Twinkle Toes

Sento was a later sleeper, that much was obvious to anyone who really knew him, and this particular trait often got him into a lot of trouble, due to the fact that he often showed up late to things as a result of it. Ashi Inuzuka, the woman who had taught him how to use his water element nature and the first person he had gone on a real mission with had caught onto it pretty quickly as well. And once more this trait seemed to have gotten him into a bit of trouble, the spit splattering across his face was evidence enough of this.

He had been late for a mission and after completing it had come back to what appeared to be a testosterone induced fit of rage from a jounin who didn’t seem to be very fond of him. Sento wanted to speak up and defend himself, but really this whole situation was his own doing, maybe if he got off his ass a little earlier he could have avoided it entirely. So instead of interjecting he’d instead do the smart thing and keep his mouth shut as he endured the verbal lashings the overly drill sergeant like persona in front of him was delivering.

Once the rather harsh verbal abuse was over he would be dismissed with a warning and told that if it happened again there would be all sorts of hell to pay. And sento believed the man, if there was one thing his loud words had shown him it was that the man seemed to take his job VERY seriously. Walking towards his home he began to think of ways he could ensure he was never late again, as this problem was going to keep persisting if he did nothing about it. He knew himself to well, and he favored sleep too much to turn it down.

Pondering the problem over while rubbing his finger against the base of his chin so that everyone around him would be well aware of the fact that he was thinking he came to the decision that he in fact would just need to learn to run faster. The simplest of solutions that he was sure, countless types of ninjutsu could solve. Ah the ninja world, gotta love it. He’d think to himself as he put his hands behind his head he’d begin to whistle the tune that he had stuck in his head for the past couple of days once more. I mean hell it was catchy, and for imagination purposes let's say it bares a strong resemblance to the dwarves mining song.

As he walked through the streets heading nowhere in particular with not a worry in his mind he couldn’t help but notice how peaceful the village seemed to be. It was filled to the brim with life, the sounds of kids playing ball, ninja, and tag could be heard on most street corners. The vendors and civilians could be seen haggling prices at all hours of the day, and everyone just seemed… Happy.

Sento liked to think he was a part of that as well, I mean sure he had, had his tragedies… He was an orphan after all, but as of late his life had been pretty great. Konoha had trusted him with the rank of gennin, which was really all he had ever wanted.. Even though he certainly intended to continue progressing, hell he even seemed to be making friends in high places. At least he thought he and Ashi where friends, she seemed to be keeping him at a distance in their last mission and was nowhere near as nice as the day they had met. But Sento had quickly written that off as she just behaved differently while on duty. It made sense for someone of her ranking to take their job much more seriously than someone like himself, who had only been at this kind of thing for a couple days now.

Sento’s mind would keep itself busy with thought as he found himself wandering through the village hidden in the leaves, in an almost absent minded state. After all, he had the rest of the day off.. Why should he be worried. However this wouldn’t last long as he found himself standing in front of the building where his mortal enemy resided. The library. Just yesterday the old hag had tossed him out of the building for little more than walking into the library, which he had considered rude.

To be fair however he was the one who had started these chains of events, he had assumed her old and frail upon their first encounter but he now knew better from the several times she seemed to have manhandled him out the door. It was as they say after all, you learn more from one failure than a hundred victories. But hey, as long as he was here he figured he might as well try his luck at getting another book, it was about time for another rematch with the cunning old hag anyways.

Letting out a devilish smile he’d form the tiger seal before using the jutsu every academy was so rigorously taught. “Transformation Technique!” He’d say aloud as a puff of smoke surrounded and enveloped him. It would linger in the air for a couple of seconds before naturally fading away to reveal the now completely changed appearance of himself. His messy white hair was now slicked back and black, and instead of his typical shinobi gear he wore an over the top suit. The senjus bright yellow eyes were gone as well, and in their place green ones now rested.

Stepping over a puddle from the recent rainfall he’d catch a glimpse of his new form before flashing a confident smile. Hell he couldn’t even recognize himself, there was no way in hell this woman was going to be able to spot and recognize him in the busy building that was the library, bearing that same grin he’d begin to climb the marble stairs that he had now fallen down a grand total of two times. Once by his own accord and another at the hands of the woman he was about to attempt to deceive.

Nearing the top of the elegant stairs he’d extend both his arms and push forward on the door, with a bit more force than was necessary. As he did so he’d take two steps into the building before striking a superman like pose in order to celebrate his victory, taking a deep whiff of the refreshing library air. As he opened his eyes after his victory whiff he’d be met with odd judgemental eyes. Sento had yet to catch on that his cartoon like theatrics weren't exactly normal behavior and often found himself wondering why eyes like these always found themselves resting upon him.

One of the set of eyes he seemed to have attracted belonged to his mortal enemy... The Librarian, in fact she was walking directly towards him. “Excuse me sir can I help you?” She’d ask as she grew nearer. Sento would let out a snide sneer in response. Letting the air blast out from his nose. “It seems I’ve finally got the best of her” He’d think to himself as he began to speak.

“Um yes, I’m not really a shinobi... “ He’d begin to say forgetting to mask his voice and catching on almost immediately letting out a cough. Before changing to a deeper tone. “Uh sorry, this damn cold… Anyways, as I was saying. I’m not really a shinobi so I’m not particularly knowledgeable in ninjutsu, but I’m looking for a way to travel faster.. Do you have any books that could teach me how to move at a faster speed than I’d normally be capable of” He’d ask, ensuring that his voice was masked for the entirety of the latter part.

The woman would raise a suspicious eyebrow at the start of his sentence but she seemed to buy into his cold cover story. “Ha stupid old hag” He’d think to himself as the librarian turned and gestured for him to follow her. At a slow pace, you'd expect an old woman to move she would guide him towards the earth ninjutsu section and extend her hand forward. “You’re gonna wanna look for something called the lightweight rock technique. Basically it’ll decrease your weight making you lighter and faster.. Feel free to come check out the book at the front desk when you're ready” She’d say.

Sento would nod and unbeknownst to her would thank her sarcastically. She of course not knowing who he was would simply assume he meant it and return to her watchguard post at the front of the library, no doubt waiting for he himself to walk through the doors and stop him. Sento would snicker at his own cleverness as he walked down the aisle finding a book specifically dedicated to the jutsu before picking it up and tucking it under his armpit. “Now I just gotta check out the book” He’d say to himself as he reached into his pocket to pull out his library card.

It was that exact moment that he realized the fatal flaw in his otherwise ingenious plan. “Uh oh” He’d say as he lifted his card to his face, and saw the name “Sento Senju” And a picture of his actual face staring back at him. He was going to have to use his card to get the book, but in doing so he would give away his real identity to the vile woman.

Peeking out from the aisle he’d make nervous eye contact with the woman, a bead of sweat beginning to form on his forehead he’d duck back to the cover of his book aisle to avoid her ever watchful gaze. Nervously he’d begin to weigh his options, the way he saw it… He only had two. Option one was to try and check out the book and hope she didn’t check the card or he’d have to face another dreaded elderly woman ear tug as she kicked him out of the library for a third time. Option two was a bit risky, but he seemed to be much more fond of it than the idea of having his ear yanked on. So he quickly decided on it.

Executing his bold and daring plan he’d release the transformation jutsu and make a mad dash to the front door with the book in his hand, all the while turning his head to face the librarian saying “I’ll bring it back I promise! You made me do thiiiiiiiiiiiiiis!” His voice could be heard echoing through the hallway well after he had left the building and he could be seen hightailing it throughout the village for miles before he dared slow down. After all of the physical strength that elderly woman had shown, he didn’t doubt the possibility that she was also a marathon runner so he made sure he took some back alleys to lose her trail in case she may be following him.

As he came to a stop and bent over with his palms on his knees in a squatted position in an effort to catch his breath, he’d take a moment to think about how ridiculous it was that he had to put so much effort into getting a book from a library. Had you told him a couple weeks ago that making an enemy out of the librarian would demand this much physical effort he probably never would have pissed off the librarian in the first place.

Tired and exhausted he’d let out a weak laugh before stumbling home all out of breath, it was much to late at night to train now. His missions had gotten off late, and left him little time to train, but hey.. Now that he had the book, he wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of retrieving it tomorrow and could get started right off the bat.

Some time passed before the senju gennin found himself falling into the familiar and dangerous comfort of his bed. It was that very comfort that had gotten him in trouble with that jounin in the first place after all. But at the moment he didn’t much care, the promise of a good night's rest and sweet dreams far outweigh the downside of a grown man’s saliva spraying all over his face. Content on getting that very promise he’d peacefully drift into sleep.

The next morning came quickly and he was awoken by the bright beams of the sun peering through his window. Trying to shield himself from the rays and buy himself a few more minutes of slumber he’d place his pillow on top of his head rather than below it, but quickly found that this took away a great amount of comfort and frankly ruined the whole thing for him. Now personally offended at the sun Sento would storm off to the training grounds where he intended to put in some work on this light weight technique he had learned so much about.

The walk wasn’t far, he had memorized the locations of the training grounds by now and had come to the realization that training ground three was the closest in distance to his house. Ever the thoughtful gennin as he was he had figured knowing the training ground locations may prove beneficial in the future and it seemed to be paying off already. The sign marking training ground three quickly appeared over the horizon to confirm his suspicions, and in response he gave a thumbs up to literally nobody, because he seemed to be the only person on the street.

Letting the strap to the backpack he had lucked with him slide off of his right shoulder he’d catch the strap in his right hand and the bag would now be in front of him. Unzipping it would reveal the location of the lightweight rock book and sento would let out a devilish grin as he realized he was about to learn yet another technique. He seemed to be on a roll lately despite the librarians obvious attempts to halt his progress.

Opening the book that was leatherbound like most of the books one would find in the konoha library he’d find himself on the first page. Here it detailed the basics of the technique that the librarian had ever so vaguely explained to him in the library just yesterday. It appeared that the technique made the weight of an object lighter for a temporary amount of time, and that was basically the entirety of the technique. The rest of the book was simply about how to use it, its creators and how it had been used in the past by other shinobi.

But that didn’t much matter to sento at the moment, as much of a historian as he was he didn’t particularly want to waste time reading about that right now while he could be resolving his whole being late problem. Using it was what interested him and he decided that that was where he was going to start, but first he had to figure out a way to measure his speed, as a shinobi he didn’t exactly have an apple watch after all. No stopwatch app for the likes of a senju. No he was going to have to get creative.

Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to accurately measure his own running speed, as he couldn’t track his time and run at the same time in an effective manner he decided that he would have to focus on the other part of the technique, making an object lighter instead of ones self. He’d let out a faint smile as his right hand reached into the weapons pouch that was currently resting on his rear and felt his hand take a hold of the cold metal kunai that rested in side of it. His left hand would mirror the movement reaching into the other weapons pouch and pulling the same form of weapon out.

Sento’s theory was that he could accurately see if the jutsu was working by attempting to apply it to one kunai while leaving the other the same and releasing both at the same time. If the one he was attempting to use the jutsu on appeared to be moving faster than the normal one then he’d know for a fact that he had gotten the hang of the lightweight technique. And if it didn’t.. Well then he’d know he still had some work to do.

Holding both kunai up in a pre throwing position Sento would begin to take a deep breath while eyeing a towering oak tree a good thirty meters out, and deciding to make it his target for the day. Then he’d think back to the text that had described the jutsu he was about to attempt to him, and recalled what it said. He was supposed to use his chakra to make these metallic objects lighter somehow but really, in all honesty he had no clue how. But his guess was that it had something to do with chakra control.

So in a random attempt to see if he could figure it out he would channel his earth nature, as that was what this jutsu had been listed under he figured it was safe to assume that this was what the jutsu used, before continuing to spread his chakra towards his right palm and beginning to envelop the metal surface of his kunai in a thick coat earth blended chakra. The kunai in his left hand however would remain untouched by such a method and he fully intended to keep it that way.

Curious as to whether or not his technique would work or not the young senju would then immediately release the kunai from his grip and send them flying onwards to the tree that he was currently pretending was the rude old librarian. Somehow that seemed to help with his accuracy, but to his dismay the kunai seemed to be moving at the same rate, which implied that his technique was still not working and an almost simultaneous double clink could be heard as the kunai stuck into the tree at almost exactly the same time.

Frustrated the white haired yellow eyed senju would do the ninja equivalent of reload, which was basically just pulling two more kunai from out of his bag. This time he’d put a bit more thought into the process of the technique, before he attempted the throw. Simply covering the kunai in earth chakra hadn't done anything so he needed to figure out a better way to do it, the solution came to him almost instantly as his days of paying attention in the academy seemed to pay off all at once.

According to his old sensei Ken, chakra was an easily manipulated substance and could be expanded to relieve weight, or condensed to increase it. If he covered the kunai in chakra it of course wouldn’t do anything unless he first manipulated that chakra to allow it to expand, and thus become lighter. He wondered if this basic rule that his sensei had taught him in the academy could really be the key behind such a complicated technique, before deciding that he’d get nowhere doing nothing and that it was worth the shot.

With a kunai in each hand Sento would begin to direct a flow of earth chakra to just one of them, allowing it to envelop the metal kunai in his right hand before tapping into the chakra and allowing it to expand exponentially. Feeling that the technique was now ready Sento would sling back his arm before shooting it forward with as much force and momentum as possible.

The two weapons would quickly separate as sento watched their trajectory in pleasure, the kunai he had used the lightweight technique on was moving at a clearly faster rate than the one he hadn’t and it thunked into the wood a solid second at least before the other. This time no simultaneous clinks would be heard. Now proud of himself for finally learning this technique he’d walk over to where he had set his backpack and the book he had “Borrowed” From the librarian, placing it neatly back into the backpack and then placing the backpack on himself. His four kunai were still resting in the tree and he figured it would be an expensive choice to leave them where they now rested.

So naturally he went and retrieved them picking each one out, one at a time. The wood splintering and the kunai leaving behind noticeable wooden scars that would forever mark it as a tree that had been assaulted by the ever so talented sento senju. He didn’t really know what to do right about now, it was still relatively early in the morning and he had never finished a training regiment so early. However that uncertainty on what to do wouldn’t be a problem to long as he saw a gennin running towards him with a konoha village summons waving in the air.

It seemed the village had another mission in store for sento.

WC: 3547
Requesting: 17 stats + Light Weight Rock Technique

Approved