The Next Step! [Risako, P]

He was finally a Genin now, a fully fledged ninja of Konohagakure no Sato. It felt so different yet also the same for Jason, having been recently promoted to the rank out of the ninja academy. Now here he was, wasting no time at all, awaiting his appointed instructor to help him to get a handle on using the earth element. Being a member of the prominent Senju clan, Jason had the ability to use Mokuton, the wood release style. Unfortunately in order to access it he had to first master the use of both water and earth nature chakra releases. Water was easy for him; it came naturally just like breathing. Earth, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. He struggled a little more with this element than he liked to admit. Fortunately for him, he now had access to many more avenues of training and information than he did as a student at the academy. For instance, he was able to formally request assistance with mastering earth release from another shinobi. He hadn't been informed who exactly would be teaching him, only that his request had been approved and he was to meet the instructor today at the Leaf Village's training grounds. The appointed time was set to 1pm, so of course he arrived at about 12:30. Jason wasn't one to waste time or keep people waiting, though he didn't necessarily mind waiting on others. Hopefully, though, whoever it was would arrive soon.

WC: 247

It was weird being Deputy Kage. At times she almost felt busier than Ayumi, but Risako knew this couldn't be true. Today she was offering her services to the academy, to aid in the teaching if advanced techniques and strategies in a one on one setting. Currently she sat in a desk, her pen dancing across the paper review form of a Masaru Nara, detailing her experiences with the student. "Overall positive..."

Her thoughts on the current generation of students were summed up with the word "weak." Filing the paper away in her folder, she stood up and made her way to the training grounds for her next appointment with a Jason Senju. A part of the Deputy Hokage wanted to question the boy and see if he was of any relation. Another part of her wanted to respect his time as a student and train the lad. Straight out of the academy doors she walked and followed the short path to the grounds.

Risako's silver eyes would find them empty save for one young man that could only be assumed as Jason Senju. From across the field she would whistle and wave the boy over. If he came she would extend her hand out for a shake, while introducing herself, "I'm Risako, Deputy Hokage. I'm here to help you out with..." Her sentence lingered so that the boy could finish her sentence and give them a direction.

He didn't have to wait long before his appointed teacher made herself known. It was a woman that had recently been made known to most of the village: Risako Akara. She had been appointed Deputy Hokage alongside Lord Ayumi. Jason couldn't help but wonder why such a high ranking individual was sent to aid him in his mastery over the earth element. Maybe 'sent' was the wrong word. She could have chosen to do this of her own accord, of course. He silently hoped that was the case. It's something he liked to think that he would do if he were in her position. After all, he considered the entire village his family and wanted to do everything he could for them. 

After being waved over, Jason obliged quickly. When he got to Risako, she held her hand out for a shake which he returned in kind. "I know who you are miss Akara. You're kind of widely known in the village now thanks to your new position. I assume you already know who I am, but just in case you were unsure, my name is Jason Senju." He then realized he hadn't actually answered her questioning statement. He could be a bit slow sometimes. "Right, mastery over the earth element. Being a member of the Senju clan, I know that I'm able to use both water and earth elemental natures, but I haven't quite gotten the hang of pulling out the earth element yet. After graduating from the academy I put in a request for a formal instructor to help with that. I didn't think the Deputy Hokage herself would be the one to teach me. It's truly an honor to be taught by you, Lady Risako. Thank you very much." He punctuated his sentence with a short bow, a symbol of respect that had been ingrained in him since he was a child. The Senju clan had a high reputation to uphold after all and it wouldn't do for any member of the clan to be ignorant in the ways of politics or nobility.

WC: 346

After the boy finished speaking, Risako said "dial it back a bit pal," while giving him a friendly punch on the shoulder before moving her hand to her hip. "I'm just the Deputy Hokage, not the real deal." Taking a step back, her left hand moved from her hip to form the one handed tiger seal, causing a large earthen rod to rise from the ground between the two.

Taking the rod from the dirt, Risako would crack it into two pieces across her knee. Tossing one of the pieces to Jason, she would then explain the training. "Without physically pushing that into the earth, I want you to return it back to the ground below."

As an example she would show the boy by placing her half of the rod standing on top of the grass, and with her right hand she would form the sake half tiger seal she used to produce the construct. Easing her chakra into it, the fragment of earth lowered itself back into the ground once she let go.

"You've got ten minutes," she pointed to a stump not far off. "I'll be over there. Come get me if you figure it out before then." Turning to walk away, Risako called to the boi, "Or if you have any questions."

With that she would run off and tinker with a kunai, attempting to place the Flying Thunder God seal on its handle.

It seemed Risako didn't exactly like the way Jason addressed her, telling him to 'dial it back' because she was only the deputy and not the Hokage herself. He could live with that, after all it was natural for him to adapt to new circumstances. Without any further hesitation or small talk, the Deputy Hokage formed a one handed tiger seal and summoned a small, thin rod made of earth from the ground below with no effort at all. Quickly, she snapped the rod in two and tossed one half at Jason. The boy caught the stick easily with one hand, examining it with a curious look on his face. He was about to ask what exactly he was supposed to do with it when Risako answered his question for him.

Return the staff to the ground? Without physically pushing it? Not only that, but he only had ten minutes to get it done. This was going to be harder than he had expected. At least she was kind enough to give him a demonstration. There she went again with that one handed Tiger seal. Maybe that was the key to really getting this down. Without waiting for any kind or response, Risako turned and walked over to a small stump not far away and sat down; her attention was now focused on a kunai, no doubt doing her own type of training. 

'Alright Jason, you can do this. Just return it to the earth. Yea, no big deal. Totally easy. Yup. Ok, here goes nothing.'

Wracking his brain for some type of answer, he decided that he wasn't going to get anywhere if he didn't at least try something first. Taking a deep breath, Jason began to separate the different types of chakra within his own body; this was usually his first step in training something new. First he found the yin chakra and moved it out of the way. Next was the yang nature chakra. Those two were always the easiest to separate. After that, he worked on differentiating the water nature chakra within his body from the remaining earth nature chakra. He knew it was there, he just had to access it. Finally, after spending about a fifth of his allotted time, he was ready to try something. 

Placing the staff gently on the ground so that it was standing up, he rested his right palm over top of it and began trying to infuse it with chakra. At first nothing happened, then it slowly began to sink into the ground. Jason began to get excited, finally he was getting somewhere with this element. It didn't last long. His excitement overcame him and, without meaning to, he applied pressure to the rod and it crumbled to pieces. "Well shit." he said quietly to himself at the realization of what he's done. Raising his hand and waving over Risako, he would shout "Uh, I think I messed up."

WC: 488

Upon sitting on the stump Risako would begin to trace her finger over the handle of the kunai. The complexities of the Flying Thunder God Seal surely couldn't fit onto a tool so small without practice, and so practice she would. For now the girl had tried to place two basic seals onto the weapon. A seal that pulled items into something, and one that absorbed chakra.

By focusing her chakra into her finger, a bluish flame sparked to life on its tip. Going around the hand from top to bottom she traced a circle with the flame, and the chakra turned into "ink" on the surface of the tool. Within the circle she began to outline various, miniscule, intricate characters around the inside of the line. Once she was finished, Risako focused her chakra into the seal to test the waters and see if her work was successful. Upon doing so, she could feel the seal sapping at her chakra, but without the rest of the formula or another gateway for the seal she wouldn't be able to teleport.

About this time, Jason had made a mistake in his training. Once she was called over to help the boy again, Risako stabbed the knife into the stump and trotted over to the rod. Seeing that it was in pieces, she would say, "Well shit, I think you messed up." Forming another staff for the boy to practice on, she warned him, "Your goal is to shape this staff and the earth below so that this goes back into it. Don't focus on the goal, but focus on keeping the staff together and hard while you soften the earth beneath it."

If this explanation was satisfactory, the jounin would make her way back to the stump.

Risako didn't waste any time in coming over to assist Jason when he called for her. In fact, she came right away, getting off of her stumpy perch and even creating a new staff for the boy to practice with just as she had the first. It was exactly the same as the one he had just broken into several pieces moments before. She didn't seem at all intrigued in the boy's actual training, simply giving him hints at what it was he needed to do in order to get the hang of the task she had given him. Actually, all she really said was to focus on making the earth below the staff soft while maintaining the hardness and solidity of the staff itself. It was absolutely more difficult than simply talking about it. Nonetheless, Jason had to give it another go.

He waited for a moment before continuing, watching Risako make her way back over to her lofty perch on the nearby stump and continue to tinker with the kunai in her hands. It was very interesting to watch her work; at one point her finger lit up blue, having been no doubt engulfed with chakra, as she seemed to scribble on the kunai with it. He made a mental note to ask her about it later on, but for now he needed to get back to his own training. Focusing himself once more on the task at hand, Jason again began to differentiate and separate the differing types of chakra natures that dwelled within his body. The same way he did the first time, the boy began by location and removing the yin nature chakra from the playing board. Next, he went after the yang nature chakra and put it to the side as well. Finally, he subjugated the water element nature chakra to his will too, leaving only the earth element nature chakra to manipulate. It was time to try his hand at putting this staff back into the ground once more. He took a different approach this time, choosing to heed his Deputy Kage's advice and attempt to soften the earth below before trying to replace the rod. Again, nothing seemed to happen at first. It was a little disheartening, the struggle that came with trying to conquer a new element and bend it to his will, but he knew the hard work he put into this would definitely benefit him in the long run.

After a few short seconds, Jason felt something happening; the earth below his feet began to stir, softening itself as the staff started to sink into the ground. Stage one: complete. Now the real hard part begins. He had to maintain the constant flow of chakra into the earth below while adding another, different kind of chakra flow into the staff in his hands. This secondary action would allow him to maintain the staff's durability and sturdiness as it retreated into it's earthly home once more. The descent was slow and agonizing, feeling to Jason as if it had already been several minutes when it reality it was still only roughly at the twenty second stage. He could already feel the strain on his body, maintaining this amount of control over the flow of his chakra for two completely opposite and varying purposes was quickly eating away at his stamina. It was something even he hadn't tried to accomplish yet despite being named a rare prodigy among the members of the Senju clan. He could feel the sweat beginning to bead along his forehead, catching in the Konoha shinobi headband and quickly soaking it. After a while it had become too damp and the cold sweat carved a path down the boy's face and into his eyes. It stung. Using his free hand, Jason wiped away what sweat he could and attempted to relieve the burning sensation in his eyes that came from receiving bullets of sweat into their sockets. 

And then it was over. After what had seemed like an eternity, hours upon hours, he had finally managed to return the staff to the earth. It was back in it's proper home once again. Not only that, but Jason felt that he actually had a decent degree of control over the earth element now thanks to Risako's tutelage, albeit brief and distant. Stopping the outsourcing of chakra from within his body, Jason allowed himself to fall back onto the grassy field, landing on his butt and leaning back so that he was holding himself up with his arms at his sides. He took that time to catch his breath and wipe away whatever sweat still remained on his face. The boy couldn't help but smile at his new accomplishment. This would open so many new doors for him. Now that he had finally gotten the hang of using the earth elemental nature chakra affinity, Jason could move on and begin his training in the use of his clan's element: wood style. There was just so much he could do with that. His parents would no doubt be so proud of him when he finally begins to wield the Senju's famous wood style ninjutsu. His father owned many scrolls depicting the use of their clan's secret techniques and, ever since Jason had chosen to become a shinobi, couldn't wait for the day he would be able to share them with his son. 

Snapping back to reality, Jason stood back up and dusted himself off. Then, he waved for Risako to come and join him. If she did so, he would speak. "Thank you so much for your help today. I feel like I've really gotten the hang of this. I never would have thought of training in the use of the earth style element this way." If she had anything to say to him, like wise words of wisdom or whatever, he would listen. If not then that was ok too. He was just grateful to have her help in this venture. Either way, whether she said stuff or not, Jason would politely excuse himself and leave the training grounds, making his way back home to take a much needed shower.
[attempted exit]
WC: 1,029
TWC: 2,110
claiming earth element and 10 stats

Returning to her stump and taking a seat like before, Risako pulled the knife out of the chunk of wood before continuing her work. Igniting the little blue flame on her finger once more she began to trace the same seal four times over in a square formation within the circle. Within the seals her finger traced out another set of seals, each one different, that should have finished off the technique. Around this time Jason had finished learning his element and Risako's job was done.

Standing up from her work, the jounin approached the boy to congratulate him on his progression. "Good work, keep it up and practice some more." She refrained from going further for fear letting her knowledge of wood release slip up.

After leaving the area, she would go to the Hokage's office where she would practice the seal a bit more. Before leaving the office, she would leave one seal on the bottom side of the desk.

[934 words towards FTG, like 4 AP I think?]

Approved

Edit: 8 AP Ris not 4