Chakra Basics [Academy Class]

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

Another day, another academy class. She had recently already performed a chakra basics class before, but a new wave of students had emerged from beyond the shroud and it was Nozomi's turn to perform yet another class like this. The path to being a shinobi was a difficult one, so the basics needed to be hammered into the youth to turn them into strong, dependable shinobi. Unlike the last class, she won't be going through the basics of handseal structure, but this time she will be going through Chakra Control. Her podium was replaced by a 3 foot tall pool of water the size of several barrels strapped together in a honey-comb shape. Her rifle rested upon the dry erase board, yes she had the board upgraded since the chalk dust bothered her, with her name and the title of the class written upon the board. Her hat and parka were removed and placed upon a chair, leaving behind a tight blue sweater with a single breast plate covering the left side of her chest.

The point of this class was to learn how to manipulate your chakra to stay afloat upon the water. This was an assumed technique that people just magically learn on their own, but she is going to give whomever shows up a head-start on learning to manipulate their chakra in this manner. Not only that, but she is also going to teach them how to cling onto walls and even ceilings with this; thus the classroom had been emptied out to perform this feat. There were no chairs nor desks in the room so there is no pen-and-paper instruction for this class; everything is to be practical -- just the way she liked it.

WC: 290
Total: 290 / 1500
Posts: 1/5​

 

[Kagetsu Ren]

Ren hadn't even reached the classroom yet and already his stomach was churning. Yet again the clan had 'insisted' he take more classes at the Academy on top of the rigorous group training done at home. As much as he disliked it, at the very least he was somewhat adjusted to making a fool of himself at home. Doing that in front of a classroom full of strangers was gut twisting. Not that it'd even be the first time. There was a very good reason this was his second year after all.

He shuffled in only after some others had gone in despite arriving early, taking a spot that he hoped would be discrete and help avoid the teacher noticing him and picking him out to do anything in front of the crowd. Just from looking around the room he could tell what the exercise was going to be: the water walking technique. There was no doubt he'd fail utterly at it if or when his turn came around. Chakra control was at the top of his list of worst shinobi skills. Ren had to be the only shinobi in the history of ever to hurt himself just by gathering chakra. This horrible prickling started in his arms and got so bad he lost his focus, whatever energy he was trying to gather was lost. If he ever admitted it he had little doubt he'd be kicked from the academy or maybe even the clan for his worthlessness. No, that was silly. He was just tired of disappointing the clan. And himself.

When he spotted the teacher he honestly didn't know what to make of her. She didn't look all that old and nothing particularly popped out at him about her -- other than her weapon she left near the board! Was that a gun? And why did she bring it to the lesson? Would they be fired out while trying to water walk? Suddenly Ren felt a cold sweat break out as he ducked ever so slightly to remain even more out of view as he pulled his hoodie more tightly over his head.

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

Only one notable student this time around as opposed to the 3 students from last time. She is really going to have to address this to the head of the academy. She watched as each of the students walked in, turning her eyes towards the silver-haired child that came through. She had eyes like a hawk so her ability to find and track targets came pretty easily for her -- comes with the job of being a sniper. She noticed he was staring at the massive weapon resting upon the white-board and the look of despair. The school bell rang and Nozomi snapped out of her gaze and looked around at the skimpy-sized class this time around. "Good morning class. My name is Kanagawa Nozomi and I will be your instructor for today. The lesson we are going to be learning is water-walking and wall-walking. Both rely on a similar premise of focusing chakra down at your feet. As simple as that may sound, for the uninitiated it might be quite difficult. Normally shinobi don't learn this technique until they are early Genin, but I will be giving you all a head-start and teaching you how to do this technique while you are in the academy," she said before turning her eyes back towards the silver-haired child.

"Don't worry, that weapon will not be used against you. It's only there because I never leave home without it," she said. She knows how it feels to have someone turn a weapon on someone you care about with the threat of murder for failing. That was the biggest turning point in her life and she would never subject any student or child to that. Everyone is bound to make failures and they shouldn't be subjected to mental distress for making mistakes. Certainly, some people might react under pressure and work better with something as negatively stimulating as that, but that isn't something she is going to be embracing as an instructor in the academy.

She turned her eyes away from Ren for a moment and turned around and took a step onto the wall behind her with a shimmering green light appearing beneath her feet. She started to walk on the wall as if it were normal. None of her clothing shifted and there didn't seem to be any sagging of her body from the difference in weight distribution. She continued up the wall until she started to walk on the ceiling. Her hair reacted to gravity and nothing else. She continued to walk on the ceiling until she found herself directly above Ren, eyeballing him.

"As you can see, with enough practice, something like this can become second nature. Building it up into your Chakra-Muscle Memory will make it seem like it turns on automatically depending on your surrounding. This is a must-have skill in order to become a strong shinobi," she said as she released the grip from the ceiling, falling down towards Ren only to quickly upright herself and alter her falling-path to land just in front of the child. She now stood directly in front of him and hooked a finger at him, as if to tell him to approach the wall. Afterward, she turned her back to the child and returned to the wall.

She waited for him to arrive before she began her explanation. "Doing this isn't much different than molding chakra to use a jutsu. Instead of focusing chakra into your hands, you focus a small portion of your chakra to your feet. It's actually super simple to do. All you have to do is concentrate the chakra to the bottom of your feet. Try it," she said as she held a hand out, presenting that it was his turn.​

WC: 624
Total: 290+624= 914 / 1500
Posts: 2/5

Make sure you post your word count!

 

[Kagetsu Ren]

Despite his reluctance to actually be part of this lesson he didn't have any intent on trying to avoid the work or not paying attention. He had very little faith he could actually perform the techniques being put into practice but that wasn't an excuse to not even try. Hell, if he didn't do even that much his family really would have no reason to believe he was worth anything. He did his best to keep his eyes forward as the bell rang, trying to both stand up straight but not too straight in case it made his head pop up too high.

When the instructor began to speak it was made clear that his assumptions were right. This really was going to be that whole wall/walking exercise. She even admitted it wasn't something most academy students were use to doing but she still insisted on doing it. At the very least he could assure himself that he was unlikely to be the only screw up. Plenty of kids had poor chakra control and those who didn't stood out already.

Ren wasn't almost something akin to calm when suddenly the teacher caught his eye and, as if spotting that uncomfortable glance earlier, comforted him in front of the entire class that it wasn't going to be used during this lesson. Immediately his pale face began to burn red, his posture slumping as he grabbed his hood and pulled it more over his head to hide the horrible flush of embarrassment clearly written on his face. Did she really have to do that?! He probably would have forgotten the moment the lesson got started. The expectations he held for the lesson were somehow managing to nose dive even further!

With his eyes covered up by his hood, there was no way for him to see as the teacher began to show off her own ability to walk up the wall and even across the ceiling. It would have amazed Ren if he'd been paying attention. It wasn't until the teacher's voice came from right above him did he look up, confusion quickly turning to awe and then into surprise as a moment after her explanation she let her grip on the ceiling go to fall back to the floor. He of course flinched in surprise, taking a step back even as she managed to land perfectly in front of him without the space. He was a bit shaken now, blinking his pale eyes rapidly at her as he realized that she was paying very explicit attention to him.

For a moment he was merely stunned by her stunt and confused by the amount of attention he was getting despite his best efforts. It wasn't until a few moments had passed that her intent suddenly came to him. She wanted him to start off the lesson?! Crap, crap, he was being put front and center in front of everyone to try and fail at this alone! He forced himself to walk forward instead of shrinking away, keeping his head down and

hoping nobody would recognize him as he made a fool of himself.

When she spoke he gave her his undivided attention, hoping that something would snap into place with yet another explanation. It didn't. She spoke carefully and clearly was trying to help but hearing 'it was just like performing a jutsu' when he couldn't even weave together a simple technique without the pain in his arms flaring up -- he had little doubt it'd just be the same with his feet. He gulped and nodded to her, looking away towards the wall as she presented it. Suddenly it looked three times taller than it had a moment before. Ren gulped, his heart pumping in his ears as he tried to force himself to just do it. The only thing worse than failing was looking like a coward in front of everyone!

Carefully the young Kagetsu put his hands together, forming the tiger seal as he tried to push his chakra to his feet and shuddered as an uncomfortable pinching and poking flowed down with the path of the chakra. He was right! He knew he couldn't do it, not like this. The sound of some of the other children whispering to each other light a fire under him despite his despair. He had to try! Even if he went right off the wall then at least he tried! With all the chakra his poor little self could muster focused in his soles he took one step back before charging the wall, just managing to slam one foot into the wall at the right angle to begin his ascent.

When gravity didn't immediately make him go tumbling down, it filled him with a surge of joy. One step, two, three, he was charging up the wall! The thrill of success was quickly drowned out by pain though as the feeling got worse and worse, feeling like it was tearing into his heels now. Despite his best efforts he felt his concentration break and chakra stop flowing smoothly. He braced himself for the sudden fall only to find himself dangling upside down, his clothes and hair dragged down by gravity as his right foot clung stubbornly to the wall without chakra. His eyes watered from the pain that'd gone and crept up his legs, his right practically burning from the agony as it stayed stuck fast. He was worried he would be stuck like this right up until the pain shot out of his body -- and suddenly he had no support at all, going tumbling down and landing on his back with a groan.

Wh-What in the world had that been about?! Dizzily he stared up at the ceiling, trying to put together what in the world that'd been about. His leg felt fine now if not a bit... colder. He managed to sit up straight, crossing his legs and looking at the heel of his sandal. Somehow he'd managed to punch a hole in it! Wuh -- had he really focused his chakra that badly?! He looked up and felt a rock fall into his stomach as he realized that he'd also managed to put a hole in the wall from where he'd been dangling. He looked over to the teacher, looking ready to cry as his eyes gave her a most genuine silent apology.

Word Count: 1,063

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

"Hold your head up!" Nozomi shouted in a demanding manner. Her eyes showed that she meant what she said and that she wouldn't take any flak about it. It was her lack of confidence that got her twin sister killed and she would not tolerate the same lack of confidence from her students. Just simply seeing the lack of self-confidence was enough to sour her mood. "Whether you succeed or fail at this exercise is irrelevant. It is what you take away from this is what is important. The general knowledge on how to control your chakra is more important that succeeding this task. You can care about success once you have become a shinobi. For now, as a student, your job is to learn," she said bluntly.

She turned her head towards the other students. "There shouldn't be anyone making fun of someone failing this task. You will all be on the same team, so it will be your job to help each other out. Failure to help your team will result in death when you become a ninja; remember this," she said as she warned the other children before focusing her attention back on Ren. The boy had a strange way to start his ascent up the wall and, almost like magic, the boy seemed to cling to the wall. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave an approving nod. Whether he passed or failed was irrelevant; what mattered was that he had the knowledge of how to perform this rather complex technique. An obvious look of pain shot through the child's face before he fell onto the ground with a loud thud.

Nozomi walked over to Ren and knelt down with a bright smile upon her face. She was pleased at the boy's work and ruffled his hair as she sat up. "See? Nothing to worry about. Should've used the pool to break your fall though," she said hooking her thumb behind her to the tall pool. She turned to look at the hole in the wall and then to the child, something strange about this one; a very powerful chakra hold. This wasn't something a normal student was capable of doing. The source of this power was unknown to her but it was something she'd like to explore. The sniper stood up and held out a hand for Ren to take, to assist him getting up. After helping the boy up, she pat his clothes down to bat away the dust.

"Very good. Most children your age, myself included, would have just smacked their faces into the wall. The fact that you were able to do it on your first try means you have promise," she said loudly and confidently so the whole class could hear. She closed the gap between the two of them and whispered into Ren's ear. "You need to practice your chakra control if it's causing you great pain. I'll teach you how to control that if you need to," she said before moving back and turned to look towards the rest of the class. Not wanting to be outdone, the rest of the faceless students walked up and took their turn at climbing the wall, Nozomi instructing each of the students with custom critiques. Of all the students, more than half was just unable to perform this quite yet. She addressed the class, ensuring them that it wasn't succeeding that was important and that this is a skill that could be developed over time -- even quicker now that they had the knowledge on how to do it.

"Now for the second part of the lesson," she said as she walked over to the tall pool and stepped up onto it, using the same wall-walking ability until she took a step into the water. She remained still even if the water seemed to ripple and wave due to her disturbing the placidity of the standing pool. She stood upon the water for a moment before stepping down onto the ground with the soles of her feet remaining dry.

"Much like walking on the walls or the ceiling, you need to channel your chakra down into the soles of your feet. However, due to the shift movements of the water, your chakra will have to adjust for the movement of the water, which can be a little frustrating to work out at first, but apply the same principles as you did with the wall and ceiling and you all should be fine.
Besides, if you fail, you'll just get wet," she said with a bit of a shrug. A finger was pointed towards Ren as Nozomi volunteered him to go first.​

WC: 779
Total: 914 + 779 = 1693 / 1500
Posts: 3/5

 

[Kagetsu Ren]

Somehow the teacher didn't seem upset or disappointed in him. She gave him a gentle smile and even playfully ruffled his hair, assuring him that he'd done very well even as he felt like a complete failure. Most of his cousins were able to get this technique down by the time they were half a year into the academy. This was year two and he still couldn't do it. Even her comfort had a small edge to it as she pointed out he'd had a much better place to fall onto if he'd been able to make the effort. Typical of him.

When she leaned in and whispered to him, he couldn't help but tense up. Had it been that obvious? If she could tell then who else might have been able to pick up on it? She offered to help him but he kept silent, keeping his head down and move away from the wall to make room for the rest of the now eager students. As he stood to the side the teacher's harsh, blunt words echoed in his head. Perhaps it wasn't all that bad. It'd been a better outcome than any other time he'd so much as attempted this. Eventually he lifted his head to watch the others only to have to hide a smile as he saw most of them not even get a foot on the wall. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

That confidence evaporated when next they gathered around the pool for the next step. His through felt dry and tight as he watched her confidently step out onto the water and explain the process. This was, without a doubt, -not- a simple technique to pull off. He wasn't even sure his cousins his age could pull it off correctly. And just like the first time around he was singled out to be the one to start as an example. He gulped but stepped forward with more haste than last time, not wanting another angry outburst from his sensei again.

Like before he formed a seal to help focus his chakra and just like before the pains returned. He tried to ignore them as he stepped out onto the water. Unfortunately his output was far from adequate and instead of his foot stopping on the surface of the water, he lurched as if he'd missed a step going down the stairs as his foot only managed to repel the water under the surface. At that point his ability to properly focus and repel the water was lost and given that he'd practically tripped on his first step it was inevitable that he'd go careening headfirst into the water.

Quickly he reoriented himself and swam back up to the surface, looking even moodier as he pulled himself out of the water if only because his soaking wet clothes and hair dragged down on him. The look of shame from before was missing, replaced with a grim acceptance. He hadn't had a hope of actually performing this technique, he'd been truly certain about that. Something can't be disappointing if you never had expectations after all. He didn't even seem bugged by the water that much as he took his place back with the other students.

Word Count: 541

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

Splash! Ren took a dip into the pool, clumsily fumbling around without properly performing the task. The slip and splash caused Nozomi to wince a little bit as she witnessed what happened. "Well, I did say it wasn't as simple right?" Nozomi said with a little chuckle. After Ren's folly, he was followed up by folly after folly with not a single other student managing to hold themselves above water. There were a few that only prolonged their sinking before going 'plunk' into the water. After everyone had finished, Nozomi was now surrounded by a bunch of sopping-wet children. "Don't take today as a failure, but I do want you all to eventually practice this at home. This isn't exactly an easy task and I did ask for a lot out of you guys. But, from what I've seen from you all, you all did exceptionally well -- considering how difficult this technique is. I didn't successfully perform this technique until well into my Genin years. So don't take failure in this lesson too seriously," she said as the school bell rang.

Nozomi turned her head upwards to hear the bell and sighed outwardly. "Class is dismissed. But I want you all to go home and practice the wall walking, ceiling walking, and water walking. Just make sure you practice those on a safe height and depth. Take care now!" she said as she waved lightly to the class. After her pleasantries, she turned her head towards Ren and stared at him. "You, stay behind," she demanded. The children started to pour out of the class leaving only Ren behind. She walked to one of the supply closets in the classroom and retrieved a clean towel, draping it over his shoulders.

"I'm a sniper who has killed many people. The only way I was able to do that is because of my keen sense of sight. Using that, I was able to see that you were in an intense amount of pain when you tried to perform that technique. Care to explain what is causing you to have so much pain when trying to mold chakra?" she asked with a demanding tone in her voice. While she doesn't think chakra use is 100% necessary for shinobi to have, it was quite worrying that something like this would cause actual pain to a potential shinobi; worse yet, one of her own students. This wasn't, exactly, something she was used to seeing so it was something that piqued her interest. Something that rare interested her and also worried her. Maybe this is something she'd have to get Kahako, or even the new Medical Ninja, Maikeru to solve.​

WC: 444
Total: 1693 + 444 = 2137 / 1500
Posts: 4/5

 

[Kagetsu Ren]

Ren felt positively drained despite how short the lesson actually was. It wasn't a small amount of chakra he'd poured out for either of those techniques and the weight of the water on his clothes was probably making him feel even more lethargic. He let out a soft sigh of relief when the bell finally rang and the teacher dismissed all of them. Only for her to look towards him and sternly tell him to stay. His heart fell into his gut. What? Why was she making him stay? Was this about the wall or what she'd whispered before? He shuffled uncomfortably on the spot, starting to shiver a bit from the cold water dripping down every inch of him.

When she brought him a towel he wrapped it around himself tightly, glancing up at her sheepishly only to look back down at his feet when she began to speak. Clearly this was a follow up from her whispering before. He didn't know how to answer her. Hell, even if he did he wasn't sure he wanted to. A shinobi who couldn't even gather their chakra without pain -- that was a disgrace. If he told her then she might tell the clan. No way they'd trust him to actually graduate at that point. At the same time it was hard to hold his tongue under his sensei's stern gaze. Ever so slowly he looked up, gulping audibly before speaking for the first time since coming to class.

"I-It hurts. Like it's stabbing me from the inside. Wherever I gather the chakra."

He looked ready to cry again. He didn't know what was wrong with him. Was he sick or just untalented? Was he a freak? Cursed? He looked to her with pleading eyes, praying she'd somehow understand what was so off about him.

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

So there was pain whenever he gathered chakra, huh? Perhaps there was something wrong with his chakra circulatory system? That wasn't exactly something she was too aware of and didn't really know much about. She only knew of the existence of the Chakra Circulatory System, but the ins-and-outs of it was still something completely foreign to her. Perhaps having a Hyuuga look into it was probably for the best. Due to that being beyond her depth, there was one thing that should could do to help this child. There was confusion in the child's eyes and the look of helplessness. Her only response to this was a big grin. "Well, if your chakra control is causing you pain, then we'll have to shift your focus onto something you CAN do that doesn't cause you too much pain," she said as she knelt down in front of the child and fished out a knife from her boot and handed it to him.

"If controlling Chakra causes you too much pain, then there is always Taijutsu. It's my specialty. Take this," she said as she placed the weapon upon his chest, placing the flat of the blade onto him, almost forcing him to take the weapon. "I will give you this to practice with. I will be holding a Taijutsu class in a week so learn to use this on your own until then, understand?" Nozomi said with a reassuring smile before standing up. She held a hand out and ruffled his sopping wet hair once again. "Even if you have troubles using chakra, we'll still make you into a powerful shinobi. Understand? Now go and play. But I expect to see you in my taijutsu class next week," she said as she stood up and started to look at the hole in the wall made by the student she just gave a knife to and looked at it in curious thought.​

WC: 319
Total: 2137 + 319 = 2456 / 1500
Posts: 5/5

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[Kagetsu Ren]

Ren was fully expecting to hear bad news. That there was something wrong with him, that he'd have to get it checked out, that he couldn't be a shinobi if that was the case. He was so afraid of everything going wrong because someone had realized this. Instead she simply smiled at him and told him to try something else instead. Ren blinked half formed tears out of his eyes, clearly shocked by her optimism as he couldn't help but mutter, "Wh-What?"

When she pushed the flat of the knife against his chest he was somewhat hesitant, wide eyed if only because she'd drawn the weapon so suddenly. He... hadn't thought of this before. It was an unavoidable fact that not being able to manipulate his chakra right would make him a less than masterful ninja but taijutsu was both a potential alternative and something his clan held in some regard.

He couldn't help but look up at her in awe as she showed her apparent belief in him and the news that she'd be teaching taijutsu the next week. He found his eyes watering against for a different reason, trying to hold back a goofy smile and keep what little shred of pride he had left even when she went and ruffled his soaking wet hair.

"Thank you, sensei! I'll try hard, I swear!" he assured her, bowing his head down in respect before straightening up and hurrying out the door. It was the first time in a long time he'd left a lesson feeling this hopeful even if the class itself hadn't gone all that well. He had a whole week to practice on his own at him before the lesson and he had it in his mind to try and make the sensei proud.

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