estoria | Unconventional Training Methods

Who: Sai and Open
When: IC 1/16
Where: Gardens
What: Art, mice and doubles.
Rating/Warning: PG-13

a. Sai sits cross-legged on the steps of a newly renovated garden path with a sketch pad resting on his knees. With little effort, his hand runs across the paper in quick lines that come together to form the shadow of a figure that looks strangely like the one standing in front of the fountain meters away from him.

b. A small inky mouse bursts through a gooseberry bush and hot on its trail is a grey alley cat. Spotting someone up ahead, the mouse changes its path and hurries towards the new player. The cat is quick to lay chase and pounces before the little rodent can scurry behind the other, but in its haste it misses the true aim of its prey and is quick to re-route pouncing on the person's foot just as the mouse scurries up their leg.

c. Custom had Sai practicing his taijutsu in the gardens, a more familiar area for a ninja of Konoha amid plants and trees. From up above two ink clones make their move and Sai flips back as two kunai's embed themselves on the ground he'd been standing on seconds before. Pulling out his tanto, he deflects half a dozen shuriken and kicks the first clone square in the chest before spinning around to deflect the sword coming down on him. He then jumps back and the second clone chases after him forcing him to step to the left where a hand suddenly grabs him from the ground below - the first clone. Sai parries off a blow from the clone above ground and quickly slams his tanto down on the first destroying it and covering his foot in ink. With his foot now free, he manages to jump away just in time to avoid a slash to his exposed stomach. Gripping his sword tightly, the ninja faces off his ink creation ready to embed the tanto in its side when the sound of approaching footsteps reaches his ears stilling his movements. Sai immediately turns away from the clone and toward the direction of the sound, while the clone shifts its attention to the new arrival, sword still firmly in its hand.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He stares at her eyes taking the time to fully capture the curve of the lower lid mapping the lines that sharpened up to the edge of the lashes.]

.......

[Silently, he picked up his pencil and starting drawing.]

[It's actually a little awkward, but she promised she would keep still. What's awkward is that she's getting drawn, which is almost similar to being photographed?

At least he's not asking her to smile.]

[He's finished a few minutes later and puts the pencil down. He picks up a black-stained white cloth and cleans his fingers free of the lingering charcoal. When he's done, he turns to look at her and attempts a smile, curving his eyes.]

Thank you for keeping still.

[Oh look at that! He appears to be pleased, and so she relaxes after he thanks her.]

You're welcome. Are you done for the day, or will you be finding others to draw?

[He sets the cloth down and closes the sketchbook.]

I'm done with this training.

[He tells her as he gathers his things ]

[That reminds her what she wanted to ask him before--]

Why does your ninja training require art?

[Smoothly.]

It's not art. It's practice.

[He slips the sketchbook into his backpack and zips it back up.]

[And this here is the part she didn't get.]

Practice? Because of your ninja skills, or just to improve your drawing skills?

[He stands, holding the backpack in is left hand.]

Both. [He looks at her.] My ninjutsu requires drawings.

[She straightens up, now facing him properly. Though he answered her question, she's still confused, but that's only because she still has yet to understand more specialised ninjutsu.]

How does it work? If I may ask, I am not sure if this is all secret.

[He can't tell her how it works, no ninja worth their salt would ever reveal the secret of their jutsu, but showing her... Sai had no reason to hide his ink jutsu.

Without a word, the ninja steps back. He pulls a scroll and brush and crouches down to set it on the ground where he quickly executes a drawing of a mouse. The inky creature immediately runs out of the parchment stopping in front of her where it stands on its haunches to look up at her.]

[It's not like she could learn it anyway, she'll just be part of the impressed audience.

She observes him silently, patiently waiting to see what he was up to. Again, his strokes were quick, but what she didn't except was for an inky mouse to come out. Nor did she expect it to respond so realistically.

Vietnam kneels down to look at it.]

This is amazing!

Is this an illusion, or is it phyiscally real? [She was about to reach out and touch it, but stops. It was made of ink, so she didn't know if it is solid to touch too.]

It's physically real. [He answers as the inky mouse runs closer.]

Physically real...

[She's going to do it then. She's going for it.]

Please excuse me, little one.

[And then she pats its head.]

[The mouse bends its head down a little at the weight and wags its tail.]

.....

[Sai says nothing.]

[Goodness, it responds just like a real mouse. Or at least a real nice mouse. Now she can't help but keep petting it with her finger.]

How endearing! [It's actually a real shame that it will have to disappear, at least she knows that much.]

So your ninjutsu, in a way it mirrors life?

[Sai watches her reaction. It's not an unfamiliar reaction however puzzling it may be for him.] It's just ink shaped into a form.

[She stops so that she can look at him. He speaks of it so simply, though it might as well be.]

Ink being shaped into form is already difficult enough for those of us who do not have ninjutsu capabilities, but to also breathe life into it?

[A puzzled look.] It's not life. It's following orders.

It's reaction is lively enough. Have you seen some of the robots around here? [There's something that seems to follow orders to the letter. Well aside from AI's, but she knows ninjutsu and programming are quite different.]

People tend to let their guard down when it mimics the mice they're familiar with even if it's clearly not a mouse but an imitation.

That is true...my guard is certainly down now. [It's so cute...] But does it have a mind of its own, or are you controlling it?

Unconventional Training Methods

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