One hot day

The sun pelted down from overhead, heating the day well past the point of just comfortable warmth and well into the status of hot. A decent wind kept the air moving in a direction, but offered little respite from the sweltering sunlight with the humidity it carried. It'd been raining a couple days ago, and the air was heavy with moisture, making everything feel a little sluggish and hard to move about in. Scattered clouds, a lingering remnant of the past storms, lazily drifted through the skies. These clouds offered the greatest break from the unforgiving sun in the form of veritable islands of shade that slowly drifted across the ground.

"Why's it have to be so hot?" Seresana complained as she walked along a path in the forest surrounding the village. Her usual clothes tried to cling to her as she walked. Her black pants were baggy and hung about her loosely aside from at the waist where they came together in a bundle. The numerous ties that usually held parts of the garment tight against her were undone as to be deemed too hot on such a sunny day. The same could be said about her shit, which also hung loosely about her frame with the bands no there to hold it tightly against her. Even the bandages she usually wore on her left arm were missing, though the signs of their presence were still prevalent as that arm was just a couple shades lighter than her other arm that hadn't had to deal with being constantly covered. Even her hair was pulled up and tied back to keep the short strands off her neck and cut down on the heat she'd had to deal with.

Despite her complaints though, the young girl with her bright green eyes seemed to be in a good mood as she walked along the path. In her hands, a simple fishing pole was held, the string tied loosely around the length of the tool and a small tackle box was held in the other hand. A small pack rested on her back as she walked, bobbing slightly with every step she took on her way. The simple looking satchel showed obvious signs of holding several things, but wasn't packed to the point of bulging. Seresana was humming as she walked, clearly still excited for what she was going to do despite the residual heat of the day. "Oh I hope the stream's not too flooded from all the rain," she said to herself since she didn't expect anyone to be within earshot to reply. She was walking fairly quickly, but not certainly not running or rushing forward, too hot for that in her mind.

Word Count: 450

The rain had come and gone, much to Iku's dismay. Though you wouldn't know it. The plain girl's face was as noncommittal as always. At least a day like today, could be used for something like training. There was a time and place to train in rain, for sure, as ninja often went about their business in heavy weather, to easier mask their presence. However, the past few days had been filled with a little less training, than Iku wanted to admit. So instead, she just a sweltering hot day to get some in. With arms splayed out behind her, she ran through the forest, trees, and leaves, already dried from the hot sun overhead.

Iku's outfit was the usual one. A mesh shirt, beneath her evocative white, Uchiha cloak, that flowed out behind her as she ran; the only piece of warm clothing that Iku usually wore. Tied at her waist with a thick, purple sash, her shirt and cloak forming a 'skirt' beneath the belt, she wore that kept her cloak on. Her normal black leggings ending just above the knee, allowing for quick, ample movements of her legs. Speed, and agility, which were her prime attributes. Even in the cold of the rain, as the past couple days, this was her usual outfit. Iku was seemingly un-bothered by such things like cold and heat. In truth she was. She used her discomfort as a form of training in of itself. To harden herself. As she ran through the forest, she felt some amount of joy. Not a common feeling for the young, teen Uchiha girl. She could feel herself growing steadily stronger. Not just in aptitude, but in bodily structure. Sure, it wasn't up to the standards she wished, but she was slowly getting there, all the same. And that, in of itself, was a small victory; that Iku relished.

So, a small grin appeared on her otherwise, stoic face, while she moved quickly through the trees, and undergrowth, her lengthy midnight-coloured hair flying behind her as she ran. Out of the corner of her eyes she spotted something. Or someone. A person, walking the path nearby. Words of annoyance reached Iku's ears, followed by something about a stream. Somewhat interested, Iku corrected her path, and ran towards the figure who's soft, young voice reached her. It didn't take long for her to catch up to the person, and suddenly, Iku revealed herself from the forest, falling in step behind the other person. A young girl it seemed. Someone of Academy age. Someone who appeared even slightly younger than herself. Though they were roughly the same size. She appeared to be carrying a... fishing pole? That wasn't expected. A spark of mild curiosity ran through Iku, and without warning, she decided to speak up. Her voice simple, plain, and boring, revealing nothing aside from the words spoken.

"You're going fishing? How odd."

{482 words}

"Huh?" Seresana replied at first with a little jump at the unexpected appearance of the other girl, and one she recognized fairly quickly. "Oh, hi Iku," Seresana responded happily as she turned to keep walking. "Yeah, I was going to go fishing, my dad said it was a good day for it," Seresana replied with a grin on her face as she walked. "I might also go for a swim with it being so hot out," she went on while tilting her head slightly in thought and while glancing towards the sky, or more specifically the merciless sun overhead. "Do you want to come along and go fishing too? I don't have an extra pole, but I bet we could find you a suitable stick and I've got enough spare line and hooks to use," Seresana added happily with a wide grin. "I hadn't actually planned on anyone showing up, but fishing can be a lot less boring when it's more than just yourself. And the best part, we can always eat what we catch!" Seresana added the last part with an extra large grin as she paused in her stride to look back and hear Iku's reaction. Seresana's bright green emerald eyes remained on Iku's as she waited for a reply.

In truth, she hadn't seen much of Iku, and only knew she was in the same class, but that wasn't about to stop her from seeking some company on the otherwise almost lonely trip. Seresana also had no clue if Iku had ever fished before, or liked to swim for that matter. Still though, the path before them continued on for a ways, and the river was still out of sight for the moment, though anyone who knew the area knew that a small stream wasn't too far away from where Iku and Seresana were currently standing. Just around a couple bends in the path that'd lead them around a couple hills and they'd be at the stream.

Word Count: 329
Total: 779

Iku blinked, and tilted her head as well as this person mentioned her name. With another blank blink of her deep midnight eyes, the Uchiha girl spoke, as bland as before. "You know who I am? I admit, I have no clue who you are." She spoke in a hard monotone, almost as if she were meaning to hurt the other person's feelings, but her blank stare refuted her almost-ill intent, as if she were being sincere. Which the girl was. She sincerely didn't know this person, but she probably could have been a little nicer in her speech. Well, any other person might be nicer. Iku didn't concern herself with such things.

Quickly, the Uchiha girl noticed this girl was a talker. One who ran her mouth a lot. Those types grated on Iku. She was not fond of people constantly speaking. For now, she would quash her reservation in a more respectful manner. As they walked along the path, with Iku slightly behind the other girl, she was given an offer. To... fish. Not really an interest of Iku. "Perhaps swimming could be useful," she mused. She also kept her mouth mostly shut, not really mentioning anything about fishing. "I suppose this could be a learning experience." She found her deep blue eyes locking with this person's as she craned her neck to look back at Iku. "If it's boring, why would you do it?" she asked, completely ignoring the fact that this person mentioned her father in a loving way. That type of thing flew right over Iku's head, who did not care much for family, or even relationships in general. All the while, as they walked along, Iku wondered how fishing could be even remotely useful. She supposed that getting something to eat would be nice. Iku had to get her own food. She had been living on her own for quite awhile, and food was always an issue. "I suppose..." she answered finally, in a very short, curt breath. Even her answer was rather unfocused.

{339 words}

"Great!" Seresana replied cheerfully as she continued to lead the way towards the stream. Though Seresana continued to respond to Iku's other comments as well while they walked. "And why wouldn't I know you, we go to the same academy," Seresana commented back to Iku in response to the first statement. "Though I'm getting kind of used to others not noticing me," she said with a kind of awkward smile and a shrug before her expression took on a more genuine and regular smile. "My name's Seresana Hatasuko, but you can call me Sere if you want," she added with another little grin flashed Iku's way.

"I do it because I want to," Seresana responded simply after a moment of thought. "And I guess fishing is only boring until you start catching fish, then it get's exciting really quickly. Like this one time I went fishing with my dad, and we were barely catching anything, the fish just weren't biting at all and we were about to pack up for the day. Then all of a sudden, dad's line went taunt and the pole was nearly pulled into the water before he could get a hold of it, and when he did, he was nearly pulled in too," Seresana paused in her story to chuckle a little at the happy memory. "We never did get to see that fish, the line snapped before we could reel it in, but it sure made the day a lot more fun when it happened," Seresana concluded her little tale.

"And that's what it's meant to be, it's meant to be fun more than anything else," Seresana added at the end of her story. After a bit more walking, and around the last bend in the path, the bridge leading over the stream came into view and with it, Seresana gave a little jump for joy. "Oh yay, we're here! C'mon Iku," she cried before picking up the pace a little and jogging over to the stream. She hung to the right side, down stream of the bridge and rushed right over to the edge of the bank before depositing her gear. The backpack was deposited with little grace, and the tackle box with only a smidge more, but the pole was carefully placed before she looked back over to Iku. "Do you want some help getting a stick for your pole?" Seresana asked from where she stood.

Word Count: 404
Total: 1183

The Uchiha girl was not fond of the over excitement that Seresana seemed to exude out of every pore. It was quite distracting to the cool, cold, calculating young woman. "Why would we know each other, just because we are enrolled in the same Academy?" Iku countered, with basically the same question, to hammer her own point home. With a nonchalant shrug, she went on, "Regardless, I did not bother to notice you, so therefore your words are moot." Just as she was saying she did not notice Seresana, Seresana decided to lay it on her that she was rarely noticed. The sentimental sadness in that single statement was lost on Iku; taking it instead as a simple statement.

Iku was not sure how her own standing in school was. It was something she had never really thought about. The fourteen year old was smart, athletic, studious, and commandeering. Speaking up often in class, when she was not completely with the sensei on something, or when she was being bold enough to refute the sensei, using knowledge garnered from some book, parchment, or scroll. Iku was very brash and often took control in the classroom, and in the gym and outside. Especially in any sparring type scenarios. Or when particular bits of knowledge was involved. For all intents and purposes, barring some attitude issues, Iku was the model student. Yet, she did not know if others really knew her, or anything. She mostly ignored other students, unless she was forced to interact with them. And getting on a name-basis was difficult. Some kid had to be especially interesting. Such as a certain Kiri-girl. Iku was probably more of a shunned outcast, than a respected fellow student. Not that any of that nonsense really concerned her. At any rate, Seresana knew her name, and seemed pleased to be in her company. Perhaps Seresana was just stupid.

'Call me Sere if you want'.

"I'll stick with Seresana," Iku abruptly, coldly stated, blinking her gazing eyes. Pet names and the like were more pitiful than anything to Iku, and she didn't care to indulge in such fantasies, or whims of the lesser kids. Iku walked just behind Seresana, her black boots leaving prints in the dust behind, as she listened to Seresana talk about some misadventure with her father. Something that Iku did not share in. Missed opportunities were not lamented by Iku, but she spoke up nonetheless. "I did no such thing with my father." It was a simple statement. Not meant to convey anything really. Iku often spoke about herself and her 'home' life like this. Not at all thinking such matters were important or even sad. She just thought to share her own experiences, like others did. She did not realize those type of things often garnered her pity.

Quickly Iku rushed after the slightly younger girl, stopping just so her black boots were lapped by the gentle fresh water. Iku stared down at the stream. Swimming was a form of training. Especially breath training. Learning to control one's breathing patterns, and how to not buckle under pressure was vital to a shinobi. She had almost forgotten entirely about agreeing to fish. Glancing over at the question, Iku nodded once, her lengthy midnight hair shifting slightly.

{542 words}

Iku's first rebuttal question was lost on Seresana as she just continued about, not purposely ignoring, but the question was lost anyways. And despite the coldness to Iku's tone and speech, it didn't seem to dampen Seresana's cheerfulness at all. In fact, one might have even noticed a slight increase in her cheerfulness, the smile with just a little more feeling, the demeanor just a little extra warm, and her own movements a little more exaggerated to where her short raven black hair bounced and swayed with every shift.

Seresana shrugged as the abbreviated form of her name was rejected for the more lengthy statement, as it really didn't matter to her if her full name was used or a shortened version. Seresana took the nod and proceeded to walk back a short ways to some of the nearby trees. Almost haphazardly, she began looking through the foliage around the base of the trees, presumably for a suitable stick for Iku to use as a fishing pole. Though in truth, Seresana was also looking for some extra bait as well, occasionally lifting up a rock or larger log to spy at the contents beneath, but she wasn't having too much luck with that. It didn't take long though for her to find a long but still fairly green branch from a tree that would work for a pole. As Seresana began to break off a few of the extra twigs and smaller branches for Iku, she thought back to a prior statement from the cold girl. She'd said she'd never gone fishing with her father before and that drove Seresana to speak out of sheer curiosity. "Hey Iku, what do you and your dad do?" She asked while continuing the work.

She found herself compelled to voice the question, for several reasons. From being idly curious about the almost mysterious girl who was always so serious in class, to wanting to know if all of her clan was like that. She herself could go on for hours with all the stories of times she'd gone out and done similar things with her own father. He had taken her not only fishing, but hunting, hiking, swimming, climbing, got her into the ninja academy, shown her how to use a bow, to trap, prepare a good and safe fire for camping, how to clean water for drinking where to find food, and what things in the forest that only looked like food but were actually poisonous and would make someone sick. About the only thing he hadn't taught her was how to cook and that wasn't for lack of trying, it was simply that Seresana had to swear the man had no taste buds left on his tongue after so many terrible dishes. She recalled briefly one of the first times she'd gone out with him for longer than a few hours and they'd had to eat their own caught fish. He father's had tasted half raw and half burnt, a chewy and crunchy mess that had nearly left Seresana ill for a week. After that incident, Seresana learned how to cook from her mom, who was more than happy to throw a few jokes at her father's expense while she worked. Sure though Seresana had been taught a lot of things, but she had a long way to go before she was as good as her dad at them, but she was determined to be as good and then better someday.

Noticing though that she'd become lost in thought for an unknown amount of time there, Seresana ripped her attention back to reality and back to her work on Iku's pole that she was glad she hadn't butchered while lost in her own thoughts, and proceeded with the next part of stringing it with a hook while she continued to await Iku's reply.

Word Count: 642
total: 1825

The dark, frigid Uchiha girl, was standing there, with her boots removed, her small, pale feet taking a cooling wade through the bank of the stream, on that otherwise very hot day. A question reached her ears, and Iku slightly turned her head. Calmly, and icily, she spoke. "We do nothing together. Before you ask, no, I don't do anything with my mother either. Or my brother. I live alone. Left my old home a long time ago. Now I have a new home." Her response was cold, indifferent, and numb. With that adequate response, Iku turned back towards the stream, and kicked at the clear water, splashing it away from her. She scarcely noticed how much effort Seresana was putting into a fishing pole for her.

At that time, her mind wandered, after such an invasive question from the other Academy student. With a strangely quick, yet pleasant breeze, that swished through her cloak, and lifted her dark coloured hair, Iku thought back to before she was a loner. A fish swam around her feet, but she didn't notice. Memories that the girl didn't bother remembering much, flooded into her. A wonderful home life. With a surprisingly quaint and kind family. For Uchiha standards. A couple. Her parents. Kind, respectful, and loving. A mother who was the most caring person in the world. A father, as protective, yet understanding as possible. Both exuded strength in their own way. Suddenly, she bent down, and snatched at the fish that had been lingering around her submerged ankles. A brother, older than Iku. One who wanted his sister to succeed. He seemed as hurt as her parents when she left. Yet he had always seemed to understand her in his own way. He knew she would persevere and he probably helped their parents come to terms with her leaving. Did Iku express any gratitude over that? No. Of course not. Acknowledging another's actions was not a thing Iku did. She only acknowledged her own. Did she still feel gratitude? Perhaps. Who could tell?

She squeezed the fish hard, and while some of the small scales nicked her flesh, its neck snapped; dying in her hand. A smile crept over her lips, that had been set so far in a thin line. She was no where near the fastest ninja. She still had a long long way to go, for such a title, but she felt pride for her current speed level. The fish had underestimated the statuesque young kunoichi. Turning towards Seresana, she tossed the dead fish. It flopped between the two on the dry ground, sitting in a tuft of green grass. It was hardly a substantial catch, but it was a catch all the same. "Look. I fished already." Iku seemed mildly amused. Exercising her dominance, always amused Iku in some way. Whether it was minor amusement, or full on elation.

{479 words}

"Oooh, nice catch," Seresana replied back as she looked at the dead fish on the ground. She would have picked it up, but her hands were a little tied up at the moment as she strung the improvised pole. The line didn't take long to properly attach, and then she was digging into the little tackle box for a hook. Finding one rather quickly, she set about tying it to the string and then took a moment to examine her work. It was a long pole, longer than the one she'd brought, but that had been done on purpose because of the nature of the pole. The freshly made pole was still a stick pole and therefore lacked a reel, it's reach was limited to the amount of line on the end and the length of the pole. So when making it, Seresana had purposely gotten a much longer stick of a hard wood  and then a fair amount of line hung from the end. The small curved hook with the barb gleamed dully in the light and Seresana couldn't help but grin as she gave the line a few sharp tugs to make sure the string wouldn't come loose or the stick break at the first sign of a fish's struggle.

With her work complete, Seresana sat the finished pole down and retrieved another little stick to put Iku's fish on. After a little brushing off to try and get some of the dirt off the catch, she planted the small stick in the ground so that the fish was off the ground and just needed to be cooked now. And with it taken care of, Seresana turned back to her gear and grabbed up both of the poles and a little container from the tackle box. "Do you want to try a little pole fishing though?" Seresana asked as she walked over to Iku, both poles in hand. She stopped on the bank for a moment, placing the small container on the shore and opening it to reveal some moist looking dirt. With a little digging into it, Seresana retrieved a thick worm that was soon hooked onto her own fishing pole that was laid on the ground while she baited Iku's pole. With both poles baited and ready, Seresana took off her shoes as well and joined Iku in wading into the shallows of the stream. She held out the newly made pole for Iku to take.

Word Count: 409
Total: 2234

Iku had been watching Seresana's work rather intently. For once. The Uchiha girl was not really that interested in what Seresana was doing, but there was the chance she would learn something regardless. Something useful for the future. As the other girl came towards her, extending Iku's pole as a gift. Iku took the makeshift fishing pole, that was offered to her. She noted the strength of the stick was relatively good. Especially in spite of a hot, dry stick. Admittedly, Iku was quite surprised when Seresana did not pry into why she was now living on her own. Why she had left her family. That follow up seemed like a very Seresana-thing to ask, coming off of the invasive question about her father before. Perhaps, Iku had made a wrong read on this particular Academy student.

Holding up the pole, looking at it, Iku realized it was nearly the same size she was. Iku was under five feet. This particular fishing pole was around that size. She wondered if poles were often very large. She did not know much about fishing. With a couple steps further into the water, she ran her hand back, then flung the stick forward, whipping the line through the air, and letting it fall with a plop into the cool water. Iku did not know how to fish, but that movement had seemed natural. Thus she had guessed it was something along those lines, so she made her swing. Standing in the stream, she watched her line, gripping the pole. This was a form of study, she guessed. Even if she was already getting bored. Her eyes trailed over to Seresana, to see what she was doing now, and to perhaps adjust, if she was fishing wrong.

{292 words}

Seresana had grinned happily when Iku took the pole and she watched her toss out the line a good ways into the stream. Seresana performed her own cast, though with a few differences simply because her pole actually had a reel to it and thus when she cast the line, she had to make sure it didn't go too far and end up in the shallows of the far side of the stream. With a small 'plop', her own bait sank beneath the water's surface, sinking downward until it came to a small improvised bobber that had been tied into the line a short ways above the hook. Iku's line had also been fitted with one so that they could just keep the poles where they were and let the gentle currents pull their lines slowly down stream without worrying about them scraping along the bottom of the waterway. Occasionally, she'd twitch the line, sparking forth a brief burst of movement down the line, all the way to where it disappeared into the waters.

Seresana took a few steps back now, just enough to where she was at the bank's edge and she sat down on the relatively dry ground. Steadily she held the pole at a roughly forty five degree angle, and then just seemed to wait for one of two things, either for her line to get too far down stream in which case she'd real it in and cast it back out, or for the bobber to twitch, which unfortunately didn't happen for the moment. Seresana would occasionally look over at Iku, tossing her a simple grin before turning her attention back to the line that was slowly drifting with the current. She didn't say anything for a little while, she barely even seemed to do anything other than just real in and cast the line of her pole back out. Something Iku wouldn't have to do with nearly the same frequency given the nature of her different pole.

Word count: 332
Total: 2566

Iku was hardly paying attention to her fisher partner. And there was virtually no way that Iku could discern any of the little nuances that Seresana was putting into her fishing. Instead, the Uchiha girl stood on the bank of the stream, holding her makeshift pole, with the line in the water. Subtly she could feel the tug of the otherwise gentle stream on the line, but nothing more. In her evident displeasure, she stared at the specific spot where the free flowing water and her line met. Honestly, she expected nothing, but in some pit within her, she had hope. A hope that something -anything would happen! Instead, despite herself, a involuntary yawn rose forth from her mouth. The girl made no effort to mask it. So a rude, wide yawn erupted out. Iku wasn't even tired. Or perhaps, she was tired of pretending this way in any way fun, or interesting. With a glance over at Seresana, just in time to see the flashed grin, Iku wondered how on earth the girl could enjoy this. What she saw was a waste of time, and effort. And Seresana was putting in considerably more on both of those fronts! What a steel will to find this enjoyable.

In the spirit of things, Iku stuck with it. She decided to focus on other things. Such as the gentle breeze that occasionally ran across her neck, and lifted her hair gently. Wonderfully it caressed her skin, and blew away her sweat. Time passed, and it appeared Iku was as patient as Seresana. In some ways Iku was a patient person. In other ways she was impatient. This was one of those instances of the rare occurrence of her impatience. What looked like calm patience, was really a brooding storm of annoyance, and resentment. What Iku realized, was she hated fishing. Or at least, this type of fishing. She saw next to no value in it. Other than the fact it tested one's nerves, and patience was a vital skill to a shinobi. In that regard, Iku pretended like it was training. So she focused on that to keep her going.

After a brief moment, of debating on throwing her pole -no, her stick, for it was a stick in truth- in the stream, Iku's stomach growled. It appeared to be lunch time. Iku's eyes trailed over to Seresana. She had a big pack with her. That seemed to indicate preparedness. Surely, Seresana had lunch prepared. They were going to eat what they had caught, but seeing as how they hadn't caught anything yet... Iku's eyes seemed to playfully appear expectant.

{436 words}

Seresana didn't catch the looks Iku gave, both to her or her pack as Seresana continued to fish. To her, this was a great time. Sure, the weather was hot, but the occasional breeze that brushed past the two girls gave the needed reprieve, and the cool waters that lapped at her feet were all she needed to fight off the otherwise uncomfortable heat of the day. Seresana could just get lost in this kind of weather and activity. Still occasionally reeling in her line only to cast it back out a moment later so that the current may carry it along once again. It was a wonderful and peaceful time for the younger girl who enjoyed the simplistic moments of inactivity. She wasn't having a ton of luck with the fishing yet, neither were it seemed, as neither had even gotten a twitch on either line, but that didn't seem to faze Seresana at all as she just continued to sit and fish.

How fast though can a scene change? The blink of an eye? The beating of a bird's wings? These, like many others can occur in a span of time that's recognizable, yet hard to measure, and such a occurrence happened right then as Seresana's line went taunt while Iku had been eyeing her pack. The bobber didn't waver, dip, and twitch before hand to give any warning or prelude to what had suddenly decided to go for the bait, and simply disappeared beneath the semi-clear waters. The slack in the line disappeared instantly, and soon to follow was a tell-tale bend in the end of the pole. Seresana acted on instinct rather than thought, for thought wouldn't have had the time to be properly analyzed in such a short span of time, and so Seresana quickly twitched and jerk up the pole as she'd been instructed to by her father when he'd taken her fishing in days long since past.

Seresana could feel the hook catch in the fishes mouth as she set the hook, and then the fight really began. Standing up, Seresana took a couple steps back so that her feet were actually on solid ground rather than the unsteady stuff under the water. She pulled back on the pole hard, dragging the line closer to her and then suddenly lowered the end of the pole to create some slack in the line, slack that she reeled up rather quickly before pulling the end of the pole back up again to forcibly drag the fish closer to the shore. Then it surfaced, jumping up and out of the water in a flurry of splashes that turned the otherwise clear water briefly white and obscuring to where the fish's actual size would be hard to estimate. Seresana continued her fight with the fish, pulling up on the pole to drag it closer, and then lowering it as she reeled up more and more of the line, gradually forcing the fish closer to the shore until finally it was in the shallows and Seresana was able to simply lift it out of the water by the pole alone.

The fish was rather decent sized, a full meal's worth to be sure at the least as the weight of the catch bent Seresana's pole rather substantially. Seresana lowered the reel end of the pole to the ground and held the pole in the crook of her arm while seizing the fish with her free hands. Grabbing the body with one hand and the line just above the hook with the other, Seresana unhooked the fish from the pole. Shifting the fish to the other hand, Seresana set the hook on one of the eyelets of her pole so that it wasn't flying around loose, and she gently laid the pole down before getting a stick to hold her fish similarly to the way Iku's fish was. Now with her own catch, Seresana looked over to Iku. "Are you hungry yet?" Seresana asked, having missed Iku's stomach growl while fighting to reel in the fish. "Because if you are, we should probably get a fire prepared," Seresana went on as she sat the stick her fish was on in the ground so that the fish was suspended over the dirt and not in it, and then took her first couple steps towards the woods near the banks of the stream, presumably to fetch some wood for said fire.

Word Count: 741
Total: 3307

Iku glanced over as Seresana's pole quite suddenly bent down, pulling half the pole into the water, the line threatening to break. Up til now, the entire morning had been utterly droll. With next to nothing happening, and little being said. The Uchiha girl was not a talkative person, but she did sometimes enjoy talking with others, if no less to learn about things. However, not even that had been happening. Instead a test of patience had been all Iku had undergone all morning. While that was fine, she could not help think her time would have been better spent. Perhaps she should have ignored the other person, when she spotted Seresana early in the morning, while running through the woods.

Though, now, something was happening. Something rather interesting for sure. All of the sudden fishing suddenly got heated! Now Iku's attention as fixated on the battle happening between Seresana and the fish, as it attempted to escape with its life. This was no normal battle, that a ninja would expect. Still, it was interesting. Or at least the most interesting thing that happened that day. It was a good fight, but it did not take long for Seresana to win. When she pulled the fish out Iku grinned. "Indeed, I am hungry. Good kill," she gave out an unusual compliment.

{220 words}

Seresana grinned back and nodded to the compliment and answer to her question. "Then we'll need plenty of sticks. Would you mind grabbing up some as well," Seresana asked before turning back to the nearby woods and proceeding to do her part in gathering up the needed materials for the little cooking fire. Going for already fallen limbs, it proved to be no trouble to gather several small branches and sticks until Seresana had a fairly large collection of wood, as well as a decent assortment of leaves and tiny twigs to use as tinder. With her arm and hand fulls, Seresana turned back around and returned to where the poles had been left as well as both Iku's and Seresana's catches.

Setting the collection down on the ground, Seresana made sure she had a fairly flat piece of ground to build the fire on, before clearing the spot so that the fire wouldn't spread uncontrolled. She then began to set up the larger sticks so that they were leaning against each other over a still clear spot beneath them. Seresana continued to layer the larger and thicker sticks, and in one case a small log, in this fashion until they were all used, and then began to place the smaller sticks and leaves in a collected pile beneath the larger sticks and built it up until the smaller dry bits of foliage were against the larger sticks that were leaning against each other above. This way, when the fire was lit, the tinder would burn first, heating up and catching the larger branches that would take more to light than the smaller stuff. Satisfied with the setup of the cooking fire, Seresana went over to her pack and retrieved some matches. She then knelt down next to the arranged pile of sticks and proceeded to strike a match and try to light the tinder, but the first match went out before the tinder could fully catch fire. The second one however caught and the tinder went up quickly, lighting the logs shortly after so that there was a decent little blaze was going relatively quickly.

Seresana would look over to Iku then, curious to see if she had actually gone to gather any extra wood, and if so, she'd motion for Iku to place it in a pile near the fire. Regardless, Seresana would then wander over to the fish, or at least hers,, and pick it up to be placed at the fire to begin cooking.

Word Count: 418
Total: 3725

Either Seresana was next to blind, or she was completely lost in what she was doing, but all the while, Iku had been gathering wood as well. Just like Seresana, she was placing it in the pile of wood for the fire. It had been a meager, small task, and while Iku found no pleasure in it, she had no qualms to grab some wood. Meanwhile, she stepped back, staring at the spot as Seresana started to light the fire. Iku's face clearly revealed she was flustered. Her hands raised up and she wiggled her fingers, staring at her palms. "Fire is common to Uchiha... I cannot yet perform any fire jutsus..." she murmured. Iku was quite annoyed. She should've been able to set that pile of wood alight with a simple jutsu! She would have to attempt some fire jutsu later.

{142 words}

"Neither can I," Seresana said while looking up towards Iku. "But we're still in the academy. Once we graduate, I'm sure we'll both learn all kinds of jutsu," she added with a reassuring smile before turning back to her slowly cooking fish. The flames springing off the logs licked at the fish, but Seresana kept it high enough so that she didn't have to worry about the whole thing catching fire, and continued to roast it upon the stick it was planted on. It wasn't long before the smells started to turn good, and Seresana licked her lips in anticipation of the meal. She always enjoyed cooking things herself, it always seemed to bring out a better quality of flavor in the food, aside from when her mom cooked it that is. As much as Seresana enjoyed her own work, she could scarcely hold a candle to the flame that was her mother's talent at the craft and the thought alone was enough to send her into happy reminiscence over wonderful past meals.

With a quick shake of her head though, Seresana pulled herself out of her thoughts and back to the cooking fish. Tentatively, she pulled the fish back near her and poked it a couple times to see how cooked it was. Apparently satisfied with it's condition, Seresana planted the end of the stick in the ground and wandered back over to her pack. After a little bit of digging, she emerged from it with a couple small containers. Seresana opened them when she sat back down next to the fire and before her cooking fish. Inside was an assortment of rice, some vegetables, some darker brown sauce, and a small container with some multi-colored powder. Seresana sprinkled some of the powder onto her fish before leaving it next to the fire to finish cooking while she went back to her pack and retrieved a couple bottles of water and chopsticks. As she sat back down to deal with the finishing touches on her fish, Seresana held out one of the bottles and sets of chopsticks towards Iku. "You can help yourself to what you like. With two fish, there should be enough for both of us," Seresana added with a happy grin. "Oh, and if you use the seasoning, just use a little bit, it's fairly strong stuff," she added with a point towards the smallest of any of the containers that held the mutli-colored powder.

Word Count: 408
Total: 4133

"Yes," Iku agreed, but she still seemed defiant on the issue. "Except I do not want to wait til I'm through with the Academy to learn jutsus, or anything really. That's merely an excuse. 'We're still in the Academy'." A vein twitched on her forehead, indicating her heated anger on the issue, as she observed the fire. Fire that she should have put there using some Uchiha jutsu. She was Fourteen! That was older than most in the Academy. Even though her marks were higher than most, she was still a tiny bit older already. These thoughts atop the thoughts about how she should be performing simple jutsus already were causing the young girl to get quite angry. Quietly she steamed sitting there, as she steamed the fish above the fire. "Waiting is only going to make you weak," Iku snarled out, about to break the stick she was holding, that had her fish attached to it. " I intend to learn many different techniques..." she announced. More so to herself though, as she ruminated, staring at the dancing flames. "Techniques that people haven't even heard of... I will discover them all."

For a moment, she was lost in a fantasy of the future. Almost a genjustu that was cast upon herself, by her own mind. For a moment, she could see the glory the Iku of the present dreamed for the Iku of the future. Just for a moment. Until she heard Seresana offering her other things. Words that snapped her out of her daydream. "Oh, mhm," she murmured, immediately reaching for some rice, and some seasoning. Admittedly this was nice. It wasn't unusual for Iku; as she often did these things on her own. It was just sort of nice, to have such provided for her for once. She had no mother to cook for her. No father to take her out on training trips. It was not that she missed those things. Or even really thought about them. It was just something she noticed at the current moment. In truth, Iku had come out here with little else then a few tools upon her person. Stashed in pockets about her waist. She had planned on eating today, but had not planned to find someone else to provide her with food. So how was she going to get fed this day? She had not planned that, and had merely figured she would figure it out somewhere along in the day.

She did not consider Seresana's generosity as nicety, instead Iku merely thought of this as her taking advantage of such a scenario. Simple mind games, to get this girl to give her what she wanted. For there was no real reason why Seresana would share anything with her. Iku must have merely tricked her into servicing her for this mid afternoon meal. That was just how Iku's mind worked.

Her nose twitched, scenting the smell of the cooked fish in her hand, and she withdrew it from the fire. The smell made her mouth water, but she did no wanton showing of her whetted appetite, like Seresana. Hers was a tad more graceful a response. She could not wait to dig in, then get some real training in this afternoon.

{539 words}

Seresana listened intently towards Iku's apparent aspirations, and she found herself being drawn towards her own thoughts and goals about what being a ninja would constitute. Then her mind wandered back to her own uniqueness in the scheme of things, and the fact that according to the legends in the scroll her mother had provided, there were some jutsu that Iku just simply wouldn't be able to replicate or learn them. Jutsu specific to her own abilities, that Seresana would need to spend time trying to learn herself and likely in secret as per her mother's wishes. This fact however Seresana would keep secret for now, partially because of her mom's instruction and partially because she didn't want to upset Iku who was displaying such passion for her own improvement, and so, Seresana simply returned her attention to her fish when Iku finished speaking.

With her fish prepared, seasoned, and smelling delicious, Seresana began to eat. A couple bits of the fish, coupled with a clump of rice made up the first bite. Then the second consisted of one of a carrot dipped in the sauce. Seresana couldn't help the "mmm" that escaped her lips as she ate and enjoyed her first bite. "Ah, this came out great!" She exclaimed before going for her next bite. The fish was wonderfully cooked, the meat coming off the small bones easily enough that Seresana didn't even have to worry about them breaking on her. The sprinkling of seasoning she'd added wonderfully enhanced the flavor of the fish and presented a couple more complementary flavors to where each bite was enjoyable. The vegetables and rice unfortunately hadn't received any major special treatment or preparation. The rice had simply been steamed right along with the vegetables, and while still rather good, it lacked the more extravagant preparation the fish had received. The sauce however made up for it as an apparent combination of a few different kinds of sauce. Soy was an obvious one, as well as tereyaki, and there might have been a few other small contributions, but it would be hard to identify them among the abundance of soy and tereyaki as the dominant flavors.

Seresana's own meal wouldn't take long to finish as she ate rather quickly, an act that showed just how hungry she'd gotten in the time spent fishing. When she was finished, Seresana looked over to Iku and flashed her a grin. "That was great," Seresana said happily before looking towards the stream and then to the sky as she relaxed a bit after the meal, hands linking together behind her head as she leaned back.

Word Count: 438
Total: 4571

Iku currently was still lost in her own thoughts, regarding her future aspirations. One of her dreams and goals for herself, was to discover many types of jutsus. -As many as possible! In fact, she hoped to one day learn -all- the jutsus there were. Quite a lofty dream, for sure, but one Iku kept at the cornerstone in her mind. She currently didn't even think about people with special jutsus, or clans, or that like. In truth, she was naive, and probably wouldn't even consider them impossible to learn, even if someone was telling it to her face. She was still young, and her dream was all encompassing. Someone telling her that she would not be able to learn a jutsu would not deter the young aspiring Uchiha.

Bringing up her seasoned, and cooked fish, she took a simple bite, while continuously staring at the licking flames of the small fire. She ate quietly, basically forgetting Seresana was there. She continued to imagine all the techniques she would learn. Or, rather, even create. She would shock the world with jutsus people had never even seen before. She couldn't wait. A small smile crept upon her small, static lips, involuntarily as she imagined her future. Munching on the crisp fish, her mind's eye danced with techniques not before seen in the world. All techniques she had come up with herself! Her smile grew, when she realized, that Seresana probably had no lofty dreams like she did. That amused her. Seresana seemed like most of the air-headed, weak Academy students. Most who wouldn't become Jonin. Most who would perish in their first fight against the enemy.

Iku's eyes found Seresana, as she took a bite of rice. She wondered if this girl before her would die in her very first mission, after the Academy. Probably. She was small, like Iku herself. Probably not very strong, or sturdily built. Not near as fast, and quite a bit dumber. Yes, Iku surmised that unfortunately poor Seresana here would meet her end. "Yes. It was tasty," Iku affirmed, setting down the remainder of her food, merely smiling creepily at Seresana.

{355 words}

Seresana's thoughts were a lot less sinister as she simply watched the clouds drifting by and watching for unusual shapes in their formation. Simply in the now was how Seresana liked to approach things, and that's where her thoughts were, on the happening of the day right before her. The gentle breeze drifting by along the grass and her own self, the warming rays of the sun's light, and the sounds of the softly running stream just a few feet away from her own prone form. This peace was bliss to her, even if it was a tad hot for her taste, and she was content for just a moment to lay there and rest.

That however might have been the case had Seresana been alone, but as was, she was with Iku right now and therefore couldn't fall asleep. Before she got any more tired, Seresana sat up, looked up and towards Iku and returned the smile. It should be noted though that Seresana's grin was a lot more genuine towards kindness and well wishing than Iku's. A truly happy expression at the company she had on this little excursion for the day. With a bit of a sigh, Seresana stood up and wandered back towards the water. "Ready to go swimming?" she asked with an inviting look over her shoulder towards her companion.

Word Count: 226
Total: 4797

Iku got to her feet, leaving behind very little from her meal. Her belly now stuffed. She was feeling rather pleased with herself. Her mind came back to reality, and the present, not at all imagining the future in a more cynical, grim reality. Iku wasn't a pessimist. Far from it. She was an absolute optimist... When it came to herself. She saw her aspirations of glory, and figured she'd eventually rise to them. She was just pessimistic for other people.

But, she was no longer thinking those darker thoughts at the moment. In fact, she was in rather high spirits for one. Something that was a tad unusual for the Uchiha girl. When Seresana asked her to swim, she nodded once, with a small grin on her face. Immediately she set to removing unnecessary stuff from her person. Which included her white cloak, a belt with packs and ninja tools, and her boots. Stepping up to the water's edge, Iku paused, now just standing in her small, tight mesh shirt, and a pair of sleek black leggings, that came up a few inches above her knees. Without that large cloak about her shoulders, and chest, it was readily apparent the girl's true frame. Iku was tiny, she almost looked malnourished, as her body was quite small in comparison to most around her age. She was smaller in stature than even Seresana, which was quite a feat. In that particular moment though, her prominence didn't seem to bother her, as she gingerly placed her foot out.

Iku stepped out onto the water, focusing hard. Placing her foot flat atop the water, she leaned forward, putting more pressure on it. Quickly it sunk right through the water's surface and down, til it came to rest against the ground, water around her ankles. A sigh of disappointment escaped her once, before she moved forward, and leaped into the water, diving and making a small splash of displaced water.

{324 words}

Seresana was quick to follow suit, stipping off several of the large bands that were usually tightly wrapped around her to keep the usually baggy clothing close. With those off, Seresana continued with taking off her baggy shirt, revealing the lithe body beneath and a thankfully rather conservative chest wrap and bra. Her sandals were slipped off next along with the belt that held pouches around her waist, and the tying wraps that kept her baggy pants close to her, but the pants themselves were left on.

Then Seresana slowly began to slip into the water, just taking a single step after step until she was up to her shins. Once she was that deep though, Seresana jumped forward diving into the waters and swimming out into the current. The water was cool, but not cold thanks to the warmth of the day and the gently flowing current tugged lightly at the two's as they were in there. Other fish, mostly small ones, swam away rather quickly at the presence of Iku and Seresana, soon leaving them to their own devices in the stream.

Seresana however didn't seem to mind the presence or lack there of the fish as she happily swam about in the gentle current, splashing lightly in the cool waters. Her movements showed an obvious experience with swimming, something she'd done several times before and also obviously enjoyed doing. Seresana had always liked being in the waters, more so than being on land, and she showed this in part by the very happy expression she wore while splashing and swimming about.

Word Count: 263
Total: 5060

Iku was submerged completely under the gentle churning waves, as another presence displaced water to enter in behind her. The midnight-haired girl spun around in water, to see the young girl dive in right alongside her. Treading water, under the surface, Iku's dark eyes watched Seresana as she moved along, showing obvious experience. Iku herself was probably not as experienced, but she could swim well enough, and she seemed right at home underwater, just as Seresana did.

Even more than that, Iku was taking the opportunity to push herself. While her classmate seemed to be using the time for some enjoyment, Iku was using it to train her body. Continuously holding her breath, Iku remained under, sitting near the bottom of the stream. A few times she spotted wildlife; a few fish, some crawdads, and a couple salamanders slipped from her sight, to hide among rocks, and silt. It didn't take long, before she felt a knot tie itself in her small chest. Which wasn't much more developed than Seresana's it seemed. A frustrated expression found its way upon her face, as she kept herself down, making sure to remain underwater. She attempted to work on her heart, and slow its quickly-speeding up pumps. She had to learn how to control herself. Fear of drowning would not make her complacent.

{219 words}

True to Iku's observation, Seresana was simply enjoying this time spent swimming about the stream. One of the furthest things from her mind was the physical training she was getting from the exertion of swimming against the stream's steady current or the times she dove beneath the surface of the water. When she did though, it was with a relative ease that she reached the bottom of the stream or just swam about while fully encompassed by the waters.

After a couple minutes of this though, Seresana was soon just floating about on her back and watching the sky as the current tried to drag her away. Whenever the bridge came into her view, Seresana would flip over, swim back up a short ways, and then roll back over onto her back to watch the sky again. She wasn't only relaxing though, Seresana was also watching Iku as what the other, much quieter girl was doing wasn't missed by Seresana. Seresana even had to pause her thought process once to ponder if Iku ever did anything just for fun. And for that matter, what on earth did Iku find fun? She obviously enjoyed training to some degree, or at least held it's value above a lot of other things, but that couldn't be all she liked to do. Could it? Well, Seresana resolved that she'd just have to find out and when Iku emerged the next time, Seresana would turn to her and ask, "hey Iku, what do you want to do now?"

Word Count: 253
Total: 5313