Konami Trains The Youth

Konami stood in an empty training field with her arms crossed. As part of her interim Kage duties she decided to select a lucky genin to be her student. This would go over well with the village for PR purposes and would also give her a pawn to use for future missions should the shinobi prove loyal enough. She waited patiently for her student to arrive. The blonde was wearing her typical green jumpsuit, red beret, and combat boots.

So far, it was an ordinary day in the Hidden Mist. Plenty of clouds in the sky, with a big hint of rain to come later. There likely would be plenty of natural mist in the morning when it began to heat up again. But for now, the ground was just a bit damp- nothing special. Yuki's musings were suddenly broken as she arrived at the training grounds. She had been ordered to come here earlier by a messenger that had given her a letter. She had been chosen to receive the honor of being trained by the intern Mizukage. Still, this was very exciting. She was one step closer with this event to fulfilling her goals.

She stepped lightly into the field and about 30 feet from the Mizukage. She bowed deeply at the waist, a bright smile gracing her face. Her eyes were alert and she was very ready for this. Her hands bunched up the hem of her shirt. Even though she was excited, she was still anxious. What was going to happen?

Alas her charge had finally arrived. Yuki Yuki of the Yuki Clan. It was an interesting name to say the least but then again so was her own. The interim Mizukage did not return the bow but instead clasped her hands behind her back and looked down at the tiny girl. She was clearly excited but did she have the wherwithal to survive Konami's strict training regimen. Kirigakure had some interesting times ahead and it was imperative that its ninja be absolutely up to par in all respects. Konami looked down at Yuki with a serious expression and asked her a direct question:

"What is your name and current capabilities as a shinobi?"

In a single second, a million thoughts flashed through the girl's head. She didn't want to speak, not really. She hated talking. It never really helped her in life, and it didn't stop her clan from being reduced to what it is today. It didn't save her mother or father. It didn't save her brother. No words were spoken when a cousin dragged her away from the battle. All she heard afterwards were empty platitudes. Why would she ever want to talk then?

Alas, it was the easiest way for people to communicate. And when the Mizukage herself asks you a question, you damn well better answer her. Promptly too. So she gathered her courage up, and on the second second, she replied, "I... Yuki Yuki." She paused, a bit flustered. She completely botched that introduction. She wasn't used to speaking much anymore. "I use bukijutsu and wind and water release." She finished promptly. Her cheeks lit up in embarrassment- she still couldn't use ice yet. The powerful woman in front of her would probably realize that she didn't include that in her skills. Yuki adverted her eyes shyly.

Konami raised an eyebrow at the little one's odd response. The kid did not use complete sentences. Konami chalked it up to nervousness as the next thing out of her mouth was a bit more grammatically correct. Wind and Water Release along with Bukijutsu was a very typical fighting style for those with the Ice Release bloodline. It was the style favored by the Mizukage whose talent with respect to murder and dismemberment were indeed legendary.

"Ah, the style favored by our Mizukage. Maybe one day you'll surpass him hm?"

Konami grinned at the rhetorical question curious as to how Yuki Yuki would react. Whatever the girl said or did in response mattered nil as Konami would throw up her hands and then call out.

"Show me what you can do. I want to get a baseline for your skill level."

Yuki decided not to respond to the rhetorical question. She knew better than to fall into a verbal trap like that. It ended up being the correct choice too, because shortly after that the Mizukage told her to fight her, basically. Yuki knew she stood no chance at beating the older kunoichi, but that wasn't what this was about. No, Yuki just had to show what skills she had.

As soon as Konami finished speaking, the ice ninja made the seal of confrontation. Mist began to fill the room. "Hidden Mist Technique," the girl whispered, her voice very soft. With the mist concealing her, she began to circle slowly around the woman clockwise.As she moved, she would bend down and pick up small stones and sticks littering the floor. She had no weapons of her own right now, so she would have to improvise.


.................Y5................
........Y4........................
...................................
Y3.............M.................
...................................
....Y2............................
...............Y1.................

That's her movement right now. Each line is about 10 feet.

Active jutsu: Hidden Mist. Collected rocks and sticks as weapons.

Konami gave a silent smirk as the area was flooded with Hidden Mist. The Twin crossed her arms and waited patiently for the young girl to strike. It was a solid tactic for her to rely on her surroundings. She had no weapons to speak of and she used whatever she could get her hands on. Konami eyed her immediate surroundings waiting for the girl to make a concrete and specific move. Konami offered a single piece of advice for the young girl who was advancing.

"If you are going to use a technique to conceal yourself. Don't say that technique out loud. I know its in vogue for shinobi to yell out the names of their jutsu before attacking but this is one technique where silence is better than flashiness"

The girl blushed scarlet at the light rebuke. She didn't know how to use jutsu silently, that was all. She thought that was at least a Chuunin level skill, and well, if Konami said she could do it, she probably could. She wouldn't doubt the de facto leader of her nation, after all. She was still excited to just be training with her! Still, she needed to focus now that she was 20 feet behind the older woman.

Yuki aimed one of the rocks she held carefully. She threw her make-shift weapons one after the other. One small rock was aimed at Konami's back, right at the spine. Another at her right elbow. A stick was aimed at her head. Three more sticks and five rocks were thrown in a pattern to disrupt movement. If Konami dodged, she'd dodge into the path of a stick or rock. Yuki waited a pause, then she'd unleash her next jutsu.

No handseals were needed. As soon as Konami would act to either dodge or deflect the weapons, Yuki would release her technique. A gust of wind would fly from the young woman. The mist surrounding them would be repelled by the rushing winds, which was an acceptable loss. The true plan was for the wind to interact with the fake weapons- dodged or parried, the wind would whip them up into action again, causing them to fling around and attempt to hit the Mizukage once more.

While that happened, Yuki would not be idle. She would start running to her left, once again going clockwise around the mizukage, while once again using the hidden mist jutsu as soon as her typhoon gale ended. As the mist hid her from view, she would immediately change direction, dashing quietly back to her right instead, while also starting to close in on Konami. She would also scoop up one single stick to get ready.


Used: Wind Release: Passing Typhoon and Hidden Mist again.

Konami yawned and then raised an eyebrow when she was literally pelted with sticks and stones. The woman batted the projectiles away with her red steel gauntlets with astonishing ease. She realized that Yuki Yuki might be broke and might need to buy weaponry. After they were done training, she would need to take the girl out to get some proper weapons. Yuki Yuki followed up her barrage of projectiles with some ninjutsu. Konami threw up her guard and blocked the debris from striking her directly. It appeared that Yuki Yuki had rudimentary tactics which was understandable given that she was a fresh genin. The girl ran around to get a better position and picked up a stick. It was at this point that Konami really felt bad for her.

"Are you so underprivileged as to not have enough money for a single kunai? If I knew I would have bought you some" she said with curt honesty. She wasn't about to cut the training session short but if Yuki felt that she was being treated unfairly, Konami would oblige her some ninja tools. She wanted a good gauge of the girl's abilities.

The Mizukage mentioned her makeshift ninja tools. It wasn't Yuki's fault! The clan told her she needed to use her own money to supply herself, and that even as the heir to the clan and the de-facto head since her father died, she still couldn't dip into clan funds. She had been called here before she could take on any missions and get some money to buy a few kunai.

Still, that was beside the point. Her face was red with embarrassment, but she didn't say anything because that would give away her position. She was a poor ninja, not a stupid one. So with all the mist hiding her, she did her best to sneak up on the Mizukage, stabbing her stick at the back of the woman's neck. If it was a real weapon, she'd die if hit. Luckily, it was a stick. It likely wouldn't even bruise because Yuki wasn't even that strong. Also, she was pretty slow. However, hopefully, Konami wouldn't know she was there, since she was very quiet and hidden in the mist. She needed to pick up the silent killing technique soon. That would be pretty freaking cool.

Konami was poked with the stick. It was at that point that she decided that she had had enough. Konami knocked the stick out of Yuki Yuki's hands and backhanded the little girl with her steel gauntlet. The strike was not hard enough to seriously damage the little girl but it was hard enough to hurt badly.

"Stop it. You are embarrassing the both of us. I'm cutting our training session short and getting you some real ninja gear. Follow me."

Konami walked away from the training grounds and towards the marketplace. Yuki was weak but that was to be expected of such a young genin. The girl had to be empowered and fast. She needed genin that she could rely on and Yuki was young enough and well connected enough to play that role. If she could bend the Yuki Clan to her will along with that of the Kaguya there'd be no one left to challenge her or her sister.

Exit

She... She hit the Mizukage! With a stick! It blew her head off, filling the clearing with bits of brain mater and a cascade of blood did absolutely nothing. The beautiful, tanned skin of the admirable woman was utterly unharmed by the weak thrust of the 17 year old girl. Konami was utterly above her level. It was like an ant fighting a dog. Maybe, with the right tools, she could cause a sting, but not much else. Still, that wasn't the point of this- causing injury. No, this was about showing what skill she ha-- BAM!

Yuki Yuki was backhanded hard. Her mind flashbacked to her childhood when her family died. She thought she was next. She couldn't see through the mist, so for a split second, she actually thought the attackers had returned, but no, it was most likely the woman she attacked. The mist, without chakra to uphold it, began to disperse. Yuki lay on the floor, a nasty red mark forming on her pretty face. Her blue hair splayed out around her as she took in what just happened. It was faster than she could blink.

Then she was told to follow. They were going to get ninja gear. Apparently, she was a disgrace. She wanted to cry in frustration, but held it in. Yuki had thought she was doing good. She used the jutsu she managed to learn before and her environment to attack in a masterful plan. Her mind couldn't stop focusing on the word embarrassing. Yuki began to slowly stand up. Once she got to her feet, she kept her face blank and emotions in check. She was given an order to follow, and so she did. Her face stung like nothing she had felt before and has half red from the blow. It would make a nasty bruise later.

exit