[aihara ryoko]

It was a glorious day in Iwagakure, a clear blue sky stretching out above the young Aihara for seemingly endless miles. The mountains and buildings flitting below her were little more than a blur, but her keen vision picked out the finest details. It was already late in the day and approaching noon, but the high sun didn’t bother her feathers. Instead the warmth felt nice. The day had already had such a great start.

After basking in the sundered stone of her family’s image she had set her mind to getting to know her new life better. Her teammate was odd, stuffy even, and lacking in the sense of wonder and adventure Ryo had. She hadn’t seen her in any real action yet, so she held back her judgement, but such cowed and quiet people didn’t sit well with her. She wanted to get them to crack, and to enjoy themselves.

She glides on the warm rising air for some time, her eyes sweeping down and fixing on the training grounds. She’d said she all but lived at the training grounds, so at least that could be respected. If true at least. She wings her way over the rocky paths that wound their way through Iwa’s mountainous terrain, fixing themselves on a familiar looking girl. A moment of analyzing and she’s sure of her target.

She tips her nose down and descends easily, dropping quickly for most of the flight, then stretching her wings and spreading her legs near its end. She breaks her fall and lights easily upon the large upright training post Suikazura had just been battling with. The hawk peers at the kunoichi with oddly knowing eyes, then lifts a wing and begins preening the feathers found there.

She had watched for a moment, and waited for this moment. It was after Sui had decided to take a break and put aside her weapon’s training for the moment. She didn’t doubt that Sui would begin again soon, so she timed her arrival carefully to ensure the girl was at rest, and uninterrupted in her practice.

Ryo remains in the form of her bird, seeming for all purposes to be a genuine bird that decided to land here. She preens a moment longer, but ends up just refocusing her large and sharp eyes on the girl there. She watches wordlessly, waiting for some manner of acknowledgement from her. Why this bird suddenly showed up still remains a mystery, however.

[Suikazura]

    Suikazura had been working since the morning’s dawn that day, weather being as good as it was. To what would be Ryoko’s surprise though Sui did carry her normal stuff, instead she had a thin metal pipe which had two slits in which buckets filled with water were sitting. Sui’s clothes seemed to be mostly dry except where it was easy to tell she had already been at this for several hours. Putting away her water canteen she picked of the pole with an audible grunt, and assumed a proper stance for her pole. With her stance taken Sui began to swing, slow at first as if the weight was a pain to her, to which she didn’t even seem to notice her own exertion and pain as she winced visually, but continued unrelenting to that pain. A strike to the chest, a slam to the leg, a counter stance, a fast moving swivel and pole extension from one arm. This is where the world caught up with Suikazura however, as she had to quickly drop the polearm and regrasp it, quickly flinging herself in a spiral to catch up to the weight of the weapon. Darting back at the target she slammed the staff upwards toward the tip, and for the first time in the exchange of blows, Suikazura would splash water from her buckets, some of which would very quickly be heading towards the observant Ryoko.

((aihara ryoko )) ☆ NOTES GO HERE

AI ♥

[aihara ryoko]

‘What an odd girl’, comes the idle thought through the bird’s little brain. Still, she had to admit she had some respect for Sui’s dedication. How can you just ignore a bird, though? They’re grand, majestic animals, known for soaring ever higher. She watches a moment, but already recognizes the danger she’s in. Landing on the dummy she’d previously chosen did leave this as a possibility.

As the girl gets closer and closer, Ryoko decides on a change in tactics. She flutters her strong wings again, lifting effortlessly from the large wooden post and gliding over Suikazura’s head. She lands on the ground easily well behind her, giving her plenty of room in which to work. The moment she lands, however, she drops the transformation.

With a familiar pop and puff of smoke the girl quite suddenly appears, crouched down low to the ground. She sets the doomblade, the hardened steel clattering noisily beside her. At the same time she pulls a small bound scroll from her pouch and peels away the small seal holding it closed. She draws the paper coated fabric out and forms a hand seal, more clattering heard as a pair of medium sized steel heater shields suddenly appear from the scroll and land on the ground.

She had all manner of toys, and every intention of buying more. Her family was full of blacksmiths and artisans, but they still liked to be paid for their work. The Aihara habit of breaking their toys kept the branch family quite wealthy, though needless to say not as rich of the main branch. Being among the first born also helped, her parents pleased to shower her with as many toys as she wanted. The recent mission she’d completed had swelled her bank account even higher.

She grins some, looking back up again to see just how distracted the girl was. As she does she reaches out with a pair of strings, each one attaching to a shield and forcing it up off of the ground. She rises as the two shields float between herself and the distracted and somewhat distant Sui, still waiting to be recognized.

The grin of her hood matched her mouth well, it’s glossy button eyeballs staring mindlessly at Sui. How Ryoko managed to see from beneath the hood was a question, but she managed quite well. In truth the cloak was another construct from her family. A costume made for her at her request. It was stitched intentionally to look poorly constructed, as though it was made from scraps of rags. It was all a deception, however, and was as finely crafted as a nobles silk dress.

[Suikazura]

    It took some time for Sui to realize that she had spilled water on the ground, that was an added eighty repetitions to her workout that day. It was afterwards that she finally heard and registered the shudder of a heavy hunk of metal and the sound of someone leaving some form of transformation, or was it a killed clone? She wasn’t sure, but she would definitely of turned near immediately to the sound dropping the heavy metal and water buckets in favor of a kunai. It was Ryoko. She put the kunai away and sighed, it was obvious that something about Ryoko’s appearance tactic had succeeded in scaring Sui slightly. Her face showed for agitation that her teammate had chosen to just sneak up on her like that, it was a normal ninja thing, but it just came about as rude.

    "Ah! Hi Ryoko-chan, you come by to train today as well? Why the shields by the way? Splash zone maybe? I don’t think I would reach you.” Suikazura asked in rapid fire succession. Her teammate was usually a fairly odd child in that she liked to do strange things, but she was strong and very aware of how to do her job, Sui had no complaints.

((aihara ryoko )) ☆ NOTES GO HERE

AI ♥

[aihara ryoko]

Ryo remains silent for the moment, her wide grin never fading. While she might not come off as outright creepy, she certainly presented a certain air of mischievous mirth. She holds up her left hand with her palm facing Sui, index and middle finger lifting and casting strings at the shield. Holding both with her left hand, her right remains free to fetch a pair of kunai from the pouch on her leg.

"Splash zone..”, she notes quietly with the same teasing voice she seemed to always use with Sui. There’s a subtle shift in words when she replies, staring at her teammate with those big button eyes. She agrees, bust twists the meaning of the original sentence. "I don’t think you can reach me either..”

She extends her right arm to her side, retaining her knives in hand and not throwing them just yet. Instead she gives a slight crouch to her body and leans forward some. Her left hand points her middle finger forward, and one shield advances quite suddenly. The other remains almost perfectly in place, wavering only slightly as if held by some invisible soldier.

It was a defensive item, but a good shield bash could still leave someone seeing stars. Ryo wasn’t so mean, though, instead she just wanted to provoke Sui. The shield rushes forward far to slowly to be a threat, but it’s direct and straightforward; jogging until its made full contact with her. At 3 feet in height and 2 feet in width, the tiny steel wall could be a true annoyance, pushing up against her torso and legs alike, but leaving room to flail the arms and see past the shield. She wouldn’t bash or smash with the thin plate of steel, but she would push it up against her with a complete disregard for personal space. While light in design, it pushes with surprising force; truly seeming like the full strength of a human was there to put the shield to use.

Perhaps in the least painful but most aggravating way the shield can be used, she just pushes against Suikazura, and attempts to shove her from where she’s standing. She didn’t want to hurt her, but she did want to test her. She wanted to see what this girl could do, see if she was worthy of more or less teasing. She had taken an interest in Suikazura.

She’d done her research, digging into the Hana name and finding nothing but loaves. Here she was, though, through the academy and standing right where Ryo had been a year prior. Her teammate was odd and didn't have the normal look of a shinobi, but Ryo was one to talk. She always had her weapon in her hand, though, so that instilled almost instant admiration in her. It also made her want to test her, as weapons usually meant some manner of strength or speed or skill. She was a baker, so she's gotta be good with that staff to be a genin!

[Suikazura]

    It was almost instantaneous that her teammate's wishes dawned upon the young Hana. As if it was natural for her she lifted the metal pole and the buckets again. Yanking it in an odd fashion she would dislodge a bucket upwards into the air and jab it forward to force it towards the shield with a weighted push, hoping that would stop its advance as the bucket itself was something akin to a thirty pound weight that the young girl had slung towards her teammate’s shield in a weirdly casual fashion. Taking the time from their she would begin a dash towards the second shield, it was likely Ryoko would want to bash her with that one as well. Suikazura figured it would be a good idea to start there, acting as if she was heading straight for Ryoko she would twist to slam the heavy weight the bucket and pole created into the shield with loud crash if it managed to connect, before slipping around the shield and darting forward dislodging the bucket and batting it towards her teammate while moving. Waiting to see what else her fellow genin had in store, waiting for a reaction as she made her way to the her attacker.

((aihara ryoko )) ☆ Hopefully Sui isnt overboard

AI ♥

[aihara ryoko]

Ryo pushes back against the bucket, exertion showing as she leans into her jutsu and slings more of her strings at her shield. She could withstand the weight easy enough with more effort, but the shield would lose ground as though held by some ghost soldier. As quickly as it was pushed back, however, it was ready to rush forward again.

Ryo, on the other hand, steps backwards. There was no shame in falling back, not when you’re an Aihara. Getting close was less than ideal for all but the most eccentric of her family. They always preferred to have their range advantage. A conductor doesn’t need to stand amid the symphony. They stand back and direct.

She pushes with her left hand, grinning brighter as she feels the weight. It wasn’t weight as most thought of it, just a narrowed mental focus that called more and more of her strings up to support the shield. On the girl, however, the strain was obvious enough. As though it was physical weight she was forcing around.

She draws her hand back and gives it a little sweep to the side, pulling the shield back instead of letting it advance. The bucket would have spilled its contents on the slab of steel, but Ryo had no reason to worry about her shield getting a bit wet. Instead she wanted to pull it back to double up her defenses. It’s good that she does, as Sui goes after her other shield.

"Geeze, heavy enough,” she mutters, loud enough to be heard but mostly to herself. She was learning things, and none of them gave her much confidence in the fight. Still, at least her teammate was playing along and not going for the immediate win.

She continues to back away with slow step after step, readying her defense with her shield, but her grin fading some as Sui slips past the shield. Her defense is quick, deft and well planned, but she is still pretty inexperienced in battling against other humans. Destroying practice dummies had always been her typical routine. She thrusts the shield forward to meet Suikazura as she rushes forward, but the force is lost as her opponent glances off the shield and slips easily around it.

The bucket flying at her was easy enough to deal with, it was still the stick she was worried about. As the bucket is flung foward her left hand retracts for a moment. All five fingers then pop out quick and seize control of it as it flies. It stops rather suddenly in midair, phantom hands catching it, but doing very little for the water it contained. She avoided being hit by the pale, but the sudden torrent of water catches her quite plainly.

In a moment she’s soaked from hips to toes. At least she had another weapon! The metal pail and a shield both follow as she pulls her left hand back, both objects now seeking to give Sui a good bashing. As she does she releases the two kunai in her right hand, and lets them fall. Both also halt before they hit the ground, and just hang there under her control.

[Suikazura]

    It did not take long for Suika to realize the pale and the shield were coming for her, but it was slow enough that she tucked her staff into her arm and made a few hand seals while circling her teammate. Taking what looked like a very deep breath Suikazura released a sweet scented water from her mouth all around the ground at Ryoko’s feet, it was slippery, very slippery. With that though Suika pivoted and broke into a full sprint straight for her teammate, tucking the staff in again to perform a few more hand signs, taking another deep breath as she slides into the liquid she had poured, accelerating herself, and only releasing her hands long enough to point her staff into her teammates abdomen region. If Ryoko were to dodge upwards she would be met with a rain of water senbon with the acrid smell of sugar again coating liquid.

((aihara ryoko )) ☆ Jutsu used: Ayamariue & Senbon Wayaku

AI ♥

[aihara ryoko]

Her Shiso Ido wasn’t really going to win this fight. If anything it was just a nuisance, one used to instigate this encounter. Short of dealing serious damage, her mobile arsenal was a bit much for sparring. Finally sensing a change in the battle, she starts to get more serious. Serious, oddly enough, meant ninjutsu.

As her opponent is forming hand seals, Ryo does much the same. She momentarily releases her strings and brings her hands together. As she does the items she was holding all start to fall to the ground. She snaps through a trio of hand seals quickly. Even with the ground wet, she didn’t much mind. Once she’s made the third hand seal, the earth itself lifts to defend her. Stones and soil all begin to lift and race up across her body, gathering on her exposed arms and legs and disappearing under her cloak and hood.

The stones compact around her body, growing long earthen claws on her hands and feet. While it does seem to add a little more bulk to the girl, it all seems to compress and remain sleek and streamlined in form. Still, the earthen tones, stone claws, and familiar cloak and hood do make her seem like a strange creature.

That done she waits. She doesn’t need to dodge. When Suika comes rushing in with her staff she takes the hit in the midsection, letting the pole strike against the solid stone armor. It creaks and it cracks, and though some force makes it through, the armor deals well enough with the impact.

"He he he” comes a quiet laugh, masking the minor pain. Without taking a step back Ryo begins to make hand seals again. She draws in a breath, and still quite close to Sui exhales a great gout of soft, sticky, fluid mud. She sprays it out like a geyser, spitting a fountain of it all over her teammate. Those struck would find themselves covered in dense and sticky mud, mud that would quickly dry and solidify around them.

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu Used: Doton: Han'nō-sei sōkō [Earth Style: Reactive Armour], Doton: Dorappa [Earth Release: Violent Earth Wave]

[Suikazura]

Life’s Sweetest Delights

conceal their meanings

♕

    The armor had definitely not been in her expectations for the girl and the circumstances of their spar. It wasn’t going to slow Suikazura down though, as her teammate decided it was a good time to finally counteract her own spray with her own and drew in air, the kunoichi decided to back off, flickering from sight as she would drop low near the girl. Coming to land behind Ryoko by a good two or three yards performing a few seals before she would rush in again, creating a clone first and setting a substitution second.
    She again charged forward, sliding low this time as her teammate had finished expelling the goop and was easily readying to turn towards the girl. Coming from an angle, she would ready her staff as she would slide in through her own slicked liquid, bringing the full force of her blow on Ryoko’s knee then connecting a blow to the second if it landed. Her clone is making a mirrored movement to this, though if Ryoko was perceptive enough would know which was fake and could not harm her..

(aihara ryoko ) Shunshin no Jutsu [Body Flicker Technique], Kawarimi no Jutsu [Substitution Technique], and Bunshin no Jutsu [Clone Technique]  

temp by ai

[aihara ryoko]

"Ha! Nice! That was fAAAHHHST!”

She doesn’t waste much time once Sui vanished from sight. With her opponent behind her she quickly spins around to meet her next attack. As she does she reaches out with a string, connecting one each to the two kunai she’d dropped moment ago.

As she does she prepares to defend again, knowing her armor will keep her safe. It was among her most advanced jutsu, and one that took some time to master. Here she knew it’d take the brunt of just about any attack. She spins around quickly to meet her attack, and dodges without even thinking about it. Truly, it’d be a move of wonder had she spent more time mastering taijutsu. Instead, the moment she spins around her feet move and find slippery liquid beneath them.

Two Suikazura’s attack, and down goes Ryoko. She slips with little grace, landing quite suddenly flat on her back with a surprised squeak interrupting her compliment to her opponent.

On her back her armor still works. It even braces her against most of the impact, but it does little to help her dodge. Movement wasn’t going to work, Sui was one of those sorts of people. Annoying, and indirect. The staff hits her leg, but the strong coating of stone rebuffs it.

This was a new sort of fight for her. She’d never really battled against anyone that wasn’t close to her family. Most of her experience lay in the use of weapons, but she also had quite the knack for ninjutsu. She brings her hands together again and quickly works through a couple hand seals. The moment that’s completed a burst of summoning smoke pops around her, and conceals the pair of girls for a moment.

As the smoke clears, Ryo seems to be gone again. Instead of a hat and cape, she’d turned herself into a gooey cephalopod. She’d taken the form of a large and now very slimy, octopus, and all eight legs began wriggling and writhing about, searching for Sui and get a good grip on her. Worse, though, the armor remained! The octopus was covered in a thin layer of flexible stone, stone that gathered about her squishy mantle and across her arms to protect her.

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu Used: True Transformation Technique. Adaptive Earth Armor still active.

[Suikazura]

Life’s Sweetest Delights

conceal their meanings

♕

    Suikazura would watch her teammate turn into the giant aquatic creature and sigh to herself, this was not something she had planned to have to deal with. Her teammate was adamant about this though, forcing her to pull out something she didn’t want to do. Dropping her staff as she had no need for it now she would twist pulling five kunai free from her side pouches. Flipping them one on one so that was holding the blade she would throw them true, giving each a small bit of her chakra making them much heavier than the average kunai.
    If any of them were not blocked, and even those that were. They would prove to not change direction much as they all five headed for the giant cephalopod. Smashing into and past the thin stone defense with relative ease between the blunt force and the ability of impact. As they were faster than normal kunai she hoped one would land at the least. Suikazura would move the entire time she did so, staying well out of Ryoko’s range of operation as an octopus on land, to, at least, the best of her knowledge.

(aihara ryoko )  Omoi Ishi

temp by ai

[aihara ryoko]

Reflexively a tentacle lifts to cast a string out towards the wayward Kunai. Throwing things at an Aihara was never a good idea. Right? It was instinct for her, ingrained since childhood, just pluck the thing out of the air, but no strings were coming to her command. Of course not, she was an octopus, and her jutsu were presently unavailable.

The arm instead would attempt to catch the thing, or at least bat it away, but unsuccessfully. At least she was still heavily armored. The kunai strikes with surprising force, hitting another stone clad tentacle with a goodly crashing sound. Stone splinters and cracks as the heavier than expected kunai comes smashing in. Had she organs for making sound she may have yelped, even cried out in pain, but instead her body ripples with sudden rippling flashes of color changing chromatophores.

The blood would be hard to notice at first, especially with her armor sealing the cracks and break so quickly, but it wouldn’t take long to see. Not with how this fight was turning out. She’d done so much. She flew here in the guise of an eagle, practiced her telekinesis, and used her most advanced elemental technique. She’d even sustained it and continued pouring chakra into it to keep mending it back up, but all that was quickly coming to an end.

Without warning a sudden pop of summoning smoke covered her again, though it wasn’t a clever jutsu. Instead it was simply her jutsu ending. All at once she’d used up all but the tiniest bits of chakra in her reserve. Unthinking, unplanning, she was just reacting to the situation and reveling in the sensation of her techniques. She liked transforming, though she’d never done so in battle. Perhaps pairing it with her armor was too much.

As the smoke clears a young girl is left in a rather slippery puddle. Thoroughly soaked and now unconscious, she lies there with a bewildered and dazed look on her face. She’d run out of chakra, that much would probably be obvious from a glance. She didn’t seem worse for wear until the growing red stain under her leggings was becoming more and more obvious.  Apparently the wriggling tentacle the kunai had struck equated to her left leg.  Now her calf was bleeding, though the wound was thankfully superficial.  Her armor had absorbed much of the excess force.  On the bright side, in her befuddled and senseless state she didn’t have to feel the wound.

The fight was Suika’s that couldn’t be denied. Ryo was down for the count.