VII. Wind Country -> Fire Country | Page 1 | [ Travel Roads ] | Guild Forums

ele360
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Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 8:19 pm

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A very hot and dry path across the vast deserts that exist between the two great nations. Most travelers either use camels or some sort of flying mount in order to cross the deserts as there is little to no water or vegetation between the two destinations. The only source of relief on this hellish route is a lesser country known as the River Country. This Country is mostly deserted as it is nearly impossible to reside there for extended periods of time. However, it was recently discovered that along the river that runs all the way through the country there is a settlement of people that claim a village known as the Hidden Heat Haze Village. Although the village once stood tall, like many other lesser villages, it was wiped out during the Shinobi Wars by a neighboring village known as The Hidden Valley Village. Although the village was razed heavily there was still an unexpected appearance by their Genin at a Chuunin exam, leading many to believe that somewhere there exists an active Shinobi Force there.

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Post Count/Time: 2880 Words min/ 18 Hours

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Info: Fire

Info: Wind

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 1:07 am

“I see, your prices are definitely the lowest then?” Hatsuma questioned coolly staring down the man looking for hints of dishonesty in his body.

“Er.. yes miss cheapest prices for a train in all O wind country might be sayin… where are you to lovely lasses headed of to I can give you an estimate of the costs for your tickets.” The man responded rather coolly himself throwing out an offer to give a price estimate as a bargaining chip.

“We’ll be headed to the north eastern province of fire country… at the lowest prices that would be about 20 ryo a seat wouldn’t it?” Hatsuma questioned, pulling forth her secret knowledge of the cheapest fair for a train here. This man would have to honor the price or be called out on his word.

“Quite an informed lady aren’t we, those are the lowest prices? Those are the prices here…two tickets then miss?” the man questioned holding his hand out for the appropriate ryo to which Hatsuma rustled about her sash pulling out the proper amount of money for the man and holding it over his hand before speaking.

“Yes two tickets to the north eastern province of Fire Country please…” She stated releasing the money letting it fall to the man's hands all the while keeping her stoic gaze upon the man’s face. The man shook the gaze off and stamped out the proper destination upon the two tickets hatsuma had purchased.

“Here you two go, enjoy your trip…” The man handed the tickets off to the two and cast them one last weary glance before he went back to peddling his business.

“Let’s get onto the train then, it looks like it’ll be leaving shortly…” Hatsuma commented before making her way towards the train to find a way on board.

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Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 1:44 am

Oasis watched and listened as she hoisted the man by his own petard, as the saying goes. Oasis wasn't concerned with the goings on between Hatsuma and the shiest-er so she wandered around a little bit. She took note of interesting individuals around the area. She didn't see anyone else with markings like either herself or Hatsuma, or really anyone else she had seen at the nomad village, and having stayed up to party for awhile she saw a fair share of their markings. There was a variety of individuals in the area, one of which she was pretty sure she recognized actually. The man carried a large and somewhat strange looking hammer with him, it was one of her father's apprentices. He was the best of the apprentices actually, fairly handy with that device, he worked mostly on working with metal, a smith. He was okay with working on the machinery too though. Maybe he was here to help with the train? Oasis shook her head lightly, he was busy so she wasn't going to go bother him she grinned as Hatsuma finished her business and then followed her to the train. "Wow, its really big isn't it?" she questions as she looked down at her haitate which she had fastened to her belt. She saw some other shinobi, wearing their around their foreheads, it made her wonder if maybe she should be a bit more respectful of the traditional location. That thought passed quickly enough however as she climbed onto the train.

"My word, do you see what that young kunoichi is wearing?" an older woman on the train exclaimed when she saw Oasis climb aboard.

"Yes, well look at the one she is accompanied by. An odd pair if I do say so myself." the woman traveling companion added in as she saw Hatsuma climb aboard the train.

"Well at least the second one is wearing clothing that is more modest." the first woman states, half covering her mouth with the side of her hand. "I sear I can see more flesh on the pointy eared one than I cannot. Even her unders are showing." the woman states her voice carrying an interesting mixture of confusion, concern, and irritation.

"She even has strange tattoos Margarie." The second blue hair said to the first, calling her by name.

"I noticed, so does the four armed one." The old biddies carried on in this fashion for awhile actually bantering betwixt themselves as old women tend to do.

Oasis hardly noticed as she walked to a seat on the train and sat down. "Hnn, Hatsuma-tan. I usually tend to get motion sickness. Do ya think I will with the train too?" she questions as she took a seat. She sat with her hands on her knees and listened as the train let out a loud whistle and the conductor shouted. 'ALL ABOARD!' following shortly the doors closed and the train began to lurch its way out of the station before it started to steadily gain in speed.

Oasis sat in her seat, swinging her feet listening to the interesting sounds the train made as it traveled along the tracks. She could hear others talking in the car they were in, some loud, some quiet. There were happy sounding children on the train as well, they were the noisiest of all actually. She looked to her side, to Hatsuma, who was as per her usual very silent. She had been silent for quite a long while actually. Oasis sighed and sank into her seat. After a time more of obnoxious quiet Oasis popped to her feet. "I'm gonna look around." she states before walking away from Hatsuma and into the center isle of the train so she could wander about.

Once free of her boring place with Hatsuma, Oasis began to wander. The train was huge, and for some reason she was not feeling any sort of motion sickness, which was a pleasant surprise. Oasis stopped as she came to the doorway which stood between separations in the cars, she grabbed the fairly heavy door and pulled it open, it closed behind her and she wandered across the little walkway between the two cars. She opened the door on the other side and stepped into a fragrant aroma, she had stepped into a car that was obviously the food car or something. There was nice food being cooked in there she could smell all sorts of food, there were many that she couldn't recognize, however there were also a number that she knew well. She walked along looking at the tables when one of those doing the cooking noticed her. "OASIS-CHAN!" a boisterous female called out, waving at the little red head from her station at a table with some kind of meat being stewed in some fashion in a rather large pot. "Look, I'm serving my famous desert hare stew!" she woman stated with nearly the same level of exuberance as she had used to summon Oasis over to her.
Oasis trotted over to her friend and looked into the pot "Oh boy! Hey, did you use those little spicy things in there like you do at home sometimes?" Oasis questioned as she took a big whiff of the interesting food which was cooking away.
"Hn? oh, no way, only certain special people can take the heat, I don't want to have a bunch of people panicking on a train because of the fire in their throats." the young woman says jokingly. "Sorry though, as I recall you really liked it that way didn't you?" she states as she stirred the concoction slowly with a large wooden spoon. Oasis nodded her head slowly with big puppy dog eyes. The woman smirked and pulled a bowl out and ladled some of the stew into it. "Yea, you can have some that's what it is here for." she states as she handed the bowl to Oasis.
"Thank you Nieru-saan!" Oasis chimes as she took the bowl. She spun away from the table and found a place to sit, surprisingly enough she didn't spill a single drop of the soup during her rather erratic actions. Oasis reached for her handy pouch and plucked out a pair of chopsticks that she carried with her, almost everywhere. However unlike most traditional chopsticks which were made of wood or bamboo her's were made of metal, created by her father no doubt. She sat down and attended to her chowing right away.

Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 6:43 pm

Nieru chuckled lightly to herself as she watched Oasis go off and eat her stew. She watched her for a little while before returning to tending to her pot. Oasis greedily chowed down on the bowl full of stew and once it was empty she licked her chopsticks off and put them back in the pouch at her side. Oasis stood up and patted herself off lightly straightening out her clothing before facing Nieru.

"Thank you Neiru-san!" Oasis chimed happily before trotting over to her and placed the empty bowl at a station where they wanted dirty dishes to be placed. Now with a belly full of hot stew Oasis was ready to return to adventuring about the train. Oasis walked over to a window in the current car and looked out, they had transitioned from the desert climate she was used to, and into a different setting, greenery and vegetation was starting to show up as the ground outside was coated in a thick lush carpet of green. She had only seen this sort of thing in the Oasis' scattered about in the desert, so seeing this much of it was a real treat. "Wooow." Oasis mewled as she looked at the grass and the short shrubs. They would be heading through a more densely wooded area soon and Oasis would get to see things she had never seen before. Oasis leaned forward placing her elbows on the window sill. She watched carefully as the train went through what was becoming more of a forest. There wasn't many animals to see out there, seeing as the train was loud and would chase most of them off, however she was amazed at how much life there was, and how much water. Oasis pulled the window open and stuck her head out to feel the wind blasting by her face and to smell the new scents outside in this different area. It was a real new experience to her.

"Hey, Oasis-chan! if you aren't careful ya might wind up eating a bug!" Nieru called out to the redheaded kunoichi, who responded by pulling her head in the window rather quickly.

"Really? that's gross Nieru!" she cried out in response as she closed the window, "...hey so how often do you travel around?" she questions looking around the food car, smelling the other foods that she would try out soon.

"I actually travel quite frequently Oasis-chan." Neiru responded with a smile as she stirred the pot some more. She pulled up a pan from her stand and placed it on another hot plate. She poured some oil into the pan and then cranked up the heat. "I may have not made my stew with the peppers, but I brought some with me." Neiru states as she pulled out a little bag with small peppers in it. "Would you like some?" she questions as she dropped some peppers onto a little cutting board and sliced the pepper into nice little bits. She then tossed the bits of pepper into the pan once the oil started to 'shimmer'. The oil let out a nice hissing sound as the pepper cooked in the oil releasing its oils and flavors into the oil. She then took up a slab of tender looking meat and dropped it into the pan the meat sizzled in the pan.

Oasis trotted over from the window to Neiru's side and looked into the pan. "hnnn what kind of meat is that?" she questions as she stared into the pan and sniffed at the meat as it cooked.

"Hm, I'm not going to tell you until its done and you try it." Neiru responds with a smirk as she dusted the still raw side of the meat with some choice spices. She waited a bit before flipping the meat over and dusting the other side with the same spices from before. "I think you will like it alot actually." Neiru states as she slid the meat onto a plate.

"Oooh, it smells so good!" Oasis cooed as she took up the plate and sniffed at the meat with a prolonged inhale. She blinked a few times "Oh, I cannot eat it, I didn't bring a.... No, wait I do have a way!" she suddenly cheers before pulling a kunai from her pouch. Oasis thrust her hand up into the air in celebration of her genius. "I can use my new kunai!" she cheered out before sitting down to use the kunai in order to slice up the meat.

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Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 3:47 pm

Hatsuma remained silent not bothering to comment upon whether or not Oasis would be getting any form of motion sickness from the train ride since in all honesty Hatsuma had never had to deal with motion sickness herself nor with anyone who suffered from the condition, after all her tribe moved about constantly so it wasn’t a likely occurrence in their life style. After the silence and Oasis’ exit from the room Hatsuma opted to look around the train as well, after all this was her first train ride. Though the ride wasn’t as exciting as she had hoped it was still an interesting form of transportation. Getting to her feet she brushed at her pant legs and moved the hair from her face simultaneously showing a brief example of the beneficial nature of her additional limbs though it was natural to her to function in this way. Hatsuma slid the door open and stepped out from the cab into the hallway in the train car their tickets had assigned them to. The designs on the wall were a gaudy gold trimming over a velvet red wall, the design was clearly vintage in styling but seemed to match the dark woods that made up the doors into the cabs.

The hall here was actually rather crowded with other passengers bustling about speaking with strangers casually and making their way towards the food car along with other such simple missions for folk not of the shinobi world. Hatsuma shook off the slight feeling of claustrophobia and pushed her way through the groups of passengers that riddled the hallway all the while instinctively apologizing as she did making sure not to offend anyone to greatly. Hatsuma ended up getting bumped by a rather large wall shaped man and stumbled into a couple of old women who had she had seen outside the train earlier. Before Hatsuma could turn to bow apologetically to them they had already started snipping out their remarks of her.

“Oh look Edith it’s one of those strange children from the station! How rude it is!” The one who had been called Margery earlier at the station commented to the other wrinkled woman she was with.

“Yes I can see we were right about them two, just a couple of miscreant strange youths who have no sense of manners!” Edith huffed complaining as she rubbed her falsely aching rear as if she had been toppled over by Hastsuma which wasn’t the case.

“Where is your scantily clad weird friend with the markings? Shouldn’t your sort stick together?” Margery commented as soon as any sort of slight twinge of emotion Hatsuma had seemed to wash fromn her face causing her to look even more stoic then normal if it were possible.

“Your manners are no better for one so old and tired as you… it is rude in my culture to group people based on looks and outward appearances… I will no longer apologize for my actions towards you… stay out of the strange peoples way if you wish to remain safe from harm…” Hatsuma stated bluntly her voice on the verge of holding a snap to it though even that was enough as she gazed at the two being sure to keep eye contact with the nearest of them, Margery, which in turn caused them both the back away.

“R…Right dear have a fine trip… you and your friend…” Margery uttered out before she and edith scurried down the hall and likely to their cab to get away from the strange girl that was Hatsuma.

Hatsuma seemingly not fazed by the encounter continued down the hall and up some stair to a sort of outdoor balcony at the top of the car. Hatsuma approached the railing and rest her lower arms against it propping herself upon it as she gazed out at the rapidly passing scenery which was nothing like her country, even the trees were different rather than having large flat leaves only at the top the billowed in the wind like a pillowed bag of rustling green. The sun was setting casting a constant hue of orange across the ground and a sort of cone over the lake that soon greeted Hatsuma’s sight. Thinking back she thought of her life at home, she definitely preferred the warmth of the sun there as opposed to the strange chill of the wind here. She crossed her upper arms around herself to help stave off the slight twinge of cold that seemed to bite her skin so relentlessly. She knew it was a matter of climate change and that it really wasn’t a freezing temperature here. The two places were dramatically different from one another in more ways than one…

“Ah Hatsuma it’s good you are seven, now we can begin your training in the arts suited to your markings… your greatest tool will be these…” The Nomadic shinobi pulled out small white triangles of paper and held them out allowing the sunlight to shine through them creating a warm glow as the sun set across the desert. The young Hatsuma simply nodded as she listened to her teacher. “okay now these are spirit tags, they aren’t like standard shinobi tags in that they function differently, not only the shape is different between the two… These tags affect spiritual energies more importantly we use them to seal off the demon miasma in the chasm here in the desert, to the point, your job will deal with this task… it’s important that the miasma doesn’t engulf the deserts entirety or dangerous things will roam everywhere and we can’t allow that.” The shinobi explained handing Hatsuma a tan skin satchel that he had pulled the tags from moments ago of which Hatsuma pulled one from it and examined it carefully. There were no visible markings upon the triangle, it looked simply like a triangle of paper though it did feel a bit weightier then scroll paper. After a moment of looking over the paper triangle it began to feel a bit warmer to the touch before it quickly began to fade away into the wind as a fine white powder. Hatsuma looked up for the answer from her teacher. “ah looks like you’ve got an affinity for these tags, when we are done you’ll be able to create these on your own as well as imprint the will commands which make these tags function for various purposes… well then let’s get started…” the shinobi stated and the young Hatsuma nodded in response before follow the shinobi out into the desert…

A young Hatsuma wandered to the dancing circle for her first day of dance practice. Her tiny bare feet pushed in and out of the soft sand gently; the grains barely shifting under her light weight as she walked onwards towards her destination. “it took ya long enough to get here kiddo! Let’s get this thing started shall we?” A slightly younger looking but still energetic Ishala exclaimed with a playful shake of her hip which made her very elegant and colorful shirt billow a waver in the wind the small beads affixed to it shimmered in the sunlight brightly before the skirt settled once more and she walked on over to Hatsuma grabbing her hand and dragging her along towards the center of the dance circle before releasing her and stepping before her turning about to face the little child once more. “These dances are more than just social activities they important in respecting the gods of the desert… but more than that they are great to use in a fight…” Ishala’s hands waved about in front of her in a fluid manner as she spoke to give a sort of demonstration of what she was speaking of. “ the hand positions we use actually replace hand seals in our shinobi’s jutsu, less of them are even require to perform the same techniques, this is the aspect of our dancing that you’ll be learning first as it’s the most important and also the basics. Now put your hands up like this…”.

Hatsuma came to her senses once more and realized the sun had set almost entirely, it was rather dark out here and colder than before she decided quickly to get back inside and seek out Oasis who had the propensity to subconsciously cause problems wherever she tended to be. Heading down the stairs she came to face with the hallway she had been in earlier. It was more spacious looking then before thanks to the absence of occupants. Having no trouble traversing it she made her way down the hall towards the car Oasis would have likely gone… the food car. She had to admit she was feeling a bit puckish herself since they hadn’t really eaten since the night before. This feeling wasn’t helped when she entered the car and was instantly greeted with familiar smells and spices of her country. Looking around she saw a few people she didn’t know and sitting upon the ground she spotted Oasis eating meat on her kunai. Approaching she stopped over Oasis and looked down. “So is that a proper use for that tool?” she questioned her arms crossed still in hopes to stave off the chills she had gotten from being outside. The question wasn’t all to serious just a simple observation coupled with an attempt at sarcastic humor on her part however who tone likely didn’t get that certain part across.

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Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 4:36 pm

Oasis took her kunai and ran a long slice along the meat before pulling the bit up and sticking it into her mouth. She used chewing bites to pull it into her mouth savoring the heat of the spices used in preparing the meat. She noticed Hatsuma arrive and greedily chewed the bit in her mouth before swallowing it. She stuck the kunai into the remaining meat on her plate and looked up to her four armed companion. "Hn, well of course it is!" Oasis chimed brightly as she sliced into the meat and pointed a piece out to Hatsuma "Here, go ahead and try it, its really great and spicy." she states before taking another bite from it. She rocked from side to side honestly enjoying the flavor of the meat an awful lot.

"Oasis-chan is that your partner Hatsuma-san you were talking about earlier?" Nieru questioned as she sprinkled a collection of herbs and spices into a pot that she had just started working, it wasn't clear just how many different dishes she intended on making. "You didn't say she was cute, or that she had four arms." She mewled as she chopped some meat into it, also of an unclear source though its shape and color hinted that it was likely some kind of snake meat.

Oasis rocked her head to the side and looked to Nieru "Hnn... guess that didn' cross my mind Nieru-tan." She states curiously as she thought about it for a bit and tapped on the side of her head for a moment "Well, yea Hatsuma-tan has four arms, and a bigger rack than me." she states in a very blunt manner motioning her hands in front of her own breasts as if to emphasize serious melons on Hatsuma. She grinned catlike over to Hatsuma for a moment before sticking another piece of meat in her mouth. "Hn... it feels like the train is starting to slow down a little bit, wonder if that means we are getting close?" she questions as she looked up at a little window, she could feel the difference in the movement speed and she could see the reduction of speed out the window.

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Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 5:29 pm

“Thank you Oasis, these spices are from the desert, I know them well.” Hatsuma explained as she pulled a set of ornate chop sticks from her sash. They were red in color with black lacquered lines spiraling along them. She skillfully grabbed the meat from Oasis with them and took a small bite from it before addressing the woman who seemed to be familiar with Oasis. “I thank you for the compliment; I am indeed Oasis’ partner, Kidomaru Hatsuma.” She stated bluntly giving a courteous bow to the woman behind the counter before looking over to oasis as she commented upon bust comparison. “Bust size is hardly important as a shinobi, you should concentrate on taking in more important details of people such as their face or their overall body build… those are more useful in tracking then bust size.” Hatsuma explained her rather stoic expression hiding the slight twinge of embarrassment she felt from the comment. The train was indeed slowing it was likely the stop was coming up shortly for them to enter Fire country. “we should return to our room and gather our things before it stops, we’ll need to find a sled and dogs to travel where we need to go next… and probably some warmer clothing…” Hatsuma explained calmly bowing to the woman behind the service counter before turning about to make her way towards their room to gather their things. It would be late enough they would need to find a place to stay for the night and to continue the next day.

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Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 9:00 pm

Oasis nodded slowly, as she thought about it. Really they were going to walk there for a mission? She furrowed her eyebrow some in thought. "Then I really should have told Dad to provide transit." Oasis states with a light nod. However it seemed that walking is what they were going to be doing. "Right lets go." She states as she hit the path and started walking. "Hey... So, what makes you feel that this mission would be dangerous enough that you aren't bringing along your genin?" she questions realizing that though Hatsuma had mentioned something about being concerned about the risk level of the mission they were set on. Her head crocked off to the side some as she thought about it for a bit.

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Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 7:50 pm

"It's simply a precautionary measure." Hatsuma explained as they traversed at a much slower pace then when they last traveled this path. " If the trouble is connected to those people from a year ago, they don't have the skill or reasons to confront them." She continued looking down the long road. It was mostly flat terrain with patches of grass riddling the cracked earth. In the distance however the massive forest that covered a large portion of fire country could be seen easily though now it looked closer to a sea of small green shrubs then actual trees but she knew different. "I heard there was a hot springs nearby, I figured it was a good way to catch up while still making distance in our travel. It would be hard to access with any transportation. What do you think of that?" she questioned calmly as they trekked onward slowly reaching the border of their country.

Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 3:34 am

Oasis nodded grimly, that was true if it was somehow connected to the fiends that they had encountered some time ago in their travels before the exams. "Yea... I was sort of hoping those guys were a fluke..." She states offhandedly. Oasis considered the chance of a second encounter with those people, they were hard to beat then, and there was no way their enemies had stopped training. They would be stronger this time, and she was certain that she hadn't improved enough. She looked over to Hatsuma, well at least one of them had grown in strength and capability. It probably wouldn't have been a good idea to give Oasis genin to train anyway right? She sighed lightly as she pushed her foot into the dirt some, she felt it give lightly under her foot. She felt the slow change in the context of the ground. It was losing its sand like composure and was becoming more clay like, bits of foliage peering out from the cracks in the soil ahead. Oasis was consumed with thought for a bit until Hatsuma said something that broke the pattern. "Hot springs?" she questions her eyes widening and sparkling with bright vitality. "That would be awesome!" she chimes brightly. "Come on lets get going!" she cheers as her pace picked up and she trotted along the path they were on, sure enough Hatsuma would redirect her if she were to go the wrong way.

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Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 12:59 pm

"I don't think they were a fluke, the village shaman says they will likely play an important roll in the unbalancing of the world..." Hatsuma explained just before Oasis' face beamed to life at the prospect of a bath house visit. Following along Hatsuma interjected every so often to redirect her traveling comrade in the proper direction. It wasn't long before a large silhouette came into view, towering over the trees beyond it. It looked to be the size of a castle. once within a more manageable range it's full splendor came into account. It was a large red building with blatant gold trimmed columns, a sweet sent of the specialty bath waters twinged at the nose as they began the approach, the building's architecture was indeed castle like. At the peak of the large double doors was a sign which read: 'Corner Spring Bathes'; a fitting title given they were on the border between to two countries which happened to have a corner like shape to it. Stepping inside they quickly realized how popular the place was considering the huge number of patrons in the main hall alone. "So there are a list of baths which do you prefer?" Hatsuma questioned directing a hand towards the sign which listed bath prices.

Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 3:17 am

Oasis trotted along, her bout with feeling down and out lifted by the prospect of her favorite thing, a trip to a bath house. "Bath time." she chimes over and over as she scooted along following Hatsuma's occasional redirection. She paused as the building came into view. Her eyes sparkled with childish delight. "Booyah!" she cheers loudly though interestingly she didn't choose to race into the bathhouse seeing as Hatsuma was asking her a question currently. She tipped her head to the side. "I really love the hot herbal baths. So thats what I'm headed for." she states with a big grin spread ear to ear.

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Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2020 12:04 am

Shinken and Kazumi could both feel the weight of the upcoming confrontation on their shoulders as they travelled down the desert road. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a kunai. Shinken was the first to break the silence.

“In that last fight, you were really struggling. I think we should take the opportunity to get some training in when we make camp. We’ll be tired from traveling but we’ll need to be in peak combat form to deal with Kaji and whatever goons he has with him. Besides if we train while we are already tired we’ll just be increasing our stamina.” Shinken suggested. Kazumi was silent for a few moments as they walked. She wasn’t sure how she felt about his statement. She knew she wouldn’t have won the fight if Shinken hadn’t come along when he did, but her abilities weren’t anything to sneeze at either. Finally she admitted to herself that he was right.

“I hate to say it but you’re right. We might not have been ready for that fight, but that’s no excuse. I need to get stronger.” She admitted. Shinken nodded in approval of her answer. It was never easy to admit that you weren’t good enough, but accepting it was the first step to getting better.

“I didn’t get to see your fight so I don’t know what we should work on. We’ll have to spar a little first so I can get a feel for your style and give you some proper advice.” Shinken said as they continued down the path. Kazumi nodded silently. The idea of fighting the Kazekage was intimidating, even if it was just a sparring match for training. He was supposed to be the strongest ninja in the village after all.

It was almost six in the evening before they reached a point where their surroundings were no longer populated solely by sand dunes. The rocks and small tufts of grass were an indication that they were well on their way to the land of fire. Shinken looked over to Kazumi and held up his hand to signal a stop.

“I think here is fine for tonight. There’s a nice flat rock over there we can make camp on.” Shinken said as he gestured to a point about 100 or so feet off of the path. It was a large flat rock about 30 feet across. It’s surface was raised up off the ground by around 6 feet so it provided a deterrent to smaller predators.

“Right.” Kazumi said as she stepped off of the path. Shinken followed suit and the two quickly made their way up onto the top of the rock. There was another reason Shinken had picked this spot. It could act as a makeshift arena for their sparring match in addition to being a campsite.

“Well let’s eat before we do anything else.” Shinken advised as he pulled his travel rations out of his bag. It certainly wasn’t the best food, but it was designed to keep on the road for long periods of time. There was a nut based spread, some hard crackers, some dried jerky, dried berries, and, the only thing Shinken actually liked out of the entire package, Some sweet biscuits. He unpacked the contents of his rations with pursed lips, his displeasure clearly visible on his face. Kazumi saw his expression and the sides of her mouth quirked up into a grin.

“We could always hunt for some bugs to eat.” She said teasingly as she unpacked her own rations. Shinken shook his head and rolled his eyes at her statement before picking up the jerky and taking a bite out of it. Like all jerky it was dry and chewy, but unlike quality jerky it was bland without special flavoring. Shinken did his best to get his meal down quickly, save for the dessert which he saved for last.

Kazumi ate more slowly and when she saw that Shinken had saved his biscuits she placed one of her own on his pile. Shinken looked over at her quizzically. They were the best part of the rations after all. Why would someone willingly give them up? Kazumi saw his expression and shrugged.

“I can never finish them all.” She said casually. Shinken didn’t believe her but he wasn’t going to say no to extra biscuits. He took the one she had given him and bit into it. Like always it was rich and sweet. He had heard the biscuits called shortbread before. Whatever they were called he quite enjoyed them, even when they had gone a bit stale. He spent the next few minutes savoring the shortbread before packing away the packaging for his meal into his bag. Kazumi finished her meal shortly after and did the same.

Shinken gave her a few minutes to get comfortable before he got to his feet and began to stretch in preparation for the training.

“You ready Kazumi?” He asked as he cracked his neck. She gave him a slight nod and put her bag to the side.

“I’m ready.” She said firmly. Shinken slid into a fighting stance and prepared himself for combat.

“First we’ll start with Taijutsu. All I’m going to do is dodge. Try and hit me.” Shinken instructed. Kazumi slid into her fighting stance and wasted no time launching an assault. Her first strike was a quick jab aimed at Shinken’s torso. He was caught off guard by how quickly she had taken to his instructions and barely managed to shift his body to the side. Her fist grazed his chest as she followed up with a sweeping kick aimed at the back of his legs. He easily anticipated the move and jumped over the attack, launching himself into a backflip and putting distance between himself and Kazumi.

“That first strike wasn’t bad. You caught me off guard. That won’t happen again.” Shinken said as he slid to a stop. He watched her movements closely and when the muscles in her legs tensed he readied himself for her attack. Again she was faster than he expected. He launched into a side roll to duck under a flying kick, but she grazed his shoulder. He had to slam his hand into the ground to steady himself as he slid to a stop. She was a lot better than he had expected.

“Alright. You’re getting there.” He panted as he watched for her next attack. When she closed the distance he saw her left arm start to pull back and he stepped to the side as she threw a chop aimed at his neck. The blow went wide and she followed up with a jab aimed for his stomach. He quickly slid back avoiding the second attack. Her third strike was a kick aimed at his head. Shinken dropped down into a crouch avoiding the kick. However he wasn’t expecting what she did next. Using the momentum from her first kick she threw herself into a spinning jump. When the foot that had thrown the kick touched the ground she twisted her body and shifted the momentum of the spin downward, delivering a crushing strike to Shinken’s shoulder with her heel. The blow landed squarely and nearly sent Shinken prone, and he held up a hand to stop her assault.

“Alright. You did good. You’re learning fast. I think it’s time I stopped holding back.” He said as he rose up to his full height. He closed his eyes and when they opened the red eyes of his sharingan were revealed. Kazumi looked more than a little intimidated.

“Don’t worry. I still won’t be striking you, at least not directly. I’ll turn aside your attacks and use your momentum against you. If you can strike me while I’m using the Sharingan we can move on to real combat training.” He said, trying to reassure her. She still seemed hesitant but slid into her combat stance anyway.

Her hesitation made her movements slow and clunky as she tried to strike Shinken with a palm thrust to the chest. He easily read her movements thanks to his visual prowess and stepped to the side before grabbing her arm and pulling her forward. As she stumbled forward he stepped behind her and delivered a push in between her shoulder blades that sent her sprawling.

“You’re hesitating. That will get you killed in a real fight.” Shinken scolded. Kazumi’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. She already knew that, and telling her again would serve no purpose other than wasting his breath. Picking herself up off the ground she gritted her teeth. She knew it was going to be difficult to land a blow but she wasn’t going to give up until she did.

“Again.” She growled before launching herself at Shinken. If her words hadn’t been a dead give away, how she had loaded her legs before the jump would have been. As her knee flew toward Shinken, in what seemed to him like slow motion, he slid about a foot and a half to the side making sure his feet never left the ground. Once he was in position he extended his right arm and watched as Kazumi slammed into the clothesline and fell on to her back. She let out a pained cry and gasped for breath for a moment before she rose shakily to her feet.

“You’re taking too direct of an approach and over committing.” Shinken noted as he slowly backed away from her. She was panting from exertion now, but the look in her eye was no less determined. This time she ran at Shinken and just before she reached him she dropped into a sliding tackle. He still saw it coming but she very nearly grazed him as he sailed above her in a graceful jump. She rolled to her feet immediately and spun around to launch another attack while he was still in the air.

Shinken was still watching her closely however and when she threw the rising kick he placed his hands on her knee, using it to change the direction of his movement and vault over her back. She retaliated by attempting to deliver a spinning elbow but Shinken intercepted it as he landed and Used the momentum of the strike to throw her over his shoulder. In a real fight he could have easily broken her arm, but this was a friendly sparring match.

She slammed into the ground with a grunt of pain, and stayed there for a moment. He seemed to know what she was going to do before she did, and his movements were fluid and graceful to boot. She wasn’t sure that she COULD land a hit on him now. Maybe it was time to change tactics.

As she got to her feet. Kazumi decided that she should try misdirection. She quickly closed the distance between herself and Shinken before attempting to deliver three quick jabs to his face. Shinken easily saw the attacks coming and moved accordingly. Each strike came within inches of landing, but clearly missed. He was about to retaliate when Kazumi threw a palm strike down towards the side of his knee. He easily moved his leg out of the way, but she had been planning on that. She spun and kicked off of her back leg into a flip, bringing her foot down to strike the top of Shinken’s head. He turned his body to the side and deflected the kick to the side. As her foot impacted the ground she shifted her weight forward and launched herself into a flying knee. Shinken leaned back allowing the attack to sail over him, but she followed up with a downward kick forcing him to roll to the side as her foot slammed into the ground.

He rolled away from her, now panting from exertion himself. As he jumped back to his feet he gave her an appreciative nod. She was improving quite rapidly. That assault had nearly hit him.

“Good. Now...again.” He instructed. She responded by again rapidly closing the distance. When she was in range she planted her lead foot firmly on the ground and transferred the forward momentum into a rotation. She dropped down delivering a powerful leg sweep, but Shinken simply jumped over it. Seeing an opening she shifted her rotational energy into a powerful jump and threw an uppercut aimed at Shinken’s jaw. He responded by throwing his weight back, putting himself into a backflip. His hands reached out and slammed into the ground throwing him a great distance away, near the edge of the plateau, as he landed.

She was getting closer and closer to actually hitting him. If he hadn’t had the sharingan that last attack definitely would have connected. Kazumi pushed the attack, again closing the distance. This time she attempted to deliver a double palm strike to Shinken’s chest to push him off of the rock. He quickly avoided the attack by stepping around her. He gave her a small but firm push towards the edge and she nearly lost her balance and tumbled over. As she regained her footing Shinken moved back towards the center of the ring.

“Are you getting tired yet?” He taunted. He wanted to see if she would fall into the trap of letting her anger guide her actions. If she did, she could very well end up being a liability in a fight. That was something that he couldn’t afford in the coming encounter.

Kazumi stood at the edge of the rock for a moment. Her body heaved with her heavy breathing. It was obvious that she was beginning to fatigue, but she was determined to land a solid blow on Shinken, even if he was the Kazekage. His sharingan didn’t make him invincible, just powerful. His words stirred anger in her heart, but she pushed it down and forced herself to focus. She had nearly landed an attack more than once now. If she could just get a little more speed in her attacks she might be able to connect. It was then that she realized what was happening. Her movements had slowed because she was feeling the effects of fatigue. If she took a moment to rest and catch her breath she just might be able to land a hit.

“Well? Are you giving up then?” Shinken asked. He was observing her carefully. He knew that her movements had slowed and it appeared that she was just now realizing it. She was buying herself time to recover. That was a smart tactic. Shinken had said he wasn’t going to attack outright, and she was using that against him. It was good to see she wasn’t just attacking blindly. Using an opponent's weakness against them was a key part of winning a battle.

Kazumi slowly advanced on Shinken’s position, saving her strength and energy for maximum exertion at the time of attack. She was also closing the distance to give him less time to react when she launched her assault. Finally when she was just a few feet from him her legs tensed and she flew towards him in a flying jab. He stepped to the side like he had done many times before, but she was ready for it this time. She slammed her heel into the ground and used her momentum to pivot into a right cross. Shinken was able to duck under the second attack in her combo, but she still had an ace up her sleeve. She threw all of her weight onto her other leg and launched into a flying knee. Shinken threw himself backward to avoid the blow, and that was what Kazumi was waiting for. She snapped her leg out to its full extension and brought it down in a heel kick aimed at Shinken’s belly. He was able to kick away from her, but not fast enough that the blow didn’t connect solidly with the inside of his thigh. He slid away from her on his back and rolled to his feet.

“Good. You actually managed to hit me. I’m impressed. We’ll do proper combat training tomorrow.” Shinken said with a grin. Kazumi was obviously exhausted from the effort it had taken to land that one blow. Shinken on the other hand had plenty of stamina left, though he had exerted himself enough to break a sweat.

“See? Not so bad am I?” She panted. Shinken smiled and gave her a nod.

“Not so bad.” He agreed. Kazumi took the opportunity to sit down and catch her breath while Shinken set up their camp for the night.

“I think we should be in the land of fire by tomorrow.” He said confidently.

“Good. Maybe we can find a decent place to sleep then.” Kazumi replied. Shinken chuckled quietly at that. He had to admit sleeping on a flat rock with nothing but a tent to protect you wasn’t exactly living the high life. Still it had its charms in its own way.

“I’ve heard there are some hot springs along the way. Maybe we can relax there if we’re lucky.” He added. Kazumi seemed to perk up at the thought of hot springs. Shinken simply shook his head and finished setting up the tent. By now night had begun to fall and it was getting dark.
“We should get some sleep. Tomorrow isn’t going to be as easy as today was.” Shinken suggested. Kazumi was too tired to argue and simply crawled into the tent and fell asleep. Shinken did the same shortly after and the night passed quickly.

Shinken and Kazumi woke around the same time the next morning. It was when the first true rays of sunlight reached into the tent and onto their faces. He groggily opened his eyes, wiping away the gunk as he did so. Kazumi woke more gracefully and stretched her arms with a yawn.

“Oh boy. Breakfast.” Shinken said sarcastically as he got up and went through his bag. He pulled out another package of rations and opened them. Again he tried to get through the meal as quickly as he could. Kazumi on the other hand opted not to eat breakfast and simply drank the contents of her water skin.

After eating his meal Shinken took a long drink from his waterskin and took his things outside the tent.

“Well, at least we’re getting an early start. We should get camp packed up.” He said as he looked at where the sun hung in the sky. By his estimation it was around 8 am.

“An early start is good. Less time for Kaji to do whatever it is he’s doing.” Kazumi replied as she exited the tent. Shinken turned toward her as he responded.

“Agreed.” He said moving toward the tent. It didn’t take him long to take it apart and get everything packed up, and as soon as they were ready the two ninja made their way back to the road and continued on their journey toward the land of fire.

Quote:

+3180 Words
3180/2880 travel words
14,319/34,000 Words for "The Hunt for Kaji Uchiha" Mission completion.

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Naruto - The Forbidden Scrolls 2017

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