A Shinobi's Career [ Various Missions & Trainings | Solo ]

Mission:

The twelve year old Anshō wasn’t completely sold on the idea of acting as a security guard for a ‘respected family’ in the village, but it was his job to do so. A lot of times, respected families turned out to be like his own family that disapproved of his career as a shinobi. They only liked shinobi during events like this, preferring to separate themselves from shinobi the rest of the time, looking at them with disapproval. Like shinobi were dirt, when in actuality, being a shinobi was one of the most respectable occupations. It was an awful though that this family might have his own at their party. He really didn’t want to deal with them, as he had gone almost a year without having to deal with them, and it felt nice just to live his life without their pressure and disapproval being broadcast daily.

Pursing his lips, Anshō walked the last few meters to the venue, going immediately to the party planner to announce that he was there, and he was given a list of the guests with invitations. As a guard, his job was going to be to make sure that no one got in without having an invitation, meaning they would be on the list. He’d also had to put his weapons to the side, hidden, so that they wouldn’t frightened the guests. He’d been assured that they wouldn’t be needed by the party planner, but it was a ridiculous notion to him. Surely they wouldn’t mind weapons if they knew that it would keep them safe. Anshō huffed and glanced down at the list, skimming it, as he took his place by the door.  Luckily the party would only be a few hours, and he wouldn’t have to deal with it after that.

Anshō gave a slightly annoyed noise when his eyes caught the names of his family in a row. It would have been fine if it had just been his brother and sister that had been invited, but there were the names of his parents as well. Oh for Susanoo’s sake, he was probably going to get an earful when they arrived. Great. Maybe with luck they’d go through a different entrance and he wouldn’t have to deal with them, as there had been a few shinobi hired to guard the other entrances in addiction to himself. Unfortunately, that was not the case for the young shinobi.

After allowing a few individuals with invitations to pass by him, and turning away a few people who thought that they might have been able to crash the party, his family had arrived. Just his luck. Anshō sighed and leaned against the wall next to the door as the four attached the door, reaching out to block their entry with his arm. "For entry please produce your invitation and state your names." He frowned up at them. After all, he was only twelve, he was not the tall and slightly intimidating figure he would be when he got older just yet.

Internally, it gave the boy pure joy to see the disgruntled looks forming on his parent’s faces as they fished in their pockets and the confused faces of his older sibling’s faces, even if his brother was only a few moments older. After a moment of shock they clearly realized who he was, and his brother immediately stepped forward and clasped him on the shoulder, much to Anshō’s displeasure. “Why! It’s Anshō! What on earth are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be throwing ninja stars at somebody?” he laughed, gaining laughter from their other family members. Ugh. Katō really didn’t know how to talk to him anymore. Katō catered to the torment of their parents. Anshō sighed and brushed his brother’s hand off of his shoulder.

”I’m working.” Anshō quipped in reply, not really feeling like explaining any further. He wasn’t really in the mood to be there already, and his family’s appearance just made it worse. He was relieved that his father handed him the invitation, even though he could hear the snide comments coming from his mouth. Without responding to the horrific comments about his occupation, Anshō quickly found their names on the list and beckoned for them to enter. ”Enjoy the party.” He said to them as they entered, leaving him without much fuss, thank Susanoo, though in their case he almost certainly didn’t mean it.

For the remainder of the party, once he had finished letting people with invitations in, Anshō did as he was told, attempting to not let the appearance of his family bother him. At least they hadn’t come back over to him to harass him. This was just a job and he wasn't going to let them get to him. Only a few hours later, the party was over and he was going home.

833/100

Mission:

It was only a few days since Anshō had acted as a guard for the party that had involved his own family, and he had been assigned yet another missions. It wasn’t a surprise though. Missions were almost always scheduled one after another, if they were of lower ranks at least. This one was another D rank for the twelve year old to do. Nothing too extremely hard, simply going to the pool to make sure that the students of the academy don’t get into any trouble while their teachers either did the same and watched them or simply left him and a few others to it.

Anshō hummed a lullaby as he wandered towards the swimming pool that he would be meeting the teachers and the students at, hoping that it would be a somewhat relaxing day. Though, knowing his luck it probably wouldn’t be. Not that swimming pools were the best thing in the world, even if he did have an affinity to water. It was a swimming pool, chlorinated death water that nothing could live in, not even the smallest fish and it was the worst. He didn’t really understand how humans could stand swimming in the chemically drowned water. Still it was a thing, even if the ocean was always better.

As he neared the pool Anshō paused for a moment to stare up at the sign that blatantly stated that it was the ‘swimming pool’. It had been the same sign for years. It was there when he had been in the academy and had been doing similar outings, and it had probably been there even before his time. It was beginning to look a little worn down, with all the weathering and years, but there was also something nice about it always being there. He smiled at it before walking inside, tapping the tiles with the little dolphin’s printed on them with his fingers one by one as he entered the lockers.

Once in the lockers he then changed into his swimming suit before looking at himself in the mirror. Considering how much time he spent outside and in the water, he was still extremely pale in pallor. It was odd, and a little disconcerting. Yes, his body was muscular and very much a swimmer’s and shinobi’s body, but he was pale. He frowned a little bit. It was a wonder that he didn’t ‘glow’ sometimes. He wished that he could keep some color of the sun in his skin. It would be nice.

With a sigh, he squared his shoulders before walking out of the locker room and into the actual pool area, hitai-ate around his arm, signifying that he was technically one of the instructors for the day, despite his age being similar to some of the students that he would be watching over today. Not that he was expecting trouble unless there were some pranksters in the group, and there were bound to be. For now he decided to sit and wait for the classes to arrive, finding himself perched in the lifeguard tower staring down at the water.

When the class first arrived he had to deal with a rather irate teacher who had at first thought of him as one of his students, despite the headband that he was wearing tied around his arm. After some discussion though the man seemed to finally believe him and he was left to attend to his duty of watching over the kids. It didn’t go badly at all. He was stationed in the second lifeguard perch, and he didn’t really have to do much of anything except yell at kids not to run on the slippery edge of the pool. Soon enough the day was over and he was left on his own, having waited till everyone was gone.

It was evening and the sun was beginning to set, leaving the lights in the pool giving the water an earie glow. His brow creased as he stared at the water for a few moments before he turned with a huff, retreating to the lockers again to get changed out of his trunks and into his regular clothes. He hadn’t had to set one foot into the atrocious chemical water, and for that he was glad, even if it had turned out that his legs at the very least had been splashed a bit by it, because of the obnoxious children.

Changed, he then took the remainder of his things and headed home for the night, ready for some rest. Even if he hadn’t set foot in the water, he had indeed sat in the sun all day, and that in itself had been exhausting.

795/100

Mission:

Anshō had been a studious child, always taking care to study and work hand during his time at the academy. To him, it was important to do well in school and push himself to be one of the best in order to prove to his family that being a shinobi was just as honorable a profession as being a merchant was within their village. They had been so disapproving of his chosen profession as a merchant family because they had simply expected him, like their other children and family members to participate in their family business. However, Anshō  thought that their buiseness cruel and wasn’t going to have any part of it. Being a shinobi was his calling, not an octopus and squid hunter, or manager of the business.  He simply couldn’t bring himself to do it. So becoming a shinobi was the better option for him, and he loved it. He was persistant as a young academy student and shinobi to prove to them that it was good. Though, they continued to disapprove. It would never change to approval, but the hope of a child is always shining and, at least he didn’t have to live under the same roof with their ridiculing tongues.

That was why the current mission the young Anshō was on was disappointing for him. He didn’t like the idea of being a tutor for an academy student who had been shirking his work. He was to help the student named Lee with the ninjutsu specialization so that he would not continue to fail in the work that he was required to do for school. However, this tutoring was because the parents wanted him to do well, not because the student himself wanted to do well, and that didn’t sit well with him. The boy, Lee, seemed like a spoiled entitled child. Those who did not put hard work into their profession would not do well. However, he couldn’t let his own feelings about the other boy who was nearing his own age and still in the academy to get in the way. He needed to complete the mission, and complete the mission he would.

So, here he was walking down the streets of the village that he lived in towards the home of the other boy in the drizzling rain. The weather wasn’t too good today, and he found that it matched his own mood. It was probably something that was going to cause him to be more stern with the other boy. Then again, perhaps a stern hand was going to be what the boy needed. Particularly from someone who was a similar age. Maybe seeing how far along he himself was would help the other boy to hurry up and stop slacking with his own abilities.

Anshō found himself yawning as he found himself standing before the gate of the home. It was a magnificent home, probably similar to his own family’s home, not that he lived  there anymore. And his own small apartment was tiny and nothing magnificent at all. So, probably definitely an entitled child was housed here. One who’s parents wanted him to become a shinobi. He sighed and pressed the gate bell, speaking into it for a moment. “Tako, Anshō here to tutor Lee as requested.”  

There was a pause before  the gruff voice of what Anshō suspected to be a security guard replied. “Welcome Mr. Tako.  Come on in, Lee’s expecting you in the study, the butler will take you to him when you enter the house.” And with that the gate swung open to display the path to the house that he was to enter. Anshō resisted the roll of his eyes as he walked up to the house and knocked politely on the door. It was better to knock before entering after all, even if he had been told that he'd be taken directly to Lee. He hummed as he waited, finding himself waiting a little longer than he thought he would.

Then suddenly the door opened and a smart looking butler opened the door for him. Of course, the man wasn't quite as generic looking as he was expecting. The man was definitely buff. Perhaps he was the one that even doubled as the family's security. He wouldn't exactly be surprised if he was. And as soon as the man spoke his welcome, and the voice was the same as the one that had spoken to him through the security system he was sure of his theory. He smiled to the man and nodded as he was told to follow, moving towards the room that Lee was waiting in.

The study that was revealed was similar to the library that Anshō's father had developed in their house. The one room in the house that he hadn't really been allowed into when he had been younger. His brow creased a bit in disappointment when he spotted the boy, looking quite sleepy and just reading a comment. He glanced at the  man that had guided him there with a nod before the man left the pair alone, and the other boy didn't even bother to put the book down.

Anshō raised and eyebrow and moved towards the other boy. "I'd appreciate if you put that down now. I'm here to tutor you." He scolded the other boy to which he received an eye roll from Lee, and a mumble that he could barely understand, but sounded like 'leave me alone.' That made Anshō scowl. And, before the other boy could do anything about it, he had taken the comic book away from the other boy and darted across the room, climbing up some of the bookshelves. "Now then. Now that I actually have your attention..."  He hummed, ignoring the loud outraged protests from the other boy. "You can have your book back, if you can take it back from me. It shouldn't be too hard if you've actually been training."

"Don't be stupid. No way. Just give it back now and leave." Lee, or 'the whiny brat' in Anshō's eyes, grumbled, still staring up at him from his sedentary place on the sofa. Anshō  nearly snorted at the reply that he got, looking at the book. Now... how was he going to get the boy to actually move? He was here to teach him ninjutsu. To supplement the knowledge that the academy had already given him, if he hopefully hadn't slept through all his classes. He was bound to know something at the very least. If he didn't then this was going to be a lot more difficult than he had initially thought, especially with how belligerent the boy was being.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Anshō took a deep breath in order to keep himself calm. He needed to be calm, otherwise this would get absolutely nowhere. He sighed and rolled his shoulders before opening his eyes to look at the boy again. " I'm not going to give it back now." He hummed, eyes flicking over to the fireplace. "Perhaps I should simply just toss this silly little comic book into that fireplace there?" he mused, teasing, not that the boy actually knew that he was teasing. It wasn't like he was actually going to toss the book into the fire, but at least the threat of doing so was enough to get the boy moving.

And so it began, Lee chasing Anshō around the room, desperately trying to get the book back, using his chakra to climb the book cases and such things in an effort to keep up with him. It was when the boy actually used some of his jutsu that Anshō allowed himself to slow down a bit, turning the chase into more of a spar, all the while keeping the comic book and the interior of the room unscathed. And by the end, both boys were actually smiling at each other. Anshō proud of how far the other boy had come in a short period of time when properly motivated. He smiled and handed the book back to him with a hum. "Your teachers are going to be expecting this from you now. I'm going to tell them what I've seen in you, Lee. You're a good shinobi, you just need to give effort." he praised and warned at the same time.

With that, and a nod and understanding smile and thank you from Lee, Anshō allowed himself to leave the home, letting the boy think on what had just happened. He would indeed report to the boys parents and teachers to tell them of Lee's abilities. And hopefully they would be gratified. And, if all went well, perhaps he would teach Lee again. Stubborn as he was at first, the events that had followed had been quite gratifying. And if not a student, he possibly had certainly gained himself a friend, considering the other boy was only a few years younger than he was, if that. He wasn't entirely sure, but he'd find out later he supposed. He hoped he'd just left enough of a mark in the boy's heart to inspire him.

WC: 1506/100

Mission:

There was always something that needed to be done around the village; some kind of chore, some kind of search, some request for kind of help. There was always something, and these menial jobs were the ones that the genin got to do, being the lowest ranking members of the shinobi military.  It was somewhat of a rite of passage for those who had graduated from the Academy. No one really got out of doing them. And sometimes for a little extra cash, those who weren’t genin still continued to take them at later points in their career. After all they needed done, and no one could deny that the upkeep of the village was a significant part of what they had to do for their village. Anshō of course was still a genin, and he didn’t mind doing the menial jobs for the village. They were a way to up his game.

Though, in the case of this mission he did wonder why the Administrative Complex needed to be painted again. He had just heard from one of his peers that they had recently painted the halls of the building only a few weeks ago, so he was a little puzzled. Were things going on in the Administrative complex that were less than savory that required them to be repainted so often? Or did the purposely scrape the walls just so that their shinobi’s had things to do? Perhaps he would never know, but the questions still milled in his head even though they would go unanswered until he was older. He did settle for the first question though. It made… the administrative building intriguing and mysterious for the young teenager, imagining horrible things, like blood being spattered on the walls every so often. For his young mind, it made the building awesome.

Anshō walked to the building with his hands in his pockets and stared around, taking it all in. He’d only really been in the administrative building a couple of times at this point, receiving most of his mission correspondence from letters.  But, every time it was a buzz with people, and the surroundings seemed to change a lot. It was new every time. He made his way over to the front desk and introduced himself, stating why he was there and asking where to go, as was protocol for the building. He wouldn’t want to go anywhere that he wasn’t wanted because that could possibly cause a lot of trouble. The secretary at the desk pointed him in the correct direction and signed him in, and off he went.

Following the directions that the secretary had given him, he found himself in a series of hallways, paint chipped away from them and primed with a soft white coat. At the beginning of the hall, paint cans, rollers and everything needed to paint the walls was laid out for him, and he quickly began to work. He had until the end of the day to get his designated halls done, and there were quite a few of them. Anshō worked quickly, pouring the can into the tray, rolling his roller through it and then painting the pale blue paint onto the walls with an efficiency that he hoped not many others would be able to match. Possibly anyway. He knew that there were many others who worked like he did too. When the tray emptied itself he repeated the motion of pouring the can into the tray, rolling his roller through it and then painting the pale blue paint onto the walls.

And so it went again and again, until the sun, that he could see through one of the windows started to get high in the sky, and the clock on the wall chimed one hour before close. He was done with the walls, and there was a paint smear on his forehead, but he had completed his task with an entire hour to spare. Anshō grinned to himself before closing the paint cans and tiding up, so that the custodial staff, or whomever was going to be sent to get rid of the paint supplies wouldn’t have a horrific mess to deal with. Once that was done he went and washed his hands, and pealed the paint off of his forehead before turning away to make his way home, checking in with the desk to let them know that he had finished painting the walls of the hallways that soft blue color.

With the approval of the secretary, Anshō then made his way home, a little tired but no worse for wear and very much ready to simply sit down with some tea, dinner and maybe a book before heading to bed to prepare for the next day of his life.

803/100

Mission:

Anshō’s liking for animals was spiked in him when he was very young. He had been taken along on one of his father’s fleet of boats that were going octopus fishing, and he was enthralled by the ocean. It was when the first catch met the boat that Anshō decided it would be better to free the animals than watch them suffer. And, he had genuinely tried, the young boy, tugging at their cages in an attempt to let them out. But, he’d been tugged off a little later by his own father and forced to wait in the Captain’s cabin. He’d hated it, and he’d cried, but his father had forced him to understand that it was needed. Not that that kept him from thinking that it was wrong.

It was one of the reasons that he’d been looking into getting a pet of his own. He desperately wanted one, but he wasn’t sure if he really wanted to cage an animal as a pet. Animals were really meant to be free. Still, that didn’t mean that he judged anyone for having a pet. In fact he thought that it might actually be nice to have an animal companion at some point in his life. It was when people had to go lose their pets that Anshō began to judge the masters of the creatures.

It was genuinely puzzling to Anshō how someone, even a little girl could lose her pet. But, it seemed to be something that happened pretty prevalently in their village, with genin constantly having to run around the village to find the poor creatures that wound up being lost. Usually there were slews of lost cats and dogs running around the village. But in the case of this particular mission, it was a more exotic pet that was missing, a hellbender salamander, at least twenty seven inches long. How someone could lose a lizard longer than two feet surprised Anshō, but a little girl named Anise certainly had managed it somehow.

Walking towards the home of the little girl, to talk to them about where the animal possibly had gone, Anshō kept his eyes open for the amphibian, his brow creased slightly. Perhaps he’d find it simply wandering around outside. At least he hoped that he might. So, he kept his eyes peeled for the large brownish black animal. Anshō paused when he saw a flash of pink slipping around a corner. Pink. There had been a pink ribbon described being around the animal’s neck in the mission brief. Immediately Anshō sprung into action, running around the corner.

Low and behold, in an alley way was the large Hellbender salamander. Anshō took a deep breath before scooping the animal up into his arms and running towards the little girl’s home. He had no interest in making this ‘finding’ mission last any longer than it had to, even though it hadn’t really even started? He hadn’t even made it to their home to discuss the issue before finding it. He chuckled to himself and patted the amphibian’s head before arriving at the door and knocking. “Kiki delivery for Anise.” He hummed when the door opened to the parents of the girl. “ I found her wandering around outside on my way here. Tell Anise to be a little more careful.” He smiled as he handed the animal over.

Anshō knew that the girl would be delighted to have her animal back, but he didn’t stick around to witness it. The praise he received from the parents was enough, and he really just wanted to go check in, get his Ryo then go get a book, read, or possibly do some training. Training would probably wind up being what he decided on, considering that he needed to. He smiled as he walked away from the home, feeling slightly accomplished.

657/100

Anshō took a deep breath of air before he found himself drifting down through the water settling at the bottom of the ocean, sitting cross-legged on the sandy bottom of the ocean. He was quite a few meters from the docks of the Port of Dreams now, and it was deep enough that he didn’t have to worry about any boats maybe coming into contact with him. It was a place that he commonly came to when he needed some time alone, just to himself. It was a place that he had developed as his own when he had only been a child. A place to come and be around the sea creatures that he loved without the instigation of his family, particularly his father that disapproved of his interactions and love for the sea’s animals. His father was cold, thinking that the creatures were only animals that they could use for money or food, while Anshō found friends in them.

However, this visit to the bottom of the ocean wasn’t simply a time for the teen Anshō to get away from the troubles of his life. He had come to this place in order to train and push his own development to an acceptable range. Not that he was very far behind in his skills. He’d recently been ranked up from Genin to Chuunin, and he was now enjoying the perks of being a higher rank than he used to be. No longer was he going on those menial D rank missions anymore. Now, his missions held more purpose to them, but still, he needed to push himself. He still somewhat wanted to prove to his family that he was doing decent for himself. He still held out that childish hope that they would accept his abilities at some point. That they would accept being a shinobi as an acceptable profession. Not that he knew if they ever would… but… he still held a slowly fracturing hope that he would give up once he was older.

The dark haired chuunin’s plans for this training, was to increase his own chakra abilities. While holding his breath from his place at the sandy ocean floor, he was meditating and counting out the seconds that ticked the time away. However, in addition to that more simple way of meditation, he had also added on to that. He was focusing on his chakra, keeping his eyes closed and picturing in his mind’s eye how it flowed throughout his body that had not quite reached it’s finishing height yet. He imagined the chakra like they had been taught in the academy, similar to the way that veins ran through one’s body. Through this, he found himself understanding, or at least hoping that he understood, the way that his own chakra moved. After all, even if he was wrong, it was the way that he felt like his own body worked.

Soon though he couldn’t keep his breath anymore, and he found himself needing to go up for air. He remained down for a few more moments, opening his eyes until he felt his eyes burning and his vision started to darken slightly around the edges before moving quickly and pushing himself roughly up towards where the ocean met the sky. When he broke the surface air surged into his lungs and the cold sea breeze battered his face as if reprimanding him for staying down for so long. Not that it bothered him so much. It was important to him to spend time in the ocean. It was where he loved to be. He took a few moments to gather his breath before taking one last breath and diving back down again to setting in the same spot that he had been only moments before on the sandy bottom.

This time on the floor he didn’t focus on meditation however.  While meditation and thinking on the way things worked was needed, practical application was more important than anything else. You had to be able to actually do something for it to be relevant. And while Anshō knew the basis and had some ability with his chakra he did need to be able to do all the more. Having a good foundation in chakra control was something that was definitely important. So, this time he focused on the ability to use his chakra around his body.

Focusing, Anshō was able to move his chakra from his feet, and up his legs, consistently pushing it outwards to create bubbles in the water that moved up and towards the surface. These bubbles attracted some of the sea life that decided to have fun playing with them, and Anshō resisted the want to laugh. He didn’t want to lose what oxygen he had left in his lungs just yet. Only when he was satisfied with his ability to manipulate the chakra in his legs, did he move to lay down on the sea floor, not continuing to sit down on the ocean floor anymore. From this position he controlled the chakra in his stomach, doing the same that he had done with his legs, making bubbles slowly drift up to the surface.

When he was content with his stomach, again he needed to go up to the surface for more air. Anshō broke the surface with a gasp, closing his eyes against the cold air that battered his face again. It was familiar. With how many times he had done this so far, he had gotten used to the way the air berated him. He took a deep breath, treading water for a few moments before moving to dive back down. He wasn’t going to leave until he had finished his training. Yes, he might be able to hold his breath for quite some time because of his experience, but he did need air. He sighed before being content that he had gotten enough air again and dove.

Again, Anshō settled cross legged on his place on the sandy ocean floor, and automatically there was a flurry of fish that decided to swim out and accompany this strange human that kept trying to live in their world. It was almost as if they were welcoming him, or laughing at him. Either thought warmed Anshō’s heart, and he wished that he had the ability to communicate with them. But, unfortunately that wasn’t something that he would be able to do. At least not for some time, unless he figured out how to. And he honestly kind of did want to at some point. It would be interesting to see what fish talked about.

This time from his place on the ground of the ocean, Anshō went straight for focusing on making bubbles of chakra through the skin of his arms. He started with his shoulders, went down to his elbows, then to his wrists and then down to his fingers. He only focused on his fingers when he was totally content with the rest of his arms, knowing that the fingers would be his favorite. With fingers one could truly aim chakra at things. Taking a moment, Anshō focused his chakra at the tip of his fingers, and he watched as the ocean water seemed to be pushed away from them even at the current depth that he was at. Just as he had watched delightedly as the fish had gone after the bubbles from his legs and stomach, he watched contently as he formed a rather large bubble of chakra in his hands before letting it drift up through the water, and Anshō followed after it. It was time for another air break.


CHA training E->C  1,290/1,000
Extra WC: 290

Honestly, if anyone wanted to advance their abilities with chakra Anshō would always recommend going into the ocean, or to the pool. Under such water, and even on top of it, one could train their chakra abilities very well. This was something that Anshō had learned during his time still in the academy when they had been first introduced to chakra. He’d been out on a boat, and had decided to dive in the water. He’d found then that water gave just the right resistance to it when under it when he had used it to push himself back up to the surface after he had seen a barracuda that he hadn’t wanted to deal with. And on top of it he had noticed the same thing sometime later when he had seriously began to train his abilities. Water gave a difficult surface to use one’s chakra to stand on it, let alone walk on it. One had to focus quite a bit to walk on water, but it was possible, and Anshō had gotten quite good at it himself.

While taking this air break, Anshō found himself staring up at the sky. It was the afternoon, and the sun was fairly high in the sky, so it was beating down on him, though the sea breeze kept him considerably cool. He gave a soft hum as he treaded water, before flopping back in the water and floating on his back for a few moments. He closed his eyes and simply let himself float there for some time, letting himself relax. One could only train under water for so long before needing a longer break than just an air break. Lazily, Anshō found himself kicking through the water, not particularly aiming for anywhere with his eyes closed and back to the ocean floor, especially since he was far enough from anything that he could hit.

It was a few minutes later before Anshō finally flipped himself up again, going back to treading water. He took a deep gulp of air before diving down again. Only this time, he wasn’t greeted by the sandy floor bottom, but a bead of coral and rock. The beauty of it made him smile, and he quickly found himself diving down to it, where he found himself perching on an outcropping of rock, facing into the coral bed so that he could watch the nature of it. Smiling from his new place, Anshō continued to practice, focusing on creating bubbles on each of his fingers, shooting them out at the water, and not anywhere in particular, and most definitely not at the coral. Sometimes though they would bounce harmlessly off of fish, that would look quite disgruntled that a bubble had actually pushed them off course. The first few times this happened, Anshō nearly lost it, cheeks puffing out with the air from his lungs as he attempted to keep his lips closed against the laughter that lingered there behind his tightened lips.

Soon he couldn’t take it though, and the laughter bubbled out of him and into the water as a particular fish seemed to blame him for the weird bubbled and came over to bump into his cheek. This immediately he regretted as he found himself gagging against water as it forced itself into his mouth and down it’s throat, and he pushed himself up to the surface again, choking as he broke into the oxygen that he desperately needed to breathe. Once he had gotten over his coughing fit, Anshō found himself devolving into a fit of giggles. That one fish had been the one to ruin it all. He had gotten a good half day of training out though. He flopped back in the water again, allowing himself to float for a few moments, smiling to himself in a silly mood. It wasn’t as if anyone could see him from his place in the ocean after all. There was nowhere someone could be above him.

Just drifting, it was about ten minutes before Anshō righted himself again and began to swim back to the docks. But he paused. Perhaps he should walk back to them. He hummed to himself for a moment before deciding that that was what he would do, focusing his chakra at his feet and stepping up and out of the water until he was standing on it. Of course, he shivered against the cool breeze, but it was worth it to continue training, as he began the march back towards the docks. Step after step over the rocky water until he was climbing out of the ocean on the stairs on the docks and onto the solid wood.  Anshō gave a soft huff, looking down at his feet on the brown wood underneath him. Solid.

He really did dislike solid ground, but he knew full well that he couldn’t spend all of his time under the water. That just wasn’t the way that society worked. However, that didn’t mean that spending time out in the ocean didn’t make it weird to be on land again. It was definitely odd, considering he’d gained his sea legs probably earlier than he had his land legs, not that he could really remember what had come first. He took a deep breath and sighed before raising his arms to stretch himself. His muscles were already lose from all the training he had been doing, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to stretch some more. Besides, the sun had dried out his clothes during the hour long walk back to the docks, and they needed to loosen up a bit.

WC: 954 + 290 extra from previous post
CHA training C-> C2 1244/900
Exta WC: 344

Once the stretching was completed, Anshō sighed and began to pad over the docks, waving to those people that knew him. It wasn’t very surprising that he knew a lot of people around the docs, considering it was where he had basically been raised, and he was friends with quite a few of the people. However, he didn’t really have time to sit down and have a friendly chat with them tonight. Today was one of his designated training days, and that’s what he was planning on doing. So, instead of pausing when one of the men invited him for tea, Anshō shook his head, waving the invitation off with a smile and an apology as he continued walking.

He was going to continue his training at a little park that he knew of down here, before catching a flight back up to the main village. Still, that required walking through the port, so he figured that he might as well grab a bite to eat from one of the food stalls on his way to the park. In the end he wound up settling for some Takoyaki and a soda despite his affinity for octopus. He had an affinity for the creatures, but he had also been raised in a household that monopolized the octopus industry of the village, and as such has been raised to eat it. And, if he were completely honest, he was actually kind of fond of the flavor, which was odd. He just had to not think about what it was that he was eating. He thanked the woman running the stall, taking the stick of food and his drink and continued to make his way through the port and to the park.

Once at the park Anshō found himself a nice bench to sit on, and he began to eat, taking a few more moments of relaxation. With food in his belly and a drink, he’d have to take the first while of training in the park fairly slow. He people watched as he ate, seeing a few interesting characters. But it wasn’t long before he had finished. He waited a few more minutes so that his stomach would settle, and then began to jog around the path in the park, using his chakra to give himself something of a resistance in the path. It was after nearly an hour of jogging that he finally decided that he would continue his training.

Anshō jogged to the area of the park that was covered in more trees than anywhere else. The area was something that had become another of his common training areas over the years. It was fairly close to the home that he had grown up in, not that he had lived there since before he started the academy. His parents were that disapproving that they hadn’t wanted him there if becoming a shinobi was what he was going to be doing. Not that it was something that Anshō really minded. It was something that he was perfectly alright with, as it gave him more time to focus without the nuisance of his two older siblings.

Smiling, Anshō met the trees and walking over to one of the largest that actually had imprints of his feet on it. Over the years of the academy and as a genin, and now as a chuunin, he’d used the same tree to train, and his footprints had become part of the wood. Fondly Anshō ran his hands across the bark that was in the shape of his foot. He’d certainly left his mark there, hadn’t he? In the world above water, he didn’t really make a purpose of getting himself noticed, but he did try to leave his mark in the place of other’s hearts at the very least. He wanted to do the best that he could for his village, and that was why he did train so hard. And he wasn’t going to stop. That was why the evidence of his training was so gratifying.

Taking a deep breath, Anshō found himself taking his first step up the tree, focusing all of his chakra to the soles of his feet, giving enough to seep through his trees just like he had with the water. However, while with the water while he had used it to push away from the water, with the tree, he used it to pull himself to it, attaching to the tree. Slowly, he found himself stepping up the tree all the way up to the very top. He paused at the top before jogging down the tree, stopping with his nose simply an inch away from the ground before turning around again. And he repeated this moment a few times, up and down, up and down. Walking up and jogging down before finally pausing at one of the branches.

On the branch he stopped for a few minutes to catch his breath. He’d already worked himself into a slight sweat, but he wasn’t going to stop just yet. He still had a little bit more to do. Once he had taken a moment to just relax, Anshō finally walked the rest of the way down the tree before swapping what he had been doing, instead of walking up the tree, he jogged up the tree and walked down the tree. And again he repeated this again several times before taking another break, this time finding himself at the very bottom of the tree.

At the bottom of the tree, Anshō stepped down from the tree and gave himself a moment to orient being on flat land again before doing some stretches. While using chakra at the feet was good training, it was a better training to use one’s chakra at his hands. He also found it more entertaining. Just like he had when he had focused his chakra at his hands while he had still been in the ocean. This was no different here with the trees. Instead of continuing using the chakra in his legs and feet, he now focused his chakra to his hands again, placing them on the tree.

Anshō then began to walk up the tree as if he were doing a hand stand on the ground, keeping his body in a ‘T’ shape with the tree. Walking up the tree like this was much more difficult than simply walking or running up it, because his body wasn’t quite used to being used like this, but here he was doing so. The first couple times he’d tried it he’d simply gone and fallen down each time he’d attempted to hold himself up. But now he was able to hold himself easily, rather than making it just a few feet before falling down. He smiled and  began to walk all the way up to the tree before going down the tree at a faster pace.

And so the pattern continued, just like he had with his legs. Slowly walking up the tree then going quickly down the tree. Up and down a few times, then switching it up so that he was going quickly up the tree and going slowly down the tree. He continued like this for quite some time until it looked as if the sun was setting and there was a satisfying burn in his arms. Taking a deep breath, Anshō found himself sitting against the tree, his head tilted back against it as he caught up with the breath that he’d used running up and down the tree so many times.

Once Anshō had cooled down a bit, and was no longer sweaty, he stood, deciding that it was time to do some finishing stretches. He did about fifteen sets of each before deciding that it was enough. After all, it was getting close to the airship that he needed to catch to go home for the night. With that in mind he jogged towards the airport, fishing his ticket out of his pocket so that he could hand it directly to the ticket counter and get directly onto the flight.


WC: 1369 + 344 extra from previous post
CHA training C2 -> B 1713/1350
Extra WC: 363

Anshō made it to the ticket counter for his flight just in the nick of time. They had already started boarding the last few passengers and he was lucky to be able to get onto the flight after his rush from the park to the airport. Relieved that he had made it, Anshō handed over his ticket and made his way over to his seat where he sat down, content tow wait for the flight to take off. He’d gotten a window seat, so he found himself staring out the window at the scenery. The port at first, then once they took off, the sky. The flight up to the actual village never really took too long, but he still smiled as he watched the village come into view before they landed in the airport of the village.

Thanking the crew of the airship, Anshō left. Sometimes he wondered what it would be like to be an airship pilot, but it wasn’t like he was going to change his profession to become one.  He loved being a shinobi, even with the baggage that came with it. After all, now he was a chuunin and he’d seen his fair share of what actually being a shinobi meant. As an academy student or genin, unless under special circumstances, you really didn’t have any idea. The gore that came with the job was kind of horrific, but one had to get used to it rather fast. It had made Anshō sick the first time that he had seen blood and death, but it wasn’t something that a shinobi could get away from. It was part of life.

Anshō gave a sigh as he exited the airship, heading out and into the night air. It was evening now, and the sky was beginning to darken away from the beautiful colors of the sky that he’d watched on his way up. Still, even with the night’s sky dark with only the moon and stars, it was peaceful. He was rather fond of night time, not that he spent a lot of time in it. He was pretty dutiful as a chuunin, getting the right amount of sleep that he needed for his body at night time. Not that it would always be like this later on. Anshō hummed to himself as he walked towards his little apartment, only an hour down the road from the airport.

Soon he was coming up on the apartment building and he looked up at it with a sigh. It was what he could afford on his wages. It certainly wasn’t anything spectacular like the home that he had been partially raised in before getting kicked out as a shinobi. But, it was home and he had certainly grown fond of it. With a smile on his lips he began to stride up the stairs towards his door two at a time until he was standing in front of it. Dutifully, he pulled out his keys and opened it then stepped inside locking it behind him as the one bedroom apartment greeted him.

Now, Anshō was still very much a teenager, and the room that greeted him was rather evident of that with comic books and other such things strewn around. Yes, it was a one bedroom apartment but it was home. With a yawn, rolling his shoulders, Anshō moved to the bathroom. First a shower was in order. He was still covered in dried salt water and sweat and it was beginning to irritate him. He made it to the tiny bathroom and slipped inside, turning on the water so that it was steaming. Once he was content with it he stripped and stepped in to take a shower. He stepped out once he was clean, toweling himself off before wandering out to toss on some pajamas.

Pajamas now on, Anshō turned on his radio for some background noise, not really wanting to listen to silence. Silence was okay only on missions to Anshō. At home silence was something that Anshō found rather bothering, so he almost always had some sort of noise going. He walked to the little kitchenette that he had and proceeded to make himself some tea before wandering back to his bed and sitting down. For an hour he found himself reading some of his comics and sipping at his tea before finally deeming that it was an appropriate time to go to sleep.

It was only about ten at night, but he was going to have another early day tomorrow, so he set his tea and comic book to the side and lay down. It took him a few moments of keeping his eyes closed before he finally drifted off to sleep.

WC: 796 + 363 extra wc from previous post.
Trained END C2->C3 1159/600
Extra WC: 559

The dreams that Anshō had were not unpleasant that night. They were fairly good. After spending such a long time in the ocean he spent the night dreaming of swimming around with the creatures of the water. It was wonderful. In fact, in his dream he even made friends with some of the fishes, and some octopus that happened by. While in the real world he couldn’t speak to them, he could speak to them in his dream, and it was absolutely fascinating. He had a lot of fun with the personalities that his mind created for him. However, it couldn’t last forever, and soon he was waking up with the first light of the sun breaking though his window.

Anshō had positioned his bed so that the first light from the sun would hit his bed, and he was quite happy to wake up with the sun each morning. He stirred slowly, giving a soft yawn before opening his pale eyes and blinking awake. His body was a little sore from the previous day, but it was nothing unexpected. There was a certain amount of soreness that Anshō had become used to feeling in his chuunin age body. He hummed, shifting in his sheets for a moment before finally pushing himself up and giving a big stretch, arms reaching up towards the ceiling.

Looking at the clock is was early in the morning, after all the sun had just risen and Anshō was quite satisfied with that. That meant that he had some time to just laze around at home before preparing for the day and heading out for another day of training. Today wouldn’t be Chakra training. Today was going to be endurance training. But it wasn’t time for that just yet. Anshō decided to start the morning slowly.

First he took a few moments before finally Anshō finally decided to push himself up and out of bed. With another wide yawn he slowly padded to his kitchenette and made himself some coffee, pouring himself some cereal at the same time and topping the bowl with some milk. While he waited for his coffee to finish brewing, he began to eat his cereal, just leaning against his counter rather than sitting down at the kitchen. He was just going to eat standing up since he didn’t really want to bother with having to do any cleaning for now. Soon the bowl was empty and he washed and put it and his spoon away before the coffee beeped and he was sipping at it.

Wandering over to his bed he sat on the edge of it and pulled out the comic that he had been reading the night before in an effort to read some more of it. It didn’t take too long to finish it, so he pulled out another and began to read that as he finished his coffee. Once he had he glanced over to the clock, and it read that it was 8:34 in the morning. That was just about time to get started he figured, so he decided to put his coffee cup in the sink, washing it as well before putting it away, as well as the one that he had used the night before.

Then he moved over to his wardrobe to pull out some clothes and he got dressed in clothes that wouldn’t be ruined or worn down by running in them. Of course, most of his clothes were acceptable for training considering his profession, but there were some nice clothes in his wardrobe as well. Mostly reminiscent of the time that he had actually lived with his family. With a hum he pulled on his clothes calmly then moved to head out of his apartment. It was time to start.

Once outside of his apartment, Anshō took his keys and locked his door before jogging down the stairs like he always did. Once at the bottom of the stairs, Anshō proceeded to do a series of stretches. Bending forward, touching his toes, then stretching his back, lifting his arms and folding them, windmills, he did all manners of stretches before stopping and bouncing on his heels a few times. How was he going to do this? He took a few moments to think before beginning to jog. Taking a deep breath he began to jog down the street, breathing in and out appropriately. Really, he didn’t exactly have an aim for where he was going right now, but he was going to jog for about an hour before choosing something else to do.

WC: 772 + 599 extra wc from previous post
Trained END C3-> B 1371/750
Extra WC: 621