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Face hidden by the hood of her black robes, Asherah poked her head out of the hole that she had dug in the desert sand. This hole, or self dug cavern, serves as her home for now. Something thin flickered from the concealment of her hood before retreating back. Suddenly, seeming to think of something, Asherah fully emerged from her den. Walking through the sands she acted as if she was following something, or someone, somewhere. Leaving behind unusual foot prints as she walked, the same thin objected flickered out of and back in her hood every so often. Like clockwork Asherah seemed to slightly change direction every time this happened.

Eventually Asherah came upon a structure of some kind. She wasn't sure exactly what it was but as she drew close her amber eyes spotted persons around it, and moving in and out of it. Asherah wasn't really sure what was going on but there were a lot of smaller persons separated into different places doing different things. Some were running in wide circles while a bigger person watched and said things every now and then. There was another group throwing pointy, dark, and shiny objects at really short trees. They were also being watched and spoke at by a bigger person. Lastly there were others hitting and feet hitting some really small trees. They were also being watched by a bigger person who spoke to them about something every so often.

Asherah stared at the large number of persons from behind a fence as they went about their business. Not quite understanding what the persons were doing, or why, her confusion kept her amber gaze fixed on them for quite some time. Somehow it seemed that one of the bigger persons picked up on her gazed and turned her way. Asherah instinctively dropped low to the ground and froze. Keeping completely still, however, wasn't working. The bigger person was walking straight towards her now. Now, her "fight or flight" response kicked in. Asherah's choice, like many creatures, was to flee. Running as fast as her claw-toed feet could carry her, Asherah could not move quickly enough. The bigger person had easily caught up with her. The person grabbed her by the back of her robe, causing Asherah to freeze where she stood.

"Who are you? State your name." The words the big person said didn't register with Asherah. Therefore she was silent. "I asked for your name!" She didn't understand the big person but she could sense the irritation from him. After a moment or two, a second big person appeared. "What's up?" "Caught this person spying from behind the fence." Now, yet another big person appeared on the scene. This one, however, Asherah seemed to recognize. "Is that so?" The pony-tailed blonde spoke, shining them a innocent looking, yet eerie smile. "Akio! What are you? Do you know this person?" "Yes. She's my daughter, and I suggest you let her go." Finding herself free Asherah took off in the opposite direction. Turning to look at Akio the two larger persons found themselves alone. "I'm just gonna pretend none of this happened." "Yea, yea that's a good idea." With that the two bigger persons returned to their duties.

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Notwen woke up with a gasp. The center of his forehead throbbed painfully and he was filled with an inconceivable sense of loss.
Could that dream have been true? he thought to himself. As the dark-skinned boy sat up on his padded floor mat, a soft jingling came from his chest. A key and ring hung from a thin thread tied around Notwen's neck. The metal felt cool against his bare skin.

With a yawn, Notwen extended his arms while arching his back in the usual morning stretches. Once his muscles were no longer cramped and flexed freely, the dark-skinned boy walked quietly from his room to the bathroom, so as to not wake his grandfather. He flicked the light switch, which illuminated the space in a soft, yellow glow and went inside. The bathroom was roomy. There was an adequate gap between the walls and lavatory fixtures. The bath tub was tucked nicely against the far wall, the toilet was a few feet away, and the wash basin was across from it and three feet to the right. Directly across the room from the wash basin was a full body mirror, in front of which now stood Notwen.

The dark-skinned boy stood at five feet and nine inches. He had dyed his hair blonde because he didn't want to look like Novvus, his twin brother, who had been sent to Water Country to fulfill some training. Notwen's gaze went lower, where a soft white scarf hid a sizable lump in the center of his forehead from view and also helped keep his hair up. He pushed up the scarf to reveal that the lump and a good part of his forehead was covered in tattoos. A closer look revealed that a thin slit ran horizontally over the center of the lump. Notwen frowned. He had had it since the day he was born, and it had grown continuously over the years. It had caused him to be made fun of by the kids at the academy until he had forced them to respect him through hard work.

Lowering his gaze further, Notwen looked at his face; his own hazel eyes, slightly rounded nose, and thin lips. His upper body muscles were finely toned, his arms were strong and slender from archery training, and his leg muscles were well developed due to his proficiency in Taekwon-do. Notwen finished looking over himself, turned around and proceeded to brush his teeth. Once done rinsing and gargling, he walked over to the bathtub and removed his clothes. Notwen turned on the water so it was a bit hotter than warm, then stepped into the soothing spray. Ten minutes later he turned off the water, stepped out of the tub onto the furry shower mat, and began drying himself with his blue towel. Once he was dry, Notwen girded himself with the towel and walked back to his room.

Warm sunlight was now coming through the square window by the dark-skinned boy's bed. Notwen walked over to to his chest of drawers and pulled open the one containing his boxers. He removed a pair, closed the drawer, and pulled it on under his towel. When the underwear was up most of the way, Notwen dropped the towel and finished adjusting the garment. Next, he walked over to the night table and pulled a drawer in it open. He extracted a mesh undershirt and two mesh arm bands. Notwen placed them all over the night table and toed the drawer shut. Walking over to the open closet, he took a vest with the village insignia and a pair of pants from a hanger, as well as a custom taekwondo belt and a matching scarf from from the shelf above.

Dumping the rest of the clothes on the bed, Notwen stared at what he had to work with. An idea formed in his head and he began to dress. When he was done putting on the clothes, Notwen had the mesh shirt underneath the vest, one mesh armband on his right forearm and the other over his left upper arm, the pants were held up by the red-and-black taekwondo belt, and the matching scarf was tied around his forehead, covering the lump at its center from view. Notwen sat on the bed, reached under and pulled out his hunting boots. They were shin-high, flexible, durable, heat-resistant, and fireproof. He had gotten them as a birthday present last year from his grandmother before she passed away a few months ago.

Notwen laced them on in revered silence, relishing her memory and the happiness it brought. He walked around to the closet once more and retrieved his hunting bow and quiver, which he also received with his boots. With all that he needed for the day in his possession, Notwen left his room and walked to the kitchen where he beheld his granfather reading the day's newspaper while drinking a glass of what he recognized was a glass of onion-banana juice. Notwen grimaced.
"Grandpa Pathik, don't you ever get tired of drinking that stuff?" he asked, going into the fridge to see what he could glean. He found a few bananas that had escaped the old man's grasp and quickly stowed them in his pockets.
"It helps in cleansing the chakras. You should know this by now." responded the bearded bald man, who happily picked up his glass and sipped the drink. Notwen had to agree with him though, if it had not been for the drink's influence, he would never had mastered the seven chakras to the degree he had. The dark-skinned boy half-hugged his grandfather.
"Grandpa, i'm off. Tell grandpa Dharo i said i'll be back later to learn a new technique!" said Notwen as he headed out of the front door.
"Will do, my son! Take care!" said the bald bearded man from behind his newspaper.

Now outside, Notwen looked up. The sun was out over the hidden sand village, which brought the temperature a bit higher. The dry wind carried grains of sand from the surrounding desert and deposited them in the street with a faint hiss. He waited for a few minutes, then grumbled to himself,
"Where's Chiyoko? She's always running late..."

Novvus almost didn't notice Chiyoko dash past him in her mad dash to get to school, and would have stayed where he was had he not heard the albino girl's voice.
"Hey, wait!" shouted Notwen as he began to run after her. She was surprisingly fast, but he caught up to her in a few seconds. "Well good morning to you, too." said the dark-skinned boy in a jokingly sarcastic manner. "What did you have for breakfast today, an army of chickens?" He knew that Chiyoko could put away vast amounts of food from watching her at lunch time. Notwen himself ate quite a lot for someone his size. He remembered a time a few years ago when his grandparents took him to an all you can eat joint. When they left, Notwen was restricted to a few plates per outing since the tab was out of this world.

A turn they needed to make was coming up fast. The dark-skinned blonde jumped onto the wall of the opposite corner and kept running on the wall as he waited for Chiyoko to make the turn and catch up. When the albino girl did, he asked,
"So how's your little brother doing? I ran into him while i was on the astral plane last night. He seemed to be pretty happy." As he dashed on the wall, the Academy hove into view around the bend.

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Notwen found it amusing that Chiyoko responded without turning her head to face him like she usually would. It brought a smile to his face.
Heh, she must be using her byakugan right now, he deduced mentally. The albino girl began to chastise him about criticizing women's eating habits when he knew that everyone needed to eat to restore chakra. He laughed out loud to stop himself from saying, "That's what an Akimich would say." He would never hear the end of it if that was the case. Upon the dark-skinned blonde's inquiry about her little brother, Chiyoko sighed and regretfully stated that he was stuck in the house, and that the only time she had to spend with him was when she was asleep.

She was silent the rest of the way to the Academy and Notwen respected it by not bringing up further conversation. He knew that Chiyoko must miss him terribly, and wished that he could help her. Then an idea struck him.
What if i teach Chiyoko the art of Astral Projection with grandpa Pathik's help! he thought as they walked into the complex of squat buildings. Once the albino girl entered the room, jeering taunts erupted all over the place. Chiyoko ignored them, but Notwen could tell that slowly they were starting to get to her. "Everyone shut up, or you'll have me to deal with!" shouted the dark-haired blonde over the noise. The room grew quiet as the other kids noticed his presence. "Who gave you all the right to look down on others when you know none of you are close to being perfect." Notwen turned to the sensei. "Ashitaka-sensei, i apologize for our lateness and my rudeness." he said bowing, then went to his seat.

A couple of minutes went by and Chiyoko returned to the front of the room and called him over. At first he had a puzzled look on his face, then it was replaced with realization when he remembered that he and Chiyoko were supposed to instruct the junior class on chakra control. Notwen got the chart paper from the supply closet and hurried over to the front of the room. He was in the middle of drawing a diagram of the Eight Celestial Gates when his keen ears picked up whisperings about Chiyoko killing her little brother. He was going to intervene as well but saw that the albino kunoichi and the sensei had it covered.
"Hey Sensei, why don't we make Ash here our practice dummy? I'm sure Chiyoko will be...gentle in our demonstration." Notwen was hoping the sensei would catch the gist of the joke, which he did.
"Yes, that sounds appropriate." he said, to the dismay of the boy whose ear he gripped. "No son of mine is going to get away from a mess he makes without cleaning it up first!" He pulled the boy out of his chair by the ear and dragged him to the front of the room, much to the mirth of the class. "Okay, you may begin the presentation." said Ashitaka-sensei motioning for Chiyoko to start.

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As Chiyoko crippled the poor boy's chakra flow, Notwen activated his fully-developed Sharingan through half-closed eyes. His hazel eyes turned crimson and three black tomoe formed on the iris of both eyes. He watched the boy's chakra stop flowing into his left arm. The dark-skinned blonde immediately recognized the technique she had used on him a few times when he had teased her about her eating habits.
Aw man! I feel sorry for him. Whatever he has to do next won't be pretty. he thought, taking pity on the youngster

The albino kunoichi commanded him to turn into one of the cute girls of the class, but before he had the chance to completely finish weaving the necessary seals Chiyoko hit a pressure point which disrupted his chakra flow further. There was a burst of gray smoke. When it cleared, there was a hideous version of the girl standing in the front of the class. This was met by laughter from everyone in the class. The transformed boy blushed and began to cry. Apparently he was not used to being the object of ridicule. Ashitaka-sensei saw that the joke had gone a bit too far and ordered that his son be turned back. Chiyoko faked not knowing how to do it, and said that the boy would remain like that for a long time.
"Well," said Notwen after the laughter had subsided a bit, "that's what happens when you have poor chakra control. Ash, you may return to your seat." The disfigured boy returned to his seat and put his head down over his desk. "Chiyo-san, let's continue the lesson without anymore mishaps." said the dark-skinned blonde, his eyes now back to their original hazel color.

[203/100 Lines]

For the next hour, Notwen helped Chiyoko with their presentation by flipping the charts whenever she needed to go to the following page, or jogging her memory when it failed her at times. Notwen was impressed by the albino kunoichi's extensive knowledge on the subject, and how well she worded each of her statements to make it easier for the younger kids to understand. He smiled and thought,
She could be an academy teacher if she wanted... For that whole hour the only sound that could be heard was furious scribbling in twenty or so notebooks. Near the end of the period, Ash's transformation wore off, revealing his true image once more. A few minutes later the school bell rang and apparently all of the students filed out of the classroom. Notwen turned to face Chiyoko and congratulate her on her effort when a familiar voice from behind caused him to turn around.

"Umm...could you...please finish the lesson? I'm sorry about what I said earlier..." The dark-skinned-blonde was surprised to see that Ash was still in the classroom. His voice was tinged with so much shame that Notwen started to feel sorry for him. Chiyoko seemed to warm up to him and offered to tutor him hands-on. She placed her hand on the shoulder she had damaged earlier and repaired as much of the damage she could, which was about 95%. Then she requested that they all(herself, Notwen, and Ashitaka-sensei) teach Ash a few pointers. Ashitaka agreed with a nod, and Notwen smiled.
"Sure, but let me warn you. The chakra i was trained to manipulate is very hard to grasp. I'm willing to teach you how to deal with the first one."

As they walked to the training grounds, Notwen began to get a persistent prickly feeling, as if he were being watched. The dark-skinned blonde tried to look back inconspicuously but only caught a swift movement down the hall that he could have mistaken for a student. Shrugging off the feeling he proceeded to the training grounds with the others.

[243/100 Lines]

As they reached the clearing that led to the training grounds, Notwen noticed Chiyoko approach Ashitaka-sensei and say something to him. A few seconds later Ashitaka walked up to Notwen and relayed the albino kunoichi's message.
So there was someone following us... thought the dark-skinned blonde, berating himself for not being more attentive to his surroundings. As Chiyoko told their stalker to show themselves, Notwen got in front of the teacher and assumed a defensive stance. "At least he lost the element of surprise. We'll handle this guy, whoever he is-" A cackling laugh coming from the roof cut him off. Notwen whirled around just in time to see a chain-and-ball wrap around Ashitaka, who was suddenly yanked back with amazing force. "Sensei!" cried Notwen and unsheathed his bow. He knelt down to one knee and placed his right hand flat against the sandy ground. "Youton Creation: Melting Arrow!" With a burst of heat and chakra from his palm, the dark-skinned blonde created an arrow composed of sandstone.

Ashitaka was now being pulled up from the base of a nearby wall up to the roof, and was currently half-way up. Notwen notched the arrow and sighted. His keen eyes, trained in the art of hunting small desert animals, were able to lock on to the thin chain. He pulled back on the bowstring and released it with a resounding twang. The arrow soared true and truck the chain, but instead of piercing through the chain, it collapsed and coated the immediate chain links in superheated sandstone. The metal stretched and broke away, causing Ashitaka to fall to the ground with a bewildered look on his face. The dark-skinned blonde quickly sheathed his bow in the quiver and ran toward his sensei. After freeing the man from the chain, he said,
"Sensei, take your son and go!" The man nodded, ran back to meet his son, then ran away from the scene. Notwen watched them go until they were a safe distance away.
"Tch!" The sound caused the dark-skinned blonde to turn around and look up at the roof. There stood a completely bandaged man with jet-black long hair and an animal skin sash looking at the damage that had been done to his weapon. A sand village forehead protector hung frm his belt, and Notwen could see the ragged gash that defaced the country's insignia. "You little bugger! You'll pay for lettin' my quarry escape!" said the man in a voice that made a shiver run up Notwen's spine. The man spoke with a rasping dialect that made it sound like he had a severe case of throat cancer, as well as a British accent. Notwen shook the sensation off and eyed the mysterious man wearily.
"As if i'd let some random mummy come out of nowhere and try to make off with my teacher!" Placing his hands in his pockets, the dark-skinned blonde assumed his battle stance. "Chiyo-san, it looks like this guy has a few issues that need to be dealt with. Let's give him nothing, but take from him everything."

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