It was a light, breezy afternoon at the Shinobi Academy today, the sun glimmering softly along the horizon with a multitude of different clouds streaking the sky in white to contrast its blues. With the atmosphere being cool and dry, it would make a good day for training, since sweating generally made everything worse and it is better to keep that water conserved for actual body heat in in the first place. That's what Xiang thought to herself internally, as she made her way to the Shinobi Academy within her village, silvery white hair groomed perfectly and bundled in a ponytail, coat-like dress cleaned and unstained, leather boots shiny from the sun, and her rapier bumping happily on her hip. Today she was going to be teaching some of the students within the Academy about martial arts and Taijutsu, which just so happened to be what she and her clan specializes in. While she planned on going easy on them, as they didn't have the same training she did, something deep inside made her want to really go at those kids and teach them the lesson of a lifetime. As she pulled up at the school, she leaned against a tree and started to wrap her hands up in gauze, securing it with a safety pin afterwards. Then, she pulled off the forehead protector on her hip, and tied it up on her head tightly, sighing as she felt the cool metal press against her forehead. Giving herself a confirming nod, she entered the doors and proceeded to class.

It was nostalgic, walking in the Academy halls again, making her reminisce on her years being taught here. No one could ever really beat her in Taijutsu lessons, which she always, hands down, succeeded where no one else would. But she had her own problems, as she wasn't a prodigy with every thing imaginable. The hardest part of her experience there was Ninjutsu, as she was reportedly horrid at it. There wasn't really much of an explanation for it either, cause she had great chakra control and did the seals like she was supposed to, but couldn't quite get it every time. She had to take after school tutoring to get caught up with Clones in particular, and would often spend secret all nighters to try and fix her screw ups. That being said, there were good times to always be had here, so it wasn't anything major in her eyes. Besides, she at least excelled in Taijutsu, which would have been upsetting if she wasn't. Where was she? Oh yeah, the last door down the hall. This would bring her outside to where the students would be eagerly waiting for her. She secretly hoped they'd be nice and eager to learn, but she highly doubted this would be the case. It's not her place to really think this though; this was her mission, and she'd complete it, and teach these kids no matter how hard they made it for her. They'd probably submit when they realized how good she was at it, after all, and maybe a few spars would also convince them. Taking a deep breath with her eyes closed, then exhaling, she opened her view and proceeded outside.

[Current WC: 552]

Her “students”, and potential sources of stress related health concerns, were two very young cadets; a brother and sister, called Irei and Mitsu. Although they did have talent and diligence, especially when working together, their attitude towards schooling was very much a child’s view; An unwanted waste of time that gets in the way of them playing and having fun. Many teachers had tried to get through to the pair, Irei in particular being very stubborn. They are in the main training grounds playing, seemingly running around with a game of tag, completely unaware of Xiang’s presence...or if they were aware, then they didn’t care or acknowledge her presence, their game being far more important to them.
The sight of seeing these children play brought a small smile to her face, although a bit of apprehension was seeping in as she started to remember the pair of kids she was getting. The teachers had specifically assigned them to her on two accounts; that she was a Hyuga, and that in her own graduation her leaving highest scores were all in Taijutsu. So it made her a prime contender to deal with these rowdy troublemakers. That being said, she hoped to make true fighters out of them when she was done. So, after getting close enough, she whistled a bit loudly and waved towards them. “Irei, Mitsu? Come over here, it’s time for training!” Then she waited expectantly for them.

They both look at her when she whistles at them, and both look at each other before Irei speaks up. “Hmm...nah, come back when we are done playing.” He simply turns around and resumes the game, Mitsu simply giggling in response. They clearly don’t care for her presence.

While this somewhat annoyed Xiang, she sighed softly to herself and replaced her smaller smile with a larger one, her left eye twitching slightly. From there she rushed down to the both of them, jumped downwards in the middle of the play, and pushed them both aside with a swift sway motion with open palms, huffing to herself, before standing up straight with her arms crossed. “Well, I’m sorry, but we have a different game to play today. It’s called ‘Hit the Nice Lady’. You’re going to let me teach you through sparring, both of you at once. If you win, I’ll leave you alone. If I win, then you be more respectful from now on, okay?”

Mitsu almost immediately runs behind her brother, scared of being told off. Irei is surprised and a little irritated looking, he didn’t take too well to being told what to do, and even less to ultimatums. “Well I would agree with your game, you’d have to send a nice lady for us to hit first.” he smirks cockily, “Go on, chop chop, we can’t learn the lesson without the target right?”

She ended up making a bit of an angry pouty face, though it didn’t show off much just yet, as she eyed them both down, one of her hands now sliding down onto her hips and left foot tapping slightly. “Okay. Let me rename it then. ‘Hit the Mean Lady’. That fits me better, right? I don’t care, you’re hitting me either way. Don’t you think it would be fun to beat up someone stronger than you?” she intentionally hit at the ‘stronger’ part, wanting to get a rise out of him just as he was for her.

“Heh, yeah that name fits you like a glove. I mean, if you’re stronger, aren’t you just going around picking on kids? Some teacher you’re meant to be.” Mitsu fidgets a little behind him, “......Brother, don’t be mean”. Irei sighs, “Okay sis, why don’t we just do it this way.” He points at the woman trying in vain to get a rise from him, “How about this, you old bat; try and catch us. Both of us!” He doesn’t even wait for a response before him and his sister dash off suddenly. They may not be one for lessons, but they do have a decent speed, and that sort of plucky eagerness is plenty sure to get them in over their heads.

With an irritated sigh to herself, as well as the veins at the side of her head showing up slightly from her anger rising, she decided to go after the sister first, who seemed to be the more timid and nicer of the two, which would technically be a weakness if she could exploit it right. She ground her foot into the floor, before starting a steady, unshakable sprint, zoning in on Mitsu, one hand to her side and the other extended in front of her, keeping a sense of balance and making it easy for her to catch up and grab the child when she got the chance.

For a timid little girl, Mitsu actually seems the more nimble of the two, using her smaller stature to dash through small areas and bounding over jars and other storage items. Xiang would be too tall to cross with as much ease. She also seems surprisingly adept at utilizing her chakra to run along walls to aid her movement. It’s wonky and lacks finesse, but it’s clear she knows how to run away. She does seem to be enjoying herself, giggling as she prolongs the chase.

It was true that there were smaller areas, so that would make it harder to pursuit if she chose the same path. That’s why she took a similar, though different path, jumping over everything the small child went through and keeping track much easier once Xiang decided to activate her Byakugan, the small clusters of nerves forming along the side of her face showing they were active. While she couldn’t see the full form of the child, the vision it gave her allowed her to see the girl’s tenketsu and chakra system, alongside the added bonus of that spherical cone of two hundred and seventy-five degrees given to her from it, allowing her to be able to react a lot quicker if something unexpected happens in her field of vision. That being said, this wasn’t going to be an easy catch.

Mitsu keeps leading her down a set of corridors, showing that she is using differing routes. She cuts off her other options by going down a dead end path. As Xiang approaches her, something appears in her Byakugan enhanced vision. Three small sacks seem to go flying in front of her seemingly launched from behind her.

With the preemptive vision given to her by her Byakugan, plus her own reaction time, as soon as she saw the sacks starting to fly by her, she ducked, letting them go, before standing up as fast as she could and attempting to hit the middle sack towards Mitsu with an open palm strike, hoping it would catch her off guard, and deciding not to pay attention to where they came from in the first place.

She had the chance to stop what was coming, but in her tunnel vision she didn't, the sacks bursting on impact, releasing a flour like substance to act as a smokescreen, and more importantly, getting it in her eyes even if it is just for a few seconds, blinding her, allowing Mitsu the chance to slip under Xiang’s, legs running behind Irei, who has a few other bags in his hands. “I’d be careful, little miss meanie!”

Whatever happened had tricked her, the sacks having been too fragile for her to strike away and instead opening on impact, causing her to squeak a bit in pain as the kid ran under her. That being said, with renewed vigor, she shook the flour out of her eyes and dusted it off her clothes as she dashed after the child, now starting to jump onto the walls and bouncing off of them, gathering speed with each consecutive motion, hoping this would let her catch the little girl soon.

“NOW!!” Irei shouts, reaching his hand out to Mitsu. As their hands lock, he throws her skywards, just out of Xiang’s grip. He sees she is focused on her, and is using that to his advantage, slipping under her, opening another sack, coating the floor with a slick oil like substance, getting it on her shoes, severely reducing their friction.

From that point, Xiang realized just how tricky these kids were, seeing the floor get coated with oil and her stepping into it. That being said, as soon as she started to slip, she did a sudden turn, jumping out of those sandals of hers that were covered in oil, lunging at Irei with high enough speed it was doubtful he could dodge her assault.

She was right, he couldn’t dodge her assault and was subsequently caught. He was not happy about it, and wasn’t going down without a fight, flailing and trying to break free; naturally, he isn’t strong enough to do anything substantial. Seeing her big brother captured like that honestly scared Mitsu; she started shaking and sniffling, until inevitably the waterworks starts. She keeps bawling her eyes out, scared that she’d tell their parents and that her and Irei would get into trouble and be told off.

After getting that over with, she got off of the brother and casually rolled her brother over to her with her foot, sighing to herself. She didn’t exactly want to make the child cry, but the brother at least deserved to be caught. From there it was a matter of compromise, so she preyed on the very thing she too was scared of as a child; parental involvement. “...Look, I caught you. So you’re at my mercy. That’s how the Shinobi world works in real life, too. But your captor doesn’t have to be without mercy either. So lets make a deal. If you let me train you, I won’t tell your parents about what happened here. On top of that, maybe I’ll teach you a technique you could both use to graduate with flying colors on terms of Taijutsu, though that will be a little harder. How about it?” she crossed her arms after, standing straight and looking at them sternly, the scar on her left eye tilting up a tad.

Irei gets up and huffs. “Fine fine you win, doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.” He goes over to Mitsu, comforting her. “Hey hey, its ok Sis, you didn't do anything wrong. You just followed me, remember? You don’t need to cry.” it takes a minute, but he does manage to calm her down.

“Thank you. Anyway, you will be happy when you graduate and get the freedom you want so much. Now, follow me, alright?” With that, she walked off, beckoning the two to follow, while also dipping down to grab her leftover sandals and wipe them off on some cloth. A satisfied smirk was plastered onto her face as she would realize the hardest part of her mission is over. All she had to do now was teach these fledglings, and hopefully it would help them pass and become better people in the process. Though, she supposed it was more Irei than Mitsu. He was the troublemaker there. The end of the day came quickly after that, Xiang leaving fulfilled and getting praise from the Academy for it. It wasn’t money, but recognition is always a plus. Happy days ahead!

[Exit]

[Final WC: 1953 + 552 = 2505]

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