Trials and Tribulations

[broodboy]

The sound of metal clanging against metal echoed throughout the long halls of the smithery. Akihiro had spent all night working on a new method of tempering steel so the edge of it was sharper than usual but not as brittle as normal methods. He wiped the sweat from his brow as he stared at the hot metal with satisfaction.

”Hey, Akihiro! You have a visitor!”

He squelched the hot iron in oil and removed his artisan attire. He tipped the edge of his hood to peer at the woman who was looking directly at him. She stood stoic with fiery red hair and tan skin like an ember within the compound. The young man walked up to her softly as if he glided on air.

”Hello, I heard you were looking to speak with me.”

[Diatenshi]

Boom boom boom. The pounding of her own beating heart seemed deafening to her. She was in the middle of her workout when she'd been sent to collect a young genin. She had chuunin exams to prepare for. She'd already been delayed by a year on her promotion from as a result of the war. Now she was told Chuunin exams were coming but did they let her focus on training. Noooo. They made her help others. Just cause she was older didn't make her qualified to over see anothers training... Wait... Maybe this was part of the exam as well... Stepping up and acting as if you're already chuunin. The sneaky devils.

She quickly made her way to the smithy and impatiently waited for the store hand to fetch the person she was requested to help train. She tapped her foot like her mother often would when waiting. When the boy finally appeared she had to admit he barely looked old enough to even be a shinobi.

"Come on short stuff. You've been reassigned to prepare for the up coming chuunin exams. Mandatory training. Grab your stuff and lets go. Were gonna do some endurance training."

---

Endurance training: 197/1000

[broodboy]

A shiver crawled up his spine. He was not looking forward to the Chunin exams specifically because of the one-on-one combat expectations. He enjoyed the thought of pressing a jounin with a team of genin, but this. To make matters worse they sent someone to get him during his dedicated smithing time. How was he supposed to prepare weapons for the countless kids that were hoping to make the cut to the next rank. He was already behind in orders. He looked her up once more and relented knowing that someone of her stature would not take no for an answer.

"This timing is really bad the shops pressed for orders because of the exams." He studied her person noticing two ornately designed daggers tucked away behind her hips. "I'll make you a deal though, you let me sharpen and clean your daggers and I'll happily do some endurance work, Senpai."

His red-ringed eyes twinkled with excitement to observe its craftsmanship and study the small nicks etched into the blade that most people didn't see. Weapons were a lot like books in that they told a story of battles passed, how the wielder held them from the faint wearing on the handle. Some even spoke back on a spiritual level if you were in tune enough with the nature of the matierals. He waited in anticipation.

[Diatenshi]

She was definitely caught off guard by his proposal. However, they were both under orders. She'd let him look at her blades, they weren't particularly important to her, she'd just thought they were pretty when she bought them. "You'd best be quick about it. And dont you dare think of charging me. You're asking me to let you not the other way around."

She shook her head and sighed as he looked over her blades. This didn't count as wasting time right? After all, if her blades were maintenanced she'd have better chances during the exam right? Either way he needed to hurry up. She was anxious to hurry and get to the training grounds.

[broodboy]

A smile crept onto Akihiro's face as his training partner handed over her ornate daggers. The hilt had a slight tarnish where she would grasp them along with very small chips in the blade. He could tell that she held them too tightly while wielding them from these features but also from when he struck the daggers on the table and the rang. It was almost as if they talked to him. "Don't worry little ones I will make you good as new." He walked over to his bench and pulled out a wet stone along with some special oil he had been working on that he extracted from locally grown nuts provided to him by the nursery mixed with a little dessert sand collected from a specific spot. He was eager to try it out on an actual weapon someone was using.

A few moments later he presented the two daggers fully cleaned with an edge sharper than before. "Here you are. Just so you know your daggers don't like to be held so tightly. You should try loosening your grip just slightly and they will cut more efficiently for you." He hung his apron up on the wall and let the clerk know he would be back later in the evening to finish his work.

"Shall we head to the training grounds, Senpai?"

[Diatenshi]

Curious Mimi took the daggers back as he spoke inspecting the blades.the nicks were gona and even Azir was impressed. Seemingly a bit jealous even as being in spirit form he couldn't actually carry around weapons suitable for his size. She tested the blade against a strand of hair which didn't provide even the slightest bit of resistance.

"Not bad but what do you mean they don't like it?"

She was slightly confused she'd never met someone who treated weapons as if they had lives of their own. Itbwas strange. She'd heard of unique weapons with spirits trapped within them but never had she heard of a plain simple dagger having feelings. At least she'd never used them to pick her teeth. She'd put the blades away and lead him out of the smithy. It was a fair walk and while she was eager to start training she felt an urge to get to know the youth before her. He certainly had a unique perspective on life.

She adjusted her cloak to cover more of her face as they stepped out into the streets. Despite growing up in a desert she'd come to the conclusion she hated it. Beautiful as it was. The heat was a pain and the sand got everywhere. She hoped as she got older she'd be able to take an assignment in one of Wind's new territories. Maybe someplace with forest or mountains. Or even the sea. An endless expanse of water filled with fish and life sounded infinitely better than endless sands and dunes.

[broodboy]

The red-haired woman's question was one that Akihiro got quite frequently. Even from a young age, the young boy's attachment to weapons was akin to a puppet user's attachment and ability to feel a puppet's personality. It was very faint and since he started honing his craft it had gotten louder to the point of being able to understand a weapon's preferences or will. Some liked killing, others hated to be used that way, hell, some didn't even like the people that were wielding them. The attachment a weapon got for its wielder grew over time and was like raising a plant or child.

"Well, you see, I can't quite explain it. Weapons and armor just sort of speak to me. They always have and I have not figured out a way to hone that skill but, with enough practice, I am sure I can use it to enhance them and open up their full potential. Some call it odd, but really it is no more different than a puppeteer giving their puppet a personality, or at least that's what I think."

The young genin followed in her shadow as the wind blew more than usual. There must have been a sand storm on the horizon as the small particles assaulted his face. He quickly mirrored his trainer and pulled his hood further down his head to protect himself from the assault. He was not good at small talk with anyone, but he gave it his best.

"Are you looking forward to the Chuunin Exams?"[/color\

[Diatenshi]

"You have no idea. The recent war has postponed my advancement for far too long. I should've been promoted at least a year or two ago. I feel like an embarrassment. How many 18 year old genin do you see in this village eh? Not that many."

Mimi groaned as tgey made there way to the training arena. There was plenty of equipment available for use and she grabbed a weighted vest and got one for Akio as well. They weren't too heavy designed to slowly build endurance and stamina rather than building muscle. She down graded her clothing to tight form fitting fitness shorts and top. She stretched out her muscles, the well defined and toned tissues stretching fluidly. She then put on her vest grumbling in her head tgat males had it so much easier when using them.

"As soon as your stretched out and loaded up we can start. Were just gonna do some slow paced jogging. Our goal is distance and time not speed. We want to run further and for longer to build up our body's endurance. Sound like a plan?"

When he was ready she'd begin at a painfully slow jogging speed. Her body mimicing the jogging form without adding the normal propulsion. Heck they'd been walking faster on the streets. With the added weight her feet surprisingly were still light making no more sound than usual, using the spring of her leg mucles to diffuse the weight and impact as she moved her body forward. She glanced at Akio to make sure he was adapting to the weights properly before she finally opened her stride and began jogging in earnest. The pace was still fairly slow but it was at least faster than a walk.

---

Endurance Training 489/1000

[broodboy]

While it was true that genin that were older got a bad rap Akihiro did not think any less of Mimi. In the shinobi world many things were out of ones control and sometimes the best thing you could do was just keep your head down and work or not in Akihiro’s case. Her frustration was clear and the young genin could sympathize partially with wanting to strive for something better.

Akihiro had no intention of running with weights on. He channeled chakra into his right hand and quietly made a storage seal on the inside of the flack. He deftly placed the weights within that seal and put it back on his body and started to slowly jog behind her. Within seconds sweat beaded off his forehead onto his blindfold. He forgot how much he hated this type of training and how many long grueling hours it took him to master Kugapou to this level.

He was not exerting himself half as much as his training counterpart but, he wanted to work on something a little more challenging. As they ran he would channel chakra into his finger to write seals on the ground as they ran maintaining the intensity. He drew a total of four barrier seal sets all around the track with varying intensities and speeds in which they would erect.

I have a better idea…. You keep running and I’ll try to trap you. I am tired of running anyway.”

[Diatenshi]

"Ah ah ah that wasn't the deal. I let you take care of my daggers, you do endurance training with me. Whether you enjoy it or not just suck it up and have some self discipline. Otherwise im reporting you as uncooperative and letting someone higher up deal with you. And I doubt they'd be nearly as forgiving or compromising as I was when you first tried to complain and refuse."

Mimi didn't even entertain the thought. Hed made a deal and she would hold him to it. Every kilometer she ran she'd pause from running and would do some calisthenics training. At the first stop she immediately dropped and began doing push ups. Her muscles screamed in revolt as they bulged, straining against the added weight of the vest. She glanced over at Akio.

"Lets go dont think I havent noticed you didn't put on the weights. You should be able to do at least as many pushups. Lets go ima keep pushing till you do 15 and while that makes a better workout for me... It'll also make me cranky and irritable so lets go bust em out!"

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Endurance training 679/1000