Despite how much many were warned to steer clear of the Tundra outside the village without support, Hajiru was known to go out there often. The dangerous wildlife and hazardous landscape were well known to him and posed no threat to him. He often went out to commune with nature and the spirits. The spirits of the animals, the foliage, and of course, the bitter cold and snow that was always out there around Hyougagakure.

This particular day, as the sun shone bright, but could not cut the bite of the chill air that was, by this point, so natural to life for Hajiru, he knelt amidst a cluster of grass and flowers that were only able to grow in this colder climate. With a small spade and snippers for collecting herbs, he gathered a few things he needed for making salves and tonics. It was the sort of thing he did. He had taken part in Chunin Exams more than once by now, but lacked the resolve of leadership to pass the exam, despite his other skills. So that was why he focused on his other skills, to do what he could for the village. Of course, while he was at it, he was also looking for damage to the plant-life out here. With damage he could remove, he could help the life out here repair itself and restore to better conditions. And that was one of his duties as a Mediator; as an Osamaru.

He would be out here for a while, for while it would not take long to do what he was currently busying himself with, there were other things to do out here. He always spent some time meditating in the tundra, and doing some training, doing his best to progress any talents he had. Even if he wasn't the sort of person who would relish in the opportunity to engage in combat to test one's skill. He was not concerned with hurting people, he preferred to help them. So at least, he could practice his defensive techniques, to protect people that way.

WC: 348

The frozen tundra, Hosi had met it once again. There was something about this place that called to him. Maybe it was the wildness of the wind that made him feel at peace, or maybe it was his past memory of a strange man and a nice conversation that once had. The reason was unclear, but it mattered not. Hosi enjoyed the tundra, as many did not, and he would enjoy it for the remainder of the day, until the sun fell.

As he moved about the area, picking a nice place to relax, he came to notice something; another being gathering flowers below the ground. At first, Hosi thought to watch the man, to see if he was doing something alarm worthy. However, when Hosi spotted the clear signs of a Hyouga ninja, he decided to engage the stranger.

"Yo!" Hosi said to the person, drawing attention to himself. If the stranger looked, he would see a ninja, like himself, in all black clothing, from the headband on his forehead to the winter sandals at his feet. That man would see that Hosi is extremely young and very friendly. Hosi would give a true smile and a wave before continuing his speech.

"I don't think I ran into any other ninja's out here in the tundra. You must be very strong to do so. What rank are you?"

Word Count: 235

A twitch of his brow preceeded his head turning to regard the other ninja. He had not expected anyone to approach him, had they seen him out here. Not many did. However, he put a smile upon his face, and gave s light nod in return greeting to Hosi. Like Hosi, he was indeed wearing the all black gi that ninja of Hyougagakure wore. Over it, he had a long white haori that he wore simply because it had the markings of his family. Despite their treatment of him, it had sentimental value, and so he didn't part with it.

"Hello," he murmured quietly before standing up, and depositing the gathered herbs into a little pouch at his waist. Strong was he? Well, no one had said so much to him, ever, especially not his family. His father and grandmother were quite explicit to the contrary in fact. Nevertheless, he did not speak of such and maintained that smile.

"I am a genin..." He had no idea how old Hosi was, but it was pretty obvious upon sight that he was fairly older than a usual Genin tended to be. He should have been a Jonin for a few years by this age, but he was not. And despite his smile, the sadness of such a fact was clear in his eyes. He turned his face to disguise such, as he currently had no other means.

WC: 236
TWC: 584

As Hosi was about to become immensely happy with the meeting of a new friend, the man showed a defeated face. Soon afterwards, the man hid his face from the young ninja. Hosi figured that maybe he did not enjoy the rank of Genin, maybe he wanted to be something more. The mans eyes did remind the boy of those who tried their hardest at something but failed. He once had that look on himself, so he especially knew how it feels. However, he did not know what to do for someone, for he was not use to dealing with others emotions. There was only one thing he could do for this person, to hopefully cheer him up.

"Genin huh, so you are pretty strong." Hosi began to stretch, letting loose all of his limbs. He was not stiff to the point of being uncomfortable, but he needed his arms and legs ready for what was to come next.

"Do you mind if we spar? I am not use to battle yet, but I am a Hyouga ninja. I must be prepared for war." When he was done, he got into a taijutsu fighting stance, eyes marked with determination.

"We fight until we can't anymore, alright?"

Word Count: 208

He blinked. A fight!? If he turned that down, well then people really would think him a weak, pathetic, fool. If they didn't already. His father and grandmother were nuke-nin according to the village, but their claims of him would be still valid. Hajiru fidgeted a bit, adjusting his clothes as if he were about to accept. "I'm not exactly... used to it myself," he murmured in response, thought such had not given an answer either which way.

Hosi saying Haji was 'pretty strong' was a flattering statement, and Hajiru knew that was the intent. He knew, however, that it was a lie told in order to cheer him up. It would not be the first time someone said it, his sisters all the time had tried to boost his confidence, even though they too were off in the wide world, marked as nuke-nin with his father and mother. He was alone in this village, deserted by family that both tried to comfort and dissuade him.

However, Haji was never one to focus on fighting, and he was by no means, adept at taijutsu in the least. So as Hosi got into a stance, Hajiru simply stood straight, and watched. His eyes danced over the form the other ninja had taken. Could he at least recognize the style? He wasn't sure, but he'd give his best. "Yoshi!"

WC: 227
TWC: 811

Hosi looked at the man confusingly when he did not get into a fighting stance. Maybe he was teasing the Genin, claiming that he could take Hosi on without taking this seriously. This fired up Hosi even more.

"I won't go easy on you, so don't you dare go easy on me!" When Hosi thought the man ready, he launched at his opponent. Hosi's speed was slow and easily readable. Any average genin could keep up with him, maybe even beat him. He would run head on to his opponent, eyes focused on any movement made by the other ninja.

If Hosi could get close enough, Hosi would drop to the ground for a leg sweep. His extended leg would move to Hajiru's back foot. With much force, Hosi would push through, causing his target to trip and fall. If succeeded, Hosi would rise and begin a series of attacks to the downed Hajiru. He would send a force palm to Hajiru's lower abdomen, right bosom, and right bosom again.

After the assault, Hosi would step away to give Hajiru breathing room.

Word Count: 185

Technique:

A straight-forward assault. Hajiru was not a fast person, perhaps not slower than Hosi, but definitely not faster either. He was not a person who had focused on taijutsu. He had not focused on fighting much at all, in fact, just on how to avoid harm and how to tend to harm. He was a combat medic who relied on others to do the fighting while he did what he could to protect and mend those that protected him. However, with the straightforward charge that Hosi endeavored to, it was pretty obvious what sort of attack would follow. Whether the attack was taijutsu or ninjutsu, it would be a close-range technique.

Hajiru was no genius, but in the academy he had been deemed an intelligent person. His intelligence alone had never been enough to net him a promotion to Chunin, but he was not going to give up. However, he did definitely lack the temperament to lead others. He wanted to protect, but to decide their actions in a mission scenario where they might take harm... he couldn't make those decisions. With only his safety concerned though, he knew what he would have to do.

With Hosi's direct action, Hajiru would have to stop that progression, put up something that would halt his action. Halting the assault could only be justly done if he knew what was coming, and since he did not know ahead of time whether or not Hosi planned on throwing a fist or a lightning bolt, he could only do one thing to ensure his safety. Nothing was ever a 100% assurance, but in the situation, he decided to go with stopping Hosi's action, rather than blocking whatever attack was to come. So, forming his seals -- which in this case was all of one, the tiger seal -- he focused his chakra and directed it to a few steps in front of Hosi, assuming that he would continue in a straight line. The point may have been narrow to focus, but the effect would take up enough space that a full change of direction would be needed, not to mention Hosi's notice of what was happening.

At that point, the ground would shift and turn to mud, and if Hosi did not alter course, the mud would progress away from Hajiru. A river of mud would be formed carrying Hosi away from Haji, and keeping him immobilized in a quicksand-like effect. The more struggling put forth would only cause quicker sinking into the mud. However, this techniques purpose was not to drown in mud, but instead simply to imobilize. So, despite that effect, no matter how much struggling Hosi put forth, his head would not dip below the surface of the mud.

If Hosi did not alter course, and get stuck in this effect, Hajiru would be priming his chakra for his next action. However, just like not knowing what sort of attack would be brought to him, he did not know what sort of reaction Hosi would give to the use of this technique, and so he did not yet make any new seals. Simply, Hajiru moulded and stored the chakra he would need for his next course of action. Either an attack or another defense, depending upon how Hosi responded to this, but either way, he'd be ready. Or at least, that was his hope.

If the added defense was not needed, then his next move would be to go on the offensive, despite how much he disliked causing harm. Perhaps it was a tell, then, that the only time he went on the offensive, it would be clear what technique he'd use. But then, not having prior knowledge of Hajiru... Nevertheless, if he had the opportunity to go on the offensive, he'd prime his chakra into his throat, and launch a series of softball sized water spheres. With the barest of chakra stored in them to create them, not much internal harm would come from contact, but they would feel very solid for water, and definitely hurt.

WC: 675
TWC: 1486

Technique:

80/100:

Hosi ran straight towards the foe, not deterring from his past decision of attack. He was skilled in the art of Taijutsu, a fighting style involving uding nothing but fists and feet as weapons. A perfect technique for those who knew not the way of the bow, Kunai, long staff, or sword. He trained well to be as strong as any other Taijutsu specialist, but this did not mean that he had no other surprises up his sleeve. So when Hosi's opponent showed a handsign, it would be no surprises that Hosi showed one as well.

As he continued his course, he breathed in a large amount of oxygen, and when it was time to release it, he did so with a mighty roar. "FIRE STYLE! SMOKE MIST JUTSU!"

From his mouth came a large amount of smoke, blowing straight into Hajiru's face. If Hajiru did not move, he would feel millions and millions of smoke particles blocking his nasal passage. Slowly, he would begin to not lose breath as the smoke would begin to spread around the area, reaching a full 290ft wide and long. Also, Hajiru would be unable to see, for if he kept his eyes opened then he would surely lose them, if he tried to breath then he would surely cough.

Unfortunately for Hosi, who had spent much time focusing on Hajiru than his opponents jutsu, fell prey to the earth flow river jutsu. Liquid could be felt on his feet as he slid away from Hajiru's position. Hosi fell on his side, which placed his arm inside the quicksand like material. No more could he wave a handsign, but if he did not do something then he would suffocate from the smokey air around him. A young death was one thing he did not want to happen to him so soon.

So Hosi breathed in a large amount of the air, never minding the fact that it was covered by smoke; that worry would come later. Then he pointed his mouth to the ground and released a large amount of wind streams, so powerful that it launched him out of the river jutsu.

"Art of the Sky God: BELLOW" Hosi thought to himself as he continued using large amounts of the jutsu. He wanted to be launched high in the air, to where the smoke mist did not infect him. This he did, reaching the maximum height he could. Then he decided to rest as his body began its decline to the ground.

Above the ground, due to his KKG, Hosi could see anything, from the little bugs crawling on the surface, to the people who where watching this battle. But who he really wanted to find was Hajiru. Hosi did not notice if he escaped the mist or not, and he was really concerned for Hajiru's sake. Hosi made this smoke mist so that he could escape any enemy, but it could also cause severe lung damage or suffocation if the opponent did not escape as well. So Hosi spent his time in the sky searching for his battle target.

If Hosi could not find Hajiru outside of the mist, then he would use his Sky God Below jutsu to clear the mist. The smoke would scatter into the atmosphere, and the battle area would be clear; however, Hajiru would be put at risk of being hit by this jutsu if kept inside the mist.

If Hajiru escaped, Hosi would be relieved that his opponent did not die, and would continue his descent with little worry for his targets safety.

No matter what the situation leads to, Hosi would come to a complete stop by the use of his air floor jutsu. He would create a floor made out of wind beneath him, and the floor would halt him from splattering on the ground. His feet would come to full rest on the floor and he would be safe from the long fall. Hosi would stand stern in mid air then search for Hajiru's position in mid air.

"That was quite an attack. I gotta say, nice strategy. I was looked foolish for charging at you head on." Hosi begins to laugh at his own stupidity. It may have been a bad strategy to go at Hajiru as he did, but he needed to know the person he was facing. And now he knew that he was fighting a Doton user. "Oh, and I think I forgot to ask your name. My name is Hosi, What's yours?"

Hosi gave a really big smile as he finished his last sentence. In truth, he was having fun fighting with Hajiru. His heart had been thirsting for a good battle, but not many ninja's gave it. They were either too powerful to pick on a lowly genin or too weak to give Hosi a challenge. It was good having someone who was strong and wanted to face him.

"Well then Genin, shall we continue?"

Word Count: 820

Chakra:70 (or 60 if Hajiru is still in Smoke mist):

Like Hosi, Hajiru noticed the other making seals right away. His plan would not work, but he hoped the mud would still do it's trick. However, as that cloud of smoke billowed out, he knew he'd have to come up with a new plan. He couldn't waste time watching to see if his mud captured Hosi, but at the same time became worried that Hosi might be in trouble because of the combination of being trapped in mud and whatever that smoke would do. Despite his worry, he would still have to come up with a way of escape himself.

Trouble was, Hajiru had a few ways to defend but he didn't have much in the way of offensive capability. He began his defense by simply leaping away from the smoke... then leaping some more... and more... HOW MUCH DAMN SMOKE WAS HE ABLE TO SPEW OUT!?!? His eyes widened as it just kept coming out, and so he was forced to do the next best thing, because 290 feet was a damned huge expanse of area.

Turning around, to get a little bit more speed and distance, he made his seals and slapped his hands to the ground. Forcing his chakra into it, the rock would shift and warp, forming a dome around Hajiru's position. He simply hoped it would close around him in time to prevent any of that smoke getting in. True, it wouldn't cause him injury, but hurting his eyes or laboring his breathing would cause troubles in the long run.

Now, he was in the dark, and his eyes were a bit strained for the dome had not risen up quick enough. It was not horrible, but a little of the smoke had gotten into his eyes, especially since he had let his eyes widen in shock in his flight. However, he knew what he could do regarding that too. Jabbing a hand at the ground, he would stir his chakra into the ground again, to gain access to a spring, and use it to fuel another technique. There was no poison in him, but despite the intent of the technique, it should work for this situation as well.

With that taken care of, he had to focus on the fight again. Eventually, the enemy would do something within the smoke, or so he believed, that would cause him further harm. Was the smoke flammable? A fire technique would cause a huge amount of destruction if it was. In the earth shield, he'd be able to weather it. However, if Hosi knew a lightning technique... That would be bad. Very bad.

So he had to set up more defenses. If Hosi knew lightning release, Haji wouldn't be able to do anything to stop him, Hajiru would simply be the worst possible match for him, but he had to do what he could. So, with more seals formed, he planted his hands to the ground, and searched out the tree line outside his barrier. He hoped he could remember where they were, and put his faith in the spirits to find the way through whatever he could and could not remember. Vines would wriggle through the ground, and sprout up beneath trees and bushes roughly 15 feet around him and his barrier. Ordinary looking vines, but they were more than ordinary. If crossed, stepped on, or tripped over, they would sprout thorns; spines that would shoot out at anyone that had triggered them. Now, it was just a matter of sitting still, and waiting out his opponent.

Had Hosi even escaped the mud river? Hajiru had not even been paying attention, to say that much, but he had heard Hosi's voice. That of course did not predicate an escape, but he had thought he heard it from above. The earth dome did tend to muffle voices. If Hosi was above, then a wind technique was evident. That would cause no harm to earth, but did he know more than wind. The waiting game it came to, still. Wait... wait... wait.

WC: 674
TWC: 2160

Techniques:

40/100:

The smoke cleared quickly thanks to Hosi's wind storm. Now that he could see the arena, Hosi could easily spot where Hajiru was. He looked for his opponent, but all he could find was a giant disturbance in the ground with lots of vines covering it.

Was this the opponents doing? Hosi could only guess, from the difference in the landscape and the sudden appearance of vines, that his enemy had made himself a little protective nest. He had never seen that type of coverage before; being from the frost village, Hosi could not observe the many sturdy jutsu's of Doton users; however, not knowing did not stop him from planning a next attack.

"Oy, did you-" the air beneath Hosi began to turn mushy. He started to sway and bounce in the sky as the wind lessened its sturdiness. Hosi could feel the air floor disappear, showing a clear sign that the jutsu had wore off. He was still far up in the sky, but not so far as to break limbs once he landed on the ground. So, Hosi would be alright if he fell; however, there was the problem of him falling on top of that rock protection. There was no telling what that rock dome really was, or what those vines could do to him. Going straight down into the enemies hands would not be a smart idea.

And so, before the air floor completely vanished, Hosi used it one last time to thrust himself away from his opponents field, far away from the vines, and far away from the opponents range to do harm.

When he would land on the ground, it would be a horrible crash landing consisting of him rolling to a stop. His back, arms, and legs would bruise, but he would be fine, fine enough to continue battle. Once he was at a complete stop, Hosi would rise to view the enemies Arena. So far, all Hosi knew was that the vines covered the field, for some odd reason. What was the point of these plants? If it was useless, the user would never make it a jutsu. So, what did these things do?

Hosi had to test the waters, see for what purpose these vines had. Hosi moved his fingers together to perform the TIGER, BOAR, OX, and DOG handsign, all in that order. Under his breath he said, "Bushin No Jutsu," and suddenly, a white cloud of smoke appeared next to him. When the smoke cleared, it would reveal to be Hosi, the complete copy of Hosi. The clone Hosi would look, stand, and even contain the same determinate eyes as the real Hosi. This clone was a beginning jutsu that every Academy Ninja's learned. Although it could not attack, defend, or act on its own, it was good for being a replacement for the real user.

Hosi pointed at the field, and the clone looked. Without being given a verbal order, the clone of Hosi nodded understandably and began to race towards the vines. Instantly, the clone tripped over one, and the vines began to rise. Hosi watched carefully as the vines grew thorns, millions of thorns that looked as though they were sharper than kunais.

The clone began to be bombarded with the thorns, one after another slashing its existence away. Finally, after the onslaught of rippling thorns, the clone disappeared, the rest of the vines along with it. Hosi stared at the new cleared pathway with disbelief. Never before would he imagine the vines to throw raging spikes. Maybe trip him, capture him, or even squeeze the life out of him, but throwing deadly spikes was a little too blood thirsty.

Hosi took a deep breather to calm himself, and to relieve his mind. He was glad that his clone went in after him. If not, then he would be a bloody mess by now. Once his mind was clear, Hosi furrowed his brow as though he was angry, and prepared to yell something at Hajiru. "OY, DON'T YOU THINK THAT THE VINES WERE A LITTLE TOO MUCH! DO YOU WANNA KILL ME? CAN YOU EVEN HEAR ME IN THERE?" He paused from his yelling to rub the back of his head as though he was frustrated. "Well, I guess it can't be helped. After all, I did unleash that smoke on ya."

Cooling his anger, Hosi started to crack his neck. He held no grudge to Hajiru for the deadly jutsu, that actually got him a little excited. He liked this fight, enjoyed every bit of it. When he was ready, and fully psyched, Hosi ran straight towards the opponents Earth Covering. Once again he would make the TIGER, BOAR, OX, and DOG hand signs to signify the cloning jutsu, and a clone would form next to him. Then Hosi formed the bird hand sign.

Slowly a giant shuriken made of wind formed next to the clones fingers. The wind shuriken did not touch the clones fingers, nor was it controlled by the clone. The Shuriken was controlled by Hosi, it was just made to look as though the clone had mastery over it. The clone would move in first, gaining speed so that it could attack the Earth cell.

Once close enough, the clone would pretend to thrust the wind shurken inisde the cell; it would connect, but shrink suddenly as it pierced the surface. The Shuriken would gradually grow smaller as the clone made its way inside the earth dome, so Hajiru would not get injured. The wind shuriken had a strong slicing ability, so Hosi would shrink it and shrink it the closer the wind shuriken got to Hajiru. Once the dome would have an opening to it, which should be large enough to view Hajiru's upper body portion, the clone of Hosi would vanish, revealing Hosi who was close behind the clone and preparing to attack.

If Hosi had nothing to disturb his plan, Hosi would continue on his coarse to deliver a hard force palm to Hajiru's chest. If he succeeded, Hajiru would feel a strong force nearly destroy his rib cage. Hajiru would lose breath, and he would almost not be able to stand. An attack to the chest was enough to knock the wind out of an opponent; if Hajiru's endurance did not match Hosi's strength, Hajiru would definitely have some repercussions from this strike.

Hosi would move back from Hajiru, and he would speak loud enough for his opponent to hear. "OY, did you hear me before?! The name is Hosi Senpu, what's yours?!"

Word count: 1,087

Chakra: 40/100:

Hajiru hated causing people harm, but in a spar, it was hard to use jutsu without the possibility of causing harm. He only had a couple that were used solely for repairing harm, but out of them, there was little he could do in this situation. And besides, if any harm did come to Hosi, Hajiru could then function as medic. In a real fight... he wouldn't have the chakra to support both roles. Even as things were going now, he did not know if he'd have the chakra to tend to any injuries that might be sustained. For now, he remained in his little hidey spot, and listened.

Sound from outside the dome was muffled, a great deal, especially when someone was shouting from the air. It was just rising and lowering volume of indecipherable noise. So when Hosi voiced his complaints over the intent of his vine technique, Hajiru merely heard a long stream of loud ... something. He had no idea his vines had even been triggered, in fact, but when he heard the wind shuriken carving into his shield, he quickly scuttled back along the opposite side of it. No one's arm would be able to reach him, but he wondered what to do. Would the wind nick him? Then he saw what looked like Hosi trying to climb in as well. But, what fool would attempt to climb through a hole a technique like that made, while it was still making it. Without having to think it over, he assumed that this was a clone. Should he avoid being seen?

Hajiru could have tunneled underground, and hidden there, waiting for his opponent to find an empty shell of a defense. But, what would he do? Like the beginning of the fight, would he rush in? He had appeared to be a melee fighter at first, but since the initial contact, he spewed out smoke, used wind techniques, and now was simply trying to pierce his shield. Would the foe charge in afterward and throw a punch, or would he use another wind technique to stir Hajiru around within his own barrier? Did he have control over a second element? A third? They were both genin, so he doubted his foe had knowledge of a third element, but like Hajiru, he could know a second. So far, he had only witnessed wind control. He had no knowledge that the smoke technique would, in the end, be a fire technique.

Hajiru could use another hiding technique, and burrow beneath the ground, but its benefit would only be achieved if it encouraged his foe to come in after him. Hosi might still riddle more holes into the barrier by sending more of those Shuriken, which would waste his chakra in the end, so how believable was it that his foe would do it? And Hajiru's time was running short.

Hajiru was not a close-range fighter, and he had no idea how close his enemy was on the other side of that wall, so he had to protect himself the only way he knew how. With chakra stored into his feet, and seals made, he drove his body down into the earth, covering himself with stone. When the wind shuriken and that clone disappeared, he would use a small hole in the ground to look through the hole made in his shield by Hosi.

When the smoke made by the dispelled clone faded, Hosi would be able to see clear into the barrier. Would Hosi endeavor to inspect more closely, or back off to see if the whole thing had been a ruse and Hajiru was hiding elsewhere? Hajiru could not take the chance that he would do the latter, for if he did, he would surely hear Hajiru emerging from the ground before an attack from behind could be made. He had to take his foe by surprise, and even with them face to face, this was the best Hajiru could hope for. He made his seals, gathered his chakra in his throat, and emerged from the hole in the ground, to fire off five softball sized balls of water out from his mouth and through the hole in his shield at Hosi.

From the opposite side of the wall, Hosi would not be able to reach Hajiru with a punch, but it would take a moment for Hajiru to be still enough to fire his attack with any accuracy. He could only hope he could get off the first quickly enough to take Hosi by surprise. The rest would not matter. The rest were insurance to keep the foe down. One hit was all he was hoping for though. One hit was neccessary, because he was not going to be able to do anything more. He was out of breath already.

WC: 804
TWC: 2964

Techniques:

10/100:

"TEAR IT APART! WIND STYLE, WIND SHURIKEN!" The clone raced to the giant dome. As the wind Shuriken connected, the rocks slowly began to cut apart. The shuriken spun, faster and faster the more it met the earth. The air blades had an incredible cutting power, slicing down the rock protection as though it was bread, the wind shuriken a sharp knife.

Hosi was right behind, watching his clones back with calculating preparation. He had already planned his attack, already steadied his fingers, already made a good resolve. He was going to give Hajiru all he had, and land the first hit. With his goal set, he forced his clone to push further into the dome, his heart pumping as hard as it could. As the clone advanced, he made sure that the Shuriken would shrink so as to not hurt Hajiru. It was a fight that they were having, not a slaughter.

When the clone was through, and the Shuriken disappeared, it made its way through the hole; however, something was wrong. The clone stood in the middle of the inside, looking around confusedly. Hosi was on the other end, already calculating what Hajiru could have done. He dispersed the fake him, and stood on the outside of the dome, contemplating Hajiru’s next move. Maybe his opponent was going to surprise him, attack from behind or the top.

What Hosi did not plan on was a frontal attack from his enemy, inside the dome. Hajiru came out quick, Hosi’s eyes widening for the final time. All this time Hajiru had played his moves smartly, and now he was going to reap his reward, the first hit. Five water balls were thrown at Hosi. On instinct, he raised his arms to block any future attack to his face. The first ball missed, flying past Hosi’s face to splash against the ground. Hosi was startled by the sound of the impact. It was as though a large bomb had been set off, large enough to crush the ice to pieces.

Deciding not to let any of these balls hit his body like the ground, Hosi began to move his body from the oncoming attacks. The second water ball hit his stomach, nearly knocking the life out of him. He steadied, battled through the pain, and watched for the third ball.

It came after his face, prompting him to shift his head to the side. It passed him, sending a huge gush of wind to the side of his face. After he dodged the third water ball, he started to feel his confidence return. His eyes became sharp as he pinpointed where the next two would land on him.

The fourth aimed to hit Hosi’s side stomach. Seeing this coming, he stepped to the side to allow it to pass him, like the others. When the fifth and final came towards his body, Hosi decided not to dodge this. Instead, he quickly made a sturdy taijutsu stance and prepared to punch it. His arms went back as the ball came forward, its speed seeming to decrease the closer it got towards him. Maybe it was the force of the wind that slowed its movements, or maybe it was the focus in Hosi’s eyes that made it seem like an eternity to reach him; he did not know what reason, but he knew what was to come.

He extended his hands to the front of him and the ball broke to the impact with his fists. The water particles that were now split landed on his shirt, and his fist that met the water ball turned red. Hosi stood from his fighting stance, his hand shivering from the amount of pain it was in. He looked at it for a moment while his brain registered that he was hurt. He took in a deep breath, and held onto his wounded hand.

“That’s enough for today don’t you think?” Hosi would say this to his opponent, if his opponent did not continue his assault. He would then begin to walk towards Hajiru, his hand shaking rapidly to the feel of pain.

“I have been trying to get introductions out of the way this entire time, but haven’t found a proper time to do it. I guess this is the best time than any. The name is Hosi, what’s yours?” Hosi would then extend the hand that was not hurt, which would be the left one, for Hajiru to shake. “Man, you really are strong. I couldn’t even land a hit on ya. Do you want to do this again some time? Maybe We could get super strong together.”

Word Count: 773

Seconds ticked away, and yet they felt like hours. It was like life had turned into slow motion as he stared so intently at Hosi, waiting to see what would happen. He backed away, inch by inch, brought his arms up. Hajiru was practically sweating, yes sweating in the frigid temperatures of the Hidden Glacier, while waiting to see the outcome of his last ditch effort. He was so intent on it, that his hands remained frozen in the last seal for his attack, and remained unmoving, as he watched each one fly through the hole in his earth dome.

The first shot missed, and Hajiru mourned inside, believing that if the first missed, there was no way any of the others would hit. The second shot hit Hosi in the gut though, and for a moment, Hajiru felt a reprieve from his mourning, but each shot was dodged after that, and the last was even smashed with a chakra 'gloved' hand. In lament, Hajiru was prepared to surrender.

"That's enough for today, don't you think?" This from Hosi's mouth. Hajiru's eyes went wide. His legs wobbled, and he dropped to the ground. As he did, his control over anything else his chakra had created collapsed. Which meant, chunks of earth and piles of dirt piled up around his body, as his earth dome fell apart. He had to move, a little wobbly, to avoid being hit in the head by a couple of those chunks. Nearly buried by his own technique, Hajiru weakly climbed out. He hadn't actually surrendered, but Hajiru still felt like that was what Hosi was saying, even though Hajiru was the one without any more chakra to use. He could not sense chakra, but he was sure he'd used up more than Hosi had.

As a result of this, Hajiru was silent yet again during an introduction. He hadn't heard every one of them, but he had heard before now. After a moment of staring at the ground, while immersed in disbelief that Hosi called an end to the fight, instead of putting Hajiru into a check, he smiled slightly. Assured that Hosi was conceding now, to help him feel better about himself, because that was the reason behind their first words together, he rose to his feet and extended his hand to the other Genin.

"I heard you before, yes. Hosi, I am Hajiru Hiyaga." He frowned at the fact that Hosi's right hand was hurt, because Hajiru didn't have the chakra to tend to it. It was what he always focused on, especially after the first few times he failed the Chunin Exams. The prospect of fighting again was not something he would leap at, but not wanting to put the other down, he nodded lightly.

"Sure, we could do it again." Far in the future, he hoped. Long enough for him to learn some truly useful techniques. Time enough for him to gain some confidence and strength. He doubted that would ever happen, but anything to delay...

With this fight taken care of, stepped away from the mess of dirt he had made, and turned to look back at it. Just like with tending to Hosi's wounded hand, he did not have the energy to clean this up. He would take care of it, but that meant lingering in the tundra till some of his energy returned so he could do it. For now, he took a seat upon a rock, and opened up the pouch at his hip. He checked to make sure nothing he had gathered was damaged now, which it wasn't. A relief. Unsure what else to say, he simply gave his silent attention to Hosi, while wondering if even he would have anything more to say at this point.

WC: 631
TWC: 3595

Hosi saw Hajiru’s dome collapse, and his walking turned to running. He did not want to see his new friend get crushed by rocks, so he did whatever needed to make sure Hajiru made it out safely. When the danger deceased, and the introduction was out of the way, Hosi couldn’t help but fall over on his butt and relax. The fight was fierce, definitely something he would need to contemplate on in the future.

“But jeez, I didn’t know that you would be this strong. Everything you did was one step ahead of me.” Hosi stared at Hajiru for a while. The more he thought of his opponent, the more he realized how spent Hajiru really was. He could barely stand from the amount of chakra he probably used. But if Hajiru had little chakra, why didn’t he just battle Hosi? When Hosi thought about Hajiru more, he realized that Hajiru actually seemed to avoid hand to hand confrontation through out the fight.

“Hey Hajiru, if I can call you that, do you not like hand to hand combat?” Hosi said this with a questioning voice. He was not going to insult Hajiru, many people had a weak special that seemed hopeless to use, but not having a small experience in short range could be catastrophic to a ninja. Hajiru either needed to know a little about close combat or strengthen his long range jutsu skills. “It’s alright if you don’t, we just need to work on your strength a little more, maybe figure out a jutsu that could restore your chakra, or save it. Maybe we could come up with team combos; like, you watch my back while I attack the enemy close range. We could call it a HoHaji Combo; or a HajiHo combo.”

Hosi laughed at the thought of the two teaming together. The close range and the long range working as one seemed like the making of an unbeatable team. His mind raced for a moment with many ideas before he realized the position of the sun. It was going down, causing the sky to nearly turn dark. He had so much fun that the flow of time escaped him. Hosi needed to head home before dark covered, and danger showed itself.

He stood from the ground then turned to Hajiru, offering a hand to his new possible friend. “It’s about to get dark. We need to head into the village before we are lost in this Tundra, and no one can find us. Need a hand?”

If Hajiru said yes, Hosi would grab Haji’s arm and hoist it over his neck. He would battle through the pain in his finger and stomach, and carry Hajiru to the villages inside.

Word count: 453

Hajiru blushed at the aide in not being crushed by his own technique. Hajiru blushed at being told he was strong. He doubted it, but he still blushed at it. It was flattery, pure and simple, in his mind, something to help him feel better about himself. The fight had indeed been short and fierce, but he still held out in his mind that he lost. While Hajiru had been the only one to land a blow, he had used up his chakra to do so. He still held to the thought that Hosi had some chakra left and could have held Hajiru at the end of a blow. But that was ok with him. Hosi was a fighter and Hajiru was not. Which was why he looked away at first when Hosi questioned him about hand-to-hand combat.

"I do not like combat at all. I do not want to hurt anyone. I want to tend to their hurts instead and make them better." He didn't know if Hosi noticed, but out of all of Hajiru's techniques, there was only one offensive technique, and that was the water bullets. He had favored techniques that protected aside from his medical ninjutsu. He would focus on being behind everyone else using his techniques to protect them from things they did not see or expect.

A technique to restore chakra seemed a bit far fetched. Using chakra to regain chakra sounded like something fundamentally impossible, but if it was he wouldn't turn it down. However, the idea of chakra conservation was a fundamental aspect of being a shinobi. If he could figure that out, it would be most helpful. Of course, continuing his training, strengthening his body, studying more and thus increasing the chakra he could wield was also something he would focus on.

With a blink, he tore himself from his thoughts as he finally registered the comments about a team up between the two of them. The names, HajiHo and HoHaji sounded like laughter, itself. 'HoHaJi!' It made himself laugh, and he covered his mouth with a hand as he did so, more to hide his smile.

The day had drawn on, he had been out here gathering herbs before hand and apparently much time had passed in doing so that while amidst the battle, the lateness of the day had been forgotten. Hajiru accepted the offered hand and the help in getting back to his feet. He was still a bit tired. Not in such straights that he would need help walking, but slow and sluggish. Fireflies peeked out, or what appeared to be, lighting their path back to the cities' gates.

Finally, Hajiru's concerns peaked, and he glanced at Hosi's stomach. "Did my water bullets... hurt you?" He frowned at the possibility, and cast his head down to stare at the snow, as their feet crunched through it. "I do not have the energy to right now, but... if you still need it... find me in the morning, ok? I'll fix you up." Hajiru had pretty much ignored everything about toning up his hand-to-hand skills, he did not wish to get involved in such. He did not have the confidence in himself to learn such and not hurt someone. Of course, this applied to all offensive jutsu in the end, which was why he only had the one. He focused on protection, but sometimes the offense would be needed. This was another count against him when he had tried to take the chunin exams.

WC: 585
TWC: 4180

OOC: I apologize that I have not posted in such a long time. If you are still willing to continue, I will post in this thread.