All around the mullberry bush [closed]

[dangodragon]

Where: Konoha, the practice fields.
When: February 10th
Notes: Closed to Ami

Sadly, Itachi rarely found time to practice anymore. He generally ran enough missions to keep himself sharp, but sometimes he liked to get out and do the silly fiddly things like fancy kunai target practice or trying out ridiculous new taijutsu with a clone or friend. He should drag Sasuke or Shisui out to spar with him more often, but Shisui was often out teaching his gennin these days. Sasuke, Itachi thought, would probably be more than happy to spar.

Itachi has spent the past few hours on target practice with various ranged weapons and sparring against clones, Itachi felt more relaxed than he had in weeks. He was making his way home when he heard the noises of kunai thudding into a wooden target. As he passed by, Itachi saw the figure was small. Itachi knew her instantly and paused to watch.

It wasn't as if he doubted Shisui's ability to teach, really. He just wanted to see how the tiny gennin was coming along. He found Ami very intriguing, and he felt a probably very misplaced sense that he should be helping Shisui's gennin out. They were almost like having children, and Itachi would never let Shisui raise his kids without help.

Comments

[thelittleprincess]

Ami paused, dropping her arm and looking at the rests of her last round with a small, displeased wrinkle of her nose. Her aim was certainly decent, enough to get her praised regularly by the Academy teachers, but after a certain range slightly more erratic results popped up. It was the price of having a limited reach, she knew, and instead of sulking she resolved to find some way to compensate.

Easier said then done, however.

"Still a little too wide," she murmured as she pulled the blades from the abused target. Only one or two had strayed this time, and each only by a few inches short of a foot, but that wasn't good enough for Ami.

[dangodragon]

Itachi could respect dedication. Everyone needed to put in extra hours of work if they wanted to be more than average, and Ami certainly seemed to have the drive to do that. The question was did she have the sense to not push herself too far.

"You should be sure to stop before you have blisters." After he spoke Itachi had the thought that he should have alerted her to his presence before speaking.

If he got stabbed by Shisui's gennin, no one would ever let him live it down.

[thelittleprincess]

He really, really should have.

As it was, Ami snapped into motion before she could really think twice—even once, technically—about it, flinging the kunai at hand at the source of the sudden interruption before slamming through a quick replacement jutsu, leaving a small log in her place and herself on the other end of the training field.

When she had a clearer view of just who she had just tried to (counter)attack, she went dead white and dashed back to her previous position. "I-I-I..." Her voice shook with a mixture of adrenaline and shame. "I'm sorry, Uchiha-senpai!"

[dangodragon]

Itachi had been expecting the kunai, though usually they weren't thrown at him from so low. Itachi flicked his own handful of kunai, which crashed into the ones Ami had thrown. The sound was discordant. One kunai had struck the tree beside him, and Itachi pulled it loose.

He looked at Ami. "It was a good reaction. Perhaps not the best response in the village, but you have good reflexes." Itachi was completely unbothered by the attack. No one was bleeding, so no harm had been done.

[thelittleprincess]

"...sorry," she said again, looking away. Her pride wouldn't let her mention the petty sabotage that she had to deal with from time to time during her student days. Plus, it might reflect badly upon her that she had reacted as violently as she had under the suspicion that her fellow genin were approaching. And then Shisui would probably sit her down and lecture her about friendship.

"My reflexes could be better, though," she commented, thinking back to her previous activity.

[dangodragon]

"There's no harm done." Itachi didn't mention Ami's throws wouldn't have killed her target, so really she probably wouldn't have done any lasting damage to anyone. Through the years Itachi had learning to be a little more careful with people's pride.

"Every gennin could have better reflexes. Even if you react instinctively, you reacted quickly." Itachi was surprised that she had run like that. It was the smart move, to get away and observe the situation, but Ami's temperament had made him expect a more aggressive response.

[thelittleprincess]

"Yes." she nodded in acknowledgement. It was a blanket affirmation—to the reassurance, compliment, and critique all at once. She really wasn't the overly-loquacious type, though it would be understandable for Itachi to have formed a differing opinion, given just how she had acted during their first meeting. When her temper boiled over, all her pent-up words and thoughts seemed to burst out, no matter what.

And her fighting style wasn't—couldn't be—aggressive straight off the bat. Given how restricted her reach could be, she couldn't chance getting up close and personal, and only realizing that she was being caged in when it was all too late. An Academy instructor had made the gentle correction early on in her studies.

[dangodragon]

Itachi crouched down and offered her the kunai hilt first with a smile. "Do people often sneak up on you while you're practicing?" Itachi had once been the small outsider of his class, and he had a long memory for how cruel children could be to each other. He hoped Ami was just naturally jumpy.

[thelittleprincess]

"...not often. And not lately." She lowered her eyes and took back the kunai, rubbing her fingers over the fabric twined tightly around the hilt. "Never when Uchiha-sensei is around." Unless Shisui himself was doing the sneaking, but that was practical experience from a Genin Instructor—much like Itachi's helpful advice. The thought brought to mind the words that had initially startled her, an she finally processed their meaning.

"I've been working on maintaining a moderate level of callouses," she told him belatedly, holding up one hand and splaying it open to him, palm first. Her hands were small and dextrous, so excessively tough patches of skin would be more of a hindrance than a help. She had worked hard to find a happy medium, diligently hardening and softening the skin through training and treatment.

...she hoped Shisui would be home soon.

[dangodragon]

Itachi was glad Shisui's presence kept people from bothering Ami. He doubted she would react that way if people were sneaking up on her to say hello or give her a friendly hug.

Itachi gave Ami's hands a very serious and very close look. He was pleased to see she had no signs of blisters on her hands, but enough callous she wasn't likely to get a blister.

Ami had exceedingly tiny hands. Genin often used s smaller size kunai for their smaller hands. "That's good. The longer you do this, the tougher your skin gets." Itachi held out his own scarred hand, showing the callouses he'd gotten from various activities from setting traps to throwing kunai or wielding a weapon. Beyond that, the skin on his hands was tougher than a civilians would be, weathered and rough where he'd been neglecting it lately.

"For now you're doing a good job with them." Itachi gave her a small smile and looked at the target. Shisui was away, and Itachi didn't think Ami was likely to ask anyone for help with her target practice, so...

"I spent a lot of time learning how to throw kunai before I was a gennin. I made my cousins show me how to do it, and I practice a lot so I could be better than they were." It hadn't worked out that way until he was much older. "But they showed me some interesting tricks, if you'd like to see them."