There's more to just simple energy than one would think at first. There are all kinds of factors that influence it. Sure it might come from outside, but it's going through different stages as it passes through one's body. Sometimes it gets blocked, stopped up on a different level than just one's vital points. And these blocks have to be cleared, or else you can't use your energy properly at all.

Or worse… if you are able to use it, it gets tainted. There's nothing worse than that in my book.

-Excerpt from the diary of Sakura Kasugano

Kanto the Slayer presents

A Street Fighter Fanfiction

Beyond Alpha

It had been two days since they started their mental workouts. That was the term that Sakura had put to these meditation sessions. They were distracted time and again, their thoughts trying to keep hold on them for just a bit longer. They tried to relax, attempted to let go of the thoughts and let them pass, return to their breathing. It was far more difficult here though, because the Yoga teacher continued to infiltrate their minds, see if he could read them, and say something out loud when he could.

It was frustrating. It was embarrassing at times. But it was working.

After two days of this, their minds began to tire of the struggle. Minutes passed without a thought instead of seconds. They held their attention for five minutes at a time, then six, then eight, then ten. After five days since their arrival in Kerala, they were up to fifteen minutes.

It was in the midst of the fifth day, during their second stretch of meditation, when Dhalsim called a halt with a clap of his hands. "Well done. You have gained some control over your minds. Now we truly begin."

Sakura opened her eyes, exhaled slowly. She felt amazing. It was really hard to do this when someone was prodding around in your head. This really was a fight, but of a different sort. Apparently, they'd done enough for him, but she knew it wasn't.

"So, what do you have to teach us today?"

Karin. She sounded so much more willing to do this now. Pride welled up from deep within. She really was gonna make it. Sakura couldn't hide her grin. She looked toward Dhalsim, eyes alert and receptive. Here goes nothing.

"I am going to teach you about the centers of your energy, where it flows and where it can be slowed down and blocked. But first, what have you been told about energy?"

Sakura spoke first. Ryu had already told her about this. "Everything is energy. If a thing or person runs out of energy, it's as good as dead. It can be drawn in, pushed out, given or taken."

Dhalsim smiled. "You know much about it, then." He looked toward Karin. "And you?"

Karin nodded. "There are a lot of names for energy; ki, chi, spirit, life force, and a bunch of other things. But it's just energy, nothing else. Everyone uses it whether they know it or not, but only a few are really aware of what it can do."

He kept his blank eyes locked on her. "And you have come here believing you are not. Yes?"

Her head lowered, eyes looked away. She rubbed her right arm with her left hand. "I know what it's capable of… I can feel it even now, and use it. But I can't sense it in others. Sakura can, but just a little. I don't think I can at all."

Dhalsim nodded. "We will come back to that later." He turned toward Sakura. "You however, wish to expand this awareness."

She nodded. It wasn't so bad when he read their thoughts like this. Sure made conversations a lot easier. "It's not just that, though. I'm here… we're both here, really… to learn how to hide our energy patterns. You already know there's someone after us; someone who's bad news. He can sniff our auras out from anywhere he wants. We have to hide them from him."

"True, he does have the ability to find and hone in on auras." Without moving anything but his knees, Dhalsim folded his legs into lotus position, simply sitting in mid-air. "By manipulating your aura so that it is less noticeable, you can fool his senses and become as if you did not exist." He looked toward Sakura. "I want you to focus your senses on me. Watch carefully."

Sakura nodded and stared at him, her mind clearing and her senses expanding outward. There, she could feel it, the tingle across her skin. Whoa. He was just so powerful, but she could feel something else about it as well. His energy was entirely harmless.

"Good. Now observe."

The sensation along her skin faded slowly… and then vanished. Her eyes widened. "Whoa, I can't sense you even from here. I mean I can see you, but I can't feel you."

Karin grimaced. "That was how he was able to sneak behind me. I bet he'd be able to get the jump on me even if I could sense him.

Dhalsim nodded. "There is a way to counter this, but I cannot teach you. It is something that you will learn sooner or later."

They nodded. Sakura definitely wanted to learn this one. It'd help her get her freedom of movement back. "So how do we start?"

The day wore on, and soon it was found out why Karin couldn't sense anything. Her anxieties were blocking one of her energy centers. The very thought that she couldn't sense anything blocked her third eye. She didn't even know she had one until Dhalsim pointed out where it was, right between her eyebrows.

"Meditate and focus your mind on that one point. Allow your thoughts to pass and flow as you channel your energy toward it."

Karin shrugged. "I'll give it a try." Wasn't like she had much else to go off of. At least he had an explanation. She closed her eyes, straightened her back and lengthened her spine. She drew air, exhaled slowly.

This wouldn't work. Why did she need to sense anything anyway? She wanted to be different from Sakura, not copy her in any way. Besides, it was silly to measure someone on how strong they were just at first impression. That would be determined in actual combat.

She breathed, allowed the thoughts to pass by.

It wasn't like she had even tried before. Why start now? She would just mess up anyway.

She breathed. Her body relaxed on its own. Warmth spread through her, gentle and unobtrusive. So that was what her energy felt like, was it? She hadn't really considered it. Karin let it be for now, breathed.

"Now, will your energy toward your third eye. Do not force it."

Karin did not respond, simply continued breathing. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly as she concentrated. It only increased the intensity of her inner heat. Damn. She concentrated harder, her eyebrows frowned and her face scrunched slightly. It was just sitting there in her center, not moving at all. Her head was starting to hurt. She sighed, released the flow and opened her eyes. "What's it going to take?"

She felt a hand on her right shoulder, looked up. Dhalsim had an understanding smile on his face.

"The will is not located in the conscious mind. You are still trying to use your thoughts to drive the energy. Retain your clarity of mind and allow the subconscious to move the energy."

She huffed. "I thought I was already doing that."

Dhalsim chuckled. "Are you?" He walked away.

She bowed her head slightly. She was, wasn't she? It wasn't like she wasn't trying hard. What was he talking about? Her eyebrows rose high, eyes wide. Don't try… hadn't Sakura said that? Not to try at all? She smacked herself on the forehead. Don't resist. Don't try to fight for it or against it. Another thought popped up. Use her imagination. Would that work here too?

She clenched her fists. Yes, it would. She closed her eyes, straightened her back and set herself. She breathed deep. He'd already told them where the chakras were, and she could see them now in her head: where they were located, what they did. She saw the energy move toward her head, just between her eyebrows.

Her skin tingled slightly. Whoa. What was that? She shook her head, settled down and breathed again. The picture in her head returned and she focused on it, saw her energy channeling towards that one single point. The tingle returned, sharper now. It made her jump, her eyes suddenly opened. "Whoa!"

This was strange. The air vibrated with tension. Was this what Sakura felt when she could sense someone who was truly strong? Was this why she always wanted to fight them? She looked over at the brunette, eyes alert. She could understand now.

"How is it?"

She turned to her right, toward Dhalsim. "It's strange. It's like there are these waves in the air. I could feel them, just for a moment, but they were there and they were particularly strong at the time. I don't know who was giving them off, but whoever it was is something else."

He nodded. "You are on the path. Now all you need to do is expand your awareness, reach out with it. This is how one is able to sense and locate auras. After all, that's all they are: waves of energy."

Karin raised an eyebrow. "And this can be done at any distance?"

Dhalsim nodded. "It was how I was able to track your progress toward this location. I know who you have been with, what you've done, and who is following you." He smiled. "Of course, you have already been told who is following you."

Karin nodded. Of course. They were reminded of it almost every day, whenever they trained. "We have to move on."

Dhalsim raised his hands. "It is not yet time. You will leave when the need becomes apparent."

Karin shook her head. "The faster we get this done, the more prepared we'll be when he catches up." Oh, he'd catch up. And the last thing they wanted when that happened was for him to know exactly where they were.

Dhalsim nodded. "True. But it cannot be rushed. You must learn how to sense energy patterns in order to learn how to hide your own. Have patience and faith that it will arrive when you need it."

Karin lowered her head. "I'll try." She closed her eyes, sighed and meditated again. They couldn't just sit around waiting. But maybe he had a point. They probably didn't have much choice but to wait anyway; this stuff couldn't be learned in a day.

Karin breathed, relaxed. She tried to visualize herself expanding, stretching out. But how would one do that? It wasn't like she could just reach out and…

The tingle on her skin rose again, spiked. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Something was wrong. That was too big a wave. Was it him? She opened her eyes, looked around the beach. Empty. She looked over toward Sakura. She was still meditating, her face relaxed. What was that she'd just felt?

She sighed. It wasn't just anything. Someone strong was nearby. She didn't know who had that much power, but she didn't want to fight them. She wasn't ready. Karin closed her eyes, slipped into her meditative state again. It happened faster this time as the resistance of her thoughts gave way.

She relaxed, tried to think of herself reaching outwards. With what? What was there to reach out with? Could she really do this? Karin breathed, let the thoughts go on their way and continued expanding. Things started to feel a bit fuzzy, out of focus. She breathed, started feeling weightless. Karin stretched herself further. She could feel the rough sand beneath her, the ocean behind her, the sky above.

Her skin prickled. Sakura. She sat far to her left, still in deep meditation. The waves that came off of her friend made Karin open her eyes and look over at her. "Wow. That was you?"

She shook her head. "No. Not even you're that strong."

She closed her eyes again, stretched out her senses. This time she really let them loose, and everything from that single instance happened all at once. She gasped, breathing sharp and fast; eyes snapped open, wide and frightened. She wasn't in her body any more, was she? She was everywhere, all over the place. Why was she still breathing? Still sitting here on the sand? Karin shivered, closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself. She felt empty.

"So you've felt it."

She looked towards Dhalsim, face awash with despair. "I'm not in my body. Why?"

He walked over to her, sat down before her. "The walls of your mind have given way. That's why. You stretched your awareness so far and fast in that one moment that your mind lost its hold on you entirely. How do you feel?"

She shook her head, closed her eyes. What was this? She was everywhere, and she was still sitting there at the same time. "Feels like my soul just left my body."

Dhalsim placed a hand on her head and smiled. "You are doing well. You can still hear me and see me, feel the sand and the wind. You can still smell the ocean. You are still alive. The only thing that has changed is that your awareness has stretched outwards to a great degree. Doing it slowly at first was wise; you still felt like part of yourself was in your body, correct?"

Karin opened her eyes to look at him, nodded. "That's right. I felt like a part of me was still sitting here. Everything felt a little fuzzy, but I was okay."

He stood. "This is natural. You are simply opening yourself more to the world." He turned to walk away. "Keep practicing, no matter what. Do not let this stop you."

Karin watched him leave, another shiver racing along her skin. It felt like she'd just died. Could she really do it again without the thought going through her mind? She shook her head. No, she couldn't. Karin willed herself to stay seated. No. It was not going to end like this. She would keep going. She closed her eyes, breathed; stretched outwards with her senses.

It was slow this time, cautious. She was still here, still sitting down, still breathing. His words were helping to a great degree… wait, was that why he'd said them? She couldn't hold back her smile. This man was extremely intelligent!

Her face calmed as she allowed her brain to take a rest. Her senses slowly stretched out, reached toward Sakura. There, still to her left, a good thirty meters away. She read her aura, saw it in her mind. As expected, she was quite strong. She stretched toward Dhalsim, found him… and her eyes opened.

"…It's you." She looked toward him as he floated a few feet off the ground as usual; his eyes closed and face serene. "You're the one I felt earlier."

And then, everything made sense. Damn. She'd underestimated Ryu again, hadn't she? He'd said that he could do amazing things through the power of his mind. Karin nodded. He was right on the mark. Dhalsim's aura was huge. She was surprised that Gouki hadn't come here already…

She smirked. "You're sneaky, Ryu." He was also a pacifist. Gouki probably knew that and wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole, much less get near him. Thus by extension, he wouldn't get near them either. Just by being around the Yoga master, they were safe. Sure it wouldn't last long, but it would give them the time they needed to learn what they had to.

Karin nodded, a decision made. She wouldn't question anything this man said from now on.

"That was incredible. I didn't know I could actually do that!"

Sakura grinned. Karin was really on a roll! "I can't believe your focus; you caught up so much today!" She grinned. "We're gonna have such fun with this, I know it!"

Karin nodded, closed the room door behind them. "Not to mention that it'll help us track Gouki a bit easier." She stopped for a moment, shook her head. "But he can mask his ki when he moves around, all while being able to still track ours. That won't work."

Sakura shrugged. "So we're just gonna have to counter with hiding our own. Nothing to it." She sat down on the bed, stretched upwards. They'd worked their butts off today, and she really felt stronger. "I could feel you as you were reading me, you know. It was freaky."

Karin chuckled. "Did it feel like you had eyes looking on you from somewhere?"

Sakura nodded. Karin was really starting to get into this. Good. "Yeah, it did." She glanced at her. "You wanna try it now? It's good practice." Besides, she wanted to try and see if she could find Ryu somewhere. Easy enough. She could tell what his aura felt like by now and how big it was.

Karin shrugged. "I don't mind."

They both sat on the bed, hips resting on the pillows. This'd be fun, if it worked. Legs folded, eyes closed, hands turned upwards and resting on the knees. There wasn't any breathing beforehand this time, though it was involved. They simply extended their senses, stretched them to the corners of the room, pushed past the door and into the hallway.

It was still disorienting when she did this. Everything felt swimmy and out of focus. But she could sense Karin right next to her, could see outside the hallway even though she was sitting right there on the bed. She stretched further, tried to extend herself toward the elevator, made it there. She stopped at that point and waited.

The elevators opened, and… ah, there was Ryu. He was on his way, heading up the hall from the elevators. He turned the corner, passed three rooms, just in front of theirs now. Sakura grinned. This should be a surprise for him.

He fished the card key out of his right pocket and was about to swipe it…

"It's dinnertime!" Sakura shouted through the door. Ryu jumped and she laughed. It worked!

Karin looked over at Sakura, pouted. "That was kinda mean, you know."

Sakura opened her eyes, turned toward Karin with a grin. "It was fun, though. I actually saw him coming!"

Karin shook her head. "I saw him too, but you could have just said hello."

The door opened. "Well, you've certainly gotten better at that." Ryu walked over, set the paper bag onto the table near the TV. "And yeah, it is dinner time."

They got off the bed and walked towards the bag. Sakura reached inside, pulled out something with her name on it. Awww. That was nice of him, to get something just for her. "So my question is can you do this with your eyes still open? I mean, the past few times it happened, I had my eyes closed."

Karin shrugged. "Logic dictates that if it's possible one way, it's possible in any way." She pulled out her food. "But I wouldn't know how to do it."

"Well all you'd have to do is do what you were taught, but without being distracted by what your eyes were seeing." Ryu started eating. "At least, that's how I do it anyway."

One of Sakura's eyebrows rose. Well that was confusing as hell. "You got any examples?" She took a bite out of her food, eyes widened. "Wow, this is good."

Ryu placed a hand on his chin, as if in thought. "Well, even though it works best with your eyes closed, you might want to consider just feeling things as they are. Don't put any good or bad to them, just observe. Then you don't have to be bothered by what you see or hear."

Karin looked toward Ryu, an eyebrow raised. "And your master taught you this?"

Ryu nodded, took another bite of his food. "Yeah, he did."

Sakura smiled. Well then. That was all there was to it, wasn't it? "Then it makes sense. We could always try that now."

Karin shook her head. "Food first, training later. I'm hungry."

Dear Kei-

It's been a while since I sent you my last letter. I sure hope you guys haven't forgotten about me, because I haven't forgotten about you! Are you and Akio all right over there? How are the other two stooges doing? I sure hope they haven't gotten themselves into trouble.

Anyways, we're here in India this time. And you will not believe what the first thing we saw was! I'm excited just from remembering the whole thing. Explaining it would take a whole different e-mail, so I'm just going to send you pictures instead. You are so gonna freak out at this.

So our teacher this time is a guy named Dhalsim. He's really powerful, but he's a pacifist. That's cool with me; I don't want to hurt anyone either. To be honest, I just play around when I fight; I don't compete with anyone. For the past few days or so we've been learning all kinda of ways to calm our minds and still our thoughts. You should see Karin; she's really improving these days!

Ryu doesn't seem to be doing any teaching this time, he's leaving it all in Dhalsim's hands. I figure that's a good idea in itself; this guy knows a lot. Then again, so does Ryu, and a lot of people that have lived longer than I have. I think everyone's got the potential to learn as much as I am right now; they just need to get out and do it.

I sure hope you're not lonely over there without me! That'd be a real shame. I'd be tempted to come back and comfort you, and I don't want to go back home just yet. Things are really getting interesting! Oh, and about Gouki… it doesn't look like he's followed us here. I don't know why, but it sure gives us time to learn what we need to. Don't worry; by the time this is over, we'll be a lot safer as we move along.

Tell Akio I said hi! Hope your studies are going okay!

Your best friend,

Kasugano Sakura

Round 35: Awakening the Senses

All right, that's it for this chapter. Nice and short, as the rest of 'em are. I'm trying to provide some reasonable and realistic improvement with every chapter, and I definitely hope it's working. I was working on this chapter originally as part of BA 34, but it felt out of place. Thus, here you have it. Munch on it for a bit and tell me what you think.

Namaste.