A Sense and Dread

I can stick to things now.

No, that is not right. Things can stick to me now. But, meh, semantics.

The greatest thing about teaching something to someone else is that you naturally gain a better understanding of the concept you are trying to explain.

Better if you are truly trying to teach to children.

I think Feynman had something to say about that, but I digress, Chakra is capable of making things stick to me.

All my childhood fantasies of becoming Spider-Man are now in the palm of my hands.

'I have the power of the sun in the palm of my hands' I monologued the old dialogue internally, in reminiscence of the iconic doc ock scene.

Anyway, how does it work?

My best guess is chakra substituted the energy necessary to replace surface tension on the sheet of paper.

I don't have the core strength to hold myself up on the side of the wall, nor do I have the chakra to make my feet stick to the wall for a very long time.

It was a weird feeling, scary even when I tried.

The now addictive warm familiar presence in my gut diminished so rapidly, followed by fatigue, shallow breaths, and a slightly higher internal body temperature.

Going out on a limb, that was almost Chakra exhaustion. Though, I have no added evidence than my own.

So, what can I do?

Spider-Man-style wall-crawling? That's what.

Not only can I now make use of Chakra through all parts of my limbs now, the use also helped me massively expand the total amount of Chakra that I have.

'Now only if I can figure out the webs, and spidey-sense.' I marveled internally. 'Experiments ahoy!'

My roommates, mere kids that they were, were giddy at the prospect. The prodigious little hellions.

It took them less than three days to master the paper-sticking exercise and equally three more to get wall-crawling down perfectly as well.

It was amusing.

"I think, if I try hard enough, I can keep this futon on my back stuck to me forever!" Ryota was animatedly marveling at the various ideas he had with his new skill. "The futon could be like a shield against a blunt object, and the best part is I can just fall on my back when I need to sleep. No problem!"

Not all of them made much sense though.

"You know we can carry sleeping bags with us, right?" Ayako replied rolling her eyes, "Plus, the futon will get shredded with just a single kunai."

"I, uhm…." Ryota floundered to defend himself but failed, "Well, what do you know?!"

"More than you that's for sure" Ayako snarked. I was proud of her; she was truly coming out of her shy little shell.

"Now, now children." A voice coming from the door interrupted their bickering. "No need to fight. It's time to evaluate your progress. Let us see how well Ikiryo was able to teach you."

"Sensei?" Ayako, who apparently was not as out of her shell as I had assumed "Uhm, aren't we supposed to head to Taijutsu practice right now?"

Minori sensei shook her head "Katsuro-sensei is busy today; I will take over your shuriken practice after your evaluation. If it is at a good level, I might even start your ninjutsu and Genjutsu training."

"YES!" Ryota was excitable, a mistake I wasn't going to make, as he started rattling off "I can climb up walls, I can make my kunai, shuriken, and almost anything stick to me, and the best thing! I can take my Futon everywhere on my back! EASY!"

"Oi, oi, slow down you" The overwhelmed sensei waved at the bouncing child "Wait, Futon? Why would you want to take your Futon everywhere?"

The boy slumped, "Not you too sensei!" He wailed dramatically.

The woman sighed, as Ayako failed to stifle a giggle. The boy was very amusing.

"Just get on with the demonstration, would you?" She smiled ruefully, she was definitely not going to manage to curb the boy's over-enthusiastic energy.

"Yes, sensei!" Like a switch had been flipped, the boy's sour mood evaporated and he chirped happily as he began crawling up the walls of our room.

I observed various emotions flicker across the woman's face. Most I could not recognize, though astonishment masked most of the rest.

"Where did you get this idea?" She finally asked "And can the rest of you do this too? Ikiryo? Nakamura?"

"It was Kagami who came up with this, sensei" Ayako provided, the little traitor, "He was so smart! He taught us how to channel our chakra, and then how to use it stick to anything!"

"He did, did he?" Sensei replied, her gaze scrutinizing me "Well, Ikiryo does seem to be the type. But excelling in Shuriken and Kunai is one thing Kagami, experimenting with Chakra is another. It could be dangerous, next time you will make sure you do it when either I or Katsuro-sensei is around. Your ingenuity notwithstanding, you could have seriously gotten hurt, exhausted your small chakra reserves, and ended up in a very dangerous situation. I know you are smarter than that, what were you thinking?"

I was actually not thinking all that much, too drunk with Chakra to have thought all that, but I was careful.

"Uh, sensei" I began tentatively. "I was careful, I could sense when I was getting low on chakra and I stopped before I worked too much."

"Yes, I'm sure, but how would you have known whether your friends were okay or not!" She reprimanded sharply.

"I, uhm, could sense when they were getting low too!" I replied honestly, a bit shame-faced regardless, it was true I could sense their chakra levels as I could sensei's massive reserves now "I can feel the warmth and depth of their reserves, and yours too right now."

I did not get a reply immediately.

Looking up, I saw another calculative expression on her stern face, before it melted into contemplative resignation.

"A sensor then" She stated succinctly.

Is that what I was? I could sense chakra. A by-product of my search for a point of reference and I developed a sensory talent as a result.

"Sensei?" Ayako hesitantly interjected, the little traitor was a little afraid "Kagami did not let us work ourselves too hard. We insisted, to catch up with him. And he was very careful, he even-"

"It's okay, Ayako" Sensei cut the brave girl "I was just worried. You don't need to cover for him." She smiled slightly at all three of us.

"Now, then. I believe we should begin with Ninjutsu." She continued after a pause, noting the tension dissipate, both Ayako and Ryota sagged in relief, and then whooped in joy.

I did not if I was reading her correctly, but there was mischief in her eyes now "The essence of all ninjutsu, and most genjustu is in hand seals! They form the very basic structure, and tools for us shinobi to wield chakra. They help us direct it around our body, expel it from our Tenketsu and give it shape and form."

"Hand seals sensei?" Ryota asked impatiently, vibrating with all the boundless excitement of a six-year-old.

"Calm down, Tanaka!" She replied nodding her head, as we all took our seats around the tatami mat. "Yes, hand seals."

She pulled out three sheets of paper from her jacket and then slid them toward us. "These are the twelve ninja hand seals, illustrated for you. I will show you each of them. Remember, these will define the way you can use and mold chakra in the future, so learn these very well. Do not focus on speed, we need precision."

"Awww!" Ryota complained as his eyes roved over the sheet "This is boring! When will we learn awesome Jutsu? I want to go out, do missions, save Shinobi, become a hero, and win the war for Ame!"

"Savor your time Ryota" Sensei replied softly, "Do not be so quick to rush into war. You are young yet, and war is terrible. No place for children like you. If I had my way, I would not have you see even a portion of this war."

"But sensei!" He complained. "We will have to go there eventually!"

"An eventuality that I wish never arises. Ame needs shinobi yes, but it is not yet so desperate to send you to the frontlines." Her words were like ice "You three are talented, and that will be nurtured. Do you think there is Glory in war? No, there isn't. Only blood, death, and destruction lay there. If you don't believe me, ask your friend Nakamura."

What?

Turning to the girl at my side in question. She had turned pale as a sheet, her eyes wide and hurt flashed through her eyes, but our sensei pushed further.

"You remember, don't you? You remember the two years you spent on the battlefield running away! Dissuade your friends of this notion of finding glory in war, or they will make a mistake. One they may never live long enough to regret." Sensei took a deep breath.

"You have the sheets with you. Practice the seals, and show me tomorrow."

She did not answer the calls Tanaka made for her to stop as she left.

Not even when Ayako collapsed in a dead faint, tears streaming down her eyes.