Trial of Will and Skill [Tutor]

[Shinrya Kosuke]

He really did not want to go.

The ANBU was the one branch that Daisuke wanted nothing to do with. The one branch that most boys his age revered and wanted to be recruited into, he hated. He still did not understand why he had to go to this tutoring session, why he would ever have to consider even joining the ANBU. The organization left nothing but a bad, bitter taste on his tongue, and bitter tastes made him gag.

He wanted to gag. But he knew that his parents expected him to remain composed. He knew that he had to do as the tutor said, and to get through the day without being difficult. It was not that they wanted him to follow in his late brother's footsteps... But they did not want him to cut himself from the branch that he might have been perfect for. His brother had been perfect for them. His brother used to have a natural affinity for the ANBU, and could have likely made it far if not for the accident that took his life. The loss hit them hard, but they knew that Daisuke's brother would have resented his own life if he had never even been given the opportunity to join the ANBU.

And so here he was, bright and early at the Academy. Dawn had hardly broken, and the morning mist played goosebumps across his skin. His breath fogged in the air, but he was used enough to the cold that he still wore a sleeveless top. He had long since figured that he would not be ANBU-material, even if his brother was - they used to get along really well, and were best friends, but Daisuke lacked the pure aggression and ferocity that his brother, Susumu, had and he knew it.

He just did not know why his parents could not figure that out, and so here he was, outside of the quiet Academy at the crack of dawn. He waited patiently for his tutor.

 

[Kagami Miro]

“Why do I agree to tutor the new students…” Voicing her wandering mind, a calloused hand reached up to cover up a long drawn out yawn. In her other hand was a clipboard. Organized papers were attached titled “Student Attendance”, and circled in red marker was the name of a new student. Fingers took a corner of the paper and flipped it over. Nothing out of the ordinary family wise, however little detail was given about them. “I wonder if they’ll be as rambunctious as the last few students.”

Walking through the academy halls gave herself a bit of nostalgia. Nearly 5 years ago she herself arrived at the academy, down a path she never would have guessed. The clap of ninja shoes echoed throughout the empty halls alongside the swish of her standard ANBU clothing. A grey vest with a dark red undershirt and grey pants would black pouches on each hip. To her the all grey didn’t fit her style. Shrugging to herself, “You know that isn’t required right?” Her summon invaded her headspace. “We don’t ever shop.” With a blunt retort back. Finally at the entrance of the academy Mirō pushed the wooden door open. Red eyes noticing an unfamiliar face in blue clothing.

“Ah, there you are. The new student to the academy.” Mirō stopped in front of him. Leaning down Mirō invaded his space. The scarred young teen looked the student up and down, disregarding private space entirely. Inspecting his physique she piped up again. “I’ll be your teacher for today, you can refer to me as Mirō.” A shiver ran down her spine. She despised the idea of being called ‘Sensei’. Stepping back her free hand rested on her hip. “As a student of the academy, I expect you to put all of your effort into your training. Kumogakure does not produce useless ninja.” Red hues sternly stared into his own, awaiting a reply. “That being said, I can give you a task to accomplish or you can pick a strong point to work on. Are you good at ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu? Chakra knowledge?” She could go on for days listing off things to learn. It was easier to let him ask for an assignment or choose what he wanted to focus on.

“You’re not getting soft on me are you? You’re usually meaner than this.” Naibu pushed Mirō’s buttons again. ‘Training students wasn’t on my duty’s list…’

[Topic Entered]
[Mirō talking.]
[Mirō thinking.]
[Naibu speaking to Mirō.]
[WC:403]

 

[Shinrya Kosuke]

"Yea, that's me," Daisuke responded in kind, leaning back a little as she got probably too close for comfort. His blue eyes stared into her red ones, before hers moved to presumably look him over. He felt slightly on display, and so he cracked his fingers repeatedly. It was something he did when he was unsure of what else to do, so he just stood there until she spoke again.

She looked young, young enough to be around his own age. It made him feel slightly weird, or worried, like he wouldn't grow to be much stronger than his father if he wasn't already worthy of ANBU at his current age, and he wanted to be far stronger than his father. He wanted to be stronger than his brother had been, and live longer, and see more.

He looked at her when she spoke again, as his eyes had wandered off to inspect the academy building from a distance. He didn't want to stay so long, and be placed into a branch and given missions. Now he felt he had to be faster and better than his peers, to find some way to get as close as possible in strength to this young ANBU operative as he could in as little time as possible. But he had never felt like a prodigy, and no one had ever treated him as one. He was a normal lad, he helped others when he could and he was known among his friends to be the one to go to if one had a small injury, but that was about it.

She didn't mention calling her sensei, so it left him unsure if he should or not. He didn't know if that meant he should know to call her sensei, from common sense, or to not at all. So he went with the safer option, "I am never useless, Mirō-sensei, and I always try my hardest." When she asked what he wanted to do, he was completely unsure. He didn't know any jutsu yet, so he wasn't exactly great at any specific area. The idea that he should be excelling at one area already made him shuffle his feet slightly, but outwardly, he just shrugged. "Well... Let's go with a task. Or ninjutsu. Do you know anything about medical ninjutsu? How that works?"

He figured a task would help him start learning if he was better in an area that he hadn't figured before, and he enjoyed completing goals. But he always somewhat curious about medical ninjutsu and how to use your own chakra to heal someone - it seemed almost too good to be true. Like you were master of life itself, in a way. He wanted that.

[ WC: 454 ]
[ 335 + 454 = 789 ]

 

[Kagami Miro]

Mirō watched his mannerisms closely. Eyes trailing off into the distance, cracking knuckles and fingers to the point where they don’t crack anymore. Perhaps he was shy like she was back in her academy years or just lack of confidence. These traits needed to be nipped in the butt before becoming permanent. If there were a time to focus on a mission, bad instincts could cost someone precious time or their lives.

Fine eyebrows furrowed inward when Daisuke referred to her as Sensei. “Don’t call me Sensei. If you must be formal, refer to me as Captain (Taichou).” In her mind she wasn’t a teacher or a role model. A teacher sought to enlighten and mold the minds of up and coming ninja. A job that should be taken seriously, like any other, but the term felt too grown up for her age. That word she still used to reference her much older masters and teachers didn’t fit the barely fifteen year old girl.

They had just met and already Mirō had to disappoint the hopeful student. Medical ninjutsu was her weakest point. She understood basic first aid, applying a splint and light recovery healing. However, even Mirō didn’t try to but into medical work with a true medical ninja present. The Raikage could show him how it’s done, if she ever got a spare minute to herself. “Medical Ninjutsu? You’re out of luck already.” Mirō stepped back, bringing her bent index finger up to her lower lip to generate an idea. “What I do know about medical ninjutsu is it’s all about chakra control. If you can’t do that properly you endanger the ninja you’re attempting to heal.”

​

With a light spin Mirō started a hastened walk towards an open area in the training grounds. Her arm rose up to beckon the student to follow in tow. After a few minutes down a gravel trail the trees that surrounded the school opened up once again to a flat field. Once at the center hands pulled her long midnight black hair behind her shoulders. After, a complex handseal was performed, her hands slapping the dry rocky field in front of her. The earth began to shake as a perfect smooth stone wall twenty feet in length rose from the ground and into the sky. Eclipsing the suns warm rays the wall stood four stories high. Her head tilted back to look at the towering stone wall she created.


“At the top of this is a seal that, when removed, will break the wall back down to earth.” Mirō turned back to face Daisuke. This exercise she found out about through an old student book in the academy. It’s how she trained to control her chakra when she attended the academy. “Climb it.” An arm rose and pointed up to the top of the wall. “Get the seal and bring it to me. If you can do that, it means you have a firm grasp on your chakra and how to expel it evenly. If you can’t then you aren’t cut out for further training.” Mirō decided to give an example, casually stepping onto the vertical wall she walked half way up before backflipping off. Landing precisely beside Daisuke. “Try as long as you can.” Arms folded underneath her bust, patiently waiting to see how he would perform.

[WC:557]

 

[Shinrya Kosuke]

"Alright, then, Mirō..." Daisuke nodded once, and said nothing more as though it wasn't a very curious thing to him... Most older shinobi highly preferred being referred to by their earned titles, being respected by those younger and less skilled. He'd gotten used to using correct honorifics with everyone but his friends. Regardless...

He shrugged off the fact that she didn't know medical Ninjutsu, and nodded when she said that medical Ninjutsu required a lot of chakra control. He had a decent amount of control, it was one of his better areas, but it was far from perfect - he was just an academy student, of course. He was here to learn, and figured chakra control would be the focus of today's lesson, which was far more than okay with him. Chakra control was relevant in every type of Jutsu.

He followed along dutifully, making sure to hang back a bit but close enough that he'd be able to hear anything she said, when she did. He stopped when she did, and stepped back when she began creating a string of handseals, waiting for what would happen...

He could feel a twinge of jealousy as the massive stone wall essentially grew from the ground. He wanted to be that good, and would be that good. And that idea is the reason why he was certain he would get to the top of the wall and remove the seal, even if he was still here in the early morning. Even if it took him days. "I haven't done this before... But I'll do it," he said, more for himself than for her.

He walked up to the wall and looked up to the top. It was a high wall. Extremely. He looked at his hands and began trying to push chakra out, and it did. It was a bit burst-y and had an unrefined, unfortunate shape, but it was there. He tried to keep it low and only expel as much as he needed so that he did not tire himself, but it was difficult and it varied at different parts of his hand. He remained as calm and focused as he could, and pressed his hands to the wall to try and stick before he realized he hadn't even got to his feet and he didn't think he had the control yet for four limbs...

So he backed up and let the chakra dissipate from his hands, and instead began pushing out through his feet. It was more difficult from down there, and it varied even more than his hands did... But now he could get a running start, and so he took off at a sprint and began running up the wall. He got up two steps before his left foot slipped and his right remained stuck, and, in a moment of panic, he tried to push chakra into his hands to grab the wall and keep stuck, except then his right foot slipped and he was dangling by his hands... Until his hands began slipping, as well.

[ WC: 505 ]
[ 789 + 505 = 1294 ]
[ MFT ]

 

[Kagami Miro]

Each attempt Daisuke made forced a long drawn out sigh from Mirō. A mannerism she did when she was disappointed. Without her knowledge… it happened a lot. A fine brow rose into the air. Daisuke frantically trying to stick to the wall like a fly and failing wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. What Mirō saw was his determination to keep going. Even if it had only been a few attempts. ‘I’ll give him an hour before he gives up.’ Naibu invaded her mind with her snide comment. ‘It took me a few hours to get it. At least he’s determined… I have to have some semblance of hope for up-and-coming nin. That’s what my master would want.’ Mirō responded back. Idly tapping her foot, Mirō called out to Daisuke.

“Focus.” Hissing at him, “Before you even attempt to scurry up the wall like a beetle you should focus your chakra into your feet.” Mirō walked next to Daisuke, a finger pointed down to lead his eyes to the underside of her shoe. A red white aura could be seen drifting around her foot like a faded cloud. Slowly it disappeared as she lowered her foot. “If you focus your chakra into too many places you’ll distribute it unevenly. For a student like yourself, focus your chakra only into your feet and if you get half way up the wall I’ll show you another trick.” It wasn’t really a trick since everyone used it, but to a fresh eyed student, a pseudo secret can be used as motivation.

[WC:258]
[Mirō talking.]
[Mirō thinking.]
[Naibu talking.]

 

[Shinrya Kosuke]

Daisuke watched as she focused chakra into her feet, easy as can be, like the expert she was. He frowned as he looked at his own feet, focusing on the soles of his shoes and then attempting to do the same thing. The white-cyan 'cloud' was much less a cloud and more of a strange, funky little blob of chakra. He could feel the drain from trying to do so, and he knew that he would not be able to keep something like this up for more than a few hours or so, if even that. Not at his current level of skill, anyway...

So, he stopped, and let the idea of a new 'trick' slip almost completely from his mind. He just wanted to get up the wall as fast as possible. He was patient in all things except becoming a shinobi - he wanted to be the best, in the shortest amount of time possible. Doing so meant he had to do things a different way... Maybe in a way a tutor may dislike, perhaps in a way that would cause them to force him to complete the same goal, albeit harder. Regardless, it was an opportunity to show that he was going to be better and do things differently.

He backed up a bit from Mirō and the wall, and looked up to the top. He tried thinking of this as if it were a mission, and that wall was one he had to climb to reach an enemy target... Footsteps could be heard, maybe even seen if there was someone capable of tracking chakra. It could very well blow a sensitive mission and cause it to go sideways, could cause people to die...

So instead, he didn't focus chakra into his feet, but he reached down, picked up a small stone, and focused some chakra into his arm. It was easier to do than his feet, because his arm was a lot bigger than his feet. With eyes squinted on his target, he flung the stone upwards and watched it quickly scale the wall.

With a few quick handseals and his eyes focused on that stone as it got closer, he suddenly, silently, disappeared and Body Switched with the stone. It was one of the few techniques he had mastered already, and he was good enough at throwing things that he appeared about a foot above the wall and he landed as quietly as he could. He peeked over the side and down at Mirō from atop the wall, and gave her a sheepish grin and a wave before he began focusing some chakra into his hands. Just enough to be lightly sticky and slow his fall. He grabbed the seal and put it between his lips and used his chakra-hands to slow his descent down the breaking wall.

[ WC: 469 ]
[ 1294 + 469 = 1763 ]

 

[Kagami Miro]

It was interesting to view the student focus his chakra. Even if it was a sorry excuse for someone who wanted to be a medical ninja. Perhaps she was judging too harshly, expecting more from students who sought to better themselves and Kumogakure. Black tresses swayed side to side in disagreement. Her expectations were etched into her mind.

Mirō noticed the frustration in his movements. ‘How will he use his anger?’ Mirō pondered as Daisuke backed up, picking up a stone in his hands. A fine brow rose up again, ‘Did he figure out my trick?’ With haste the rock traveled to the top of the wall and at the right moment he body switched, grabbing the seal and leaving her with a cheeky smile as he slid down the wall. A sharp exhale escaped her nose. A small grin appeared on her lips. “Heh.” Mirō? Impressed? A rare feat for people to get from her. Maybe she did judge too quickly.

The wall deteriorated behind him. In a matter of minutes the wall fully dissipated, leaving Mirō a few yards away from Daisuke. “Clever use of the body switch jutsu.” Her hands rested on her hips. “That won’t help someone bleeding out.” Having to remind him of his true goal; learning how to control his chakra. If he sought to become a medical ninja, mastery in his chakra control would make him stand out among his peers.

Daisuke did complete his given task. Mirō would nod in agreement with her decision to pass him. “For getting the seal, you pass. However you still can’t control your chakra.” Mirō paused momentarily, as still as a statue. In a blur, hands performed a seal before Mirō slapped them onto the ground. Beneath Daisuke’s feet the earth began to give way, before he could react an eight foot in diameter hole opened up. Letting gravity continue its course Daisuke would fall considerably down the deep hole. A thud would echo out. Mirō peered down into the hole she called down to him. “Get out of the hole by attuning chakra to your feet! Anything else will not count towards a credit.” Her head that eclipsed the sunlight down into the hole moved away. Patiently awaiting Daisuke to climb out of the deep pit.


[WC:393]
[Mirō talking.]
[Mirō thinking.]

 

[Shinrya Kosuke]

Daisuke grinned slightly as he noticed the slight amusement in Mirō's features. Thankfully, it did not seem like she was angry or any other particularly negative emotion at his quick wit. He went ahead and dropped the seal as she began speaking again, his small grin disappearing as she spoke. He had 'passed' the test, but failed in demonstrating an important part of being a shinobi - controlling your chakra.

He nodded once as she spoke of his lack of control, and then his eyes flicked down in an attempt to read the seals she was creating before the ground essentially disappeared from beneath him. He fell with a shout as the earth swallowed him, up until his landed on his back with a hard thud at the bottom. He groaned and rubbed his posterior as he looked up at the blue sky above him, and Mirō's head peeking over the side.

It was essentially the same thing as the wall, but now she'd added the additional caveat that took away all other options. And probably bruised his butt, to boot. Maybe she wasn't that pleased with his body switch, which was fair. "Dammit.... Alright! No body switching or anything," he grumbled as he got to his feet and looked up the side of the pit.

It looked even taller than the wall had been. Served him right, making things even more difficult. He sighed as he backed up until his back hit the other side of the pit, and began concentrating on his feet. He gave it about a minute of concentration, trying to find a good rhythm of pushing and holding, before he took off at a sprint.

Now that he was warmed up a bit more, he got about four or five steps up, not even halfway, before he felt his foot slip. He tried to push more chakra out of his feet to make up for the lack, but ended up overcalculating how much he needed and essentially pushed himself off the wall to fall back down to the bottom of the whole with another thud, this time landing on his shoulder.

He grimaced and muttered a few curse words as he got up and held his shoulder tenderly, and he already knew it was going to be big, fat, beautiful bruise there before the day was up. He looked up at the top of the hole, eyes narrowed in light frustration.

He needed to concentrate. He was trying to do too much, too fast and hadn't even walked and he was already trying to sprint. He let go of his shoulder as he looked at the wall, thinking about how his chakra should interact... It was a flat surface, with nothing in terms of variability. Smooth and static all the way to the top. So his chakra should be the same way, as if he added more dirt to be held together.

So he stopped for a second, closed his eyes, and made a handseal that always calmed and helped him concentrate. He expelled chakra from the bottom of his feet, and held. He tried to treat it like it was another limb, one that he just had to hold out and up. He tried not to let any dissipate, and not use more than he needed. He kept it static, smooth, and flat. One foot in front of the other, he began walking.

He didn't have to think about walking, he was already used to that. He just needed to focus on his chakra, and keeping it confined and in control. He opened his eyes when he was about halfway up the wall and let his handseal drop, before he started moving again, albeit faster. He got about three-fourths up before his foot slipped again, but instead of trying to overcompensate, he tried to solidify what he had and hold, before expending a little more chakra to add.

He was sweating and slightly dirty by the time he clambered over the side, but he had a triumphant grin on his face as he looked up at Mirō. "Easy!" He claimed, even though it was obviously anything but... Though, if Mirō took the time to look at his feet, she'd see that he had never released the chakra even though he'd finished. It was still there, being held as good as he could while he got to his feet and stretched out a bit, and even disappeared for a few seconds only to return at around the same strength, as if he were 'working out' by keeping it under control.

[ WC: 757 ]
[ MFT ]

 

[Kagami Miro]

The loud thud and the cry of pain let that cheeky grin Daisuke made atop the wall fall onto her lips. It was a slight punishment for insubordination. He’s lucky that his charade was clever enough to force a smile on her lips. Quick intuition was key out on the battlefield. Even if there were barely any major conflicts between neighboring nations.

As time passed Mirō occasionally placed her hand on the ground. The silence of the surrounding area made it easier to listen to his progress and feel the vibrations of the dirt he desperately tried to scale. Lately she had to train more and more students, waiting for them to finish their training always left her in a bind. A feeling of responsibility sat on her shoulder while the other shoulder accompanied the want to leave and finish her own work. For the time being Mirō meandered around the pit, occasionally peering over the edge to spot Daisuke climb half way up then fall on his ass again. Half tempted to assist him again the thought of 'Nobody ever helped me' played in her head like a broken radio.

Keeping her thoughts to herself red hues peered back over toward her pit. Daisuke emerged from the depths covered in dirt and scruffed to all hell. Dirt, a ninja should wear their dirty clothing with pride. A subtle glance down at his feet, her sharingan allowed her to easily see the amount of chakra. A brow of curiosity rose again, looking at Daisukes physic once again. “Finally. I was getting impatient.” Making it hard for him to decipher her sarcasm, her neutral expression remained. “Congratulations, you pass. I still wouldn’t trust you to heal me though.” Her circle of trust was limited regardless. You’d need Raiden himself to vouch for you to get into that circle. “If I were you I’d remain here to practice more. Exerting too much chakra….” Mirō nodded down to his feet, “Will physically drain you. I’m surprised you haven't fallen over already.” Adrenaline must’ve kept him upright. “Continue your training. We’ll be in touch.” Without much to keep her there, Mirō attuned chakra to her feet. Enhancing her capabilities she vanished like a blur.

[WC:369]
[Topic left.]
[Tutor complete after your final post.]

 

[Shinrya Kosuke]

"Aren't ninjas supposed to be patient," Daisuke tried to basically squeeze out of his lungs. He was completely winded and scruffed to hell, but he had finally done it without any help, not even a tip from the ANBU Captain. He had a big, cheesy grin on his face as he pretty much just huffed and buffed and (damn near) blew his lung out. He grinned up at her as she said she wouldn't trust him to heal, which was pretty true. His chakra control was shaky, at best, but he was getting it and still holding it now, getting used to releasing a bit and getting it under his control on his feet.

"Yeah, but you can trust me to get up a wall now!" He nodded as if he were the big man at the academy, trying to stand up straight now. "I've got stamina, this is no biggie," he shot back, attempting to give her a thumbs-up. He nodded as she said that they'd be in touch, waiting for her to completely disappear (which was pretty damn cool), before he just straight collapsed backwards, any semblance of vigor completely sapped from his limbs. His breathing went ragged and heavy as he stared up at the sky, just watching as noon turned to evening and the stars began peeking out.

He'd finished attempting to mold chakra, because he felt like he just didn't have any left. He was completely and utterly exhausted, but the grin had never left his face. Tired as hell and fine with leaving later on, Daisuke let himself fall to sleep (with heavy snoring).

[ MFT, 270 WC ]
[ Tutor to be finished next week o_o ]

 

[Shinrya Kosuke]

The sun was nearly set by the time Daisuke's eyes slowly fluttered open, staring up at the slowly darkening sky. He'd been asleep for hours, the utter exhaustion he'd been pushed to now likely royally screwing up his sleep schedule. At least I'm well rested, he thought as he took a moment to stretch his limbs out as he laid there. He felt replenished, but not quite at 100% - the reason why was soon pretty obvious to anyone who was nearby and could hear the rumbling of his hungry stomach.

He slowly sat up, looking himself over as he did so. He was well and pretty dirty now, with most of his exposed skin covered in a layer of grime that he'd gotten from the gaping hole in the ground that was still there. He went over to the hole and looked over the side, whistling at how deep it was. He needed to practice more if he was going to be able to run up walls like that with expending the barest amount of chakra. He needed fine-tuned control, control that took the lowest amount of effort that was possible.

But to work for that control, he'd need to eat, he figured as his stomach grumbled at him again. He was hungry as hell, and felt like he could eat a horse... If horses existed here, that'd be a different question entirely, but he was hungry enough to eat something very large and likely sleep extraordinarily well afterwards. So he took off after the nearest ramen place, trying to figure out how he could push chakra into his feet to make him fast enough to vanish to the untrained eye like Mirō had.

[ MFT, 284 WC ]
[ Tutor finished, topic left ]