Kaiya walked through Sunagakure’s grand bazaar in a rather distant way. She just wasn't feeling particularly well. But that wasn’t surprising. Her first real mission hadn't gone well… or had gone well… depending on how you looked at it. She was sent to kill a drug dealer… And the village was minus one drug dealer at the moment… due to Kaiya… so one might suppose her mission went just fine. But… Kaiya had never killed another human being before. Deer, rabbits, scorpions, etc sure, but never another human being. And because of this recent turn of events she just wasn't feeling herself at the moment. They say the first time to kill is always the hardest… She hopes so… she didn't want to vomit all over the place every time that was for sure. She’d been sent to kill him… and had done so… yet afterwards, had frantically checked his pulse, each time hoping to feel it. But it was gone. Her job was done. She hasn't been prepared… but she couldn't have been, and knew that going in. You are never prepared for something like that. They say you are never truly a shinobi in till you have blood on your hands. Dear Lord did everyone feel this way when they killed someone for the first time? He was a drug dealer… It had to be done… People died of drugs, wasted their entire life on drugs… she loathes them and all who sold, made, or profited directly from them. How many lives had that drug dealer helped ruin? And yet… it was so confusing, regretting and not regretting your actions at the same time. Kaiya found herself becoming lost in thought about it frequently… And… having dreams. Dear God the dreams.

Kaiya shook her head and looked around herself as if just getting her bearings. Come on… Something… Someone… give her a distraction. Worrying about it was pointless. But… She was helpless.to stop herself on this matter. She needed a distraction. Something to do or think about that was entirely unrelated to the recent events of her life. Kaiya got out a large strip of deer jerky. It was more expensive here, but that's why she bought deer meat in the border towns near the land of fire. Kaiya tore a much smaller strip off with her teeth and chewed it in a perfunctory sort of way. As if eating jerky was expected of her but her heart was not in it. Kaiya sighed and continued on, gnawing on her jerky. It was the good kind. The dehydrated kind, not the crappy soft kind. Kazui loved the good kind. The jerky with no moisture in Iran as if every bit of water was pulled out of it leaving a big strip of dry, tough meat. The kind of jerky you carry a big price of and rip a strip off of with your teeth and chew on for a bit. Some people loved bacon, and bacon is all fine well and good, but if you want some real meat, you need deer jerky. Venison is the best meat.

Kaiya examined a nearby stall, which had things from the other villages for sale. She wouldn't get anything though. Kaiya wasn't rich, food took much of her money. Fruit and veggies tended to be more expensive in the middle of the desert after all. Kaiya sighed slightly and walked on, trying to ignore a few stares. Kaiya tended to draw attention. Partly it was her eyes. Kaiya had very strange eyes. A normal eye was composed of, visually, a while sclera, a colored iris, and a black pupil. Kaiya’s eyes each had a black sclera, and not dark grey but genuine black. And her irises were a bright, very bright blue. In addition, her lips and fingernails were black. It was a genetic issue causing rather odd hyperpigmentation. Something she heard she had inherited from her grandfather. Her hair was black, and was a tad long, roughly shoulder length. She kept it In a high ponytail. Her hair also had the odd quality of seeming almost blue, because while black, when light reflected off her shiny hair, it seemed to reflect a darker blue color. As did her lips and fingernails. Though this was simple dye. Her hair was a normal black color, but she liked adding the blue dye to achieve a cool look. It was the eyes that bugged most people. Many assumed she had a doujutsu, or wore colored contacts. Her clothing, however, was fortunately not drawing attention, for Kaiya was fairly modest. She wore a simple sandy-white blouse and a blue skirt maxi skirt, with short spandex shorts on under it, just In case. Kaiya hated the idea of flashing her panties should something happen. Kaiya tried to find a way to distract herself again, lest she fall back down into pointless anxiety. It was while looking at another stall that she bumped into someone else, apparently distracted enough by thoughts she didn't wish to think, she hadn't been paying attention to where she was going. "Sorry..."

Word Count: 851

Ren stood at the stall admiring a selection of fruit, she could feel the juicier ones full of water exploding with flavor and refreshment, to some degree. The day was... hot. No, it was really broiling to Ren, each step in the sand was another step closer to beads of sweat forming on her forehead and collapsing under the waves of it all. The very thought of staying out her any longer was terrifying, she almost began to salivate at the idea of biting into a large and juicy watermelon, the water cooling her down and bringing some relief from an overbearing sun. An unbearable though, Ren debated her options, she could go somewhere where the air was cool indoors and conditioned, maybe hiding out in the administration building or a library? Or she could make a mad rush back home and unwind in the comforts that lay there, where no one could judge her for laying about and letting the cool air rush over her. But any option meant traveling out away from the shade of the stall through the sandy streets and through that overbearing sun casting its forsaken heat across the area. Dear God the heat.

It was in her moment of loss that she felt a bump, being knocked off balance briefly as she stepped away from the stall. She caught herself quickly and turned to the voice that spoke up, "Sorry..." another look at a slightly older woman. But it wasn't her age or her clothes that caught Ren's attention, instead she was mystified almost immediately by her eyes. Partially ignoring the black lips and black hair and all other potentially identifying features, not the soft features of her face or even the fact that she had just bumped into Ren. Not that Ren was a confrontational person, but instead of addressing it, she was almost immediately lost in focus to the black sclera of her eyes.

Not to call it a strange look, but it was beyond unique, the kind of things that might help add a bit of flavor to a monster in some horror story or the kind of thing told as a fable. But the black sclera and blue iris, it was partially enchanting. Ren would stand for a second, her eyes trained towards this strangers while drowning everything else out of her vision. A short moment would pass, Ren would blink and break concentration to bring her back into the conversation. "No, no. It's alright, I should have been looking where I was going." she would say towards the stranger. Having great difficulty to not stare at her eyes so much as keep her attention at all, letting her eyes bounce off different features and choosing to look through her rather than looking directly at the eyes. Besides, there was no reason to be rude and with features like that, there is always a chance that there could be some bigger issue with them. Perhaps a bit of trauma from being teased around for being different or just wanting to be normal, to draw attention to a feature that's different is rude, and Ren was doing her best to try not to be rude.

However well Ren was hiding that little tidbit would be almost completely unknown to her.

[553 words]

Kaiya was not entirely surprised that the girl’s first reaction was to stare at her eyes. It was the typical reaction she supposed. She should probably conceal them more to be honest. It’s not like she couldn't simply use the basic academy transformation Jutsu to turn into herself with normal eyes… but… She was a bit too forgetful for that, and much more important, felt it better to simply get used to the looks she got from others, than try to avoid it. And it was working, mostly. It didn't really bug her… directly at least. Kaiya likes her eyes, but she didn't want to be known as that person with the creepy eyes. Though she mostly got female pronouns for now, she tended to be thought of as a person rather than as a girl or a boy. This was both a blessing and a curse. Kaiya was rather tricky to put in a gender box. Today she was wearing a skirt and using the name Kaiya, but tomorrow she might feel like a guy and use the name Kai. This got… Confusing fast to most people. She couldn't ask them to constantly switch which pronouns they used for her, that would be… perhaps too confusing. Sometimes she felt someone snubbed or hurt when people messed up her pronouns but given her changeable gender, calling them on it would be selfish. But because people just kind of treated her like she had no gender… At least they weren't constantly using the wrong pronouns. Better neutral ones than the wrong ones half the time. Those who knew her tended to just gauge her gender based on her clothing choices. This didn't always woken but tended to be by far one of the best solutions. Some people wished she's just pick a gender… but when most found out she was intersexed… Well… Their arguments just floundered as if they didn't know it was possible to have mixed genitalia.

Kaiya gave a slight smile, unsure of what to say. It wasn't that Kaiya was bad with words, but more that she tended to be reserved. Perhaps being raised by addicts had simply taught her not to trust. She always tended to worry that everyone around her was simply putting up an act. She simply expected people to lie and cheat because that was what she was raised around. Because she didn't trust people before they demonstrated that she could… It left her awkward when it came to meeting new people.  After a but she decided on something to say. ”Dear Lord it’s hot today…it may be a desert but… I guess the sky felt like being a jerk today. Glad I wore a skirt. If I’d been wearing tighter fitting clothing… it’d be being cooked alive.” that much was true. A skirt and a loose shirt were better than right clothes. But most desert people knew this. After all, desert dwellers typically wore light colored, loose fitting clothes so that air could flow and help cool them. Only an idiot wore skinny jeans or some such in the desert. Though perhaps clothing for desert conditions wasn't common knowledge. She had seen foreigners visiting wearing darker colors and tight clothing. They always looked miserable when they did that. That said her current outfit would hardly be what she's be wearing if she was going into the desert. Not nearly enough of her skin was covered. Sure sun block might work in the city, but outside in the desert, you covered as much skin as you could. It might be hotter that way, but no one wants the kind of sunburn a desert could give you. That said… black skin and eyes did have other downsides. Lighter hair would have been better in the sun. Her eyes were tricky… black almost seemed to attract light… But pigments also protect from if radiation. So I'm general her eyes were… okay. She didn't seem to be more prone to sunburn on the eyes. (snow blindness) Kaiya fidgeted for a moment, brushing sand off her skirt, not exactly sure what to say. It was awkward being a reserved person while still being fairly agreeable.

Word Count: 700
Total Word Count:851+700=1,551

Training Stats -:

1,551-750=801

Speed is now D-0

801-750=51

Reaction Time is now D-0

New Total Word Count: 51

Ren received a smile in return for her anti-bashful self, Ren brought her own smile back up to return. She didn't want to be rude in her own regard, but perhaps it was a bit weird now that the two of them were just smiling at each other, no matter though. The short silence and awkwardness would be broken, ”Dear Lord it’s hot today…it may be a desert but… I guess the sky felt like being a jerk today. Glad I wore a skirt. If I’d been wearing tighter fitting clothing… it’d be being cooked alive.” Ren nodded heavily in agreement, if there was any truth she could get behind in the moment it would be that much. "Oh! I know, I think I'd rather get stuffed into an actual oven than deal with this heat for much longer." she laughed a bit at her joke. Rubbing the back of her neck a bit embarrassed about it all.

At the same time, this stranger brushed some dust off her skirt, pointing Ren back to the fact that her sweat pants and track shirt weren't the wisest of choices. "To be honest, it's why I'm hiding here under this tent, that and the delicious looking fruit. I was just thinking about heading somewhere cooler..." she would rant on, not wanting to seem rude or anything, doing her best to be on her best manners here. "Again, I'm sorry about bumping into you and all." she said with a dumb and embarrassed smile, was there nothing better that she could add here?

Part of her was bored and would love to pick up a conversation with a stranger to fill in the time, given that she had the day off. And thankfully, training or missions in this heat would certainly be the death of her. And the other part of her, well that part was slowly broiling, perhaps she could make an offer to move their conversation into some place that would be air conditioned? Or even somewhere with shade where they could sit, but that may as well be a long shot too. Besides, what stranger also had nothing else to do like Ren? What were the chances that this stranger would even care to deal with Ren for longer than the next thirty seconds while she awkwardly stumbled her way through this bit here?

Who knows... Ren would decide to give it another shot after a short moment of musing over her thoughts, "I was actually thinking about to going to grab something to drink and maybe lunch? If you want to tag along?" she would ask with a genuine look in her eyes. Of course, it would be up to her guest here to either accept or deny the request.

[472 words, 1025 words total]

Kaiya had to agree about the the of be it. Shoved into an oven. Though fortunately she didn't have it nearly as bad as the poor girl in front of her had. She apparently hadn't planned for the heat. Jutsu Because Kaiya had been born and raised here didn't mean she had never made the same mistake. Sometimes it was misleading. The night could be cold and in the morning, when it still felt a tad cool, it was easy to forget how much temperatures in the desert can change. Foreigners in particular tended to have the worst time of it. Deserts are stereotypically very hot. Most are surprised by how cold the night could get. She had known people to get stuck outside the village at night and potentially even die of hypothermia. Nature was scary when it wanted to be. But at least here in the village it wasn't nearly as bad as the desert could get. To the west of the village, for instance, was an area known as “the sands domain.” Now that was a place that could kill you. The mountain(s) funneled high winds into that particular area of the desert. It was prone to tornadoes and furious winds, which kicked up the sand into monstrous sand storms. If the heat didn't kill you, a sandstorm might. And because sand was easily picked up by the wind, these sand storms could come seemingly right out of the blue. One moment it's calm, and within 10 minutes there is a huge sandstorm and you'd desperately seeking shelter while trying not to inhale the sand by accident. Supposedly there were ruins deep within the sands domain, but it was hard to verify as many who went treasure seeking,homing to find valuables there, never came back. They ended up swallowed up by the sands. As She spoke about why she was there Kaiya nodded. She would probably be hiding in the shade too given when she was wearing.

”I don't blame you. It's what I would be doing. Any and all shade is welcome on days like this. To be honest I feel rather sorry for the merchants working their stalls. Even with the shade...it's got to be hard. As for bumping into me… It's not like I was watching where I was going either.” Kazui felt odd saying some of that when practically directly in front of a merchant… while at the same time not saying it til one. She hoped the merchant didn't feel put off. Kaiya smiled a little awkwardly. Admittedly, she did have a point. In a hot day like this, a mouth just craved some juicy fruit. This stall would do good business today to be sure. Just thinking of it put her in mind of a watermelon, juicy and dripping slightly, cool and refreshing. Just imagining it made her mouth water slightly. What she wouldn't give to be at home in her kitchen carving a watermelon right now. Her home may not be big, but surely the counter could fit a large watermelon right? Kaiya was glad to have her own home. Sure it was only a small 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment with a very small kitchen I'm the living room, but it was hers. More importantly… She didn't have to watch her mother do drugs, or her father come home empty handed having gambled away all the money from his mission. Kazui could swear if she didn't get them food they'd half starve.

Kazui shook her head slightly to clear tin sending her hair moving around her. The girl spoke about going to get some to earn maybe get lunch. Kaiya was willing to jump at this offer. She had been in the mood to do something, anything that meant not being alone. She had been alone long enough since then… if no one was around or there wasn't anything to do, her mind inevitably went back to the events of her most recent mission. He had enough trouble with that while she was asleep, she didn't want to dwell on it all day long as well. ”Yes! That sounds great. I’ve… been in a situation where I really don't care to walk around with nothing to do. Getting something to drink with someone, maybe some company for lunch sounds heavenly at the moment.” Kaiya spoke excitedly and earnestly, almost as though she had her out at sea and someone had thrown her a life preserver. ”Oh… my name is Kaiya…. Sakkaku, Kaiya… sorry… I forgot to introduce myself and it's be awkward if we got there and maybe even finished lunch without even knowing each other's names.” Kaiya smiled a genuinely contented smile. She would follow the girl wherever she desires to head to.

[Exit, as planned]

Word Count: 807
Total Word Count: 807+1551=2,358
Available sword Count: 51+807=858

858-750=108
Endurance is now D-0

Total training done:
Speed, Reaction time, and Endurance are improved from E0 to D0.

Available Word Count: 108

Awkward conversations would almost never provide much sustenance, commentary about the weather or the current events of the world would usually be a null point. Sure, they could carry over the tide of boredom for a short time or even sometimes provide insight into the thoughts and feelings of a person on a given subject. But to peg someone's personality by how they felt about the weather or to argue their demeanor on life because of one bad day was like a historian trying to make a point about the culture of an ancient civilization by reading insights into the accounting of a particular farmer or government worker. A bit ludicrous at best, and not exactly Ren's cup of tea. But still, despite such harsh objections to a subject and its intricacies, the concept of being able to carry a conversation on about nothing was a necessary skill to have for the world. That is, if you would like to say that you have some amount of whatever is referred to as 'social skills'.

However, for this particular stranger, Ren made something of a different approach to their interaction. Instead of going on for another thirty seconds or so about nothing, she made a subconscious decision to make a meaningful stance out of it. Pressing an offer to join her for lunch, and perhaps to relax for a bit out of the heat. Now, given that this meaningful bit stemmed from a fit of these dull conversations; it could be argued that perhaps they weren't so meaningless after all. Preposterous! After all, it was not the conversation that led to something eventful, but rather Ren's revolution against the norm here. A quite stance that she wanted something more to do and wouldn't settle for anything less than a slight adventure.

Or perhaps... too much thought is being put into this. The stranger responded though, Ren all but letting go of her earlier comment about the stalls and feeling bad for the workers. A thought she would share, it would be horrible for someone to have to work on their feet all day and god forbid outside. It was the same thought process that made her glad she didn't have missions or any unnecessary training to do. ”Yes! That sounds great. I’ve… been in a situation where I really don't care to walk around with nothing to do. Getting something to drink with someone, maybe some company for lunch sounds heavenly at the moment.” she gave her response with a seeming bit of eccentricism. At least no less excitement then Ren would give for an opportunity to escape the heat, if even for a moment or so. Ren would add on as she tilted her head away from the stall to motion in a direction, "Awesome! I know this great tea house just down the corner that also serves some delicious sandwiches." she said with a smile on her face, leading the pair of them out of the shade and into the ungracious sunlight.

Making sure that her guest was coming along with her, leaving her some room to her side to travel along with her, the stranger would chime in, ”Oh… my name is Kaiya…. Sakkaku, Kaiya… sorry… I forgot to introduce myself and it's be awkward if we got there and maybe even finished lunch without even knowing each other's names.” Ren chuckled a bit at the comment, that would be a bit awkward... but then she thought would it be any worse carrying on a minute conversation with a stranger to learn nothing about them or their name or anything? At least with a lunch, there was an entire time dedicated away to learning about the other person, their views on whatever topics could be come up with. Where as the quick conversation would be nothing but a silly waste of time in the grand scheme of things.

Ren would smile back and unabashedly reply, "No, that would certainly be a bit awkward. My name's Ren... Ren Sabaku! It's nice to meet you, Kaiya..." she would add with a little bit of gusto. Doing her best to hide away at the fact that slowly, with each drudging step through the sand she felt like she was one step closer to melting away in the broiling oven that was this desert. Their path would take them down a block and a half or so, taking a left turn away from the center of the bazaar and to the outskirts of said market.

Continuing on ahead for another three blocks, ignoring the shops on the way there and the posters of advertisements along the walls, well at least Ren was. The pair would reach a small clay shop, its walls of the same red sand that everything else would be styled in, a sign above its doors would read, Nakamura Tea Shop in fancy lettering trying its best to attract attention. Entering in through the wooden doors and one would find themselves in a very different environment, a lush and friendly setting. Tables and chairs around and a long bar at the back of the restaurant, only three or four other people seated around the room when they arrived. Clay floors and decorated walls gave a fairly nice atmosphere, but more importantly would be the cool and conditioned air that was filled with the elegant smells of tea, taking it all in as she entered. It was wonderful, several degrees cooler than the outside air and a roof to block out the sunlight, but to Ren, it would be the difference between a comfortable relaxation and melting away outside.

Ren would wave to the chef and signal their arrival with a quick 'Hey!' and then lead the two of them to a wooden table with bamboo chairs off to the left side of the room. Letting them get comfy and seated before a waiter would arrive to take care of them.

[1003 words, 2028 words total]
[Exit Thread]

Training: