Chakra training down by the river. (Private Nkill)

The sun had long since set, having ducked behind the mountain that overlooked the scenic village of Konoha, set amongst the serene cover of a vast forest. Sanji walked down a well-worn path, used mostly by merchants given that wagon wheels had long since left their distinctive mark, with two grooves cutting through the otherwise flattened path where the wheels most commonly reside during the treks the wagons that frequent this road embark upon. The telltale babble of the river ensured him that his navigation was true, not that he'd need convincing. This river was exactly why he was here, in fact.

Sanji spent a little too much time on taijutsu training and that of improving himself physically, not that that was a bad thing, but he wanted to try to be at least modestly well-rounded. And frankly being the only fool in the ninja world who couldn't sustain himself above water was a scary thought, he could practically hear the derisive laughter as a comrade told the tale of how Sanji took an impromptu dip in the water amidst a battle. Sadly that was best case scenario, the worst being him ending up at the bottom of that body of water because he was immobilized enough that he became an easy target for his opponent.

Kneeling by the riverside, Sanji dipped a tentative hand into the gently flowing water, the edge was shallow of course, but the trough in the middle reached down far enough to engulf even someone of his stature. That was why there was a bridge spanning this section of river just nearby. Yes, it was cold alright. Ice cold, at that. This would definitely prove an able deterrent to failure, or serve as a cold reminder of said failure. Sanji already knew the basics of how to walk on water, but it wasn't something he had actually worked on to any real extent. He took a moment to relax himself, before he placed one foot on the water, and then the other while using his chakra to maintain a tenuous buoyancy on top of the water. The tip about spreading chakra out under his feet definitely helped instead of merely pushing it down into the water, because there was surface tension to consider and the wider the contact point, the easier he would stay up. It was truly remarkable how much concentration he felt it took to maintain this, and yet many ninjas did it without a second thought about it. Of course they had truly worked on it. About 30 seconds into his first trip out, Sanji's chakra control betrayed him and he went careening down into the frigid water.

Even a shinobi like him who appeared to have ice water flowing through his veins couldn't help but give a loud shout as he surfaced and quickly scrambled for the bank of the river." That... is incredibly cold..." he said to himself as he stood on the bank, facing out toward the water. Now that he was wet and cold it'd be that much harder, and his second trip out would quickly show that. Once again Sanji forced chakra out through the soles of his feet and walked out to the middle yet again. This time it took a mere 10 seconds to send him right back into the cold waters and strip away whatever body heat he had managed to regain after his first dip. Again the large genin waded to the water's edge, and without so much delay he pursued this training again. He added to the initial concentration of chakra the visualization exercise that he was in fact standing on stilts made of chakra that extended to the bottom and gripped tight so that he wouldn't lose traction. This definitely seemed to help as he stood there with his palms pressed together, fingers pointing skyward. It took a solid 2 minutes this time out before he began to falter, but he saved it and maintained it another 30 seconds before walking himself back to the bank of the river.

This time out Sanji used the same visualization technique, but he kept his eyes open, watching the water for any changes that may make him dip down into those icy waters again. It was strangely soothing to sit there and stare at the water, and it gave him time to truly appreciate what it was he was actually doing. To the average person the way of the shinobi and their various abilities must seem absolutely alien. It sounded almost absurd to think that any of this, that is the shinobi world, had a starting point, but it did. The sage of the six paths spread the knowledge of chakra, and truly fathered the world he was born into. Even if bad things had happened as a result of that, like his father's demise, Sanji didn't feel bitter toward the sage or the origins of this world he lived in. It was something to be celebrated, for the initial message was one of peace and understanding, a pursuit to better oneself to the point that fighting becomes pointless and those living in this world have no choice but to live in peace and harmony, because without a will to make war, what other choice do they have?

Sanji was so deep in thought that he lost track of how long he had been there standing on the surface of the water and looking down into it. Under the pale moonlight he could see the idle stirring of fish within, those fish having just become accustomed to his presence once again, his initial spills into the river having startled them and sent them on a mad swim away, fearing for their survival because of a big dope repeatedly falling into the water. After around 10 minutes he moved to the water's edge again and sighed lightly. He didn't feel particularly drained physically, and yet he was breathing slightly heavy. This fact made him grimace further as he silently cursed himself for not properly rounding his training. Sanji had trouble asking for help, a lot of the time. He wasn't that well acquainted with others around him so he felt out of place to ask for advice or hands-on training assistance. Right now his mind was just set on perfecting the basic abilities all shinobi have, only after he felt comfortable and flawless in these abilities would he seek to capitalize on that success and add more complex and powerful techniques to his style; both taijutsu and ninjutsu alike. It scared him to think of himself as a one trick pony, that guy who does great until his opponent figures him out, and then he gets slaughtered because he was too dense to carry out a proper training schedule. Especially after seeing Sachiko's chakra control earlier, he definitely felt like he was way behind.

He felt like he had one more trip out onto the water in him, so again he forced chakra through his feet and walked out onto the water. Palms again meeting one another to make sure his chakra flowed in a complete circuit. Eventually he'd ask Sachiko to come out here and throw things at him so he'd have to focus on an actual combat scenario instead of having all his time, mental focus, and chakra to dedicate to simply standing on the shiny surface of the water. Sanji's eyes stare straight ahead, trying to divert his attention without losing his stance on the water. He looked around the forest as if scanning for enemies, trying to see where an attack might come from. And he did it handsomely, oddly enough. However, it was the smallest thing that would upset his training. A moth. Something so tiny couldn't possibly pose such a problem, right? And yet it did. The second the moth flew at him, he tried to move so as not to hinder its flight path, and he went down into the water once more, yelling in protest again as he was chilled and freshly moistened. So, once again he waded back to the river bank and sighed. It was really cold and he was starting to shake visibly.

This was wonderful training but now he was freezing. Still, he didn't feel like going back home. So he perused the bank of the river for a piece of flint, and then went off to gather downed branches, scooping up dry branches so that he could build himself a fire and warm up, rather than go retreating back home. He wasn't so ignorant that he didn't realize this life would be a hard one. Most ninjas didn't have the luxury of going back to their own bed to sleep tonight. Worse yet, some wouldn't make it back to their beds, their homes, or their loved ones at all. It was this respect for the life of a ninja that kept Sanji's eyes focused on his goals at all times, because he felt that if he fell short of his goals, even a little, he was inadvertently slapping his predecessors in the face and spitting on their legacy that they selflessly preserved so that he, one among the newest generation, could carry the torch and hand it off to those who would come after him.

Sanji demurely made himself a firepit with a ring of river rocks, one having been used to dig out the loose soil slightly before he went to a dead stump nearby and used his kunai to carve little strips of wood out of it, some alot finer than others, until he had a large ball of wood 'fuzz' in his hands. That would be his tinder, along with some dead grass, anything that would burn easily. He set the tinder materials into the firepit and used the back of that kunai to strike against the flint, producing a shower of sparks each time. He leaned down when he had a few glowing embers and blew air from pursed lips on them softly, making them glow a hot red and catch the rest of the tinder on fire. When he had little flames he fed them twigs, and when those flames were bigger he added the larger branches to that, but not before he quickly went about breaking them into workable lengths. Brute force, more his forte, it seemed. Once that was done and he had a roaring fire before him, he sat by it and basked in the comforting glow and the generous heat that helped him forget about his shaky chakra training just 30 minutes before. He would shift position now and then, drying his clothing as best he could.

It was clear to him that this wasn't something he'd get 100% complete by just doing one training session. So, armed with that fire that gave him much needed warmth, Sanji moved into the lotus position and formed the seal of the ram. It didn't take long after closing his eyes and channeling his chakra throughout himself for him to become lost in that deep meditation. Every bit of light and heat he was exposed to from the fire beside him seemed to make the vision in his mind dance, like shadows in a cave illuminated by the very fire he sat in front of. He imagined the heat given off by the fire as chakra that became such after the air cooled it, and through each breath he took in positive energy, breathing in through his nose. Every exhalation was done solely through his mouth. This was when he envisioned himself exhaling the bad energy. This gift that earth inadvertently gave man one day, fire, was also giving its life to Sanji, he envisioned. With each breath he honestly felt like he grew a little stronger. It wasn't much, but it was enough to be noticeable to a shinobi.

Time dragged on as it always had, and Sanji remained by his abundant fire, meditating and channeling chakra, letting it flow through his body and in a way give him its own signature warmth. Hours ticked by without Sanji even realizing it. The next time he opened his eyes, his fire was mostly extinguished and the sun had begun to send it's pale rays through the abundant trees that surrounded his location. Standing up, Sanji looked around himself, before again pressing his palms together, and giving a solemn bow to nothing in particular. It was his way of thanking the earth for taking favor with him and granting him not only the location to train, but the will and the energy to do so.

(Chakra Training. Word count - 2101)

10 chakra, 21 JP