Jutsu Practice

[Mitarashi Anko]

It was a warm and bright day outside. It was just like any other day in the Hidden Leaf village though. They barely got rain around the area that it normally felt good to be outside when it was pouring. Today Anko decided to skip out finding a mission that she could take to work on some of her jutsu that she needed some work on. These were the time she hated because it meant that she would have to go wander around the training ground for an open field to train by herself. She was never one to like training around someone. Most adults were still iffy wabout where her loyalty laid anyways.

Anko walked into the training field and looked around some. She saw some kids here and there, but nothing that would totally get her annoyed by their presents there. She walked up to some trees and took a glance behind her for a moment to make sure she was not followed. She knew of a place that was pretty well hidden and most people could not find it by themselves. She smirked slightly to herself has she figured that she would get some dango after a long day of training. That would make everything better for her.

Anko closed her eyes slightly and looked around some before walking away from the tree. There was no one that was following her, so she thought that she was good for now. If anyone did follow her than she would have to deal with the person, now however, there was nothing that she could do about it. Time would tell if someone came up.

Anko walked into a clearing and smiled slightly. She liked to come here because it was enclosed and she could work better alone than anything. ”Man, so many things to work on and I do not know where to start. My Fire Shadow Clone? I know that needs work so I can teach it or something…” Anko reached up and scratched the top of her head has she pondered this.

[stormecho]

Metsuki wasn't stupid enough to fall asleep in the training field - though the undergrowth was quite thick and a good place to hide something, the fact it bordered a common place for ninjas to train made it a particularily poor choice. She didn't want to wake up with a mis-aimed shuriken in her arm... No, she usually chose a park to sleep. Someone deciding to fall asleep on a bench wasn't the strangest thing ever, especially given that nearly all ninja were insane in one way or another. Most would believe sleeping on benches was her peculiar quirk and would leave her alone. However, sleeping on a bench made her stiff, no matter how willing Ao was to be a pillow.

The half-wolf was currently curled up, forelegs dangling off of the bench and still deeply asleep. The sight of her partner so vulnerable brought a smile to her lips, and she reached up sleepily to scritch behind her ears. That was enough to wake the canine - Ao lifted her head and sneezed, one golden eye opening to look accusingly at the Inuzuka. "Good morning. I'm stiff... want to take a run? Maybe we can find some prey on the way." To emphasize the suggestion, her stomach rumbled conveniently - no doubt Ao would soon be whining for some food as well. After an exaggerated yawn which Met grimaced at, she got up to allow the half-wolf to stand and leap off gracefully. For a moment, she brushed at her clothes, tugging them to straighten out the wrinkles and not look so... slept in. Ao watched patiently, and as soon as she nodded, the mixed-breed took off, legs propelling her towards the training ground, with Met not too far behind.

Their course took them out of the way of those actually training, as they both preferred to dash through the forested areas, practicing stealth and speed as well as stretching muscles stiff from sleeping in awkward places. The occasional clearing always made them slow down, though, searching for something edible... Ao managed to pin down a squirrel before it leaped away, so that was good, but Met was hungry and didn't have all that much money to go and buy things. Going back to the clan to eat wasn't an option. Once Ao had finished butchering the prey and had eaten everything she could, they were off again, moving quickly, though Met wished she hadn't proposed to do this on such an empty stomach...

Unfortunately, going so fast meant they had no time to catch the scents in the air or on the ground, and meant that when they burst into a clearing once again, neither had any warning that it was occupied. Met skidded to a stop, tensing up as Ao began to bristle and look as menacing as a knee-high dog could. "Uh..." The woman wasn't someone she had seen or scented before, but it was easy to guess that she wasn't a genin. "Sorry. I can leave." she said lamely - which was followed by her stomach rumbling inconveniently, making her flush with embarassment.

[Mitarashi Anko]

Anko had closed her eyes slightly to think about what she was going to do first. There was so many things that she knew she could improve on, but it was actually getting in the mind set of actually doing them that she ran into her trouble. She was never one to work too hard when things was in her eyesight. She knew she was far too easily distracted by objects that that. She was slowly working on bettering herself with those, but it was not going too happened over night.

Anko opened her eyes when she heard something coming at a fast pace towards her. It sounded like someone was jumping from tree branches or some things. She was not sure what was coming and knew it had to be someone from the village; all Anko could do was too wait and see. She moved over to a tree and leaned her back against it. Her lavender eyes searched for the person that was about to come into the opening. She slowly reached into her left pocket and felt around for her kunai and wire she held in it. ”Four, five, six, seven….thought I had nine…and now I only have seven….damn…what happened to the other two….” It was not unlike her to lose one of her kunai from time to time, but now was not the time she needed to lose it.

Anko withdrew her hand has she heard the duo come closer and into the clearing. Her eyes scanned the two and the first thing that she noticed was the red fangs on her cheek. She had no doubt where she belonged too. ”An Inuzuka? And their pup I see. Must be a Genin or something…cause I never seen them in the ranks before…” Her eyes narrowed slightly when the girl suggest that they could leave and saw her flush some.

Anko was about to make the suggestion that she followed that little advice before a twisted idea came into her mind. This would allow her to train her jutsu and take on an Inuzuka other than Tsume. She knew she might get some lips from the hyper adult, but in the long run it was going to be worth it. She barely was able to see one of this clan in action and she wanted to see it. ”Nah, tell ya what. If you can beat me…I will let you leave with not scratch.” A smirk played across her face as if she was only teasing the girl.

[stormecho]

Metsuki quickly came to the conclusion that otherwise, she would not be allowed to leave unharmed. As the stranger was older and probably stronger than her, there was no need to doubt this statement. Besides, she could view it as sparring practice. "Well... alright." She would probably take a lot of damage, and she would then be leaving bruised and battered... And there was no way she would beat someone when she was only a newly made genin, with a handful of techniques. Still, she pushed those negative thoughts away for now, baring those pointed teeth in a feral grin. "I'm Inuzuka Metsuki and this is Ao, nice to meet you."

With that introduction, she leaped back, watching the older woman carefully. "So... will this be only taijutsu, only using weapons or something like that?" She really hoped it wouldn't be focused on something she wasn't good at, like ninjutsu. Well, she was mediocre, and her small reserves thanks to Ao's chakra, coupled with her unpredictable control, made it impossible for her to excel in such an area. Besides, she was a genin - that meant a really limited knowledge of jutsu.

Ao was still circling slowly, nose in the air to catch the stranger's scent, memorizing it in case they had the... misfortune to run into her ever again. Someone unused to the canine's body language might have thought she was nonchalant - but to her partner, the half-wolf was on edge, movements taking on that smooth, tense grace that spoke of her readiness to spring into action in a moment.

[Mitarashi Anko]

Anko watched the girl and dog as the girl introduce them. Anko knew that girl was from the Inuzuka Clan, the red fang marks on her cheek had given that way. She was not sure if she wanted to give her name or not yet. She knew what her name meant out in the open where everyone knew her name knew what she was dangerous in her own right. She knew she was more like Orochimaru now than anything and it scared her.

Anko pushed that thought out of her mind, as the girl asked about what type of fight that this was going to be. She paused for a moment and tilted her head towards the right side. A smirk came across her face for a moment or so. She shook her head. ”I am Mitarashi Anko, and just a taijutsu battle with kunai is literally no fun. Besides you Inuzuka are known for using your pups in battle. How would that be fair to me?” Anko eyes traveled over to the dog that she knew was sniff for her chakra scent and her scent to remember. She folded her arms slightly and thought about what she was going to use. She was not going to hurt the girl, but help to prepare her for what to come. That was her job has a older ninja right? Prepare the future ninja of the village.

Anko pulled her hands away and placed her index and middle fingers together in a cross. ”This is going to be fun.” A clone appeared behind her and this one was holding a kunai. ”Everything seems to be in order with the Fire Shadow Clone….without even trying…” Her eyes traveled to the girl waiting for her to make the first move. Anko did not feel right about attacking the girl first.

[stormecho]

Metsuki tilted her head at that complaint - though she was still puzzling out why the other's name sounded familiar... "Wait... you're a Tokubetsu Jounin, aren't you?" she demanded, eyes widening. Well, didn't she have the greatest luck? About to spar with someone so well-known - though she had heard rather nasty things being said, but people being people, she didn't take too much notice. Words were like bees, stinging and seen everywhere, but they didn't concern her. Dogs and wolves didn't need words to bring people down, to make tiny wounds... packs were simpler like that. Maybe that was why some people looked down on her clan - because they tended to be brutally opposed to the dancing around subjects that most people tended to use.

"I'm sorry for not recognizing your rank, Mitarashi-sensei." she said politely. "If that's the way you want to fight..." The appearance of the clone made her grin again. Her and a clone to combat Met and Ao - that made sense. Leaping back to get some more distance, she decided not to use the soldier pills she'd be using in a real battle. This probably wouldn't be that intense... right? Still, she took out a smoke bomb, holding it carefully to hide that she had it while she focused chakra, feeling it ripple around her before she diverted it to Ao. "Jujin Bunshin no jutsu!" And then she threw the smoke bomb, leaping back and focusing more of her chakra, ignoring how it felt like it was leaping around erratically - that was Ao's influence, but not her fault.

The pair looked identical now, Ao crouched on the ground, hidden by smoke while Met tried to gather all the chakra she needed. This way, she would be faster, find it easier to dodge... unfortunately, it took a little bit of time, and that window was enough for Anko to attack.

[Mitarashi Anko]

Anko watched the girl form the human beast clone. It was not surprise to her that the girl choose to used that over anything. Most Inuzuka relayed on their dogs in battle and this only meant that she would have to be careful with what way she moved and had to keep an eye on both of them. She knew things could get out of hand quicker that what she thought they could. She took a glance around the area; she also knew that she had the perfect opening for an attack on the girl, but to her that would be just weak in a training session.

Anko took a deep breath and closed her eyes has the fire clone started to charge at her with a senbon out. The real Anko slipped her hand into her pocket to see what she had in work with. There were things that were in there that she did not want to hit in a pinch. She rearranged the items in her pocket quickly and jumped back towards a tree. This way if the fire clone was destroyed she was not in harm way, though there was not enough chakra in the cone to create a big bang.

Anko rolled her eyes slightly as the clone went to attack the Metsuki on the left. She wanted to see what this genin could do against her clone. It was clear that she had heard of the Snake Princess, but did the girl know what she was famous for. There were certain things that she knew the older shinobi that knew about her, but not the younger. She wanted to see what the girl had heard about her. She watched the clone went to slash at the girl on the right. It was a simple attack and one that be easily dodge.

[stormecho]

Metsuki didn't waste time on talking now - she focused her chakra and watched as the clone charged at them. At the last moment, she leaped back. "Shikyaku no jutsu!" That was just in time- when she landed it was on all fours, the chakra swirling around her making it possible for her to move around on all fours with the same ease as her partner. Now they looked identical, lips peeled back to bare fangs in a silent snarl... Ao as a clone would have been given away by her feral movement - now, Met moved in the exact same way, the perfect way to confuse an attacker.

Ao had circled as the last bits of smoke began to dissipate, and was flanking the clone - as Met dodged, she rushed in, unnaturally long claws sweeping down to cut at the other's leg. If it had been a real fight, she would have been trying to hamstring her to limit movement - as it was, this would hurt and bleed, but not much else. Even with their enhanced senses, it was hard to differentiate between clone and the real person, unless it was a D-rank normal clone... then, it had no scent and was easy to avoid. Met didn't wait either, and charged in as Ao leaped back - hit and run tactics were most useful in this form, when strength and speed were both enhanced.

She made a sweeping kick, trying to get the clone to jump away - if she did, Ao was ready to pounce on her. She was glad Anko wasn't going all out - she could scent her by the tree, but splitting their attention to focus on two opponents was hard to do, and would weaken them. Teamwork was their strength, after all.