R & R longer note at the end

The grey haired girl climbed the stone steps of the nearby shrine in search of an answer, she had awoken that day with the plans on surprising her girlfriend with a nice shopping trip and a meal at her favourite café to celebrate her mid-term test results. She had been pleasantly surprised to find she had finally achieved her goal of getting the highest score in her class, she had bent forward splashing water on her face in an attempt to rid herself of the lingering feelings of sleep.

As she had raised her head she had looked in the mirror, her light blue eyes widened in shock as she looked at the reflection in the mirror, she assumed she had been seeing things as if it was some kind of dream. The reflection in the mirror was not her own, the person staring back at her had red eyes with long light blue hair she seemed to be wearing a kimono the girl had recognised as her own but it couldn't be.

She had felt something strange begin to happen as the mirror in front of her seemed to begin cracking in front of her eyes as the temperature suddenly dropped, the next thing she remembered was her blonde haired girlfriend running into the bathroom her eyes full of concern as the girl had gone more pale than usual.

She shook her head from the memory as she finally reached the top of the stairs feeling slightly out of breath, she looked up as a smile began to form on her lips at the sight of the large shrine she had always liked it here the peaceful surroundings, the pleasant aura that it gave off.

Slowly she looked down as she was met with the sight of a young girl with short green hair staring at her, she wore a black top that flowed to her thighs covered over by an orange jacket. The girl stood still watching as the grey haired girl slowly walked forward, she could feel no hostility as she locked eyes with the strange girl who stayed silent.

"Hello" the grey haired girl said "My name is Yumi, I was looking for…"

"The lady is expecting you" the girl said "As soon as the other two guests arrive I will take you to her". Yumi tilted her head slightly feeling confused, when she had arrived there had been no one else around, she turned as she heard the sounds of voices coming up the stairs behind her. As they reached the top she smiled a little recognising the two girls who seemed to be locked into a competition with each other as usual.

"See? I was faster up the stairs than you" the tanned girl with black hair said with a smug look, her white t-shirt and blue ripped denim jeans hugged her curvaceous body as the white haired girl glared back at her wearing a grey tank top with a purple zipped jacket, her long legs were covered with a pair of black jeans

"You must be mistaken" she responded as she stood trying to catch her breath "I was clearly the faster of us".

"You two never change" Yumi said with a chuckle the two girls turned towards her as their eyes softened a little "Good to see you both Homura and Miyabi". The three girls smiled as they exchanged greetings before hearing someone clearing their throat as they turned to face the green haired girl.

"If your quite finished" she said turning "It would be impolite to keep her lady waiting any longer than you have, follow me". Without another word the green haired girl walked toward the shrine with the three girls following closely behind.

XXX

The trio followed the green haired girl as she led them into the back of the shrine, none of them spoke as they passed by the different rooms before stopping the green haired girl turned to face them all as she slid the door open showing them inside, the three girls walked in stopping in the centre of the room as they knelt down bowing to the young black haired girl sat cross legged sipping her tea.

"Raise your heads" she said with a smile as the three looked up their hands on their knees as they looked at the girl in front of them "For anyone to visit me then it must be something important so how about we start with some tea? Naraku if you would". The green haired girl nodded as she left returning a few moments later with a tray placing a cup of tea in front of each girl.

"So who would like to begin?" the three girls looked to each other before Homura moved forward "Ok, Homura first". The tanned girl lowered her head as she thought for a moment on how to explain her situation, the room remained quiet as Miyabi and Yumi sipped their tea.

"I was in the middle of my morning training regime" Homura began as everyone listened intently "Everything was as it normally would go, I practised without my shinobi armour and then I would change and practise with my shinobi armour, that was when things turned odd. I've been practising a new move and when I coated my swords with my flames it was like I couldn't control them anymore the flames came back at me but it was weird I didn't feel them burning me but I didn't know what to do after I dropped from my shinobi armour the feeling and flames disappeared". The young girl listened intently as she sipped her tea before moving forward as she slowly took Homura's hand running her fingers across the girl's palm before closing it into a fist, she moved back as she smiled before turning her gaze to Miyabi.

"Would you like to go next?" the white haired girl looked confused as Homura slowly moved back wondering what exactly had just happened, slowly Miyabi moved forward as she took a deep breath before speaking.

"I was meditating in the mountains" Miyabi began "It's always peaceful up there and it helps to clear my mind of all distractions, when I am deep in meditation I sometimes see my guardian spirits of the black crow and white serpent. This time however something happened that has never happened before, as the guardians began to form they seemed to merge together, the crow's wings split into six, one half dyed black the other white. The next thing I know they were flying right at me I was able to pull myself back from the meditation before anything happened but I didn't understand why it had happened". Once again the girl nodded while sipping her tea before repeating the action with Miyabi she had done with Homura before turning her attention to Yumi who moved forward.

"This morning I was in my bathroom getting ready for the day" Yumi began as the others looked on "At first I assumed I was dreaming when I washed my face and looked into the mirror, the reflection staring back at me was not my own. I remember the cold red eyes staring at me, long light blue hair but she was wearing my shinobi armour. The temperature of the room dropped suddenly as the mirror began to crack, I don't remember much after that I must have yelled or called out because someone had entered to check on me". The small girl placed her tea down as she checked Yumi's palm the same as she had with the others smiling as the grey haired girl moved back, the three sat patiently waiting for the girl to collect her thoughts.

XXX

"Have any of you ever heard of ascension?" the small girl asked as the three slowly shook their heads, the girl smiled as she slowly stood up taking a step back before turning to the green haired girl next to her "Should anything happen, your duty is to step in". Naraku nodded as the black haired girl looked to the three in front of her who all looked confused and concerned, with a smile she began to speak once more.

"Every now and again shinobi with an exceptionally strong power begin to change, as you see me now is just the first stage" she began as the girls looked on still feeling confused, the girl closed her eyes as the atmosphere in the room began to change.

A charged energy seemed to fill the air as a red aura began to encircle the small girl in front of them her small frame suddenly vanished being replaced with the form of a long haired adult female, her white long shirt was replaced with a black dress, her usually bare feet where covered over with black shoes. As she opened her eyes the three girls recoiled a little from the ruthless glint in her eyes, they had only ever heard of Lady Kagura's immense strength not once believing they would ever see it face to face.

"This is what you might call my ascended form" she said her voice deeper than before as she looked over the three girls in front of her "The things you saw, witnessed and felt are all signs of your upcoming ascension. It's nothing to fear it is just the natural course of shinobi who like you have gained exceptional power, in order to achieve your ascensions then you must continue to train until your body is ready to accept the new found power. Now go, train alone or with each other but know this, the ascended form is not to be taken lightly, make sure you are ready to control and wield such power". As the three nodded and bowed the black haired woman let out a breath, her body returning to its smaller frame as she fell backwards into Naraku's arms.

"Her lady needs rest" the green haired girl said as she gently carried the girl out, the three remained trying to process the events that had just unfolded and the information they had received.

Since Yumi is still out of it due to her fight with Asuka I thought why don't we have a little backstory into how the others learned of their ascension. Sorry for the long dialogue but don't worry, we'll get back to the action soon enough just got to make sure we are all on the same page with a few things