Unconventional Training Methods

[painted_seals]

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.

Comments

[yourotherleft]

[the disappearing-reappearing ping to his haki from Sai's presence is something Zoro is still learning to pick up on, faster than it takes his eye to glance. He remains where he is, poised in a defensive stance, to figure out where his opponent is exactly before preparing another attack. The shredded shirt and ink across his face and arm is a hint to him that he needs to be more careful, that almost hit him.]

That's a pretty interesting technique you got there.

[painted_seals]

[He hides his chakra and moves towards his location by sensing his movements from the earth. Unfortunately, Sai doesn't realize he's not being tracked by his chakra but something else entirely. When he's beneath Zoro's location, he makes a grab for his foot to pull him down into the ground to trap him there neck down.]

[yourotherleft]

[can't hide your heartbeat, Sai. Zoro isn't sure what he's going to do but he can at least sense where he is, weird as it is. But he did just come from battling a stone-assimilation man before waking into this world, so it's not as bizarre as most might think.

Still, the hand startles him when it appears, making him hop just back out of the way. He swings one sword around and points it downward in threat, but refrains from just going and stabbing the ground. He needs another moment to figure out this guy's deal, because the ink drawings coming to life was one thing - this is entirely another.]

[painted_seals]

[He escaped. Either he sensed him or he has extremely fast reflexes, either way, Sai realizes he won't trap him this way so he moves underground with his hiding like a mole technique resurfacing behind a large tree.]

You're fast.

[yourotherleft]

[ooh, this time he could follow it! All the way over there...

He glances over his shoulder toward the tree.]

Maybe I'm cheating a little.

[painted_seals]

It's not cheating if you win.

[He's tired. He's used up quite a bit of chakra from his earlier training with his clones and this fight hasn't been easy.]

[yourotherleft]

True enough.

[his stance relaxes slightly, the tips of his swords lowering. He moves to take Wadou Ichmonji from his mouth and put it away.]

But it's not so much about winning and losing, is it? In a real fight, all that would matter is who walks away alive.

[painted_seals]

[He rises to his feet, stepping away from the tree.]

That's not what matters.

[yourotherleft]

No?

[...interesting. He turns toward the ninja, resting one sword against his shoulder]

What makes you say that?

[painted_seals]

What matters is the mission.

[Its success, not your status at its completion. A notion that has been drilled into him since he was a child.]

[yourotherleft]

[such a strange concept, one entirely foreign to a pirate like Zoro. He just laughs a little, under his breath]

Mission, huh? I don't think I've ever heard anyone outside the Marines talk like that.

[painted_seals]

Marines are soldiers like ninjas. [And Zoro wasn't. Sai could understand why the concept would be foreign to him. From his experience, pirates lacked discipline and loyalty to country.]

[yourotherleft]

...huh. I didn't know that. About ninjas, I mean, I know more than enough about Marines and the military.

Shame, not to have the freedom to choose whether to put your life on the line for something. [as he flicks the last bits of ink off his swords and slides them home] But that's your life, so I can't really say anything about that.

[painted_seals]

[No he couldn't because it wasn't his life but his commander's to do with it what he willed. Still, Sai smiled nonetheless shifting his facial muscles accordingly.]

Would you like a ride to the lake now?

[yourotherleft]

[blinks, and then shrugs.] Why not. You did promise me.

[and then he adds, with a manly nod] You're not too bad.

[painted_seals]

And you, apparently, do have some balls.

[He quips back while pulling out his scroll and brush. He lays the paper on his hand and quickly draws a bird across the blank page. The bird pulls itself out of the page and lands softly on the ground with its back facing them.]

[yourotherleft]

[he can't help but snort a quick laugh at that]

Figured you could stand to learn that for yourself.

[that's still such a neat ability, he can only imagine what that would be like in the hands of someone like Usopp. Not that Sai's artistic sense is lacking at all.]

So what, I just climb on?

[painted_seals]

[Sai nodded and jumped on the bird himself. Instinctively, he sent chakra to his feet to keep him place and only then remembered Zoro didn't have chakra. It wouldn't do to have him fall overboard, so Sai drew a pair of snakes that slithered out of the parchment and anchored themselves to the bird.]

Hold onto the snakes.

[Sai told him as he climbed aboard.]

[yourotherleft]

[Oho, pretty creative. Zoro wouldn't have had a problem grabbing somewhere and hanging on, but it's not until he gets seated behind Sai that he realizes he only really could've grabbed the ninja. Better safe than sorry.]

Got it.

[painted_seals]

Hold on.

[The bird takes off vertically, gaining altitude slowly to give Zoro the chance to get used to the altitude. Once they breach the trees Sai directs them higher giving them a bird's eye view of the gardens below. Up in the sky, the wind whips around them as they fly east toward the lake.]

[yourotherleft]

[altitude is no problem, he's been ten thousand meters in the sky, but it occurs to him about the time that he gets an eyeful of the view that he's never flown before. Being shot straight up into the clouds and then free-falling down out of them doesn't count. His grip on the snakes tightens a bit out of pure instinct, but after a minute or so he relaxes and concentrates on just taking everything in.]

This is way better than being rocketed by Luffy anywhere...

[he says it almost under his breath, but depending on the wind Sai might hear him. It's a nice journey! Oh, and there's the lake. It's not even remotely close to seeing the ocean spreading all around them, but hey, it's water and it's supposed to have fish and monsters in it, he'll have to make do.]

[painted_seals]

[Flying is his usual mode of transportation, and while the wind does have a bite to it, it's nothing he's not used too. So, when Zoro speaks, he catches the words before the wind snatches them away.]

Luffy?

[He turns his shoulders to him. He was rocketed...?]

[yourotherleft]

[he didn't even realize he spoke out loud, so it takes a moment to connect the dots and answer]

Ah, yeah - my captain. He has a tendency to slingshot people from point A to point B without asking first. This is a nice, easy breeze in comparison.

[painted_seals]

.....

[Sai just stares at him. He slingshots people? His captain?]

Why does he slingshot his crew?

[yourotherleft]

He probably thinks it's the easiest and fastest way to get anywhere. Doesn't really think about how it might feel to get chucked off a cliff and then have to land on his rubber ass.

[not even considering how bizarre that explanation must sound, it's perfectly normal to him]