"You sleep well?" Katara asked, as Soma joined her at the table, "I heard you tossing and turning last night." "Really? Oh well… I had a weird dream last night," Soma said. "Really?" Katara asked, losing interest. "Yeah, wanna hear about it?" Soma asked. "No," Katara replied. "It was about that necklace I use to have… you know the one I told you I lost before I came to Konoha," Soma said, not really listening.
"Sure," Katara said, not knowing what she was talking about. "Anyway… in it there was this boy… his name was Gaara…" Soma said, leaning back in her chair. Katara flinched at the name but remained silent, 'I know him, but how?' she thought. "And he gave it to me… I asked him why… and he said, 'because you're my friend… and people should know it.' Every detail of the dream necklace was just like my real one… with the Sand Village symbol and… I think a giant sand raccoon on it," Soma said, leaning back in her chair.
"You have weird taste in jewellery," Katara laughed. "Hey! I liked that necklace… I still wondered what happened to it…" Soma said. "Wonder later, we've got training to do," Katara said, getting up. Soma groaned, "do we have to?" she asked. Katara shot her an icy glare. "Okay, okay I'm coming," Soma said, getting up as well.
Katara led Soma to a different spot than where they trained the other day. "I told Troah to meet us here," she said shortly. "Troah's going to train with us too?" Soma asked. "Yup… it'll be good for all of us to train together before the exams," Katara said. "Hey guys! Sorry I'm late," Troah said, running to them.
"You're not late, you're right on time," Soma laughed, "we just got here." "Well, that's good to know," Troah said, smiling, "so how's the Superstar doing?" "Stop calling me that!" Soma exclaimed. "She's having dreams about a boy…" Katara said, smiling evilly. "Really?" Troah asked, getting both hopeful and interested, "who?" "Why do you care?" Soma asked.
"Because I might know him and then I'll be able to tell if he's good enough for our Superstar," Troah said. "His name is Gaara… you heard of him?" Soma asked. "Nope… why?" Troah asked, feeling a little downhearted. "I'm just wondering if he's real… that's all," Soma replied. "Okay, so are we going to train today or stand around talking about a dream guy?" Katara asked, taking her fighting stance.
Soma smiled and took hers, Troah did as well. They formed a triangle, each one waiting for the other to make the first move. Katara lunged forward, aiming a punch at Troah. Soma also, lunged hoping to catch Katara off guard. Troah readied himself to block Katara and possible hit Soma as she passed.
Katara saw Soma's attack before she reached Troah; she baled out on Troah and charged Soma. Soma was ready for her attack, she was expecting it; she surprised both Katara and Troah when she blocked both Katara and Troah. "You're finally putting your heart into the game… you're finally trying," Katara said, smiling. "Well, if I didn't I would get hurt… and we have an audience," Soma said, smiling as she strained against both Katara and Troah.
Both Troah and Katara stopped attacking Soma and turned to see what she meant by an "audience". Lee, Neji and Tenten stood there with their sensei, almost surprised to see other people here. Their sensei, Gai-sensei smiled, "I see we have some guests," he said. Soma leaned over to Troah, "his eyebrows scare me," she whispered. Troah stifled a laugh.
Neji approached Katara, "get out of our spot," he said, glaring. "Bite me," Katara snarled, "I don't see your name here." Neji's glare got darker, "this is where we always train, leave, or I'll make you." "I'd like to see you try," Katara challenged. Soma and Troah stared wide-eyed; they then grabbed both her arms and began to drag her away.
"We're sorry about this," Troah apologized. "C'mon Katara, let's go train somewhere else," Soma said. Katara sighed, "fine… you know you guys don't have to drag me." "We just wanted to make sure the fight didn't go from just a few words… to just a few Jutsu's," Troah said, letting go of Katara's arm.
"You know that's a Hyuuga… right?" Troah asked, looking briefly over his shoulder. "Who's a Hyuuga?" Katara asked, "the guy I was arguing… no I just thought he had no pupils." "You're being sarcastic… aren't you?" Soma asked. "Of course, I'm not stupid," Katara said. "I never said you were," Soma said. "I didn't say you were!" Katara exclaimed.
"By the way… where's Anko-sensei?" Troah asked. "She's preparing an exam," Katara said. "She's one of the examiners this year?" Soma asked. "Dude… she's always been one of them," Katara said. Soma was silent for a minute, "you know… that guy Katara fought with was kinda cute… I've never seen him before." "Naw… I think the mini, bushy eyebrows is more your type," Katara laughed. Soma screamed, "You're evil!"
Katara suddenly came out of Soma's shadow. "You know… you shouldn't let your guard down. Since you blocked my attack, now it's my turn," Katara laughed, continuing her attack. Soma did some hand motions, "Thunder Tiger Jutsu," she muttered. The roar of the tiger warned Katara of what she was up to before it struck.
Katara dodged the Thunder Tiger, and struck Soma, sending her sprawling backwards. "You've got to be faster than that," Katara said, retaking her fighting stance. "So… we're just going to train right here… and now?" Troah asked. Soma managed to regain her footing without falling. She also retook her stance, "I guess so," she said, smiling.
They were training along the streets of Konoha, in the open where anyone could see them. With that in mind, Soma put all her heart into her attacks, not wanting to look weak. It was one thing when it was just herself, Katara and Troah, because they didn't really care if she tried or not. They knew that she was… strong in her own way. But she didn't want Genins from other villages to think she was weak.
The first thing Soma noticed while training along the streets was that Katara wasn't putting her all into her attacks. This greatly confused Soma, because Katara had always bugged her about putting her all in training. Troah was using his Taijutsu's, trying hard but also trying not to hurt them badly.
"Why aren't you trying?" Soma asked, after blocking an attack from Troah, "why aren't you being competitive and stuff?" Katara shrugged, "meh." She wouldn't tell Soma that she wanted to fool the people who were watching them. "You're always telling me to put my heart in my fighting and to actually try… so now I'm telling you… TRY DAMMIT!" Soma yelled, running forward with a punch.
Katara dodged the punch, pretending that it was just barely, "no," she said shortly, as she blocked another punch. A strange feeling came over her, she began to squeeze Soma's hand, digging her nails into it and bending it back. Soma winced, "Katara… what are you doing?" she asked, clenching her teeth in pain. Katara continued to squeeze, dig, and bend Soma's hand.
"Katara… you're hurting her stop," Troah said, in surprise. Soma continued to wince, biting her lip until it bled. "Katara!" Troah said, in alarm. Soma screamed in pain, feeling as if her wrist was about to snap. Soma's scream seemed to bring Katara back to reality. She looked down at Soma's wrist, "oh… OH!" she exclaimed, letting go.
Soma held her injured hand gently. "What the hell was that about?" she asked, checking to see if she could still move her hand. "I'm sorry… here, Troah, heal her… I'm gonna call it quits for today," Katara said. "Let's stop too," Troah suggested, fixing Soma's wrist. "Yeah… I'll see ya at home," Soma said, to Katara, "I have to pick up my song book and journal… I left them at the studio yesterday."