Starring:
Date: August 29, 2013
Summary:
Sakuryu trains Midori in the basics of using Wind Manipulation
"Sakuryu Trains Midori in Wind Manipulation"
Konoha, in a quiet spot near the lake
Midori had already begun learning the basics of her new technique, and as usual when she started learning something new, she'd been practicing for hours on end
until she was almost completely out of chakra. Then she'd climbed up into Miyo's tree fort near the Konohagakure Fishing Hole, and slept. The following morning, Midori
climbed back down out of the tree and sat by the water, waiting and hoping that Sakuryu would come back to instruct her a little further.
Its mid-morning, around 10 o'clock, and Midori sits on a rock by the edge of the water, kicking her feet in it to send ripples scattering out across the
surface. She's only been up long enough to fetch herself breakfast and then take her place by the pool for a few minutes. Looking up at the sun, the Genin decides that
if her new tutor doesn't arrive soon she might decide to go looking for her.
Sakuryu yawns as she enters and moves quietly behind her, giving an Icy blow down her back as she smiles. "Hi there apprentice. I see you still sleep
outside…you know you can bunk at my place if you want." She yawns a little before finding a place to sit. "So how are you doing on your training?"
Midori almost falls into the water as Sakuryu breathes down her neck, and scrambles to stay on her perch on the rock. Turning around and breathing heavily, she
says, "Oh hi Sakuryu-chan!" Standing up and then jumping down from the rock, the young Uchiha says, "I didn't really sleep out here. I slept in my friend's tree house.
But… thank you for the offer." She blushes a little bit, feeling embarassed by the special attention the Shirayuki pays her. "I don't really know," she answers,
"I've been working hard, but I don't really feel like I've been getting anywhere. Are you sure I can learn Wind Manipulation? Maybe I'm just not good enough for it."
She shrugs a little, unsure of herself and the hard work she's put in.
Sakuryu sneaks closer before smiling and placing a hand on her head to ruffle gently. "No, trust me believe in yourself." She smiles and breathes out to focus
before getting an idea. "Hmmm give me your hands, palms up like a begger." She smiles and kneels in front of her
Midori frowns and offers the older girl her hands, palms facing upwards and cupped as if she's begging for alms. "Uhh, ok, but what are you doing?" she asks,
looking down at the girl who's now a little lower than herself, "Is this another training exercise?"
Sakuryu nods and gets a pinwheel from her bag, using a little wind chakra she let's it spin before placing it between her hands. She places her own under
Midori's and looks at her eyes. "Focus…make the pinwheel spin. I'll let you take my chakra to do it." She watches her intently. She didn't really have the ability to
pass her power into the girl but she could use her own chakra to make it spin for the girls confidence then peter off as she got the hang of it herself. "Now push!,
Imagine that as you breathe your breath is moving out your hands to spin the pinwheel.
Midori nods once, and tries the exercise. She inhales deeply, then breathes out, being careful not to blow on the pinwheel and move it accidentally. As she
exhales, Midori sends a trickle of chakra out of her hands, trying to convert it to Wind Nature as much as possible, feeling like the chakra is her breath blowing out
of the arms of the pinwheel. For a moment she closes her eyes for concentration, not really sure if the exercise is working at all, or failing completely.
Sakuryu carefully lets her wind chakra spin the pinwheel lightly, trying to help her out as she closes her eyes. "Concentrate…." She lets out her own breath
and tries to will her a little bit to help. She couldn't tell if she was doing too well yet but she was concerned by her lack of Chakra. "Hmnnn…..Mind if I bring a
friend out to help you a little?"
Midori opens her eyes and says, "Oh" as she sees the pinwheel spinning just a little bit. Then she shakes her head, looking at Sakuryu as she says, "No, I
don't mind at all. Do you think it'll help me learn how to use Wind Ninjutsu?" She tries for one more push of Wind chakra from her hands. Although the flow is still
quite unstable, her training with the Kamedono the Turtle Elder had helped her significantly. The pinwheel spins a tiny bit more - although she's using enough chakra,
not much of it is being formed into Wind chakra.
Sakuryu notices the slight bit of wind for the high amount of force. "Hmmnnn….Dial back the force, wind flows through you, as if you are grass in the
breeze…" She lets out a breath… "Okay here let me get my friend.." she steps back and bites her thumb open, quickly forming the handseals before slapping her palm
to the ground, a series of seals and symbols arching across the ground before a shadowy little fox comes forth in a cloud of smoke.
Sakuryu smiles at the little fox. "Hello Yukihana, Please help my apprentice with a burst of flames please." The fox nods and trots over before taking in a
large breath, a ball of blue flame forming in it's mouth before it exhales, covering Midori in a wall of blue fire, though it didn't burn, in fact it refreshed and
healed the girl, giving her a nice healing burst.
Midori sighs as she's covered in the blue fire, feeling her energy and health being restored. "Wow, that's amazing," she says, closing her eyes to savour the
moment, "Is that going to help me perform the technique?" The blue fire slowly burns itself out as Midori blinks rapidly, feeling refreshed and stronger than before.
"Thank you, Yukihana," she says to the fox with a smile, "I hope it helps!"
Sakuryu giggles a bit. "She's my summoned Kitsune, It should help you out at least a little, You were very low on chakra, watch that okay? You can't burn down
to nothing. This isn't fire jutsu!" She huffs and pats her head before holding her hands again. "Focus, breathe, and relax, do not force it."
Midori nods once, decisively then exhales again. She's more controlled this time, the chakra flowing evenly. The girl still struggles a little with converting
the nature of the chakra into wind, but without a doubt she's better than before. The pinwheel turns slowly, evenly. Its motion is unmistakeable, even if it is rather
slow. Midori watches the pinwheel spin, and a smile starts to form on her face. "I'm… doing it," she mutters, careful not to let her chakra levels change as she
speaks.
Sakuryu slowly draws her own chakra off. "Now…think a really good thought..flying… sleeping… a really soft blanket…something that makes you feel light
inside." She pauses. "Let your chakra take on that feeling, mix it with your breath in your stomach…where the chakra is held and created..draw it up into your throat
with your in breath…and out through your hands when you exhale…" She smiles and carefully withdraws to let her get it herself.
Midori focuses again, following Sakuryu's advice. She breathes in and manipulates the chakra. Its a fairly similar process to the way that fire chakra is
produced. Within a few moments she feels like she's gathered an adequate amount of chakra and changed its nature. She breathes out, willing the chakra to pass from her
hands at the same time. As she exhales, a small amount of smoke and the occasional spark flies from her mouth, and Midori frowns and says, "Uhh, oops. I think I'm
hitting the wrong element entirely now. Let me try that again." She tries again, this time focusing more on the 'light' aspect, and when she exhales the pinwheel
starts to spin. Its even a little faster than before! Could it be that she's actually getting better?
Sakuryu smiles and nods as she withdraws her hands. "We'll mix later…for now focus on bringing the air through, remember happy days, relaxing times..things
of that nature." She grins before running her fingers through her hair. "When you make fire it's unbound energy, fierce, like..like you're pulling a sword from your
heart to stab at your enemy… air is a cape..a ruffling fan…it moves and twists quickly with a breath but it's gentle in it's motions not unlike water.."
Midori nods, trying to change the chakra she's generating to follow the description that Sakuryu. Breathing calmly, she channels the chakra through her hands,
causing wind to stir the pinwheel. It gets a little more aggressive now, causing the arms of the pinwheel to flutter lightly with the chakra passing through them.
Midori's brow creases as she concentrates, but eventually loses it. The pinwheel comes to a halt within a couple of seconds, and Midori takes several loud, puffed
breaths. "How was that?" she asks in between gasps of air.
Sakuryu giggles and pats her back. "Very very good, but remember you're not forcing air." She takes in a breath before breathing out slowly. "You pull fire,
air goes through you." She smiles and looks around. "We've been training a bit, wanna go back to my place for some lunch and relaxation?" She asks with a happy smile.
Midori almost slumps to the ground, but manages to catch her breath and nod. "That sounds really good, Sakuryu-chan," she says with a smile, coming her fingers
through her long, green hair to put it back into place after having it blow around in the puffs of wind chakra. "Its very different to using Fire Nature," she says,
"Fire feels… more aggressive. Its easier in a way, because you just make it do what you want. With Wind it feels like I have to… I don't, gently convince it to do
what I want."
Sakuryu nods. "Gentle strokes, almost like flirting for a first kiss." She smiles and pets her a bit. She would signal for Yukihana to bathe them both in
flame again, giving a sigh before closing her eyes and letting the flame soothe and heal her up. "Okay off to my place."
Midori immediately starts to blush at the mention of first kisses. It had been less than a day since Miyo had kissed her, and Midori still didn't know how to
feel about it. "Maybe… that's not the best way for me to understand it," she says, trying to fight back the blush from her skin, "But I think I know what you mean.
At this rate I might actually be able to use the Style by the time the Chuunin Exams finish." She looks rather pleased with the amount of progress she's made today,
although she knows she's still got a ways to go.
Sakuryu smiles and nods. "Just remember to relax and focus rather than forcing and being firey okay?" She smiles and adjusts herself before leading her
through town slowly. "How are you doing with everything else?" She asks before leading her into her apartment that she had gotten for the exams.
Midori shrugs and says, "I'm doing alright, I guess. I've been struggling to advance my Fire Ninjutsu, because almost no one in the clan is willing to tutor me
anymore." She shrugs dejectedly, adding, "I guess they think there's no point. Or that I'll reflect badly on them." Then she looks at Sakuryu, walking along beside
her, wondering how exactly she mastered all the techniques she did. "Sakuryu-chan, did you have to teach yourself all your techniques, or did you get some tutoring
from your clan?" she asks.
Sakuryu nods her head a little bit. "I did most things, i even invented some jutsu." She grins a bit before looking at her happily. "But then I got a tutor
who pushed me and inspired me. I Still teach myself and train by myself but I remember every word she told me and continue on the ambition she set before me."
Midori nods slowly before saying, "I see. I have to teach myself most things, but I'm not good enough to teach myself the higher level techniques… I seem to
be pretty stuck at Genin level." She sighs and looks down at her hands. "That's why learning techniques from someone like you is so great. I don't need to figure it
out on my own, and you actually care about me and whether I succeed, even though no one except me cares. That really means a lot to me."
Sakuryu smiles and pets her a bit. "I care, trust me…just feel it in your heart, and have a dream." She giggles a bit before letting out a breath. "When I
become an Anbu, I'll make sure I'm still here for you. And if you want, I'm sure I'd even allow you to stay at the Shirayuki Castle if you wanted." She smiles warmly
before setting back a little bit. "Hmm Tea and sandwiches…or something more hearty?"
Midori's brow furrows as she thinks about Sakuryu's offer. "I don't think I'm allowed to leave the Land of Fire without permission from the Hokage or Naru-
sama," she says, pursing her lips at Sakuryu, "But if I can get someone's permission then I'd love to come and see your castle. It sounds really amazing. Oh, tea and
sandwiches sounds really nice. I don't really eat very much, because I'm so little, so that sounds like it'll be plenty of food." She's kind of excited about the idea
of having a tea party with Sakuryu.
Sakuryu nods a bit before chuckling. "it is quite nice, and I'd love you to stay if you could. " She sighs a bit before going to order the lunch up. "You use
too much chakra to not eat alot. Either eat more or use less chakra." She chuckles before going to a box on the counter, the smell of smoke and a sticky sweet…savory
smell wafts out. Sakuryu pulls three twisted forms out and hands them to Midori. "Smoked salamander, high in protien, smoked with lots of flavors and invigorating
spices. Eat these as a snack to help balance it out."
Midori accepts the smoked salamander gratefully, and tastes it. Her face wrinkles up a little at the odd taste, but she forces it down and then takes another
bite. "Actually, its not that bad once you get used to it," she says after her third bite, then nods thankfully. "Do you think you could help me get permission from
Hokage-sama or Naru-sama to come and visit you in Kirigakure, Saku-chan? I don't think they'd let me if I asked all on my own," she asks, taking a seat and looking a
little worried.
Sakuryu nods with a smile. "Once I get the rank of Chuunin, I shall ask. Right now a genin asking to take a genin to another village is slightly skewed but
I'm sure they will allow you to come as my student." She smiles at her. "And the Salamander is one of our secrets, it has spices and herbs to heal and invigorate you
to help training. I have more but I'm saving a couple for the exams."
Midori thinks about this for a moment, then nods happily. "Alright then, once you're promoted you can ask for me. Just make sure that you pass the exams,
alright?" she says with a laugh, then starts on her second piece of salamander, "In the meantime, I'll keep eating your spiced salamander so that I recover my chakra
and strength quicker, and then I can get back to my training! I'm going to try and master Wind Manipulation by the time you're finished in the second round of the
Exams!" Midori pumps a fist into the air excitedly. Setting herself a new goal seems to have re-invigorated her for training.
