Surpassing Summits [PM to join]

[Castle]

Keep your balance...concentrate!

These words would be repeated in Ryou's head like a mantra as he carefully took a step up the vertical mountain side where he trained his chakra control. Ryou had to walk up the mountain side at a walking pace due to the jagged and uneven ledge where he walked. Sending chakra to his feet Ryou would stick to the vertical cliff, a simple training exercise for a Genin like himself.

Ryou had tried to run up the ledge during past attempts but found he lost control of his chakra at a far to early point. It was disappointing but even when he sprinted up he found himself marking around 15 feet on average.

This attempt Ryou wanted to beat his prior record of 26 feet, taking bigger steps he'd nearly reach the old marker made out of paint that he dipped unto his kunai. Gripping his new kunai tightly he'd sprint the last five feet as he felt the chakra begin to falter around his legs. With the last seconds of control he ran his blade through the rock imprinting it with a fine red line. From there gravity would take command as he came crashing down. Not wanting to crack his skull he'd send chakra to his legs again as he used it to cushion his fall. He landed though his legs would buckle causing him to collapse to the floor. He looked up from his grounded position to see if he had beaten his score. To his dismay the mark he had left still stood at around 25 and 3/4 feet barely under his best score.

"Damn."

[hisae]

"

It was early morning, a good hour for training. The sun was not too high in the sky and the cloud cover was enough to cool down the area. Iwakagure was already bustling by this time, the shopkeepers running quick errands before opening hours, the smell of cooking from the pig out spots. Some shinobi were sleeping in, others were leaving for missions and among other business. A light jog through the village, looking around as the mountain air permeated her lungs, it felt good. The oxygen at high altitudes was not bountiful like at the sea level, but it was no problem. Iwa-nin adapted, having grown in the environment for centuries, as it groomed their respiratory systems for the conditions.

Running for a bit longer, Emi turned the corner of one back alleyway, leading into another street that was right next to the training grounds. Feeling accomplished, she swiped her brow. Hands on her hip, the sound of metallic scratching against stone tingled within her ear, high-pitched frequency that caught her attention. Immediately, Emi saw who it was ; the boy cut the side of the ledge before beginning tumble down. He did a decent job with the whole process, but definitely wasted movement. Despite looking really old for her age, this guy did not look much past a Genin to Emi.

"Hn? Let me see..." With her interest piqued, she talked to herself into at least finding out what training method he was using. It looked basic to her though. A slight skip until reaching about thirty feet away, "Uhmmm, watch'ya having trouble with?" asked the blonde kunoichi, tilting her head. She had her hands behind her back, adding to the adorableness.

[Castle]

It was moments like this that made Ryou content about training alone. He didn't like to provide an audience for his failures and tended to find isolated places to work on his skills. At the moment his back and legs were a bit sore, but it was nothing worth quitting early. Despite not reaching his goal Ryou couldn't help but grin as he spent a few more seconds to enjoy the rocky floor. It was as he prepared to get up that he would see a young girl his age skipping toward him as she stopped to ask about what had gone wrong with his training.

Making direct eye contact admittedly left Ryou briefly stunned by her beauty, however not one to gaze too long he'd return to normal as he replied from afar, "Um, chakra control I suppose. If I could maintain it better then the rocky ledge probably wouldn't be too much of a problem."

At that point he would stand back up so that he could reach eye level with this stranger. He'd walk up toward her until they were in talking distance. Seeing this girl close up seemed to shut Ryou's windpipe; however he was not about to let himself become some stuttering fool and would casually clear his throat giving himself a chance to push down his nervous feelings and speak normally to this cute blonde. Giving her a quick bow he'd introduce himself stating, "I'm Ryou Yamauchi, I'm guessing you came here to train too right?" Immediately having said this Ryou felt stupid beyond belief, of course that was what brought her here it's the main training ground of the village! Still it was better than simply ending with his name, he found from past experience people tended to cut conversations short if he didn't provide extra dialogue. Ryou always felt he was a boring person, in his mind that was why two years in as a Genin he still didn't have a squad to train and perform missions with. Perhaps one day he'd be assigned one, but thus far it seemed Iwagakure was content to leave Ryou isolated-after all it wasn't as if he came from any family of importance.

[hisae]

"

He didn't look too bad of a boy, not much of a catch regrettably. But it did not mean much to her regardless, more attracted to whatever training method he was engrossed in. Without in need of an explanation after hearing chakra control, she deduced to her own conclusion. Although, it was a basic drill. It should not of been something to be struggling with. With her own experience, she only focused her chakra on the area of the edge that touched the sole of her feet, spreading it and then having it focused back on the center like the ripples of a pond, a suction type of effect that let her stick to the service. Then again, Emi recognized her own innate ability, she was better than most.

He looked into her eyes ; far from love at first sight. He had potential though, no doubt. Being too shy, Emi avoided being intimate with the boy. She stuck to her own shell, but smiled when introduced. Having not heard the surname before, it surprised her that they had not been acquainted through the academy. She'd keep a mental note and maybe investigate out of curiousness, but for then she bowed herself in a curtsy.

"Hayakuni Emi, nice to meet you!" returning the pleasantries, as the light hit her body and revealed her layer of protection. She shined like a diamond, hexagon shapes reflected upon the sunlight for a brief second, disappearing as fast it appeared. It was a usual occurrence, Emi paid no mind to it. Fidgeting her foot in a clock-wise motion, looking down, " Yeah, I kinda finished my run. I heard someone over here..." she started to trail, snapping out of her own deep thinking for a moment before continuing, " So where is your squad? Or do you not have one, like me?"

[Castle]

His demeanor was rather friendly as he heard her own introduction, however inside he pondered where he had heard her surname before. It didn't take long as the lighting helped answer his own question; showing off the hexagon pattern that glistened in the right light. Ryou blinked twice at the sight, inside he thought The Hayakuni clan, of course how did I not know that immediately?!
Despite this turn of events Ryou didn't intend to behave any differently. Besides he was always taught to look toward the person in front of you and not where they came from in life. Though it would be easy to hold that ideal when you came from nothing of great importance.

Ryou would cease thinking about the issue as he listened to Emi talk about having finished a running exercise around the training grounds. Her last statement seemed to bring out notable surprise out of the boy as he learned that she lacked a team just like him.

Grinning he'd make light of the fact as he said, "Heh yeah, the academy had an uneven number during graduation and I suppose I just kinda got slipped under the rug when it came to squads. So far it hasn't been too bad though; I kept myself busy and pretty much self-taught what I could find from scrolls at the library." He'd look toward the cliff where he had been training and said with a content tone. "Of course I guess I'd have this kind of training mastered if I had a squad with an actual Jounin Sensei."

He'd look back to Emi as he said, "And what about you? How come you don't have a squad yet? You don't look straight from the academy."

[hisae]

"

Her eyebrows rose up, having caught the brief piece of information on the squadless Genin situation. She had not cared much for how many were in her classroom's, or her peers in general. Emi had learned to work with various type of people, albeit her upbringing brought up traits of shyness, hindering socialization skills necessary for missions. His posture seemed to change with the mention of not having a squad ; shoulders more squared and just more "jumpy. It put herself at ease, a smirk escaping and pasting her lips.

Hiding her own discontent with the mention of lacking a Jonin Sensei was the reason for his mishaps, she was neutral. Of course, Emi would not be as experienced if not for her clansmen tutelage, but never would she use it as an excuse for not proper ninja training. Hard work had no shortcuts, only supplements. The clan supplemented her own work ethic ; fueled it with their own hard work and undying passion. Each and every single one of them had pride for the village, to guard it with all of their might. It was well documented, and well praised.

"Hn? I guess a sensei would help, but I have done well enough without one..." she swerved off the topic quickly, stopping her sentence. Eyes darting from his eyes, across his body and back again, nerves were striking Emi definitely. Recollecting herself in a pinch, "I don't have one since I graduated the academy earlier than others, so I have been just waiting for the rest to get out. I have been training with the clansmen, maybe my resemblance does not strike your fancy for that reason," articulate with her choice of words, Emi unintentionally took a couple steps back. Formal speech was her way of coping with not finding the right words to say with the more youthful, free-form of speaking ; It had structure and provided organization for her thoughts. Same thing, it showcased her own rhetoric skills that was polished well enough.

"What is your clan? It sounds cool..." naive in her question, she simply poked her own cheek and tilted her head once more.

[Castle]

His nonchalant way of speaking didn't seem to phase the girl or bring anything out, seeing her neutral gaze made him question if he had said something wrong or offended her in some manner. That alone seemed to decay his normally well off posture as he slouched a bit losing a small amount of his starting confidence. Of course at that point he'd then hear the voice of his civilian mother in his head.

Don't slouch, girls can sense that stuff and trust me we don't like timid guys.

With that lesson forced into his head he'd straighten up as he stretched his shoulder as if that had been the reason he slouched in the first place. At that point he'd listen to Emi discuss her own experience in the academy, having graduated early was no small feat-he couldn't help but be impressed. Her last statement seemed to blow a hole through Ryou's confidence shield as she called him out claiming she did not strike his fancy.

Turning his head he'd would fail to hide his embarrassment as he stated, "Ergh, I don't know what you're talking about...I never said anything was wrong with your looks..."

It was a rather awkward moment though luckily she'd move to something much easier to talk about as she questioned what "clan" he derived from.

Taking a sighing breath he'd let out a nervous laugh to shake off the last timid feelings from before as he answered with some renewed strength. "My clan would be me and my dad I suppose. At least in terms of ninjas in the family. My grandparents are already gone, and my mother's side are all civilians. So in a way it's just me and my dad who have any ninja training, my little sister should be starting the academy soon though-she seems to be looking forward to it." He felt a lot more at ease after saying this. True he just admitted to a very important Kunoichi that he came from essentially the mix of a Chunin and his civilian wife, but in a way that seemed easier to talk about than how he felt about the looks of a pretty girl.

[hisae]

"


Confusion struck Emi for a brief moment, a bewildered look on her face. She leaned closer to Ryou's face, fueling a futile effort to look for answers on his own facial features. She had not caught the signals or any body language of the boy's to cue her on intimacy. When had the topic of "looks" been mentioned in the conversation? Emi thought back, recounting the exchange of words from the beginning. Quickly doing this, about three to four seconds, she realized the misuse of her own vocabulary.

"Oh, haha, I am a dolt, pardon. I meant the memory of my looks, not of their quality," laughing sheepishly, embarrassment rushed to her face, heat and warmth revealing a rosy pigment to the cheeks. Looking down to the ground quickly, she gripped her hands tightly. They were behind her back, hidden from sight. Emi was releasing her own frustration quietly ; a silent rage. She perked up though, ears twitched at the explanation of his own origins. It wasn't bad to have a civilian mother, an upbringing basked in humble and modesty was as good as any other. Emi smiled, intrigued indefinitely. A hard worker not born with an advantage or special abilities, just his own brains and strength. Slight jig in her feet, a pep in her step was obvious a she began to get excited.

"That is not a bad clan, although I would call it the nicest shinobi family I have heard yet," bubbly tone in her voice, she came out bit by bit. Nowhere near being comfortable, it was nice for Emi to just enjoy the moment. Content with now with no worries of tomorrow would be an accurate description of her feelings.

"Why not ask your father for some tips? I would go on missions with him, fix up some bento boxes for the journey! It'd be fun times, I think," expressing her own wishes, dreams in a small sample with glee covered on her face. Clapping her hands in succession, curious face mixed with cluelessness, "What are you strong at then, attuned to some form of element or ability?" Emi asked, wondering of his own abilities. If they complimented her own, it'd be a joyous union for a Genin team.

[Castle]

The moment after Emi explained brought partial relief from the torrent of humiliation that came from their misunderstanding. Despite her own apology he still felt like an idiot for having interpreted her words the way he did. Still from the quick glances that he made during this awkward silence he found the way she blushed over this to be incredibly cute. Luckily this did not mean the end of their conversation as both seemed to recover well enough to move on to the discussion of his origins.

A tinge of happiness warmed Ryou's heart when he heard the positive response coming from Emi about his clan. He chuckled as he replied, "Yeah, my dad's as nice as they come. Honestly sometimes it surprises me that he had it in him to survive and win the Chunin Exams." He thought about his dad a bit more deeply at that moment, his eyes glazing over as he got lost in thought for a few moments. "He never likes to talk about it; hopefully that changes before i have to take my own exam."

At that point Emi suggested that Ryou train and perform missions with his dad. Ryou would nod as he replied, "Yeah we do a bit of that already, obviously I can't be with him during all of his missions but he's taken me on a few already." He felt a greater sense of ease now than ever as he saw Emi less as a pretty face that decided to acknowledge him and more as a person with a genuine and rather soothing grace to her. Remembering more of his past he would answer her question saying.

"I suppose I'm pretty well rounded, though the Sensei at my Academy exam said I had a possible career in Ninjutsu or even Genjutsu." He'd leave out the fact that his academic performance was hardly anything of note. He graduated of course but not even his ninjutsu or genjutsu seemed to wow any of the teachers who had given his graduate exam.

"As for my affinity, I learned that I was most attuned to Doton-I suppose that leaves a lot of our villages jutsu open for me to master."

At that he'd look a bit more serious as he rubbed the back of his neck before asking carefully, "Say, if its not too much to ask. Do you think you could show me how far you can get chakra walking?" He'd make a motion to the cliff where he was training. "You seemed to know a lot about chakra control and really if you graduated early it must say something about your skill as a Kunoichi." He'd offer a calm smile as he said a bit softer, "If you'd rather not I'd understand of course."

[hisae]

"


Well, coming from a small ninja family did not exactly bring much inheritance in terms of strength. She had expected a special power, super exclusive to him and his father's side. But nonetheless, being versatile was well appreciated by any group. A jack of trades who could help in any situation was valuable. Ryou seemed to be experienced in some missions too, his father being a major piece in his own development. Smiling about the prospect of being in a team with him and surely sharing similar work ethics, a easy going union between the two was foreseen in her future.

"A jack of all trades is not bad, versatility is good to have," she praised slightly, positive vibes radiating from her soul. Hopefully, a genin team was in the making right now as they spoke. Whether their destinies were starting to be interlocked and the stars aligned upon their location, was yet to see maybe for years. But, Emi had chosen him to be on her team. When told of her knowledge about chakra control, she did not mind priding herself on it. "Yes, I do, been working on it since a child. This exercise your doing was the first thing I did," explaining her own training, Emi walked past Ryou towards the wall. Looking up, she giggled to herself quietly. It was about to look too easy.

Forming the seal of confrontation with her left hand, Emi closed her eyes as she concentrated her chakra flow. It started to slowly pick up, as if the winds of a hurricane had began to form. It rushed down to the soles of her feet, spacing out on each toe and the back of her heels. Emi then jumped towards the wall, landing on both feet as she was suspended in mid-air, only standing upright from chakra. Then she ran up towards the ledge, stopping right in front of the mark. Instead of standing on the ledge, she decided to run on the side of it, traversing the length of the mountain wall with relative ease and quickness.

"It comes natural after awhile, its fun!" she shouted, turning around and coming back to Ryou after going about forty or so feet. She began to do back-flips, somersaults, hand-springs and a myriad of other things. She looked elegant, graceful ; practiced maneuvers with hours and hours of repetition etched in her muscle memory, it was a beautiful sample of her skills. She finished it quickly though, not wanting to show off. Breathing in her nose and out of her mouth, slowing down her sped up heart-rate, Emi looked at Ryou. "Was that good enough?"

[Castle]

While he was glad to not be looked down upon for holding so little achievement thus far, Ryou knew inside that there was no strength in being a Jack of all Trades. Every ninja had basic skills in the three aspects of Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu-it was up to them to specialize that training in order to bring out the best of their ability. Someone with only some skill in all the branches would always lose to a specialist. Eventually he'd have to find his niche, but for now when nothing seemed to come that naturally to him it was best to simply spread his training into all three branches.

He'd step aside at this point to watch how Emi did in terms of chakra control. He would watch her carefully in hope of catching something different in her method. Soon with a burst of energy she was off as she stuck gracefully onto the cliffside and practically ran to his marker in no time flat. She'd continue on from there moving sideways at a running speed, at this point a sense of shock spread through Ryou's body as he saw just how little development he had in comparison to Emi. It was a mixed emotional bag as he watched her ease through this regiment as if it were nothing. On one hand it was amazing to watch someone his own age have almost complete mastery of her chakra control, of course there was also the feeling of self-doubt. How many more Iwa-nin were far surpassed his own skill; was he allowing himself to get left behind-to be forgotten?

As she finished Ryou would shake off the stun her performance had brought him as he replied back, "Yeah..that was rather impressive."

The difference in skill seemed to burn a lot of the motivation that made him ask for a demonstration in the first place. He had expected her to be better than him that was true, but seeing her perform this exercise like child's play made it seem less like two Genin sharing advice and more like an academy student asking their Chunin instructor how to do a jutsu. For that reason he would not ask for help, not wanting to be like a parasite who could only improve on the blood of others.

With a controlled chuckle he'd try and move the topic away from training as he said, "Just from seeing that I can tell you're pretty strong Emi-san, any squad would be lucky to have you on their team!"

Inside he knew he was trying to divert from the fact that his highest marks were pathetically less, earlier he had thought that maybe he could have asked if they applied together to form a new squad. However after this demonstration he felt he'd be a burden if he was placed on the same squad as Emi. Still this was not a signal of surrender; he really liked Emi as a person and felt comfortable talking to her.

I need to get stronger fast...without Emi-san's help. I'd love if I could be on a team with her, but I won't let myself bring herself down by leeching off her own skills and knowledge. I'll pave my own road, one that will surely impress her!

He had a goal, and it was a rather difficult one to reach. He wanted to become this girls equal, although she probably had far more talent than even this demonstration showed. Still his goal would be wasted if they never saw each other again. Ryou wanted to stay close to Emi, to always know where her threshold currently stood. For that to happen he knew what he had to ask.

"Say...would you ever want to be on a squad with me Emi-san?" Inside he felt like dying, he had had said it so bluntly-he didn't want to let this opportunity go to waste. He never even considered the chance that she'd say no. Regardless of her response Ryou now had a much greater reason for living. He wanted to be Emi's equal and perhaps even surpass her, it was no longer just a career that was passed from father to son. If he was going to be remembered for anything in Iwagakure it had to start by becoming the equal to the Hayakuni genius!

[hisae]

"

Happy to get a warm-up exercise done, her muscles were loose and heated. It did not take a genius to read Ryou's face, it was surely mixed with more than one emotion. Only one that Emi could catch was astonishment, or some combination thereof. Looking into his eyes, something clicked within her, within him. Some type of resolve, some type of resilience was conspiring. But, she took the compliments with a grain of salt, as they did not do much other than build an ego. Her own father had not said she was an exceptional shinobi ever, only saying that she always had room for improvement. It did drive her indefinitely, trying again and again to satisfy his expectations of her.

"Haha-- Thanks, I do not feel that way, I am just beginning to expand on my own skills," giggling at the compliment, covering her mouth in slight embarrassment. No one had told her about how she would be wanted for different genin teams, not finding her own talent on the level which would garner such attention. She was simply happy to find those who shared the same ideals and principles, beliefs in the ninja way. To protect those who had protected them and nurture them to their current point in life, with their own life and effort. To return a favor and not to be in debt of anyone, was apart of her own ninja way.

Questioned about being on the same team as Ryou, it made her jump in the air in a full 360. Smiling with showing her teeth, a gleam in her eyes as bright as the sun itself. "Whaat ~! Of course! It'll be a great squad!" she shouted, grabbing his hands and throwing them in the air, "Wooooo!" shouting aloud. Her mind went wild with ideas, fantasies of completing missions together while rising through the ranks. But her random outburst disappeared as quick as the wind came into a valley, reverting to her shell. "Oo, but, uh, who will be our third member? Do you know someone?" a softer, high-pitched voice came out with her question. Tilting her head and poking her cheek, she was hoping for some suggestions on who it would be.

[Castle]

There was a warming sensation seeing his request being accepted with such glee, as she took his hands and lifted them up out of joy Ryou would feel his heart race. The only other experience he had holding a girls hand was lifting his little sister's hands when she wanted to play games with him; feeling Emi's grip was certainly a different experience. Hearing her shout of excitement Ryou couldn't help but smile as he said, "Heh, I'm glad you like the idea. I'm sure we'll work well together." He may have been insinuating too much, after all they only knew each other for less than a whole day. Still he had a good feeling about this and Emi herself seemed so overjoyed to even be invited to join a squad.

Ryou would not overlook the sudden change as Emi returned to a more controlled and sheltered disposition. They seemed to share the idea that it was best to maintain control of your emotions, though as their conversation showed that ideal was easily broken when dealing with humans. Either way he found both aspects to be ennobling. At that point she'd ask if he knew anyone to be the third member of their group.

With a sigh Ryou would shrug his shoulders as he said, "Unfortunately I don't know any Genin who aren't in a squad yet..." The truth was he barely knew any Genin period, during the academy he made plenty of acquaintances but no real friends. He liked to stay in the back and only focused on the task at hand when having to do group work, it was no surprise neither of them recalled one another from the Academy. Graduating helped remove a bit of that initial shyness, but he found himself to still be rather introverted-it couldn't be helped.

He'd give Emi a determined smile as he said, "Well, if this day proved anything I'm sure fate will be with us in finding a third member as soon as possible!"

[hisae]

"

The optimism shown by Ryou was reassuring, helpful at the least. Content enough with the news of having a team, Emi did not pay much else attention to the world. Although in short bursts, her memory came back to her. She was supposed to meet Yorijo, her uncle who was going to give another lesson in the manipulation of Doton. He was relatively young and understood her own strife more than her father and mother, who did have their own moments. Old school, down in the trenches type of work ethic and way of living. Extremely hard nosed? Yes, but it bothered her at times. Subtle reinforcement, not scolding, felt much better. He did have a pet peeve with the lack of punctuality, so a speedy goodbye was in order, no matter the amount of class about to be thrown out the window.

"Well, I agree with all of my heart! But I am so sorry, I must be going. It was a pleasure meeting you, let us both keep a look out for a potential third!" Bowing in nothing flat, Emi pried open a flood gate of blush, embarrassed about her haste. Forgetting about the ordeal would come due time, for now her movements reflected that of a blur, her physical form dispersing then reappearing at the top of a near building. On one knee, her blonde haired flowed wildly with her sudden emergence. A peek over her shoulder, Emi wanted to make sure to arrange a time for them to meet.

"Ehh, lets meet again in front of the Kage's building!" she shouted down below, a brief moment of confusion washing over her. Not realizing what was a good time, Emi's brain almost exploded in moments. The first number that came to mind was three, saving her from her untimely brain fart. "In three days!" finished she did with the arrangement, gone once more without any form of confirmation. If anything, they would catch glimpses of each other beforehand.

[Exit]