There wasn't much to say about the village hidden in the rock, other than the fact that it was a solid place for people to gather and worry not of the dangers that could befall them. Stones, rocks, boulders, everywhere the eye could see! There was a place near the gates that a lone bowman liked to frequent, finding the peace almost too good to pass up. There were multiple targets set up around a long fence,  with targets painted on them. Many of them were cracked or splintered, due to many times of being used. Metal cans, archery targets that had seen better days, even logs counted themselves among the slew of practice targets that had seen quite a few arrows in their day.

There was a boy, older than eighteen standing alone with a quiver about his back, the quiver full of arrows. He held a blue-green long bow in his hands, the weapon being nearly three or four feet in height. It was quite the large weapon and definitely made for range. He stood around fifteen meters out from his targets, studying them carefully. His eyesight was great, but seeing that far was incredibly hard for him without the use of a jutsu. Still, with a nod to his bow, he lifted it up and drew an arrow from his quiver. With practiced certainty, the bow was drawn back with the aim adjusted for the wind speed and direction, as well as for the distance to the target. Without a sound, he loosed the arrow, watching it fly into a log just barely missing the center. With a sigh, he shook his head and lifted his bow, speaking.

"I dunno, Sudoroi, I feel like i could be doing better but when I used to practice in the compound the targets were only ten meters away, I know I'm supposed to get better but what exactly is going to make me better if I can't hit my targets dead on?"

As if in his mind, a voice spoke to him, one that only he could hear. "Listen young one, you must be sure to properly gauge all factors of a shot before taking it. As you improve, so will I, your marksmanship will get better. Give it time. A sigh from the lad and his right hand clenched and unclenched, making ready for a long day of practice and training. His decorative samurai armor piece hit the sunlight just right, the brown and red of it blending with the environment. Every day he painted it to match where he was, just as his clothing had reds and browns to match the dirt and rocks about.

451

As Sayuri wandered about the Village in the bright sunlight her eyes stung and her head felt as though it might actually explode. As it turned out, drinking was not her thing. She was looking for a quiet place to curl up and hopefully silently cry and she supposed that outside the actual village would be the best place for that. Well silly duck, not even a whole day here and you’ve already caused some trouble for yourself. At least try to not cause anymore. She wordlessly chided herself on her poor choices as she miserably walked through the village. Though in all fairness, had she known what the results of drinking that much alcohol would be, she never would have done it. As the sun beat mercilessly down on to her, she wished very much that she was still in Konohagakure. At least there she could retreat into the forest and hide herself beneath its emerald canopy. Just the thought alone of the coolness of the shade brought her some relief from her current discomfort, and with a bit more of a spring in her step she continued on through the Village.

She supposed that since there were so many tall rocks and building everywhere that she should probably try climbing them. She hadn’t spent a terribly long time climbing while she was travelling here and she missed the sensation of being precariously perched on something high up. Double checking that her long white hair was tied behind her and that her weapons were securely fastened to her person, she sprang up onto the side of a building. Using her momentum she pushed with her toes into a crack along the wall and reached further until she found a handhold. The rough stone scraped against her bare knees, and it occurred to her only half way up that climbing in a short skirt was likely not the best course of action. She giggled a bit at her own lack of foresight and with a mental shrug, she continued her climb. Pushing up with her feet and grasping new and dangerous heights with her hands. It didn’t take her long to scale the building, while she had been in Konoha she had done some training and as a result was a bit stronger than before. Once she had ascended to her new perch, she looked around and realized she was not that far away from the Village wall, and a gleeful smile crossed her face.

Scanning her surroundings she found that three buildings away from her was a rooftop that she thought was just close enough to jump to the wall from. She considered taking her time and carefully making her way over to her chosen jump point, but now that she was up here she was far too excited and took a running leap from the roof she was standing on to the one beside her. Fortunately she didn’t fall. Unfortunately she misjudged the distance between the two building and very nearly went tumbling off the other side of the second roof. Catching herself, barely, she laughed loudly; partly out of the rush of adrenaline that nearly falling off a roof had caused. “Well now silly duck, maybe you had better slow down a bit.” She mused out loud to herself as she carefully made her way to the third building and then lined up for her jump. Taking a run at the jump she sailed through the air with an excited shout and clung to the wall, catching a hold of the stone wall and holding her position for a moment before dropping to the ground. Sayuri would brush the flecks of rock dust off her clothing before standing straight up and brushing some stray wisps of hair out of her eyes. “Now then, what else can I climb?”

As she scanned the horizon looking for a suitable new object that she probably shouldn’t try climbing, she noticed a man standing with bow in hand, looking fairly engrossed in what he was doing. Intrigued she would walk over, clasping her hands behind her back and spoke up in a cheery voice. “Hello there, I’m Sayuri. What are you doing? I mean, I can see what you’re doing, but I guess. . . why are you doing it? And who were you talking to?”

730

Kodokuna sighed and pulled another arrow from his quiver, checking the balance in his hands. He'd created arrows thousands of times and knew exactly what he was doing, so the balance couldn't be off. It had to be his archery, which is why he didn't hit his target dead on, even from so close a range. He was lost in his thoughts, staring at the arrow while thinking when he heard a voice speak up to him: softer than he was used to. With a confused look, he lifted his bow and stared at it. It wasn't much longer until he turned to see a woman approaching with her hands behind her back. She spoke in such a cheery fashion, Kodokuna was almost taken aback. She had asked what he was doing, or rather why he was doing it. Along with asking who he was talking to. For a moment he stared at her , hesitant on what to say to a stranger he'd never laid eyes on before. Other than that it just wasn't in his nature to divulge what he was doing or why to people, even if he knew them. He had to choose his words carefully.

"I er.. I'm practicing my marksmanship. I want to be the greatest archer in the land, and I won't be able to get there without a lot of practice. I wasn't talking to anyone though, simply commenting on things to myself. No one is here, you know? No one to talk to. Nope." The colours of green and blue on his bow seemed to move with annoyance at his words, before a voice spoke into his head again. "Oh, no one is here with you, young one? You're speaking to no one and have no one to talk to you? Well isn't that just interesting. I suppose no one is helping you fire your arrows at targets as well!" Kodokuna glared at his bow and sighed. He pulled the string back once more, after notching the arrow. His fingers let the arrow loose and it was then flying towards a dummy with a target painted where the face would be. Within a few seconds there would be a soft impact upon the cloth and hay, the arrow hitting the wood in the dummy just short of the bulls' eye range.

"You know I didn't mean that Sudoroi. But she's an outside who knows nothing about us and it would not be a good idea to divulge that information. People would think I was crazy!" He hissed these words to his bow silently, turning his attention back to the woman he had almost forgotten about. He wasn't the best at remembering other people when he was focused on his task at hand, the task being hitting the targets. So it was hard for him to sit here and loose arrows as well as keep a conversation. "I er.. was just cursing about missing my target again. That's two in a row, and from this distance no less. Why, there are many archers who could hit that target square in the eye with little effort. And here I am struggling to get within the bulls' eye range.  Er... I am Kodokuna. A Miyamoto and Bushido Adherent." With that, he'd tuck his bow and bow to the woman before him before taking the bow back up and pulling out another arrow.

583|1,034

Sayuri stood waiting expectantly for an answer to her question, but the man simply stared at her for a bit. And in those passing seconds she began to wonder if she’d said something wrong. She was relieved of her worry in short order however as he began explaining that he was an archer. She wasn’t entirely certain what that was, but managed to piece it together when looking at his bow, she assumed it must be the name for someone who uses a bow. She was a tiny bit hurt when he vehemently denied talking to anyone, not that that was the problem mind you, rather that he stated there was no one to talk to. But of course there was someone to talk to, she was standing right in front of him. Her face would scrunch up as she tried to hold in her sadness at his comment, and she spoke as calmly as she could. Which wasn’t very calm at all compared to most people, but for her it was relative serenity.

“Well if you don’t have anyone to talk to. . . um, I’m right here? Maybe you could show me how to be an archer. It looks fun, weird, but fun. Not that you’re weird or anything though! I didn’t mean it like that, I just meant. . . uh, I’ve never seen anyone do it before. I’m sorry, I’m not especially good at talking to people. Anyway, it’s nice to meet you Kodokuna, like I said, I’m Sayuri. From uh. . . around? I was in Kumogakure and then Konohagakure before this, so obviously I’m new here. Are you a shinobi from this Village? I’m being taught at the University, which is why I’m here. But uh, I don’t really know what to do with myself while I’m not learning things. Maybe you could help me out? If uh, you’re not too busy, I don’t want to impose.”

She spoke quickly and tripped over her words somewhat as she replied. She was anxious to assure him that although she had chosen poorly in her words, she didn’t mean to insult him or anything. Silly duck, always saying the wrong thing. Are you ever going to learn how to get along with people? She would bite on her lower lip as she waited for his reply, giving him the chance to speak if he wanted before she continued with her incredibly awkward tirade of unpracticed niceties. She would pull out her tanto, still in its sheath and hold it out for him to see.

“I mainly use this, it was my grandfather's tanto. I know some other swordplay, but I like the bow. Well really I like the feathers on the arrows. They’re pretty, and uh the bow makes a neat sound. You can stop me at any point here. I’ll probably just keep going forever if you don’t.”

She would laugh while nervously tugging on her jacket sleeves under the guise of suddenly needing to adjust her clothing. In reality she was at a loss. Not for words, she always had plenty of those to spare, but at a loss for how to approach this situation without making a complete fool of herself. It’s not like this was the first time she’d had to meet someone. But she’d felt more comfortable in Konoha, she had arrived there with Mitsuo and Tsuyo after all. And while they didn’t start out as friends, it had at least been a platform to help her build relationships with people. Here she didn’t know anyone, and it was a whole lot scarier because of it. Thinking of Mitsuo she would reach down and idly rub at the scar that coiled itself around her left leg, a testament to their first meeting and her enduring foolishness. It didn’t hurt, Tsuyo had done a marvelous job of healing her, but there was the shallowest of indents along the pale scarred line. It made her feel homesick, and her shoulders would slump just a little as her mind wandered to where she had been, and where all of her friends were.

712/1442

"What a disgrace! She would lump a fine young samurai in with the likes of the shinobi? What other insults can she spew at us? Why, if I had my body right now I would-"

"No." He was talking to his bow, but he looked at the girl and coughed softly before continuing to speak. "No, I'm not a shinobi. Not of these lands, nor any other. I'm more of a wanderer, playing my hand with the fates as they take me on my journey across the world. People, like you, like others, the shinobi.. they would call my kind Samurai. Though they would likely find the ways we train and fight to be quaint to them. In any case, to be a good archer, one must dedicate themselves to their weapon and hone their skills by testing them as much as possible with as many targets as they can find. As you can see, I've let my skills go a bit." The archer quietly notched another arrow and pulled back the string, breathing in deeply and aiming at the 'face' of one of the dummies around his targets. He let his breathe out in a slow exhale, then released the arrow notched to watch it fly. It took little more than a blink before there was a soft thunk and the head of the arrow burrowed into the center of a badly painted target, sticking into it and vibrating a bit from the impact before it stood still.

"Perhaps you need to be more social, if that's what one person can do to your skills, I'd love to see if we got you with a group! It may be wise for us to return to the compound and have you train with the younglings again."

"I left so I wouldn't have to do that! I don't need to go back, and I don't need others to get better, my skills will be enhanced by hard work. And.." He looked back at the girl, realizing that he was chastising his bow after he spoke. He watched her pull her tanto, instinctively pulling another arrow from his quiver and notching it, tensing his muscles to move if he needed to, but noticed when she spoke, it wasn't necessary. She knew a bit of swordplay, and mainly used the weapon she drew, which she claimed was her grandfather's tanto. She liked the bow, but mainly the arrows and the feathers upon them. Kodokuna looked at his arrows and quietly played with the feather on the end of the one he'd notched. "I create my own arrows. I fletch them myself and use feathers from surrounding avians. That's er.. the birds. I use their feathers. One bird usually has enough down to give me a quiver full of arrows. Depending on the size of it, and the breed I suppose. There are many great birds around here, large ones with wingspans greater than I'd believe could be present outside of Kumogakure. That's er.. that's where I'm from too actually."

The male quietly played with his bow string and aimed once more, pulling the arrow back upon the string. He breathed in deeply, and upon the exhale he let the arrow fly, hearing the thunk and the vibrating sound gave him pleasure when he saw that it was deeply embedded in the middle of another target, this one a log. He looked down at Sudoroi Me before he let his mind come to a conclusion. "This is my bow, Sudoroi Me, he's all I have. If you're keen to learn and promise not to run off with him, er.. it, I'll teach you what I can. There's a lot I can't show you.. only because my people would be cross if I gave away secrets. But I'm sure the basics will be fine." He smiled, ignoring the sounds of protest from Sudoroi Me, about a pair of hands other than his wielder touching him so much as a tiny bit. He was no stranger to others using bows, but it would seem when he was the weapon in question, he wasn't too happy to change hands as though he were a common tool. A reassuring pat on the top of the bow and the dissent was quieted, Kodokuna was doing his best to place trust in his one friend and this newcomer.

751|1,785

Sayuri listened with interest as Kodokuna explained his heritage. It was exciting to meet someone else that was also not a shinobi, almost everyone she had encountered so far since the mountain in Kumogakure had been formally trained as one. She would smile happily as she spoke in a voice far louder and far more boisterous than necessary. “I’m not a shinobi either! I only learned a bit from my grandfather mainly when I was young, and have only recently received any actual training. I don’t know exactly what a Samurai is, but it sounds important. I wish I had a name like that for what I was, I think people might take me more seriously. And as far as your skills go, they’re very impressive to me.”

She was entirely sincere in her compliment, the way the arrow flew from the bow with such apparent ease was inspiring. As the mans focus shifted from her to the bow, his tone of voice also changed. It was alarming having the man in front of her speak to his bow, and more than that seem annoyed with it. If she was honest it was more that he was annoyed than anything else about the scenario that bothered her. A wave of relief spread over her as he began explaining that he made his own arrows. And his speaking about the birds in the area piqued her interest, a smile returning to her face. “There are large birds here? That’s exciting, just to look at this place it didn’t seem like much in the way of wildlife was here. There’s hardly any trees or anything else that I would think birds would want. When you say you use one bird for a whole. . . what did you say, quiver of arrows. Do you mean you kill the bird?” She feared she already knew the answer to her last question. Its not as though a bird would willing give up all of its feathers. You can’t judge other people for wanting or needing to kill things. It was your choice to put that restriction on yourself silly duck. It’s fine if other people do what they want.

When Kodokuna offered his bow to her to try Sayuri was ecstatic. Securing her tanto back on her hip she would hold out her hands to take the bow from him. It was beautifully made, not that she knew much about bows at all, but it was beautiful all the same. Remembering her manners she would look straight into Kodokuna’s eyes, her one green and one blue eye holding his gaze. Her voice was sincere and solemn as she spoke. “I promise not to run away with him. I would be delighted and very grateful if you could teach me the basics. A weapon like this might suit me quite well, I wouldn’t have to get so close to anyone. Which would most definitely be less dangerous for me.”

502/1944

Kodokuna smiled at the girl and took a deep bow when she complimented his skills with the bow. "I appreciate you saying as much, I've never had anyone compliment my skills that wasn't part of my family. As for whether I meant I kill the birds, the answer is yes. One must dedicate themselves wholly to their task. Were it not myself doing it, it would be others who sell arrows. Such is the way of nature. It is the circle of life so to speak. For my people, testing one's steel in any manner is tradition and we extend a courtesy upon each kill or defeat we mete out, being that we offer it the respect warranted by being a worthy foe. Or simply worthy of the task we set ourselves. Nothing goes to waste, mind you. I do not simply a slay a bird for its down, I will also feed upon it and bury or use the bones." The young Miyamoto watched the girl quietly, observing her stance with his hue as she secured her tanto and took his bow from his hands. He wanted to make sure she had the proper form for such a weapon, as it was likely a far cry from the weapon she was used to.

Kodokuna tilted his head, listening to Sudoroi Me as he spoke in the girl's grasp. "Well, she seems rather appreciative, young one. If she's able to grasp the basics at least, perhaps this won't be so fruitless. It may even make thing a bit easier for you, to teach another and see how they use the bow with your tutelage so that you may better perfect your shots. Watch her closely now." Kodokuna nodded and moved a bit closer to Sayuri, making to move her dominant arm up so that she held the bow correctly, pulling an arrow from his quiver to hand to her other hand. He would instruct her on how to notch the arrow, showing her how to place her thumb to allow the arrow to rest and stay straight. "Once you have it like this, pull the arrow back, keeping your bow arm straight as a board. You will want to keep your other shoulder stout and have your elbow at a ninety degree angle. I breathe in deeply once through my nose, then exhale through the mouth slowly before each shot to help my aim. It's rather simple. You just want to aim so the point of the arrow lines up with the target. Adjusting for wind speed and distance from the target. Since there's no real wind today and we're not too far from the target, just aim a couple inches up from the center and let it fly." After his explanation, the miyamoto archer stepped back and watched her, to ensure she had it down.

485|2,270

Sayuri was saddened to learn that the birds Kodokuna spoke of were also killed for their feathers. It made her a bit happier to learn that he also ate them, so at least it wasn’t wasteful. She tried very hard not to let the sadness show on her face, but she could feel the slow rise of melancholy as he continued speaking. All the animals she had met here were wonderful, and being that animals were counted among her best friends it was with some effort that she did not break down into tears over the matter.

As she was handed the bow she would brighten a bit and attempted to hold it in the manner she had just seen Kodokuna hold it. Clearly she was not quite correct as the man moved in closer to her and she would flinch away from his touch on her arm. She did not believe the man would hurt her, but old habits die hard and there were very few that she felt comfortable being in physical contact with. And this man, although he seemed nice enough, was not among the very small group of those she had met that she trusted that much. Sayuri took the time to push the sleeves of her coat and blouse up to her elbows, partly because it was hot out, but also because the lace along the sleeves of her blouse was in the way. Satisfied that she wouldn’t get tangled in her own clothing she would place the arrow against the bow as she pushed the end where the feathers were onto the string. She wasn’t sure she had done it correctly until she heard a faint ‘click’ sound as it settled into place. She listened as Kodokuna directed her in how to hold the bow properly and tried her best to hold her arms in the right position, though she was not entirely sure what he meant by a ninety degree angle. She would hold her left arm out in front of her and pulled back on the string with the arrow still on it. Taking a deep breath through her nose she would release it slowly as she aimed the tip of the arrow just above the center of the target, and then she let go.

Immediately Sayuri knew she had done something wrong as a loud ‘thwack’ sounded as the string snapped against the bare flesh along her left forearm. She didn’t even look at where the arrow had gone at first, as she just looked down at her arm to see what was wrong. There were no cuts, but there was a large welt forming across her pale skin and along with it a purplish bruise had begun to form. It was terribly painful and felt about how she figured getting stung by a whole hive of wasps must feel like. “Well that, uh, hurt.” Was all she managed to say through gritted teeth as she struggled not to cry. She had not been expecting to hurt herself on her first try, which she really should have, considering her track record with learning new skills. She was not exactly known for being cautious or careful, and she nearly always hurt herself somehow.

After breathing a few times she felt the sharp pain subside to a dull throbbing and finally looked up at Kodokuna. She was fairly embarrassed about her failure, as she saw that although her arrow had hit the target, it was in the far right hand corner. She must have aimed further up when the string hit her arm. “That did not go so well. But I’ll try again! I think it’ll be better the next time. At least I know to keep my arm out of the way now.” She had never let pain get the better of her before, and she wasn’t about to start that bad habit now. So she stayed with Kodokuna as long as he let her and practiced with the bow. It was exciting to learn a new skill and she made sure to express her gratitude as often as possible. She enjoyed her day spent with the young man and when she finally left to go to the University she bowed and smiled at Kodokuna. “Thank you so much for taking the time to teach me, I had fun. I’ll be in Iwagakure for some time if you ever want to train again, or just hang out I heard tell of many rocks here that need climbing. You’ll probably be able to find me at the University, or at least someone there might know where I am. Thank you again, so very much!”

Heading back to the Diamond Heights University she was wondering about what sort of adventures might lie in wait for her there. All she knew for sure was that she needed to find Harichimo, beyond that she didn’t have a clue as to what to expect from being in a school. Whatever was there, she hoped there would be food involved, she had spent the day in the sun and was now quite hungry. Laughing aloud as she walked she spoke to herself while giggling. “Of course you would be worried about eating, silly duck. At least nothing so far has changed you that much.” It would likely be the day anyone would know there was something wrong with her - when she turned down food. As an afterthought she considered her rudeness in not inviting Kodokuna to a meal, he was likely just as hungry as she was. She made a mental note to look for him at some point and repay his kindness with a warm meal.

{Exit Thread}

959/2903

Training Subspec: Kyuujutsu 1500/1500

Training Stats:
SPD: B-0 > B-1 - 700wc + 175 ryo
END: B-0 > B-1 - 700wc + 175 ryo