Progress

"Hey!"

"Hey, Jumonji!"

"Hey!"

"Hey, old geezer!"

Snapping his head downward, he goes back to glaring at me. "What's wrong? I still have a few questions, but I'd understand if you're over your head right now" I innocently murmur. There are very few things that being a kid give you and an edge in communication is one of them. "You're someone important right?" I ask slowly. At this point, even I can't tell if he's still thinking.

Taking a sip of water, Jumonji grunts in affirmation. How? I'm not sure, I just know he meant yes. "You also belong in a decently powerful clan right?" I push. Grunting in agreement, he impatiently motions me to get to the point.

"Do you know if there is any discount on housing for clan members?"

"I do."

"Is there a discount on housing for members?"

"There is."

"Are there procedures to accept new members into the clan?"

"There are."

"Can you accept new members into the clan?"

"Possibly."

Beaming at him, I wipe the nonexistent sweat off my forehead. Talking to an emotionally stunted, antisocial stoner is hard. Standing up while pushing my chair back I say, "Thanks for helping me out! when can I move in?" Blankly staring back at me for a moment, he sighs, "Never." Worth a try.

Doing my best to pout, I push my chair back into place before slowly backing out of the room, "Well, if that's all you need, I'll be going Mr.Jumonji!" Raising his hand to stop me, he grabs his glabella, "Stop. Sign this document stating that you agree that I've recorded your side of the altercation correctly and answer a few questions before you go."

Licking my chapped lips for the nth time today, I take my seat again. Ignoring the pen, I read through the document first. Finding nothing wrong, I take the pen and sign my name. Sliding it back to him, I get comfy in my seat. Here come the questions, I really should keep my mouth shut sometimes.

Taking out a cigar from his drawer, he clips the end off, "I really don't want to ask a kid, but here goes nothing." Lighting the cigar, he takes a long drag before slowly exhaling to the side, "What do you think is the Uchiha clan's image in the village?" At least he had the decency to exhale towards the ceiling vent. Tucking a lose strand of hair behind my ear, I shift myself lower in my seat. Sometimes, chairs really don't fit a child body. You get the headrest ontop of your head and the arm rests are just too far apart. "The Uchiha's image is pretty straight forward if you ask anyone in the village. Antisocial and arrogant people who think they are above all others. If I didn't know any better I'd also say you seem to disdain the village. Discounting people with functioning brains like me, most people think your clan doesn't really belong" I slowly explain. Seeing him frown while inhaling more toxins, I nervously wait. He can't just be discovering this right?

Leaning back in his seat, he blows more smoke towards the vent, "I expected something milder, but at least you're honest. Next question, what is our biggest weakness in your opinion?" Kicking my legs back and forth, I lean back and copy him, blowing air out of my extended lips. I need a convenient glass of water that I can sip so I get a few moments to think! Glancing at his pokerface, I smirk. Cheap housing, here I come! "That's obviously your clan's public relations. No question about it" I exclaim confidently. Motioning me to continue without looking down, he continues his lazy smoker routine.

"Your clan never communicates with the rest of the village unless it's about your police work. No offence, but no one likes law enforcement unless it's on their side and your lack of visible compassion towards the rest of the village really doesn't help."

"And what do you propose we do about it?"

"Nothing! I don't propose you do anything! Anything you do your way is only going to end up straining relationships" I preach with my arms wide.

"Then what would you do? If we don't do anything our way, what other way is there?" he asks after slaming his fist on the desk.

I guess he's stupid. Judging by his frustrated expression, he's been thinking about it. This is my chance! "How about this? I'll give you an idea and if it works, you'll help me out with my housing issue." I say while smiling and leaning closer. Squinting at me, he tiredly leans back again. Bringing his cigar up to his mouth, he lowers it in thought. Repeating one too many times, he finally agrees.

Bringing my hands together excitedly, I lay out my idea, "Something simple first. I need you to work with your clan on talking to one person a day without a person. You can treat it like a clan mission, but people in your clan need to be seen mingling with the populace. You'll see very quickly that rumors will start to spread, but that's normal. Imagine a group of introverts all of a sudden become extroverts. Not only will economic opportunities start to present themselves, but your social standing as a clan will skyrocket."

Seeing him losing interest, I sink my claws into his gullible mind, "It's not like you'll lose something right? Your current social standing is at rock bottom, you can only go up from here. Just try it out, tell your clan members to try to talk to at least one person a day and it can't be about the greatness of your clan."

Flicking his fingers, he gestures at me to leave. Pouting in disappointment, I push my chair in and start leaving. Turning the corner, I hear his voice drift through the doorway, "I'll give it a try. If it works, I'll see what I can do about your housing."

Startling the female Uchiha with a smile I hold out my hand, "I'm Aster, your future clanmate!"

+++++++=====++++++++

Standing in line with the other students, I sigh. So I tested out of every lecture, that still leaves sparring since I was deemed motivated enough to keep up with my own physical training. Which I am by the way. Focusing on my chakra control, I keep a pebble levitating above my hand. At this point, I'm not manipulating the pebble in any way. Im actually emitting just enough chakra to keep it floating. Yes, sometimes the pebble's makes it hard to emit chakra precisely and keep it from moving, but that's what makes it worth practicing. Changing the magnitude and coverage of chakra I emit instantly to match the changing surface area without physically watching is quite challenging.

Glancing over to Kushina's class, I see her pummel another girl straight out of the ring. How simple can it get? At this point, I don't think anyone in her class will face her in direct taijutsu.Not unless they want her to trample them. Hearing my name, I step into the ring. Seeing my opponent, I smirk. Ever since I tested out, they've put me into a rotating schedule where I eventually would attend sparring class with each class for a month. A female hyuga, that's my opponent. Let's see if they really see that much.

Making the seal of confrontation, I start moving my chakra through the ground. Seeing her get into her classic taijutsu stance, I dash in. Creating adhesion between her shoes and the ground, I close the distance as her byakugan activates. Panicking as her feet meet resistance as she tries to move, I feel her chakra break into the ground. Effectively mitigating my adhesion, she watches as I pause just a meter away before throwing a punch. Normally that would be too far, but I really want to test her sight. Instead of trying to hit her, I shoot several chakra string in her direction.

Nothing useful, but she flinches anyway. Swinging her arms around to cut them off, I step into her right arm with my shoulder. Trying to flip away, she stares with wide eyes as my fist meets her chin. Nothing fancy, I just pulled her back. A little adhesion between my feet, the ground and my hand to her leg is all it takes. Not letting her fall, I dash up to her as she falls and grab her leg again. Fliching as she slaps my left right arm, I let her fall before kicking her in the stomach. Seeing her slide to the edge of the field, I sigh. It's not over yet. Feeling the chakra flow interrupted just below my shoulder, I push my chakra through the area where my tenketsu should be. Feeling her chakra interrupting my flow, I glance at her struggling to stand up. I've got time.

Encapsulating her chakra in mine, I slowly push it out. Squinting at the pinching sensation, I slowly urge my chakra to flow through the tenketsu. Her chakra turns retarded in my body since nothing is controlling it and my own doesn't automatically try ejecting it. I guess this is what it's like to push chakra into someone or vice versa. Rolling my shoulder, I focus on the beaten hyuuga. "Hey, why don't you just step back? I will fight you if you insist, but I'd like to save you some pain" I persuade while smiling. Gritting her teeth, she gets back into her taijutsu stance.

Wanna fight? No problem, lets have some fun. Pushing my chakra into the ground, I direct it to her feet. Dashing in while she stares at me, I create anchors between her sandals before forming a string between them. Let's see how you pull your feet apart. Focusing on her palms, I enter melee range. Faking a jab, I duck under her strike while steping into her. Blocking her next jab at her elbow as she step back, I reverse my grip and pull my self to her. uppercutting her chin, I push my chakra into her left arm. So I can't see her tenketsu, I just need to interrupt her flow right?

Letting go, I release a spike of chakra from my left fist and meet her right palm head on. Feeling a slight tingling sensation, I grimace. I need to either inundate her strike or perfectly meet it. Being slightly off hurts both of us. Letting her back up, I clear her chakra residue from my left hand. Clenching it into a fist again, I roll my shoulders before stepping towards her again. Watching her holding her left arm, I smirk. It worked. Now I just need to fine tune it or better weaponize it. I could copy the Hyuga, but where's the fun in that?

Stopping just a meter away, I notice she's on the edge of the field. One step back and she's out. With her right side facing me, I slowly approach. She really can take a beating, I'll give her that. Suddenly dashing a meter closer, I sway out of her palm strikes way. Grabing her right hand, I repeat the procedure, but limit my chakra to only her elbow. Pulling her further into the field, I let go. Watching her trembling right arm try to get into her taijutsu stance, I crack my knuckles. Dashing closer, I easy deflect her one handed defense.

Paying attention to her strikes, I notice that close to no chakra is making it out of her palms. A partial success. So she can force some of her chakra through, my chakra is being an obstacle as intended. Pushing her to the other edge of the field, I simply let her palm to glance off my arm. Feling a slight pinch, I smirk before spartan kicking her off the field. "Well that's all I needed today" I say while making the seal of reconciliation.

Waiting for her to slowly get up, I smile when she makes the seal with me. Abruptly grabbing her arms, I guide my chakra out. If her pained expression is anything to go by, Its slightly painful. Patting her shoulder in encouragement, I wave at the instructor. He just waves me off while busily checking the hyuga girl. Nothing new for him I guess. Walking over to Kushina's class, I take my seat next to her while pulling out my fuinjutsu notes. Let's get some progress done!