Game of Shadow

Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor The Gamer. I own nothing, really.

Chapter 14

"Now, close your eyes." Iruka-sensei said calmly and I did as told. "Concentrate on the feeling of your chakra as we talked before." I let my mind wander freely until it got a grasp on the warm and tingly feeling of my chakra. A small smile formed on my face as the hairs on my arms stood and a shiver of excitement traveled through my body. "Now, try to affect it. Remember, a little at a time."

And so, my actual chakra training started. My whole attention moved towards the flowing of the energy inside me and how I could affect it without going overboard. I expanded the river of life-force on random spots by mere millimeters at first. And then I started working from there. If I wasn't careful with the chakra still inside of me then I could blow myself up and if I wasn't careful with the chakra outside of me then I would waste it all. That's why being capable of sensing chakra was a requirement for teachers at the Academy. They needed to be able to tell if a student was about to mess up in order to stop them.

"Now, focus on this and get a hold of it with the chakra." Iruka said softly and I felt something press against my forehead. A leaf, most probably. But that wasn't important. The important part was getting the energy to move and stick it to my skin. Because, contrary to what one would expect, chakra couldn't be commanded or forced. It could only be controlled, and the term was used loosely.

I all but had to ask my chakra to do as I wanted. For the last week, as I tried to get a feel of it and affect it a little, I had quickly compared it to trying to get your blood to move at will. It sounded impossible, and it was at the start. But slowly, mind prevailed over matter in this case, and my life force started listening to me, if not subserviently.

Slowly, my chakra grazed the leaf not even enough to be called a touch. Carefully, I repeated that, each time a bit longer with more force, until I got a good feel of it and then changed the approach. From touching to holding. It was a strange concept, to be honest. Like trying to imitate Spiderman and stick to a wall, but with the actual possibility of it and with my forehead.

"Good job." Sensei praised and my concentration slipped together with the leaf. "Again." He prompted calmly and I went at it again, my smile turning into a full-on grin. Working with my chakra felt awesome, no matter how simple it was.

And so, I went at it for half an hour before I felt myself utterly exhausted. Opening my eyes when Iruka told me that we were done for the day, I smiled tiredly while looking at the screens in front of me.

[Basic Chakra Control Exercises – Lvl 1

Increases the chakra control of the user according to level.]

[Chakra Points: 50/200]

"Thank you so much for your time, sensei." I said while bowing.

"Don't mention it, Eiji. We had a deal, remember?" He waved off good-naturedly and I smiled at him. "Now, go, I really want to get back home sometime today." He added with a smirk and I snorted.

"Sorry about that, sensei." I bowed again. "See you tomorrow." And after receiving his goodbyes, I walked out of the classroom, tired but also feeling extremely proud of myself. I had reached a milestone. And what milestone was more important in the Narutoverse than starting using chakra? None, in my opinion.

"Fucking finally." I groaned. 'There goes my good mood.' I thought with a grimace as I turned to Kiba once out of the Academy. I was just about to tell him where he could go when I stopped and blinked.

"Don't be annoying, mutt." Grumbled Sasuke from where he stood, on the other side of the entrance, leaving me between him and Kiba. I looked at both of them for a minute before sighing. Good thing that Naruto would be out with Chouji until late.