[Training]A Certain Particular Bench

[Waterz]

+1 Ninjutsu Training

---

The card. It looked pretty dismal. It had her picture on it. Some of her information. They even spelt out the numbers she was referred by. She supposed they took it as her name. She supposed she should attempt to find a family at some point. A surname made one into a proper individual after all. Everyone else at the Academy had surnames they were proud of. Maybe she will just roll two dice and combine them into a family name if she ever starts one. Four digits. The thought of that just made her laugh a bit. But back to the card. On the right of the card was an eight spoke chart that had a very small circle connecting all but two spokes. These two spokes were Ninjutsu and control. The boy who gave this card to her told her that she rated a 40 right now. As did just about every other graduate. She would need to hit 80 before she could be ready for the next level. She wasn’t the best in math so she took this as needing to double everything about her. Since Ninjutsu was the center top spoke, she figured she would start there.

A book from a store. Her first actual possession. She never owned anything before and this was the first. She would cherish it forever. It was a training guide for ninjas. The wonders of the world. Chapter 1. Ninjutsu. The forming and molding of chakra utilizing, shape and nature manipulation. This was used for all ranges and was perhaps the most versatile weapon of the ninja. The first method of improving one’s ninjutsu was hand seals. The faster you could weave your signs together, the better you can mold chakra.

Step 1: Re Familiarize yourself with the hand signs.

Seemed simple enough. Standing at the bench she pretty much lived at since leaving the academy, she moved her hands slowly in front of her. The Bird sign was first. Her thumbs tucked in slightly while her fingers formed a vertical peak in front of her chest. When all the fingers touched, her ring fingers were bent inward making an arch way within the peak. Bird wasn’t a seal she utilized a great deal, so it felt a bit odd.

She clapped her hands together moving on to the next seal, Boar. Her fingers all bent except for the last knuckles and her wrist turned her hands upside down before pressing together. The board sign was a constant in Kouton. One of the sturdier seals she naturally had this well “in hand.” Puns. She quite enjoyed having learned about word play from the other students.

With another clap, she moved on to the next one, Dog. Rather simple, her right hand balled up into a fist as the left went over the top of it at a sharp angle. As simple as it looked, once she looked down at it, she noticed her hand was off centered over her fist. She adjusted, feeling the change. Once she felt comfortable, she swiped her hands away and moved them back. This time her fist was over shot. No good. She waved her hands and snapped them back together. The sound of scrapping metal told her that she was making contact. This time was good. She formed the dog seal one more time to just make sure she had it right.

Clap. And it was on to the Dragon. A little more intimidating for the less dexterous ninjas. Being made of metal, she had to take this one really slow. Her fingers interlaced, left over right. They then curled in on the hands. Pinkies straight down with just the tips touching. The first knuckles of her thumbs bent creating the look of a dragon coiled around a pillar. This seal was the bane of her existence. She could never get the pinkies together when she had to snap it into position. Sitting down on her bench, she could hear the boards creak under her weight. Small tears of the wood were appearing at the bolt holes. She concentrated and tried to get the feeling down. The strain her pinkies had. The awkwardness of her thumbs. None of it was there. It was almost like trying to draw a seal without actually looking at it. She closed her eyes, moving her hands away from each other and then attempting to snap in the dragon seal again. Because of the lacing of her fingers, her left pinkie was skating over the top of her right. This was vexing. She did it slower this time, As she brought her hands closer, while looking she could see when her hand was making the adjustments to interlace. At that point she extended her left pinkie just a little more and it snapped just in place. She felt proud, even if her face did not show it. She split her hands and repeated a bit faster. It was snapping in perfectly. That little extension of the pinkie was the entire thing.

Clap. The hare was next. Another complicated finger weaver, she at least hand this one better than dragon. Her light hand was a balled up fist with the pinkie extended out. Her other hand formed a right angle with the thumb and forefinger, balling up the rest of them. They were then put together. Arms parallel but palms perpendicular to each other. She never felt the right comfort with this, but she was able to pull it off. Just made too much noise when she slammed tow balled up fist against each other.

Clap. Galloping along was the Horse seal. It involved the interlacing of curled fingers at the knuckles and forming a peak with just the index fingers. Thumbs partially curled in. She was starting to understand why reintroduction was essential to getting better. Her thumbs didn’t like curling in. She had to readjust herself to get them to bend a bit for fluidity. It wasn’t a big adjustment, Just something she had to practice. With another attempt, she was satisfied with her progress and picked up the book. Halfway done with the hand seals, she needed a reminder of the other six in order.

---

1038/1000