Training Day [P;Toneri]

Keiji woke up early in the morning, feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness. Today was an important day for him, as he was going to meet Toneri at the training grounds in Hoshigakure. The Kage, Ayato, had requested that they both meet up and train together, and Keiji was eager to show off his skills. While he had had an interaction with the Kage already he felt like this was really his starting point at joining the village. Today he could prove his capabilities and show those in power of Hoshi that he belonged here just like everybody else. As he got out of bed, he stretched his arms and legs, feeling the stiffness from the previous day's training. Keiji wasn’t exactly a shinobi yet, but he had been living in Hoshigakure for the past few weeks and hoped his training today would get him started on the right path. He had met Toneri, a skilled shinobi in his own right who had been at the gates of Hoshigakure when Keiji arrived with his parents. He was also at the meeting between Keiji and the Kage as his sponsor. Keiji had been excited to train with Toneri since its recommendation and hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it since. Keiji quickly got dressed in what clothes he had available to him and headed to the bathroom to freshen up. He splashed some water on his face and brushed his teeth, trying to wake himself up fully. He was determined to make a good impression on Toneri, and he knew that he had to be at his best.

As he made his way out of his apartment, Keiji saw that the sun was just starting to rise over the horizon. The sky was a beautiful mix of oranges, pinks, and purples, and the air was still cool and crisp. He took a deep breath and smiled to himself, feeling grateful for the opportunity to train with one of the best ninja in the world. Keiji made his way through the quiet streets of Hoshigakure, nodding politely to the other villagers he passed along the way. He could feel the excitement building inside him, and his heart was beating faster than usual. He had been waiting patiently for this day, and he was ready to show Toneri what he was capable of and his abilities. Keiji reached the training grounds, and could tell he was the first to arrive as no one else was there. He headed to the middle of the training grounds an began stretching to loosen up for the upcoming session as he assumed he would need to be loose for whatever Toneri had in store for him.

[WC: 451]

Keiji was mid stretch when he heard a familiar voice come from behind him, he smiled and turned to Toneri and bowed to the Hyuuga. He popped back up from his bow, "Good morning Toneri-sama, I hope today finds you well." Toneri could probably tell that Keiji was excited  about their upcoming session and was eager to get started. Keiji nodded along intently as Toneri spoke to him about their initial meeting and frowned slightly at the mention of his black threads.

For most of his life, Keiji had hid his abilities from others in fear that he would be seen as a monster. While he wasn't old enough to remember how his parents and himself were treated when they had to flee their village, the story his parents told him did not paint a very nice picture and imprinted a stigma in the back of hid mind about using his abilities. He was happy here in Hoshi and had truly grown to appreciate the time he had spent here even if it hadn't really been that long. Keiji trusted in the Kage and Toneri however, and believed their words of encouragement and the eagerness they showed at wanting to see the full measure of Keiji's capabilities.

Keiji nodded to Toneri atfter his request to show his abilities. He moved about 5 meters back from Toneri to be about 10 meters away from him. He turned and faced a tree that was on the edge of the training grounds a little less than 20 meters away. Keiji closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he rolled his sleeves up and extended his right arm out in front of him. His forearm separated in the middle and 15 of the infamous black threads shot out and in the direction of the tree. The threads pierced the middle of the tree and were stretched out completely. Keiji looked over at Toneri, "Well, what do you think?"

[WC: 327]
[TWC: 778]

Keiji held his breath while Toneri examined his arm and the tree that he had attacked. A feeling of relief rushed over him as Toneri seemed to approve of what he saw. The feeling of relief was quickly overtaken by pride he was praised for the mastery that he had over his ability, which had always felt like second nature to him when he used them during his every day tasks. Keiji listened carefully as Toneri began to discuss bloodline abilities and chakra control. Keiji didn't know much about bloodlines or chakra, but Toneri seemed to know quite a bit and he knew he was lucky to be learning from him.

Keiji was entranced by Toneri walking up the tree and then across the nearby pond, as he had never seen anybody do that before. The conversation turned to others in the village with the same ability as Keiji, which got him to perk up a bit. He nodded to Toneri, "I am very much interested in this other ninja with the same ability as me, I have never met anybody like me and feel i could learn a lot from them if possible! Do you happen to know anything about my abilities or what i might be capable of?"

As Keiji listened to Toneri he began attempting to walk on the pond just as Toneri had shown him. He began to mold his chakra into his feet as Toneri had explained it and just did what he usually did when he wanted his black threads to do something. He found that it was not as difficult as he thought it would be and after stumbling a bit in the shallow water near the shore and began running across the pond in a near all out sprint. A large smile appeared on his face as he hadn't had this much fun in a long while.

[WC:315]
[TWC: 1093]

Keiji smiled at Toneri's encouragement and words of affirmation. His ears perked up as Toneri went over the different uses of his black threads and thought back to how he previously used his threads for his daily chores and moving about the forest. He looked down at his arms and agreed that  his threads could definitely be used in thousands of different ways especially against people, even if he had not thought of using it against people before. While he was lucky enough to never have to hurt anyone he knew he would be capable of it, especially if his parents were in danger. And now that he was becoming more and more a part of Hoshi village he could see himself hurting people who would cause harm or try to invade the village.

Keiji was pulled from his thoughts at the mention of others who utilized the black threads like he had. He had never heard of the name Stein before, but could tell from Toneri's tone that this was someone not to be messed with and put a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths. Which was unfortunate for Keiji, being a new member of the village, he wanted things to go smoothly, but couldn't but think at how this might not bode well for his future here. Would his story end similarly to Stein's or could he forge his own path and give people a positive experience when it came to his bloodline. Keiji was positive in himself and knew that he wouldn't end up like Stein, he would use Stein's tale however as a story of caution of what could happen if someone turned against Hoshi.

Keiji chuckled at Toneri's and nodded to him in acknowledgment of his joke to show that he heard it and understood his sarcastic meaning. Keiji smiled at Toneri's comment about judgement, "I feel i have been judged almost all my life based on my abilities." Keiji had stopped running around the pond and was now working his way up a nearby tree just as he had been shown earlier. He yet again stumbled his first few steps but then found that it came to him just as quickly as the water walking did. He looked to Toneri for some sign of approval and would continue climbing the tree for a few minutes before jumping down from the tree and walking over to Toneri.

"I am curious Toneri, you had mentioned that Stein was dangerous and posed a significant threat to the village, why was he so dangerous?" He would look and listen intently to Toneri for his response. After he got whatever answer he was or wasn't looking for he would follow along with whatever training Toneri has in store for him.

[WC: 463]
[TWC: 1556]

Keiji's eyes widened at Toneri's final comment and it left him in a slight state of disbelief. He had been looking at Toneri intently but his gaze shifted downwards to his body. He placed his hand on his chest and looked back up to Toneri, "so i have to kill people to become stronger?" While the thought of killing someone may have been somewhat of an after thought in the shinobi world, Keiji was not yet a shinobi and killing was not something that was at the forefront of his mind. Clearly his mindset would have to change, he knew he would kill to protect his parents and Hoshi was starting to become a place that he would kill for, if the necessity arose. "Do you know Toneri..." Keiji paused a moment to think of how to phrase his next question, "how does my body assimilate a heart?"

Keiji would listen to Toneri's response, but he couldn't think of anything he could say that wouldn't make him feel like a monster. Perhaps the people that ran him and his family out had the right idea. Keiji wouldn't want to have to worry about someone coming to them in the darkness of night and stealing their heart. Even if he meant no one any harm it would be hard to trust someone like that, especially if there were others with the same abilities giving it a bad name. A smile appeared on Keiji's face, he had a new mission for himself, to prove to others that those with his abilities could be good and weren't meant to just be feared as monsters. He could seek guidance from Toneri and others like him in the village and become stronger by protecting the village, he could "collect" his hearts that way if he needed to, cause he knew he would need to become stronger to protect the village so it seemed taking hearts would be inevitable. When Toneri finished his explanation of the hearts and how they worked, he would do whatever was commanded to him by Toneri for the remainder of his training session.

[WC: 353]
[TWC: 1909]