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Shadow Of A Doubt; Move Learning
Topic Started: Jul 15 2007, 08:05 PM (28 Views)
NanoSong
Member Avatar
Seal Evil
Shadows, by definition, are bound to the body that they imitate. A mirror reflection of its owner, it can only do what another desires, moving in conjunction with its master until the light that created it ceases to exist. Why must shadows be bound to such rules? Why can’t they act independently, with sentience, do act upon their dreams and whims? It seems unfair that water may flow, fire may burn, wind may blow, but shadows are secretly confined to one space until he spark of its creator diminishes. Perhaps one day, with enough training, a ninja will be able to release shadows from their two-dimensional imprisonment, letting it roam freely to do as it may. That fateful day, while water, fire, and air perform their respective feats, the shadows will join them, crawling adamantly towards its own newfound destiny.

“Wow, I wrote that?” questioned Tsu, grasping an old piece of parchment from her academy days. The parchment itself was dusty; it had been stored in an archive ever since Tsu had forgotten to pick it up a long time ago. It was almost impossible to believe that Tsu had those kinds of thoughts only half a year ago. As time progressed, she had slowly forgotten about shadows, letting her ninja skill take prominence in her fighting style. She had almost forgotten how proud she had been to know shadow jutsu, especially since she considered it a unique form of fighting. She scanned over the parchment once more, admiring the results of her inquisitive mind. She would have to begin writing again one day, especially to chronicle all the things that had happened to her so far. She definitely had the spare time.

“Yeah, you wrote that.” her teacher said, smiling. “I thought it would provoke you to continue your element training.” He had a point. Elements were an important thing for most ninja, and even though Tsu liked to rely on kunai and shuriken, she did want to improve her skill with shadows, or at least create a formidable jutsu. The problem is, she didn’t know where to begin. How did ninja go about creating unique techniques? Did they think up a concept in their head and then make it up the rest of the way? The only two jutsu that Tsu owned that she didn’t see in a book were her wire jutsu, which only took subtle chakra manipulation at best. How was she supposed to channel her chakra into manipulating a shadow at her whim, with a seal pattern she developed, without it taking an incredible amount of time?

“..You know..” The teacher continued, “There’s this training area that just opened…”
“What!?” Tsu exclaimed. Her hands slapped firmly against the ivory desk she used to sit in.
“Yeah.” he said, backing up slowly lest Tsu’s excitement would somehow injure him. “They created it because the students requested one.”
“Where is it!?” Tsu continued her questionings of exclamation. The teacher gulped.
“Down the hall, to the left, and down the stairs. You can’t miss it. It’s a decent size.”

Tsu immediately darted out of the old classroom without so much as a ‘thank you’. She would thank him later, maybe. The concept of a indoor training area was simply too appealing for Tsu to waste another second outside of it. Usually, she would have to train out in the playground where she would be bothered by birds, bees, and the occasional boy. This time would be different. She suddenly decided that she would train the rest of the day away without so much as a disturbance. As Tsu wheeled to the left and began descending the stairs, she could practically taste how much she would improve. She even bet that the training area was impressive, peaceful, and empty.

She was less than half right.

The room was filled to the brim with academy students training. There were students throwing projectiles off to the right at a skill level that made Tsu want to throw up a little. Some other students were practicing their Taijutsu, throwing each other to the ground in their respective stances. Tsu’s dream of the perfect spot to train was shattered; she couldn’t possibly concentrate in a place like this. A wooden shuriken whizzed past her face, and Tsu caught it soundly in her palm.

“Give it back!” a small boy confronted, “Or I’ll tell Sensei!”
“Really, now?” Tsu replied, interested. She wanted to teach the kid a lesson. “I guess I’ll have to kill you before that happens.” Tsu slowly withdrew two real shuriken from her pouch.
“U-uh..” the boy stammered as he walked backwards, “Sensei Fuun! Help!”
“..What?” Tsu said curiously.

Fuun, the very man that had trained her to be tougher, emerged from the corner of the room in which he was watching the academy students. He walked casually, not phased by the fact that Tsu had just withdrawn a real weapon on a student. Tsu froze, unable to comprehend that he was there at the moment. The way he strode across the area, Tsu believed that he would be able to hit her before Tsu could dream of hitting the student. His white hair blew in the breeze of the children moving around, and he dodged their recklessness as if he knew what would happen before it actually did. That was the man that trained Tsu.

“Put it down.” Fuun commanded casually. Tsu immediately put her weapon away.
“Hehe, you’re in trouble!” The boy teased, now standing unafraid and prepared to savor Tsu’s punishment.
“F-fuun…but…” Tsu stuttered.
“Don’t make excuses. I saw everything. Of all people, I thought you’d know what it felt like to be attacked by someone you have no chance against.”

Tsu recalled the time in the forest for her graduation. Fuun had almost beaten her to death that day. Was he about to repeat the performance in front of all the students? Tsu gulped, ready to dodge and run away at any moment. “It seems I have so much more to teach you.” Fuun continued, “You can run if you want, but you know I’ll catch you. You might as well come inside and train with us. That‘s what you came here to do, right?” Tsu wondered if it was some sort of trap. Regardless, she decided she would enter the training area. Whether she was beat up in the area or in the hallways, she had it coming. She couldn’t escape her sensei forever.

“Listen up, kids!” Fuun yelled, “We’re having an impromptu lesson on ninjutsu, led by this girl here. Go ahead, Tsu.”

The kids immediately stopped what they were doing and listened. Tsu could feel all of their penetrating stares, each wanting to partake of her knowledge. The air became thick with silence. No projectiles were flying, no kids were being thrown to the ground, and all recklessness ceased. She didn’t come to teach a class. All Tsu wanted to do was train a little bit. However, she felt if she didn’t do as Fuun said, she would have a lot more than training regiments to worry about. Reluctantly, she cleared her throat and began to speak.

“Well, um…ninjutsu comes in many forms. Most of the time, it is associated with an element such as fire, water, air, or even light and shadow. Other ninja will use these elements to attack you.” Tsu explained. She lacked verve in her words, and the students were beginning to get bored. Some even began to throw projectiles again. She was losing the attention of the class. If she failed at teaching the kids, what would Fuun do? Tsu shuddered at the thought. Desperately, she came up with a plan to gather their attention. “This is an example of ninjutsu!” Tsu exclaimed, performing the rat and boar seals, respectively. Her shadow latched out to an unsuspecting student who was about to throw a wooden kunai. He stopped in his tracks.

“Shadow Puppetry Jutsu. A ninja will use this jutsu to control your very movements. Child, pick your nose.” Tsu commanded. The boy began to pick his nose, his eyes plastered with a look of sheer confusion. The other students laughed. Tsu heard them mumble “Cool” and “Awesome” beneath their breath. She was finally getting through to them. Some of the students even had their hands up to ask questions. Tsu called on a little girl on the outside of the crowd.

“Uhm…can it affect more than one person at once?” she questioned.
“Uh…sure, I think. Let me try.” Tsu wondered. She didn’t know the answer to that one herself.

Performing the rat and boar seals again, her shadow left the boy and attached itself to another child. The original boy collapsed to the floor in relief, free from the torture of eternal nose-picking. Tsu looked over to the new child and the old, surprised that her shadow did not stick to both of them. She was a little embarrassed. The girl, with her question answered, didn’t say anything else. Tsu wished that she could have impressed the children more by attaching her shadow to all of them.

Fuun interjected. “Tsu, can’t you add seals to ninjutsu to improve their effects? Show them that.”

Tsu looked over at Fuun with a look of discontent, while Fuun simply returned her glare with a smile. She knew what he was doing; Fuun wanted Tsu to force herself into learning a new shadow jutsu before this class was over. It was more of a class for Tsu than it was for any of the kids. Tsu understood the effects of adding seals to ninjutsu, of course. It was how she learned Shadow Puppetry in the first place. Would it work again? Tsu performed the rat, boar, and dog seals to give it a try. Her shadow stretched out in an oval design, flowing across the ground and darkening it ominously. The children began to step backwards cautiously.

“Add another seal. Make this jutsu your own.” Fuun commanded sternly.

Tsu added the snake seal, and thought of what she wanted the jutsu to be like. What would it be? What represented her? What would impress Fuun? Fuun always thought of her as his little spider. A spider! Perhaps the shadow would be in the form of a spider. The shadow wiggled almost uncontrollably, reacting to Tsu’s mental confusion. The children were now against the wall as if Tsu was about to explode. Tsu didn’t like the idea of making a spider with her shadow. What else represented spiders? Webs? A web. Maybe she would make a web! With resolve, her shadow began to stretch outward in a web-like design. It stopped 15 feet from Tsu.

“Cool!” Most of the students said, running to step on the shadow. They weren’t forced to pick their nose. The shadow didn’t seem to do anything at all. Tsu fell to the ground, exhausted. All around her, the children played in the shadow web, jumping up and down, trying to touch it, and asking Tsu questions about it that she didn’t feel like answering. Weirdly enough, it seemed as if she knew where all the children were. She could tell that a big student was trying to push a smaller one out, and she could tell that another student was slowly walking around. Could she sense whoever was on the web? It was beginning to give her a headache. Slowly, Tsu rose and began to walk out of her own web. As soon as she left, the web disappeared, and reformed into her shadow.

“Awww…” every student said. She was too tired to listen, and Fuun didn’t seem to care. How had she created a new jutsu so quickly? Fuun definitely was a good teacher. Gosh, she sure loved cake. Thoughts began circling in her head randomly. Her eyes became heavy. Suddenly, Tsu fell to the ground with a thud, passing out in front of all the students and Fuun. The last words she heard were from Fuun: “Why does she always do that…”

She would not awake until next morning.
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