The Princess of Blades (Naruto/Exalted)

Crilltic · Jan 5, 2017

Week 1 Training Schedule:
General Structure: You have SIX DAYS left in the week with which you can train. Each day is split into 4 segments. There are several types of actions Tenten can use to fill these slots. Training Actions, Social Actions and Sleeping. They are explain in more detail below.

Fatigue: Tenten cannot constantly exert herself without become exhausted. By default each Training Action taken increases her Fatigue Counter by 1. Social Actions are fatigue neutral (unless stated otherwise), and Sleeping decreases her Fatigue Counter by 2. However, taking less Sleeping Actions than the number of days in the week increases Tenten's fatigue counter by 2 (on top of whatever increase the action has associated with it).

Tenten can accumulate up to 4 Fatigue (2xStamina) before she is Exhausted. If she becomes Exhausted she cannot do any actions that increase Fatigue until the Counter ticks down to 0.

By default, each day has 2 Training Actions, 1 Social Action and 1 Sleeping action, which is Fatigue neutral. Tenten cannot however go below 0 Fatigue, even if her actions would normally take her below that.

Training Actions:
These are the bread and butter of the week. Tenten goes through intensive training trying to prepare herself for the Chunin Finals. As stated above each training action increase your fatigue counter by 1. Each training action can be dedicated towards one specific object (as specified by the action. It's fairly straightforward). One training action equal 1 XP towards paying the cost for buying that specific attribute/charm/ability dot etc. (and only that specific one. Not cross training).

For the purposes of this training, Ninjutsu and Genjutsu techniques are treated as Charms in terms of XP cost, while Taijutsu and Fuinjutsu are treated as abilities. Seal Components have an XP cost equal to their complexity. Certain Training Resources can increase the yield of training actions that you take under their supervision.

By default Tenten has TWELVE SLOTS this week.

Available Training Resources:
- Alone: All by your lonesome. On one hand it is likely to be the best chance you have of keeping your techniques secret. On the other hand it means you have to figure things out without. (No bonuses)
- Gai-sensei: Despite his weirdness, your sensei is legitimately a great teacher. Especially if it something Taijutsu related. He also has passable Ninjutsu skills. (Bonus to Taijutsu training)

Train Jutsu
Time: 1 slot
Training Resource: [ ]
[Special Restriction: You need to have a Training Resource capable of helping you]

Train Attribute
Time: 1 slot
Training Resource: [ ]

Train Ability
Time: 1 slot
Training Resource: [ ]

Train Charm
Time: 1 slot
Training Resource: [ ]

Learn Seal Component
Time: 1 slot
Training Resource: [ ]

Social Actions:
There are the other options that Tenten can take during the week. They, unlike training actions do not accumulate fatigue. They have an increased chance of unlocked special events, new intimacies and training resources. Since this is the first week there are not a lot of these that Tenten can do. Later weeks will have more options for what she can spend her free time on. By default, Tenten has SIX SLOTS for social actions this week.

I can't believe it's not Genjutsu?
Time: 1 slot
You said you'd meet up with Sakura to do some Genjutsu training, and you intend to follow through with that. Arrange a time this week to get some training done with her.
[Can only be picked once. Guaranteed Special Event]

Meeting the Competition
Time: 1 Slot
You really need to do more research on who you'll be facing in the finals, especially now that you actually have a narrow field of competitors you can study in-depth. Because right now, the only one you're confident in your knowledge of is Neji, and given how he's avoiding sparring with you you're not even that confident about him.
[1 slot per competitor research]

A Quick Check-up
Time: 1 slot
The nurse who swung by when you were in the hospital mentioned that the medical-nin would like for you to come in for an examination. Might as well get taken care of, especially if you're going to be visiting the hospital anyway.
[Can only be picked once]

Paying a Visit
Time: 1 slot
Lee should be waking up sometime soon, and you've already promised yourself that you're going to be visiting him when he does. See how he is doing. Also, Temari is probably still in the hospital from your fight. You could probably swing by and visit her as well, she was a good fight if nothing else.
[1 slot per person visited, guaranteed event]

Rest & Recuperation
Time: 1 slot
It's not really going to do you any good if you spend all this time running yourself into the ground training and running around Konoha. Schedule some time for yourself to relax and recuperate in between training sessions. Visit the hotsprings, get some dumplings, whatever just don't think about finals
[Can be taken multiple times. Chance for random encounters. Subtracts 1 Fatigue]

Voting Structure: These votes are likely to be hideously complicated, so I would encourage everyone to vote for a plan name and only a plan name in order to allow for ease of counting.

Likewise, I am keeping voting CLOSED for the next three hours in order to give you guys time to discuss, ask questions and plan things out ahead of time before voting begins. This is a system that I used to great effect in my other Quests, so I'm going to be testing it out for these larger planning type votes.

I will make a post notifying people when the voting has opened, so don't worry about that.

VOTING CLOSED UNTIL 10:30 PM EST (AKA THREE HOURS FROM NOW)

NAME: Tenten
ALIASES: None
EXALTATION: Solar
CASTE: Dawn
ANIMA: A swirling array of scrolls and golden blades, spreading out like the rays of the rising sun.
MOTIVATION: To become a legendary kuniochi
ESSENCE: ●●●○○

MOTE POOLS:

Personal 9 (19)
Peripheral 12 (42)

CHAKRA POOL:

Chakra: 400 (400)

WILLPOWER:

Temporary: ●●●●● ●●●●●
Permanent: ●●●●● ●●●●●

HEALTH LEVELS:

- 0 [ ]
- 1 [ ] [ ]
- 2 [ ] [ ]
- 4 [ ]
- IN [ ]

LIMIT:

○○○○○ ○○○○○

VIRTUES:

Compassion: ●●●○○
Conviction: ●●●○○
Temperance: ●●○○○
Valor: ●●●○○

ATTRIBUTES:
- PRIMARY:

Perception ●●●●○
Intelligence ●●●○○
Wits ●●●●○

- SECONDARY:

Strength ●●○○○
Dexterity ●●●●●
Stamina ●●●○○

- TERTIARY:

Charisma ●●●○○
Manipulation ●●○○○
Appearance ●●○○○

CHAKRA SKILL:

Chakra ●●○○○ ○○○○○

ABILITIES:
- DAWN:

Archery ●○○○○
Taijutsu ●●○○○
Melee ●●●●● (Specialty: Knives ●○○)
Thrown ●●●●● (Specialty: Summoning Scrolls ●○○)
War ●○○○○

- TWILIGHT:

Craft ○○○○○
Investigation ●●●○○
Lore ●○○○○
Medicine ○○○○○
Occult ●●○○○ (Fortune-telling ●○○)

- ECLIPSE:

Bureaucracy ○○○○○
Fūinjutsu ●●○○○
Ride ○○○○○
Sail ○○○○○
Socialize ○○○○○

- ZENITH:

Integrity ●●●○○
Performance ○○○○○
Presence ○○○○○
Resistance ●○○○○
Survival ●●○○○

- NIGHT

Athletics ●●○○○
Awareness ●●●●●
Dodge ●○○○○
Larceny ○○○○○
Stealth ●●○○○

Crilltic · Jan 7, 2017

When you left Sakura last night with a promise to meet up later in the week for a practice session you didn't put much thought into what exactly you'd be doing the net day. Instead taking the opportunity to collapse into your bed almost immediately. Which unfortunately left the long-term planning for you to handle as you were still trying to blink the early morning sunlight from your eyes. Eventually however, once you had banished the sleep from your mind and mentally prepared yourself for another round of training with Gai-sensei you managed to come up with something workable.

Training with Gai was uneventful, or at least it was as uneventful as a training session with Gai can possibly be given neither Lee nor Neji were there. Which is to say it was something that would probably count as a highly eventful training session for any of the other Konoha genin teams. You're also starting to wonder if continuous one on one training sessions with Gai-sensei carries...infection risks. But thus far you've been able to politely decline his attempts to fit for a green jumpsuit. Somethings are just a bridge too far. Even for you and your middling fashion sensibilities.

But apart from that, training went well, working on your battle awareness normally wasn't so much physically taxing as mentally exhausting. Though given it was with Gai-sensei, it was still enough to leave you exhausted regardless.

Which is why you're currently cursing yourself for thinking your current activities. All you really want to do is crawl into a haphazard nest of blankets and pass out. Not be standing on a roof top in the middle of the night trying not fall asleep. Though in your past self's defense, you had assumed you could just do some cursory research in the village records to fill in the gaps from the preliminary match you missed.

So it's just your luck that the official database record on the sole Otogakure genin in the finals is basically non-existent. Which in hindsight isn't that surprising, he is only a genin after all. What's worse is you and Neji missed whatever his abilities were during the confrontation in the Forest of Death, if he even displayed them there at all. Combined with the fact that you were unconscious during his match and you're at a severe information disparity if he wins his match with Shikamaru. Sure, you could probably figure it out by then, but it will take time, and you only have a month.

You managed to scrounge up some information, namely that he utilized sound in some fashion and that he was generally considered a fairly competent strategist. But given that, from what you saw, he appeared to be acting as the leader of his teammates and he was from Otogakure that was hardly brilliant detective work. You had considered tracking down his preliminary opponent, but he was on the same team as Shikamaru, and you didn't know if he would feed you bad info. Perhaps another time.

Which is what left you in your current predicament, standing on a rooftop several blocks away from the compound where the delegation from Otogakure was staying trying to decide on your next move. Briefly, very briefly you had entertained the notion of trying to snoop around closer, but you had quickly quashed that notion as idiotic. Which, needless to say had left you at something of a loss of what to do.

It was then you noticed a lone figure moving along the rooftops away from the Otogakure compound. Your newly sharp eyesight easily making out the hunched figure and loosely hanging sleeves in the light of the full moon. It's just the man you wanted to find, but where's he going? At this hour? Given the direction he's headed, the only major thing you know is in that direction is Kikyō Castle, where the Sunagakure delegation is staying. But why's he head there of all places?

Already you can feel the desire to investigate welling up inside you. A mystery has presented itself right in front of you, and your natural inclination is to try and unravel it. You never were very good at staying out of other people's business like that. But something keeps you from immediately chasing after him. You get the sense that there's something bigger going on here, but then...you're in the middle of Konoha right now. How much danger can there possibly be?

Do you tail Dosu from a distance? At least to see where he's going?

[ ] Follow him to see where he is going
[ ] No, something about this doesn't feel right.

Very short update today. Not all of the events will be this short, but well this one ended up not filling nearly as much space as I had intended it to. In the future, if one ends up being this short I'll probably turn it into a double-feature with a random event because this one's on me. But in this case I wanted to get something out because I missed yesterday's update and it's already late for me.

Anyway, the next social event is visiting Temari in the hospital, so who knows. Maybe this event will end up giving you some nice conversation starters.

Crilltic · Jan 8, 2017

You quickly decide to follow after the Sound Genin, quickly dropping down off of the rooftops to make your pursuit along the street. You only want to remain on the same sight line as Dosu for as little time as possible. The act of following him itself proves to be surprisingly easy. You know the layout of Konoha like the back of your hand, it's one of the first thing they teach you in the Academy. But despite this, the chase itself proves to be harrowing in the extreme. You flit from shadow to shadow, as quietly as you can manage, without fore-knowledge of his powers you can only assume that sound itself is your enemy.

Even the sound of your heart beating sticks in your throat whenever he stops, almost convincing you that you had been found out each time, but each time he only shakes his head. Eventually, Kikyō Castle castle looms ahead of you, backlit by the full moon. The soft tones of the hundreds of wind chimes hanging on the castle echo in your ears as the wind picks up. As carefully as you can manage you steal yourself away on a nearby rooftop, watching intently as the sound genin calmly hops onto the roof of the castle.

It is then that you notice that he is not alone on that rooftop, for on the far edge, gazing intently at the starry sky is him. Even from back here you can make out that jar of sand he keeps on his back, and the red hair. Is that who Dosu came to meet, but why? You peer closer as the two of them quietly regard one another, desperately trying to catch at least a snippet of their conversation while also remaining hidden. Eventually, their words drift along to you on the back of the wind, faint and indistinct underneath the rushing of the wind, but you can still one thing out.

"Why have you come here?" The rasp in the voice all the indication you need for who says those words as the monster who tried to murder Lee rises from his perch on the edge of the castle. And the answer is clear as well, as the sound genin rolls up his sleeves, some form of weaponry glinting in the harsh moonlight. You feel a chill run up your spine, he was going to fight...that? But before you could even begin to contemplate the horror of that thought more words float down.

"The moon..." Something else reverberates through those words, tinged with an undeniable edge of malice, "When...the moon is full..." You feel your breath catch in throat as you shrink down against the edge of the roof you are lying on, the moon hangs overhead, bathing everything in a harsh white light. You see Dosu take a step back as the statue that...monster had been sitting on unfurls. Tendrils of sand rise up into the sky, writhing in the moonlight like newly-formed flesh. "It...hungers...it's blood is boiling."

A monster of sand now towers over the roof of the castle, its fury blanketing the area in palpable rage and killing intent. Your heart hammers in your chest, every single muscle in your body tensed. Your instincts scream at you to move, to run, but you remain rooted to the ground. Unable to move even as the terror, pure and unadulterated, courses through your veins. All you can do is hold your breath and watch as the beast that was once in the shape of a man scythes through the rooftop towards the sound genin. A roar pierces through the night air, though if that is from that thing or from the way it is tearing through the roof of the castle like wet paper you can't tell. For his part Dosu seems equally as frozen as the dust cloud overtakes him.

There is a crash, and you hear a faint scream echo before abruptly being silenced and then...nothing. The last few pieces of debris hit the ground and all that remains is the faint rush of wind and soft tones of wind chimes. You take a single breath as the dust begins to fade, eyes wide as you gaze at the unfolding scene of carnage. A great scar has unfolded on the top of the castle, Gaara's attack ripping apart the tiled surface like it wasn't even there. But you see no sign of Dosu, did he...dodge it? No, you realize. No he didn't, because just after you have the thought you catch sight of an arm laying near the edge of the rend.

A single arm. Nothing else remains.

You feel bile begin to rise in your throat, but you push it down as the dust clears further, revealing a heavily breathing Gaara. What is he? the question burns in your mind, alongside the terror, Not human, that's for sure. You can already feel a degree of hatred burning in your stomach, to just...brutally kill someone like that. Was that what he was going to do to Lee, if Gai-sensei hadn't intervened? You don't know, but the possibilities make you sick to your stomach.

You are at a complete loss of what to do, everything inside you screams at you to make a run for it, to tell someone...anyone what just happened. But the only movement you can manage is the jittery feeling of the adrenaline thundering through your system. You can't move, not while he's here, not after what he just did. So you just lay there, watching and waiting for something to happen. But nothing does, you lay there for what feels like hours, but in actuality was probably only a few minutes as Gaara seems to calm himself down, the smoke fading away in totality.

You are just beginning to muster the courage to slink away when something else distracts you, a glint of light off in the distance drawing your eyes to one of the balconies on the far side of the castle courtyard. You squint, eyes straining to see that far even in the moonlight, but when you eventually manage to focus in on the balcony what you see takes your breath away. Two figures stand on that balcony, seemingly engaged in conversation, but what's more you realize you recognize the both of them.

One of them is the jonin-sensei for Temari and her sibling, easily identifiable by the cloth covering half his face. But it is the other one that shocks you more, Kabuto...one of the leaf genin from the Chunin exams. What's he doing here? Talking to a Suna jounin in the middle of the night. It was his glasses that allowed you to spot them in the first place, but why is he even here? Your mind rapidly went through several possibilities. Spy for Suna? Possible. Probable even. Delivering a secret message to the Suna delegations? But why trust a genin? You flashback to the time you met him before the first exam, maybe he's not actually a genin? Possible. Somebody planted in the exam to keep watch? Maybe. If only you could get closer, to hear what they were saying, then you could probably have a better idea.

Or they could discover you, and then probably kill you. You don't particularly want to test your stealth skills against a Jounin, and someone who was probably not some genin. And so it goes, you lay there once more, unable to move without attracting the attention of something you'd really rather not attract the attention of.

Then the plot thickens, you spot a third figure moving along through the shadows near the balcony they are on. Squinting once again, you can just make out the distinctive shape of a konoha flak jacket as the figure kneels down. Clearly listening in to their conversation. Another spy? Anxiety churns in your stomach as you watch the two figures on the balcony exchange something, though what it is you have no hope of telling from this distance. Then they move to depart, whatever business they had concluded...only they don't leave. The leaf genin mentions something, and you see the third member stiffen. You breath hitches as you realize what must have happened, and your suspicions are confirmed as the spy makes a break for it. Pursued by the sand jounin.

They disappear into the buildings to the south, in the direction of the Academy, leaving only the erstwhile leaf genin there. Standing in the moonlight as he appears to check something on his person. Then he looks up, and you feel your heart stop in his chest, because until the day you die you will swear he looks right at you. He disappears in a blur of motion and you freeze, you entire body going still as all you can do is wait. The seconds tick by as your held breath dies in your lungs, but nothing happens. No knife buries itself in your back or slashes your throat, no hand covers your mouth to choke you out or snap your neck. The only sound you hear is the rustle of the wind as you press yourself against the gravel.

It is only once you're sure you are alone that you give yourself permission to draw a shallow breath. Slowly you rise, taking note of the world around you. Gaara is still on the roof, but he appears distracted, gazing intently at the moon as it hangs low in the sky. Now is your chance to run, but where...and to do what?

[ ] Run away, find someone...anyone, tell them what happened. Gai-sensei, anyone, you're really not going to be picky at the moment. You need to get out of here, before anyone else comes back.
[ ] Run off in the direction the spy went. For all you know, they were going somewhere vital. Even if they got caught, they might still be alive. You're just one genin, you need someone else to corroborate your story.
[ ] Write-in

[ ] Stunt?

So yeah, Tenten's rolls were all over the place there. But luckily for your guys, when she rolled poorly...everyone else seemed to do so as well. Which is why you didn't end up with a Kabuto-interrupt. Which would have been bad. Very bad.

Or maybe he's just letting you go to see what you do. With guys like that you never can tell what they'll do to things they find...interesting.

Anyway, I'm starting classes again at Uni, so while I'll try to keep up the daily updates, I may miss some because my courseload is hellish this semester. I'll know more once I have a handle on what sort of homework load I'm going to be dealing with, because that's going to be a big factor in whether I have the 2-3 hours it takes to write an update each night.

Oh yeah, and that cracking sound? That's canon starting to give under the strain

Crilltic · Jan 10, 2017

You carefully lever yourself up off from the roof you had been laying on, stretching slightly to remove the stiffness from your limbs as you carefully move through the shadows. Keeping to them just long enough to slip out of sight of anyone watching from the direction of the castle before you take off in a run. In the distance you can hear the sound of fighting, steel ringing out as it clashes against steel. Looks like the spy couldn't get away. Frantically you try and come up with a plan, you need to do something. But you're under no illusions, in a fight with at least one jonin level opponent you're...not going to be able to do much. Besides die that is, you could probably manage that, a vicious little voice inside your head whispers.

But you shake it off, a part of you yells to run away, to find someone you can trust and just tell them what you saw. But you decide you can't do that. You need to at least try to save the spy, he was close...he probably heard their conversation. He knows what's going on, and all you have are your guesses. Plus you're just some genin...and you can't just leave him to die! So as you come to a stop in the shadow of a vent a plan begins to form in your mind. One of your scrolls appears in your hand, and with a wince you tear off a piece of the reinforced paper. It tears cleanly in your hand, and you are careful to avoid any of the seals themselves, but still it hurts to destroy a thing you've worked so hard on.

With a small pop a brush appears in your hand, just one of the many items you've chosen to keep contained in the scrolls. It's far too convenient to just use to hold weapons after all. Your strokes are quick and sloppy, far more than you are used to, but here in the shadow of the moon...pressed for time you don't have the inclination to hold yourself to your usual standards. The message is finished in seconds, using one of the simplest cyphers you know. Just a basic academy one. It won't hold up to any scrutiny whatsoever, but hopefully you won't need it to. You attach the piece of paper to a kunai, and then with a flick of your wrist it lands down in the street with a soft thunk. One of the restaurants here is owned by former Chunin, and a message containing everything you've seen up to this point has currently embedded itself in the back door to his establishment. The only evidence a hazy trail of golden mist, already fading away into the night air.

With that accomplished, and your back up plan secure, you straighten. You're still cloaked in the darkness of the roof, but now you just need to figure out what to do. Trying to straight on is suicide. Then you hear the faint reverberation of an explosion in the distance, the tell-tale mark of an explosive tag detonating. Those two really aren't making any serious efforts to hide their presence. Though, you suppose if you were the spy you'd be doing everything in your power to attract...attention...wait.

Your mind seizes on that thought, and you chew on your bottom lip, thinking of and then discarding several plans in quick succession. You really wish you had taken on more leadership in Team Gai, you were always more of an implementation type of gal. But...no time to dwell on that now. What you need to do is attract attention, lots of it, and as quickly as possible. Briefly you thinking of whipping out the bevy of explosive tags you have tucked away in one of your scrolls, a few of those in key places and you'd have every guard in the village running here. Then you shake your head, no that's a dumb idea...bombing your own village would only make them suspicious of you...besides all of the other, more obvious drawbacks to doing so.

But then you see it, tucked away in a half-hidden recess on the roof, a bucket containing...are those fireworks?! Why?! Who-...You squash that line of questioning, not important right now. What is important is you've got your distraction, and what a distraction it will be, silently you offer a prayer to whichever amazing person left these here. You guess someone up there really is smiling down upon you tonight. Wordlessly, a small puff of smoke bears one of your babies, delicately you hold it in your hand. The carefully etched lines covering the entire surface of the carefully prepared paper tag. You can feel your eyes shining as you take a second to savor the moment, and the feel of the tag in your hand. It's really been too long, Gai would understand, you think. This is for the good of the village. With a thought you activate the seal, putting just enough chakra into it to give you plenty of time to get clear before the fun begins. No sense drawing anyone right back to you, that would be...bad...very bad.

You nestle the faintly sputtering paper into the pot filled with fireworks, mentally beginning the countdown as you scamper away. As you slink through the shadows you hear shouting in the distance, and as carefully as you can, you creep onward. Then you hear it, the faint whisper of wind that gradually builds to a wail as the air is packed closer together whilst still moving faster and faster. You shudder slightly at the memory of the way the blades of wind played over your skin, just barely kept back from slicing you to ribbons. You silently curse wind jutsu users under your breath. Then a single scream cuts through the night air, and you freeze as it is suddenly silenced in a wet gurgle you can only barely make out. A thump sounds from somewhere nearby.

It takes a few seconds for you continue moving, warily you glance around. With every beat of your heart you half expect to look down and feel a blade through it, but you creep onward. Ahead of you you can hear a voice, saying...something that you can't make out. Your heart hammers in your chest as you peek an eye around the corner, only to see the white haired genin in front of you, his back to you. The spy is splayed out in front of him, blood covering him and the ground around him, but you see is chest is twitching. The sand jounin is nowhere to be seen.

The white haired Genin, Kabuto, is speaking to the spy, his voice dripping with condescension. "So, your jutsu failed, and with it you failed your village. I wonder how that feels hm? Everything you've done up to now, worthless. Your report will never reach the Hokage." Even though his back is to you, you can practically hear the mocking smile in his voice as he lectures the dying(?) man. "But still, you fought well, perhaps you can still be of some use to me." You keep your body as still as you can as the man reaches for a scroll on his hip, holding in your breath as the mental clock ticks down.

Three...two...one

There is a small thud in the distance and almost immediately the night air is filled with the cracking pop of fireworks cooking off. A piercing shriek screams out to the heavens as a bright red ball of fire streaks upwards, before exploding in a matrix of light. From your vantage point you see Kabuto's head snap in the direction of the fireworks just before you throw yourself out of sight. You're not in his line of view, but no sense in risking it. You can just barely make out his voice over the noise.

"Oh, well isn't that troublesome. Did you set that?...or perhaps we have...another uninvited guest?" Your blood freezes in your veins as you press yourself deeper into the shadows. You don't think he sees you, but...but...

Then you hear shouts, and the barking of dogs. The village guard, the village guard has arrived, but you don't dare move or make a sound. Even if they're near, they're not here. "Hmm...even worse. Looks like I won't have use for you after all, but no matter. They won't find what they can't smell."

You stay there, frozen in the shadows as you hear the soft rustles of someone moving. You think he's gone as you hear the the bark of dogs nearing, the last remnants of the fireworks fading away. Mustering your courage you peak one eye out from behind cover, only to find...nothing. The spy is still laying in his pool of blood, but neither of the two who killed him are anywhere to be seen. Maybe he left? The guard patrols were close, and even if he did something to the corpse they could still smell him. Then something catches your eye, the spies chest twitches, rising and falling shallowly. He's alive?!

Everything in you screams to run, to escape, to deliver the message but...you can't just leave him there. Maybe he can tell you something, and even more, you refuse to just leave him there to bleed out. So you drop down, your feet landing daintily on the edge of the roof he is resting on. As you creeping closer, you get a better look at his injuries and...it's not pretty. His limbs are a mess of bleeding lacerations, but what's worse is his chest. It's been torn open, the blood bubbling up, dark red blood. Arterial blood. What's worse are the bubbles foaming up through the blood everything time his chest rises slightly.

Unfortunately, you have enough medical knowledge to know there's nothing you can do. He's going to bleed out, probably in the next thirty seconds. He's already dead, his brain just hasn't caught up with the rest of his body yet. As you approach, his eyes swivel to meet yours, though they are hazy and unfocused. You also manage to finally recognize him. The preliminary exam proctor. You never did manage to catch his name. He opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out except blood and a choked gurgling sound. You shake your head, looks like even though he wants to tell you something he can't. And he's fading fast.

Then his fingers twitch, and as you glance at them he drags them down, leaving a line of blood across the wooden roof before going still. The blood pools at the end, it looks kinda...like a music note. You blink, glancing at him, but his eyes have already gone dull, gazing sightlessly up into the night sky. Oh.

Oh.

You can still hear the sound of barking and shouts down in the streets nearby, the guards taking the opportunity to search the area. You glance down at the body, you should probably go tell them it's up her-a faint rustle sounds behind you and you freeze. Every muscle in your body goes rigid as you spin around, a knife in your hand.

You find yourself face to face with a mask of white, two black dots staring back at you...unblinking. A hand grabs your arm, and pain lances through it. You drop the knife as you stumble backwards, the grip on your arm releasing as you you force yourself not to scream. Your eyes widen as you take in the picture in front, a figure stands in a grey unassuming cloak. They're taller than you, much taller. And on it's face is a white mask of an animal. There are two more rustles and two more of the masked figures appear beside the first.

"ANBU?!" you hiss. You can already feel the color draining from your face as you are confronted with three members of Konoha's elite secret police. "I-I didn't-t-" stammer.

"We know." The one in front cuts you off, his voice sounds deep behind the mask, "You need to come with us."

You can't stop yourself from shaking like a leaf as you look between the three of them. You really don't think you have a choice, but you set your shoulders, with all the courage you can muster. "I need to see the Hokage."

The mask tilts to the side, "Where do you think we're taking you?"

Your stomach feels like it's going to crawl up your throat, "The Hokage?" The mask nods slightly, and with that the three grab you. There is a tearing sensation and you find yourself standing on a nearby rooftop. The two non-speaking masked ANBU standing to both sides of you. Like jailors, penning you in. But you force yourself to remain calm, these are allies right? You can trust them...

And true to form, the trip to the Hokage's compound passes without incident. And you find yourself tied to a cold metal chair, a bright light shining in your face. A man stands on the other end of the table, but with the bright light in your face you can't make out his face. You think that's the point. You tell him the story of what you saw that night, everything that happened. Then you tell it again, and again. Then you tell it to another man who comes in, and again, and so on. Honestly you'd probably be getting annoyed if you weren't completely terrified out of your mind. Do they believe you? They have to believe you...you don't know what you'd do if they didn't believe you.

After what feels like hours, the ANBU from before appears in the room. Seemingly stepping from the shadows. "You are to stay here for the night. Afterwards you are free to leave." You try to stammer something out, but he cuts you off again. "You are to tell absolutely no one what you saw tonight, you are to keep your schedule as if tonight had never happened. Is this absolutely clear?"

You gulp, "Yes. I..." Then a thought strikes you, "What about Gai-Sensei, I mean-"

"Your teacher will be informed. The Hokage is greatful for your services tonight. He wished for me to express sadness that he could not speak to you personally." You slump down. Exhaustion from the day catching up with. you don't know what time it is, besides "very late". But you can certainly feel it.

The ANBU turns to leave, but then glances at you, "Oh, and he wished you good luck in the exams, but then he said he doubts you need it. You've basically passed already." Wait what?

"What?" You say, but the ANBU is already gone. A moment later two more arrive, and you find yourself in one of the secure guestrooms in the Hokage's compound. And then the fatigue from this night hit's you like a tidal wave, and you pass out in one of the beds. Your mind blank from the days exertions.

Due to her experience tonight, Tenten gained experience (+4XP). What does she gain from that? All XP not spent will be banked for later use. She currently has 1 XP banked.

[ ] Finish Awareness Excellency (-2 XP).

[ ] If so, what does she use the newly-free training time for?

[ ] Stealth Excellency (-5 XP)
[ ] +1 Stealth (-4 XP)
[ ] Do nothing, just bank the XP for a dramatically opportune time.
[ ] Write-in (Must be applicable to what she did tonight)

Tenten gained Intimacy: Gaara - Fear & Hatred "I don't know what he is, but he's not human. He's a...monster, he tried to kill Lee. Something like that...shouldn't exist. It should never exist."

Well, that took a long time. Sorry about the lack of an update yesterday. I got distracted, and well...this update turned out to be much longer than expected. Still not entirely happy with how I wrote the ending but it's late and I want to get it out.

Next update is Tenten visiting Temari. Which will be awkward. For many, many reasons. Oh yeah, and that sound of glass breaking? That was canon crying in a corner.

Feel free to speculate about how this will effect things moving forward.

Crilltic · Jan 12, 2017

When you wake up you are initially disorientated as you rub the sleep from your eyes, your surroundings are completely different from your room. Then the memories of last night come rushing back and everything fits together. You give a slight start at the thought you actually slept in one of the Hokage's secure guestrooms. Normally they are only reserved for the most trusted of VIPs, or those whose safety absolutely cannot be allowed to be compromised. You're...not entirely sure you like what that says about what might of happened if you had gone home last night. But still, at least the furnishings were amazing, as you stretch away the last of the sleep in your system you realize you may have been ruined for regular beds.

It is shame then that you must leave, the ANBU were clear about that last night. You need to stick as closely to your original plans and actions as possible, to avoid attracting any suspicion that something might have changed. Which, you realize as you look out at the rising sun, means you should be meeting Gai-sensei for your training session fairly soon. In fact, you're probably just a bit behind schedule, so enamored were you with the various furnishings of the suite. You're not entirely sure you're actually capable of putting what the shower felt like into words. Though some of that may have just been the opportunity to wash away the stress from last night.

Truth to your prediction, you end up being a few minutes late to practice with Gai-sensei. But for once, he doesn't seem to mind your lack of punctuality, and given he meets you frozen in his "I am indescribably proud of my students" pose you suspect you know why. He doesn't say anything as you begin your spar, and you don't either, but still you suspect that you both know what happened yesterday. Practice itself winds up being grueling, a true test of everyone of your senses as Gai does his utmost to surprise, but in the end it pays off in spades. You make a breakthrough, channeling the not-chakra into your senses just like you did with your weapons.

Frankly it feels incredible, the feeling of power coursing through your senses is...heady. There's really no other way to describe it. Even if you have no idea what the not-chakra actually is, or what this power actually is. You...should probably try to research that at some point. But not now, no now you have to fulfill your mission to continue your plans from earlier this week. Which is how you've found yourself standing in front of the Konoha hospital. You're not entirely sure how this visit it actually going to go, but you said you were going to do it, and so now you're here to see Temari. Immediately after you saw her brother tear a person to shreds last night.

You're sure this won't be uncomfortable at all.

You push open the doors to the hospital, letting the smell of antiseptic and the rush of noise wash over you as you move towards the nurses station. Intent on getting Temari's room out of them. However, before you can even get close a jounin who was leaning against the wall near the entrance pushes off wall. Walking up next to you and intercepting you. "Excuse me miss?" He says in a deep voice that sounds vaguely familiar, but you can't place it.

You look him up and down, but you're almost certain you've never see him before. He's fairly nondescript, but you're almost certain you'd remember the metal face-plate that covers his forehead and the sides of his face. That seems fairly distinctive. "Hm? Yes..." you glance down at the subtle rank markings on his flak jacket "...Captain?"

He nods, "Oh, I just wanted to let you know that if you're visiting you have to talk to me. I'm currently assigned to guard duty here for today. There was a break-in a few days ago, so they wanted some extra security."

"Oh." Internally you wonder just what sort of break-in would merit station a Jounin captain as a door-man. Something tells you that you'd rather not know the answer to. "So, do I need to do anything? I'm here to visit to someone."

He looks you up and down as the two of you walk over to the welcome desk, "No, that's fine, I know who you are anyway."

"How-" you start, but he cuts you off.

"You're Tenten correct, one of the Konoha finalists in the Chunin Exams? Word travels fast. I'd be surprised if most of the village didn't now your name at this point." He settles down against the front desk, arms folded in front of him. "Though, I also need to know who you are visiting."

"Oh, ah..." You shuffle your feet, "...Temari. One of the sand genin. I faced her in the preliminaries and well...she wasn't looking too good at the end there. I wanted to make sure she's okay. Do you have a room number?"

"How kind of you, checking on your defeated opponent. And yes, I can do that." He leans back glancing at a binder full of paper behind the desk, before taking a small slip and writing on it with quick, efficient strokes. He hands it to you with a faint smile "Here you go, hope your meeting goes well. Check back in with me when you leave."

You quickly grab the slip of paper, walking past the unnamed jounin with a small nod of thanks. You glance down at the paper, make a note of the room, and set off as you leave it crumpled in your pocket. Your shoes clicking against the tiled floor as you mull over what you're going to say. Unfortunately, by the time you end up in front of her door you haven't exactly made any progress on what you're going to say. So you might as well wing it. You push some of your power into your senses, marveling as the world sharpens around you. Excellent, she's alone in her room. At least as far as you can tell at least. You're not entirely sure what you would have done if her jounin-sensei or...that thing she calls a brother was in the room.

So without further ado, you take a deep breath and push open the door. "Hey Temari, guess who? it's-" You cut off as you drop low to dodge a blast of wind. You manage to dodge the worst of it, but it still messes up your hair. Popping back up you continue unabated "-your favorite leaf genin!"

Temari just stares at you, "Why are you here?"

"What? I can't come visit my favorite Suna shinobi?" You plaster a smile on your face as you look at her. It seems she's already been visited by one of the medical-nins, since all you can see is a faint bruise on her jaw. Probably going to be discharged soon.

Temari for her parts just crosses her arms over her chest, a scowl tracing its way across her face as she looks away from you. "Go away. If you're here to gloat I don't want to hear it."

"I don't really think here's much to gloat about, considering you were destroying me for most of the match." You rub the back of your head awkwardly. You're also trying to avoid going into detail about your new abilities. Not that you actually have many details to give, but still.

But Temari for her part just scoffs, "Don't flatter me. Your entire team is bullshit." Then her expression flattens, "But, I'll ask again, why are you here?"

"Can't I just want to see if you're okay?" You tilt your head in confusion, since that is the main reason.

"No."

"Oh." You guess everything has to have some form of ulterior motive, "Well, I did want to see if you were okay. Though I guess I wanted to see if you were less, ah, caustic."

"You mean, you wanted to see if I was less of a bitch after you broke my jaw." She gives you a blank look.

"Well, uh, when you put it like, ah, that-"

"I can't believe I lost to you..." she groans into her hands, "Now, if you're done annoying me. The answer is no, I'm not going to change who I am because some crazy genin cheated a bunch and then sucker-punched me in the face."

But you just smile, "Perfect! Now, I was thinking, since we're both great kuniochi, and fellow weapons users-"

"I'm no-"

"You use a giant fan that cuts things, that counts so shut up," You barrel on despite her interruption, you're on a roll here. "As I was saying, since we are both those things. In the true spirit of competitive cooperation between our allied villages that you should be my glorious rival, challenging each other as we strive to overcome each other!" You feel a fire ignite itself in your eyes as you finish your impromtu little speech with a dramatic finger point. Temari for her part looks like she doesn't quite know what to do with her face, opening and closing her mouth to say something.

Then your brain catches up with what your mouth was saying, or more accurately the way it was saying it. The color drains from your face as you realize the horrible truth...it's infectious. You scramble backwards, away from the blonde girl's bed.

You awkwardly rub the back of your neck, "Yeah, well, I've been doing a lot of one on one training with my sensei. He's a bit...strange, and I guess he rubs off on you."

Temari seems to find her voice, looking at you with a blank face. "That is possibly the dumbest thing I have ever heard." But then you see her lips quirk up, "But it might be fun."

Wait that worked? Wait, that worked?! "Uh..."

But she fixes you with a look, "Of course, I expect you to destroy all your little Konoha friends in the finals."

You narrow your eyes, realization dawning over you. "You just want me to do well so you look better for losing to me."

She rolls her eyes, "Well, would you look at that, it has a brain after all." The both of you stare at one another, trying to size each other up. Tension rises between the two of you, bit you refuse to blink first. It's Temari who cracks first, her lips breaking into a smile, but then you're the one who starts laughing first.

With the ice having been broken, the two of you finally strike up a conversation. It feels...nice to just sit down and have a normal conversation with someone, especially after the insanity the last few weeks have introduced to your life. You love your teammates, but even you'll admit that "normal conversation" is neither of their strong suits. So you and Temari spend the time swapping stories. You give her a few tips on places to visit in Konoha when she's not helping her teammates train.

Unfortunately for you, the world decides to intrude as the sun sinks low in the sky. The door to Temari's room opening without warning. "Temari, you're being dis-who are you?" You freeze as the sight of her jounin-sensei, for a moment there you had pushed the memories of last night, but now they come rushing back.

"Uhhhhh..." You try to say something, but words die on your tongue. To your surprise it's Temari who comes to your rescue.

"Baki-sensei, this is Tenten. She came to gloat about her victory in the preliminaries. Right Tenten?"

"Oh, uh, yeah that. Uh. You suck?" You stumble through the insult, and you hear Temari mumble "idiot" under her breath.

But Baki just rolls his solitary eye, "It is time for you to leave. My pupil is being discharged and I must speak to her about matters pertaining to her teammate. You are to leave now." You find yourself unceremoniously shoved outside the door, and it slams behind you. You breath a sigh of relief, tempted to try and listen in, but you decide not to push your luck. The image of the proctor bleeding out in front of you hangs in your mind. You're not certain that was Baki's doing, but you suspect it was. Still, at least you managed to work something out with Temari.

Maybe you'll meet up with her again sometime before she leaves at the end of the exams, it'd be nice to be sure. But as you head out of the hospital, your thoughts are somewhere else. What was Baki meeting with Kabuto about yesterday? Does Temari know? You chew your bottom lip at these thoughts as you walk by the jounin at the entrance, giving him a small wave. You think about how you're planning to visit later this week, when Lee wakes up. "Will I see you again?"

He shakes his head, "No, my duty here ends tonight. It was mostly a favor for an old friend anyway."

"Oh." You shuffle awkwardly, "See you around the village then?"

"It's possible." He tilts his head, "Good luck in the finals." He gives you a thumbs up as you exit the building.

Gained: 1st Awareness Excellency
Gained: Intimacy: Temari - Friendly Rivalry "She can be a bitch, but she's not that bad once you get to know her."

I don't want to talk about how many successes Tenten rolled on her social roll here for this update. Anyway, no vote for this update, since with the way it went there's not further for Tenten to go here. However, I am going to try to get the Sakura meeting update done tonight, and that will have a vote.

Crilltic · Jan 13, 2017

A new day dawns, and once more you fall into your routine you've established since you qualified for Finals. Training with Gai-sensei, though now you are on edge. Vigilant for any sign of corruption. Gai-sensei is inspiring in his own way, but you'll draw your last breath before you find yourself shouting along with him and Lee in a bowl-cut and jumpsuit. Though that might be a fun prank to play on Lee once he's back to 100%-...no, just no...Tenten get a hold of yourself. These are how these things start.

Though maybe you are due for a change in wardrobe. You might consider it when you're promoted. Your current stock of clothes are getting a bit worn out. But then that would cut into your weapons budget. Hm, decisions.

Apart from that downside however, training went well. You continued your Awareness training, you could feel something else there, past just pouring your well of power into your actions. But it remains elusively out of your grip for now, something just on the edge of your consciousness. But you're sure you'll overcome it in time, especially given Gai is currently running you into the dirt to bring it out.

However, today, instead of leaving the training grounds as the sun begins to lower itself from the sky you stay. Chewing on one of the rations you brought with you in preparation as you sit in the shadow of one of the trees lining this ground. Idly you play with one of your knives, letting the cool steel play through your fingers as you take the opportunity to relax. Relax that is until the flash of pink in your peripherals heralds the arrival of just the person you were waiting. You glance up at her to let her know you've seen her, and then go back to finish your ration.

She stops when she sees you relaxing in the shade, hand going to her face. "Oh no! Did I keep you waiting? I thought you said 3:30, but-"

You cut her off with a wave, "No no, I've-" you stop to stifle a yawn,"I've just been here since around dawn training with Gai-sensei. Just give me a minute." You quickly scarf down the rest of the biscuit-like ration. Not appetizing, but at least it's better than food pills. Then you push yourself up with a grunt.

Sakura for her part, "Wait, you've been here since dawn?!"

"Yeah? We usually start training sessions at dawn." You quirk your head in confusion, "Do you not?"

"Your team is so weird."

"Yeah, I've been getting that a lot lately." You glance around the training field, "Alright, so you said you wanted help with Genjutsu right?"

Sakura's demeanor changes now that you're ready to go, her jaw setting into a determined line. "Right, so the main thing was your fear genjutsu. I wanted to test myself against it, since I couldn't dispel it. So, we can start with that."

You nod, stretching out your back so it cracks nicely, you've still got some juice left in the tank from training. So it shouldn't be a problem to actual form whatever your aura is, but..."Alright, that should be easy enough. Though, I'm not exactly sure it's a normal genjutsu, which might be why you were having a problem."

She stops in her tracks, "Eh? Well then... It doesn't matter, even if it's a different type of genjutsu or something, I want to be prepared for it! And besides, it barely affected Naruto or Kakashi-sensei at all."

You shrug, "Frankly, you're probably better at Genjutsu theory than I am, so here goes nothing I guess." You focus and breath out, letting the not-chakra in your system flow out of you, suffusing your body and the surroundings. The power courses through your veins, golden light blossoming all around you, warming you like the noonday sun. You take a deep breath, letting the newly-warm air fill your lungs as you open your eyes.

Sakura stands in front of you, eyes screwed shut and hands clasped in front of her. "Kai!" You feel the pulse of chakra, designed to shatter whatever genjutsu. This close to here you could definitely feel that, even though you were a non-sensor, and you let out a low whistle in your head. Her form was perfect, she made you look sloppy in comparison. Then she opens her eyes, and her face tightens when she spots you. "Dammit!" she stamps her foot with a huff, "Not good enough!"

You take that moment to chime in, "No, your form was fine, perfect actually. Or at least as near as I could tell, I'm no sensor after all. Much better than I can manage at least."

She blinks at that, "Really?" When you nod, she puffs out her cheeks in annoyance, "But I still couldn't dispel it!"

You rub your chin, "Like I said, I don't think it acts like a normal Genjutsu. It's just there. I'm not sure it can be dispelled like a normal genjutsu, or at least, that's not all you need to do." You run through what you've managed to figure out about your new powers. Frankly, it's not much, but then something bubbles up. An ephemeral instinct speaking at the back of your mind. "Maybe...hm...how are you picturing me? When you're trying to dispel it?"

"Why is that important?" Sakura tilts her in confusion but you wave your hand, and she continues with a huff, "I don't know? Like you're something I have to beat? And obstacle to overcome I guess?"

You hold up a finger to stop her, "Ah! Then try not doing that."

"What."

You wave your hands, "Think of me as a friend, or an ally or something. Not antagonistically. I'm pretty sure it's only working on enemies. So if you stop picturing me as an enemy-"

"-Then I should stop being affected!" She finishes for you, her face lighting up with recognition. Her hands clasp together, and this time when she shouts the words you see the tension drain out of her face. When she opens her eyes they flick to you, and she gains a radiant smile on her face. "Yes!"

You quirk an eyebrow "So I'm guessing it worked?"

"Yeah!" But then her excitement fades as she adopts a pensive expression, "Though I can still feel it there, but it's not there there. Weird."

"Well, you probably can figure out more than I can," You shrug your shoulders helplessly. But then an idea occurs to you, and you feel your lips quirk up into a smirk. "Though, now I have another idea." Sakura, perhaps noticing the look on your face, takes a step back. But you just advance on her "Hit me."

"Eh???" She takes another step back, "But, I just managed to escape the effect by not seeing you as an opponent. If I try to hit it will-"

"Come right back yes. But you said yourself you can't dispel it, so that means if anyone else ends up having anything like this you need to be able to deal with it." You give her a warm smile, "Don't worry, I won't hurt you, I'll just dodge."

"If you say so" She sound dubious, but she drops into a Taijutsu stance all the same. It's a bit sloppy, but then you find most taijutsu stances look sloppy when your main points of comparison are Gai-sensei, Lee and Neji. As she readies herself you note the familiar tension return, and now she seems to be struggling to look directly at you. Then she lunges at you, fist cocked back.

But you just lean to the side, letting the force of her punch carry her past you, and then gravity does the rest as she hits the ground with a grunt. She lashes out again, but you drop your head back and the uppercut sails past your chin. "Come on, you're going to have to try harder than that!" But she tries again and again, but she flinches back whenever she looks at you directly. Making it trivially easy to dodge whatever she throws at you, and all she ends up getting for her trouble is her face in the dirt. "Don't let a little fear bother you, push past it! Where's the girl who broke through a Yamanaka special by sheer willpower?"

"You're...too...fast" She pants, but she lunges again. You can see her gritting her teeth as her fist barrels toward you face, you let that one get close. Her knuckles almost kissing your cheekbone as you tilt your head.

"Come on! Find those limits! Push past them! Never give up!" Her other hand comes up, aiming to catch you as you dodge, but you brush that out of the way. Her foot lashes out, driving at your knee, but a short hop brings you out of range. Then you smirk, time to take it up a notch. Your own taijutsu skills aren't the best by the standards of your team, but for this they're more than sufficient. Your hand lashes out, catching her shoulder and throwing Sakura off-balance, then you knee comes up. She coughs as the wind is forced from her lungs and she goes sprawling. "That it?" You quirk an eyebrow out at her gasping form, "Giving up now?"

Shakily she gets to her feet, brushing the dirt off of her dress, "I..thought you said...you'd...just dodge."

"Wanted to see if you'd get up after getting hit." You smirk, "And you did! So come on, show me what you got!" You've realized by now you're channeling the very first time you fought Gai-sensei, but as long as you're not ranting about Youth, you'll let that slide. Since as far as you're concerned it was effective. Sakura for her part wraps her fingers into a fist once more, shakily moving to punch you once more.

"Hai!" She screams as her fist connects with your face with a smack. But you remain standing, the force of the punch doing little more than rocking you back slightly on your heels. It stings a bit, but nothing you haven't dealt with before.

"Congrats!" You slur your words slightly from her fist still buried in your cheek, flashing her a double thumbs up. "That was great!"

She withdraws her hand, blinking in confusion. "What? But I didn't even hurt you?"

You shake your head, "That wasn't the point. As soon as I saw your stance, I knew you weren't going to be able to hit me." You give her a beaming smile, "What matters is you kept trying! Never give up."

"You sound like Naruto." She says with a faint scowl on her face. "Is everyone on your team like this?"

You can't help it, you laugh at that. "Oh, on my team, I'm the laid-back one." Sakura just stares at you with an open mouth, seemingly uncomprehending. "Anyway, how have things been going for you and your team?"

At the mention of her team, Sakura heaves a sigh. "Terribly. I went to visit Sasuke in the hospital today, even brought him flowers, but he had already discharged. Then he and Kakashi-sensei disappeared to who knows where. Kakashi-sensei just left me and Naruto with Ebisu-sensei, but Naruto is just so...*argh*!" She pauses, a look of annoyance on her face. "He's so...disrespectful." She finishes with a huff.

"Mmm. Sounds like a hassle."

"Like you wouldn't believe." Then she looks at you, "How's your team doing?"

You sigh, and begin listing things off on your fingers, "Well, Lee's still in the hospital, Neji's being Neji. So he's currently sulking somewhere and ignoring us. And I can't spend too much time with Gai-sensei because I might spontaneously develop a bowl-cut and terrible fashion-sense. So you know, the usual."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Sakura rubs her wrist, awkwardness clear on her face, "Well, if you want, I can train with you. Not just the Genjutsu stuff. Today has been fun"

You blink, you weren't exactly expecting that. "Are you sure?"

"Um...yes? I mean, unless you're going to stab me with a knife for training or something." Worry creeps on her face, "You're not going to stab me or something are you?"

"Well that depends on how fast you can dodge," You pause for a moment as the color drains from her face before breaking down in to laughter, "No, no nothing like that. Though if you want to, you can probably help me with Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. Your control is really good, especially for genin."

Sakura blushes at the praise, "So, sparring partners then? I'm not sure how available I'll be, but then I'm also not in the finals." You detect a note of bitterness in those last words.

What do you say?

[ ] Sure! - Unlocks Sakura as a training partner. (Boost to Ninjutsu and Genjutsu Training). Finishes Sakura intimacy. However, she expects you to actually spar with her. Increased chance for encountering Team 7 members in random encounters.
- [ ] If taken. Do you modify training schedule to include her?
[ ] No thanks - Sakura locked out of training resources. Reduced social options for interacting with her. Completes Sakura Intimacy.

Well, that took awhile to write. It seems like these updates keep getting longer and longer every time. Anyway, you've got another chance to get another training resource. Just a heads up though, most training resources are going to be upset if you promise/ask them for help and then never use it. So that's something to keep in mind, just like they might not always been available when it's convenient for you.

Crilltic · Jan 16, 2017

When you arrive at the training ground bright and early the next morning you are greeted by a bleary Sakura. You'd been somewhat surprised when she rather eagerly accepted your invite to your training session with Gai-sensei. Though given how she looked now, you're not entirely sure that she had understood what exactly that meant. "Good morning Sakura!" You greet her with an audible chirp in your voice.

She rubs her eyes and lets out a yawn, before fixing you with a glare. "How are you so cheery?"

"Finely-honed survival instincts. Everyone else on the team is a freakishly early riser. I've been forced to adapt." You supress a flashback to the numerous times you've overslept (Which were completely accidental, and certainly not because your half-conscious self had a habit of destroying alarm clocks)and been forced to complete your entire morning routine as you stumbled out the door. "Besides, I told you to get a good night's sleep, didn't I."

"I did" she yawns, "But at least I managed to get out of my training sessions with Ebisu-sensei. I mentioned I was tagging along to your training with Gai-sensei and I think he thought I was going insane."

You awkwardly rub the back of your neck, "Gai-sensei isn't that bad." Though then you glance around, "He should be here soon th-" You cut off as a kunai slams into the ground at Sakura's feet. Oh no.

She opens her mouth, a question already forming on her lips "Wha-"

"DYNAMIC!" There is a whistling sound; the sound of the air being torn in two as a green blur slams into the ground. An audible crack thunders through the air as a dust cloud stretches up towards the sky. "ENTRY!"

Sakura jumps into the air, her hair practically standing on its end. Meanwhile you just let your head sink down into the comfortable, and sadly familiar, embrace of your hands. Of course he was going to try to be impressive. You really should have seen this coming.

Your teacher's voice booms out even before the dust has finished settling "Good morning my youthful pupil!" He strides out of the cloud, the agitated dust streaming off him, seemingly without dirtying his clothes at all. One of these days you'll figure out how he does that. "And I see you brought a friend! One of the students of my incredibly hip arch-rival in fact!"

Sakura is still looking decidedly pale, probably from catching such an extreme dose so early in the morning...perhaps you should have done a better job warning her. Still, you cough, directing his attention onto you. "Yeah, Sakura here was helping me train yesterday. And well, she wanted to tag along to our training sessions for the rest of the week, since Kakashi-sensei is focused on training Sasuke for his match with Gaara."

Gai rubs his chin, seemingly considering the thought, before turning to Sakura. "Yes! I believe my eternal rival mentioned something to that effect when I last saw him. And the chance to challenge my teaching methods against his own, undoubtedly, hip methods? A true challenge! Excellent Work Tenten!" He pauses, half turning to Sakura, "Now, I was there for your own match against one of Asuma's pupils, but one's own assessment of their limits is the most important part."

You wait for her to answer, but Sakura still seems to be frozen with her mouth half open say something, so you take that moment to intercede. "I think so meditation and other focus exercises are what I need to finally get a handle on the technique I've been working on. For Sakura here, her ninjutsu and genjutsu skills are really quite good."

You see Sakura flush slightly at the praise, and Gai just nods thoughtfully, "Yes, my rival is a master of ninjutsu and genjutsu. So it makes sense for one of his pupils to be skill in their use."

"But from my spar with her yesterday she is somewhat lacking in stamina and-" You pause, mulling over your next words carefully. Sakura snaps out of her trance enough to give you a puzzled look, before you see the smallest spark of dawning comprehensions and horror in her eyes. "Her taijutsu skills need serious work."

The words hang there in silence, the sheer weight of their implications pressing down on you and your newfound friend. She slowly turns to you, her eyes wide. "Tenten why?"

"Because I want you to improve." is all you manage to get out before you see Gai's eyes blaze to life with barely contained fire.

"I-Wha-" You wisely take a step back, dropping down in a sitting position as your friend is subsumed by a green blur. You feel a small stab of guilt at pawning off Sakura to Gai-sensei like that. But she'll learn something from it. Once you get passed the...quirks...Gai-sensei really is a great teacher.

You let the sound of shouting and sparring fade into the background for now. You have your own training strategies you want to try for now. Your hands rest on your knees as you focus your senses, letting your awareness of the world wash over you.

Breathe In.

Breathe Out.

You wince as the after-effects of a localized whirlwind hits you. The whipping wind threatening to break your concentration as you individually pick out every single detail of the world around you one-by-one.

Breathe In.

Breathe Out.

As you do so you let more and more of your golden chakra flow into your senses, sending them higher and higher. You feel your consciousness spiraling downward into ever finer and finer detail as the world around you falls away into a mess of sensation. You're not entirely sure how long you stay submerged there, marinating in your awareness of the world around you.

It comes suddenly, a faint feeling in the back of your mind, something clicks. A pressure releases, and you feel something inside your mind...unwind. But more importantly, you can hear panting in front of you as your mind breaks the surface.

You quirk one eye open to see a panting Sakura looming over you, her outfit scuffed and dirty, her chest rising and falling with sharp intakes of air. Her face is twisted into a snarl of rage, a single shaking finger leveled at your chest. "You."

You glance around, strange you don't see Gai-sensei anywhere, before pointing finger at yourself. "Me?"

"You did this. You left me alone with that...t-that maniac for hours" You feel some of the color drain from your face. Hours, she's been sparing with Gai for hours. Unprepared. Alone. You suppose you should be happy she's not sporting a green jumpsuit at this point.

"Now Sakura, L-let's not be hasty here." You stammer out, "At least you learned something right?"

"Learned something?!" She shrieks, "Oh I learned something alright. Let me show you!" Then, she lunges at you, arms outstretched. Your eyes widen in surprise, but you feel something click in your mind and when you next look the world...slows down. Every detail of the scene in front of you soaks into your eyes as time grinds to a crawl in front of you. Sakura herself is outlined in a faint gold as her lunges for you.

Gained: [Panopticon Fusion Discipline]

Is this...is this what you were trying to unlock. You blink in confusion once, it feels so...natural. You didn't even need to make hand seals. Your eyes widen as you realize that notion. Then widen further as you remember wait, crap Sakura is still lunging at me. You hastily push yourself up and to the side, rolling out of the way of danger.

Then the world resumes its normal speed, Sakura tumbling to the ground where you were a second ago in an awkward heap. Groggily she sits up, rubbing her head, "Wha-" Her brows crease, "Wha-happened?"

"Well, you certainly weren't lunging at me that's for sure." You pipe up.

"No, I was." she blinks as you stares into your eyes, "But Tenten, your eyes. They were gold, there and...then uh, you dodged uh-" She helplessly throws her arms up in the air. "Tired."

"Wait, but my eyes are brown why-" and then you make the connection, "Oh. Well, I guess that's what happens when I use that Jutsu."

"Oh." Sakura is quiet for a second, "Wait, what jutsu? Is that what you were practicing here? But...you didn't do any hand signs!"

"Well, you know that Fear Aura I can do?" She nods, "Well I can do other thing with it. Like, I thought it just made me better at stuff. But now I can use it to...slow time I think? Or at least that's what it seems like. Oh, and I don't need to do hand seals for it."

Sakura opens her mouth to say something, but then closes it with an audible click, an expression of pure confusion on her face. Finally, she opens her mouth again. "What."

You rub the back of your neck, smiling awkwardly, "Yeah, I guess I just kinda...do it."

Silence reigns between the two of you for a few seconds. "That is so unfair."

You pause to contemplate it, and...well to be honest even if you just had the handful of things you could do right now, the fact that you can do them with no handsigns would already mean you'd be riding high. But you know, you just know, you can do more...so much more. So nod your head, "Yeah...it is."

Sakura looks like she's about to open her mouth to say something when she's interrupted by a booming voice. "It sounds like you've succeeded in your own training as well, and just in time too!" There is a skidding sound as Gai appears in a cloud of dust next to you and Sakura. "Your inner youth shines through brighter every passing day!"

At his sudden appearance you see Sakura go slightly pale, which only worsens with the mention of "inner youth". "Yeah, It finally clicked today. How did sparring with Sakura go?"

"My eternal rival has truly wonderful pupils! Though you were right in your assessment, she has the spark of youth within her as well. Just waiting to burst free into a full bloom springtime!" He gives Sakura a beaming smile and double thumbs up to go along with his praise.

Sakura for her part just leans over, "Today explained so much about your team, for the record" she whispers.

You wince, "Yeah, it probably did."

Gai continues on unabated. "However, to cap off today's training. How about the two of your spar! To truly pit your youthful energy against one another, and apply the lessons you learned today!"

Sakura blanches, but then seems to recover some of her game, nodding along. "I'm still...really tired, but Tenten, what do you say? It could be fun!"

You however were planning on heading into the hospital to get the check-up done and over with. Though you could really get that done anytime, and it would be pretty fun to test out your new trick. Way more fun than going to get poked and prodded in the hospital to be honest. Though you'd likely be even more tired tomorrow.

So what do you do?
[ ] Just stick to the plan. (Continue on the hospital for a check-up.)
[ ] The Hospital can wait. Fight time now. (Spar with Sakura. Extra XP gain. +1 Fatigue)

[ ] Stunt?

[ ] Something else? (Write-in)

What you missed while meditating was Gai meeting Inner Sakura. A pity you missed that. Or perhaps not. Nevertheless, Naruto may never forgive you for introducing Sakura to the village's foremost Taijutsu expert. If he ever found out you were responsible for this.

Cassiemouse said:
Shipping is of vast importance. Romance is at the heart of life!

Like I said, the only confirmed pairing for this Quest is Tenten/Sharp Objects. and Explosions.

Crilltic · Jan 19, 2017

You nod your head, dropping low into a loose fighting stance, and you take the opportunity to examine your soon-to-be-opponent. Her red dress is scuffed, and slightly torn, and she bears the tell-tale mark of Gai's...vigorous training. Nothing too dangerous, but if you had to guess she's probably eaten dirt quite a few times today. Her pink hair is disheveled, little surprise between the sweat and the physical activity. But still, she gazes at you with a look of determination, and more than a little anger, set on her face. Then Gai barks once, a short exclamation cutting through the air like an explosive tag and kicking off the fight, but you barely have time to react because Sakura is on.

Your eyes widen slightly as she lunges at you the second Gai announces the match. You feel the instincts in the back of your mind kick in, urging you to act, but you clamp down on them. Not yet, not until you give her a chance to show of what she's learned. She won't learn anything if you immediately and unhesitatingly pound her into the dirt. You could break her now, you realize, crush her underneath your heel. But that would likely only serve to destroy any progress she's made thus far. She's not like Lee. Plus, the bitter pang of your fight with Temari still weighs on your mind, if you hadn't awakened your power there, if she had beaten you down like that. No, you're not that kind of person, you don't ever want to be that type of person.

So instead you dodge back, your feet dancing along the ground as your spring out of range of Sakura, even if you're not going to beat her down now you're still much, much faster than her. Your intricate footwork giving no hint to the thoughts blazing through your mind, nor to the plan forming in your mind. But then your eyes widen further as she twists her lunge into a vicious kick that is very much not academy-standard. You do manage to block it, barely, but your blocking arm is driven into your diaphragm. You stumble backwards a step, your breath dying in your throat with a chocking cough.

The air you desperately crave isn't forthcoming through the spasming muscles in your stomach, so you grit your teeth and push through it. You catch her arm in one calloused palm as she hastily presses forward, trying to take advantage of the opening you gave her. "Nice shot" You wheeze out through clenched teeth as you lash out with your other hand, easily pushing through her overextended guard to clamp down on her collar. You see her eyes widen slightly as she realizes what you're doing, but by then it's far too late. You root yourself to the ground and twist. Her charge turns into a stumble, and then you hook your foot around her ankle and she's sent sprawling.

You take a second to greedily suck in air, the scent of sweat mingling with...is that cherry blossoms? Questions for later you decide as you see Sakura scramble to her feet. You bite back several taunts that appeared on your tongue, you want to see what she can do, not antagonize her. And you get a face-full of that as her eyes focus on and your world narrows to the clash of limbs in front of you. Block the jab to your face, counter right, spin left, push into her guard just enough, hook in, breath in and-...now!

Sakura goes stumbling backwards with a shout s you knock her off balance once again. She's better than when you sparred yesterday, but then that's to be expected. She's not just relying on the same rote memorized academy style anymore. Good. Not that the academy moves weren't brutally effective in their own way, but on their own they were exploitable. And while you weren't Taijutsu specialist, being on a team with two of them headed by Gai-sensei meant you weren't a slouch either.

Plus, you were just plain faster than Sakura, and given the irritation currently dominating her face she almost certainly realized it. You clash again, and it ends the same way, you dodge or subtly re-direct all her strikes and finish by throwing her back. Flashy? A bit. Annoying? For her. But not something that will result in a knock-out anytime soon. "You...can't dodge...forever." Sakura hisses at you, breathing heavily. She's right, but then, she came in to this fight tired. You didn't.

"You're going to have to do better than that if you want to hit me." You give a half-smile, dropping into a low combat stance that you've seen Neji favor. You fingers twitch towards you, a challenge, and you smile widens as it takes hold. Emotions war on her face, before finally settling on a rictus of anger. She takes one last deep breath and you see her eyes flash as her muscles tense.

"Aagh!" The pink-haired girl's mouth twisted in a yell as she launches herself at you once more. "I'll show you what I can do!"

The blow takes you by surprise with its ferocity, hitting you with a desperate force that her earlier blows had lacked. "TAKE! THAT! AND! THAT!" she punctuates every exclamation with another blow, forcing you back and back, your forearms are already starting to jitter from blocking. "AHAHAHA! HOW ABOUT THIS! NOT SO TOUGH NOW!" You duck under a swing that looks like she was trying to take your head off and pull back, jumping out of range as you disengage.

Well, you've certainly got a fight now.

You spare a glance at the likeliest culprit for this sudden change in demeanor, silently wathcing the fight of the side. "What did you do Gai-sensei?!"

"Aha! Tenten! As I said! My eternal rival's student had the Power of Youth inside her, just waiting to be released! Isn't is glorious!"

"Yeah! You hear that Tenten! I got the power!"

Perhaps you spoke too soon when you said you were just happy she wasn't wearing a jumpsuit. This is worse. So much worse. But the upside is you've got a fight now. Which means you can do this. You find the path in your mind and let it flow through you, and in the blink of an eye you act. The world slows down around you and you are adrift in a torrent of information about the world around you. A faint golden outline covers Sakura, highlighting her in your vision as she slowly drifts through the air. Goldens contrails spin through the air around you, a ghostly vision of her future movements.

You take a step, easily flowing out from the line of danger as you consider your next move. One heartbeat passes, then another, as Sakura glides past you. You feel your breathing settle and you take careful aim. As you let it fly you feel the world around you resume its normal pace, but your kick still flies true. You see her eyes widen a fraction of an inch, but your kick blows through her clumsy half-block like it wasn't even there and takes her in the side of the stomach. She is sent sprawling, tumbling along the dirt of the training ground before finally coming to a rest.

She tries to rise on shaking legs, only for them to give out, sending her back down to her knees. She collapses forward onto all fours, only stopping herself from eating dirt again at the last second, as her chest heaves. You carefully wander over to her and put out your hand. "Hey."

She glances up, and you can see a deep thread of exhaustion running through her eyes. "W-Wha-"

"Just take my hand."

"oh" She grasps your hand weakly and you pull her up in on go. She wobbles slightly, and you wrap her arm around you shoulder to keep her upright. Her head lolls to the side, "m'tired..."

"You did really good." You give her a reassuring smile, but you're not sure she even recognized it. Then you're interrupted by someone clapping you heavily on the back, which given Sakura is still leaning on you almost sends you tumbling.

"Good work both of you! You truly let the Power of Youth flow through you in this spar, and showed great promise for the future!"

You resist the urge to roll your eyes, and Sakura murmurs something unintelligible into your shoulder. But you think that wraps up training for the day, though Gai will likely take whatever he learned from watching you spar to give...training tips for next few weeks. You suppress a shudder at that thought as you let Sakura slip off of you. She wobbles slightly this time, but manages to keep her balance.

"Sakura?"

"Mmmm?"

"Training's over, you can head off now."

She blinks slowly, before you see a spark of realization bloom in her eyes and they widen. "Ah! What time is it?"

"Not too late, but maybe you should head home? You seem pretty tired."

"Ah I...yeah...probably." She yawns and goes to stretch, but winces and rubs her arms, "Ouch...my aches have aches." She pauses as the two of you walk out of the training ground.

You laugh, "Yeah, you get used to it after a bit. But I probably should have given you more warning." She gives you a glare at that but you press on. "So, tomorrow?"

"I'll have to think about" She says with a groan. "Right now I just want to lie down in bed and sleep forever." Then you hear a deep rumble, and Sakura blushes slightly, "Or ah, eat food I guess."

You both are at the edge of training area. The sun is just starting to dip below the horizon. What do you do?

[ ] Take her to get food

[ ] If so, where?

[ ] Walk with her to her house.
[ ] Split up [Will end day]

So at this point I feel like it would probably be a good idea to tell you guys how I count Stunts in votes. First off, I will only include a stunt in a vote if more than half the total votes have a stunt included. Then, if that holds true, I pick the stunt with the most votes. If there's a tie I pick the stunt I feel is the most original/well-written rather than flipping a coin etc.

In addition, I'm going to be trying to pick up the pace of the plot from here-on-out, since my update rate has dropped slightly with classes and the like and I don't want to get bogged down in Training Arc Fatigue.

Crilltic · Jan 22, 2017

You shrug your shoulders, "If you're hungry we can get food, my treat, anywhere you want to go?" Truth be told you do feel kinda bad for not giving Sakura more warning for what was in store for her, even if the younger girl did hold up under Gai's tutelage admirably. Perhaps a bit more than "admirably" given her outburst during your spar, but that was a bit of existential dread you were putting off on processing for the immediate future. Sakura just yawns though, and waves away your suggestion.

"M'tired, just-" she pauses to to try, and fail, to stifle another yawn, "Just home's good." She blinks repeatedly to try and clear the fatigue from her eyes, but she's clearly still dead. "'sides-" She gestures to herself, or more specifically, the dust and bruises currently adorning her body, "I look awful."

"You're not that bad." You try and give her an encouraging smile, but she just gives you a dubious look.

"I look like I just got trampled don't I?"

"Eh..." you hesitate "Call it a light trampling."

Sakura groans, holding her head in her hands, "Why did I think this was a good idea? My parents are going to freak."

"Just tell them you got some lessons from Maito Gai, I'm sure that will explain everything."

"That's one of the reasons I think they'll freak." Sakura's bites back, voice muffled through her hands. "I should have known something was up, just look at your team."

"Hey, we all got assigned to his team. You volunteered." That remark earns you a glare and a weak punch to your shoulder. But the tension quickly dissipates as both of you dissolve into giggles. The conversation dies down as you both head further into Konoha, you following Sakura's lead to her house. "So Sakura, where do you live anyway?"

"Oh. 's up there." She waves vaguely in the direction of the street you both are walking down while yawning into her hand and swaying slightly.

"Yes, but wher-Sakura?" You look back and see her hunched over with her hands on her knees. "Sakura are you okay?"

"'m good" she waves you off with her right hand, still resolutely staring at the ground "jus' tired."

You roll your eyes and give her a pat on the back. "Come on, up you go." You hoist her up by her arm, supporting her on your shoulder. "You're not passing out in the middle of the street from exhaustion on me. That's never fun for anyone." You wince slightly at the memory of the numerous times you ended up having to help Lee carry back to his home. "Now, which way to your house?"

"'s just up the street." She mumbles as she leans against you for support. "Number-" She breaks off into a yawn,"152." You glance to your right, and see a big fat 22 on the side of the mailbox of the house you just passed. You sigh, this is going to take awhile.

So you spend the walk keeping Sakura talking, and thus keep her awake. More to avoid an embarrassing (for her) and taxing (for you) piggy-back ride than anything else. But you do manage to gather some stuff from her rambling. Like the reason she decided to show up for your training session. Something happened in the Forest of Death that made her really want to become stronger.

You assume it was the incident where you and Neji saw her staring down those three Sound genin alone, but when you ask she says that people told her not to say. Not the kind of thing you'd associate for an encounter with an opposing team in the forest.

Weird.

Then she starts mumbling something about Sasuke being impressed with her, and you file that away for future reference as well. You consider trying to ask her something about Shikamaru, since he was in her academy class (you think), but you think you'll hold off on hat until she's a bit more...coherent. Plus, you're almost to her house, and something tells you that you won't be staying for dinner.

Unfortunately , you encounter a slight hiccup in your mission to get Sakura home. One that takes the form of a familiar-looking blonde girl almost running into you. "Oh, excuse me. Sorry I was, wait! You're one of the finalist genin right?" She doesn't let you answer before continuing "Have you seen Saku-" Her teal eyes finally land on the your companion "-ra." she finishes lamely. "Oh."

"Yes, I have seen Sakura" You deadpan as you try to remember the Yamanaka's name.

Sakura's head lolls to the side as she blearily looks at the girl in front of you "'sup Ino."

"Sakura! I was looking everywhere for you today! You-" Her eyes widen as she actually looks at Sakura in detail, and sees the shape she's in. "What happened in to you? Were you in fight?!" She rounds on you, "Was she in a fight?!"

"Uh." You really wish you understand what was going on. "No?" Well, technically..."Yes? She was helping me train for the finals and getting some taijutsu pointers from my Sensei."

Ino opens her mouth to ask something, but then Sakura chooses that moment to butt in. "'s great! I'm gonna show Sasuke how well I bloom in the springtime!" You feel something die inside you a little bit at those words. "'ll be...the best! At taijutsu! Better than you Ino! Just you wait!"

The blonde's mouth clicks shut and silence reigns as the two of them glare at one another. "What did you say?" She hisses. You blink as a vague memory of these two fighting in the prelims surfaces. You get the sense things are about to go down hill.

"That'd I'd be better than you!"

"Yeah right forehead, like you could be better than me." She sniffs.

"Hey, yeah so this is isn't going anywhere good..." You try and interpose yourself between the two girls. But it is to no avail.

"Pig!"

"Billboard head!"

You really want to know just what you stepped in, and how you can unstep yourself from it as soon as possible. Unfortunately, that does not look like a likely outcome as Ino breaks off from yelling to round on you.

"You! Bun-girl finalist! She's getting training with you on the side, I want to know where it is."

What.

"That is...wait what?" Your mouth moves as you try and work your way through that request. "You...do see her right? This was after one day of training. Just why?"

The blonde girl crosses her arms with a huff, "I'm not going to let myself be outdone by the likes of her, getting training by some Taijutsu expert. I bet it's not even that hard." You resist the urge to laugh in her face, barely, but you do resist it.

"Uhhhhh..."

"Come oooooon Tenten" Oh right Sakura is here, "Your my friend, don't let that pig come, I'll go to the training to tomorrow." She whines.

You open your mouth, "Well."

Great, now they're both glaring at you. You are suddenly reminded why you stopped hanging out with girls your age. What do you do?

[ ] No. So much no. You will put up with a lot of insanity in your training sessions. It comes with your team. But you draw the line at...whatever this is.
[ ] Yes. You do want to see the smug wiped off her face, and chances are Sakura will enjoy it too...eventually. Probably. Plus, you remember that this girl is on a team with your first finals opponent. You can use that.

When you give her your answer, Ino leaves in a huff, not even bothering to say goodbye. You rolls your eyes at that display of rudeness and nudge Sakura. "Come on, your house is just up ahead." But she just nuzzles into your shoulder. You glance over and her eyes are shut...and she's lightly snoring. She fell asleep on her feet. Wonderful.

Looks like it's up to you to explain to her parents what happened to her.

Sakura for her part just snores into your shoulder.

Well, hello there Ino. And hello there Sakura completely botching her social roll. Meanwhile Tenten is just making confused Tenten noises in the corner. She's...not the best at girl-talk.

And for the record, you weren't guaranteed to encounter Ino here. You just so happened to roll a 1 on the encounter table.

Oh yeah, and something to keep in mind for the vote, Tenten saw the Sakura vs. Ino fight, but she doesn't remember it that well because it was immediately followed by her version of the Lee vs. Gaara fight. Which as you might imagine kinda blotted out everything else in her memory. Other than that, and what she saw in the Forest of Death, she hasn't had much contact with Ino, or anyone else in the Rookie 9 for that matter.

Crilltic · Jan 24, 2017

It's the start of another beautiful day when you set foot on the training grounds once more. Yesterday had past uneventfully after you gave the sleeping form of Sakura a piggy-back the rest of the way to her house. Though, that was not a conversation with her parents you had no wishes to navigate again. Which is why your current plan for today just has Sakura helping you with your plan to finally get around learning how to walk on water. Of course, you made that plan before the third edition to your little training circle decide to insert herself. Though frankly, you're putting off trying to understand...whatever that is as long as possible.

Which is why you are thankful to whoever is up there looking down at you that only one half of that mess is currently waiting for you on the training field. "Good morning Sakura!" You give her a chipper greeting as she halfheartedly waves at you. "How are you doing today?"

"I want to crawl back under my covers and go to sleep until an actually sane hour." She groans, "Though, I wanted to ask, what happened yesterday?" She muzzily rubs the lingering sleep from her eyes, "I remember...meeting someone. Mom says you ended up carrying me home after I fell asleep."

"Riiiiight, about that." Oh boy, here we go. "So, one of your...friends I guess...showed up looking for you, and now she wanted to meet us. She should be here soon actually."

"My friend?" Sakura's brow scrunches up in confusion, "Who...wait..."

"Blonde hair, Yamanaka...uh..."You snap your fingers, come on you got this. "Ino!" Sakura makes an odd choking noise but you continue, "Yeah, she heard you were getting taijutsu lessons from Gai-sensei, and she wanted to join you." You pause, "You may have also called her a pig."

Sakura's face goes through several expressions too fast for you to catch, before eventually falling on disbelief. "Why does she want to...does she even know what it's like?"

"You know, I don't think she does."

"Oh." Sakura's face goes pensive, and then you see a small spark of something ignite in her eyes. "Oh. This is going to be great."

"Sakura-" You start to caution, but she cuts you off.

"No! You don't get to talk, not after what you did to me yesterday." She huffs at you, "And besides, she wanted to come and you invited her. I just want her to share in my experiences."

"What are you..." You think back over what she's referring to, is she going to give her a piggyback? Then cool realization flows over you. "Oh. Oh. You're going to say that."

"Yes. That."

"I suppose that's fair." You shrug your shoulders. "If she can't handle it, she can't handle it."

"If I can't handle what?" A third voice pipes up, signifying the topic of your conversation had arrived. You spare a glance at the blonde girl, who stands with arm's crossed looking at the two of you.

You open your mouth to answer her, but Sakura beats you to it, a smile plastered across her face. "Oh hi Ino, Tenten here was just telling me you were going to show up to training."

"Like I would miss the chance to show you up." She scoffs "And if you could handle it, I'm sure it will be easy." You and Sakura share a glance, and wince. Sakura presumably because she knows it's not easy. You, however, wince because you know what happens when someone says the e-word.

You never say the e-word.

As evidenced by the shadow currently falling over Ino.

"Aha! Now that is the kind of youthful enthusiasm I like to hear in the morning!" Ino jumps forward with a squawk as a green pillar slams into the ground behind her. The force of the impact sends Sakura stumbling, but you manage to keep your footing through years of practice. Gai-sensei straightens and surveys the three of you, "Ah! Good morning Tenten! I see we have visitors today as well! Good morning Sakura!" He gives Sakura a beaming smile before his gaze settles down at Ino, who is staring at your teacher like a deer in headlights. "And who is this? One of Asuma's students!"

It's Sakura who first speaks up. "Yes, Gai-sensei, she heard about the taijutsu lessons you gave me and how much it helped, and she just couldn't stay away. Isn't that right Ino?"

"I....but...wha...yes?" Ino's mouth moves, but she still can't seem to piece together a coherent sentence. Then Sakura elbows you in the side, and you snap out of your morbid fascination watching this all unfold.

"Wha-Oh! Yeah, Gai-sensei, she approached me last night after I took Sakura home. She was very, ah, adamant. And since I was planning on practicing water-walking and chakra control with Sakura today, I didn't see any harm in inviting her. And well, you saw their preliminary match..." You and Sakura glance at one another, and you say the next part together. "Her taijutsu needs work."

Gai-sensei rubs his chin, looking Ino up and down, "Is this true? Do you truly wish to learn the power of youth as Sakura did?"

Ino looks rapidly between you and Sakura, and Gai in confusion, "Uh...yes?"

Gai gives her a beaming smile, "Excellent! Tenten! Phenomenal work finding those who wish to improve themselves as you have! Everyone should have the chance to unlock the springtime of youth inside themselves!"

You pale, a chill running up your spine, but you manage to nod your head. "Yes, ah, good luck Ino. Me and Sakura will be by the lake Gai-sensei."

He gives you a thumbs up, "A plan! I will meet you there! But first!"

Poor Ino just looks around, confusion clear on her face. "What's going ooooooooooooooooooo-" she is whisked away by your teacher. Her voice fading away, leaving only you and Sakura alone. Silence reigns in the clearing for several for seconds before Sakura doubles over laughing.

"That...that was...the look on her face..." She pauses to let the laughter subside before wiping tears from her eyes. "That was amazing."

"Well, I doubt she'll say it was easy after this." You say gravely. You really, really hope you don't end the day with her in a jumpsuit. "You do know he's going to make us spar after this right?"

"Oh I'm counting on that." Sakura gives you a feral smile and rubs her hands together, "Now then, water-walking? That's like tree-walking right?"

You nod as the two of you start walking towards the small lake on the edge of the training field. "Yeah, it's basically the same concept, though it requires even finer control."

"So, finally something I'll be better than you at?" Sakura looks at you with no small amount of mirth in her eyes.

"We'll see about that." You kick off you sandals at the edge of the water, "Now, we can wait for Gai-sensei to get here to explain more fully, but the basic idea is you run chakra over the bottom of your feet and use that to repel yourself away from the...water...Sakura?" You glance around, not seeing the pink-haired girl anywhere, "Where'd you...go..."

"So like this then?" Sakura waves to you. From about ten feet off shore.

You blink, "How?"

"It's not that difficult." She chirps, "A bit tricky because it constantly changes though. Come on! You try!"

You roll up your pants and take a deep breath, beginning the process of cycling chakra through your feet. Alright, you can do this. You can do thiiiiiiiii-Your feet punches right through the surface of the water and you go tumbling forward. Landing in the shallows with a splash. Soaking your legs in freezing cold water. You do your best to ignore Sakura's giggles as you push yourself back up, feet sinking into the muck at the bottom of the lake.

Then you are interrupted by a crash, and a green blur erupting from the trees. "Ah! I see you have already begun your training! That's the spirit Tenten!" Then he blinks as he sees Sakura standing out on the lake, "Aha! and I see my eternal rival has taught you well Sakura! Excellent Work! Tenten! This is now a competition by proxy! Do not let my Rival beat me! Show her the true Power of Youth!"

You blink, "Uh..." Just give it up Tenten, it's not worth it.

Gai-sensei gives you some pointers and a few starting tips, before leaving you the rest to work out on your own with Sakura's help. It's frustrating work, chakra control has never exactly been your strong suit, and keeping the balance proves to...difficult. You do manage to eventually keep yourself above water with concentration, though it collapses as soon as you lose your focus. Like what happened when Sakura decided to do a cartwheel past you. Gai-sensei stops by every now and then to check on your progress.

By the end of the day you're soaking wet, and Sakura barely has a drop of water on her, but at least you managed to get it mostly figured out. Even if it's not quite instinctive yet.

Then, just as you're starting to finish up and dry off at the end of the day, the other member of your little trio bursts out of the forest. The blondes clothing has definitely seen better days, and her hair is an absolute mess, and her face is contorted in a rictus of rage "You two!"

You blink, but Sakura greets her mildly, "Oh hey Ino. How was your training?"

"How was my training?!" She screeches, "You two left me alone! With that maniac!"

"Oh whatever do you mean Ino? I thought it was going to be easy, you seemed so confident." Sakura gives her...friend? a beatific smile.

"Graaahh! You...stupid...You knew!" She pants through gritted teeth as she gets in up in Sakura's face. The two of them glaring at one another.

"Aha! Yes! Ino performed very well! Just like you Sakura, she possess the Power of Youth hidden within her! And she told me of your glorious rivalry to win the Uchiha boy's heart! Truly young love is a bountiful well of Youthful passion!"

The praise from your sensei seems to mollify Ino somewhat, but you don't pay attention to that. You're too busy going pale at the thought that you accidentally brought two rivals to be tutored by Gai-sensei together. You don't know if you can deal with another pair.

"But! To truly test your limits, I have one final task for all three of you! Sakura! Ino! You show potential! But you need to hold fast to your dreams! To never give up! To fight on against even when outmatched! That's where you can find the true springtime of Youth!"

Oh no, you really don't like where this is goi-"Tenten!"

You stiffen when Gai-sensei barks your name, "Yes sir?"

"I want you to give them a good fight, 2 against 1, use anything you want to fight them. I want you to test them, and also push yourself if you can." Your eyes light up as you turn to Sakura and Ino, okay, you were wrong. You like where this is going.

Sakura and Ino share a glance between themselves, and then look back at you. On your part, you're currently cradling a kunai knife in your hands. This is going to be fun.

You are now sparring with Ino and Sakura. What's your plan?
[ ] Go all out from the beginning, Gai-sensei said to test them right? Well, you're going to test them. (Tenten will use everything at her disposal to try and beat Ino and Sakura)
[ ] Hang back a bit, you want to give them a chance to show their stuff, nothing special until you need it. (Tenten will withhold from using charms until she starts to lose)
[ ] You're interested in seeing what they can really do, so you're going to make them pull that out. (Tenten is just going to dodge and weave, much like she did in her spar with Sakura.)

[ ] Stunt?

Poor Ino. Poor, Poor Ino. She probably should have asked Asuma what she was getting into before she went ahead and showed up for this. Would have made her life a whole lot easier.

And now they get to fight a Tenten that can use weapons. I'm sure this will go swimmingly for them. Though maybe it will be another bonding experience? Who knows.

Certainly not Tenten, who doesn't what to think anymore.

The Princess of Blades (Naruto/Exalted)

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