Extra Effort [free/open]

[Shouyu Hoshi]

After Hoshi returned home, of course he was anxious for many things. He was only 12, his birthday around the corner in several months. Still, above all else, he found himself wanting stop by the academy. Although he was Genin, Hoshi never stayed too far from a library, he always wanted to read. A familiar taste in the air, it was home, he closed his pale hues and absorbed the aroma. The feeling of the cooling almost icy breeze of Kumogakure was... welcoming. The corner of his lips turned into a smile upon the preteen face. He would have a minute amount of minuscule scars upon his face besides the lightning bolt shaped wound hidden behind his Kumo band upon his forehead.

Hoshi walked up to the gates of the school with his apron and loose fitting clothing flapping in the wind. He wore his usual slightly baggy light grey training pants, sashed by a blue apron adorned with flowers normally found in Lightning country, and a matching light grey Kimono top, laying flaccid on his shoulders revealing his torso which was covered by a dry fit black t shirt. He paced through the school, with his eyes closed, head held high. He had been gone almost a year, and once he opened his eyes and realized, everything was the same, he smiled once more. He thought back to the faithful day, he fought Kiri right here, the smile faded as he head turned calmly. As if in motion picture, Kiri showed and attacked him once more, to someone else point of view, he was now in a training session, or shadow boxing. He remembered every movement and would react as he did before, but as he should have done. Hoshi would palm the air, with grace, speed and accuracy, spin on one foot and dash, in almost an instant he covered twenty feet in distant before entering the famed trademark stance of the Hyuuga clan.

Hoshi would dash again, closing the distance sending a series of tenketsu strikes all the way up to 256 palms. Each movement was fluid and slid into the next step. Hoshi's movement was smooth like water yet acutely electric. Those who haven't trained their eyes to a certain level would only be able to depict his movements in blurs. Hoshi controlled his breathing.

Once catching up with his heart rate, and slowing things down a bit he would slide out of stance, and chuckle lightly to himself before he looked to the sky. He sighed, and his facial expression became more serious.

"I almost died back then... But now... because of that... I lack any fear of getting stronger and... Yeah..."

Hoshi rose his right fist to beneath his chin, he contemplated the fist and opened it up to reveal his palm. He applied an overflow of chakra into his head, rushing as if ever, the result being a manipulation of water which began to surge around his hand. The water would contort and want to break form, meanwhile Hoshi took what energy he already had and began to speed up the circulation of chakra. This new heightened speed of chakra spreading spawned the lightning and water element to merge into the storm advanced element. As soon as it conjured up together he clenched his fist and everything stopped. Hoshi looked around.

"I've gotten stronger since. And I still cannot rest. The mind and the body, have to be trained daily. Kumo is Protect."

Hoshi would begin to pace out in the yard out of the school. Eventually the kid walked inside, rented a book about bloodlines, clans and families with specific abilities much like his own. It also contained information about famed skilled ninja who had abilities unlike others. Hoshi found it to be a Knowledge source and thought it would it be interesting. Once he attained the book he would take himself to read outside. He thumbed through the book making a note at:


Uchiha
Hyuuga
Seikon
Dark Sage
Hachimon
Haku
Jinchuuriki


[topic entered]

 

[Funai Ikko]

Ikko was...an animated child. He had not been at the Academy very long, days really, but he had already managed to irritate more than one instructor with his rather poignant inability to remain still for more than twenty seconds. Thankfully, Ikko was young and young people tended to be less than intelligent or, as it would be more apt to state, easily manipulated. Ikko had been told that if he sat still and read the entire seven hundred page volume that the instructor had dropped on his lap, that they would teach him a super secret ultra technique! This mission of Ikko's lasted all of three seconds before Ikko let the instructor know that he never learned how to read. He knew how to pronounce words that had come up on signs and posters and he learned that through repetitive trial and error, but going so far as to read something out of a book would unfortunately be impossible for him. So a counter strategy was devised. The instructor turned the book to the page that had a picture, Ikko liked pictures, and pointed at one of the diagrams of what he called the Chakra System. Ikko, rapt with attention, received his mission to memorize each and every one of the three hundred and sixty one Tenketsu on the body. The instructor then absconded to a less irritating area as Ikko went straight to the book, excited to have a task at hand to do and a little dejected that his inability to read was becoming such a burden for him. He never had to read before, why was it suddenly important now? Why couldn't the teacher just tell him what was in the book? A soft grumble escaped him as he started pouring over his reading material.

He had been left in relative silent contemplation out in the yard for quite some time, doing his best to commit what he could to memory. Occasionally, his brain would get tired and he would shift focus slightly, attempting to read some of the passage that was next to the diagram. He recognized some of the words. Chakra, hands, feet, but he couldn't piece the whole puzzle together. The monks had only ever gathered chakra to their hands and feet, maybe that was what the passage was about? Then why did they need Tenketsu all over their bodies if they were only going to use the ones in their hands and feet? Chakra was weird and made no sense to Ikko, but he was going to shoot lightning to make Lord Raiden happy and that was what mattered. This process repeated for some time, Ikko getting so frustrated trying to memorize Tenketsu that he tried to focus on reading...until he got so frustrated that he went back memorization, and the jury was still out on whether or not he was actually making any genuine progress. Then the cycle was broken. A man had made his way in to the little clearing where Ikko had been sequestered to study. The man didn't seem to notice Ikko, whether because he was focused on his own thoughts or because Ikko was just beneath notice would probably remain a mystery, but as soon as Ikko caught sight of his presence he had already jumped in to what was quite the captivating display.

Ikko's mouth dropped slightly as the man moved through what, to a more trained eye, might seem like a choreographed memory or a routine than just casual movement, but to Ikko's completely and utterly untrained eye this man could teleport and he was awesome at it. Well, not a man really, he was probably in his early teens at most, but compared to little Ikko he looked massive. He then dropped in to a strange stance that Ikko couldn't identify. It looked a little...weird. He spread his arms out wide and crouched down. Crouching down made sense to Ikko, he subconsciously understood that a lower center of gravity made for a more explosive first step which in turn made for a faster and stronger strike...but why were his arms like that? If anything that just seemed to be opening him up so wh...well he got his answer. Sort of got his answer at least, in a flash the man's arms started pistoning forward at a truly astounding speed. Ikko couldn't follow them well at all, barely making out that the man was striking out with his fingers and, if Ikko extrapolated the kind of target he would be trying to hit at those angles, he could almost make out where some of the strikes were aimed. Ikko looked down at the diagram in the book, missing the elemental display that followed, and slowly ran his finger along the page to the few spots he could make out where the strikes would be going amidst the massive blur. There was one...two...three...four, yes, they were all close to where the book said the tenketsu were. Of course, a more logical explanation for an ignorant person to go with would be that it was coincidence and the boy had thrown out more waaaaaay more strikes than Ikko could track, but conspiracy theories and patterns were so much more fun than coincidence. Was this guy trying to hit them? Was that what the ones not on his hands and feet were for? For him to hit?

Ikko snapped his head back up to where the man was before, but he had vanished and a grumpy little pout escaped the boy, he had so much to ask him. Ikko's eyes dejectedly fell back to his book for a few more minutes before it was clear that he had accomplished all he was going to with it when he mind was on finger boy and not on his book. With a sigh, Ikko closed the book, keeping his finger on the page until he could find something to mark the spot, and made his way back to the front door of the Academy when, lo and behold, finger boy was coming back out. Ikko reacted, naturally, as animatedly as possible. The boy's free hand snapped forward, pointing at Hoshi's face as an excited half gasp half squeal escaped Ikko at the sudden sight of him once again.

"You were so cool! You were like whooooosh and then you were like poke poke poke poke, and then shoooooom"

Ikko jumped forward, almost tearing the book open as he held the page with the diagram forward, showing the human image with the tenketsu showing forward and toward the boy's face as Ikko's feet seemed to involuntarily jump up and down. He only held it for a few more moments before tucking the book back under his arm as he began to haphazardly attempt to mimic the boy's movements. Of course, Ikko's body was neither physically capable of coming close to his speed nor did he have any semblance of understanding of the technique, so he was only just wildly flailing his fingers in jutting stabbing motions, but his heart was in to it. When Ikko finally turned his attention back to his new hero, he stopped for a moment. The boy's face was...weird. He supposed that wasn't fair, he wasn't ugly or deformed or anything, but there was something uncannily off about him that Ikko could not quite place. Then, in as animated a "eureka" moment as possible, Ikko's mouth flew wide open again as the revelation dawned on him. The next question came, completely without tact, out of his mouth before he really had a chance to think about it.

"Why do your eyes not have dots in them?"

[WC: 1278]

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

When Hoshi returned thumbing through his book he was approached by a younger child. At first glance, it was almost like staring in the mirror at his former self. The kid squeaked and commemorated Hoshi who turned his face away. He was honestly proud to have stirred the young boy, but he knew his prowess was far from complete. He turned his head back right away when the boy revealed a book, it was a picture showing the natural chakra network ad Hoshi nodded at the image as he leaned over to look at it. He blinked when the kid snapped it away and began to imitate the gentle fist. Hoshi chuckled lightly and closed his eyes, only laughing a bit harder at the boy's question.

"Well, I am a hyuuga. I don't think we have pupils."

Hoshi rubbed the bottom of his chin, looking to the sky with a serious face. The young boy didn't know about hyuugas, or the tenketsu system, Hoshi let his hand fall to his side and looked at him once more. He walked past the kid and beckoned him to follow.

"My name is Shouyu by the way. Hoshi was my mother's family name. But I am without a doubt, a descendant of the Hyuuga clan. It is a special family, gifted with what we call a bloodline. A bloodline is easily put as.... people born with gifts. And there are others, who instead are born with these talents, have a natural skill set, that is rather, unique. In time... one day, you will discover yourself, that is... if you haven't already. Take a look."

Hoshi opened the book to a chapter about the Hyuuga clan. Hoshi read out some words and pointed to pictures of a Byakugan, showing images of white eyes like his, surrounded by veins outside and around the eyes, and even inside the pale hue. The image showed a three hundred and sixty degree point of view and the another body next to it with arrows pointing at the tenketsu system.

"This is what you were looking at. The Human's natural tenketsu system. All it is, are chakra pressure points where chakra can be harnessed and focused. It's good to know, so you know where to concentrate. As a hyuuga we are gifted with a visual doujutsu, once activated we are able to see distances and the tenketsu system is highlighted. What you saw me doing earlier is a famed Hyuuga taijutsu, the gentle fist. I was aiming to strike all the main pressure points in turn, it makes it difficult for one to harness the chakra."

He looked over, hoping he wasn't losing the child. He would flip through other pages, and stopped on Kyoubaku. He would read some of the literature aloud, while pointing at pictures showing the people surrounded by nature utilizing the wood advanced element.

"The Kyoubaku, birth with gift to manipulate earth and water elements into the wood element. I've met one recently, I believe he is still here in cloud although... I haven't seen him in a while. Their gift with the Mokuton wood jutsu is exceptional. I've even seen them convert the very same water in the air.... into solid wood."

He looked over once more and the child to see if he was delighted to learn more. If anything, Hoshi wanted to learn more about the kid. He seemed to be a pot of clay, just as Hoshi was. He had been through so much since that day, but he still held on tight to his youthful ideals.

Wc 596

 

[Funai Ikko]

Ikko gazed up at the boy, perplexed. Hyuuga? What was that? The closest sound he could find in his memory to what the boy called himself was when the old man he used to steal food from got a chicken bone stuck in his throat. The retching to lodge it free sounded suspiciously like what the boy claimed to be. Ikko's eyes unconsciously moved to Hoshi's throat, double checking to make sure his new friend wasn't about to choke to death with a mixture of concern and curiosity on his face. He did not have time to really contemplate further though as the boy motioned for Ikko to follow after him and the child was more than happy to oblige, bounding after him with a jovial and inquisitive mind. He listened raptly as the boy, now known as Shouyu, rattled off his name and his heritage. A soft pang of sadness coursed through him at the thought. He didn't have a family or really even a name. Having a name that was "his mother's" instead of "Taken from a few characters from a potato chip wrapper" were just entirely different worlds of significance. This flash of depression was only visible for a moment though as it was once again quickly replaced with rapt attention. He didn't really understand what he meant though. The only line of thought Ikko could understand was that Shouyu wanted him to learn more about other families, but any sort of personal discovery he might have been implying was completely lost on Ikko.

"Hi Shouyu, I'm Funai Ikko. Ikko is the given name I gave myself and Funai is the surname I gave myself!"

He said it like he was proud of it and he certainly tried to be. Shouyu dove right in to further explanations about the Hyuuga, which still sounded like a cough to Ikko, and Ikko's eyes grew wide and bright as he explained all the cool things he could do. So he could see in a circle instead of a cone and he could see the dots on people with his dotless eyes? Maybe that's how it worked! He lost the dots in his eyes so he could see more dots! Ikko was so smart. He understood bits and pieces of what came next. He explained to Ikko how the Taijutsu of his heritage involved striking each of those tenketsu, but why would that make it difficult to harness chakra? Ikko turned his attention down to his hands, perplexed. Before raising his head to meet Shouyu's eyes again, voicing his concern while sticking his palms up at the boy.

"But whenever the monks and sensei use chakra, they always use their hands. Why would hitting my hip affect my hands? Do you need to hit their hands too?"

He then launched in to another explanation about another bloodline. This one was not as immediately interesting to Ikko, despite the boy's rather immense enjoyment at gaining new forms of information. His face was still one of jubilation and eagerness, but upon closer inspection it was somewhat clear the same light wasn't present when discussing the Kyoubaku and their Mokuton as it was when discussing the Hyuuga's intense poking sessions. It also did not help that Ikko wasn't entirely sure how water and earth put together made wood instead of...well...mud.

"So...the Kyoubaku fight with sticks? Why? Do they hit the dots with the stick?"

His mind wandered a bit, imaging himself with dotless eyes, brandishing a stick like a sword and artfully throwing a flurry of pokes with his masterful stick work, hitting each of the glowing dots on generic fantasy villain A with such precision and skill that Lord Raiden would smile down on him and watching the bad guy grunt in futile effort because he couldn't use his chakra because he got sticked. A soft sigh escaped his lips at the thought before he forced himself to snap back to reality, a reality which far more accurately and depressingly depicted his ability to hit a target that small.

"Are those the only two?"

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

As Hoshi attempted to explain what he knew as easy as possible, he noticed how attentive the kid was. Truly, he was a spitting image of Hoshi not too long ago. Although as he spoke, he picked up the kids reactions, seemingly not understanding but Hoshi continued. He finally spoke his name, Funai Ikko, Hoshi nodded at the sound. He'd smile and continue speaking, going through the book with him. As he continued the big spoke up and voiced a concern. He spoke of monks and a sensei, and utilizing chakra through their hands.

"Hmm... I guess if you try to see it as this, the chakra system is like a tree, and your hand is only a branch of that tree with other extensions. You could only harness so much chakra with just your hands. Sometimes, a jutsu requires more than just what is allowed in ones hand. So, increasing your flow of chakra from your core, say your stomach, or your chest, could empower what a hand could do. Each point is like a valve, ready to burst with your spirit and physical energy combined if you want it too. So essentially yes, me striking your hip could limit your ability harness any extra chakra."

Hoshi's face cringed at his own answer. He wasn't that great at explaining things, and what he said sounded complicated even for him. He sighed, and continued to move trying to explain as best he could. Ikko then asked about the Kyoubaku and their abilities. Hoshi laughed at the answer, grabbing his belly. The kid sure was spunky, and allowed for comic relief instead of everything being so serious. Hoshi replied calmly,

"Oh no, as far as I know, Hyuuga are the only ones with the visual prowess to see the tenketsu. For the average Shinobi, it is extremely difficult to manipulate two elements into one, stronger element. But this family, are naturally blessed with that element. It's almost as if, taking an element, and shifting its nature, and then contorting its form, into a new creation. Hyuugas are normally exceptional at taijutsu, hand to hand combat, while the Kyoubaku are extremely adept at ninjutsu, elemental fighting. Have you discovered your affinity to an element yet, Ikko?"

He would ask his question and conclude his final section. As he would occasionally look over to Ikko observe him who seemed to be wandering in thought. As Hoshi finished he asked if those were the only two families, Hoshi bellowed out another laugh and patted the young Shinobi's shoulder before answering.

"Hahaha, my friend. I only wish it were that easy, but no.... I've been training for almost five years and in my time... I've found many. Chigokai, Shinobi who easily utilize the element of blood. A rather, dangerous family for their prowess. The uchiha, the famed fiery red eyed Shinobi, who's visual prowess combats the Hyuuga. They are exceptional at fire ninjutsu, and casting illusions through their eyes. I've come across a Haku as well, they are experts at handling the ice element. They can solidify water in an instant. There are many families. I discovered my own doujutsu one day training, and realized what I was gifted with. What about you Ikko, who is your family?"

 

[Funai Ikko]

Ikko stared up in to Shouyu's face, clearly quietly contemplating his words, well, as quietly as the fidgety little child was possibly capable of. Ikko followed his description as best as he could, but he was having a little trouble really tracking what he was saying. A frustrated squint appeared on Ikko's face as his brow furrowed, visibly agitated. But there was one word Ikko latched on to, "valve." Ikko dropped to the ground and started tracing a small tree on the ground with his finger, it was difficult for him to visualize something some complex simply in his mind. As he drew without real form on the ground, adding a bird because birds were cool, he poked a hole in his kinetically imagined tree. Was it like shutting off water? If he poked a valve did it stop the water from getting to the leaves? Ikko understood enough about trees to know that they got water from the ground when it rained and it distributed that throughout the tree. So if he shut off the water to one part of the tree, it'd probably start dying. Was it the same concept? Ikko turned his eyes back up to Shouyu and scrambled back to his feet, beaming up at the boy, proud of his accomplishment.

"So you make people's hands thirsty so they can't use chakra!"

He declared this like he had just solved a thirty year old murder case and that a parade needed to be thrown in his honor before striding right along side Shouyu, raptly listening to his explanations about the Tenketsu Pokers and Stick People's strengths and weaknesses. It was when he finished that the first real crack in Ikko's happy little disposition started to show. He did not know what his elemental affinity was...or what an affinity was...but he had a pretty good idea of what it wasn't. Ikko had been taken in by the Soaring Thunder Monastery, saved from losing a hand and a follow up incarceration by one of the Monks. They wanted him to utilize Raiton, for Lord Raiden's pleasure, but Ikko had never really been able to do it, despite how much "talent" they said he had or whatever that meant. He tried to get back to a sense of joy in his voice as he responded, though noticeably hesitant in his words.

"When I was with the Monks, they told me to make Raiton. I was never able to though. I never got to try anything else."

Ikko had managed to shrug off that sense of dejection for the time being, managing to not dwell too hard on how much of a disappointment he had been to the only people who had ever dared to consider family, a point that was unfortunately going to be further rammed home by the rest of Shouyu's words. Ikko watched him silently, with what he hoped was a convincing smile as he rattled off about the Uchiha FAMILY, the Chigokai FAMILY, the Haku FAMILY, and with each name that smile cracked a little further. When he finally asked Ikko about his own family, the boy had to turn his face away for a moment, pretending to be very interested in a near by rock, thankfully managing to speak without his voice trembling.

"I don't know, I named myself. I am my family."

It was a painfully apt description for Ikko's situation, one that probably suggested a certain cognizance that an eight year old typically would not have, but Ikko was not an especially ordinary child. He quickly got over the second emotional dive bomb though and forced his face back into that playful and excitable mask, eager to change the subject and to learn more. Unfortunately, both subjects they were speaking on were something of a sore spot for Ikko and he wasn't knowledgeable enough to really flip the topic of conversation, so he instead focused on the one that hurt marginally less. Flashing him another grin, Ikko looked up in to Shouyu's eyes with that glare of wonderment that had been transfixed on his face for the majority of their conversation.

"Shouyu, what is your Elementary Afinty!? Do you make Lord Raiden happy with Raiton or are you more a Fiery Katon or a Breezy Fuuton or a Cool Suiton or something with rocks!?"

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

His evaluation of Shouyu's description was rather different, but pinpoint accurate. Hoshi nodded with a smile and gave him a thumbs up. In a sense, that was essentially the occurrence of sealing a tenketsu point. The kid again gave Hoshi reminiscent memories of his earlier years. He would chuckle before answering.

"Yes, exactly. One would have a difficult time funneling that chakra, is if, something was clogging the flow.

As Ikko pondered Hoshi's words, he saw he light leave the young boy's face. Hoshi had probably struck a soft spot, his facial expression too fell lazily in response. The boy responded with a stuffer, he spoke of monks again. Supposedly the monks had high aspirations for Ikko to become a disciple of the lightning element, Hoshi nodded. He continued about different clans and saw as he spoke from reading the book to looking at Ikko, he could see things only getting worst. Hoshi's brow would furrow together as the boy turned away before answering. His words resonated with Hoshi, for in the same breath, he could relate.

"Wrong Ikko... Kumogakure is family now. I'll always have your back, so that one day you can strive to be a splendid Shinobi, and maybe one day you will find a heartfelt cause to fight for. But it seems, these monks think you've been gifted with a natural inept ability to use lightning jutsu. This could be true, you do have a rather... sparkling personality, much like myself when I was eight and just enlisting."

Ikko free quiet, possibly in thought. Hoshi looked away, he figured he spoke too much and brought up a touchy subject. He silently cursed himself under his breath, ashamed of his curious self. In his own thought for a moment, he was lost thinking of dealing with that same feeling. Back when Hoshi was young he had trouble dealing with his emotions. He found his way to release it through training and meditation, thankfully for him. Ikko spoke up, breaking the awkward silence and asking Hoshi about his own skills. Hoshi looked at him and then looked away while giving his response.

"I first picked up lightning, accidentally. It took me quite a while. Hmm, maybe a year almost. It happened one day when I was angry, and once I adapted to the fluctuating electrical energy of lightning then came the fluidity of movement, and my affinity to the water element. Here, Ikko try this.

Hoshi would lay out his palm and point to its center with the index of his opposite hand.

"Imagine here a rod, a beacon attracted to your energy. Try to remember all of your chakra points and where they are at. If you focus on them, and simply will the energy to be stirred and travel through the designated points they will grow, and build, become stronger until it surges out from your palm. Keep trying that, until one day, something happens."

It was the only advice he could give. It was a simple training exercise that would help with chakra control. If Ikko chose to do this regularly, eventually he would discover some type affinity for an element and being to use that said element with ease. Hoshi smirked as he explained.

 

[Funai Ikko]

Ikko, for the first and probably the last time, was completely speechless. Not that he was right, he was right more than people probably thought he was, but because he had no one declare that they or anyone else was his family. Even the monks, despite Ikko more or less forcing that role on to them, had never offered that hand of familiarity. Ikko didn't really know how to react. Was happiness the appropriate reaction to that statement? Logical discourse said probably, but for something that Ikko had both consciously and subconsciously yearned for the better part of his life to just be offered so casually was weird before it was joy inducing. Even if it felt too casual, too easy, to be offered familiarity from someone he just met maybe five minutes ago, Ikko did feel a surge of happiness at the notion. The boy's lips slowly curled in to a grin before blossoming fully out in to a wide, toothy grin. He didn't say anything more on the issue, hoping his grin was enough of a thank you so he could slide right on away from the topic that Shouyu had picked up on being a rather sore spot for the boy. Thankfully, he gave Shouyu a task to do and that would help take his mind off of the less than palatable conversation topic.

Ikko was surprised, almost confused, at the notion that you just pick up an element on accident. That in and of itself was super strange to him. Though he supposed he understood to a degree. No matter what Ikko did, he couldn't create a Lightning jutsu. If it was something you could decide for yourself, he probably would not be struggling so much with it. Maybe he too needed to just find out what element he was attuned with in a happy accident. His mind instantly went to trying to find ways to create an accident to find his element, but then naturally it wouldn't be an accident anymore now would it? His master plan foiled upon three seconds of inspection, Ikko's brow furrowed in frustration as he looked down at his hands, trying to consciously make them produce lightning through sheer willpower alone, the results were expected.

Shouyu followed up by giving Ikko a task and Ikko, before the Hyuuga even finished speaking, had already started. He brought his hands in front of his face and focused intently on them, drawing chakra to his hands. He had done this before, multiple times at that, but the actual step of making a jutsu out of it had always tripped him up. Thankfully, he didn't have to do that, Shouyu didn't tell him to try and use a jutsu, he just said to bring the chakra out and to the surface, visualizing his fingers as anchors for his chakra focusing it to his hands with the utmost concentration...and then nothing happened. A soft groan of disappointment came from him at the repeated failure, but he supposed he's just have to keep trying.

"How long does this take?"

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

Ikko smiled widely as Hoshi spoke, he was glad to see that again. Once Hoshi spoke on the small task he could see Ikko already at work. Hoshi was lucky enough to have his Byakugan which naturally helped him to harness chakra once he had acces to the doujutsu. The boy concentrated with his hand out and Hoshi waited. He didn't expect anything supernatural but only for the boy to understand the concept and take it home with him. He contined to concentrate and Hoshi would wonder, what element would the boy possess. It would be ironic if he came out with wind jutsu, the opposite to lightning. He smirked at that thought to himself, it was the only element he couldn't conjure.

Ikko groaned and asked how long it would take, Hoshi responded with a laugh. He then pointed to his heart.

"Here, imagine this, as your center f all your chakra source."

Hoshi then slowly began to trace a pattern, it was the flow of chakra and how it spread throughout the body.

"It could take a long time... or it could happen now. But, it is definitely something you have to mental visualize, and feel. Can you feel the chakra inside of you coursing through your veins? Do you feel your blood as well? Imagine that you could see it, that you could see your chakra, and focus every bit of it into your palm. It helps, to focus on your breathing. Whenever you have any free time, or you're bored, this meditation will help you. But anything you are truly curious about... the best way to learn is through training, and physical combat. Being pushed to life and death situations, bring forth unknown powers. For me to awaken my eyes Ikko, took many upon many days and nights of training. Just how you are now. Don't fret the time, just keep trying."

Hoshi would open his palm, and from his stomach, Hoshi held up his opposite hand performing a hand seal, familiar to the lightning element. Once he completed the sign with his other half a low toned hummed vibrated lightly.

"Try this Ikko."

Hoshi held up an Ox hand sign, it was handseal that simply opened the floor gates to chakra flow and allowed it flourish at a high rate within the body, thus making the ability to harness a large amount of chakra to one specific point, much easier. Hoshi would spread his hands and perform the rabbit seal, he did everything extremely slow so that Ikko would follow. In fact, he wouldn't move into the next hand sign until he saw Ikko imitate it. If he was allowed to complete the rabbit sign with Ikko following, Hoshi's right hand would begin to glow a light blue before bursting into a cackling tempest of lightning chakra. He aimed his right hand to the sky, launching a storm bolt jutsu into the air.

"Hand signs like these, make it a whole lot easier to harness chakra. Although, it is best to train at the hardest level, which is to conjure the energy yourself without the use of your chakra gates. This may be all too much for you, as for as words. But once you continue training, they will make sense haha, I promise."

 

[Funai Ikko]

Ikko tried to visualize the pathways as Shouyu instructed him, and that was not especially difficult to do. Ikko always did learn more effectively when he could visualize whatever he was supposed to be doing and following the path so the more vivid the imagery he was provided with, the more effective he was at whatever task was put in front of him. Asking him to try and learn something from a bullet list or an abstract was considerably less effective. So actually picturing the chakra flowing through his body like blood through his veins or water through a tree definitely helped out. Ikko's eyes closed for a moment as he conjured that mental picture to the forefront of his mind. A small contented sigh left him as he felt that power surging through him. Though, to be fair, actually conjuring and channeling chakra to a location was never exactly a difficult challenge for him. He was rather good at having the power and moving the power around, but actually shaping that power in to something that in any way shape or form mattered was what was proving to be an especially difficult venture. Then he spoke again, telling Ikko to try something new and his eyes popped open and down to Shouyu's hands.

"A sign?"

Ikko mirrored the initial sign, the Ox. He formed it with practiced ease, clearly having done it before as his eyes trailed back from his hands to Shouyu's face, waiting for more instruction. Was it just the Ox sign? He'd done that so many times and he hadn't gotten anything to happen. Ikko's chakra surged as the sign was formed, the energy flowing to his fingers and amassing. He did not have to wait long at all for the transition to Rabbit, again a sign Ikko formed with practiced ease and his face was even starting to show a flash of impatience followed by his eyes growing wide as the energy coalesced into his hand before he thrust it up in to the air, a bolt of electric chakra surging straight to the sky. Ikko, probably too excited, focused the energy to his hands, pictured the lightning bold, and violently thrust his hand in to the air in a picture perfect mirror of Shouyu's movements...up until the part where anything actually happened. Ikko's chakra seemed to just fizzle out in to nothing after he released the sign and was then followed by a loud cry of frustration as he fall back on to his rump, momentarily defeated by his own ineptitude. He was sure of his ability to master this, eventually, but he'd be lying if he said the repeated failures were not starting to erode his confidence a bit. Still, Ikko was nothing if not flexible and as soon as it was clear that they definitely weren't going to make any progress with gaining an elemental affinity, he quickly launched in to his next master plan.

"Shouyu teach me to poke people instead! Wait...no, I don't have your dotless eyes so I can't see the dots so poking people when I can't see the dots is just poking and I think poking would kind of hurt if I poked muscles because muscles are bigger than my fingers and how do you poke people without hurting your fingers?"

Yes, he said that run on sentence in one breath.

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

After Shouyu shot his bolt he placed he watched Ikko do the same, without the same end result and again the kid sighed. Hoshi remembered those days too, and they weren't too far behind him. He recalled once he caught the hang of things, it was all flyings colors afterwards. He smirked as the kid doubted himself, for at this moment even if he doubted himself, Hoshi still had faith in the young boy.

Ikko fell to his bottom and poured. Of which, Hoshi straightened his face in response and looked more serious again. Before Hoshi could utter a word the kid jumped at him with a new question. From what Shouyu could perceive, he guessed Ikko wanted tips on Taijutsu. Hoshi smirked, it was something he could do, but Ikko would never be able to imitate the Hyuuga gentle fist. Hoshi swayed his head saying no.

"Just as you did before. When you focus chakra into a single point, you can not only strengthen that part, but also harden it as if tempered steel. With your current vision, it would be difficult to successfully hit someone's tenketsu point. Although, taijutsu, hand to hand combat could be a good opening to your training."

Hoshi took a simple fighting stance, with a step he launched a jab at the same time moved his head the opposite way of his jab. As soon as he jab was fully extended Hoshi would begin pulling away and shifting smoothly into a second a jab. That was shortly followed by a second step, twist and a round house kick. At first Shouyu did everything slowly and repeated the combo at normal speed. Rock. Paper. Scissor, the Janken taijutsu technique.

"I've always stressed agility in battle. Every motion should pull into the next, this is how you maximize the speed and neatness of your movements."

 

[Funai Ikko]

Now this seemed to come much more naturally to Ikko. Whether it was because of a natural affinity for Taijutsu or because Ikko wasn't trying to shove a square peg in to the round hole that was Raiton, Ikko did not have any trouble keeping up with Shouyu's movements. A moment of dejection at his raw inability to poke people with the same potency as the Hyuuga, masters of poking, was quickly replaced with the new task he was given. Well, perhaps not necessarily orally given, Shouyu did not tell Ikko to mirror his movements in his combination Taijutsu, but the boy was overly eager to prove that he wasn't a complete and utter failure. Being unable to perform Raiton was something of a sore spot for him and his utter incapability was always sitting in the back of his mind and beating him up over it on a near constant basis. Now Shouyu was demonstrating something Ikko himself was very confident in his ability to at the very least mimic him. Physical pursuits were something Ikko never really had much of an issue with. The boy was bred by his "upbringing" to be very quick, very nimble, and most importantly how to move with as little wasted energy as possible.

Ikko mirrored Shouyu's moves almost perfectly despite the boy having no real formal training in Taijutsu whatsoever. Ikko dropped in to a mirror of Shouyu's "ready" stance and flowed straight in to the first jab, his right arm extending and snapping out. Seamlessly, visualizing a pulley system in his mind, Ikko's initial jab recoiled in synchronous movement opposite of his left fist. Coming from his chest, an invisible tether connected the left fist to the right. As the right pulled back, the left snapped outward, striking a spot in the air an inch to the left of the initial strike. Continuing with the flow with as little wasteful movement as his little form was capable of, the visualized pulley switched, now connecting his left fist to his right foot. As the left fist recoiled and drew hard down toward Ikko's hip, the boy stepped forward, shifted his weight on to his left foot and lifted his right. With a twist of his waist and the opposing force of his left arm driving backward, the boy's right foot snapped up in to a roundhouse, ready to take the head off of whatever nearby four foot target really needed a kick to the head. Proud of himself, maybe a little too much so, Ikko watched as Shouyu sped his actions back up to his normal speed. It was a speed that Ikko had no hope of matching yet, but that didn't really stop him from trying. Even his first attempt wasn't exactly as polished or precise as the older shinobi, but when he tried to move too quickly through the combination that flaw was only exacerbated. His form suffered, his jabs were asynchronous, and as he moved to throw his rapid fire roundhouse, the boy lost his footing and fell right back down on to his backside.

Ikko groaned from his now somewhat frequently visited spot on the ground and massaged his now wounded tailbone, aggravated at himself for his in ability to keep up. Of course, he understood the difference between them and rationally he knew that he wasn't yet at a level where he could reasonably expect to close that distance, but even as he massaged his backside there was a look of defiance on his face. He was going to get there and if he had any say in the matter. He was going to get there quickly.

'I'll get better..."

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

Hoshi from peripheral vision, watched as Ikko mimicked his movements, with ease at that. It wasn't until Hoshi tried at his normal speed that Ikko would slip and fall. Hoshi would chuckle, not in a facetious way of course, his tone was definitely friendly. Ikko exclaimed he would get better as Hoshi walked up, offering his right hand for help. If he chose, he'd pull him up his feet, or simply shrug and return both hands to his hips.

"At this stage, you can only get better. I'd suggest taking some time to think. Find your ninja way, by that I mean.... Find something you would bet your life on. As Kumo Shinobi, we have already pledge allegiance to live and die for the village. But that alone shouldn't be what drives you to become great and, to survive. I'm always around, my loft is located in the Seki district. Maybe you can join me one day in my training regiment."

Hoshi then turned around, he sat down and continued through his book. Slowly he thumbed through the different types of skill sets recorded through history. He stopped by the following and skimmed through it:


Aburame
Akimichi
Seikon
Hawkeye Shinobi
Water Adept Ninja
Santaru
Chigokai


He was looking for something in particular but couldn't find it. There was something his old master used to do which complexed him. He was able to, basically absorb someone's genes and transform himself to utilize their birthed talents, or even achieved skills. There was also another curiosity, he was curious to learn more about genjutsu. The illusional arts. He would hum lightly, a prevalent concern displayed upon his light facial features. His brows would come together, and Hoshi would begin fidgeting his right hand as thumbed through the pages.

 

[Funai Ikko]

Ikko was a bit brighter than he appeared and he picked up exactly on what was said to him. He wasn't sure if Shouyu meant it as an insult or if he was simply just pointing out that Ikko was physically incapable of going further down than he already was, but Ikko definitely picked up on the connotation that Ikko was the most bottom of the bottom in terms of ability. The boy's brow furrowed at the intentional or otherwise connotation, but seemed to take it in stride, not being the type to let something like that bother him or spur him to spite, simply accepted the truth behind those words. He did have a long way to go and wanting to run before you can walk was a great way to fall. Ikko's eyes lit up and his head bobbed appreciatively, excited for possible future training sessions. Though he would remain quiet on the bulk of his speech as Ikko had only been in Kumogakure for a couple of days and coming here was not exactly his choice. It was a series of unfortunate events that ended with Ikko ending up in Kumogakure and it was neither a conscious decision of his to come to the village nor was he born here to have any real emotional connection as his birthplace. Ikko had no desire to leave the village and he was definitely open to forming that same connection that Shouyu seemed to have, but for a vagrant like Ikko subscribing to loyalty like he spoke of was a very difficult proposition.

"Yeah, definitely!"

Ikko watched with curiosity as Shouyu turned around and went back to his book, wondering what exactly was in it when Ikko remembered the important part of Shouyu's actions, the book. Ikko's eyes frantically scrolled down to the book he had dropped on the ground when he began trying to form seals and perform Taijutsu and all the different dramatic testaments to his general inability and followed it up with a panicked cry. Ikko, clearly just now realizing how much trouble he would be in if the teacher came out of the Academy and noticed that Ikko was definitely not reading like he was supposed to he...well...he wasn't quite ready to die for the village yet. Ikko scrambled to scoop up the book, wrapping it up in his arms and pointing himself back toward where he was sitting before. He threw his head back over his shoulder to give a happy goodbye through the panic.

"Sorry gotta go, train next time, Shouyu!"

Ikko sprinted off back to the academy, moving at a speed that only adrenaline and anxiety could provide, and hurried back to where he was supposed to be, hoping against hope that his teacher was still dedicated to ignoring him.

[Thread Exit]

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

Ikko remained quiet and seemingly putting thought to Hoshi was proclaiming. He nodded at his, definitely, and gave a half smirk. As Hoshi was thumbing through his book Ikko exclaimed his departure. Hoshi looked back at him with both brows high on his forehead, Ikko had a book and seemed in a hurry. He sprinted off and Shouyu blinked with his mouth agate waving good bye slowly. Finally it dawned upon him that Ikko was an academy student, making him captive to studies. Hoshi chuckled lightly and rose closing his own book. He walked out of the academy and in turn began to head to the library for some more, serious literature.

[exit]