Cue the Rocky Music

“You have a puppyyyy! I want to meet him!!” Kaya said with a gleam in her eyes. The little girl absolutely loved animals! It was one of the reasons why she’d rather live out in the forest rather than here in the village full of people. Who wouldn’t want to be surrounded with a bunch of cute fluffy (sometimes vicious) animals!? Instead, she had to be surrounded by mostly ugly, rude, mean, judgmental humans. At least, that’s how Kaya saw them. “Yeah. I liked it a lot. Sucks we had to come here.” She said, while waddling her feet under the table. Her small legs were unable to touch the ground beneath her.

“You’re not!? Well this is awkward. “ Kaya thought out loud. How was she supposed to be mentored by someone who didn’t share her specialty? “Well I’m sure we could make this work!” She reversed, hopeful to half someone to train her. If she fired Ashi now, then she would sadly be back to square one, and she didn’t wanna be all alone once again.

“It’s okay.” She replied rather nonchalantly to the team question. “I’m in a team with my lame siblings so it’s nothing too special. Besides, their flakes.” Just as she said that, the waitress with the food arrived. A bit of drool left the corner of her lips as the big bowl was put in front of her. Once it was down, Aya reached for the chop sticks and dug in immediately. Her mouth was instantly burnt from her lack of waiting but she didn’t care. It was absolutely delicious and she couldn’t help herself from digging in. She’d just keep eating and eating until there was absolutely nothing left.

Ashi now faced a dilemma, does she shatter Kaya's reality? Or does she allow her to go on in blissful ignorance for the time being? After all, Chairomaru was no puppy. In fact, he was much much much bigger than Kaya herself, hell, probably even heavier than Ashi. Yes, for now, it was no doubt better to allow the young girl's imagination fill in the blanks, dreams were important.

"I wouldn't worry," She said with a kind smile. "I'm not a half bad teacher, you'll be fine. Plus specialties aren't all that important anyway."

The Inuzuka decided not to delve too deeply into the young girl's family issues. It was clear she did not have the most wholesome relationship. Honestly, Ashi found it a bit sad. Shouldn't everyone get a chance to grow up with a loving family?

Thankfully, the arrival of dinner allowed a convenient segue away from the topic of family. In stark contrast to Kaya's unrestrained vigor, Ashi took the time to savor her food, she saw no need to rush. Consequently, the pair finished their dishes at roughly the same despite the older woman having the vastly smaller dish.

"Well," Ashi started, wiping her mouth. "Shall we get going?"

Digging into her pockets she pulled out no small amount of ryo and put it on the table. There was actually a bit more than there was supposed to be. No, normally tipping was not her thing, but the waitress had been sexually harassed by a green midget of all things.

[Lead the way to the next stage of this thread! Feel free to assume Ashi follows (or leads, your choice) Kaya to the training grounds and we can get going.]

The young girl rubbed her belly after finishing the mean. It was quite the delicious feast and although she had been full after only finishing half, she felt an obligation to herself to finish the large delicious meal. “Yes, we shall” Kaya replied, still holding her belly as if she had been eight months pregnant with her food baby. After taking one last sip from her drink, she carefully got up from her seat and headed towards the door, wobbling along as she caught the eyes of some of the patrons.

Upon heading out, night was fully upon them as the gentle breeze passed through Kaya’s garb. With Ashi right behind her, the girl made her way to the training field which wasn’t too far away. A quick tap tap on her belly led out a nice belch that helped her to walk back to normal again as they approached the training fields. Not a single ninja was in sight on this quiet night and it would seem the two females would be alone. “So what should we start with first?” Kaya questioned, not sure how exactly this whole ninja training processed worked.

While Kaya had graduated from the academy with her basic knowledge of the academy jutsu as well as having pretty good chakra control for her age, she still knew very little about what it meant to be a ninja. Close quarter combat skills? none. Jutsu? close to none. A beast that threatened her very existence? In progress. “Can you umm, maybe teach me how to fight?” Kaya wondered, embarrassed the did didn’t even know the some basic moves.

ooc; basically asking to learn some tactics I guess lol but hoping to learn some diff nin along the way.

The nightlife of Konoha was second to none, Sungakure could have its nice weather and Kirigakure could have its shining sea, but nothing beat a night in the Leaf. The streets were lined with lanterns and the soft murmur of merry voices could be heard as Ashi and Kaya passed by busy restaurants and bars. Every now and then the Inuzuka would spot a pair of what could only be lovers disappearing into the darkness, which was a nice departure from the myriad of drunks that would no doubt hit the streets as the night wore on. Yes, peacetime had done wonders for Konoha.

With the last scent of Takoyaki leaving the air the pair arrived at the training grounds to little fanfare. Apparently, everyone was out to dinner or something; there is a word for such people, slackers. Of course, the lack of people was probably for the better, fewer distractions and all that. Kaya probably didn't need any more distractions and Ashi didn't have the patience to keep her attention. Yes, all for the better.

"How to fight?" Ashi asked rhetorically before continuing. "Yeah, I can teach you, but not yet."

Bending over the woman fished around in her right shoe. Straightening her back, she stood with kunai in hand. Lesson number one kids: never leave home without a weapon even if you are going to the hot springs, maybe especially if you are.

"No, we'll start with the basics," She held the kunai out in front of her. "Chakra infusion is easy enough to get the hang of and an important baseline for many useful techniques. The trick is to think of the weapon as an extension of yourself and allow chakra to flow freely into it."

To prove her point she paused and with no apparent effort altered the flow of her chakra. In an instant, the kunai was wreathed in blue chakra; the next instant it was gone.

"Alright, your turn, give it a try."

She held out the kunai to the green garbed girl.

A nod coupled with a soft, almost motherly, smile was all Kaya would get from Ashi in the way of praise. The young girl's progress was impressive. Ashi'd taught people who spent weeks to get to where Kaya reached in a matter of minutes. However, the Inuzuka was not about to tell the little sprout such things as they'd probably go straight to her head. The kid already had a big enough ego and if there was a single thing that became fatal as one progressed through their lives as a shinobi it was ego. Yes, it was better to simply acknowledge that Kaya had done what was expected of her and nothing more.

"Next up," she paused for a moment before snapping her fingers. "Next up let's talk a bit about chakra natures as they go hand in hand with chakra infusion. Shinobi can infuse a weapon with a certain chakra nature to achieve an effect unique to the nature used. For example..."

Ashi held out her hand fully expecting to have her kunai returned to her.

"Wind chakra is especially good for increasing the sharpness of a blade, watch carefully."

She pointed over to a tree across the training grounds, her target. Drawing her arm back the woman let out a breath and uncoiled her arm with deadly speed. The kunai itself would normally be invisible in the twilight, but here it looked like a white streak courtesy of the wind chakra imbued into it. A few moments later a dull thud could be heard across the training grounds and the tree shook more than it should have, the kunai lay buried up to the hilt in wood. Had it been someone's neck they would not have been so lucky as the tree.

"As you can see chakra infusion can create a normal weapon into something special. So, what chakra nature do you have?"

The obvious implication here was that Kaya probably only had one chakra nature, her natural born affinity. Chuunin struggled to learn a second element and Ashi doubted the little snot had the discipline to learn another by herself. Or perhaps it was the fact that she lacked guidance? Ashi wasn't the one to ask such questions.

Kaya didn’t exactly get the praise she was looking for, but then again, she gave herself all the praise she needed. The Jonin lady snapped her fingers, preparing Kaya for the next lesson of the day, being chakra natures. The jonin reached out her hand, as if waiting for the young girl to hand her back to kunai. She was hesitant at first but complied, handing the weapon back to the elder. Kaya watched closely as the girl used her wind element and infused it with a kunai. With much elegance, Ashi threw the projectile at a nearby tree, the kunai like a white line struck the tree, rustling the leaves before it came to a complete stop. The young girl ran to the wooden structure and observed the impact that it made. The blade went deep into the trunk, a large vertical crack going ten inches up the street from the point of impact. “Whoa” She said in fascination. “So coooool” She attempted to pull out the kunai with no avail. It was like trying to pick up Thor’s hammer.

“Me oh well, I have lightning!” The girl said, She had never used it per say but her father and brother has it so she was pretty sure she had it too. “I’ve been wanting to know water though. Y’kno, cus Water an lightning make people go -- “She did a quick motion as if she was being electrified. “Do you know the water element Ashi-Senpai!?” The girl asked excitedly. It was sad that she was trying to learn new elements when she didn’t even know any jutsu for the first one. Though, it just meant that her days training would be longer.. A lot longer.

"Yes," Ashi followed Kaya's zigzagging path to the kunai. "Lightning and water do tend to have that effect, don't they?"

To make her point she imitated Kaya's electrification. Yes, even an anbu could have fun and Ashi was getting the feeling that to get through to Kaya she'd have to be a bit more entertaining. Of course, it should be noted that Ashi was not the most entertaining person while sober, so, in the end, her version of electrification was much less dramatic than Kaya's. Luckily, the Inuzuka didn't plan on making a fortune in the theater anytime soon.

"But yes," she grasped the kunai Kaya had failed to retrieve and removed it from the trunk in a fluid motion. "I do happen to know the water element. I wouldn't call myself a master of it by any means. However, I know enough to help you get the hang of it."

She paused for a moment and glanced around. Ah, there it was!

"Follow me," Ashi made her way to the drinking fountain located near the entrance of the training grounds. "Alright, Kaya now tell me: what do you know about water?"

A vague question to be sure, but the pair had to start somewhere. When it came to starting somewhere it was best to ask the student, not mindlessly teach them. Who knows, maybe the small girl would be a natural? Either way the water fountain would be essential.

The girl let our an energetic kiddish laugh as the girl mimicked the motion that she did. It seemed like the higher ranking officer was having a little bit more fun with their training. Her laugh turned into utter shock as the Jonin-Anbu lady was able to easily pull out the blade from the tree. “Thoooor!?” She said, more like an exclamatory remark rather than questioning who he is as the fiction marvel character. “Ooo teach me teach me!” The girl asked, as the lady knew the element that she desired to learn.

The girl followed along closely behind the inuzuka girl as they approached the water fountain. She took a quick sip thinking they were taking a break but then realized they were about to start off the next lesson. “Water hmm.” The girl asked, pondering what she knew about it. “Well water is good for our bodies. We bathe in it.. We poop and pee in it in toilets. We drink it. ummm” The girl wondered as she tried to think of another use for it. “And that’s about it.” She said, staring at the clear liquid as she pressed the botton to let the water flow.

Kicking up a leg, Ashi stood on one foot and returned the kunai to it's rightful place as she listened to Kaya. One could never go wrong with a blade in one's boot, but that aside the girl's thoughts on water was what she'd expected. Is it a bad thing that she knew Kaya would mention bodily functions before she'd said anything? Maybe she should add 'mind reader' to her resume? That would certainly be an impressive feat.

"You're not wrong," her tone now took a turn. "But you're not altogether right either. Let me put it this way instead, when you look at water, when you drink it, and when you bathe in it what does it feel like?"

The trick to teaching someone was not to vomit knowledge on the student. Many teachers made this mistake and wondered why their students could only regurgitate facts, Ashi was not one such teacher. She firmly believed that people learned best when they came to the understand a subject on their own. A teacher's job, after all, was not really to teach, but rather to facilitate learning—there is a difference.

"Really think about it," Ashi offered. She didn't expect some profound description, but rather something deeper than before. She wanted to know what water was like, its properties and such, not what it was used for.