[Social] The Field of Embers

[MilesPrower12]

The Sun was reaching its highest point in the sky. Midday was approaching quickly and the red-headed girl wasn't taking it easy. It was time to grow up, time to mature and it was time to show the rest of the village that she wasn't going to be a genin forever. Pride was, often, a weakness for Aki.

She never spoke of her parents, never spoke of her upbringing because the only thing that mattered was what she intended to be - somebody worthwhile.

Her grove was miles out from the village. Aki's affinity was fire and she knew that if she was too close that there was a chance she could damage something or hurt somebody.

Aki had set up a sparring post to work on her taijutsu. It was, honestly, the weakest of her three disciplines. She performed the necessary hand seals and she focused her chakra into her hands. Taking her stance, she would start striking the dummy. Strike after strike would leave small scorch marks in the wood. Her strikes were never direct as she wasn't the most physically able girl. They were glancing blows, enough to apply the heat from her Flickering Hand Technique.

This went on for hours...

She didn't return home that night, which was very unlike her. Aki trained from Sun up until about dusk. She had worked herself past exhaustion and passed out in the grass next to her training post.

Her parents, quickly, took this information to somebody. They didn't know the exact location of their daughter's "secret" grove but they knew the general direction she would run off in each day.

[Gothmer]

Kuodachi happened to be in the office when he heard two people, seemingly parents of a young woman, reporting their daughter, a Shinobi, missing. Such a report could lead to some serious reprimands, even garnering a premature title of “missing nin.” Kuodachi stepped in, offering his aid before they filed the official report. Such an offer could end up to be a poor decision, but Kuodachi didn't want a Genin's career to be marred by a mistake. Before long, Kuodachi was heading off in the direction the girl's parents had pointed him in.

Kuodachi's tracking skills left much to be desired. The trail was hard to find, much less follow. It took far longer than an experienced tracker, but he eventually found the girl in an opening within the forest, training her heart out. Kuodachi stopped, silently in a branch as he watched for a moment. It was really not a good idea to take training outside of the village, knowing such actions were disallowed for Genin, but he couldn't help but admire the resolve the girl held.

After a moment's pause, he called out, loud and clear, “You know, you shouldn't be out here!” before jumping from the branch into the grove. His eyes set on her with a blank look. As his arms crossed over his chest.