A cold mist was lingering through the bushes and around the trees present along the training grounds of Kirigakure. The swamps were eerie and bubbling with life from unseen creatures beneath the dark water. Sunlight was dimmed by the murky atmosphere of the grounds, but it was not difficult to move along through the location. Perhaps, to foreigners, it was an odd place for a village to allow their people to practice their skills at. With all of the dangers that could be just about anywhere, it would seem like a hazard. The wild animals that resided in various parts of the swamp lands did not make any complaints, however.  A small boar, unlike the other natives of the wild, ran along a path made slippery by the moist air.

Fear was present in its black eyes as it ran away from its pursuer. Hiding out would be a wise option for a fleeing creature, but its tracks were easy to follow at the current time. And, the one who followed not too far behind, a young girl with a confident grin on her face, knew that it would be futile. The ninja was of a low level of abilities, but was able to fare well against the boar thanks to it being a mere child. They both ran through small bushes and one of the smaller clearings, and curved around trees. Occasionally, the ninja girl would slip off to the side and lose distance, but often caught herself in the process of falling. “I’m not out of this jig just yet, pig,” she huffed, regaining her composure after nearly sliding into a pit of swamp water. Her ‘prey’ was still intent on getting away, but the Kirigakure ninja would not allow for herself to give up. Her blood was boiling and her heart was fired up for a day of honing her abilities. 

Such an up and ready ninja of Kiri was none other than a member of the scattered Uchiha clan. Her name-- Teru Uchiha. She was a mere Genin from the village often shrouded by the mysteries of the mist, but she was certain that the title would only become a distant memory in the near future. One could call it destiny, or even fate. 

With a squeal, the child boar made a hard turn that caught the Uchiha off guard. As the meaty creature dashed off into the distance, Teru was rather unfortunate and found herself tripped at the ankle by an exposed root. “Oh no,” she gasped, throwing her arms out in front of her as her body succumbed to gravity. She slid on her front through a rough spot hidden by a grassy terrain, then rolled off into a shallow body of water. The hat she always had on her person floated atop the surface of the water as she calmed herself before coming back up. “Argh, I almost had that one…” 

Her blonde hair and clothes were soaked, and a bit dirtied from the recent tumble. But, she didn’t mind it too much despite being chilled from the cold touch of water and air. Teru let out a sigh before getting herself up to her feet and stumbled out onto drier land with her soggy hat in one hand. “I should have seen that root,” she vented in a cool tone, and glanced at the direction where her intended target fled into. “Perhaps I haven’t trained enough… Ah! But, I was so certain that this me would be good enough. I suppose it’s back to the dummies and everything, then.”

“One way or another, I’m not going to let that pig go so easy,” Teru laughed to herself, dismissing the mistake she had made just a moment ago. Luckily, chasing after the wild animal was enough to get her ready for everything else she had planned for the day-- the week, even. Whatever it took to become a valuable tool to Kiri and her comrades who she had yet to get fully acquainted with.

It was nearing the afternoon as Teru strolled through the misty swamps of the training grounds, so there was still enough daylight to enjoy as she went about her usual business. Her clothing was still damp from the previous error she made while chasing after the small boar along the grounds, but she didn’t mind it. Ninja made a lot of errors in their lifetime, so she had to accept it sometime. Of course, it was always preferred that there be great success instead of failure. She did have the opportunity to blame the poor timing of tripping along the route and the incredibly dreadful presence of a muddy track. That, she did not quite let go. 

“Phew,” Teru sighed, coming to a more open area where there was a great patch of dry grass. The mist cut off just along the ring the the trees made around the very clearing, which allowed for the sunlight to shine down and warm it to a cool, but fair temperature. Her eyes fell to the center where the grass was a healthy shade of green, and a smile appeared on her face. “I guess I can take some time to dry off here before getting right to the schedule I had planned out.”

Right in the middle of the clearing, Teru lied on her back with her limbs sprawled out. Her ninja sandals were kicked off and to the side where they too could dry off. The warmth wasn’t unbearable or anything of the negative sort. It felt just right to her skin. “Hah, why can’t it be like this everyday?” she said to herself, not asking anyone in particular. Well, it was just her at the moment, so she could only talk to herself. With her hat off and laying right beside her head, Teru’s blonde hair was able to take in the warming light, too, and began to dry. 

For several minutes, Teru relaxed on the grassy ground with her half-lidded eyes focused on the clouds above. Only a few topics were present in her young mind, such as furthering her career as a Kirigakure kunoichi and finding out more information about… why she was without loving parents. Then there was the subject of her origins-- her relation to her clan, specifically. She was certainly aware of their being something special, but she did not know what was so special about it. Perhaps, there would be a time and place when that could happen. 

The more pressing matters at the current moment were all relating to Teru’s own physical capabilities as a Genin. As a low-ranking kunoichi, she was going to have to do a lot in order to keep up with her comrades. And, if she were to be taken into a unit of battle-oriented ninja, she would have to be able to hold her own in and outside of combat. 

“Hm,” the Uchiha girl grinned a little more, and blinked her eyes once before opening them fully. The thought of her strength compared to others got a boiling feeling in the pit of her stomach, and it brought on another thought relating to her Uchiha blood. ‘I’m positive that I’m just as good, or even better than some of those guys out there,’ she mentally pumped her spirit up. “I just need a good stepping stone to get me up there… with the best of the best in this world.”

Quieting down, Teru let out a very soft giggle and exhaled a breath. Her attire was just nearly finished drying off, as were her hat and sandals after nearly an hour of lying back. In no time, she would be able to work through her training before anything else. 

Words: 631

Total Word Count: 1307/3750

“Well, that should do it.”

Teru Uchiha stood up from the ground and patted down her arms and legs to check and see if they had dried off enough. Once she confirmed that it was all okay, she straightened her back and let out a satisfied sigh. Gently, she picked her hat up from the ground and dusted off any grass that had clung to the fabric before placing it back on her head. She then stepped over to where her sandals were and slipped both back on before stretching out to relieve herself of the stiff feeling she got from not moving for so long. 

Now that she had that out of the way, it was about time to get to work on training. She didn’t have any of her tools on her person, and she didn’t want to waste any jutsu on targets that were not set up anywhere. “Hah, what exactly should I do?” she wondered out loud, and tapped her toes on the surface of the ground to stimulate some ideas. “Let me think…”

“For a ninja to be as strong as they can be, there has to be something more than jutsu or projectiles,” Teru sighed, and cracked her knuckles from under the long sleeves she wore. That, and remembering the time when she was chasing the boar around the training grounds, actually brought an idea to her mind. A small, toothy grin appeared on her face as she held up her hands that were still covered by the long sleeves. She was a developing kunoichi who had a bit of talent in Taijutsu. Of course, it was nothing compared to her Ninjutsu capabilities, but she was still getting better with it. In addition to that, she had a liking for the boxing fighting style. 

Before she would participate in a practice exercise for Taijutsu related activities, she chose to do as many warmup laps around the training grounds as she possibly could. Relaxing under the sunlight had made her body a bit too relaxed, and she wanted to get out of that funk in order to avoid pulling a muscle or twisting an ankle. Teru then left the clearing and found herself back on the misty path that winded around the entirety of the training grounds. It was much cooler than where she was just a moment ago, which was perfect. “Alright,” she shook the weakness out of her legs, and readied herself for a good run. “Here I go.”

Her legs picked up in a rhythmic formation and allowed for Teru to start off with a paced jog. Occasionally, she would hop over the exposed roots and watery holes in the ground; her speed gradually picked up as she was clear of any major obstacles. The lingering mist was still rising, but did not make it impossible for the Genin to see her way around the path. Lucky for her, it was still light and transparent-- nothing like a load of fog that sometimes showed its face around Kirigakure. Another clearing came up on the left side of the route Teru was taking, so she cut through and lept over the shrubs on the other side to reconnect with a branching path.

Approaching a full run, Teru kept her torso tall and shoulders back to ease the challenge. Her breathing was slowed, and her fists unclenched as she picked up speed. The run she was taking happened to be one with a good feeling. Even though her body was beginning to warm up quite a lot from the lap, the temperature was convenient in cooling it back down and returning the lost energy. 

It almost seemed as though nothing bad was going to happen. That was until she heard a familiar squeal off to the side of the course. Teru didn’t stop running, instead glancing toward where the sound came from to see what was going on. “Really, now,” she half muttered, seeing the same boar from before swerving through the bushes to join the same trail she was on. It was about two meters ahead of her and made no apparent effort to get out of the way. “I think you just love taunting anyone near your territory… Not that I have a problem with it!”

With a brief giggle, the Uchiha girl was hot on the boar’s trail with the same goal as the first time. It was like an instant replay. She and the animal were back to the same antics-- this time with a little more determination. It progressed all the way around the training grounds, all the way to the very path where Teru had first tumbled into the swamp water. But, when they came close to where the uncovered root was, the teenaged Genin was able to spot it before taking the same spill as she had once before. “Heh, not this time,” she grinned confidently, and prepared to close in on the target. 

Teru had her arms out in front of her as soon as she rounded a bundle of bushes and a thick tree. Her ‘prey’ was just a close distance away; she could nearly pick it off of the ground if only she were close enough. “I’ve got you now-” she went on to say, inches away from its tail, but an abrupt interruption had forced her to snap back and away from the running boar to regain something that was lost. And, that something that she suddenly lost, was her balance. Along the path she was taking to capture the boar, where she had unfortunately stepped, there was a muddy square lying in wait to snare an unsuspecting victim. 

Realizing that she was going to be head over heels a second time, Teru took a moment to send the small animal a brief glare before sliding on her feet through the slick mud. “Gah!” she yelped, both of her ankles hitting the edge of a rocky step. The impact was enough to cause for her to topple over the side and down a descending hill. By the time she stopped rolling, she was already deposited into another pool of swamp water. 

“I should have seen that coming,” she sighed after returning to the surface for air. Again, she lost sight of her target and was forced to go back to a different activity. Teru wasted no more time in getting out of the cold swamp and retrieved her hat that had fallen off on the way down. Her face was not tense, and she showed no apparent anger in anyway. She merely went back to where there was sunlight and sat down to dry off once again. During that time, she picked out the grass and leaves that had tangled into her hair and stuck onto her clothes. “Ugh, I’ll have to take that as a lesson. When you want to hunt, come prepared… or whatever. One day, though, I’ll get that thing and have a barbecue.”

Word Count: 1171

Total Word Count: 2478/3750

Once again, Teru Uchiha was left to reflect on the errors she made during the efforts to capture the boar. From the location of her second failure, the Genin made her way back over to where the warmer clearing was so that she could repeat the process of drying off. Unfortunately for her, the sun was not going to stay in the same place for eternity. In fact, it would be on its way to some other part of the world fairly soon. “At this rate, I’ll be even soggier than a wet noodle,” Teru said quietly, glancing up at the sky above with one hand at her brow. “I guess I should do the manual work instead. First-”

Her left hand extended up to her right shoulder, and her fingers pinched at one of the strings that stitched the lengthy sleeve to the rest of her attire. By lightly tugging at it, the red fabric was undone and removed, allowing for the garment piece to fall from Teru’s arm. The same action was repeated for the other one. “That feels much better,” she smiled, and shook her arms a little. There were still sleeves present, but they fit around the form of her arms unlike the ones she dropped off. By removing them, it actually made it easier to throw punches, but she did lose a hiding place for weapons. 

“Now, then,” she began, scooting the pieces of clothing to the side so that they wouldn’t be stepped on. This time, instead of merely sitting around all day and waiting for something to happen, she was about to be productive and get a start on the long course of training. “I’ve got to make sure that I don’t get so messed up again.”

Teru exhaled a hot breath and relaxed her body some before getting into her combat stance. “If I am too lazy, then I won’t get any better and progress to greater levels,” she spoke, shifting her right leg back. The heel of her foot was lifted, slightly, from the ground, so that she had it balanced on the ball. As for her left, it was planted in the ground with weight shifted towards the front. Her lower body’s form was okay, being just short of shoulder-width. But, of course, she would work hard to find the most perfect stance. Her knees were bent just a smidge, which was to give her more power to and balance. From the hips and higher, she was relaxed. She kept her elbows down and hands up, fists clenched. The exact formation was similar to the of a boxer. Perhaps the mistakes in her form were in the lower body and torso, which was a bit squared. 

Nonetheless, she was going to train and hone her body and skills to where they could be capable enough for the higher standards. She had to have the power to do damage, and the endurance to defend. Flexibility and whatnot were certainly going to be aimed for. Tucking her chin, Teru inhaled sharply and shifted her weight to one foot as she threw a straight punch at the air in front of her small figure. “Hmph,” she furrowed her brows. The feeling of punching nothing wasn’t the best. Having something to connect with her fist could certainly make it seem more like actual training. A curved punch from her left fist followed as soon as the first attacking one was brought back to its starting position. Repeatedly, Teru threw several jabs and crossed-- a stronger version of a jab from the the following punch-- as well as hooked punches. The whole time, she acted as though there was a punching bag or a person in front of her. That invisible figure was her dummy for the training exercise. 

At times, in between the punching actions, she would bring her arms up defensively as if parrying an incoming attack from the invisible opponent. Her movements were a quite slow, but she did her best to get them on the dot. On another note, it was all apart of her training. To get it right, she would have to carefully work her way through the steps to avoid any major errors. “Hup!” she grunted, performing a duck of the head and short hop to the right with her footwork. Her imaginary competitor had thrown a head shot, but she was able to move out of the way in time to steer clear from its ‘fists’. 

This mock fight proceeded all over the clearing as the mist grew closer. Punches, and occasionally kicks, were tossed. There were frequent times when the ‘combatants’ ducked and slipped away from each other, but they always found their way back to one another for another go. “Phew,” Teru let out a quick sigh, her breathing pattern was a bit off from the constant maneuvers being made. It was exhausting, to put it short. But, she put in an effort to get in a few more swings. By the time she got to the last swing, however, her foot had gotten caught in a shallow hole hidden by the grass. 

Unfortunately, that was putting an end to her bout by causing for the boxing Uchiha to trip over and collapse to the ground with her limbs sprawled out. Teru couldn’t help but sigh and close her eyes as the mist stretched over her and the clearing. “I goofed up again,” she claimed, and got up to her knees. “Ah, but why? I thought I would get it right this time.”

Her gaze moved to the sky that was beginning to get darker by the hour. “It’s getting late,” she concluded, and reached back for her hat to place it over her messy hair. She silently wished for more time in training, but that was going to be a wish put on hold. It would have to be saved for another time-- this training she was determined to go through. If she could have someone as a skilled mentor to guide her through the proper ways of combat, she would be very pleased. 

Teru stood up and walked over to where her unattached sleeves were; her hands picked them up roughly before resting them upon her shoulders. “Someday, I’m going to get these steps down,” she said to herself, shaking off the hands of a stress. She was not about to let herself get bummed out over such a thing. As a ninja, it was part of her job to improve, and mistakes made were going to help her get better than before.

Teru shook her head, putting her thoughts away into the memory box. She quickly did a double check to be certain that she had everything that belonged to her and promptly started for the direction of home back in the main city of Kirigakure. It was still early enough to take a trip through the streets and have a look at all of the sights. After going through quite a bit of training, she felt it was a good enough time to take a rest and see what all there was to see. But, before she would do that, it was about time she took a shower and had a change of wardrobe. Her clothes were filthy and her hair had traces of mud in some places. So, without delay, the Uchiha girl departed from Kirigakure's training grounds and made way for her apartment before heading out again. 

"I wonder if there will be anything good to eat, too..."

Word Count: 1272

Total Word Count: 3750/3750 

Training Status: {Completed}

Training:

     Strength: E to D