By Necessity

[Willoria]

She had spent so much time realizing herself, creating the unique creature she had now become, that she had lost touch with the knowledge she needed as a shinobi. She knew that, Misaki knew she wasn't where a Jounin would be. And she was more than a little ashamed of herself. She was a Jounin of Kumogakure and she didn't know much above her D Ranks. In battle, and even as a support, she had allowed herself to become useless.

She hated herself for it.

She had come to the training ground to try and remedy it, scrolls in hand. She had three, all with notes on Raiton, Fuuton, and even Iijutsu. Almost as soon as she arrived she set the Iijutsu one aside, staring at the other two. She knelt on the ground, her wings folded at her back and her tail curled around her body as she opened the scrolls and looked them over, unsure of just where to start. Honestly the only thing she could really think about was how good the sun felt on her scales, she was thoroughly enjoying every moment of it.

She never even noticed when her empty section of training ground become less than empty.

[Taiga]

Hayate leaned back in his chair, sighing deeply as his eyes checked the clock once more to confirm the time. It was a relief that he'd finally get away from his paper work for a little bit. As he gently he removed haori and placed it on the chair behind his desk, the clones of his hands quickly springing to work. They would complete the work he was meant to do in his absence. Taking a final glance around his office, he exited out the window into a free fall towards the grass below, wind exerting off his body right before he hit the ground and allowing him to roll neatly onto his feet without taking damage.

Straightening his hat, he took off for the man-made park's training grounds, which were conveniently atop Akino peak and right next to the Raikage's office. A few weeks ago he had made a promise to visit these grounds once a week and assist every shinobi there with at least one technique. His council liked it and felt it was a very good PR stunt, but to him he felt it would help ensure his shinobi met his standards, build loyalty, and show them he was still a shinobi like any of em.

As he arrived upon the field, he came upon the first shinobi he'd train today... mostly because it caught his eye.... it being a dragon lady? He thought it was a dragon lady at least.

[Willoria]

Misaki's tail slowly began to twitch back and forth behind her as she looked over the jutsu for either Fuuton and Raiton, and before long she made her choice. Rolling up the scroll for Fuuton she set it aside among the small bag of things she'd brought with her and stood, looking over the Raiton jutsu as her wings stretched out behind her before settling back into place. "Well at least Raiton looks more fun..." she muttered, her head tilting to the side as she looked it over, chewing on her lips.

Of course then she realized someone was looking at her and the young woman jumped with a yelp, dropping the scroll to the ground as her hands folded in front of her and she simply blinked a moment. But then her silver eyes realized just who she was looking at. "Oh. Raikage-Sama." she said, almost flatly. Her own thoughts conflicted as she looked at the man.

She remembered how heartbroken Eiko was without her father, how lost she was in the hospital with her newfound blindness. She remembered helping the girl on her feet, at the request of Etsuko, the real source of why she wasn't sure how to react around Hayate. Etsuko had vented to Misaki about a great deal of her hurt, about the things that had and hadn't happened between the pair. Of course when Etsuko and Misaki first met, Misaki hadn't undergone all of her changes yet.

For several moments she just stared at him in silence, swallowing hard as she finally managed to say something rather simple. "What brings you out here?"

[Taiga]

Still not quite able to wrap his head around why there was a dragon lady in front of him, or just how in nature that happened, Hayate pushed the thoughts away from his head. He had not been sure how he felt about about it's rightness or nature, but as the leader of his village, he would never think to alienate or tell anyone how they should be. It was pointless to delve deeper into his judgements for those reasons. Sighing audibly his hand shot to the back of his neck, rubbing it as he rolled his head a little, cracking it.

"Hayate is fine." he quickly responded to the dragoness. While Raikage-Sama had it's place, in the training grounds he preferred to be Hayate- to be equal with his shinobi. Even though he was clearly leagues beyond most in the village and even in the village's history he still saw himself as the young and naive jounin he once was, the one who barely made it through most of his missions, and just like everyone else owed his life to someone regularly. His hand gripped his side at that thought. He remembered what the cold but hot piercing of lightning had felt like...

Heh.

"Today's the date I visit the training grounds. Not too far back I made a promise to visit the training grounds once a week to aid everyone." he said bowing.

"Perhaps I'm more pro-active than my forerunners, but I believe that if I want you all at a certain standard, and I want Kumogakure to have the best shinobi, then I need to do something with my own damn hands." he said with a chuckle. He'd always been a hands-on type of leader.

[Willoria]

"Hayate then." Misaki replied simply, attempting a smile at the name. Her thoughts were still a mess honestly, she was still thinking about Eiko and Etsuko and how a single man had caused so much damage in a lot of ways. There was also the hurt in Hiruko, a new friend of her own clan whose life had been thrown upside down by the war, even more so than many other shinobi. He had lost so much to it, and she was kinda glad he wasn't with her today. She wasn't sure he could maintain his composure around the man before her.

As he gripped his side she remembered the wound Etsuko had told her about, the one she had healed, but bit her tongue. Perhaps something else pained him, and even so she shouldn't know about that much. But as he moved on to talk about a standard she couldn't help a blush that rose to her own cheeks. Her silver eyes dropped to the ground as she reached back and rubbed the back of her own neck.

"I'm nowhere near anyone's standard I'm afraid." she admitted quietly. "I took so much time to myself, for these changes to myself, I've lost much of what I once knew." she told him. "That's why I came out here today, to retrain myself on many techniques, many of them lower ranked, so I could get stronger again. Truth be told I've been rather ashamed of my own weakness as of late." she added, silently wondering if the man had seen Eiko yet, or if the girl had told him about her friendship with the dragon-girl.

[Taiga]

Hayate could tell that something was bothering the Jounin before him... and he was no stranger to those eyes. Ever since his return to the village he had seen eyes like that... eyes that said How should I feel about this? He was a controversial person after all. Still, something seemed just a little different though he couldn't really put his finger on it. Whatever those who didn't know him knew, they knew. Nothing would change that, and his energy would be much better spent on showing these people who he actually was.

He nodded at the woman's decision to call him Hayate. He was glad at least they had passed that road bump. He noticed a change in her complexion... if you could call it that? It seemed his line about standards had caused her to feel a little remorse of some sorts- in fact she even said it. He sighed a little at her frankness, appreciating it.

"Don't fret- no one is, not even myself." he paused. "Life has it's difficulties and things that arise, it happens. Do your best and that's all that counts, besides, I"m always here to help my Jounin." he said bowing his head slightly. He put his hands forward, mimicking a sign but not actually using any jutsu. "You know I'm a master of three elements. Any element you like to use and want to learn more of?"

[Willoria]

"Fuuton.... Raiton...." Misaki seemed to be musing aloud as she dropped her hands to her sides and began to pace a little. "Honestly my greatest weakness is this body..." she added with a sigh, growing more and more comfortable around the man as the conversation continued. After all, much of her awkwardness had more to do with Eiko and Etsuko than the man's recent rise to the position of Raikage and how he did it.

She stretched her arms out over her head and brought them down parallel to the ground, and as she did so, her wings seemed to mimic the move. They rose as her arms went up and as her arms went out, her wings stretched and she sighed. "I need to be able to fight with this body... to overcome my clan's greatest weakness and use it..." Her tail began to twitch back and forth in agitation as she thought about it. "I have watched how real dragons move now... and if I really want to be like them, it's time I stop limiting myself..." She turned and looked at Hayate a moment before a light blush passed under the silver scales across her cheekbones. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm rambling a bit..."

[Taiga]

Hayate smiled as the girl mentioned two of his elements. Instinctively he used D-rank techniques in quick succession, and with his channeling and god like ability at it, a tuft of wind came off his hand, and a spark his foot. Purely natural. He spun them round with his hands, moving them in front of him before releasing them. Many knew he was the god of lightning, but not many knew he was equally proficient at Fuuton and Suiton. However, this meant little as moments later the woman declared what she believed her weakness to be... her body.

Hayate eyed her up and down. Her body seemed so odd to him... he would never understand her desire to desecrate her human form... but as the Raikage, he knew he had to support her... This, from what he could tell and her psych evals... This was what she wished. SO, ultimately, he would have no choice but to support her as his Jounin.

Hayate bowed his head. "It's okay. And well, I'm willing to help you train but must warn you that I am not exactly the best at Taijutsu. My style was created to utilize my natural gifts, so while it goes far... it's not taijutsu in it's traditional sense." He began to stretch. [color=#feo0]"On the other hand I'm the fastest man alive and might be able to teach you a thing or two about maintain a personal physique."[/color] he said with a smile.

[Willoria]

Even as Misaki spoke of her body, she turned and noticed a look in Hayate's eyes that she was oddly unfamiliar with. It was brief, it only flickered, but for a moment she could swear she saw disgust. Her wings came down to rest just over her shoulders, almost as if draping over them to keep her warm, and yet her tail twitched behind her. Some might have been offended by the look, but if anything it only made Misaki curious. She had walked among citizens of Kumo and almost always saw questions, curiosity, and even wonder. Disgust was something unfamiliar almost entirely. Even at the bath house where she had proudly walked with every inch of her flesh exposed, she had never gotten such a look.

It honestly made the woman chuckle to see.

But she didn't comment on it, honestly it wasn't like he had called her some name like 'lizard', that would have actually offended her. She kept to the conversation at hand instead though, smiling as he spoke of his taijutsu. "Perhaps non-traditional is more of what I need to see." she remarked. "Most would say the gifts I need to use in my own are not natural, even if they feel so to me. But they certainly wouldn't be traditional by any sense."

[Taiga]

Moving past the potentially awkward exchange his body language might have called, Hayate went right to business. "Well then..." Hayate said as his hands reverse-gripped the front flaps of his gi. They quickly pulled the gi off, the sleeves and gee hanging at his waist so that his arms were free. "If non traditional is not what you're after, especially when it comes to peculiar gifts... then you cannot learn from anyone better." Hayate said as he dropped into a somewhat-crouching stance, his lower body resembling karate or a traditional martial arts, yet his upper body stayed rigid with his fists raised like a boxer. It was certainly an unorthodox site to see. He began to move forward, lightning rushing all around his body in a protective layer.

"This lightning is set at about 100/200, so it isn't going to zap you to pieces if you touch it." he said as he began to move his limbs around in an almost comedic fashion. He then dropped his feet into a wide stance, his arms at his sides, fists closed, facing up. His fists rolled forth like the thunder itself as he turned to face a nearby rock. Wind blew off with each ferocious punch, and heat. Enough so that the dragon woman... if her physiology allowed it? Would feel some heat. More so, beyond the heat of the punch lightning from his cloak flew off with the air punch. All of it together struck into the rock, denting it with each continuous blow, the lightning allowing it to tunnel through the rock like nothing.

"It's not secret that I'm not physically powerful, however I'm fast and my tenketsu mutation and cloaks allows me to utilize my Ninjutsu at Taijutsu level-speeds." he said as he continued to punch the rock to bits. "I've designed my taijutsu around my cloak and my speed, so that my Ninjutsu can make up for what I lack in physical force." he said panting, as he stopped, revealing nothing but pebbles. He turned to face the woman.

"You will never be physically strong. But, you can be fast. You can use Ninjutsu well. And you can use your body's natural augmentations to make your string a stab. I can teach you to use your speed as your strength. I can teach you a lot... but first, we need to get you stronger and more in tune with that body." He pointed to her with a crooked finger.

USEDShow

Lightning’s Shadow • Rolling Thunder
B-Rank Stance Taijutsu
By taking a wide footed stance, each foot shoulder-length apart, Hayate will put himself in a stance that is in-conducive to moving fast (-9 Speed) however allows him to focus a tremendous amount of energy and strength into his upper body, allowing him to make abnormally potent movements with his upper body. (+9 Strength)

Lightning’s Shadow • Thunderous Blow
A-Rank Maneuver Taijutsu
Prerequisite: 35+ Speed, 30 Strength
Utilizing his extraordinary speed and his high strength, Hayate will deliver a powerful straight punch forward, the sheer amount of strength and speed the punch is thrown at displacing a pocket of hot air around his fist that is capable of causing first-degree burns due to the high level of friction. Effectively extending his punch by 7 meters, the air pocket is 2 meters in diameter and moves out in one direction only. Getting hit by it is like being hit by Hayate's actual fist though at a 2/3rds of his strength. Additionally, if Hayate is wearing an elemental cloak, the element will imbue the air pocket that comes off his fist, adding it's effect to it.