Prometheus [Tutor]

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

She hadn't done an outdoor survival class before so today was a good day to do so. This was a lesson that was 'off the record' so she won't be getting any teaching credit for this one. No, there was a student that wished to be taught anything so she came up with the idea of practical skills in terms of survival and what to do. She heard horror stories of a class like this in the past and didn't want to do this in an official capacity. Hopefully this child was receptive of the lessons being told here. Due to the time constraints, she was only able to go over a single topic. One of life's most important resources and something that humans would struggle (or die) without; fire. While she could easily use a Fire Ninjutsu to start a fire, there may come a time when someone doesn't know any fire jutsu or someone's chakra reserves are SO low that they wouldn't be able to form the chakra to use such a jutsu.

Nozomi sat in front of a dead fire-pit, bundled up in a large and heavy coat. Inside of her coat was a fire-starting kit containing nothing but wood. There would be no flint, there would be no iron. Just wood. She thought she'd show the child a few different ways to make wood catch on fire. His opinion on whether he needed to know how to do this wasn't her concern. These were life skills, he didn't mind what was being taught, so his is what Nozomi had chosen. A stiff breeze blew through the wood causing her to shiver. Thankfully, she organized this to be some time during the day so there was more than enough daylight to teach him how to make a fire. She wasn't sadistic enough to make this tutoring during the night to force this boy to make a fire. No, she had no intention of making him bitter towards her. He is, after all, the future of Kumogakure.

While she waited, Nozomi reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of jerky and took a big bite out of it.

[WC: 361 / 1500]
[Post: 1 / 5]

 

[Akuno Tatsu]

It was the first time that Tatsu had asked a Jounin to teach him. Most of his training, he had done alone or with his father back in the day. He figured it was time for him to meet some of the ninja that were at that high level that he wanted to achieve. It would, at least to him, help him grasp how much of a gap existed between him and the high rank ninja and how he could close it. Tatsu isn't overly proud, he is realistic and he rarely makes the mistake of underestimating someone. He knew that if this was a Jounin, there was a reason for it. The boy sported his usual attire, as he wasn't much for variety. His brown coat was always a staple most of the time, only opting out of it for formal events which he rarely attended.

Where are we going? Akki asked.

The Ancient Forest. Tatsu replied.

What is the Ancient Forest? Akki questioned.

Because Akki, the demon inside Tatsu, remained dormant for the majority of Tatsu's life up until this point, the demon didn't really know a lot of the basic things a normal person who lived in the village hidden in the clouds would know. The Ancient Forest is the most wild location of the village hidden in the clouds and it is mysterious and dangerous to those unprepared for its surprising depths. The forest serves as home to many hidden dojos of great martial artists as well as the Haku and Inuzuka Clans in Cloud. It is also a place where many legends and stories have allegedly originated from. The forest is large and many creatures stalk its depths, waiting for the opportunity to prey. Tatsu knew a lot about the many different places in Cloud. He often enjoyed reading about them in his spare time, though this hobby has become quite rare in recent years with Tatsu focusing more on his training than anything else.

Arriving at his destination, he saw the Jounin sitting next to a fire pit. Walking up to her, he said "Apologies. I didn't mean to make you wait. I hope you weren't here for long." Tatsu gave a short bow before rising again.

This is a Jounin? Doesn't look like much... Akki commented.

The same can be said about us, but looks alone can be very deceiving. Tatsu replied.

[WC: 399 / 1500]
[Post: 1 / 5]

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

A voice called out to her as she turned her body towards the massive Anti-Material rifle she normally carried around. She placed a hand upon the weapon and turned her eyes towards the child. She was twitchy when it came to people sneaking up on her; most usually finding it extremely difficult to pull that off. Removing her hand from her weapon, she pointed to the other log across from the dead firepit, as if to signal to the boy to take a seat. As he boy took a seat, she pulled out the two make-shift implements for creating the fires. One of the tools was a 'Pumping Fire Drill' (which was her favorite fire-starting tool) and the other was a 'Fire Plow' (one of her least favorite methods of primitive fire-starting). She placed the tools upon a dry-spot on the ground and turned to look towards the child.

"I wasn't waiting here long. My name is Kanagawa Nozomi, I will be your instructor for this lesson. First, tell me who you are. Second, you know why we are here right, instead of in a classroom?" she asked before readjusting her positioning on the log she was sitting on. Even the extra padding she had upon her rear made this seat far less comfortable than it appeared. Even with many years of wilderness survival during traveling between jobs, sitting on logs was probably one of her least preferred things with the job.

"Starting a fire is sometimes better than using Ninjutsu. Not only does it keep yourself more hidden than just spitting out ninjutsu, which the more chakra-sensitive could detect, but it's also more controlled so you don't accidentally set the forest on fire," she said, imagining a student or genin using a fire jutsu too-strong for setting a campfire only to catch the entire portion of the forest ablaze. Just the thought of it hurt her mind.

"When building a fire, you'll need three things:
Tinder. Tinder is small, dry items that are easy to catch on fire. This is what will help start the fire.
Kindling. Medium sized items, like sticks that aren't as easy to catch on fire but easy enough and burns hotter than tinder. This will feed into the
Fuel. Logs work the best as fuel. This is what keeps the fire going once the tinder and kindling burn." she explained. Pulling out a small bit of tinder from her jacket, she pulled out shredded bark mixed in with 'old man's beard' which was a light moss that works great as tinder. She held a hand-full of tinder and passed it onto the student for him to examine examples of tinder.

"These are examples of things you can use as tinder. Usually very small items that are extremely dry. Anything that can catch a spark and immediately light up. This is what's going to feed your kindling," she said, holding her hand out to wait for the tinder back after he examined it. After being given the bundle back, she replaced it in a special pocket inside of her coat. She stood up and curled her finger at the boy as if to follow. "Let's go find us some tinder and kindling," she said as she started to walk off-the-beaten-path through the forest.

[WC: 361+544= 905 / 1500]
[Post: 2 / 5]

 

[Akuno Tatsu]

The boy, upon being signaled, walked over to the log and sat on it. He watched the woman as she pulled out two different tools and placed them on the ground. He looked up at her when she asked him who he was and if he knew why they were out in the forest rather than the classroom. "My name is Akuno Tatsu. I am an aspiring shinobi." Tatsu replied. "As for why we are here, I assume you might be teaching me something that isn't practical to learn in the classroom. It is also possible you chose this destination to make the training itself more challenging. It is quite hard to tell without knowing what kind of person you are beforehand. I can gather, however, that we are here because it benefits the lesson for us to be here and not because you simply wanted to inconvenience me." The boy points at the woman, who was wearing a rather heavy coat. "Not only are you wearing a particularly heavy coat..." He says as the woman shifts her position on the log, "...But you also seem to not like the fact that you're sitting on that log. Earlier, you said that you weren't waiting very long, which, if I take you at your word, means just that. And yet, despite the little amount of time you seem to have spent here so far, you seem uncomfortable sitting out here, on that log." The boy puts his finger down before continuing. "And of course, that would mean that we must be here for a relatively important reason for you to inconvenience yourself in such a way." Tatsu had a habit of giving long answers to simple questions. Whether or not the woman found that annoying, was up to her.

Tatsu listened to her as she went on to explain about using Ninjutsu to start a fire. He did not really like using Ninjutsu at all. His strengths lied in Genjutsu and swordsmanship. He thought for a moment, trying to remember if he even knew a fire element Ninjutsu. Whether or not he actually did was irrelevant. The fact that he had to think about it and try to remember, meant that he'd probably botch an attempt at a fire Ninjutsu if he attempted it.

Snapping out of his thoughts, the boy listened to his teacher talk about the three things needed to make a fire. Tinder, Kindling, and Fuel. It seemed that a person had different options when it came to what served as any of those three elements. There were different types of Tinder, Kindling, and Fuel. The boy reached out his hand to grab what his teacher was handing over to him. After examining it, he gave it back and continued to listen to the explanation given by the Jounin.

After being signaled to follow, the boy stood up and followed. As they walked, the boy looked over at his teacher. "I have a question, if you don't mind. How long did it take you to become a Jounin from the time you first enrolled into the academy itself? And would you say that all Jounin are equal in strength, or is the power gap within the rank itself still high between its members?"


[WC: 545]
[TWC: 944 / 1500]
[Post: 2 / 5]

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

"You'd be correct, Tatsu-kun, to believe this is here for more practical reasons and not a place to get on your nerves. I mainly asked you out here because this is the kind of environment that you'll be employing these skills," she said as she shifted once more. "Yes, I seem to have a bad habit of getting either the lumpy or the sharper logs to sit on," she explained. Comparing her lumpy log to the one meant for Tatsu, her's was far more jagged and annoying to have a seat upon. This student was extremely vigilant to an almost horrifying level. Her level of observation was keen, much more keen than his, but him having that level of sensory mastery was scary; and at his age, no less.

After explaining the three things needed, in terms of burning things (excluding the need for an ignition source and oxygen), she started to make her way towards the thing she wanted to show him only to be stopped by a question. She paused, stopping herself from continuing forward and looked up in thought. "It only took me a few years to get to Jounin. I had more than enough experience before joining the academy to help me rise to Jounin pretty quickly," she mentioned. She left out the parts of her being a child-soldier and other 'skills' that came with that and other unassociated skills that she picked up along the way. If she were to have someone to thank her for being the shinobi she is now, it would be the one that tortured her and abused her into being the efficient killer that she is now. But that information isn't something the child needed to know.

"The rank of Jounin is the most diverse rank you'll find in the village. Some have different skill-sets. Some are more geared towards politics while others are more geared towards killing," she mentioned, fitting into the latter of the two that she mentioned. "Or you have your run-of-the-mill jobbers who do nothing but work sent to them from outside groups. I guess you can say, that a Jounin's strength relies on their specialty," she explained. She wasn't very strong in a large skirmish, better off in a one-vs-one scenario. Her skill-set involves getting in, killing the target, and exfiltrating without too much notice. Fighting in a village versus village scenario isn't her strong-point.

With that said, she continued forward to show the student different forms of tinder ranging from more of the moss that she showed Tatsu to tried bark that peeled off of some trees. She also had him gather some twigs and branches as well as small logs to use as the fuel. After everything was gathered, she returned to the campsite and set everything down.

"Before building your fire, you'll need to set all of this up first. What I like doing is setting up the fuel, the big stuff, at the bottom of the pile," she said as she placed all of the fuel at the bottom of the already established fire-pit. On top of that, she placed the kindling on top of it before finally holding the tinder in her hand. "It's just easier this way, so this is why I do it. Do you know why I put everything like this?" she asked, expecting an answer from the boy.


[WC: 905+560 = 1465 / 1500]
[Post: 3 / 5]

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

[Topic Left due to inactivity]