The room was dark save for two thin beams of light that made it through the blackout curtains that hung over the two windows; which moved slightly from the breeze through both since they were open. A fan stood in the corner, on high to give a bit of background white noise to make the occupant sleep easier. The room was fairly neat; a desk in the corner piled neatly with papers, various writing utensils, and books that hadn’t been put back on the nearby wall-length book shelf that took up the space of an entire wall from floor to ceiling. A dresser was on the adjoining wall made of the same rich wood the matching queen sized bed and two end tables (which had an alarm clock, a lamp, a bottle of water, and assortment of books on top of) were made out of; with intricate flower like designs carved into the front. A green carpet covered most of the wooden floorboards and matched the forest green color of the walls on which the silhouette of a forest seen was painted in black. A wicker basket was tucked off in one of the corners closest to the dresser filled halfway with dirty clothing. Tucked into another corner by the wall length book shelves were two comfy over-stuffed chairs, green to match the carpet, with a table lamp in between them for light for reading. The only messy thing about the room at the moment was the bed.

Among the messy blankets and sheets, the mountain of pillows, and a giant stuffed panda, laid a small female form not much taller than five feet; who was sleeping quietly and fairly still on her stomach; her left arm up underneath of her head, and her right curled up to her chest, her left leg out straight while the right was bent toward her stomach. Her long blond hair which had long ago come loose of the ponytail she had pulled it into before falling asleep was a disaster; strands of it laying across her freckled cheeks, running the risk of tickling her nose and waking her up. For now though the small female was dead asleep, completely oblivious to the mess of her bed, the way and position in which she was sleeping, and the fact that her hair was about to tickle her nose – no, what was on the forefront of her mind was the horrific nightmare she was locked in.

Subconsciously Kaia was in hell; or rather back dealing with her sickness. Her lungs felt like they were filled with fluid – and they were – and each breath was a struggle to take. She was laying on her back, above her the sky and the tree tops which all seemed to be bowed over and looking at her the same as the medical personal gathered around her: she had felt ill that morning but had pushed herself to go out and do some training anyway, which had gone downhill fairly quickly – if Amaya hadn’t stumbled across her who knew what would have happened. She was sure questions were being asked of her with the way people kept putting their faces in front of hers and speaking, but she couldn’t hear them, all she could hear was the dim hum in her ears that was growing louder the more she coughed and choked. Her chest felt like it was on fire, and each coughing fit that occurred as her lungs attempted to expel the liquid within them felt like a knife to the chest over and over again. As her body continued to fail to expel the liquid she became dimly aware of being rolled to her side and something being placed beneath her before she was rolled back onto her back – something she vehemently began to fight as having been laid on her side had offered her a momentary reprieve from the choking and coughing. Several of the medical personal began to argue with her and attempt to restrain her, though she still couldn’t hear anything besides the hum that was now becoming louder in her ears, but a familiar face appeared in front of her and slowly spoke words so that she could lip read ”Can you breath better on your side?”. Kaia nodded and didn’t stop, coughing and choking once more as with a gesture the medical nin had the others push her onto her side once more and hold her there: an immediate reprieve from choking, allowing her to take a ragged breath. The same medical nin took her arms, holding her in place as she was lifted – it had been a stretcher they had been putting beneath her. In this same females grasp she was whisked away toward the hospital at top speed – or at least faster than Kaia herself could move. At some point during the trip she had lost all sense of consciousness; a good portion of the journey nothing but a blank. When she awoke again she was underneath a bunch of bright lights and was aware of a constant pain in her chest. She went to lift her head to find that the dim hum that had been in her ears had been replaced by mindless chatter in the form of medical terms and beeping – beeping which got louder the more she tried to move. Faces were in front of her own once more as everything went dim again – did she pass out? She did die? Yes… that was one of the times she had slipped toward death like a speeding bullet, but she wouldn’t stay that way. Several more times she had regained consciousness with various lights from rooms over head, each one seeming to be different but perhaps they were all the same; the faces changed too each time she met death and fled from him, though several remained constant – such as Amaya and Daremo. They were fighting with all they had to keep her breathing as whatever sickness she had – something she would later learn was genetic, the same sickness Amaya’s own sickly young daughter had – was ravishing her body without mercy.

With a gasp and a start Kaia woke up, sitting up in bed and clutching at her chest. The feeling from her dream had been so real she had been expecting to have trouble breathing again; to be choking and gasping for air. But that wasn’t the case; her breathing, while accelerated from the terror of the nightmare, was just fine – no feeling of fluid or anything else in her lungs causing her to cough or have any issues with breathing at all. Her heart, much like her breathing, was racing; feeling like it was beating a mile a minute. With a sigh she rubbed at her chest with her right hand, glancing around what little of her room she could see with the thin rays of light peaking through the curtains.

Word Count: 1,158

Kaia remained on her bed, sitting there and rubbing at her chest, until long after her breathing and her heart rate returned to normal. This hadn’t been the first time she had had that nightmare about her sickness and unfortunately for her it probably wouldn’t be the last. The reason behind it was still very real: it could, and probably would happen again. Amaya’s own daughter suffered with bouts of it on and off, and had done so since she was a young baby. Amaya herself had dealt with something similar, and still did though she had built up enough of a resistance and medical know-how to spot the symptoms coming and stop them before they got so severe. Amaya had been nothing but forth coming and honest about the information, and about the fact that another episode could and very likely would happen again: though the when and where was a mystery. There was no pattern to this sickness, this disease, it simply came and showed its ugly head when ever it wanted to: Kaia would just have to be prepared and ready when it did. Like Kaia often did when confronted by the horrific nightmare of that day many weeks ago, and the knowledge of her sickness, she mentally went through the check list of things Amaya had told her to watch for: a strange feeling in her throat, trouble breathing, coughing for seemingly no reason, even a tightness of her chest, or a general feeling of no energy: she had none of those at the moment. In fact, outside of being a little rattled and startled she felt completely fine.

As it had done in the past Kaia fully calmed enough to lower her hand from her chest and throw the blankets off of her legs – after several minutes of untangling blankets and sheets from herself. She glanced around at her bed, eyes having adjusted to the relative darkness, to see that it was utterly a mess in contrast with the rest of her bedroom. “Ugh...”, she spoke softly, more a noise than an actual word, as she shifted her body on the bed and positioned her legs so they were dangling over the edge – despite being seventeen she was short enough that they didn’t immediately reach the floor. At least, not until she pushed herself forward to the edge of the bed and stood; the carpet buffering her feet against the wooden floor that would otherwise likely feel cold. As she stood there, standing in the tips of her toes for a moment and reaching toward the ceiling as she stretched with a groan, she contemplated what all she wanted to do. Her bed was a mess, and considering her usual neat and tidy self that wouldn’t stand to remain so for long, she was also hungry as was made apparent by the grumble in her belly, and she definitely needed a shower before she left the house. Her priorities on how she would handle things always seemed to tell a lot about her – though what exactly that lot was she didn’t know.

Deciding to start with what would bother her the most – calling her a clean freak was probably pretty accurate at this point – she started by pulling the sheets and blankets off of her bed so that they were out of the way for her to untangle when she got to them. Once that was done she reached forward, grabbing up the four pillows she often slept with and placing them neatly at the head of the bed; the pink ones underneath and the green ones on top. She grabbed her giant panda plushy which was nearly the size of her and tossed it to the floor too so that it was out of the way for her to continue making her bed. She tugged at the sheets, freeing them from the blankets. The sheets were added to her bed next – the set having come with a pink one and then a green one. She placed the pink down first, and then added the green on top, folding them so that both colors showed at the top. Finally her two blankets were added next, following the same pattern after she untangled them; the thinner of the two put on the bottom and then the thicker comforter on top. She took her time to make sure all of the corners were straight, and the pillows even before picking her giant panda bear plushie up and off of the floor and positioning it in the center of her bed so that it looked as if the giant stuffed beast was leaning with its back against her pillows. She took a step back, glancing over her work and deciding if her bed was acceptable enough or not – really, she wasn’t that OCD about it normally, but today seemed to be the exception: or perhaps she was just using the distraction of making her bed as perfectly as possible as a means to help further take her mind away from the nightmare that had been very very real to her just several weeks ago.

With her bed perfect, and nothing able to be changed about it she thought over the next two things she wanted to accomplish before heading out of the house; eating breakfast and taking a shower. She had little way of knowing if her father was home – with the fan on she couldn’t really hear him coming or going – but a glance at the clock showed it was almost eight in the morning which meant chances were he wasn’t. So, breakfast could wait, and a shower it was.

Word Count: 946 | 2,104

Kaia walked over to her dresser once she had a plan in mind of what she wanted to do next, pulling the top drawer out quietly which contained her undergarments. She pulled out a set, baby pink in color, and sat them on top of the dresser in a clear spot among her perfume and various nick knacks. The first drawer was closed and another next to it opened; socks, did she need them? She contemplated the quiet mental question to herself for several short moments before deciding she didn’t and closing the drawer once again. Moving to the next set of drawers down she opened it too, though with a tad bit of difficulty as it was so packed it stuck slightly until she patted the folded shirts down that were in the way so it could open the rest of the way. There were an assortment of colorful shirts and tops inside, some meant for special occasions and others meant for training purposes. Figuring she was going to get dirty she reached toward her pile meant for training, pulling out a black v-neck style t-shirt and adding it to the pile of her undergarments on the dresser top. Her drawer of shirts was closed, once more Kaia having to pat down the clothing so that the drawer would slide in. With that drawer shut she moved down to the next, the one that contained her pants. Chances were it was going to be hot today so she grabbed instead of a pair of pants a pair of black capri-style shorts with pockets going up the sides. She closed the drawer once she added the pants onto the pile of the rest of her clothing and then paused in contemplation: she didn’t really know how long her training session was going to take, she had every intention on pushing herself until she couldn’t go any further, and she knew the evenings could get a bit cold. She didn’t really want to risk getting sick, either, so with that thought in mind she bent over once more to the drawer next to the one her shirts were in and tugged it free, pulling from it a tan colored long sleeve top that could easily be pulled over the outfit she was planning on wearing and which would keep her plenty warm for her trip home. She added the long sleeved top to the pile of the rest and then closed that drawer too.

Picking up her pile of clothing and holding them to her chest she turned with a soft yawn, realizing her eyes were likely full of crusty ‘sand’ and headed toward the bathroom attached to her bedroom. It wasn’t a large bathroom by far; a simply tub and shower combination with frosted glass sliding doors, a sink with a fairly decent sized counter and plenty of cabinet space beneath, and then a toilet tucked off in the corner on the other side of the tub. The tub was fairly deep, and made for excellent soaking when it came to bubble baths after training. The shower spewed out plenty of hot water with a powerful shower head that had the ability to massage the skin. The whole bathroom was done in the same forest green color of her room, with splashes of pink here and there in the towels and bathmat and toilet covering to make it girly enough for her liking. Despite the bathroom being attached to her bedroom she still closed and locked the door behind herself before stacking her clothing on an empty space on the bathroom counter. She reached up then, rubbing at her eyes and removing the crust that had built up in them before turning to her shower and sliding the glass door back. She reached in then, turning the hot water on and letting it run until it hit the desired temperature, before adding some cold to the mixture until it was decently warm without being scalding hot: she just did not like her water that hot even when she was cold, and couldn’t begin to understand how other people did it like that. Once the water was the perfect temperature for her she pulled the stopper to start the shower, smiling at the sound of the showers rainfall like texture. She closed the frosted glass door so that the water didn’t hit the floor and tugged off her night shirt and shorts as well as the under garments she had on before depositing them on the floor with a reminder to put them in their proper place later on. Once completely in her birthday suit she turned to the shower once more and opened the door, stepping carefully in to ensure she didn’t slip and fall: how embarrassing would it have to be to show up at the Konoha hospital because she, a ninja, a Chuunin at that, was defeated by something as silly as slipping and falling in the shower?! No, definitely not something she wanted to do, ever. Shaking her head at her own silliness she closed the frosted glass door behind herself and then stuck her hand out under the spray to make sure that it was still the perfect temperature, which it was. Sighing happily she stepped underneath of the spray and paused for a moment, just to allow the water to run down her bed, and then her head as she tilted her head back into the showers spray; pausing to pull her hair out of the ponytail it was still in after having forgot it was still up.

Word Count: 936 | 3,040

Kaia went to pull her ponytail holder up and around her wrist before pausing; the thing was already wet, and chances were it would just end up getting in the way. Shrugging to herself she instead deposited it into the one of the corners of the tub where several more lay which had likewise been removed at the last moment and then forgotten about later. Even when she needed a ponytail and couldn’t find one she never thought to look there. Smiling a bit at her own thoughts and silliness she focused back on what she was supposed to be doing – getting a shower for training. It seemed silly in itself since she would only succeed in getting herself dirty and then having to come home and shower once more, but it didn’t stop her: she believed in being as clean as possible at all times – even if that meant getting clean just to get dirty again. Plus, the shower rather helped in waking her up since she wasn’t a coffee drinker, so there was that, too.

With a sigh as she found herself once again distracted she tilted her head back into the shower spray, lifting her hands as she did so and feeling around to make sure that every single strand was properly wet. Satisfied she raised her head up once more and then glanced around for her bottle of shampoo, finding it on the shelf where she always put it; it wasn’t scentless like what most shinobi used, but it wasn’t over-powering either, instead it had a delicate smell to it like the natural forest itself with a bit of a floweriness to it for added ‘flavor’. Picking up the bottle in her left hand she flipped the top open with her thumb before turning the bottle sideways and depositing a small amount into the palm of her hand, roughly the size of a quarter. She flipped the lid shut then and placed the bottle carefully back onto the shelf before rubbing her hands together and coating them in the delicately scented soap. Once her hands were covered she took to running them through her hair, properly soaping up her hair and causing a great deal of suds to form on her blond locks. Once it was all good and coated she tilted her head back, allowing the water to run through it for several long seconds before lifting her hands and helping the process by scrubbing it all out until the water ran clear and her hair was clean once more. Satisfied that every ounce of the beautifully smelling shampoo was out of her hair Kaia would straighten her head once more and grab up her bottle of conditioner in her left hand just as she had done the shampoo: conditioner was a must considering how long her hair was, even if it wasn’t as thick as some other peoples. Flicking the lid open with her thumb just as she had done prior she deposited a decent among onto her hand and then closed the lid once more before putting the bottle back onto the shelf with the shampoo, careful to not knock either of them over. Much like the shampoo the conditioner had a delicate scent, too, matching the shampoos almost perfectly, though it had slightly more of a flowery fragrance to it. Rubbing her hands together as to coat them both with the conditioner she then deposited it into her hair, starting at the tips of her hair and working her way up to her scalp. Once satisfied that every inch of her hair was coated in the scented stuff she would pull her hair together and twist it into forming a large bun at the top of her head so that the conditioner could soak while she cleaned the rest of her body up.

Careful to avoid the spray of the water, since she wanted the conditioner to have time to sit and work before rinsing it out, she dodged the spray and grabbed the pink colored bath poof that hung from its little rope on the cold water knob. Dodging the spray once more as she straightened up she headed back over to the end of the tub and out of the spray – her body already wet. Picking up the bottle of body wash which had a coconut scent to it, light and natural like the shampoo and conditioner, she flicked the lid open after picking it up in her left hand and deposited a decent sized glob of the stuff onto the bath poof before flicking the lid shut again with her thumb and placing the bottle back. Sticking the poof under the edge of the spray she allowed the substance to get good and wet before rubbing it into the bath poof and creating a fair bit of suds. Now ready Kaia began to wash herself; starting with her face, then moving down to her neck and shoulders, down first her right arm and then her left arm after switching hands, down her chest and stomach, her sides and back (which resulted in some strange body bending with her arms), then down her hips, nether regions, and down her thighs and calves until ending with her feet (which she did carefully, by propping herself up against the wall with her hand so that she didn’t fall. Once every inch of her body was covered in soap she rinsed the bath poof out in the water before hanging it back onto the cold water knob, dodging the spray of the water as she did so as to not get her hair; doing the same as she stood back up. Kaia then took the time to rinse herself, starting with her face, which she put under the spray with her head tilted back, and then moving down to the rest of her body until every last inch was clean of dirt and soap and smelling fresh while also being silky smooth because of the moisturizer in the soap itself: leaving all that was left before her shower ended was removing the conditioner out of her hair.

Word Count: 1,027 | 4,067

With only the conditioner being removed from her hair as the last thing to do Kaia turned around, once more carefully, and tilted her head back to allow the water to run down her hair; this time she simply allowed it to run over her hair for several long seconds before finally raising her hands and helping to coax the lovely scented substance out. Once the excess was out, leaving her hand silky smooth and soft, she finally straightened her head once more and stepped out of the way of the shower spray. Placing her palms flat on her head she coaxed the excess water from the hair on the top of her head and then down the length, squeezing out the excess so that it wasn’t dripping and pouring everywhere. She repeated this process a total of three times before she was satisfied she wouldn’t be getting water everywhere before pulling her hair all over to her left shoulder and letting it hang there. She darted underneath of the spray of the shower once more, avoiding getting her hair wet as she had done previously when there had been conditioner in it, and turned the water off – starting with pushing the stopper to the shower down so that the water ran from the faucet instead, and then shutting off first the hot water and then the cold. She watched the last remains of the water drain out of the tub before standing up straight with a happy sigh. She turned to face the shower glass sliding doors to find the frosted glass even more foggy; a hint of what the rest of the bathroom possibly looked like. It never failed; even though she didn’t take scalding hot showers like some people she still managed to get the bathroom good and steamy none the less; likely from just how long she took. Quick showers were not her thing; she enjoyed taking her time and making sure every inch of her body was clean after all.

Shaking her head at her own thoughts once more, a habit she was definitely beginning to form, she reached forward and pulled the handle of the door, effectively opening it and allowing the slightly cooler air of the bathroom beyond the shower to come rushing in; goosebumps breaking out over the young lady’s flesh as she shivered and stepped out carefully onto the pink colored bath mat beyond the shower doors. Reaching to her left where the towel rack was she pulled the larger of the two pink towels that hung there off and took a moment to just wrap it around her shoulders and hug the ends to her chest as she waited for the rest of her body to adjust to the temperature of the bathroom; water dripping down her legs and onto the bath mat where they were caught and absorbed. She remained like that for a moment before, with a soft sigh, she made quick work in drying off her face, her neck, and then her shoulders and arms, before wrapping the towel around herself and reaching for the other. With the towel in hand she bent herself forward slightly so that her hair hung free over the top of her head and down in front of her face. She ran the towel through it several times, rubbing and squeeze to grab any excess water, before placing it on her head and wrapping her hair up in its confines; making a giant knot of both hair and towel on top of her head so she could properly dry off without constantly battling the drips of water that would escape it otherwise.

Once satisfied she wouldn’t be battling the drips she unwrapped herself and finished drying herself off; focusing mainly on her legs and feet which were still fairly wet unlike the top half of her body. Once her body was dry she folded the towel in half and then hung it over the bar of the towel rack so it could properly dry for tomorrow. Keeping her hair wrapped in the other, smaller, pink towel she made her way off of the pink bath mat and over to her pile of clothing where dug her under garments out of first. She slipped into the pink matching set before grabbing up her black capri-style shorts and carefully stepping into them and pulling them up; the waist band of which barely hugged her hips and kept her just covered enough to be decent. Pulling the towel finally out of her hair as to not stretch out her black v-neck style short sleeved shirt she folded the towel up and added it to the other before picking up her shirt and pulling it carefully on over her head; the thin material clinging to her athletic yet hour-glass shaped figure. She tugged the hem down before moving over to the basket of her daily supplies. Deodorant was pulled out first and applied beneath both underarms, the coconut scent being added to the rest that floated around the bathroom before the lid was capped and the container put back. She picked up her brush next, beginning to pull it through her golden blond strands of hair, starting at the bottom and working her way up slowly as to avoid ripping any hair out if she happened to stumble across a knot.

Word Count: 900 | 4,967

Brushing her hair was a fairly slow process, but that was nothing new. She knew most shinobi tended to cut theirs short and keep it that way so that they didn’t have to deal with the hassle, but it was one of those things she couldn’t bring herself to do. She loved her long hair, and she was willing to get up earlier than the average shinobi did to ensure she would probably take care of it if it meant keeping it long. She was protective of it too: keeping it normally tied up in a bun so that no one could try cutting it off – she had seen that happen once too many times to people in the past, and it had left some of the females devastated. Kaia was sure she wouldn’t shed tears over her hair being cut, but she was fairly certain she didn’t want it to happen if she could avoid it. Once she was sure every knot was removed from her hair she took care in pulling it all over her right shoulder and separating it into three thick strands before beginning to braid it all together: she wouldn’t keep it that way all day, but it would at least keep it out of her way while it finished drying and allow her to do other things without constantly having to push it back and over her shoulder. She secured it with a fresh ponytail, black in color, once she finished braiding it down to the ends and then pushed it back over her shoulder so that it hung down her spine; ignoring the slightly damp sensation that occurred when it touched the back of her black v-neck style shirt.

With the mirror having begun to defog by that point she took a moment to stare at her reflection: bright blue eyes and freckles stood out among light tan colored skin; her lashes were naturally dark and thick, which meant make up was never necessary – not that she would bother with something like that anyway, considering she would just sweat it off during training. She was beautiful in her own way, but she still had the features that could be considered child-like; cheeks a little rounder than usual, her chin having a dimple in it. Soft little hints of the child she still sometimes felt like inside; things that kept her innocent looking despite having skills to murder someone or hurt them severely if she wanted to – not that she did.

As the familiar thought crossed her mind she winced: it had occurred more than once lately – the fact that she didn’t really fancy the idea of having to harm or kill anyone. Kaia often battled with herself if the shinobi life was the one for her or if she should have inspired to be something else entirely, but she soothed that thought with the fact she could help people with her skills, and not just harm. The fact that she could sometimes be the only thing standing between an innocent life being spared or dying… it helped her to come to terms with what she was, and what her job was to do.

Shaking her head as if the physical action would clear her thoughts she turned away from the mirror and bent down, picking up the small pile of dirty clothes that had been her pajamas for the night. Holding the bundle in her left hand she unlocked the door to the bathroom with her right and then pulled the door open; steam billowing out of the bathroom and into her bedroom before it dissipated. Heading across her room in her bare feet and over to the dirty clothing hamper she pulled up the lid with her right hand, holding it up long enough to deposit the dirty clothing inside. She closed the lid not seconds before with a snap, making a mental note that she was going to have to do laundry either this evening when she got home or the following morning. She glanced around her bedroom once more, making sure that everything was in its place before realizing she hadn’t closed the frosted sliding glass door to the shower. Frowning at her own absentmindedness, and blaming getting lost in thought about her career choice on her forgetfulness, she headed back into the bathroom and reached out, closing the frosted sliding glass door so that it would properly dry without becoming gross – she cleaned her bathroom fairly often, being a neat freak and all, but that didn’t mean she wanted to make her job any harder on herself if she could avoid it.

Before leaving the bathroom she glanced around; putting her hair brush back into place and checking to see if anything else was out of the ordinary, which it wasn’t. Heading back into her bedroom she did the same; the bed was made, her piles of books didn’t bother her since they were all off of her shelves for one reason or another – some of which had to do with some of the training she planned on getting done for the day. She had a goal in mind, something to strive toward, and had been doing a lot of reading lately on the subject. Besides, books being littered around was normal for her, and it didn’t actually bother her considering they were nothing dirty or gross that she wouldn’t want someone else to see – nor were they deemed inappropriate for that matter. Not that she kept things like that in the house – or actually at all for that matter. She was still quite innocent to the world at large despite being a Chuunin and having gone through some terrible things in her short seventeen years of existence.

Grumbling to herself at the dark path her thoughts seemed to be on today, and blaming the nightmare she had woken so suddenly from as being the cause, she gave another shake of her head and picked her shoes up from the corner by the dresser – standard black open toed sandals. Bringing them over to her desk chair she sat down and slipped first the right one on and then the left; toes wiggling in enjoyment at the perfect fit and causing her to giggle at herself: life just wasn’t fun if you couldn’t make yourself laugh, right?

Word Count: 1,060 | 6,027

With her shoes on there was only a small bit more she needed to do before she was ready to go make breakfast and then hit the nearest training fields. Standing up from her desk chair she pushed it back under so she wouldn’t trip over it later on when she was dead tired and stumbling to her bed. With the chair out of the way she headed back to her dresser where her Konoha hitai-ate always resided when she took it off at the end of each evening; it was one of the only things she always made sure to lay out with perfect care – well, that and any books or training scrolls she might have had. She picked it up and positioned it so that the plate was on the top of her head, not so much holding back her bangs that framed her face but the rest of her hair. She tied it underneath of the braid, which she kept her hair still in as with a quick pat she noticed it still wasn’t fully dry – plus she was about to cook so she didn’t want to deal with it, and pulling your hair up into a ponytail with your hair half dry was a horrible and rather painful and stressful idea. She then picked up her weapons pouches, the other thing she always laid out so carefully, and strapped them around her right leg; so that they would be within reach of her dominate hand: something else she planned on working on, being able to use weapons accurately no matter which hand they were thrown in. It was probably something she should have started trying to do when she was much younger, but the thought had never crossed her mind until recently, when she thought about what would happen were she to somehow lose the ability to use her hand – either temporarily or in the worst case situation permanently.

More dark thoughts; ugh, she was definitely on a roll with them today for some reason. With her shoes on, her Konoha hitai-ate properly positioned on top of her head, and her weapons strapped to her right leg for easy access she picked up her small shoulder bag from the desk that was filled with the book she wanted to bring with her for training, several scrolls, a small first aid kit in case she got injured while training, and a bag of snacks and several bottles of water – she had got the whole thing ready the night before before passing out so that she didn’t have to worry about it today. She carried it by the strap out of her bedroom and into the kitchen, though she didn’t bother to actually put it on her shoulder and instead just held it in her hand; pausing only to close her bedroom door behind herself – more out of habit than any need since there was nothing in her bedroom she didn’t want her father or anyone else for that matter to see.

Once in the kitchen she placed her bag on the corner of the island counter, nearby the chair she planned on sitting in. She glanced around, noticing the lack of a smell of breakfast having been cooked previously: either her father wasn’t in fact awake as she had originally thought, or he had skipped breakfast again: both of which were possibilities. It changed her game plan a bit from just grabbing some fruit as she had been contemplating subconsciously on doing so that she could get started on her training to actually cooking in the chances that he was asleep so he could eat before leaving, or in case he came home and could eat it then. Either worked, provided she knew he ate – caring daughter and all that that she was: besides, he’d do it for her, so it was only right she returned the gesture.

With a new plan in mind she glanced around, taking a moment to wander her way over to the fridge and poke her head inside to see what all they had: the thing was fully stocked. It wasn’t so much what they had, rather than what she wanted and what she thought her father would enjoy having for breakfast, or lunch, or whenever he ate what she planned on saving for him. With a game plan in mind she pulled out the carton of eggs, popping the lid to make sure it was still decently full; there was a fresh dozen inside. She placed the eggs carefully on the nearby counter and then pulled out some bacon, followed by some sausage patties. They were likewise placed next to the eggs before a can of biscuits followed. Cheese was grabbed next and added to the large group of food already forming before she finished it all off by grabbing out the pitcher filled with freshly squeezed orange juice. Shutting the door behind herself by using her foot she placed the pitcher of orange juice on the island counter and then went over to the cabinet to grab herself two glasses; one a normal tall glass and the other a coffee mug for the cup of tea she planned on making in a little while. She placed both down, and then picked up the pitcher, ignoring the idea of preparing the food in favor of the drink she quickly poured herself into the taller of the two glasses. The pitcher was set down, and the glass picked up; emptied in a series of several gulps before it was filled once more. The pitcher was returned to the fridge so it would remain cool as Kaia left the glass full with more orange juice to sit on the counter: her thirst was mostly sated for now so she figured it was time to at least start preparing the food.

Turning to different cabinets than the one she had pulled the glass and mug out of she began to pull out several pans, and a cookie sheet, laying them out on the stove – the cookie sheet on the counter nearby – before turning the dial on the oven so that it would begin to preheat.

Word Count: 1,033 | 7,060

With the oven beginning to preheat Kaia moved on to the actual stove top aspect of things; knowing that the biscuits once they were in would only take about ten or so minutes to properly bake. She adjusted the pans she had placed on the stove top, putting them on the appropriate burners she wanted to use; big pans on the bigger burners and the smaller pans on the smaller ones, before heading over to the pile of food she had pulled out of the fridge. She grabbed up the bacon and sausage, moving it closer to the stove, before doing the same with the tube of biscuits and the carton full of eggs – making sure as she did so that she didn’t accidentally break any of the eggs. She then moved to the drawers, pulling out various spoons and spatulas in preparation of what she would need to begin cooking, as well as a pair of kitchen scissors so she could open everything; brand new packs of everything for the win!

Picking up the bacon and beginning to cut it open, Kaia thought about how she barely ate on her normal days off, but how she made sure to eat properly when she trained: most people didn’t for risk of getting sick, but Kaia had always found she lacked the energy to do so otherwise. Sure, if she was on a mission she could push through and go without food, but on a normal day of training she preferred to eat first, and eat semi-well. With the bacon package cut open she pulled back the top – pausing to flip on the burners so that they’d begin to properly heat – before depositing several strips, one after the other, into the nearest and one of the largest pans. She picked up the sausage patty package next, doing the same cut and open routine, and placing them in another pan, making sure there was space between them so that they would cook properly. Kaia paused before starting the eggs, digging out two lids and placing them over top of the pan of bacon and the pan of sausage. With the pans of meat properly covered Kaia went to turn her focus onto the eggs when she heard the oven beep to signal it was properly preheated. Picking up the can of biscuits instead she twisted it, popping it open effortlessly and pulled one after the other out, laying them out on the cookie sheet evenly spaced apart. Once that was done she picked up the cookie sheet, leaving the empty biscuit container on the counter for the moment, and opened up the often, letting some of the heat escape before sliding the cookie sheet of raw biscuits onto one of the shelves and closing the door. The empty biscuit container was then tossed into the garbage before she turned her attention to the eggs. One after the other were cracked and opened, the shells deposited into the garbage, the egg itself being deposited into the last pan. When she had a good half dozen of eggs inside the pan she put the eggs to the side with the rest of the uncooked bacon and sausage and turned to grabbing all manner of proper seasoning; depositing a bit on each bit of food until it was just right; and scrambling the eggs in the pan with a fork.

With all of the food having been started Kaia wandered back to the island counter, picking up her glass of orange juice and taking a sip before glancing down at the nearby mug and remembering she had wanted a cup of tea. Taking her cup over to the coffee pot she pressed several buttons to allow just hot water to flow, and placed her cup underneath of the spout. She then pressed another button, allowing the clean hot water to flow and fill up her cup a good three fourths of the way up; leaving enough space for her tea bag and the sugar she would add later on. Once her cup was properly full she turned her attention to the drawer right beneath the coffee pot, pulling it open and pulling out a single tea bag of vanilla chai tea. Ripping it open she discarded the packaging into the garbage and the tea bag itself into her cup of hot water, leaving only the string and tag out. Giving that a moment to properly seep she turned her attention back to the stove, lifting pot lids and flipping the food as it proved ready, as well as the eggs which were likewise cooking perfectly the same as everything else. Resisting the urge to open up the oven door and check on the biscuits Kaia instead went back over to her mug of tea, finding that it had seeped quite a big. She bobbed the tea bag inside of her cup several times to expel more before lifting it up and out of the water. She pinched the bag over her cup to get an excess before depositing the empty tea bag into the garbage and pulling the jar of sugar and a small spoon toward herself. She put several teaspoons of sugar into her cup before stirring it good and properly. After pushing both back into place she took her mug of vanilla chai tea in both hands, enjoying the warmth, and carried it back over to where her glass or orange juice was; taking a sip of the hot liquid before putting it down on the island counter.

Kaia then turned her focus back onto the stove, making a mental note by the clock of how many more minutes the biscuits had to cook; just five more. She checked the bacon and sausage once more and upon finding both to be done she turned them off, but kept the lids on them so that the residual heat would keep the meat warm while the rest finished up. After a bit more stirring the eggs likewise were finished and covered so that they would stay hot. Another glance at the clock showed Kaia that the biscuits should be done and sure enough, as she opened the oven and glanced inside, they were properly fluffy, cooked, and golden brown. Grabbing a pot holder off of the hook behind the stove Kaia carefully removed the biscuits, shutting off the oven and double checking that the stove was off, too.

Word Count: 1,075 | 8,135

The cookie sheet of biscuits was placed on an empty spot on the six burner stove – not wanting to run the risk of burning or scorching the counter tops after all – before Kaia placed the pot holder back on the hook. Deciding to give things a small chance to cool down at least slightly she turned and headed back to the island counter, more importantly to her cup of vanilla chai tea she had made herself. She picked the cup up, ignoring the full glass of orange juice from which condensation was now rolling down the sides of, and brought the mug to her lips once more while holding it with both hands and enjoying the gentle warmth it provided. She sipped it slowly, simply enjoying the delicate flavor, the sweetness, and general warmth: the rest of the house being far cooler than the rest of her bedroom, but not enough to want to bother with putting the sweater on she had wrapped around her waist. Once her cup got to about halfway full she put it down on the counter and turned to the cabinets once more; opening one she pulled out two plates in preparation for making herself and her father a plate. She placed the plates, one beside the other, down onto the counter top near the stove and then made quick work in pulling the lids off of everything. She picked up the pan of eggs by the handle and a spatula in another hand, keeping the pan above the eggs she deposited a little bit onto her plate (she wasn’t a big fan of eggs really) and the rest onto her fathers: the pan being put into the sink afterward. She did the same with the pan of sausage; putting an even amount of the patties on both plates, putting the pan into the sink and moving on to the bacon. When it came to the bacon she evened it out as well, giving a decent number of pieces to herself and the rest to her father – though he got several extra before that pan joined the rest in the sink. With the biscuits left she took several for herself, placing them on her plate for later – she intended on making her food into several breakfast sandwiches after all – and then did the same for her father before placing the rest into a nearby container and closing the lid; leaving it there on the counter in plain view in case her father wanted more with his meal later on – or in case Kaia wanted to grab one for a snack later on when she got home from training. Ignoring her own plate of food for the moment since it was still too hot to eat she took some tin foil from one of the counters and tore off a decent sized sheet which she then proceeded to cover her father’s plate of food with before sliding it into the fridge so that he could heat it up later and it would stay fresh.

Kaia then glanced between the pile of dishes now in the sink and the plate of food waiting for her to dig into. There was still plenty of steam coming up and off of her food so she decided to get the dishes out of the way instead. Picking up the cookie sheet after checking to make sure it was cool enough she added it to the rest of the dishes in the sink and turned the water on before grabbing the clean sponge and coating it in a decent bit of soap. She started with the cookie sheet, getting it good and covered in soap suds before rinsing it clean and putting it in the draining rack. She then followed the same pattern with each pan, scrubbing first the sausage one, then the bacon one, and then finally the egg pan and rinsing all of them off thoroughly before putting them into the draining rack to drip dry. She washed her hands then, drying them on the nearby towel left there for such a purpose, before heading back over to the stove and picking up her food which was finally cool enough to eat. With plate in hand she headed around the island counter to where the stools were and carefully slid into her own, placing her plate down in front of her – and realizing she forgot to grab a fork and spoon and knife. Grumbling to herself at her own forgetfulness she got back up and headed around to the drawer, pulling forth the proper eating utensils she needed and heading back to her seat. The biscuits were cut in half so that there would be a top and a bottom before she piled eggs, bacon, and sausage onto each and then added the tops once more; making effective sandwiches out of both with some extra left over. Picking up one of the sandwiches and realizing she was forgetting something she got back up and grabbed the thing of cheese she had left behind, pulling off several slices before placing the cheese back into the fridge so that it didn’t go bad.

Returning once more to her seat she added the cheese to the sandwiches, which were now perfect, and picked up one. Bringing it to her mouth she took a bite out of it and moaned softly at the delicious flavor and perfect temperature. She chewed and swallowed her food carefully before taking another bite; her bites little enough that there was a decent bit of sandwich left over. Another bite followed this one, being chewed and swallowed with the same kind of carefulness, and then another after that before she put her sandwich back onto her plate, which was now half eaten, and picked up her mug of tea in both hands. She sipped at her tea until the glass was empty, and then put the mug off to the side before picking up a spare piece of bacon and popping it into her mouth. She chewed the piece of bacon with the same kind of careful consideration, taking the time to enjoy the flavoring of it, before swallowing and picking her half eaten breakfast sandwich up once more.

Word Count: 1,045 | 9,180

The half eaten breakfast sandwich was brought to her lips as she took another small bite and chewed it as carefully and thoughtfully as the last; doing so as she glanced to the clock above the stove and realized a full two hours had already passed between her waking up, getting that nice and long shower, and then making breakfast and sitting down to eat. She blinked several times, debating if she wanted to hurry or not, but deciding against it: it wasn’t as if she were meeting anyone today, and she had a fairly good idea of what she wanted to get done, so there really was no point in ruining a good breakfast by rushing her way through it. So, with that thought in mind she took yet another bite of her sandwich, chewing it carefully and slowly, before popping the last bite into her mouth. She chewed the last bite and swallowed it while reaching forward and grabbing her glass of orange juice up; careful with it due to the amount of condensation on the sides. The glass was brought to her lips and sipped at as soon as the food in her mouth was swallowed, the flavor of the orange juice mixing perfectly with the rest of her food.

After putting her glass back down on the table she picked up another spare piece of bacon, popped it into her mouth, and chewed it carefully before swallowing, taking her time to enjoy the delicious flavoring. Her second and last breakfast sandwich was then picked up and bitten and chewed with the same kind of deliberate slowness as before; each and every single bite that was taken being savored to the last piece which she popped into her mouth and chewed before getting up with her plate and empty mug and taking that, plus her spoon, knife, and fork over to the sink. She did the same routine with the soap, the water, and the sponge as before; cleaning her plate and eating utensils and placing them into the draining rack as well as the mug that had held her vanilla chai tea. With them left to dry she cleaned up the rest of her mess; putting the rest of the bacon and sausage, as well as the carton still half full with eggs into the fridge where they belonged for next time. With the counter freshly wiped down and drying she went back to the draining rack and picked up the clean dishes, putting them each back where they belonged; the cookie sheet and the three pans back into the underside cabinet, the plate and mug in their separate over head cabinets, and the eating utensils in the drawer she had got them from originally, each put back in its own individual slot. With clean up done she headed back to her cup of orange juice and picked it up, leaning against the island counter as she sipped it down; glancing around to see if there was anything else she forgot to clean up: the stove was clean, the counters too, the sink was as well and all of the dishes were put away. The food had likewise been put away, and her father’s plate already wrapped in foil and in the fridge… maybe she should write him a note so he knew it was there?

Deciding that that definitely sounded like a good idea Kaia, with her glass of half drunk orange juice still in hand, went to the other side of the island counter and over to where a pen and a pad of paper always resided. Placing her glass down nearby after taking another sip she dried her right hand on her shirt of the condensation from her glass and then picked up the pen and pulled the cap off of it. Thinking for a moment of what she wanted to say she jotted down a quick note to her father: Dad, I didn’t know if you were awake yet or already gone for the day, and I didn’t want to disturb you if you were still sleeping, so I made breakfast and left you a plate wrapped in foil in the fridge: biscuits, bacon, sausage, and eggs. There’s also some extra biscuits sitting in the container on the counter. If you come home and find me gone I’m training in the usual spot. Hope you have a good day. Love, Kaia. It was simple and easy really; and she never forgot to mention how much she loved her father when leaving the little notes she sometimes did behind. She had long forgiven him for leaving the way he did since she knew the circumstances around it – though she did secretly dread such an event happening again: which was exactly why she still continued to push herself forward and onward with her training. She wanted to become as strong as possible so that she could and would be a help to her father, instead of a hindrance or simply in the way.

After putting the cap back on the pen and sitting it down next to the pad of paper she carefully tore the note she had written out, thinking back to the others she left behind – some for actual purposes like today and others as a means of communication between passing when they both were too busy for a normal conversation. She moved over to the blanket fridge and took one of the magnets neatly lined up from their position. Holding the piece of paper against the fridge she used the magnet to stick it there, ensuring it didn’t slide down before glancing around the kitchen once more and biting her bottom lip. She wandered over to her orange juice, which was now nearly finished, as that was the only thing out of place in the otherwise clean house and picked it up once more. She downed what was left in a single gulp and then rinsed her glass out well before washing it quickly with the remaining soap on the sponge, rinsing it off, and placing it upside down in the draining rack to put away later on when she got home – if her father didn’t end up beating her to it.

Word Count: 1,045 | 10,225

With her note written and her mess from breakfast cleaned up, her father’s plate in the fridge and ready for whenever he got home (or woke up) and decided to eat it, Kaia found herself with nothing else to keep her from leaving the house. She double checked her weapons pouch to find the few kunai and shuriken she had there as they should be – making a mental note that she needed to buy some more since she was now a Chuunin and therefore should have a respectable amount of weapons on hand – and then adjusted her Konoha hitai-ate upon her head, realizing as she did so that her hair was still back in a braid. Pulling the ponytail out of the end of the braid she made quick and effective work with undoing the braid, noticing that her hair was now not only dry but exceptionally wavy since it had dried in such a manner. Once the braid was out, and using her fingers much like a comb or a brush, she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and placed the ponytail holder in it, ensuring it was tight enough to keep her hair in place while being loose enough not to damage her hair. Satisfied that it was out of the way she wandered over to the island counter and picked up the bag she had left there with her book, various scrolls, and other odds and ends; checking it too before picking it up and putting the strap over her shoulder in such a manner that caused it to cross over her body.

She pulled her keys out of the front of the bag and headed from the kitchen through the living room and toward the front door; she knew it seemed silly to lock doors considering the fact that any self respecting shinobi could pick a lock easily enough but it was a kind of habit that made her feel comfortable and so she stuck with it. Her father never complained about it, so that was a good thing. Kaia unlocked the door, opened it, and then stepped outside of the door before closing it behind her. She used the key to lock the door and the deadbolt and then double checked that it was secure before carefully slipping her keys back into the top pocket of her bag, which she then zipped shut to make sure they didn’t fall out. Kaia paused, looking around, while she mentally debated in a thoughtful manner which was the best way to go. As a typical shinobi she could always head to the roof tops and make quick work traversing over them to her destination, but as a typical Kaia she preferred a longer route: a chance to meet and greet as well as maybe grab some strawberry bubble tea (one of her weaknesses!) along the way.

With the plan on mind she headed down the street, adjusting her bag as she went so that it was more comfortable on her shoulder. With a genuine smile on her face she headed out of the area in which she lived and headed for the market; nodding and waving to several people who passed her by: she preferred being friendly with the villagers, liked being a face they could recognize where there ever a time of danger. It also helped her to connect with those she would lay her life down for in a heart beat would that kind of a situation ever to arise. Most people she passed and smiled and waved to, or shared a brief moment of conversation with, she barely knew, though there were a few she actually had spent any manner of time with: mostly shinobi like herself from before she had moved to Kirigakure and then back again. Even with all of the meeting and greeting she still made it to the market in record time, heading toward her favorite stall that sold the perfect strawberry flavored bubble tea. She bobbed and weaved her way through the crowd, making sure to hold her bag against her side so that it didn’t bump into anyone accidentally – or so that no one tried to pick pocket her, though that would be a very ballsy move considering her Konoha hitai-ate being in clear view and marking her as the ninja she was. There were a fair few people in the market, despite the semi early hour, but she still made it to the stall she had been looking for quickly enough. She fell in line behind a couple who were arguing over which flavor they thought their daughter would want – not meanly but more in a silly manner – and Kaia found herself having to raise up her right hand and cover her mouth to keep her giggles silent so that they didn’t hear her; though her shoulders shook like crazy from her silent giggle fit. The couple were taken care of and left quickly enough with their drinks in hand and Kaia stepped up to the familiar stall owner who took one look at her and grinned. “I saw you giggling back there, little Kaia.”

“I couldn’t help it, Aki; they were being so silly.”

The man chuckled and nodded in agreement with Kaia’s words. “That they were. They do that every few days, you know? Their daughter is pregnant and she gets cravings for my tea; each time they come here they seem to forget what flavor she likes and argue about it. It’s silly because I always end up giving them strawberry in the end regardless of what they order for her because it’s her favorite just like yours.”

Kaia grinned at the bit of information, glad to know that such silliness could exist in the world. Before she could open her mouth to place her own order Aki slid a tall cup of strawberry bubble tea toward her and winked. “I had that waiting for you.”, he added, chuckling as Kaia’s grin widened. “On the house today… a little bird came by and whispered in my ear that you would probably stop by on your way to train; can’t have you fainting on us after all. You’re our future, Kaia, us old people need to take care of you.” Another wink followed this statement that had Kaia blushing as she picked up her cup; she knew better than to argue by now about the freebies so instead she just shook her head with a giggle.

“You’re not old, Aki. You’re like what… thirty?” The old man gasped, holding his chest and laughing outright: he was nearing sixty at least from his appearance, but Kaia always liked to play around with him.”

“You are too sweet, little Kaia.”

“I think it’s because of all of this delicious tea you give me, Aki.” Aki just chuckled at Kaia’s statement and with a wave she moved off and out of the way to allow him to handle the rest of the customers who had lined up during their conversation.

Word Count: 1,175 | 11,400

Before wandering off too far from the stall she brought her cup to her mouth, lips seeking out the straw, before she took a pull of the delicious strawberry bubble tea – and one of the little balls inside. The sweetness hit her tongue and she couldn’t help but groan before popping the little ball and swallowing it. Another smile lit up her face, causing her freckles to stand out even more prominently on her cheeks, and she glanced back at Aki who was watching her for her reaction: she grinned, gave him the thumbs up sign, and then another wave before heading off and away from the stall. She was careful as she moved through the crowd of people, not wanting to bump into anyone or drop or spill her drink for that matter. Every few steps she would bring the cup to her lips, sipping on the straw and flooding her mouth with more of the delicious strawberry drink or another of those delicious balls that filled the bottom half of her cup – she always liked a bit more of them than the average person got, and Aki never bothered to charge her for the excess.

She made it a few blocks before turning and heading down the alley ways, avoiding the crowd which was growing larger the later toward the afternoon it got. She knew if she didn’t make it to the training grounds now the chances of her doing so before noon were going to decrease the more crowded the market got. Thankfully, the back alley ways and little gaps between the buildings made an excellent way to travel that wouldn’t slow her down too much outside of having to maneuver around a barrel or a crate that might be in her way. Thankfully she was used to this sort of thing, and knew the way and all of the little short cuts in between to make the journey that much more shorter. She sipped her strawberry bubble tea as she went until finally there was only the little balls in the bottom of the cup left; though those were quickly sucked up through the straw and eaten. As soon as she got to the edge of the market district her cup was finally empty and she deposited it into a nearby trash can – she wasn’t going to litter, it wasn’t her style. From there she headed onward and toward the training grounds, wondering exactly what she wanted to do once she got there – and hoping that the place was empty: she had booked it a week ahead of time, but that meant nothing with the fact she was two hours later than she had originally planned to be. Of course, this didn’t make her rush any faster than she was already moving – time waited for no one, and in her personal opinion there was no point in fighting against it. Besides, a few minutes here and there weren’t going to make all that much of a difference, right?

Once more lost in her thoughts her feet simply followed the same familiar pattern of turns and streets while her mind wandered on about the thoughts of time and how it waited for no man or woman and no circumstances. She was jarred from her thoughts as she came to a stop at the gates to the training ground she had booked for the day; it seemed empty and she pushed the gate open and stepped inside. The training ground was fairly standard; the usual trees, boulders, a stream she could hear nearby but couldn’t actually see, and various patches of dirt and grass. There was a path that went through the whole thing that she knew to be a mile and a half long exactly in a full circle, and she intended on making some use out of. For now though she headed toward one of the flatter rocks she had used in the past as a sort of bench and a table. She sat down, and pulled the strap of her bag up and off of her shoulder, over her head, and then allowed it to fall down on top of the bag which was now positioned beside her on the flat rock. She took a moment to just sit there and take in the sights and sounds around her; enjoying the quietness in compassion to the noisy market she had just left behind. Leaving her bag behind Kaia stood after a few minutes and headed to a thick grassy spot not far away. Knowing that dynamic stretches worked best before a work out – and she was definitely going to get one with the training she had planned for the day – she started herself out with ten reps of lunges with a twisting motion at the hips – stepping forward, dropping her hips, and twisting: each forward lunge helping stretch the hip flexors and activating the legs, glutes, and hips, while the twist stretched out the upper and middle back and activated core rotation. Following this came knee to chest exercises: the focus being on bringing the knee cap into the chest by hugging the shin while stepping onto her toes with her opposite foot, which would give Kaia more leverage. Then came ten reps of high kicks: starting with her right leg, extending her left arm straight out, then kicking her leg up while keeping her leg and hand straight so that her toes hit her palm: trying as she did so to progressively kick higher, while remaining under control and perfectly balanced in the process. Following this came a hip stretch with a twist; an exceptional work out which would help open up the hip and groin area while stretching her core, upper and middle back – doing this by starting in the push up position and bringing her right foot up to her right hand while keeping her hips down and lower back flat. She would then take her left hand, twist to her left while extending her arm and reaching toward the sky. Come back to the starting pushup position to then repeat on the other side; another ten reps of each. Following this came T push ups; an excellent exercise to warm up the upper body, especially the shoulders: Kaia starting out in the push-up position, and then lowering herself down towards the ground. As she pushed back up, she would extend her right arm toward the sky while keeping her left arm stable and her hips from moving down, or up. Bringing her arm back to the starting position, she would do another push up, and then repeat with the left arm. Once back on her feet Kaia moved on to jump squats, several reps of ten: standing up with her feet about shoulder width apart while holding her hands on her hips. She would then squat down until her hips were about parallel with the ground, then forcibly jump off the ground. Landing softly she would repeat the jump.

With the last of her warm up exercises down, and Kaia fairly red in the face, and the feeling of sweat already soaking into her hair and the back of her shirt, Kaia walked her way over to the path that went around the training field before breaking into a jog as she headed along the path; not all that worried about leaving her bag behind in the process since the chances of anyone wanting the things inside were slim – the items weren’t valuable, and she didn’t really see anyone else showing up today with the place booked like it was. Instead, she kept her mind in the game, and on her job as she headed into the trees, following along the path at a fast and yet decent pace that she could keep up for quite a while; contemplating how far she wanted to push this jog or not today before moving on to something else.

Word Count: 1,328 | 12,728

The jog through the forest was a relatively peaceful event; the birds chirping and random animals scurrying about a pleasant sight to see, and pleasant background noise against the relative quietness that would have otherwise been there. The path wasn’t difficult; it was fairly flat, with just a few bumps or random tree branches to dodge that had broken through the soil long ago and whom no one seemed interested in removing – in Kaia’s opinion it kept her on her toes and out of her own head space for a while. At the pace she was moving – a jog that to any civilian would have been an outright run – she found the mile and a half distance to go by fairly quickly. In fact, it wasn’t more than several minutes before she broke through the line of trees and came into the clearing she had started from once more – her bag still right where she left it and seemingly undisturbed. The thought of sitting down and perhaps having a break crossed her mind, but a mile and a half hardly seemed a good enough point to stop at. A mile and a half was nothing to her these days, and even though she knew her water bottles were probably still fairly cold – her bag keeping them well insulated – chances were if she stopped now she wouldn’t run again later on.

So with that in mind she ignored her need for a drink and continued on the path, disappearing once more into the forest and picking up the speed a bit to a slightly harder and faster pace. Even with the increase to her jog it was still enjoyable; jumping over the various tree roots and other obstacles in her way, and following along the path simple enough without any issue for the various small inclines and bumps that were in the way. As she exited the line of trees and hit her starting point again she didn’t bother to stop. With three miles now done and over with she decided to kick it up a notch and just keep going, pushing herself onward with a goal of ten miles in mind – a distance she thought respectable for a days training. So as she kept going, dodging and jumping, listening to the beautiful sounds of the wildlife around her, and enjoying the sights, three miles quickly turned into four and a half, then into six, then into seven and a half, and then into nine. Still onward she pushed; sweat pouring down her body, her shirt utterly soaked, and any thought of putting her long sleeved shirt on that was still tied around her waist long forgotten. Her breath was heavy but steady, and her heart was racing from the pace as she had continued to push herself harder and harder with each round of the path. By the time she broke through the trees one final time, heading off of the path and toward her bag, she had more than earned her break. Reaching the flat boulder her bag was on she bent down, ignoring the beads of sweat that dripped down her nose and off of it, as she rummaged for one of her bottles of water. Finding the cool glorious liquid she pulled the bottle out, twisted off the cap, and took first a giant swig and then several more sips until the bottle was over half way gone before she bothered to stop for air.

Twisting the cap onto the top of the bottle Kaia turned sideways and sat down on the boulder, focusing as Amaya had often told her to do on how her chest felt during the moments of exertion. She was breathing fine, her heavy breathing which was normal for what she had just done slowing to a normal pace, and she didn’t feel like there was anything in her chest or throat that needed coughed up. In fact, all in all, she felt pretty good. Amaya had warned her not to push herself too hard if she started to feel off, but she actually felt nothing but great to finally be able to get back into hardcore training the likes of which she had missed for the past several weeks while she was forced to take it slow and recuperate. Still, she took the time to wait until her breathing was normal, sipping on her bottle of water as she did so, to ensure she truly was feeling up to what was going to come next: whatever that happened to be. She had, after all, only formed somewhat of a game plan on what she wanted to accomplish for the day, not all of it.

Glancing up at the sky toward the sun she noticed the position it was in; straight ahead, noon exactly. Her running hadn’t taken nearly as long as she thought it would, which meant she had a good many more hours to burn with training if she wanted to push herself all that hard. Taking the last sip of her water in the bottle she then proceeded to crush the thing up, tightening the lid on it, before placing it back into her bag so that she could throw it away later since she didn’t see any garbage cans around anywhere.

Word Count: 887 | 13,615

“Ugh.” Kaia got to her feet once her empty bottle was put away and glanced around the clearing, deciding what it was she wanted to do. The day was still early, and she had all the time in the world to accomplish what she wanted and get back up to par – or at least that’s what she liked to call it. Figuring it couldn’t hurt to work on her strength for a bit she headed over to the little wooden cabinet kept nearby the gate that was filled with an assortment of potential tools for training. The cabinet wasn’t locked, it never really was, and she flipped the latch and opened it without issue. Inside, fairly neatly assorted despite how many people must have used the stuff in a weeks time since it was last organized, were an assortment of tools including what she was looking for: weighs. She pulled the weighs free from the bottom of the shelf and half dragged them over to the area she was using as training before slipping them on; arm weighs on her arms, leg weighs on her legs: they were training purposes only, and wouldn’t function for long periods of time, but they would do exactly what she needed them to do – help her to build up strength in her arms and legs.

Once they were on she noticed a significant sluggish affect to her movement speed; in fact it was quite hard to even more her arms and legs. She didn’t let it stop her though. Remembering the exercises she had gone through earlier she decided to repeat them once more.

She started herself out with the same ten reps of lunges with a twisting motion at the hips – stepping forward, dropping her hips, and twisting: each forward lunge helping stretch the hip flexors and activating the legs, glutes, and hips, while the twist stretched out the upper and middle back and activated core rotation. Despite this having started out in the beginning of the day as a normal exercise she found that while she was able to push through it the addition of having ran ten and a half miles on top of the training weighs she was wearing made it increasingly difficult; almost impossible. Following this came knee to chest exercises: the focus being on bringing the knee cap into the chest by hugging the shin while stepping onto her toes with her opposite foot, which would give Kaia more leverage. Still pushing through and not wanting to give up Kaia found sweat to be pouring down her forehead, but still she continued to push on to the next ten reps of exercise: ten reps of high kicks: starting with her right leg, extending her left arm straight out, then kicking her leg up while keeping her leg and hand straight so that her toes hit her palm: trying as she did so to progressively kick higher, while remaining under control and perfectly balanced in the process. It was difficult to do to begin with, evne more so to keep her balance as she wasn’t used to the additional weighs she had to contend with that her body wasn’t used to lugging around Following this came a hip stretch with a twist the same as before; an exceptional work out which would help open up the hip and groin area while stretching her core, upper and middle back – doing this by starting in the push up position and bringing her right foot up to her right hand while keeping her hips down and lower back flat. She would then take her left hand, twist to her left while extending her arm and reaching toward the sky. Come back to the starting push up position to then repeat on the other side; another ten reps of each – though she toppled sideways halfway through and had to re-position herself after ensuring she wasn’t injured in the process. Following this came the same T push ups as before; an excellent exercise to warm up the upper body, especially the shoulders but difficult to do with the weighs on: Kaia starting out in the push-up position, and then lowering herself down towards the ground. As she pushed back up, she would extend her right arm toward the sky while keeping her left arm stable and her hips from moving down, or up. Bringing her arm back to the starting position, she would do another push up, and then repeat with the left arm. Once back on her feet once more Kaia moved on to jump squats, several reps of ten: standing up with her feet about shoulder width apart while holding her hands on her hips. She would then squat down until her hips were about parallel with the ground, then forcibly jump off the ground. Landing softly as possible she would repeat this ten more times before falling utterly exhausted onto the ground where she sat, knees bent, and arms resting on top of them. Every limb was aching, throbbing as if they each had their own separate heart beat. Kaia’s clothing was sticking to her due to being utterly soaking wet with sweat, and she was quite happy she had put on a considerable amount of deodorant plus showered or else she would have likely been stinking to high heaven.

Glancing up at the sky above her, checking to see the suns position, she noticed that it had significantly moved since the last time she had checked; in a position that suggested it was nearing five o’clock or so in the evening. As the thought of the time crossed her mind so too did the thought of dinner and what she would have; with the way her body was feeling she didn’t know if she would be up for cooking, and chances were her father wasn’t going to be home at a decent time that evening either – perhaps she should just pick something up in the market on her way back home? Of course, that meant wandering around while soaked in a days worth of training sweat. Decisions, decisions.

Word Count: 1,025 | 14,640

Figuring that buying food would be a far better option than just going back home and cooking while half exhausted – which meant little to nothing would honestly be made outside of a quick bowl of ramen or some such – Kaia slipped the weighs off of her arms first and then her legs before dragging them back to the cabinet she had got them from in the first place. It felt strange to suddenly have that weight missing after so long with it on but by the time she placed the weights back into the bottom of the cabinet where they belonged she was already getting used to not having them on again. With a tired yawn escaping her lips she headed back to her bag and reached inside, noticing that she had left it open. She pulled out her other bottle of water, the one which she hadn’t opened yet, and twisted the cap free. She chugged nearly half the bottle just standing there before twisting the cap back on with a sigh. She took a moment to stretch, first skyward, then working her other muscles and limbs in gentle movements that would hopefully help to keep her from feeling too sore in the morning when she woke up.

Once her stretching was done she downed the rest of the water in her second bottle fairly quickly and then crushed that bottle and returned the cap too, putting it too into her bag with the other empty one. Glancing around to make sure she had cleaned up after herself and hadn’t forgot anything she shut her bag and headed back to the market. She nodded and smiled to people as she passed them but didn’t bother stopping to hold a conversation as she was far too tired. She stopped a local favorite of hers and her fathers and ordered quite a bit of food, having them bag it when it was done as to make it easier for her to carry. She then stopped by another shop to grab up some more bubble tea for herself and something to drink for her father before making her way home, with more nods and smiles to those she passed but still not bothering to stop and actually hold a conversation.

She made quick time in getting home, quicker than she had that morning, and had reached her front door before long. She placed the drinks and bag of food down long enough to unlock the door before picking them up and stepping inside. She closed the door with her foot and put the drinks and bag of food on the counter before heading off into her room. She closed the door, stripped down to nothing – depositing her clothing into the dirty clothing basket in the process – and then headed into the shower where she followed the same thorough shower routine as before; feeling utterly exhausted by the time she was done. Wrapped in a towel she wandered back into her bedroom where she pulled out a fresh pair of under garments as well as a pair of shorts and a random t-shirt which she threw on before heading back into the kitchen to grab her bubble tea and some food; leaving a decent bit for her father. She noticed the note on the fridge was gone and as she opened the door once she had finished eating to put the rest of the food away she noticed the plate of food was gone which made her smile. She put the food she had bought and her father’s drink inside, writing another note which she left pinned in the same place as before before heading back to her room. She closed the door behind herself and threw herself on the made bed, falling asleep almost immediately – before she could even climb underneath of the blankets properly, let alone set her alarm clock for the following morning.


Word Count: 655 | 15,295

Taijutsu B → A: 15,295 – 3,000 = 12,295

Wind C → B: 12,295 – 2,000 = 10,295

Strength C – C1: 10,295 – 575 = 9,720
Strength C1 → C2: 9,720 – 600 = 9,120
Strength C2 – C3: 9,120 – 700 = 8,420

Endurance C → C1: 8,420 – 575 = 7,845
Endurance C1 → C2: 7,845 – 600 = 7,245
Endurance C2 → C3: 7,245 – 700 = 6,545

Perception C2 -> C3: 6,545 - 700 = 5,845

Wind B -> A: 5,845 - 3,000 = 2,845

Remaining: 2,845