Starlit Meeting

[Kabu]

It was late at night, not a cloud in the sky, and Masami, having found herself unable to sleep had decided to slip out and get some fresh air, currently finding herself in a field out near the training grounds, sprawled out on the grass as she gazed up at the stars twinkling in the sky. It wasn't often that she did such a thing but strangely, the sight of those tiny lights sparkling somewhere far away helped to soothe her anxieties and help her to relax. She had considered doing a bit of training while she was out here instead, but ultimately decided against it, knowing just how panicked her friends and family would get if they knew she had been training under stress, as she had been often known to do in the past, thoughts of the period just before the Chuunin exam coming to mind. Though a distant memory, it was still vivid as ever just how angry and upset her teammates had been after she worked herself to the point of collapsing, all in a desperate attempt to become stronger so as to not be left behind.

And so with distant memories playing in the back of her mind, she continued to stare up at the sky, seemingly oblivious to everything around her, though of course she was still on high alert as always, just in case

[Servant]

JutsuShow

[Skitter Step • Night Vision]
B-Ranked Taijutsu Discipline
Prerequisites: a form of Senses Open active
Niku's Opened vision allows her to see more clearly than normal human vision: this technique is evidence of that. Even in the dark of night, Niku can see pretty clearly; however, her vision still requires ambient light, like a cat's, meaning she can't see in complete darkness. With this technique, star light or half a moon emit enough light for the kunoichi to see as if the sun were out.

484/400 words

The stars were nice, but Niku wasn't out at this time of night to stargaze. The young kunoichi had realized that not all missions were completed during the day when the sun shone brightly. She needed to be prepared to act even in the darkness of night, perhaps more so. Her Opened sense of hearing was particularly useful, allowing her to hear the movements of the nocturnal animals which were doing their thing. Most of the sounds were of the animals moving out of her path, fearful of the girl who's speed would likely allow her to catch them if she tried. But something that Niku had never considered was the effect Open Senses may have on her vision, particularly at night. She had realized that her vision, while Open Senses was active, had the capacity to see clearly despite night's perpetual darkness.

Earlier in the evening while sitting on her porch, Niku had been lacing up her boots, her hands moving in accordance with the muscle memory, as she couldn't see the laces due to the darkness. Once done, she stood and then Opened her senses. The dark around her became less dark. She could still tell that it was dark out, but despite that, everything was visible. It was like someone had turned on a light inside Niku's eyes. It had been a bit jarring at first, but Niku was pleased with the development. She used her newfound sight to easily make her way through the trees of the forest. The kunoichi could even see the bats flittering through the air in their search for bugs.

She arrived at the training ground, taking a moment to catch her breath. She wasn't sure of the best way to utilize her new vision, so she pulled a few kunai from her satchel, dropping it to the ground afterwards. She figured catching flying objects would require spectacular vision in the night, so she took aim and threw it towards the sky. The dark metal of the kunai didn't reflect light too well, but Niku's night vision proved capable of following the object, with a little concentration. Seeing the kunai reach its maximum height, Niku began moving forward. Her goal was simple, catch the kunai before it hit the ground. She eventually got up to max speed and maneuvered herself towards the kunai's imminent landing point. She quickly realized that she had waited a bit too long as her feet left the ground, leaping forward in an attempt to catch the kunai just moments before its tip buried itself into the earth beneath her feet.

Unfortunately, she was a bit too slow and her leap sent her hurtling into one of the training ground's dummies with a considerable thud and an audible surprised wail from Niku. Laying on the ground, her eyes facing skyward, she was glad no one was around to see her miserable failure.

[Kabu]

Masami had just begun to drift off when suddenly her ears twitched, a very audible thud and a subsequent wail echoing from the direction of the training grounds, the woman hurriedly sitting up at the sound. What was that? Was someone actually using the training grounds this late at night? Or was it something much much worse? Should she go to get help just in case? So many thoughts about what could possibly be going on and how to handle the situation raced through her mind.

"Child, calm down. Surely it is nothing we cannot handle." Atarasu's voice suddenly sounded in the midst of her scattered, racing thoughts.

You say that but you know as well as I that we're not in a position to be engaging potential opponents by ourselves, especially if they were strong and/or clever enough to enter the village unopposed. Who knows what they would do if they found out about us. she retorted, frowning all the while.

"Bah, you humans worry too much. We beasts act on our instincts, as is the natural way."

Ignoring the beast's closing remark, she finally made up her mind to at least investigate and then act based on what she found.

That in mind, she got up and silently made her way over to the training grounds, using any trees she found as cover, upon arrival standing behind a tree and poking her head out, blinking at the sight. It was... just a young girl? She didn't sense any ill intent so very cautiously she stepped out of her cover and into the training grounds, stopping only as she was standing about a foot from Niku's location. "Are you okay? That sounded like it really hurt."

[Servant]

Niku was contemplating how to ensure a better form of training when a nearby voice caused another shriek to escape from Niku. Due to her failure, the girl had focused so intently on her own thoughts that she hadn't been paying any attention to her surroundings, even with her Opened Senses, which was why she hadn't heard Masami approach. After sitting up abruptly and looking in the direction from which the voice came, Niku realized that she hadn't been the only one there and, unfortunately, someone had been witness to her epic failure. "Yeah," Niku said, standing and brushing herself off. "I'm okay, I didn't realize anyone else was out here though." continued Niku, her tone somewhat questioning. It wasn't like she really had a leg to stand on when accusing fellow shinobi of being in places they weren't supposed to be, especially considering Niku was also there at the same time. Despite that, she still asked "What are you doing out here anyways?"

As her eyes were more able to handle the light, Niku took in the person in front of her for the first time. At first, Niku's heightened vision allowed her to see the kunoichi's ears, akin to those atop the head of a dog. It was at that point Niku began to realize who this was, there weren't that many dog-eared shinobi running around Konoha, after all. Moving down, Niku saw antlers on the woman's forehead, which, normally would have drawn a fair bit of Niku's attention, but Niku quickly took notice of the large breasts sitting a little lower on Masami's body. Despite the age difference, Niku was still instantly jealous of the curves that the other kunoichi had. Her glare seemed to remain on the woman's bosom for far longer than was necessary.

[Kabu]

Of course Masami immediately took notice of the fact that Niku's gaze rested primarily on her bosom, but she said nothing, instead simply giggling at the younger girl's apparent jealousy. She couldn't blame her of course, having been a very late bloomer herself she had on more than one occasion found herself looking around at the much curvier women around her wishing that she could be more like them.

"I was feeling stressed out and couldn't sleep so I came out here to look at the stars. Those tiny twinkling lights soothe me in a way that not many things can." she finally said in response to Niku's question, looking up towards the sky with a nostalgic smile, one that seemed almost sad in a way. "I had considered training but I have a habit of going overboard when I feel this way. So I promised I wouldn't train under stress ever again." she continued, looking back down towards Niku.

"Now, based on that fall it seems as if you may have been doing some training yourself, right? If you don't mind me asking, what was it that you were working on? I might be able to help." she was curious about why the girl was training at night but she chose not to say it out loud, knowing full well that some things were just easier under the night sky, and who knew, maybe she was in a similar state of unrest or was devising a technique best suited to these conditions. Really, it could be any number of things.