A Story's Beginning [Spar/No Kill, Invite only]

Ayumu, Mitsuko

Ayumu's eyes fluttered open, a thick black blanketing his vision, making the only discernible difference between open and closed being the air that drifted calmly against his eyes. Waking up blind, even after all the years he's lived, was unsettling. Sight is a thing that was expected among normal people, constantly hearing that leads one to believe that they should see, even when they know that true sight is something beyond them. Ayumu wasn't bitter about being blind, and he held no ill-feelings towards his parents, truth be told, he kind of enjoyed it, it made him different, set him apart from everyone else. That being said, there was always a longing. People always talk about beauty, about colors and the inexplicable complexity of the things they can see, and it was hard to not be jealous. 

Ayumu sighed and swung his feet over the side of the bed, pushing away his thoughts, there was no reason to be bothered by it. Even if he let those thoughts drive him mad, it wouldn't change anything, so he may as well just look on the bright side, ironically. He pushed himself up from bed, then put his arms up in the air, stretching away the stiffness in his muscles. He flexed a little towards the end of his stretch, laughing at himself a bit. He breathed deeply into his nose, and out his mouth, a smile setting in after the exhalation. 

He walked around his bed, going towards his dresser, so used to the many paths around his home that sight really didn't make a difference. Opening the dresser, he rummaged through his clothes until he found the pieces of his work outfit. He pulled the leggings over his boxers, and strapped his boots on. He scratched his bare chest, then put on his undershirt, his outfit so far being dull black, as if color really mattered to a blind man. On top of the dresser rested the flak jacket, the symbol of someone who has gotten to the Chuunin rank or higher. He grabbed it and pulled it around his arms, then zipped and buttoned it on. His smile grew a little wider when he had donned it, he was still proud of himself, finally becoming a Chuunin. Lastly he pulled on the cloak that covered nearly his whole body, he decided not to zip it up today.

He then turned and walked out of his room, fully dressed and ready to go. His hand reached for the front door, when he jumped back. His mask! He rushed back up to his room and grabbed it, heading outside. When he locked the door to his home, he slipped the mask over his face, leaving the hood down. He turned and headed into town, a smile still on his face, underneath the mask. He was so absolutely excited. Incredibly nervous, but excited. Today was the day he met his pupil. This was his first real day of work as a Chuunin, since only a few days ago he put in his application for the sensei job. He had been a Chuunin for about two weeks, but nothing had happened yet. Today was exciting.

He couldn't quite remember the name of the young girl he was assigned to, but he at least remembered her address, luckily, He could ask for her name later, no big deal. He finally reached her home, and he pulled out a slip of paper he had prepared last night, with help, of course. It was a note that said he was her assigned sensei, and she was to meet him in the chiming forest. He put the note on the door, knocked, then disappeared in a poof of smoke, reappearing about 20 yards away. He walked on and made his way to the forest.

He arrived about 15 minutes later, and stopped just on the outside of the forest. The sounds here were spectacular. There was a stunning amount of noise, really. The wind whistled through the many plants in the boggy thing called a forest, and the plants would make a sort of music, which is what gave it the name, "Chiming Forest". This was one of Ayumu's favorite places to be in. He could just sit back and listen. So that's what he did. He jumped into one of the high branches of a nearby tree, and sat back, listening to the music of nature as he waited for his pupil.

Sunlight peaked through Mitsuko's thin curtains, shining on her face. Her face scrunched up with disdain at the fact that sunlight was interrupting her sleep. She let out a long groan and grabbed her thick comforter to cover herself as she rolled over. She stayed there for about a minute before sitting up quickly, realizing what's supposed to happen today. She sprung out of bed excitedly, suddenly wide awake.

She quickly ripped off the oversized shirt she slept in and slipped into the chain-mail fishnet shirt. After sifting through some of her un-folded clean clothes, she found her light blue vest and quickly put it on. She grabbed some shorts from the top of the pile and practically jumped into them. Looking down, she inspected herself to see if anything was on backwards, then to double-check glanced into the mirror. She saw that her light gray shorts were inside-out; the three buckles running on the outside of her legs were concave instead of being rounded. Embarrassed, she quickly fixed the situation. She was wondering why the felt off.

Practically running out of her room, she enters the kitchen to find it empty. 'I wonder where dad is?' she pondered as she walked towards the fridge to find some food. When she opened the door a blast of cold air hit her face, and the first thing she saw was a note taped to a bento. Grabbing the box she pulled it out and used the other hand to grab the note and read it.

"Hey Mitsuko! I'm so sorry but I had to go into work a bit early today. I know it's terrible timing, what with you being on your first day back as a Genin. But! Dad didn't forget to make you a delicious breakfast! You're going to need it on your first day! I hope you do good and impress your sensei.
                                                                                             Love, dad"

Mitsuko just kind of giggled at the note, almost being able to hear his enthusiasm. She set it down and opened the lid of her breakfast. She was greeted with a pleasing aroma; the look of it was even better. She had a nice helping of rice some umeboshi, some veggies and her all-time favorite: squid. Her mouth watered at her breakfast. She didn't even bother sitting down, she just grabbed some chopsticks and went to town, being starving from her going straight to bed instead of eating dinner when she got home from vacation.

About halfway done with her meal, she heard a knock on her door. Mitsuko went into a slight panic, practically inhaling the last of her food and jumping up with the bento in hand. She ran to the door, still finishing off her food, and opened the door. The only thing that greeted her was a note taped to the door. Presuming it's from her dad, she got a bit annoyed that someone would play a prank and interrupt her meal. Grabbing the note a little roughly, she started scanning it. Her eyes widened in excitement and she just grabbed the note with both hands, jumping up and down. It was her sensei! He left a note! Her excitement immediately stopped when she came upon the meeting place: The Chiming Forest.

Her face, immediately crestfallen, conveyed a mix of terror, annoyance, and a hint of excitement at finally hearing from her Chuunin. Grumbling, she went back upstairs to grab her gloves and forehead protector. She slipped the gloves on and pulled them for extra snugness. She delicately picked up her forehead protector and stared at the sound symbol. A small smile crept onto her face, the symbol giving her a boost of courage. She tied it around her forehead and looked into the mirror. After staring and judging herself she muttered "No, no..." and quickly undid the knot. She tried to tie it around her waist and re-inspected herself. Turning to her side and rubbing her chin, she kinda shook her head and undid the belt. After staring again at the forehead protector, she tied it around her neck. She made a sound of approval and smiled. Running downstairs, realizing she took a while deciding, she quickly slipped on her black ninja sandals that were fashioned into boots and ran out the door towards her destination.

She jogged on and off towards the destination, a little scared she'd be late and make a bad impression. She arrived to the entrance of the forest and looked up. The branches seemed to be arms trying to grab her, and the noises of the reeds were a little eerie. Sighing, she looked down and shouted "Why did it have to be here?!", drawling out 'here'. She threw up her arms and was internally debating with herself. 'I can't do it. I can't. This place is scary!' 'No, you're a ninja now! A genin! A full-fledged ninja! This shouldn't scare you!' 'But it does!' Finally, after her debate, she lets out a frustrated "Ugh!" and looks back at the forest. Bucking up, she stood up straight, and marched right into the entrance of the forest.

The sunlight was quite warm today, Ayumu facing right into it, letting the heat soak into his unmasked face. Many a breeze had come through the branches and plant life, making a melody of whistles and chimes. He really was glad that he had chosen this place to wait for his new pupil. It was calm, peaceful, and absolutely captivating with all the smells and sounds. Some people seem to have some kind of problem with this area, but he couldn't see why. Maybe he was one of the exceptions, who really knows. That being said, regardless of one's perception of the area itself, it's quite an appropriate place for meeting a pupil, or a sensei. It's mysterious and a good bit of fun, really.

Ayumu's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the quick paces of someone moving towards the edge of the forest. The footsteps were nimble and light, meaning someone small, and most likely a shinobi. They were quick, but not overly so, making it a jog. If he had to guess, he would say it was a female. Small female shinobi coming to the forest today, sounds like the one he's been waiting on. He was excited, very excited. His pupil was here to meet him.

To his surprise he heard the person beneath him shout. Apparently it was a she, and she wasn't too excited about the meeting place. He sighed at having hear that, and decided to try and listen in a little closer. He moved to where the underside of his knee was on the branch, and let himself fall backwards, hanging upside down to try and hear a little better. He could hear her breathing a bit rapidly, in a tense manner, showing that it wasn't from the jogging. After a short moment of this, she let out a quick exasperated grunt and began walking into the forest. 

Good on you, kid. This isn't the only scary thing you'll be doing. Hopefully you can brave the rest of the situations we get into. He thought to himself. He swung himself and flipped off of the branch, becoming upright and hanging onto the branch by hand now. He heard the creaking of branches beneath him, so he dropped and landed safely, repeating this a few times before reaching a relatively low level of branches. 

She had only walked a little bit through the entrance of the trees before Ayumu decided to make a move. He jumped into the air and landed behind her, silently. He was honestly unsure of what he should do at this point. He could start a surprise attack, say hello, or just get her attention. Gah, I really didn't prepare enough for this... He complained inwardly. 

"Shit." He muttered to himself, then quickly made a noise similar to a yelp, and covered his mouth with his hand. Then he realized, his mask was still up in the tree. Damn damn damn damn damn raced through his mind as he poofed away in a body flicker, appearing back up on the branch. He quickly put the mask over his face, and pulled the hood over the top of his face. 

"This is going great already," complaining to himself. He now nervously waited to see how she would react.

As she made her descent into the dark forest, she could hear the reeds in the wind sing their eerie melody, amplifying the ominous feeling she had. The creaking of branches seemed to catch her attention as well, almost as if the forest was laughing at her imminent death. Her eyes continually darted around, looking for any sign of life besides herself. Shivering, she thought to herself 'Why did they have to pick such a creepy place? And where are they? I can't stand being here alone for long, I'll go insane.' 

As she wondered about the whereabouts of her soon-to-be-Sensei, she heard a male voice speak from behind her. Her eyes widened as she heard a yelp soon after and quickly turned around, kunai in hand. Hands shaking, barely able to hold her kunai, her eyes darted around, searching for anything out of the ordinary. Her breathing intensified as her thoughts churned rapidly. 'Oh my God, what was that?!' 'Was that my imagination?' 'Is someone getting kidnapped? Am I next?'

Her fear seemed to intensify when she realized how utterly alone she was and how she could disappear so easily without a trace. Her heart raced and adrenaline shot through her as all her thoughts came crashing down, panic and fear overriding her logic. Realizing how vulnerable she was to an attack, she realized she had only one option: run deeper into the forest. Running out would make her easily visible, easily kill-able. No one would be able to save her if she ran out. Her only viable option was to run deeper into the pits of the swampy-forest.

With the adrenaline fueling her, she dashed into the forest, making sure to make her trail haphazard and random. She knew if she was up against a real shinobi, he could easily outrun her if she ran straight. The reeds seemed to play a melody to her, haunting her. Her feet were quick and light as the dashed across the grass. She was panting, in a cold-sweat, eyes wide and crazy. 'Got to escape, got to escape' she chanted internally, fearing someone was behind her.

Eventually, her sprinting came to a jog, and eventually a slow walk before collapsing onto the ground. She held a kunai in hand, just in case, however she felt she was no longer being followed. She looked to her left, then to her right. She was surrounded by trees, everywhere and every path looking the same. She realized she was lost. Tears brimming, she tried hard not to cry. 'You've really done it, Mitsuko...Now you're lost, all alone, in this dreadful place.'

Wiping her eyes to prevent tears from falling, she stood up and looked around. Everything really did seem to blend together. Her steps were so light too that she couldn't even see where she came from. She was also a bit too distraught at the time to remember what general direction she came from. She felt even more isolated than before.  

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she felt a bit embarrassed at herself. Shinobi weren't supposed to panic. She was supposed to be a ninja now. A real ninja. Ninja aren't scared of other ninja, they're supposed to be scary themselves.  Standing up, she straightened her back, puffed up her chest, and raised her voice to a shout. "I'm not scared of you! I'm not scared of this forest either! Come out and fight me if you're around!" Her voice echoed into the forest for quite a while, and she stood there, kunai in hand, waiting for something, anything to pop out.

As Ayumu waited and listened, he heard the girl begin to panic and run. Aww shit, I think I messed up. He scolded himself and jumped along the trees, keeping himself above her and making sure nothing bad happened to her. He could hear breathing, shallow, fast, and frantic. She was very legitimately having a panic attack, and seemed to be getting a bit tired.

As though to confirm his thoughts, she fell to the ground, a kunai in her hand. She began yelling to him, saying she wasn't scared, and that she would fight him. "Okay, I need to just explain this to her already." He jumped off of his branch, and landed about 10 yards in front of her. He could still practically feel her fear, so he put his hands up and said, "I'm not looking to fight you, okay? My name is Ayumu Chinmoku. I'm a Chuunin from Otogakure," He pulled his cloak over a little, making sure the flak jacket could be seen. "If I'm guessing correctly, than you're the one I asked here today, meaning you're supposed to be my apprentice. I'm sorry I scared you, I kind of made a mistake, and had to move away for a minute." He said all this and walked forward, grabbing onto her arm, and lowering the kunai.

"I meant to have you come here so we could get to know each other, and maybe spar if you felt up to it. If I haven't scared you too bad, and you don't totally hate me, think we could still go for that? I really didn't think you'd react like this to the forest. I personally love this place, I find it calming and pretty." He said all this, hoping he could calm her down enough to take her home, or at least out of the forest, if she still felt up to it.

A cloaked figure jumped from the trees, landing a bit away from her. Heart pumping, she gripped the kunai harder as she took in his appearance. Tall, quite a bit taller than her, however that was pretty normal. He looked quite shade, a cloak over his head and all black, hiding his figure. A mask that looked like it cried blood adorned his face. All in all, he looked very threatening, and like an assassin. Although she called out for someone to come out of hiding, she immediately regretted it.

She saw him bring his hands up, fingers splayed to show no weapons, and heard a muffled voice speak gently. "I'm not looking to fight you, okay? My name is Ayumu Chinmoku. I'm a Chuunin from Otogakure." He grabbed his cloak and opened it a bit, to reveal a flak jacket. "If I'm guessing correctly, then you're the one I asked here today, meaning you're supposed to be my apprentice. I'm sorry I scared you, I kind of made a mistake, and had to move away for a minute." He walked forward and gently grabbed her arm holding the kunai, and lowered it. "I meant to have you come here so we could get to know each other, and maybe spar if you felt up to it. If I haven't scared you too bad, and you don't totally hate me, think we could still go for that? I really didn't think you'd react like this to the forest. I personally love this place, I find it calming and pretty."

Relief flooded through her like no other, and immense embarrassment. Her cheeks practically burst into flames as she realized how much she overreacted to the situation. Her voice was a mumble, but there was also relief. "Sorry for running off, I just thought you were an enemy ninja...You scared me half to death!" She looked up, determination in her eyes and her voice perked up. " But it's okay! I'm Mitsuko Mizushima! I'm obviously a Genin, and I'm fourteen. It's nice to meet you! Although you could've picked a much less scary place..." Her voice trailed off at the end, but she held her hand out, head held high, and stared at his masked face.

"Also, I don't hate you, Ayumu. Not at all! I'm relieved. I mean sure, you terrified me, and your mask is creepy, but! You're my teacher! And that makes me super excited! I've wanted to be a ninja for so long. And now I finally am!" She started rambling, voice loud and exuberant. She then laughed, scratching her head. "I'm sorry for rambling, I'm just excited to finally meet you, and be a ninja. I'm also just relieved I'm not alone out here anymore, ya know?"

Smiling, she looked up at him. "Also, I'd love to spar. Although I'm no good at taijutsu, I just seem to be unlucky and I get hurt pretty bad each time...I've broken bones several times! I just got over a broken foot too. Although at least I heal fast. But yes, sparring would be pretty fun." 

It was kind of odd how fast her emotions seemed to change from terrified to war and inviting, but that's how she was. She was finally happy to be able to meet her Sensei, and heck, was glad he wasn't trying to kill her! She was more than ready to start being a ninja, and what better way to start with a spar? Although she knew her weaknesses, and knew he'd outmatch her, she was ready to give it her all.

Ayumu listened as the girl, Mitsuko, spoke to him. He could hear the remnants of fear in her voice, but now there was mainly relief flooding through her words. She was very spunky and warm now that she knew she was in no danger, quite quickly changing the entire subject of her demeanor. For fourteen, she seemed really short, but he'd address that later. She was small, seemed lacking in the physical abilities, and had quite an active mind. No wonder Taijutsu wasn't her thing.

As he processed all this new information he heard a comment about his mask. Sourly, he said, "My mask isn't creepy. It's a rite of passage amongst my people. Someone who wears a mask with no eyes is of the Chinmoku clan, the markings represent something about the person and their trial, but that can be explained in more detail at a later time." He looked at the girl and realized that her personality thus far has been pretty fun and entertaining. While he enjoys that in a friend, he wasn't sure how well this would allow one to hold up as a ninja. 

He stood up straight and said, "Hold still a moment." When she was still, he focused his mind. He let out a breath and felt through the air with his chakra, looking for her chakra. When he found it, he looked into it and saw her pool of the energy, a decent amount, nothing too surprising. Having examined it, he turned and started walking east, without watching to see if Mitsuko would follow. He jumped into the branches of the nearby trees, bounding across the forest, tree to tree. The air as he went forward was cool, cool enough to be felt through his cloak and all that. That was one of the many reasons he loved moving fast. You could feel the wind on your face, feel the air slide past you, so much better than when moving slowly. Sound was also distorted in a manner of speaking. As you passed by, the sounds of reeds and the wind would go by in a mere second, giving you a moment of melodic beauty. 

His feet kicked off the branch, hanging in the air as he was pulled back to the ground. When he landed, he turned, waiting for Mitsuko to be in front of him. When she was, he spoke before she could say anything. "I've brought us to this clearing. Here we will spar, and you'll show me your abilities as a shinobi. Don't hold back, and fight with the intensity as if I were an enemy. I will hit back, and this spar is as much training for me as it is to you. Now, let's begin, if you don't mind, I'll make the first move."

The clearing they were in was free of any wildlife besides bushes and trees around the border of the area. If he had to guess, the area of it was about 400 ft. Just big enough for them to fight and move around plenty. Alright, time to test her reflexes. He moved his hands through the four handseals and slammed his hands onto the ground. A small jolt of electricity suddenly fizzled into life and dashed along the earth, heading straight for Mitsuko. He stood back and waited to see how she'd react.

She laughed, a bit embarrassed, and sounded apologetic. "I'm sorry, just the crying blood thing is a little scary. Didn't mean to offend."

"Hold still a moment."

She stood very still, almost freezing in place, wondering why. She looked around a bit, her eyes darting, seeing if he saw something. She stayed still for what seemed like forever, but was only a few seconds. Before she could ask why she needed to stay still, she saw him turn away and jump into the trees, running. "Hey, wait for me!"

She jumped after him, trailing along, clearly having some trouble keeping up. Although she was quite nimble and fast, it was obvious he was much quicker. Her feet were light and made no noise as she trailed him. The wind was blowing on her face, making her smile a little. Her smile grew wider as the fact that she was finally going to do something ninja-like sunk in.

She saw him jump down into a clearing and seconds later hopped down in front of him. He started to talk about the rules of the spar, and she just stood there, bouncing up and down, ready to spar and show off her abilities. He mentioned something about them fighting intensely, but she just ignored it and stayed a bit naively excited about it.

"Now, let's begin, if you don't mind I'll make the first move."

He did a few hand seals, Mitsuko wasn't paying much attention, then his hand slammed into the ground. A jolt of electricity fired at her and her eyes widened. Jumping away almost a second too late, she landed about 10 feet away and looked up at him, her voice raised to a yell. "Are you trying to kill me!? You're crazy!"

As the severity of the spar dawned on her, she realized she needs to stay and fight as hard as she could. Taking a split second to compose herself, she did a quick handsign and stared at him. 'Mist Servant Technique'. All of a sudden, four trees seemed to melt part of it's trunk off, and these melted blobs turned into Mitsuko clones. They all slunked towards Ayumu, picking speed up as they got closer and closer. As they all lunged at Ayumu, Mitsuko threw several kunai to imitate the clones hitting him.

Ayumu observed as Mitsuko narrowly avoided his attack. She yelled at him for being crazy, then became calmer and more composed. There you go, no freaking out on me just yet. He thought to himself. When she was sufficiently calm, he heard her hands clap in what he assumed to be handseals. He heard some noise of movement, which became footsteps that charged at him, growing faster as they neared him. He took a short moment's pause to gather his surroundings, he couldn't sense any chakra other than where Mitsuko had been previously.

Gotcha. When he had figured out what was going on, he dashed forward. As he did, a small whistle came into his ears, Kunai! He let his legs fall out from under him and slid along the ground, hearing the kunai sail over his head. He was apparently right in his idea of the footsteps being some kind of genjutsu or clone. Luckily they couldn't actually hit him. He jumped back up to his feet when he was sure he had dodged the kunai. He let out a breath. "Quite a counter there, won't lie, I had to really think about what I was doing. Nice work! Now we'll see how this works!" He yelled to Mitsuko.

Now to test how you do up close. He thought to himself before bunching the muscles in his legs and dashing forward with great speed, feeling the air rush past him as he sped towards her. He then landed right in front of her. He stayed low to the ground and shot his leg up, bringing his body up with it. "Leaf Rising Wind!" He called out as he sent the kick straight at her jaw, intending to send her into the air.

"Darn, I missed!' she thought in despair, really hoping it'd hit him. She knew she'd have to step up her game if she wanted a hit, which almost bothered her because she wasn't sure if she was ready to truly hurt someone yet. 'I need to stay focused, he's used to fighting, and probably won't hesitate to actually hurt me...'

As if on cue, after complimenting her, she saw him dash towards her at full speed. Widening her eyes in a panic, not expecting him to dash so quickly, she scrambled to get away, but it was too late. Idling about being focused, ironically, made her reaction too slow. She tried jumping back, but his foot connected with her jaw, sending her flying backwards at an odd angle.

Everything went into slow motion in those two seconds as she sailed backwards. She could feel the pain in her jaw slowly move outwards so her entire lower half of her face was on fire. She could feel the wind on her skin as she sliced through the air. Everything went quiet until she made impact with something behind her, knocking the wind out of her. Tree trunks weren't very soft, she observed. She slid down slightly then fell flat on her face, in shock. Mitsuko let out a large gasp, trying to get air back in. 'Oh my God...My jaw...I can't breathe..I've never been hit so hard in my life.'

After laying down for a second, trying to catch her breath, she shakily sat back up, and rested her left hand on the ground momentarily. 'My jaw, I think it's broken...Oh God, I didn't expect that at all...I-I thought this would just be a spar. I need to surprise him too, I can't be predictable.' Standing up immediately, making sure he can't catch her off-gaurd and sucker punch- er, kick- her again, Mitsuko stood her ground and stared up at him. Turning her back to her left, she started jumping back, and threw two kunai, one hidden beneath the top one, the second on a string. 'If he notices the hidden one and dodges, I'll be sure to hit him with the Manipulated Shuriken Jutsu.'

As she jumped back and thought of this though, the throbbing and pain in her jaw was almost unbearable. The bottom half of her face was on fire, and she couldn't ignore the pain for long. Trying to push it aside for now though, and not panic over her jaw probably being broken, she focused at the task on hand. Outsmarting him. Although Mitsuko knew there was no chance of her winning the spar, she'd at least show she was capable of being a ninja. She wouldn't be caught off-gaurd again.

Ayumu observed as Mitsuko flew through the air, and into a tree, then falling back onto the ground. Huh, maybe I overdid it a little. Oh well, I'm sure she's alright. He noticed her breathing being a little ragged, and her arms seemed a bit more feeble as she tried to lift herself back up. I think I have an idea.He thought to himself as she struggled to move.

His hands went through the signs, then another Ayumu was standing next to him, a clone. The real Ayumu dashed away, and hid in the higher branches of a nearby tree. He waited and could hear Mitsuko finally pick herself up. Her breathing was steadier, and she seemed to be a bit more in control now, having gotten over the shock of being hit. Good on you, you'll need that kind of strength later. He admired.

He noticed her suddenly jump into action. She dashed backwards a few times, and pulled out two kunai, and threw them at his clone, who had remained motionless. I think I'll give her a little scare, that should be fun. He heard the tiny whistle as the knives flew threw the air, and two solid thumps as his clone was hit dead-center in the chest. He silently ordered his clone to go through with the plan.

On the battlefield, the clone looked down at his pierced chest, shakingly holding onto the kunai that were lodged in it's flesh. The clone let out a scream, and fell onto its knees, gasping, and trying to pull the knives out. After several moments of pained grunts, cries, and guttural noises, he managed to pull the knives out, revealing two holes of pure blackness. The holes slowly grew larger, until a crow burst forwards, leaving a huge chunk of the clone just gone. As soon as the first crow separated, the entire body erupted in a swarm of pitch black crows, all circling and cawing.

As all the birds left the area, there was nothing left in the spot where the clone once stood. Ayumu, still up in his branch, having to hold back from laughing, thought, Well, let's see what effect that had on her. Even having thought that, he pulled a kunai from his holster and dashed onto the field, landing right behind Mitsuko, holding the blade against her throat. "Got you." He said.

Thunk! Mitsuko's eyes widened. She never really thought they'd actually hit him...at least secretly hoped they wouldn't. She figured he'd dodge and she'd be able to do another jutsu on him and show off, maybe nicking him. Not this. His scream tore through her, she only stood frozen as he fell to his knees. The grotesque noises he was making was making Mitsuko tear up, and eat through her, everything was so loud and consuming her. She saw him rip the kunai out of his chest and two gaping holes of blackness met her.

Suddenly, crows burst forward from his body, causing her to scream and flail backwards, confused and scared. They all circled in the sky, cawing. Then they flew off. Mitsuko just stared, really confused and horrified. She couldn't understand what happened. This was way too much for her.

All of a sudden, she felt the cool metal touch her throat lightly and heard a muffled "Got you." It clicked. This was all fake. He just tricked her. He never got hit, why would he? She barely has any skill in weapons anyway, and he's a Chuunin! Her face turned a bright scarlet from embarrassment, and she just looked down sheepishly.

Then the throbbing in her jaw kicked in. Holding onto it, she turned around and looked at him and told him in awe "Ow, that one kick really hurt! My jaw and back hurt pretty bad now. Man, you're insane, I've never sparred that hard in my life..." 'Man, I can't wait to go back home and nurse all of this. A nice bath and just relaxing will feel amazing. Too bad I wont be able to talk because of my jaw. But oh well, this was extremely painful, but it was also a little fun. But painful.'