The sounds of flesh striking the heavy canvas covering of a kickboxing bag drifted down from the roof of a small apartment building as the sun broke the horizon over Sunagakure. Chiyo had taken to waking up before the sun so that she could enjoy some peace while her lover and her father were still asleep. After Michino lost his leg and was having difficulty adjusting, it had been no more strenuous than breathing to have him move in with her. Even after the short time they had been together, their personalities meshed in such a way that conflicts were short lived and the aftermath always made the reason behind any arguments forgettable by comparison. Those few short months had been the best of her life until her father's empire crumbled from beneath him. The old man didn't have anywhere else to go, all of his safe houses having been compromised, so there was no question that he would move in with his daughter. He shouldn't even have to ask, right? Just show up on her doorstep in the middle of the night and move in, right?
The blows against the canvas became faster, louder, as she started to hear sounds of stirring coming from the open window that led into her little one-bedroom apartment. The place had been perfect for one person, cozy for two, but definitely too small for three people. Of course it wasn't as if she would have turned Toushin away, he was her father after all. Despite all the shit he put her through she still loved him. She just wished the two men in her life could at least pretend to be civil for the sake of her sanity. Pushing the thoughts out of her mind, she tried to keep clear of distractions while she trained and soon enough she was again focused only on her blows finding their target.
Long, raven hair whirled around her slender frame as the young shinobi circled the standing bag, alternating blows between her various extremities as she moved. At times her movements seemed almost like dancing, but as soon as she moved in to attack there was nothing fluid about the motion. There was nothing but pure strength behind the powerful impacts, more than most could imagine ever coming from such a small person. Of course, the Uzumoreru had her blood on her side, allowing her to put much more behind her punches than her small frame would normally allow, even with the wiry muscles that were just visible beneath her fair skin.
Chiyo stayed up there for at least another half hour, trying to put off the moment she would have to go and face the barely veiled aggression that had filled her home lately. The sun had chased the last of the shadows away and the dry heat from the surrounding desert was quickly chasing away the night's gentle breeze. A bead of sweat slid down the back of her neck from beneath her dark hair and she aimed one last blow directly at the center of the dummy, causing it to fall over with a loud thud. The cranky old man that lived in the other top floor apartment shouted out his window a few choice words that were not very nice and she flinched a little, not bothering to apologize. Trying to avoid disturbing that man would require complete silence, so she paid very little attention to him. Having made friends with his wife soon after moving in helped of course, and she would always go and make it up to him later. With a small chuckle as she heard him grumble and slam the window shut, she returned the training dummy to its natural position and walked over to the edge of the roof.
For a moment, she stood there, letting the warm breeze blow around her body and she closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation. After a time, she took a step forward, letting herself fall off the side before catching herself on the windowsill to swing her lithe body through an open window and into her kitchen. Landing lightly on the tile floors, she stretched her limbs, glancing anxiously toward the pull-out couch that had become her father's bedroom.
The blows against the canvas became faster, louder, as she started to hear sounds of stirring coming from the open window that led into her little one-bedroom apartment. The place had been perfect for one person, cozy for two, but definitely too small for three people. Of course it wasn't as if she would have turned Toushin away, he was her father after all. Despite all the shit he put her through she still loved him. She just wished the two men in her life could at least pretend to be civil for the sake of her sanity. Pushing the thoughts out of her mind, she tried to keep clear of distractions while she trained and soon enough she was again focused only on her blows finding their target.
Long, raven hair whirled around her slender frame as the young shinobi circled the standing bag, alternating blows between her various extremities as she moved. At times her movements seemed almost like dancing, but as soon as she moved in to attack there was nothing fluid about the motion. There was nothing but pure strength behind the powerful impacts, more than most could imagine ever coming from such a small person. Of course, the Uzumoreru had her blood on her side, allowing her to put much more behind her punches than her small frame would normally allow, even with the wiry muscles that were just visible beneath her fair skin.
Chiyo stayed up there for at least another half hour, trying to put off the moment she would have to go and face the barely veiled aggression that had filled her home lately. The sun had chased the last of the shadows away and the dry heat from the surrounding desert was quickly chasing away the night's gentle breeze. A bead of sweat slid down the back of her neck from beneath her dark hair and she aimed one last blow directly at the center of the dummy, causing it to fall over with a loud thud. The cranky old man that lived in the other top floor apartment shouted out his window a few choice words that were not very nice and she flinched a little, not bothering to apologize. Trying to avoid disturbing that man would require complete silence, so she paid very little attention to him. Having made friends with his wife soon after moving in helped of course, and she would always go and make it up to him later. With a small chuckle as she heard him grumble and slam the window shut, she returned the training dummy to its natural position and walked over to the edge of the roof.
For a moment, she stood there, letting the warm breeze blow around her body and she closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation. After a time, she took a step forward, letting herself fall off the side before catching herself on the windowsill to swing her lithe body through an open window and into her kitchen. Landing lightly on the tile floors, she stretched her limbs, glancing anxiously toward the pull-out couch that had become her father's bedroom.