Transformation Confusion (Quest thread) (Training )

http://narutojidai.narutorpg.org/t1974-time-to-play-hero-quest-re

The academy was the same as usual for Shao. Still a young, inciteful Hyuuga clan member, he kept to his studies and kept working hard. Even though he had yet to master Taijutsu, he was still working hard on his other skills. His use of Ninjutsu was coming along well, and his use of genjutsu was also remarkable for a Hyuuga. In the end, the boy was well versed in their use and principals.

He remained hard at work as he wrote down the practical applications of Ninjutsu in strategy. Ironically, the practice session was soon cut short as one of the teachers had to leave on a sudden mission. The class was postponed, and they were left with homework.

As the bell rung, Shao closed his books and got ready to leave-- till he was interrupted by one of his classmates. "Shao! Shao wait!"

Shao turned around in the classroom to find Mari behind him. The girl smiled as she approached. "I hate to ask you but... um..."

Mari tended to be on the shy side sometimes, but Shao just blined and waited for her to answer.

"What is it?" he asked.

"D-Do you mind helping me with my Genjutsu studies?" she asked and bowed her head deep, her hair falling over her head. "You're so good at Genjutsu senses so I thought You could help me. Please? I wanna do good for the exam."

Shao blinked at her, surprised she was asking for help. From his perspective, she was just as studious and sharp as he was. "Um, sure. I'd be happy to help. We can go over it after school if you want."

Shao and Mary left the classroom-- but were soon stopped by another familiar face. Just as he turned the corner, he was met with a scowl by another student-- one who had made his opposition clear with him. "YOU!" he barked at Shao.

Shao flinched at his appearance, but recovered quickly. The spiky haired kid, Kyle was in his face once again. The kid was not a 'bully' per say, but he always disliked Shao for his intellegence, while in class the teacher would pick on Kyle for not paying attention. Shao knew that Kyle was a loud mouth, but he was never cruel.

Still, there was times that Shao had doubts about what was going through the guy's mind. "Something I can help you with?" he asked.

"Kyle! Stop picking on Shao," Mari interjected, stepping between them.

Shao shook his head. "Mari, you don't have to defend me over this," he interjected.

"Stay out of this, Mari! I got words to say to Mr. smart guy." Kyle said.

Shao sighed and stepped right up to Kyle. Already, most of the kids were watching, expecting a fight to happen.

"Well?" Shao said in a calm but firm voice. "You been sneering, glaring and grunting at me for months. So why not you just say it and get it over with."

Kyle sneered and looked at SHao right in the eye. "Listen up. You may be a big shot in class, but I'm gonna totally beat you when the exam comes. Just you wait! So don't think anything you learn here means a damn thing. Cause when I beat you, I'll teach you something real."

Shao just looked at Kyle, the two unblinking-- but then Kyle just turned away. "Okay. I'm sure you will," he said and continued to walk down the hallway.

Kyle however looked stunned as Shao left, baffled how he just brushed him off. "Hey! I'm not done here!" But Shao still walked away, trying to take the better high roll. It was then that Kyle lost his temper, and attempted to throw a punch. Mari gasp as the punch came right behind Shao's head.

A skilled Byakkugan user could easily see the attack coming. They would dodge and step out of the way without a moment surprise...

... but the punch hit Shao in the back of the head. His head snapped forward, struck by Kyle's punch.

There was a silence in the hallway, that Shao didn't block it. Even Kyle seemed surprise as he struck him, unhindered.

Shao, however, was quiet. He took the blow-- though it wasn't a hard one. The sting to his head was painful, but he just controlled his own movement and stood up. Without even turning around, he walked away, as if to not bother to take such a hit.

It left many class mates confused, but out of them, Mari was more concerned than shocked.

"SHao! Shao wait!" she called out, and turned to Kyle mid turn. "You are such a jerk! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

The girl soon ran after Shao, trying to catch up to him as he left.

However, as all of this was going down, another student watched the three-- curious about them. His gaze came to Kyle as he took in his image and attitude. He smirked, scheming something.

Later that afternoon, Mari went out to search for Shao. She had followed him out of the school and was looking at the park nearby the school. Many of the students had left for the day, and she hoped to find him to find out what happened. She was baffled as the rest.

However, she soon spotted him.

Shao was sitting upon the side of a ledge that overlooked the river in Konoha. He sat there quietly, observing the river.

"Shao! Shao!" Mari called out, getting the boy's attention.

Shao glanced at her as she came running and stopped, panting and resting her hands on her knees. As she recovered, she noticed the calm but sullen look on his face. Still, he showed no sign of diress beyond it. "Shao... Are you okay? I mean... You just took off so suddenly."

"Sorry..." Shao said and looked back out to the river. " I just... needed a moment to myself."

Concerned, Mari sat down beside him. "Are you hurt? I mean you're not in pain are you?"

"No..." he replied simply, and kept looking out at the river.

Though it was clear Shao was not super talkative, Mari sat down beside him to look at the river as well. She waited a moment, the awkward silence was palpable to her.

"I know what you're thinking. I'm sorry to worry you," Shao spoke up , "You want to know why I got hit by Kyle, right?"

Mari flinched at the question-- because it had been on her mind. "Well, I... I was wondering it, but if you don't wanna talk about it, I understand."

Shao hesitated for a moment himself, realizing he had the option to not disclose the information. He never turned to face her. "I ... I just felt it would make matters worse to fight him back. He just wanted to get out frustration, so if I fought back, it would of only made matters worse. "

"I guess," Mari said, seeing the logic in the decision. "But... what about you? I mean you could of easily dodged the blow. You saw it coming with your Byakkugan."

That only caused Shao to be quiter. He knitted his fingers together and sighed. Mari listened as Shao tried to focus. "It's not the fact that I didn't use my Byakkugan... I couldn't." He finally showed a bit of shame on his face. "I haven't been able to awaken my Byakkugan yet...." He sighed, a look of sorrow on his face. "Anyway, as I said, its not a big deal. I just didn't want to escalate things. Besides, Taijutsu isn't my best area"

Mari understood now and just sat there, allowing Shao his moment to recollect his thoughts. "I'm sorry, Shao. I didn't mean to talk about a sore topic," she said.

"it's fine. Its not your problem. Normally I wouldn't care... My father on the other hand..." she sighed, but then stopped talking, not about to reveal his own issues.

After a moment, Mari smiled and an idea flashed in her mind. "Shao, I know what we can do!" she said with an upbeat tone. "Why don't I teach you. I can help you with your Taijutsu."

Shao turned to Mari with a perplexed expression. He had seen Mari in class, but never seen her with Taijutsu. Her best skill it seemed was in Ninjutsu. "You wanna teach me Taijutsu?"

"Its a fair trade. I'll help you with developing your Taijutsu skills, and you help me with my Genjutsu studies. " she said with an enthused energy. Her wide but sweet smile already seemed to brighten up Shao's mood as well. "What do you say? Deal?"

(Dice roll results: Chakra Control- X2, End X1 +2 from quick learner)

The member 'Enjin' has done the following action : Dice

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'Exercise Dice' : 5, 3, 3

Shao looked at Mari, baffled by her generosity. She truly was the kindest classmate he knew and was good friends with her. A little embarrassed, but Shao accepted her offer with a smile. "Okay. That sounds reasonable. I was gonna help you anyway so that would be great if you could help me." he said .

Mari smiled and as she stood up, she extended a hand to help Shao up. He smiled in returned and was pulled up so they could start training.

***

Meanwhile, elsewhere, commotion stirred as in the shopping district of Konoha, Kyle went flying overhead. "HAHA! Later losers! THanks for the treats!" he shouted, a bag full of merchandice in his hand-- while two Konoha shinobi chased him.

"You thief! You stole that from the shop! Get back here!"

"You're in big trouble Kyle!" another shinobi shouted.

All Kyle did was snicker as he ran away at high speed, hopping from rooftop to rooftop.

***

For the past half hour, Shao and Mari helped one another with their jutsu. Mari showed Shao how to properly apply his strength in his physical strikes-- using momentum changes in his stance and weight. And for the other half, Shao had his book out and showed Mari his notes he took regarding Genjutsu.

"So if Genjutsu goes through all five senses, does that mean taste and smell too." she asked.

"Yes. Those senses are harder to take notice too. Sometimes it can be completely odorless, like a gas that can create such an effect," Shao said.

"So... if you were caught in a Genjutsu, how would you realize it?" she asked. "I can't figure out how to do that."

Shao took out one of his Shuriken for example. "There are many ways to test a Genjutsu. For starters, you need to understand that it influence your mental state-- your senses. It varies depend on the strength of the jutsu, but the best way to check is either finding something amiss with your surroundings. LIke something out of place, or that doesn't belong. " he explained. "Or another example, say your in a Genjutsu and you pick up an object. The weight of it could be off by its size or mass. Small details like those can give away vital clues that can tell you if you are indeed under a Genjutsu or not."

Mari smirked as listened to Shao explain clearly his definition of Genjutsu. "I see... so even if you can't just notice right off the bat what Genjutsu you are under, you can use your other senses to help you discover it." she explained.

"And how it works." Shao said as he closed his book. "I haven't learned how to use Genjutsu properly yet, but I really admire the art of it. Sometimes I wish I was among the Uchiha clan, so I could be more adept in its use as they can be."

Mari smirked. "Yeah, that's true... but still, Shao-- and I know its a touchy subject, " she said, a little hesitant. "But, you should feel proud too. When you come into your abilities, I'm sure you too will have impressive powers as well. After all, your clan's Doujutsu is counted among the 3 noble eyes in Ninjutsu."

Shao didn't reply to her, but understood her good intent. "Thanks..." He sighed and soon stood up. "Well, if you don't mind, that's enough for me. I need to recover some energy. " He wiped a bit of sweat from his brow, tired from the small exercises Mari helped him with.

"AHA! I found you!" a loud voice spoke out.

Both of them turned to find the same, mouthy Kyle behind them. The young boy had found them out. "YOu can't hide from me that easily. Now, lets finish this!" Kyle demanded at Shao. "I wanna hear you admit that I'm better than you. "

Mari snapped an angry glare at Kyle. "What is wrong with you? Do you need to use your fists to make yourself heard! Stop picking on Shao, you bully!"

Kyle backed up a step, startled by the call on him. "What? Me? A bully? No that's not--"

"Well, what else would you call hitting him! You should be ashamed of yourself!" she demanded.

"Mari, please stop." Shao said, putting a hand in between her and Kyle. "You don't need to stand up for me. " He glared at Kyle, a firm look in his eyes. "I don't care how many punches you throw at me. I have no reason to fight you, and got nothing to prove. This spat of yours is pointless..."

Kyle glared at Shao-- but was soon interrupted by two Shinobi appearing behind him.

Shao and Mari looked up to see the two Chunin academy teachers appeared. "Huh?" Mari gasped.

Kyle turned and jumped at the sight of them. "Oh, um Hi! SOrry, we were just---" Kyle stammered but was silenced.

"Enough, Kyle! You're in big trouble this time!" the first one said.

"Its bad enough you start fights in class," the other one glared, "But this time you crossed the line. Stealing from market square. You should be ashamed of yourself."

(Training rolls: Chakra Control 1st roll, Int 2nd and 3rd roll, Str, 4th and 5th roll.

The member 'Enjin' has done the following action : Dice

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'Exercise Dice' : 10, 2, 1, 10, 7

"What?!" Kyle shouted, as if news to him. Marie and Shao also looked surprise from what the other SHinobi heard. Kyle had been charged with theft from the village, and that surprised the two students.

"B-But I didn't do anything. I wasn't even near the market!" he protested.

"Quit lying. We saw you there," the shinobi barked back. "Enough of this. We are taking you to the Hokage for questioning. "

Kyle stammered as he took a step back. "W-wait a minute! I swear it wasn't me!?" he turned to Shao and Marie, "Come on guys! Tell them I was here the whole time!"

The two looked at each other. "Um..." Marie spoke up, but remained quiet... as both of them just only saw him appear less than a minute ago. "Sorry, Kyle..."

Kyle's eyes widened with shock and frustration. "Oh, come on! I am not a career criminal here!!"

"Enough of this!" The man said and reached to grab Kyle, "You're coming with us--"

KYle saw the man approached and knew it was bad...

Poof!! A sudden blast of smoke erupted around Kyle. The Escape jutsu. As the smoke cleared, the other shinobi ran after him. "Get back here, you little twerp!"

Both Mari and Shao were baffled as they were left there alone again, not sure what happened.

"What just happened?" Shao asked, unsure how to react to it.

"I know... Shao might be a pain at times, but he is no crook," Mari said as well.

The silence lasted for a bit, but soon the two of them both exhaled . "Look, why don't we go into town and get something to drink. Clear our heads after the training we did," Marisaid.

Speechless, Shao nodded and made his way towards main street.

(Training rolls: Nexus stats: 3 rolls= End, 3 rolls= Dex , 1 roll= Int. )

The member 'Enjin' has done the following action : Dice

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'Exercise Dice' : 1, 4, 5, 1, 2, 9, 8

The two children had stopped at the famous-original Ichiraku's Ramen shop and got a bowl of ramen and a smoothie from a nearby shop afterward as a good way to recover from their studies and training. Even though they enjoyed each other's meals, but were pleasant. By the time they finished, they began to make thieir way for the residential area. Shao was not looking forward going home... but his time with Mari made it all the better.

Still, Shao was quiet in thought. Mari caught on and looked to him. "Shao, something wrong?"

"It's... I was just thinking about Kyle..." he said.

Mari frowned. "Come on... you can't let what he said depress you--"

"No, that's not it," Shao said, his mind focused on what he saw. "I mean, that was very out of character of Kyle." He looked to Mari with a serious expression, concerned about what happened. "He might do stupid things, but he isn't that stupid to steal things that isn't his. He is no criminal."

Mari was quiet and soon rubbed her chin. "Now that you mention it, you're right. Kyle wouldn't do that, even with his pranks. " she said, "So what do you think happened?"

"I wish I knew..." Shao said-- but soon looked up as movement caught his eye. As they neared the end of the street, he saw movement on the rooftops and spotted the kid's spiky hair. "But speak of the devil, there he is."