[Suzuki Tsubasa]

The notification of her position change within the village had come through a while back, a simple letter formalising Tsubasa’s move to team 7 with further updates to come. The teen had hardly been able to contain her nervous excitement over the whole thing while waiting for the next set of instructions. Her notebook said something about this team being important but every time she tried to flip through them and find more information she found her hands trembling too much to really focus on the words written on the page.

Eventually another note arrived, a name that she’d never seen before, that immediately got added to the notebook, and a time and date to arrive at one of the many training grounds littered around the village. There wasn’t much else to the paper. She flipped it over, tried holding it up to the light, and adding lemon to see if there was a hidden message she needed to understand. None of the tricks she knew of revealed anything more so with a shrug, the girl left her home immediately to figure out where this training ground was. She wanted to scout again and make sure she didn’t get lost on her visit for the meeting.

When the actual date rolled around Tsubasa found herself stressing over whether she should try and get away with her casual wear and leaving her hefty hammer at home or accepting this was indeed a serious meeting. The latter eventually won out and, after getting dressed and strapping on her gear so she at least felt the part, the genin left her home at a jog. The fastest path to the grounds took a couple of tunnels that she wasn’t ready for today, so jogging would ensure she got there on time.

At least that was the plan, apparently every man and his dog had decided to come out early that day and the entire path was slowed by casual foot traffic causing the girl to eventually arrive about fifteen minutes late! Huffing and shaking a little, she slowly stepped onto the grounds and glanced around, searching for this ‘Okada Tetsuo’ the note had informed her about.

"H-hello? Is anyone here? I-I’m sorry I’m late!”

[Okada Tetsuo]

Okada Tetsuo

Flexing the fingers in his right hand over and over again, Tetsuo couldn't help but wonder when he'd finally have a solid team to work with. His position as Goro's instructor was primarily down to his fuuinjutsu expertise mixed with his familial connection, but it wasn't exactly a particularly stimulating experience thus far. He wasn't entirely sure why he had been assigned this particular genin either. Sure, on one hand having a medic trained shinobi would be nice, but there was the matter of the genin's record. Nothing particularly special beyind determination apparently. Still, he could work with that, a mediocre but determined shinobi was better than a lazy but talented one.

One could overcome things through sufficient work and preparation after all.

Sprawling out on a folding chair to the side of the training ground entrance, the Okada waited for the new genin to arrive, absently drawing a senbon and flipping it through the fingers of his right hand as a method of maintaining the dexterity of the prosthetic while also accounting for the layer of cloth that hid it from view. Even now, a year after being cleared for active duty he didn't feel like he was back up to his prior skill level, which was a frustrating experience.

Noting the lateness of his newest student, Tetsuo simple continued on with his idle thoughts until the figure ran in, clearly out of breath and possibly anxious about their tardiness. Golden eyes scanned the Genin briefly before deciding not to bring up the lateness, it was likely counterproductive at this point, he would reassess in the future should they prove a serial offender.

"Yo," he stated casually without getting up from his seat, technically behind the young girl due to the placement of his chair.

Word Count: 296
Training: 1/8
Tags: Suzuki Tsubasa

[Suzuki Tsubasa]

Tsubasa wasn’t able to stop herself from jumping in fright as the young man behind her spoke up. How she hadn’t looked behind her on arriving was beyond her, falling for such a simple sneaky trick that she’d read about a thousand times in the academy made her blush. She tried to calm herself again with deep breaths before turning to face the speaker, eyes going wide for a second as she saw a much shorter man than she expected. "O-oh, hello? Sorry are you um, also here to meet with Okada-sama?” she asked curiously, fully expecting this shorter person to actually be another member of her team.

"I’m so sorry I’m late, are they here? There were so many people out today I just got stuck in a crowd and… well that’s not really a good excuse I hope they understand.” The genin wandered over to stand by the seat and get a better look at her unrecognised teacher, getting a better look at him and trying to practice the observation techniques that she had been trying work on for the longest time. Apparently some shinobi could tell their opponents strength and capabilities at a glance, and that sounded like a really good ability to learn. All she could really notice on the ability-front however was the senbon he was playing with. Tetsuo’s golden eyes and hair drawing most of her attention as she couldn’t help but feel jealous at the sheer abundance of hair he had on display.

"Oh damn, wait, sorry. I’m Suzuki Tsubasa. I keep forgetting to introduce myself properly, I-I’m sorry.” She bowed deeply, trying to hide her the internally aimed irritation at her own forgetfulness that crossed her face at the realisation.

[Okada Tetsuo]

Okada Tetsuo

Golden eyes blinked lazily as the girl came over and explained her lateness, the small male somehow lounging in an almost feline manner as he watched her. He didn't speak for a few moments, instead scanning his new student further as he considered what they were going to do and how, especially considering what approach would be best to deal with this new subordinate and student.

Confidence building seemed to be a definite necessity.

"Tsubasa-chan," he stated, continuing to spin the senbon from his seated position, "I am Okada Tetsuo, you may call me Tetsuo-sensei. We,ll start with a simple test of your abilties to see where you are at so I know what to teach you. I see you have brought your weapon, I want you to try and hit me with it. Show me what you are capable of." 

He didn't move after that instruction, remaining seated in his chair with the senbon spinning deftly between his fingers. After all, he was confident that he would be able to prevent any attempts to strike him, and if he couldn't... well, this girl wasn't going to be able to kill him, at least not any time soon. That was if she could bring herself to actually follow such an instruction. She seemed very timid, and that might lead her to being unwilling to try and hit him at all.

Any response she gave would give him something to work with.

Word Count: 241
Training: 2/8
Tags: Suzuki Tsubasa

[Suzuki Tsubasa]

"Y-yes?” it took her half a second to respond, her body instinctively straightening and standing at attention for some reason as the jounin spoke. Tsubasa was unable to prevent a small squeak of fear out as Tetsuo introduced himself, realising the mistake and assumption she’d made. She swallowed the apology she almost reflexively blurted out to allow the man to speak without interruption. "A-ah, of course. My apologies for not thinking Tetsuo-sensei.” She bowed her head again, trying to truly show respect to the young man in front of her before glancing up at him, anxiety and concern evident on her face as she thought about what he’d said.

"B-but a-are you…?” she wanted to ask if he was serious, but he just sat there, unmoving and seeming to barely pay attention to her despite staring at her the entire time. This had to be some sort of test right? Tsubasa didn’t really want to hit him with her hammer, she’d never actually hit a person with the weapon before and the idea of actually doing it made her feel a little queasy. She tightened her grip on the hammer anyway, then loosened it again, many different thoughts and emotions racing behind her yellow eyes.

Uncertainty, fear, disgust, anxiety, as the emotions and associated thoughts ran through her mind she kept adjusting her grip on the hammer’s handle. There were way too many conflicting thoughts thanks to this instruction and eventually she had to close her eyes and start breathing exercises to get them back under control. There was no way she could actually hit him, that was the thing that settled it for her. There was no way a jounin, or even someone of her own rank, would ask her to hit them if they weren’t capable of avoiding or just outright enduring the hit, right? Surely there was no real reason to risk oneself like that? Slowly Tsubasa opened her eyes, a mixture of acceptance and determination now apparent as she shifted her grip to the one she’d been taught and her stance to one capable of handling the weight of the weapon she carried. The genin lifted the hammer up over her head and attempted to bring it down on Tetsuo in the most telegraphed attack of all time.

[Okada Tetsuo]

Okada Tetsuo

The girl had some clear confidence issues, it was becoming increasingly concerning in his mind, but that was something that they could work on in time. Even her reaction to his order was hesitant and uncertain, which wouldn't do, he would need to work on her ability to respond to orders instantly, because that was an important part of being a shinobi. He didn't respond verbally to any of her statements, simply staring from his seat as he continued to twirl the senbon between his fingers.

His lips twitched slightly when she seemed to come to a decision and slowly raised up her hammer and brought it down towards him, the heavy weapon picking up speed as it hit the apex of the swing and began to be assisted by gravity. 

The Okada didn't move as the hammer came towards him, beyond flicking the senbon from one hand to the other and raising his right hand towards the girl's weapon. Tsubasa would find her hammer slamming into the palm of his hand with an odd dull 'clank' sound, the limb not even flexing with the weight of her blow and Tetsuo seemingly unconcerned with any damage that she might have done to his limb.

"Tsubasa-chan, I said I want ya to try and hit me with your hammer, this wasn't you trying. You need to trust that I know what I'm doin'." His accent had slipped in a little as he stared at her calmly, hand still held up where it was holding the head of her hammer. His left hand was spinning the senbon now, and the chair hadn't even slid slightly from her blow.

"Now, try and hit me."

Word Count: 281
Training: 3/8
Tags: Suzuki Tsubasa

[Suzuki Tsubasa]

All that mental preparation to actually go through with the strike didn’t actually prepare her for how Tetsuo reacted to her strike. That was probably the more accurate way to put it, she didn’t think she’d actually hit him and was more striking in his general direction in the vague hope it’d count. Seeing him simply catch the hammer like that caused her pause as she squinted at the arm itself, wondering why it made such a noise. Despite Tsubasa’s expectation that he should have simply been that strong in the first place if he wasn’t going to be fast, the sound was not hammer on flesh but something else, and she couldn’t quite put her finger on it considering how cool the whole situation was.

The girl stared at her new sensei’s hand as it held her weapon with clear, curious admiration. It took a moment for her to be able to drag her eyes away from the scene to actually look at her team leader seriously, finally understanding what exactly he was asking of her and how serious he was considering he probably just blocked the hardest hit she’d ever attempted like it was nothing. "Okay, cool Tetsuo-sensei, I think I understand.” She replied, not even trying to hide how much her opinion of the shorter man had raised in those few moments.

She pulled her hammer back, getting back into what she thought was a combat stance once again. There was no need to close her eyes and get ready this time, she’d already calmed herself down and had now seen the cool strength of her teacher. This time she’d actually, really try. "Okay, I uh, have never really tried to hit a moving target before. At least not something that can freely move, I did work with those training dummies on wheels once but I don’t think that really counts.” Tsubasa was rambling more to herself than Tetsuo at this point, but she was at least taking in his position a bit more seriously as she considered how would be best to approach the situation.

Momentum was really what she needed to get things going, instead of going for an overhead and powerful strike the genin figured that getting herself actually moving would help her out a lot more than just powerful strikes. This time around Tsubasa would come in on the right with an upwards side swing, something she could transfer the speed of into some other strike, or use the weight of the hammer itself to bring it back down if necessary. Depending on how Tetsuo reacted she might even accidentally hit the chair.

[Okada Tetsuo]

Okada Tetsuo

As the girl withdrew her hammer, Tetsuo allowed it, having not really gripped the head of the weapon and instead simply blocking it. It seemed to take her a little while to decide what to do with the weapon though, which was definitely something that they needed to work on, but he would take what he could get at this point if it meant that she was actually going to put some effort into hitting him. It was better than nothing after all.

As she heaved the weapon towards him, he got to his feet in a single smooth motion, left foot hooking around the leg of the chair he had been sitting on and launching it up into his hand, a sharp motion of his arm folding it back into its' storage mode, and a quick flick of the wrist bringing it up into a blocking position where the girl's hammer slammed into it with all her might.

It was impressive for a genin, and had the chair been an ordinary one it would have been destroyed by her blow, but he had borrowed one of his cousin's wrestling chairs, and instead the folded seat simple squeaked at the impact but otherwise held firm, the elder Iwa-nin grinning slightly at his new student.

"That's better, show me what you got."

Word Count: 221
Training: 4/8
Tags: Suzuki Tsubasa

[Suzuki Tsubasa]

Tsubasa continued to be impressed by her teacher with every little thing he did. Catching her hammer with his bare hand, standing up in an instant and blocking it with a chair. It was just so cool! But that coolness had to be filtered out so she could keep focused on the matter at hand. Unfortunately, she registered this thought a moment too late, as she clearly paused to stare with admiration at the block before remembering what was going on and got back into the swing of things. Mainly the return swing of her hammer as she allowed it to fall from the strike.

Using the weight of the hammer to power her next strike, Tsubasa shifted back a bit to give herself space and half turned her back on Tetsuo so she could bring it back into another upward swing. It wouldn’t have been a very smart move if this were a real fight, probably leaving her open far too long, but the silver haired girl was putting good work into taking advantage of the weight of her weapon for once. Even if it were less effective because of her stary eyed pause. It didn’t matter much to Tsubasa if the next one hit, she was locked in now and finally taking the test seriously.

[Okada Tetsuo]

Okada Tetsuo

Tetsuo allowed the girl a moment to gather herself, his goal was to get her to show him what she could do, so he wasn't going to attack back, simply relaxing slightly as she prepared herself for another attack. It was a big, broad strike, and one that left her far too open for real combat. That would need work if she was going to go out into the field using that heavy hammer, something to work on before they took proper missions.

He could have blocked her next strike again, stopping it dead with the chair, but instead he moved to show her another thing to consider, the small man stepping to the side and allowing the hammer to pass him by harmlessly. Maybe she would be able to redirect the force of the strike, and then bring it in to hit him harder, or maybe she wouldn't. Either way, some experience with someone who was trying to dodge wouldn't hurt her and showing that he could avoid her big strikes would hopefully further help to actually encourage her to put effort into it.

"Leaving yourself open, gotta avoid that. Do I need to start pokin' ya to make sure ya don't do that?" he asked with a slight smirk, holding up a single finger as though it were a dangerous weapon.

Word Count: 223
Training: 5/8
Tags: Suzuki Tsubasa

[Suzuki Tsubasa]

The more Tsubasa got into her swings, the faster the hammer moved. Actually getting the hammer flowing was always the hard part, usually she just hit the training dummy and lost all momentum. Or she lost her focus because she was scared of losing her grip on her hammer and sending it into the sky and slowed down subconsciously. Not this time, Tsubasa’s grip on the hammer was strong, the speed and momentum of the weapon steadily built as she swung.

As long as Tetsuno kept dodging her attacks the yellow eyed girl would continue to add in more and more momentum to her swings. It didn’t matter right now if it left her open to attacks, he could start poking her all he wanted. Right now she was focused. The only way Tsubasa thought she’d be able to reach the kind of speed necessary to hit her sensei was through this very combat-ineffective method. Though, this was mostly because she felt the weapon wasn’t fast enough. Too often was she left to watch other genin using other weapons and marvelled at their speed and skill. And there she was, using a hammer in a vague hope not to be compared to them.

The upward swing came back down behind her, the careful grip not to turn her back despite her thoughts before returning into yet another upward swing, though that would transition into a less than cautious turn that shifted the angle of the strike to waist-level as she continued to build the momentum. It was likely this less-than-practical combat method would continue onwards unless Tetsuo decided to interrupt it. Tsubasa’s desire to actually do as requested seemed to be bringing out some of her worst habits form from training alone for so long.