The Blood of a Whisper [ Multiple Trainings | Solo ]

Sasayaki found himself on the roof of the safe house that had been provided for him to stay at by the adults of his group, staring up at the crisp blue sky with those fluffy white clouds. A moment of peace for his lunch break. He was always fond of clouds. No matter where he traveled they always seemed to be the same, and they reminded him of the games that he used to play with the others when they were younger. It was nice to have pleasant memories about his brothers. He missed them quite a lot. He could see their faces sometimes, the clouds seeming to shape and shift into the shapes of their faces. Kusuburi, Fuyu, and Hakai. The four hadn't been related by blood, but they had been as good as. There was no discounting the bond that had developed between the four of them as they had aged. They had grown up together, fought together, loved together, they had been practically inseparable. They had never been apart, until now.

Now... Sasayaki was alone, and his brothers buried in the crypt reserved for those who could not measure up to the final horrific test that they were put through before being sent to their village of Hinowagakure to begin the true tests of their abilities. At the moment of each of their deaths, Sasayaki had vowed to himself to live for them, as his blade sent them to their next lives. That had been the hardest part. That he had been the one to send them to their graves. The hardest part, tears streaming down his cheeks and theirs as they fought to the death behind their masks. It had been their final test... their final mission together. To prove that no matter what would happen they would not let their emotions get the better of them. The safe house that had been their home had turned into a warzone for it. They had been reluctant to begin, but they had, and within two days there was just one boy standing, exhausted, bloody, and definitely alone. Waiting to be collected by the adults. And now... here he was.

Sasayaki closed his eyes, his brow creasing beneath his fox mask. He didn't want to think of that right now. The memories to fresh and raw in his mind. It had only been weeks since that moment, and there had been so much blood. A deep breath, and Sasayaki found himself looking up at the clouds that had the shape of his brothers. He could see their smiles, hear their laughter, feel their touches still. Those were the memories that he still wanted to pull forward in his mind. He knew that his brothers did not blame him for taking their lives, their last smiles had assured him of that. But he was still reluctant to think of their deaths. It was hard to think about, to remember that he was alone now. That he only had himself, his abilities, and his weapons, now to help him to survive. There was no more team of four. The four... as they had been called, was over.

The cloud that had taken the form of the youngest of their group, Hakai looked as if it was laughing, pointing at something while he looked on with the others. Hakai had always been the most excitable of the four, and he'd had the hardest time learning the ability to hide his emotions from others. Not that they his their emotions from each other, just the others. But Hakai's cheerfulness was particularly bright, and he always worked hard to make the others feel better when any of them were feeling down at all. And they had loved their brother for it. The image of Hakai in the clouds pulled a  pleasant memory up to the surface of Sasayaki's mind, pushing away the shadowed memories of pain and horror. This one was a lovely memory, one of the loveliest he and the others had ever had. A training that had not been so much harsh, but delicate, one that they had taken quite a lot of joy in. Sasayaki smiled behind his mask and raised his hands into the air making the shape of a butterfly with them as he recalled it.

WC: 723

"Hey! Yaki!" The cheerful voice that used his pet name reached him as Sasayaki rolled onto his side where he was laying in the grass to look over at the other boy that bounded towards him. Hakai with his tiger mask over his face was practically skipping towards him from the front of their safe house compound. Getting the boy to wear it without any of the adults around was a struggle, so that meant that there probably was a sensei around. The sensei must have arrived recently then. "Sensei wants us in the training room! We're training inside today!"

Ah. There it was. Definitely an adult of the main group then, here to train them more as usual. They had had a break since their last sensei had left two days before, but now it was probably back to the steady grind for them, he imagined. It was too much to hope for more than that off. Relaxing just simply wasn't something that happened in their lives. Sasayaki pushed himself up from his position and into a criss-cross possition as the boy finally slid to a stop on the grass in front of him. He chuckled slightly, lips quirking into a smile as the boy attempted to catch his breath. "Tired already? You shouldn't run everywhere you go!" Sasayaki teased his brother. As he stood up and wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulders. "Alright then. Let's go see what sensei wants. Do the others already know?"

"Aww..." Hakai whined in response to Sasayaki's teasing, hunching his shoulders and making it incredibly obvious that he was pouting behind his mask. Sasayaki knew his motions well enough to know that the other boy would be doing nothing else than that. And that only made him laugh more as the boy finally relaxed into his arm and began to laugh as well. "Yeah, they know. They were there when she arrived. Guess what! It's Ga! She's back to train us more! She hasn't been here in two years!" Hakai rambled excitedly as they walked towards the compound.

And Hakai was excited for good reason. Each of them had grown incredibly close to Ga although they didn't get to see her very often. She only came every couple of years, but she had become their main mother figure despite that. She was the one who was the most gentle with the four of them, making sure that they knew that even tenderness and happiness could lead to finesse in what they did. Sasayaki grinned behind his mask. She also had incredibly creative tasks for them whenever she came to visit. Excitement bubbled up in Sasayaki's stomach as they neared the compound, wondering what the kuniouchi had concocted for them to do this time.  "Really?" He replied, doing his best to keep his tone even, but a hint of excitement burst through.  "I wonder what she has-"

Sasayaki went quiet as they walked into the room that the others were waiting for him, his jaw dropping slightly in surprise and awe as they scrambled to close the door again so that nothing would escape. Inside the room was a massive flock of butterflies moving around the training room, so many that a slight buzzing could be heard from their wings. In the center of the room, looking as if she was meditating was Ga, and their two brothers were sitting before her. Quietly Hakai and Sasayaki moved over to the trio and took their places on either side of their two brothers before their teacher. Each of them closed their eyes as they fell into the same breathing pattern as the others. Deep breath in. Hold for seven seconds, release slowly... In... Hold... Out. Their trainings with Ga always started like this, with meditation and quiet. Sasayaki found it was soothing. However, this wasn't the reason why this memory was one of his best. What would come next was the best... and it had to do with the massive amount of butterflies fluttering around the room.

Post WC: 686
Total WC: 1409

The meditation that the group did lasted for nearly a quarter of an hour. When they had first started out with meditation, it had been hard for each of them to sit still for as long as their teachers wanted them to, energy twisted up tight like a spring within them. They were excitable boys. They were always wanting to run and play. Sitting still like they were had been a ridiculous concept for the four. Kusuburi had been the first to be able to handle it, but the other boys hadn't been that far behind their eldest brother. And now, they all could sit and meditate for hours, even though they usually preferred to do other things. However, when they needed to, meditation wasn't nearly as bad as what they had thought of it initially. And sitting still and meditating with Ga, often gave them treats when they were finished. This time around, it was the butterflies that had settled on them while they had been sitting. Without any motion to stir them up any longer, they had settled on each of the boys and their teacher, and on other various places around the room.

Ga smiled as she opened her eyes to look at her three students. She had missed them just about as much as they had missed her while she had been gone on other business. Like many of the others in their group, training the new individuals that would join their ranks was something of a side job, though there were the ones who remained full time just to keep an eye on the children. The four had grown a lot since she had last seen her students, and seeing them covered in butterflies was a slightly delightful sight. She wished sometimes that she could take pictures of the boys to keep. But that was not allowed, just as with everyone in their groups. Pictures were taboo. They had to capture images with their minds or not at all. She hummed as she looked over the boy's masks knowing that from the moment that they first received the masks when they were eight, she would never be able to see their faces again, just like everyone else. Oh how she wished she could watch them grow. The Tiger, The Fox, The Rabbit, The Wolf.  Those were their masks. Hakai the tiger, Sasayaki the fox, Kusuburi the rabbit, and Fuyu the wolf. Each of them were talented in their own rights. It was a shame that soon enough their fight to the death.

With a sigh Ga reached out and tapped each of the boys on their noses, prompting the boys to open their eyes. "Alright now, boys." She smiled, keeping her voice smooth and calm as she stood in a fluid motion, not disturbing any of the butterflies that had made her their perch. "Lets get started, shall we?" She mused, as she looked down fondly at her students who were waiting patiently for her orders. "I want you each to catch fifty butterflies. However, you may not kill, maim, or damage a single antenna, is that understand? If a single butterfly is damaged, you will have to do one hundred laps around the compound. You have..."  She paused and hummed for a moment in consideration. "Three hours." She smiled when she finally decided, and then she stomped down hard, using an earth style jutsu to shake the ground for just a moment, sending the butterflies back into a frenzied swirl in the air. "Understood?"

As soon as the butterflies that had landed on them, tickling their skin, had flown of them with a flurry at their sensei's jutsu, each of the boys were standing before their teacher. Each boy nodded, and a chorus of yeses escaped their lips in unison, loyalty and determination ringing clear in their voices. This was where the fun began for the boys, darting around after the butterflies to do as their sensei asked of them. The butterflies would be theirs! Ga chuckled as she took a step back to watch her students work, leaning against the wall as they chased them around.

Post WC: 697
Total WC: 2106
Trained: Ninjutsu D -> C 2000/2000
New WC: 106