Same Old Procedure[Tutor]

[Nanjirou Soku]

It was a rather dull day in this side of town today. Soku had decided to take on yet another pupil today and see what experiences she could retain from this one. The Captain was still on edge slightly glancing down at the empty alleyway she was in. She had sent an ANBU member to summon the young student and hoped he would be able to find her in this darkened side street. It wasn't too hard being stationed next to presumably what was the biggest ramen shop the village had to offer. She was dressed in the standard white cloak signifying her rank within the branch and a mask to conceal her features though one thing would be off for anyone who knew her well. One of her arms seemed to be missing and the sleeve of her cloak dangled uselessly at her side. Her other arm though was fully intact resting on the hilt of a small sword which was strapped to her waist. She was still getting used to performing with one limb short so perhaps this lesson, she wouldn't push herself as far as she usually did. The haunting details of that incident still echoed fresh in her mind which was a scary thought to comprehend.

"Let's hope they're on time." She muttered to herself leaning against the wall. She had set up three wooden training posts to serve in this lesson and all three of them would come into use for this lesson. Soku believed in a more practical, hands-on approach when it came to nurturing the future generation and the very thought of sitting down in a boring classroom and listening to an instructor drone on for centuries was torture to her. That was what the Academy was for, to teach you the ethics and morals of being a shinobi. It was the duty of the higher-ups to provide those in the village with the means and the techniques needed to be an exceptional shinobi.
Not even for the most skilled of shinobi. That way of thinking had endured her until now and she wasn't about to go back on it now. She glanced at the sun again nodding a bit to herself. "3 minutes.." She said more to herself tapping her foot as the time drew on.

PC: 1/5
WC: 384/1500

 

[Kira]

Being a student and learning in the academy classroom was one thing, but being summoned through the use of anbu was something rather intimidating. All Kira knew was she being assigned a tutor due to her own request. It was not significantly difficult to find the young student as she was just taking normal classes within the academy. Leaving the building with an Anbu member left Kira with mixed emotions of worry and awe all whilst wondering to herself if she had done anything of recent that could warrant punishment. Needless to say nothing came to mind as she followed the anbu escort to the desired location.

After being escorted through a busy street and dropped off in an alley way next to a ramen shop, the anbu member that escorted her did not hesitate to quickly disappear after fulfilling their assignment. Peering down the darkened side street Kira was extremely apprehensive about walking down places she had no idea where they led too. Her piercing blue eyes laid eyes on the white cloaked figure that seemed to be the only other person within the alley way with her.

Slowly sliding her hand down the outer section of her thigh, Kira placed her hand over the pouch that she usually had wrapped around her leg contained the dull kunai and shuriken that she used for practice during the academy sessions. Apprehensive as she was, she still crept forward from the edge of the busy street deeper into the darkened side street. Kira was still summoned by someone but not knowing whether this was the person could be dangerous, but considering the closer she got the sound of tapping could be heard from the ground.

"Are you the person that summoned me?" Kira posed this question as she got closer wondering whether the masked figure clad in white was supposed to be her tutor.

WC- 313/1500

 

[Nanjirou Soku]

The voice broke through the dead silence in the alleyway as the aspiring student reached the destination posing the question to the Captain who made no effort to reply. Instead, Soku merely tilted her head looking the young student up and down as if analyzing something through that mask of hers before nodding to herself. "That would be correct. I do apologize for the...odd circumstances in which you were summoned but I tend to operate in a very secretive nature if that has not been already established." She moved from her leaning position on the wall gesturing towards the three training posts that had been planted as the Captain spoke. "As you can see, the purpose of today's little endeavor will be more practical, perhaps to give you a taste of the real world but before that, I like to know who I'm interacting with so I think introductions are in order." Not that she hadn't pulled the student's file from the Academy already but a piece of parchment only told you so much. A document could be forged, altered and destroyed. To really know a person, they had to speak for themselves. "Your name, why you want to become a shinobi and a flaw of yours. I'll start with myself." She allowed a few seconds of silence for any sudden questions before continuing. "My name is Nanjirou Soku, ANBU Captain of Konohagakure and I have become a shinobi of this fine village to give myself an a mindset that I am doing something in life with my own effort rather than always relying on other people and to safeguard those I call family. My flaw consists of one simple word..failure. A failure at the gates which allowed a rogue shinobi to go free due to my lack of dedication."

She decided not to expand on the incident but she spoke from the heart. Her failure to put the village first instead pushing her personal interest in front had cost them and she had witnessed what that could lead to. She nodded at the girl beckoning her to start. "Your turn and be as honest as you can. Fear not, anything you say here will not be heard by anyone except the both of us." She had heard a lot of stories over the years and each one was different.. Everyone had one regardless of age, rank or any demographic they held in life. It was there, you just had to dig to find it. "Do not feel compelled to answer, everything here is done in a democratic fashion. I will not hold anything against you as long as you have a good reason but my senses tell that you went to the effort of answering my summons so you must be interested in some regard."

PC: 2/5
WC: 850/1500

 

[Kira]

It was hard to read this person, however the slight tilt of the head and inability to see a face made it very hard forKkira to get a grasp of what said being was doing. Thankfully, despite it not even being for her benefit the mystery person now identified as Nanjirou Soku. The young students eyes widened with awe as it was now acquired knowledge that it was an anbu captain that summoned her and decided to tutor her, whether it be this once or for the foreseeable future Kira was just glad that someone of such stature to her would take their time to teach her. Seeing that her tutor was Anbu captain and the anbu tend to be fairly secretive, seeing that her lesson was in an alley way only now made sense to her. Everything had a reasoning behind it.

As Kira listened to Nanijiou as they introduced themselves, the young student could hear the pain in her voice as she stated her flaw. 'Failure.' To anyone failure was scary but to her tutor it seemed to carry a heavier burden. It was now her turn to talk, and honestly she did not know what to say. She wanted to become a ninja as she thought it would connect with the memory of her late grandmother, she also thought that she would be able to find out as to the whereabouts of her estranged parents. To Kira it was not a question of why, it was more of need. She needed to become a konouchi so she could find her own answers to her problem. "I.." clenching her fist before continuing. "I have things that I want to find out and the only way is for me to do it is to become a shinobi of the village." Whilst she stated her words firmly if one looked into her eyes they would get an inkling that there also seemed to be an underlying message beneath the words she spoke. A brief pause as the academy student began to think about what her flaw was. She knew she was not perfect, but this was the first time someone had ever asked what her flaw was. "I guess, it would have to my inability to do anything for the people I care about." a small tear came to her eyes however before they could begin to stream down the side of her cheeks she steeled herself. "That is my biggest flaw."


WC: 715/1500

 

[Nanjirou Soku]

She nodded silently at the words eyeing the student with a sort of interest. It was true.. each had their own goals and every student was different. "You have taken the first few steps toward becoming a shinobi by having a passion to learn and for that, I compliment you but everyone has inabilities. Here is where that will be tested, to see if you can adapt and learn to work with or even overcome your flaw." She pointed at each of the three dummies in quick succession. "These will come in handy during our lesson. We will practice three different styles during our lesson today as I am sure your Academy instructors should have taught you. Ninjutsu, the manipulation of chakra to form into elements to deal harm to your enemies or to aid your allies. Genjutsu.. the ability to control the mind and lure it into a false sense of reality by attacking the senses and finally..taijutus..the use of physical means to overwhelm your foe." Soku was keen to find out what style this student was adept in and from there, they could work on expanding that base. It was how she had been trained and that way, they could also be made aware of any weak points. No shinobi was perfect but their abilites was what defined them so they were here to find just what this young girl could do.

"I will demonstrate each on a dummy and I want you to copy my steps exactly then perform it. Remember, the first attempt is not always perfect and remember to relax your mind and let your chakra do the work, do not overburden yourself or else the results could be...deadly.". She started with the first dummy going through the hand signs first at a moderate speed so the student could memorize them before finally performing the jutsu."Water Whip!" A long strand of water formed between her fingers bubbling and liquidy in nature eventually taking on the form of a whip which she cast at the dummy. Her face locked onto the faceless training post as she thrust the whip at it, the whip striking the wooden training dummy as several cracks appeared along the training dummy She gestured to Kira."Remember, relax your mind and focus. I just used a very basic Water Style Ninjutsu. Yours could be different but remember, relax your mind and focus on the goal at hand. The chakra will handle the rest. Now, let us see you perform."

PC: 3/5
WC: 1266/1500

 

[Kira]

Nodding in agreement, "Yes we have learned things about ninjustu, genjustu and taijutsu during lessons, but they were all theory, especially ninjutsu and elements." Watching what Soku was doing, Kira stood in awe at the jutsu in front of her very eyes. The young student was in shock at how much damage the one jutsu had done to the dummy. With her tutor finishing her demonstration it was now time for Kira to stand up and perform. She did not really know what she was doing but, she had the rough idea. Keep her mind clear, focus and follow the hand signs that nanjiro soku had just performed.Taking a deep breath, calming herself and focused on targeting the slightly battered dummy, Kira imitated the hand signs that she could recall from earlier. Believing to be done, she expented to feel something at the edge of her fingers, instead she felt something hot bubble up inside her chest. Exhaling outwards Kira had released a ball of fire towards the dummy that had previously been whipped by Soku. Realising that she did not do the same thing has her tutor, Kira felt as if she had done something wrong. Trying again, she weaved the same hand signs and proceeded to instinctively breathe in and exhale resulting in another fireball being released albeit as tad smaller than the previous one.

Looking towards Soku, Kira exclaimed "I cant do the water whip. why? Everytime I do the signs I feel a hot sensation in my chest that I need to get rid of." Being in the presence of someone fairly high in the hierarchy of the village she felt as if she had just wasted their entire time as she could even imitate a simple jutsu just executed right in front of her. "Am I doing something wrong?" Looking towards Soku in hope she would have the answer to what she were doing wrong.

PC: 3/5
TWC: 1035

 

[Nanjirou Soku]

She watched quietly as the student went to work on the first dummy and the result was different, not that she was surprised in the slightest. No person would be the exact same though it was quite entertaining to watch the reaction as she struggled to imitate the Water Style the Captain has just performed. She held a hand up to indicate she had seen enough glacning towards the burns Kira had placed on the dummy. Practice was needed for sure but it was a promising start. "Relax and remember what I told you before we started this excercise. Your's may be different, not everyone is able to master every element to it's fullest. Each shinobi is attuned to a different element and are able to perform that more over others as portrayed here. It seems your chakra is more attuned to the Fire Style which is not a bad thing at all." Fire was a very destructive element and was rather portrayed in someone strong of will or had gone through some stuff in their life..that was a pattern she kept seeing. This was going to be an interesting lesson for sure.

"The instructions were to relax and let your chakra do the rest, I never specfically said you had to copy my Water Whip, just allow your chakra to do the rest. With time as you progress, more elements will come with ease to you naturally but for now, I think we will stick with Fire as you demostrated in a most excellent matter."Soku said eyeing the charred dummy with a sort of pained look. If that had been a shinobi, they would have been hurting at the very least. She walked over to the second dummy giving it a solid punch watching it shudder as she turned back to Kira. "Taijutsu, the use of physical attacks. Most shinobi rely too much on their ninjutsu and forget to hone their basic fighting skills which leads to to them getting in perilous situations. I just want to observe how you would approach this in a practical manner. Imagine ninjutsu is not an option, show me how you would punch, kick, any physical strikes to apprehend a foe in front of you." She dug around in her cloak for a couple of gloves tossing them to the student. The last thing she needed was a parent summoing her to complain about how their Academy student had gotten bruises or splinters due improper protection. "Did I mention this dummy swings back?" The Captain added weaving a sign and suddenly, the motionless training dummy sprang to life, it's arms rotating in a circular motion that would most certainly whack anyone that got too close. It was a good excercise for blocking, finding openings to strike and whatnot.

PC: 4/5
WC: 1731/1500

 

[Kira]

Maybe she wasnt doing anything wrong. Soku explained to her that she did not have to copy the water whip exactly but instead wanted to see whether she could allow her chakra to manifest in a similar fashion. with the fire style apparently being her natural aligned element kira had seemingly done well in that portion her lesson. However the lesson was far from over as Soku had other plans for her.

Catching the gloves that had been tossed to her, Kira nodded at the fact they were moving on to the taijutsu section of the lesson. Kira had never really been in a real fight before, and even this was not a real fight but the fact that dummy could swing back had Kira quite apprehensive. Her uneasiness could be seen as she put on the training gloves and approached the dummy. eyeing up the target Kira softly hit the dummy only to see that it did not hurt her hands as well as it didnt swing back. Feeling more comfortable, Kira struck the dummy twice in quick succession. "Hey I thought it was sup-" Her sentence was cut short as she was struck by a hidden pole that had swung out of nowhere. Rubbing the outer section of her right arm she pouted slightly as she had just made a fool of herself. "Never mind" Those words sheepishly escaped as she prepared herself to practice on the dummy some more.

Striking the dummy with two punched in quick succession once more, Kira kept an eye out for the swing that had embarrassed her the last time. Anticipation was building but surprise was the largest emotion she felt as the swing came from the opposite direction. Blocking the swing with her right arm Kira instinctively threw a roundhouse kick to the midsection of the dummy with her right leg. Despite it being instinctive she had failed to realise that depending on where on the dummy she struck a swing would follow. Once again the young student had found herself struck by the dummy right under rib cage winding her ever so slightly. Crouching down to try and recollect herself, she definitely noted that taijutsu was not has good as she ninjutsu but she had plenty of time to work on it.

"Okay, lets go again." After collecting herself Kira went back to the training dummy and proceeded to practise her taijutsu until Soku was content with her display.

PC- 4/5
WC- 409
TWC- 1444/1500

 

[Nanjirou Soku]

Soku said nothing, just waiting for the inevitable to happen. The student grew bolder in her strikes and as she turned to say something, the hidden pole came swinging out hitting Kira in her arm. The Captain raised an eyebrow in amusement as the fight ensued. It was an expected reaction at this point and she did it to prove a point. No one expected a wooden innocent looking dummy to turn into something that could quite literally beat them down given it had it'ways with those solid poles. The lesson was simple, never assume anything as that could be your downfall. A lesson Soku had learnt too many times the hard way, the last time had cost her arm as was present by the flapping sleeve of her cloak on the right side. Though, Kira seemed to rise to the challenge adapting and getting into a routine though the dummy still managed to score a few hits. She was struggling a bit and finally, the Captain decided to take pity on the poor soul. After all, this was only the first lesson. "Stand back." She instructed and watched as a pole swung towards her. Seizing hold of the pole that swung towards her, the female used the pole as an anchor point wrenching it to the side and watched as the dummy was sent spinning in a circular motion by the momentum of it's own "arm" before finally crashing into a nearby wall and toppling facedown.

"You need work but it comes with practice. Taijutsu should be an essential core to focus on however as it is one of the fighting styles that does not require chakra though more hands on, it can prove useful. On a more curious nature, Soku walked over to the final dummy staring at it for a bit before nodding."We will not be needing this on second thought." She placed herself so she was facing Kira directly."Genjutsu, an combat style that attacks the senses or manipulates them rendering a shinobi into a false sense of reality so they may be taken advantage of. It essentially allows you to control the mind or other senses of someone else. Those with the Sharingan or visual prowess are exceptionally good at this. They can make you imagine your worst fear, make you smell death, hear voices you never wished or experience pain beyond your worst imagining. It is too risky to perform for myself personally as I am very weak to it but I wil l demostrate to you what it does.

She looked up at the rooftop whistling and the whistle response was returned. A second later, an ANBU member appeared nodding his head at the two of them utterly silent. "My assistant here will be demostrating what a genjutsu can do. Tell me when you are ready." Once Kira would give her reply, the ANBU aid would lock eyes directly with the Captain and for a moment, the brief pattern of the Sharingan could be seen between his mask but that was beyond the fact as suddenly, Soku's face went pale and her body stiff. Clearly unable to move, she started muttering something incomprhensible over and over again. This continued for a while until her eyes seemed to gain some life to them and her hands slowly formed into a sign."Release!" The paleness gradually faded away and she seemed to be herself again though she was panting a bit. "It never gets old..never. The hand sign you saw me do is what hsould be done to break a genjutsu or an ally should do it but be warned, there are certain jutsu that this will not work on so be wary. Any questions?" She nodded at the ANBU who had been helping them and just as swiftly as the shinobi had come, they melted away back down the alleyway merging with the darkness almost.

PC: 5/5
WC: 2380/1500

 

[Kira]

Yes Kira definately needed work in that area of expertise. Taijutsu was something that she had not done before particularly often thus it was pretty evident to her tutor as Soku herself stated that she needed work. Seemingly from what happened prior to the other sections of her lessons Kira assumed it was time for genjutsu. Picking herself back up the floor from tripping over herself when soku instructed her to stand back after she had been sparring with the training dummy for an extended period of time. Still wearing the gloves that Soku had given her, she had pondered with this was an appropriate time to give them back but that option was short lived when another person had appeared. Kira could only assume this person was also an anbu operative due to their concealed identity and long robes.

As Soku explained what Genjutsu she mention that people with visual prowess were exceptionally good at it. "Um, do you soley need visual power or the Sharingan to cast good genjutsu? " This question really did show the naivety of Kira as one definately did not need the power of a kekkei genkai to do it. The thought of being controlled through your worst fears was enough to make Kira want to learn the way to escape. The thought of living through hell was gut wrenching.

Seeing Soku freeze up under the influence of the other anbu operative caused Kira's dislike of the art to increase much more. Her tutor seemed to be reduced to a limp peace of flesh with all life seemingly of been sucked out of her, that was until she had managed to release the genjutsu. Seeing the hand sign that Soku had formed Kira did her best to recall this image permantantly in her mind so she could break genjutsu should she herself fall victim to it. Soku had explained pretty much everything that Kira wanted know, thus she shook her head signally that she did not have any more questions.

Deeming this a good moment Kira removed her gloves and handed them back Soku. "Thank you for the lesson today, I believe that this would not of been taught in the same manner within the academy lessons."

PC 5/5
WC 371
TWC- 1815

 

[Nanjirou Soku]

She smiled at the question shaking her head."You do not need to posses the Sharingan or any special powers to perform genjutsu but is a big help if you have visual abilites as those with these eyes are able to perform more advanced genjutsu techniques and makes it harder to break. I used to hold the Sharingan at one point but alas, that power was taken from me. A story for another time..I don't want to keep you too long." She accepted the gloves sliding them out and glancing at what remained of the dummies. They had done solid work here today in her opinion and it was the way all shinobi should be taught in Soku's firm opinion. It was all well and good to take exams and learn formulas and whatnot in a classroom but unless you were thrust into a situation, there was no way you would be prepared for the real world.

"You are most welcome. You will do well in the Academy, you have a good mindset and work ethic Such qualites will serve you well in this path that you have chosen." She seemed promising, the fact that she was willing to try even if it seemed impossible was proof enough of that. "If you have any questions at all, feel free to reach out to me. I'm not exactly the most reachable person but I still open all my letters." She said with a slight laugh. They had covered all three bases in a rather decent amount of time. The next step for Kira woud be to work on her strengths as well as her flaws, you could never be perfect at anything but you could improve. That could end up saving a shinobi's life somewhere down the line. "With that, I'll take my leave. Catch you around hopefully and good luck at the Academy!" Reaching out her hand for a fist bump with the student, the Captain would turn and stride down the alleyway, her black cloak making it hard to make her figure out against the night shadows as she seemingly vanished. It was funny how ANBU seemed to do that, they just poofed. Perhaps another skill that could be learnt with practice.

PC: 6/5
WC: 2752/1500
[Topic left unless stopped]
[Rewards requested]
[OOC: Hope you had a fun tutor! I have posted the request for our rewards in the Yen Request thread! Once our tutor is approved, you will be able to enjoy double training rewards instead of X1. I'll inform you once it is approved!]

 

[Kira]

Kira had failed to notice how quickly time seemed to flow. She had been summoned by Soku during the middle of the afternoon and now the sun had set the light she saw was being created artificially by the lamp post that stood right at the end of the alleyway where her now finished lesson was being conducted. Soku's words of praise really encouraged the young student as she was more determined than ever to graduate the academy with flying colours.

Kira nodded and smiled, and even reciprocated the fist bump gesture that Soku had done. Waving to Soku as she left, Kira watched in confusion as she seemingly just disappeared out of thin air. "How do they keep doing that?! Must be an anbu thing." Kira thought to herself out loud as she walked through the alley way to the main road. As she walked she pondered what she whether she wanted take-away food or homemade meals.
PC-6/5
(topic left unless stopped)
WC-158
TWC-1973