Fire. So devastating destructive – undoubtedly an element best suited for causing damage, unlike elements such a water, which could be used for healing properties as well. It took Ryuzoji Miyako an extended period of time to discover her secondary element – raiton had been obvious, as all descendants of the Ryuzoji clan had an affinity to it. But even as other pupils in the Academy began to train both their elements, Miyako was stuck with only one, a delay of which her mother highly disapproved of. Her teachers had tried taking a guess, as well as her close relatives. Fuuton was out of the question, but doton, or suiton … both of these calmer elements appeared to fit the quiet Miyako, who never lost her cool. Whose pale gray eyes never seemed to waver, even if she faced those accusing glares of those who knew of her father’s betrayal to their clan. The shy girl who never lost her temper even under intense provocation; the obedient child who took her mother’s verbal and physical attacks without retaliation. Katon was completely out of the question, the flickering flames which would only add to the destruction that raiton itself could cause.

It was hard, she had to admit. Squad Karma was selected because each and every member specialized in a form of Bukijutsu, something they all had in common that was expected to be a great combo. But while Masayo, Miho and even her sensei and clan mate Ryuzoji Bokuden had both raiton and suiton as their elements, she was the odd one out, with her fire that gave her a disadvantage over water – as proved during their first training session together. So she had no choice but to train her fire release on her own. But it was hard without any guidance, with no knowledge of how to control the destructive flames that could dance out of control within moments. But who was she to ask? Even if she had lived in Kumogakure all her life, the amount of people she knew and was acquainted with enough to be comfortable in asking them for help was limited.

Walking in to the Ryuzoji private training grounds, she breathed in as her gaze drank in the familiar scenery before her, a slight breeze blowing her dark hair in a swaying dance. Sitting down cross-legged on the grass with her katana placed in front of her, she closed her eyes in preparation to do some meditating before she continued with her self-training. It was only a few moments later that at the very edge of her current perception: passive range, she picked up someone’s presence. Eyes blinking open, her blue-gray eyes looked around.

Chakra: 150/150
[ Learning Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu | 453/1000 ]

Aneki sat up from his bed he had been laying on. He wasn't tired, or sleeping it was just that he hadn't had the will to get up before. He had nothing going on in his life and he wasn't too happy with it at this point. He sighed, getting up from the bed and shaking a bit from the slight chill in his room. He was shirtless and didn't have the sash over his mouth, and he wore a cool smile, befitting his calm grey hues. He pulled on his normal skin-tight shinobi shirt, then grabbed his sash, wrapping it carefully around his head, just his mouth and nose area. When he was finished, he grabbed a second sash from the ground, wrapping it around his waist, being sure to have the loops on either side exposed so he could have a range of option where he wanted to carry his katana. He moved to the door quietly, grabbing his katana on the way out, opening the door to step out and shutting it tightly behind him. He pushed the sheath through the loop on his back, smiling to himself. He was ready for the day.

He made his way around the Ryuzoji compound, waving to a few people. He was well known around here as the maniac but people seemed comfortable around him still. He talked for a moment with an older man about anyone in the compound who was doing anything interesting for the day and was pointed in the direction of the private training grounds. He smiled and nodded to the man, walking towards the grounds at this point, stretching a bit. If there was anyone training today, he might just get in on it for something to do. It would certainly be more interesting than just sitting around all day on his bed, waiting for something to fall into his lap. His passive sensory eyes picked up the form of someone sitting in the grass as he entered the grounds and he smiled behind his sash.

He took a few more steps before he noticed who it was. Miyako, had always been such a quiet girl. True, Aneki had never really spoken to her or even officially met her but he had seen her come and go. She was one of those quiet girls who seemed like they would never wrong anyone but could have a wild side if you knew them better. She had short black hair, which in this light had a slight silver shine to it. Her form was small and petite, and she had a few loose strands in her face, she was quite beautiful and Aneki found himself staring. She began to look around and he noticed he was but a few feet from her, so he decided to speak up."Well hello there, What might you be doing out here by yourself?" He had to play it cool for now until he knew what she was up to.

If she were to be blatantly honest, she could probably count the number of Ryuzoji members that she knew apart from family in one hand ... and still have fingers left over. Her mother had always kept them out of social events - that is, when and if they ever got invited. With a tainted history like their family's, it came as no surprise that those from their same clan didn't want to associate themselves with Miyako's family. She held basic knowledge of the clan's leading family branch - including Bokuden and his cousin Ikki - but not much about all else apart from her immediate family. The man that was approaching her was most likely also a member of the Ryuzoji clan, after all, not everyone can just stroll into the private training grounds - it was forbidden for the secrets of their kekkei genkai to be released to the public, and extremely dangerous if their weakness was exposed. But while she may have passed by this man a couple times in the past, she didn't really recognize him at all, certain that she's never directly spoken to him before.

Seeing the sash that covered nearly half his face, a spark of wariness ignited in her and instinctively, she stretched out her left hand and rested it lightly on her katana. There was no particular reason why she should distrust a fellow clan member, but still her instincts told her to be ready for anything. "Well hello there, What might you be doing out here by yourself?" His words sounded harmless enough, not much of a threat in his tone. From the looks of it, he was older than her and most likely not a genin. When she trained here in the mornings, it was normally quieter than any other time of day, and Miyako took careful steps in selecting a spot away from other early risers to avoid bring attention to herself. So to be approached by someone she didn't recognize was rather unnerving. Before replying, she stood up first, not wanting to be caught off guard sitting on the ground even though, she had to admit, he could have attacked her right away if he had wanted to, instead of speaking to her like he was now.

"Hello." As usual, it was a soft voice that could be heard, followed by a small dip of her head in greeting. "I was preparing to train." A simple straightforward answer, lest she reveal more than she should. Unbidden, a questioning thought crossed her mind - was this man by any chance a katon user? But she couldn't just ask, that would be rude of her, and she wasn't sure what he had approached her for yet. "Is there ... anything that you require of me?" She asked politely, sliding her katana into it's sheath. Inwardly, she hoped that this wasn't just another person here to inquire about her past, or mock her family. Silent judgement she could take, but direct confrontations were difficult to simply walk away from, especially if it came from someone of a higher rank. 

Chakra: 150/150
[ Learning Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu | 976/1000 ]

Anything he required of her. Oh that was a loaded question and he knew it. Aneki thought of saying so much at this point but he knew to mind his tongue in this situation. Besides, he was feeling quite jovial right now and nothing could stop his good mood. He watched her katana silently, moving his hand instinctively towards his own that rested between his shoulder blades upon his back. He played it off as him just scratching the back of his head. "I suppose if needed, I could train with you my dear. No harm in you learning something new. That is, if you don't mind." He quietly moved his hand from the back of his hand to hold onto the sash that was wrapped around his head, covering just the mouth and nose areas. Slowly, he pulled it down, exposing his small lips, and perfectly aligned white teeth. He was grinning to the girl, but that isn't why he pulled down the sash as she would find out soon.

With the sash out of the way, he quietly made the tiger hand seal. He turned his back to the girl, walking off a bit, maybe thirty feet, then turning back to face the girl. He inhaled deeply for a second, smirking as he did so. He then released his breath, shooting out twenty balls of fire, flying towards the girl he had walked away from. They moved at the speed of a thrown kunai and weren't very powerful but he decided this would be as great a start as any to some sort of training for the girl who was in his clan.

After he finished expelling the flames, he pulled his katana from his sheath, dancing around the girl in circles of jumping whilst watching her. He activated his Current Perception: Combat Range and locked onto her synapses, keeping a careful eye upon her. "I am Aneki Ryuzoji. I shall be your sensei for today. Please, do your best." He smiled once more to the girl, this time it was genuine, showing her he didn't mean to hurt her, only test how strong she currently was at this point in time.

230/250:

It was strange how things worked sometimes. She had asked if there was anything he needed from her, not the other way around, yet he seemed to have read her mind or pinpointed her desire for someone to train her. But she had yet to reveal anything about her abilities or the elements of her chakra flow - the same could be said of him. How did he know that he could be someone to train her? Unless he meant in Kenjutsu? She could benefit from being trained in Kenjutsu by another Ryuzoji, but her intentions today were to set aside her katana and focus on her katon.

Every part of her body tensed in anticipation as he reached up to unwrap the sash around his head, eyes watching him carefully for any sign of hostility. When his face was revealed to her, it struck her as odd that there weren’t any of the features that she had expected – normally if one was to cover their face, it was to hide a bad injury, or deformation … unless he simply wanted to conceal his identity most of the time. But if was truly the latter, what was he doing showing her his face now? Unless – The moment she recognized his tiger hand seal, she was already preparing to move away. Her brows furrowed as she kept her gaze on him, watching him walk a little ways away before turning back to her. It was only a guess that whatever Aneki planned to do would follow a straight line, but she wasn’t inaccurate in that prediction. The multiple balls of fire projected at her never hit their mark as she leaped to one side, letting the jutsu pass by her with no damage done. Of course, by the time they reached her location they were already considerably weaker because the other Ryuzoji had taken care to back up several meters, but the intention was clear – he seriously meant to train her.

Seeing him unsheathe his katana, her left hand rested against her katana automatically, but she didn’t draw yet, reasoning that this was the perfect opportunity for her to practice her laido – which she had yet to perfect. And if she could avoid using kenjutsu altogether she would, but going up against Ryuzoji Aneki – the name she recognized as belonging to a special jounin – the chances of her even getting out of his alive with just ninjutsu was highly unlikely, even if he didn’t intentionally try to harm her. She would have preferred if he could solely focus on teaching her katon, instead of a sparring match where she had little to no chance of winning. “Katon … Can you teach me katon?” Her question surprised herself – she hadn’t realized that she had spoken aloud.

Chakra: 150/150
[ Learning Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu | 1000/1000 ]

Training: Ninjutsu B>A
442/3000

OOC: I'm beginning to think that I should've started doing word count when I actually start learning the jutsu xD

OOC: Maybe XD

Could he teach her Katon? Of course he could. Though he wasn't perfect in it himself, he was sure he knew more than she. He sighed slightly, looking at his Katana. This meant no Kenjutsu then so he would simply have to save this for another time."Yes, beautiful. I could and shall. Think of it this way: You make the wrong move in a battle and you die. The same goes with learning Katon. If you can't control the embers, the flames will destroy you. Got it? Let's go." With that, he stabbed his sword into the ground and cracked his knuckles slowly. He wasn't sure what this girl wanted to learn of Katon but perhaps he could show her what someone like Aneki could do, though he wouldn't be too serious about it.

"If you learn quickly enough, I may take you out to dinner after training my dear. You just need to show you're making the right efforts. Now what exactly do you want to learn about Katon? It's quite the interesting release and I'm sure you know it can cause massive havoc." His eyes trained on the girl silently and began to think of the different ways to teach her what she needed to know. He could think of only one way; leading by example. Perhaps if he showed her how this was done she would be able to learn well enough and fast enough more training wouldn't be needed.

Aneki quietly thought about pushing the sash back up to hide his mouth once more. True, there was nothing strange about it but he liked to conceal it at all times. He thought on this more, keeping locked in on the girl. Now, he began to think that he wouldn't need the Combat Range sensory technique and released it. The girl would be far enough during the battle that he would not have to worry about using his Kenjutsu. Besides that he had stabbed his katana into the ground already, so it wouldn't matter at this point. He smirked and opened his mouth to speak, then shut it. He simply raised an arm, giving the 'come on' wave to her.

If he continued with the greasy, spine-chilling ways of addressing her, she was going to have second thoughts about training with him – Ryuzoji jounin or not. Being so unused to talking to strangers or people she was unfamiliar with, she wasn’t sure whether to take it as flattery or just plain … creepiness. But aside for such trivial matters, his words did make sense – though most of the advice he provided were information that she was aware of already. The moment she had discovered her secondary element she knew it was a dangerous one, something that she would need to put in an immense amount of effort to control and use to her advantage. Wincing inwardly as he stabbed his katana into the ground – she wouldn’t never do that to her own blade – she nodded once, watching to see what he would do or say next.

“Now what exactly do you want to learn about Katon? It's quite the interesting release and I'm sure you know it can cause massive havoc.” Casually ignoring his comment about taking her out to dinner, she contemplated his words. What was it that she wanted to learn? The basics she had somewhat figured out, but so far, most of the katon jutsu that she had learned were basic, self-taught supplementary jutsu, nothing that would be of much use offensively. Unless … there was one that she had been working on. But she had yet to perfect it; all the previous times that she had tried, it either didn’t go the direction she planned, or it evaporated within moments of its existence.

Seeing his wave, she made up her mind to give it a try. Instead of rushing towards him, she instead leaped back lightly, forming the tiger hand seal and opening her mouth just the slightest bit to inhale deeply, the rush of surplus air filling her mouths and throat and fusing with the chakra that would form the jutsu. Judging her surroundings, she figured that throwing out a fireball was not ideal – the location she had chosen to train had several trees standing tall and provided the shade that she enjoyed. Burning them down would surely be a waste – and would likely get her in trouble with her clan as well. Opting to keep it in its flamethrower form, she finally released an immense globe of intense flames, aiming it towards Aneki.

135/150:

[ Learning Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu | 1000/1000 ] -- Complete

Training Ninjutsu B>A
846/3000

Aneki watched the girl silently, giving her a disarming smile. He would draw back a bit, personality wise at least and watch her. She had made the tiger handseal and began to breathe in deeply. Oh this was going to be fun. When she leapt back a bit, he continued to trail her with his eyes, making the Tiger handseal as well before taking in a deep breath. He felt the oxygen hit his lungs and throat, fusing with his own chakra, before he blew out his own flames in a flamethrower stream. Their two streams clashed head-on, flames licking at the grass, singing it and pushing against the ground. 'Not bad, let's see how much she can handle though.' He was thinking of what he would do next, as opposed to just what was at hand. His eyes watched her face, noting her concentration and he released his handseal, jumping into the air and away from her flames.

When his flames stopped he had moved away from hers, watching it reach its limit and then become nothing. He landed in the branch of a tree, watching the girl quietly before he jumped back to the ground, moving to where his katana was. His hand gripped the hilt, pulling it from the dirt, while he flicked his wrist, getting the excess from the blade before wiping the tip on his pants to clean it. He quietly spun the sword around his hand in a flashy manner, sheathing it once more, turning his attention back to the girl. He wasn't sure what else he could teach her at this point, she was already doing so well. Instead, he gave her a knowing and disarming smile, pulling the sash up over his mouth once more.

"Great effort. I know how my advances came off and I must apologize. I am happy to see that another of the Ryuzoji shares my..Elements. I would like to take you out for a cup of tea or coffee sometime if you would like to train with me again. It just seems at this moment, I have nothing to teach you. You executed a great fireball jutsu incredibly well. I'd say it almost rivals my own." He smiled once more, closing his eyes this time and leaning his head to the side a bit. He was truly impressed with how the girl used her jutsu, and would look forward to seeing her again or watching her fight. He then waved at her, turning and walking off. He jumped the wall near their position, landing on the other side and sprinting off to find his next calling.

215/250:

[Exit Thread]