Moar Weapons!?!?

[TyDie]

"Come ooooon, this is the third smith in the village I've talked to about this! It's not that many weapons!" Aiya's whining could be heard from outside of the local blacksmith's building, as she tried her damndest to coerce the smith himself to accept a very large order; over a dozen custom made weapons. And, like every smith before her, this one declined her outright. "Are ye deaf, girl? I said NO! That's far too many weapons for one smith to make, I'd be depriving other customers of my services for at least a half a year while I made all of this!" "UUUUUGH! That's what the last three guys have said too! Aren't you guys supposed to help shinobi out?"

The man simply crossed her arms, and of course this left Aiya grumpy, so she let out a huff and turned away from the man. The shop itself was actually quite large; there were many weapons of generic make on display, simple swords and throwing weapons, all set on the wall or on display shelves throughout the building. Behind the main counter, the banging of metal could be heard, as the man's apprentice was no doubt getting in some hours with the craft. All in all, Aiya was sour now, and was about to leave another smithy, dejected and frustrated...

[Servant]

After years of war, the young jounin had been enjoying the relative peace that had settled in Konoha and Fire Country. Niku had even slept in this morning, but she was now on her way to a nearby blacksmith in order to pick up her chakrams which she had left the day before to be sharpened; shinobi could use this peace time to sharpen their skills and their weapons for both would be needed sometime in the near future. She had entered only to hear the blacksmith telling someone off: "... far too many weapons for one smith to make, I'd be depriving other customers of my services for at least a half a year while I made all of this!" Niku could only smile, she remembered being a young lady with plans for many different swords. She'd never tried to get them all made by the same guy at the same time though.

"UUUUUGH! That's what the last three guys have said too! Aren't you guys supposed to help shinobi out?"

Niku glanced over the woman who the smith denied. Her words and mannerisms, from behind, seemed a little childish to Niku, but her stature did not. Niku guessed the woman was almost half a foot taller than the jounin. She wondered how old this person was and didn't seem to recognize her from behind, so she decided to strike up a conversation with her in order to see her face and maybe get a better idea of who she was. "Are you weaponizing an army?" Niku asked a hint of humor in her tone. She herself had most of her weaponry with her and the blacksmith, having seen her, went to the back to retrieve her chakrams. One could argue Niku had enough weaponry for an army as well.

[TyDie]

Aiya's arms were crossed with annoyance as she waited for the man's response, but she was soon interrupted by a female voice from behind her. As she turned to face the shorter woman, her pale skin immediately stood out in contrast to her dark black hair. But most notable was the litany of weapons that she carried with her; swords on each hip, holsters hanging off of her thigh, and a large cloak flitting behind her. No doubt there was more weaponry concealed on her person, perhaps under the cloak, but fact was this woman clearly knew her weaponry. "Haha... yeah, a one man army." She chuckled and scratched her head, realizing how odd it probably looked for her to be getting fussy with the smith.

Her green and black eyes would observe Niku a little closer, feeling as though she must recognize her in some way but not really sure from where."What brings you by then? Seems like you have enough weapons for the both of us, plus maybe one or two more." She'd lean against the counter, her staff protruding from her back and her tonfas dangling on her thighs, a smile on her face as she wondered what the woman was all about. "I'm Aiya, by the way. Ibakuro, Aiya. Who might you be?"

[Servant]

As the woman turned, NIku was really surprised to see such a baby face on top of such a statuesque lady. It was clear, now that she could see her face, the woman was no more a woman than the blacksmith behind her. Niku also noticed her intriguing eyes, definitely telling of her nature. It then clicked, this girl was an Ibakuro, the eyes were obviously the most telling, but what clicked was her size. The clan was very small and, with the war, Niku hadn't been around a whole lot so her interactions with the clan were low, but she'd definitely seen a few around. Now, she'd met one.

She then answered the girl's question "I'm here to pick up my chakrams as they were in need of sharpening." The smith reached over the counter, his hands holding six rings of sharpened destruction. Niku took the weapons, glancing them over to ensure the work had been done suitably. She then turned back to the Ibakuro, tilting her head back a bit to answer the next question that came out of her mouth.

"I'm jounin," she threw her rank in so the young girl would know that she should respect Niku, even if she were much smaller than the Ibakuro. "Inken Nikuya, but you can call me Niku. Everyone else does. It's nice to meet passionate young people like you, Aiya." With obvious practiced grace, Niku split the chakrams, swiftly placing three in each of the holsters on her thighs. She then backed up a step, preparing to leave, but still facing Aiya. She had to admit that she was curious what kinds of weapons this Ibakuro intended to utilize...

"Have you heard the phrase: jack of all trades, but a master of none?" Niku tilted her head to the side a bit, as if telling the girl to think about it for a second. "I'm not trying to discourage you, I just warn that trying to master an abundance of weapons before mastering one could be difficult. I'll look forward to seeing your progress, whichever way you decide to take your training though. Maybe we can work together some day." Niku said, nodding to the tall girl before her. She then turned, ready to leave and head to a training ground, put those chakrams into use.

[TyDie]

Aiya took a look at the woman's chakrams as she slipped them into their holsters, her eyes scanning the sharpness of the throwing discs with a keen interest. They certainly weren't her choice of weapons, but she had something similar in mind - Fuma Shuriken. The woman's rank was probably the most astounding thing though - She was so tiny! And not just in comparison to Aiya, she was large due to her clan's genetics, but Niku was only a little over 5 feet. "Oh my, I wouldn't have guessed. Well now I have to see you put those weapons to work sometime. It'll give me a good goal to shoot for!"

The woman preceded to give the girl a word of advice, telling her that maybe she should focus on only a single weapon before diving into more. To that, Aiya shook her head. "I appreciate the advice, and don't worry, I've spent a long time with my staff here. I know it's ins and outs, I'd say I'm fairly good with it if I'm being honest. But... Well, Maybe it's foolish, but I feel like each weapon has it's owns pros and cons, so having skill with a lot of them will let me more adequately combat enemies who might seek to exploit one weapon's weakness." There was also the fact that she had six arms with which to fight, and if she had that many limbs, she may as well put a weapon in each...

But as Niku began to leave, Aiya quickly moved over towards her and held up a hand. "Hey wait a sec... If you're going to go try those bad boys out now, I could join you! Then I could see you put your weapons to work, like I said earlier. And you could take a look at what I've got so far, maybe give me your opinion on if you think I'm ready to broaden my horizons?" She wouldn't impose on the woman if she wanted to practice alone, but Aiya was really keen on seeing what a Jounin level weapons master like Niku could do. I mean, with so many of her own weapons, surely she could understand why Aiya would be curious... right?