[Gima Naoya]

The Amegakure shinobi academy stood, without a doubt, as a testament to the village's strength. Some of the greatest ninja of the era studied the same curriculum that Naoya and his peers studied today. But far too few of them had directed their educations back toward the youth of today, and the young boy often found himself wanting.

If these kids were going to get out of here any time soon, they needed to rely on one another.

So, utilizing all of the proper channels of course, Naoya, a few days prior, had managed to slip into the head instructor's office and rifle through their desk until he found all of his classmate's test scores. Normally this kind of information would be protected, secured in some way, but if the headmaster didn't want Naoya reading them then they shouldn't have left the door unlocked. Who was really the criminal here?

The boy had scanned the latest test scores for discrepancies between his own and anyone else's and found that one Susano, Habiki was struggling to grasp the clone technique. In exchange, the boy had a passing skill for the body replacement and rope escape techniques. It was a perfect fit.

So today, Habiki would find himself invited to stay late and practice the clone technique with Naoya. In exchange, Naoya would expect some help learning one of the techniques he was struggling with that Habiki had otherwise gotten the hang of. When the boy arrived, he would find Naoya waiting patiently in a classroom, having pushed all the desks toward the walls to make a large clearing in the center of the room for them to train within.

Habiki Susanō

[Habiki Susanō]

Habiki inspected the note he was given by Naoya, his classmate. The boy had invited him to a training session. Based on what Habiki had seen of the boy, they didn't have too much in common. Though, he had no reason to disagree, so he walked to the classroom that the black-haired boy had determined as their meeting location. The note had also specified that He wished for Habiki to train him in either the rope escape or body replacement technique, while Naoya would help him with the clone technique. How he knew what Habiki's worst academy jutsu was, the boy wasn't sure. He suspected he'd found a fellow mischievous student. The only issue was, Habiki no longer had a problem with the clone technique.



Arriving at the designated classroom in his usual training attire, Habiki greeted Naoya with a wave, "Yo." He'd say as he looked around the room, observing the open space that the boy had created. "I could've helped move everything if you'd have waited, you know." The boy said. Speaking of help, he'd had an idea on the way over. "One slight request though, instead of helping me with the clone technique, which I don't really need anymore, could you help me get my chakra reserves up to a better level?" The boy asked, a sly grin plastered on his face.

Gima Naoya and notes and fancy links



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[attr="id","credits"]Quixotic of THQ

[Gima Naoya]

His intel was off; outdated. Naoya straightened as his training partner entered the room and nodded at the request with a mirror grin. It made sense to ask Naoya to help with strengthening chakra reserves; that was one of the only areas the kid did well in. But, upon realizing his peer must've already grasped all five basic academy techs by now, Naoya suddenly felt ashamed; he was further behind than he'd originally thought.

It should come as little surprise, or maybe it was- Naoya didn't keep tabs on who did or didn't know him, when the boy approached the chalkboard to detail his plan of attack.

Already written there, in legible but far too small handwriting, was a basic lesson plan:

• work on basics for clone technique (and whatever technique u can teach me)
• practice it a few times and correct minor errors
• go until we're dead

Naoya reached up, grabbing a fistful of sleeve and stretching it over the side of his hand before smudging out 'clone technique' and replacing it with a hastily scrawled 'reserves training'.

When he was done, he looked back at Habiki expectantly. He set the chalk down on the teacher's desk at the center of the front of the room, and offering for Habiki to make edits if he liked, before making his way to the center of the circle to teach and be taught.

Habiki Susanō

[googlefont=Rock Salt]

[Habiki Susanō]

At this point, Habiki was used to the other boys rather quiet demeanor, but it still felt odd to him. Especially now that he knew the boy had a mischievous side to him. How else would he have known Habiki's worst tested jutsu was the clone one. He had to have gone through his file or something similar. Naoya had clearly sought him out, that was for sure.

It took him a little bit to notice the small handwriting on the nearby chalkboard. Once he did notice it though, he read through the words as best he could. It was a decent lesson plan, or at least as decent as could be expected of either of the two academy students. As Naoya made the necessary edits with the information he now had, Habiki gave him a nod to signal that it was good.

Following Naoya to the center of the circle, Habiki asked the boy, "So which techniques do you still need to work on? We can work on that first unless you'd prefer helping me first." Truthfully, Habiki figured it'd be smarter to teach Naoya first since he would be training his reserves, draining his chakra in the process, but he wasn't too picky either.

Gima Naoya and notes and fancy links



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[attr="id","credits"]Quixotic of THQ

[Gima Naoya]

Whether they started with Naoya or Habiki made no difference to the young boy. At first mention of training up the other kid's limits for chakra usage, he'd assumed they'd just have him use whatever technique he was the worst with and then spam them out until the kid either passed out or died. But if this guy was already of passing skill with the clone tech, then Naoya's short-lived career as a educational saboteur was for naught.

Honestly the kid could just work himself out doing whatever technique he ended up helping Naoya learn.

Of the two techniques he had yet to fully get the hang of, those being the substitution and rope escape techniques, Naoya definitely had more trouble with the latter. On a fundamental level, he didn't entirely understand how it worked. Was it a burst of chakra that broke the restraints, or was it something more subtle, like enhancing the user's ability to slip free of them? Either way, the boy had come prepared.

He removed his arm from one strap of the backpack he wore, so he could slide it around to his front and access its contents. Near the top was a length of rope, measuring roughly 50 feet, which he plucked out and tossed to the ground. The backpack would follow the same trajectory before Naoya slid it to the edge of the circle with a gentle kick.

He turned back to his training partner, gaze splitting equal shares of the boy across from him and the rope between them, and waited expectantly. Hopefully the kid lead with an explanation, Naoya was ironically not the most visual learner.

Habiki Susanō

[Habiki Susanō]

Habiki smiled as Naoya got a rope out of his bag. It was a good thing he had come prepared, since Habiki definitely didn't. As Naoya placed the rope on the ground and slid his bag across the floor, habiki began to explain the technique, "Basically, you can make chakra course through certain portions of your body to make that part more flexible. I personally channel it through my wrists if my upper body is tied down. If it's my lower body I generally use my ankles. Any questions?" Habiki would ask as he grabbed the end of the rope  "or are you ready?" A grin plastered itself on his face.

If naoya had any questions,  he'd wait to go forward. If not, Habiki would grab the end of the rope and bring over a chair.  "It's easier if you're sitting down for both me and you." Habiki would state. Assuming Naoya sat down, Habiki would begin tying the rope around the boy, not tying it too tight, but firm enough to where it wouldn't fall off or be too easy to get out of. He'd do a tie him up in a more difficult knot later, but this was fine to start out. "Oh, and you can't be seen while doing it. Your mind will subconsciously tense up your body to the point of not being able to conduct the jutsu. Ready when you are though!"

[Gima Naoya]

Well, it seemed Habiki was down, if nothing else. The eagerness with which things began once they had was only a bit unnerving and the grin wasn't doing much to put Naoya at ease, but he acquiesced, traveling to the chair that was offered to him.

In all honesty, the technique didn't make much sense. How did the chakra make him more flexible, and what would making his wrists more flexible do if his torso was tied down? He hoped that once he did this all his joints went back to where they were supposed to be. Otherwise, this training was just going to result in a trip to the hospital, not any gained skill in ninjutsu.

Once the boy was tied up he waited for Habiki to turn around, giving him a nod of encouragement to push him along. The whole not being seen thing didn't make much sense either. There were plenty of demanding techniques out there that no doubt demanded far greater concentration than this; surely you could be observed while doing those. But he refrained from any further protest for all the good it could do.

Naoya began focusing on gathering his chakra in his wrists and ankles and anywhere else there was pressure on him from the rope. He focused on making his body more malleable, to more easily slip free of the restraints. But he was struggling. Chakra welled in great pools where he intended them to but they had no control, instead bursting outward and forcing the ropes loose.

He stared at the cord which piled around the chair, his position unchanged. In desperation, he checked his wrists to see if they felt any more flexible; to an extent they did, but not so much that he'd have been able to slide them through the ropes. He'd gotten free of his restraints, but wholly failed to actually do the technique as described. Assuming Habiki turned to inspect Naoya's handiwork after the ropes fell to the floor with a soft thud, the boy would offer him only disappointment, shaking his head with a dejected look on his face.

Habiki Susanō

[Habiki Susanō]

Habiki turned away from Naoya, giving the boy some time to attempt the technique. His attempt was… somewhat in the right direction. But he sort of got the right idea on the technique. He'd gotten loose, which was the goal. He'd just forgotten to do it quietly. Or rather, he'd failed to do it quietly. To be fair though, Habiki hadn't really explained that you were supposed to do it quietly. Though, he had figured that much was implied. The boy's disappointed expression showed that he was being way too hard on himself.

"Not a bad first go at it so stop with the hanging head of shame." He'd smile, before giving further instruction. "Try channeling a bit of your chakra into the rope too, to make it less tight. I think that'll help a bit." He continued, "I also personally wiggle around a bit when I'm trying to break free. But that isn't required. You do need to escape quietly though, since your trying to escape after being captured so there would surely be enemies who would hear you if you're too loud. They've docked points from me for that before. You ready for a second try?" The boy would ask, awaiting his answer. Once Naoya confirmed he was ready, Habiki would tie him up again, a little bit more loose than the prior time, and turn around, "Go for it."

[Gima Naoya]

Habiki was being generous. Based on the description of the technique and his clarification of silence being paramount, Naoya had almost completely failed on all counts save for the actual escaping portion. By that metric he could have just pulled a knife and cut the ropes and he'd have performed about the same. And, what stung a bit more, was the implication that this was the first time Naoya had tried the technique; it was probably the hundredth.

But, following his senior's suggestion, Naoya stopped beating himself up. A weak smile forced its way across the kid's lips, the kind that seemed to overwhelm any semblance of self control whenever someone praised you. He nodded in acknowledgement of the new advice and waited for his teacher to turn around once more before trying again.

This time, he focused a bit more on easing the chakra into his joints slowly, as opposed to trying to just build up as much there as possible. It was like dipping a knife in jam and spreading it evenly over a piece of bread, instead of just turning the jar over and praying not too much poured out. And it seemed to be working; he could flex his wrists a bit more than before and, when he made an effort to push the chakra out into the restraints, they loosened through that same force from before.

This time, however, he was able to deftly slip free of them, standing up and catching the rope behind him in a tight spin so as to avoid it crashing to the floor. If it lightly pooling at his feet was too much noise before, this should be silent. It hadn't been perfect, honestly it was pretty slow as well, but it felt like a solid B grade to him. He set the rope down gently before turning back to await Habiki's appraisal.

Hopefully the boy's performance instilled some measure of confidence in his classmate. They hadn't even begun his portion of the training after all.

Habiki Susanō