A Spark Ignites: The Fuel of Ambition! (2/2)

~ The kunoichi moved with purpose and found herself clearing the pathway in a relatively quick manner. She couldn't help but pause to look out at the open desert. . . to most this desert was never-ending, demoralizing, and unpredictable no-man's zone but, whether it was Sumiko's own ignorance about the true dangers of the desert or her innate comfort from both her academy teachings and her innate attachment to it, Sumiko saw it to be an ocean of wonder of which to satiate her ambitions.~Flashback~ She recalled a few of her first moments out in the desert which were with her father. . . "Warriors forged of the sand. . ." that is what her father always told her was the true origins of a Sand Shinobi for through the disaster of the desert and war did the founders of the Hidden Sand create a home. It was in that moment that a flashback of her earlier times, her being no more than 9 or 10,  standing out in the open sands with her father. Sumiko recalled hot and uncomfortable the sand was in the middle of the day which had made her shuffle over the blazing sand for fleeting moments of relief. The sound of her father chuckling at his daughter's mild discomfort was cute to him but was quickly brought to an end as she found herself resting in his forearm which allowed the young girl to frown before looking down at her father's feet who seemed to levitate over the sand though he stood as sturdy as a boulder. . . there was a slight haze about his feet which really drew her attention both optically and internally as she had sensed this odd energy throughout the village in odd fashions.~

"Papa, why is the sand so mean to my toes and not yours??? Is it because of chakra?"

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Yhao Yun Yoshido: (Chuckles before gently rubbing Sumiko's toes) "Well SuSu-Chan, we can not blame the desert for being the desert. . . as Sand Shinobi it is our duty to become one with the desert. Today we will practice a tradition that all shinobi had to take part in before they were genin. . . Sand Walking. . ."

~ Her father's voice was husky and inviting due to his sheer charisma that made Sumiko hold onto every word as if it was law. A hero without a cape was her father and even to her as an underclassmen Academy student his prowess was undeniable. . . or perhaps it was due to her strong bond with her father. Nevertheless, Sumiko eventually just about hopped out of her father's arm in order to take part in this tradition that her father had spoken of. If all of the shinobi, her mother and father included, had done this and were amazing shinobi. . . sure that meant the same for her! However, the moment her feet settled within the sand the burn had returned and once again Sumiko was shuffling her feet over the sand, her wines being overshadowed by the robust laughter of her father. . . ~End of Flashback~.

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~ Sumiko's eyes had been distant as she echoes of their laughter and the warmth of the desert that day was residual in feeling. The way she tended to think about things now compared to before she started the Academy was vastly different. The overly jubilant and immature side of herself had been curbed and slightly suppressed so that her ambitious and serious side had room to grow and flourish. The kunoichi pulled herself back to the present with a slight shaking of her head and a smirk that lit her face up as she no longer wished to waste time focusing on her past. The kunoichi took a moment to harness her chakra for a moment and within a few seconds, her feet were coated in a blue haze that was synonymous with chakra. With her first charged step it was apparent that this was the execution of Surface Walking but one could consider this to be slightly more difficult given the severe lack of rigidity much like water.~

AP Bank: 290 | AP Used: 1 (Surface Walking) | AP Remaining: 289  

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~ It wouldn't take the eager kunoichi much time to get a comfortable distance from the village with also keeping her word to the gracious jounin who had allowed her this time to train. With the village being a slight blur behind her and the openness of the desert engaging all of her senses she had found the perfect spot. Since she could remember Sumiko had an extra "sense" for things that she simply couldn't explain such as knowing when her parents were home without seeing them or whenever one of them would train she would always know somehow. . . of course now she knew that it was attributed an affinity or a "gift of the Sands" as her grandparents used to say which in her case was Sensory Ninjutsu. Sumiko had begun to master the gift but in most cases the information she received was scattered to her as proximity and other forms of specificity seemed to constantly elude the genin but when she was told to master the Sensory Deprevation technique as a stepping stone. . . Sumiko hopped on this immediately.~

~ Sumiko released her Surface Walking to focus her attention on the skill at hand, her sandals making a soft hissing as the fine granules shifted to mold under the soles of her shoes with a bit of sand already embracing her toes with a slightly warm embrace. She began to regulate her breathing so that it was slow and controlled, thinking of her lungs being an empty embankment and the slightly warming air was gentle flowing water. By this time the sun had risen a bit which had warmed up the environment a bit but not too much to where she felt uncomfortable. With her breathing controlled, Sumiko clasped her hands together while simultaneously interweaving her fingers into each other in order to form the single hand sign of *~Snake~*.  She began to focus her chakra within her core while pondering the inner workings of the techniques. She already knew that the chakra network was an ornate system that covered almost every part of a person's body, including major organs which overlapped many other bodily systems with it. The girl decided to try with her feet since she was more familiar with sending chakra into the soles of her feet. Sumiko pushed a portion of her collected chakra from the depths of her belly, down her legs and into her feet. She knew that she was on the right track with her execution due to sudden "pins and needles" sensation where she routinely lost and gained sensation in her feet with the sand in her toes being a perfect relation to the level of sensation that she was able to feel.~

(thought) " Come on. . . focus. . ."

~ Sumiko thought to herself before realizing that perhaps she wasn't adding enough chakra into her feet for it to be fully operational. . .~

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~ Sumiko pondered this idea for a moment for validity. To her, it did make sense in the basic application of a body's response to certain things. She could recall being bitten by fire ants which caused her skin to become extremely itchy and for a moment she thought that she would actually claw her skin off but in the midst of her turmoil, she managed to slam her elbow on the side of a cart and quickly that itch became yesterday's news. The thought of that caused her to shudder in remembrance but this idea might just work. She decided that she had nothing to lose besides her dignity of failing in front of the jounin who were silently watching her out of sight which would be even more embarrassing considering this was the most basic form of sensory application outside of passive sensory. The kunoichi forced the remaining chakra from her stomach into her feet and it was at that moment that things really began to take place. The initial "pins and needles" sensation resided for a moment as the new wave of chakra was applied and settled in and around the base of her feet, unseen to the naked eye. Slowly the sensation began to fade away as Sumiko became more comfortable in the flow of the technique and within a matter of moments she had managed to completely cut off the sensation in her entire foot. Her grey eyes focused on her feet for this new sensation had almost thrown her body off as it felt as if her feet had suddenly disappeared from her body. With her balance restored with her visual validation, Sumiko attempted to wiggle her toes which slowly responded back to her after a few tries until they were fully operational with sensation still completely With her balance restored with her visual validation, Sumiko attempted to wiggle her toes which slowly responded back to her after a few tries until they were fully operational with sensation still completely absent. A smirk came over her face as this was the first technique that she had managed to learn on her own and had seemingly done so with relative ease. She recognized that the Sensory Deprivation technique was only the beginning in many years of training but with this pride and obligation that filled her chest and warmed her core nothing seemed to be too far out of reach for the girl.~

AP Bank: 289 | AP Used: 5 (Sensory Deprivation) | AP Remaining: 284 |      

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~ By this time, Sumiko realized that about an hour and a half had passed since she started and the sun was starting to break from the depths of the earth, sending a deep blood orange tinge over the sand which seemed to almost ignite as a result. It truly was a sight to see which actually had caused her to drop the technique for a moment which restored sensation to her feet along with the "pins and needles" sensation that slowly ebbed as her feet became recalibrated. She sat crossed-legged and allowed herself to enjoy the desert sunrise with a longing expression on her face. What was it like to be able to come and go as you pleased? To fight for the glory and prosperity of Sunagakure? Even though the girl idolized the idea on the highest of standards there was still something terrifying and suffocating to this freedom. . . what if she would come to be of no use or fall into a path of darkness like the rogues who were essentially boogiemen to junior shinobi such as herself?~

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~ The weight of such a question made her comfortable due to the fact that most of it held an overwhelming sense of the unknown which was scary to a kid who still believed that monsters existed. For a moment she was silent, even turning off her thoughts to a certain extent in order to allow her worries to melt within the ever-shifting sands before being melted by the still inviting heat of the rising sun. It was moments like this that always inspired her despite her lack of distinct connection to the land by bloodline. Of course, there were many clans that now resided within the Hidden Sand and some of them were migrants from other regions of the world for whatever reason but for her to be one of them when she lived and breathed the environment was hard to comprehend. Sumiko took a deep breath before tucking that away as well. . . the Hidden Sand wasn't just about bloodline but character and integrity which was something that was drilled into her more than anything. The girl decided that it was best to return home both in par to the fact that her parents would more than likely start looking for her soon and the fact that in this open desert her mind caused her to wander into regions that she really didn't want to go to quite yet.~

~ A smile formed over her once blank face once she realized that she was already ripping herself apart and hadn't even done anything yet. She was a genin which meant the opportunities were endless for her and with that alone Sumiko was already destined for greatness whether she had a blood legacy or not. She decided that she should be happy for this opportunity to serve her country rather than focus on the small stuff that really didn't mean anything anyway. Sumiko nodded to herself before leaving one last glance out to the sun that was not 75% visible and started to lose its orange glow before turning around to head into the village. The kunoichi didn't bother to even use Sand Walking at that moment as she was more focused on getting back inside of the village and back into her home where her mother was sure to be cooking up something good. . . probably potstickers with a teriyaki sauce! At that moment all of her worries went to zero as she b-lined it through the passageway and past the jounin while offering a slight wave.~

(thought) "I will be the best shinobi to come out of these gates. . "

Training Concluded!

Word Count: 2155

Claim:
- Wind Release: Quiet Footsteps - 250 WC
- Wind Release: Great Breakthrough - 1000 WC
- Fuuinjutsu Lock (E-Rank) - 250 WC
- Scent Masking - 500 WC
- 155 WC to Elemental Detection (C-Rank)
- +21 stats