The Final Steps!
Konohamaru and Haruhi arrived in the same spot for training before they called it a day. Her hand was nearly healed thanks to her mother's healing Jutsu and the Rasengan-hole Haruhi caused was the sleeping grounds of a small squirell.
"Okay, Haruhi, we're making very good progress with Rasengan. Before long, you'll be ready to begin forming all three stages together." Konohamaru said with excitement, but Haruhi's proved to be the better.
"So what kinda ball you want me popping this time." Haruhi asked jumping to the main conclusion.
"Hold on, first we gotta summarize what you learned so far." Konohamaru started. "Okay, you learned step one, which focussed on mastering how to rotate your Chakra. You mastered step two, which focussed on making your Chakra stronger and denser. You've mastered all the steps thus far, but now you move on to step three: Control."
"C-Control?" Asked Haruhi. Konohamaru presented the anagram sheet once more, showing another circle with four arrows pointing towards it.
"The Rasengan must be focussed into a ball in order for it's full effects to be met. To do this..." Konohamaru then presented another unfilled balloon, until he filled it with air from his mouth, making it palm-sized, round and full of air. "...you must use this."
"What do I do with it?" Asked Haruhi while taking hold of the balloon.
"You need to repeat steps one and two, except you must control your Chakra to stay in the balloon instead of bursting it." Konohamaru explained. "If you can keep the balloon stable for at least ten minutes, you've passed step three." Haruhi smiled.
"Easy!" She said with determination. Placing the balloon on her palm, she focussed a Rasengan ball in the sphere, but upon doing this, the balloon exploded immediately. "What?!" On seeing this, Konohamaru sniggered uncontrollably, making Haruhi pout with anger.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Haruhi, but you just made it so funny for yourself." Konohamaru said through his now controlled laughter.
"Hah-hah-hah, very funny, Sensei." Haruhi said with sarcasm.
"You're too used to steps one and two to be bursting the balloons. Try it again." Then, Konohamaru handed her a small bag of balloons. After filling up another balloon with air, she tried again. Finding her focus, she began to swirl her Chakra in her hand once more, but to her dismay, it burst yet again.
Shikari, on the other hand, was doing worse with his training. Him and Konohamaru's Clone were in one part of the meadow, now training with a Jutsu unheard of by the Nara clan. Unfortunately, Shikari collapsed to the ground in exhaustion through the Chakra consumed with his new Jutsu.
"You're doing good, Shikari!" The Clone of Konohamaru said in motivation. "Try it again, this time, use less Chakra!" Shikari rose from his tired state.
"Easier said than done...this is a total drag!" Shikari whined, before unwinded a small long scroll.
Takai on the other hand was coping well with his new Jutsu. He stood with a small circle of fire raging around him.
"Good, but show more control Takai. If you use this Jutsu in the Leaf Village, who knows what you'll end up destroying." Konohamaru announced.
"This Jutsu...it's unreal..." Takai thought with amazement, before performing the hand seals one more time for it.
It came to noon for Haruhi and she was nowhere near ready for completing step three. Her longest time was four seconds, a hundred miles away from her target of ten minutes.
"There's...gotta be a method behind it..." Thought Haruhi. At that, Konohamaru approached, after watching Haruhi do it for the fiftieth time.
"I think I know what your problem is, Haruhi." Konohamaru said. "Try your Rasengan without the balloon." Unquestionably, she focussed her Chakra to her palm, which formed an uncontrolled sphere immediately. "Mhm, you start off as an uncontrolled Rasengan. You should begin with a small amount of Chakra and slowly build it up into the Rasengan."
"But...there's too much concentration...to do both steps without bursting it." Haruhi said rather tired.
"Watch how I do it." Konohamaru said, and showing his palm, he built up a small amount of Chakra and slowly, it grew to the size of a regular Rasengan. "Now you try it." Haruhi nodded, trying to gain her composture. She opened her palm, and focussed a small amount of Chakra that grew into her regular size.
"She really does have excellent Chakra control." Konohamaru thought.
"Now try it again with the balloon." Konohamaru instructed. She tried it again, with the method shown to her. Haruhi counted down the seconds.
"One...two...three...four...five...six...seven...eight-" And the balloon burst. Haruhi cursed to herself and stamped her foot to the ground.
"It's okay, Haruhi. You just need to get your Rasengan to the right size, and master it." Konohamaru explained. Haruhi tried again to master it, this time putting forth all her focus on keeping the balloon stable with her Rasengan wildly raging inside it. Sixteen seconds later, it burst yet again.
"The time keeps doubling?" Haruhi said, finally noticing the trend.
"That's because you're getting better at it." Konohamaru said. "You just need to master holding the Rasengan into it's sphere form for long periods of time." Just then, Konohamaru noticed a shadow creeping in the trees above them. He was alarmed at first, but grew a smile. "We'll take a small break. Take this time to regain your Chakra."
"O-Okay!" Haruhi said before resting herself on a tree trunk. Konohamaru then walked behind a bush, out of Haruhi's sight.
"You really need to practice your stealth, Maruya." Konohamaru said easily. Before it seemed like he was talking to himself, a woman wearing a grey torso armour and arm guards, and also wore a white cat mask with the distuinguishable ears and whiskers, and on her shoulder was the tattoo of the ANBU Black Ops. "If you really are a member of the ANBU Black Ops, you really need to make yourself less visible."
"You got me then?" Asked the girl named Maruya, with a tone of embarassment.
"That's obvious. You can take your mask off. It's just us." With that, the girl removed her white cat mask secluding her facial features. Maruya beneath the mask had a very beautiful face wih long black hair and looked to be at her early twenties. "Anyway, why are you out here? Shouldn't you be off trying to assassinate a ninja or something?"
"I wanted to visit Sensei's daughter." Maruya said, peering across to Haruhi.
"Oh yeah, you used to be Sakura's student." Konohamaru said with a hint of nostalgia. "Well, as you can see, she's learning her father's Jutsu."
"She really has grown, since the last time I saw her." Maruya said with a smile. Konohamaru then walked up beside her.
"So, you mastered Sakura's Jutsu yet?" Asked Konohamaru.
"Yeah, I just mastered it a few weeks ago. Why?"
"Maybe you can have a little time together and teach her it." Maruya reacted immediately by looking over at Konohamaru.
"You're really sure?" She asked.
"Eh, why not? This girl's gonna be a wonder, and I think she needs all the Jutsu she can master."
"Th-Thank you..."
"Now, I don't mean to spoil your fun, but don't you have ANBU missions to do?" Asked Konohamaru.
"Oh right." But before she could put her mask back on and depart, she noticed Haruhi was back to practicing Rasengan, much to her dismay of popping another yet again.
"It's gonna be a while before she learns it." Konohamaru said. "But, she's strong, like her mother." Then, Maruya stepped out of the bush and into Haruhi's line of sight. The balloon she was focussed on didn't burst, since she dispelled the Rasengan willingly. Maruya looked at the balloon carefully.
"Ummm...can I help you?" Asked Haruhi politely.
"I think she's trying to help you." Said Konohamaru. Since she didn't want to turn down advice, Haruhi remained quiet.
"Ohhhh." Maruya said with an epiphany in her head. "Before I show you what to do, my name is Maruya Mana, a friend of your Sensei's." She then offered a handshake to Haruhi.
"I'm Haruhi Uzumaki." Haruhi said shaking the hand.
"Here's a little pointer." Maruya started. "Some rotation-like Jutsu work better than others, if rotated in a different direction. The reason you're struggling to control this type of Jutsu is because you're rotating it to the right. Maybe if you rotate it to the left, it could be better?" Haruhi understood the advice well.
"But I've always used Rasengan to the right, it's how daddy did it." Haruhi said in protest.
"Remember, Haruhi." Konohamaru said joining the "lady-talk". "You're making this Jutsu on your own. The style Naruto does Rasengan is not the way you want to do it." Haruhi looked to her balloon, before dropping it briefly. Opening her palm, she focussed her Chakra to rotate to the left, instead of her right. The Chakra, Hatuhi found strange, morphed faster than normal, and her tension was lessened while building it up. It wasn't completely compressed into a sphere, but it was much easier to prepare.
"H-How did you know that?! Do you know Rasengan?!" Asked Haruhi in wonder. Maruya giggled.
"No, but I know a Jutsu similar to it." Haruhi expected to see the Jutsu first-hand, but instead, Maruya walked away.
"Wh-Where you going?" Asked Haruhi.
"I just came to say hi to the daughter of Sakura-Sensei. Consider my advice a little gift." She said, placing her ANBU mask back on, and jumping towards the trees back to the village.
"S-Sakura-Sensei?" Asked Haruhi in awe.
"She was the student of your mother, just like you are with me." Konohamaru said. "She joined the ANBU Black Ops after becoming Chuunin to strengthen herself to prepare for future missions. A feat which proves nowhere near ready for happening." Haruhi looked to the figure that was Maruya still jumping across the trees and smiled.
"She gave me advice on Rasengan, she must be strong." Haruhi said. Konohamaru smirked.
"Good point."
The training of Haruhi's was much better after Maruya's visit. The time Haruhi held her Rasengan was increased drastically to six minutes and thirty five seconds in just two hours.
"Very good, Haruhi!" Konohamaru cheered. "You're making excellent progress!" Haruhi restarted with a fresh balloon. Pouring all her focus onto the one balloon, she began to build up her Rasengan as powerful as she could, rotating as fast as it could, and as small as possible. Her determination to complete Rasengan was what pushed her to the edge, and she was inches away from learning the powerful Jutsu. The ballon burst around the same time as before. It grew later on that Haruhi's progress was made clear. Konohamaru smiled as Haruhi held the balloon for a long time now.
"That's ten minutes, Haruhi." Konohamaru called. The balloon dropped from Haruhi's hand, without even so much as a pop. She flexed her hand steadily and smiled happily. "Congratulations, you've mastered step three."
"So have I mastered Rasengan yet?" Asked Haruhi with excitement.
"Hold on, Haruhi. You haven't gotten used to performing Rasengan." Haruhi looked in confusion. "Now that you're familiar with all the steps required for Rasengan, you need to practice being able to equally balance them in order to use them in battle."
"But, I do know how to balance it!" Haruhi said in annoyance. To demonstrate, she focussed slightly and formed a true Rasengan ball. "See?" Konohamaru looked at it.
"It's good with it's Control, but because of this, it's Rotation and Strength lacks. Try using it on the tree again."
"Yes!" She said confidently. Without hesitation, she attacked the nearest tree with it, and to her surprise, more damage was done to the previous tree than the one she attacked now. There was a small hole, but only carved through the round scratches. "Why didn't it work this time?!"
"Strength was your ally yesterday. But now that you focus on control, the Rasengan won't be complete yet."
"Well, I better start practicing!" She said in confidence.
"I will warn you though...to master being able to control all three steps and successfully use it in battle, takes three years." Haruhi gaped in surprise.
"What-But- I don't have three years!!" Haruhi screamed in shock.
"Exactly. Naruto's method skipped the three years, in order to skip the true controlling of Rasengan. However, he came up with a second method which is in favour for the three year training." Haruhi raised her head in excitement.
"What? I'll do anything but the three year training!" Haruhi said desparately.
"Make a Shadow Clone." Konohamaru instructed.
"I thought Shadow Clones aren't allowed during the Rasengan build-up?"
"They won't be needed for the build up, just the training."
"O-Okay..." Hesitantly, she called on a Haruhi to her side. Konohamaru paused for a moment and handed the real Haruhi a blindfold.
"Now put this on. This will teach you a secret ability the Shadow Clones can do." Haruhi still a bit nervous with this, tied the blindfold across her eyes, robbing her of sight. "Okay, Clone, come here." The Clone approached Konohamaru and he whispered something into her ear. "Can you do that?"
"I-I can try." Said the Haruhi Clone nervously. Without thinking, the Clone attempted to kick Konohamaru as silently as possible, before Konohamaru blocked and punched the Clone to a pile of smoke.
"You can take it off now, Haruhi." With that, Haruhi was able to see once more. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"You whispered "Hit me with all you can", my Clone did and you beat her up." Haruhi said without a guess. Konohamaru smiled. "Wait, how did I know that?"
"Shadow Clones give the original his or her own experiences. Whatever the Clone does, the original will know as soon as it vanishes. That's what makes it a remarkable Jutsu." Haruhi thought for a second.
"Why didn't I know that when I was still in the Academy?" Haruhi said with a whisper. Konohamaru laughed.
"Maybe because Semapi knew what you'd do with it?"
"So what does this have to do with skipping the three year training?"
"The more people working on a single job, takes less time to do it. Two people halfen the time, three people third the time, and working with one thousand people can take a day for a thousand day work. The same rule applies for your Shadow Clones. The more Clones that are training with you, the less time it will take." Haruhi widened her eyes with excitement.
"Alright! Let's get to training!" Haruhi said in resolve. "My dad mastered Rasengan in a week, I need as much Clones to work on it by then, so that's..." She paused briefly to count on her fingers.
"You'll need one hundred and forty four Clones to make it in a week." Konohamaru said, figuring out the math. "I think Shikari and Takai will be finished with their Jutsu by then, considering it's level of easiness."
"Then let's get to work! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" And the entire forest floor was covered in Haruhi's as they began to balance the Rasengan's three steps to mastering them.
Many days passed for Haruhi, gaining the experience of all her Clones tired her out severely, but she pressed on with her training. Until, approximately a week later, the real Haruhi made a Rasengan merely by looking at her hand, and firing it across a bare tree. The results were devestating. Instead of making a small hole, Haruhi made a large hole, covering most of the tree's surface, which made it crack and fall to the forest floor.
"I...I did that?" Asked Haruhi. Konohamaru smiled with happiness, but not as much as Haruhi, who leapt onto her Sensei, giving him a hug of joy, before collapsing to the ground in exhaustion. Unknown to the both of them, they had a spectator who smiled too: Maruya.
"Well done, Haruhi."
At the same time, a strong gust of wind blew across the meadow, as Shikari finished his training.
"You're good to go, Shikari." Konohamaru said and Shikari gave a grin.
"It sure was a drag, but I'm ready for anything now."
Meanwhile, Takai had mastered his Jutsu, with the same ring of fire around his feet.
"I think that sums it up." Konohamaru said happily.
"It was an embarrassment for me to delay it for a week." Takai said in his usual tone.
The three reunited at sunset, with Haruhi giving each of them a hug on their, and her, success.
"Well done, Team. You've all learned a Jutsu which will save your neck next time we're in danger. Keep practicing your Jutsu and no enemy ninja will want so much think of kidnapping you. Now, it's been a long day, and we all need some rest. You're all dismissed."
"Right!" Said the three Genin. Haruhi headed home, now anxious to show an eagerly waiting Tsukune.
Later, during the night once Haruhi was asleep, Naruto walked out of the santuary of his home to his back garden, and heard an old familiar voice.
"You wanted to see me, Naruto?" Asked a man with a hoarse voice. Naruto turned to a Jounin hidden in the shadows of the trees above and smiled.
"Yeah! Glad you can come." Naruto said happily. "My daughter just learned Rasengan from Konohamaru."
"Don't tell me you want to assassinate Konohamaru, do you?" The middle-aged Jounin asked. Naruto gave a laugh.
"Of course not. As you know, Haruhi is a tough girl, and I want to make sure she's ready by meeting you."
"So you want me to fight her in a serious battle?"
"Semi-serious. If you fought serious, you'd kill her in two seconds." The Jounin laughed.
"Very well, let's just hope she's as good as her father." And with that, the Jounin vanished into the shadows.
