[Okami Shizuka]

Wolf of the Infinite

Thumbing the ring on his kunai, the boy was deep in reflection. A blade so basic, yet deadly all the same. How many met their demise to this weapon? With the emergence of chakra, their use diminished, but in the hands of a skilled shinobi... anything could prove to be fatal. Flipping it around his fingers, the display of his dexterity with the blade was clear. As familiar as his own hand, the extension of a blade such as this or even the shuriken felt natural to hold. He had done it his entirely life anyway. Deadly accurate and quick to fire, Shizuka was almost always on point with his targets.

A flick. The faint whistle of air passing through the ring. The dull thud of metal splitting wood. Shizuka was grounded in the tradition of ninja, having lecture after lecture, demo after demo on the subject. Fundamental uses of tools and weapons were ingrained into his head. It was a natural for a family such as the Okami. While by no means specific to their family, the fact that they have learned so many ways to use their arsenal to come out the victor was impressive. It was no different for the boy. He aimed to hone his craft, to use each weapon in his arsenal to defend his home and kin. He had to, he was a shinobi.

On the ground in front of him lay his scroll, partially unrolled to reveal a few of his items, notably his fuma shuriken, formerly his mother's. Uncommon among the Okami who favored the sword. She was heralded as the imminent fuma user in the village, many feared her skills with the weapon. He wasn't nearly as skilled as his mother, but he was on the right track. He knew several jutsu involving the blade, even the one his mother used: Kamaitachi no Himei.

Named after a yokai, the sickle weasel, the jutsu was just as quick and lethal as the tales say of the mythical beast.

Kneeling down, he unsealed the shuriken, feeling the familiar grip in his hand once again before standing back up. metal on metal clacking told of the weapon's unique, floating center as he brought it over his head.

Breathing slowly, the boy briefly closing his eyes, focusing on the flow of chakra in his body. Slowly and deliberately, Shizuka rose the shuriken over above his head, allowing chakra to flow through the tenketsu in his hand.

Unlocking, the blades began to whir to life, starting slow, whirling their way around the circular handle guard. Continuing to focus, he began to allow more of his energy flow into the weapon, careful to keep his control steady. Then came his nature enhancement, compressing his chakra, shaping it like fine paper. The shuriken reacted, spinning faster, like a pinwheel in a storm.

Gripping his arm with his free hand to steady it, he opened his eyes, the glow of his glacial blue eyes a stark contrast to his fair face. Faster still his weapon spun as the howling began. It was called the scream of the kamaitachi for a reason. Every time this skill was launched it was sent screeching downrange until it came into contact with it's target.

Fuuton: Kamaitachi no Himei..

Marked on a scroll, the words marked by his unique communication skill spelled his soundless words. Around him the excited winds whipped up small rocks leaves, ruffling his hair as well. His plan today was to see how strong he could make this jutsu. How much damage could it caused if he charged it longer, focused on it harder, refined his chakra control better.

Slowly sliding his foot out to plant himself firmly, readying himself. In one quick motion he brought his hand down, launching the shuriken.

In a blink, it was over.

The speed at which the shuriken went, far faster than he could through with his natural strength meant it landed into target dummy at a speed that felt nearly instant from the distance he was standing from. The target dummy he had been aiming for had been obliterated long before the projectile was done, continuing to travel until it was forced to stop by the stone wall far behind the training ground.

His only skill ranked at B, it was his most powerful ability, and one that was simple to understand. it was meant to eliminate his enemies.

Winded himself at the exertion he put into that technique, bending over and huffing to catch his breath, he wondered if skills like that could even be made more dangerous from the level of chakra put into them. Was he even going about this the right way?

Nothing he could think of could have changed the outcome of his failed mission. Since then it was just one frustration after another. He grew impatient and irritated at his own inability, a notion made obvious to him. When he was alone this is what he thought about. It was a side of him other people didn't see. It was a darkness, an abyss that threatened to consume him.

OWL

[Nohime Yoshiko]

What appeared to be a large eagle would go from circling the air above, to suddenly coming down to the earth. Unnaturally it dove talons first to the ground, it's wings spread as it'd seemingly fall from the very sky right behind the Nekomata training. It's appearance moments before landing would change in a sudden burst of smoke. As it did so the sound of clapping hands would follow.

"Very impressive technique!" The familiar voice of the Nohime would exclaim from the clearing smoke, as she'd reveal she'd been the one watching curiously over Iwagakure's training grounds. It was her own type of training, it was also her way of keeping an inconspicuous eye over things. Once again and as though always present, her smile would shine through possibly revealed first as the dust cleared.

Forget the fact she'd been flying or better yet floating, she would seem to be impressed by the jutsu which exhausted the genin. The expectations of one shinobi over another would always change the value of their accomplishments. Ultimately it mattered less who was the best and more who had the will and ability to get better.

"Training alone can be risky. You could pass out and hurt yourself on all the lovely rocks." The Nohime would state with her typical joy though, she'd sort of gesture to the many rocks and stones about which could be a serious threat. Reaching behind herself, she'd pull out a canteen of water and extend it to boy. "Here you should have a drink."

She'd simultaneously extend the water, as she'd peer around the male, as to observe the damage done to the dummy and subsequent rock wall in the background. A clear impressed whistle, as she'd nod with a smirk. "Quite the performance, albeit I could sense quite a bit of chakra burn. Use this technique a lot?" The kunoichi would pry curiously, as she'd roughly guess too much use of this technique would in fact be probably over tax the genin.

Words. -- Tags. Okami Shizuka Notes. Notes go here wheee and you can get as long or as short as you want because it doesn't matter. And do you wanna know why that is? Is it because you think this scrolls? Well you'd be right. It does scroll. Pat yourself on the back my good man. You are smart. Smart little man.

Template by Kuroya of THQ & GS.

[Okami Shizuka]

Wolf of the Infinite Nohime Yoshiko

When the burst of smoke revealed none other than the head jonin, bewildered cat noises could be heard from the nekoshounen as he whirled around and hopped back from the source of the sound. Taking in her features in his momentary state of heightened adrenaline, he confirmed something. It wasn't just the lighting in that restaurant they were in. She was exceptionally beautiful. Flawless like a garnet amidst the earth. Idle thoughts swarmed his brain in his momentary loss of composure, broken only when she reached out to hand him the canteen of water.

Hiding his blush the best he could, he took the flask and took a few short sips, savoring the taste. One of the many wonders of Tsuchi no Kuni was the mineral water they sourced locally. Flavored and filtered by countless precious stone, their water was among the purest in the known world.

Having sated his need for hydration, he handed back the canteen using both of his hands, a gesture of modesty and humility, of respect. Then once she took it, bowing lower than he normally would upon a greeting of a friend or peer. He had been expecting her but he was still glad she bothered to come.

Notating his technique, she had a point. He had a lot of chakra in his nervous system thanks to his nekomata lineage. But his control could use some work. It wasn't bad by any stretch, even among those within the chuunin rank, but he was far more precise with his weapons than the use of chakra. Often times his weapon was used as the catalyst so he didn't have to focus too much on what form it was trying to take, using his weapons as a stencil of sorts.

The fact he was practicing this jutsu was proof he was learning to expand his ninjutsu capabilities. Still classified as a weapon technique, it functioned closer to a ninjutsu. It used the Okami family's not-so-secret ability to create sharpened and extended forms with their chakra, increasing not only it's lethality but it's danger zone as well.

Still huffing a little bit, he whipped out a tag and quickly wrote his reply before flicking it over to her, feeling more comfortable than ever in talking to her in this manner.

Nohime Oneesan has the right of it. It is true that using that technique was tiring...

And another tag.

A technique very important to me. It is the last thing from my mother that I own. It is named after the sickle weasel yokai. Fast and lethal.

Using the handsign that is meant to return the fuma back to his hand, the shuriken broke free and whirled it's way back to his side where he caught the handle, the blade spokes still fanning around the base until they finally locked, the sound of the stoppers clicking into place.

Shizuka's is... flawed. An imitation of the technique their mother used. It has been said the Kamaitachi no Himei from the Okami family heiress could split a mountain, could level a forest, could sever the ties of even the closest bonds. This weapon. It is her heirloom. Part of her destiny she passed to us. To me. In reality, Shizuka is better in melee, better in using sword and claw. They practice so hard in shurikenjutsu to follow the destiny they inherited.

They said, sighing, flicking another tag.

Maybe this one is going about it all wrong. Do I risk being great at nothing to be merely acceptable at everything?

Their finger hot from all that they wrote, Shizuka looked down at his shuriken one last time before placing it off to the side and pulling out his weapon scroll. Many slots were empty still. Since graduating from the academy, he had yet to acquire his own collection of the weapons he used most when training. A straight bladed sword, a pair of tekko-kagi, even a sickle with chain. His expertise in several weapons was a pride he was willing to accept, but does his versatility come at a cost? Should he pick one and stick to it?

Maybe his head jonin had some answers.

OWL