[Lonely Thread] Ikeda Setsuna's Training

[NomenFictus]

(Stat Training – Taijutsu)

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. This sound radiated out from the edge of training areas. Near the wall of the village the Gennin Setsuna returned to his natural stance. Thunk. Another kunai sank into the red bull’s-eye painted on the head of the wooden training dummy. He returned to his stance once again, the muscles hidden under his sleeveless shirt relaxing as he moved. Setsuna took in another breath and as he released it his hand dropped to his kunai pouch, a finger lopped into the ring of a kunai, and in an exceedingly fast movement he fired it into the target. The young boy smiled as he heard the satisfying thunk and saw that, once again, his aim was perfect. Even though he was only twenty five feet away from the target he was quite proud. “Ok self, time for level 2.” He said as he engaged himself in conversation. With the amount of time he spent alone he had developed the bad habit of talking to himself when alone.

He ran to the target and quickly drew the kunai out before sheathing them back into their respective holsters. Then he ran away from the target, straight away from the target, until he passed a little scar in the ground. He had etched this mark into the earth years ago, and every so often he reestablished it. The mark was to signify fifty feet from the target. He smiled as he jumped, pushing his legs hard to get some decent air. Then he spun around as his hands dipped into his two kunai pouches. He drew a kunai from each and before landing launched them at the target full force. From his distance it was hard to see the impact, but he could just make the two kunai out, and just barely heard the light thunk. The two kunai were lodged in the head but were a little off the bull’s-eye. He silently chastised himself and drew two more kunai, this time though he threw them carefully, and was rewarded with a double bull’s-eye for the effort. “OK self, the problem is movement. So it looks like it’s time for level three.”

Setsuna took a deep breath before lunging to his right. As he traveled he drew a single kunai with his right hand and two with his left hand. He launched the one in his right hand as he began his counter clockwise spin. The other two he launched as he completed it. He could barely make out the three thunks that sounded signifying that the kunai had impacted somewhere on the target. He continued his assault, this time moving forward and to his right at an angle as he drew two more kunai with each hand. After less than ten feet he jumped into the air and launched all four kunai at the target. His flight path took him up to a low tree branch, he landed soundly and focused his chakra to his feet to get a quick grip on the wood and stop his momentum. He heard the thunks sound just as he landed signifying another four hits. He leaped in a tall arc backwards off the branch and drew the rest of his kunai launching all of them as he flew through the air. As he landed, dropping to one knee to absorb some of the impact, he heard them all connect, each with a thunk, meaning he hadn’t hit one of his own kunai, and that he hadn’t missed. He smiled as he stood up, and then jogged to the target to analyze the carnage.

Most of the kunai were where he expected them to be, or at least close enough for his sanity. The targets head prickled with the handles of eight kunai, four of which were perfectly in the bull’s-eye, the other 12 kunai were in the chest, all right around the heart. “Yes! I finally did it!” He shouted as unbridled joy and excitement colored his voice. With a smile he started to pull the kunai out and replace them in his pouches, it wasn’t until he counted that he realized he was one short. His joy shaken he counted the kunai in his pouch. Nine in the right, and ten in the left. He sighed as he realized that he had miss counted on the target, and then began to hunt around for it. Not far off, lodged into a tree, he found his twentieth kunai, and with another sigh he sheathed it in its proper place. Grudgingly he jogged back to the fifty foot mark and turned to face the target. For the next hour he hurled kunai after kunai into the target with methodical technique. He’d throw all twenty, then run to the target and retrieve them, then he’d run back to the line and fire again. After that hour was up, he started adding simple movement to his attacks, and this he did for another hour. Finally when he cleared that hour he moved through his complex set of movements again, and when he checked the target was satisfied to find all twenty far closer to the bull’s-eye than they had been before, and all logged firmly into the head or chest. After sheathing all of his kunai he grabbed his jacket and pulled it on, his arms and back were a little sore, but he knew he would be okay after some rest at home.

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[NomenFictus]

((Stat Training - Ninjutsu))

With a massive yawn Setsuna closed the door to the bathroom and turned down the hall. He walked into his room rubbing sleep from his eyes and pulled on his clothes. “Ok…” Another yawn broke his words, “…self, time for training…” His stomach growled and signaled that his body had other ideas. “…ok self, food first, then training.” He walked down the hall and down the stairs, he turned a corner and found himself in the houses little kitchen. At first he was smiling, but then his morning brightness turned to sorrow. “She isn’t back yet…” He said as he realized that his aunt was still on mission. Sighing he started riffling through the cabinets and fridge, then he set too cooking. He made himself a sausage omelet with toast, and sat down at the little table to eat. Once he finished he cleaned the dishes and went into the living room.

Once there he refiled through the books on the shelf and found the one he was looking for. “A study into the Elements of Ninjutsu.” He said out loud as he brushed the dust off of the large book. He sighed, he hated studying, though he knew that he needed it. Setsuna took the book and a notepad back into the kitchen and sat at the table. He opened the book and began to read, every so often jotting a note on the pad of paper. He studied the basic formations of the elements that he didn’t already know, beginning with the common water seals, and going as far as to study the formation of lightning chakra. His studies weren’t without direction though, he was looking for ways to recognize the different elements before they were used so that he could anticipate his opponents’ next move.

Finally, after about ten hours of studying, he closed the book and took it back to the shelf. He looked out the window and realized that it was already well into the evening. He sighed, “Where the hell did the day go?” He stretched out the kinks that sitting for so long gave him, and tried to ignore the hollow feeling that his stomach was giving him. “Ok self, food first, then more studying.” He returned to the kitchen and made himself a simple bowl of beef ramen. Once it was done he sat at the table and started to eat. While he ate he considered his studying, and ran over the seals for the various elements in his head once more. When he was done he cleaned up, the boy’s yawns became more and more frequent, but he stubbornly refused to get some rest. “Self, why are we so tired lately?” He asked the air, once again talking to himself.

“You know you really shouldn’t talk to yourself…”[/b] He heard her voice from the door of the kitchen and spun around. “…People might think you’re crazy.” She said with a bright laugh. Setsuna echoed it and ran forward to give her a hug. They embraced in a powerful hug filled with the love brought forth from absence. “I can’t believe your finally home!” Setsuna chimed as his aunt Kazumi took a seat at the table. “Neither can I…” She shrugged, “…we weren’t supposed to get back for another three days, but we made good time.” She shrugged again. Setsuna was thrilled, his energy rebounding instantly at the arrival of his aunt. “Anything cool happen?” He said as he took a seat across from her at the table. She gave Setsuna a serious eye. “Now you know I can’t talk about it so why ask?” She said with a small touch of annoyance slipping into her voice. Setsuna shrunk, afraid that he had gone a bit too far. “Sorry Aunt Kazumi, I didn’t mean to pry.” He apologized, all the exuberance gone from his voice. He felt a little squashed thanks to Kazumi’s rebuke. “Ahh don’t make that face!” She called back to him, she jumped up and went over to the special cabinet. “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad, it’s just that you’re a ninja now and you need to start acting like one.” Setsuna nodded and tried to perk up as Kazumi got out her favorite bottle of Sake. “Enough of the serious talk…” She said as he plopped back down into her chair, “…Now, what have you been working on?” She asked just before taking a large pull off of the bottle that sat in front of her. And Setsuna told her of all the things he had been studying, of all the work he had been putting into his Ninjutsu. She was proud to say the least, and happy to be reunited with her nephew, at least until she needed to go on a mission again. Setsuna was ecstatic to have her back as well, and hoped dearly that she would have some time to train with him, or to get some good food, or even to just sit and talk more. They both went to their beds that night happy in the knowledge that their favored family was once again whole.

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[NomenFictus]

(Speed Stat Training)

“Well Setsuna you wanted training and this is the training I’m giving you.” Kazumi said from the other side of the training field. Setsuna stood opposite her twenty yards away panting hard. He nodded with a light smile on his face, his aunts training was very hard. First she had made him do two hundred twenty yard line sprints before finally telling him to stop. “Now I simply want you to dodge everything I throw at you.” Setsuna’s eyes went wide as he realized what would come next. His aunt literally intended to hurl things at him with her monstrous strength and expected him to dodge them. He knew his aunt was crazy, and that she loved him, but he had to wonder if she was crazy enough to throw blades at him. “Pay attention!” She called and Setsuna snapped too just in time to feel the sting of a pebble knock into his forehead. “OW!” Setsuna called out as he fell backward and landed roughly on his backside. He didn’t have any time to worry about it as Kazumi launched a second stone. This one Setsuna dodged, but only just.

She kept throwing and Setsuna kept dodging until he thought his legs might fall off. He fell on a dodge and skidded across the ground, much as he had already done several times before, but this time he didn’t get up right away. “Need… break…” Setsuna panted out as he rolled onto his back. The whistling of the blade alerted him to it, and with a glance he saw it careening at his chest from his aunt’s direction. He used the Taijutsu technique spin to quickly rotate around and block the shuriken with his foot and continued to rotate around until he could use the momentum to launch himself to his feet. “See you can still move, so you don’t need a break.” Kazumi shouted jokingly. “You did well against the rocks and sticks, now let’s see how you deal with something that’s actually meant to fly.” Setsuna was getting angry, he didn’t fear for his life yet, but that was only because his aunt was the one doing the throwing. He was angry that she was using lethal weaponry, he trusted her but wasn’t sure that she was actually capable of holding back enough to spare his life. “I’m ready.” He said with a nod, and she threw. With each shuriken his dodges improved, but then Kazumi began to advance. Moving forward a few feet with each throw she decreased the time that Setsuna had to dodge. She halted her advance about five yards away from him and continued her throws. Then she began to decrease the intervals between throws and thus further pressured Setsuna’s ability to dodge.

Meanwhile Setsuna was forced to keep his feet to the ground as he dodged so that he could change directions instantly, Kazumi was careful to throw the shuriken so that they would cross his path as he moved rather than where he had been and Setsuna found it increasingly difficult to keep up. Soon enough the muscles in his legs were screaming in pain from the exertion. It was at this point that he finally failed to dodge on his aunt’s attacks. The shuriken cut a small line across the front of his right knee, and Setsuna’s failed attempt to dodge sent him careening to the ground. He landed hard and felt the stinging pain of the light wound amplify from the impact. Kazumi was at his side in an instant. She forced his hands away from the wound and checked it, and with a sigh of relief she sat back on her haunches. “You’re fine, but you’re also done for the day.” She reached into her hip pouch and pulled antiseptic and a bandage. She tended to his wound, and then handed him a bottle of water. “Drink, your body need the water.” She said calmly, and Setsuna was amazed that she was showing almost no fatigue herself. He took the bottle and drank with a powerful thirst, draining it quickly. “Thanks…” He said with a sigh. “…for helping with my training and whatnot.” Setsuna’s dejection over his failure to dodge was palpable in the atmosphere around the pair. “Don’t’ beat yourself up over it…” Kazumi said matter-of-factly, “…look your slower than most Gennin but your stronger than many Chunin.” She sighed and the look on her face clearly said that she expected some kind of answer, but as the seconds dragged on it was clear that Setsuna had no intention of doing so. “Look Setsuna, when I was your age I had the accuracy of a toddler...” She smiled and laughed at the astonished look on Setsuna’s face. “…I know that’s not easy to believe but it’s true, and do you know how I got this good?” She asked, and Setsuna simply shook his head. “I practiced every day for years. I trained my eyes, my arms, and my mind. And now I can hit a squirrel’s eye at fifty yards with a senbon.” She laughed, and had expected Setsuna to do the same. Instead his disposition turned to one of fierce resolve. “Lets go again.” His resolve was set, and even Katsumi was a bit astounded by the force in his youthful voice. TBC…

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