Right.

Life sucked sometimes. It kicked you down, kicked you while you were still down, and just when you thought it was done it started stomping on your face just because it could and left you as a broken and bloody mess where if you were lucky you would die and not have to face the pain anymore. Or rather, that's what life had done for Amaya Uchiha. She had gone from the girl who didn't want or need friends outside of her brother to the girl who not only had a good friend, a best friend, but a lover. All before it beat her down, knocked her bloody, and then stole it all away from her again. Her friend, her lover, her unborn child... just all gone.

Of course, that was an awfully long time ago. However, those things changed you. Amaya who had turned into a beautiful butterfly, someone who went from anti-social to social, was back to being silent. Silence was best. Silence didn't hurt. Silence couldn't leave you becasue it was always there. It was an ever constant friend. Oh, she wasn't mute per say, she was more than capable of speaking if she found you worthy enough of words.

She wasn't alone of course despite all that life had done; she had her older brother. She needed her older brother. He was the last little thread that was keeping her to what sanity she had left. Which was why she had woken up that morning, gotten dressed, and grabbed an apple out of the bowl of fruit in the kitchen and then headed outside: not bothering to do much outside of run a brush through her messy white colored hair before leaving that continued to stick up regardless at odd angles.

She wasn't dressed for duty; off days were lovely things: especially when there was only one person you really wanted to really have anything to do with. So, for the day she was dressed in a corset styled top which is leather around the waist and stomach area - laced up in the front with leather straps - and with a thick white cloth that covers her chest, allowing for mild cleavage to show. The top of her shirt continues up, forming two one inch thick straps which go up behind the back of her neck where they are tied. Today to wear with this she had chosen a black pair of shorts which have a white pleated skirt that ties over top of this; the white skirt held up with a brown leather belt with a silver belt buckle. Her feet are covered in typical shinobi sandals, black in color and finally her village headband was wrapped around her left forearm, clearly visible.

She glanced around with red colored eyes; spotting the trail of burnt shit: trees, anything really that could burn. She walked in that direction without hesitation: she wasn't scared of her brother - he would never harm her. "Brother?"

Taijutsu Training: 496 / 1,500

The tattered Gi hung from his frame, billowing outward as the male literally fought his way through the through the forest before him. Bare hands crashed through trees as the male moved forward, ripping them up and throwing them with tremendous force. Those that were thrown were burned in his wake -- a forest fire that would soon grow out of control if the male causing it did not regain control. His entire body was literally on fire, despite the 'fireproof' clothing that he wore doing little to snuff it out. The air around the male was aflame,, singing the flora abound with his reckless actions.

But why? Why was he so angry, why was he so intent on breaking everything around him to the point of quite possibly burning down Konoha. Well, the male had earlier in the day paid a visit to inquire about the investigation in his friend's death. He'd been met with what he deemed 'run-around bullshit', and so short of burning down the administration building, he'd felt the need to to take a long enthusiastic walk through the woods.

Five hours later and the young man was still at it, venting outt he his anger on the poor trees. The prayer beads around his ankles and wrists were doing little to hold back the surge of violent chakra that poured from his form.

Grab , CRACK, throw!

Burn burn burn!

The growling that left his body, the flash of lengthening finger nails as he slashed at trees, grouging the hearts out of them as he moved. The world was a blur of motion, the sounds of fauna screaming and the scent of fear as they fled for thier lives to escape the Mad Lion.

And yet, admist the destruction, the chaos of his movements, the burning forest around him, someone dared approach?

"Brother?"

A sweet balm to his rage, the fury lessended almost immediately at the sound of her voice. Black eyes looked up, turning in the direction despite the roar of the flames around him, taking care to pick out her approaching figure.

"Amaya... why are you here..?" Eyebrows raised in curiousity, his body turning to face her. As he did, the chakra that covered his body lessened, but never completely left; flickering across his body like a flame turned on low.

Her head cocked slightly to the right side as she watched the destruction her brother was causing before he turned towards her. Anyone else with even half a mind would have pissed themselves in fear at that moment and likely ran screaming for help in the other direction, but Amaya wasn't anyone else. With that said she took another step or two towards her brother with a look of curiosity on her face as she continued to survey the damage he had caused; almost child like despite the fact that she was now very much an adult.

"I was looking for you, I didn't want to be alone.", she responded in a calm voice: too calm. She didn't go into the details of course as to why: it would be after all a well known reason and simple enough - another nightmare to add to the collection she had had throughout the years. She always woke up from those and sought out her brother's company, even if it was to simply sit there in silence nearby. Her brother brought her a mental peace no one else could, and at the moment it was a god-send, it kept her from lighting up like a fire-cracker and helping spread the destruction further.

She turned her red colored gaze from the destruction her brother had been causing to her brother himself, her head straightening. "Are you going to burn the whole village down?", she asked in yet another very calm voice; although curiosity hinted at the undertone of it. She didn't care what her brother did, it was no secret. If he chose right at that very moment to burn the village to ash and leave she would follow him without hesitation: pure and complete loyalty to its very core. It was exactly why she hadn't asked him why he was doing what he was, and simply asked how far he planned on going with it.

She didn't have to voice that if her brother left she planned on following after him: to leave her here was to doom her to certain fate. A fate of rage and destruction that would come from her mental collapse that would leave three possible endings: either she would kill everyone, she would be killed, or she would be captured and imprisoned. None of those were nice options.

Taijutsu D Rank: 390 + 496 = 886 / 1,500

"Are you going to burn the whole village down?"

The male offered Amaya a sincere smile, shaking his head as he allowed himself to relax, the prayer beads on his wrists and ankles finally kicking into effect; the chakra his body was pumping out would be drained away from him and sucked into the beads. Ah, these lovely little things, a precious gift from the Lion Sages to help him maintain his anger and strength. But even with these limiters, the male was a dangerous person; the strength of a beast with the mind of a madman.

But even a madman has thier weakness, and his was his younger sister. He was very much aware of her loyalty to him, and he was sure she knew of his to her. They'd both lost people dear to them, and all they had left was each other; it made them hold all the more tightly to each other. He was quite sure that if he lost Amaya as well, nothing would be able to stop him.

Offering the female a sincere smile, he shook his head. "Not this time, my dear." He gestured back to the flaming forest nonchalantly, taking a small step towards Amaya. "Just blowing off some steam." She'd know what he meant; blowing off steam translated to 'trying not to burn the village down'. Arms folded over his chest as he watched her, black eyes waiting to see if she had another question. But as he waited, he began to move again, stepping clear of the worst of the fires and making his way past her into the not-quite-burning portions of the forest.

"Not this time, my dear. Just blowing off some steam."

She didn't blame her brother in the slightest; she had on more than one occasion had to go out and release some of her anger else she loose control entirely. So, for a moment her red colored gaze moved from her brother to the flames he had motioned towards. There was something always magical about fire: anytime she looked at it it seemed to sing to her very soul a song she didn't know if anyone else heard, but a beautiful song nonetheless. It made her want to light stuff on fire, too, but she held herself back.

Seeing all of the destruction that her elder brother had caused made her think back to all of the times she had trained with Ashi and how they had always ended up destroying whatever area it was they were in. "Heh, this reminds of when Ashi and I--", she stopped, unable to continue with the sentence. As she thought about the training ground they had demolished years and years ago it brought a brief smile to her face and a twinkle to her eye: that was until a fresh pang of pain shot across her heart and mind which caused the memory to turn sour, quickly, and the smile to disappear. Her emotionless mask slipped back into place, but her eyes held the true pain that those memories caused: she knew it was pointless hiding her emotions from her brother, he knew them all well enough, but she cared little in risking allowing a possible enemy who might be lurking by to know anything of how she was feeling in case those emotions got used against her.

So, she simply turned, not wanting to think much on her feelings, and followed after her brother. There had been something on her mind over the past few days, something she hadn't had a chance to speak with him about but which she had thought over a great deal. "Brother, will you teach me Taijutsu?"

She had never bothered to learn it in the past with how weak and sick she had been as a child, but given she hadn't had a bought of sickness in years she figured it was the best time to try. She already knew how much hard work it would be, how much dedication would be needed, but she was never a stranger to those two concepts. She was more than willing to put in the effort where it was needed, more than willing to push herself to limits other people feared to go. So, she simply looked up to her brother while awaiting his answer.

Taijutsu D Rank: 446 + 886 = 1,332 / 1,500

"Brother, will you teach me Taijutsu?"

Taijutsu.

The smile returned to his face as he walked on, slowing just a bit so that Amaya could catch up to him.So, she wanted to learn Taijutsu. He could only wonder what brought this one on. Was it that she admired his own prowess in Taijutsu; the male prided himself on the fact that his fists knew no equal. Taijutsu was all he had for the longest time, until the Lion Sages removed the Gate Zero seal from him. It was his bread and butter; the male had literally fought his way up to the rank of Sannin...

He grinned now, pulling on the tattered remains of the the upper portion of his Gi. While he had no qualms about walking around in only the lower half, he wasn't in the mood to deal with the stares of the civilians questioning him. 'He's walking around half naked? Shame on him and his family!' 'Shh! Quiet, that is Uchiha Naota, the former Sannin!' The hushed wispers, the strange stares that he always got. It was the same all his life. The laughter, the stares, the mocking. The only Uchiha alive who could not perform ninjutsu


He fucking hated it. The only reason why Naota was still here was dead. Dead and buried for eight years. The only man he could confidently say he loved like family beyond his own father. So, if his reason for being here was gone, why was he still here? For the longest time society was just too much, he couldnt hack it. The male spent six motherfuckin years in a restraintent jacket, locked away in the Uchiha compound. The entire time, raging, burning room he was locked in. Six long fucking years, locked away from the rest of the world, attempting the calm the rage that burned within him. But back it wasnt wise for wise for them to let him out of the room; he never really got better, he learned just enough control to fake it.

But he knew it was just a lie; He just might flip, quick, but its too late to be bitchin -- they knew what he was! They knew it, they knew what Kenta turned him into! Kenta freed his mind from the cycle of hatred, and taught him to think for himself. And in return, Naota gave Kenta the perfect soldier; a man who knew that when it was time to fight, there was no talking, there was no more fucking negotiations. There was no turning it off, either. And yet, they still released him from that room, allowing him to move about the village so long as he remained calm and in control of himself.

Christ, this man had more loose screws than the table in your kitchen, and they let him walk free! But what stopped him? What kept him in control, and kept him from rampaging around the village, burning everything and everyone he came across...

The woman asking him to teach her Taijutsu.

"Taijutsu, eh? Aren't you a bit scrawny to learn Tai, Amaya?" He grinned still, poking her in the arm carefully. The male was well aware of the strenght his limbs housed-- he could have easily hurt the female with a proper jab, and given her past sickness... it was something he didnt want to risk.

"Taijutsu, eh? Aren't you a bit scrawny to learn Tai, Amaya?" Amaya grinned when her brother poked her and nodded a bit.

Yes, yes she was a bit scrawny to learn Taijutsu: but she planned on improving that issue. She planned on pouring her very heart, her very soul into this. It stemmed somewhat from a promise she had made a little over eight years ago: it had been during a bout of her sickness when Ashi had snuck in - she had always had to sneak in in the beginning - and had spent the night with her, just holding her hand and whispering about the future. Ashi had made her promise that one day Amaya would be strong enough to beat her in a physical fight: at the time it had been a joke but Amaya had agreed none the less. Now? She wanted to live up to that promise: something she was sure her brother would understand.

"Do you remember a little over eight years ago when my last bout of sickness hit? How I was really bad? Do you remember how Ashi kept sneaking into my room to see me at night?" She was sure her brother did: hell, it wouldn't have surprised her if he had been guarding her room like there was some kind of rare precious gem in it during those bouts of sickness that left her as weak as a baby. "Well, the night she fell asleep watching me her and I talked, and she made me promise her something: she made me promise that one day I would become strong enough to win in a fight against her. It's a promise I want to keep."

She looked up to her brother while still following him, arms folding across her chest in a relaxed manner. "I'm willing to put in the work: and I know I'm going to have more of it to look forward to because I am so tiny. I know I'll have to start actually eating too; and I'm willing to put up with that. I have one hell of a motivation that'll see me through it after all." She knew she had to start taking care of herself if she was going to put her body through that sort of training: she wouldn't be able to skip meals and starve herself, or otherwise rely on just an apple every other day to keep weight on. She also hadn't been sick in a very long time so she figured her body was more than up for the challenge: it was time she got back into training, into getting stronger. She had spent so much time saddened and hidden away in her bedroom from the world over the losses suffered that enough was enough - she had a deep down urge to make those who had caused them to suffer to suffer themselves, but she couldn't do that as she was. No, she needed to get stronger, faster, and have some more tricks up her sleeve than she already did.

"So, what do you say?" She wanted him to teach her compared to someone else because she considered him the best: besides, everyone else who knew even a bit about her sickness would take it easy on her, and easy wasn't what she needed if she was going to improve. No, she needed to be pushed, and hard if she was going to improve and grow as quickly as she wanted to.

Taijutsu D Rank: 579 + 1,332 = 1,911 / 1,500
Taijutsu D-C Rank: 411 / 3,000

Naota was quiet as he listened to Amaya speak. Though no sound came from his lips, his heart sung with joy. The determination and loyalty that she felt towards was something that he shared with her- he loved Ashi like a sister, given what she was to his own sister. He'd shared in Amaya's grief at the loss of Ashi, the same as she'd shared in his own at the loss of Kenta. Her determination to keep Ashi's memory alive by keeping her promise was enough to make him agree...

"So, what do you say?"

He stopped walking for a moment, crossing his arms in front of his chest in a relaxed manner. The male reguarded the question, finall taking into consideration what his sister's role in combat would be should she leearn taijutsu. It would remove her from the backline, and throw her directly into the heat of the battle. Sure, she'd be fighting alongside him, but.....

"I...." Reality was sinking in slowly-  Amaya on the front lines meant that she would be in constant danger. He was fine with her being  a medic, but this.. this was different. He loved his baby sister, and if he lost her... the world would pay for it. "I..." He should tell he no, to keep her safe, to protect her. It was his duty as an older brother to do so. But he also knew his sister well -- she was as stubborn as him when she wanted something He knew that if didnt teach her, she would find someone else who would.

That was unacceptable. The pride of a Lion would never allow it. If she was going to learn the art of breaking people with her bare hands, then she would learn from the best. The sister of the Lion Sage, learning from another how to engage in hand-to-hand combat from another? Never. Those black eyes looked to his sister, peering past the cloth and flesh, blood and bone and sought out her soul. He knew her well -- the unshakable spirit was something they both inherited from thier parents. If he started teaching her, she'd learn fast, and would become just as dangerous as he was.

"Alright. We'll start tommorow morning." If she was going to learn, there was a few thing she would need. She wasn't sealed off with a Gate Zero system like he'd been; her training would be so much easier.

1625 WC

Amaya stared at her brother, stopping in her walking as he did. She watched him in silence, allowing him to make up his mind without her pestering him. She knew he was thinking over where this would put Amaya should anything happen, but she also could easily guess that he wasn't going to say no: he knew as well as she did after all that she would just end up learning from someone else - likely a teacher who didn't know nearly as much as Naota did. That just wouldn't do, it wouldn't do at all.

However, she didn't smile or grin again until her brother spoke; and when he did a grin cracked across her face and spread so wide that her face risked becoming stuck like that for a long period of time.

"Alright. We'll start tomorrow morning."

The words caused her to jump in the first perfect surge of happiness she had felt in a very long time. He would teach her; and she was going to be a very fast learner if this came to her as naturally as everything else in her life. "Thank you! Thank you!", she said excitedly. Figuring she should get a rush on getting some actual food up in her in preparation, as well as a decent bit of sleep she lunged forward, hugging her brother for a moment - ninja or not, she hugged her brother and that was just the way it was - before she took off towards home. "I'll meet you here tomorrow! I'm going to go grab dinner! And sleep... lots of sleep!", she called behind her as she ran - feeling the bubbling happiness she felt when she was younger return.


Beep!
Beep!
Beep!

Eyelashes fluttered before her eyes narrowed into a glare against the light that was assaulting her sleep filled eyes: her room was too tiny to put her bed anywhere but up against the large window. Her red gaze darted to the right of her bed where the alarm clock sat continuing its loud and obnoxious beeping.

Beep!
Beep!
Beep!

She almost expected to hear her mother come knocking on her door, telling her to shut off that annoying racket before she awoke the dead. Of course, that wasn't going to happen these days. Her own little room in a little apartment separate from her parents fixed that problem: she just hadn't been able to take the staring and the looks and the way that everyone seemed on edge when she was around. It was as if everyone had been expecting her to explode at any moment: and that likely was the case if not for what little sanity she managed  to keep about herself.

Beep!
Beep!
Beep!

Right, the alarm clock. She was getting off topic and letting her mind wander too much. She reached her right hand over, turning her body as she did so. Slender fingers sought out the button at the very top of the alarm clock that would silence the horrible racket. It took a few seconds and plenty more beeping before she found the smooth black colored button and pressed it. Silence filled the room, the alarm clock cutting off mid beep. Amaya turned back over so that she was laying on her back and stared up at the ceiling for several minutes.

A yawn broke the silence and she raised her hands to her face, rubbing at the sand and sleep in her eyes. There had been a reason she had set that alarm clock to go off so early but for the moment she simply couldn't remember what it was. Did she have somewhere to go today? Something to train-- training, yes. Training was the reason she had set that annoying alarm clock to go off. She wanted to learn Taijutsu from her brother since she could convince him to teach her, but first she had wanted to get a bit stronger and a bit faster - since both seemed needed in that area. She wanted to be as prepared as possible so she wasted as little of her brothers time as she could.

Knowing that if she laid there any longer she was likely going to fall back to sleep she reach down and grabbed what little covers were actually over her. With an exaggerated throw she tossed them off of her and on the floor. 'Meh, 'least they're not on me anymore.', she thought to herself as she stretched. Her fingertips brushed the wall that the head of her bed rested by whle her toes pointed tight and skyward for several seconds. A satisfied groan escaped her before her stretching stopped and she sat up slowly.

She thought about just throwing her clothing on and heading out the door but as she reached her hand up to scratch at an itch at the top of her head she realized how messy her hair truly was. No, there would be no skipping a shower this morning, even if she didn't stink. 

She sat up on her bed and then swung her legs sideways while loathing the idea of putting her bare feet down on what she new was going to be a very cold floor. However, nothing was gained if nothing was lost and so she slipped herself forward the last few inches that would be needed to cause her feet to be planted firmly on the floor before she stood. Once standing she felt the need to stretch once more and did so, going up on the tips of her toes while her fingertips pointed skyward: she was no where near tall enough to touch the ceiling even like this, but hardly cared this morning about her shorter height. 

Once she was finished with another stretching ritual she wandered over to her dresser where she pulled out her leather corset styled top with the white top that went underneath of it to cover her breasts, a pair of black shorts, the pleated white skirt she wore above this particular pair of shorts, and a pair of fish-net style stockings as well as needed under-garments. With her clothing picked out she turned and walked into the bathroom off of her bedroom: keeping foot-falls silent in case anyone else in the apartment was still asleep. Once in the bathroom she closed the door behind her and locked it. She turned the shower on to give it a chance to run for a bit and truly warm up so that she wasn't stepping underneath of an icey spray.

With the water running and filling the tiny bathroom with steam she began to make quick work in removing the pajama top she wore, her pajama shorts, and under-garments. Once fully undressed she pulled back the shower curtain and stuck her right hand under the spray to ensure that it was hot enough - the last thing she wanted was to end up chilled with a full day of training a head of her. The shower water was perfect and so she stepped into it. She stood there for a moment, just enjoying the sensation of the water running down her bare naked flesh before she tilted her head back and made quick work with getting her hair wet. Once thoroughly wet she worked scentless shampoo through it and rinsed it out before applying conditioner. With the conditioner setting in her hair she scrubbed herself down with even more scentless soap. After rising the suds from her body she finally rinsed out her hair, leaving it clean and soft to the touch. She then reached down and turned the knobs, shutting the tower down.

She grabbed her towel off of the door hook and tried her hair a bit before working on drying her body. Once her flesh was dry she wrapped the towel around her still damp hair to keep it from dripping on her and making her wet once more. She slipped herself into her under-garments first then slipped on her fish-net style stocking and shorts. With her shorts on she slipped on the white under top and then added on the leather corset that would keep her stomach covered and laced it up the front before typing it at the top with a delicate little bow. Once she was finished with getting herself dressed she removed the towel from her hair and rubbed the towel on it, furthering to help it dry. Once completed she hung her towel back up and then picked up the brush that sat on the little shelves next to the sink. She ran the brush through her hair quickly enough, it already beginning to stick up as it normally did: but, she hardly cared since at least it was clean, and that was what mattered.

She grabbed her toothbrush next and made quick work on wetting it under faucet before putting a small dab of toothpaste on it. She brushed her teeth, counting to one hundred and twenty while she did so and ensuring that each tooth and her tongue were thoroughly cleaned to leave her with minty fresh breath. When she was done with her tooth brushing ritual she rinsed her toothbrush off and put it back into the holder before closing the toothpaste and putting it too away. Fully complete with her bathroom ritual she turned and headed out the bathroom door; the steam billowing out into the hallway like a creepy looking fog.

She headed back down the hallway the few feet to her door and slipped herself back into her room, closing the door behind her in the chance anyone still hadn't woken up. She slipped her feet into her shinobi sandals that were black in color and then moved over to her dresser. She picked up her headband and tied it around her left forearm like she normally did any other day. She then slipped the tiny pouch she wore that carried her supplies onto her belt that held up her pleated skirt and headed out her bedroom door, sure that she wasn't forgetting anything.

She closed the door behind her and started down the hallway where she entered into the kitchen. Almost ignoring the food her mother had obviously dropped off that morning, however a mental reminder clicked in that she needed food in her system for what they were going to be doing that day and so she grabbed herself a plate and put a decent amount of food onto it. She grabbed her chop sticks and got to eating; taking care to chew the food down very well before swollowing. As she ate she kept her pace slow, not wanting to risk eating too much and making herself sick simply because her stomach wasn't used to it, or otherwise eating too much and ending up sick when the training itself started. When she had finished the food on her plate she rinsed it off very well and then set it in the sink to give it a proper wash later on.

She then turned to the fruit bowl - her favorite place to get food. She plucked from it a freshly picked apple and went over to the sink. She rinsed the apple off and then leaned against the counter where she took a bite out of it and got to work eating it. Each bite caused the apple to shrink in size until there was nothing left of the tasty fruit but the seed riddled core. 

She tossed the apples core into the garbage can nearby and then pushed herself away from the counter. She washed her hands quickly and then grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. She unscrewed the cap and took a sip before putting the cap back on: she planned on taking the bottle of water with her. She grabbed her keys with her free hand and slipped them into her pouch along with another apple she snagged from the bowl before heading out the door to start with all of the training she planned on accomplishing that day: and there was going to be a lot of it.

After locking the door behind herself she took off down the little path that kept the apartment she lived in mostly from view. When she got to the end she looked off in the distance towards the training grounds. She figured it likely wasn't the best try to go there and train: most people enjoyed trying to watch high ranked shinobi train, even if it was foolish and dangerous if you got too close. So, instead she took off towards the forests she knew would be empty at this time of day. She kept to the ground as she moved, taking her time while she bobbed and weaved through the people within the village who were going about their every day business.

When she was out of the major populace of the village she moved to where she had spotted her brother the day before when she had spoken to him: figuring she would wait there to see if he either wanted to start the training there or actually move somewhere else - anywhere but the training grounds was preferred: she didn't want stared at while busting her ass. 

Taijutsu D-C: 2,208 + 411 = 2,619 / 3,000

"I'll meet you here tomorrow! I'm going to go grab dinner! And sleep... lots of sleep!"

He could hear the joy in her voice, and even with the hug -- something he didnt care if people found odd. Amaya was his family first, a ninja second. Giving her a tight squeeze, he nodded, smiling. "Don't be late, Amaya."



Sleeping was never fun for the uchiha. Ever since the the incident, Naota's sleep was always plauge with violent dreams. Sometimes, the dreams were realitivly easy to get through. Other times, he woke up, drenched in sweat....


It wasnt hard to find his way back to the lab. The signs were clear -- especially if one knew where to look. It was a code, hidden in plain vew. A small symbol here, an arrow pointed there. But of course, the endless ranks of the undead did not help at all. They were, well, endless. It wasnt like he couldnt take care of himself, a few zombies were easy enough to handle. He learned by watching others. Avoid the mouth; avoid being scratched. Aim for the head, and it will die in one blow.

But when it was more than a few, like now? It was more of a problem. He had to constantly watch his back to make sure nothing walked -- er, shuffled up behind him. But that wouldnt be a problem right now; his back was against a wall. But the problem was the dozen or so walkers between him andd where he needed to be. If he snuck up on them, he'd be able to take a few down before the rest noticed. Or so, he would have done had the door behind him not slammed shut. Like a fart let loose in a silent church, the sound boomed throughout the expanse. All heads instantly swiveled in his direction; mouths hanging open as bodies turned and lurched in his direction. Arms were lifted, fingers flexing in expectation of a meal.

"Not today, my friends." A stance was taken up, fingers curled into fists as the male focused his mind and body for the coming exchance. As soon as thge first body was within his range, the male dipped down, twisting his body and bringing a leg to bear, sweeping the creature off its feet. But this would not be all, no. As he rose, a limb was extended, reaching out and grabbing the creature's leg. With a hard tug and twirl, the corpse was smashed face first into the wall behind him. destroying the brain. Green eyes turned to face the rest of the horde, whom were still advancing towards the male, craving the taste of flesh. Poor creatures. For a moment, Drake wondered if they remembered anything of thier former lives. The though was quickly dismissed as nother hand reached for him. stepping backwards, Drake would swing the body he still clutched into the horde, bowling over several to clear a path for him...

This was why he hated open spaces. These zombies were like roaches; for every one you saw, there was ten more hiding in the eaves. But at least roaches ran away when they noticed you were there. No, these motherfuckers tried to run up on you, strip you naked and pour hot sauce on your ass before eating you. Drake was pretty sure he wasnt in the mood for a hot sauce bath, and something had to be done.

Another hand reached for him; a flash of metal glinted in the air as something caught his eye -- a badge? The clothing he wore was was ripped to shit, and there was bite marks all over his chest, but it was clear-- the guy was a cop. "Hey officer, you gonna help me? These people wanna eat me, and homie don't play that." No response, unless you counted the constant moaning as a response. Resigning himself to continue beating ass until he could find a place to hide, Drake shifted into a stance, preparing to launch himself forward--

FFFFT!

What the hell? The corpse spun around and fell backward -- something skittered across the ground. Drake instinctively picked it up, noticing the arrow sticking out the corpse's eye socket -- was that an arrow? Who the fuck was out here shooting off a bow and arrow in the middle of a zombie apocalypse? They couldn't be at ground level, otherwise, they'd be fighting of the zombies the same as him. No, they had to be higher, and if they were firing arrow, they had to be alive. He didn't have the time to think, the horde was shuffling closer; he had to move. There was a bus nearby, roughly fifty feet away. If he could make it there, he could probably climb it, and get a view of his surroundings.

Kicking the coprse of the police officer in the direction of the bus, the male took off after it. The flying body would hit the horde and bowl over several in a domino effect. As biters would struggle to right themselves, Drake would sail past-- he was an elf after all. His step was light, able to move faster than most humans. But there was still roughly thirty feet to go.

Looking down at the item in his hands, he almost shouted in joy. - a Glock 17. He didn't even even bother to check if it was loaded-- there was fine difference between a loaded gun and an empty, and this one definitly had at least five rounds in it. More than enough.

Bam! BAM!

The crack recoil felt good, like a warm sensation flowing through his body. Two shots, two 'kills'. As the first corpse crumpled, the elf used it as a stepping stone to launch himself into the air towards the second. Grasping hands reached for him as he moved; closing on air as the elf dashed past. Drake might have been fast, but the numbers game would catch up with him sooner or later...

With a jump, the uchiha shot up in bed, his body lit aflame from the chakra coursing over his skin. His chest heaved, breathing ragged as he struggled to remember where he was. The world was quiet around him, save for the soft orange glow and crackle of flames. A quick glance out the window told him that it was just before dawn,given the faint glow on the horizon. Perhaps it was time to get up, and get moving?

Of course. The male leapt out of bed, and dove into the shower. A hot shower, one filled with more steam than normal because of the fire being put out. Not that he minded -- he loved hot showers. It was one of the few times he could stand the feel of water on his skin... A slow scrubdown to wash the ashes and such from his hair and skin, and he felt human once more. After drying and wrapping himself with a towel, the male stepped from the bathroom and back into the bedrooom.

Training was the name of today; the choice of clothing was relativly simple. A gi was chosen, black in color with the Uchiha clan symbol on its back. It was a complete set. The male dressed slowly, taking his time. It was a daily ritual to him; one the last bits of a daily routine that he still kept with. Bottoms first, top next. The rope sashes to keep his pants up, and the top closed. The prayer beads wrapped around his wrists and ankles that would draw his chakra into them as it flared up during the day. A black ribbon was snatched up and used to tie his hair back into a topknot, keeping it out of his way.

Once he'd finished, the male stood up, and stretched again, listening and groaning as the bones within his body popped and released the pent up pressure. He had plenty of time to make it before his sister, so why bother rushing. He'd take his time, activating a special seal on the prayer beads he wore to drasicly increase thier weight. What was once just a few ounces was now doubling the male's weight. Normal people would not be able to move with thier weight instantly doubling, but for Naota, this was just another day. He was used to this training, and it was something Amaya would have to get used to as well...

Amaya looked around the burned area for a moment, figuring she must have arrived first if she couldn't spot her brother: there was no point or reason for him to hide after all. As she stood there, awaiting his arrival, she lost herself in thoughts of the dreams she had had the night before: the first night in many that she hadn't had a nightmare. The dream had still been confusing but confusing was better than horrifying.

Amaya had dreamed that she was someone, something else really in a world completely different than the one she was in. She was a girl named Ka'lara who worked a club named Zero Sum. She had two jobs there; both bartender and bouncer - her strength was phenomenal after all in this dream though her form barely showed it - she was as slender and lady like as Amaya was now.

In this dream of hers Amaya had left the club when her shift was over, roughly about three o'clock in the morning. She had left through a back door so she could a coat on that was filled with various weapons. Without realizing she had been being watched in this alley way by a man who had wished her harm because of who and what she was. She had started walking down the hallway in her dream when she realized this and had turned around. However, before this man could do anything to her, or attempt to attack her, another who wore black and sunglasses despite how dark at night it was had arrived and talked him out of it: seeming to have a position of power over the land itself - perhaps like a Kage controlled a village.

The man who had wished her harm had left at that point - having of course been shoulder checked first to ensure he didn't come after Amaya. Then the man with the sunglasses had muttered a warning to Amaya in her dream about how this wouldn't be the last time she saw that man - that he had it out for her and she should watch her back. Amaya had taken the warning seriously and left the alley way cautiously. She hadn't gone home in this dream like originally planned though, she had been smart enough to realize that the man who had wanted her dead might be following her. So, instead, she headed to a place that sold pizza. A place that was familiar with her in this dream. She had gone in and sat herself down so that she could keep an eye out throw the large windows and door made out of glass. When she had been scanning the place originally in this dream she had spotted a man with a red coat who was eating a strawberry sundae and pizza: he had seemed less than normal than the rest in the tiny pizza shop - most of which looked like kids who were stoned out of their asses.

In the dream she had ordered herself a piece of pizza while chatting softly with the owner. When he had given her the pizza was when trouble had started; the man who had been after her had appeared right at one side of her while the man with the red coat was on the other. Somehow in her dream Amaya had wings and had used one of these wings to slap the man after her right out of the still open door he had come into. She had then followed him out into the street but before a fight could ensue this man was killed by the ruler of the village she was in: the death an extremely violent one.

It had been at that point that Amaya had awoken, just like now she came out of her thoughts to realize her brother had arrived. A grin spread across her face and the far away look in her red colored eyes disappeared; her stare becoming far more focused than it had been before. She was excited to get started with her training, and still more than willing to go through all of the training no matter how hard it was going to be: she had vowed to do it without a complaint and she planned on sticking to that.

"Good morning, brother."

Taijutsu D - C: 715 + 2,619 = 3,334 / 3,000
Taijutsu C - B: 334 / 4,000

The morning sun felt wonderful on his skin as he made his way to the area where he said he'd meet Amaya the day before. It wasnt a long walk -- his own apartment was off the Uchiha lands, close to the edge of the village, just the way he liked it. It was always a good idea to have a quick path out of the village when was as unstable as he was. But eeven so, despite the distance, it was far enough for his mind ot wander again....

Fuck. This shit was going downhill, really fast. These thing had to operate off of sound-- something made obvious by the extra heads turning to face him after the gunshots.

"Fuck." He wasn't that far from the bus. If he could make it to the side of it, he knew he could easily scale the damn thing and take a breather. But this horde, this fucking horde was getting thicker and thicker. Dead or not, these bodies still had weight to them, and he knew he could easily be overwhelmed in a moment's notice. He had to make it. Just as he was about to grab another corpse to throw when something rang out --- something exceedingly loud, enough to draw the attention of all the walkers, including the ones who were just reaching for Drake.

For a single precious moment, all of the attention was off of the elf-- and he didn't waste it. The nearest corpse was grabbed and swung in a large cirle, knocking over the walkers in his immediate vicinity before flinging the one he held towards the bus again. Once more, the crowd went down in a domino fashion and the elf flashed over them a splic second later. Boots slide over blood and stepped through interal organs as the male moved. With the blood pounding in his ears, he didnt even register the second impact nearby as he himself hit the side of the bus and scrambled up it.

Pulling himself safely into the center of it, the male stood up. and looked about. Several of the walkers were staring up at him, clambering at the bus on which he stood. They'd never reach him, but it was unnerving. The majority were moving on-- possibly to where the that sound had come from. Speaking thing coming from places...

Green eyes looked up, peering at the rooftops. There had to be someone up there. Someone had to have shot that arrow down to kill that walker. He wondered whom it might have been. Given how close he was to the lab, it made him wonder-- was it John? Had he survived somehow?

Crouched down, the male finally removing the clip to the check how much ammo he had -- a mere 14 shots? He'd made do with it. If only he'd snatched on of the 'expiremental' weapons down in the lab before he'd left... no. That was stupid. Each of those weapons were trackable, and if he'd taken them, he'd have been found in less than a day. No, they were better left where they were. But now that the world as he knew it had gone to shit, perhaps no one would be looking if one happened to go missing.

It was an idea, but one for a later time. He needed to get off this bus, and out of the open; one of the entrances to the lab was nearby, but it was currently flooded with walkers, courtesy of two dropped barrels as a distraction by what he could only hope was his guardian angel. God, if there were zombies on the roof, he was screwed if they fell...

Hehe, raining zombies. As if his day wasnt bad enough as is-- but it was about to get much worse. Down the street, in the direction opposite of where the horde of walkers was, a siren began wailing.

"Shit, shit shi--" Quickly, the male ducked down, laying flat atop the bus as a thought occurred to him. If these creatures operated by sound, then surely the alarm would attact them. And with the alarm attracting them, they would move away from the entrance to the lap-- the very place he needed to be. Silently, the elf began to thank whatevery diety was watching over him for the distraction, and waited.

He could hear them moving around him. The shuffling, the slither of blood and body fluids rubbing against cloth and pavement. It was disgusting, not to mention the fucking smell. It was enough to almost force him to gag, but the male knew better. He remained motionlesss until the alarm died down, and peered down in the direction of the underground lab's entrance.

Clear, cept a lone walker, whom was staggering in the direction of lab's entrance... A smile crept across the elf's face. He'd never what hit him...

The male dropped to ground and took off into a dead run. The advantges of being an elf? You were light on your feet. And when you ran, you ran like the wind; a faint whisper, and no one was ever quite sure where you came from. But for this poor walker... He'd hate Drake if he ever knew what was happening. As the elf ran, an arm was stuck out in an attempt to closeline the walker. Given the speed at which Drake was running-- an elf, with his own natural strength, plus scietificly engineered physiology that was engineered to be the perfect soldier... he'd hit the walker with the force of a speeding car, more than enough to decapitate it and send the head airborn.

But that was not all. Even if he couldn't take out every walker in his path, this one would get a sample of his wrath. Leaping into the air, the elf would grab the 'shocked' and snarling head, taking care to avoid the teeth as he twisted mid-air, drew back the hand holding the head, and fastballed it back into the headless torso. The cranium would impact the torso with a squishing sound, causing the body to flip over backwards before falling flat. With a smirk, the male made his way over to the 'secret' entrance to the underground labs -- a business housed in a skyscraper. Pushin through the revolving door, the male cocked the glock that he held, and ventured inside.

"Good morning, brother."

Black eyes focused, the mind snapping to attention as the feminine voice broke through the vision. As he remembered where he was, the male jumped slightly, blinking rapidly. Those same eyes looked to the source of the voice, his sister. Why was she here? Oh yea, Taijutsu training. Right.

"Morning, Amaya." The voice was quiet, a sleepy drawl given the time of day. As he spoke,  the male began to stretch again, begining with a simple arm stretch of placing arm across his chest to tug and relax the muscules, and he nodded to Amaya to do the same. "You sleep well, dear?"

Amaya's head cocked slightly to the right as she noticed her brother jump slightly: apparently she had startled him which meant he had likely been lost in his own thoughts as much as she had been while waiting for him to arrive.

"Morning, Amaya."

She watched him begin to stretch and nod for her to do the same. She stretched carefully; taking special care not to end up harming her muscles - plenty of time for soreness to kick in during training after all. She started with her arms, being careful to stretch every muscle slowly and carefully before beginning to work her way down.

"You sleep well, dear?"

Amaya nodded in response to her brother's question, thinking once more about her odd dream. Amaya had been off work for all but an hour and hell had already started to break loose: she had just escaped a rather close encounter with an angel who had a superiority complex: all after having dealt with eight hours of drunk grabby humans who were more than willing to try and throw a punch or two around when cut off from their alcohol and liver failure. All in all it wasn't the way she had wanted to end her night, but all was not lost. No, there was a pizza place that sold one of the best slices of pizza that someone could get their hands on at three o'clock in the morning, and so that was where she was headed.

The path she took was a well known one as this wasn't the first time she had ventured to this pizza place this late at night. While she walked her black steel toed boots made almost no sound against the ground. She pulled her leather duster close to herself before pushing a few loose strands of black hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her face. The coat helped to keep the black v-necked tank top and her black pair of jeans hidden: as well as the numerous weapons she carried on her at all times.

She turned the corner and walked another twenty or so feet before stopping in front of the pizza place and peering in. It didn't look busy which was nice: she was more than looking forward to some peace and quiet while she ate. She walked inside, the little bell that hung above the door chiming softly: something that caused her to pause a moment and smirk as the old saying of 'each time a bell chimes and angel gets its wings' popped into her head. The owner came out from the back, looked at Amaya and grinned. "Ah, it's you... I was wondering when you'd come by again, Amaya. The usual I presume?"

Amaya nodded in response and took a spot at the bar like counter on one of the stools, keeping herself at an angle so she could see both the doors and everyone else going on. While she sat there she watched as the pizza shop's owner went to work on fixing her a delicious, humongous, slice of pizza with all of the fixings.

"You seem kind of stressed out, Amaya. Rough night at Zero Sum?", the shop owner asked as he waited for the timer that would indicate her pizza had finished cooking to go off. Amaya, who had been scanning the shop for anyone who might be itching for a fight, had just spotted the man with the strawberry sundae and pizza when her gaze flicked back to the shop owner and she nodded slightly.

"Eh, something like that... Let's just say I left the club and ran into some less than desirable company of the holier-than-arte-thou kind whose apparently been stalking me.. or so he admitted." True enough; she didn't like to lie but she wasn't going to outright call the guy an angel and have the shop owner looking at her like she had lost her mind. He knew she was somehow different then the normal costumers but hadn't asked about it since she had pulled his daughter out of the kitchen one fateful night when it had caught on fire. He didn't want to know, and she didn't want to tell him: it was an easy truce.

"You should be careful out there, Amaya. There are monsters hiding in the dark. Maybe it's time to find a new job.", the shop owner said as he turned and pressed the button on the timer the second it started to go off. He then went to work on removing her pizza from the giant oven and placing it on a plate for her.

Amaya kept watching him; knowing the all too familiar routine by now. She shrugged when he put the plate in front of her and went to grab her a coke to drink. "Eh, not all monsters hide in the dark, Pete. But, you're right... I am actually looking for a new job. No fun playing bartender and bouncer all of the time."

She had just lifted her hot piece of pizza with the steam rising up off of it to her mouth when the hairs on the back of her neck stood up for the second time that evening. At first she thought it was a reaction to the male who had moved closer to her and was now seated not that far away who nodded at her when she glanced over to him. But, soon enough the realization hit that the reaction was due to Remiel watching her just as he had been back in the alley way behind Zero Sum. As she placed her pizza down on the plate without taking a bite, her stomach growling in protest to the action, she heard the bell that chimmed each time the door opened do so again.

She wasn't quite sure what the angel was thinking as he walked up and got close to her; standing on the side that the male in red was not. Did this angel not think she would react to his prescense in full blown view of the public? While she had no intentions of making life harder on Pete and Tracy she did have every intention of defending herself: and if that meant she had to take the angel down while he was still moving to lean on the counter than so be it: she would just pay for all of the damages, if any, later on.

So, while Remiel was busy running his mouth just as he had done previously she focused on the door which was slow to closing. If she timed things properly she knew she could knock Remiel right out of the pizza place without causing any sort of damage. Now, while Remiel was right in claiming that Amaya was a Demon he didn't seem to realize that she was also an Angel. Angel's came with wings, and hers were about to come in handy. Manifesting wings was something all Angels could do, and very well and quick in fact. So, while Remiel was busy talking, before the first three words had even left his mouth, she manifested her wings, big beautiful wings whose feathers were mostly white with the very edges tinting to a crimson red; using the one nearest to him to knock him back with enough force to send him off of his feet and flying right out the open doorway: where the gust of wind, if Remiel didn't react and stop this attack somehow, would cause the door to firmly shut behind him: but really, how could someone unprepared stop an attack they obviously didn't expect?

A cracked halo faded into view above her head instantly as she turned towards where she had sent Remiel flying with the wing equivalent of a bitch-slap: wondering what his next course of action was going to be. Meanwhile, Pete, who had seen this form of Amaya's once before, very calmly waved his daughter over and ushered her into the back. "Come on, Tracy, let's give the lady room to work...", Pete muttered to his daughter. Yup... they had done this before.

Amaya snapped out of her train of thought, all if it having taken only seconds before a grin spread across her face. "Yeah, I slept pretty good actually. Had some odd and confusing dreams though: not bad ones, just weird. Suppose all of that food I ate last night knocked me out." She finished speaking just as she finished stretching, her red colored gaze remaining on her brother as she waited for his next set of instructions: she was more than ready to get started, and was actually looking forward to the burn of well used muscles.

Taijutsu C - B: 1,449 + 334 = 1,783 / 4,000

"Yeah, I slept pretty good actually. Had some odd and confusing dreams though: not bad ones, just weird. Suppose all of that food I ate last night knocked me out."

The elder nodded, returning the infectious grin. He was finishing his own stretches, having moved on to stretching his legs while Amaya had been talking. Pretty soon, he felt loose enough himself to begin. He didnt know what exactly he was going to teach Amaya, but he did have a small idea as to where to begin....

After deactivating the prayer beads around his wrists, he offered them to Amaya. He was sure he would be fine with the ones that were around his ankles for the day; for Amaya, these beads would aid her today. "Put these on your ankles. We're going to go for a run. " He grinned at her, not explainnig anything more than that. Possibly, she knew of one of the purposes that the beads served; restricting and restraining Naota's chakra. But that was not all.... the beads were training weights as well, a trick Naota picked up from Kenta. As the beads began wet with sweat, the seals on them would trigger, raising the weight of the beads exponentially... the perfect training companion during a run.

The male would wait until Amaya had taken the beads and put them on before continuing. "We're going to run around the village, Amaya. Gonna take it nice and slow for a few laps, the pick up the pace. If you need to take a breather, just say so." And with that, the male turned and started off into a ligh jog, chuckling to himself. "Any questions, dear?"

2603 Total WC

Amaya watched as her brother removed the prayer beads from his wrists, a single, slender eyebrow raising in curiosity as to why he was doing such a thing. The eyebrow rose even higher as he then handed them to her.

"Put these on your ankles. We're going to go for a run."

Her brother didn't offer up any other explanation and she didn't ask for one: there had to be a purpose to this after all she was sure she would find out sooner or later what said purpose was. So, she propped first her left leg up on one of the trees next to her and slipped on the prayer beads before repeating the process again with her right leg.

"We're going to run around the village, Amaya. Gonna take it nice and slow for a few laps, the pick up the pace. If you need to take a breather, just say so. Any questions, dear?"

A few laps around the village didn't honestly sound like that big of a deal and so she shook her head no before jogging after her brother. "Nope, no questions." While she moved she pulled her hair up into a ponytail styled bun; keeping it off of her neck to help keep her cool while training. She was still curious as to what the point of the prayer beads was, especially as she heard her brother chuckling, but for now she simply lost herself in thoughts of other things..

'Such a wasted piece of pizza...', came Ka'lara's thoughts as she slipped off of her barstool at the pizza shop's counter and followed the path she had just made Remiel take out of the shop and into the streets: she would be lucky if she got to go back inside before the piece of pizza got cold. Her wings folded behind her to allow her to easily go out the doorway without getting caught up on the thing; however after taking several steps out of the door she paused: two slender black eyebrows raising at the scene that unfolded in front of her: all while being aware of the stoners that were now exiting the shop quickly due to the weapon that had been pointed at them from the guy with the red coat.

A young looking version of Alec Kane - who she assumed to be Junior, the newly appointed leader of the city - had the Angel in question in his grasp. Junior had his hand on Remiel's throat and was dangling him in the air like he was as light as a feather, all while looking very pissed off. Nearby she could see a woman who looked like she was on fire, but given that she wasn't screaming her head off while running around and flailing she figured she didn't need any sort of help. She listened while Junior spoke to Remiel, telling him that he had thought he was seeing things when he had returned to a memo from his grandfather telling about how he had had to stop a Company employee from attacking a girl because of her bloodline. That was enough information in itself to tell her several things: the man with the sunglasses had been Darkman, Remiel here was a Company employee, and Remiel was obviously on some rouge crap given his boss was here in person now to handle him and was none too pleased looking.

When Junior asked Remiel what his problem was she rolled her eyes with a sigh at Remiel's response: not knowing if Junior knew the situation or not Ka'lara spoke up, explaining: "I work at Zero Sum: I've worked there for over five years now... ever since I appeared here from another world - long story, not important. The club owner likes me to play bouncer from time to time because of my bloodline and the fact that the humans don't expect a female to be able to man-handle them like that. Earlier in the morning a guy threw a punch at one of the bartenders so I restrained him and kicked his ass, litterally, out of the door to keep him from hitting someone else." She had felt it was as good a reason at any to put her hands on the guy: in her opinion he had deserved what he had gotten - she could have easily broken him in half, but she hadn't.

"Hey, uh, not that this is any of my business, but uh.... ya boy here is a bit of a loose cannon. You know, Rabid dog and all that, and, you might wanna do something about him. One of these days, he's gonna go after the wrong person. That person might not be so forgiving with in this situation. Yall might wanna put ol Yeller down before he bites someone."

Ka'lara couldn't help but agree: someone like this was dangerous, more so when they were in a position of some sort of power. The guy had some sort of warped sense of honor, or view of the world, and it was making him do stupid things like attack innocent people. Ka'lara hadn't harmed anyone, had never used her powers for anything that the situation hadn't warented, but this guy still wanted to kill her. Of course... that didn't seem like it was about to happen.

”...By the way... you're fucking fired.”

The Boss of the whole city had just blown the guy to pieces as if it was nothing and then left: and Ka'lara couldn't help but be impressed by such a display as she watched the female who looked as if she were on fire go following after him. Not every Boss took their position seriously, but it was apparent that those in control of Edge City did.

With the show over she glanced over to Anthony, arms folding across her chest. "Well... glad I don't have to clean up that mess.", she said before she turned and walked back into the pizza shop: she still hadn't finished her piece of pizza after all. She also wanted to make sure that Tracy and Pete were alright and not too shaken up by what had just happened.

Amaya snapped out of her train of thought to focus on how much progress they had made, and to also wipe a bit of sweat off of her brow which had begun to drip down from her hair line: soon she knew she would be soaked in the stuff, but she wasn't going to let a little sweat stop her...

Taijutsu C-B: 1,088 + 1,783 = 2,871 / 4,000

Hehe. He was enjoying himself. It wouldn't take him long to work up a decent sweat; it had been a long time since he took the time to enjoy a decent run around the village....

It was very hard at first to run with the training weighs on. Every leg movement, every step, was grueling and slow. She was weighed down and that made these steps harder to take and meant that they ended up being quite painful. But, training was painful, and given what Amaya was pushing to aspire? She knew it was simply something she was going to have to deal with. This was the life of someone who utilized Taijutsu; she had seen more than her fair share of Taijutsu based injuries in the hospital, and had treated more than her fair share as well. Plus, given her brother? Yeah, she knew she was in for some pain. She also knew that her brother wasn't going to take it easy on her just because she was his sister. If anything he was going to push her harder and faster not only because he knew what she was capable of but because this meant she would be better able to protect herself which would definitely be something he would like. So, painful Taijutsu training? Yup. Painful Taijutsu training.

So, one foot was placed in front of the other. What was supposed to be a run started out as a walk: each step bringing her closer and closer to a single lap around the village. However, she knew her brother wasn't going to deal with her slow pace for very long. No, soon she would very much have to pick up the pace, so that's what she was going to do. As sweat broke out along her brow she began to force herself through the pain to push on faster. Each movement, each step, was increased in speed. it was a very grueling task only made worse, but like she already knew her body would adapt, it would change, and it would grow stronger. Or, it would die; but she doubted things would go that far. Her brother would stop her before she pushed herself to that kind of level, that much she knew for sure.

In the back of her mind she could her not only her brother telling her she could do it but her father and mother, too. This was no diffrent then her being sick as a child, no different then her having to go through one medical treatement after another, through one painful operation after another. She suffered while she was a child, she dealt with horrible pain caused by not only her sickness but because of the pain caused by all of the treatements. Pain was definitely nothing new, and she would pull through the pain of this training and complete her task. She would prevail and come out faster, stronger, and able to kick some serious ass because of it. It was just step number one in what she planned on accomplishing.

"Come on, Amaya! You can do this! You can push through all of this pain, all of this suffering and keep going! Come on, Amaya! Pick up speed! Leg's up, don't drag your feet!" Amaya began to pep talk herself as each step she took brought her closer and closer to a single lap around Konoha. One lap in what was likely going to be dozens if her brother had anything to do about it. Not that she was going to complain; she would never do something like that. She had asked for this training, knowing full well what was in store for her when she did. She had gone to the best of the best because she wanted the best training. This was more than just becuase Naota was her brother, no this was because she knew he was the best Konoha and every where else had to offer and that is exactly what she had wanted at the time. That was exactly what she wanted right even now, even though she was suffereing due to the weighs and the increased pressure that her body wasn't by any means used to.

As Amaya crossed more and more distance something began to happen: her body began to adapt. What had been a grueling pace to where every single step was agony, where every single step was damn near impossible to make, became easier and easier. She was able to put one foot in front of the other faster and faster until she hit the pace of a what would be a comfortable jog for a normal civilian. Of course, this was still slow by ninja standards, that much was for sure, but it was progress none the less and she was making it quickly.

By this point she was halfway around the village, with yet another half to go until her loop was complete. Her brother was nearby, this much she knew, but she couldn't focus on him. All she could focus on was her task at hand; she didn't want to allow herself to get distracted. She wanted to get used to this burn because it was something she was going to feel a lot of while using Taijutsu abilities, or fighting in general.

"Come on, Amaya! You're already half way there. You just need to go a little further and then you'll have completed a whole loop around the village!", Amaya said to herself as she continued to push herself on further and further, each step becoming easier and easier than the last. Slowly she began to pick up more and more speed as she went, increasing her speed to what would be a comfortable jog for a shinobi such as herself. It was progress, although slow progress, but progress still. Some progress was better than none at all after all.

"Almost there! Come on... almost." Her ending was in sight; she could see her starting position as she ran, and began to pick up speed more and more. The starting position neared and yet it always seemed just out of reach: at least until she finally made it. "I can do this! I know that I can do this!", she added, speaking to herself under her breath with little regard to how crazy anyone might have thought she was. Even at this point in time she thought she was crazy; crazy for running around a village with training weighs on, crazy for pushing herself as hard and as fast as she was just on her first loop around the village alone. But, she didn't care. She was getting stronger, she was getting faster, and soon she would be able to kick ass and take names just the same as her brother did - though, she had no intentions of having his buiky muscles. She preferred lean muscle, but muscle none the less.

And then she was over the starting point! One single lap was completed. One single lap of grueling torturous training. Amaya had no idea how many more she had to go; there was no telling how far Naota planned on taking this. But, she didn't care. She was making progress, she could feel herself becoming stronger, and that was exactly what she needed.

-Exit-

Word Count Taijutsu C-B: 1,186 + 2,871 = 4,057