legacy | hatake kakashi

[ sixteen ] beat downs.

         ONLY BEING able to sleep for 3 hours at a time was not on Kiyoko's bingo card when she joined the Anbu. She was aware that it was going to be tough, but not this tough. After the first week had passed, Kiyoko thought she had it all in the bag, she had the most points, was in the top bracket and had outdone everyone in the recruits.

Was she resented? A little bit, but she didn't let that stop her. Kiyoko had essentially kicked everyone's ass in hand-to-hand and in espionage lessons. It was similar to the academy in a way but seemed to focus on the practical application of all the 'theory' they learn – which meant that thankfully, after spending half their day in the arena they would spend the other half doing drills and learning about how to have no presence. There were a lot of simulations for every possible scenario and Kiyoko's head would spin when they would get another drilled into her head.

Kiyoko missed the trill and ambience of the forest, of nature. She had been kept in their underground headquarters/training facility for too long and there was only so much synthetic trees were good for. Although, learning more fūinjutsu was helpful in her never-ending endeavour of cracking the Flying Raijin code – she was so close! There was something that was missing and Kiyoko knew that with her new clearance she would be able to duck to the archives and finally crack the mystery.

It was the fifth month into their six-month training regime, which by now Kiyoko thought was a bit of an overkill. When Kiyoko had fought Falcon on her first official day, she thought that she was physically ready to be in the Anbu given the fact they went toe-to-toe with each other, but Kiyoko couldn't have been more wrong.

Falcon had held back. Of course he did. The next week when their brackets had been formed, a couple recruits had been dropped from the induction by Badger. She was ruthless in her decision, not letting them go quietly and announcing their status in front of everyone. It wasn't just about their physical abilities; it was about the personality traits they exhibited that made them unfit to be Anbu.

Since the class had now been uneven in numbers, Badger offered up Falcon into the mix – the brown-haired man being less than pleased by the development. Kiyoko watched him with the other recruits; he was going easy on them, giving them opportunity to show their skills and fighting them in such a way that made them notice their weaknesses and compensate for it.

However, when it came to her, he didn't hold back, and Kiyoko could tell. It was like something had awoken in him as he ruthlessly beat her down, not giving the same opportunity for growth he had given her predecessors. The bruises that littered Kiyoko's body were a good indicator of it. It definitely pleased all Kiyoko's ops to see her beaten to a pulp and whenever had the pleasure of being paired with Falcon for the week they would ease up on her.

Their attitudes annoyed Kiyoko slightly, but never said a word when it came down to it. It was juvenile and Kiyoko was certain that she was the youngest in the group, although their actions could say otherwise. They would tear up Kiyoko's pillow, throw snap her toothbrush, cover her bed in water before bed, trip her in the halls... it was ridiculous. So, whenever Kiyoko was paired with them... well, let's just say they mirrored the bruises she had after facing Falcon.

Natsumi's voice of indignation haunted her as she tried to meditate at nights, constantly whispering to her to let go and get those bitches back, something that always made her crack a smile. She could hear Kazuki agreeing with her and telling her to assert her dominance and somewhere far off in the distance she heard Misuo-sensei telling them not to corrupt her anymore. The corruption was a sore spot for her, but she was slowly dwindling down the corrupted nature chakra in her and thanked the spirits guiding her that he was getting easier by the day.