What's Even Real? [Tutor for Akira]

[Suika]

“Alright, Suika, you got this.”

Punching the air in front of her mirror, she readied herself for her first tutor as a Chuunin. Throughout the entirety of her Geninhood, Suika participated in many tutors as a participant and student. This time, however, she was given the role of a teacher. She didn’t necessarily feel she was super qualified for the position, but she was prepared for it nonetheless. For her age, she was talented – a genius even. Luckily, this was her first training, so she had a few great ideas on what to teach on. “Who was assigned to me, anyway?"

Dashing her way to the Academy, she checked in with the secretary in front and was given a room dojo annex number and the name of her participant. Upon reading his name, her eyes widened for a second until her expression shifted to a relaxed grin. “My favorite trio, the Inugami’s. This should be interesting.” Situating herself into a mid-sized annex that resembled a small battlefield, Suika stood simply as she awaited Akira’s arrival. She had become friends with the boy and his squad of cute little animals, but that didn’t mean she would go easy on him. In fact, since she liked him, she’d ensure even more that this training was worthwhile. The better the training, the greater the chances of survival as a shinobi.

“Time for a little exercise on mental resilience,” she thought as she flipped through some paperwork on a clipboard. Tutoring seemed decent, but was this report she had to fill afterward necessary? All part of the job, she guessed.

[WC: 266 | Post 1/5]

 

[Hak]

In the horizon, three shadowy figures made their way towards the meeting site where the young Suika patiently waited for her students to arrive. The largest shadow was a young eight year old boy with blue hair and yellow eyes, marching triumphantly as if music were playing. His canine partner walked beside him, marching along with him but he seemed less robotic and more cool as if the world should be blessed by his apparently awarding presence. On the Human boy Akira there was a squirrel, apparently with a twig in hand as she continued to smack the back of the boys head as if he was her own personal stallion, Giddy Up was the only word that came to mind at this moment.

Arriving to mid-sized annex, the three musketeers made their way to Suika. Upon realizing who the mentor was, the boy and the wolf pup dashed to their companion as Kuro purposely tripped Akira by getting in his way, causing the boy to hit the dirt face first as he skid across to Suika. Kuro launched himself to Suika’s embrace, and Aoi somehow in the commotion had apparently already made herself comfortable on Suika’s shoulder. Teleportation?! The secret was for Aoi and Aoi alone, she apparently defied the natural law of physics.

Akira from the ground saluted his mentor, dirt covering his face with a rather serious impression. ”Akira, Kuro, and Aoi reporting to duty! It is wonderful to see you again Suika-chan!” he stated with an upbeat and friendly personality.

Word Count:<i></i> 254
Total Word Count:<i></i> 254/1500
Post:<i></i> 1/5

 

[Suika]

As the blue-haired boy made his skid across the field, Suika smiled as she welcomed Kuro into her arms and accepted Aoi’s embrace on her shoulder. They were here! After a few brief seconds of petting her little furry friends, she redirected her attention to Akira with a curious blink. “Oh, hey, Akira-kun,” she greeted as she held out her hand to him. “You’re already face down on the floor and the tutor hasn’t even started yet.” She grinned slightly at her joke. Whether the boy used her aid or not to stand, she’d ready her pitch. Although she was tempted to just socialize with the gang, this was ninja business. It was better to be straight out with it.

“Welcome to your tutor, Akira and friends! Your objective is very simple today: I want you to identify the real Suika. Seems simple enough, right? Well, you’ll see the kicker.” With Aoi remaining on her shoulder, Suika manifested her ethereal blade. With her spiritual chakra leaking from the blade, she pointed it out at Akira.

“Good luck, Akira-kun and Kuro-kun! Remember, if you identify the real one, you win the game and the tutor is a success! If you’re wrong, you’ll face a consequence. Choose wisely.” In the midst of her spiel, Suika, along with the Aoi on her shoulder, began to multiply slowly, but surely. It wasn’t long until there was a total of six of them on the field. They all continued to point their blades at the Genin and his wolf-pup. Each clone looked exactly like the pair; the jutsu the girl used was faultless. Both the boy and his familiar were under her illusory spell. Which Suika of the six would he choose?

[WC: 284 | Post 2/5
TWC: 550]


[OOC: Roll 1d6]

 

[Hak]

Akira smiled warmly towards his friend as he took her offered hand and stood up, brushing the dust and dirt off his face and body. Stretching his neck and arms, he let out a long sigh as he shook the remaining dirt off of him, a cloud of dust from his clothes surrounding his essence. He seemed to shake the dirt off akin to a dog shaking water off himself, once against showing his bestial nature to those around him.

Kuro’s tail wagged happily as he dropped himself to the ground after, giving Akira a smug grin as he often did when he pulled pranks on his Human partner. Sitting firmly on the ground, Kuro and Akira both listened intently to the kunoichi’s instructions as they then saw her multiply herself in a flawless performance, Kuro wagging his tail excitedly as Akira seemed a tad bit too excited at the prospect. Aoi seemed to revel in the multiplication of herself, and instead of cheating and offering Akira and Kuro help, she seemed to play along with Suika, not giving them any hints or help on the test.

Kuro jumped onto Akira’s head as the two seemed to examine the six Suika. Odd? It seemed he was incapable of telling them apart by scent, a strange thing to say the least as they all seemed to smell exactly alike. He failed to realize he was under an illusionary spell as he was one not experienced in such jutsu. Scratching his head lightly he blindly pointed at one, instead of using his head to figure things out he took a wild guess as Kuro groaned at his human partners reckless and risk taking chances. ”I think it’s this one!”

Word Count:<i></i> 287
Total Word Count:<i></i> 541/1500
Post:<i></i> 2/5

 

[Suika]

As each Suika, accompanied by the cute and plump Aoi, stood with a pointed ghostly sword at Akira, it appeared as the boy made his decision. As brash as she expected, the boy pointed to a random Suika. With a slanted expression, the kunoichi he pointed to faded away. The girl shook her head. “Shinobi 101: you can’t defeat your enemy if you fail to identify them. Many ninja are adept at cloning jutsu, and one moment of misidentifying them can prove decisive against you. Instinct isn’t always the answer.” All the clones spoke in perfect unison. And, as promised, the blue-haired Inugami would be reprimanded for his thoughtless mistake.

Her blade burst with more spiritual aura. With it, Akira would feel his sight darkening. It wouldn’t be long until the young Genin’s vision would go completely black. What was Suika’s angle? “Every error will be met with one of your senses taken away. Make your next choice wisely.” The girl tapped her foot rhythmically. Was she being too harsh on the boy? It was a strong possibility, but she’d rather him succumb to her affinity for genjutsu here than under the grasp of a nefarious foe. This whole tutor served the purpose of strengthening the boy, but sometimes that warranted tough love and realistic battle scenarios. At the end of this, though, she’d hope he learn.

“I’ll give you a hint, Akira-kun,” she waved her finger out in front of her even the boy couldn’t see it, “not everything is as it appears. The mind plays trick on you.” She was a bit generous with that one, but she was here to teach. Hopefully, the young shinobi would catch the drift. Contrary to his master’s vision, she decided to allow Kuro to keep his own. Although she aimed to be informative and tough, she didn’t have it in her to blind his pup. Suika’s own infatuation over the wolf momentarily swayed her own decision-making.

[WC: 323 | Post 3/5
TWC: 873]

 

[Hak]

The world seemed to darken around him as Akira rubbed his eyes, realizing his sight was being taken away. A slight tingle of fear or perhaps excitement coursed through his veins, however Kuro rubbed on his leg to calm him down as if to tell his partner that he would be his eyes. Akira nodded as he sighed slightly, perhaps random decisions would not fit him in this situation, albeit being an incredible intelligent individual he often ignored his logic and relied on his bestial instinct, a decision that was working against him at this moment in time.

His eyes were useless at this point thus he closed them and processed the information Suika had given him calmly. Why take his eyes? Was it truly to punish him? The thought crossed his mind, but it didn’t make sense. There were infinite options to punish him, instead she took away his vision as if to tell him that he was relying too much on sight. Yes, it was a lesson after all. Despite the disabled sense, in the end he would have to learn something from this – thus there was a reason why of all she could have done that she decided to take his eyesight.

He remained calm in the situation, though it was not due to feeling strong in confident. In fact, one could closely realize the reason was his absolute faith in his partner Kuro who closely monitored those around him. Though they often bickered, and though Kuro often played pranks on Akira, they had an unshakeable bond of trust between them and in this moment it was shown immensely.

Not everything is as it appears. The mind plays tricks on you.

He recalled the words she spoke. He was obviously missing something, what was it? Showing immense adaptability for his young age, he opted instead to not make a random choice this time. He was missing a key ingredient to this lesson, there was most definitely something amiss. Was this a simply shadow clone technique? No, it didn’t feel normal. He almost made the mistake of relying on his sense of hearing and smell, however her words echoed in his young mind. Perhaps she meant, he could not trust his senses at this moment? That means this was no simple jutsu. There was more to it, he could feel it.

Word Count:<i></i> 393
Total Word Count:<i></i> 934/1500
Post:<i></i> 3/5

 

[Suika]

“Better, but not quite yet there.” mused the kunoichi as she observed the young boy take a different approach. It was apparent he and Kuro had great trust in each other, which was awesome to see, and she knew that bond would come in handy throughout the Inugami’s shinobi career. Although Kuro was small, cute, and cuddly, he was also training to become a shinobi. Suika made sure to take mental note of that for any future lessons. As she continued to tap her foot, she could almost hear the wheels in Akira’s brain spinning as he tried to decipher her words and challenge. The girl gave him mental points for not reacting so hastily this time, but a decision had to be made.

“I can see you’re being a lot more careful now, Akira-kun, but do be wary. While it is great seeing you use your brain, taking too long to decide can be as detrimental as making the wrong one.” Normally, Suika would reprimand him for making that next mistake, but, at this point, she had to improvise. It was clear that the boy didn’t possess any natural defense against Genjutsu. This was the perfect opportunity for him to learn.

“Akira-kun, if you haven’t realized by now, you are under my genjutsu. Genjutsu are illusions inflicted on someone by messing with their flow of chakra and, thus, their perception. Although mostly non-lethal, it is a powerful tool that can decide the fate of a battle, as you can see.” The girl’s blade dispersed as she formed a Tiger seal. Placing her palms together with both her index and middle fingers touching, she gave an example of what the Cancel jutsu looked like. Akira couldn’t see it, but Kuro was his eyes, no? “A common jutsu that helps fight against illusory attacks is called the Cancel Jutsu. It is a defense jutsu that is initiated by forming a Tiger Seal and focusing in on the disruption within your flow of chakra. Once you can identify that disruption, focus on momentarily reversing that flow and, as a result, freeing yourself from the illusionary attack. It may sound a bit complicated, but it’s definitely doable. Focus on canceling out my Genjutsu and take as much time as you need. Once you do so, then you’ll be able to identify the real Suika and Aoi.”

The girl placed her hand on her hip and waited for Akira to do his thing. She had confidence in this, which was reinforced further as she shot both Kuro and Aoi an assured nod that said, “Don’t worry, Akira’s got this!” The kunoichi believed with every fiber of her being that he could do it.

[WC: 447 | Post 4/5
TWC: 1,320/1,500]

 

[Hak]

He listened intently to the kunochi’s instruction, he had just come to the conclusion that this had to be some form of Genjutsu himself as nothing else made sense. However, he realized his lack of experience and at this current moment – crippling weakness to Genjutsu from his lack of experience. He didn’t upset at all however, experiencing Genjutsu for the first time he now realized how damaging and useful Genjutsu could possibly be.

Half expecting another punishment, he showed great faith in his partner Kuro to defend him from attacks or danger from his loss of senses. Realizing he had much to learn, he came to the realization that following this instruction that he would need to read and learn more about Genjutsu in the future in order to be better prepared and not be so off-guard due to lack of experience.

Kuro watched intently at Suika’s demonstrating as he barked up at Akira, as if explaining to him the action the kunoichi took place, speaking in the tongue of beasts, one only individuals such as Akira could hope to fully understand. Akira nodded to Suika, or at least in the direction he assumed she was in as if to tell her that he understood her instruction. Cancel jutsu, he obviously had no experience at all in Genjutsu and his lack of experience was truly showing.

Forming the Tiger Hand Seal with his hands, he focused on the flow of his chakra, realizing now what she meant about the disruption that apparently had taken place in his chakra pathways, having a rudimentary understanding that this disruption was the cause of his senses being lost and the illusionary spell he was in affecting him.

He didn’t take long at all, showing a rather impressive adaptability to overcome situations once taught as he opened his eyes and reversing the flow of the disruption origin as he cancelled the illusionary attack that was being taken upon his body. He pointed to the real Suika with a warm smile ”You are the real Suika!” he stated confidently. If he could get past his child like innocent and somewhat playful and reckless nature, he did show an absolutely overabundance of talent and skill in adaptability.

Word Count:<i></i> 370
Total Word Count:<i></i> 1304/1500
Post:<i></i> 4/5

 

[Suika]

As Akira formed the Tiger seal and concentrated on identifying the disruption in his chakra and expelling it, Suika could sense her illusion slowly fading off. Amused, she grinned slightly. Akira wasn’t alone in this, either, as his little fur family cheered him on. It wasn’t long until she felt her genjutsu completely gone – he had done it! “Way to go, Akira-kun! You pass!” The girl shined a bright smile in return as she shot the young blue-haired boy a thumb’s up. To say that she was impressed was an understatement. For someone who had seemingly no experience to using the Cancel jutsu or defending against genjutsu, Akira did amazing. Suika momentarily flashbacked to the time she had a similar exercise. Her past instructor, Shieo, was a lot less merciless with his approach, but it took the kunoichi a lot longer to resist the illusion inflicted on her via the Cancel jutsu. He probably wasn’t fully aware, but the Inugami boy seemed to be a genius.

“Props to you, Akira-kun, I wasn’t able to get it that fast my first time. You’re a natural.” Shifting her attention toward both Kuro and Aoi, she expressed to them an encouraging nod and wink. “You both practice your Genjutsu defense, too. I’m sure you both will get it in no time.” Suddenly, the image of a tiny, plump Aoi forming a Tiger seal filled her mind. It took everything in her not to gush out loud during that moment. Finishing up some of her paperwork, she waved goodbye to the trio. “Again, great job today, friends. Make sure to keep practicing your genjutsu defense and always expect the unlikely. Let’s hang soon!” Suika would have offered to grab a bite with them, but she still had a full day of tutoring ahead of her. Was this her new life as a Main Branch Chuunin?

[WC: 311 | Post 5/5
TWC: 1,500+/1,500]

[Tutor complete and topic left! Great job, Akira!]

 

[Hak]

It seemed Suika was not too far off in her imagination as Aoi had a tiny little vein popping out of her forehead with an attempted Tiger Seal in her squirrelly little hands. She triumphantly stood on Suika’s shoulder, posing as if the real reason the Genjutsu was cancelled were due to her tiny little efforts. It did not take long for her to nuzzle herself against Suika before launching herself on to Kuro’s head, seemingly telling the pop to move along. Everyone could tell what she wanted, she wanted food and she wanted food now.

Akira danced a rather awkward and silly dance as he gave a somewhat humorous victory pose at Suika’s praise of his accomplishment. Regardless he felt he could have done better and he knew it was time for him to start learning Genjutsu and not be caught so off-guard next time. The young wolf boy and companions still had much to learn he thought.

Waving to his friend Suika, he thanked her and then looked down at Kuro and Aoi who were waiting for him to finish up so they could go on their way. Turning around, the trio began to march their way out of the obstacle courses and on their way to more than likely feed Princess Aoi as she demanded food from the boys. It didn’t take long for Kuro to head-butt Akira’s feet on their way out before the Human boy fell forward, face planting once again on the cold hard ground. Somethings never change apparently.

Word Count:<i></i> 255
Total Word Count:<i></i> 1559/1500
Post:<i></i> 5/5