Hit the Floor [Open/Training]

Bless the gods for creating the morning times.

"Good morning, sun~~!!!"

For some reason in his ever-flashy attire, there stood Shikai on the roof of his home, shouting at the top of his lungs with both hands by his mouth, amplifying his voice even further. Why would he shout? To greet the sun and thank it for rising for another day of course. He had already watered the chrysanthemums by his window, right after waking up, and the only thin left to do now was to get his game together and head somewhere to have fun. Well, at least, that would have been the case lest Shikai had some business to take care of.

"Right. Better get started then! Today too, we're going full-speed ahead!!" He claimed to himself, clutching his hand to a fist and raising it up to the air in an enthusiastic manner, his motivation and determination clearly plastered over the wide smile on his face. To start off, he needed to warm up. Running towards the training grounds wasn't too bad an idea, he was good at running too. Had good speed, his build was just right for it, and his stamina was no joke among his peers. Shikai certainly had that point to be proud of.

...

It didn't take too long to get to the training grounds, specifically the Island Turtle, by foot too. He was huffing quite heavily as he finally reached the area, only to see the presence of another nearby. Stopping his run and supporting his body on his knees with his arms locked, Shikai looked forward to identify the other character present in the scene. "Haa... Haa... Hi-... Hitomi-chan?..." It was pretty difficult to talk, but he still managed just fine. This girl, Hitomi Hane, had been the Saotome boy's teammate since he passed the academy tests again last time. Guess he wasn't alone, and this day was going to be pretty successful.

He smiled at her widely, laughing a bit as he took off his signature hat and jacket. "Aha... Ahaha! Don't tell me... You're here to train too? I sure am!" He got the warm-up pretty good, at least. Hanging his jacket and hat on a convenient treebranch nearby, the boy stretched his body, preparing to start his physical training routine. With Hane Hitomi around, maybe he would have even more fun. His thoughts were pretty clear in that regard, reflected through his aura.

words: 400; tags: @meitachibana Hitomi Hane Shido Mori; notes: asdfghjkl;

made by Wolf of GS

Without even deciding on the set relationship type, it looked like the two were close enough as friends, each adding in an honorific to the other. Shikai really didn't put that much mind into that, thinking of his two teammates, sensei, and generally everybody in the academy he used to be in as equals. In a way, it would be like he wouldn't even call his own Raikage with an honorific, seeing the two as equal. Perhaps their skills were far apart, but as people, they were completely the same. "Early training huh... I didn't know you were a morning person too! Well, you can only expect so much from a clan of birdies. Haha!" He remarked at her answer to his question. It looks like the boy only really wanted to talk, or to get some attention. Not that he'd need to struggle all that much to get it from his teammates, either way.

Having already been somewhat accustomed to this specific teammate of his, Shikai wasn't too surprised to see her wearing the brown dress. He acknowledged her as a member of the opposite sex, but at the same time as a mere friend. Never again, would he make the misconception that Hane Hitomi, would be a guy like himself; last time he did, Shikai fled the scene as hurriedly as possible, despite whatever it was they were doing at the time. Not that he really bothered remembering, it was too sudden a realization and too much of an embarrassment to bear. In contrast, some people would claim that the Saotome boy himself, was more feminine than most guys, in appearance at least if not attitude. They were undoubtedly an odd bunch in some other people's eyes, but really, it mattered not. Everybody had their own personal quirks in life, right?

As he finished stretching, wiping off his sweat with an arm swipe over the forehead, Shikai prepared for another normal training session at the dummies in the fields. That was when Hitomi made a rather unexpected suggestion; an idea for a small sparring match. Apparently Hitomi thought of that as a good way to train herself. Well, it's not that Shikai didn't think of it when he first saw her in here. Just that, he had some qualms with going sparring against someone relatively close to him, and a girl while at it too. He frowned slightly, crossing his arms and thinking a bit. "Hmmm... Are you sure you want to do this...? Someone could get hurt if we're too reckless..."

And then it came to him. A certain idea, that should be alright with his ideals anyway. It was still counted as 'sparring', but there was a slight adjustment to it. He clapped his hands once in enthusiasm, suddenly smiling widely. "Ah-ha, I've got it!" Trotting over to his hat, he suddenly clasped at it and rested the accessory on top of his head, adjusting it a bit lower than usual, so his flowing hair would fill enough space for the hat to remain there even if the boy moves around too much. "Sparring isn't too much of a good idea in my opinion, but what if we add rules to it? Like, an objective? See, we don't have to knock the stuff out of each other this way!" He pointed towards his hat with one finger, nonchalantly looking to the girl. "See this here? Your objective is to knock this off my head. And mine's..."

Shikai had actually taken quite the interest in that for a while now, and has been looking for a good opportunity to reveal that. If the two were to be close enough as teammates, they needed to know each other inside and out, to adjust each other to the other's habits and fighting style to create the most supportive fashion possible. For that reason too, Shikai had targeted the one obvious part about Hitomi: "...Would be that cloth piece of yours! What do you think?"

words: 661; tags: Hitomi Hane; notes: just a random idea~;

made by Wolf of GS

"Hoho? Someone's getting a bit too ahead of themselves, don't you think? Well, not that it really matters now, huh? Hehe..." In all truth, Shikai wasn't there to taunt or underestimate his opponent; he acknowledged that they were more or less on the sake skill level, despite their specialties most likely varying. That meant, he had to fight seriously and aim for the clothpiece from the very get-go. Else, he might lose this battle before he knew it. The adding of a small wager, anyone buying lunch for the other depending on the match's outcome wasn't really his idea for a good wager. Something else, more humiliating, more funny. More... Fun, would do the trick. But, the boy wasn't one to complain. "Hmmm... In that case, I'll make you treat me to Yakiniku when we're done here!!"

He took a fair distance from the girl, entering a fighting stance. Before charging recklessly into battle, Shikai took a small moment to recall exactly what the girl was capable of; what he was up against. They had not necessarily been in the same class year in the academy, which makes her skills generally unknown to the boy. What he did know, was that her Clan's abilities focused over transformation into birds. In that aspect, it should be easy for him to rival her by initiating some very fundamental techniques. But, nobody was to be underestimated. She probably had more intel on him than he had on her, putting the boy at a disadvantage. Even so, regardless of whatever tricks she had up her sleeve, Shikai had managed to form a good enough plan to swipe that cloth piece away from her face. That was his only target; his only purpose on this fight. If he had to exchange a few hits with Hitomi for that sake, so be it then. Neither of those two was going to have an easy way out of this fight.

"...I'm done. I've formed out my own little plan." He claimed, looking confident as ever. A flashy, flamboyant fighting style focused over approaching and taking hits; that was Shi the Barrier. Would it be efficient in this fight? Who knows. But that's the fun part. "So, come at me with all you've got!!" He declared.

The battle had begun.

Without even a second wasted, Shikai reached for his tools pocket on his thigh's back and threw a single Shuriken towards the girl. It was a random throw meant to basically make her move away while he takes preparations for his own strategy. Seeing how his skill in strength was most likely superior to hers, the force of his throw should prove better would she plan on perhaps deflecting it with a projectile of her own. But despite this move being the started of the spar, the Shuriken projectile flying towards his enemy left her with numerous ways to react. Anything would work: from taking it head on to dodging it somehow, even deflecting or defending against it. She could even brush it off, not move from her spot and allow the tool to go wasted.

But, Shikai was counting on that little gap of timing. Having some skill in Ninjutsu as well ensured that the blond had some good practice with hand seals. Performing a few was not going to be any problem for him. His Chakra molded already in accordance to the quick movements of his hands, Shikai was ready to initiate a Jutsu to mark the start of the fight.

words: 000; tags: Hitomi Hane; notes: got to use his catchphrase; I'm happy!;

made by Wolf of GS

"!!" She chose to avoid the Shuriken in a swift maneuver, rather react directly to the flying chunk of metal. That little amount of time at which she rolled was just enough as Shikai timed his technique at the correct moment. Observation was key here; analyzing the field came in first, to devise a strategy. What the boy was aiming for was not an upfront attack right away, however, as he would make the girl believe. "(Now! Bunshin no Jutsu!! [Clone Technique])" He thought to himself, creating two clones on his spot; two of which characters would hurriedly rush into the woods of the forest, leaving one in the clearing, bare for the Hane's tactics while the other two would speculate from afar.

Or, more like, prepare for the strike. The Shikai left in the Hane's field of vision was a clone; the real one was hiding in the trees, maneuvering his way in a hide as he watched the scene unfold, performing even more handseals. Expanding too much Chakra right off the bat would be a bad idea; but if he got to attain the clothpiece, it was all worth it. Shinobi were not meant to fight to watch their own back; they were to die for their villages. The mission always took priority to everything; including teammate lives. At the moment, any concern for the blond's Chakra would be easily redundant.

The clone present at the clearing with the Hane girl ran along with her, taken somewhat by surprise as she approached him with her tactics of dust - to blind, and quick Wind Release strike to knock him off. "Gyaah! Darn!..." As dust wasn't seriously capable of harming on its own, that wasn't enough to knock the clone's status away; he merely closed his eyes, defending his eyes. Taking on fully the impact of the Gale Palm. Well, that's what should have happened.

In a screen of smoke, a simple 'poof', the clone turned into white gas and disappeared into the air the moment Hitomi's Gale Palm technique made contact with him. The clone wasn't tangible, and Bunshin no Jutsu was one of the most basic techniques a Shinobi should know. But even the most basics should prove useful in battle. Elsewhere, in a rather long range away but a different angle, the real Shikai - and on the opposite, the other clone - were lurking. "Fuuton: Daitoppa no Jutsu!! [Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Technique]" The shout was rather loud, giving away the boy's location right away. But even if Hitmoi could pinpoint his location on sound alone, or by sensing, it didn't matter: it should take her more time to build the Chakra for a second serving of Gale Palm, especially after executing one only a second ago.

Again, Shikai's usage of his Wind Release technique was not directly to harm the girl: it was to boost himself directly to her. His back faced her and he blew his wind powerfully through his mouth at the opposite direction, in mid-air causing him to jet faster than any Genin or possibly Chuunin towards the woman. Despite the distance, he should be closing on her in no time at all. Best she could hope to do, with this momentum, was avoid; the problem was, another Shikai was coming at her from a different angle, which was the clone.

Preparing his arm for a strike, Shikai looked backwards with the upgraded speed while 'flying', twisting his body to land a hit. "Eruboo!! [Elbow]" Plain Taijutsu from accelerated close-range. Shikai the Barrier's upfront attack strategy. Not too bright, but not too shabby either. The problem imposed before Hitomi was mainly to decide which of the upcoming Shikais was the real one; the second problem, after deciding which, was how to react to an obviously more-painful-than-normal elbow strike to her mass' center.

words: 000; tags: Hitomi Hane; notes: asdfghjkl;

made by Wolf of GS