"...Tree climbing."
Naruto folded his arms, his face contorted as if he had a bald lemon in his mouth. Kakashi waved Naruto off as if that would disperse the boy's skepticism.
"Now, now- listen to the end-"
The Jōnin sighed, taking a moment to repress the urge to let the kids have it. In many ways, his genin were the brightest jewels in his existence. However, they were kids, and still had yet to shed their insecurities. So impatient, yet so self-assured of what they needed, what they wanted...
So he had to tread lightly and try not to murder them (particularly Naruto) over fairly inconsequential antics. Thusly, he brandished his hands.
"This isn't normal tree climbing; You'll climb without using your hands."
Kakashi wiggled his fingers for emphasis.
Naruto uncrossed his arms, intrigued. While he could, in fact, climb without using his hands, he was only capable of it via his hidden "talents". It would be quite advantageous if he could do so inconspicuously - as far as being a ninja, that is.
Sakura and Sasuke were similarly interested, the tiredness melting away from their dispositions. Still, someone had to ask the obvious question.
"...How?"
Kakashi glanced at his female protege, not particularly askance, before assuming a simple chakra-gathering handsign, saying "Well...watch."
He then sauntered lazily to the tree nearest him, planted his foot against it, and began to walk up. Naruto's teammates' openly expressed their amazement, Sakura gasping (and fisting her hands in her skirt for some reason) and Sasuke sufficing with a wide-eyed gape. Naruto, however, hid a knowing smile behind his hand. Sensei was good.
"He's climbing..." Sakura mumbled, "vertically...with just his legs."
Kakashi kept going until he reached a sturdy branch on the tree, and then continued his walk along that, ending up upside-down, smiling through the fabric of his facemask at his students.
"Do you understand now?
Gather your chakra in the soles of your feet and use that to climb up the tree- this is something you can do easily once you can use chakra efficiently."
Although Sasuke and Naruto were taken in, Sakura- normally the most proper of the group- harbored some doubts.
"Wait a minute!"
...which she immediately made known. Kakashi felt a drop of cold sweat run "up" the side of his face.
"How is learning how to climb a tree- hands-free or not- going to make us stronger?!"
The Jōnin sighed for what seemed to be the hundredth time since yesterday morning. However he felt, he kept it under wraps and soldiered on.
"Well, here's the main part- and listen closely, now.
"First, to teach you how to control chakra; to bring out the proper amount to the proper area. As I said earlier, this is the most important aspect when using jutsu."
Kakashi shifted his feet slightly on the tree branch, measuring his breathing as he stood there talking in this awkward position. Looking cool wasn't anywhere near as easy as it looked.
For one, sticking to the branch wasn't the only job his chakra was performing- he was also utilizing a moderate taijutsu-supplement ninpō for regulating blood flow; without it he'd start feeling like his head was gonna pop. Also, he'd look like a beet before long, which wouldn't help his increasingly endangered "nin cred" in front of his students.
"This can be difficult for even a skilled ninja.
"The amount of chakra needed to climb a tree is small, but it must be exact- and it is said that the bottom of the foot is the most difficult area to gather chakra."
The look of incredulity faded from Sakura's face, replaced by a look of tense studiousness. Her sensei relaxed, himself, feeling that he was finally doing something sensei-like with his students at long last.
"So, basically: If you learn this level of control, you should be able to master any jutsu. Er, theoretically..."
The last part was half mumbled, Kakashi glancing away self-consciously. On the one hand, he wanted to fill his students with optimism and the personal desire to learn. On the other, he didn't want to make them cocky and reckless, and end up the sensei of a collection of body parts within a fortnight. With this in mind, he continued his lecture with haste.
"The second thing is for you to develop the stamina needed to control chakra properly. Depending on the jutsu, controlling your chakra properly can be...daunting.
"Keep in mind a ninja will usually gather his chakra during a battle whilst in constant motion. That type of situation makes controlling chakra even more challenging."
The Jōnin studied his students' countenances. Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura...all sharp, individualistic students, mutually inquisitive and cynical...all apparently pleased with his exposition thus far. Time to wrap this little talk up.
"That's why you must climb trees like this; to perfect your control and increase your stamina."
"Well," Kakashi said, reaching into his pocket, "Me talking all day isn't going to accomplish anything-"
He brandished three identical kunai in his fist, saying "This is something you'll have to learn with your bodies."
The Jōnin instructor slung the three weapons into the ground at his pupils' feet. Naruto scoffed.
"So it's like I said-"
"I also said that you weren't completely right," Kakashi replied with exasperation, "Listen to what's important, Naruto. That goes for the rest of you as well- Sakura. Sasuke."
All three genin winced, looking at each other in mutual self-consciousness.
"Use those kunai to mark how high you make it up a tree. Then use that mark as your goal and do your best to surpass it. You guys won't be good enough to just walk up the tree at first. Get some momentum and try running up the tree- got it?"
Sakura and Sasuke nodded subconsciously, not really knowing the inherent difference. Naruto, however, could relate to what Sensei had done- and it was hard. Gravity did not shift, so climbing with your body perfectly perpendicular was cause for certain...strain. Particularly when doing it at a casual pace as Kakashi had done.
So they all started at once, forming the same seal as Sensei had. A halo of dust expanded from around each of them, and with the three dashed for a tree of their choosing.
Sakura nimbly ran a couple steps up the tree and kept going, seemingly with very little effort. Sasuke sprinted up his with a rock-solid determination, making it a far ways up the trunk before the pull of his chakra wavered, the intensity making the bark explode.
Sasuke slashed the tree, spinning as he leapt back and landed safely some meters away- just in time for him to catch Naruto's attempt, which seemed to be aimed at the tallest tree in the general area.
The blond seemed confident, focused, and dangerous. Sasuke saw no doubt in his demeanor and expected nothing but hardcore efficiency from his tanklike teammate. If anyone would conquer this exercise, it would be him. Then Naruto made it to his chosen tree.
He leapt toward it with a practiced ease, his body weight shifting so that his upper leg would diffuse most of the intial impact, rather than the ankle. Sasuke nearly felt like weeping. That feeling was shattered the millisecond Naruto's foot touched the tree's surface.
Sasuke and even the watchful Kakashi had trouble keeping their eyes on what happened next- upon contact with the tree trunk, the huge charge of chakra Naruto had gathered under his foot had exploded, sending the begoggled genin rocketing backwards gracelessly.
He ended his flight rolling, ass-over-tea-kettle, and then skidding chinfirst across the soil, looking definitely worse for wear. Sasuke was...aghast, and Sensei could hardly choke down his guffaws.
Sighing morosely, the blond menace got up steadily, shaking his head before turning back to his tree. Sasuke followed suit shortly after, noting some details he'd learned thus far:
Too much chakra and the wood cracks. Too little he wasn't too certain of, but if Naruto's efforts were anything to go by, even more chakra wasn't going to solve anything.
Sasuke bit the inside of his cheek, trying to maintain seriousness. He nearly bit through his cheek when he heard a loud bang further up his tree, followed by Kakashi-sensei's commentary (and Uzumaki's rather colorful exclamations).
"You're supposed to climb the tree, not explode it, Naruto-kun."
"Come down here and I'll explode you, sensei!"
No matter how you looked at it, it was going to be a long day.
~xxx
It wasn't too long before Kakashi deemed it time for him to make his rounds around Tazuna's village. He brought Sakura with him, deeming her control efficient enough to bypass any further training for today.
And so they left, leaving the boys to their training. Hours passed since.
Sasuke was getting gradually higher and higher, his tree steadily becoming a mass of scars. Every time he got a littler further, the ground a little further away. Every time he landed, he paused to watch his teammate's ascent.
For a while it seemed like Naruto was going to run out of patience- because he certainly didn't seem to be running out of energy, monster that he was. Then he'd taken a small pause as the Uchiha continued to get better at climbing, and then started back at the same tree, surpassing his last record by a good five feet.
After that, he'd been gradually catching up to his quieter counterpart, even taking shorter strides as he did so. As respectful as Sasuke was of their differences, this sudden stride in excellence was poking him in the back of his mind like a pebble in one's shoe. So when he was on the ground at the same time as Naruto, he took his chance to figure things out.
"Hey, Naruto!"
The blond started, just about to take off after charging up his feet, again. He quickly regained composure though- even fussing with his hair- before turning to his comrade.
"Yeah, Sasuke? What's on your mind."
"Well, um..."
Naruto tapped his foot slowly, his lips drawn out in a sarcastic line.
"What is it?"
"Wha...what are you doing to catch up so fast?"
Naruto hummed, nodding.
"Well, Sasuke," he said, "first you must begin to channel your chakra. Clear your mind of irrelevant thoughts."
Sasuke immediately did so without question, listening intently for further guidance.
"This means don't think about anything that may purturb you-"
Well that's obvious-
"No worries-"
Easy.
"No self-criticism-"
Reasonable enough...
"No thoughts of Sakura's supple tits in your hand."
No thoughts of Sakura's-
The training devolved into a wild chase immediately after that, followed by another cockfight between the two overcharged boys. Suffice to say, they lost a lot of time, but made up for it by somehow managing to incorporate tree climbing with beating the stuffing out of each other.
To say Sakura was horrified when they showed up at dinner looking like they'd fallen off their trees and hit every branch on the way down- twice- was a mild understatement.
~xxx
Eh. It's not a worthy chapter, but it's plenty better than nothing.
More to come in a couple days, guys. Review and vote to your hearts' content.
I came across something fairly banal on tumblr (I browse when bored, occasionally):
"When childhood dies, its corpses are called adults and they enter society, one of the politer names of hell. That is why we dread children, even if we love them, they show us the state of our decay.
— Brian W. Aldiss"
No, adults dread children because they are for the most part socially graceless, loud, and ignorant. I, myself, was a fairly quiet child with some eccentricities.
I love and respect children and do not dread them, but it is mainly the fault of an overwhelming population of immature, selfish adults in society that children as a group are casually loathed (for being inconvenient, I've found).
However, I must say that neither adults nor children are better when their values are weighed. Children are clean slates, innocent of the harsher aspects of life and thus enjoy life very intimately. Adults are crystallized human beings who have gone through most of their development, their understanding of the world coming to a peak and their enjoyment of life is tempered with the understanding of the bitter truths found in it (thus making what happiness they find so much more appreciable).
This is part of my writing process- I will find external stimuli and it will filter through my perception onto the page. It won't always be so direct as Kakashi's brief narrative at the beginning, but it will be there.
Kinda puts the power you have as a reader and reviewer in better perspective, doesn't it?
Perhaps y'all have the inclination to...review now, doncha?
Ahhh, wishful thinking...