Sakumi awoke and yawned.It had been several days since the first stage and she'd been out cold for the past few days.Her jaw and sides still ached with undesirable pain and bothered her."I lost...I can't believe I lost....well I can but this hard?"Tears threatened to escape her eyes.She hadn’t made anyone proud...to be honest she had just brought more shame to herself.Most would call her crazy.In a matter of fact, she was crazy.But she was going to train.Right now.She turned to a book next to her.She had read the first few pages and was well aware of what it contained.Medical Ninjutsu.She grabbed it and gently left her bed.The pain still aching throughout her small body.

Only her training wasn’t the craziest thing she was ever going to do.Escaping out the window of a hospital and running off to train.The window opened easily with a loud creak and Sakumi pulled her body over the frame and stood on the hilled roof.She slid down it before reaching the Eaves and pausing."Just like a cat...it isn't that far down..."Sakumi gulped before turning her body until most of it was off the edging and she was holding herself up by her own strength.She let go and there was a small pause until she felt the ground and fell to her knees."Ow!"

She had landed in a bush.Not a big one but just enough to cushion her small fall.The book smacked her square in the face and she sighed as she picked it up and turned to the first page.Reading it ever so carefully and with much understanding.Finally, she made it to chapter 4 and not much time and passed so she decided to train a tad bit harder.It would be, though.It would be painful.But she was going to make herself better than Fukai no matter what.If she had to kill a friend...then so be it.She didn't need friends to drag her down when she had a bigger task at hand.Getting her revenge on the jerk.

A hand grabbed a bandage lining her face and she ripped it off before gathering herself and weakly jumping into a tree.She took several deep breaths before opening her eyes and looking around for any signs of people around her."Winter is coming...what will Elin be doing?Hopefully, he'll come back to Konoha with me,"Sakumi said a tad bit concerned before throwing a stick she had gathered.It smacked another tree and made a noticeable cracking sound before nothing else was heard.Medical ninjutsu would take months to learn...but she would make the training worth it no matter how long it took."It's my turn now and I'm tired of playing safe...caring about my life...as long as I've killed someone I have truly lived,"Sakumi said grimly before giving herself a somewhat crazy smile.Her hair had grown back to its original length and was styled into pigtails for no real reason.She just liked it that way.Confidence?No.Bravery?Of course not.Will to truly be what dangerous is?Yes, that was what she was looking for.She would make it in this world.No matter what happened she'd bring success to not only herself but Konoha as well.She loved the village to the point it was what she lived for.

Wordcount : 612 words

His breath came out as thick as smoke, the water vapor condensing into a visible cloud that puffed out periodically in front of him. Fukai had been jogging for almost two hours now, he had simply picked a direction away from the mountain and started off. He had been cooped up inside for too long and needed to stretch his legs. It felt good to run again, the rhythmic thump of one leg after the other soothed his mind and allowed him to descend into a thoughtless drone. Blood ourced through his body and up to his lungs where it would take in oxygen from the crisp northern air. He had managed to acclimatise to the climate and the chill did not affect him as much as it did on his first day. He had become quite familiar to the people around this village, the landscape and culture. He had grown his understanding of the way things worked around here and it had been an interesting learning experience so far. A very different place to Iwagakure no Sato for sure. They certainly knew how to please the tourists. The resort and fair that had been constructed temporarily for the exam event was the most grandious thing he had experienced first hand.

It did feel good to get away from it for the time being. It had given him a little culture shock and was not his usual scene for sure. Leaping through the back roads, he had managed to escape it for the moment. He approached a large building that was linked to a main road. He decided to avoid it and stick to the shadows. There was a bit of bush ahead, this would be a nice break from his overdose of the urban environment. As he entered beneath the sparse canopy, he became aware of a presence, the rustle of leaves and then a crack. Fukai turned his head to the direction he had heard the disturbance and went to investigate. It was coming from up in the tree. He leaned up and peered into one of the branches. He spotted a little girl sitting upon one like a perch. He was behind her and did not seem to spot him on approach. Fukai assumed it was a girl from the appearance of the figure, but something seemed a little familiar about this person.. He tried to put his finger on what it was while he watched her throw a stick so that it hit the tree opposite her. What is she doing? He noticed there were a few bandages that wrapped around her body. They were just behind the hospital, maybe this was one of the patients that had slipped out to get some fresh air. He could relate to that, being cooped up in a bed all day was a form of mild torture.

Huddled up on the tree, that small body with strapping around the hip and back and the raggedly chopped hair. Standing behind her, Fukai finally realised that this girl was none other then Sakumi Chuia. The person he had faced in the exam. Had she really been in hospital all this time? How hard had he gone? He wondered how she would react to seeing him but he would not ignore her anyway. Hello there! He called up so that he would not startle her.The young man leapt up to join her on the branch that she sat on. He faced the same direction as her and spoke without looking at her. You look like you could use some company. They were words that were likely to be ill fitting but he was not one for precision in linguistics.

[618]

She was taken a bit aback when a voice gently called for nobody but her.Her head turned behind when she was met by a small flash of someone else.It stood taller than her just next top her.She focused forward before blushing at the thought of someone else next to her."Maybe I can use some company...my name is Chuia Sakumi...what is your name?"Sakumi asked without taking a proper glimpse at her new friendly companion.Sakumi snapped off another tree branch and closed her eyes before flicking it at the opposite tree and getting another loud crack.

In a bit of boredom, Sakumi took out her medical ninjutsu book again and started reading a bit."What do you specialize in?...I'm learning a bit of medical ninjutsu and I'm staying with genjustu as well...The pages turned and turned as she read a few disgusting parts of medical ninjutsu and injuries with a possibility of being fatal.No matter how hard it was going to be...or how gross it got.Sakumi was going to read and learn everything she could about Medical ninjutsu.She just had to.'I don't back down...that's my nindo...my ninja way,'Sakumi thought as she slowly started turning to her seating partner."In case your curious I was in the hospital but it got boring and lonely so I decided to train outside...and then I met you..." Sakumi said pulling down her book slightly and smiling with a bit of a blush.

Sakumi had a bit of a history with people.One she was often too shy to talk to anyone.Two she was often afraid to start a conversation with a random person, making it extremely hard to buy things from a store or an inn room.She missed talking to people she saw before she ended up in the hospital.Tenzo and Elin.She missed Elin the most and was concerned if he was doing well, for she had lost contact with him due to her little knockout session.When she did see him again she'd be a great ninja like he was going to end up like as he became a chunnin.If he did win at all anyway.A small smile grew on her face.

She turned to the person next to her completely oblivious that is was Fukai.Her book nearly dropped as she realized who the man next to her was.The man that had beaten her in her first round during the second stage.What was he even doing out here?Just hanging out?Or simply looking to antagonize her yet again?She found herself tooken over by fear and refused to turn away even when she felt like she truly needed to stop looking.She didn't trust him after what he did to her.But why was he even talking to a pathetic girl like her anyway?

Word count:508

The girl had not seemed to notice him yet, her attention still on her strange activity with the sticks. He did not know what reaction she would give, back at the hidden beast temple, she had seemed pretty scared and hurt. What would she do to him now that he had come in such close range without notice? She confirmed that she had indeed come from the hospital, her bruises and bandaging had told him that much already. Now that he was closer, he could make out the purple discolouring of the skun underneath her jaw where his first decisive strike had landed. It had been all down hill from there for the small female. When he had first entered the arena, he had been taken aback by her small stature. He had more than five years on her and was probably double her weight. And yet that still did not seem to discourage her from diving straight in. She now told him that she was not one to back down. He could see that for himself, although that particular 'ninja way' as she called it, may be detrimental in the future. He could respect it in a way, the selfless commitment to the cause was a quality that villages always saught. People to jump into danger with a single command, this is what a shinobi should be. He wouldn't have been surprised if she told him that her village had signed her up for the exam and she had willingly jumped into the ring whether she had been ready or not.

Sakumi seemed to let her mouth run away with her thoughts, her mind lost in her book. She put it down and turned to him. She had a smile prepared to meet the stranger but her face dropped as her purple eyes met his. What was it, fear? Anger? Bitterness? Fukai wasn't surprised to see that she had some sort of hangup around the result of their match although he could not personally relate. His view on dueling was one of individual removal. There was nothing on the line, no one was challenging your views or threatening your loved ones. Therefore, there was no need to hold resentment at a loss or gratification at a win. It was a simple comparison of a ninja's skill, one that he had come out on top of. Ofcource, it was easy to have this mindset when you won almost all of your fights. It was rare for the talented young man from the Hidden Rock to find a worthy rival. He had struck her repeatedly with his weapon, he showed no mercy. This was not the result of cruelty but of unbias. He would not treat someone differently even if the were weak if they were to stand against him. Sakumi stepped into the ring of her own volition in that day and the match had rolled out as such. Some would say that such a mindset voided of all relation was inhumane and unnatural. That was fine by Fukai, it was the way that he had been raised and he was not going to change his views so easily when his opponent's dropped like flies beneath his excellence.

She seemed to be speechless as the sight of his presence, the seconds ticked by without a word from her. He wasn't quite sure what to do in this situation, Fukai was beginning to regret drawing her attention, he should have just continued past. Maybe it would have been better for her to not have seen him. He offered her a weak smile. I bring no harm, you just looked a little uh lonely. He was about to say 'strange' but then he thought better of it. He glanced down at her bundle of sticks and wondered what on earth she was doing. Their spot on the large branch of an oak tree was rough on his behind, his awkward shifting didn't help it either. So you are learning medical ninjutsu, aye? And genjutsu? Well, I don't know much about those. He offered a little bit of small talk to try to ease the tension, although he was still ready if she did indeed happen to have some sort of outburst.

[716] /1334

Sakumi calmed down a tiny amount when he said these carefully picked out words to her.Though he seemed to almost say the word strange to her.If he had said she wouldn't mind at all.Everyone was strange in their own special way.Sakumi's strange was jumping out a dang hospital window and expecting not to not get hurt.In the matter of fact, it was more crazy than strange to be truthfully honest.She wasn't normal.No one was in this strange world of life or death.Sakumi thought of Uzumaki Naruto.The 7th Hokage who was strange and weird as a child.She wanted to be kind of like him.Or maybe she'd like to be more like the 5th Hokage?Or the 5th Hokage's loyal assistant and her pig?

A small smile appeared on Sakumi's face."I wanna be like Tsunade when I grow up...she was a great medical-nin and probably my favorite Hokage!"Sakumi said with a wide grin.Maybe she wouldn't be great like Fukai was but she'd be the best Hokage if she did reach that goal.Sakumi then realized Fukai probably never heard of Lady Tsunade.'He isn't from Konoha...what am I supposed to do expect he knows her?'Sakumi thought.Trying to avoid an awkward situation Sakumi started talking about something else.

"Her assistant was Shizune and they were pretty awesome...though Tsunade had a fear of blood and  was quite lazy...but she made an enormous impact on the history of Konohagakure as well as the 7th Hokage Naruto...so maybe I lost this one fight, but I'll be an awesome Hokage when I grow up!I'll be a sannin and everything!"Sakumi said, bragging ever so slightly.It felt a little good to brag.Sure it wasn't nice but it felt relieving to her.

To be a Hokage.You had to have a strong love for your village, be strong yourself, and finally be smart enough to defend everything that was important to your village.And Sakumi was more than up for that little challenge.She would have to challenge the current Hokage of course, but he/she would be no issue to her.She was a girl on a mission and no one was going to stop that.She wouldn't back down.She couldn't back down.She won't back down.

"Starting now your talking to Sakumi...a girl on the mission to find what she will become in the future,," Sakumi said gleefully.Even as she was realizing at this moment she was thinking about becoming a true rival to Fukai."And now you're my rival Fukai of Iwagakure!"Sakumi shouted before jumping down from the tree they were resting on.Her flowed behind her as she fell to the ground below her with a small thud."But can we go on a little walk right now?I just woke up recently and I'm feeling good about myself so can we take a little one?Please...Sakumi blushed with a stupid little embarrassed smile as she said this.Her confidence may have been beaming at the moment, but she wanted to relax after all the pain she suffered during the exams.

Words: 553

The two genin sat up on the length of the tree branch, in what Fukai would describe as an awkwardly close proximity. The pair had just faced of against each other not a half a week ago in the hidden beast temple for the chuunin exams an all important quarterfinal match that had been screened all around the cloud village. No doubt Sakumi's tourist experience had changed as much as his had. He had been noticed more than once since that day, just meandering around and coming into contact with people.

The resident shinobi sure took this competition seriously, the winner was sure to bath in the glory and admiration produced from the audience. It bordered on sickening for the Iwagakurian genin, the way that Kumogakure had commercialised and publicised the event. Since he had been a small child he had taught and thought of the chuunin exams as the highest and most prestigious arena the greatest melting pot of raw talent tempered by the centuries of honed ninja arts. Nothing could be more glorious to an aspiring warrior, to imprint their name on the history books just like the legends of old. It had been one of these figures that graced the pages of the most famous Iwa ninja that had inspired Fukai to take up the staff as his weapon of choice. The lone wolf who followed his own path and struck down all who stood in his way. He led his people into a new order. But that was only a story, Fukai did not bother with such things anymore. He had grown to realise that reality was a lot uglier and dirtier than the idyllic folk tales that spread from heart to heart. How many times had that old legend changed as it was passed from generation to generation?

Sakumi was still young, he could understand that she still held the figures of the past in such high regard. He did not recognise the name of the girl's favourite hokage but realised that it would have taken strength to rise to such a rank as mainly a medical nin. Such a thing was common in his village, Iwa was often considered the center of medical ninja arts. Fukai watched with quiet interest as the small girl continued. His hard purple eyes were semi-focused as he wandered through his own thoughts. His body language was hunched and closed, he was still stand offish with the girl despite his proactive approach. He found it hard to relate and socialise with people sometimes, and the difference in their particular demographic did not help his situation. She continued on, singing her praises and started rambling a bit.

She then mentioned a hokage by the name of Naruto, this was a name that Fukai did recognise. A figure in the history of the whole shonobi world that changed the course of the land. There was not a shinobi alive that did not know of his life and achievements. He was simply one of the most amazingly powerful people ever. The genin wondered how much of that legend was indeed fact. It was true that all tales started with a grain of truth but it was also a fact that time eroded all. If there was one thing that Fukai took from that particular tale, it was that the powerful were able to push their views and live how they liked. Naruto was said to be very outspoken about the way that the shinobi world should be run and people respected and abided by his words to a degree not possible by anyone else in recorded history.

Starting now your talking to Sakumi...a girl on the mission to find what she will become in the future
Fukai returned her smile a little at these words, they resonated with himself or at least his younger self. Now that he was growing older and had since left childhood behind, he had noticed his beliefs and culture stop changing as set somewhat. Isn't that what growing up is all about? Finding yourself can be extremely difficult and sometimes can be excruciating. There is no worse feeling than feeling like you do not know yourself, that you are lost in this world and cannot find and identity that you are comfortable with. But then one day you will emerge, just like everyone else has, and find that you are yourself and nothing else and that is okay. Like a butterfly from a chrysalis, the teenage years are a turbulent biological rite of passage for every person on the planet. It can sometimes seem so dark but when you finally reach the end of the tunnel, you realise that you were always going to get there eventually and that the only way to lose is to give up...

And now you're my rival Fukai of Iwagakure!
He could not fault her ambition, she had felt first hand the distance between them. He could not discourage her even if he wanted to. Alright then, Miss Chuia. If she was going to attempt to use him as a benchmark for her success then he would not mind too much. It won't be easy if you seek to surpass me, I don't intend on waiting for you so you better hurry up and get stronger. His eyes were still cold but his expression was slowly warming, the iciness being melted by the girl's youthful declaration.

Sakumi wished to go for a stroll. Fukai consented with a nod and hopped down next to her. He subconsciously took a step back and in noticing it, he pushed himself to stop backing away from such a harmless interaction. Okay then, lead the way. We should probably stick to the backstreets to avoid being noticed. By the looks of things, she had not been discharged by the hospital and of course, it would not do for people to recognise the pair that had just been fighting in the exam to be walking the streets, Fukai could imagine the sorts of dramas that he could be caught up in. Not to mention the old man would definitely not approve of this meeting.

[1034] /2368

OOC: We of Saga are a family. You wanna talk or something, come see big bro Fukai.

Expectations vs reality.You expect some things to go right.You expect to live a long successful life.But you can never truly learn that if you don't try in some way.You expect people to be loyal if you help them in any way.Some expect to be rich, famous, basically anything that makes them pampered in some way.Never having to do work ever again and to be well known or extremely popular.Everything to be perfect to the very last detail.Like colored candies.If you take a red piece you must take one of every other color until none is left anymore.The wrapping must be folded in just the right way.

But of course, the reality of our paths was nothing like your original expectations.Death could creep upon us any moment and most younger people would run away from it in the fear of it.While others would look it straight in the eye, not a fear in the damn world at that moment.While very little would go and shake his hand.Wanting to except what was to come in reality.A lonely misled life.Just to be ripped away like tape.Cut like a weak thin piece of paper.Stabbed like a petty object in the way.

This is what Sakumi had lived with every day of her sad depressing life.Never truly being brave enough to prove herself that she CAN do it.But to achieve true reality she would have to try.Raise her head high.And stare death in the eye, afraid to say 'I am not afraid of you...and I never will be'.Be what fear was.Be what brave was.Become the one flower that would spring up not only the latest but the absolute most powerful.The most beautiful long living and powerful flower.Like a Sakura blossom.

Even as Fukai spoke Sakumi found herself blinded by her own ideal mindset at the moment.Call her crazy.Call her stupid.Call her weak.But she wouldn't give in to hateful words.Memories of her past pains of life to this moment flooded towards her.From all the kunai that ever struck towards her.All the put downs.The death of a loved one.She could remember all of it.With almost inhuman accuracy.Meeting Tenzo the strange but gentle young man.Meeting Kaekio the wolf woman....Elin...the boy she was 99.9% sure she was in mad love with.Kaitu...the boy she had encased in mud and helped back to civilization.Fukai...the young man who had had smacked her left right and center.Who gave her mercy when others would have killed her.She had truly only made it here because of these people.No pain and no gain would be...well gained.Fire and hell could be pouring on her right now and Sakumi would still smile.Look at death's feet and whisper.'I'm not scared'

"Fukai...what are you afraid of?I'm not a big fan of dogs...or balloons...or people...but people like you are ok!It's new people I'm bad at."Sakumi spoke as clearly as possible before guiding the two into a park.It was empty but still quite open."I know this would be an inappropriate moment but can we train?Please?"Before allowing Fukai, the chance to respond Sakumi would run over to a tree and swing from the branch momentarily so the gain momentum.Then follow that with placing her sandals against the tree trunk and pulling herself up.She stood and placed a hand vertically on her forehead, looking ahead.She would watch as the afternoon became darker and darker by the second.Letting pride and happiness fill her whole body.Know that your time is coming soon...as the Sun rises so does the Moon...Sakumi started gently humming to herself.Calm and collected.She could do this.

"Doppelganger Technique!"Shouted Sakumi as she did the appropriate hand signals.As she opened her eyes dizzily three clones surrounded her.'I did it!'Sakumi mentally screamed.Sure it was giving her a whopping headache but she had finally done a decent Jutsu for once.Sakumi started dancing and was followed by her clones.She enjoying this for some strange reason.And wasn't willing to give that up for the whole entire world at the moment.While dancing Sakumi did one more Jutsu, this time into the form of Elin.All the clones followed and watched as Sakumi fell back from the tree with nausea.She landed in a bush and slowly did hand signals to stop both the clones and the transformation Jutsu."No more Jutsu..i'll stick with physical activities for the rest of the day,"With a shake of her head Sakumi got back up and  yawned.This was energizing.And fun.

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140/150 (Not for offensive use):

We're closing this cause. . .yeah. . .stuff.Because I decided to let this thread die and then just ended it abruptly.

Training:

Exit Thread~

The afternoon sky was starting to darken, the light blue changing at the eastern edge of the horizon into a deep royal hue. The small girl led him into a park while she started to speak of what she was afraid of. She had asked him specifically what he was afraid of and the question took him by surprise a little bit. His hand raised to the back of his head as he scratched it while answering. Ah well I'm not that great with small spaces I guess. He answered with a little laugh but it soon died down as his face returned to it's serious default as he realised that she would probably appreciate a more serious answer. I don't know.. I guess I fear the future and what it will become. There is so much out there that remains unknown to me.. He knew the fear itself was completely natural but he couldn't shake the feeling that he felt it much deeper than others. To not know what is coming and have no control over it. It was a nightmare scenario for him. Fukai needed information to complete his picture. With all his talk about taking action recently, he realised that he would require a great deal of not only his own power but an access to information that was not given to the average ninja. He wondered just how he would get it..

I know this would be an inappropriate moment but can we train? Please?
Uhh Fukai had come out here without the intention of training and he had no idea what the girl had in mind. She scaled the tree that was near them and faced the horizon. What is she doing? Sakumi started humming quietly and quickly formed the shapes of hand seals between her fingers. Three clones popped into existence and she then jumped for joy, the clones joining her. She really was a strange little girl but charming in her own way. Then she began the transformation jutsu which shifted her form into that of an unknown boy. He continued to watch on as she dropped into a small brush below and undid the clones. She stood back up and made a comment about not using any more jutsu. The Iwagakurian genin looked at her and spoke without thinking. You said you were going to train.. and that's it, is that all of your stamina or something? No wonder you're weak. Fukai immediately realised that this was too harsh on the girl. He had been training for many hours every day for his whole life,  the principles of discipline and perseverance drilled into his skull so that they became obvious truths. He had to sometimes catch himself as he did not realise that not everyone had experienced the same sort of upbringing as him. Well, if you like, I can teach you how I control chakra.

Fukai stood opposite Sakumi about five metres away. He closed his eyes and breathed in and out to calm his soul and focus on his body. He straightened his back and rose to the balls of his feet. Since I wield a weapon, none of my jutsu cannot have hand signs. Therefore there is a limit on how I can control my chakra. But I have come up with a way to manipulate it in such a way that it benefits me greatly. His chakra control was one of force and explosive power that utilised his pore releases rather than his hands or mouth like a lot of jutsu. This was so that he could multitask and do more than one thing at a time. First, you send your chakra out to every edge of your skin. Not just your fingers, but every surface of your body. Standing in that neutral position, he called up his chakra to circle around the capillaries near his skin for a few seconds. And then you push it out of your pores without shaping it. Then he forced the chakra out. A small shock wave of wind traveled out from his body in all directions and formed a wall slight breeze. This was the basis for many of his jutsu, especially his speed boosting jutsu. Yes, his ninjutsu were on the simple side and did not require much control but they were effective nonetheless. It was only that particular one jutsu that was different.. He could try to teach her it but it was a very hard conceptual jutsu to utilise. After the demonstration, he forgot something. Oh, by the way, what elements can you use? Fukai had not seen her use any elemental jutsu yet and depending on what her answer was, he may be able to teach her something more specific.

[797] /3165
~exit~
Thread Closed ..I guess..

Training: