It was five hours ago, from when the training with Aiko-Sensei and Koike, a seemingly dissapointing training on her end. Which was why, Yukara was determined to train more with Aiko Sensei in private and surprise her by showing up at her house, her dedication would surely impress her sensei. Humming a song that was stuck in her head as she headed to where Aiko lived with a frilly smile on her face as some people here and there stopped to stare at her. Once arriving at Aikos home, she knocked on the door and crossed her arms in a firm manner as she waited.
She had sat all this time on the couch. Leaned forward, her head being supported by her hands. Miharu had been kidnapped. He was gone. No trace or what so ever. Nobody that wanted to explain it to her. The red haired woman felt something that she hadn't felt for quite some time. It was really painful, but also comforting. Like some sweet treat that had a bitter aftertaste. Anger and revenge. She knew these two feelings all too well, but had always despised it. Two feelings and emotions that had nothing that really interested Aiko. Leaning backwards as she clenched her fists, the woman would now however change her opinion. She would seek out the culprits that had captured and kidnapped her nephew.
While she was about to think more about her newest goal, Aiko heard something. Somebody knocked on her door. Sighing, she stood up and proceeded to walk to the door. Opening it, she was midly surprised by seeing Yukara. For a moment, Aiko forgot what she had just decided and brushed some strands of red hair aside. ''Yukara? What brings you here?'' Aiko asked.
"Aiko-Sensei, will you train me one on one? You know, so Koike wont get in the way of anything, he does get in the way a lot, I mean he should be a Chuunin now, there is obviously something wrong with him if he failed the Chuunin exams!" Yukara said, matter of factly. Her chin set a stubborn angle and her lips were pressed together in a tight line as she looked at Aiko-Sensei expectantly. She would do whatever it took to prove that she was better and was ready to do so whenever the oppurtunity presented itself.
The woman silently looked down on Yukara. Her left hand was clenched in a fist. It even trembled briefly before Aiko managed to control herself. ''We can go. Follow me.'' She told Yukara. Not even wearing her jacket, Aiko actually didn't care for it at the moment. Usually she wanted to make sure she could be recognized as a Konohagakure nin, but now she wasn't thinking about it. Walking in a relative calm pace towards the training fields, that were nearby, Aiko would say something. ''Koike should indeed be a chuunin, but he has a reason why he kept failing.'' Aiko suddenly said, her tone being cold and harsh.
Nodding as Aiko-Sensei said they could go and following her towards the training fields, she was glad that her sensei was allowing this time for training. Upon hearing what she said in that tone, made Yukara stop for a breif moment but she quickly caught up and shrugged, she personally did not think there could be a valid reason for failing the Chuunin exams. "Well, he better figure out the problem he has with failing because I dont want him holding us back" Yukara said evenly. Even though, if anything, she was the weak link at the moment.
It happened faster than both would even realize. The sound wasn't that hard, but for Aiko it was like an explosion from close. Her left hand went out and slapped hard against Yukara's cheek. With a cold stare, she looked at the young girl. ''Don't speak ill of others if you aren't aware of the reason.'' The left hand of Aiko wasn't trembling. She slowly lowered the hand that clenched into a fist. Luckily there wasn't anybody around them. ''I have read your profile and though you're the newest addition to the team, I hope that is a mistake you will never make. Don't judge others if you have flaws yourself, Yukara. There is no bigger kind of arrogance or ignorance. Both things I despise. Understood?''
Her cheek stung as she stared wide eyed at her sensei, shocked and in utter disbelief of what just happened. It hurt, the pain of the slap went deeper than her skin as it felt like her role model already disliked her on the first day. Her eyes watered a bit, but she angrilly wiped the water away and glared at her sensei. "There is no reason to fail the Chuunin exams" Yukara replied, her own tone of voice was cold now. Her anger and dislike of Koike was strengthened as her determination to be better than him and Aiko Sensei both was also strengthened. "I hope my profile told you I will do whatever it takes to be better than everyone, if I am arrogant then you should punish Koike for the same" she added bitterly, it wasnt hard to tell that she resented her team mate.
Aiko frowned. The cold stare didn't vanish. ''You talk like you know what it is to stand there. In an arena of the Chuunin Exams. Like you know who somebody is, just by looking and meeting them for several hours. Does your arrogance know any boundries?'' Aiko asked, her tone growing even colder. Narrowing her eyes, she crossed her arms. The anger she had felt before was slowly trying to find its way back while Yukara was really testing out Aiko. ''What do you know of people, Yukara? What can you possible say about failure if you don't have the knowledge of how such a failure happened? That is ignorance at its purest. Something that will cause you to fail and never to reach your goal.'' Aiko paused. ''Your goal is to become better than me, wasn't it? To become even stronger or deadlier than I am right now? I will predict something. You're somebody who will not even grow or ever see a glint of their goal. All because of the arrogance and ignorance. Take my words if you have any slight form of intellect and never even start this again.'' Turning around, Aiko would start to walk again. She briefly was regretting to talk to one of her students like that. But Yukara had really pushed the limits.
"And you talk like you know me, you do not. To have have everyone think that you are a fool with a pretty face, no one takes you seriously. To be right about something but everyone just laughs and when someone says the exact same thing, only then do they listen. It is not easy, it is far from easy. Dont pity me, I dont want your pity, I want your respect and Koike gets in the way of that" Yukara said firmly. She was angry, hurt and upset. All she wanted was for her sensei to respect her and even that seemed impossible at the moment. Taking a deep breath, she clenched her fist and looked her Sensei in the eyes before saying "lets train already. I didnt take the time to seek you out to have a not so nice chat about arrogance and ignorance."
Aiko stopped as she looked over her shoulder. Waiting till Yukara was finished with talking. ''I talk like I know myself. That is all that you should know.'' Aiko said before she would continue to walk towards the nearby training field. Her tone hadn't changed a bit, but at least she didn't seem to show any sign of anger or wanting to slap Yukara. Reaching the field, Aiko asked her student a question. ''What do you want to train?''
"Well, I lack in offense jutsu. So I think that we should start there, but you are a wise sensei, you might know better for me" Yukara said, with only a hint of sarcasm. She watched her sensei carefully as if she were observing a rare discovery of sorts, then again, Aiko- Sensei was an interesting person.
''You indeed do.'' Aiko said. Placing her hands on her hips, Aiko looked at the grassfield in front of them. ''You showed that you can use genjutsu, but how much do you know about genjutsu?'' Aiko asked her student as she walked a bit further more to the center of the field, her face blank and void of any emotion.
Pausing, she thought , about what was asked. Genjutsu, poison to the mind that needed a trigger of sorts to be used. "What I know, is that unlike Ninjutsu or Taijutsu, Genjutsu targets the enemies mind. Making them think or believe something or makeing them see illusions. It needs some sort of trigger, like eye contact or sound to be cast but it can be dispelled by distrupting the flow of chakra" Yukara said in a uniform text book tone. Her eyes were distant as she recalled what she was taught, before blinking and looking to her sensei for more instruction.
''You're wrong and right.'' Aiko said. Her tone was less cold and more calm. Turning around to look at Yukara, Aiko raised her eyebrows. ''Genjutsu needs some form of trigger and are indeed illussions, but it can be dispelled by disturbing the flow of chakra? Are you certain of that?'' Aiko asked, making it look she wanted to be sure. Like she was sure that the fact wasn't true and making Yukara naive. Even while it was actually true.
" Are you telling me that the teachers at the Academy are lying to everyone? Maybe you should go inform them of correct way to dispell a genjutsu," Yukara said, her eyes narrowed at Aiko. A slight smirk on her lips as she tilted her head a bit to look at Aiko a bit differently, Yukara did not think the teachers lied but did not want to argue with Aiko either. "What do you know about Genjutsu?" she asked.
''I am telling that you need to think further than what you have been taught.'' Aiko said. She again placed her hands again on her hips. ''And what I know about genjutsu? Enough to know that you're wrong. Very wrong. But if you want to see why I am right, we can test it out right now. The choice is yours.'' Aiko propossed, a smile slowly appearing on her face as she would wait for Yukara's answer.
"Then by all means, explain to me what is right," Yukara said, glad to see the small smile that was appearing on her face. "I think ill pass on the demonstration, but thank you for the offer," Yukara said, politely. Her eyes seemed to hold some mischeif in them as she watched Aiko-Sensei gleefully. If she wanted to be able to think like Aiko-Sensei then she would have to pay attention more than she already was doing so, so long as she was not being told that she was arrogant.
Aiko was silent for a moment. ''I think you won't get it until you have seen the demonstration. Other than questioning my knowledge or experience, I still say that you're wrong. If the Academy teachers taught you that disturbing your chakra flow will erase a genjutsu, than they are wrong. They then forgot something to mention.'' Aiko told Yukara. She waited for a moment. ''Pain is another traditional way to break out of a genjutsu. And some genjutsu can't be broken in either ways.'' Aiko told the young girl.
"Well the caster of a genjutsu has to change the general flow of chakra in you so you get trapped in the genjutsu, then maybe not really disturbing but correcting your flow of chakra?" Yukara asked, wincing as Aiko-Sensei mentioned the demonstration again. She was adamant about showing how it worked, with a sigh, she nodded when Aiko-Sensei mentioned that pain was another method of dispelling a genjutsu. But she was unsure of what she said next, if sometimes either way did not dispell the genjutsu, then how did one go about getting out of it? "How would you get out of one, if neither way worked? she asked.
''Dead.'' Aiko simply replied back as an answer on the last question of Yukara. The smile still was present as Aiko waited to let the word have some impact on the girl. Then she continued. ''Changing the flow of your victim's chakra isn't the only way how to get them trapped into an illussion. How can you dispell a genjutsu with disturbing your chakra flow if the genjutsu is part of your chakra flow? Then there is no escape from it, in theory. Or do you think that is wrong?'' Aiko asked.
Dead. That word rang in her mind like someone was shouting it over and over again, although she would never admit to it out loud but she was afraid of dying. Just like she was afraid of failure. "I dont want to die, Aiko-Sensei," Yukara said in a small voice that shook slightly. She had a hard time focusing on what was said after that, but managed to get the basics. "I dont know..." she replied, as she shifted uneasily on her feet.
As response, Aiko only nodded. ''Nobody that is healthy in their head wants to die just like that. I shouldn't and don't like to scare you, but always know that everything you learned behind a desk is just theory. And in the field it sometimes work differently than you have learned in your books.'' Aiko told Yukara, on a more polite tone. ''But I think I should teach you something instead of tutoring you only on the dangers of genjutsu. It just depends on what you desire to learn today. I can try to teach you either nin or genjutsu.''
Yukara listened in silence, still a bit freaked out about possibly dying in a genjutsu. "Of course, I know that," Yukara said, puling herself together. When she thought about what she wanted to learn, she already knew some genjutsu so it would probably be beneficial to learn some ninjutsu with Aiko-Sensei. "I think that Ninjutsu would be a good idea, we could expand on Gen another day," she added after a moment.
''Very well. I have read in your profile that you have the Water element. Like most Cho's do, so that means I can try to teach you something with that nature.'' Aiko said. ''With the last perfomance, I think we both agree that you could use more offensive techniques than a defensive one. But don't think there is anything wrong with knowing how to defend yourself. That is something that is more important than how to defeat somebody.'' Pausing, she thought about what technique would benefit her student. It had to be offensive and yet something Yukara could learn.
''I am going to teach you the technique that is called Water Prison. It is something simple in theory. Here, I will demonstrate it for you.'' Aiko said as she would create a water clone. The water on the grass and what seemed from the air was formed together into a water clone. Weaving the handsignals slowly for the technique that she would pass on to Yukara, Aiko's left hand moved towards the water clone. From a few inches, she would keep her hand still. Then it went fast. Water started to surround the water clone, forming a barrier around it as the dome was begin to fill with water. ''As you see, the technique is most used to pin down an enemy. It can also drown them, thus being quite deadly if your opponent isn't able to move due the pressure that the water dome puts on them. Any questions?''
She watched the demonstration, paring it to the name of Jutsu that Aiko-Sensei said. Water Prison, it had a nice name. Watching as the water completely surrounding the water clone, it was simple in theory, was what her Sensei said. "So what makes it not easy in the field?" Yukara asked, eyeing the jutsu as she thought it over. Recalling the hand signals in the order that they were done in, a very slow pace, most likely so that Yukara could see them easily.
''Capturing somebody in it.'' The water clone became water as the dome would loosen up and fall on the grass. Turning to her student, Aiko placed a hand on her hip while gesturing to the water with her other hand. ''Most shinobi are trained to have some good reflexes. That means you need to be able to sneak up them, like an ambush. Or any other way to get close and able to perform the technique. That is the biggest problem the technique has. The range.'' Aiko explained. She thought what more she could tell about the technique. It wasn't one she used very often. ''The other problem is that some can actually counter it while you have them captured. The pressure and strength of the technique is based on your mastery of the Water element. A foe that is able to overcome the pressure can surprise you in return. Not to forget that you can't really move that freely around. The dome only remains there if a clone or you yourself will stay and keep it intact. Otherwise it will just loosen up and turn into a puddle of water.''
"I need to be able to keep up with my opponent and make sure I master the element of water, do you have any suggestions?" Yukara asked. Despite her condescending tendacies, she did have a serious side to her and one that got her where she was now. At her current level, she would need to do a lot of work and practice if she wanted to sucessfully perform the Water Prison Jutsu like Aiko-Sensei could. "Can you demonstrate again?" she asked.
''My suggestions would be to keep working on it. Mastery over an element is a lot harder than what most people think. Though training chakra control might help it.'' Aiko then turned around as she would form the puddle of water back into a water clone. Again, she would weave the handsignals in a very slow speed. All so that Yukara could see what handsignals were required for the technique. Stretching her hand out, the water around the clone formed into a dome. ''Want to try it yourself?''
"Sure thing, Sensei!" Yukara said, putting her hands in the right positions to perform the handsignals. Again, she recalled the handsignals that Aiko-Sensei showed her in the demonstration and at her average speed,she began to weave them. Mimicing the actions of her sensei, but not towards the water clone or the dome, towards Aiko-Sensei, it would not be a big deal to her. As the dome began to form around her sensei, she watched the reactions of her sensei as she watched the dome.
A bit surprised, Aiko only turned her head towards Yukara. The water she had released was now used by Yukara for the same technique. Only not aimed towards the water clone, but towards her real self. Aiko didn't seem to panic or worry about the fact she was now trapped in the water dome. But it did made her wonder why Yukara was aiming techniques at her. First when they met she had tried to plant a genjutsu on Aiko. Now this. Next training session, Aiko would take it on a different route. The water clone grabbed quickly the wrist of Yukara and pulled it away, freeing the real Aiko.
Soaked and looking with a frown, Aiko spoke to Yukara. ''That was interesting, but yes. It is a start.'' Glancing at her wet clothes, Aiko returned her attention to Yukara. ''It just takes some practise before it will become effective enough to trap a strong opponent in it.''
A bit gleefull, she did not even blink as her wrist was grabbed by the water clone, breaking the jutsu that had Aiko-Sensei trapped. Yukara watched, the surprise was obvious, but it did surprise her that her sensei seemed so calm about it. "Indeed, it is a start. Practice can be arranged and it will be strong enough to trap someone like you in it one day,"Yukara said.
As expected. Brushing a few strands of red hair out of her face, Aiko sighed. ''If you want to challenge me, you can do so later. To be honest, I am not really interested to spar to see who is stronger.'' Aiko said. Even while she found Yukara's confidence a good trait at times, it was a bit bothersome that she really kept aiming at her. Next training would have to be different. Aiko wasn't going to be happy if Yukara would suddenly try to launch a more offensive technique from a close range. ''I think that you should rest. Soon we will have a team meeting and likely a mission as well. Unless you have any questions at the moment.''
"We should train separately from now on, we can get more done this way and things wont get in the way,"Yukara said with a smile. She did not necessarily want to challenge Aiko-Sensei, but she would need to show that even as a genin, she would be a formidable oppoment. "Aiko-Sensei, you should go rest too. You look a bit wet to me, she said, a slight smirk on her lips as she was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet.
''You don't say.'' Aiko slowly said. Not one for to talk back, Aiko would slowly turn half around. It was however a bit surprising that Yukara wished to train alone. That and hearing her student saying that she didn't want things get in the way. It was a weird way to word things, but Aiko would let Yukara have her decision. ''I will send a note soon on when and where the next meeting will be. Take care Yukara.''
"Alright, Aiko-Sensei. Make sure to dry off now, you dont want to catch a cold or anything. I will be waiting for this note, you take care as well!" Yukara said before running off towards her house to tell her parents all about training. Maybe even demonstrate what she learned for them, soon the training feilds were out of sight as she rounded a corner.