Temaki was ecstatic: Blast was officially approved. Blast, having been the runt of the litter, had had to undergo special treatment to ensure she survived - lots of time in the clinic, special diets, special instructions. It had been a long journey for both Temaki and the pup to get her to the point to where she could be a proper ninken: a proper ‘ninja pet’ as others would call her. But, it had finally happened. Through a great deal of work on Amaya’s part - who doubled as not only Kenta’s personal medic but their personal vet as well - and due diligence from Temaki who showed more responsibility when dealing with Blast than she did with anything else in life Blast finally had a completely clean bill of health. Blast’s papers were signed, and she was fully registered now as a combat pet. She was clear to go on missions or be involved in a variety of other things. But… there was something they had to do first. Training. A lot of it.

While Temaki and Blast had been glued to the hip for years at this point they had never really got a chance to train together. Blast had watched from the sidelines from time to time and had even tried to participate in the beginning, but in the end she had proved too sickly and frail and thus a stop had been put to that for Blast’s own safety. There were too many people to count who told Temaki throughout the years - thankfully none of her own family - that she should just give up on Blast and choose a different ‘pet’, but she would never have been able to bring herself to do that. The bond the pair shared, the loyalty to each other, was something that couldn’t be replaced or repeated with any other canine. Even if it meant a stunt in Temaki’s growth and development she had been willing to wait for Blast to be ready before proceeding: she wasn’t willing to leave her behind or in the dust.

The idea had crossed her mind for Temaki to wait until her father, Kenta, returned from his political visit to Iwagakure before she went ahead with training but her impatience had grown to be too much to handle. She had waited, they had waited, too long for this moment to wait any longer. Still, she had double checked with Amaya (who had wanted quite a bit of detail on exactly what they’d be doing during this training) before proceeding with a proper blessing from the medic. Amaya knew how long the pair had been waiting for this, so she had given Temaki simple instructions not to push Blast too hard too fast - which she hadn’t planned on doing anyway - and to return if anything seemed wrong with Blast before she sent her on her way.

Temaki had then gathered up the few supplies she actually bothered with before heading out the house and to the specific training area she had had in mind. This area was by no means a training field in the ‘professional’ sense of being one of the many the village provided, but rather a spot her and her family had used in the past for private training - a clearing fairly deep within the woods. The spot in particular was a good two hour hike for any civilian through very thick brush and far from any actual marked path which of course meant the chances of anyone stumbling upon someone training here who wasn’t at least a shinobi was little to none. The clearing itself was roughly two hundred and forty yards long by roughly one hundred and six yards wide and in a oval formation with trees lining it from all sides: offering up plenty room for any person or persons looking to get some training done. Off to the left side of the clearing was a fairly large pond roughly seventeen yards long by fifteen yards wide which was fed by a fairly decent sized stream that came into the clearing nearby and which exited underground, allowing it to have a constant supply of fresh water. The field itself was mostly grass, though there were a few areas of nothing but dirt where the grass had been killed off by one fire jutsu or another. There were a few boulders, worn away and smoothed out by weather and time located roughly dead center of the clearing: offering up a fairly decent vantage point of the entire field.

It was upon the highest boulder - roughly eight feet off of the ground - that Temaki currently sat in an Indian style formation: dressed in a black v-neck t-shirt with a green zip-up hoodie over top the zipper of which was currently open, a pair of black baggy shorts which went slightly past her knees, and standard open toed shinobi sandals. She was facing the pond, listening to the birds chirping nearby as well as the flow of the water, while contemplating what kind of training she wished for herself and Blast to undergo first. Blast was resting next to her, curled in a ball and looking like she was asleep save for the fact that her ears kept swiveling and shifting to track the birds as they chirped merrily while fluttering from one branch to another, as well as the various other sounds of the forest too faint for Temaki’s own senses to pick up.

As Temaki contemplated this daunting question she reached up and pulled off her village hitai-ate before attempting to pull her long golden blond hair back into a ponytail as best she could so that it was out of her face and off of her neck; securing it with a black hair tie that had previously been around her wrist in a messy bun. Not really caring if her hair looked a little messy - she never really bothered worrying all that much about her appearance - she re-tied her village hitai-ate so that the metal plate was resting at the top of her head and helping to hold back the few stray strands of hair she had missed.

Wordcount: 1,027

She could hear the wind rustling through the leaves on the trees outside as her eyes began to slowly open, the sounds of snoring beside her confusing at first, that was until she realized that it was her companion, Akai. The puppy snored surprisingly loudly, and it always managed to make her chuckle when she would hear it in the morning. She scratched behind his ears, waking him from whatever dreams he was having as he opened up his eyes and instantly got excited, jumping up and running around in circles. Yuki wasn't nearly as energetic as Akai was, but it wouldn't stop her from getting out of bed, walking over through the doors into the washroom and beginning to run the hot water in the shower. Her day was already planned out, and it was the usual routine; Shower, eat, train, sleep and repeat. She had to work extra hard if she wanted to surpass her father one day, and therefore she wouldn't rest when she had the chance to be bettering herself.

She slipped out of her undergarments and let the warm water flow over her, the feeling relaxing but also making her feel more awake. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the steamy air under the water as she did and running her fingers through her medium length hair. She shampooed her hair, making sure to get an even coating in and rinsed before setting the conditioner in. She wasn't someone who was super obsessive with her appearance, but she did like to look at least presentable and not like a slob, so she always took extra care in making sure her hair wasn't greasy, and with her training regime it was quite a task. She would wash the rest of herself as the conditioner set, enjoying the water a little longer before rinsing and stepping out, grabbing a towel and covering herself. She would dry off and comb out her hair, making sure it was fairly straight and untangled before getting the rest of her body dry and grabbing her clothes for the day, which involved a pair of jeans, a button up shirt, a vest and her Konoha headband, which she had around her neck.

When she was all dressed up she bent down and patted Akai on the head once more, smiling as she spoke; "Well boy, time to go out and work on my staff work again eh?" She chuckled as he barked in agreement, petting him again before moving up and grabbing the wooden training staff off of her wall. She used a spear in combat generally, but when training she didn't want to ruin the spear, and so instead she would bring this simple rattan staff in order to give her something with similar weight and length. She originally tried taping a kunai to the top but, after that failed a few too many times in somewhat dangerous ways, she decided to just use the staff instead and tape one end to indicate the blade. She walked out of the house, holding the staff in one hand and picking up Akai and carrying him under her other arm as she went. He could have walked by himself, but Yuki had no issue with carrying him and simply considered it to be another aspect of training. He was always good when she was walking with him and this was no exception to that rule.

As she walked along she breathed in deeply, enjoying the warm Konoha air which was always so fresh and lovely around this time of year. The trees around them made the area such a beautiful place to live and Yuki always considered herself lucky to live in Konoha. Ever since her father had come back she had enjoyed the life of being a Kage's child, which to be fair wasn't overly glorious but it had its perks. She stopped by her favorite dumpling stand where the owner bowed to her and gave her a couple wrapped up in a napkin, two of them for her and one for Akai. She thanked him and smiled a toothy grin before leaving, noting that Akai thanked him too as he barked happily. She knew that most people in Konoha knew how deep the bonds were between an Inuzuka and their canine companions, and it always pleased here when people acknowledged that Akai to her was more than a pet, he was part of the family.

She ate her dumplings on the road out to one of the spots that her family generally liked to train, wondering if her brother or sister would be there today. She gave Akai his dumpling, which he ate quite quickly, and navigated towards the woods where her family liked to train. It was a bit of a hike for sure, but she certainly didn't mind getting in the extra exercise as she made her way through the trees. She had come to know about how long it should take her to make her way to the clearing in the trees, which was a large oval hidden in the trees. She was smelling the air to see if she could pick up the familiar scent of one of her siblings, knowing that if one of them had passed by she would be able to sense it, and sure enough she could smell her sister, Temaki. She could also pick up another smell that made her quite happy; her sister's canine companion Blast. He had been abit iffy on if he would be able to be a combat pet as he was so small, but it seemed that he had finally been approved. She let Akai down, who immediately ran towards where Blast was, and made her way into the clearing.

She was about to telepathically greet her sister, but she remembered that her father often pushed them to use their words, even though they had a rare ability that not many others had. "OOOOOOIIII! HEY TEMAKI!" She exclaimed as she ran into the clearing, the staff in her hand dragging on the ground behind here. "And Blast!" Akai was at blast now, not jumping on him as Yuki telepathically told him not too, but sniffing and licking him. "Are you here to train with me today? I love having someone else to play with, it makes the long days of training go by so much faster."

(1077)

The wind shifted and with it came a familiar scent: Yuki, her sister and her sisters companion. Her head tilted, shifting so that she could look in the direction that the wind was coming from with her green colored eyes. Sure enough both Yuki and her ninken Akai had arrived with Yuki dragging along what looked to be some kind of substitute for her usual spear - so she wasn’t the only one who had planned on getting some training done today. A smile broke out across Temaki’s face as she waved while Yuki greeted her. "OOOOOOIIII! HEY TEMAKI! And Blast! Are you here to train with me today? I love having someone else to play with, it makes the long days of training go by so much faster."

Blast, who had been feigning sleep up until that point lifted her head as Akai came over, licking and sniffing at her. Blast sniffed back, and then licked Akai once on the nose before yawning and getting up to her feet. The ninken stretched fully, yawning once more, before giving a little shake to her entire self that had her hopping in place a few times from the sheer force of it. Temaki, who had been watching, simply giggled at the silly pup who took that as a cue to climb into her lap, put her paws up on Temaki’s chest, and begin licking her chin. Temaki tilted her head back, attempting to avoid being licked near her mouth as she responded to her sister, ”Hi, Yuki! Yeah, we figured we’d get some training done before hitting up the mission board. Blast finally got the all clear from Aunt Amaya. Her papers are signed too: she’s officially a registered combat pet.” The word ‘pet’ was said with her usual distaste. They had been raised that the dogs around them were so much more than that: they were their allies, their friends, their companions. Yet, most ninja or civilians especially saw them as nothing more than pets. Temaki didn’t. Blast was her best friend - she just happened to be covered in all that orange and red fur.

”Aunt Amaya just said I couldn’t push her too hard, so I figured we could start out with some simple stuff… We can train together if you want. Blast and I need to get used to working as a team - learn to anticipate what the other is going to do and all that stuff dad keeps reminding me of.” Oh yes, she had definitely been listening carefully to Kenta’s instructions: it was burned into her brain as information she would never forget. But, like most things in life it was easier said than done. There was a big difference between talking about her and Blast working as a team and the two of them actually doing it. They would have to learn to work in sync with one another: learn to anticipate what the other planned on doing. Certain moves, certain jutsu, demanded that kind of choreography to be able to work and failure to have that kind of balance could cause things to go disastrously wrong. No one wanted that, so it would be ‘practice, practice, practice!’ until they got it right. Until they were comfortable with working with each other in that kind of situation.

”I’m just not sure how exactly to go about trying to practice like that… I’m used to doing things on my own; and Blast hasn’t really done any training at all since she was so sick… Da’ wanted me to wait until he got back, but Blast’s cleared to go now and I don’t know how long Da’s going to be gone this time.. So I really want to start now. If we can figure out some kind of training that will allow Blast and I to get good at working together maybe I can even show Da’ when he gets home and he’ll be surprised…” The idea caused a spark of happiness and determination to flare up in Temaki. She liked surprising their father, and the idea of accomplishing something as important as learning how to fight side by side with Blast and being able to show this to Da’ when he got home would definitely bring happiness to Kenta. Temaki knew she had been ‘slacking’ for a lack of better word because Blast had been ill for so long, but now that Blast was well again she wanted to hit the ground running. She wanted to prove that she wasn’t holding off just because she was some kind of slacker but rather because she really hadn’t wanted to leave Blast behind in the dust. Now as the time for her to shine, for both her and Blast to shine, and that’s exactly what she wanted to do.

She just needed to figure out how… She needed a training method that would work to get them both up to par while not being too difficult for the very under-prepared Blast. Aunt Amaya had said not to push him too hard and while Temaki didn’t care for hospitals or doctors much in general Aunt Amaya was the one of the few who she would listen to. Maybe she would get lucky and her sister and Akai would have some suggestions though - she was hopeful. If not she was going to just have to pull something out of her mind and go with it and hope it all worked out for the best.

Wordcount: 934 | 1,961

”Hi, Yuki! Yeah, we figured we’d get some training done before hitting up the mission board. Blast finally got the all clear from Aunt Amaya. Her papers are signed too: she’s officially a registered combat pet.” Yuki could feel the venom in her sister's voice as she essentially spat the word pet. She understood, of course, that the canine companions of the Inuzuka clan were much more than a simple pet. They had all grown up with their animal companions and those of their family, and they were extremely close, each of them being their best friends. They would always be found together and they understood each other, unlike how most people were with their pets. A ninken was an extremely intelligent animal, and Yuki, like Temaki, hated the fact that people considered them to be pets. She spun her staff in her hand left to right and right to left, alternating hands as Temaki spoke, warming up a little bit.

”Aunt Amaya just said I couldn’t push her too hard, so I figured we could start out with some simple stuff… We can train together if you want. Blast and I need to get used to working as a team - learn to anticipate what the other is going to do and all that stuff dad keeps reminding me of.” Kenta had been driving the fact home that they needed to make sure that they could work together well with their Ninken, which was something that could be a little difficult to understand at times. They were extremely intelligent and capable of doing amazing things, but as they didn't have a lot of experience working with them just yet, their coordination was nowhere near where it would need to be. Yuki looked down at Akai, imagining fighting in tandem with him as the two of them would strike as one. Her spear would lash out as he would sweep a leg or they would fight beside each other as Akai would use Beast Clone technique to transform himself into Yuki, making it so that the two of them could disorient their opponents with a two pronged spear attack. It was stuff that she tried to focus on, but it was still difficult for her to put into action at times.

”I’m just not sure how exactly to go about trying to practice like that… I’m used to doing things on my own; and Blast hasn’t really done any training at all since she was so sick… Da’ wanted me to wait until he got back, but Blast’s cleared to go now and I don’t know how long Da’s going to be gone this time.. So I really want to start now. If we can figure out some kind of training that will allow Blast and I to get good at working together maybe I can even show Da’ when he gets home and he’ll be surprised…” A smile passed across Yuki's lips at her sisters words. She too wanted to be able to surprise their father upon his return, wanting to one day surpass his strength and ability, but she knew that she had a long way too go. Her and Akai weren't anywhere near where they needed to be as a team, and although Yuki loved Akai and he was her closest friend, she still wasn't competent enough in fighting alongside him to be where she wanted to be. She was even more happy that she had run into her sister here now, as she had fired her up to get closer to a point where Yuki and Akai would be able to work flawlessly together.

"Well Temaki, I know that I'm still working on it as well, since me and Akai haven't really done too much work when it comes to working together," She looked down at Akai, who had wandered back over to her and put his paw on her shin, causing her to stop spinning her staff and sit cross legged on the ground and take him into her lap, pressing her nose to his forehead and smiling softly. "But we know that hard work always pays off and practice makes perfect. That's why we're here today too, we want to become the best team that we can. I'm still not sure how to do that either honestly...but I think that together we should be able to figure it out. If Da' was here he would know what to do, but since he's not here we just have to figure it out ourselves!" She ran her fingers through the soft fur on the top of Akai's head, scratching between his ears briefly as he happily nudged into her hand, tail wagging. She would then place him back on the ground and pick her staff up again, twirling it once more and looking back at her sister.

"I know how to train myself, I've been doing it forever. It can't be that much different to train with a partner. I'm sure that Akai and Blast will know what to do, they're smart. And if they need help we're here for them, and they have each other as well. But I want to get to a point where Akai and I are able to work together so that when I wield my spear I never have to worry about him not being where I need him to be..." She sighed softly, she had no clue how to figure out what kind of training the two of them, or now the four of them, would need to go through. She looked around the grassy area and looked towards the trees and rocks that were around them, smiling as she did so. "But we can at least work on moving together. Auntie Amaya cleared Blast for light training, so running together should be alright, correct?"

(1011/2088)

"Well Temaki, I know that I'm still working on it as well, since me and Akai haven't really done too much work when it comes to working together.” Akai returned to her sister, clearly seeking attention which Yuki freely gave her after abandoning the twirling of her staff. ”But we know that hard work always pays off and practice makes perfect. That's why we're here today too, we want to become the best team that we can. I'm still not sure how to do that either honestly...but I think that together we should be able to figure it out. If Da' was here he would know what to do, but since he's not here we just have to figure it out ourselves! I know how to train myself, I've been doing it forever. It can't be that much different to train with a partner. I'm sure that Akai and Blast will know what to do, they're smart. And if they need help we're here for them, and they have each other as well. But I want to get to a point where Akai and I are able to work together so that when I wield my spear I never have to worry about him not being where I need him to be..." Her sister was right of course, she had to be. Training alone and training with a partner couldn’t be all that different from each other. Just like the siblings had trained their whole lives together they too would train with their companions. Learning to do so would continue to strengthen their bonds with their ninken, and allow them all to grow into bigger and better people - or canines as it were.

Her sister then looked around, as if she were grasping for some kind of idea of what type of training they could all do: Temaki herself was still at a loss for what kind of training they could do herself, too. "But we can at least work on moving together. Auntie Amaya cleared Blast for light training, so running together should be alright, correct?" Running? Perfect! Temaki liked running, she loved it in fact. There was nothing more freeing, more exhilarating, than feeling the wind flowing through her hair, her heart beating fast and hard, and blades of grass whipping against her ankles as she pushed herself harder and faster across the earth.

”Running sounds like a perfect idea! I love to run!” Blast, feeding off of Temaki’s sudden burst of excitement jumped up on her feet and barked happily: she ran then in several circles before jumping in place and barking once more. Clearly, she was all for running, too. Blast’s excitement got Temaki laughing as she jumped up, standing tall on the boulder she had previously been seated on. She stretched skyward, standing on the tips of her toes while her fingers pointed straight skyward: as if she were attempting to force herself to grow all of a sudden. She held the pose for several seconds before relaxing and jumping down off of the boulder. Blast barked again in excitement, taking the moment to run around Temaki in circles: free of any sort of wheezing or puffing the pup once did just months ago while attempting the same kind of thing.

Temaki laughed again, happy and carefree. ”I guess Blast likes the idea of running, too.” Temaki looked around, wondering where they could run too: around the clearing seemed like it would get boring after a while. However, an idea popped rather quickly into Temaki’s head and a grin spread across her face. ”Why don’t we run down that old path Da’ used to take us hiking on? That sounds like it’ll be fun. Plus, the natural obstacles with the tree branches and such will make it a bit more challenging. The path, if I remember correctly, makes a complete loop back to the village so we won’t even have to worry about back tracking. Plus… I like the view when we get up on the higher hills: can see the whole village that way - or most of it anyway.”

Provided her sister didn’t voice any issue with this idea Temaki would make a ‘come on’ motion with her hand before taking off toward the path at a slow jog. Blast, still quite excited about the idea of going for a run, chased after her barking up a storm and with her tail wagging furiously due to her excitement. The path was easy enough to find of course since their father had taken them down it many times before, and like in the past Temaki found it without much issue, heading down it and jumping nearly immediately over a tree branch in her way. Blast ran beneath the thing and off they were for what was going to be a good and long run…


Wordcount: 847 | 2,808

Following WC’s were recalculated due to a -20% reduction to training. Symbol found on the sidebar.

Speed E -> E1: 2,808 - 60 = 2,748
Speed E1 -> E2: 2,748 - 120 = 2,628
Speed E2 -> E3: 2,628 - 180 = 2,448
Speed E3 -> D0: 2,448 - 240 = 2,208
Speed D0 -> D1: 2,208 - 260 = 1,948
Speed D1 -> D2: 1,948 - 320 = 1,628
Speed D2 -> D3: 1,628 - 360 = 1,268

Reaction Time E -> E1: 1,268 - 60 = 1,208
Reaction Time E1 -> E2: 1,208 - 120 = 1,088
Reaction Time E2 -> E3: 1,088 - 180 = 908
Reaction Time E3 -> D0: 908 - 240 = 668
Reaction Time D0 -> D1: 668 - 260 = 408
Reaction Time D1 -> D2: 408 - 320 = 88

Endurance E -> E1: 88 - 60 = 28

Remaining: 28

Speed E -> D3
Reaction TIme E -> D2
Endurance E -> E1

Yuki watched and smiled as Blast jumped to her feet, getting excited with Temaki at her suggestion of going for a run to start off with some light training. ”Running sounds like a perfect idea! I love to run!” Her sister seemed quite happy with the proposal which made Yuki quite happy as well. At Blast's excitement Akai jumped up as well, barking along with her and running back and forth excitedly. The best thing about having their canine companions around is they were always excited and up for pretty much anything that they wanted to do. Akai jumped up on Yuki's shin before getting back down and wagging his tail furiously, Yuki chuckling to herself at the silly dog. She was looking forward to the prospect of running with her sister and their ninken. ”I guess Blast likes the idea of running, too.”

"So does Akai it would seem," Yuki's voice was partly a laugh as she spoke, as it was hard not to laugh with the two puppies being so damned excited. ”Why don’t we run down that old path Da’ used to take us hiking on? That sounds like it’ll be fun. Plus, the natural obstacles with the tree branches and such will make it a bit more challenging. The path, if I remember correctly, makes a complete loop back to the village so we won’t even have to worry about back tracking. Plus… I like the view when we get up on the higher hills: can see the whole village that way - or most of it anyway.” Temaki's idea was a good one, the view there was always quite beautiful and Yuki was looking forward to seeing it again. She looked down at Akai once more who was still just as excited as he had been, barking and running as his red scarf flowed behind him. He stepped on the scarf and took a tumble before proudly getting back up and pretending that it had never happened, which Yuki couldn't help but to laugh at. He was a silly dog, that was for sure.

"Awesome, I'm glad you think its a good idea. I think we should definitely go there, I haven't been able to take Akai down there and I'm sure he'll love it! And after maybe we can grab some treats in the village, I'm sure we will be pretty hungry after a long run!" Akai's ears perked up at treats and he was already ready to go, jumping and barking to convey how ready he was to her. She pulled out her staff, holding it in her right hand as she began the jog to the path, attempting to consciously make sure that she wasn't dragging it along the ground as that was something that wouldn't necessarily give her an advantage if she was trying to sneak up on an enemy. She was constantly thinking of how she could improve her work with the spear, making sure that when her dad came back to town he would be impressed by her progress with her chosen weapon. If she was standing still she would plant the weapon on the ground for a sturdy base and a better defense, unless she was preparing to strike at which point it was generally either in her right hand, or in a two handed grip in front of her. Footwork was everything in fighting, and your stance was a major part of that.

She would also concentrate on her footwork when she was jogging, which was kind of a weird thing to think of. She was consciously making sure that her front foot never crossed in front of the back one, that her front toe was always pointed directly forward, and her knees were bent slightly as she went. Everything she did, she did with a purpose, and this was no exception to that rule. Akai ran along with her, sometimes beside and sometimes in front. He was as determined as she was, and she assumed it was because he wanted to prove that he could be as strong as any of the older ninken in their pack. She knew that one day Akai would prove to them all that he was a powerful companion, but for now she was perfectly happy with him just the way he was. He was a great friend and since he was a puppy he was small and adorable. She knew one day he would become a large and intimidating creature, but to her he would always be her little Akai.

The path came up quickly as the group of them began to run, Yuki loving the feeling of the dirt beneath her feet, the constantly shifting terrain making it a little bit more of a challenge to run, which made it perfect for training as it worked on her leg muscles in a way that a simple concrete path wouldn't. She could feel a bit of a burn already as she focused on bringing her steps a little bit higher to make sure that her legs were getting the best workout that she could, and Akai seemed to be doing the same, his steps all made with a purpose as he would drop back a bit to dash forward. Yuki watched as he jumped over a log, which she placed the hand with her staff on and spring boarded over, landing fairly cleanly on her feet in a defensive stance, her staff in front of her with what would be the tip pointing forward. If she were in a fight, this would be a perfect stance to strike from, but as it were she was still running and her sister was pulling ahead. She kept moving, Akai keeping pace with her and even challenging her to move faster as she went on towards the village...

{Exit Thread}

(3079)

Perception E-D3 1925 words
Reaction Time E-D1 1075 words
Endurance E-E1 75 words