Standing Still (WK 4 Ninjutsu)

Standing Still




It was a peculiar thing when he walked into class that day.  Of course, though, it was his fault for showing up early.  Raiden should have known something like this would've happened.  After all, his favorite sensei was going out with a botanist.

The entire ninjutsu classroom was decorated in rose petals.  They dusted the floors and all of the seats.  Raiden also noticed twelve long-stemmed roses sitting in a vase on his sensei's desk.  Without reading the card, he already knew whom they were from.  He slowly walked over to the desk and examined the former Nightfall shinobi's handiwork.

"I gotta say," he muttered out loud, "this guy sure can surprise people."

As he turned around, he noticed the windows had been left open.  A breeze swept through the classroom, picking up the rose petals in a light tornado.  He stood as still as possible and watched as the brilliant red petals swirled around the room.  They looked as if they were dancing a beautiful waltz without any witnesses...well, except for him.  And when the breeze died out, the petals carefully fell to the floor.  Their placement was so precise that it was hard to believe they landed by chance.

He stood there, dumbfounded by the beauties of nature, and wondered if he was invading in something so intimate.  Raiden felt as though he'd come in at the wrong time and ruined something so utterly beautiful just by standing still.

There were footsteps in the hallway, and he knew who they belonged to.  Without wanting to disrupt her surprise, Raiden made sure to leave through the open window.  There was a small ledge outside and he took refuge there.  Though he couldn't see her reaction, he could hear the large intake of breath that she made after seeing it.  

Carefully, Raiden unraveled a blank scroll and scribbled a few lines down on the page.  It was a trick his adoptive mother had done and after years of watching, he was able to perform it.  He applied his chakra into the ink and made the lines come to life.  They swirled around his head like tiny wisps.  All they needed was a little push, so with a strong breath he blew them into the classroom.  He carefully peered over the window to see Kan mesmerized by his partake.  With his help, the lines stuck to the rose petals and twirled them throughout the air.  He was able to imitate the silent waltz from earlier even if it didn't last that long.

Raiden couldn't help but smile at her reaction.  She was simply amazed at what just occurred, and that smile would be forever imprinted in his mind.  Looking below, however, he saw that the students were starting to file into the Academy.  He canceled the link of his chakra, allowing the ink to rain down.  He heard her shuffling about, trying to clean the mess of ink an rose petals, as he jumped down from the ledge and landed lightly on his feet.  He was getting better and better at this graceful landing stuff.

He was one of the last students to walk into the classroom, but when he did, there was no trace of what was there earlier.  Raiden was a bit surprised and just couldn't help himself.  He walked up to his sensei before taking his seat.

There was a single red petal sticking in her hair.  He picked it out and smiled at her.  "I see that I just missed something, huh?" He blew the loose petal and it gently swirled around her head.

Before she could say anything, Raiden took his usual seat and sat down.  He saw that a small blush had taken to her cheeks as she tried to regain her composure to teach the class.