Swinging a Sword 101 (Open)

Natsuru wanted to stay true to her word by powering herself up. The incident with Nozomi and Honiko left her with a choice: retire as a Shinobi and go back to living an easy life or gain the strength to fight what was to come. Simon without a doubt carried the fight making her feel like she wasn't carrying her own weight. Though, part of her had a feeling if she did retire she would only weaken herself. The pale woman and Nozomi were persistent in getting their revenge on her. After all she nearly killed a Genin and ran the other through the heart. Some actions were unforgivable-- Natsuru has done them twice. As if she needed a reason to begin with, Natsuru chose the warrior's path. Part of her wanted to see her enemies die before her to ensure they would never become an issue again.

Natsuru's expressed interest in swordplay grew significantly after witnessing them being used many times on the field. It was enough to get her on the path of learning. Although she preferred longer range she could at least be remarkable in self-defense instead of relying on her comrades to save her. The blonde girl did a number on her, and that was chiefly due to her lack of finesse. She could kick and swing when faced with a melee challenge, and generally she won most of her conflicts through brute force and overwhelming attacks. In a real situation faced with a real opponent that simply did not work. She needed to be better prepared. . Natsuru wears black sandals which cover both feet securely and tightly providing comfort and protection. This is matched with a pair of dark gray steel shin guards. The shin guards covered the tops of her feet all the way up to her lower knees. This was matched with a pair of black stockings which covered her feet and extended above her knees. Although made from cloth they were somewhat thick and provided minor protection. Natsuru wears black undergarments which are concealed by a long, black loincloth which extends just to the sides of her knees on the front and back still providing suitable coverage. Around her right thigh she wears a simple, small black leather belt. Attached on the belt is a dark gray lacquered scabbard sized for a tanto. Another black belt is worn around her waist which serves to hold her quiver located around her back side. This belt is accompanied with a hip pouch above her rear and a katana on her left side, the scabbard design mimicking that of the tanto.

A mesh, sleeveless undershirt covered her body as a set of riveted mail is worn over the undershirt. As her primary top she wears a simple black leotard fitted to her body type. Naturally, her mail shirt beneath her top extends slightly down her upper arm adding some additional protection. On both hands Natsuru wears a pair of long fingerless gloves which extends just below her elbows made with the same material of cloth and quality as her stockings. These are backed by a pair of soft leather arm guards protecting her forearm and back hand leaving a small soft part on her wrist still allowing flexibility. Her bow is worn across her chest with the front of the bow between her bosom and the string running across her back, the natural properties of the bow clinging itself to her body. Over her torso is a black cloak that extended down to the backs of her knees with a down hood, the mantel thick and well-insulated.

Natsuru has very fair skin with an almost ink-like navy blue hair, which matches her eyes in the same regards. Her hair runs down her back inside of the cloak's cover down to her rear end with a few bunches of hair touching down her breasts. Standing at 5'11 she has a very slender frame which maximizes her role as an archer giving her a statuesque vibe. Alas, a highly decorated Indian-style necklace made of silver and ruby was worn around her neck resting atop her chest serving as a relish for the stunning Kunoichi.

She would join the others waiting in the training ground. "Hey Simon, Yun." She said modestly, not really elaborating on the greeting or hinting she wanted to speak more. She was feeling more neutral towards Yun compared to their first meeting, and Simon was always the same. She was not as school girly as Ryuko or Shimiko, keeping her greetings modest.

Ryuko had been working out in the courtyard behind her house when the messenger pigeon had arrived. After the events at the vally she had undergone a rather intense training regime in an effort to push herself to her limits and the fruits where already beginning to show. Her stamina, speed and Perception had all gone up.

Without taking any boosts into account or jutsu for the matter she estimated she was roughly as strong as Sakata had been back in the vally. It was a good start but she still had a long way to go if she wanted to be able to crush the white witch and take Nozomi from her.

The problem now was that she could sense she was quickly approaching the limits of how far she could grow. She’d been told from the start she’d never be able to naturally reach s type stats in anything expect possibly intelligence and even then only if she dedicated her life to that leaving her physical stats little better then the average civilian.

It was funny, She could probably beat the crap out of the average Jounin now and yet she still didn’t feell like it was enough. She needed something else, something more if she was going to gain an edge against the type of monster that had pushed around several Jounin as if she was simply toying with them.

This offer from Sakata wouldn’t be that edge but it’d be a good start towards sharping herself. Raw strength didn’t mean much if she didn’t have the proper techniques to go with them. The Cloud style wasn’t something that was taught to just anybody, she’d be a fool to pass up this rare opportunity to acquire them.

Wiping the sweat of her brow she quickly went into the house to change out of her sweaty gi into something a bit more fashionable. Instead of her usual purple priestess gear she was wearing very tradition white shirt with red highlights and a short red battle skirt along with her black knight gloves and stocking. Attached to her waist was a single sword, a wakizashi sitting in a simple pain gray sheath.

Arriving at the field not long after she was surprised to see not just Sakata and Natsuru like she’d been expecting but her surrogate little brother Lei as well. Feeling an urge to show off for them she drew her sword, jabbing it into the ground then jumped up onto the hilt as if she was preforming the moonlight technique.

“Sorry for the wait everyone. Ryuko has arrived.” she said dramatically as if she had been preforming the roll of a samurai in a kabuki play. Hoping off her sword she pulled it out of the ground then swished it around in a spin to throw the dust off it before returning it to it’s sheath.

“Nat-chan good to see you as always” she said happily as she rushed over to give the taller girl a hug, thought one noticeably more restrained then her glomps had used to be. Now that she had come out of the closet she wanted to avoid making her friend uncomfortable from being too touchy-feely.


“I see you’ll be joining us today Lei-kun. Are you sure you’ll be able to keep up?” she asked concerned with how quickly he had winded himself back in the vally. Not wanting him to feel left out she gave him a hug as well.

As for Sakata…. well yeah a hug wasn’t happening. They where friends sure but for various reasons that would just be awkward as all all heck. She generally didn’t like touching men much to start with, especially ones’s she knew where involved like he was with Shimiko. Lei was an exception solely because she knew he was a gentleman and since he was yonger it he felt less treating.

"Sakata-sensai. Thank you for taking the time to show me the way of the sword. I’ll be in your care today.” she said bowing formally before him the way a proper student should. She was quite eager to begin her lessons.

Training
Moonlight (0 words required)