Fail and Fall Back Up Again (Solo Training)

Kei cautiously walked out onto the grassy area before her. Left and right. Left and right. No one could’ve been around at this hour. And besides, who cared about her, anyways? Kei groaned. If it rained, she was walking back inside. And she hated the rain. Her shoes clomped against the firm grassy ground as she took a deep breath.

If only the whole world could be like this. No, she wasn’t a pacifist. But no wars, no villages at each others’ throats. No weird myths and legends. Okay, maybe the last ones were fun to listen to. But Kei needed to clear their mind right now. She took a deep breath, in and out.

In…and out…

They focused deep inside of themselves, almost like the meditation her father was so obsessed with. Almost as if they could feel the chakra. Course, if someone were to walk in and disrupt her now, they’d get a beating. They always did.

In and out…

In and out…

“Ram. Snake. Tiger. C’mon, Kei, you know this!” Kei accidentally shouted the last part out loud. “Ram. Snake. Tiger.” Her hands first moved slowly, barely going through the motions, then faster, but still not fully performing the technique. She repeated the three words to herself, over and over again, like a mantra.

“Ram. Snake. TIGER!” Kei covered her mouth after that last bellow, but looked to the side of her to see an identical copy of her. Damn. It wasn’t everyday you saw that, except if you were a seasoned shinobi. Like my parents.

Kei waved her hand, the clone waved hers. She jumped once, then twice, then three times. The clone didn’t fail or waver to follow her master’s instructions. This..was fun. Kei could’ve continued to play, er…experiment, with the clone until sundown. But she had to continue training.

With clear reluctance, Kei picked up a small granite-like rock that happened to be next to her left foot. She examined it with a smile. She needed to be like that rock. Tough, sturdy, strong. She was 1 of those three things.

She was tough. And she would show those imbeciles that she was more than an apathetic bookworm, oh, yes. They would see. In due time, at least.

But first? This clone needed to-

THUMP.

She chucked the rock at the clone, which quickly dissipated. Cussing under her breath, Kei picked up the rock and hurled it into the forest, before cracking her knuckles and staring at the block of wood beside her.

Time to move on. However much she may hate it. However long that may take. Kei Kuna Koibito could do this. Over her dead body she could.

CHAKRA LEVELS LEFT: 120/125

STAMINA LEVELS LEFT: 25/25

[Clone Technique - Gotten]

Now. Onto the next technique. Kei walked over to the side of the Academy, where a piece of paper and a pencil sat nearby on a rocky bench. She picked both up, scratching off Clone Technique, and giving her signature death stare to a poor elderly passerby.

Only 4 more to go. And Kei knew she was saving the Transformation Technique for last.

She stared at the massive line of trees before her. She’d never been claustrophobic, just disliked small, dark, cramped spaces like this. The tree cover blocked out the majority of the sunlight, which frightened her. No, she wasn’t nyctophobic, if that was the right term. She just…didn’t like it.

There was a difference.

Kei stopped close to the first row of trees, forcing herself to crane her neck up. The tree was at least 20ft tall, with the trunk being most of that 20ft. She growled, in a weirdly bark-like kind of way, before steeling herself. She could do this. She…could do this.

A deep breath in. And out.

She could almost feel the chakra inside of her going to her feet, the warmth it gave her. Like sitting by the fireplace coddling baby Eiko. That memory made her relax. Considering Eiko would be going into the Academy soon enough.

With the chakra firmly planted in her feet, Kei rushed at the tree, carefully to keep her timing and pace swift but not too swift. Too swift, and she’d run out quicker. Too slow, and that would be just…sad. Yeah, best word to describe it, totally.

With a resounding stick, Kei’s feet thumped onto the tree. She waltzed around it, dancing around to the music in her head. This time, a few of her father’s friends, plus the same elderly guy from earlier, gave her…interesting glances.

If only they knew. She was on her own timestream, her own beat.

Then she did something stupid. After climbing to the top of the tree, Kei leaped off, hitting the trunk of the tree across with a resounding thump. Oof. Kei slumped down on the trunk of the tree, her chakra dissipating. Maybe it was time to take a nap.

Before she could do so, Kei walked back to her pencil and paper, and scribbled off Tree Climbing Technique. Damn, she needed a break. She wasn’t tired per say, just bored. Training was boring. But she had to do it….

Before she continued, Kei’s memory came flooding back. That one day, when she heard her parents talking….

”Do you think she’ll ever find out?”

“Nobody needs to tell her yet. Sure it can wait till she’s out of the Academy.

“You know she doesn’t want to be there. Why don’t we just yank her out while we can?”

“Give her time. I’m sure something will spark in her. And we’ll tell her when we’re ready.”

She’d immediately stomped away, tears in her eyes. Of course her parents didn’t notice, they never did. They had 9 other kids to take care of. What was the oldest to them, except a co-parent? There was Aki, but he was now, like her, finishing up his studies.

And unlike her, he actually cared.

Kei spun back around on her heel, groaning in agitation, before staring at the pond at the center of the forest. Frick. Come on!

CHAKRA LEVELS LEFT: 115/125

STAMINA LEVELS LEFT: 24/25

[Tree Climbing Technique - Gotten]