[hirana kizumi]

FUJIYAMA AKANE
ACADEMY INSTRUCTOR

Akane’s perpetual struggle to be on time to anything was going to get her into serious trouble someday, but for now, it really just meant that every time she entered a classroom was a raucous occasion. The classroom was noisy as the tall, musclebound woman barreled through the door, her book of lesson plans awkwardly tucked under one arm as she quickly struggled to tie her long, thick dark hair back from her face. "ALRIGHT, settle down!” she shouted as she entered, but the effect was somewhat muffled by the hair tie clenched between her teeth, and instead of settling down, the small class of students snickered at her. The giggling stopped, however, when Akane finally managed to tie back her hair, tossed her book on her desk, and held out her hand—her long fingers were heavily adorned with rings, but there was lightning sparking from her fingertips, a sharp sizzle and crack that filled the air with the faint scent of ozone. "TODAY,” she announced loudly—pausing for effect, and to give the kids a second to quiet down—"we’re going to be discussing elemental chakra. Now, who here can tell me how many basic chakra elements there are—and what are they?”

Arai Tomomi -- 212

LAIKA OF THQ

[Arai Tomomi]

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Kakushin's head might be popping off sometime soon, due to the way Tomomi was clinging to the puppet, but the poor boy was still nervous about attending classes with others. He was in his normal seat, way, way, in the back row with no one else around. He would much rather not be here, but he had promised his mom he would continue going to school. At least most of the talk about him growing random trees had settled by now.
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He kept to himself, one hand choke-holding his puppet, the other scribbling doodles onto his notepad, until the teacher's voice range through the room, silencing most talkers and commanding attention. Momo's dark eyes found the teacher and was immediately drawn to the lightning crackling around her fingers. It was very impressive to the young boy, as well as to several of the other students given the 'oohs' and 'aahs' that rippled through the class.
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The subject they were taking on today was one that they had talked over before in class, but it had been awhile. Maybe that was why no one was raising their hand to answer the teacher. Tomomi really didn't want to draw attention to himself, but he got an inkling that the teacher was one of those who wouldn't move on until her question answered. Which wouldn't be fun for anyone.
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So, dropping his pencil, Tomomi meekly lifted his hand until the intimidating woman called on him.
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"There are five elemental releases," he said quietly. "Katon, Fūton, Raiton, Doton, and Suiton."
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After he finished he dropped his gaze back to his notepad, so he didn't have to meet the eyes he was sure were on him.

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[hirana kizumi]

FUJIYAMA AKANE
ACADEMY INSTRUCTOR

Alright, maybe showing off a bit of lightning release wasn’t the best way to get the kids to quiet down, but at least it got their attention—elemental ninjutsu was a step beyond what these kids were capable of, at least for now. Tapping into the nature of your chakra and moulding that element within your own network had a steep learning curve, one that would take most students the entirety of their time studying at the academy to unlock. It was cool and flashy, but hard to learn and command attention, especially when flashier taijutsu and bukijutsu skills were right there. Eventually, one of the most soft-spoken kids, Tomomi, timidly raised his hand. ”Tomomi-kun!” Akane bellowed, directing the class’ attention to him. He was so soft-spoken, gods. She kind of regretted being so loud, when he sounded meek as a mouse compared to her. She’d have to keep an eye out, make sure he didn’t get teased for it. His answer was perfect, however. ”Exactly right,” she said, a little more careful to modulate her volume. ”Every living thing has a chakra nature, some element they’re naturally attuned to. Most shinobi learn how to use their own chakra nature first, then start to explore other affinities as their control and understand of their chakra network grows. However.” The lightning dissipated off her fingertips and she whirled around to the chalkboard, writing in big blocky letters: ADVANCED ELEMENTAL RELEASES. She glanced over her shoulder with a grin. ”Let’s see who knows their Kumogakure history, yeah? Who can tell me what an advanced elemental release is?” There was one Jokyuu kid in her class, she knew, but she didn’t want to single them out—give the other kids a chance to participate, right? Non-clan shinobi should at least be familiar with the idea.

Arai Tomomi -- 317

LAIKA OF THQ

[Arai Tomomi]

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Oh. She was really loud. Why was she so loud?
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Tomomi shrunk into himself as all the attention in the room was puto n him at the teacher's affirmation to his answer. He wasn't surprised that he had been correct - it was an easy question if one thought about it. Most everyone had taken the odd litmus paper test to determine their innate chakra nature. He remembered his test, the first one anyway. It had told him that his nature was suiton and he had accepted that graciously. Nothing wrong with water.
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Then the tree incident happened and he had to be given another test. That one wasn't as sure as the first one had been Suiton and Doton, one in each hand. Elements that made up his Mokuton, as Kazuto had explained.
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His stupid experience gave him an advantage on Fujiyama-sensei's next question. Yeah, he knew about advanced elemental releases, but he really didn't want to bring attention back to the tree incident.
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But again, no one was raising their hands. He knew there was definitely someone in this class that was from one of Kumo's advanced element clans. But maybe the others were too enamored in trying to figure out how the teacher had made lightning dance around her fingers to reply. The class was going to go on forever if he didn't say something, wasn't it? The thought made Tomomi pout internally.
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Again, he put his hand up, silently willing someone, anyone to get called on before him. "Advanced elemental releases are those elements that are created when at least two of the base elements combine somehow. Like the Ryujin, I think."
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The Ryujins' lasers were a safe thing to bring up. Everyone in Kumo knew about the clan's flashy storm release. Better that than another advanced release. Like Mokuton.

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[hirana kizumi]

FUJIYAMA AKANE
ACADEMY INSTRUCTOR

Oh no he was so shy. Akane had to keep herself from visibly cringing when she noticed how Tomomi shrunk into himself, like a mouse scurrying back into its hole. I’m sorry, she thought, as if she could beam the apology directly into his mind. Maybe she’d talk to him after class, make sure he knew she wasn’t trying to single him out. Poor kid. Could use a confidence boost, though, he was extremely smart—and willing to participate, unlike the rest of the class. His hand went up once again, and this time when Akane called on him, she just did so with a brisk ”yes? in a more modulated volume. Again, his answer was on the nose. ”Exactly right,” Akane said again, huffing with satisfaction. "The Ryujin command Ranton, which occurs when the person in question has a chakra nature that is suiton combined with raiton. There’s also the Jokyuu’s Jiton, which is a mixture of doton and raiton. These advanced releases can’t be taught or learned—you’re either born with it, or you’re not. That’s what’s called a kekkei genkai. There are different forms of advanced chakra releases or other kind of kekkei genkai all over the world, though they’re very rare and usually occur only a few times in any generation.” She paused, glancing over the class to see if the information had sunk in—waiting for the majority of kids to stop scribbling down their notes. Once the last pencil stopped moving, she spoke up again. ”You should all know by now that each element has its weakness and its strength. So my question now is—how do the elements of an advanced release stay in balance?” This was a question that even advanced ninjutsu specialists struggled to answer, and way beyond even Akane’s knowledge base, so she didn’t really expect an answer. Instead she continued: ”And, if someone is using an advanced release—let’s use a foreign example, um… okay, Konoha. The Senju clan has Mokuton, which is suiton and doton, right? What, if anything, do you think Mokuton might be weak to—Tomomi, any ideas?” Since was the only one participating, might as well keep leaning on his knowledge base, right?

Arai Tomomi -- 388

LAIKA OF THQ

[Arai Tomomi]

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Tomomi couldn't help the small flip of pride in his chest as he got another question correct. But the only outward indicator was a small smile, hidden as he ducked his head back down. He thought he had successfully kept the attention off his advanced release situation and now hopefully they could get through the rest of the class with nothing happening. He focused on writing his notes as the teacher continued on with her lesson.
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He was aware of most of the information that Fujiyama-sensei was unloading onto the class thanks to the few private lessons he had gotten from Kazuto-san as well as the studying material he had left behind. But he still took his notes, nothing bad would come from having the information on hand if he ever needed it in the future.
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Then all hopes of this being a simple lesson he could skate through disappeared as the one Clan out of numerous others she could have chosen from was mentioned by the teacher. The grip on his pencil tightened sharply at the name "Senju" and the sound of the utensil snapping seemed to echo through the classroom. Because of course this was happening. This was his life. He wondered if this was just the universe laughing at him or did the teacher actually use the Senju clan on purpose when choosing him.
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Tomomi wanted to burrow into himself and hide from the world, but that wasn't a possibility. He could feel eyes on him, most likely because he still hadn't answered. "Raiton, maybe," he said, ducking down into his seat even more. "or Katon. I don't know."
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There was a snicker from somewhere in the room, making him cling to Kakushin tighter. This was a disaster.

[attr="class","runruntag"]#hirana kizumi

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[hirana kizumi]

FUJIYAMA AKANE
ACADEMY INSTRUCTOR

Okay, doing better—Tomomi seemed at least a little pleased by Akane’s effusive praise. He, and the rest of the class, were furiously scribbling down notes. Though, uh, maybe he was getting a little upset that she kept picking on him, because he seemed extremely tense all of a sudden. Akane was blissfully unaware as to the true nature of his distress—which did absolutely nothing to resolve it, unfortunately. The universe, it seemed, was intent on targeting him specifically. His answer was tentative, unconfident and sullenly delivered. Tamaki, one of the bold, brash Yanki kids, audibly snickered. Akane grabbed a pencil from her teacher’s desk and chucked it at the kid like she would a shuriken, and the eraser side of it hit him in the forehead. "No bullying,” she said shortly, glaring at him. "You know better, Tamaki.” The kid fell silent, sullenly scribbling in his notebook. She’d have to pull him aside after class—he was one of the louder kids, naturally, but hadn’t quite seemed to cotton on to that clan philosophy of support and was more in line with the clan philosophy of beating the shit out of each other. She only hoped that she didn’t just accidentally paint a bigger target on Tomomi’s back—she’d have to keep an extra eye out for the next few days, just in case. "Both good ideas, Tomomi-kun,” Akane went on, more gently. "But tell me your reasoning. Why might either of those work?”

Arai Tomomi -- 242

LAIKA OF THQ