Ch3. Chakra Strings and Paper Folding

Rei and Konan slept cuddled to each other for additional warmth on the small bed in the shack.

The next morning, Rei stood behind fidgety Konan as she sat cross-legged on the floor.

"Focus." He ordered and Konan instantly closed her eyes, but her body was still fidgeting from the nervousness. Rei sighed and put his hands on her shoulders as he pushed a small amount of his chakra into her abdomen through her shoulders. He could feel Konan sigh in relief as her body shuddered, relishing the feeling.

"Focus." He repeated, a little more sternly and felt her body tense for a second before she relaxed and again started meditating.

He helped her as she found her chakra, helped her guide it. Rei saw that Konan's chakra control is very good even without practicing. Something to be happy about. Especially since she had even less chakra than him. It really drove home the point just what kind of monster Naruto was.

Rei stood and approached the wall while Konan, her eyes still closed, felt the warm chakra in her body, and played with it. It made Rei smile as she saw her slightly curled up lips. Even as a child, Konan wasn't very cheerful. But the more she warmed up to Rei, the more she opened up.

"Konan," Rei softly called her. "come here."

Konan quickly opened her eyes and crawled towards him. Rei thought it was quite cute.

"Put a layer of chakra on the sole of your-"

He saw her uncomprehending gaze and cracked a smile.

"Chakra is the warm thingie in your body, alright?"

Konan gave him a small determined nod.

"Now, put a small layer on the sole of your foot and try to stick it onto the wall."

Konan obediently listened and then tried it. She raised her left foot and put it on the wall. Her face looked focused as she cutely nibbled on her lower lip. Then she tried to yank her feet away from the wall, only for it to be stuck there. It imbalanced her and with a shriek, Konan started flailing her arms in the air.

Rei quickly came behind her and hugged her body from behind, making her regain stability.

"Don't be impatient." He chuckled as he told the blushing girl.

Seeing her nod and her foot leaving the wall, he released her from his hold.

"Practice. Try to find the smallest amount of chakra that can stick you to the wall." Rei told the girl as he sat down, leaning on the wall as he tried to stick slices of paper on his fingers.

"Later." He told the girl who was curiously peering at his fingers and the paper. "When you find the smallest amount of chakra to stick your foot onto the wall."

Konan nodded, and with a renewed vigor, put her all into training.

...

A few days passed. Rei and Konan got even closer to each other but Konan didn't get any more vocal. Rei thought that the Konan from canon that saved Nagato must have spent quite a bit of time with Yahiko already to be that cheerful. The Konan cuddling to him thought... she was fearful, desperate to please, desperate for even the smallest of affection, desperate to be praised, but she outwardly appeared mostly impassive.

Yes, it got better. Around him. But with others?

Yesterday they went to the market and Rei spotted that Konan was always clutching his sleeve and her face always stayed completely stoic. Even as the shopkeeper praised Konan for being well-behaved, she only looked to the floor with a nod but her expression didn't change.

Well, at least they bought more food and some paper.

After Rei saw Konan could stick a paper on each of her fingers, he told her to fold it only with her chakra. He had a lot of fun watching her as she intently gazed at the unmoving slice of paper on her palm in frustration!

Rei also made Konan exercise with him. Not much. They did not have enough food for it to be beneficial but they still decided to get at least some push-ups in.

Their chakra was rising by the day. Rei surmised, it was still not even on the level of an academy student but daily emptying of their reserves until they had around ten percent remaining helped in increasing it.

Funnily enough, Konan's skinny figure also got better. The chakra apparently could make humans last more without food and water. She confessed she felt stronger. Her belly also became somewhat flat instead of dented inwards. Rei was quite surprised at the change. Chakra was really awesome. It would take weeks for a malnourished child to put some weight on but Konan went to bed and rose up a bit better every day. Chakra basically tried to keep the body in the optimal state.

But the disadvantage was that Rei and Konan felt hungrier.

...

Rei watched Konan as she was folding paper in half while nibbling on her lower lip. It still took her a lot of concentration. He instead trained to form chakra strings. As thin as possible.

It was quite challenging but his supreme chakra control was very helpful. He could form them by the nonsensical explanation he found in one fanfic. Draw your chakra from the tenketsu in your finger and make it into a thin thread.

"Whoa." Konan watched with a wide-eyed gaze of awe as a paper started 'flying' above Rei's palm. Rei moved it from the left to the right and chuckled as Konan's eyes intently stared at it.

He put his free hand on the head of the cute girl.

"Don't worry, I will teach you later. For now, focus on folding. Okay?"

Konna bobbed her head up and down but didn't leave to practice. She firmly stood, leaning her head into Rei's hand.

"Okay." He again chuckled. "Sit down.

Konan happily sat in between his legs and leaned her back on his chest while trying to fold the paper as Rei patted her head while his other hand was manipulating two slices of papers on two thin chakra threads. Anything heavier than that was beyond him. For now.

...

Rei started suspecting Konan had a bloodline. That her paper-bullshit is not just a superb chakra control and dedication to paper manipulation.

He gaped when the girl made the slices of paper fly with a giddy giggle. Why was he surprised? Because he did not teach her the chakra threads yet! The girl just wanted them to fly so she imbued them with her chakra and they... flew.

It was bullshit. Really.

Chakra did not work that way! Not for him at least! Hence, he really started suspecting it was a bloodline.

She was living with Rei for a month already. After he allowed her to sit in his lap, Rei quickly found out the girl liked to cuddle and hug. She almost always sat in his lap as she practiced her folding technique, expecting him to pat her head. It was jaw-dropping seeing her just after a week of practice create a paper airplane. But when she started creating some simple flowers after two additional weeks? Rei stopped caring.

Rei used this little head pat addiction of hers to practice his chakra strings while making the folding harder for her. He connected the strings to her paper and moved it around in front of them while Konan tried to fold it while it was moving and away from her hands. She first had to imbue the paper with her chakra but then she could mold it mid-air. It only required focus. That was what Rei tried to train her in since he was not only forbidding her to touch the paper but also do it while it was moving. The cute munchkin was following the paper with her amber gaze, trying to make her chakra fold it.

His chakra strings also tried to make her lose focus as he connected them to her feet, her fingers, and his favorite, the tips of her hair, occasionally gently pulling. It was fun making her hair stand with his strings. It was also incredibly hard as he had to multitask and create many strings to do it. Alas, it was worth it. Rei was always smug when he heard Konan giggle and lose her focus and then pout at him.

But... this month was enough. They needed more food and now that he had chakra strings and Konan could make paper fly, they could... 'borrow' some.