Gin sighed, running a hand through her hair and leaning against one of the trees that were lined up against the Naka River of Konoha. It had only been a couple of hours since she had arrived at the village. She wasn't tired, though. Travelling with a bunch of Genin pretty much ensured more rest than usual for her. Hell, she'd even slept more than she usually did back in Sunagakure! Even despite the guard duty she had to do, she slept for at least 5 hours on each day. She was both glad and relieved. However, she had several matters to attend to. And first thing's first! She had a certain person that she had to deal with; one of her students. She had been Ezra's Sensei even before she became Kazekage. He had been with her ever since he graduated from the Academy, though that hadn't been long ago. And finally, he was able to participate in the Chuunin exams as one of the competitors. She had been fairly confident in his abilities, even going far enough to send him over to Konoha practically on his own. However, she regretted it now. Upon hearing that he had lost the fight to one of the Genin from Kiri, she didn't know what to think. Should she have gone with him? Should she have trained him more before the exams? She didn't have the time, however. Her duties as Kazekage consumed most of her day, every single day. She had no choice.

Nevertheless, the young Kazekage had a chance to make up for her absence now. Her duties in Konoha were purely diplomatic, which meant that she now had more time on her hands. She could help Ezra with his training. "And I might as well test out a couple of jutsu while I'm at it," She thought. She had a couple of ideas that she had yet to fully develop. She might as well test it out on her student. She wanted to teach herself how to walk on air effectively, figuring that she could use the higher ground to her advantage in any fight, not to mention the evasive maneuvers that she would be able to pull off if she got the jutsu to work. The other technique that she wanted to try out revolved around her use of Kenjutsu. It was a simple, yet effective technique. She was sure that she would be able to master it quickly enough. Now all she had to do was wait for the boy. She had sent someone to get him and tell him to come to the Naka River to meet with his Sensei. The message was sweet and simple. All the young Kazekage had to do now was wait for Ezra to arrive.

[468/2000]

Ezra got the message to meet his sensei, the Kazekage at the Naka River. This came as a huge surprise to him as he didn’t even know she had arrived yet. ‘Oh man. No doubt she heard of my loss in the first round. I wonder how she’s going to react.’ he said as he picked up the pace and changed his route toward the Naka River.

Luckily Ezra was not far from the Naka River when he got the message; he was there in a matter of five short minutes. From a distance he reluctantly called out to Gin. “Oi! Sensei!” As he continued walking toward her Ezra threw his hands above and around his head as if he were relaxing which he was actually trying to. He had never let Gin down before; well he never got a chance too up until now. ‘This is it.’ he thought as he came within ten feet of her. ‘I hope my punishment is swift.’ He thought expecting the worst. Ezra obviously didn't know his Sensei or did he?

[178/1000]

Gin stared at Ezra as he approached her. Her expression was blank and cold. When he called out to her, the young Kazekage only stood up straight. For a moment, she wondered how, exactly, she would go about this training session. But in the meantime, she would speak to Ezra. "You lost," She began by stating the obvious, not even bothering to greet him before hand. "You're the only representative that Sunagakure has in the exams, you know why that is, don't you?" She asked. She didn't really give him time to answer before she continued to speak. "It's because you were the only one who I thought was ready to take the exam." She explained. She sighed and ran a hand through her silver hair. She looked annoyed and borderline pissed off. "And you still lost. Do you know how that reflects on the entire village, Ezra?" She asked. Her tone was chilling, almost cruel. She cracked her knuckles, readying herself for the training session that was about to begin. She placed the empty scabbard that she always carried on the ground, by the foot of the tree that she had been leaning against before. "I'm sure you know by now what to expect from this little meeting," She said as she got into a basic stance. "But unless it wasn't clear before, this is a training session. I have a couple of new techniques that I want to try out and you'll be my guinea pig," She stated simply. "Now show me what you can do."

[726/2000]

Ezra dropped his arms to his sides as the Kazekage opened her mouth. “You lost,” Those two simple words made Ezra wince. He already knew what his Sensei was going to say after that because he had already given himself that same small lecture 100 times after the fight. It depressed him to no end but it was amazing fuel for training and every other similar ordeal he would face in the future. The absolute worst part of the lecture was that he had let his village down and made them look weak. He loved his village and would put his life on the line for it and everyone there. He was proud to say he was from Suna but was the rest of Suna proud of him? He knew he tried his best but it just wasn’t enough. His eyes started to water as he put his head down and looked at the headband and village plate tied around his left arm. Two small, salty tears then came down his face, one out of each eye. They stung his face as they ran down. He said nothing to the Kazekage or rather he couldn’t say anything. In all honesty he was a little choked up. Ezra was a bit too sensitive when it came to stuff like this.

Gin then told him he was going to be her guinea pig for a couple of new techniques and to show her what he can do so Ezra wiped the tears from his cheeks and got into a deep and strong stance very much unlike his usual bouncy fighting stance. “This next round in the Chuunin Exams will not be a repeat performance, Sensei.” He said with a small smile peering out from his now red and puffy face.

He weaved some signs feeling his chakra coursing around his body and shouted “Doom Dome!” The ground rumbled a bit under them which indicated to Ezra he needed to practice this technique more if he wanted to use it effectively. The technique was supposed to be a smooth earth style trap. Smooth among earth release techniques was often unheard of unless the technique involved pits. For this technique to truly be called a trap it would have to go off with no indication it was coming besides the chakra being released from Ezra's body.

Since the technique didn’t go as planned Ezra canceled it and then shot backwards with a long jump that carried him back horizontally more than it did vertically to maximize the space between him and the Kazekage.

[607/1000]

Gin's harsh expression softened as she saw Ezra fix his gaze on the ground. She thought for a moment that maybe she had been to hard on him, that he already knew that his skills hadn't been up to par with that of his opponent. She soon reconsidered, though. Ezra needed someone who could push him to his limit so that he could grow stronger. He didn't really need compassion. He needed someone strict to guide him towards what needed to be done. She couldn't afford to be soft on him now. If he was successful, however, she would likely treat him to dinner. The young Kazekage had faith in her student. She knew that if he was taught right, he would become a very successful shinobi. And that's where her job came in. She stood in her defensive stance, waiting for him to make his first move. Her eyes narrowed and her face turned harsh once again. "For your own good, the next round better not end up the same way as the first," She answered him.

The young Kazekage watched carefully as her student began to perform his technique. The ground began to rumble underneath her feet, filling the air with a low roaring noise. Perfect. This was just the situation she needed to try out one of her new techniques. The young woman concentrated chakra in the soles of her feet, enough to make her stand on water or walk on a tree. Just the right amount that she would need to stand on air, or so she thought. Gin leaped into the air, only a few meters above the ground. "Wind Style: Solid Air" She shouted. Gin gathered wind beneath her feet, enough so that she could form a flat surface for her to stand on. She smirked. "Did it on my first try, not bad." She thought.

Gin drew her attention at Ezra once again. He had cancelled the jutsu. She crossed her arms over her chest, staring at him. "You screwed up, I'm guessing," She said, not sounding too amused. "You know, you really should-" The young Kazekage was unable to finish her sentence. At that moment, a breeze blew past them, ruffling the leaves on the trees around and throwing her completely off balance. Gin struggled to regain stability and ultimately failed, falling quite ungracefully on the ground. Fortunately, she hadn't been standing too high up in the air. "Not a word," She said to Ezra, her voice slightly menacing. Truth be told, she was embarrassed.

[1149/2000]

Ezra marveled at the sensei in the sky. ‘Pretty.’ Ezra thought as the beautiful Kazekage reminded him of a disappointed angel. That angelic appearance didn’t last for long though. Due to a breeze Ezra was forced to watch his sensei fight a very small battle with Mother Nature. ‘Mother Nature – 1, Kazekage – 0.’ Ezra kept the thought to himself but he couldn’t hold back the huge grin that had crept on his face. At least the grin was holding back the laughter.

‘Not a word? Impossible.’ Impossible it was or almost was, at least for Ezra. He should not in good conscious let his sensei get off the hook so easily but he could, taking into account that he wouldn’t want to be destroyed. He decided not to say a word but he didn’t need words the silly grin on his face said it all. “You know, you really should what?” Ezra questioned in a silly and maybe mocking manner that happened to match the silly look on his face. His movements however were not as silly as he firmly weaved the signs needed for the doom dome once again. He was ready for another attempt at imprisoning the Kazekage in the earth release technique that he had been working pretty hard to develop.

[821/1000]

Gin narrowed her gaze at Ezra. She could easily tell that he was amused. But of course he was, she would have been to if she had been in his place. She still glared at him, though. The young Kazekage stood up from the ground and dusted herself off. She was sure that she would get it the next time she tried. She had aonly had a brief miscalculation because of her overconfidence. No matter. Now that she knew what had gone wrong, she was sure she could fix it. Air was unstable, more so than water. She had to keep altering the amount of chakra she expelled from her feet in order to keep herself stable, otherwise, a mere breeze might knock her out of the sky. In any case, she had to try again. Gin kept her eyes fixed on Ezra and took a deep breath. "I forgot what I was going to say, honestly," Gin said as she ran a hand through her long hair. "I could give you better pointers if you told me what this jutsu of yours does." However, Gin wouldn't wait for him to speak or try to attack again.

The young Kazekage got into a stance. She jumped in her place a couple of times to gain enough momentum to jump in the air. "I'll make it work this time," She said out loud before jumping into the air. She stood a only meter above the ground at first. She was testing to see if her theory was correct. In effect, as a gust of wind blew by, Gin expelled a little more chakra than she had before, gathering more wind at her feet in order to keep herself stable. She smirked, now gaining enough confidence in her technique. The silver haired woman jumped higher into the air several times until she was eight meters above Ezra. She stood directly above him and smiled widely. "Might as well show off for a bit," She thought. And with that in mind, Gin began to move around the air gracefully, doing several back flips and front flips while she was at it. All the while, she moved around Ezra in circles. "I told you I'd get it soon enough," She said, channeling chakra into one of her hands in order to keep herself on a handstand. Gin grinned widely and soon returned to a standing position.

She let herself drop a few meters, but still kept some of her high ground as she stood in front of Ezra. She placed a hand on the hilt of her blade and smirked. She slowly drew Naiya from its scabbard and narrowed her eyes at Ezra once again. "And now that that's over, time to get started on the next technique," She said. All of the amusement she had before was gone from her voice. She sounded serious - almost threatening, really. "Let me show you just a bit of what I can really do," She said, all the while keeping her gaze fixed on Ezra. She sank into a stance while still holding her ground at one meter above the earth beneath her. She held her sword with one hand, pointing it directly at Ezra. They stood at a somewhat close proximity, enough so that this new jutsu of hers could affect him. Gin extended her other hand in front of her and closed her eyes for a very brief moment. "Heaven Style: Flash of Light!" She yelled. She felt the flow of her own chakra within her body and concentrated a slight portion of it in her finger. As she opened her eyes, a blinding flash of light surrounded the area. Gin, of course, was unaffected by it. The ray of light was made by her own chakra, after all.

The young Kazekage would take advantage of the blinding light. She would use it to cloak herself from Ezra's gaze as she moved towards the young Genin. She sped up as she ran towards him. As she approached Ezra, she wouldn't aim to stab him. No, she didn't want to harm him. That would only hinder his chances to get to Chuunin. There was no point in actually wounding him. But she could give him a nice scare. She would aim her sword just slightly above his shoulder, barely missing him. If she succeeded, she would let her blade linger there for a few moments before stepping away from him and letting herself drop to the ground. If she didn't succeed, she would leap backwards to create space between the two so that she could try to attack him once again. She would hold her stance and wait for him to react.

However, the training was practically over. Actually, it was over for the young Kazekage. Gin had managed to make her jutsu work on the first try. Well, she knew she could do it. Kenjutsu had never really been her problem. Being a Kuroka, Gin had a natural talent for everything that involved a sword. She was a master of Kenjutsu, so it was really no surprise that she could pull it off. Nevertheless, she still had to train Ezra. She wouldn't leave until he mastered his jutsu. After all, it was her duty as his sensei to make sure that he developed new techniques and grew stronger. "Ready to try again?" She asked him, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

[2060/2000]

Spoiler:

‘That looks so fun. I wish I had wind style.’ Ezra looked down to the ground as his Sensei traveled in the sky like some sort of god. Ezra could tell she was enjoying herself so he didn’t say or do anything while she was up there. It didn’t take long for her to get back down. She still hovered in the air a bit above Ezra when she got serious about the training.

Before Ezra knew it Gin had her sword out and her stance set and a jutsu ready to roll. Ezra got his body into a horse stance with his knees bent perfectly lined up with his feet. He already had his jutsu ready to go with the last hand sign set at his chest. To say the least, he was in tune with the earth and it felt good. He watched his Sensei as she closed her eyes and yelled "Heaven Style: Flash of Light!"

“Damn it.” Ezra said closing his now blind eyes. ‘I hate jutsu like this!’ He complained as he thought of his options. They seemed nonexistent really. He was blind and his opponent was airborne. He could try and listen for changes in the wind but that was easier said than done, he could kick blindly into the air but that would probably be one of the most foolish things to do against a kenjutsu user who could slice his leg clean off. It was his Sensei he was up against and it was only training so he wasn’t worried about getting maimed or killed so he did something that only made sense to him in that moment. He enclosed himself in the Doom Dome in hopes he would trap his Sensei as well. It was a huge shot in the dark and didn’t solve his problem of being attacked as he had no idea where she was at that moment. Nevertheless the slabs shot out from the ground and created the dome without so much as a rumble. It had went up fairly fast. He couldn't estimate the exact speed because he was only able to here the dome shut and feel the suns rays against his skin disappear. Based on that he was satisfied with how this jutsu was going.

When he could tell that his temporary blindness was over he opened his eyes and saw the Kazekage trapped in the Rock Dome with him.

[1226/1000]

Spoiler: