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1An Extra Pair of Eyes (Izumi) Empty An Extra Pair of Eyes (Izumi) Thu Dec 27, 2018 4:47 pm

Akaneya

Akaneya


C-rank
mission:

The day had started much like any other - the streets were filled with crowds and incessant noise, a great host of people gathered and celebrating the ongoing Chunin Exams. It was a contest of will and wit, genin giving their all to take that time-honored step forward to the next rank. It was, to some degree, respectable - even if the arrogant children who went through might only see their ego inflate - because it would teach them all many valuable lessons about the way the world works.

Akaneya closed her eyes, remembering a time years ago. In the dark, subterranean lair that she had once called home, she stood in an open space. Not too open, for iron bars lined every door, and prisoners watched from the sidelines. Some cheered the battles before them, others cowered at the sight, but it was only a matter of time for them. She looked to her opponent, another prisoner; fresh from his cell, the man was easily twice her size. Taking up a defensive stance, she held her kunai tightly as the two began to circle one another.

Each fighter made a few flourishes of their blade, trying to intimidate the other. After what felt like an eternity, the brute charged - and she sidestepped readily. Leaving a scratch upon his back and jumping away to safety, she narrowly escaped a furious sweep of his fist. He was not amused. Beginning to circle again, Akaneya felt her arm grabbed by one of the onlookers. Trying to yank it out, she looked to see in the prisoner's eyes a sense of sheer terror - the likes one has when they know their end is near. He must've been new around here.

Slam - the brute violently pinned her to the wall while she was looking away. Aching all over her back, she looked to meet his gaze. The brute pulled his arm back, preparing to plunge his knife into her body, and so with no hesitation did she tear into the pinning arm with her bare teeth. Ripping from him a chunk of his very self, he fell backwards in shock. Akanaye jumped away once more as the brute regained his footing.

Ducking into a shadowy corner, holding her mass of red hair tightly behind her, and ducking to minimize the silhouette, the brute turned around and saw nothing. He might've seen if given a couple more seconds, but she used an inbuilt ability - she distorted a drip of water splashing on the ground to sound as if a metal clank. Briefly turning to look at the noise, this was all she needed; pulling herself up to stand and throwing the kunai with all her might, the blade landed straight into his neck. Out came a waterfall of rainbow hot springs, pouring onto a table of finely-spiced ramen steaming in its colorful bowl. A fluffy puppy came out to lick some sake off the floor, slurping with his goofy long tongue. Akaneya's father patted her on the shoulder, and reassured her of how proud he was of her progress, and that all would be well soon.

She averted her eyes from the starved rats scrounging the dungeon floor for meat, and looked up to the tall figure beside her. His cold, pale skin and his soothing voice all too recognizable. She looked back to the mess she had made for but a brief moment before being ushered back to her cell.

Akaneya opened her eyes. These little pests would never understand what the outside world was like without the blood, effort, and desperation of the Exams. This, she knew well. Perhaps that is why she had been instructed not to enlist in the exams, and perhaps it is why she had been told to proctor the young fighters despite being of their own rank. She would not be alone, of course; a higher-ranking shinobi would accompany her, watch her, and probably clean up whatever serious problems occurred. All that had to be done on her part was to show up for the damned thing.

Walking down the streets of Konoha, taking the path of least resistance at all possible occasions to avoid the crowds, the designated meeting spot came into vision. This was, supposedly, where she would meet her own Chunin or Jonin chaperone. Looking around, seeing none, she simply stood in the relatively empty space, waiting in absolute silence - as best as she could filter out the noises in the distance, at least. Akanaye began to wonder if her soon-to-be chaperone had been there the day that she arrived. It was, after all, only two or three years ago, though surely the majority of shinobi would've only heard second-or-third-hand.

Looking around once more, ever-vigilant, she waited.

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Last edited by Akaneya on Thu Dec 27, 2018 10:47 pm; edited 1 time in total

2An Extra Pair of Eyes (Izumi) Empty Re: An Extra Pair of Eyes (Izumi) Thu Dec 27, 2018 8:15 pm

Izumi

Izumi


A-rank
Izumi had to carry on the façade of a Mist Kunoichi while she was in the Leaf Village, with this came the tiring duties of a high ranked ninja like proctoring exam battles. The first battle was of no note, two genin fought hard and honorably with the victory being declared for the representative from the Leaf Village. Their taijutsu had proved to be too much for their nearly matched but weaker opponent. Izumi had to put in little effor tto break up the combatants, a lazy “yamete” was all she needed to get the combatants to bow and accept the ruling handed down. Most of the time Izumi was hardly watching, instead reminiscing on her own exams. The young Karisuma from the Sand Village had torn through her enemies before facing her now lover, Nova Makato. The thought brought a smile to her face, she had fond memories of her time in the Cloud Village. Perhaps she and Nova should visit before things got to turbulent. The pair did need a vacation after having worked tirelessly for the better part of two years at the work of restoring their destroyed home. The place that would replace the corrupt hive of evil would be much stronger, no mere rogue would annihilate it single handedly as had been the case in the original Sand Village. The second battle again showed very little excitement, a genin from the Mist faced off against a counterpart from the Stone. At least the Stone is present this time. thought the blonde woman as she lazily watched the pair come at each other again and again. Surely, this would be an interesting battle for the crowd but for someone deeply involved in the conflicts in the Wind Country, watching two genin fight seemed more like play than serious battle. There was no risk involved for the kids participating, yet they took it so seriously, Izumi found herself laughing at the thought just before she intervened in a blow from the Stone shinobi that would have crippled the Mist genin. The Stone genin having been declared the victor, Izumi awaited her next pair.

The third match pitted a ninja from the Leaf village against one from the Cloud. The look in the Cloud ninja's eyes made Izumi pay extra attention. She could easily recognize the look of a battle hardened shinobi and this young man featured it. It was a look that came only from being in situations of life or death. It was sadly not uncommon for genin to be in this situations regularly. Izumi looked closer and with a startled realization saw them staring at her. It finally dawned on Izumi that this had been one of the countless Cloud genin that she'd spared from death in the deserts of her home. Izumi had killed many Cloud ninja, whose leader's greed led them to be the most insidious foe of her homeland's revival, had been the heaviest casualties at the hand of the beautiful Karisuma woman. She had a second name which she used in dealings that weren't exactly moral. Her many assassinations and massacres had come under the name of Zhi, Izumi could see the hatred, fear, and anger in this young man's eyes. No doubt Zhi had killed some friend, relative, or mentor of his but had spared him. returned his hateful glare with a cold disinterest but stayed sure to keep an eye on him during the fight. Izumi's ease through her own exams was thanks to a similar attitude, surely the Cloud ninja would be the winner it was already clear before the battle even began. But Izumi would have to be sure they  had no chance to seriously harm their unfortunate and naive Leaf shinobi opponent. The ferocity with which the child opened his assault was seriously similar to Izumi's own tactics in her own time. The young man made an abundance of clones and was launching earthen attacks from many angles leaving the Leaf ninja to back into a corner. Izumi surged adrenaline into her body in preparation to stop the bout when the Leaf ninja had enough. He was still seemed to being doing his best to defend himself but his use of the surroundings needed serious work as he was being quickly backed into a corner.

The Leaf genin was finally trapped, stuck in a corner with clones and master advancing. The young Leaf ninja muttered out a surrender and Izumi was between them in an instant knowing that this wouldn't stop the young man in front of her. Izumi expected him to keep fighting but was caught off guard when the attacks that continued seemed aimed directly at her rather than the genin who was his opponent. Eyes filled with hate, he screamed out a single word, “Zhi”, as all three clones attacked her in unison Izumi made a half snake seal and then quickly drew the kanji for “peace” beneath her feet. The jutsu in the air became immaterial and the boy was unable to produce further attacks no matter how hard he tried. If looks could kill though, Izumi would have been petrified and killed on the spot. Once the full realization of his futility before her set in the young Cloud ninja began to cry tears of evident frustration, one day he would make a valiant opponent for the Karisuma but today he was nothing more than a boy.

Izumi was constantly reminded of the horrors and atrocities committed by her own person but never expected it to happen hear at the Chunin Exams in the Leaf Village. Although outwardly, the young woman showed nothing the entire encounter had impacted her, Am I nothing more than what I seek to destroy? the complex moral questions surrounding vengeance and war swarmed in her head as she left. The Karisuma was afforded a break in judging, and was supposed to shadow a more experienced genin for the next one. They were waiting outside of the arena for her to meet them and accompany them back into the battlefield to watch the next three matches and ensure fairplay. Izumi saw a redheaded woman who was much shorter than herself wearing a Konoha headband anxiously looking around. Surely this was who Izumi was looking for and the Karisuma woman approached her, “Akaneya? I’m the Mist Jounin that supposed to accompany you for the exam proctoring. My name is Zhi, it shouldn't be too difficult they're only kids after all. Whenever you're ready, we just have to go to the on deck area and let them know we're ready.” Izumi's expression and voice were gentle as she introduced herself under the controversial false name.

1,132 words.

3An Extra Pair of Eyes (Izumi) Empty Re: An Extra Pair of Eyes (Izumi) Thu Dec 27, 2018 10:46 pm

Akaneya

Akaneya


C-rank
Darting her eyes upward to meet the gaze of the jounin above her, Akaneya's eyes were filled with a hint of suspicion, a touch of intensity, but primarily a vast, all-consuming emptiness. Despite meeting Izumi's gaze directly, it might appear as if she were just watching clouds pass by. Considering the other's phrase for but a moment, she looked to the arena. "So be it," she replied, in a somewhat flat and monotone voice, smooth as silk and yet with the faintest hint of exhaustion in it. She wasn't tired, not remotely, it was simply how she spoke.

Walking calmly and casually, and quite silently, to the arena, many thoughts raced through Akaneya's mind. She certainly didn't feel particularly strongly towards her new mission partner one way or another, although she was somewhat impressed by her rank if nothing else. Something like that took dedication, and that was at least respectable to that degree. As the crunch of gravel beneath their feet turned to a more steady and rhythmic stepping on stone, she looked around briefly to realize that the little walk was over. With only a hallway or two separating them from the mission, Akaneya paused briefly before heading in the most direct possible path to the deck.

Reaching it, and insisting they were ready, Akaneya observed as a detached witness the combat of the hopeful genin below. The first battle commenced.

The two combatants faced one another, both ready for battle. One cracked a whip of lightning forth from his hands, the other deftly dodging. Countering with watery pellets, the Lightning Genin audibly laughed, taking a couple to the inside of his mouth and choking. The Mist Genin seemed particularly displeased with the match up, but he was not visible for long before he spewed a cloud from his mouth. From within, several flashes from the lightning whip could be seen - but the jutsu was too low-powered, it had neither the speed nor the power to seriously threaten the nimble Mist Genin. That is, until the mist disappeared: forming a bubble, the whip struck it and shocked through the whole thing. Trailing back to the Mist Genin, the poor boy was shocked twice as hard for his attempt at a shield. It was here that Akaneya pulled her flute from her bag, preparing for the end. Being whipped two or three more times, the Mist Genin called surrender - something the Lightning Genin either failed to hear or to notice. With Akaneya rushing into the ring, the loud cry of surrender reached the Lightning Genin mid-swing, and he hesitated just a little too long. Playing her song, the Melodic Binding, the Lightning Genin felt his arm shake and go numb. He looked over to see nothing occupying its space, and couldn't even feel himself being yanked away.

The match was over. In only a couple seconds, the Lightning Genin realized what had just happened, and he hanged his head in shame. He failed to effective demonstrate self-control and awareness of his situation, even though he won the battle. Akaneya looked to him with a flaming intensity, and sighed. Letting go, he made his own way out of the arena as the Mist Genin was helped up by his friend and escorted out all the same.

Climbing back up to the deck, Akaneya gently placed her flute back in her bag. She didn't expect to need to use it again, and certainly didn't want to have to. Hadn't her chaperone done the fiesty ones, anyway? All she had to do was clean up accidents, no real fighting. Perhaps for the better.

The second battle was nothing extraordinary. Two genin launching fire at one another, neither able to hit their mark, and both getting exhausted in only a few minutes of battle. They closed the distance with kunai, but in their tiredness were lacking in aim. They eventually both collapsed, while Akaneya had watched the entire duration of the fight wordlessly. The fight was, technically speaking, over, and both genin were dragged off the battlefield. It really was just a sad battle.

The third battle was slightly more interesting, but didn't require intervention. Probably because the most troublesome contestants had been weeded out and handed to people more apt for the job. It consisted of wind and earth pitted against one another. Neither was stronger or weaker than the other, neither held advantage, but the two fighting styles were wildly different. The battle began with a fierce demonstration of abilities.

Wind and Earth, two elements scarce combined. Akaneya showed some marginal proficiency in Earth, she found perhaps the slightest amusement in the matching. Powerful gusts, powerful for a genin at least, blew sharpened pebbles around. In a sense, the Wind Nin was turning the Earth's against her. This was all well and good until the Earth tried to make the ground itself bend to her will, destabilizing the footing of the Wind Nin. He caught himself and leaped into the air with a whoosh, throwing a shuriken back down. The Earth Nin caught it in a shield of dirt and stone, and tried to return her own. He tried to dodge it, but gravity was not on his side. As he ducked under, the spinning star had the same idea. Nailed in the shoulder, he went down, and surrender came shortly after.

The Earth genin seemed elated, lowering her defenses and celebrating. The Wind was simply taken away to get the shuriken extracted and his shoulder healed. The mission was, by all means, over. "So, that's it, then," was all that Akaneya managed, or thought to say. A simple observation, in the same silky monotone.

"What now?"




Chakra 235/250:

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Last edited by Akaneya on Fri Dec 28, 2018 1:49 am; edited 1 time in total

4An Extra Pair of Eyes (Izumi) Empty Re: An Extra Pair of Eyes (Izumi) Fri Dec 28, 2018 1:39 am

Izumi

Izumi


A-rank
The genin she was tasked with accompanying seemed apathetic, verging on loathsome towards Izumi who roled her eyes after the young woman passed by giving an ambivalent response. Izumi had seen her kind before she always seemed to get the rebellious ones to watch over. The eye roll was more of a “here we go again” than anything else, even if they all eventually warmed up to her it was generally a drag getting there. Why can't I ever just have a nice friendly kid under my watch. Izumi took a deep breath to compose herself before following the genin into the arena. Izumi had to remind herself that she was quite the handful herself when she was training with Syekren. This must be karma. Izumi smiled to herself as she followed the red head into the staging area. “I can't believe how boring this is. Why do they even have us here anyways? They'd learn more if they had to fear death.” The jounin said to the genin, trying to empathize with the frankly shitty situation placed before them, before they entered to judge the next three matches. Izumi didn't want to be there any more than the red head seemed to.

The matches went by rather simply, as was to be expected the cloud genin were especially aggressive, products of Hastur's fervor for sure. Izumi was about to jump in to stop the over-zealous lightning nation child from maiming his Mist Village opponent but she was surprised when the genin began playing a chakra infused song that turned the boy's arm to jelly. Izumi checked on the loser, “Are you okay?” the boy had looked terrified as she approached and was when he replied that she understood why, “N-no Izumi-sama” The boy recognized her somehow, Izumi's wrist twitched slightly, the blade hidden in her sleeve slivered out ever so slightly before she got a hold of herself. The woman's paranoid obsession with destroying witnesses had led her to commit deeds that some would find deplorable, but this was not a place she could silence someone so easily. Izumi smiled at the young man, “You have me confused, my name is Zhi. It's pretty rude to accuse the woman healing you of being a fugitive isn't it?” The naive mist genin was easily swayed with a little turning of the tables, Izumi's accusation led to a slew of apologies and the red tint of embarrassment.

As with the previous fights, Izumi found them to be nothing more than actual child's play. The jutsu they were so ferociously throwing at each other were nothing but sparring tools to Izumi. It was all a matter of perspective, she supposed that for someone at their point in training those jutsu could do enough damage to take you out of the fight even if it didn't kill you. Again Izumi found herself smiling in remembrance of what she was like back then. Izumi more or less spaced out for the next match, instead day dreaming about her own experiences in this tournament when it took place in the Cloud Village. Hastur had seemed so dashing and awesome at the opening ceremony. If only anyone knew what he had in store fort he world, the evils he would unleash on her own home. War was coming, no one wanted to acknowledge it, but the world was sitting on a powder keg ready to explode once a few sparks got applied in the right places. Izumi was here as one of those sparks in fact but today, she was just a normal Mist Jounin watching some genin fight like a pair of kittens playing.

One of Nova's students was up next. This one wasn't her most skilled pupil but he still was good enough to make it here. Izumi didn't even know his name, her lover had taken many of their nation's youth under wing. It was hard to track who exactly she was training when but Izumi had seen his face a few times. It also seemed he'd seen her enough to know you don't ask questions about why she's there. Nova was the face of their new village but Izumi was the vicious far reaching shadow. Where she went, death followed. Izumi silenced the problems the village had by any means necessary. Much to Izumi's displeasure the Stone genin came out triumphant against Nova's student. Izumi didn't want a repeat of the Mist boy so she didn't bother approaching her countryman. Akaneya approached Izumi after the match, “What now?” Izumi jumped a little, startled back into her present life by the genin. “Well it's hardly afternoon, I'll take you for tea.”

Izumi led the way to the tea shop she'd seen on the way to the arena earlier, taking the Leaf genin with her at a leisurely pace. “So, why do they have certain genin proctoring rather than participating? It just seems a bit weird, is it so you can know what to expect when it's your turn? Sorry I don't mean to sound rude I'm just a bit confused.” Izumi rarely interacted with people in a genuine way and when she did she was both incredibly awkward and painfully aware of the fact. Izumi picked up the pace towards the tea shop hoping to get this over with as quickly as possibly now and go back to the solitude of her room at the Uchiha Compound. Izumi never felt comfortable around people who weren't already her friend. She'd had trouble making new friends since leaving the Mist Village. Her constant paranoia and training left little room for personal relationships. Her life had drastically slowed in the Leaf Village while waiting the perfect moment to carry out her orders from Yosei. When they arrived the tea shop Izumi would wait for them to be seated before picking the awkwardness right back up, “So what kind of tea do you drink here?” Even Izumi visibly cringed at the question. She laid her head in her hands for a moment before sitting back up and clearing her throat and saying under her breath, “Well I'm fucking lame now.” Izumi was thankfully saved by the waitresses arrival. Izumi took a sip of tea, and looked at Akaneya wondering how much she much have hated being there with an awkward jounin from another village.

1,093 words, total words 2,225.

5An Extra Pair of Eyes (Izumi) Empty Re: An Extra Pair of Eyes (Izumi) Fri Dec 28, 2018 2:13 am

Akaneya

Akaneya


C-rank
Tea? It had been quite some time since Akaneya simply took a moment to enjoy serenity in its various forms. Although she didn't believe too strongly in the idea of resting or frivolity, serenity had a different place. Meditation, after all, had its place in the greater scheme of all things. "That'd be...nice."

They began to walk. Akaneya considered what her partner, a certain Zhi of the Mist, had said to her during the exams: the genin would do better if they knew to fear death. Part of her wanted to agree whole-heartedly to the sentiment, that they were having it far too easy. The other part of her thought to disagree, for in fearing death, would they not be weakened, even crippled, by that fear? They needed to know it was a possibility, certainly, but must they not overcome the fear to do what needs to be done? If her experiences were anything to speak of, then it was always those who mastered their fear which beat those who felt it coldly. It was then that a question was posed to her - why was she proctoring and not participating?

"I have my theories," Akaneya stated bluntly. "I was told explicitly not to participate," in that same old silky monotone, "I believe it is because I have undergone my own years ago." She reached into her bag and handed this Zhi of the Mist her Otogakure forehead protector. Its purple was faded, and stained with blood in several places. The metal plate had scratches covering its surface. Despite these, it looked remarkably clean. "Perhaps the elders did not believe I was ready for a leadership position. Perhaps I am more useful to them as a tool, and not a tactician, that I may serve my purpose. Perhaps..." she sounded choked, ever so slightly, for the first time breaking her monotone. She gritted her teeth and averted her gaze. "Perhaps they have some idiotic idea of my health, mind and body, being unfit for this round of exams." With a couple of breaths, she returned to her near-automatic state of being. "For others, maybe it is to teach them such skills, to prepare them for what is to come and to know how and when and why to stop. Observing from above improve's one's tactical senses, and gives a clear idea of how much a person can take. This information is invaluable to one who is to become a significant figure later."

They arrived at the tea place, and just in time. They were very quickly seated - good service on the restaurant's part - and given a moment to decide their preference. Another question came, seeking to resolve that exact issue. Akaneya looked up, paused, and spoke as plainly as one might expect by now:

"I don't know," she paused again, "Tea was rare growing up. I...never settled on anything." With that, she averted her gaze once more. She seemed to get lost in memory, but as always it would be impossible to tell whether positive or negative.

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6An Extra Pair of Eyes (Izumi) Empty Re: An Extra Pair of Eyes (Izumi) Fri Dec 28, 2018 4:33 am

Izumi

Izumi


A-rank
The fact that Akaneya was a stranger to the Leaf Village brought comfort to Izumi. It made her more at ease, the genin seemed off a bit though, in Izumi's tragedy she'd found purpose and motivation for Akaneya it seemed to affect her in different ways. The Sound Village was another victim in the wars waged by Leaf shinobi. For all the good Leaf ninja had done for the world they'd also accomplished some terrible evils. So many have died in the quests for power and glory of the people who follow the way of the ninja. Izumi planned to cause many more deaths in her life, peace was not one of her goals. Izumi had calmed and refined much of her hatred, she no longer blindly hated any who dared wear symbols she opposed, she instead had specific targets to kill which would properly destabilize the village she hated so much. Izumi hated this place but not everyone in it, most were innocent followers to those responsible for the real crimes. This genin across from her was no more responsible for the destruction of Izumi's home than Izumi was for hers. The more Izumi contemplated Yosei's orders to not harm anyone or anything she didn't have to the more it made sense, it helped bring not only peace to Izumi but also clarity. The Karisuma woman listened more carefully now, maybe there was more to the young woman than she'd initially thought. The young woman certainly had much to say on Izumi's silly comments about the exams earlier. In fact the younger woman's speech had at first caught Izumi off guard, having forgotten she'd even said anything about it.

Having drank a good bit of tea, Izumi had finally calmed herself from her bout of horrible awkwardness, even though the younger woman's curious monotone was odd Izumi didn't hold it against her, Izumi took out her own secret headband, the one with the Sand Village symbol on it too “I'm not originally from the Mist, my home was destroyed too. The tea was different there ... it's different everywhere. Why did you come here of all places? The man who destroyed the Sound Village was from here after all. You'd think you'd avoid it like the plague. My teacher took me to the Mist so I just sorta stayed there. I miss it there, hopefully one day I can go back to the Wind Country.” Izumi felt much more at ease now that she was being herself, Zhi was a mask all of its own. One that Izumi felt a heavy burden when she wore, every single person she killed was on her mind when she wore that mask. Izumi didn't feel guilty, simply thoughtful every kill was a lesson for her. Every life she took was due to a mistake they'd made, one Izumi should learn not to repeat. This was a world where one misstep could mean death. Izumi was still hesitant to open up to Akaneya, fearing what weaknesses a new friend could expose her to.

Exit.

528 words for a total of 2,753.

B Rank Mission 2,500/2,500.

7An Extra Pair of Eyes (Izumi) Empty Re: An Extra Pair of Eyes (Izumi) Fri Dec 28, 2018 2:36 pm

Akaneya

Akaneya


C-rank
Akaneya's eyes peaked up at the mention of a destroyed village. She supposed, given a history of Sand and Mist, she didn't even have the chance to know what had happened. Regardless, for perhaps the first time, her face showed actual, genuine, and full emotion: surprise, with a bit of confusion. She spoke at last, "Otogakure lives. I...left."

Her voice was a bit raspy, and wavered momentarily before falling back into the monotone. "I was sent on a mission, and I got near the border. I...just walked. I kept walking, and I woke up here." She sighed, "They took me in, and so I have stayed," taking a moment to sip her tea, she placed it gently back on the table, "I think they watch me. Maybe they are right to."

She paused, sipped again, and placed her cup down once more. "I can barely remember the incident." She hesitated to say more, her hand shook ever-so-slightly as she placed it on the table. This would prove one of the most interesting 'meditations' that she would ever have experienced, certainly far from what she had expected.

Exit.

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