The Red Maelstrom

[8] Aftermath

The next day, Team 7 found themselves at a clearing within a forest. Kakashi, thankfully, was strong enough to walk, albeit with a pair of crutches. Stoic man that he is, Kohana couldn't tell just how much pain he was in. She was torn between worrying and wanting to trust that her sensei was going to be fine. However, if he was going to train them, Kohana resolved that she should do well and make sure nothing goes awry during their training to make Kakashi's job easier for him.

"We will now begin the training."

"Roger!" Naruto hollered.

Kakashi raised a finger. "But before that, let me talk about chakra, the foundation of a ninja's abilities."

Kohana could tell her two idiot teammates were impatient. Hopefully, they knew what Kakashi was going to talk about. Otherwise, she'd have to shut them up and get them to listen.

"I already know about that! Chatra, right?" Oh, but her brother sounded so proud of himself, Kohana couldn't help but guffaw as Kakashi tiredly corrected him: "It's chakra. Anyway, Sakura-kun," he cued their team mate.

"Listen, Naruto. I'm going to explain this in a simple manner to save time. Chakra is an energy that a ninja needs to utilize a technique. That energy comes from the physical energy, energy that is collected from every cell of the body. It also comes from the spirit energy that comes from training and experience. In other words, techniques come from those two energies that are squeezed out of the body and molded together. This process is known as molding chakra. And with that, one is able to use chakra to execute a technique by forming a hand seal."

Kohana clapped. She had to hand it to Sakura; Iruka was a great instructor, but for a kid, Sakura was just as good as explaining things.

"Correct! Iruka-sensei was blessed with a nice student." Sakura preened.

Naruto groaned and whined. "What's with that? You can just learn that with your body even if you don't understand the hard stuff."

"Exactly what Naruto said. We're able to use techniques now."

The nerve! Kohana didn't expect to hear this from Sasuke, but now that she heard him say it, she wasn't so surprised either. She loved both of them with her whole heart, but they seemed to be intent on outdoing each other all the time, and that somehow included a competition on idiocy.

Kakashi sighed and gestured for Kohana this time. The red head pointed at herself for a moment, uncertain, but Kakashi raised his one visible eyebrow and that was all it took. She stood next to Sakura and placed her hands on her hips.

"FOOLS!" she bellowed, to which her team mates all responded to with surprise. "Learning jutsu and chakra control requires a fundamental understanding of basic theoretical principles! If 'ya don't know jack shit about how something works, how in the world can you expect to innovate and use it to your advantage?"

Kakashi nodded, seemingly unfazed. "I wouldn't have put it that way, but there you go. As it is, you can't use your chakra completely. The amount of each type of energy you need to mold your chakra will depend on the type of technique you wish to execute. In other words, the mixing will be different. Even if you are able to mold a large amount of chakra, if you cannot control the balance, your technique will only be half as effective or not executed at all. Wasting energy like that will keep from fighting for a long time."

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "So what should I do?"

"You're going to learn how to control it with your body."