One hot day

Iku stared at Seresana from the moment she settled down, from her walk back, to the time when she picked back up her bow, and knocked an arrow into the string. The young Uchiha girl stood ready; prepared for another round of training. Her arm did have a stinging sensation, but that was just the medicine at work on the cut. Iku lived on her own, and frequently did harsh training sessions. She had learned long ago to make a simple medicinal poultice. She had needed it, seeing as she had had no one else to aid her in times of injury. It wasn't as potent as perhaps it could have been. Or even just visiting the hospital or something, but Iku made due; resourceful as she was.

Standing there, another arrow was loosed. This time Iku was not going to get hurt, and was going to show just how inferior a bow and arrow actually was. Quickly, she flipped and kicked with her heel the first arrow aside. It snapped, as it was made flimsily. Iku paid no mind, assuming Seresana would be fine with that, and would deal with a broken arrow. For the second arrow that was released, not long after the first, Iku whipped out a kunai, and deflected it easily. The third arrow was also deflected, with a simple 'chink' from a quick movement that had followed almost seamlessly from her first two movements. Haughtily, Iku stood there, cloak ripped on her left side, now wrapped around her exposed slender, pale arm, holding in each hand two kunai; looking ever prepared at Seresana, daring her to continue.

{271 words}

Seresana was still hesitant, obviously still a little upset that she'd hurt Iku, but the Uchiha girl stood there at the ready and was obviously still wanting more. And so Seresana obliged by drawing out yet another arrow, though it took a second attempt for her hand to find the projectile and when she looked to her little hand-made quiver, she was a little surprised to already find it only holding a couple other arrows. "Huh, guess I hadn't made as many as I thought. Looks like I've got 4 more after this one and then we'll have to take a moment to gather them back up. Though we'll be at least one short since Iku broke that one, and there will be no telling how many others have broke or just won't be able to be found until we actually go about trying to gather them all back up. And I'll have to probably spend another day or two remaking the lost arrows as well as finishing these ones," Seresana thought to herself as she slowly drew back the arrow.

"Alright, back to the matter at hand. I've got four shots for this flurry including the one that's ready and Iku's always wanting a challenge," Seresana went on as she took her time to aim up the shot a bit more precisely than the others. The bow shifted, ever so slightly, but it would be hard to tell if that was from a wavering hand from when she was upset, or if she was shifting her target. It wasn't long though before she seemed to have found her target and released the first arrow, aimed low and at Iku's stomach. That arrow barely had time to leave the bow before the next arrow was drawn and knocked to the string. It's aim was adjusted slightly to follow after Iku should she try to move out of the way and aimed a little higher so that it would sail toward's the center of Iku's chest. The next arrow was drawn just a little less quickly, but still readied and shot before the prior one could reach Iku, though it was aimed up, in a high arching shot that after a moment spent following it's path, one could see that it would descend right upon Iku's position as that shot was aimed. Then the fourth arrow was drawn, knocked, pulled back and shot at Iku's stomach like the first, though it had the benefit of having the arching shot to hide it. "Hopefully that'll prove to be a little bit of a challenge, a nice finish before a quick break, Seresana thought to herself as she watched to see how Iku would handle this barrage of four arrows.

Words Count: 457
Total: 9364

Iku stood waiting for the arrows to be fired. It took a moment longer than the Uchiha girl had anticipated. It seemed Seresana was stuck in an internal monologue. Which only served to annoy Iku. People's troubles and worries were not Iku's business, and she wished they would leave those behind them if they were to converse with Iku. Obviously this would not be the case, and Iku would instead have to be irritated.

As the arrow flew directly towards her midsection, the small girl brought both kunai down to block. The arrow bounced off the metallic surface, and as it bounced into the air, Iku quickly swiped both kunai through the stick, cutting it into three pieces. The follow up arrows were quick. Just as Iku had wanted them to be. She rolled forward, and two passed right over her head. She found her feet, and barely had time to block the last shot. It barely deflected off to the side, and sunk square into the stump to Iku's back-right.

Iku stood up, breathing heavily. That last bout of arrows was quite intense, and it had happened so quickly. In truth, Iku rather enjoyed that. She felt quite pleased with herself, despite the single wound she had acquired.

{207 words}

While Iku may have wanted the barrage to continue, and while Seresana may have wanted to oblige, the simple fact of the matter that there were no more arrows left in her quiver served to ensure an at least temporary pause in this training method. Slipping an arm through the space between the string and the wood of the weapon, Seresana began to walk towards Iku, or more pointedly, towards the arrows that were around her. "That was pretty good Iku, are you wanting to keep at this?" she asked while getting to work at collecting up what arrows she could recover. She rather quickly found the three Iku'd dealt with in the last flurry, and only paused for a moment when her gaze came to rest on the one she'd decided to destroy. "She didn't have to do that, she'd already managed to deflect the arrow, or maybe that's a hint towards wanting to stop," Seresana mused to herself as she moved on to pick up the other arrows.

"Or we could stop for now and try something else," Seresana added as she bent over to pick up another arrow that Iku'd deflected off to the side. Then she came across the one that had managed to not only hit Iku, but also draw blood and she found herself cringing at the sight of it on the end of the stick. Still in a bit of disbelief that she'd managed to do that with a headless arrow, Seresana slowly stored that arrow in the quiver along with the others she'd managed to gather back up, totaling five for the moment. Just looking about, Seresana could see another 6 arrows, and moved to collect them. Two managed to land in bushes, another three were just laying or implanted into the ground, and then a final one had somehow managed to get stuck up in a tree branch, and Seresana had to jump to collect it, but it was with a minimal amount of effort as the branch wasn't that high off the ground, just really high enough to be out of Seresana's reach when she was just standing upon the ground. Then Seresana would begin the trek back to where she'd been shooting from, all the while awaiting a reply from Iku so she'd know if she was to take off the bow and quiver and store them for use on a later day, or if she were to draw the next arrow and begin the training session anew.

Word Count: 418
Total: 9782

Iku observed Seresana going around picking up her arrows. It appeared that she picked up a few more than she fired. Probably left over arrows from Seresana's earlier practices. When she found the one that was stained with red. Red that was still slightly wet. Iku rubbed the side of her arm, realizing that there was some pain there. Her medication was not the best. She knew very little of medicinal things. She'd have to deal with her mild injury later at home. She would have to properly clean it, and properly tend to it. She did not want her arm to get infected by a dirty stick. Iku did not know that Seresana was disappointed at the broken arrows. Not once did the Uchiha girl ever consider she shouldn't break the arrows. She just followed through on her own movements. She figured it would be completely fine to break them, whenever she wanted to basically.

"I appreciate this session of training... It was informative," Iku responded, as Seresana came back over, after pulling the arrow from the branch. "I see I still need even more training. I did not expect to get hit." She absently rubbed her arm at the mention of it. Red could be seen staining the white of the tied cloak around her arm. "I think we can stop for now. But I would like to try to shoot the bow. It has me interested." This was Iku's way of asking nicely to use the bow.

{249 words}

"Oh uh, sure," Seresana commented as she held out the weapon for Iku to take, and drew out an arrow, notably not the one that sported some of Iku's blood. No, this arrow was just like the majority of her arrows, and it too was handed over to Iku. The weapon itself was rough, barely even able to qualify as a training tool, but training bows weren't exactly sold at the market, so this might as well have been the next best thing. The smoothed handle had undergone a bit of knife work to remove some of the rougher bark and create something at least slightly more comfortable to hold, that is before the wrap of leather had been fastened around it to not only serve as a more appropriate handle, but also to give a small shelf for the arrows to more properly rest on. The rest of the bow however showed no such amount of extra care given to it, as the limbs still sported their thin layers of bark, or at least in the places where the wood didn't bend as much or as often. The string however wasn't like the rest of the weapon. It was a strong piece, well made and out of decent material that proved it would hold up under greater stress than the current bow could even hope to provide. The arrow that Seresana handed over however was more similar to the bow itself than the string. It's crude wooden shaft was only mostly straight, and still had a few rough spot's along it, though the fletching feathers at the end were fairly nice, well attached, and showed only a minimal amount of damage despite being shot.

"If you ne-" Seresana started, but then thought about how Iku was and thought differently as she bit off the statement and decided to just try a different approach. "Why don't you just try to hit my target over on the stump. It might be a little messed up, but it'll work for now, though I've got to get a new one up there sometime soon," Seresana said with a point towards the mentioned stump and paper target upon it that as was noted previously, sported many holes about it. A clear indication that Seresana had spent quite some time out here shooting, likely for hours on end.

Word Count: 393
Total: 10175

Iku took the piece of stick that this Seresana girl claimed was a bow. Then she retrieved the arrow that was handed to her. Listening to Seresana, Iku walked a distance away; back to around where Seresana had stood.

The Uchiha girl had never held a bow before, so she wasn't exactly sure if her stance was correct. Still, she held the haft of the bow at its center, took a wide stance with her legs, and held her arm out. Taking the arrow, she placed it above her thumb, and against the string, and began to pull back. For a moment she paused, realizing a mistake. Taking the time to fix it, she ripped off a part of her already-torn cloak, and wrapped it around her forearm. This was the same arm that had been cut by an arrow previously. So now she had two wrappings around her left arm. Though the second wrapping was for protection from the string. After reprising her stance, she pulled back the string, and aimed. Admittedly, Iku had no idea what she was doing. Yet she still aimed, and fired, releasing the string with the arrow knocked.

Surprisingly, the arrow flew and sunk into the right-hand side of the paper target on the stump. Iku, slightly shocked, turned to Seresana. "Beginner's luck," she announced, before reaching for a second arrow. After it was handed to her, she fired again. This time a sharp pain went through her arm, and the arrow flew way left-field, into the bushes at the edge of the clearing. Lowering the bow, Iku glanced at Seresana. "That's more what I expected."

{270 words}

Seresana watched curiously as the first shot managed to hit the stump, and then cringed sharply when the string clipped Iku on the second one. She quickly moved to Iku's side to take a glance at the wound, not even seeming to care about the arrow for the moment. "It does take some practice to get the hang of, and then when you get to a more powerful bow, it changes a little," Seresana started but then glanced towards the wrapped arm. "And I know about that experience all to well myself," Seresana said as she lifted her own left arm. The limb had been coated in bandages running from the palm all the way up to the point where the short sleeve from her shirt covered it. While Seresana had always worn the bandages, the reason for them was finally revealed. "I'd be glad if I were you though that it only happened with this weaker bow. I remember the first time the string caught me when I tried shooting my dad's proper hunting bow. It about took the skin off completely, even with the bandages," Seresana admitted with a light smile, choosing to treat such a painful memory as something to chuckle about now that it was well past her. "Course that was also when I was first learning how to shoot too."

"Do you want to try some more shooting, or would you want to try something else?" Seresana asked but right after, she looked to what parts of the sky she could see through the trees. She noted how the blue color was just starting to darken, and when she looked towards the horizon, she could see just the faintest bits of the setting sun's colors. They were also a little way out of the village since Seresana's own home was already outside the proper village itself. "Or do you need to start heading home soon," Seresana asked, sounding a little down.

Word Count: 325
Total: 10500

Iku handed the bow back, and rubbed her sore arm. She would definitely need to attend to her arm before she attempted any more extensive training with it. While she was focused on it, she hardly listened to Seresana at all. With a quick glance overhead, it was obvious time was quickly disappearing, as the sun disappeared beyond the treeline. They honestly, should probably call it, and head to their homes.

She turned to Seresana, only realizing that she was speaking. "No, I think we should probably call it. I just wanted to try using a bow. I have concluded it is most likely not for me," she stated simply, informing Seresana. The bow string snapping against her arm wasn't the most pleasant experience. She'd rather use a weapon that didn't debilitate herself when used. Still feeling the pain through her arm, she turned to go. "We had a good day of training," Iku went on, stepping towards the path that lead back the way they had came. "Honestly, I did not expect today to end like it did. I figured my day would be training alone as usual. It was very nice to share a day of training with another... - I suppose."

{203 words}

"Hehe, I had fun today too Iku," Seresana replied with a little smile and chuckle as well while she accepted the bow back. Seresana quickly ran over to collect up the two arrows that Iku had shot. The first one was easy enough as it was still sticking out of the stump, but the second arrow took a bit more effort as she pulled it from the underbrush after a few moments of digging and searching. When both arrows were once more in her quiver, Seresana turned back to Iku and grinned again. "If you want, we could pla- err I mean train again some other day," Seresana said, catching herself on one of the words that would likely make the difference between whether Iku chose to take up the offer or not.

When it came to departing though, Seresana pointed Iku in a different direction as the way they had come to reach this clearing had come from Seresana's house, not the village. "If you're wanting to get back to the village, go straight that way. It's not too far to reach the main road, and that route is much quicker than going back the way we came," Seresana explained while she turned back to the way they'd come and in turn, her own home. With another wave, Seresana bid goodbye to Iku and began to wander off into the woods, pausing long enough to make sure Iku had a chance to bid her goodbyes if she had any.

Word Count: 250
Total: 10750
(Thread exit/end on my part)

Iku's brow momentarily furled, as Seresana just hinted at them childishly having 'fun'. After she had gathered the last couple arrows, she went on to hint that they had 'played'. Which was basically insulting to Iku. She seemed to correct herself on that at the end, balancing out Iku's emotions on the overall day's going-on's. With a nod, she answered simply, as they began walking away from the clearing, her brow sleek with sweat from the heat of the day, they had spent training. "I suppose so. If a day presents itself to train together, there is probably not a reason to not do so." If there was a reason to not train with Seresana, Iku currently did not know it.

Iku's ears were assaulted, with yet more insulting words, from the other girl. After a single abrupt step, she turned towards Seresana, with a glare. "You have been rather condescending on this manner the entire time. You seem to think I have never stepped foot in the forest. I know where I am, and how to return to where I wish to return to. Iku Uchiha does not need to be lead around like a dog on a leash." Besides, she wasn't headed into the center of town. She was headed to the Uchiha side of town, which to her left currently. With that sour bit of words, Iku waved once, and departed from Seresana, the companion she had spent a day's training with. Her foot falls were heavy, and her arm ached, as she headed back to her single shack in the Uchiha compound. Weary, she was ready to reach home and tend to her fatigue.

{277 words}
total words: 8750
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