I blinked my eyes open, the sound of something thunking had woken me up, I sat up in my bed, moving the warm blankets off of me and made my way towards the window, pulling apart the curtains to see the sun slowly rising on the horizon, another set of thunking made its way to my ears and I frowned in confusion. I opened the window and leaned out of it, looking around, I couldn't see anyone or anything that could be making those sounds, leaning back in, I shook my head and headed out of the room.
putting on my shoes, I opened the front door and left it open, knowing there wasn't anything inside that someone would want to take or steal, nor was there anyone in this village that was like that, I trusted them, every single one of them. I made my way around the side of the house, hearing the thunking become louder than before. I came to a stop as I stared at the tree that had a target board attached on it, tilting my head in wonder, the sound of thunking came apparent just as a kunai flew and hit the trunk of the tree.
I walked forward, until I saw the back view of one of the village children, Kaida. I watched in silence from behind one of the posts for practise as she ran up to the tree, ripped out the kunai, ran back to her previous place, took a stance- not even an ordinary stance either, it was the stance I had seen shinobi take from the Grass Village- before throwing the kunai at the tree, this time it hit the second ring of the target board. my eyebrows raised in surprise.
she's a fast learner, her eyes are attentive and focused on the board, she's making corrections inside her mind and applying them directly after, finding what works for her and what doesn't..
"Kaida" by the sound of my voice, I saw her body jump as she spun around, the kunai in her hand flying out of her hand and flying towards me, I heard her gasp as she stumbled and fell onto her behind as I raised my hand and caught the tip of the kunai between two fingers, expecting the kunai to come flying towards me at some point.
"I'm so sorry Tenshi-sensei!" She yelped running towards me, out of breath. I returned the kunai to her, blinking as I stared down at her form, she was covered in dirt, bags under her eyes and her dress had multiple rips in it.
"How long have you been out here, Kaida. Surely your mother will be worried when she finds your bed empty"
"a few h-hours" I pursed my lips and sighed, taking the kunai from her relaxed grip, walking to where she stood, taking the exact same stance she was in and flicked the hand that held the kunai at the wrist, it whizzed right into the bullseye.
"when throwing a kunai, you have to take into account the shape and weight, for a kunai this size and your height, you have to flick the wrist and aim more higher than the target is" I advised, going and grabbing the kunai. when I returned to the spot, I motioned to Kaida who took her place where she was.
"bend your knees a little more and keep your shoulders relaxed" I spoke up, correcting her form then taking a hold on her wrist and practising the motion of flicking the wrist. When I let go, she seemed to stare at the kunai, moving her hand up and down, noticing the weight before the look in her eye changed, her stance was stronger as she brought her arm back.
the kunai whizzed out of her hand and into the direct bullseye, which she stared at with wide eyes before falling onto her backside once more, I chuckled to myself. She practiced for hours without sleeping at all and now it was setting in that she was exhausted, I walked over and pushed my arms under her, picking her up and walking back to my house. I didn't want to wake her parents at the crack of day light.
I headed upstairs and put her under the blankets of my bed, pulling the covers up and over her, I closed the blinds just as I heard the small snores appear from her as she fell asleep. I smiled gently and grabbed a set of clothes before leaving the room with the door closing behind me quietly. I had a quick shower and got dressed for the day, putting my sleepwear into the basket for washing later and went and took a seat at the kitchen table, looking over the paperwork.
