Kalopsia

“So, why am I here again?” Akira demanded Kakashi. After their fifth D-ranked of the day, Kakashi asked her to meet up on training ground 8 the next day. He didn’t even tell her what they were going to do or what to bring with her.

“Your chakra control is the best of team 7 and your skills are greater than theirs at the moment.” Kakashi said as he looked for something in his weapon pouch.

“Thanks?” 

“Don’t let it get to your head brat.” He rolled his eye. “Anyways, I didn’t call you here to compliment you. I think you have enough skill to master chakra nature ninjutsu.” He held papers in his hand and he handed her one piece. “Infuse it with chakra and based on the effect it will have on it, we’ll be able to determine what’s your chakra nature.” 

Without asking questions, she let chakra flow freely in the paper. As soon as her chakra came in contact with it, the paper became damp and the corners of the paper shredded. Kakashi’s eyebrow furrowed and he gave her a second piece of paper. This time around, the paper became damp but rather than being cut apart, the corners turned to dirt and crumbled away. Her sensei gave her a few more papers and the results were pretty much the same each time: damp and cut or crumbled.

“You have three chakra natures. Water is your main one while wind and earth are your seconds. In other words, water ninjutsu will be easier to perform and take less chakra than wind and earth, but fire and lighting will be way harder to do than earth and wind.” Akira felt her brain burned at all the information thrown at her.

“I’m going to teach you the Water clone technique. It’s one of the most basic water ninjutsu you could learn. The only hand seal you need to do is the Tiger.” Akira nobbed. 

“Is there a trick? I mean I already learn the Shadow clone so is it basically the same thing?” She asked.

He began to speak as he looked at the sky. “Pretty much, but you’ll need more concentration, and of course you need to transform your chakra to water nature chakra. The jutsu alone isn’t hard, but the conversion of chakra will be tricky-” When Kakashi looked back at her, his words fell short and his eyes widened. Water was running down her arm.

“Like that?” She asked innocently.

“How did you do that?”

“Well, I concentrated on the feeling of my chakra inside me and the way it felt when I directed it into my hands. I read somewhere that everyone feels chakra differently. For example, my chakra feels cool and refreshing almost like water. So, I guess that it made it easier to envision it becoming water.” She shrugged as she stopped creating water.

“I meant without hand signs. You can change the nature of your chakra easily but to conjure it, hand signs are required most of the time.” Kakashi massaged his temples.

“Most of the time?” She echoed.

“For example, the Chidori doesn't require handsign once you mastered it even if it's a lighting style jutsu.”

“Is there water-style ninjutsus like that?”

“No, well not that I know of.” He added before changing the subject. “Anyways, I want you to work on the clone technique while I am away for the next 2 weeks on a mission and, if at my return I judge that you’ve mastered it, I will teach you another jutsu.”And with that, Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

***

A few days later

Akira dropped the books on the table with a loud ‘bang’ earning angry glares and frowns from the very few people in the room. She mouthed a sorry and sat down in her chair. She was surprised to find so many books about chakra natures in a citizen library, not that she was complaining.

She skimmed through the books about water style without much of a care. They mostly talked about how it worked which was truly boring for her. The ones about wind-style were disappointing. The books only talked about the masters of wind-style. Once again, boring. She only found one book about earth-style and she was really confident that it was going to be interesting. Well, she was wrong. The book was written a long long time ago and it didn’t even talk about earth ninjutsu. The author was bashing the earth-style users and the little information given was outdated and completely false.

Now she understood why there were so many books, it’s because they're shitty.

One book was left untouched on her tables. She hadn’t much hope, but she still picked it up. As she began flipping through the pages, she realized that it wasn’t just an ordinary book. Everything was handwritten and, after every few pages, illustrations-filled pages popped up. That was when she realized that it wasn’t a book, it was a journal.

13/09

I was able to find a way to transfer different chakra nature to another being through chakra points. It demands flawless chakra control and a lot of practice, but it’s possible.

By implementing earth chakra in the systems of the target, the chakra acts as a weight. The more chakra the more weight it adds to the target.

On the contrary, adding wind nature chakra to the chakra system of the target lightens the individual. Once again, the more you put, the less it weighs.

I was able to implement lighting, water, or fire chakra nature into another person but no effects subsided. Well, except a slight change of the body temperature when fire chakra is implemented, but not enough to be remarkable.

The thing is that I’m not able to remove the chakra. At the most, I was only able to remove a quarter of the chakra I previously put in their system since my chakra and the chakra of the other beings mixed.

07/10

After a month of tests and many failures, I found a way to remove the chakra easily. 

I tried to teach one of my students how to transfer their chakra but it had no effect. It seems that not everyone can do it.

Akira flipped to the next page, but it was empty and the next, as well as the one after it, were too. The rest of the book was made of blank pages. The cover of the book was so worn out that the name of the author wasn’t readable anymore. 

It was an interesting concept and it could be useful in many ways during a fight or during traveling. It wasn’t specified if objects or things without a chakra system could be affected. For example, if she enveloped the object with wind chakra, maybe it could become lighter. She closed the book and stood up. She held the book in a tight grip as she approached the librarian's desk. 

“Hey, I would like to borrow this book.” She handed the book to the worker.

The old woman gave her a sweet smile. “Sure. Your name?”

“Uzumaki Akira.” She expected to get thrown out of the library or at least a nasty look like always but the expression on the librarian's face didn’t change.

“Sweetie, where did you find this book?” The woman asked.

“On the shelves? Why?”

“It’s not registered in our system. Or you sure it wasn’t already on the table when you arrived?”

“No, well I don’t think so. Can I still take it back home?”

“I don’t see a problem with that, but I’ll leave a note in your folder just in case.”

“Great! Thanks.” Akira waved and exited the library.

She needed the opinion of someone else on this theory and she knew exactly who could help her.

***

She stood before the door with the journal held tight against her.

*knock, knock, knock*

The door opened.

“Hi, come inside sweetheart.” Yoshino greeted her. As Akira removed her boots, she heard Yoshino calling Shikamaru. A deep voice made her raise her head.

“So you're the girl my son told me about. Uzumaki Akira is it?”

“Yep! Nice to meet you Mr.Nara.” 

“Please call me Shikaku, you make me feel old.” He chuckled.

“Akira?” Shikamaru's voice rang.

“Hey, sorry to turn up without prior notice. I found something and I need to show you.” 

“It’s fine. Let's go to my room.” He said as he headed into the hallway.

“Let the door open.” They heard Shikamaru's dad laughing as they turned the corner.

“Don’t mind him.” The boy said as he scratched the back of his neck embarrassed. She sat on his bed and threw the book at him. As he inspected the cover, he gave her a puzzled look.

“Read it and tell me what you think.” Shikamaru sat down on a chair in front of her and began to read. It was weird to see him put so much effort into something, he looked so concentrated.

While her friend read, she decided to look around the room. It was a fairly simple bedroom with gray walls and a wood floor. His bed was placed in the right corner of his room while his desk was at the left and a small bookcase at the end of his bed.

Shikamaru snapped the book close, making her shrieked in surprise. “Where did you find this?” He said as he threw the book back at her.

“A citizen library.” He arched an eyebrow. “It wasn't registered as one of their books. It's like someone put it on the shelves. Anyways that's not why I asked for your help. What do you think about their theory?” 

He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “I mean I can grasp the majority of their idea and in a way it makes sense, but if you look at it from another angle, it seems almost impossible.”

She made him a sign to continue.

He sighed. “For example, medical ninjutsu gives neutral chakra to the other person so it helps them recover and heal faster. Neutral chakra, the green chakra you can see when medical ninjutsu is performed, is chakra with no nature at all so it can be transferred to another person with ease.” She nodded.

“I can imagine that transferring chakra is possible since it's not something new, but earth and wind chakra? I don't know. And even if it's possible, there’s no guarantee that the person who gives chakra will still have control over it or if there are real effects on the person.”

“Well, I wanted to test it with you.” his eyes widened.

“Wait a minute, didn't you read it all?! It said that they didn't know how to remove the chakra after the transfer and what is required to perform it. You’re not testing this on anyone and surely not me. I’m not a laboratory rat.” He panicked.

As he spoke, she tried to stifle her giggle but as soon as he stopped talking she exploded into laughter. When it finally died down, she wiped the tears rolling down her cheeks with the back of her hand.

“You should have seen yourself, you looked terrified.” His face morphed into a scold as she spoke. “I didn't mean testing  on  you, I meant  with  you. You know as in you and me at the training ground so you can help me. Well if I need help.” 

“Ino, Chōji, Asuma, and I are meeting up for dinner at the restaurant.”

“You should have told me earlier. I would have come back later today.” Akira said as she stood up and Shikamaru did the same.

“I didn't mind. If you want you can come to eat with us, I'm sure they won’t care. We can directly go to the training ground after.” He shrugged.

“I don’t want to impose myself. Are you sure Asuma and the others won’t mind?” 

“Stop looking for excuses.” He rolled his eyes.

“How much time have we left?” He looked at the clock on his wall.

“About an hour and a half.” 

“Great! Then we're going to my place.” She smiled before walking out of the room, Shikamaru following close behind. “I need to change. I’m not going in sweatpants” She explained.

“What a drag.” She heard him mumble under his breath.

***

“So, who’s your little friend.” Asuma winked at Shikamaru who sighed. Akira stared at her friend, waiting for him to say something, but he never did.

“I’m Uzumaki Akira, nice to meet you.” She gave him a polite smile.

“Oh, your Kakashi’s little prodigy.” She arched an eyebrow and Asuma chuckled. “Kakashi, Kurenai, and I like to brag about our students. It’s like a competition. And let me tell you that you're pretty much Kakashi’s only argument.” 

“I hope it’s a good thing.” She scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. He chuckled. 

Ino began rambling about what she did during the last few days, she mentally thanked Ino for changing the subject of the conversation so she wasn’t the center of it anymore. Until Asuma asked how Shikamaru and her met.

“Well, I heard someone screaming at my brother when he was about to prank Sasuke so I went to see who was being so loud. As I climbed, I tripped on something and fell on Shika, like literally.” She stifled a laugh at the memory. “And well, turns out Ino was the one screaming. A few days after, Shika and I bumped into each other in a park. And we went back to his house to play Shogi.” She shrugged.

In between, two pieces of meat Chōji spoke up. “Did you beat him?”

“No, but I almost did though.” She heard Shikamaru snicker.

“If it helps you sleep at night, then yeah you almost won.”

“Pff, if it wasn’t the first time in my life I had played, I would have crushed you.” She stuck her tongue at him. 

“Excuses.” He huffed.

“Cheater.” She retorted.

“Loser.” He gave her a smug smirk and she narrowed her eyes at him.

When she turned, she met Asuma’s glare. He had something in his eyes; something she couldn’t quite decipher. Pride? No, no that wasn’t it. Maybe happiness? Happy for what? She shifted her concentration to her meal. Abandoning her previous train of thoughts. It was probably nothing anyway.

The waiter brought the receipt and before she could take hers, Shikamaru snatched it. 

“I can pay myself you know?” She chuckled.

“My parents lent me money for dinner and my mother insisted on paying for you. So I’m paying for your dinner even if you like it or not, I don’t want to see her mad.” He shuddered at the thought.

“I hate you.” She replied playfully.

“No, you don’t.” He laughed. 

She felt a blush crept its way on her face, but before he could see it she turned around. “I’m going to wait outside for you and Asuma with Chōji and Ino.” She looked over her shoulder and he nodded.

A few minutes passed before Asuma and Shikamaru got out of the restaurant. 

Asuma was whispering to the younger boy and when Shikamaru met Akira’s eyes, he flushed. She tilted her head to the side quizzically. 

“You good?” She asked him. He nodded and gave her a small smile.

“You should come next week, it’s cool to have you around.” Chōji said.

“Well, if I’m free, count me in.” She replied.

The group said their goodbyes. Shikamaru and Akira made their way to training ground 9. 

“Do you have the book?” 

“Of course.” She reached for the journal in her backpack and pulled it out.

“How are you going to test it?” He leaned back against a tree.

“Birds.” 

“Birds?” He echoed.

“Well, I’ll start with earth chakra, so if the bird has some difficulty flying, it means it worked.” She explained. “Although, I need to change my chakra to earth chakra, which I never tried in the past.”

“Wake me up if you need help.” He laid on the ground and closed his eyes.

With a sigh, she went into the forest. She spread seeds on the ground and hid behind a tree. After a few moments, three birds landed. After making a few hand signs, Akira put the birds under a genjutsu. Almost instantly, the birds stopped moving. It was a simple genjutsu really, but an efficient one nonetheless. It made the target fall in a comatose state, like if they fell asleep.

She held the birds in her hands and headed out of the woods. 

As expected, Shikamaru hadn’t moved at all, but she knew better. Shikamaru was lazy, for sure, but when a friend needed help, he was always there. Maybe he looked like he was sleeping, but he wasn’t. At the moment she put a foot in the clearing, Shikamaru seemed to relax, just a second before, his breath was slightly quicker than normal, which wasn’t the case anymore. And the slight twitch he made when she came closer betrayed him. 

Yet, she didn’t comment. She let him fake his sleeping state and sat on the ground under the shadow of the tree. 

She made a shadow clone. The clone will cage the bird with its hands while she would try to transfer her chakra to the bird. She lifted the genjutsu she put the bird in and watched the bird coming back to life.

She concentrated on the feeling of her chakra moving in her body and at the same time, she visualized her chakra transforming to earth chakra. This time around, dirt didn’t spill from her palm, but deep down, she knew that it worked. Her chakra felt less cold and it was stiffer, almost like mud was now trailing down her veins.

A specific sentence from the journal repeated in her mind.

I was able to find a way to transfer different chakra nature to another being through chakra points. 

Chakra points. From what she could understand, if the chakra isn’t given through chakra points, it was useless.

She mentally thanked herself for reading anatomy books. 

While growing up, she always had a book glued to her hands. The human body and how it worked was always something she was interested in. She never told anyone, but being a medic ninja was something she aspired to be. 

Akira snapped out of her thought and focused again on the task at hand. She hoped that the chakra system of a human was at least a little like a bird’s one. She put a finger on the abdomen of the bird where a chakra point would be.

She let the chakra follow freely from her finger to the bird. Akira had no way to know how much chakra she was supposed to transfer so she decided that a little quantity would do the job. 

She pulled back and examined the bird. The bird seemed to move less than it did and slower. Although, she didn’t celebrate just yet. Maybe her mind was tricking her and the bird's demeanor didn’t change at all.

She once again put her finger on the bird’s abdomen and gave it more earth chakra. When she stopped, she pulled back and inspected its reaction.

A grin made its way on her face when she realized that the bird was nearly motionless, too heavy to move around. 

“Good job.” She gasped in shock and turned her head around so fast that she almost snapped her neck. Shikamaru now stood behind her with a small smile. 

“Thanks for the heart attack.” She said sarcastically. His smile widened.

“You’re welcome.” She rolled her eyes and turned back to face the two other birds. She then picked them up and dropped the genjutsu. Slowly, the birds came back to life and flew away. When her gaze fell back on the last bird, her expression became serious.

For the third time, she put back against the bird's abdomen, but rather than focusing on her chakra system, she focused on the bird’s. It was way harder than she expected it to be.

She could feel a blockage, an obstruction, in its system. Her chakra. She tried to absorb it back, but it wouldn't budge. She then changed her tactics. She tried to link her chakra with her earth chakra left in the bird's system. When she was ‘connected’ to it, she focused on changing the earth chakra nature to a neutral one, like in medical ninjutsu. By doing this, she won’t need to remove it. She was thrilled to see that the blockage got smaller and smaller, but at one point the earth chakra wouldn't budge. 

With a sigh, she retreated her finger. The bird’s motion was more fluid and faster but it wasn’t totally like it used to be.

Without her realizing it, Shikamaru had gotten closer to her and spoke almost directly in her ear. “So, did it work?” 

She shrieked. “For Kami's sake, Shikamaru Nara! If you scare me like that again, I'll beat your ass up.” He laughed. “And for your information, no it didn’t work. Well, some of it. As you saw, I was able to transfer chakra but like the author said, removing it is harder than giving it.” She sighed in defeat.

“Anyways, what time is it?”

“3:30 p.m.” He answered, “What are you going to do with it?” She turned to see what he was pointing at. 

“Oh, yeah I forgot about that.” She picked up the bird in her hands and dispelled the clone. “I surely can’t leave it like that in nature, but I don’t have anything at home, no cage or anything like that.”

“I think I might have something back home that you could use.” He said before walking away. “10:00 p.m. at our spot. Deal?” 

“Deal.” She answered with a smile.

***

She laid on the grass, the star-filled sky shining down on her. She didn’t turn around when someone walked up to her. Shikamaru sat beside her. 

“Sup.” She greeted him.

“Hey. Do you think that would work?” He held a small metal cage. 

“Of course. I don’t know what I would do without you.” She gave him a sweet smile and despite the darkness, she could see his cheeks pinkened ever-so-slightly. 

The two friends talked for the rest of the night about everything and anything until midnight arrived. With a big smile, both of them walked back to their houses.