[log] Experimenting with jutsu [Sachiko & Jimaiya]
In a training area outside the compound that was almost never used, Sachiko glared at the wooden post, her legs spread, body bent at the waist, and panting from the effort she had exerted. The thick practice post was gouged deeply, but she hadn't been able to get all the way through. She closed her eyes, inhaled and exhaled several times, slowly. She straightened and extended her left hand, palm up. When she opened her eyes they were blood red and chakra began spinning in a tight ball in her hand. Three years ago when she had fought Naruko at the Valley, she had seen and copied both versions of Naruko's Rasengan. The first version, the one that needed the help of a kage bunshin, felt horribly awkward. But the second version, the one the blonde had formed after being coated in the Kyuubi's chakra, had only needed a single hand to hold it and the will and control to shape it.
She liked doing it that way much better. It had taken several days of private, hard work to duplicate the Rasengan. More months passed before she had achieved a level of control that allowed her to use the move with confidence in her training, though she hadn't had reason to use it in missions, not since Tsurude was keeping her on D-ranks. She was on "probation" when it came to a promotion to chuunin, hanging in limbo between ranks. She'd taken the exam again only relatively recently with two genin she never met before and hadn't spoken to since, and while she had done well, Tsurude felt there was still a question of Sachiko's loyalty to the village.
At least she had had plenty of time to train on her own, what with Naruko working most of the time with Jimaiya and Sakurai with Tsurude. Kakami, too, had her own things to do and wasn't always available.
The Rasengan was moving nicely. Good. Now for the tricky part.
Unconsciously, her open eyes widened as she stared into the depths of the Rasengan, her fingers beginning to tremble when lightning started sparking inside the ball and licking along the edges. The goal was to combine the Rasengan with Chidori. She had been contemplating combining the two jutsu for just over a year now, especially when she paid close attention to how the Rasengan moved. But the thing she had to keep in mind was just how much chakra Chidori used - and wasted. She also had to reconcile the difference in how the chakra for both jutsu was focused. The amount of concentration necessary was incredible. The amount of chakra required was simply insane. Chidori had a limit to how many she could do before she came close to passing out, whereas Rasengan was actually more controlled and didn't lose chakra. Combining the two... If this second attempt today didn't work, she would have to wait several days, possibly a week, before she could try again.
Watch the kid, Jimaiya was told, like she was some kind of babysitter. She was a damn Sannin, thank you very much, which meant she could kick ass just as much as that worry-wart of a Hokage could. But did he acknowledge that? Noooo, all Jimaiya could do, apparently, was torment kids and write a book.
Asshole.
Well fine-- she'll watch the brat. But she'd be damned if she had to be happy about it!
At the very least it gave her time to practice her sleuthing skills. Not that they needed much refinement, but the young brats were getting wiser by the decade, and Jimaiya was smart enough to know it would only be a matter of time before she'd be found out.
And she couldn't have that, oh no.
Glancing down from her perch on a tree branch several feet away, Jimaiya had to wonder just what the hell the kid thought she was doing. Brow quirked in both amusement and disbelief, the Toad Hermitess thought, Well now I've seen everything. (Which was saying a lot, considering who she was.)
She was not at all surprised to find the girl capable of performing the Chidori. Jimaiya wouldn't have put it past Kakami to do something--not stupid, but just a little foolish. Birds of a feather, Jimaiya thought a little whimsically, before shaking her head.
What did surprise Jimaiya was the fact that somehow this little twerp had managed to copy the Rasengan as well.
Well damn. Maybe Tsurude wasn't so paranoid after all.
"And just what," she decided to finally make herself known, "do you plan to do once you've accomplished that?"
Sachiko's lips curled at the interruption but to her credit she held her concentration. Barely. The lightning sparked and the Rasengan faltered but she just managed to keep it together. She planted her feet then ran at the post, waiting until the last moment to thrust her arm forward. The spinning ball coated with flickers and sparks of lightning went the rest of the way through the post with fragments exploding outward. Not enough of Chidori in that. Not even close to nearly enough. Dammitt! she thought sourly. Energy almost completely spent, Sachiko sagged against the parts of the post still standing, drumming up the will to stand up straight to face Jimaiya. Her expression was sullen and wary and only just respectful. "Add it to my repertoire," she replied, keeping a steadying hand on the post. She inclined her head to the side, black eyes watching the Sannin carefully and wondering what the hell she was doing there.
I'll bet, Jimaiya thought dryly, and leaned against the trunk of the tree to get a better angle on the girl. It comforted her, at least a tiny bit, to see that the girl was apparently struggling with the rather ambitious project.
But the fact that the Uchiha looked close to achieving it did nothing but trouble the mind.
Nevertheless, the Toad Hermitess could not deny the intrigue. To combine two powerful, chakra-exhausting jutsus was stupid, surely, but one had to hand it to the kid-- she had balls.
"You're quite the overachiever," observed Jimaiya, lips quirked and voice twinkling with mild amusement.
If she remembered the stories correctly, so was the kid's sister.
"Certainly talent has graced you," the Sannin continued, tilting her head to the side a bit in curiosity. "And yet.. still a genin?"
Sachiko glared. She kept telling herself that rank was the only way others could measure your strength, that the only real measurement stick she should care about was Itae, but the fact of the matter was everyone from her year were at least chuunin and that rankled. "Tsurude-sama hasn't given consent yet to see me promoted," Sachiko responded brusquely. Tsurude was taking his sweet old time in signing the paperwork that would actually promote her, but what was worse was how stifled the Uchiha felt. Most of the village didn't trust her as far as they could spit, which was not conducive to learning new jutsu.
The desire to leave this place had never fully gone away. She spent the majority of her time either too busy to think about it, or pushing that particular train of thought away. But she knew she could learn so much more if she wasn't stuck in this joke of a village. It's not like others would recognize her, as long as she didn't let people see the Sharingan and she didn't wear her family-crest clothing. But Sachiko wasn't a fool. If she managed to get away, and considering how closely she was monitered, another team would be sent after her in no time. And she didn't want to deal with that again. So she stayed, she did as she was told, and she didn't do anything that would cause the Hokage to get his knickers in twist.
Last thing she wanted was to spend more "quality time" with Ibiki.
"Is there something I can help you with, Jimaiya-sama?" Note to self, find a new training area. She wished Jimaiya hadn't seen her just now, but nothing to be done about it. Bloody Sannin.
"Not really," Jimaiya replied, twirling a lock of her hair casually, almost mockingly. Her cover was already blown (her own doing, of course, but Tsurude didn't need to know that~), so she figured she may as well try and have some fun.
Uchihas, it seemed, were very easy to rile~
"Please," she said next, making vague motions with her hand, "do continue~"
"Not today," Sachiko responded. She wanted to curl up somewhere and sleep for a little bit, but she wasn't about to do that in front of Jimaiya. Call it stubbornness, call it pride, call it both, but Sachiko refused to appear weak. "Then why are you here?"
Jimaiya's painted lips curled into the barest of smiles. "Just enjoying the scenary," she said airily, dismissively.
She leaned forward then, eyes narrowing in interest. "Funny thing though," she began casually, playing up her playful demeanor, "I don't quite remember showing you the Rasengan." She set a finger to her lips thoughtfully. "Has Naruko been showing off again?"
"I was wondering where she had picked up that particular jutsu." No need to mention the Valley, in Sachiko's opinion. Let the old woman wonder. But, since Jimaiya was here, might as well take advantage of her presence. "Since you're here and since you saw, would you be willing to share any useful comments?" Always good to learn more about a jutsu from someone who wasn't running around with bastardized version.
To Jimaiya's credit, she didn't laugh. Not out loud, at least, but the urge to do so was definitely tempting, all things considered.
This one definitely had balls, no doubt about that. As if Jimaiya would actually help-- she got enough crap from Tsurude as it is, no need to add to the load. But the Sannin liked the younger girl, if only because the Uchiha amused her so.
After all, Tsurude never said anything about playing around~
Putting a palm to her chin and the corresponding elbow on her knee, Jimaiya pretended to look very thoughtful indeed. After a few moments, her smile widened innocently.
"You wouldn't happen to be able to change into a man, would you~?"
"...No." Perv. Considering Naruko's stories, Sachiko should've known...
And Jimaiya didn't look like she was going to dispense any sort of helpful advice. Whatever. Not like Sachiko needed it; she was doing fine on her own.
"Shame," Jimaiya pouted in disappointment. It really was too-- how long's it been since her last 'research'? Ahh how time flies~
The girl looked to be losing interest, though, and Jimaiya couldn't have that, oh no, not since she decided this was far too much fun to pass up.
She thought about it; she was a pretty safe distance away and, Chidori-Rasengan hybrid or not, Jimaiya was the Sannin here, no need to worry.
"Naruko's spoken a lot about you, of course," Jimaiya smiled amiably. She squinted a bit. "Though from the way she went on, I expected less pale skin and more hooves and horns." She grinned at the look she'd provoked, but otherwise ignored the irritation there. "She didn't understate your skills, though. As far as I recall, Naruko still requires a bunshin to perform Rasengan."
She swung her legs along the air playfully, though her eyes remained watching, critical. "Are you as talented as she says? Or has Tsurude banned you from missions too?"
Sachiko crossed her arms in front of her chest. "He hasn't," she said flatly. As for the other comment... She narrowed her eyes a little. If seeing the hybrid hadn't been enough of a demonstration of her ability and talent, then Jimaiya was a bigger idiot than Sachiko thought.
Hn. It was beginning to become glaringly obvious to Jimaiya that any sort of conversation with this girl would be close to non-existant. Pity. There went her source of entertainment for the night~
Jimaiya watched the Uchiha carefully. The hybrid attempt had obviously taken its toll on the teen, and Jimaiya figured it was on pure will alone that kept the girl from collapsing. Balls and determination... No wonder she was such a brat.
"Kid," said Jimaiya, very seriously, "anyone ever tell you you look like Death?"
"No," Sachiko responded with a frown. The hell was she talking about? "...Why would you say that?"
Aha! Jimaiya thought triumphantly. She'd managed to catch the kid a little offguard; Jimaiya celebrated her little win with a mental victory dance.
"Oh it's probably just me then," Jimaiya shrugged offhandedly. "I always did have a flair for the dramatics~ Though," she added as afterthought, finger put to chin, "it wouldn't kill you to smile once in a while."
Oh, good gods. Sachiko closed her eyes and exhaled a silent sigh. She pushed herself off from the post as she had been leaning against it, then opened her eyes to meet the Sannin's gaze. "If there's nothing else, then, Jimaiya-sama, I'm going home." Jimaiya didn't wish to help? Fine. Sachiko was going to get some sleep and let her body start replenishing its chakra.
The Sannin watched the girl walk away, her expression--in stark contrast to the playful manner she so easily settled into earlier--grim and thoughtful. It was a few minutes later before the Toad Hermitess decided to move from her spot, towards the Palace.
Perhaps she would give this 'babysitting' thing another go after all.