Konoha Academy

Welcome to the Academy! Established during the reign of the second Hokage for Military need. Since it's founding it has served well in bringing forth the strong and might shinobi's of today. Konoha has excellent equipment for their young shinobi-in-training. The location of the Academy is found near the base of the Hokage Monument mountain, it's one of the larger buildings in the entire village. This is also because the upper floors of the Academy is the administrative division and it's also where the Hokage's office is located. It's a hard building to miss actually, aside from it's massive size, it also had a bright red rooftop with a kanji sign for fire right on top of it.

The Academy have several other building's connected to it leading to many of the other classrooms. Constantly day in and day out you'll find shinobi coming an going, whether it's students to their classes or higher ranking shinobi to meet with the Hokage. It's always quite the busy place. Thankfully each of those section's have different entrances so you don't have things such as Academy students getting bowled over by jonin's who are in a rush for an important mission.

The teachers here are mostly comprised of many chunin and some jonin who have decided that their path in life is to teach the younger generation's of shinobi. Much like any other schools you have your math, science, reading, writing, class, though unlike Non-shinobi schools, you also have special classes that you go to alongside your regular classes; Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, and there are also special classes specifically for the kunoichi, the female shinobi, that attend.

Students are accepted into the academy if they accept three simple requirements; Love your village and hope to keep it's peace and preserve its prosperity, have a mind that won't yield and a body than can endure hard work, and you must be of healthy body and mind. Once those two requirements are met a student is accepted into the Academy.


Classes start quite early and end late into the afternoon. The classroom's themselves have high ceilings and large rooms, it was built this way on the theory that larger classrooms lead to expansive education, even the blackboard themselves are expanded. In front of the Blackboard is a podium where the teacher, typically stands and is in a prime spot to see the entire classroom. There is also a large amount of space between the podium and the first row of student desks. Which are long tables that have a slight arch and rise up three rows, in desk can sit three students. there are 9 total desks, three desks to each step up. There are two doors in and out the classroom, one in the back of the classroom and one in the front of the classroom. With the opposite wall being large windows that shows the Academy's field. The glass windows themselves are specially reinforced with chakra so that they don't break due to someone outside in the field throwing a throwing in the wrong direction.

Our focus today however, comes to Class A-1, the teacher of this classroom is known as Gin. She taught a majority of subjects, but her specialty is Ninjutsu.

Gin is a jonin level kunoichi, she stands at 5'11''. She had long wavy brown hair, which she keep tied up in a braid and curled into a bun, which is held in place by to decorative chopsticks. She had bright blue eyes and and normally holds a pleasant look on her face. She wear light make-up and her lips are colored rose pink. Like the rest of her follow shinobi, she wears the uniform attire of konoha, which is composed of blue long sleeve shirts, with a red circle with a black swirl on her shirts shoulder sleeves. She also has matching blue pants and over her shirt she wears a green flak jacket, which all konoha flak jackets have in the back a swirl pattern just like how it is on her shoulders, and multiple pockets located on the front. She had bandages wrapped around her ankles and wears the signature shinobi sandal's, hers are blue in color.

She would already be found in the classroom, rather cheerful actually, looking over the student rooster she had in a notebook. She was humming to herself lightly, while twirling a pencil in her right hand.

word count: 732

After her morning calisthenics, Rosemarius had made sure to spend a little extra time soaking in the warm waters of the bath, enough that she had been able to feel the physical sensation of tight muscles on the edge of uncomfortable cramping relax a little. With her history involving the constant hauling of blocks of clay from the clay pits to the pottery shop, cutting them, moving them to the wheel, moving the wet pieces to a drying rack and then kiln, and then moving the finished product to the front of the shop, tired and cramped muscles were second nature to her. A daily business left no time to sit and recover and so it had become necessary to learn exactly how much of what her muscles needed to quickly recover after heavy work and a sense for the exact moment that they'd tipped from being painful for days to being mildly uncomfortable for a few hours. Despite pushing herself in her running, however, she knew she hadn't strained overmuch and the extra few minutes of soaking and lightly kneading the muscles had headed off the threat of requisite downtime. That and, she suspected, the fact that her chakra was passively helping her remain in good condition now that she'd become aware of it and begun to focus on its flow and usage. Regardless of why she wasn't as hurt as she might otherwise be, however, she gets out of the bath promptly when she feels the relaxation in her legs and dons her clothing. She goes through the same ritual as she had for her training at first light--the markings on her face, the three leather bindings with colored beads along the length of her ponytail which was then tucked into the back of her shirt--and starts down the corridors of the school with writing supplies and paper kept in a neat wooden case along with her kunai and shuriken tucked neatly into sheaths around her waist and trailing along the undersides of her upper arms respectively.

The kunoichi that walks into Gin's classroom is somewhat tall for being a 14-year-old, just barely 5'10", and there is very little of the slight youthful roundness around her face. Indeed, her features are somewhat narrow, her chin slightly pointed with a prominent hooked nose and her lips compressed into a line of disapproving sourness as she enters. Her hair is a bright auburn, too brown to make her a proper redhead but there is a very distinctive cherry tinge to her fine locks. Around her face, she keeps them neatly trimmed and exposing a high smooth forehead that does more to display the olive tone of her skin than anything else. The back of her hair is long and pulled into a ponytail that disappears below the collar of her shirt but Gin would be able to see at least the top and middle beaded bands of red and green respectively that keep it in the proper shape. Her ears are unadorned--no surprise, given her age--and she wears no other ornamentation on her. Oh, and also, she has facial markings. They're not the traditional markings of the Inuzuka clan which resemble blood-red fangs but a symmetrical sweeping pair of markings that are clearly done by Rosie herself, thick black lines that curve under her eyelids to the corners of her eyes and then arch downwards along the natural curve of her cheeks. She wears a long-sleeved light green shirt that her shuriken sheaths are buckled to that actually has a formal collar of sorts and a black scarf tucked under it and falling down to the slight curve of her breasts in the semblance of a formal tie. On her lower body, she wears a pair of khaki shorts that seem to be made of a very rough and durable material with several pockets sewn on that are clearly meant to hold numerous small items as needed. She finishes off the ensemble with a pair of ankle-high work boots that are secured tight by three lever buckles and based on the sound they make when she walks into the classroom, they're steel-toed and have hobs on the bottom to give them grip on slightly slick surfaces. Unlike the rest of her clothing, which is new-looking, her boots are old and worn but are darkened from regular applications of wax waterproofing and the metal components of the buckles are fastidiously maintained the way an experienced manual laborer would.

The sour expression on her face lasts only so long as it takes a pair of grave amethyst eyes to sweep the classroom and notice that Gin seems to be the only occupant at the moment. Then the gravity in her eyes becomes lively with slight cheer and she gives the teacher a small and shy smile before bowing formally to her. "Good morning sensei," she says, her voice having a very subtle harpsichord quality to it. Her smile might be shy but she keeps her voice at a volume that's easily audible with very precise enunciation on each syllable of each word, making her speech sound oddly staccato. "Do you have a preference for where you would like me to seat myself? I tend to prefer the front row of a classroom, the better to attend to my lessons and the words of my instructor, but if you have a preferred ordering, I happily defer."

{Word Count: 903}

Gin was aware of the sounds that echoed in the hallway by the boots contacting against the ground, but she didn't divert her focus from her roster. She had to read the names over and over again, just so she could make sure she got it right. Yes, she needed to get this precisely right or else she would be in a slump for getting it wrong, and no she didn't want that, not at all. The door slide open and her attention turned towards the door. From the looks of it, it was a student of hers, she recalled seeing her picture in her roster.

She would give the young, though rather tall, student a gentle smile in return. She would only give a slight laugh as she heard the question about the seating arrangements. "Oh no, go ahead and pick your own seat." she liked polite children, in her experience, she found them easier to deal with. Though this could all be a ruse and the student is only trying to lower the teacher's guard. she thought to herself as she would look back towards her roster. "You sure got here early, I wasn't exactly expecting anything to show up for at least another thirty minutes. You are Rosemarius Blytraviin, correct?" She read her name off the roster.

word count: 222 | 954

Rosie gives the teacher another formal bow and takes the seat that's as close to the direct middle of the row and the front as possible. "I come of a family of potters," she says as she unrolls a scroll that's already written on, the brush strokes fairly rough and imprecise, the markings of a young teen's writing. "Many craftsmen of the village desire good clay: the blacksmiths, the candlemakers, any artisan who needs to make good molds, even some art-nin... and potters. To have your pick of the newest and more pure clay that will make the best pottery, you need to rise at first light and immediately go to work." She raises her head from unpacking her writing kit and gives the teacher the shy smile again. She seems pleasant enough, and kind. First impressions could be wrong but this particular class is already showing promise. "The habit's hard to break, so I found myself awake at first light and feeling refreshed and ready to work. Without clay to dig and cut and carry, I felt restless and uncomfortable with the lack of hard effort so I went looking for some. The librarian also rises early, so I sought out a scroll discussing the..." She pauses a moment to find the word. "...the philosophy of the shinobi way, hoping I could find something that would offer a direction to go."

She holds up the scroll and unrolls a little of it so Gin would be able to read the words "...it is known among shinobi as Budō and is the way of self-improvement, self-mastery, and fighting with virtue..." written in the young teen's hand. She gives the teacher enough time to read the words if she chooses before putting the scroll down flat again on her desk. "I thought that the advice was very good so I went out into the yard and tried to apply it. As far as I'm concerned, the first weapon everyone has is their self and their own body, so that's where I decided to put my desire for hard work, starting on improving my first weapon. I worked until I knew I'd reached the limit of what my body can take before the fatigue would force me to rest and recover for a day, and then I washed and dressed for class. I couldn't begin researching taijutsu without being late, so I decided to be early."

She takes out a blank scroll from her circular writing materials case and places it beside the scroll she's already written on. She then takes out a brush and a well of ink, and begins to stir the ink to a proper consistency. "I thought that when I arrived, I could begin extending a spirit of perfection over my writing and the deftness of my brush strokes so that they would be more legible, precise, and artful. The scroll also told me that by seeking and practicing perfection in very small things, it will be easier to perfect larger things, and there are many large things I need to perfect." She falls silent again, dipping her brush into the ink and carefully starting to paint the first character before something seems to occur to her. She looks up at Gin with a suddenly earnest expression. "I truly hope that I'm not intruding on your time by being too early. If you prefer that I leave and let you have another thirty minutes alone without me disturbing you, I have no need to be sitting in this particular place to practice and perfect my brushstrokes. I could easily move my work to a different place and leave you to your silence." Despite her words, however, she looks hopeful that she'll be permitted to stay and work in the classroom.

{-20 words for the text copied from a training thread, the quote from the scroll she read}
{Word Count: 632 -20 = 612 | 1515}

Lifting her head from her roster she listened to the girl. She went on and on describing bit's about herself, and as Gin listened, she found herself to be quite impressed with the young girl. For someone of her age to be thinking ahead like this was rarely seen. To say that she wasn't proud to become a teacher to such a student would be a lie, Gin did feel this swelling of pride fill her as if she had just found herself a challenge to accomplish. That challenge? Well it was to be able to teach focused and mature students. She's head tales from other teachers and their few experiences with such students, but they were all vastly different experiences, would her's be like their's or will it be a whole new world? Well no matter, Gin kept her attention to the girl and sincerely smiled at her watching how she moved, how she set up her scrolls, keeping in mind the girl's movements and quirks.

Gin quickly read what was presented to her, as ninjas have ridiculously good eye sight, due to their intense trainings so she didn't need to move from her podium. Gin hadn't spoken a single word and just kept a sincere smile on her face even when Rosemarius had looked to her. A change of expression filtered the young girl's face and Gin arched a brow expressing a slightly confused one and then proceeded to give a short giggle. "No, you're perfectly fine where you are. You don't seem to be the type that's going to bother me at least. So keep doing what you're doing," She closed her roster and and walked around the podium and walked closer to the girl to get a better look at what she was doing and to try and build an intimate moment. "I must tell you..." she started. "I'm quite impressed, no less than five minutes in the door and you have already shown quite the strong, and sensible, determined mentally young shinobi should be having."

She was, in all honesty, happy to see such a person like this in her class. "I hope I can guide you well as an instructor on your path to being strong and fine Kunoichi."

Word count: 375 | 1329

Rosie actually beams at Gin's words, the first time she can personally remember going beyond the shy, subtle smile she shows others, Of course other than with Father and Mother, I've never had a reason to smile broadly, no reason to break my reserve. Besides, it's not as if there's others to see me smiling happily and getting the wrong idea, is there? She puts her head down and adjusts the scrolls so one is nearly perfectly parallel to the other, before she stops and furrows her brow. She moves the scrolls apart and then slides one next to the other again, getting the same nearly-perfect parallelism this next time as well. On her third try, the two scrolls line up perfectly, barely a seam to be seen between them, and the building tension in her shoulders disappears. "I'm sensible, sensei, because I'm not allowed to be insensible," she says as she copies the phrase from the scroll, her eyes remaining open and staring intently as she strives to make a more perfect copy. The second character was smudged the first time... that won't do at all. A spirit of perfection over small things and you can extend it over large things as well... starting with copying these important words very precisely, with discipline and precision. "Father and Mother have never needed to punish me after I was old enough to think on my own... life itself disciplined me. There isn't enough ryo to buy a nice toy if the pottery is flawed. The pottery is flawed if the clay is impure or old. Impure or old clay is discipline for lingering in bed too long and not jumping to work immediately. The clay can become impure, even if it was dug pure, if it's not cut to the right size to carry well, so impure clay is discipline for not being careful." Too long of cross, too short of tail... third character is acceptable for now but the fourth! Goodness, it looks like a completely different one! "Insensible potters or the insensible children of potters don't get to have what they want in life because they didn't pay for it with work and attention." She stops and looks up, directly into Gin's eyes with very grave seriousness. "When I was small, I got very little of what I wanted. Before I came to this academy, I obtained almost all of what I wanted. Mother and Father never raised a hand to me, but I learned that insensible girls get nothing and sensible girls get everything. And so, I am a sensible girl, because that's how I'm going to get everything I want from learning how to be a shinobi."

She lowers her head back to her work. Seventh character is just barely crossed. I can't imagine how I forgot to do that, but I clearly did. I'm surprised that sensei could read it... or maybe she was just being kind to me? She smiles a little at that thought. I must be doing the right thing in the right way if an instructor is already showing kindness to me without knowing. Perhaps she's simply a kind and virtuous kinouchi. I would like that very much, because I think the scroll is right about virtuous shinobi: they are more victorious more completely than not virtuous ones. I wonder what 'virtuous' means anyway... it's clearly good, but I wonder what the word itself means? I can certainly find out, after I've completed what I need to today. She copies a few more characters before continuing to speak. "I don't think other children like sensible girls. They call me 'spoilsport' and 'wet blanket' and funny even when I'm being serious. I keep my hair inside my shirt because other children liked to use it to hold me so they could play pranks or be mean. I know it would be wise to cut my hair short or put it up short because a foe can use it as a handhold as well, but I like my hair how it is, and like having a single tail of hair I can put my beaded bands around." She sighs. "I hope I won't have to deal with that sort of thing at this academy, sensei. There's far too much work to do to become a good shinobi to have to waste my time worrying about stupid or silly people my own age getting in my way and until I've become learned enough with my chakra and my techniques, I can't persuade them that I'm more trouble than I'm worth." Having their nose broken: the only language children my age seem to understand. Got disciplined enough by adults for cracking noses but after that... peace and quiet whenever I... what is that? Did I really scribble something this indecipherable? With a frown, she goes after the offending character with a vengeance before tapping the brush three times for ellipses, pauses, and then starts to copy the text again, going even more slowly and carefully.

{Word Count: 839 | 2354}

It was clear to Gin that this girl thought a lot, probably just a little bit too much, but it wasn't entirely a bad thing either. It was a good thing to have a nice strong mind attached to the body. It meant that you had much higher chances at being able to think properly, react quickly, and come to making difficult decisions, which is really good for being a shinobi. Though Gin also get's the feeling that she might be missing out on something. She took in the girls words and listened attentively, even her body posture reflected that she was indeed listening. Gin wasn't exactly quite sure of what to make out of what she had just heard, it sounded odd to her, making her have this strange sensation just to hug the girl and go 'momma gin is gonna make everything better', but she held back her urges and gave her the attention she rightly deserved.

Gin turned around as she would walk away from the girl, when she did upon her hip swung a Headband that head the village's insignia on it. It looked to be tied to something that was underneath her shirt, but her shirt covered that it was. She'd walk to her podium and pull a drawer in order to get a piece a chalk from it. "I cannot promise you that bad thing's won't happen..." she started out looking toward's Rosemarius. "...I can only say that children can be mean, they can be really hurtful even when they do not realize it." She would turn towards the chalk board and across the top she began to write her own name, Gin, no last name included and right underneath that she wrote out Ninjutsu 101

"As you grow..." she felt like she needed to choose her words carefully. "...you'll come to see thing's much differently than how they feel now. Time's that were once thought as terrible times, sometimes seem kinda funny, or you feel like if that certain situation didn't happen I wouldn't be who I am today!" she said it in a manner as if she were talking to herself. Underneath ninjutsu she wrote a single question. What does it mean to be a ninja? And then she underlined it and began to twirl the chalk in her hand, just like how she had twirled the pencil she had earlier when Rosamarius had arrived.

"I, as your teacher, will do what I can to make thing's productive, sensible, efficient, safe and fun. If problems do arise, do not hesitate to tell me about them. Whether it's something you are certain about dealing with your work, or if it's insensible girl's tugging on hair. At this point Gin stopped twirling the chalk in her hand, put it back into the drawer of the podium and then she took out the chopstick's that held her braided hair in place, once she pulled those out it's length revealed itself dropping down her back and stopping down to her ankles and she would grab her hair in one hand and showed it to Rosemarius. "It's no fun having your hair pulled."

word count: 527 | 1919

Rosie stopped her copying and looked up at the sound of the chalk against the blackboard, just in time to see Gin unfurl her hair, and the girl's eyes got wide as she looked at the full length. That hair... she has to have been working on growing it and caring for it for years to get it to that length! "Y...you have very lovely hair, Gin-sensei," she says. "I'm glad you chose to keep it that way instead of shortening it." She reaches back and untucks her own ponytail that falls to her mid-back and displays all three beaded ties and both their oddly precise placement and the order. "I... I feel inspired by this." She swallows a bit. That was a silly thing to say. "I... I know that's a silly sentiment to have but I feel like if you can graduate, and become a ninja of note, and teach other students to be ninjas too, and never need to cut your hair to succeed... I might do the same. And I like the idea, that I can succeed without changing a little thing that I like about myself."

And if they don't like it... well, that's what being a strong ninja is for, isn't it? Becoming well-known, being strong, being more trouble than you're worth to torment for amusement. The shy smile and light blush fades and her expression turns slightly dark. "And that's one reason I'll be a shinobi, Gin-sensei. It's noble enough to be strong for your village, and strong for your family, but..." She pauses, visibly sorting her words, turning her face back towards the scroll she's copying. "Tormenting for pleasure is weakness. Weakness stays away from the strong. Being more trouble than you're worth is very strong, and weak people tell other weak people and they leave you alone. Sometimes they have to be taught, taught so they don't forget it ever. Humiliation teaches, but not very well." She raises her head to look at Gin with a sort of blank, featureless calm. "Pain teaches very well, very..." she thinks a moment. "efficiently. A bully gets a broken nose and they become very well-educated. They get quiet and are afraid to touch you because you can always break their nose again in case the lesson wears off. And other weak people notice the broken nose and they become timid too, because no one likes being hurt, and no one likes bleeding, and a broken nose does both."

Once again, her head goes down and the copying continues. "I also want to be strong for myself, Gin-sensei, because I don't think every bully learns their lesson when you break their nose. When you break other things... maybe. Maybe. And if you need to break those other things, it may be well enough to have a kind teacher nearby to make it so you don't have to break those things, but sometimes you do because sometimes even adults that care about you, that love you because they're your parents, they're not there. Sometimes, you don't have a stick or a rock or your school-bag, and all you have is yourself and your first and only weapon and that, Gin-sensei, is when it stops being about who is a good person and a good shinobi, and who is a bad person and a bad shinobi, and it's all about who is strong and who is weak. I've been weak before, sensei, but when I came here I decided that I won't ever be weak again." She pauses in both her copying, which she continued doing as she was talking, and in talking itself and looks curiously at the copying she's been doing. "That's part of the answer to your question, I think: being a ninja means being strong for everyone and especially being strong for yourself. Sometimes even just considering the question is enough." She makes a mark with her brush that looks like it's not part of a character and then looks up, giving Gin that shy smile. "That's what I think, anyway, but I'm here to learn. I look forward to learning what it means to be a ninja from you, Gin-sensei, because it'll be much better than reading it somewhere or thinking about it myself."

{Word Count: 713 | 3067}

The time was getting closer to the beginning of class time, but Gin still listened to what Rosemarius said. She particularly enjoyed when Rosemarius gave that bright glowing smile, she would give her had a light twirl before just letting it hang behind herself. "Thank you." she answered when the girl complimented her on her hair and then proceeded to show her own locks. Gin would give a sincere smile seeing such beautiful hair, even the beaded ties were quite the nice touch to it. She certainly did have her cute moment of thinking that it was silly of her to have such a sentiment. Gin placed a hand on her hip after she stood next to her podium and placed her free hand on top of it so she learned against it.

This young kunoichi before her really baffled her and left her pondering her words more carefully than usual when she had to deal with kids at least. Gin's brow came together, not out of anger, more so concern when Rosemarius began to reveal a slightly darker side. She didn't stop her however, she allowed for her to keep talking. She was trying to figure out what to make of it exactly. It wasn't that she didn't understand what was being said, but she just wasn't exactly sure what to make of it. Maybe she was possibly reading more into it than what was needed and just needed to take it at face value, or maybe she was reading it enough and needed to find a proper solution. Her lips pressed together before she sucked in her lips and allowed for it to silently graze her top teeth.

It did sound to her like she was speaking more from experience rather than practice, emotion's swelled within her as she didn't know whether she should feel bad for her, scold her, or what! Gin closed her eyes and her brows came closer together as she was pondering what was said. She wanted to give a response, she really did. Her eyes opened and she looked upon the lone student before her. There are thing's that should be said, but what exactly could be said. If she said the wrong thing, it would definitely give Rosemarius a different view of Gin, she was sure of it. She could hear the sound's of feet trembling the floorboard's outside in the hallways, first sign's of life from the other students. They were going to start coming in soon.

Gin would give a smirk and respond in kind. "That's quite the answer..." Soon after than the first bell rang off. This was the warning sound for the students to hurry up. "Class is going to be starting soon. I hope I shall make this an interesting lesson for you today, Rosemarius." Shortly after that more kid's back to fill the classroom. Each one saying their hello's to the teacher in their own way; Some kid's bowed, others waved, some just walked right by in small groups. Some were loud, and many were quiet. It was a bit obvious to tell who among the class were already friends and who didn't have any friends.

Gin would speak out to the class. "Alright everyone, please choose your seats, BUT keep this in mind, it's a privilege I'm giving you guys to choose wherever you want, so don't act up during class."

word count: 566 | 2485

Rosemarius sees the shifts in Gin's expression as she talked about strength, talked upon how she'd found that giving bullies a bloody nose deterred them from bothering her, and talked about how she believed that there would be times in the future where she wouldn't have an adult around to look after her and give her more gentle options for dealing with trouble. Moreover, Gin, could see that Rosemarius had noticed but Rosie's response was, perhaps unusually, a smile of real happiness. Whew... I was afraid that she wouldn't understand what I was saying and what I was talking about, she said to herself as Gin reacted to her views. Worse yet would be if she'd taken the wrong thing away from my opinion but it looks like she's at least willing to hear more, or better yet talk to me about what she thinks. Father and Mother understood too, and I learned about all of this from Father, from his own experiences growing up a little apart from everyone else. As good as breaking the nose is the legend of breaking the nose, and talking about why breaking noses is the right response. "Gin-sensei, it's..." It was then that she heard the approach of other students and her expression instantly morphed to what Gin saw as the girl had first entered the classroom: her brow drawn down tightly, her eyes slightly narrow, her lips compressed in icy primness, and flat eyes explicitly in search of potential trouble. Wonderful... just as I think of classmates and how what I say can deter them, here come the batch. She sighs within as she carefully rolls up her scrolls, taking her time about it to make sure it was done right. Gin would be able to see that the last row of the copying, the part she'd written while expounding on her feelings about strength and weakness, was unusually sharp and precise, an almost freakish improvement over the original, and both the first and second attempts to do the original better. And this was such a pleasure... alone in the classroom, speaking to a kind teacher, a teacher with such beautiful long hair and such a brightness about her. Oh well, I always knew that it would be necessary to deal with the flotsam and jetsam of this school, just as I had to deal with the ones from the last schools.

Rosie defrosted her expression for a brief instant when Gin actually spoke to her, giving her a quick nod of what seemed to be friendly encouragement, before she frosted over again and turned her attention back to the top of her desk as the other students flooded into the classroom. The only visible sign that she recognized that others had entered was that she quickly tucked her ponytail back under her shirt before she tied her scroll case shut and brought out several sheets of writing paper, wells of ink, and brushes of various sizes and configurations. This done, she wraps a second strap around the scroll case and then a third, and the ensemble is then tucked under her seat. Quick, precise fingers loop the straps around the four legs of her chair and secure them together in pairs with blood knots, the front and back of the left side and the front and back of the right side each tied together with the odd-looking ties. Finally, from her scroll case she withdraws a serrated chisel blade with small backwards-facing crescents protruding from either side of it and places it near one of her hands on the desk. With all this preparation work done, she places her elbows on the edge of the desk nearest her, presses the tips of her fingers together in front of her face, and leans forward so that her forehead rests in the circle created by her forefingers and thumbs. Her eyes close and all of the lines of her body relax completely as she assumes a posture of meditative stillness.

Out of this disquiet that seizes me and may yet fall tenfold, I remember as my father once told me that I am in control. In the fell clutches of previous circumstance, I have been thrashed about on untamed wind with naught a light for me, and yet I was unbowed by it then, and I'll be unbowed by it now. I have been afflicted by wrath and tears hence, and may yet again, and yet this moment finds and shall yet find me unafraid. It matters not how strength I lack or what ill fates are in store, for I am and remain the mistress of myself, and am and remain the keeper of my soul. I am mine, and have shouldered the burdens of a grown woman and found myself equal to them; such have my parents always told me and they always know best. I am mine and cannot be bought by flattery, not stolen by cunning, nor broken by jeers and insult, nor tarnished by cowardice, nor made filthy by dishonoring myself. This must I always remember as I confront what is before me, especially as I take upon myself and shoulder things that are far above the burdens of any ordinary grown woman, but a grown woman who is a ninja as well. I retain and will yet have courage in this, for that is all that matters.

{Word Count: 900 | 3967}

Seeing that genuine smile did give her some reassurance that Rosemarius was pleased for Gin to listen, though Gin wanted to continue further and speak with her it would have to wait until possibly after school or maybe another day. Gin was at her podium watchings the kid's come in, so as they did come in she missed to see the change in Rosemarius happen. A total of twenty-six students have entered the classroom. They were all around the same ages, between 13 to 14, some just recently turned 14 while others were getting close to turning 15. This is typically around the age's when student's normally become shinobi's. Their height's didn't vary all to much, most of the boy's were pretty tall, the girls were in between, Rosemarius was actually the tallest of the class by about two inches of the tallest guy who stands at five feet eight inches and the shortest girl in class stands at five feet two inches.

Gin stood at the podium and looked to the class once everyone had settled themselves into the seats. She looked to each student seeing how they arranged themselves and seeing how they reacted to just sitting there. She watched a few wandering eyes moving about, two students looking to each other and snickering. There was one girl in the back nearest the window who was gazing out and a couple others that were closer to the front row that were staring directly at Gin. There was even one chubbier student who was munching down on snacks in the middle of class, she mentally sighed at this, but she knew what clan they were from so she really couldn't tell them that they couldn't. So it was a nice mix of students this time around. There were kid's from different clan's as well, some more obvious than others as well. She took mental note; Inuzuka, Aburame, Yamanaka, Hyuga, Uchiha, Nara, and Akimichi. She smiled at the class and took a mental deep breath.

Like usually a lot of the boy's sat together, most of them sat towards the back, while the girls mostly sat towards the front, there were a couple few boys and girls that sat in either the front or the back. Then her eyes fell onto Rosemarius who looked to be meditating, she arched a brow and tilted her head confused about it, but then shook her head to focus herself to what she needed to be doing.

"Good morning everyone! Welcome to Ninjutsu 101, I'll be your instructor from here on until you finally graduate. I am known as Gin." she twirled pocketed her decorative chopsticks into her flak jacket. "There are twenty-seven of you in this class, let us all work together and make sure all twenty-seven of you pass. I'd like for you all to have a look on the board." Gin walked back behind the podium, but stood off to the side of the question so she wasn't blocking anyone's view, by this point she could see she had a majority of their attention. "Keep this question in mind, you will hear it a lot in your classes, but I want you all, while i'm taking roll call, to write down your answers. Write as much or as little as you feel is right, then after you are done, I would like for you all to fold the paper in half, write your name on top and then turn it in to me. After that is done, we will have a quick round robin of self introductions. You got that?"

After her instructions were made clear a majority of the students all responded with a monotone Yes, Gin-sensei.

word count: 617 | 3102

Rosie raises her head the moment all of the other students settle into their seats, folding her hands and resting them in the center of the sheet of paper she has out. She keeps her expression frozen in place, betraying neither the enjoyment she's experiencing of the first moment of the first class in her new school, nor the displeasure she has in being surrounded on three sides by twenty-six other students. She keeps her face and eyes fixed on the teacher with a focused intensity and rapt attention to what Gin is saying, broadcasting for anyone paying attention her focus on hearing and absorbing every word spoken and every gesture made as if she's trying to memorize everything Gin does. It almost feels improper to be doing this, as if she's some kind of creature that I'm studying, but she's also an adult and a fully-qualified shinobi so it'd be foolish of me to pass up this opportunity to see what she does and how she does it. See, there, her eyes are moving around the room and taking note of things that she sees--obviously I can't know exactly what she's thinking but her gaze isn't casual. She's actually SEEING what she's looking at, I think, and taking note of it. There her eyes hesitate briefly in the direction that those sounds of someone eating are coming from but there's no disapproval in it. It's as if a student loudly eating is... acceptable. She moves her eyes to the edges of her vision and slightly turns her head so she can see what Gin sees: an obese student with a pile of snack foods. She quickly turns her attention back to Gin. Oh, it's the fat clan. I don't remember their names but they're all very chubby and I think it has something to do with how they do ninjutsu. Um... shifting their fat? I need to look it up in the library because it'd be stupid to misunderstand what's going on and assume he's just a butterball with no self-control when he's just doing what's proper for someone of his clan. Even if he is, though... how very rude! He could at least eat quietly so he doesn't disrupt things for Gin-sensei.

"Yes, Gin-sensei," she responds with the rest of the class when prompted by Gin, although she takes care to do her normal overemphasized enunciation so her reply is at least slightly distinct from the crowd. So now she wants our personal answers to the question of what it means to be a ninja. Well, I told her some of what I believe already, but spoken words are mere spoken words; they have little meaning. They don't stay around and they disappear as soon as they're used and often no one can ever prove that you said this thing or that thing after you've said it. But the written words... those words mean something. So it's time to make my answer mean something. So determined, she selects a stiff but fine-tipped brush, gives the ink in her nearest well a slight swirl so it's evenly mixed, and begins to write as deliberately as she can, trying to let her passion in what she writes fuel her precision like it did when she was speaking to Gin earlier.

"I think there are two meanings behind being a ninja. The first is less important than the second, and that first meaning is being strong. You need to be strong for your village because the purpose of the ninja is that they can keep watch over the doings of the people in the village and guard them against any kind of dishonor or risk that the world outside can inflict. The good thing about the law in the village and between all villages is that it exists to protect life against all degrees of damage and even against every possible degree of danger. For this to happen, the ninja needs to be strong for the village so that her strength lets her overcome danger on behalf of the village, but also so that the knowledge of her strength among people who want to harm her village is passed from one person to the next and those people remain hesitant to do evil to the village. Ninjas, like the operation of the laws, keep potential invaders and possible plunderers in awe and preserve safety in the world. But the ninja is also strong for her family because if you protect your village but lose your family, what's the point? The village is the shell around your family, part of a big extended family but it can't replace that family and shouldn't even try. You need to love your village like your family, so the family is above the village as the standard you need to aspire to. I was strong for Mother and Father while I was helping them make pottery and it protected my family and helped them remain fed, sheltered, clothed, and well. I desire to do this for my village too, for that is why a ninja is strong. But the ninja is strong for herself first of all, because loving yourself is the first step to loving your family because you love your family LIKE you love yourself and then you love your village LIKE you love your family. It all starts with the ninja and her being strong for herself, so she protects her family like herself and protects her village like her family. It all begins from that first point, being strong for yourself.

"But I said that being strong is less important than the second thing, and I just learned about what this second thing was today. The scroll I read called the second thing 'Budō' and said that it was a combination of self-improvement, self-mastery, and fighting in a virtuous way. I don't yet know what virtue is, but the way it was described in the scroll makes it clear to me that being virtuous is how a ninja is most victorious and how ninjas become the very best they can be. It means to strike your enemy reluctantly but always with a specific purpose, and that purpose needs to be guiding them to stop being your enemy. You are most victorious over your enemy when your enemy becomes your friend and ally, and that's one of the reasons Budō is more important than strength. It's really simple to use strength but really hard to use it right, so the using it right is much more important than simply being strong. But there's another reason that Budō is more important than strength and that's because it's a way that you extend a spirit of perfection over every little thing so that you can perfect very large things too. For example, perfecting how you make your bed seems really silly but it makes you get into the habit of looking at how you do things and looking for ways to do them even better. If I'm in the habit of making my bed perfectly, I'll be in the habit of throwing punches more perfectly and using chakra more perfectly and when it comes right down to is, the ninja that's fighting more perfectly than her enemy is probably going to win and be better at being a ninja. Perfecting all the ways that a ninja can do ninja things is more important than just being strong because strength is only one piece, but perfection is for everything. So, Budō is the second thing but it's also the most important thing. So what does it mean to be a nina? It means being strong and practicing Budō."

Rosemarius smiles a little despite herself as she folds her paper neatly in half and writes 'Blytraviin Rosemarius' on the back of the folded paper. She then rises from her desk and clanks over to Gin's desk, depositing the folded paper on her desk, giving Gin her little smile when she's standing close enough to the other woman that she's sure that only Gin can see it. Then she wipes away her expression and returns to her seat, and her strangely meditative pose of her forehead resting in the circle of thumb and forefingers, awaiting the next bit of instruction from her teacher.

{Word Count: 1385 | 5352}

Once everyone began to take out their papers and began to write, Gin walked behind her podium and she looked at the roster that she had left there and opened it. The shuffling of the papers and the scratching of the pencils and even the near silent swipe of the brush. Her eyes shifted to Rosemarius for just a moment to watch her writing away with her brush. She gave a gentle smile and began to go through her roll call. "Aburame, Arata." She first called out.

At the call of his name, a young boy sitting in the far back, closest to the back door, would lift his head and stare in the teachers direction. His hair was brushed back and short, he wore heavily tinted glasses that not only didn't let you see his eyes, his glasses were designed in a way that it covered even the sides so that you couldn't just simply look around his glasses just to see them. He also wore a high collared coat that covered the bottom half of his face. He said not a single word and only rose his hand as if to say 'here' with that action alone. Gin looked to him and she nodded her head and made a note in her roster.

Upon his paper he had a nice paragraph going detailing about what his idea of being a ninja meant and it revolved around not only protecting the village but also insect like as well and preserving them for the future. Gin would call the next name. "Akimichi, Ryunosuke." The fat kid from before had finally calmed down in his loud chomping when it came to doing an assignment, except that he still had a bag of junk food open on the desk within arms reach and every so often with one hand he would each into the bag and munch on it. He has long auburn hair, though it looks like it wasn't maintained all to well like he had just rolled out of bed and just smoothed it out with his hands. Around his neck he also wore a puffy white scarf. On his cheeks he had marking's drawing shaping out an arrow head that pointed down towards his chin.  He would look towards the teacher. "Here." and right after that he munched on a chip and went back to writing.

His answer was detailing out about protecting the village and making sure food was in heavy supply and keeping everyone healthy and fed. Gin would sigh softly. "Ryunosuke, I understand the need as your parent's spoke to me about this, but do try to keep your eating to a minimum and don't make a mess, or else I'm going to put you on cleaning duty everytime it happens." She told him sternly. Ryunosuke would nod his head and blush slightly as he put another chip into his mouth and began to chew much quieter than before. He sat two seats away from Rosemarius's left.  A couple of the kids watched the Akimichi get scolded and a few even snickered. Gin only shook her head and gave a gentle smile and marked him here.

"Akiyama, Aino." A young girl, directly to Rosemarius's right would lift her head and raise her hand, her voice soft. Her hair long and ties back into a pony tail, a cute round face, and mesmerizing emerald eyes. "H-here." she stated and blushed in embarrassment as she had realize her voice squeaked out louder than she had wanted it too. Gin would smile at the girl and nod her head as she marked her here as well.  Aino lowered her head a little trying to make herself disappear as she went back into her work. Her paper was talking about keeping the peace and making everyone happy.

Next on the list. "Blytraviin, Rosemarius." At this point she had looked directly to the student, who she had not so long ago was having a rather interesting conversation with and gave her a happy smile. She was pleased to see students working diligently and it was rather easy to tell that Rosemarius was one of those students who would get directly to work and work hard no matter how simple the assignment. After Rosemarius would say here, Gin would mark her on the roster and continue on to the next student.

"Fujimoto, Fuko." Another girl in the front row that sat right next to the Akimichi would raise her hand and with confidence say. "Present." there was no shake in her voice like Aino had. Fuko had dark brown hair that was cut short and shaped her face, just from looking at her you can tell she wore some make up. She had four bows clipped, vertically, into her hair, each of the bows having a different letter on it  spelling 'Fuko'. Fuko's paper revolved around keeping the safety of the people as the most important thing, along with being strong and capable and reliable.

"Hamasaki, Onoda." a young boy that sat directly to Rosemarius's left and the Akimichi's right would adjust his glasses and sit up straighter as he was huddled over his paper while he wrote. He rose his hand partway up and spoke in a nasally voice. "Here." Gin would nod her head after seeing him and checked him off. Onoda's paper was a bit more literal and spoke more about the actual meaning of a ninja rather than what he represented.

"Himura, Hiragi." This boy perked his head up and gave a rather broad grin on his face. He was rather handsome for a boy his age and his hair was well kept and cut short on the side's and comb back into what could be compared to a porcupine faux hawk. He sat in the middle, but in the second row of desks, to the left of two girls. "Yo!" he said as cooly as he possibly could and then eyed the two girls next to him who looked at him and he winked at them. The two girls would blush and then giggle to themselves. While a couple other guys in the area would just groan to themselves and roll their eyes. Gin would arch a brow and shake her head and marked him off. Hiragi's paper was written about how being a ninja was to mean that you needed to be the best thing ever. That is was the road toward's getting all that one could ever want, women, money, power.

"Hyuga, Chizuha." The long desk that was against the wall in the front row to the right of Rosemarius, a girl who sat in the chair nearest the aisle would raise her head and offer a sweet smile as she spoke softly, but confidently. Her voice wasn't loud, nor was it too low. What was extremely noticeable about her was the fact her eyes are white. She wore a light purple jacket that was unzipped to show a light purple shirt underneath. Her hair tied into pigtails that dropped past her shoulders a little bit. "Here, Sensei." Gin would mark her off. Chizuha's paper was short, but it was speaking about being able to create equality.

"Ito Ana." sat in the right behind Rosemarius. She was one of the two girls that giggled when Hiragi had winked at him. She had brown hair, a single pigtail hanging to the left side of her head and large brown eyes. she spoke in a rather excited voice. "Here, Sensei!" Gin would mark this one off too just like all the others.

She would continue down the list naming off each student and they would all respond in their own ways of saying they were here. "Inuzuka, Kirito." To Hiragi's left, sitting in between two girls was a young boy who wore a big coat that was partially unzipped showing that he had a red shirt underneath. On his cheeks were red fang marks that was a big giveaway showing that he was apart of the Inuzuka clan. He had large eyes as well and the way they were shape were almost feral, even when he smiled and showed his teeth you can clearly see that he has fangs.  "Right here." He answered.

"Kato, Kuha." A girl that sat next to the Hyuga would speak up, she adjusted her glasses with one hand and with the other she rose her hand as she spoke. "I'm here." her glasses were bright red, her eyes a gentle hazel color. Her hair was short stopping just above her shoulders.

"Maki, Mizuko." The girl right next to Kuha would react to her name. Looking up from her paper she would smile and raise her hand with her pencil still in her hand. Gin looked at her and marked off that the girl was here as well. It was good to see that so far all the students that were assigned her to class are in attendance.

"Matsuhita, Sarai." Is the second girl that giggled at Hiragi along with Ana. She had brown hair and it was neatly brushed back into a high ponytail.

"Nakahara, Kanae." Is the girl who sat in the furthest seat back nearest the window. She was currently gazing out into the field until her name was heard as she reacted by shifting her eyes and gazing at the teacher and half lifting her hand up just to get noticed by Gin.

"Nakano, Seiji." Is the boy who say right next to Kanae. He was staring really hard at his paper as if by some god send the thing would write itself. He snapped from his tranced and looked at the teacher who called his name. "Oh um.. here, yep, right here." He had piercing blue eyes and light brown hair which was cut really short. He answered, Gin arched a brow at this response and marked him.

"Nara, Azuka." Is the boy who had his head down, he sat in the middle row at the desk that was against the way, his seat in particular was right next to the aisle. When his name was called his head rose up slowly along with the paper that seemed to be stuck to his forehead. He released a groan and the boys next to him only laughed at him. Gin shook her head, but she marked him as here as well. He pulled the paper from his face and he shot a glare at the two boy's next to him, who immediately fell quiet and gulped. His hair was black at night and cut short, but spiked up.

"Oshiro, Fuwari." Is a girl that sat right next to Kirito the Inuzuka. Her seat in particular was next to the aisle. She had red hair and freckles on her cheeks. Over all she looked like a pleasantly cheerful person, and her eyes were a vibrant green. Her hair was long and dropped down to the middle of her back and she had two blue bows clipped into her hair on either side of her head just above her ears.

"Saito, Keiko." Sat on the other side of the Inuzuka, she had the window seat. She was silently humming to herself as it were obvious with her head bobbing side to side in a certain rhythm. Her hair cut into a pixie cut hair style and blonde. She had light brown eyes and a birthmark right above her lip, which didn't attract from her beauty at all, which she personally liked to call her man magnet. When she answered out she almost sang out her words. "Heeeree."

"Shizuka, Yuuta." is the boy that sat right next to Seiji. He looked to be having trouble with what he was wanting to write as well. He would look toward's Seiji and whisper to him trying to see if he could get some sort of idea to what he could write as well, but Seiji was just as lost as he was. Yuuta had long hair that dropped past his shoulders and it looked obviously brushed. It's color was light brown, his eyes light brown as well.

Gin was finally getting down to the bottom of the list to the last of the students. "Suzuki, Kenji." A boy who sat smack dab in the middle of the desk in the back in the middle seat. He was chewing on his pencil lightly as he held a dull gaze while looking at his paper. he had some stuff written down, but he was wondering if he could write more of that was enough. Kenji was straight bald, not a single hair on his head, but he really didn't look bothered by it at all. Didn't have a hat or bandana on at all. His eyes was rather dark, but still held a tint of brown to it especially when you looked at it in the light.

"Tachibana, Kiriko." The girl who sat next to Fujimoto Fuko, her style was quite similar to Fuko's style, though her hair was straight black and her eye color was dark brown. In her hair she had three white bows vertically stacked, on each bow it had two letters, that spelled Kiriko.

"Tanaka, Micheru." Sat to Kenji's left, she seemed quite focused in her paper and held a confident grin as if she knew exactly what was the right answer. She had square framed glasses that were black in color, though it actually had no lenses in it, purely used for aesthetic purposes. Just under her right eye she has a small birthmark there, which she herself found it rather cute on her. She had black hair and it was braided into a single ponytail that dropped down her back stopping at the middle of her back.

"Uchiha, Amano." was the other student who sat next to Kenji. Just by looking at his face, you can assume that he was angry, but that was just how his face naturally looked. Like the rest of the Uchiha clan he had dark eyes. He also wore a lot of black, and upon his back he proudly wore the Uchiha clan symbol which was a fan with a white handle and a red end. Off of his left ear he had a single silver loop earring.

The last four are boys. "Ueno, Yuuichi." sat right next to Arata in the back row. He held a worried look on his face as he was contemplating something heavily in his mind while he was writing his paper. There was some writing, but also a lot of erasing. He dressed in light clothing with fairly light colors as well. Short brown curl hair, and dark brown eyes.  

"Urda, Maiko." sat next to Yuuichi. He had noticed how worried Yuuichi look and gave him a pat on his shoulders, which looked to have calmed Yuuichi down, who had smiled at him and nodded his head as if in that one moment they just had a comforting conversation. Maiko looked to be more built on the muscular end, being amongst some of the bigger boys, but he wasn't fat, no it was obvious he worked out on his own time.

"Yamanaka, Souta." is one of the two boy's that was scared by Azuka's stare. He was right next to Azuka. He occupied the middle seat of that desk. He rubbed the back of his neck and nervously chuckled to himself as he went back to work on his paper. He had blond hair and it was quite long as well. It was tied back into a high ponytail, it seemed to have been tradition for Yamanaka's to have long hair and all have them tied back in the same style.

"Yukimura, Yamano." is the other boy who was scared of Azuka's stare. He occupied the final seat nearest the wall. Like Souta, he nervously laughed to himself. He was slightly chubby, but it wasn't all that bad. He had pudgy cheeks, and auburn hair. Light freckles could even be noticed on his face.

Gin had finally gotten through the list of names for the students that attended this class and she just waited, giving the students some more time to write. Rosemarius was the first of the students to finish their work. Gin would smile at Rosemarius as she handed in her work and lighly giggle when Rosemarius had given her a smile. "Thank you." she would tell her before Rosemarius went back to her seat. Shortly afterwards, one by one the students would rise from their desk and turn in their papers. As Gin collected them she would hold them neatly in her hands. once all the students sat down and looked at her awaiting their next instructions, Gin would speak.

"Alright, now that I have everyone's papers, I will tell you this, I will keep these papers, and eventually when the time comes. I will return these papers to you. I will not tell you when you will get these back, but eventually you will. These will not be graded, they will not be corrected at all. But hopefully when you do get these papers back, I hope that you will reflect back on the words you have written today. Now that we have this out the way." Gin would put the paper's into her roster, and put the roster into the drawer that the podium has.

Students would look back and forth to each other and then back to the teacher. A couple mumbled under their breath and a few just looked confused by it. Gin had a reason for this, but trying to explain it to them in detail now, wouldn't make them understand it any better. It was just one of those things you needed to experience in order to full understand it. "Alright now we are going to begin the class, we're going to have a small bit of lecture about chakra and it's importance and how it functions within ourselves. So I hope you all are prepared to take notes."

Word count: 3018 | 6120

Rosie kept her head down, writing determinedly with her small brush and with an aura of someone completely shutting out the world around her to keep her focus wholly on the task at hand. It was meant to be, and certainly was, a carefully-crafted illusion. I can't count the number of times I did this with Mother and Father, she says in her mind as she works on her answer to the thought-provoking question. Keeping my head down, focusing, looking like I'm simply removing myself from the world, and most importantly fading into the background of their minds. You don't remain aware of the chair when you speak, after all, and in the background of their thoughts, I might as well be a chair and I learned so many useful things that way. And now, I'll learn useful things about who I'm going to have to deal with while I'm in this classroom and possible, while I'm at this school.

Aburame Arata, her mind noted first as she finished her first sentence. Clan of... bugs? Insects? Perhaps something else but I remember that they have a bond with something insignificant-looking that is actually very strong when a great number of them work together. Someone to be watchful of, then, rather than deal with directly. Know his friends, I guess, because if you're already an ally with many small things that are big when they work together, you'll probably be strong when you're an ally with lots of people that no one else notices that are significant when THEY work together. Her brush pauses for a moment, thoughtful. Another way in which the scroll was right: many small things, taken together, are very large and very powerful. A lesson to remember.

Akimichi, Ryunosuke. She listens to the rest of the exchange and a tiny, tiny smile comes to her face without her knowledge or permission. So he DOES need those snack foods, or his parents wouldn't have said anything to Gin-sensei about it. But he is also a boy with some discipline, because he listens and obeys when asked to show courtesy. I'm glad; this means I'll probably never need to break his nose to make a point because the point can be made with calm words and reasonable requests. The harder path but... perhaps the better one, the more virtuous one, speaking instead of acting to get what you need and want. Another thoughtful pause/ I need to intensity my studies, then, so I'll have the words I need if and when I need them.

"Akiyama, Aino. Mmm... someone to watch, not watch out for, but watch. Mother used to jokingly say that "it's always the quiet ones" and she seems naturally quiet. Or maybe her dislike of large numbers is like mine, but comes in a different form. When Gin calls her name directly after Aino's, there is a pause while she switches the direction of her thoughts from considering people to deciding the best response, before she raises her head and sweeps it left and right, catching sight of all the students around her and to her sides, excluding the one sitting directly behind her and the student behind her. "I am here," she says in that over-enunciated staccato before lowering her head back to the desk and resuming her work of writing. And but for the two directly behind me, I've at least seen who's in the room. A tiny victory, but victory is victory.

Fujimoto, Fuko. Hamasaki, Onoda. Himura, Hiragi. She lets her eyes close a moment as she marks what she saw moments ago and connects it to the direction from which their acknowledgements came, her lips compressing a little when she hears the way Hiragi responds and the tittering that accompanies it. Wonderful... another center of attention. I grew so weary of those in schooling and play... always dazzling, always a little arrogant, as empty a vessel of talent as... Gin calling the name "Hyuga, Chizuha" derails her thoughts entirely and if Gin happened to be looking in her direction at the moment Chizuha is called, she'd notice an abrupt stillness in Rosie's movements and a surreptitious movement of her head so she can observe the quiet white-eyed girl out of the corner of her eye. A rival, she thinks. Although I doubt she means to be, looking at her. I may not be well-learned in the clans but hers I remember very distinctively. They need very little physical strength because the gentlest touch can shatter bone, and you must never let a Hyuga touch you in battle because that single touch is all they need to choke off all your chakra and leave you helpless. So much power in such a peaceful-looking person... The broad smile would be difficult to catch, even for well-trained ninja eyes, but Rosie finds herself very near to chuckling. ...and that's what the scroll was speaking of when it spoke of virtue, isn't it? Power wielded quietly and with care, being as deadly as one can be while wearing colors of calm and peace, striking with purpose each time you strike and each strike that's full of purpose being worth a hundred that are not. She realizes suddenly that her brush stopped moving while she considered Chizhua and she quickly sets to work again lest someone notice and connect her long pause to the actual reason. A rival. But only a rival if I let her be... I'd much have the kind of total victory that the scroll speaks of, defeating her or at least the problem she represents by making her an ally instead of a rival. Perhaps there is even more to gain by her than just preventing rivalry, however; though the gifts of a clan are deeply secret and kept very close, there may yet be something to learn just by being near to her without even trying to do something underhanded like manipulate her for her techniques. I can't imagine that using chakra as she does is simple during something chaotic like battle so how she carries herself and what she does in a fight may well teach me things that are far more useful than drooling after an imperfect copy of what she can do.

So absorbed is Rosie in considering Chizhua that everyone after her slips Rosemarius' notice, even the boy from the Inuzuka clan, until "Nara, Azuka" jolts her mind back into gear and she grins a little. Well, well, well... the tactician clan. The sort of people who can defeat you by stepping onto a battlefield or shortly afterwards. Fighting with stillness, with intellect, with careful consideration of the facts in evidence... and there's no way I'm going to try to play 'Go' with him. I'm not much of a hand at it in the first place but trying to defeat a practiced tactician in a game of tactics is a waste of time. She frowns a little. I just wish I knew more about Nara than rumors of their intellects because a clan that wins battles by immobility will certainly have a jutsu to match it, and that jutsu will no doubt be very complementary to their tendencies to stay still and move the battle like pieces on a game board. Not a rival, quite, but if there's ever a large fight or conflict, I'd rather be seen as useful by him than a problem to be neutralized or dealt with. Another research project, I think, more completely understanding Clan Nara.

From "Oshiro, Fuwari" to "Tanaka, Micheru", Rosemarius contents herself with merely marking their appearance and place in the room based on where her ear tells her they are. "Uchiha, Amano" causes a visible reaction in her akin to the way she reacted to Chizhua although with much greater tension in her shoulders and posture. Uchiha... a clan that needs even less introduction than Hyuga. One of the founding families of the village, bearing a dangerous eye technique, a storm walking around on both legs looking for something to envelope. And yet there are far more wild rumors about them than there are known facts, which is a strange state of affairs for a clan so important and famous. They can steal techniques and jutsu, see the future, and there's even rumors that to attain their greatest level of mastery, they have to bathe their eyes in the blood of a parent. She snorts to herself. Fairy tales, surely. Still, I have no doubt that he'll be a serious issue for me in some way and I'll have to remember to be wary of him. Perhaps, until I learn more, simply avoiding him and avoiding his gaze would be the best idea. I may not have any significant techniques of yet but having the ones I DO have stolen or even studied would be... undesirable.

Her reaction to Gin's announcement about the purpose of the papers was, in keeping with her nature so far, practically nonexistent. Of course she'd keep them for later use she thought with a small smirk. There's very little need to get a student's philosophy about their education in writing unless you plan to use it later as a measuring stick, either for them to measure themselves or for you to measure them. I have an advantage, I think, in that I'm not likely to forget something so important to me so I'll be measuring myself against my writing always. Gin's announcement of the next stage of the class, unlike her mention of the purpose of the papers, produces a smile and a look of eager attention as Rosemarius slips a paper out of her box of them, minutely adjusts it to be straight on the desk, and dips her brush so she can begin taking notes the moment Gin begins speaking. Finally, a lesson to learn that I DON'T have to discern for myself or through consideration.

{Word Count: 1653 | 7005}

While Gin checked off each student she called she'd also look at the reaction's of those around the student being called. So she can take her mental notes of whether someone liked someone, or someone disliked someone. Just these small little action's alone can tell so much about a person, the way they moved, the way they looked, the way they spoke. She kept track of all she could, she personally felt she had to do such a thing as her own personal code as a teacher. To know her students and guide them on a better path.

Each student had their own reaction's silent or otherwise. It was definetly going to be a colorful bunch with a wide array of emotions in this classroom. Gin's smile rarely left her place as if she were excited by the whole thing. even when she did see Rosemarius's reactions, no matter how few they were. It was odd, personally, Gin didn't like it. It was too...detached for her liking. Well she will just have to speak with the girl later, like she had originally been planning too.

She did noticed the few reaction's that Rosemarius left slip by, The Hyuga, the Nara, The Uchiha, The Akimichi and the couple others. It was almost as if she weren't even looking at a child, and that feeling Gin felt bothered her. For now there wasn't all too much she could do, she had to get class moving along into their lesson.

She would take out chalk from the drawer in the podium and an eraser with her other hands. She closed the drawer with her hip and she erased what was on the board and began to write starting on the left side of the board. At the top she wrote Chakra underneath that on one side she wrote Yin and Yang.

"The information that I will tell you might be redundant for some of you, given the kinds of families you all come from, and to some of you all this will be new. Chakra is found within just about every living being on this planet. Some have it more than others, though the ones that are the strongest as using this energy we call chakra are we shinobis. It is what allows for us to perform feats that would otherwise be considered impossible. It is how we can run faster than the eye can track, jump higher than even the tallest of buildings. It's how we also can run on water and walk up walls." She would look across the classroom and look towards the students seeing each one of them how they react to the information that she was giving out to them. Seeing that some were taking notes and there were a few others just gazing at her.

"Chakra is composed of two energies, as I have written on the board, those energies are known as Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang are the spiritual and physical energies we all have. When we shinobi's combine these energies together we get chakra. Once we mould these energies together and get chakra..." she would walk back to the board and circle both Yin and Yang and make connecting lines to a new word she wrote a little below them Chakra and circled that as well and turned to face her class as she tapped her chalk against the word two times and continued to speak. "...Chakra then travels through our Chakra pathway system, which is tied in very closely to our circulatory system. From there we form our hand sign's, which we have 12 basic hand signs that we use in any number of different combinations in order to perform our techniques. The hands signs we use help to focus the chakra in the desired technique used." She drew a line straight down connecting the circle that was around chakra to a new circle to which she filled in with Jutsu. "So far everything's pretty straight foreword, I'm not confusing anyone am I?" She gave a moment for the students to think about what was told to them and let them form their questions if they had any and ask them.

Word count: 701 | 6821

Rosemarius watched attentively as Gin started the lesson, her brush dancing as the teacher wrote Yin and Yang on the blackboard, copying what she's seeing as exactly as she can. She then begins to take notes in the form of bullet points. "Everyone has chakrta. Some have more chakra than others but the ones that are best at using their chakra are called shinobi, or ninjas.It lets us move faster than the eye can see or the mind can comprehend. It lets us leap immense distances, run on water, run straight up the sheer sides of buildings." She frowns suddenly at this information. And yet I also know that it lets us create force that travels in the air, and cut like a knife, and see things that should be invisible. So do we affect the world or do we affect ourselves? Something to ask.

She continues writing as Gin says that Yin and Yang are spiritual and physical energies. Respectively or both? And then that once chakra is molded, it flows along an internal system very much like veins and arteries. But from where? And are these paths physical or exist in a different state of being where they act like physical vessels but are in fact some kind of energy external to us? And how do they come to be in the bod? Do they grow as the person does, both in the womb and then out of it? Finally, she records a bullet point about the hand signs. But why those twelve? Is there some sort of significance to them where the act of making them actually affects the chakra? Or do they exist for the benefit of the ninja, letting us do something we could technically do without them, but with greater ease if we use them?

When Gin pauses to check that everyone is following and implicitly invites questions, Rosie puts her hand up. "Excuse me, Gin-sensei, but while I'm not confused per say, I would like to ask a question about chakra." Better make it one for now. Too much intelligence makes you stand out, and I don't want to hog all of sensei's attention with a bunch of chattering questions. "You mentioned that Yin and Yang are our spiritual and physical energies. Are they spiritual and physical respectively, or are both simultaneously spiritual and physical?"

{Word Count: 393 | 7398}

Gin would look to Rosemarius who was the first of the students. The other student's in class would just turn their eyes towards the raised hands and listen, curious about the question. "Yes, Rosemarius?" she stated calling on her after she rose her hand. Once Gin heard the question she would give a small chuckle. "That's a rather good question actually." She motioned towards the diagram she had written out on the board. "They are respectively spiritual..." she pointed at Yin. "and physical." she pointed at Yang. It was a good question for Rosemarius to ask, not many actually knew about yin and yang on such a deep level and usually found out about it long after their a shinobi. The most they usually learn is that yin and yang is inside of everyone and these are the energies that get combined together to make their chakra.

"Everyone ends up using these two energies subconsciously every time you mould your chakra. Some have more Yin than others have Yang." She looked at Rosemarius and then the rest of the class as she continued. "So it leads to the reason why shinobi's have to work so diligently, not only in their body, but in their studies as well. Your Yin is typically affected by thing's of the mind; creativity, religion, intelligence all these sort's of things affect the quantity of Yin you have, while with Yang the condition your body is in reflects the quantity of how much Yang you have. Depending on how much you have, whether it's one or the other it tends to affect the jutsu's you tend to create. Any other questions or am I safe to move on?"

Word count: 282 | 7103

Rosie brightens slightly but noticeably upon Gin saying that her question is a good one. The first step to good information is asking good questions, after all, she reminds herself as she ducks her head to attend to taking notes about the answer her teacher gives. And it's interesting that these energies are associated with different parts of self-improvement: one is associated with the improvement of the intellect and the other is associated with improvement of the body. Everyone has at least some of both, although it seems like more physically able shinobi would favor Yang, and the more intellectually-focused would find themselves favoring Yin. For example, I can easily imagine that Nara boy enjoying an unusual store of Yin energy to draw on because his clan favors strategy and intellect, while the Akimichi would have the advantage in Yang because they seem to emphasize feeding and enlarging their bodies.

She looks down at the notes she's taken on the teacher's reply, giving the words a slight thoughtful tilt of her head., So all shinobi call upon Yin and Yang energy without thinking about it, practically on instinct in fact. That's certainly handy but I wonder if it'd be more useful to be able to call upon both or either at will. I wonder if that's even possible; there's rumors that with a lot of mental concentration you can consciously do things that are unconscious normally, like make your heart beat more slowly or change the rate of your breathing, Yet you can't force your eyes to remain unblinking when someone blows at them or makes a sudden motion, so there ARE limits to how much of your unconscious actions can be deliberately controlled. But the subconscious is another thing altogether, like a mind under your mind that thinks without you being aware of it. So how much of what IT does can be manipulated?

"If you don't mind one last question from me, Gin-sensei, I notice that you say that drawing on the two energies that make the chakra is subconscious. And you said that which is used changes how the jutsus come out, unless I misunderstood you. So, is the mix of your Yin and Yang energies something that can be consciously controlled like someone skilled in meditation can change their heartbeat and breathing? Or is it like the blink response, something you can't change no matter how skilled you are or how hard you train at it?" I would love to ask the specific ways that the two type of energy affect jutsus but I think two questions is more than enough of a distraction from the lesson. "I apologize for diverting you, Gin-sensei; this is the last question I will wish to ask for now."

{Word Count: 459 | 7857}

Rosemarius came up with another question and Gin nodded her head as a signal for her to continue with her question. She listened carefully to how the girl worded her question and a few students were indeed interested while a small handful only rolled their eyes. The Nara went back down to resting his head on the desk like he did before. He wasn't sleepy, just he wasn't fond of hearing thing's he already knew. The Hyuga was quite attentive, and even giving a smile as she liked how the questions were formulated.

That was another good question, though how should she answer it. This wasn't exactly an easy question to answer. To be able to control those very element's themselves individually would be quite the feat. It's not impossible, but as of yet no one has been able to do it. Only stories tell of the Sage of the Six path's was capable of such a feat, but no one knows whether it's true or not give that, that was so long ago. "You understood correctly and that is another great question. The answer for that is really just a theory that dates back long before the villages were created. There was a point where shinobi's never even existed, but there was once a man, who we all know as The Sage of The Six Paths. It's been said that he was capable of such feats and that was how he was able to grant chakra to the rest of the world." She looked right at Rosemarius at this point. "So I can't really say for sure. As far as I'm aware, aside from the story of The Sage of The Six Paths, I never witnessed, or found any recorded evidence that proves that Yin and Yang could be controlled individually. So at best, it's just a theory." She had hoped that such an answer would suffice for Rosemarius.

Even if it were truly possible to control Yin and Yang on their own, the possibilities would be endless and could possibly be catastrophic. Many shinobi's would kill to get their hands on such powers. "Let's hold off on anymore question's for now and continue with the lesson." she stated as she looked toward's the students, there was one or two or them that partially hand their hand raised, but the dropped it when Gin told them to hold off on questions for now.

She would return to the board and created a dividing line that kept the diagram separated from the rest of the board. She wrote Chakra Pathway System "This pathway system, that our chakra run's through, is tied so close to our circulatory system that we require it to live. These channels that the chakra runs through touch every single cell and go through every organ. How we release these energies is through three hundred and sixty one nodes that are found on the body. These are known as tenketsu, chakra points." Underneath the word she wrote she added Tenketsu

"Normally chakra is invisible to the naked eye. There are moments though when there is such a large abundance of it that it becomes visible. As you train further, you'll be able to gain a kind of sixth sense that'll help you sense it. The reason we can't see chakra and why our bodies isn't always releasing a massive quantity of it, is because of eight specific tenketsu points in the body that are collectively known as 'Chakra Gates'. As she said it, underneath Tenketsu she wrote it there. "These specific chakra points in the body are what limits how much chakra can be released in a single given time. Without these points our chakra would flare up far to rapidly for our bodies to handle and it would quite literally tear us apart."

Word count: 638 | 7741

Rosemarius nods thoughtfully as Gin explains the Sage of the Six Paths and how conscious control of Yin and Yang are an ability of legend and myth, but has never been done to the sensei's knowledge. Sage of the Sixth Paths... six paths of what? Ninjutsu? Chakra control? Six diverse philosophies of the correct way to be a shinobi and use our power? She has a startling thought that makes her eyes go slightly wide. Could it be that Budo is one of these six paths? Perhaps... that scroll is so excellent because the very founder of the ninja way and the one who granted us chakra had a hand in its writing? It seems so unlikely and yet... it would explain why the practices and beliefs of Budo work so well with the actual practice of being a ninja. And yet even as Gin is thinking within herself that seeking to learn how to control Yin and Yang individually would be extremely dangerous, she notices a distinct expression of determination on Rosie's face, which could easily (and in this case correctly) be interpreted as a decision to attempt to do just that. Well, it may be impossible now, but there will always be pioneers in any field, she thinks. I'm certain that if I believe in it enough and work hard enough, I'll learn enough to make the attempt. What an amazing thing it would be, to be able to draw energy from my mind and spirit, and draw energy from my body as separate forces so that even if my body is exhausted, I can strike out with the energy of my spirit and possibly surprise a foe who thought me disabled. And I'll be interested to learn how Yin and Yang affect jutsu and which of them make a given jutsu more successful. Another course of study to consider And it's only my first day of formal classes!

She looks curiously at the board and then at Gin as the teacher explains chakra pathways, how they're tied to the health of the body, and why chakra isn't constantly flowing out of the body and extremely visible, So there are eight of these gates and they're important to the way that chakra flows, like dams ensure that the water of a river flows just as fast as it needs to. Sher can't help but glance thoughtfully in the direction of the Hyuga girl. It seems impossible but I may have underestimated how powerful the technique of her blood can be. If those of her clan have the power to strike out at chakra and possibly its pathways, perhaps they can strike these gates as well and damage them. Perhaps that wild rumor that those of the Hyuga can destroy the body without even a bruise are all too accurate. All the more important that I take care never to find myself her rival if I can avoid it--and educate myself thoroughly on her if it ever becomes unavoidable. I do so hate to contemplate harming her, though... what few gestures she has made and the word she's said made me think that she comes into this academy meaning no harm or malice. She catches sight of the Nara once again burying his face in his desk and restrains a smirk. Of course he would be bored... he likely knows this all already.

{Word Count: 564 | 8421}

Oh that look, she recognized such a look, she's seen many looks like it in her years. It's that look that just screamed that it was accepting a challenge. Well she knew she didn't have anything to worry about now, they were just academy students. Though she would just keep an eye out as they develop and grow, you can never really know what someone is deciding now-a-days, well you can, but that would be against basic human privacy. Gin would just continue on with the lesson.

"Now in order to actually control this chakra we shinobi's use hand seals." She created a dividing line again and walked to the podium and opened another drawer and pulled out a scroll and walked back to the chalkboard and at the top of the board connected the scroll by a loop and let it hang open. Upon the scroll revealed a chart that showed twelve hand signs. "While there are a multitude of special hand signs, or hand seals, that are used for all types of purposes, these are the basic twelve that the shinobi use..." She would read them out from left to right, top to bottom. "Saru, Tatsu, Ne, Tori, Mi, Ushi, Inu, Uma, Tora, I, Hitsuji, U." She looked across the room and walked back over to the podium and closed the drawer. "These hand seals can be used in any number of combinations, thus giving us a incalculable possibilities for jutsu."

She twirled the chalk again in her hand as she looked towards her students as she noticed the Nara with his head down and gave a sigh. "Azuka, it's only the first day, at least pretend to be paying attention and keep your head up." She said with a stern voice. Azuka slowly rose his head, even though he didn't like it, but he did as he was told. "Thank you." Gin added sternly. "That is pretty much it for the lecture portion, for now, we are going to move on to the more hand's on portion of the class. We're going to do two parts, the first part we're going to take sometime and practice making the handseals to build them into our memory. I want you to practice these handseals a lot, they will be with you for the rest of your life and will be vastly important. so I want these ingrained into you so much that even if your mind forgets, your body will remember. The second part of our exercise is going to involve actually manipulating your chakra and learning to harness it. I'll explain more when we get to that portion, but for now, as soon as you finish writing your notes, I'd like you all to start practicing your hand seals. I wanna see everyone do it, I don't care if you already know them. I still wanna see everyone do them."


word counter; 481 | 8222

Hand Seals:

Rosie finished her final notes and then turned to a new page and began to deftly detail the appearance of the twelve signs. So, dragon, tiger, monkey, ox, snake... she pauses and looks at the scroll a long moment. Twelve animals... twelve months of the year? Perhaps related to the parlor trick of determining the auspices of a person's destiny  based on their birth. And I thought the craft was nothing more than trickery and fast talking. Perhaps this development indicates that there are legitimate and true ways of using the craft for the purpose it advertises. She thinks upon this as we keeps copying the scroll onto her own. A craft that can detail tendencies, destiny, the past and the future... such a power would be incredible, both in its strength and its danger. You could certainly earn good ryo at it, especially if you gained a reputation for accuracy and giving excellent advice with just someone's zodiak to consult. But imagine being able to research your rival and immediately know when you'll be at your greatest advantage against them, and know when you'll be the most vulnerable to their plans. You could become wealth but also immensely powerful with the perfection of this art.

Upon finishing her copying, she lays the scroll out for her own consultation and rises from her desk. She takes a step to a side and then front and then back the other direction so she's standing directly in front of her desk. She places her feet apart as wide as her shoulders, a stance of stability and strength, then raises her hands to the level of her face, steeples her fingers, and leans her head forwards to rest in the circle of her thumbs and forefingers. She remains in this stance for several seconds before raising her head and lowering her hands to the level of her chest. The first sign the makes is the sign of the snake, entwining her fingers together and placing her left thumb on the outside of the sign. She brings the sign back to press the nails of her thumbs against her chest so that the point of the thumb rests just above her cleavage. She holds the sign for a second, closing her eyes and quickly bowing her head once before she slips her hands into the sign of the tiger. She raises the sign up to tap the two nails of her thumbs against the center of her forehead before she fluidly reforms the sign of the snake. This she brings back down to her chest as before and also as before, she closes her eyes and bows over the formed sign.

From the tiger, she forms the ox but incorrectly. She frowns at it, consults her scroll, and then repositions two of her fingers to get the sign right. This sign, she raises up to the level of her eyes before transitioning it into the sign for hare, and then back again. She repeats the hare/ox interchange five times before hare becomes tiger, becomes snake, and then becomes horse and is pressed down even with her belly. Horse becomes snake becomes tiger becomes hare, and then it's ox again. Thus far, snake is the only sign that seems to merit the quick bow of her head... until she forms dragon out of ox. This one is brought down slowly to rest over her heart and her head follows it down into another bow, this one accompanied by a slow rise and fall of her chest. Dragon becomes snake, becomes horse and then snake again, and then rat becomes snake and is raised again to the level of her eyes. Rat becomes hare becomes ox, becomes tiger, and then tiger becomes rat again followed by ox.

She pushes her hands away from her although keeps them at the level of her eyes, and her hands form the sign of dog. Dog becomes ram and then becomes bird... only to return to dog. Dog becomes ox, becomes tiger, becomes snake, becomes dragon, becomes horse, and it all returns again to snake. From snake, she forms the sign for monkey, holding it away from her but at the same level of her chest. She then take a visible breath and tries to form the sign for ram, but cannot seem to press her palms together upside down as the sign requires. She frowns and tries again, with the same result. A third try yields the same result again and Gin would be able to see the muscles of her arms flexing as she works to force her hands into what is clearly a very unnatural position for her. A fourth try finds her sign tilted, and then she rotates her wrists and finally, the sign is completed. By now, her brow is beaded with sweat and having achieved her goal, she holds the hands in the position through what appears to be sheer willpower until the strain appears to overcome even her impressive tolerance, and she lets the sign break. She takes a breath, frowning, before she begins another sequence of the animal signs, doing them in the oddly rigid pattern she's been doing them, accompanying certain ones with extra gestures like bowing her head, and consistently holding her hands at the same positions as she makes them.

After several minutes of this, she spreads her hands apart and drops them to her sides, bowing her head, closing her eyes, and letting out a long, gradual breath. She remains in this odd pose for a full minute before she brings her hands together and runs through the entire sequence: horse, dog, snake, rat, tiger, hare, ox, bird, monkey, ram, boar, and then ending with the sign of dragon clasped over her heart. The signs are by no means refined or all of them correct, but although her face holds no expression, Gin would get the distinct impression that Rosie is proud of herself and satisfied with her (admittedly) limited progress. Excellent... just need to work on the abnormal positions of wrists and hands, she tells herself as she breathes steadily in and out, holding the post of a bowed head and closed eyes with dragon clasped over her heart.

{Word Count: 1043 | 9464}

For the first day the students being so cooperative is to be expected. No one wanted to get in trouble especially on the first day. So she didn't expect there to be any troubles. The students would comply as she had told of them to start practicing their hand signs. So this gave the students opportunity to get up and move around to stay in their seats and practice. One by one they all finished their notes, those that actually took notes, and begun to practice their hand signs. A couple students here and there grouped up and began to practice with them while a few others would watch them and mimic them, or correct others that had gotten something wrong.

While the student's did this Gin's eyes would look towards Rosemarius and watch her a little bit seeing how she was going to go about practicing her hand signs. She found interest in Rosemarius's routine in trying to focus her mind. She noticed quite a bit of thing's about the girl, but just kept them to mental notes. She would look around the room and see how the other students were doing. A couple of them chatting with each other while they practiced their hand signs. Some of the ones that had an easier job at this was the nara, the uchiha, the Hyuga, and the yamanaka. There were a couple other's here and there that seemed to have a good grasp on it and would occasionally mess up every so often and a small handful that looked like they were having trouble getting their hands into uncomfortable positions.  Just from simple little things like this, you can tell who were the ones that actually trained to do such things and were the ones that didn't.

After several minutes had passed her eyes went back towards Rosemarius. She arched a brow and tilted her head as she saw her just standing there for full minute and eventually going back through the hand signs again. Gin did get this odd feeling that Rosemarius had felt proud, it was odd how she could just tell that, but that is the sensation she got just by looking at the girl. Once a few more minutes pass Gin would speak again. "Alright everyone, back to your seats. We're gonna get started with the next part. This next portion will be another exercise known as the Leaf Concentration."

Word count: 406 | 8628

Rosemarius opens her eyes from her posture of concentration and looks over at Gin. The 'Leaf Concentration', she repeats in her mind as she once again joins her two hands by her fingertips and rests her forehead in to thumb-and-forefinger void as seems to be a habit of hers. Interesting name for an exercise. I've no doubt that it involves using a leaf as an object of concentration, or is at least a method of teaching chakra management that's unique to the Leaf Village. She removes her head from the void and gives Gin a curt combination of nod and momentary bow of acknowledgement before taking a step to her left, a step backwards, and a step to her right to sit down again. Upon regaining her seat, she joins her hands with two cupped palms pressed together and the fingers pointing upwards. She places her elbows on the corners of her desk to create a triangle between elbows and her clasped hands, and then leans forward to rest her chin on the upwards-point paired thumbs, totally relaxing the rest of her visible body. She then turns her eyes to Gin without moving the rest of her head, watching the teacher with unblinking, focused attention.

{Word Count: 205 | 9669}

Gin would walk around her podium and stand in front of it and lean back against it as she would explain. "The Leaf Concentration is a rather old practice we have here in our village. It has been used in our village for many, many generations for sharpening the mind. By concentrating all your energy onto the leaf you will, in turn, learn how to build up your chakra." Gin would pull from one of her pockets on her flak jacket a simple regular leaf and held it up for the students to see. Gin would see everyone's reactions from where she stood and would continue to observe them as she would continue explaining.

"An ancient belief passed along that tells us that simply by focusing on the leaf nothing can distract you." Some of the students laughed and Gin would chuckle as well. "Yes, yes, I know it may sound silly to some of you all, but this is actually the origin of our leaf symbol that we shinobi's proudly wear."

Gin would, with the same hand that is holding the leaf, reach down to her side and pull the headband that was there. In a quick jerking motion it came loose from whatever was holding it in place and she held it up for the class to see.

A black bandana with a reflective metal plate attached to it. The plate itself was pretty thick as it would be fully capable of blocking kunai's and other such small projectiles if it hit it. Gin's headband of course had some dinges and scratches upon it as proof of her years of experience, but for the most part a lot of those damaged kept near the edges of the metal plate, and the area in the middle where the Leaf symbol was located was kept in good condition.

She would then return the headband back into it's spot. "When you are trying to mould your chakra the process that occurs is your yin and yang energy coming together." she stated while holding out both hands and then bringing them together as her stomach. "It then comes together within your belly and swirls around before feeding out through the rest of your body. From there you can feel it in all areas, through your legs, your arms, and the rest of your body." She then moved her hands apart and back to her side. "This is only a concentration exercise, so no actual chakra moulding yet. I'd like for you all to become aware of the energy that is within you. Once you are consciously aware of it and can feel how it moves through you, then you'll be able to start building your chakra."

She held up the leaf again and spun it in her fingertips by it's stem. "So just focus on the leaf that will be placed on your foreheads and try to ignore everything else. By focusing on the leaf, you in turn, focus on yourself and from there, as long as your concentrate, things will be clear. We will do this exercise for at least ten minutes." She knew some of them wouldn't like it, and a small few would actually try their best and those left over would just be confused by it. They are kids after all, even if she explained it in full, she'd be lucky if even one of them fully understood it. In a quick flick of her wrists, every single student in class would feel a leaf landing onto their foreheads. That action alone would bring many of their attention immediately to the leaf before thinking of anything else.

The leaf itself was nothing special, it was just a simple ordinary leaf pulled from a tree. It didn't stimulate chakra, it didn't absorb it. Nothing at all. It just stuck to everyone's forehead.

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Konoha Headband Symbol: