[Nara Shun]

NARA SHUN CHRONICLES

VIII - I

-  t h e  t a l e  o f  -

T H I N K  Q U I C K!  

---

3:00pm

Academy Training Grounds

It was past lunchtime on a slightly cloudy day. It looked like it could rain later. There was a lukewarm breeze playing with some leaves in a clearing at the academy training grounds. Shun’s eyes would follow a group of leaves dancing around in a circle a bit further away as she leaned against a tree with one foot propped up against the bark and her hands lazily stuffed in her pockets.

”I got here early, I guess…” the grey eyed Nara thought out loud while looking up through the shifting leaves. The wind was picking up a little.

The young teen abandoned her post and walked out into the clearing to gaze up at the clouds. The breeze picked up her loose raven hair up as she did. Strands of black were tossed around slowly as if someone was fanning them up from below. Soon the direction of the wind changed and the bits of her hair kept loose in front of her face blew across her eyes. Shun raised a hand to push them out of her face.

The clouds moved quickly and with them did the holes letting through sunlight. The ground looked spotted. Sometimes a part would be sunny and another shaded. Shun would stand there and feel the change between the cool shade and the pleasantly warm sunlight as she gazed at the sky. It was always beautiful and the girl couldn’t understand how something like that could exist. It wasn’t perfect yet it always looked good. She always thought that something beautiful had to seem human. No human was perfect so maybe she had that idea wrong all this time.

”Hmmm…. Was I wrong? I wonder…” Again – Shun thought out loud.

She would be dressed as usual – dark ninja boots, grey cargo pants and a light moss green t-shirt with large white hems at the collar, bottom and sleeves and the Nara symbol clearly visible on her left sleeve.

---

Tag: Hatake Suzume
Shun: 496b36

[Hatake Suzume]

Purple hair fluttered in in the wind as Suzume moved through the village. It wasn't the sunniest of days, but that never stopped the hard-working shinobi of Konohagakure, taking on missions and training hard. On this day, in particular, the Hatake had agreed to train with a certain academy student, one who was just as endearing and diligent as they come. Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, Suzume quickly closed the distance between herself and the academy training grounds, eventually reaching the clearing and landing softly on the ground below.

Her landing placed her just a few meters in front of the waiting academy student, dust being kicked up just a bit as she quickly stood at attention. Or at least as tall as she normally stood; Suzume typically slouched no matter the situation. She was essentially wearing the same thing she wore the last time the two had crossed paths, dark, konoha greens with her flakjacket, and of course her Konoha headband, tied right where it was meant to be.

"Um... hi."

It felt strange to Suzume to be looked up to, but surprisingly this wasn't the first time for the Hatake. She wasn't sure what the young Nara had in mind for today's training session, but whatever it was, she was prepared to help Shun to the best of her ability.

[Nara Shun]

NARA SHUN CHRONICLES

VIII - II

-  t h e  t a l e  o f  -

T H I N K  Q U I C K!  

---

Out of the sky. Suzume came out of the sky. Shun only noticed a shadow getting bigger on the ground before looking up to see the Chuunin land in front of her. Her mouth parted a bit in awe as she watched the young woman regain her posture after the landing.

”Whoa… you can fly…” Shun let out in a mumble while staring at the purple haired kunoichi. It was so cool. Maybe one day she’d be able to leap so high, too? All there was left to do was train, probably. At least, that’s what older people kept telling her.

”Ah! Suzume-san!” The girl realized she hadn’t greeted the superior shinobi yet and gave a quick bow with her hair moving about in the breeze. ”Good afternoon!” the raven haired girl chimed and straightened herself up. A bright smile now played across her features.

She took a few steps closer so she could talk less loud and the distance would be a bit more friendly.Hatake Suzume had proven to be kind and calm and Shun had a lot of respect towards her. The girl could only hope to be seen the same way by someone someday, too. That would be quite amazing.

”Ummmm…. Suzume-san?” she started while leaning a bit forward and fiddling with her hands behind her back. The girl curiously peered up at the purple haired woman.

”Could you help me with combat training? We don’t really do much at the academy and I’ve recently realized that I haven’t really dodged anything. We’ve had a few spars here and there but it’s mostly medidtating and stamina training with the occasional practice jutsu. I know all of this is important but I think it would be great to work on my fighting reflexes. Otherwise I’ll become a genin that can only stand in one place like a sitting duck.” She giggled at the last words.

”What do you think?”

---

Tag: Hatake Suzume
Shun: 496b36

[Hatake Suzume]

The slightest hints of pink rushed to fill Suzume's pink as Shun gawked at her dynamic entrance, a bit embarrassed to be looked up to so profoundly even if she hadn't done anything all that amazing. Thankfully, for Suzume's sake, Shun seemed to recover from her awe-struck state rather quickly, hastily greeting the older shinobi before slowly getting to the heart of their meeting today. The Hatake remained still as Shun approached, simply arching an eyebrow as she explained what exactly she wanted to work on during their training session. She paused for a few moments, rolling the idea around in her head as she thought about the risks associated with such a training. It actually wasn't all that long ago that Satoshi had helped Suzume with a similar sort of training, but Shun was much younger, and Suzume wasn't all too familiar with the academy student's skills.

Suzume finally ended up concluding that just being a shinobi was a fairly dangerous occupation, and if Shun was to be an excellent ninja, she'd need training that was worthy of such. She nodded her head slowly, hand reaching back and gently resting on the hilt of her tanto, though she didn't unsheathe it quite yet.

"Did you want to focus more on projectile evasion? Or were you thinking of something more up close and personal? Maybe a mix of both?"

Suzume wanted to make sure that she understood exactly what the academy student was looking for in a training bout. She had been blindsided herself a few times in the past, and she didn't wish to create that sort of experience for the younger girl.

[Nara Shun]

NARA SHUN CHRONICLES

VIII - III

-  t h e  t a l e  o f  -

T H I N K  Q U I C K!  

---

It looked like Suzume was thinking about it. Fair enough. Shun knew that students weren’t allowed to even have real shuriken and kunai – and for good reason. She also believed that she’s ready for a next step. Truth be told – there seemed to be a limit to how far her parents could help. Her mother said she’d take Shun seriously with training when the girl became a genin and her dad was too worried the girl got a little stubborn. However, these things only motivated her to strive for more. It would also be a great change of pace to train with someone else.

”We could do both. Perhaps start with one and then the other? Thus far I’ve done some light combat training and I’ve tried working on my reaction speed with the leaf exercises. You know – the exercise where you throw up a few handfuls of leaves and try to catch them all before they hit the ground. I’m getting the hang of that and I think I’m a lot quicker on my feet but I believe that can be taken a step forward.”

Shun had obviously put a lot of thought in this and so, she took one step backwards and calmed down. Her eyes became more alert and she looked up at Suzume with a determined expression. The young Nara got more comfortable in her posture and shifted her weight to the balls of her feet while bending her knees slightly so she’d be able to move as quickly as necessary.

”I’m not a shinobi yet but, please…” she began with a honest tone as the wind tossed around the strands of raven black hair on her forehead.

”Don’t go too easy on me, Hatake-san.”

---

Tag: Hatake Suzume
Shun: 496b36

[Hatake Suzume]

Shun quickly gave her answer to Suzume's question, letting the older shinobi know that she wanted just a bit of everything. She also gave Suzume some insight to what sort of training she had already been doing, which was helpful in letting the Hatake gauge roughly what the young Nara was capable of. Aside from that, hwoever, Shun expressed in both words and posture that she was more than ready to take the next step as a shinobi. There was a conviction in her eyes as she asked that Suzume hold nothing back, though the Hatake wasn't so easily convinced. She would at least oblige her basic wishes though, and she took up a slightly lowered stance herself, hand slipping into her shinobi pouch though not withdrawing a weapon quite yet.

"I'll try my best to keep you on your toes... please try as hard as you can."

And with that final warning, Suzume officially started their training session, hand darting out of the pouch with a trio of shuriken loosely held. Out of concern for the academy student, Suzume didn't throw them right away, instead taking a hop backwards to further increase the distance between them before finally flinging her first volley. The shuriken didn't come in a cone fashion, but rather one right after the other, a second or so in between throws to give Shun enough time to react. It wasn't the most strenuous of starts, but Suzume still wanted to practice caution until she knew the full extent of the Nara's capabilities.

[Nara Shun]

NARA SHUN CHRONICLES

VIII - IV

-  t h e  t a l e  o f  -

T H I N K  Q U I C K!  

---

The young woman was agreeing to help Shun out and this made the Nara happy. Half of her was expecting to get rejected. Thankfully, Suzume had decided to give her a chance and Shun wouldn’t waste it.

”Aah…” The grey eyed girl responded with a light nod to the purple-haired woman’s words and observed her gapping the distance between them. A part of her wondered how serious Suzume would get. Shun would lie if she said she wasn’t a little nervous. The girl could feel her heartbeat quicken and her pupils tense as she’d focus on the chuunin. The hair at the back of her neck felt like standing up even though she knew it wasn’t possible and she’d feel tension in her core – stress.

This was a lesson on its own – this was how her body reacted when encountering a potential threat so it would be something she could work on. No, it would be something Shun would have to work on. The feeling wasn’t the most comfortable. Her mouth was also slowly becoming dry. There must have been some way to keep more control over how her body reacted to potential danger. Tension would be problematic later in life … or so she thought.

”It’s coming!” The girl thought as she watched Suzume fling a projectile her way. The movement of her hand was so swift – chuunin truly were amazing. However, this was not the time to admire the older girl.

”!” Shun would hop to the side as the first shuriken came closer to her. It appeared she still needed some time to tell exactly how the projectiles would fly. Such things would take practice. Shun just couldn’t predict their movements as well yet so she’d observe the projectile for a split second longer to decide where it’s going and then would dodge.

The second one she’d avoid with another hop to the side and would avoid the third with a quick squat. All this time she had to resist the urge to blink and keep her eyes on Suzume. There was a surprising lot to think about.

”I see… so projectiles can be used to move your opponents somewhere, too, right?” Shun asked out loud while mulling over what just happened. Perhaps making enemies dodge in a certain direction would come in handy one day. That being said, the girl kept her guard up and waited for the next move.

---

Tag: Hatake Suzume
Shun: 496b36

[Hatake Suzume]

For a second, Suzume was worried that she had made the wrong decision, doing a dangerous training exercise with an academy student that she knew almost nothing about, but thankfully Shun proved that she was up to the task. The young Nara just barely hopped out of the way of the first shuriken, but because she managed, Suzume followed up with the other two. Each time Shun was able to evade the projectile successfully, one with another hop and the other with a well-timed squat. The academy student made a rather well-known observation after evading all three shuriken, though for an academy student, it showed that she was quite clever and capable of critical thought. Suzume paused to nod her head, deciding to give her some feedback another warning before continuing.

"That was very good. For the next set, make sure your attention isn't lingering too long on just one shuriken..."

Once again, Suzume's hand went to reach for her pouch, one more moment given to Shun to prepare herself before the next volley was launched. It came in 'three' sets, just like the last one, but each attack was actually a pair of shuriken, one thrown immediately after the other and not at the same location. This meant that Shun could either wait for both to be thrown, which was risky but meant she could dodge both of them in one action, or she could instead dodge each shuriken individually, which might require two movements depending on the direction of her first evasion.

[Nara Shun]

NARA SHUN CHRONICLES

VIII - V

-  t h e  t a l e  o f  -

T H I N K  Q U I C K!  

---

And here came the second wave. Shun had taken the extra time to really try and take Suzume’s guidance to heart. There was much she could learn from the chuunin and the Purple haired woman seemed to be of the kind nurturing type so Shun found it easy to trust her.

The next shuriken came after one another and the girl noted the movement but wasn’t exactly sure where the other would go. She quickly changed direction to avoid the first projectile but then was met by the second one. It appeared Shun had picked the wrong direction. Her grey eyes widened as she saw the second one incoming closer than before and the Nara hopped back the other way making the parry a bit of a zig-zag. It wasn’t what she expected but it made her more alert. The next ones she avoided more fluently. She stepped out of the way of the one and then hopped back and to her right for the next. There were two more left and those she dodged by running to the right around Suzume’s range diameter.

She soon stopped in place and waited for the next ones. A part of her decided not to move too far – that would upset the goal of the training. The distance she ran wasn’t that big – just about five or so meters. The girl could also still feel remnants of the surprise from almost getting blindsided by the recent shuriken. It had been a close call. Shun’s chest was full of breaths but she did want to continue. All the stamina training seemed to be paying off.

The girl nodded towards Suzume with a light smile and her eyes softening up a bit to let her know she was eager to continue.

---

Tag: Hatake Suzume
Shun: 496b36

[Hatake Suzume]

Shun was almost hit by the second shuriken that Suzume threw, and of course if she had been hit by it the exercise would have stopped there, but thankfully she hopped in the other direction in just the nick of time. After that close call, she handled the next two pairs much more adeptly, after which she nodded to the older shinobi so that they could continue. The Hatake promptly returned the nod, hand reaching back into the pouch but retrieving a trio of kunai instead of shuriken. Like the first volley, each kunai was thrown directly for Shun's current position, though with much less of a gap between projectiles than before. Because they flew in straight lines, they would be easier to evade, but that's why the chuunin reduced the intervals of time in between them.

As always, Suzume was ready to stop the precise moment that Shun got hit, but the girl would not doubt be successful, and once she was, the Hatake gave her an approving nod. Shifting from her low, combat stance, Suzume stood just a bit straighter, though her characteristic slouch was still present.

"You're doing amazing, Shun-chan... but I think you've earned yourself a little break, wanna meet back here in... half an hour?"

[Nara Shun]

NARA SHUN CHRONICLES

VIII - VI

-  t h e  t a l e  o f  -

T H I N K  Q U I C K!  

---

It appeared Suzume was ready to continue, too. The quick response made Shun happy yet she pushed that to the side – the girl wouldn’t get distracted. At least, Shun would not distract herself when she was training. The happiness stemmed from feeling like she was being taken a little seriously. Maybe one day she’d be on equal footing with the real shinobi and kunoichi of Konoha.-

The next wave of projectiles came and this time they were kunai. The swap coaxed a reaction from Shun as they were bigger but she also knew from the academy that it was very difficult to maneuver bigger projectiles so she assumed they’d travel straighter.

It appeared Shun was correct and would make a bigger leap back before moving to the side to avoid each flying knife with a well-timed hop in pair of twos. She was slowly starting to move more fluently. Perhaps, all that was necessary for young students was a way to ease in to such training and Suzume was the perfect partner – or so Shun thought. It was noticeable that she was becoming less over-cautious when facing a projectile and was able to pre-determine their direction just a bit quicker. Her movements were also getting a bit more fluent and quick. Shikarui, her dad, had said the girl had a talent for movement – perhaps that helped.

The Nara stopped and relaxed after Suzume spoke. It was true that the tension and concentration had taken a slight toll. Shun was a little mentally tired. Also, her heart was still pounding. Nevertheless, she gave a light smile and shook her arms and legs loose while hopping on the spot a little.

”Thanks, Hatake-san! I’ll look forward to it! Half an hour.” And with that, her smile showed that she had, indeed, become a little tired. The girl went to plop down on the ground and stretch her arms and legs out.

”Man. That was something.”

---

Tag: Hatake Suzume
Shun: 496b36