Remnants [solo,nk]

"Hahaha..... sometimes, you just need a supernatural amount of luck."

Kozachi was dreaming, that she knew. But she'd never heard this voice in any dream that she'd had before. A rather deep, masculine voice, one tinged with regret and self-derision. Surprisingly, he didn't sound old, but because she couldn't see the face of this "dream man", she didn't know who he was at all. Who...? Oh, right. Within the scape of her dream, she turned around. That face... she'd seen it before, she knew. But where?

"Lucky junior, you won't be able to meet me, that's for sure. But perhaps you'll be able to gain some of my insights? Hahaha...." That same laugh of regret... he sounded so sad that had Kozachi been a normal girl in the academy, she would have given him a hug. But all she could do now was watch coldly. Was this guy trying to get something out of her dream self? She had heard of weird genjutsu that did that, but those were just silly rumors. Genjutsu weren't like that, right? Mmmph, the thought of some shameless brat preying on her while she was asleep was enough to make her want to vomit. Hmph, people like that... absolutely ridiculous.

"Hopefully, you have more luck than I do. Remember this: live well."

With that, Kozachi woke up. In the next instant, she knew that things really couldn't get much better that day... there was a spider on her ceiling.

Eep~

They were like eight legged demons, those arthropods. Wait, how did she know that word?

Kozachi didn't really sweat the small stuff though, as she got out of bed, reviewed the jutsu that she was going to try and (finally) learn, and got out of bed, keeping an eye on that spider. You never know when things like that might drop down on your head.

***

A while later, she found herself on the training grounds, going through the motions of her daily training.

-Emulation Start-

She knew full well how to knead chakra, at least a little of it, but she had a bit of difficulty with the actual jutsu part. Today, she planned to bypass this bottleneck once and for all. She liked making progress, but right now, she wasn't making any at all. Kozachi scrunched her face up in frustration. How was she supposed to do this jutsu again? Ah, right. The clone technique.

After everything that she had learned in the academy, it was still hard for her to actually cast this jutsu instantly. Well, she could at least review over what she knew. First, and most importantly, the usage of chakra. Enough said, that was easy, she thought to herself as she kneaded chakra. With a great force of will, she pushed it out of her body and performed the jutsu with great ease - is what she would like to say, but that didn't happen at all. With a sigh, she moved on to the next step.

The handseals required were three. Simple enough, she'd practiced all of the basic ones through and through, weaving them over and over again. They hadn't quite become muscle memory yet, but she could conciously perform them without hesitating or stumbling over the motions. She didn't count that as progress, though.

Hmm... overnight, though, it would seem that the way she looked at chakra itself had changed. It wasn't just energy, now was it? For some reason, she could now understand further what the teachers meant when they explained the composition of chakra itself. One part spiritual energy, and one part physical energy. Spiritual energy... generated from the soul, which was thought to be located in the head within most orthodox beliefs, and physical energy, or "dou qi" when used in battle. At least, that was what she had heard the brown-haired kid blabbing off about.

Whatever, weird words didn't matter. She was now somehow able to wrap her head around things like this with ease. Maybe she should take more naps after all...

The sleep seemed to have done her good. After performing the handseals, the energy inside her seemed to flow outwards, and created the two images next to her on either side. Raising an arm, the other two clones copied her movements. Satisfied, she dispersed them and decided to go on. The sun hadn't yet quite risen, so she had plenty of time before classes that day.

Ignoring the noise of a bad flute player somewhere behind her, she began work on the transformation technique. Hey, why was this one coming easier to her all of a sudden? The technique wasn't an infusion of chakra so much as it was a mere coating... wow, not bad at all, she thought to herself. This was going well. Performing the handseals necessary for this technique, she focused hard on the form that she wanted to take. Hmm, wouldn't it be easier if she could see it? She opened her eyes (she had been squeezing them shut before from concentration) and decided on a target. A nice indigo colored pot had been sitting in a pleasant spot just outside the training ground for some time now, so she decided to gain her insight from that. And what do you know, just a moment later and...

pop.

Jutsu successful.

With that being done, she gave a silent thanks to whatever it was that had let her get these jutsu down so quickly. Little did she know what it truly was... a once in a lifetime opportunity to reach the "martial peak" that draconian exemplification that she so desired. Methods like these didn't appear often.

Heading home, she stopped to have a drink, and noticed the brown haired boy from before walking into a clump of bamboo. Running up, she started an awkward greeting.

"H-hey, you...!"

But he wasn't there. Had she just been imagining things? No, there were footsteps here.... Whatever, if that shameless guy didn't want to see her, that was fine. With a cold "hmph!", she walked home.

[TWC 1004
5 stats
500 toward Transformation Tech
500 toward Clone Tech]

Checks out. Approved.