sunshineverse | [Closed] Backdated

Who: Maria Torres and Neji Hyuuga
Where: Konohagakure - Training Field
When: May 10th
Notes: Trying to learn a new ninjutsu, a guest arrives at the scene trying to accomplish a similar goal.

"Today's the day..."

That had pretty much been what she repeated to herself when she awakened on her day off and headed to the Library. She decided it was time again to expand her ninjutsu abilities and found one just in her element. B-rank Earth Style Wall - that would change up the repertoire she already had. Picking up the scroll from the Library, she headed to the training field and, finding a comfortable spot, sat down and opened it.

"Let's see... Less than hand signs than, but then there's more than..." Lip quirked, she turned her head, pulling the parchment out a little more to keep reading. "Oooh, damn..."

Chakra control wasn't hard for her, but everything she learned so far had been literally liquefying Earth. After all, what's the best way to stall someone except by getting them lodged into the dirt or mud? Green eyes flitted back and her arms crossed as she laid the scroll across her lap and stared harder. "Tiger, Hare, Boar, Dog... and my stance should be like... okay, yeah, I can totally do this."

Rolling the scroll up and putting it aside for the time being, she moved a good distance away from the posts marking the training field and into the open area. She adjusted her stance and rubbed her hands together to get herself revved up. Feeling her chakra flowing, she inhaled and exhaled slowly. Bringing her hands together, she made the symbols as she recalled. 'Tiger! Hare! Boar! Dog!'

There was a rumble, an explosion, and her eyes widened just as the column of mud crashed on her.

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He'd gone into Konoha's library to find the scroll he'd been practicing from for the last few days checked out by another shinobi. Vexing, because he needed to have that technique down to a reasonable proficiency before the exams now that he knew he was going to be on security detail. He'd originally planned to save the more advanced earth ninjutsu technique for later, but given that information, he had to focus on playing a more defensive role..

Neji still intended to practice of course, but referencing the scroll for details he hadn't yet memorized would have made the training more efficient. But there was no use dwelling on that, so instead, the Hyuuga scoped out the training fields in use, intending to find a nice, quiet one to train on his own when a flare of chakra and earth caught his attention. A training mishap by the looks of it, but more importantly, those seals and that application.. the scroll lying on the ground..

He stopped at the training ground in question and deactivated his Byakugan to take in a kunoichi he hadn't really seen, wide-eyed and chagrined over her apparent failure.

"So you're the one that borrowed that scroll from the library.."

Busy wiping off the mud, she blinked and turned when Neji's presence became apparent. Not making enough of a scene already, she spat some mud out that had gotten in her mouth. A brief flare of chakra and she could at least turn the mud into dirt and let it crumble off, hands dusting away the remainder.

"Yeah, I did. Put it on reserve for today. Ugh, shit..."

One more flick and finally, she was mostly cleaned off. Hands on her hips, she didn't even bother asking who it was. Hyuugas were well-known in Konoha; it'd be weird if she didn't know a clan member if she saw one. Clan or no, she had been waiting to get even a chance to look at the scroll and wasn't going to give it over.

"I don't mind maybe sharing if you're learning it too, but it doesn't leave my sight."

Neji grimaced, but he couldn't say he'd had much more success with the technique on his first day. A little overconfident, given he could summon up a dome of solid earth to surround him, a simple wall didn't seem so hard. But the technique was B-rank and more complex than its simple form suggested.

"We can work on it together, kunoichi-san," he agreed mildly.

After all, he didn't know anyone offhand that had already learned this technique, and even without the demands the preparations for the exam were pulling, there were few to approach for instruction. So working on it with another person at least, they could feed off each other's input to improve in place of a mentor as he'd done with Adela in the past.

Stepping onto the field, Neji crouched in front of the scroll, peering at the contents and reading them over for what felt like the thirtieth time in only roughly four days.

"A fickle technique," he observed. "Calls for a fair amount of chakra, but too much initially results in an unwanted explosion without form, and too little and the earth crumbles in on itself before it reaches a respectable height."

Edited 2014-05-18 23:04 (UTC)

She spluttered slightly and made a face. "'Kunoichi-san'?" Though, this was a Hyuuga; they didn't seem to mess around with the honorifics. But just it sounded so weird to be called that.

"Look, since we're doing this, just call me Maria. Kunoichi-san is way too polite it's making me uncomfortable..." And also making her remember her rung in social ladders. Politeness - that could be an exercise for another day. Earth Release Jutsus were now.

She came over and peered over his shoulder at the scroll, the corner of her lip up as she looked over the parchment. "So... have to middle ground it. Guess it was a little too much chakra..." And even better she didn't even get a bit solidified. A mud pillar that size would've hurt.

Neji blinked, shrugging. He didn't understand the objection to formality he sometimes encountered, but it was always better to be too polite than not polite enough, in his experience. People would correct him, as the kunoichi- Maria - had if they wanted a more informal address.

But he didn't feel quite comfortable with her hovering over him either, and shifted to angle himself away a bit on the pretense of giving her a better view of the scroll itself.

"Yes," he confirmed. "And it seems to need that same steady application throughout the entire structure.. Easier than it sounds, in essence."

Noticing him shift away, she decided to crouch down next to him. Hovering could always be a little awkward anyway.

"Huh... Wonder if I treat this like the Medical Ninjutsu if it would be easier." More or less, or requiring a fist; that's what she liked. This Ninjutsu was pretty grey-zoned. Maria sighed and stepped back. "Well, time to try the applying part again."

Neji turned his head back to look at her, faintly surprised to hear she's one of Konoha's medic-nin. Not that medics weren't field-capable, but he'd never really come across one outside of the hospital. But now wasn't the time to make mention of that, and there wasn't really anything to say anyway.

Looking over a few last details, Neji nodded, then moved a respectful distance away to assure they both had plenty of room for mishaps.

His fingers formed the seals in quick succession, and he slammed his hands down to the earth. A wall rose- thin, only a few short meters off the ground, and with all the sturdiness of a sand castle. Neji kicked it over with a grunt.

"If we figure out the correct thickness and density of the base, we can get a good idea of how to work it up to a respectable height."

Edited 2014-05-19 23:42 (UTC)

Maria stood at the ready, watching Neji attempt the ninjutsu himself. Well, he managed to make a wall of... sand. Not exactly sand though, but just bits of dirt and gravel. Nothing impressive, but it wasn't a pillar of mud at least.

"Huh... we could try building rock walls by hand. The real ones would be slabs, but it could give us a general idea."

Besides that, the thickness of the wall could be changed at will. A rock wall? Not so much, but it would stand for a while if made right.

Neji lifted a curious brow at the suggestion, mulling it over and attempting to gauge how useful such an exercise might be. Then he formed a few hand seals and spit out a large puddle of water next to their working area. It soaked a little into the ground, muddying the earth beneath.

"We could try," he offered. "Though without a fair amount of rocks to work with, we may just need to use dried mud and see how that holds up as we attempt to build it higher."

And that really would give them some idea of how thick the earth should be from bottom up.

"Heh, if you want mud, I can make that much."

Seriously, she's pretty awesome at doing that. It's getting things to be solid that she sucked at. Making rocks of a consistent size especially small ones. Anyway, a few hand seals and she hit the ground, releasing her chakra into the ground to liquefy it. This was pretty first year, but picking up mud, she began to build.

[Closed] Backdated - Battle: Earth

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