Why The Wind Is Never Beaten. Konjaku's Training

       ‘If I can’t become genin then Mom will forever keep me as her house maid.’ Kon thought as he entered the training grounds. “Teach said I have to master the clone and transformation jutsus. Easy enough, right? Guess I’ll start with the clone jutsu.”  He said as he found a suitable place to train alone. Kon mimicked the hand seals ram, snake, and tiger slowly. Practicing the hand seals until he could perform them with his eyes closed within the span of a second and a half Kon was kept busy for a good hour. After memorizing the hand seals he began the focus of chakra circulation throughout his body.  Starting with a single point in his chest Kon began to slowly expand his chakra flow outwards. While he wasn’t experienced enough yet to feel and direct the flow through each individual chakra point, he was able to generate a circular flow that coursed through his chest. Two hours had gone by in what felt like the span of a second. In that time all Kon had managed was to encompass the area from his shoulders to his sternum with the flow of chakra. ‘This is much more difficult than Teach made it out to be,’ he thought as sweat beaded down his face. “Not finished.” Konjaku muttered as he continued his training.
         Another three hours had passed before Kon was able to fill his head, arms and stomach with chakra. ‘Torso down’ He thought while taking a break to eat a small snack his mom had prepared. After the brief meal he began anew his training. Reinvigorating his chakra he began stretching the flow to his left leg. After figuring out the basis of moving chakra through his arms his legs came a bit easier. Or so he thought.  He could feel that his legs had more ways for chakra to pass through. While making it easier to move chakra through his legs it became harder to control as these many paths began to branch out. It took him another two and a half hours to complete the entire flow of chakra through his body. “Ha! Suck it, Teach!” He exclaimed upon accomplishing this feat. He spent another hour ensuring he could fully control this basic circulation path before attempting to practice the clone jutsu.
                Once he was sure he could maintain chakra stability he decided to combine it with the hand seals. Allowing the chakra to flow through him he sped out the hand seals ram, snake and tiger as fast as he could. Poof.  A puff of smoke was all he had managed. “What the hell?! Again!” The second time he managed a clone but it was only good as a door mat, as it was unable to do more than lie against the ground helplessly.  “Shit! Again!” He grumbled through gritted teeth. The third was no better than the second and neither were any of the subsequent clones thereafter. Another hour passed before he finally managed one usable clone.  “Sweet! You got one! Now you just need two more.” The clone said mockingly.  “Eat my shorts.” Kon said as he punched the clone in the throat ending the jutsu. He finally managed to create three functioning clones by nightfall and went home to show his mother the accomplishments of his training. He also used the new jutsu to help with dinner and house cleaning.
 
                The next day Kon was back at the training grounds with a frustrated determination. ‘It took me all day yesterday just to make use of the clone jutsu. I’ve got to get the transformation down in half that time.’ Kon demanded of himself as he returned to the location he was just the day before. “The transformation jutsu is all about embodying the form of another. Becoming that person physically in both the way you look and sound.” Kon thought aloud. “I suppose I have no choice but to practice the person I know best.” He said with an audible revulsion. Konjaku sat down and began this training the same way he did the day prior. He allowed the chakra to flow through his whole body. Starting with his chest and expanding outward to his full torso, head, and limbs. Since he had already spent plenty of time grasping this concept he took considerably less time to create an even distribution of chakra throughout his body. Spending only half an hour reaffirming he could competently manipulate his chakra he began visualizing his mother.
    Every explicit detail of that woman was etched into his mind like a bad taste in his mouth he just couldn’t wash out.  The way her bangs branched out into five distinct locks of hair. Four jettisoned leftward from an up curve reminiscent of a bird’s talons. The fifth bang gently swooping to the right adding a softer perspective, and creating a more approachable appearance to her seemingly unruly and dangerous style choice. The way her hair flowed sharply around her face and how it created three particular points was odd to Kon the more he thought about it. The two on either side of her face and the third at the nape of her neck were specifically crafted but looked uncannily natural. It was as if her hair was cut by a child with scissors and a rather unsteady hand. Her hair was just long enough to reach the base of her neck at its three longest points. Otherwise it stopped at the middle of her neck which always puzzled Kon. “Mom’s hair has always been that way, but I’ve never seen her cut it. Hmph” He whispered to himself.
        Her eyebrows were thin but gentle. They were slightly thicker toward the center of her face but even still were no wider than a centimeter at best. Her heavy black eyeliner offset her strange eyes with an almost inhuman perfection. Her eyes were purple like his but the bottom of the irises faded into the most vibrant blue. Her face was similarly angular like Konjaku’s, however the angles of her face were noticeably more gradual and curvy. Her nose and mouth were also much smaller when compared to Kon’s own features. Konjaku’s mother is five feet and five inches tall. Weighing in at just over a hundred and twenty pounds, thanks to her motherly assets, she is quiet often confused as Kon’s sister in a public setting.  The thought sent a heavy shiver down Kon’s spine as he tried not to gag at the thought of anyone thinking that that woman was his sister.
        Her slim build was all too familiar to Kon. The memory of her hugging him against her breasts as a small child remained after all these years in Kon’s mind. All the times he would rest his head in her small lap as they relaxed in the garden on warm spring days were just as familiar. The feel of soft her hands gently stroking his scalp as he pretended to drift to sleep beneath the shade of the golden chain tree in their garden. The look of her slender legs and childish feet as they dipped over the water’s edge when they would visit the lake to cool off in the heat of the summer were etched deep in Kon’s psyche. These memories that any child would love Kon found bearable. They were a reprieve from his constant balancing act of fear, anger, and falsehood. Although he had no idea what happened to his siblings, he could guess that they were buried in the garden under the golden chain tree and the nightshade. His mother had a strange way of calling the golden chain tree his brother’s name and the nightshade his sister’s when she would tend to them. His biggest fear was ending up like them and that fear drove him mad while spurring his survival instinct to dote on his mother.
          He spent another half an hour practicing the hand seals in succession before he felt comfortable enough with the dog, boar, and ram order to attempt the jutsu. ‘Finally, let’s give it a shot.’ Kon thought as he circulated his chakra. Performing the hand seals he gave the jutsu the old college try and in a puff of smoke he transformed. He looked at his reflection in a small pool of water and while he was close his hair was too long and when he spoke his voice was just a few octaves too low. Three attempts later and he was able to perfect his transformation. To be positive he had the jutsu down he practiced until midday and then left the training grounds. Before he entered his home he called his mother into the garden and quickly transformed into her as she was exiting the house. The look on her face expressed an impressed shock. “What do you think, Mother? Aren’t I the most beautiful woman in the world?” He asked as he mentally gagged at the forced compliment. “You’re almost as beautiful as the real thing.” His mom giggled.

         A couple more days passed before Kon was able to return to the training grounds. During his time away he came across a jutsu in his independent studies that piqued his curiosity. The jutsu was called wind arrow. It is described as a jutsu that allows the user to create up to five arrows of wind chakra. “Bummer they aren’t self propelled. Adding another jutsu to create propulsion would sacrifice accuracy and possibly ruin trajectory altogether. Oh well. The scroll said I could always just throw them until I get a bow. I’ll just have to deal with a lack of distance until then, I guess.” Kon sighed as he finished his train of thought. “By using my chakra to compress and shape the air around me I can create these arrows, right? Sounds like a hassle. Meh,” Kon expressed as he began his training. He started his training in his ever familiar fashion. Spending a half hour affirming his chakra flow until he felt comfortable enough to begin attempting this new jutsu.
         Extending his chakra outward was a whole new box of marbles for Kon. Knowing he was nowhere near capable of emitting it from his whole body he focused it to his hands. Allowing the chakra to reach his hands was the easy part. Now it was bringing it outward into the air around him. ‘There’s never a manual for this shit.’ Kon begrudgingly thought as he struggled to emit his chakra. After 45 minutes of uncertainty he stopped briefly and noticed he was discernibly worn out. “I guess I am losing chakra. Now to focus it and make some magic happen.”
          Konjaku began his training again after a fifteen minute break to recover.  Emitting wind chakra, he began to visualize it form the cylindrical shaft of an arrow. As his thoughts began to coincide with his chakra flow it began to take shape in front of him. As his excitement grew and his focus waned it dissipated. “Shit!” Kon exclaimed. Kon began again and continued at it until he was able to completely form the shaft of the arrow. Once he had accomplished this step he took another break. This time for an hour and it was about midday once he began again. Creating the shaft of the arrow in one go, Kon began to attempt crafting the three wings at the rear of the arrow. What seemed like a simple task was actually even more difficult than the arrow shaft. The wings were smaller and more intricate than a simple cylinder, and Kon had to make three of them. Making one took well into the hour range. Three ended up taking two and a half hours.
       After taking one last twenty minute break Kon shot up and started crafting the tip of the arrow. While about the same size of the wings it was still of a fairly simple design so Kon figured he’d have less of a hassle making them. Boy was he wrong. It still took him the better part of another hour to get the arrowhead shape perfect. To make matters worse the jutsu said he could make up to five but was only currently capable of making one. One wasn’t enough for Kon. He practiced until nightfall before going home. Then while he was at home he spent most of the night until he could make at least four arrows. By then it was well into the night. Exhausted and frustrated with his inability to create a total of five arrows Kon passed out unwilling to admit defeat but too tired to do anything about it.

TWC:   2,114

Claiming: Clone Jutsu, Transformation Jutsu, and Wind Arrow Jutsu