High Standards for Oneself

Takara leaned back, letting her long, thick wavy brown hair dangle over the edge of the rock she had found herself on in the training grounds. She had done a considerable amount of training before lunch, and was enjoying a bit of sunshine while drying off. She was wearing her swimsuit for now, her actual outer clothes sitting to the side near the entrance of the grounds. She didn’t care; almost no one came out here, and she was almost positive that even if someone did, she wouldn’t care about their opinion. She had been gawked at plenty of times and was used to it, and it wasn’t like she had reserved the entire grounds for herself. The rock was overhanging a lake, a perfect spot to jump off of and almost reach the middle for a big splash. The lake, as a result of her training, was a fair bit more full than before as well; the result of some of the Jutsu that converted her own chakra into water.

Her meal was sitting next to her half-eaten, a mess of rice, some kind of dark sauce, bits of various meat… all in all, it didn’t look like much, but it tasted divine. Something that she had cooked up herself, naturally. The sun sitting as high as it could in the sky was suddenly cast over by a passing cloud that seemed to be growing thicker. There weren’t a lot of chances for sunshine in Kirigakure, but this place seemed to be able to catch the passing rare rays more than most places, which is why Takara liked this place the most. Sitting up, she grabbed her food and finished it, doing a quick internal check and realizing that she had probably rested enough and could get back to training; she had about two hours left before she needed to work on her afternoon chores.

Tomorrow was another mission picking up trash. Less than glorious work, but safe, and enough to pay the bills. Then the next day she would be working on whatever came next. Her meal finished, she packed it up quickly and quietly, and then slipped off the rock, landing in a low crouch on top of the water while barely making a ripple on the top of the water, which she knew wasn’t good enough. Only once while training here had she managed a perfect landing, and this one wasn’t even close… she needed to train harder. Time to get back to it.

Kitsuki wasn't far from the lake that Takara was currently relaxing at. She could see someone taking a break nearby but at the moment Kit was more focused on the target that she had set up in front of her. Kit was practicing her archery with a low level bow and using mediocre arrows. She was more focused on refining her trick shots at the moment and practicing with a bow with a weaker draw strength made the most sense at the moment. From her present location it was likely Takara would be able to hear the thump sound as Kit's arrows hit home. Zizz, her tiny angel, was currently doing laps around Kitsuki's head forming a small halo in the process.

Kit was wearing a black track suit with the village's logo crested near the collar. It wasn't her most stylish outfit but it was functional. Kitsuki liked coming to this section of the training grounds purely for the opportunity to clear her head. And with the way things were going, she needed a lot of opportunities to clear her head.

Takara had been hearing the occasional ‘thock’ of an arrow hitting a target for some time, but that was not what had honestly drawn her attention so much as the glow of something that almost looked like a tiny angel above her. The intelligent woman had read about them in a book once, but it had been fiction, not fact, so seeing something like that drew a lot of questions. Having familiarized herself with the important people of the village and their general appearance, there was absolutely no mistaking who she had noticed; Kitsuke Kurahasa, one of the most powerful people in the village. Perhaps Fate had brought them together for the benefit of them both? What harm would come from finding out? That being said, Takara slipped from the middle of the pond for a moment and turned to face the young woman, and decided to make it as simple as she could.

“Hey there! Want to train together? Might be more effective than solo!” She hadn’t left her pond; if Kitsuke decided to decline, she wouldn’t have lost anything aside a few moments of her time. It was a simple, honest question that could wind up with rejection, but without ever trying, nothing would happen. Takara wouldn’t be able to progress with much of anything, and thanks to her knowing who Kitsuke was off the bat, she knew that this was one of the people in the village that if she could befriend would go a long way later on in life. After all, there was a single technique that the village guarded safe that the Genin wanted to learn above all else that would compliment her current style perfectly, but it required permission to learn.

Takara had absolutely no illusion that she would be able to earn that right through this simple interaction with someone who could provide her the opportunity, but instead knew that this was but a stepping stone; Kitsuke likely didn’t even know her name, but that was exactly how she had wanted it to be. To fly below the radar until she was absolutely certain that she was capable of anything this world could throw at her, and even then, to try to avoid being too overly known. Shinobi, in Takara’s eyes, was better when the enemy didn’t know what you were capable of rather than outright fearing it… but that was simply her own mindset. Not everyone would deny fame in order to be more unexpected.

Kit was notching another arrow in her bow when she heard Takara call out to her. The Princess turned her head to the beautiful dark skinned genin training at the pond. Kit was suddenly struck by a feeling of nostalgia and familiarity. She looks just like Kat... Kit thought sadly. She was flooded with memories of her older sister had been missing for several years now. Kit had held out hope that she'd one day return to her but with each passing year that prospect grew more and more unlikely. Their parents had moved on and had busied themselves with their merchant profession. It was less out of apathy and more out of need to stop themselves from slipping into mourning. They all shared the same desperate prayer that Kat was alive and living life on her own terms. None of them dared organize a search party or chase after her lest they be confronted with the ugly truth.

Zizz rested on Kit's shoulder and the luminescence from her Angel lifted her spirits. Kit smiled at her tiny friend and then looked back over to her greeter. She looked like Katsumi but there were many unmistakable differences. She'd be well-served to not let the grief of her missing sister poison this interaction, so instead she waved Takara over and replied.

"Sure! I can teach you a thing or a two. And maybe you can return the favor"

Kitsuki was not adverse to learning from the next generation. Back at the WASP, it was said that every teacher learned at least one new thing from a student. The tradition of mutual growth was something she intended to carry forth as one of the leaders of Kirigakure.

The fellow Kiri-Nin paused when looking at Takara, and for a moment she wondered if Kitsuke had recognized her somehow, despite knowing for a fact that they had never met. The little creature that had been spinning around her head came to rest on Kit’s shoulder, and that seemed to shake her out of whatever train of thought she had been in before, and quickly agreed to train with her, but made the odd statement that Takara might be capable of teaching her something. Laughable, but she didn’t dare express that sort of doubt here and now. The young woman gathered her things and approached, quickly and quietly making her way over so that they didn’t have to shout to communicate.

She gave the woman a respectful bow and then stood upright, her bright blue eyes locking with Kitsuke’s own. “I am Takara Kaiyo, Genin Shinobi. Thank you for accepting my invitation, Kurahasa-sensei.” Her tone reflected the respect someone of Kitsuke’s position deserved, and the automatic addition of ‘sensei’ to her name would hopefully be accepted for what it was. Takara was hoping to learn from Kitsuke, and that made her, in her own mind, a student of hers. Also, stating her name outright meant that she told Kitsuke that Takara knew who she was, and that would hopefully alleviate any awkwardness about introductions on her end.

This encounter was something that Takara had long hoped for, since graduating from the academy; a chance to learn from someone far more experienced and powerful than she was, someone who could possibly guide her in the right direction and present her with opportunities to grow that were otherwise not there. She would take full advantage of this if she could, and while she knew it was a foolish thing, their shared skin tone, being somewhat rare in this village, brought a sense of kinship.

[3]

Kurahasa-sensei

Kit blinked as she realized she couldn't recall anyone ever calling her by that honorific. She had shown interest in a potential student or two but every single one of them had fallen through. She wondered if the fault lay with her. Maybe she was too intimidating or maybe she wasn't a very good teacher. It was a pity since she had always wanted to follow in her own sensei's footsteps. She wanted to guide the next generation and show them a better way just as Headmaster Sukimori had done for the hundreds of young girls that had passed through the gates of the WASP School.

Kurahasa-sensei....Hm....
ⵀⴰⵙ ⴰ ⵏⵉⵛⴻ ⵔⵉⵏⴳ ⵜo ⵉⵜ ⴷoⴻⵙⵏ'ⵜ ⵉⵜ?

"Nice to meet you Takara, what are your proficiencies?"

It would be helpful for Kit to get a baseline understanding of what Takara was good at and then plan accordingly from there.

Takara wasted no time, willing to share her information with someone of such a high standing that around most of her peers she would have kept in reserve. This woman was entrusted with the villages most sensitive and secretive techniques, many of which Takara hoped to learn one day, and she would not be a competitor in the Chuunin exams if that was what she wound up going to, so there was no logical reason to hold things in reserve. "I am highly intelligent, have mastered Suiton to the point that I do not require hand-seals to perform the techniques, am extremely proficient in Ninjutsu, and am studying Fuuinjutsu and Medical Jutsu en masse. While not strictly combat oriented in my focus, I will hopefully grow to the point where I can ensure our fellow Ninja who are more focused in combat and are on the front lines can stay combat ready even after they have been injured, Ma'am."

There was not a single hint of bragging in Takara's tone, just simple and unrivaled facts; she showed confidence to back up her words, naturally, but she didn't have a single ounce of wanting to brag in any way. Many people looked down on her viewpoint and what she wanted to do, always rushing to go out and be in the center of combat and the action, but they couldn't do that without people like her. She would hold the one major ambition she had at bay for now; taking over the Kirigakure Hospital once she was trained enough to do so. She knew that she was extremely lacking in other areas, but that would become evident in time as well, and likely Kitsuke had already guessed it. While sporting an extremely filled out figure, musculature was minimal, but present, on her body. She didn't train physically nearly as much as she did her mind.

[4]