The sun was shining brightly into Kyo's room. That seemed to be the way she usually woke up. She would leave the curtains open in a way that the sunlight would drift into the room and onto her face. That way, she made sure to always wake up at dawn. She had no need for prolonged sleep, after all. She needed that time to train and go about her daily life as she always did. Rest would only come once she was exhausted, once she had passed her limit. She stood up from the bed without so much as a groan or yawn. She was well disciplined in that sense. She would never whine. It wasn't like her. She thought it served no purpose. She looked at herself in the mirror for a brief moment and frowned. Anyone watching her wouldn't have really noticed any difference on her expression, lest they place very close attention to the slight changes in her features. But nevertheless, a frown was the usual reaction whenever she saw the image of her scars - her torn and deformed skin - reflected in the mirror. She sighed quietly and reached around her room, searching for the bandages that she used to hide her old wounds.

Kyo wrapped the cloth around her skin and dressed herself. She brushed her hair quickly and tied it in her usual hairdo so that is would stay out of the way. It was her usual routine. Once she was done, she went down the stairs of her house. Her footsteps echoed in the empty space. It was at times like these that Kyo would notice how alone, exactly, she was. But to her, it was neither good nor bad. It had just become another natural part of her life. She was left to her own devises and she was somewhat grateful for it. She ate something quickly for breakfast and went out of the house, but not before paying her respects to her loved ones. She had made a sort of sanctuary for the fallen in the room that used to belong to her brother. There, each wooden figure that she had carved out, each representing someone she once loved - someone she still loved. Avoiding the many traps and seals she placed around her house, Kyo stepped out and headed towards her usual training grounds. Today she would focus on ninjutsu, or at least that was the plan. Her fuuinjutsu was far better in comparison, so she might as well seek to balance herself out. She walked towards the outskirts of Konoha, making sure to take the road less traveled. It was better this way, far from the scrutinizing gazes that she almost always got. Sure, she would always ignore them. They hardly bothered her, to be honest. But she disliked the attention - be it positive or negative.

The young kunoichi decided to walk and take her time. There was barely any light out, after all. She would have the entire day to exert herself, since she hadn't been assigned a mission thus far. She doubted that the day would be particularly eventful, but at least it would be productive. She nibbled on the dango she had brought with her. In her head, she planned out what she would do and how she would start. She would probably begin by animating some of the trees around her so that they would make for more dynamic sparring partners. She would try out and perfect a few new jutsu and she would polish the old ones that she hadn't used in quite a while. She already had a few in mind. Most of them were water jutsu - the element that she used most in combat due to her crippling fear of fire - but she had a couple of earth jutsu that she had been meaning to try. She would focus on those after warming up. After all, she couldn't just focus on expending chakra. She needed to keep her stamina in check as well. Once she felt like collapsing, she would return home only to do the same the next day. In fact, she was somewhat sore from the training session the day before, but managed to work through it as best she could. Kyo stepped into the quiet forest and found a clearing to settle into. It was large and spacious, and most importantly, covered in trees. She thought it was solitary, though she would soon be proven wrong. For the moment, though, this seemed to work.

[Word Count - Ninjutsu from C to B: 759/2000]

(OOC: Sorry for taking so long...i got distracted doing alot of other crap)

Sunrise, it was the daily event that signalled the world to continue it's daily routine, it signalled that the time for rest was over and the time for work had come. It was the time Kiyoshi woke from his slumber each and every morning, like clockwork.This wasn't due to him having some sort of alarm on his bedside counter, or some other thing that would wake him up like the sun on his face, or a rooster outside or some other corny thing like that. Kiyoshi simply had a great internal clock that would never let him sleep ten minutes past sunrise. It mattered not when he went to sleep or what he'd been doing the last day, once the sun had exposed itself above the horizon, Kiyoshi was up, ready to being the days affairs which usually involved training and the occasional mission. Kiyoshi was rather lacking in a social life, he'd never really considered it of any importance.

Kiyosi rolled off of his bed with out a yawn or a groan or a stretch, he'd called it a day relatively early last night so he had gotten in a good eight hours of sleep, leaving him feeling quite fresh and energetic as he was waking up now. Kiyoshi then proceeded to wash himself off with water that was still cold from the night before. The apartment Kiyosi rented was literally the bare minimum when it came to housing, Only having one room and a bathroom. This therefore meant that luxuries like hot water, or an actual bed(he slept on a futon), were unavailable to him. Unlike most people however, Gin liked bathing in cold water, it was alot more soothing to him than hot water was. After his quick wash, Kiyoshi took a moment to inspect himself in the mirror, he even considered actually brushing his hair for once but the though was quickly dismissed, as taking good care of his hair, as Kiyoshi would put it, was 'more trouble than it was worth'. So after some teeth cleaning and tidying up, Kiyoshi donned his usual black outfit but left his white robe out, he didn't feel like wearing it right now. Kiyoshi then left for his daily morning training, scratching his hair back into place with his fingers.

Kiyoshi decided that today he would go back to his usual routine of training in the forest slightly outside the limits of the village after a couple days of training at one of the village's training grounds which he himself had refurbished.
Since normal working hours we're a while from starting, many of the roads within the village we're lacking people, except the odd early bird like Kiyoshi. He enjoyed the quiet of these early morning walks, or rather, the lack of the annoying noise of the normally crowded streets. Kiyoshi was definitely not a people person, so the lack of them was something he tended to enjoy as he had little patience for many of the idiots in the village. As he exited the village gates into the forest, Kiyoshi made no attempt to even acknowledge the guards' presence, he tended to be rude that way, manners were never really his thing, especially now that he lived by himself.There were very few who he believed deserved that kind of respect and they were more or less all people who could kill him on a whim.

As he neared his destination, Kiyoshi thought about what he wanted to work on today. He decided that today would be a day for training technique, he felt as though he had let areas of his arsenal falter, like his earth ninjutsu for instance,which had always taken a back seat in favour of his preferred element, suiton. Kiyoshi also thought it would be good to work on his taijutsu as well today after many days of putting it off because he didn't have a weapon to practice with and he had yet to save enough money to buy one. He couldn't afford to neglect it any more though, a punch or kick could be just as good as any other weapon in a fight. When he came to the clearing that was his usual training grounds, Kiyoshi was surprised to note that he was not alone. He was immediately not pleased, Kiyoshi liked training by himself, having other people there was considered to be a distraction, even though he wouldn't have paid them any attention anyway. He'd just have to deal with it for now though, he wasn't about to go searching for another place in the woods now and he certainly wasn't going all the way back to the village. He'd just have to see how this turned out.

Word Count 807/2000 (Earth element training C>B)

As the sun finally dawned into the pit that was Sousetsu's bedroom he released one eye from its sleep and glanced at the daylight seeping through the window. He tried to continue his sleep but the sunlight made its way over Sousetsus bedside and finally catching his head in the open. Trying to adjust himself so that the suns gaze could not meet him he finally gave up and sat in a fatigued manner with a look of disappointment taking over his face. With a sigh, Sousetsu left his slumber and made his way for the restroom. Upon arriving he revealed his teeth to the mirror and jumped into the hot shower for a quick refreshing soak before leaving and brushing his teeth to begin the day.

After changing into his black jumpsuit and footwear, he made his way downstairs and placed bread in the toaster and checked the refrigerator for a cold beverage, finding apple juice and butter for his toast. After his small meal Sousetsu dragged himself to the closet to find his attire that he grew fond of using on his missions. With a glance at the sturdy and durable uniform Sousetsu felt a rush of recent memories of all the missions he had completed these past few months alone. With a smirk, he left his attire where they lingered and returned to butter his toast and drink his juice for a breakfast made quick and simple.

It dawned on him that his schedule was without a plan today. After pondering for a small moment he decided that he would train today and his secondary element, the earth element, in hopes up bringing a greater defense to his battles to come in the near future. He prepared and packed three meals of many portions containing rice, noodles, fish and other various foods fit for a meal. The three meals were to cover his lunch, dinner and supper if he resided outside for too long. With his backpack of meals and himself ready, he headed for the door and locked it on his way out.

The sun was rising evermore and he could see the windows of his neighbors house's open to let in the summer breeze. Children were making their way to the ninja academy while the adults quickly rushed to their jobs from their respective homes. Sousetsu never really accompanied the people of the village hidden in the leaves in their trafficking and morning schedules of aiming to meet their destination points in a tenacious fashion. It was the one time were you could see people for who they really were. Just mindless drones repeating the same thing day in and day out, expecting things to change but lead to the belief of the word 'normal' to describe their day. Before long, Sousetsu reached the gates and the patrol units stationed by them. Sousetsu nodded with a slight smile. It was the one place where you could say Sousetsu was a regular. He was always heading to the small forest south of Konahagakure and could often be found training in a secluded area with his only companions of trees, wildlife and the sounds of the water rushing and crashing in the distance relating to the morning life of the people of Konaha.

Upon his arrival, he made his way deep into the small forest but noticed that he was not alone. He seen two fellow shinobi from the hidden leaf village, ones that seemed familiar to him but could not pinpoint the location in his cranium exactly from where. Then it hit him, with full force the knowledge returned to Sousetsu and knew these people were also from the Senju Clan. With a smirk, Sousetsu left them to their business and climbed the trees overlooking them and withdrew a snack from his backpack. A rice ball, a simple treat to satisfy his hunger and give him the essential nutrients and energy to start a day of elemental training.

After he had finished his rice ball he brushed the crumbs from his knees and set his bag aside to begin his meditating. He liked becoming one with nature in these parts and listened to the soothing sounds of the streaming rivers, the chirping from the early birds, the trees and plants whispering to each other with the help of a cool breeze from time to time. The sun trickled its way through the higher trees and only spots of the area were getting the nutrients from the suns rays surrounding the ground below Sousetsu.

As he meditated, a bird came and landed on his shoulder but little attention was given to the small critter as Sousetsu was in a deep trance with his surroundings. The bird chirped once again before its companion joined him on the opposite shoulder. Sousetsu eyes slowly opened to remain safe from the suns blinding ability. He glanced to one shoulder and placed a finger for the bird to hop onto. The bird complied and was soon being stroked by the Senju member followed by a small chuckle. He glanced back over to the other Senju Clan members to see what they were up to as the curiosity began to eat away at him, he listened once more.

(877/3000 Words - Earth Element Training - B>A)

Kyo took several deep breaths before she began her training routine. She wasn't one for meditation, really. She left that sort of thing for when she was alone at her house. That was what she used gardening for, along with her other hobbies, if you could call them that. She was simply surveying her surroundings and keeping a close eye on the small details around her. The young woman had always had a good eye for detail. So far, she didn't see anything out of the ordinary. The clearing was wide enough for her to freely move in. The trees around her towered over her small form. They looked tall, strong and healthy - perfect for her to animate and turn into a training tool. She planned to fight the trees herself, though that would change soon enough. She saw - or rather felt and heard - as someone walked into the clearing. She tensed involuntarily. It was a sort of reflex, she supposed. She was used to being assaulted randomly, not to mention the fact that she was mildly paranoid. She turned around slowly. The expression on her face was unchanging, as it always was.

Kyo took a moment to look at the boy in front of her. He had silver hair that he kept in quite a messy fashion. His tall and muscular build made it hard for her to tell what age he was, exactly. She guessed somewhere around 17, but she could be wrong. Kyo couldn't exactly say that she knew who he was , but she had without a doubt seen him before around the Senju compound. She recognized him as one of the members of the clan. She looked at him for a while, inspecting him. She often did that before speaking to someone. It usually made people uncomfortable to be under her close and unchanging gaze. "It's always good to see someone else from the clan wanting to train, especially this early," She finally said, after several moments of awkward silence and staring. She turned around once again and walked up to one of the trees closest to her. It was rather tall, about four and a half meters or so, from what she could tell. She inspected it closely before placing a hand on it. Yes, this one would do. She didn't utter a single word, just made a sign with her left hand and watched as the tree slowly began to move. It seemed confused at first - they always did - but soon found itself moving its branches and letting out a low groan as if waking up for the first time in a long time. "I usually train on my own, but I might as well give you a chance. Truth be told, you don't look like much, but I might as well give you a chance," She said. She didn't bother introducing herself. Names and the like could come later.

The tree that Kyo had animated moved forward. Its branches had now grown substantially, thanks to the seal that the young woman had placed on it. If the young boy refused to train with her, she would simply use the tree as a tool to train herself, as she had initially planned. She honestly didn't care either way. She wasn't much of a people person, after all. And just as she had finished speaking, another boy came out from the woods. Like the first one, his hair was silver and shaggy. He wore mostly black and part of his face was covered by a red scarf. Like the other one, Kyo recognized him from the Senju compound. She didn't know either of their names, she just knew that they were kin. She repeated the same process as before, looking at him closely and inspecting the small details. "A three way fight might be interesting," She proposed, not really bothering to explain to the newcomer that she planned on training with the other boy. "Feel free to join, either with me or against me," She said, turning around once more and setting herself into a stance. The large tree stood behind her, looming over her. Kyo stared at both of them, waiting to see whether or not they would accept her challenge. Well, might as well taunt them, if only a little. She moved her hands, forming the necessary signs. As soon as she did, a dark cloud formed overhead. It began to rain torrents of water. Of course, this jutsu was mostly meant to put out fires, but it could also be used to possibly annoy the people around her. Might as well use it for the latter, since she wanted to try out a series of new techniques. Now she would just have to wait for the other two to react and choose whether or not they wanted to fight.

[Word Count - Ninjutsu from C to B: 1576/2000]
[Remaining Chakra: 215/250]

Techniques Used:

The clearing that Kiyoshi entered was quite large for an area in the forest, by his best educated guess, he'd have said it was a good sixty meters in diameter, if not more. Rimming the large open space were tree's of a few sizes, which started at large and progressed to down right massive and formed quite a daunting barrier into the forest beyond, indeed, the wall of wood and foliage around him gave Kiyoshi the sense that he was stepping into an arena of sorts. This actually appealed to Kiyoshi quite well. He very much enjoyed fighting and training in places where he could easily imagine himself fighting in made for enjoyable training sessions. So into the arena Kiyoshi stepped, the small twigs and dried up leaves that had fallen from the trees forming a carpet that covered the ground in many places and made soft yet audible crunching sounds upon connection with the soles of his shoes. If whoever the person already here was had any sort of good hearing they would immediately know of Kiyoshi's presence. This was what Kiyoshi wanted however and he was by no means trying to be discrete. It was not inherently in his nature, so whenever unnecessary, Kiyoshi would simply make his presence known.

After walking about twenty meters or so into the clearing, Kiyoshi paused to examine the individual with whom he would be sharing today's training space. Before him, stood a woman, who was at first facing the opposite direction, she seemed to be inspecting the trees before her intently for what reason Kiyoshi could not determine. But then again, he didn't really care. Seemingly noticing his presence she had turned to face him, a rather blank expression across her face.

For several moments, that way she stayed, staring at him, inspecting him inch by inch with her eyes, sizing him up. Kiyoshi held her gaze, taking the opportunity to do the same. She looked young but definitely older than him, but by no great expanse of years, possibly four or five. Average height for most women but just barely, probably a couple of inches taller that the five foot mark. Her obviously messy hair was a light shade of brown, tied back into a ponytail. Her almond shapes eyes were large and made her stare seem all the more intense, Kiyoshi was sure he'd seen her around, but could remember neither a name nor a place.Under a loosely fitting kimono, the woman was dressed in bandages which from what Kiyoshi could see, covered most of her left arm and leg as well as hid her cleavage from view. Kiyoshi had just began thinking of what has caused the need for such heavy bandaging when the woman broke the silence.

"It's always good to see someone else from the clan wanting to train, especially this early."She said. Kiyoshi hoped she wasn't going to waste his time with idle small talk, he had not the patience for it, not when there was training to be done. She then turned away, going back to inspecting her trees. This annoyed Kiyoshi, who indeed thought that this woman was indeed wasting his time. He was about to find his own side of the clearing where he could get to his own devices without her disturbing him when she did something that sparked his interest.

After placing her hand on a tree and making a sign with another, the thing started to move. "The hell?" Kiyoshi asked to himself, blinking once or twice, to make sure his vision held true. Sure enough, the tree was indeed moving, it even let out a loud groan like the damn thing was stretching or something. It then occurred to Kiyoshi where he knew this woman from, she was a senju, she'd seem her around the clan's compound once or twice when he passed through there. The name however still eluded him.

"I usually train on my own, but I might as well give you a chance. Truth be told, you don't look like much, but I might as well give you a chance,"The woman said rather blankly. She was evidently issuing some sort of challenge, Kiyoshi loved challenges, especially from those who would look down on him as weak or insignificant, there was an unrivalled feeling of satisfaction that came with proving people wrong.

The now animated tree moved forward, and Kiyoshi did the same, showing that he would indeed train with her, and her monster tree. She then addressed someone else,who had seemingly just arrived "A three way fight might be interesting,feel free to join, either with me or against me." She was right, it would indeed be quite interesting, even if he might potentially be at a two versus one disadvantage. Then she sealed the deal with a final taunt. After her performing a short series of hand seals, the area began to poor with rain, soaking them both with in seconds. This served only to make Kiyoshi even more fired up, he loved training in the rain. Kiyoshi rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck both ways, that was about as much warm up as he'd get for what was about to happen, he then crouch into the empty Kung Fu stance so he could react with quick movements to whatever was thrown at him and waited for his new training partner to make the first move, keeping an eye out for the other person she had addressed earlier, his allegiance in this bout was yet uncertain.

(Word Count 1734/2000 (Earth element training C>B))

What most stood out between the shinobi was a tree that seemed to have been brought to life. It moved in slight confusion, lost in its own track, lost like tears in the rain as they were surrounded by many forest wildlife and plants. After a short moment during his inspection upon the tree Sousetsu turned his gaze back to the creature he had bestowed upon his finger and gestured for it to take flight, watching as it did so gracefully. His attention was brought back to the once silent female as words finally escaped her lips aiming towards the two male members of the Senju. Sousetsu paid little attention the words but managed to pick out 'threeway' from the bundle. Disgusted by the words given her a sour look at this disrespectful act he decided to leap onto a lower branch to look at her more closely. ""Feel free to join, either with me or against me." She said, turning around and setting herself into a fighting stance while the large tree acted as some sort of guardian.

Sousetsu became confused and his facial expressions had given that away. His mind finally rid itself of its mindless and filthy thoughts, the woman was asking for a fight, not a sexual act. Sousetsu began to silently chuckle while feeling a little embarassed. His shoulders shook up and down frantically while he covered his mouth with one hand. A rain had come in his absent mindedness state and wondered why the clouds weren't grey. He figured it was a jutsu used by the female as she had performed a hand seal. The cool soak of the rain seemed to have cooled him off and directed his full attention that fight that inevitably came. He cleared his throat and nodded as he made his way to the arena of shinobi within the small forest and placed himself in a position so that they were diagonal from each other, glancing at each of their movements accordingly.

The female Senju appeared to have light brown hair which she kept in a messy bun or ponytail. Her kimono, while long and hid most of her body would still have left her chest exposed to the public if it wasn't for the bandages. He soon found that she was seen with many bandages surrounding certain body parts but otherwise, quite toned. The young man, upon further inspection at a closer view, was taller than he thought. The broad shoulders and muscular physique proved to Sousetsu that he was a taijutsu user in a way. His hair was almost similar to that of Sousetsu's silver and messy style. A rather stylish white robe with a blue design caught the eyes to those who glanced at him undoubtedly leaving pars of his attire revealed as it dangled loosely at one side.

The young man seemed to have warmed up with the crackling of his neck and rolled up sleeves. He also took a stance showing that he was engaging in combat remaining well aware of his surroundings. Sousetsu placed his finger on his lips while the other arm supported its weight by the elbow, thinking of ways to catch both off guard, before lowering his hands and letting them dangle at each side. The tree was still a factor here. The woman seemed to have the odds in her favour as she had a wooden companion. Sousetsu decided to loosen up a bit, stretching his arms and shoulders while shaking his hands in the process. With a small, silent moment, Sosuetsu formed his own hand seals. "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!" his voice projected, summoning four water clones in the process. Sousetsu and three of his clones retreated into the surrounding environment, dimming his chakra down as much as he could to match the clones as they took cover behind trees and brushes nearby, spying on his kin. He hoped he had tricked the two with the remaining water clone, thinking that it was the original, but was not sure of the peers abilities and might be able to sense it.

Still, he waited for the first move, waiting for his plan to come to fruition as they tried to stare each other down. This first trading of fists were to analyze the movements and awareness of his new found sparring partners. He had to know how they acted in order to see into their inner self, showing who they really were. Were they smart? Strong? Or were they simply on this earth by mooching off of others and taking credit in the process? Only time would tell for Sousetsu. The rain once again caught Sosuetsu's attention. He wondered if the woman would release this technique as the moist earth may be found as troublesome. Bad terrain could affect their footing and balance. Any hindrance could cause either of the three to find trouble with another.

Chakra: 170/200
Words: 1698/3000

Kyo noticed both of them getting into a fighting stance. Good, her little taunt had worked. She would see a hint of excitement in both of their gazes. Good, the more excited they were, the better this fight would prove to be. If Kyo saw that both boys teamed up against her, she would use one of her wooden dolls or she would animate another tree. Of course, this is if she saw that she was the underdog in the fight or if she was too overwhelmed by both of them. Best to even out the odds if the newcomer decided to join the other boy instead of fighting alongside the young woman. Either way, she would be ready. She supposed she could always call on her pet as an aid. She had left the thing at home, cleaning and tending to other menial labor.The thing was an 8 ft tall skeleton dressed in full armor - and an apron, whenever it took care of household duties - that Kyo had trained to serve multiple purposes. Skull Knight was a battle companion, a butler and a friend depending on what he was needed for. It had taken Kyo a while to understand what his low grunts and growls meant, but she could now have a conversation of sorts with it. She wondered how the two boys would react to her pet. She supposed Skull Knight was part of the reason why Kyo had the reputation of a witch, or more accurately, a necromancer. But such a notion was silly, bordering on idiotic. There was no way to bring back the dead by conventional means. Of course, there was Edo Tensei, but such a justu was far beyond forbidden. It had virtually been the cause of the 4th Shinobi War, after all. It was only natural that such a thing be outlawed.

During her younger years, Kyo had attempted to research the technique whenever she had free time. Of course, her research yielded no results what so ever. She had found nothing on the jutsu. It seemed to have been wiped out of the records. In the end, she resolved that the best was for the dead to remain that way - dead. There was no bringing back any of her loved ones and that was the cruel reality.

But there was something else at hand now. She had to concentrate on this fight, lest she let her guard down and suffer the consequences for it. She stayed still in her basic stance, with the tree looming behind her, waiting for her to give it instructions. It seemed restless to fight, but Kyo was patient. She would keep a close eye on both of the boys. She would not let her guard down. She would wait to see what they had planned, she would wait to see if they would attack. There was a moment of tension between the three of them. Kyo kept her gaze mainly on the boy with the white kimono with blue markings. After all, she had challenged him first. The other one - the boy with the torn red scarf - she didn't quite know what to do with just yet. She didn't know if he would join her or if he would fight against her. Therefore, she wouldn't attack him just yet. She would wait to see what he would do, lest she provoke him and accidentally turn him against her.

All the while, rain kept pouring over their heads. Kyo had no intention of stopping it. She would let the rain die down on its own. Kyo rather enjoyed this sort of weather. The rain helped her think and it helped her relax. it helped her focus on her targets, though it was clear that it would weaken doton techniques. The earth beneath their feet would soon turn to mud, which would in turn weaken any jutsu that needed solid earth. To Kyo, it didn't matter much. She had always been more focused and fond of mokuton and suiton. She hardly ever used doton, though she knew that she had to train it at some point. She needed it to be on par with the rest of her abilities if she ever wanted to be let into the ANBU. But of course, that would come later. She would focus on ninjutsu for now and would then go on to the earth element if she had time.

The tree behind her suddenly lunged towards the boy in the kimono,extending its bent branches towards him. They each measured about 2 and a half meters when stretched to their full capacity. Kyo's chakra made it so that the branches were highly swift and flexible. Ten of them would extend towards the aforementioned boy, attempting to latch on to his skin. Only a maximum of seven could, though she sent more of them towards him, just in case he attempted to dodge. They came at him from multiple directions - from his sides, in front of him, each aiming at different parts of his body. If the tree's branches latched on to him, they would begin to draw and ingest blood until the boy passed out. Of course, the more branches that managed to attach themselves to his body, the quicker this would happen. It was a jutsu that Kyo herself had devised a few years ago, mainly for company. It wasn't until a few years later that she had discovered the technique's practical abilities in combat. In other words, it wasn't a well known technique. It was the type of jutsu that you would only guess the specifics of if you had seen it before. Even then, it was difficult to tell just by close inspection. It wasn't the type of Senju technique that could be found in textbooks and the like. Kyo would use this to her advantage, though she wouldn't let herself lower her guard. After all, she knew little of what the other two boys could do. However, that only served to make things more interesting, in her opinion. The less she knew, the more she could figure out just by fighting, observing and putting all the pieces together in her head. She would enjoy doing so greatly.

[Word Count - Ninjutsu from C to B: 2000/2000]
[Word Count - Ninjutsu from B to A: 627/3000]
[Remaining Chakra: 210/250]

(OOC:Sorry for taking so long, been real busy of late.)

This was indeed shaping up to be an interesting day. Kiyoshi had come out here with the simple intention of a solitary training session to practice his mastery of the earth element but instead found himself in the company of not one but two other people, one of which was a female Senju who could bring trees to life. What was more, Kiyoshi was about to spar with the strange woman and another still unseen potential adversary. This turn of events was of course to Kiyoshi's liking, he loved sparring, or rather fighting. He had never turned down such a challenge and wasn't about to start now, even if it might be him against two others.

While waiting for either the girl or her tree to make the first move, it dawned on Kiyoshi while he was faced with a lumbering monster-tree that despite being a Senju, Kiyoshi did not know if he could use the Wood element at all. He knew his parents were never able to, but that did not mean he didn't possess the ability to do so himself. Frankly, he'd never tried having never really considered it before this moment, most of his focus previously being on his mastery of water. Kiyoshi then made a note to get whoever-she-was to teach him to use it.

Interrupting his thinking, the zombie-tree-thing lunged forward toward Kiyoshi and with surprising speed at that, closing the gap in but a matter of moments. Ten of the tree's branches were bent in at unnatural angles, homed in on Kiyoshi. He didn't know what the branches would do exactly, but he figured that whatever it was, he didn't want to find out right now. The tree, was using quite an intelligent tactic, it had cut off as many of his escape routes as it could, those being the front and both sides. This led Kiyoshi to believe that the tree was more like a puppet than a living servant, acting solely on it's masters will.

For now, Kiyoshi took the only route available to him. Back. Bending his knees and applying force into the now muddy ground, Kiyoshi sprang backward away from the tree and landed on his feet, skidding back another foot or so due to the mud, but not losing his balance. Kiyoshi then took of to the side, strafing around the tree to reposition himself. In doing so, the other person who was previously beyond his view was now within his field of vision.The figure was perched on a branch in a tree. It was a male, tallish, silver hair, dressed in all black,that was about as much as Kiyoshi could make out between the rain and the distance. Kiyoshi wondered what tricks this one had up his sleeves, her hoped it would not be anything that that involved the bringing to life of more of less inanimate objects. Franken-tree over there was quite enough for him. He then readied himself again for another if the girl's onslaughts, hoping to discern a few more abilities before he did anything himself.

(Word Count 2000/2000 (Earth element training C>B))
(Word Count 262/3000 Earth element training B>A)
Word count: 528

As he remained on guard along with his surrounding clones in the area, Sousetsu paid little attention to the rain as it now trickled down the ends of his hair. It was rather refreshing and kept a cool head in the heat of battle but did cause a hindrance for any of the Senju's earth release techniques unless they were experienced in mud techniques. Another factor crossed his mind as he still was unaware of the abilities of his kin. Upon further inspection of the battle before them, Sousetsu had noticed that the tree began to tremble. The tree behind the woman suddenly lunged towards the boy in the kimono, extending its bent branches towards him. The shear speed and flexibility of the branches was indeed impressive.

He watched in awe as the young man had leaped out of reach of the tree and took a mental note of its limit. The trees branches reached an estimate measuring at about two and a half meters in length. Sousetsu began to ponder at the technique and what would happen if it came into contact with the young man. It didn't try to swipe at him but rather attempted to pierce his skin. Was it trying to simply stab him? Kunai could have sufficed in this situation but instead the woman had summoned a tree to do the job for her. Was there more to the technique or was she simply trying to even the odds? He then wondered of the females hand to hand combat. Could the tree divert the opponents from the fact that she was not that great at fighting at close range? Further observations could only tell for the now more intrigued Senju that lay in hiding.

He did not know of the abilities of the fellow male though and had hoped to find out soon to better prepare himself. A felow Senju would obviously have the abilities of either water release techniques or the earth release techniques and ultimately the wood release but the jutsu do vary in those fields. He did know of the tree that came to life and what that ability brought to the table so a cautious act was needed to be taken. The same went for himself though, they did not know of Sousetsu's techniques or his abilities as a shinobi who focused mainly of logic and cunning. His red scarf lay dangling by his side as he thought of a new experiment.

The three shinobi who would spar here this day would certainly hone their skills after the battle. Focusing on their weaknesses as developing their strengths in the process. It was a long journey ahead of them to match against shinobi from the neighbouring countries as well as from their own village. Intrigued once again by the thought of the uniqueness of one's strengths Sosuetsu gave off a slight grin to himself thinking of what these two ninja had in store for him. He also thought of the end result. Would these two co-operate with him or each other in teaching techniques, or would they both look down on one another and himself to go on their separate ways.

As the boy had landed at a safe distance from the reach of the puppet tree Sousetsu ordered a water clone to strike from behind that was hidden among the brushes in order to move back into the tree branches reach to assist in the attack with the woman. He charged at him with with a leap to grab the opponent and hopefully bringing them both with reach as the clone acted as a sacrifice for further observation purposes to which only the boy could fill in as the test subject. The original water clone that stood in his place began mobilizing an attack also towards the female in question in order to prove her close range combat. The clone leaped with haste and began his attack with a jumping ariel kick aiming at the left side of her head.

Words: 2372/3000

Kyo watched and stood still as Kiyoshi dodged the tree. However, instead of retreating or anything of the sort, the tree continued its assault on the boy. It would do so, sending branches from every side, so that he was forced to leap backwards. He would eventually have nowhere else to retreat, seeing as he would likely bump into the trees that bordered the clearing. Kyo was curious to see how the boy would handle himself. More of the trees branches extended, adding to the first ten. In total, there were now about fifteen branches lunging quickly and constantly at the boy. But there was still the question of the other man. The young kunoichi didn't know who he would fight for. She was wary of his movements. She would be careful to keep track of his movements while she kept the other one busy with the tree.

In the meantime, it was best to set up certain defenses just in case. Kyo pressed her left palm on the ground. She closed her eyes briefly, sending chakra to her arm, through her bones and down to her hand. It was enough to inscribe a seal onto the ground. It was large enough to cover the area around her. It had been a while since she had last sparred with anyone. She would be careful, as she always was. She would focus on defending and counterattacking until she could gauge both of her opponents' strengths. She thought of focusing on setting several seals around the perimeter, much like a mine field that she could set off at will. It was a strategy that she commonly used, something to keep her opponents well away from her, or rather, to guide their movements towards where she wanted them to be, should they manage to avoid the well concealed traps. Kyo's inscriptions had always been particularly small and discrete, after all.

The young kunoichi saw something moving from the corner of her eye. It was the other boy, though something wasn't quite right. Kyo quickly surveyed the area. She found the original jumping from one of the treetops and landing several feet away from her. So the thing that attacked the other boy was a clone. Kyo didn't know what type it was just yet. For all she knew, it could be a shadow clone. There was no exact way for her to know just yet. All she had was her observation skills, which had always been above the average. Unless... Yes, that would prove to be useful. The tree that was attacking the other boy would extend two of its branches towards the clone, attempting to stab it in order to give Kyo a good idea of what type of clone it was. She tensed, seeing the boy with the red scarf head towards her, it was another clone, she guessed. She crouched as she saw the clone flying towards her, aiming a kick at her. She would stay in place after she did so, waiting to see what the clone would do next. A hand briefly went to the small doll that she carried, tied to her waist. She considered unsealing it for a moment before reconsidering. No, not yet. That would be the ace in her sleeve. Besides, there was no need to end the battle so quickly.

[Word Count - Ninjutsu from B to A: 1188/3000]
[Remaining Chakra: 195/250]

Jutsu Used:

Though Kiyoshi had dodged the wierd tree's first attack, it promptly swang back in his direction and was bearing down upon him once again, ten of it's branches all aimed in his direction, swinging in from the front and both sides. Kiyoshi was just about to jump back once more when he realised something, two things actually. The tree wasn't the only thing coming to attack him. Kiyoshi realised this as he could hear some unknown person's footsteps as they dashed toward him through the mud. What was more, the tree in front of him had diverted some of it's branched away from Kiyoshi, but still in his general direction, which suggested that it had another target behind him. Jumping back again was obviously not a viable escape route from the incoming attacks anymore so insted of going back, he would go down.

Kiyoshi waited for the opportune moment, using the split seconds he had to look at where the girl's position was relative to his and to gauge how close his hidden opponent was behind him. When he was sure he could afford to wait no longer, lest he risk being skewered by the tree's branches, Kiyoshi preformed a hand sign and sunk down beneath the mud, disappearing completely just as the tree's branches struck through where he just was. Whoever it was that tried to attack him from behind would certainly be hard pressed to avoid the increased number of branches that would now be closing in on him. Kiyoshi hoped it was the other boy whom he would be fighting as him being out of the picture would make the rest of this fight much easier for Kiyoshi. Though he doubted the boy would be to naive as to fall into such a trap, it was probably a clone, that would make much more sense.

Kiyoshi then contemplated his next move. There were two, obvious courses of action, one would be to retreat into the bushes and look at how things unfolded, waiting for a moment to make a move. Or, he could move in closer and possibly catch the girl off guard and pull her body underneath, trapping it with her head sticking out which would allow Kiyoshi to knock her out from there. The same could be done to the boy instead if he was an easier target.
Kiyoshi decided to go with the second course of action, it suited him better anyway. He wasn't a sit back and watch type of person and would only do so when necessary.

Kiyoshi then began tunnelling in the direction of the girl, whom he could no longer see of course. In fact, Kiyoshi couldn't really see anything down here, there was no light source so he was moving through complete darkness. His only guide, when tunnelling through the muddy ground were the vibration of those above that he could feel with his Chakra. The tree obviously was a rather large source of vibration but the girls vibration was quite distinct as well and Kiyoshi had no problems feeling and moving towards it. As he was drawing close,Kiyoshi also felt another vibration distinctly. That had to be the boy, though, it was a ways off, and not very strong, presumably, he was jumping out of the tree he was perched in to preform some sort of attack on the girl. Probably taijutsu, his virbrations we're moving toward the girls fairly quickly.

This was Kiyoshi's chance to get her, it seemed like she was standing still, preparing to block whatever it was coming at
her. This made Kiyoshi's task all the easier as although he vibration were extremely faint, whatever small movements she was making made is so Kiyoshi could still feel where she was. His approach should have gone unnoticed due to the various noises around like the monster tree and the rain the girl had conjured up. Kiyoshi's hand then shot out of the ground, where the girl's foot was, attempting to grasp it. If all went well, he would be able to surface and deliver a knock-out blow to her head taking her out of the fight for awhile and leaving him to fight the other boy one on one. Though considering that the girl seemed to be quite competent this plan couldn't be certain to work, but Kiyoshi certainly thought his chances were high.

Jutsu Used:

(Chakra remaining = 140/150)

(Word Count 2000/2000 (Earth element training C>B))
(Word Count 1008/3000 Earth element training B>A)
WC:746

Many branches were seen attempting to land an attack on the young man wearing the kimono when Sosuetsu's water clone attempted to assist the tree puppet. The boy, within the blink of an eye, descended into the earth below them at the last few seconds of reaction leaving Sousetsu's clone to take the hit that was destined for the male Senju. It appeared that the rain had caused the hindrance that Sousetsu did not wish for. With a puddle of water being the only thing left of the clone it was made clear that this was not the original being. Of course, this put another set back to Sousetsu's plan of learning the tree's true abilities as well as losing a clone in the process, which was expected in most cases anyways.

The original Sousetsu watched behind a nearby brush as part of his plans went to waste as the opposing male had managed to descend into the muddy earth at the last second. But, in a way, this was not a failure as he had learned of the boys ability to create a rabbit hole. An interesting ability which made it possible to catch one of the remaining Senju off guard. He caught the female interacting with the earth also, channeling her chakra through the ground beneath her. A seal was formed but with unknown abilities as of yet. He thought to himself long and hard of a possible scenario to use the young man in his aid.

An idea struck when the water clone that was sent after the female had reached a short distance from her before launching the kick in mid air. Sousetsu released the clone before making contact so that she would be doused in water. This gave a clear opportunity for the young man to make his move on the woman knowing full well that as Sousetsu was still he could not sense him. The tree on the other hand, was the biggest target on the field which made it a weakness for this battle. With no target the tree seemed stand still as no further instructions were given.

Sosuetsu ordered another clone to attack the female once again but from an ariel attack, launching from a tree with a heel kick downwards towards her. The clone made a grunt of a noise making its presence known. This, of course, was another distraction for the young man to attack freely while she was distracted and possibly take the attention of the tree. The real Sousetsu finally thought it was time to reveal himself leaving one more clone in hiding. He appeared behind the oaf of a tree and performed hand seals with haste and placed his hands on the earth three metres from the tree.

Sousetsu converted chakra into timber under the ground and made it so it grew rapidly, while forming it into a wooden prison which would surround the tree. The trees branches may have appeared to be quick and agile but the limit was two and half metres as he had judged from watching its earlier attempts. The tree itself is thick and heavy and also with the rain, the bark would have been wet weighing it down even more leaving its mobility questionable. Knowing that the woman might not have been the fighting type with another analysis of creating diversions from herself, the only option was to take away her pawn and leave her in the open.

The downside to this plan was of course that he was now out in the open and also a target for the young man also. Assuming the role in which the young man took was by chance. Would he attack the woman? Or would he aim for Sousetsu? Sousetsu pondered at this for a slight moment as he gazed upon the woman once again and grinned slightly. The water clone was about to execute the heel kick leaving Sousetsu as the middle man in the part of taking down this woman. He knew to keep his distance from the woman in the meantime as he did not know what she had done to her surroundings. Frankly, she was quite an intimidating lady when it came to personal space.

Jutsu used:

Spoiler:

Chakra: 155/200
3000/3000 Words - Earth Element Training - B>A
81/4000 Words - Earth Element Training - A>S

Kyo had naturally gifted eyesight. She was perfectly able to keep track of everything that was going on in the battlefield without having to spend much effort on it. Her old teachers at the Academy and even her late Sensei often praised her for it. She kept her eyes locked on Kiyoshi and Sousetsu as they moved around the field. All she mainly had to do was look at the tree she had animated and watch their reactions to it. Despite being weighed down by the water that was still raining down on the field, the tree could still move quickly. After all, it could carve its way more easily through mud than through solid ground. Kyo watched as the tree stabbed through what seemed to be a water clone. It was dissatisfied, finding only water in place of the blood that it was looking for. During that time, Kiyoshi managed to dodge the branches and retreat underground.
 
The young Special Jounin’s facial expression hardly ever changed, but the small twitches in her face meant that she was narrowing her eyes, trying to analyze what the boy was doing and planning, what technique he was using. She thought it was best to be cautious, seeing as she didn’t yet know who the attack was directed to. She had to remain clearheaded and analytical in the few milliseconds that she had to react. Distracted as she was with what was happening on the other side of the field, Kyo soon found herself doused in water and momentarily blinded. As she wiped the water from her eyes, she heard a grunt from above, prompting her to dodge, leaping several meters to the side. In that brief amount of time, she failed to notice the real Sousetsu emerging from among the trees. She was more focused on the young boy that was emerging from the ground exactly where she had been standing less than a second before. Without thinking twice, Kyo released the seal that she had placed on the ground where the boy was. Normally, it was meant for defense purposes, but in this case, it served well as a trap. In the meantime, unless he managed to narrowly evade the closing and hardened surface, Kyo would focus on the other man. Just as she turned to the side, in order to keep an eye on both of them, she saw her tree being enclosed in a tight cage. She knew the jutsu well, though she was unable to perform it herself. It was one of the older techniques of the Senju Clan. It wasn’t exactly easy to break out of, but she knew that a few good blows from the tree would be enough.
 

The tree was about to do just that on its own. It threw its branches backwards in order to gain momentum but Kyo stopped it with a glance. The tree obeyed, though it seemed confused as to why she would stop it. But then its new orders came. The roots of the tree dug into the earth further, extending and moving. The roots of the tree almost mirrored it in size and length, though they were slightly longer and more numerous. The roots spread underneath the ground, well past the cage. In the meantime, it focused on trying to stretch its branches through the bars of the cage, rapidly extending them towards Sousetsu. All of its branches were now focused on what she was sure was the real one now. Meanwhile, the roots did the same. They would emerge from the ground at the same time. They did not possess the same abilities as the branches themselves, which were able to suck blood, but they could very well hold Sousetsu in place and drag him towards the branches that couldn’t reach him by half a meter. If the attack succeeded and Kyo managed to trap him, the tree would do just that so that it could lightly impale his skin and begin to draw blood with all seven branches. In the meantime, Kyo would stay on guard in case the other boy tried something similar once again. Her hand went to her belt and touched the small doll that was there. Yes, it was time to bring him here. She couldn’t underestimate these two any longer. With a simple touch, she placed both the animation and enlargement seals on the doll, making it come to life before her. The doll, measuring about two meters, would become her guard and fend off the other two if they chose to come anywhere near her. Like the tree, it had a life and instinct of its own. 

[Word Count - Ninjutsu from B to A: 1965/3000]
[Remaining Chakra: 160/250]

Jutsu/Items Used:

Lunging upward, his arm bursting forth from the wet ground in an attempt to grasp the leg of his female adversary to draw her down and trap her within the earth on which she stood. However, his fingers closed upon naught but air and raindrops. He can missed. Or rather, she had dodged because Kiyoshi was sure he was right under where she just was. Something had obviously happened above the surface to make her move. Though, he was sure she was bright enough to at least have some suspicion of his intention so it could have simply been a precautionary move from where she was.

Sensing the vibrations of the action going on above him, the young Senju felt some movement from the tree, It seemed to be utilizing it's roots for attack now, he felt the numerous tendrils coming from the tree headed towards the other young man involved in the spar. That however did not concern him in the least. It would only serve to benefit Kiyoshi if one of his two opponents was taken out of the fight. What did concern him though was the fact that he saw walls arising all round him as he emerged from the ground. Kiyoshi swore to himself as he saw this, scrambling out of the ground and after only two running steps launched himself upward. The muscles in his thighs and calves contracting and relaxing to launch him up and allow Kiyoshi to get his upperbody over the still rising wall and vault his legs over, landing in the mud on the other side with a wet splash. 

Kiyoshi now had to get his bearings so to speak as he was unsure of which side of the wall he had exited from in relation to his opponents. Kiyoshi skirted the wall till he caught sight of the other two. Quite a number of things were happening at the same time between the two of them. The tree, was trapped in a wooden prison which barred it's movement, but, it was still able to utilize it's braches which it was extending toward the man. At the same time, the woman reach toward her belt and retrieved what looked like a doll. The doll, spontaneously began to grow from the size of a mere toy to an imposing wooden construct that stood over six feet tall. Kiyoshi couldn't even think of something to relate it's appearance to. He couldn't even begin to fathom were the inspiration for it's appearance had come from, but then again, that didn't matter. What did matter were the offensive capabilities of the doll. Since he was currently unaware of these, Kiyoshi would utilise the cover he had been provided by the girls walls and observe the next few moments for as long as he could safely do so. Hopefully he could get some information as to the abilities of this new factor that had been brought into the three person spar.

Sousetsu remained transfixed on the tree as it stared him down. It began to swing to get the momentum to damage the wooden prison bars and eventually break them until it came to a halt. Surprise, Sousetsu glanced over to the woman who was looking at the tree. The tree's roots began to pierce the ground which caught Sousetu's attention before he leaped back an extra metre for precaution. He thought that the orders given from the woman were nothing but thoughts that were being transmitted and would prove to be difficult to comprehend the next form of attacks. It didn't seem to be a constant thought as she had been preoccupied by the water clones Sousetsu had ordered to attack. This was indeed a very useful technique but his real intentions were to attack the woman herself. Roots began to show themselves at an alarming rate causing Sousetsu to dodge to the side of where he originally was. The roots from the tree seemed to have a more intimidating approach compared to the previous move which still made its way towards him through the cage. He pondered while remaining out of the roots way. It then came to mind that they were trying to detain him, just as he had done to the tree. But why? Was this trees ability truly that dangerous? Would he be repeatedly stabbed? There was definitely more to this technique than they could figure out unless they had a test subject.

He then figured that the roots were keeping the tree confined to the ground, limiting its mobility. Sousetsu Performed hand seals as he came to a halt suddenly. The roots were edging their way towards him, surrounding him. He then slammed both of his hands on the muddy earth before him before a wall began to shoot up underneath the cage. "Doton: Doryūheki!"  Exclaimed Sousetsu. The wall shot up to twenty feet tall in the course of four seconds. The tree which was rooted into the earth would have its roots recede back up and into he wall along with the tree leaving Sousetsu with a grin and rushing round to the woman once more. With the wall blocking his vision before hand, he had seen that the young man had emerged from the earth and a new opponent was by the woman's side. A rather odd looking creature but all that sprang to mind was where did it come from? It wasn't another tree that was for sure. Upon further inspection, Sousetsu had noticed that the small doll that was shown by the woman's side had been removed. Was this the doll? She she use some off fuuinjutsu on her doll to make it just like this tree? He could ask all these questions until the sun came down but he needed more answers. This woman was too unpredictable which was to  Sousetsu's liking. He liked a challenge as much as the next person and would soon find another strategy in to come in handy in time.

Sousetsu listened carefully to the woodland. The birds could not be heard, neither the many animals and insects. This fight had escalated to an extent that it had gotten more serious between the three. The rain was still pouring down and his hair was now more soaked that his hair was now flat and misshapen from each movement he made. He closed his eyes to think if any small detail could help him out in this now dyer situation. He had noticed that the traps had been removed also from using the jutsu earlier to summon the wall. The earth was clearer, smoother and undisturbed. The water clone who had failed his assault turned his attention to the doll along with the remaining clone in hidden giving it a two on one situation. Sousetsu on the other hand performed a further quick set of hand seal which had summoned his 'water palm blade' technique, materializing a blade of water in his palm before using his body flicker technique and appearing behind the girl thrusting his newly formed weapon towards her upper left shoulder.  

Words: 777/4000 [Earth Element Training A>S]
Chakra: 115/200
Jutsu used:

Spoiler: