Let's Get this Show on the Road!

Sid stood in the middle of a sweltering training ground, stripped down to nothing but a sports bra, compression shorts, and her treks. Her chest was heaving in and out rapidly, and she couldn’t help but thinking “There is absolutely no fucking WAY I am this out of shape!” She had been a genin for four years now, having graduated when she was thirteen. But she had spent less time taking on missions and more time focusing on her music.

Sid wasn’t the lazy type, but she was definitely a dreamer. Making beautiful music and becoming a world-renown popstar had taken precedence over being a powerful shinobi for a long time, but then she sat and watched a few kids at the recent Chunin Exams. She was a few years older, but they were still in the same generation, and yet they were doing amazing things. She wasn’t jealous or anything like that, they simply reminded her of stories her papa had told her when she was young.

So she decided that, like those of her father’s clan, she would learn to meld music and combat. She could be a popstar AND a kickass kunoichi, all in one! She knew the first step was picking back up conditioning her body like she had when she was first learning to Ride with her mother. She thought it would be like riding a bike, after all you never really forget even if you don’t do it for a while. And it was like riding a bike….under a hundred tons of pressure.

The training of Gravity Children was truly strenuous, and if you didn’t keep it up constantly it would only be moreso. Sid took a minute to pull her bluetresses back into a ponytail, pulling a sweatband over her hairline to keep stray hairs secure and to keep the sweat out of her eyes. She could do this, she knew she could. Riding was in her blood, drilled into her body. It would come back to her, even if it isn’t exactly easy at first.

Sid started to move slowly, gently skirting back and forth on her skates. She only needed a moment to become reacquainted with the feeling of rapidly gathering momentum. Then she pushed off. The exercise was simple, she would just skate around the training grounds doing laps. What made it difficult was that she would progress from simply skating into a Run and then from there into Riding a Road. It sounded easy on paper, but in practice the stress was nothing to scoff at.

Sid shook the errant thoughts from her head and decided to just go for it. Thinking about how hard it was on her body wouldn’t make it any easier, afterall. She transitioned quickly from moving back and forth in place to skating forward, moving around the training grounds in a circle. She made a few laps, slowly but surely picking up speed as she did so. Whenever her speed picked up, her eyes adjusted almost instantly. Her body was designed for this, to Ride, it seemed like a betrayal for her to have such trouble doing what it was meant to do.

Feeling disappointed in herself, she shifted ever so slightly from skating to Riding. It was a different sensation, even if outwardly they looked exactly the same. She could feel more pressure on her body, as if a large weight had settled on her shoulders and upper back, but she could also feel the hum of the natural world around her. The elements that were at the beck and call of her treks, waiting for the right movements to call them into action. The Kukinorite clan had a connection to the elements that few could replicate, and it awed her more than it should, probably. After all she was one of them, if only by half.

Sid definitely noticed something was different this time around, in comparison to the others. The pressure had lessened, or maybe her body had gotten used to it. Either way, it was easier to Ride, she was picking up more speed with it. She got lost in the feeling, the small triumph this symbolized. So much so that she drifted out of her path and, when she zoned back in, was on a direct collision course with one of the training dummies littered about.

Rather than crashing into it, her instincts kicked in. She pushed off the ground with her skates, launching her through the air as she did so. She flipped over the dummy, her hand reaching out to stabilize herself above its head before she twisted and descended back to the ground. When her skates touched down, she didn’t stop, but rather corrected her course and continued to ride on. She spun while she rode, fists pumping in the air as she celebrated what was no doubt the most epic maneuver she had ever pulled off on her skates. It only dampened her mood slightly that no one was around to see it. It was a victory more for herself anyway.

Sid did a few more twirls on her wheels before righting herself and skating on.She skated around the training area a handful of times more before she focused more intently. She felt the pull of the elements grow stronger as she did. Their low hum turned into beautiful music, and she focused her body on becoming in sync with the melody. The wind played a note and she answered it in kind once, twice, then again. She formed a mental image of her pulling the wind into herself and then molding it into a path before her… then she jumped.

The wind swirled around her gently, lifting her and bearing her farther than she would be capable of on her own. She floated like a feather for a moment and then, as she started to descend, the currents solidified like a platform under her skates. She knew suddenly that she was riding the Wing Road, like she had learned to all those years ago. She let out a shout of excitement, though unfortunately this caused her to lose her concentration and fall back to the ground.

She tucked her body in and cushioned her fall, going into a barrel roll then hopping back to her feet. Her chest was heaving and a dull ache started to come to her muscles and joints, which let Sid know that her training was over for the day. She had done what she needed to do, she had started back on the path of a true Rider, and every step from now on would be easier. Now she could use a nice, soothing bubble bath.
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Hardened Bodies Weekly Training (D-Rank)
Word Count: 1120/1000

Sid walked out onto the training ground. She had nothing on her feet but simple wrappings and she could feel the heat that the entire island gave off, not only from the aura surrounding it, but from the very core of it. It felt good, surprisingly. Nice. She had strange likes when it came to things touching her feet, and she couldn’t help but wonder where they came from. She loved for her feet to be massaged or tickled, she liked the feeling of a feather roaming across her heel or soft carpet underneath her soles. Feeling things with her feet calmed her so well it was almost creepy. She wondered if all Kukinorite were like that about their feet, but she kept it to herself. It was kind of an awkward question to ask your clan-mates.

She wasn't here to feel the ground beneath her soles though. She needed to train in order to get somewhat stronger. She had thought about training the clan's fighting style, something she had neglected to do when she was younger and that her mother never let her forget about. But she didn't feel as if she was ready for it yet. So here, she was going to work on getting herself into a much better physical shape. She reached down to her side and unlaced her skates from where she had placed them on her waist, setting them down near a bench. Today she wore training attire: shorts and a sports bra, both in a modest grey. She bore wraps on her hands and feet. She didn't look the cutest, but that wasn't the aim. She stretched, joints and limbs popping as she limbered up, then pulled her hair back into a high ponytail. She had her routine planned out. One hundred laps around the training field, then a short rest. One hundred push ups followed by another short rest, then rinse and repeat. It was going to be a fun day.

She didn't really start feeling the strain on her legs until the 50th lap. Something she thanked picking back up the Gravity Child routines for. She pushed onwards and by the time she struck one hundred, she could feel a burning sensation lancing up and down her legs. It set her heart to beating and cleared her head a bit. She sat down and pulled the bottle she brought from where it was strapped at her waist. Her mother had offered her a water-skin to use, and she had accepted, but she didn’t use it much. For one, no one used water-skins anymore and for two, it belonged to her great grand-dam or something like that. Talk about gross.

She took a long drink of water and relaxed on a nearby bench. She slowly felt the burn die down to a dull throb in her legs and had to marvel at how fast she and her clan-mates could recover from the strain they put on their bodies on a day to day basis. The strain of flight was great, but the Kukinorite had perseverance. They were a bunch of tough motherfuckers, and they could take anything that was thrown at them in stride. And Sid wanted to become just like that. It was what her mother had wanted for her from the start, but now she was ready for it too.

Once the pain was gone she got up and moved to perform her push-ups. This was a tad more strenuous, as she was using her arms and not her legs. Around her seventy fifth push up her arms began to shake heavily and she just barely broke one hundred. She took another rest, letting the pain of the work out wash over her. She flexed her fingers periodically to make sure she hadn't put them out of commission. Her clan rarely needed their hands, but it wouldn't hurt for her to have full usage of her own. Her skillset may consist of hand motions in the future and besides, she liked her fingers. Her fingers were nice.

After her arms stopped burning, she got up and started doing laps again. After completing the next set of laps, she took a rest before doing another set of push-ups. This continued for hours until there was a constant burning sensation lancing under her skin. She then took a longer rest, letting her muscles relax a bit until the burning reduced to a slight sting when she moved. She then nodded and stood, walking over to a dummy that had been set up in the yard in order for the trainees to practice hitting things. She walked up to it and raised her hands in a sort of combat pose.

Sid punched the thing and it shook slightly, an improvement upon yesterday. It had barely moved an inch when she hit it then. In fact, she had walked away with a smarting hand from taking a swing or two at the dummy. She smirked and threw a few more jabs, striking the thing with all of her strength. She got so excited, carried away would be a better term, she took a step back before jumping up a bit and aiming a spinning kick at the target's "head". The wood made a creaking sound as it strained to stay upright and Sid couldn't be happier. She was getting so much better!

She then decided to practice on a different dummy, this one a cylinder with branches rather than a humanoid. When one of the branches were hit, it would spin with the force in order to simulate an opponent making a counter attack. Sid thought it was the perfect medium to practice her speed. She got into a similar pose she had before and struck out at the branch, sending the thing spinning. A branch came for her head and she ducked before throwing out an open palm, sending the thing spinning in the opposite direction. She struck, ducked, struck, blocked, and kept repeating a random combination of these until her body was a blur of motion.

When she felt her breath coming much more quickly, her arm shot out and she stopped the thing mid-spin. Her breath came in pants and her pulse was quick but she couldn't help the feeling of accomplishment she felt. She was getting better. Stronger. Little by little she was forming herself into the perfect image of what she had wanted to be. With that in mind, she turned on her heel and grabbed her skates, deciding that was enough for today. She put on her skates and rode in the direction of home. She would be sore in the morning, but it was well worth it.
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Impervious Flesh Weekly Training (D-Rank)
Word Count: 1120/1000

Both Trainings : Approved

Sid sat in the training grounds again today, though she was now planted on the ground with her arms crossed in front of her chest and an indignant look on her face. She stared down her father from her position on the ground, though really it was more like staring up at him in a pouty childlike manner. Jacques was a tall and thin man, looking every bit the violinist he was. At least to those who had a mental stereotype about what violinists looked like. Jacques wasn’t glaring back at Sid, however, just meeting her gaze with an expectant one of his own.

“I. Don’t. Want. To.”

“I think you should.” Where Sid bit out her words, Jacques came out in a bit of a rushing sigh that said they’d been at this for far too long “The Kangen are known for their...unorthodox weapon techniques, but they are weapon techniques all the same. You should learn to wield something when fighting, even if only to give you a little bit of a leg up on your opponents.”

“I’ll have enough of a leg up with my actual legs up!” After a moment, Sid grimaced and Jacques gave a childish snicker “That was not meant to be the innuendo it turned out as. I meant with Waserotapa and Capoeira, there is no reason for me to have to use any kind of weapon. I should focus on honing my body into a weapon all its own. It’s what the Kukinorite do.”

Jacques gave another sigh and came to crouch down in front of Sid, his eyes sympathetic “That is true, it is what the Kukinorite do. But you’re not only a Kukinorite, mija. You are also a Kangen, a Ronin, a singer, a genius. You are so many things, and all of these should contribute at least a little to the warrior you are bound to become.” He reached out and brushed an errant lock of blue hair to the side “You don’t have to pick up anything immediately and use it always, but at least try a few things out. For your papa?”

Sid kept up her glare for a few seconds longer, but it ultimately melted away to one of sympathy before she embraced her father “Fine, I’ll try since you asked so nicely.” They both pulled away and rose to their feet with similar ease and grace, Jacques leading Sid to the case of weapons he had brought along with them for the training session “Why do you keep so many of these anyway? I’ve only seen you use a few.”

Jacques shrugged “I’m skilled in all of them because you never know when something is going to come in handy. I always think it's better to be prepared than to be caught, as you kids say, ‘lacking’.” Sid winced a little and her father gave a bright toothy smile, showing he knew just how painful the word he had used was for his daughter.

“Trust me, dad.” She said in a monotone voice as she perused through the weaponry “No one says it like that. Ever.” Sid looked through all the weapons before pulling out a staff. She twirled it a bit in her hand and felt the weight, liking overall how it just seemed...right in her hands. But then she set it to the side, promising herself she’d get back to it at the end of the session. She wanted to go through the unfamiliar first.


She picked up a katana and decided that basic sword techniques would be a simple way to start off her trial runs. She placed the katana at her hip and moved to one of the dummies situated on the training field. Her father gave her some pointers on forms with that particular blade and she did a few practice runs with them. She practiced these strokes for some time, repeating strokes left, right, up, down and diagonal over and over until they were at least a little familiar.

She then turned fully to the dummy and attempted a cut. She could see areas where other students had come and had their fun today, knicks and scratches on the wood and some deep divots here and there where bits had been hacked off. But when her blade struck, nothing really happened outside of the dummy rattling. She grit her teeth and tried again, but still to no avail.

She glanced back at her father and he was simply watching her, so she made sure to keep her temper as controlled as possible. Even if the blade was pissing her off. She struck at the dummy a third time, with the same results. Then a fourth, though it was noticeably sloppier as she inched closer to anger. By the sixth strike she was basically just hacking at the thing, and she could feel her father’s concerned eyes on her back.

Sid took a deep breath and centered herself. She placed a hand on the hilt of the weapon in its sheath and tried to really feel it in her hand now. And once she felt she had really taken in the essence of the weapon, she drew it in a wide arc aimed at the dummy’s arm. She didn’t expect it to fly off or anything, but when she opened her eyes she found she was filled with a deep pride at the gash she left on the dummy.

She felt that was enough swordplay for now and returned the weapon to her father’s case, reaching out for a different weapon, only to be stopped by her father’s fingertips pressing her hand gently away “Only one more. The staff you picked up earlier. I saw how you were holding it, it seemed like an immediate extension of yourself, didn’t it?”

Sid blushed lightly and nodded, picking up the staff “How did you know that?”

Her father smiled “Because that’s how I felt the first time I held a violin. Go test it out.”

Sid understood immediately, as she knew how much her father loved to play. He used to play the violin to put her to sleep, he would play whenever her mother was sad or at social gatherings to set a nice mood. He had even told her that he would play for her while she was still in her mother’s womb. If she had a similar look when she picked up the staff...maybe she would give it more than a shot.

She turned to her father, leaning on the staff slightly “You know what dad? I think I will use a staff as my weapon, no test run needed.” Jacques looked surprised but simply started to pack up his weaponry in their case “I love to hear it, daughter mine. I’ll leave you alone to the rest of your training exercises for the day.” He planted a kiss to her forehead and began to walk out of the training yard “See you at home, mi cielito!”
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Physical Technique Specialist (Perfect)
Word Count: 1170/1000

Sid watched her father leave the training yard with a smile on her face, still partially leaning on her staff. She loved her parents, and she equally loved their willingness to let her be her own person, do what she wants to do so long as she is happy. But they know when to press her if it involves something she really needs, and she felt that was invaluable. She knew there were people far less fortunate with worse parents, and she was eternally grateful for her own.

She shook her head to get rid of all the sappy thoughts about how much she loved her mom and dad and turned back to her training. She did want to get into exercises with her new staff, but she wanted to touch on a few other warm ups first. She also wanted to test out a new training method her mother had given her. She gave herself a small break, seeing as she had gotten done with sword practice not too long ago, before she pulled her hair into a bun and moved to the middle of the field.

Sid pulled out a scroll from a pouch on her waist and opened it up, reading the note written there in her mother’s precise, business-like hand ‘Sidonie, I know that you’ve been training all on your lonesome because your class has moved on to higher ranks while you took your break to find yourself’ Sid couldn’t help but roll her eyes at that part ‘but I don’t think it’s conducive to any training regimen to be completely alone. So I’ve made you this scroll! Below is a Fuinjutsu, just channel your chakra into it and...well you’ll see. xoxo, Mother-dearest.’

Sid’s eyebrows drew together in confusion as she examined the seal. Fuinjutsu was far from her forte, so she couldn’t read exactly what it did. Even though she knew her mother wouldn’t attempt to blow her up or anything of the sort, she couldn’t help but feel a little trepidation when looking at the seal. She swallowed lightly and decided to trust her mother, reaching out and placing a hand on the seal to flood it with her chakra.

There was a plume of smoke in front of her and, when she lowered the scroll, she was met with a face that was oh so familiar to her “Hot damn.” Sid circled her clone slowly, and her clone did the same, each one eyeing the other. They were almost sizing themselves up as though they weren’t the same person. But Sid noticed a few key differences between them. Namely, their hair was inverted. Whereas Sid’s was blue with a streak of pink on the right side, the clone’s was pink with a streak of blue on the left.

“Gotta hand it to you, mom, this was a pretty good idea.” Sid rolled up the scroll and tucked it away “I’m guessing you’re a Shadow Clone. I’m trying to decide what to call you. Clone seems disrespectful and Sid would be weird.” The clone nodded in agreement and they both cocked their hips and crossed their arms over their chest simultaneously as they began to think.

“Oh!” A bright smile split the clone’s face “How about Jayne? You never go by your middle name anyway.”

“Jayne it is. Ready for a bit of sparring, Jayne?”

“I was born- err… Made? I was made ready!”

They both took a minute to laugh at the slip up before they dipped into combat stances. Each recognized the stance the other used, though they were different, because they knew both stances. They shared their knowledge completely, as of now. But due to the nature of the technique, as the spar carried on they would learn more individually, and then the knowledge would come together when Jayne dispersed.

When they started their spar it was more like a dance, with each taking turns leading as they got the upperhand on the other. There were flips, kicks, and jumps with the spare punch here and there. Some attacks were dodged expertly, some were countered viciously and if they were feeling extra frisky some were actually turned against the person who had attacked. To anyone looking on, it would be an impressive display of physical prowess from two different versions of a girl who had just picked up active duty after four years of “sabbatical”.

They pushed away from each other to catch their breaths, though each girl had a smile on their faces, impressed with themselves as they were. When Sid’s breathing was more even, her smile turned mischievous “Okay now…” She moved to pick up her staff and gave it a twirl or two “Let’s make this interesting!”
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Hardened Bodies Weekly Training (C-Rank)
Word Count: 790/750

“Hold up, wait a minute, let me stick a pin up in it.” Jayne made a cross with her arms, shaking her head slowly as she spoke “So let me get this straight. You were just gonna start beating me with a stick? Like that’s a fair spar?” She raised a hand to her hip and gave Sid a look that screamed “You’ve gotta be fuckin kidding me right now”.

Sid made a slight show of looking contemplative, leaning gently on the staff for a moment before nodding in affirmation “Yep! I figured hey, it’s a good way to learn how to use it in a fight and while also learning how to fight against it. And if my clone isn’t sturdy enough to handle the heat, I’m not sturdy enough to handle it either. Then we’d work to fix that. Why?” Sid leaned forward a bit and gave a wicked smile “You scared to get your ass handed to you?”

Jayne’s upper lip curled up at the obvious goading, but Sidonie knew herself and thus she also knew Jayne. The girl would fall for it “Abso-fuckin-lutely not.” Sid’s smile dipped downwards a bit as she watched Jayne pull the scroll from her side. She opened it and set it on the ground, pointing to the seal in the middle of it “Tap the staff there and channel a bit of chakra.”

Sid scrunched her brows in a look of confusion but did as she was told, and to her surprise a replica of the staff she held appeared in a plume of smoke. Jayne snatched it and began twirling it in her hands, a small smirk on her face. Sid picked up the scroll and tucked it away “How did you know it could clone anything I touch to it?”

“What?” Jayne blinked for a moment “Oh! I didn’t know. I just took a shot in the dark.”

Sid cackled “And if nothing had happened?”

“Then I would’ve looked soooooo stupid just then. But something did happen, now I get to wack your ass with a stick. Let’s go, pendeja!”

Sid smirked in a way that could be taken as evil, then started a slow circuit around her opponent. She spun the staff around her right hand, then passed it across her front to her left hand, getting used to shifting the weight of the weapon in such a manner. Jayne was getting a tad bit fancier, passing her own weapon behind herself rather than in front. A much more difficult pass, but she only fumbled it a few times before she was doing it fluidly.

The transition into combat was quick, and even Sid couldn’t tell who moved first: her or the clone. But they clashed with their staves crossed and their faces inches from one another before pushing away. Jayne halted herself and paused in her position, but Sid immediately pressed the offensive. She came in high, bringing her staff down on her clone’s head, but Jayne seemed to be ready. She batted the strike to the side with a twirl and used the momentum to bring the other end of the weapon up into Sid’s side.

She flung Sid backwards a bit, which Jayne took as an opportunity to get revenge. Her side hurt for a moment when the staff landed, but the pain quickly faded. Sid took notice of it because she knew the strength Jayne was putting behind the strikes, it was no small amount given the distance she had been thrown away from her clone. Her body was getting sturdier the more she trained, even if she didn’t train specifically to increase her durability. She would take the time to mull that over, but she was busy jumping over Jayne’s staff as the clone tried to sweep her feet out from under her.

Sid used her place in the air to spin her body, extending her leg and bringing it her foot crashing down on Jayne’s shoulder. The other girl had enough time to raise her forearm in defense, cushioning the blow and keeping her grip on the staff in her opposite hand at the same time. She pushed Sid up and away, the original using her own polearm to vault backwards and land in a tight crouch.

They were both physical fighters, but after their first melee round and with the introduction of an unfamiliar weapon, they were beat “It was fun, Sid. See ya next time.” The clone stuck out her tongue and Sid gave a little chuckle as she made the sign of reconciliation, releasing the clone in a plume of smoke. There was a rush of pain to her head as the clone’s feelings and knowledge merged with her mind, but she shrugged it off easily enough.

Sid propped her staff on her shoulder and left the training grounds, a skip in her step and a song on her lips.
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Impervious Flesh Weekly Training (C-Rank)
Word Count: 820/750

All 3 weekly trainings : Approved

“So” Victoire stood before her daughter in a dark room filled with a handful of bustling Kukinorite medics “Are you sure you want to do this?” A few of the medics milled about a chamber filled with a glowing blue liquid, while the others typed away at monitors “This procedure is still experimental and has a number of side-effects. Persistent headaches after the fact, strange dreams or hallucinations… It can be a useful tool when official information needs to be reviewed but to simply want to get a peak in their life, I-”

“Mom,” Sid reached out and took her mother’s hands, squeezing gently as she did so “I know the risks, and I feel like it’s worth it. I need more...guidance than I can find from the living right now. And I’m sure you can’t talk to the dead.” She chuckled lightly and gave her mother’s hands another squeeze before letting go. Victoire nodded and backed away from the chamber “I’ll be watching, on the other side of the glass. If I see anything I don’t like…” Sid nodded solemnly, and her mother left the room.

The procedure in question was a modification of the Brain Charge process, developed over the last few generations of Kukinorite who wanted to expand upon their clan’s inner workings to have more use. Rather than supplant the host’s personality with that of the Charge, the person is submerged in a unique solution and the Charge’s memory, or a specific memory if they should wish, is infused into their being. The patient is then entered into a dream sequence of sorts where they live through the memory or memories selected. Or so the doctors explained to Sid when she asked to undergo it.

She didn’t want to be a Brain Charger, she liked being Sidonie Jayne, but while she knew what she wanted her Road to be she lacked the knowledge of how to bring it into existence. She wanted to look through the eyes of someone who had designed and brought their Road to life, having it immortalized within the clan for others to Ride for years to come. She wanted a glimpse into the life of her ancestor, Aloise Kukinorite, who was a Sannin of their village and a Kukinorite revered for their power and their closeness to the Sky.

“Now, Sidonie, please disrobe for a moment so we may attach the monitors.”

Sid stripped down to her skinnies and held her arms out, a female medic working quickly to place adhesive pads on her flesh that would allow them to keep track of her vitals as she was in the machine. After the woman attached an I.V. to her arm, she placed a strange apparatus on her head, it looked a lot like a crown, but Sid knew by the sensors on it that it had some important purpose for what’s going on here. The medic motioned to her and Sid climbed the few steps and lowered herself into the liquid.

As she sat down, she noticed the solution was more like a viscous gel than a liquid, and was pleasantly warm. Sid reclined until only her face was breaching the surface, feeling more like she was being supported by the gel rather than floating in it. After a moment there was a hiss of air and the door of the chamber closed above her, a circular window right above her face allowing her to peak out at the ceiling above.

“Alright Sidonie” the voice of one of the medics came to her across a speaker somewhere within the chamber, sounding a little muffled due to the gel surrounding her head “As I’m sure was already covered, this procedure projects the memories of a past Kukinorite directly into your mind in the form of a dream-like sequence, though all of the experiences of said memory are shared. You’ll see what they see, hear what they hear, feel their thoughts and emotions but most importantly feel their pain.” Sid nodded, though she wasn’t sure if they could see her or not. “This is why we monitor vitals and brainwaves, to know how much pain is being telegraphed from the memories to your body. Too much could have lasting effects on you, so we will pull you out if it gets to a certain point. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” Even her own voice was muffled to her, despite it vibrating through her chest.

“Alright. We’ll begin the procedure now.” There was a beat of silence and then his voice was back “Uploading memory file of Charger 07-G Loki Kukinorite, rendition T09 Aloise Kukinorite.” Another beat of silence and then the bright blue of the solution turned a cooling pink as another liquid was mixed in with it “Solution primed, beginning the dream sequence. Sidonie I’ll be honest with you, the anesthetic is going to feel like ice in your veins, but then you’ll be out like a light.” She nodded again, but realized he had already released the anesthetic. And he was right, it did feel like ice.

But she didn’t have enough time to muse on it, because within a few seconds she was being yanked from the waking world to somewhere else…

When their eyes blinked open, they were staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling, then looking around at an unfamiliar bed. When they looked over, there was a strange blonde man they didn’t recognize immediately sleeping. Then a thought flashed in their head, a dismissive one. He was just a fling, and they would have to kick him out soon so he didn’t get any ideas about out staying his welcome. They stood from the bed with a cat-like grace and sauntered, which is a word Sid never really used to describe anyone, into what turned out to be a bathroom.

“I look a mess.” was a thought that came unbidden to their mind, but Sid realized that the procedure had worked. The memory of Aloise Kukinorite, or rather Loki as Aloise, was playing out with her front and center. She was staring directly at green eyes and mousy brown hair, a lithe naked chest littered with scars, and a bored look as he stared into the mirror “I need a shower... Maybe a bath. I’ll take a niiiiice long one later.” It was curious hearing the thoughts of another and being able to form her own, but if she mused on it too long she might miss something.

This was definitely an experience she was sharing with anyone who would listen, though.
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Assault Specialist - Combat (Perfect)
Word Count: 1095/1000

Aloise did wind up taking a quick shower. By the time he finished his routine in the bathroom, brushing his teeth, styling his hair and other such things, his bed warmer was just waking up “Hey there. Up for a little morning fun?” Aloise gave him a tight smile and walked around the room collecting his own clothes before putting them away, then collected his fling’s clothes and posited them at his feet “Last night was fun, you were pretty good in the sack. A little toothy but we can’t all be perfect, eh? Sorry I didn’t get around to washing your clothes because….we’ll I’m just not that nice.”

Aloise moved in front of his closet and began thumbing through the outfits there, fully expecting his guest to see himself out. He wasn’t so lucky. The blonde pulled on his underwear and stood in the middle of the room, looking indignant “Really? You’re just gonna fuck me and kick me out like that?” Aloise paused what he was doing and gave the boy a withering glare from the mirror on the inside of his closet door, which awarded him a clear view of the rest of the room.

“Yes, I am. See not only am I an adult that owes no one anything, let alone pleasantries for a night of completely unremarkable sex, this is my house and believe it or not I have a say in who gets to spend time here. If you’ve got a problem,” Aloise pointed to a previously nondescript mound in the corner, which now reared its head to reveal it was a rather large Zamtros, yawning and displaying a maw full of razor sharp teeth “You can take it up with Scylla.” Understandably, the man was scared of the beast, pulling on his clothes quickly and practically running from the apartment.

Aloise had been annoying him for the entire time, picking out what he wanted to wear for the day. He pulled on a pair of tight jeans and a crop-top shirt, as well as an oversized jacket. He sat down at his vanity and pulled out several make-up palettes and brushes. He shaded his eyelids with deep blacks and light greens, lined his eyes with sharp wings and painted his lips in a subtle matte pink. He hadn’t always been big on make-up, but he’d met a boy that got him into it. He couldn’t remember his name, but he was also blonde….maybe Aloise had a type.

Felt herself smiling at the thoughts, a feeling bubbling up within her about getting to know her ancestor on such a deep level. Both Sid and Aloise were dragged from their musings as an explosion sounded from above them. As Aloise ran to the window, Sid was finally able to see where Aloise had settled and called home: Kohaigakure. They were underground, which was a give away, but even after 150 years the differences between Haka and Kohai were stark. Plus the fountain of sand that was now filtering down onto what Aloise’s thoughts told her was the Detainement Zone was a dead give away.

She couldn’t help a thrill of excitement that went through her as Aloise signaled to his pet and then leapt from his window, his skates carrying him across wind currents he formed beneath them: she was going to get to see the King of a Road in action.
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Hardened Bodies Weekly Training (B-Rank)
Word Count: 569/500

Aloise moved like how Sid dreamed of moving. When he Rode, he wasn’t just a Rider and they weren’t just skates on his feet. He was one with the Air Treks and the Road, and this unity granted him a kind of speed that allowed him to cross the distance between his house and the site of the breach within thirty seconds. The culprits were three individuals, Missing Nin if he was to hazard a guess, and they were laying siege to the prison. Aloise scanned the ground below him and wondered why the T&I Department hadn’t been there before him, but then he noticed that they were blocked into their department with sheets of ice.

He landed on the ground and the three individuals turned towards him. He got a good look at them, spattered with blood, dirt and a bit of sand. The tallest of them was a woman with pitch black hair, which seemed to dripping wet despite the dry climate of the area, a lanky man who looked a bit too skeletal for Aloise’s comfort and a….creature was the best term, a hunched figure covered in a large cloak with several limbs reaching from beneath it, tipped in wicked claws “So” the woman spoke “Come to die, little shinobi?”

“Nope. Just to inform you that whoever you’re trying to break-out in there probably deserves to stay” Aloise adjusted one of the bracelets he had slipped on “Oh, and that you’ll be joining them behind bars soon enough.” There was laughter from each of them in turn, the hunched figure’s sounding like a rasping wheeze more than anything. Aloise arched a brow curiously at them, tilting his head to the side a bit “Why are you laughing? I’m totally serious.”

The woman crossed the distance between them in a blink, yanking a nagamaki free from its sheath and swinging it in an arc aimed to cut Aloise in half “Shut up, trash.” But the weapon only cut through where Aloise had been, as the Kukinorite had moved in the same instant. He landed gingerly on the flat of the woman’s blade where she held it in the aftermath of her strike, clicking his tongue reproachfully “See, if you challenge a Sannin, I expect you to have the skill to back up said challenge.” Before she could react, a kick slammed into the side of her head and send her rearing backwards into the wall of a building.

The man appeared some distance behind Aloise, slamming his hands onto the ground and causing ice to grow rapidly, encasing Aloise’s feet and cutting off any chance of movement from his lower body. He simply looked over his shoulder and swiped his hand through the air, a pitch black directional arrow appearing from thin air and spearing through the man’s chest. It didn’t kll him, but rather yanked him of his feet and pressed him into a wall.

Aloise hadn’t accounted for the cloaked figure, which was a mistake on his part. Without so much as moving it vanished from all of his senses. The Sannin used the strength of his legs alone to shatter the ice that restrained him, but then the figure showed itself again, one of the sharp claws raking across Aloise’s face.

Sid was blinded by the pain, and the next thing she knew she was once more herself floating in the gel solution, looking up at the worried face of her mother shouting directions to the doctors around her. She couldn’t hear what was being said, and didn’t really see a point in contributing to whatever conversation they were having. In fact, she felt like sleep would be the best decision right about now...and so she slept.
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Impervious Flesh Weekly Training (B-Rank)
Word Count: 625/500

Sid was light, lighter than air. This was a feeling that was completely foreign to her, but it was familiar at the same time. She had never experienced it before, but she could recognize it as though she had been feeling it her entire life. The desire for this feeling was ingrained into her very DNA, it was evoked when she was riding, she chased it on a subconscious level. Right now, she was flying. Truly flying. Not simply delaying her fall or suspending herself on air currents, not levitating or hovering or anything else that was a cheap imitation of this feeling.

She was flying.

But she didn’t know how.

Her senses were just focused on the feeling up until she came to that realization, now everything else honed in. The rush of wind around her, the taste of pure oxygen on her tongue, the smell of unfiltered ozone and the sight of boundless clouds stretching out in every direction as far as the eye could see. She could feel the smile stretching her face...then another thought hit her: this wasn’t her face.

Her eyes roved down to skin paler than her own. Locks of hair a chocolate brown, so much different from her bright blue and pink, flitted in and out of her visions. Tight fitting clothes, that admittedly were her style just not her preferred coloring, shifted against her skin. No not hers, Aloise’s. She was experiencing one of his memories as she slept.

And she knew exactly which memory it was: the moment he first flew.

They were then descending, past the clouds back down to the ground, where two individuals waited for them. One was a girl shorter than Aloise, with dark hair and a wild look to her while the other was tall with blonde hair and large rabbit ears. The memory faded as Aloise landed, slipping into dreams that faded into obscurity as soon as Sid woke up. The memory, however, stayed.
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Hardened Bodies Weekly Training (A-Rank)
Word Count: 330/250

Sid found herself becoming less and less enamored with skating. She tried to train to recapture, or at least imitate, the intense feelings that flying had awoken in both she and Aloise, but to no avail. Nothing she did cut it, not building up speed to her absolute limit, not flipping and jumping through the air or vaulting over dummies. It seemed a completely futile effort to try and recreate what she had only grasped in a dream.

What was worse, she had started to forget.

When she had first woken up she could recall every detail of her dream perfectly. The fluffy white of the clouds, the purity of the air, the brightness of the sky all around her. Everything stood out starkly to her mind’s eye. But the longer she tried to make that dream her reality, the duller it all got. She felt like a dog baying at the moon, so far from the desire of her heart no matter how deeply she wishes to achieve it.

Sid took a break to think, mulling it over as she sat on a bench. She focused on her breathing. She wouldn’t let this defeat her. She would recreate it, in her own way. She would use it as a goal rather than a weight that would hold her down from the greatness she wished to achieve. She would fly like Aloise had, soar above the clouds as Aloise had. And she would do it in her own way.

Determination burning through her veins, Sid stood from the bench and got back to her training.
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Impervious Flesh Weekly Training (A-Rank)
Word Count: 265/250

A few notes, the makings of a melody, fell from Sidonie’s lips as she sat on her bed. Her legs were crossed and between them she cradled her guitar, one hand supporting the neck while the other was poised over a music sheet. There were faded pencil markings on it from where she had started to write, then stopped to erase what she had gotten down. Writing songs always seemed easier to her when she was a kid. Maybe it was because she had more imagination then. Maybe it was because she could put any words together with any notes and think it was good.

She would put money on imagination. Rather than dwell on it, she kept at it.
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Hardened Bodies Weekly Training (S-Rank)
Word Count: 120/100

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Sid had to say, when the writer’s block was there, it was a giant impossible to topple. But when the creative juices started to flow, it was like a bountiful ocean. Which, coincidentally, was the theme of the song she had penned down. She looked at the notes and the lyrics on the page and nodded to herself before dropping her pencil and moving her hand to the guitar. Then, the notes and words dripped from her lips like honey

“There is a swelling storm
And I'm caught up in the middle of it all
And it takes control of the person that I thought I was
The girl I used to know
But there is a light in the dark
And I feel its warmth
In my hands, in my heart
But why can't I hold on?”

The notes stopped abruptly. It was all she had at the moment, but it was more than a start. More than what she had earlier today. She smiled to herself and continued playing around with the strings.
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Impervious Flesh Weekly Training (S-Rank)
Word Count: 175/100

Approved: September 16th trainings - Now

“I’m comin' at you live, real, real wild
Here to light it up, set the world on fire
Gonna break rules and hearts in twos
'Cause that's what the baddest do
Never goin' back, nah, not that
Diamonds on drip 'cause I came to make a splash
Gonna brеak rules and hearts in twos
'Cause that's what thе baddest do”

Sid was in the pseudo-dance studio her parents had set up in the basement of their home. It had originally been a place for her father to come and practice his own music. They’d redecorated it a bit, moved around some things and made some space for it to be a place to practice all sorts of things.

Strictly activities safe for inside, though. Sid had learned the hard way that it wasn’t a space for combat training. There was still a crack in the wall from where she kicked it too hard…
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Hardened Bodies Weekly Training (S-Rank)
Word Count: 153/100

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---

She had down her lyrics and the melody was perfect. She was working on the moves to go with it, but was getting more and more frustrated with herself when she couldn’t settle on something she liked “Gonna break rules~ and hearts in twos” She was singing the melody perfectly, but there was an angry force behind the movements she was making “Cause that’s what the. Baddest. DO!!!!”

Her frustration boiled over and her voice, her Ability, responded. A shockwave of amplified sound flew from her lips and slammed into the wall, deepening the crack she had made when she was little. Sid slammed her hands over her mouth and prayed to every god she knew of that her parents had decided to go out for the day. She’d have a much easier time explaining the damage after the fact.
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Impervious Flesh Weekly Training (S-Rank)
Word Count: 140/100

Sidonie was tossing and turning in her bed, unable to get comfortable in any position she settled in. In situations like this, she’d get up and go train or try and write some lyrics down but she had exhausted herself training earlier in the day to distract from the fact that she was experiencing some serious writer’s block. She didn’t have the energy to exercise but she apparently wasn’t tired enough to sleep.

With a huff, she tossed back her cover and sat up in her bed, turning on her bedside lamp and pulling a book of short stories from a drawer. She wasn’t usually one for reading as a pastime, but it put her to sleep easily enough most days. She kept a book of numerous short stories for such occasions, so now she picked one from the table of contents called “Dance of the Forest” and turned to that page to begin reading:


Sidonie yawned loudly and thanked all of the gods for the feeling of tiredness that washed over her. She didn’t even think she had been reading that long, but she wouldn’t look a gift halk in the mouth. She closed her book and turned off her light, letting herself be swept away into the darkness that was a blissful sleep.
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Physical Technique Specialist (Perfect)
Word Count: 1280/1000

Sidonie hated this. She had startled awake thirty minutes after she had finally fallen asleep. Thirty minutes! Not a couple hours, not one hour, THIRTY MINUTES! She felt like crying into her pillow but she was so exhausted she wasn’t sure any tears would come. She anticipated she wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep easily, so she pulled her book back to her in order to continue reading from it:


Sidonie closed the book with a smile and set it to the side, snuggling down into her blankets with a sigh. She felt she knew the reason why she had woken up: she subconsciously wanted to finish the story. She chuckled at herself before settling, finally drifting off into a peaceful and uninterrupted sleep.
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Assault Specialist - Combat (Perfect)
Word Count: 1395/1000

November 10th trainings :approved
November 21st trainings: approved

“Are you...sure about this? Not many people try to just rapid fire this training all at once, you know? You CAN take your time with this.” Victoire looked at Sid curiously, tilting her head to the side a bit as she did so. The young Kukinorite  was stretching as they stood in the safety of the Mahougakure training grounds, just the two of them. The two women were dressed for training, Sidonie in shorts and a compression top, though her skates were resting off to the side, while Victoire managed to make a simple skirt and t-shirt look like a gown worth thousands of Xel.

“I’m sure.” Sid stopped her stretches and turned to her training partner “People take their time, true, but it seems like a nice challenge to learn it all while I’m still a little wet behind the ears.” She took up her stop opposite her mother, the woman’s long hair pulled into a high ponytail floating gently in the slight breeze “Plus there are already people way younger than me setting themselves apart. If I want to be someone people can look up to and lean on, the idol I really wanna be, then I have to catch up in terms of feats, maman.”

Victoire tilted her head to the other side and blinked slowly, her hair shifting to the side as she did so “And is that what you want?” There was a pregnant pause as Sid thought about what the question exactly implied “To be someone other shinobi look-up to, I meant.” Sid nodded to make it clear that she had heard, and was just thinking it over. Her brows drew together for a moment as she thought about it.

“That, but other things too.” She had been looking away from her mother without realizing it, but now focused back on the woman “I also want to be a symbol of redemption for those who seek it. The Republic rarely shows their more forgiving side, I want to be that kind of kunoichi.” Victoire gave a fond smile, which evolved into a bark of laughter. Sid’s jaw twitched at the sound, feeling like she was being mocked. She crossed her arm and leveled a pointed look at her mother’s forehead, which only intensified the laughter as it landed.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” She waved her hand in supplication and got her laughter under control “It’s just that… if any of the more strict higher ups heard you talking like that you’d be stashed in the Logistics and Support Division to file paperwork for the rest of your career.” She wiped a tear from her cheek and let out a breath “Seriously though, a lot of people have a kill on sight policy for enemies of the Republic, and won’t take kindly to your hippy-dippy ways, Sisi. Be careful when you’re trying to turn them from the dark side eh?”

“Okay.” Sid agreed “Let’s get started.”

At that, Victoire immediately shifted into a battle stance. The speed with which she moved was frightening to say the least, and it’s what Sid aspired to when she was more skilled “You trained your defense, yeah?” Blue and pink hair bobbed as she nodded “Okay then, you already know some of the basics. Ronin are some of the best at weathering physical damage, and you can push that to great heights when combined with how naturally sturdy you are. You gotta learn how immovable you can become with just a little muscle work.” She chuckled, her tail whipping behind her gently “You’ve no doubt picked up on that already. Show me what you’ve learned.”

With that as all the warning she got, Victoire launched from her position in a blur of speed. Luckily Sid had been focusing on her and she could track her movements, so she saw when the fist came for her head and raised her own to grip it. She tensed her hand as she did so, using her enhanced durability to absorb the impact. She felt the ripples of force shock through her arm as she did so, and was shocked at the power Victoire contained in her small frame. She always knew her mother had what it took to be a formidable shinobi, and she was sure the woman could mop the floor with her if she put any serious amount of effort into doing so.

And apparently Victoire decided she would have fun with the exercise, because she smirked and twisted her body, her leg lashing out to land a blow on Sid’s head. Her perception was quick enough, luckily, and she intercepted the blow with her opposite hand, repeating the process of using her Impervious Flesh to intercept the damage of the blow. But then she felt another tensing of Victoire’s muscles, and her mother ripped her limbs free from her daughter’s grip as she spun in the air. Her leg lashed out, aimed to land a blow on Sid’s stomach, and was sure to do some damage if it hit.

Sid tensed her stomach muscles as best she could, but when the hit landed she still felt the damage it dealt. Her defenses hadn’t been strong enough to absorb the damage fully, and she was sent ricocheting backwards. Victoire landed on the ground and Sid climbed to her feet, rubbing the spot that she knew was gonna develop a nice bruise by the morning “You gotta strengthen your technique. You should be able to tank any normal strike that comes your way with it, that’s the beauty of being a Ronin. Some focus on avoiding blows, you gotta face them head on.”

Sid nodded and shifted into her own stance. Victoire launched at her again, this time with another kick. Sid tensed her arm and batted the blow away with the back of her hand, trying to send the other woman off kilter, but with a spin and whirl of her leg in the opposite direction Victoire had recovered and sent another kick at Sid’s opposite side. She raised her own leg, tensed, and kicked away the blow. This time she gave no room for recovery, tensing her fist and throwing out a blow aimed at Victoire’s chest. It caught her, but she felt resistance as it landed and knew the other woman had used her own empowered durability to protect herself against the blow.

Victoire was sent sliding back on her feet, but brought herself to a halt not too far from Sid. She was smirking “Good, good! It is an amazing trait to have because it turns a great defense into a formidable offense. And you’re learning to use both to your advantage.” She brushed off her skirt gingerly and looked at Sid approvingly “Next: speed. As Kukinorite, our enhanced speed can catch anyone off guard if they don’t have what it takes to track you.” She did a few stretches herself as she spoke “I haven’t been using it because it’s unfair for training. The thought process behind the technique is simple, and I know you’re familiar with it. Keep in motion and you’ll increase momentum. For now, we’ll keep to our natural speed. Skates might hold us back.”

Sid and Victoire shared a smirk at the statement, as they both knew it was a joke. She watched her mother carefully as she tensed her leg muscles in preparation for movement. Then she was moving so fast it almost took Sid’s breath away. The woman was at her side in a blink and whirling her leg around to land a blow. Sid tried to move similarly to how she had to avoid the attack, but came up short and took the brunt of it at her back. She was sent tumbling head over heels, but recovered in a barrel roll and deposited herself back on her feet. She turned and placed some distance between her and Victoire “That one’s not easy to pick up on the first try.”

“None of your natural physical capabilities are all that easy to pick up. They’re all so different and push your body in every which way. It’s one of the reasons a lot of people dedicate time to each in turn, rather than pushing them back to back like this.” Victoire posited in a very know it all-esque tone of voice “But you asked for this, so come on, Twinkle Toes.” Victoire’s words struck a stubborn nerve in Sid and as she shifted into a runner’s stance, the dark skinned woman pushed off the ground exactly like she had seen her mother do before. She blurred through the air at a speed she hadn’t even thought herself capable of, and caught Victoire off guard with a kick directly to her stomach that sent her reeling backwards.

As Victoire righted herself, Sid spoke “How’s that for twinkle toes, mummy dearest?” Victoire smirked and rubbed her chest. The singer  wasn’t the only one who was going to leave here with bruises, not if she had anything to stay about it. Victoire’s legs flexed and Sid moved into motion at the same time, both pushing against the ground with the balls of their feet nearly simultaneously. They charged at each other head first, and at the last moment they both reared their heads back before slamming them forward. Sid tensed her neck muscles and could feel Victoire doing the same, their separate defenses clashing and producing an echoing crack as they did so.

But Sid was stubborn as a bull, so headbutting was almost in her blood. But she was the fruit of Victoire’s loins, so she knew she couldn’t maintain this position for long, or else her mother would recover quickly and catch her off guard. She twisted her body and hooked Victoire with an arm, tossing her off to the side and pushing off the ground once again, appearing before her when she landed, bringing her leg up and then down quickly in an attempt to crush the other woman into the ground. Victoire wrapped her arms around herself and rolled out of the way, pushing herself onto her feet just in time to narrowly avoid the heel that came down, the foot instead cracking the ground below them. Victoire moved quickly, her foot hooking around Sid’s ankle and trying to sweep her off balance.

The woman instead fell into a split, to which Victoire seemed very impressed. Sid gave her a shrug and a smile, but then the leg was pulled upwards and coming down at her head. She crossed her arms above her crown and tensed blocking the strike easily. She twisted her body to the side, both to deflect the blow and to send herself into a handstand before returning to her feet. When she righted herself, Victoire was there, throwing punches and kicks left and right, mixing them up with spins and twirls. Sid blocked each one with gusto, turning some aside or halting them completely. But there was no space for her to return the assault or switch it to a situation in her favor.

But then Victoire threw out a kick that left her wide open for a counter, and Sid took it, ducking out of the way of the blow and throwing out a kick of her own. She wasn’t expecting a smirk and a twist from Victoire, nor was she expecting her mother to grip her leg with both arms and slam her into the ground. Sid tensed her entire body, this time much more visibly as she anticipated the impact with the ground, but all of the force was absorbed and dispersed and she barely felt the pain from striking a hard surface. Victoire let her go and took a few steps back, looking surprised and rather impressed at Sid.

Sidonie wasn’t sure why until she stood and noticed a large crack on the ground from where she was slammed “That was...” Victoire spoke a bit slowly, as though her brain was still catching up to the events around her. But Sid knew it wasn’t, as her mother was a genius just like her “That was impressive. From what I could see, which was basically all of it, you absorbed the physical impact of the strike and returned it back to the ground.” She motioned to the crack with a chuckle “That’s not a principle people often learn without instruction, though. Everyday you find ways to surprise me, ma cheri. These things come like instinct to you, how have you thought about honing your extraordinary gifts?”

“You mean like fighting styles or something?” Sidonie raised an eyebrow as she took a moment to catch her breath, hands on her knees as she looked up at her mother.

“Yes, like fighting styles or something.” Victoire vanished for a moment and then returned with two bottles of water, tossing one to Sid “Or whichever shinobi division you wish to join. You should think about the Military Police or the generic Hunter Corps, they’re full of physical combat prodigies and what not. General service is for those of us who don’t really give two shakes about it one way or another.” She paused “Unless you’re a Sannin, then it’s basically a requirement.”

“Isn’t combat prowess a requirement for most ranks?”

“You know what I mean.”

“They literally perform assessments on your skill in combat before you’re considered for a promotion.”

“I SAID YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT, DAMMIT!!” Victoire threw the empty water bottle at Sid’s head, but her daughter ducked out of the way with a loud burst of laughter. Victoire calmed herself down by rubbing her temples gingerly “I’m just saying they’d kill for a talent like you, love.”

Sid looked over her skates in the corner then back to Victoire “Assassinations and espionage isn’t really my thing, neither is cuffing and bringing in people I come into contact with. I like to think any criminal I come across can be turned to good, you don’t get a chance to do that in the MP or Hunter Corps.” She downed the rest of her water and picked up Victoire’s discarded bottle, depositing both in the trash nearby “I know general service shinobi have their own protocol when dealing with people, but we always have the option to just...turn people in rather than killing them outright.” She sighed and laced her hands together behind her neck “Anyway, enough of that. What’s next up on the syllabus, ma?”

Victoire looked Sid up and down, then up again before her gaze returned to her daughter’s face “One I think you’ll like.” Victoire turned and faced one of the target posts that littered the training yard, motioning for Sid to come and stand next to her as she did so “Strength. One of my favorite parts of being a Ronin. The ability to exert pressure in just the right way to shatter stone, splinter wood or dent metal. Let alone, it lets you lift really heavy things. It’s why I do most of the repairs around the house.” She flashed a smile at Sid for a moment before she pulled her fist back and slammed it forward at the dummy, doing just as she had said before and shattering the wood of the dummy. She blew on her knuckles as she pulled her hand off, sending the wood dust floating away in a cloud.

“Strength can be used to back my kicks, even my Ride if applied right” Sid looked at Victoire, and the woman nodded “Yes, but you should just learn how to use it for starters. You use your muscles daily when you move or protect yourself, just focus that into offense rather than defense or mobility. Everyone knows how to punch, but try to transfer as much power into it as you can.” Sid followed the directions to the letter, straightening her arm and then lancing it forward, but she had underestimated the distance between herself and the target. Her knuckles collided with the wood with an audible pop from her hand and no budging from or damage to the wood to be seen.

She shook her hand to alleviate the pain, but luckily there didn’t seem to be any damage to her fingers. Just her pride “This is a stupid one. Shouldn’t I be practicing on something softer to start with?” Victoire chuckled at how put out Sid obviously was and shook her head admonishingly “Nope! You start with a more difficult target and then the others will be nothing by comparison. Plus this saves time.” Victoire lowered herself gracefully to the ground, sitting rather demurely for the setting they were in “It’s why I was fighting you earlier, people tend to learn faster when there’s danger afoot. But this isn’t the kind of thing that can be taught under pressure though. Well it can, but it’s extra dangerous and I don’t want to actually hurt you...too bad.”

Sid huffed and stared at Victoire, who raised an eyebrow and gave her a smirk before motioning towards her unscathed target “Ugh I hate that I still want to go through with this.” The bluette turned and raised her arm to try again. Straighten, aim, strike. This time her arm didn’t pop or buckle, but the wood still wasn’t scathed. Straighten, aim, strike. The exact same results as before, much to Sid’s chagrin. Straighten, aim, strike. There was a scuff mark, and she thought she was making progress on it, but then she realized it was simply from her hand scraping the same spot on the wood over and over.

Straighten, aim, strike. This time she needed to stop to draw a splinter out of the space between her index and middle fingers, which set her into even more of a sour mood. Straighten, aim, strike. The target shook in place, but she couldn’t be sure if it was her learning or just the force and anger she was putting behind her arm each time she went to hit the target. Straighten, aim, strike. She was getting frustrated at the lack of results, wishing Victoire would give some pointers, but the woman was sitting and watching impassively as she grew more and more miffed at the circumstance. Straighten, aim, strike. Nothing. Straighten, aim, strike. Zip. Straighten, aim, strike. Straighten, aim, strike. Straighten. Aim. STRIKE!!!!

Her anger built to a boiling point and her hand lashed out, but this time something clicked when her fist connected with the face of the wood… and she shattered the thing right down the middle “I knew you would get it eventually.” There was a smile in Victoire’s voice, and sure enough when she turned Sid saw it plastered all over her mother’s face “Harnessing your latent strength can be hard to do. Those who aren’t taught to use it at a young age, or don’t incorporate it in everything they do, almost always have trouble. And since you didn’t have the pressure of combat to help you out, I figured anger would be as good a push as any. Do you remember how it felt to do it?”

Sid nodded curtly “Good, repeat that feeling whenever you go to use it and you’ll be just fine. Now!” Victoire flipped backwards onto her hands, launching herself a good distance away from Sid and landing in her fighting stance. It was now familiar to Sidonie now, memorizing her positioning and even the tensing of her muscles “We’ll get back to the fun shit. Try and hit me with one of those, why don’t ya?”

Sid’s eye twitched slightly and she gave her mother a smirk that held a hint of malicious intent. She tensed her legs to move, but this time channeling all the force intentionally like her mother had just taught her, feeling the frustration of not being able to crack the target deep in her bones. When she pushed off the ground, she moved at break-neck speeds, but the force from the movement cracked the ground beneath her feet.

Every step she made as she crossed the distance to her mother shook the ground in a short radius around her, and as she went she cocked her fist back. When she got close to her mother, she threw the fist with all the momentum forward at her mother’s chest. The woman had been watching her intently as she moved, and anticipated the attack. She took a step to the side and slipped into Sid’s guard, gripping her daughter’s arm over her shoulder and flipping her through the air.

Sid turned as she flew, landing on her feet in a crouch, staring up at Victoire “You knew I was going to attack you in anger so you waited until I left you an opening and then reacted to the attack I made then.” She spoke matter of factly, and her mother nodded in confirmation, a smile blossoming on her face that told Sid she was proud of herself for the move and Sid for figuring it out “But what if I hadn’t? If I calmed down and figured out your plan and turned the tables on you?”

“You’re my daughter, I know you well enough to plan for what moves you make.”

“So you were gonna wing it?”

“Yep! Now come on, we’ve still got a bit more training to do before we’re finished.”

“Alright, just give me a moment to…” Sidone trained off for a moment before moving, launching into the air with a spin, then bringing a flying guillotine kick down onto her mother. Victoire looked a bit surprised, but reacted to the movement quickly enough. She blocked the blow with her forearm and swept it, and Sid, off to her left side. Sid found her footing quickly and moved to kick out at her mother one more time.

Victoire back stepped in order to avoid the strike, but Sidonie pressed the attack relentlessly. She matched what her mother had done against her earlier, sending out kick after punch after punch after kick. She spun and flipped and twirled as she did so, making her attacks as unpredictable as she could. She might have taken her mothers words as saying she was predictable, and she might be taking that a touch more personal than she should in this instance. But she was in a zone, so she’d unpack that emotional baggage a bit later.

She was pressuring her mother, but Victoire didn’t look worried about it. She looked focused, putting as much effort as her daughter was into matching her attacks, but she didn’t look concerned with the nature of the attacks. Sid didn’t like that, it gave her the feeling that her mother was planning something to turn the tide of the fight and Sid didn’t like that. Her mother had been controlling this entire training session, which was to be expected, but Sid thrived on doing the unexpected. So she needed to keep the lead in this.

Then the plan that had been ruminating in Victoire’s mind came to light. The entire time she had been channeling chakra into her hands and all at once, as she pressed her palms into Sid’s chest, she released it. The shockwave of force sent her careening backwards, flipping head over heels through the air as she went. But she was a Kukinorite, and she oriented herself in the air easily enough even without her skates. As she landed, she tucked her body into a ball and rolled to cushion the impact, then jumped back to her feet.

Victoire made a motion like waving a flag as she walked towards Sid, a proud look on her face “You’ve gotten the hang of a lot really quickly, kid, but you need a break.” She reached out and patted Sid’s shoulder as she walked past her daughter.

“Uh...I feel fine, I can keep going.” Sid gave her mother a puzzled look.

“Alright, then, I need a break. You know I don’t take combat missions anymore. All this activity has taken a lot out of me.” She huffed a laugh out and motioned back to where they had been fighting moments before “Do you think I would’ve used that pulse if I didn’t need space to breathe? You were dominating and I need at least two days' rest before I’m rested enough to go again.”

“Okay okay, old woman. I’ll give you some time to soothe your aching bones.”

Victoire’s eye twitched similarly to Sid’s own, but she closed her eyes and took a deep breath to center herself “I am above your jabs and your ridicule. But I want you to know...your words cut to the quick.” Victoire sniffled dramatically and walked over to collect her skates and bag.

Sid rolled her eyes with just as much drama poured into the action “Oh mother, dear” She said in a deadpan voice “How will I ever make these insults up to you? Please tell me what I can do.”

“Well you could cook dinner tonight! I don’t think I’m up to cooking. Not with these old bones and all.”

Sid smiled and collected her own things, while continuing the idle conversation she was having with her mother. In the back of her mind she was thinking about what she learned today and how she could expand upon it further. If she was going to catch up to those kids in the Chunin Exams, she would need to become a Tokubetsu Jonin quickly. That meant learning as much as she could as quickly as possible. She had done some good work today, but she needed to learn more. She would start with the clan fighting styles, Capoeira and Waserotapa, then she would move onto a village style. From there, she would work out how to combine them into something that was wholly her own.

She was also glad she had her mother to help her with it all, too. Victoire might call her a physical prodigy but she was more than impressive in her skills. Yeah... her mom was pretty amazing.
-------------------

Training Information:

Tech Slot Breakdown:

Approved: Do note that when doing specialization trainings that give you slots you have to be specific about the slots you're picking up. Ex: 5A or 10B ect. You'd have to specify when the slot trainings get approved, but i didn't know that myself until a few months ago. Plus i didn't ask you before so that's my bad. But Im leaving that note here so that you know for the future. Also in the conversions you mean 6B converted to 18D.

And another one bites the dust
Oh why can I not conquer love?
And I might have thought that we were one
Wanted to fight this war without weapons

Sid scrawled the lyrics as they came to mind, before turning back to the little book she was reading. She was a fan of action novels, but one thing all of those had in common was that they were painfully....bland. The main character was always a straight laced guy who got the girl in the end and it was always boring. So, when Sid found a story she liked, she would go and find fanfiction of said story. She had an entire book club of like minded individuals, collecting and even writing their own fanfiction. Sid wasn't a writer, she was a lyricist, and sometimes people wanted songs for their stories so Sid offered to write them, as she was doing now.




And I wanted it, I wanted it bad
But there were so many red flags
Now another one bites the dust
Yeah, let's be clear, I'll trust no one

The words flowed easily from Sid as she read through the story. She hummed the melody she was thinking of, as well, envisioning the scene before her set to the track. The story was a captivating retelling of a popular story named Naruto after its titular character. It followed Sasori Naruto and his journey to become the Itamikage while also chasing after his childhood friend, Erlang Sasuke, who'd left the village after the murder of his family in search of vengeance. There was always homoerotic subtext between the two in the story, not helped by the fact that them "accidentally" kissing was a running gag in the story. Most of the stories people commissioned songs for was for this pair, but Sid didn't complain.

She set her pencil down and flipped back onto her feet from where she had been perched in a single hand stand. Writing songs wasn't really engaging enough, even if they were spicy boy's love, so she often slipped in some conditioning when she did it. Reading while in a hand stand, and then using one hand to write down lyrics, was plenty good training. Now she could take a bit of a break to get a bite to eat and then get back to writing. Sid idly wondered if their favorite little bakery was open, it would be nice to head over and get a pastry or two.

As Sid returned home with two boxes of the aforementioned pastries, they sent up a prayer of thanks for their Kukinorite genetics and training. Even if they gorged themselves, they'd only need to work out a handful of times to burn off any extra weight. So they could indulge without fear, which they planned to do thoroughly.
-------------------
Hardened Bodies Weekly Training (D-Rank) = 1000 Halved to 500 due to Genius Level Intellect (WC for Physical Techniques Halved)
Impervious Flesh Weekly Training (D-Rank) = 1000 Halved to 500 due to Genius Level Intellect (WC for Kinjutsu Techniques Halved)
Total Word Count: 1051/1000

Sid moved their song writing exercise to their studio slash workout room and set up by the pull up bar. She placed her notebook and pencil down where it could easily be reached before hooking her knees around the bar so she could do some upside down crunches while she read. She picked up the booklet and got back to it, slowly beginning her set as she did so.


And I will stay up through the night
Yeah, let's be clear, won't close my eyes
And I know that I can survive
I'll walk through fire to save my life

Sid stopped and scrawled down some more lyrics, mostly because she hadn't in a while but also because she always needed to prepare herself for these sorts of scenes. She liked reading good smut as much as the next fujoshi, but she let her patrons know to give her a warning if there was anything extra explicit so she would know not to read it in public. But not everyone had the same definition for the word "explicit".

Sid finished writing and slipped from the bar, laying down to do regular floor crunches for a moment. She set the book to the side and curled rapidly for a few moments, letting the burn in her midsection build up steadily before she returned to reading the work. She definitely wasn't stalling, preparing herself for the possibly spicy scene... definitely not.
-------------------
Hardened Bodies Weekly Training (C-Rank) = 750 Halved to 375 due to Genius Level Intellect (WC for Physical Techniques Halved)
Impervious Flesh Weekly Training (C-Rank) = 750 Halved to 375 due to Genius Level Intellect (WC for Kinjutsu Techniques Halved)
Word Count: 752/750

Approved

Sid closed the book and let out a small sound of surprise. Writers of these kinds of stories usually loved getting down and dirty with the details, but this one was tasteful and beautifully written. She made a note on a separate page to give her complements to the author before finishing up the last bit of the song she was writing to accompany it.

And I want it, I want my life so bad
I'm doin' everythin' I can
And another one bites the dust
It's hard to lose a chosen one
-------------------
Hardened Bodies Weekly Training (B-Rank) = 500 Halved to 250 due to Genius Level Intellect (WC for Physical Techniques Halved)
Impervious Flesh Weekly Training (B-Rank) = 500 Halved to 250 due to Genius Level Intellect (WC for Kinjutsu Techniques Halved)
Word Count: 854/500

Approved