Fate and Her Fool [T]

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000.100
The words illuminated his darkness like light. Of course. This wasn't some disaster. This was just training for a technique that just happened to be their way out. And like that, the pressure was lifted from Scrubb's beautifully simple mind. The boy decided it was time for his cool pose. Feet a shoulder's width apart, knees bent, hands put together. He was determined to get this and put things right.

The handseals came to him like a memory. As he arrived at the last seal, his chakra flowed out of his body and into the water that drenched him. Scrubb held on, even though a significant amount of chakra went out of him. It was scary, but failure and dying were even scarier for the young boy. His chakra expanded, and soon the crashing and screaming of the terror around them began to fade.

It began to fade, yes, but failed to complete. The waves were still strong and threatened to sweep them into destruction. "Alright, kid! Getting better! Now one more time!" His uncle yelled, still facing the storm. Gritting his teeth, the genin made the handseals once more. But this time, the storm wasn't even bothered. It was almost as if he had used the same technique twice. Though the darkness had no hold of him, the genin was rushing too much and not thinking enough.

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000.100
Taking a deep breath, the genin took a moment to review his mistakes. In his two previous attempts, what exactly had gone wrong? Surely he had made the correct handseals and pumped enough chakra. He cursed as he realized what again was his mistake: chakra control. Sure, the handseals did provide a frame for his chakra to mold into. However, it was ultimately up to him to refine it to the desired effect.

Simply pouring his chakra on the water was not going to be nearly enough. Indeed, doing so would only be a waste of his precious chakra reserves. All of his training so far had convinced Scrubb that chakra was more powerful than most people thought. If he could spread it thinly enough across the water, he was sure he could calm the waters using an efficient amount of chakra at the same time. This would also help in future battles, when he would surely need more chakra after merely calming a body of water.

He made the appropriate handseals once more. Trying not to be hurried, he closed his eyes and concentrated on his chakra. He sent the stuff down to the water and imagined spreading it like butter upon the raging waters. Scrubb soon sensed that his chakra had spread across the entire expanse of the raging river. Adding an extra burst of concentration, he imagined the chakra-butter stiffening like the strongest glass, trapping all of the water beneath it.

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000.100
For a moment, all was silent. Just as Scrubb opened his mouth to rejoice, his chakra glass shatted and the river went raging again. He practically screamed with frustration, but his uncle remained silent. Suddenly humbled by the old man's actions, Scrubb felt a newfound determination. His uncle believed in him to do this, and why couldn't he? His name was Justice A. Scrubb; he would always do what was right.

Once again he took the time to reflect on his mistakes. This time, the answer was quite obvious. He had spread his chakra much too thinly, and the invisible barrier had been broken. Of course glass couldn't stand against vast amounts of highly kinetic water. It was a silly mistake, one that Scrubb would never forgive himself for if he ever had the chance.

Trying not to be too discouraged, Scrubb tried again. At this point, all of it was a familiar route: he would get into the ready position. His hands would fly through the series of handseals. Then, closing his eyes if need be, he would imagine his chakra to work in a way that made sense with the technique, and if he was right his chakra would do just so. Scrubb added an extra layer of chakra this time with an additional sweep. The action reminded him of the time he practiced creating an earthen dragon.

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000.100
After adding the extra layer, Scrubb stiffened his own body as if to replicate the stiffening of his layer of chakra. For half a moment he felt the immense pressure of the raging waters beneath him, but the feeling passed almost as quickly as it came. A beautiful silence fell across the river. The genin stood still for a moment, his eyes still closed, savoring that silence. A wide grin spread across his face.

"I did it!" He yelled with all the innocence of his first time training. He opened his eyes to see that his uncle was gone. Scrubb's heart fell to the pit of his chest. "Uncle?" He croaked. "Uncle!" Scrubb ran to the wheel and looked frantically around for the old man and saw nothing. Had he fallen out somewhere? Had he fallen into the water? Scrubb spent the rest of the day steering the boat all around the river, looking for the man who had smiled making animal handseals.

Scrubb did not know that what he was doing was completing the final part of his training. He was personally testing the effects of the jutsu, and had he analyzed the results he would have found that boating was easier than ever before. However, in the boy's mind there was only a blind denial and a creeping sense of despair. Tears fell freely down his face, but his mind only understood it to be another fall of rain. However, the river beneath him was sickeningly calm, and long after nightfall Scrubb began to realize that, with his chakra, he had buried his uncle in the waters.

[Starnaess]

learned

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[Exit]