The woman which walked in light steps along the rather narrow pathway did not look anything like the maniac most knew her to be. Her long and luxurious hair was bound up in a high ponytail, and although she wore the same clothing as usually, then there was still something a bit different about her. Her amber eyes didn't glow from a fire which started within her soul, a twisted grin didn't play across her lips. Today she was 'Izumi', and she had more on her mind than to think about anything called revenge. On her back she had a bag with some food and clothing to spare, but there wasn't much more in her possession. Of course there was the usual ninja pouch and her claymore, and with that most of her earthly possessions had been counted up. She had prepared herself to stay hidden away from the real world for some time, as there was some training she had to do.

After spending a year of research she had finally gathered enough information to be able to get going to the Village Hidden in the Waterfall where she would be starting her training. There was a monastery there which was a bit isolated, and there were only a few selected people there which taught the art of Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu. It was a 'school' which didn't have any particular style, but rather many different arts combined together. Budo Taijutsu was mainly called "The Art of Distance" as it focused on disarming your opponent where you would put yourself in an advantaged position in each fight. And this style interested Satsuriku very much. Despite it not being some gory/messy/instant-kill fighting method, then it was never bad to learn more graceful styles which could provide more defense and safety in fights. However tough and well trained ones body was, it could often prove lethal if just touched a single time in a fight.

Satsuriku had been walking for days now, asking here and there for directions, but being careful also not to rouse any suspicion. Her green hair she had hidden underneath a hood, while she had hidden away her claymore underneath her cloak. If she would be going to take her time to train in the monastery, she would have to be sure that no one would be coming there to seek her out. The day was still early, the sun bright and sent it's warmth down to embrace all living things. The green haired woman lifted the water bottle to her lips for what seemed to be the 100th time as she wiped at the sweat which was starting to form on her smooth forehead. Even if her clothes were not really the warmest out there, then it was -really- hot to walk this much in such heat. She surely wished she would start seeing that monastery before she would melt like an unfortunate snowman.

The minutes crawled onwards, turning into hours. But when the sun had just started lowering itself down on the blue blue sky, Satsuriku stopped on a small hill and peered her eyes. There, probably just 10 minutes from where she was now, she could see a white rooftop of a rather large building which should be the monastery. That sight seemed to fill her with more energy, and her feet barely touched the ground as she jogged on. As she came to a halt in front of the big wooden doors, she took a moment to just stand there and admire the structure of the building. It was fairly simple, and built to be modest just like the people who lived in there. And yet it possessed this certain power and respect to it, like one could just read it's history along the white walls. A lot of the building was built into a mountain wall, as if to provide an even stronger feeling to it. I like this.

Suddenly the doors opened, and out walked 3 men. They were of course all dressed in simple clothing, just white robes which were held together in the waist with a thick rope. They were shaved bald, and all held a certain wisdom to their eyes even if there was quite the age difference. If she had to guess, she would think one was around her own age while the others were at least over 40. "What is it you seek, child?"

The older looking monk spoke as he looked at her with kind and yet searching gaze. Lowering her head a bit before she bowed respectfully, Satsuriku spoke out. "My name is Izumi and I come from a long way to be able to train here the respectful ways of the Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu." There was silence for a few minutes, while she held her bow and awaited what they would say. "Stand up again and let me see your eyes." The man who had seemed to be in the middle of the age ranking, was suddenly standing right in front of her, whilst speaking out with a soft voice. Satsuriku obeyed his request, reaching up to her full height before she looked him directly in the face. They were pretty much the same height, although if she would not have worn the slightly high heeled boots, he might have topped her with a few inches. As he looked deep into her eyes, she had to hold back the urge to look away. It was as if he was looking straight into her soul, searching there for any answers.

"You have a saddened and troubled soul. And yet, there is a fire which gets mirrored in your eyes." Satsuriku didn't say anything, but kept looking into his dark eyes without moving or even blinking. It seemed like he was also seeing a few things he wasn't too pleased with, and yet she had not been dismissed yet.

"There are things no young person should experience, and one of those things is betrayal from a loved one." His words stung and even surprised her a bit. Up until now, she had thought she had a pretty good 'Poker Face', but it was like nothing escaped his probing gaze.

"I would do right with assuming you know about our rules and guidelines? They who have evil in mind will have no place here, and will not be taught nor sheltered. We seek to guide souls into the path of righteousness and help them see the path they should choose. However, those who have already chosen their path will be turning a deaf ear to our words and teaching."

Satsuriku still didn't say anything, but kept a blank face as she nodded. After giving her one long measuring look, the man turned on his heel and walked up towards his fellow monks, where he talked with them for a few minutes. The talked in too soft voices for Satsuriku to follow after, but it seemed they were trying to decide what to do. Perhaps he had seen too much of her darkness? But then the youngest man stepped away from them with a single nod, before they started to walk back into the monastery. Satsuriku took that nod as something positive, and therefore started to walk behind them. At the doors, she was stopped with a single move of a hand.

"First you must know that there is no need for material threats here." A polite way of telling her to give all of her weapons to them. Not taking a moment to think that over, she took the claymore off from her back and handed it along with the ninja pouch to the oldest looking monk. The youngest one handed her a bundle of clothing, and he then led her through the monastery.

They walked through a few hallways, crossing paths with a few other monks, walking past doors where either there was complete silence or the muffled thuds of training. After Satsuriku felt like they had been walking -forever-, they started to go up a few stairs. That building was huge. Even bigger than what it had suggested when seen from the outside. Satsuriku wondered to herself just how long it had taken to build it and carve it into the powerful mountain. But as she didn't feel like invading this comfortable silence which had been between her and her 'guide', she decided to simply keep any questions to herself. As she was sure she was done walking a few miles and at least 2000 stairs, they stopped in front of a plain wooden door.

"This will be where you will live during your training. Please refrain from invading other's quarters, and only enter those rooms which you will be shown tomorrow. Please rest now, and I will have someone come with refreshments for you."

They both bowed for each other, and he then walked away. Well, here goes nothing. Satsuriku pushed the door open and looked curiously around. It wasn't really anything too impressive, but looked comfortable enough. A single bed under a medium sized window, a small, a small and brown rug on the wooden floor. A simple table and a single chair, and then a small room with no door to close it off to the right with nothing but a simple toilet and a sink inside of it. On the table was a wooden bowl and a white cloth.

This was no castle, but it was more than she had had most of her life. Walking further inside, after having closed the door, she placed the bundle of clothing she had got onto the table before stripping down and neatly placing her own clothes next to the others. She then proceeded to take the bowl and go into the 'bathroom' where she filled it with cold water (as there was nothing else to really have) before she returned into her 'bedroom' again. With a sigh of pleasure, she wet the cloth in the cold water and used it to give herself a catwash. It felt heavenly to be able to get rid of the traveling dust and sweat. After the small but undeniably wonderful "bathing", she put on the clothing she had been given. It was, as she had expected, just a simple white robe with a rope to be used as a belt. She wondered if the monks had been expecting her, as the robe fit perfectly for her tall and slender form. Truth be told, she would not have been surprised if those old foxes had spies all around which had informed them about someone asking for information about the monastery.

A light knock on her door made Satsuriku spin around while ready for a fight, her habit of being always prepared not about to die out. Shaking her head a bit with a soft chuckle, she stepped to the door and opened it. A boy which could not have been over the tender age of 15 stood there, his head shaved and his slender form wearing the usual white robe. He seemed a bit less composed than those others, as his eyes fluttered all over the place while he mumbled apologies for distburbing her while he handed her a tray with fruits and bread along with water on it.

Must be a bit new here. Or he has just never seen a female before. She had to hold back a small laughter as the boy jumped a bit in the air when she took the tray after telling him thanks. The pale pink color of embarrassment started up his neck and flushed his cheeks and even all the way to his ears as he quickly bowed and literally fled from the scene. Well it was a good thing that she had been dressed before he had knocked, seeing that Satsuriku wasn't really shy by nature. The poor boy would have probably died from a heartattack if he had seen a naked woman in front of him.

After having eaten and stretched, she crawled into the bed and lay awake for a few minutes while thinking about what would come. Surely enough, she knew that if the monks would know her identity then they could easily have her killed. Heck the food she had eaten could have been poisoned for all she knew. And yet, she just felt like taking the risk. A small yawn escaped her as she turned on her side and pulled the light cover over herself. Tomorrow would probably be a busy day, and she hadn't slept properly in a long time, so it was best to try and rest her body and mind as she could before then.

Satsuriku wasn't sure what it was that woke her, but she was not surprised at the state she was in. Her hair a tangled mess, sweat dripping from her body, bones stretching out from under her skin. She was standing in the middle of the floor and her breathing was fast, her heartbeat even faster. It drummed painfully fast inside of her chest while her eyes struggled to focus on anything in front of her. It wasn't very often that she awoke without remember the nightmare, but she wouldn't really have to to know what it had been about. A dark room, her naked form strapped down on a cold table. A face which was too familiar for any good looming over hers, while a knife was cutting through her flesh. The pain was so intense, too intense. A slight shudder ran through the young woman as she raced towards the toilet where she heaved up the food she had eaten not full 2 hours earlier.

Yes, 2 hours was the longest sleep she could ever get for what she could remember. Leaning her forehead against her arm as she stayed hovering over the toilet, Satsuriku drew in a deep breath while trying to calm herself down. An hour later, she was sitting on her bed. Dressed in the white robe and having combed her hair and washed herself so that she was in her normal looking state. She felt calm, and waited patiently as the sun was starting to wake up. From what she could gather, the time was about 6 am when a light knock was heard on her door. Standing gracefully up, she moved to open it, only to reveal the face of the oldest monk she had met the day before.

"Follow me, child."

He better start cutting out that child talk. Seriously. They walked back through all those hallways, down the stairs, through rooms. Satsuriku was very sure that if she would be left alone in the middle of the monastery, she would get lost for at least a week! She was pretty sure they would be seeing the 'boss' of the place now, the head monk or whatever they wished to call him. Thinking back to what she had read in a certain book she might have stolen from a library back in Amegakure [yeah surprising, who would have thought a library that worked well would be there], Satsuriku knew that the head of the Bujinkan Budo fighting style was called 'Soke'.

But she wasn't sure if the monks would actually be upholding such titles. They were after all supposed to be some 'higher' dudes that only called to God or whatever it was they were wasting their time with. A soft groan escaped her lips as suddenly they were standing outside, the sun stinging her eyes as she tried to scan out her surroundings. A few men were out there, forming what seemed to be a circle. And in the middle of that circle there stood a rather average looking man wearing a black robe. And on the sleeve of his robe there was an emblem which held two golden stars, and around his waist he had a black belt. Another man stepped into the 'ring', his attire made of a white robe and a green belt.

Both men bowed for each other, before they started to soundlessly grapple around. It was weird watching them move, as it was like they moved with the flow of each other's bodies. As the man in the black robe stepped forward, the man in the white on took a step backwards and moved effortlessly with the 'flow' of the other man's punch. They danced around like that for many minutes, an hour even. Satsuriku wasn't sure as she could only watch in fascination at their effortless 'fighting'. Neither seemed to be growing tired, and when it seemed that one was going to be gaining the advantage, the other would take a step and change the whole rhythm and flow yet again. Just as she thought to herself that they could probably go on like that for hours and hours, a man held his hand in the air and with that single motion stopped the both. There was bowing and then the group dispersed. A slightly confused look crosses Satsuriku's face as in her eyes the fight hadn't been over, neither of the men had really won nor lost as they had moved equally well.

"Follow me."

It was just now which she remembered the monk which had led her there in the first place. They stepped back inside and shortly were halting in front of golden painted doors. The monk knocked twice, then bowed for Satsuriku, before he walked away. Unsure if she should just stand there, the green haired woman shifted her weight a bit while glancing at the door in front of herself.

"Enter."

Oh so there really was someone in there. Slowly she grabbed the doorknob and pushed the door open before stepping inside. "Excuse me." She mumbled politely as she closed the door behind her before then taking a measuring look around. There was a low table and 2 cushions on the floor for people to sit on. And well, that was pretty much it. In the middle of the table was a teapot and 2 cups. On one of the cushions an old man sat, and with a small gesture urged Satsuriku to come closer and take a seat. After having obeyed, she looked upon her host with a curious gaze. The man wore similar clothing to all the others, just a simple white robe. His head was bald and his face neatly shaved. Satsuriku was sure he was much older than he appeared, but if she had to guess on the physical appearance alone she'd go for around 70 years. But his dark eyes and their gaze suggested something much higher than that.

"I have heard you came here to learn the Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu art." Satsuriku simply nodded as she watched the monk pour tea for both of them in the cups. "And yet, my fellow brothers have voiced some concerns regarding you." That didn't really surprise her much, but she kept silent. He also kept silent for a few minutes, and then those few minutes kept dragging on and on. They both sipped silently on their tea, while not looking directly at each other but rather focused on the tea or the room itself. Satsuriku shifted just the slightest bit as her feet were starting to get numbed up, and at that exact moment the monk decided to speak again.

"You know well the art of patience. That is good. You will be needing it here." Oh that I would have been able to guess. "Despite the feelings some have towards your staying here, I have decided to allow you to be here and learn. But, your studying will be a little bit different. I can see you have a well trained body, your muscle build is very impressive despite your young age. So I can assume you are a ninja, or at least a ninja in training." He slowly sipped his tea, seemingly enjoying to feel the mild taste fill his mouth before he swallowed and placed the cup down. "I will give you 2 months. 2 months to learn under my best students here. After that you will have to leave."

"Understood. That wont be any problem." A cheerful chuckle escaped the old man as he looked her over. "You sound very optimistic now, but I should warn you to keep a good hold of that patience you showed me earlier." He stood up with a slightly surprisingly trained agility, before he then bowed before the young woman. She understood that their conversation for now was over, and therefore stood also and bowed. "Until later."

After having left the room, Satsuriku leaned against the door for a moment while drawing in a deep breath. 2 months.. would that be enough? Surely she had confidence in her abilities, but this was a bit crazy right? "Would you like to return to your room?" A small sound started deep in Satsuriku's throat, a sound which would have probably evolved into a slightly high pitched yelp had she not swallowed it down while turning her head to observe the monk which had either appeared from out of the floor, or stood there the whole time without her noticing.

"Yeah, that would be nice thanks." She would need a little bit of alone time now, to think about her task and think about how to best approach it. After having bid her farewell to the monk at her door, she slowly entered her room and then sat down on the floor while stretching her arms above her head. For now, she would do a little bit of meditation and see if she didn't still have the knock for it. After all, she didn't doubt the old monk's words the least bit that she would be needing all of her patience. And whatever sanity she could manage to dig out. Something tells me that these 2 months will be veeeeery long.

Alright so. A week had passed. And it was pretty fair to say that things were going slow. Not according to plan. Getting completely fucked up. Well yes, so the list could have kept going. Satsuriku felt like she was moving backwards instead of going forward. She meditated in the freaking rain or the scorching sun, she got her ass handed to her by a bunch of old monks, she had weird talks with the oldest monk. And she of course couldn't sleep properly. All in all, she was getting veeery close to snapping. There were days where there was a flicker in her gaze, or she felt a random muscle twitch. But not yet. She was not ready to let this go. So she kept meditating while freezing her ass off or getting sun-burnt. She kept letting old monks throw her around like she was a bag of potatoes as she wondered just what it was that she was doing wrong in her approach of that technique. She knew the answer was right in front of her. But she just couldn't see the answer. Perhaps the old geezer had been right about what he said. Perhaps she was deaf to their teachings because she had pretty much set in stone her goal in life.

A loud thud was heard as she punched the ground she was sitting on. She had right now been sitting in the sun for a few hours, trying her best to ignore the heat and ignore the discomfort. "Miss. We are ready." One of the younger monks had approached her without making a sound, and politely awaited her reply. The rather annoyed woman nodded curtly before getting up and stretching. "Alright. Let's do this."

They walked alongside without a word, until upon the normal place where the 'matches' took place. The usual elderly looking monk was standing there, waiting for her. At first she had thought they were kidding when they said he would be the one teaching her the moves and be her opponent. She wanted to point out the fact that she could probably break him if she would only sneeze in his direction. But she had thought the monks perhaps wanted to take it easy on her at first, so on she had gone. And she had gotten thrown on her face before she had even had the chance to properly move. Again and again, that old man just moved effortlessly. It was as if he was just moving in sync with her, like she was some sort of a puppet and he was the master that danced to the puppets movements. It didn't matter what she did, he countered. Again and again, she landed on her butt, her back, her stomach, or literally on her face. Fussing and fuming, she tried to see what he did. But she failed so far at it.

But no one made a comment, no one laughed. Everybody remained very professional and there was nothing to be heard. And now, a week after her first encounter with that old geezer, she was once again headed there to be thrown around. Just .. don't impale him with a bone. It was very much easier said than done. Her body literally ached to be able to thrust out bones and just get this over with. But she had to remember that doing that was the easy, the weak, way out. I would feel very happy if I never had to look at that face again. She tried to remain a bit expressionless and not let her annoyance show as she bowed before the monk and then took a stance. Drawing in a deep breath, she took a step forward and threw a low punch which was aimed at his solar plexus.

As usually, he had stepped according to her own movements. His eyes not giving anything for her to read, his face like stone. But .. wasn't there something a little bit different? Satsuriku drew her fist back just as soon as she had extended it outwards in a punch. At this point, he had usually been done grabbing her wrist and pulling her off balance. Was he doing something new? Was he getting slower? Is that old fuck finally dying from old age? But what Satsuriku wasn't getting was that she herself was getting faster, and was getting used to the movements. Used to the 'dancing'. Her other foot stepped forward before she went down and swept at his feet. The monk jumped swiftly in the air, doing a back flip and landed just as quickly and easily as he had flown off, on her outstretched leg. A moment and their eyes connected, before Satsuriku had pushed her hands on the ground and did a flip backwards just like that. Her muscles strained, she breathed outwards, as the monk flipped away and landed effortlessly in front of her, just as she had come out from the flip.

For a few seconds, they simply stood there. And then she charged again. Punches were thrown, they danced a dance quicker than before. Each time he moved against her, she stepped back. Each time she moved against him, he stepped back. He parried her blows, she guarded against his attacks. For hours the match went on. Neither seemed to have the advantage, but there wasn't really much progress going on either. Sweat was running down her forehead, her breathing was getting quicker. But he remained the same. Which made her curse him out in her head. She wanted to get that man down and step on his face a few times.

And then, as if nothing was more normal, a new monk stepped between them with his arms raised to each side. Something coming to put the match to a halt. Irritated and confused, Satsuriku opened her mouth to protest. She had finally been able to do something! To see something! But her opponent just bowed respectfully before taking his leave. Fuck this shit. Quickly she bowed, before spinning on her heel and grabbing a towel to dampen off her sweat as she walked inside of the building. Her footsteps indicated her mood as she came to a halt in front of the door she knew she was supposed to go through. Taking a deep breath, she raised her hand to knock but waited a few seconds. She knew her mood would be too easy to read, but she also knew that there would be some time she'd have to take to calm herself down. And that old man inside would probably be able to read her anyways. So why dally?

The knocking was quick and light, while she hoped he wasn't in there. Or that he was taking a nap. Or doing a puzzle... or whatever it was that really old men did when they didn't have anything to do. "Come in." Fuuu- She opened the door and slipped inside before closing it behind her. A quick bow, and she advanced to the seat which was meant for her before she sat down there and stared down into the empty tea cup.

"You are upset." A very unladylike snort escaped from her as she glanced to the side. "Yeah I guess." "You guess?" A bit of silence stretched between them before Satsuriku looked slowly up and into his eyes. "Yes. I guess so." Keep it cool.. don't give him any reason to kick you out of here. But to her surprise the monk just laughed a bit before pouring them both some tea. "You knew before you came here that this would be difficult. And yet you seem very angry and impatient."

Satsuriku groaned out while taking the cup and sipping slowly on the tea. "Yeah I knew. I guess I just feel like I'm making no progress at all. And it's already been a week." "Usually many haven't gotten as far as you have in just a week. But there have been those that have come further than you in just 2 days." Satsuriku looked at him while wondering if he was taunting her. "Your eyes tell me that you have doubts, and that you also think I'm making a fool of you." She shifted and took another sip. Would it be right to be honest? "It just feels like those 2 months were put there just to keep me calm and at bay until the time limit would be reached. Like you guys here knew that I wouldn't be able to make it anyways, but decided to pull me around anyways just so that I wouldn't cause any problems."

He rubbed his chin lightly and chuckles. "I guess it could look like that." A sigh escaped the female as she knew she wouldn't be getting any more answers about that. They drank their tea in silence, and then she got up and bowed. But as she was stepping outside, his voice made her halt. "It's your eyes. They tell about each of your moves. But I would have expected you to know that yourself." There was a bit of humor in his words, and a very soft crackling sound was heard as Satsuriku's fist squeezed down on the door handle, making a hand shaped form become imprinted into the metal. She knew he was right. Of course he was right. But just how would she be able to start controlling herself?

The green haired woman closed the door slowly behind her while drawing in a deep breath. She was going outside again, to keep meditate. That was probably her best move for now. And tomorrow.. well tomorrow she would be showing that old man her best efforts.

"Hn!" Her breath left her lungs in a whoosh as she felt herself flying through the air. The fist which had landed in her chest kept following her flying body, it's strike aiming at her stomach as the green haired woman opened her eyes with a small sound of disapproval. It was just a part of a second, but for her it was in slow motion. Many minutes. She could feel her breathing return to her, felt 1 heartbeat, twisted a bit to the side in the air and managed to avoid the fist. Landed on her feet and crouched slightly down while glaring at her senile opponent. My eyes .. my eyes .. my eyes This whole morning she had been sparring, thinking about what the old geezer had said 1 week before. There had been about 6 days which she had used to meditate. Build herself up spiritually, pushing everything back and just think about these words. If she was going to go ahead with what she figured was her best shot, she needed to make her senses better. Her smelling, hearing, how the earth felt, how the wind tasted. And she needed to 'hear' her opponent with her own body. Feel the heat when he was coming closer, know how much and how far to retreat before striking back. Like a recoiling snake.

So now, on this 7th day she had stepped up and into a match once again. Against the same guy as before. The saaame old guy that seemed to be starting to get used to kicking her ass. They were outside of the building, near the thicket of the forest. There was moistness in the air, far away she could hear a thunder. Perfect weather for this. It was barely 10 minutes into the match, and she had already gotten hit about 4 times while she seemingly seemed to be in her own world. She had just been looking over her opponent, stepping forward and retreating a few times while he seemed to be a bit surprised at her actions. And now, taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes. Held her breathing for a few seconds, and then lunged forward.

Her right fist was curled up, it presenting an iron strong fist. Her feet barely grazed the earth as she moved with inhuman speed towards the old man, and right there, she felt it. She 'heard' him retreat, and she knew he was now trying to calculate her moves and trying to get into her mind. But how was he going to do that if she wouldn't look at him and let her eyes 'give out' what she had in mind? An arm was outstretched towards her, the hit was going for her rib-cage, but she neatly sidestepped just the slightest and felt like her arm was a snake as it wrapped around the opponent's arm. Pulled him harshly towards her, before her fist landed deep in his stomach.

A surprised sound, a cough, and he flew backwards as she let go of his arm. Simply stood there now with her eyes closed and a sneaky smirk on her face. How she was doing this was a bit confusing probably, but well if one -had- the potentials and had some time to truly think . . then it wasn't all that surprising that she would manage to do something like this in such a short amount of time. It would have probably taken other people months to process what she had done now in days. Weeks. And deep in her heart she knew that. And she threw her head back and let out a laugh filled with joy and playfulness. Damn would she enjoy kicking ass now. For 20 minutes they sparred, and for 20 minutes she remained untouched while she managed to land 3 more blows on the old man. "Stop the match." Damn had someone been onto her moves? She relaxed, stopped thinking about where on his neck the last blow would land, and opened her eyes. There was recognition, but also suspicion in the eyes watching her. The young ones seemed to admire her, the older ones questioned her. She knew that. They weren't stupid, far from it.

Fine fine, let them be suspicious. Might have saved that old goat some pain. Her arrogance whispered in her ear, that little imp with the horns that was sitting on her left should had a big grin on it's face. Later that evening, she challenged another monk and won within 20 minutes. The whole time having her eyes closed. She went easy on him, not doing anything that would make the other monks stop her. He had forfeited himself, because she had deliberately made the blows harder and harder as the time had passed. But all without breaking or ripping anything. She knew she was a very strong woman. Stronger than most others her age probably, and even if these monks were some super-monks, then it didn't mean they were immune to raw strength if it managed to land on them straight on.

That night she didn't go and talk with the oldest one. She instead went directly to her room and processed what had happened throughout the day. Satsuriku's progress was much quicker after this, although she remained having her eyes closed. Her senses became sharper, and also when she was not training she had her eyes closed. Purposely walking everywhere while using only her instincts and senses to tell her if she was about to fall down somewhere or walk into something. And she kept on winning matches, 1 match each day until she stepped up the pace and was starting to be able to fight up to 3 matches a day. That she did for 5 days until she tried going against 2 opponents at once. And that worked also. Without breaking much sweat. The green haired monster wasn't called a monster for nothing.

There wasn't that much time left anyways, she had to keep pushing up throughout the ranks until she could challenge the oldest geezer. Winning him would win her what she wanted. The recognition, and also the fact that she could say that she had managed to master this technique. But the question about what happened after -that- remained unanswered. Were they worthy to keep living after she had managed to master their living style in under 2 months? Would it haunt her soul if she killed a bunch of monks? No.. she doubted that. She knew she didn't have a soul.. at least not one that would have 'thoughts' like that. No way. There were no ghosts from the past that would ever make her loose sleep.

The beginning of understanding yourself. Wasn't that what he said? A thoughtful look crossed her fair features as she traced her bloodied index finger down her smooth cheek, her eyes taking in the scenery before her. Small fires had started here and there in the ruins of what had been the monastery where she had trained for the past weeks. As far as she knew, no one was left alive. The evening before, she had finally sparred the oldest monk. But before that, they had had a deep conversation. About what? Well probably just the same ol' bullshit that could be talked about in a philosophical way. The meaning of life, how to fully understand life, coming to terms with yourself. All those things which Satsuriku just.. well didn't really care that much about to be honest. They hadn't really helped her up until now, had they? Her own fists and her own resolve had brought her what she needed. But still, she had a certain amount of respect for those who chose that other lifestyle. But that was just not enough. Nothing was ever enough.

It was just 4 days since she had started to be able to spar with her eyes open again. Now having perfected the way of no one being able to read her movements through her gaze or through her facial expressions. And thus, the time had come for her to truly try out her skills. The match with the oldest monk had taken hours, but neither had given in. There were many times which the results were seemingly in her best interest or his best interest, and yet they had kept dancing on that thread of a line. Dancing on the edge of a knife, if you will. Maybe he understood what it would have meant to lose. Maybe he had finally seen through her? Was that why he struggled so hard? But it was to no prevail, because she had what it took. She knew what she wanted. And even if she went through life on that 'bad' side, it still didn't mean she wouldn't be able to defeat the light. Whoever said that the good always win? That's just plain good ol' bullshit. And Satsuriku knew that best of all. She was representing Evil in this world. She put despair into people. She ruined lives, took things others loved. She was the one who made others wish for revenge. And that night, she had managed to bring that old man to his knees. None of the other monks seemed to believe what was happening. But there was a certain curious look of pleasing on the old man's face as he had looked up at her while holding onto his dislocated arm.

"So you are finally here?" He had asked, making the green haired woman feel a bit puzzled before she had spoken out. "What are you talking about old man, I have been here for almost two months." A bitter laugh and a shake of his head. "No, you have not been here this whole time. I can see that this is not the one who stepped into this monastery that first day. I knew all along that there was something deep within you. And now that I see it, I wonder if I should feel glad or terrified over having brought destruction over my brothers." Satsuriku had kept silent, looking down at him, before a wicked smile had crawled upon her lips. "That's right, old man. You have been raising a poisonous snake here in your monastery. You should have known better, and yet you did it. How is that for a holy man?" Her voice had been raising up as she laughed harder and harder, something terrifying reflecting in her eyes. And at that moment, it was as if every single person around understood what was going on. And for a second, just a split of second, she could smell their fear. Feel their fear. But then, all she did was focus on that one person in front of her. "You will go to Hell my child, but I think you know that well." "Ah yes. And I shall see you down there." One snap, and his neck was broken.

One single snap, and the mentor of the others was dead. And she, that monster who stood there, was now someone who had mastered their art of living. Their art of fighting. And she wondered if they all knew that they would die within the next 24 hours. She was not unhurt though, as that old man had been quite skilled. If he had been a true ninja, she might even have had a difficult time with him in a normal spar. Her rib-cage on the right side burned as she breathed, and she knew at least 2 fingers were dislocated. But this was just small matter. When he was down, the rest.. was nothing.

They had attacked, a group of desperate men. And it was like that... for hours..hours..hours. She kept fighting, without resorting to her ninja skills. She defeated every single one of the monks while fighting on their own grounds. And using their own tactics. Why she did that? Well, perhaps to show respect? Perhaps to rub in their defeat? Or perhaps it was just entirely random.. She didn't really know it herself, but that wasn't so weird since she didn't understand herself most of the time. But wasn't that kind of the fun about living?

And thus, she stood here now. Her body aching, her breathing labored, blood smeared over her. Her fists stiff, her fingers stiff. Her legs felt like they could buckle from underneath her at any given moment. But there was also no one breathing near her. She wasn't sure how many there had been, wasn't sure how much she had destroyed.. but damn it had been fun. "No time to waste, someone will probably start smelling the blood and get curious." She smiled cheerfully, while trying to limber a bit up before she started walking away from the ruined monastery. She was going to head back to Amegakure now and rest a bit, she thought she deserved that. And get something good to eat, fuck she was tired of eating some freaking grass and whatever disgusting things there were in the food in that monastery. She wanted meat. Some halfway raw meat. And after she had rested properly and eaten and drunk as she wanted, she was going to find something else fun to do. After all, there were many places she hadn't destroyed yet. And many people that deserved to die!

[ Training thread finished ~ ]