EDITED: 2/18/17- completely revamped this chapter. Well, not really, but a huge part of it was edited, content-wise as well as grammatically. The conversation between Akira and Sai was totally rewritten, and so does her encounter with Team Gai. I found the early version of this chapter quite... cringe-y. So I decided to lessen its... cringe-ness (do I make sense? I hope you still read this though, even if I sound like a total weirdo right now).

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15

Inuzuka Kiba hates early mornings. No, scratch that. He hates early morning errands. Not really the time of day but more of the activity. Especially if he's dragged out of bed by his banshee of a mother.

Stomach grumbling, eyes drooping and body longing for his warm covers, Kiba walked towards the market with a list in his hand. His mother and sister connived to bully the youngest Inuzuka to buy necessary supplies for their growing family of hounds. Hana had recently acquired a new ninken and was training her as she did the other Inuzuka hounds but this new dog was proving to be difficult to train. Soon enough, Hana's sharp eyes found the reason why. The new dog was pregnant.

So, in preparation, Hana and Tsume sent Kiba out, on an early morning errand, to fetch some things. Kiba knew better than to protest, and dragging Akamaru with him, he set out.

"Damn. Haven't even eaten yet," he grumbled. "You're hungry too, ne, Akamaru?"

The loyal hound gave a low whimper of agreement. Kiba sighed. "Mom didn't even let us eat first. I mean, why can't Hana get her supplies herself? I don't ask her to polish my shuriken or my-"

"Kiba!"

He turned around to see Naruto waving at him from the famous ramen stall. The sight of the blonde's large ramen bowl sent Kiba's stomach gurgling. 'Damn early morning errands!' He decided to attend to his hunger first before his supposed task.

"Hey, Naruto!" he greeted his long-time friend/rival. Personally, Kiba preferred meat than noodles but he can't be choosy now, can he? Kiba settled on a stool beside the blonde and ordered his meal.

"Why are you up this early?" Naruto asked Kiba.

The Inuzuka made a face. "My mom and sister needed some stuff. I was literally dragged out of bed for this." He showed the list to Naruto and the blonde sniggered.

"Aww, Kiba-chan's going shopping," Naruto teased in a high-pitched imitation of a girl. Kiba wanted to sock the blonde's mouth off. He grumpily stuffed the list in his pocket and glared.

"Shut up baka!" he retorted. "Don't get on my nerves or I'll-"

But the blond shinobi was no longer listening. Instead, he was peering out of the stall and waving at the street.

"Hey it's Akira-chan! Akira-chaaaan!"

Kiba frowned and peered as well, curiosity getting over hunger. "Who are you shouting at?" he said to Naruto. He scanned the street and saw the redhead that Naruto was waving at. From beside him, Akamaru had bolted towards the said girl.

Kiba was about to retort and ask what's so special about this kunoichi, but the question died on his lips when the redhead came closer.

A gasp escaped his lips upon seeing the kunoichi up close.

She had grown taller and looked very much different than their younger days but there's no mistaking that red hair anywhere. Not to mention-oh dear kami-that's not the wolf now, is it? How did it become that big?

"Akira-chan!" Naruto greeted. "I heard you were on a mission! See, I told ya Tsunade-baachan will give you one! Although that mission did take long." The blond frowned. "You didn't tell me."

Akira chuckled at Naruto. "It was rather sudden. Anyway, you're out early."

"Yeah, I did some training and was hungry, then I met Kiba here-"

The redhead turned to the brunette beside Naruto and her eyes widened a little. "Inuzuka." She then smirked and glanced at the Ninken. "Akamaru was quite persistent."

Only when Akamaru barked did Kiba realize he'd been staring at the girl for too long. "Yeah, yeah, he is, umm...y-you're...Akira, right? Satsuna?"

The girl frowned. "Last time I checked, yeah." She gave Kiba a queer look and then turned to Naruto. "I think you should feed Inuzuka here," she said to the blonde. "He's hypoglycemic or something."

"What's hypo-hyper-" Naruto started to say.

But Kiba cut him off. "But you can't be the same Akira we knew!" he exclaimed. He stood up and looked at the kunoichi from head to toe. "You-you're-" His eyes stared hard at the kunoichi's face, trying to remember where the scrawny, awkward git went to and how she was replaced by this...woman. "Wow."

The kunoichi's eyes widened and a blush grazed her cheeks. For a moment, the girl looked embarrassed but just as swift as the expression came, it was replaced by a scowl.

Akira leaned at Kiba threateningly (which was quite difficult for her since the boy had shoot up in height like herself). "Oi, stop gawking Inuzuka. Or else I'll have Yuudai Gatsuga you to the next mountain."

Instead of being threatened, a confident smirk graced the Inuzuka's lips. "Ooh. Vicious like always," he said in a low voice. "I like that. Sure."

Akira gave Kiba a smoldering glare. "Tch." She turned on her heels to go. "C'mon Yuudai."

"Bye Akira-chan!"

"Later, hot stuff!"

When the girl had gone, Naruto had resumed eating his ramen while Kiba continued to rant how he didn't recognize their old friend and how she had grown over the years.

"That really was Akira, was she?" said Kiba as he slurped his noodles. "I mean, where did the scrawny girl go? She's so tall now with those amazing legs and, whew, I say amazing, man. And how did she get those curves?" He shook his head slightly as he compared the kunoichi's change in appearance in his mind.

Beside him, Naruto shrugged. "I don't know, man. Maybe you should go out more, I mean, she's always been around."

Kiba turned to him. "Don't be an idiot! If someone as good-looking as her's 'always around', for sure, I've already noticed."

"Hmm... you're right. But you know how Akira-chan is. She doesn't like people, -ttebayo. She mostly keeps to herself. Maybe that's why you haven't seen her around."

"Yeah," Kiba nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, you're right."

He still can't help but think about it, though. 'I mean, it's not like there was a stupid time skip and she suddenly just—I mean, where has she been all this time anyway?'

The Satsuna was no stranger to Kiba. In fact, although he's not as close to the girl as Naruto was, it's safe to assume that they're friends... sort of ('More like acquaintances, but whatever.').

She was a batch older than them in the Academy but Kiba had seen her a lot. She was rather thin back when they were kids. And awfully quiet. She was the type of girl that bigger kids bullied, and she was bullied a lot, but that was before she brought along the wolf to school. When Yuudai started tagging along with her, well, the bullying eased up a bit. However, there were still the occasional stupid boys who made fun of her skinny frame and red hair. They thought they could break her to submission, but when she started fighting back-and Kiba had watched that first time she swung a fist back at them-they knew the girl could pack a punch. Nobody believed at first that the Satsuna freak could actually fight back but a few more brawls proved to them that she could. And they didn't dare touch her again.

It was Naruto who introduced the girl to Kiba. It happened when the wolf sustained some injury and apparently, the girl did not know what to do.

"Oh no, his leg got caught in one of my traps! I'm sorry Yuudai...sorry..." said Akira, worry evident in her voice. She touched the wolf's injured leg and it let out a pained whimper. "What will I do?" She looked to be on the verge of tears.

Naruto clenched his fist, determined to help his friend but not knowing how. It was at that precise time of need that Inuzuka Kiba passed by, after training with Akamaru.

"Hey Naruto!" He greeted the blond. Akamaru barked from the top of his head and Kiba's eyes darted to the redhead. "Hey, uh..."

"Kiba!" Naruto ran up to him and dragged him harshly by the sleeve of his jacket. "You gotta help us! Yuudai's injured!"

"Whoa, whoa, wait! Who's what?"

But Naruto did not reply, instead he pulled Kiba along with him and when they reached the small clearing, Kiba saw the injured wolf lying on its side, leg bent at an awkward angle. Akamaru let out a soft whimper.

"Who are you? Can you help him?"

Kiba looked at the red-haired girl and recognized her as the Satsuna girl. The one they called 'wolf freak' and 'shriveled tomato'. The skinny girl who threw that hook punch that left a nasty bruise on Kotaro's cheek. He didn't know she had such green eyes. And up close, she didn't look that bad.

"I'm Inuzuka Kiba." He said. "This is Akamaru, and you're-"

"Look, can you help him or not?!" the girl said, a single tear dropping from her eye. She wiped it off quickly. Beside her the wolf gave another whimper and shuffled slightly. Kiba could feel anxiety radiate from Naruto and the redhead. He heaved a deep breath.

"I-I'll try. It's actually my sister Hana who knows these things but I think his leg's broken." He reached out a hand tentatively towards the wolf and Yuudai growled in protest. Kiba retracted his hand, afraid that the wolf might snap its jaws. Akira stroked the wolf's head reassuringly and it calmed down. Kiba again tried to touch the wolf's leg. He tried to straighten it but then the wolf howled in pain and he knew that he wouldn't be able to do much.

"Well, what?" asked Naruto.

Kiba shook his head. "It's broken from the knee down. And worse, it's the hind leg where most of the balance is dependent on." He stood up. "I'll bring my sister."

"Wait!" The girl called up to him. "Can't you just do it yourself?"

"Uh...really, I-no. My sister-"

Naruto stood up. "Can we just bring the wolf over to your sister? Look Kiba, I can't just leave Akira here."

Kiba looked at his friend then to the redhead. He sighed. "I'm sorry but it's a broken leg. I can deal with sprains and stuff but this is serious. And Hana can help you better than I can." He looked at the Satsuna. "I'm sorry. I'll bring her and she'll help you."

The redhead nodded. "Come back."

When she said it like that, it didn't sound like a request. To Kiba, it felt like an order, and Kiba found himself running as fast as he could towards his house, hoping madly that Hana was home, or even his mother.

That was their first encounter and since then, Kiba slowly realized that she wasn't that bad. The same way Naruto was often misjudged for being a jinchuriki. They even trained together sometimes. But when Akira had become a genin and had her own team, Kiba saw less and less of her.

After a long time of not seeing the girl, (and he learned from Naruto that this was because Akira had become a junior Academy instructor), Kiba was blown out of his mind to know that she had grown and had changed a lot. Gone was the skinny girl. It was replaced by a tall woman with shapely legs and small waist. The gaunt look from her face was replaced by fine features and deep, green eyes. And her red hair seemed more fiery than ever.

'Seriously, when had she started looking that good?' Kiba asked himself as he walked towards the shops. 'How could I have not noticed her?' He turned to Akamaru. "What do you think, boy? Akira-chan's hot, eh?"

Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Yeah, and she's gained a few pounds but all in the right places, if you know what I mean." Kiba smirked as he recalled his brief chat with the kunoichi a while ago. "And she definitely digs me."

This time, Akamaru barked in protest, as if to say, "No she doesn't!

Fortunately, (or unfortunately) for Kiba, he does not speak canine and thus misinterpreted his ninken. The Inuzuka smirked wider.

"I think it's not a bad idea to date a jinchuriki. I wonder if she likes barbecue. Or ramen? Better be barbecue, please."

~~~~~~~~

Akira heaved a deep breath and rubbed her eyes. Something about the library makes her sleepy, not that reading books bore her-in fact, she's a voracious reader since she's got a lot of free time after training and classes. It's just that the silence in the library is so deafening that the simple hum of the ceiling fan and the occasional rustle is enough to lull her to sleep.

After bumping into Naruto and Kiba (who would've thought that the Inuzuka had grown that tall and muscular? And... quite attractive-though Akira was quick to deny), the kunoichi had bought some groceries and proceeded to make a draft of her first lesson plan for genjutsu and ninjutsu classes. However, since she had little experience teaching them, she decided to read some books about class D nin and genjutsu that would be suitable for her students. She also read on chakra manipulation since children would basically have a difficult time molding their chakra initially.

Yuudai went back to Shizukana Yama to check on the pack, so Akira was left alone to do her work. After gathering the books she needed, Akira went to the restricted section and browsed the shelves for something light to read. Most of the books were old and had boring titles like, "Konoha's History Vol. 1-5", "Senju Tobirama: A Revolution", "Plants and Genjutsu", "Medical Ninjutsu: Surgeries and Implants". The latter had been read by Akira when she was under Tsunade's tutelage and it was so complex and detailed that she barely got past the Introduction. Seeing nothing that piqued her interest, Akira decided to start working on her lesson plans instead.

She was well into her lesson plan and was quite pleased to see that there are a lot of jutsus she can work with. Minutes passed and finally, Akira finished her task. She looked up at the clock and saw that it was almost time to meet Iruka-sensei. Gathering her things, she stood up and proceeded to the librarian to borrow some books. On her way there, she passed by a table where a queer-looking boy was seated.

He was pale-skinned with dark hair and equally dark eyes. He was wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt and pants. He looked ordinary but Akira had a feeling that he's shinobi too. She noticed that he was reading about behavioral sciences and human feelings.

'Weird guy', she thought. 'Must be one of those Intelligence people, or under the Interrogation department.'

She decided not to think more of the queer guy, but suddenly he looked up, and Akira felt flustered that she was caught staring.

The boy smiled. "Ohayo gozaimasu!"

Something in his smile felt off to Akira. As if it was done just for show, and not like the genuine grin of Naruto or even the Hyuuga's arrogant smirk. "O-Ohayo." Akira bowed curtly. "Sorry if I interrupted you." With an awkward smile, she decided to leave the boy in peace.

"Oh, but it's perfectly fine," he said, rising up from his seat. "I was just reading about human emotions. I'm curious about them and I was hoping the books could help me."

'There goes his fake smile again.' Akira cocked an eyebrow. "Emotions?" 'Okay, this guy is really weird. Why would someone read up on emotions?'

"Yes. And this book tells me that most males are attracted to women who possess physical attributes such as fair skin and voluptuous figure. What do you think?"

"Seriously?"

"Yes." And then he bowed. "I'm sorry for being straightforward, but I am simply curious about the though process of the opposite gender."

Akira's frown deepened. "You really want to ask me? Me, of all people?" When the other shinobi only looked back at her, Akira sighed. "Fine. I think it's stupid. The physical attributes thing."

"Oh? Why do think so?"

Akira shifted the books in her arms. "Well, while physical features cannot be discounted in the process of forming relationships, ultimately, it shouldn't be the basis for having deep and meaningful interactions."

"But this book says that males set much store on women's features. An example here says that the protagonist found his love interest's breasts and ass as 'heavenly'."

Akira blinked once. Twice. "You did not just say ass. Or breasts."

The boy just kept smiling. "I'm pretty sure I just did." He picked up the said book and read aloud. "'When in the presence of a woman, always make sure to complement her for this breaks the ice and sets her at ease. Say something nice about her, like her hair or her clothes. Be sure to give compliments only that are true.'" Then to Akira's disbelief, he looked at her from head to toe. Literally. And his eyes paused on her chest. "You have nice round breasts!"

Mortified, Akira looked instinctively at her chest, not quite believing that she had "nice, round" ones. She looked back at the pale boy, only to see him still smiling as if there was nothing abnormal about the things that came out of his mouth.

"You pervert!" Akira rasped. She clenched her fists, readying to punch the boy to hell and back but before she could do so, he extended a hand and said,

"I am Sai, by the way! What's your name, Ms. Melons?"

This time Akira did not hold back. She delivered a signature right hook, straight at the boy's jaw. She did not look back to see him stagger. Fuming she stormed out of the library, vowing to keep her distance from the accursed building for a few days. She prayed to the heavens that she doesn't meet the boy, Sai, again. Or else she'll let the Kageboshi take over her and just slaughter him.

She couldn't get over his fake grin and his ridiculous nickname for her. Humiliated and angry, she leapt off towards the forest, knowing that only some intense training can cool her down.

"Asshole!" she muttered under her breath. "Calling me by a stupid name like that! And he was staring like—Besides, just what the hell was he even reading?! I doubt if it was scientific in any way!" Still fuming, Akira failed to notice that she had focused too much chakra on her feet and this caused her to fall off the branch that she was perched on. She fell and landed rather ungracefully on the ground, landing on her back. Fortunately, the earth was a little soft from the light drizzle last night. Akira groaned. This day isn't proving to be good, it seemed.

She stood up and dusted herself when her reflexes kicked in, and Akira cocked her head just in time for a kunai to whizz past.

WHIZZT! THUD!

Akira turned her head, eyes wide. A kunai just flew past her and would've sliced her neck cleanly if not for her quick reaction time.

'Just what the fuck—'

From a distance, a scuffle of feet can be heard.

"Come on, I can't lose it, it's a special kunai that I got from the Land of Waves! It costs a fortune!"

Akira turned her to look at the kunai now embedded on the tree behind her. True enough, this kunai had a different handle compared to their standard-issue weapon. She tried to pull it out and as soon as her skin touched the metal, the weapon vibrated.

'It reacts to chakra,' Akira observed. 'Cool.'

"I feel like it's just here somewhere," a girl's voice said, drawing nearer. "Neji, could you use your Byakugan, please?"

At the mention of the familiar name, Akira looked up to see the said Byakugan wielder making his way towards her, dojutsu activated.

He deactivated his ocular power and a smirk graced his lips when he saw Akira. "Found it."

Behind him, a kunoichi emerged from the bushes. "You did? That's great Neji!"

The kunoichi was Tenten, who Akira immediately recognized due to her signature hairstyle. The redhead pulled the kunai out of the tree and handed the blade back to the other kunoichi.

"This is yours?" Akira said.

"Yeah, thank you," Tenten replied as she took the weapon. She bowed curtly. "Thanks. And, uh, I didn't hit you, right?"

Akira shrugged. "No."

There was an awkward pause between them three, and Akira turned on her heel to leave when Tenten called her out again.

"Wait! I think I..."

Akira looked back, eyebrow cocked in question.

"A-Akira?"

She nodded.

Surprise mixed with glee was evident on the weapons mistress' face. "Oh wow it really is you!" Tenten approached the redhead, chocolate-brown eyes all lit up. "You've-you-you've changed! I mean, a good change and I hear you're a senior instructor now. "

"Junior. But um, yeah."

Akira distinctly remembered Tenten from her class back in the Academy, and this is because she was the only girl in class that signified any aptitude and interest in weapons aside from Akira. Aside from that, Tenten was as nice as anybody could get and the redhead could not bring herself to hold a grudge or dislike the former. She remembered distinctly back then that Tenten would often stay after class and join her as they threw senbon and shuriken wordlessly at the poor target boards. Tenten would often chatter away, but Akira only replied in curt, dismissive syllables. She wasn't exactly the friendliest person around, and besides, having a demon within you didn't really help.

"That's wonderful!" Tenten beamed. She looked at the other kunoichi from head to toe. "And you're also taller than me now, gosh." She turned to her teammate. "Neji! You remember her, right? From the Academy."

Neji only nodded. "We were together on a mission just recently."

"Oh. Was that the one you told me about? Where you said there were crazy-ass wolves-"

"Excuse me?" Akira cocked a disapproving brow at the description of her pack. Nobody calls her wolves crazy. She locked stares with the Hyuuga, and the man was as impassive as ever.

Just then, two more men joined their group.

"OH HEAVENS! IT'S AKIRA-SAN AND SHE'S BLOOMED INTO A BEAUTIFUL, YOUTHFUL FLOWER!"

Before Akira could react or even escape the embarrassing situation, Lee was already beside her, green spandex, bushy brows and all. He extended a hand. "I am Rock Lee, I do hope you still remember me." And then he struck a nice guy pose, thumb up, pearly white smile with matching glint from the sun. Akira swore her vision was temporarily altered in that split-second.

"Oh. Uh...yes, Lee. I do remember you," replied Akira, briefly remembering that weird boy in her childhood who used to suck in all their subjects except for Taijutsu. 'Well, he had grown now, and uh... still looked weird.'

The atmosphere suddenly felt stifling for the Satsuna, and she was beginning to feel awkward under the scrutiny of the Hyuuga and his teammates.

Just before she could mutter some lame excuse to leave the small clearing, their sensei, who Akira did not notice until now suddenly boomed in that big voice of his, "Lee! My youthful student! That was just cool! You truly have tapped the power of youth! For that you and I will do 500 laps around the village in order to fully harness it!"

To which Lee replied with just the same enthusiasm, "Hai, Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sens-"

"Cut it out," Tenten said loudly, making a face at the silly show of affection between teacher and student. She turned to Akira and grinned. "Sorry about that. Err...that's Gai-sensei. Please don't ask why or how, but we do accomplish stuff in spite of...that."

Akira frowned, amused but at the same time creeped out. So far, they're the weirdest team she had encountered. And among the four of them, it's only Tenten that the redhead was actually a little glad to see again. Probably because she's the only sane member of the group.

"Ummm... right... yeah, I should probably go," said Akira as politely as she could. She smiled awkwardly and waved goodbye. Tenten returned her awkward smile with an enthusiastic wave, while Lee was still engrossed with his sensei. The Hyuuga meanwhile just stared at Akira as she walked away.

She could still feel his stare as she disappeared into the forest.

~~~~~~~~

"It seems you don't need my help anymore."

Akira shifted in her seat and looked at Iruka-sensei beside her. "Really?"

"Yeah, I mean your lesson plan's all good and I think the Hokage will be okay with it." He smiled and ran a finger over his scar. "Hmm, I think I'll just have her take a look but you can go straight ahead with Taijutsu tomorrow. Stamina and endurance building first and be sure to spend more days on these activities since techniques will be easy once you have enough stamina. One warning though," Iruka looked at the younger instructor. "Remember that these kids-most of them-came from shinobi families and could already have learned their clan's own techniques and stance. Some might be resistant to learn the standard Konoha stance in taijutsu so you'll have to be more patient and open-minded, okay? I have no worries about the civilian children."

Akira nodded as she listened intently at her sensei, mentally jotting down his pointers. Her day had started out not so great and she's trying to balance the stupid circumstances lately with work-which obviously was going way better than her sudden brushes with Team Gai, Inuzuka and that pervert Sai. She shook her head lightly as she tuned back to her former sensei.

They were inside the Academy's faculty room and Iruka was endorsing the lessons he had taught her students while she was away. He also told her of the recent changes in the Academy's curriculum-it seems that Tsunade-sama wanted to focus more on genjutsu and medical ninjutsu even at a young age. Word had spread that the next chuunin exam will include elements that will test the genin's aptitude for general medical ninjutsu knowledge and dealing with basic to intermediate level genjutsu.

Iruka listened as Akira gave him a summary of her lesson plan on genjutsu. He was impressed that the redhead was consistent with her enthusiasm towards the three ninja skills, meaning she gave equal attention to all three. He knew genjutsu is one of the redhead's skills and she's able to cast illusions just by hitting her target with a chakra-infused weapon.

"I agree and I see that you have thought about this thoroughly. But you must remember that you are teaching children and they may not be able to cast a perfect genjutsu or even dispel one properly because genjutsu takes immense concentration and precise chakra control. And children won't be able to mould their chakra well enough at their age."

"It's okay, Iruka-sensei. The lessons I included are easy enough. Of course, I won't get into genjutsu unless they're able to pass the Yin and Yang test. Easy stuff."

Iruka could not help but smile. No matter how often Akira verbalized that she hates teaching, it's pretty much obvious that she cares about her students. Otherwise, why would she come up with relevant and comprehensive lessons for the future genin?

They spent a few more minutes discussing activities and lessons for ninjutsu and other shinobi skills before Iruka dismissed Akira. Glad that she does not need to revise her lesson plan, the red-haired kunoichi decided to do some light training before going home. It was around 4 in the afternoon then.

She started with some stretches and endurance exercises: running laps, crunches, push-ups, squats and other core-body exercise. She then moved on to her taijutsu routine of training numerous kata both learned from the Academy and developed on her own. Akira smirked and remembered how her brawls and brushes with the bullies helped her develop a taijutsu style that was hers alone. Of course, she had help from Hayate-sensei and Daichi back when they were Team Hayate. Remembering her late sensei, Akira paused, unsheathed her katana and bowed before lashing out the deadly blade in a series of well-practiced movements honed by years of practice and application in battle.

To the outward eye, Akira seemed to be dancing what with the gentle hand movements, sway of the blade and the extensive footwork. This specific technique in kenjutsu was passed on to her by her grandmother and she said it was a technique that was distinctively the Satsuna clan's own. It has long graceful movements, minimal thrusts and more of slashing and was focused on swift sheathing and unsheathing of the katana. It was a mix of Iaido and the Satsuna's own kenjutsu style. As she moved, Akira channeled her chakra to her blade and pure fuuton was expelled, slashing a nearby tree cleanly. Exhaling deeply, Akira leapt and incorporated the technique Hayate had taught her. Charging her blade with Lightning-based chakra this time, Akira lashed at a random tree branch, her blade blazing with pure raiton. She slashed at the tree with a downward strike, leaving the tree blackened to charcoal.

Her new kata was rougher, with more strikes and utilizing kicks, chakra-fueled leaps and ground rolling. Thrusts with both the blade and the katana's handle gave the kata a distinct touch. The use of the free hand to do seals and disarm the enemy also was what differed this new technique to the one that her grandmother had taught her. Hayate's influence can be seen, with the low strikes, backfists and downward slashes. With the memory of her late sensei in her mind, Akira trained until she was sweating bullets.

She ended the deadly dance with her definitive stance-one that spelled doom to any opponent who's unfortunate to see it. Half-knelt on the ground, head slightly bowed, eyes levelled at unseen enemy, she slowly returned her katana in its scabbard before standing up slowly. Akira exhaled, satisfied with her training for the day. She bowed, secured her katana at her waist and then proceeded home.

Unknown to her, a pair of eyes have been watching.

~~~~~~~

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