Sealing In The Freshness

Claustrophobic. The light struggled to break through the darkness contained within the walls of his study, an eerie sound filling the cramped confines. We and yet somehow firm as at the time, it seemed to come in regular intervals. His eyes had long adjusted to the poor lighting to allow him to work with ease as his fingers traced line after line of words while he whispered them aloud to himself. “Place hand...” It wasn't always full sentences however, trailing off just before that ominous racket returned again.

“Would you pleeeease stop eating so loudly!” A muffled cry penetrated his sanctuary, who would dare to disturb him while he worked. His brow folded and eyes narrowed as he lifted his head with a squint to turn his attention to his protester.

The light was much brighter now as he emerged from the meticulously stacked pile of books and scrolls. Satomi removed his hand from the paper cup of potato stick snacks to wave apologetically as he bowed to the obviously agitated  young woman next to him. “Sorry, sorry! They're just pretty loud to eat!” Nervous laughter followed as he offered a few more apologetic gestures before slowly turning back towards the table in front of him, just sort of staring as he waited for the feeling of embarrassment to subside. Once it did he was back to studying the scroll partially unraveled before him, the contents of which not immediately labeled on the visible portion. With the coming Genin Exams, Satomi was well aware that he would be tested on only a few of the most basic techniques. However, he wanted to make sure his mind and body were both read. So after class he would train one or the other on alternating days.

On 'A' days after class he would come to the Archive to study and practice the finer points of beginner fuinjutsu, a subject the child had taken quite an interested in since his previous experience with the subject. A little smile curling on his lips as he thought about how he managed a few pranks of his own at home. Luckily his father had a good sense of humor as well, not everyone would would have a hardy chuckle after finding the toilet seat inexplicably stuck closed when they reeeeally needed it. The thought alone was enough to excite another giggle from the boy as he moved around his collection of literature to uncover his current focus.

'A' days were much easier on him than 'B' days. 'B' days were when Satomi practiced his Clone and Transformation techniques along with his basic shinobi skills. He even attempted work in his use of the Rock Section Cane technique, even if he was frankly pretty bad at it. At least it made a good walking stick to lean on after the longer sessions he'd force himself through. Satomi had additional duties on 'A' days however, since they were less physically demanding on him he spent the evening on those days helping his father at Takatoshi Tepannyaki—a task perhaps more daunting than even his jutsu training.

Having realized his head had drifted to the clouds, Satomi shook his head to reground himself in his studies. Reaching out onto the table, he slipped his hand into his satchel that he had placed there to fetch a small scroll. His eyes re-scanning the documentation before him as he unrolled his fresh and blank scroll out just above the one he was studying. It was time for the moment of truth, his eyes wandering the table as he looked for something to test his knowledge on. Well he didn't have much, just a few pencils and books. Well, there were his crispy potato snacks.

Nudging over the paper cup until it was situated squarely on the blank scroll, Satomi drew chakra out into his hand as he placed it over the open top of the cup. His gaze intense as he carefully re-read the inscribed text instructing him on how to perform the jutsu he was about to attempt.

“I.”

“Can.”

“Do this!” Satomi cheered, albeit quietly, to himself as he funneled his chakra into both the cup and scroll under his hand before the cup simply disappeared only to be replaced by the obvious markings of a basic seal. His practice and training appeared to be paying off, each passing day he felt as if his chakra had grown and he seemed to be more comfortable with his control of it for his jutsu. Though, honestly, what was he going to do with a scroll of snacks? Actually, he wasn't entirely sure how he was suppose to get them back as he nibbled on his bottom lip while he stared perplexed at the newly forged seal. Do I-- Is it just as simple as before?

Resting both his middle and index finger on the seal, he recounted how he had opened the prankster's guide to pranking fuin practitioners before the seal formed a familiar glow before his cup of snacks made a dramatic return upon being summoned by the dispelling of the seal. This victory was promptly celebrated with a handful of the salty snack and a slight shimmy in his seat, perhaps an attempt at a dance... maybe. Regardless, the boy repeated the process of sealing his snack away before he rolled the scroll up and placed it back in his satchel. “Set it and forget it.” He giggled while he packed up the rest of his belongings and neatly gathered the educational material to return to their proper locations within the archive, a rather daunting task itself.