Kaia Mai was running, running as absolutely fast as she possibly could. The grass beneath her feet was whippping against her legs, leaving small stinging marks, due to the sheer speed at which she was moving. Yet, she couldn't slow down. She wouldn't slow down. She didn't even dare look back to see how close or far away her persuer was: no, such an act would cost her precious time and whatever distance she did have over the one chasing her.

She felt her heart beating hard and fast in her chest as she kept running, her destination coming into sight. She had to make it! She just had to! Twenty meters turned into fifteen, then into ten. She was almost there! Almost home! And then it happened... from behind her she felt body heat suddenly up against her back followed by a great deal of fur. Giant paws wrapped around her as she felt herself being tackled to the ground.

Instead of screaming though Kaia simply began to giggle, even more so as she began to be licked by the giant fuzzy 'beast' that had 'attacked' her; a leopard cub she had recently befriended and whom loved to play their little version of tag.

Kaia woke up with a start from her dream, eyelids flying open and her gaze fixating upon the ceiling. Her heart was beating fast in her chest as if she really had just been trying to outrun a creature far faster than her. A grin spread across Kaia's face after a moment or two and she threw the blanket off of herself. She sat up and stretched; arms pointed toward the ceiling and her toes pointed toward the baseboard of her bed. She held the pose for several seconds before getting up and moving toward the ladder. She paused before heading down it, fixing her bed up as best as she could - it was one of the downfalls of a higher up bed: they were so much harder to make in the morning. Still, she loved the bed, so she wasn't about to complain.

Yawning softly, and rubbing at her eyes after reaching the floor she 'blindly' slipped her feet into her bunny slippers and then headed out of her bedroom, feet dragging sleepily on the ground and making a soft swoosh noise each time she moved. Once she got to the stairs she carefully walked down them and then made her way toward the kitchen. Her stomach was already growling, and she found herself wondering what was for breakfast as she rounded the corner and walked inside.

She paused, rubbing at her eyes again, and then pushing some messy long strands of hair out of her face: Kaia was not a morning person. She wasn't grouchy in the morning, it just tended to take her a little while to wake up. "...Foooood.", Kaia would say in a zombie like fashion.

Wordcount: 490

Strafe woke up with a yawn as he stretched both his legs and his neck. He sat up looking at the wall for a few moments while he collect his thoughts. He sighed before getting out of bed, carefully picking out what shirt and pants to wear. He chose a blue shirt with the Aisu clan symbol and A a pair of white pants. He slid his shoes before grabbing his weapons and heading out the door. He moved only a few inches before looking in on Kaia, who was sprawled out asleep. Strafe made sure he would be up in time to cook some breakfast. He wanted to make her life nice, much nicer than he had.

He moved down the hall and descended down the stairs in a few steps. He could do it in his sleep, as half the time he did so half-asleep. He moved to the kitchen, getting some pans down for breakfast. As he started to get ingredients out of the fridge, he heard her come down the stairs. So she woke up early, noted. She looked like she could fall over and go back to sleep, but cute all the same. The only word she said was food, which made him chuckle a bit before continuing what he was doing. "Hey honey, I hope you slept well. What do you want this morning?" He would wait for her response before doing anything else. "You might want to eat something big this morning, I would like us to do a little training so I know what you do as a shinobi. Don't be nervous, I'm a medic, so nothing will go wrong." He said with a reassuring smile.

Word Count: 287

A yawn escaped Kaia before she could reign the thing in. Normally she didn't have this much trouble with being up so early in the morning, but after having not gotten a proper night of sleep in quite some time she couldn't help but still feel tired. It wouldn't last though: she'd fully wake up soon enough. For now though her father was asking her a question and it caused her to pause: what did what want for breakfast? That was a very good question! One that she wasn't quite sure of the answer on.

At first, like any child her age, she about blurted out the name of some sugary cereal. However, given everything she had been through lately, and the lack of food she had consumed over the past few months, she figured that perhaps playing it safe was still a good idea. She was still an unhealthy weight, and she was still unsure of how her stomach would handle anything too heavy. "Toast.. and some eggs." she managed to get out before yawning again. He wanted her to eat big or else she simply would have gone with toast. Eggs she liked, no matter how they were cooked, so she figured it was a win win situation.

Kaia rested the left side of her head on the table and closed her eyes. She listened as her father mentioned training to which she simply nodded her head - all without lifting it up from the table. "Training sounds fun... I like training." She was curious to see where she was still at since it had been months since she had last bothered to train at all. She used to be pretty skilled and fast for a Genin, but was that still the case? She'd find out soon enough apparently.

Wordcount: 792

She managed to select toast and eggs, which were easy enough. "Scrambled?" He said as he started working on the toast. His hands worked diligently and precisely because of his medical experience. He smiled at the idea that she wanted to train. That was great news. Strafe hadn't made up his mind of what they were going to do. He might do basic stuff at first and continue on the furthest she is able. He smiled as he finished working on the toast and started getting the eggs ready. "I'm glad to hear it! I'm sure your gonna surprise me like you always manage." He said as he thought back to the past few days. There were some of his favorites and it had just begun. Well, expect for the daimyo and Raikage issues, but those would be dealt with. Kiri had a way of eliminating it's enemies, even if it's through sheer power of will.

Once he finished her breakfast, he grabbed a fork and sat it down in front it of her. It was quickly followed by a plate of fresh eggs and toast. He grabbed some milk and poured it in a glass, setting it down in front of her when he was done. "The calcium would probably do you some good after not eating." He smiled as he turned back to the meal. He grabbed a plate and started fixing his food. He was soon beside Kaia with the similar glass of milk as well. He started to eat, as he wasn't one of those people that could eat after cooking. It made him want the food more. Though he always had manners, no matter how hungry he got. "I thought I would give Momaru a day to himself, so it will be just the two of us." He said in between bites. He gulped down some of the milk before continuing on the food. Luckily enough, he made enough for the both of them to have seconds.

Word Count: 625

At his question about wanting them scrambled she nodded her head yes: that was one of her favorite kinds of eggs. Though, with how hungry she currently was she would have likely eaten them however Strafe chose to make them. But, scrambled was good, real good. Kaia waited patiently as she sat there, yawning every so often, and feeling her stomach begin to growl as she began to fully wake up. By the time her plate of food and fork were put in front of her she was completely awake and feeling quite hyper despite having consumed no sugar.

"Thank you, daddy!", she managed to get out before digging right in to her eggs and toast. A few bites of eggs here, a few bites of toast there, and a sip of milk were repeated as she ate for the first few minutes in silence and simply listened to her father talk. Momaru would be getting a break so it would just be the two of them, which Kaia was more than fine with, though she did like riding around on the giant lion's back - it was fun!

"Okay, daddy!" Kaia finished off the remainder of her food and then downed the last of her milk before leaning back in her chair and poking at her stomach. She didn't feel completely full, but she still wasn't sure how good of an idea it was to push her stomach too far just yet. Thankfully, she didn't have a stomach ache or feel sick at all despite how fast she had eaten.

"Where are we training at?", she asked suddenly, curiously, as she remembered what her father had told her about the people he had encountered along with the Mizukage.

Wordcount: 1,085

She thanked him and started digging into the breakfast like he was. It was weird that their tastes were similar. He was glad to see her eating well and still being fine. It meant that her malnutrition probably didn't do to much damage. He continued eating for a few moments, and before he knew it he was done and getting up to put his plate in the sink. He converted the rest of the meal and put it away for later. He decided to go ahead and wash the dishes since he was right there. He grabbed the four dishes and collected them to one sink. He washed each one, walking over to grab Kaia's once she was done. He washed hers and set it out to dry. There, he had made breakfast and cleaned up. He decided it was time to go get ready. "Ok, go get ready and we will head out for training. I think that we will head down to the park to do some training. There is a spot that no one uses that was popular in my day." He said, laughing as he realized how old he sounded. The world had changed since those days.

He would wait for her to exit before going up to his own room and grabbing all his equipment. Both staffs, his weapons pouch, medic kit, and anything else he might need. He wanted to be ready in case any of his enemies rared his head. He would never tell his daughter that, but even with him, they were still in danger. Regardless, he couldn't live his life scared. It had been a bit since he met them and hadn't had another attack. It seemed like the calm before a war, and just hoped not. Not another after all Kiri had gone through. He was finally ready, darting back down to the front door to wait for his daughter. He couldn't wait for her to blow him away with what she already knew. Maybe he could even teach her something he knows. He was already convinced she would be a good student. The determination she showed when he mentioned the trouble proved as much.

Wordcount: 995

Kaia watched, no longer sleepy, as Strafe went about taking their now empty plates to the sink and washing them up before letting them dry. He turned back ot her and indicated that not only would they be training in a secluded part of a park, but that it was time to get ready. She didn't need to be told twice. A grin spread across her face as she slipped sideways out of her chair, pausing only long enough to push it back under the table, before taking off running. She made her way up the steps using both her hands and her feet to scramble up them, and then took off like a shot down the hallway and to her bedroom.

Pajamas were traded for a plain black -tshirt, a pair of blue capri length shorts, and open toed shinobi sandals. She pulled her hair - after brusihng it of course - back into a ponytail which she then twisted up into a bun so that it would be completely out of her way and make training all that much more easier. She paused at her dresser, looking to her weapons pouch and the weapons that were laid out - she had cleaned them and checked to make sure they were in functioning order the night before. A sigh escaped her at just how few weapons she actually did have - she would have to change that sooner or later. She filled her weapons pouch up carefully and then tied it in place around her right thigh: it was the preferred location for her since she was so small and that was the only place where it was completely out of her way while still being large enough to actually hold the weapons she owned.

Finished and ready to go she bound out of her room and then took the steps two at a time going back down. She paused when she had only four or five steps left and simply jumped the last remaining ones. She landed as gracefully as could be expected of the child, and then while giggling ran over to the door - wondering all the while if she had beaten Strafe in getting ready or not. "Let's go! Lets' go!", she exclaimed excitedly.

Wordcount: 1,461

Kaia got up, pushing her chair up before darting off up the stairs. The way she climbed them was adorable, causing him to smile involuntarily. He wiped off the counters of the kitchen before moving up the stairs himself. He walked back to his room, grabbing what equipment he needed. A first aid kit, his personal weapons, and he grabbed the tea box Tenmei gave him so long ago. He wanted to use it's special properties to get stronger. The dangers that faced his village meant he had a lot of work to do. Kaia's training would be just as beneficial to him as it was to her. He heard her flying down the steps first, telling him it was time to get going. He smiled at her enthusiasm, noting that it sounded a lot like he did at that age.

He moved back down the steps taking 4 steps at a time. He nodded to his daughter before responding "Yes ma'am! Lets head down to the training area." He would open the door for her, allowing her to go through first before following and closing the door. He figured she would follow him or just ride on his back. He made sure he took it easy getting there. The more energy she had, the better. The walk was a short one, allowing them to arrive at the training grounds. He pointed to a spot, letting her know that was now their spot. He figured he would let her stretch before starting, as he did the same. He was going to do a bit of training himself, as he could always improve.

Word Count: 1270

Kaia was quite excited about the idea of getting to show her father just what exactly she was capable of. She was also excited at the idea of a chance to learn something knew. She knew when compared to the average fresh-nosed Genin she was more advance, but she still had leaps and bounds to go before she would or could be considered one of the best. It was something she hadn't really wanted for herself in the past, but which she was determined to get to now: not for her own self satisfication, but rather so that she could be strong enough to help protect her new family. Her father had enemies, his enemies were now her enemies. She was wise enough, despite her young age, to know that if and when they found out about her they would try to exploit her to get to him - it was why her father wanted her to be so cautious and careful.

So yes, she had much to be excited about when it came to training, more so considering she got to do so with her father.

Figuring she would just slow them down she rode on her father's back: he had longer legs than her so even walking slow he would have likely beaten her to the location with ease. When they arrived though she jumped down from his back, promptly fell into the ground with a giggle, and took a moment to simply roll around and laugh before sitting up and blowing some long strands of hair out of her face. She took the moment then to settle herself down and begin to stretch carefully. She started with her arms, then her back, and moved down to her legs until she had properly and completely stretched out every single muscle she could think of.

"What's first?", she asked curiously. Would he want her to display her own power first? To show him what she could do? Or did he perhaps have something else in mind - something he wanted to teach her?

Wordcount: 344 | 1,805

After a quick roll around in the dirt for laugh's sake, Kaia was stretching as well. She took extra care to prepare her muscles for activity, which made Strafe smile a bit. she already had some of the mental signs for a proper medic. He would discuss that with her later though, as this session had a different purpose. She then asked what was fist, causing him to think for a moment before responding. "Well, why don't you show me what Ninjutsu and Taijutsu you know. Any elements would be good to. You can start with something small if you like. Just hit that dummy over there." He said pointing to one of the wooden dummies provided for training. it had scars on it from past sessions, but it would serve it's purpose well.

He then thought of something he could show her as a reward for her hard work No one had seen his Dojutsu before, and she was his family. He didn't want to hide it from her. He decided that once the session was over, he would activate it to show her. She would likely have questions, and that was fine. Mitsuo provided it to him after he transplanted the first, but he wasn't sure if bringing it up would make it her sad. Regardless, she had a right to know that one of her father's eyes wasn't originally his. The Stunning Eye was a Sunagakure ability, so the fact that he had it would probably prompt some questions. He welcomed this though, as he was tired of hiding why his other eye was a different color.

Word Count: 277 + 1270 = 1,547

A test dummy? Well that was useful. Far better than him asking her to try her jutsu or moves on him. Mitsuo had done that once to her, and it had freaked her out: she hadn't been able to preform accordingly because she had been so focused on making sure she didn't harm him. Even with their vast skill difference, him being so much stronger than her, she had held back and hesitatted. Mitsuo had been both moved by her concern, and upset by it because it had kept her from proving her full potential.

So, happy still that she was going to practice on a dummy and not on Strafe, she focused her attention onto the dummy and thought deeply about what she wanted to show she could do first. The Academy techniques were, in her opinion, old news and something that she figured everyone could do upon graduation. She wanted to show her father something a litlte more advanced than that - and she had the perfect idea that the dummy would work well for.

She moved a ways a bit, keeping some distance between herself and the dummy - she didn't need to be close after all for what she was about to do. Thankfully, Kaia had techniques to work both up close and far away - making her dangerous no matter what range she was at. Kaia put her 'game face' on in a manner of speaking - all joking and childness aside. She focused on her 'opponent' and then inhaled while concentrating on calling up natural fire chakra within her. Her lips formed a small 'o' shape and she figured a flaming projectile nearly the size of her. This flaming projectile would move, twenty meters per second, across the area and strike the dummy straight in the 'head' while lightning it on fire. This, of course, was not all she was intending on doing to prove her ability.

Kaia quickly formed the bird hand seal, calling up air chakra this time in an attack similiar to the last. From her mouth, firing in rapid succession came three air bullets which would be nearly invisible to the naked air. The first bullet would strike the right 'arm' of the dummy, the second the left 'arm', and the third would hit it square in the chest knocking it back: the air itself causing the fire to spread fairly rapidly across its form leaving scorch marks in its wake. Feeling rather pleased with herself, and grinning, she looked over to her father, waiting to see what his reaction would be to what she had just shown him.

Jutsu and Chakra:

Wordcount: 436 | 2,241

The Sannin waited patiently for a few moments while his daughter decided on her move. She would step back to give appropriate distance before starting. She drew up for her jutsu, utilizing her mouth to spit a Katon jutsu. It flew across the area before smacking the dummy directly on the head. He couldn't believe the young girl's aim, even if it was a moving target. A bird hand-sign quickly followed. She would then shoot three Fuuton bullets at the wooden target. The jutsu were crafted perfectly and presumably at full strength. The first hit one arm before the second hit the other. The third would hit the chest, sending it backwards a bit. This also causing the dummy to completely catch on fire. Strafe was impressed her with Ninjutsu skills, and both chunnin level abilities with two different elements. This girl obviously had talent, and he couldn't help but show that pride on his face.

"Kaia honey, that was absolutely great! Your Ninjutsu is above your rank, for sure. Mind me showing me some up close combat now?" He would smile before holding up a finger. Assuming she waited, he would raise his hand to his mouth while building chakra in his chest. Once his fingers made contact, water would shoot out of it in a stream. It smacked the dummy, putting out the fires quickly. After all, he didn't want his little girl hitting a flaming dummy. He would turn back to her with a smile before speaking again. "Ok, go ahead honey." He said with an encouraging smile. He would never judge her harshly, and it looked like she was more than up to the task of being a Sannin's daughter. She showed all the potential and skill of her former father, Mitsuo. He would have been proud, he was sure. Excitement was on his face as he waited for her to begin.

Word Count: 322 + 1,547 = 1,869

Strafe Chakra: 340:

Strafe said that her demonstration was absolutely great to which she beamed happily: she could hear the pride in his voice when he spoke which had been her goal. She wanted him to be proud to call her his daughter after all. When he mentioned wanting to see what she could do with close combat she nodded her head and then saw him gesture for her to wait a moment. She watched then as he used a fire jutsu to put out the fire that had engulfed the dummy due to her previous ninjutsu based attacks. When her told her to go ahead she nodded.

And then she moved. Fast.

Kaia used her sheer speed, that of C0, to cross the distance between herself and the dummy. Before she even neared her arm was cocked back in a punch she was clearly building up strength for. She struck when she was near, but she didn't remain standing in the same spot. She moved, just like she would with an actual living opponent, ducking and dodging pretend attacks while landing her own strikes with her hands and her feet in various parts of the dummy: first the gut, then the throat, the kidneys, the head, She moved and reacted with the same kind of focus she had used during showing her father her Ninjutsu techniques, and not until she had hit every single point she had learned about in the Academy to bring an opponent to its knees she did finally stop: each hit having landed with a great deal of strength and precision.

She turned, breathing slightly heavy, but still grinning; a sheen of sweat at her brow and slowly making its way down her forehead. Blue eyes sought out her family once more as she waited for his reaction to this newest display of power and ability.

Wordcount: 309 | 2,550

A quick nod was all it took for his daughter to race off towards the dummy. Strafe immediately noted her speed, which was rather quick for a Genin. Was the nine year old already set to become a Chunnin? He didn't want to push her too hard, but he could admit that having a prodigy as a daughter would be awesome. Once she was at the dummy, she started reigning strikes on it. She placed them strategically while also weaving around imaginary counter strikes. She was hitting every target they taught during Taijutsu class, but doing so at speeds that were faster than any other Genin he had seen recently. Strafe's face never moved from his proud beaming smile. The satisfaction was basically radiating off him at this point.

Once she was done, the Sannin nodded in her direction. "You did a great job, Kaia. If I was in charge, you would already be a Chunnin with your skill level." He spoke honestly, knowing it would probably make her giddy. The young girl was catching her breathe, sweat dripping down her face. She was dedicated to her craft, that much he tell. She showed all the qualities necessary to be the daughter of a high ranking ninja. His mind then went back to his Dojutsu. Was it time to show it? Well, now was as good a time as any. "Kaia, I would like to show you something I can do. It is something that no one besides Mitsuo knew about me. I'm going to show you the Dojutsu I acquired. It's called the stunning eye." He knew she would want to know about it, and he wanted someone else to know in case he ever passed away. He didn't want a perfectly good Dojutsu to go to waste.

He breathed deeply for a minute before closing his eyes. When they opened again, his right eye was now sparkling cyan. She was in no danger either, as he had to want to stun someone for them to be affected by it's beauty. "If I make eye contact with an enemy while this is active, they will be paralyzed. This is one of my ace in the holes, but I just felt like you needed to know." He would smile before blinking and turning off the Dojutsu. She probably had a few questions, which was fine with him. He was always going to be truthful with her.

Word Count: 412 + 1,869 = 2,281

Strafe Chakra 320:

Curiosity filled Kaia when her father said he had something that he wished to show her. When he went on to explain that it was a dojutsu her mouth formed a little 'o' shape in both increased curiosity and a little bit of excitement - she had, after all, never seen such a thing before though she had clearly hard of them. She watched then as her father closed and then opened his eyes, revealing as he did so his dojutsu.

"Coooool! It's pretty!"

She then paused, a thought occuring to her that made her frown a little and cock her head to the left as she often did when curious about something. "Wait, you said accquired it? ... Daddy... did you stick someone elses eyeball into your eyeball hole? Eww, that's gross.", she said playfully, sticking her tongue out while giggling. "Wasn't it all slimy and stuff? Grooooossss." Of course, she was missing the bigger picture here of the fact that someone else out there was missing an eye, but she was more concerned over the slimy eyeball than that. It wasn't like her father would steal her eyes after all, so it was okay.

Wordcount: 188 | 2,738

Kaia's facial expression was sweet as she looked at the sparkling gem of an eye. His daughter commented on it's beauty, and Strafe nodded in agreement. "It's beauty is one of the things that make it so effective." He smiled thinking of who he planned to use it on The man with the green flames and spear. He would be the first to feel the effects of this Dojutsu. Kaia's next response actually made him laugh. He couldn't help but smile at the young girl. She always managed to bring him back down to earth. "Well, I didn't do the transplant myself honey. I went to Iwagakure to have their top medic do it for me." He smile, but he did know a bit about doing them himself, as he had done one on the battlefield.

"I have done one for someone, it was the brother eye to the one I have. The eyeball is slimy, and tad soft too." He said grimacing as he laughed again. When he's in medic mode, it doesn't cross his mind, but afterwards he always realized how ugly medical ninjutsu could get. "I know we just talked about that, but if you're hungry we could go get some food!" He said as he held out his hand for hers. He knew that she would likely want a ride, as it was faster that way. Once she had made her decision, he would head towards the marketplace, where most of the restaurants of the village were located. The training was more than a success.

[Exit Thread]

Word Count: 268 + 2,281 = 2,549
Reaction Time B-3 -> A: 1000/1000
Perception C -> C-1: 575/575
Perception C-1 -> C-2: 600/600
Remaining Word Count: 374

Strafe confirmed her suspicions that eyeballs were slimy, and even soft feeling he had added. Kaia simply stuck her tongue out as if the whole idea disgusted her. Eyeballs belonged in your head, in the head of the person who originally had them! Or well, so she figured. She was still too young to fully understand somethings, while she completely understood others. The importance of Dojutsu hadn't exactly been drilled into her yet, so it was still a bit gross of an idea.

"You let someone else put an eyeball in your head? What happened to your old eye, that sounds kind of dangerous...", she wasn't really expecting much of an answer, just rambling on as children sometimes did. Either way, it was done and over with, and hopefully she wouldn't have to worry about her father doing something like that again - Kaia herself couldn't ever imagine allowing someone to put someone else's eyeball into her own head. Just grooooosss.

Either way, she jumped up onto her father's back, and loosely wrapped her arms around his neck: if she didn't have to walk she wouldn't. Plus, he was faster than her, so it was all that much more fun. She was a bit tired from revealing all that she could do, and starving - as her growling stomach indicated.

"To the food!", she exclaimed happily, already giggling up a storm and already having forgotten how gross eyeballs sounded. "Gogogo! Can I have riceballs? I looooove riceballs. Mmmm. They're tasty, and I don't think my belly will get upset anymore over food.", Kaia exclaimed happily, rambling in a way as they headed back toward the village proper. It really didn't matter to her exactly what she did end up eating, so long as the growling in her stomach was silenced and hushed soon enough.


Wordcount: 305 | 3,043
Taijutsu (Secondary Spec) C -> B: 3,043 - 3,000 = 43
Remaining WC: 43