didn't know what, and so she would open her mouth once more, a few moments after he would have responded, if he chose too. Upon openning her mouth to speak, the younger girl would also look at the ground, a subconscious behavior most people had when they were ashamed, or couldn't face who they were talking too, and a but more of a serious look would take Ryuko's face as she would begin to ask "Also do you..." She would then shake her head. Closing her eyes, and deactivating the Red eyes. she would then mutter "No never mind." once more, doing her best to cover up the seriousness and the sadness she had just displayed for but a brief moment she would turn to karumo once more and ask. " So are we going to do anything today? like a training exercise or are we just introducing ourselves?" she would say with a bit more cheerful tone, she was actually rather eager to know karumo's response, and she was ready to train with a bit more than just the wooden dummies she kept in her basement. So the prospect of maybe getting some training into today sounded rather nice to her, though if not she would understand. Either way the girl would eagerly await Karumo's responses.

---

WC: 809
Total WC: 2910

Karumo took his seat next to her, mumbling to herself in simple sentiments, he listened intently at first but pretended not to, or rather that he couldn't hear by offering an inquisitive 'hmm?' to her in between the breaks in her speech. She declined the chance to ask any questions, seemingly scattered as if she couldn't quite put her tongue on whatever it was that was bothering her. Karumo nodded, speaking up for a brief moment, "I see..." was all he offered at first. Taking his hand and pressing into his neck some near the base to crack it, he paused a minute.

Long enough to give her a chance to muster her courage or gather her thoughts or whatever she had. It was next... well, he became surprised, he noticed her head turned as she spoke and he glanced over just in time to see her eyes spin into life. Bright red replaced her eyes and a single tomoe in each of them, a very underdeveloped form of the sharingan. "Do you know what's wrong with my eyes?" Karumo didn't have much of a response at first, his jaw would have dropped if he weren't so composed as he blinked into a trance at her sharingan. A very rare and powerful ability to have unlocked so young and already knowing how to use it. But then he remembered how those Uchiha unlocked those eyes of theirs... he wondered if it was her mother's death, his doing that brought that separation of pain to her.

Karumo would snap out of it not more than a moment later, offering a calming smile to her, "I don't see anything wrong with them..." he spoke plainly, she might initially write it off as just some surface level dribble about her abilities but as he would continue, he would shed light to a slightly different approach to it, "You see... those eyes of yours, they are very powerful indeed and the envy of many ninja and the fear of more beyond that. Still, they could be considered a gift from your family too... your father or... mother" his voice would linger for a second to let it sit in, he hadn't revealed that he knew of her history in some, but he was the Tsuchikage, research on his students would be key, but this wasn't research, he had just known...

Less than a hesitation would go by before Karumo would continue on, "My eyes are a lot like yours, except mine being purple. You see the lines that cross through mine? In my clan, they signify how advanced the Dojutsu of our clan is in a person, the more lines there are the more powerful the eyes. Like your eyes will manifest more of the tomoe, you still have quiet a ways to go but my eyes are done growing." he would look on her closely, deep purple eyes with four crossing lines running through his eyes would be obvious. "There's also a... risk to them. They'll call themselves things like collectors, but those eyes are powerful, and people will try to take them. Thieves at best. Luckily for you though, you can turn yours off when you want..." he laughed as his eyes were permanently the way they are. Not that a natural deep purple eye color doesn't give it away, with the full release of his clan's abilities, he was more of a target than most. Aside from being the Tsuchikage as well.

After a pause, she tried to ask... something. But shut herself in again, the obvious pain and struggle it was to try to reach to those emotions was obvious. Still, Karumo's face fell neutral as he leaned back some, "So are we going to do anything today? like a training exercise or are we just introducing ourselves?" he blinked towards her as she asked again. To tell the truth, he had a plan but it really slipped his mind with the thug bandits and finding out about her sharingan. He was a bit... well, not confused but he hummed to himself and scratched his chin as he looked up to the sky for a minute, thinking to himself.

A small thought crossed his mind, "I suppose.. you're too young to drink, aren't you?" he asked a bit ironically. He knew the answer himself, but he figure it nice to bring it up but he would continue on, "It's a bit early for that too... so I suppose training would be a better option then?" he would stand to his feet with a bit of a smile on his face.

"Follow me then, I have a slight idea." he would say before leading the pair of them through the winding streets of the city, putting his hood up on his coat to cover his face again. Moving a bit more covertly through the streets as he could, before arriving to an open field of flat ground and some tall grass, varying from 6 inches to a foot high in some places. Otherwise, it was a very plain field to say the least.

Once they were there, Karumo would take several steps out into the field, a smaller training ground of 100 meters by 100 meters, they wouldn't do too much damage here if things got out of hand. Still, Karumo would grab the button at the throat of his coat and press it, releasing it and revealing his grey ANBU armor underneath it and letting the coat fall to the ground. He smiled and spoke up, "Now then... I want to fight you. Rather... I want you to fight me, with everything you have. Nothing held back, use every technique and trick you have, otherwise, you won't stand a chance here..." he would say as his eyes scanned over everything. This was Karumo's true home, the moments before battle, the analysis of it all, noting every distortion she would make, the way she shifted her weight on her feet, and the places her eyes looked.

This was gonna serve two purposes, the first being to test out his student's abilities and the second, would be to make sure she was retaining everything from the academy and if not.... then to re-instill those values in her head. Still, he'd be ready if she resisted, after all he was the Tsuchikage, and going all out against a Kage? Well... it would be troubling for many, but he'd have an answer ready if she should bring it up. Otherwise, he'd spread his feet a bit and balance his stance, bringing up a single hand in a half tiger symbol to signal that he was ready.


[1137 words, 4056 words total]

"I suppose.. you're too young to drink, aren't you?" KArumo would say in response to Ryuko's question, and honestly Ryuko really didn't catch on to much of the sarcasm that was implied in it the statement. She was too focused. Much to in depth in trying to figure out why. Why she hated the man before her. Why she disliked him. She knew that she had no reason to, or at least felt as much. More so the man was her own kage. She should trust and love him, but instead she felt hostile and frustration towards him, and the fact that she couldn't pinpoint the feeling only made her more upset. But, with the said at the very least the information he had given her on her eyes were at the very least useful. "It's a bit early for that too... so I suppose training would be a better option then?" he would stand to his feet with a bit of a smile on his face. Ryuko would stand up with him, thinking on what he just said. Did he really have the desire to drink this early in the morning? Maybe her frustration with the man wasn't entirely unfounded. Either way she would simply nod, and follow him where ever he may lead her.

"Follow me then, I have a slight idea." Karumo would say before leading Ryuko through some winding streets and alley ways, clearly attempting to covert about his actions and path of travel. He was the kage after all, Ryuko couldn't imagine that he would want to be see leading around a younger genin like her. Maybe this was more of something meant to be on the down side of things. This is something that Ryuko would note, and probably not talk about in the near future.

It didn't take them very long to reach where they were going. It was a small plateau, that was relevatively flat and was a small open field surrounded by trees and like the like. Here they were relatively well concealed by all that was around them and Ryuko couldn't really imagine people coming here and watching whatever interactions they might have her. A place perfect for a private training session Ryuko thought. Once they arrived, Karumo would step out into the field. Once he had done that he would drop his cloak, revealing the ANBU gear underneath, and as he that... everything clicked. His figure, in that gear. He didn't have to wear the mask. Ryuko's burning red eyes could match his body type up almost exactly with the one she had seen on that day. The day her world was shattered. "Now then... I want to fight you. Rather... I want you to fight me, with everything you have. Nothing held back, use every technique a-" Ryuko's face tightened, as her burning red eyes began to swell up with tears. She didn't need to be told to anything back. before he could finish his sentence she was forming the tiger seal and exhaling her massive wave of flames straight towards him. The heat was comforting, an only matched the burning anger she had in store for him. HE was the one who shattered her world. She would show no mercy. Before Ryuko even knew what she what she was doing, She was running straight towards Karumo. Pulling two shuriken out of thin air, and throwing towards him, whether he had moved or not. She was going to make him feel pain she felt.

---

WC: 600
Total WC: 3510

Karumo watched her face twist at his words, he continued his speech but his words slowed down, not fully stopping but seeming to trail off as the young Ryuko began to take action. Her face burned for a moment and she trailed off, Karumo's eyes widened as his frame shifted to ready, light on his feet and staying off of his heels. She had formed the tiger seal and breathed heavily, letting forth a burst of fire directly at him, a simple technique to be fair, Karumo jumped back and met it, forming the tiger seal of his own as he tried to keep the distance before forming his own jutsu and expelling another comparable fireball to clash against hers.

He'd seen that pain once before, the tears she'd shed before were spewing again as Karumo was preparing things forward, hoping his own fireball would crash and intertwine with her own and end both their jutsu right there. Still, it seemed that she was intent on closing the gap between them anyways as the flames would dance around. Two shuriken on their way to meet Karumo as he would be landing, a quick hand reaching to the pouch on the back right of his hip as he drew out two shuriken of his own and threw them forward with the intent of blocking away the attacking shuriken.

With another move, Karumo would drop his hand to the kunai holster on his thigh and draw it forward in front of him in a reverse grip. He didn't know what else Ryuko would have planned but he wanted to push her to her limits quickly, seeing the burst of energy and power she could provide or whatever tale of endurance she might have hidden within. Either way, her eyes spoke volumes about the torment that was moving within, whatever triggered it though, Karumo was at a complete loss for.


[321 words, 4377 words total]

285/300 Chakra:

Karumo was quick to act even though he was mid speech when Ryuko jumped into action, though if Ryuko wasn't in the current state she was in she might have picked up on this. Ryuko rushed through in the after math of the two fireballs colliding, it was hot, but not enough to really burn her, given the two techniques had clashed and cancelled each other out. As she did so, throwing her shuriken, which Karumo quickly met with two of his own, and reached down to pull out his kunai, The two shuriken Ryuko had thrown however puffed into smoke right after clashing with karumo's, and kunai appeared into the girl's hand. The girl charged him, and as she stared at him, running towards him, the world around her flashed briefly, mimicking that moment as he stood before her, the moment her world had shattered around her, and just like in the moment, Ryuko stumbled forward. Losing the anger and frustration that carried her forwards. Then stumbled to hands and knees, tears welling up in her eyes as everything about that day resurfaced. The feeling loss, the memories of her mother's smile, and her mother's warmth when she hugged her, and how she would never get to see her face again.

Ryuko's hand gripped the grass underneath her hands as tight as possible, hoping to ease the pain and hole that left her. "Why.... Why did she have to die..." The words hurt to say, and they came out forced through tears. She would then grip the grass even tighter, and choke out, even more forced and filled with sorrow. "Why did she leave me?". At this point the red had faded from Ryuko's eyes, and in it's place was filled with nothing but tears which were covering the grass underneath her.  Ryuko had had every intention of fighting Karumo with all she had, but her emotions had swayed, and she couldn't. She couldn't move even if she wanted to. The girl was already broken and beaten, and this was merely the surfacing of long oppressed emotions Ryuko had tucked away, only to surface again by the realization as to who Karumo was.

---

WC: 374
Total WC: 3884

Karumo's counters both met with precision, the flames cancelling out and the shuriken knocking each other away from their targets. Still, Karumo stood at the ready with his kunai and awaited her arrival to attack, but it was in mid stride where she collapsed fallen in front of him. Karumo blinked, looking in intensely as she stared at the ground and gripped the grass with tears in her eyes. Karumo was always so genuinely terrible with these situations but it was a familiar sight, the flashback to back when he'd first told her the bad news. But this time, he had no bad news to deliver.

Karumo stepped forwards as she cursed at the earth, a heavy sigh over him as he thought about his words and what he could say. There wasn't any consolation in the truth or her mother's sacrifice to protect him and the daughter of the feudal lord. People whom Ryuko had never known or cared for, her own mother abandoned her in some sense and protected those strangers. Karumo had taken a moment to walk slowly towards her, rotating the kunai in his hand quickly to point the blade down and in the same motion, returning it to its holster on his thigh. After a small hesitation afterwards, Karumo knelt down onto his right knee, just past her shoulder and placed his right hand on that shoulder lightly.

He'd offer a smile, whether she would see it or not or even accept it, he would speak up calmly amongst her tears to interrupt for a moment, "To protect you." he ended with his smile and paused again so that the words could hit her mind. "To protect you and better the village you live in. That we all live in..." he would reiterate and expand on the point as he let his hand rest there and try to continuously comfort her in the small gesture. "She was a true hero of the village, I know that doesn't make things better and I'm sorry. But she was a hero and gave her life for the village..." Karumo's face had fallen a bit sullen as he remembered back lightly to that funeral, in all black and the sadness about it. One of his first real mistakes as captain of the Oracles. He'd made too many mistakes as a whole but that was one that will plague him for a time to come and beyond that.


[417 words, 4794 words total]

After a brief moment, whether it would add any comfort or not, Karumo would stand up and take a step back away from Ryuko. Solemn silence fell over him for a time as he thought, not knowing how much impact his words would truly have on the girl in front of him who had gone from calm to angered and then broken in such a short time. There wasn't much that Karumo could do or offer at the time but it was clear that his test was over for now. Maybe another day he could test her more properly but the nerve in his own heart had been struck, the guilt within himself had been plucked out along with it.

Karumo exhaled into a sigh before speaking up, "Alright, I think that's enough for today then. We can save the training for another day." He would pause for a moment, only speaking after she had calmed down to a degree and leaving time for her to recognize his words before he would offer a reassuring smile, if she would look at him to even see it. "Let's head back to the village, you can go home and rest up, save this for another day." he would nod to her, or himself and then wait for her response or recognition.

Then it would be as simple as Karumo escorting them back into the heart of the village, for her to return home or wherever else and for Karumo to return to his boring office job. The one part of his work he'd always been so adamant about escaping away and hiding from.


[275 words, 5069 words total]
[Exit Thread]

Training: