Picking Up A Few Things

Mara Asano settled into one of the more isolated training grounds in Konoha. She'd been keeping herself busy most of the time between watching matches, and today was no different. This time she was working on enhancing her weapons. She'd already begun experimentation with this through her Kunai Cutter technique, but she had larger aspirations.

With a flick of her wrist, she banished her cloak to her storage dimension. It was a pleasant day out and she didn't need it right now. She settled onto the ground, retrieving two practice kunai from her storage realm. She clanged the two weapons against each other. They bounced off each other, much as expected.

Closing her eyes, she held the blades of the two weapons against each other. She felt her chakra flowing through her body and began to slowly guide it to the kunai in her right hand. The weapon seemed to vibrate slightly, but there was no other change.

She found this moment strangely calming. With her eyes closed and attention on her chakra, the rest of the world temporarily fell away. She imagined that this must be what meditation was like. She'd never really allowed herself to slowdown and find out before. She suddenly found herself organizing priorities in her head.

She had a busy training schedule ahead of her. Numerous techniques that would help round out her combat abilities. Which was good, because she had some dangerous plans upon her return. She was out of money. Completely out. So she'd be taking on a variety of missions, if she could get involved in some. She needed to replace her lost equipment from the Chuunin Exam. She also wanted to pick up a katana. And some armor wouldn't hurt. Her clothes weren't exactly going to protect her from much more than the elements.

But there was the more pressing concern which had dominated her thoughts recently: the stalker she'd learned of just prior to leaving town. She didn't know what he was trying to do, but she knew it scared her to death. She also knew she didn't like leaving the Takashi family after an event like that. Was it possible that her stalker was wasn't her stalker? What if he was after Idrina instead?

The thought wasn't a pleasant one.

It didn't change her resolve though. Upon returning to her village, she'd plan to take on the task of following her stalker to wherever he came from. She had a few advantages up her sleeve this time. First, she knew about him, but he didn't know she knew. That meant he likely wouldn't expect an ambush or a stalker. She also knew where he headed afterward, so she could be there waiting.

A few of the techniques she'd learned had been explicitly geared toward her plan, even if they served larger purposes. Her Shadow Clone technique was a great example. She'd leave a clone at home, pretending to be her, asleep in bed. When her stalker appeared, she'd imitate her previous behavior. Wake up, act surprised, but pass it off as a strange dream. When he left, her cloe would dismiss itself, informing the real Mara of his approach. Then she'd need to decide if she wanted to confront him then, or follow him further.

Maybe following him would be the better. She didn't know how powerful he'd be.

The kunai shifted slightly in her hand.

She wondered how long it would be until her next exams. She'd been lucky to avoid a truly dangerous match up, but she was also disappointed in her performance. With any luck, she'd come into the next match substantially stronger. She already felt far more formidable.

'Your father wouldn't think so.'

The voice in the back of her head had rarely been a source of encouragement and it certainly hadn't been better this time. Of course her father wouldn't be impressed by her abilities. He never found anything she did impressive. And he'd never admit to it even if he did.

She was perpetually impressed with how his opinions remained inside her head. She needed to do better to avoid that.

There was another metallic clinking noise, but she kept her mind on other things.

The breeze felt nice today. It was cool, but the sun was warming the ground nicely. Not bad for a winter day. She hoped she'd be able to run into one or two of her fellow Kumo Genin. She wanted to learn a few tricks from people who could actually instruct her. Learning from a book was getting old.

The blade shifted once more, dramatically this time.

She opened her eyes to see a feint bluish chakra aura surrounding the weapon. More impressively, it had begun to carve its way through the kunai that she wasn't infusing with chakra.

"Interesting," she said, holding it up to inspect it. It didn't cut deeply into it, but she'd barely been pushing them against each other. "Well, I think this technique has a lot of promise. If I combine it with my lightning release, we could get some pretty substantial improvements. And if she could channel her chidori into it... Then the real fun could begin.

For now, it was a start. The technique would be more powerful and versatile in conjunction with a more substantial weapon. She needed to get herself that sword. She stored the practice kunai away in her little pocket dimension once more, slowly rising to her feet and donning her cloak.

She could hear the festivities of the Chuunin Exam match in the distance. Hato, her rival from the first round, was supposed to be competing in this round, and Mara was eager to cheer her Cloud Village companion on.

She broke into a fairly quick run, scaling the side of a building and hopping a few rooftops to save herself some time. People were already streaming into the arena by the time she arrived, so she settled into a corner of the stands to watch.

If they got lucky here, they could get to Kumo ninja into the finals. She might have some issues with her village, but she wasn't above getting into the competitive spirit. Besides, the better her former opponent did, the better Mara looked in hindsight. At least, that's what she hoped.

[WC: 1052 | Claiming:
+5 Stats (+5 Speed)
+1014 toward learning Chakra Infusion (2000/2000) Previous
+38 words toward Manipulating Attack Blades (38/2000) ]

Approved.