Ninpou, Ninjutsu, Nincompoop[Tutor]

[Funai Ikko]

Why did he always have to be sitting still? Ever since he had been brought to Kumogakure he had been asked to sit still. Of course, he had never actually followed the instructions given to him, like "sit in the dormitory and wait till morning" or "sit still and study." He had naturally immediately not sat still and set out to explore Kumogakure and had also decidedly not sat still when he was told to sit still and study, but to be fair, he had a whole city to explore and he didn't know how to read in the first place so both of those were hardly fair things to expect of the boy. Sitting still was clearly the enemy here and Ikko a harmless victim in all of this. Ikko groaned, audibly, from the center of the little clearing in an Academy courtyard that he had been told to sit still and wait. Originally, they had scheduled a time for him to arrive here, but when Ikko pointed out that he didn't know how to read the time they gave him and that the last time Ikko had been allowed to operate solely on his own sense of direction he ended up sleeping out on the street, they decided to relieve Ikko of the burden of keeping his own appointment and delivered him to the spot itself.

Ikko was beginning to suspect that they dropped him off way earlier than the paper said for him to be there though, as he had been waiting restlessly for what seemed like approximately eighty years. Ikko, unable to sit still any longer, jumped up to his feet and began pacing restlessly around the courtyard. They didn't give him a name or any real information to him on who he was supposed to meet here, but they had stressed in what seemed to be a somewhat nervous tone that Ikko needed to be on his very best behavior when she got there. Of course, this mostly confused Ikko, since his best behavior didn't even begin to approach "good" behavior and even then, they did not really chose to enlighten him as to why he needed to be on his marginally better than average behavior. When left with a mystery, one naturally begins to speculate, and such speculation was considerably more interesting than pacing without speculating.

The information he knew was that he was meeting a woman...and that was it. Maybe she was a super scary monster with eight heads, eighteen horns, and three tails. No, even Ikko didn't know where those numbers came from. Maybe she was just super strict and mean, but that was boring. Maybe she was SUPER ugly and they knew Ikko's first impulse would be to ask what happened to her...which he has been told is somehow rude. Tact was still something he was grappling with. Maybe she was a super scary monster with eight heads, eighteen horns, three tails, and serious self-image issues. Yes, that had to be it, was the only thing that really made sense really as Ikko finished lap number four of he courtyard clearing. Pacing might be dangerous for the boy in and of itself.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Today was the day. The first day in a long while where Kitsune actually had something non-medical to do that was still within the purview of her shinobi tasks. Ordinarily she’d wiggle around such things and stick to her lab and research, but not this time. This time it was a tutoring task of, according to the file given to her, a young student with more energy than he knew what to do with. Kitsune chuckled when she read that, as it reminded her of some of her past students, and even herself back when the academy was where she roamed.

In the file were a document detailing what she was to do with the kid, a document she promptly ignored and decided to teach him something else. She rolled her eyes Honestly, why the heck would they get me to teach someone taijutsu? I don’t even know a single taijutsu. went the internal monologue, providing some context as to what the document had in it. Instead, Kitsune decided she’d teach the kidling some ninjutsu instead. Or more appropriately, how to harness his chakra and produce something useful with it. The first question she’d have to get an answer to was which affinity he had though…

Upon arriving at the academy, she headed for the courtyard where the young student would be waiting, or so she thought. When she arrived at the courtyard, she saw the kid doing laps for some reason. Probably all the energy needing a way out. That’s two laps already. He’s pretty fast… Any faster and I’d have to call him Flash. Heh. she chuckled a bit at her own joke before stepping out of the shadows and into the sunlight beaming down from above. ”Funai-kun!” she called, hoping he’d hear her despite being on the other side of the courtyard.

In the event that he did, she’d wave him over and introduce herself, ”I am Shinrya Kitsune, a Chief Mednin, and, for the day, also your teacher.” she said with a smile ”So. Why don’t we get started on learning some ninjutsu, hm? I’m sure an energic kiddo like you would love to be able to do something more than just running around. But first… We’ll have to find out your chakra affinity. Unless you’ve already had such a test in a class?” she finished, looking at the student. If he indeed had found out what affinity he had, it’d be a simple matter of answering the question, but if not, she’d have to whip out the chakra paper and have him apply chakra to it so the two of them could see the reaction.

[WC: 440; MFT]

 

[Funai Ikko]

Ikko stopped dead in his tracks as the voice penetrated through the clearing and his head snapped toward the source. At the outset, the boy had an almost stunned look on his face partially because he had somewhat given up hope of anyone actually showing up to meet him, but mostly because of the excessively vibrant and striking mass of crimson hair adorning the woman's head. It was not the first time he had seen such a color, but every time it had captivated him in a manner he just did not quite know how to handle. He wasn't quite old enough to understand physical attraction and definitely wasn't mature enough to appreciate it, but that shade had a profound effect on him that he would not fully understand for years to come. Thankfully, probably for all parties involved, his reverie was short lived as he quickly snapped to attention and hurried over to her, eager to finally start doing something other than walking around in a square.

"Shi..."

A small frown formed on his face as she spoke her name and he tried to imitate it. It had way too many syllables, Ikko wasn't going to be able to remember that, so instead he focused on a different part of her name for now, her title. Chief was kind of like a boss right? There were plenty of minor crime bosses and the like where he used to live, was that what she was? She said Mednin, so maybe she was a drug boss? Clearly the only logical conclusion little Ikko could come to and that frown curled back up in to a smile at his own prodigious deductive powers. So she would be "Bosu-sama", which was an appropriate amount of syllables for a name if he did say so himself. Ikko's eyes were bright as she brought up Affinities. He had already tried it a bit before now but he had not been able to figure out what his affinity was on his own, which was what he thought the process was. If there was a test that would help him find out then that was perfect! It'd be more perfect if the test also just made him good at Raiton, but perhaps that was being a bit greedy. Especially since the only thing repeated attempts at elemental techniques had taught him was that it probably wasn't Raiton, regardless of his wishes. Ikko shook his head and spoke with a sort of eager energy that made him seem like he was dangerously close to jumping up and down in excitement.

"Bosu-sama, what is the test? The monks never gave me any kind of test, they just had me try doing Raiton right away. Do I need to eat a rock? Set myself on fire? Fight a bear? Can I fight a bear!?"

This was actually a somewhat tepid reaction for him believe it or not.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

”Just Kitsune will be fine” she said chuckling at the kids enthusiasm, ”It’s nothing quite as exciting to be honest. It’s a simple test. Take this paper, and try to focus your chakra into it. Depending on how it reacts, we can see what kind of element you’re most in tune with.” she explained and held up a separate piece of paper, focusing her chakra into it and the paper burst into a bright red flame before falling to the ground as ashes. ”I am most in tune with fire, as you could probably tell. And that’s what happens to the paper.”

She handed him the paper and urged him to give it his best shot. Depending on what kind of element would show up, Kitsune would decide upon a jutsu to teach Ikko. In case of fire, she’d teach Infernal Ember. If it was earth, she’d teach Stone Bullet. If it was water, she’d teach Water Gun. If it was Wind, she’d teach Pressure Burst, and finally if it was Lightning, she’d teach the all-around classic Storm Bolt. All of them could pack a punch if used properly, and all of them were pretty easy to learn. The question was which element Ikko possessed.

[WC: 205 - A bit short, but kinda needed. ]

 

[Funai Ikko]

Ikko raised his right hand and counted out the syllables as he mouthed her name back to her: "Kit" one, "Soo" two, "Nay" three. Three syllables was under the acceptable limit and the boy flashed her the same toothy grin as he did when he decided on Bosu-sama being her designation and despite her protests...Ikko was still probably going to call her Bosu-sama until she beat it out of him. The toothy grin slowly receded though as she explained what exactly he would be doing for this test. She was right, this was nowhere close to being as exciting as fighting a bear. Paper was already fought when they cut the tree down, it just felt like bullying at this point. Though he had to admit that the felled tree bursting in to flames was enrapturing to watch. Maybe that was his element! Fire would be so cool! Ikko took the paper from her hand, giving it a sordid, cursory kind of look before placing it between his right and left index fingers and turning his gaze back up at Bosu-sama.

"Maybe we can fight a bear later."

As the word "bear" left his lips, Ikko focused his chakra to his two index fingers and in to the piece of paper, visualizing the tree in his mind, the water flowing up from the roots and coursing out to all the little branches. He felt the energy pouring through him as he closed his eyes, really focusing on the mental image in his head as his chakra surged to his fingers. The paper reacted almost instantly after Ikko closed his eyes, splitting itself right down the middle and dropping between Ikko's fingers. He did not notice right away that the paper was no longer in his grasp and continued focusing his chakra for a few moments before daring to poke open one of his eyes. A little cry of terror escaped him as he saw the broken piece of paper on the ground as he dropped to his knees and picked it up, as if it would be repairable if he got if off the ground quick enough.

"Sorry Bosu-sama I didn't mean to break your pap..."

It then dawned on him that he had only seen one of the possible reactions to the paper and there were more elements than fire. The look of panic and worry on his face shifted quickly to elation and eagerness as he jumped back up to his feet, the bifurcated remains of the paper clenched tightly in his grasp. This was finally progress, but which element was it? Was it Raiton, whose vibrant streams of energy cleaved through the night sky like it did the paper? Maybe it was a high pressured water slicing through the paper like it sliced through boulders? Perhaps it was Earth like the way a rock would...no paper beats rock, that doesn't make any sense.

"Look Bosu-sama I did it! Which element is it!?"

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune chuckled, she’d eventually have to make sure the kiddo understood that he’d have to call her Kitsune rather than Bosu. Regardless, that wouldn’t be now, but later, for now, she had ninjutsu to teach. ”Maybe. After a few lessons.” she said with a grin before watching him concentrate on focusing chakra into the paper. It’d be interesting to see what would actually happen to it. Would it burst into fire like Kitsunes had? Would it wrinkle up indicating lightning? Would it turn to dirt indicating earth? Or would it maybe become damp and drip with water? Or would it…

Split! The paper split in half right down the middle. That meant the kiddos natural affinity was towards wind! How very exciting, except it seemed Ikko wasn’t quite as excited as he should’ve been, until it hit Kitsune that she hadn’t explained what would happen when chakra was applied to it. But apparently, it dawned upon him right as he apologized for breaking the paper. ”Nothing to apologize for Funai-kun. It’s supposed to happen.” she said, only halfway suppressing a laugh. ”For the paper to split in two, it means your natural affinity is towards wind.” she explained and formed a small sphere of wind in her hand just from manipulating chakra.

”Now then. Now that we know what your element is, we can move on to the fun part. Practicing it!” she said and grinned, ”First step is to focus your chakra into your hand, and try to force it forwards the target over there at the other side of the courtyard here.” she pointed towards the big target ”Try and see if you can hit the center, like this…” she said and shot the sphere of wind in her hand towards the target, engulfing it and shredding the edges of the target as she didn’t intend to actually obliterate it. That was for Ikko to try and do. ”Now you try. Aim for the center and shoot.”

[WC: 329]

 

[Funai Ikko]

As the words "natural affinity is towards wind" left her lips, little Ikko began immediately jumping up and down for joy. He finally had an answer. It wasn't necessarily the answer he had always dreamed it'd be, but it was finally an answer. He now had a real direction instead of aimlessly wandering, trying to figure out why nothing he did seemed to properly cooperate with him. He now knew why it didn't work and he knew now what probably would work and he now knew where had to go and the little boy leaping up in down in a frantically misshapen circle was over the moon. The monks had always said hew was full of hot air, they most have known his affinity was wind! They were so smart. The jumping ceased as what was happening in Kitsune's hand finally caught his attention, eliciting a small "oooo" of appreciation and wonderment from the small child. His eyes tracked her hand as his ears tracked her instructions, watching with rapt attention as she angled her arm toward one of the targets lined up around the courtyard. His eyes followed the spherical wind across the courtyard as best he could and his eyes widened as it ripped through the edges of the target.

He turned his attention back up to her as she gave him license to try it himself and flashed her a wide, toothy grin. As soon as he turned to the now slightly marred target, that toothy grin was swapped out for a look of fierce determination, well, as fierce as you can look at eight. Ikko raised his hand and pointed it palm forward at the target that Kitsune had hit moments before. He did like he did every other time, focused his chakra on his palm and imagined the sphere of wind he had seen Kitsune make mere moments ago. To no greater surprise than his own, the sphere of wind formed almost instantly, a near picture perfect replica of Kitsune's. Ikko's eyes and mouth grew wide in elation. He had never successfully permeated an element before, every other time he tried it just fizzled out and went nowhere, now he was actually doing something worthwhile and it had him beyond excited...too excited. The boy's arms started to rise in triumphant joy and he lost control of the chakra that had formed in his palm. The ball of wind shot upward, careening out of control and in to the sky as the recoil knocked little Ikko on to his backside, landing butt first in the dirt with a rather demoralizing thump.

Frowning at his own stupidity, Ikko pulled himself back to his feet, his eyes fixed on the target with a determination to not repeat his previous mistake...and because he didn't want to catch Kitsune laughing at him. He lifted his arm again, conjuring the chakra and forming it in to the ball of wind once more. Despite his enhanced sense of focus however, he was having trouble controlling the ball. He did well to form it, but once he needed to maintain his chakra it became incredibly difficult for him. His arm wobbled as he tried to keep the sphere condensed and angled at the target. He accomplished one of the two. Once he got it to the right size, the boy fired it again, but his arm had still been shaking too much and the ball veered hard right, crashing in to a nearby tree and putting some sizable scratches in to the bark. Ikko's eyes narrowed as he tried again, forcing the chakra back to his palm and immediately causing his arm to shake again, a little more violently this time. He fired once more and once more it careened off to the side smacking into nearby foliage and traumatizing an especially fat rabbit. Once more, again off target, smacking in to the building and scuffing up the finish. Beads of sweat were beginning to trickle down Ikko's brow, his arm getting, quite visibly, more and more unsteady with each shot as his chakra trickled out of him. The boy's trembling arm fell to his side. Ikko glared at the unhit target in frustration. He was able to create the chakra and the last few shots he had even been able to maintain it perfectly fine, but the spherical motion of the wind pushed and pulled at his arm and he could never find the right balance to it.

Ikko's eyes slowly trailed down to his shaking arm, frustration visible on his face. Was he just not strong enough to handle it? As they moved back to the target though, Ikko noticed what he had actually been hitting. Trees and buildings, there were other things in the clearing. It was then that Ikko got an idea. Ikko was always a better kinetic learner. Watching someone else do something and attempting to replicate it was never really a strength of his. He had to feel the appropriate way to do something if he was ever going to properly commit it to memory. Ikko ran off, grabbing the bag he had brought with him and he tore back to the spot he was standing before, to engrossed in whatever plan he was concocting to pay much attention to Kitsune as he was off in his own little world. Ikko pulled two Kunai knives out of the bag and a thin piece of wire. The first day he was there he was told to familiarize himself with these ninja tools, so really he was completing too lessons at once. Ikko threaded a piece of the wire through the circular hole at the end of the handle and turned his attention to a nearby tree. He started walking toward it, counting each step as he moved as he measured how much wire he would need. He had done things like this before, he had to make sure he had the right amount of rope for when he was sneaking in and out of a rich person's bedroom to nick their valuables. He pulled the wire further through the hole in the knife. Climbing up the tree, Ikko stopped at one of the sturdier looking branches and looped the wire around branch, tying the wire tight to it and using the knife to weigh it down. Once he was satisfied that he was on there tight, Ikko grabbed the rest of the wire and hurried back to where he was standing before.

Ikko wrapped the other end of the wire he had cut around his bicep and forearm, tying it off just above the underside of the elbow. It was difficult for him to really bend it, but that was fine for now. Ikko moved his arm outward, tugging on the wire to make sure it had the appropriate amount of tension before he took two more steps away from the tree and leveled his arm again to the target and holding the second kunai in his free hand. He formed the sphere of wind in his palm one more time, concentrating hard on the target with a slight grimace on his features. His arm was trembling again, wobbling fiercely but now, it seemed like Ikko had a plan. Ikko took another step away from the tree and pulled against the tree, exerting force in one direction. His arm, still trembling, was forced to become less wobbly. He let the tree apply the force in one direction to keep his arm steady while he only had to focus on balancing that force out in the other direction. Ikko held his arm there for a moment, focusing intently on making sure he had the right feel for the forces he had to exert. Of course, if he had to tie himself to a tree every time he tried to use this technique it wouldn't be especially useful. Even at eight Ikko knew that this wasn't enough yet to count as a success. He now knew what it was supposed to feel like though. Ikko gripped the knife tighter in his hand and slashed upward, slicing through the wire and releasing the tree's grasp on Ikko's arm. His arm wobbled violently outward for a moment at the loss of the tension, but Ikko righted himself quickly, focusing on the memory of how the forces on his arm felt before. He steadied his trembling arm, leveled it...and fired.

The sphere of wind crashed in to the target and unlike Kitsune's concerted effort not to really damage the target, Ikko's had no such restraint. The sphere of wind blew straight through, ripping the target from its wooden bracing and sending a lacerated mess of a target flying into a nearby wall. Ikko, dazed, watched the scene unfold. When the target came to a stop on the ground, the boy's lips slowly curled up in to a wild looking smile before the rest of the boy's body caught up too. Ikko jumped high in to the air in pure elation and then leaped a few more times in a circle for good measure.

"See Bosu-sama!? I did it! I did it! I did it!"

Fatigue did catch up to him though, the jumping slowed and Ikko fell back to the ground, sitting on his backside and rubbing his eye. With his rather meager chakra reserves, firing five of the wind spheres was rather taxing on him. In addition, his arm was definitely a little worse for the wear. The wire had torn in to him a bit from the exertion, leaving nasty looking imprints and bruises in some spots, cuts in some others and did quite a job cutting in to his Yukata. Another small frown formed on his face as he looked up at Kitsune, pride still very clearly showing through on his face amidst the discomfort.

"Bosu-sama, my arm hurts."

[WC 1649]

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune watched Ikkos antics with the spheres and then the addition of the ninja wire and kunais. Sure, it was a creative way of thinking, but it’d end up hurting him because, well, it’s a new technique he learned, and trying to modify it with additional variables already was foolish. ”You did indeed do it, Funai-kun.” she said and smiled before kneeling down next to him and then applying healing chakra to his cuts and bruises, so he’d be good as new. ”There. Now your arm shouldn’t hurt any more.” she continued as she stood back up and brushed her clothes off a bit.

”You did well in blasting that target, but at first try just using what you’re taught without changing things up right away. That way you should be able to learn how to harness it properly first, and then later on, after a ton of training, you’ll be able to put your own personal spin on things. Like this…” Kitsune finished and made another ball of wind before putting a spin on the ball so it’d rip right through whatever she threw it at, so she threw it at a tree only to let Ikko see how the ball shredded it’s way through the middle of the tree.

She grinned ”As you can see, even just the action of putting a spin on a ball of wind will cause it to be much more destructive. But it takes a lot of training, and control of your chakra to be able to do that. If you do it on your own, without anyone to handle any medical situations, you’ll end up hurting yourself more than doing good. You’ve gotta be careful with these things. Or learn medical jutsu to take care of things yourself. But that’s more advanced than what you’ll learn at the academy.”

[WC: 307; MFT]

 

[Funai Ikko]

Ikko watched in amazement as the little lacerations and cuts up his arm mysteriously vanished in to thin air. His wide eyes bounced back and forth from Kitsune's face to her hand to his arm in rapid succession, completely unable to believe what he just witnessed. As she pulled away from him, he hovered his head over his arm, checking everywhere for what had once been a cut up limb. Before he could finish his inspection though, the woman had generated another sphere, with considerably less effort exerted, and launched it through the air and straight through a tree. The boy sprinted over to the tree to get a closer look at the damage, grinning wide as he took in her words. It wasn't quite the intention behind his actions, but he took in her words the best his hyperactive little brain could. Something had caught him though and he turned quizzical look back to Kitsune.

"Medical Jutsu? Was that what you did to my arm? Are you a Ninja Doctor?"

He knew she was a drug boss, he knew it! He wanted to know how she made the sphere strong enough to plow through a tree like it was going through a pile of leaves, but Ikko's arm was still tired from throwing so many of his own spheres and his general lack of control over his chakra. He also didn't like being told something was too advanced for him. Logically, he knew there were plenty of things that were too advanced for him, but actually telling a kid that he CAN'T do something framed it in an entirely new light. Ikko's face formed a pout as he squared himself to Kitsune.

"Why can't I be a Shinobi Surgeon at the Academy? I could do it."

[WC: 297]

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

”Yes, a medical jutsu, and yes that’s what I did to your arm. Like I said, I’m a Chief Mednin, that’s the equivalent of a Jounin, but in the medical branch.” she explained and smiled ”It means I’ve spent a lot of time studying, reading, learning all I could about the human body, and how to fix it, and in certain cases, make it better. For example, my eyes are the result of an implantation. But because of that implantation, I can do some pretty amazing things, like warping myself from one location to another,” she continued before actually performing the action.

A few yards away, Kitsune reappeared, practically instantaneously ”Just like that.” she finished and grinned ”My years of training has allowed me to do many things with the human body, including fixing wounds that many would give up on. Of course, most of the doctors in Kumogakure wouldn’t shy away from a challenge, and they’d never give up on a patient. So! in short, yes, I’m a ninja doctor. And no, you can’t be a surgeon at the academy. It takes years of training, and a mastery of chakra so you don’t scramble the patient’s own systems.” she said, running a hand through her red mane of hair.

”It would seem that your chakra supply is running low, so maybe we should hold for the day.” Kitsune mused, walking back to Ikko. ”If you want some tips and tricks, I’d suggest you focus on training your control over chakra. The better you control it, the less wasted chakra there’ll be when you use jutsus. The less wasted chakra, the more jutsus you’ll be able to use. Just think, if you train properly, you could shred one of those targets to little tiny bits with ease. I’m sure you can do it.” she said, encouraging the kid to take his training seriously. And with that, it would appear that their lesson was at an end, and Kitsune would walk off to handle other business.

[WC: 335; Total: 1616; 5 Posts made; Topic Left]

 

[Funai Ikko]

Ikko was determined to be indignant, but couldn't quite help himself as Shinrya teleported herself across the clearing as if physically moving was something of a chore and Ikko's jaw dropped once again. He composed himself pretty quickly though and affixed her once more with that indignant stare. He followed everything she was saying, practice hard, brush your teeth, comb your hair, etc etc but he was mostly focused on his now rather fervent desire to prove her wrong. He could master Chakra fine, then he could reverse cut people fine, then he could be a shinobi surgeon whenever he wanted to. Whether or not this was practically possible mattered remarkably little to the small student, he was considerably more focused on proving he could do something he was told he couldn't.

He nodded at her words, understanding the bulk of them that he could, He'd focus on what she told him to...for now. He'd be a shinobi surgeon before she knew it and he would be sure to let her know that she was wrong, he was right, and that he was awesome. Medically awesome. As his eyes watched her trail off, he made a mental note to himself of that resolve. It was a mental note he could very well forget in the next twenty-four hours, but for now, his resolve was burning bright. He was going to prove her wrong, definitely.

[WC: 234, Total: 3693, 6 posts made, Exit]