Bird Watching

[Awesem]

It was night, all of the woodland creatures were huddling in their little holes for the night. There was one animal that was still awake, however, it was a male owl by the name of Ikko. He was soaring over his territory looking for rodent. He eventually landed on a branch, munching noisily on his dinner.

[Toshi]

Eko's hooked blades dug into the branch of another tree as he swung his way through the woodlands of Iwa. His father had explained that his task was to hunt down the owl Ikko. If he could find and convince the young owl to befriend him, he would pass. "Quick, clean, simple." Eko thought to himself as he swung to another branch gracefully.

About fifteen minutes later Eko's silver-blue eyes caught the sight of the blue and white owl soaring high above the treetops. His eyes could easily see through the darkness that enveloped Iwa due to his bloodline trait, so he spotted the owl with reasonable ease. "Now for the tough part." Eko muttered to himself as he watched Ikko swoop down into the forest, only to emerge a few moments later with a rodent dangling from his talons. Eko quietly followed the owl's trajectory through the air. He weaved his way through the trees and spotted Ikko sitting on a branch, eating his mean.

The young genin sheathed his hooked blades and walked out into the open along a thick branch. He raised his hands into the air to show he meant no harm and looked the owl straight in the eye. "It's so beautiful." He thought to himself, truly amazed by the color of the owl's feathers and the blackness of his eyes.

"Hello, there." Eko said in a calm tone, "My name's Eko."

[Awesem]

Ikko looked down at the genin, still chewing his meal loudly. What is he doing here? he thought surely not to just chat? "My name is Ikko," the owl said finally, feeling a little nervous from the way the ninja was looking at him. He flew down towards the ground and landed a few feet away from Eko. He seems a little....... innocent he thought, it would just be my luck to get stuck with a stupid genin.

The owl then ignored him for a second, looking intently for his next choice of lunch. He should do nicely, Ikko thought, mentally licking his lips at the sight of the baby rabbit. He left the genin for a second, rising into the air quickly before pounching ont he poor creature. Mmmm, now that is more like it, I thought I was going to have to eat scrawny rats all night.

[Toshi]

Eko simply watched as the owl continued to hunt, ignoring him in the process. This slightly annoyed the genin but then he realized he shouldn't have expected the owl to show any interest already. They were still strangers, so what else could he want from the owl.

"Hello, Ikko." Eko said to the owl, hanging from a branch by one of his hooked blades. "Mind if we have a little chat? I think you already know why I am here, anyway."

[Awesem]

The owl ripped a piece of flesh from the rabbit and turned towards Eko, blood dripping off his beak. Yea, I do sadly Ikko thought at him but for this to work, I would feel more comfortable if we got to know each other before we make a pact. He continued eating the rabbit, even taking the time to nibble all the little scraps of meat off the bones. After he was done eating, he sighed contentedly that hit the spot he thought towards the genin just what I need, now tell me about yourself.

[Toshi]

Eko was kind of thrown off by the question, mostly because he didn't know where to start.

"Um." he muttered, scratching his head. "I'm just over fourteen years old, and I graduated from the academy a few months ago. I have two siblings, an older sister and a younger brother. Out of three I am the most gifted at Ninjutsu, I'm not too shabby at Taijutsu though."

The genin dropped down from the tree onto the ground, then unsheathed the other hooked blade from his back, "These are my reward from my father for becoming a shinobi. I've become quite attached to them. Oh, and I like the moon. A lot."

[Awesem]

If the owl could smile, he would have had a little smirk going on about now. Well it seems like we have something in common, we like the moon Ikko chuckled. He started cleaning his feathers as he told the genin a little about himself. Ah, but what to tell him? I'm a pretty young bird about a few years old, all the lady birds love me he added slyly, also, I'm pretty respected as a genjutsu and ninjutsu user. He swiveled his head towards a squeak he heard, it was another rat. He almost went after, almost. I'm already too full he thought to himself I don't think I'm even going to be able to fly tommorow with all the weight I put on today.

[Toshi]

Eko chuckled at the owl's words. He appreciated a good sense of humor regardless of the source. "That would be a problem, it would take you ages to waddle back to the temple."

Eko sheathed his swords behind his back and crossed his arms. "So, what do you think?" he asked with a half smile, "Do you think I'm worthy enough to fight by your side?"

[Awesem]

Hmm thought Ikko I'm not sure..... prove to me that you are a good ninjutsu user. He nodded his head over to a small boulder if you can move that with a jutsu, I'll join you. The owl waddled over to a nearby stump and sat down on it, waiting for Eko to do his attack.

[Toshi]

"Must be my lucky day." Eko thought to himself as he spread his feet apart and set his eyes on the rock in front of him. The young genin began completing a short set of hand seals and then concentrated his chakra through the earth beneath the boulder.

A large mass of earth shot up from the ground below the boulder, hopefully flinging it high into the air in the process.

SpoilerShow

*Doton • Iwa Tate [Earth Element • Rock Shield]
E-Ranked Ninjutsu
A simple defensive jutsu. The user raises a giant piece of rock from the ground, using it as a shield.

[Awesem]

The boulder wiggled a little bit, but didn't do anything else. So I guess you aren't as strong as you say you are Ikko laughed at the genin. What Eko didn't know was that the boulder was connected to an even bigger piece of rock all the way underneath the ground, keeping it from moving. I'll give you one more chance Ikko said to Eko, chuckling a little just make it count.

[Toshi]

Eko stared at the rock with an eyebrow arched. When he had used the last technique he had felt the size of the rock, to his horror the piece of stone was nearly the size of his house. But, Eko had never been one to complain, so he gave it another shot.

He completed the same hand seals, but this time placed his palms to the ground and began to flood a large amount of chakra into the ground beneath him. His eyebrows furrowed and he grimaced with effort. The ground itself around the colossal boulder began to shake with the genin's effort. But it was no use, the rock was just too large. Eko put his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

"It looks like." He said between breaths, "I have failed."

[Awesem]

Ikko started laughing, his rumbles of laughter shaking his owl body. No my new friend, you passed, he thought to Eko this was just a test to prove if you were determined enough to do something no matter what. He waddled over to the young genin and gave him a feather, symbolizing his agreement to become his companion.

Congratulations!

[Toshi]

Eko grinned at Ikko, and shook the owl's wing once before saying,

"Great. But, please don't do that again."