Jutsu to be trained:

Kiku took deep breaths, trying to psych himself up. He had been studying hard, he could do this. He knew the principles, it was just a matter of putting this into practice. No audience, no teachers, he hadn't even told anyone he was practicing this jutsu. No pressure. He had nobody to disappoint but himself.


Okay, that wasn't as comforting as it was supposed to be.


Swallowing his nerves, Kiku stepped into the empty training field. This was one of the more remote ones, and more barren than the others. That was important for someone of his specialty. If he got careless on one of the more lush fields, he could easily start quite a blaze. He didn't want to risk a forest fire, that would really put a damper on his training.


Focusing his chakra, Kiku started forming the hand signs for his new jutsu. He went through them slowly, so that he wouldn't screw it up. Rat, tiger, dog, ox, rabbit, tiger. Putting a hand to his mouth, he felt the fire chakra surge up his throat. He focused it through his hand, spitting out a small fireball. A second one followed it a moment later, followed by a somewhat disappointing third one. The fourth just fizzled out, only producing a few sparks. Kiku frowned, wondering what had gone wrong. Maybe he had lost focus, he had been pretty excited when it started to work. Or maybe the hand sign speed had something to do with it. This was supposed to be a high-speed technique, it had seemed a little slow.

The second time, Kiku made the hand seals faster. He snapped through them in rapid succession, with more speed and precision than he would ever admit to having. Putting his hand back to his mouth, he focused his chakra again. He put more power into it this time, trying to keep a steady flow. The results were mixed. The fireballs seemed too big, and they were unstable. The shape wasn't holding. This time he made it to six before they started sputtering out.


Kiku sat down, hitting his head in frustration. He had to stop being so stupid about this! He needed to think. The first problem dawned on him soon enough. He wasn't gathering enough chakra before he started. Adding to the attack as it went was throwing him off, he needed to prepare before he started spitting fires. Another problem was rationing. He had to be more careful in his control. Keep the chakra flowing quickly, but not release too much at a time. He had to release it into quick punctuated bursts. That should do the trick. Standing, he went to try again.


Kiku made his hand signs, and felt the fire build inside him. One fireball shot out, then another and another. A dozen blasts shot out rapid-fire. Kiku grinned from ear to ear. It was a good start, but he still had to practice. He tried again and again, refining his aim and his technique. By the time he finished, he was exhausted. He had burned through nearly all of his chakra, and was a bit wobbly on the way home.


It was a good day.

[Word count: 534]

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