"Ugh," Godric groaned as the sound of the tapping inside his head woke him, looking over to the clock on the bed side table to see that it was only 2 o'clock in the morning. "Damn it, what now?" he said to himself as he sat up in the bed shaking his head slightly as he looked around the room, other than the furniture in the room the only thing in the room was his pack, nothing that would cause the noise though Godric knew he would not see anything the noise was just inside his head it was there with him no matter where he was, and anyone around him of course would not hear it. It was his torment, his and his alone constantly tapping driving him to the edge of sanity, he decided it would be best that he go ahead and just start his day. Standing up he quickly popped his back popping each bone in his vertebrae before popping his neck and heading to the bathroom to jump in the shower the tapping continuing in his head. After his shower he came back into the room from the bathroom looking back at the clock on the side of the bed and saw that it was nearly three thirty, "well I guess I took a little longer than I probably should of" Godric said to himself with a shrug as he threw on his uwagi and shitibaki before tying his obi and sliding his feet into his beijing. Throwing his pack over his shoulder he headed out the door of the inn, as he waved good bye to the innkeeper he could not help but find joy in the fact that he had met such a nice man when he had first arrived. Sure the inn may not have the appearance and glamor that the Golden Horn Casino, but it was quiet and the staff was more than polite not to mention the fact that the man who owned the inn was nice enough to let him stay in the room free of charge for his help around the inn. Godric did find it slightly odd that the man would still be awake at this hour but shrugged it off as the man was always telling him that he had trouble sleeping and would often just start cleaning the store until he was able to fall asleep even if it was only for a few hours.

The nice cool air from the nightly wind was mildly refreshing as he took a deep breath of it as he headed down the road, it was still too early to go to the thunder temple so he decided to just stroll through the village and see what was going on in the village and see if there was anything interesting going on, although it was doubtful considering how early it was. Godric took his time walking slowly through the empty streets, the air was cool and the night sky looked amazing without a single cloud in the sky it was the clearest he had seen the sky since he had arrived in Kumogakure and it took his breath away. Godric made it to the top of the mountain that was Kumogakure before the sun made it over the horizon, sitting at the top of the sky forge Godric looked out over the village and over the horizon it was so peaceful and calm who would of known that something so peaceful and calm would become one of the busiest village Godric had ever seen in just a few more hours. Godric sat there just looking out over the village watching as he began to empty his mind and prepare himself to meditate for a few hours or so before he would be able to go shopping when the shops finally open. Godric stopped meditating just in time to see the sun coming up over the horizon, although he had stopped meditating he did not get up he just sat there looking out over the village as he watched it slowly begin to wake up. After a while he finally stood by now most of the shops should be open or at the very least be about to open so he figured he would start his slow walk down the mountain from the sky forge, he was in no real hurry to start his training, that is if he even decided to train today he had been training for the past several days so a day off would not hurt him if he wanted to spend the day relaxing. As he headed out from the forge taking his time, he slowly began to lose himself in his thoughts.

---

~793

Get up you lazy arse. A stout old man poked his head into Fukai's room. Kudaru was about as subtle as a sharp stone in your shoe. The gruff man's rasp grated against his morning headache.
Ugg, shove off. His eyes were still sewn shut with sleep. He had been living on his own for the last eight years or so, why did he suddenly need a doting overlord telling him what to do?
Stop this pathetic attitude and get out of bed. I am taking you for a work out this morning. With that last marching order delivered, he ducked his head back out of the room and went back to his previous business. Fukai rolled out of bed with maximum lethargy and got dressed. He was still dazed when he shuffled out of the room, and then received a boot to the bum that sent him flying out the conveniently open window, into the conveniently placed hedge. If Fukai didn't know any better, he would have said that Kudaru chose this hostel because of the abusive opportunities.

The young man pulled his head from the scratchy bracken, quickly changing from sleepy to belligerent. That old fart had it coming. Come on, let's go already. Kudaru was standing outside the front door with a guiltless expression. You've become too enamored with the luxurys provided by our hosts. Time for me to kick you into gear. The young man knew he chose that particular phrase to agitate him.
You're sorely mistaken if you think I'm gonna train with you. Fukai didn't bother to take the annoyance out of his tone. I'll do it my way, just like I have been doing it every day in the past. The Iwa genin had always had the hardest work out schedule of anyone he knew and the benefits showed when his body was fitter and stronger than everyone else's. A lifetime of dedication to a single point made that point grow into the sharpest of needles. And he had always done it on his own. This was less from choice and more about not ever having anyone around. His work was his hermitage where he resigned himself to a life of increasing the repertoire and effectiveness of his skills. The purple eyed genin had trained himself and done a pretty good job in his opinion.

He had always been strong of body and talented at bojutsu at an early age but he had never really been that great at molding chakra. Most of his abilities were about aggressive forcing of chakra instead of shaping it. It had been less then a year since he had discovered his chakra natures of lightning and wind. After that, his self development had taken off and he had become so much stronger. You think I'd let a punk like you wander off again? He was referring to the number of times he had escaped the claustrophobic grip of his supervisor to roam the unknown streets of Kumo. He had had some interesting adventures here so far and met a wide array of interesting people. He would go back home a different person, he wondered how his life would be different. As the old man said this, he snaked his leg into a sneaky low kick at the genin. As the foot hit Fukai's leg, the genin disappeared and was replaced with a rock. He was already gone, having taken the body flicker jutsu away from the retired ninja's hawkish gaze. Kudaru swore as his foot hit rock, getting a nice big bruise.

Finding a nice, quiet spot that looked out over the village, Fukai started shaking out his muscles and feeling out the kinks in his body. His neck was a little sore, so was his bum from that kicking he received. There wasn't any injuries or anything that would be too intrusive on his training, so he got to work. Starting off at a light jog, he soon transitioned into an intensive cross country run. His feet pounded the track that was leading uphill, his feet swinging like a pair of metronome turned up to high. His mind slowly wandered as he settled down into his pace, thinking about the events that had happened recently. He would be taking the next round of the exams soon as well. Fukai would not see the young man that he would run into until too late. Oof. Oh I'm sorry! I didn't expect to see anyone out here at this time of the morning.

[770]

"Godric, what are you doing?" came a voice from behind him, as he turned to see who it was Godric was met with the face of Rukasu. "Of course it would be you ruining my meditation Rukasu" Godric replied scoffing slightly as he spoke, "why do you insist on meditating so much Godric? It's not going to make you any stronger, you know that right? if you want to ever beat me in a spar you got to get more physical" Rukasu said as sat down on the grass beside Godric. "I need mental strength just as much as physical Rukasu, why do you think I am a head of you in both school and all the mental tests" Godric said with a laugh still not opening his eyes trying his best to continue his meditation, "yeah but you know what they say, the final test is where it will all be decided" Rukasu replied punching Godric in the arm as he spoke. "What do you think the final test is going to be?" Godric asked finally opening his eyes for the first time since Rukasu had arrived atop of the hill next to him, "honestly I have no idea" Rukasu answered with a sigh, "You just better hope you pass if you want to be my advisor when I become the clan leader" Rukasu continued with a chuckle as he leaned back on his hands and look up into the sky "I can't make any of the changes to the clan without your help Godric, we will have to work together to get our clan back to greatness and get the respect that we once had restored"

"What makes you so sure your going to be the clan leader?" Godric asked punching Rukasu playing before continuing, "How do you know I won't be the clan leader and you will be my advisor?" Rukasu chuckled looking over at Godric as if his words were impossible to understand, "You want to know how I know? it's because no matter how hard you try you could never beat me, and the clan would only accept the strongest of us as the leader, after all the prophecy only speaks of one chosen to lead the clan and they won't know which of us it is until after the final test...." Rukasu paused looking around as if to make sure that no one was listening to them, "hey, what do you say to us blowing off training today and going and having fun?" he asked Godric with true vigor in his voice....

---

Godric was snapped back to reality by the sudden impact from walking into something, he wasn't sure at first as he had been so lost in his thoughts that he had not been paying attention to where he was going. Godric shook his head trying to get his barrings back when he heard the gravely voice of the man he had run into, despite the sound of the the man's voice he did not appear that much older than Godric himself, "Not at all sir, completely my fault I was lost and my thoughts and not paying attention to where I was going" Godric said to the man bowing slightly before standing and getting his first good look at the man, he seemed well fit and appeared as if he could handle himself in a fight and it had been so long since Godric had had a decent challenge to test himself and see just how much he was truly improving. "I am really sorry for running into you, and please forgive me if this is a little forward but before I had ran into you I was heading to train and I was just wondering if you would mind having a spar with me if your not busy?" Godric chuckled slightly the man probably would think him nuts running into a complete stranger and then asking them to spar against you what was he thinking? "I just mean it has been a while since I have been able to test myself and I don't want to get rusty so if you would be willing it would help me out a lot." Godric's voice carried both a serious and sincere tone to it and although he did hope that the man would accept his somewhat challenge it was not of so much importance that he would push the issue, if the man declined he would accept it and move on whether it was merely talking to the man or heading out and training on his own.

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~773/1566


OoC: Fukai sorry for the delay I know that this post is long overdue and I am sorry I hope that we can continue our thread without any more delays.

~exit~

~Exit

~using 1500 of my 1566 words to train my Katon from D-Rank to C-Rank.