Another Brick in The Wall [P/IO/Miyamoto]

The weather had been dreadfully finical as of late; from slight showers to torrential thunderstorms, Hoshi village and the surrounding nation of Haven had been left more than a little soggy. The nature reserve hadn't been spared either as a certain plucky genin marched through the boggy forest, the boy's trouncing producing a less than pleasant squelch with each step.

”Ewww!” Satomi shuddered as his foot disappeared into a murky puddle along the trail, a thin ring of dirt around the upper portion of this already mud splattered boot cuff evidence of his tragic misstep as he retrieved his foot from the natural pothole. Then again it could have been one of the holes from Miyamoto's party time training jamboree when the pair was here training his genjutsu defenses. The same day Satomi realized the next step in bringing out the potential of his Earth attuned chakra. The clouds parted over head as he thought back to that little exercise, a charming smile brightening his face as the sun illuminated the forest. Despite how serious the chuunin could appear at times, it was nice to know that there were other shinobi that could enjoy a good prank or two. Satomi only hopped Miyamoto could take what he could dish out, a prankster himself, the crafty genin had left a few surprises of his own. Nothing too serious as he recalled, just a small assortment of smoke bombs and confetti poppers that would be triggered by scattered trip wires left on and around the perimeter of the path leading up to the reserve's newest attraction: 'Miyamoto Rampart'.

The final touch however would come as he approached the testament to the young chuunin's own prowess, stopping to set up a classic snare trap just before the archway. Disguising the loop and length of rope in the forest's underbrush as he fastened it to the branch of the teetering tree partially uprooted by the stone and dirt wall. Typically something used to snare small game, it was a basic technique that could be handy in snagging the unsuspecting shinobi as well. Satomi himself would continue through under the archway carved through the artificially created barrier of nature to wait for his teacher to show, making sure to arrive well ahead of the agreed time so that he could set the trap.

Perhaps he arrived a little too early as he watched the wall's shadow stretch with the rising sun as  nearly an hour passed. The child had always had a fascination with his shadow since he was old enough to remember, he could spend hours watching it mirror his movements and take the shape of the various animals he could mimic with his hands. It was like having a friend that was always around even when the others couldn't be. However as he reached academy age he began he'd grow to feel ashamed of what the other child similarly ridiculed others for being 'baby stuff'. Already often chastised by his bullies for his outwardly effeminate appearance, he didn't want to give them something else to tease him about. Lately though, Satomi found himself watching the shadows again. The boy lifting a hand to let it reach out over the walls shadow, he positioned his hand until its own shadow resembled a classic duck as a nostalgic smile spread across his lips and a small giggle escaped from him. Adding his other hand he manipulated his fingers to form the shadow of a deer, Satomi remember seeing small herd of them in the forest a couple of times in passing.

Distracted by the reemergence of his fond memories of many play times, Satomi hadn't noticed his chakra swelling in his body. The boy's chakra circulated through his body aimlessly at first before taking on an almost instinctual direction as it poured into his feet and began to seep out around him. The earth wasn't the aim this time as it had been with many of his other jutsu, instead something strange and unique would occur. Unbeknownst to Satomi, his chakra found its way into the very shadows in which he stood. "Holy--!" Suddenly the hand puppet took on a life as it took on as it darted off ahead of him like a startled deer in turn startling Satomi before snapping back to its original position. This was more than worthy of a few blank blinks from the child as he tried to decide if what he just saw was just a case of an over stimulated imagination as he wrapped his arms around his stomach and chewing on his inner cheek as he mulled things over, hopefully Miyamoto would make his grand entrance soon.

Miyamoto knew today was yet another day of training his student Satomi, the wonder kid had grown exponentially. He was often trailed by a shadow clone of Miyamoto’s to make sure he did not get into trouble or make a bad name as his student. With a yawn he would make his way out into the rain. The water made him feel refreshed as today instead of his normal training attire he dressed only in a pair of cargo shorts and boots to hike through the trails of the wildlife reserve. As he arrived to the spot that he normally took the trail in he made the hand seals for the shadow clone technique as he ordered two shadow clones to make it’s way through the trail and make sure to set off any trap.

It was not long out in the rain that Miyamoto began to hear the sounds of traps being set off. It was really early and as such his shadow clones most likely shared the same mentality as they raced through the mud and muck. This day was going to suck, and as he felt his chakra become whole he sighed as he realized that his student was trying to use his tactics against him. Without much effort Miyamoto used the Hiding like a mole technique to travel through the underground as he found Satomi’s chakra signature easily. He would appear easily behind the kid as he sighed, tapping Satomi on the shoulder.

“Close, but no cigar I am afraid.” Miyamoto said casually as he yawned, his hair and body soaked as he looked like he had been in some intense battle.

“Today we are going to teach you whatever you wish to know, think you can handle it, need a moment to think?” He said as he waited there in the rain, enjoying the scenery.

WC: 310

Satomi frowned as the sky grew heavy with thick gray clouds as it began to drizzle again, this time on his fun. With the sun hidden there were no shadows for the boy to amuse himself with as he continued to wait for Miyamoto to show up and to add insult to injury the rain was really giving him quite the wet dog makeover as he attempted refuge under one of the larger trees with minimal success. No shadows, no teacher, and new wet dog look; Satomi's disdain for the day was already growing. Though his contempt would be stifled as one of his traps were triggered, his eyes brightening under his soaked blonde locks as they stuck to his face. His smile returning as another trap was tripped and then again as the sound got closer; revenge was his.

Turning to face the archway under the wall, the little prankster waited for his teacher to walk right into the piece de resistance of his plan and literally be swept off his feet by the child's ingenuity. After a few minutes Satomi began to worry as the time since the last trap was triggered; what if he actually hurt his teacher with his prank? Nervously nibbling on his bottom lip as he waited, he was nearly the first genin on the moon as he leapt off the ground with an almost horror movie shriek as something touched his shoulder. It was then he heard it, that voice with its 'I'm so cool' tone casually proclaim Satomi's prank to be a complete wash as Miyamoto appeared behind him. And that yawn, what kind of jerk is that cool?

It would be be a few moments until his heart rate slowed under that of a fluttering humming bird, Satomi letting out a long drawn out sigh as he turned to face his better. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to use his teacher's own pranks against him, he'll have to devise an even better prank next time. But regardless of the furthering of his personal vendetta to prank the chuunin, he was happy to see Miyamoto again. The genin's smile seemed to bring out the sun again as he inspected his teacher, making note of his disheveled appearance, both the boys hands folded over his mouth to suppress a giggle. “What, did someone beat you with an ugly stick last night?”

Miyamoto expected the reaction he received for scaring him as usual as he took in the scenery. Pointing to the trap in the arch of the wall he had erected nearly a week ago. He chuckled a bit before finally hearing the kid ask him if he was attacked with an ugly stick the previous night. Miyamoto smiled cautiously as he remained quiet for a time, thinking on what perhaps the kid might want to learn, then it came to him in the way that the earth wall came to him. He needed a defensive maneuver to counter combatants.

“Spread your feet shoulder length apart, picture a great wall...picture the wall behind you. I want you to visualize yourself at the top of the wall. Let the chakra of the earth beneath you and inside you find a common ground. Remember you are one with the earth. I will observe your stance and watch the chakra to make sure that you are doing it correctly. Overall, your goal is to create an identical wall to the one behind me to set up a ring for us to spar in. Think you are up for the task?” Miyamoto asked the young Satomi as he sat in the cold mud of the earth, as if not caring about the situation or how his clothes would be ruined.

In his head, he knew that this would be the only way to prepare the kid for chuunin exams...he was unhappy he did not get to put forth the true effort to become a Chuunin, and wanted to make sure his pupil would do both himself and Miyamoto the honor of winning the free for all fight. The only way was to show him actual combat situations.

WC:300/610

The child stifled a giggle as the chuunin quietly declined to humor his observation, the kid stood rocking back and forth from heels to toes as he watched the mussy-haired boy's eyes cast off to one side as he quite obviously was contemplating something. I bet he forgot what I asked him to teach me... Satomi gave his head a subtle shake as he sighed softly with a small smile, the boy picking up a cheery tune as he began to hum. It was all par for the course really and despite Miyamoto's unique style—or because of it—the genin had began really looking up to the senior ninja. It didn't take long though for his mentor-of-sorts to break from his trance and right into instructing Satomi into some basics steps for their next lesson.

Satomi briefly turned to study wall behind him, the colossal height and width of the earthen construct felt imposing and made the already scant child feel minuscule by comparison. As if worrying about meeting his teacher's expectations weren't enough, did his teacher really just say what he thought he did? Did Miyamoto really want to spar with him? Satomi swallowed hard as he felt his anxiety building, but even so there was a small fire inside him that was even more eager to see how he stacked up against someone of Miyamoto's caliber. Wiggling with glee, he positioned himself in a strong and sturdy stance to make himself very wall like as he slowly let his eye lids close to allow him to visualize himself atop that very wall, which wasn't very hard as he had actually already been up there once before. He had to admit that more standing was kind of a drag though as he tried to focus on the size and dimensions of the very real wall before him, constructing it within the boundaries of his own mind as he began to build up his chakra. Satomi found it a bit tough to stand still for long between his own naturally energetic attitude and the fact that standing still was lame, he would weave a little back and forth as he shifted his weight from one leg to the other. His chakra control had gotten quite stable and his familiarity with the earth element of it had grown quite a lot between Miyamoto's lessons and his own initiative, it allowed him to become quite comfortable with the earth below their feet as he allowed his chakra to pool into and merge with the minerals of the depths below.

“I hope I'm doing this right.” Satomi muttered as he opened his eyes to take a look around to find Miyamoto sitting in the mud; he'd hate to be the one that had to do that laundry. He would wait to hear any critiques or comments before he would continue on to address the older ninja. “Miyamoto-sensei... I'm just a genin, so what could you possibly get out of sparring with me?” The young boy would ask before he would politely return to minding his chakra and concentrating on the form of the wall as he waited a response.

As he watched Satomi he could tell the kid was bored with the constant standing, even without telling him Miyamoto sighed as he looked upon him with the Mind Eye of the Kagura. Watching as the earth chakra melded with Satomi’s natural chakra easily, it made Miyamoto happy that the kid had taken initiative to train on his own time. When he seemed to fidget a bit too much Miyamoto just stared at him. When asked if he had been doing it right Miyamoto nodded one single time before he was asked why he would want to spar with Satomi.

“Because through sparring I can see how your skills have improved...we are shinobi after all...our lives unfortunately are filled with hardship and the like…” He trailed off as his eyes looked through Satomi as if looking at a spectre behind Satomi.
“ Also because I never got to participate in a Chuunin battle exam to become my rank, I am dying to have a knock down drag out fight with someone that I believe can pass the exam easily.” He gave Satomi praise as his eyes seemed more in tune with the situation now.
“So your chakra seems correct, now the hand seals. Tiger → Hare → Boar → Dog. If you can do these and channel the chakra up through your feet, up your legs and out through your hands you will undoubtedly ace learning this technique.” He said with a stern face, he was more serious in the rain as the darkness of the clouds cast a distorted shadow over him.

He would sit there still unmoving as the mud around him would seem to naturally harden before going back to mud, as if he was quietly training himself with a fire or earth chakra type technique. He was in quiet contemplation as he would watch Satomi like a hawk, ready at a moment's notice to spring into action if the time required it. The mission that lied ahead of him was going to test his mettle as a shinobi to get a off the books mission done. But for now he needed to focus on training his student.


WC:360/970

Miyamoto would notice the flow of Satomi's chakra would become momentarily disrupted and flicker even before his body itself shuddered, the way the chuunin stared at him was quite off putting. He had witnessed it once before and he remembered it feeling the same as well, it was like the older boy was peering into his soul. Of course that wasn't far from the truth, his chakra very visible to the shinobi as it quickly recovered upon confirmation that he was indeed on the right track, burning only brighter at Miyamoto fed his ego. He had worked so hard, his work ethics often growing on the level of being self-destructive as he pushed himself.

“You believe I can be chuunin? Easily too?” The look of pride and conviction flared up in his bright blue gaze, letting them sparkle like the stars over Hoshi. His knuckles crackled and popped as he flexed his fingers as he trained his ears on his teachers next words, explaining the method in which he should distribute his chakra flow and the hand seals that would allow him to summon his own monolith from the ground much like the one the chuunin was stitting in front of. “I can't let you down, sensei!” Satomi chirped as his surging chakra was pulled up through the ground and filtered through his body, the elemental force of earth fortifying his chakra as he forced it up through him and out two the very tips of his fingers as his hands came together for the first seal. “And I can't let myself down, I will be a great shinobi. Perhaps the greatest!” The child giggled, so assured of himself as he motioned through the remaining set of seals before repeating them from the beginning. He would work through them repeatedly as he watched Miyamoto's shift focus momentarily to something going on beneath him in the mud puddle he was sitting in. Though his vision wasn't as astute as the chuunin's and he was unable to see what was going on in his inner chakra plumbing, Satomi did catch a small glimpse of his manipulation of the mud.

As much as Miyamoto inspired him and as long as he could sit and watch the older boy hone his own jutsu all day, Satomi had his own monumental task before him. He quickly adverted his studying gaze as he noticed his teacher refocus on him, the boy no longer fidgeting as his stance strengthened. His chakra flourish and cycled through his body and the ground, both becoming a harmonious unit. It was similar to a feeling he had before when he first taught himself the Moving Earth Core technique, but even then that would be dwarfed by the technique he was being taught.

Tiger, Hare, Boar, Dog—Earth Release: Earth Wall jutsu! Feeling it would be awkward to break the silence they had between them, Satomi kept his proclaimed his motions and intention internally, the silence finally broken by low rumbling of a local tremor. The scattered puddles across the forest floor rippled in the wake of the growing seismic event as Satomi continued to focus his chakra into the technique and dial in on the proper build of physical and spiritual elements of it. The kid's brow furrowed as his toes curled as if to dig into the dirt and mud beneath his feet to brace himself as the seemingly harmless vibrations below the surface grew more threatening as the ground began to shake itself apart, the weakening earth presenting several fractures as small fissures formed and ballooned in size.

Satomi wasn't a very large boy, in fact one would probably consider him undersized and that didn't do him any favors as the shaking gradually became more violent, doing his best to resist the quaking earth's attempts to buck him as he felt that he might just be on the right track. Shifting his eyes again to Miyamoto's own little addition the wildlife reserve, Satomi beamed brightly with confidence as a broad grin stretched across his adorable little face. Miyamoto would notice a diversion of the boy's chakra as the ground settle slightly as the amount of chakra he was circulating dwindled slightly; however the biggest tell of his next move was the hand seals that he would speed through—Ram → Ox → Boar—no sooner than he finished was the mud under the chuunin jump from the puddle with the aim to splash him. The Mud Spore technique was one of a few jutsu Satomi had trained himself to use, if all went as planned it would be totally worth it just to get back at his teacher and perhaps give him a little taste of what he had to contend with in their sparing match later.

That was all assuming he could even raise a wall of his own and for that reason, regardless of the success of his prank, he quickly doubled down yet again on his efforts. Satomi's hands practically a blur as he signed the proper seals, almost instantly the ground began to quake from his efforts. The genin meant what he said when proclaiming that he wouldn't let Miyamoto down and about his ambitions to be a great ninja—stractch that—the greatest ninja.

This was the part that the senior shinobi would remember well himself as the ground tore itself asunder, Satomi forced to focus additional chakra into his surface walking technique as he was launched skyward to a startled squeal as a new massive barrier was given birth opposite to Miyamoto's own. Poor Satomi was just along for the ride as he rose to the tree tops, cringing each time he heard the cracking of snapping wood as a the rising earth pushed over trees and broke through branches as it reached it's towering 20 meter height.

An unfortunate victim of his own, his body receiving a few scrapes and bumps from being thrusted forcefully through the forest canopy. Satomi quickly became drenched without as his position atop the newly formed wall left more exposed to the weather, finding himself on familiar ground as he Knelt down to peer over the end of the wall down at the ground below.

“Hey! I think it could be a little more to the left, but good enough!” Satomi shouted down to Miyamoto as he gave the wall a proud slap, the boy hissing as his hand suddenly stung with regret at his realization that the boundaries for their sparing match had literally been set in stone.

The view wasn't quite as pretty this around through, the gray skies and murky forest floor weren't much of a reason to spend longer than he had to up there. Shaking the sting out of his hand he used another technique his teacher was responsible, slowly sinking into the wall as he road it down like an elevator before emerging from the wall a short ride later.

“Ta-da!” The genin was brimming with confidence as he took a dramatic pose reminiscent of a magician that had just finished a simple trick, taking one step to the right as a small stone made its own mark in the mud with an unpleasant thud. Satomi wasn't going to let himself be bested by a wall in the same way twice, besides, he was pretty sure the beating he took during his rise to the top was enough. The next thumping he get would be at the hand to the chuunin before him, his delighted smile sinking some as the reality of the situation sunk in. Certainly the chuunin wouldn't expect Satomi to actually win? How could he, he'd never truly battled before. Even the glow of achieving a new jutsu was overshadowed by his growing dread, a rare occasion where Satomi was anything but absolutely confident in his ability. “This is just a sparring match, right? You're not going to, y'know, uh... try and kill me?”

Mid topic claim of 15 stat points and Earth wall approvdd

Miyamoto watched as his student geared up for his coming test of skill.  It was not until he heard the boy speak did he realize fully the implications of what the young Satomi was going on about.  The chakra flow was impressive, and control was something that most Genin were not able to do.  It was both surprising and exhilarating to know that the kid who had once been bullied, had now become strong enough to stand on his own without the need of a sensei like him.  The bittersweet taste of the implications of the kids growth made Miyamoto excited, causing the hairs on his body to stand on end as he almost visibly shook from the excitement of fighting someone this cunning.  As the chakra moved from Satomi to the earth under him Miyamoto saw the spark of the technique being activated.  Satomi rising into the air rapidly, causing the brush and trees to be uprooted and altered the area around them perhaps forever.  With a chuckle Miyamoto would watch until Satomi was around twenty meters in the air he whistled.

“Good job kid!”  He would yell up as the scene of Satomi admiring the wall and scenery before coming down would happen.

As Satomi would arrive to the ground and state it could have been a little more to the left, Miyamoto gave a quick chuckle.  Then as he asked about them fighting Miyamoto snapped into a complete different state of mind.  He would begin to circle Satomi all the while spreading the distance to around two and a half meters apart from each other.  He would remain quiet the entire time as the wind blew through the almost tunnel like section that the two have created.  Causing Miyamoto’s hair to blow as the water seemed to turn to steam on his body.  A wicked grin spread across his face unlike any Satomi had seen from his teacher before.

“If you do not fight as if you are to die...then you will always lose Satomi...there is not much I can teach you that you can’t find out or that you have not already learned.  This is how shinobi rise up and overcome the status of their family, this is how you become a survivor, this is how you take a step towards becoming the greatest ninja...” Miyamoto said as he referred to both shinobi and ninja in the same sentence as he payed homage to what Satomi had told him before.  
“So  your goal is to incapacitate me, or kill me.  Whichever stops the fight, but if you hesitate...or hold back...I will not forgive you.”  Miyamoto said as the grin disappeared.  

He entered a martial stance that looked much like the stance of the horse, his body seemed to be ready for whatever was about to be thrown at him.  Instead of using the Rock Fist technique he waited to see what Satomi’s reaction would be.  The only thing stopping the kid from running would be the length and height of the wall...otherwise if the kid could push through Miyamoto, he could easily walk away from this battle, but Miyamoto was not going to let that happen easily.

“Now, as the genin have been so accustomed to saying...Come at me.”  Miyamoto said.

WC:550/1520

He'd never seen Miyamoto act in such a manner, his silence told Satomi more than words could as his sensei circled him. The moment seemed to slow for the young genin as he followed suit as if to only keep the older boy in front of him, the boy helping to spread the distance between the pair with a few shallow steps back of his own to round the pace at three meters. Satomi's fingers balled into two tight fists as he prepared his mind for everything that was about to unfold in front of him, his first real bout against a fully capable shinobi. His attention would snap to Miyamoto's words as if he could physically see them as they left his mouth, the advice causing the thin hairs on his own neck to stand on end.

Satomi's fists would relax and fall open again as the chuunins words sunk in, the seven year old child chewing on his bottom lip as he mulled over the shared wisdom. As naive as he often was, he was fully aware that as a ninja he was expected to be strong or die, but hearing it from someone he looked up to still lead to a surreal moment for him. It would no doubt be the same for the chuunin exams as well, something that clearly worried the hopeful genin as his fingers wiggled and fidgeted nervously at his side.

C'mon, Satomi, you already know some of his jutsu. The child tried to steel his nerves with a personal pep talk. But that also means he knows my jutsu too... Satomi's eyes looked lost as they wandered wildly around the chosen arena for their match, mostly flat ground with two twenty meter tall by twenty meter wide walls of earth and stone flanking each side of them. There were however not boxed in two sides remained open, if only partially obstructed by some large hardwood trees.

The older shinobi would catch his attention again as his body shifted into in a more readied stance, the air growing ever more tense as Satomi was running out of time to make a decision. He could call and end to the match before it even began and run away, or he could step up and show that he was ready to be a chuunin himself. When the boy phrased it like that to himself the decision seemed like an easy one to make, he had been working much to hard to just run away when it was time to show the fruit of all the effort he had made in such a short time. The genin's disillusioned gaze suddenly sharpened, his blue eyes brightening as he turned the right side of his body 45 degrees toward Miyamoto as he slid his foot out across the ground in a wide arc to extend it towards the older boy as well. His hands however remained opened and relaxed with his arms at his side. The child's digits still fidgeted, though it was harder to tell if it was from nerves or anticipation as he stared down his sensei—nay—his opponent.

“I guess if we're really going to do this..." Satomi's eyes flickered with a restored determination as his chakra suddenly surged, the boy would clap his hands before leapt back at a speed of 13 to land 6 meters away on his knees. On his landing he planted his open hands palms down on the forest floor, a broad grin of his own stretching across his face as he pulled his chakra out into his hands before focusing it into the ground before him. "Now you see me--” Walls weren't the only thing Satomi could raise from the ground as Miyamoto would see as the soft mossy surface of the ground began to tear away right in front of the chuunin, he didn't feel like he needed to finish the saying if his efforts were left unimpeded, the five by five meter square monolith towering ten meters tall to cast Miyamoto in its shadow would be enough.

"After you!" Satomi giggled, his snarky chrip a lot more confident on the surface than he was actually feeling as he chewed on his bottom lip. Unfortunately (or fortunately) Satomi had never truly been in a fight before, but he had become quite the Shogi player in his nightly games with his father where he often deployed a more defensive strategy again his opponents and forcing them to make the first move. It allowed him to no only set the pace, but learn about his opponent's skill and if all went as planned the chakra infused construct of dirt and stone would force Miyamoto to do just that as Satomi used the delay to plan out his next move.
_____

Current AP: 514

Jutsu Used: 1
Earth Release: Moving Earth Core: 10 AP

514 - 10 = 504

Remaining AP: 504