[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Today was the last day in this horrid building. The place that had built her, had broke her, and had saved her. Overall, more good than bad if one did not count the injustice that came with her time in the academy itself, and after she was gone from this prison it would be shed from her. The time, like old scales would leave her in place for stronger protections. She had managed to reach an end, and soon she would begin to be able to search for her friend after a year of her missing, but today. Today she had to pass a final test, a test not included in the normal curicullum either. She had gone more than once to train with Hyuga Shigure and while he was pleasant to look at, the girl didn't actually like being around him that often. It left a bad taste in her mouth to be stuck with him for a short time, though she couldn't place what it was that actually caused the reaction, her intuition said that he was not someone that she should have too many dealings with. Today was somewhat different, as she had not only approached the man willingly, she had requested a final test of sorts from him, after all tomorrow was her exam, she had to make sure that she was absolutely prepared. It was not a contest of fighting, however, nor an attempt to practice jutsu. Today was pure physical conditioning, or rather checking upon her progress. More than a month back Kojirou-Sensei had helped her turn her Haori into a weight training tool that could be used to transition between weighted and unweighted very easily, and while it wore her down, her body had eventually toned and adjusted to the pressure of the weight on her body at all times. On the track of the academy she weighted, stretching for the test she had requested. TAGGED | Hyūga Shigure NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hyūga Shigure]

"good bye greetings". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." UNEXPECTED REQUEST Shigure had helped Yakitsukeru with her training a few times, the first one by chance, when he was still just a Genin, and the other times whenever she was assigned under his tutelage by the shinobi academy. The girl was quite the handful, but despite that, he really wanted to see her succeed. She was a lonely individual, no family to call her own, and notwithstanding the fact that Shigure did have his family for the most part, he could understand loneliness, and how hurtful it could be. Due to that, he always tried to be more patient and kind to the girl, hoping one day she would realize she didn't need to hold her guard up around him, and that he meant well. This time, however, it was different. The girl herself had requested his assist with her training. Knowing her graduation test was drawing near, he could understand why she would need the training. Still, he would've thought she would be a little too proud to ask for it. "What do I know, right? It's a positive surprise, I believe." he thought to himself, walking with a happy smile on his face as he headed towards the academy training grounds. As today was a normal work day for him, he was wearing his official shinobi attire, flak jacket and all. The first time they met, he gave the girl some Takoyaki, so this time he had made the very same treat for her, only it was so much better tasting; Shigure had improved quite a lot in his cooking skills. Arriving at the training grounds, he saw the girl there and he would wave to her. "Yakitsukeru-san, it's good to see you. I brought you some snacks foe after practice. Takoyaki, remember? I made it myself, and I have to say, this one is much better than the one I gave to you back then!" he winked at her, giving her a thumbs-up before placing the bentoboxes with the food in the corner. Shigure turned to her, resting his hands on his waist and nodded. "So, I hear your graduation is coming up soon." his tone showed a bit of excitement, he remembered his own graduation and how excited he was to receive his forehead protector. Touching his own, he digressed a bit. "I remember my own graduation, and how happy I was to finally become a true shinobi." he added, chuckling lightly. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." Training Academy Training Grounds [Tateyama Yakitsukeru] [407 words]

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

The girl was almost immediately filled with regret for requesting this last session of training from the Hyuga clan heir. While he was good to look at, his personality and that goody-two shoes demeanor made her sick to her stomach. Her mouth would form a sneer that did not translate outside of her scarf, a skill she had been working on since realizing that people really couldn't see her facial expressions below the nose. Keeping a poker face with her eyes and brow had proved fairly simple so far. "Shigure-Sssan. I appreciate the sssentiment, but I would prefer if we dissscusss food after my training hasss taken place," The girl would state in return, blunt as ever. Not disregarding the food, but it could wait for its thanks for after she was done with the workload first. She had been working too hard to let herself get so easily distracted by dinner. Moving in place where she stood between the track and the soft dirt area that the academy had them do most of the physical conditioning that they now did. "Ssso what isss firssst for thisss lassst academy training sssession? I want to prove that I can move jussst asss fassst with the weight asss I usssed to without it persssonally. And maybe show how much stronger I am for it asss well." Yaki wquld ask as she finished her stretches, crossing her arms casually. TAGGED | Hyūga Shigure NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hyūga Shigure]

"good bye greetings". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." TRACK Shigure chuckled lightly when she suggested to discuss food after the training had taken place. "But the food is for after the training indeed. Training with a full stomach is a recipe for throwing up. Believe me, I've experienced that enough to have learned from that." he admitted, remembering of his glutton youth and the price he paid for his poor judgement. In any case, after he placed the bentoboxes in a safe place, he turned back to the girl, who seemed to be quite eager to start her training. He had to admit, seeing her that enthusiastic was quite satisfying. "Well, let's start jogging around the track. First at a leisure pace so that we can warm up our muscles, and then we can progressively increase the speed with each lap, how does that sound?" he suggested with a friendly smile on his face. Not that the suggestion was up for much discussion, him asking for her opinion on the matter was a mere courtesy. The Hyuuga would then move to the starting line and wait for the girl to follow suit. "Four laps with your weighted gear, and four without it, so we can measure the difference in speed. Let me know when you are ready and we can start." he said, grabbing a chronometre from his pocket. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." Training Headed to the starting line of the track [Tateyama Yakitsukeru] [226 words]

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Eight laps, the girl almost scoffed at how light they were going. The academt usually had them running dozens of laps around the track to build stamina, so this was nothing new, nor anything particularly hard for her. Slipping her scarf down so that her mouth was uncovered by the cloth for the purpose of keeping her breath she would move on to the starting line next to Shigure, and they would start soon after. "I sssuppossse thisss isss jussst the ssstart of what we are doing today yesss?" The girl would ask as she moved over the earth like it was natural. Asking a simple question while they jogged a bit to capture their speed as it currently stood. It would be the dark-haired girl who would start pushing the speed a bit as she barely increased her pace into the first lap. Seeming to be barely doing more than a fast walk if one were to call the pace she was going a fast walk though then they were likely tripping on something else entirely. As the first lap came and went she sped up again, moving quicker across the track more of a hustling travel pace that was common for shinobi of her age. Moving further forward she would cross the line a third time. Her pace starting to get to more impressive speeds as it was, but nothing out of the ordinary, if one didn't know she was currently weighed down fairly heavily. As she hit to the forth lap she would move at a full run, her arms behind her as she hunkered forward, shifting all of her weight into her toes as she pushed forward again, "Ready for the gear shift?" Yaki would ask, almost as if to no one. Barely sweating still at this point. TAGGED | Hyūga Shigure NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hyūga Shigure]

"good bye greetings". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." WARMED UP She assumed this was just the start of what they were doing and he nodded. "Oh yeah, I want to see how you doing in regards to your speed, so I can taylor the rest of the training accordingly." he explained with a nod. The two would then start jogging at a leisure pace for the first lap, just to let their body warm up enough so that they could start pushing it harder. As they finished the first lap, they increased the pace, and Shigure was now running at the speed expected of a regular academy student, and Yakitsuketu was keeping up with the speed. That, however, was the bare minimum he expected from her, so no words of praise would be coming out of his mouth just yet. By the end of the fourth lap, she was at a full run, and so was him - albeit taking it quite easy. He was adjusting his pace to match the girl and once they crossed she asked if he was ready to gear shift. The Hyuuga chuckled lightly and nodded. "Now let's see if you can keep up." he teased her. Shigure would then increase his pace to what was expected of an average fresh Genin. To him, keeping that pace was extremely easy, almost no effort required, but he wondered how the girl would handle that as they went through another set of four laps. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." Training Finished warm up, increasing the pace to fresh genin level [Tateyama Yakitsukeru] [245 words]

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

With a breath the young viper formed a handseal, and like a change of attitude in its entirety she would speed up. Freed from her weight-increasing seals she would burst forward and begin to pace with Shigure with ease. As the sixth lap came she would increase pace again to keep with Shigure, starting to actually work to keep up, but she was reaching speeds that were more or less in line with where most genin started to hustle. The seventh lap would be where Yaki would begin to show the most growth though as she would burst forward again, she was no longer trying to pace with Shigure but surpass him. Building as much speed as she could she would clasp her hands again just before the eighth lap, reinacting the weight that was upon her haori and push her momentum just a step higher as the built speed combined with the sudden weight would allow her to burst forward just a bit before she had to turn the weight back off so that she could maintain the all out sprint. Taking no more than forty-five seconds to finish the final lap. Something that was incredible by all standards. Skidding to a stop she would exhale a breath and look up to the sky. Awaiting the next thing from Shigure. TAGGED | Hyūga Shigure NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hyūga Shigure]

"good bye greetings". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." A STEP FURTHER Progressively, Yakitsukeru was keeping up with Shigure. With her graduation so close by, it was a good thing she could keep up with the expected speed of a Genin. "Good job, this is what we expect of a Genin, but let's see where your limit lies, shall we?" again, that was a rhetorical question, still, he couldn't push the girl to his rhythm and catching a breathe was absolutely necessary. Stopping with no much effort, he would rest his hands on his waist and look at the crimson-eyed girl. "Now, I want to see if you can reach the level of an experienced Genin, and then that of a speedster Genin. Ready?" he asked her, and if she confirmed she was ready, Shigure would start running, restarting another set of four laps, which would gradually increase from that of an experienced Genin on the first three, and then turn into a speedster Genin level of speed for the fourth round. The weather was helping, it wasn't too hot today despite the fact that they were getting close to the summer, and the Land of Fire had an overall hotter weather than most other countries. The breeze was always welcomed in trainings like this, and it was cold enough to cool them down. "After this one, we should drink some water." regardless, keeping themselves hydrated was important. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." Training Started to run on variable genin levels of competence [Tateyama Yakitsukeru] [235 words]

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yakitsu would breath and grin in a chuckle as she looked to the boy. He wanted to go faster? Then she would show him faster alright. Breaking off a few slower steps and then rapidly gaining pace the girl would burst forward down the track again. She would start pushing her pace into near the tops of what she could manage, the earlier trick of adding weight to her momentum became obviouos as just a way to quickly burst forward a few feet, but it was nothing close to the constant pace as she rounded the track. As she paced the line for the fourth time she would kick it to her highest gear and make a break neck pace for the last four laps, leaving nothing in reserves for her speed. The laps were an absolute blur as she tore dirt up from the ground and left a trail behind her. Her movements blurry for anyone who was watching the events from the outside without an experienced eye. A mixed streaking of long black hair and red moving across the track with a slight smile. Her lungs burning from the stinct pain of her lungs failing to keep her breathing in line as she needed it too. Crossing the line for the sixteenth time she would turn back to Shigure, "How did I do in comparissson?" TAGGED | Hyūga Shigure NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hyūga Shigure]

"good bye greetings". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." DUE REWARD Surprisingly, Yakitsukeru managed to keep up the pace thanks to her weight trick. It was a smart way to add momentum while at the same time pushing her to use all her strength while the weight was on. "I can't deny it, she is quirky. This girl will go far." he thought to himself as they both crossed the final lap at the same time, Shigrue dosing his speed to match hers. At the end, her lungs were burning and she her breathe was laboured, while the Hyuuga looked completely fine; he was used to going much faster than that, and at this point, he was able to basically compete with Jounins who were not necessarily speedsters. Wanting to know how she fared, she asked for his opinion and he gave her a large smile and a thumbs-up. "You did really well. This trick of yours with the weight will come in hand when you become a Genin, and your body will continue to grow strong. Good job, Yakitsukeru-san." he said with a firm nod. "Now... How about we grab our takoyaki and our bottle of water? It's a due reward for a successful training and demonstration of skill, don't you agree?" he suggested, heading towards the bentoboxes, grabbing one for himself and handing the other one over to the girl, and then giving her a bottle of water. Shigure would then sit by the bench, giving her space to sit beside him. "Itadakimasu!" his tone was enthusiastic as usual as he clapped his hands together. Each bentobox had eight takoyakis, enough to fill their bellies. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." Training End of the run, food time [Tateyama Yakitsukeru] [271 words]

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Cheeky as always he was. The girl would take it with a smile this time though, she was too worn out to be appalled, or anything else, at the man to complain about the his words internally. It was high praise anyways more than it was some form of criticism. Besides she was ready to each what was likely her only meal today, one she had not expected to get in the first place. She had run out of support money to get herself food earlier in the week and she was subsiding off the academy most days, but today she had not eaten in the mess hall as she wasn't technically supposed to be in school today. Sitting on the far end of the bench from the young man with the bento box and water bottle she would sink a bit in a morte guarded sense as she opened the box. Lifting the first of the eight pieces she would reveal the four razor sharp canines in her mouth, that further made her look more snake than girl in the region of her lower face and neck. She would have finished three of the large fried food balls before she realized that shigure had said grace and she had simply gone straight to eating. Swallowing the food she would clap her hands together finally and speak, "Itadakimasu." She would chug her water and enjoy the food. Shigure was right, this was better. TAGGED | Hyūga Shigure NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hyūga Shigure]

"good bye greetings". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." FOOD TASTING OFFER "She is actually smiling?! Wow. I think I just landed a critical hit!" he thought to himself, chuckling lightly due to his silly happiness for bringing a smile to the girl's lips. In an odd way, he thought that Yakitsukeru was both a handful and a girl that needed someone to reach out, offering a helping hand and a friendly smile, and he was more than happy to do that for her, if she would allow him to. The pale lass sit on the opposite end of the bench and accepted the food he had prepared for her, repeating the gesture he did just before they dug in. Shigure quickly devoured a few of them and his smile widened from ear to ear. "Delicious!" he exclaimed as he usually did upon tasting some delicious food, pausing to chug down a decent amount of water. From the expression on her face, she was indeed enjoying the food; he could read that much, and he was happy for that. Making food that could bring people happiness and enjoyment was one of his pleasures in life, and it meant that he was indeed improving his cooking skills. Glancing over towards Yakitsukeru, Shigure spoke to her. "You know, I could use someone to try some of the food I make. So, if you don't mind, I can send it over to your place, and you can just let me know if you liked or not." in a way, he had a suspicion that she was usually hungry. The girl was an orphan according to her records, and as an academy student, she didn't make any money yet. Of course he knew she was too proud to accept straight charity, but if he could word it in a way that seemed like she was the one helping instead, maybe she would take on his offer. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." Training Be my food taster! [Tateyama Yakitsukeru] [314 words]

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

He seemed pleased with himself, but Yaki couldn't be bothered to ask as to why. She was ready to eat her food and leave. She was so close to being able to leave... hopefully almost at all times moving forward. Perhaps she would visit her family farm out at the borders north of the land of fire. Swallowing another piece of the takoyaki that had been handed over to her so that she could get out of here a little sooner. Even if she had asked for this session, she was also busy with final preparations for her graduation and subsequently the travel she had planned. As she ate the last piece Shigure would ask her a question along a parameter that she had actually more than expected from the boy when they had begun this session. It was a kind request and it was one of the few things she would willingly admit was truly good in this village of sin and vile from the perspective she found herself viewing it in. She had no plans to leave Konoha and go rogue, for fear Mitsuda would abandon her from his teachings, but she needed to see more than this hellhole she had called home. Shigure was a good man, how he stood living here she couldn't comprehend but she didn't need to. He was a diamond inside of a vast expanse of grotesque bile. It was for that same reason that associating with him was a very poor idea for her. So she wouldn't. "Thank you for the offer, Shigure-Sssama. I must decline though," Yaki would stand having finished the last of her food, covering her face and facing away from the older boy. Exhaling she would continue, "Tomorrow I will graduate from thisss godsss forsssaken place, and I do not plan to walk thessse ssstreetsss for a long time to come. While I appreciate the food, I asssume I will not sssee you for a while, I have much land to tread before I will be sssatissfied. Thisss isss likely our lassst meeting for the coming time. I will be taking my leave now, I hope you find a ssstudent who you can help though." Walking off the academy grounds and beyond she would steel herself for the emotional instinct that she had sunk to the same level her parents once had. She would bite her lip in anger at that thought, this was different. It was definitely different. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hyūga Shigure]

"good bye greetings". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." GOOD BYE When he heard Yakitsukeru using the suffix '-sama' he pursed his lips, trying his best to keep a neutral expression. Yes, he was used to being called that while within the Hyuuga district, but it always felt odd whenever someone else called him that outside of it. Maybe it was something he would have to get used to when he did succeed the clan, for clan heads had a position of prestige within the village, but he would much rather people to address him more informally. In any case, what she said next did take his mind away from that. It was almost sad to hear how much she hated the academy, and their home - in a way - she wanted to leave and claimed that she wouldn't be around for a while. "So this is a farewell, eh?" he thought to himself. Shigure nodded to her and got up from the seat, giving her a quick bow with his head. "It's a shame we won't be seeing each other, but I'm sure you will thrive as a Genin. I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavours, and I want you to know that, if you ever need anything, I'm here for you. It doesn't matter if I won't be your instructor anymore as you graduate, we are still comrades, Leaf shinobi." he said, giving her his best smile and a thumbs-up. With that, the two would bid their farewell, and the two would go their opposite ways. He truly hoped she would be okay, but he had a good feeling she would, and knowing Mitsuda would be there gave him some reassurance. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." Training Exit post [Tateyama Yakitsukeru] [276 words]