Training Alone (Akemi)

[Kaibutsu Gakidou]

Kaibutsu slowly let his body ease into what he had so lovingly dubbed 'silent mode'. While the name may not of been as cool as he himself personally believed, it was in this state he would likely kill many, many people, so the name didn't matter all that much in the grand scheme. First, he let his mind clear. No thoughts. Just the world around him. He could almost 'feel' Akemi standing across from him. He could hear her breathing, along with his own. He could hear the snakes and lizards and birds and insects, all around, crawling, slithering, moving. The sound itself was so clear it was almost like he could see it.

This was Silent Killing. This was the base behind the entire technique. To see without seeing. And this was by far one of Kaibutsu's favorite parts of the technique. With this part, he felt like he didn't exist. He felt like he was the world around him. Like there was no disturbance to anything. The world just flowed around him, like a river. A river, which in the near future, he would bathe with blood.

Moving on from this part of the technique, he let the thoughts flow back into his mind, but kept them focused. Focused on nothing but the upcoming fight. Suddenly, he let his body tense, his arms coming upward, holding his tanto at the ready. At this point, he employed the final stage of Silent Killing. His breathing seemed to disappear along with his own heartbeat. To hear ones own heartbeat fade away could be quite unnerving, at least if you let it get to you.

With that, he moved. He came at Akemi quickly in a zig-zag like pattern. While she may have been exceedingly good with the technique for her first use, Kaibutsu was well-versed with it. He could still hear her breathing, though barely, which was a feat in itself. To a user of silent killing, the breathing of someone was like a siren, alerting them to the victims location. It wasn't something someone could stop easily, hence why users of the Silent Killing technique were often so deadly.

Once he was upon the young girl, Kaibutsu sprinted to the side, trying to get around her, taking a swipe. He aimed for her upper arm, hoping to leave a swallow wound. He continued past, not stopping. Once he felt he was a good distance away, he stopped, turning back to where he had previously felt Akemi's presence.

[Akemi Izayoi]

Normally, Akemi's training consisted of much more effort than what was being given here. Violent shouts as she drove her weapons forward. The intent of power behind her voice fueling the weapon in her hands down a predetermined path with haste. Piercing and running through what blocked it's path. Slashing, underrated by any resistance that sought to slow it. The motions were relentless and brutal, always moving and seeking out damage. Sharp noises, dull crashes, and heavy breathing were constant. Her determination burned like the fires that melted down ores for metals. The girl broke herself down and reforged herself over and over again.

Shatter what she'd once been after seeing the imperfections. The girl gathered the sharp edges of her style and tested the material to find what worked and what didn't, the good material from the flawed. Then they went back into the fires of training. Over and over until she found the way she wanted the resources to be. Only then could she temper the result. Quench it and examine it critically for stability. Then she set it to a hilt and crafted a pommel for balance. All of that from what remained. Sometimes she had to work with less, and at others she could skip a few stages.

Akemi had to force her breathing to stay even as Kai's presence finally began to disappear. The girl expected him to escape her sense completely, but she was startled when he didn't. The boy had much more practice, but he didn't fully fade from the world her 'sight' looked upon. The other genin was more translucent, like she was seeing him without details. The question was; would seeing him as semitransparent be enough? Akemi knew she was about to find out. The cool air sent goosebumps down her fevered flesh, still a bit flushed from the previous motions her body's had gone through.

A strong gulp forced the lump from her throat. She could taste the moisture in the air and smell the dew that sat idly by on the grass as it watched them. "Remember the basics," she told herself. To forget them now would result in an embarrassing showing. Though the likely hood of her actually forgetting were slim. The basics were drilled into muscle as well as mind, after all. The girl did her best to focus on the boy, but his existence seemed to blink in and out of her perception. Akemi unconsciously eased back a step, pivoting her body sideways in his direction to make a smaller target. The charge only made him more difficult to follow.

"Left. Right. Left. Right. LEFT!"

Akemi stepped away, but the sword still managed to graze her. This wouldn't do. Somehow she had to force a confrontation between them and keep the ground closed. If she let Kai control the distance, she wouldn't be able to keep up with the silent killing aspect of the training. Akemi had to force them into focusing more on weapons. So as the boy tried to move out of range she charged after him. Deliberately, she spun the tanto in her left hand to making it give off a slight humming noise as it cut through the air. Then she stabbed out with the one in her right right as the left moved by her ear pointing toward Kai. The spin had carried the left tanto into a backhanded grip so it would look like it was positioned to stab to an observer. She allowed the stab to carry her giving additional reach. The girl over stepped and left her sides open as a result.

The openings were to taunt him as she made an obvious stab toward his shoulder. The nick on the side of her bicep stung slightly from the motion, but she ignored it. One point for him already. Yet, the girl was determined to even the score.

[Kaibutsu Gakidou]

As he turned back to face Akemi, he heard the low hum in the air. With how he was now, though, it might as well have been a siren going off, showing her exact location as she came. He turned, and she was upon him. Shit! She was fast! Using his left tanto, Kaibutsu barely managed to deflect the incoming tanto. It passed his face, leaving a deep cut that quickly started bleeding. He managed to see an opening though, along her sides, and ducking and going to the left, he attacked out with his right tanto.

As he passed under, though, she managed to graze him with her other tanto which managed to tear through his shirt and into the skin below. His body hit the ground and he rolled, jumping to his feet and taking to the air quickly, landing around twenty feet away in a split second. His breathing was slightly ragged for a split second before he managed to control it. She was good. She was still a little iffy on the basics of Silent Killing, but she was damn good with those tanto. Just from their quick exchange, she had shown a large level of competence with them. Any faults he may have seen with their use could easily be attributed to her using a technique she had just been taught.

Regardless, she was quite the ninja. And Kaibutsu could easily see them becoming training partners in the future. That is if when he got a team she was on it. If she already had a team, and he got a different one, it would likely make it hard to spar together. But as it was looking, he definitely hoped they continued this.

Once he finally managed to get his breathing under control, he brought his tanto up quickly. He knew how fast this little spitfire was now, so no taking any chances. His right hand was raised, slightly in front of him, his tanto pointing towards Akemi, while his left was straight out in front of him, his left tanto crossing in front of his right, creating a cross. He was ready for her this time.

[Akemi Izayoi]

The metallic scent of blood that wasn't her own hit her nose. The way she picked up on it so strongly startled her. The girl had to admit it was slightly creepy. Akemi could practically feel the warmth through the air. The coppery tang filled not only her nose, but lashed at her taste buds. For a moment, it awakened a bit of blood lust the girl wasn't even aware of harboring. That rush of power, the feel of scoring a wound on her adversary, it spurred her forward with primal greed. The raging beast wanted the enemy to bleed more. It wanted to push the prey into a corner, feed off the fear that would come, and finally land a killing blow when the prey gave every ounce of it's last effort into a suicide attack. The drive wanted to conquer the boy completely in this battle.

The urge had hit so bluntly it shocked her system, allowing Kai to dodge to her side. Akemi berated herself and tried to make a hasty recover. The girl had planned for this. Which was why she left her sides open. Her overstepped stance suddenly slid into a much more surefooted rooting with a pivot. The tanto held by her ear stabbed downward to chase after him and scored another strike. His retaliation almost slipped through her senses, but seeing it at the last moment had her take a quick step back. The girl didn't escape the range quick enough though and a light cut marred the side of her shirt, having nearly cut into space between her fifth and sixth rib. Akemi stood her ground and felt for Kaibutsu's presence.

Each of them had two points she was sure. Even so, the girl was being careless. She couldn't get any feel of control over the battle. Akemi knew she could hold her own with the weapons, but she was still struggling. Her heartbeat suddenly pounded in her ears as she lost grasp of the technique, but she wrestled control back and grappled with it to keep the feel from fading. Luckily for her, Kai hadn't capitalized on her brief bout of weakness. The rage at still having trouble with silent killing began to bubble in her stomach and it began to twist in annoyance as a response. The girl did her best to focus on Kai, but her frustration was peaking again. Killing intent slowly started to trickle from her being. Unfocused, erratic, and wild.

Akemi chose to stalk closer to Kai this time. Not rush as she had to be careful and keep her guard up. One step at a time she drew closer. They only needed one more point. She couldn't just fail. Even if he did get in the last hit, the girl wasn't going to lose the improvement she'd gained from training so hard already. She stopped, noticing that Kai was fully aware of her. The girl decided to change her course. Circling around him, trying to see any openings. Both tanto were held tight in a backhand grip now as she continued her path around him in a circle, drifting closer at one interval and further out at others.

[Kaibutsu Gakidou]

Nostrils curling back, Kaibutsu smelled the blood in the air. Blood. A smell he remembered well. Especially his own, spilling from a long, jagged canyon in his neck, carved by a rusty kunai from some drunk. He almost lost his nerve. He had never spilled blood, or had his blood spilled during an actual battle. Well, this wasn't an actual battle, just a spar. But still. Every muscle in his body seemed to tense, telling him to run or to attack with everything he had. Before he could do either though, he managed to calm his body down.

Akemi was circling him. Seemingly feeling his boundaries. He waited. He could feel that sweat trickling down his forehead, into the blindfold. He could feel the flies in the air, buzzing around the two young genin. He felt every time Akemi stepped. It was muffled, almost as if she were stepping on pillows instead of the hard ground, but it was still there. He could feel her blades slicing through the air, which itself was an odd feeling.

His waiting soon paid off. When she was in front of him, slightly to his left, he felt that she was as close as she was going to get. He took off, his feet leaving not even a print in the grass. As he ran at her, he twisted in a circle, going to left side of her, then twisted his body in another, going to her other side. Misdirection. One of a shinobi's most deadly tools. Finally, he twisted his body once more, but instead of going to her other side, continued for her right. Once he was finally withing reach, he did a small jump, trying to make his way over her. As he tried to clear the short girl, he managed a front flip, landing silently behind her. He spun around quickly, attempting to cut her along her back, before finally he rolled away, taking up the same position he had started the assault with. He would be ready to attack or defend, regardless.

[Akemi Izayoi]

Before Kai even made his move Akemi had made a mistake. When her opening presented itself. When she saw in the clearest clarity the girl had managed to muster during the entire exercise. When every odd had stacked in her favor in a single instant. Akemi hesitated. Her grip on the weapons slipped as the sight faded around her. The girl had been so used to it now that the sudden emptiness brought her back to square one. Like a girl lost in the woods she panicked and made a hasty backtrack. Quickly she fled and gave ground trying to will back her senses.

The sense came back, fleeting and unfocused. Strained. Her senses were erratic not because she lacked the drive or will, but because her body was unused to using it in practice. Holding it for so long had been a taken a toll and it had all managed to catch up with her at that single moment. Akemi could barely follow Kai, but she did her best to reign back in control and stabbed blindly. It was all she could do. The gamble came up empty. She could no longer rely on her style or her senses. Like a sitting duck. The sharp pain that slid across her back spurred her back into movement.

She had reacted instantly to the pain, moving away from it like a wild animal. But the attack had went through. She had lost. She had not even lost in a dignifying way. Instead she'd gone out like some chump. Everything went silent, dull and lifeless. Thankfully, it was broken by her weapons clattering to the ground. Akemi let herself fall to her knees soon after, spent. Still, she rebelled against the strain and fatigue. All for naught as her body wouldn't listen. It was too heavy, to move was a chore. That and the tormenting sense of failure egged at her.

Akemi refused to cry here. Not after all the help she'd gotten. The girl wasn't going to insult the boy by allowing him to think that she was angry over a stupid loss! Akemi was furious over her lack of strength to follow through until the end. It was suppose to have ended like that! Shakily, she struggled and succeeded in picking up her arm. Fingers nearly numb, roughly pulled away the bandage covering her eyes. A bad idea in hindsight. As soon as her eyes opened she was blinded. Even the waning sun was strong enough to have her tear up. Good, that would be a perfect excuse encase she actually did start crying.

"I lost, good training though..." The girl prided herself in keeping her voice from cracking. The exhaustion was laid on thick, but she couldn't really help it. It was real. She still couldn't see so she didn't even know if she was talking in Kai's direction. Her ears were buzzing too. All her sense felt...over used. Even a headache was starting to build up. "Been a while...since..." She had to stop to catch her breath. "this tired." How was she going to get home? Mustering her strength and crushing her pride she sought the only answer. "Kai...can you help me home...I can't move."

(Pick her up bridal style and lets close up this thing.)

[Kaibutsu Gakidou]

As Kaibutsu stood still, waiting for retaliation, he heard the blood start to drip from his sword. He had hit. He had won. Right afterwards, he heard and felt Akemi drop her weapons, before dropping herself. Removing his blindfold quickly, which he regretted instantly, he started towards the young girl. His eyes adjusted quickly, and he saw how absolutely exhausted Akemi looked. Apparently this training had taken a lot out of her. Not surprising, considering Silent Killing wasn't that easy of a skill to master. And the progress she had gained on it in that small amount of time was astounding.

"Yeah, really good training Akemi-chan. Great job!" He said, giving her a large smile, even if she couldn't see it. And then she asked him to help her home. His smile dropped. His eyes widened. What? Help her home? That would just be...awkward. But he couldn't refuse a pretty girl. Especially this one. "Um, yeah, sure. I'll help you home."

Looking at how tired he was, he could translate help to take. She wouldn't be moving anytime soon. Getting close to her, he knelt down, trying to figure out how this was going to work. Finally deciding on one, he put one arm under her knees, and the other supported her back. Bridal style it was called. It might cause questions, but it was probably the easiest and most respectful way he could carry her.

"Umm, alright, where we goin'?"

(Thread end?)