"Hm. I've never been to this city before. I've only ever heard grampa talk about it; it seems much larger and more active than I'd have thought." A young man snorted with wry amusement as he leaned on the railing of the waterbus he was on. "Hm, as compared to the small town I came from anyway..." He said and looked around, taking note of the students there. He didn't know any of them so he was keeping to himself and just enjoyed the feel of the breeze on his face; though it did blow his thick black hair into his face more than he'd want. The seemingly wild mess of it billowing as the waterbus moved along; he was dressed in a spring uniform for the school he was supposed to attend, though he wasn't sure which one it was. He only knew it's name: Hanzo Academy.
The voyage was fairly slow though timely; giving him time to absorb what was going on; lots of students- probably from the same school he was there to attend. Because he didn't really know anyone; Sanosuke was wary of engaging anyone but knew well that he would eventually unless he wanted to get lost- which he didn't. He'd push himself off the railing to go look for someone who may know the way to the school, shifting his military-esque rucksack of possessions over his shoulder and winced a bit.
"Hmm? Who's that?" He blinked, hearing someone say that they were glad to be coming home. He thought to approach her but was beaten to it by a girl in a black uniform he didn't recognize. So he'd hang back for a moment; once the girl was gone he'd take a deep breath to steady his nerves and approached the girl in the white and blue uniform. "Excuse me? You said you were from around here?" he asked.
"You heard me too? Oh man..." She blushed, looking embarrassed. "I am. I'm just excited to be back..." she stammered a little.
Sano couldn't help but pause a moment, thinking she was quite pretty. "I imagine so." He finally said before the silence became awkward. "I just transferred to a school here but I don't know where it is. Could you help a guy out?" he asked.
Asuka wasn't sure what to make of this tall, dark-skinned stranger; but he was dressed in an obviously new Hanzo Academy uniform, so her suspicion was that he could be lost. Though she'd been embarrassed to be caught expressing her excitement at being back in her hometown; she was in too good a mood to linger on those feelings. However, she did catch that pause as he looked at her directly like he forgot what he wanted to ask for a moment. It crossed her mind why for a second but the young man caught himself to finish what he was going to say before she could wonder about it.
Her suspicion was right; he was a student that needed a bit of help; and she was happy to provide it.
"Sure! The waterbus is about to dock though so you'll haveta be quick." She smiled.
"Hanzo Academy..." He said, producing the pamphlet he received in the mail a few days ago telling him to get there before the spring semester started.
Asuka took a quick look at the small folded item he displayed for her and nodded. She was a heading there herself and thought it'd be easier to simply show him the way there herself. She wasn't in too much of a rush afterall; it was still early in the day.
"Oh! I'll just show you the way there. I'm heading there myself!" She beamed. "I'm Asuka by the way." she introduced herself cheerfully.
"Sanosuke. Or just Sano for short." He replied,and seemed to relax a little. "And that'd be great. This city is so huge compared to the little town I came from."
Asuka nodded in acknowledgement but had little time to continue as the waterbus was nudging into the dock to discharge its' passengers. "Come on, this way!" she said as she stepped off the boat and turned to jog toward the school.
Once the water transport docked, Asuka would jog off toward the academy; waving to Sano to keep up and she'll show him the way there. Sanosuke could easily keep pace with her- keeping behind her possibly to avoid getting eyeful of her massively bouncy bust.
His thoughts felt confused, and a sense of anxiety was welling up again; he'd gotten over it on the transport but dealing with girls his own age; particularly pretty ones always made him nervous. His exposure to the fairer gender growing up had been, limited, to say the least and he felt ill-prepared for it. He also felt lucky he'd asked her, since she seemed to be a good person.
Brushing the worries away; Sanosuke crossed the gates onto the campus slightly behind Asuka and looked around, blowing out an appreciative whistle. "Man this place is huge." He said. "Thanks for showing me the way here, all those side streets; I'd have gotten lost otherwise."
Once they'd crossed onto school grounds, Asuka pointed up at the main doors of the school. "You go through there to reach the offices. I'd suggest going there first." She said and blinked, hearing his words. "You're welcome! And maybe; the city has alot of side streets and back alleys that can get confusing." she nodded, then caught sight of the main clock affixed to the front of the main building. Crap; she was cutting it close and would have to hurry to make it to class.
Thinking he'd be alright on his own from there, Asuka jumped up into the trees above her head and moved along the branch to hop to the next tree- heading for the "back entrance" of the school for shinobi. She was sure nobody had noticed her ascent but paused in disbelief when she felt someone watching her. How? She'd done the same move dozens of times and not once did anyone notice. Then she saw Sano looking in her direction; he may not have seen her directly but she could see him from behind the foliage. Muttering a bit to herself she kept going, thinking it was just coincidence.
In fact; Sano didn't see her go- he'd been facing the doors of the academy when he heard the faintest rustle of leaves somewhere above him.
But to his keen senses; he could feel her presence in the trees above him and perked a brow at that. That was the same thing his grandfather always liked to do to test Sano's ability to track people, a sort of game of hide and seek; though the old man played it more as predator and prey. Sano just smirked, recognizing what she was doing and watched for a moment before Asuka vanished from sight then turned to head into the building for the office.
However, as he approached the doors- he'd be intercepted by a instructor with silver-grey hair and a black suit; singling him out by name. Sano went to see whom this was and would discover that he wasn't going to attend the school a he thought, instead he was going to attend the shinobi school that was hidden within the academy. This unexpected development confused Sano as to why, but the pieces fell into place as Kiriya explained that he'd been made aware of the transfer long before Sanosuke ever arrived and was there waiting for him.
"The shinobi class consists of 5 young ladies, and today is going to be a lesson on sharpening hand-to-hand techniques. It says here..." Kiriya said, holding up a dossier/file. "..that you excel in that field of combat; so you should already be able to participate. Where did you get instruction?" Kiriya asked as they walked. It was unusual for new students to already possess shinobi-level skill before attending the school but it did happen; particulaly with students from families that practiced those skills.
"My grandfather taught me before he passed away a couple months ago." Sano replied. "He said I'd be able to finish learning what else he was unable to pass along here."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Kiriya offered his condolences. "But he was correct; we can complete the education he wanted to give you. But, you have to be serious about pursuing it- it's a very intense thing you're getting into."
"I'm fine with intense, what grampa taught me could be considered such. I'm fairly sure I'm ready for anything this school can dish out." Sano replied confidently.
"We'll see." Kiriya said and opened a hidden door. "Pass through here and you'll end up in an open room, you can just leave that...' he pointed to Sano's rucksack. "in there and we'll handle your accomodations at the end of the day. Now I have to go check on a few things; go on in and meet your new classmates." Kiriya said and poofed away in a smokebomb that left Sano coughing for a moment.
"Welcome back Asuka, i'm glad you were able to give that guy the slip..." Came the first greeting Asuka received upon entering the open lounge area of the shinobi academy through a trick door that operated in the manner of a revolving door.
"Saw that did you?" Asuka flushed and rubbed the back of her head. "I was just showing him the way to the school. He's a new student." She said; feeling a touch embarrassed.
"Of course I did, you didn't conceal your presence. You know better than to enter through the school' s main gate.." The class president, Ikaruga, replied- but then sighed. At least the reasoning behind the mistake seemed to put her at ease from what Asuka could tell.
"Oh ho! A new student!" Another voice chimed in, but what made Asuka jump was the fact that her classmate was grabbing her large breasts from behind and squeezing them. She flushed in a mix of pleasure and embarrassment and tried to shake her upperclassman off her back.
"Katsu!" She retorted. "Why do you persist in Grabbing mine when you have your own?" Asuka complained and tried to squirm free of Katsuragi's grip.
Just as she managed to get free, the revolving door spun again but this time there was the sound of scattering objects and a thump as another classmate came through. "Oh Hi Asuka! Did you just get back?" Hibari smiled as she got up and started to collect her candy explaining that in her excitement that she'd dropped her supply.
There was a another student in presence but Asuka had yet to sense her; the prodigy Yagyuu, Hibari's self-appointed guardian- whom lightly admonished her charge for being excited over someone else's success when she should be preparing for her own test.
Just at that point, their instructor Kiriya appeared in a blast of smoke; as was his customary method of making an entrance. "It's time for class to begin ladies." He said in a calm tone. He'd then congratulate Asuka on passing her last shinobi test of aptitude but chided her in a playful manner about passing with the lowest possible grade. Though he did encourage her to do better next time, saying he didn't expect her to ace it. Then he'd move on to official business.
"Today you will be sparring with each other to strengthen your hand-to-hand combat skills." Kiriya said. "But." he stopped them from departing to go change into "gym clothes". "First, I want you to meet your newest classmate." He gestured to the screened door behind him.
Sanosuke had been filled in by Kiriya-sensei on his way into the school about the lesson for the day and reminding him to mind his manners; given his classmates were all female. If his anxiety levels had given rise to nervousness before when he was just dealing with Asuka alone in a public place, it was skyrocketing as he listened on the other side of teh partition while Kiriya chided the girl about her grades. It would take more than one or two deep breaths to calm the nerves.
He'd have a sense that it wasn't purely nerves that were causing him to feel stressed; it was something else deep inside- he was actually afraid. Sano was scared to meet 5 young ladies face to face in a private situation like he was in. His upbringing hadn't prepared him adequately to deal with such a thing; leaving him only one tried-and-true method to refocus his fears. He placed a hand over his heart and took a couple deep breaths, dispersing his hesitation.
When Kiriya gestured for him to enter; he pulled the sliding door aside and stepped through.
"Er, Hi..." he managed in a low tone before trying again, flushing slightly at that and went again. "Hello there. I'm Sanosuke Inoue, but you can just call me Sano." he said regaining his confidence.
The five girls glanced at each other, uncertain of this new development but were curious; then a mix of reactions played out. Asuka was surprised but pleased to see that he was actually a shinobi himself and smiled a she greeted him again in a familiar, yet almost playful sort of way. "I'm happy that you were actually here to join us."
Ikaruga, the class president momentarily flushed; as Sano was easily as tall as she was, if a little more before politely introducing herself as well. "I'm the class president, Ikaruga." she said with a small smile.
"Oooo" Katsuragi said, leering in a bit of a lecherous manner. To her; his mildly dark/ruddy skintone, black-as-night hair and pine-green eyes were extremely appealing; not to mention the obvious muscle he had in his arms from what she could see. "So you're the new guy. hiya! I"m Katsuragi; or just Katsu. And you're really good looking." she grinned from ear to ear.
Then there was something going on with Hibari; all of her senses were screaming at her to run, put distance between the two of them. Her keen sense of perception picking up on something that the others didn't see or feel and it terrified her. Whatever it was made he feel small and vulnerable; she took a fearful step back. Though the presence of her friends and Yagyuu were enough to give her the courage to speak. "I'm Hibari" she introduced herself.
Yagyuu, seeing her precious Hibari so shaken by the mere presence of this stranger; was on the defensive and very noticeably put herself between them- her body language defensive even as she spoke up. "Yagyuu." she said curtly.
Before Sano could question what was wrong with Hibari, Katsuragi hooked an arm around his shoulders and leaned in close and whispered. "She's not that good with new people, just give her a little time." she said before being pulled away by Ikaruga.
"Please don't even start with that Katsu..." Ikaruga sighed, misinterpreting her friend's actions.
"Ahem. Now that that's over. All of you get changed and meet me in the training room." Kiriya said before vanishing in a blast of smoke which sent the entire group of them into a coughing fit.
Sanosuke found himself, after some directions from Ikaruga, alone in a changing room; obviously the genders had separate rooms for that activity. He did have a set of gym clothes that'd been provided by the school as well; though he did have the option to wear something similar that was preferable if he wanted. He changed fromt he standard uniform into his own outfit consisting of a tan colored sleeveless shirt and black long pants with low top gym shoes/sneakers.
"That feels better. New uniforms are kind of stuffy..." he muttered as he put them away properly and glanced in a mirror on the wall, his green eyes focusing on the angry red claw wounds on his right shoulder; they hadn't fully healed yet and were likely to scar over. At least it didn't hut anymore, though that'd likely change if one of his classmates decided to strike that point thinking it was weak.
"If it happens it happens." He muttered and pulled the release hatch and hopped in sliding through a chute that would deposit him alongside the others in the gym.
"I think Kiriya-sensei is awesome and all but I wish he'd lay off the smokebombs." Katsuragi said as she and the other girls were in their own changing room preparing for their day's lesson.
"His methods may be old fashioned, but he's a great teacher." Ikaruga replied as she began to strip down to change clothing like the others were.
Asuka just grinned cheerfully. "Every shinobi has their own thing, I guess his is smokebombs" she chimed in. Only to get pounced on by Katsuragi for a serious breast groping again as she questioned what her "schtick" was. Asuka tried to squirm to get her off but Katsuragi was groping her pretty securely. It would take Ikaruga's interruption to really stop the activity and sent them to get to training.
Katsuragi tried to changed the subject to their newest classmate though. "But that new guy. He's really hot isn't he?" she grinned. "What do you think Asuka?" she said, leaning over to tease her friend again but was hands-off this time.
"I don't know what you mean by that!" Asuka blushed, stepping away from Katsu, fearing another groping.
"I don't like or trust him." Yagyuu replied with her characteristic indifferent voice.
"Why?" Asuka asked.
"He frightened Hibari." Yagyuu said shortly, making the girls glance at Hibari for a moment as if wondering her thoughts.
"I don't think he's a bad person, just something about him seems...off and it's scary." She said meekly.
"It's just because he's a guy and as tall as me or Ikaruga." Katsuragi smiled, assuming it was just plain physical intimidation, and missing Hibari's point entirely.
"He was nice to me." Asuka said, wanting to think the best of their new classmate.
"That may be, but we're going to be late, come on." Ikaruga urged them once she opened the hatch that would deposit them in the gym.
"Good, everyone's here." Kiriya said once the girls dropped into the large open room. "Alright, todays' first match will be Katsuragi versus Ikaruga!" Kiriya decided to get them going.
The third years would actually only have a brief exchange before their sensei announced the next match: Asuka versus Yagyuu. Which would be another quick exchange before the next would be announced; except there was a problem still.
"Sanosuke versus Hibari." Kiriya said to make sure everyone got a round.
Hibari, still afraid of that strange feeling she was receiving backed off shaking her head. "Ca-Can I pass Sensei? I'm no good at this..." she fretted, looking for an out.
"I'm afraid not, now begin." he replied.
Sano just sighed, raking his hand through his hair; partially in a resigned or even disappoined tone and to get it out of his face.
Their exchange just as brief almost with Sanosuke looking almost bored; only making half hearted punches at Hibari and simply taking the flailing attacks she launched. They didn't hurt that much since her fear was holding her back when it should've made her try harder to overcome it. It was embarrassing for him and probably to watch as well.
"This is terribly one-sided sensei. Can't one of us take Hibari's place?" Ikaruga asked as Katsuragi was attempting to block Yagyuu from interrupting.
"Are you volunteering?" Kiriya asked, having watched the other matches. "Katsuragi. You can take Hibari's place." He decided, seeing as it'd be a good test of Sano's abilities and was more or less even in terms of skill, neither being at a disadvantage.
Hibari looked relieved when Katsuragi approached and Yagyuu escorted her out of the way. "He's scary Yagyuu.." she whined but seemed to think about it. "He was holding back though; he didn't to to hurt me."
Yagyuu didn't want to believe that and continued to look on with a suspicious gaze.
Once they had room though, the fight was on. Katsuragi excitedly launching the first attack with a flurry of kicks, hoping to be too fast to dodge. She was actually; but Sanosuke simply accepted the hits and returned the favor when he felt it was the right time by catching one of her kicks.
"Wha?!" Katsuragi acked. "Whoa!"
He'd grabbed her by the leg and spun her like a top with her other leg at the pivot point so for a second she was facing away from him. Luckily for her reflexes she narrowly dodged a reciprocal kick aimed at her butt since he knew it wouldn't as much as one straight to the back. She'd avoided it by hopping forward since she coudln't get her footing; but isntead of pullin back, Sano followed through by stepping down and advancing with a clothesline that caught Katsu just as she turned around to regain her balance. The momentum making them both take a tumble and the pressure across her tits made Katsuragi blush hard for a second.
She tried to turn it around by rolling onto her side for a sweeping kick at his that connected and sent him tumbling away from her. But in a tight roll he'd spring to his feet again as she recovered hers but was still dizzy from being spun around so quickly earlier. So instead of continuing he walked over and helped steady her by holding her arm.
The only time he didn't feel nervous around girls was on the battlefield; in combat his adrenaline and way of thinking blotted out all anxiety or fear.
"Probably better if you sit down ya mule." he laughed at her, complimenting her kicking power.
"If you wanted to grope me you could've just asked." Katsu grinned back but still blushed a bit.
"Oh brother." Ikaruga sighed from nearby, she didn't want to see Katsuragi get all perverted on their new classmate so soon.
Sano's nerves caught up to him as the adrenaline high ran its course making him go a bit more quiet and even a little withdrawn as the training continued. Unless he was out on the floor to train himself.
Afterward, the students would all return to their changing rooms to get back into their normal uniforms and were given a short break to cool off. That and it was almost lunch time as well, so the six of them were all in the large open room that served as the main lecture room for less physical lessons.
"I can't believe I kicked your ass." Katsuragi grinned at Ikaruga, whom shifted uncomfortably about it.
"Only because I couldn't use my sword." The class pres retorted in a slightly salty tone.
While that went on, Sanosuke was toward the back of the room near the wall still unsure of just what to do or say; so he contented himself by watching and listening. Maybe he could get over his anxieties if he learned more about them; but eventually that wouldn't work and he knew he'd have to interact socially someday. Another factor was teh fact they were all so buxom and attractive; it made him terribly uncomfortable to be around them for fear of an embarrassing "reaction' to it.
Though once the conversation turned to 'what to do for lunch', his attention shifted to a more participatory role and he got up to move closer to join in. He had no clue what do for it and the idea of jerky or mundane protein bar seemed bland almost. Sano wanted to try something new; having primarily been a carnivore before then. "I don't care as long as it's not jerky or BBQ" he quipped.
"Oh man BBQ sounds good!" Katsuragi beamed.
"But it's expensive." Ikaruga muttered, though the concept appealed to her too as long as it wasn't from a "fast food" place.
"No worries ladies." Asuka smiled as she stood up. "I have just the thing." she said and set out a box that contained something that made the other girls perk up and lean in closer.
Futomaki rolls. That was new to Sanosuke; he'd never even heard of such a thing but it seemed like everyone there was a big fan of it. And as he'd find out; Kiriya-sensei was too as he'd get one too after smokebombing into the room and finding out about it. It was a little much for Sano and he backed off again, not wanting to interrupt them and would just go without until later.
Once Kiriya took one of the rolls to eat, Asuka was about to close the box when she noticed Sano looking a bit... miserable. He hadn't been too social since he got there; but it'd not been a big thing; at least to Asuka's perspective. At first she thought he was still a bit overwhelmed by being suddenly tossed into the shinobi world and the environment of the school. Meeting his gaze; she saw it in his deep green eyes- that fear. He was afraid of them; it went beyond normal nervousness. She sensed a sort of inner torment; like someone being caught between conflicting desires.
She'd grab the last futomaki roll and got up and went over to him. "Hey...you don't have to stay so distant." she smiled, trying to make him feel better. "Nobody here's going to bite." she said in a slightly silly tone. "Here, come on." Asuka said holding out the roll as if it were a peace offering.
The other girls, even Kiriya noticed what was going on and merely watched. Asuka was always the first to sense something wrong or upsetting someone and would act on it.
"!" Sano blinked up at Asuka as she offered the futomaki roll to him. He had been scared, scared they'd reject him; to be turned away when he really did want to be part of the group. For a moment, the defense of apathy cracked a little as he got up and accepted it from her. "Thanks Asuka." he finally said, the crack in the armor taking the form of a sort of relieved smile.
She blushed in response for reasons she didn't quite get; but that one real smile was the cause. "You're welcome!" she beamed and practically drug him over to sit with the rest of the group.
"Wow..." Katsu and Ikaruga blinked, then started to flush a little at the same expression but shook it off just as quickly.
"Come on, Tell us about yourself!" Katsuragi smiled, trying to prod him to share a bit about himself; echoing what the others other than Yagyuu were probably thinking- they wanted to know more.
Sano backed off at that, still nomming on the futomaki roll Asuka had given him; his eyes narrowed a little at Katsuragi's demand before growing distant as he remembered something, words of his grandfather.
'Boy, you've got a fighting spirit; but you're too easily cowed by other people. Ye shouldn't let them intimidate you, especially if they have friendly intentions. In that situation; don't be afraid to speak your thoughts. No man is an island.'
"Well what would you like to know?" He replied, that slight shake in his voice and the subtly defensive posture he adopted told them that he still felt nervous about all of this. But it was better than the edge of fear he bad before.
"What grade you're in and how accomplished you are at being a shinobi." Ikaruga cut in; heading off the possibly embarrassing question Katsuragi was going to suggest or ask. Ikaruga wanted to know his approximate skill so that she could serve as a mentor or tutor if she needed to.
"Wow Ikaruga. Maybe just one at a time." Asuka fretted a little.
"No it's fine." Sano said, forcing himself to be calm about it to keep his thoughts from flying apart. "In high school 2nd year." He said. "As a shinobi I don't know I never took any sort of formal test to decide that. But I'm pretty good at hand-to-hand combat and tracking skills." He said, feeling proud of himself at that; though it occured to him that any of these girls probalby could too.
Asuka brightened again. "So we're in the same grade then." She said and thought about that- it also meant that they were likely to be paired together alot for training since they were about on the same experience level. But his physical ability outstripped hers in terms of pure toughness but she had a feeling she was way faster if she had to be. She'd seen him take Katsuragi's kicks without flinching away from them though the way he moved at that moment seemed like he was forming bruises which kind of made her worry a little.
"I see." Ikaruga replied, rubbing her chin a little and glanced to their sensei. "Sensei, does this mean he'll have to take the same tests we did to gauge ability?"
Kiriya looked over and nodded. "mmmhmm" he finished his bite of sushi. "He'll be doing it this afternoon, in the meantime I have something for you girls to do so don't worry." He said allowing them to have this period to interact, knowing that it'd be a better idea than waiting.
"Where are you from?" Katsuragi asked after a bit, considering that her more lecherous questions would be better to ask later when they would provoke more of a response.
"A small town nestled up against some mountains a few days travel from this city." Sano replied. "Not alot of people there but it was comfortable enough; at least until grampa passed away and I had to leave." He then looked faintly down for a moment before perking back up.
"Oh..." Katsu said, feeling a little bad for a second thinking she'd brought up bad memories. But his reassuring smirk at her erased those thoughts and made her grin again too.
They'd go back and forth for a bit more before Kiriya said that tthey had something to do that afternoon. The girls would be dispatched on a mission outside of the school to deal with the punks in the shopping district while Sano would be escorted to the training area to run through the ability tests that Kiriya had prepared for him.
While the girls went out to handle the punks in the shopping district, Sanosuke would remain behind with Kiriya; standing on a wide mountain path with the instructor standing at the base of a somewhat steep but within clear earshot. "So I just have to get through all this?" Sano asked, noticing the amount of wires strung across the path as well as the subtle bumps in the path which indicated to him that there was likely something buried there. His educated guess would be mines; his grandfather would do something similar except with trip wires in a forested setting.
"That's right. All you have to do is get across here taking as little damage as possible." Kiriya responded. Though from what he saw in the training earlier, this student was likely to fail that part of it and simply absorb the incoming "attacks". But students were sometimes unpredictable, even for an experienced instructor like himself, and he was watching his new student; seeing that look of waryness. He knew Sano was studying the terrain for the clues to what was there and turned away a little to conceal a knowing smirk- just because you could see some hints, you couldn't predict all of the dangers. "Alright, whenever you're ready; just remember you're being timed. Starting NOW" he shouted as a cue to begin
Right! Sano thought and lunged forward to start running through the course, hopping over then ducking under the first two tripwires, then spun profile to the incoming shuriken; sensing their trajectory as they entered the range of his hearing. But then threw himself to the side and pulled into a tight roll to narrowly avoid a blast triggered by one of the kunai slicing through a tripwire to detonate a mine. Then he'd catch one of the next volley and snapped it ahead of himself to trigger the next mine that set up a thuderous dustcloud of debris that Sano would pass on the side opposite to Kiriya and kept going.
Kiriya perked a brow at that and privately though it clever to trigger a mine then use the spray of loose debris and the blast force to deflect the next volley of shuriken and kunai. He'd make a note of it in the file he was holding and using to record the progress and any notes he had.
Seeing as the next area had the mine set up in a way that if one was triggered, they'd all explode sequentially, Sano used one of the kunai he had and snapping it at a mine he just hopped over and as it exploded; used the force of it to catapult him through the air and over a mess of tripwires and grabbed onto the rockwall on the far side of the mountain path. "Phew" he said then laughed, "I did't think that'd actually work." He said then acked and reflexively threw himself off to avoid more projectiles and narrowly set off a mess of mines.
He'd actually trip the nest of them but had enough forward momentum and a good sense of his surroundings to run toward the mountain wall again and used the inertia of his motion to run along the wall of it. Right at the end, Kiriya wanted to up the risk a bit by manually setting off the final set of mines; but hesitated as the rush of memories about Rin came back; staying his hand. Sano would vault over the last bit but tucked into a forward roll as he didn't make enough distance in his jump to bypass them entirely and set off the mines himself but rolled through it with minor injuries; cuts and bruises.
"Phew! Wow... that was a crazy test." He blinked, looking over the mountain path he'd crossed. "Hey Kiriya-sensei! Did everyone have to do this?" he shouted from higher up at the finish line.
"Yes they did. But you did very well; are you ready for your next test?" the sensei called up in response; making another note on his file page as well as other marks on it.
"Of course I am!" Sano said, carefully sliding down the embankment to join his sensei by keepig his weight back and lowered to avoid a nasty tumble. "What's next?"
The next test would be to gauge the student's ability to control their "paranormal or supernatural energy" or just "chi/ki". Far less physically active but just as strenuous if one wasn't prepared or unable to fully manifest it. It was at this point where Sanosuke stumbled; being unable to fully call up his chi; all he'd produce was a hazy aura of red/purple limned darkness. He tried it a couple more times to get a better feel about it but was unable to do much at all beyond a novice; which Kiriya noted in his file.
"Don't strain yourself, part of being a shinobi is knowing your limits. If you can't do it now don't push youself." Kiriya reminded his student, concerned due to the stress Sanosuke was displaying. He could tell the young man wanted to do it but was having problems calling up the energy necessary; but perhaps if he had something to focus on it'd be easier? "You've heard of the shinobi transformation skill haven't you?" He asked as Sano took a breather.
"Grampa told me about something like that; isn't it like producing an outfit that reflects your mental state in combat?" Sano asked, looking up.
"It is. Try to perform that; having something to focus on might help. Right now, you're simply trying to force out as much as you can and still trying to hold yourself back for some reason. What're you scared of?"
"I am?" Sanosuke asked, confused by the statementn but nodded. "I'll try it." He'd grab a deep breath and focused on that concept. In a shimmering effect of the focused ki; his clothing would then change upon the completion of the 'art'.
"Well, that's unexpected... " KIriya replied upon seeing it, with a raised brow. "But nonetheless; you did very well, go ahead and change back. You're done for the day." the instructor smiled a little. "If you want, you can try to catch up with the girls in the shopping district- they'd probably be thankful for a little extra help."
"I'll do just that then!" Sano grinned, still all pumped up from his activities and feeling full of energy for the time being. He'd then head off for the city to go catch up to his classmates.
Kiriya, too, started back toward the school; reading over his notes and grades. "His grandfather taught him well, I'm surprised he's so skilled despite claiming he doesn't know much about being a shinobi. Maybe as he was trained, the word was never mentioned?" The instructor mused.
(End of part 1)
Hobbies? Gain shinobi skill?