Today was a horrible day.  No more than three minutes could have passed since Ayato and his opponent had been called into the sparring arena, yet the red-haired Hyuuga was already out of breath. To make things worse mainly been kept the defensive evading the opponent’s attacks while the blade that had been used to slash at him effectively kept him out of range.

The courtyard rang to the song of steel against steel. Upon soft brown sand, sweat trickled from the red haired Hyuuga’s forehead as he pressed the attack. Sawamura Ryuhei stumbled backward, defending himself. "Taking your kunai out?]" Asked Sawamura not unkindly. When Ayato raised his hand to launch a second strike, the other boy went underneath it with his blunted steel katana that crunched against the back of Ayato’s leg interrupting his motion. "Had this been a real fight, he would have hamstrung me." Ayato thought to himself bitterly as he reeled backward. When he tried to cut sideways with a clumsy swing but Sawamura met the kunai with his katana and swept it aside and slammed a fist into Ayato’s chest. Needless to say that hurt…a lot. The red Hyuuga experienced (not for the first time in his life) the cliché sensation in combat known as having the “air knocked out of your lungs”. Regardless, Ayato lost his footing and his ass met the sand hard. Steel flashed against the blazing ball of sun in the sky, as Sawamura’s downward slash came down at his wrist.

It hurt like seven hells.

Ayato Hyuuga gave a muffled scream, yet for all the immeasurable pain the scream lasted only for a second. It seemed to his subconsciousness that dignity mattered as much as his life. Perhaps he had been a fool after all, such mentality would get him nowhere in the shinobi world. Still, there were more pressing matters to concern himself with - combat related matters. If this was real steel Sawamura would have chopped off his hand with his last strike and would have turned Ayato into a cripple. It would please his father no doubt, to find his least favorite son crippled. "Then just to disappoint I could try and find the medical technique that magically grows back chopped hands.” He almost gave a chuckle at his own joke, as his opponent placed his blade against the apple of his throat. Today was a horrible day indeed. But far from over.

WC: 400

"Yield, Hyuuga." His opponent said, pressing the tip of his katana against the apple of Ayato's throat. Ayato knew that any movement from his own might have provoked another strike, so he only shifted his eyes to look at the finger looming over him. Brown haired and brown eyed wearing a sleeveless leather jerking above a shift of ringmail - Sawamura Ryuhei looked every part the unwashed brigand that you may meet in the mountains. But all of this was for naught, for he had the Konohagakure tied firmly around his exposed, and for story purposed oversized bicep. That man was thick of body, among other things.

Ayato's opponent's not part of one of Konoha’s fabled clans of legends, the son of a blacksmith he knew all there was about weapons and armor. Normally such a background would have suggested taking up the family business - but from what he had heard Sawamura Jyuuchi, master armorer had more sons than what he knew to do with. "On that, we are not very different." Ayato thought amusingly. Still, despite all those indications that might have suggested that Sawamura Ryuhei might have been a pushover - Ayato had been careful not to underestimate his opponent. It was just that Sawamura was way better than he had even expected.  He was big and strong as an ox, yet he swung that katana of his not like a butcher's cleaver (as his size would have suggested), but rather as if it was an extension of his own arm. And this was why Ayato was sitting on his butt, being unable to react when the Blacksmith's son moved at him like a whirlwind.

Ayato made to open his mouth and admit his defeat and congratulate his opponent in a match well fought.

It was then that the first sneers came from the crowd of students watching them. “I knew Hyuuga sucked against weaponry, but that red hair is beyond help.” Said a voice he did not recognize, in a tone that would suggest whispering, yet it was loud enough for Ayato to listen. But not strong enough to make him care. Yet he knew this was far from the end of it “Aye, he is hopeless." Someone else and others voice began to add to the counter. "Where is the Gentle Fist we hear so much about?”, “Is he really a Hyuuga he doesn’t even look like one.”  Among others....but of course, dismissive comments would always come from the audience, everyone is eager to judge while he is out of the dance. Ayato could live with that. "A Hyuuga he is alright, I've fought his brother once, Kaede was made of finer metal than this sorry fellow, though."

The last one wounded him even more than Sawamura's earlier blows. Now Ayato would rather break before he bent in front of these fuckers.

WC: 478

Ayato clenched his teeth at that, so loud that it could be heard in Suna. All his life had been this way. Not only when he failed, but even when he had succeeded. No matter what he managed to do, his eldest brother had done it already and in a much better way. Kaede was the boldest of the brother, a fierce and fearless boy who lived only to restore the Hyuuga to their ancient glory. At ten  10 he had graduated from the Academy, at thirteen he was a Chuunin and could fight as well as any man in the village's upper tiers. At fifteen he had been a Jounin and had left on an S-rank on Kirigakure and spent three months fighting. At seventeen all of the villages admired him and spoke of his valor. He was all that an elder ought to be, and more, though he had never shown Ayato aught but scorn. "I am weak and only good for fussing over books. To him, scorn was more than I deserved."

Thanks to those fat bastards on the benches that reminded him all this. Ayato would rather break himself against Sawamura's blunted steel katana rather than do the noble thing and admit defeat. Then no one could say he didn't fight. That he didn't stand his ground. No one could take that away from him, not his father not his brothers and certainly not those sneering at him. Even if they would no doubt, enjoy the hell out of this.

"Enough, you in the crowd!" Tatsuya Nara yelled. Their proctor, a grizzled bear of a man had a voice so sharp that cut through the numerous one in the crowd as if knife through hot butter.  And thankfully this voice seemed to distract his opponent momentarily as well. That shift in focus was all Ayato required, even if it was just for a second.

Ayato clutched soft sand with his hand and threw it at a full swing at Sawamura’s figure looming over him. Targeting his eyes...and Sawamura lazily sidestepped.  Instead of the opponent's squinty eyes, the sand hit thin air, drizzling pathetically against the air current before settling down on the ground. “That was just sad.” The laughter that followed from the crowd only served to anger Ayato even further. Even their proctor sucked in air from his teeth, trying to hold back his amusement. Sawamura’s eyes remained cold however and now locked on Ayato, with a hint of fire within them that wasn’t there before. "He is angry at me for trying to throw a cheap trick." And that was when Ayato thought he may have got what he needed - this one was more gallant than wise.

WC:: 437

Ayato searched for what he believed to be his father’s voice, yet the word that came out of his mouth would not be Lord like at all. “Fuck...you.” Said the Hyuuga unkindly, and all the laughter from the benches died that moment. Sawamura bristled at that, his nostrils flaring and a vein in his neck bulging so hard that it seemed as if it would implode. "More gallant than wise indeed." The blacksmith's son could not bear to be insulted from a downed opponent right to his face. Ayato knew what to expect then.

Sawamura let out a grunt as swung down his sword heavily against the downed opponent in front of him, aiming for his shoulder blade. Ayato with his peripheral vision saw their proctor made a hand seal. The arc of slash was telegraphed, his shoulder movement stiff, lacking the grace it had before due to his temper getting the better of him. This allowed Ayato to roll clumsily and away, the slash missing him by half a meter, meeting the sandy ground with such ferocity that sent up a cloud of dust.

Of course, Sawamura made to give another one, and close the distance in a matter of seconds, before Ayato could as much as try another roll. However, that would be impossible at his current state. He was frozen with the sword above his shoulder and curved slightly to the right. A flat black snake lacking a head was now coiled around his legs, body, arms and even shadow. The other end was just as flat but slightly wider, trailing on the ground before finally meeting their proctor’s own shadow. Tatsuya-sensei was forced to step in with his clan’s own Hiden Clan Jutsu to restrain the other kid.

WC: 292

“Attacking the opponent while he is down is off limits. Sawamura you ought to be disqualified for this.” Tatsuya Nara bellowed in what uncomfortably appeared to be anger, but was filled with hints of relief. That is for having successfully stopped before he could whack Ayato to pieces. No doubt he believed he could not let this happen under his watch unless he wanted Ayato’s father to come and seek repercussions from him. Sadly enough, Seijuro Hyuuga did not give a fig about this third son, but Tatsuya had naught to know that.

“It is alright, Tatsuya-sensei.” Ayato let out not unkindly as he rose to his feet and regained his composure - a good and safe distance from that berserker for an opponent. “No doubt my opponent tried to break my other wrist for me, fearing what I may do to him with.” Ayato let out and gave a grin, making his opponents curse at him out loud as he twisted like a fish, and his sensei fret as he tightened his hand seal trying to restrain Sawamura with his Shadow bind tech. “Calm the fuck down, Sawamura!” No doubt that halfwit would be disqualified at this pace, a fact that his shit for brain failed to realize. It was as easy as stealing candy from a child. Still...

“Sensei, there seems to be nothing wrong with my opponent's stomach for battle. And I can still work a sweat. I would like to request that you let us continue.” Ayato said gingerly, to the shock of his opponent, the proctor and the students on the benches who had remained silent for a while now. No, he had not grown soft in the head. Nor was it that Ayato Hyuuga gave a shit about a code of honor or anything of the sort. For what was worth, now that he had found his opponent despite all his skills in combat was a bloody oaf without a hint of strategical mind in his head, he thought he may have had an actual chance of turning this around. Well, the odds were still that he was going to be hacked to pieces, more so than before - now that had pissed Sawamura. But nevertheless, it was worth the try if it would make those that mocked him and dared to bring up his brother choke on their words.

Tatsuya considered the situation before talking. “Very well then, but remember these sparring matches are made on the command of our Lord Hokage. Giving you Genin and opportunity to show your worth, if any." Tatsuya Nara said and paused for a moment to catch his breath, before speaking again. "I won't have any more follies happen under my watch. If I see you two fuckers getting out of hand again, you are both to suffer detention and removal from ninja activities for two weeks." The Jounin finished and after confirming this with Ayato he looked at Sawamura, waiting for the blacksmith's compliance - to which he received in a form of a sullen nod - and then he freed him of his Shadow Bind.

WC: 521
TWC: 2128

The look Sawamura gave him was full of poison. “Doubtless he will come to at me with full force, intending to finish me off. “Ayato thought as he met his opponent’s piercing gaze with his own.  It had been previously he was the outsider to win this fight but he did not allow himself to get demoralized. Still against Sawamura’s devastating sword slashes what did Ayato possess, now that it had been established that taijutsu was useless. Perhaps he could buy some time with the Clone Technique/Bushin no jutsu - also known as the art of the doppelganger this was a basic form of ninjutsu that created a copy of one's own body without any substance. It was seemingly powerless since the clone does not inflict any damage. But at the arsenal of a strategical mind, it could prove a powerful weapon to trick an opponent into making a mistake. The true essence of a shinobi Ayato thought to himself. “A good start no doubt.”

Tatsuya Nara gave the signal to begin again.

Ayato put his fingers together, and Sawamura charged at him like a bull. For a moment, time seemed to stop for Ayato as he recalled how he had he stood for hours in front of the mirror, trying to capture every detail about his appearance. Visualizing his image, medium length red hair, sharp facial features and...mismatched eyes. The clothes he had put on today as well. Ayato's fingers moved on their own, performing six hand seals almost in a flash "Bunshin no Jutsu! He yelled as loud as he could and a puff of smoke appeared, just as Sawamura was closing in, kicking up dust and grass where he stepped.

The cloud of smoke in front of Ayato, however, it gave a sudden halt to his opponent's movements, Ayato had hoped to lure him in with that. As if it would have been that easy." He thought bitterly in the darkness. As the cloud of smoke depressed, nothing had changed, Ayato stood there with no clone behind him, no nothing.

"When you yelled the name of the jutsu, I braced for a feint. Only a fool would have done that, and despite being trash in combat, you didn't strike me as one." He said as he rested his katana upon the leather pad of his shoulder. Then he continued "But instead you were scared shitless and then failed the jutsu eh?" Sawamura asked and his wormy lips twisted in an evil grin. “Still…”He continued and resumed his charge at Ayato “How dare you to make a fool of me, before!"  He gave a rasping grunt and slashed in a horizontal arc, afterimages trailing behind the blade itself. The sword cut through the expressionless Ayato like silk, slicing him in half. But there was no sound of the blade running through flesh nor any blood splatter followed. "What!?" His opponent let out surprised as the upper and the lower half of Ayato floated in the air before fading away.

WC: 502
TWC:: 2630

Walls and wooden floor of classroom 3-A slowly became encased in a nectar field as the sun sent fingers of lights through the windows. Ayato was glad for the light.  Before the world was dull and gray keeping the colors of the hour before the dawn, even though they were in the middle of the day. Just another hour before lunch. Ayato thought to rest his head on his arm, his elbow feeling the carvings upon the wooden desk. Marks of the previous students left for my elbow to suffer How many Hidden Leaf shinobi sat in the same desk before him he wondered. How many grew to become legends, how many failures and how many corpses. Only the idea of eventually joining the latter two made Ayato want to puke. He did not wish to join the long line of the "might have been" or be buried in a box. Not until I leave my mark in this world at least. Yes, the world, not a desk He thought in silence before the sound of a sliding door interrupted his inner thinking.

Ayato joined the rest of the class as they stood up. A sign of respect to their teacher who just entered the classroom. After Nitto-sensei finished looking at the attendance sheet she addressed the students."Hello everyone, today I'm gonna demonstrate in front of all of you a very special jutsu!" The raven haired woman said playfully with a smile and put her hands together as if she was praying. There she goes again, showing us something interesting before lunch-break. Apparently, their ninjutsu teacher believed the students were able to absorb things more easily when excited for their upcoming meal.

She stood up from her teacher's chair, sunlight reflecting on her Konoha headband like a mirror. She proceeded to perform the Dog->Boar->Ram hand seals one at a time for students to keep up. "Henge no jutsu!" And in a puff smoke, the beautiful woman in her thirties wearing a purple kimono turned into a fat short middle aged bald man wearing a white shirt. "I believe you are all familiar with the theory! You maggots!" The bald man who was a woman said with the vice principal's sharp voice. Even after reverting back to her original appearance it took a whole fifteen minutes for the students to stop laughing. The teacher did not put any effort to quiet them down, even she seemed amused at her own joke.

WC: 409
TWC: 3039

Ayato raised a hand and Nitto-sensei allowed him to speak. "Sensei...your impersonation of the vice principal was great. But even if you look like the genuine thing is it enough to trick his wife or children? I mean even transforming for long periods is challenging if we consider the mental strain."
"Ah..Ayato-kun you are so prickly. You are like a hedgehog." Nitto-sensei said to him before he could add more "You may not able trick someone even if you look like the genuine thing" She repeated the hand seals and transformed into a black cat. "You also have the environment you are currently in to consider." Said the cat who had no place in a classroom before turning into a woman again. "But if you interact with the said environment properly." She disappeared this time completely. "You can completely blend it with!" A faint voice echoed through the classroom but Ayato could not find the woman who cast it.  "How about you give it a try Ayato-kun? You have one chance." The voice echoed again this time challenging Ayato.

"What did she transform to?" He was looking a desk, a chair, a pencil and two pages of paper  No, not that! He turned his attention to the large green chalkboard. "Did she turn into chalk? If it was me.I see." Ayato pointed his index finger in the direction of the chalkboard. "You hid among the written letters on the chalkboard," Ayato announced in front of the classroom, confident he figured it out. The majority of the students soon followed behind Ayato See sensei? A true shinobi cannot be tricked by this bullshit. He almost said almost smiling."Wrong." A simple word. But it felt like a sudden gust of the wind at Ayato's face.

In a puff of smoke, Nitto sensei appeared again standing on the desk, far away from the board proving Ayato's claim to be false. "I don't understand." he looked in shock trying to figure it out. A desk, a chair, a pencil and a sheet of paper. By then he already knew the answer. There was only one attendance sheet for the class. Nitto-sensei smiled and it was she who pointed her index at Ayato this time "Sometimes if you overthink things you forget that the obvious choice is the correct one. " The teacher proclaimed fire up. The bell rang and the class was empty in a flash, all the students running off to the school cafeteria to buy their lunch. Ayato remained in his seat, his head supported by both hands. He sat there reflecting on everything that just occurred. His eyes glued on the carvings upon his wooden desk.

Someday all of that bullshit may be worth it.

WC:: 450
TWC: 3489

Where were we?

Ayato was struggling in a sparring match (open to the public) against  Sawamura Ryuhei, a blacksmith's son that wielded a katana as if it were part of his arm. Eventually, our red-haired protagonist (or antagonist) landed on his butt against the ground with a loud thud. As he was about to do the noble thing and bow out of this fight, bystanders proceeded to openly ridicule him, even going as far to question his lineage of a Hyuuga.
Alas, quitting was no longer an option for him.

Ayato then attempted to do a cheap shot, by throwing sand in his opponent's face, which he lazily dodged - but after realizing that such underhanded behavior angered the gallant Sawamura, Ayato provoked him with an insult. Sawamura swallowed that flute as expected and made to slash at Ayato, despite the fact he was knocked downed. The proctor for the fight stepped in, using his Nara techniques to restrain Sawamura and the red-haired used this time to recover from the damage - before asking for the match to resume.

And now Sawamura Ryuuhei sliced Ayato's clone in two separate pieces. For Ayato's plan to work convincing everyone, including the people on the bench - or rather especially the people sitting on the bench - that he failed the Bunshin technique was crucial. He had to be fast; instead of three seals do six. Scream the name of one jutsu with his voice (Bunshin no Jutsu), whisper another in his mind (Henge no jutsu).

What happened?  Ayato had transformed himself into the soft brown sand and left a clone in his place to be sliced by the opponent's savage two-handed slash. Ayato had to remain completely still not moving an inch while it happened. This was undoubtedly the most difficult part, even if it was only for a few seconds, kissing a leather boot is not the most pleasant of experiences.

When Sawamura thought Ayato failed a jutsu as simple as the Clone Tech he regained the confidence he lost and rushed to finish the battle with a big swing, (at whom he thought was Ayato) he dropped his only advantage - the distance that his Kenjutsu gave him. See, using the superior range of his Katana was how he kept Ayato at a safe distance all along, neutralizing his taijutsu. But not anymore, his Taijutsu was now free of that handicap.

Ayato dispelled his transformation technique and soft brown sand behind the other kid turned into a red-haired Hyuuga. Ayato landed a kick behind the knee that brought a cry of pain. Jun lost his balance and fell on the ground getting disarmed for the first time today. "You are too impulsive," Ayato stated, strangely he was calmer than he thought. Sawamura refused to give up and made to reach his fallen blade it but Ayato simply kicked the hilt sending it further away.

Quickly as a cat, Ayato reached with one of his hand into his weapon pouch and came out with his spare kunai. With the other, he yanked the opponent's head by a coarse of brown hair. "Now perhaps, it is you who should yield to me." Ayato said as he held a kunai on the older Genin's throat. Nitto-sensei was not wrong overthinking things does not always help you succeed. But if you act on impulse you fail to see that the obvious answer is the wrong one. "I've come up with my own answer, sensei." Ayato looked up towards the sun-setting sky, drew a deep breath and allowed himself a moment to savor the victory.

WC:600
TWC: 4089

Trained: