[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

There was a lot on Tomomi's plate at the moment and that meant their day started before the sun even rose. The standard paperwork needed to be kept up with even while they were busy with other tasks. Of late they'd been dealing with increased patrols of the village perimeter and closing up of security holes after the smuggling operation they and Uriko had uncovered, as well as the return of reports on earthquakes in the Himitsu area and the need to follow up on and investigate their origin...

For some reason, all of it together unsettled Tomomi a little. Others could call them paranoid, but they preferred to consider themself cautious. A quiet moment with building tension was a hanging storm cloud in their mind. If the sky was set to break, it was better to waterproof things beforehand.

That was what led Tomomi to be busy checking up on the security of the academy building today. It was an interesting situation, as the academy building which housed the Hokage was a relatively open structure, with academy students (and, really, shinobi of all ranks) coming and going all the time. It wasn't Tomomi's favorite from a security standpoint, but it was also such an ingrained feature of the village - the Hokage had always liked being "close to the people" - that Tomomi could do little about it besides keep an eye on the grounds and make sure nothing was out of the ordinary.

They paced around the outside of the building, making sure there were no strange fuuinjutsu marks, no planted cameras, no suspicious activities. Whenever anything started to get strange, they got worried about the safety of the Hokage.

Okay, perhaps they were getting a little bit of tunnel vision, trying to draw all these things back to one source. Maybe they could use a bit of a change of pace just to reset their mind.

---

Uchiha Miroru

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Genin

Yamanaka Tomomi | 202 | notes

"What? Not here either? AUGH! ... I mean... thank you, sir. Have a good day."

Miroru griped to herself all the way back down the stairs from the offices she usually found Tomomi in. "They've got more important things to do than humor some snotnosed genin, Miroru. Don't waste their time, Miroru. Why don't you go get your big important clan to teach you, Miroru. AUGH."

Hurts, doesn't it? Being underestimated. Being reduced. Being made nothing more than what they see. A scrawny redhead from a darkhaired family. You know the rumor is you're a bastard, right?

"Yeah, but I'm NOT. So who cares."

You care about being seen as weak. And beneath their notice. Don't think that escapes me.

"Trust me, it isn't escaping anybody," muttered the redhead as she hit the ground floor and started stomping towards the front door. "I'll show'em though. Even if I have to figure out the Zap Fist all on my own." She strode out the front door, grumbling to herself as she walked.

"Just don't give up on me! We can figure this out!"

Template by: Monkey

MISSIONS
D - 0 | C - 9c/3i | B - 0 | A - 0 | S - 0

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

As Tomomi was contemplating this (they'd never admit it, but they weren't really good of thinking of ways to spend their time that weren't working), they walked back towards the building, eyes scanning the structure itself. Maybe if they just reorganized their files again or something it would give their mind a moment to rest. The filing system was constantly needing to be updated and - oh!

There was Miroru. Her presence near the academy wasn't exactly common, but it was normal enough that it hadn't registered as odd to Tomomi's senses until this second. She'd been inside, and she looked agitated, so it was likely that she'd been looking for someone that she hadn't found.

...Had she been looking for them? Oh dear. That was one troublesome thing about not being in their office at all hours.

Tomomi raised their hand to wave, hoping it would pull her attention.

"Good morning, Miroru. You haven't been back here in a while. Too busy with the exams and all those missions, I imagine," they joked. She'd been taking on as many missions as she could, it really seemed like. They'd filed tons of them away.

"Are you here to see a friend or an old instructor?" They wouldn't be presumptuous. Miroru was still in the age-range where having a friend in the academy was quite likely.

---

Uchiha Miroru

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Genin

Yamanaka Tomomi | 297 | notes

"Ah! Tomomi-sa- er, Yamanaka-sama!" Miroru adjusted from the more familiar term of address to a more rank-appropriate greeting. "Good morning! No, I haven't been around super much! Lots of missions, lots of training, and exam prep!" Ah, yes! The Chuunin exams! Tomomi had perhaps been aware that Itsuki had been busting his butt for weeks to catch up and qualify for the exams in time to attend with Miroru!

"Hm... well, I'd like to think a little of column A, and a little of column B? I was looking for you!" She grinned. "See... I need some help developing a technique I made up. It's GREAT, it's strong, and super fast, but uh... it's... it's too fast," Miroru admitted. "I can't keep up with it. If I can surprise someone, it'd be a sure shot, but if not, it's basically telegraphing "I'm gonna run straight at you, please smack me in the face." And that's bad for business. I was hoping maybe you could wrangle some puppets for me to practice on, and give me some stuff to dodge so I can figure out what I need to do to really work around the sheer speed of it all? I've got really good reflexes, if I could see straight when I was using the jutsu, it'd be solid, but as of right now..." It wasn't working so great. That much was clear from context.

"I understand if you're too busy or whatever. I know you've got lotsa stuff on your plate, after all," she added, giving Tomomi an out if they didn't feel like it.

"Just don't give up on me! We can figure this out!"

Template by: Monkey

MISSIONS
D - 0 | C - 9c/3i | B - 0 | A - 0 | S - 0

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

So she had been looking for them. They were glad they caught her on her way out instead of happening to miss her, in that case. It had been a minute since Tomomi had been given cause to train anyone, at least outside of their regular duties as a high-ranking member of the Barrier Corps.

They listened to her describe the technique she was struggling to work with. Something that caused her to move so quickly that it was almost detrimental and made her too easy a target to hit. Tomomi could certainly provide safe moving targets with their less distinct puppets and create some interesting scenarios for Miroru to work with in training this.

"I'd be happy to help you out," they answered casually, unbothered. Even though it was technically "more work," or an additional pressure, Tomomi almost found it a... welcome respite from their regular duties. Maybe because they were working towards another person's goals instead of their own, all while still advancing the village's cause.

Motioning for Miroru to follow, Tomomi would lead that way to the training room they'd used before for her control training.

Once at the training grounds, Tomomi would begin a little preparation. Forming some hand seals, they placed their hands upon the ground and a dozen clay soldiers rose from it. They had the soldiers step aside, one lining up to be Miroru's target for now. It had a sword in its hand, also made of stone.

"I'll have this soldier try to counter you. Show me how the technique works first and foremost."

---

Uchiha Miroru

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Genin

Yamanaka Tomomi | 254 | notes

It was, of course, quite clear that Miroru was at least as pleased as Tomomi to have managed to make contact before they passed like ships in the night- everything from her grin to her posture said so on her behalf! She beamed at the casually accepted request for assistance, bouncing on her heels faintly! "Thank you! I really appreciate it, Yamanaka-sama!"

It wasn't too long before they were back in the familiar training room they'd used before to keep her Jinchuuriki training under wraps and under ground. She padded into the room, cheerful and excited, and she watched with fascination as Tomomi drew up soldiers from the ground itself, clapping in appreciation of the unique skill!

"Okay. Gimme just a moment- I sorta cobbled together two techniques through some extra hand seals so it's... I mean, it's kinda clumsy," she admitted, as she flashed through over a half dozen hand seals. Every seal increased the sense of "does this kid even know what she's talking abo-"

CHIIIIICHICHICHICHICHICHICHICHICHICHICHIIIIIIIIIRRR!

Miroru's hand abruptly screamed with condensed, focused Raiton, completely swallowing her hand in visible chakra, the clay floor beneath her cracking and cratering under just the radiated WASTE energy from the jutsu. She took a step forward, as if to steady herself from the sheer power of it all-

"Just don't give up on me! We can figure this out!"

Template by: Monkey

MISSIONS
D - 0 | C - 9c/3i | B - 0 | A - 0 | S - 0

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

The implementation of the technique itself seemed a little clumsy, which was something she probably needed more practice on in and of itself to become more confident, but with time it would - wow, that was loud! Tomomi's expression didn't shift, as they had plenty of practice with resisting sonic torment, but down in an enclosed space like this the noise alone was almost a hazard. They took another few steps to the side even though they were clear out of Miroru's path, just in case.

When they watched her move, they could tell what she meant. Though the movement was fast and had a chaotic streak around it, it was also incredibly clearly projected. And at that speed it would be kind of difficult to react to any attacks from either side or behind, all attention focused fully forward. Even with the insane speed, the clay soldier was kind of able to move to the side and try an attack.

Since it was made of stone and quite fragile regardless, it shattered the second it struck at her with its blunted sword. A real attacker definitely could've gotten severely hurt if they didn't react fast enough, but Miroru would probably trade a pretty nasty blow for it with a real sword.

"Well, that's a frightful move," Tomomi said, though their tone was still quite playful.

"Alright, I've got an idea of what we're working with now. On the next one, I'm going to do something a little tricky and see if you can react in time, okay?"

Tomomi set up another of the clay soldiers to stand in Miroru's path.

This time, at the last second, Tomomi would produce a barrier wall in front of the clay soldier.

Would Miroru run right into it? Or be able to dodge to the side? Tomomi used a quite fragile one, so she'd run right through it if she collided with it, but the purpose of the test was clear - if she ran straight into a stronger barrier, she could squish herself flat.

---

Uchiha Miroru

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Genin

Yamanaka Tomomi | 203 | notes

All of Tomomi's observations were on point, and Miroru listened closely as she released the technique, her hand smoking and visibly flensed of skin in some spots. The smoke traded spots with steam, though, as the Ninetails' chakra refreshed her body rapidly from the extremely shallow burns, leaving her hand a bit pink but unharmed by the time the next test was arranged.

"Right? I'm not sure what it'll do to a person, but I hit a rock with it once and it exploded in half, so I think that's a good sign!" She pantomimed throwing out a knifehand as if it still had lightning all over it a few times, trying to get the motion right when she was going normal speed.

Tomomi's test was wonderfully thought through. True to form, Miroru didn't have time to perceive the wall properly. She smashed through the wall, squawked loudly, and tumbled chaotically past the target, coming to rest on her back against a wall, as if she was sitting on it.

"... ow."

"Just don't give up on me! We can figure this out!"

Template by: Monkey

MISSIONS
D - 0 | C - 9c/3i | B - 0 | A - 0 | S - 0

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

It was as Tomomi had expected, and as Miroru said. Miroru's visual acuity wasn't quite enough to capture threats appearing in front of her at a speed that matched the pace she was able to reach. The first thing they needed to focus on was getting that reaction time up to speed, then.

Tomomi came over to her, where she was tipped on the ground, and offered her a hand up.

"It seems like this ability has a lot of destructive power. ...Even to yourself," they joked, mildly, idly neatening her hair the way they might for one of their little nieces or nephews.

"I hate to make you tumble over yourself like that too many times, but it might be a good idea for us to keep practicing with the wall or other sudden direct attacks from the front before we do anything else. We'll need to look at your peripheral focus as well after that, but being able to respond in time to what you see in front of you is the most important thing of all."

They'd noticed the way the chakra was burning off her skin, too, but considering she recovered right away by the strength of the nine tails, it was probably alright. They wondered if she used this too often, if her hand would start to scar? All shinobi got scars eventually, so at least those ones would have a fun story.

"Do you think you'll be able to handle that, or will you get too dizzy if you trip while working on it?" In truth, Tomomi knew Miroru wasn't the type who'd be discouraged by something like that. Pretending to be concerned went a long way with training children, though.

---

Uchiha Miroru

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Genin

Yamanaka Tomomi | 226 | notes

The hand up was appreciated, and Miroru took their hand with a grateful grunt, hauling herself up and untangling herself from her own gangly limbs. "Whoof. That was a tumble!" She beamed as her hair was straightened, for all it was a war against the tide of redheaded floof. The affection was appreciated. "And yeah, it sizzles a bit. But lots of techniques aren't the greatest for their users, right? Isn't that usually the hallmark of a strong jutsu?" It was an honest question, not a joke or a presumption!

"OH, that's okay! I tripped over myself all the time and such playing with the other Justice Scouts. I'm not worried about all that! Let's try it your way!" Miroru insisted predictably. Tomomi was right, after all- she'd never been one to let something as petty as a stumble keep her from working towards what she wanted!

The redhead jogged back over to where she'd started, bouncing on her heels and lowering her stance as she worked her hand seals again, once more forming the intense, chittering mass of lightning around her fist, looking to Tomomi to know when it was time to try again!

"Just don't give up on me! We can figure this out!"

Template by: Monkey

MISSIONS
D - 0 | C - 9c/3i | B - 0 | A - 0 | S - 0

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

Eh...

"A lot of strong techniques can be done without tearing your body apart," Tomomi said, though it was quite casual. So long as Miroru was alright and could manage it, Tomomi really wasn't too concerned about it. Whatever was good for Konoha was fine by them. Plenty of shinobi were content to tear their bodies apart for their village and, to them, that was the way it ought to be.

When Miroru confirmed she was alright with taking a few more tumbles to practice, Tomomi nodded and set up again. They formed their few hand seals, gathering the chakra needed, positioning their little clay soldier in the way to act as a target. Then they would nod, signalling that it was alright for Miroru to take off again.

Once Miroru sprung into motion, Tomomi waited just a second before raising the barrier wall, making it appear suddenly in front of her again. They didn't time it exactly as they had on the previous attempt, because they didn't want her to just act on her memory of the timing, they wanted her to truly have to respond to the situation as it presented itself.

Would she be able to move in time this time? More likely, Tomomi predicted she would try to and still end up in some sort of cacophony.

---

Uchiha Miroru

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Genin

Yamanaka Tomomi | 253 | notes

"Oh. But what about like. The Eight Gates, and all those awesome taijutsu moves that make you do stuff so awesome you tear up your muscles?! Are they not worth it?!" Miroru cried, flabbergasted. Surely such legendary techniques were worth the strain?!

They were on the same page about how to continue, so Miroru waited for the signal, performed the clumsy- if improving- handsigns, and blitzed out of place again, the ground behind her trailing wisps of smoke from the radiant heat leaking off the technique's collected chakra!

The wall sprang up, and she DID show improvement- she had A reaction this time! The bolt of lightning zigged- but didn't zag back properly, instead catapulting Miroru off in another direction head over heels as she failed to take the second corner properly to come back round the wall, ending up on the ground, shoulders and face down, on her knees with her butt in the air this time.

"... I'm okay," she grumbled as she hauled back onto her feet, smoke fading to steam fading to nothing as her skin repaired itself, leaving her shaking her hand and flexing her fingers. "I thought about smacking the wall WITH the technique, but I think that'd ruin it? I'm actually not sure if I can hold that much chakra for more than one blow..."

"Just don't give up on me! We can figure this out!"

Template by: Monkey

MISSIONS
D - 0 | C - 9c/3i | B - 0 | A - 0 | S - 0

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

Miroru seemed a little baffled by Tomomi's assertion and brought up the eight gates, as well as many other techniques that could cause physical strain upon the body. Tomomi wasn't someone who liked to play with risk where they could avoid it, so in their opinion those kinds of things generally weren't worth it at all. Still, from an objective standpoint they could understand the value, so they clarified,

"Those are worth learning, but the people who use them generally understand them as last options for desperate situations. When it's something you plan to be using on the regular, you want to carefully weigh if the price you pay is really worth it."

Then to the actual training.

This time, Miroru actually managed to weave around the wall in response to its appearance, though she failed to get back on course afterwards, instead going toppling in a different direction from where she wanted her attack to land. One of those it gets worse before it gets better situations, they supposed.

"I think if you'd struck through the barrier, you still could've landed the blow on the soldier, but a lot of the impact would've been dispersed. Especially if the barrier was stronger. That is to say, you'd still injure your opponent, but a lot less than you'd intended. Going around the barrier is still the most energy efficient way to make sure your strike lands with as much impact as you want," Tomomi said.

"This barrier is weak enough that you could probably just kick your way through it and strike the energy with your hand, since I'm not trying to flatten you, but a real barrier wouldn't have that as an option. So you need to be able to maneuver efficiently." No easy ways around, as it were.

---

Uchiha Miroru

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Genin

Yamanaka Tomomi | 206 | notes

Baffled was a good way to put it. To Miroru, with ages of shinobi experience to weed out useless techniques and amplify those which were effective, why would self-damaging techniques remain at the pinnacle of shinobi esteem? There was a decent answer, though, that Tomomi delivered, and Miroru nodded a bit, looking at her hand with a slight frown. "Maybe the Zap Fist needs more work before I try it for real..? There's gotta be refinements I could make, right?"

---

Miroru clambered back up after her new disastrous crash, listening close to the shared thoughts on the attempt prior. They seemed to have a firm grasp on what was going wrong, and ideas on how to adjust. "Hm. So performing it with a clone that can break through anything in front of me might not be a bad idea, huh?" She thought aloud, nodding. "But yeah, mastering perceiving and responding to obstacles and threats is still top dollar planning."

Miroru flexed her fingers and jogged back to her starting place. "Okay! Let's try it again!"

"Just don't give up on me! We can figure this out!"

Template by: Monkey

MISSIONS
D - 0 | C - 9c/3i | B - 0 | A - 0 | S - 0

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

Probably, though Tomomi wasn't especially sure what refinements someone with such an extreme chakra supply could make. The careful control associated with more precise jutsu use wasn't something applicable to her at all. Tomomi had always been someone with a lower chakra supply, but a razor-precise ability to use their chakra sparingly, and that left them with little grounds on which to provide recommendations based on their own experience.

"Gaining better control over your bijuu in general may help. As you begin to grasp control of your shared chakra, you might find it easier not to tear yourself apart," they speculated, though it was clearly only speculation. "The other thing you might be able to do is provide space for yourself - push the chakra away from your hand slightly so that less of the electricity comes into contact with your skin." But that was one of those very precise things someone with such an ocean of chakra might struggle to do.

---

Miroru suggested an alternate solution to the trouble she was having, and Tomomi nodded. A clone wasn't a bad idea. For most shinobi a clone was a major chakra investment, but for Miroru she could afford to create clones at least slightly more liberally than most. Having one on hand just to be a helpful tool wasn't out of the question for her.

"A clone could definitely work on the field, especially while you're still training this. Though the more refined your skill is even without a clone present, the better." And Miroru was ready to go again!

Tomomi stood, watching for Miroru to begin. They carefully timed it, then produced another barrier wall, interested to see how Miroru would respond this time.

---

Uchiha Miroru