Taking a Deep Breath

Salzem's training had gone ignored for far too long, although, he wasn't quite sure what to learn. He didn't know of any other techniques, he had no teacher, No one for him to receive instruction from. Well.... perhaps the Kazekage Koroshi, however, he doubted that he was free. Sure, he could punch a rock a few thousand times, contribute to the sand that already bathed this land, but what good would that actually do? Nothing. Just make sure his strength was in order. He wanted something new to chew on. Something he could add to his repertoire of devastation. Simply practicing what he had already wouldn't grant him any experience, nor would it allow him any real satisfaction. He would have to seek out an opponent who could handle his maximum strength.

Salzem groaned, covering his eyes from the blinding light of the desert. Consciousness slowly drained into his brain and he cursed it every second. He was sleeping so well too... He was having a dream where there was nothing but this calm, soothing, warm silence. Where he didn't even have a body to feel anything and yet, he did. It was wonderful, like bathing in steaming hot water. Then, he had to wake up and attend to reality. Life just liked messing with him it seemed. He sat up from his sand-bed, shaking his hair clean of any particles that may have found their way in there. His mask was slipping, hanging lop-sided off his face. Combine that with his shaggy hair, his exhausted expression and his dusty clothing, Salzem looked like something parents would tell their children to keep them from doing bad things. He yawned heartily and readjusted his mask so that it hung over his nose and mouth the way it was supposed to. He rubbed his sanguine eyes and slowly rolled it his feet, dusting the sand that still stuck to his jacket. Since his stay in Suna, his skin had taken a slightly darker tone, looking more peach-color than the paper-white it used to be. He no longer looked as.... "green" as he did when he left Konoha. He was more weathered, more "marked" than he ever had. He checked to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be, his swords, his money, his scrolls, all his ninja gear. Satisfied with his check, he wandered through town, stretching his arms and torso in a vain attempt to loosen his muscles. He was hungry, he was thirsty, he was tired, his muscles were aching. Salzem was not having a good morning. He headed over to the nearest restaurant, a seemingly ancient BBQ place with the interior smell that would make the most devout vegan's mouth water. His exhaustion held most of his appetite at bay so he wasn't completely under a spell, but his belly was drawn to the assortment of meats like a magnet to..... another magnet. He walked in, got a table and sat down with a plate. As he waited for the food to come by, he took notice that the center of said table was actually part grill, a cozy fire burning beneath a steel-wire grate. The wonderful smell of burning wood filled Salzem's nose, making him let out a sigh of contentment. He almost fell into a bliss-like trance until the raw meats arrived on a platter in front of him, causing his senses to snap to attention as a dog's would to the sight of a bone. The waiter walked off and Salzem began the agonizing wait of watching his meat cook. He practically dumped the entire tray on the grill, watching the fat on each slap of flesh bubble and crack above the brutal heat of the fire. A solid minute-and-a-half later hand he was gnawing on his slap of pork, enjoying the sharp, meaty flavor that mirrored it's heavenly smell. Within a solid 15 minutes, Salzem had eaten all that he was given, leaning back in his chair, satisfied. Although his throat was bone-dry from the effort, he'd just grab some water on the way out. He paid his tab, got a jugs-worth of water in his system and left, feeling much better than when he came in. He actually held a mild grin of contentment on his face as he walked about the sand village, looking for something to do. It seemed that today was going to be a good day after all.

Then, he heard noise off in the distance. Down a straight road in front of him, he saw someone running at him, face obscured by distance. The next thing he was on his butt, knocked prone, and the perpetrator was still running past him. He had no idea what just happened, but he wasn't just about to let her get away with that. He jumped to his feet, taking off at full speed after them. It was only after chasing this person around Sunagakure for the past 2 minutes did he realize that this particular person was pretty fast. In fact, if he had to guess, he/she was around his level in speed. However, he did eventually gain on them, noticing that he/she was beginning to slow down. As they did so, he noticed long, black hair trailing behind them. He didn't know how he managed to miss such an important detail. He slowed down as well, not wanting to over come this person, just halt them long enough to find out what kind of hurry they were in that they were going to knock down random people. The person stopped, almost dead in the center of the road, easily being around 80 speed earlier. Salzem, however, wasn't quite capable of the same feat and was much slower to slow down as he tried to force his legs to stop. The person was aware of this however, and went on the attack exploiting Salzem's momentum. The person cocked back a fist, then threw it, aiming straight at Salzem's forehead. The attack was fast, almost fast enough to overtake his senses. Almost. He turned his neck to the right just enough so that most of the fist swept by. However, a knuckle or two struck  the side of his skull, his temple, causing him to lose his balance and crash into a house wall, cracking it and leaving Salzem slightly disoriented. He got to his feet, holding his throbbing head with one hand, while pushing himself to his feet with the other. To his surprise, the girl didn't run. It was obvious the person was a she now that he got a look at her face. She had that black hair, pale skin, and full lips. The thing that caught his eyes however, was hers. They were red, like his. Salzem stared at her confused. She raised her fists and in response, Salzem raised his even though he was still regaining his coordination. She seemed a bit older than Salzem, perhaps 19 or twenty. She was a little taller than him to,  but not lanky. She had muscle and bulk to back up her height, making her look balanced. Then, out of nowhere, she struck, a straight punch aimed directly at Salzem's nose. Surprised by her speed, Salzem gasped, then ducked to the left, the punch going wide of its intended target. The sanguine eyed boy countered with his own punch, a right handed hook intending to strike her left cheek and knock her senseless. She was struck with a crack, reeling back a step. At any second, Salzem expected the woman to fall, but fall she did not. She actually pulled her face back so that she was looking back at Salzem, only a small mark where he hit her. Keep in mind, Salzem hit her with intentions to knock her out and yet she was still standing AND conscious. This was bad... He didn't know if he could keep up with someone who could take his attacks like this. She struck back, striking Salzem in the chest with a straight kick that sent him reeling. He crashed into the same wall as he did the first time, creating a second crack and once again disorienting Salzem. He couldn't quite understand how this girl could be so strong. He had never encountered someone this strong before. He ducked as a hook intended for his face came at him, causing it to go high over his head.

He took a deep breath and slammed his fists together in an attempt to psyc himself up, however, unknown to him, something else happened. His color faded until it became a milky white, followed by his pupils after that. The air around him seemed to shimmer and contort, forming an almost blazing yellow aura around his body. The girl looked confused for a moment and Salzem assumed that was because he wasn't out-for-the-count yet. He wasn't by a long shot. He dashed at her, making a move before she could even react, planting a straight kick into the woman's left lower leg, cracking it. She fell forward, eyes wide in pain and surprise. Salzem took a step forward, sending an uppercut into her stomach with surprisingly little resistance. She coughed and wheezed, winded and paralysed by this attack. The sanguine-eyed ninja pulled his fist back, raised it over her neck as she stumbled passe him, then slammed his elbow into the back of her neck, slamming her into the ground. The aura around him faded, and his eyes faded back to their normal red tint. His breath seemed to escape him, forcing him to take heavy, stressed breaths in an effort to force them back into their normal rhythm. Salzem crouched down to check if the woman was alive and, to his relief, she was. He could see the rise and fall of her back but there was something else he noticed... A small clear vial, almost like a test-tube was dangling from a chain in her jacket and inside, was a colorless clear liquid, almost like water. Salzem stared at it in horror, memories flashing back and forth through his mind. That girl in his dreams... that stranger in the cave... they each had a vial like this... they each had these red eyes... Are they... connected somehow...? Salzem took a big smell of the air, recognizing the vile, stomach turning smell of poison. He took one step back, then another, then another. He lost his footing and fell backward, landing on his butt yet again. He stared at the unconscious woman, a mix of fear and confusion in his stomach. His eyes kept flicking from the woman's closed ones, to the vial then back to her eyes, trying to figure out what this all meant. 

"Wha-" Salzem gasped. "What the hell...?" He shook his head before scrambling to his feet and running from the scene. Two people attacked him, 3 if he counted his dream. Two looked a lot like him, one he couldn't make out. Salzem ran all the way to the other side of the village where he proceeded to hide amongst the many gaps between the buildings, trying to find an easily defensible alleyway to be his new place of residence. He had a feeling his old sand-bed wouldn't be safe anymore, not with these... "assassins" after him. What had he done...? What had he ever done to deserve this hunting...? Salzem's tainted blood rushed through his veins as he went about searching for a new bed within Suna. The sanguine-eyed ninja was truly rattled that this was the second time time he was attacked, a third time if he counted his dream and for all he knew, he could have been under the influence of some kind of complex genjutsu at that point. He found a long, thin ally which opened into a rather large square room of space with a couple wooded crates dotting the area. This would serve.... until he got out of Konoha...

(EXIT)
WC: 2000 Solid
Claiming Seven Heavens Breathing Method C-Rank