Training in Wood

"Good good," Ashi nodded with the apathy of one not really paying attention. "Ya know what?"

The woman waited till the boy had given her his full attention. She, much like anyone else, did not enjoy being ignored. Plus, the boy probably wanted to hear what she had to say.

"How about we take a break?"

Constant use of chakra could tire one out pretty quickly. Ashi knew that better than most as she'd spent a large majority of her life dealing with the mystical energy. And, of course, taking breaks during work was important for the mind as well.

"So, what do you think so far?"



[How many words do you have so far?]

(if I start from when Atarashī gave you the definition of wood release then I'm up to 741 words. counting this I have 823 words)

Atarashī clenched his fist and started shaking as if he were about to panic. "Um, I... I-I don't know. I'm not good at describing myself. If I try and play up what I did people will think I'm arrogant. If I down play what I did people will become annoyed. If I tell the truth people will think I'm doing one of the two, so I try to avoid talking about myself. Did I do something wrong? Is that why we're stopping?"

[You can just count the whole thread. So, you need ~200 more words till you can claim the wood element.]

A chuckle that sounded as if it came from a larger person than the slight Hokage, issued from Ashi's throat.

"No, no," she said calming her laugh with a few breaths. "If you did something wrong I would have told you, trust me on that. It would do neither you nor I any good if I just allowed you to continue doing something incorrectly or wrong."

She paused for a moment and collected her thoughts. The former anbu had never been good with talking about feelings and this conversation had taken a turn down that way rather abruptly. That said, she wouldn't be deterred from offering her advice.

"Don't worry so much about what others think though. You won't get very far doing that, focus on yourself."

Oh dear, she was a horrible motivational speaker.

"I try sometimes, but it makes me seem inconsiderate."

Ashi shrugged like a person who'd heard the same excuse over and over again only for the response to lose its novelty. People loved to put barriers in front of what they wanted and should be doing. It was nothing against the boy in front of her. In fact, he might be able to take comfort in the idea that he is 'just like everybody else'. Some people liked that kind of thing, the Inuzuka never truly understood why, but it wasn't her job correct others. She could and would point in the right direction, but would never go so far as to push someone down a certain path.

"So," she spat out a little more forcefully than she intended owing to her tendency to shy away from feelings. "Tell me what you learned today."

A simple request, but also an important one. If the boy retained nothing from the training thus far than they had accomplished nothing. Learning required the ability to retain concepts after all.

"I've learned how to manifest wood release chakra. I've also learned that my chakra has strange effects on wood that I infuse with it. Though I'm beginning to doubt whether I actually learned that based on you reactions to what I've been doing."

A slim proud smile spread across Ashi's face. He had learned something, that was a good step in the right direction. Was he a master of the element? No, not by a long shot, but the boy was leaps and bound ahead of where he started. With time, however, he would no doubt grow to be stronger and more knowledgeable. Such was the power of time.

"Don't doubt yourself; you did well. In time you'll get better, but you have a good start here. Now all you have to do is build on it and you'll be a fully-fledged Senju in no time."

Perhaps constructive praise was the right way to go about this? She wasn't too sure. It was worth a try though. If the boy had any more questions then Ashi would be more than willing to answer them to the best of her ability. That said, she felt they had reached the limit of her ability to guide the boy in regards to the wood element, it was up to him now.

"Thank you. I apologize for using your valuable time."

"No need to apologize," Ashi gave a shallow bow to the boy out of habit. "That said, I am afraid I will have to take my leave of you now."

In the distance, the loud barking had disappeared into nothingness. That, to Ashi anyway, was more than a bit worrying. Either it meant Chai had caught the cat or that he had wandered deeper into the village. Both required the woman to catch up with the large hound. Chai wouldn't cause needless trouble, but most people didn't know that.

"Until next time," she cast a friendly smile towards the Senju. "Keep up the training!"

With that, the woman bound off into the crowd eliciting a few yelps of surprise at the sudden appearance of the Hokage. It was like people had never seen a kage before, strange. Oh, well; they'd get used it sooner or later.

[Exit]

(It was fun threading with you. Sorry again about the delayed replies!)

As Atarashī walks home he looks at his right hand. The tips of his fingers seem a little discolored from the transference of the wood release chakra through his hand. He tucks his hand away and hurries home to ask his dad what's going on. On the way home the discoloration disappears. When Atarashī gets home he shows his father that he's started to get the hang of wood release. His father is surprised when he sees the strange tree that Atarashī made. Atarashī asks what the tree is and why his hand turns black at the point of contact when he transfers the wood release chakra into the normal tree to make the strange tree.

(1000 words at least. Thank you. I also thought this was fun. It's alright, I know you have other more important things than me. I'm confused though. doesn't it take 4000 words to unlock a nature release. I don't know if you teaching me counts for the half word count prerequisite since you don't have wood release, but even if you did count, wouldn't it take 2000 words for this to work? the reason I ask is because a few posts back when I said I'd written about 823 words you said "you need ~200 more words till you can claim the wood element." Did you forget? Did I miss something? Did I do something wrong? I don't know what's going on)