Arc One, Chapter 3: The Training
"Here we are." The jounin announced. The team was in the forest, standing in front of some fairly tall trees. "You guys are to climb these trees."
"Huh? How?" Kaito asked.
"Like this," Sora sighed. He made the Rat seal and channeled his chakra to the bottom of his feet. He walked to the tree, put his foot on the trunk, and began walking vertically up the tree. His students gasped in awe. "First you need to focus a fixed amount of chakra to the bottom of your feet. If the stream of chakra is too weak, you'll lose your footing on the tree and fall off. If it is too strong, then you will be pushed away from the tree. The point of this exercise is to climb a tree without using one's hands. Don't try walking on it as I did, though, getting a running start is better for beginners." He jumped off of the tree, landing gracefully next to his students.
"Sensei," Aoi said, "Don't you think it will take some time to-"
"Me first!" Kaito screamed. He ran at the tree, not gathering chakra along the way. As he began walking up the tree, he slipped and fell.
"It requires chakra to do this chakra exercise, idiot. I'll be monitoring your progress. Well, not me," Sora made the clone hand seal, and a shadow clone appeared next to him, "I'll be at the next stage of the training. The first one to finish each exercise will get a prize." He smiled, and then disappeared.
Aoi sighed.
"So how will this go?"
Hayato had already begun. The genin had made the Rat hand seal and began gathering his chakra to the bottom of his feet. He ran, attached his foot to the trunk, and began climbing the tree vertically. Around his seventh step, he was suddenly repelled. He cursed and back flipped, landing soundly on the ground.
Kaito and Aoi began doing the same and gathered their chakra to the bottom of their feet. As Aoi continued to concentrate, Kaito began to try again. This time, he made it several steps, then slipped off. He twisted mid-air just before he landed roughly on the ground.
Aoi opened her eyes and ran at the tree. She quickly made it higher than her teammates did as she made it near a branch. She gasped, and slipped off the tree. She pulled out a kunai and threw it at the tree. Thunk! She landed on the ground, wiping sweat from her forehead.
"Why'd you do that?" Kaito asked with an eyebrow raised.
"So I can know how far I got."
"Oh! Good idea!"
"Thanks." She smiled.
This'll be hard,' She thought, 'We have to maintain the moulded chakra, otherwise we'll fall off, or get repelled. Hayato's chakra must be strong, and Kaito's light.'
"Kaito!" Aoi called out, "Try adding a bit more chakra."
He rose an eyebrow in a silent question, but did as she told.
This time, when he ran up the tree, he had more success. He passed his three-step line, and continued to go higher. Hayato glanced at the white-haired ninja, and began storing his chakra again. He climbed again, passing his point also.
Aoi did as they did, and soon they were all racing up the trees, trying to reach the top before the other. Aoi finally reached a branched, and jumped on top of it. Kaito and Hayato were near her first mark, but couldn't get past it. She sighed. "I guess I'm going to get the prize, aren't I?" She taunted.
Kaito looked up at the kunoichi and smirked. "Not if I have anything to say about it!"
'I wonder if he'll make it to my mark...' Aoi pondered.
Suddenly she glanced at where Hayato was, and saw that he was past her, still climbing. She gasped and began climbing again. She could hear Sora chuckling from below. She wouldn't let Hayato beat her.
Aoi had gotten used to climbing at such a rapid pace that Sora couldn't believe it. She was already catching up to Hayato, who had begun to slow down. Kaito was behind both of them, but he had finally beat Aoi's first mark: seventeen steps.
Aoi and Hayato were going head-to-head as Kaito struggled to catch up with them. He slipped on his twenty-first step, marking it with a kunai, and had to start over again. Hayato got repelled at his twenty-seventh step, while Aoi kept going, nearing yet another branch. Sora was shocked at his students' progress. They all had an awfully large amount of chakra, so he expected that it would take at least three-to-four days for them to get to the forty mark. Without Aoi's tips, Kaito might still be below ten.
It was nighttime by the time Sora stopped them. Aoi was a prodigy at this, Sora remarked, and he decided that she would no doubt finish in two days.
The beaten and tired students went home, promising themselves that they would succeed tomorrow.
"Woo-hoo!" Aoi screamed at the top of her tree, "I did it!"
As Sora predicted, it took her two days.
Kaito glared at Hayato. "I'm not going to be last this time."
As the race between the two genins commenced, Sora called for Aoi.
She walked down the tree, and then walked happily to the jounin.
"I see you finished. Before you can continue, I need you to run it one last time."
Aoi frowned.
"Why, sensei?"
"Just to prove it wasn't a fluke. We could add a twist to it, but only if you think you're ready."
She rose an eyebrow. "What kind of twist?"
"I'm going to throw three shuriken at you randomly. You'll need to dodge them while still on the tree. How about that?" The tone of his voice told her that he wouldn't take no as an answer.
"Okay... I'll do it."
Sora brought out three shuriken from his holster.
"I'll tell you when to go. Try to sprint this time."
She nodded, getting into a running stance.
"Go!"
She dashed up the tree. Sora threw the first shuriken. It was so fast she barely had time to dodge it, and almost slipped off of the tree from the lack of concentration. The second shuriken was thrown at a greater speed. She smirked, and ran diagonally across the tree, getting out of view from Sora. He blinked before throwing a shuriken to the side of the tree. Suddenly another Sora appeared, grabbed the shuriken, and threw the projectile at her. Unsuspecting of the thrown shuriken, she kept going. She stopped abruptly and crouched close to the tree as the shuriken imbedded itself four centimeters above her head. She stood vertically on the tree.
"I won!" Aoi chirped.
The new clone disappeared from existence as Sora appeared to congratulate her.
"Congratulations! You're one step closer to becoming a great ninja. Now, the next training station is near-"
"Sensei," she interrupted, "Do you mind if I stay here and help them out?" She pointed at her teammates.
Sora stared at her.
"Are you serious?"
She nodded.
"Well, if that's what you want..."
"Thanks sensei!" She ran to help the others.
"You stayed?" Kaito wheezed incredulously.
"Yeah. I need some more training anyway."
"Wow. If it were me, I would have taken that chance. Ya know, just to see what the prize was?" He bent over with his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.
"I'm not worried about that. I'm still going to beat you two." She stated boldly.
Hayato fell from the tree and landed next to them in a crouching position. He shakily got up, but fell onto his knee. Sweat dripped down from his face as he panted heavily. He punched the ground in frustration.
Aoi felt a pang of sympathy for the two boys. She barely broke a sweat, and yet these two were trying so hard to do this task.
She sighed.
"Guys, concentrate your chakra to your feet again."
Kaito tried, while Hayato stared at his tree.
"You too, Hayato."
He got up and stored chakra at his feet.
Aoi stared at the two ninja.
"That's why you guys are having so much trouble! You're in too much of a rush!" She observed. "Don't think of this as a race. This is all so we can get better. In fact, I won't even move on until both of you get it. Now, let's try something out."
. . .
As they calmed down, the chakra at their feet seemed more stable, and more started to flow. They raced up the trees simultaneously, and instead of falling down three steps above their previous marks, they reached the top. Hayato jumped down from the top.
"Where's Kaito?" Aoi asked.
He pointed up the tree Kaito had climbed, where said ninja sat stuck at the top.
"How are we going to get him down?"
Hayato let his right foot dangle behind him, then kicked the tree with such brute force she thought the tree might split. Seconds later Kaito fell roughly on the ground.
He got up wobbly. "I'm... Okay."
"Now that we've got it down," He continued, "How about we race a couple of times?"
Aoi and Hayato looked at each other, and they both nodded, a grin spreading across Aoi's face.
"Hehe. Last one there has to do fifty push-ups!"
. . .
"That's two hundred for Kaito, and fifty for both me and Hayato."
"Guys, I think I've done enough, don't you?" Kaito pleaded, his arms trembling in the push-up position.
"Seventy more, I believe." Aoi smiled, tilting her head to the side. "Get going, please."
"Adding 'please' doesn't make it any less cruel." Kaito deadpanned.
Sora's clone appeared next to them.
"Sorry guys, but it's time to go. Maybe tomorrow you'll get to the next part."
"Yes, sensei!" Aoi shook her head, and they followed Sora back to the vllage.
The next day, they practiced vigorously to master the tree climbing technique.
"Wanna play EJ?" Sora called to his students.
"What's that?" Kaito asked, perched on a branch upside-down like a monkey.
"Do you wanna play it?" Sora asked again.
"Sure!" Kaito said enthusiastically.
"His mind changed so quickly..." Aoi sweatdropped.
"What about you two?"
"Sure, sensei. Are you going to explain the rules?" Aoi asked.
The three genin ran down the tree and next to the sensei.
"Sure," He said, smiling, "Just stay on the tree." He made a hand seal, and four clones appeared beside him.
"I'll be trying to make you fall. After you each have passed, I believe you'll be ready for the next stage. You three up for it?"
They shook their heads yes.
"Alright then. I promise, it will be fun."
The three shivered instinctively as they walked to their trees.
"Go"
The genin ran up the tree.
Apparently, the "EJ" in EJ meant "Extensive Jumping". Kaito learned that the hard way.
Kaito had felt pretty sure that he was going to win. Overnight he had practiced his chakra control by walking on the walls of his room.
But what he hadn't practiced was jumping from wall to wall. He would regret that today.
Two clones came immediately at Kaito.
Kaito swung himself on the tree near him, avoiding two kicks. Kaito quickly scanned the area for the others; Aoi had two clones like Kaito, and handled them efficiently by using taijutsu to kick them off of her tree. Hayato had one, and used repelling to his advantage as the clone approached, making the clone's landing spot a trap. That gave Kaito an idea.
Kaito ran up his tree. A Sora appeared above him, falling towards Kaito, his elbow pointed in a attacking pose. As Kaito neared him, he purposefully slipped off the tree, back-flipping to the one behind him. Kaito's foot kicked his face on the way back, so Sora was falling to the ground as another one continued the assault.
. . .
Aoi twisted out of Sora's grasp and gracefully landed on a tree. Sora leaped towards her, his fist reared back in a punching position. She jumped, wrapped her arm around a branch, and flipped upwards, kicking Sora in the throat.
She took out a kunai, stabbed the tree, and yanked it out. The clone behind her yanked his arm out of the tree, a stab wound in the middle of his hand.
Poof!
Both clones were gone. After all, it wasn't part of the rules that you couldn't kill them.
Aoi snickered and hid herself in the trees, watching the others.
. . .
Hayato had made it so if the teacher tried to give chase, he would crash into a shattered section of the tree. Sora crashed into the tree, his foot wedged between a huge crack in the wood. Hayato then quickly dispatched the clone, ending its life with a kunai to the back.
. . .
Kaito had gotten the hang of evading the clones' attacks, until they got serious, that is. One clone jumped at him, ramming both himself and Kaito into the tree. He then held on to Kaito as they both plunged toward the ground. As the ground neared, Kaito panicked, and, using the little foot-space provided, kicked off the tree behind him and spun wildly.
Sora only laughed and squeezed tighter. Kaito stretched his arm down hi back as far as it could go, grabbed a shuriken from his pouch, and slashed Sora's fingers. He then pushed off the clone, landing—dangerously near the ground—on a tree branch. The clone disappeared in a ball of puffy white smoke, ending the "game".
The original clone called down to the three, and they came down quite eagerly.
"Did we pass?"
"Yup," the jounin said, "And since all three of you passed, all three of you little shrimps get the special prize—after you finish the next exercise." And without another word, he turned and headed toward the next area.
He walked up a tree and began leaping from branch to branch. His students could barely keep up. They reached an area with a wide river.
The clone walked next to the real Sora.
"I see you all have mastered tree climbing," he said proudly, looking at their newfound bruises and cuts, "This is a big step to becoming a good ninja. Next, we'll learn the Water Walking Technique."
Chakra appeared at the bottom of his feet. He reached his foot out and gently touched the water's surface. Instead of falling, Kaito noticed, he placed the other foot on the water and began walking calmly on it. Sora's students stared at him with obvious awe.
"How can you do that, sensei?"
"Well, I think you all are a bit tired from using your chakra for the first exercise. How about we take a break?"
"But sensei..." Kaito whined.
"But Kaito..." The jounin counter-whined.
"I don't know about them," Aoi stated, glancing at the other two boys, "But I have enough energy to keep going, sensei. Heck, I can beat them easily at any challenge."
At that, Hayato snickered to himself.
"Is that a challenge?" Kaito stared, giving her a look between a glare and a look of curiosity.
"It is if you take it as one."
"Well then, let's start this, shall we" He gestured to the water. "First, mold a constant amount of chakra to your feet. Constantly release the right amount into the water, and balance that amount to make your body float. Sounds easy enough, right? It's easy enough since you mastered tree-climbing. Good luck!"
. . .
In a matter of minutes they began getting used to it, and within hours they had mastered it. They went over to their sensei for their prizes.
"Ready for your prizes?" The jounin seemed eager, one hand behind his back and a smile plastered on his face.
The teamed nodded, Kaito barely keeping his excitement in.
"Here you are!" He handed them each a small, square sheet of paper. They looked at it blankly.
"What type of present is this? A lousy piece of paper?" Kaito yelled in outrage, a tic mark appearing on his forhead.
"Wait!" Sora stopped him before he ripped the paper, "This paper isn't any normal paper, it's special." He nodded. "These sheets of paper tell what chakra affinity you have. The pieces of paper are made from a special type of tree that is grown and fed with chakra, and are used to react to even the slightest hint of chakra in any of a number of ways, depending on the nature latent in the chakra. Your affinity makes it easier to learn how to create and control the nature you have. Go ahead, put some of your chakra in it."
Kaito let chakra accumulate into his fingers and onto the paper, and in a moment the water was wet and damp.
"What does this mean, sensei?" Kaito asked, whipping the paper around, trying to dry it.
"Ah, that means you have a water affinity!" He announced.
"Cool!" Kaito exclaimed, "That means I can control water, right?" He looked at the lake excitedly.
"Yes," he said quite nervously, "Yes it does."
"Watch me, sensei!" Aoi called. She put her chakra in the paper, and it turned to dirt and crumbled away. Aoi looked at her hand with an odd mix of horror and as if she were staring at something she had never seen before. "Does that mean that i will destroy everything i touch!?" She panicked.
"No, no," Sora assured her, "That just means that your affinty is earth. it has—"
"Sensei, look at Hayato's!" Kaito interrupted.
His paper was wrinkled.
"That means that your affinity is lightning."
"Lightning?" Kaito glared at him, "Keep your 'lightning' away from my water."
"About that.."
And then he explained the cycle, how one element was both stronger and weaker than another. He dismissed his students, telling them that it was a good, long day.
Kaito came back after the other two left, shocking Sora.
"What now?" He said exasperatedly.
"Can you teach me a move I can use?" He pleaded.
Sora considered this.
"Here," he gave Kaito a coin with a picture of Sora smiling and winking inscribed on it, "This is a Sora-Coin. When I need something, you'll know."
"All I heard was 'Sure, I'll teach you!'"
Sora chuckled and brought Kaito near the lake.
Sora made three hand seals: Dragon, Tiger, Hare. A huge amount of water gushed out from his mouth like a waterfall, spraying water in the night air.
He taught Kaito the move, and when Kaito finally succeeded, his paled in comparison at how big Sora's was. But at the time, he didn't care. He had finally learned a ninja move, and he was sure it wouldn't be his last.
Tired, Kaito called it a day and finally turned to go home.
"Wait!" Sora called.
"Hm?" Kaito turned around.
Sora stared at the genin for a moment, and then he shook his head. "Just that we're going on our first C-rank mission tomorrow. Get some sleep, okay?"
"Sure?" He left, having an odd feeling like his sensei had probably left something out.