Behold: My Hardest Whip [IO,nk,Charlie]

Kozachi opened her eyes, panting wildly. She couldn’t remember the dream that she had just had, but her heart was filled with rage. Damn, she needed to calm down. Ever since the incident in the academy basement with Kenjiro, she'd felt more... unleashed? No, that was the wrong word. The emotions that had come forth that day had shown her the truth about herself. She wasn't as thoughtful and cranial as she had hoped. Her chakra control had become better, but her personal control had worsened. Unforgivable... inner integrity was something that clan members prided themselves on. They had set laws now, and no longer were they like the Uchiha clan of old.
Her lower core felt hot, and beads of sweat ran down her forehead. She looked at the clock, and then remembered that she didn't really have much to do today. Well, at least she'd have time to pursue disciplinary practices. Remembering that Ken had mentioned meditation once, she dressed and headed out the door. She should try it herself. In a book somewhere, she’d read that meditation didn’t work best in quiet places, but in area with a moderate level of sound. So, out to the city she went.
It was the evening, and most businesses were getting ready to close up. Damn, she'd napped through most of the afternoon. Maybe she didn't have a lot of time after all. Oh well, the night could still be hers once the sun set. It's not like anyone would sneak up on a ninja inside the walls of the village, and even if they tried to, she had the sharingan now. She’d be able to see nearly anyone as they approached. Well, at least she'd gained something from the basement incident with those weird torturer people. Her friend had just gotten out of the hospital too... she hoped that said friend was alright.
Then again, she supposed that it was thanks to seeing the tape of her being tortured that she had been able to crack the case to begin with. It had given her the materials to fuel her revenge. Ha, "fuel" was the right term, wasn't it? The literal fire of her wrath had descended upon the impromptu studio that afternoon. Well, at least she knew some high level fire jutsu right now. Hell, the strongest one was so powerful and large that it was unsafe to use within the boundaries of the village. Bet Ken couldn't top that one!
Still, it was what was going on in her heart that had her worried. She couldn't allow her values and her composure to be compromised, or she'd end up just like her predecessors. Reviled, their images ever tainted in the eyes of their descendants. Her honor simply wouldn't allow it. Still, what was she to do? Meditation could only go so far. Should she really see a professional for mere anger issues?


Kozachi came to the more public area of the village and sat down on a bench, closing her eyes and trying to focus. Hopefully, none of the high ranking ninja would come along who would recognize her from the incident files from last week (hint hint).

[WC 531]

Her eyes fluttered open as Risako lifted her head from the pile of papers on her desk. One of the papers stuck to her cheek, glued to her skin by a puddle of drool. Having put the paper over to the side, she made a mental note to request a cleaner copy from her assistant after looking at the clock. Most likely, her assistant had left the premises, as the Hokage was about to do. Standing from her chair, her back arched backward and her arms stretched towards the ceiling while she yawned. Her yawn came to a peak as she stood on the tips of her toes to complete her stretch before every muscle relaxed and she returned to a standing neutral position. Sweeping her black hair out of her eyes, she began to walk for the door, readjusting her black shirt on her way.

Making her way through the building, she wondered what she was to do with the rest of the night. She could stay and complete the paperwork, or, freshly reinvigorated, she could go home and practice something. Maybe sleep. Probably sleep. Okay, most likely sleep.

Finally stepping outside, Risako took but a second to admire the gradient caused by the sunset spread across the mostly clear sky. Continuing, her eyes observed the "yard" of the Administration Building. By this time in the day, most of the people had cleared out, save for a few of the street vendors still packing up their wares, and some girl on a bench. The vendors were of no interest to her, but the girl had a familiar sillouhette. In order to play this off as smoothly as possible, Risako continued to walk along her path, which conveniently passed by the bench the girl was sitting on. 

From the corner of her eye, she continued to eyeball the girl. Finally getting a view of her face, the Hokage's memory came to serve her properly, and she recognized the pale skinned Uchiha girl. Recalling bits and pieces about an incident report, the woman felt compelled to talk to the girl, as Risako had yet to pour over all the details. Creeping up to the bench, she would attempt to slide into the edge, leaving plenty of room between the two for personal space. 

"Good evening, Kozachi," she said. "Is everything going alright?"

[Not finished, posting because I got tired and I'm too lazy to copy/paste it into google docs.]

Someone said her name, and the cocktail effect seized her brain, forcing her to open her eyes and turn her head in surprise. 
...
And then almost fall off the bench.
Oh, crap! The face of the Lady Hokage registered in her vision as she righted herself quickly. Well, it looked like she was caught. Odd that the kage would come herself, though, instead of sending someone out to retrieve her. Maybe this wasn't what Kozachi thought it was. Wouldn't it be funny if the Hokage herself actually had no idea of the incident in the academy basement that had resulted in melted camera equipment and what could have been a massive fire?

She decided to play along (if there was any game at all, to begin with). Noting that the Hokage was sitting instead of standing, her tutelage kicked into gear. Looks like Risako had decided to cast aside some of the formality that would normally surround her public appearance. So, how to best respond...?

"O-oh! Lady Hokage..." Wow, that was... a little more flustered than she had intended to sound. Could it be that the Hokage was actually kind of cute? That hairstyle certainly fit her...

"Yes, everything's going fine..." She didn't know whether the whole dealio with her brother was technically clan business, since he had been injured and both of their bloodline limits had awakened. Regardless, though, she determined that if the Hokage didn't ask for anything specific, she probably just wouldn't say anything about it. As soon as she thought of her resolve, though, a pang of guilt rocked her heart. This was the woman who had given her the ability to become a shinobi of the village. Hell, she'd personally tested Kozachi, though it could have just been part of the due process. Although, wouldn't it just be awkward if she blurted out what she was feeling right now? No need to wave around her emotions like a banner. 
[TWC 855]

"Ah, good to hear." Risako took note of Kozachi's startled, awkward reaction. Which of course, was starting to become the usual reaction for chuunin and genin. Maybe there was some way to fix that. Maybe not. 

For a moment, she thought about bringing up the incident report. To teach a lesson that seeking one's own justice for a matter probably wasn't the right way. Take into consideration a human being whose genetics tend to make them act somewhat irrationally, and it'd make sense to punish that behaviour. "So..." Her gaze drifted around the scene before looking back to Kozachi.

The Hokage paused for a moment. "How's your training going?" The woman sounded genuinely curious as to how the Genin was making progress and to some extent she was.

"Training's going... alright, ma'am." She had achieved a greater level of fire release mastery than her brother did, which filled her with a little pride. Still, it wasn't enough. There were probably many others in the village who outpaced her by quite a bit. Kozachi made no pretenses of wanting this power for some weird, altruistic goal like protecting Ken. She had confidence her brother that he'd be able to take care of himself. Kozachi figured that she must have the game figured out wrong if she was working toward some stupid goal like that. No, she was quite devoted to her clan in general, and gaining power was the best way to represent her family within the village. There was also that bizarre matter in the academy basement, but it had been her duty to exterminate pests like that. 

"I guess it could be better. I try as hard as I can." A simple answer. Was it what the hokage had been expecting? She probably had all the information she wanted in some file. Hell, she probably knew that she'd reached her bloodline limit already, although Kozachi didn't think anyone had witnessed it other than her brother. Man, he'd been jealous when he'd found out about it. Nevertheless, her feelings of guilt weren't because of that. With a bit of regret, she remembered the scar that now adorned his face. Her fault, naturally. If she grew more powerful, would she hurt him further? She sure hoped not.

[TWC 1003]

"You'll be training as long as you live, most likely. Trying hard is good enough," the Hokage said before pausing. Had she still held her older mindset, the woman would have only said those words to those who weren't apparently blessed with an ancestral power. Over the years however, she dropped her childish viewpoint that a bloodline instantly gave you power.

If Kozachi hadn't continued the conversation by now, Risako would. With her right hand she pushed her bangs over to the side of her face so that they did not block her eyes. "Got any plans for the rest of the day?", she would ask.

For the rest of her life, huh? Didn't seem too bad to her. She'd heard about Uchihas who'd somehow managed to live for awfully long times, so being able to attain a greater layer of power appealed to her. But you know what didn't? Being under duress from her kage. One part of her wanted to run the hell away. The Hokage probably had some kind of plan. In the end, though, the heart won out. 

"Err... nothing much." With Kenjiro missing, there wasn't much to do other than train. She didn't know whether or not he was dead for sure. She hoped he wasn't. Gaining the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan was NOT worth the price of her brother's death. It dawned on her that the kage could have... other things in mind for that afternoon.

Holy crap, was she asking her out on a date? 

Kozachi tried to calm herself. Before the basement incident, thoughts like this would never have entered her mind. Also, she was her superior, goddammit. Maybe it was just a training session. Her mind cleared a little at that thought. Imagine the kinds of things she could possibly learn from Risako... Well, hopefully their skillsets were at least somewhat compatible, otherwise she'd be straight out of luck.

[TWC 1216]

Risako looked at Kozachi from the corner of her eye. "Really, nothing?", she said. "I suppose you'd have time to spar then?" Aside from Higuto, another genin the Kage had been testing, she hadn't really done much to stretch her limbs. The training grounds weren't too far off from their current location at least. So far she hadn't thought too much about whatever impression she was making on the girl. It was something Risako was still getting used too.

S-sparring? Oh, man. The hokage didn't stand to gain anything from sparring with someone like her, even if Kozachi did her best. So, was this all for her benefit? Kozachi's blush grew a little more prominent. Wasn't that a really kind thing to do? Especially to someone from her clan...

Well, it'd be rude to refuse.

"Y-yeah. I mean, yes ma'am!" She replied with enthusiasm, standing up. Man, she'd never felt this nervous around anyone else before, even if they outranked her. Well, to be fair, Risako did outrank basically everybody, so she supposed that her trepidation wasn't entirely irrational.

Nevertheless, she'd follow where ever the kage would take her, eager to see what would happen next.

[TWC 1333]

Following shortly after Kozachi, Risako stood up as well. Before starting her walk, the woman contemplated the shortest route to the training grounds. Turning to her right, she began to head toward the western side of Konoha. The longest part of their walk would be the short stride through the woods that led them away from the civilian occupied parts of the village. At this point she hadn't had too much more to say, so their walk would be fairly quiet unless someone piped up along the way.

Thankfully the silence would be short lived before they arrived at their destination. Glancing around the field rather quickly, the Hokage noticed the fields were rather vacant, with only a handful of students training rather far away from one another. This left the two with plenty of space to practice. Turning to her partner, Risako noticed that the girl was going into this with no protection. Not that it mattered much.

"Lemme know when you're ready." In the meantime, she would start stretching her limbs.