Unprecidented Growth!

Tap tap tap went Kei's foot against the wooden floor boards of the academy. The professors voice droned on in this bleak monotone that sucked the very light out of the roo. Least, thats what it felt like. Kei could feel his head bobbing as he fought to keep his eyes open. Maybe going out late last night to watch the stars wasn't the best idea. With a resounding thud, Kei's head hit the desk jolting the entire class awake. He shrunk in his seat as he felt every gaze upon him. He prayed to whatever god above looked after fools like him that he wasn't blushing. The burning feeling on his skin hinted otherwise. 

The teacher recovered first "Well there mister Yuki! Was one perhaps dozing off in the middle of a lesson hmmm?" While there was no smug grin on the teachers face, one could hear in his voice. Damn, now Kei was being called out in front of the entire class now.

"N-no there sir, I wasn't napping at all. I just... slipped" -Nice save Kei thought to himself

"You slipped.... while sitting down..." 

Not nice save kei corrected himself. "Uhhhhhhh yes?"

"Well in that case, you must have been paying attention before hand no? How about you tell the class the required hand signs for the clone technique?"

Damnnnnnnnn Kei knew this was coming after he committed to lie. He racked his brain for the correct combination. They had been studying this jutsu for the weeks past in preperation of the exit exams. Not wanting to get caught with his pants down, he threw out his best guess.

"Ram Snake Boar?"

There was a bit of laughter in the room as the teacher shook his head no. He crossed his arms and gave a star to Kei, making him shrink even further into his seat. After a second the teacher relaxed and moved on, satified he had punished Kei enough. 

"The correct signs for the clone jutsu are actually Ram Snake Boar. The three hand signs aren't enough though are they? No they are just ways to help channel and mold our chakras. We first need to tap into the chakra flowing through our system, grasp it thennnnn we use the hand signs to mold it. Now class, who can tell me the benifits of this technique?"

A kid with orange hair piped up from the front of the class- "Its a distraction technique! One uses as a distraction in a fight by making the enemy lose track on which of you is the real you!"

"Very good! Bonus points for that example. Now who can tell me what its limitations are?"

Kei knew this. It was a pure illusion, not a real clone. Its attacks would hurt anyone. A girl from the back spoke up and said his thoughts. 

"Correct! It does have its draw backs, but is still a useful technique in the right hands. Watch" A quick flurry of hand signs and a puff of smoke later, there was now two teachers standing up front. They both mirrored each others movements perfectly, impossible for Kei to tell them apart. "Now I want you guys to break off and try this technique yourselves okay? If you need to rest to build your chakra inbetween uses, watch the others to see if you can tell them apart! Now go"

With that, the students broke off into smaller groups or solo pairs. After his fopaux earlier, Kei was feeling like going alone would be best for now. He stood still, eyes closed as he gather the chakra in his belly. It always felt funny, like he had butterflies in his stomach when he gathered chakra. Once he guesstimated he was ready, he threw together the three handsigns and puff! Out popped a clone, though far to big. It grew then puffed in smoke. Kei rubbed the back of his head as a voice sounded over his shoulder. "You put in a bit too much chakra there." Kei turned around to find the teacher standing behind him. "Try a little bit less this time." Kei just nodded along mutely as he gathered more chakra in his belly. He threw out the signs as fast as he could, trying to impress the teacher and puff! Out popped another clone though this one was also malformed! It puffed in a second, not able to hold its form. The teacher shook his head "No there Kei, you put in the wrong hand sign there. Remember its Ram snake boar, not snake ram boar. Try again, you got this" Words of confidence inspiring him, Kei formed the hand signs again and puff! Out popped a clone! This time he had gotten it correct. A clone grinned back at the real Kei before they both turned to the teacher. "Nice job kei, nice job. Watch the others now and try to build up your chakra again. More jutsus to learn today"

Kei might have suppose watching the others make their clones, but he was too fascinated by his own. It was actually pretty lifelike. A call from up front got his attention though. The teacher clapped his hands to calm the class down and return them back to their seats. "Well done there guys, I'm seeing lots of good progress out there. I dare say a few you could take that to the exams and pass with it! But that isn't the only technique you need is it?"

"Nooooooooo" The class coursed back

"Alright what is next then eh? How about a review of the transformation technique!" Oh Kei knew this one! They had gone over that just the other day. "Now class, who remembers the hand signs for the justsu?" A boy from the middle row pipped up "Dog boar ram!" The teacher nodded along "Correct! Now this technique is a bit more complicated the then clone technique, anyone care to explain why?" Kei, feeling a little brave, spoke out "Cause you need to focus on both maintaining your chakra flow and interacting with the enviroment" 

"Exactly! Not only do you have to maintain a constant flow of chakra to keep up the appearence but you have to be mentally aware enough to adjust to the new form! What good does transforming into a cat do if you walk around on two legs? Now again, everyone... break off and go in front of the mirrors to practice this one. Now remember when forming the hand signs, you need to form the picture of what you want to be in your head!."

Hopping out from his seat yet again, Kei wandered over to a mirror. He scratched his chin, trying to think of what he should change into. A dog would be a good place to start! No wait, a wolf. That would be so much cooler. Kei grinned to himself as he formed the handsigns, picturing the wolf inside of his head. A puff of smoke cleared away from the mirror revealing a wolf! A really small wolf that was more like a puppy then a proper wolf, but a wolf none the less. Kei released the jutsu. He had gotten for the form right, but the size wrong. How would he adjust for that? More chakra? Worth a shot. The young shinobi gather more chakra in his gut before poof! Another puff of smoke revealing a proper wolf. Kei sat down on his hindquarters, an unusal feeling, and looked himself over in the mirror. He did indeed look like a wolf. He bared his new fangs at the mirror and even those were correct! But as soon as he tried to move, Kei felt how awkward this would be to move around in. Four leg movement was weird.  Running like this would be almost impossible unless he practised this more. Kei looked over at the other students around him. Probably close to half had managed the transformation to some degree, while only half of those actually looked proper. With a sigh, Kei released his new form for the less sleek old one. He rubbed his belly as he went over his chakra reserves. Between doing this a few times and all the attempts at the clone, he had actually come close to using what he guessed to be half of his reserves. These were just the basic techniques, but they were burning through his meager reseverves like nothing. He really would have to start training his stamina more before he could do these rapid fire. 

"Alright right class, like I said that technique is a bit more complicated then the clone one so don't feel bad if you didn't get it this time. I do urge you to go home at try it yourselves though. But for now, return to your seats cause I have one final technique that I want to show you guys. Settle down now! Thank youuuuu... Now this technique can save your life one day! This is the technique called the subsitution technique. Anyone heard of it?"

Kei actually hadn't. He rubbed his chin, wondering when this teacher got so interesting. If he had to guess, it was another clone technique? Maybe with the transformation added in?

"Now, with this technique one can replace their own bodies with a nearby object. I'm talking like a stone or block of wood near. Almost anything will do in a pinch. See what you do in this swap is quite simple, you replace the object with yourselves. This allows you to strike while your opponet lashes out at a fake target or even escape a battle field if you need too.  But me explaining this too you is a poor man's subsitution for showing you." The was a small sequence of hand signs and out popped a clone of the teacher. "Now this clone right here is a bit different then the ones you guys made earlier. It can actually attack people. Now watch as I use the subsitution jutsu to flank it, okay?" Five quick hand signs followed, then the clone punched the teacher. Or what at least appeared to be the teacher. There was a puff of smoke as a chair had been swapped with the teacher. The shinobi was standing behind his clone, hand on its back. "Now see how useful like that could be? Its one of the basic techniques used to out smart your opponent. If you can master it though, it will keep you alive for the rest of your ninja careers eh? Now thats all the time I have for today, so be off with you guys! Now remember, exams are coming up so make sure to practise hard okay?" With a nodded of his head, the teacher released the academy students upon the world. 

Kei ran out the door, but not home like usual. He had some chakra left in the tank, what better time would there be to try out these jutsus? He jogged over to the practise fields. He picked out a dummy and began working in a few punches as he gathered up the chakra for the jutsu. With a kick, he bounced back and formed the hand signs. Five hand signs in a row was quite a bit for him, but he did it just fine.... or at least he thought he did. He mimed being hit by a blow from the dummy before switching with another near by straw man. The straw man plopped down where kei. Not bad if he had to say so himself. Not exactly quick on the hand signs though. Kei frowned to himself as he stared at the dummies. If he wasn't quick with it then it wouldn't be useful. He needed to be able to form these hand signs faster. Well, only one way to do that. Kei gritted his teeth as he set the two dummies up again. He would just have to keep at this till he got it down pat. 

"The best does not practise till they get it right, but until they don't get it wrong." Kei muttered to himself. A phrase his father had told him when Kei had first started this training. 

Kei threw a combo at the dummy, striking it for all he was worth before hoping backwards to form the hand signs. He slipped on the hop though, planting right into the ground. Not fun. Doggedly, Kei picked himself back up. He threw the combo again, even harder this time, before jumping backwards. Quickly as he could he spamed the hand signs. With a puff of smoke, the switch was completed. Better, but still not good. Kei rubbed the back of his neck, rolling his shoulders. He would be here for a while. A long while.

Or maybe not. Less then an hour later, Kei was on the flat of his back panting for breath. He had burned through more chakra then he had anticipated when trying this. Guess he didn't know his own limits just yet. He laid there on the cold hard ground of the mountainous lands, staring up at the sky as a lonely cloud past on bye. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed the crisp air blowing down through the valley. Today was a good day.

------Words: 2219
-------Requsting: 
Ninjutsu moves: Subsitution, Transformation, Clone (Basic)

Stats: 1 per 200 (11 points)

"Alright, alright settle down. I swear children, its like you have never been outside before." The chuunin instructer shook her head disapprovingly at the roudy group of kids before her. Kei grinned at her with the rest of the students, still holding his friends head ina head lock. Today was going to be a good day cause today was sparing day! Well everyday was sparing day since they got lunch, but this was an actual sparing day so pride was on the line right here. And bragging rights. While exam scores may list who is the top student in the class, sparing matches listed the 'unoffical' top of the class. Kei was near the top on both fronts, though not quite there just yet.  But they had a guest watching them today. Another woman shinobi, though  she had a white sash around her left arm marking her as part of the local medical core. Now why in the world would there be a medical ninja hanging out here?

"Well students, time to break out the real weapons. No blunted edges today because today you are going to learn just how dangerous these are."

Oh. Thats why a medical ninja was here. So that when they gutted each other, there was at least a fair chance they wouldn't die.... probably. Kei and his friends all quieted down as the rules were laid out for them. He didn't know about the rest of his friends, but there was a pit growing in his stomach. His thoughts flashed back to when he was guarding the caravan as a bandit charged him. That had been the first time he realized just exactly what the hell he was doing. But still, this was like a slap to the face calling for him to wake up. This wasn't just a game. There aren't spars in the outside world. People die when they lose. Kei gulped silently as kunais were passed around. Now it wasn't a duel to the death, but these spars were meant to get students familiar with real weapons. Dummies only went so far in teaching someone how to hold a blade. Blunted edges didn't hold any fear like a real weapon. No this training was more then just a physical training, it was a mental preperation as well. 

Two fights went on before kei's name was called up to the flat grass land ring of the academy training area. His oppenent stood before him, one hand on her hip as her blond hair fell down to her waist. Cool grey eyes looked over Kei before taking on a dissapointed look in her eyes. Ohhh boy did that not irk Kei no to end. Who the hell did this girl think she was, judging him even before they had gotten started. Wait... who the hell was this girl? Kei didn't actually regonize her for a second before the gears in his head clicked into place. She was a good two shoes who sat at the very front of the class. A know it all, but she had a reputation for being able to back it up. A few places ahead of himself on the class list for being the top student. 

"Now you two, I want a clean fight. This isn't an actual battle to the death so I will interven if I feel the need to okay? All jutsus are good to go for now. Now bow and begin!" The instructor crossed her arms, signalling the beginning of the bout 

The two shinobi bowed to each other, but never once did their eyes leave the other ones. One could say it was as if two wolves had crossed into each others territory though it would be more approriate to say it was two pups imitating the adults. All the same, Kei felt like his heart was about to burst out of his chest it was beating so hard. He was sure the others could hear it, it was so loud. The beating drowed out the shouts of his class mates, drowned out the call of the birds. He felt tense striaght down to his core as a knot refused to unfurl itself. His hands though, his hands were steady and his breathing was calm. Years of training had at least given him that. The two circled another round, still watching each other. Waiting for that moment where the other ones concentration slipped. Kei's was the first to go. He misplaced his foot on a loose rock. It didn't make him fall, but slipped just enough he had to awkwardly shift his wait backwards. 

Little miss perfect lunged forward, kunai thrusting to his face. Kei had to step backwards and deflect it upwards with his own. The two weapons clanged off each other with a ring that seemed to resound far to much for Kei. His arm shock slightly from the blow, but his grip only tightened. He could do this! Hayle (His brain finally remembered her name) used the new momentum for a round house kick to his stomach. Kei answered back with a quick kick to the inside of her opposite knee before rolling backwards. She was quick, but Kei had reach and a bit of strength on her it seemed. He would have to play that too his advantage if he could. Hayle charged forward as she regained her balance, trying to cross the distance between the two before Kei could recover.  Time for one of those new jutsus. Kei formed the handsigns as fast as he could and poof! Two clones formed next to him. They charged back at the girl. Hayel, rather then charge face first into a trap, jumped backwards and let Kei run at her. She glanced between the three, the cool grey eyes darting over each of them apprasingly. It was daunting to see her just look over the three of them entirly unphased, but Kei had no time for that worrisome thought. He flanked with his clones, surrounding the girl in a triangle formation. As one they charged in. It wasn't till the last possible second that Hayel stepped out of the way of the real kei, punching him in the face as she did so. Shock ran through his brain as he hit the ground. Just how the hell did she know which was the real one? His kunai left his hand as he plopped down hard on the ground. He rolled for a second before coming to a halt. His face scrapped along the ground, rocks digging into his cheek. He rolled onto his back, rubbing  it, but that only made it sting all the more. 

From the flat of his back, Kei looked up to find a very sharp kunai being pointed at his face. Hayel grinned at him, a mocking tone entering her voice "Looks like this match is over" 




Kei scrunched up his nose and shot back a retort "Not by a longshot!" One of the clones ramed right into her from the side. Sure they did no actual damage, but sure is surprising as hell. In that small puff of smoke, kei formed three quick handsigns again. Hayel recovered fast and punched downwards at the prone man's face, anger upon her own. Her fist only met metal though as a puff of smoke revealed her target was the dropped kunai from before. Too late did Hayel realize what was happening as a flying double kick came in from the side. Kei had used the subsitution jutsu in that small gap! Both shinobi hit the ground, Hayel skidding to a halt a couple meters away from Kei. Her arm was scrapped up from her tumble, her uniform now dirty. Her eyes were still holding the same surprised look in them as if she could not begin to comprehend how someone could out smart her like that. They both rose, ready for round two when the instructor stepped in. 
"Whoaaaaa there kiddos, I think I'm going to have to call this one. That was a great spar you two! Now go see the medic and get those scrapes patched up. Next up is...."



Kei had stopped listening by that point. He simply returned the kunai back to the weapons pile before walking over to the medic. He had a couple new scraps, but so did hayel. They two watched each other in a silence so uncomfortable the medic was sweating. Finally Kei spoke up "How did you realize which one was the real one and which was the fake?" For a second, kei doubted she would answer him. But she surprised him when she spoke up "Clones don't leave marks on the ground where they walk. Just illusions remember? They don't bend the grass" Kei blinked. Now that was something he did not expect. "Wait, really? Who would even think to look for that?" Hayel gave a small shrug. "Who would think to use a clone's smoke as a cover for a subsitution jutsu? How did you form hand signs that quickly?"  Now it was Kei's turn to shrug. "Practice" The two stared at each other in silence again, but the tension was gone from the air. The medic finished up on Hayel first, sending her on her way. The girl stood up, looking at Kei like she was about to say something before shutting her mouth tight and walking of swiftly. The hell that was for. He gave a questioning look to the medic, but she just gave him a knowing and rueful look back. Typical adults.


"Hey, how do you do that?" Kei asked inquistivly to the medic working on his right cheek. She hummed, eye brow raised. 


"You mean medical jutsu?" 


"Ya, how does it work exactly?" 


"Well its a little complicated in theory, but the short version is that I'm using chakra to stimulate your chakra to revitalize the cells in the area. I'm basically promoting the body to heal itself and guiding it with my chakra."



 Kei scratched at his chin. "That sounds rather complicated... wouldn't my own chakra interfer with yours?" 


The medic nodded "It can, but thats usually not a problem. See I try to 'mesh' my chakra with the 'feel' of yours. Kinda like tricking the body into think that it is its own chakra. Takes a bit of practice, but one can get the hang of it easy enough." She formed air quotes on the words mesh and feel. Why did adults feel the need to do that? Kei would never know. "Could I learn how do it?" 


"What, be a medical ninja? There is always a call for medical ninjas." 


"Ahhh well, I don't think being an actual medical ninja would be my style. Can I do what you are doing right now?" 


"Hmmm probably. This is a very basic level jutsu I am using right now. It just heals up scrapes and bruises." 




"That actually sounds rather useful to know. Can I use it on myself?" "


To heal up scrapes and bruises? I don't see why not.... but I would reccomend not trying to heal up a larger wound on yourself. Too easy to pass out in the middle of it and muck up something major." 




"Can you show me right now?"




"I guess so. Here." The medic formed three hand signs, causing a gentle glow around her hand. "Now the trick here is to keep an even flow corsing in your hands as you apply it to target. Error on the side of too little rather then too much as too much can overload a persons chakra network, causing even more damage then was already there before. You have a scrape on your face, try and fix that if you can."

Kei formed the three hand signs as he felt his chakra reserves drop. He was using up quite a few jutsus today. He placed his now chakra coated hand over his face, not quite sure what to do next. The medic smiled and laughed "Nooooo, you can just slap chakra on a wound and fix it that way. Try to direct the chakra around the wound! Imagine a river flowing around a rock. Your chakra is the river and the wound is the rock." Kei closed his eyes as the picture formed in his head. At first there was no feeling, but slowly he felt chakra buzzing along his cheek. The raw skin of the scraped cheek cooled down losing that tender edge. After a second he let the chakra flow stop. Poking at his cheek, he felt no pain though it was slightly tender. The medic pipped up "Well done, not quite healed all the way but your body can handle the rest. Really, this is a simple technique but for you to grasp it so quickly is quite the feat. Really should look into that medical career eh?" She laughed as she walked off to the next student. 




Nah, I don't need that. Medical ninjutsu is neat and all, but that doesn't feel like me.' Kei thought to himself as he watched her go. Still, this was a neat little trick for him to have in his back pocket. He dusted himself off and walked over to his friends to watch their bouts, all the while stealing the occassional glance at Hayel. Today was a good day. 
-------Words: 2,231
-----------Requesting: 
Stats: 11 (1 per 200 words"
Jutsus : Basic medical ninjutsu (level 1)

"Alright, Alright students calm down... I swear to the gods above and below its like you guys have never been outside before." The chuunin instructor tiredly rubbed his temples for the lastest time. He was going to wear through his skull at the rate his children were annoying him. The ungangly gaggle of students did, however, manage to calm down enough to only fidget in there seats on the ground outside. The class had been taken out to one of Kumo's training fields for a bit more of a hands on practice. Kei elbowed his friends in the ribs as he fought for his seat. With their genin examns looming over them, this outdoor practice was a nice change of pace. It at the very least, was a distraction that Kei knew he could use. 

"So students, today we are going to be talking about chakra natures." A small groan went up from the class. They had all heard this before. Kei frowned as he rested his head on a propped up arm. The teacher held up his hand to silence the complaints. "Now now, I promise this will be interesting. But who hear can tell me about the natures hhhmmmm?" A girl near the back spoke up in a softer tone- "Chakra natures are the natural state of your chakra. Every person as a nature. Least if they can perform jutsus."

The teacher nodded "Thats quite correct, but there is more too it then just that. Chakra natures are special transformations that one can apply to jutsus. All of you have one, in fact, everyone single person has one. Just because someone cannot mold their chakra doesnt mean that they dont have at least a little bit. And if you have chakra then you have a chakra nature. Now most shinobi only have the one. A few clans have a kekkei genkai that gives them a special nature such as the senju wood nature. Most jonin and higher have two natures, though its not unheard of for elites to have even three natures. Those people are quite rare though. Now can any of you guys list the five basic natures?"

A boy in the middle spoke up, though his voice cracked in the middle of it. "Y-yes. Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, Water."

"Perfect! And in the correct order too." Kei cocked his head to one side at that. Correct order? The teacher continued "For all the elements have a relationship with each other, circular in nature. Ha, pun intended." The class groaned again. "Oh sush, that was hilarious. Now in the order the young man listed, it goes fire wind lightning earth and water. Fire over comes wind, wind overcomes ligtning, lightning overcomes earth, earth overcomes water and water overcomes fire which restarts the cycle. Now I'm not saying that all lightning jutsus will beat every earth style jutsu, but that if two jutsus are otherwise evenly matched a lightning jutsu will come out on top."

Now that was an interesting tidbit of info for Kei. He knew that there were indeed natures of one's chakra, but not that they had a relationship like those. He also mused over the info about the kekkei genkais. His clan had one themselves, an ice nature that had yet to awaken itself within Kei. He put his hand on his stomach as if he could feel the nature sleeping within. Though he paused, he didn't know what his own nature was. He slowly raised his hand. 

"Oh, yes Kei?"

"Sir, I don't actually know my own nature. How does a person find out what nature they have?"

"Ah! What a good question, I will answer that in a bit though okay? Just be patient"

Kei grimaced. Being patient was not a skill of his. He plopped his head back down on his hands, mumbling to himself. The teacher continued unabated. "But natures also have different relationships when used together. Certain types of natures mesh well with another nature allowing the jutsus to be performed at a higher level then one otherwise expected. This are called collaberation jutsus which require two shinobi to work together to applify a jutsu. This is done by using two natures such as wind and fire together with a precise amount of chakra. Now this level of precision is one that require quite a lot of work together to achieve. Not only do the two natures need to be compatiable, but the amount of chakra in each of them need to be almost perfectly matched to mesh. Otherwise the jutsu might go of prematurly or even just fail completly. This type of collaberation is actually quite rare since most shinobi do not take the time to train with someone else to the degree required. However, once mastered it allows for more powerful jutsus then one can perform on their own! In a rare case when someone has two natures that work together, they might be able to perform it for themselves. A common example of this is using a water jutsu to make a battlefield wet then unleshing a lightning jutsu to take advantage of the water. Not quite the same, but its worthwhile to know about that. So be careful if you know your enemy has both a lightning and water nature!"

Now that was a creative idea. Using water as a set up for a lightning jutsu. Kei hoped that he had a lightning nature. That would be so sickkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk, running around shooting lightning everywhere. Thoughts ran through his head of an older Kei with lightning crackling around him. Or maybe with ice too. Oh man he could make a storm! A walking typhoon of lightning and ice. That would be amazing. He was snapped out of his day dreaming though when he heard his name called by the teacher

"Now to answer Kei's excellent question from earlier, how do we test ones nature? Its actually quite simple! We use these!" The teacher reached into one of his coat pockets and pulled out a piece of paper... Really? Thats all it took, a piece of paper? Kei was feeling underwelmed.

 "Now what is this you say?" The teacher answered to the question no one asked, "This is a litmus paper made from a tree that has been grown with chakra! It is actually quite remarkable, but thats beside the point. This paper reveals ones nature! Now to do so you just put a little chakra in like so.. and..." The teacher paued, concentrating. After a second the paper went up in a small bit of flame, crumbling to ash. "Poof! Gone! Now what this is a fire nature does to the paper, crumbling it to ash. Each nature has its own reaction with earth turning it rock hard, water making it wet, fire burning it, wind cutting it in half and lightning crumpling it up. Now here, everyone come grab one."

All the student almost ran up to grab the paper. They could all find out their natures, right here, right now? That would be amazing! Kei eagerly grabbed hold of his own. Everyone spaced off holding out their papers. The techer, from the middle of the group spoke up loudly. "Okay so this is actually quite simple okay? All you need to do is to pour a bit of chakra into the paper and it will react. This is good practice for getting control of your chakra too. Focus it into your hand then into the paper okay guys?"

Kei nodded though he doubted anyone was looking his way. So first he had to gather his chakra. Alrighty then... closing his eyes, Kei began to tap into his chakra network. He let it flow around him, feeling the current that rested within himself. He began moving it towards his outstretched hand. It was like a sail unfurling or stretching out ones muscle. A rippling expansion of chakra flowing to his hand like a wave in the ocean. It pooled in his hand, seeping into the paper before him. He could almost see it in his minds eye, the chakra flowing upwards into the paper, spreading outwords like water meeting a dry river bed. Water. Kei opened up his eyes to a wet piece of paper in his hands. He blinked for a second, not quite getting what he was staring at then it struck him. Oh this was his nature. Water nature. He grinned widely. Sure, it wasn't lightning nature but it was still awesome! His nature was water! He felt his heart pounding away in his chest. This was amazingggggggg. He was still pouring chakra into the paper though, almost reflexivly. To his surpise the paper split in half. "What the hell...." He muttered to himself. He didn't know what to make of this now. He looked over at his teacher, raising his hand as well to catch his attention.

The chuunin instructor made his way over to Kei. "Whats up there Kei? Having trouble getting the paper to turn" Kei shook his head mutely, just holding up the two pieces of wet paper. The teacher looked down on the papers, frowning. He opened up his mouth then closed it, then cocked his head to one side. "Did... did you tear it apart?" 

Kei: "No, it cut itself."

The teacher rubbed the back of his head then shrugged. "Well the only thing I can assume, is that you may have two chakra natures. I don't think I ever seen a academy student with two natures reveal like this."

Oh... neat. Kei didn't know what the hell to make of this information. He paused looking down papers. He stood there for at least a few minutes till he felt a tap on his shoulder. Hayel was standing next to him, her blonde hair falling down around her shoulders. She held out a crumpled up piece of paper. "Look! I have a lightning nature it seems, what do you have?" Kei just mutely held out his two pieces of paper to the girl. She frowned at them too before looking up at him. "Did you cut these in half?"

Why was everyone accusing him of ripping them in half. "No I swear! They just split up when I wasn't expecting it. Who was ready for that though? Teacher says that uhhh I might have two natures. I don't know what to make of that"

"huh... do you think you can make use of it?"

"Maybe? I might be able to make jutsus with it, but I would first be able to mold chakra into it no?"

"I... I don't know. These are our natures I guess, but how do we make jutsus with it."

"Good question... I don't know."

The teacher actually overheard this comment and leaned over. "You have to learn to be able to apply a transformation to your chakra. While this paper makes it really easy to do so, its actually quite hard to do for ones so young as yourself. Here, I know a technique." The teacher grabbed two leaves off of a near by bush and handed one to each. "What you need to do is pretty much the same thing that you had to do for the paper. Pour your chakra into it. But lets see... mental images for you guys will help. For you hayel and your lightning nature, Focus on a sudden burst of energy escaping through you. Imagine your chakra building up then just suddeningly exploding outwards. Now for you Kei, you have to imagine your chakra rotating in opposite directions. For air at least. Water seems to come naturally around you Now both of you, go."

The two students wandered off. Kei grasped the leaf in his hand as formed the picture in his head. He tried it the same way as he did the paper, but when the chakra met his leaf it didn't flow through it like before. It was as if his chakra was being resisted. He was trying to force his chakra through it, but it simply was not budge. He formed the picture in head like the instruct said but it refused to flow. He growled in frustration as he stared at it. This might be beyond him. He looked over at hayel who had a similar expression on her face. "Yours isn't budging either?" She shook her head. He didn't know what to make of it. He paused again, gathering his chakra once more. Wind nature jutsus are sharp right? He imagined it acting like a blade running through the leaf trying to cut it in half. He gritted his teeth as he raised chakra levels to an even higher level. He had never even raised it this high before. He felt like his body was burning up then almost feel to his knees as his chakra supply dried up. 

"Well thats it for today children, head on home okay? Keep practicing on this eh?" And with that the teacher walked off, dismissing them. Kei started walking off staring at leaf. What a simple thing to be so vexing. But this little thing would not trumph over him! He put the leaf in his coat pocket

----------Words: 2206
--------------- Requsting:
Stats-11
2206 words toward wind chara nature.

"Now how many weeks has it been, but I am still carrying around this stupid leaf on me?" A bored Kei mused outloud to himself. He rolled on to his back, one leg crossed over another as he held the leaf up against the sky. It was beginning to turn brown and crinkly at this point, but he was still holding on it it. Kei had just recently become a genin and while his water nature revealed itself to him, his supposed wind nature remained just outside of his grasp. Everyday he would go out training and at the end of every day, he would try to cut the leaf again. For weeks now Kei has put in our after hour in this nature training exercise to no avail. It seemed like everytime he got close to it he either ran out of juice or the burning sensation in his arms overwelmed him. He supposed that this wasn't going to come easy to him. 

The new genin sat up in the grass field, tucking his little leaf away. He idly ran his hands over the long blades of grass, pulling up the occasional one and tying it with the other ones. Something to keep his hands busy as he let his mind wander. He must have been zoning out pretty hard because a voice surprised him from over his shoulder. Hayel sat in the grass across from him, her own genin headband tied to her belt buckle. The two of them had become ever closer as friends since their bout and genin promotions. 

Kei: "Oh hey there Hayel, I uhh... I didn't hear you sneaking up on me"

Hayel put on an indignant look, "I was not sneaking, you were just a million miles away from here."

Kei: "Fair enough" He said with a yawn as he ploped back down on his back, staring up at the passing clouds. He really was a million miles away from here.

Hayel: "Oie! You aren't allowed to be lazy today. Training remember?"

Righttttt... Kei promised that they would have another bout today. Or more accuratly, Kei would have his butt handed to him on a silver platter. He got lucky before, but no trick ever seems to work twice on Hayel. The young lady stood up, kicking Kei in his foot. He groaned so she kicked him harder, forcing him up. He brushed himself off slowly, grumbling under his breath as Hayel put some distance between the two of them. They both gave a polite bow to each other before proceeding to try and tear each other apart limb from limb. Not really, but close enough.

No weapons this time so Kei had to rely on his weaker tijutsu skills. The one edge he had for himself was his speed. Only a little bit faster then her, but a little bit could matter a lot when one needed everything they possibly could get. He lead out with a soft combo, a right jab followed by a shin kick then backing off. Hayel pressed him though, ducking around the jab and checking his shin kick. She wanted to get in close where his reach would actually hind him and his speed wouldn't let him escape. The two connected with a pair of matching elbows, a loud thud resounding as their bodies collided. She planted her foot inside his guard, twisted and kneed him in the stomach. He let off a shot to her chin with his open palm, preventing a follow up as he staggered backwards. He regained his feet under him and countered back with a spinning kick to her head. Hayel blocked it with ease. 

Hayel: "Whats the matter there water brain? Did the inside of your head actually turn to mush? You are fighting like youre asleep!"

Oh so the shit talking was starting already. It was going to be one of those sparing sessions. Got it. He landed, blocking a three hit combo from her.

Kei: "Well with how sluggish you are moving, I actually dozed off there for a second. Not get any sleep thinking about how I was going to ki- Oh shit"

Kei was inturrpted by Hayel grabbing his shirt, stepping and throwing him over her shoulder. He hit the ground rolling, quick to be back on his feet with his arms up. Just in time too as a she followed up with a flying knee. Rather then try to fight (and lose) to block it, Kei just let himself leave his feet and roll backwards with it. 

Hayel: "Oh what was that? Sorry I couldn't hear you from the flat of your back"

Yea... it was going to be one of those days. Kei groaned again as he pulled himself off of the ground. He slipped into a lower guard stance with a wide base. Hayel just stood a bit away, hips cocked to one side with one hand on them. Her cool grey eyes studied him over a lopsided smile. She was enjoying this too damn much. She rushed at him, hand signs flowing as two poofs of smoke gave way to two clones. The trio ran in a criss crossed pattern, trying to throw Kei off with was the real one. But that trick was an old one between the two by this point. A mere glance at her feet told the real one. All he had to do was... Suddenly there was a blinding pain his his face as something connected to it. He formed a hand sign as a kick was about to meet his stomach. There was a poof of smoke and a small rock had replaced Kei. 

The young man rubbed the side of his head, glaring at Hayel. "What the hell did you hit me with?!?" He said indigantly. 

Hayel laughed and pulled out a small rock out of her pouch pockets. "I knew you would look at my feet! So easy to predict!"

Kei: "You are the one that told me that trick to find the clone!"

Hayel: "Oh I know, but you should never take your eyes off of your opponent! Leaves you open for a cheap shot. You're lucky I held back and only grazed you!" There was mirth in her tone and she stuck her tongue out at Kei. What a dirty trick indeed. Now he blew his subsitution trick too. She played him good. Kei had to stop giving her the advantage and momentum in this spar. If he wanted to win he needed to take control and move in. So instead of just waiting, Kei charged forward with a loud battle cry. Hayel dropped into her ready guard. Once he got close, Kei lead with a fient kick to her right side guard then redirected it to her head. Hayel slipped under it though answering back with a jab aimed at his face. He deflected it with side swipe of his left arm,  coming in with a right hook. It connected actually pretty hard as she staggered back. Kei pressed his advantage by stepping in with a heel kick to her stomach. Hayel managed to grab it though and twisted it, trying to get Kei on his back again. Kei simply flowed with it though, using her momentum  spinning him to add in a kick with his other leg. It hit her shoulder, causing her to drop him. The young genins spun spart, panting for breath now. The two had exchanged solid blows at this point. Hayel casually stood up slowly, dropping her guard.

Hayel: "I think... I think thats enough for round one."

Kei nodded mutely as he dropped to his butt, trying to catch his breath. Hayel plopped down on the ground across from him, sweat beading across her skin. 

Kei: "I really should bring out a water bottle or something"

Hayel: "Oh what, mister water nature can't pull water out of the air yet??"

Kei stuck his tongue out at her before grinning. LEast they weren't to tired to not banter.

Hayel: "What was up though? You were actually fairly sluggish at the start?"

Kei: "Ah ya, sorry for that. I was just distracted. Its this stupid wind nature thing. I'm suppose to have it right? But I can't even cut this leaf even a little"

Hayel: "You still have that leaf on you?"

He nodded, pulling out the almost brown leaf out of his pocket. 

Hayel lenaed back on her hands whistling. "Well thats some commitment to it at least. How are you trying to cut it?"

Kei: "I'm trying to force my chakra through it."

Hayel facepalmed when she heard that. "You idiot.... you are just trying to force chakra through it?"

Kei: "Well... ya, how else will I get it to work?"

Hayel: "You can't just force the chakra through it! You have to actually try to manipulate its force! Otherwise its either just raw chakra or leaning towards your naturally water chakra."

Oh... that made a lot more sense then the way he was doing it. Also explained why his leaf was occasionaly getting wet when he was doing this. 

Hayel: "If the fact that you didn't already have pretty potent chakra, I would be surprised if you had even forced your water chakra out."

Was that a compliment? From Hayel? More like a backhanded one, but it was still shocking to hear. He wouldn't have said he had potent chaka. Just always seemed normal to him. Hayel crossed her arms, staring at him.

Hayel: "Go on, stand up and try again. If I recall from the jutsu scrolls wind nature is thin and sharp. Try to mold that in your head when pour out your chakra."

Kei: "Alright... if you say so..."

He was lucky she was a book worm. Made things so much easier when she just spewed out random facts like that. Kei stood up slowly, grass still cleaning to him as he looked down at the leaf in his hands. WWhat she said made sense. When he was practicing some basic water jutsus, he felt most in tune with it when he just let the chakra flow around him, through him, like a river heading down stream. Now he needed to shape it small and sharp, focus it down to a razor edge that would cut through anything. Placing both hands over the lead, Kei gather his chakra in his stomach. It always felt like he had just drank something hot on a cold day, a fire spreading to his limbs. He let it run down his arms, pooling in his hands. Unlike before where he just let it flow, Kei tried to shape it. He tried to force the control on to the chakra, making it smaller and smaller bit by bit. In his head he formed an imagine of a knife with its edge forming. He brought the edge of the knife down to a point so thin a hair would cut when falling on it. The strain began burning at his arms and sweat beaded upon his face. He wasn't sure how much time was passing, but it felt like a long time. He just kept pour his chakra, his heart and soul into this though till something snapped. He felt the leaf shear in his hands. He blinked in surprise, looking up at hayel who also had a surpised look on her face. They both looked down at his hands where a single leaf once was. Instead there was now two halfs of a former whole split apart. 

For once, niether of them had any words to say. They both just stared at the leaf before them. After a minute or two, hayel pipped up.

Hayel: "Oh uhhhh yea, you were kinda forming chakra around you in a semi aura. So that was a thing."

Kei: "Is that normal? Is it normal for a genin to have two natures?"

Hayel: "No... I am 90% sure that it usually chuunin or jonin who have two natures. Congrats, you are even more weird then before."

Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyy.... Kei tucked the leaf away. He was going to keep this sucker and put it in a book or something. Stubborn little leaf

------------- Words: 2039
-------------------Requsting
Stats: 10 at 200 per word. 
Nature unlocked: Wind (second nature)

Also requesting approval of stat gains from above.