Part 1: Katon Training.


The Chunin Exams had finally truly begun, they had been unofficially started for weeks, genin doing nothing but training day in and day out, people duking it out and placing bets over who would be who and who would win the whole shibang.

Kashiki returned to his training grove once more, it had been a few days, but the grove was exactly how Kashiki remembered it. The genin had memorized this place, mostly subconsciously due to the immense amounts of time he spent here training and strengthening his body. Even though the grove Kashiki was training at was the same, the training he would be doing there would be much different. Instead of his normal physical body strengthening and practice on his taijutsu and sword work, Kashiki would be improving his jutsu today. Specifically, Kashiki would be perfecting a jutsu he had thought up one day at the public bathing spring. Kashiki's idea for this jutsu was probably insane, but it could maybe work, and maybe even be an effective and useful tool in the up coming chunin exams. The jutsu in question did not matter right now though, because Kashiki lacked the skills in using and channeling Katon chakra to actual perform or attempt to perform the jutsu. And so, Kashiki came out here today to work on his usage of Katon chakra, and if he improved enough to feel comfortable in doing so, attempt to perform and perfect his new jutsu. Kashiki pulled a matchbox out of his bag and scrounged around till he found a handful of kindling and a good stack of fuel. Kashiki lit of small fire in the middle of the grove, being sure to clear the area first as to not cause a forest fire and burn down the small south forest he so loved. Kashiki gazed into the flickering red and orange of the fire, imagining the flame taking the form of a galloping horse. Kashiki focused for a second and channeled katon chakra into his hand, making it fire proof. Kashiki stuck his hand into the fire and focused on the image of the galloping horse once more as he channeled chakra through and out of his hand. Kashiki attempted to manipulate the chakra he had fed into the raging flame, willing it to morph and twist into the shape he had decided on, a galloping horse. The flame sputtered and hissed, embers flying everywhere, but Kashiki remained focused, a single image filling his mind, the shape he wanted the fire to take. Eventually the fire began to move, slowly taking on some of the features of a horse. It didn't really look like a horse per say, more like a blob with four more blobs under it and a blob to one of its sides. It didn't move right either, it seemed to buck and leap rather than gallop. Kashiki threw his other hand into the fire, his will strengthened by the first glimpse of the fruit of his labor. Kashiki focused on defining the blobs, making the large one look like a horses body first. The blob shifted, looking much more horse like after it did, Still not perfect as it looked like something inbetween a horse and a cat, but it was closer. Kashiki focused again, this time the body looked exactly like the image in his head. "We're getting somewhere" Kashiki thought, a little too soon. Just as the thought crept into his head the fire grew restless, embers and sparks biting at Kashiki's legs. Kashiki tried his best to ignore the tiny flames that drifted through the air towards his legs, the distraction almost enough to take his focus away from shaping the roaring flames.

Kashiki focused himself, flowing katon chakra through the rest of his body to make himself completely fire proof. Kashiki turned his attention to the blob once more. He stared intensely at the 4 blobs on the bottom, focusing on the shape of a horse's legs. The fire obeyed, shifting took look like a set of four horse legs. Kashiki grinned as he once again turned his attention to a different part, this time the head. Kashiki motioned and the head shifted, looking much more like a horse. Another thought and the head shifted slightly, the ears becoming more horse like and the mane growing out of its neck. Kashiki focused on the horse made of flame again, commanding it silently to gallop. Kashiki focused on the image of a galloping horse as he commanded the fire, and the horse made of fire began galloping like a horse who had his entire life. Kashiki turned away from the flame, and it went back to its normal flickering self. "Looks like I have control down." Kashiki said as he imagined the horse again, the fire obeying and returning to the image it was mere seconds ago. "Now I need to improve my raw power" Kashiki thought as a wide grin appeared on his face, this was going to be fun.

Kashiki stood, and poured water from his canteen over the fire, extinguishing it. Kashiki held his hand over the drenched wood, focusing on moving Katon chakra into the air in the form of heat before drying out and lighting the now wet wood. Kashiki channeled the chakra into the air, super heating the air, before moving the heat into the wood. The wood caught fire due to the heat, combusting into a average sized bonfire like before. Kashiki thrust his hand into the fire and once again channeled katon chakra outwards. The fire ate the chakra, the heat and size of the flames growing until the blaze took up most of the grove. Kashiki stopped flowing chakra into the flame, this time removing heat until the blaze was nothing but embers. Kashiki released the heat and the flame grew back into a small bonfire, the area around it charred by the once huge blaze of flames. Kashiki put his hand on the wood of the campfire, infusing it with fire chakra. The wood exploded as the heat activated the fire chakra and caused it to surge outwards. Kashiki thrust his hand into the fire and focused on creating a pillar of flames this time. Hie channeled chakra up and down, creating a pillar of fire. "Power and control down, now to work on that jutsu." Kashiki said as he put out the flames once more.

WC: 1072

Kashiki focused on the katon chakra inside of himself, before pooling it in his hand. The hand glowed with an inner red aura before he thrust it into the ground, the heat that once welled in his body flowed out through his hand, he could feel his hand heat up, but the heat didn't hurt him. The katon chakra filled the ground under him, creating a pocket of katon chakra that reminded Kashiki of one of those methane ground bubbles that showed up when it rained really hard for a while. The earth under him physically bubbled for a moment as the Katon chakra welled up, before the earth flattened once more and flowed, spreading out over a 15m area in a paper thin layer of fire chakra right below the surface of the ground.

"Mienai Tsuchi Kazan!" Kashiki shouted as he slammed his hand into the ground.

The jutsu he had created was called Mienai Tsuchi Kazan, or Unseen Earthen Volcano. The chakra created and radiated insane amounts of heat, most of which heating the earth in the area, but some spilling off into the air around the area. The temperature of the area raised by a good fifteen degrees, the blur of heat radiation was the only tell tale sign of the jutsu, the entire area was a thick layer of visible blurring causing the outside world to be seen as if it were viewed through smudged glass. If someone could see chakra they would notice the ground in the area was filled to the brim with katon chakra, the cause of the heat and the blurring. Kashiki was seemingly not effected by the jutsu's offensive properties, but anyone else in the area would have there body burnt by the insane heat welling in the ground. The same would go for anyone trying to burrow or move through the earth in the area.

"A pretty damn scary jutsu If I do say so myself. I'd hate to go up against that." Kashiki said as he wiped the the heavy sheen of sweat that had appeared on his face. It seemed that, while Kashiki was resistant to the dangerous heat that could cause burns and stuff, he wasn't immune to the raise in temperature. Kashiki took a sip from his canteen before moving on to the next part of his pre exam training. The water in the canteen was warm and gross so Kashiki spit it out, grumbling as he moved to the next part of his training.

WC: +419, 1491

Kashiki walked over to the small bolder that was serving as his resting place and the place to keep his stuff while he trained. Kashiki pushed his bag to the side and grabbed his sword, the dusky metal odachi protected by a scabbard of black wood with a red ribbon tied around its middle. Gyakusatsu, the blade his parents had given him on his tenth birthday, the sword that was wielded by his great great great grandfather when he was a shinobi of the Land of Wind. The blade was rumored to be cursed by Kashiki's mother's family, the claims were probably false but it was still pretty cool to have a family heirloom that was also a deadly weapon and on top of that everyone in his family thought it was cursed. The dusky blade was recently drenched with blood of highway men that had tried to rob Kashiki, and Kashiki didn't remember cleaning the blade since then yet the blade had no signs of blood on it. The odachi's dusky metal blade glistened as it was removed from it's scabbard, the light of the sun reflecting off it striking a quite scary image. Kashiki flourished the blade, twirling it in his hand like it was a baton. Kashiki had had this sword for 5 years, he was so comfortable with the blade that in combat it felt like an extension of his arm. A pokey and slicey extension, but an extension of his body none the less.

He stabbed the blade into the ground as he clapped his hands, flowing chakra through his body. His hands wove into a long and vigorous string of many various hand signs, occasionally paused when a jutsu activated.

"GALE SWIFTNESS!" Kashiki shouted as futon chakra flowed into his heart and entered his bloodstream, oxygenating his muscles. His hands moving with increased vigor he strung off another set of jutsu. "Kishin Geiru, Chisai Akuma Tsume; Hokō no Kōkei, Kishin Geiru, Shichi Tsu no Jigok ha: Hoka no Sekai Ha; Kishin Geiru, Shichi Tsu no Jigoku-ha: Tonbo no Kizuato; Kishin Geiru, Mada Kazegafuku; Kishin Geiru, Akuma no Odori!" Kashiki finished as he placed a hand on the sword. The genin vanished as he reappeared behind a nearby tree, still invisible. He swung his blade, the sword connecting with the tree and cleaving straight through it, rot growing in and spreading through the trunk of the massive oak tree. The rot moved like vines, like tendrils of darkness choking out the light that was this tree's life force. The slice mark left a jagged marred edge as the spinning slicing wind chopped and nicked at the tree, sending wood chips flying like a broken insane wood chipper. Kashiki sheathed his sword as he ended the jutsu, his "Fierce God Blade" was quite draining to use for prolonged periods of time. That was what Kashiki was calling that combination of jutsu. Kashiki was pretty sure no one could survive that attack if he hit them with it at least anyone of his current strength, and he was pretty sure it would be pretty hard to dodge due to the fact that Kashiki was invisible when he moved, and invisible when he attacked, and that he could attack from nearly any angle. Welp now that the fun part was over Kashiki moved on to more basic swordsmanship training. Moving over to a tree and he unsheathed his sword again. He moved into his swordsmanship training, practicing the hit chains he worked on previously. After a while he returned to his stone resting place, propping his sword up against the rock and taking a sip of gross warm water from his canteen, he was thirsty and would just have to deal with taste. He turned towards the training grounds again, a new resolve after getting hydrated, and moved on to the next part of his vigorous pre chunin exam training.

WC: 652, 4007 remaining.

Kashiki took a deep breath and focused for a second, increasing his chakra recharge. Kashiki had learned this minor technique from his father when he was little. It was useless in combat because it took a lot of focus and completely blank mind and emotions, but it was useful to recharge quickly while you trained. He took a few more breathes and another sip of warm water from his canteen. The taste was pretty bad and warm water wasn't something that Kashiki particularly enjoyed, but water was water. He turned to a new tree, now for his least favorite part of swordsmanship training, jutsu practice. Kashiki held the blade in front of himself, the tip of the dusky metal blade glinted from the sunlight, appearing like a beacon or torch held in Kashiki's hands. "First step, chakra flow training, If I'm gonna win the chunin exams I'll need my chakra flow to be perfect. It needs to be unhindered by anything and the flow of chakra needs to be instantaneous through my body." Kashiki said as he began to stir the chakra within himself. first off he flowed the chakra through the eight gates, working on his speed and taking the most direct route while staying unhindered while passing through the other chakra points while moving form one gate to the next. Kashiki flowed his chakra thought his body, the chakra racing through him caused his shin to tingle as it moved passed it. Kashiki pushed through this distraction before moving all his chakra back to where it started. "Next I need to work on flowing all my chakra to one point so my jutsu have the most power they can. I'm not gonna have a shot if my jutsu aren't working at their highest potential." Kashiki said as he worked on flowing chakra throughout his body. First he focused, flowing all his chakra into his arm as quick as possible. Then he did the same with the other arm. He worked on increasing the speed at which the chakra flowed by splitting the chakra between multiple different paths all leading to the same place. He worked on changing the nature and form of the chakra as it flowed as well.

After perfecting his chakra flow he moved on to putting his training into action. Kashiki drew his sword, turning to the tree he slashed his blade, the instant before hitting he flowed his chakra through the blade. The blade was engulfed with a purple aura and a sheath of whirling and slicing wind, increasing the attack power by insane levels. Kashiki sliced into the tree, cleaving it like the last one. With his improved chakra flow he could activate his jutsu the instant before they landed to ensure that they had an effect without wasting his chakra. Kashiki ended the jutsu and sheathed the blade. He was feeling pretty good about his chances during the exams, the power of his sword was incredible, but he had also devolved a few more tricks so he didn't become a one trick pony.

WC: +511, 3496

Kashiki pulled a handful of shuriken out of his bag, he rolled them in his hand, kneading chakra into them and creating tiny threads of chakra between them and his fingers. Kashiki channeled futon chakra into his hand and flowed them down the thin chakra threads, surrounding the shuriken with a swirling aura of slicing wind and futon chakra. He whirled the shuriken over head and lengthened the threads, whipping the shuriken at a tree. The shuriken stabbed into the oak wood before a spiral of wind diced around the shuriken, sending wood chips flying everywhere. He pulled the shuriken back to his hand and ended the jutsu he had activated. Then he dropped the shuriken back into his pocket with a jingle. Kashiki drew his sword out of his bag, an idea suddenly catching his attention as he worked on his shuriken trick. Kashiki wove chakra into the hilt of the blade and his hand, threading the chakra between the two creating thin threads of chakra between them. Kashiki struck with his attack combo, but on downwards diagonal strikes he let go of the blade and pulled it down while moving backwards, allowing him more mobility and unpredictability in combat. Kashiki spun the blade around behind himself while he performed a spinning kick, the kick connecting then immediatly followed by the blade. Kashiki let the blade fall as he struck in a high kick followed by a punch with the other hand. He swung the blade's strings upwards bringing the blade up in a upwards diagonal slash which he followed with a leg sweep. Kashik pulled the blade to his hand and released the puppetry jutsu before sliding the dusky metal odachi into its sheath once more. Kashiki unclasped his canteen from his belt and opened it, taking a sip of the warm water and swallowing it. He still hated the taste but it was at least a little refreshing. Kashiki wiped the sweat from his brow, Kashiki grabbed his bag and put it on his back. "I think I'll check out the festivities and maybe grab something to eat before I train some more. Maybe someone will be around to train with me." Kashiki said as he headed off for the Leaf Village Proper. Kashiki walked by the trees of the training fields. A slight breeze blew threw the trees, rustling the leaves in a calming melody. Kashiki wandered among the oaks, finding his way to the village. The chunin exams were in full swing, banners of the village symbols were hung where ever it was possible, and shinobi from all over were crowding the streets of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, even the back alleys were packed with people. Kashiki passed by the arenas, a few exhibition matches were going on and Kashiki pondered watching them, then his stomach grumbled. Maybe he could watch a few after he got something to eat. Kashiki walked over to a food cart selling food for people watching the matches. Kashiki looked at the menu and after thinking for a moment ordered dumplings on a stick. The man opened a compartment and pulled out a stick with three soft dumplings impaled on it. The dumplings smelt delicious and Kashiki paid the vendor before biting into them. The first was pork filled and had a smoky flavor with a hint of barbecue. After scarfing that one down Kashiki began to eat the next one. This one was filled with coconut shrimp, the sweet glazed shrimp were delicious after the smoky spicy pork. The next was stuffed with sour and tangy teriyaki chicken. As Kashiki ate he watched the exhibition matches. The first match he saw was a man with an incredibly large sword versus a young girl. Kashiki watched as the man swung the sword with incredible speed, using the momentum to fuel his attacks and movement. Even with the mans expertise at using the giant weapon, the young girl easily and nimbly dodged every attack, ducking low to the ground and leaping over the man. Eventually the man almost hit the girl, but left himself open in doing so. The girl moved right up against him and jabbed a kunai into his side, ending the round. Kashiki walked away as the next round began.

WC: 714, 2782

Kashiki walked through the streets of the village Hidden in the Leaves, his mind wandering. He thought of his training, he had been working his butt off nonstop for the past few weeks to get ready for the exams, but was it enough? He had created and perfected jutsu, he was sure that if he landed a single strike with his blade he could end the fight there and then, but was he able to land a strike, that was the real question. Kashiki thought about the festivities that the leaf village was hosting, the chunin exams, a test of you strength and smarts that every genin looked forwards too, this is where you proved yourself and made a name that everyone would remember. This could be the start of his legacy, Kashiki got excited by the thought of winning, a shining point on the legacy he would leave behind, when he came up from the rear and won the thing. Everyone loved an underdog story. Next Kashiki thought of who he would be facing. Genin from all over were coming to take place in the exams, there were bound to be people stronger then him but he couldn't give up, he needed to try his hardest even in the face of a superior opponent. Just like he did against Takao, the jonin that had helped him train. Kashiki returned to reality, a crowd had formed around one of the exhibition  arenas. Sure, there were crowds all over the place because of the chunin exams every street was crowded, but this was a different breed of crowd. People were packed against each other, each of them trying to push or sneak their way to a spot so they could see. Kashiki wondered who was fighting, but he ultimately ignored the crowd and the fight itself. He didn't have time to waste he needed to get every drop of training that he could squeeze out of his spare time, every second that he wasn't doing something he needed to be training and better his body and skills. Kashiki returned to his walk to the training fields, only getting distracted once more. Set up along side the main road Kashiki was walking on was a metal cart with wheels on its legs, Kashiki knew that this was an ice cream cart. It was hot and the fullness he had felt from the dumplings was starting to wear off. Kashiki hopped in line, pulling some ryo out of his pocket while he waited in line. Kashiki waited until it was his time to order. When it was his time to order he looked at the options, searching for his favorite flavor, they had it! Kashiki ordered a single scoop of his favorite flavor of ice cream, matcha, also called green tea. He had loved the stuff  since he was a child, it wasn't too rich and had a very refreshing taste that went well with the coolness of ice cream especially on a hot day like this. Kashiki licked his ice cream as he continued on his way back to the training grounds.

WC: +520, 2262 left

Kashiki took a lick of his green tea ice cream. The refreshing flavor was great on a hot day like today. Kashiki found a water fountain and dumped the warm water out of his canteen before filling it with cool water. Kashiki finished his green tea ice cream, before noticing a sudden emptiness in his back pocket. Kashiki turned to see a couple kids running away from him, a coin purse in there hands. Kashiki sighed and begun to chase the kids, he was much faster but they were slippery and Kashiki couldn't get close to them as the bobbed and wove through the crowed streets. Kashiki cornered them in a back alley. He took a step forwards and put his hand out palm up. "Hand it over." Kashiki said as he stared at the boy that had his coin purse in his hand. Then a brick hit him in the face. He wasn't expecting them to put up a fight, but they did. Kashiki was completely unaware as a brick sailed through the air, smashing into his face. Kashiki stumbled backwards and brought his hand to his face, feeling the warm blood run down it. Kashiki dashed at the kids, sweeping one of them off their feet and kicking another in the chest knocking him back. Kashiki lashed his arm out and grabbed the ring leader's wrist, twisting it causing him to drop the purse he had stolen. Kashiki kicked the purse up into this other hand before pushing the kid back causing him to stumble and fall on to his butt. Kashiki turned away from the kids and left. He slipped the purse back into his pocket and wiped the blood off his face with his sleeve. Kashiki strolled down the path to the training fields. Just like before, the wind blew threw the oak trees of the training fields, the leaves rustling created an calming melody just like before. Kashiki strolled down the path, listening to the leaves rustle an the birds chirp. He arrived at the training field he had been using today to find it already in use by a group of genin watched over and instructed by another shinobi, a jonin assuming by the green vest with a red spiral on its back. Kashiki sighed and turned away, continuing down the path until he came across another field. This one wasn't in use yet, but it wasn't nearly as big as the one Kashiki had been using before. It wasn't like he needed the space, he was training by himself after all, it was just that he liked having some breathing room and he missed the boulder he had used as a seat earlier that day. Kashiki sat his stuff by a tree and took a sip from his canteen. He picked up the scabbard that held his odachi and pulled the blade out of it, making sure it was still ok. After confirming that his dusky metal sword was just as he left it he slid it back into it's scabbard and attacked it to his belt near his hip. "Now... what should I work on next."

WC: +524, 1738 left

Kashiki decided that a good warmup stretch followed by some strength and endurance training and a little bit of speed and agility would be a good place to start after taking a break and getting a meal. He did basic pushups then moved on to tight hands pushups, wide hands pushups, one handed pushups, side pushups, and lastly pushups on his knuckles. After the pushups Kashiki moved on to crunches. After doing basic crunches he moved onto reverse crunches and finally roll out crunches. After doing the crunches and push up Kashiki moved to tree exercises. He hung from the tree by his arms before pulling himself up until his head was over the branch. He continued with these until his arms ached. "one, two, three, four, five...."

"....Nine hundred ninety six, Nine hundred ninety seven, Nine hundred ninety eight, Nine hundred ninety nine, one thousand!" Kashiki dropped from the tree, he could barely even move his arms from the pull ups. "Maybe my training has finally caught up with me." AKshiki wondered as his arms tensed and ached. Kashiki rubbed out his muscles and waited for the aching to subside. After a while the muscles began to relax and after a bit more Kashiki felt confident enough to climb the tree for the first part of the leg portion of this training session. Kashiki performed the Supernatural Walkign technique, his  feet sticking to the tree as he walked up it and to the bottom of a branch. He hung from the branch by nothing but the chakra in his feet, his head dangling above the ground. Kashiki began his exercises. These were what Kashiki called pulling squats. They worked in a similar fashion to squats, you did the same, but you did them while hanging upside down. You used your leg muscles to pull yourself into the bottom of a squat position then let yourself down slowly so you don't fall from the tree. Kashiki did ten of these, while it didn't sound like a lot these were incredibly difficult to do and doing them for a prolonged period of time was dangerous to the brain and put a lot of strain on the chakra reserves of whoever was doing it. After doing ten pulling squats Kashiki moved on to bending knee pulls. Performed similar to pulling squats, these required the person to pull there body up by bending the knees. He did five of these before he could go no longer and dropped to the ground. He stumbled to a tree and slumped to the ground, his legs burning with pain like someone had just stabbed them with a million white hot knives. He rubbed the muscles out as best he could before taking a sip from his canteen, the cool water was refreshing and helped take his mind off his shaky legs. He slipped the canteen back onto his belt and clasped its holder close. Next he picked up his sword's scabbard and connected it to his hip as well, it was starting to get lat and he should probably get some rest, tomorrow was another day of training. Plus he wasn't really suppose to be out in the training fields after dark, and the sun was just about to start cresting the hills. Kashiki set out, walking on the path leading to and from the training fields.

WC: +561, 1177 left

Kashiki strolled along, listening to the breeze rustle through the trees once more. The sun had begun its descent over the mountains, painting the forest in the brilliant piercing orange light of sunset. Kashiki took a sip from his canteen as he walked. His mind wandered as he walked down the path towards the village hidden in the leaves. He imagined the chunin exams, fighting not only to become a chunin, but to make a name for himself and starting his legacy. Kashiki imagined winning the exams for Konoha, He imagined the expressions on everyone's faces. Amazement, surprise, disgust. Kashiki imagined the warm hugs and pats on the back from his mother and father. Kashiki mind wandered again, this time to a much more important thought, more of a vision that just his imagination.

He didn't know why he was seeing this and he didn't know who or what had sent the image to him, but whatever or whoever did Kashiki knew exactly what the image was. It was Sunagakure, his homeland. Actually, not his homeland, but his family's homeland. Buildings made of baked clay and molded earth dotted the desert sands, people, more than a few of them, walked around and worked on the rebuilding process. That's exactly what they were doing, rebuilding the Village Hidden in the Sands, rebuilding his ancestral homeland. The next image scared Kashiki. He was standing in the sands of the Land of Wind, his blade in hand. He was panting and squinting, staring down another boy who was younger then him. The boy held a shard of colored glass in his and which matched three other shards that stuck out of Kashiki's chest. Where the shards had stabbed into him Kashiki's clothes and flesh began to lose their color. As in, actually lose their color, the flesh was light gray and felt hard, while the poncho that was once a beautiful myriad of colors was grey tone and hard and brittle like thin glass. Kashiki's eyes were framed with some form of markings, and his shaggy hair had grown to cover most of his body. He rustled a bit of the hair and needles flew at the boy, striking him in the chest and causing him to fall to the ground. Kashiki walked over to the fallen boy and pulled out one of his kunai before slitting the boy's throat. The images worried Kashiki. Was he going to become a murderer? did he defect from the Hidden Leaf Village? Who was rebuilding The Village Hidden in the Sands?

Kashiki calmed himself and continued on his way, whatever happened happened. He knew for a fact that he would never murder someone without good reason and he knew the he would never betray the Hidden Leaf Village even if the Hidden Sand Village was rebuilt. Kashiki wasn't the type to defect and was especially not the type to needlessly murder especially not when the person to be killed was a child. Kashiki walked down the path, the Leaf Village finally coming into view over the trees painted orange by the sunset.

WC: +516, 661

The hustle and bustle of the the festivities for the chunin exams were in full swing still, even at a late hour as this. Kashiki could hear the music from the bands on the streets. He could hear the sounds of explosions and flowing water, of shifting earth and crackling lightning; the sounds of the exhibition matches still rung through the the Village Hidden in the leaves, making it sound more like an underground ninja fighting ring then one of the hidden ninja villages. Kashiki heard the cheers of the people watchinh the matches, happy roars of excitement over their favorite combatant winning the match, roars of hate and sadness when their favorite lost his match. Kashiki could smell the street food vendors and their amazing treats and sweets, Kashiki's mouth watered at the thought of more three flavor dumpling on a sticks, more matcha green tea ice cream, more charcoal grilled chicken on a stick. Kashiki's stomach growled as he imagined the delicious food and tasty sweets that one could find in the festive streets of the village hidden in the leaves during the chunin exam festivities. Kashiki walked up to the gate leading into konoha, but he noticed a familiar face standing guard over the gate, it was his jonin mentor (mentor?) Takao.

"Hey Takao, how's it going, see anything cool while you were keeping watch or was it more of a slow day?" Kashiki asked as he waved to the jonin. He listened to the jonin curiously inquire about why he was out and about, especially at such a late hour.

"Well I had another hard day of training, you know how it its. Got a lot done thought, I feel a lot more comfortable with my fire jutsu, and I've even made a few new ones to help me out in all the tough fights all be going up against in the exams. Anyways, I should be off, my parents are waiting and I don't want to get in the ways of your jonin duties. Hope I see you at the exams!" Kashiki said as he hurried off, not waiting for a reply from his jonin mentor. The streets seemed to be even more filled then they were before, there wasn't even walking lanes anymore, it was just a mass of people moving in every which way. The streets would have reminded you of the ocean, the people were so tightly packed that you couldn't even see the roads from above anymore, and everyone seemed to be moving in a different direction, making waves and ripples as groups of friends and families each went about their own business. Kashiki slowly made his way through the crowd, ignoring the smells of his favorite three flavor dumplings and the savory scent of charcoal grilled chicken on a skewer. He ignored the metal stand serving ice cream to children and adults alike, even if they had Kashiki's favorite matcha green tea ice cream he didn't have time to stop now. Kashiki struggled through the over packed streets, finding his way through the crowd until, eventually, he was home. Kashiki yanked open the door, pulling it shut behind him as he entered the cozy home. He slipped his shoes off at the door and raced up stairs. He sat his stuff in his room before getting ready for bed and climbing under the covers of his bed, drifting into the warm embraces of his blankets and the soft cushion of his pillow, and falling asleep.

WC: 585, 756 left

Kashiki entered the warm embrace of sleep, his dreams taking him to the two places he wanted to go least. First, to Sunagakure, The Village Hidden in the Sands. A sand storm blew across the desert sands, lightning flashed creating pillars of bright light inside the fog like storm of blowing sand. Thunder boomed, the only thing capable of being heard aside from the gusting winds. Kashiki stood in the gusting waves of sand, the lights and dark shadows of the rebuilt Village Hidden in the Sands loomed in the background, visible only as flickers and dark imprints in the sand. Kashiki stood looking at a young man, probably no older then he was now. The boy had the tell tale headband on his forehead, making him as a shinobi, but Kashiki could not tell the symbol engraved on it that marked which village he was from. The boy was dressed in colorful clothes, and was wearing a pendant made of many pieces of different colored glass, formed into a seed of life shape. Kashiki's hair grew longer, and he rustled it launching fine needles of hardened hair at the boy, piercing him a few times in the chest. The boy fell to the ground, grasping at his now pierced lungs and internal organs. Kashiki walked up to him, drawing his blade from its scabbard. It was the same blade he had now, the blade that was passed down from his mother who received it from her mother who received it from her mother and so on. Kashiki brought the blade to the boys throat, slitting it with one quick slash. The boy reached to his wounded throat in vain, his hands being doused with his own crimson blood. The blood poured out, dying his once rainbow colored collection of clothes various shades of red. The viscous crimson liquid soaked the young boy's pendant, the once rainbow of glass now coated in dark red blood. Kashiki pulled the boy's pendant off and wiped the blood off on a piece of the dead boy's clothing. He tied the pendant around his neck, then he lifted the boy up and slung him over his shoulder, headed deeper into the sandstorm.

The dream shifted, and Kashiki found himself in the place he had been dreading most for the past couple weeks, The chunin exams. This fear was different, it wasn't like the fear of the previous dream where he was in a strange and unknown place or because he was doing something he never thought he would ever do. This fear was of his chance at failure and the idea of failing to create a name for himself, it was the idea that he would be defeated and forgotten, tossed to the side like garbage. What he was more scared of then any of that, was the idea that he wouldn't become a chunin. The idea terrified him.

The dream it self was Kashiki standing in an arena, across it was a ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist. Kashiki bowed to his opponent as the round started. The hidden mist genin started the round of simply, by throwing a barrage of kunai at Kashiki, Kashiki easily evaded them, leaping over the projectile weapons. Kashiki drew his blade as he dashed at the hidden mist shinobi. The shinobi pressed his hands together, firing off hand seals at incredible speed before clapping his hands together and thrusting them outwards. Kashiki neared the hidden mist shinobi but was a moment too slow, the hidden mist genin finished his jutsu as Kashiki got within striking range. Kashiki swung his blade as a dragon formed purely of water burst out from the mist genin's out thrust hands. It was to late for him to dodge the dragon and the blade passed through it harmlessly, Kashiki was thrown back into the wall of the arena, slumping to the ground. Kashiki's world went dark as the crowded cheered for the genin from the village hidden in the mists. Tendrils of dark purple energy wrapped around him, surrounding him and pulling him downwards into the ground. Kashiki clawed at the rocky earth, but the tendrils were much to strong and continued to pull him into the ground until he was buried.

Kashiki woke with a start, his body was trembling and sweat rolled down his face. Kashiki slipped out of bed and put his shoes on. Then he walked downstairs and into the kitchen. Kashiki turned on the tap and got a cup of water before stepping outside. He wasn't letting anything stand between him and victory, even if it meant extra early training until the day of the exams.

WC: +781
End thread

Training:
77 to Katon c->b
6778 left for jutsu training
trashing extra

+2 ep for WC