Fire was a beautiful thing. It could be used to bring life to a place and it could be used, just as easily and much more efficiently, to take it away. It could kill, and at the same time bring about new life. There was nothing more pure than Fire, and fire was something that was intertwined with the Sarutobi Clan. The Sarutobi's mastery of fire was the stuff of legends, and Sarutobi Mitsuo would be no exception.

Mitsuo was attemting to master one of the Jutsus that made people fear the Sarutobi's fire, the Katon: Haisekishō, or Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning Jutsu. This was a jutsu where you exhaled what appeared to be a smoke screen, though appearances are only that. What the smoke-ash is truly made up of is gunpowder, and it is highly flammable. Even the slightest spark would set it off, making extremely dangerous to the opponent and, if he isn't properly trained, the user of this Jutsu. The ash was also extremely light, meaning the slighest bit of a wrong wind could send it blowing back into the user's face.

Mitsuo had been looking forward to learning this jutsu for a long time. He had seen it's destructive power before when Konohagakure was under attack by an powerful assailent. He didn't know the name of this nin but what he saw that day shocked him. His father, his peace loving father, took to the field of battle, expelling a cloud of ash into the air. He watched as it engulfed two enemy nin and watched his father bite down on the flint in his teeth (a practice that Mitsuo had taken to copying), watching as the cloud ignited and burned the two nin in an instant.

He stepped onto the river, not wanting to burn any of the trees around the village at risk of starting a fire. He had been training this Jutsu for a week and was only really able to do the same thing he had been able to do before, a similar jutsu called Katon: Kasumi Enbu. He was having trouble wrapping his mind around the idea of creating gunpowder from his chakra, knowing that this would take a concentrated amount of chakra and a very unusual form of chakra molding before he was able to exhale. He took his stance on the river, forming the horse seal with his hands and beginning to focus his chakra.

After the training I did to get my Fūton: Shinkūha down I shouldn't have much trouble with this one, eh nii-san? And it's a fire style, it's a part of each Sarutobi. That being said though, I shouldn't get too ahead of myself. That other technique was a Futon, and that's my best element...

Mitsuo smiled to himself and, with a determined look on his face, began to inhale, building up chakra in the back of his throat and preparing to expell it out in front of him. He made sure the wind wasn't coming towards him as he breathed out and applied his fire chakra to it, creating a small smokescreen. When he saw the smoke he got excited and bit down on his flint.

K-TCH

(557/2000)

When nothing happened he knew he hadn't been able to mould the chakra properly. He should have ignited the ash instantly. He was a little upset when he realized that he was, quite literally, blowing smoke. "Damnit!" he cried out, barely able to contain his frustrations. He started to lose focus and realized that he was becoming unstable on the water, taking a second to relax himself and stopping himself from falling in.

He sighed and retook his stance, rebuilding his chakra in his throat and preparing to try it again. He decided to  try something different with his chakra this time. He focused on controlling his chakra at a steady rate, adding his fire element to it and picturing the form it would take in his mind. As it started to leave his mouth he began to raise the chakra level, noticing that the smoke looked more like ash this time. He pushed it out too fast though and lost it, the entire cloud dissipating in the air.

He shook his head, not entirely sure why he couldn't figure this out, but knowing he was getting closer. After failing again he took a small break and sat by the river, thinking back on his previous training with his father in the Katon element...

I walk into the training ground, my father, Sarutobi Tatsuo, standing in the middle and awaiting my arrival. I am fourteen years old, my hair is shoulder length and unkempt and my glasses constantly slide down my nose. My brother stands off to the side, practicing sealing from some old scrolls mother had left behind before her passing. He always manages to get these things so much quicker than I do. I look up to my father, who is tall and broad, his hair short and cropped and his glasses attached to a chain to keep them on his head. His mustache is well groomed above his lip and he smiles softly at me as I approach.

My father has decided that it is time for me to learn one of the things the Sarutobi clan is most well known for, how to control his Katon element. Father was a little upset when he had first learned that I was a natural Fuuton user with a minor affinity for Katon, but he had decided that he would train me in Katon no matter what.

"The Will of Fire is something that is inside all Sarutobi, little Mitsuo." I hate when my father calls me that, for some reason it has always bothered me. "It is something that we are very proud of, and it helps to make our Katon very strong. It is something that I am going to teach you to tap into and draw strength from my son. It will help you in the future and in achieving your goals. Never forget about it, for it is the second most important thing in the village. Second only to the thing that you will be protecting."

Father forms a tiger seal and stands concentrating, telling me to do the same. "The tiger seal is known to be the basis for many fire jutsus, little Mitsuo. It will help you to build and concentrate your fire element. You must feel the chakra burning inside of you, allowing it to burn hot and bright like the Will of Fire. When you feel as thought you are prepared, and you will know instinctively as a Sarutobi when you are ready, expel your chakra and add your fire element to it. If you do it right" He breathes in deeply, filling his lungs with chakra and expelling it all as a massive fireball. scorching the ground in front of where he is standing. "Well the result is quite obvious, eh Mitsuo?"

(1192/2000)

Mitsuo never did get that jutsu down, he still couldn't do it despite a long time of trying. The one he was attempting to learn today was much more difficult as well, but he was determined to learn it because it would help him greatly in the exams ahead. His father had managed to teach Mitsuo another Katon jutsu when he was younger, and when he did his happiness was extremely apparent...

I am fifteen years old now, it is a few months after my first Katon training attempt with my father, and I still haven't been able to figure it out. He looks more and more dissapointed with each failed Katon jutsu. He shakes his head in disapproval and walks out onto the field one more time.

"Alright Little Mitsuo, let's try something different today..." I don't like upsetting father, he always tries to do what's best for me, even if he's not necessarily right all the time. He takes me into a clearing in the trees, an area where there wasn't much wind and makes me stand beside him, facing so that the two of us are standing with our backs to the wind. He breathes deep and then exhales, my nose starts to itch from the smell and I'm not entirely sure what kind of gas he is releasing into the air. When he is done he bites down onto the flint that he always keeps in his mouth.

K-TCH

I watch in amazment as the air ignites with flame, the gas apparently being extremely flammable. "This jutsu is called the Misty Flame Dance, Little Mitsuo. It is very similar to the Ash Pile Burning jutsu, though much less powerful. You don't need to make any hand signs, all you need to do is convert the chakra into a gas in your throat. I believe that you can do it son. Just picture the gas in your head and concentrate on adding your fire element to your chakra in your mouth." He smiles at me for the first time in a while, his trademark smirk showing up again as he tells his me that I can do it.

I look back at him and face down wind again, breathing in deeply and focusing my chakra in my throat. I know that I can do this part, I have done it many times in the past. I feel it building up and begin to add my fire element to it, picturing the gas in my head. When it converts I begin trying to exhale it but feel my head beginning to get cloudy. I begin to cough, feeling all of the gas leaving my throat and lungs, but not in its gaseous form. I collapse to the ground and my father rushes over to help me back up, but I don't let him, moving his hands away from me and standing by myself, finishing off coughing and taking a deep breath once more.

This time as I add my fire element to the chakra I feel it turn into gas in my mouth. I am determined to perform this Jutsu properly, for my father's sake and to make my mother proud. She would have been happy to know I had learned Father's katon element. I couldn't let them down. I slightly more quickly pushed the chakra from my mouth, feeling the gas slip past my lips and goign until it was all expelled from my mouth. When I finish I look up to my father, who bites down on his flint.

K-TCH

When it ignites I feel a surge of prode better than any I have ever felt in the past. My father hugs me close to him and tells me that he is proud of me. This is the first time I have ever been able to get my Katon element to respond and it turns out to be a jutsu that will save me several times. I thank my father for helping me and pass out, my chakra spent from the months of training...

Mitsuo remembered back to that day and smiled as he finished off his smoke, moving back onto the river to try at least once more. He had to at least give it one more shot before turning in, of for no other reason than for his father's sake. He would make his father proud again, like he was on that day. As he prepared to give his final attempt he saw, standing across the river from him, his father, dressed in his full Konoha nin getup, hair still short but grey now instead of its old black, and Mustache still neat as ever. He smiled at his son before speaking.

"Well, little Mitsuo, are you going to show me what you've learned?" Mitsuo can't help but chuckle at the words. He always enjoyed it when his father called him that, as it took him back to better times. He inhaled deeply and formed a horse seal below his chin, moulding the chakra in his throat before releasing it as a stream of ash. As he saw the ash fill the air in front of him in a thick but light cloud he got excited, keeping his steady rate and expelling all of the built up chakra before biting down on his flint once more.

K-TCH!

When the cloud ignited it was a spectacular explosion, and Mitsuo knew that he had finally gotten the right mixture. He had managed to create the gunpowder in mis mouth and properly expell it into the air, controlling where it was moving to with the wind. He smiled and watched as his father walked across the river towards him, moving up close and smiling himself before embrassing his son.

"I knew you could do it, son. You're going to make Konoha and the Sarutobi clan proud at the Chuunin exams, Mitsuo, I know it." He could have stood in his father's embrase all day, his chest swelling with pride the entire time. Nothing could ever take this moment from him, one of the greatest moments of his young shinobi life.

(2247/2000)