Being left with this uneasy feeling, I went back into the orphanage after collecting my leaves and placing them in my pouch, getting a few weird looks from some of the children. They don't need to know what I'm going to do with them.
Do you remember how I said I managed to unlock my chakra and could let it flow freely across my body now? That's going to come into play.
According to the show, this training method is done by placing a leaf over your forehead and directing your chakra onto the leaf, using it as a focal point.
You mustn't use too little, because it won't stick; neither should you use too much, because it'll just blow off. Apparently, this trains both your chakra control efficiency and, obviously, your ability to concentrate so that you don't get distracted easily.
An important ability, considering how I came to this wonderful world... I need to get rid of that glaring weakness.
I went to the girls' room and to my own personal space, turning my back so that if anyone enters, I can just drop the leaf and pretend that I was doing nothing, even if it becomes a little awkward... eh, I'm sure nothing will happen.
So, I grabbed one of the leaves from my pouch and put it on my forehead, starting to let chakra flow to that specific point. It blew off. I guess that was too much chakra. Let's try with another one! I picked up another leaf and repeated the process, only for it to slip and fly away with the force of the wind. Damn it, too little chakra!
So I kept going until I found a good ratio that kept it stuck to my forehead, and I maintained the flow of chakra. I focused, determined to hold it for at least 5 minutes. I hope that's good... It probably isn't. I used to read quite a few Naruto fan-made stories, and in one of them, Itachi Uchiha, the god himself, managed to maintain it for over 3 hours and was even asked to stop using it... Scary.
This is boring. And then the leaf flew away as I was counting the seconds and minutes; I managed to keep it stuck for 2 minutes and 43 seconds, disappointingly. I get distracted easily, alright.
I also felt my chakra slightly drained, even though I didn't hold it that long. Are my chakra reserves that small? They'll grow with time and training, I'm sure of it!
So, I kept repeating this same exercise over and over, and I managed to maintain it for 3 minutes and 51 seconds by the time I felt I was almost out of chakra. Don't want any chakra exhaustion, nope. It did leave me feeling tired, though, like I had almost no energy to do my activities.
I still went through my usual routine with a bit of struggle, though. I hope no one noticed. I should probably start physical training if I want to get strong and also increase my chakra, since I think physical energy is a part of it? Maybe I'll try meditating once I get good enough with the leaf technique, to see if I can grow my spiritual energy and thus my chakra reserves. I've got a ways to go if I want to spam shadow clones like Naruto; hell, I don't know if I can even make a single one right now.
I need something to measure my chakra, but how? Where? I really need to become a sensor. Wait, can you even become one? Is there a way?
Ahhh, fuck, so many questions and no answers!
The days went by; I kept exhausting my chakra and felt like I was wasting less and less, while my reserves felt like they were growing slowly but surely. I guess you could consider the chakra inside one's body kind of like a muscle? You can exert it to its limit, and in order to adapt, it's like it regenerates and grows in size to adjust to our needs.
By the time I reached the weekend, I had managed to hold it for 10 minutes and 35 seconds! Yahoo!!
Something I didn't mention is that we usually get some kind of special dessert on weekends along with our meals, and they are. Fucking. Delicious.
There were 3 kinds of dessert, and they switched from one to another each weekend. We'd get fluffy pancakes filled with sweet red bean paste, mochi rice cakes filled with strawberries and bean paste, roasted sweet potatoes... The small touch of salt went so well with the sweetness of the potato.
Man, I miss chocolate. It's probably expensive in this world, since we haven't gotten any during the last 2 years. I guess it makes sense, since mass-producing chocolate involves a lot of steps: from getting the optimal conditions to grow the plant, harvesting it, fermentation, roasting, and some more steps that I'm definitely forgetting about.
I heard someone open the empty room, and I shivered, dropping the leaf and instantly grabbing my pencil. Shit!
"Amai, what are you always doing alone?" said a curious girl with ash brown, short straight hair, wearing a white shirt and shorts, and standing at a similar height to mine (3'5"). I think her name was Suzume? Please tell me I'm right.
"Oh, uh, I'm practicing my writing, Suzume," I said sheepishly. God, please tell me I'm right!
"But why?" she asked.
"Because I want to get better at it since I want to become a kickass ninja one day!" I replied with a bit of pride.
"Isn't being a ninja just using cool jutsu and being awesome?" she said matter-of-factly.
"You also need to be smart, not just powerful," I replied bluntly.
"Huuuuuh. But why..." She then continued her onslaught of questions, this time about the guide I'm studying and why I had this many leaves in my pouch.
Leave me alone, please! I suck at socializing!