[Awa Uta]

a Noble or an Idol

Nōhime Ren The Anti-Okada 250

Was Kuwana a place that Uta was happy to be in? Not in the slightest. It had been such an unfortunate scenario that the girl had found herself back here. But here she was. Arriving only a few hours earlier, the girl would avoid the more affluent side of the city. The people she grew up with, those were people she wanted to avoid during her unfortunate homecoming. Why had she even signed up for these exams, she couldn’t remember for the life of her, but Miho thought it was a good idea, just like she had thought the Academy was a good idea, and so here Uta was. She should at least try getting stronger before the exams. No matter what people tried to tell her, she wasn’t a good shinobi. The things she was always told about herself, they just didn’t sound like her. She was good on paper, she was great at that side of things, but she always clammed up during combat. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had fought. But if she stayed near the training grounds, maybe she’d learn something, even if by osmosis.  She at the very least saw a face she recognized. Not necessarily for positive reasons, but she wasn’t involved in the Okada’s family business. If they considered him an Anti-Okada that was a concern between those two parties. She had no reason not to simply walk up to him and say hi.

made by eden @ gs and thq

[Nōhime Ren]

"okada by choice". "I fight to save everyone, and I live thanks to everyone. That's who I am!" Greetings Ren was one of the many Shinobi who had been posted in Kuwana for the duration of the exams. Mostly to help keep the peace and order in the place, which was now filled with foreign Shinobi from a plethora of ranks. Every Chuunin Exam was a time of both celebration, but also tension. So it was up to the hosting nation to ensure no incidents would occur, and if they did, that they were taken care of in a timely and effective manner. During one of his rounds, he would eventually come across a rather peculiar Rock shinobi, one who came from the country's nobility: Awa Uta. Or at least that was how he referred to the girl, as she had a quite challenging name to pronounce, if one had less than an hour at their disposal. With a short bow, he would greet the girl, walking towards her to check how she was doing. He knew she was there for the exams, they were giving the list of participants, and there was also the badge to help identify them. "Uta-san. I hope you are doing well. Feeling ready for the exams to come?" he asked, giving her a somewhat friendly smile. Ren's tone was quite formal, much like his facial expression. He was wearing his full shinobi gear, with his forehead protector and all. "I want you to understand something. If you should lose, not only does your future end, but also the future of the one you are trying to protect. Defeat isn't an option for the sword that protects others. You should keep that thought engraved in your heart." Training Kuwana [Awa Uta] [236 words]

[Awa Uta]

a Noble or an Idol

Nōhime Ren The Anti-Okada 232

"O-oh, well,” Uta fumbled over her words as she thought about the question being asked. She didn’t really know how to explain all of the thoughts going through her head regarding the answer to that. She definitely wasn’t prepared, but actually explain by why that was involved explaining a lot more than that. It just got more confusing the more she thought about it, so what was she to do in the moment other than stutter and fumble. She took a deep breath in and closed her eyes, questions like this were much easier when she wasn’t looking at people. "Could you please teach me the body flicker,” her fists were clutched and her entire body felt stressed, but this was important to her, and so she could push through it, "I just… I know I’m not the strongest of fighters. So I need to know how to get away from people if I get in over my head.” She felt like a coward just saying it, but she couldn’t deny reality. Going into the exams was dangerous, and she was worried she didn’t have the abilities necessary to fight back against those obstacles if they were to come up. It was a matter of practicality that she learned how to run away.

made by eden @ gs and thq

[Nōhime Ren]

"okada by choice". "I fight to save everyone, and I live thanks to everyone. That's who I am!" INDULGE IN THE REQUEST He was not really expecting the girl to request training from him, so he blinked twice, mouth agape, and rather dumbfounded. When he noticed that, his cheeks flared a bit and he shook his head a bit and then nodded. "Uh, sure. I... I think I can spare the time to help a fellow Rock shinobi, yes." he said, his tone not showing a lot of certainty, but there was still a willingness to help in his expression. Awa would then admit she was not strong enough, and that she needed to learn how to get away from people. "Hey... Don't uh, don't beat yourself down. Body Flicker is an useful technique, and I will happily teach it to you. So... Hmmm... Let's go to the training field over there." he said, pointing in the direction of the nearest public training ground. The private ones were located further away from the city, and he didn't seem concerned about the prospect of other people seeing them training that technique; it was basic enough that it wouldn't provide potential enemies any useful intel out of it. Ren would then walk over there, and look back to see if the girl was following him, and when he noticed she was he nodded and gave her his naturally awkward smile. And once they were finally there, he would turn around so they could face each other. "I want you to understand something. If you should lose, not only does your future end, but also the future of the one you are trying to protect. Defeat isn't an option for the sword that protects others. You should keep that thought engraved in your heart." Training Training Field [Awa Uta] [246 words]

[Awa Uta]

a Noble or an Idol

Nōhime Ren The Anti-Okada 234

"Thank you, Ren-San.” Uta gave a deep bow, mostly out of respect, and in many ways to hide the embarrassment on her face having to ask a question like this to someone she knew so tangentially. This wasn’t a time to get beaten down by her nerves, however. She had to do her best to make sure she could survive during the exams. And so she had no problem following Ren to the training field. She just hoped that she would be an easy student for the shinobi. She didn’t want to take up too much of his time. She also wanted to avoid the chance that she blacked out. She always seemed to do so in practice. Any combat practice at least. She didn’t know what happened to her, but people usually praised her afterwards. Apparently she was actually pretty decent during her black outs. No matter how many times she heard that she didn’t really believe it. "I know the concept behind the move,” why was Uta still trying to make this sound like an easy job? He had already agreed, she didn’t have to further convince him. "Sorry,” and now she was apologizing, even she wasn’t sure what for, "It’s a lot like the substitution thing they taught us in the academy, but umm… faster. And without and logs. Right?”

made by eden @ gs and thq

[Nōhime Ren]

"okada by choice". "I fight to save everyone, and I live thanks to everyone. That's who I am!" A DEMONSTRATION "No need to thank me. It is my duty to help a feelow Rock shinobi. Especially considering your participation in the Chuunin Exams. We need to make sure you are as prepared as you can get." he said with a rather serious tone as he stretched his limbs a bit, preparing for the training that was about to begin. He gave the girl an acknowledging nod. "Good, that saves us some time covering the very fundamental of it. It is not entirely different from the substitution technique. However..." he said, lifting his index finger. "You don't need to tether your chakra to an object. Instead, you should focus all of your chakra into your body, and focusing on moving to the location you want. It is, however, quite the straining technique. We can only use it a handful of times before straining our bodies, so... This training won't be the easiest. Now... Let me demonstrate." And with a single hand seal, his body would vanish from place and reappear at the opposite edge of the training ground in an instant, almost as if he had teleported himself. "See?" he asked her. "I want you to understand something. If you should lose, not only does your future end, but also the future of the one you are trying to protect. Defeat isn't an option for the sword that protects others. You should keep that thought engraved in your heart." Training Shows the Body Flicker Technique [Awa Uta] [206 words]

[Awa Uta]

a Noble or an Idol

Nōhime Ren The Anti-Okada 272

The concept she was being given seemed easy enough. Instead of worrying about an object to replace her, if she just focused solely on increasing her own ability than she could put more effort into moving away. It would make her much faster, or at least that was the idea. The demonstration from Ren certainly made that seem true, the girl taking a moment to scan the battlefield before he heard Ren’s voice pointing her to the right location. Her eyes widened see just how much distance such a simple technique had allowed him to travel. "Okay,” The girls expression grew inquisitive as she thought deeper about the concept being presented to her, "But this isn’t a Taijutsu, it’s a ninjutsu technique. So am I pouring my chakra into my legs, or is it my whole body? Or am I supposed to be like directing my chakra towards the place I want to end up?” She often did this when talking about jutsu, it wasn’t about the practice, she wanted to examine the mechanics. She viewed jutsu like a science for her to analyze. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, copying the hand sign she saw the makeshift sensei form. She decided to go with her middle idea, letting her chakra flow strongly throughout her, viewings this as a way to basically use the chakra to push her body the proper direction. Her body seemed to flicker for a moment, but she simply moved a few steps forward, and immediately fell flat on her face as if she had tripped over something.

made by eden @ gs and thq

[Nōhime Ren]

"okada by choice". "I fight to save everyone, and I live thanks to everyone. That's who I am!" NO QUITE RIGHT He shook his head when she mentioned Taijutsu. "Despite improving your ability to move, it does so with more chakra than physical enhancement, so it is still a Ninjutsu technique. You may find it helpful to spread the chakra more evenly through your body... But as for the place you are going to be. This technique is movement, not space time. So you are actually just leaping that way extremely fast. So... As long as you direct yourself properly, it should work out well." he explained, and even though he didn't have a lot of conviction on his tone. He was not really used to instructing people in general; he was still fairly young himself, and was never in a position of an instructor, having gone mostly towards operation team positions ever since he became a Chuunin. He watched her try, and when she failed, he sighed, shaking his head. "Did you use enough chakra? Because you need enough to cover the distance you intend to." he said, not really sure if that was where she got it wrong. Well, they would have to keep on trying. Eventually they would have to get it right... Right? "I want you to understand something. If you should lose, not only does your future end, but also the future of the one you are trying to protect. Defeat isn't an option for the sword that protects others. You should keep that thought engraved in your heart." Training Kuwana's Training Grounds [Awa Uta] [210 words]

[Awa Uta]

a Noble or an Idol

Nōhime Ren The Anti-Okada 236

She had been at least slightly hopeful that she would have managed this on the first try, but that certainly didn’t seem a likely event. She wasn’t entirely sure what she had done wrong, but starting by adding more chakra at least appeared to be the best option available to her at the moment. At the very least it was a good place to start. She stood up and dusted herself off, looking over at Ren and nodding her head to show that she understood his advice. How much chakra had she used before, and how high to increase its flow, was the bigger question.  "Ren-sama,” the formality that Uta had grown up with made itself quickly apparent when she talked to people she didn’t know too well, "I had always meant to ask you, what are the issues with you and the Okada… a lot of that was going on before I moved to the village, but I guess I just don’t… understand it?” Uta knew very little about Ren, she didn’t know his history, she didn’t even know he had Okada blood in him. In all reality she only knew his name and his rank, their interactions having been so limited in the past, but the term "anti-Okada” always seemed to come up when his name did.

made by eden @ gs and thq

[Nōhime Ren]

"okada by choice". "I fight to save everyone, and I live thanks to everyone. That's who I am!" ANTI-OKADA Before the girl tried to use the technique, she spoke is name and he turned to look at her. "Yes?" he asked, and then she dropped a question on him that was rather complex and one he would rather not have to discuss, but the girl didn't seem like the type who would just let it go, so it was better to give her an explanation, as incomplete as it may be, so that they could move on from the topic. Still, he couldn't really blame her for asking, as he was known by the moniker of Anti-Okada in their Hidden Village. "Well... It's my problem, so I would rather not talk too much about it. But to give you at least some light on the matter... Well... You see, we are family. I'm related to them by blood, and I would rather not be. Is that good enough?" he sighed deeply and sharply, folding his arms in front of his chest and gazing away. "But this topic is not important... Let's just focus on the training, shall we?" he said, trying to really get as far away as possible from the topic. "I want you to understand something. If you should lose, not only does your future end, but also the future of the one you are trying to protect. Defeat isn't an option for the sword that protects others. You should keep that thought engraved in your heart." Training Kuwana's Training Grounds [Awa Uta] [205 words]