"If you wish to continue training, I suggest you fill up on that watermelon and we can meet up a bit later. For Taijutsu training, I have just the thing, but it requires me calling in a few favors."
Ray nodded. He had understood. The Kage meant to say that his training for the day had been over, that he had achieved what she had expected of him. It left Ray in conflicting feelings about it, though. On one end, he was happy that he had achieved what the Kage had expected of him, but on the other hand, he still didn't feel that he had completely trained himself and he still felt that lack of physical exhaustion that came with completely working oneself out. However, since he wasn't one to argue with the Kazekage herself, he simply went back to biting his sweet watermelon, relishing every single bite and it's sweet, lingering taste, till there was nothing left of the watermelon but a bunch of seeds on a hollow, semi-spherical remnant. Crouching down, he planted the seeds in the semi-dense sand, and crushed the remnant, putting it around the plantation. Ray didn't know why he had done that, but he was sure it had some symbolic meaning. After all, everything a ninja did in this world had some sort of symbolic meaning to it. He looked back up at the Kage, looking at her hand which was open, splayed towards the two boys, asking for her Kunai back. Ray smiled, and placed the kunai he'd kept around his person on her hand. After all, most of them were unused.
Bowing to the Kage, he then turned towards Heero, who'd already begun speaking. "I gu.. guess I cant let you get to..too far ahead Ray! And thank you so much for training me Kazekage Sama." Ray nodded, smiling again.
"You should beat me the next time we meet, regardless of what we've become.", said he, before turning back to the Kage.
"I should take my leave now." Then, turning away from both of them, he sprinted, his speed being much faster than a normal ninja of his level. As he rhythmically pounded on the sand with his speed, each step taking him forth faster than the other, he pondered over the proceedings that took part today. He had, in order to prove himself to the Kage, allowed his teammate to take the easier pathway rather than him himself going and attacking the watermelon, and he chose to attack and keep the Kage at bay. This wasn't how he'd normally go about it. He was normally the one to use the speed to his advantage, and find a way around the normal obstacle so he could complete the objective without putting himself in harm's way. What had happened to him? Why was he doing this? With answers he didn't have, Ray shook his head slightly, and continued running. He'd almost reached the village.
His thought process then took him back to another time, whereupon he remembered what had happened when he'd fought Tomoya Kato, his brother.
Enter Flashback:
Ray was going to meet Tomoya Katō, one of the more boisterous taijutsu users of the clan, and Ray's first cousin, whom he hadn't met since 3 years. Tomoya was older than Ray, by three years, a fact that always used to astonish Ray since Tomoya was quite like him. They used to spar together ever since they were kids, but all those relationships tore off due to the demise of Ray's mother, and Ray's subsequent isolation from the clan.
Ray entered the sand grounds, as the morning heat started coming around, increasing the temperature by a few degrees. Ray was wearing his trademark black clothes, his hair tied in a small hanging ponytail behind him. His Hitai-ate was worn around his waist, acting as a belt, while his chuunin uniform symbol was on his fingerless gloves. His unnaturally straight face devoid of any emotion, searched in the distant horizon, his black, deep eyes scanning every viewpoint. His eyes rested upon a distant figure in the horizon. Ray ran towards that figure, and upon a lesser distance learnt that it was indeed his cousin.
Flashback Ends
The meeting had been followed by pure banter, nothing much too creative of the sort. He didn't remember all the details, but there was something about Tomoya creating a clockwork hand and whatnot. However, the next few things were the preceding notions before his life changed.
Enter Flashback
"Umm, you know it's only the north side which think that way, right? Even the elders like your inventions. They told me you had immense talent, but you lacked medical jutsu to go through with it. However, the extremists in the north have been drastically reducing the inventions in the clan. I might need to exterminate them, but your own brother stays there. I don't know whether I should go on with my plan of killing the north or not. Most of the Elders are telling me to go through with it, but I can't do it without your permission.", said Ray, his conviction firm with the truth he spoke.
"Let me kill them."
Ray looked up at Tomoya's eyes, and noticed a change in them. They had become one with his conviction, or so it seemed. It was the first time Ray had seen this sort of a look on Tomoya's face. It resembled that of a man realizing his job, which perplexed Ray even more.
"If one of the main branch does it, and even one person survives, that's enough to bring a civil war that could destroy the whole clan. If I'm the one, they'll just think I'm getting revenge for the way they've treated me all my life... Plus it'd feel good getting a little bit of own back. And let's face it, your skill at assassination is entirely subpar."
Ray nodded. It was true. "Well, looking at it from that perspective, yes, it would be highly risky. However, are you sure you will be able to kill your own father and brother, who went up against you? If you do manage to do it, I'm swearing you in as my own blood brother. You'll be part of the main lineage, and nobody will ever go against your judgement. But I'm afraid for the safety of your sanity. To kill your own family is immensely difficult, not to mention taxing on your sanity. And, I may not be good at assassination, but I'm not that bad at it. I used to manage to sneak up on Shoryuu so many times earlier, stealing his stuff.". Ray pondered over Tomoya's conviction, being unsure whether it would be a good idea to let him kill his own kin. What if it twisted Tomoya to a different extent? What if Tomoya lost his sanity?
Flashback Ends
But Tomoya did lose his sanity. Ray had never heard from his brother again after what was known to be the massacre of the entirety of the Kato Clan, with only Ray being the sole survivor. However, things had changed now. There were clan members resurfacing, those who'd escaped or had been exiled. But Tomoya was nowhere to be found. Ray had brought things around, but there were still wounds of the past that existed among the present. Wiping a small tear that had welled up near his eye, Ray continued his dash towards home.
Post Word Count: 1253
Total Word Count: 3282/3000
Training Taijutsu--->A COMPLETE
[EXIT]
OOC: Sorry for the late post. Had to regain my muse.