Hands-In Learning [Solo, Training]

After having filled his mind with so many different concepts on jutsus and how to manage his Chakra, Dracoso wanted to start applying this information. He was aware that Genin had missions to complete which helped them to refine their skills. The teacher was giving the students homework for practice, but it didn't feel like he was really connecting the learning with where it would be used. 

Dracoso headed to the academy during one of the days off from school and stopped by the teacher's office. Sadly, the office was empty. He sighed and walked in, taking a seat to look around the room, wanting to know a bit more about his teacher and some of the achievements that he had attained. A few trophies sat on his desk and frames with graduation scrolls hung on the wall. Most seemed to be in the fields of Genjutsu and Ninjutsu and offered a few interesting names. "Protector of the Youth of Kirigakure" stood out front on one of the trophies. Dracoso ran his fingers over the words at the base of the trophy with a smile.

The door slammed open and Dracoso almost knocked over the trophy as he turned quickly to face the sound. His teacher was standing there with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. The teacher walked in and took a seat before mentioning that he was coming back from the restroom. He asked Dracoso what he was doing there and Dracoso asked him about possibilities for work or practice where he could go out and start working on tasks as an academy student.

The teacher looked at him quizzically for a moment. 

"You want tasks to go on?" The teacher asked Dracoso.

Dracoso responded, "Yes! I want to apply my skills."

The teacher gave a somewhat defeated sigh. "The head of the school already let you know that you could start as a genin and have the same rights to go on missions as them. You could even go pick one up right now if you wanted to. Why not take one of those?"

Dracoso shook his head and spoke with a nervous tone, "before I came here, I knew nothing about chakra. I didn't know the rules, how to get stronger, or even how to get started. If I had run out there to do missions right away, I knew I wouldn't be any closer than when I had failed to bring Fuku back."

A soft tapping echoed in the room as the teacher bounced one finger on his desk. "Well now you have plenty of skill with jutsus and you are learning to limit yourself. You have made a few mistakes, but you seem ready for these missions. I know there are a few people who could use some help right now."

"Then send me out to do them as a favor," Dracoso pleaded. "I want to take on something simple to see just how far I have grown and to pace myself. I worry that if I start going to fast into missions, I am going to lose myself in it and lose sight of my goals again."

The tapping stopped and his teacher closed his eyes. He took a few slow deep breaths before opening his eyes and looking tiredly at Dracoso before giving him a soft smile. "You aren't going to let me put you on a mission before you're ready are you?" he asked Dracoso.

"Not on your life, or anyone else's for that matter," Dracoso responded with a grin. "I know I am taking big steps in my growth and I need to make sure I am learning. Not just the skills or the patterns. I need to learn how I become a ninja. What it means to me. Anyone can take the time to learn how to use the elements or apply themselves to an area of interest. If you aren't doing it for a reason that will survive long past your passion in the moment, you will just end up falling off the path you are carving.'

The teacher nodded thoughtfully, "well said. You are quite a strange one. So many students would jump at the opportunity to skip training. Many others wouldn't really care about the direction they are heading as long as they are getting stronger. What makes you so determined to make every step count?"

Dracoso stopped for a moment and thought back. Past the memories of Fuku and his friends. Back to when his father was training him and the words rang in his mind. "My father once told me that armor is what lets you survive in the moment and the blade is what lets you survive past your opponent." Dracoso shook his head softly with a soft smile. "To me, knowing the world is what lets you survive the day and knowing yourself is what lets you enjoy a lifetime."

The teacher chuckled softly before giving a soft shake of his head, as if the words rang something inside himself. "Quite a saying to live by. Just make sure that lifetime isn't a short one." He looked Dracoso in the eye. "Growth isn't something that is measured beyond height and history. If you think that doing tasks without taking on any real reward, other than experience, is what you need to grow, then I will respect that. I have a few tasks around town that people have mentioned. Nothing glamorous or really difficult, just the normal needs in a bigger situation." 

Dracoso nodded as he leaned forward, curious what kind of work he would be doing.

The sun was high overhead as he read the directions and instructions for his first task. The civilian had asked for a second pair of hands getting rid of some weeds and that he was just looking for some assistance with the simple task. Dracoso strode down the path until he came to a quaint home with a man standing outside with a hoe leaned over his shoulder. He let Dracoso know to follow him and they would head out in a few minutes and to eat. A small package was handed to him and Dracoso enjoyed the rice bun as they talked and discussed the task.

Once done, they headed out together. As they walked, Dracoso shared about how he was glad to take on a task and start learning from doing the small things and working his way up. The man simply chuckled before saying that he was quite impressed by Dracoso's determination and confidence with this being his first request. The man asked him why he didn't take on one of the more common missions. Dracoso shook his head and began to explain about his goals for growth. Before long, Dracoso noticed that they had been traveling for a bit of time and that they were starting to move a bit more off from the populated areas.

It was when they headed out a short way away from the village that he started to become nervous. He asked what the man did for a living to be heading out this way and he responded that he was a farmer in the nearby area. Dracoso felt a bit anxious and asked exactly where the weeds might be that they were dealing with. The farmer smiled and simply said, "my fields."

Fields. Not a field. Multiple fields. Empty of all but weeds. That is what Dracoso was looking at. The man had 3 fields, roughly about 200 meters by 100 meters each. Dracoso realized why the farmer how now said he was impressed by his confidence. These could take all day to clear. The farmer thanked him again and Dracoso gave him a quick nod and a weak smile that quickly melted like snow in the desert. He asked the farmer what tools they had to clear the fields and the man smiled and held up his hands. Dracoso's heart sank.

He suddenly realized that this was probably intentional from his teacher setting him up with such a tough task to start and he gritted his teeth. He imagined his teacher giving him that smirk again and saying something about how this would give him the pacing he was asking for.

Dracoso sighed and shook his head. he knew this was already decided and agreed on. He stood up and thought back on what he had learned and smiled to the farmer before saying, "I have a few ideas that may help." The farmer looked at him confused as he walked over towards a nearby cow and made the two needed hand gestures, before transforming into a very similar cow. A chuckle came from the farmer as he shook his head and sat back to watch. [10 ap cost, D-rank transformation]

Dracowso meandered into the field and bent down, biting at the first chunk of what looked like weeds, and yanked them from the ground. He swallowed it down before going for another bite, and suddenly stopped. A choking noise came from his throat as he retched back up the green substance onto the dirt nearby. 'Note to self. Try to transform the stomach next time.' He released the jutsu and recovered on all fours for a minute. 

When he had regained his breath, he stood back up and the farmer applauded his attempt. He asked if Dracoso was ready to get to work as two sets of hands would still need plenty of time to complete the task. A thought occurred to Dracoso and he responded, "what if we had more than two sets of hands?" The farmer raised an eyebrow as Dracoso ran over to a river running nearby, drawing up water into his mouth. He quickly returned and made the handseals for Tiger, Snake, and Dragon before spitting the water out in front of him in two streams. [20 ap cost, C-rank Water Clone]

He could feel his chakra carry within the water to where it impacted and formed into two figures. These watery figures took on a similar appearance to him, but still looked a bit muddy in appearance. He tried to focus his chakra and the figures began to resemble him, but they would still need work later. He nodded proudly to himself and looked to the farmer. "Well four sets of hands will let us work twice as fast." Stroking his chin with one hand, the farmer nodded as he looked closely at the clones. The four went to work, pulling up weeds in a line steadily down field. 

Dracoso had a bit of a strain to contend with. Balancing the chakra in the clones and carefully pulling up the weeds with his hands.
Over the few hours it took to pull up the weeds, Dracoso could feel his connection to each clone strengthen. He could feel them solidify in his mind. As solid as water could get anyways. He needed to recast the spell a couple more times over the time it took and found he could even place the clones wherever he wanted with each spurt.

By the end of the weeding process, Dracoso felt like his body had been rung out along with his most of his energy. He laid down nearby the pile of pulled up weeds and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The sun was sinking towards the horizon and he had only just finished his first task. With a deep breath, he lifted himself to his feet and went to the farmer, shaking his hand. The farmer thanked him and smiled as he took out a small package and handed it to Dracoso. 

Dracoso looked at the package and asked the farmer if he needed it delivered. The farmer simply shook his head and said it was a reward for a good day of work and to make sure to eat it before his next task. Dracoso nodded his thanks and turned to leave before stopping. He asked the man what kind of crops he planned to grow out here. The man looked up at the sky and responded, "I grow the same thing every year. You have a little bit of it right there in your package." 

Dracoso glanced the package and then gave a small shrug and waved goodbye as he headed back to the village. As he pulled out his next set of instructions, he picked open the package to nibble on the food. As he bit down into what appeared to be a wrap of some kind of breading, his mouth was filled with the flavors of herbs and spices. He realized that it was a meat wrap with several very strong herbs added in to give it a strong kick of flavor from the start. As Dracoso enjoyed his meal, the instructions directed him as if he was expected to wait for tomorrow as it would be too late to continue on by the time he was reading this message.

Dracoso realized the teacher would assume that it would take him all day to do the task and set him up for multiple days of work to keep him busy. He shook his head and headed off towards a small shop in the middle of the village. He was just finishing up his meal as he stepped through the doorway to the shop and walked to the back, asking for the contact in question. A young woman came out and frowned at him, saying that she had asked for the favor of the teacher. She made it very clear that it was the teacher she had been expecting.

With a sigh, Dracoso nodded and asked her how he might be able to help. With a bit of a pout at the situation, she said that she just wanted to go for a walk and learn a bit about nature nearby. He smiled to her and said that he would love to escort her in the nearby forest and teach her about things they could find. She exhaled softly and gave a little shrug, agreeing to go with him. 

They left together at a slow pace, following the path towards a fairly open forest nearby. The woman asked a few things about him and what kinds of things he enjoyed. He talked with her about his passions for healing and crafting things with chakra. She asked what kinds of jutsus he could use and he tried to impress her by throwing his voice and making it sound like it was coming from the flowers and the trees. He stepped behind one tree and then used a jutsu to jump behind another and leaned out to surprise her. He even walked up a tree and bowed to her as she clapped softly to his show.

After putting on his show, the forest seemed tranquil and serene around them. Dracoso used the silence to softly show her some of the different flowers and herbs that were growing nearby. She seemed a bit lost at first, so he slowed down and let her hold the herbs and showed how they might be applied. As he took his time, she seemed to take in the information more readily and nodded as it started to make sense. As they enjoyed themselves, Dracoso asked her if she enjoyed coming out here on her own. She said that her father was very protective of her and that he rarely let her out of his sight. She thought that if she had come with the teacher, that might be different.

Dracoso chuckled softly and said that he sounded a bit overbearing. A branch nearby snapped softly. The woman didn't seem to notice, but Dracoso slowly glanced over in its direction. Half of a figure was peeking out from behind a tree, as if wanting to be seen. It slowly slid behind the tree and out of sight. Dracoso finished his thought by saying that her father probably had his reasons. She smiled and nodded, saying that it was just her and her father now, so it made sense he was very attached. 

They spent a few more minutes exploring, Dracoso making sure to keep a respectful distance, before heading back into town. As she headed into the shop, Dracoso stopped in the doorway, noticing a similar figure in the back cutting some of the food for serving. The man lifted his head and made eye contact. Dracoso stood up a bit straighter and simply bowed and said to have a nice day, before scurrying off. He heard someone call out and he stopped to see the woman jogging up to him. She handed him a small box and thanked him for all he did. A small blush ran over his cheeks and he thanked her for the box and the kind words. 

She turned and headed back to the shop as Dracoso took a peek into the box. inside sat a small hand-crafted flower pin. He smiled to himself and noticed a note at the bottom of the box that he picked up: 'Please deliver to your teacher for me.' Dracoso hung his head as he thought the gift had been for him.

After storing the box, Dracoso dealt with several different tasks that followed. He helped an elderly woman find where she had left her walking stick. Some farmers needed help fixing up holes in the walls of their animal pen. Even one child who had asked for help planting tree seeds someplace they could grow. 

Dracoso used different jutsus to help with each. The walking stick had ended up under the elderly woman's porch and his cats eye ability came in handy. He also learned to not come back out into broad daylight before releasing the jutsu. For the fence, he set up a few pieces of wood that could connect like a door and used the fuinjutsu lock to seal them shut. Helping the child took a bit more time, as he needed to find a good place they were allowed to plant the seeds, so they didn't cause trouble for other villagers. The guards pointed him to an clear area near the gates where they could grow without impeding view or foot traffic. Once planted, he was on his way.

As the sun was setting, Dracoso made his way back to the academy. He could feel every muscle in his body was sore from running around and handling so many issues. It was a good soreness that felt like he had accomplished something. His positive feeling was lifted even further as he saw his teacher just leaving from the school with his paperwork under his arm.

"So, did you get those fields all weeded out?" the teacher asked him.

"Weeded, walked, fixed, and sown." Dracoso responded with a tired grin.

The teacher looked at him curiously as Dracoso handed him the box. he looked inside to see the flower pin before glancing up at Dracoso with a raised eyebrow. He looked back at his teacher and handed him the instructions for all the tasks with an even wider grin. "All done," he said.

The teacher asked him what he meant and Dracoso described how he had handled the situations. Using his jutsus to save time, impress someone, and even to search for lost items. As he wound down, the teacher just shook his head with a tired grin himself and then looked Dracoso in the eye. He paused for a few moments before saying, "just take the Genin exam already. I don't think I can handle you much longer. You passed your tasks for the day and I even received word that they were impressed with how effective you were. I even heard back from the father of that one young girl that he thinks you are a good influence."

Dracoso nodded with a bit of a blush and said, "I feel far more ready for that exam now."

{Exit}

AP Cost (in order of use):
[10 ap cost, D-rank transformation]
[20 ap cost, C-rank Water Clone]
[20x2 ap cost, C-rank Water Clone twice]
[5 ap cost, E-rank Ventriloquism]
[10 AP cost, C rank Body Flicker]
[5 ap cost, E-rank surface walking]. 
[5 ap cost, E-rank cat eye]
[5 ap cost, E-rank Fuinjutsu lock]

Total cost - 100 AP

WC Total - 3327, rounded to 3325
Rank D - Water Sealing - 500
Rank B - Damage Reduction Shield - 1750
Rank C - Suiton: Mizu Senbon - 1000
Rank C - Summoning Technique - 225/1000 (previously 150/1000 from previous post: Learning and Relearning)

Approved