Personal Days (solo)

[Flashback / memory part btw]

Madara opened her eyes and the blazing sun greeted her. There was that one very slim gap in her curtains that just so happened to let the sunlight shine right on the girl’s face. It was nice at first but then she began to dream of fire and that jolted her awake. She breathed heavily for a few moments before realizing that everything was alright. It was fairly normal for her to wake like this, swear that she would fix the curtains, and then forget to do so. She got up to fix the curtains and as she walked over to them she heard someone calling her name from outside. So, per usual she turned from the curtains and would inevitably be woken up the same way the next day.

“No no no,” Madara said hurriedly as she rushed to the small cabinet that contained her clothes. She dug through it and quickly changed into some “outside” clothes. She was supposed to be helping her father with some chores today and she was the type to shirk from her responsibilities, especially when they required helping him fetch compost and bring it to the backyard garden. She could get past the manual labor and how long it would take but the awful smell was just… well, awful. It was impossible to wash off so she would no doubt end up spending the rest of the week avoiding people.

There was only one way of getting out of this chore. She would have to sneak out of the house, somehow. It would not be the first time she’d tried. In fact she often tried to sneak around but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d gotten away with it. There was always something that gave her away, like the creaks of the house or happening to trip over. Madara walked to her bedroom door and pressed her ear against the door. She couldn’t make out much except for loud bustling noises in the living room. She wished she could tell exactly which sounds were her fathers but couldn’t quite figure it out. She thought she could tell that one set of sounds were louder than others but that didn’t mean much.

Madara let out a groan. She was working with very little information and time was ticking. She hurried to the window, none too quietly, and threw it open. She regretted how hasty she’d been since the window frame made a very loud slamming sound as it collided with the outside of the house. This was no time for regrets though. She climbed out of her ground floor window and out into her back yard. She turned around and quietly closed the window. She was impressed that she remembered to even close it. There was a loud knocking at her bedroom door which told her that she didn’t have much time left to disappear. She heard her squeaky door swing open and she made the decision to dive for cover.

Madara’s dive wasn’t anything impressive but it got the job done. She’d managed to jump out of sight of her doorway and put herself prone on the ground. She landed on her forearms and stomach with a painful thud and she could not help but let out a muffled shout of pain. She intended to make it behind a bush in her back yard but her surprising lack of physical prowess ensured that she failed. No matter, she could still continue. The loud footsteps which she knew now were unmistakably her father’s moved closer to the window. “Shit” she hissed as she crawled as fast as she could behind the bush.

Thinking she was safe, the girl flipped onto her back and groaned at the sight of her forearms. They hurt badly. They were almost definitely going to bruise and they had small nicks in the skin from when she’d skidded a little across the ground upon landing. Tears welled up in her eyes and the flowed down her face. Her low pain tolerance combined with her desire to just give up overwhelmed her for a brief time during which she just cried and curled up into a ball.

“Madara?” called a voice. It was her father who was shouting out the window. “I know you’re out here, your curtains were moving when I came into your room. And I’m fairly certain that was your voice I just heard.” The knowing father scanned the backyard and smirked when he saw Madara’s shoe which had slipped off while she’d crawled on the floor. It’d gotten snagged on the corner of the bush, not that Madara noticed since she was so focused on the pain.

Father continued, “if you’re planning on skipping out on your chores you might want to grab that shoe!” He paused, and like clockwork his daughter reached for the shoe and pulled it loose from the bush. He shook his head. All these years of sneaking around and his daughter really hadn’t gotten much better at it. He sincerely hoped that she figured out she was hopeless before getting much older. He decided to humor the girl for now. She was still hiding so he knew she was going to try to salvage her escape attempt somehow.

Madara slipped on her shoe and continued crawling on the ground while doing her best to keep quiet. She couldn’t help how much her arms hurt nor how embarrassed she felt but if she could just get out onto the street she might be able to get lost in the foot traffic of the city and disappear. She drew numerous strange looks from people who were walking by. A girl her age who was crawling around in the grass, bleeding, with teary eyes was not something they saw every day. Their looks were just insult to injury to Madara who already knew she was bad at this stealthy stuff.

The escape all came to an end when she finally made it to the front of the house where her father was sitting right in front of the front door. He looked at her and she looked at him… then they both burst out laughing.

“I’m going to get out of gardening chores one of these days,” Madara said. The laughter made her pain lessen but she still caressed her arms against her chest.

“Was your goal to hurt yourself so much that I’d leave you home?” Father asked when he saw the sorry state of her arms. “Anyhow, let’s get going. We’ve already wasted enough time and judging by your hair you just woke up.”  

“Aww, do we have to? I hate getting all smelly,” Madara whined. She felt a glimmer of hope, if she could somehow convince her father to let her off the hook then she would be so happy. “I helped with the compost last time. Besides mother needs help around the house. And… and… do you really want people to see me all cut up like this? They’ll think bad things about us.”

Father sighed and patted Madara on the head. “Listen, I know you want to get out of your chores but I just can’t let you do that. I do actually need your help. I’m getting old and I don’t make anywhere near as much money as I used to. We need this garden to make a lot of our food for the winter and the compost is very important for getting a good harvest. “

Madara stomped her foot angrily. “but why? You work all day you should have money.”

Father leaned back against the door and looked up into the sky. He looked sad to even be talking about this topic. He’d never had the conversation though and he thought that telling Madara the truth might get her to understand how important it was to help the family.

“Over the course of your life everybody makes mistakes. Some mistakes cost nothing, some cost everything. The point of being a parent is to make sure your kids don’t make the same sort of mistakes. Look, what I’m trying to say is that some mistakes in my life required me to get loans. I don’t regret taking the loans because without them your mother and I would have likely starved to death. They helped pay to raise you. But loans must be repaid and I foolishly thought that I could pay them off despite my pay decreasing as I aged. It’s gotten to the point where we just have to accept that our quality of life will get a little bit worse as time goes on. It shouldn’t be anything to worry about since once you find a job or get settled with a husband our costs will go down dramatically.”

Madara didn’t really know what to say. She didn’t like these kinds of serious emotional talks. She preferred to shut the world out and just do her own thing. She just walked over and gave her father a hug and accepted that she would have to do her chores.

[Present]

Madara wandered around and practiced learning the wind release some more. She weas still stuck on a baby level jutsu that would create several small funnels. Instead of dividing the chakra into threes, the girl would now divide it into halves, then into halves again. Given how many times she tried this part of the technique, she’d carefully apply the fuuton chakra to each equally, While holding the handseal as well. making sure to monitor each separate part of the chakra, she’d release it outward. Instead of failing, the four funnels would impose themselves onto the tree, though without much power. as the girl wasn't trying to do anything spectacular.

Without trying a second time, she’d move on to the important part. "How to make them collide with each other..." While molding more chakra, this time adding more to compensate for the strength of the overall manipulation, she’d attempt the bird heandseal, while adding a few others, attempting to make the chakra move and gravitate towards each other. Releasing the chakra, she would find the added handseals weren't the right combination, as the funnels imploded into each other as soon as they were formed, creating a tiny fizzle of wind chakra, heading in every direction. Then suddenly there was an explosion as her chakra went unstable and erupted from her palms. Madara herself was blown backwards, into a nearby tree, suffering a few cuts and scratched from the failed jutsu. Learning this stuff was dangerous.

Blood began to trickle down her forehead from a small slice in her flesh from the chakra, about an inch wide. -If I keep guessing... I could kill myself...- she thought to herself as she move slowly back to her normal spot. Before she could try again, her Sensei's voice would come from behind her. "Having problems?" Madara immediately turned around, running towards him. "You cant be out of bed yet! Your wife said so!" The Old man chuckled at the site of Madara actually showing that she cared for someone. "I feel fine... so shut up and let me help... you need these handse-" her voice cut out as it looked like the man had trouble breathing. Having caught her breath She’d continue."You need to be in the air also, the force of the attack wont work if you try to do it from the side, it'll always push you back."

Worried for the man, Madara would stand there and wait, deciding whether to continue training or rush her sensei back to the hospital. Knowing that her Sensei wouldn't leave unless she saw progress... she’d continue. "The air huh..." Know Madara knew why the man had taught her that Wind Jump technique... it was needed for this very attack. Molding the handseals for the jump, she’d push chakra into her legs, allowing it to burst downward, propelling her several feet in the air. As soon as the manipulation ended, Madara attempting the small jutsu once more, adding the extra handseals in the correct order that the man showed him. Blasting the chakra forth, the four funnels would erupt into life, but instead of closing in on themselves, they would move apart. This made the air pressure around Madara drop, and her flight turned into a fast fall, slamming into the ground between the four funnels as they dispersed. "Shit..."

Just as Madara got to her feet, she’d notice some medic nin surrounding the old man's body, it seemed she had passed out during the display. They'd pick her up, look at Madara, then vanish towards the hospital. "I knew he wasn't okay... that stupid old man.." Hopefully locking her back into her room and giving her the bed-rest she needed would help. Visiting hours weren't open anyways, so she couldn't follow them. Instead she’d head home, and worry about the manipulation later in the day.

The day drug on as Madara sat waiting, and waiting. Waiting to be able to see her Sensei was something the genin rarely did. she hated waiting on people, or for people. The visiting time for the Hospital was only a half an hour away, so Madara gathered her things and left the room. Making her way over to the door, she’d slide her worn-out shoes on, then head for the Hospital.

While entering the hospital for a second time this week, Madara went to the service desk, and asked permission to go up to her Sensei's room. "There's no visiting him today... he's undergoing more Surgery." This was alarming new to the boy, for just yesterday the man was walking and talking to the boy, granted, the old man passed out again, but another surgery? Accepting the news as best she could, Madara composed herself, and made her way, rather sluggishly, to the exit. Hopefully finishing this Manipulation would be all the man needed to see to become healthier. This was Madara's mindset.

Reaching the training grounds the Old Man had constructed many moons ago, Madara wouldn't waste any time. "In the air, towards the ground." She’d repeat her Sensei's words spoken just last night, and being preparations. Starting with the simple maneuver, her hands would fly rapidly to construct the molded chakra into her legs. Once released, the young genin flew into the air a little bit then came back down. Completing the handseals, the girl punched forth, erupting all four small chakra funnels, only to see two of them collide, while the other two danced freely.

At least they all weren't repelled from each other like last night, Madara thought to herself, landing on seconds after the manipulation was displaced. -Again- Repeating the same movements, the girl would jump a little higher in the air, only for it to have the same result. Falling down once more, Madara would ponder why it wasn't working; handseals correct, chakra correct, movements correct... What was the girl missing? While in thought, Madara's eyes shifted around the training grounds, only to land on the old Tree that she had first met her Sensei under. "That's it... i need to focus on a specific point.”

Figuring this out, the girl ran towards the old tree that had met so much abuse under her and the old man's watch, which barely had any leaves, as well as limbs on it anymore. After reaching the area, Madara jumped high into the air once more with the jump. Molding an enormous amount of chakra, Madara's face contorted to that of resolve, to finally get this training over with. Doing all the necessary handseals, the young genin's eyebrows furrowed as well. Finally ready to release a lot of chakra, Madara's right hand would thrust downward "Let’s go!!" her scream would echo for only moments, as the sound was lost in the eruption of four grand funnels of wind, cascading down, and finally reaching the ground, only to begin swirling together, encompassing the tree in all of its almighty glory. the site of the Four molding into One was a grand site to behold. Falling to the ground, it seemed as though she had wasted nearly all of her chakra, she didnt even have the strength to stand up at the moment.

Had she completed learning the wind release? Only the sensei would know that, but Madara felt reassured that it was finished. The wind continued to encircle the tree until its power ran its course. Simultaneously, the Manipulation stopped, as well the registry on the Old Man's Heart Rate. Unbeknownst to the young Genin, her Sensei had taken her last breath. Madara had now only noticed the old tree finally split in half, cracking down the middle, and each part falling to the ground on either side of her.

The next day Madara thought about weakness and loneliness. Two things that Madara had feared recently. Today, she felt these two emotions pulsating throughout her body. A simple girl at heart, having not much to strive for except for personal advancement and helping others. And in all this, training, which had been such a staple of her life for the past couple years, stood proudly and kept her moving forwards. In the end, what did Madara manage to accomplish? She felt as though her accomplishments had never been acknowledged and she wondered if all her helping had even made a difference. She was too weak for now to do anything of great mention, but since she become a shinobi, her ambitions could expand past the limitations of a regular mortal body. She aimed to increase her power significantly so that she could help those who couldn’t help themselves.

For the past couple hours Madara had been hanging out not far from the busier areas of the city, for strangely, despite her lack of care for the land around the city, this particular spot had always attracted her. She had found a place where she did not attract attention and did not have any drama to deal with. Having relaxed enough on her own, she took off and jumped around the city high enough not to be easily seen, but low enough to get a good look at the city. She was doing a cursory look to see if there was anything worth checking out. She eventually dropped down in the poor area next to a shambled house and wondered why there was nobody to be seen. She walked around for a bit and got the feeling that she was being followed. She sat on a pile of rubble, just in front of another house that, by some miracle, had managed to keep a little close standing. Madara then laughed, laughing without stopping for a good couple minutes. An almost angelic laugh that resounded all around the ‘neighborhood’.

Madara was still sitting on rocks, admiring the remains of an incredibly beaten down wooden statue of some hard to discern person of importance. A couple of creaks later and Madara knew for sure that there was someone nearby, but she did not care. She knelt before the wooden statue and gave her respects as there was no reason not to respect the dead, no matter who this was. She thought of her parents and her siblings, most of which she wished she could see again. Still on her knees, she raised her head and hands to the sky and stretched her stress away. Madara got up and now her face was empty of emotions. She had conveyed all her emotions in her prayers and now it was time to bury the emotions back down deep again. Madara turned, and she saw before her a young man, about her own age. She read in his eyes a certain rage. It was not a rage that she was familiar with. It was a kind of rage that made you weaker instead of strong. It amused Madara to see this beginning of rage in someone, as the budding anger was just what one needed to become strong later on in life. Madara approached the stranger and looked him in the eyes without showing any sign of emotion.

“Who are you,” she asked as she tried to figure out just how old this person was. He loked off and she couldn’t tell if she was talking to someone she should respect or not.” Madara sat back down on her pile of debris and looked at the house that was barely in tact. She absent mindedly began scribing a note onto a piece of paper, just in case. Madara hadn’t done anything offensive and yet the boy started yelling at her.

“I’ve heard about you. You’re no good!” This young boy was beginning to become interesting, although he does not look very strong. But hey, that was not the question at the moment. “I hate all shinobi and you’re not even from this area! Get out!” It was amusing, Madara saw a bit of her own feist in him. Was it really a coincidence that they met? Or was it fate that finally decided to bring some fresh air to Madara in these trying times.

“What is it to feel betrayed, abandoned, when everything goes wrong? Do you know how to see the only people who matter to you go because society hates you? Pick another battle.” Madara was trying to give some good advice here but it was difficult when this was the same kind of punk that had given her such problems in her youth. Madara wondered what the shinobi could have done to this guy to make him so aggressive. It was of little importance, but this man interested Madara. If he was polite then she could have easily helped him with his problems. Plus Madara didn't want too much trouble. Her wrist was still recovering after all and an all out fight between the both of them would spell danger.

“Tell me how old are you? You look a bit young to have such a grudge. What happened to you so that you hate this place so much?” It was clear that the man or boy wasn’t going to respond so Madara got up from her pile of debris and approached the abandoned house. She raised her fists and with a strength augmented punch she split the door behind her back, which fell. From the inside emanated a smell of death that would have seemed to anyone unbearable, but did not bother the shinobi. Traces of dried blood stained the house from all sides, but there was only dust of the old buildings that had been here.

“Just what are you doing here?” the man asked when he saw the power Madara used to break down the door. What a ridiculous idiot.

“Looking for trouble,” Madara said as she poked her head around inside. She poured more energy into her arm, the other one this time. After all this time she was still but a novice but she had a feeling that there would be trouble in this house. “I’ve had enough of you. Just get out of here or taste my fists!” Madara knew this guy was ridiculous, but what was even more ridiculous was his proposal to fight. Madara could tell just by the way he raised his fists that he was probably no match for her.

“Just go away,” Madara said as she took a couple steps inside, “you can clearly see that I’m the real deal and if you attack me I have no choice but to defend myself. Consider this your warning”. The smell of death was sickeningly powerful now. If there was a crime committed here then she wanted to investigate. Plus she didn’t want to fight some punk. She had packed a serious amount of energy into her handsealz and she didn’t want to be punching someone with these unless she really had to. Still, she heard him run up behind her and she had to turn and get into her fighting stance.

The man slashed at her with a dagger and Madara dodged it with a well timed side step. Perfectly ridiculous. Madara sent hit him with a fire jutsu which could have been enough to throw him backwards. She had almost hoped that it didn’t land because exactly what she expected to happen, happened. This guy was a baby deer struggling vainly in the jaws of a lion. Did he really think he could have the mage with a technique as basic as a simple punch? Something within Madara told her to keep going, to pummel this delinquent as hard as she could just for the sake of battle. She debated creating another handseal just to emphasize the point but she felt like that would be a bad idea. She forced herself to just to see what would happen. She drew it onto her leg while the boy moaned and groaned. She forced in so much ether that she overstepped into the ‘light’ range and instantly regretted putting extra chakra into her attack. Her limit had been five before, but apparently that didn't matter and it was more the power of the jutsu that pushed her over her limit. She didn’t think she could control her strength properly with this mental fatigue so she was going to end this without fighting any more.

During Madara’s internal struggle to figure out what to do next, the man hopped up and drew a small baton. He swung it hard at Madara’s head and she instinctively blocked and punched him away again. Hard this time. She admired the fight in him and decided that she was going to turn this into a life lesson for him.

“Listen kid,” she said, putting a foot on him, “you can be better than this. If there’s something in your life that is giving you trouble I can help you. If you’re set on spending all your life angry at the people then you’re doomed to a life of despair or imprisonment. Despite my badassery, I really don’t like the idea of locking you up.” She found nothing of interest and swore for wasting her time. Yet it hadn’t been a total waste. The man was crying now and started bawling about how he couldn’t afford to move out of the poor area. Madara patted him on the head and offered to help find him the resources to make his life better. If she could do it then so could he.


4400 wc
+0 AP (at stat and ap cap)
25% max stat training discount applies:
2875 WC towards learning this jutsu (S rank) https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t47194-space-time-barrier-void-v7
already learned 875 wc from here: https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t53238-beach-finale?nid=98#400768

1125 wc to learn B rank of https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t46628-space-time-art-devouring-sphere-v7#362443
400 wc towards learning the A rank version