Ninjutsu - what an abhorrently arrogant phrase. It made commoners believe that the ninja had somehow created the art and that everyone else who used it was in fact simply copying them. Akane knew this to be what it was, absolute shite. Ninja defiantly used it to be sure but they were not the first and she was damn sure that they would not be the last.

Certain animals were already well versed in the ways of chakra manipulation in the beginning of time. The famous sages : snake , frog and myriad others could not only shift their body shape but also possessed numerous skills that but for the animals own generosity people could only dream off.

Akane had been to a ninja academy for a little while and she had hated every single minute of it. It was not that the teachers were a bunch of patronizing ass-holes (though they most certainly were) or the fact that the students were vindictive little bastards who attempted (Stupidly) to get a rise out of her (Though they most certainly were as well).  It was the fact that the entire deal felt so wretchedly forced.

Chakra existed primarily in nature and thus Akane reasoned that those who took themselves into the sterile ninja academy were doing themselves a massive disservice. She had heard that Konohagaukre was surrounded in a massive forest. Why when they had something so grand on their doorstep did they even bother to erect a box with which to cage themselves in?

Walls were not alive in the same way as trees. Desks and tables did not pulse with the vitality of moss and vines. Wasn’t it just easier to simply mesh with the energy around one than to isolate your own energy and focus it?

Now Akane had found herself a nice waterfall. She extended an arm into the  roaring torrent and was satisfied that the cold was enough to cause Goosebumps all over her body. She stripped what clothes she had off till she was stark naked and then proceeded to sit herself under the large pressure of the waterfall.  Akane was not entirely sure as to why doing such things were good for spiritual training but she knew that monks and shamans tended to do this kind of thing quite a lot and that was good enough for her.  

While she knew that her people had a running feud with Buddhist monks Akane herself did not mind the quiet scholarly individuals mostly because they largely kept to themselves and did not cause a lot of trouble. Sometimes they even gave her donations of food and coin when she was begging on the side of the road.  This was in her opinion a hell of a lot better than the kicks and spit that were also aimed at her. So she closed her eyes and started to  attempt meditation. Akane was familiar with the fact that sages from other schools could meditate to regain their own chakra but those were people who didn’t have the passive nature chakra absorption like she did. However that was only for her senjutsu. This was for what she thought of as spell craft the act of turning regular chakra into phenomena that could be used to influence the world around her.


Akane didn’t quite know how to separate the two. After all the world around her and her own innate abilities were not so different. This was probably what the ninjas did when they isolated themselves from the forests. They attempted to split their chakra from that of nature. She now had a better idea of why she was different. Maybe she could just mix the two after all there was no real barrier between masteries but the one perceived in the minds of men. Everything was after all part of the same world and thus in some way linked .

Akane would not forget all she knew about Senjutsu to learn about ‘Ninjutsu’ but instead she would combine what she had into a better whole that was much easier to work with. The waterfalls pressure seemed to almost lessen somewhat as she came to the realisation. Perhaps it was merely that her body was adapting to the pressure or perhaps it was a sign that she was indeed on the right track with her thoughts. She certainly hoped it was the latter because she didn’t want to spend a billion years out here looking for enlightenment like some of the older monks.

753/1500 words

About an hour later Akane removed herself from the waterfalls strong and constant embrace. She decided it was time to attempt some 'magic' of her own. She knew the basic techniques from the ninja academy such as substitution and shadow clone. The instructors took it as a personal point of pride that even the savage girl from out in the wilds could learn the basics under their tutelage .

So to kick off her practice she started to make a few shadow clones. She was a bit rusty and the first couple of them were a tad rough around the edges appearing more as gross parodies of her than an actual visual replicate of her form. Some had legs that were too short others were tall and reed thin whereas some just looked like the offspring of clowns and impressionist art.

However after several attempts she finally got things mostly right (She also reasoned that since she was able to shift her form so freely that the clones of course would could afford to be a little different....)
Next was substitution. She had picked up how to do the technique but really it was more by feeling it through instinct rather than actually knowing what was done. In the end she didn’t quite understand whether she had just sped up considerably or she had actually used chakra in order to teleport her body from one spot to another or if it was just that the jutsu sped her up so that her body took her there in an immensely rapid movement. It didn’t matter either way really as they pretty much boiled down to the same thing which was that whatever was being thrown at her hit the item she left behind instead of actually smacking into her which in her books was useful enough to be considered worth learning.
However this was not really what she was coming here for. She was here to do training and with techniques that did some real damage. The kind that set things on fire and made people run for the goddamn hills when you preformed them. She had always wanted to spew fire over those who attacked her and she was sure that if she reached just a little deeper inside herself that she could find the power to do so. She took a deep breath and began to hold it deep inside her chest. The pain of strain began to impose it’s unwelcome self upon her but she bore the pain without complaint. She needed to break a barrier here and pushing herself was an important way to do that. Something began to spark and she was pretty sure that it was not the cords that held her lungs together fraying and snapping – well at least she hoped. Then again even if they did she just supposed that she would simply heal herself over with transformation. And then she exhaled in a motion that was part sneeze part breath weapon and part gasp for sweet , sweet air. The grass in front of her began to do a mixture of petrification setting on fire and simply disintegrating under the force of her attack. Well that was something she guessed. Not exactly what one could call an elegant attack but it shure as hell would hurt anyone who was caught in the middle of it.
She remembered back to her academy days again. When it came to practising Katon Jutsu she had always been moved from the rest of the class even though she had never really been taught what the hell to do. The damn teachers had probably gotten wet feet about teaching her anything that was actually dangerous. This started to raiser her ire again and another gout of flame shot out and singed the ground in front of her. It wasn’t a jutsu and indeed she would have been told off for lack of control as the effects were by no means considered consistent and ready for a precision fight involving highly trained killers set against each other in combat. It was something that she could work with however and thus she wound begin to develop it into something that would meet her needs. After all she didn’t know anyone else who could turn others to stone with their breath and at the same time burn. She was also rather sure that what she could do would be stronger than the attacks of others as she didn’t merely use her own wells but the store of the entire world.

1513/1500 words Ninjutsu D-C