Kakashi had taken us into a forest not far from Tazuna's house, which apparently was just what we needed.
"We will now begin the training?" Kakashi announced. Maybe this training would take my mind off of my vambrace, god knows I needed to.
"ROGER!" Yelled Naruto.
Kakashi proceeded to make a hand sign with his index finger held up, "but first, let me once again talk about Chakra, the base for the ability of a ninja."
"At a time like this?" Sasuke asked in a snobbish tone, but I couldn't help but silently agree with him. We maybe Genin, but we're not morons.
"I already know about that! Chatra right?"
That statement nearly caused me to bowl under my feet, Naruto never ceases to amazing me! I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad one.
"It's Chakra!" Kakashi said sternly "Okay, Sakura-kun!"
"Listen, Naruto. I'm going to explain this in a simple manner to save time" she began and brought out a scroll with 'secret document' scribbled on it.
"Wait… how did you get your hands on that?" I quizzed. But my question was completely ignored, as she started to explain how chakra is used as energy, to utilize a technique and that basically, energy is collected from the body's energy, which is collected from every human cell, and the spiritual energy that is gained from training and experience.
"In other words, techniques come from these two energies are squeezed out of the body and moulded together, this process is known as moulding the chakra. And with this chakra one is able to execute a technique by forming a seal."
"Correct" Kakashi chirped "Iruka-sensei was blessed with a nice student, I see". This caused Sakura to gloat, and me to roll my eyes.
"What's with that?" Naruto demanded "you can just learn all that stuff with your body, even if you don't understand it".
"Exactly what Naruto said" spoke Sasuke agreeing, "We're all able to use the techniques anyway."
"I wouldn't be so sure" I told him. "I mean yeah, we can do basic techniques, but the calibre of Zabuza's control of his chakra was nothing less than perfection."
"Exactly" acknowledged Kakashi, "you guys aren't able to use your chakra completely."
"WHAT?" shouted Naruto, sounding completely disgusted.
"Just listen…" Kakashi beckoned. "Like Sakura said, moulding chakra means to extract energies from both the body and the spirit. Mixing them up in your body and the amount of each energy will differ from the type of technique you wish to execute. So in other words, the mixing will be different."
"So… you're saying that we can't use our chakra right?" I questioned.
"Yes" he answered, "even if you can mould a large amount of chakra, if you cannot control the balance, your technique will only be as half as effective or not executed at all. Wasting energy will create a weakness of not being able to fight for a long time."
I could see Kakashi staring right at me as he said that statement, if I could maybe perfect my chakra control, then I might get a chance to earn my vambrace back!
"So… what should I do?" Naruto asked and nervously scratched his head.
"You're going to learn how to control it with your body" Kakashi stated sternly, "you must go through rigorous training."
Everyone's expression turned serious, as Sakura asked what it was we would be doing.
"Hm…" Kakashi started "climb a tree."
I blinked, "Climb a tree!?" we all blurted at the same time.
"That's right" Kakashi mused "But it's not ordinary tree climbing."
I sighed heavily "why has there always got to be a catch? There's always a catch!"
Kakashi brought his hands up in front of him, "you have to do it without your hands".
Now that I think about it, I do recall Haruo asking Sasuke's father's advice on chakra control, he too said to practice climbing trees. I never thought anything of it at the time, but now it made sense.
"How to we do that?" Sakura mumbled.
"Just watch" was all our Sensei said. He put both his hands together in a hand sign, after that, he slowly hobbled his way towards a nearby tree. Without any effort, began to walk up it as if he was taking a stroll down the street.
To say I was stunned was an understatement, and from the flabbergasted looks on my team mates faces, they were thinking the same thing. Kakashi had now made it onto a branch and hung upside down as if he were a bat.
"That's how you do it" he simply told us, "gather your chakra to the bottom of your feet, and make it attach to the tree trunk, something like this is possible if you can use your chakra."
"Wait!" Sakura cut in angrily "how can we become strong by doing that?"
I scoffed "for a smart person you say the dumbest things."
"WHAT!? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME!?"
"Girls!" Kakashi yelled. "Pay attention and I'll tell you. The main purpose of this training, is to accumulate the right amount of moulded chakra in the right location. This is difficult even for a well-trained ninja." He then continued to explain that the amount of chakra used in this tree climbing exercise is subtle, however the most difficult place to concentrate chakra is beneath your feet.
"So in other words, if you are able to master this, you can learn any kind of technique, In theory that is" he concluded.
"So there's a second purpose?" I asked.
"Yes, the second purpose is to maintain that moulded chakra. Most of the time, ninja mould their chakra during battle. In that situation, it is even more difficult to support that chakra. You however Tomoko, have probably already had some form of chakra training through your wind reading."
I nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. It may not look like it, but it takes a lot of chakra and experience to predict a perfect vibration in the wind. Because you have focus all your chakra in one place, the ears, which from my experience, is very hard to do.
In Yamakure, it was common that villagers had to learn wind reading at a young age. Because if any danger or anything out of the norm were to approach the boarders, someone would pick up on it. Hence why the country is ridiculously hard to invade, and trust me when I tell you. People have tried, only to be shot down as soon as they stepped on our soil.
But our methods has also given the country a bad name. It's become an isolated place, nobody goes in… and nobody goes out without someone knowing about it. Which is why everyone is always so surprised when I tell them that I am from Yamakure, because no one has been known to cross the boarders, without the council at least hearing about it and trying to claim us back… or even have us killed.
It sounds harsh I know, but you find that policy in most major military countries, I wouldn't be surprised if Konohagakure did the same.
"I need you all to learn this with your bodies" he explained and threw four kunai knives, stabbing them the ground, one in front of each of us. "Use that knife, to mark where you are able to climb up to with your current ability. Then try to make a mark above the first one. You guys aren't experienced enough to walk up the tree, so run to give yourself a boost, got it?"
I bent down to pick up my knife and stared at it for a moment, then at the nearest tree. This seemed so easy, but like I said before, there's always a catch.
"This training is too easy for me!" Naruto gloated, doing some cheesy ninja pose "since I'm the guy who is growing the most right now!"
"Okay, be quiet" Kakashi told him "try to climb any of the trees." Everyone immediately made a hand sign and closed their eyes, it was interesting to see them all so focused.
'Okay' I told myself as I closed my eyes, 'I need to focus all my chakra on the bottom of my feet.' I slowly proceeded to put my hands together in a hand sign and concentrated on the task at hand. Slowly but surely, I could feel my energy mould together in my core, and make its way down to my feet. A sensation was felt on my feet, as if as was being slightly lifted off the ground. I heard Naruto yell something, but I wasn't really paying attention to the things that were going on around me.
Slowly I opened my eyes to see Naruto had attempted the climb, and failed at the first step. Sasuke got about half way up and managed to put his first scratch in the tree, however he also crushed a dent in it with his foot.
'So that's how it works, if you put too much chakra into it, it repels you. Too little, and the absorption will not be generated and you crash and burn.'
"This is easier than I thought!"
I glanced upwards, having to do a double take.
'No freaking way!'
Up in a tree was Sakura, sitting on a branch with her kunai stabbed into the top of the tree. So… Sakura isn't as useless as I thought, the girl actually has some decent chakra control.
But I couldn't think about that now. Once again I focused all my chakra onto my feet, even with all the eyes now staring at me. Straight away, I ran full force towards the tree. Along the way, I made myself believe that it was just like a pathway, only you're running a very fast, heavy footed race.
As I took my first step onto the tree, the unexplainable thrill wash upon me, as I vertically ran up the hard trunk. My hair swung loosely behind me and my feet felt heavy with each stride I took.
'Almost there!' I told myself seeing the highest branch, I could feel myself getting tired. But then without warning, I could feel a weird stinging sensation in my arms, the vambraces were reacting. Images of the attack, my mother and death, coruscated through my mind, along with flashes of this bright, green energy.
"TOMOKO WATCH YOUR FOOTING!" Kakashi yelled in a panic.
His sudden shriek surprised me and I lost the grip of my footing for a brief second. Thankfully, I was close enough to the top branch, to grab a hold of it and to stab the tree with my knife to break my fall.
"Tomoko-Chan are you okay?!" Naruto yelled up to me. Slightly out of breath, I digested what just happened. Kakashi looked like he nearly suffered from a heart attack and Sakura had a very annoyed look on her face. I couldn't see Sasuke, since he was directly behind me, but I could feel the daggers he was staring into my back.
As soon as I got my breath back, I climbed onto the branch and slumped onto it, I stared at my hands, which were shaking out of my control.
'What the hell just happened?'
"Oh?" Kakashi spoke up " It looks like the girls are best at controlling their chakra."
Sakura once again stuck her tongue out in a gloating manner, I was still getting over the fact that I nearly killed myself, and what I just saw.
"Wow Sakura-Chan! That's something I expected from a girl I have high hopes for!" Naruto chimed.
"Hey!" I called finally finding my voice "I did it to you know!"
"Yeah but I knew you'd have no problem with it Tomoko" he answered back.
I finally got a look at Sasuke, who looked infuriated that both me and Sakura were better than him, now that felt good.
"Sakura, your knowledge of chakra was splendid, but your control and stamina are good as well" Kahashi complimented. "And Tomoko already had a head start on chakra control, so if anything she more advanced than both Naruto and Sasuke!"
"I wouldn't go that far" I mumbled.
"Who knows? Maybe two particular ninjas, and not someone else, is closest to becoming Hokage right now? The Uchiha clan isn't as great as I thought, either."
I couldn't help but laugh at the Uchiha part, because the look on Sasuke's face was priceless!
"SHUT UP SENSEI!" Sakura screeched, in fears her precious Sasuke might hate her "And Tomoko stop laughing!"
I was now practically in a fit now my sides were hurting, I haven't laughed like this in a while… it felt good. The looks Naruto and Sasuke where so tense, you could cut it with a knife.
"Alright! I'm going to catch up to Sasuke first!" he claimed "I'm going to do this!" Sasuke emotionlessly stared at him then looked up to me… as if to say, 'I'll beat you as if it's the last thing I do'.
To avoid his gaze, I jumped down from the tree and swiftly landed back on the ground. Walking back to where I was before, I decided to try one more time, but just as I was prepared to go… a hand stopped me…
"You don't need to participate in this training anymore" Kakashi told me quietly, how did he get down so fast?
I looked up at him with a very confused glanced, "but! Sakura is doing it again!"
"Sakura maybe able to do it, but she has nowhere near the chakra level you and the boys have…" he whispered. "You and I both know, how advanced you actually are in your chakra control. But let's keep that between you and me."
I bet you are confused. Well the truth is as I stated before, wind reading is also a form of Chakra control and I started at the age of four, a couple of months before the attack I think. So I guess you could say, like Kakashi said, I've already had a head start from everyone else.
"Then why did you need me to do the training" I asked annoyed in a whisper.
"Because I needed to see how you would be without your vambrace," Kakashi stated "now I have idea on what they might be…"
"What they might be?" I repeated.
"Yes Tomoko, but not here." He took his hand off my shoulder "Now" he began more louder "I suggest you rest, because you need to be a 100% for scouting."
Right, I forgot about that. Slowly I went to sit down against one of the tree trucks and sighed. Even though I was grateful for the little break, I wasn't looking forward to the aftermath. Pípe bócrædung (wind reading) takes years and years of practice to perfect, I've only been doing it for eleven years. Now I know that's a big number, but you have to be practicing it for at least twenty-five years.
Kakashi is so trusting in my abilities, it makes me nervous.
Exhaustion finally began to kick in, and I slowly began to doze off…