Itachi steadily walked towards the training fields, intending to sharpen up his basic ninjutsu after a three month ANBU mission in the Land of Water. Of course his team was successful , but the stagnation in training in favour of secrecy had him itching to ensure his skills were up to par.
Walking up to a clearing in the forest landscape usually reserved for his team, he belatedly realized that there was someone there already.
A genin. He observed, already noting the lack of wear and tear on the standard issue shoes. And a fresh graduate at that. Itachi was certain that this particular ninja had graduated from the academy during his three month absence. All the older ones were sufficiently warned to stay away from this area after the last batch attempted to train here.
The kunoichi wasn't half-bad, all things considered. She attacked the wooden posts with an unexpected ferociousness, despite her slim stature and age. After releasing a volley of kunai towards her targets while in mid-air, she looped ninja wire around the posts using her shurikens to help guide her air-born trajectory. Landing deftly on a strand before jumping onto another one, she rapidly traversed the field, hitting each target at least twice, never once touching the ground.
However, she had failed to sense an approaching party, him mainly, which would be dangerous on a mission when enemies could sneak up without warning. Furthermore, she was tiring fast, and at the rate she was continuing at she would injure herself soon. A ninja was no good to the team if they didn't know their own limits.
Crossing the wire fence into the field, Itachi was just about to point out the kunoichi's shortcomings when her eyes snapped over to meet his gaze, and she grabbed a wire with a gloved hand, using it as leverage to launch herself out of his sight of vision. Was this rookie seriously trying to challenging him by disappearing?
Itachi looked up. Genin were predictable after all, and if they didn't approach head-on, they usually attacked from above. Sure enough, she was soaring towards him at a breathtaking pace and he braced himself to disarm and immobilize her. It wouldn't do to accidentally injure a new genin in a prolonged scuffle, after all.
Unexpectedly, the raven-haired girl performed a graceful flip, landing on the ground behind him with her back facing his.
"I'll be finished in a second." she murmured as evenly as she could while catching her breath. True to her word, a moment later she had tugged on the ends of the ninja wire, removing her tools and weapons of choice from the training grounds, leaving it clean for him to begin his practice.
Without another sound, she began striding silently back towards the village. Itachi watched her leave, mildly irked at himself. He had wasted all this time watching a new fighter without even learning her identity.
He would have to rectify that soon.