[Now then, we need to start you on medical studies. First basic anatomy.]
"Ahhh, okay," said Hinata, not sure how she was supposed to handle any of this.
"So, what can something I can hold in one hand teach me?" asked Sakura, looking down at the object on the table.
[Per the Hokage's instructions, I am to teach you some basic chakra control exercises. First, leaf floating. Then we proceed to tree climbing and then waterwalking. After that, water skating.]
"Right," said Sakura, adopting a wait-and-see attitude.
"-but I have no talent for genjutsu or ninjutsu," protested Rock Lee.
[That still leaves kenjutsu, specialized weapon techniques, poisons, seal work, and taijutsu.]
"I see, so you are not stating that I cannot be a ninja?" asked the seven year old boy.
[There is almost always a work-around. Let us find out how well you can do with a sword.]
One year later:
"Iruka, your assessment?" asked the Hokage, taking his seat with a few of the concerned clan heads present. Most efficient dissemination of information, and it should put down at least a few of those rumors.
"Alphabetic order?" asked Iruka.
"Whatever order you wish," stated the Hokage.
"Haruno, Sakura." Iruka checked his notes. "She's always been an exceptional student, her physical scores good to excellent. She's the best in test-taking and multi-tasking. With Jack's genjutsu-based training methods and her natural intelligence - she's done very well. She shows a natural aptitude for genjutsu, and has developed her own technique which is still being evaluated."
"Which is?" asked Inoichi Yamanaka.
"A distraction oriented genjutsu," answered Iruka. "Causes the feeling of a full bladder. Says she got the idea after watching Naruto rushing off to the bathroom during mutual training."
"Ah," said Inoichi, seeing the point. Something likely to occur anyway was always less likely to cause individuals to realize that they were under a genjutsu and dispel it.
"Hyuga, Hinata. She's one of the higher ranked students, though she seems to have some difficulties with memorization. She's not as quick with hand seals as Sakura, but her taijutsu is better. Due to clan duties and studies of her clan techniques, she has been only scheduled for one study period per week. Nonetheless, she's picked up the basics of being a medic-nin and developed some talent with a variant taijutsu style."
"That can't have gone over well with Hiashi," commented the Nara clan head.
"Lee, Rock," continued Iruka. "This was a deliberate problem student to test the capabilities of Jack's teaching. Lee has no talent for genjutsu or ninjutsu, having difficulty molding the chakra into the necessary form. He has developed technical proficiencies with several weapons, his taijutsu has developed well with two styles that he has the basics of. That's one of Jack's limitations, by the way. It can only teach basic proficiency in a skill."
"Yes, I heard that," said Inoichi. "The device can only start one on a path, the student must walk the path themselves."
"True," said Iruka. "Uzumaki, Naruto. The longest training and exposure. Spear techniques, survival, several new ninjutsu. A curious blind spot with the bunshin no jutsu. He's not the most brilliant student, but has shown good improvement."
"Go back to that 'new' ninjutsu," said Inoichi.
"He has the Field Five, though his 'Phantom Light' tends to dissipate and have erratic light levels," said Iruka. "The new jutsu he's managed to learn have been oriented towards 'pranks' and attention getting."
"Go figure," grumbled several individuals in the room.
"So, they're useless?" asked Inoichi.
"No," said Iruka. "One, a water-based technique, causes water to become extremely slippery."
"Oh kami," said Shikaku Nara, picturing how the boy could use that in pranks.
"Another jutsu causes a punch to produce a blast of wind for striking at a distance. Right now it's only a medium range ability because it diffuses as it goes out."
Shikaku kept his face covered as he pictured the boy using the two in tandem to prank someone.
"There's also some minor jutsu he hasn't gotten working right quite yet," said Iruka. "A barrier of wind, a sword, and a speed boost."
"Well, he's just turned seven," pointed out Inoichi. "He has time."
"True," said Shikaku. "I just hope he stays too busy with his studies to put these new talents to use in those pranks of his."
"The pranks were likely to draw attention to himself as he was shunned by the village," said the Hokage. "Now that he's getting attention, I would expect him to be less prone to such things."
(Posted Fri, 29 Jun 2012 16:29)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.