Two different styles, two different people

Well, the academy days seemed to be behind her and with the graduation ceremony no longer fresh in her memories, Risu thought she had now truly become a shinobi, even though she had to admit that she was far from the caliber of people such as the mizukage or any of the jounin in the village. Luckily though, she was far from being the only genin and as this was the shinobi rank where there was the most difference between the various members of said rank, the young kunoichi was actually rather interested to see wether or not she could hold her own against others of her generation.

It was to this end that she had managed to get her hands on the village's roster and started sifting through all of the names it entailed, just to find that perfect match she had been looking for.

Eventually, she settled her eyes upon the name Himitsu, Nozomi, who was described as proficient in taijutsu beyond the degree of most genin, tactical capacities and far above average academy grades. This genin was a match to the desire Risu held, this genin was the antithesis to the Orochi girl's own style. According to the reports from the academy, Himitsu Nozomi had a fighting style that was up front and personal, acting more like an invincible spear compared to Risu's proposed immovable shield.

It was a fun, yet ancient question which now haunted Risu's mind and thoughts: What would happen when the unstoppable force met the immovable object?

Well, in the end there was only one way to check it, so Risu managed to get a hold of the other genin's address and simply brought a letter of challenge to that place, hoping that this Himitsu Nozomi would be just as interested in finding out how they ranked compared to each other.

The time and place of the challenge was easy, the training area at noon. The perfect place for two genin to cut loose and go head to head. It was an exciting thing to be waiting for and Risu managed to get to the training area just before noon, having eaten her lunch along the way, she now simply hoped that her letter of challenge had found its way to the intended person.

If there ever came a day that Nozomi turned down an offer for a spar, that would be a very strange day in her life. But this wasn't one of those days. Nozomi had received a message from a girl named Risu, challenging her to a certain type of spar.

Excitement poured through Nozomi as she geared herself up for the training match. It was almost time for her to leave her house, if she planned on getting to the Training grounds by noon, and even though she was still sore from her training with Makahshi the previous day, she wasn't worn out or exhausted, so this would be a very excellent time for her to get warmed up. She loved fights against people of her rank, because it allowed her to test herself against a peer rather than someone vastly stronger or weaker than her.

Leaving her house, Nozomi all but had to stop herself from running to the training grounds, so great was her excitement. The girl was usually more withdrawn and shy, but the prospect of a fight had made those insecurities fly away for the moment. It wasn't until she got to her destination and met her opponent that she even got a little bit nervous.

The only thing she knew about the challenger was that her name was Risu, and she didn't exactly know what she looked like. They had been in a separate class, so Nozomi wasn't sure she'd even met the girl before, and she really hadn't taken the time to find anything out about her. Unlike the previous morning, there were actually a few people around, and Nozomi had no clue which was Risu, and her shyness made it awkward to approach anyone.

After a few seconds, Nozomi stuttered out a weakish call. "R...risu? It's Noz.. Nozomi!" the words stumbled out. Hopefully the challenger would have heard it, and she could stop being the center of anyone's attention, but other than that, she just waited awkwardly.

It wasn't that Risu had actually challenged someone before, but nonetheless she was quite excited, so much so that she needed her uncle to bring her to the training area to calm her down a bit. However when they had finally arrived at the training area, it seemed that quite a lot of people had seemingly decided that this was the perfect day for some training, so finding Nozomi would prove to be quite a challenge.

Thankfully, her uncle enaka had pulled some strings with the academy to provide Risu with a face to go with the name, Nozomi's class picture showed a rather awkward looking, shy person, completely the opposite of what Risu had expected to find after she had read the comments on this particular girl's proficiencies.

When she finally heard a rather weak and stuttering call for her, Risu looked around, her eyes finally falling upon the person who resembled the picture she'd gotten from her uncle. It was quite surprising to see someone looking so... weak to be the one she had challenged, yet Risu knew well enough to not judge a book on its cover, so she simply raised her hand and started waving at Nozomi. "Over here, over here Nozomi!!"

It seemed this girl did not have any tools or utensils with her, so Risu decided to hand over her two hip pouches to her uncle to make things more fair between the two. "Sorry for calling you out like this, I just hoped we could...uhm...test ourselves a bit?"

Was she nervous, slightly annoyed or disappointed she could understand, but she was nervous. Risu let out a sigh and slapped her cheeks for an instant, a technique to calm her down completely and to focus on the task at hand. "Let me first properly introduce myself, Orochi Risu, formerly class 3-B at the academy, graduated last year and I'm a genin, nice to meet you."

A sigh of relief escaped Nozomi’s mouth as Risu responded rather quickly. Calling over Nozomi, the girl trotted over to her opponent and did a casual once over. She was really cute, and looked to be in decent enough shape.

As she started to hand off her hip pouches, Nozomi shook her head. "No need for that.... you might need them." She wasn't being cocky, she legitimately was warning the girl. She wouldn't fuss if Risu still decided to do without them. If she wanted to detriment herself, that was her choice.

"I'm Nozomi as you know, and I graduated fairly recently. I guess your graduating last year explains why I haven't seen you before.... Anyhow, I hope I can provide a good match for you." Taking up a readying stance, Nozomi would wait for Risu to get into position and start the match.

"Well sure, I might need them..." Risu looked at Nozomi, noticing the fact that she had exactly nothing on her person, as if she trusted her skills to the fullest extend. It was either that or she was looking down upon Risu and if it was the latter, the more reason not to use her items and tools. "But to be fair, it'd be best to keep ourselves to a level playingfield, no?"

With her uncle gathering her belongings and moving back to the edges of the training area, Risu let out a deep sigh of relief. "Well, there's a good reason for me to have asked you to come here, Nozomi. You are the same age and the same rank as me, so we should be near equal. However, they do say that our rank is the one with the greatest differences between shinobi, so why not see how big the difference is between us?"

Readying herself, Risu nodded at her uncle who'd be acting as a referee from the sidelines. When the medical kunoichi took up her own stance, Enaka did his countdown and as he threw his hands down, the game began with Risu taking the initiative of launching herself forward towards Nozomi in an attampt to gauge her taijutsu proficiency a bit. She prefered to keep it simple by throwing a one-two jab aimed at Nozomi's gut, followed by a leg sweep coming from the left.

In the end, she decided to forgo the ninja tools, and Nozomi didn't argue with that. It just meant she had less to watch out for, and that was completely fine. The problem was, if she won, and Risu blamed it on her lack of tools, then she wouldn't feel like she had actually won until a rematch was had.

She brought up good points, that the skill gap between genin could be the largest. It would be a telling experience. Nozomi was one of the best Taijutsu users to graduate the academy in recent years. She was only about average in terms of her other skills, but her exceptional Taijutsu skills were usually enough for her.

She was going to take this pace as much as Risu would. She wanted an even playing field for the time being, so she'd feel out her opponents strength for a little bit. She would ramp up her Taijutsu once Risu showed her a bit more to push her to use it.

Her fists went up to meet the two jabs with shots of her own, and she jumped forward to weaken the impact of the leg sweep. The other girl was only a couple of inches taller than she was, so Nozomi and her had basically the same advantages and disadvantages up close as far as range. The advantage that Nozomi had was knowledge of body mechanics through Taijutsu though, which meant she was far more used to an up close fight.

With Risu's leg sweep having hit Nozomi but Nozomi being far closer than originally intended, the force was diminished enough that she now had her own leg shoved between Risu's. Moving her right leg back and shoving forward with her right hand, Nozomi sought to knock Risu to the ground.

Perhaps it was not really a surprise that Nozomi seemed to be able to counter Risu's initial move with relative ease, yet even so, the snake-like girl wasn't intending on just letting her opponent dictate the flow of this spar, that would've been a serious mistake when dealing with a taijutsu user like her.

Rather than letting Nozomi shove her down, Risu vaulted backwards, letting her legs loosely fly through the air to avoid getting cought or hooked onto Nozomi's leg pulling away.

"I should've expected you to be able to deal with all of this so easily," The orochi girl laughed and clapped her hands just once, before suddenly placing her hands together and breathing in deeply. While quickly making the hand seals Dog, horse and bird, Risu exhaled just as hard as she had inhaled while holding the bird sign, letting out a strong gust of wind aimed to knock her opponent off of her feet. "I'm guessing ninjutsu is something different though."

Risu hoped that her opponent would be much more guarded against any possibility of her having some sort of unique or rare ability, counting on the use of ninjutsu to abuse said guard.

Stamina: 37/40

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Nozomi was rather impressed with Risu's reaction to her counter attack, realizing that Nozomi couldn't be allowed to dictate the flow of their fight. Expertly avoiding the knockdown, Risu got some distance from her, and inflated Nozomi's ego a bit. It gave her one important piece of information though, that Risu wasn't a Taijutsu practitioner in the same way that Nozomi was, and her skills probably were only the rudimentary amount that any academy student would learn.

With a few hand signs and an exhale of breath, Nozomi was quite surprised to find herself suddenly launched backwards by a force that she couldn't see. She wasn't well versed in different ninjutsu particularly, and so the wind caught her off guard, although it wasn't very damaging.

Nozomi's focus intensified more as she was carried backwards by the jutsu and her body moved to regain its proper orientation as she did a mid air flip, landing on her feet gracefully, although she broke her momentum gradually by taking a couple of additional steps backward. A frown from her concentration appeared on her face as she tried to figure out what to do.

Theoretically, Risu could just use that technique to keep her forced back as long as she had chakra, and that wasn't really something she could fix, and she was an up close fighter without any longer ranged techniques at the moment. Even if she had her weaponry with her, they'd probably be blown backwards as well. The only thing she had that might work was the Supernatural Walking Practice that academy students learned, as that might keep her on the ground rather than in the air. If she saw the handseals for the wind jutsu again, she'd use it to see how it went, but other than that, it was just something she needed to keep in the back of her head.

At least she knew she didn't have to worry about it unless she saw any handsigns, so Nozomi didn't waste the chakra on that just yet, but instead took up another stance. There wasn't anything she could do from far away, so she needed to bring the fight back in again. And end it with the stronger strikes from the Arhat Fist style of fighting.

Making a fast half tiger seal, Nozomi used the Body Flicker technique to regain the ground she'd lost, straight charging for Risu. If she managed to get there unhindered by another attack, Nozomi's knee would come up blindingly fast, and follow through with a shoulder charge to rock Risu backwards. At her top form, Nozomi's body moved at a high enough rate that following her body movements was almost impossible for most genin, although she herself wasn't exceptionally fast at getting to where she needed to go. In fact, sometimes she was a blur of movement to herself. Her speed was all in her Taijutsu attacks.

Chakra: 32/40

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The snake-like genin had to think about her actions quite a bit during this little exercise. She had to figure out how to make some surprising moves, how to blindside an opponent who quite frankly was physically in better shape and who already seemed to have accumulated more experience with using one's skills in one to one combat. In a sense, Risu was quite annoyed by how easily she had to come and face her own shortcomings, but then again, that was exactly why she picked out someone with such a record to be her opponent.

It looked like her Wind Release: Breakthrough managed to do exactly what she needed from it: surprise Nozomi and push her backwards, as Risu had already managed to determine that in close quarters, she'd actually be at a huge disadvantage compared to this physically superior, taijutsu-driven, single minded girl.

Using the Breakthrough technique for a longer extended period of time could've kept the spar at a stalemate, but wouldn't exactly show Risu anything or let alone proof or teach her anything. No, she needed to reassess the situation and perhaps formulate a different plan to correct this insane situation she'd found herself in. However, when she noticed Nozomi landing rather softly and taking on another stance, Risu's eyes widened a bit in amazement. "I'm guessing it won't be this easy, hmm."

To Risu's surprise Nozomi suddenly seemed to vanish in an instant and as she reappeared, the Half Tiger seal belied the technique she had just used, yet it was practically too late for Risu to properly react, crossing her arms to hopefully mitigate the impact of the incoming kneestrike a bit, before she was blown backwards by Nozomi's rough and tough shoulder charge, knocking the air out of Risu's lungs as she bounced rather uncomfortably over the ground.

With a pair of trembling legs, she managed to get up, scrapes all over her arms and her haori torn at the back. This was combat and for the first time in her life, Risu finally had a taste of it, only to quite frankly find it rather distasteful. There seemed to be no grace and hardly any thought in Nozomi's actions, almost as if Risu was facing a wild beast. It was at the very least interesting to know and sadly also feel the difference between the two of them.

"I see, that's quite a punch you're packing," Letting out a chuckle, Risu smiled honestly at Nozomi, truly impressed by how she had managed to easily counter and maneuvre her way through Risu's own assault, but they weren't done yet or at least Risu wasn't. She'd try and use this 'wild' aspect Nozomi seemed to radiate with, to abuse that mindset to the fullest. Focus was good, but too much focus would lead to trouble and just like Risu learned something from Nozomi, she wanted to teach the other genin a lesson as well.

Making the handseals ox, rat and dog, the girl created a small, rather volatile looking sphere of pressurized air in the palm of her hand and send it towards the ground a few meters in front of her, all with the intent of blocking nozomi's view of her for just a moment, after which she followed up with the dog, ox and rat handseals, pressing her thumbs three times against a certain spot on her arms right below her shoulders and sending her chakra through her own muscles, her arms bulking up in the process.

When that was done, she'd launch herself through the cloud of dust towards nozomi, hoping to surprise her by not coming from any other side than right in front of her, all with the intent of at least landing a single blow onto Nozomi's face.

Stamina: 31/40

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Her shots both collided with Risu, who wasn't really able to stop the force she had exerted, and the other girl was blasted backwards, tumbling across the ground for a few feet. As she wasn't following up with additional strikes, so she could see what the other girl would do, Nozomi's focus on her own movements lessened a little bit, her attention on what Risu was going to do. She received a compliment from her, and lit up a bit.

Still, the spar wasn't over yet, and Risu was going to make certain that Nozomi had a good match. She was glad, as she would have had to tone down her own level of output if Risu didn't think outside the box, and Nozomi didn't really like holding back much, as there wasn't much fun in a one sided match. Still, the other girl didn't strike her as the type of person who was very straight forward, and more as someone who used everything they had to come up with a plan to take someone down. In contrast, Nozomi was a fighter who ran straight into things and won or lost with pure skill alone.

The girl launched a ball of Fuuton at the ground, creating a dust cloud that Nozomi couldn't see through, and her attention was drawn back to her own reactions. She'd need to react as fast as she could, because she couldn't see through it and had nothing that would disperse the cloud. Risu came flying through the cloud, and Nozomi had very little time to react, her instincts taking over her own movements rather than her own planning.

Her arms crossed just before Risu would have had a full shot at Nozomi's face. Her force was stronger than Nozomi would have expected, and even though she had blocked it, the shot still rocked Nozomi, sending her skidding backwards. Her left leg had come up as Risu's fist collided with her crossed arms, lashing out a fast counter though, and due to her one legged skid, she was left off balance by the shot, forcing her to do a somersault in order to regain her balance.

The time she lost in correcting herself would have killed any follow up for a counter attack from Nozomi. "How'd you do that? You weren't that strong before, and I don't think you're using a new Taijutsu style." she asked, confused by Risu buffing herself up. A look at the girl confirmed that she was just.... stronger, rather than using a Taijutsu style. Her muscles were noticeably buffer.

Chakra: 31/40

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A silent 'yes' escaped Risu's lips when she noticed that her ruse had at least had some effect and that the technique her uncle had taught her was indeed this effective. Even though Nozomi had managed to mitigate the possible damage the punch could've caused by covering her face properly with her arm, it was nonetheless a success in Risu's eyes, who was now smiling brightly.

"Let's call this a draw, no?" She reached out for Nozomi, already making her half of the 'friendship' seal they used to use in the academy. "Oh that...that wasn't taijutsu, but Ijutsu. My uncle taught me this technique, it manipulates certain pressure points in your body by pressing them and flooding them with chakra. In a sense you could call it bodymodification, perfect for someone with a proficiency in taijutsu like yourself."

Just as she mentioned that, Risu's uncle Enaka walked over from the fence that protected those outside of the training area, handing over two bottles with oolong tea to Nozomi and Risu. "Quite the performance you two. Risu you should've been less direct with Pressure Strike and as for Nozomi, it seems your body is capable enough to handle great force, but I still want you two to come by my practice later on, can't have you running around with scrapes and bruises like that."

Risu took a swig from her bottle with oolong tea and smiled at Nozomi. "Those strikes from earlier really did a number on me. You ask about where my strength comes from, but you're not a slouch in that department either, seriously, the academy was underrating you."

Nozomi's stance dropped as Risu called the match a draw. It seemed like she got what she wanted out of their match, and Nozomi had affirmed that she was still on top of her Taijutsu game for the moment. She wasn't the type to try and cheap shot, and didn't really think that there was an issue with accepting the offer.

Completing the friendship seal, Nozomi smiled as Risu explained what it was she had done. A pressure point jutsu thing, huh? "I could use something like that, absolutely. Maybe it'll be worth learning at some point, but I am not medically proficient, so I can't yet. Unless it can be translated to Taijutsu?" She replied. The last but was more her thinking out loud.

Enaka walked over around that point, handing them some tea. She beamed at the compliment on their abilities, for perhaps the first time in her life receiving a compliment. The academy instructors had been the closest to that, but they weren't really warm, and more said her abilities 'exceeded expectations'. She nodded in agreement. While she hadn't exactly gotten a lot of damage, maintaining that level of activity pushed her muscles a lot.

"I wouldn't say they underrated me really. My files don't show that I accelerated through them. Besides, my other skills.... are lacking. I mean, I don't know.... much else other than Taijutsu. Basic stuff of course, but I don't use them much." She said, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm just unusually specialized."

Listening to Nozomi's question, Risu closed her eyes for a moment and thought about what the girl asked, realizing that it was actually a good question. turning towards her uncle, she gave him a pensive look and he replied with a smile. "Guess it should technically be possible."

"In a way, Ijutsu borrows heavily from taijutsu, usually perfecting it with its required chakra control, but my uncle's right...technically it should be possible," She chuckled and gave Nozomi a pat on the back. "All the Pressure strike really does is use chakra and some knowledge on your own body, that does sound strangely like Taijutsu, no?"

While Enaka laughed after that comment, Risu drank the rest of her tea and threw the empty bottle in one of the trash bins, taking back her two hip pouches which she had relinquished into her uncle's care and latching them back onto the belt around her haori. When she had done that, her arms lost their buff appearance and she started swinging them around for a bit to relieve the strain and soreness that overcame her. It seemed that the Pressure Strike technique had at least one downside: soreness in the affected area after having forcefully strengthened and enlarged one's muscles. "I should've realized this would happen, especially since I'm not used to this technique yet."

Enaka simply nodded, while Risu realized that if she had brought her springloaded umbrella, she'd now have been forced to carry that thing back. So it was a relief that she wouldn't be carrying that weight back home with her sore arms.

"Now girls, quit the chit chat and get yourself patched up," Enaka gave both of them a pat on the shoulder, grabbed his cane and started walking, the limp in his leg quite noticeabe as he turned around. "Don't forget we've got to clean the family grave in the afternoon, Risu and I'm sure Nozomi has other things to do as well."

"Allright, let's get going with this grumpy old man, Nozomi," Risu laughed and flung her arm around Nozomi's neck. "We should do this more often, you unusually specialized genin, hahaha."

If it was theoretically possible, then perhaps Nozomi would have to do a little bit of studying so that she could try and make a technique that did something similar. Of perhaps she'd just spend some time with Risu, using her knowledge as guidance so that she could do it without studying.

Even further than that, Risu seemed to suggest that Ijutsu and Taijutsu were incredibly similar, more so than the young blonde would have ever thought. In honesty, all she thought Ijutsu was was Medical stuff for healing. She hadn't realized it could be used for offensive applications. Why would she have? "M...Maybe you can help me develop some techniques then?" she asked a bit shyly. Now that combat was over, Nozomi was starting to revert back to her usual shy self.

Still sipping on the tea she was given, she watched Risu throw her bottle away, and watched her interaction with her uncle. A spark of jealousy and longing went through her. They were a lot closer than she could ever hope to be with her family. They were far too strict to ever form a familial bond like that. She was quite surprised when Risu threw her arm over her shoulder and nodded very eagerly.

"Oh, absolutely! I think you'd make an amazing partner." She followed along, mostly because she didn't have much of a choice. Beyond Enaka probably insisting that she should get treatment, Risu's arm was around her neck after all. Besides, part of her didn't want to leave them just yet.

"Well, it beats figuring out uses for techniques all by myself," Risu smiled and chuckled softly, though she immediately quit chuckling when noticing that the other girl seemed somehow...jealous of something and the fact that Nozomi seemed to go back and forth between Enaka and Risu while having such an expression, made it all too clear to Risu what the problem was. "Don't worry. Someone like you is always welcome at our place and not just because you're a perfect testsubject for our techniques, haha."

It was quite weird to see someone who had earlier shown such ferocity and determination turn into such a shy and introvert person, but than again, everyone changed in combat, especially those that relished the principles of it. Risu was no exception to that rule, it's why she had opted to leave her stuff behind with her uncle, so she wouldn't be able to use her Verdant Mountain Wind Technique against Nozomi. If Nozomi turned into a perfect tool for bludgeoning someone in combat, Risu would effectively be comparable to a rapier or a stilletto, piercing the weak spots of someone and exploiting their flaws.

Shaking her head to clear away those thoughts, she lead Nozomi to her uncle's practice, which wasn't all too far away from the training area. It was a small, two story building with lots of windows and more space than the outside would make you believe it had. Inside, there were two visible rooms: a waiting area and enaka's own laboratory.

Aside from all the cabinets and bookshelves, the place seemed rather sterile, clean and proper. It was here that Enaka placed his cane next to a chair and sat on a deskchair, rolling himself towards a leather bound operating table with reclining functions. "Take a seat here Nozomi, we'll get rid of those scrapes on your arms and put some ointment on your arms to prevent swelling. Risu dear, could you get that cream out of the medicine cabinet, it's on the second shelf."

"Nozomi, don't worry," The girl laughed as she went to get the cream as asked by Enaka. "He's posing as just some doctor now, but he used to be one hell of a shinobi... or at least that's what some of his friends tell us all the time."

"Risu, quiet now," Patting the comfortable operation table, Enaka motioned Nozomi to get a seat on it. "You know Miss Nozomi, the world of shinobis is a harsh one, you better take care of yourself if you want to survive in it."

The relief washed over her as her sparring partner accepted the question of whether or not they could try and develop some useful techniques. Nozomi up until that point was using other people's techniques, things that other people could know with little issue, but if she made her own, then it would make her all the more versatile.

Additionally, she was welcomed, in a strange way, but she was welcomed. It was actually really relieving for her. A test subject? Of course, that was kind of what she had asked to be in the first place, and that would help her learn some new techniques, so it made sense they would probably be tried out on her, but still. The phrasing was strange.

Following into the building, Nozomi looked around, but it wasn't all that impressive to her. It just looked like another building to her. This sort of stuff about observing her surroundings just wasn't something that she particularly cared about. As far as she could tell, it was like a smaller hospital than the main hospital, and she'd spent a lot of time there due to her particularly intensive training sessions with her father and family. Of course, her sensei was probably going to put her into the hospital quite a bit as well, and she wasn't looking forward to it.

Taking a seat, Nozomi looked up to the ceiling. She listened to the two of them talk and giggled slightly. "I know, I do take care of myself as much as I can. Problem seems to be the people training me don't care as much. My father's training was always strict, so that I'd be the best and strongest fighter in my generation. And my sensei, Makahshi Kereko, seems to think that beating me down as hard as he can is the best way to test my fighting abilities and endurance."

When Risu returned with the cream as requested by her uncle, she simply handed over the item to him and sat down next to Nozomi on the operating table while listening to what her new friend was saying. It sounded like Nozomi wasn't exactly having a leisurely or pleasant life herself, but as she heard Nozomi talk about her parents, she couldn't refrain herself from becoming a bit depressed and letting out a long sigh. "I'm guessing our lives simply aren't expected to be all that great or good unless if we were born perfect. Trust me Nozomi, I know what you're saying. My parents always desired for me to become the best they thought I could become."

Letting out another sigh and sticking out her left arm while using her right elbow to nudge nozomi so she'd hold out both arms as well so Enaka could do his work in peace, Risu gave a rather sad sounding chuckle. "They wanted the same as your parents, the best I could be didn't seem to live up to what they wanted, so the more time they spend with me, the bigger their disappointment. I didn't become as good as they desired, I didn't have the strength me dad had,
I don't have my mom's capacity for ninjutsu and I didn't even look much like them. In the end,
they just gave up on me and I on them. If it weren't for my uncle...I don't know where I'd be."

Listening calmly, while applying the cream to both girl's arms, allowing the numbing effect to kick in and lower any possible swelling, Enaka let out a sigh of his own. "Cheer up girls, all you both need is someone who believes in you, as long as you have that...you'll become stronger and better in what you do and what you love to do. Nozomi, don't worry about your sensei or your parents, in the end you'll outshine them all with your potential and you Risu, you found comfort in realizing that you were more like me than your parents."

Turning around on his chair, the older man rolled the chair towards a desk near the operating table and waved his hand in the air. "That's all kids, Risu...remember your duty of today and Nozomi, be a good girl and make sure my niece doesn't make a mess of things if you would be so kind."

"Nozomi, would you like to see my parents?"

Holding out her arms and listening to Risu talk, Nozomi frowned a bit. It appeared that she wasn't the only one who had people pushing her to be better than she was. Although, in honesty, she couldn't say that she didn't enjoy getting stronger, she just preferred doing so in her own way rather than just torturing her body. "I think it's because we live in a shinobi world. If you're not a shinobi, you're helpless against anyone with actual power. Everyone just... pushed that on me. And trust me, I like fighting, I don't need to be pushed. I just want to go at my own pace, you know?"

Risu offered up a little bit of her backstory, explaining that she wasn't the physical fighter that her father was, presumably he was a really strong shinobi, gifted with Taijutsu skills that were above ordinary. Even if he wasn't, he was probably just strong in general, you didn't need to know Taijutsu to be strong after all. And her mother seemed to be the same sort of prodigy, just in the sense of ninjutsu. Or at least fairly skilled to the point of excellence. Still, Nozomi wasn't sure why that would be an issue. Ijutsu seemed to make her stronger, which would match up to what her father wanted, and it did require a lot of chakra control, so ninjutsu should be child's play once she mastered Ijutsu.

Still, she didn't really get a chance to reply much, as Enaka told them to stop being so depressing. She was surprised that he seemed to think she had a lot of potential. For a genin, she was strong, but against other people, not so much. A smile grew on her face. "I mean, you two seem to believe in me, so, I guess I got that going for me." she said. Then nodded to Risu. "Yeah, sure. I don't really want to go home just yet."

As the two of them left the small doctor's practice behind them, Risu stretched out her arms with satisfaction, it seemed that her bruises and the strain on her muscles had been already fully alleviated by the cream that Enaka applied on the two of them. However, when she thought about where they would be going, Risu's expression turned rather gloomy or perhaps even dark for the place they were going to was the one place she never really liked to visit: the cemetary.

"Say Nozomi, you mentioned that in the shinobi world we'd be powerless against those with actual power," The girl slowly walked in front of Nozomi, not even looking at her when she was getting to the point of her question. "If that is true, than against what would those with actual power be powerless against?"

It was a legitimate question, a sad, yet poignant one in Risu's case. Though the report from the mission her uncle and her parents went on and where her parents died was stated to have been a sudden landslide that could not be avoided with the deaths of Risu's parents and a gravely injured and crippled Enaka as a result, the girl remembered her uncle's words very well: "There's a darkness in the shinobi world, when they give you an explanation that seems perfectly logical and possible, you'd best not believe it."

Though she never managed to get the real cause of her parents' deaths out of her uncle, she was determined to one day find out, even if she had to rip open the entirity of Kirigakure and tear it apart just to get her answers. "My uncle's a good man, a strong man, but to see him tremble so vividly whenever I try to ask about the truth is rather painful to watch. It's as if whatever here in Kirigakure has a hold on the information I need, also has a hold over him."


In time, they'd finally arrive at the hill where her parents' burial site was located. It was a peaceful cemetary, mostly with graves for the regular villagers, but sometimes there were some shinobi graves as well, for those who didn't die heroically or who didn't die while on active duty anymore. Her parents simply died according to Kirigakure, so they were not burried with the rest of the honoured shinobi and instead were burried among the regular people as they used to call them.

Near the graves with the names Orochi Yuna and Tenrou, Risu lit up a batch of sandal wood sticks and as the smoke started to rise from those, she clapped her hands to offer a silent prayer. "Mother, Father...this is Nozomi, my first friend since I became a genin. Please watch over her from wherever you are like Uncle Enaka watches over me."

Enaka really was a pretty good medic, as Nozomi hadn't felt better physically in a long time. Her muscles and soreness seemed light as a feather, and there were no problems that she could see. It was like she'd received a massage on her muscles and they just felt good.

Watching Risu's back as the other girl walked in front of her, Nozomi shrugged as she thought about the question. Shrugging was pointless of course, Risu couldn't see her, so she answered after a bit of thought. "I mean, I guess powerful people still have other powerful people above them. It's not even really like it has to be people, right? Like, it could just be a force. A powerful force is always higher. And death, that's the ultimate power. Everyone.... eventually." She cut off slightly.

As they arrived at the cemetery, Nozomi finally realized what was going on. Risu's parents weren't alive anymore. That's why she was with Enaka, he was raising her for the time being. A flash of pity went over her face, as it seemed like she missed her parents, a sentiment she wouldn't really empathize with, but still understood.

A.... friend? Her heart warmed, and she resisted the urge to smile and hug the other girl. She finally had a friend. "Thanks, Risu. I promise I'll help you figure everything out. One of these days we can do it together."

"I suppose you're right," Risu let out a soft chuckle, though her expression wasn't happy or relieved at all, just calm and perhaps even a bit stern. "There is always a greater power, no matter how powerful someone truly is, there will always be someone more powerful.
It's almost as if it's like the cycle of hatred in the sense that there's never an end to it all."

Standing up from the graves, Risu turned towards Nozomi and smiled as she wrapped her arms around the girl, gently hugging her. "We'll find the power to choose our own destiny, together."

Glacing at the graves, all Risu could think about was the weakness of humanity, its fragility and how strange it was that in the end Humanity became the dominant power in the world. Not because of love or any other emotion, but because of their cruelty, did humanity thrive. This seemed quite apparent in her parents, who cruelly disregarded her and cruelly abandoned her. Her uncle wasn't cruel, which seemed to be the reason in her eyes that he didn't thrive, he didn't grow or evolve. However, Risu would be cruel, especially towards this village which seemed to hold more secrets than any other.

"Let's go," She let go of Nozomi and smiled softly at the girl. "I guess neither of us can get home late."

Nozomi grinned as Risu hugged her. A feeling of warmth and acceptance flowed through her, and she now had an answer to Makahshi's question. Her reason for being a shinobi. Now it wasn't just to get stronger, but also to protect the ones she cared about. Help them get stronger, help them stay safe. It was that simple.

As they got up, a bit saddened that they would have to soon part ways, Nozomi sighed. "No, I guess we cant, huh? Thanks for showing me this. It feels very personal. When I'm not training with my father or my sensei, I'll have to show you something as well, but I don't think I have anything so personal really."

A momentary thought crossed her mind. "Do you have a sensei yet? Far as I know, we all get assigned to someone, so I'd think you'd have had one already." a hope rose in her that maybe they would be seeing each other quite a bit more. More than just randomly when they scheduled it, but during missions, training, and as a team.

"It's not as personal as you think, the people that are burried here did not love me,
they did not value me, to them I was but a disappointment," The girl laughed rather wry, shaking her head for a second. "But if they'd be able to lend even the smallest sliver of their strength and skill to you, I know you'll be safe."

Walking away from the graves, Risu did not look back at them, just seeing the visit as an obligatory duty for those who remained of the family, to uphold their name, even if that meant acknowledging who they were, no matter how bitter the memories of them were.

"They did say I'd be meeting my sensei soon, but due to me being one of the few Kiri-nin with a specialty in Ijutsu, I guess it's hard to place me without alienating me." Raising her hand, Risu made a waving motion and smiled brightly. "Bye bye Nozomi, I'll see you when I got some free time, 'kay?"

After saying goodbye to Nozomi, Risu walked towards her home, where she'd be making dinner for herself and her uncle, at least if he got home in time, knowing he'd be immersed completely in his usual experiments and studies. "I wonder if Enaka-oji knows who my sensei is going to be..."

[Exit Thread]

Ah, so she really didn't care about her parents all that much for it to not be a personal matter. Still, Nozomi wouldn't change her mind about what she had said. Risu may have been a disappointment to her parents, but she certainly wasn't to Nozomi. And if they were strong enough to be of any aid from beyond, Nozomi couldnt turn down that light hope that they would watch over her.

Unfortunately,  she hadn't actually met her sensei yet, but that could work in Nozomi’s favor. After all, it was possible that she would be assigned to the same sensei. Speaking of her sensei though, Nozomi had to meet him for training the next day and it was getting rather late. She still had things to do at her own house.

Waving the girl off, Nozomi took off at a sprint towards home. Maybe having a friend would change things for the better for her. Hopefully this one didn't just fizzle out.

[Exit]