For the first time in a while, Aki woke up with a fierce desire. The weird part about it? He couldn't place what it was. It was the strangest thing to Aki. He didn't dwell on it to much though. He needed to get started with his day. He wanted to get a good look around the town, because in just a few short days, he would be in the forest of death trying to earn his spot to be a chunin. He really didn't know how long he would be in there. A day, to maybe weeks. Akimitsu had been studying at his own pace and was able to learn the basics of survival. He could find food if he needed to. He would have water with him on that day, and he could use his wind to some form of an advantage. He was sure of that. Yet something troubled him. The other genin that would be there. They looked like they had much more time to train and be ready for this then he was. He hadn't been a genin for that long. He felt himself starting to get worked up, so he pulled out his Yo-Yo and started to mess with it to calm his nerves. Another strange thing. Aki was actually feeling a bit of fear that he would not pass. He started to think of ways to be able to stand up to the competition. It wouldn't be easy in the slightest, but he had to try. On his walk, he thought about weapons he could buy. He ruled that out because he had no money for the one he wanted. He thought about studying, but Aki just couldn't bring himself to do it. Sometimes he annoyed himself quite a bit. He ended up walking to the top of the Hokage mountain and felt a strong breeze roll through. Feeling a bit daring today, he sat on the edge of the rail, messing with his Yo-Yo. He didn't keep track of how long he sat there until he felt a powerful gust hit him. With that gust came the reason why he woke up with the burning desire. If he wanted to stand a fair chance, he needed one more jutsu. A wind jutsu.

Aki came rushed back to the mountain with a good assortment of food and water from his house. He didn't know how long he would be up here, and he figured he would need nourishment through this. If he guess right, he would need to be able to cut the wind perfectly. Not only that, he needed to send it at a target no less. He drew the Nekonote Kunai and twirled it in his hands. He never really had a need to pull it out before, but that would change in the exams. He tossed it up in the air a bit and caught it by the handle to try and get a feel for the weight of it. He needed to know as much as he could while training himself. It didn't take long for Akimitsu to be able to slice it with ease. He didn't study Kenjutsu for nothing. This part wasn't that hard. So he needed to step it up a notch. He looked around for a tree, or something to take a few slices at. Again, this didn't take long. He found the perfect tree and started to slash at it a few times. Once on the right, then the left. He practiced feinting and then went for a stab. By the time he was done, the tree had plenty of new scars in it. Once again, this was the easy part. He put away his weapon and tried to figure out the next step. He had gotten a feel for the weapon, but he also had to use ninjutsu for this. At least, that was the plan. He decided to sit cross legged and closed his eyes. With him not moving, he could clearly hear everything around him. The whistle of the wind, grass and leaves rustling, and could feel the sun beating down on him. It really was calming. Just what he needed to focus his chakra correctly. He imagined himself controlling his chakra and telling it were to go. He focused on his feet, and with a bit of work, he was able to feel it in his feet. This repeated itself a few times for different parts of his body. Hands, feet, legs, and a few other places he could think of. He did it until he could quickly, and safely, get the chakra where he needed it. He rewarded himself with a little bit of food and some water, He didn't dwell on that for to long though. He needed to get the last step done which, quite frankly, was the hardest. He needed to cut the wind perfectly to send the wind at a target.

He faced the same tree he cut at a few hours ago and drew his weapon. He concentrated for a moment to get the chakra in his right hand where the blade was. Then he focused on the wind. Where was the wind blowing? How fast, and which angle would he have to slash his sword? A little unfortunate for him, the wind was blowing at him, and wasn't going to fast. The good part was that he wouldn't need to worry so much on the angle. If he ever wanted to do this away from a windy day though, he needed to be able to cut the air. Not just wind. Wind would only make it easier. He figured out everything he needed to, and raised his hand. Making sure that his chakra was in his hand, he slashed the air. He heard air whistling on his blade, but nothing else happened. He didn't take this as defeat though. He heard the wind on his blade, which meant that he got the angle right. He needed to get the chakra out though. He slashed the air a few times, but nothing happened. He started to put more focus into his hands. Once more slash with the air and he felt a tingling in his hand, and the whistling on his blade. He expected to see a slash fly out to the tree, but it didn't fly farther then a few feet. He wasn't mad at all though. He was able to get the chakra out! All he had to do was practice getting it further out. Which meant applying more chakra, but maybe in a smaller area.

For the next few hours, Aki slashed at the air contently, and when one of his hands started to hurt from the chakra put into it, he would switch to the other hand. He had to stop a few times to eat and drink water, but he didn't stop. It wasn't until sundown when he really had a break through. Aki was panting hard, and his hands were in severe pain. He felt he didn't have many more shots to get it right. If he pushed it to much, his hands might fall off. They hurt that bad. He was desperate. He really tried hard, and concentrated one final time. He had to make this work! He raised his arm slowly, and decided to slash four times in succession. He could feel a strong tingle, but he wasn't sure if that was the jutsu working, or the pain in his hand. A positive sound was heard though, as the four slashes ended. He opened his eyes and jumped for joy after a few seconds of shock. The tree had four deep gashes in it! Akimitsu had done it! After his jumping for joy, he collapsed on the ground panting heavily. His body felt like cement, and he doubted he could make it back to his home. He didn't care though. He'd done it. He had accomplished training a jutsu. He didn't celebrate long though, because his body told him to sleep. He didn't object. As tired as he felt, he might sleep until the exam morning. He wouldn't mind it one bit.

(Word count: 1336/1000 [OVER KILL] )