A Chance at Honor

Kobayashi Senshi took a deep breath as he finished his warm up exercises. He had fifteen minuets to get to the exam room and he was intent on making sure he was completely prepared in all aspects. This was his second attempt, but this time he felt far more confident than he had the previous attempt. He was stronger, faster, had better control of his chakra, and could last much longer while working out. He personally thought he would still need training to be a good Genin, a good shinobi but his father had given him an ultimatum. He would graduate or he would move out, his brothers and sisters were not only contributing members of the household but also doing exceptionally well at their chosen career fields.
 
His father would not have a lazy, worthless, talentless lay about in his house. Especially not when he had promised the boy to the service of the village in order to bring up their own standing. Senshi felt the weight of his family’s expectations on his shoulders and steadily focused on pushing them away and focusing on the task at hand. He needed to be cool, calm, collected, and most of all disciplined. His Uncle had always preached how a good warrior was disciplined and professional, they showed little emotion except to those they trusted the most. Most importantly they didn’t show fear to their superiors, they needed to present an appearance of calm, casual acceptance to their orders so that their superiors knew they could rely on them.
 

Senshi needed to focus on that aspect the most, and in doing so he could feel his pounding heart slow down and his thoughts become razor sharp in their intensity on his goals. Graduate the Genin exam with as good a showing as he could possibly make, and be placed on a good team in order to better himself and represent his village and family with honor, dignity, and pride. With these thoughts in mind he finished his stretching and moved towards the Genin exam room. He walked at a sedate pace, back ramrod straight and his face schooled into a mask of placid calmness. Those who were good at reading facial features would see the slight nervousness and fear of failure in his eyes. As he approached the classroom, he opened the door and slipped inside as quietly as possible, with four minutes to spare before the exam was to start he moved to a desk and sat down. His back remained straight, everything in his posture was being channeled to how his Uncle had taught him a Soldier should sit and present themselves. He would pass, he would excel, and he would become a Genin and proud shinobi of Kumogakure. Nothing else would be an acceptable outcome.




-----Words: 466

The mornings had indeed become colder in Kumo, though on this particular day Akihana felt comfortably warm as she made her way into the academy. the warmth wasn't simply due to personal affairs but also a decent contribution from working with her batch of genin training up their fire nature chakra. Nearly all of them had passed now with the exception of two remaining students who needed more help. Help the blonde was glad to provide. Deciding they needed to return to theory for a bit, she had been working with them for the better part of an hour in a classroom at the back.

Finally, when it was time to go, she wished them good luck and reminded them that they would put into practice what they studied in the next session. Both students nodded, knowing this was their second chance. The kunoichi hoped they didn't feel embarrassment at not having gotten the hang of their elemental chakra with the rest of their classmates, that was not how education worked, certanly not under Akihana.

Dismissing the two, she made her way to the front desk to collect her papers for the genin exams held that morning. It seemed over a dozen students were attempting the exam, a good number. Shinobi intake had increased greatly in the past few months and she was glad of that. They needed all hands on deck to restore Kumo to the place it had always been.

Entering the class, Akihana greeted the sixteen students gathered in a nervous huddle. "Good morning everyone, I'm Akihana and I'll be your proctor today," she spoke with a warm smile, tryin to put them all at ease. "When I call your name, please step up to the front of the class and perform the clone and transformation technique. You should also tell me one combat use for each technique." Looking at ehr clipboard, she spoke once more.

"Since starting alphabetically is too boring, I'll be picking names at random. Best of luck, don't be nervous and you may take as much time as you need." With that, she called out the first name.

"Kobayashi Senshi"

(Make an 800 word post and you're good to go <3)

Senshi stood nervously on the edges of the group of other children, he wasn’t sure how many had completed the forms to graduate but he did recognize several of his classmates in the room with him. He eyed several of them before giving brief nods of greeting. He didn’t have much time to look over the group before he noticed out of the corner of his eyes someone too tall to be an academy student entering. He turned his eyes alighting on the blonde haired woman and instantly he felt his posture stiffen to unprecedented levels. Just as with Raikage-Sama everyone would recognize this woman. His wife, the wedding had been the talk of his family for several weeks after the fact so he wasn’t likely to forget. His nervousness ratcheted up to a new level and he had to focus on his breathing for several seconds. He couldn’t believe she of all people was here proctoring the Genin exams, surely she had better things to do then be around them.
 
As Senshi’s thoughts were whirling he mildly noted as she shuffled the papers on her desk before speaking. He felt himself hanging on her every word simply because she was the first person of such a high rank he had ever been around. When she called his name first he felt some of the color drop from his face before he gave himself a hard shake and started to the front. Remembering every lesson his Uncle, Mother, and instructors had ever given him about military courtesy and training he stopped a respectful five paces away from her podium and snapped himself to a rigid attention. Hands clasped tightly, back rap rod straight, head held high, yet his eyes were focused on a point about two inches above her head. “Academy Student Kobayashi Senshi, Akihana-Sama.” After reporting to her in as crisp a voice he could, he hated himself for the slight quaver of nervousness that entered it.
 
He could hear several of the other students snickering behind him about his bearing and how formal he was being. He knew that at least the students in his class had generally teased him on it, but his instructors had always seemed to appreciate his formal bearing and so he had continued with it. Especially since his mother and father would be incredibly displeased with him if their ever found out he was anything but less than perfectly respectful and disciplined at all times. Taking a deep breath he began to speak again. “Akihana-sama the clone technique while classified as a ninjutsu technique actually greatly resembles a genjutsu technique in that it is not a true physical construct but an image portrayed by chakra. It is unable to affect the reality of the world. Most shinobi use it as a distraction technique, though it is usually quite easy to see through if one possesses the chakra sensing ability as they do not hold much chakra. A true use of the Clone technique is actually being capable of mixing it with solid clones so as to fool a non-sensory shinobi and convince them to waste time, energy, and chakra on attacking something that can cause them no harm.”
 
Senshi took a breath after reciting everything he knew about the technique, now it was time to perform it and see if all the training he had put in was finally worthwhile. He brought his hands up and moved through the handseals at half his capable speed. Ram, then snake, and finally ending the tiger seal. He felt his chakra begin moving in the correct way and allowed it to flow correctly through the motions visualizing the two clones of himself appearing next to his side with minimal smoke he released the chakra he had built up a short second later, proud that he had only taken five seconds to perform the technique. A small puff of smoke on either side of himself appeared and Senshi motioned with his hand his two clones copying the motion at the same time. “The clone technique is also good in that you are linked via chakra to your clones, thus they are capable of copying your movements in step without fail. It can provide a disorienting effect to an unprepared enemy.” Pausing, Senshi nodded to himself and with a small burst of chakra allowed the two clones to dissipate next to him. Now as the time for the transformation technique. It was his newest learned technique and he was determined to make sure he gave a good showing.
 
“The transformation technique, much like the clone technique, is classified as a ninjutsu technique however in reality it is also more like a genjutsu in that it projects an image in chakra over the user. This image is easily disrupted in its baser forms and thus a shinobi typically needs to add more chakra than normal to it to give it both a true solid appearance and to prevent it from being dispelled on contact. The transformation technique is used to disguise oneself for various reasons, however the chakra output is often noticeable to skilled sensory shinobi, as such it is limited in its use. Against civilians however it is nearly full proof, and especially useful on infiltration and assignation missions. A Shinobi would be capable of taking the form of another and gather information with it so long as he or she knew how to act as that person did.” Senshi stopped speaking abruptly as he realized there was nothing else he could think of to add. He took several seconds to study Akihana-sama making sure to note the small creases in her uniform and the way her hair fell.
 
He made a quick judge on the colors of her hair, her height, and her weight before he felt he had her image as it currently was thoroughly in his mind, he then made sure to take in the way she had spoken before the tone and depth of her voice before bringing his hands up. His hands flashed through the seals again at only half his best speed, as he focused on everything he could visualize about her. Dog first, boar second, and finally his hands landed in the ram seal. This time the puff of smoke was much larger than before and he could instantly feel the drain on his chakra begin. It was especially tiring having to transform into someone so different from himself. “As you can see it is also able to change ones tone and voice.” This time as he spoke his voice matched the same tone, pitch, and calmness she had when she first walked in.
 

He held the technique for several seconds, to make sure Akihana-sama had plenty of time to inspect the form. After more than thirty seconds he released it giving a small sigh of relief as he did so, he was unaccustomed to holding the technique for so long at a time having done only brief transformations at a time. He instantly berated himself for showing weakness in front of a superior his Uncle would be ashamed if he knew of it. Snapping himself back to attention he brought his right hand to his left shoulder forming a fist with it and he held the salute as he spoke. “That completes my knowledge and demonstration of the two requested techniques. I am at your disposal, Akihana-sama.” Once again he could hear the snickering of the others and it brought a slight red tinting to his lightly tanned features before he schooled his face back into an placid mask awaiting his fate. His mind running as he wondered if he had performed the techniques well enough this time, or if his constant reading and studying of tactics and uses of basic ninjutsu was thorough enough. He couldn’t fail again and disappoint his family and village. The ten year old could feel the anticipation building in his chest, and the fear of failure, despite his best attempts, was creeping up on him.

-------Words: 1,341

The young man stepped up with full formality, something Akihana didn't require but was impressed by nonetheless. She herself preferred a more lax attitude but that in no way meant she would undermine someone else's preferences. Besides, she could already tell the Raikage would appreciate such militaristic detail in the candidate.

The jutsu he performed were both on point, as good as they could be. She was particularly impressed with his description and his knowledge of ninjutsu and genjutsu for he must have studied both to arrive at the conclusion he did regarding the clone technique.

"Very well done," she praised when he finished. "I am delighted to inform you that you pass with flying colors." Reaching for a brand new Kumogalure headband, the blonde handed it to the young man with a bright smile."

"I have every confidence that you will make Kumogakure and the Raikage proud. You may collect your new uniform from the front desk and get all the details regarding your missions from the mission counter. I wish you luck."

The class applauded as a whole at the boy's success. If he had any questions, they would be answered as well. Once he left, the kunoichi would turn to the rest of the class.

"Alright, who's next?"

(Exit Akihana, Senshi promoted to genin so he gets 15 stats and a free spec. <3)

Twc: 568 - all towarda majestic fire destruction

Senshi gave the woman a crisp salute at her words before accepting the headband she had offered him. A small smile lite his features as he quickly tied it around his forehead. He certainly hoped that he would make Kumogakure and the Raikage proud with his service. If not then he would jsut have to commit seppuku in order to atone for his sins. He was genuinely pleased at Akihana's praise and it took all of his emotional control not to beam at the world. He had never felt as good as he did right now, this was the shining moment of his life. He had finally achieved the ultimate goal he had always wanted since a young age. He turned on his heel, ignoring the clapping of his classmates. It was clearly a polite thing they were doing as he had never really gotten to know any of them. As he headed out the door and towards his home he began to plan some training ideas. 

-----------EXIT------------

Approved, Senshi

[Rewards]

Genin Rank
+15 Stat Points
+1 Stat Points

Approved, Akihana

[Reward]

+568 words towards Majestic Fire Destruction