Fuel to the Fire

After failing to even create a solid win clone for the better part of an hour Maverick finally stood face to face with himself. For the next hour he sparred with his fuuton clone. Both beings dodging, blocking and striking the blows from the other. As Maverick jumped backwards to create some distance between himself and the clone he watched it weave a quick chain of seals. It inhaled deeply before releasing a great burst of wind in Maverick's direction. In mid air he did not have many options for avoidance. However he did have a new jutsu he wished to try.

Forming the Horse seal Maverick leaned his head down expelling a great force of air from his lip. His body flew up twenty five meters safely out of range of the clones attack. However he then started to descend, rapidly. Forming a few more seals he used the Gentle Step technique to help himself slow down a little. As his feet touched the earth he formed the Horse seal again utilizing his new jutsu's other function. He dashed quickly toward the clone faster than he should have been able. Heavenly Messenger had two applications, however this was Maverick's favorite. The clone never saw the Kunai slash before it violently exploded.

Jutsu Learned:

It was almost noon and Maverick needed to head home soon if he wanted to be ready. He was almost having to much fun and had lost track of time. Maverick summoned another clone before him, handing it his weapon pouch and walking a few paces away. "Alright when I give the signal I want you to throw a few of the shuriken at me." His clone nodded pulling out four bladed weapons. He had piggy backed off of Ren's own jutsu, learning about the sudden release of Katon chakra to stave off any physical contact. He nodded and activated his Sharingan. The clone threw the shuriken but to him it almost seemed in slow motion. Before the blades met his skin he released a sudden burst of wind stopping the spinning weapons in their tracks. He was satisfied with the result but wished to test his timing a little more. The clone threw shuriken after shuriken all being stopped in place as Maverick released his chakra.

Satisfied with his training Maverick rushed home hoping he was not late to his meeting with Riza.

[Exit post]

Jutsu Learned:

Maverick was feeling on top of the world after his date with Riza last night. With the memory lingering on his mind he made his way to the training grounds. It was later than he normal for Maverick to just be heading out to train. Most of the time he liked to be up and out before the first rays of sun light broke the horizon. It had been almost eleven in the morning before he could wrench himself from his dreams. He had been training harder than he had ever done before in his life. His body must have felt like he needed more rest than he realized. He loosened his muscles with a quick stretch before walking into the center of one of the fields. In his hand was a fuma shuriken he needed for this particular technique. He had seen this technique multiple times by Chunin and Jounin. He threw the small shuriken and formed the needed seals for the jutsu. As the small rotating blades flew through the air it suddenly grew to four times its original size. The now extra large shuriken slammed into a a tree trunk across the way shattering its bark. Maverick walked over pulling the now small blade out of the gash in the tree. He would not be satisfied with trying it just once.

Jutsu Learned:

As Maverick retrieved his shuriken for a final time he did not walk back to the center of the field. He looked around at the few trees dotting the perimeter of the clearing. He moved to one of suitable size just a little thicker than he was wide. This would do just fine, he did not want to find one to thick and mess up getting stuck inside. He had previously practiced the Hiding in Shadow technique but knew this would be just slightly different. He pressed one foot against the wood forming the Ram seal. He watched his foot sink into the trunk before stepping off the ground. His body felt weird as he melded with the trees trunk. He stepped again moving out from the other side. His feet felt the earth again before he had another idea. He formed the Ram seal again this time in his mind he imagined he was weightless. His body sunk into the earth below him, this was the next step for this jutsu. He almost felt like he was swimming in the dirt. He resurfaced when he needed a to breathe before returning into the ground.

Jutsu Learned:

The day had dragged on for Maverick, almost as if moving in slow motion. His thoughts had lingered on the night before never letting him take in the full scope of his training today. He shook the thoughts from his head summoning a normal shadow clone. He needed a second body to practice the last jutsu of the day. He walked behind the clone forming the Tiger seal before placing his index and middle fingers from his right hand on the spine of the clone. The clone jolted before freezing in place where it stood. He paced around it poking and prodding to see if simple touch broke the jutsu. He was pleased with himself before releasing the clone. He spent the next hour paralyzing and freeing his clone before he decided to head home.

Jutsu Learned:

[Exit post]

It was officially the start of Maverick's second week of solo training. He had pushed himself harder than he ever had in the past eleven years. His body was exhausted not wanting to get out of his bed this morning. He sat by a small creek dipping his feet in the water to help him relax. As the birds chirped over head and wind rustled through the leaves he could only smile. He leaned over opening his backpack riffling through it looking for a shuriken. He found the weapon with painful revelation as it stabbed the back of his hand. Maverick cursed under his breath yanking the weapon free from the pack. He set it on the ground and formed the Snake seal focusing his chakra into the shuriken. He held the seal manipulating the weapon to spin and rise into the air. Maverick sat for a while controlling the shuriken making it fly around him.

Jutsu Learned:

Maverick pulled his feet from the river standing tall as a cool summer breeze blew by. He liked it out in the forest, the seclusion and quiet brought him peace. Maybe it was time to disturb that peace a little bit. He had read about a jutsu that was used more for disorientation than damage and thought it would be a good addition to his arsenal. He pulled out the scroll he had brough and re-read the section he was looking for. He formed three seals Ox -> rat -> dog before focusing his chakra to the tip of his finger. He could feel the pressure of the wind jutsu he manifested and condensed down to a one inch orb of air. Holding his hand out with his finger pointed at the water before him. "Bang." The sphere shot forward colliding with the water with a loud pop. It made Maverick's ears ring loud with instant regret that he had not brought ear plugs.

Jutsu Learned:

The bushes behind Maverick began to rustle making him turn quickly on his heels kunai in hand. The moment that passed almost seemed like an eternity before a small black puppy walked into the opening. His guard instantly dropped seeing the dog knowing its owner would be close behind. Riza walked out next a smile oh her face followed by a wave. "Hey Maverick! I had a hard time finding the place but Kubi sniffed you out." She looked a little different than normal. She was wearing her normal kunoichi attire but her hair was put up in a tight bun and he could almost swear she was wearing a little make up. He had asked her here to help him practice some Taijutsu. Being an Inuzuka, Riza had a better handle at hand to hand combat than he did. She showed him the technique he would be practicing today. It was called the Body of the Bear and was meant to harden Maverick's muscles to withstand physical attacks better.

She showed his how to run his chakra through his body to harden the muscles underneath. She warned him of the dangers of keeping the technique active for to long could lead to a major drain on ones stamina. When she felt he was ready she rushed forward fists and feet seeking their target. Before each blow struck home he would focus the second before. He knew he would still have bruises after today but also knew he spared himself a few broken bones. After their training Riza and Maverick spent the rest of the day by the river. Laughing, sharing stories and embracing before pulling out a sleeping bag. They shared a night together under the open sky oblivious to the rest of the world.

Jutsu Learned:

[Exit Post]

The moment Maverick opened his eyes to see Riza still next to him he knew his true place in the world. With a silent promise he vowed to keep her safe and never let harm fall upon this woman. He shuffled out of the sleeping bag as slowly and quietly as he could so to not wake her. He set up a small pot and summoned a small fire to heat the liquid he would be brewing. After about an hour Riza stirred from her slumber, the smell of coffee to strong for her Inuzuka nose. For the first part of the morning the sat there, laughing, talking and embracing. While they sat there she brought up a simple fighting style that might help Maverick get better at hand to hand combat. She explained this style would be more about speed than power, trying to overcome the opponent with a flurry of blows. They stood ten meters apart and bowed to each other as their Sensei of team thirteen had shown them for respect to a rival. For the next hour Maverick did not pull his punches however he also did not seem to land a single blow.

Jutsu Learned:

He was getting frustrated with not being able to land a single strike upon his opponent. Riza laughed exclaiming how he would never lay a finger on her, adding with a wink unless she wanted him to. He felt his cheeks flush at the idea before shaking it away to clear his thoughts. Kubi's head popped up hearing his owner laugh taking in the sight of the sparring session. Maverick rushed forward his fists moving as fast as he could bring them to connect. Riza dodged and weaved around each blow landing a small slap to the side of his head. His anger which had been rising with each missed blow finally hit the boiling point with the connecting slap. He stopped on a dime crouching in a feint waiting for Riza to lower her defense. He stood straight up lifting his right leg in a quick sweeping motion. His foot caught her on the side of the head sending her to the ground.

Jutsu Learned:

Maverick's eyes widened as the realization of his actions took hold. Quickly he rushed to her side apologizing as she playfully punched his shoulder. He helped her back to her feet as she congratulated him on landing a blow on her. They took a break for a mid day meal talking about more training techniques they have learned since he had left. He showed her a few of the Jutsu Ren had taught him while she showed him a few new Taijutsu combos she had learned. Once their break had ended they returned to their starting positions. However this time Riza walked up to him explaining she really did not wish to get struck again today. For the next half hour she helped him with his flexibility for an attack that would be able to deal a decent amount of power. Once he was able to raise his leg to where it looked as if he was doing the splits in the air. She instructed him to drop the leg into the ground as hard as he could. Over and over he would slam his foot into the ground until he could feel the purple bruise start to form. When she thought he was more than ready she called it a day. They spent the rest of the daylight they had sitting next to the river their feet soaking in the cool waters.

Jutsu Learned:

[exit thread]

Today would be the last day of training with Riza for awhile. He would soon be heading out with Ren on a duo mission. He did not want to push themselves to much today. He wanted to take it slow and just spend time with the Inuzuka. She had decided to try and teach him a simple defensive taijutsu technique to start the day. She described how he would stick his leg out using the sole of his boots to redirect the force of an incoming attack to the ground. She started with some low velocity punches and kicks letting him stop them easy redirecting their force to the ground. Eventually she would amp up her attacks giving him a little more force to stop. She explained that this technique had a limit and it would not be able to stop anything to powerful.

Jutsu Learned:

For most of the day Maverick and Riza spent their time together in calm and peace with nothing more than each others company. As the sun set over the horizon and night fell upon the forest bringing out all sorts of wildlife in the dense forest darkness. The campfire before them slowly started to dwindle as Riza reached to add more wood to the embers. Maverick reached his hand out stopping her as he raised his other. His eyes closed as he started to focus his chakra to a small point at his finger tips. After a moment a small orb of light hung almost an inch away from his index finger. He pulled her close keeping the orb of light hanging there.

Jutsu Learned:

Maverick let the light fade from his fingertips as the darkness surrounded him. He knew her eyes would be better than his in the dark unless he used his Sharingan. She played along squeezing his arm tighter giving off a false sense of fear. He smirked in the darkness as the body she leaned against burst into a cloud of smoke becoming a log. She was genuinely surprised having not noticed when he switched places. He had hoped she had let her guard down enough for him to slip away. He watched her stop and close her eyes her nose sniffing the air. "Kubi find him." As the words left her mouth a small orb appeared in the bushes before firing off into the air. "Over here i wanted to try something." His voice trailed off into a laugh before rejoining her for the rest of the night.

Jutsu Learned:

[Exit post]

It was early morning when the two awoke to the sounds of nature. Maverick helped Riza get ready to return home knowing he would spend at least one more day out here. They embraced before she would turn to leave until he saw her next, on that he was not sure. As she vanished into the dense forest vegetation he would gather his things moving deeper into the woods. After a short walk he stopped in the middle of a whole patch or blueberry bushes. He placed his pack on the ground retrieving the training scroll his father had made for him when he first graduated from the academy. He regretted that only recently had he taken his studies seriously. His eyes darted across the scroll looking for any techniques he had yet to learn. His eyes settled on the final three Jutsu written at the end, the only ones left. He set the scroll on the ground before forming the Tiger then Snake seals. He felt the chakra forming in his lungs before he exhaled a stream of condensed wind. He moved his head to the side cutting one bush in half. For a while he stood there chopping down bushes his thoughts lingering.

Jutsu Learned:

As Maverick surveyed the damage to the bushes around he he felt a slight pinch of regret. The bushes had done nothing but grow and he cut them down. He knew however that the leaves and berries would decay into the soil making what was still there grow more. He decided that moving to a new spot to avoid anymore damage was probably for the best. A dozen or so meters away he found a mostly empty clearing mostly dirt showing in the summer sun. Setting his pack on the ground he readied himself forming three quick seals. Snake, Tiger, Boar his fingers flashed before a small burst of wind shot from his lips. As the gust struck the ground dirt and dust shot into the air. He would be able to use this technique as a form of distraction and visual impairment.

Jutsu Learned:

Maverick let the dust settle before beginning to dig through his pack. He pulled a small marble made of solid steel out holding it up in his palm. He looked the small orb over before popping it into his mouth. As the steel ball settled on his tongue he formed the Snake and boar seals. He felt the chakra form in his mouth settling into a shell around the ball before he opened his mouth as if to whistle. The small steel ball shot from his mouth slamming into a near by tree leaving a nice dent in the bark. He retrieved the marble cleaning the dust and dirt off of it. He popped it back into his mouth making the two seals again. For the next hour he made dent after dent in the trunk of the tree. After a while of practice Maverick felt he was ready to return home.

Jutsu Learned:

[Exit Post]