Misao let out a satisfied sigh as she finished drinking some of the green tea. She held the ceramic cup between both of her hands, its warmth radiating into her usually cool hands. Despite the heat in Sunagakure, the young priestess had grown to like the hot beverage quite a lot over the years, enjoying its bitter taste to the fullest. Some of this was likely because of Reiko's influence. The older Kuroka girl - and the only family member to have actually inherited the Kuroka Kekkei Genkai - had always been a sort of mentor and guardian to Misao. That wasn't to say that Chie hadn't fulfilled that role as well. It was simply that Reiko's overall style and demeanor were far more in line with Misao's than Chie's were. In other words, the young priestess was closer to Reiko, just as her twin brother was closer to Chie. Speaking of which...

"Come on you little wimp! You can do better than that! I could've kicked your ass in my sleep when I was your age!" yelled the silver haired acid wielding devil that was Misao's older sister - half-sister, technically, though Misao had never considered that to be true. As far as she was concerned, the older set of twins were related to her as much as her brother was. She giggled while she looked on at the scene in front of her. Shinji and Chie were both engaged in a spar, standing in the middle of the patio in the center of their house. It was a wide area without much in terms of decoration or landscaping. This wasn't due to lack of trying, however. For years, grandmother Hana had tried over and over again to turn the house into her idea of a classic masterpiece. She had achieved that for the most part, with the antiques and furniture that now adorned the house, meticulously arranged to fit the older woman's idea of beauty. The patio, however... well, since it had always been used for training, nothing that she put up there ever lasted long.

Trees had been burnt down, statues had been melted, the ground had been torn to shreds... albeit, most of this was Chie's doing. Her boredom really knew no boundaries. In the end, Hana silently decided that it was best to leave it as it was and pretend that it didn't affect how she had laid out the rest of the house - an old property resembling a feudal Japanese house. It gave the air of elegance and sophistication - something that would have never really been associated with the former Kazekage and head of the family, Gin. Nevertheless, it was where they had lived ever since Misao and Shinji were born. Gin and her late husband had decided that a larger house was needed to raise their ever growing family. Hana had chosen the property a few months before the twins were born and had refurbished it and its many rooms, most of which were rarely used. Chie and Reiko had always decided that they would share a room, no matter how contrasting their styles of living were. Reiko was a neat perfectionist that kept everything in order, not a single thing out of place, no matter how small it was. Chie, on the other hand... well, she was who she was: a lively little ball of chaos and energy - something that translated to almost every aspect of her life.

Misao's legs dangled off of the edge of the wooden deck where she was sitting. A calm smile was on her face as she sipped some of the tea once again before setting the empty cup aside. Reiko sat calmly next to her younger sister, drinking from her own cup of tea. "Did you go to the shrine today?" the silver haired girl asked. She always sounded detached and cold. Over the years, Misao had learned to read into her choice of words and small gestures so that she could tell what exactly it was that Reiko was feeling. Right now, Misao could tell that she was calm, maybe a little happy and entertained by the spar that they were both watching. Misao nodded happily in response to her question. "Of course. Someone has to take care of the offerings. I've been thinking that I might open it to the public in a few months and maybe establish a link between the shrine here in Suna and the one in Konoha," Misao explained. She had been taking care of the abandoned Uzumaki Shrine in the village's outskirts for over a year now. She had found herself again in the worship of her ancestors and of their spirits. Reiko nodded in response, her lips twitching into a small smile for a little more than an instant. "I would like to be there when that happens," she said simply.

It was praise enough for Misao. She blushed slightly and once again nodded to her older sister. She turned her attention back to the spar between Shinji and Chie. It was fairly routine for her to be  spectator. It was no secret that she was different from the rest of her family. They were bred warriors, strong, resilient and fearless. They were unafraid to do whatever had to be done in order to achieve their goals and protect their loved ones. They relished in fighting and becoming better at their craft. Misao, on the other hand, had always been more frail. She had always been one to favor peace and tranquility. It led her family members to take care of her and protect her quite fiercely. If it were up to them, Misao would never see blood, nor would she ever stain herself with violence. It was almost as if they wanted to preserve her innocent nature, to make sure that some good in the world remained, even when it was shrouded in darkness. That never stopped the young priestess from training, however. She believed that she had to live up to the Uzumaki legacy, to the strength behind her name. She wanted to protect her family as much as they had protected her.

Her small hands curled around the wooden staff next to her unconsciously. Though somewhat splintered, it was still smooth to the touch. Reiko eyed her curiously and with slight concern. "Do you want to join them?" she asked after their prolonged moment of silence. Misao considered the question for a moment, looking back and forth a couple of times between her staff and her small feet dangling off the ledge. She finally turned her gaze towards Reiko. "I guess I do," she said. Reiko sighed, but nodded,letting Misao know that she wouldn't stop her. Misao smiled in response, gripping her staff and hopping off of the deck to join Shinji and Chie.

[Reaction Time E to D-3: 1154/1925]

"Come on you little wimp! You can do better than that! I could've kicked your ass in my sleep when I was your age!" exclaimed the tyrannical loud mouth female that was Shinji's older sister.  Chie the brute of the Kuroka Household and a monkey full of explosive things.  

Training started at nine that morning, and it felt as if it had been ages since he got a break.  Shinji put up a good effort even with his condition, and habit of being overwhelmed by fatigue.  With a sudden surge of confidence he felt that he could take down Chie for the first time.  That was until he got ahead of himself, and attempted to charge at Chie.

"I'm not holding back this time Chie-sama.  I got you n...

WHACK!!!

The sound of the wooden staff snapping the back of Shinji's head echoed, causing birds to emerge from their roosts.  Shinji stood frozen with his mouth drooped open and a rather odd painful look on his face.  The spot where Chie's staff hit his head was glowing red, and appeared to have smoke emitting from it.  Shinji still stationary in the same position he was in, prior to being rendered mentally unconscious.  All he could do was twitch and make uninterpreted speech, but it was a good indicator for measuring the amount of pain he was suffering from.  

"Shinji-kun are you okay?"  Voicing her concern Chie poked her brothers neck frivolously, trying to get him out of his paralysed state.  A way she liked to joke around with her younger brother, and bash him when she felt like.  Misao's content chuckles could be heard under her breath, while Shinji could do nothing at the time his speech became more interpretable.  

"Chie...Chie-san..."

Shinji fell to the ground on his face, and this time it was apparent that the impact from the staff caused the mark to swell.  It even began to smoke as Shinji regained consciousness.  Shinji arose with tears in his eyes, like hazardous rapids.  It was obvious that he didn't suspect a hit that hard, and the fact he was able to recover from it was remarkable.  That was one quality his family, and everyone for that matter respected him for his tenacity a thing of beauty.  His steel colored hair sister began mocking him, and how he looked like a character in a Manga comic.

Shinji rubbed his head still in pain, as Chie began to show him more Bojutsu combat styles he could use.  Shinji loved learning new things from his sister, but he absolutely hated learning them the hard way.  Usually which ended up in him being in pain like before, and crying more than he would.  It was a pain in his ass a lot of times training with Chie, but she was a skill staff master.  Shinji proceeded to have a seat and observe the demonstration given to him, but then his mind began to wander.  Leaving him in his own little world of imagination.

Mom I wish you were here to show me new styles...Where are you now Mum...I hope you like your new home...I miss you very much and so does Misao...

Shinji's thoughts were interrupted when the end of Chie's staff came rushing smashing into his stomach.  He fell over slowly into the fetal position in so much pain, and returned to speaking an unintelligent language.  "Pay attention you idiot!  She grabbed her staff wiping off the blood, from its clean polished wood finish.  That staff was her most prized possession, and it was almost apart of her.  From the fetal position Shinji stood pointing at his sister sternly, and bickering at how aggressive she was.  Who snapped back at him at how much of a whiny cry baby, and was always complaining about aggression.

That was when he noticed Misao get up with her staff, and approached their sister Chie.  Senji took his staff and began swinging uncoordinated while she knocked back all of his moves.  Until he caught her displaying an opening, using the rise overcomes a run.  Swinging his staff upwards he was able to strike Chie in the shin, who in return thrusted her staff into his gut, causing him to fall again.  [color=#ff00cc][b]"God I wonder if I am related to your sorry ass sometimes.  Hey Misao, you want to go at it with your big sis, and show Shinji a thing or too.  

Their training grounds was a wide area without much decoration or landscaping to say the least. Not because none of the Kuroka clan wanted to but, there was no point. For years, grandmother Hana had tried over and over again to turn the house into her idea of a classic masterpiece. She had achieved that for the most part, with the antiques and furniture that now adorned the house, meticulously arranged to fit the older woman's idea of beauty. The patio, her grandchildrens battle ground however could never stay in one piece, and eventually she allowed them to claim the area as their own.

[861]

Misao gripped her weapon awkwardly between her two hands. She had always been shy about her abilities and about fighting in front of her family members. That didn't mean that she didn't have fun with it. Of course she did, very much so. But she knew that she wasn't nearly as talented as any of her siblings were. Even Little Ren, who was a few years younger than she was, was already a Jounin and well on his way to becoming an S rank shinobi. Shinji would be at that level as well if it weren't for his illness setting him back. As for her... well, she really had no excuse except for the fact that she just wasn't as naturally gifted as they were. However, she would try her best against Chie. She knew that her older sister didn't have that much of a preference for staves - she preferred using swords and bows - but used one to accommodate both Shinji and herself. Misao could use that lack of practice to her advantage, she supposed.

Once her older sister addressed her, Misao nodded twice, a nervouse but determined expression etched onto her face. She could feel Reiko smiling at her - well, as much as Reiko could smile - from where she had been sitting before. Well, she couldn't let her siblings down now, could she? Misao braced herself, holding the staff in a basic stance that Chie mimicked. The silver haired girl had a devilish grin on her face that made a chill run up Misao's spine. What had she gotten herself into? This wasn't the first time this happened. The young priestess had gotten her ass kicked by both of her sisters - and occasionally her brother - more times than one. The question was, why hadn't she learned her lesson already? For a second, she closed her eyes and gulped. Bare moments after that, however, her staff was clashing against Chie's time and time again.

Misao was on the defensive, barely keeping up with her older sister's movements. As she received the relentless attacks, the young genin took one step back after the next. She wouldn't forgive herself if she wasn't able to event attempt to land a single blow against her sister. Misao pressed forward, her wooden staff moving smoothly in between her hands. Her techniques were quite basic, but it was obvious that she was close to mastering them and that she had put in hours and hours of practice and training to do so. Misao countered Chie as best she could, trying to match her strength as their weapons pressed together. Of course, her older sister was holding back so that Misao stood a bit of a chance, but the young priestess still struggled to keep up. Just like that, she tried to move swiftly, separating their weapons as she ducked and performed a sweep at the level of Chie's ankles.

Chie jumped backwards and dodged skillfully. Misao wouldn't expect anything less from someone of Jounin level. After several minutes, Misao was panting a bit. "Tired already?" Chie asked with a taunting smile. Misao was too out of breath to answer with words, so she simply ran towards her sister, weapon in hand in order to try to land one last attack. She failed miserably, Chie comically tripping her with the end of her staff. "Ha. Fail," the other girl said, beaming widely and with too much mischief for it to be safe. Misao sighed as she lay with her back against the ground. Well, at least she tried. "You have the focus that Shinji doesn't, though, so there's that," Chie attempted at a consolation. Misao just frowned in defeat, standing slowly up on wobbling legs.

"Th-thank you Chie-oneesama," Misao said with a curt bow towards the silver haired girl who just rolled her eyes at the formality. It couldn't be helped. Misao had been told dozens of times that there was no need, but to no avail. She would always be too formal and respectful towards her elders and superiors. It was just in her nature and there was no real way to change that. It was like telling Shinji to stop going after everyone he considered good looking and expecting him to listen. It just wouldn't happen.

Misao was panting. It was a short workout, but intense. Not only that , but the girl still had the stamina of a mere genin - something that wasn't likely to change anytime soon. She sighed once again at her own weakness. She needed to fit more training into her schedule if she wanted to at least be able to stand on her own, without her family having to constantly look out for her and feel a need to protect her. She wanted to at least reach a level where she was no longer a hindrance to the family... not that they would ever call her that. They were nothing if not kind to Misao. However, it was the way she felt for now.

[Reaction Time E to D-3: 1925/1925]
[Perception E to D-3: 85/1925]