Fractured Pride (Private)

Midori sat in the tree outside the front door of the Academy and was doing everything in her power to contain her unyielding rage. Her failures had started at the Trial, when she had completely lost control of herself and made a mess of her opponent and nearly attacked Satori. She had almost killed him with her bare hands… and only a combination of her being hit with a Genjutsu and him throwing the personal loss she endured every day into her face… breaking the beasts side of her long enough for her to wrestle it for control and put it into a very strong cage within her mind.

She could still feel it… now that it was awake, she doubted it would ever let her relax on her emotional control again. She had been even more quiet, especially around Satori who she could normally talk to a little bit, than usual too. She was even more so towards those in her family, unable to look them in the eyes, the weight of her shame something she wasn’t able to get over in the slightest. Kiyoshi in particular she felt bad around, having carried her back home and done all the work of preparing the mangled mess she had left before she had even woke. Her sisters for having to care for her the next day, as she was in agony and barely able to move… she was in debt to so many people for her actions.

As if to add salt on the wound, she was failing here at the Academy. Ninjutsu and Genjutsu were staples of becoming a Genin ninja, and yet, here she was unable to do either. The Taijutsu she had, no problem at all, but for some reason or another, she was just absolutely failing at both of the others. It wasn’t for a lack of effort either, as she had stayed up late and worked her ass off trying both, listening to her instructors and Satori’s advice, and still she couldn’t do hardly anything.

It was all immensely frustrating.

It was the morning of another class, and she had left before Satori so she could wait here in the tree and try to collect herself before heading inside. She was ever aware of her emotional state, trying like hell to keep things under wraps… but she knew she needed to figure it out, less she lose control completely again. But how could she even talk to Satori again after what she had done? Let alone ask for his help?

Satori was starting to get annoyed.

He understood that Midori wasn't as strong-willed as he was and that most people weren't really. He was born weak, in pretty much every aspect, with his only boon being the fact he was a Ryuutei: ending up harming him for many years. The only reason he had gotten where he was, was by never giving up or letting weak will take him over. He understood she was hesitating and struggling due to her emotional control.

But that wasn't going to solve anything, and he knew it. Lifting a hand up to massage at the bridge of his nose as he glared at the girl who was sitting in the tree, struggling with her emotional state. He'd been waiting for her to approach him, or his father. To take that step by herself and try to figure out exactly what she needed to do in order to learn control. Satori had already talked to Kiyoshi, and learned as much as possible about the ability. It was based on raw emotion and traded their sanity for a tremendous boost in raw physical prowess. It appeared to be a bloodline based around highly evolved Fuuinjutsu.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Satori breathed through his nose once, before walking toward the tree. Halting beneath her he kicked the tree once, the boy's sandal causing it to shiver before his words asked in a surprisingly firm tone;

"How long are you going to pout instead of facing the problem head-on, Midori? I thought you knew better than this," his words were short and simple as crimson, feline eyes stared up at her. Worrying over her problems weren't going to get her anywhere. If she wanted to get her emotions and this power under control, then she had to dip her toe into the pool and learn how to deal with it, reel it in, use parts of it as Kiyoshi had explained her father once had. Transforming only one arm or a similar effect.

She had seen him approach and pretended not to notice… she couldn’t face him like this… she was only adding to her shame, but that was better than dealing with the fact that she could have very easily killed one of the only people in this world she cared about with her own two hands. So when he kicked the tree, she pulled her legs up and hid behind them, tucking her face into her legs much like when she had first arrived within the household, still traumatized with her mother’s death, father’s disappearance and almost dying herself all in one night. Back then, they had tried to be understanding…

But after five years, she should have never brought a hand against those she loved… she couldn’t have been more ashamed of her actions. He spoke, and she listened, but took a moment to respond, trying to gather her emotional stability. It wasn’t as if she disagreed either… but that wasn’t the problem. “I have no right.” It was a simple statement, but had much deeper meaning. She felt like she didn’t have the right to ask for help from those people she had wronged, and that wasn’t something that she would be willing to just let go so easily. She had to find a way to earn their forgiveness, as was her way about life.

Even early on, once she had started actually becoming a part of the family, she had been the same way. If she wanted to do something, she found a way to earn it. She would flatly refuse things that people would try to give her out of compassion; she didn’t want their pity… and even gifts after she accepted them the green haired girl would go out of her way to find some way to repay the favor. She simply had not found anything remotely close that would be equivalent to their forgiveness for her errant behavior… and Satori would know that.

She also had no clue as to how to tame this power, or she would already be doing it.

Satori sighed. She really wasn't a thinker, once she got her mind stuck on one subject she couldn't even break away from it for a moment to move on her thought process and find a new method or measurement of thought. Ruffling his hands through his hair he sighed.

"Midori how can you earn anything when you don't even know how to deal with the first step? If you want to earn forgiveness--which by the way, the only thing anyone is mad about is the fact you're stalling--then you need to learn control. Sure as hell won't get they pouting like a child in a tree." Satori's arms crossed over his chest as he stared up at her, releasing a breath of annoyance before his claws extended and dug into the bark. Hauling himself up and along the trunk before halting once he was level with her, and idly lifting a hand to tussle her hair.

"You have to take the first step if you want this to go anywhere, Midori," he stated simply, before glancing down at the Academy. There were already early birds there training before class, usually, he was among them, beating his fists and claws into the dummies and pushing his body and chakra to their limits. After a moment, he glanced over at her, inspiration hit him.

"C'mon, because you're being pouty I missed out on training, so you're going to make up for it," he stated simply. Nodding toward the ground for her to come down.

"We're going to spar, and you're going to learn how to figure out your bloodline while I make you eat dirt," a grin formed on his lips as his brow arched. "If you don't come down on your own, I'll drag you. See how long you can stay under control getting drug through the dirt." Satori was quite serious. He was tired of her emotional instability and weak will. If she wanted to earn something, then she had to start walking forward, no matter how difficult it may seem or how little progress it may feel like she was making initially.

Her right eye, barely visible now that he was up at the same height she was, twitched twice as he ruffled her hair. He knew better. He freaking knew not to do that… but she waited, the new emotion of a playful anger towards him that she was so familiar and comfortable with washed through her mind like a soothing balm on a wound. This was what she needed, and it allowed her to take his words that he continued to vomit and understand them a little more clearly. It didn’t matter that they weren’t mad at her… she was mad at herself… but if he was going to try to make her think clearly through a spar, she was all about it.

She was worried, but she would take his advice and give it a shot… what other way out of a hole you had dug yourself in except up and out? But she was going to accept his challenge her way.

With a very sudden movement, she launched herself at him, pressing off the tree as hard as she could and wrapping her strong arms around his waist like vice grips. She was aiming for a couple of bushes that were a bit to the side and below them to try to cushion the fall a little bit, but after tackling him out of the tree and hopefully catching him off guard, she would tumble after impacting the bushes, flipping over him and landing on the other side with her stance wide and ready. “You can eat dirt for ruffling my hair,” she said simply, a small smile of thanks on her lips and her eyes glossy from where she wanted to tear up a bit but had willed the tears to stay put where they were.

She waited patiently for him to pick himself up out of the bush and get ready, as she wanted a good, clean and fair spar. Especially if he wanted her to try to tap into that power again, she wanted to make sure he was completely up and ready to receive her, and bring her down if it got too far. She had not enjoyed taking a back seat in her own mind, but she was willing to hear him out a bit first… at least, what he could hear while she was pummeling him into the earth.

Satori smiled softly as she launched herself at him. There was the fire he was used too, and as she lashed out with her body to push him into the bushes Satori simply accepted the tackle. Flying through the air toward the bushes before one hand opened, claws grasping her as she shifted herself. Using her own strength against her as an anchor so that as she landed he was able to properly straighten. Combined with his reflexes, he landed just like the cats he so vividly appeared like. Lightly on his feet beside the bush as he slowly straightened, rubbing at the back of his neck for a moment as she took a ready position and chuckled.

"Well, probably not right here. Let's at least get to the proper training grounds, neh?" Grinning slightly he would turn, motioning her to follow along as he tucked his hands behind his head. He was glad she was motivated now, however. That was something sorely needed if it was going to push her to that next level. Releasing a breath with the first step of his plan done, he would glance over his shoulder at her briefly.

There was still some unease in her body language, but it was more manageable than before at least. Relaxing, he led the way through the paths toward the villages primary training grounds. Turning and settling into position across from her at the standard distance of ten meters. Grinning, he lifted his hand up and made the seal of confrontation, the entrance of a spar and clear challenge. Once she responded in turn, he lowered his body down before his hands dug into the dirt. Claws extending slowly as he took the position; now would be a good time to start testing out the techniques he had begun to use while training with his father.

The Ryutuei style was feral and wild, but it would do just fine for him. This would be a perfect time to master it instead of just learning it, and keep him agile enough to ensure that she wasn't going to hurt him too severely if her bloodline suddenly activated.

Of course Satori couldn’t just land in the bloody bushes where she had wanted to plant him, but had used some acrobatic nonsense to whip himself around to where he had landed on her feet… but it didn’t really affect her ability to land and prepare for the spar. When he said he wanted to go to the proper training grounds, her eyes narrowed in annoyance. He knew she hated the actual training grounds because she usually had a lot of people looking at her either in awe of her raw physical ability or because they couldn’t keep their damn hormones in check. Both were annoying.

But she wouldn’t argue either… apparently he had an idea for her, or he wouldn’t be risking training with her… not and wanting her to try to tap into that berserker state she had been in before. He had a plan, as the bastard always did, and she was deeply thankful that he was always thinking like that when she wasn’t able to form such ideas. While she would never say it out loud, she was always envious of him for that; he was strong physically regardless, even if she had started to pull away from him on that as he had to split his focus on different jutsu and stuff, and he was so damn smart it made her head spin most of the time.

The combination was lethal as hell.

As she pulled up beside him and they began to walk to the training grounds, the green haired girl side-eyed him for a moment, trying to get a read on what he was thinking, before finally saying what was on her mind. “You have an idea.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement, and it let him know that not only did she want to hear about this idea, but she knew he had gained some knowledge about this other form she had… maybe something to help her retain her mind while it was happening so she didn’t constantly have to worry about harming the people she loved.

Satori felt her staring at him, but felt no need to comment until the girl got up to his side and specifically asked for him--in her usual indirect (or direct?) manner--about his idea. Glancing at her for a moment, he shrugged idly and shifted his gaze toward the training grounds once more instead.

"I always have ideas," he responded idly, trying to think of the best way to put his own at the moment. After a few brief seconds, Satori grunted and simply sighed as he intertwined his fingers behind his head.

"You're ability feeds on your raw emotions and produces a survival instinct, kill or be killed. It's actually pretty similar to my clan's own bloodlust, it just takes a more direct form due to your bloodline. The only way you can control something like that is through practice. You have to learn to use it like a weapon instead of letting it just control you. I'm the best opponent for you to do that. My Genjutsu can keep you under control; we already have proof of that," as he explained this he idly closed his eyes in thought, contemplating the information to himself.

"Father taught me about your own, and how he was able to use it partially. Keep it mostly under control and only transform a section of his body into that form that you took. It's weaker, since it only augments one part of the body; but it puts less strain on your mental state. Pain tolerance training is going to be important too, since even though the mark doesn't actually physically injure you, it puts alot of strain on your body and causes pain." His gaze trailed toward her, she'd already experienced that aspect of it after all. A grin formed on his lips.

"In short, you need to let go of that control you have a bit, and reel it in slowly for now. Focus on finding a happy medium, between what you felt before in outright loss of control, and where you are right now. It's going to be rocky to start, but you have to begin somewhere." With this, he fell silent, allowing his footing to continue along.

Once they had actually arrived at the training grounds, and he had taken his stance, Satori allowed her a moment to prepare herself before stating in a firm tone; "Here I come."

With this, he flashed forward. She was going to try and reel herself in, so he had to be the one to trigger her reaction, and she would have to try and keep some level of footing down so that she could learn where her levels of control were at. He needed to see more of this ability of her's if he was going to help her formulate how to best do that.

Midori actually rolled her eyes as he claimed he always had ideas, knowing that to be the case, but also knowing that he knew what she meant and was just messing with her. Part of her wanted to slug him in the shoulder for that, but she waited instead, trying to exercise the little patience she had to keep herself from lashing out, even joking, and saving it for the spar they were about to have. She would get her chance to get a few jabs in, and she would make sure he knew they were because of that little smart-ass remark too.

When he started actually word-vomiting the explanation though, instead of filtering out the fluff information he was putting out and ingesting just the important bits, she hung on every word. For the first time in a long time, she had given him her complete and undivided attention and listened carefully as he laid out what he knew and what she would need to do. The partial augmentation sounded difficult… she didn’t even know how to trigger and direct it, let alone concentrate on putting it only on one body part. But those were things she could handle… if it gave her control.

Pain Tolerance training was something that was simple enough; she had been doing it already since the trial because she didn’t want to be debilitated by pain to the point that she lost the ability to function and be a burden on her family again. Satori probably had a few good ideas on how to improve that training, but for now, they were just going to spar. This was the first time she had fought someone since the trial, and already she could feel the blood within her come to a boil at the sight of someone coming to attack her. Of course it would; if he was right, and it was based on blood lust and survival instinct, he definitely would be triggering that when he attacked her.

For now, she simply let her body react, muscle memory and instinct making it to where she pivoted, dodged and deflected almost automatically, almost like a Kata that some people used with swords. They had fought together so many times, even after the small break they were perfectly in sequence. Dodge, strike, deflect, parry, counterattack, etc… but the change came after a few seconds of them exchanging blows; her eyes began to lose their darkness and glow faintly green. She was easing up, letting just a little bit of that pent up bloodlust loose and seeing how it would go while keeping a very tight leash, but thus far, there were no effects to her body aside the cosmetic.

Satori's claws flashed outward, his wrist was grabbed. Thrown like a child only to flip mid-air and land on the side of the large wall and launch himself from it back at her. His teeth nearly nicked her cheek, claws barely missing her body as she sidestepped his launch. Landing on his hands as his clawed feet spun from his new position, forcing her back. This was how it always was. His superior reflexes and speed meant he was always the aggressor in a pure physical bout. On the other hand, though she was on the defensive, if she landed a counter it was going to hurt quite a bit by comparison.

The exchange continued for several moments while the other students that had been training themselves stopped to stare. They were not the movements of normal Academy Students. Satori's bloodline and technique amplified his agility tremendously, and for her stature and due to her training, Midori was a physical powerhouse for their age range. The constant clashes caused the stares to continue until there was a brief hald, Satori falling back with a low thud--neither had taken any damage yet, though there had been a few close calls.

She had yet to let loose really, however. Her eyes had changed, but her movements were basically the same and she had no true physical alterations. Slowly the boy drug his claws along the dirt before he braced himself. His eyes narrowing before he suddenly launched forward like a missile. However this time was different, the power had multiplied. Combining his stance with an actual Taijutsu technique, the force behind his knee flashed toward her face. This time if it hit cleanly, it would cause serious damage. This was the first step. He had to push her past that comfort zone she was building, he had to egg her past it and delve into those instincts with far more freedom than before.

Midori had known he was capable of it, but had gotten complacent, and almost didn’t dodge the knee that came at her face like a missile. Her eyes went wide, and she felt it brush her nose as she quickly arched backwards, but the triggering of her survival instinct came full force. Like a valve had just been released out of a fire hose, the transformation came on fast and furious and she stumbled backwards, trying to get a hold on it. Green fire danced across her body, covering her like a tattoo as the transformation, leaving behind the scaly dark skin that she had displayed before. Her eyes continue to glow, but the white’s of her eyes looked like someone had dropped ink into them, darkening one completely and attempting to overwhelm the other.

But she was fighting it. Clutching her skull she took another couple of steps backwards. She needed to channel it. Sure, the flow was stronger than anything she could have even dreamed of being able to outright stop, but she could hopefully at least direct it, and she focused. He had said that her father was able to channel it into just one part of the body, so she needed to focus on that first and foremost, and she willed that overwhelming chakra to just her right arm with everything she had. At first, it was a definite struggle, and she roared with the effort it was causing, the normally quiet and docile girl yelling with the force that cause the air around them to rush like a wind was coming from her mouth.

Then the green haired girl clenched her mouth shut, and the fire shifted, sliding down to her right arm, and staying there; the arm itself bulked up tremendously, the muscles becoming massive and the limb itself growing as is spasmed in the air. After a few more seconds, the shaking finally stopped, and she was breathing heavily and her eyes were still glowing, a faint lime green aura coming off of her before it too vanished as she stabilized. A few more seconds of heavy breathing, and then she stood completely, having fallen to her knees at some point, and looking at her arm, flexing the hand into a fist and back again… then looking to Satori.

Satori had managed to do what he'd set out for, and as the chakra burst from her as he flashed by her, he halted and turned. Skidding along the ground and waiting patiently in place as she wrestled with her own chakra and abilities. His eyes remained keenly focused on her as the markings spread over her body steadily until it came to a half. About half of her form was covered as she struggled with the rage inside her. When it finally halted, and the energy and markings began to dance across her flesh, Satori's lips curled into a feral grin.

Perfect. It was still clearly difficult for her to control it, maintain it, but there was a natural aptitude there. As she managed to brace herself, he nodded once before his hands opened and clenched a few times. Without a word, Satori leapt forward once more. His movements had increased in speed even further, as he moved to match the enhanced benefits of her bloodline with his own techniques. Pupil's expanding as the barrage of attacks began all over again. Claws lashing at her from every direction as he bombarded her with blows, forcing her to use her new enhanced limb to protect herself.

This was the next step. Forming it into her arm was one thing, but maintaining it, keeping a level head while she maintained it, and fighting with an arm that was completely different in both weight and power from what she was used to would be difficult. Only practice would help with all three of those issues. Satori pushed even harder, eyes narrowing on her as the sound of his claws colliding with the scales decorating her flesh sounded throughout the training grounds.

She had planned to perform a few strikes into the open air, perhaps hit the ground a couple of times to see what this new arm was capable of in regards to strength, speed and durability. The last thing she wanted to do was go full out with Satori and wind up killing him because she messed up with this more powerful arm… but before she even got the chance to ask him to wait a moment so she could run her little tests, he was launching at her like she had just stolen his lunch money and tried to dice her to pieces.

Instinctively, she raised her arm, the one that was now larger, longer, covered in blackish scales and rippling with muscle, and outright deflected the first set of attacks, a sound akin to stone striking stone ringing through the air and surprising Midori. But she wasn’t given any reprieve, and she began to back up while deflecting more strikes with his claws. He was moving much faster, which pissed her off to no end; when she sparred, the only thing she held back was lethal intent and commitment to the kill… he had been holding back on her, and that was not something her pride took lightly.

After a few more deflected strikes, she planted her foot on the ground and made a grab for his wrist, then using the larger arm to try to clothesline him entirely, the green haired girl attempting to use the superior reach and durability for a strike towards his chest to knock him off balance. Once that happened, if successful, she would step forwards, driving him into the ground with the strong arm, or the ‘Cursed’ arm, and then make him, if possible, literally eat dirt. It was an effective counterattack and with the superior durability and reach of this arm, perhaps a viable strategy now as it mitigated the risk she took while testing its strength.

Initially, she was overwhelmed, not able to do more than defend against him. However, as she began to formulate a strategy he saw the shifts in her movements. As she lashed out, making a grab for his wrist, Satori shifted his weight. Using his claws grip on her arms scales and yanking himself to the side out of range of her initial grappling attempt. This did, however, place him directly in line (and attach him too) her transformed arm as he suddenly increased in speed to slam him into the dirt. Satori didn't exactly like the idea of being fed a dirt nap, and so the boy did what only made sense.

As the arm came crashing down above him, he let go of it. His higher reaction time and flexibility coming in handy, as it caused him to land a brief moment before her arm came crashing down. The force of her arm smashing into the dirt and sending dust in every direction, but revealing that Satori wasn't trapped beneath.

Instead, he came skidding to the side along the dirt, having used a burst of chakra to launch himself to the side in a technique. Straightening slowly he tilted his head and let out a low hum, examining the girl's arm and the impact it had, as well as her current state. She wasn't shaking, nor did she seem unstable. She'd even managed to come up with a decent plan that had allowed her to properly use strategy.

"You're definitely doing better," he pondered for a moment, "Is it difficult to use other Taijutsu techniques while maintaining that form, though? It doesn't seem to be faster, either. A bit stronger, but I think that's just the weight. Definitely more durable, though," he glanced down at his claws, retracting and extending them a few times as he clenched his hands back and forth.

She noticed him dodge, and while she had tried to shift it to catch him, the additional weight had been too much. So her arm wasn't any stronger or faster... but it was a lot more durable. She barely felt the impact of the earth where she had caused the rocks to upturn and the dirt to fly around, her glowing eyes turning and tracking where he landed, pausing for a moment as he spoke, knowing that the words were important if he was taking the time to mutter them. He asked a if techniques were any more difficult, and unfortunately for her habit of not talking, this part was going to take a little explaining. "Yes, but only because of the size difference. My mind also feels sluggish." It was the best way she could describe it, but that was the point of all this; she was going to ensure that she was certain of what she was capable of.

She crouched and focused... thinking about what she wanted to do. The curse struggled against her for a moment, threatening to overwhelm her again, but she stamped it down and bent it to her will, focusing on where she wanted it to go. The dark scales left her arm and traveled as it shrank to her legs, down to the knees and past, causing the muscles to grow and her to gain some height again, only a few inches. The scales were notably missing this time, but her veins seemed to almost glow green with power as her glowing eyes locked with Satori.

And then she was past him.

Her eyes went very wide as she realized that she was NOT ready for that sudden burst of speed to be as strong as it was, and she tried valiantly to stop, getting her feet under her and skidding until she hit the wall of the training grounds with a lot more speed than she had wanted to. Bracing herself, she crashed against it and fell off of it almost comically, stunned for a moment. She had managed to avoid most of the damage, but she was certainly dazed, and after blinking a few times, she turned around and shook her head. Looking back towards Satori, she focused and prepared herself, and once again, she seemed to almost vanish, but now she was on top of him, her arm going for a ultra-speed clothesline she had prepared ahead of time. No, she couldn't really turn as she found out, having either hit him or not, and now tumbling end over end as she had tried to bank around a tree and not been able to keep her feet under her, and was now tumble rolling past him. After a moment she got her arm under her, pushed off and got back on her feet... a few scrapes and bruises, but nothing that would stop her.

Satori nodded once at her response. It was becoming more clear by the moment how this power of hers effected her. The fog in her mind was far better than what it had been before, perhaps due to the fact it was only a partial form, but also because she was more mentally prepared for it. Despite this, it clearly still held a few substantial drawbacks. Releasing a slow breath, Satori glanced down briefly as he contemplated this information and began to run scenarios through his mind that could help her maximize what she was able to use now.

Then he felt the air next to his shift and his nose twitched, his body flexing backward just in time for her body to go zooming past him as his eyes widened a moment in surprise. He hadn't expected her to attack right away, for one, but also the sudden burst of speed had been quite astonishing. Comparatively, it was about on par with his own speed. But she lacked his heightened reactions, senses, and agility. As such she'd just gone blasting past him into the wall.

Blinking a few more times in surprise, Satori let out a soft laugh of surprise as she thudded off the wall and lay on the ground for a few moments blinking.

"Well that was a surprise," he murmured softly, glancing at her legs that had now been amplified and letting out a low hum of thought. So it was able to enhance in different ways. Shifting his weight, the boy watched her rise fully and pace herself before facing him and lifting her arm up. Satori shifted, his form lowering slightly before she suddenly came flying at him at high speeds. The speed was quite impressive; but without proper control, it wasn't worth the benefits it provided her. This was proven as she couldn't even re-align her arm to hit him as he simply ducked under the limb.

Glancing back as she went flying past to skid and bounce along, Satori turned and watched as she tried to push herself back up before straightening. Smiling softly before turning inquisitive.

"Try to alter it, shift it into your arm like before, but infuse it into the muscle fibers instead of just bulking it up with scales. How are you doing that, by the way? Are you imagining it in your mind how you want it to look? That speed is good, but only for very direct dodges with your current reflexes, Midori."

She was sad that it missed... almost. If that had hit him it might have done some serious damage to both of them at that speed, as her arm was no more durable than before, and while she was confident it would have hurt him far more than it would have hurt Midori herself, she didn't want to put him out of commission before class. The noise and bursts of speed had drawn the attention of just about everyone training, who was watching them now, but more importantly, a couple of the teachers. Midori hadn't noticed, but they were watching with both hopeful and fearful expressions. Midori got to her feet, listening to his statements and questions and considering them a moment.

"I tell it where to go and what to do in my mind." It was a simple statement, as the word 'visualization' while normally would have been fine, sort of went over her head in the moment with her mind clouded. She then turned to try to do as he had asked, and shifted her legs and weight a bit to a stance and focused inward. Her right arm already was on fire and now her legs as well, so she focused on her left arm instead, willing the strength to flood the limb. It bulked up, much like before, but again the scales were missing and the veins glowed a dull hue. She looked towards him and shook her head as she was sure he was about to attack her again to test it out, deciding to go with a safer option instead... in a manner of speaking.

Her fist slammed down, hitting the corner of a boulder and causing it to unearth itself from the lopsided impact, and then she grabbed it with her strengthened arm, her fingers cracking the rock as they made holes for her fingers, and she heaved it over her head and lobbed it as though it were a softball at Satori. She knew his reflexes very well, and even as hard as she threw it, he would be able to dodge for sure. Her worry was for anything that happened to be behind him as the boulder was the size of a horse.

Satori blinked once. Ah. So she visualized it within her mind and it translated through her instincts and ability; fair enough. The fact it clouded her mind so much was most assuredly a fairly severe drawback. But it at least didn't appear to hamper her too much. Watching as the energy and darkness flowed along her skin to coat her other arm caused a low hum to fill his chest, and as she flexed her hand a few times his head tilted. The silent request for him to halt caused him to nod once, watching her quietly while she tested out the new limb.

The raw power it had was pretty remarkable, it jumped it up significantly. Satori allowed a brief grin to form on his lips as the teachers gave a few gasps of surprise at her showing the raw power of a high-end Genin, before her hand hurled the large rock that flew toward him at high speeds. His eyes narrowed, there wasn't a crowd behind him, but the wall was still a fairly substantial problem. They didn't want to go breaking it. Sure, an earth user could fix its core but they'd still have to lay the intricate bricks again.

So that meant he had to meet it head-on. Clenching his hands Satori's claws suddenly dug into the earth, before chakra burst through his lower body and flooded through his chest before bursting into his limbs. The arhat stance bolstering his raw power before launching himself at the large stone, chakra exploding around his knee before smashing it directly into the large boulder. The explosion of chakra sending shards of stone flying in every direction, before he landed with a thud, wincing slightly at the damage his knee had sustained.

Matching the force was one thing, but his body wasn't durable enough to do that too many more times. His knee throbbed and he placed more weight on his right leg to compensate instead.

"Midori, try not to hurt the grounds--the teachers will make us clean it up and fix it!" As he stated this, the teachers whom had been busy analyzing the spar, suddenly grunted in surprise realizing they should have intervened. Satori grinned a bit before glancing back at Midori and releasing a slow breath, flexing his injured leg a few times.

"Can you push it into your tendons and joints? It'll be more complex, but if you do it right it should mean you can engage me physically for a bit," as he stated this he straightened up. The throbbing in his knee was still there, but it was manageable. He was curious how long she could hold this partial form, as well.

She was surprised, greatly, when Satori didn't appear above or to the side of the boulder. He had more than enough distance and speed to handle something like this, so when the rock exploded, she gave him a smirk, impressed at his strength and durability. But when he landed, he was obviously shifting his weight to one side, causing her own eyebrows to furrow together in concern; if he didn't dodge it and had taken damage to nullify it, there had to be a reason, and instinctively, she knew she was in trouble one way or another. When he spoke, telling her of her error, she truly understood how much her mind was getting muddled by the ability, blinking hard. She hadn't thought about having to clean up the grounds and hadn't noticed that they were even being watched by teachers, and turned for a moment to examine them, noting that some of them were looking at her like she was some sort of monster.

Maybe she was... she was fine with that.

Turning back to face her brother, Midori gave him a grin and a nod of thanks; they had a similar sense of humor in catching adults off guard and making them realize they messed up. Sort of like when one of them had used Midori as an example for a Taijutsu technique to the class, and she had instinctively deflected it... granted, the teacher was holding back she was certain, but to make him look silly in front of the entire class had made her day about a week ago. Satori made another request, and Midori nodded, thinking about what needed to be done.

Closing her eyes, she thought about what she wanted to do and focused, pushing the curse into the other parts of her body; the tendons and joints. She concentrated and the darkness of the skin seemed to fade entirely, this time, the glowing veins slipped up and into the rest of her body, and her eyes went black on top of their dull glow, and after a few seconds, it was done, and her other arm felt like it was on fire from the inside. It was like getting a total body workout all at once, but ten times worse... but that wasn't anything she couldn't handle... and she opened her eyes and focused on Satori. Blinking a couple of times, she smirked and then got into a stance, waving him forward and preparing for his assault... ready to test out what this would help her do.

Satori simply nodded at her silent thanks, watching as the girl began to shift her state--it was still a bit rusty around the edges, trying to shift like that in active battle would take quite a bit of time for her to learn how to do properly. But, once she was done she waved him forward. Grinning, Satori lowered himself before launching forward once more. Cutting off the flow of chakra that had amplified his striking power and shifting back into his clan's normal fighting techniques. His claws retracted, not wanting to carve her up, but he retained the same form.

His strikes erupted in a barrage. His speed and reaction time were still superior to his sisters, but she still had a slight edge in strength and an edge in raw durability. Now as well, she matched him in her bodies basic speed. The flurry of blows would go back and forth several times, her own strikes missing him by a hair, while his own were mitigated just enough by her slow blocks so that her natural durability shrugged off the glancing blows he landed. Open palm strikes, elbows, and punches from him matched with her powerful kicks and punches back and forth.

After several long moments, the heavy barrage split, and Satori hopped back several meters. A smile forming on his lips as he silently lifted up his hand making the seal of reconciliation, signaling, and end to the spar. They had class soon, as well, he could tell after the last few blows how much her body was hurting. The damage may not be there, but its pain was certainly real. It would take her time and usage to likely get past that point while using the power.

Still, already she'd made great strides and they'd gathered quite a bit of information on this ability of hers. As well, more importantly, it proved she could use it without losing control.

The battle waged on as he brought himself to bear, and she found while she was certain that he was holding back, not fueling his limbs with chakra for extra damage or speed, she was able to maintain the agility and focus to deflect everything that he sent her way to where it was negligible damage, if any, and whiles he wasn't able to get through his defenses either, she couldn't wipe the smile off her face because out of the lot of them, this one seemed the most even-tilled. While everything else had a more profound effect, it's weaknesses were much more glaring and apparent, while this enhanced her in a way that felt more natural because it was even across her entire body. This would be where she would focus first on mastering the ability handed down by her father to her, and Midori would be sure by the time they found him, she would be strong enough to force a few choice words down his throat after she saved his tail from whatever kept him away from home.

She considered it was a real possibility that he was simply in the berserk state and couldn't come out of it... but that was why she had Satori. Midori would beat him into submission and Satori would shake him loose of that if it came down to it.

He jumped away and signaled that he wanted to call it there, and she nodded, taking a deep breath and stamping the ability back into it's cage for now. The glowing veins faded entirely, and her glowing eyes faded back to their normal color scheme, and she gritted her teeth for a moment before suppressing that too. It was time for class, but considering the entire school pretty much was watching them at this point, she had a feeling she knew what they would be talking about. There was only one thing she didn't get to test out, but that would come later... maybe after school. She held up her fist for Satori to smack with his own fist, a symbol of their friendly rivalry. The bell rang... five minute warning, seeming to wake everyone up from the show they had been watching and get them moving inside.

Smiling sofly, Satori's fist collided lightly with her own. A simple silent understanding, before his gaze slid to the side as the bell rang, giving a soft chuckle.

"Guess we better hurry," he stated simply, before glancing to Midori and smiling softly. "We'll continue later today after class if you're still up for it," he stated simply, walking toward the exit of the training grounds to head toward the Academy Building itself instead. The other students quickly moved toward it as well, a few calling out to Satori and commenting on the spar, several would approach Midori as well. Satori was popular due to how outgoing he was, but it was all surface-level. It was natural in his mind, for the sheep to follow after a leader, it was the way of things.

He knew he was charismatic. Outgoing, a hard worker, confident and ambitious. These things attracted attention, good and ill, and the ill could be stomped out if you balanced out ruthlessness with mercy well enough. As bullies had found out early in their years of the Academy. For now, Satori chatted away with the groups with a smile on the way to the primary Academy Building.

Classes would go by smoothly enough. It was a fairly standard day, although the teachers did appear to be a bit more enthusiastic today, likely due to the show that the pair had put on getting them amped up. It was charming in a way, that he could inspire even teachers to take their duties more seriously. It was fitting in a way. It made sense that teachers whom had taken the job to help their students grow would become more energetic when seeing the fruits of their labor.

After classes were finished, and they'd both had time to recover their chakra, stamina, and relax over the course of the day, Satori found himself waiting by the training grounds once more. If she didn't show up in a half-hour, he'd assume she had felt too sore to continue on with the training today. That was fine, he could always just keep going on his own after all.

This was where they always parted ways, and where Satori would wind up thriving while she was behind him, hating every moment. It wasn't that he was super popular and she wasn't... in some ways, she was just as popular with people, but not like him. She didn't have that natural charisma and instinctive way to carry a conversation. Hell, getting her to string two sentences together was about as common as an Act of God, so when she was surrounded by what Satori teased her as her own 'fan club' she wanted to snarl and lash out, but held herself to a standard of Non-Violence when in class. Four boys and a Girl always seemed to gravitate towards her, asking questions and basically gushing over how she was 'so strong' and all this crap about her, and she hated every second of it. It was a part of life, though, especially at school... she couldn't count how many times she had caught someone just blatantly staring during class to her annoyance, although that one time he got pegged with the chalk by the teacher for doing it was pretty entertaining.

-- SEVERAL HOURS LATER --

Midori bolted from the classroom at the first opportunity. She was still achy from the training earlier, but to her absolute horror, her 'fan club' had grown exponentially because of the spar earlier, and she couldn't be more mortified about what had happened. Once she was out in the training grounds, her teeth bared in frustration and annoyance, she moved to a corner that had more trees and cover and waited for Satori to arrive. She was not about to have a repeat of that performance, because if nothing else, that was annoying as hell, and if she got any more people talking to her between classes and stuff she was going to go berserk on purpose in the middle of class, so help her.

Satori caught the scent, and her choice of location caused a dry laugh to form in his chest. Her refusal to deal with those that were eager to spend time with her always amused him. She complained she lacked talent, but compared to true individuals that "lacked talent", she was incredible. Comparing herself to high standards seemed to have that effect on her, however. Amused, Satori turned and meandered toward the corner. Examining her glare, he snickered once more before his hands found themselves resting on his hips as he cocked a brow.

"Is your body up for more?" Although even as he asked he knew the response was going to be yes, whether it was or wasn't. She was stubborn, and so was he. So, instead with a bemused smile he would lift his hand up once more into the seal of confrontation, and wait patiently for her to mimic it. Once that was done, Satori remained where he was unlike the previous time. Letting her be the aggressor--and for good reason. Last time she had used his own aggression to jump-start her transformation. Now, he wanted to see if she would be able to do it all on her own instead.

If she had to rely on someone else attacking her every time she wanted to use it, it wasn't going to be nearly as useful to her. She had to learn to get a firm grip on it and activate it at will if she wanted to use her combat potential properly. Waiting patiently for her in a basic self-defense stance, feet spaced and hands held just above waist-level clenched into loose fists, Satori waited for what she would do first.

She watched him as he approached, her ire all but beaming a hole through Satori as the green haired girl continued her glare as he chuckled at it. It was something that was normal considering how their school life had been thus far, and she was certain that she would have gotten used to it by now, but she hadn't. She had to keep from punching people in the face when they gave her a pat on the back, but she did find one thing amusing when it had happened today; she had glared at them, and from the reflection she saw on the shield that had been on the wall when she had done it, her eyes had glowed, and it had scared the boy. It might have only been cosmetic, but at least her ire of being touched seemed to finally get through with some people. Except Hiyoshi... but she was family.

He asked a question, and instead of simply saying yes, she did a quick check, stretching her arms and legs, reaching up as high as she could and standing on the tips of her toes... then rotating her neck around. Yes, everything still ached, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the full transformation that had happened during the trial. While normally she would have just muscled through, after recovering her frame of mind from the last time, she didn't want to rush it. She had to be careful or she would lose it entirely, and then she might wind up doing things she regretted, and she learned her lesson from the trial that this power was not to be underestimated. She gave him a firm nod, and then saw him go into a stance, realizing quickly that he was waiting for her to come to him.

Ever since the event where she had scared the boy, she had periodically toyed with her control of that internal 'valve' for that new power. Teasing it a little bit through the day, and testing the speed in which she could tap it open and closed again, but that was how she always was; she would train in the middle of class one way or another, such as 'air chair' where she would hover above her seat, using her muscles to make it look like she was sitting but holding that position. For someone who wasn't even a Genin yet, her dedication to training and overall bodily strength was something that most people her age could scarcely dream of.

So as she stepped forward, stomping her foot into the ground, the change was almost instant, Midori's eyes flashing to life and her veins pulsing with power, launching forward at high speeds, although normal, but her footing was excellent as she pivoted into his guard and went for a barrage of strikes towards him, the coordination through the roof. This was by far her favorite, and she would be trying a few new things this time, hoping that Satori would put her in situations where it would be used fully.