Pushing one's body to its limit (Alyssa's Training Topic)

The sun was rising up on to Konohagakure, with a slight chill in the air. The streets were more or less empty, the occasional thug hanging around in the streets of course. Those same streets being lit from streetlights to try and fight the darkness, though there were still dark patches where the light couldn’t get at. Alyssa was running down these streets, with her she carried a duffle bag that shuffled from side to side with each step. Keeping to her constant rhythm, step, breath in, step, and breath out. Keeping her whole foot from landing on the ground, she would only allow her toes hit before she pushed off again into another step. Her hands were tightly wrapped in white cloth gauze, made to keep her hands protected during fighting matches. She began to punch the air in fast, snapping punches. Keeping in rhythm with her breaths, her steps, all in synchronization.

Alyssa picked up her pace, pushing herself even harder during the run. Turning the corner she could see the destination she had mind. Goldie’s Gym, the best gym in Konohagakure according to Alyssa. Filled with determined people looking to make themselves better physically, but also mentally. She busted into the gym, not even taking the time to notice the attendant standing there. Running through the gym at full speed, she ran onto the first open treadmill and immediately revved it up. She put the settings on high while also slightly raising the incline of the treadmill. Continuing to punch the air in front of her, all the while keeping her rhythm. Her hair, which was wrapped up into a ponytail, bounced in a side to side motion. Sweat droplets sliding down her face and off her chin. Her muscles were on fire at this point, after running at full speed nonstop for five full minutes.

Alyssa had entered a sort of meditative state however, she couldn’t feel anything except for the special rhythm she entered while running outside.Her mind was clear throughout all of this. In truth, the only thing she was conscious of was the count she kept in her head. One, two, three, four, and then she would start again. Her clothes did help her training, wearing thigh high shorts and a tank top that cut off at her midsection. Her shoes weren’t made in the typical ninja style, instead they were closed toes. Coming up to ankle high they were made to keep her ankles safe during training. She had them tied tightly as she knew this was going to be a tough training session. She ran for another three minutes before she turned down the speed of the treadmill, starting to gasp for air. She continued to run until the treadmill stopped completely, stepping off afterwards.

Reaching into her duffel bag, she pulled out a canteen full of cool water. Unscrewing the cap she took sip and swallowed before taking another sip. She swished the water around in her mouth before spitting it out in a nearby spit bucket. She finished by pouring some over her head to cool her down before starting her next workout. In the right lighting, one could see the steam rise from Alyssa’s own body. Grabbing the duffel bag, Alyssa made her way to the ladies locker room to put it away. She went over to the locker she claimed for herself and began to put her combination into the lock. Hanging the bag in the locker, Alyssa made her way out in the main gym once again. Tying her hair into a ponytail once again to fix some of the loose hairs that found their way back into her face. Making her way to where a jump rope was, she waited for the timer to start again. The gym’s timer was a great way to keep track on the grounds that were happening in the ring as it was very loud, but it was also useful cardio exercises like this.

The buzzer went off, and so did Alyssa. The jump rope whipped above and below her at a fast rate. Finding her rhythm after a few jumps, she began to lift one leg while using the other one to jump. She alternated this motion with each jump, her eyes closed. Picking up the pace, the rope whipped faster and faster. The leg movements happening in faster succession right after the next flawlessly. Her palms were sweating; though the gauze she wore kept the rope handles from slipping from her hands. In keeping her eyes closed, it helped her maintain focus, and keep from watching the timer on the wall. It also allowed her to just let her body do physically because she knew too much thought ruined exercises such as these. Just as the pain in the balls of her foot was beginning to set in, the timer went off and Alyssa opened her eyes. She dropped the rope onto the ground to move on to her next exercise.

She made her way to the speed bag located near to where most of the other boxing equipment was. While walking over to the speed bag, she was rewrapping her gauze as they somewhat got loose over the course of her previous exercises. She paused in front of the bag while she took the time to carefully wrap her hands. There was a popular misconception about the speed bag. Like the name says, people thought that the speed bag was supposed to increase the speed of a fighter's punches. While there is some truth to this, unfortunately the speed a fighter had in the beginning of their training wouldn’t improve by much at the end. What does increase however is the reflexes and reaction time a fighter has. This comes naturally fight after fight, but the speed bag can help increase this process. It improved all of these factors, while also improving the aim making every punch count more.

That's exactly what Alyssa had in her mind to improve during this exercise. She finished wrapping her hands and waited for the buzzer again, signaling a start of a round. For the speed bag, it may be a little too much time, so her hands may be a little sore tomorrow. It’ll all be worth it, and Alyssa wasn’t complaining. She closed her eyes again, raising her arms up in their right position. Alyssa is a trained boxer with the tight upper body style. Meaning she always has her hands just below her eyeballs, but with her entire forearm area protecting her ribs. In one quick motion she could just move her forearms back slightly she could at least partially protect the back of her ribs as well. Her legs in shoulder width apart, the left leg taking point. The buzzer went off signaling her time with the speed bag could begin.
Alyssa attacked the speed bag with ferocity, starting with one punch. After her first strike she waited, watching the speed bag move on its own until it began to slow. She would then punch it again as she began to bob her head from side to side in a circler motion. Before the bag slowed up like it did last time, she followed up with another faster punch. Pretty soon she would find her own rhythm, in the same way as the jump rope. Hitting the speed bag in fast succession caused it to swing even faster. To the average person, they would begin to wonder how Alyssa would know when to it the bag again. In truth, it had nothing to do with seeing, and everything to do with maintaining an inner beat. Keeping track of it with the heart, not the eye. That’s how one really hits a speed bag, letting your body act on its own. The body knows what it needs to do, and how to do it, so it becomes only an hindrance when the mind comes into play.

Still, she managed to do all of this without much interference or interruption. Unlike her previous exercises, she actually kept her eyes wide open. In the corner of her eye she could see a group of people walking across the gym. She could recognize the attendants since she frequented the gym. One of the member in the group however looked less familiar than the rest. Alyssa focused back on her set with the bag, feeling the time was almost out. She could feel her triceps begin to ache from the position her arms were in. Thankfully, the buzzer went off and so she dropped her arms accordingly. Grabbing a towel from a nearby rack, she took a swig of water from her canteen. Taking a brief intermission from her workout, she walked around the gym in an attempt to walk off some of the lactic acid. Using the towel to wipe her brow, she could see nothing but well-built people continuing what Alyssa assumed was their daily workout. “You’re pretty weak to have ran out of energy.” A voice said from the deepest corner of mind. Occasionally the Yonbi would waken from its slumber to poke fun of the young genin whenever she was perfecting her taijutsu skills due to the reason that she never called up on his powers, it wasn’t that she didn’t want to that is as the power of monstrosity like the four tailed beast would be a great weapon but she had just preferred to focus on her taijutsu for the time being. After all everyone in her family used ninjutsu so instead of following the pack, she decided to branch off, but once she had ranked up she had a cool idea on how to use his power. “Baka, I doubt you can do any better, all you do is lay around and complain stupid monkey.” She said sticking out her tongue as she was now conversing with the demon in the mental plane they both shared. Though they constantly argued with each other they had an understanding, though the monkey seemed to be more interested in having her master his powers than her own personal skill, which they argue about from time to time. Initially she didn’t trust the monkey due to him showing evil intentions but throughout the years it was obvious that he was softening up to her as he started conversations with her about things that interested him and seemed to be protective of her whenever she was in trouble, he was like the big brother she never had, only that she already had two big brothers and he was a giant ape. “Well then, show me what you’ve got.” Yonbi stated as he held out his palm like a punching bag. With a smirk on her face she would taking her stance before a quick deep breath. “Here I go!” She yelled before kicking off the ground with her left foot and bolting towards the monkeys out stretched palm. Upon arriving before it, she would release a barrage of fits. Left, then right, then left, right. The combination continued as she held her combination and her concentration. She would halt however after noticing the demon’s pinky finger moving towards her. Without hesitation she would strafe to the left to avoid the finger and once she avoided it she would start her assault on the finger of the beast. Realizing that she was keeping up with the speeds he was out putting he would kick it up a notch, which she wasn’t ready for. Being caught in mid swing, Alyssa would stumble backwards and would then fall on her backside unable to avoid the oncoming move. “I win. Though you seem to be improving. Continue training and you’ll probably able to beat my pinky.” The demon monkey said before picking her up with his hand. “Don’t worry, soon I’ll be strong enough to kick your monkey butt!” She declared with a smile.
The young woman would open eyes as her mental training with the demon had ended, and it was time to continue her physical training. She wanted to do a few rounds before heading out for a quick run around the village with weights on. “Let’s do this!” She shouted feeling all fired up.

It was very hard at first to run with the training weighs on. Every leg movement, every step, was grueling and slow. She was weighed down and that made these steps harder to take and meant that they ended up being quite painful. But, training was painful, and given what Alyssa was pushing to aspire? She knew it was simply something she was going to have to deal with. This was the life of someone who utilized Taijutsu; she had seen more than her fair share of Taijutsu based injuries in the hospital, and had treated more than her fair share as well. Plus, given her bijuu? Yeah, she knew she was in for some pain. She also knew that her demon wasn't going to take it easy on her just because she was his sister. If anything he was going to push her harder and faster not only because he knew what she was capable of but because this meant she would be better able to protect herself which would definitely be something he would like. So, painful Taijutsu training? Yup. Painful Taijutsu training.

So, one foot was placed in front of the other. What was supposed to be a run started out as a walk: each step bringing her closer and closer to a single lap around the village? However, she knew her brother wasn't going to deal with her slow pace for very long. No, soon she would very much have to pick up the pace, so that's what she was going to do. As sweat broke out along her brow she began to force herself through the pain to push on faster. Each movement, each step, was increased in speed. it was a very grueling task only made worse, but like she already knew her body would adapt, it would change, and it would grow stronger. Or, it would die; but she doubted things would go that far. Her brother would stop her before she pushed herself to that kind of level, which much she knew for sure.

In the back of her mind she could her not only her brother telling her she could do it but her father and mother, too. This was no different then her being sick as a child, no different then her having to go through one medical treatment after another, through one painful operation after another. She suffered while she was a child, she dealt with horrible pain caused by not only her sickness but because of the pain caused by all of the treatments. Pain was definitely nothing new, and she would pull through the pain of this training and complete her task. She would prevail and come out faster, stronger, and able to kick some serious ass because of it. It was just step number one in what she planned on accomplishing.

"Come on, Alyssa! You can do this! You can push through all of this pain, all of this suffering and keep going! Come on, Alyssa! Pick up speed! Leg's up, don't drag your feet!" Alyssa began to pep talk herself as each step she took brought her closer and closer to a single lap around Konoha. One lap in what was likely going to be dozens if her brother had anything to do about it. Not that she was going to complain; she would never do something like that. She had asked for this training, knowing full well what was in store for her when she did. She had gone to the best of the best because she wanted the best training. This was more than just because Naota was her brother, no this was because she knew he was the best Konoha and everywhere else had to offer and that is exactly what she had wanted at the time. That was exactly what she wanted right even now, even though she was suffereing due to the weighs and the increased pressure that her body wasn't by any means used to.

As Alyssa crossed more and more distance something began to happen: her body began to adapt. What had been a grueling pace to where every single step was agony, where every single step was damn near impossible to make, became easier and easier. She was able to put one foot in front of the other faster and faster until she hit the pace of a what would be a comfortable jog for a normal civilian. Of course, this was still slow by ninja standards, that much was for sure, but it was progress none the less and she was making it quickly.

By this point she was halfway around the village, with yet another half to go until her loop was complete. Her brother was nearby, this much she knew, but she couldn't focus on him. All she could focus on was her task at hand; she didn't want to allow herself to get distracted. She wanted to get used to this burn because it was something she was going to feel a lot of while using Taijutsu abilities, or fighting in general.

"Come on, Alyssa! You're already half way there. You just need to go a little further and then you'll have completed a whole loop around the village!", Alyssa said to herself as she continued to push herself on further and further, each step becoming easier and easier than the last. Slowly she began to pick up more and more speed as she went, increasing her speed to what would be a comfortable jog for a shinobi such as herself. It was progress, although slow progress, but progress still. Some progress was better than none at all after all.

"Almost there! Come on... almost." Her ending was in sight; she could see her starting position as she ran, and began to pick up speed more and more. The starting position neared and yet it always seemed just out of reach: at least until she finally made it. "I can do this! I know that I can do this!", she added, speaking to herself under her breath with little regard to how crazy anyone might have thought she was. Even at this point in time she thought she was crazy; crazy for running around a village with training weighs on, crazy for pushing herself as hard and as fast as she was just on her first loop around the village alone. But, she didn't care. She was getting stronger, she was getting faster, and soon she would be able to kick ass and take names just the same as her brother did - though, she had no intentions of having his bulky muscles. She preferred lean muscle, but muscle none the less.

And then she was over the starting point! One single lap was completed. One single lap of grueling torturous training. Alyssa had no idea how many more she had to go; there was no telling how far Naota planned on taking this. But, she didn't care. She was making progress, she could feel herself becoming stronger, and that was exactly what she needed, now all that was left was for her to head to the dojo with her brother to complete her training session.

Alyssa had been pushing herself quite a bit. She was simply getting exhausted by her training. After all, the human body could only do so much, and hers wasn't exactly the picture of perfect health. Though there were constant talks about her losing control of the demon inside her. That didn't stop the young girl from trying her best. She had trained day in and out as of late, and pushed herself as far as she could go. When she thought that she was done, she pushed herself even further. The only way to get better was to push the mind and body to its utmost, and then give it some more. And that was always dangerous.

Alyssa looked at her training partner. He was a teacher from the academy and her brother, that had offered to train her a little bit. He smiled at her, twirling a Kunai around on his finger. "Alright Alyssa. We need to work on your reflexes and reaction time. Without the ability to dodge or react to outside stimuli, it is impossible to function as a shinobi. It is essential that you learn to improve your reaction time, as this is one of the most vital skills you can learn. Sure, it's good to be able to hit things really hard, and always good to be fast and outspeed people, but don't underestimate what natural reflexes can do. Against a stronger opponent, it's fine to be able to take his hits, but its even better to not be there when he hits. And while natural speed can definitely help you dodge, you also lose ground when you dodge. But if you can simply react to cues given, you can be where it isn't. Not only that, but if something's coming as a surprise, the better your reaction time, the better you can-" he cut off and hurled his kunai at Alyssa. She flinched out of the way, leaping to the side as it sailed harmlessly past her. "-move out of danger." he finished, smiling.

Alyssa smiled back at him. Sure, it was dangerous standing in the way of a kunai blade as he threw it, but only by putting herself in danger can she truly force her absolute best. If she knew she wasn't in any real danger, it would slow her senses, and she was trying to be as focused as possible at the moment. Now that her mind was focused on the task at hand, Alyssa was picking up on some visual clues, watching his movements, waiting to see what he'd do next. He had an approving look in his eyes as he noticed her attentive gaze. With that, he launched into another attack, throwing another Kunai at Alyssa, who side stepped it once again, although it grazed past her shoulder, opening a small scratch on her arm. The damage was negligible though. She'd have to do better than that. Pulling out her own Kunai, Alyssa waited for the next cue.

It didn't take long of course, and yet another Kunai was launched at her, aimed at her left thigh. Alyssa quickly brought her kunai down and the two blades just barely intercepted before it could hit her, and his blade skirted off into the corner of the room. The man smiled at her and nodded. "Good, now for the hand to hand." he said, and rushed forward, lashing out his arm and sending her own kunai sailing into the wall. They were now locked into a hand to hand combat, the main skill of the Alyssa. He was teaching her so that she would be able to react better in her spars, and that's what this was about. As the two exchanged blows, Alyssa noticed that she was starting to react quicker, noticing more and more about her brother’s movements. Soon she was knocking his attacks off course. She wasn't able to attack back yet, but she was defending just as easily as he could attack.

As their spar dragged on, Alyssa felt herself tiring out quicker and quicker. Soon enough her breath grew ragged, and she started to sweat a little bit. To be honest, she couldn't ever sustain her top performance for very long. She had been born sick, and it took its toll on her stamina. Sometimes she could push past it, but the more rigorous the fight or training, the worse it was. She finally slipped up on her defense and her teacher's palm came forward and smashed into her face, knocking her onto the floor with a thud. He held his stance for a second before straightening up. "You alright Alyssa?" he asked, making sure that his young charge was safe. After all, he wasn't as rigid as her family was. He actually had some moral fibers in his body.

Alyssa nodded and sat up, breathing in heavily. "Yeah, I'm fine bro.... I just need a quick break, before we can begin again." she replied, standing up with a grunt. She went around the room and collected the thrown kunai from earlier, pocketing her own and handing the rest back to the teacher before sitting down again. She still wasn't good enough, but she was improving. Perhaps she'd amount to something after all.

Total word count- 4123

Training second spec Ninjutsu (-1000)
PP Gained= 3123/200= 15 * 10 = 150 PP Gained
SP Gained= 3123/500= 6 SP Gained