“You’re still too weak, girl.” Yamato said as he stood over the young girl. The girl was panting on the ground, struggling to catch her breath. “I can’t believe you passed out of the Academy like this, girl.” Yamato continued. His voice was deep and grizzled, with the sound of someone who was above the girl on the ground. “Yukino, stand up. This is unbecoming of a Sarutobi.” Yamato said as he stood there, one hand in his pocket. Yukino coughed, her throat dry from fatigue. Despite this, she managed to stand up on her own, her legs somewhat shaky. “Come at me, girl.” Yamato said as he continued to stand there, not even bothering to  bring up his guard. There was a slight stutter to her sudden movements as her muscles caught up to her brain. This quickly worked itself out as she managed to reach her top speed. Yukino jumped up into the air and came back down with a swift heel strike aiming straight for Yamato’s head. To answer this, Yamato simply caught her foot in his hand. He began to start the motion to throw her away, but Yukino thought of this.

Using the motion she allowed herself to start falling forward. Along with this, she started to come down with her other leg, which would have acted as another heel strike aimed more so for his neck-shoulder area. While he didn’t pick up on this initially, Yamato quickly saw through her actions and simply moved faster to throw her forward while adjusting his upper body. Due to his strength and speed, his own actions countered hers and she found herself flying towards the wall. Her back hit the wall first, sliding down to the ground on her butt. This completely rocked her, causing her to lose her breath. “As a kunoichi, you must be stronger and faster than the boys of your rank, girl. Otherwise you’ll get looked down upon. As a Sarutobi, there is no room to get looked down upon. You must carry our name forward, and right the wrongs of your predecessors.” Yukino didn’t really understand the last line, though the ones that came before it had been drilled into her head since she was a little girl.

The weight and pride that came along with the Sarutobi was part of her, and at this point, she didn’t need to be reminded of these facts. Besides, at this point, she wasn’t necessarily in the listening mood. She was concentrating on catching her breath, something she had been struggling with for the past fifteen minutes. “While you are somewhat faster than kids your age, and even seem possess faster reflexes, your overall strength is too weak.” Yamato said as he began to walk towards her. Yukino knew what this meant, and if she didn’t find the strength she needed to get up, she’d be in a much worse position than she was in before. Using the wall behind her as a crutch, she pushed up against it with her legs, inching her way up until she was on her feet again. This caused Yamato to stop, his face still blank and emotionless, though he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride as he watched his daughter mold herself into a stronger version of herself. “The Will of Fire burns strong within you, girl. However, you are nowhere near your limit.” Yamato said as he watched his daughter, waiting to see what her next move would be.

“Not near my limit? How is that the case.” Yukino thought to herself. She felt like she could pass out from fatigue at this point. Her back was hurting from being thrown against the wall. Her head was hurting from dehydration and the impact of the slam as well. Her eyes burned from her own sweat, one eye she was keeping closed as it burned too much to keep it open. Her body was soaked, so there was no point in trying to wipe it away. Yamato was pushing her harder than he normally was. Yukino assumed this may had been because she had recently graduated from the academy not even a week ago. She was supposed to be a fully trained ninja now, but the gap between herself and her father was immense. It was like her father was on top of a mountain that Yukino wasn’t even at the foot of. Maybe in this example, it would be better to say he was the mountain. In any case, she knew her father wouldn’t let her off easy. They wouldn’t stop sparring until he said it was time, regardless of how she felt.

Her arms were heavy, sweat droplets falling down her chin. Some of her sweat even finding its way into her mouth, filling her sense of taste with an almost overwhelming saltiness. One of her eyes were closed due to the fact that it burned with sweat. Her throat was dry, and continued to be so due to her heavy breathing. “Damn..” Yukino thought to herself as she stared her father down. “I need to think of something, anything.” The room they were in was the main dojo of her family’s house. This being said, she didn’t have any pieces of her environment she could use to her advantage.  There was no running into the trees or bouncing around in an attempt to use her natural speed. Besides, she seriously doubted that even if she could that, it would work. At this point in time, the sheer thought of using that much energy made her want to throw up. “You need to pick yourself up faster than this, girl.” Yamato said, his voice cutting through Yukino’s thoughts. “If you can’t manage to recover even with this amount of time, you’ll be in trouble out in the field.”

It may have been because she had expended herself so much, but she was having trouble with understanding what he meant with his statement. “In the...field?” Yukino managed to say in between breaths. “Yes child, the field of battle.” Yamato said as he began to walk closer to Yukino. Her heart started to race as she watched him walk closer to him. “The place where children have no place.” he began as he removed one of his hands from his pockets. “You will have to prove to me that you have a place there. Otherwise, I will never allow to ever set foot on one.” Yamato said as he slowly walked towards Yukino. She instinctively walked backwards only to be stopped by the wall behind her. “The Sarutobi has a closer eye on them now more than ever. We can't afford to allow any more stains upon the legacy that Hiruzen himself left. Do you understand?” Yamato said as he stopped within arms reach of Yukino. While she was completely out of breath before this, something within her clicked. With Yamato so close to her, it felt as though her nostrils had cleared, and for the first time since they started training, she was able to breath.

Yukino stood up straight and took a deep breathe through her nose. Her father raised an eyebrow to this, watching her carefully. Even for him though, she wasn’t able to catch her body flicker before it was too late. Before he knew it, there was a foot in the side of his neck. Yamato managed to catch himself before he fell over from the impact, however, there was a throbbing pain in his neck. While anyone else would’ve been mad, he thought it was mostly interesting. Turning his head towards the direction the kick came from, he didn’t see her. Before he could react properly, another kick landed in the center of his back; almost causing him to lose his breath. He was quicker to react after this, quickly turning his torso to meet Yukino, only to be met by a flurry of kicks that were all aimed to at his head. He could see all the attacks, and thus could react to all of them. Even if this was the case, the sheer volume of attacks cluttered his vision, making it somewhat difficult to react properly. Finally, one hit grazed his cheek, though it allowed the opening Yamato was looking for.

Grabbing on to the same leg that grazed him, he started to pull Yukino closer in to him. “You’re hopeless attempt to overwhelm me failed gi-” his sentence being cut off by another kick. This kick used the momentum Yamato started when he pulled her close, adding to the power of her kick. It seemed that he lowered his guard as well, allowing for the full brunt of her attack to hit him squarely in the nose. This caused his grip to loosen, allowing Yukino to free herself and gain some distance between them. “I see, so you still got some fight in you yet, girl.” Yamato said as he wiped his nose of blood. Yamato began to move towards Yukino, only stopping once he realized the truth. Yukino fell to a single knee, her head pointed down to the ground. “I see.” Yamato said as he walked towards Yukino. Reaching her, he lifted her head up by her chin and looked into her eyes. “Good job, Yukino.” Yamato said as he picked up her limp body.

-Exits Thread-

(First Post) WC: 778, STR D to D-1
(Second Post) WC: 782, SPD D to D-1