The Lost Flower of the Hidden Leaf (WIP - On Hiatus)

Chapter Five; How to meet in the space between

The only thing Katana heard was silence. The blindfold stripped her from her sight, but she'd learned how to rely on her other senses a long time ago. Some of the other girls at the okiya still struggled with the training, but not Katana. She excelled.
A sudden footstep behind her caught her attention. It was heavy. Too heavy and made with purpose. A distraction. Which meant... Katana spun around and parried the kunai attack with her sword. She dove and hit her opponent with her leg. He tumbled down and disappeared with a loud poof. Something hard fell to the ground — a block of wood. Substitution Jutsu. Another distraction.

Katana stayed down, her leg extended and perfectly aligned with her sword. She listened. Footsteps broke the silence again. Less heavy. A woman rushed toward her with amazing speed. And the same treads from before resonated on her left.
She planted the tip of her sword firmly on the ground and leaped over the blade, taking it with her in her spin. The shuriken hidden in her sleeve flew off, hitting the woman with a soft thud and drawing a gasp from her.

Katana landed right behind her second adversary, who was forced to a stop as she quickly pivoted on one foot. She moved her weapon overhead, intending to strike. That's when her opponent made a mistake. He raised his arms to block Katana's strike, but it never came. At least, not from above. 
The sword dropped from Katana's hand. She caught it nimbly with her other hand and cut right through her opponent's suit as she slashed the blade back with a flick of her wrist. She heard an outcry from pain and smelled a distinct rusty scent. First blood was spilled. The match was over.
Or it should have been.

The screeching crackle of a thousand birds flying toward her nearly deafened her. Katana knew what it was and what it would do if it hit her. Without ninjutsu-prowess and only her sword to defend herself with, Katana did the only thing she could. She ran.
The Jutsu had to hit something for it to vanish. So, Katana had to ensure that happened and that she wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. She made a quick calculation and threw her sword. It plunged itself into the wall she was speeding toward. The vibrations of the impact reached her. She was closer than she could have hoped for and instantly jumped on the hilt of her sword. It gave way, giving Katana the thrust she needed to leap backwards into the air.
The sound of the birds was just beneath her. She could feel the lightning's heat. So her third adversary had to be... There! Katana attached the paper bomb to the man's vest. A first blast propelled her away as the awesome Jutsu hit the wall, but Katana still landed on her feet. She dropped to one knee and prepared herself for a counter-attack in case her ploy failed. Then a second blast echoed through the room, filling it with smoke. The woman she fought before screamed. And then... 

"Nah, did you have to ruin the vest? It's my favorite one."

Katana grinned at the male voice. She removed her blindfold and looked at the masked man standing near the wrecked wall. His headband was slightly askew, covering the left side of his face and his ever-present Sharingan. Kakashi Hatake, the Copy Cat Ninja, stood with the ruined clothing piece in hand. Despite barely touching him, Kakashi must've still noticed the paper bomb Katana put on him and had quickly taken the vest off before it detonated. He came out of this training session unscathed, as Katana had expected. The others, however...

"Kurenai, Iruka, are you all right?" she asked.

The shuriken clattered to the ground as Kurenai pulled them out of her shoulder. 

"The force in the throw stung me a moment, but I'm good," said the red-eyed, black-haired kunoichi who had the sense of padding her vest, so the blades hadn't penetrated. "Can't say the same for Iruka."

The Academy teacher groaned as Kurenai kneeled beside him. Even though Katana only slashed across his chest with the tip of her sword, the blade still left a nasty gash. Luckily, it didn't appear to be too deep.