Crash Course: Tied Up 'n Training! [P/IO/Miyamoto]

Satomi shuffled his toes inward as he reached back to rub the back of his head, his cheeks slightly stained pink in response to Miyamoto's compliment. He knew he would have to work out it to perfect his technique, but at least he could be satisfied that his teacher saw his potential. The look on the chuunin's face struck him as, well, old. Much too steely for someone who was only a few years older than him and not even an adult yet. Maybe it was experience that forged that face, maybe Miyamoto was just that mature for his age. In either case Satomi didn't have much time to dwell on it as he was offered rather moderately-sized rock, his arms dropping under its weight as he caught the lobbed bit of earth.

“I promise to be the bestest!” Satomi trilled, both hands clamping tightly around the stone between them as his beaming gaze shifted from Miyamoto to fixate on the object. So he was suppose to focus his chakra into this stone and that was suppose to break it? Crack it with just my chakra? I doubt I could even break it with my hands. He deliberate silently over the task physically placed upon him. Fortunately for the young boy, he seemed to have a slight affinity towards his chakra. His previous task giving him a good reference for how it should feel, he began to channel his chakra once more. This time it was just pulled towards his hands as his knuckles turned white from clinching the stone. Now he just needed to get it into the stone.

He bit his bottom lip as he concentrated as he had done before when he was tied up, but truth be told, he wasn't exactly sure just how he managed that feat. Regardless, he was more hardheaded than the rock in his hand and it showed through his own stern glare. His fingers rapped across the surface of the stone as he continued to concentrate, then all at once his stern expression disappeared as a confident little smirk replaced it. He had been going about it all wrong, he was fighting his chakra, trying to force it when all it really needed was a gentle hand to guide it. His smirk broadened across his lips at this epiphany, the color returning to his knuckles as he relaxed his fingers. He never broke his concentration however, instead just using a more gentle touch and sure enough he could feel his chakra transfer from his hands into the stone. His father always told him him to never fight the current and to let it carry him along, eventually he would make it to his destination. Satomi cherished it as a life lesson he held to, but never but never thought he could apply it elsewhere. Maybe his silly father and his stories held more to them than it appeared, or perhaps he was just reading into them too much. Philosophy would have to wait, this child had more important things to do, like breaking a rock. How the heck was he suppose to do that though? All he had now was a chakra infused paperweight. “I, uh... Teach?” Satomi stammered, unsure if seeking further guidance would look bad to his new teacher. “I don't suppose you... could show me? Y'know, how you do it?”

The confirmation of Miyamoto’s new student made him happy as he did as stated he would. Sitting down he would watch his student go to work on the stone. The focus of Satomi was tremendous. The amount of enthusiasm he poured into his work was shown as the lines across his face showed his deep concentration. After a few minutes however it seemed as though Satomi had hit a wall with the current path of training. When Miyamoto was asked to demonstrate he nodded as he pulled another stone from a weapons pouch and held it in the palm of his hand.

“This is to learn if you have the natural affinity for using earth Chakra. All you have to do is focus, like digging a hole for a well, eventually it reaches a point to where you have made a hill out of the soil you have dug up. Then with your body you do the same, building up chakra onto a certain point…” The rock in the palm of Miyamoto’s hand began to vibrate hard enough that it began to move.
“Then you take the mountain of chakra or hill or bucket-full for that matter and you push it into a single point, much like you would take the leftover soil and pack it around the well for structural integrity.” Miyamoto would say as the stone in his hand would explode in his hand sending pebbles flying.
“That is it, visualise and commit to it, if this is your natural chakra affinity it will show itself.” Miyamoto would say with a smile before brushing the pebbles from his hands.

He went back to watching Satomi as he waited for the outcome. His hands were from the appearance, clean. The explosion of the stone left no markings on Miyamoto's hands. He looked at them before chuckling to himself.

"Looks like I poured a bit too much energy into it that time. Be careful of that." He said teasingly.


WC:305/1900

Doing his best imitation technique of a bobblehead as he nodded, clinging to the words of his teacher. He watched closely as what was asked of him was demonstrated with ease, only turning away his eyes to shield them when the pebble exploded. So that's it? Satomi seemed rather let down by the revelation. “So pick a point and--” He turned his focus back to his own stone, a small area colored different from the rest caught his attention and became a fixated point for him to push his chakra, letting the strong penetrate the millions of years old piece of aggregate. Much to his surprise he could feel the stone shift in his hand as the unstoppable force of his chakra fought the immovable object that was just a stubborn old stone.

He wouldn't be outdone by a lazy rock, his tongue slipping out past his lips as he added more and more chakra until there was a pop and Satomi's head shot back rather violently. The fact that the stars were in the sky early was odd, but so was the weird warm feeling on his forehead. Taking a moment to collect his thoughts and to shake off the possible whiplash, Satomi quickly returned to the stone in his hands. Or stones, rather. One rock to each hand, did Miyamoto add another when he wasn't looking? No fair! Of course this wasn't the case at all as the boy stood there, a small laceration bled lightly right above his left eyebrow, having in fact successfully cracked the rock in two while nearly taking a pebble to the eye. It would take Satomi a moment to come to realize what would happen and when he finally had all the throbbing in his head evaporated as he hooted and cheered. “Chakra beats rock! Alright!” Satomi squealed as he hopped up and down surprisingly well for someone with a minor concussion. “How's that, Miyamoto-sensei!?”

He didn't particularly wait for an answer as he continued to celebrate with himself, he did just crack a rock like an egg with just his chakra. Maybe his bullies would leave him alone if they saw he could do that. Maybe he could even do it to a bigger rock! In his excitement he didn't even think that there might have been more to it than just learning to break rocks, but for the moment he was thrilled to have that.

The quick loud pop that came from Satomi’s fist was a satisfying sound. He did not expect him to overuse the chakra as he did but still he did as he was instructed. Miyamoto was excited to see another Earth Chakra user, and even more so that he could teach. With a smile he stood up and clapped for his student a single time as he picked one of the rock haves from his fist with lightning speed. The only indication that it was not there would be when Satomi were to look back down at his hands once more. Miyamoto would hold the stone up once Satomi would realize it was gone as he would hold it in front of him.

“Now since you have reached this point, the next part should not be an issue. First focus on the rock in your dominant hand, and with your off hand make the tiger seal…” Miyamoto would demonstrate as the rock half in his hand would extend to a two foot cane in front of Satomi.
“This is the result of your training with Earth chakra at your current level. If you can achieve this then you will have no problem fending off any bully.” Miyamoto would smile before slamming the cane into the ground with enough force to cause it to stick into the bare earth.

He would look at Satomi and then to the cane stuck into the ground as he remained standing. As he did so he was already beginning to think of finally putting into use the reading he had done concerning a technique that could help him train harder and faster. The Shadow Clone Technique was fresh on his mind. Inside of his head he was constantly working on how to move chakra around and expel it from his body in such a way that he could finally achieve the technique that he had been practicing in secret for over a month. Finally he came back to reality so he could focus on his student. All the while slowly maneuvering his hands into the shadow clone technique behind his back.

“You may begin whenever you are ready. Once you have a handle on this, we will call it a day, unless there was something else you would like to learn.” He would say with a stern face as he would wait.

WC:400/2,300

Rocks just don't disappear, or perhaps they do when shinobi are around. Satomi looked around quizzically for a moment, trying to figure out if he dropped half of his stone while he hopped about with excitement or perhaps that it decided being broken once was enough for the day. Eventually his eyes fell on Miyamoto and his accomplished smile as he displayed the missing half of Satomi's stone. “You're fast!” A girlish squeal emanating from the child as he appeared to be awestruck.

Soon enough it was back to business, Satomi perking up as his teacher laid out a new set of instructions. So he wasn't just going to scare off his bullies by shattering rocks? He eyed the two foot stone rod as he clutched his own half of the stone in his left hand, the child seeming a bit beside himself over the idea.

“Easy peasy~” Satomi chirped. He would nonetheless to perform as expected, even with his reservations. He seemed to be fully invested in his teaching as mimicked Miyamoto's previous motions once more, each building block he was taught coming together for this moment as he collected his chakra and with a stroke of genius forged his very own rather impressive stone instrument of bludgeoning. The expression on his face wasn't one of triumph however, not this time. He seemed rather unhappy with the two foot of stone in his hand. Truth be told, he didn't much careful physical confrontation. Much preferring to avoid harm to himself or others if he could, leading to his hang-up just a bit before performing the technique. Even so, there was always the intimidation factor to think about and think about it he did. An almost wolfish grin, the kind an Inuzuka would be almost be proud of, stretched across his face as he too gave the cane a mightly slam onto the ground. However anything worth doing well is worth overdoing as he summoning additional chakra to the stone cane, the two feet of rock and aggregate expanding skyward to stand nearly as tall as 4'1” tall frame after borrowing a little extra earth from the ground. “Ta-da~” Satomi continued to grin, waiting to see what his new teacher thought.

After a time however signs weariness began to shadow and Satomi had to admit that he was beginning to feel peckish. Not to mention his father was probably freaking out in the kitchen again without him there to help out, so perhaps it was the best that training ended for the day. He did have one concern however. Miyamoto's momentary contemplation earlier didn't go unnoticed by Satomi, clearly there was something on his mind and being a curious young soul that he was, Satomi couldn't pass up the opportunity to be nosy.

“Mr. Miyamoto? Before. You fell silent for a moment.” He began, almost whispering as he was unsure if it was his place to ask. “What were you thinking about? I hope I didn't do anything wrong.”

Miyamoto watched as his student was able to perform the technique without breaking a sweat. He was moved that there was such a mind out there that could grasp ninjutsu as quick as Satomi did. When the kid was able to reproduce the cane in exact length as Miyamoto’s it made him nod in confirmation to his student that he was proud. The look on young Satomi’s face though troubled him a bit. Again he was brought to remember the first few times of actual confrontation. He did what he had to do in order to be the best, but he did not enjoy doing so...bringing pain was something he never wanted to do. He had to do what he has to do in order to make it as a shinobi. Satomi pushed more chakra into the rod to make it extend to a whopping four feet made him chuckle a bit.

“Now how is someone who is just new to the style planning to wield such a tool…” Miyamoto said with a chuckle before standing up and placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“This technique will help make you look strong, and when you are actually confronted...you can defend yourself. Even if you do not want confrontation, you must always anticipate it. You are naturally attuned to the earth and as such you hold inside you immense strength of body and mind. Always remember that.” Miyamoto tried to reassure Satomi.

Miyamoto then heard Satomi begin to speak about how Miyamoto fell silent. His inquiry was genuine and as such Miyamoto would answer him. He walked over to grab his cloak as he slipped it on before looking to Satomi and smiling.

“Let’s get you home, it is getting late. And my silence should not be anything to worry about, I to want to become stronger. I was thinking of a technique I have been studying. The Shadow Clone technique. If I were to be able to use that technique it would make my training simply much easier.” Miyamoto would explain.
“If you are able to do the following combination of hand seals while maintaining complete chakra control…”Miyamoto said as he began to perform the hand seals for the technique.
“Then you should be able to split your available pool of chakra to create a perfect clone of yourself that you can then use it for recon, training techniques, or whatever you see fit and the moment you deem necessary to cancel out the technique then you learn whatever knowledge the clone has gathered. It is an advanced technique that requires a lot of study and practice. One day I will teach it to you if you are lucky.” Miyamoto explained heavily as he continued to walk with his student. The sun was beginning to set over the horizon.

In his head he was constantly going through the actual processes of what his clone would do and how he could execute it flawlessly. It was as if he was on auto-pilot as he would move about being more or less shown the way to Satomi’s home as he would train his chakra inside. The entire night had been in preparation for the eventual reveal of the technique to himself. Using Satomi as a way to exercise some excess chakra from his body while forcing his head to do two things at once.

“When we do meet again I will teach you more so that you will be able to pass your Genin exams in a flash. Also know that from here on out if you wish to learn from me you will have to visit the Earth Chakra school that is located near the water gardens. You won’t be able to miss it, and I can always be found there should you need me. Who knows I may become your future team leader for missions.” Miyamoto said with a slight grin.

Throughout the rest of the walk Miyamoto would remain quiet unless he was actually spoken to. He would try to answer any and all of Satomi’s questions unless they became to personal, but the break from the usual training to teach the next generation...even if the next generation was not much younger than he was...it was like a breath of fresh air.

WC: 730/3,030

A bit of an embarrassed giggle escaped from him as his teacher question just how he expected to use his new rock staff. A completely valid point of course, one that he of course didn't have an answer for as he hadn't exactly thought ahead. Regardless he would plant the end of the stone rod into the ground hard enough to allow it to stand on its own as the two, taking to heart his teacher's words as the two of them accompanied each other towards home. Satomi would listen respectfully as Miyamoto shared his own desire to grow and become a stronger shinobi. It was really awe-inspiring for the child student, the path to greatness leading so far ahead of him and no end in sight. He knew it would be a long and hard journey and it only put a bounce in his step as he kept pace with his teacher, excited to face that challenge head on with that big gap-toothed smile of his. He became even more interested in the chuunin's words right around the time 'shadow clone' was mentioned. An ability to create a perfect copy of yourself that you could physically interact with? From what he remembered from a demonstration on the first day of class, the normal clone jutsu could only be used for decoy and distractions and couldn't be interacted with in any way. Shadow Clones sounded way more advanced!

“S—So do you think you could teach me that jutsu too?” The eager student grinned as he practically trembled with excitement. “You know-- I guess, after I'm a genin?” Satomi beamed, practically skipping now as strolled through the village streets. It appeared that even after training there was still a little energy left in reserve for this spunky student.

Following Miyamoto's response, the rest of the trip was cast in a considerate silence as Satomi noted his teacher again showing the same sign of self-thought as before. It wouldn't be too long before the pair would reach a particularly homely, but busy restaurant: Takatoshi Teppanyaki. While it wasn't home, it would be the place Satomi would spend most evenings in the kitchen with his father serving up the best grilled dishes in all of Hoshigakure—then again that was just Satomi's totally unbiased opinion. And it would be there that he would part ways with a cheerful wave and adieu, only time would tell what the future held for the two.

Miyamoto heard Satomi speak up again asking if Miyamoto could teach him once he becomes Genin. With a chuckle Miyamoto reached out and ruffled Satomi’s hair a bit before he finally answered him.

“As long as you are willing to learn, when you are strong enough I will show you. However for now before you go how about I show you how it is done?” He would say, knowing that he was going to try and perform the technique on the spot then and there.

Performing the seal needed for the clone technique Miyamoto would push his Chakra to its limit as he would attempt the technique. For a few seconds it was as if nothing was going to happen, but Miyamoto and his tenacious demeanor did not give up as he called upon his reserved natural chakra until he finally felt that everything was in place.

“Shadow Clone Jutsu!” He said triumphantly as a great and sudden plume of smoke emanated from Miyamoto’s location.

When the smoke cleared there were two Miyamoto’s standing before Satomi. Both looked at the young kid with a triumphant smile on their faces as they raised their right arm in the air to signify that they had succeeded.

“This is the Shadow Clone Jutsu...one perfect copies of the user with the ability to eventually make one more for a grand total of two.” They said in unison before finally having Miyamoto cancel the technique.

Miyamoto smiled one last time as he looked up at the restaurant sign above them. He gave Satomi a wave before turning his back to take his leave. As he did he seemed to blend into the darkness as he stood away from any street lamps.

“Will see you next time Satomi, enjoy your evening.” He said from the darkness as his voice trailed off.

WC:310/3,340

[EXIT]

Claiming: Shadow Clone 2,250 due to max stats, and 1,090 towards Iron Fortress

Approved.