It was really no secret at all that Misao was by far the weakest of her siblings. She never knew exactly why her training had never been as harsh as that of the rest of them. Honestly, it made her mad at her mother when she thought about it. Shinji, Reiko and Chie - they had all been subjected to the grueling training regiments that her mother was famous for, often resulting in grave injuries and broken bones. Tough love was her mother's motto ninety percent of the time. But as a result, they were all far stronger than she was.

Her? She was basically allowed to dictate the pace that she wanted to learn at, which was usually rather slow and often bellow the requirements of the Academy that she never attended. Why had her mother allowed this?! Was it because she was the youngest? Was it because she was the only one born with the Uzumaki Kekkei Genkai? Was it because she was the only one that didn't have silver hair?!

Misao was mumbling under her breath and almost fuming at this point. All three of her siblings were Special Jounin, the older two bordering already on Jounin - she was the only one who had lagged behind the rest of them and stayed at Genin. Of course, she had also strayed from the path of the rest of her family and had become somewhat of a pacifist under their standards. She was a priestess that dedicated most of her time to meditating and charity rather than fighting like the rest of them did. She didn't have the same penchant for victory and violence. Quite the contrary, she had made it her purpose to protect the weak and defend the innocent. That was the only time that she would ever actually fight without restraint.

The young priestess knew that this trait of hers, alongside her lack of training, would overall hinder her chances at the up coming Chuunin Exams. She didn't know who her competitors were and hardly even knew who in Sunagkure was attending, but she knew that she would be in the lower quarter of the rankings if she participated as she was now. Even if she trained every day of the week, she wasn't sure if she would make it that far into the exams. She sighed loudly, finally reaching the training grounds.

Her two spirit companions followed behind her, each in their smaller forms. Usually, with those two following her along with the large hyena that she called Zim, she looked like a one woman parade. The large animal was nowhere in sight, however, as per usual. He was a free spirit that did whatever the hell he wanted as a result of Misao babying him a little bit too much in his earlier years.

"You should have started with this earlier, Lady Misao," Mai piped in, speaking in her usual stern tone.
"I just got the announcement today," Misao murmured under her breath.
"That is no excuse and you know it."
"As much as I hate to say it, the stiff's right," Katsu commented offhandedly. Where Mai was strict order, he was carefree nonchalance.
"Not you too!" Misao whined. She was under fire from both of them. This rarely ever happened unless it was about her choices in food.
"You screwed up big time. You should have been out here with the punching bags instead of babying orphans and feeding the sick old people. Seriously, you're all the cliche's of a nun." He continued scolding.
"I'm a priestess," She said through gritted teeth. It was surprising how little respect she commanded over both the spirits and her supposedly loyal pet.
"Whatever."

Really, she would end up with severe self esteem issues before she hit the age of twenty at this point. She wasn't subjected to this kind of sermon on a daily basis, but weekly was enough to drive her insane. She would have to ask the priestesses in the order for advice on controlling the two She made a mental note of it as she settled into a stance. All she had in front of her was a training dummy. It wasn't very efficient, but it was better than nothing. She couldn't exactly wait for her siblings to get back from their assigned tasks. She needed training as soon as possible.

"Charity is a noble act of kindness and her current primary responsibility. She should not allow herself to forget her purpose for the sake of violence." Oh sweet God, they would never stop bickering now.
"You are such a hypocrite. You were just agreeing with me that she's neglected her training." Katsu shot back. Misao didn't need to look at him to know that he was shooting his typical uninterested glare at the other spirit.
"I am saying that she should find balance. There is nothing hypocritical in that," she countered, sounding insulted.

Misao tried launching a set of kunai towards the training dolls, doing her best to ignore the bickering in the background. She frowned. None of them had hit the target where they were supposed to. She was off by several inches. As much as she hated to say it, Katsu and Mai were right. She was a mess at this point.

[Word Count: 895]

Today was, once again, a certainly uneventful day for him. Though, lately, every day that had passed by had continually gotten more and more dull than the last, as if he was stuck in an endless sinkhole of dullness, or at least that’s how he assumed his life had been heading as of late. So, with news reaching his ears that the Chuunin exams were approaching, though he could not recall the exact date specified, Seiryū had debated on entering the exams himself, though it all depended on if he could actually get his hands on a new weapon; one he specialized in, and of course ammunition to go along with it. Well, that along with training too. He knew his skills wouldn’t deteriorate, even if it had been a while since he had picked up a bow and notched an arrow, it couldn’t have been more than two months’ time since he last done such a thing.

With everything that happened in his short nineteen year lifetime, mainly having to do with his father’s family, the one he was pretty much out casted from, Seiryū had picked up everything for himself. The orphanage had helped him until he graduated from the academy, from then on; he learned to fend for himself. He had taken on many odd jobs within the village, mainly consisting of aiding the civilians and the miniscule missions that were given out at the mission board, all of which helped him to survive till this day, but all in all, it lacked a certain aspect. The aspect of having to be on his toes the entire time, the thrill one got when in the middle of a battle. That, was something he clearly could not achieve as a genin, or even a chuunin once his mind lingered on the thought. He’d need to get higher up in the rankings set before all shinobi; he would need to aim for at least being a special jounin to sate the urge for a thrill.

Either way, regardless if he was entered in to the chuunin exams, bow or no bow, Seiryū knew he needed to at least train for some time, improve himself, however much he could do so. So, that was what brought him, once again, to the Tsumi Sand Grounds, though this time it was not dedicated to loafing around. With a single senbon in hand, the others that he owned in his possession, Seiryū began to twirl it around between each of his fingers on his right hand. Mainly, this was due to him wanting to be preoccupied for the time being, and just gazing around wouldn’t really amuse him, he had been here countless times before, the scenery never changing, only the people coming and going. Yet, the area still bored him, even with the change in persons that frequented the area. Perhaps he should find an area which would at least provide him with an atmosphere that was more calming to himself, but he’d settle for the Tsumi Sand Grounds for the time being.

His decision pending the Chuunin Exams was not final as of yet, though he only knew he would enter if he had one thing, as such, his decision would be based off his weapon of choice. Though, that wouldn’t stop him from getting a bit of training in if he could help it. Aside from his abilities with a bow and arrow, it transferred to normal projectile weapons as well, be it senbons, kunai, or shuriken. Though, he’d need to adjust to the arc each weapon took, the amount of strength behind each throw, and of course the speed. So, he supposed, if he failed to acquire a bow, he’d be able to utilize the basic projectile weapons anyone could, though he would clearly need to purchase an abundant amount of such weaponry.

In the background, Seiryū heard some of what he assumed to be an argument. It seemed odd for an argument to take place in the training grounds, when a simple spar could just as easily sate such a thing. Seiryū supposed he could check out what was happening before he made his way to an empty training field, or at least one that was scarce of people. He’d just need to find an area with room to move around. For him, sitting still and hitting a target had become somewhat natural, but moving around, and trying to hit a moving target (something he couldn’t do by himself as of yet), always posed a challenge for any sharpshooter, or at least, a lot of patience.

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Word Count: 780
Kind of hit a mental block when writing

As he roamed through the varying training grounds, watching the combatants whom were already sparring with one another, each one seemingly in the midst of a spar, none that seemed close to ending or done to the extent where it would be unlikely for the participants to partake in another bout. Seemingly, the chuunin exams had drawn in a lot more people than he initially anticipated, seeing as how several genin of Sunagakure no Sato were preparing to partake in the exams, to prove their worth to the village, and to the Kazekage herself.

He continued roaming the through the various fields, trying to see if there was anyone available for a spar, someone who actually looked like they wanted to spar instead of sitting back and watching others test their might. Seiryū, while seeking out someone, was unable to find anyone that seemed to want to spar. There were a few people here and there, yet they all looked preoccupied with something else. The only person who seemed free for a spar gave him a feeling that something was off. While he stood from afar, solely watching, his eyes quickly averted elsewhere. It seemed, today, he wouldn’t be able to spar with someone whom could pose a challenge, or at least provide him with a moving target for his kunai and senbon.

Huffing out a breath, Seiryū turned back to the direction he originally came from. He’d seek out something to shoot at another day, perhaps he’d be able to acquire a bow and arrows, something his ‘family’ failed to provide him with. Then again, they stopped providing for him eleven years ago, and it was highly unlikely they would do anything to aid him, not until he becomes someone of importance to the village. Considering he remains a genin, it was highly unlikely for them to ‘care’ for him – if they were even possible of doing such.

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Total Thread Word Count: 1102

Training: