How Do You Do? (P, NK, IO)

Watching Makoto perform the Leaf Whirlwind with a twist on it reminded him of himself so much. When he had first sparred with Ashura, that was his go to - roundhouse kick to a sweep. Royalty smirked as he watched the girl. It still felt weird being in the teacher's shoes now as he had given an explanation and a demonstration. When she was finished and asked him what she had thought, he cleared the smirk on his face and took a step forward.

"You know, when I first learned the Leaf Whirlwind, I did exactly what you had done. After the first successful kick, I spun in a 180 to interchange blows. I guess I just wanted to put a fancy touch on it. I'm not entirely sure. With that, your attempt was not bad. It's just that my teacher had told me about combining a roundhouse with the Leaf Whirlwind. In the time where you spin your body, it gives your opponent an opening to avoid further contact. You need to do the first kicks in rapid succession. This is proven to slightly disorientate him while you go lower. As for the sweep, well that is another thing I have done in the past. Sometimes, I still do it. There is nothing wrong with a sweeping kick, but it will not connect if your first blows have delays. Now, try again." Roy was a very humorous person but in times like these, he knew when to be serious. Despite his age, he had no trouble displaying his assertiveness. This was all for the good of another fellow ninja from Sunagakure. One that could achieve great things if molded correctly.

Roy critiqued Makoto's attempt at the Leaf Whirlwind, taking his advice to heart. "Okay I'll try it again without the fancy spin." She took a deep breath in once again for her second attempt at the move. Closing her eyes for a second, she focused her chakra down to her feet once again to gain extra speed. She charged at the pillar once again, gaining momentum as she ran towards it. Makoto took another leap, slightly higher this time. "Now!" she thought to herself. She swung a fierce kick to the side of the pillar with her right leg, then quickly swung a second kick to the opposite side with her left. Then she kicked forward with her right foot, as if hitting the enemy in the gut. She focused her chakra into that kick to add a bit more strength to the attack, then launched herself backwards. Makoto lost her momentum after the kick and fell on her back, knocking the air out of her lungs as her body dragged across the ground. "Shit!" she thought to herself. "That could've gone slightly better." She lifted her body off the ground trying to catch her breath, then looked back at Roy, waiting for his critique.

Royalty watched intently as Makoto attempted the technique once again. He noticed her movements had been faster this time around but it seemed like she was putting a little too much effort into the strike. This caused her to lose her momentum and fall to the ground. Royalty immediately ran up to Makoto and kneeled down to where she had been laying. He put his arms out for assistance attempting to grab her hand with his left as he put his right hand on her shoulder. The impact she made with the ground looked pretty harsh. It concerned him.

"Woooooooah, take it easy. Seems like you were trying a little bit too hard. Are you hurting anywhere immensely? If so, I can assist you with some of that pain." Royalty figured that if she had been hurting that he could use a technique that would stop the pain. This would help her recover faster to continue the training that they had started. As he waited for her response, he thought about the time Ashura had taught him a few moves and when he had messed up. It was embarrassing but expected to fail on some techniques no matter what difficulty they were. Learning a technique out of thin air was already a feat that was way out there. Doing it properly was another story. This is why Royalty had not been upset with her outcome.

"I'm fine! I'm a lot tougher than I look, dammit!" Makoto said with a frustrated tone as she lifted her body up from Roy's grasp. She knew that his intentions were sincere, but was too angry with herself to acknowledge her own injuries. She did feel bad for snapping at him, however. "Sorry..." Apologizing to Roy, she decided that she wouldn't return home until she got the technique down. "But as they say; no pain, no gain," she said with a smile of determination. Before Roy could say anything Makoto mustered up her strength and charged towards the pillar for a third time. Once again she focused her chakra into her feet, going faster this time. Either it was her determination, or the adrenaline from the pain, but she felt like this time would she would be successful. "Third times a charm, eh?" she thought to herself. Jumping forward towards the pillar she took a hard swing with her right leg once again, then applied the same amount of force with her leg as she turned slightly. Her momentum work perfectly this time as each kick made contact. She was towards the bottom of the pillar now, and thrust both of her feet near the gut area making solid contact. She pushed herself backwards away from the pillar, flipping backwards using her hands to push her weight further backwards and landing on her feet. She looked back at Roy, panting. "Better?" she asked with a big grin.

Noticing the slight frustration in Makoto, Roy decided to back off and let her get up on her own. He had too been in her shoes once. It's the determination that will bring a bit of rudeness out of you. But that was neither here nor there. Roy figured he would just let her do her thing and get it right eventually. He watched Makoto get up. Once she had said she was sorry, Roy acknowledged it with a head nod. He was not stepping back steadily. Left, right, left, right. He did not stop moving until he was about 3 meters away from her. He then just watched her.

Seeing her rush at the pillar, he liked the execution that she had performed while attempting the Leaf Whirlwind again. Royalty smirked as he figured she would get it right this time too. Once she was finished and spoke, Royalty clapped his hands softly while replying.

"Congratulations, you have just learned your first Taijutsu technique. Now, shall we try another?" Royalty said this with a smirk as he already knew what her answer would be.

Makoto had gotten the technique down, finally. She was still sore from the second attempt at the Leaf Whirlwind. Apparently all of the adrenaline had immediately left her after the third attempt, all of the previous pain rushed back to her body. She fell to her knees, panting. "Try another?" She replied to Roy. "Well, if you don't mind patching me up first..." she said with a smile. Makoto attempted to stand up, but immediately fell back to one knee. "Damn....How am I in this much pain?" she thought to herself.

Royalty had saw how Makoto had still been affected by her fall. She did take quite an impact when she hit the ground. It was understandable that her body had not fully recovered after taking the damage and then performing the Leaf Whirlwind. Royalty figured that she should have just waited for herself to fully recuperate rather than trying to train. The jutsu was not going anywhere. Royalty walked up to Makoto while performing a few handseals for the Mystical Palm technique. He did a modified Ox to a Tiger seal. His hands started to glow a bright teal as he was at Makoto. He then rested his right hand on her back and the left hand on the leg that she used to start the Leaf Whirlwind.

"There is nothing wrong with taking it easy for now. You shouldn't have rushed into it as a matter of fact. That was a hasty decision that you could have done well without. Next time, just accept the help. Do not wait until things get worse. That will only cause more damage to yourself." Roy began to sound like a genuine teacher. His words were stern but they were said to express care for Makoto. Hopefully, she would take his advice in the future and have a better attitude if she ever gets into this same predicament.

Makoto felt Roy's hands on her back and leg. They were glowing a teal color, and she felt her pain almost immediately vanish. "Thanks," she replied. "And, sorry again, I can be pretty stubborn sometimes." Makoto took a deep breath in and shakily raised her body from the ground, to stand up. "You're a pretty good teacher, Roy. So....what do you have for me now?" she said smiling waiting for the boy's response. She began rubbing her shoulder to relax it a bit, the pain still resided in her body but it wasn't as distracting as it had been before. And although she was tired, she was determined to learn more.

When Makoto had raised her body up from the ground to get up, Roy had stopped his jutsu. His hands went back to their normal color as Mystical Palm was no longer in effect. It was clear that Makoto's pain had subsided and she was ready to partake in the next activity. 

The compliment that she had given the Chuunin made him feel good about himself. This was the first time he had officially been training someone. The only other time he had came close to something like this was when he helped Kyson harness the earth element just as he had done. That was different however, as it was a give and take situation. Kyson had helped him with the water element training in return. 

Royalty then had a few things in mind that he could teach Makoto but he had figured that it would be more efficient to gather up the other genin that he had in mind. Teaching them all simultaneously would decrease the chance of him having to repeat certain lessons which made more sense. Royalty responded to Makoto.

"How about this. I want you to go home a rest. I know you do not feel any pain at all now but I would feel comfortable with you resting for the night. Meet me back here tomorrow at noon. I will have a surprise for you." Royalty smiled finishing up his words. He backed away from Makoto until they were about 3 meters apart. He then turned in a 180 degree spin then proceeding to walk off into the distance. He too wanted to get some more sleep as tomorrow would be a long day. 

(WC - 4069) 

[EXIT]

Makoto took Roy's advice and headed home. "A surprise?" she thought to herself. She wasn't usually fond of surprises, but this one seemed like it would be something to look forward to. Makoto turned around and made her way back home. Today was a successful day, not only did she make a new friend, she had also learned a new technique. The future looked bright for once, and she wondered how much more she could learn. It was nice to have a mentor again, she hadn't felt this confident in her abilities since the old hermit passed away. 

It was nearly dark now, and she knew she needed to get rest as soon as possible. "Noon tomorrow, eh?" she thought to herself as she walked the dusty path back to her house. "Lookin' forward to it."

(WC: 2635)
[EXIT]