Sento's First Day as a Gennin [IO]

As Sento asked his earlier question he looked at ashi for signs of discomfort to the water, however his effort would prove to be for nothing as the woman seemed perfectly at ease with the cold temperature. This bugged him, as he thought about how unnatural that was but he shrugged it off. She was a shinobi and had no doubt been through worse than this. What he did feel the need to pay close attention to though was her answer. The woman was more experienced than him and had undoubtedly more experience in this element the could hope to ever have.

She began to talk about how water is a strange element because of its many properties, Sento recognized what she was describing as solid liquid or gas, ever changing so to speak. And he began to realize that was what he had to make his chakra feel like, fluid. Which was more or less what he had already been doing, he figured he was close as he felt his chakra running through him and began to check the other aspects of what he should feel based upon ashi’s description.

He slowly wiggled his arm back and forth as he began to check if his movements felt lighter and quicker, and they did. As for his thoughts, he couldn’t really tell much of a difference, other than he seemed to be kind of at ease, the thoughts coming to him a bit easier than before. As he took a breath he looked to ashi and said. “Yah I think I got it”

WC: 1976

"Now, step out of the creek," she forewent the praise this time. "The true test is if you can channel that same chakra without the aid of the water. Just be sure to remember what you feel now and replicate it best you can."

Pulling her legs from the water Ashi stood up on the bank of the creek and waited. The warm feeling that now pulsed through her veins was not the result of alcohol or a jutsu. Rather, it was a rush she felt while teaching, not even the adrenaline high of a life or death fight could match. One would call her cheesy and she'd probably be laughed out of the ANBU barracks were she to express it, but she teaching really truly warmed her heart. There was something about helping another person past a barrier they couldn't get over themselves.

"And remember," she wanted to make sure Sento understood this. "It's not a race to mastery. If you don't get it today you'll get it tomorrow or the next day."

Too often people thought life was an ongoing competition for the top. Sure, some parts of life were a competition, Ashi knew that all too well. However, spinning everything as a race never ended well; she'd seen many a shinobi burnout. One became so engrossed in the race that they missed the scenery. Every now and then it is important to stop and smell the flowers; that was what teaching was for the seasoned ANBU operative, the flowers.

Sento didn’t have to be told twice and immediately followed her orders, creating large splashes of water as he rushed out of the creek before he finally landed on the sand bank to the side of it, freeing himself from the cold water. The brisk air seeming to amplify itself on Sento’s wet shins, in  response he quickly rolled down his pants to shield himself from it placing them back into their normal position. “So you want me to try it without water?” He’d say as more of a rhetorical question than an actual one.

The idea seemed peculiar to him, but it was most likely necessary considering performing water jutsu wasn’t alway going to occur while he was standing in a stream. “Okay” He’d say as he closed his eyes and exhaled rather exaggeratedly, while shaking his body. “Let’s do this” The white haired gennin would say as he tried to mimic the effects of the current remembering the rushing current he had felt between his toes.

Fluid… Fluid… Fluid… He thought as he began to control his flow of chakra and attempting to turn it into an almost liquified state. His breathing beginning to slow as the calmness of the water overcame him. Just like before he could feel his thoughts moving easier and as he rolled his shoulder to see how his limb movements felt he was met with the same relaxed sensation of movement from before.

“I think its working” He’d say again as he smiled.

WC: 2226

ooc: feel kinda lazy getting this in one shot but I got Chinese to do and don't wanna overextend sorry lol

Ashi didn't acknowledge the boy's next question. Her instructions had been clear and the boy had proven to be neither deaf nor dumb. She did not make a habit of repeating herself; in her line of work people listened the first time and didn't have time to waste. Then again, perhaps she was not the most patient person in the world, who was to say really? She certainly couldn't nor did she much care to, self-reflection had never been her thing. Rather she much preferred to remain in the moment and the moment now demanded that she complete Sento's lesson and complete it she would.

"Alright," the surprise at Sento's rapid understanding never once flavored her words. "That's all there is to it really. Of course, you'll still need to train till it becomes second nature or it'll be next to useless in a fight. Actually molding the chakra outside of your body is actually quite simple as you just project the same flow you feel right now outwards."

He had progressed faster than most of her students. In fact, the only people she'd taught to learn as fast as Sento were members of a few select clans. Some clans had power in their blood. Ancestors practicing the same elements over and over again became ingrained on some level to a shinobi's dna making it easier to acquire skills that other less fortunate shinobi could sometimes never achieve. Now, what did Sento say his surname was?

Oh!

That's right.

He hadn't...

"Sento," an edge of curiosity crept into her voice. "What did you say your family name was again?"

Konohagakure served as a home to many a clan and it always interested Ashi to meet people from them. Perhaps it had something to do with how little interaction she had with her own clan over the years? Once again, she couldn't say for certain.

As his feet and shins began to air dry he took pride in the fact that he had learned the technique and listened closely as She gave him a hint at how to use the water chakra in the future when mastering water ninjutsu. He appreciated the extra help and made sure to verbalize it so she knew he was grateful. “Thank you for your help Ashi, you saved me a hell of a lot of time” The words were true to say the least, hell he hadn’t even known where to start when he had first gone about the day, and he knew for a fact he wouldn’t have entered that creek if he hadn’t specifically been asked too.

Then a bit of curiosity seemed to find itself in the woman's voice when she asked for his family name.

“Its Senju, Sento Senju” He’d say as if it meant nothing. He saw no reason as to why it would carry any weight. Anyways, It was nice meeting you, but I gotta go its getting dark outside and I gotta cook for my little brother. Thanks again by the way!” He’d say as he ran off down the training ground back towards the village.

--exit--
WC: 2430
Requesting: 12 Stat Points + Water Element (taught so half off), and for gary not to murder me for my clan name

ooc if you wanna make the thread longer tell me in skype or something and I'll edit to where I don't exit

Senju.

Her nose twitched at the name and a fire started in her stomach, but most of all her heart ached. Years had passed since that fateful day when the monstrous tree sprang up in the center of Konoha. People had died and buildings were destroyed and all that would have been fine for the then anbu initiate. However, two people, in particular, were killed, her mother and father. It was on that day, digging through the rubble of her home to find her parent's mangled bodies, that she vowed to never let such a thing happen to the people of the Lead village ever again, no matter the cost.

A nod and half-hearted wave were all Sento Senju would get from Ashi, she didn't trust her mouth to say anything nice.

"Senju," she'd finally say under her breath once Sento was out of earshot.

Shaking her head the older woman turned and went on her way. The day had been looking so good, but a single name had soured the whole thing. On her way back to the barracks she found herself surrounded by painful memories of the past that only made her want to drink the rest of the day away, hopefully Operative Parrot was still around.

[Exit & Topic Closed. Word count: 2301, 2250/2250 trained the skill Extreme Conditioning using the 25% discount on training for maxed stats.]

Approved