Author's Note: Hey everybody! How's everyone's school year goin'? Or are you one of the lucky ducks that have graduated and don't have to go to school yet? Well, I'm happy to say that T.W.W.o.D is nearing its one year anniversary. Pretty cool, huh? It will be one year old this October. I think I'll make art for it. Maybe. If I can find the time and ideas to make something, probably a wallpaper or an icon maybe… I dunno…gimme ideas! Oh, and I finally changed Neji's name so it's correct now. But he's still edgy! XD Happy reading!!
-Ryu

The Many Uses of a Sword

Ryu richly yawned as she woke up in her own bed. She scratched the back of her head and looked at Al and the newly named Raikera at the foot of her bed. Or on her feet, which were asleep, in Raikera's case. Ryu wiggled her toes and the tiger cub immediately jumped up and tried to pounce on the moving things underneath her. Ryu giggled as Raikera then pounced on Al, looking for someone to play with, and Ryu got out of he bed to start another day.

It had been one week since the completion of the preliminaries, and Ryu was already starting to feel better. Her ankle was healed and she could move her shoulder as much as she wanted; it just felt stiff. Her side was still sore though. She had nearly scared TenTen into fainting when she showed up for training one day without any bandages. Guy had sent her home saying there was no possible way she could be healed already.
The next day, after Neji had gotten a look at her, she was told she could train, but only for a certain number of hours under Guy's supervision. This did nothing for Ryu's mood, but she put up with it. She hadn't revealed the complete extent of her wind capabilities in the preliminaries, but she had with her Sound techniques. She had shyly asked Guy if she could on them, and was told she could, but only in her free time. Guy had already decided what her training schedule would be.

He wanted her to get used to using the basic ninja techniques, such as weaponry and taijustu, which still needed work. But he also wanted her to be prepared to face the worst of her opponents. So he decided it would be best for Ryu to train with her teammates to train her, since they each excelled in their own field. She would train with TenTen on Mondays and Tuesdays, Lee on Wednesdays, and Neji on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Of course Ryu had objected completely about training with Neji, but Guy said it was more then likely that she would be facing Hinata rather then Sakura so she should get used to fighting against the Hyuga style.

It was Monday morning, so Ryu was going to go to the training grounds to meet up with TenTen and work on her marksmanship. She was putting her hair up when there was a knock on the door. Al's food was waiting on the counter so she put that down before going to answer the door. It was Kiba, who looked a little surprised to either see her up and about or with her hair down.

"Uh… Hey," he said. "You're feeling better already?"

She nodded. "Uh-huh." She walked back inside. "Come on in."

He walked in with Akumaru right behind him. Raikera was suddenly in front of him, sniffing his feet while Ryu stuck her hair up in a messy ponytail. Al and Akumaru started to run around the apartment. Kiba walked over and sat down, and watched Ryu get out a bottle with milk in it from the refrigerator.

"What's that for?" he asked as he watched her get out a pan, fill it with water, and then put it on the stove to boil.

She put the bottle in the water. "It's Raikera's breakfast," she said. She sat down across from him. "So, what's up?"

Kiba shrugged. "Nothing. I just came by to see how you were doing," he said. He looked down at her ankle.

"It's only been a week. Are you sure you should be moving around without your crutch and sling?"

"Oh, Neji and one of the doctors checked me out. They both said everything was healed." she said as she suddenly realized she was hungry. She got up and started to root around for a box of cereal.

She turned to him. "Have you eaten?" she asked him.

"Yeah."

He looked down to see Raikera gnawing on his sandals. He tried to shake her off as Ryu started to eat her own breakfast. She looked up at him.

"So, why are you here? Shouldn't you be training with Kurenai right now?" she asked, trying to sound more inquisitive then rude. "I mean, you're in the final rounds, same as me, and Guy already has me working like a dog."

Kiba finally picked up the teething Raikera and stuck her own his lap. She then took to sucking on his thumb, which he didn't seem to mind.

"Kurenai gives us Mondays off. I was hoping we could do something today, but since Guy already has you training…" He let the sentence trail off.

Ryu frowned. "Sorry... It has been a while since we got to just hang out together…" she said. She finished her cereal and then went to check on the bottle.

The milk inside was pleasantly warm. She turned to feed Raikera but saw that she was already in Kiba's lap. She smiled as she got an idea.

"Do you want to feed her?" she asked, offering him the bottle. He looked up.

"Oh, sure…" He took the bottle and easily slid it into the tiger cub's mouth.

Ryu watched him feed her for a while; he was pretty good at it. Almost like he was taught how to feed a suckling animal. She started to clean up after herself, avoiding the playful Akumaru and Al. Akumaru stopped to paw her knees and lick her leg in greeting only to be pounced upon by Al in a mere three seconds. Ryu went back to Kiba.

"You're good at this," she remarked as he fed the tiger cub.

"Thanks," he said. He propped the cub onto his shoulder, and started to gentler pat her.

Raikera let out what seemed to be a burp. Ryu giggled, making Kiba smile. He handed Raikera over to her.

"Sometimes we have to help the mother dogs," he said to her. "I had to feed Akumaru this way when I first got him."

"Really?" Ryu said as she held the cub in her arms. She seemed to have settled down now that she was fed. "I'm doubting he ever acted like this one though."

Kiba laughed. "Well, no. But if you ever need help, let me know." he said.

Ryu put Raikera down on her bed, and grabbed her bag. Kiba got up from his seat.

"Sorry, Kiba, but I have to kick out," she said as she went to the door. "TenTen's expecting me at the training grounds in about fifteen minutes."

Kiba shrugged. "I understand. Akumaru!"

The puppy and Al followed both of them outside. Kiba saw Ryu set new watch to sound in three hours time. He already knew that was the alarm to go back and feed Raikera. They said their goodbyes and made promises to meet up and make plans somehow. Maybe a lunch at some point, but not until they both got time off from their senseis.

When Ryu got to the training grounds, she saw TenTen was already waiting for her. She looked around.

"Where are Neji, Lee, and Guy?" she asked as she saw they weren't around.

"They're off on a mission. It sounded pretty easy so they said we could train on our own." TenTen said as she gathered weapons up.

"Owowowowowowow!!!!!!" Lee howled as the cats seemed to swarm out of the alley like wasps to attack him. "Get these things off of me!!"

But Neji and Guy were dealing with their own animal problem: the neighborhood dogs. They had shown up to investigate the noise and they were hungry.

"So, let's get started." TenTen said as they both walked onto a field with targets off at various distances.

She put the bag down she was carrying and emptied it onto the ground. All manner of weapons poured out of it, including chain scythes, kunai knives, shuriken, daggers, and the like. A couple of hand weapons came out too like hand axes, a short sword, and the slim scabbard of a katana. She gestured to the pile.

"Pick out what you like and we'll get started," TenTen said. She herself picked up a few kunai knives, and started to toss them in the air.

Ryu surveyed the pile and picked a few things out; a couple of kunai knives, several shuriken, and then she picked up the katana scabbard. TenTen nodded at her choices and turned toward the targets.

"Have you ever done this before?" she asked Ryu. "Target practice, I mean."

Ryu thought a moment. "Mostly with my wind attacks, but nothing like this." she said. She looked at the shuriken in her hand, unsure about the entire training exercise.

"Alright, watch me," TenTen instructed. She flipped the kunai knife into her hand and then threw it.

It hit the target in the bull's-eye on the chest. It was quickly followed by every other kunai knife and shuriken TenTen had. Every single one hit the bull's-eye. Ryu felt a little intimidated by the whole demonstration. TenTen looked back at her.

"Now you try," she said. Ryu stepped forward, biting her lip.

She decided to try handling the knives like darts. She aimed the knife and threw it. It landed with a dull in the target's shin, nowhere near any of the vital areas she was supposed to be hitting. She looked over at TenTen, cringing over her embarrassment. She smiled at her.

"Don't worry about it; just keep trying." she said.

She did, and each knife landed in a different place then the last. There wasn't any consistency at all with her aim. TenTen kept encouraging her not to stop, and watched her aim with folded arms. She wasn't handling the knives properly; had she even learned this at all? After a few attempts landed in the dirt, she walked over to a frustrated Ryu.

"Okay, I'm going to show you something," she said. She picked up a kunai knife.

She held the knife so it hung against her palm, in the opposite direction she was going to throw it in.

"Try holding it like this,"

Ryu mimicked her hold, and watched TenTen swing the knife so she held it between her thumb and index finger. She copied and then watched TenTen bring her arm back, and throw the kunai knife like a Frisbee. The knife landed in the bulls-eye again, this time in the head. She looked at Ryu.

"Try that."

Ryu frowned. "I don't know TenTen, this really isn't as easy as you make it look…" she said, sounding discouraged.

"Just keep trying. I've been doing this for three years, remember? And you just started today. Don't be so hard on yourself." TenTen encouraged her.

Ryu continued to frown as she tried TenTen's throw. It seemed to work. The knives she threw landed in the same place on the dummy, just not near the target. Maybe if she raised her arm… She tried a few more times, and finally hit one of the target rings of the dummy. She nearly squealed.

"Did you see that?!" she cried, happy at her success. " I hit one of the circles!"

TenTen smiled. "Great. Keep working on that along with the shuriken."

A few hours passed by, between which Ryu ran back to the apartment to feed Raikera, and TenTen watched her progression quietly, handing out pointers and encouragement as she needed it. She was a little surprised how quickly she got the hang of it. She had started to hit the target a lot more often, and had even struck the bulls-eye more then once. At this rate, she'd have a good understanding of it all by the third week. After a while, the both of them decided it was time for a break.

Ryu sat underneath a tree, catching her breath and giving her arms a rest. TenTen got up.

"I'm going to get some lunch," she said as she brushed herself off. "What do you want?"

"Uh…" Ryu thought a moment. She then shrugged. "I kind of like anything. Just nothing too spicy."

"Okay."

TenTen nodded and went off towards the inner parts of the village. She's just go to Inchiraku's for some ramen to go. She wondered if Ryu liked pork in her soup. Ryu stared up into the tree leaves. Well, this was going to be an uneventful month if all she was going to do was train.

She started to think of what she could do on her own. After all, she could do a lot more stuff then what Guy was teaching her. There were the Akihara jutsus she could work on from her dad's journal, and the Sound techniques from her mother's notes along with the stuff Dr. Masuda taught her about spirits and summonings. If she was able to get all the research done and cram the practice time in, she could come up with a bunch of tricks and strategies for the final rounds. But first, I have to hit those darn bulls-eyes, she thought as she looked at the targets.

She got up and walked over to one of the dummies and pulled everything out of it. No use in wasting weapons when they were right in front of her. She tugged on a stubbornly embedded kunai knife, obviously from TenTen, and it flew from her grasp. She quickly air slid to catch it. Ryu stopped a moment as she looked at the knife. She had an idea.

TenTen came back with a plastic bag which contained two pork ramen containers, and some soda she had picked up at a store. Al was asleep underneath a tree, but she couldn't find Ryu where she had left her. Ryu then poked her head out of the bushes from where the training dummies were.

"Oh, good! You're back!" she said. "C'mere! Look what I figured out how to do!"

TenTen droped the soup and caffeine as gently as she could, and jogged over to see what she had done, or figured out how to do rather. Ryu was standing to hit the test dummy. She smiled, her usual energy pouring out of her.

"Watch this," she said. She picked up a few kunai knives and shuriken.

She started to air slide while throwing the knives and shuriken. But she was air sliding on the ground but in the air as well. She was moving around, and jumped so that it looked like she was being held up with invisible string. She was in the air, on her stomach and then sideways, looking like she was standing on invisible walls. She came down when she ran out of things to throw. TenTen was impressed by her dexterity, but was more impressed that she was able to hit the target the whole time she had been moving. She clapped excitedly.

"Wow! Ryu, that's so cool!" she said. Ryu smiled.

"Thanks! It's actually kind of fun, once you get the hang of it," she said, proud of her success. TenTen motioned back to where Al was.

"Come on, let's eat lunch. You can practice some more afterward," she said as she walked back.

"Okay. What's for lunch anyway?"

"Pork ramen from Ichiraku's."

"Ich-whatzit?"

Guy, Lee, and Neji came back just in time to see Ryu's throwing technique perfected. Lee and Guy cheered while Neji just nodded. The day was ended with a group training exercise, and Guy told Ryu he would be around to supervise tomorrow. Ryu got up the next morning prepared to practice with her technique a little bit, but also how to figure out how to use the sword she had picked up yesterday. TenTen had saved it for today.

Ryu actually bumped into Gaara on the walk over, who seemed as surprised as Kiba to see her up and about so quickly. She asked about Temari, who didn't seem to have Ryu's freaky healing abilities. She was stuck in bed on orders fro the doctor. Gaara told her he was stuck training with Konkuro and Baki, which didn't have much promise for new jutsu or techniques. She told him about her training schedule, and the both of them promised to try and meet up at the library the next time their books were due. Which reminded Ryu of a lot she had to do on her own…

She met up with TenTen and Guy at the normal training sight for target practice. Lee and Neji were practicing on their own on their individual specialties. Guy sat back and watched TenTen and Ryu work on their marksmanship. After a few rounds, Guy decided it was time for Ryu to work with the sword; Ryu smiled, she had been looking forward to this.

Guy pulled out two wooden swords out of the bag, and the smile disappeared.

"Uh… Guy?" she said. "I thought we were going to practice with real swords."

Guy looked at her, and then laughed. "Right at the beginning? Ha! No!" he said, He patted Ryu on the head. "Once I think you'll be ready to handle a sword without hurting yourself, then I'll give you the real thing."

Ryu quietly smoldered as Guy handed her the wooden sword. A wooden sword? A wooden sword?! Of all the-!! She wanted to chop something in half, darn it, not whack TenTen around with a hollow stick!

She handled the sword with an iron grip, determined to show Guy she could handle a real sword. He gave TenTen the all clear to attack her and they went at it. Guy watched with the eyes of a hawk; she was a natural at this. He was surprised. From what TenTen had told him yesterday, her progression had been quck, but her aim was mediocre.

But this was different; she was doing every block and thrust naturally, or at least that's what it looked like. From what the professor had told him, Ryu had no experience with a sword. It was after a few quick moves, that Ryu suddenly disarmed TenTen and was pointing the sword at her throat. Ryu smiled.

"I win!" she declared happily. TenTen stuck her tongue out teasingly.

"Nyah! Says you!"

Both girls ended up giggling at their remarks. Guy smiled.

"Alright, both of you. I want you to train three more times and then work on your marksmanship some more after that. I'm going to keep an eye on Neji and Lee," he said. With that, he left.

Ryu pouted as soon as he did. "Aw, come on!" she softly whined. "TenTen, you saw what I can do! I can handle a real sword!"

She folded her arms stubbornly. TenTen shrugged as she picked up her wooden sword.

"Guy just want to make sure you'll be ready, that's all. He doesn't want you to get hurt," she said. She pointed her sword at her friend. "It's all fun and games until someone loses a finger."

Ryu rolled her eyes as she got ready for TenTen's next move.

"I know… I know…" she said, familiar with the whole wait-until-you're-ready motive from Dr. Masuda. He had been the same way with her and tailing spirits and mediums.

Ryu and TenTen had a few more bouts, TenTen winning once, but that was because Ryu tripped on her own feet and fell into the bushes. She may have been a natural, but she was still a natural klutz. TenTen thought about that situation for a moment. If that had been a real battle, Ryu could of just pushed her away with her wind. She actually had it pretty good when it came to fighting, it all just depended on her state of mind at the moment of battle.

When Guy came back to check on them, they were back to target practice, just as he had instructed them.

"Hey," he said, getting their attention. "It's time for lunch. Are you coming or staying?"

TenTen heard her stomach growl impatiently. "Uh… I'm coming!" she said.

Ryu looked at her watch. "Yeah, but I'm going back to my apartment," she said. "I've got to feed Raikera.

Guy nodded and they left for lunch as Ryu went her own way to feed Raikera. The trouble with Raikera was that she started to chew on whatever she could grab when she got hungry. So far, Ryu's extra pair of flip-flops had disappeared and the wooden chairs were taking a beating. She put Al's food down first when she got to the apartment and then fed Raikera. She had immediately pounced on her sandals as soon as she came in.

The little needles were starting to turn into incisors and canines so Ryu was going to have to break her of her habit of chewing on people's clothing. She would also have to come up with something else to feed her. Maybe hamburger meat or something… She ate a sandwich for her own lunch and then went back to the training grounds.

It seemed she was early when she saw that no one was there when she got back. She walked around the training ground for a while, Al following her around where ever she went. She went back to the target dummies and worked on her throwing technique. It was after all of this that she noticed that Guy had left all the equipment lying on the ground, including the swords that she and TenTen were supposed to practice with once he determined she could handle it. Ryu grinned wickedly; she would only take a peek.

She walked over and picked the scabbard up. She unsheathed the katana, immediately mesmerized by the high-pitched hum the blade made when drawn. She handled it with care, the metal singing as it was moved. She fell completely in love with the sound it was making, the sharp sound of something she couldn't identify that made it. She swung it gently, listening more to the sound it made when it moved then working on her technique.

She did this for quite some time, measuring the pitch and notes of the sword's movements. She was figuring out which movements made which sounds, loving everything about it. She wondered if she could somehow make it louder, like she did with her Siren Scream technique.

"Ryu!!"

The sudden noise her name made nearly made her drop the sword. Ryu spun around to see TenTen coming through the bushes.

"What are you doing?!" she whispered savagely. "Guy said to wait!"

"I know!" Ryu whispered back. "I just wanted to look at it!"

"Ugh! When Guy says not to do something, you're really not supposed to do it! What if you get caught?!"

"Well, is he here?!" Ryu asked, still whispering. TenTen shook her head.

"No, him and the other guys are still at lunch."

"Oh. So, why are we whispering?"

TenTen blinked. "I… really don't know…"

She sighed. "So, if you're done looking at it, put it back!"

Ryu fidgeted, not letting go of the sword. TenTen gave her a stern look.

"Ryu…"

"I know!" she lightly snapped at her. "But… It makes such a nice sound!"

TenTen cocked her head in curiosity. "…Sound?"

Ryu nodded. "Yeah, it sounds really pretty. Here, listen."

She moved the sword around in the air, the metallic sound vibrating. TenTen listened, but didn't seem as enamoured of it as Ryu was. She did smile though. Ryu smiled back.

"So? What do you think?" she asked.

"I think that was nice, but really, put it back!"

Ryu looked at her stubbornly. "TenTen, seriously, you're worrying too much. I just want to try something and then I'll put it back," she said trying to reassure her. TenTen folded her arms.

"That's what you said before!"

"Just one second!"

"Ryu!!! You're going to get us into so much trouble!!!"

"So, then go watch for Guy if you're so worried!!"

"Oh, fine!"

TenTen jumped over the bushes to keep an eye out for Guy. She looked back at Ryu.

"I'm only doing this so you don't get hit!" she said. Ryu waved her off.

"Don't worry, I'll be quick."

Ryu looked at the sword. She held it up in front of her, studying the sound. If this worked like her Siren Scream did, then this would be easy. But how could she gather chakra in a place that wasn't in her body. She thought for a moment, and decided to try gathering chakra in her hands, and then try to channel it into the sword. She concentrated and felt the energy stirring, flowing toward her hands, and the connect with the sword. She put more chakra into it, trying to fill with as much as she could, like her Scream. It felt like a water balloon that was too full, ready to burst at any second. She held it bac, concentrating as hard as she could.

"Oh, hi, Guy-sensei!!" she suddenly heard TenTen say pretty loudly.

The sound made her jump, breaking her hold on the chakra. It burst out, magnifying the sound of the sword the same way it did with her Scream. The metallic note sang across the field, slicing the dummy in front of her in half.

Silence.

"What was that?" she heard Guy say.

Ryu started to panic, scrambling towards the sword's scabbard. She had just gotten to it, and was bending over to pick it up when she saw Guy's sandals in her face. She looked up.

"Uh… Hi, Guy…" she said, trying not to sound too guilty.

He frowned. "Ryu, what were you doing?" he asked seriously.

"Um…"

He swiped the sword from her with speed she'd never seen before. She fell into a sitting position from the swift movement. She could see Lee, Neji, and TenTen behind the bushes, TenTen looking pretty worried and the others just watching.

"Ryu, I asked what you were doing," he repeated.

Ryu shifted. "I was… trying to do something with the sword…" she admitted.

I am so dead…she thought as she looked at the ground. He looked at the sword and then looked at her.

"Did that have something to do with the sound I heard?"

"Yes…"

He sighed. "Alright, show me what you did."

She looked up at him, surprised. "You… What?"

He motioned for her to get up. "Show me what you did."

She got up and looked over at hr teammates. TenTen shrugged. Guy held the sword out to her and she gingerly took it from him. She then held the sword out in front of her like she did before and concentrated. She noticed it was easier then before, and let it go.

The sound sung as before and cut another slice in the dummy in front of her. Guy noticed this. He looked at her.

"Interesting…" he said while rubbing his chin. "How did you do that?"

"Um… I focused all my chakra into my hands and then I put it into the sword. Then I let it go." she explained. She was still a bit nervous about her breaking the rule.

Guy sighed once more. "Ryu, I'm glad you were able to make something like that, but you still broke one of the rules." He said. Ryu cringed. "I want you to go with Lee and do 5,000 punches in a row."

Ryu thought she might fall over. Five thousand punches? She'd end up breaking her hands if she tried to do all that! She sighed, and turned to go. Guy grabbed her shoulder.

"I'm not done yet,' he said. "After you're done with the punches, I want you to come back here and practice that technique some more. But after that, that technique is forbidden to you."

This snapped Ryu out of her sullen state. "What?! But-! Guy!!"

"It's forbidden! So stop whining and get to those punches!" he ordered.

Ryu gaped at him. "But-!"

"Ryu!"

She turned, frustration and anger boiling inside her, and went with Lee to try to do those punches. But she was more angry with herself then with Guy. Why hadn't she listened to TenTen? Lee looked at Ryu, the emotions running through her made clear through her eyes.

"Ryu," he said. She looked at him, frowning.

"Um… Just because Guy says that a technique is forbidden doesn't actually mean you can never use it again," he said. He tried not to fidget. He really wasn't supposed to be telling her this.

Ryu looked at him, puzzled. "What do you mean?" she asked him.

"Well, when Guy says something like that, he usually forbid the technique except under certain circumstances." he said.

"Like what?"

Lee shrugged. "It's different with every technique. You'll just have to see." He said.

Ryu groaned. "If I can see! Five thousand punches! How am I going to do all that! I'll end up breaking my hands!!" she moaned. Lee smiled at her.

"Guy-sensei said that you had to do five thousand punches. He didn't say if I coud help you or not."

Ryu smiled back at him. "Thanks Lee," she said. He smartly saluted her.

"Glad to help!"

Kba knocked on Ryu's door later that night.

"It's open!" he heard shout from within.

He walked in to find Ryu lying down on her couch. He noticed that she was starting to accumulate more furniture as she stayed in the village. He then noticed all the tape on her hands. He went over to her.

"What happened?" he asked. Akumaru whined.

"Oh, I got in trouble. Guy made me do five thousand punches." She said.

"In a row?!"

"In a row."

Akumaru scrambled onto the couch and started to lick Ryu's bandaged hands. There wasn't much room for him as Raikera was sprawled over her legs and Al was hanging over her stomach. Akumaru was able to maneuver himself so that he was around Ryu's shoulders. He whined once more and turned to lick her face. She giggled.

"I'm okay Akumaru. My hands just hurt." She said.

Kiba folded his arms. How badly had she hurt her hands? More importantly, what had Guy been thinking when he asked her to do that?

"What did you do?" he asked her. She sighed.

"Well, I decided that I was going to practice a little with swords, so Guy brought some wooden ones for me and TenTen to practice with. Then we all went for lunch, and when I came back, no one was around. So I thought I'd try something with one of the real swords." she explained, sounding pretty sorry.

"And let me guess, he caught you?" he said.

"Uh-huh." She let her head rest against the cushion.

Kiba stood up from his squat. "Have you been able to eat?" he asked her.

She shook her head. Kiba walked over to her fridge and found what looked like left-overs from yesterday. He got a plate out and made her some food. He then walked back over with it all. He picked up some rice with chopsticks.

"Open wide," he said, smiling. Ryu smiled back.

"Just like old times, huh?" she said jokingly.

"Yup. Old times…"

She giggled and then opened her mouth for him to feed her.