Odaya awoke early in the morning; he was awakened by a severe headache caused by his brother, Zanko. Odaya rubbed his head furiously as he attempted to numb the pain from the brother’s wakeup call; he wondered in part why Zanko was so adamant about rising this early in the first place. Looking over at their alarm clock to see the time he was horrified by what he saw.

“Four AM, why are you doing this to us Zanko?” Odaya sleepily mumbled as he sat up in their bed.

“You had an appointment at the Hospital last week, I have one at the Dojo this week with the Dojo Sensei.” Zanko explained in a hasty voice. “Now get up and get us ready to go, I don’t want to be late!” Zanko barked.

“What time is this appointment at?” Odaya asked after he unleashed a long yawn.

“Eight AM.” Zanko replied quickly.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” Odaya shouted as he glanced back at the alarm clock for confirmation of the time. “IT’S FOUR AM, GO BACK TO SLEEP!” Odaya continued in a sleepy rage.

“I don’t want to be late, wake up or I will make the headache worse.” Zanko growled.

“No, I will wake us up at six AM, plenty of time to get there and we will be able to get ready at our leisure.” Odaya replied as he threw the covers back over their head.

Odaya laid in the bed for hours as Zanko stayed true to his word, intensifying the headache every thirty minutes. Finally after an hour and a half of pure agony Odaya sat straight up in the bed, he growled in anger at his brother’s persistence as he slowly walked over to their dresser to get prepared for the day. After dressing Odaya went into the kitchen and began to cook breakfast for the pair of them.

“Happy now?” Odaya asked.

“No, you took too long waking up we could be late!” Zanko responded angrily.

“How far is this appointment of yours, the other side of Kiri?” Odaya asked sarcastically.

“It’s in the Marketplace, so yes it is.” Zanko replied coldly.

Suddenly it made sense to Odaya, the market place was about a three hour trip from their house. He quickly ate the hot breakfast he had prepared and darted out of the front door, being sure to grab his brothers Odachi as they departed. As Odaya rushed out of the Hostel he slammed into the Landlord, knocking them both down. Odaya quickly stood to his feet and darted off, yelling back at man “Sorry!” as the rapidly disappeared from his line of sight.

“Where is this appointment?” Odaya asked as they pushed their way through the crowded streets of the Slums in Kirigakure.

“The Dojo inside the Marketplace, can’t you move any faster?” Zanko replied.

Odaya glanced around as they moved forward, his eyes catching a group of Special Jounin leaping on the rooftops as they moved from destination to destination. “Perhaps…” Odaya replied as he mulled over the option.

Odaya quickly pushed his way through the crowd of people and to the nearest fire escape, where the pair climbed to the roof of a relatively large house. From here they could leap along the roof tops drastically decreasing the travel time it would take to reach the Market Place. Odaya looked down at the street that lay far below them, and swallowed nervously.

“Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea.” He whispered to Zanko.

“Don’t be a pussy; I have done this a thousand times before.” Was the reply Odaya received.

“That’s because you are insane, I like life thank you very much.” Odaya managed to stutter out.

“Then let me do it and you just enjoy the ride.” Zanko said, a tinge of anger was clear upon his voice.

“Fine, I hope you enjoy your suicidal tendencies.” Odaya replied as he formed a hand sign.

Odaya’s eyes glazed over as he slipped into recession and allowed his brother to gain control of their body. The White Yang symbol disappeared off of the right side of their chest, only to be replaced by the Black Yin symbol on the opposing side of their chest. Zanko blinked a few times to rid himself of the haze that overtook his eyes; he slowly looked around at his surroundings before he leapt off the building face.

The rush of air hit him as he traveled downwards towards another building’s roof, as his feet came into contact with the roof he broke into a forward roll to avoid harming himself in any manner. Zanko paused for a moment to look around for next roof that would give him the best path towards the market place. His eyes caught the perfect building for him to leap to; the only issue was it was far higher than the one he currently stood on. Zanko took a few steps backwards and then darted towards the edge of the roof, as he leapt he channeled chakra into his hands and feet, this would allow him to travel up the building face with ease.

Once he connected he ran as fast as he could up the building until he reached the roof. From there he could see his destination less than thirty minutes away from his current location. Zanko took a deep breath before he darted down the building face and towards the next roof top. Upon reaching half way down the roof he pushed off, leaping towards the next roof top below him. After several more roof tops, Zanko was almost at his destination, he made his second to last leap. However he missed his roll and collapsed onto the roof in a heap, his left leg ached from a sprain he had given himself due to the force of the collision. Zanko gritted his teeth as he headed for the emergency roof exit and entered the building, which happened to be a fast food restaurant across the street from his destination.

“Hey you don’t belong here!” A cook shouted as he walked through the kitchen.

“Yeah yeah, I know, I know.” Zanko replied as he limped towards the exit.

Soon Zanko arrived at the Dojo, he limped up to his Sensei for the day and gave him a respectful bow.

“I apologize for my tardiness, the other half didn’t want to wake up this morning.” He explained.

Chakra Points 140/150:

Word Count: 1083/2000

“You are thirty minutes late, excuses will not save comrades if this is replicated while you are in battle. Tardiness can cost a life, be sure to not arrive on time but early to any occasion, do you understand this?” Replied the Dojo Sensei, his aged gaze focused on Zanko with an un-approving glare.

“Of course, Sensei it will not happen again.” Zanko replied with another bow of respect.

“Good. Now enter the dojo and prepare yourself for out lesson, Niidashi Zanko.” The Sensei replied sternly.

While Zanko normally would have had some snarky retort to this demand, he said nothing. This was in part due to his great respect for the Master Swordsman, he had accomplished what most only dreamed of and he did so without loss of limb or life, he had achieved greatness. But this was not Zanko’s only reason to show such unwavering respect towards the man, he had become a teacher, instead of compiling all of his skill and knowledge and keeping it to himself, he shared this vault of knowledge with the next generation which was an honorable act in Zanko’s eyes.

Zanko slipped out of his tarnished clothes in a small room designated explicitly for changing into the Dojo’s practicing robes and protective equipment. While Zanko did this he felt the excitement building in his breast, soon he would expand his knowledge to new heights, and soon he would wield the blade with efficiency without the reliance of jutsu. This caused Zanko to move quickly, or attempt to, as he managed to stumble while attempting to remove his pants and fell over, colliding with the bench in front of him, stars were the only thing he saw. Zanko heard a small chuckle as he lay on the cold tile floor; the sound caused an ounce of anger to within him.

“What’s so fucking funny?” He called out.

Soon his anger dissipated into pure shock as the Dojo Sensei rounded the corner; he stared down at Zanko and slowly shook his head. “Perhaps you are not ready to spar…you movements lack grace and are too hasty for you to control.” The Sensei said. Dread filled Zanko at the thought of being turned away from the Dojo, he feared losing a golden opportunity because he couldn’t control his temper.

“Come with me young one.” The Sensei continued as he motioned with hand for Zanko to follow him into the main room.

The pair entered a room separate from the Dojo, in it sat antique weapons of various natures, each with their own unique uses. Upon dusty shelves sat books and scrolls that were written long before the master of the Dojo was even a thought in the universe; each one of these documents detailed more ancient styles of weapon play. Zanko was taken aback by what his eyes soaked in before him, he was in awe at the history that sat right at their fingertips and he could feel Odaya was as well.

“Is this even real?” Odaya asked in their joint mind.

“I hope so.” Zanko muttered in reply as he gazed at the contents of the room.

The Master slowly walked towards a shelf in the furthest corner of the rather small room, his fingers ran across several book spines and waxen scroll seals before it came to a complete stop. Slowly the Sensei pulled free three books and two scrolls from the shelf; he carefully dusted them off before returning to his prospective student. Once he reached the young man he stared at him for the briefest of moments, and then extended the small stack in his direction with a small smile.

“Since you have injured your leg and I lack knowledge in Medical Ninjutsu, today I will have you study various forms of Kenjutsu and the Western Sword styles. When you have finished with the documents leave them on the table and call for me, I will have your meals brought in for you.” He explained as he placed the documents on the floor for Zanko to read.

Zanko didn’t even bat an eye as he sat down and began to read the first words from the books, absorbing the imperative knowledge and thinking of how to apply it to his own fighting styles. His finger ran down lines on the pages, his lips silently muttered words stained upon their aged pages, and in his mind he practiced them on Odaya. With each letter his understanding grew slightly as he wrapped his mind around increasingly more advanced stances and striking patterns, which he would later practice until perfection.

“I have never seen you reading this intently.” Odaya said calmly.

“I have never been interested in your shit books either.” Zanko replied half-heartedly as he continued to read. “Cut the something, something tumor, stitch from such and such angle, don’t cut the blah blah blah artery. It’s all Latin to me, not to mention dull…plus this one has pictures.” Zanko teased.

“So that is the trick huh? You just need pictures to be interested? Anything else I should know before we head to preschool?” Odaya goaded.

“Shut up, I am reading.” Zanko growled.

After a few hours of reading Zanko had finished one of the larger books and had begun reading a rather large scroll when the sound of a door sliding open was heard. Slowly an elderly woman carrying a tray which contained cold soup, with a large chunk of bread, a cup, and a small kettle of freshly brewed hot tea walked into the room. Zanko immediately stood to his feet and gave her a small bow of respect before approaching to take the food from her. Before he could even thank the old lady for her generosity she had left, leaving Zanko to his studies in utter silence. Zanko awoke the next morning surrounded by open books, the words on their pages still danced in his mind, he not only remembered what they said but comprehended them as well, he had taken a step forward to his ultimate goal to become a Master Swordsman.

Word Count: 2110/2000