Fuinjutsu Break Down: 100 or Bust [Open/NK]

Despite the sun appearing as if it had somehow moved closer to the surface and the sky sparse with clouds it was one of the cooler days Hoshi Village had all season; as such the village seemed to be exceptionally active today. The adults tending to outdoor work they had been putting off in the face of the recent heatwave as children ran through the streets laughing and playing. There were many visitors to the water gardens today, the adorably petite Satomi among them. However he wasn't there to play, but to practice. The exotic vegetation and meticulous landscaping provided a calming escape for his mind to focus, or at least it would have if everyone wasn't so loud! Even the rushing water of the fountain he sat cross-legged against the base of couldn't mask the commotion from the park patrons. Fortunately the genin had already gotten lost in his training, the slender pairing of his index and middle finger on his left hand radiated an aura of chakra as his other hand held out an unremarkable basic white scroll with a stock blue border. The only thing of note about the scroll was that its surface was marked with a seal of locking, the center of the seal rested over the seam created by the edge of the paper resting closed on the scroll.

Placing his glowing fingers to the center of the seal Satomi brought the seal to life with a pulse of chakra, the markings unraveling under his digits before fading from the scroll and allowing him to open it so should he decide to. “Seventeen...” Of course Satomi already knew what was written on the scroll, after all, he was the one that wrote it. This was all for practicing his fuinjutsu breaking and consequentially his locking as he practiced on his own seals. He'd been at it since he arrived at the gardens early in the morning before the crowd, his count only part of his most recent chain of lock/breaking. Each time he failed to perform one or the other he would start the count over, the goal being 100 successful pairs of locks and breaks in a row. His record current record was 24, but he was more than determined to blow that record away this time! Of course that was the same thing he said the previous two attempts, but this time would be different for sure.

“Sixty-eight. Sixty-nine--” Satomi could feel his chakra dwindling. Every new seal he applied burned another bit away, doubling the expense as he would use enough surge to break the seal. Despite being an exhausting task, it was frankly quite a boring one too. He had stopped counting after his eighth... or ninth restart. Perhaps it was even before then, but regardless, the young genin could barely move his arms. The scroll he had been working on now rested on the ground in front of him, even holding up a small roll of paper grew taxing for his tired limbs.

“Is it possible for your chakra to hurt?” Satomi groaned with a heavy sigh as he slowly tip to one side as if a tree in the wind before collapsing onto his side, his exhausted boy resting lifelessly on the slightly damp stonework that surrounded the base of the elegant fountain he had just been sitting against. “Yeah-- Now seems like a good time to have lunch.” Satomi muttered to himself as he looked around for the cloth bundle he had brought with him containing what he had brought for his midday meal, though it was as if had vanished.

Not being able to move his arms really impeded the young boy's search, unable to push himself back up he was forced to resort to squirming and rolling around on the ground as his eyes frantically scanned for his lunch. That's when the spotted the thief making off with the tied bundle. “Hey you! That's mine!”

“CAWW!” The thief cried as it attempted to drag the boy's meal away from the scene, Satomi in hot pursuit as he crawled at the bird while looking like something of a caterpillar in his break for the beaked one. To anyone else this bird looked like just any other crow, but not to Satomi. Oh no, he had a history with this one. Every since sharing some cake with the little pest it had been keen on taking what it could from the boy. His arms were beginning to feel a little better, at least enough for him to reach out and snatch his lunch away from the feather-brained lunch thief and pulling it back to him. Tugging on one of the ends he effortlessly unbound the knot holding the bundle closed to reveal a pair of stacked bento boxes.

“Now look here. I will share with you if you promise to stop being a jerk.” Satomi pleaded with the mister tiny, dark, and feathered; or misses, he honestly wasn't sure. Nevertheless his offer of peace received a congenial crow from the crow as it hopped towards him. He would pick some breading off of his lunch and place it on the ground between him and the bird as per his part of the bargain, watching as the crow seemed content to peck away at it. The two would go on to share in his lunch, of course the crow would leave no sooner than it had received its fill as per usual. Satomi would however rest for a while longer after recovering enough strength in his arms to sit himself  up again, positioning himself once more against the fountain. The water gardens were really quite tranquil, maybe one day he'll just have to have his own.

Stretching the young boy let out a roar of a yawn as his vision sharpened to take stock of his surroundings. The gardens were much emptier now than they were just a moment ago, it was suddenly a bit cooler out as well. “Come to think of it, did the Sun move like a whole bunch suddenly?” Satomi blinked as surveyed the sky and the waning westward sun. One could almost see the gears turning in the boy's head as he pieced together the situation, his bright blue eyes widening as big as dinner plates as it finally dawned on him. “OH NO!" There it was, the exhausted genin had nodded off soon after lunch. “Oh no-no-no! I still have to practice more before the day is over!”

On the bright side, judging from the child's flailing, his arms felt at least that much better. Snatching up his practice scroll, he held it out before him in the open palm of his left hand as he extended the lone index finger of his opposite hand. Determination burning inside him as he drew out power from his refreshed pool of chakra, his chakra surged even stronger as his eyes narrowed and he kicked off another chain of creating locks and then subsequently breaking them. Though it may not have been of immediate notice to Satomi as he was focused tightly on his task, but his practice and perseverance had allowed him to perform at a reduced cost to his chakra consumption.

“Thirty-three!” The sun was setting was setting fast as the child worked as fast as he could, ignoring the sweat stinging his eyes as he battled with time.

“Fifty...” Satomi whispered, his fingers curling to grasp the scroll in his hand as its weight increased. His resolve only heightened as he switched the scroll to his other hand, using his right hand to concentrate his chakra for the fuinjutsu. It was better to be comfortable with performing justu with both hands, or at least Satomi thought so. After all, he didn't want to be at a disadvantage should he lose access to one of his arms.

“Eighty... eigh-eight.”

“I will do one hundred fuin locks and breaks!” Satomi groaned, his arms again burned with exhaustion as he his hands trembled and twitched. The flame of his chakra was but a flickering wick as he again placed his fingers to the scroll to somehow provide yet another surge of his power into the seal to release it, again unlocking the scrolls secret. “Nin-- Ninety-seven...” It was his fifth attempt to reach 100 successes in a row since his unscheduled nap, his vision even wavered as he continued to push himself. His father's words, all the time he put in with training with Miyamoto, if there was anything he learned it was to always try your hardest no matter what. Unfortunately, with each successful set it had become harder and harder to even try. Even having a knack with controlling his chakra, there was only a limited amount of chakra he could give before he would be completely drained and it certainly felt like he was reaching that point quickly as he continued to push on with another set. “Ninety... eight.”

Satomi was almost positive now, a person's chakra could very much hurt. He was starting to scraped the bottom of the barrel now, trying to harness what little he could gather to provid another lock seal to the scroll for him to practice on. “Ninety-eight-and-a-half.” He muttered tiredly, the numbing in his arms not exactly an improvement over the burning as he mustered more chakra from his dwindling reserves to dispel the seal array once more for the ninety-ninth time as he breath grew labored.

One more lock would be placed by the young boy, his whole body trembling now. However it wasn't from exhaustion, but from a swelling excitement bristling to the surface. He just needed to break the seal one more time, just one more time. The joy of being on the come stretch even brought back a beaming smile on his face, only it didn't last as he realized he couldn't seem to summon even a pittance of Chakra. “Nooo! Di-Did I run out!?” It would end like this, one more attempt and he wouldn't have anything left to give. “No, no, no!” He was so close, he wouldn't be stopped! Not no way, not no how. His whole body clenched like one giant muscle as he closed his eyes and concentrated, a strained grunt escaping his throat as he searched deep for a hint of chakra as he tried to reignite the dead flame within. Stubbornness would pay off as his burning determination seemed to bore a new flame of chakra from within allowing him to draw it into his fingers as he pressed them to the scroll once more. It was weak, but he didn't need much as the seal would unravel one last time before Satomi's gleaming eyes. Though his face was too tired to show it, inside he was jumping up and down in celebration as the scroll dropped into his lap and arms fell completely uncontrolled to his sides. “One hundred.”

Several minutes would pass as Satomi simply stared at the scroll without moving, looking as much of a stature as any of the stone sculptures in the gardens only to quietly gather his things when enough feeling returned to his arms that he felt comfortable moving them. Maybe next time he wouldn't pick such a secluded part of the Water Gardens to practice in, that way if he ever tried something as stupid again someone could stop him. Regardless of hindsight it was time to shuffle home where his father would have a nice hot meal waiting for him, then he could crawl into bed and die... at least  until he would have to get up in the morning to do it all again. Though perhaps he'd learn something new for next time, something new to practice with and improve his fuinjustu would be a big improvement in of itself. Such repetition is enough to drive someone insane.

Approved