Standing in the Snow [P, NK]

Sora took a deep breath as he walked out of the village and into the mountains. He could tell it was very cold by how he could see his own breath. However, the temperature didn't bother him in the least. The boy didn't even have his shirt on, simply wearing a pair of black shorts that went above his knees with black shinobi sandals. He stopped moving until he was out in the open. There was snow almost reaching his ankles, only about an inch away. He didn't feel a thing in this weather, after all it was pretty much his clan element. A Yuki that got cold is unheard of and weird in his opinion. The boy held out his hand to see some snow fall into it. He didn't even notice that it was snowing! Maybe because he was used to it back in his old village.

He let out another large amount of air just to visibly see his breath again. Sora settled into a crouching position and relaxed his body. Today was the day he was going to train this time, but as a genin! The boy was trying to get the manipulation of his bloodline down pat. He saw some people do it in his old village, Yukigakure, but never got to try it himself. This was the time for him to do it now. He put out his right arm swiftly, trying to see if anything would happen. Sora saw something that seemed like ice, but you could barely even see it! The boy frowned and shook his head. Maybe he needed to get his second element first...

The boy sighed and shut his eyes, trying to think of a way he can get his second element. Just how were you supposed to unlock water element? He didn't how you could do it, but he had to find a way and try it. Sora put his hands back to his side after that pathetic attempt of manipulating his bloodline. He could always try and do that after he actually got the damn thing. He wondered if someone was going to appear soon since he saw plenty of shinobi go to the mountains to either explore or train. The genin never really went out here himself, but enjoyed being there already. It was calm and quiet. Plus the snow falling made it look even better than it had before.

Sora plopped himself down into the snow and looked upwards towards the sky. He arranged his legs so that now he was sitting with them crossed. Snow continued to fall, some of it getting on his face and other melting right after contact with his skin. That's what happened with the one that fell onto his forehead, causing a little droplet of water to drip to the side of his face. The Yuki put his hand to where the little droplet stopped and got the tiny amount of water onto his finger. He looked at it closely and lightly frowned. ".. Just how am I going to get water as my element?" he questioned with a light frown. 'Wait a second...' he thought, How do I even know that I even have water as my second element?'.

However this just made the boy's frown grow deeper than before. Sora looked down at his hands and started to think again. Maybe.. maybe he should just try and see if it was his element. Yea, that had to work. However, it would be best to attempt at a water jutsu to even bother accomplishing this. But.. just which jutsu was he going to perform? He didn't even have enough chakra to do a D-Rank jutsu... all of this was going to be very troublesome.

Hanako had been sitting on a higher branch of a pine tree, 'looking' out at the falling snow. It was cold but not freezing, and it certainly felt good on her face. After all, it was better than the usual hot stinging that her so-called 'Dad' inflicted. Today she was in an outfit rather unlike her, having replaced her pink sweater for a large, baggy black draw-string jacket and her hate for a hood pulled over her head. Underneath the jacket was a slightly-bloodied scarlet tank top, as she didn't feel like changing it. However, the flimsy garment was concealed behind her jacket, which was rather thin as well, to be honest.  Instead of her usually close-fitting blue jeans she wore a pair of looser black ones that didn't help, but rather hid, her figure. Instead of her normal sneakers she wore a pair of mid-calf ugg-like boots, black in color (unsurprisingly given her current attire) lined with soft, fluffy white fur. She had been concealed rather well until it started snowing. She was trying to hide from, well, everyone. Her father had been extra rough with her a few short hours ago, and she just wanted to crawl in a hole and disappear from the world for a little while. It didn't help that her body was nearly screaming with pain, but she hid it well. Actually, she hid it a bit too well for an 11 year old, ninja or not...

Hanako perked up, if only slightly, when she heard a familiar heartbeat just three meters away. However, she had ever-so-conveniently missed the words he had spoken. She quietly slipped off the branch, movement's soft after years of practice, and joined him sitting on the snow. Her head was bent and her hood shadowed her bruised face, split lip concealed in the darkness. Although she wasn't dressed for warm weather, despite what one may think, she still wasn't freezing. "Konichiwa, Sora-kun... If you don't mind my asking, what are you doing?" the normally soft-spoken girl said, eyes lifting to meet her teammate's out of pure habit. However, the hood and her hair still shadowed her face enough to keep the damage concealed.

Sora's breath stopped once he heard and unfamiliar voice speak to him. The boy slowly turned to face a figure dressed in complete black. He was going to jump and get into a fighting stance, but he thought about the stranger's voice. In fact, it was very familiar to his ears. "Oh, Hi Hana-chan. You scared me a bit there" he replied with a nervous chuckle, "I'm just trying to figure out a way to get my water element.. but I have no clue." The boy sighed and looked at his hands once more, getting a bit frustrated. That was when an idea popped into that little head of his. Sora put his right hand under his chin and went into a thinking pose. "Hey, Hana-chan? You wouldn't mind helping me... right?" he questioned, turning to face his teammate.

Sora would pull his right foot close to himself and slowly take off his shinobi sandals. He would do the same thing for his left foot before hopping onto both of his feet. Now the boy was plainly standing in the snow with only his black shorts, not seeming bothered in the least. The snow got in the middle of his toes, almost making him laugh since it was tickling him. But this kid was a brick wall when is came to laughing! ... Okay maybe not, still he could resist a bit. "And what's with the giant hood? You look like a robber." he commented. Sora would try to lightly put his hand under said hood and push it back. "I wanna see your pretty face!" he said with a smile.

Hanako smiled briefly at her... friend? Wow, that was a new word to her. Anyway, she grinned a small grin at Sora, though it was hidden in shadows. "Sure, Sora-kun. I need to get my fire element anyway. Subarashi clansmen can use this super cool element called Glass release when they have earth and fire type chakra, and I already have earth. We also have the Garasuai," she said, the amount of words surprising her. Hey eyes flashed to a dull, dead-looking almost white shade of grey, her iris' expanding along with her pupils. They were both horrifying and enchanting eyes to look at, but as quick as they appeared, they were gone again, replaced with the normal, almost inhumanly emerald ones. The Garasuai was truly spectacular to behold. Hanako's grin returned to her face for a moment. Maybe she just liked to talk about the only thing she likes about herself? Yeah, that's it. Definatly not anything to do with whom she was speaking to... Definatly not.

She was too lost in thought to stop Sora as he lifted her hood, though she quickly snapped back into reality when savable turned into too late. Her eyes widened a bit and she choked back her panic, the feeling having formed for two reasons. First of all, she didn't want anyone to see her face, ever, but especially not now. It looked horrible, bruised and cut and even slightly bloodied. And the second reason... 'Oh, darling, why are you hiding? I just want to see that pretty face of yours~' That reason. The genin didn't show her inner conflict though, and somehow managed to bring an 'involuntary' blush to her face at his comment. "...My face really isn't anything to look at, especially right now, but thanks for the compliment anyway. Oh, and before you ask, rough spar. Sometimes I think my dad takes my being a ninja a bit too seriously and forgets that I am, in fact, just a genin, But hey, he's just trying to make me stronger," the girl said casually. Unless Sora was better at this than she suspected, he wouldn't be able to see though her well-spoken lie. She was too good at this for her own good, really... It was almost scary.

Sora's little grin faded into a deep frown. The boy clenched and unclenched his free hand, suddenly feeling very angry. 'A spar with her Dad?' he thought. "Grr.. Beating you like this doesn't make you stronger.. it just gives you bruises like this one." The genin would point at the bruise that was in fact on the shorter girl's face. Now what kind of Dad would go that hard on their daughter? He knows his father would never be one to do such an act. Sora sighed and took a small step back from Hanako. He bent down to put his  right hand into the snow and lifted it back up. The small amount of snow that got onto said hand melted and quickly turned into water. Sora would put his hand on her chin, where he saw a bit of blood, and wiped it away.

The boy lightly smiled and rubbed the same hand off on his shorts. "Alright then! If you're still up to train we can start now." he said with bright eyes. He leaped back and settled into a small crouching position, similar to the one he did before Hanako arrived. He lightly smirked and stared at his teammate, waiting to see if she would make any sort of move. The genin had already fought along side her, but now he actually wanted to fight against her. And the manipulation of Glass sounds very interesting, what would happen if it goes against ice? They would just have to find out when they unlock their elements. "Come on!" he urged with a larger smirk on his face.

Hanako looked away as he wiped away the blood on her chin, remembering just how she had gotten that. I wish they were only bruises, Sora-kun, but I'm afraid my wounds run much deeper than you'll even know... the Genin thought darkly. However, she brought her eyes back to his when he re-mentioned training. "Of coarse!" Hanako said in her normal quiet to e of voice. She got pup and settled into her own stance, her's more offensive than her teammate's. However, before she began, she quickly activated her Garasuai, her eyes returning to that enchanting almost snowy color, her pupils huge and misty. They literally looked glassy and dead, like she was looking through you yet you were looking through her. Captivating. And this time, they stayed that way.

Hanako's eyes seemed to zone out even. Ore for a sec as she tried to preform a skill of her dojutsu. After a few seconds, one of her hands seemed to slowly disappear for a moment and then reappear quickly, and Hanako smiled. She might now be able to see that her invisibility was getting better, but she could feel it physically. It was an uplifting thought. After one more moment of getti g her hand back to normal, she locked her senses on Sora. The snow was muffling it a bit but she could visualize him retry well. He was about one meter away. After the second of positioning, the Genin launched. She sprung forward, her speed still sad compared to her counterpart's. She bluffed a hit to the right shoulder and then attempted to trip his left leg with all her force. If it hit, she would aim an uppercut to the jaw that moved with the direction his body would be moving as he fell; back and to the right.

Sora was already planning to perform an attack while Hanako was starting to activate her bloodline. He didn't even know that the girl had a clan element and a kekkei genkai. It made him a bit jealous. Back on topic, the boy rushed towards Hanako using his superior speed, performing hand signs along the way. At the last minute when he was about a foot in front of his opponent, the genin disappeared in a cloud of smoke and was replaced with a log that was around half his size. Sora would appear behind Hanako and try to perform a sweeping kick at her legs, attempting to trip her. He would then take three steps, one back and the other two towards the left.

Next, Sora tried to lift his foot up into the air and send his heel towards the girls stomach since the trip should had sent her backwards. The attack would have made her hit the ground a bit hard since he was using his full strength in his attacks. If this worked, or if he was interrupted in the assault, the Yuki would take a giant leap away by about 3 meters, wanting to get some distance. This all occurred seconds before Hanako even went to attack the boy, since he was very quick on his feet. Sora wondered how skilled his teammate was since she did fairly well against their teacher. Maybe he would perform the same trick in the gith here? That was a possibility.

The only thing he could do was to relax and wait while attacking. The genin was very determined to win this spar too! It would be humiliating if he lost against a girl! What would the other kids say about him? No, he couldn't allow that! 'I'll win no matter what' he thought with a small smirk.

Hanako winced as she was hit with each attack, her opponent much faster than she and Lso moving too quick for her senses to follow just yet. She hit the ground on her back, out of breath for a moment. However, she shot right back up anyway. She was a tough little girl, really. Not so much as a peep left her lips during the whole sharade. She began to feel a slight, ever so slight, warm feeling in the pit f her stomach. It was normally just a heavy, earthy feeling, cold and hard, but it had changed. Now, mixed in with the earth-like feeling, she felt something warm and fuzzy, filled with energy and wanting out. It was fire chakra, yet still much too weak to use in anyway. The girl was beaming on the inside; one step closer to Gaton.

Hanako shook her head in order to clear it, many attack plans racing through her head. She decided on perhaps the most creative one she could muster, deciding it may surprise him. Her thoug process had taken less than a second. The genin quickly grabbed a rae rlarge rock and tucked it under her arms, getting ready for the task at hand. Hanako hastily made so e hand signs and suddenly transformed into a butterfly, and a small one at that, and flew skyward.

.....Flying was cool.

After a second or two she flew, zig-zagging vigorously as she went, directly over Sora and Released the transformation. She would fall over him, starting about a meter above his head, with the rock in position. If all went according to plan, she would hit him in the base of the shoulders, right smack in the middle, with the rock using all her force. She wasn't very strong, so she doubted it would hurt him that badly. After all, it's nothing she hadn't gone through herself......

(TWC- 1,362. Reading unlocked for skill, two more meters added to hearings.
Pp. and smell. 1,362/4,000 for fire element)

Sora eye twitched as he tried to think of another combo to land on his opponent. He kept an eye any movements she would perform as well, confident he could dodge anything thrown at him. He saw the girl perform several hand signs, wondering what she was planning on doing. However, the genin forced himself to forget something like that since he was positive she didn't have much jutsu out of an academy student's. A confused expression formed on his face though since she transformed herself into... a butterfly? ".. I know flying is pretty neat and all but.. is that really ne-" his sentence was interrupted when she released the transformation and was above his head.

Sora leaped back by 2 meters as soon as he saw the smoke, his reflexes saving him from that attack. He would go towards Hanako with full speed and aim a kick for her stomach, attempting this attack seconds before she could hit the ground. The force of the hit would have sent her back by a foot or two since he used his full strength. However, he didn't know how durable his teammate might really be. The genin would then jump away once more by a meter. A light wind blew, making the temperature a little bit colder. It didn't bother Sora though, in fact he enjoyed it and wished it was colder. This was nothing compared to Yukigakure anyway since that village was in the Tundra. Snow continued to fall onto the boy's head, making it seem like there were white dots in his dark blue hair.

Thinking back on Hanako's attack, he wondered where that large rock came from. Maybe it was hidden in the snow? That predication might be true. "That was a nice try though." he mumbled to himself. He really needed to be more careful, always be on his toes during this fight. Anything could happen since he didn't even know how Hanako fought. 'It should be interesting.' he thought. Sora was positive this would help him get his water element.

{TWC: 1842}