[Suzuki Taru]

As was typical for her mornings these days, Taru rose early, heading out to the training grounds to continue her archery practice. She'd gotten into a steady routine with it, warming up with her traditional exercises before getting right to the range to practice her running shots and her shots from the trees.

She'd also been steadily working her way up in bow weights, training her ability to make these kinds of shots even with the resistance of heavier bows. After saving up money from missions she'd commissioned a blacksmith to help make her a really heavy bow, so she needed to be ready to put it to work once the design was done and in her hands!

Taking a break from her morning routine to drink some water and cool down, she eyed the lake, wondering if practicing shooting from on top of the water, or even under the water was a good idea.

That was when she spotted Ikana! It seemed the two were running into each other a lot lately. Taru wasn't one to let a friend to their own devices, so she picked up her stuff and jogged over, waving enthusiastically.

"Good mooorning, Ikana-chan," she greeted. "What are you working on today? Can I help? Did you have breakfast?" Maybe she should wait for Ikana to answer one question before asking another.

[Miyamoto Ikana]

It'd been pretty nice to have a regular to hang out with. Between training, D-Rank assignments, and running her store, it could get a little bit hectic. Missions and her shop was a bit of a hassle, so often she'd spend a long time preparing equipment in advance. With the use of Shadow Clones, she could at this point in time easily pump out hundreds of explosive seals a day, folding them into paper bomb balls, or individual tags of varying strength for the job. Often they'd get sold to the government in bulk, miners, and or the casual Shinobi customer. Easy enough.

Specialized equipment came in commission, and usually were quite expensive depending on the order. Ranging from seals made along bracers or otherwise. As a small local business, Ikana was thriving on the entrepreneur spirit. Really, she had been, ever since Minako had helped her get her license for her stand. Well, stand now store. It really wasn't that bad! Especially as Kirigakure's general economy was beginning to drastically expand and more Shinobi were entering the workforce. Often this meant that between training and missions? She had a lot of free time for herself now.

She was absent mindedly thinking as she made her way to the training field. Thinking about a number of things. Namely her shop's rent, the taxes she needed to pay, the various projects she had, as well as her hope of getting a few clerks working her shop so that they could sell her wares for her, allowing her shop to run for a time so long as she had a fair supply of goods made before hand. Overall? Ikana could happily say she was a proud business owner and an example of a rags to riches story through hard work and dedication. Cool. Right? Now all she needed to do was advance her Shinobi career.

Namely as she'd been training her Suiton, as well as her reflexes. A voice calls out.

"Taru-Chan? Funny meeting you here! I was working on getting some training done! As well as catching some breakfast at the same time! Care to join me?" She waved charismatically, standing with her hands along her hips as she nears the lake's surface.

[Suzuki Taru]

Ikana waved back at Taru. It seemed she was in good spirits today, which was great news. Taru skidded to a halt just in front of her friend. Jamming a hand into her bag, she pulled out her own breakfast. It was a very humble thing, a small package containing some slices of ogura toast. She bit into one of the slices greedily, clearly hungry after her morning workout, then offered another slice to Ikana.

"I brought a little bit to eat if you want some." Was Ikana planning on fishing in the lake? That was also a great idea! Taru had spent a lot of time messing around in the water and interacting with the wildlife, but she'd never actually going fishing for a meal in the lake. Or maybe Ikana had just brought some breakfast along and the lake wasn't actually part of her plan at all.

"I'd love to join you for training, though! I'm training, too. I've been trying to practice my archery," she explained, before taking another bite of her toast. She probably didn't need to explain, though, given the fact that she had a bow on one shoulder and a rickety quiver of arrows at her hip. They all looked a little beat-up. She'd clearly been using them a lot.

"What are you working on?"

[Miyamoto Ikana]

"Oh? Toast?" She found herself a little bit more than intrigued as she claps her hands together. "I feel like I could help us make the meal a little bit heartier." It was within the next moment, Ikana found herself taking a very deep breath. Sliding her sleeves upwards, she shows a set of bracers, and adorned on them seemed to be a sealing array formula written in ink. Where Ikana would then begin to rapidly flick her hands along them, and as she did, with several fluid motions, wooden Kunai began flying out towards the lake's surface, and around each, there rested wrapped around them a line of crimson paper. She tossed out ten or so in just a few seconds.

"Katsu!" She calls out, holding the tiger seal. Before long, each of the slips glow a crimson red before exploding outwards in a tall burst of water high into the air, the pillar columns sinking as water rains down upon the lake's surface. A small rainbow forming in the morning light. Before long? Several fish float to the surface, flipped upside down. Either dead from the blast, or stunned out of their senses. Ikana normally wouldn't fish like this, but she had a bit of an agenda to fill today. It was a good time. Whistling, she found herself counting. Bit over a dozen good sized fish at least. Maybe more.

Taking out a scroll from her belt, she opens it up, and unseals herself a straw basket. As she rests it on the water's edge, walking then atop the surface of the water.

"Some Suiton training today. Maybe afterwards, some reflex training."

[Suzuki Taru]

So Ikana was planning to fish! Taru watched with interest as Ikana produced a bunch of kunai to toss into the water along with exploding seals. And then after a few seconds, Ikana set the tags to burst. Columns of water launched into the air. Taru made an excited sound, throwing her hands in the air. Explosive stuff was always so cool and impressive to look at, especially when it had the dramatics of water alongside it.

Then fish floated to the surface, and Ikana went upon the water to start picking up the fish. That was a really good haul! Maybe a bit of a loud and startling way to fish, but certainly a cool one.

"Wow! That was really impressive. It's an efficient way to fish," Taru complimented. She hopped onto the water to begin doing a jog around, just to get out the excess energy she worked up seeing something so cool. "Do people do that kind of thing often? I've never been fishing before. We don't fish in Kashiwa." The fish weren't safe to eat.

Oh, oh right, the point was training.

"Maybe I can help you out with some of your training! Like, uhm... I could fire off my arrows at you while you block with water," she suggested. "Or maybe we could do a challenge to try to catch fish where you use suiton and I use my arrows."

[Miyamoto Ikana]

"...Eh?" Ikana found herself slowly standing atop the water's surface, chakra running to her legs as she formed a few handseals. "It's enough to catch fish for a while. I'll have some of these smoked, some eaten fresh. Some dried or pickled." Ikana as an orphan with a dubious history with food often found herself treasuring food. She didn't waste anything. Anything. "I don't think people do it too often though. Maybe just once in a while." Slowly, she focuses her chakra, and with it, she calls forth.

"Suiton: Suirou no Jutsu." Water Prison Technique. She extends her hand outward, and focusing on the chakra, she gathers it along the water's surface, slowly dragging her arm along the surface as she then forms a tiger seal. "Suiton: Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu..." Closing her eyes in concentration, she forms a single water clone doppleganger. It forms and rises slowly from the water's depth before it stands solidly in place. Taking defining features as it steps forth. Grasping a fish, then two by the gill flaps, bringing them closer and throwing them into the depths of the water prison itself. Essentially creating an isolated tank. Small bubbles floating with each fish that was gradually tossed in.

"...Kashiwa?...I've never been there. How's life there like?"

As for training? I'd be all for it. I'd be all for blocking and dodging your arrows. As best I can. Sounds like it's an interesting challenge. Would help me get my instincts a little bit sharper too. Now that I think about it."

[Suzuki Taru]

Ikana created a watery prison, a giant orb of water, right out of the lake, and began to store the fish inside of it. That was an interesting way to transport them! It seemed Ikana had a lot of neat tricks at her disposal. Did she really need to train more suiton? Taru guessed there were always things for a person to learn.

As she worked, she asked Taru about life in Kashiwa.

"It's a very small village. I liked it there a lot growing up! Everyone knows everyone and we live very close to the spirits of nature. I guess the rest of the village is more intimidated by them, though... They always talk about not going into the forest, because of the dangerous animals and spirits within. I liked to wander in there and explore. After I connected with the spirits of the forest, I came here to the village..." Well, really, her parents sent her away because they didn't know how to handle the sudden out-pour of chakra, but Taru had never been troubled by that.

As she spoke, she took her bow off her back and began to ready it. She also prepped her arrows by putting on the blunted heads instead of the sharp ones. Neither of them were medics, so she wasn't looking to really stab Ikana with an arrow!

When the practice heads were ready to go, she nocked an arrow. "Let me know when you're ready and I'll start letting them fly!"

[Miyamoto Ikana]

"...I guess my erh...childhood?" She seemed to think about if it was apt to call it that considering she still pretty much was a kid. "Was like that. Except we grew up in a depressing orphanage. Every orphan knew every orphan, but didn't really "know" them. Kids stole from one another, and it was always a hustle to get by." She thought back to those days. Before she was a Genin, before she aspired to be a Kunoichi even. It was dark times, everyone felt outcasted, and there never was enough to eat. At least until there came incentive to join the academy.

There, every student had the potential to get steady work, and the promise of food alone was enough to get a number of people to sign up. All it cost them now was their loyalty, their devotion, and at times, their lives. Ikana was a lot more cynical, and it wasn't uncommon at times in the worst of Kirigakure's situation to occasionally see a dead orphan. After all. Kirigakure was recovering from numerous problems. War. The Sanbi breaking free from its binds. It made Ikana appreciate her elevation out of poverty, granted, it didn't necessarily mean she was happy with everything. It came at a cost.

"...Spirits huh? Any ghosts? I hear Kiri has a lot of those." As her clone gathered all the fish, she found herself swinging her arm, pivoting on her body, as she carefully swings the water prison over her basket, letting the fish drop all at the same time. Putting a lid over the top and tying it straight, she slowly sets the basket into the water as to let the fish get some air. If any were dead, maybe she'd use them to catch mudcrabs later. Those were good eating.

That said, Ikana looks towards Taru and her heavy bow. Looking at the projectiles she held. Observing them sharply with an eye. Huh. "...That bow must hold a lot of force. I've never fought an archer before." Ikana believed she had a keen sense of instinct, but she didn't know much about arrows. She knew the shaft might be semi flexible, as to adjust for the air, a reverberation through it, but she didn't know how devastating how an arrow could be. Especially from a ninja. That was something for her to consider, and before long? Ikana stood atop the water's surface, her body crouched to make her a somewhat smaller target. Her water clone having been dispersed earlier.

Taking the liberty to hold her hand in a singular handseal, she looks upwards.

"Show me how sharp your eyes are."

[Suzuki Taru]

The orphanage... There were a lot of orphans in Kirigakure because of all the tragedies that had befallen the village. Taru had been lucky to be spared most of them. She'd been in the academy during the Sanbi attack and had witnessed the great beast while being evacuated, but all her family lived far from the village, avoiding the turmoil of both the civil war and the tailed beast's havoc. But many people hadn't had that fortune. Taru wondered when Ikana's parents might've passed...

She elected not to ask. It sounded like Ikana had had a really hard life, and she probably didn't want to recount all that right now.

"I haven't met any ghosts personally," Taru admitted. "At least, I don't think so. It can be hard to tell. A spirit that really thinks it's still alive can be convincing," she explained. "I went on a hike once with a boy who showed us the peak of a great mountain. And then he disappeared. He might've been a ghost." Or maybe just the spirit of the mountain, wanting to be recognized.

"Arrows can move really fast," she warned Ikana. If she'd never fought an archer before, she might be thinking of if like throwing speed, but it was quite a bit faster. Especially with a heavy bow like Taru's.

Taru pulled back her arm with careful form, her muscles taut. Then she loosed the arrow. She didn't know how Ikana would dodge yet, so she just aimed straight at Ikana's center mass.

[Miyamoto Ikana]

The next few moments were pretty interesting. Taru said she hadn't met ghosts, but she did meet spirits. That maybe they could have been, but might not have. She found herself thinking about that potential, before she was met with the meeting of arrows. How they could move fast, and that was a warning Ikana was quick to heed. "Understood..." It was there that she looked upon her, she could see the arm pulling back. Ikana found herself uncertain on what was coming her way, but mentally prepared.

As Taru aimed for her center of mass, she figured why not start simply? Forming a few short handseals, she leaps backwards onto the water's surface, applying chakra to her feet. Nodding her head, she gave Taru the go to, to fire. "Suiton: Suijinheki!" Ikana calls out, and with it, the water rises and ripples, not as a straight and solid mass wall, but a rippling and torrential one, looking to disperse the force of the arrow and cause it to knock back, or sink within its depths. The Suijinheki at this period of time was Ikana's most powerful Suiton jutsu. Though after it's usage? She would swiftly behind it's depths utilize a swift burst of movement, running rapidly along the water's surface. A burst of water behind her as she moved at her full speed.

Looking to become a target, difficult to track and assault. Ikana was quite versed in tricks, so hopefully, she'd be able to entertain Taru more than a little. Otherwise? Maybe she'd learn a little bit herself on how to face this dangerous new weapon. For now? Ikana made her way closer to the center of the lake, where her options of facing Taru were the best, and looking to take advantage of anything she could to her benefit. Taking into her mind what she had around her. A few pieces of driftwood, a particularly big looking moss log. So it begins. 

[Suzuki Taru]

Whoa! Ikana formed a jet of water to act as a defensive barrier. The arrow struck against it, a fine piercing point, but didn't manage to make it very far. There was a big difference between air and water's viscosity, which could really slow down an arrow and reduce its power. With a pointed arrow tip the arrow might've stood a better chance of breaking the tension, but with the blunted head the water jet really stopped it in its tracks and made it fall to the water.

Then Ikana took off, running at full speed across the water and using the features of the lake as defensive barriers. Taru's eyes were alight - it was clear she was excited for the challenge. She jumped forward onto the water as well, quickly scooping her arrow up before it could sink too far to be retrieved. She'd have to do a swimming mission to find her poor arrows after this training session, she was sure!

Taru took aim again, carefully tracking Ikana's movement. Then she fired, one, two arrows in quick succession, trying to arc one of them up and over to flush Ikana out of cover while the other took aim for the spot Ikana would hopefully run - there was a lot to carefully calculate when it came to using an arrow in combat, but Taru had been practicing for months now.

[Miyamoto Ikana]

Confronted with the arrow dispersed, and now moving at a rapid speed, she saw Taru's own approach towards her. Taking the liberty to pull back with practiced precision. Ikana wasn't familiar with the trajectory and hadn't adjusted to the speed properly just yet. However, it seemed as if she didn't have much time to contemplate such a fact. For the next moment with a whistle would reveal an arrow slamming into the water at considerable speed and power, a pause as the water ripples and rises. Before then, Ikana comes out running from the right. Ptwang! The sound of another whistle as the arrow comes speeding for the young girl. It was here that Ikana attempts to take a swift action.

"Konoha Repuu!" Sweeping her leg low, she does a twisting rotation as she applies chakra to her legs, utilizing her bodily movement to in a fluid moment kick one of the larger pieces of driftwood upwards, sending it flying and spinning towards the arrow in the next moment. Not necessarily looking to stop it entirely in mid air, but to divert its force just enough potentially to narrowly miss Ikana herself. Before the young brunette hops backwards, her arms shifting as she takes a deep breath, as the arrow might rip into the wood and crack and splinter it, ripping through the water at her side. It was good practice for her to dodge in such a manner like this.

Taking a deep breath? She begins to weave another handseal sequence. As she attempts then to play to the challenging game. "Suiton: Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!" She calls forth, raising her right hand high into the air, as the water begins to rise into two perfect duplicates of the original Ikana. Though. It was there also that with a twisting motion of an arm, she hurls a ball out onto the surface of the lake. A flash bomb! Looking to make it explode in the reflection of the water, as to obscure vision for them all, Ikana's clones scatter. Left flank. Right flank. Beginning to circle and run away and around Taru. Where she'd use the sound of their watery footsteps to use another technique.

Mizugakure no Jutsu. Slipping and melding into the lake itself, hidden away as she seeks to observe from her hiding place the battle ensue. A use of tactics and a diverse knowledge of water release techniques to assist her here.

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Suiton: Mizugakure no Jutsu [Water Release: Hiding in Water Technique]

RANK: D

CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low

CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu

ELEMENT: Suiton

DESCRIPTION:



This Jutsu allows the user to blend in and merge with water, even as small an amount as a puddle, to go undetected by the enemy. While hidden in the water they are unable to move and must stay still. This makes the jutsu good for ambushes and surprise attacks, as it allows the user to appear then vanish without a trace.



Name:Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu - [Water Clone Technique]

Rank:C

CHAKRA USAGE: Low (per clone)

Type:Ninjutsu

Element:Suiton

HANDSEALS: 1

Description:

Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu is a Ninjutsu that utilizes water to create a Bunshin clone. Unlike a normal Bunshin, the Mizu Bunshin has the ability to interact more with the environment due to it having physical substance. This allows the clone to carry out limited attacks on its target. The range of the clone is limited however, it can not travel very far from the original body. If the Mizu Bunshin is injured, the clone will usually revert back into its natural water state.

[Suzuki Taru]

Ikana kicked a piece of driftwood up, blocking the arrow and diverting its course, preventing it from hitting her directly. Its blunted head meant it lacked the piercing power of a regular arrow, so when it struck the driftwood it bounced off to the side, sending the driftwood and itself twisting through the air in opposite directions. Ikana responded to threats in an interesting way - rather than focusing on moving and dodging outright, she focused heavily on blocking using suiton or her environment.

Ikana formed a set of clones, then set off a flashbang on the water. Taru brought her arm up to cover her eyes, defending her vision against the bright flash of light. But that meant she couldn't see Ikana for a second, and when she looked back, she spotted only two of the girl, the third missing. Most probably, the real Ikana had gone into hiding, but there was still a chance one of the two she saw was the real Ikana and a clone had simply gone elsewhere.

For now, she needed to focus her attention on the two immediate threats.

Taru backed up, trying to prevent herself from being totally flanked by the two clones so she could keep both in her line of sight at once. She nocked another arrow and sent it flying towards the right-Ikana's feet, then turned to the left-Ikana and aimed for center mass. She'd learned this in her training with Asahi, but archery against clones was really quite tricky.

[Miyamoto Ikana]

In reality, Ikana had hidden right within the water, blending in quite excellently as she used the momentary dispersion to divide Taru's attention. As well as to watch. For as the clones found themselves splitting to the right and left, attempting to flank, it did do what Ikana intended. It divided the attention of her friendly target. Taru retreated, and proceeded to nock an arrow, firing one for the feet of the clone to the right, before swiftly alternating target and firing for the left Ikana's chest. How powerful and swift Taru was. The original thought to herself, observing the strength it must have taken to pull that heavy bow's string back several times in quick succession.

The first water clone would retreat backwards, taking a big leap, as the arrow sinks with its downward arc into the water's surface. Whereas the second clone proceeds to pivot and twist to the side as best as possible, it's arms outstretched as the arrow blitzes. Ikana had found herself observing the bow and finding a rather apt description. A bow had a relative line of sight that could be predicted before the arrow was shot. It wasn't as far as Ikana was concerned going to suddenly arc or twist directions, or bend its trajectory in mid air. Not like a Shuriken might. Instead? It sacrificed that for the prospect of greater destructive power, greater range, and piercing capability.

Then again. Ikana didn't know everything. The clones sought to distract Taru yet again. This time, one taking out a kunai, flipping it out from a holster, and then the one to the opposite side, slowly looking to get closer and circle her. As Ikana looked to swim beneath the water and closer to Taru in the process. Holding her breath beneath the water's surface. It was an entertaining thing to see. How an Archer fought. Though, she did come to have a better question. How did an archer fight when an opponent reached closer ranges such as this?

[Suzuki Taru]

The two water clones dodged, their approaches at least slightly stalled by having to avoid the arrow strikes. Still, they were getting closer, and Taru still didn't know where the remaining Ikana was, which was troublesome. Taru was good at close-quarters combat, so that wasn't especially concerning to her, but utilizing a bow in close-quarters combat wasn't really feasible.

Bows weren't great melee weapons. They had most of their weight balanced in the center, which made them poor objects to swing around, their ends not likely to do much blunt damage. If she was focusing on archery, she needed to keep her distance, something much harder with multiple foes.

Shifting her grip on the bow, she turned it to the side, something which made it easier to aim while in close-quarters, or while remaining coiled to make motion easy.

She fired at the right-Ikana again, then quickly shouldered her bow to form some hand seals. Mist began to rise from the water, blanketing the area around them and making it harder for Ikana to see Taru.

That was something important to facing multiple opponents as a single person. Then she formed another set of hand seals to form illusory clones. She had no ability to create real clones of her own, so she needed to rely on the academy falsehoods. She drew up another arrow, keeping low on the water and creeping, listening for movement on the water that could signal where she should fire.

SPOILER: Click to show

Name:Kirigakure no Jutsu - [Hidden Mist Technique]
Rank:D
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
Type:Ninjutsu
Element:Suiton
HANDSEALS: 3
Requirement:Kirigakure Shinobi Only
Description:

Kirigakure no Jutsu is a Ninjutsu utilized by Hidden Mist ninja. The ninja causes the surrounding area to be covered in fog. The low visibility allows the ninja to silently and secretly assassinate their target.

NAME: Bunshin no Jutsu [Clone Technique]
RANK: E
CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu [General]
ELEMENT: None
HANDSEALS: 3
DESCRIPTION:

After performing the necessary hand seals, the user can create a handful of intangible clones to confuse the enemy. They do not contain solid mass, have no shadows and do not interact with the surrounding environment, making them somewhat easy to distinguish from the real person.