Chakra control basics [Class 3/6]

[Kishiko Nagisa]

Nagisa walked into the academy and felt a sense of comfort. It was here, many moons ago, that she learned the basics of her ninja career. She was not great at taijutsu or genjutsu but her chakra control was advanced for her few years at the time. It was here where she learned about medical jutsu and started her path as a medical ninja.

'I remember learning about medicinal herbs when I was younger. I loved the idea of healing with them Turning them into a career after schooling was a blessing.' Shizue said in her head.

'Yes and it still helps to this day. I am not as learned as you are on this and i appreciate it. Now, however, we are to go over the basics. Nothing too fancy for right now."

Nagisa, clad in her blue monk attire despite the cold put a marker on the noticeboard about her teaching a class in room 201 about chakra control. The light jacket she was wearing mainly to cover the small of her back fluttered in the winter wind as she turned and went to the room. She would adjust some things in the room to fit her teaching style and procured some instruments.

On a few different tables she would place a stone, a kunai with a similar stone placed at the hilt (the kunai itself being dull to prevent accidents), and two metal sticks with a clear bulb on the top of each.

Nagisa would write "chakra control" on the board and wait for students to appear. As each came, she would direct them to their own seat, table, and instruments. Once the class was settled and no more would show up, Nagisa would introduce herself.

"Hello everyone. My name is Nagisa Kishiko. I am to be your instructor today. Please, introduce yourself so I can place names with faces. Also, tell me what you know about chakra control and manipulation. If you know nothing that is ok as this is a beginner class. Everyone has to start from somewhere. No, who would like to go first?"

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OOC rules
For this first post, I am giving the extension to Saturday as this is a holiday week. If everyone posts before then I will post again.
After my next post you 48 hours form the time I post to post. Failure to do so (without notifying me via PM) is a a strike and 3 strikes you fail the class.
At the end of each post include current word count/total word count for yourself. (as I have done before)
Here is a link to the expectations of a class

Teaching and Mentoring System

Some shinobi have been around for a long time, they have seen things that one would think to find only in legends. Some have taken to teaching Academy Students while others have taken on a pupil who would one day carry on their works. Even a well-trained and experienced shinobi can sometimes...

www.ninpocho.com

 

[Tuchickmado Haruto]

Haruto slowly made his way to a desk , as he walked he tried his best to avoid any confrontation. he slowly made his way to a desk at of the way from the rest of the class. he opened up his small bag and began to look for everything he would need. slowly he pulled out his notebook and a small pencil case. he looked at the teacher he had a look of fear and nervousness in his eyes. he looked with an uncertainty of how Today's lesson will turn out he wondered what horrors he might endure still he was happy at least this lesson wasn't one his parents had arranged.


he looked around the room for the poor soul that would endure the blunt of the teacher's rath. he looked and looked but no one was introducing themselves and answering her question. "what shall I do what should I answer" he thought to himself in a panicked state.

his mind flashed to a scene

participation leads to better grades and without it. well, you'll fail and I'm sure you know what happens when you fail.


Haruto didn't remember this? but after that memory, he had never experienced before he was scared. why the voice he was heard was from his father why would his father say that? Haruto wondered what was happing but regardless the fear was now there. Haruto was struggling to remember why he was so scared of the teacher where were these fears coming from?


Haruto stood up "hello, my name is Haruto Tuchickmado Haruto, let's see chakra control and manipulation to control chakra one must spread chakra around their body? another thing is you need to be balanced?"

Haruto was horrified he couldn't think of what he needed. what was gonna happen was he gonna be punished? Haruto thought that to himself. he looked at the teacher in a panicked state, as he slowly sat down in his chair he was horrified. "will I be expelled what.........." Haruto didn't know why he was so scared his mind was clogged with empty thoughts and fears as he sat in horror.




word count 355/355

 

[Yamashito Kei]

Entering the classroom, the boy was quiet at first just to take in the surroundings and the atmosphere of the classroom. The reaction was more for respect and a slight bit of awe for the fact that he was really here. His family was still a bit surprised that the quiet bookworm, that Kei wanted to apply for the Academy and managed to get in. He was a bit small to look like he could ever manage in a fight, and the slightly oversized glasses dangling from the tip of his nose didn't add to any athletic appeal. But he wasn't about to let any of that stop him, to try and finally stand up for himself and help protect someone, and the best chance to do that would be at this academy... to try and earn his way to be a real Shinobi...

He headed towards one of the open desks to take a seat, spotting another student already inside and waiting. He gave an initial wave at first, but saw that the other boy looked more nervous to be here than Kei was and figured it was better to give him a little space. Slowly, he turned back to the teacher standing by the board. 'Chakra Control' was all it said. Had to start somewhere, huh?

Waiting a moment for the other boy to answer, Kei started to raise his hand to add in, "Ummm, my name's Kei. And honestly... I'm not that sure. I know shinobi need to use Chakra for many of their skills... or those cool jutsu they use. But I'm not that sure how to do it..."

He said, hoping to hide a flush to his cheeks to admit he was that much of a novice, but at least he was here to learn. And Kei was a bit excited for the chance. At least he wasn't here by himself and left the center of the instructor's focus, which would have only made things more awkward for him. Settling into the seat, he took a peek at the instruments before him and wondered what they might be used for.

Word Count: 353/353

 

[Akiyama Tomiko]

It was with an energetic bounce in her step that Tomiko walked through the academy grounds on the way to class. It was all fresh, new and exciting to her still and the newly enrolled ten year old was having a difficult time simply focusing on going to her classroom. There was a lot she was curious about and she wanted to explore and ask questions and maybe even peek in on what the older students were doing!

She knew better than that, though. It wouldn't do at all to get in trouble right away, or to show up late to class. Come to think of it, a proper shinobi wouldn't be gawking and skipping around, would they?

Just before entering the classroom itself, Tomiko paused to take a deep breath. Fussing with smoothing some creases and wrinkles out of the baggy blue gi she was wearing, the young girl adjusted the yellow sash around her waist. Peering down at the running shoes on her feet, she gave a stern nod to herself and put as close to a neutral, business-like expression on her face as she could manage.

Walking into the classroom, staring straight ahead, Tomiko's demeanor almost gave way to excitement immediately - even their teacher looked pretty cool! She caught herself before the smile could fully form on her face, and instead stiffly made her way to a seat near the front. Sitting as straight as a steel rod, the young girl had only spared brief glances out of the corner of her eyes at her classmates.

Two boys introduced themselves before her, and to her slight dismay they pretty much covered her own knowledge of the subject. Standing up once more, she gave a stiff bow as she introduced herself. "Akiyama Tomiko..."

She paused, struggling to think of some useful fact she knew about how shinobi used chakra. With a slight start, she brought her hands up in a vague approximation of a hand sign before giving her answer in as calm a tone as she could manage. "You make different hand signs to use chakra in different ways."

Sitting back down, Tomiko couldn't help but wonder at the answer she had given. She didn't know how or why they were involved in using jutsu, just that they were. Also that they looked really cool, of course, but if she gave a reason like that she'd seem like an idiot!

Word Count: 398/398

 

[Kishiko Nagisa]

Nagisa would turn her blue eyes to each in turn as they introduced themselves. She would smile and nod her head, offering no words immediately. After the last student answered, Nagisa would turn around and begin marking on the board a rough diagram of the chakra system in the body as well as a bubble pointing to the stomach. As she did this, she would speak.

"you are all correct in principle at least. It seems you have at least the basics down. However, the application of this is far more complex. The goal of this class is to get you to feel the chakra in your system and manipulate it. You will learn fine control in other classes and as you experience jutsu and learn how to use them. Chakra is something we all have and manipulating it is the key to be a shinobi. Now, for this class, there are three instruments in front of you. We will start with the simplest the stone. The stone reacts to chakra. Now."

Nagias would turn around and pick up a stone of her own. The small black stone was clear in her outstretched palm. She would then place it between her hands so her palms were on either side of the stone,.

"Take your stone and place it like so between your palms. You are to focus your chakra into your palms. Do this by imagining your chakra is in your belly, like I have drawn on the board. Now imagine your chakra flowing from your belly and into your limbs. Focus. You will know you are successful when the stone glows like this. We will keep this going until we each have done it. and all of our stones are glowing. Now, begin."

Nagisa's stone would glow a bright blue as all the stones would once they are successful. Nagisa would talk to those that needed extra guidance and she would do this until they were successful.

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[Yamashito Kei]

Kei tried to listen with rapt attention as their teacher gave her reply. At least they all understood a little about chakra, or parts of it and the boy felt a little encouraged that he knew that much. He may have grown up in the village and always heard tales for the brave shinobi that protected everyone or helped deal with the other nations, but Kei never knew more than the vaguest details. All the books he'd been reading at home, studying before his first day at the Academy helped learn a bit about the basics, it seemed!

Now... oooh, he was about to get his first test. No more books, no more theories or essays about it. It was time for a practical use of chakra. To manipulate it... like a true shinobi. Kei felt his breathing speed up for a few frantic gasps, as there was a moment of brief stage fright. What if he messed up, what if he couldn't do it? He'd be sent back home before he'd had a chance to even make it in. No, stop it, you're just freaking yourself out. You can do this, Kei. Yeah.... yeah, he could do this. Like the teacher said, everyone had chakra. The trick was just learning how to control it. Just relax. And focus....

Kei settled back into his seat for a moment after tensing up slightly, eyes closing slowly over the brightly shaded blue eyes to take a slow breath or two. Then, he turned back to the items across the desk and reached for the stone. For a second, he seemed to worry about the exact spot it would sit on his palm (like it wouldn't work if it was off by an inch or so) before finally just letting it set comfortably and placed his other hand against it to make a small stone sandwich. He kept his fingers out so the stone was still visible, just staring at it at first. Then he began picturing himself. Heart thumping in his chest, lungs filling with air. Maybe picturing chakra like blood already in his system, just... getting squeezed up from his belly to his hands, like toothpaste through a tube? No... that just had him feeling a little dizzy and red-faced. Umm, an energy like a fire, growing in his belly? Let it get bigger and bigger until it reached his hands? Maybe... but that wouldn't really be control, just have his whole body glow (if it even worked).

Wait, what about... maybe something like Christmas lights? Still that power in his belly, but... trying to give it a little path of where to go? Would it work? Going a little wild with imagination as the boy was just sitting there in the classroom, not looking to the classmates and risk distracting himself, Kei started to picture teeny, tiny lights. Each one lighting after the next and slowly drawing from his belly, reaching to his shoulders and warming a bit as they trailed down his arms. He kept watching the stone but picturing those images in his head, that he almost lost it for a moment and jumped a bit in his seat.

Did the stone just flicker, or was that just wishful thinking?!

Word Count: 540/893

 

[Akiyama Tomiko]

Glancing down at her own set of tools on her desk, Tomiko couldn't help the slight flush that formed on her cheeks. She had been so focused on the teacher and trying to act appropriately and then making sure that she gave a good answer that she had hardly even noticed they were there! Weren't shinobi supposed to be perfectly aware of their surroundings at all times, everything in the room and all that?

Privately resolving to try and pay more attention in general, Tomiko turned her focus to listening to the teacher's explanation. Mimicking the older woman's actions, she picked up her own stone and turned it over in one palm for a moment. As far as she could tell it was just a normal, if kind of nicer than most, rock... Though admittedly she didn't really know all that much about rocks to begin with.

Clasping the stone between two hands, the young girl simply stared at it for a few moments trying to do as instructed. Her brow furrowed in concentration, green eyes unblinking as she concentrated as hard as she could. Nothing, not even as she tucked her shoulders in and pressed harder on the stone between her palms.

She even tried putting on her serious concentration face, tongue slightly poking out to one side. There was absolutely no effect, however, and with a frustrated sigh she glanced up towards the teacher to try and figure out what she was doing wrong. On the one hand she would have liked to have had figured it out entirely on her own, but... Teaching was what teachers were for, right?

Trying again with a new and much more relaxed approach, Tomiko took a deep breath and brought her shoulders back up to let her hands rest in a more natural position atop her desk. Loosening her grip on the stone so that it was lightly resting between her palms, the young girl closed her eyes and tried to put a neutral expression on her face. With a few more slow and steady breaths, she tried to focus on just picturing her chakra to start with.

For Tomiko, something moving around the body like that must be like... Water. Or maybe something thicker, and glowing? That seemed pretty cool and appropriate, in her mind, so she settled into picturing a bright, almost syrup-like substance moving out from her stomach and into her limbs. Every now and then she would pause, a slight frown on her face as she briefly lost her place or tried to figure out the most natural feeling route for it to flow along.

Slowly but surely she puzzled her way through the mental exercise and after a few long, quiet moments the stone in her hands started to give off a soft, light blue glow.

Word Count: 465/863

 

[Tuchickmado Haruto]

Haruto looked at the stone, he was clueless he never had to focus chakra like this before. he always focused his chakra on a fixed point a talisman but now there was no talisman for him to use. he sat there in fear of what he should do. he was nervous he knew that what he would have to do was very different from his previous training. he remembered the training he had with his father

fill....throw...focus
those were the steps he remembered.

talisman are different than a stone to him talisman almost demanded chakra, but the rock did not it seemed completely uninterested in chackra. Haruto had to do something and so he did. he felt the chakra that was in his stomach. he placed his hands on the stone. he tried to imagine the chackra crawling in his arms. he felt as it slowly trickled onto his hands to him it felt as a warmth around his hands. he tried his best to imagine the chackra enter the stone, but something was off he felt a force repelling against the one of his right hand.

he felt unbalance

he threw back his arms in shock what could've gone wrong. he knew the force of his right and left arms were repelling each other. he looked at his hands in shock what was he supposed to do. he tried to find the answer within the memories of his training. this was so different then a talisman he thought, he felt uncertain was he going to fail this lesson what would be his parents' response to this. he was in a panic he looked at himself with disappointment he was a failure. he tried to think of a solution but he couldn't find one all he knew were talismans. he tried his best he remembered the steps he had to take.


that was it the steps!

he thought how those steps he flowed for talisman might be of use here. his panic slowly faded, but still, he didn't know how. he looked at his hand at the very tips of his fingers there he found his answers. he wondered what if he focused all his chakra at the tips of two of his fingers. on step down, but after that, he could just place his fingers on the stones. all that was left from there was to focus. he felt a sense of joy come over him once he reached his conclusion.



he took in a deep breath in he wanted to remain calm when doing this. he felt the energy in his stomach. he tried his best to guide it to the area he wanted it to travel. very slowly he felt as it moved. he felt a warming sense almost as a fire. he tried to feed this fire. he felt as it reached the area he wanted. he took another breath. it felt like a small flame of energy. he moved his two fingers closer to the stone he did this very slowly. he placed the two fingers on the stone. now what how was he supposed to male the chakra move now. he tensed up he felt the flame flickered with this emotion that came over he was scared once again. he looked at the stone his he felt this flame of energy around his fingers flicker more and more as his focus broke. that's it he once again regained his concentration as he imagined the chackra around his fingers catch fire on the stone. he imagined the stone being on fire.



he slowly began to look and saw a faint glow, I DID IT! he thought as he smiled.


word count: 610/995
sorry about the late response I was busy sleeping

 

[Kishiko Nagisa]

Nagisa would walk around the room and watch carefully, keeping her own stone fully lit with no active thought. It had been so long since she was at this level that she forgot at times that some people needed help.

'You should teach more often. Always remember to help those that need it.' Shizue said in her head. 'Healing can be done in many ways.'

Nagisa would outwardly show no signs that she was conversing with the spirit sealed inside of her.

'I know. I know. You always had young ones around. I normally see people when they are in desperate need. not when they are healthy. It is a tone shift for sure as well as a perspective shift.'

Nagisa would finish her round and end back where she started as she turns around, the stone this time on her finger still lit.

"You are all doing well. Some of you are still getting used to it and that is fine. You do not get to this level after one class. Remember that feeling. If you don't remember the feeling as we continue, use the stone again to remind yourself. You may place them down now. The next item we will use is the kunai. As you can tell there is another stone in the kunai and it will react to your chakra/ However, as you can tell, there is now something between you and it. What I want you to do is to hold it in one hand and focus your chakra. Make the stone glow. Once you have done this for 3 seconds, which hands and do the same. Even if you are not ambidextrous you need to be able to channel chakra in both hands to make handsigns which allow you to use most jutsu. Imbalance will either cause the jutsu to fail or use too much or little chakra. Either way, it is dangerous. So do this until you feel comfortable, or as comfortable as you can. If you are running low on chakra please let me know and I can give you an energy drink. Do not push yourself too hard as using all of your chakra will cause you to hurt yourself physically. Now, here is the demonstration. Watch carefully and do not worry about hurting yourselves because the kunai are dull."

Nagisa would demonstrate as she would hold the kunai in one hand, light up the stone, switch hands, and do it again. She would watch carefully as the kunai were dull but could still hurt if used at full force. Otherwsie, she would begin her pacing being quiet so the students could focus.

438/1114
48 hours to post! Good job everyone posting so quickly.

 

[Yamashito Kei]

Kei struggled to focus at first, figuring how to even picture the chakra that was supposed to be inside of him or how to manipulate it. But after seeing that first, small flicker of light as the young boy concentrated, he tried to keep from cheering out loud and startle any of his classmates (or risk getting in trouble with the teacher) and tried to focus a bit harder. At first, he just held the image in his head to string that energy inside all the way up from his belly, through his arms and down to his hands to see if he could bring out a bit more... to make the glow a bit stronger or to last more than a few seconds before flickering back out.

But as he worked and managed to hold the faint blue glow a bit longer each time, Kei seemed to smile a bit as it wasn't just an image in his head or some mental exercise. He could see the results of his work, he knew he could really do this. Not to mention, he could feel that energy a bit easier to try and draw it out from his belly without the complicated images. At least he had a sense that it was there and didn't have to fight to find it, or how it felt to course through his own body.

Kei smiled to see the glow brighten by the time the teacher made it back to the front of the class, and carefully set the stone down as she tried to explain the next part of the lesson. Oh my, seems this was getting more complicated. But it left the boy to smile a bit wider at the challenge instead of worrying too much. This was getting kind of fun, now!

He nodded to hear that they needed to work on a little control now. Not just to tap into their chakra and force it around, but to choose exactly where to send it and even how much of that energy to send to their hands. The young boy paused to hear of the consequences, how serious it could be if they used too much. At least he understood that too little chakra wouldn't let the jutsu work at all. Hmmm, this might take a little more work than he thought. Looking up to watch the demonstration, Kei finally reached for his own kunai (with a curious pause to poke a finger near the tip just to test how dull it might be, and carefully pulling his finger back since it still hurt!) and tried to balance it in one palm. A moment to take a slow breath, feel that energy again... then feel it flowing up and out towards his fingers. Just his right palm this time. But he tried to focus this time to think of how much chakra to use. Now, the image forming in his head was more like a dial on his radio back home... letting the chakra form but keeping it as low as possible, then just turning that little dial in his head. Cranking it a little higher, and higher to see if it had any effect. He knew that it would take more energy this time to push through the metal of the kunai, but why waste a whole bunch to go straight to the max, right?

The concentration to hold a certain amount of chakra was harder than he expected, but Kei held to that image of the dial in his head. As he started to worry that it was a bad approach or that he wasn't using enough chakra, he twitched in his seat to see a small flicker from the stone. H-hey.. it worked! A few beads of sweat on his brow as he tried to turn the power up just a bit higher, he watched in awe as the stone started to light up. All right... just hold it... hold it! He waited a bit longer than instructed, more like 5 or 6 seconds before letting it fade, and letting out a rather pleased sigh as he settled back in the chair. Just before he bit his lip. Ooh yeah, still need to use the other hand, too.

Word Count: 708/1601

 

[Tuchickmado Haruto]

Haruto smiled as he heard the new directions. He realized how similar this would be to a talisman, his only real problem was how the stone was in the Kuni. He smiled as he remembered the steps he had to follow for a talisman. he looked at the Kuni and he had almost no fear. he wanted to feel that fire that he felt before he had never felt this in his chakra before, he wanted to use that power again.

it felt free and wild calm but yet free this power he had never felt before when he used it felt something he had never felt before. but what was that feeling he felt with the fire what was it? the fire felt wild and instances, but most of all it felt free.


he grasped the Kuni in the palm of his hand, so he tried his best to recreate to do what he did before. he had done a talisman so what was the difference between this and a Kuni. he remembered how never before he felt that way it usually felt like a cold and icy water but today something was different. he focused on that energy. he imagined that energy makes its way to the Kuni.

the steps.........remember them


he felt as the fire was burning it was on nearing the Kuni. that's it he thought at that moment two things began to make sense. first was why he was struggling with the rock it was simple it was size the rock was too big for him to start at. the second thing was why he felt the repel simple his chakra could take on two forms and they did at the same time, for a second he wondered if he could recreate the force. he quickly turned back to the Kuni. he stood up to better his concertation.


he yet again faced a new problem it felt off from a talisman mostly because he could not throw this. without any doubt he threw the Kuni onto the wall he felt that the flame was with it. he realized he and the flame are one and that the flame needed to be connected. he imagined a rope forming. At that moment he saw a glow a brilliant glow from the Kuni he waited three seconds. he imagined that the rope he was holding was now on his other hand he watched as the fire was there again and he saw another glow.

He was happy Turley happy that he had succeeded and finished This lesson. He let out a large smile that was unlike home he was calm and free and happy. He felt all of this at once all of these new emotions he couldn't contain his excitement. He shouted to the class. "I did look at that my stone was glowing for both hands" he shouted. He sat down and smiled waiting for the the teachers instructions though he didn't care his was dine with what ever. All of those nerves he had before dissapeared for only just an instant but it felt great.

word count: 518/1518

 

[Akiyama Tomiko]

With her eyes closed, Tomiko hadn't actually immediately realized her success with the calmer, more meditative method of trying to direct her chakra. In fact it was only when the teacher complimented the class and moved on to the next tool that she peeked her eyes open once more, and the break in her concentration left the stone looking just as not-glowing as it had when she started. For a brief moment she felt like pouting and trying to get the stone to glow while she had her eyes open and could see it for herself, but the teacher had said she was doing well and she didn't want to risk falling behind in class.

So, the young girl set the stone aside and took up the dulled kunai. Turning it over and over in one hand, she briefly marveled at how... Cool it was, to hold something that actually looked and felt like a real kunai! She really wanted to try to toss it around and catch it and strike cool poses with it, like she did with rocks and sticks when she was playing around.

It was a difficult urge to resist, but the thought that she would get to use actual-for-real-kunai if she did well in class helped her focus.

Starting with her right hand first, Tomiko held the dulled kunai in a firm but not too tight grip. Closing her eyes again, she took slow and deep breaths as she once more imagined her chakra as a glowing, syrup-like substance. As she tried to direct it just to her right hand this time, she found it oddly... resistant? It was like no matter how she sent it, it was going along the wrong route and her chakra wanted to flow around more freely. Then, when she finally did manage to imagine it right and in a way that felt natural, she couldn't get it to move up from her hand and into the kunai. The chakra just kept slipping back down into her arm.

Brow furrowed in concentration and a small frown on her face, Tomiko slowly managed to figure out how to make her chakra go out into the kunai by forcing more and more of it into her hand so it couldn't fall back down. Like how water in a river couldn't decide to flow upstream, since the rest of the water was pushing it along. Or at least, that was how she pictured it working - she had no idea why water actually flowed in any given direction in rivers.

Still, the mental workaround was working and the stone at the end of the kunai eventually started to give off the same blue glow the first stone had. Feeling like she must be succeeding by now, Tomiko peeked an eye open and caught a glimpse of the glow before the break in her concentration caused it to fade away. Excitement welling up in her, a wide and eager smile took residence on her round face.

She really wanted to enthuse about her success, but she did still need to do it with her other hand and her classmates were still focusing. She didn't want to accidentally sabotage anyone by being loud, so she simply did her best to settle down and swap the kunai to her left hand. Once more closing her eyes and steadying her breathing, she had to struggle with her imagination going wild with ideas on all manner of amazing jutsu and other shinobi techniques she was going to get to learn!

Eventually she managed to force herself to calm down, and to her surprise she found directing her chakra to her left arm and hand much easier than it had been with her right. Maybe it was just from practice, or maybe it was similar to being left handed? The young girl had no idea, but she wasn't going to complain about the mental exercise being easier.

Actually lighting the stone in the kunai up with chakra was still just as difficult, however, and she had to repeat her flood-her-palm-and-force-it-out method to get it to work. Just as the stone started to glow blue, one of her fellow classmates gave a celebratory shout and she gave a slightly startled jump in her seat and snapped her attention towards... Haruto, she thought his name was. Instead of feeling annoyed at the interruption, Tomiko felt a flush of embarrassment at getting startled so easily - that wasn't very ninja like at all, was it?

Offering Haruto an encouraging, and slightly sheepish smile the young girl turned her attention back to focusing on the kunai in her left hand. Once more she managed to force the chakra from her palm and into the kunai, and this time without interruption she managed to get the stone to glow blue for a few seconds. Until it winked out once more as an odd sense of fatigue settled in, leaving Tomiko puzzled.

It wasn't like she felt sleepy, and it also wasn't like when she ran around too much and her legs would get sore. She couldn't really put her finger on it, but the teacher had warned them about using up their chakra and getting tired. Maybe that's what it was, she was getting low on chakra?

The young girl started to raise her free hand, pausing for a moment and glancing at the two boys. Neither of them seemed tired yet, and she didn't want to appear weak or lazy or anything like that to them or to their teacher... But would it be stupid to ignore what the teacher had said and try to power through? With a slight nod to herself, Tomiko took a small reassuring breath to steel her resolve before fully raising her right hand and speaking up.

"Sensei... I think I used too much chakra, I feel kinda tired."

Word Count: 969/1,832

 

[Kishiko Nagisa]

Nagisa watched them all. Besides the outburst, they were really working hard. They were getting the hang of it but even as the hand was raised, Nagisa expected this. Their chakra pool was small and they would use it quickly. Nagisa could easily keep all of these stones active for hours without issue. They would get there eventually but today is not that day.

"Everyone sit down your instruments. We are taking a small break. Everyone take a seat and I will hand out a drink. Please drink it up. It will restore some of your chakra and prepare you for the final part of the class. ."
Nagisa would pass out a can of energy drinks to each student. She would make sure each one of them drank at least half of theirs before starting to talk.

"You are all progressing as expected. You will learn finer control as you gain more experience using chakra. Now, how are you finding it? How do you imagine your chakra? For me, I am gifted in water jutsu so I naturally imagine my chakra as a river flowing through my body. I can release just a little chakra or if I need to unleash to use a powerful water jutsu I allow the chakra to rapidly flow. What works for you? Who knows, one of you may say something that inspires the others. Work and learn together. This is the best way to practice. Chakra control and management is a fundamental skill that you will use regardless of what branch you join. For those in the medical branch like me, I have to not only be knowledgeable about the chakra system, but know what chakra damage looks like. If I try to heal someone who has a lot of chakra damage with chakra, it might not be as effective. In the field I have to make sure I never run out.Once a medical ninja's chakra is out you should retreat. Now tell me how you feel your chakra? How you imagine it? There is no wrong answer as each person does it differently."

350/1464

 

[Yamashito Kei]

Kei tried to finish up his task before the teacher called for the third part of the lesson, and risk getting in trouble for only doing half of his task. He tried to keep up his composure to focus, but had to jump a bit as the other boy shouted out with glee at his accomplishment. Seems someone was doing well! But no time for that, now. Got to focus!

Now that he knew a bit of what to expect and picture inside his head, the boy found it easier to draw out that energy and draw it over to his left hand this time. Yet even as he managed to get the stone within the kunai to glow much faster this time, Kei barely managed a brief flicker before the light started to fade. There was already a few beads of sweat along his brow from the work before, but when he tried again to draw chakra up to his fingers and tried to push a bit harder to draw a bit more energy, it only gave the same result to flicker for a second or two before just fading out.

Once he let go the second time, Kei felt his head droop a bit towards the desk and felt so tired. It was like he'd been running laps around the entire village and didn't have a chance to rest. It was a moment or two before it really sunk in, this must be what the teacher meant about drawing too much chakra. Which meant he sensed more why it was so dangerous. If he felt this tired just doing this bit of control, one mix up during a battle that left him this tired? He'd be finished... probably... dead.

He took a moment to catch his breath after setting the kunai down, and managed a brief smile to hear the teacher mention that they were doing well. At least, as well as those that were just learning about chakra in the first place. Seems he wasn't falling behind!

Kei was glad to accept the drink as the teacher (who was a real medical ninja too!) and took a brief sip, though he tried to keep from sputtering or coughing since the energy drink was a bit stronger than he expected. He could feel his whole body buzzing for a moment to realize it was working, but Kei still meant to be careful with it and just took a sip or two at a time. He glanced around the classroom to see the other students, wondering how they'd done as well. The other boy... Haruto? Seems he did a good job, and from the way she called out to feel that low on chakra that Tomiko probably felt the same way he did. That... sure wasn't fun, and would be something Kei would be extra careful about as he continued to train. It wasn't something he planned to repeat.

The boy was quiet for a bit, trying to sort his thoughts and understand what he'd really felt or pictured to draw the chakra out in the first place. With a brush of his fingers to slip beneath his glasses just to rub over his nose, he finally tried to raise his hand to speak up. "I'm not... really sure. I mean, it's all still new. It was hard to really focus at first or think what this chakra would be like, even if it's always been there. I tried picturing it like blood... or water, sensei.... pumping through me, but I just got dizzy. Then more like... a fire in my belly, one you could build up or add kindling to when you needed it, but was way too hard to picture or control. It may sound silly, but when I started thinking of energy, i thought of home. And all the little christmas lights around. Like there was a string inside to pick which way the chakra would go, so it went to my hand... instead of to my toes, or up by my ears. I mean, it helped to give it a path to follow at least."

He answered, but Kei seemed to pause as he thought it over before speaking up again, "I know that was how it started, or what I tried to picture. But it wasn't quite how it felt. It was more like.... a pressure? Not cold, or warm... just... it was a lot easier to control when I focused, just relaxed. Listened to my breathing and just... let the pressure build until I let it go to my hand."

Word Count: 765/2366

 

[Akiyama Tomiko]

That the teacher called for a break for the entire class was a small relief, the young girl giving the older woman a grateful smile as she accepted her can of energy drink. Holding it lightly in both hands, she took a moment to note that at the very least, the other boy also seemed happy to take a break as well. That helped put what few lingering concerns she had at ease, and she absently took her first sip.

The refreshing, light liquid that met her tongue caught her by surprise. Although she hadn't ever had one of these before, or any other kind of energy drink, she had sort of expected it to be more... Sugary, maybe? Or really spicy, or with some kind of 'kick' to it, or even something super sour would have kind of made sense to her. What the drink actually seemed to be, to her at least, was sort of like a really nice, cool tea with a flavor she couldn't place. Sipping away at her drink while the teacher watched them, she was glad at least that it didn't taste gross and... medicine-y? Medicinal, that was the word!

Tomiko was pulled from her idle thoughts as the teacher started to speak once more, and the young girl focused on listening intently as she continued to sip away at her energy drink. Chakra damage, from how the older woman described it, certainly sounded serious and kind of scary. Especially if it could prevent someone from being healed properly like that...

Shifting slightly in her seat to more comfortably glance towards Kei as he spoke up and shared his thoughts on the class exercise so far, she found the large difference in how he chose to picture and feel out his chakra to how she did somewhat interesting. The teacher, at least, was sort of similar in picturing a river. If only in a vague still-being-liquid sense.

Taking one long sip from her can and collecting her thoughts, Tomiko spoke up next in a casual and matter-of-fact tone. "I picture my chakra as a thick, glowing liquid. Almost like syrup, but a little more like water than that. Although," She pursed her lips in a slight frown before continuing. "I can't really focus on it very well unless I close my eyes. And it was really hard to get it to go to just my right hand, but not that hard to get it to go to my left." To illustrate her point she let go of the can with her right hand first and raised it up slightly, then swapped hands and did the same with her left.

Pausing for another long sip, she gave a relieved and appreciative sigh before a thought struck her. Hadn't she been trying to act all cool and collected when she came into class, like shinobi were supposed to be? Between the exercise and getting fatigued, she had gone and forgotten... For a moment she considered trying to salvage the act in some manner, but instead she just shrugged to herself before giving the rest of her answer. "Whenever I tried to push my chakra out of my hand and into the kunai, it would just slip back down, but I figured out if I kept it building up then it couldn't do that and would eventually be forced out."

Glancing around at her classmates and teacher, a sheepish smile formed on her round face as she added. "I guess that's why I ran out of chakra so quickly?"

Word Count: 586/2,418

 

[Tuchickmado Haruto]

Haruto took a small sip of the liquid. he was surprised at the liquid's taste it was a sour taste that almost burnt. he made a face along with the taste it was powerful and a wild taste, but then like the fire had lost its flame he felt a cool sweet taste it was calm and cold different then what he tasted before. he quickly chugged the drink after the transformation of flavor.

the fire freedom hurt why was that? Should I just give up on freedom then it's that what this is telling me?

Haruto thought about the question he was asked by the teacher he wondered how to answer it. So many thoughts and ideas entered his mind he was unsure and afraid. The thought of freedom now felt painful to him what if doing that hurt. He was conflicted on what to answer, the thoughts that he had while using chakra echoed through his head he had so many options yet he didn't know which one to choose.

what should I do? Why does my chakra feel like two different things sometimes like a cool water and others like a raging flame?

He wondered about that for awhile, and finally after all his training today he reached an answer he liked and that sounded nice in his head. He was still afraid but he was confident he realized both these qualities existed with in him, while one at sometimes was more dominant they were both there inside of him mind and body.

yes, that's right I got it chakra means and is too thing to me they are the same they are both me.

he stood up to deliver his answer. "To me chakra can take on two very different but similar forms. One is a calm and icy water, and the other is a free and burning fire. That's what chakra feels like to me" he stood down he was a little nervous about what the teacher might say about his answer.

word count: 337/1855

 

[Kishiko Nagisa]

Nagisa would listen. It sounded like they were indeed finding their own way to control their chakra. Was it the most efficient? No. That would come in time. Until then, Nagisa would guide them. Her blue eyes would roam over the class for a second before she would go back to her teaching position.

:One final test for you. The two sticks with the glass bulb. Take one in each hand. The goal is to light up both bulbs. The glass is similar to the stone. The goal is to have both glass bulbs light up and glow the same brightness. This is a test of your balance. I expect you to do your best as you have done up to now. Balancing chakra is really important for using jutsu as you will, traditionally have to balance chakra into both hands. Bringing them together allows your chakra to use jutsu. Eventually, you may become skilled enough to use jutsu without handseals but the principle is still the same. I can use some jutsu without handseals but I still have to balance the chakra in my body. I know I am talking a lot about this it is just very important. Chakra is used in ninjutsu genjutsu and taijutusu. It is what allows us to be shinobi and I want all of you to be successful shinobi. Now, follow my lead and show me what you can do now that you know what your chakra feels like!"

Nagisa would take each stick in hand and would demonstrate lighting up both bulbs at the same brightness and then alternating between only having one on, none on, and both. A slow change so students could follow along.

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[Akiyama Tomiko]

Tomiko's green eyes went wide as the teacher so casually stated that using jutsu without handseals was both possible and something the teacher herself was able to do. She really, really wanted to ask her for demonstrations... But this wasn't the time or the place for that! Pushing her fascination aside, taking one more sip of her energy drink and feeling more than refreshed enough to tackle this next training exercise, the young girl set her can aside and took up the two bulb-sticks in exchange.

Both sticks held close to her torso, coincidentally lined up with the black pigtails that hung down across her shoulders, Tomiko once more took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Picturing the flow of glowing syrup-like chakra and directing it to her arms and hands again, she tried to focus specifically on making it even on both sides this time. A much more difficult task than she expected, as whenever she shifted her focus to try and fix one side the other one would suddenly drop off as she lost concentration entirely.

The bulb-sticks in her hands flickered in brief spurts and at times even managed to light up for a longer period of time, but never in sync with each other.

Stopping for a moment, Tomiko opened her eyes and studied the tools in her hands. Brow furrowed and lips pursed in a slight, contemplative frown, the young girl mulled over what was giving her trouble and how to fix it. Specifically, her right arm and hand were resistant and difficult to push chakra into and her left was almost too easy... But trying to pump more chakra into her right to match her left kept breaking her concentration. If she kept trying it that way she would use up all of her chakra again, too, so she needed to figure out something else. Something simpler, easier...

If Tomiko had a free hand, she might have given herself an obligatory smack upside the forehead as a very obvious solution came to her. Shaking her head in mild annoyance at herself, sending her pigtails waving from side to side, she once more closed her eyes and focused. This time, she wasn't trying to boost the flow of chakra to her right side to match her left.

Instead, she restrained the flow of chakra to her left side to try and make it match her right. It was still difficult and hard to keep concentration on, and the bulbs still flickered on and off as she tried to settle into a consistent flow. The bulbs were flickering at the same time now, however, and she didn't need to open her eyes to catch the brief flashes of light against her eyelids.

A swell of excitement briefly threw her off, the young girl taking an extra deep breath to try and remain calm and focused. She could celebrate later, once she had fully succeeded. For now, she turned her imagination to trying to keep an even, slow flow of chakra to both arms at once.

Slowly but surely, the lights held between flickers longer and longer until they simply remained lit. The brightness of each bulb wavered, left sometimes going brighter before she managed to bring it back down to closer match the right. Although she could get them both to be vaguely similarly bright at once, even as she spent as long on the exercise as she could she couldn't quite get them to actually be the same brightness.

Word Count: 579/2,997

 

[Yamashito Kei]

Kei continued to sip at the energy drink even if he wasn't too fond of the taste, since he was grateful for the chance to rest and recharge a bit. And he had a sense that even for a first lesson and something meant to be a stepping stone for the harder lessons to come, that this third task was going to be a lot harder than the others. So he wanted to try and keep his strength up as much as she could so that he'd be ready.

Which seemed to be a good idea, as he listened to the directions for the last test and Kei glanced towards the twin bars with the curious light bulbs at the end. At least he understood what they were for now after the practice so far. The boy wondered if it would be harder to draw chakra to the bulb because the bar was longer than the dull kunai had been, or easier because the bulb was actually designed to light up and accept energy like chakra. Either way, the real challenge this time seemed to be focused on the control of their energies... to direct it where they wanted, and measure the amount so that it was equal. Something that sounded simple on paper or as their teacher described it... but would be harder to do as they were all learning to feel chakra in the first place.

No time to back down now or whine about it. This was what Kei had signed up for when he applied for the Academy, and a practice like this actually sounded kind of fun. He reached for both of the sticks and held them in opposite hands, but took a moment to test them a bit. To feel how heavy they might be, if they were made of stone or some wooden material. Just get a sense of what they were made of, and how hard it might be to send chakra through them.

He knew that he needed to light both of them at once, but Kei decided to test the right one first. Much like the girl had mentioned before, it had been a little easier to send chakra to one hand than the other, though Kei did a bit better with his right hand. So, let's see how hard this might be in the first place, then try it with both hands at once.

Taking a few small breaths to settle and focus himself, Kei closed his eyes to picture that energy inside and found it easier to picture where the chakra would go... the little lines running through his arms and legs to send the chakra around, so it wasn't as awkward to imagine as it had been the first time. Letting that energy, that pressure build inside his belly, he felt it flow up to his arm and down to the fingers before "Whoa..." He said with a light gasp to see the bulb lighting up after a moment, though the light was a bit brighter than it had been with the glowing stone. Seems they were built to be slightly more sensitive than stone... or was it just that the boy found the task a bit easier now that he had an idea of what to do?

All right, enough fooling around. Time for the big test. He knew he needed to keep things even, but just blasting chakra up his arms might waste energy he didn't have... and wasn't a promise to keep them even. And a shinobi wouldn't have the time to sit and focus on one hand and then the next, they needed to do them at the same time. How to match them if one side was harder to send chakra too? If it was a math problem, or if he had a better sense of his own chakra... then it could be just putting numbers to it, to send... maybe.. 20% down one arm... 15% down the other? But that was way too hard to compute in the first place, or worry about in a fight. Energy, chakra... water (or syrup)... pressure... w-wait, plumbing! Like pipes, hiding under the sink. Some pipes were always thick to let things flow easier, others real skinny to slow it down. What if he let the pressure build like usual, send the same chakra to both arms but just squeeze down a bit to his right (which was already easier) and go full force down his left where he'd meet resistance. By the end, it should still add up to the same and be roughly even.

"Here goes nothing..." He whispered under his breath to test the idea, and seeing if he could even hold the image in his head without getting too distracted or lost in details. Eyes closed for a bit as he stayed focused on his breathing, slowly in and out, just relax... yet as he started to sense a bit of light through his eyelids, Kei looked to the bulbs and almost jumped in his seat for his first little outburst. "H-hey... I did it!" and quickly turned a bit red to worry he messed anyone else up. Turning back to the desk, he started to practice, seeing if he could switch hands like the teacher did... daring to even see if he could go a little faster each time from left to right until they started to flicker back and forth, or until the boy started to get dizzy again and had to set them down, wondering if there was another energy drink.

Word Count: 929/3295

 

[Tuchickmado Haruto]

Haruto looked at the two sticks. He wasn't exactly sure how to do this, the sticks felt different then anything else he had used. With resolve still in his mind haruto picked up these unmovable walls of wood.

No, one stick will have more then the other

He looked at them for a second they remained him of drum sticks. He looked them with uncertainty; he wondered what would be be a good plan of action. His mind jumped to closed doors and worthless answers for he could not see a clear path to his solution. The sense of panic fell over him once again.

...why why does my chakra always feel like this. It shouldn't it shouldn't it feels separate from me.


He held the two sticks in hand, yet they felt so far away from him. He began to sit down lacking any idea of what he should do for he knew exactly what would happen. Failure echoed through his mind as he awaited his fate; he sank closer and closer in to the deaths of despair. He looked around the room trying to see from what the other two students he noticed had done. But he didn't need to he had the right idea all along.


Finally, he held both sticks in his two hands. He tried to latch on to the same feeling he felt before not wanting to loose it to a sea of ice. He did his best to imagine the fire within him consuming the sticks. To him it felt as the fire burnt away his stress like all pain he once felt just became his fuel for success. Now, came this plan the two fires that were disconnected would be no longer, but one fire that was connected to him. He took his sticks ablaze with his chakra, and he began to slam them onto each other now the two separate fires were as one. He slowly put both sticks on the bulb. Was he dreaming or did he see a light, he found victory.

word count: 342/2197
I'm so sorry this took so long